Chapter 40: Hephaestus (7)
“Try this. A goddess who doesn’t like sweet fruit? I’d be too embarrassed to show my face,” Aphrodite teased, offering a piece to Athena.
“Embarrassed? Even gods have preferences. Honestly, only the goddess of love and beauty would make such a fuss,” Athena shot back.
“Oh? Look at her! What am I, Hermes, exaggerating everything?”
The two were in Aphrodite’s palace, where a gathering of younger goddesses was taking place.
The group included Athena, Aphrodite, Artemis, Hebe, Eileithyia, and other vibrant, powerful young goddesses.
However, Hebe and Eileithyia were often too busy to attend, leaving Athena, Aphrodite, and Artemis as the regulars.
Since today’s meeting was at Aphrodite’s palace, Athena and Aphrodite were catching up beforehand.
Unlike the Athena of the original myths, this Athena harbored no disdain for Aphrodite’s ways, which fostered their close bond.
She also hadn’t sworn an oath of chastity by the River Styx.
“By the way, where’s Artemis today?” Athena asked.
“Oh, that adorable little one? She had to go herd cattle today because Apollo bailed,” Aphrodite replied.
Athena winced at the predictable news.
“Ugh, Apollo ditched her again?”
“Yup. Left her an apology note and vanished.”
“Poor Artemis’. They’re in for it.”
“Well, the elves seemed okay this time. I heard Hermes offered to help because he was bored.”
Athena sighed, sipping her tea.
Artemis, though a young goddess, had a temperament rivaling Hera’s.
Her elves, a gift from Poseidon at Artemis’ request due to her admiration for him, were fiercely loyal but likely exhausted by her exacting nature.
Athena couldn’t help but wish Artemis treated them kinder.
“So, it’s just the two of us today,” Athena said.
“I’m thrilled. A date with Olympus’ idol, Athena?” Aphrodite teased, scooting her chair closer and linking arms with her.
Athena didn’t pull away, accustomed to Aphrodite’s affectionate nature, which extended to both men and women.
The problem was the unwanted attention it attracted.
‘Speaking of which, here comes one of those nuisances.’
Athena thought as her senses picked up Ares approaching.
Sure enough, Ares barged into Aphrodite’s palace, ignoring her attendants’ attempts to stop him.
SLAM!
“My love, Aphrodite! Bless me! I’ll dedicate the glory of capturing the vile traitor Hephaestus to you!”
Ares flung open the door, shouting, only to freeze when he saw Athena, his rival, sitting there.
“Athena?! What are you doing here?!”
Athena, thoroughly fed up with her dim-witted brother who’d learned nothing from Poseidon or Hephaestus, turned away in disgust.
As Ares began to throw a tantrum, Aphrodite’s icy voice cut through, her divine power enveloping the room.
“Ares… Ignoring my attendants and now insulting my friend in my own palace? Should I take this as you looking down on and disrespecting me?”
Her chilling tone snapped Ares back to reality.
This was the palace of an Olympian goddess, his equal.
Barging in like this was a grave offense, one even Zeus wouldn’t commit.
“N-No, that’s not it! I just wanted to share the joy of crushing a traitor with you…”
Aphrodite’s expression grew colder at his pathetic excuse.
“Get out. Now. Or I’ll flay your hide and hang it outside my palace before you even reach Hephaestus.”
Terrified by Aphrodite’s uncharacteristic fury, Ares fled like a spooked colt.
Though usually defiant, even he didn’t want to be hated by the woman he’d fallen for at first sight.
***
Fleeing Aphrodite’s palace, Ares was consumed by embarrassment and rage.
“Ugh… I didn’t make Aphrodite hate me, did I? This is all because of that wretch, Hephaestus!”
CRASH!
Kicking nearby objects in a fit, Ares, without a shred of self-reflection, only fueled his hatred for Hephaestus.
“If that traitor hadn’t rebelled, I wouldn’t have been scolded by Aphrodite!”
Athena, who had watched Ares’ disgraceful exit with a grimace, apologized to Aphrodite.
“Sorry. I should’ve called out my brother’s behavior sooner.”
“Oh, come on, it’s not new for Ares to act like that,” Aphrodite said dismissively.
“But you and he have some sort of relationship, don’t you?”
Aphrodite scoffed, incredulous at Athena’s words.
“Hah! You think I, Aphrodite, could be disliked by Ares? Men might abandon me, but they can never resist me.”
Athena let out a mix of admiration and exasperation at Aphrodite’s brazen confidence.
“Well, that’s the goddess of beauty for you.”
***
Sicily was unrecognizable from its usual state.
The artisans training under Hephaestus and the Cyclopes had been relocated en masse to Naxos with Poseidon’s aid.
Twelve mysterious pillars now encircled the island, standing tall.
Alongside them, 3,000 bronze giants, rivaling the size of Titans, stood in formation, each wielding formidable weapons.
Hephaestus had also deployed a spatial distortion artifact, expanding Sicily’s terrain to the size of two nations combined.
“Is this enough?” Hephaestus muttered.
“No, just in case, let’s set up large-scale explosive bombs too,” one Cyclops suggested.
“And we should ready about 1,000 aerial golems for deployment…” another added.
“The sea’s safe since enemies can’t approach. No need for submarines or warships, right?”
Deep in Sicily’s underground control room, a young man with red curly hair tinkered and murmured to himself.
With every adjustment he made, new defenses and constructs materialized across the island.
***
Deep in the sea near Sicily, Poseidon watched Hephaestus’ preparations unfold, chuckling in disbelief.
“Well, well. While mortals are still forging bronze spears, those look like fighter jets and tanks. And those golems? Not even the modern world has seen anything like them.”
His wives, Amphitrite and Eurynome, were equally astonished by Hephaestus’ defenses.
“Wow, that’s enough to handle lesser gods, isn’t it?” Amphitrite remarked.
“Hmm… if he’s hiding more tricks, he might even take on greater gods, barring the main Olympians,” Eurynome mused.
What stood out most was Hephaestus’ potential.
Even as an incomplete young god, he displayed such prowess.
In time, like the Cyclopes, he might craft weapons capable of granting gods ultimate power, akin to the artifacts made for the three chief gods.
‘His greatest strength is his creativity. No blacksmith in this world has ever conceived of an army like this.’
Eurynome thought, glancing at her husband, who was acting like a child with a new toy.
“He’s definitely been influenced by this one. Athena, Cybele, and Pallas, whom he raised, all think so differently from typical gods.” she said.
Eurynome sighed, watching Poseidon’s eyes sparkle with excitement.
“Ugh…”
Despite the crisis unfolding on Olympus, Poseidon’s carefree demeanor grated on her.
As Ares’ army arrived, signaling a battle that could shift the balance of power in Olympus, Eurynome felt the sea gods should be watching closely.
Yet Poseidon’s indifference, even as war loomed, made her clench her fists.
“You! Some of us are worried about what’s coming, and you’re obsessing over toys?!”
BOOM!
“Ow, I’m sorry!”
“Don’t block it, or it’ll hurt more!”
THUD! THUD!
Another peaceful day under the sea.
***
In stark contrast to the serene ocean, Sicily was a battlefield of explosions and chaos.
Corpses of nymphs and Ares’ followers littered the ground.
BOOM!
“ARRGH!”
BOOM!
“Save us!”
Each bomb detonation claimed soldiers’ lives, while the gods leading them were overwhelmed by the bronze giants and their blades.
“Damn it! Those giants are wielding blades like Hades’ kynee!”
“They’re not exactly the same. The glow’s fainter.”
“What does that matter? We can’t do anything against those weapons!”
Contrary to Ares and his lieutenants’ expectations, they were not dominating the battlefield.
The bronze giants were too much for them, and the remaining soldiers were either killed or incapacitated by lightning from the twelve mysterious towers.
The losses were mounting.
Ares, though arrogant and foolish, understood the consequences of losing his army and allied gods.
His influence, bolstered by Eris’ children—Machai, Hysminai, and Phonoi—made him a dominant force in Olympus.
But defeat here would jeopardize his position.
“Damn you, Hephaestus! Come out and face me like a god, not a coward hiding in the shadows!”
CLANG!
Felling an aerial golem, Ares frantically searched for a path to Hephaestus.
The endless stream of constructs meant his only hope was capturing their creator.
Ares is foolish as heck lmao
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