8 008.

Mount Olympus.

Hephaestus' brown eyes were shining with pride and admiration at his most recent creation, this being a pair of bows. The truth is that some time ago, the young god was not skilled enough to create such a weapon.

In fact, his first attempt at creating a bow resulted in a product that could only be classified as useless garbage. Such an incident caused Hephaestus' pride to take a hard blow.

After all, while he considered himself to be a different god from the others who inhabited Olympus. He certainly had some pride, especially when it came to the creation of diverse tools and weapons.

As someone who could only accept the highest quality in his creations he began to study and practice the various ways of making a high quality bow, although it was something he had never attempted before, he was able to create acceptable products after a short period of time.

Although because they did not quite meet his demanding requirements he had to keep practicing until he was satisfied. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the two bows in front of him were the best he could do with his current skills.

His line of thought was broken when to his ears came the sound of what he assumed were quick footsteps heading towards him. However, Hephaestus did not take too much notice of such a fact and instead continued to appreciate his work.

It was after a short period of time that the figure of a young man entered the room. The newcomer had short golden hair with a shimmering hue, his lower garment consisted of a red skirt with golden embroidery.

While his chest was exposed in its entirety, revealing his shapely physique. In contrast to Hephaestus' ugly appearance, the man's appearance was extremely beautiful even among gods.

"You need to improve the security of the workshop" was the first thing he mentioned upon seeing Hephaestus.

"No" was Hephaestus' immediate response, "I don't, it's just that I find no reason to have the security system activated while I'm in the workshop" he explained calmly.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" questioned the man with mild seriousness.

"Apollo" Hephaestus called curtly, "With the exception of Hermes there is simply no one stupid enough to try to rob me" he expressed bluntly.

Apollo for an instant wanted to refute the words of Hephaestus, only for an instant, because the truth is that the words he mentioned were full of truth, after all, besides Hermes, no one would dare to try to steal something from the son of the queen.

Hephaestus, on his side, took one of the bows and handed it to a pensive Apollo, "What do you think?" he asked immediately.

Apollo took a few seconds to react; however, he quickly came to his senses and began to inspect the bow created by Hephaestus. The truth was that they gave him a comfortable feeling, as if it had been perfectly created to fit him.

It just felt right to hold it in his hands. It was a strange sensation, but one that was very rewarding, plus he could feel that the power he could wield with the bow would not be weak at all.

"I think you have exceeded my expectations once again" Apollo commented after a while, his voice was full of sincerity.

Hephaestus nodded, he was more than satisfied with his client's words. "Fine, just take your sister's bow, so you can go" he commented and without waiting for an answer he began to clean his work area.

Such a sentence from Hephaestus brought Apollo back to reality and made him bring his gaze to the other bow that was on one of the work tables. "You know Artemis won't accept it after what happened, right?" Apollo quickly questioned.

"That is of no concern to me" Hephaestus mentioned simply, but someone with good observational skills could see a flash of anger in his eyes that quickly disappeared.

"I received the payment for two bows, so it is my duty to give two bows, whatever you want to do with them, after that is not something I should give importance to" he continued saying without even looking at Apollo.

Apollo only shook his head, the truth is that both Hephaestus and his sister could be too stubborn when they set their minds to it. It's just that on this occasion he was sure it would take them a little longer than usual to make peace.

"Alright, in the case that my sister refuses the bow I'll just keep it" he commented with a smile.

"Do whatever you want" said Hephaestus with little surprise at Apollo's thought.

Apollo just continued to converse with Hephaestus until the latter basically forced him to leave. So without being able to do anything else, he took both bows along with a considerable amount of arrows and proceeded to leave the workshop.

…

Hephaestus was currently on his way to the mansion of Hades, the truth is that at this point it is quite possible that he was one of the few gods who preferred to be in the Underworld rather than on Olympus.

Besides, thanks to Hades' teachings, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Hephaestus knew the Underworld like the back of his hand. After all, every passage, path, and cave had been explored by Hephaestus.

It had reached a point where Hephaestus' knowledge of the Underworld was so much that it was highly probable that, with the exception of Hades himself, no one was as well versed about the Underworld as Hephaestus was.

The young god's steps were somewhat slow, as he was in no hurry to reach his destination, having always liked to enjoy the scenery wherever he went. At the same time, he also took advantage of his journey to take those minerals that caught his attention.

Hephaestus has always believed that the wealth of Hades was extremely vast, and that belief had only grown stronger with the passing of time. That is why the business dealings with his uncle had always been satisfactory for both sides.

The queen's son's thoughts came to an end when all his surroundings began to shake uncontrollably, it was as if a strong earthquake was hitting the Underworld, which was unlikely to happen.

After a few seconds, a giant three-headed dog entered the vision of Hephaestus' brown eyes. Such a sight would provoke fear and panic in mortals and gods alike.

When the beast came close enough to Hephaestus, he simply shouted, "Stop!" without any fear on his face the young god confronted the big and frankly terrifying beast.

The big dog stopped just inches away from Hephaestus and only watched him with a bit of caution, "Did my uncle send you?" he asked simply.

The strange dog's response was a brief nod with his three heads, to subsequently lower his body so that Hephaestus could climb on his back.

The image that resulted from such an action of both beings was similar to when a rider mounted his horse. It is just that those who knew the origin of the strange dog would have some difficulty in accepting such a scene.

…

After a short period of time, Hephaestus found himself walking through the main entrance of the mansion belonging to his uncle. As for the strange dog, well, he just did his job and then left.

The landscape surrounding the mansion of the Lord of the Underworld had changed over the years. Today, the withered garden was filled with beautiful flowers and leafy trees.

This was thanks to the efforts of his aunt Demeter. Perhaps she was one of the few beings who could accomplish such a feat. Although the color of the mansion was still dark, at least now there was a little more life in it.

With calmness, he passed through the large doors of the mansion to later walk through its corridors. His actions were extremely natural, almost as if he were in his own home.

After a short walk, he arrived at a large hall. In it there was a large red carpet and at its end was a majestic, but at the same time somber throne where the Lord of the Underworld was seated.

Hephaestus watched his uncle for a moment before nodding his head as a sign of greeting, then pulled out a small blanket that he had kept hidden in a kind of compartment in his clothes and threw it towards his uncle.

Hades only reached out his hand, successfully catching the blanket, then brought his gaze to his little nephew in search of an explanation from him.

"They are cookies made by mother and aunt Hesita" he said simply, "They asked me to bring them with me and deliver them to you" he added quickly.

Hades nodded slightly, giving the impression that he was indifferent to his sisters' gift, "They shouldn't have bothered" he commented calmly.

"That's what I told them, but none of them listened to me" Hephaestus commented, being more than agreeing with his uncle's words.

It was because of these words that Hephaestus had to endure an intense stare that would have made more than one tremble with fear, "Anyway I'll be in my workshop" he said calmly, not seeming to feel any kind of pressure.

"By the way, unless my mother makes an appearance, I don't want to be disturbed" he made it clear before disappearing down the corridors of the mansion.

Hades shook his head at his nephew's attitude. He then began to uncover the blanket that had been given to him, and with this he could see seven cookies of considerable size.

After a moment of appreciation, he took one of them and then put it in his mouth, it wasn't long before a delicious and somewhat nostalgic taste assaulted his palate. Once he finished the first cookie, he moved his hand to take the second. He continued that pattern until he finished them all.

Whoever, who observed such an action by Hades, would have realized that the fearsome and respected god could not be found anywhere. The only thing that could be observed was a happy man eating the cookies his sisters prepared for him.

…

Once Hephaestus arrived at his workshop, he began his preparations to do his work. The truth is that his determination to replicate the work of the ancient Cyclops had never been shaken.

It had been about 5 years since he started such a project, a short period of time where he had more failures than successes. Still his determination could never be stopped, after all he learned more from his failures than from his successes.

His steps moved towards his forge and with a slight thought a small flame formed in his right hand which soon went on to fuel the forge.

A soft smile formed on Hephaestus' face as he remembered the look of surprise his mother had when he almost reduced his temple to ashes due to the momentary panic he had when he first experienced this aspect of his power.

Later, it was thanks to the teachings of his aunt Hestia that he learned to quickly control his new power, since then he used it for his work as well as in other tasks.

As he finished recalling those joyful moments, he brought his gaze back to his trusty tools. It could be said that these were his oldest and dearest friends, together with them, he had done great feats.

Shortly after, he took his gaze to a desolate area of his workshop, where he could only observe a large box made of the purest of metals. Inside it was only a large rock with a deep black color.

Hephaestus' eyes flashed with appreciation at the sight of it, yet there was also uncertainty and respect in them. Hundreds of thoughts passed through the young god's mind until a strong determination arose in his thinking.

…

Hephaestus did not know how much time had passed since he had started the forging process. Not that he cared too much, either, as it was a relatively usual thing in his life.

Anyway, as long as his mother didn't make an appearance, then everything was fine. Certainly, working with adamantine was an extremely exhausting and time-consuming process.

After all, it was a metal that was extremely resistant to high temperatures and was even more resistant to allowing itself to be molded into the shape one wanted, even if it was not complicated.

Yet Hephaestus always kept his composure, knowing full well that rushing his actions would only cause him to make mistakes. Besides, time was something the young god never lacked.

For hours, perhaps days, only the clash of metal against metal could be heard. In Hephaestus' actions there was never any hesitation, and after a long period of time he had managed to finish the first part of his plan.

The final product of his hard work was a bracelet that would extend from his wrist to just before his elbow, after the forging process the adamantine had taken on a grayish coloration with a small shade of black.

He had opted for this shape due to the fact that he felt that a helmet was not something that suited his style. He preferred something simple, that would not draw the attention of others and could be hidden with little effort.

Hephaestus momentarily appreciated his work, but after a while he refocused. Since he was about to enter the second stage of his plan, it would not be an exaggeration to say that this stage involved an enormous risk.

What he had to do was to endow the bracelet with power, to make it merge completely with the darkness and shadows. At this stage of the plan, there was more chance of failure than success.

A slight sigh left Hephaestus' lips as he closed his eyes and stopped all movement of his body. Soon a strange phenomenon began to occur in the workshop, suddenly all light inside it began to fade.

Little by little, the darkness began to take over the entire room, slowly converging in the area where Hephaestus was. It was not until some time later that Hephaestus' eyes suddenly opened, and the darkness completely took over the workshop.

…

The Lord of the Underworld was taking a quiet walk in his garden. It had taken him a while to listen to Hephaestus' words to contact Demeter in order to ask for her help.

After all, it had been a long time since he had had a conversation with his sister. In fact, in the past he rarely set foot in Olympus, with exceptions to this being when Zeus requested his presence.

The truth was that he had isolated himself from everything. Why had he done so? Well, not even he had a clear answer to that fact.

Perhaps it was because during all these years there was a part of himself that could not accept that his destiny was to rule the Underworld, while his younger brothers ruled over Heaven and the Sea.

Thus causing his attitude to be less than pleasant. Upon reaching that conclusion, Hades shook his head, now that he thought about it carefully he realized that his actions were somewhat childish.

On the positive side, he could say that after so many years he had come to accept his fate, so much that he could say he had started to feel satisfied with the position he occupied in the world.

Hades' thoughts were forced to pause when a familiar sensation came to his senses, one that was similar to the one that coursed through his entire body when he used his old helmet; however, at the same time, there was something different about it.

It was just that he could not distinguish what that difference was. Despite this, the truth was that such a discrepancy did not prevent a small smile forming on his face, "You made it" he mentioned calmly, although there was a slight sense of pride in his voice.

However, it didn't take long for such a feeling to be replaced by disbelief. 'It's not good' was the only thing Hades managed to think. Immediately, his figure disappeared from the garden and reappeared inside his nephew's workshop.

"Hephaestus" a loud scream left Hades' lips, but despite this he received no response. A chaotic scene was reflected in his eyes, usually Hephaestus' workshop was very organized, but on this occasion it seemed to have been ravaged by a storm.

The room was in complete chaos. There were tools and machinery in places where they shouldn't be, while others had completely disappeared. As for Hephaestus, well, he was nowhere to be found in the workshop.

Worst of all, even with his divine sense he couldn't find him, of course, considering what Hephaestus was working on, it was only natural that he couldn't find him even if he used his divine sense.

Although this was a logical thought, the truth was that it did not stop a slight feeling of panic from slowly rising in his body. Besides the fact that the scenario in front of him didn't make things any easier.

"Damn it!" were the only words the Lord of the Underworld could utter under such circumstances.