006.

Hephaestus' steps were quick as he moved through one of the most populated areas in all of Olympus.

The little god could feel a lot of stares towards his person, each one of them with various emotions, but he didn't pay attention to them, he had gotten used to dealing with them after all these years.

Anyway, none of those people were stupid enough to try to look for some kind of trouble against him, so most of the time after a simple look of displeasure they left him alone.

Hephaestus quickly shook his head and pushed those thoughts aside. The next instant, he simply began to speed up his steps. Thanks to this, it wasn't long before he reached his destination.

Hephaestus' brown eyes soon focused on a large building that, even with its relative simplicity, attracted curious and admiring glances from a large portion of the inhabitants of Olympus.

His footsteps stopped when he reached the large doors of the building. With a small movement of his hand he proceeded to take out a small piece of cloth and with it, he proceeded to wipe the sweat on his face.

Then, his gaze looked carefully at his clothes in search of some kind of dirt. Luckily, it was only a small amount of dust, and he began to shake his clothes with his own hands.

He continued this until his clothes looked clean enough. Once he finished these actions a small flame formed in his hand and soon the ashes of the small piece of cloth began to be carried into the air.

Subsequently, his footsteps once again resumed, and he quickly entered through the large doors of the building. Causing his figure to disappear before the eyes of the inhabitants of Olympus.

Some of them had a face full of envy as they watched Hephaestus enter the great doors of the building, while others just looked at those who could not accept the reality while shaking their heads slightly in disapproval.

As soon as he entered, he could feel how the outside world fell into complete silence, as if the people outside the building had disappeared. Being honest, it wasn't something surprising, as his workshop also had that kind of capability, but it was still a feeling he always found relaxing.

Quietly he began to walk around the inside of the building and soon his line of sight was filled with large wooden shelves, each containing a large amount of scrolls.

No matter where he would take his gaze, such a scene did not change. Being frank, Hephaestus was curious to see the faces the inhabitants of Olympus would make upon discovering that the building only served as a giant warehouse and not whatever they had imagined.

Soon, Hephaestus stopped thinking about it and simply kept moving in order to reach his destination. The truth is that he spent a great amount of time inside the building, this because within its walls valuable information could be found.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that a great part of his knowledge about forging and various metals, as well as their refinement process, had been obtained from the scrolls that were guarded in the walls of this building.

After arriving at his destination he proceeded to choose the scrolls that he would read this time, after this he took those that had caught his attention and went to a small reading area that was composed of a wooden chair and table.

His reading speed was extremely fast, while his comprehension ability was extremely high, it was because of this that the scrolls he chose were read in a small period of time.

Once he finished reading the scrolls he had chosen, he would get up from his seat and proceed to place them on the shelves where he had taken them, at the same time he would choose others to continue reading.

Such a process was repeated constantly for a long period of time, but no hint of tiredness or boredom could be found on Hephaestus' face, instead only a slight happiness could be seen in his eyes.

…

After a considerable period of time, Hephaestus had managed to read the scrolls on more than a dozen shelves; however, despite this he still had much to read, yet first he had to put into practice the theory he had learned.

With that thought in mind, the little god began to place the last scrolls he had taken in their respective places. He then began to wander the long corridors of the building in search of something new and entertaining to read.

Of course, it didn't need to be anything related to the forge, it would only be enough if it could pique his interest. After all, sometimes a little break was needed to get the ideas flowing in a better way.

Hephaestus' footsteps stopped once he reached the north side of the building, at the same time his brown eyes showed a brief flash of hesitation. The little god remained in that position for a while.

Afterwards he shook his head and turned away, although she never forbade him to enter that area he preferred not to risk disturbing her during her reading time. Perhaps on another occasion he could go in and take a look at the scrolls there.

After a while, he reached the west side of the building and after a few seconds there he managed to feel a faint sensation of divine power in the area, something that immediately caught his attention.

With enthusiasm, he headed towards the exact area where such power came from, he needed to satisfy his curiosity. The truth is that the area was completely normal and did not have any kind of difference with other places in the building.

However, the moment the young god released his own divine power was that he realized that such a scenario was a simple illusion. As he tried to take a step inside the area he could feel a slight resistance, it was more than obvious that whatever was inside was not something he should be seeing, but that only made him want to see it even more.

Once he made it past what he assumed was a protective barrier, he could see a relatively small room if one compared it to others in the building.

Inside the room were dozens of bookshelves, but these were lacking in reading scrolls. This fact was evident, as several of the bookshelves contained a large amount of unused space and others were simply and entirely empty.

This caused a small feeling of strangeness in Hephaestus; however, he did not attach too much importance to it. Although the scrolls were few in number, he was sure that the information they contained would be extremely interesting.

The little god took one of the scrolls and quickly began to read. The first thing he noticed was the handwriting that had been written on the scroll, being one he knew very well.

Hephaestus' eyes demonstrated confused emotions as he read the contents of the scroll, the most predominant being confusion and disbelief.

His gaze shifted to the north side of the building once he was finished with his reading, and after a few seconds of hesitation, he began to make his way towards it with the scroll still in his hand.

…

After a short period of time, Hephaestus arrived at his destination, which was a reading area that was practically identical to the reading area where he had been before.

In this area he saw a beautiful brown-haired woman with a slight reddish tone. Her face represented a scene of calm and total indifference added to the above, she also had an aura that made it difficult for anyone to approach her.

Despite the fact that Hephaestus had great determination, it had to be said that at the moment of truth he was not entirely sure of his decision. Because of this, his mind began to debate what was the best course of action he could take.

"Hephaestus" a beautiful, but cold voice reached the little god's ears as he was debating what his next move should be.

" Should I remind you what was one of the conditions I made in exchange for letting you freely come and leave my personal library?" the woman didn't even take her eyes off the scroll her hand held as she asked such a question.

Hephaestus quickly shook his head, "I wasn't supposed to disturb you in your reading time" he replied after a few seconds in silence.

The little god did not need the woman to speak again, he knew that her previous question was a way of asking him to leave the place, so he reluctantly began to turn around to go back through the same place where he had come from.

It was at that moment that Athena's indifferent gaze fell upon the sad figure of Hephaestus. A sigh left her lips as she saw his attitude, "Hephaestus" she called with slight indifference, "Take a seat" she continued.

Hephaestus' sadness was quickly left behind, replaced by joy. He quickly followed the indication Athena had given him.

"Go ahead" was the only word the goddess mentioned, but at the same time it was the only one Hephaestus needed.

The son of Hera carefully placed the scroll he had read earlier on the table. Causing Athena's eyes to flash with surprise for a few seconds, though they quickly returned to their usual state.

"This" Hephaestus began to say, but not finding the right words he paused for a moment, "What is this?" he questioned after a while.

"A simple story from a distant place, it is nothing more than that, so you shouldn't pay too much attention to it" Athena's answer was instantaneous, and her voice contained no hint of a lie.

"If it were just a simple story, why would you bother to have it in your personal library?" questioned Hephaestus, not believing Athena's words at all.

"Are you questioning my actions?" the voice of Athena denoted a slight amount of anger.

"No" replied Hephaestus quickly, "Well, maybe a little, but it's because I know that the information you keep in this place will never be that simple" he added with complete certainty.

"Nevertheless this is the case" said Athena, not giving Hephaestus a chance to continue with his words, "There is no mystery to solve and no hidden truth to discover" she pronounced clearly.

"Now for the sake of our relationship I will not take into account the offense you committed by taking the scroll without my authorization, but I hope this will not happen again otherwise I will take actions that will not be to your liking" she mentioned in an indifferent manner.

"That said, I will ask you to leave for the day, since I have wasted enough time listening to your silly argument" she continued without seeming to mind the look that appeared on Hephaestus' face.

Hephaestus only nodded at Athena's words, then proceeded to turn around to go back the same way he had come. He did not mention any words of farewell, nor did he look back as he retreated.

Athena watched the retreating figure of Hephaestus until he disappeared from her sight. After a while she shook her head and proceeded to pick up the scroll that had been left behind by Hephaestus, it looks like she will need to relocate that entire section.

Once Hephaestus left Athena's library he began to head towards his mother's temple, his intuition told him that things were not as simple as Athena wanted him to believe.

His curiosity was in full swing, therefore, he knew that the best way to find out what Athena was hiding was to ask his mother. After all, there were few things she didn't know and most importantly, she had never lied to him.

With that thought the steps of the little god began to accelerate and, as a direct consequence of this fact, the distance between him and his destiny began to shorten more and more.

…

The Queen of Olympus was on her way back to her temple after spending a long time with her sister, even though they only did something as simple as talking to each other, it was certainly something that made her very happy.

However, although she enjoyed spending time with her sister she knew it was time to return to her place of residence, after all she was almost certain that her little boy should have returned from his workshop by now, and she didn't like to leave him alone for too long.

"Mother!" the moment she walked through the front door of her temple was when she heard her son's voice.

Hera's beautiful eyes immediately noticed her son's figure. The goddess only bent down a little and then opened her arms so that a moment later she could feel the familiar sensation of her little one's embrace.

After this she returned to a normal posture with the difference that this time she had Hephaestus in her arms and with soft steps she began to head towards her chambers. "Are you so excited to see me?" asked the goddess with a smile on her face.

The little god nodded swiftly at his mother's question, "I have a question and I want to see if you could help me solve it" he said with seriousness.

"So that's the real reason why you're happy to see me?" the voice of Hera was replete with false sadness, as her eyes showed a glint of amusement.

Hephaestus' mind immediately panicked upon hearing his mother's question, and therefore he didn't notice the look the goddess had, "Of course not!" he mentioned quickly.

"It is true that I was waiting for your arrival to ask my question, but my joy is due to the fact that I can be with you" he added in an attempt to explain his behavior, due to the fact that he did not want to make his mother sad.

A melodious laughter was heard in response to the words spoken by Hephaestus. The Queen of Olympus had to admit that she has always loved to see her son's adorable reactions to her little jokes.

"It's okay, I understand" she said calmly, "Besides I will be more than willing to answer your question" she continued and proceeded to deposit an affectionate kiss on Hephaestus' cheek.

The Queen of Olympus' footsteps did not pause at any point in the conversation she had with her son, so by this point she had reached her chambers, after which she proceeded to carefully place her son on the bed before taking a seat on the same.

"So tell me, what do you want to know?" asked the goddess in a calm manner.

Hephaestus wasted no time and quickly spoke "Have you heard about a god named Thor?" he questioned in a direct way.

Hera's eyes revealed genuine surprise at hearing her son's words; however, this was quickly hidden. "Where did you hear that name?" she asked calmly, without truly answering her son's question.

"Athena" Hephaestus answered immediately.

"Athena?" questioned the queen again, this time the surprise was accompanied by confusion.

Hephaestus only nodded, "Strictly speaking it was thanks to one of the scrolls she keeps in her library, an extremely interesting and special one, since it was written by Athena herself, in it, she mentioned about the god Thor" he began to explain.

"The curious thing is that this god has a great association with thunder and lightning; however, such domains are something that are under Zeus' control, so at first I came to think that the information in the scroll was incorrect however if that were the case then Athena would never have it in her library" he continued.

The Queen of Olympus remained silent, listening calmly and with mild seriousness to the reasoning of her beloved son.

"When I expressed my doubts to Athena she replied that it was a story, but that simply doesn't make any sense, especially to someone like her" this time, after finishing his words, Hephaestus remained silent.

"I can understand your doubts; however, Athena's words are not wrong" Hera began to say, gaining Hephaestus' full attention, "At least not in their entirety" she added belatedly.

His mother's words caused a strong feeling of surprise in Hephaestus. The truth was that he never thought that Athena had told him the truth or at least a part of it, but from his mother's words he realized that this seemed to be the case.

"So-" the little god started to say excitedly, but was immediately interrupted.

"No" a single word caused Hephaestus to fall silent, "Even if you ask again, I won't be able to give you the answer you want" the goddess continued.

Hera's words made Hephaestus' mood sink almost completely.

The Queen of Olympus immediately noticed the change in her son and with a gentle hand movement she pulled him into her embrace, "For the moment there is no need for you to worry about that, once you get old enough I will answer your doubts" she mentioned softly.

"But Athena has a similar age to me" replied the little god.

"I know; however, you know perfectly well that the circumstances of Athena are very different" replied Hera to her son's question and in that way trying to pacify the little tantrum that he was having.

For a long time the mother and son couple had the same conversation until Hephaestus accepted his defeat and began to sleep to the affection and whispers of his mother.

…

After a few days, Hephaestus came to the conclusion that he should not worry about whatever it is that his mother and Athena are hiding from him.

Frankly at first he wasn't entirely convinced, but after thinking about it for a while he came to the conclusion that both of them must have their own reasons for not telling him about what was going on.

So there was no point in him worrying about things that were out of his league. Anyway, as his mother said, once he was old enough, he would be able to know what was really going on.

Hephaestus stopped his thoughts momentarily and instead began to concentrate on navigating the now-familiar path to his favorite uncle's residence.

The Underworld was a place that provoked unconscious fear in the vast majority of living beings, including the gods. After all, there were few who wanted to visit it, although this fact was practically impossible.

Yet even with that kind of fame, Hephaestus considered the Underworld his home and refuge, one that not even Mount Olympus could dream of matching. As he walked around, he fully enjoyed the scenery.

While some people might find it a bit grotesque for Hephaestus, it was extremely beautiful, especially since he could find minerals and precious metals just by superficially looking around.

After a long time, he arrived at his uncle's place of residence, a large mansion with a beautiful and imposing architecture. The black together with the gray were the most used colors in its walls, and even the few accessories of the garden were of the same color.

Hephaestus headed straight for the mansion's garden, only to shake his head as he observed how most of the flowers and trees he had planted had almost completely withered.

"I warned you this would happen" as Hephaestus lamented over the fate of the plants, he heard a somber voice behind him.

The little god didn't need to turn around to know who it was, "At this point, I think the only one who could grow plants in the soils of the underworld is Aunt Demeter" he mentioned clearly.

Hades shook his head, "That's not important, you better start with your work, you know my sister doesn't tolerate you being out of her sight for too long" he reminded his nephew.

"Is everything in the workshop?" questioned Hephaestus after hearing Hades' words, and after a positive answer, he started to head towards the interior of the vast mansion.

The Lord of the Underworld watched the flowers for a while, "Demeter, huh?" his words were not heard by anyone and even if they had been, no one could know what he was thinking.

The workshop Hephaestus had in the Underworld was a bigger and better prepared one than the one he had on Mount Olympus. Of course, to have it he had to do work related to designing and creating new torture machinery for his uncle, but that had not been particularly difficult.

Besides that, his efforts and hard work were rewarded in a pleasing way. The moment he entered his workshop, it was that his eyes focused on an ancient combat helmet.

The truth is that no matter how many times he saw it, he could never cease to be amazed at the sight of it. Not that it was for nothing, after all it was one of the weapons that had been forged by the ancient Cyclops as a sign of gratitude for granting them their freedom.

At that time the ancient Cyclops forged weapons of great power, but without any doubt three of them were outstanding in a great way. Hephaestus was always interested in them, but had no luck in trying to get his hands on them for a long period of time.

Zeus would never allow anyone else to touch or even come close to his Thunderbolt, on the other hand, his relationship with Poseidon was good, but he did not believe it was at the level where he could ask him for the most valuable possession he has.

Even with the relationship he had with the Lord of the Underworld, it was extremely difficult to get Hades to allow him to study the helmet. Hephaestus was fully aware that he could have saved himself a lot of trouble if he had requested the help of the Cyclops; however, his pride would not allow him to do so.

That was and possibly will remain as one of the most stupid decisions he has ever made in his short life, it's just that he couldn't have done it in any other way.

A sigh left the lips of the little god as he forced all his thoughts to disappear while closing his eyes and mentally preparing himself to do his job. Once he finished, the clanging of metal against metal could be heard throughout the workshop.