The Good Olympian

The day after the feast, I was walking through the streets of Olympus. With Hera's mediation (who now does everything under my instructions of course) it was decreed that the duel would take place tomorrow, leaving the contestants one day to prepare. Very reasonable. The problem was that I've never even swung a sword in combat before, and an experienced combatant like Clarisse would eviscerate me in battle. Of course I could order her to go easy on me, but even an idiot like Ares would be able to figure something was wrong. In his anger he might step in to fight me himself, at which point I would be toast. And so I needed another way to win, so I went to see the god who could give me the subtle help that I would need to win the duel; the only Olympian that I would consider a good person, Hephaestus, the blacksmith god. And so, with a deep breath I stepped into the forges Hephaestus has made for himself in Olympus.

The first thing I felt inside was the heat. I know that Hephaestus' forges on Olympus was much smaller than his usual ones, used to make knick knacks if he got bored. But still, even entering into this supposedly minor forge made me feel like I stepped into a sauna. There were all sorts of equipment and tools lined up against the walls, and the god's half made projects lay all over the place. Some of them looked really intriguing, but I knew better than to touch anything here, so I walked gingerly and kept my hands to myself.

After only a couple of steps, I realized that if I kept walking I'd probably get lost among the god's unfinished projects forever, so I cleared my mouth and called out, "Lord Hephaestus?"

There was a loud clang to my left like several metallic things were falling over, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps. I turned around to greet the god, and was barely able to stop myself from making a sound.

I knew quite well that the blacksmith god's appearance would be less than ideal. But nothing I knew prepared me for... this. Everything about him was mismatched. One of his eyes were larger than the other. His left arm was longer than his right, but he was also dragging his crippled left leg behind him. This was the legacy Hera gave her son; when he was born, Hephaestus was so ugly that she threw him off Olympus, permanently maiming the immortal. And he has gotten uglier since. Working in forges for thousands of years has made his skin look like dry brown paper. His scraggly, graying beard looked like there were some embers caught in it.

Hephaestus seemed to pick up on what I was thinking, and grunted as if he had been amused as he walked past me. "Camp Director," he stated in a deep, neutral voice.

"Lord Hephaestus," I replied awkwardly, trying to gather my thoughts.

"Come," the god grunted with a hand gesture, and I followed him. After a small walk through the complex, we arrived at a place that was the opposite of the room we left. It was a small, walled garden. A refreshing breeze came through the trees to greet me, and I heard small animals scuttling about. In the middle of the garden was a small golden fountain, with some chairs strewn around it.

"Sit down," Hephaestus said, taking a chair. I did so too, looking around in wonder.

"Not what you expected from a god like me, eh lad?" Hephaestus asked with a smile. No matter what he looked like, the smile was genuine, with a paternal look to it. I've never seen such a thing on a gods' face before.

I shook my head. "No."

"I come here to study nature. Observing it helps me make my automatons more realistic. It is my dream to one day make a completely lifelike automaton, with its own sentience, that can effortlessly blend into the nature around it. Wouldn't that be marvelous?"

That sounded like just begging for a robot uprising nut since I didn't want to antagonize the god who's help I came to ask, I just politely nodded my head and said, "yes my lord."

"Stop calling me that," Hephaestus grumbled.

"Stop calling you.. what?"

"Lord. I'm not some god for lords. I'm a smith. It's the commoners that worship me and it's them I protect. I have nothing to do with lords."

I stared at the god with my mouth open. This, more than anything, showed me once again how different Hephaestus was. Other gods would insist that they would be treated with 'proper' respect. In fact, they would probably blow you up if they thought you weren't treating them with respect. And yet here's one who stops other people from using honourifics when addressing him.

Anyway, I cleared my throat and went on with my proposition. "My - I mean... Hephaestus, I came here today-"

"I can very well guess why you came here today," the god said, "Ares' girl will beat you to a pulp tomorrow. You want my help to stop that from happening."

"I would have phrased it a bit differently, but yes."

"And why would I do that?"

"It would be a good way to get back at your rival."

"My rival? You mean Ares? Why would you think he's my rival?"

That stopped me in my tracks for a bit. Talking about cheating spouses with someone was touchy at best, but talking about it with someone all powerful means I could very well end up toast if I said the wrong word.

Hephaestus noticed my hesitation and smiled gently. "You think I hate Ares because he slept with my ex-wife? I do not. They are both lousy people mind you, but our marriage was something neither of us really wanted, and I don't begrudge her for finding some happiness for herself on her own. One thing I have learned in my long life is that if you are immortal, it's a really bad idea to hold grudges. Most of my family do, which is why most of them are a bit... high stung. I've decided to left my past baggage where they belong; the past."

Once again, I was blown away by the words coming out of the god's mouth, but I still had to make him agree to me. Now, with my current power level, I could just invade Hephaestus' mind and make him my ****, as I had done to many other gods. But I don't want to do that. Here was someone who almost always does the right thing, but still gets shunned because of his appearance. Someone who is always alone and constantly spurned by the women he pursues. Despite all that, he still has space in his heart for kindness. While other gods treat humans as easily replaceable toys, Hephaestus sees them as an equal, teaching them valuable skills. I don't want to be a dick to him as well and use him. Rather, I would like to see Hephaestus have some happiness under my reign, meaning I have to make him agree to my demands peacefully. This means negotiation. Fortunately, I have the perfect bargaining chip.

"If you agree to help me, you will also get the chance to be with the woman you love," I said.

"Aphrodite?" Hephaestus grunted. "You are more stupid than you look if you think I love her anymore. Anyway, what do you think will happen? That once you defeat Ares' champion, Aphrodite won't be attracted him anymore and just come back running into my arms? Ha! Trust me kid, Ares has been humiliated plenty times before, but Aphrodite always goes back to him, like a dung beetle to... well dung."

"I wasn't talking about Aphrodite."

"Oh? Who then?" Hephaestus asked, clearly amused.

"Thetes."

An absolute silence enveloped the room as Hephaestus' eyes widened and we stared at each other. Thetes was a Nereid, a sea nymph, who raised Hephaestus since he was a baby after Hera threw him off Olympus. She's probably the only person who never judged the god by his appearance and loved him for who he is. So it honestly didn't surprise me that much when I was randomly snooping through the minds of various deities on my first day of Olympus that I found out about this. After all, gods are completely fine with **** and Thetes wasn't even Hephaestus' real mother. Though she certainly gives off that vibe. I had seen her around a couple of times in Olympus; she appears as a mature woman in her fifties, retaining her beauty but still clearly showing signs of advanced age. Not my type at all, so I'm more than happy to let Hephaestus have her under my new regime.

While these thoughts raced past my head, Hephaestus slowly stood up and looked at me thoughtfully. "What are you talking about lad?"

"Help me win this duel, and you will be able to spend the rest of your days with the woman you love."

"And how are you able to do that? Last I checked, the only god who can make someone fall in love with someone else was Cupid with that bow of his, and he's not the type to share his toys."

"That is my problem, not yours." I said, and then adding, "this is a once in a lifetime opportunity."

"How would I even know you are telling the truth?"

There was another a small silence. Then I spoke up. "If you help me win my duel against Clarisse, Thetes will in love with you. I swear this on River Styx."

Hephaestus stared at me with mouth open as the faint rumbling of thunder came from outside. One does not make promises on the River Styx lightly... that is unless you control the god of dead who upholds these oaths.

"I'll need some time to think on it," Hephaestus said.

"The duel is tomorrow, six in the afternoon."

"I know!" the god snapped. He then took a deep breath. "Sorry. I know. You'll get my answer within the hour. If it's a yes, then that means I would craft you something to win the duel."

I stood up too, knowing my job here was done. "Very well then. I'll show myself out."

Hephaestus nodded before slumping into his chair. When I briefly touched upon his mind, I could feel the god's inner morality fighting with the bitterness of being alone and unloved for four thousand years. Knowing which side is gonna win, I went out of the blacksmith god's forges with a lighter mind than when I came in.