HEPHAESTUS

He reached out for the large wheel on the door but the metal hatch opened on its own, the smell of oil, metal and smoke wafting out. Bob gave out his signature happy chirp and quickly scuttled in, but Athos was a little more wary. He removed his Oni mask, took a deep breath and followed, stepping beyond the threshold and finding himself in a truly gigantic room that was the embodiment of a mechanic's wet dream.

Hydraulic lifts littered the room with some having cars on them, while the others had...unusual things. All of it, from giant robots to intricately crafted weapons, and automatons to glittering armours, along with a peculiar chariot made of flames, had its very own place.

A number of worktables with smaller projects lay scattered around the room and a large array of tools hung along the walls, most of which Athos failed to recognize. Blueprints of machines lazily floated from one table to another, as a number of metal parts spun around in a perpetual loop of being assembled and disassembled, every cycle forming something different.

He looked over to the whirlwind of metal scraps at the side of the room with a figure at its centre. Bob chirped and scampered over into the metal cyclone that promptly stopped and clattered to the floor, revealing an ugly man in a grimy jumpsuit. His left shoulder was lower than the right and his head was deformed, a permanent scowl replacing what would probably have been a normal face. His black beard gave out intermittent bursts of flame while his right leg creaked in its metal brace. His name, 'Hephaestus' was embroidered on his chest pocket while his sleeves were rolled up, displaying his muscled arms that gleamed with sweat.

Bob hopped on the God's wide shoulders, its silver eyes crinkled up in joy swaying from side to side.

"You're a feisty one aren't you?", Hephaestus said to the automaton, patting Bob with his large, yet dextrous hands. "And I expected you to be here a lot earlier. Do half-bloods not desire rewards these days?", he turned toward the demigod.

"I do. Ran into Janus halfway. Got delayed.", Athos replied, shrugging helplessly. The delay was partly his fault as he was the one who made the choice, but he didn't ask Janus to go all Morpheus on him.

"Janus, eh? He's a nuisance indeed...", Hephaestus huffed. He thought for a moment and snapped his large, calloused fingers.

The bronze bracelet on Athos' hand came to life, slipping off his wrist and landing in the God's palm.

"Shoddy workmanship but still has a hint of Aethers power. Mediocre, but useful", Hephaestus mused, twirling the bracelet in his hands. He gave it a flick with a firey finger and threw it back to Athos who promptly caught it and put it back on.

It gave off a faint glow and morphed into a fancy black watch that was leagues better than his previous one.

"This doesn't count as my favour right?", he asked, tentatively.

"Humph! I'm not as petty as the others. It caught my interest, that's all. It's not every day you find a spatial artefact with Aether's power. Now get on with it. Tell me what you need", Hephaestus harumphed, crossing his arms.

'Spatial?', Athos thought to himself before mentally shaking his head. He needed to cash in his favour before Hephaestus lost his patience. Asking for something like the cornucopia would just piss the God off, thus the only option was asking Hephaestus for something that involved what he was best at. Metalworking.

"How about some magical armour?", he asked.

"Specifications", the god replied.

"Self-healing?"

"Done"

"Ability to spit magical fire?"

"No"

"Can it come with footwear?"

"Done"

"Wings?"

"No"

"Ability to turn into clothes and back?"

"Done"

"Absorb all attacks?"

"No"

"Can work when in cloth form?"

"Hmmm. Fine, Done"

"That's all I can think of right now", Athos said, rubbing his chin. Having armour would prevent him from getting blasted around like the time with the sand abomination. It being able to turn into everyday clothes was just a matter of convenience. It was a shame he couldn't ask for more, but anything Hephaestus made would be perfection, especially shapeshifting armour made of divine metal. He did remember Percy saying how useful such armour could be.

He didn't really want to rely on items for power, but he had to make do with what he had now. He had to start somewhere after all. Being adamant would just get him killed.

"That's all I'm willing to make, Athos. I've stepped out of bounds a little with the self-healing part. Just attribute it to me being in a good mood", Hephaestus grunted, his eyes flicking toward Leviathan and the Oni tattoo.

"No demigod has piqued my interest as much as you have. Except perhaps, Daedalus. Be honoured demigod, only Achilles among all half-bloods had the privilege of having me craft his armour", he continued, turning away and hobbling toward the nearest workbench, pushing off whatever was previously on it. Immediately, Numerous metals lifted off the ground, landing on said workbench. It was mostly celestial bronze, but Athos could've sworn he saw some metals of translucent white and gold in there.

"You should really start familiarising yourself with that watch of yours. It's always hard to get the angle right at first", the God said while materializing a large hammer and smashing down on the metal ingots on the bench. It was probably an intricate operation but it didn't look that way to Athos. He didn't dare comment as he knew better than to question an Olympian. Especially one that was making his armour.

"Angle?", he asked, frowning at the fancy watch around his wrist. Hephaestus had indeed mentioned the primordial, Aether. The Protogenos wasn't in the books so he wasn't sure what he represented in this universe, but he did recall its authority being related to space. Could it be...

"Storage. That's what it's used for. Can't hold anything alive. T'was quite common back in the old days. Not much left though", the God replied, not looking back, continuing to work on the metal.

Athos raised an eyebrow in surprise, unzipping his backpack and taking out a drachma. He focused on the golden coin and sure enough, the coin warped, folding in on itself and vanishing into the watch. He focused once again and the coin reappeared in his hand, but oddly enough it was flipped.

He frowned. He'd have to practice using the artefact for a while before he could use it casually, for, unlike the many spacial artefacts he'd read about, this one didn't naturally bring out the item the way you wanted it to. One may end up holding the blade of the sword instead of the hilt if not careful, but like most things, it would come with practice.

***

It'd been a few hours since he'd started practising with his watch and the sounds of metalworking at the far end of the room were now becoming annoying, but he'd become quite proficient in using the storage item. He wasn't perfect, but he wouldn't bring out a plate of food the wrong way at the very least. He flicked his wrist and emptied the contents of his backpack before standing up and stretching his limbs. He was ecstatic that he wouldn't have to lug his backpack everywhere he went. Fighting would be a lot easier too.

The watch had quite a bit of storage space he could use. Not enough to store an aeroplane, but big enough to keep him happy for a long, long while.

Just then, he heard Hephaestus slam his hands down near the forge.

"It's done", the God said, putting away his hammer and turning around, the satisfied smile on his face making him look a little less hideous.