23 chapter 22

"Honestly it's a pain in the ass that I can't use Teleportation to get here"

Hephaestus voiced as he arrived at Aphrodite's palace, in the interest of safety a magic spell was put in place all over Olympus to prevent all forms of Teleportation, this was done to ensure no enemies would suddenly enter Olympus without warning and this meant everyone had to come here by either flying or carriage.

Aphrodite's palace was quite big but it had no yard to keep intruders away or any guards but  then again it's Olympus there's no need for those things after all  what kind of God invites  themselves to  the house of  another God without being accepted by  the owner of  the house.

Walking up  the small steps that led to the  open door, he  ignored the fact that the doors were open and  instead walked into  the living room and  saw 3 nymphs that had troubled looks on their faces.

"Aphrodite, I've come to  visit"

 He said and  finished with  a small chuckle to himself, he  was in  a good mood today, that was because he was certain  that she  would love  the  gift he prepared, after all its been often  said  that women love mirrors and with the way Aphrodite is she  should love the mirror he made

"Lord Hephaestus, lady—"

"DID YOU NOT HEAR ME? I SAID GET OUT "

"huh?!"

"HEY STOP!!!"

The  nymphs and  Hephaestus was startled by  the shout, it took  a bit before it could register and who it belonged to, he never heard Aphrodite shout before, at first he thought she  was talking to be him but he just got here and her second shout  made him immediately spring into action, an uninvited guest.

It didn't take him long to  immediately arrive in the room where her voice came from, the doors to said room were open so  nothing was obstructing his way, his eyes laid upon  the back  of a naked Ares  who walked closer and  closer to Aphrodite, her back was against the wall as she shouted at the God who slowly approached her.

"HEAVENS, ARES STOP. YOU DO NOT ENTER A LADY'S CHAMBERS LIKE THIS!!"

Beads of sweat began to trickle down her forehead, she was certain that she was clearly conveying her words correctly and with the right tone, there should be no misunderstanding in what she's saying. She was telling him to leave and he wasn't leaving, was this one  of the cases where he was jumping to conclusions about what she wanted? Not only that but she found him especially intimidating right now, like he could harm her anytime he feels like it.

"I do kind of like this game, denial play always gets me in the–"

"What are you doing Ares?"

Hephaestus interrupted the God of mid sentence, his words laced with a thick layer of anger but he made sure not to show it, impulsive anger was never good. It looked like nothing had happened yet so it was best not jump to conclusions. Ares turned his head and looked behind him, his mood had suddenly soured.

"Hephaestus!!!"

The relief in her voice was clear as day, she was definitely glad that he had arrived, if he hadn't arrived she may have had unspeakable done to her.

"Oh Hephaestus, what brings you here"

"he! Hehe!"

Hephaestus chuckled to himself as he head that question, it wasn't disbelief but more of shock, did he really just ask that question.

"Aphrodite and I are married you know"

He took a single step forward as he said, his body began to heat up significantly but it was unnoticeable at the moment. Perhaps Ares wasn't about to do what he thinks and maybe the God of war was drunk and this was a simple misunderstanding.

"so are my mother and father, what's your point?"

*slosh*slosh*

While the two began to talk, Aphrodite thought it best to be near Hephaestus and quickly trudged through the water away from the wall and moved towards the stairs near Hephaestus, incidentally she was feeling a bit subconscious about the fact that Hephaestus was seeing her naked which was a first for her, she's never been one to be embarrassed.

"so I should let you rape my wife?"

He asked as Aphrodite finally made it to his side, she quickly picked up her clothes, now that she was behind Hephaestus and was relieved she could feel her knees were shaking a bit. Also Hephaestus's body temperature was quite high he was nearly steaming.

"this isn't rape, not that you would know since you have been ugly  for most of your life but  it's called denial play, it's a form of fore play to get us both in the mood"

"What part of me telling you to get out when you barged in here is supposed to be this denial play you speak off"

Aphrodite spoke from behind Hephaestus, her hand was latched on to his shoulder and with her head peeking over. She would never admit it but Ares seemed more than a bit intimidating and she wished to keep her distance from him. at the back of her mind however she had the thought that maybe it was her own fault  after all Ares was acting based on the impression she gave off, why else would he misunderstanding her and think she was simply playing. The nauseating feeling at the pits of her stomach made its return.

"It seems the lady is against you, Ares"

A golden portal appeared near his head and the Hilt of a blade slowly slid out of the portal. The hilt was black with a red diamond pattern on it. Hephaestus then grasped the hilt and pulled out a curved black blade. His body was emitting steam as he descended the stairs and set foot in the water causing a rush  of steam to ascend nearly blocking him from view.

"I suppose I should have expected this, you've found a new toy now haven't you?"

Ares addressed the goddess as he prepared himself  to confront Hephaestus, he wonders how long it will be until she throws him away after all it's not like she wants him for anything other than sex. Another thing however was the fact he was still holding a grudge against Hephaestus because of the incident where he nearly burnt his hand so he was more than ready to fight Hephaestus anytime.

Aphrodite did not respond to his words, she wanted to tell him that they weren't true, that they were lies but she understood why he would assume as such so she kept quiet, after all a whore like her has done things like that in the past. She instead spoke to Hephaestus, deciding to stop  him from doing something he'd regret.

"Hephaestus, please calm down, if you suddenly kill him there'll be more problems for us"

Hearing her words Hephaestus sprung forward reaching Ares's position faster than one could blink and swung his blade up, Ares jumped back dodging the attack, unfortunately he misjudged the blade's length and had to move his head back to avoid getting his head split open from the bottom up, although he did receive a single scratch right  above his left eyes.

His back hit the wall and he quickly jumped to the side and into the middle of the room trying to avoid getting cornered. He wiped the blood from his eyes as it had leaked down and obstructed his vision, he the wiped the blood from the wound directly and waited for it to heal, however the bleeding didn't stop and the cut above his eye didn't stop leaking blood.

"what?!!"

He exclaimed and continued to wiped the blood off, the cut wasn't healing. He held his hand over the wound to stop the bleeding and his eyes wondered towards the blade held by Hephaestus.

"What sort of blade is that? What did you do??"

"Ares leave, you aren't welcome here"

Aphrodite spoke, She was finally fully dressed. She stood right behind Hephaestus  feeling a sense of safety from him, she didn't think of herself as afraid of Ares however she was aware that she could never overpower him although her divinity of love could  be very useful when she's being attacked, it doesn't work on those with strong mental fortitude not to mention if she's not careful  it might work against her.

"Humph"

Ares huffed and carefully walked towards them his eyes never leaving Hephaestus,  the two of  them maintained eye contact up until the point he got his clothes before proceeding to exit the room,  Aphrodite had stepped aside getting out of his way as he left although he didn't  leave without shooting a hateful glare at Hephaestus. This was the second time he got harmed by him and  he was sure to get back at him before there's a third time However for now he'll let things go, at least until he and  Athena have what they want.

"Hephaestus are you alright?"

"I should be asking you that"

He  responded, there was hardly anything to ask regarding his state of being since there was no fight though he does appreciate that she was worried enough to  ask or  was she perhaps asking how he feels.

"I'm  fine  this  was my own  fault anyway"

She said and  cast her gaze downward not  daring to look him  in the  eyes, now  that  she  was in front of him, there was a weird sense of excitement and nervousness mixed  with  apprehension. She has been wanting to  see him  and now  that she's seeing him  she's happy but due to what she came to  realize with  the help of Persephone she felt that she wasn't ready to speak to him yet.

"your  fault?  How so?"

There was a silence that descended into  the room as  Aphrodite struggled to find the words to explain why it was her fault,  she didn't want to say that it was because she's a whore as she doesn't want Hephaestus to associate that word with her but she couldn't think of any that would accurately describe it.

"Aphrodite is something the matter?"

He  walked up the  stairs and  got  close to her,  it  was clear that she wasn't alright, perhaps maybe the earlier event startled her a great deal, he had thought she was stronger than that but it seems he was wrong.

"if it's about what happened a few minutes ago then you don't need to say anything, I could leave and give you some space"

"no its not that… it's "

Hesitation gripped her, no it wasn't Hesitation but a lack of words. She could not tell what she wanted, does she deserve him or not, can she live with herself and continue being his wife when he could have done better than her, She didn't want to end the relationship with him, She…

"It's fine no need to tell me Aphrodite, however I won't be leaving and will be staying with you for a bit also I finished your gift."

He had made an incorrect assumption thinking that gods would be respectful enough to not enter another's abode without their permission, he had nearly forgotten how human-like the gods were.

'funny, I used to be human but there's hardly a change'

He thought, the gods were indeed fundamentally built different from humans yet the acted like humans or was it the other way around, did the humans act in the way of gods.

"It's fine I don't need the gift"

She spoke barely a whisper and Hephaestus had to ask her to repeat her words since he didn't hear her.

"I said let's go see the gift"

She said and took the lead to exit the bathroom, she felt it would be ungrateful to deny his hard work so she'll accept the gift, however she doesn't plan on getting anymore from him, getting gifts will just remind her about herself so she doesn't need anymore gifts.

Stepping out the bathroom and  into the corridor that lead to the living room, as she walked and  Hephaestus followed behind her in silence she could not help but find it an eyesore, the gifts from other Gods that were lined up on the walls were suddenly disgusting to see.

"Perhaps I need to renovate, what do you think Hephaestus"

Despite her mood she turned and flashed him a smile  and asked him a question. Hephaestus who wasn't expecting the sudden mood change was stunned for a bit before offering his opinion.

"If you want to renovate, renovate"

He answered candidly, he saw no need why she'd ask for his opinion on this matter, this is her Home he had no business in whatever she wanted to do with it. Unfortunately that was not the answer she wanted, she slowed down and walked right beside him, there was a slight frown on her face.

"So you don't want me to  renovate?"

"that's not what I said"

He quirked a brow at this, why was she suddenly twisting his words, he would have thought she would be depressed after what happened but she wasn't although he won't complain, she's a Goddess after all what happened probably didn't affect her much.

"You might as well have"

"okay fine, I think you should renovate"

He said, realizing that it was better to comply with her than have her twist his words again, he  didn't think renovating was  even necessary, her house looked fine nothing was broken or out of place but then again in his past life his mom used to renovate for absolutely no reason.

"but I kind of like the way things are, why should I change it"

"you're the one who brought this up, do you want to renovate or not?"

"do you want me to renovate?"

What exactly did she want? He couldn't really tell, she seemed to want to renovate but why was his opinion relevant here  if she wanted to renovate she should just renovate.

"I told you what I think"

"what you think and what you want are different"

"you're making this more complicated than it should be"

"if you don't want me to renovate just say so"

She folded her arms and looked straight ahead, a pout was present on her face, she wasn't getting the answer she wanted from him and it was infuriating her. He was being difficult and dancing around the issue like this, if he wants her to renovate he should just say so.

"Why are you mad all of sudden??"

She chose to ignore his question and instead waited for the answer she wanted to hear from him. Seeing that she was suddenly having mood swings he looked around him taking a good look at the corridor and everything in sight he then answered her question. Letting her be in a bad mood wasn't something he wanted especially considering what happened, best keep her mind off it.

"ugh fine, I want you to renovate, I think it would look better"

"right? I think all these things on the walls are too ugly, so I'll have throw them all out, even those paintings, having portraits of myself is too narcissistic"

"Yes–"

Unfortunately before Hephaestus could speak any further he was interrupted by the abrupt arrival of Hermes, who had entered without warning.

"Aphrodite… and Hephaestus great both of you are here, we have a great problem"

"What is it?"

"You'll hear the details in the palace but the gist is Apollo Betrayed us"

"huh??"

Both of them sounded in unison, they could not believe their ears. What they just heard was outrageous, Apollo was among the most favored of Zeus's Children what possible reasons could he have to suddenly betray Olympus.

"What do you mean he betrayed us and why?"

Aphrodite was the first to come back to her senses and quickly demanded an answer from Hermes, unfortunately Hermes simply shrugged his shoulders and sighed before refusing to give her an answer  or rather he had no answer.

"I'm just as shocked as you are, I haven't the faintest clue why he'd suddenly betrays Olympus and I'm just the messenger you'll get the details in the palace."

He explained and  they  began to move towards the exit, however something suddenly occurred to Aphrodite causing her to halt her steps.

"Wait! I need to change clothes"

She expressed and abruptly turned back and walked towards her chambers. She had put on her clothes while she was still wet from the bath so the clothes themselves were now also wet, they weren't technically wet but they weren't dry either and it was because of this that she felt uncomfortable wearing.

"Aphrodite this is hardly the time, we have urgent matters attend to"

Hephaestus expressed with an exasperated tone in his voice, she clearly didn't need to change clothes and it didn't matter if she did the fact that Apollo betrayed Olympus is too urgent to worry about how one looks.

"these clothes are wet and are making me uncomfortable, not to mention I put them on in a hurry and need to properly adjust them."

She explained, while already walking to her room, she clearly wasn't going to take no for answer to this and Hephaestus had  to concede.

"Just hurry up alright"

"I'll be quick"

She said disappearing into her room, leaving Hephaestus to apologize to Hermes for the sudden inconvenience and had him wondering of he had made her too many clothes and she probably wanted to show them off.

...

A/N: okay maybe some of yall are disappointed and I understand but I kind of wanted more bad blood between Ares and Hephaestus before proceeding to their fight not only that it felt like it would make things too complicated if Hephaestus just up and killed Ares.

also there's a bleach reference in this chapter did you find it?

JJK s2 just dropped and your thoughts?

personally love it, looks like mappa was experimenting with angles and the animation was pretty smooth.

also you guys are pretty cool, I enjoy reading your comments 👍