The following day. Lorne, released after serving his time, drove the bronze chariot toward Mount Etna where the craftsman God Hephaestus resided, under the watchful gaze of a certain loving father.
All along the way he took no detours and did not look back, driving straight into the familiar cave.
Since the [Phoenix] had already taken up residence within his body, the entire volcano had gone dormant, and the formerly scorching hot lava cave had become quite cool.
As usual, the two metal maidservants guarding the entrance led him into the forge room for his meeting with Hephaestus.
And seeing Lorne appear before him in one piece with all his parts intact, the craftsman God let out a long breath of relief, his bloodshot eyes brimming with deep grievance.
"You finally came back. Do you have any idea that ever since you got locked in the Olympus prison, my foster mother has been using a resonance spell to cry to me day and night?
I have not had a proper night's sleep this entire time."
Hearing this, Lorne felt equal amusement and helplessness at Hephaestus's plight, while also being genuinely moved by the concern Thetis showed.
Fortunately his kindness wasn't in vain.
It was clear that ever since the Peleus forced-marriage incident, she had completely given up on the sea Gods and those so-called relatives, treating him as something close to her emotional pillar of support.
"Here. Two jars to tide you over first. Once we have our wedding, you can drink as much as you want!"
Hephaestus caught the thrown divine nectar wine, paused for a moment, then came back to himself and looked at Lorne with a face full of disbelief.
"The old man actually agreed to give Thetis to you in marriage?"
"Because I paid a certain price."
Lorne smiled and then extended his arm, activating the lightning mark on it.
In an instant, Hephaestus before the forge table darkened in expression as the faint trace of expectation that had just risen in his heart toward that father God instantly vanished into nothing.
'Just as expected. He is still that scheming-to-the-bone nature of his. And he never once considered himself to be in the wrong for anything in this entire affair.'
'In that case, do not blame us for learning from your tradition and showing you our filial piety!'
Hephaestus let out a cold hum, then stepped forward and gave
Lorne a light pat on the shoulder, offering gruff comfort.
"Do not worry. After some time has passed, we may be able to help you remove the shackle of that God seal."
"Mm. I will wait."
As the hidden strategist operating behind the scenes, Lorne naturally caught the craftsman God's implication and while nodding in agreement, extended his hands still wearing the chains and shackles and gave a smiling reminder.
"But could you first remove these things from my body?
Traveling with them on is quite heavy."
"Don't you have your own key? "
"A performance needs to be complete."
Lorne didn't say that he had removed them several times in the prison.
After all, if this guy were to know that, he removed that while getting ravaged by his mother and one by his step-sister, he didn't know what his reaction would be.
So, he said. "If that Majesty discovers our private little arrangement, would that not drag you into trouble as well?"
"..."
Hephaestus rolled his eyes, rummaged around in the toolbox, and tossed out another matching key.
Lorne took the key, removed the shackles, and asked casually.
"This is the last one? There are no others left?"
"Do not worry. As you instructed,
I destroyed the molds for both the shackles and the keys. I guarantee no one can use these to bind or coerce you."
Hephaestus answered listlessly, unable to help muttering inwardly.
'This set of restraints used up enormous amounts of rare materials, and on top of that was specifically infused with his unique God blood, plus his own one-of-a-kind craftsmanship.
Even with the molds it would be impossible to replicate.
I've got no idea why this young man needed to be this meticulous.'
Hearing the craftsman God's guarantee, Lorne completely set his heart at ease, put the removed shackles into his magical formation diagram, and then extended his right hand.
"What for?"
Hephaestus shifted the two newly received jars of divine nectar wine behind his back, his face on full alert.
"Do not worry. No one is fighting you for those." The amused and helpless Lorne gave a wave of his hand and explained with resignation. "Courtesy calls for reciprocity. I want to give you a small gift."
Then in that outstretched palm, a golden lightning arc flickered as a strict and fierce aura of divine authority spread outward.
"Zeus's divinity?!"
The answer burst out involuntarily as Hephaestus's expression changed.
Lorne gave a nod, a teasing smile spreading across his face.
"That's right. That Majesty holds me in very high regard and even gave me this for self-defense. Keep some as a sample. It should help you forge a more suitable [prototype] for him."
Hearing this, Hephaestus looked long and deep at the Lorne before him.
Obviously, this young man was also an insider on [that matter].
Then without another word, the craftsman God turned and took a small crystal bottle from the toolbox, absorbed a thread of Zeus's divinity into it as material for future use.
Confirming that Hephaestus accepted his [gift], Lorne gave a satisfied nod and felt even more anticipation toward the grand performance soon to unfold.
The first book of the Iliad mentioned that Hera, Poseidon, and Pallas Athena launched a rebellion and used specially crafted chains to bind Zeus, suppressing that God king's God power...
The craftsman God Hephaestus's skill, he had personally tested it and he could say nothing but praise.
Out of "filial" consideration, naturally the recently acquired "foster father" also deserved a tailored set of his own.
"Right then. If there is nothing else, head back first. Do not keep them waiting." After a few more pleasantries, Hephaestus waved his hand and issued the order to leave, his voice growing increasingly meaningful. "Besides, Mount Etna has gone dormant. I need to find a new forge location and make proper preparations."
What he was preparing went without saying.
Lorne gave a nod, rose and bid farewell to Hephaestus, took the reins of the bronze chariot waiting outside the cave, and drove all the way toward Athens.
And when the chariot drove out of the range of Mount Etna island, he picked up the key Hephaestus originally had him secretly keep, fingertips flickering with flame, and instantly dissolved it into nothingness.
Done!
Playing with the one remaining key in his hand, Lorne gave a satisfied snap of his fingers.
Although he trusted the craftsman God's character, he could not guarantee that the man would not be deceived by someone, or that through some accident this key would slip out.
If that happened, the "surprise" prepared for his grand-teacher would have an extra hidden danger.
For safety's sake, it was better to keep just the one key in his own hands.
'Then next, I also need to go make some preparations and properly show filial piety to another elder.'
Lorne smiled with playful amusement, pulled the reins, lowered the chariot's altitude, and using the cover of the layered forest to conceal his tracks, headed toward his home base of the War God Mountain.
However, before he had gone far, he nearly collided with another chariot speeding toward him from the opposite direction.
"Apollo?"
Lorne hit the brakes and came to a sharp stop, looking at the handsome golden-haired, blue-eyed young man driving the opposite chariot with slight surprise, then shifting his gaze to the back seat where his surprise deepened considerably.
"Aphrodite? Why are you here too?"
That was right.
Sitting in the back was the Goddess of Love who had been missing for quite some time.
Before Aphrodite could open her mouth, Apollo spoke first.
"She just went to Sicily for a visit.
I happened to come across Aphrodite being held by the Cyclopes on the island and took the opportunity to rescue her."
Under Apollo's quiet gaze, the Goddess of Love in the chariot gave a resentful nod, though the look she turned on Lorne carried an extra trace of gloom and helplessness.
As a former accomplice of the Goddess of Love, Lorne of course knew exactly why Aphrodite ran off to Sicily.
She was living in seclusion with her little lover Adonis.
Equally, as an accomplice on the other side, he also knew Apollo's purpose in going to Sicily.
To steal the [Thunderbolt] and kill the three Cyclopes by scouting the location in advance.
Combining the evasive attitudes of the two people before him, Lorne basically guessed how things unfolded.
Apollo, during his scouting, stumbled across Aphrodite living in secret on Sicily with her little lover Adonis and used this as leverage to drag the Goddess of Love into the plot.
After all, Aphrodite abandoning her comfortable life to go up the mountain at this particular moment needed no imagination to understand what it was for.
And given that Adonis was not currently at Aphrodite's side,
Lorne estimated that the pretty boy was most likely being held as a hostage by Apollo.
'Well then, little brother-in-law.
You have come quite far quite quickly.'
Lorne looked with meaningful eyes at the God of Light who once looked perfectly righteous on the surface and had now completely gone dark, shaking his head with quiet private amusement.
In the original rebellion, the only ones named were Hera, Poseidon, and Pallas Athena.
Apollo had accidentally stumbled onto the three's secret conspiracy and been coerced into joining.
And now the wheel had turned and Apollo became the rebel ringleader, turning the tables and luring the unlucky Goddess of Love onto Olympus, coercing her into joining the cause together.
People. In the end they always become the very thing they hated most.
And at this point, all twelve chief Gods seemed to have been rounded up, all directly or indirectly stirred into this rebellion.
Truly worth every bit of the spectacle.
After a round of quiet lamenting, Lorne saw through it without saying so, exchanged a few pleasantries with the two chief Gods, then drove the bronze chariot toward the War God Mountain.
(End of Chapter)