[Greece] Lemnos

[Apollymi]

Lemnos is an island in the northern part of the Ageanon sea off the coast of Greece. It is home to the Smith God, Hephaestus after his fall from glory among the Olympians and even after he was restored. The island itself is full of tropical like forests and cave systems, with lots of clean water springs and interesting wild life. Among the wild life, are Cyclops, Minotaur and other manner of unwanted creatures who seem to like the place because it is strangely void of people. Here even from a great distance, the sound of the Smith God working can be heard as the pings and clangs of metal on metal are a common music about the area. It is rumored among demigods that the Smith God will occasionally create weapons even for them, if he is caught in a good mood and the demigod can gather the materials, what he wants is usually rather dangerous but the reward is usually worth the risk. The Smith God is lonely and often enjoys tormenting the mortals who visit him even as he is doing them favors.

[Bloodedge]

Days ago, the teen son of Poseidon and, strangely enough, Medusa, departed from his recent home in New Olympus on a journey to locate the blacksmith god Hephaestus. It had taken him some time to discover the location of Lemnos, but with serpents on land, and fish at sea to instruct him, he eventually found a path. The trip which followed this discovery was nothing short of a casual swim at speeds trumping that of any vehicle or creature well-known to mankind. Athos eventually reached the shores of Lemnos. The sound of a blacksmith's forging hammer guided him from there, as it resonated across the island. Athos employed his many snake-like qualities that went unseen by his demigod peers, as a sure method to avoid the senses of various cyclopes and other creatures, until he eventually found himself entering the mountain of a home belonging to the blacksmith god himself, and walking along a bridge over lava that soon rose into a staircase toward Hephaestus.

[Apollymi]

The Smith God was a horrid deformed creature. As a god he didn't maintain the beauty or general size of his peers. He was a giant with a hunched back and a lame leg tucked beneath him as he hunched over his work. Large hands manipulated impossibly small materials making them into various shapes. What he was making now would be unclear, but the approach of someone would cause this God to lift his head. His disfigured visage and discolored teeth showing as he gazed upon a demigod. "Hoh! It's been quite a while since I've seen one of you, I wonder what you want?" he said, finding it strange that one so small had even made it to this forge alive. The cyclops of this island loved the flesh of men and animals alike.

[Bloodedge]

At long last, Athos stood before the god he sought. In spite of his propensity for avoiding eye contact with anyone, he spared a glance at Hephaestus. He quickly found this to be a mistake. His one visible eye widened to its very limit when he witnessed the grotesque form of the crippled god, and he looked away for a very different reason than the norm he chose. "Ew," he muttered under his breath without so much as a thought. Upon recovering from the sight of this individual, he spoke in response to the giant's query. "Someone told me you could make me a weapon."

[Apollymi]

The lips of this rather sinister looking individual twisted in a sick way as he revealed those disgusting teeth at the sound of the young man's voice. His 'ew' had been previously diminished by the sound of the hammer clanging down, but once the great Smith Gods work stopped the boy's words were able to reach his ear. "Ha! Someone was right. I could make you a weapon..." the man took one look at the boy turned away from him, and for whatever reason, unlike the other god he'd so recently had contact with, felt no pity for him. "Doesn't mean I'm going to..." said the Smith God as he went back to his work. "What reason do I have to interfere in your little life mortal?" a long blast of the man's breath came with this sentence and he sat smiling with those wretched teeth waiting for an answer which he might actually care for. As was the case with most Olympians fallen or otherwise, they didn't want to do anything that didn't benefit them in some way. It seemed that though Hephaestus didn't get the good looks of his Olympian family, he'd somehow ended up with the attitude that most of them had.

[Bloodedge]

A minor scoff escaped the lad when Hephaestus made it seem he was unlikely to do as Athos wished. The god went on to ask why he would have to interfere with the life of a mortal such as himself, causing Athos' brows to draw together briefly as his nose furled. "I could trade you for some toothpaste," was his initial response. Moving on, though, he had more words to share. While in most cases, Athos had few things to say to anyone, the words of this god were quite annoying to him, and thus he found himself with more to say. "I figured someone who can't move would enjoy any opportunity to do something..."

[Apollymi]

When the boy finally spoke up, his words to the Smith God seemed to enrage him. "WHAT?!" his voice was thunderous spreading around the entire cavern and causing it to shake with the fury of his anger. When the young demigod went on to claim that obviously the invalid god should simply enjoy the opportunity to do something with himself since he was incapable of moving, it only seemed to further the idea in the God's mind that no simple conversation would be happening today. "GET OUT!!!!!" he thundered the entirety of the place trembling in response to his anger. "AND DON'T COME BACK UNLESS YOU CAN LEARN SOME MANNERS!" it seemed that the man was done with this conversation. And the Smith God hadn't created a thing for the demigod child of Poseidon. What he expected from him, is what he usually expected of other mortals, a simple explanation of looking for valor, fortune or fame to get them a weapon. This would usually come with an idea for a half-baked weapon and a fools errand. He'd never been spoken to in such a way by a child before.

[Bloodedge]

"I said your breath smells like the inside of a basilisk!" Athos replied, seeming to be growing more irritated along with Hephaestus. "Being loud isn't making it any better..." With that said, it seemed as if the god would no longer reciprocate discussion of any caliber with Athos. He didn't know what he expected to come of such interactions in the first place, but he supposed it was best if he found another way to accomplish his goals regardless. Without further ado, Athos turned his back on the smith god and began to walk away. As there was nowhere for him to go other than New Olympus, he began a trip there that would take much less time than it had taken him to reach this place.

[Apollymi]

A while after the daughter of Dionysus gave a light interrogation to her newest companion an island came into view on the horizon. She seemed to be in a regular state, her leather ripped assortment of clothing billowing in the breeze as her salt kissed skin shown in the moonlight which was rather quickly fading from sight. Of course, this was a very interesting to see as such the young woman moved towards the front end of their vessel and found herself standing right at the tip with the wind blowing her hair away from her face. Her eyes concentrated on the shore as if she was on high alert. She hadn't said anything but she didn't bother to turn and face her companion knowing he didn't want her looking in his direction for whatever reason he still hadn't admitted to.

[Bloodedge]

After successfully slowing the boat to a halt just at the edge of the water, Athos was able to cease his manipulation of the sea for the sake of faster movement. With Deianira standing at the boat's fore, Athos hopped off the boat and stepped out ahead. Finally, he had something worth saying, and a legitimate reason to say it. "There are lots of monsters here. They look busier than they did last time I slipped past them. I think Hephaestus meant to keep me away."

[Apollymi]

"Monsters, huh?" unlike most instances of Deianira speaking she seemed to be a bit excited and in a very different way. The idea that there were monsters moving about the island and that they were aiming to keep Athos away was a bit daunting, but... if one got past that minor detail, then there was the last thing which would be clear about the young woman. "Something new to hunt~" she said with a hint of something different. "So, he's trying to keep you away, huh? I'm going to get an earful about whatever you said to him last time I take it~" the young woman said seemingly amused before she hopped off the edge of the boat and headed for shore with the swiftness which most wouldn't have expected of her. As soon as she made footfall on the land she took off at a run her eyes dancing across the various creatures which moved about in the moonlight here. She hid the the shadow of a large tree right at the edge of the forest and waited for Athos, watching several cyclops move about in front of the clearest path towards what had to be the forge of Hephaestus by the sound which reverberated across the entirety of the island.

[Bloodedge]

Athos had nothing to say about the words that would surely come from Hephaestus when the pair reached his forge. He didn't really see what the big deal was about what he'd said to the god, but he also had no other real situations in his life to compare it to. He remained silent, but after Deianira's forward movement, he followed in her tracks. The young male seemed strangely apt at moving about in a nimble manner while making little to no sound at all. Soon enough, he was crouched behind a tree adjacent to that which Deianira used as cover, looking out unto the crowd of cyclopes.

[Apollymi]

The daughter of Dionysus had previously described herself as Artemis' blessed huntress. Such a statement might not always make sense to others, but as Deianira watched these beasts move about one might notice the stilled and practiced way she began to move. Knowing Athos had caught up the young woman found herself smirking resisting the urge to look towards him even though she'd heard only the gentlest of noises at his approach. She had something to say, but she'd have to save it, at least for a few moments. The light silver glint in the girl's eyes would soon enough seem to allow her to lock on to the position of some five cyclopes which seemed to be searching the forests, probably for the pair of them. She held out her left hand from her position, a small marking on the side of her wrist giving off a gentle glow in the moonlight before a mysteriously ethereal bow appeared to be clutched smoothly by said hand. At her lower back a quiver also appeared in this moment with several arrows which she pulled from it in a single grasp.

All five arrows were held in the palm of her hand, until she was ready to fire them off. She slipped around the other side of the tree and pulled back on a string which didn't seem to exist loading a single arrow and firing it in an instant and then another immediately after simply by flipping them up against the right side of her bow. The tension of the string seemed to be at its maximum before the release of each arrow, in a single swift motion. The first two arrows flew directly into the eyes of two cyclopes which faced her. Before they could realize what happened they were indeed dead. Their bodies still standing as their fellows meandered around them. Before so much as an alarm could be noticed a third arrow was flying by the time the first two bodies were falling forward to the cyclops who'd been standing right between the first two as their bodies made loud noises which caused them to thud to the forest floor. It stirred the animals causing a bit of chaos as the two other soon began to flail about swinging large clubs around without a care in the world for the forest they wrecked. Of course, this action would last only a few seconds as the final two arrows came sliding through the air at a lightning fast pace. The girl after doing this watched as the final two bodies crumpled beneath their own weight and fell. Silence came to the forest again and in this moment a huge grin came to the young demigod's face. "You're surprisingly quiet for someone who obviously wants other people to know when he's coming~" she said to Athos as a compliment of his abilities. "There aren't any more in this area, we should be clear to approach the forge~" she mentioned giving a small bow so the young lad could lead the way. If one happened to take a look at the bodies of the fallen cyclopes one would notice that each of the arrows which killed them, seemed to be buried precisely in the middle of their eyes. As if they were being used for target practice. Meanwhile Hephaestus' hammer clanging stopped if only for a moment. He immediately knew of the deaths of five cyclopes, if he was upset about it, his face didn't show it, and instead the hammer beats would start up again without more than that momentary pause.

[Bloodedge]

Athos kept himself prepared to assault or bypass any number of cyclopes in the vicinity. Interestingly enough, though, Deianira's next spurt of movement resulted in a rapid elimination of all five large bodies blocking the path toward Hephaestus. Athos' brows rose slightly as he watched the release of five arrows, and his eye widened thereafter during the systematic fall of five cyclopes. It seemed their problem had been dealt with single-handedly, and with that in mind, Athos stood erect. There was nothing left to worry about. Stepping out ahead, he once again made the trek into the mountain Hephaestus' forge was located in, and traveled along the bridge toward the god's precise location. This was sure to become an interesting day rather quickly.

[Apollymi]

Athos seemed happy enough to move forward and take the lead. As this happened the girl's happiness seemed to reach an unreasonable level. Even so she walked behind him and after a few seconds the bow disappeared from her hand and the quiver disappeared from her side, seeming to leave the girl able to walk about with her hands tucked behind her head as if she seemed utterly amused.

Soon enough the white haired demigod would be found standing in the forge of the Smith God, Hephaestus. This decrepit and disfigured God was hunched over his work seemingly unable to pull away from it. Of course, he knew of the approach of Athos and didn't feel like dealing with him again, he doubted after all that the lad had learned any manners. "I thought I told you not to come back here..." he said seemingly calm large scale god. He wanted this lad to go away, with such a fierceness that he still wasn't trying to turn around or hear him out. His large fingers busy working metal as if he hadn't a care in the world.