New God of the forge.

Primordials

So I lost, huh?"

Her face became downcast as an expression of sadness marred her face, and her regrets flooded her mind. The tiny hope she had that her mother might be alive in her father's stomach was fading, and with the realization that she might have been deluded to believe she was alive, a tinge of anger flared in her heart. She hated her father, and she felt like getting off the bed and trying again, but that anger was quelled by a sense of defeat. It was pointless; not only that, but if she lost once, what makes her think she can win?

"I'm so stupid."

There was no reason to confront Zeus at that time; waiting and watching would have worked in her favor, yet for some reason she rushed in, forewent any planning, and just recklessly attacked Zeus.

With a sigh, she slid off the bed and stood up, only to stagger forward a few steps. She was feeling a bit lightheaded, but she was overall fine. As she was trying to get her bearings, she heard the sounds of people shouting—two women whose voices she recognized.

"Hecate, are you trying to destroy our home?"

"Calm down, Aphrodite; nothing got destroyed."

"How am I supposed to calm down? That explosion made me lose focus and let him score against me."

"I thought you were worried about something getting destroyed."

"I can be worried about two things, but you making me lose takes priority."

It seems that Aphrodite and Hecate were arguing about something; just as she focused on their voices, the door to the room opened and Hephaestus entered.

"Oh, great, you're awake."

He said with a relieved sigh that he seemed to have been worried about her.

"I just woke up; the explosion woke me up."

"Mm, good, good. I came to check on you since you have been asleep for two days now."

"So I lost that badly, huh?"

She said it remorsefully and felt a bit humiliated by the fact that she was knocked out for two whole days. As a warrior, that's not exactly a good thing, not to mention she had an advantage with the scythe, yet she still lost.

"Don't think about it too much; you can't win all of them, or you can take solace in the fact that I've never won in a fight against you, so in my eyes you're undefeated."

An attempt to console her, however, seems like it wasn't quite welcome; that's the last time he'll try to make a joke ever again. After his words, an awkward silence descended upon the room.

"I'm sorry"

She said it was an odd response to his statement, and he didn't recall her doing anything in need of an apology.

"huh?"

"When we first met, I called you hideous. I'm sorry."

Unfortunately, before Hephaestus could speak, the door was flung open, and Aphrodite walked in.

"Hephaestus, darling, you have—oh, Athena, you're awake."

"Darling?"

Both Athena and I questioned whether this was the first time she had ever called him that. To be fair, their relationship is still quite fresh, so it's a bit early for pet names. Was it appropriate? He couldn't really tell.

"When did you start calling me darling?

"Should I stop?

She asked while grabbing his hand and sticking to his arms. This was no surprise to Hephaestus, as she has been quite intimate for the past two days; he figured it must be in anticipation of what he said back then. Athena, on the other hand, frowned a bit seeing the whore cozy up to Hephaestus; she had never planned on interfering with Hephaestus's relationship, but for some reason this whole relationship rubbed her the wrong way; she didn't like it.