*One Week Later*
Slamming his hammer against the heated steel, Hephaestus wiped his forehead. He scratched his beard, and then picked up his tongs, carrying the steel to a vat of fresh water. “I was starting to grow impatient.” Watching the steam rise from the cooling metal, he folded his huge arms to his chest. “No sneak attack?”
Aphrodite shook her head and walked into the home. “Don’t insult me.”
He laughed and turned his back to her, continuing his work. “Calling you sneaky is an insult? My, my haven’t you grown sensitive? You went behind my back and slept with both human and God-” He pointed his finger up in the air. “Correction two Gods…and then sneakily made your way to earth where I’m fairly certain you’ve found yet another thing to bestow your *feminine wows* upon.”
Aphrodite cut her eyes and Hephaestus cackled as he limped to retrieve more tools. “How long do you think it will take your new victim to realize your *love* is nothing but poison? Beautiful on the outside, but rotten to the core.” He picked up one of the miniature statues and hurled it at her, and she slapped it away before it connected with her face.
“My knickknacks have more integrity than you my dear *wife* worth twice as much as well.” He saw her hardened eyes soften.
“I NEVER WANTED TO BE MARRIED TO YOU!”
“But I wanted you, and instead you gave yourself to that meager human and claimed it to be love. I should have known then that your whorish-” Aphrodite produced a pink mist and used it to grab Hephaestus by the throat. Catching him off guard, she pulled him to his knees. She tightened her grip, and spit flew from the side of his mouth.
“You never did know how to speak to me or any woman, Goddess or human alike.”
Hephaestus summoned his anvil and slammed through the mists breaking its hold around his throat. He seethed. “YOU LITTLE BITCH!” He lunged at her, but she slapped the mist hard against his permanently wounded foot. Doubling over in pain, he fumed at her, “I’ll kill you. I fucking swear I’ll kill you!”
“Hey now…that’s not nice.” Hephaestus followed the voice, seeing the man standing in his doorway. Leaning against the frame, one leg over the other, Adam grinned at him. “Don’t be ashamed, she brought me to my knees too.” His eyes gleamed at Aphrodite in humor, and she blushed.
“Who the hell are you?!”
Adam looked around and then pointed to himself. “Oh! Me?! Wow…I was certain that your whole *no sneak attack* comment was because you knew I was coming. Don’t you all have like some kind of newsletter or something?” He patted his chest. “Apologies. I’m one half of team nightmare-you know- the two who are going to kill you all.”
He stepped inside the home. Hephaestus stood and summoned his tools. As they levitated in the air, they all pointed towards Adam. He sighed, “That A LOT of weapons for little ole me…This wouldn’t have anything to do with me being your wife’s -*your forced wife’s…you fucking weirdo*- about me being her soul tie would it?”
Hephaestus looked to Aphrodite. “THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE! I KILLED HIM!”
Adam sucked his teeth, “I knowww...a total bummer to make you have to do it again. Here I’ll give you the first swing. Go on, I’m ready.”
Hephaestus growled and commanded his tools. Driving forward, they stopped inches from Adam, and his face turned into a sneer. Eye whitened, he stomped his foot and bright light traveled through the entire house.
Hephaestus struggled to regain his vision, his face turning to horror as he saw his tools turned their attention back to him. Angry faces covered the knives and hammers, a piercing glare on the anvil. Adam laughed, “If I were you, I’d run.” Hephaestus darted from the house. Hands in his jeans, Adam followed the God, effortlessly dodging everything he threw at him.
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?!” He screamed.
Adam shook his head, “Hephaestus, I’m a person, not a thing, and frankly you hurt my feelings.” He pointed behind the God to the gold-plated statue. “Now see, that, that’s a thing. Though from what I was told, it was originally a person until you decided to punish him for loving what was his to love in the first place.” Adam’s face hardened. Aphrodite watched his rigid body, walk slowly towards a clearly terrified Hephaestus. “There isn’t a bit of decency in you is there?”
“FUCK YOU!” Hephaestus screamed back.
Instead of responding, Adam disappeared inside the statue. The gold statue shook violently, and it’s massive frame jumped down from its plated stand. It moved slowly towards Hephaestus, unphased at each of his blows, until the God held his bloodied battered hands. She knew she should look away, but she couldn’t, and Aphrodite watched as a gold fist tore into Hephaestus's chest. Pulling out his heart, it dropped it to the ground and stomped on it, killing the God immediately.
Aphrodite walked up to the statue and placed her hand on it. “Adam…”
Light covered the figure and she backed away. Pulling himself from it, what once was Aeson, crushed the body of Hephaestus. Turning to Aphrodite, Adam looked at her, the fury evident on his face. He took a step towards her and she didn’t move, not even when he pulled her roughly into his arms. He breathed harshly against her hair, and he felt her arms around his waist.
“It was like feeling another person's anger, sadness and death all at once. I wanted to torture him, wanted to feel the pain of being encased in gold.... like I was.” Adam’s eyes tore back to the statue, his mind in another place. He buried his head into her neck and breathed her in. “I’m sorry if I frightened you.”
Pulling herself from his arms Aphrodite connected their lips. She felt his body calm as he relaxed into her, and his eyes returned to their normal hue. “What he said about me. I-” He smiled at her words and kissed her again.
"I love you and I felt firsthand how much you love me...and just now-I got to feel how much Aeson loved you as well. Do you understand what I'm saying to you?" She nodded as he caressed her face. The others joined them shortly, looking at the deceased God.
“You used the immortalized gold-plated body of Aeson, to remove Hephaestus heart and crush him…that’s dark Adam.” Hades teased, “I’m starting to think, you all are little-”
Kore cut her eyes at him. “A little what?”
“Fucking nuts.” He laughed before her eyes blackened making him cough. “Just kidding beautiful.”
Thanatos nodded to Adam. “Great Job”
“Thanks Uncle.”
Looking around, Hades squinted his eyes. “We should get out of here. We need to get to the hideout and decide how to handle the next target. She won’t be as easy as Hephaestus, she doesn’t have an emotional tie to anyone here that would throw her off her game.” The others nodded in agreement, making their way from Hephaestus's home. Upon seeing the group leave, Zeus appeared in front of Hephaestus's mangled body.
He shook his head, “And they said my sins would come back to crush me.” Waving his hand, he pulled an orange mist from Hephaestus into himself. Feeling the new power coursing through him, Zeus looked towards the home and raised his hand. Hephaestus anvil flew to him and he whistled, spinning it in his hands as he disappeared once more.