Page 4 of Hephaestus
In five years, I had managed to craft some of the finest weapons the world had ever seen. Word of my skills even made it as far as Mount Olympus. Zeus sent messengers to the island in request of special items and weapons as gifts to other gods and goddesses. Although I detested the very thought of doing any favors for the man that laughed and mocked me when I was born, I still had my wits about me to know that not fulfilling a request from the King of the Gods could end with dire consequences that I would have to endure. I shuddered at the very thought of it, being reminded of the stories I’ve heard over the years of Zeus’s invoked wrath.
Therefore, I made all the finest weapons that he desired, including silver bows and arrows for Artemis, Goddess of the hunt, moon and wilderness, and even a golden chariot for Apollo, God of the sun, music and healing.
The chariot proved to be a great challenge for me. It would be the first thing I ever crafted outside of Kidalionas’s cave in an open clearing. I found myself tripping on several occasions due to my weak leg that gave out every so often when I had nothing to lean on. Zeus’s messengers continued to pester me with wanting to know when the final product would be ready. It took nearly five months to come up with the end result and when they retrieved it, I didn’t even get a single word of gratitude, which irked me to no end. It was another chip on the tally mark of all the things Zeus and Hera did to make me resent them all the more.
The time had flown by as I spent a majority of the hours in the day crafting and honing my blacksmith abilities. Before I even knew it, ten years had already come and gone.
Kidalionas pulled me aside one evening to check in with my progress and my thoughts, patting me on the shoulder softly. “There’s really not much left here for you now, Hephaestus. If anything, I am now holding you back. I think it’s time you finally returned to Mount Olympus, to claim your right as a god. Then, you will be able to build a fine palace with the greatest of workshops and tools at your disposal to craft the most spectacular weapons the world will ever come to know.”
“But what about you, Kidalionas? Will you be okay all on your own?” I asked with worry. It was very recently that I started to notice my mentor’s deterioration. He was much slower with his movements and the time it took him to create a sword proved to be much longer than I was used to seeing him doing.
“I will be alright, Hephaestus. You do not need to concern yourself with the likes of me. I will probably no longer be of this world in the near future. I have come to terms with that and fully accept the timeframe that the Fates have in store for me. Of all the weapons and armor I have developed in my life’s work, nothing compares to one thing I’ve crafted recently,” he ambiguously stated.
“And what would that be?”
“You, Hephaestus,” he replied, so matter-of-factly. “I have taught an Olympian God the way of blacksmithing. You have proven to be my most prized possession, to the point where you even surpassed my own skills in just a matter of a few years. I will die peacefully and pleasantly knowing of my contribution in training you to be a skilled god in the art.”
I could feel a trail of water fighting to escape the corner of my eye. “Thank you, Kidalionas. And please, don’t say such things. You will still continue to live for many years to come. I am quite sure of it.”
But I was mistaken and naïve to think such a thing. I remained on the island of Lemnos for another three weeks. I wanted to finalize a few weapons I still had to finish before my departure up to Mount Olympus. Yet it was clear Kidalionas became weaker with each passing day. I decided to extend my stay even longer, staying by my mentor’s bedside, until his final moment left in this world.
“Hephaestus, there’s been something I’ve been meaning to tell you. I’ve kept it to myself for all these years, but I need to be able to say it now, as it may be my last chance to do so,” he uttered with extra breaths in between most of his words.
“What is it? You can tell me,” I eagerly replied.
“Now that I’m on my way to the Underworld, I no longer have any fear of the other gods. So, I can now share with you how I feel abouteverything.”
“About everything?” I repeated back to him.
“Yes. About how cruel your mother… Ah! Hera, I mean. How she treated you. When she flung you to the ground on that very day you arrived, I knew I was instantly grateful for her lending you to me. I knew I would care for you and build you back up to correct all the times she spent tearing you down. I want you to be cautious when you return to Mount Olympus, Hephaestus. Keep your guard up around her. A woman who could treat her son with such malice is a woman who should deserve no affection in return. What she did to you was awful. And I hope I’ve done my part in helping to suppress the rage you may have accumulated from all that time you’ve had to endure her wickedness.”
It was everything I needed to hear from him. All these years, I assumed there was a possibility that Kidalionas had some sort of allegiance to Hera. And now, I was glad to be proven wrong. His words were the validation I needed to hear. It was rewarding to know that someone agreed with me in believing the way I was treated was brutal and unfair. This allowed me to finally shed a tear, one that was harboring and waiting to come to the surface for over ten years in the making.
“You’ve done more than I could have ever asked for, Kidalionas,” I replied back to him, in between a few sobs.
“But have I done enough? I do have one last request, Hephaestus. Consider it the one last wish of an old, dying man.”
“Please! Tell me what it is. I’ll do it,” I adamantly answered.
“Promise me that you will withhold your rage. You may not realize it yet, but I know that based on the harsh treatment you faced from Hera growing up, there must be a feeling of wrath and revenge that stirs deep within you. Promise me that you will do your best to contain it. No good comes to the world when a god is vengeful,” he explained.
To be honest, I was confused by this reaction of his. I was unsure of the rage that he spoke of. I didn’t recall ever feeling it, but if it was what he desired, then I would give him my word. “I promise I won’t seek any sort of revenge,” I commented.
“Thank you. Now, I can finally rest…”
And the two of us remained silent as Kidalionas began to drift off to sleep. I sat by his side for hours until I finally knew that this was an eternal slumber. He would never wake up again to see the light of day. I already missed him. He was the only person I ever cared for in my existence. Now that I had that taken away from me, I felt lost. A sudden wave of emotions overcame me.
I clenched my fists, as anger was boiling up within me. It was unjust to lose the only person I had in my life that I considered family. But I had made a promise to Kidalionas. I needed to avoid succumbing to this newfound fury if I wanted to keep his dying wish.
So, this was the wrath he was referring to, I thought to myself. It wasn’t a very pleasant feeling. And the moment I felt it was the very moment I wanted to find a way to release it. And truth be told, it seemed like violence was the only path to get rid of it. Maybe now I could put the feelings to rest, but would I be able to for the rest of my existence? Only infinite time would tell.
***
I returned to Mount Olympus a few days after Kidalionas had passed. There was no longer anything keeping me on the island of Lemnos. Now that I was able to return to Mount Olympus with my ten-year curfew that Hera had demanded being up, this was the only move I could make that I saw as a reasonable one.
It was time to avoid the inevitable. I was technically the son of the Queen of the Gods. It was my birthright to accede to the throne as one of the Olympian Gods. Maybe then I could establish some sense of power so that I could have my own palace and create a blacksmith workspace within its confines. It would be a place where Hera was unwelcomed. Preferably, no one would come to visit me. In spending time with just Kidalionas on Lemnos, I learned to live alone, and I honestly preferred that compared to having to socialize while trying to understand others and whether I could trust any single one of them. My trust would have to be earned. It was not a given.
As I emerged into the city, I noticed it seemed desolate. The noise of the sandals clacking against limestones and marble pathways was absent. This was beyond unusual. However, I paid no mind to it. The only place I rationalized that I needed to go to was Zeus’s palace to inform the king and queen of my arrival and my plan to remain a permanent resident here on Mount Olympus.
