Chereads / Kiras "Tailed" Journey / Chapter 23 - Hephaestus Pride (Bonus chapter)

Chapter 23 - Hephaestus Pride (Bonus chapter)

Hephaestus perspective.

It had only been a few days since Chaos had asked him to make jewelery for someone she seemed to have an affection for.

Just looking at Chaos expression while she had described Kira to him and how her first encounter with her had gone it was obvious that this little Kira girl already had Chaos tied around her little finger, so when Chaos had requested his help to make her some jewellery that would dual as protective charms he had been more than happy to oblige.

Chaos had given him a place to stay after zeus had thrown him out of Olympus the realm that a majority of Chaos younger family members was residing in, the exceptions was Chaos, and her siblings and their children.

ofcourse just like him had there been others who hadn't been welcome for various reasons, hades had been very much in the same boat, but being older and more powerful had hades instead made his own realm and with the aid of Chaos and some of the other older and more powerful deities found his place managing the souls of the different realms, this also included maintaining the system for the lost realm, as a result had hades earned a lot of support and respect to a point where zeus and his crowd really couldn't do much else than leave Hades to his own devices.

Hephaestus hadn't been as amazing as hades and had instead come crawling to Chaos like a beggar since he had nowhere to go, and unlike those who had cast him out and scorned him for his physical appearance had Chaos welcomed him to her realm with open arms, unlike Olympus did Chaos not bother with servants or anyone for that matter, her realm was ever fluctuating in size based on what she needed and she would only have visitors once in a while.

The visits was mainly from her own children, Nox and Aether or her siblings Gaia, Tartarus and Chronos.

but regardless of situation had Chaos always made sure to stop by Hephaestus for a cup of tea while she asked him about his current projects and if she could bring him something that would help him, she had always been giving him everything he could desire, from company to tools and materials to allow him to indulge in the one thing he felt competent at, and even when he failed or had ruined materials she had never once gotten dissapointed with him, instead she had brought books from other realms with new techniques, better tools or higher quality material.

The only time she had overlooked her visits had been a period of time where Inari had spent large amounts of time here in Chaos realm.

Inari had still regularly visited from time to time, but he had often heard Chaos mutter about needing to pay back Inari, she never told him what she had been doing with Inari during her extended stay here but never once during her visits had it appeared to Hephaestus that Inari in any way was holding Chaos to any kind of perceived debt.

But regardless of that deep down Hephaestus kind of understood Chaos as he was very much feeling the same debt to her, even though she had never demanded anything of her, so when asked to provide a gift from both her and Inari to this little girl who seemingly had managed to garner both of their full devotion he had done the best he could to create a master piece.

Hephaestus had been extremely proud upon returning the finished pieces of jewellery to Chaos, it was rare he was truly satisfied with his work, but this time he felt he had done exactly what he could with the material and the result had not been bad, and she mentioned the Gift being from both her and Inari, he had done his best to try to incorporate something from the both of them into his work and the results had been quite satisfactory.

Hearing a knock on his door he saw a rather exhausted looking Chaos step into his house.

"Hi again Chaos, what can this humble blacksmith do for you today"

his greeting was casual and he had often swapped around blacksmith or craftsman depending on his mood, he had mastered both, but working with tougher materials was his true passion.

Chaos simply gave him a wry smile.

"Do you think you're up for a challenge of creating something you've never done before?"

It was rare for her to ever ask him to make anything and never once had she put demands on what she had asked him to craft.

"This old man is all ears, let me know what it is about"

in response she materialised a big black ornate box with Inaris sigil on it.

Placed it on the table between them and opened it up.

Hephaestus immediately did a double take and was questioning his own eyes.

"Is that really ...." Hephaestus trailed off.

"Yes this is genuine Asgardian steel"

Hephaestus eyes went wide while he had an extremely hard time containing his excitement.

It was obvious that she had gotten the steel from Inari considering the encasing, but how Inari had managed to get her hands on it was completely beyond him, it did however give him a newfound respect for Inari, anyone knew how enclosed the asgardians were and many would be willing to kill for this steel.

"Is anyone aware you have brought this to me?"

Hephaestus inquired.

"No beside Inari and I this is a complete secret, but this is what I want you to use it for" Chaos brought out the pieces of jewelry that he had crafted for that Kira kid.

"I respect you a lot but why would you go so far for this kid, I know its not my place to ask but it isn't like you to expose yourself to danger like this... Is this your so called favor to Inari ?"

Chaos looked at him with a thoughtful look, "initially it kind of was but this have become much more and I believe you will only truly be able to understand if I show you this memory, do keep in mind I want you to keep this as very important secret"

Chaos got up and placed her fingers on his forehead and suddenly pictures of her holding a girl up on her arms bragging to Inari about how she had acquired her traits, and later when Inari had asked her to look into Kiras eyes.

Finally ending with the girl sleeping piecefully at what looked like a Shrine of sorts.

Hephaestus had become completely lost for words, he knew just exactly how hard and unrealistic it was for someone to both have the capacity and compatibility to obtain Chaos unmodified traits.

he also knew that this didn't for a second mean that she was appreciating her other children less, but he also in a heartbeat understood just how special Kira was, and further understood why she was going to such lengths to ensure her protection.

"I believe congratulations are in order, you finally managed to pass on your true inheritance to someone, to believe this child would be capable is beyond me"

Chaos scowled at Hephaestus, "were you paying attention at all?"

Scratching his neck in confusion Hephaestus replied.

"Sorry was I supposed to notice something else?"

frowning, Chaos once again went over and showed him the full picture of the girl, then she modified it so both her and Inari was in the view at the same time.

That was the moment the true significance struck him, she hadn't simply completely inherited Chaos Traits but also Inari.

Struck into complete silence, even had she just been inheriting Chaos true traits, it would have been something that everyone would be talking about and some would try to target her before she grew as powerful as Chaos herself, but this wasn't just Chaos but the full traits of Chaos and Inari combined.

Hephaestus hadn't ever heard of a case like this ever before, the child must have been truly something to harbor that kind of capacity.

"I now understand exactly why you're willing to go to the lengths to ensure Asgardian steel for Kira, my lips will remain sealed, I shall not be the reason that she ever comes into harms way, that said I do fear Nox and Aether will seek her out the moment they sense the sibling connection.

I do pray they won't lash out in jealousy but support her as family, I realise that neither of you are like zeus and the rest of the olympians but if my past experience taught me anything can jealousy be a nasty thing"

Chaos simply supplied him with a massive grin

"don't worry about them they will he unable to do anything else than adore her as much as I do, I'm certain of it.

and I'm extremely happy you're already thinking of her protection, I knew you would understand.

now do you think you can do it, I doubt anything less would be able to host the enchantments Inari and I are planning to provide her."

Looking at the jewellery and then towards the Asgardians steel, he nodded once again with renewed determination, he understood the importance of his job, and just how much faith both Inari and Chaos was putting into him.

He was determined that this would become a masterpiece that he would likely never again in his life be able to top, he only hoped that he one day would be able to see Kira in person wearing them with pride.