"That's all I asked"
'maybe I should get stronger so he can protect me and I protect him'
She thought to herself, this was the first time she had ever considered being someone who would fight but she didn't like it when Hephaestus lost a tooth when Ares punched him not only that but she could hardly do anything when they fought.
....
[3 days later]‐
"YES!!!"
Aphrodite jumped up in joy, celebrating as she finally managed to win in a game against Hephaestus, she run around the yard with her hands up in the air as she heard the sounds of clapping from both the nymphs and Hephaestus's golden maidens, Hephaestus also clapped congratulating her victory which wasn't because he let her win, well he did but that's only because he had deemed her to have the right amount of strength and speed necessary, he began playing tennis with to determine her fighting potential as Tennis is a game that can help with your strength, speed and reaction.
He was initially supposed to play only a single game with her before moving on but her competitiveness didn't allow that, that was fine he didn't mind the time spent with her. Now that's done he does wonder if he should take her hunting to help see if she can do well against opponents that won't go Easy on her but will she like it?.
"Well congratulations on your first win"
He said as she watched her running around in celebration before running towards him and jumping into his arms forcing him to princess carry her.
"As my reward carry my like this all day or whenever I ask"
"Do you want me to carry you all day right now or whenever you ask?"
"I want both but I don't want to inconvenience and take up your time"
She expressed with a bit of guilt in her tone. She has been selfishly been taking up most of his time because she's been wanting to beat him in the tennis game so now that she's accomplished that she feels guilty because she's hasn't considered how he would want to spend his time. Being selfish is not how a good wife acts.
For a while now she has been racking her brain thinking about how to be a good wife to Hephaestus and she hasn't been able to think of anything yet, how exactly does a good wife act? The only example of a good wife she had would be Persephone but asking her for advice wasn't something she was keen on, mostly because she made a scene when she left last time and it would be embarrassing to see her again.
"no need to worry, you can demand my time any day of the week"
He responded, both him and Aphrodite were quite in sync just as she wanted to be a good wife he wished to be a good husband and he was struggling a bit with that, how exactly does he treat her? Should he be stern with her or lenient as someone who has never had a lover it was difficult finding the right way to treat one, the most natural thing to him was to give her anything she wants to keep her happy but was that alright?
"but don't you need to prepare for your fight with Zeus? I don't want to distract you or make you lose focus"
She expressed, he was fighting Zeus in a couple of days as such he needs to spend time preparing himself, Zeus is not an opponent he should take lightly.
"the preparations for that are done so no need to worry about my time"
Everything he needed was complete, although he still has to put the finishing touches on both Excalibur and Gae bolg he had to rush them when Athena was fighting Zeus especially Excalibur so he'll need a some time to perfect them and then be ready but there's still 2 days left so he has plenty of time
"what about Athena aren't you going to help her with her problems?"
"Athena is not shy she'll come to me when she needs My help"
"okay what should we do then?"
She asked, if he insisted then objecting to spending time with him will seem like she doesn't like it and he might take that the wrong way. Plus she is more than happy to spend time him anyway so it's not like she loses something by doing so.
"How about we train you to properly control your divinity over love? You said you couldn't control it properly and it might cause people to go crazy and attack you right?"
"Yeah but how?"
"I have something that might help, if you don't mind"
Understanding what he was getting at she let go if his neck and got off him freeing his hands. A golden portal appeared beside his head and a square box dropped onto his hands.
"Maybe you should get more arms so you could do other things while still holding me"
Hephaestus's body heat was very comfortable, she couldn't really tell why but she liked feeling his heat on her skin as such being separated from him was something she didn't like
.
" would you like for me to have more arms"
She quickly thought about it for a few seconds before quickly shaking her head, more arms wasn't appealing to her, while she would like for him to carry her more, more arms just aren't a good look at all.
"No I don't think I want that, anyway what's that box?"
Hephaestus didn't answered but instead threw it at her and she caught it, he then instructed her to twist it just a bit and once she did the box had a faint glow as a clock sound began to tick.
"It's a monster's Rubik's cube you need to realign all the colours before a monster gets summoned"
"what do you mean?"
Unfortunately the 5 seconds were up and just as she was confused staring at Hephaestus behind her, appeared a red slimy monster either with tentacles, the monsters was huge about close to 12 meters in height.
"Huh it's a baby"
Hearing His comment she noticed the weird slithery sounds behind her and she turned around to see and her eyes opened wide as she quickly stepped back in shock as she saw the tentacles of a slimy creature and octopus like creatures with a head that looked eerily similar to a human but the rest of the body was that of an octopus.
"Hephaestus what is that?"
She asked in a strained whisper as she slowly moved back taking care to not have it attack her, Hephaestus chuckled at her behaviour. She has never encountered a monster face to face before and has only seen their skulls and bones as such she could hardly name any monster. While her attention was in the monster two giant beast a appeared behind Hephaestus, it was his two pets, Chrysos and Asimi.
"no down boys, Don't attack"
He said causing the two beasts sit and wait, she turned to Aphrodite and proceeded to explain why this monster was in his yard.
"Well, this is a baby Scylla, they're much bigger than that in adulthood, the box in your hands summons the closest monster to your vicinity If you don't realign the colours on it will continue to summon more, you have 10 minutes to get Rid of this monster before another shows up"
"wait so I'm supposed to fight it?"
"Or tame it by using your divinity"
"you know I can't control it what if it attacks and ravages me or eats me using my divinity I can't control how it perceives me or what type of love it might have for me so it's quite dangerous to—"
"Don't worry, I'll be watching you, you just have to use your divinity to tame all the monsters that get summoned here"
"but-"
He cut her off and grasped on her shoulders and stared into her eyes, she was never the type to lack confidence in herself or rather she was confident in her beauty which translated to self confidence but she never used her powers that much before, the only time she had used it was on her nymphs when she was still young unfortunately she can't reverse its effects, if she uses it on someone and they go crazy with love they'll be forever obsessed with her till they die, which is exactly what happened to her nymphs, the ones that were taking care of her now are quite new.
"Aphrodite, your divinity is yours to control, believe in your own ability, I believe in you"
Hearing such words from him she could no longer complain, not only that but she'll never get stronger if she never learns to control her own power. Turning around to face the creature once more she gave herself a moment and took a deep.
"Alright I just need it to like me enough to protect me but not to the point of obsession"
Her eyes glowed a deep shade of pink nearly becoming red, the monster immediately stood still and looked at her directly, its pupils dilating as it continued to stare at her. A moment of silence descended upon the area as Aphrodite and the Scylla engaged in a staring contest until one of them moved, the creature suddenly extended its tentacles snatching Aphrodite from her spot and quickly running away with Her tucked in it's tentacles
"Hephaestus!!!!!!"
She screamed as the creature fled with her on it tentacles, her arms were bound and the monsters surprisingly had a good grip despite being very slimy and slippery
.
"Goddammit"
He sighed and proceeded to give chase, Although he purposely didn't catch up to it as it didn't seem it was going to hurt her.
.....
In Athens mid day, the people where going on about their day, a few coming to and going to the market place, others were street performers doing incredible acts of acrobatics or show teats of strength, normal folks conversed about recent event and news or rumours they heard
"did you hear? The gods will be descending in a few days"
"huh?! Don't lie when have the gods ever descended from Olympus"
"No I'm serious, apparently one of Lord Zeus's enforcers has been going around announcing it to everyone and they'll be descending down on Olympia too"
Two humans conversed as one tried to convince his friend about the possibility of God's descending and the other completely disbelieving him, the two of them were near a fountain that was modelled to look like a statue of Athena this is where she was most fervently worshipped.
"You should stop believing any rumours you hear, let only the wisdom of Athena guide you, believing
hearsay is doing the opposite of that"
"I'm telling you-"
The man could not finish his sentence as he was suddenly interrupted by a loud and booming voice that reached the ears of all.
"HUMANS HERE ME, I NIKE BRING GREAT NEWS TO YOU"
Nike floated above in the air blocking the sun as her wings spread open fully and casting a latg shadow over the city of Athens and captivating all that were present.
"REJOICE AND PREPARE FOR IN 2 DAYS FROM NOW THE KING OF HEAVEN SHALL DESCEND AND GRACE YOU ALL WITH HIS PRESENCE, IF YOU WISH TO WITNESS HIM, HIS SANCTUARY IN OLYMPIA IS WHERE YOU SHOULD GO!!"
She finished before fly off leaving everyone stunned and shocked, those who were smart were quick to process the information and move while the other simply stood there in Awe.
As she flew away Nike couldn't help but laugh joyfully, a duel between to gods is something all should witness not just gods, titans and humans. The very insects deserve such a treat. As someone who enjoys fighting and watching fights Nike is the one who gets the most out of this situation. Incidentally despite wanting to go to Erebus and inform her siblings she somehow felt compelled not to.
"a duel for the seat of king, I simply cannot wait, hurry up and set Helios!"
She looked at the sun in great impatience nearly feeling like going up there and end the day already.
"Hey! don't rush me"
She quirked a brow as she heard Helios respond to her statement.
......
A/N: Fraudkuna allegations are no longer valid, the sukuna slander must stop.
if you aren't caught up to the Manga, catch up this instant.