The place was exactly like he imagined it to be—a fancy forge with items worth millions lingering around casually. No doubt this was the personal forge of the goddess of smithing.
"Hephaestus, Hephaestus…" Hestia all but shouted excitedly, dragging Orion behind her like he was a little kid who might get lost.
Hephaestus, who was still turned the other way around, her eye a little too focused on the priceless items her follower had brought, felt her blood pressure increase upon hearing that familiar scream.
"What is it now, Hestia? Weren't you going to bring that boy of yours whom you claim can heal me? Just go and bring him, we'll talk then," Hephaestus said irritably, her eye still on the items, not turning around.
"Ahem… about that. Nice to meet you, Goddess Hephaestus." Orion spoke before Hestia could reply this time.
That unfamiliar voice made her pause. Finally, she looked back and came across a white-haired handsome boy beside Hestia, her hands linked around him possessively.
"Is that…" she asked, her eye turning to her best friend, who was more trouble than her worth.
Hestia, of course, perked up, boastfully showing off Orion beside her. "Hehe… yup, this is Orion. Isn't he handsome?"
"Indeed." Hephaestus gave an observant glance at the boy before dismissing her interest in him. Indeed, he was handsome—but for a goddess, how many handsome men hadn't she seen in her infinitely long life?
"What's your name, boy?"
"Orion, my goddess."
"Hmm, tell me… is what this idiot said true? Can you really heal me?" Hephaestus looked contemplative. If not for Hestia, she could have completely disregarded the matter altogether even if it was presented in front of her.
"That I'm uncertain about. My method did heal a woman before, though—completely regrew a cut-off limb. As for whether it will work on a goddess such as you, I'm not sure." Orion spoke the truth. It was pointless to lie to a god anyway—they could tell lies apart from truth.
Hephaestus seemed to take that in. Surprisingly, the boy wasn't nervous when facing her, nor attracted toward her. He had a completely calm face, and everything he said was with full confidence—not with arrogance or meek hesitation.
"Oh… and do tell how you came across such a way to heal others," Hephaestus probed further.
"That is my and my goddess's business. I would rather not have outsiders know." Orion didn't even flinch when saying that.
Hephaestus's single eye narrowed at that. The boy wasn't just confident—he also had guts.
"You realize you're talking to a goddess, right, boy?" Hephaestus said, slowly trying to push some pressure onto him.
Orion just shrugged. "Of course I do. You're a goddess," Orion stated matter-of-factly, like it was the most obvious thing.
For the first time during the small exchange between them, Hephaestus truly felt intrigue building up for the boy who was so casual in front of her.
Hestia on the side just listened silently. From time to time she wished to say something, but one look from Hephaestus told her to shut up. So she could only helplessly watch her friend putting pressure on her favorite human—or at least trying to.
Orion was quite unhinged. Most people would be, upon learning that dying was temporary when they were the subject of discussion.
Hephaestus observed the boy for a while longer before finally stating, "Fine, don't say. But tell me—how am I supposed to believe that the thing you are boasting about would actually work if you're not even ready to tell me what it is?" Hephaestus asked curiously.
"True, but isn't the answer already in your question? You're a goddess. Can't you tell whether I'm lying or not? As for proof, well, bring someone out who is hurt. I don't mind showing whether I can heal or not," Orion said rather nonchalantly.
In his mind, he wasn't the one asking for a favor—the goddess was. Why should he act meek and overly willing? He would help if she wanted, but if she didn't believe him, he wasn't planning on going out of his way to show compassion.
"And what if you do more damage than help? What are the chances you don't make the problem worse, boy?" Hephaestus found her own mood a bit strange right now. Usually, she wasn't this confrontational, but perhaps Hestia's constant distraction and her little-to-no progress in figuring out the items' origins in her possession had made her a bit irritable.
"No proof, honestly. I only have my word that it works. But I would also like to say this—so far I have only healed two people: myself and the woman I talked about earlier. Both times my method worked. It might or might not work for someone else. I really can't say for sure," Orion stated truthfully.
Hephaestus blinked at that. There it was again—utter nonchalance toward this matter from the boy, like he really didn't care at all. If she didn't know he wasn't lying, she would have long dismissed him. That, or he wasn't someone Hestia had brought here.
'How did she bring him here so fast anyway?' Hephaestus could have sworn it was impossible without using their Arcanum—unless her silly friend had the boy sitting outside all this time.
"I'll call for someone. Heal her, and if you can, then we'll talk further about this," Hephaestus said, ready to call someone.
"No, I don't have what I need to heal right now. Let's do that tomorrow," Orion spoke this time, cutting Hephaestus off midway.
He really didn't have any healing potions with him currently. Since he was playing a mage build, he had transferred all of his flask charges to mana potions.
Changing them back wouldn't take more than a quick trip to the nearest Site of Grace—but why?
He wasn't here today for healing purposes anyway.
Hephaestus's lips pursed tightly at his reply. "And do say why you came unprepared. Do you think a goddess's time is easy to get?"
"No. I came unprepared because I am not here today for healing purposes, period."
Once more, Hephaestus blinked in confusion.
"If not that, then why?" she genuinely asked.
"For those…" Orion pointed at one Uchigatana and one small shield lying effortlessly on Hephaestus's table.
The red-haired goddess's eye tracked where the boy was pointing, and when it finally stopped, it widened slightly.
"I'm here to get my weapons back."
xXx
A/N : I'm still travelling, writing longer chapters is a bit hard, don't mind the chapter length. Also tell me, are you enjoying the story, anywhere you guys think I need to improve ?