-No Good-

Written By: High Fiving Jesus

Typed: Tuesday, August 17, 2010-Wednesday, August 18, 2010

~:*:~

I grinded my teeth and hammered on the scrap metal. Sparks ruptured and showered me, bouncing on the welder's mask I wore. A constant, sharp clank resounded through the forges as I worked, keeping rhythm with the heavy metal music. The electric guitar solo began as I muttered to myself.

I wiped the sweat from my brow and turned from the anvil in front of me. My nerves started rattling around inside of me.

A gorgeous woman hid away in the corner reapplying bright red lipstick. I sneered and turned away, picking up a chisel. I examined it and tossed it in the fireplace beside me. I needed a new one anyway.

I glanced over my shoulder at her as she put the tube back in her bag and looked at me distastefully. It seemed she thought that actually affected me. It didn't.

I reached across the table and grabbed the first heavy object I could find. I drew the sledge hammer back, adjusted my tongs and slammed it down with full force. A large dent formed in the blade.

"Gah!" I yelled and threw the pathetic sword across the room. It slammed into the wall and melted into the rock, adding a very detailed outline of what could've been crafty work. Almost a dozen similar designs were indented deeply in the molten rocks and gravel of the cavern.

"Hephaestus," She grinned, trying to calm my rage. "Could you have the sword finished by midnight? I'm going to meet up with a friend later and…" she paused and materialized closer to me, towering over my crumpled form, "…well, it's entirely important."

She had reminded me of this at least five of the times out of eight that she had spoken to me all day. She batted her lashes, cooed, and primped her hair because it was all she knew how to do. I grumbled and limped to a heap of scrap metal. I rummaged and tossed the trash to the side until a suitable piece of Celestial Bronze was in my hand.

"Remind me," I requested, "why I'm doing this again."

She smiled, almost like she was growing impatient from explaining the same thing time and time again to a child. "I told you. It's for the hero of the Great Prophecy."

"Seaweed's kid?" I growled. "He already has that pen. Anaklusmos."

"No," she groaned, running a hand threw her hair and tossing it over to the other side of her head so that it fell over one shoulder. "The next prophecy, you idiot."

I limped back to the fireplace and held the metal over the green blaze. The Greek fire wrapped around the metal, melting it to a weak state in the hold of my tongs. I let the metal rest in the fire for a while.

"The next prophecy, you idiot," I muttered, letting my voice go shrill on the emphasized word. I looked over at my wife for a moment and rolled my eyes. She's a terrible spouse, I thought bitterly. Aphrodite stared at me with her head slanted. She was always doing that, trying to figure me out. But honestly, she was no Athena. "Will you please excuse yourself from my forges?"

Aphrodite narrowed her eyes and revealed her true form. A powerful, pompous woman—who was absolutely beautiful—with an iridescent, gentle glow brighter than the sun. I wasn't bothered to watch her any further as she disappeared on a beam of light, probably heading to Olympus or wherever Ares was.

My face darkened at the thought of his very name. That bloody pig. The only real reason I respected or helped that Percy kid was because he hates Ares just as I do.

I grabbed the metal from the fire with my bare hands and dropped it on the anvil. I wielded my sledge hammer and started drawing out the sword. It began to lengthen as I pounded on it, and it seemed to relax me.

I grabbed the metal and set it down on a cleared table, not allowing myself to work the form too hard. I was just going to leave it there to cool.

I slumped down on the floor, knowing the hardship of standing again, and pulled my knife from the holster on my thigh. I dug the tip of the blade into the smooth rock and pulled back, drawing a straight line. The edges were so dull. What kind of craftsmanship was that? A dull blade? That was the same as an ugly goddess. Unheard of in my forges.

I thought of the attempt to get up, but why bother? When I finished with my knife, then I would finish Aphrodite's gift to that bratty hero of the future. What was the reward for me? She continues to cheat on me with that… animal? Feh. I was better off with the mortals. Those women had souls and sometimes cared.

I was used. I was finally going to get them. I knew of one person that would help me finally set them up.

But would my pride allow that?

Um, this was supposed to be a one shot but… my hands typed when my eyes weren't looking, so it's been extended and changed. Fun.