So that's the daughter of Hades he thought.

"I saw that." Eileithyia said teasing her brother.

"What." Hephaestus said as he put his hands in his pockets.

"I saw how you were looking at that nymph" Eileithyia giggled. "You like her!"

"Okay first of all she's a goddess" Hephaestus corrected. "And you forget I'm married."

"So. Aphrodite could care less if she is married or not." She said losing her goofy demeanor. Hephaestus then down casted.

"Come on lets go inside" Eileithyia ordered, knowing why he came over.

They made their way into Eileithyia's room. There was glorious furniture everywhere. It was all created by Hephaestus of course. He would charge other gods for commissions but his little sisters got anything they wanted for free.

"Hello Hephaestus" Hebe his youngest sister greeted him with a smile from across the room.

"Greetings, Hebe." Hephaestus responded woefully.

"Aphrodite again?"

"Yeah."

She looked at him with compassionate eyes. "You need to leave her." She said while sitting up.

"What! Hebe I-"

"Look at how she hurts you Hephaestus! I can't understand why you still love her."

"You..you don't understand. Other than a cheating she is really great to live with. We share our days together. We talk about everything together." He stated.

That was half the truth. Sometimes when the Goddess of Love was angered she would insult him, break his tools, and throw her lovers in his face, but he could take all of that so long if he could love her.

"Hephaestus that's not how a relationship should be" Hebe screamed.

"Why! Mother and Father's relationship isn't so different." Hephaestus countered.

"Will you both be quiet?!" Eileithyia interjected, having enough of their squabble and not wanting to wake Zeus and Hera.

She explained to Hebe that Hephaestus was here to make himself feel better, not have Hebe grill him about his marital problems. They both soon calmed down and after a few hours of Hephaestus venting his anger they went to sleep.

Soon Macaria materialized near the gate of the Underworld. She was greeted by Cerberus and in return she patted his heads which he enjoyed. After playing with the dog for a while she soon walked through the gate.

Hypnos was finishing his duties for the day and returning home. He saw Macaria and welcomed her back.

"Welcome back milady. Did you enjoy yourself up on Olympus? "Hypnos asked.

"It was a grand experience Hypnos." The young princess answered. "I met the craftsmen."

"You met Hephaestus eh? Was he kind to you"

"Very much so. He's a bit on the shy side."

Hypnos smiled mischievously. "I don't see why. If I was the husband of Aphrodite I'd feel like I could conquer the world."

That was one of the things that made the Princess of the Underworld respect Hephaestus. His marriage did not go to his head. He treated Aphrodite with respect and was extremely patient with her behavior.

"I wouldn't say that Hypnos. Would you want your wife sleeping with Thanatos?" Macaria questioned.

"Well I guess you have a point. You know your father wants you to marry soon. Do you have your eye set on someone?"

Macaria sighed as she and Hypnos entered the palace. Though she was a full blooded goddess Hades still wanted her to enjoy life and go up to the surface more.

"Maybe I don't want to get married." Macaria stated as she turned away from Hypnos.

"I understand princess. Hades is just looking for you. He knows you want to go up to Olympus but it is very dangerous" Hypnos explained. "What if Zeus or Poseidon set their sights on you. They will rape you if you don't do as they wish." Hypnos said bluntly. He realized he was scaring Macaria so he lowered his tone.

Zeus and Poseidon..Uhg! Macaria thought.. She had heard various scandalous stories about the Olympians' tendencies to sleep with anything with a heartbeat. Zeus and Poseidon constantly cheated on their wives and raped women in disguise. She was glad her father was well behaved.

"Hades wants you to have a strong husband who can protect you. You know he means well." Hypnos said as he parted with Macaria.

Finally in bed she couldn't help but think about Hephaestus. Who was this god? He has had so many hardships in his life, how can he stand to get up every morning? She wanted to know more about him. Hecate was a very knowledgeable goddess. She would know more about him. Before falling to sleep she decided to talk to Hecate in the morning.

Morning came..Well it was hard to tell in the underworld. Her clock said 6:00 am, but it was still dark out as it always was. Soon she showered, got dressed and went to Hecate's palace. She knocked on the giant dark purple colored doors of Hecate's palace. Soon she answered.

"Milady I was not expecting you." She was surprised by the princess uninvited presence.

"Sorry for showing up unannounced. I wanted to find out about someone." Macaria assured her.

"Okay. Come on in." Hecate gestured.

Macaria complied and the two ventured into the palace. Macaria was surprised to see Hermes sitting in the living area. She guessed that was why Hecate was so surprised.

"Greetings Macaria." He said playfully.

"Thats Milady to you." she joked.

"I'm an Olympian so I outrank you princess."

It was true. Out of the thousands of Gods and Goddesses in the cosmos, the Olympians still outranked all of them.

She saw Hecate getting iritable so she decided to hurry on with her questions about the fire god.

"Tell me Hermes. What do you know of Hephaestus." Macaria asked.

Before Hermes could speak Hecate cut him off by slamming her hand on his mouth.

"Listen, Hermes wil never close his mouth once he is asked off something." She inquired. "But listen there is a party on Olympus next week. You should come and introduce yourself to Hephaestus."

Hmm. Never really been to an Olympian party before. I might as well. She thought. And with that she left Hecates palace.

"Now where were we?" Hermes asked slyly.

"Slow down. Dinner first, then we can have some fun." Hecate said as they shared a kiss.