AN: Please correct me if my timeline is wrong, this is the morning of the fifth or sixth day, no? Just let me know so I can change it, this is what happens when your main viewpoint not only doesn't sleep but does a lot of stuff.
Thanks again to Imanoldfart for betaing/reading my trash in advance.
It was later in the morning on the fifth day, now that the trinity had a physical body he could not move at the speeds he had. Not that it matters, since the distance to his destination did not require speeds that would be an issue to his new flesh. He arrived in Creteonus and found it a much busier place than it was at night or early morning. Still not as busy as Athens however, sneaking past patrols and guards were much harder now that he could not simply shrink himself and his belongings anymore.
Once past the walls, he made his way to Mairus' forge. The sounds of a hammer striking metal. Mairus, was there, hard at work. The amulet placed on the shrine which had not been moved. There were various blades and works of rough steel, 'To make all of this in a short amount of time, he must have been working like a man obsessed, or the spirits I bestowed him are doing more than expected...perhaps both.' While he stood in wait, he inspected the forge and all of the things around it. Some leather caught his eye, 'Hmm, perhaps I could make some footwear from that, refining more high-quality steel should be sufficient enough trade.'
After a few more minutes Mairus stood up and sighed, he placed down his work and turned around. The man's eyes widened and his mouth was agape before he found his voice, "..uh-Omnissiah, I-I had not expected you to be back so soon." the red robes were as tall and intimidating as ever, not that he noticed it wasn't from floating.
"Neither had I, but I am here. I trust your hammer is serving you well? If your previous thanks were anything to go by, you have been experiencing some success with your smithing, yes?" the first thing that struck Mairus was how different Omnissiah sounded, in not just voice but speech as well. The next thing that struck him was the statement.
"Uh, yes, I didn't realize you actually heard...that. Yes. I have been finding some success in making my own steel, and certainly, in shaping the ingots you gave me. As for my hammer, what about it?" a slight chuckle came from the robes which cast shadows.
"If you remember, I blessed it with a machine spirit, it has likely been helping you, even if only minorly." the smith nodded slowly at that.
"I, don't know, I suppose I have gotten a lot more work done than I thought I could." the hood nodded in turn. "Were you just checking in or?"
"Yes, but I do have a few things to discuss with you. But first, may I ask a trade of you? I want some of your leather, if I were to refine a few steel ingots for you, would the trade be acceptable?" the smith almost smiled too hard.
"Ah-Yes! That would be a wonderful thing to me, even one ingot of high-quality steel is worth all the leather I have." the robe nodded. Before the smith's eyes, he again saw nearby iron ore melt mid-air and mix with ashes. The control of the deity had increased, they no longer needed to fully focus on the iron swiftly becoming steel. Instead, the trinity split his focus on both the iron and the leather. The leather was reformed.
Soon enough, two sandals were before him, they were of the style he had seen on both people and apparently, gods. Various connecting threads of leather surrounding and still showing the foot, ankle and shin. The soles of the sandals were made much harder and thicker. The iron alloy had cooled and was now a shaped ingot, it was then placed on the table. Mairus looked over and saw the floating completed sandals.
He then saw them go beneath the robe, the man however did not see them become attached to the deity's hidden feet. He did however notice that the robes were not floating. He could actually see the shadowed forms of the Machine God's feet, "Were, those sandals?"
"Yes, I needed some. I incarnated this morning you see." the statement seemed very casual, but the words were very confusing.
"Incarnation, what?" the deity chuckled, he moved his hands up to his hood, revealing his hands. As the hood was pulled down the Lord of All Machines was smiling, his eyes creased in amusement. Those grey eyes met Mairus' own as the man took in the face of the being before him. The One of Invisible Works moved his hands along the side of his hood down to pull his cloak slightly apart, his white clothes slightly showing. His hands fall to each side.
"I made myself a body." the smith was about to speak when Nadim and two men came in with a concerned look on his face. He looked at the very tall handsome man in odd/expensive clothes, and the smith. His look of worry faded when saw that Mairus was fine, internally he was slightly frustrated. While one of his two assigned men had run to let him know that an odd figure had entered their charges domicile. He was frustrated because the other didn't go to check on the smith, if he hadn't already been on the way, it may have been a problem.
'Not that I told them to do anything but watch his house and forge.' putting his frustrations aside he greeted his charge, "Mairus."
"Ah, Nadim what are you doing here?" the smith was a little surprised, "Did you have another order to place or did you want to see what progress I've seen?" the guard shook his head.
"Ah, no, one of the men I had guarding your home informed me someone had entered your forge. And I was already coming so I hurried. I see that nothing is wrong, right?" the tone was slightly hostile towards the stranger.
The blacksmith quickly shook his head, "Oh no, everything is very good actually I was just conducting some business. And was about to talk about some talk with him, about some more when you came in."
The guard narrowed his eyes in a confused manner, "Weren't you told by King Basil you would be given whatever you need for your projects, but that you would only sell to him? What possible business could you be doing?" Mairus was about to speak when the red robe stranger interrupted him.
"Truly? I had no idea you knew the king, and if you had such support in resources why did you agree to the terms of our previous deal when last we met?" Mairus looked slightly embarrassed and nervous. Nadim seemed suspicious of the tall man, he had never seen him in the city before. And he stood out. Both in clothes and height.
"Ah, actually that only happened yesterday due to complicated circumstances, uh. Well, I made steel sword for Nadim here, and-" Nadim interrupted.
"Wait he knows about your steel, how many people have you told?!" Nadim's words were slightly panicked. The king could be troubled if people knew their city possessed such a metal. "And you still haven't answered what business you were doing. Who are you anyway?"
Mairus actually answered before the tri-part deity, "This is Omnissiah, you remember who that is right? In fact, why don't the three of us talk in private, you can send your men back to their regular posts right?" his tone was mostly even but it put emphasis on a few words.
After a moment recognition hit the captain, his eyes widening as he remembers what the smith had told the king yesterday, "Uhhhh, of course! Yes, please go back to your points. We will be talking about some important topics." the two guards were confused but didn't question their officer. As they left Nadim turned back to the other two people in the room, he pointed to the Lord of Mars and spoke facing Mairus, "Him? He is…"
Mairus nodded, "This is The Machine God. He was the one to give me steel and share how to make it with me." Nadim was tense for obvious reasons when the deity asked a question.
"What exactly happened yesterday with the king where you exclusively give your work to him in return for support?" the two men explained the previous day's events as best they could. The trinity was slightly concerned about the fates already knowing about him, but the fact that their actions may prove beneficial to him soothes those concerns for now. Still, he does not know much about the fates, in the conversations he has had with Korban, when they came up they weren't explained deeply.
'Another reason to find and enter the underworld I suppose.' After the explanation his attention was drawn north, but he heard a question where his body was. He split his consciousness's focus, one point of focus on his body, and another watching elsewhere. "Apologises, what was the question? I was distracted by something important"
Nervously Nadim asked again, "C-could you come to see the king, I am sure he would appreciate actually speaking with you. And Mairus could come along as well."
The deity still had his hood down so his face showed his thoughts, consideration, "Hmm. Well, I suppose it could be a good idea." 'It may help accelerate my plans if done well.' the two guards stayed to watch the house and forge as the three walked through the poor section towards the richer sections. "Mairus." the smith looked at the Lord of All Machines, "considering your new position within the city, have you considered taking on any apprentices to help with any, menial, labour?"
01100011 01101000 01100001 01101110 01100111 01100101
Olympus, a little while ago
Athena and Hephaestus were back inside Olympus' dimension, the two went to gather the others. Hermes was found and then dispatched to bring Poseidon, all of the gods were gathered quickly. Artemis, Demeter, and Persephone were together, all going to see Zeus about the revelation of last night to inform him and hopefully call another meeting, Athena immediately told them to follow and Hephaestus joined them saying he had sent off Hermes to collect Poseidon. The two half-siblings' tones didn't let any of the questions as to why the others had to follow stand for long.
The Olympians gathered as they waited for Hermes to bring Poseidon. Persephone stood behind Demeter, and while her presence was slightly odd, it wasn't too odd, especially since Demeter was right there.
Everyone but Athena and Hephaestus were slightly concerned, curious, annoyed or a combination of those. By this point with the majority of the Olympians gathered, it drew the attention of the spirits in Athena's weapons and Hephaestus' hammer. This in turn drew the attention of the Lord of Invisible works, who used part of his mind to look through those weapons on the meeting. Once the last two gods did arrive Zeus spoke, "Why have you gotten all of us together in such a rush Athena? ...Did you find something related to our warning?"
The goddess of wisdom spoke clearly, "Yes I-"
Demeter cut off her niece, "Athena, I understand what we found out last night was shocking. In fact, Artemis, Persephone and I were looking for you this morning and were about to go to Zeus without you when you showed up again. But there is no reason to rush, why did you gather us in such a hurry? And it seems you've told Hephaestus, no?"
Hera spoke in a confused tone, "What did you find out, weren't all of you having dinner last night? What could you have found out, or did you figure something out?"
Athena coughed loudly to gain attention, "Demeter, Artemis, Persephone. I think the three of you should bring all but myself up to speed, then Hephaestus and I shall do the same for what the two of us found." order at least partially restored and a plan in mind they began, though most were confused.
The majority of the evening was skipped over, Artemis was mostly silent, leaving Demeter and Persephone to explain what they found out. Zeus of course internally resisted the urge when they got to the part where they mentioned that Hades should have been both informed and consulted for any information. The King of the gods instead conceded to merely rest his forehead in his hand with a frown on his face.
The revelation that they were dealing with a primordial struck hard, and Hephaestus for his part now fully understood the background of Athena's and the Machine God's words. Zeus spoke with a grim expression, "Their warning finally makes sense, we need to find this primordial immediately, even if Hades is right, and this is all just a 'metaphysical equivalent to rolling over in bed' we shouldn't be taking any chances. They are an entirely new element and one that could be a threat."
"Father." the word was clear and the tone serious, Athena had a mostly neutral expression, "That is why Hephaestus and myself gathered everyone so quickly. This morning both of us independently felt...something, like a ripple in our domains." These words had the listening gods deeply concerned. Zeus for his part had a set jaw and a focused, though not quite scared look in his eyes.
She continued, "It was as if someone had thrown a boulder into a lake. We both left Olympus and found ourselves in the same place without having consulted each other at all. Once we realized we had both felt the same thing we continued on together to our destination in disguise. And we came across…" her pause had an already tense room grow more so, "...a man in red robes. Sitting in a wooden chair at a simple table, a bowl with odd red fruits, with cups and a pitcher of water at the ready. With two chairs that sat empty. We approached, and as our disguised selves spoke to the man. He welcomed us and offered us those-" the goddess of battle strategy and the god of the forge relayed their tale.
Demeter and Persephone interrupted when the Rustfruits were brought up. When presented with the two samples Athena and Hephaestus had taken, the mother and daughter examined, then explained that they had felt the tree's creation but assumed the other had created it until that point. The two goddesses also explained the fruit, and thus the tree, had a small amount of divine energy within it, they could control it, but it wasn't really theirs.
Those in the chamber were actually quite relieved when the pair of half-siblings relayed the supposed goals of simply helping humans and establishing a cult. After all, even heroes and mortals had cults, though of course, they were different from cults of the gods. However, when it was revealed that not only was the being very likely a primordial but was aware of Zeus being worried about Gaia's and Uranus' warning. And not only that, but the Omnissiah had seen the goddess' meeting last night.
Zeus was a mixture of furious and scared, "Not only have we been spied on but he is so brazen as to tell us, and-!" he was cut off but Hephaestus.
"And he had good reason to, as much as I dislike it, if we spy on mortals like there are no issues in doing so, then we should not groan when we find out others do the same to us!" the smith's father shouted back at those words.
"We have good reason to look after the mortals and their affairs! And it isn't as if we look at them all the time! We simply keep an eye on them, if a parent didn't look out for their children even occasionally. If a shepherd never watched his herd at all then in both cases it is negligence!" the black-bearded son replied in a quieter yet just as firm voice.
"And he didn't either, simply when things caught his notice. 'If I had ever looked and found Olympus was planning on destroying me should they find whatever I was, I wouldn't be speaking to you.' He simply wanted to understand our intentions." Hephaestus's face was a forced calm. Zeus muttered a response to that.
"Sounds like a threat to me, 'I wouldn't be speaking to you', clearly if we were considering being even a little hostile he'd strike" to that short statement from their father both the god smith and warrior goddess shook their heads.
Athena took her disagreement far enough to become words, "It could be interpreted that way if it weren't for something else. Something we haven't yet had the chance to say yet. Simply put, he wants to be friends, at the very least with the two of us, if not Olympus. Or to at least be on amicable terms."
Zeus was about to say something when Poseidon spoke, "Zeus, brother, I understand your concern, but let us not worry ourselves. We should see if friendship, or at least agreeableness and understanding can be found. If not, then at least we do not have to worry about if this 'Omnissiah' is an enemy, we would know."
Apollo spoke up, "Agreed uncle. Father, I would suggest, an invitation. Instead of us going to him, as Athena and Hephaestus unintentionally did, we should have him come to us."
Dionysis joined his half brother by saying, "Trust me, even if he were considering being a problem for us, after some good old Olympian partying and hospitality he wouldn't even consider it. I'll even break out the good wine for the event." that last part was mostly silent and to himself.
Zeus nodded along with his older brother and two sons as they spoke, he replied, "Well, I am the god of hospitality. But I do want it to be clear if he turns out to be an issue, we will deal with it swiftly and decisively." This got nods from everyone, but especially Ares who had a determined look on his face.
Hephaestus chuckled slightly which got a response from the king of Olympus, "Is this funny, Hephaestus?" Zeus surprisingly wasn't agitated, more confused.
"When we left he actually said something to Athena and me about putting aside the laws of hospitality by excusing our lack of guest gifts since we hadn't prepared any. It was very odd." Zeus and the rest of the gods aside from the two who had met the primordial all seemed to raise their eyebrows.
"Is there anything else, anything that might be important while you are remembering details?"
"Ah," Athena looked over at Zeus, "there was one other thing. Before we left we saw an eagle with feathers of gold and two heads. 'Omnissiah' told us he made that eagle as practice for making his own body."
The eagle was a symbol for Zeus, to make a more grand version of it, even if not intentionally. It was insulting, at least in the eyes of the god of the sky. A frown formed before becoming a light scowl.
Hermes for his part had a small smirk form on his face, "I assume you want me to find him and invite him to this party? When are we having him? We just had all of our staff and servants return. Giving them massive work, even collectively, would be hard on them. Assuming of course we make an event of it."
Dionysis spoke up again after the messenger was done speaking, "Put me in charge, with a hand from you guys here and there and access to your servants I could have us festival-ready in a week or less." Artemis spoke while rolling her eyes.
"We don't need a festival, I mean, we don't even technically need the party." the huntress's tone was one of annoyance.
Aphrodite chortled, "How long would you need to prepare for a decent party? And trust me, having one is better than none, in this case, should help ease tensions."
The god of wine and madness hummed to himself before he gave a figure, "Hmmmm. With wiggle room? Three days, everything for a good-sized and stocked party… would take three days of calm preparation. It would still leave time to correct or add to it."
The queen of the gods spoke then, "With all due respect Dionysis, you may know what is needed, but you are hardly a good organizer. You can tell me what we need for any part of any celebration, but I'll be organizing this, you tend to get...distracted." her tone wasn't exactly mean or hostile but the words still prompted a sigh from the 'young' god.
"Alright Hera, so long it all ends in a good party I can live with that." the goddess of marriage smiled slightly at that.
"Good." her smile was due to not having to argue, which tended to worsen her mood greatly. She accepted her husband's bastards now, but arguing with them always brought out the worst in her, "I'll begin preparations, if you could all tell your servants, on Olympus of course, to report to me I will get started, Dionysis, you'll be helping me in compiling a list of what we need."
As the gods ended their tense meeting with an actual plan set in motion they went to do as their queen had instructed, though many were thinking over the revelations they were now privy to. To say they were beyond disturbed would be dramatic. But it certainly wasn't comfortable, yet, if it ever would be.
'Hmm,' as the goddess of love pondered the gathering in full as a smile spread on her face that no one but the walls of her palace saw, she had yet to reach her servants. 'Friends, hmm. Well, a possibly ancient and powerful being with connections to knowledge just drops in, and one of the first gods he meets is Athena, goddess of wisdom, strategy and all that.' her grin intensifies, 'maybe I've finally been given the means to crack Athena's little shell business and disinterest…' she pauses, and reconsiders, 'eventually...maybe...and certainly not at this party. But, just maybe.' her smile is much smaller, but nonetheless still there as she finds one of her servants who she dispatches to find the rest, 'This should be fun.'
01100011 01101000 01100001 01101110 01100111 01100101
Creteonus
The king was in a session with some of his advisors when they arrived, "Ah, Nadim...and Mairus. Has something happened to draw you away from your projects? As an aside, who is this?" introductions were rather swift. He asked for proof, of course, the very air around him starting to swirl into a gale, and a metaphysical weight pushing him down was enough convincing needed. The king was shocked to be sure but perhaps having the source of his worries in front of him in negotiation/conversation was better than out there in nebulous existence to haunt his dreams. After the king explained that he would give Mairus support in exchange for his works in steel he asked the primordial deity what his intentions for the smith were.
"As far as I am concerned he is my apprentice, he has learned from me, and I will attempt to encourage and guide his work to new heights." The smith felt slightly awkward about being talked about while he was there, then again, being talked about at all was always that way. "And Mairus," the man looked up to the Machine God's taller form, "to be honest and upfront, I plan on eventually winning over your devotion. Eventually. For now, however, helping you and your craft will help me and humanity."
The king narrowed his eyes, he didn't see the angle. Even if they did benefit, simply giving such important knowledge was... There had to be something else. "As for you," king Basil exited his thoughts, "I will allow you to benefit from Mairus' works but, I would appreciate some. Reciprocity." The king both relaxed and tensed, relaxed because this was likely the other side of it, tensed because this was where the negatives came into play, "Nothing so grand as a temple, but I would certainly appreciate official recognition. I would also like to attempt to gain worshippers and members to my cult in your city, a certain amount of freedom for them and myself would be appreciated."
"I think we will have to be more specific on what freedoms but I assume we can agree on that, then I will accept. Though, don't get your hopes up too much. You may be a god, but I can not allow certain things in my city and territory. And certainly not for one smith, no matter how good his work."
"I would not ask so much that you would be unwilling to give what I ask. As for that last point." the deity looked over at Mairus. The smith cleared his throat and nodded.
"On the way here Omnissiah convinced me to take on some help, perhaps even apprentices. If I am ever going to get what you have asked me to do done in a timely manner I will need help." the king nodded in surprise, but not overly so, and certainly not an unpleasant surprise. Any thoughts of possibly convincing the apprentices away, or of someone else doing that were blown away. Mostly by the fact that they would likely not wish to cross a god by doing so, and certainly not one which appeared to make regular appearances.
"I assume you shall help him in this, even if indirectly?" the king nodded to the Lord of Rust Soil's question. The hammering out of agreements and specifics lasted into the beginning of the afternoon, it was also mentioned that eventually, Basil wished for Mairus to conduct his forging and work on the palace grounds. After it was done the deity moved to leave, "I shall be returning to see to Mairus' and his apprentice's progress. I presume you shall inform your people, if not then at least your guards of my presence, I do not wish to have to hide my various arrivals when I come here."
"That can be arranged, though I do ask that you don't make a scene either." the Kaftos then had a thought occur to him and spoke just as the trinity put his hood back over his head and made to leave, "Do you wish for an altar, you gave Mairus a shrine, and you said you didn't need a temple but to not give you an altar would be…"
He trailed off in the hopes of his message being understood, 'Why should we care about a god that we have never heard of, if this god does exist you insult him by not giving him a palace for sacrifices and offerings.' perhaps not exactly like that, but if he was to acknowledge the Machine God, he needed to ensure doing so wouldn't be seen as pointless, wrong, or unfounded. There were laws against inventing new gods in Polis cities and states for a reason. People often did.
The Lord with No Face turned his new face to the king. "Uphold your traditions, if there is a problem I shall correct it, until then. I have no interest in upsetting your subjects by rejecting their forms of worship." With that, the robed figure flew off at a high speed, a red dot out of the city.
"...'you don't make a scene' I said, and what does he do?" the king muttered in a sigh, too tired to actually be angry.