CHAPTER 49: CHAOS
The world was young and everything was new, both literally and figuratively. The first of everything was happening. The first mortal child was born, the first mortal creature to die was slain. The first animal grazed upon the first patches of grass. The first day and night had passed. Everything was new.
Up above in Heaven, long before it was ever divided amongst the gods, a being of pure light and energy walked across a bronze and gold walkway that was supported high by marble pillars. Beside the being of light, stood a little boy in gilded white robes who already had patches of thick hair throughout his body.
The boy's eyes were filled with youth and wonder as he looked down from above, staring at the mortal plan. Even with his mind filled with knowledge from his father, the boy could not help but still feel awe.
Many things caught the boy's eye, but amongst all these new things, the thing that caught his eye the most was the two first humans living their lives. He watched as they struggled to live, the world around them harsh and cruel. They hid under the shade from the sun and searched desperately for food to eat. He watched as they hid from predators and struggled to fend them off when the first pack of wolves spotted them.
He felt pity for them, but there was nothing he could do. His sisters and brothers had powers, but, as far as he knew, Hephaestus himself did not.
Hephaestus slouched, frustrated that his father did not create him with any ability. Save for Pontus, his other siblings had ridiculed him for his lack of… well, anything.
The Chief God seemed to notice this and spoke up, snapping the young god out of his self-pity, "I have given you a mind like no other."
Hephaestus looked back confused and stammered, "What do you mean?"
For a moment, the child deity could swear he saw a smile form on the Light's face as it leaned back. The Chief God seemingly pondered before he raised his hand, causing a new platform connected by a marble bridge to form into existence nearby. "Let me show you," said the creator.
With a flick of the wrist, the Light created a table with numerous tools, a forge, and pieces of metal and scrap. "Make me a metal warrior using those tools and bits of metal there. Then when you're finished, name it."
The child stammered as the Chief God rested his hands behind his back, "b- but I don't know what those are, how to use them-"
"Trust me, do it."
Hephaestus stopped, any idea of denial dissipating instantly. It was like every fiber of his being, save for his conscious mind took it as a command. Slowly Hephaestus walked over the marble bridge and to the forge.
At first, he worked slowly, examining everything he had to work with. But as Hephaestus became familiar with the tools and his mind gained a clear vision of what to create, he quickly increased in speed and efficiency.
Originally Hephaestus just imagined a simple and very small statue of the human man, albeit wielding a sword and shield. But then Hephaestus realized that the man could have better protection, and so he designed on it something he could imagine being called full-metal armor or plated armor or something of the kind. But even with the armor designed on the warrior, it did not feel like it was enough, and so he tore the statue apart in sections and made it able to move when winded up via a wind-up key in its heel.
There was so much intrinsic work put into the metal soldier that, unbeknownst to Hephaestus at the time, it would take years for a mortal master of such craft to make. Not to mention how long it would be for humanity to be able to invent such a thing. And yet Hephaestus had made it in an hour.
Hephaestus held up the metal soldier in one hand and said, "I name him Talos."
The Chief God chuckled as he gently took the warrior and examined it, "Talos? That is a good name for a mighty warrior!" The Light then handed back the small Talos to Hephaestus before kneeling down to be at eye level with Hephaestus, "As I have said, I have given you a mind like no other. You have the intellect to create and solve anything that you put your head to. You will be an inventor, a creator, like me. But save for your mind, you will not have any power like your siblings. Reality will not bend to your will naturally; you must force it."
The Light then placed his right hand on Hephaestus' shoulder, "and therefore, your burden shall be one of the heaviest. Because if you fail in your duties to yourself, or others, then all will be undone, and you will not be able to repair that. There will be no one else to blame for your failures, there will only be you."
All was then silent and frozen in time. The mortal world below became unmoving, the birds included as they sat still midair. Only Hephaestus and the Chief God could move. And then, in a terrifying few seconds that felt like hours, Hephaestus could see the eyes of the Chief God. They were like the doors to eternity and beyond, two wells of incomprehensible madness. The Chief God's warm, kind voice faded to a cold unnatural rumbling echo, "Do you understand?"
Hephaestus shivered, his body covered in a strange freezing cold, "Yes, my lord."
Suddenly, Hephaestus felt warm again and the world resumed. The Chief God rose, his eyes no longer visible in his light but a somewhat discernable smile could now be seen, "Good, I expect great things from you, I know you will not fail me, Hephaestus."
The boy slowly looked down at the little Talos in his hands before glancing at the mortal world.
(-)
In the present time, the ocean was like a rotten festering corpse. That corpse slung itself back and forth upon the shores, like death throes trying to sink the lands with it; but the barriers of Hephaestus stood strong like a mighty dam.
The cursed water, however, was not so easily stopped. The clouds were now always looked upon with dread, for when it rained, the water flowed down mercilessly like the blood of a slit throat. And from the ground and lakes, and rivers of the lands, the water would sometimes rush out to choke any nearby life.
However, at every turn, priests and machineries of Hephaestus along with casters of all kinds, including priests of other gods, would send the water to small pocket dimensions where said water would soon be sent back from whence it came once it ceased.
Even still, the water was ever restless. Most creatures that were not already, were now forced to always live on high places, for the threat of flooding was constant, even in places that were once the driest of deserts.
Meanwhile, creatures that could survive in the waters would sometimes go missing in the floods with no one able to see what caused the person to disappear. It didn't always happen, but it happened just enough to cause fear in anyone who thought of swimming. And during the floods, if one looked into the water long enough, one could faintly see ghastly corpses of humans and mamono floating towards them, as if slowly trying to reach out and drag the viewer into the water.
(-)
In the ruins of his forge, his tower now nothing but a pile of rubble, Hephaestus stared at his hands and the remains of Talos. The words of his fathe- the words of the Original Chief God still echoing in his mind.
The god did not fidget, nor did he chew on any metal. He did not yell, nor did tiers drip from his eyes. He was silent.
This was his fault. He failed, and these were the consequences.
Hephaestus silently watched as some of his machines slowly repaired his realm, save for Talos. The machines were told to leave Talos alone, to not move so much as a shaving of metal from him.
One of the floating skulls flew next to the Smithing god, holding out a hammer to him while stating. "The chaos war protocol is a complete success, and many mortals and gods are helping. Also, Ares is calling to have a meeting with all the gods soon, you have been specifically requested to attend,"
Hephaestus, however, said nothing as the machine hovered there awaiting a response.
The god could not shake it. He wanted to blame the others for everything, but he too made errors. And now he had lost one of the people he cared for, one of the few who could relate to him. One of the few who he tried his hardest to help.
Hephaestus waved his hand, opening a one-way window into the mortal realm. He watched as a human couple coward on the roof of a cottage, panicking as a raging flood flowed all around them and was soon to consume the very roof they stood on. But then, a machine Hephaestus had installed a little way off activated, sucking in the water before teleporting it all back from whence it came.
It saved the couple, but Hephaestus could tell the machine was already worn out. It should have activated long before the flood had gotten to such a point.
Hephaestus grabbed the hammer from the skull, "Ares and the gods can wait. First let us do some maintenance. Then after that, I will begin working on Talos."
His forge was not fully destroyed, embers remained, and soon he would ignite a cruel, hate-filled flame against the dark, against the Red Hood.
(-)
The gods of the ocean were now long since dead, the domain of the waters under the Dark's will. In the center of the ocean, slowly approaching the mainland, was a great whirlpool; thunderous clouds covering the sky above it. Any ray of light that managed to pierce through the clouds couldn't go far beneath the ocean surface; leaving the body of water almost pitch black.
Surrounding the eye of the storm, numerous darkened corpses of humans and mamono were pushed around the storm, constantly ramming into each other and making their bodies be flung into the air before falling back down into the water. There were so many bodies, it was as though the whirlpool was carrying a mass of shifting islands and small continents with it.
The corpses themselves screamed, possessed by tortured souls of the Dark, their shrill cries echoing louder than the roar of the wind
Meanwhile, in the eye of the storm itself, walking upon a shifting pillar of water, corpses, broken remains of ships, stood the Red Hood.
His face was covered in the smoke shaped like roaring skulls. His bones cracked and snapped with every step. His metal armor groaned as it was slowly stretched and contorted.
His limbs were longer, his torso ever more bloated, and dark bits of teeth, hands, fingers, eyes, and pus seeped out of or stuck out between the openings of his clothing and armor.
Every few steps, the Red Hood would stop and spasm, sometimes even falling over, as the maddening Souls of the Dark fought each other for control of the Red Hood.
It would take months before the Red Hood arrived at the ocean shore, but when he finally does, there will be a war like the gods of this world had never seen before.