[Third Person POV]
"Haa— hack! cough!"
Regaining consciousness on the floor, Hephaestus slowly began to move his body. The motion came with some difficulty at first, his limbs feeling heavy and unsteady. Yet beneath that strain, he sensed something unfamiliar coursing through him. A strange, newfound strength that rose up and quickly overcame the weakness.
When he finally managed to stand, he could already tell something had changed. Even without looking down, he felt strength pulsing through his left leg. Every shift in posture revealed a balance he hadn't experienced in years. The limb felt alive, steady, and overflowing with energy. In that instant, he knew it had been completely restored.
"It worked… and it seems to have done more than just cure my disabilities." Hephaestus lifted his arms and examined them closely, noticing his skin had taken on a bronze-tan hue. Intricate runes made of blue flames pulsed across the surface.
"Not only that, my divine energy seemed to have increased both in quantity & quality."
"…Ah! A new domain?" Hephaestus muttered as he checked his domains, having sensed a profound shift in his divine energy. Alongside his two main domain trees, Craftsmanship & Fire, a third tree had sprouted bearing a symbol of a phoenix, this was his new main domain, the domain of rebirth.
Besides the surge of great strength, an even stronger and inexplicable emotion began to rise within him. It felt like an immense wave of relief settling deep in his chest, alongside it came a profound sense of joy. Yet beneath those feelings, a faint sadness still lingered, It was weak, but noticeable, as if holding on by the last thread, still he could feel it gradually fade away.
Suddenly Hephaestus, the current one, mind went back to before he existed, before John and the old Hephaestus became one.
>Flashback~☆<
In the deep, endless darkness, there was no sense of where anything was. There was no time, no movement, and no direction. Even the idea of "here" or "there" simply did not exist. All that surrounded anything was a merciless, inky black void. It swallowed sound, thought, and presence alike. Nothing stirred within it, not even the faintest hint of light. There was only the darkness and nothing more.
Except for a single speck of light, a tiny ember burned gently in the void. Its soft blue glow stood defiantly against the endless darkness. Though small, it shimmered with surprising strength. The inky abyss around it seemed to pull and press, yet the ember did not waver. Quietly shining as it swims through.
'Just keep swimming~ Just keep swimming~ swimming, swimming~🎶'
This ember was John, who had recently died from exhaustion. A VTuber exploited by the agency he worked for. In life he had foolishly signed a contract that essentially turned him into a slave. Every aspect of his schedule, income, and identity had been controlled. Worse, if he ever breached the contract, he would have faced more than forty years in prison.
Course now that he's dead, John didn't worry about any of those old problems, and just floated around this new strange place.
'I've been floating for like a good minute, still I haven't met anyone else, honestly I'm surprised I haven't gone insane yet.'
Awhile later as John drifted by, noticed in the distance tiny speck of light of goldish-red.
'AH!–HHUUUMMMAAANN COONNTTAAAAAAAACT~!!!'
John quickly turned gear as he tried to blitz to this supposed person, desperate for human interaction.
'...'
As for the goldish-red soul, it simply remained there in silence. It drifted alone in the dark nothingness. No sound, movement, or presence reached it. It just existed, quietly and lost of purpose.
'Father...he killed me, no warnings, threats or his usual boastfulness, he simply struck me down without even explaining what I had done to earn his wrath, as if I was nothing...no, perhaps to them I am nothing, a being so unworthy to be part of that family, they simply wanted me gone.'
'...I can't feel it, my divine powers, my domains, gone. Now I'm just a shell of memories.'
Hephaestus had lived a long life filled with bitterness, hate, and low self-esteem. He had endured the mockery of most deities over his disabilities, the myriad betrayals of his former wife Aphrodite, and the constant sense of being an outsider on Olympus.
He'd always hoped that one day, just one single day, they might share even the slightest bit of familial bond. Now, all he felt was the sting of his own foolishness.
'I'm...not sure what to due now, and more importantly, shouldn't I be in hades domain by now?'
'Where is Thanatos—'
Before Hephaestus could analyze his situation, a bright blue ball showed up out nowhere and had started to ramble
"HOWDY!! The names John! I worked as a Vtuber in life before royally getting f*cked over a by my own agency."
"Heck, they're part of the major reason I'm here too, anyway's what's your name!"
"...What?"
This was how the two souls of the old Hephaestus and John met, an overactive mortal and a reculsive God, a pair that surprisingly became good friends. A friendship that allowed to merge into an entirely new being, a New Hephaestus.
>Present day~☆<
"This brand new transformation... When I first received those 3 Meta Essences, nothing felt quite real, like I was experiencing a grand but surreal fantasy."
"Now, everything's changed, the old crippled Hephaestus is gone, and something new lay in its Ashes."
"Because I can feel it, the power of freedom, and the ability to hold fate in own hands..."
"I can do anything, the choices are limitless!"
"With my powers couldn't I create a brand new world of my own!?"
"Well maybe not a world—but I still create entire continents, lands that can be filled with any of my creations!"
"And these creations can be anything I desired them to be...from the monsters of the monster hunter and monarch universes!"
"Or humanoid races like Orcs, Elves, Dwarves, or even races in the monster musume and Uma musume worlds!"
"...I can even create my own pantheon of Gods!!"
Hephaestus looking through the massive hole to outside, made by his 3 tortoise subjects who have long disappeared into the seas, saw the beautiful sunset.
As the burning blue runes on his skin flared and a wild grin appearing on his face, he made a solem vow to himself, to live best life possibly can. Although he had no desire to get into the Olympians family drama stuff, that doesn't mean he's going to hide under a rock forever.
"No...calm yourself Hephaestus, let's do this one step at a time, you may be a master at craftsmanship, but you've only made a singular potion and yet to have create a living sentient creature."
"Still, I need to start somewhere, Lemnos Island is a great starting point, but later on I'm going to need something bigger."
Hephaestus began to cogitate his next set of plans as he summons a bunch of materials and started to fix the hole in the wall.
Hephaestus started with making a few short-term goals. Altering his set of Ratholos armor to match his less "disable state", learning various combat(with blank learning disciplines like these. should be quite easy, thus short term), continuing his potion brewing practices, and more importantly prepare for when his real mothers show up to "rescue" him.
While he may not know when they'll show up, it's not like they're currently on the Island right now, they right now it's at the bottom of his short-term list.
For long-term plans are three key subjects he already mentioned. One, creating a massive environment akin to land-based continent not connected to greece. Two, creating monsters & races unrelated to humans or the already existing creatures, to make up for worshippers and loyal mortal subjects, and third creating a loyal divine pantheon to essentially "managed" this new place and beings that live their.
These are essential if he ever wants to reach the same level of strength or higher to contend with Zeus, otherwise Hephaestus may never feel safe or comfortable for not only himself, but also for the possible individuals he may make a bond with in the future, especially if it's a romantic one...
"There so much to do but at the—what?" While fixing the wall, Hephaestus sensed three divine energy signatures flared up in the distance, two he's keenly familiar with.
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On the shore of Lemnos Island
A silver lion stood surrounded by massive spheres of water, and on its back perched a white-winged woman wrapped in flowery, thorn-covered vines, ready to strike at anyone who came too close. This was Thetis, transformed into a silver lion, with Eurynome riding on her back.
"To attack me even though I made no remark is rather rude, Lady Thetis… and Your Highness Eurynome."
Across from them standing is a two and a half meters tall twin headed lion, covered in fierce orange flames, starting the two goddesses who stuck him when he just landed near this strange crater on the beach.
"If you know who I am Ophryléon, Theradyos, then turn in which you came." Said Eurynome despite knowing it will highly likely be ignored if they're following that person orders.
"Unfortunately your highness, I came at the behest of a higher ranking than you from Mount Olympus, so I must asked if you could be magnanimous and turn the other way."
However, Thetis & Eurynome remained still, unwilling to give a single inch.
Foe Ophryléon and Theradyos, the situation was not ideal, because regardless they back of or not, they'll receive an ire of a God, and the fact that one of these Goddesses is Zeus's third wife, made this stalement all the more delicate.
'AARRRGG!! Why the in the underworld are they stopping me? Are they protecting the child I'm looking for, if so, why? It's wasn't theirs to begin with!'
"Is this where the signatures coming from?"
Suddenly a young boyish voice had spoken out, catching the attention on Thetis, Eurynome, Ophryléon and Theradyos.
Seeing an adorable boy of about 5 years old, messy brown-black hair, bronze tan skin, vibrant sea blue eyes, and blue flaming runes on his skin, wearing a bulky knight-like armor made from red and scales with a pair of large leathery wings with flame patterns sprouting from the back, and a massive hammer(?) at his side, seemingly made also from scales, wings, and resembling face...
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Which do you guys think Hephaestus should focus on first.
●Creating Land
●Creating Races/Monsters
●Creating his pantheon