Mountain of the Immortals

"This is all we know about the god of the forge. His name is Hephaestus and he is an old man of hideous proportions and characteristics. It is often said that if he wasn't the god of the forge, he would have been the god of ugliness. We also know that he is able to craft powerful artifacts and weapons capable of killing creatures that are meant to never die. But that is the extent of our knowledge. Nobody has ever met him or seen him. He is one of those entities whose existence everyone acknowledges but nobody has proof of."

"So he might just be a tale?" Ares said.

"I knew of him without having heard anything from Zeus," Artemis replied. "I knew a titan had found him and taken him prisoner, and I also knew that the titan had made sure everyone knew about it."

"That titan is my father's brother, Hyperion," I continued, "and the reason why he wanted everyone to know he had captured Hephaestus was so that he could use him as a bargaining chip in his dealings with other gods and titans."

"How is a prisoner going to help him strike better deals?" Ares asked.

"It's not so much about the deals themselves, more about making sure that his enemies don't act against him," I replied. "If you know that someone has a crafter who can create a weapon that will actually cause you real harm, you'd think twice before making any moves against them. It's more like an insurance policy."

"And that's why Hyperion doesn't just kill him?" Ares asked.

"Hephaestus isn't a god of this realm and his core is bound to his home realm," I said. "That means he's much weaker here but even if he's killed, he will simply return to his home realm. Nobody knows where his home realm is, and so killing him will not work for them if he could return to exact revenge. They really need to keep him imprisoned and keep him alive, where he also happens to be useful to them."

"Alright, so we know he exists and we know who has him," Aphrodite summarized. "Do we know exactly where he is?"

"I believe I know where he's being kept, but the place is neither easy to reach nor to infiltrate," I said. "It is a great dungeon with many powerful guards since it holds many powerful prisoners. Now I only know this because of passing conversation between Hyperion and my father but I think the place I have in mind is where Hephaestus is being kept."

"Do you know of a way to get inside without having to fight all those guards?" Ares asked.

"I do, as a matter of fact," I replied.

I didn't give any further explanation immediately, instead producing a bottle of water to quench my thirst while they waited for more information.

"Well, what is it?" Ares asked, his voice colored with great curiosity. "Through the sewers? A secret passageway or a forgotten teleportation circle?"

"Do you always need to do that?" Aphrodite asked, obviously having caught on to my theatrics.

"Do what?" I asked, pretending not to know what she was talking about while she rolled her eyes. "Alright, here's the deal. We're actually going to go right through the front door."

"What? Why?" Artemis was the first to ask. "I would have thought that you would be killed on sight if you were seen."

"She's right," Ares said. "Hyperion is your father's brother after all."

"Titans are very different to us," I explained. "The bonds between brothers and sisters do not mean much to them. Even sons and daughters."

"You mean to ally with your uncle against your father?" Ares asked, a hint of a smirk showing at the side of his mouth.

"No, nothing so extreme," I said, and shook my head. "But after the notification that we'd killed Typhon went out to the world, another uncle of mine contacted me."

"Really? What did they want?" Ares asked.

"Who was it?" Aphrodite asked.

"It was Oceanus, another of my father's brothers. He just wanted to congratulate me on growing up and killing a raid boss."

"He didn't threaten you?" Artemis asked confused.

"Nothing like that," I said. "And I don't think he would hide any ill intentions if he did have them. I think it's possible that my father hasn't revealed to anyone that we had a falling out. He has always been paranoid about people trying to take his throne and I suspect he thinks the risk is increased if people know what happened."

"You mean people knowing that he devoured his own children?" Aphrodite asked.

"Knowing that he failed to do the same to me," I said. "If he'd been able to take us all out, I have no doubt he would have gloated about taking out a considerable threat against him. But since I managed to escape, I don't think he has told any of his brothers what took place."

"So Hyperion would still think that you are with your father," Aphrodite deduced, "and would thus let you in through the front door."

"I don't think my uncle would ever be so naive as to let me just stroll into his mega-dungeon," I said, "but all we have to do is go there while he's away. If my uncle thinks I'm still on good terms with Cronus, who is the leader of their guild, his minions would definitely let me in."

"Still, there's no chance they would let you leave with Hephaestus without informing him," Artemis said.

"True. But this is where the next part of the plan comes in," I said. "We will need a way to escape with him, raising as few alarms as possible."

"You think we could do that?" Ares asked. "If this place is filled with powerful creatures your uncle wants to keep from escaping, the place must be full of surveillance devices too."

"Which is why I said as few as possible," I continued. "We will need to escape immediately, even if it means blasting our way out. And then there's the matter of the getaway."

"I thought you had a skill that can return us back here instantly," Aphrodite said.

"I do. But there's a slight problem with that." I sent them all the skill prompt to see for themselves.

* * *

Name: Instant Divine Teleport

Level: 1

Type: Active - Divine

HP Consumed: 0

MP Consumed: 100

DP Consumed: 3

Power: -

Range: 700 inches

Precondition: Not magically silenced.

Description: The tether connecting a divine entity to their realm knows no distance. In the blink of an eye, the god Zeus can teleport back to the top of Mount Olympus and away from any danger. Other willing individuals may join Zeus in teleporting to Mount Olympus as long as they are within range. The cost for additional targets is 1 DP per person or entity. The tether also works between realms but may have trouble piercing through certain planes with intense anti-magic properties.

* * *

"You think the prison will block teleportation?" Artemis asked.

"There's no chance it won't block it," Ares said with some certainty.

"Okay, so all we need to do is get out of there and put enough distance between ourselves and the dungeon that you can use this teleportation skill to bring us back here?"

"And therein lies the final hurdle," I said. "The dungeon is on an island--"

"Then we can go there using my oyster," Aphrodite interrupted.

"An island floating in the sky," I finished. "We'll need to have an airship of some kind ready to go."