The forge awakened like an ancient beast breathing for the first time in eons.
Pillars of obsidian split open with a roar as molten streams flowed freely across the floor, spiraling into complex runic channels. The chains hanging from above began to sway, not from wind, but from the thrum of divine energy pulsing through the chamber. Gears turned slowly, grinding with weight, their echoes like thunder in a storm cave.
Brontes, Steropes, and Arges stood at the center, each of them now shirtless—revealing torsos marked by burn scars, hammer strikes, and veins that pulsed with light instead of blood.
Brontes stepped forward, dragging a massive block of celestial iron across the floor. It was star-iron—harvested from a fallen comet, said to be the bone of the cosmos itself. He slammed it onto the center anvil.
Steropes swung his hammer once. A single hit cracked the block into five shards—one for each of the Olympian gods. Each shard screamed as it split, releasing a burst of energy that shook the chamber.
Arges brought forth the Sacred Fire, an ember stolen from the first flame that birthed the stars. It hovered in his palm, then flared violently as he tossed it into the forge pit. The flames rose like a phoenix, golden and alive, crackling with power.
"We begin with the Blade of the Sky," Brontes said, his voice like rock tearing through cloud.
⚡ ZEUS'S WEAPON — KERAUNOS, THE STORMFORGED BLADE
From the first shard, Steropes forged a long, jagged blade. It wasn't just metal—it was shaped from frozen lightning, the edges still crackling with raw storm energy. As Steropes hammered it, thunder boomed with every strike. The blade pulsed in sync with his heartbeat.
Arges poured molten electrum into the hilt, carving runes with a whisper that guided the storm spirits into the weapon.
Brontes breathed into the weapon, imbuing it with the will of the skies.
The finished product: a godblade that shimmered with bolts running through its veins. Keraunos, the weapon of Zeus, could call storms with a whisper and split mountains with a single arc of lightning.
🌊 POSEIDON'S WEAPON — TRIENA, THE TIDEPIERCER TRIDENT
The second shard was cooled in a basin of divine sea water collected from Oceanus's outer rim.
Steropes forged the three-pronged trident head with gentle, precise strikes, shaping each tine to hold and release pressure like tidal waves. Each hammer blow sang like a crashing wave.
Brontes molded the shaft from coral-diamond, a fusion of deep-sea minerals that shimmered blue-green.
Arges bound it with sea-souls—essences of creatures long extinct, giving it intelligence and instinct.
Triena could part oceans, create tsunamis, and command every drop of water as if it were an extension of Poseidon's hand.
🔥 HESTIA'S WEAPON — PYRALITHOS, THE ETERNAL FLAMECORE
The third shard was forged not into a weapon of war—but a core, a living ember.
Steropes shaped it into a floating orb encased in transparent flame-stone, ever-burning yet gentle. It hovered above the forge, pulsing with warmth.
Arges whispered the First Hearth Prayer into it—a forgotten incantation that made fire protective and nurturing.
Brontes added a piece of his own heartflame, causing the core to glow brighter than a sunstone.
Pyralithos would allow Hestia to summon purifying fire, heal with warmth, and ignite hope in the darkest places. A sacred weapon of peace that could turn infernal when needed.
🌾 DEMETER'S WEAPON — GAIOS, THE LIFE-SEED SCYTHE
The fourth shard was forged from a rare metal called chloriteium, a living alloy that grew vines when fed sunlight.
Steropes shaped it into a long, curved blade resembling a crescent moon. He let vines coil naturally into the hilt.
Brontes fed the blade soil from Gaia's womb, smuggled from the far corners of the world.
Arges bound it with the spirit of a fallen seasonal spirit—a being that embodied spring and autumn both.
Gaios could birth forests in seconds, cause plagues with a swipe, or entangle legions in thorns thicker than iron. It was both creation and decay.
🐍 HERA'S WEAPON — NEMEIA, THE WRATHFANG SPEAR
The final shard screamed when touched.
It was volatile, unstable, wild. Steropes grinned.
He beat the shard into the shape of a long, slender spear, more ceremonial than practical—until it ignited with white flame.
Brontes forged a spearhead from serpentbone, one of the last hydra fangs, coated in divine poison.
Arges added a ring of blood-forged steel around the shaft—a conductor of will and rage.
Nemeia fed on pride, blossomed in fury, and answered only to Hera's command. The spear could pierce divinity and corrupt loyalty in those it wounded.
The weapons were laid in a circle.
In the center, Arges chanted in the old tongue, awakening the souls within each weapon. Each one rose—hovering slightly, glowing with their own light.
Brontes slammed his hammer down once.
Steropes followed.
Arges joined last.
Three strikes—reverberating through the World-Forge like the heartbeat of creation.
The forge went silent.
Then the weapons slowly descended, each one sliding into its own celestial sheath.
They were ready.
Inside the newly built summit hall—massive, circular, carved straight into the upper ribs of Mount Dikti—six gods stood in a half-circle, their faces lit by the glow of magma-lined walls.
Zeus. Poseidon. Hades. Hera. Demeter. Hestia.
Each of them scarred from battles. Changed from Tartarus.
Each of them silent now.
At the far end of the hall, the Cyclopes entered.
Brontes. Steropes. Arges.
They carried nothing in their hands—yet thunder echoed behind every step. The weapons moved on their own, floating behind them, cloaked in shrouds of lightning, water vapor, flame, poison mist, and pulsing vines.
Brontes stepped forward and banged his war hammer once into the marble floor. The sound cracked across the mountain.
"The weapons are done," he said. "Born from the World-Forge. Awakened with your names. They are not gifts."
He looked at each god.
"They are burdens."
The Cyclopes moved aside. One by one, the weapons floated to their destined owners.
Zeus looked at his lightening bolt that was his weapon and smirked as he grabbed it.
[DING]