Forge of the Gods 4

by Simon Archer

  “Is it something I said?” Holly wondered as she cocked her head to the side, with a coy smile though it didn’t reach all the way up to her eyes.

  “I’m just not a big fan of liars,” I confessed with a sneer.

  “What did I lie to you about, Cameron?” Holly said with confusion in her voice.

  “You said it yourself, you always had an affinity for lying,” I said, throwing her words back at her.

  “It’s just a class, Cam,” Holly said with a scoff. “Why are you taking it so seriously?”

  “Look, it doesn’t matter what you think anyway,” I said as I rubbed my eye with the back of my hand, feeling tired of the conversation already. “I only had to take the class because of a deal I made with Sasha, but the deal’s off. I found another way to get what I need. So if you’ll excuse me--” I tried to push past the soldier to get in the forge when she grabbed my forearm, stopping me. While I tried to jerk out of her grip, she held on for dear life with a surprising amount of strength.

  “It wasn’t a lie,” Holly hissed into my ear. Her voice slithered into my brain like a snake. “It was a warning.”

  I slammed my free hand down on her wrist and twisted her arm behind her back. I pressed my lips against her ear as she jerked to get out of my grip now. “If you ever touch me again, I will cut out your tongue so you can’t tell any more lies or give any more warnings, you hear me?”

  Then I released her and shoved my way into the forge. Holly appeared to value her health because she never approached me again after that.

  Finally, I could fully focus on making the tools without worrying about memorizing lines or being vulnerable enough. At the very least, I could associate myself with people I could trust, who I knew wouldn’t hurt me.

  As I worked, I found that the scissors were by far the easiest of the three tools to make. Though I had known they would be. They were just like weapons with handles. I crafted two of the same bladed sides and burned a hole in the middle so we could screw them together. I even kept the handles oval-shaped and long to accommodate Atropos’s pianist like fingers.

  For the finishing touches, I burnt the metal slightly, giving it a worn look. It didn’t affect the structure of the scissors in any way. It simply made them appear vintage. Something told me that the youngest Moirai wouldn’t appreciate a bright and shiny brand new pair of scissors.

  The rod, on the other hand, I spruced up till it shined like an Olympic gold medal. From what I gathered from the sisters, Lachesis was very different from Atropos and I wanted to keep their tools the same way. I figured if I could please them, that might lessen their fighting and needless killing of mortals when they were angry. But I kept that goal to myself. I could only tackle one problem at a time and knew I shouldn’t hope for any more than pleasing the goddesses.

  The biggest problem was the steel wool. I never knew what a complicated process creating steel wool was. It was an education for sure.

  I recruited my friends’ help for this last tool. Normally, steel wool was made in factories with huge machines. We didn’t have that luxury so we were forced to do it by hand.

  Before we could do any of the shaving or weaving, we had to thin out the metal. We pulled the longest rods of iron that we could, using wires rather than stick straight pieces. The set up looked like a game of tug of war, with Bethany and Daniella on one side and Jade and Kari on the other. They were supposed to filter the iron wire through a small hole in the center of the room. Bethany and Daniella would pull the thinned side through. My job was to manipulate the metal into coming out thinner through the hole.

  It took a ridiculous amount of coordination and concentration. If one side went faster or slower than the other, the whole process could be thrown off. If I was distracted for a moment, then we would end up with a section thicker than the other and we would have to back it up and start over.

  After we had a significant amount of thinned coil, we wrapped it up. The wire was now slimmer and consequently stronger than it was in its previous form. It would provide us with enough steel fibers to make a ball of steel wool for Clotho.

  Then, we had to slice it.

  It was like pushing stubborn cheese through a cheese grater. The strands had to be finer than a strand of hair in order to eventually be woven together. We each took different parts of the coil, shaving it down until the most delicate pieces. The pieces would then be joined together to form thinner strands. However, we soon discovered that it was just faster if I shaved the metal alone because I could manipulate the metal to go faster. In fact, I didn’t even have to touch the dangerous strands which were as fine as glass. It prevented a couple of pricked fingers and sliced hands, which Daniella kindly healed up for us so it wasn’t that big of a deal.

  My friends wore gloves and ended up being collectors. They gathered the strands and rolled them onto huge bobbins that Arges crafted specifically for this purpose. It wasn’t the most exciting work, but I knew I couldn’t have done it without their help.

  The weaving eventually was left to me as well because I was the only one who knew how to use a spinning wheel. I crafted a metal one in my abundant free time, meaning that I spent two sleepless nights fixing the tool that I would use to weave together the steel wool into one continuous strand. It wouldn’t be as fine as the yarn that Clotho was used to but I made it as close to string as I could. Most importantly, it was still easy to cut. I even tested Atropos’s scissors on the final product to be certain I wasn’t presenting the Moriai with faulty equipment.

  “What do you think they’re going to say?” Bethany asked me when we stood in my living room.

  I had a metal box, the size of a pizza box, in hand. My four friends stood around me, all standing in a row like toy soldiers. We faced the fireplace in my house which blazed with the bright blue of the Eternal Flame. The tools were finished just as the beginnings of spring showed their faces. The snow had long since melted and blooms were just beginning to bud on the trees. Jade and Bethany were already planning some sort of vegetable garden in my backyard, readying the soil for planting.

  But today, we were all inside while a thunderstorm boomed. Rain splattered against the window while lightning tore through the sky. It was an appropriate symbol for the mood I was in: dreary with a side of frustration.

  Khryseos and Argyreos loved the rain and played with the raindrops as they raced down the glass sliding door. I closed the dog door on purpose because I hated cleaning up their muddy mess about as much as they loved playing in it.

  I swallowed audibly and thought of an answer to my friend’s question. All I could manage was a shake of my head. I didn’t know what I was going to say. I knew I would have to defend the changes I had made. I used non traditional materials, ones that they certainly weren’t used to. But they never said anything specific about the materials. That’s the fact I had to hold onto, more than anything.

  “You’re going to be great,” Jade complimented in a squeaky voice, which gave away her nervousness. Nevertheless, she wrapped herself around my middle and squeezed tightly.

  “Give him a break, Jay,” Bethany said, pulling our petite girlfriend away from my body. “Look at his face. He’s already green. We don’t need to give him more of a reason to throw up.”

  “Thanks, Bethany,” Daniella said blandly. “I’m sure that’s the thing he wants to be thinking about right now: puking.”

  “I’m just trying to help,” Bethany reasoned as she spread her hands wide and gave an innocent shrug.

  “You should get going before these fools convince you to wait another day,” Kari said gently. She leaned in close so that our other three girlfriends wouldn’t hear the underlying insult.

  “Right,” I grumbled back to her. I cleared my throat and then stood up straight. “I’ll let you all know how it goes,” I spoke aloud to the group before I reached out and connected with the Eternal Flame.

  I issued the same command as before, wishing to speak with the Moirai. This time, the godde
sses didn’t answer. The Flame turned the same sickly green, which didn’t help my sloshing stomach, before it reached out and took my hand, as if we were greeting each other for the first time.

  Suddenly, it yanked me into the fireplace. I tumbled forward and the magical fire engulfed me in green. Within seconds, it transported me to the dull Cave of Eileithyia. Except this time the ballroom was brighter. There were more candles placed around the walls, which were washed and illuminated the paintings on the walls. All of the plywood on the walls and windows were gone. No light streamed in through the windows, as a thunderstorm raged outside. That sight alone was off-putting as it seemed to be the very thunderstorm wreaking havoc on the Academy.

  The furniture was different too. Instead of the crates and ripped piano bench, there were expensive looking lounge chairs. Even a peach-colored chaise sat up against one of the walls. There was a grand piano in the corner, polished and shiny, with the restored piano bench resting in its proper place. The wooden floor was slick and ready to be waltzed upon.

  My mouth flopped open, and I nearly dropped the box in my shock. Atropos approached me, giggling like a schoolgirl at my reaction.

  “Lovely, isn’t it?” the younger goddess asked as she approached me. She clapped her hands together and put the tips up against her lips. “You weren’t the only one to give us an upgrade.”

  “Is there a god of interior design that I don’t know about?” I joked.

  The goddess snorted her approval at my joke. “You’re so witty, Cameron, but no. We did this ourselves.”

  Lachesis stretched out on the chaise, with a martini glass in her hand. She sipped it before speaking. “We figured since our tools were getting an upgrade that our home should too.”

  “Well, it looks great,” I complimented, meaning every word.

  “Thank you,” Atropos said as she put her bobbed hair behind one ear, almost sheepishly, like she was embarrassed by my praise. “A lot of it was my design.”

  “It was not!” the middle sister protested as she shot up from her lounging position. Some of her alcohol sloshed over the edge of the glass, but she didn’t seem to care. “I was the one who thought of the ballroom theme.”

  “Please,” Atropos said as she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. “Just because you mentioned the idea one hundred and thirty years ago when we didn’t go with that theme, doesn’t mean that you had the idea first, okay?”

  “Why you little--” Lachesis threatened as she threw her glass on the ground, where it shattered instantly. The glass shot around the room, like ripples in a lake, some pieces even reaching my feet on the other end of the dance floor.

  While the setting and the tools might have changed, I realized right then that the sisters never would. It was like putting a cover over a couch. It might hide the spaghetti stains, but it wouldn’t ever really get rid of them.

  “Sisters!” Clotho called out from her corner. The older goddess huddled near the windows, sitting on the floor looking as though she was meditating. Her black eyes snapped open, and she glared at her companions. “Could you handle yourself for two minutes while the son of Hephaestus presents his gifts to us?”

  “Ooh!” Atropos said delightedly, her irritation disappearing so fast I thought the change would give me whiplash. “Our tools are ready. Let me see! Let me see!” The goddess reached for the box, but I jerked out of the way so that she couldn’t snatch it. Atropos stuck out her bottom lip, frowning.

  “I just wanted to warn you that they might be a bit different than you were expecting,” I said, keeping my voice even.

  “How different?” Clotho asked as she rose to her feet and crossed over to us.

  “You asked for an upgrade, so that’s what I gave you,” I said as I held out the box. I opened the lid and revealed the new tools. The moment of truth.

  I left my eyes peek over the top of the box to try to gauge their reactions but it was useless. The goddesses’ faces never changed when I revealed my creations. They stared at the tools with narrow and judgemental eyes.

  It took a whole minute before someone spoke.

  “What are those supposed to be?” Clotho asked as she pointed with a single finger. Her mouth curled in disgust as if she were looking at a two-headed slug she had to eat.

  “Your tools,” I answered calmly.

  “Mine looks great,” Atropos said, her voice full of glee as she took the scissors out of the box. The weight shifted suddenly for me so I teetered a little bit to regain my balance and make sure that I didn’t drop the other tools. The youngest sister held up the scissors and snapped them in the air. The click echoed throughout the ballroom. Then she reached across with her free hand and threatened to cut off some of Lachesis’s hair. The middle sister smacked her hand away as she reached in to grab the rod.

  Lachesis held it between two fingers, one of each end, balancing it in front of her. She held it up to her nose, her eyes crossing as she examined it from end to end.

  “I know the kind of tools you’ve had in the past,” I started the explanation I crafted in my head. “But I wanted to make you ones that would last a while. They all have metal bases, which might take some getting used to, but it could be a whole millennia before you have to replace these.”

  “It’s…” Lachesis said through gritted teeth. “Certainly different.”

  I winced at her tone of voice, but the goddess still wasn’t looking at me. She continued to examine and critique the rod. She transferred it to one hand and bounced it up and down as if weighing it. Then she twirled it over her fingers like a baton. In a sudden and unexpected move, the middle goddess whirled around and hurled the rod directly at Atropos’s head. The younger sister ducked just in time before the rod hurtled over her and then clattered to the floor.

  I gasped at the unexpected abuse of my creation. I worried that there was a crack or that it had suddenly broke in two. I couldn’t quite see the results of the damaging throw because the rod skidded off into the shadows.

  Lachesis went to fetch her new toy, skipping like a dog. When she held it back up in the light, she stretched her arm over her head like a sports player holding a trophy.

  “It held up,” she declared, and I released a breath I didn’t know I had been holding. “And it’s exactly eleven and three-quarters of an inch. Well done, son of Hephaestus.” The goddess nodded at me and I nodded back, unprepared for the level of relief that flooded through me.

  However, I knew the judgment wasn’t over yet. There was still one more goddess that I needed to impress. If I was honest with myself, Clotho was the Fate I was most worried about in regards to me changing her tool. Yarn was much softer than steel wool, even though I wove it down to the finest, strongest fibers I could.

  “This is steel wool,” I presented the box to Clotho, though she didn’t pick up the tool. “It is stronger than yarn but still moves in the same manner and has similar properties. Atropos can still use her scissors to cut it in one chop, and I made it soft enough so that it wouldn’t harm your hands when you played Cat’s Cradle with it.”

  Clotho’s eyebrows rose at that last comment, as though she had been surprised that I noticed. I waited with bated breath for her assessment. The older goddess looked down her nose as the spindle of yarn I offered. Even her sisters seemed to be holding their breath as they huddled together several yards away, awaiting Clotho’s reaction.

  “Give it a try,” I beckoned, pushing the box a little closer to her in an encouraging manner. “I promise you won’t be disappointed.”

  She sniffed as though she already was, but the goddess still picked up the steel wool. She held the spindle aloft and unraveled a small section of the new string. Her fingers rotated around it, creating temporary rings around her knuckles. After playing with the strands for a bit, Clotho spun the spindle so that all of the steel wool was back in its place. She tapped the strings against the palm of her hand.

  “It’ll do,” she said quietly before turning on her heel and walking back
to her corner.

  “Really?” I balked, not quite believing it right away.

  “Do you wish for me to change my mind?” the older goddess asked as she looked over her shoulder at me.

  I gulped. “Absolutely not. I’m glad you like them. All of you.” I closed the box and tucked it under my arm. I straightened my back and waited for them to hold up their end of the bargain.

  But, unexpectedly, the three goddesses seemed distracted by their new tools, like kids with new toys on Christmas morning. Their black eyes were focused wholly on the tools. Atropos snapped the scissors open and closed at various rates. Clotho already began a game of Cat’s Cradle and Lachesis threw her rod up in the air over and over, like a baton twirler.

  “Uh, excuse me?” I asked the group.

  As one, their heads creaked to look in my direction. That creeped me out, so much so that I automatically took a step backward.

  “I was just wondering about my dad?” I prompted, hoping that it would jog their memories. When no one said anything, I added, “You said you were going to tell me where he is.”

  There was a crackle from a nearby candle and I jumped at the pop that went off like a firecracker. Suddenly, a small piece of paper appeared out of nowhere, right above the tip of the flame.

  “Get it before it burns into oblivion,” Lachesis warned.

  Panicking, I quickly reached up and plucked the paper out of the air. The minute my fingers grabbed the folded letter, the fire wrapped around my wrist. It snapped around me like handcuffs and yanked me up into its flame.

  I didn’t even get to say goodbye to the goddesses who apparently wanted nothing more to do with me. In the space of a blink, I tumbled out of my fireplace and onto my living room floor.

  My friends gathered around me with worried expressions. Even my dogs popped their heads into my line of sight, each cocking their head in the opposite direction, a sign of their worry.

  The group of humans, however, all started talking at once, asking me what the Fates thought of the tools and what I learned about my father. I simply held up my arm, straight in the air. Jade grabbed the piece of paper, faster than both Kari and Bethany.