Aphrodite's Choice

Chapter 40 – Scars of the Past

In his rush to leave, Apollo ran into someone and fell on the ground. He was about to chide the person to look where he was going but quickly realized that he was just standing there. Almost as if he was waiting for the Sun God. As his eyes crept up from the legs to the face, Apollo’s eyes widened when he realized who was in front of him.

Hephaestus.

“How is she?” he asked, offering a calloused hand on the god who was still laying on the ground.

“She’s doing fine. The cuts are already gone and the other effects of the whip will last for only three days, at most. I’m heading to my workshop right now to prepare a potion for it,” replied Apollo as Hephaestus hauled him to his feet.

“Please let me know what ingredients you need. Let me help you find them,” said the god of fire, almost pleadingly, something which did not escape the Sun God’s notice. It perplexed him. Why should he care about his wife when she slept with his half-brother? Apollo was quite certain he would not be as magnanimous.

“No, no. I wouldn’t require anything difficult to find. Almost all of them are available in my stores, anyhow.”

Hephaestus didn’t move nor react, but his expression was clearly that of someone unconvinced. But on the other hand, he was struggling to find the words to explain.

Finally, he came up with a “You don’t know Hera’s whip. It has magic designed exactly to defeat healing magic.”

“Come again?”

“Wounds caused by Hera’s whip will appear to be healed, but inside, it will continue to be felt.”

“How do you kn–” said Apollo, stopping in mid-sentence out of shock as the realization hit home. He’s speaking from experience, he thought, horrified.

“She used to whip you, hasn’t she?”

“Yes. But that was a long time ago. When I was little.”

The Sun God could not imagine this mountain of muscle being little, but the words shocked him nonetheless. After all, he grew up experiencing nothing but love and care from his mother, Leto. True, the dislike between mother and son was common knowledge around Olympus. But whipping him as if he was some animal, instead of his own flesh and blood? Apollo suddenly felt more gratitude towards Aphrodite. Someone needs to stand up to that bully, he thought.

“Please, forget that I said anything. Really, it wasn’t anything serious,” said Hephaestus in that pleading tone again as he saw the Sun God’s face contort in wordless fury.

“You’re saying that’s not serious?”

“Take good care of Aphrodite’s wounds, please,” said Hephaestus evasively.

Apollo was about to retort angrily that he did not need anyone to tell him that. But then, he realized he was actually angry at Hephaestus. But why should he? After all, shouldn’t he be angry at the other gods for ignoring Hera’s poor treatment of him?

He instead managed a curt “Yes, I will.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t say that unless you’re trying to embarrass me.”

“What are you talking about? I am grateful, that is all.”

Hephaestus laughed subtly. Apollo gazed at him; he thought Hephaestus was saying what happened to him as a child was none of his business because of pride, but it seemed that pride was not the problem. Hephaestus had learned to avoid being disappointed by never expecting anything from others. His dry attitude had stemmed from this principle. Which was why he avoided Athena who deliberately cared for her and instead met with Hermes who only threw sloppy jokes at him. And to Apollo, he had nonchalantly mentioned his traumatized past, but remembered not to cross any lines and dismissed him.

“Anyway, I’ll be leaving. I need to meet with my sister.”

“Alright.”

“I’ll take care of Aphrodite’s medicine, so don’t worry.”

As his carriage drove away, another realization dawned on Apollo. As far as he could tell, Hephaestus did not come inside to see Aphrodite and had shown no signs of doing so. This was so unlike the expected behavior of any normal husband if his wife was sick or injured. Of course, everyone gossiped about the unlikeliest of couples being married, but this was a bit too much. It seems there was something he didn’t know about. Something big.