Multiverse Stories (Multicross: DC, DXD, Marvel, ETC,)

Lee M. Russ POV:

Living underwater is interesting as while I am lying on a bed in an underwater cave, which defies how water works, it seems almost normal to me, like how a man who has fought in multiple battles can simply shrug off combat encounters. Yet the fact that I am the god of the forge is still a shock to me.

Hephestus was a god who was abandoned for being ugly, which to Lee was odd as ugly for gods who can shapeshift, which is almost redundant, yet I digress. My thoughts are then filled with what universe I may be in as there could be a number of universes I may be in, from Percy Jackson to Marvel or DC or Gaea forbid Fate.

But regardless, this is my life now to be here in this moment, but I wonder one thing. "Why am I still here?" Lee questions in his mind as most fate trackers or oracles would have noticed a change in the timeline and would have located the origin of the change and then eliminated it TVA style from the MCU.

Speaking of which, since that has yet to happen, I assume I am not in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which takes a load off my chest.

I lay on the bed in deep thought with little to no sound other than the sounds of the moving water and life outside the cave. But my silence is soon interrupted as Thetis arrives in the cave with a variety of items, from what looks like a drachmae to a statuette of Poseidon based on the general looks and the Trident. But who knows, it may be his son Trident that the statue is representing or Oceanus.

Seeing me looking at the hoard, Thetis turned to me and asked, "Oh, is our little god interested in this stuff? Come on, then hold it." She then hands me one of the coins, and as I stare at it, taking in each detail with the symbol of lighting on its silver or iron surface, my focus seems to make the woman smile as she says, "A curious fellow, are we? Well, it's nice to see you are interested in something, although it was adorable to see Eury trying to get you to play with toys."

A little context for that: the other sea goddess tried to get me to interact with her by giving me small baby toys in the form of tiny hammers and daggers. Real. Live. Daggers. So yeah, I'm not interested, but the fact that what I am holding could be considered a historical relic worth millions in my time is baffling. But then the woman takes it from me with a smile on her face.

I will remember this.

Apparently, the look on my face is funny as the woman pinches my cheeks while laughing as she says, "You look like I stole your dream child, but the fact that you're adorable helps. It does make me wonder why your parents threw you away?" Wait what?

The woman, seeing my confusion, takes a small mirror made of water and faces it towards me, and what I see is a normal baby, if not very adorable. My many questions are then answered as I feel something stir within my soul, and I hear the sound again.

*Clang*

I feel my soul reach out to take hold of the star, and it grasps it, and my very being expands as I begin to feel the increase in my crafting ability. (0 CP Held). But the feeling disappears, yet the increase remains. As I look back to Thetis, she almost seems worried as I have not responded to her yet, and in doing so, I grab her hand, which she holds with care as she says, "I feel like you are going to do great things, Hephestus, but I do hope you can be happy at the end of it all."

I then hold her hand tightly as she shows me her other gains, from swords to banners, and I examine each one with a vested interest.

So as the days passed and I grew in size, only after a couple of days, I was the size of the average 14-15-year-old teen, with my hair remaining a staunch brown that had yet to be truly dirty and my eyes a fiery yellow.

The pace at which I grew did not seem to make the two sea goddesses falter, with Eury sad that she would have no embarrassing childhood stories to tell about me. Thetis did not seem to mind as she continued to pinch at my cheeks. Even when I could stop her, she would manipulate the water to simply keep my hand away.

Soon after being able to walk, I was taken to the forge, which was inside the volcano of Lemnos, and the heat felt right. It was not comforting but right as if this was what or where I was meant to be. And as if reading my mind, Thetis and a couple of the Sintians led me to the inner forge with their tools made from stone and other metals.

Upon entering, Thetis looks to the fire and says, "This is where all of this started, Hephestus. This was where the first fire began after the Titanomachy and where the art of smithing was finalized for normal use by as and by virtue of us, the mortals," The sea goddess then holds out a hammer and hands it to me and taking it fills a void I knew not where it came from.

Yet again, I feel the forge within me fire up, and a hammer falls within my soul, and another star is reached towards and grasped. I feel my mind speed up, and I approach the forge, feeling the metal within the mold. I began to work on my first creation.

(Thetis POV:)

This should not be possible.

This child, barely two days old, whose height barely reaches my midsection, has taken up a hammer and works with it as if he always had done so. I can see the metal taking shape and each movement of the hammer as fluid as the water flowing around us, and the heat seems to focus around Hephestus as if he was meant to be there.

And so Eury and I watched as the child forged his first creation in this world. This was a monumental moment as seeing a god find their domain only occurs rarely, to say the least.

"Sister Thetis, I believe I know what Hephestus's domain is." Everyone in the room looked towards her and sighed as we then returned to watching the young god create his first blade. Every movement made can be seen to carry the weight of Ages, yet this child has only lived for 2 to 3 days.

I should be feeling envious of his skill as while I can see the mistakes he is making. He is rapidly improving from various issues pertaining to heat, cooling, and quenching the blade and how the blade is molded and formed. But as the process continued, all of these issues started appearing less and less.

Such talent should be celebrated, but even I feel the calling of envy to see years of work or at least months of experience being made in a matter of minutes, and then I remind myself that this child is possibly the son of an Olympian who it is I have my own assurances. Each guess I took only made it seem more terrifying.

Looking at everyone in the room, I simply stated: "Sisters, I believe that this must be said. Anything that occurs relating to the child must be kept secret, at least for now, to give him time to develop and grow further in skill and strength, and I do not believe I need to say what would occur if anyone were to find this child before he was ready." The others nod as we come to a consensus.

The fire continues to grow as Hephestus forges on, the blade taking its shape. While it did look like a normal Xiphos, I could tell that while stronger, it would last a warrior years if treated well. As he takes the blade from the forge and holds it above his head, I see him then begin to stare at the blade, and a small tear forms on his face but quickly dissipates due to the heat.

Walking forward, Hephestus leaves his trance and says with almost a stutter as if remembering we were still here, "I apologize for using the forge as It simply felt.."

"It felt right, didn't it, young Hephestus? I can understand the call of the forge and the desire to create it, which is alright. Now let me see the blade."

Hephestus then reluctantly handed the sword to me and held it. The weight is nearly perfect, and the sharpness causes my finger to be cut by simply placing my finger on it. Seeing me bleeding, Hephestus then grabbed a clean rag and placed it on my finger, which brought me a small amount of joy, seeing the god caring for someone he had just met.

Eury then took the blade, saying, "This is a good sword, Hephestus. There are a few mistakes, but it is overall fine work, and it was amazing watching you work." Hephaestus then turns away, and I know why as I see a small blush on his face at the compliment, he responds by saying, "I thank you both for your kind words, but while it was my first, there are many improvements that can be made."

This comment makes me chuckle as I say to him, "Such is the beauty of foraging Hephaestus. There are always improvements that can be made, and that is why it never grows dull. There are always materials to be found and new designs to be made, from swords to spears to armor. The drive to forge isn't just to create but to see new things. Embrace it, young god, for this only happens once in a millennium."

The boy then looked at me with a serious countenance and nodded, and as he looked at the sword, I returned it to him, and he held it as if holding a treasured companion.

The very thought is slightly concerning as I fear our young god may become attracted to weaponry rather than people. What makes this feeling odd is that it makes it seem like another has had the same problem.

The boy then bows as he says, "I am honored that you love me to use your Forge, and I hope to be able to use it more in the future if you should allow me to."

Placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, I smile, and he looks at me with utter happiness on his face. Looking to the others, they return to their posts and begin to complete their own projects. Unlike most blacksmiths, we are not held to too many standards, as many come to our Island simply seeking to forge in peace.

It's almost funny as this place seems perfect for a young god of the forge, and I send a small thanks to the Fates for allowing us to witness such a beautiful rise. My hopes remain in place and begin to rise further.

But for now, my focus is to get this child to be more embarrassed, as his embarrassed face is too adorable. Actually, scratch that I do not want Zeus to be attracted to the child. The very thought sends a chill of disgust down my being.

As the others returned to their projects, I led Hephaestus to my own forge and began to instruct him on our ways, and while he may get lost in the process, his ability to learn was staggering. While the feeling of envy does return, it is soon overshadowed by my own improvement in forging , which, while leagues below his own, is still an Improvement in and of itself.

So, as the day turned to night, the forges burned in crimson and orange light.

Perks Gained:

Savant (Generic Exalted) (100CP)

You're a Savant! This means you've got an incredible insight into crafting all sorts of things, from meals to clothes, armor, weapons, magical devices, and all sorts of other things besides. Even if you've never done something before so long as it's a skill remotely 'craft-like' in nature, you'll be able to perform it at the level of a (mortal) master. This just represents innate talent, and if you actually focus on developing such skills the normal way you'll quickly outstrip even the best that a mortal craftsman could accomplish, able to make artwork that speaks to the soul (perhaps literally) or armor and weapons of surpassing quality that look like show-room pieces despite being suitable for combat and also being sturdy and reliable to a frankly unbelievable degree.

Purchasing this will make you substantially better than other Exalted craftsmen, assuming you put in the same effort as they did.

Strategy Trance (Brockton's Celestial Forge) (100CP)

At will, you may go into a trance in which your mind speeds up, your eyes glaze over, and you start to instinctively analyze your current situation, any data points about your enemies, environment, your available powers and tools, and their uses. You can then use all that information to construct hypothetical scenarios of possible resolutions to the encounter instinctively. After the trance ends, you will have boosted competence to follow through with any plans you made within the trance, almost as if your instincts are guiding you.

The trance does not leave you defenseless. Two things protect you during it. A few external seconds of trance can be up to 10s of minutes of internal time. Secondly, you will immediately wake up from the trance if you are attacked or if you would have wanted to be woken from it at any time for some other reason.

This perk is further boosted by any other mental perks you have and synergies and integrates aspects of all your mental perks to enhance the trance somehow.

Needlework (Marvel Comics Kid Superheroes) (100CP)

Being on your own, you've had to learn to make and maintain your costume and gear yourself. You're pretty good at making and repairing clothes, armor, and small electronics.

Held CP: 100 Banked