Aether's Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

The dead gauntlets hung on Aether's arms as he climbed the marble steps of the forge. He had not felt the sky in three days. Apollo walked beside him, gold hair loose, saying little. Aether had told everyone the gauntlets simply malfunctioned. He almost believed it himself. But he knew the truth waited inside, and only one god could fix them. Hephaestus met them at the anvil. He was stocky, thick-bearded, and stood on bronze legs he had built for himself. He had forged these gauntlets long ago, on Zeus's order, to cage Aether's power. He took Aether's wrists without asking and turned the metal toward the firelight. "These didn't fail," he said. "They locked. On purpose. To stop something worse." "They're broken," Aether said. "Repair them." Hephaestus set a tool down. "I can repair metal. I can't repair a lie." He tapped the burned plates. "The scorch runs from the inside out. The power didn't overload you. You fed it. You kept pulling after your body said stop." He looked up, calm and plain. "Why?" Aether said nothing. His jaw tightened, the way it had on the terrace. Apollo spoke from behind him, even and quiet. "Tell him. Or you'll do it again, and I won't reach you in time." He held up his palm. A thin scar ran across it, pale against sun-dark skin. He had drawn the lightning through his own body to save Aether. "I've already lost you once. I won't watch you burn for pride." The word landed. Aether stared at the scarred hand. He remembered the gods behind him on the terrace, their silence, their fear. He had wanted them to see nothing he touched could beat him. "I couldn't stop," Aether said finally. His voice cracked. "They were all watching. If I let the storm go wild, they'd see the edge. So I held on past it. I chose the pain over looking weak." He forced the last words out. "My control didn't break. I broke it. On purpose." Hephaestus nodded slowly. "Now I can fix them." He carried the gauntlets to the fire. "The trigger wasn't in the metal. It was in your head. I'll set them to release when you push too far, whether you allow it or not. They'll save you from yourself." He glanced back. "But only because you told the truth." He worked for an hour. When the gauntlets cooled, Aether slid them on. The sky rushed back into his hands, alive again. He felt the difference at once. The power answered, but it no longer felt fully his to spend. A limit sat inside the gold now, one he could not argue with. "They obey me," Aether said. "They obey your limits," Hephaestus said. "Not your pride." Aether flexed his fingers. He had his power back. But now the metal knew his weakness better than he did.