*How long will I love you?*

She sat looking at the sleeping form in front of her for hours, way longer than what was safe.

Hephaestus knew the danger he was putting them in, but this was something he needed to do.

“Selene”, he said her name as he emerged from the darkness.

“Finally.” She responded with her back turned to him. “I was wondering how long you were going to stand there.”

She had been running from him her whole life. Ever since her mother told her that her banishment to Earth was for her own protection, as Hephaestus wanted her dead, she’d been living in the shadows, afraid of the day he’d come for her.

Hephaestus approached her and the sleeping form cautiously.

“If you’ve come to kill me, better do it now. The humans will be arriving soon. I won’t fight.” *I’m done running.+

“So that’s the lie your mother told you.”

“Lie? It was obvious in your face every time you looked at me. I am the embodiment of everything you hate about Aphrodite. If she didn’t tell me, I would have figured it out sooner or later.”

“Is that why you have been running?”

“…Yes. That, and your devotion to my mother is sickening. As much as I despise you, I can’t stand to see how she uses you. And you allow it.”

Hephaestus stiffened at her words.

“I don’t want to kill you, Selene.”

“Then why can I sense your hate for me, even now?”

He was at a loss for words. How do you explain to the child you loss that the hate she feels is for her mother and father, and not her?

“It’s complicated. One day, when all this is over, I hope we have an opportunity to talk. But right now there are more pressing matters. Like you said, the mortals are coming. He needs to be awake well before that.” He nods towards the slumbering man.

She looks down at him again.

*How long will I need you?*

“I have to congratulate you, Hephaestus, he truly is remarkable.”

“How do you know he’s mine?”

”You know the nature of my power. I can control emotions. Machines don’t have emotions. That comes with a soul. Machines don’t have souls. Yet, he responds to me like a human would. He has to have a soul. Unless I’ve been living under a rock, no human has ever been able to imbue automatons with souls. Somewhere, one of the Olympians had to be involved.”

“That still doesn’t mean it was me.”

“Really, ‘Phaestus? You’re the god of the forge. You can create beings unlike any I have ever seen. The phoenix itself was created at your hands. Please. Don’t insult my intelligence. I’ve seen the mark on his back.”

“I didn’t create him. But you’re right, I was involved.”

“If you didn’t create him, who did? The workmanship is impeccable.”

“That is something I can’t reveal. You know the nature of Compulsion spells.”

“Zeus got you involved, then? Did the people who made him even know there was divine intervention?”

“Yes, and probably. They’re unscrupulous.

Selene looked down at the man in a peaceful slumber by her feet.

*How long will I want you?* she wonders, restraining herself from caressing his face.

Hephaestus sees the longing in her eyes.

“He’s special, you know.”

Selene just nodded. There were no words to explain what she was feeling.

“When I inspired the design for him, I watched as the professor worked. My presence ensured flawless execution. I was stunned that a human could build something so magnificent, even with the help of a god. I knew then this one would carry my mark. The soul you sense in him, that’s a part of me.”

“Why would you put a part of yourself in him?” Selene asked, surprised at the revelation.

“In the hopes that he might succeed where I have failed.” Hephaestus looked away, bitterness and pain darkening his visage for a moment. He closed his eyes, supressing years’ worth of anger.

Selene waited patiently for him to compose himself and continue.

“…You know the situation between your mother and me.” He almost spat the words.

“You mean that she stays with you for the wonderful gifts you bestow upon her, but bestows all her love upon Ares?”

“Yes. I know she doesn’t care for me. She loves beauty. Her greatest love is herself. I’m just a beast she’s forced to stay with. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’ve loved her every moment of my existence.”

Selene knew of his pain. Aphrodite bragged about it, insulting him and emasculating him every opportunity she could. Nymphs and dryads sang songs of it. A poor dryad had died, loving Hephaestus, but he couldn’t love her back. His love for Aphrodite was as strong as a curse upon him.

“I gave him the part of my soul that loves her, in the hopes that it would lessen my feelings for her.”

Was this even possible? The Olympians giving objects and humans power by imbuing them with some of their souls was common. Hermes’ boots, Poseidon’s trident, Zeus’ lightning bolt, even Hercules’ power was testament to that. But a god actually choosing to give a specific part of his soul away? This was a first.

“Did it work?”

“Yes. It would seem like it.” He answered with regret. “The part of my soul in him…it will always long for the part of your mother that isn’t corrupted by her selfish pride. Since his creation I have found separation from her much easier to cope with.”

“But there was a price you had to pay..”

“Not returning someone’s love is just as cruel as forcing someone to love, knowing they might never find the one true person that love is for.”

“I don’t understand.”

“He will always long for her. He won’t even realise it. But he’ll always feel a loss deep inside him, and that’s the price I had to pay for my own peace. I have forced this man to bear my curse.”

Understanding suddenly dawned upon Selene. Hephaestus split his soul in order to find salvation from the destructive force that is her mother. He have lost a part of himself, he will never get it back. For this, he has achieved peace we might not have known otherwise. Whoever he gave half his soul to would have to carry his curse. She understood this well. Her mother had done the same to her.

“My mother changed towards you after my birth.”

“Are you asking or saying?”

“It’s a statement.” Selene got up from the ground and walked away from the sleeper, kneeling by the small brook that supplied a constant hum of flowing water. She reached into the water, almost looking like she was going to fall in, but instead stopped and took her arm out of the water again. A mirror, inlaid with diamonds, emeralds and rose sapphires, with a beautiful mother of pearl frame.

“Maeko. The Mirror of Truth. It is rumoured it shows you the true affection of your heart. Hera gave it to your mother as a wedding gift.”

“And now it’s mine.”

Selene handed the mirror to him.

“What do you see, blacksmith?”

Hephaestus took the mirror, hesitating, dreading the face that will be staring back at him. Staring deep, he saw the image of himself changing. The mirror shimmered before the image focussed. His forge appeared before him.

“Must be nice. Your forge will always return the love you have for it.”

She took the mirror back.

“Do you know what I see?”

He only looked up at her, emotionless.

“For years I saw you. I never understood it. How could my true affection be for the person who hates me so?”

“I don’t hate you!” his voice thundered over the clearing. “But that is of no consequence. Please continue.”, he said, a little calmer.

“As a child, I assumed this to be my longing for a father. You could have been my father, but instead you rejected me.”

His head hung in shame.

“I refused to look at the mirror. Until one day, I felt a sharp pull on my soul, and Maeko calling me. His face stared back at me.” She gestured towards the sleeper.

“How can this be? How can I love someone who would never be able to love me back? I thought this was all a cruel joke of the Fates. I thought you sent him to taunt me. I ran away, as far as possible. But everywhere I ran, he would somehow appear. I understand now. My mother did to me what you did to him.”

She looked back at the sleeper and slowly strolled toward him. “I finally gave up. When I found him in this battle, I lured him into the clearing and lulled him with a lullaby. The soul you gave him made him susceptible to my powers. Even though he shouldn’t be able to, he’s asleep. Because I know he’d reject me otherwise. He wouldn’t return my love. I cannot handle more rejection.”

Selene turned back to Hephaestus. “What you are telling me, means he might love me back?”

Hephaestus couldn’t stand the glint of hope he saw in her eyes. He didn’t want her heart broken, but there seemed no other way.

“Yes. He might. But I don’t know him. I don’t know how he would react to that.”

“But there’s still a chance!”

“Selene, don’t hurt yourself. You know why you are here. Why Ares summoned you to this place.”

“The coming battle. I know. I’m supposed to be hiding around the battle somewhere, feeding the emotions needed to fuel it. Go out in full battle regalia and instigate a few fights if I must. He needs this battle to create his new Pegasus army. Father has *such* a way of showing his love for me.”

“Your father is as much a slave to his feelings and own needs as your mother.”

Selene laughed bitterly. “So I get to be the bad guy while he gets to play with his new pets.”

Hephaestus kneeled next to the sleeper, admiring the workmanship.

“He is involved. I don’t know of his fate, but you are just going to hurt yourself if you allow yourself to get involved with him.”

“Then *un*involve him, Hephaestus. He is yours, is he not? Make him leave. Make him safe!”

“He doesn’t belong to me. I don’t control his fate. His path is his own.”

Selene turned away, not willing to accept what she was hearing. Silent tears streamed down her face.

“Selene…” he turned to her, “I just don’t want to see you go down the same path so many others have. Save yourself.”

The sounds of battle got closer to them than what was good.

“I have to go. This talk stays between us.” Hephaestus walked into the dark woods, disappearing as he walked.

Selene walked back to the sleeper. Despair overtook her body and she collapsed, crying on his chest as he peacefully slept on, blissfully unaware of the beauty beside him and her turmoil.

“I will love you as long as the stars are above you. And I will need you as long as the bird needs its wings.” She whispered to him through her sobs. “I will want you for as long as time itself stretches on, as long as my miserable immortal life keeps me bound to this world, and even into the next.” She placed a soft kiss on his face.

Releasing her enchantment on him, she moved back into the dark woods, watching him as he woke up. A soft song of longing escaped her lips as her heart broke, knowing she should heed Hephaestus’ warning.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Full Metal Cowboy woke up, unaware that he was ever asleep. For a moment his surroundings confused him while his thoughts came back to him. Ah yes. He was following the sound of laughter. Looking around him, listening for the laughter, all that greeted him was silence, and the sound of fighters in a battle, not to far off.

He looked around the clearing again, and turned to leave. Suddenly a soft sob drew his attention to a patch of trees just beyond he brook. A soft white fluttering of fabric told him he was not alone, and his mysterious companion was probably a woman.

“Who is there?” he shouted, taking a step towards her. Changing his tone to be softer, he called again.

“I won’t hurt you. Come out where I can see you.”

Only silence. But the white dress was still visible.

“Please. If something is wrong, I want to help you.”

“…No one can help me.” Came the soft spoken voice. His inner being was shocked awake at the sound, as if it was in a deep slumber his whole life up until that moment. A deep magnetism he couldn’t understand pulled him towards it. He needed to hear more. It felt as if his very life depended on it.

“I’m sure there’s something I can do? What’s wrong? … Please come out?”

“If I were to come out, neither of us would ever be the same.” Sadness rang out of the voice, breaking him.

“What is your name?” He asked.

For a long time no answer came. If not for the dress still visible, and the pull he felt towards the woods, he would have though he was alone. He waited patiently, hoping against hopes to hear her voice again.

Finally, he heard a slight shuffling. Before him, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen stood, looking frail and vulnerable, yet magnificent and unreal.

A tear ran down her pale cheek.

“Selene.”

The name reached his ears as the vision in front of him disappeared. She was really gone this time. The magnetism was lost. The pull was gone. Instead, and incredible emptiness and longing filled him. In that few moments that he had been with her, he had felt a peace he had never known before.