I didn't mind this though as if anything this was even more in my favor as now I could leave this thing in charge of my flames during combat. Not now obviously as it was too weak to be of any use at the moment but after it grew up a bit absolutely.
"My forge!" Hephaestus yelled angrily as she only now checked on her workshop.
Looking over it I had to admit she definitely paid a heavy price for trying to mess about with my flames as the entire room was scorched black and more than a few tools were missing after having been devoured by the rampant flames.-
Her furnace itself was still more or less intact due to it's innate resistance to fire but there was some damage to it that I could see. The less said about her stores of magic stones and materials the better.
"You know I think you've lost enough so i'ma just take this one with me and leave you to grieve your stuff." I said before leaving.
Honestly I hadn't even lost anything and felt the sting from the sheer amount of money that had been effectively used as fuel for the out of control flames.
I got a lot of mean looks as I left her office carrying something I didn't have when I entered. More than a few people likely were jealous that I received a gift from her after we had rushed into her office. From an outside perspective it looked an awful lot like we had ran to her office for a quick fuck before she sent me away with a gift afterwards. Needless to say the members of her familia closest to her office had very unpleasant looks for me though I ignored them.-
I left Babel only to stiffen when I felt a smooth arm drape itself over my shoulder and something soft press into my side.
"My what have we here, an adorable little thing isn't it?" Nyx practically purred in my ear as she clung to me intimately while looking at the cat in my hand.
For the briefest moment I thought about torching her but all of my instincts screamed at me the moment the thought appeared so I crushed it hurriedly.
"Mo~ Why must you see me so negatively? I'm your biggest fan after all. Why if you simply asked I'd let you do all sorts of naughty things to me. No strings attached.~" she whispered in my ear seductively and I couldn't help shuddering.
It wasn't disgust or arousal though but terror as for some reason I can't understand her very existence makes every bone in my body itch with fear. In any other situation I may even take whoever it was up on such an offer but this goddess made my skin crawl despite being drop dead gorgeous and clearly knowing how to use it. I forcefully calmed myself though so I could try and extricate myself from this situation.-
"You were waiting for me." I stated as I started to see a pattern with her.
She smiled before releasing me from her embrace "I felt something interesting happen in the tower and thought to investigate. I'm so happy I did as I would have missed out on meeting this adorable little spectre if I hadn't." She said rubbing the cats furry head and leaving with a seductive sway of her hips.
'I can never put my finger on why she alone bothers me so much but whatever the reason she definitely knows more than she says.' I thought seriously as I watched her leave.
I left for my home after that and let me tell you Hestia lost her shit when she saw the cat. It was only after calming her down and explaining that Hephaestus was mostly at fault for it's birth that she relaxed. Unlike Hephaestus Hestia knew quite clearly that I could make a cursed spirit by myself if I wanted to and not the half assed things that came from my failed tool creations. Naturally she assumed that is what had happened here but I set her straight since we would all get in trouble if that were actually true.-
Once that was settled she didn't hesitate to try and pet the small kitten still sitting in my hands curled up.
"OW! It scratched me!" she yelped when claws raked across the extended finger the instant she touched the cat.
The cuts weren't normal however as they held red burnt edges that looked quite nasty. Cassandra healed her quickly but only Bell risked his fingers to try and pet the now very awake cat. Unlike Hestia however he was fast enough to avoid getting scratched when it attacked.-
It was kinda cute how all the fur on the things body was standing on end as it hissed at everyone menacingly.
"Where did you even find a kitten that mean?" Daphne asked curiously.
"Hephaestus gave it to me as an unexpected gift." I said with a chuckle.
The cat turned into black flames that flowed up my shirt before settling back into a solid state on my shoulder at this point leaving all of them with jaws on the floor.
"W-what kind of cat did you say that was again?" Daphne asked with a slight stutter.
I grin "I didn't. Best way I can explain it is that it is a spirit made from my flames as should be obvious." I said casually.
"Like the spirits from the old tales of the age of heroes, THAT spirit?" Daphne asked in shock.
"Not exactly but similar enough I suppose. I'm surprised that it's acting so hostile to you all when it was perfectly fine in front of Hephaestus and Nyx." I said genuinely confused by this.
Hephaestus was easy to understand as she was more or less it's mother but Nyx had nothing to do with it and yet got away with rubbing it's head without so much as a squeak from the thing. I mean it was totally possible that it simply didn't like my familia members for whatever reason but I had no way of knowing since cats were notoriously temperamental.
'Oh fuck, Hephaestus is it's mother!' I stiffened in horror as my mind caught on to that little nugget of bad for me news.
"You met Nyx again!?" Hestia asked alarmed.
"Less I met her and more she blindsided me, again. That woman has a disturbing level of sensory perception when it comes to me for some reason. Now that I think about it I should probably try and fix that huh?" I said feeling a little foolish for not thinking about it sooner while still internally screaming at the understanding of Hephaestus being the cats mother.