Prologue

The calm ringing of a hammer on an anvil filled the dark room. Only the light of the forge made the smithy visible. The smooth rhythm of the hammer, exactly one strike every two seconds, was a testament to the skill of the smith hunched over the red-hot metal. The rhythm continued for hours, each strike making almost no difference. Still, the millions of controlled strikes eventually made a difference, the metal of the key blank finally responding to the smith's will. Bit by bit the metal morphed, developing into the only one of its kind, small teeth taking a unique shape with each strike.

The finished base of a massive key soon sat in front of the blacksmith. Giving it a once over, she rolled her shoulders and set the undecorated gold key to the side after dunking it in oil to cool it. The blacksmith grabbed another chunk of molten metal from the forge and repeated her process. The next key went faster but with no less skill, still a unique piece. The sounds of hammer on metal were deeper than the key before, more solid, and less ephemeral. Soon enough, the smith set her hammer down and set the second key beside its sibling after a hurried check. The smith turned back to the forge and the final blank that sat heated within, hesitation evident in her charcoal eye. A frown marred her beautiful, milk-chocolate skin, breathtaking even in the dim forge light.

A moment passed before she reached and grabbed the molten blank with her bare hand, the metal darker than the keys before. The smith set her mouth in determination, her connection to the metal revealing its secrets to her. She set the blank on her anvil and her hammer began to swing. From the first strike, it was clear that this key would not be as obedient to her will as its two elder siblings. The strikes it demanded of her were far heavier and the precision needed far greater. The clangs of the hammer on metal resembled roars of defiance, not the spiritual rings of the first, nor the soothing booms of the second. Despite its resistance, the key soon yielded to her hammer, taking its final shape.

As she laid the final key beside its brethren, a light sprung from the darkness, and a voice called out from behind her. “As skilled as ever, Vulcana. It’s always a pleasure to see you work.”

Vulcana turned and raised an eyebrow at the intruder, “It’s generally considered polite to come in through the door, Jehovah.”

The olive-skinned being seemed to shift between a male, female, and androgynous form as they smiled at her before rushing over to inspect the three keys. “Oh! They’re beautiful!” Jehovah cooed.

Vulcana looked at the two beings who had accompanied the hyperactive deity behind her and sighed. “Micheal, Samael.”

The pair of angels looked at the goddess, their exasperation with their deity’s actions clear in their eyes.

“I apologize for our parent, Vulcana. When they sensed you were close to completion, they had to come immediately,” Michael apologized with a shallow bow.

“Yeah, sorry about the per! You know how they get,” Samael said with a grin that said she was not that sorry at all.

Vulcana rolled her eyes. “It’s fine,” she said. “Did you bring the gems?”

Samael reached to her side and grabbed a small pouch hanging from her armor belt. “Here you go,” she said.

Vulcana grabbed the bag with a nod and walked back over to the keys, the angels following close behind. She grabbed the three keys and set them back on her anvil before closing her eye. She focused, gathering her concentration and connecting with her powers as the Goddess of the Forge. Connecting with the heat of the universe, her hands began to rapidly glow red with heat and the air seemed to buckle from the heat. The bag holding the gems turned to ash, and the three gems inside floated in the air in front of the burning goddess.

“Hmm,” she hummed thoughtfully. “Lapis lazuli from Ra’s collection, very nice. A fertility emerald from Venus, I bet you had a fun time getting that. And…” Vulcana trailed off as she focused on the final gemstone, “a Sorrow-bearer Opal. Are you sure, Jehovah?”

For the first time since arriving, Jehovah’s face was serious. “It has to be this way,” they said. “Stygian Iron from the ninth ring of hell has too much negative energy to be paired with anything positive-aligned. At least with a Sorrow-bearer, the negative energy can be contained.”

Vulcana wanted to argue with her fellow deity but decided to trust them. “Very well.” Se went silent, concentrating on bringing more and more of the universe’s heat into her body. A moment passed, then two, then three, every second coinciding with a drastic increase in the temperature of the room. Soon the heat overwhelmed the angels, forcing them away from the deities and back to the door, where cold air battled against the scorching blaze coming off the beautiful goddess. Even Jehovah had beads of sweat rolling down their face, yet they never took their eyes off their friend.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, Vulcana’s eye snapped open, the dark coal now a blazing ember. The three keys floated up as the heat billowing out across the room, forcing even Jehovah to raise a barrier to protect themselves, came rushing back to the goddess of the forge and the keys in front of her. Directing the heat like a conductor does an orchestra, Vulcana engraved archaic, yet elegant runes in the golden key before gently setting in the lapis lazuli from Ra. Quickly moving on to its silver sibling and shaking with strain from bearing so much power, Vulcana repeated the process but with the Fertility Emerald. The runes on this key were thicker, containing a sturdy but adaptable solidarity that reflected the difference between the keys themselves.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Leaving the finished pair to float, she turned to the final key a stern look on her beautiful face. Retaining half of the power she had started with, she steadied her mind and opened her craftswoman soul to the voice of the metal and the Sorrow-bearer Opal. She forced her power into the unyielding metal of the final key and began magically engraving the key. Contrary to the elegant runes of the first key and sturdy script of the second, the runes Vulcana felt herself carving were cruel, jagged, and deceptive, shifting meaning even after they had been engraved. They contained an essence of everchanging conflict, unwilling to bow and submit to even the goddess that created them.

Vulcana barely had a quarter of her power left as she finished the final turned to the Sorrow-bearer Opal that floated beside her. She bolstered her will and moved the gem to the slot in the key. With a massive exhale, Vulcana put all her remaining power into forcing the opal into the key, yet the moment it touched the black metal, the opal seemed to scream out, releasing an oppressive aura that overwhelmed the two angels at the back of the room. Vulcana felt her strength and will drain away, but she refused to submit to something she had created.

With a final shove of will, she released the limiters that usually restrained the true limits of her divinity. Her aura overwhelmed that of the Sorrow-bearer as she decreed, “I am the Goddess of the Forge, and you. Will. Obey!” With a flash and a final scream, the gem was forced into the gem slot of the key, and the metal set around it, trapping the opal forever. Vulcana released her divine form, grabbing her anvil for support. She took great heaving breaths as she carefully grabbed the final finished key and set it beside its siblings. She turned to Jehovah. “It is finished,” she said, her voice overflowing with palpable exhaustion.

Jehovah walked over with a smile. “Thank you, Vulcana. I appreciate it.”

“Just remember, this wasn’t free. You now owe the Greek Pantheon a favor.” Her eye was sharp despite her exhaustion.

Jehovah laughed at her words and said, “Ever the businesswoman. Don’t worry, as long as it’s universally fair, I won’t renege on my promise.” They stood beside her and looked at the keys. Lined in order of creation, they made an impressive sight: golden elegance, silver simplicity, and black chaos.

“The only thing left is to name them. The forms they are now are only spiritually significant. Once you actually give them a name and purpose they will take on a form better suited to their true natures,” Vulcana said as she waved her hand, summoning an iron chair from her personal storage.

Jehovah stared at the keys thoughtfully for a moment. Their eyes traced the different magic scripts that had embedded themselves in the metal of the keys. It was the most time Vulcana had ever seen the deity go without speaking. Suddenly, without warning, Jehovah released their aura and began speaking with full divine authority, “Divine Gold bearing the azure heart of Purity, you who contains the script of the Angels, I bestow the name of Ostiarius, the gatekeeper of the Heavens!” The delicate gold key began to glow, absorbing the heavenly power Jehovah directed towards it.

“Mithril bearing the verdant body of Potential, you who read out the script of the Earth Giants, I bestow the name of Prosperum, the steward of the bounty!” The power flowing out from Jehovah only increased, giving the silver-colored key a solid and unshakeable, yet, benevolent aura. Such power and command over their divinity only reminded Vulcana of why Jehovah was respected and feared by other Mythos. What they did next only reinforced that sentiment.

Focusing the rest of their divine will on the final key, Jehovah released the rest of their powerful divine aura and commanded, “Stygian Iron bearing the dark soul of Ruin, you who bear the script of the Forsaken, I bestow the name of Calamitas, the bearer of Destruction!” The world went quiet as the final key received its name. Rather than glow, as its siblings had done, Calamitas seemed to absorb all light around, creating a void with only the flickering of the Sorrow-bearer opal in the center. Unwilling to be outplayed, both Ostiarius and Prosperum emitted even more light and absorbed more of the power that Jehovah was emitting. The conflict between the keys over the power in the air only grew, and soon, the keys were obscured from view.

Five minutes passed, then ten. After a while, it seemed like the three keys would never be satisfied, and Vulcana worried the pressure would begin to break down and consume the magic of her forge. Fortunately, her worries were proven false, as Jehovah soon retracted his divine aura, cutting off the keys’ power source. The keys’ auras responded in turn and the divine, sturdy, and abyssal auras dissipated revealing the forms the keys had taken now that they had received True Names.

Despite changing forms to fit their nature, each key had taken on the form of jewelry, as if determined to keep some tangential relation to each other while still staying distinct. Ostiarius took the form of a gold necklace, with the lapis hanging as a pendant. Prosperum had taken the form of a silver choker with emeralds embedded all around it. Determined to show its rebellion, Calamitus had split itself into two bangles each with a single black fire opal embedded in the black metal.

“With this, they are finished,” Jehovah said, conjuring three separate boxes from their storage. They floated one key into each box, careful not to touch them. They handed the box with Prosperum to Micheal, and after a moment’s hesitation, they passed Calamitas to Samael. “Be careful with those. Even with your divine alignments, coming into too much contact with them could fundamentally shift your beings.” Their eyes were especially focused on the box containing Calamitas when they spoke.

After a moment, they stored Ostiarius in their storage and turned to Vulcana. Jehovah bowed towards his fellow deity and said, “Thank you for your work. It may be a few centuries before anyone who can use them appears, but they will be treated well.”

“Just be careful, Jehovah. I can understand why you needed the keys of Heaven and Earth, especially with your mythos, but the Key to Hell, Calamitas… That key holds far more power than it should, and the cursed energy that it will contain once the Sorrow-bearer is full… I don’t think any being could handle it for long at a tenth full, much less a mortal at full capacity.”

“It had to be done, Vulcana. The Council demanded it in return for permission to create such powerful artifacts for mortals to use. Besides, the mortal beings we’ve created have always surprised us when we least expect it,” Jehovah gave the goddess a mischievous smile, dimples showing on their androgynous face.

Vulcana could only sigh. She stood up and hugged her friend before saying, “I just hope you know what you’re doing.”

Jehovah chuckled. “Do I ever?”