<div align="center"><em>Abigale</em></div><br/><hr/><br/>Abigale knew better than to get between a god and his children. She knew she hadn't really been invited here by Hephaestus. She was merely here to keep his two children company when he wasn't with one of them. Abigale would never pass up the chance to watch a God work or to get to meet one. All of them were powerful and could teach demi-gods a lot of things. But for the moment she just felt out of place. And it was really hot here. Didn't Hephaestus have a fan anywhere?<br/><br/>Finding a room, she tossed her bag onto the bed. It was like a mix of Hephaestus and Hermes cabin in here. It was hot, filled with wires, gears, and bits and pieces of machines like the Hephaestus cabin; but it was old and worn like her own cabin. Even the bed squeaked a little when her bag landed on it. She wondered if it was simply made for their comfort to be worn in like this or if the rooms manifested themselves to what they were most comfortable with. Either way, she had no complaints. Even the heat was bearable.<br/><br/>Laying out on the bed, she wondered what her dad would have to say to her tomorrow night. He'd said he'd talk to her and Abby was a bit worried. In her heart she knew that he meant well. He cared about his children and Abby was one of his oldest. He just wanted to make sure that she didn't make mistakes with her life, at least not big ones. Hermes felt she was too old for Camp Half-Blood and wanted her to go to school full time and work in his shop during the summer. The fact that Abigale had decided to come back this summer instead of staying in the city like he wanted was like a slap in the face. Demi-gods defied their parents all the time, but never to their faces. She was sure he would have some sore words for her tomorrow. And the look he'd given Vincent was horrifying. It was embarrassing to know that their godly parents could know who their children had been fooling around with.<br/><br/>With a sigh, she hauled herself up from the bed and wondered if her father would try to talk to Vincent. Gods she hoped not. It was awkward enough that her dad knew. It was best if she prepare Vincent rather than throw him to the wolves. Despite how large the forge actually was, it didn't take her long to find where he was. Already he was working away something. She stood in the doorway watching him. It was always interesting to watch the different demi-gods do what they did best. The kids of Apollo were amazing with shooting arrows. The children of Ares were amazing in the arena. Even the children of Aphrodite had their talents. Vincent seemed so at home here and it made her remember how good it felt to go on those morning jogs through Central Park over the fall. Sometimes there were some of her siblings there to run with, sometimes her father, and a lot of the time on her own.<br/><br/>"What you working on?" she asked out over the sound of the music. Abigale had enough common sense not to walk up behind someone with a hammer and white hot metal.<br/><br/><br/><div align="center"><em>Hephaestus and Vanessa</em></div><br/><hr/><br/>Hephaestus remembered all of his children and their mothers. Pilar had been a beautiful woman and he could see a lot of her in Vanessa. He remembered every moment from when he met her to the last time he saw her. It was always difficult leaving the women he cared about, but he had his duties and it was considered wrong to take a mortal as a long term lover. It was difficult keeping up with a mortal relationship. More so when he had an immortal wife. There were many times he wished that Aphrodite would just love him or he could be rid of her and take a wife that did care for him. Unfortunately, divorce was strictly a mortal thing. If it wasn't, the Gods would be having weddings and divorces left and right.<br/><br/>He listened to his daughter explain what she wanted the camera to do. Kind of like National Geographic for godly things. He nodded lightly. It wasn't that strange. His own spider cameras were all over the world. They were invisible to mortals, mostly because of the mist. So long as Hephaestus infused it with Ichor. The golden colored, blood of the Gods could make nearly anything covered by the mist to mortal eyes. Demi-gods had some Ichor in their blood, but it was such a small amount that it wasn't able to be seen when they were injured, "That actually won't be all that complicated. Motion sensor is fairly common these days. It's getting it to only capture things that you want it to that is the hardest."<br/><br/>Reaching over, he picked up the camera she'd set out as gently as he could with his massive hands. Hephaestus was probably one of the only Gods whose children didn't look much like him. Generally, their children took on many of their features. Kids of Hermes tended to be blond haired with elfish features. Children of Hades were dark haired and deathly pale. Those of Aphrodite were beautiful and even though few of them actually looked the same, the air about them was the same. But the children of Hephaestus were drastically different. Many of them tended to be Hispanic though. The only thing they tended to share was that many of them were born with or ended up with some sort of physical disability or disfigurement. They didn't share personalities, eyes, hair, skin, or anything really, "We'll need to take it apart and I'll show you how to infuse your Ichor into the wiring. That's the only way to make the mist hide it and it'll help to program it to only take pictures of other thing with Ichor. While Gods are the only ones with complete Ichor blood, even monsters have it in them. That's why they turn into gold dust when they die."<br/><br/>"We could just use my Ichor, but then you wouldn't know how to do it yourself in the future. For myself, I just have to coat the wires with my blood, but we'll have to separate the Ichor from the mortal blood for you. It's a lot like donating plasma. Just use a centrifuge to separate it all and then you'll be able to see the Ichor and we can draw it out," while medicine wasn't Hephaestus area of work, most godly duties tended to cross over. While one God had the knowledge of something, it involved working with another God to make it practical. Hephaestus had helped create the centrifuge in the first place.<br/><br/>"Have you ever given blood before?" he wanted to make sure she'd even done this before. If not, well, they'd still need to get the Ichor somehow.