Laying a good distance from the den he'd spent much of his time in since they'd left Ebony, Hephaestus still felt a little wobbly around the knees after his bout with the plague. It had been cured, no doubt thanks to his mother, but he still didn't feel quite right. His memories of everything during the illness were foggy and nightmarish, a strange and frightening mix of reality and hallucinations that he didn't like to think on too long... but he did remember fighting, thrashing, striking out to try to get away when they tried to hold him down. He remembered biting, and worse... now that he was well he was horrifyingly aware that the monsters he'd been fighting had been all in his head, that it had been his beloved family he'd been hurting in his madness.
And it tore him apart inside.
His mother's proud call rushed over the land, and Hephaestus pulled himself heavily to his feet despite his depression. He moved toward his mother's den with the intention of helping Gaia to the meeting before he stopped himself. Gaia would be much safer with one of their other siblings helping her. Not him. He'd just end up hurting her too.
He set out on his own instead, and was surprised to find himself the first to arrive. Trying to avoid his mother's eyes, the hefty adolescent slouched down nearby to wait for the others to arrive so attention wouldn't be on him.
