Kassander was quick to answer his call and greet him, but even Hephaestus could not fail to see the questioning in his gaze as he swept the area around them. An area distinctly empty of Hephastus' siblings. "They went to say goodbye to our family," he assured the other male gravely. He didn't try to explain to him why he was not there with them, and Kassander didn't ask. "Kassander, I would like ask you... if I may join Ebony, and the Xanilov family." It wasn't that he wanted to abandon his family... it was just that his family no longer existed, not the way it was. It had changed, become something it had never been meant to be, and Hephaestus didn't have the heart to try to change with it. He believed in Kassander's vision for Ebony. He believed that the Xanilovs would, in time, draw back together into something stronger despite the adversity and struggle they had faced. He did not have the same faith in the Olympus family, not anymore. He had made this decision after Helios' appearance in Ebony - after his mother's disappearance. Natalya's sickness, Helios falling apart... that had only solidified it.
