A/N: Ferro has some conversations with Sophia and Oren to properly gauge where both are at as time goes by.

  -x-X-x-

  She'd told Ferro that they only had a couple weeks at most to spend here in the Void. Sophia didn't know much about smithing and forging, but to be fair, she was well aware that two weeks wasn't enough time to get much of anything done without a miracle.

  And yet… if the God of Forges and Smithing working alongside the only Otherworlder that Creation had seen in several millennia couldn't do it, then who could? Sophia had faith that so long as Ferro was willing, then he and Oren could make something spectacur happen. After all, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Oren wouldn't give up. Not for anything.

  There was just one major problem with the two week deadline… keeping track of the passage of time while in the Void was all but impossible. There was no sun, no sky, no day and night cycle. The Void, as it turned out, was a collection of floating rocks that Tyranos and the other gods exiled here had turned into a collection of hollowed out bases over the thousands of years they were trapped here.

  It certainly didn't hold a candle to the beauty of the Heavens where Sophia had lived all her life. But more than that, with no day and night cycle, figuring out how many actual days, hours, and minutes had passed them by was… well, it was a full time job. One that Sophia had ultimately taken upon herself after a certain point.

  To be fair, she didn't have much else to do. There wasn't anything someone like her could do in the forge with Ferro and Oren. She'd tried to watch over them for a bit, and even now she checked on them regurly to make sure Oren stayed well fed and hydrated, but she could barely lift some of the tools they were using, let alone work in the extremely hot environment alongside them for much longer than half an hour or so.

  In the end, Sophia could do nothing but sit and wait… and try to keep track of the time. Ultimately, she'd settled for tracking hours and carving tally marks into the wall every time another hour passed. It wasn't much, but at least it was something.

  Through that, she knew that it had been about six or seven days already. A full week of grueling work for Oren and Ferro and a whole lot of sitting around for Sophia. Working Celestial Metal wasn't easy… and working it as a novice even with a master bcksmith to tell you exactly what to do was even harder.

  Still, she thought from what little she'd seen that Oren and Ferro were making good progress. Or maybe she just hoped that was the case. After all-

  The sudden ctter of a bowl on the table in front of her nearly makes Sophia jump out of her skin as the goddess whips her head up to see Ferro sliding into a chair across from her. Before him, the bowl of broth he'd acquired finishes sloshing back and forth even as he uses his stumps to bring it to his lips and loudly slurp away at it.

  For a moment, Sophia's mouth opens and closes wordlessly at the Ancient God's audacity. Finally though, she manages to ask the important thing.

  "Where… where's Oren?"

  "Resting. We found the edge of his endurance again so I sent him to sleep before he fell unconscious in the middle of my damn forge for a second time. I'm sure tomorrow he'll be up and even stronger than before, the damn Otherworlder."

  Ferro snorts derisively at his own words, which don't really have any heat in them. Though the God of Forges had certainly been annoyed the first time Oren had passed out on him a few days back. He was right all the same. Oren would be up and better than ever tomorrow.

  Funny that it would take a grueling experience like this one to further Oren's limitless potential once more. He wasn't fighting anyone… but in a way, this was a life or death struggle, so it didn't surprise her that the Otherworlder was giving it his all.

  Before she can stand up and go to him (just to cuddle of course, she wasn't going to keep him from his rest) Ferro stops her after taking another loud slurp of his broth.

  "It's good, because I wanted to talk to you anyways."

  Pausing, Sophia looks at her uncle a little bnkly.

  "… And what did you want to talk about?"

  If he was going to try to turn her against Oren just because he was an Otherworlder, then Sophia was going to have words for her uncle…

  "I wanted to talk about what comes after. After you two go and defeat Tyranos and the rest. After you win. What comes after all that?"

  … Oh. Well now she almost wished he was trying to turn her against Oren. That would have been much easier to handle. Squirming for a moment, Sophia finally shrugs and decides to just be honest.

  "I don't know. We probably won't survive this anyways, so really…"

  BAM!

  Sophia jolts as Ferro sms one of his metal capped stumps into the table, the sound cutting her off. The Ancient God's eyes bze with fire despite his weakened, tortured frame.

  "No! You must decide now whether you will survive or not."

  Frowning, Sophia shakes her head.

  "I don't understand."

  "It is simple. Are you and your lover going to your deaths? Will you deliver yourselves to Tyranos on a silver ptter, like mbs to the sughter?"

  Sophia bristles at that, eyes narrowing.

  "Of course not!"

  "Then you intend to win! You intend to be victorious!"

  "Yes, of course, but-!"

  Ferro isn't having it though, he cuts her off again.

  "There is no 'but'! If you go into this battle expecting to die, then you will die. That is what I mean by choosing now. You must choose now whether you will live or die. Win or lose."

  Silence reigns for a moment as Sophia digests her uncle's words. Finally, she slowly nods.

  "… We will win. We will be victorious."

  Ferro smiles sadly, as if detecting the note of uncertainty in her voice despite her forced confidence.

  "Keep telling yourself that, my niece. Keep telling yourself that until you manifest it into the universe and make it come true. And… start considering what the future holds for you once Tyranos is defeated. What will you do when all is said and done?"

  Sophia lets out a shuddering breath, admitting to herself that she'd never really put much thought into it until now. She hadn't allowed herself to consider what might come next when it all seemed so… ephemeral and out of reach.

  But Ferro was right. Neither she nor Oren could afford to go into their final confrontation with Tyranos assuming they were already dead. That was the surest way to failure, the quickest route to defeat. If they wanted to win, if they wanted to tear Tyranos down off of his throne, then the first thing they needed was the belief that they could even do so to begin with.

  Still, thinking of a future beyond the next couple weeks and the battle with Tyranos was… well, hard to say the least. So hard that Sophia sits there without an answer for what feels like the next eternity. Thankfully, Ferro doesn't press her any further. He finishes his bowl of broth and leaves her alone with her thoughts after a short while, departing back to his forge.

  What did a future where she and Oren won look like? What did she want for them, after all was said and done?

  -x-X-x-

  Oren had been through a lot since he'd been dragged from Earth into this universe. Raythe had been nice enough about it because he'd needed to develop a false rapport as Oren's best friend, but that hadn't made the years of training he'd been put through any less difficult.

  Indeed, if it hadn't been for the 'certainty' that he was the Hero and needed to defeat the Demon King, Oren might have mutinied more than once in the face of the constant backbreaking workouts and nonstop sparring sessions. Only the absolute conviction that he was the only one who could save the world had kept Oren going back then.

  This though… this experience was giving all of that a run for its money. It had been a week and a half now since they'd arrived in the Void if Sophia's makeshift calendar was accurate and Oren… well, suffice to say, Ferro wasn't half as nice a taskmaster as Raythe had been, and twice as demanding.

  To be fair, Oren knew Ferro had no choice but to push this grueling pace. They were on a significant time crunch and they didn't have time for Oren to learn things the right way. He wasn't Ferro's apprentice and he certainly wasn't going to be a bcksmith worthy of the title after this. In the end, he was just the God of Forges' repcement hands, working as fast as he could to learn to respond to Ferro's orders on instinct.

  Sometimes though, Ferro didn't need to give constant orders. Sometimes, like right this moment, Oren just had to do what Ferro told him to do st until the Ancient God decided they were ready to move on. Banging out a piece of Celestial Metal into the shape of a bde, Oren is working hard to ftten the metal with Ferro's hammer, finding a sort of serenity in the task… even if his entire body thrums with exhaustion and aches from how hard he's been going.

  "What will you do after you defeat my brother, Otherworlder?"

  Oren blinks, very nearly faltering at the sudden question. He was ready for most orders that Ferro could give him at this point. They'd drilled them all into his head over the past ten days so that he could react with the speed and timing needed to successfully create the masterworks that Ferro had created in the past.

  He was not ready for the Ancient God to suddenly ask a question out of nowhere. Still, he manages to keep his hammer strikes uniform, even as he finally processes the question.

  "… Isn't that getting ahead of ourselves, just a little bit? We still need to finish the armor and sword and beat Tyranos, after all."

  Ferro hums for a long moment.

  "Do you think that you can?"

  Stiffening slightly, Oren huffs.

  "Yes. We have to. I have to. For Sophia to have a future… I have to kill Tyranos. It's as simple as that."

  The God of Forges and Smithing hums again, but this time Oren thinks he detects a note of approval in his voice.

  "Good. Doubts are like impurities in a bde. Even if they're hidden well, they can cause disastrous cracks when you least want them to happen. You must not go into this battle against my brother with any doubts… otherwise you will have already lost."

  There's wisdom in those words, so Oren bows his head in agreement even as he continues his work. For a few moments, silence falls once more save for the sound of the hammer striking Celestial Metal. But seeing as Ferro has opened up the floor to conversation…

  "… I had a question of my own."

  The Ancient God narrows his eyes before ultimately scoffing.

  "Ask it then. I will decide whether or not it's worthy of an answer."

  Oren lets out a slow, steady breath. Breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth. Smithing, or at least the things Ferro had taught him, were as much to do with breathing properly as they were to do with moving and swinging properly.

  "… I've fought many opponents wearing Celestial Armor and wielding Celestial Weapons now. I didn't have much cause to question it back in the Heavens because I never even knew exactly who and what I was facing, but after all this time… I have to wonder what makes the armor and sword Tyranos now wields so damn special."

  He pauses for a moment before continuing that thought to what's really worrying him.

  "What about the armor and sword we're making now will be special enough that it will be able to match what he has? There's a clear cut difference between normal Celestial Armor and Weapons and what I used in the Heavens. I can't help wondering why."

  Silence falls as Ferro stares at him. Enough time passes that Oren begins to think the Ancient God won't be answering his question. Until finally, after around two dozen more hammer strikes, he finally speaks.

  "… My nature means that I cannot do anything but craft masterworks. However, when it comes to my creations, there are masterworks… and then there are masterworks. Tyranos, as my brother, is perhaps one of the st deities alive who knows what I can really do if I'm willing to give a piece of myself to a project."

  Ferro smiles grimly.

  "As such, he made sure to… encourage me to put everything I had into the armor and bde that you used to storm the Heavens."

  Looking down at the piece of Celestial Metal that Oren has been beating into the shape of a bde, Ferro's smile becomes a bit more vicious.

  "However, what my brother will never understand is that something taken cannot be half as sweet as something freely given. This time around, I shall give of myself freely to complete what we are crafting here. Together, we shall make masterpieces capable of not just standing up against the Void King… but of toppling him as well."

  Oren swallows thickly, his shoulders squaring a little almost of their own volition. However, before he can ask any more questions, Ferro suddenly barks out an order to quench the bde and from there everything is a blur as he once again falls into the mindset necessary to become the Ancient God's hands… and nothing else.

  -x-X-x-

  A/N: Bold words Ferro! Let's see if you can back them up…

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