Chapter Text
You didn't always steal for the gods, if anything stealing from gods was a recent progression of your original job, where you would steal for rich humans. That all changed when some rich snob asked you to steal an Aztec statue out of an old and abandoned Aztec temple. You always liked temple runs, they made you feel like Lara Croft. So you gleefully accepted. At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, you managed to steal the artifact, bring it back to the rich man, and got paid, simple as that. That is until a man wearing a jaguar skull as a helmet and Aztec clothes stood at your door, demanding you to follow him because Quetzalcoatl requested to see you.
Now one does not simply say no to a guard of a god like that, especially not if you're as curious as you are. So you happily followed him to the Aztec realm, where you came eye to eye with the gigantic feathered Aztec serpent god. Any regular person would have ran away, but you were fascinated.
"You are gorgeous," you said upon first seeing the serpent, his beautiful feathers shimmering in the soft hues the temple windows provided. The snake had looked happy and proud upon hearing you say that. "You are a bold one, mortal, I like you" he had said as he brought his serpent head closer, allowing you to gently touch one of his feathers.
You had been tasked with finding a Phoenix for Quetzalcoatl, killing it, and bringing it to him. Your reward? your weight in gold. You immediately went to work, what does one need to kill a Phoenix? A harpoon gun, except the harpoon had to be made out of pure tungsten, the metal with the highest boiling point. What more? A fireproof suit, a phoenix, and a crew of crazy enough motherfuckers to help you out. Your plan worked, and after bringing the Phoenix back to Quetzalcoatl, the god was so happy that he paid you double and offered you a tattoo of magical golden ink. This magical ink brought alive anything you tattooed, so you went for a nice pair of tattooed wings on your back, giving you the ability of flight.
You had done more jobs for Quetzalcoatl since then, always some magical creature he wanted to try and eat, from unicorn to dragon egg, you became the 'fantastic beasts and where to find them' rare meat collector. That is, until you suddenly were requested by another god, this one had sent you a formal invitation letter rather than surprising you with a guard in front of your door.
The letter had been from Shiva, the leader of the Hindu pantheon. You were skeptical at first, you wondered what a god like him would want that he can't get another god to retrieve for him, but you agreed to meet him nonetheless. Curse your curiosity, it was going to get you killed.
You were waiting for him in what seemed like a throne room in a Hindu temple, after the throne was a gigantic statue of Shiva himself and the room was made out of beautiful marble and had tons of statues and trinkets in it. You had started to look around, relieved to have the opportunity to look around before meeting him. You looked at the statues with interest, but you were mainly focused on looking around at possible exit ways if this interaction went south. You were so busy looking around that you didn't even notice the god in question entering the room.
He looked at you, an amused smile curling at his lips as he watched the mortal girl look at windows and walls as if they were the most fascinating thing she had ever seen. After a while he cleared his throat, making you flinch. You turned around to look at him, a sheepish look on your face as you realized that you hadn't heard him coming in and that you had no idea of how long he had been there. He stood in front of his throne as he watched down on you as you sheepishly walked to the middle of the room and bowed.
"You umh requested me, sir?" you had no idea of how to properly address a god and had been taken by surprise by his presence. "I did, You are the mortal who has been helping the Aztec gods out, are you not?" Shiva asked, two of his arms crossed as the other two were placed on his hips. At his words, you finally looked up. You were immediately struck by his appearance, from his 2 pair of arms to his purple skin and 5 eyes he truly looked divine. 'Fuck he's hot and he's not wearing a shirt,' were your first thoughts.
The god noticed how obviously you were eying him and had to resist chuckling at how bold this human was already being. "I- umh yeah that's me, I've done some jobs for Quetzalcoatl," She said as she regained her composure. She was trying her best to think about what she blurted out instead of making a fool of herself.
"You’re not what I was expecting," Shiva declared as he looked at the girl with her soft features. "What were you expecting then" you responded, curiosity visible in your eyes. "Someone looking more battle-hardened I guess, with lots of scars, but you look like a regular human girl," He said, raising an eyebrow at your looks. "I'm sorry to disappoint," you responded, chuckling.
"You're also not afraid, I mean I had been told that you lacked fear but still, it's a bit uncanny almost" Shiva noted. His one brow still raised as he seemed to check you out, your regular human pants and shirt doing you no justice, in his opinion at least. "I'd be more afraid if you put on a shirt," you said, immediately putting a hand in front of your mouth as you realized that you had already fucked up. You cursed under your breath and prepared to profusely start apologizing when you heard him laughing.
The god looked at you in amusement, he had never met a goddess that bold, let alone a mortal girl. Not even one of his wives would have responded something like that that quickly. "Okay, okay, fair enough, your witty," he said, seemingly impressed at your fast comeback. You sighed, happy to not get killed for something like that.
"Alright let’s get to the point; I'm going to need you to steal a weapon from Hephaestus for me" he declared, his eyes focused on you like a hawk. "What weapon? Why the Greek god?" she asked, looking at him with interest evident in her eyes. "Most Hindu gods have no divine weapons, I've always been jealous of the gods that have one and Hephaestus just happens to make those," he said, shrugging. "it's not that I need one or that I would use it for certain but I want one of my own".
You should be annoyed at the fact that he was willing to risk your life for something he simply wants, but then again Quetzalcoatl ordering you to get him premium rare meat wasn't much better. There was one problem though, this required you to steal from another god. The whole point of you stealing for gods had been to avoid the punishments that come from stealing from a god.
"This would require me to steal from a Greek god, if I get found out the punishment would be less than pretty" She replied, doubt evident in her voice. He nodded, seeing where you were coming from, he had expected you to be less careful if you worked for the Aztec gods but it was clear that he underestimated you on that front.
“If you do get found out I take full responsibility, but I trust that you're capable enough to not get caught he noted, understanding evident in his voice. There was a darker undertone. You have the feeling that he’d be less than pleased if you did get found out. You nodded at that “And what would the reward of something as dangerous as stealing from a place full of weapons and guards belonging to a Greek God be?”
He chuckled again, “Right to the money, I’m willing to pay you in gemstones”. It made sense to you, this entire place was littered with intricate patterns with gemstones and marble. It seemed like he had gemstones to spare. But the problem was, gemstones weren’t cheap in particular but they didn’t all have the same value and you had no idea where to sell them. Gold has been an easy transaction for you. The value of gold keeps rising and you had a list of jewelers willing to pay in cash for the gold so you didn’t have to explain anything to the bank. Shiva took note of your doubtful expression.
“I’m going to be honest here, I have no idea of the value of gemstones in the current world or where I would sell them,” you seemed troubled at the god's offer. You hoped that he wouldn’t show you any gemstones because your monkey brain would go crazy at the sight of shiny stones. At that, Shiva seemed to have an idea and quickly walked out without saying a word. He came back into the room with a box, and he then walked closer to you with said box.
In the box was an ancient golden necklace, the big necklace was filled with red gemstones and seemed to be made out of pure gold, it shimmered in the light, it had an intricate design made out of beautiful curls, 2 elephants and in the middle a big golden coin featuring a statue of Shiva. The moment you saw it you realized that you were once again, completely fucked.
Shiva watched as your eyes shimmered with a form of greed he had rarely ever seen in a human, it looked like you were willing to do anything to get your hands on the necklace, which was exactly what he’d hoped for.
“Fine, but I want the box as well,” you said as you kept looking at the necklace, unable to tear your eyes away from it, damn your monkey brain for being unable to resist anything that is shiny. Shiva chuckled once again at your boldness, there was something about you that he had never seen in a human or even any woman before. He could tell you would be willing to do anything to get what you want, even if it was dangerous or if it required you to do extreme things. You were never satisfied, your eyes contained a greed that would never be remotely close to fulfilled. There was something about it that attracted him, he wanted you to look at him like you looked at that necklace, he wanted to be the one you’d do anything for.
He shook his head, realizing the thoughts he just had. He had to cut it off, he already had three wives and none of them would be happy to see him bring home another girl, let alone a mortal one. “Okay you can keep the box as well, but bring me a big weapon, alright?” he asked, his voice suddenly much softer as he still seemed to be pensive.
“I’ll get you the weapon, but it might take me a while, I’ll first need to research how good Hephaestus guards his workplace and then I’ll need to find a way to sneak away a gigantic weapon without being seen,” you said, mentally three steps ahead as you tried to find a way to make said plan work.
“Alright, keep me updated,” He said before you two said your goodbyes. This wasn’t going to be easy.