After bidding Hera farewell, Hal and Bruce first made a trip to the Sacred Garden of the Hesperides in the far west. They picked an apple from the Golden Apple Tree, then had the Hesperides preserve it intact after cutting it apart with their divine power.
According to the Hesperides sisters, ordinary humans did not need to eat an entire Golden Apple to gain eternal life. A single bite would do. One Golden Apple was enough for around a dozen people, so it was better to cut it up and store it.
The Hesperides also voiced clear opposition to the idea of making apple pie with Golden Apples. Since the things had come into being, no one had ever cooked one. There was no way to guarantee that it would still work after being cooked, so Bruce and Hal could only find a way to trick Oliver into eating it raw.
Afterward, they paid a visit to Hephaestus, God of Fire, but Diana's brother was a man of few words. He only focused on forging iron, seemingly unable to hear Bruce and Hal at all and utterly unconcerned with the situation on Mount Olympus. Only when Bruce mentioned shells did he show the slightest emotional reaction.
But Bruce ultimately failed to see the shells. The Fire God said they were extremely dangerous, and no one except the person who wanted to forge them knew how to use them correctly. They could only serve as a final measure of mutual destruction and were best kept out of sight under normal circumstances.
Though curious, they were not reckless. Anything the gods treated with such caution had to be extraordinarily dangerous. It was best if it could be safely sealed away.
After making the rounds, they returned to Mercury and joined the others