Chapter 88: Greece

Rome, Kingdom of Italy

September 18th, 1050

–

Erik and Selena spent an entire week pillaging the Church's Vault. They took such a long time because of the sheer quantity of books stored in the place. Erik had to make two more of his initial three chests with extra space inside to store all the books.

And when the heist was over, Erik and Selena found themselves with a new dilemma. What to do with all these books? It was then that Erik made a comment that put Selena on a new path for her research.

"It would be really useful if we had an index for all of the books."

Erik commented while looking at the five chests filled to the brim with books with the most varied subjects.

"An index for all of them?"

Selena asked absent-minded, already putting together in her head how she could do that.

"Yeah, an index you know? That list that we can find at the beginning of most books that have the chapters and subjects listed by page. But I'm talking about one that indexes an entire library."

Erik said while still looking at the books. He was remembering the modern libraries that they had in his past life and didn't see the look on Selena's face when he had commented.

"Tell me more about this idea of yours, husband."

Selena asked Erik, who finally looked at her face and saw the hungry look on it. If he was right, that meant that Selena would not stop until she managed to make something like that. Erik let out a sigh but ended up answering his wife.

*sigh*

"Imagine Hogwarts' library or any library for this case. Now imagine you entering it, going to a lectern, opening a book on it, and searching through a list in it for the subject that you want to. After finding it, you read on it the name of the books where to find the subject, the number of the pages that have it, together with the position of the book inside the library. Then you would just go to that shelf and retrieve the book."

Erik explained to Selena the better that he could without having to involve technology.

"With that, you would not need to spend so much time searching for something through so many books. Just the time saved would be enormous."

Selena said to Erik while dreaming about such a magical situation. Erik nodded his head in agreement with her but he already knew what was coming.

"That's it! That will be my next project! I will create an index capable of indexing an entire library!"

Selena said with conviction. Erik smiled weakly at that.

"Sure you will, baby. But first, we have some good and long vacations to take."

Erik said to Selena, remembering the excited witch why they had left Hogwarts in the first place. Selena smiled sweetly at Erik.

"Of course, darling. I will surely need as many reference materials as I can for such a project. I read somewhere that the original Nordic and Egyptian runes are very easy to mold to your needs."

Selena replied while mentioning in a low voice something that she had read some time ago.

"Well, I had plans for us to visit Africa. It seems that it will be one of our next destinations after we are done here then."

Erik said to Selena, who looked back and jumped at him, passing her arms around Erik's neck.

"I know that I could count on you."

Selena said happily, giving Erik a hot kiss after.

–

Rome, Kingdom of Italy

January 5th, 1051

–

Erik and Selena were again embarking on a ship. This time, their trip would be a short one. The ship was going to take them across the Mediterranean Sea, and into Greece. They had hidden their villa using even more magic while at the same time putting a preservation spell over it. Of course, the basic alarm wards were installed too, together with a more sophisticated and stealthier one. After all, their 'backdoor' to the church's vault was still in the basement of their villa. Deactivated, of course, but still there.

–

Athens, Greece

January 10th, 1051

–

Erik and Selena had arrived in Athens two days ago and were now looking around their new villa. The persecution against magicals was much less here in Greece even with them being technically neighbors to Italy, so they could go crazy with their new home protections. They planned to tour around the country for some months and after that take a ship that would take them to Egypt.

–

Athens, Greece

January 24th, 1051

–

The couple had visited a lot of places around the city of Athens, and they were now at one of the old Temples dedicated to one of the Olympian gods. Who? They were not sure. It was not like tourism was a developed 'industry' in these times and a guide could be found anywhere. Guides sure could be hired in these times, but most of them were some kind of trap for travelers, so Erik and Selena opted by exploring the place on their own.

"So, which one is your favorite?"

Selena asked Erik, who cocked his head to the side.

"Favorite? You mean from the Olympians?"

Erik asked Selena, who nodded her head back to him.

"Yes."

Selena replied and Erik got a thoughtful look, even caressing his chin with his hand.

"Hmm… It's a difficult question to answer, but I would say that it would be a draw for me. I can't decide between Hestia and Hecate. And you, which one is your favorite?"

Erik replied to Selena and asked her the same question while they looked at some old engravings at the walls of the temple.

"Hecate, for sure."

Selena replied fast.

"Really? Hecate? I thought that with you being a Ravenclaw and all, you would be an Athena fangirl."

Erik said while taking notes on some of the engravings. They had some runes on them and were teaching their link to the gods.

"Nope. I mean, mother was an Athena follower and tried to get us, Helena and I, to follow her too. But after we got to the age where we could read independently and could have our own thoughts, we moved to Hecate because of certain stuff that she had done in the past."

Selena explained to Erik while trying to understand other engravings.

"You mean like the stuff that she did with the Gorgon sisters?"

Erik said while still taking notes on the same wall engravings. Selena nodded her head.

"Exactly. I mean, a woman gets attacked inside of one of her temples by her Uncle, who is known to have attacked other women before, and she blames and punishes the woman for it? No. Thanks, but no. After we understood what happened, Helena and I became followers of Hecate."

Selena explained to Erik.

"Yeah, I understand. But I think that there was something more happening behind the scenes there. I mean, she is the goddess that represents wisdom. She could have not been so blind about it, right?"

Erik said and Selena agreed with him, nodding with her head.

"And you, husband. I can understand Hecate, but Hestia? Why?"

Selena asked Erik.

"Well, most tend to ignore this, but she is the oldest of the Olympians, and being the eldest, I believe that she is the one who has more power from them all. After all, she is the one that stood inside their father's prison for the longest. And she was alone there too until Demeter arrived."

Erik said, turning to Selena.

"In my opinion, that's why she ended up getting the family divinity because she knows how it is to be alone and how to value family. I mean, when Dionysus was offered a spot on their council she gave up on her place to keep her family from fighting."

Erik finishes, and the couple continues with their tour of the temple.

–

Unknown to them, a group of gods was listening to their conversation from the beginning. Visitors to one of their temples were a rare thing these days. Respectful ones, even more. It started when Hecate felt someone entering her temple. She started to observe the couple and called for some of her 'colleagues' from the same pantheon. They had talked between them about some people visiting their temples in the old Athens, so she was 'alert' to their possible visit.

"Have you discovered something, Hecate?"

A voice came from the door. Hecate turned to see the arrival and saw that it was Athena, and she was accompanied by Hera. The two goddesses walked into the room and joined Hecate by the side of the water mirror.

"No. They have just arrived at the temple and are looking through the engravings with lessons about magic."

Hecate replied and went back to look at the water mirror. It was a very useful device to scry normal people, but, for some unknown reason, the couple could not be found when they were not inside one of their temples. On the waters of the water mirror, the image of Erik and Selena looking at some of the engravings could be seen, with the last one taking some notes.

"Ow my!"

Hera exclaimed after seeing the couple with her 'own eyes' for the first time.

"What is it?"

Athena asked from the side.

"Their bond is strong. Their marriage bond, I mean. I can see it very clear. They have been married for some time too. At least forty years."

Hera said while still observing the couple. That kind of strength in a bond was not something easy to find, and she already liked the couple.

"Forty years? But they both don't look older than twenty-five."

Athena said from the side. At that, Hera raised one of her eyebrows and looked at her step-daughter.

"Are you really questioning what I am saying about the age and strength of a marriage bond?"

Hera asked Athena with some edge in her voice. Athena almost paled at that. Her stepmother had some fame when she felt wronged. For some, she was known as the Grudge Queen because she knew how to keep one.

"Of course not, Hera. I mean, look at them. They seem very young to be married for forty years."

Athena replied, trying to save her skin. Hera 'harrumphed' and turned to look at the water mirror.

*hmph*

Athena let out a silent sigh at that and too turned back to watch the water mirror. Then, Selena started the conversation about the Olympians and the goddesses' focus was doubled. Some small things like that could mean braggart rights to the gods. Yes, they were at that level of boredom. Erik then replied with the names of Hestia and Hecate, who had gained a small smile while watching. Then it was time for Selena to answer the same question, and Hecate's smile got wider after hearing her answer. Their discussion then went on the 'why' and Athena and Hecate gasped together when they heard the couple's family name.

**gasp**

Hera looked at them, and made a silent question of 'what'.

"So they are the Ravenclaws."

Hecate said, now understanding a little more of why they had chosen her, making her smile get wider. Hera now understood why the other goddesses had gasped. It had something to do with their family.

The talk then went on what Athena had done to the Gorgon Sisters, making the goddess of wisdom blush.

"I admit, it was not one of my brightest ideas. But it had to be done. The three of them were turning into a threat to us."

Athena replied with some ice in her voice. The other two chose not to reply to that. Hecate, being not an original Olympian on her own, had suggested inviting the three budding goddesses to join their pantheon, but, even with the support of some other gods, with Hera being one of the supporters, her suggestion was denied by the council. The three sisters' fate ended with the story that is known by all.

The three continued listening to their conversation and listened to the reasons why he liked Hestia. That had the three goddesses quiet by a while. It helped that the couple's conversation went to some things of no importance, like what they would have for dinner.

"So, who are these people? I understand that they are part of the Ravenclaw family."

Hera finally talked, asking the other two goddesses about the identity of the visitors.

"They are not part of the Ravenclaws, they are the Ravenclaw family."

Hecate replied, correcting Hera.

"To my knowledge. Erik and Selena Ravenclaw are the last two people with the Ravenclaw family name alive. The last lady of the family, Rowena Ravenclaw, passed away from old age some time ago. And Selena's twin sister, Helena Ravenclaw, was murdered by Vampires here, in Greece, some forty years ago. You must remember that episode where an entire nest of Vampires was decimated by a single person."

Hecate said and Hera nodded her head. She remembered the incident. I was the talk of the pantheon for some days.

"The man who did it was Helena Ravenclaw's fiancee. He did it to avenge his loved one. They were going to marry when she came back from Greece, but, unfortunately, she was killed by the vampires while she was finishing her studies on magic."

Hecate said to Hera, who nodded her head. For her, the goddess of marriages, it was a shame that it had happened before their union. But it showed how much the man loved the woman.

"Back to the Ravenclaws. They are a family of powerful magic users. One of the four founders of the first school exclusive for magic wielders who accepts anyone."

Hecate replied to Hera, resuming what she knew about the Ravenclaws to the Queen of their pantheon.

"But that doesn't make sense. They are supposed to be in their seventies."

Athena added from the side. She always kept tabs on the names of powerful humans, and from the magic community in Britain, the names of Erik and Selena Ravenclaw were at the top of her list with no one under them. The power gap between them and the supposed third place was just that big, making the rest of the names in her list useless.

"Maybe they are using some magic to keep their appearance young?"

Tried Athena. But Hecate shook her head.

"No, the only magic that they are using is something to hide their gifts. Even now, with them being inside my Temple, I can't see their magic. It's like they are perfectly normal humans without a drop of it in them."

Hecate said. The three goddesses kept talking a little more until the Ravenclaws left Hecate's Temple, when the water-mirror went completely blank again, indicating that it could not find the couple again.

"Well, thanks for the company but I'm going back now. I have some things to do."

Hera said to Athena and Hecate and walked out of the goddess of magic's house. Her destination now: Hestia's house. She had to talk with her elder sister.

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