Chapter 89: Unexpected Visit

Athens, Greece

January 28th, 1051

–

Erik and Selena were returning home from another trip around the country when Erik stopped at the doors of his Villa and got a frown on his face.

"What is wrong, Erik?"

Selena asked from his side.

"We have a visitor."

Erik replied simply. Selena, who was hugging one of his arms, got a shocked expression on her face.

"A visitor? How is that possible? Our protections should have blocked anyone."

Selena said to Erik, still with a shocked expression on her face.

"Yes, they are strong. But not perfect. The only way for one to enter without alerting us would be by being welcomed here and not having ill intentions against us."

Erik replied while readying himself for a possible fight.

"Or being immensely powerful, I know."

Selena added. Her question was not really a question. It was more of an expression of her shock. Erik nodded his head.

"Yes, but I doubt that a being so powerful would care about not tripping our security wards."

Erik added. Selena then let go of Erik's arm and prepared herself too. With a nod from her, Erik slowly opened the door. The couple entered the villa cautiously, looking around with their eyes and spreading their senses to locate the intruder. Almost simultaneously they found the intruder with their senses and got a feel for his power. The intruder was in the kitchen and its power was great but it was… warm, welcoming, even.

Erik's memories were immediately thrown back to a time when he was just a little kid, where he had spent the entire day out of the house playing, training, or both, and when he came back, his mother, Aria, was there to welcome him back.

Selena was having a similar flashback. She was seven and had spent the weekend at the house of her grandparents together with her sister, and when she came back home, her mother was there to welcome both of them.

That was the feeling that the power of this 'intruder' passed to them. It was welcoming them back home. The couple relaxed almost immediately and slowly walked inside their kitchen. When they entered it, they saw a beautiful girl sitting by the hearth of the kitchen while stroking the fire in it with a long pointy stick made of iron made for that only purpose.

"Hello. Welcome back."

The woman said to the couple while turning to look at them and smiling. She had long curly red-brown hair that reached the middle of her back and fire-red eyes that seemed that it could look at the depths of one's soul. She was wearing a white toga and didn't seem to be older than twelve years of age.

"I'm home."

Erik and Selena answered at the same time automatically, making the girl smile at them. The couple looked at each other and some realization of the girl's identity came to them after a very brief silent conversation. They were, probably, in the presence of Hestia, firstborn of Rhea and Cronus, the eldest of the Olympians, and the goddess of the hearth, meaning home, family and fire.

Erik then walked to one of their cabinets, as nothing strange had happened, and started to get some utensils from it. Then he walked to their kitchen sink and opened the faucet, starting to fill a copper kettle with water. He walked to the table, where Selena had already taken a seat, and, with a wave of his hand, the utensils that he had prepared earlier floated to the table and the copper kettle started to emit some water vapors. Erik then put some leaves on a ceramic pot and gently fill it with the hot water from the copper kettle. They stood in silence, like proper English, even if the etiquette for it was not created yet, and waited for the tea/infusion to be ready while putting a little bit of honey inside three cups. When it was, Erik poured the tea into three cups and, after floating two of them for Selena and Hestia, he took a seat by his wife's side, and sipped his tea calmly, enjoying its taste. Quality tea was difficult to get in these times. It was much later when commercial routes would be better established with some oriental countries that tea would become more popular and better leaves would be found.

Hestia sipped the drink with a small smile on her face. She expected to be bombarded with questions immediately, but the couple, by what she could observe, already had an idea of who she was.

'It is good to be surprised some times~'

The goddess thought. Godhood could be a boring thing sometimes.

"First, I would like to welcome you to our home, goddess Hestia. I would ask how you managed to get in without setting off any of our alarms, but I suspect that it has something to do with one of your divinities."

Erik said. He had plenty of time to think of how the goddess could have gained access to their home while preparing the tea.

"Thank you. And yes, you would be right about the how. Good tea, by the way. Not near enough to the ones that Amateratsu prepares, but good anyway."

The girl replied to Erik.

"Yeah. There would be no way for me to prepare something of that caliber… Yet. I just have to get my hands on some seedlings or seeds for the different tea leaves."

Erik replied to the goddess while giving his own small smile back. Hestia let out a giggle at that.

"Good!"

Hestia said back.

"I will talk with Amateratsu about it the next time that I see her. But the honey is perfect."

Hestia added and sipped some more of her tea. The trio stood in silence while appreciating their tea.

"So, Lady Hestia. To what do we own the visit?"

Selena was the one to ask this time.

"I just wanted to meet the couple that became the talk of Olympus in the last weeks, and meets the person who had chosen me as his 'favorite' Olympian."

Hestia replied to the couple with a smile on her face. Erik and Selena had a shocked look at that. Their heads ran a kilometer per instant trying to find how they were found. They had some security measures in place to avoid a scenery just like that one. It was then that some light shone on Selena's thoughts.

"Of course! The temples!"

She said and turned to Erik, who was looking at her. The changes in his expression told her that he too had now worked on how they were discovered.

"We visited a lot of temples while we were here in Greece. And the temples, even if some of them are in ruins now, can still be an extension of your domains."

Selena said, finishing her line of thought. Hestia nodded her head at that.

"Yes. That's exactly how we noticed you both. Respectful visitors are somewhat rare in these times."

Hestia said with a sad smile on her face. That made Selena want to get the girl on her lap and hug her sadness away.

"And we, in our infinite boredom, decided to keep an eye out for when you both visited the next temple because we couldn't seem to find you anymore the moment you exit them. it was four days ago when you both were visiting Hecate's temple that she, together with Athena and Hera, found out who you two are because of your conversation."

Hestia said to the couple. She could still remember clearly the heart-to-heart talk that Hera had with her. Her little sister had come to her home, hugged her, and started to say 'Thank yous' while crying. It was a sweet family moment that filled her being with happiness. And after she had calmed down, Hestia had managed to get the entire history of what happened from Hera and felt the need to meet this person who she felt could understand her. Erik and Selena nodded their heads in understanding. There was nothing that they could have done in this case because they did, technically, enter a god's 'home'.

"So, Lady Hestia, do you want to stay and have dinner with us? Erik is cooking and he has a very good hand at it."

Selena said, inviting the goddess of the heart to have dinner with them. Erik sneered at that.

"Like you could cook anything."

Erik commented in a low voice, but being in the presence of another high-human and a goddess, he was heard by both women.

"Hmph."

Selena 'harrumphed' and turned her face to the other way, not denying Erik's words. She indeed couldn't cook well. She was an excellent potion mistress, but cooking edible food? Nope. There was something to it that made her 'sabotage' her own food in some way or another. Hestia giggled at the couple's banter.

"Sure, I would like to have dinner with you both."

Hestia replied, accepting the invitation. With that, Erik took and walked back to the cabinets and started to retrieve some ingredients from them, organizing them on the table near the stove.

Almost three hours late, the trio was enjoying some dessert that Erik had made. It was a cold cream of fruit that he called 'ice cream' together with some honey cookies. It was a perfect finale for the wonderful 'beef wellington' with baked potatoes and steamed veggies that he had made for the main dish.

"Hmmm."

Hestia let out a moan while enjoying her ice cream and cookies. The softness, the coldness, the sweetness, and the fruit flavor mixed in perfect harmony while melting inside her mouth. This was definitely a favorite of hers now. The entire dinner was delicious. The meat with a perfect crust of bread around. The golden baked potatoes with butter over them. Even the vegetables that were cooked over the steam were perfectly cooked and seasoned. Everything was perfect for her.

After having her fifth serving of 'ice cream', Hestia let out a sigh.

*sigh*

"Everything was so good."

Hestia said, reaffirming what she had already thought about.

"I know, right? Erik is a very good cook. You have to try his other sweets anytime. They are to die for."

Selena said to Hestia. She was a huge enthusiast of Erik's sweets. Said man was smiling while enjoying the compliments from the goddess and his wife. These were common recipes from his past life but he had to adapt some of the ingredients. Sugar, for example, was something that could not be found, so he had to change it for some equivalent to it, like powdered honey or fruit sugars. The meat of the beef wellington? It was boar's meat since cows were more of a 'milk' animal this time. Some receipts worked, while others don't. It was a trial and error procedure to find the right substitute.

"It's better that I go now too. Time to let the couple enjoy their life."

Hestia said with a content smile on her face. During the dinner, they had talked a lot about a lot of different subjects, and Hestia could say for sure that, if it depended solely on her, she had gained two new friends.

Erik smiled at that and waved his hand, sending all the dishes to the sink, where a scrub started to clean all of them automatically. He then stood up and started to prepare some extra stuff. In fifteen minutes, while Selena talked a little more with Hestia, Erik had prepared two extra ceramic jars with lids filled with a new batch of ice cream and extra cookies that he had already prepared. Thanks, magic for the freezing spells. He then put the two lidded ceramic pots in front of Hestia, who cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"I noticed that you liked it very much, so I prepared some extra ice cream for you to take home. There are some honey cookies too. You just have to keep the freezing spell with enough magic to keep the ice cream frozen. It will lose its softness if you let it melt and freeze again from now on."

Erik said to Hestia, explaining to the goddess how to keep the treat in perfect condition to consume. Hestia seemed to have started in her eyes and did something that surprised the couple. She jumped from her chair and hugged Erik.

"Thank you!"

She said, thanking him for the gesture.

"No problems."

Erik replied to Hestia while hugging her back. She then let go of Erik and went to Selena, hugging the witch too.

"I have to go now."

Hestia said, letting go of Selena and taking the pots with her treats in her hands.

"Have a nice return Hestia, and remember: You are always welcome in our home. Any of them."

Selena said to Hestia, who gave the couple a big smile and soon disappeared from the place where she was standing.

-------------