The goddess of home and hearth sighed desperately. This was not what she had in mind. She wasn't good with this kind of stuff! How was she supposed to trick Perseus into playing along?
"Lady Hestia? Is everything alright?", asked a curious voice.
The seemingly young girl turned around and faced Percy, who looked a bit worried at her.
"Ah, yes. It's good that I met you! I came to see you", smiled Hestia.
"Uhm... Not to sound disrespectful, but I doubt it is a coincident that first Lady Artemis and now you decide to visit me... What is going on? Is there a problem on Olympus?"
"No, no! No problem, don't worry", dejected the goddess with a laugh.
"Oh. Okay... If you want to talk to me, then you would have to come with me - if it's not a problem for you, of course", said Percy and kept walking.
Hestia raised an eyebrow and fell into step with the hero of Olympus.
"Well, where are we going, Perseus?", asked the goddess of hearth and home.
The black-haired teen froze for a second and a slight blush covered his cheeks. His company hummed in curiosity and looked him up and down. The boy was holding something behind his back, obviously trying to hide it from potential prying eyes.
"What's that?", was her next question.
"You see...", started Percy and coughed slightly. "Today is a special day." The goddess scrunched her eyebrows and made an encouraging sound for him to continue. "It's been exactly one year today since Castor had died..."
"Castor? He was a son of Dionysus, wasn't he?"
"He was. His twin is right now with their mother, so I...", the hero stopped and shrugged.
"You want to visit Dionysus to comfort him? And this is...?"
"A wine. I don't know, I thought you should bring something with you if you visit someone and, well... What would be better than wine? I asked Paul what kind of wine would be good and he said this is a good one... Though to Mister D it's probably a cheap waste of grapes", sighed Percy.
"Don't despair, Perseus", smiled Hestia encouragingly. "I'm sure he'll appreciate it."
"I hope so", murmured the half-blood with a slight blush.
A confident smile spread over the young girl's lips. This was going to be so much easier than she had feared it would. She guided Percy until they reached the big house and stopped him at the door.
"Perseus? Don't worry, he'll like it", nodded the goddess.
"I hope so", muttered the son of the Sea God and grabbed the doorhandle, though he paused mid-thought. "What was it you wanted, Lady Hestia?"
"Me? Oh, nothing of importance. We can talk once you're finished", smiled Hestia.
"Okay. Until later then. And wish me luck", joked the Sea Prince.
He opened the door and went inside, sneaking through the halls without making a sound. Knowing his way through every part of camp, even the big house, he soon reached his destination. But before he had the opportunity to knock, something thick curled around his wrist. Percy started and jumped slightly, squealing in an embarrassingly girly way. A blush spread over his cheeks as he noticed the vines crawling from the walls, tightening around his wrists and ankles.
"What do you want, Peter Johnson? Today is the wrong day for you to mess with me", Mister D's voice lacked the usual mock and faked boredom, it was sharp and edgy.
