NOVEL NEXT Chapter 41: CH 41
Hestia had her customary smile when she rapped on the door leading to a blindingly bright golden temple. Harry had to squint and half-look away to avoid going blind with the brightness of it.
Harry looked away, focusing on his favorite goddess. They waited in silence.
The young boy was just about to speak, when the doors were flung open.
"Aunt Hestia!" the jovial God of the Sun shouted in his godly form of 3 meters tall. "And young Harry," he added, when he saw that she wasn't alone. "Come in, come in."
"Thank you, Apollo," Hestia said, aiming her smile the god's way. The god returned, bearing a pot of tea, two cups, a glass, and a frosted-over can of ice-cold Mountain Dew. He poured drinks, then sat down and relaxed. "So, what brings you to my humble temple, Aunt Hestia? With your new ward, no less."
Hestia smiled softly, sipped the tea, and allowed her smile to widen. "Excellent tea," she replied instead.
Harry sat down himself, and fidgeted slightly when the sun god focused on him. What was he supposed to ask for? Was he even supposed to ask for anything? The god seemed friendly, and Hestia was on good terms with him, so Harry wanted to be on his best behavior. He didn't want to cause Hestia any issues.
He wished he'd had time to ask her before she had dragged him here.
"Anything at all, kiddo," Apollo said with an easy grin. "Anyone who's on Aunt Hestia's good side is on mine," he added with a laugh.
That implied that, if he ever got on Hestia's bad side, the sun god would be aiming for him. Harry returned the god's smile, he could understand that. "Do you have a soda, Mister Apollo?" he asked politely.
The god laughed. "Any kind you want, kiddo."
Harry glanced at Hestia, who kept her smile up. "I managed to get a Mountain Dew while I was on my own in New York," he told Apollo. "I liked it a lot – do you have any?" The god laughed. "Of course, Harry. I'll be right back!" he vanished in a shower of golden light, drawing an impressed sound from Harry.
Hestia laughed softly. "Apollo is a showman, you don't want to look too impressed or he'll spend all day entertaining you."
Harry nodded softly, then looked around, shifting uncomfortably.
"Relax," Hestia said calmly. "Apollo is a relaxed god. He's a bit susceptible to flattery, but he isn't going to start cursing or smiting unless you really upset him. Be your normal self, and everything will be fine."
"Oh. Okay," Harry said, feeling something inside of him relax. How did Hestia keep managing to relax him with just a few words? Sometimes just her presence was enough to ease his anxiety. Apollo grinned. "Only the best for you, Aunt Hestia. You know that. Straight from the Orient."
Harry gaped at the God of the Sun; did he just imply that he went to the Far East for a cup of tea? In such a short amount of time?
Apollo grinned at Harry's look. "God of the Sun, kiddo. Speed of Light and all that." "Whoa," Harry breathed, impressed.
"I thought I read in the book Hestia gave me that you and Artie were twins. And that she was born first. But you say she's your little sister. Was the book wrong?" he asked, tentatively, hoping he wasn't offending the jovial god.
Apollo laughed, and suddenly he was right next to Harry, and had thrown an arm around the young boy's shoulders. The moment the god did so, Harry felt better than he had ever felt, like pains he didn't even know he had were suddenly gone. "There comes a time in a man's life, young Harry, that he must look out for his sister. Even if she is, technically, older," the Sun God explained.
The Sun God smiled wider, enjoying the boy's look. He looked back at Hestia, who was enjoying her cup of tea.
"I came for a bit of a favor," the Goddess of Home and Hearth finally said. "Harry has been playing in the woods with Artie and her lieutenant, and I'm afraid that he may have picked something up when he drank out of a river."
Apollo blinked, then looked at Harry. "Spending time with my little sister and her Hunters, have we, Harry?" he asked with a teasing tone.
Harry crossed his arms, feeling defensive all of a sudden. "Artie is awesome, and so is Miss Zoë. They've been teaching me to survive on my own."
Apollo's grin widened. "It's a rare man who can get away with calling my little sis a name like that," he said, shifting closer to Harry. "You may want to tell me your secret."
Harry frowned. "What secret?" he asked in confusion, looking at Hestia, who seemed content with her cup of tea and gave no reaction. "Artie's just awesome." He thought of something, and his frown deepened. "Mister Apollo?" "Yeah, kiddo?" the Sun God said, still focused on the young boy. Apollo's grin widened as Harry's speech continued. He exchanged an amused look with Hestia, before turning back to the young boy. "It sounds like someone has a crush."
"A what?" Harry asked, confused.
"A crush," Apollo repeated, grinning widely. "It's perfectly normal for young boys to get a crush on their female teacher."
Harry's confusion deepened, before he thought he understood what Apollo was implying. "Is that like kissing? Because that's gross! Are you some kind of pervert?"
Harry looked confused. Artie could look out for herself; she was kick-ass and awesome. Then again, he realized, even the most awesome people needed someone to rely on sometimes. Maybe that was what Mister Apollo was trying to tell him in a rather roundabout way.
He just nodded instead.
"Good!" Apollo said, grinning. "Now, about that checkup that Aunt Hestia has asked for. I'm afraid to tell you, Harry..." he trailed off dramatically, causing the boy to pale and Hestia to look up, sharply. "That you are absolutely fine."
Harry released his breath, and Hestia shot the Sun God a venomous look, which was soon replaced with a shake of her head and a look of obvious tolerance.
"That water must have been free-flowing, and from an area without a lot of habitation," Apollo told Hestia. "Young Harry was in no more trouble drinking it untreated as he was from drinking bottled water."
"Miss Zoë took me to some forest in the mountains for my survival test, Mister Apollo," Harry offered. "And it was a fast-flowing stream, which is why I risked it. I was just so thirsty."
"Miss Zoë, eh, Harry?" Apollo teased. "Did someone manage to worm his way into the man-hating heart of my sister's lieutenant?"
Harry frowned. "Miss Zoë's awesome," he repeated. "And my friend. Sorta. She teaches me a lot of things, and she looks out for me so I don't get myself killed. She's really cool."
🔱This novel is available in pdf format with more than 600 chapters if you want you can visit our store...🔱
🔱https://magicpages.tiendup.com/🔱