A/N: I decided to write this last minute and I do not regret it.

My nightmare disappeared and it almost felt as if I was awake, except I clearly was not. The place I was in looked nothing like anything in real life. The floor was white, but the sky had the colour of autumn. It felt like a fresh, dewy morning. In front of me was a fireplace, which made me sigh in relief. Hearths meant safety.

I sat down crosslegged. A steaming cup of Rooibos tea appeared, which struck me as odd. If I was asleep, and I certainly was, why would I need tea?

'You must be wondering about the tea,' A warm voice asked. I looked up. Hestia was sitting next to me. 'I thought it would make you feel comfortable, because you usually have something to drink during therapy.'

'Yes. Thanks.' I bowed my head towards Hestia, before I picked up my cup.

'Don't worry about your dream - it is gone now,' she assured me.

'Eh, yes. Thanks.' I was close to having forgotten that dream.

Hestia gave me a look of endearment. 'I think you know why I am here.'

'Dionysus asked you to come with us to do the thing with the Elder Gods.'

'And I said yes, Nico. If you want, I will be there for you.'

'Thanks, Hestia.'

She smoothed her skirt. 'Yet. I, or Dionysus, could have told you that tomorrow. Right now, I wanted to ask you why you thought I could be of help when you meet the elder gods.'

A leaf fell upon my hand. I looked at it before I answered: 'I already knew Dionysus and my father would be with me. Usually, I trust them, but with this, it just did not feel right.' I shrugged. 'You must understand, I really do trust Dionysus. I have told him way more about my personal life than anyone else. Yet for some reason, I did not want just him and dad to be there. It felt dangerous. It felt like it would be an unsupervised moment, just the unsupervised moment they needed to…' I sighed. 'I don't know, actually.'

'Have either of them ever made it seem like they wanted to harm you?'

'No, not at all. I don't know where it comes from, but I just did not want to be in a trance with just them around. There have been moments with both of them with no one else around. Yet, during those times, I was able to defend myself. Now, I will be communicating with ancient spirits…'

'Elder Gods. Sorry, go on.'

'...with Elder Gods, I will be in a trance, and as such completely dependent on them. That feels weird and perhaps a little dangerous.' I took a sip of my tea.

A leaf fell onto Hestia's shoulder. She carefully brushed it off. 'I get it. And so does Dionysus. There have been many heroes before you who felt the same way. You don't have to worry about us.'

'I knew Dionysus did not mind. Eh, he was even the one who offered to ask for your help.'

Hestia raised her eyebrows. 'Oh, yes.'

'That does not mean I am any less happy with your help! I just think…' I sighed, while a leaf twirled into my hair. I let it sit. 'I think Dionysus knew I would be comfortable with you around. I would have never dared propose it myself. I mean, you are…' I swept a leaf out of my lap, 'You still are a goddess.'

'I want you to know that you can ask for my help whenever you want to. Making sure people are comfortable is my job and it is what keeps the flame burning.' She smiled. 'I understand that it did not come to your mind, but I hope it might in the future.'

I nodded. It seemed as if more leaves began to fall. Hestia looked up at the sky. 'I have thanked you before, but it really means something to me that you saw me that day, Nico. You acknowledged me. And not just that, you inspired others to do the same thing. That is good, it keeps the flame lit.' She moved her hand through the hearth. The flames rose up high into the autumn air.

'Is it lonely to be the goddess of the home?' It was out before I knew it. Hestia folded her hands in her lap.

'I don't think it is lonely. Yet, I will not act like it is always easy. People expect the home to be a nice, warm place, somewhere they feel comfortable.' Yes, that is why people come to you. You feel like that. 'I know I have that aura around me. Gods and mortals alike come to me for help. And I don't mind giving it. It is my job and that compassion keeps the hearth burning.' The flames rose into the air again. 'That does not make it less difficult. The gods fight and the mortals fight. I must be a medium, a place for everyone. I can't pick a side.' She held up her hand. An especially beautiful leaf fell into it.

'I get it.' Now I was sure that there were more leaves falling. They dropped into the fire and got stuck on my clothes.

She gave me a last warm smile. 'I'll see you tomorrow, Nico. Keep your flame lit.' The leaves twirled wilder and wilder, until I couldn't see anything anymore. The last thing I heard was my teacup falling over.

I opened my eyes. Will was still laying next to me. As if it was a reflex I kissed his nose, which accidently woke him up.

'Nico… Nico! Are you still awake? Have you slept at all? Did you have a nightmare?'

'No, no, I slept pretty well. I did have a bit of a nightmare, but Hestia sought out contact with me. That made the bad dream go away.'

'Oh. Good.' He yawned. 'What did Hestia say?'

'She told me she would come with me tomorrow. She'll help.'

'Oh. That's good. That's great.'

I softly snickered. Will sounded so tired. 'Hestia is tired too, I think. She has to keep the flame burning, but it is difficult.'

Will closed his eyes. 'I can imagine.'

'Shall we go back to sleep now?'

There came no sound, which I took as my answer. I closed my own eyes and drifted off to sleep.

The rest of my dreams were nice that night. I could smell the scent of Rooibos tea and autumn in the air.

A/N: I could have also done chapter 33 with Hestia. Oh well. I don't regret doing it with Ariadne.

Okay boys tell me truthfully: Do you all call it Rooibos tea? I used the Dutch name.

Anyway, Rooibos tea feels like a Hestia-drink.