I pulled up at my house and got the groceries for dinner out of the car. I carried them into the house and got to work putting them away. I never buy more than a couple of days worth of groceries at one time because they just won't fit properly into my car.
I had just started cooking some smoked sausage and ham to put in a pot of red beans and rice when I heard the chiming of the wards I had put around my house. These wards are actually not just around my house but are some distance from it. They serve several purposes. Some warn me of incoming spirits and these are the farthest away, and others warn me of what some call 'dark creatures', vampires, werewolves and the like.
I could tell by the chiming that a spirit was approaching and so I closed my eyes and looked into the Astral Plane. I recognized the entity approaching and smiled to myself. The spirit was approaching much slower than I knew it could and waved a greeting. I shifted a portion of my body into the Astral and waved back, smiling. I then slipped back into my meat body to await her appearance at my door. The walls of a home provide a final line of protection against any creatures, even without magical reinforcement.
I stirred the frying ham and sausage and went to turn off the porch light so as not to draw any questions when a beautiful redhead just appeared on my doorstep. I turned back and went to check my food. I was adding the sausage and ham to the red beans and rice when the doorbell rang. I directed a flow of the Power to the door and opened it with a minor cantrip. With a chuckle I looked over and called out "Come in Arianna." This invitation allowed her to pass the natural ward on the doorway and she walked in, shutting the door behind her.
She walked over into the small kitchen area and smiled seeing that I was cooking. "Hey, Tre!" She said with a musical laugh. As I set down the skillet, she walked over and hugged me tight. I returned the hug noticing that she had attired herself in the long belted dress held at the shoulders with silver pins that was traditional in ancient Greece. The dress was of silk, as was the simple belt tied around her slim waist. She lifted the lid of the pot and smiled. "Mmm, red beans and rice. That's one of my favorites." I laughed and pointed to the cabinet and told her to get down two plates.
After stirring dinner again, I walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a beer, looking over at her, "Long time no see Arianna. You want a beer or some wine or something?" I opened my own beer and took a drink out of it as she thought.
"Some wine would be great." she said. I grabbed a cup and one of the bottles of wine I kept for when she visited. She took the cup, fashioned in the ancient Greek style, along with the bottle, and sat down at the table, taking a sip from the fragrant wine.
We made small talk until the dinner was ready and I dished it up. I carried the two plates over to the table and set hers down in front of her and sat down across from her and we began to eat. After a few minutes of enjoying the meal, she poured another cup of wine and spoke, looking me directly in the eyes, "So I hear you had a run-in with one of Freyja's minions the other night."
I almost choked on the mouthful of food I had just taken as I heard her words. I washed it down with about half of my beer and pushed my plate away. "How did you hear about that? It just happened night before last."
Arianna smiled, "You might have released me from your service and I might live in New Orleans most of the time, but I keep my sources listening for news about you. This morning one of my watchers came to me with the news that Freyja was quite unhappy with you and looking to have a talk with you about the pile of ash that was once her only remaining progeny from the old world."
She broke off as I interrupted her, quite upset. "A 'talk'? As in one of those 'I disappear after days of torture' talks? Did you come here as her messenger? Did she send you?"
She interrupted me right back, laying a hand on top of mine and squeezing tight as she moved around the table to sit beside me. "No, Tre. I heard from my watcher that she was looking for you and as soon as I finished my business for the day, I came here to warn you. I would have come sooner, but my entire day was filled with business meetings that I couldn't put off." She drank deeply from the cup of wine before continuing. Freyja is upset, but I do not think that she is going to kill you. That would cause her untold problems with your Order, even if you do BARELY acknowledge their rules."
