𝕷𝖎𝖒𝖊𝖗𝖊𝖓𝖈𝖊

4.Unexpected and Unwelcome Guest

You stared at him perplexed, " Aren't you the one who barged in here unexpectedly? If I knew you were coming, I would be more welcoming." Eza scoffed, " Isn't this my house? Why do I have to announce myself?" You were getting irked by his attitude, "If I ask nicely will you give it to me?" " If you let me dine with you, then sure." He strode past you and placed the basket of food down on the dining table. You let out a sigh and turned towards the kitchen.

Eza pulled out one of the wooden chairs and sat down. He looked at you and grinned, " So what's for dinner, chef?"

You shot him a sharp glare while walking over to the table. You pulled off the small cloth covering the basket and looked at the contents inside. The foods in the basket consisted of a large salmon, red onions, oranges, pomegranates, olive oil, and what seemed to be rosemary. There were other vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots, and radishes. And some spices too, but you focused on the first six ingredients.

You grabbed them and placed them on the table but stopped when you realized you didn't have a way to cook anything. You heard the sound of metal colliding against the table and looked toward Eza. He was leaning back against the chair. His head turned to the side while a stack of different-sized pans and cooking utensils sat in front of him. He started to whistle, and you glowered at him while grabbing the cooking utensils and moving them to the counter. You picked up the basket and set it in one of the empty cabinets for later.

You glanced at the sink and thanked the gods for the more technological advances in this world, thanks to magic. You picked up the pomegranate and orange and shuffled over to the sink to rinse them off. After drying them, you grabbed one of the knives, a wooden spoon, and a bowl. You cut the pomegranate in half, then set one of the halves, cut side down, on your palm. Then began to smack it with a wooden spoon. The seeds started to fall out onto your hand, some rolling off and falling into the bowl. You set the skin and pith of the fruit to the side and repeated this with the other half. You slid the bowl of seeds to the side, then picked up a large orange.

You rinsed the knife off in the sink, then began to cut the orange into thin slices. Once done with that, you turned to Eza and gestured to the oven. He let out a huff and then snapped his fingers, the furnace under the stove catching fire after. You rolled your eyes at him and turned back to the counter. You picked up the red onion and sighed. You began to peel the skin from the onion and glanced at Eza behind you, who was looking at you curiously. You pondered for a moment before snorting, "Do you perhaps have a spell that can reduce tears?" He rolled his eyes at you. You shifted your focus to the cursed vegetable in front of you, swearing under your breath. You began to cut the onion into thin slices, blinking back tears as you did. As soon as you finished cutting the onions, you turned away and began to fan your eyes with your hands. You heard Eza snicker at you, and you mentally glared at him.

After you got the remaining onion gas out of your eyes, you rinsed your hands off into the sink. You picked up the cut onions and set them off to the side with the pomegranate seeds and sliced onions. You then picked up the fish and grimaced at it. It still had its scales and bones. You decided to make quick work of it, descaling it, cutting its head off, contemplating throwing it at Eza, cutting it in half, and removing the bones.

You made quick work of the rest, then set the salmon into the oven. You sighed and went over to the table, pulling the chair adjacent to Eza out and sitting down with a huff.

After a while of waiting, the fish was ready. You grabbed two of the plates Eza magically conjured and set the plates. You placed a plate before him and sat down to eat your food. You glanced up at Eza while eating, only to see that he spawned a bottle of wine and wine glasses from thin air. He smiled at you and poured you a cup. You gave him a small thanks and sipped a bit from the glass.

It was the perfect balance of sour, bitter, and sweet. It was also a bit spicy. You glanced up at Eza," What type of wine is this?" You took a swig from his glass before answering, "Blood Bacuri wine. It's challenging to find such a rare fruit due to Blood Isles being dangerous to traverse through."

You looked at the blood-red liquid in the cup and hummed, "I heard that the plants and water surrounding the isles are all dyed red." you swirled the liquid around in the cup, "And that the reason for such color is that it feeds on the blood of dying gods."

Eza scoffs and sets his fork down, his plate empty, " Most people don't know the reason behind it, so they claim it's from the "Gods" or "Demons." Humans are truly foolish" You set your fork down and looked at him, "Anthocyanin." He looked at you confused, "The reason Blood Isles is red is from the anthocyanin the plants produce. The water surrounding the Isles is dyed red from the plants too."

Eza stared at you, perplexed, then began to laugh. "You truly are unusual," he states. He then props his elbow on the table and rests his face on his hand.

"Just how do you know that?" his demeanor seemed to change entirely. You felt a chill go down your spine as if his yellow eyes stared straight at your soul. You began to sweat nervously, "I just read it somewhere."

That was a half-truth. You found it on the internet, and it was a fact proven by the game's creator. "And I might be wrong." you stated, trying to save your ass, " I only thought so because anthocyanin is the reason strawberries are red."

Eza seemed to buy your BS excuse and laughed, "Do you have any other obscure facts you'd like to share?"

You released a breath you didn't know you were holding and nervously smiled, " Well, tomatoes are technically a fruit."