3 A goddess walks into a bar

Vesta is a very strange waitress: she never wears shoes. She's also immortal.

You'd think people would complain, but you've never seen Vesta. If your waitress had a girl-next-door smile, a body an Amazon would kill for, and never served your order more than a second late, would you complain about the shoes?

You'd also think more people would notice she's immortal, but she's very careful. She never works in the same place for more than five years, never talks about her previous jobs, and moves to another city every ten or fifteen years.

It used to be far easier. Back in the day, she could stay in the same town for a century before someone would notice the stunning beauty with bright red hair looked exactly like the young lady that grandpa was always talking about.

But then again, back in the day people died more often.

The customer's question distracts her from her memories. She glances the man asking: mid-twenties, African-American, wearing a grey hoodie and reading a comic book.

<Isn't it weird how it's just ten PM and there's only us here?>

<So, you doin' anything after this? I'm Max, by the way.>

Just then, an Asian girl slams the door open. She looks like she's been to hell and back.

<All right, that is weird> Vesta admits.

Both Vesta and Max watch the girl drink three full cups, one after the other. No sugar.

They figure she must be sixteen or seventeen; she's wearing a black T-shirt underneath a green leather jacket that seems almost oversized for her tiny frame.

The situation is too strange to miss the opportunity to strike an interesting conversation.

<So. Shouldn't it be "your new lady and master"?> Max asks.

<Shouldn't we take her to the hospital? She doesn't look well> Vesta notices.

<Lady. From Old English hlæfdige, literally "bread-kneader"; I am Null. It's getting difficult to think straight; bring me more coffee.>

<Yep, definitely not well.>

Vesta asks.

<Both of you> she clarifies.

<Vesta. Your name is Vesta Dicrono> the girl suddenly realizes.

<Do I know you?> the waitress asks; after all the tag on her shirt doesn't show her surname.

<Really? What's my name?> interrupts the customer.

-She does know everything! Even I don't know this stuff on the fly.

Maybe it's the coffee, maybe it's her new brain stitching together all the evidence, but Noriko seems to come to her senses and stands up.

<You. You've been using the name "Vesta Dicrono" for two hundred years. Possibly more, but evidence in earlier centuries is sketchy at best.>

<Don't insult mine with tricks like that> she tries to defend herself, and Noriko understands why Athena smiled like that. The feeling of being so much ahead in the game is almost intoxicating.

The girl and the goddess look at each other in the eye. Silver eyes flash, and the goddess backs off.

<I'm not the Roman goddess. You would consider me Greek> she corrects.

<Wait, isn't Venus the goddess of the heart?> Max asks.

Vesta replies by showing him the palm of her hand, where a live flame appears out of thin air.

<Hearth, the household fire. I was born Hestia, firstborn of Kronos. I've been using the name Vesta since leaving Olympus twenty-seven centuries ago. You have my attention, "Null"; what do you really want from me?>

<Go home, mr. Black. Gods are speaking here> Null declares.

<You're not a goddess, you know> Vesta replies, making the fire disappear.

Null smirks, looking down at the now empty cup of coffee.

<Let me guess, you can see the future?> Max asks.

<What a load of bull…oh crap> Max says when the door opens: there's a black-haired woman in a green suit, standing right there.

<Lucky guess> he mumbles.

Vesta reacts as she would with any customer: with a warm and sincere smile.

<Welcome. Can I get you anything?>

<The Heart of the Universe> the woman answers with a cold voice. Right after that, two other women walk through the door: twins of the first one, wearing the same green office suit.

<I'm sorry, we don't serve that…I think.>

The three women walk towards Null's table, standing behind her. Yet another two women, again looking exactly like the first one, walk in and start closing the blinds to cover the windows. They even change the "we're open" sign with the "we're closed" one, even though Vesta tries to stop them.

<I'm sorry, we're still open. Wait, that sounds wrong.>

<Vesta. You are known to us> says one of the twins.

<Do not interfere> continues another.

<You. You are the Nexus. You will take us to the Heart of the Universe> concludes the third, placing her hand on Noriko's shoulder.

Noriko react so fast that Max and Vesta aren't really sure how the woman who touched her ends up with her head smashed on the table.

<Explain yourselves or I will not be so gentle with you> Null says, her silver eyes shining briefly.

warns Max.

The other women dressed in green don't do anything. The one that attacked Noriko pulls herself together; her nose has been squished into her head, but she doesn't seem to feel the slightest pain.

<Like the object my father keeps besides his bed> Null answers, without even noticing the woman she's talking to probably shouldn't be alive with a wound like that.

Four out of the five women in green exploded with the force of a small bomb, seemingly without warning or reason.

The force of the explosion shatters everything in the room, yet nothing is burned. Max Black opens his eyes: he looks like he's been through the dirtiest chimney in history, and the Asian teen with the silver eyes doesn't look much better.

<How the heck did we survive that!?> he wonders.

<Hello? Goddess of the fire here?> says Vesta, who doesn't have a single speck of dust on her clothes or on her red hair.

<But did not succeed. I have an idea> Noriko says, wiping the dirt from her face as best as she can while trying not to trip on the debris.

<Where are you going?> he asks.

– she cuts him, storming to what's left of the door.

The cliché goes that people in New York will shrug off anything, but blowing up a building will get their attention. Just outside the bar, Noriko finds people gathered to understand what's going on.

The explosion should've been far worse: the sidewalk is full of shattered glass, but that's it.

"Could Vesta have contained the blast somehow?" she wonders.

<Are you all right?> a random guy asks. Just with one glance Noriko knows his name, his job, how many kids he has, and so many details that she has to make an effort to stop thinking about them.

As soon as she turns her silver eyes to the next person, a woman asks:

Noriko doesn't know what to answer, as her eyes shift from person to person. Every information the world knows about the twelve people in front of her is flowing through her head: birthdays, phone numbers, medical histories, job résumés, social security numbers, everything.

Only now Vesta and Max come out of the bar. They see Noriko in the middle of the crowd, seemingly lost and confused. They've known her for less than fifteen minutes, granted, but this is her first human reaction to anything.

<Enough!> Noriko finally shouts. Her silver eyes flash for a second when she says it.

<Where did the woman dressed in green go?> she asks angrily.

<That way> mumbles one of the witnesses, pointing at the street. There's no need to clarify: if you see a woman walking out of a place before it explodes, you tend to remember it.

Noriko just pushes aside the people in front of her, looking at the street: it would take too long to wait for the streetlight to turn green before crossing. She just makes a step forward.

A motorbike comes to a screeching halt just a second before hitting Noriko. It was a calculated risk, since her brain decided the driver had enough reaction time to avoid her. The driver doesn't seem to think the same, shouting at the top of his lungs:

she answers, just grabbing the driver by the shoulder and pushing him out of his seat.

It's hard to say what's more impressive, that she just shoved aside a man twice her weight or that she's stealing a bike in front of a dozen witnesses.

<Vesta, Black, deal with the authorities: I have to save my father> Noriko says before hitting on the accelerator and running out. Driving in the wrong direction.

Rarely has a crowd been made more speechless than now. Only Max has something to say:

<She's gonna to get herself killed! Come on!>

A bright flame suddenly appears in front of Vesta, causing enough distraction to sweep Max off his feet and fly away, following Null's bike.

To recap. Noriko is driving in the wrong direction on a stolen bike, followed by a goddess who his flying ten feet off the ground, carrying a grown man in her arms. And all of them survived an explosion five minutes earlier. In other words, this is Max's greatest day ever.

<You can fly!?> he asks.

<It's not something you tell to strangers.>

<It's a long story. Let's save it for when I don't have to avoid trucks.>

A building several blocks away

Bob Null is late again. It's not his fault, really: he tried to leave the party earlier, but the girl just wouldn't let him go. In fact, she's still clinging to his arm, and they are both right in front of the building where he lives.

<Listen...Tina, right?>

<Deena.>

<Sure. Listen, it's been a great night but I really have to go home now, okay?>

<No, because A) you're already drunk and B) I promised my daughter I would let in only girls ten years older than she is, remember?>

<Riiight, the kid you've never let me talk to. You sure she's not adopted or somethin'? You don't look old enough to have a kid that age.>

<I'll send you some pictures of how awesome I was at fifteen. You sure you can make it to your house alone?>

<I'm not drunk! Y'know what I think? I think you don't really have a daughter and you're making things up 'cause you're seeing other girls.>

<Now, come on, Tina…>

<Deena!>

<Whatever; I'm not seeing anyone else, okay?>

Just then, something smashes right through the walls of the building, five stories up. The wall smashes on the ground along with something else; Bob's first reaction is to push Deena out of harm's way. He makes sure she's okay, despite throwing up on the street, before looking back.

There's a puddle of green goo in the middle of the wall debris. The puddle grows very quickly, taking a rough human form, before splitting in two equal parts.

In less than five seconds, the puddle has turned into two identical women with long black hair, dressed in green. One of them holds in her hand an object which Bob recognizes immediately: a perfectly round sphere of solid rock.

<Hey, that's mine!>

<And who the heck is she?> Deena asks.

The second woman makes a step forward. While Bob is still struggling to understand what's going on, he hears the sound of a very fast motorbike approaching.

The bike then hits he woman, turning her back into goo and smashing against the building.

Someone jumped off the bike at the very last second. She stands up, bruised but completely unfazed. Her silver eyes glow in the night.

<Father. What did I tell you about taking home girls?>

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