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.
<Does anything weird ever happen here?>
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.
<Normal weird or New York weird?>
<You know that thing in comics and movies where the hero asks the bartender if there’s anything weird or suspicious? I don’t think actual bartenders answer that kind of question.>
<I wouldn’t know, I’m just a waitress.>
<Isn’t it weird how it’s just ten PM and there’s only us here?>
<A little.>
<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.
<Your new lord and master demands coffee!>
<All right, that is weird> Vesta admits.
Both Vesta and Max watch the girl drink three full cups, one after the other. No sugar.
<So. Shouldn’t it be “your new lady and master”?>
<Shouldn’t we take her to the hospital? She doesn’t look well.>
<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.>
<I think you’ve had enough. Why don’t you go home and get some sleep?> Vesta asks.
<After drinking that much, I don’t think she can.>
<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.
<I am Null; I know everything.>
<Really? What’s my name?> interrupts the customer.
<Maximilian Black. Age 27, unemployed.>
<Nice trick. When is Stan Lee’s birthday?>
<December 28th.>
<Air date of the first Star Trek episode?>
<September 15th,1966.>
<She does know everything! Even I don’t know this stuff on the fly.>
<I have all the information in the world in my head.>
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.
<I don’t like where this is going.>
<You are the Roman goddess of the hearth; don’t insult my intelligence pretending otherwise.>
<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?>
<I don’t know. I’m working on it.>
<You two are working on some kind of act, right? I know, you’ve got a lighter up your sleeve!>
<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.
<A black-haired woman in a green suit will come through that door. She wants to kill me.>
<Let me guess, you can see the future?> Max asks.
<I can think. I saw her after I left the park. I couldn’t recognize her, so her face is not on any database on the planet. I could’ve lost her easily, but I let her come close enough to make sure she was following me. I suspected Athena may have set me up, so my subconscious found the only other goddess in New York. I also really like coffee.>
<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> one of the twins says.
<Do not interfere> another continues.
<You. You are the Nexus. You will take us to the Heart of the Universe> the third concludes, placing her hand on Noriko’s shoulder.
The shirt catches fire. 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.
<I told you that was way too much coffee!> Max warns.
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.
<Perfect sphere. Rocky exterior. Size of a human hand. High density.>
<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.
<Thank you. You may die now.>
Then the bar explodes.
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