Zach: Guardian of the Multiverse

Chatpter 23: A Divine Favor

    My jaw nearly hit the floor as I found out that I have a genuine Greek goddess sitting in front of me. But I tried to hide my surprise and asked,"I nearly stopped believing in any gods after the accident. How can you prove it?"
    She smiled a sly smile and waved her hand. Suddenly my tea turned into a slice of chocolate satin pie and Blair's cream turned into a five pound mackerel. To add insult to injury the pie tasted heavenly, it has the perfect creamy texture, the sweetness of the sugar balanced perfectly with the slight bitterness of the chocolate. Even remembering to this day I can't forget the taste.
    Athena must have seen tears rolling down my cheeks and chuckled, "Do I have your attention now?"
I said, "Fine, you're a goddess. But why show yourself now and not all those months ago? And why me, a mere mortal?"
She said, "I have been watching you since the explosion, but the rule is that we can't interfere with the lives of mortals. And to answer you other question: after watching you since the explosion I decided you were the perfect person to ask for help."
"Help?" Both Blair and I ask. "Why would a god ask a favor from a mortal?"
She explained, "You know how an owl is my sacred animal? Well the reason for that is my owl, Iolo went missing a few weeks ago. He has been my source of wisdom and strategies for millennia. He is a minor god that can turn human and speak any language in the universe."
"Ok, but why me? Why not send one of your champions? You have those don't you?" I ask, taking another bit of pie.
"Thing is, we got rid of that concept after the Romans took over. I chose you because the only person he trusts is me. He doesn't like gods or demigods, but he tolerates mortals. To a degree. I can give you his last known location. And if you succeed I can promise you your deeds will not go unrewarded." She offered after explaining her story.
    After finishing my pie I thought about it for a few minutes. "Fine. I'll do it. But don't expect me to not ask for something in return. Where was his last known location?"
    She said, "It was in another world in a town called Ikebukuro, Japan. Start your search there. I will put the coordinates into your Nexus. Also, I request that this favor does not go past you or me. If any of the other Olympians found out I was talking to a mortal they would have my head."
    I not in understanding as the Nexus alerts me of another world. Blair quickly jumps on my shoulder as Athena wishes me good luck and we head into a dark alleyway as to not attract attention and I opened up a portal.

    Once we are on the other side we walk out of an alley and I quickly take a look at my surroundings. I was in the middle of a brightly lit city, similar to New York City in America, but clearly Japanese writings, some Kanji and some Hirigana all over the place to signal shops, stores, restaurants and more. It was extremely busy with pedestrians by the hundreds walking all around us and cars whizzing by. I almost thought it was the middle of the day until I looked up and noticed that it was the middle of the night. Blair was amazed, clearly never having to have seen such a sight. I smiled a bit and said, "Yep, this is definitely Japan alright. But this isn't the Earth I grew up in. Seems like there are other Earths as well as multiple different worlds."
    Blair asked, "How do you know it's not your world?"
    "Simple, it doesn't feel like my world. Just trust me on this one." I reply as we start to cross the road, trying to sense anything out of the ordinary, any strong auras, magical presence, anything. I was so busy concentrating that I almost missed the motorcycle coming at me at break neck speeds. Something was off about this one, it didn't have a headlight, it was all black, like it was made from darkness and instead of a motor sound it almost sounded like a horse. The driver was unusual as well. She had a slender frame, and dressed in an all black suit, but it seemed to be one entire piece, not one seam, zipper, or button anywhere. Her helmet was the only thing that stood out, it was yellow with blue streaks and had raised points that made the helmet look like it had cat ears.
    If this was any other person, they wouldn't have time to get out of the way and have gotten injured or worse. Thankfully the time hunting and training with Six honed my reflexes so I was able to quickly jump over the speeding rider, which was about a six or seven foot standing jump. I landed back in the same spot on the crosswalk as I heard the unknown woman screech to a halt about thirty feet away. I stood there with my guard up as I watched her quickly get off her bike and run frantically to me. Once she was within arms reach she pulled out a phone with a keypad attached (remember those?) and typed something. She showed the screen to me and there was a message asking if I was alright. I nodded and now that she was closer I could feel something off about her, as is there was something unearthly about her.
"I'm fine. Are you ok ma'am?" I ask, always the gentleman.
She types that she's alright and types something else, "you should see a doctor. Come with me, I know a good doctor." She says as she makes room on her bike so I can get on. Reluctantly I get on as Blair whispers in my ear, "this feels weird."
    We head downtown for a few miles until we reach this skyscraper of a high rise with dozens of floors and hundred of lights still on, makes me think if anyone ever sleeps around here. The woman lead me to a service elevator where we went to the top floor to a penthouse of some sorts. The woman parks her bike just outside the door as she fished a key out of her pocket to unlock the front door. One we were inside I noticed a young man, probably early to mid 20s looking up from a sofa reading a magazine. He had big glasses, spiky black hair and a white lab coat on. He smiled and got up from the couch to walk to the woman and hug her.
"Celty!" He said as he got up, "how was your day? Anything interesting happen?" He then looked at me and gave me a questioning look. I must have had the same look because he introduced himself as Shinra and that he was a plastic surgeon. Celty went to a countertop and removed her helmet.
What I saw nearly made me attack out of fear.
After she took off her helmet I saw that she had no head. The only thing there was a neck and a black hole on top it pitch black smoke pouring out.
What was this creature?