Leto

Mako slowly opened his eyes, bright blue hues shining briefly in the endless expanse of darkness he now found himself in. There was no light, no sound, just a sea of nothingness, a vast open space.

Though he couldn't see anything beyond his own body, Mako found that he could still move his arms and legs even though it wasn't really of much use. It was a small comfort, but of course it was much better then being unable to budge even an inch. Additionally, he still seemed to be able to think clearly, his brain and motions completely unaffected by the void.

"Where am I?" Mako muttered, his ears twitching ever so slightly. "How the hell did I get here? Or right...I died.....shame."

The young man sighed as he crossed his arms. He remembered everything very clearly, no foggy memories, no amnesia, nothing preventing him from looking back on how things had gone down. Sure he had some regrets about pressing the button that ended his own life but in the end he was happy he had gotten to take that bastard Michael down with him. As a bonus, he had managed to take down the hybrid army as well in one huge explosion so that was a definite plus.

"I guess this is the rest of my life then? Doomed to float around here for the rest of my days until I get reincarnated?" He stared at his hands before curling them into fists. "If only I had been faster. I could've saved Sam as well. I hope she's doing alright."

Sam had been in dire straights last time he saw her, shot in her hip and slowly bleeding out. However when compared to how his own situation had gone down, she probably had a much better chance for survival then if she had followed him. He was convinced he made the right decision when he left her behind at the house to confront Michael, though he really did wish he could've seen her one last time before he died.

"Welp, if life gives you lemons," the young man muttered as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants. "At least it gave you something."

A bright string of electricity suddenly flashed by his ear with a loud buzz, startling him. This was followed by another and another as the lines of lightning began to gather together in front of him, slowly came into being before him. "Do you really think now is the time to be quoting AJR right now?"

'What the fuck is happening right now?'

All he could do was watch as the light built up slowly, more and more electricity piling up before ending with a bright flash, forcing Mako to close his eyes to keep from going temporarily blind. When he opened them up again, the darkness that had engulfed everything previously was gone, not a tace of it left. Though he hadnt felt anything, he was now on solid ground, a blanket of red velvety carpet positioned beneath him. He found himself located in a rather large room without a door or even windows. Two cushioned chairs and a table were all that were present within the room along with a woman with abnormally white hair that reached past her waist. She stood tall in front of him, an aura of power emanating off her in waves to the point where Mako had to scoot back a bit.

"Why quote AJR and not someone better like Justin Beiber or Eminem?" The woman asked as she walked forward, her long white hair seeming to float gracefully behind her. "AJR isn't even that well known in your world compared to the other two. At least make a reference that people will understand."

Mako was rendered speechless by what this person was saying. He had an idea of what was going on, a possible goddess of something or other here to pass some sort of judgement or decision. He had seen enough anime and read enough novels to know that the person in front of him had the power to decide his fate. Still, even knowing that he pushed himself off the floor, his eyes narrowing. He felt as if she had personally attacked him and he wasn't gonna let it slide.

"Justin Beiber WISHED he had as much talent as AJR. Even COMPARING the two in the same breath is insulting. Two different styles of music and you expect them to be equal?" He didnt shout at her but his tone was ice cold. He normally never got mad but when it came to music, he tended to take it a bit too seriously.

The woman frowned ever so slightly. "Mako D. Carson, a hybrid between a wolf and a human. I read your file just recently. Age 15, a sophomore in high school. Mastered various martial arts at a young age including Karate, Jujitsu, Muay Thai, Judo, Taekwondo, and many others. Extremely adaptable and brave, has smarts and top tier speed, strength, reflexes, and memorization abilities of world #2318."

The woman turned away and walked towards the chair, sitting down and crossing her legs, her dress riding up to reveal her long legs. "Come 'Alpha Wolf' Mako," the woman said, gesturing to the seat opposite her. "Let's have a chat."

Mako wasn't too thrown off that she knew this much about him. If she really was a god then it would only make sense that she had such information gathered together. With the aura of power emanating off of her and the knowledge she possessed on him, it appeared he was indeed dealing with someone on the level of a god, a similar entity of power. The only thing that really threw him off was when she said "file", making everything seem much more business-like and organized then what had previously been portrayed in anime, novels, and manga.

Taking a seat in the chair, Mako sat up straight. "What's your name?" He asked causally yet politely. Having been raised to respect women, there was no way he would continue to use the same icy tone as before.

"My name is Leto," the woman replied robotically, as if it was something she was used to saying. "Goddess of wolves. Most people don't know who I am so its a question I have to continually answer. Wasn't the first and it wont be the last."

"Wait, Leto?" Mako's interest was now genuinely piqued as he leaned forward. "As in the Greek Goddess? Mother of Artemis and Apollo?"

In Greek Mythology, Leto was born on the island of Kos and her parents were the Titans Coeus and Pheobe. Leto had some relations with Zeus, got knocked up, and then gave birth to Artemis and Apollo. She was also a goddess of womanhood and motherhood, and thus the birth of Apollo and Artemis are significant to the Leto myth. The legend says that Leto labored for days to deliver the twins Artemis and Apollo – this is related to wolves' difficult delivery of their young. The journey that Leto took from the Hyperboreoi to Delos took twelve days, which was the time it took for wolves to deliver their young in Greek mythology. This made her one of the Greek wolf goddesses. Leto was always depicted and worshiped as an important Mother Goddess, and her cult stretched from Greece to Crete to Egypt. She was sometimes depicted with a golden spindle, which mirrored many of the other ancient goddesses across the continent of Europe. A spindle points to the idea of the goddess spinning our fate, as in the Greek myth of the Fates or the Norse Norns.

"Oh? So you've heard of me?" Leto asked with a small smile, clearly pleased to have been recognized. "That is indeed correct. It's such a nice change of pace when someone knows who I am. I think I like you a bit more now."

"Well, when I was younger I took a big interest in wolves and their abilities for reasons you can guess." Mako pointed towards his large bushy tail wagging behind him, the fluffy appendage stopping just below the back of his head. "Your name just happened to come up when scrolling through the internet."

"Regardless of how you found me its still a nice change," Leto replied, waving her hand. On the table in front of her, out of thin air, a manilla folder filled to the brim with papers appeared. "Anyways, lets get down to business. Do you know why you're here?"

At this point in the game, Mako wasn't shocked by anything as he crossed his arms over the table. "Is it to choose another world to go to? Judging by the papers in front of me and your 'all business' tone, I feel like I'm correct in assuming all these papers are different places to go to."

Leto smiled again. "You would assume correctly then. Due to the fact that we have had a sudden influx of souls coming in, we don't have enough time or manpower to manage them all. Ergo we like to handle everything quickly and accurately. We take the summary of your basic personality and abilities and narrow down the worlds you are suited to be reincarnated into. The worlds in front of you are all the ones you qualify for which, if I'm being honest, is actually a lot more then most others."

Mako pulled the manilla folder towards him and opened it. "If you have so many souls coming in and you gods and goddesses are the one overseeing all the worlds in existence, then how do you find time to go through them all?"

"Easy. We put the soul in stasis." Leto leaned forward, her deep pink eyes watching Mako as he perused the numerous papers. "We deal with each soul one by one while putting the others in a sort of time-pause. For example, your own soul has been in stasis for the roughly a decade if we're going by world #2318's standards."

The young wolf hybrid looked up, his heart skipping a beat. "I've spent ten years in that void? But it only felt like ten minutes!!"

The goddess tilted her head slightly. "Of course, because it was only ten minutes, at least in here it was. How do you think I manage to handle billions of souls in a single day? Time stasis puts each and every person in pause until I'm ready to get to them. Right now we've been here for roughly ten minutes but not even one second has passed anywhere else. I also have additional parts of me which I can use to chat with other souls and send them on their merry way."

Mako was stunned for a second but he eventually shook it off. If he tried to think about it too much he'd end up with a headache. It was best to just continue searching through the papers.

"I just met you but I've already taken a liking to you," Leto said. "How about a bit of help?"

Snapping her fingers, the papers in front of the young man disappeared and in its place appeared a single one. At the very top was a number with the words ONE PIECE directly below it.

"A certain redheaded gal chose this world," Leto said, staring intensely as to gauge the boys reaction. "Normally it would've been beyond her reach as her abilities weren't quite up to standards. However, I liked her as well, smart and pretty. She also knew who I was but thats not very surprising considering she raised you. I also gave her one wish when she went in."

"Wait wait wait, you mean Sam went into the world of One Piece?" Mako asked with an incredulous expression, his heart pounding rapidly. "That means she died then. But how? Did she bleed out?"

"She died around the same time you did," Let replied. "She lost too much blood. It was a very painful and no doubt scary experience and yet she came here hoping that you were safe. She's quite the woman."

"Also this world isn't the same world your thinking of." Leto pointed directly beneath the top words where small almost illegible words were printed. "This is an alternate world, one VERY different from the one your used to and one that is at least twice as strong as the normal one."

Mako felt disappointed. Not only had he ended up dying, but he hadn't even managed to save Sam from the cold embrace of death. Sure she got to be sent to another world as a result but the feeling that he had somehow failed her still remained.

"I want to go to this world," Mako said firmly as he set down the paper. "Please allow me to be on my way."

The goddess nodded her head, the paper disappearing from the table. "I have more souls to take care of so I'll be finishing up with you soon. However, I feel as if I should give you a few tips and warnings about this alternate world of One Piece."

Mako wanted to say that he didn't want it, that he'd be fine, but logically that would be a stupid move. Without knowing what he was getting himself into, he'd only end up right back in front of her or some other god after dying once again. "Fine, I'm listening. You said that this world is twice as strong as the original?" His fingers began to tap on the small oak table as his eyes focused on the woman in front of him.

"That's correct. Let me put it to you this way," Leto said, her pink hues staring into Mako's blue ones. "If I sent you to the original One Piece world then you'd have been able to KINDA keep up with how Luffy was in the very first episode. Even though you couldn't have hurt him unless you had something sharp, you would have been decent enough to defend yourself considering the myriad of skills under your belt."

"What about the other world?" Mako asked despite already knowing the answer.

"Well, in the other world Luffy doesn't have a devil fruit," the woman said with a matter-of-fact tone. "However, he doesn't really need one in order to beat the living snot out of you. He's about your age and already about as strong as the Arlong from the original One Piece. To be honest, neither one of you is strong enough currently to step foot in this world but I let it slide because she's VERY smart and resourceful."

"So what are my odds of surviving if I DO go there? Do you know?" Mako wanted to be sure that he at least had a shot. Even if it was near zero, he'd still end up going.

"About 25%," Leto replied without hesitation. "Your friend had slightly higher odds due to her intelligence but still. Even if you were unrivalled in your own world, your a tad below average in this one." The goddess leaned back in her chair, her eyes shifting away from the wolf hybrid. "But enough of that depressing stuff. What else would you like to know before I send you on your way?"

Mako thought about it for a second. "How else is the world different the original besides strength?"

"Different and new islands, different and new people, different and new adventures." Leto gave an amused smile, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "Good luck following the canon timeline as the canon is dead. I will tell you this though. If you manage to survive everything, you'll be on the adventure of a lifetime, I guarantee that you won't regret it. Now enough questions, its time you went on your way."

Let reached out and touched the top of Mako's head. "One more thing. You'll find your precious Sam waiting on Matchstick island. Thats the first island she started on. Better hurry or you'll end up missing her."

The young boy opened his mouth to protest, but he vanished on the spot, leaving behind an empty chair. The goddess sat back, her eyes sadly at the seat in front of her. "Good luck young one. I wish you all the best."

"Since when did you get along with others so well Leto?" A voice filled with intrigue and amusement filled her ears. "I was under the impression that you hated males."

The wolf goddess let out a sigh as she turned in her seat. Standing beside her was a rather tall man with a light complexion wearing a plain black shirt and cargo shorts. White hair, a neatly trimmed beard, and a muscular body made the man the very image of masculinity. This arrogant and irritating god was known as Zeus, the king of the greek gods.

"Oh, Zeus. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Leto asked sarcastically. "Why are you here? Do you need something? Arent you supposed to be doing your job of escorting souls like the rest of us?"

Zeus shook his head as he walked over and sat down in the now vacant chair. "I'm on break so I came to see what you were up to. Is there a problem with that?"

Leto rolled her eyes. Zeus always seemed to want to pry into everyone else's business, using his "King" status as an excuse. If anyone took an interest in a particular soul then Zeus would likely be close behind to see what all the fuss was about. Sometimes he would even take it too far and make life hard for the reincarnated soul, even to the point where the person would be killed again. Most of the gods hated him for this very reason and wanted to pummel him. However, Zeus was one of the strongest gods around so no one could outright challenge him to a fight without losing an arm or leg. It was a lose-lose situation which had continued for centuries.

"Zeus, I'm still pissed off about what you did to the last person I took an interest in." The goddess stood up and began pacing the room. "You literally played with her life like your personal toy. Then when she died, you didn't even apologize. Just a simple 'Oops'."

"I'm not gonna touch this kid," Zeus said with a small smile. "He'll die soon enough on his own anyways. After all, you sent him to one of the worst places for him to start off on. Granted its beatable, but his chances for survival are easily below 5%."

Gritting her teeth, the white haired goddess punched the wall. "Your saying that I sent him there? No, I sent him to Cocoyasi Village. Where the FUCK did you send him?"

"Gosa village," Zeus replied, not bothering to lie. "I felt that it would be more of a challenge. After all, you know what day it is there? I believe its the day Arlong collects his money from the residents. With him there, getting exposed is almost guaranteed. I wanted to see how he handled it."

Without even thinking about it, Leto growled, a deep sound escaping her throat as she lunged forward. The carpet beneath her feet exploded as she slammed her fist across the males gods face, causing him to fly backwards and slamming into the wall. "You fucking BASTARD."

Leto grabbed Zeus by the throat and lifted him up. "I swear by the river Styx that if he dies, I'll make sure you suffer. Your games gave gone on long enough you damned child."

Zeus merely smiled, golden blood flowing down his lips. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see how he does then." He coughed a few times, blood spattering on his shirt. "You got such a vicious punch Leto."

She made a face and let him drop to the floor.