Homecoming

3rd January
06:54 GMT -5

The four of us wait patiently outside the external zeta tube terminus for Garfield and Missus Logan to arrive from Qurac. I haven't been back here since the first day I came to the mountain but aside from the grass getting a bit longer nothing much has changed. Kon and M'gann have their standard school bags containing the small pile of homework they were set over the Christmas holiday period. They're also carrying torches as the sun won't be up for another quarter of an hour or so and we're some distance away from where the street lighting starts. I hope Garfield doesn't get too jetlagged from the travelling back and forth every day. With the seven hour difference he's coming from early afternoon to early morning and he'll be going back from Mid afternoon to late night.

Diana's wearing a pink coloured formal blouse, dark blue business jacket and a matching pleated knee length skirt. It's slightly strange seeing her dressed like that. When I've seen her out of uniform before it was either in what I think of as Themysciran clothing or casual wear. Combined with the glasses and the altered hairstyle I could just about understand her passing un-. Well, not unremarked upon, she's still a strikingly attractive woman. Not noticed as being Wonder Woman, perhaps. Just about.

I still don't understand how glasses work so well.

Something else I learned today: Diana owns a car. And can drive it herself. No diplomatic number plates either. I don't.. think she has a cover identity. Is she planning on turning up around town as.. Diana Kent? That would be weird.

Kon's looking at the car as well. "Not that I'm complaining, but we've been walking to school just fine since September."

"I know. But your principal has been requesting a meeting with your parents." She smiles fondly at him and he reciprocates. "And since that is now me I thought it might be best to show my face around the school gates once in a while."

Kon nods, then freezes up. "Ah, I don't think I've done anything wrong?"

"I know you haven't. Your teachers have been extremely impressed by the level of knowledge you've displayed in your lessons."

He shrugs. "The G-Gnomes did all the hard work. I just have to remember it."

"Maybe we should offer the school their services. Do wonders for their league table position."

"Regardless of how you came by the knowledge, the fact remains that you're considerably better informed and more academically able than most students in your grade. The school may want to offer you a chance to study at a more advanced level."

"Oh. Ah. Great. I guess."

She smiles at him fondly. "And I'd like to be able to spend more time with you in public."

"You can do that now."

"Kon-. Conner, we talked about this. Deciding not to have a secret identity isn't something you can take back. If you're still set on abandoning it by the time you finish High School then I will accept your decision, but until then I expect you to maintain it." He nods, clearly not entirely happy with the situation.

Not sure what I think on the subject. Themyscira probably has some sort of civil list type arrangement. It's not like Diana pays for the embassy by selling her own action figures or anything stupid like that. Could the Genomorphs use him as a PR rep? He'd need to increase his visibility for that to be the case. He hasn't mentioned to me finding one part of his education more interesting than the rest so I can't really try suggesting careers. Superheroing's his life so the hours would need to be very flexible… It's the same problem I have with Donna: converting super strength into cash just isn't that easy.

"Recognised, A one nine, Marie Logan."

A flash of light from the phone booth and a slightly dazed Missus Logan gets out. M'gann immediately lights up and scurries over to her. "Hi Marie!"

"Good-." She pauses, taking in her environment. "-morning Megan. I still don't think I've quite gotten used to-."

"Recognised, A two zero, Garfield Logan." He materialises, takes a couple of quick steps forwards then nearly trips up on the uneven ground but manages to catch himself.

M'gann walks over to him and kneels down. "Hey, Garfield. Ready for your first day of school?"

"Yeah? I think so." He looks even less certain than he sounds. He distracts himself by studying the one member of the group he doesn't immediately recognise. His eyes narrow as he regards Diana, and then they suddenly widen. "You're Wonder Woman!"

She inclines her head slightly. "I-."

"Now remember, Garfield." Missus Logan bends down to lecture her son. "You're not allowed to talk about Megan or Conner being superheroes with anyone they haven't already told. Or that you come to school by zeta tube."

"Yeah, I know." He bends around his mother to look at Diana. "But you are, right?"

"Sometimes. But today, you can just call me 'Diana'."

"Okay." I suppose he's probably a bit young to appreciate that level of familiarity from her. "Is Missus Reilly here?"

Diana looks at me. I shrug. "Um, she's in New York at the moment."

"Oh, okay." He looks around the group again. "Is it time to go yet?"

Diana consults her watch. "I suppose it is. I'll be driving you-."

"I call shotgun!" He dashes towards her car and then stops suddenly as he gets a better look at it. "Awwww… I thought you'd have a secret agent car or something!"

"I prefer my vehicles to be road legal. But you're welcome to sit in the front if you like."

Missus Logan walks up behind Garfield and pulls him into a hug. "Remember to do what your teachers tell you. And try and get along with the other kids."

"Moooom."

She kisses him on the forehead before letting him go. Diana walks over to the car and opens the passenger side door for him. He hesitates for a moment and then jumps in.

Kon and M'gann head for the near side rear door as Diana walks around to the driver side. Kon gets in first while M'gann stops next to the door. "Why were you expecting Miss Reilly to be here?"

"Oh. I was worried Mom might get lonely with me being here and Miss Reilly said she'd make sure she didn't. She's been at the sanctuary a lot lately. Mom says they're best friends." He pauses for a moment. "Well, she said they were 'special friends', but that means the same thing, right?"

Huh?

M'gann gets in as Diana turns the key in the ignition and the car pulls away.

Huh?

Missus Logan stands next to me, sagging slightly and with her right hand over her face. "Tell me you didn't hear that."

"I… Didn't hear that? But.. that.. thing I didn't hear..?"

"She.. started.. visiting on a regular basis after you stopped by back in December."

"I… I'm sorry, I'm just a little surprised. Given the trouble she was having with social interaction… I mean…" I shake my head in incomprehension. "How?"

"How old are you again?"

"Eighteen. Oh, I don't-. I'm sorry, I don't mean to-."

"No, no, she.. said you'd helped her a lot. When she came back the first time… She.. noticed that I'd been.. looking at her. She was actually.. quite… Assertive."

"Assertive in a social situation?"

"She.. walked up to me. Naked."

"That that that is pretty assertive. Um. You do know that she-?"

"That she's a robot? That was sort of obvious when she stopped faking her facial expressions. I…" She exhales. "I've been.. cut off from the rest of the world at the sanctuary, since Mark died. It probably wasn't healthy but.. it.. got me through." She pauses, trying to get her thoughts in order. "It's been.. nice, having another adult around. She's good with the animals, great with Garfield…"

"And you don't need to worry about Bialyan patrols with her there. Well, I'm.. happy for the two of you." I nod, more to myself than to her. "Flabbergasted, but happy."

{red}I͘͜͡ ̸̶́͏d̸͝͏͘o̴͞ǹ̛͝'̀͝t̸͢ ̕̕ķn҉͜o̶̧̨w̷̴̴̢ ̸͠͡͡͡ẃ̸̢́͡ḩ̢e̵̷̡͝r̢͘͘҉e̷̴͠ ̕͠I̶͜͡ ͠͝҉͡͝a̴͏҉͟m̴̶̢̧̢
̵w͏̢ḩ̷҉e͟͢͞͞r̡͟e͢҉҉͝ ͘͡I̡͠'̷̡̛͝m͠͏ ̵̶̷̡̕g̢͠o̷҉̷̨͞i҉̢̀͘̕n̵҉g̶̸̷̛
҉͠o̷r̷̛͘͡ ̸͜͡͠ẁ̸̧̧͏h̡̡͞a͢͞҉t̴͞͝ ̷̨̀͠I̵͘͘̕͠'͢͝m͟҉ ̡d̴̸o̴̴̧͢͝ì͘͟n̛͘ǵ̸̸͞͠
̸̀A̵͝ĺ͘ĺ̛͢͡͞ ̧̀i̵̕s̨̛͡͝͝ ̨̕n̷҉u̡͝͝m̴b̢͘ {/}

I continue walking down the deserted streets. Around me are signs of recent destruction but whatever caused it has long passed by. All but the most enthusiastic fires have died for lack of fuel and smashed walls have already collapsed and stilled. I step over the body of a man who looks like he tried to cut off his own skin with a pen knife and try taking a moment to assess the situation. In the distance I can hear muffled cries and moans, each one fading to nothing as I try and judge its direction or location. Having nowhere better to go and no real sense of place I press on; in such a nightmarish world surely one place is as good as another?

Destruction. I should have prevented this. It was my.. job, wasn't it? My.. my friends… My friends. Why can't I remember..?

"Aaarrrrwwwwwwooooohhhh!"

I feel… {yellow}Dread{/}. I'm a.. god, but that sound makes me feel so small. I keep going, keep walking, even though… Even though I know what's around the next corner. I step out of the side street onto what's left of Brompton Road, a vision of hell from some medieval painting. Wrecked vehicles, dead and dying men, women and children. The injuries vary but a quick glance shows many to be self inflicted. That, or caused by those immediately next to them as they in turn struck down their attackers. I slow from my habitual stroll. I.. {yellow}don't want{/} to keep going but somehow I can't not. My breath comes in short rasps, my heart races in a way it hasn't since… I can't remember.

"Rrraaaarrwwwhhhh!"

{yellow}The very shape of the road draws my eyes onwards{/}… {yellow}And worse, upwards{/}. {yellow}At first my mind fails to comprehend what my eyes are seeing, a large.. vertical.. thing{/}… {yellow}It moves in my general direction but in the darkness I can't.. clearly.. make it out{/}. {yellow}Has a building collapsed further{/}? {yellow}No, that wouldn't{/}-. {yellow}It's a paw, and as it lands, as the ground shakes and I'm thrown to the ground my eyes move up further still, finally perceiving the monster that has doomed the world{/}.

"Rrraahhhh!"

{yellow}The great orange eyes, more holes in the blackness than eyes{/}. {yellow}The fur made of shadows, the great grey teeth, the snarling mouth riven by the insane rage and hate that drives it{/}. {yellow}Tiny as I am, it sees me now, a lone living thing amongst the desolation{/}. {yellow}I freeze, mouth dry and mind empty as its vast head plummets towards me and{/}{yellow} I thrust out my right hand, sheets ripping as I try to sit up in bed and just sort of flop back{/}. {yellow}It's it's{/} oh {blue}thank goodness{/}.

My heart's still racing and I'm still breathing like I'd run… Like my pre-ascension self had tried running a marathon and collapsed through exhaustion. I run my right hand across my brow. Actual sweat! My goodness.

"Ploong."

I look across to where Father Box and the ring rest on the bedside table to my right. My left arm is reaching out across the mattress towards… I'm reaching out to {violet}Jade{/}. For comfort. I know full well she isn't here but in my panic I just instinctively…

This is ridiculous. This isn't the first time I've dreamt of the Shadow Dog but that was far more intense.. more real than any of my previous nightmares. The first time it happened I thought that perhaps I was seeing Apokolips or.. some Earth like interpretation of it but that, that was London. I pull my left arm in and push myself into a sitting position. Prophetic visions? Could it be a normal nightmare? A natural product of all of the changes and stresses I've been through? Or is someone just messing with me?

That, I can do something about.

"{orange}Ring{/}."

It obediently flies out in front of me. I hold out my left hand and it drops onto my left ring finger.

{red}7th January
02:16 GMT -5{/}

Seriously? Two o'clock..? Ugh. I push the torn sheets aside and {orange}lift{/} up off the bed before landing on the floor. My mouth's still dry and I doubt that I could get back to sleep again. I head to the door of my room and then out along the empty corridor, leaving Father Box behind. Kitchen. I'll head to the kitchen. Give myself time to calm down and plan out my strategy. And get a drink. I still feel a little unsteady, which is strange in and of itself. The ring or my own divinity should have sorted that out by now. This.. suggests that high end magic is in play. I wouldn't have thought that Morpheus himself would have any reason to target me. Too subtle for Klarion. Maybe if it had been a cat… But… Dog made of shadows. That reminds me of something. Can't quite…

I hear pouring water from the kitchen just up ahead. When we moved into the mountain I intentionally chose a room that would be close to the 'action areas' both so that I wouldn't have far to travel and so that I would be the first thing a potential home invader would run into. But an invader wouldn't run a tap. Can't hear a voice… I take a moment to consider my state of undress. I've taken to sleeping in loose fitting silk trousers. Is anyone likely to be offended? Wouldn't think so. I push open the door and walk through.

Tao looks up, then returns the kettle to its stand and turns it on. He's wearing blue -and I hesitate to think of it like this, but damn it they are- kung fu pyjamas. "Grayven. What brings you here at this time of the night?"

I trudge over to the kitchen table, pull my specially reinforced chair out and sit down. I don't really need the reinforcements anymore but they do rather serve to mark out my chair. "Nightmare. You? Time zones still messing you about?"

He shakes his head. "No. A nightmare with me also. I thought that perhaps some tea would assist me in returning to sleep." He considers his cup for a moment and then looks at me enquiringly. "Would you like to try some? It is a most soothing blend."

"No, thank you." I {orange}send a filament{/} to the cupboard and the fridge. "Hot milk for me." The fridge door opens and one of my bottles of fresh milk floats out to land on the table before me. I set one of my oversized tankards down beside it as I unscrew the lid and pour the liquid into my drinking vessel.

"If.. I am not overstepping my bounds..?"

"What was it?" He nods. "No, that's… That's fine. I was walking through a ruined city, death and destruction everywhere. To begin with I didn't recognise it as London, not until I-."

"Came out onto a major thoroughfare." Tao meets my eyes for a moment, then looks away, nodding. "It was Beijing for me. And when I came out onto the road-."

Oh, this is not good. "A huge Dog-."

"Made out of shadow."

"This is bad, right? I don't have much experience with-."

"Forgive me if I am intruding." Tao and I both blink and look around as Kaldur walks in through the hangar entrance. "I.. heard voices. And I believe that I could benefit from the company." For nightwear Kaldur appears to prefer a green, blue and red speckled cotton shirt with navy blue cotton trousers. And -for reasons which I can only guess at- a scarf. I thought he didn't feel the cold?

The kettle bubbles and pings, prompting Tao to pour the near boiling water into his teapot. "Your company is always welcome, Kaldur. But.. may I enquire? Do you flee as we do from nightmares of a great Dog made of shadows?"

Kaldur's eyes widen slightly, then he nods. "It had destroyed Poseidonis. Everywhere was in ruins. I was the only one alive."

I grimace. "The same dream with some localisation. {orange}Ring, show me our team mates in sequence{/}."

An orange image of Kon's face appears over the table. He's sleeping peacefully. The image shudders for a moment and is replaced by one of Mat-. Of Mitchell. Must get him used to being called that. M'gann's also fine. Richard's sleeping like an unusually smug log.

Kaldur frowns slightly. "If the effect were targeting the mountain…"

Wallace is pacing his room. Artemis' eyes are wide open as she presses her head against her pillow. Raquel's comatose. Zatanna is sitting on the side of her bed, shaking slightly. William is asleep peacefully. I dismiss the last image. "And all the ones affected…"

Kaldur nods. "Are people you have Awakened." He glances at Tao. "Or were Awakened by another."

I nod. "We have a problem." And then I squint and shake my head in frustration. "And what the hell is with that scarf, man?"

{red}7th January
02:18 GMT -5 {/}

He raises his right hand slightly towards it, then stops it half way. I roll my eyes and take a drink from my mug. Self conscious about his choice of night apparel? It is a fairly hideous scarf. I think I've seen him wear it a couple of times when he's come in from a walk outside and needed something to cover.. his…

"Something wrong with your gills?" He looks down slightly. "I can have a look if you want but if the problem is arcane in nature you would be better off consulting an Atlantean doctor."

"My gills are.. not.. precisely the source of the problem." Both of his hands go up and delicately start unwinding the scarf. I frown in curiosity. I wonder what exact-. Oh. "You had told me that those who undergo the Awakening may undergo certain.. physical changes-" I stand up and walk towards him, staring at his neck. "-but I did not realize that this was what you meant."

Oh my goodness me. "I didn't either. May I-" I gesture with my right hand. "-touch it?" A shallow nod and I run the three middle fingers of my right hand along the smooth skin of the left side of his neck. "How long..?"

"They had felt strange for a few days, but there was no physical change until I awoke this morning. Can I assume that this is not something you intended?"

"Not specifically." I take a half-pace back, left fist tapping against my lips. Jolly odd. I was expecting the Awakening to exacerbate deviations from the Human physical norm, not eliminate them. Though.. I suppose… "Have you tried breathing water?"

He shakes his head. "Not since I woke up."

"Does it hurt?" I turn to look at Tao, who now has a cup of tea in his hands. "It seemed like a pertinent question."

"It does not hurt. In truth-" The fingers of his left hand follow the path mine took moments before. "-it does not feel like anything. The discomfort at having gills in a dry environment to which I have.. had become accustomed is gone."

{orange}Ring, scan{/}.

{orange}By your command.{/}

Without Father Box by my side what the ring shows me is too limited to draw any firm conclusions from. The grafts.. appear to be expanding, but that… The dream. A surge of magic might accelerate the progression. That makes sense. "This is fascinating, but I think that the Shadow Dog invading our dreams should probably take priority." Kaldur nods. "Assuming that you don't feel unwell?"

He flexes his right arm, making a fist and then relaxing it again. "I do not feel unwell at all. If anything… I would say that I feel…" He raises his right hand out in front of him and gestures upwards, his tattoos glowing faintly. Tao raises his eyebrows as his tea leaves the cup and floats upwards. Kaldur makes a fist and it freezes solid in the air. Ring, {orange}detail view{/}. Kaldur turns his hand palm upwards and opens it. Tao's frozen tea vibrates and then vaporises in response, the barely detectable cloud of gas forming a haze in the air. From what I can see of Kaldur's metaphysique it looks like he's shifted to something more like a pureblood, the slightly angular shapes of the cruder version of the graft-spell used to allow him to live underwater changing into the more rounded shapes of the version Ahri'ahn created.

{orange}Fascinating{/}.

But not pertinent. "Since you don't appear to have been disempowered, I'm going to suggest that we insomniacs arm ourselves and locate the source of our shared nightmare."

Kaldur lowers his arm and the tea returns to Tao's cup. He takes a sip while Kaldur stares at his own gently glowing arm. "I am not so powerful."

"Demonstrably, you are."

"This level of control and power is the province of senior battlemages."

"Or gods." He freezes for a second, then looks at me. "You're not bound by normal rules anymore. And I'll wager that you've retained the ability to breathe underwater as well."

He nods. "It would not be fair to wake those of our team mates who have school tomorrow."

"I agree. Why don't you and Tao get yourselves equipped while I do a phone-around. Zatanna is probably our best chance of detecting the source."

Tao looks slightly uncomfortable as he looks from me to Kaldur. "You wish for us to deploy without order from the Batman?"

Kaldur nods. "This is a response to an attack. We can act ourselves. Still, it may be best for us to keep them in the loop."

{orange}Ring{/}? Ah. "It appears that Green Arrow has had a similarly disturbed night. I'll include him and-."

"{red}Aaaahhroooawww{/}." Mister Tawny stomps in from the hangar entrance, tail swishing and looking about ready to disembowel something.

I raise my eyebrows. "You as well?"

He walks to the entrance to the living area, turns and paces back. "{red}Rrrrhhwww{/}."

Tao edges away from the angry Tiger and puts his cup down on the sideboard. "I will prepare myself for our mission. Excuse me." He gives Kaldur a shallow bow and then skirts Mister Tawny to head in the direction of his quarters.

I kneel and Mister Tawny approaches me, rubbing his head against mine and making a throaty rumbling sound. I scratch his head with both hands and nuzzle back hard. "Bad dream, Mister Tawny? We all had it. We're going to find out where it came from and we're going to stop it." He pulls his head back slightly, just watching me.

"I will gather my equipment…" Something occurs to Kaldur. "Though I am not sure that I will still have need of my Water Bearers."

I nod, give Mister Tawny one last rub with my right hand and then stand, raising the ring to my left hand as Kaldur heads out of the room. "Ring, {orange}call Green Arrow{/}."

{orange}"By your command."{/}

A moment later I hear a ring tone. Ring, {orange}show me{/}-.

"Uhh. Someone better be dying." The ring shows me a barely awake Ms Lance reaching over to take hold of the handset at her bedside. "Who is it? J'onn?" She shifts position slightly and realises that there's no one in bed next to her. "Ollie?"

Whoops. "I am most terribly sorry, sir. I was trying-."

She screws up her face further. "Grayven?"

"I apologise for aw-. For waking you up. We just suffered a psychic attack targeting the Awakened. I was trying to reach-."

"Oliver! Phone!" The ring shows her thrust it out in the direction of their bedroom's door as a sheepish looking Mister Queen returns, snatches it out of her hand and then beats a rapid retreat as Ms Lance buries herself once more beneath the covers.

"You just had to tick her off."

"Sorry sir."

"What's this about?"

"Everyone I know of who went through the Awakening just had the same-."

"Nightmare." His face grows sombre. "The world in ruins and a gigantic black dog coming after us."

"Just so. I was about to ask Zatanna to try and locate the source, and since you're the only Justice Leaguer to have undergone the process I'd appreciate it if you'd sign off on that."

"I'm not in charge of your team." He looks pretty rough, actually. "Is Kaldur okay with this?"

"Yes."

"Have you called Batman?"

"No."

"Alright, look." He sits down heavily at his kitchen table and rubs his face with his right hand. "You can get Zatara and Zatanna to look into it, but you're gonna need to get Batman to sign off on attacking anything."

I smile. Guess who I'm not sworn to obey. "Of course, sir."

{red}7th January
02:28 GMT -5{/}

Zatanna touches her right hand to Kaldur's head, four glowing triquetra floating around them on the inside of the protective circle on the floor. Tao is sitting cross-legged on the floor near the far wall, his eyes closed. Mister Tawny has taken to pacing around Zatanna's work area. Haven't had a chance for a decent two way conversation with him yet but he's still seriously wound up. It doesn't surprise me that Shadowcrest has dedicated, custom built ritual spaces for things like this. What does surprise me is that it wasn't better locked.

"So there really is a giant Shadow Dog of the Apocalypse?"

I return my attention to the image of Wallace just in front of me. "Perhaps. Something is certainly using high powered magics against us, and I see little profit in giving us insomnia."

He squeezes his eyes shut for a moment. "Ugh. If you.. need me, I can get ready in a few minutes."

"No, no. You have school later today."

"Oh, don't remind me."

"Zatanna can't detect any ongoing effect. If what we experienced was just the result some sort of arcane build up discharging, there shouldn't be anything to prevent you having a restful night."

"How did you even know I was awake?"

"Long range scan." He jerks, blinks, and then starts looking around his room. "Stop. Up a little. Bit more. Leeeft… There."

He looks directly at my point of view. "Dude."

"I don't routinely use it to watch my team mates sleep. Seriously, we-" I lean back as a book floats past me towards Zatanna. "-got this."

He nods. "Okay. Let me know how it went tomorr-. Tonight."

I nod and {orange}end{/} the call. That makes everyone. Artemis was ardently in favour of coming with us but she was eventually susceptible to reason. Meanwhile I've been trying to rack my brains for anything I know about what this could be. Father Box hasn't got anything but from the way he's been ploonging he appears to find the whole situation fascinating.

Zatanna makes a circling motion with her left hand and the book's pages obediently turn. "Assuming that it actually is some sort of Dog creature… And it probably is; none of us are afraid of Dogs and the shape is too specific not to be intentional." The pages stop turning. "Ah, here we go. Kau I'pa, the Shadow Dog."

Kaldur looks at the book curiously. "Is that a bestiary of arcane creatures?"

"No. A Christian priest who worked in Tasmania wrote down a lot of the local people's myths and legends."

I smile. "Before the British ruthlessly exterminated them."

"No. I mean, yes, the British killed most of them, this was actually written from the accounts of survivors afterwards."

Kaldur nods. "What does it say?"

"Not much. There's a name, a description and a few vague notes…" She yawns, and the book sags in the air as she covers her mouth with her left hand. "It's supposed to be involved with some sort of disaster, but there isn't much actual information-." The door opens in a sudden jerk and Mister Zatara walks through, wearing a dressing gown and with a slim black book under his left arm. "Dad?"

He looks us over. "You cannot sneak into Shadowcrest without alerting its owner." He takes the book out from under his arm with his right hand and holds it up. "'When the doors slam open and the Great Dog comes running through our dreams, souls will be emptied like wine skins.' And you all shared the dream."

I nod. "You didn't?"

"No. But I had felt something.. strange, in the magic currents of the world." He gives Zatanna's ritual arrangement a quick look over. "You are attempting to track it back to the source?"

"Um. Yes?"

He nods. "You should not have begun such a work without me." She shrinks slightly. "But.. now that I am here… You may continue."

"I've.. taken psychometry resonance readings from Tao, Grayven, Mister Tawny and Kaldur." She removes her right hand from Kaldur's forehead and a fifth triquetra flickers into life, joining the other four. "Kaldur, could you step out of the circle, please?" He takes a step backwards. "Thank you. With these as a guide, a simple remote viewing spell should be able to follow the effect back to its source." The spinning triquetra form up into a pentagon in front of her.

Mister Zatara nods. "What about the potential for backlash? If this creature is powerful enough to affect your sleep even here, it could easily lash out and harm you through the connection."

"My spell has surge protectors. If something like that happens it just breaks the spell. It might not work if it's something smart and paying close attention, but I.. don't.. think that's the case."

"Then proceed."

She nods, takes a deep breath and holds out her arms towards the square. "Selpicnirp fo ecnanoser dna noitcennoc, dleihs em morf siht rewop dna laever ot em sti ecruos!"

A faint film of golden light flickers into being, its outer edge delineated by lines between the centre of the triquetras. For a moment I see a man and a woman sitting in a train carriage. The man's having some sort of fit while the woman and the few other passengers are staring out of the train window as the shadows outside form into the shape of a giant Dog-. Zatanna steps back as the triquetra shatter.

Kaldur looks at her with concern but she waves him off. "Was your spell showing us something that is happening now?"

Wait a moment. Giant Shadow Dog.. going after a train? Why does that sound familiar?

Ploong.

"Yes. In.. England. Somewhere near London."

Shadow Do-? {yellow}Oooh shit{/}. "We need to leave now." A boom tube portal leading to central London appears next to me even as I set the ring to {orange}search{/} for every tra- there!

Mister Zatara nods. "I will accompany you. Should this require-."

"I'm sorry, but no. I can't trust you to keep a civil tongue in your head when dealing with John Constantine."

He freezes in shock for a moment and then his face contracts into a snarl. "{red}Constant{/}-!"

Filaments connect me to each of my team mates as I transition us through.

{red}7th January
07:31 GMT{/}

I land on the tracks about two hundred metres on from the oncoming train, my team mates a little off to the side. Off to the right I see the outline of the Dog itself, far smaller and less tangible than in our dreams. I {orange}thrust my arms forwards, orange light rushing along the track and flowing over the train as I break the connection between it and the electrified rail{/}. It's still barrelling towards us. Carefully, now. Don't exceed the pressure tolerances of the hull. {orange}Lift{/}… The front end starts to lift. Been a while since I tried lifting anything under these circumstances and I'd be lying if I said-.

"Niart esir ffo eht kcart dna emoc ot a etelpmoc pots!"

That helps. I feel the train's momentum just bleed away.

"Grayven, explain yourself!"

I'm smiling with relief as I look over to where Kaldur stands ready. His eyes are focused on the Dog. "The Dog isn't the threat. Look, we're in a major inhabited area here and it's focused on the train. If it just wanted to wreck the place… Why? Zatanna's spell showed us a man first. It didn't show us the Dog until it ran up to the window. If the magic came from the Dog-."

He nods in understanding. "It would have showed us the Dog before anything else."

"Exactly." I {orange}cut power{/} to this section of track before depositing the train back down. Then two beams of orange {orange}flare{/} from my eyes and strike a rune drawn in blood on the window of the carriage which the remote viewing spell showed us, disintegrating a large part of the side of the carriage. I {orange}try{/} blasting Mister Spatchcock directly but the beams splash off with no effect. No, that would be too easy, wouldn't it? "What's say we find out what's really going on?"

{red}7th January
07:33 GMT{/}

{orange}Ring, data{/}.

{orange}By your command.{/}

I lead the way along the side of the train. A glance into the distance shows that the Dog isn't coming closer. I can see it… Well, no, I can't, but I can see where it blocks out the lights behind it. I can't really analyse its body language. Did whatever runic protection {orange}whatever her name{/}… Angela? Whatever Angela put up actually hurt it? Was it specifically designed to fight the.. thing, and has a glass jaw against anything else?

Zatanna hurries up to me and puts her right hand on my right arm. "Grayven-."

"The target is possessing the body of a man named Jason Spatchcock. He was diagnosed as schizophrenic as a youth but showed an unexplained cessation of symptoms after an.. 'incident' at the psychiatric hospital he had been living in."

"What sort of incident?"

"A town-wide riot in Stone Cross which saw the place invaded by strange men in wooden masks wearing robes and necklaces made of sewn together hands. The locals went mad and the invaders went about beating people to death with sticks."

I hear Tao put an arrow on string. "Was the Justice League involved?"

"No. By the time anyone from outside the area responded it was all over bar the screaming. Police haven't the slightest clue what happened and are hiding that fact behind a 'thorough investigation'."

I hear a 'swosh' noise as Kaldur activates his Water Bearers. "A cult of some kind? Perhaps a summoning that went wrong."

"That would be my guess."

"Though if Jason Spatchcock was indeed possessed, everyone else may simply have been a distraction."

Hmm. Might be, though I'd have thought that the cult would have picked him up if that were the case. "Jason was released earlier today, signed out by his sister Angela. {orange}His notes{/} report him drawing pictures of a monstrous black Dog."

I look up at the train windows. More than a few fearful looking people {yellow}peering out at us{/} through the windows. How many of them have seen the Dog? And how many of them know us by sight? Some might recognise Zatanna's face but I imagine that my uniform is the one most recognisable. The ring notifies me as the emergency door release is pulled in three places on the far side of the train and people start fleeing. Not a bad plan, really. Phones are being rung -no harm there- and pictures are being taken of us. Bright inside, dark out here… My armour will be recognised. "Zatanna, I'm going to need y-." What am I doing? "Aqualad, I recommend that Zatanna check Mister Spatchcock over on the off chance that there's anything of the man left."

"Agreed. What do you know of the abilities of the thing that has him in its thrall?"

"Aside from the fact that it's epically powerful? I would guess that it has some sort of connection to the collective Human soul-."

"A parapsychic event!"

I glance at Zatanna and nod. Nice that she's keeping up. "Almost certainly."

"I.. am sorry. I do not know that word."

Zatanna glances back at Tao. "Most people don't. Tcetorp em morf ym seof." Her armour glows brighter. "Parapsychics are people with strong natural psychometric abilities. Their brains constantly interpret the mystical auras around them as sources of information."

I nod. "In virtually all cases they find it overwhelming. They usually end up in psychiatric institutions. That or hermitages."

"Whatever changes are happening to our souls, it looks like we were all sensitive enough to pick this up. It wasn't a spell or an attempt at dream manipulation, just the effect of this.. thing just being here."

We spread out slightly as we come up to the blasted away section of the train. Tao stands back, his bow raised at the target area. What do I remember about this thing? Zatanna drops back slightly as Kaldur comes up alongside me. The thing was essentially nameless, wasn't it? No definition for magic to tie itself to. Was the Shadow Dog supposed to have been created by the Christian god, or am I misremembering that? It feels strange to think about it as being a comic… I remember it creating suicides and madness in small quantities before finally cracking the collective subconscious. Don't remember it doing much else.

Shit, we're totally not ready for this.

I stand just next to the blasted section and hold up the three middle fingers of my right hand. Then two. Then I step around the rim and-. A terrified looking Angela {yellow}shoves a mobile phone{/} in my face. Kaldur works his way around to my right. Behind Angela I see Jason lying out in the aisle. He looks insensible.

"{yellow}It's{/}… {yellow}It's for you{/}."

Her right hand shakes as I reach out with my own and gently take the mobile from her and hold it against my right ear. "Do I have the pleasure of addressing Mister John Constantine?"

"Famous, am I?"

"You might say that." Angela shrinks back as Kaldur jumps on board the train. "What do you want?"

"Who am I talking to, exactly?"

"My name is Grayven."

"Really."

"Why don't you ask that.. Map fellow to set up some sort of remote viewing system?" Ring, {orange}track and trace{/}.

{orange}Unable to comply.{/}

"If you know who we are, why are you getting involved?"

"You have a reputation, Mister Constantine. Plus, you were going after the wrong target."

"Big fan of giant, world ending Dogs are you?"

Kaldur holds a runic stone over the recumbent Mister Spatchcock. It glows brilliantly for about half a second and then evaporates. "Mister Constantine, what is the defining feature of the thing you are trying to fight?"

"Not really in the mood for twenty questions, mate."

"It doesn't have a name. Adam supposedly tried to give it one-."

"And it screamed like it was burned, yeah. I got that from the Binei Gadol."

"What is the defining feature of a Dog, Mister Constantine? Or to put it another way, how are you able to recognise an inherently nameless and undefined being as being a Dog?" I hear an sharp intake of breath. "You've been led around by the-."

"That bitch in Tasmania-."

"British man asking a question of a ghost whose people the British slaughtered? I could guess what motivated her."

"Fffuck."

"Fuck indeed, Mister Constantine. Fuck indeed."

"Angie said the Dog was going after her brother."

"Schizophrenia doesn't just disappear. He's not in the driving seat any longer. And that's being optimistic."

"You got a magician with you?"

"Yes."

"Powerful?"

"Yes."

"'Cause everything I had set up was for the Dog, so I'm at a bit of a loss here."

"The entity has two known weaknesses. This will not be pretty."

Silence for a moment. "Pass me back to Angie."

I hand her the phone before reaching out to Zatanna with my right hand. "Zatanna, one nameless thingamy hiding inside Mister Spatchcock-"

Angela's eyes widen and she presses the phone to her ear. "{yellow}John, what's he talking about{/}?"

"-needs to be given a name. A defining name, you understand? As Adam once named every thing in creation." She nods and I help her up into the carriage.

"{yellow}No{/}. {yellow}No{/}." Angela collapses and starts to tear up. Kaldur reaches out in an attempt to comfort her but she knocks his hand away.

Zatanna stands next to Mister Spatchcock's head and kneels down, laying her hands on his head. "Yb eht Elpicnirp fo Lasrevinu Wal-" A triquetra forms on his forehead and his eyes snap open. "-dna yb eht…" She hesitates for a moment and then presses on, golden white light blazing from her eyes. "Yb eht ytirohtua detnarg ot Mada yb eht Ecneserp-" Mister Spatchcock is shaking uncontrollably now, a disturbing crackling noise coming from his throat. "-I eman uoy 'Yenrab eht Ruasonid'! Tel eht Wodahs God ekat uoy!"

Red mist streams from his body out into the night towards the Shadow Dog. The Dog opens its mouth wide and seems to breathe it in. Once all of it is gone the Dog's shadow body thins and fades into nothing. {orange}Quick check{/} and yes, Mister Spatchcock is truly dead. Unfortunate, I suppose, but hardly our doing.

"{yellow}Jason{/}! {yellow}Jason{/}!" Angela throws the phone down and fruitlessly tries to shake some life into her brother.

Zatanna starts to fall back and is caught by Kaldur. Mission achieved and apocalypse averted then.

Hate to think what would have happened if we hadn't been here.

8th January
13:49 GMT +3

I can't-! I can't keep this up! My eyes burn as I force them to remain open, transfixed by the gaze of my inhuman opponent. It feels like I've been like this for hours! Why did I get singled out, I… No no no!

I blink.

"I win again!" Cassandra beams at me before flying back across the Invisible Plane's passenger compartment to her mother. "Mom! I beat the Lantern again!"

Doctor Sandsmark looks at me with the grateful gaze of a parent witnessing their beloved offspring taking their excessive energy out on someone else for a change. "That's very impressive, Cassie."

I pick up the rings from the table in front of me and slip them back on my fingers manually. "How about a card game next?"

She floats back across the cabin. "Card games are boring. I don't know why you like them so much."

"Rummy and Seven Card Whist-" She tries to meet my eyes again and I make a point of looking away. "-are how my grandparents used to keep me entertained during family holidays." She drops to the floor, still trying to make me look into her eyes. I meet her gaze for a second, then close my eyes and smile. "Orange Lantern Corps regulations require that I spend some time each day in meditation. Would you like to join me?"

"What's meditation?"

"A process by which one clears one's mind and rearranges one's thoughts-."

"Boring!"

A five thirty start and I transitioned the plane most of the way. Couldn't do it all of the way as the wards protecting Themyscira need a bit of time to accept a fast moving aircraft. Donna and Kon are in the cockpit with Diana while I try keeping the Wonder Tot entertained. Did I have an attention span this short at her age, or is she simply excited about going somewhere new?

"I could make rings for you to fly through if you like?"

"Did you do that?"

"Did I do what?"

She huffs like I've said something stupid. "Fly through rings? Is that part of your superhero training?"

"Not as a Lantern, but when I was learning how to use my flight belt Lantern Gardner cr-."

"Which one's he?"

"The ginger one. He created-."

The door separating the cockpit from the rest of the plane opens and I feel the air move as Cassandra flies to talk to someone more interesting. "Donna? Are we nearly there yet?"

Donna makes an amused humming noise. "Not quite, but it won't be much longer. Diana wanted me to see if you want to watch from the front of the plane."

"Yeah!"

"Cassie."

"I mean, yes please!"

I hear Donna giggle and a moment later the door to the cockpit closes. Aaand relax. Not sure if I actually need to meditate any longer but I do want to try to set a good example for future recruits. The chances of them being immediately able to perceive that I don't need to are probably quite low. I wonder how having an existing group of warriors will affect how the Controllers relate to me? Are they going to want to transfer-.

"Is this your first time on Themyscira?" I open my eyes and Doctor Sandsmark smiles at me. "It's okay, the coast is clear."

"Oh, no, I didn't mind-."

"I know she can be a bit much sometimes. She's got so much energy. I used to think it was just youthful exuberance. Then she.. started flying."

"How's the support group been?"

She exhales. "Helpful. Sort of. There aren't all that many of us. Cassie likes having friends who can 'do weird things too'-" I nod. "-but seeing some of the other kids really brings home how lucky we've been. Cassie doesn't have any of the health problems some of them do, she can pass as normal if she wants to and she instinctively knows how to control her powers. Not that that doesn't create its own problems."

"Does she ever get tired?"

"Won-. Diana let her try weightlifting once. You've seen the weights-" I nod. "-she uses?" Diana doesn't exactly need to work out, but she has several sets of halteres and lifting stones enchanted for extra weight. Presumably they're either for training other people or maintaining mental discipline. "She got pretty tired out doing that. She still gets.. mentally tired, but sometimes she tries to get away with not sleeping at all because she doesn't feel like she's physically tired. Do, um, do you know if Superboy has the same problem?"

"He's never mentioned it. And.. I'm.. pretty much the team medic, so I'm going to assume not. On the other hand, his upbringing wasn't exactly…"

"Is he..? Really… Superman's son?"

"Genetically, yes. Kon is the result of an attempt to clone Superman. Superman didn't actually.. sire him, if you like. They don't really have any sort of social relationship." Kal-El appears not to have followed up on his desire to involve himself more in Kon's life. Maybe I was a bit harsh? I mean, everything I said was true…

"So, have you been here before?"

"Only very briefly, back when I first arrived on this planet."

She blinks in surprise. "I.. hadn't realized that you were an alien."

Huh? "Oh, no no no, I'm not. I'm from a parallel universe. Earth, but not quite like this one. Anyway, I just saw some moor land, a forest and the Temple of Gaea."

"You saw one of their temples? Do they use the classical stone column design or is it more like a stone building similar to the Erechtheum temple?"

"Gaea's Temple is more of a sacred grove cum pocket universe. There wasn't anything.. built there. I didn't actually get to see-" I feel the plane start to lose altitude as we come in to land. We'll be landing in the city proper this time. "-any of their architecture."

"I wonder if the ancient Greeks worshipped like that? That's the problem with archaeology: if there isn't a stone monument or something in writing we're often left just making educated guesses." She thinks for a moment. "I'm hoping I can speak to one of their historians. No one from the outside world has seen their records since the fifties."

"I suppose this must be quite an opportunity. As far as I know, their lifestyle hasn't.. changed all that much since the exile. Apart from not ageing and there being no men."

"Are they going to be alright with you and Kon?"

"Don't know really." I hear as we switch to vertical thrust as we come into land. "Just have to play it by ear."

8th January
13:54 GMT +3

"Can I go out first? P-leeeease!?" Cassandra isn't quite sure where she should be directing the request, so decided instead to direct it out to the whole of the room. In the cockpit I can just hear the flicking of switches as Diana finishes shutting the plane down.

Doctor Sandsmark puts her right hand on her daughter's left shoulder. "I think we should probably let Diana go out first. This is her home after all."

Cassandra looks around in appeal. Donna shakes her head while Kon and I just smile at her. Wolf doesn't understand what's happening but wags her tail anyway. "Aowahh…"

Kon's wearing his normal casual clothing of 'S' t-shirt and jeans, though he's added a flight belt. Donna's wearing her armour. I had wondered if she was going to wear a chiton but she told me that the clothing was the one part of Themysciran society she wasn't that keen on. I saw her pack one for the formal dinner scheduled for this evening and I'm.. going to have to try to find time to design something for myself. I could either go with a robe of some kind in my signature grey and orange or design some sort of Orange Corps formal uniform. I've got the design of the Green Corps' formal uniform from Stewart's ring, though it's a bit.. vague. A Lantern Corps' uniform can't be particularly uniform due to the vast variety of cultures its members come from and the equally vast variety of morphologies they can possess. For the sake of consistency they can't even say 'humanoids do this, everyone else can do whatever'. At the moment I'm in my old bike leathers, though I might switch to a suit for our actual formal introduction to Queen Hippolyta.

"Everyone ready?" Diana leaves the cockpit and looks us all over. Diana is in her formal robes, though I happen to know that she has her armour on underneath them. Cassandra looks like she wants to renew her demand but her mother catches her eye and shakes her head before she can open her mouth. Nods all round, though inside Kon I see a minor resurgence of his old {yellow}rejection related disquiet{/}. Unlike in the period leading up to his adoption it no longer finds purchase to translate into conscious thought or action, but it's still living there. "Good." She frowns slightly as she sees what I'm carrying. "You intend to bring your lantern?"

I pat the carry case. "I feel bad about leaving the Ophidian in the cave all the time. She'll behave herself."

Diana nods. "Very well. You'll help Helena down?" I nod, and she presses the button to release the hatch. Almost immediately I hear the sound of the sea and the song of the local birds. From my position at the back of the group I can't really see what sort of welcome awaits us. I can see a.. partial view of the stone paved ground which the plane is resting on. I decided before we arrived that scanning around to assuage my curiosity would not be the right thing to do on an island that was probably accepting the masculine half of the species for the first time in over two thousand years only grudgingly. I'll rely on my eyes.

Diana's appearance at the open door is greeted by the thump of wooden shafts -the butts of spears, presumably- on the stone ground. "Hail Diana, Princess of Themyscira!"

"Hail, Mala." Diana drifts out through the door and heads towards the ground. "It is good to be..."

"Now, Mom?! Can I?!" Doctor Sandsmark sighs and then waves her daughter forwards. Cassandra heads out of the door at top speed.

"Is that..?"

Wolf ducks between Kon and Donna's legs and sticks her head out of the door. "Rraaw! Raaw!"

She starts leaning forward as if preparing to jump down. Before she can decide to make the leap Kon reaches down and picks her up. "How about I carry you down instead?" She squirms around in his arms and gives his face a lick. He heads out next, closely followed by Donna. They follow Diana in landing on the ground just outside the plane while Cassandra flies past doing a quick airborne tour of the plaza.

I bow to Doctor Sandsmark and hold out my left arm in the direction of the doorway, orange construct steps materialising from the lip of the doorway and descending to the ground. She smiles at me- "Thank you." -then walks out onto the first step. "I'm actually on Themyscira." She takes a deep breath. "Here I go." She heads down the steps, pausing briefly halfway down to take a good look around.

Just the Ophidian and I to go then. Environmental shield to minimum I float forwards out of the plane, closing the door behind me with a wave of my right hand. The leader of the group of guards greeting Diana -or at least the one furthest forwards, their armours all look identical to me- is blonde. Mala, I assume. The armour she and the three other guards with her wear consists of a solid steel breastplate -nearly flat rather than that ridiculous 'accentuated' stuff comic artists like to show women wearing- with pauldrons, greaves and a sort of studded leather skirt thing. Their helmets have red Mohawk plumes, their shields are round in the aspis style but metal rather than the traditional wood. None of them have a crest, though that fits the tradition of the period of the Exile. They carry xiphos type swords in scabbards attached to their left hips, though the blades are steel rather than the historical bronze or iron. I suppose Io and Pallas have had plenty of time to learn the techniques and arm their sisters.

I know that Mala used to run the prison Rose Canton was housed at, a job which involved her learning fluent English. Alan liked her. The others… No idea who they are. One has red hair and is very definitely sizing Kon up. And not in a friendly way. Odd though; I know that most Amazons have black hair. The other two have the more familiar olive skin and black hair and are watching Cassandra's antics.

"Mala, I'd like to introduce my son, Kon-El."

Mala gives a short bow. "It is an honour to meet you, my prince."

"Um. Thank you? Ah, you too."

"You already know Donna."

Mala looks her over. "Hopefully it won't take us too long to scrape the rust off her this time."

Donna puts her hands on her hips. "Did I hit your head too hard last time I was here?"

Diana looks up. "Cassandra?" Cassandra obediently flies down and lands next to her. "This is Cassandra Sandsmark."

"The… Zeus' daughter." In the background black haired Amazon number two scowls slightly.

"The same."

Mala kneels down to Cassandra's eye level. "It is a privilege to meet you, Cassandra."

"Hello Missus Mala."

Wolf takes the opportunity of Mala's face being down at her level to give her an investigatory sniff. Mala leans away slightly before standing up.

"This is her mother, Doctor Helena Sandsmark." Doctor Sandsmark starts to hold out her right hand then stops, presumably realising that there's no way for Mala to shake it while holding her spear and shield. "And this…" I take a step forwards and smile at her. "Is my student, Paul."

I nod to her. "Alan sends his regards."

"So, you're our new brother." She looks me over. "You seem rather orange for a Green Lantern."

I point my palms at her. "Power rings do come in more than one colour, you know."

"So I see." She turns back to Diana. "Princess, Queen Hippolyta has been informed of your arrival and is ready to receive you."

Diana nods. "Lead the way."

Mala and black haired Amazon number two take the lead. Diana and a slightly self conscious looking Kon follow on behind, Wolf sniffing at interesting new scents while being careful not to let her father get too far away. Cassandra takes a last look around and then goes for height, her mother looking up after her with an exasperated sigh.

Donna looks at Doctor Sandsmark. "Don't worry, I'll make sure she doesn't get into any trouble."

"Thank you."

Donna takes off after her while Doctor Sandsmark and I follow on behind Diana and Kon with red haired Amazon and black haired Amazon number one bringing up the rear.

Seems to be going well so far.

8th January
13:59 GMT +3

The city of Themyscira has two fortified walls, one ringing the outside of the city proper and a second one about two thirds of the way in, which contains most of the largest pieces of civil infrastructure: the palace, the senate -not quite as formal a place as it sounds- and the Great Temples of the five goddesses who made all this possible. And Hera. I always thought she was one of the five but apparently she missed that boat. The inner part of the city is quite a bit higher than the rest, though the city as a whole slopes up towards the base of what is either a small mountain or a large hill just a little inland from the city. Outside the city on the shore side is a small wooden dock used mostly by fisherwomen. There is a naval dock, but it isn't very big and I rather get the impression that they mostly maintain it out of tradition.

I'm not.. completely clear why the landing zone for the invisible plane is in the lower part of the city. Given how old a lot of this place is I'm going to assume it was just easier to make space there than it was anywhere else. The practical outcome for us is that we're having to walk through the city's main thoroughfare in order to get up to the palace and we're attracting more than a few curious looks. No one's screaming yet, which I suppose is a sensible minimal level at which I can count this first encounter a success. No one-. Oh, there's one, but no one else has been openly scowling at either me or Kon. A few have even responded in kind when I've smiled at them.

Odd thing you don't really notice unless you're looking for it: no children. The youngest woman I've seen looked like she was in her early twenties, though in reality she would have to be at least a hundred times that. On the other side of the curve, no really old looking old women. There's some grey haired women about, but even they don't look in any way decrepit or worn down. As I understand it the Blessing of the Five doesn't give everyone super strength or toughness of the sort Diana has, but it does keep them at or near peak health and vitality. If you were old when the Exile happened you'll keep most of your wrinkles but you'll never get any new ones and you'd have started to have a great deal more energy.

Heh. Sort of divine HRT, I suppose.

Over to our right I can just about make out the roof of the coliseum over the tops of the houses. They may have steel production but there's no real use of steam power. Grain is ground into flour either by the use of windmills or animal muscle. Cooking is done with wood or charcoal, or if you know what you're doing with magic. I'm not sure if they brought Horses and Donkeys with them or if the goddesses provided but both are here now. Only about a sixth of the population live in the city, though that increases during the major festivals. The rest live in small villages scattered across the island, mostly farming and a few mining.

Diana's fallen into conversation with Mala, and from the intent look on Kon's face I'm going to assume that following Mala's barb about forgetting her native tongue Diana switched back to Themysciran Greek. He's learning the language, but the local accent means that he struggles to keep up with native speakers in conversation. Doctor Sandsmark is looking a bit lost. Black haired Amazon two has taken the lead and the other two are back with the Doctor and I. Red Haired Amazon has to keep slowing down to avoid getting ahead of us as we take in the sights while black haired-. No, that's getting ridiculous.

I make eye contact with black haired Amazon one. "So, you know our names..?"

A polite smile. "I am called Dyctinna." She looks over at red haired Amazon. After a moment she coughs meaningfully.

Red hair Amazon huffs. "Orana."

"You speak our language very well."

"Oh. No. Sorry, I'm cheating."

"Cheating?"

"The rings I'm wearing have a translation function. You hear me in Themysciran Greek, I hear you in English."

Doctor Sandsmark looks at me. "And I'm just hearing Greek."

"Oh, sorry. Here." I extend my environmental shield around her. "That should do it, as long as you're in close proximity to me."

Dyctinna looks at me curiously. "Green Lantern's ring couldn't do that. Unless he was just pretending not to understand?"

"No, Alan's ring was damaged before he got it. No AI support. It really crippled a lot of what a Lantern should be able to do."

She shakes her head. "Aie.. Eye? I don't know what that means."

"Artificial intelligence. Um, golem mind? A device capable of processing complex commands itself without precise direction."

A sidelong glance from Orana. "Your rings do your work for you? That does not speak well of your abilities."

I shrug. "A general commands an army, they don't lead every unit individually." The left corner of Dyctinna's lip curls upwards in a smirk as she glances at Orana. Orana pointedly ignores her. "Alan having to do everything manually left him with simple, close range constructs. I don't have that restriction."

"Eeee-"

"So what-"

"-eeee-"

"-else can it-."

"-eeee!" Cassandra lands on the pavement and ducks behind Doctor Sandsmark. "Mom! Hide me!"

"Um, I don't think I can-?"

"Donna's gonna-!" Donna flies over the roofs, a big pile of damp seaweed in her arms. "Ah! Don't let the slime get me!"

Donna spots Cassandra, then makes a show of looking left and right as if she hadn't. "Now, where might Cassie be?"

"I'm not here! Owp!" She clamps both hands over her mouth. "I'm really not."

"Oh?" Donna grins and brandishes the seaweed. "Looks like someone needs to learn about stealth the slimy way!"

Orana looks upwards at her. "Donna! You can't just drop seaweed in the streets. Take it back to the coast."

"O-ran-ah." Dyctinna shakes her head. "They're just playing. Don't you remember being their age?"

"No. I don't. And I'm sure my mothers didn't let me throw seaweed at people." Donna rolls her eyes but flies back in the direction of the coast anyway.

Dyctinna frowns. "How would you have even seen seaweed? Didn't you grow up in-?"

"Not the point, Dyctinna."

Doctor Sandsmark puts her left hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Cassie, I want you to stay on the ground now. We're going to see someone very important and you have to behave yourself."

"Okay Mom." Cassandra looks at our escorts, then runs off to play with Wolf.

Dyctinna watches her go. "She's the first child on Themyscira since the Princess." For a second I get a flash of.. some sort of yellow voodoo doll thing inside her? I {green}make an effort{/} not to look too deeply.

"And the first of Lord Zeus' offspring since-." Dyctinna shoots Orana a hard look. She clams up, chastised.

Doctor Sandsmark looks from one to the other. "Is that likely to be a problem?"

Dyctinna shakes her head. "Not with us. Most of us, anyway. Though.. I.. wouldn't go too near to Queen Hera's temple if I were you."

"That's a pity. I was hoping to get to see all of Themyscira's temples. There aren't any intact ones in mainland Greece."

Orana nods. "It would be safest. We're avoiding it too. Sometimes when the gods get angry it's best to just give them their space."

Doctor Sandsmark shakes her head. "I.. didn't even know he was Zeus Zeus."

The two Amazons stare at her as if she's said something incredible. Then they both burst out laughing.

8th January
14:08 GMT +3

Dyctinna and Orana have just about stopped sniggering about it when we walk through the gateway in the inner wall.

"Mom? Why are they laughing?"

And there they go again. Black haired Amazon number two -apparently her name is Antimache- looks back at them, visibly annoyed at their lack of comportment.

"Well, honey…" Doctor Sandsmark tries looking at me, though whether for sympathy or advice I'm not sure. "Your father is very well known on Themyscira. They find it funny that I didn't.. recognize him. When we met."

"Oh." Cassandra thinks for a moment as we walk up the slope to the upper part of the city. What a lot of murder holes. "Does he live here?"

Dyctinna regains some measure of control over her mouth. "He has a.. residence atop Mount Skybreak. Though I do not believe that he is using it at present."

Cassandra leans into her mother. "But I wanted to meet him." Doctor Sandsmark strokes her daughter's hair.

"How long did this keep take to build?"

Orana takes a look around as we emerge into a narrow unroofed corridor leading to steps onto the top level proper. "This? This is the… How many is..? Seventh version of the inner keep we have created."

Dyctinna nods. "When our people first came to this island, there simply wasn't enough food for us all to gather in one place. We spread out across the whole of the island, aside from what navy we had. They built a naval dock on the shore and the first keep… Oh, I'm not sure where it would be, now."

Orana looks up at the mountaintop looming above us. "Somewhere underneath us probably. It was only temporary. Once we had the first farms planted and we had learned where we could fish, we started planning out a better design." She shrugs. "The goddesses’ blessings made it easier than it would have been. We get two growing seasons a year here. I barely remember what a real winter feels like."

Dyctinna shakes her head. "I've never seen one. There's snow sometimes on the top of the mountain but my mother says that it doesn't compare."

Doctor Sandsmark looks at her with interest as we ascend the steps. "You mean you were born here? I thought there weren't any men on Themyscira?"

"There aren't any more. The citizens of Old Themyscira lived segregated by gender. Since the male villages were closest to the borders they were the first places overrun during the…" She looks away. "Attack. Only a small proportion of the first adult settlers were men. There were more boy children." She smiles, her eyes slightly unfocusing for a moment. "Orana, do you remember? There used to be a woodland near where the coliseum is now. I remember playing there with my brother Eioneus."

"Of course I remember it. I worked on the crew that cut it down."

As we reach the plaza I take my first unobstructed view of the upper level. The Great Temple of Hera is on our left. Being queen of the Olympians and having the 'women' portfolio she has smaller temples all across the island, but this is where the main festivals honour her. I'm not sure if it's an Amazon innovation or they just didn't survive in other parts of Greece but there are clearly decorated wooden shutters blocking our sight of the interior. Guess they weren't joking about keeping out of Hera's way. The senate building is a little further in. Buildings have to be reasonably well spaced out here to make up for the lack of artificial lighting. Immediately next to the senate is the royal palace. Neither building… They're not small, but they're not remotely close to the size of similar buildings in Britain or the US. Something to do with a lack of good materials? Or construction technology? There must be some materials that don't occur anywhere on the island.

"What happened to your brother?"

Aphrodite's Great Temple is next, slightly smaller than Hera's but apparently constructed of marble rather than the plain stone of her… What's the relationship between Aphrodite and Hera again? Half sister? Whatever. Hera's temple. The other four Great Temples have made an effort to incorporate their patrons' domains. The Great Temple of Athena is a multi-storey library. Not many written works survived the Exile but her cult used to be active proponents of visiting the mainland to acquire new works and they've had three thousand years to write their own.

"He died. A sudden fit. Oh, he was quite old. It was sad, but hardly unexpected."

The Great Temple of Hestia is a sort of large Themysciran Ideal Homes type open plan house. This evening's meal will probably be prepared there and I can clearly see the sacred hearth flame inside. Feeding it is one of Queen Hippolyta's official duties, one which the histories in the Embassy library said that she attends to before breakfast. According to the history I read, the fire was carried all the way from its original counterpart in old Themyscira, kept going for the entire journey until it could ignite its new home. Not sure I believe that. This fire in turn was used to start its counterparts in the centre of every significant settlement on the island.

"I didn't think people aged on Themyscira."

The Great Temple of Demeter looks almost overgrown, though there's a clear order to the plant growth. Two priestesses -I'm going to assume- are tending a grape vine, one binding it to a beam while the other supports the ladder the first is standing on. The Temple itself isn't considered to be all that big a deal locally. If an Amazon wants to commune with nature she can just head outside the city and down the coast a little way. It's mostly here so that those who have to spend most of their time here have access to some greenery. There aren't many temples to Demeter on Themyscira, but most farms have an altar devoted to her.

"That blessing only extended to the women. Men aged and died as they would have on the mainland."

"I hadn't thought about that."

I wince slightly as I take in the Great Temple of Artemis. "Is Artemis annoyed with me about the whole moon thing?"

All four of them look at me. Orana looks at the other two women and then frowns at me. "What.. 'moon thing' is that?"

Seriously? "Back in October?" Incomprehension from the Amazons. Oh! Right! The Amazons don't really use month names. There wouldn't be anything to translate the name to. "Late Autumn? About eighty days ago?"

Doctor Sandsmark gets it. "Are you trying to say… You were the one who turned the moon around?" The eyes of both of our escorts widen. Glad they noticed at least.

"The Ophidian and I, yes." I pat the box containing my lantern with my right hand. "It was a bit of a strange week, really. I just wanted to know-."

"{green}No{/}." Orana shakes her head with some conviction. "I refuse to believe that you are that powerful."

"I'm not, normally, but the Ophidian is the Embodiment of Avarice, and these rings are fuelled by avarice in the same way green ones are by willpower. There was a training session that went a bit wrong-."

Cassandra grins at me. "And you made a giant cake!"

"Yes, we did. I always thought that people would fixate more on the other stuff. I mean the moon thing was kind of obvious. And all of the eyes…" There not being more fallout from that still strikes me as odd. "Didn't Diana send some sort of message saying what was going on?"

Dyctinna looks like she's having trouble getting her head around the idea. "You..? There is some sort of god..? In that box..? Which granted you the power to turn the moon around?"

"Yes. More or less. So as I said, do you think Artemis is going to be annoyed with me? I can… I don't mind making an offering to her if that will smooth things over. Or Selene?"

We're going up the steps into the palace now. The open front leads directly into the main hall. Ahead, Diana looking back, waiting for us to catch up.

Dyctinna slowly shakes her head. "You would need to speak to one wiser in the ways of the gods than I. Why did you do such a thing?"

"At the time, we thought that it was a shame most people never get to see the other side of the moon, so we moved it so that they could."

Orana considers my answer before nodding hesitantly. "Selene.. may be alright with that?"

8th January
14:12 GMT +3

Dyctinna and Orana drop back slightly as we reach the top of the steps. I glance at Dyctinna with my right eyebrow raised and she shakes her head. Guess they weren't invited. Donna swoops over the roof and swings around to land next to me. Okay, so what's the procedure here? I know quite a lot about Themysciran social ritual and… A-ooh, I didn't ask how formal this reception was going to be. Arse.

Antimache's broken off as well, though it looks like Mala will be announcing us. Donna and I form up behind Diana and Kon as we finish our climb up the steps. Four more guards are on duty up here, though these are wearing gold plated… That's orichalcum! They've got enough orichalcum to make full hoplite type armour! I need to talk to Io! Mass for mass that stuff outperforms everything I've been able to compare it to in terms of protection, and it takes enchantment far better than modern protective materials.

One of the guards notices me staring and narrows her eyes disapprovingly. Why would OH! She thinks I'm staring at… Right. I turn my attention away from her to the interior of the palace. Classical pillars support the roof… Heh, though I suppose when they were built they were 'modern, newfangled, what's wrong with living in an animal skin tent, kids today' pillars. The roof tiles are red clay and the walls are stone. That appears to be limited to important buildings; a lot of the ones in the lower city were baked clay brick instead. The floor and the interior pillars are marble and the pillars have gold and silver decoration around the base. I wonder why they used so much stone? It must take quite a lot of effort to get it here and it's not as if they're short of wood. Maybe when you're going to live indefinitely it seems more sensible to make something permanent than something you're going to have to replace in a century or two.

The… Reception area? Also has two fountains, water flowing into two shallow pools on either side of the walkway. With two growing seasons I suppose that keeping the place cool during the hottest parts of the year must be quite a challenge. No modern air conditioning after all. I'm tempted to give the whole system a scan… It's probably magic so I don't think I'd get much… No. Best behaviour. Ask nicely. If they'll talk to me at all I'm sure that they'll be only too happy to describe it to someone who has never heard the story before.

At the far end of the hall are the double doors into the throne room. Another two guards in 'elite' armour stand on either side and Mala walks forwards to address them. "Princess Diana, Prince Kon-El and their guests to see Queen Hippolyta." The guard on the left looks us over, then turns, opens her door the minimum amount possible and enters before closing it behind her.

Kon nudges me with his right shoulder. "You think I should have worn the armor?"

"No, you're fine as you are. Diana would have said something-.{orange}"
{/}
"Everyone else is wearing armour." He looks down at his outfit. "I could have at least got a shirt or something."

Donna leans in from his other side. "Don't worry about it. Hippolyta won't care what you're-."

The remaining guard steps aside as the doors are pulled open from the inside, giving me my first clear look at the throne room. Queen Hippolyta sits on the throne on the dais at the far end. She looks like a slightly more mature Diana, perhaps a little more 'padded', and her hairdo must have taken an effort I've never known Diana to put into hers. Looks like it's naturally curly. She's wearing what looks to my eyes like a stola, the inner parts being white while the outer layer is a rich purple. In her right hand she holds a golden sceptre staff thing, topped with some sort of winged.. thing.

To her right stands someone else I can immediately identify from the photographs in Diana's office. Captain Philippus is wearing an even more ornate version of the orichalcum armour worn by the other guards up here. Her hair is tied back in tight braids which are held together with a simple tie at the back of her head. Darker skin than most of the locals, though Philippus is definitely a Greek name. No spear or shield but she has a sword at her waist. She looks a lot more on guard than Hippolyta but I suppose that's her job. And… Whow. That's a lot of violet light. I wasn't going to look but I can't not notice it. Forget red string, she and Hippolyta are tied together by violet rope. I thought Diana said that Hippolyta didn't have a consort? Some sort of political problem, maybe? Some of those books in her library suggested that Amazons used to be pretty racist.

Magala stands at her queen's… Our queen's left. She's wearing a simple green dress and shawl and holds an unadorned wooden staff. Another Amazon not of Minoan ethnicity. Maybe I got the wrong idea about that? She does look a bit odd, actually. Her features are unusually heavily set. I suppose that despite what comic artists would have you believe not all Amazons are supermodel material.

At Queen Hippolyta's feet a small black cat watches us with interest. I didn't think Amazons had cats. Maybe I should have brought Teekl after all? The royal court is completed by two women I don't recognise and two more guards who stand a little way off to the sides.

Diana leads us down the aisle, coming to a halt about five metres from the base of the dais. "Mother. It is good to see you again."

Hippolyta hands her staff to Philippus as she stands and walks down the steps. "Diana." She warmly embraces her daughter. "You've been away too long." She pulls back a little, leaving her hands on Diana's shoulders. Looks like she's a little shorter than her daughter as well. "And I thought that I might get a little more notice before the arrival of my first grandchild." Kon shifts a little uncomfortably as she looks at him, though it's more teenaged-boy-about-to-be-smothered-by-doting-grandparent uncomfortable than fear-of-rejection uncomfortable. "You've certainly managed to get back in shape quickly."

Diana shakes her head with a quiet chuckle before pulling away further and motioning Kon forwards. "Mother, may I present my son, Kon-El."

He blinks uncertainly. "Um. Hi." Looks like those etiquette lessons didn't quite stick under stress.

"Oh, is that any way to greet your grandmother." She opens her arms. "Come here, Kon." He's actually blushing slightly as she pulls him to her, resting her head against his before planting a kiss on his forehead. "How do you like Themyscira so far?"

"It looks.. nice. I haven't really.. seen that much of it yet." Something occurs to him. "Oh, we can speak in Greek if you want. I have been studying it."

"And have you been attending to your other lessons as well?"

He nods. "School's going well, and Mom's been teaching me about how Themysciran society works. I'm not sure I'm ready to address the senate yet but I know all the festivals and the gods' ceremonies."

"And have you chosen a patron of your own yet?"

He shakes his head. "Mom said I should talk to you and the priestesses first."

Ah. Not a total surprise, though Kon hasn't said anything to me about his religious instruction. I know how Amazon society relates to their gods but I'm less knowledgeable about how it works on an individual basis. In a way, the fact that the Amazons know full well that they can talk directly to their gods and in fact regularly do so makes theirs a most rational religion. On the other hand, it's a bit… Non-mysterious. Isn't it? Does that matter or is my atheism showing again?

"Quite wise. It isn't something you should rush into." She glances at me. "Will you introduce me to your friend?"

He turns to me. "This is Paul, the Orange Lantern."

I genuflect, left knee going to the floor, arms crossed on my right knee and head bowed. "Majesty."

"This one's well trained. You may rise, Orange Lantern."

I rise at parade rest. "Thank you, Majesty. And.. thank you for allowing me to become a Themysciran citizen. I will endeavour to be worthy of the honour."

"I have every confidence that you will live up to it. You are Alan Scott's successor, correct?"

"Yes. Alan's been a great help to me. I don't think I'd have got anywhere with this whole.. thing, if not for him."

She nods, and then moves along the line. "Donna."

Donna bows her head. "Your majesty."

Queen Hippolyta holds out her hands and clasps Donna's hands in her own. "It is good to see you again. How long has it been since your last visit?"

"Ah…" Donna thinks for a moment. "Seven months? I'd like to come more but with school taking up so much time it isn't really possible at the moment."

Queen Hippolyta nods and moves along the line again. "Doctor Sandsmark, be welcome. Mnemosyne, my court historian, has been looking forward to meeting you since your visit was announced."

"I would be delighted to meet her."

Queen Hippolyta bends down. "And who might you be?"

Cassandra half hides behind her mother's legs, not daring to answer. Doctor Sandsmark reaches down with her right hand and gives her a small push. "Your majesty, this is my daughter, Cassandra Sandsmark."

"Hello."

"Well met, Cassandra." Queen Hippolyta stands to address us all. "There will be a feast tonight in honour of your visit. For now, join me in the dining hall for lunch."

8th January
14:17 GMT +3

Two of the elite guards -must remember to find out what they are actually called- lead the way as our party proceeds towards the dining area. Not the banqueting hall we'll be using this evening, but the private room where Queen Hippolyta and her inner circle take their meals. If I remember correctly it has a view over the parklands and stables that lie between the 'back' of the city and the start of the mountain proper. Diana and Hippolyta are leading the group while the rest of us form up with 'outsiders' on the left and 'locals' on the right. More or less by chance I find myself on the inwards side of the left huddle, closest to Captain Philippus.

Since we're here… "Captain, may I ask a question?"

She glances at me. "So it appears."

Here too? "I meant-."

"What do you wish to know?"

"Why are the guards carrying spears? They're hardly the optimal weapon for individual or small group engagements."

"True, but the time it takes to toss it aside doesn't add significantly to the time needed to draw a sword. And you'd be surprised how off-putting most assailants find even a short shield-wall."

If the answer is 'at all', then yes. "Does that include assailants with grenades, or am I being unfair?"

That gets me another look. I think she's trying to work out whether I'm taking the piss or not. How can I take the piss out of a twenty first century hoplite? "It's extremely unlikely that anyone carrying grenades could reach Themyscira in the first place, and a fragmentation device wouldn't be able to penetrate the orichalcum."

"It would take out their legs, though. I haven't seen anyone wearing cuisses since I got here. And that's ignoring the explosive blast."

"This from a man wearing leather armour."

"This is my original armour. I've had three versions since I tried wearing this in a fight. And you'll note it does cover everything except my head."

"Why aren't you wearing your best armour?"

"This is a friendly visit. I didn't want to look too menacing."

Her right eyebrow creeps up a smidge. "Now I have to see it."

"If you like." My power armour replaces the leather armour mid-step, resulting me gaining about five centimetres in height. The helmet has sensory feeds which allow me to see and hear as if it wasn't there -even without the rings- but it's still a definite mass on my head. There are normal eyepieces but those are only for when the sensors get damaged. "Tougher than any commercially available armour currently on the market, it incorporates-" I hold up my right hand and demonstrate the articulation. "-artificial muscles which boost my strength to beyond the limits of baseline Human physiology. Sensory augments in the helmet let me hear and see things miles away in perfect clarity. It's the best mundane armour I can currently build."

Philippus looks at me a little more warily. "It hardly looks mundane to me. Or are you comparing it to our orichalcum armour?"

"That exactly. Which is why I'm so eager to talk to Io. My skills don't extend-" I shift the armour back into subspace. "-to magic or metamaterials."

"How long can you wear it before it becomes uncomfortable?"

"Indefinitely."

"Hmm. I don't suppose it's something we could make here, is it?"

"Wouldn't have thought so, but I would consider it my duty as a citizen-" Ahead of us the door leading into the dining area is opened and Queen Hippolyta leads the way inside. "-to provide you with whatever equipment you needed."

She considers for a moment, then glances at the strawberry blonde woman I don't recognise. "I'd never get senate approval. And if it would make us dependent on one man for our equipment I'm not sure I'd disagree." I shrug. Slightly disappointing, but I wasn't expecting to revolutionise the place overnight. "Now I have a question for you."

I let her go ahead as we enter the dining area. The table is a horseshoe shape facing the balcony. Looks like we're eating.. barley flour flatbreads, cheese, apples and the servers are ladling soup into dishes next to the main plates. "Whatever you wish to know, Captain."

She looks at Kon and then at Donna. "Of the three of you, who is the greater warrior?"

The three of us look at each other, while the other blonde Amazon shakes her head. "'Who would win in a fight', Philippus? That is the question you most want answered?"

"I suppose it-" / "Paul." / "-depends on what-" / "Paul." / "-equipment.. we're.. carrying." Philippus raises her eyebrows. "Thanks guys. Thanks."

Hippolyta takes her seat at the head of the table with Diana on her left. Philippus walks ahead to take her place at her queen's right. Errr… Order of precedence when I don't know who two of the people are? Kon sits down next to Diana and then everything sort of stops. Ah heck, I was talking to Philippus, right? I take the seat next to her. Magala sits down next to me, Donna, Cassandra and Doctor Sandsmark take places around from Wonder Woman. Lastly, the strawberry blonde takes a seat next to Magala and the regular blonde takes the seat at the far end. The two women serving soup bow to the queen and are duly dismissed.

Philippus looks at me. "Why is it that you don't share their confidence?"

"It's not about confidence, it's about the.. situation. Yes, if we all had our best equipment and no restrictions on our movement I'd bet on me." I shrug. "But in my case you could give everyone on the planet their best equipment and as long as I had the Ophidian-" I put the box on the table and tap it with the ring on my left hand. "-I could still beat them. If we were fighting unarmed I'd bet on whoever was fighting against me."

Blonde Amazon leans around her neighbours to address me. "And what is this 'Ophidian' that it gives you the power to take on the entire world?"

"The Ophidian is the Embodiment of Avarice. She manifests in the corporeal world as a huge orange serpent."

"She is your goddess?"

"No, I don't… I don't worship her. She's more of a slightly weird ally."

Kon tears off a part of his bread and dips it in his soup. "Paul calls gods 'jumped up elementals'. I don't think he likes them very much."

My right hand covers my face as the locals stare at me.

Queen Hippolyta nods. "Diana did say that we had you to thank for the.. 'shipping containers'?"

I look to Diana for some sort for explanation. "Shipping.. containers..?"

"While you were merged with the Ophidian you delivered three shipping containers here, full of fruits and vegetables that aren't available on Themyscira. You didn't remember?"

"No. No, I didn't."

Blonde Amazon chuckles. "I particularly liked the.. curved yellow one? What was it called?"

Donna smiles in disbelief. "The banana?"

"Banana." She nods. "Our agronomists tell me that we could probably cultivate several of the varieties you provided, but we decided to wait until we could get more information on how they behave in the wild before we begin planting in earnest."

"I'll talk to them after lunch."

8th January
14:29 GMT +3

The food is simple but extremely good. Fruit and vegetables are the only things that Themyscira exports -infrequently- and I can see why they command a high price. A combination of the blessing of Demeter and three thousand years of experience I suppose. They actually use crop rotation here as they don't have artificial fertilisers to keep the soil vital. Animal grazing I get, but I was a little disquieted to learn that they use Human waste in the same way. And they obviously don't have flushing toilets. With what they do have, even the usually Luddite Amazons decided that it was perfectly alright for 'Night Soil Technicians' to use modern gas masks.

It's still not exactly a popular job.

"…be good if Prince Kon-El spent some time introducing himself in the city." Acantha -strawberry blonde Amazon- has been going over Kon's itinerary for the day. She's a long serving senator and a close friend of Queen Hippolyta.

"You can just call me 'Kon'."

"No, my prince. That would be quite improper."

"Okay, but… I'm not actually going to have to rule anything." He looks to his mother and then grandmother. "Am I?"

Queen Hippolyta smiles at him. "Grandson, I am over three thousand years old and I know full well that nothing lives forever. Eventually, I will pass -though praise the gods may it not be too soon- and Diana will take the throne. This is not to be bemoaned. It is natural." She looks over to Acantha. "Though on the purely legal question..?"

Acantha hesitates for a moment, then shrugs. "It hasn't come up before, not in any text I've read."

"Because I'm adopted?"

"Because you're male."

Acantha nods. "A younger sister would have precedence. Whether a prince with no siblings can inherit in his own right is.. well…" She shrugs again. "I don't think that there would be a problem, but at the moment there is no formal answer." She looks at Diana. "I don't suppose that we're in any danger of getting another princess, are we?"

Diana bows her head, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "Not in the near future, Acantha."

"Orange Lantern." Queen Hippolyta turns in my direction in an attempt to stop her friend nagging her daughter about her personal life. "I understand that you wish to speak to Io."

"Yes, Majesty. I wish to thank her in person for the bow she made Artemis." Oh, hang on. "My friend Artemis Crock, not any other Artemises who might be in residence. I also wanted to talk to her about her work."

"I'm afraid that she's been rather busy in her workshop of late. You're welcome to visit, but I must ask that you not disturb her if she wishes privacy."

"Of course, and thank you."

Philippus takes a drink from her wine goblet then returns it to the table. "I'm not sure how much aid she would be able to lend you. Creating orichalcum is a time consuming business, even for her."

"You'd be amazed how much having a power ring on hand can speed things up."

"How so? I admit they are mighty weapons-."

"Nonono. Power rings aren't weapons. They're tools. There's this guy I work with in Poseidonis who's revolutionising their industrial base thanks to these rings."

Queen Hippolyta looks interested. "Oh? I have only seen Alan use combat constructs. Would you be willing to give a demonstration?"

I think for a moment. "This isn't really the place for a demonstration of engineering… But-" I push back my chair, stand and walk around to the open end of the 'U'. "-perhaps something musical."

I clear my throat and have the ring remind me of the words.

"I followed my queen"

Construct images appear as I sing. A much younger Hippolyta stands with Egeria, Philippus' predecessor.

"To a war in a far southern land"

A moment later the view expands, showing the two armies arrayed for battle. I took the description from the copy of Philippus' journal that was in Diana's library in the embassy.

"Where men said she should prove her throne."

With the bulk of Old Themyscira's army away with Queen Otrera, Crown Princess Hippolyta had to defend the heartland of the nation herself against an alliance of most of the peoples her mother had pissed off. According to Philippus' journal, Egeria wanted Hippolyta to stay back in the city. She refused, and took to the field herself.

"I stood with my queen
And was ready to strike them all down"

I make a point of showing a young Philippus in the phalanx a short distance from Hippolyta.

"But my queen stood tall
and reached out, and took sword of her own"

Hippolyta basically used herself as bait, causing her foes to attack her army -attack her- directly rather than burn their farmlands. The attackers also used spear blocks almost exclusively, allowing Amazon archers and horsewomen to flank and constantly harass them in a manner reminiscent of the Battle of Sphacteria. They were ground down to nothing, barely making contact with the Amazon infantry line.

"And as we departed, she said to me there
Before warring and feud could begin
If I am afraid to be beaten
Then where is the pride when I win?"

The shot of Hippolyta clapping Philippus on the shoulder is entirely my invention.

"In word and deed
I follow my queen
The wisest among us and fair."

Hippolyta rolls her eyes.

"In word and deed
I follow my queen
The wisest among us and fair."

I allow the scene to evaporate, and replace it with one showing General MacArthur's office.

"I followed my queen"

The general is there, along with Alan, Jay and Diana. Real Diana's eyes widen slightly as she realises what I'm about to show.

"To the door of the vigilant squire"

The general -clearly angry- gestures at her to get lost.

"But a guardsman stood and barred the way
I stood with my queen
And was ready to strike the man down"

I'm not sure that I've interpreted Alan's description of Diana's demonstration of her strength completely right, but the dangling upside down and Alan's cheeky photo are completely historically accurate.

"But my queen stood tall
And reached out, and shook hands at the gate."

Diana's formal welcome to the Justice Society. I replicate the effect of a camera flash as she and Alan shake hands.

"And as we departed, she said to me there
Before warring and feud could begin"

I show a scene from one of the Society's fights with Mordru, one which was by pure chance caught on film.

"If I won't clasp hands with a neighbour
Then how can I ask it of him?"

I show Alan block an arcane blast aimed at Diana with a construct and she returns the favour by lassoing one of Mordru's demonic henchmen away from him and punching it in the face.

"In word and deed
I follow my queen
The wisest among us and fair.
In word and deed
I follow my queen
The wisest among us and fair."

I pause as if finishing, then switch to an image of the Mountain's kitchen.

"I followed my king"

Kon lets out a low moan.

"From his place at the mead hall's high seat
Where the hungry sat in grim array"

Wallace radically underestimated the amount of time dinner was going to take that day. And he goes on about how Mister Allen is often late.

"I stood with my king
And was ready to strike the cook down"

I didn't get quite that bad, but I'd had a long day and he'd repeatedly told me he could handle it.

"But my king stood tall
And reached out and he shouldered a tray"

I think the fact that it was kitchen-unfriendly Kon that was offering had as much effect as the help itself in motivating him.

"And as we departed he said to me there
Before warring and feud could begin
If I cannot serve in the kitchen
Then how can I serve them as king?"

The team enjoying a meal together. I make a point of showing me apologising to Wallace and him brushing it off.

"In word and deed
I follow my king
The wisest among us and fair."

A group picture of the three of them arrayed in full battle raiment.

"In word and deed
I follow my king
The wisest among us and fair.

In word and deed
I follow my king
The wisest among us and fair."

I allow the image to evaporate and take a bow.

Queen Hippolyta laughs. "I see that the bardic talent for the outrageous flattery of their patrons hasn't changed since we left the mainland."

8th January
14:37 GMT +3

"…glad this outfit's bulletpro-" Donna looks at me then corrects herself. "-resistant."

Philippus looks thoughtful. "I don't know what to suggest regarding the Nazis beyond 'killing them all wherever you find them'. Undead warriors…" She shakes her head. "I've fought against Hades' undead soldiers before, but the ones which you faced sound far more vital. More intelligent, too. Perhaps the gods of the northmen have more faith in their people than Hades does."

Menalippe -the fully blonde Amazon and priestess for the pantheon as a whole- just about manages to school her expression. From what I've been able to tell the local version of Hades isn't the 'full dick' version from Justice League Animated but he isn't all that popular locally. He has temples here but Amazons are more likely to make offerings at the smaller shrines of Aeacus or Minos contained inside it. Is now a good time to bring up my 'replace Ares' plan? Maybe not. Bit of a heavy topic with lots of room to cause offence. Be fun to talk to her about it later in private though. Part of my education on Amazonian religion.

"I'm just glad Klarion didn't have Diana or Batman try and give me an order. The fact that he didn't probably means that he didn't have access to your minds while it was going on."

Diana shakes her head. "You needn't have worried. The Oath hasn't bound you since you received your second set of tattoos."

What? "What? Really?"

She nods. "I didn't lie when I said that M'gann felt your pain, but I myself felt the Oath loosening. Since I could think of no other thing that could have caused that I briefly thought that you had died. That was why I was so worried when we spoke."

Menalippe looks at me with concern. "You escaped a sacred oath made to Gaea?"

"No!" Oh. "Um, yes. But I didn't mean to. It was a side effect of my wards. I suppose.. Gaea can't see me either, so she can't tell if I break it or not. Is.. she.. likely to be annoyed about that?"

She thinks about it. "I should not think so. It is more likely that she is barely aware of it."

"Oh good. I respect Gaea and have no wish to antagonise her." I turn to Diana. "And I'm not going to start just ignoring what you say or anything like that."

"I'm glad to hear it."

Menalippe looks over at Kon. "Prince Kon? I have been meaning to ask: do you practice an American religion or do you intend to join our worship here?"

Kon looks at Diana. "Aah. I hadn't really thought about it? The knowledge the Genomorphs gave me didn't include any sort of religious faith, so…" He shrugs. "Until Mom adopted me it didn't seem important."

"In our religion, faith is seldom the issue. We know our gods. Several of us -Princess Diana and Queen Hippolyta in particular- have spoken to them directly. And they are seldom shy about letting us know when they are displeased by our actions." She doesn't quite look at the oblivious Cassandra, who's busy trying to feed Wolf under the table without anyone noticing. Wolf in turn is more interested in the cat which followed us into the dining room. "Rather, it is customary for an Amazon… It's been quite some time since we had anyone your age… It's customary for a citizen to choose one god to act as a guide for their moral and social development. They aren't required to be mindlessly obedient or.. blind to their god's faults but, before the Exile, it was a standard way of introducing a youth into the community."

He looks at Diana, who nods. "As a young girl I studied extensively under the priestesses of Athena, and those lessons define the sort of person that I am." She looks over to Captain Philippus. "That, and the captain of my mother's guard teaching me of the wisdom of experience in the practice arena." Philippus smiles fondly at her. "I had meant to introduce you to the temple later this afternoon. It would be your choice as to whether you join in or not, but I think you would benefit from it."

"I.. suppose..." He looks over to me. "What do you think?"

"Athena's not a bad choice-" Compared to some Olympians, blinding people who see her naked notwithstanding. "-but I think she's suboptimal for you."

"Sub optimal?" Menalippe looks at me curiously. "You mean to say that he could gain a greater advantage by worshipping another god?"

"Well, yes. I mean, think about it: how many Amazons have Athena as their primary deity at the moment? A tenth of the population? A lot, anyway. So her attention is split in a lot of different directions."

She shakes her head, smiling. "So if he picked a god who was less popular, he would be more likely to benefit from their personal attention. That is.. an extremely mercenary approach to take."

"Thank you, but there's more to it than that. You have to work out what the god's going to want.. and what they're going to give you for it. A god with few worshippers is in less of a position to be demanding." Diana's wincing but Queen Hippolyta and Captain Philippus seem to find my approach amusing. "Which is why I'd recommend Helios instead."

Kon frowns slightly. "Helios? The sun god?"

"Yes. Kryptonians-" I hold out my hands in his direction. "-are solar powered. The head of the old Kryptonian pantheon was their sun god, Rao. It makes sense. Plus, he's only got a small temple here and hardly any devotees. He can easily spare the time for proper mentoring."

Diana recovers her equilibrium and slowly nods as she tries to adjust to my attitude to the 'divine'. "I.. do see the utility, but I think that at Kon's age the lessons that could be learned from the goddess of justice and learning would be more useful."

I wave off her objection with my right hand. "You can teach him that."

Kon half nods before he notices Diana looking at him. "Well… That.. does kinda make sense. But if you really don't want me to-."

"No, this is a decision for you. I'm sure that Lord Helios' teachings will be just as valuable to you as Lady Athena's have been to me." Kon smiles slightly. "We can visit his temple later today."

"And what of you, Paul?" Menalippe appears to be taking my impiety with good grace. "Do you think the gods can offer you useful guidance? Or do you intend to try to convert us to the worship of your giant orange snake?" On the other side of the table Donna screws up her eyes and bites her lip and Doctor Sandsmark develops a sudden cough.

I think for a moment. Not really a surprise that she's asking. Having a patron wouldn't exactly hurt, but I'm still a bit… "I think they might." I pick up my goblet in my right hand. I filled it with wine at the start of the meal but I still don't have a taste for the stuff and it's still half filled. "Am I allowed to pick Metis? I realise that she's a.. Titan rather than an Olympian…"

Menalippe thinks for a moment. Tricky to negotiate between deities when some eat the others. "You could, but she doesn't answer prayers. I'm not sure what you would hope to gain from doing so. And that does seem to be important to you."

"True. Well… There's Hephaestus. I like building things, though I'm not sure my manual skills are good enough for him. Remind me, joining a cult requires the applicant to perform a public act of devotion, right?" Menalippe nods. "And the act of devotion can be anything thematically appropriate?"

"If it is pleasing to the gods, yes."

"I have a bit of a soft spot for Ploutos… Is this goblet valuable?" I take a look around the room. "Does it have any historical significance?"

"I.. don't.. think so..? In any case, Lord Ploutos is not merely concerned with acquisition, but with good financial judgement and planning."

"Mm. I do respect Prometheus, but more as someone I want to emulate than revere. I don't know, maybe I should-." In one smooth motion I stand, bring the goblet up and hurl it to the floor! "Hail Eris!" The goblet shatters and the wine sprays outwards, coating the floor and splashing on the tablecloth. Eyes around the room widen at my declaration as I turn to Menalippe. "That will do, won't it?"

She pauses for a moment, then hesitantly nods. "I would think so."

8th January
14:43 GMT +3

"…pineapple." Dyctinna looks at me quizzically. "You truly do not remember doing it?"

I shake my head. "I lost quite a lot of that week when the Ophidian and I separated. We didn't cause too much of a nuisance, did we?"

I'm not exactly sure if I'm under guard or not, but three out of four of our original escorts are 'assisting' me in getting to Io's workshop. Mala went with Doctor Sandsmark to see Mnemosyne, Diana and Kon are taking a tour of the city and Donna and Cassandra were left to their own devices. I'm not sure if that's because Io's workshop counts as a high security area or because of my choice of patron deity. They certainly haven't made mention of it and their attitude to me doesn't seem to have changed; Dyctinna's still friendly, Orana reserved and Antimache doing her level best to pretend that I'm not here.

Orana shakes her head. "Not really. Moving those metal shed things-"

"Shipping containers."

"-was the most interesting thing that happened that year." She frowns. "How do you fit that on a ship?"

I generate a construct of a container ship and demonstrate the arrangement of containers on its deck. She and Dyctinna study it with interest. "Not.. been off Themyscira recently?"

"No." Orana leans closer. "How big is that?"

"Container ships over a thousand feet long aren't uncommon."

Dyctinna's eyes widen slightly. "Triton."

"And the god which gave you that power really dwells within your box?"

"Yep. Do you want to meet her?"

Orana looks nonplussed. "Do.. I have to be inducted into some sort of cult first?"

"No." I kneel, lower the box to the stone floor and open it. "You just have to be capable of feeling avarice." All three of them are looking on with bated breath as I pull my lantern free. "What?"

Orana tears her eyes away from it. "I've never seen one before. Alan never brought it with him."

Antimache narrows her eyes. "Where's the snake god, then?"

I close my eyes and take a breath. {orange}Ophidian{/}.

{orange}"My Agent."{/} Orange light strobes outwards, delineating her body in the air around us. My three guides take a step away from her as she swings her head in their direction. She's about eight metres long like this and maybe fifty centimetres around at her widest point. {orange}"New toys?"

"{/}New friends, Ophidian. We've talked about this."

She flows around the available space in the corridor, tongue flicking out to get a better taste of their desires. {orange}"Constrained. Doesn't understand."{/} She turns her head to me. {orange}"Your duty."

"{/}I know. I'm on it." She extends her head forwards to nuzzle me before curving around to dive back into the lantern.

Orana stares at me. "That was your god?"

"No, I don't worship the Ophidian. Um, actually, that was part of what we talked about over lunch." They all look a bit stunned. "I'm happy to answer questions, but I really do.. want to see Io today?"

Antimache shakes herself. "Yes. This way." She stalks off down the corridor once more and the three of us follow her.

Orana offers me a wry smile. "Was Menalippe trying to recruit you already?"

"Kon's going to be joining the cult of Helios later today."

"Helios? Eos is a more common choice for those who like early mornings."

"It's the sun itself he wanted, not the effects of the sun. Kryptonians like Kon draw literal strength from the sun."

She nods. "I suppose that makes sense. And what of you? If you do not worship the snake creature..?"

"Uuuum. Eris."

She stops again and stares at me. Then she nods. "Having met you? Yes. That makes sense to me." She starts walking again. "Try not to bleed on anything important."

Huh?

"So…" Dyctinna appears to have recovered. "I was wondering. You spend a lot of time with the princess, correct?"

"Yes?"

"In her last letter she mentioned someone. A.. 'Barda Free'?" I nod. "She seemed rather taken with her."

Orana rolls her eyes. "Oh, not this again."

I shrug. "She has trouble finding sparring partners. Barda is a highly skilled warrior and her physical equal. Actually.. Barda's slightly stronger."

"Ooooooh."

"What?"

Orana shakes her head. "Dyctinna's got it into her head that they're lovers."

"Um. I don't.. think so? I haven't seen anything.. and Barda's married."

"To who?"

"Scott Free."

"A man?" I nod. "Well that's alright then."

I take a moment to try and get my head around that. "It counts."

"Oh." Dyctinna sags slightly. "She's really not seeing anyone?"

"Not to my knowledge."

"Oh, this is getting silly. She's in her eighties." Orana winces slightly at her comrade's comment and pulls away, heading after Antimache. Dyctinna throws her hands up. "I could understand that she would find it strange to take someone from Themyscira as a lover, but she has the whole of the world to choose from! She should find a nice woman to settle down with." She looks at me for a moment. "Or even a man. That would be okay. I suppose. Alan seemed nice."

Antimache has come to a stop outside a door just ahead of us. I can hear the sound of hammer on metal from within. "While we're on the subject… How long have Queen Hippolyta and Captain Philippus been together?" Three astonished stares, then Dyctinna looks uncomfortable, Orana gestures to the heavens to vent her visible frustration and Antimache bows her head and clenches her fists. "Diana didn't mention anything about-."

Orana shakes her head. "They're not."

"What?"

Antimache shakes her head. "He hasn't even been here a day. This is stupid. It's stupid."

"Because they're very clearly-."

Dyctinna huffs. "We know. Everyone on the island knows."

"But they're not-?"

Orana holds up her right hand. "There are some things you just don't ask a queen."

I blink. "Okay."

Dyctinna turns to Orana. "It's where Princess Diana gets it from, you know. I'm sure that if the two of them would just-."

I step past her and knock hard on the door. "Io? " I hear the hammer getting put down with some force. "Are you-?"

"The spear will be ready tomorrow Althesia. Not before, no matter how many times you ask!"

"Actually, I-."

"Which part of 'don't disturb me' was too hard for you to understand!? Come back tomorrow!"

I back away from the door. Ookay then.

8th January
15:27 GMT +3

I look around the triangular patch of moor land. On one side we're bounded by the sea shore and on the second by the other side of the forest. A little further along the coast on the other side of those trees is the place where Diana and I landed when I first visited Themyscira. On the third side the slope of Mount Skybreak blocks our view of the city itself. Long ago the land here was artificially flattened and I can still see a few small stone walls in shapes which suggest long abandoned houses.

Mnemosyne tightens her shawl around her shoulders. It isn't cold, but there is an informal taboo about Amazons -female ones anyway- coming here, even over two thousand years after the last of its inhabitants abandoned it. "I don't really understand why you were so eager to see this. There are scrolls in Athena's library which could give you a far better idea of what it was like when it was still inhabited."

Doctor Sandsmark looks up from her tablet. "I wanted to get a.. feel for the place." She glances at what looks like it used to be the wall of a house. "Haven't you ever wished you could visit the places you read about?"

"Sometimes." Mnemosyne nods. "But of the places I would most like to have seen, little survives in the modern era."

"Would the dwellings have been for families, or did they have a barracks system like the Spartans?"

"Families, mostly. By the time this village was built the initial panic of the first stage of settlement was over." She points towards the tree line. "You can still just about see some of the buildings they set up for the earliest lumbering camp. That involved sleeping in what was essentially a communal barn."

Doctor Sandsmark looks around again. "I'm not sure why this place exists at all. I though gender segregation was abandoned after the Exile?"

Mnemosyne smiles. "Listening to some… Some women from the old city of Themyscira, you can get the wrong idea about how that worked. The segregation of genders was strictly enforced within the city-."

"Aside from the festivals."

"Well, yes…"

I raise my hands in surrender. "I'm really not looking for them to be brought back."

"They were never fully abandoned, though obviously without men the reproductive aspect was no longer relevant." She shakes her head. "Anyway, once you got away from the main city and into the countryside, things were a lot less… Strict. Men and women still lived apart, but it would hardly be unusual for them to interact. In some cases even live in the same villages."

"But if only a few adult men took part in the settlement, why was a male village created here at all?"

"Tradition, mostly. And not just for the female majority. Most of the men who came here had lived in the area around the old city and were used to the division. They in turn took their nephews with them." She shrugs. "Others had become used to integration, particularly those who had grown up knowing nothing else. They saw abandoning segregation as simply another change in our society that came with moving to these islands. There was a brief attempt by some more conservative Amazons -female Amazons- to bring the old laws back into effect, but they were unable to gain popular support."

"Why was that?"

"Our menfolk knew more of farming than we did. In the first few years here with no reliable source of food we needed that knowledge more than we needed our old social customs. A small number of men would direct a platoon of women in ploughing, irrigating and planting an area, then.. harvesting the crops. Inevitably, a lot of the old social barriers were broken down. That may have been the first time men had positions of leadership over women in our history, and despite what some predicted it wasn't a disaster. Once things settled down, most of us remembered that obligation."

Doctor Sandsmark takes another quick look around. "The tree line.. would have been..? Over there?" Mnemosyne nods. "Orange… Um, Paul, I'm going to take a look."

I nod. "Think I'll stay here for a bit. I doubt that anyone's said prayers at the graves recently."

"I s-." Something occurs to her. "How far does your translator function operate?"

I wave her concern aside. "Far enough. Don't worry about it."

She turns away and Mnemosyne leads her in the direction of the forest. Huuuuh… All this is interesting, but not very productive. With Io busy at least until the feast this evening and Queen Hippolyta wanting to spend some time getting to know Kon I thought that I'd give Doctor Sandsmark a lift out here. I've already got the geophysics scans she wanted but I'm not really doing anything to further my own goals right now. I turn and walk in the direction of the small shrine to Hades which is the only building here that still receives any upkeep. Amazons used to entomb their dead in burial chambers carved into the subterranean rock, until the isolation and death drove one of the priestesses mad. Then they switched to cremation. This is probably the only graveyard on the island that actually has bodies in it, and as such-.

"Hey." I stop and turn to my left. A bald Amazon with pierced ears is sitting leaning up against the wall of the shrine. "You must be one of those 'men' things I've been hearing about."

"Guilty as charged." I give her a shallow bow. "Orange Lantern two eight one four at your service."

She smiles, looking me over. "My name's Seris. What brings you to Themyscira, Orange Lantern two eight one four?"

"Tourism. Also I.. sort of live here. I have citizenship, anyway."

She raises her eyebrows. "For real?" I nod and she blinks. "Well, that's.. different."

"I.. hope that doesn't offend-?"

"No, no. Always thought this place could use a good stir around. Just can't believe Hippo went for it. You actually staying, or..?"

"Two days, then as long as I don't cause a riot or something I'll probably be coming back on a semi-regular basis."

She frowns. "Why? I mean-" She waves her right arm in the direction of the shore. "-you can go anywhere, do anything. What makes you care about a musty old rock in the middle of the Aegean?"

"Because it matters to my friends." I lower my head slightly and exhale. "Because if they got rid of a few bad habits they could be so much more. Rather than.. cling to the past like-!" I stop. She looks more interested than offended but that's a fairly sacred cow I was cutting up for steaks. "Um."

She gives me an encouraging smile. "Don't stop there, you were just getting good."

"Okay. Like.. a limpet.. to its rock in a magnificent example of self-ossification they… You, should be out there involving yourselves in the world! A society of warriors that still use swords and spears, it's ridiculous! I don't understand why anyone would live like this for so long."

Her eyebrows go up slightly. "You planning to do something about it?"

I nod. "The aim is, find out what Themyscira has to offer the world and ease the Amazons into reintegrating." I could use someone local helping me with that and Diana's a bit too prominent. "Interested?"

The smile becomes a grin. "Always." She lifts herself a little off the ground, shifts over and sits back down. "Here." She pats the grass next to her. "Take a load off."

"Right then." I sit down next to her. "The best place to start would be to find a thing most Amazons already know is a problem and offer a solution which serves our ends."

She thinks for a moment, idly picking a flower from the grass and rolling the stem back and forth in her fingers. "Did you know there used to be a Discordian Cult here?"

"Here as in Themyscira? Or here as in-?"

"Themyscira." She shake her head a little despondently. "Didn't last. When their sisters decided to isolate themselves completely most of them went back to the mainland. Said it would be better to try their luck rather than be forced to mindlessly follow the same path until the end of the world."

"And the rest?"

"Walked into the senate during a debate and slit their own wrists in protest." Ooh. That explains Orana's bleeding comment. She suddenly smiles. "Hey, wanna know something funny?"

"After that?"

"You ever wonder why Ares makes such a big deal out of Wonder Woman?"

"Because she stands against everything he stands for?"

She shakes her head. "Come on, Greek gods. It's all about family." I shake my head in incomprehension. "Queen Otrera wasn't quite the peaceful and benevolent ruler her daughter Hippo is. She led her Amazon warriors all across Greece in a campaign which ended up pissing everyone off. She was so violent, so bloodthirsty, so skilled in the ways of war that she caught the eye of the war god Ares himself." She leers. "They banged. Like, a lot." Hippolyta is Ares’ daughter? I did not know that. "Not a lot of people know who Hippo's dad is. Amazons don't really care who fathered a child sired on campaign. Joke was, she had to call the war off to go home and have her daughter. If condoms had been invented they might have conquered the whole country."

"You're saying… Ares.. goes after Diana… Because he's her granddad?"

"Funny, huh? Guess seeing a warrior of his blood embrace peace is just too much for him."

"She is adopted. Technically."

"Mn." She shakes her head. "Gaea wasn't changing her nappies." I suppose not. Her expression changes from amused to thoughtful. "Though… While we're talking about families. Could you help me out with my nanna?"

8th January
15:35 GMT +3

Seris and I touch down on the plaza just behind the Temple of Hera. "Transitioning back would have been faster."

She gives me a lazy half shrug. "How often do I get to fly?" The left side of her mouth curves into a smile. "Makes everything here look sooo small."

"It doesn't exactly look huge from ground level."

"Does if you've never seen anything else." The rear of the Temple has another entrance, a small door. The entry for the staff, perhaps? Seris walks over to it and tries the handle. Locked. She turns back to me. "Can you do something about this?"

"Yes, but I'm not sure I should."

"Nanna's been in here, on her own, for over a week now." She pulls a face. "She must smell like a marathon runner's feet. She's coming out-" She waves her right index finger at me. "-if I have to knock her out and carry her."

I walk over to the door, check for observers and then extend a filament into the simple locking mechanism. "Is she a priestess?"

Seris stares at me for a moment, then nods. "She's fairly high up in the hierarchy, yeah." I open the door and then gesture with my right hand for her to lead the way. She steps into the doorway and has a quick look around before leading the way further inside. "I tried talking to her myself and she threw an amphora at my head. We've never really got on…"

"I'm sorry to hear that. I.. suppose.. Cassandra's been a bit of a shock."

"Not to me." She pauses at an intersection and looks back at me. "I mean, come on: Zeus, right?"

"I like to believe that even gods can change. Do we need to make some sort of offering to Hera for being in here?"

"Eh. I'm fine and she can't see you remotely."

"I hadn't realised that was common-."

"I can hear you!" I give Seris an enquiring look. She rolls her eyes and nods before picking up the pace. "Skulking around… In my house! My house!"

"Eh, she's still at 'bellicose'. I was hoping she might have moved into 'stuporous' by now so we could just drag her out." Seris leads me out from the side passage into the main hall of the temple. Classical Greek, with pillars and statues of Hera doing things related to her various domains. The richly dressed -if moderately dishevelled- woman sprawled out on the steps leading up to the main statue of Hera at the end of the hall seems somewhat out of place, as do the amphorae littering the floor. Looks like someone's been on a major bender.

I hope this temple has a toilet.

"Hey Nanna."

'Nanna' manages to focus on Seris on the second attempt. "You. You! You… You did this!"

Seris rolls her eyes. "You said that last time, remember?" She glances back over her shoulder at where a wine stain and a pile of broken pottery mar a statue of Hera posing with a Lion. "I didn't have anything to do with 'this'. Zeus doesn't need anyone's help to be a giant man-slut."

Whaw. Um. I guess she's getting drunk on her patron's behalf, then. The Amazons I've spoken to so far must not have been Hera devotees. "Ma'am, Zeus' behaviour-."

She jerks her head in my direction, frowning and squinting. "Who're you?"

"Orange Lantern two eight one four, ma'am."

"Oh. Oh! You…" She rises from her sitting position, moving to all fours in an attempt to get up. Some sort of gold coloured torc falls off her head causing her brown wavy hair to fall over her face. She tries to push herself up into a standing position but can't keep her balance and slumps sideways. For a moment she seems surprised by her new location, then gives up and slumps back. "You just had to find her."

Ring, can we sober her up?

{orange}Unable to comply. Target protected by means unidentifiable.{/}

"If she wasn't tramping around right outside-" She manages to sit up for a moment. "-my Temple. On my island. I could just pretend." The anger fades and she's left looking distraught. "Just pretend he cared about…" She sniffs. "He said he wouldn't do that anymore. I really thought he'd changed."

"With all due respect ma'am, that was somewhat unrealistic. At this point I rather think Zeus is too set in his ways for any agreement to mean anything very much."

"Hardly any worshippers… The Amazons wouldn't dare… How does he keep finding them?" She's looking right at me for answers, her eyes damp with tears. "Huh?"

Looks like we're back in morose. "As I understand it, a combination of rugged good looks and charisma. And not being aware of modern contraception. Look-" I walk over to her, using the rings to shift crockery out of the way and stack it at the sides as I do so. "-sitting in here in the dark isn't helping the situation." I bend down slightly to offer her a hand up. She blinks at me for a moment before taking hold… Okay, got you. She sort of slumps against me and you could clean a laboratory with her breath! Ew. "Do you know what I'd say to Hera if I could talk to her?"

"Tell..?" She rolls her head around to look into my eyes. "Well what would you tell Hera? She's listening very carefully."

"I'd tell her to stop deluding herself. She has a bad track record of blaming the mortals or taking it out on the children.. but the fact is: Zeus is Zeus. He isn't going to change. Every so often he's going to go out into the world, find some attractive mortal and convince them to have sex with him. And she can either accept that… Be a total doormat about it. Or she can get a divorce and stop caring about it."

"{yellow}No{/}!" Her eyes widen and she pushes away from me. For a moment she sways and I brace to catch her but she steadies herself again a pillar before I need to intervene. "Can't do that. The Goddess of Marriage can't.. can't divorce."

"Why not? Isn't divorce a part of marriage?"

She tilts her head to the side as she stares at me. "That that doesn't that doesn't make sense. If you're divorced then.. you aren't married."

"If you're single you aren't married, yet everyone who gets married was single at some point. Plus, there would be nothing to stop her getting married again, preferably to someone who isn't a philandering arsehole. Lots of marriages involve divorce these days. Shouldn't a goddess whose domain is marriage have gone through the whole of the process, understand every bit of the concept they're responsible for?"

She looks thoughtful. Sort of. I'm not sure if any of this is sinking in. "So.. I should…"

"Marriage… As I see it, marriage is a formal pact between two people to behave in a particular way towards each other. It doesn't work if one of them isn't keeping up their end of the deal, especially if there's no fallout from not doing that. If that happens, then there isn't a marriage there, like how if someone cheats at a sport they're not really playing that sport any more." I'm not sure whether she's nodding or swaying. "I understand that they've been together a long time, but once she gets over the shock I honestly think that she'll come to understand that dumping Zeus is the best decision she's made since Greece went Christian."

"Just… {orange}No more Zeus{/}."

"That's right." I try smiling kindly as I approach her again. "But for now, why don't we get you cleaned up… Then you can talk to Hera-."

"Heheh." I'm a bit worried about that smile. "{blue}No more{/}… {blue}No more{/}… I could… {blue}I could do that{/}." I look at Seris, trying to get some sort of idea about how she wants to play this. She just grins at me. Okay, I get she's happy that her nan's leaving the doldrums, but-. "No! More! Zeus!" There's a blast of air and light from where Seris' nan is standing and then she disappears. Magic teleportation? I suppose a High Priestess might well-.

Seris pulls my head around to face her, smiling up at me. "That went better than I could have hoped."

"Happy to have helped. But… Do you..? I think someone should.. probably go and get her before she-."

My eyes widen in surprise as she pulls my head down and mashes her lips against mine. She pulls back a little to judge my response, smiles wider at my shock and then leans back in, biting -Ow!- my lower lip before thrusting her tongue into my mouth. Okay, that's, um, hello? No, this is fine. Surprising, but-. Just as I start kissing back she pulls away, still grinning. "Oh you are so totally in."

"Um. Thank you? Um, I understand Amazon social customs on the subject but I'd.. like to get to know you a little better-."

She reaches into her cleavage, pulls out a small card and holds it out to me. Wait, what? I think I'm.. losing the thread a bit here. I delicately take it. The card is dark blue. On the front is some golden Greek writing the ring is refusing to translate and on the back is a.. discordian chao? I frown, look up and.. she's not there any more.

…

I think I need to talk to Diana.

8th January
15:43 GMT +3

Seris. S-Eris. Aaaagh I can barely believe I did that! Sorry Diana, I just accidentally your entire pantheon. Is that bad? A wave of orange shoves the screen at the Temple's front entrance aside as I stumble out, the guards around the plaza turning to stare at me. "tEmPlE's OpEn FoR bUsInEsS." I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment. "Anyone.. see where Diana went?"

Ah, the diffusion of responsibility. Six Amazons as old as the farming of rice in Japan look at each other in confusion. I shake my head and float forwards, landing just in front of the two guarding the now empty Temple. I fix my eyes on one to make it quite clear that it is her that I'm addressing. "Hate to be a nag, but this is quite urgent."

She blinks, then her eyes narrow. "Why were you in the temple?"

"Clearly Hera didn't have a problem with it! Please!"

Her partner slaps her on the shoulder. They share a look, then the first waves me off and the second addresses me. "The Queen, the Princess, Prince Konel and Menalippe are visiting the forum in the lower city." I start floating upwards. "Then I believe they intend to travel to the Shrine of Helios. Do you require directions?"

"No, thank you, very helpful." The forum on Themyscira is a public open space used for various events, though sports and plays more usually take place in the coliseum. Perfect place for the Amazon equivalent of a photo op. Keeping my speed to subsonic I head up and over the city in that direction. Amazons have glass, but even leaving aside the potential for injuries if I go supersonic and cause a sonic boom making more glass isn't easy for them. I don't want to spend the rest of my time here fixing windows. Looks.. like.. the crowd's moving away from the forum itself, the royal party in the lead.

Gulp.

I look up into the sky and then have the rings show me the direction to Mount Olympus. No obvious meteorological abnormalities as yet. Would she have gone straight there, wherever there is relative to the world? I can sort of imagine her storming into the throne room only for Zeus and Ganymede to be out cruising, coming back only hours later to find her passed out on the floor.

I think maybe I shouldn't be trusted around gods.

Diana looks up as I come in to land next to her. "How goes the archaeology?"

"Doctor Sandsmark seemed to be enjoying herself. Um, I think I may have done something a bit stupid."

She braces herself. "How 'stupid' is stupid?"

"Just to check: the High Priestess of Hera isn't a high end magic user, is she?"

Menalippe turns in our direction as we continue up towards the shrine. "That would be me, inasmuch as she has one. And while I like to think that I am a competent ritualist, I don't imagine that I even begin to compare with some of the people you have seen."

Diana's starting to look concerned. "Whhhy are you asking?"

"I may possibly have convinced Hera to divorce Zeus." Stares. "Sorry."

"He-." Diana stops herself. "Hestia. How did you manage that?"

"Bumped into my own patron at the man village. Didn't recognise her. She asked me to help with her nan."

Menalippe looks concerned. "Eris is here? On Themyscira?"

"She.. she left. Anyway, she said that her nan was in the temple, we went in… I thought she was one of the priestesses!"

Diana puts her right hand over her face. "Paul."

"She looked like a normal woman! And I.. made certain observations about her marital relationship and.. modern.. marriage customs… And she shouted 'no more Zeus' and left."

Diana winces more but Menalippe seems to be taking it a little better. "At least this shows that you made the correct choice in your patron, Tyche preserve us." She shakes her head. "How did you fail to recognise her when all of the statues in her temple show her face?"

"She'd been on a bit of a bender. Wasn't really looking her best. And white stone and living flesh don't really…" I'm going to need to start checking stuff like that, aren't I? I hold the card Eris gave me out to her. "Can you tell me what this says? The rings are getting stuck."

She studies it for a moment. "For a good time, call Eris on-." I snatch it back and slide it into a pouch. "It seems that she's quite taken with you. Are you a.. particularly chaotic person.. in your normal life?"

"In the.. sense that even positive change can cause sudden and unexpected societal shifts? I'm working on it." I take a moment to look around at a society that has excluded chaos since it went into full isolationism. And stayed medieval as a result, being completely left behind by the rest of the world.

"Do you know what happened to her last set of worshippers?"

"Yes, she told me. Repatriation or suicide. Since neither achieved the result I want you don't have to worry about me copying them."

The shrine of Helios isn't actually all that big. The Temple of the Heavens on the other side of the city is far larger, but this structure is sacred to Helios alone rather than being shared. Six pillars carved with images of the sun and its divine patron rise up from a stone platform and are capped by a stone dome whose interior is decorated with a depiction of the passage of the sun across the sky.

Kon's standing there with Queen Hippolyta, looking across the city towards the sun. "…exactly sure what Helios would want from me."

"There's no hurry, Kon. I am certain that between you and Menalippe you will discover something appropriate."

I increase my speed to approach them. "Or you could just ask me." They look at me. "What, you didn't think I'd suggest Helios without having an idea for the offering, did you?"

Kon smiles. "I suppose I should have realized. What is it?"

"You can read music, right?" He nods, and I take some sheet music out of subspace and pass it to him. He takes it and starts to read through it. "I didn't bring any instruments, but it should work well enough as a soloist piece."

"Ah… Are you sure about this?"

"Kon, I just got frenched by Eris." Queen Hippolyta blinks in surprise and looks to her daughter for confirmation. "I'm not sure about anything. But I do know that it's been a very long time since anyone sang Helios a song not written on Themyscira." He nods as he flicks back to the first page and tries humming the tune. "How was the forum?"

Queen Hippolyta thinks for a moment. "Polite. I don't think they quite believed the two of you were real until they saw you in person. I imagine that the more confrontational members of our community will make themselves known tomorrow. Do you intend to address them yourself?"

"Yes. I need to know how much of an uphill battle I've got on my hands."

"You wish to change things here?"

"I wouldn't have picked Eris otherwise. Don't worry, I know things work by.. consensus. I'll be trying to change minds, not just doing stuff. I'm an iconoclast, not a saboteur."

She nods as Kon looks up from the music. "Do I need to face any particular direction?"

Menalippe looks out across the city. "Towards the sun would be best, though I doubt that Lord Helios will mind."

Kon nods. "Okay." He pauses for a moment and then looks skywards. "Two men walk on a beach in the sun…"

8th January
15:49 GMT +3

"…the living, and bury the dead."

The song isn't a perfect fit, but it works rather well when you realise that Helios is a Titan who sided with the Olympians. He slew his father Hyperion to prevent his fellow Titans incinerating the Earth in spite as they lost the war.

"And remember this when you speak of war,"

No direct evidence that Helios is either hearing or approving. I narrow my eyes. Except… Ring, analyse pattern of shadows in the area immediately surrounding Kon.

{orange}Shadows indicate presence of additional light source.{/}

"And think upon what is worth fighting for." Silence reigns for a moment as Kon takes a couple of deep breaths before turning back to the rest of us. "Was that alright? How do I know-?"

Brilliant white light shines out of his body! My world darkens as the rings react to correct my visual contrast and the Amazons watching raise their arms to shield their eyes. Kon holds out his arms to stare at them. Doesn't look like he's being affected by the brightness. Good thing too; it's nice that Helios is paying attention and is also intelligent enough not to blind his new devotee.

"Um. Is.. this..?" The light returns to normal as his glow dims. It doesn't quite vanish, though. I don't think it's quite obvious enough to be visible during the day, not unless you look closely.

Menalippe walks closer and carefully looks him over. "It appears that Lord Helios liked your song."

Diana is a little more concerned. "Kon, how do you feel?"

He thinks for a moment, eyes slightly down. Then he looks up and nods. "Good. I feel.. good. It feels…"

Analysing spectrum… "Like the sun."

"Yeah, like the sun. Or like my old solar suit. Is it permanent?"

Diana and Hippolyta look at Menalippe, who looks a little self conscious. "It has been some time since I have spoken to Lord Helios. There are auguries I could cast, but I think it more likely that Helios will inform you personally." Kon suddenly looks around. "No, not immediately. He may come to you in your dreams tonight."

"Okay." He nods again, before looking at Diana and Queen Hippolyta. "So.. are we going to visit the other temples now?"

Queen Hippolyta nods. "Yes, I think that would be wise. Perhaps the Temple of the Heavens next? Donna always liked it." She turns to me. "Paul, will you be accompanying us?"

"Nooo, I'm avoiding temples for the time being."

Diana nods. "That may be for the best."

Quick scan… "There's still a crowd in the forum. Can I just.. go there..?"

That seems to amuse the queen. "That is the purpose of having a forum. It is a place of free discussion and debate, and as a citizen you are free to address the crowds whenever you want." I nod. "And they are free to shout you down or completely ignore you as they choose."

"Sounds like a forum to me."

"I think that you will hold their attention, for a time at least." She turns to her daughter. "Diana, would you care to lead the way?"

I follow them back to the closest street and then we part ways. The citizenry are visibly curious but they give the royal party their space. I don't appear to quite have that same aura, but at this time of day this part of city is uncrowded enough that I'm not exactly hemmed in. I stroll though a courtyard ringed by a sort of Themysciran low rise block of flats. It's square in shape, three storeys high and the rooms are designed to get sunlight on both sides. Another point of interest that distinguished Themyscira from other old cities: wide streets. Narrow streets in places like London are the result of old unregulated construction, high land prices or an attempt to force an invading army to split up and attack piecemeal. None of those had much influence on building here, not when these structures went up. Amazons build things to be defensible almost instinctively but they favour the ability to move quickly around their city in numbers, reasoning that they would be the ones getting the most benefit from wide thoroughfares. In the event of an enemy getting a significant foothold in the lower city they'd pull back to the inner city anyway, with places like this turning into miniature forts in enemy territory.

As I leave through the far arch I'm forced to jerk to a halt to avoid walking into two local women pushing a handcart of loaves. They stare at me in surprise for a moment, then the closest one leans up to her partner's ear and whispers 'fruit'. She grins in recognition as I smile socially and manoeuvre around their cart. She also does me the courtesy of waiting until I'm past them before she starts giggling. Oh come on, it wasn't that funny.

The forum is a wide open area with stone carved seating at one end and market stalls around the edges. Not that they're doing a lot of business at the moment. The place isn't quite as jam packed as it was when Kon appeared but there are still a great many Amazons here talking noisily about recent events. Um. Ring, search for keyword 'Hera'.

{orange}No mention of recent events detected.{/}

That's probably a good thing.

"Hey, it's the other one." A small group near me look around at the urging of one of their number. Not exactly hostile, more a sort of wary curiousness. A few other clusters notice me and conversation starts dropping off. Ah. These aren't a random cross section of Amazons or guards, these are the most politically aware and active members of the community and while they might not be prepared to badger 'Prince Kon' I have no such protection. They start looking at me expectantly, the one who pointed me out to her fellows taking a quick glance around before turning back to me. "Well?"

"I didn't have a speech prepared. This.. is.. a slightly larger audience than I was aiming for."

She puts her hands on her hips. "Don't they teach rhetoric in Man's World?"

"In point of fact, no, but-" Ring, forumwide sound.

{orange}Compliance.

"{/}-if you'll bear with me I'll see what I can come up with off the cuff." I float upwards a metre so that I can be seen over the crowd. More and more turn to face me. Thanks to the ring I can maintain a conversational volume while still being clearly heard. It's a bit like how crooners like Frank Sinatra only worked after the invention of microphones. My own ability to project my voice wouldn't be anything like good enough. Last time I was on a stage was my primary school's production of Peter Pan.

My Nana was unforgettable.

"I am Orange Lantern Two Eight One Four and as of Christmas I am a citizen of Themyscira. Since I'm not going to be living here-" A few look slightly relieved. Thanks gals. "-full time I will be unable to participate in daily life. Still, my citizenship is important to me. If there is anything I can do for you, my.. sisters, you have but to make me aware of it and it will be done."

"Are you the prince's lover?!"

There's some laughter in the crowd as I try to work out who said that. Given the nature of their society I suppose that I shouldn't be surprised by them asking. "No, Kon and I are not lovers. Kon is currently.. stepping out with a young woman named M'gann M'orzz." I generate a construct image of her in Human form waving at them. "They've been fighting side by side for a little over six months now." The nearest Amazon equivalent to 'going steady'.

"Is Alan Scott well?"

"He's old now, but his health is reasonable."

"So why didn't he come with you?"

Why would..? I focus my eyes on the asker. Oh, probably one of the wardens from the old prison. "Because this is Kon's first introduction to his people. Mine too. Alan didn't want to create even more disruption, though if no one has any objection he may accompany us in future."

"I don't like this tune! Bard, sing something else!"

There's laughter as my head snaps around at the sound of Eris' voice, but if she were ever there she's gone again. A moment later the crowd takes up the chant of 'Song! Song!' and I take a bow, arms spread out to the side with rings facing forwards. "Your obedient servant." I rise a little further into the air. What would be appropr- ah! That would work.

"Deep into the stoney hills
miles from town or hold
a troop of guards comes riding
with a lady and her gold."

{red}8th January
15:55 GMT +3{/}

"Three survived unscathed: the mage whose sword knows every trick,
The fighter who's a cleric, and the guard who called in sick."

I mug a little at the last line and get a small laugh from the crowd. Not really sure why they found the 'woman's sense of time' line so amusing. I was a little concerned that they'd simply be offended by it. I take a shallow bow and turn back to my accuser. "Does that answer your concern, Orana?"

"One song doesn't prove that you are not a barbarian brute."

"But surely the fact that I was willing to sing it to an audience-" I describe the arc of the attending Amazons with my hands. "-does?"

"Perhaps." She frowns again as the crowd begins to disperse. "One of the Royal Guards said that you were offended when Menalippe asked which gods you prayed to."

"Prayer." Contempt oozes out of me as I exhale the word. "An attempt by the weak to convince a large predator that they are pets rather than food." I look around. Can't see the sea from here but I still know approximately where the wards start from this side. Hateful things. Perfect isolation didn't cause the Amazons' stasis but it certainly encouraged it. When the exile first happened and they were in no fit state to defend themselves against their enemies it was a boon but in the millennia following it simply became a crutch, preventing their development. Not that I think they'll ever see it like that.

"It is nothing of the kind!" Ah, I've finally managed to offend Dyctinna as well. Took longer than I thought it would. I know full well that me being on Themyscira is a one off, and if it weren't for Kon and Match I'd have left after lunch. Nm, maybe after having seen Baroness von Gunther's old workshop. I was sad to find that there's not much left there now. Utterly amazing woman, though of course her brilliance was completely wasted here. She could build an invisible jet aircraft in nineteen forty three! To say nothing of her still one-of-a-kind Purple Healing Ray! If the Nazis had been less sexist or if Diana had been less vigilant in destroying her laboratories…

Orana appears more sanguine about that particular pronouncement. "At least we don't have to worry about you praying to Ares."

I snort. "Of course not. Why would I pray to a lesser being than myself?"

Antimache actually laughs at that. "You believe yourself to be mightier than Ares? Oh, your arrogance knows no bounds!"

"I'll not deny that I'm less powerful. For the moment." Once I saw what was happening to Kaldur I did some rather detailed checking of my own soul structure. Turns out I'm still growing. Father Box tells me that I could halt it, {orange}but somehow that doesn't seem like a good idea{/}. If I was willing to go full rock monster for a trivial increase in physical strength, the sort of {orange}power I could get from this is well worth the risk{/}. "But while he's stuck in… Wherever it was Zeus stuck him after his last dust up with Wonder Woman, I have far more freedom and-" I gesture at her. "-far better companionship. I don't understand why you even have a temple to him."

Orana looks unimpressed. "We're not replacing it with one to you."

"Good. I'd hate that. I have no interest in a having a pack of snivelling bitches licking at my feet." Scowl, not just from my escorts but on the faces of more than a few eavesdroppers as well. "No, {orange}I want equals{/}. I still hold out some vain hope of finding some here." I was very interested to see Hippolyta's soul structure. I wonder where she got that power from? Or what she can do with it? Unlike post crisis pre whatever DC she wasn't the Wonder Woman of the nineteen forties here. "Or perhaps creating some. Tell me, have you ever wanted to be as strong as Princess Diana is? Or as I am?"

Antimache shakes her head with a snarl. "I would sooner sacrifice myself to Uranus than barter with you for power or be touched by your tainted magics."

"None of my magics." I make a dismissive wave with my right hand. The only divine characteristics I've developed so far are strength and endurance and I don't think that I can simply bestow them. What sort of things can… Could a fully mature God of Conquest do, I wonder? "Simple alchemy, such as could be replicated here if any of you had the wit for it. And I offer it freely." Dyctinna shudders as she shakes her head. "I know that Princess Diana craves the company of other women in the halls of the Justice League. I can make that happen for you."

Orana checks that neither of her comrades want to speak then addresses me with clear distaste. "And you desire a pack of bitches who can keep up with you?"

Hah! "Though I'll not deny that the idea of having a harem of warrior goddesses does have a certain -adolescent- appeal, no." I take a photo of Jade posing with her glowing green swords out of subspace and hold it out to her. "This is {violet}Jade Nguyen{/}. I consider her my equal in all regards. I have no other lover and.. no real interest in acquiring one." Orana looks at me sceptically so I take that photo back and replace it with one showing the two of us cuddled up together. "Another reason to consider myself superior to your pantheon, headed as it is by the God of Philanderers and the Goddess of Doormats." A few sharp intakes of breath from the crowd. I sneer at them. "He's never met a warm hole he hasn't fucked and she's passively accepted it for their entire lives. My father may be the God of Tyranny but at least he has class. At least he was genuinely loyal to the woman he professed to love." Wooo. Did I just speak admiringly of Darkseid? Time to rein it in.

Orana hands the photograph back. There's something I can't quite read about her face. Some undercurrent beneath the distaste. "You truly believe yourself to be a god?"

"Ah, and what a family we are! My mother and father weren't even siblings!" I throw my smile at their scowls. "You see, my father knew that a war god raised on Apokolips would be powerful and he had no desire to create a rival. You saw how well that worked for Uranus and Cronus. So he split the domain between each of his four sons." I generate a construct of Orion in full war gear. "My elder brother, Orion. Dammed by Tigra, father's second wife. God of the Glories of War. The power of every triumph, every moment of victory and every glorious exaltation to the victor. Every piece of territory made safe by force of arms and every word of thanks given to martial skill." I let them take him in for a moment. "Knowing that he inherited our father's rage, Father traded him as a hostage to New Genesis as part of the peace treaty. He grew to manhood in their lands, where they consider war and violence to be abominations."

Dyctinna's eyes narrow. "They are."

"But he needs them. Without a righteous fight to channel his energies into he struggles constantly to keep his own temper under control. And every so often he-" I click my fingers. "-fails. Oh, he's always very sorry about it afterwards…" I shrug. "Not that it helps him. You see, Father hated Tigra. Grandmother forced him to marry her, so he sent their son somewhere that would drive him mad. Or better -since he hates our Father- cause him to end up as something like him."

It's an unpleasant story from an unpleasant mouth but I appear to be holding their attention.

"Next, my eldest brother, Kalibak." A new construct appears besides the first. Kalibak is far larger than either Orion or myself, and his bizarrely disproportionate head makes him seem even more so. "His mother was Suli, Father's first wife. The one he genuinely loved. Kalibak is the God of the Horror of War. Every pointless death, every crippled and dying casualty left to rot where they fell, every moment of barbarism, every library burnt to ashes in an orgy of pointless slaughter. The urge to rage and killing which turns men to rabid beasts." I consider my audience. "And women and others as well. He's probably closest to your Ares in all but looks. Him, Father keeps by his side, giving him targets to destroy in his name but never a single kind word. Alone out of all of us Kalibak wants that. Wants Father's approval. And he doesn't get it. Battle is his forte. Philosophy is alien to him. He isn't stupid.. precisely, but he is.. less mentally complex than the rest of us. He leads armies, he gets no thanks and he can't understand what he's doing wrong. Father presents him with a problem he can't hit…"

Orana looks at me curiously. "And what did your father do to you?"

"He showed the God of Conquest a place that can't be conquered! Apokolips…" I replace the images of my kinsmen with one of the death world.

"If you can't handle the task-."

"You can't conquer a dead fish! You can't change the values of a people who have none! I am {orange}conquest{/}. You do not conquer a people merely by overrunning their armies with your own. No, there are subtler techniques that must be employed. Finance. Culture. Theology, even. And a people are not conquered because you hold knives at their throats and can compel them on pain of death! A people are only {orange}yours{/} when they bow their heads willingly, when your laws are their laws, your customs their customs, your gods -should you need them- their gods. When they no longer think of they and you but of us, as one inseparable community." I shake my head. "Apokolips is insanity. Freeing myself from under Father's thumb may have cost me most of my power, but it was worth it. Earth has possibilities." I feign a faint smile. "Particularly given how weak its gods are."

{orange}Warning: atmospheric dist-{/}

Air currents blur around me and the Amazons jump back as the lightning bolts strike me from all directions!

{orange}-urbance detected.{/}

I wince and brace, the orange in my armour glowing brilliantly. Electrical energy crackles around me for a moment before earthing itself. I dust myself off. I was wondering how long that would take. Looks like the King of the Amoebas has temper control issues. I look up into the clear sky. "Nice try, jackass. Next time give it your A game." Helps that Apokoliptian armour is specifically designed to stop divine magics. In fact I'd have to say that was mostly the armour. I doubt there'll be a follow up. Once is 'I've got my eyes on you' but two would be an embarrassing failure. If the armour held.

"Anyway, Scott Free, my younger brother and the God of Freedom is the only one of my brothers I actually like." Not sure the stunned Amazons are still taking this in but I'll give it a try anyway. "Probably because he was fostered…"

8th January
15:55 GMT +3

"Three things trust above all else:
the horse on which you ride,
the beast that guards your sleeping
and your shieldmate at your side."

Applause ripples through the crowd and I take another bow. Must be a while since they've heard a song from the outside world. I don't think they have radios here and I'm not sure.. ring? No, radio waves from the surface don't pass through the wards. Not well enough to make out a tune, anyway. Radio waves from the League's communication satellite appear to be unaffected.

"Were you a singer before you became an Orange Lantern?"

"No, it's just a hobby. Though how about you?" I turn my head to take in the rest of the crowd. "Do we have any singers here?" A few clusters turn to look at one of their number, but no one exactly leaps forwards. "I ask because one of the things I wanted to do while I'm here is find out if there's any chance some of them might be persuaded to undertake a tour of… Well, anywhere that isn't Themyscira." More than a few smiles fade at the request. "America might not quite be civilised but it does its best. Or mainland Greece? You could visit the lands of Old Themyscira as part of the trip." Not getting much of a response. "Three thousand years' worth of songs that have never been heard by the rest of the world, not to mention anything you remember from Ancient Greece. No?" No one speaks. "Alright. If the singers are all too modest, why not actresses? " I'm scanning the crowd, trying to make eye contact with as many people as possible. "Princess Diana told me that you -by which I mean we- have records of Sappho's plays and poetry. Her fame has survived in Man's World even after all record of their content has been lost. If you offered to put on a performance people would flock to see it."

"There is nothing in Man's World that we need."

Ah! An opponent! It's so hard to argue with fresh air. I float over the crowd who part so that I can land just in front of the irate-looking speaker. I extend the amplification effect to encompass her. "Dear lady! Make yourself known to the crowd!"

Her eyes narrow as she looks me over. "I am Clyemne, and unlike you the crowd knows me perfectly well. We all know each other. You may be under the Princess' thumb but we all know of the brutality and savagery of Man's World."

"I believe that the Princess wants to tame the rest of my kind as well."

"And in that task I pray that the goddesses bless her."

"As my former countrymen say, 'the gods help those who help themselves'." A small chuckle from a few places in the crowd. They are the point, after all. "Don't you think it would be easier if a few of the good women of Themyscira involved themselves as well?"

"I don't think that it is possible, and while Gaea has granted the Princess divine fortitude the rest of us are made of mortal flesh."

"So mortal that you can't stand the rigours of acting?" Could make an age joke, don't think it would make sense. "Okay, okay. What if you were?"

"Explain."

I hold out my right hand and a vial of the Danner Formula appears from subspace. "It just so happens that I have an alchemical formula that would allow anyone who uses it be to be her equal in strength and endurance. If it's right for her, why not for you?" I turn to take in the crowd once again. "Or anyone here? Would it help if every warrior in Themyscira had such strength? Because we can do that. We can do that."

"Even the Princess is not immortal."

I turn back to Clyemne, having the rings track everyone whose eyes linger on the vial. "There's a limit to how safe life can be! And they'd hardly be left to their own devices. Do you have any idea how much effort -for example- the US government would put into protecting an Amazon theatre troupe? Heck, I'll look after them. I will personally escort them around guiding, translating and -if necessary, it probably won't be- defending."

Clyemne's lip curls in revulsion. "No. We aren't about to pollute our bodies with your profane potions. There is nothing in Man's World that is necessary to our lives here and we will have no part of it."

"Lots of things aren't necessary. Plays aren't necessary. Books aren't necessary. Heck, in this climate houses and clothes aren't necessary. Civilisation -sophisticated civilisation- is defined by things that aren't necessary. If you think the rest of the world is uncivilised-" I kneel down, clasping my hands together and looking up at her imploringly. "-on behalf of the rest of the world I implore you to show us how to do it better."

She jerks her head away from me in distaste. "Get up you ridiculous buffoon."

"I offered my aid freely. I'm willing to beg for yours."

"Is it true that you worship Eris?"

I look around, but I'm too low down to spot the speaker. The voice wasn't Eris's. "Yes." There's a slight collective intake of breath and Clyemne starts to look a little more confident. "Eris instructs me to bring about a change. Any change. The Ophidian-" I pat her carry case. "-tells me to help you get what you want." I stand up. "She's a very individualistic sort of snake. If you can better get what you want by doing things differently and it hurts no one?" I shrug. "Why not do it?"

Clyemne comes a little closer. "We do not need the Chaos Goddess' aid in obtaining what we want. Perhaps it is the way of Man's World to constantly lust for more. It is not the way in Themyscira. You will learn that, given time. We simply don't need-."

"No. You do." I float back up into the air. "Births since nineteen hundred, either zero or one depending on whether Princess Diana counts or not. New citizens? Six: Princess Diana, Paula von Gunther, Helena Kosmatos, Hippolyta Trevor, Prince Kon-El and myself. That's more than in the previous millennium, and the death toll in the previous millennia was far more than six."

She takes that surprisingly calmly. "And what exactly do you suggest we do about it?"

"Have children. I can help with that." Yellow dolls flare across the forum. What the heck is with that?

Clyemne actually manages a thin smile at that. "Just you? Not Prince Kon as well? Or perhaps you would like to invite some friends?"

On the crowd's faces more than a few appear to be giving me looks of distaste. What did I just..? {yellow}Oh fuck{/}! "No! No. No. I don't mean 'sire them myself'." I look at Clyemne as if she's said something completely disgusting. "It's perfectly within my abilities-" I generate a construct image of an ovum. "-to merge the genetic material of two women. Obviously only one could actually carry the child-."

"How is that possible!?"

I look directly at the woman who shouted from near the back of the crowd. The yellow doll within pulses like a heartbeat, thin wisps of violet radiating off it. I need to talk to someone about that, but for now... "Man's World science!" I expand the image of the ovum and generate a small swarm of sperm. "The biological description of the child comes half from the mother-" I pulse the ovum. "-and half from the father. The two cells come together-" The edge of the ovum as the sperm swims its way in. "-the two sets of data merge-" Since I'm pretty sure that the majority of Amazons know nothing about genetics I'll fuzz the details. "-and the newly fertilised ovum divides and divides-" Somewhat time lapsed. "-and divides until eventually-" Cells specialise and the zygote looks increasingly Human shaped. "-you get a child. But when you have a power ring-" I dismiss the image and create two ovum constructs. "-there's no reason you can't take the data from one ovum and transfer it to another. The resulting child would always be female, but if anyone here wants to be an Oma or a Fama-" Another look around. Emotions on their faces vary. I could get a better idea by looking more deeply but.. no. I'm not doing that. "-I can do that for you."

I float up a little higher, just over the top of the near by buildings. I should probably leave them time to discuss that little bombsh-.

Is the sea meant to be doing that?

8th January
15:59 GMT +3

"Is the sea meant to be doing that?"

Diana studies the horizon. "No. It most certainly is not."

Diana, Kon and I float over the lower city as a colossal wave of water heads towards the city-side of the island. Actual tidal waves are more like a constant flow of water, as if the land has suddenly dropped and the water is flowing in to re-establish sea level. This is more like the cartoon version. It's got to be at least three kilometres long and one high and assuming its speed remains constant it'll hit the shore in three minutes. I don't even want to try to work out the physics involved.

Kon watches as well. "Shouldn't the wards have stopped it?"

Diana shakes her head. "It's already inside the wards. The Justice League would have alerted me if it had been created by anything natural."

"Have I got time to put on my armor?"

"'Fraid not."

Donna flies up to join us, having deposited Cassandra and Doctor Sandsmark in the palace. "So.. what are we doing about it?"

A railgun construct sixty metres long forms in the air next to me. "Mageslayer rounds available at your request sir."

Kon looks down at the shoreline. "Are there any boats out there?"

Diana shakes her head. "The fishing boats usually come back mid morning."

"Don't you have.. giant shark things? And naiads?"

"I've sent the Megalodons to the far side of the island. Naiads have nothing to fear from water." She says nothing for a moment. "What is she doing here?"

The gun hums above us as I target the centre of the water wall. "Sir?"

She turns to look at me. "Orange Lantern, skim the target. Use a solid slug."

"Sir." There's a sort of electric roaring sound as the iron-jacketed tungsten projectile is flung along the gun's rails and towards the top of the watery wall. It strikes and passes through with no obvious reaction. The rings map a very slight depression in the wave from the shockwave that follows my supersonic shot, but nothing visibly happens. "Sir?"

"Why is she doing this?" She studies the wave for a moment. "Fire again, solid shot. Aim at the center."

"Sir." Another roar from the gun and a similar lack of observable results.

Donna looks at Diana. "You think it's Scylla? But she hardly ever leaves the ocean floor."

"Has the water slowed?"

Ring? "No."

Diana shakes her head in frustration. "Fine. If she will not take the hint… Mageslayer, aim at sea level."

"Sir." Another roar. Not sure what to expe-.

"RWHAAAAAHG!"

The air shakes as a portion of the centre of the tidal wave collapses and a titanic serpentine neck extends out of it. Part fish, part snake and all monster, Scylla's head orientates directly at my gun and peers at us with four eyes arranged in two pairs on either side of the upper jaw.

"That's a bit bigger than the Kraken was. Um, wave's stopped, by the way."

Diana smiles slightly. "Hopefully we can reason with her."

Kon looks puzzled. "Is she intelligent?"

Diana nods. "Usually. She was a victim of Circe's magic long ago, even before the Exile. I don't know why she's here, though. Orange Lantern, Troia, remain here. Superboy, with me."

Donna and I nod as she and Kon fly off in the direction of the head-. Heads now, as a second has appeared from the water to pull up alongside the first. Neither of them look particularly happy. "Have you met Scylla before?"

She nods, keeping her attention on the departing form of our mentor. "Yes, once. She attacked an oil tanker that had been discharging waste oil at sea near where she usually rests."

"I don't remember seeing anything about that in the press."

"The meeting happened under water."

"I didn't know you could breathe under water."

Donna shrugs. "Tethys likes me." She frowns. "Was Kon.. glowing?"

Kon and Diana come to a halt and the two heads reorientate on them.

"Helios liked his singing."

"People say a lot of bad things about the Titans, but once you get past Cronus a lot of-."

One of the heads lunges forwards! Diana and Kon evade as water sprays in every direction! Should I fire again? No, she's still got her personal communicator. If she wants fire support she'll call for it. The majority of the wave of water is collapsing forwards, though a water spout is forming around the combat zone.

Donna's eyes widen. "Bacon!"

What? "What?"

The wave isn't exactly collapsing so much as trading height for movement, coming right for the island.

Donna looks a lot more concerned than I am. "You have bacon in subspace? Give it to me." Um, okay? Three rashers appear in front of her and she pulls a jar of honey out of her belt, pulls off the lid and pours it out over the bacon. "Great Hekate, please accept-"

Rather than rising as it reaches the shallows the wave drops further. It's only about three metres high now and there doesn't appear to be much force behind it.

"-this offering and show me-."

The water surges up the land in defiance of physics and where it passes naked, grey skinned humanoids are deposited in the streets and on the tops of buildings. They look a bit like La'gaan, only more streamlined and far more feral. The Amazons are either under arms or in shelters so I'm not immediately worried about civilian casualties.

"Okay, forget showing me. Shield me from my foes' magics."

The bacon and honey fade into dust as the last gasp of the wave shoots up the main thoroughfare, surging over the walls and depositing seven people inside the inner city. Five of the monstrous fishmen form a perimeter around the other two as the water that brought them here vanishes. The first is a man of average height dressed in a shocking red suit with a white shirt, black tie, black shoes and black gloves. His head is invisible and I can only tell where he's looking due to the simple red mask which appears to be floating where his face should be. Johnny Sorrow. I thought he was dead… Or at least gone. He appears to be taking in the assembled Royal Guard with affected disinterest. The second person is easy to identify. Circe. She's wearing black and purple body armour covered over by a green outer robe and she's got a very punchable face.

She smiles up at Donna and I, then turns to Mister Sorrow. "This is as far as I take you. You can deal with the rest yourself."

Sorrow shrugs. "I͝'̸m ̧n͜ot ͡iǹ ͝a̛ ̡ru̡s̶h̕.͝"̢ He reaches for his mask with his right hand. "̵An͞d͠ I̛ ẃas̡ ͟pl͟a͞nni͜ng on ̷kil̛ļin͞g̕ e̡ve͏r͢yon̷e͡ ̶anywąy͞.́"̀

8th January
16:04 GMT +3

Accelerated perception. I fire a solid orange beam directly at him and it passes through his body with no resistance. No surprise; the Justice Society's records said that he's intangible while his mask is on. But since he becomes tangible with it off, anything being stuck through him forces him to keep it on. I have no idea how his instant death effect works. I think in the comics his true face was supposed to be so terrifying that anyone who saw it had a stroke and heart attack combination but I don't particularly want to experiment at the moment.

Next to me Donna is diving towards Circe. Target Circe's hands, filament, chain-. It passes through her. Intangibility? Possible. Themysciran law on lethal force? Good-oh. Two small railguns ooze into being next to me, loaded with Crumbler rounds.

The Amazons on the plaza have formed a shield wall protecting their archers. The Fishmen are already leaping towards them and gaining bulk from nowhere as they do so. Filaments to the foreheads-.

{orange}Unable to establish connection.{/}

Fine. Summon Praexis Swarm? Could be a tricky one, demons on Themyscira. Ring, more turrets, autofire on the Fishmen.

{orange}Compliance.{/}

The Amazons will recognise Circe easily enough but do they know Mister Sorrow? I'd guess not. I'll need to go back to normal speed to warn them. Railgun constructs are finished. I hear the weirdly distorted roar as they fire and I can see the rounds burning the air as they fly towards their targets. Mister Sorrow is starting to move aside to try to escape my obstruction and the Amazon bowwomen are grabbing five arrows out of their quivers and loosing at the Fishmen. Circe's just grinning at the scene. The first Crumbler round passes through Mister Sorrow's left shin and fails to trigger. A thought and I activate it manually. A chunk of stone just behind him dematerialises but the man himself is unaffected. Same negative impact on Circe.

Okay, Sorrow I sort of get, but if Circe was using magic to render herself intangible the chains should have shut it down. What is-? She's not casting a shadow. I'm seeing her, so she must be blocking light… Ring, analyse patterns of shadow on Circe. Where's she hiding?

{orange}Processing.{/}

Donna completes her dive into Circe and then through her, causing her image to ripple. Arrows strike the closest three Fishmen in the head as they continue to expand. Most are deflected off their skin but one gets two arrows straight through its left eye and into the brain. He's… He? She? Can't tell. It's dead, but the force of the shot isn't enough to counter its momentum. It's still going to hit the spearline and I very much doubt that they're strong enough to hold against that weight.

{orange}Probable approximate locations calculated.{/}

Another filament links to the dead Fishman and begins applying force to counteract his momentum as the additional turrets finish materialising and open fire. The Fishman furthest forwards manages to make it into contact with only moderate injuries while the remaining three are torn apart by my mini-crumbler shots. His success is short lived as his eagerness allows the Amazons to greet him with eight orichalcum spear points, cutting through his arms and impaling him through the chest and neck

{orange}Control of construct lost.{/}

Gah! I jerk in the air and everything moves back to normal speed. What just-? No, keep going. Filaments cover the area the ring believes that Circe's in and are met with solid matter. A glowing orange Circe looks up in surprise and Donna lunges once more as I go for the chain. No luck. She dissolves back into water and surges across the plaza, dodging my Mageslayer rounds as she heads for the far wall.

"͜Fr͢us͏t͞rat͜in̕g..."̷ The beam I stuck through Mister Sorrow is now.. fractured in the air around him, the space around it distorted and.. bent. That's new. He takes a moment to adjust his gloves before reaching up towards his mask with both hands. They'd need to see him, right? I stick an opaque orange dome over him, making sure to include an orange base in the hope that will stop him phasing through the floor or something.

With the immediate targets gone I lift the turrets up and have them target the Fishmen in the lower city. The distance and the risk of hitting a friendly means I have to be a bit more selective in my targeting but I'm still not exactly short of things to shoot. They appear to be trying to move around and behind Amazon formations rather than charging them, relying on their tough skin to protect them from arrows. With a thought I tell the guns to shoot to injure and cripple rather than kill. The Amazons should be skilled enough to be able to take them down as long as they are physically capable of hurting them and a prisoner or two wouldn't go amiss.

"Donna-" I thrust the chain at her. "-go after Circe." She nods and flies off in the direction that Circe's water spout was heading in.

The Amazon block is forming a crescent moon around where I've got Mister Sorrow locked up and one with a slightly fancier helmet plume looks up at me. "You have him?"

Brand.

{orange}Unable to establish connection. Alert! Spatial anomaly-{/}

I form another containment construct around the first.

{orange}-detected! Control of construct lost.

"{/}No, I don't. His name is Johnny Sorrow and he has a Gorgon gaze." They're familiar with them at least. "If you see his face, you die. He doesn't even need eye contact and I don't know how to hold him long term.{orange}"

Alert! Spatial anomaly detected!{/}

I focus my mind on the idea of containment and my desire to see my foes rendered harmless. "I recommend either taking your soldiers to the lower city or finding me as many mirrors as you can." I don't actually have any mirrors with me. I mean, why would I?

{orange}Control of construct lost.{/}

The dome bulges across its outer surface and then fractures, distorted fragments remaining suspended in the air and drifting away as he strolls forwards with his right hand gripping the bottom of his mask. "͝Tim̛e͢ to̵ ͝die."̢

I fire a beam but it falls apart before reaching him. I put an opaque orange visor over my eyes and have the ring interpret sonar pings to replace my vision. That should do it, right? The Amazons already have their shields up to block their faces, those with bows having either slung them over their backs or dropped them. He lifts his mask away… No, I'm registering some sort of undulating mass on top of his shoulders but my heart and brain appear to be unaffected.

"̧O̸h̶,́ ͟f͞ór pi̶ty҉'̛s͏ s̶a҉ke.͡ ̡ No̧ ̕òne͡?͢"̶

"Guard, fall back!"

He's tangible when his mask is off, right? I take another shot at his leg. He jerks when it hits but I don't see any blood. Ah well, had his chance. Ring, bra-

"A̢l҉ri҉g͘h͞t͞ t̷h̡e̢n͜.̨ ͏ The b̷orįn҉g̶ ̸w̨ay̛.͏"

-nd.

The air around him breaks and.. there's.. sort of.. holes where the sound the rings are generating is being entirely absorbed. I think I'm glad that I can't see it.

{orange}Unable to establish connection.

My Agent, I detect the hand of another.{/}

Whatever he's doing doesn't appear to be any healthier for the stone ground than it is for my constructs. My construct armour effortlessly absorbs the stone fragments that are hurled in my direction but several Amazons are knocked flat. They're disciplined enough to keep their eyes covered, though. A moment later the stones are sucked back into place and the remaining fragments of construct fade into non-existence.

He's in the corridors of the underground parts of the palace. I haven't really had a tour. Scans don't show there being anyone near his location and I still don't have a way to hurt him. Tricky.

Two Crumblers in succession create a permanent hole in the stonework and I transition after him.

8th January
16:07 GMT +3

The rings show me Mister Sorrow pause at the end of the stone corridor and half turn back to me. "M͜ister ̛T̶ru̴g̀gs ͢àsked̢ ͟t҉o ̕b͞e̵ r̴e̕m̀em͜bere̸d t̡o you̧.̴"

"Working for him, are you?"

"W҉e̕ ́sh̵a͝re ̛emp̛loyer̵s."

"How does the King of Tears-" He stiffens slightly. "-feel about you moonlighting?"

"̨Libe͠ra҉t́i͞ng͝ ̛th͞e͜ King̶ of T̕e̶a͢r͢s ̴is a̡ v̨ery lon͝g̡ ter̴m͜ aim.̨" He starts to turn away. "͞ ̶W̛ill ̢yo̴ų ̵wàlk͞ wi̕th ͠me?̀ ͞ You k̶n͡ow y̢ơu ̡ca̡n't s͞to̸p̵ ̸m̴e."̶

"Oh?" An orange beam blasts at him from my chest.

"͝P̵-͘l̕e̷as̀e."̧ The beam fractures where it would hit him, and then the fractures advance back towards me! I cut the beam before they can get any closer, and once again the parts he's distorted remain in place for several seconds rather than dissipating immediately. "͝I f̀o̶uģh͞t͠ G͘re͠èn ͝Lant͝e̸rn ̵i͠n͞ his ̴p̶r̛i͠me.͘ ̡ ̧Y͡ou͠'l͞l͡ hav͜e̶ t͏o͏ ͞d͘o c͏on͝si͝d҉er͘ab͘l̢y̵ ͏be̶tte͘r thàn̷ ̕t͟h͢a͞t̡.҉"̶ He turns fully away from me and walks onwards to the next intersection. "̷Are y͢o͠u̕ ҉c̷o҉min͝g҉?"

No harm I suppose. I walk after him. "Lead on, MacDuff." Think think think. How do I use the rings to affect a thing like him?

"́M̛is̷te҉r T͞ru̵gg̀s͏ ͝believ͏es̡ that y̧o͟ư ̵c̡ome f͢rom ̢th́e̸ futu̧re͢."

He's not using conventional phasing or magic. "And you?"

He stops for a moment. "͠T̡h̸er̵e ̀a͡re s͝t̷ra̵ņge̛r p̨ląc͡es̕ ͟t͝hąn th̢e͠ ͟fut͟ưr͘e̛."̸

What does that leave that could produce the phenomena observed? Stewart ring? Any time you feel like chipping in. "I heard about your journey into the Subtle Realms."

"͘'̕J̕ou̴rǹey'͏ sel̡l͠s ͟i̸t ҉rath̕eŕ ̴shor͝t."̧

{orange}No data available.{/}

Darn. "Do you want to talk about it? A lot of metahumans find that it helps, especially given what happened to your wife."

No reaction. "͘A̸ foo̴li̡s͝h a͜ttemṕt ͜on͘ my p̵a͠rt̨ tǫ ̛d̸ény wh̸at ̧I'͟ve ͞bec͟o̧m̶e̸.͘"͜

"And what exactly is that?"

"R̢e͜mo̵v͏e t̸he̕ ̀glowing̕ face m̷a͢sk ̨an͞d I'̨l͘l ̵b̸e ha̷ppy̢-̕"͏ His right hand moves towards his chin again. "͏-t̨o s͏ho̡w͜ you̧.̷"

There's a slight temptation. What sort of vision could be horrific enough to actually kill people? I had a sleepless night after I killed Kath-. After I destroyed what was left of Katherine Maher, but the horror of fighting her didn't cause me any physical damage. The idea that it's even possible still sounds ridiculous. Maybe the image serves as a conduit for some sort of bound spell? I don't remember hearing about him using the ability on anyone with good magic defences. "I'll pass, thank you. Why are you here?"

He lowers his hand. "͞Oc͟eań Maste͠r w̴ants͠ s҉ǫm͡ȩthin͟ǵ fr̕om͘ ͝th̢e̶ T͠he̡m͞ys͏c̶ir҉a͡n̷ ̨treas̶ury̕."̡

What? "Orm's dead. I was there when they executed him." I hadn't realised that that was how they'd carry it out. From the plume of blood that left his neck after King Orin said goodbye I'm going to assume that he was dead before the Barracuda started on him. I had no idea what to say to King Orin afterwards. I know he doesn't blame me, I just wish there'd been some other way to go about it. Regular Atlantean executions are much more humane. If I'd known in advance, I wouldn't… I don't know. Legally, I could have killed him when we fought. I just.. don't want to be that guy.

Mister Sorrow seems to find the idea amusing. "That́ i͠s̷ nơt҉ d̢ead͜ whic̶h ca͘n et҉e̢r̶n̢a҉l͘ li͘e. ̕An͢d ̕w̡i͟th s͘t̷ran̛g͞e ͞a͏eons̡ e̷veǹ ̵d̢ea͞t̕h ͏ma͏y ̀di͏é."

"Lovecraft? From you? Really?"

"͝F̵ine̕,́ i̛t w͞a̡s̀ ͏in͟ ̶h̶is̨ ̨wi͏ļl̷. A̢ ̨s͢ort̨ o̡f̛ p͜o̡s̡t̨ mo̴r͘tèm̡ ͘'ge̢t th͞e̸ guy͝s̨ ̷wh̴o ͡got̴ m̧e a̡ņd h͝er̛e'͝s a śẁeeten̛ȩr͡.͏' Th́e ̶Am҉az҉o҉n͟s͜ ̨hav̛e b͜e̛e͝n ͡s͘i̸tting͜ on qu̸it̷e a trea͟su̸r̸e t̴r͞o̡v̢e ͏of́ ̀a̴r̢cane ́d̶evi̵c͞es a̕n̵d I ̵s͜ee ͏n͞o͡ reason͜ ńo̶t̡ ̧t̴o p͠u͡ţ ̡t͟he̢m̢ ̧ba̢ck ͟in̕ c҉ír̷c̕ul͟a̡t͞i̸on. Cir͟c͘e̴'͏s҉ h̸er̛e͏ ͏f͢or̶ ͝śom͝e͏ so͟rt҉ o͢f ͝her̨b.̡ I̶ w̶a͝s ̴o̷r̕ig͝i҉nall̵y͝ p͠l̀ánni̵ng ͢to t̢a͘k͡e ͢e͞ve̸r̷yt́h̢i̷ng a͘f͠ter̡ ͞I̢ ki͘ll͘e͏d th͝e͜ e̸nti͞r̡e po͘p̵u̧la̷t̕i͢o̶n,͠ b͏u͘t̡ ̢si͝nce͝ ͝yo̡u̸'r̡e h̨ere tha̧t's ̶g͠oi̸n̡g̨ ̛to be̴ ͏tòo ̷i̕r҉ri͘ta̢t̡i̴ng ̷t͝o̴ ̶b̀ot͞h͘er͝ ́wi҉th.͠"

Ring, open communications with Donna.

{orange}Compliance.{/}

Donna, Johnny Sorrow says that Circe's after some sort of magic herb. Does that sound plausible?

{orange}Could be? There's a lot of-. Oh.{/}

What?

{orange}I know where she's going. Is Sorrow under control?{/}

I look across at him. Ish?

{orange}Right. Catch up later.{/}

Still no idea how to do anything to stop him. In the distance the rings show me the staff evacuating. And some soldiers… Ah, a mirror! I should try something like that as well. I need more information. "Where did the Fishmen come from?"

"̵F͠ro̕m͝ ͞the ̷At́la҉ntea̵n ci̶t̷y̕ ͞o͞f̛ ́S̸a̛rem̀e̵.͡ ̕ Oce͘an҉ ͜Ma͡st̶er̸'s ̢f͝ri̷end͡s...̴ ͘ ́O̷r̸ s҉o̢methin̡g lik͏e͠ that́."

"Intelligent?" I'm pretty sure that they are but confirmation will be nice. No, not nice nice. Useful.

"̴So th̕ey ̴te͝l̕l͜ m̶e̶. ͡I͠ don'҉t sp͞e͘ak ͡t͘he ̨l̸an̵g͏u͏age."

I follow as he takes a left. Secure storerooms, if I remember correctly. Can I pull his mask off? Would that work? Then-.

{orange}Observed phenomena consistent with extra-dimensional being.{/}

Stewart ring, how are we using 'dimension' in this context? Because I come from a parallel universe and if it turns out-.

{orange}Extra-dimensional existence is not possible within the physical laws of this parallel. However, observed phenomena suggest the possibility of limited planar merger to permit it.{/}

So he's using the laws of a parallel universe to let him exist in this one?

{orange}Observed phenomenal consistency. However, no records of an equivalent being exist in records and analysis is speculative.{/}

And not particularly helpful in any case. I don't have a parallel universe jammer thing. Although… Any idea what would happen if I destroyed his mask?

{orange}That question should be referred to the Guardians.{/}

I notice a metal rim around the next passageway and stop. Mister Sorrow strides on through and ignores the lightning spell that triggers in response. If my earlier shot caused any lasting damage to his leg he's walked it off. Ophidian? Any bright ideas?

{orange}Eat him.{/}

Might come to that. "Mister Sorrow, I'm going to have to ask you to stop."

"I do̵n't͠ ̧t͠hi͡nk҉ I̧ ͟ẁill.̷" He stops opposite a vault door, electrical energy still crackling around him. He holds his hands out to the sides and a series of fissures appears in the walls, breaking the spell. Right, no sense wasting anti-magic rounds on him if the effect isn't magic. I place my hands on the wall of the room the door leads into and extend a filament through the brick, transmuting a mirror into being on the far side. Might get him if he just blasts through. I also prep a small railgun behind me, ready to try crumbling his mask if he takes it off again.

"Alright, changed my mind." He looks around and I drop the construct covering my face. "I can't imagine that whatever your face does could actually affect me. Show me."

"͘Take͏ off yo͝ur r͘in̢g̷ a̕nd̵ ͞I̡'ll̶ be̷ ǵlad͝ ̴tó." I hold out my left hand and float the ring off it, letting it fall to the ground. As it goes I dissipate my face mask and turn my environmental shield down to nothing as soon as it loses contact with my finger. Next, I have the Stewart ring sever my optic nerves. No sense being stupid about this. I imagine that he's looking at me, trying to work out my angle. "̴I'm͘ s̷u҉r̕e͟ t͢hére's a ̡t͟ri̷ck ͜h̸èr̨è,͢ ́b̸u҉t͠ f̶or̴ the ͡l͠i͡fe̛ ̕o͘f͞ ͏me ̢I c͢a̢n͡'t҉ s͟eę ̕i̵t͏." Can't see a thing, but from the sound of footsteps I'm going to guess that he's just turned towards me. "Well̢ the͟n͢. S͞i̶nc̵e you're͝ ҉so ͞i̵nte̶r͜ȩs͟te̡d." I hear the sound of cloth moving over cloth as he raises his arm to lift the mask off. "So̶. ͜ W̢hąt̸ do ͟y̧ou-͘?͘"͏ The railgun behind me jerks out to the side and fires directly at the mask. I hear a strangely echoey cracking sound as the round strikes home. "͟Oh..̴ y̧o̕u.. d̵id̢n'̀t̛.͘"͟

8th January
16:13 GMT +3

I raise my eyebrows. "Think I di-."

{orange}"Alert!Alert!Alert!Alert!A-!"{/}

The left ring leaps back onto my ring finger as the sonic sensor mask reforms on my face and fuckfuckfuckfuck! The weird areas I can't scan are multiplying!

Mister Sorrow's frantically grabbing at his own head, as if trying to contain something! "̸̥͙̣͇͇̞̑N̙̮͛̀̈́͐̀ͤ͝ơ̟̻̥͐̅̀̽͂!͔͈̼͈̥͕̙̀͛̇ ̠̜͎̒̃͝ ͯͣ͊͌̎͏̦̳̻̼N̼̞͠o̪̻̰̯̤͐ͭ͑̈̐̃!ͥ̀̔ͮ̍"͔̱͍͇̘͙͐̿͡

{orange}"Alert!Alert!Alert!Alert!A-!"{/} / {orange}"Massive spatial-!Massive spatial-!Massive spa-!"{/}

The corridor around me bulges outwards, the apparently solid stone walls rippling like sheets in the wind. Then two points seem to pull back, the rest twisting around them like water running down the drain. Maybe popping his dimensional stabiliser wasn't the most sensible-. The area of intense distortion around his head bubbles outwards as he takes his hands from his head and starts grabbing at the door! Integrity Prana thing!

{orange}Not on file.{/}

That only came from the original ring. I felt the Stewart ring hesitate. Stewart ring, what have you got?

{orange}During this ring's assimilation a small number-{/} I dart back to avoid what looked suspiciously like a tentacle mouth made of ice and brick. {orange}-of high security files were erased to preserve secrecy.{/}

Something's starting to feel really r̢e̷allỳ badly̷ we͘ i̧r͘d! C̴a҉n͟ ҉y̵ou w̕ór̵k͏ i͞t͘ ơu͘t̢ ͘w͠i͘th̵out thąt?

{orange}Te͏chniq͠ues ̶fo̶r ̛re̴sis͘ti̡ng dìm͟en͟siòņal͢ ̛al̢t͠era͝tio̴n̡s h̴i̶g̢hly s͏pec͘ula͘tivé-.̢ {/}

O͟f͏f̀er ͟t͟he ͡G̷u̷a͏rḑi̵áns͡ a c͠opy͏ o͞f͠ our̀ ͘t̡ést d͜at̨a!

{orange}S͡t̴ánd ͠by͝.̧{/}

B͘y͡ ̴t͡he̸ n̵ow ̨fļa̕tt̷e͘ne͡d͟ ̵an̨d ̷c̶urv͏e̸d ̨do҉or ͜M̸iste͡r S̛o̕rr҉ow̧ ͢fin͘ally ̢m͜a̧nag͞es͘ ̴to͜ h̷i҉t͢ ͠s̸o̷m̧et̵h̡in҉g v̷ita͝l̵ w͞i͏th͜ ͜a̵ ͢d̕is̢torti̛òn̢ and͝ ͞fo̧r̛ce ̀it̴ o̶pen͞. H̨ȩ ̢di͜ves̵.́. ͏no,̡ f̛ąlls̴ into̴ t̵he͢ o̷p̡e͟n͞i̛n͠g. I try to ́fol̸low͜ ͝b̸u͝t ͘I̕ can'͟t ̕m͏a̧k͜e̢ h͟eadwa̕y̨. ͜ I͏'ḿ g̸e͢ttin̶g͞.͠.̀? Ít̷'s c̨ur̡ving̛ ͞aw̕a̴y͢ i̴n͝tó..? Th́e͞ s͟ơnic͜ ̧feȩdback̵ I'̕m̕ ̴g̷e̕t́t̨ing ̀m͘a͝k҉es͟ l̶it͞tl̴e̢ s̀e͟nse ̵an̕d͢ ̢I͜ ͝t̡h̢ink ̢I̕'m ͞gl͡a̴d t̴h̸at̵ ̢I can̢'t ͢se͢ę it.

{orange}Dąt҉a͢ ̨ŗec͠ęive͘d͏. Th͢e͜o̡r͜e̴t͞ical̀l͢y͜ s̡oun̵d́ ͜d͏im͡ensi̶o͡nal̶ s̀ta̵bi̡lise͜r ̡t̷e҉ch̛niqu͞e͞ ̵a̵v͢àil͞a͞b̵le. W̕a̷rninģ, s͝ųc̛c̢e͞ss ҉ǹo͠t͡-.{/}

D͞O ̢IT!

Ti̕n͘y̵ ͠o͏r͏ang͘e l̷i̡n̡e̕s̡ ̷rad͡i͞ate͘ ̛from m͟y҉ ҉eņvi͞ŗo͏n̨me̕ńta͡l ̨s̴h͞ie͏l͏d, b͝raņch,͜ bra̴nch͟ ͜a͜gain ̕an͏d a bubble of apparent sanity reappears around me. It doesn't go very far, but I'll take what I can get.

{orange}Warning: heavy power drain. Charge remaining-{/} Sonic scans are probably useless but I try heading in the direction I saw Mister Sorrow going in. {orange}-one hundred seventy seven percent.{/} I'm making headway, but only slowly if the stone pattern on the floor is anything to go by. What happens when part of the universe is forced to exist in more spatial dimensions than its own physical rules support? What defines the characteristics it possesses in those dimensions? Is there a Greek God of planar stability? This is… I can't even begin to guess how messed up this is. Mister Sorrow seemed to find the process-. In the corner of my eye I catch sight of something and try moving towards it. Gradually, Mister Sorrow's mask comes into view within my bubble. But I.. shot..? Ring, anything odd about it?

{orange}Unable to analyse. No detectable change in object.{/}

There's a chime from the Stewart ring. {orange}Warning: heavy power drain. Charge remaining: one hundred sixty three percent.{/}

Balls. Would giving him the mask back help? Or did it.. stop working when I shot it? I pick it up and resume my journey towards the door. {orange}Ophidian{/}, any ideas?

{orange}I don't like this.{/}

Oh. Sorry about that. I'll see what I can do.

Sonic scans show the apparent anarchy around me start to churn and fracture, bits of normality seeming to reassert themselves before being consumed once more. I actually do have the design for Mister Sorrow's original subspace dimensional shift prototype in storage. I picked them up when I was looking for a way to phase through solid matter. I suppose I could.. try that. They shut down all research on the device after Mister Hawkins revealed exactly how dangerous the thing was.

"̢W͏h҉e̵̶͘re͘͘ ̡is̴ ̡̢i͘t!̢̀?̴͝ ̸́̕ W̡͠h̨e̸̢r͠͡͝e̶̸͢ i͟s̨ ̸͝i̛t̡!͠?҉"̢̨

Okay, that was coming from… Three different directions? I'm not even going to try calculating what that means. I'm at the doorway now and I push on through. I get glimpses of heavy wood and steel chests and cupboards that have been torn open, either by the distortion effects or Mister Sorrow himself.

"͘I͏ ̶h̨a͡v̵̨è͡ ҉҉̵t̴̕o̧ ̴̀f̵i̛nd҉ ̴̕i͏t̶̷̛!́"̛͡

Stewart ring, did the Guardians have any idea-

{orange}Warning: heavy power drain. Charge remaining: one hundred thirty eight percent.{/}

-how to fight against something like this?

{orange}Theoretically, compelling the source to exist fully within the physical laws of this universe should halt the effect. No experimental data exists to support this supposition.{/}

So, mask, technology from the thirties or Guardian guesswork? Of course, giving him the mask won't make it easier for me to deal with him.

{orange}Warning: heavy power drain. Charge remaining: one hundred eleven percent.{/}

That was quicker. Sending him back to wherever he came from doesn't help if they fix him up and send him right back. Do the Guardians.. actually want me dead? Can I trust them not to mess me about? I'd guess so. They can't possibly want something they don't know how to fight freed and I'm a far more manageable problem than the King of Tears. The mangled remains of the mirror I created to try to stop him pass by on my right. It looks like it's been torn in half vertically, the right side twisted into a spiral and compressed into a smaller space than it should occupy.

"I̧t̨͠ h̀͝a̧s̶̸̷ ̡t̀o̸̷ ͘҉b͝e͞ ͏h̴̢̀e̢̛r̵̛͘ȩ!"̡́

A set of drawers bursts as it hits the edge of my envelope.

{orange}Warning: heavy power drain. Charge remaining: one hundred percent.{/}

I push forwards again and Mister Sorrow enters the edge of my stabilisation radius.

{orange}Warning: heavy power drain. Charge remaining: ninety percent.{/}

"Huh?" He straightens up. I'm getting sonic returns from his face, his.. Human face. "I..?"

{orange}Warning: heavy power drain. Charge remaining: seventy percent.{/}

It doesn't look quite as it did when he first vanished. There's some sort of unhealthy pallor to it, as if it were cut from his skull and then inexpertly stuck back on. And his skin's rippling as if something's trying to get out.

"Still have to find it!" He grabs another drawer, scrabbling through the contents until-. "Ah!" He carefully extracts an item before collapsing to the ground.

{orange}Warning: heavy power drain. Charge remaining: fifty percent.{/}

"I'm not… This won't hold me." He gasps for breath, cradling the tiny golden object to his chest. "He… I…" He face shudders and twists. "Too small for me. I won't fit."

The background physical distortions begin to fade away. The room's pretty much wrecked.

{orange}Warning: critical power drain. Charge remaining: twenty percent.

"{/}Mister Sorrow, I've got your mask-."

"You broke the connection, that-" He pants. "-won't work anymore."

Can I recharge like this without dropping the dimensional control thingamy? Previously, that's been a problem. Don't really have much choice but to risk it. I take my lantern out of the box.

"Mister Sorrow, what-?"

"Don't worry about this. It doesn't matter. Heh. I'm just the s̸m͏i̛l̛e on the fac̨e͘ of th̸e͝ tiger." He brings his hands up fast towards his head, and for a moment I see the golden object imbedded in his forehead. There's a momentary flash of light, then his body folds in around the impact point, torso and limbs jerking, twisting and shrinking. "Worry.. about… W̶hat͟ fol̸loẃś."

The remaining distortions fade away as he does, leaving me floating in a broken room with my now visible stabilisation construct.

8th January
16:20 GMT +3

A quick scan shows no further sign of dimensional instability.

This is my cause

I don't know if what's in here is valuable or dangerous. Lantern in my left hand and box sent to subspace I head out of the door.

This is my fight

The walls of the corridor are twisted and distorted, as if someone drew a brickwork pattern on rubber and then stretched it. The bricks making up the wall are still brick and their molecular structure implies they were hewn in that shape, though obviously I know that they weren't.

Shine through the void with orange light

I'm not picking up any organic remains in my immediate environment. Can't transition or fly until I've recharged. The Amazons who were fetching that mirror are over… Oh dear.

I've claimed all within my sight

"{yellow}It's stuck it's stuck it's stuck{/}-." One Royal Guard is trying to pull away from the wall. She can't because it's bulged outwards and enveloped her right arm. Not just sucked it in, but the dimensional distortions have left her with a forearm that's over three metres long and thoroughly mixed in with the stone. It's probably better that she can't see it. Another guard -the one who appeared to be in charge on the plaza- has suffered the mirror merging with the armour and skin on right side of her body. She seems more shocked than in pain, her left hand fixedly tracing the join between organic and metallic. A third is covering her twisted jaw with her right hand and pushing away guards four and five with her left.

"To keep what is mine, that is my right."

Orange light surges from the lantern into both rings, drawing their attention. The guard leader points to the wall guard. "Help her first."

{orange}"Ring charge at one hundred percent."{/} / {orange}"Ring charge at one hundred percent."{/}

I nod and set my lantern down on the ground before striding over to the wall guard. She's breathing hard and her pupils dilate slightly as I take hold of her elbow. "{yellow}I can still feel it{/}. I can still feel it. You don't… Don't amputate it. {yellow}Please{/}."

I create an opaque barrier between her and the point where her arm meets the wall. "Is anyone else injured?"

Mirror guard shakes her head. The mirror material flexes nearly as easily as her natural skin. "I sent everyone else to the walls."

"Good." I smile at the wall guard. "What's your name?"

"A-Amynta."

"Hello, Amynta. Now, I think we can save your arm-" We can't. "-but I'm going to need you to cooperate with me, alright?" She nods a little unsteadily. "Okay. Now, I'm going to need to numb your arm so that I can get it out, alright? You're not going to be able to feel it for a few moments. That's nothing to worry about." Another nod and I deaden the nerve endings in the hopelessly distorted limb. "Alright, now I'm going to clamp your arm in place so I can move it carefully, okay?" Another nod and I take my x-ionised knife from subspace and covertly cut through the point of attachment, immediately using constructs to control the blood flow as I move her slowly backwards away from the wall. Now comes the tricky bit. I've never restored a whole limb before but really there's nothing about the task that is beyond me. DNA analysis, scan physical structures and-.

One of the unaffected guards gets a look at what I'm doing. Her eyes widen and Amynta spots it. "What? {yellow}What's he doing{/}? {yellow}What are you doing{/}?"

"Repairing your injury. Please, be patient." Under the rings' ministrations the forearm begins to reappear, bone moving ahead of muscle, fat, veins, arteries, nerves and skin. I don't know where her moles or her scars were so she'll just have to do without. "Just a few-."

She tries to pull free and then looks at the other guard. "Sophi, {yellow}what's he doing{/}?"

"Fixing you. Let him work."

Skin done, nails done, blood.. flowing. Quick check over… Looks fine. Can't see any other injuries on her. "I'm going to restore sensation now. If anything feels wrong, don't panic, let me know right away, okay?" A {blue}nod{/}, and I remove the nerve inhibitors and the barrier. She snatches her forearm away and cradles it to her chest, checking it over. I look at the other two altered Amazons. "Who's next?"

Mirror Amazon nods at Jaw Amazon and I attach filaments to her alteration before she can complain. Simple enough, there's more than enough material there to work with. Just remove a bit there, add it here… Done. I turn to Mirror Amazon but she shakes her head. "Don't bother. Did you get him?" I take his mask out of my leg pouch and show it to her. She nods. "We need to get back out-" I pick up my lantern then connect filaments to each of them and transfer us pack to the plaza, overlooking the lower city. "-side." She looks around. "Oh."

"You sure you don't want me to-?"

"It doesn't hurt." She walks over to the wall and takes in the scene below. The Fishmen are being pushed back… I recreate my turret constructs and target them, cries going up as knees and elbows disappear and legs and arms fall to the ground. Looks like the Amazons aren't finishing off the fallen. Good, prisoners would be helpful and I don't really want to kill any I don't have to. In the distance there's a visible shockwave as Kon and Diana punch opposite sides of the one of Scylla's heads that is still visible, causing it to collapse and then crash into the water with an almighty splash.

"What's your name, boss lady?"

Mirror guard points at a section of the plaza guards and then at the lower city. They form up and head for the passageway down at a jog. She then looks around at me. "Zosime."

"Pleased to meet you, Zosime."

"Shouldn't you be helping Donna with Circe?"

I shake my head. "Donna hasn't asked for help. I'm more worried about helping the mortally wounded. Is everyone up here alright?"

"Yes." She points to the coliseum. "We should be evacuating the-" Ring, scan. "-casualties-."

I transition to the colosseum and immediately send filaments out to those Amazons lying on the ground. The Fishmen don't seem to use weapons but there are super strength blow pattern crush injuries, claw and bite injuries and concussions. No. This is my island, these are my people. There are sudden flares of orange light as injuries are enveloped and repaired. Focus. Triage. Not a lot of mortal or life threatening wounds but I fix those first, brain and skull injuries and crushed rib cages. With plenty of power to burn I re-establish my turrets and take a few shots but it looks like the fight is pretty much ov-.

"Paul, look out!" Kon's voice on the radio. "Scylla's down but she sent a wave towards the island."

I shoot upwards, filaments below still moving from injury to injury. No dead, I notice. Either we got very lucky or they didn't bother bringing them. The wave Kon mentioned is five metres tall in the centre but is coming in over a fairly narrow frontage. I thrust a sonic cannon into the water ahead of it and fire a blast of sound. No effect. Why didn't..? Never mind. I erect a barrier along the shoreline. Should be able to oh what the heck! The water roars forwards, passing straight through it. Repeating the pattern of the Fishman deployment it roars through the city at street level. Amazons are unaffected but any Fishmen living or dead touched by it disappear. It isn't covering the whole place but they're deliberately falling back towards it. Oh no you don't! I attach clamps to the legs of three Fishmen as they leap from a rooftop towards freedom and haul them up into the air. The water seems to reach for them for a moment but then they're too high for it and the wave breaks before it can reach them. It continues onwards towards the last Fishmen pocket. Mageslayer? No. I don't know that it would work and it's clearly just an escape spell. I watch as the last of our foes evacuate and the moment they're gone the water evaporates into nothingness.

8th January
16:32 GMT +3

I take a look around the colosseum. The three Fishmen I hooked glower at me from behind their guards. Aside from them, the place looks more or less back to normal. "Is that everyone?"

Sadeh nods as she helps the last of the formerly injured Amazons to their feet. "I believe so, though you would do well to check the streets and the Temple of Apollo."

I nod and turn to leave. "Wait!" I look around as one of the Amazons I healed waves her right hand to get my attention. She had.. smashed shoulder and a ruined right eye. Her eye is still blinking spasmodically. Did I get something wrong? No, scans show nothing, it's probably just a psychological thing.

"Yes?"

"You healed.. my eye." She delicately puts the fingers of her right hand on the skin just underneath it.

"Yes, that's.. what I do?"

She shakes her head. "You don't understand. I lost my eye in Themyscira." I frown and shake my head in incomprehension. "Old Themyscira."

Ooh. "{indigo}Are you going to be alright walking around{/}?"

"Yes." She looks a little stunned. I suppose getting binocular vision back after three thousand years can do that to a person. "Yes, thank you."

"You're welcome... What's your name?"

She takes a moment to respond. "Tekla."

"Tekla. Please, if you know of anyone else with long term injuries-" Amazons are tough and the goddesses' blessings allow for improved healing but they can't regrow bits that are simply gone. "-send them my way. I'm here for another day." She nods and I transition up into the sky. In the distance I see Diana and Kon are dragging Scylla further out to sea. Hopefully they'll be able to get some answers from-.

"{red}Aaaaagh{/}!" I look around at the shout and see Donna land heavily on the inner city plaza and throw the binding chain to the ground. She doesn't look hurt… Right, Temple of Apollo's over there… No serious injuries. I transition back to the plaza and pick up the chain with a filament. She looks up at me and I raise my eyebrows. "{red}She got away{/}! She just.. laughed at me and turned back into water when I tried to put the chains on her."

"I wasn't able to stop Mister Sorrow leaving either. Did she get the.. herb thing?"

She nods. "I think so. A lot of the herbs with strong magical properties get grown on the other side of the mountain, that's where I caught up with her."

"Did you see what sort of plant it was?"

She shakes her head. "It just looked like a handful of grass to me. One of the 'erbalists-" I suppress a snort at her pronunciation. "-can tell us what it was." She walks closer to the crenulations and leans on them. "Do you know.. how many people on our side died?"

"As far as we know, none. Plenty of injuries, but this just shows how soldiers trump warriors."

She relaxes slightly. "That's a relief. And them?"

"They took their fallen with them. I'm not really sure what happened to Mister Sorrow. Diana and Kon are dealing with Scylla and I took three prisoners. They'll be in for a truth lassoing later."

"What exactly happened to Sorrow?"

"I shot his mask after he took it off and he started uncontrollably altering the structure of local space. Rather poor planning on my part, really."

"Shooting them in the signature artefact usually works."

"Mmpf. Oh, that reminds me: Stewart ring, forward all data on Johnny Sorrow to the Guardians.{orange}"

"Directive accomplished."{/}

Donna raises her right eyebrow. "Guardians?"

"I didn't have any idea how to deal with a.. dimensional cascade. They were kind enough to provide me with a technique."

"I thought they didn't like you?"

"They don't, but, better to risk me testing it than one of theirs. And they wouldn't gain anything if I died, they'd just be stuck with a new Orange Lantern."

She nods. "So you suppressed him and he disappeared?

"I suppressed the area immediately around me. It was caning my power reserves just keeping a small area around me stable."

She frowns. "Didn't you have your lantern with you?"

"Recharging disrupts constructs being generated from the ring being recharged. I might have been okay, but when you've got a complicated construct you don't understand keeping you alive…"

"Right."

"He went ahead and tore up a storage room looking for something. He was in a bad way. I offered him his mask back but he said that wouldn't work, then jammed a small gold thingy into his head and disappeared."

"Into his head?"

"He didn't bleed or anything. I don't know whether it hurt him or not." I make a construct of it. It looks a bit like a pruning knife. "Does this look familiar to you?"

She looks at it for a moment and then shakes her head. "No, but I don't know about all of the artifacts they keep here. You'll have to talk to Io about it."

"Sheee doesn't want to talk to anyone until tomorrow. Since I'm pretty sure Mister Sorrow went back to that weird place he was.. remade in. I don't think he'll be reappearing any time soon. So, he disappeared, physics returned to normal and I've been healing the injured since. How did the fight with Circe go?"

"I think I should have asked Hekate for the ability to see through illusion after all. She must have blended in with one of the guard units when the Fish guys started attacking."

"And Artemis doesn't have a sweet tooth?"

"No. I'd have to track an animal, kill it with a bow and collect its blood. And old blood's no good." She shrugs. "And even then… Some gods just don't like me that much. Anyway, I eventually caught up with her. She tried transmuting me but Hekate's shield protected me."

"And not my Spell Eater?"

"I didn't bring it." I pantomime looking hurt. "I didn't think I'd need it. This was supposed to be a vacation. Anyway, I hit her a few times.. and illusions of her lots of times. Then she grabbed the grass, said.. some stuff, and turned back into water." She glances at the chain. "Maybe you could get Sephtian to make a magic suppressing bucket."

I nod. "A bucket would be a bit hard to carry around. He's working on an area effect version, but even with micro-crafting he thinks it'll either be huge or only last-." She sniggers. "Oh. Joke. Right."

She looks at the ground for a moment, then back up at me. "You've.. researched Ancient Greek mythology, right?" I nod. "What do you think about the Titans? In general, I mean."

"Well… Diana was given life by Gaea. I'm not sure if that makes her one or not. The Amazons still have temples to some of them… I always assumed that the difference between a Titan and an Olympian was political rather than mystical… And I've never spoken to one myself or had access to a source I could rely on as being unbiased. I'm a bit nervous of beings that powerful, um-" I look at my lantern. "-present company excepted. So I suppose I don't really feel anything about them. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, it… Doesn't.. really matter." She lifts up off the ground. "I'm going to go help Diana and Kon with Scylla. Check up on Cassie for me?"

8th January
19:14 GMT +3

"…turn her back into a Human." Diana takes a sip from her goblet. Water, I notice.

Donna looks concerned. "But.. wouldn't you have just given it to her if she'd asked?"

"Yes, though I'm not at all certain that it would have worked. Acts of magic build up their own inertia and Scylla has been in her current shape for a very long time."

Queen Hippolyta nods. "I will consult with our herbalists tomorrow morn-." She looks around at the Amazons carousing on the inner city plaza. "Perhaps tomorrow afternoon would be better."

There are more than a few celebrations going on in the lower city as well. Prince Kon's 'Welcome to Themyscira' party has grown into a citywide after battle celebration. After a few awkward looks at me the planners went with their original idea of having the royal table just outside the Temple of Hera end while everyone else gets to use the somewhat plainer benches set around the periphery. In the centre are two huge bonfires and several of the more excitable partygoers are already dancing around them. They're also the main source of light as sunset was about two hours ago. There are small braziers hanging from the fronts of the various buildings and set around the edge of the party area but they don't provide all that much light. I suppose that years of artificial lighting must have spoiled me.

I'm still dressed in grey and orange, though I've changed from my leathers to something a bit more compatible with the local dress code. My dark grey trousers and medium grey tunic owe more to medieval England than to bronze age Greece and the dark grey with orange decoration open chested sleeveless coat thing I'm wearing over the top is entirely my own invention. I have.. vague memories of John Stewart wearing something similar in Justice League Unlimited for Superman's funeral. I have even vaguer ideas about making it the Orange Lantern Corps' dress uniform. Something robe-like should work for most morphologies…

I jerk my head around as someone pokes me in the ribs. "Sorry? What?"

Acantha smiles at me. "I asked if you were enjoying your food."

Over on the far side of the plaza Captain Philippus is introducing Kon to the representatives of some of the island's other settlements. He seems to be taking it in his stride. Not sure whether that's because he's learned confidence, because he's still glowing or because they all saw him punch out a giant monster today.

"Um, yes, thank you." Okay, that was an automatic response. Really, roast beef without Yorkshire Puddings? Whatever else I do with the place I simply have to introduce more foods and cooking methods. The spit roasting of entire cows was quite a sight, and they actually roasted vegetables in a similar way using a metal tombola drum cage thing. I think I remember a chef I saw on television do something similar. What was his name?

"Is something bothering you?"

"I'm sorry, I was.. really hoping that Io would turn up."

Her eyebrows rise slightly and she follows my gaze out into the crowd. "Isn't she here? I'm having trouble making out faces."

"No, still in her foundry." She stayed there even during the attack. The attack on the upper city was -Mister Sorrow aside- fairly weak and I suppose she must have been making too much noise to hear the alert gong.

Acantha give me an amused smile. "Did Princess Diana show you a painting of her in America? Has our fair lady smith captured your heart before even meeting you?"

"No, she's just the only person I know who knows how to make mithril. And orichalcum. You have no idea how valuable those are in the rest of the world."

She considers for a moment. "Do you wish to go into business with her?"

"Hey, I've got-" I drop a few gold coins into my right palm from subspace. "-as much money as I could ever want. I want to find something that Themyscira has to trade that the rest of the world wants. If she really is the only one who can produce it then the price of the stuff will be astronomical."

"For weapons and armour?" She looks slightly concerned at the idea.

"Or buildings. Or vehicles. Strong and lightweight materials have.. I don't even know how many uses." I think for a moment. "To be honest, I don't think most weapons Man's Worlders use would really benefit from being made of orichalcum. Armour would, but I don't think bullet performance would improve that much." AP sabots might, but modern depleted uranium sabots go through all current generation armour anyway and the designs I've seen for next generation tanks all incorporate force fields. "And next generation infantry weapons are mostly plasma based so there's nothing to make with orichalcum. Besides, if you control production you can control who gets it and for what."

Queen Hippolyta turns to us. "Whether we trade the metals with Man's World or not, it isn't healthy for Io to be stuck in the forge on her own all day. Paul, take some food down for her and try to persuade her to come out and join us. If she really is adamant then leave her to her own devices, but you have.. my permission to intrude on the foundry."

"Thank you, majesty." I rise, lifting my seat back as I do so. "I'll be back in a few minutes either way."

I perform a shallow bow and receive an amused nod in return, then turn away and begin making my way around the edge of the party area. An odd reflection catches my eye as I go and I see Zosime dancing with a woman of a less martial appearance. Friend, girlfriend, wife? I have no idea. Everyone else around here probably does but Amazons don't wear an outward indicator of marital status. She had said that she'd probably want me to remove the mirror material tomorrow after she'd had the opportunity to shock a few people with it, then she heard about me healing long term injuries and told me not to bother. It's a shame there aren't lists of them. I was thinking that it would probably work best if I announced that I was going to be here on a particular day and they could arrange to bring anyone who needed healing there. Without modern communications technology the only way to get the message out would be word of mouth and even in a fairly small place like this that will be fairly slow.

"Hey!" One of the Amazons watching the dancing spots me trying to creep by and waves at me. "Do you dance as well as you sing?"

I hold up my hands in surrender and shake my head. "I really don't."

"It's not hard. We can show you." She looks to her friends who also appear to be smiling at me. A few familiar faces there.

"I may take you up on that later-" Cold day in Tartaru-. Wait, is Tartarus naturally hot? Never mind. "-but at the moment our queen has tasked me with ferreting Io out from her workplace. If you'll excuse me?"

A few cheerful goodbyes and I head towards the serving area. No idea what Io eats so I load a plate with a few slices of beef, some bread and some vegetables. I also take a large stein of that broth stuff the Amazons seem to think is a soft drink. I could offer her something from my subspace pocket but I somehow doubt that she's much of a foody. Amazons aren't big on eating utensils so there's nothing to add there. They also don't have toothbrushes but without refined sugar the threat to their teeth is much less than what the rest of the world has to cope with. Strange that the Ophidian and I didn't think to deliver any chocolate when we made our food delivery.

I suppose I should just be glad that we didn't think to deliver Rabbits.

Plate and mug floating by my side I transition to just outside Io's workplace. I know I have permission to just appear inside but that strikes me as rather rude. Besides, I can feel the heat through the door and I'm a little concerned that she might have stripped down. I don't remember seeing anything on how Amazon nudity taboos work between genders… Best be on the safe side. I bang on the door with my right hand.

"What now?!"

"We're having a party! You were invited, remember?!" The hammering stops and I hear a heavy piece of metal thump down on a solid surface. "I come bearing food and drink?" Footsteps heading in my direction. I take a step back and check that my clothing is presentable. Yep, good to go.

The door swings open and I get my first look at Io. She frowns at me. "Prince Kon?"

8th January
19:18 GMT +3

She's a little bit shorter than me, but not by much. She's not much less muscular than me either, though since her body has been formed by hard work rather than by a power ring it only becomes obvious when she bends her right arm to mop her sweat-jewelled brow. Her hair's brown and it's cut short. She's wearing an orange cloth around her head as a sweat band, a tough looking leather apron, leather gloves and.. leather trousers.

"No, I'm afraid I'm the other one. Orange Lantern two eight one four." I offer her my right hand. "Pleased to meet you."

She takes a moment to look me over then steps out of the forge, reaching past my hand and clasping my arm around the elbow. Oh, right! I reciprocate. It's the equivalent gesture, 'I'm comfortable letting you inside my guard' rather than 'I'm either not carrying a weapon or I'm left handed'. "Greetings, Orange Lantern. How did you like the bow?"

"Artemis loves that thing. Thank you so much for taking that commission. What do I owe you?"

She mops her brow again and stretches her back, enjoying the cooler air outside the forge. "There was some mention of food?"

"Oh, of course." I float the plate and mug around. She takes hold of the mug in her right hand, raising it to her lips and tipping her head back. "You know, you are invited to the party. And.. if you've got time I'd.. quite like to talk to you about your work?"

She tips the mug back slightly as she pauses for breath. "Busy." Then she goes back to drinking.

"Is it.. something I can help with?"

Glug glug slurp and she lowers the mug. "Are you a smith?"

"… Engineer."

She looks at me for a moment, glances back through the doors and then back to me. "You may as well. There's no way I'm going to finish it before Prince Kon leaves tomorrow."

"You were making him a gift?"

She nods, then grabs the plate with her left hand and turns around to lead the way back into the forge. "Yeah, but I was too optimistic about how fast I could work. It's been too long since I've made something that's just decorative."

My environmental shield is preventing me from feeling the heat, but it's like a furnace in.. here. Right. Io plonks the mug down on a work bench, takes a wedge of bread from the plate and bites into it. "Ish iss-" She gestures at a lump of dull yellow metal resting on an anvil with her right elbow. "-wrot-" She swallows. "-I've been working on."

"What's it supposed to be?"

"Pure gold."

!{blue}I can help with that{/}!

"Our mines here get stuff that's reasonable, but to turn it into orichalcum it has to be nearly completely pure. Even with magic that takes so long…" She sags slightly and uses the wedge of bread to pick up some vegetables and put them into her mouth.

"{blue}And{/}… {blue}That's what orichalcum is, is it{/}? {blue}Pure gold, transmuted{/}?"

"Mhrow." She chews rapidly, then swallows. "Ten parts gold to one copper, then you can start the transmutation magic. And even that's not exactly fast."

{blue}I take a single gold coin out of subspace and offer it to her{/}. "{blue}Any good{/}?"

She frowns, studying it, then returns her bread to the plate and puts the plate on a bench. "Doubt it, but I'll take a look." She takes the coin from me and puts it down on a metal plate set into the work surface. There's a small collection of tools laid out and she picks up a delicate looking hammer, tapping the pointed end onto the coin. Then she blinks. "Oh." She turns her head to me. "What purity do you think this is?"

"{blue}One hundred percent{/}."

She gapes slightly before regaining control. "How?"

{blue}I hold up my hands{/}. "{blue}Power rings are awesome{/}."

"{blue}Do you have more{/}?" I nod. "{blue}How much{/}?"

"{blue}How much d'you want{/}?"

Her eyes widen. "Heph-aestus."

"To be more specific, I can purify elements and mix them in whatever way you want. Ten to one by mass, was it?" She nods. I float the lump of metal sitting on the anvil up and run a wave of orange light through it. Huh. Considering what she has to work with, that's a fairly high purity. I pull out everything that isn't gold, cool it and then drop the mass of it on the work bench. Next, I take a small copper bar out of subspace, weigh them both and slice off the amount of copper I need and return the excess to storage. "Do you need to do something while they're being merged, or does the magic happen afterwards?"

"A-afterwards."

"Right." An orange bubble forms around the ingots, then I melt them both and run them together. Layers or evenly mixed? I'll assume evenly mixed. That done, I remove the heat, drop the bubble and pass the alloy ingot over to Io. "Any good?"

She takes it, puts it down next to the coin and taps it with the hammer. Then she drops the hammer and staggers back a step. "Perfect. It's perfect. I can.. finish in a couple of hours…"

"What are you making, anyway?"

"A simple diadem."

"Great! I don't have much copper on me, but I can give you-" I deposit a small chest of gold coins on the floor. "-these now. Incidentally, I'd like to commission quite-"

"I could.. give every woman on Themyscira orichalcum armour inside…"

"-a lot of stuff. While we're on the subject, what's the ratio for mithril?"

"Huh?" She shakes her head and looks around. "Two parts titanium to one silver."

"And the transmutation effect?"

"That's just.. something… {green}Um{/}." She makes a visible effort to pull herself together. "I got seriously religious a few.. centuries ago. Lord Hephaestus showed me some of the secrets of divine smithing, like how to change the properties of certain metal alloys. The impurities in what I usually work with means it can take a while, but…" She picks up the alloy ingot. "With this? The transmutation shouldn't take more than a few minutes." She takes the ingot over to the anvil and sets it down before picking it up with her tongs and thrusting it into the furnace. "Are you a Hephaestus worshipper yourself?"

"No. Eris." That gets a raised eyebrow. "I bring change and innovation. She seems to like my work."

"Really." She returns her attention to the metal. I seem to remember that gold's fairly soft. Probably doesn't need all that long. "What exactly did you want to commission?"

"I'm not…" I exhale through my lips. "For a start, improved armour for myself and my team mates."

"I was going to make something like that for Prince Kon eventually anyway. Anything else?"

"Oo-oh yes."

8th January
20:01 GMT +3

I'm panting. I'm not tired or exhausted. It's excitement. When I got the ring I wasn't really in a position to enjoy the experience, but for this? I'm fully lucid. I can't catch my breath. I don't even really want to. "That was incredible. It's… Oh whaw."

Io presses up against my back, her chin on my shoulder. I remember reading on Wikipedia that she's supposed to smell of the forge but I'm just getting sweat and whatever was in that gruel stuff. Smells.. good, actually. "It's been a while since I got anyone that excited."

"They have no idea what they're missing." My heart's racing. "Oh my. I'm going to need a moment here." Mwhahwhah.

"I like your.. tattoos." She pulls back slightly and runs a finger down one of the ones on my back. "They're.. magical, aren't they?"

I nod, pulling away slightly to turn around and face her. "Yes. One set to give me a soul, and a second to stop anyone spying on me with magic."

"Oh? How well does it work?"

"Perfectly."

"Where did you get them done?"

"London. There's a guy in London who-. Oh, I can introduce you sometime. Do you think we've got time to try agai-?"

There's a knock on the door of the foundry and we both look around. Io chuckles. "They probably want to know what's taking you so long."

"Oh, time well spent." I move away from her and walk towards the door. "You just stay there, I'll get it." Ring? Who is-? Ah. Two more knocks in quick succession, but quieter. Almost reluctant. Can't imagine why. I pull open the door and stick my head and upper torso around, grinning like a loon. "Diana, hi!"

Diana looks me over and with a slight exhalation averts her eyes. What? She's seen me without my shirt on before. "We were.. wondering where you'd got to."

"Oh, right here." I nod for emphasis. "Right here."

"I-" She nods. "-see that. I didn't think your first meeting with Io would go.. quite so well as this. I'll.. leave you both to-."

"No, no-" I push the door open a little wider and grab her left hand with my right. "-come on in!"

Her eyes widen slightly. "I really don't need-" I extend my environmental shield around her and pull her in. "-to see…" She trails off.

Io detaches the amazing metal rod out of the test frame we built and then looks around. "Princess. Your student has been a great help." She picks up Kon's diadem. At my urging she went for a simple design, two metal bands bending down at the front to form Diana's signature double 'W'. Yes, I know her tiara has a star on it but where do most people actually look? "I was making this for Prince Kon and would never have finished but for Orange Lantern's help."

Diana's face stills and.. is that surprise? "Ooh."

"He's also very interested in-" She waves the rod. "-Jovium."

"He.. is..?"

"I don't quite understand why. You know Man's World, perhaps you can explain it in a way that makes sense to me."

"It's a-" Diana turns to look at me. "-good conductor of heat? Did.. you.. plan-?"

"Good conductor of heat! Good conductor of heat! No. Noooooo It isn't a good conductor of heat."

"We-" She frowns, thinking it through. How did she not spot this! "-use it in the bath houses to conduct heat from the furnaces. And in lightning rods." She shakes her head. "I really don't know-?"

"It's a perfect conductor of heat. And -and this is the important bit- electricity." I stare into her eyes but I don't think she's getting it. "No loss in transmission. No heat. No electromagnetic radiation. No light. One hundred percent of what you put in comes out again in a useable fashion." She gives me an uncertain nod. I don't think she's quite getting it. "Something like six percent of electricity generated in the US each year is lost in transmission. Nearly five hundred kilowatt hours just gone, per person. A hundred and sixty billion for the country as a whole each year. To say nothing of the disruption to radio signals copper cables cause. And that's ignoring the possible applications it has in communications or computing."

"You.. seem.. fairly excited about this."

"Diana, no one has this. No one."

"Well, no? I haven't seen it produced anywhere else."

I hold up Lantern Stewart's ring. "No one. No species. Oh, they've got all sorts of clever ways of moving power around that bypass resistance to a degree, but this is better." I throw up my hands. "You can't get better than one hundred percent."

"I thought you wanted armour."

"I do. Orichalcum's good and we're-" I glance at Io. "-going to be trading notes with Sephtian, see what we can do with it. We might be able to make you trousers at last!" I look her over and a few ideas almost immediately come to mind.

Diana pauses for a moment. "Paul, why did you take your shirt off?"

"Io wanted to see my tattoos."

Io nods. "Orange… Paul?" I nod. "Paul asked me about putting spells on the armour as Lord Hephaestus did with yours. He said that he worked with.. Sephtian..? The Atlantean crafter, who may be able to help."

"And this is what the two of you have been working on?"

"Yes..? Why, what did you think we were doing?" Io raises her right arm to her nose and sniffs. "Ugh. I need a wash before I can give Prince Kon his gift."

"No problem, one orange hygiene beam coming up." A wave of orange light passes over her, removing sweat and grime. Her hair's actually not quite as short as I thought it was, it was just all matted together. "Party frock?"

"I'm not sure anyone would recognise me if I took my apron off." I raise my eyebrows. "Still, I suppose I shouldn't present myself to the queen like this. I'll throw a tunic on. Or something."

I extend a filament to pick up the Jovium. "Can I..? Keep hold of this? There're some people I'd like to show it to."

She shrugs as she reaches behind herself to untie the apron. "Go ahead. I make it with tin. We've got all we could ever need already."

You really don't. "Thank you. You want us to-" I turn away as she removes the apron. "-wait for you?"

"No, I've kept you away long enough already. I'll follow you up shortly."

I nod, look at Diana and hold my right arm out towards the door. She looks at Io, then at me, shakes her head then walks towards the door and out of the room. I follow along and close the door behind us. "I didn't have a chance to ask earlier, but did the prisoners give you anything useful?"

She shakes her head. "No. They confirmed what Johnny Sorrow told you about where they come from but they didn't know much else about who organised the attack. I plan on speaking to the Saremian Ambassador to Poseidonis on Monday and I'd like you to accompany me."

I nod. "Of course." Then I remember that she didn't answer Io's question. "So.. what did you think we were doing?"

{orange}"Alert!"{/}

Whu?

{orange}"Connection made to monitored telephone line from-"{/}

I sit up in bed. Internal mode!

9th January
06:32 GMT +3

{orange}-priority source. Location: second public telephone, BP, Happy Harbour branch.{/}

Who?

{orange}John Constantine.{/}

I glance over to Kon's bed. Did he wake-? No, he's already up. Bit lucky. I push the sheets off me and swing my legs off the side of the bed. Wool stuffed mattresses are more comfortable than I thought they'd be but I don't think I'll be giving up springs any time soon. The.. chambermaid..? That can't be the right title. Anyway, she mentioned that they might have water beds if we preferred but they hadn't been used for a while and might leak. Neither of us went for it.

I raise the ring to my ear. Answer.

"-us a bell when you get-."

"I'm here John. What is it?"

"You sound a bit rough, mate. Just got to sleep?"

I shift my weight to my feet and stand up. "It's half past six in the morning where I am."

"Oh? Where's that?"

"Themyscira." I amble in the direction of the balcony. "The Amazons know how to throw a party." Heh. "And I think I may end up getting one or two of them pregnant before I leave."

"Oh, fuck right off."

"Hey, power rings are awesome." I send my pyjama top back into subspace and dial down my environmental shield so I can feel the breeze on my chest. "Did you actually want something?"

I hear him take a deep breath. "Yeah. Got a bit of a problem on my end. Think I've worked out all the angles.. but, given you've got 'special knowledge' and all that…"

I lean on the balcony overlooking the stables. "Ask away."

"You know anything about a thing called 'Kua I'ipa'?"

I think for a moment. "Is it a drink?"

"Nah. That's supposed to be the name of this big magic monster thing that broke through from.. wherever. You know how it goes." I nod. "Angie and me went to Tasmania to try an' get information about it. Kua I'ipa, the Shadow Dog. It's supposed-"

I blink in {yellow}shock{/}. Did he just say {yellow}Shadow Dog{/}?

"-to cause all kinds of havoc if it gets-"

{yellow}Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck{/}. {yellow}Fuck{/}.

"-loose. I mean, I think we're all set up here but there's something-."

"John, whatever you're doing, stop it. Stop it {yellow}right fucking now{/}."

"I'm gunna need a bit more than that, mate."

"I've seen this. You kill the Dog, we lose about a quarter of the species. Maybe everyone."

"What? Y'mean, some sort of sympathetic death eff-?"

"{yellow}THE DOG IS NOT THE FUCKING PROBLEM{/}!" Ring, find him. "Think about it, John. Dogs. Mankind's oldest friends. Protectors and hunting companions. Why would an ancient primordial evil take the form of a Dog?{orange}"

Unable to locate.{/}

{yellow}Fuckfuckfuck-.{/}

"So.. what's actually-?"

"The Shadow Dog was created by.. God, capital G, or something, to protect mankind from the actual problem. This weird quasi-demonic thing called The Beast."

"Alec did say two things came through… But Angie said-."

"That the Dog came after her on the train. It wasn't after her. John, is she there?"

"Yeah."

"Is her brother?"

"Yeah, he's been helping us with… Here, Jason mate, you got superheroes askin' about you. Didn't know you moved in those sorts of circles."

"John, listen to me very carefully. Jason is dead. The Beast is controlling his body. He cannot be recovered. The Beast is trying to help you destroy its gaoler. Then, it will kill every Human… Maybe every intelligent creature, I don't know. At the moment it's limited to causing a few bouts of insanity. If anything happens to the Shadow Dog, it'll be able to access the collective unconscious of the Human species. Mass suicides at best. I might be okay, but there's a good chance I'll be the only living thing left on the planet when it finishes."

"This thing we're fighting… I'm assuming it knows magic?"

"Yes. John, tell me where you are. If Nabu-."

"But if we could get it to the same place as something that could fight it…"

"Yes, like the Ophidian. John, tell me where you are."

"Gotta go, mate. Cheers for the help."

"{red}TELL ME WHERE YOU FUCKIN{/}-!" He's gone. He's gone. Ring?

{orange}Unable to locate.{/}

{yellow}Fuck{/}. The Beast might be about to get free, and… I don't remember if Beast Jason was much of a physical threat. I know John isn't. Could they kill him? Physically at least? Chance of me being able to find him? Next to none. I remember from the comic that they warded the site. Fuck. I look back into the bedroom and remotely open the box containing my lantern before calling it across to me. Ophidian, can you feel John Constantine?

{orange}No.{/}

Damn iiiiit!

{orange}There is something squatting in the soul of your species. I cannot determine what it is. That should not be possible. All things are known by their desires!{/}

Prepare for emergency deployment.

{orange}We will become one once more?{/}

If we need to. Alright, in the brief time I've got left before the shit starts occurring… If anywhere's safe, it's here. If nowhere is… I take my Spell Eater out of subspace. Where's Kon? Right. I transition to the main plaza, two Spell Eaters in hand. "Kon, my queen, I sort of need you to put these on."

Hippolyta turns to greet me. She's wearing a slightly different robe dress to yesterday. And Kon's fully dressed as well, Io's diadem in place around his head. "Paul, good-" She gets a better look at me. "-morning." She frowns slightly. "Is there some sort of emergency-?"

"{green}Yes{/}. Please put this on-" Kon takes his and puts it around his neck before turning back towards the east. "-right now, it's really quite important." I pause. "Sorry for not being properly dressed."

"Very well." She takes the thong and puts it over her head. "What is this emergency, exactly?"

"Quasi-demonic superbeing about to possess the entire species. Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Our last line of defence is a bunch of halfwit hedge wizards who aren't {red}answering{/} their.. b.. blooming phone. I'm basically reduced to hoping they can come up with something."

"If you aren't able to help it seems unwise to let yourself become distraught."

"I don't think wisdom really comes into it. Ring, message Nabu.{orange}"

"Warning sent."{/}

"Kon and I were about to watch the sunrise. Lord Helios appeared to him in his dreams last night. It seems that his gift to Kon is dependent on him observing the dawn of each day."

Kon glances back at me. "I'm glad it is. I don't think glowing at school would be a good idea."

No, I suppose not. Ring, armour. No helmet.

{orange}Compliance.{/}

But she has a point. I can't do much until the Beast makes itself known or John phones back. Hippolyta's gone back to watching the sun as it peeks over the ocean. "My queen, may I ask a question?"

"Of course."

"Did you hear about what I offered to do? For anyone who wanted it?"

"Super strength or pregnancy." She looks back towards me. "Yes, I heard. You do like to make our lives interesting, don't you?"

"I knew that would be a big change. I thought people would be interested. That or offended." I take a closer look at her, taking care to avoid looking at anything other than-. Yep, there it is. "I don't understand. Everywhere I look..." I shake my head, frowning. "Queen Hippolyta, why are you all afraid of wooden dolls?"

9th January
06:37 GMT +3

She gives her head a slight shake. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"I don't know if it's.. part of Amazon culture or something. I didn't see anything about it in Diana's library, and she didn't say anything." I look at Kon and raise my eyebrows.

"Not to me either."

I shrug. "I'm sorry if this is some sort of taboo subject, but…" I hold out my left hand, generating an orange construct image of what I've been seeing. "It's always there, it's just-" Hippolyta's pupils dilate slightly. "-hard.. to sssee… In some. It got particularly bad when-."

She looks away. "Get rid of it." I frown, but close my left hand and dismiss the image. "Grandson, how long do we have until dawn?"

Kon looks puzzled. "About an hour?"

She puts her right hand on his shoulder. "I will return shortly." She turns back to me. "Orange Lantern, please transport us to the palace dungeons."

Still not.. really sure what's going on. "Alright. One moment." According to the books I read the dungeon proper is warded, but I can… Yep. I attach a filament to Hippolyta and our surroundings flicker.

Hippolyta looks around for a moment, confirming our location. "It is called a.. whittle-baby. I ask that you do not mention it to anyone here again."

"Al.. right… But I still don't understand-?"

"When you pledged yourself to Eris you declared your intention to change us. Our life here. By your actions you are forcing me to decide whether I wish to assist you or call for moderation. Amazon society does not change readily but I am hard pressed to find fault in your offers to us so far. Usually in a situation like this I would pray to Hera or Zeus for guidance. Unfortunately…" She looks at me sternly and I shrink back slightly.

"I'm really sorry about that. But.. maybe I can help?" She seems dubious. "It would take my mind off the fact that the Human race is in the hands of John Constantine, a man who committed his first murder before he was born."

"Oh, how could you have chosen any god but Eris?" She takes a moment to gather her thoughts. "Simulacra of real babies.. dolls, you call them. They are still a popular toy for young girls in Man's World?" I nod. "But not with adult women. An adult woman who wants a child can have one of her own or -if she is unable- adopt the natural child of someone who was unable to care for it." She pauses again. "The youngest Amazon born on Themyscira -save for Diana- is Glykeria. And she is-" She tilts her head back slightly. "-two thousand seven hundred and eighty four years old."

I nod slowly. "You can't have children.. or adopt."

"That would be a hardship in itself, but it is more than that. There is no continuity to our society. We have no schools. They would serve no purpose. Mistresses of their professions have no apprentices. At this time there is no one to teach who has not at some point attempted every profession which we practise here. And there are no children." She turns away from me and walks towards the fortified doors of the dungeon proper. "And so.. these.. things became commonplace. Substitutes. Vessels for maternal affection we could never express in the conventional fashion."

"But you.. could… The Greek mainland's only-."

"Yes. We are aware of that." She exhales. "Do you know how long it took our isolation to become total?"

"About eight hundred years, wasn't it?"

"No, that was just when we stopped… When we stopped openly trading. There was still another century of more covert contact. It wasn't until after the conquest of Greece by Rome that the Senate moved to cut contact completely."

The guards on the door salute their queen and open the doors. "Were they.. worried that the Romans would flood the Aegean with so many ships they could.. brute force the wards?"

"Herakles managed it."

"Herakles had two hundred ships, a good idea of where you were and demigod resilience and he barely survived doing it. All he had left when he made landfall was.. what? Twenty men?"

"Twenty three, and for many that event ended any hope we had that our vengeful masculine pursuers would ever cease in their attempts to return us to bondage. Those among our sisterhood who desired for us to return argued that we could not afford to be blind to events in the outside world. Contact was strictly limited and procreation absolutely forbidden."

"How well did that work?"

"I doubt I will ever know. Sometimes I wonder how many of those sisters I mourned as dead simply decided that they would rather remain with their child's father than return home. It wasn't even much of a secret. And.. so, the idea that having a child meant leaving, meant the dissolution of the community we have here gained popular support. Slowly… No one thought that abandoning the patrols was wise..."

"Until eventually they did, and Eris' followers went in for 'civil disobedience'."

"You can still see the stains if you know where to look." She shakes her head. "It had the opposite effect to the one they wanted."

"Once your men died off, anyone who wanted children had to leave. Therefore, children are bad, because they undermine the community. Until Diana." And.. me. "So… Amazons fear their own maternal desires?"

"Creating Diana… I think that was the closest I ever came to being overthrown. I had to involve so many Amazons in her upbringing that at times I don't think she was sure who her mother actually was."

"Queen Hippolyta, why are we in the dungeons?"

"Whittle-dolls at present are taken as a sign of psychological illness. Our form of self harm, causing pain to the mind rather than the body. One of our sisters, a woman named Gennes, took the habit to its logical conclusion. Her delusion was so strong that she treated her.. doll.. in every way as if it were her child. The prisoners we are here to see are her murderers, though it was not until long after the event that we discovered that. When they also tried to murder Diana."

"And she beat them unconscious?"

She gives me a bitter smile. "She was not even a week old. My daughter is an able warrior, but that would have been too much to ask even of her."

"Murder and treason? I.. thought…"

"They are also some of my oldest friends. My former bodyguards. Even after what they did I could not bear to order their deaths." Another door approaches, even more heavily reinforced than the first. Hippolyta stops. "Myrto-" Inside her I see a face, picked out in violet and indigo. "-Charis, Philomela and their leader, Alkyone. It has become my custom to visit once each year and ask them to repent, to accept Diana and seek forgiveness for their misdeeds. Every year they refuse. I hold out little hope that you would be able to change their minds where I have failed, but perhaps speaking to them will grant you some measure of the wisdom your rampage across our society so far has indicated that you so sorely lack." She nods to the guards and the door is unbarred.

"About that. I know I said.. sorry, but honestly? I was sorry for the offence I might have caused you. I respect you and don't want to cause you unnecessary hardship. For not thinking the whole thing out. I'm not sorry for having done it. Necessary hardship I'll dump wherever it needs to go." I nod to her, then start forwards through the door. "I'll see what I can do for them, majesty."

"The gods go with you."

I look at her a little nervously. "Given who I worship, are you sure that's a good idea?"

9th January
06:42 GMT +3

The great door moves aside easily enough and I walk through into a short corridor terminating in another equally heavy door. Hippolyta may only come through here once a year but the prisoners need to be fed and watered. I wonder what… If they've been in here since Diana was little then they've basically been in isolation for around eighty five years. Damn. What have they been doing with themselves? They can't risk them getting weapons so martial drill is out of the question. I suppose there's books and board games.. if there's anything on Themyscira they haven't already played to death or read a hundred times. Maybe that could be my in? Also need to find out why they did any of that stuff. Why would they kill Gennes? Alright, she was going a bit mental and clearly children are a very sensitive issue here. But they'd have known her for over a thousand years, probably longer. I don't know.

I lift the bar on the inner door myself and push it open. There's no natural light this far inside the palace and the traditional burning torches would create dangerous levels of smoke. Instead they use simple-

"My queen?"

-bound spells to illuminate the room. Quite a lot of them, too.

"Has it been a year already?"

The voice is a little gravelly, and there's something… Something off about it. As if she either just woke up or -more likely- hasn't had cause to speak for a while. I blink and have the rings show me the layout. It isn't really a cell cell. It's more of a secure dormitory, with a bedroom, a small kitchen, a bathroom and a living area. There isn't direct access to the inmate area from where I am. Rather, there's a sort of interior window with orichalcum bars embedded into the stone. I assume that whoever is speaking is standing close to it, but there's no direct line of sight from there to the door. Food appears to get lowered down through a hole in the roof inside the inmate area which is far too small for them to try climbing up. Water comes in through a similar opening and they have the standard garderobe toilet arrangement.

"If you are not Queen Hippolyta then state your business or depart."

"Good morning." A moment's shocked silence as I walk around the interior wall towards the 'window'. "Queen Hipp-."

"{red}Get out{/}."

Being careful to stay further than arms’ reach from the bars I move slowly into view. The woman staring at me in shock and disgust is bald, heavily scarred and possesses a pronounced aquiline nose. "Queen Hippolyta asked me to speak to you. I don't intend to disobey her."

Her eyes narrow. "Why are you even here, {red}Man{/}?"

"On Themyscira? I'm one of Princess Diana's students." Her face tightens. "Since I was stateless, Queen Hippolyta offered me Themysciran citizenship."

"Bhekrr." Her head jerks to the side for a moment before turning back to me, her eyes assessing me for my threat potential. Her eyes linger for a moment on the sigil on my chestplate but only for a moment. She would have already been locked up when Alan was visiting and I can't think of any reason for her to have ever met the Green Lantern Corps members.

I create a construct chair and sit down, setting my lantern down on the stone floor next to me. "May I ask whom I'm addressing?"

She draws herself up slightly. "I am Captain Alkyone of The Circle."

"Hello. I'm… Ah, call me Pavlos." I can think Pavlos without collapsing, probably because I don't associate it with my actual name. I've also instructed the rings not to translate it. They usually don't with names but I don't want to take any silly risks.

"How many more of you are there on Themyscira?"

"More of me?" I smile. "No, I'm uniq-."

"Other men."

"One." I look at her for a moment. "Does that bother you? "

"Neither of you should be here. Another attempt by the Dragon to weaken us."

Alright, I'm here on royal business and there's an even chance that the world's about to end. No reason not to look deep inside her. And the Dragon is.. Diana, apparently. Lots of red there. Links to her hatred of Herakles.. and… Invasion? She thinks of Diana as an invader? Odd… What does she want? A smiling face, and… She and the other four members of The Circle standing around Hippolyta. Her old job? Would she-? No, she doesn't want to do the things which she'd need to do to create that situation, she literally wants to go back to how things were.

"Why do you think that the Princess-?"

"She is no Princess. {red}She is an abomination{/}."

She fears.. Hippolyta's corruption at Diana's hands. By her presence. More red as she and her comrades murder Gennes, anger at her.. weakness? And the doll image. Whow! That's.. a.. complicated mess. Yellow and orange, each with dozens of associations leading away. Babies are.. betrayal, change… No, change from the ideal. And weakness. Wanting is a moral failure. Yikes. I thought that Clyemne was conservative but she was at least capable of discourse. And the orange? Oh. I shouldn't be surprised I suppose. Alkyone wants a child herself. Odd. Given the closeness of her prior relationship with Hippolyta she'd almost certainly have been heavily involved in Diana's upbringing if she hadn't tried to kill her. How does she feel about Philippus? No, not seeing any strong associations there. Alkyone loves Hippolyta as a loyal aide, not as a want-to-be paramour.

"What makes you say that?" She glowers at me. "Come on. If she's got some sort of treasonous plot, I'm a citizen now. It's my responsibility to stop it reaching fruition."

"It is not. It may be the responsibility of your mother or your sister but it is not yours."

"Oh please, I'm far better positioned to investigate and take action than you are. I mean, I'm not in prison for a start. And unlike you I'm physically capable of hurting a demigoddess-."

"{red}That thing is no goddess{/}!"

"You keep shouting, but until you give me some actual content I can't help you." I shrug. "Assess your situation rationally. If you haven't escaped in eighty years then you're probably not going to. Barring some total cataclysm -we nearly had one yesterday and there's-."

She suddenly looks more alert. "What happened yesterday? Is the Queen well?"

"Scylla, Circe, a load of Fishmen and a fellow called Johnny Sorrow attacked. No fatalities on our side though they.. probably achieved their primary objectives. Diana and Prince Kon dealt-."

"The.. {red}thing{/} has chosen a mate?"

"No, she adopted. Third in line to the throne is a man, so.. you may want to reconsider the whole 'killing Diana' thing."

"Never."

"You know.. you're coming across as some sort of crazy jealous stalker. If you have a real problem with her-."

"I am finished with talking to you." She pulls back from the bars and starts to turn away.

"What happens to the members of a group when the group is destroyed?"

She frowns. "What?"

"Societies change. Certainly, what existed before no longer exists but the people -or at least their descendants- still live. And.. their lives may well be better for it. Having children doesn't necessarily mean the end of Amazon society, Alkyone. It will simply change it to a new form."

"Their desire to reproduce cost me two blood sisters on the mainland and caused my queen to use foul magics to create a.. {red}living simulacrum{/}. I took no pleasure in putting Gennes down-."

"But you want what she wanted." Her eyes widen. "You want a child. Look, if the magic involved was the problem-.{orange}"
{/}
"You lie. Do you see women simply as-?"

"{yellow}Hush, dear one, your mother is{/}-."

"{red}GET OUT{/}! {red}GET OUT{/}! {red}GET OUT{/}!"

9th January
07:46 GMT +3

"I give thanks to you, Lord Helios, for the life your sun brings to the world." Kon looks towards the sun as it rises over the sea. "And…" He looks at Menalippe for guidance and she nods encouragingly. "For the whole.. glowing.. thing? That's going to be really use-" There's a flare of light from him as the glow reappears. "-ful." He checks himself over and then looks back at Menalippe. "He's not gunna be annoyed if I don't pray tomorrow morning, is he?"

She shakes her head. "You have a pact with him. If the glow he has granted you would be a distraction I am certain that he will understand. That said, I would not recommend ignoring him indefinitely. Empowering you is an extremely significant act for him."

"No, I wasn't going to." He turns to me. "World ended yet?"

"Ring, try John again.{orange}"

"Compliance."{/} I hear a dial tone.

"Diana, has Nabu-?"

She shakes her head. "He's in London now, but he hasn't been able to locate anything. I still don't understand why you didn't warn us about this earlier."

"I didn't know what John was working on until he-."

"Ah, Christ, this better be-."

I clamp the ring hard against my left ear. "JOHN WHAT THE-!! THE HECK?!"

"He was right here, alright? Couldn't tip my hand."

"And now?"

"Gone. Dead. I dunno."

I slump against the wall. "What happened?"

"Original plan was to use me as a focus when we blasted it. I managed to convince the others that Jason would work better. Friggin' Beast was all for it. When we started the Dog felt it right off and swam up the link. Beast tried to steal the power from the ritual so it could finish off the Dog, but I'd already put it into a binding spell so he couldn't try legging it. No power to fight, no way to escape… Dog tore him apart."

"Anyone else hurt?"

"Angie broke my nose. Part from that? No."

"Okay, that's… Okay. I'll.. fix it for you. You might want to watch out when you leave, Nabu's looking for you."

"What does he know?"

"That you got involved with a planet killing entity!"

"You t-? What the fuck d'you do that for?"

"Because you wouldn't tell me where you were! I couldn't take the risk!"

"Fuck."

"Okay, give me a minute here. I need to tell the League they can stand down." I lower the ring and look at Diana. "They tricked the Beast into summoning its own gaoler and then snatched back the power it was planning to use to kill said gaoler. Problem.. over until next time."

"Could you please impress upon Mister Constantine that dealing with creatures like the Beast is the Justice League's job. At the very least he should have informed his government." I nod, and she rises from the ground to fly back to the communication system in the invisible plane.

I lift the ring back to my ear. "What did you tell the others?"

"Managed to convince them it was a double blind trap. Couldn't risk tellin' them in advance in case the Beast picked up on it. I'm not exactly Mister Popular at the moment but, aghh, no one died and I wasn't on their Christmas card list anyway."

That didn't sound good. Queen Hippolyta and Menalippe start back towards the palace. Kon looks at me curiously but I wave him away and he follows after them. "John, are you alright?"

"Angie got a few kicks in before the others pulled her off me. Only hurts when I breathe."

"Okay, tell me-."

"The thought does occur that a lot of this could have been avoided if we'd had a chat about this sooner."

"Well… Yesss. I mean, I didn't know this was what you were doing-."

"That's why I'm not shouting your bloody ears off, mate. Any more of these lined up?"

"I don't know. There's a bunch of things that might happen. Nothing… You know, here, is quite what I expected. There are some people I'm monitoring just in case…"

In the background I can hear ambulance sirens. "Right. Give me a day to talk my way out of this, then we can have a bit of a chat about these up and coming doomsdays."

I nod. "Okay. That's… That's probably a good idea. Just to be clear, my recollection isn't perfect and there's no guarantee-."

"Never is, mate. Yeah, I'm in here! See you at the Northampton Arms Monday night."

"Bit public, isn't it?"

"They're used to all sorts of nut jobs in there. Alright, yeah, okay-." The phone cuts off.

Well then. I take another look out over the city. At the dock the morning catch is being landed and I can just about smell freshly baked bread. Heh. Wonder what Amazons do for a hangover cure?

"Excuse me?" I turn around. Two Amazons - Tekla and another wearing robes who I don't recognise- are standing nearby.

I smile at them. "What can I do-" Robe Amazon was the one who asked how double female reproduction was possible. I didn't get her name. "-for you?"

They hesitate and look at each other. After a moment Tekla turns back to me. "I wanted to thank you again for my eye."

"No problem at all. Try not to lose it again. Once is unfortunate but twice would suggest carelessness."

Her face suggests that she isn't quite sure how to take that. After a moment she decides to ignore it. "Iola told me you claimed to be able to.. allow two women to conceive a child together."

"That's true. It's not even that hard. The mother would still have to carry the child to term of course."

The other woman -Iola presumably- nods. "We know. We'd like.. you to do that. For us."

This is probably something Themysciran society should debate at length.

"Of course. Which of you wants to be the Fama?"

Tekla frowns. "The what?"

"The one carrying the child. I could make you both pregnant by each other at the same time if you really want but it would probably be a better idea if one of you does it. In the later stages, having you both waddling around…"

"{orange}I do{/}!" For a moment Iola looks surprised by her own insistence. She looks at Tekla. "If that's alright..?"

Tekla pulls her close and {violet}kisses her on the forehead{/}. "Of course it is. What was the word for the.. woman.. father..?"

"Oma." I raise my hands towards them, connecting visible filaments from my fingers to both of them. Rings, data.

{orange}Compliance.{/} / {orange}Data available.

"{/}You're at the wrong point in your menstrual cycle for a zygote to implant-."

"Oh. Well. We can-."

"So I'll have to change that. DNA scan… No obvious abnormalities. Is it alright if I set the gene matching program to random or do you want to try selecting characteristics?" They both look a bit blank. I don't have a full break down of Human genetic expression anyway. "Random it is." The filaments disconnect from Tekla and in my mind's eye the Stewart ring shows me an image of Iola's uterus. "This should only take a few minutes."

{red}9th January
09:44 GMT +3{/}

The last resting place of the late Baroness Paula von Gunther is really quite beautiful. It lies in a small garden on the western side of Mount Skybreak, a short distance from the main road from the city of Themyscira to the farming village of Syrsana. Surrounding the garden is a low wall decorated with swastika symbols, though I note that they are mirror images of the version which the Nazis used. The marble sarcophagus inside is similarly decorated and bears the inscription: 'Baroness Paula von Gunther, 1907-1981. May she finally know peace.'

I suppress a growl. "Only woman worth knowing on this whole island and she had the temerity to die thirty years ago."

Orana's expression doesn't change. Since I managed to make it through yesterday without taking a shit in a baptismal font -or whatever the Themysciran equivalent is- Diana decided that I could be let out with only a single escort today. Not sure who Orana got on the wrong side of to earn that duty. This visit hasn't -quite- been a total waste of time but it's been perilously close. At least Kon and Match are enjoying themselves.

The Baroness came to Themyscira after the Second World War following Wonder Woman's rescue of her from a Russian prison. I suppose that if you rape your way across a country you shouldn't be too surprised if it puts you on the bad side of the Amazons. She hadn't been involved in any of the serious war crimes and was a decent enough person to be thoroughly disgusted by the excesses of fascism. The Purple Healing Ray appears to have been developed here as a way to sort of burn off some of her acquired bad karma. Certainly there wasn't much opportunity otherwise to apply her skills here. She never converted to Hellenism and as a result wasn't included in Themyscira's agelessness effect. Her death was peaceful enough but it still makes me grit my teeth. A repentant malign hypercognitive! I dread to think of all of the wonderful things she could have achieved if she'd been picked up by the Americans instead!

I shake my head and turn away. Ah, there we go: an empty patch of soil. Diana told me that Amazons would regard putting cut flowers on a grave as somewhat ghoulish but that I was free to add live flowers. I kneel down, {orange}form{/} a construct trowel and start digging a hole.

"Why do you hate us so much?"

I pause for a moment. Perhaps I should try diplomacy? We are near the grave of someone I respect. "Are you sure you want me to answer that?"

"If I didn't want an answer then I wouldn't have asked the question."

"Why do you care?"

"What you said yesterday in the market; you offered to make us as the gods are then said everything you could to make us despise you. When I went home and talked it through with my friends I realised that if I took all the you out of what you said then the offer became a good one. I want to know why you did that."

"Alright. There's a phrase in Man's World. 'Who are you in the dark?' What it means is: if there was no one checking what you were doing, if you knew for certain that there would be no punishment for your actions… How would you behave?" I dismiss the trowel and take the Monkshood out of subspace, depositing it in the hole before levelling the soil with my hands. "I seem to remember there was some Chinese cop out… Something like: 'I would know, you would know and Heaven would know."

"What does that have to do with Themyscira?"

"I myself am perilously close to finding out what I am. If I'm prepared to be even slightly subtle about it, between this ring and my own innate abilities… There's basically no one who can stop me doing whatever I want. My actions are no longer moderated by the common herd of humanity… And after the sixth of July this year they won't even be moderated by Princess Diana or Batman. I will fully own my every success or failure." I turn away from the flowers and look at her. "What is Themyscira in the dark?" {trans}Listen.{/}

She shakes her head in incomprehension. "It's.. Themyscira…"

"Most nations must contest with their neighbours in some fashion, in full view of them. They must maintain their strength, their culture and their technology in order to avoid being overtaken. If they fail they risk being conquered or absorbed by a more powerful or more vibrant state. Themyscira has been in near perfect isolation for near enough two thousand years. It had no need to worry about someone watching… What have you done?" {trans}Open your mind.{/}

"We've built, we've.. farmed…"

"And you're about.. eight hundred years behind the rest of Europe. Technologically you've changed.. not at all, as far as I can see. You've applied it a little better, you've had time to build up... But that's it. You were given lives free of conflict and you did.. nothing. You failed to grow and you failed to grow because you had no external pressure forcing you to grow." She frowns. "Where is your science? What feats of engineering have you achieved that could stand against those of Man's World? For goodness sake, you pride yourselves as warriors. Where are your weapons? At one time Themyscira's armies were feared across Greece. Now? Save for the gods' wards I don't think there's a nation on the planet who couldn't conquer you. You've become complacent and stagnant and that's why I hate it here." {trans}Understand.{/}

"{red}You think we are that weak{/}?!"

"I'll show you." I walk past her, out of the garden. Once I'm standing a little way outside I hold out my right arm, gesturing for her to join me. Face hardened, she does so. "You know how to use that bow?"

"I've had three thousand years of practice."

I wiggle my right forefinger and {orange}deposit{/} a shooting range target onto the hillside twenty metres away. Then I {orange}move{/} an AK-47 from subspace to my right hand. "This is an AK forty seven. First designed sixty three years ago for the Soviet Union it remains the most popular gun on the planet, mostly due to its mechanical simplicity. Thirty round magazine, single shot and full automatic modes. If it had a hundred rounds in the magazine it could fire them all in a minute. I have practised with it once." My strength allows me to keep it more or less on target on full automatic, something no normal man could. I point to the target with my left forefinger and look at Orana with my eyebrows raised. "First to hit it fifteen times wins?"

She unslings her bow and takes hold of it in her right hand before reaching back and taking five arrows in her left hand. She takes a deep breath, {green}stills herself and focuses her mind{/}. She keeps the bow pointing down and the arrows close to but not on the string. "Ready."

I carefully take hold of the gun, left hand on the barrel grip and right hand on the pistol grip. The gun I'm holding has no trigger guard as my fingers are too large to get inside it. I can't use the stock for similar reasons, it just wouldn't fit. I point it down at the same angle as her bow. "I will count down 'three, two, one, go'. On 'go' you may loose your first arrow. Three. Two." A slight tension enters her shoulders. "One. Go."

My gun's up slightly before her bow but in all honesty there's little in it. Her first arrow is on string as I squeeze the trigger and the gun starts firing. The AK has already punched three holes in the target by the time the first arrow strikes home. Eleven by the time her first handful have been used and then she has to take another five from her quiver. By the time she looses her sixth it's fifteen bullet holes and I've won, but I keep the trigger squeezed until the gun clicks empty. At that point the brutalised remains of twelve arrows stud what's left of the target. I lower the gun, {orange}disintegrate{/} the magazine and {orange}take another{/} out of subspace before slotting it in place. Orana is still watching the target, breathing hard, eyes wide.

"Other weapons are more powerful still." I {orange}return{/} the AK-47 to subspace and {orange}create a minigun construct{/}. Should I ever need it I have an actual minigun modified to my dimensions in subspace but for the point I'm making a construct will do just fine. "The AK fires a hundred rounds a minute. This fires six.. thousand." I give her a moment to take that in. "Still can't do much to hurt someone as resilient as the Princess or myself, but if you compare either of them to a bow…"

"I.. hadn't realised."

I allow the construct to dissipate. "Have you ever seen a bucket of crabs, Orana? The way they struggle against one another and in doing so prevent any of them escaping? {orange}Ignore your sisters{/}. {orange}Ignore your queen{/}. {orange}Think upon what you have seen, what you know, and make your own decision{/}. My offer still stands. If you -or any of your sisters- wish to escape this place, I will help. Power, divinity, equipment, guidance. Whatever you want, at no obligation to me. Or -if you prefer- you can continue to sit life out as the world passes by and you slip further into irrelevance. What I will not do is sugar coat this for you. Themyscira is weak. You, can be strong. {orange}What do you want{/}?"

She says nothing for a moment, closely examining the grass at her feet as she mechanically returns the arrows still in her hand to the quiver. "I.. {orange}want to be strong{/}."

For the first time since coming to Themyscira I find a genuine smile coming to my lips. "Then by all means, let us make you strong."