Legendary

Diana had warned me that the Amazons were early risers and came to wake me herself. False dawn was lighting the sky, and Iris was reluctant to get up until I reminded her about the horses. Then she bolted out of bed. Diana and I grinned. After breakfast, Melia came to claim Iris for their ride, and Martha was swept up by what looked like as many Amazons as could manage it for a tour of the islands and swimming in the sea. I sighed mentally. It sucks to be responsible sometimes.

But I was curious and concerned about the counsel Diana wanted from her mother. It had to be significant, to come here and go through all the welcoming and such that she had with every return. The Amazons didn't have the concept of 'low key' and probably would reject it if it was explained to them. Torunn and I went into the council chamber with Diana, Antiope, Hippolyta, and Cydippe, who attached herself to the princess and quickly and quietly brought her up to date as we waited for Philippus, Hellene, Menalippe, the high priestess, Hessia, the chief oracle, and Hupsele, a senator. Since what Diana had come to discuss concerned the exterior world, the full Senate and council were not in session, but these women were among the wisest and most experienced Amazons, and it was thought necessary to include as many so that if this matter touched on the Amazons, the basic information would be there and ready to be shared.

Together, Diana and I gave them a briefing about terrorism, supervillains, and the cadres of defenders, specifically the Avengers and Justice League, in order to lay the groundwork for the revelation of Typhon, the new supergroup of villainous all-stars. We took our time with the explanations and answered questions so that those assembled would have a clear understanding of what was going on. The Amazons were disgusted by these goings-on; evidence, to them, of the corruption of mans' world. Then Diana placed a 3D projector on the table, to both my surprise and Torunn's. Diana activated it, and news accounts of the devastation in Rome played. The casualty and fatality count was included in the last report. "I didn't think that the technology would work here, for some reason," Torunn whispered to me, and I nodded.

"I thought that magic would interfere somehow," I whispered back. "We need to be careful about making assumptions." If I'd known that the projectors worked here, I'd have scrapped the paper photographs and put it all in a display. I should have asked.

"One action that was overlooked in the chaos was that the Forum of Augustus had been altered; the site of the temple of Mars Ultor had been swept clean and the monastery that had been built on it simply... removed. And since then, equally quietly, other sites of former temples have been cleared. Significantly, the temple of Ares in the Agora of Athens." There was a great indrawn breath. "I believe that Ares, assisted by Nemesis, the sons of Ares--Deimos and Phobos, and Circe, are at the heart of the organization Typhon. I further believe that their goal is to gain a foothold in the wider world before coming to threaten Themyscira." After a profound silence, Diana asked, "Are the Doors of Doom secure?"

Hippolyta stared at her daughter. "As secure as ever they were."

"I have worked over time to help the world forget the monsters, to think of them as legend instead of flesh and blood, that none search for them. In this I am aided by scholars who see the chthonic monsters as parables and fables, but there are those who would search for them, or at least traces of them, to win recognition," Diana said. "But Ares knows the truths of the stories. And where he may find them."

"We protect the gateways, and the goddesses protect Themyscria," Hippolyta returned.

"Trust not in the actions of the gods." This came, surprisingly, from Antiope. "You know we have been abandoned by them before."

Hippolyta was silent.

"Mother, queen of our kind, I beg you to add guards to the Doors," Diana implored. "Even if the gods betray us, we still have each other and our strength."

"It may not be enough." I looked at Menalippe in alarm at her words. This didn't sound good. She kept staring at the table, and dismissed Cydippe, Hessia, Hupsele, Hellene, and Philippus. After they had left, baffled, she raised her eyes to her queen. "Tell them." Hippolyta went pale. "All of it."

"Mother?" Diana said, confused, after the silence had spun out.

"You know that Heracles came to us and tricked me with his pledge of friendship and thus stole the girdle of invincibility," she said after a moment. "And that we were plunged into slavery as a result. That the goddesses helped us, and we escaped here."

"Yes."

Another silence.

"But this is not the whole of the truth." The queen sighed. Antiope took her hand and squeezed hard. The sound of her manacle as it hit the table was discordant. "The truth is this. Heracles was the son of wandering Zeus and Alcmene, and when Hera learned of him, she hated him as proof of her husband's infidelity. Heracles is not the most stable of the children of Zeus, and his instability and tendencies toward violence made it easy for Hera to warp his mind, resulting in the slaughter of one of his wives and their children. To purify himself of his crimes, he was set to twelve tasks by King Eurystheus. One of those tasks was to obtain the girdle given us by Aphrodite. And so he came to us wearing the false face of a friend, pledging alliance. I was naive and believed him, for he swore an oath. But he captured the girdle and his men poured into our city, bringing with them manacles with chains one pēchys long. And thus we were enslaved, our strength and power obliviated by our chains. They looted the city, and after many hours, left it burning and in ruins, dragging their captives to the boats. Heracles gave our leaders to his boon companions and let his men fight over the rest. There were not enough Amazons for every man.

"He waited until we reached the land and the temple of Artemis, where he forced himself upon me on the altar. His men watched and laughed, to see the Amazons brought so low. And so we were enslaved for many years. My prayers to the goddesses went unanswered, and Heracles mocked me for them. Around me, our sisters were hated by the wives of their captors and given no relief. They were forced to raise the boy children they bore, who were taken away at five years. The girls were killed in front of their mothers after birth, their blood spraying their mothers as they were dashed against the floor, the wall, in order to avoid the creation of more Amazons.

"And thus we suffered in torment. Some of our sisters were broken. Others, too proud to endure, cast themselves from the cliffs. Others were casually slain by those who dared call themselves our masters. But many of us endured. And Heracles was the cause of his own downfall.

"The subjection of our kind to his rule was a thing he was most proud of. He wore the pelt of the Nemean lion constantly; he had refused to be parted from it long enough to have it properly tanned, so it smelled and attracted flies, but he thought nothing of this. He would stroke the pelt and boast how he had conquered us, and lay with me, and how he would make me submit to him in spirit as he had in body. He beat me when I did not demonstrate his virility by bearing him a son. Eventually, Zeus heard his boasts, and, unwilling as he is to be outshone by any body, assumed a human guise and found me. If I would lay with him and please him, he said, and refrain from killing his son Heracles, he would permit the goddesses to act on our behalf."

She paused to retain control over her emotions. "And so to rescue the sisters who were left to me, I prostituted myself to Zeus, and feigned passion well enough to secure his compliance. Sated, he stated that he would hold to our bargain, and he left.

"It was some time before he redeemed his promise. I was always kept in complete isolation from my sisters, a separate torture. But one night, when he was full of drink, he came to the small chamber where I was restricted, with the girdle around his wrist, and he taunted me with it. I waited until he had thrown his head back to laugh, then plucked it from his wrist and over my own. I gained strength enough to take his sword and sever the chain on my manacles, and then... I did not kill my captor, as I had promised Zeus, but I did exercise... a certain creativity, and left him broken and bleeding on the floor, unable to follow. Or speak.

"Aided by the darkness, I crept from dwelling to dwelling, killing the men within, taking their swords, breaking my sisters' chains, and handing them swords, and so we spread out and liberated those of us as were left. Not all granted their captors a clean death; others chose to mutilate them instead. We did not kill the women or children, but those who tried to prevent our leaving were beaten. And those women who asked were permitted to join us. And we made our way to the boats and took them all. Once upon the ocean, we tended our wounds, and Athena appeared before us and told us where to set our sails to. And at length, the mists parted for our ships, and we found ourselves in this harbor, our new home. We dismantled all but the smallest ships and used them to begin building our city.

"I walked around the main island to learn its contents, what I would be leaving to my sisters, for I had discovered a lump which I thought would eventually kill me. And while I was exploring, Artemis and Aphrodite appeared to me, and I knelt before them to give thanks for their assistance. They warned me against trusting men, and Aphrodite bent and touched my body, and told me that I was with child. I wailed in rejection and begged the goddess to get rid of it. And Artemis, still outraged over Heracles' violation of her temple, would have done so, but Aphrodite stayed her hand.

"'It is the get of Zeus,' she warned. 'You dare not,'" and I begged, and Aphrodite leaned forward again, and at the touch of her hand, I felt tugging and pain, and when it was over, the goddess held the tiniest infant in her hands. My stomach was flat, and I realized then, having had no contact with my sisters who had borne children or having done it myself, only hearing of the fate of the infants from Heracles' taunts, that I had not been afflicted with a tumor at all. And she showed me the babe. "She is the result of your bargain with Zeus," she said. "And she is blameless for the deeds of her father or half-brother, whatever their crimes against you may be." She fell silent, and I looked at the child, who opened her eyes and looked at me. I had not wanted the child, but Aphrodite is the embodiment of all love, not only erotic love, and the love of a mother for her child filled me.

"Then, Menalippe came over the rise and saw us all, seeing for herself the truth, and pointed out to the goddesses that if Hera learned of the child, she would kill her. Artemis summoned Athena, Demeter, and Hestia. By this time, others had been drawn to the place, and Aphrodite claimed that she had created this child as a symbol of our return of our freedom, telling us all that the manacles we wore were to be worn from that day forward as a remembrance of what we had endured and what we had gained and thus I was permitted to keep the child. Demeter blessed us all with the ability to recover strength and health through joining with the earth when the need was greatest, and to you, Diana, specifically, strength that outstrips the rest of us. Athena blessed you with exceptional intelligence, wisdom, and military prowess. Artemis enhanced your senses. Hestia gave you sisterhood with all fire, including the fire that embues your lasso with the ability to demand the truth, and to withstand burning from flame. And Aphrodite graced you with beauty and a mighty heart. Hermes, drawn by the presence of the goddesses and the last male to stand upon the soil of Themyscria, was charmed by your laugh and bestowed upon you superhuman speed.

"And over time, we prospered, and we healed from our physical wounds, and the passage of years soothed the torment from our minds and spirits. A few of our sisters, plagued by the deaths of their children, ventured forth into the world again until they could return with a child to ease their grief. The gift of Aphrodite to me was that you grew so slowly. The children that the other Amazons brought back were grown before you could lift a sword, and this was put down to your earthly creation rather than a far premature birth. It allowed you to grow and be loved and learn, for the blessings of the goddesses made it inevitable that you would be sent into the world of man. Athena made your bracelets invulnerable to any weapon of man and brought the shield and sword and greaves, forged by Hephaestus himself; Hestia left the lasso of truth for you, and Aphrodite designed your clothing so that you would be protected but still graceful and lovely. And, when Zeus had had his tolerance for his son's temper and murderous ways exceeded, he allowed the goddesses to imprison him in a pillar beneath the islands and create the prison for the monsters of the age, closing him in with them. And so they have remained, behind the doors that we have sealed shut and guarded as a sacred trust to the goddesses. We will not fail in our task."

"And this is the truth of our past that none outside this chamber know," Menalippe said soberly. "You cannot know how high emotions rode; if the others had known that the queen had been impregnated during our slavery, you would have been killed immediately, Diana, goddesses or no. And secrecy served two purposes--your safety from the Amazons and also from Hera. It is not known if Zeus is aware that you are his daughter. I do not believe so. I think our secret is kept. And while our spirits have been soothed by the long passage of time, it is still not wise to allow the circumstances of your birth to be known to all our sisters. There are those Amazons who disagree with the queen on various matters and who would use this knowledge to spread dissent. And to a few of us, whose healing may never be complete, the knowledge that Hippolyta willingly lay with a male who had power over our captivity would not be borne, no matter the reason. I do not know what for their actions might be, but it might end in her death, and yours as well when you returned to take up rule as you must. And that is too much to risk." She looked at Torunn and me, her eyes piercing. "I trust that your companions will not betray you either." I returned her gaze, although it was hard, and turned to Diana. her face leeched of color.

I felt immense sorrow for her; it was a lot to take in, and to find out that your mother and everyone she loved here had kept the truth of something so important about her from her had to be devastating, no matter that there were good reasons for it. "Diana," I said gently; her eyes were wide, unblinking, and fixed on her mother. I patted her hand where it had curled into a fist. It was cold.

"You should have told me," she whispered finally. "I deserved to know that, Queen Hippolyta." Her mother's face went ashy at the words and Diana stood, the movement uncharacteristically jerky, and turned for the door.

"Diana, don't go out there," I said, standing in front of her. "Not like this. I know this is a shock and I don't know how you must be hurting, but if you leave now, so upset, you'll be inviting more questions than you will want to answer now. Don't go out until you can control yourself and your response." Her expression was hard as granite, but then she nodded once, and moved over to the windows that overlooked the sea, turning her back on the table.

I sat down again. "So what I think we need is assurance that the gates are well guarded, and I would like to suggest that it wouldn't hurt to augment your guard and possibly a lookout over the sea, as far as to the mist."

"What's behind those doors?" Torunn asked. "If they escape into the world, we need to know what we'll be facing. But unless that happens, the knowledge will kept with us alone."

"The creatures that D-- that we understand to be considered myths in your world," Antiope said to me after a slight pause. "We do not have guardianship over the Titans; that remains with Hades. And he has custody of Cerberus, but behind the doors with Heracles is the Minotaur, giants, Cyclopes who refuse to serve their father Hephaestus, the Arae, daemons, Empusa, Enceladus, Gegenees, Gigantes, gorgons, some of the Dracaenae, drakons, Karkenos--" she broke off. "An accurate accounting does not exist. Athena appeared periodically, placed a creature within, and the doors were barred again."

Great. Ok, we needed to track down descriptions of all the mythological creatures we could, and get ideas how to fight them if they showed up. And this would probably be down to Torunn and me, in case Diana couldn't help. I had no idea how long she'd need to sort through her feelings, but I knew that when we needed her she would show up. We could afford to give her this time.

"And what can you tell us of this Ares that does not lay in the land of myth?" Torunn asked.

"He is the god of war; it is his nature and cannot be changed." Torunn and I exchanged a glance; her uncle Loki, the trickster god, also could not repress his nature indefinitely. He played practical jokes to bleed it off, but when the pressure of his nature got too much, he went abroad in the Nine Realms, causing mischief. This method of control freed him from creating widespread and destructive chaos. "Athena is also a goddess of war, but she is concerned with strategy, the intellect of combat. Ares is the bloodlust, the chaos of combat. He loves its energy, it feeds him. Eris calls forth war and Zeus directs it, but Ares revels in its destruction, its savagery and excess. But when he can be turned, he is the benign side of men at arms: civil order as secured by force. His size increases on the battlefield and he is known for his kinship with serpents. Yet he is handsome and Aphrodite finds something within him to love. He can be defeated; Athena did so herself. So it is not impossible for others to control him, as Diana herself has done in the past. But be aware that the gods cannot be truly killed."

Torunn and I absorbed this; she was having some difficulty because the gods of the Norse pantheon--her kin--behaved very differently. "Is there a way for us to signal you from the mainland if the worse happens and Ares declares himself openly?" I asked.

"We may not be able to spare Diana to come warn you," Torunn said gravely, and Antiope nodded.

"The temple on the Acropolis in what was once Athens was dedicated to Athena," Hippolyta murmured. "A fire lit on the alter there, if it still exists, will cause a matching one here to flare."

"The Parthenon still exists," I said, then chewed my lip, considering. "It was stripped of the great ivory statue of the goddess, its treasury, everything, in antiquity. But the government of Greece has been trying to fund a complete restoration. It's been difficult, because there are so many projects and a very finite amount of money available. Their will is strong, though, because now everybody knows that the gods do in fact exist and nobody wants to upset them. Balanced against that is the reality that there was a huge population boom that is still putting strain on economies. One bad drought in a major agricultural area and the food supply could be stressed to the breaking point." I shook my head. Daniel had agricultural scientists working on drought-resistant crops and conversely also crops that will tolerate more water than usual. "I know that there are some funds available now. I'll prepare a bid when I go home to start the rebuilding. It may not be soon enough, though." I looked at Menalippe. "Does the altar have to be consecrated for the fire link to work?"

"I do not know," she said. "I will work with Hessia and see if we can obtain an answer from the goddess. Presumably she can work through someone in the world of man to get you the answer."

"Fair enough," I said. "If she'll appoint a priestess, it will help things move faster. Maybe she could approve the consecration of the altar before reconstruction and restoration of the ruin of the temple began." Menalippe nodded.

We got the answers to all the questions we could think to ask, then there was an awkward silence. Diana was still rigid by the windows.

Menalippe stood, and when she spoke, her voice was changed and charged with a depth and dimension that it had lacked. The hairs on my arms rose a bit and I felt that she was drawing power from her goddesses. "Go and seek Hessia and hear what she will relate." She turned, gathered Antiope and Hippolyta with a gesture, and they quit the chamber.

Torunn and I exchanged glances, and we went over to Diana. Her face had softened, but her eyes were filled with the pain of what felt to her like a betrayal. "Let's go find Hessia, hear what she has to say, then return to our chambers and you can let it all out. We were talking about that demonstration of my wings this afternoon; why don't you bout with me, and you can work out some of your feelings that way." I hoped I wouldn't regret it. I may be a mutant, stronger and tougher, but Diana was a demigod. Torunn, standing slightly behind Diana, gave me a look that promised that she'd come in on my side if I needed her.

I let out a breath of relief when Diana slumped a bit and agreed. We left the room in search of the oracle.