Fic: Calm (Wonder Woman)
Apr. 13th, 2008 11:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seriousficTitle: Calm (Before The Storm)
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Implied Diana/Io, Donna/Kory
Word Count: 3,831
Timeline: Takes place after Wonder Woman 217 and the Return of Donna Troy. Sequel to Girlfriend.
Next: Feud.
Summary: All is well. Diana has regained her eyesight, Athena has taken the throne of Olympus, and Gaea is being honored throughout Olympus. Now if Diana can just shake the feeling that she's going to see something terrible with her new eyes.
Diana had gray eyes now. She could see again. That was the news in Io’s world. The new eyes made Diana more beautiful, more terrifying. They added a trace of oddity, a suggestion of imperfection without actually marring or blemishing, not really.
They made Io feel small, insignificant, as if those gray orbs could see into her to note, clinically, scientifically, how her heart beat for Diana. And find she loved too much or not enough, too hot or too cold, but always – always – wrong. And she’d just worked up enough courage to ask Diana out, certain she wasn’t taking advantage of the Princess’s condition.
So now she sat in the embassy’s lobby, feeling like an idiot in her worn leather apron while everyone else wore smart business ensembles, feeling sorry for herself while Diana gave thanks to Lady Pallas.
That’s when Io saw her. But for a slimmer musculature, she could’ve been Diana. Ten or so years younger, but otherwise a perfect match. Io had seen her before, seen the way she walked, but it was impossible. She was dead.
“Hello,” said Donna Troy. “I’m here to see Diana.”
***
Diana looked at herself in the mirror. Such a simple thing, yet so important. The woman she was in her reflection was not the one who had lost her eyes. The last time she had seen herself, it had been in the steel of a sword. Appropriate, for then she’d been a warrior consumed with thoughts of vengeance. Peace, for her, had been the absence, the disposal, of her enemy. Not that she would take back slaying the Gorgon, but that… masculinity was not what she fought for.
Spending time with young Cassie had reminded her of her roots as a peacemaker. Now Ares was on the throne of Tartarus, a reluctant ally, and Poseidon waged a cold war with the new queen of Olympus, Athena. Despite her misgivings, Diana felt Athena had proven herself an able queen, one who still refused to offer boon without price, but who set the price as low as possible. Gray-eyed Pallas had done both as asked and as unasked, restoring Medousa’s victims and Diana’s eyesight.
Moreover, Diana’s eyes were the eyes of her patron. She was more sensitive to magic now, able to see even the tiny spirals of the mystic that worked upon the everyday. Regaining her sight had also let Diana get her first full night’s sleep in ages. Only when your world is one of light can darkness succor.
Her pleasant-dreamed rest had erased the lines from her face and restored the luster to her hair. She twisted it into a ponytail, not so much missing Io’s help as missing Io’s blunt fingers so gentle in her hair. When she was finished, the single long braid hung elegantly between her shoulder blades.
Diana stepped out of the bathroom and into her main chambers, where she half-expected her guest to have disappeared back into the aether. But no. Donna was as vibrant and alive as she’d ever been, and the smile she gave at Diana’s entrance more than mirrored the princess’s own. They embraced for the tenth time, Donna’s smaller form perfectly nestled within Diana’s towering frame, and even Donna’s hair smelled as Diana remembered.
There was no doubt in Diana’s mind that it was Donna. The glow of her gifts, almost the same golden shade as Diana’s, proved it.
“Can you stay long?” Diana asked, already feeling as if losing Donna again would be tantamount to carving a piece from her own heart.
Donna shook her head. “A few days. I’ve a calling now, much as you did, and it won’t be ignored.”
Diana smiled sadly. “I understand. I just wish you could’ve arrived a day later. It’s the Spring Equinox, and you know of my duties today of all days. I’ll try to get Artemis to fill in, but she’s a firm believer in catching flies with vinegar.”
“What kind of hero would I be if I allowed you to inflict that horror on the world? You can still honor the Day of Gaea…” Donna spun, stars novaing to life like sequins on her clothes, ebony spreading around them in concentric circles until her clothes were those of Troia’s. “You’ll just have a little help.”
***
Their first flight was to Titans Tower in San Fran. With Lanarian technology, the trip took only half a candle-mark. Diana and Donna filled it with talk, Diana of her duties since the embassy had opened, Donna of her life among the Titans of Myth. There was still much to talk about when they landed, but they put it aside. Cassie was waiting for them on the helipad.
She gave them a quick tour of the new HQ.
“Where’s Kory?” Donna asked.
Cassie quailed for a moment, looked around conspiringly, then whispered “She’s putting on her make-up.”
Donna nodded. It was a little-known fact that Kory’s natural beauty was occasionally augmented by make-up. Only on special occasions, such as weddings (especially her own). It was a good thing, too, as not only did any man who looked at her ran the risk of dehydration by drooling, but Kory took hours to apply the simplest of make-up, no matter how effortless she wished to make it appear.
Diana tapped on her watch and Donna shrugged helplessly. For beings who technically existed outside of time, the gods could be very impatient.
“Cassie, why don’t you show us the Hall of Heroes?” Donna asked. “I want to see how many flowers my memorial has.”
“Sentences like that are why I’m going to need a therapist sometime very soon.”
Donna laughed and hugged her. Diana joined in. Kory could take forever with her make-up as far as Diana was concerned. This moment could be lived in forever.
***
“Donna! Diana! You’ve brightened my day more than you could ever know!” Kory’s armor was gleaming, her smile was radiant, and her skin looked like freshly polished gold. “I’m sorry it took me so long to get ready, but my armor was so covered with blood and bone that I just had to clean it.”
Kory flirted like a warrior.
“The effort paid off.” Donna fingered an ever-sparkling jewel on Kory’s gorget.
Kory gallantly offered an arm. “Shall we?”
Donna linked her arm in Kory’s. “We shall.”
***
The storm that had raged since Time’s birth raged against the invisible jet’s hull. It was like traveling in a plane made of glass. Kory clandestinely checked her reflection in an inactive screen. Her hair was safe, though her make-up wasn’t flattered by the play of rain-refracted light on it.
“Just enjoy the ride,” Donna said. She was grinning like a kid on a roller coaster. After all, she was riding Diana’s invisible jet again.
Despite Donna’s entreaty, Kory licked her finger and tried to remove a smudge from one of her jewels. “Are your gods much like X’Hal?”
Rolling her eyes, Donna slid down and licked Kory’s jewel clean. Kory gulped.
“Hey, don’t make me turn this invisible jet around,” Diana said good-naturedly. She juked the joystick to avoid a lightning strike. “And our gods can be quite like X’Hal. But they’ve turned over a new leaf.”
***
“Diana!” Zeus fumed. “The seething slut who cost me my throne!? I’ll strike her down the moment she enters my realm!”
“It’s no longer your realm, brother-husband,” Hera reminded him gently. “And Athena has forbid that kind of vindictiveness.”
“Athena dare command the storm-father? With mine own usurped power she orders me about! Well, I may have sworn to stay my hand against impudent goddesses and their upstart Amazons, but look yonder. The slattern brings friends. Not Amazons, but dear to her regardless. Through them I’ll put paid my hate-debt. Summon Ares to me, woman. Now there’ll be treachery to answer treachery!”
***
Kory didn’t bother with the ramp leading out of the plane. She just glided forward in wonderment, taking in the bizarrely beautiful architecture. On this day, in honor of Gaea, the marble had been transmuted to life. It breathed as gently as a sleeping child, the rise and fall of its contours making Kory giggle in delight. From the fertile buildings grew lovely trees, their vines and leaves turning the pristine starkness of Olympus into the earthiness of a lush garden.
Aphrodite, who always wore many forms, had traded in the cloth of platonic affection for a few fronds of animalistic passion. The leaves left most of her body bare, but lent by contrast an earthy, chocolate brown to her skin. Kory clapped her hands together at the lovely sight. Aphrodite had much the same reaction, only with the quirk of an eye instead.
“What exotic bird of paradise is this? I’ve not seen her like before,” Aphrodite said breathily.
Kory landed next to the love goddess, still tittering girlishly behind her hand. “I am Princess Koriand’r, a humble Tamaranian. My friends know me as Kory.” She kissed the back of Aphrodite’s hand. Then licked her way up the back of the goddess’s wrist. “I would so like to be friends.”
Aphrodite laughed whole-heartedly, making her magnificent breasts quake. “You bring me the most pleasing gifts, Diana. This one knows how a goddess is meant to be worshipped.”
Donna jealously dragged Kory away by her hair as Diana said apologetically “Perhaps you can save the worship for later. Our schedule is somewhat crowded and some things should not be rushed.”
Aphrodite smiled, indulgent. “Oh, alright, but only because of that… impassioned prayer you sent to me recently.”
“Prayer?”
“You remember.” Aphrodite bumped Diana with her hips. “With Dee-nah?”
Diana grinned like a fool in love. “Oh, yes. I really must get around to watching that tape…”
“Why watch when you can reenact?”
Diana let Kory and Aphrodite, perhaps even Donna, play their lusty games. Her attention was focused on the powerful form reclining against a tree like a pantheress. She wore a short tunic, cinched with a girdle at the waist to leave her long legs bare except for a handspan of skirt. Her shoulders and head were covered by a wolfskin’s mantle. A spear grew from one arm, a quiver of arrows was strapped to the other. What few wisps of hair escaped the wolfskin’s teeth were sun-ray gold, the brightest of all her countenance. Even her shining eyes were rimmed with kohl and her face streaked with black Parademon blood.
In the past, Diana had called her patron, creator, mentor, and friend. Artume, also called Artemis, goddess of the hunt.
“Artume. How did you find the New Gods?” Diana asked, bowing respectfully.
Hermes, upside-down and holding his winged helmet onto his head, dipped down from a nearby tree’s branches. “Easy, just ask the Old Gods for directions.”
Diana bowed to him as well. “Your absence has been felt yet more keenly, my lord.”
“You’ve missed me?” He athletically flipped down from the tree. Grinning: “Care to demonstrate how much?”
Kory frantically tapped Diana’s shoulder until Wonder Woman let herself be taken off for a private word.
“He’s flirting with you!” Kory squeed, her mouth open with EEEEEEEE!
Artume took Diana’s hand in a stately ballroom manner, Aphrodite leapt into Kory’s arms, and Hermes made a suave after you gesture. Diana suspected it had less to do with chivalry then it did getting a look at Donna’s toned ass, but that was the Gods for you.
They stopped outside the Parthenon. The gods stripped off their footwear, Hermes’s sandals beating their wings, lonely. The mortals followed suit. Kory mourned the fact that she had not had a pedicure. Aphrodite assured her that her feet looked good enough to eat. And then licked her lips.
Diana walked onto the grass, noting that flowers sprung up wherever Artume stepped. “So, how was New Genesis?”
“Different. In some ways, they’re closer to mortals than gods. In some ways, they remind me of you.”
“I’m flattered.”
“They’re the ones who should be flattered.” Artume petted Diana’s hand possessively. “They believe in what they’re fighting for. You of all people know how important belief can be.”
Diana nodded.
“The New Gods want to join forces with us,” Artume revealed. “Would the Amazons join us in battle if it came to that?”
Diana frowned. “The Amazons were created to provide a model of harmony. War is against our mandate.”
“Peace isn’t the absence of conflict, it’s the presence of justice. And Apokolips is the biggest injustice around.”
Diana wondered what it was underfoot that tickled her so. When she looked, there were tiny daffodils growing in her footprints. “And that’s enough for war?”
“Ares is a powerful voice in the new regime, and he grows restless. Would you rather he turn his attention toward Earth?”
“I’d rather Ares not get his way.”
“He’s the god of conflict. You use conflict to get your way. Like it or not, he is one of your patrons.”
Diana was about to answer when a gleeful squeal from Donna cut her off. Kory was dipping Aphrodite over to fondle Donna, who playfully slapped at each pinch.
Diana shook her head. “I’m just surprised Hermes isn’t involved.”
“It was probably his idea.” Smirking, Artume snapped her fingers and a vine snapped, the end whipping Kory across her curvaceous bottom. She was so startled that she dropped Aphrodite. Hermes graciously picked her up. Kory jumped into Donna’s arms and stuck her tongue out at the immortals. Donna promptly dropped her.
“Tell me, do you know Captain Marvel?” Artume asked.
“I am honored to call him friend.”
“Good. Use him to get an audience with the wizard Shazam. Through him, you can get to the gods of magic. With their power added to our own, we could end Darkseid’s threat once and for all.”
“Or all get killed,” Diana said, a little bitterly.
“You’ve been dead. It wasn’t that bad, was it?”
They walked through the roots of the world-tree that was now growing out of the Parthenon (or had it always been there?) and into a breathtaking oasis. The stars far above melted into light-water, which cascaded down as thundering waterfalls and mighty rivers. At the bottom of the space both finite and infinite, the waters spun down a whirlpool which transmuted it into pure black sand. The sand fell into an obsidian desert, which was featureless except for the occasional volcano that erupted white-hot. And the lava was starlight and the desert was the night. And the stars melted into whitewater rapids…
“They say it’s an endless cycle,” Ares said, melting out of his monstrous armor as he approached them. “Personally, I think it’s just really tall.”
“You don’t believe in the infinite?” Donna asked.
“How infinite was Hades?” Ares said with an eye on Diana. “Amazon.”
“War god.”
“Death god,” Ares corrected her genteelly. He turned to regard Donna and Kory. “Harbinger. And you must be Princess Koriand’r.” He drew close to her, kissing her hand so hard he drew blood from the knuckles. “Loved your work on Nym. If you ever want to kill oodles of Gordanians, look me up. We could make beautiful music together…”
Kory snatched her hand away. “I’m tone deaf.”
“Pity. Still, there are no lack of women who appreciate power.” He snapped his fingers. “Aphrodite! To me!”
Dolefully, the love goddess went to his side.
Floating in the center of the landscape of days, if such a thing could be said to have a center, the court of gray-eyed Pallas was assembled. Above it, a part of Gaea grew like a spherical tree. It was serenaded with ballads, toasted with fine wine, and celebrated so heartily it shone on the gods like a miniature sun. And they reflected its glory like living mirrors.
With no words exchanged, Kory and Diana spread their arms and basked in the Light. Donna tried to do the same, but all she got was her old yoga instructor blathering about good vibes. Then she saw Artume shed her clothing, as did Aphrodite. Even Hermes and Ares stripped. Their endowments, half-hard with energy, were… well… godly.
“Relax,” Kory said, massaging Donna’s shoulders. “Let it flow into you like a lover’s juices.”
“Helpful metaphor, Kory.” But at her urging (and not wanting to find out what measure Kory would resort to if she didn’t), Donna loosened up. Slowly, she felt something take root in her. A feeling, a certainty, that everything would be alright. She wondered if this was how Diana felt all the times.
Ares, having put on a purple cloak, walked down a stepped pit to the quorum floor. He staked two swords into the circle there. Aphrodite, once more ignored, took a seat on the bench and patted the space next to her while nodding at Diana. Reluctantly, Diana sat down beside her.
“Why do you hesitate so, lover? Am I callous? Am I cruel?”
“You are none of those things, my lady, but I have few words for those who associate with Ares.”
Aphrodite wiggled onto Diana’s lap. “I just like him for his broadsword. His very broadsword.”
“Ares never does anything if it doesn’t further his plans. Even love.”
Aphrodite traced Diana’s lips with her fingernail. “If you’re to worry about me, worry that I’m going to go mad from staring at those luscious lips and not being able to kiss them!”
When in Olympus… Diana thought, and gave in to their mutual desire.
She didn’t know how long she spent in carnal paradise, or how many times Aphrodite brought her to climax with just a tongue in her mouth and hands on her body, but the next thing she knew Donna was shaking her awake and the Olympians were applauding wildly, Kory the loudest of all.
“Perhaps you’re not ready for second base just yet,” Aphrodite said, blushing. It was then Diana noticed she was naked, wet, and very out of breath.
“I found your demonstration of the capacity for love to be most captivating, Diana,” Athena said with arched eyebrow. “I know Gaea appreciated it as well.”
Diana bowed graciously and let Donna drape a cloak around her.
“—in front of our gods,” Donna was saying, clearly flustered.
“There are worse things to have a reputation for than being a great lay.”
“Like what!?”
“Like not being one,” Kory answered.
Diana looked over to see Kory lacing up her boots. Her eyes flitted to Athena’s throne. Artume was sitting on one side, as customary, but Hera had her other ear. Diana scowled. One of the more pleasing benefits of having Zeus out of power was that his Themyscira-kicking shrew of a wife was out as well.
Before Diana could say anything, Athena had risen, calling for silence. “For Gaea’s next honor, Artume will set aside her divine powers – temporarily, of course – to battle Koriand’r, a follower of X’Hal the living goddess.”
Donna cheered, nudging Diana in the ribs to get her to join in.
“Koriand’r, your second?” Athena continued.
“Donna Troy, of course.”
Diana cheered.
“And Artume, your second?”
“Ares.”
Warning bells went off in Diana’s head.
Kory hopped up from her seat, getting the fit of her boots. She jumped down into the arena, which by what would have been an optical illusion if it hadn’t been real, was a hundred yards in circumference despite the bracketing stands being only six yards apart. She picked up one of Ares’s swords and went through a few practice swings to get a feel for it. Artume, suddenly on the other side of the arena, anointed her nude body with oil.
“Should I get naked too?” Kory asked Donna.
The Titan’s eyes twinkled. “Normally, my stock answer to your question would be yes, but maybe you’d better hold your secret weapons in reserve. Artume’s a breast woman.”
Kory nodded, mopey. “But I like being naked.”
“We like you being naked,” Donna replied immediately. Diana remembered what it felt like to be that young: Good.
Aphrodite wolf-whistled.
Ares patted Artume stiffly on the back. “Happy hunting.”
Again, Diana’s battle-won sense of danger panged. She dare not stop the festivities on such a notion, but she wrapped her golden lasso around her knuckles just in case.
Kory and Artume stood, swords in hands. They bowed to Gaea, Athena, and each other. Then they took up combat stances.
“Aphrodite, who suggested this match?”
“Lady Hera, I believe. And please, call me Kalli—“
“Begin,” Athena said.
There was no instant aggression. They were both too tensed and experienced to yield the element of surprise. Instead, they advanced on each other with the steady patience of crabs. Tempestuous Kory made the first move, a strong blow that resonated deep off Artume’s parry. Kory backed off quickly.
Artume crept forward with tiny steps. Diana recognized the gait of a mongoose stalking a cobra. With that same swiftness, she pounced. Her strikes flowed from one into another in seamless combination. By the skin of her teeth, Kory rolled away.
Donna was aghast. “Why doesn’t she fl—“
Diana shushed her hurriedly.
Her bearings regained, Kory circled the huntress warily. Artume growled, waving her blade in front of herself like a champion knife fighter. Finally, jade eyes aglow, Kory coiled her legs and leapt into the air. Artume fell to one knee with sword high, expecting an attack from above. What she could not have expected was for Kory to take flight, looping down and buzzing Artume from behind. The Tamaranian’s sword cut a red line across Artume’s thigh
“First blood to Koriand’r,” Athena ruled, calling an end to the first round.
Artume fumed her way to her corner, where she kicked a hole in the wall.
“She’s usually a better loser than that,” Diana said worriedly.
Donna was too busy giving Kory a victory hug to hear. “Well-struck, Kor! Just one more and you can go around calling yourself Kory the goddess slayer!”
“Meh. After Trigon, goddesses are not big.”
“No big.”
“That’s what I said.”
The break period ended. Ares stopped massaging Artume’s back and Kory stopped trying to get Donna to massage her front. They filed back into the arena, Kory teasingly hovering. Artume snarled. No sooner had Athena signaled the match to begin than Artume was on the offensive. Her sword was a blur in motion, Kory’s in three places at once just to break even. Artume’s legs struck like a viper, throwing Kory back against the wall.
Artume roared, lunged. Kory ducked under a swipe that ripped a swath from the wall. From the cloud of debris, Artume’s fist flew. It connected with the jarring chord of a bone being pushed past its limit. Kory’s jaw was broken.
Donna hid her mouth behind her hand.
Desperate, Kory took to the air. Artume grabbed her by the heel and flung her bodily to earth. The ground cracked under her. Artume put a boot to Kory’s breast and a sword to her throat.
“She’s going to kill her!” Donna screamed.
Feud.
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Implied Diana/Io, Donna/Kory
Word Count: 3,831
Timeline: Takes place after Wonder Woman 217 and the Return of Donna Troy. Sequel to Girlfriend.
Next: Feud.
Summary: All is well. Diana has regained her eyesight, Athena has taken the throne of Olympus, and Gaea is being honored throughout Olympus. Now if Diana can just shake the feeling that she's going to see something terrible with her new eyes.
Diana had gray eyes now. She could see again. That was the news in Io’s world. The new eyes made Diana more beautiful, more terrifying. They added a trace of oddity, a suggestion of imperfection without actually marring or blemishing, not really.
They made Io feel small, insignificant, as if those gray orbs could see into her to note, clinically, scientifically, how her heart beat for Diana. And find she loved too much or not enough, too hot or too cold, but always – always – wrong. And she’d just worked up enough courage to ask Diana out, certain she wasn’t taking advantage of the Princess’s condition.
So now she sat in the embassy’s lobby, feeling like an idiot in her worn leather apron while everyone else wore smart business ensembles, feeling sorry for herself while Diana gave thanks to Lady Pallas.
That’s when Io saw her. But for a slimmer musculature, she could’ve been Diana. Ten or so years younger, but otherwise a perfect match. Io had seen her before, seen the way she walked, but it was impossible. She was dead.
“Hello,” said Donna Troy. “I’m here to see Diana.”
***
Diana looked at herself in the mirror. Such a simple thing, yet so important. The woman she was in her reflection was not the one who had lost her eyes. The last time she had seen herself, it had been in the steel of a sword. Appropriate, for then she’d been a warrior consumed with thoughts of vengeance. Peace, for her, had been the absence, the disposal, of her enemy. Not that she would take back slaying the Gorgon, but that… masculinity was not what she fought for.
Spending time with young Cassie had reminded her of her roots as a peacemaker. Now Ares was on the throne of Tartarus, a reluctant ally, and Poseidon waged a cold war with the new queen of Olympus, Athena. Despite her misgivings, Diana felt Athena had proven herself an able queen, one who still refused to offer boon without price, but who set the price as low as possible. Gray-eyed Pallas had done both as asked and as unasked, restoring Medousa’s victims and Diana’s eyesight.
Moreover, Diana’s eyes were the eyes of her patron. She was more sensitive to magic now, able to see even the tiny spirals of the mystic that worked upon the everyday. Regaining her sight had also let Diana get her first full night’s sleep in ages. Only when your world is one of light can darkness succor.
Her pleasant-dreamed rest had erased the lines from her face and restored the luster to her hair. She twisted it into a ponytail, not so much missing Io’s help as missing Io’s blunt fingers so gentle in her hair. When she was finished, the single long braid hung elegantly between her shoulder blades.
Diana stepped out of the bathroom and into her main chambers, where she half-expected her guest to have disappeared back into the aether. But no. Donna was as vibrant and alive as she’d ever been, and the smile she gave at Diana’s entrance more than mirrored the princess’s own. They embraced for the tenth time, Donna’s smaller form perfectly nestled within Diana’s towering frame, and even Donna’s hair smelled as Diana remembered.
There was no doubt in Diana’s mind that it was Donna. The glow of her gifts, almost the same golden shade as Diana’s, proved it.
“Can you stay long?” Diana asked, already feeling as if losing Donna again would be tantamount to carving a piece from her own heart.
Donna shook her head. “A few days. I’ve a calling now, much as you did, and it won’t be ignored.”
Diana smiled sadly. “I understand. I just wish you could’ve arrived a day later. It’s the Spring Equinox, and you know of my duties today of all days. I’ll try to get Artemis to fill in, but she’s a firm believer in catching flies with vinegar.”
“What kind of hero would I be if I allowed you to inflict that horror on the world? You can still honor the Day of Gaea…” Donna spun, stars novaing to life like sequins on her clothes, ebony spreading around them in concentric circles until her clothes were those of Troia’s. “You’ll just have a little help.”
***
Their first flight was to Titans Tower in San Fran. With Lanarian technology, the trip took only half a candle-mark. Diana and Donna filled it with talk, Diana of her duties since the embassy had opened, Donna of her life among the Titans of Myth. There was still much to talk about when they landed, but they put it aside. Cassie was waiting for them on the helipad.
She gave them a quick tour of the new HQ.
“Where’s Kory?” Donna asked.
Cassie quailed for a moment, looked around conspiringly, then whispered “She’s putting on her make-up.”
Donna nodded. It was a little-known fact that Kory’s natural beauty was occasionally augmented by make-up. Only on special occasions, such as weddings (especially her own). It was a good thing, too, as not only did any man who looked at her ran the risk of dehydration by drooling, but Kory took hours to apply the simplest of make-up, no matter how effortless she wished to make it appear.
Diana tapped on her watch and Donna shrugged helplessly. For beings who technically existed outside of time, the gods could be very impatient.
“Cassie, why don’t you show us the Hall of Heroes?” Donna asked. “I want to see how many flowers my memorial has.”
“Sentences like that are why I’m going to need a therapist sometime very soon.”
Donna laughed and hugged her. Diana joined in. Kory could take forever with her make-up as far as Diana was concerned. This moment could be lived in forever.
***
“Donna! Diana! You’ve brightened my day more than you could ever know!” Kory’s armor was gleaming, her smile was radiant, and her skin looked like freshly polished gold. “I’m sorry it took me so long to get ready, but my armor was so covered with blood and bone that I just had to clean it.”
Kory flirted like a warrior.
“The effort paid off.” Donna fingered an ever-sparkling jewel on Kory’s gorget.
Kory gallantly offered an arm. “Shall we?”
Donna linked her arm in Kory’s. “We shall.”
***
The storm that had raged since Time’s birth raged against the invisible jet’s hull. It was like traveling in a plane made of glass. Kory clandestinely checked her reflection in an inactive screen. Her hair was safe, though her make-up wasn’t flattered by the play of rain-refracted light on it.
“Just enjoy the ride,” Donna said. She was grinning like a kid on a roller coaster. After all, she was riding Diana’s invisible jet again.
Despite Donna’s entreaty, Kory licked her finger and tried to remove a smudge from one of her jewels. “Are your gods much like X’Hal?”
Rolling her eyes, Donna slid down and licked Kory’s jewel clean. Kory gulped.
“Hey, don’t make me turn this invisible jet around,” Diana said good-naturedly. She juked the joystick to avoid a lightning strike. “And our gods can be quite like X’Hal. But they’ve turned over a new leaf.”
***
“Diana!” Zeus fumed. “The seething slut who cost me my throne!? I’ll strike her down the moment she enters my realm!”
“It’s no longer your realm, brother-husband,” Hera reminded him gently. “And Athena has forbid that kind of vindictiveness.”
“Athena dare command the storm-father? With mine own usurped power she orders me about! Well, I may have sworn to stay my hand against impudent goddesses and their upstart Amazons, but look yonder. The slattern brings friends. Not Amazons, but dear to her regardless. Through them I’ll put paid my hate-debt. Summon Ares to me, woman. Now there’ll be treachery to answer treachery!”
***
Kory didn’t bother with the ramp leading out of the plane. She just glided forward in wonderment, taking in the bizarrely beautiful architecture. On this day, in honor of Gaea, the marble had been transmuted to life. It breathed as gently as a sleeping child, the rise and fall of its contours making Kory giggle in delight. From the fertile buildings grew lovely trees, their vines and leaves turning the pristine starkness of Olympus into the earthiness of a lush garden.
Aphrodite, who always wore many forms, had traded in the cloth of platonic affection for a few fronds of animalistic passion. The leaves left most of her body bare, but lent by contrast an earthy, chocolate brown to her skin. Kory clapped her hands together at the lovely sight. Aphrodite had much the same reaction, only with the quirk of an eye instead.
“What exotic bird of paradise is this? I’ve not seen her like before,” Aphrodite said breathily.
Kory landed next to the love goddess, still tittering girlishly behind her hand. “I am Princess Koriand’r, a humble Tamaranian. My friends know me as Kory.” She kissed the back of Aphrodite’s hand. Then licked her way up the back of the goddess’s wrist. “I would so like to be friends.”
Aphrodite laughed whole-heartedly, making her magnificent breasts quake. “You bring me the most pleasing gifts, Diana. This one knows how a goddess is meant to be worshipped.”
Donna jealously dragged Kory away by her hair as Diana said apologetically “Perhaps you can save the worship for later. Our schedule is somewhat crowded and some things should not be rushed.”
Aphrodite smiled, indulgent. “Oh, alright, but only because of that… impassioned prayer you sent to me recently.”
“Prayer?”
“You remember.” Aphrodite bumped Diana with her hips. “With Dee-nah?”
Diana grinned like a fool in love. “Oh, yes. I really must get around to watching that tape…”
“Why watch when you can reenact?”
Diana let Kory and Aphrodite, perhaps even Donna, play their lusty games. Her attention was focused on the powerful form reclining against a tree like a pantheress. She wore a short tunic, cinched with a girdle at the waist to leave her long legs bare except for a handspan of skirt. Her shoulders and head were covered by a wolfskin’s mantle. A spear grew from one arm, a quiver of arrows was strapped to the other. What few wisps of hair escaped the wolfskin’s teeth were sun-ray gold, the brightest of all her countenance. Even her shining eyes were rimmed with kohl and her face streaked with black Parademon blood.
In the past, Diana had called her patron, creator, mentor, and friend. Artume, also called Artemis, goddess of the hunt.
“Artume. How did you find the New Gods?” Diana asked, bowing respectfully.
Hermes, upside-down and holding his winged helmet onto his head, dipped down from a nearby tree’s branches. “Easy, just ask the Old Gods for directions.”
Diana bowed to him as well. “Your absence has been felt yet more keenly, my lord.”
“You’ve missed me?” He athletically flipped down from the tree. Grinning: “Care to demonstrate how much?”
Kory frantically tapped Diana’s shoulder until Wonder Woman let herself be taken off for a private word.
“He’s flirting with you!” Kory squeed, her mouth open with EEEEEEEE!
Artume took Diana’s hand in a stately ballroom manner, Aphrodite leapt into Kory’s arms, and Hermes made a suave after you gesture. Diana suspected it had less to do with chivalry then it did getting a look at Donna’s toned ass, but that was the Gods for you.
They stopped outside the Parthenon. The gods stripped off their footwear, Hermes’s sandals beating their wings, lonely. The mortals followed suit. Kory mourned the fact that she had not had a pedicure. Aphrodite assured her that her feet looked good enough to eat. And then licked her lips.
Diana walked onto the grass, noting that flowers sprung up wherever Artume stepped. “So, how was New Genesis?”
“Different. In some ways, they’re closer to mortals than gods. In some ways, they remind me of you.”
“I’m flattered.”
“They’re the ones who should be flattered.” Artume petted Diana’s hand possessively. “They believe in what they’re fighting for. You of all people know how important belief can be.”
Diana nodded.
“The New Gods want to join forces with us,” Artume revealed. “Would the Amazons join us in battle if it came to that?”
Diana frowned. “The Amazons were created to provide a model of harmony. War is against our mandate.”
“Peace isn’t the absence of conflict, it’s the presence of justice. And Apokolips is the biggest injustice around.”
Diana wondered what it was underfoot that tickled her so. When she looked, there were tiny daffodils growing in her footprints. “And that’s enough for war?”
“Ares is a powerful voice in the new regime, and he grows restless. Would you rather he turn his attention toward Earth?”
“I’d rather Ares not get his way.”
“He’s the god of conflict. You use conflict to get your way. Like it or not, he is one of your patrons.”
Diana was about to answer when a gleeful squeal from Donna cut her off. Kory was dipping Aphrodite over to fondle Donna, who playfully slapped at each pinch.
Diana shook her head. “I’m just surprised Hermes isn’t involved.”
“It was probably his idea.” Smirking, Artume snapped her fingers and a vine snapped, the end whipping Kory across her curvaceous bottom. She was so startled that she dropped Aphrodite. Hermes graciously picked her up. Kory jumped into Donna’s arms and stuck her tongue out at the immortals. Donna promptly dropped her.
“Tell me, do you know Captain Marvel?” Artume asked.
“I am honored to call him friend.”
“Good. Use him to get an audience with the wizard Shazam. Through him, you can get to the gods of magic. With their power added to our own, we could end Darkseid’s threat once and for all.”
“Or all get killed,” Diana said, a little bitterly.
“You’ve been dead. It wasn’t that bad, was it?”
They walked through the roots of the world-tree that was now growing out of the Parthenon (or had it always been there?) and into a breathtaking oasis. The stars far above melted into light-water, which cascaded down as thundering waterfalls and mighty rivers. At the bottom of the space both finite and infinite, the waters spun down a whirlpool which transmuted it into pure black sand. The sand fell into an obsidian desert, which was featureless except for the occasional volcano that erupted white-hot. And the lava was starlight and the desert was the night. And the stars melted into whitewater rapids…
“They say it’s an endless cycle,” Ares said, melting out of his monstrous armor as he approached them. “Personally, I think it’s just really tall.”
“You don’t believe in the infinite?” Donna asked.
“How infinite was Hades?” Ares said with an eye on Diana. “Amazon.”
“War god.”
“Death god,” Ares corrected her genteelly. He turned to regard Donna and Kory. “Harbinger. And you must be Princess Koriand’r.” He drew close to her, kissing her hand so hard he drew blood from the knuckles. “Loved your work on Nym. If you ever want to kill oodles of Gordanians, look me up. We could make beautiful music together…”
Kory snatched her hand away. “I’m tone deaf.”
“Pity. Still, there are no lack of women who appreciate power.” He snapped his fingers. “Aphrodite! To me!”
Dolefully, the love goddess went to his side.
Floating in the center of the landscape of days, if such a thing could be said to have a center, the court of gray-eyed Pallas was assembled. Above it, a part of Gaea grew like a spherical tree. It was serenaded with ballads, toasted with fine wine, and celebrated so heartily it shone on the gods like a miniature sun. And they reflected its glory like living mirrors.
With no words exchanged, Kory and Diana spread their arms and basked in the Light. Donna tried to do the same, but all she got was her old yoga instructor blathering about good vibes. Then she saw Artume shed her clothing, as did Aphrodite. Even Hermes and Ares stripped. Their endowments, half-hard with energy, were… well… godly.
“Relax,” Kory said, massaging Donna’s shoulders. “Let it flow into you like a lover’s juices.”
“Helpful metaphor, Kory.” But at her urging (and not wanting to find out what measure Kory would resort to if she didn’t), Donna loosened up. Slowly, she felt something take root in her. A feeling, a certainty, that everything would be alright. She wondered if this was how Diana felt all the times.
Ares, having put on a purple cloak, walked down a stepped pit to the quorum floor. He staked two swords into the circle there. Aphrodite, once more ignored, took a seat on the bench and patted the space next to her while nodding at Diana. Reluctantly, Diana sat down beside her.
“Why do you hesitate so, lover? Am I callous? Am I cruel?”
“You are none of those things, my lady, but I have few words for those who associate with Ares.”
Aphrodite wiggled onto Diana’s lap. “I just like him for his broadsword. His very broadsword.”
“Ares never does anything if it doesn’t further his plans. Even love.”
Aphrodite traced Diana’s lips with her fingernail. “If you’re to worry about me, worry that I’m going to go mad from staring at those luscious lips and not being able to kiss them!”
When in Olympus… Diana thought, and gave in to their mutual desire.
She didn’t know how long she spent in carnal paradise, or how many times Aphrodite brought her to climax with just a tongue in her mouth and hands on her body, but the next thing she knew Donna was shaking her awake and the Olympians were applauding wildly, Kory the loudest of all.
“Perhaps you’re not ready for second base just yet,” Aphrodite said, blushing. It was then Diana noticed she was naked, wet, and very out of breath.
“I found your demonstration of the capacity for love to be most captivating, Diana,” Athena said with arched eyebrow. “I know Gaea appreciated it as well.”
Diana bowed graciously and let Donna drape a cloak around her.
“—in front of our gods,” Donna was saying, clearly flustered.
“There are worse things to have a reputation for than being a great lay.”
“Like what!?”
“Like not being one,” Kory answered.
Diana looked over to see Kory lacing up her boots. Her eyes flitted to Athena’s throne. Artume was sitting on one side, as customary, but Hera had her other ear. Diana scowled. One of the more pleasing benefits of having Zeus out of power was that his Themyscira-kicking shrew of a wife was out as well.
Before Diana could say anything, Athena had risen, calling for silence. “For Gaea’s next honor, Artume will set aside her divine powers – temporarily, of course – to battle Koriand’r, a follower of X’Hal the living goddess.”
Donna cheered, nudging Diana in the ribs to get her to join in.
“Koriand’r, your second?” Athena continued.
“Donna Troy, of course.”
Diana cheered.
“And Artume, your second?”
“Ares.”
Warning bells went off in Diana’s head.
Kory hopped up from her seat, getting the fit of her boots. She jumped down into the arena, which by what would have been an optical illusion if it hadn’t been real, was a hundred yards in circumference despite the bracketing stands being only six yards apart. She picked up one of Ares’s swords and went through a few practice swings to get a feel for it. Artume, suddenly on the other side of the arena, anointed her nude body with oil.
“Should I get naked too?” Kory asked Donna.
The Titan’s eyes twinkled. “Normally, my stock answer to your question would be yes, but maybe you’d better hold your secret weapons in reserve. Artume’s a breast woman.”
Kory nodded, mopey. “But I like being naked.”
“We like you being naked,” Donna replied immediately. Diana remembered what it felt like to be that young: Good.
Aphrodite wolf-whistled.
Ares patted Artume stiffly on the back. “Happy hunting.”
Again, Diana’s battle-won sense of danger panged. She dare not stop the festivities on such a notion, but she wrapped her golden lasso around her knuckles just in case.
Kory and Artume stood, swords in hands. They bowed to Gaea, Athena, and each other. Then they took up combat stances.
“Aphrodite, who suggested this match?”
“Lady Hera, I believe. And please, call me Kalli—“
“Begin,” Athena said.
There was no instant aggression. They were both too tensed and experienced to yield the element of surprise. Instead, they advanced on each other with the steady patience of crabs. Tempestuous Kory made the first move, a strong blow that resonated deep off Artume’s parry. Kory backed off quickly.
Artume crept forward with tiny steps. Diana recognized the gait of a mongoose stalking a cobra. With that same swiftness, she pounced. Her strikes flowed from one into another in seamless combination. By the skin of her teeth, Kory rolled away.
Donna was aghast. “Why doesn’t she fl—“
Diana shushed her hurriedly.
Her bearings regained, Kory circled the huntress warily. Artume growled, waving her blade in front of herself like a champion knife fighter. Finally, jade eyes aglow, Kory coiled her legs and leapt into the air. Artume fell to one knee with sword high, expecting an attack from above. What she could not have expected was for Kory to take flight, looping down and buzzing Artume from behind. The Tamaranian’s sword cut a red line across Artume’s thigh
“First blood to Koriand’r,” Athena ruled, calling an end to the first round.
Artume fumed her way to her corner, where she kicked a hole in the wall.
“She’s usually a better loser than that,” Diana said worriedly.
Donna was too busy giving Kory a victory hug to hear. “Well-struck, Kor! Just one more and you can go around calling yourself Kory the goddess slayer!”
“Meh. After Trigon, goddesses are not big.”
“No big.”
“That’s what I said.”
The break period ended. Ares stopped massaging Artume’s back and Kory stopped trying to get Donna to massage her front. They filed back into the arena, Kory teasingly hovering. Artume snarled. No sooner had Athena signaled the match to begin than Artume was on the offensive. Her sword was a blur in motion, Kory’s in three places at once just to break even. Artume’s legs struck like a viper, throwing Kory back against the wall.
Artume roared, lunged. Kory ducked under a swipe that ripped a swath from the wall. From the cloud of debris, Artume’s fist flew. It connected with the jarring chord of a bone being pushed past its limit. Kory’s jaw was broken.
Donna hid her mouth behind her hand.
Desperate, Kory took to the air. Artume grabbed her by the heel and flung her bodily to earth. The ground cracked under her. Artume put a boot to Kory’s breast and a sword to her throat.
“She’s going to kill her!” Donna screamed.
Feud.
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no subject
Date: 2008-04-14 12:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-17 06:09 am (UTC)Mostly I'm liking the very Greek sensibility of it all. Ares as a patron of Diana is an especially cutting insight, but even beyond that, the gods as elemental, instinctive and beyond simple classification as "good" or "evil" can be a hard thing to capture - as Diana's entire published history will attest - but it comes through quite clearly here.
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Date: 2008-04-17 06:40 am (UTC)Yeah. To prove my credentials as oft-time mythology 'tard, I thought "hey, I'll just call Artemis by her Roman name." ::face-palm:: ::cue Wiki-diving for alt name::
Ares as a patron of Diana is an especially cutting insight,
Yeah, it's such an interesting dynamic that I'm surprised DC keeps them as flat enemies. Diana has a little of Ares in here and in the very first story arc, Perez made a point of Ares needing a little of Diana's restraint in him. I find that a lot more interesting than "Batman and the Joker are two sides of the same coin, didya hear? Fortunately, ancient Greece was kind enough to provide us with Athena, goddess of the cool wars (The American Revolution, World War II, and the Star Wars trilogy). Which, if you're willing to dig a little, makes a point of how Diana is a warrior but not war-like. I think, at present, War!Diana is 80% Athena, 20% Ares. And it's a sliding scale, so when she decides to bust up Boston on a hunt for the White Magician, she's 70% Ares. "
beyond simple classification as "good" or "evil" can be a hard thing to capture
What about "nice" and "not nice"? :)
a hard thing to capture - as Diana's entire published history will attest - but it comes through quite clearly here.
Thank Ragnell, he/she had a really good essay on it. I don't blame most people for not getting it, as it takes some mental gymnastics to get to "wait, the god of war can be good? The goddess of love can be bad?", and it's far simpler just to take some key notes of their personality and whitewash the rest. Which I think all of us do from now till then.
For instance, my Athena and that whole Arachne thing? Retcon.
Like, Arachne was sick with a mortal illness and going to die before she finished her greatest work, so Athena transformed her into a spider to weave for all eternity.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-17 06:42 am (UTC)