My first wonderbat fic! The prompt came from agentturner on tumblr. I hope y'all will like it!
All characters in this story, unless noted, come from DC Comics or Greek mythology.
Chapter 1- You Burn Me
"You burn me...
You came, and I was mad for you
And you cooled my mind that burned with longing..."
- Sappho, "Fragments, on Love and Desire"
It never rains in Paradise.
The gods who created the dwelling place of this race of immortal, female warriors made it so that the inhabitants would want for nothing. The ocean was so blue, and the water so clear. The fruits and game were huge and abundant. There was never any need for rain, so these patron gods and goddesses decided to ease the burdens on the Hyades, prohibiting them to soak this island in their tears.
So when a cool bead of water landed right on the crown of a tall woman's head, she couldn't help but raise her eyes to the sky in confusion.
The bright glory of Apollo was being hidden by silver clouds which only seemed to get darker by the millisecond. More tiny drops started falling from the heavens, and this time the other inhabitants of the island felt the globules plop onto their toughened skin.
The Amazons, all of whom were busy training, hunting, or keeping society in order, froze in contact to the microscopic flecks of water; those who were inside were greeted to the soft percussion of the rain beating against the high ceilings made of white marble or dark varnished wood. The quiet tapping was soon accompanied by the distraught cries of the women.
Queen Hippolyta was in the throne room of the palace, watching through the marble columns the darkening of the sky and the rain hitting the pavement. Her sisters started flooding inside the palace. The statuesque woman stood up from her throne, her jet black curls bouncing slightly from the movement. Her thin eyebrows furrowed in concern.
"My sisters," she called, "rain has fallen upon Themyscira. The gods made a promise to us when this safe haven for all women was created that we would never experience this ever again. Have they forgotten this? Have they forgotten us?"
After a small swell of murmurs filled the room, Hippolyta continued, "We must call on to the gods for answers. Come! Let us and make haste. We shall go to the temenos*, and pray to Demeter, the Goddess of the Harvest, and to our Mother Goddess, Hera. I have faith the gods will hear our pleas."
As soon as she finished, the queen saw her fellow Amazons hasten to the exit, many getting soaked again after finding refuge in the palace, but no one verbalized their complaints. They were Amazons. They were trained soldiers; they can brave a little water.
Hippolyta gracefully stepped down from the throne, following the last of her sisters out of the palace and into the rain. The rain was cold on her skin, her black curls becoming sodden. The sky was grey, remind the queen of terrible battles fought in ages past. Rain was never a comforting thing to her.
She felt a soft brush on her left arm. Turning her head, but not slowing her pace, the queen of the Amazons found that it was her daughter trying to vie for her attention. Her daughter's ebony locks were drenched, some sticking to her forehead.
"Mother!" the relatively young woman called.
"Diana, please. Not so loud," Hippolyta reprimanded, "I'm right next to you, my child."
Diana flushed a little, looking down at her sandal covered feet, which were getting dirty by the puddles and mud on the pavement.
"Sorry Mother, I've just never seen anything like this before," the tall woman apologized, waving her arms to point at the rain, "It's like a softer kind of waterfall, from the sky."
Hippolyta smiled slightly at the simile, "When you put it that way, it sounds less menacing, doesn't it?"
Her daughter's eyebrows furrowed, "Menacing? What do you mean?"
"I'll let you and all the other younger sisters know exactly what I mean when we get to the sacred grounds," Hippolyta replied.
Soon enough, the duo reached the temenos. The grounds were built in a circle formation, with the temples and the golden gates marking the boundaries. Directly opposite the gate was the temple of Hera, and, to its right was the one for Demeter, followed by the one for Aphrodite, and the marble temple of Hermes. On the other side of Hera's temple were the temples of Athena, Artemis, and Hestia. All of the temples were made out of marble, its grand columns and ornate detailing rivalling the Parthenon at the height of Athens.
Within each building, one can see the soft glow of a fire ebbing in and out in size, as if, regardless of the troubles and problems one may face, the weary will always be welcome to call on the gods. Save for the annual festivals, only the priestesses and a few Amazons would be found in this sacred ground. Diana had never seen it so packed.
The Amazons parted like two gilded doors, allowing the royal family to move to the front of the altar of the gods, followed by the high priestesses of Demeter and Hera. The quiet murmurs were silenced when the dark haired queen her arms to the gathered masses.
"Sisters, rain has fallen on Themyscira. While this may not hurt us physically, it represents a promise the gods have broken. It hurts our souls that our patrons and patronesses have rescinded their vows. What have we done to deserve such fate?
"We need answers, and we need them now. Let us call on Demeter, the goddess of nature, and Hera, our Mother Goddess, for guidance!"
The queen then moved aside to allow the high priestesses to take center stage. The first woman, a blonde with a thin waist, was wearing a deep blue hood over her chiton. Her headdress, a chain of small stones of emerald, topaz, and opal, was covered, but her scepter, gold like her hair, glistened in the rain. She raised her arms to the sky, lifting her blue eyes towards Mount Olympus.
"Oh great Hera, the queen of heaven and our beloved comforter to women, please hear our pleadings!"
The high priestess of Hera led the Amazons in the goddess's rites. After lighting the wooden pyre, the blonde moved out of the way. The high priestess for Demeter was dressed in deep green vestments. Her brown wavy hair reminded Diana of the rings in a tree. Her green eyes mimicked the colors of the grassy meadows on the island.
"I begin to sing of Demeter, the holy goddess with the beautiful hair..."**
Suddenly, in the midst of the rituals, a loud BOOM was heard. Smoke started to fill the air, but Diana could see that it came from the temple of Hestia. What was even more interesting to her, though, was that the smoke was a putrid shade of green. An ear-piercing scream followed afterwards, forcing the women to cover their ears.
After a split second of frozen confusion, the Amazons quickly started running to the temple. The guards, among the first to reach the marble columns started to fan out the smoke and beat out the flames with their shields. While the unarmed citizens made space for the healers, Queen Hippolyta, and Princess Diana to go through.
Soon enough, the smoke cleared, allowing Diana to fully observe the scene in the first room of the temple. The table normally filled with fresh fruit and roasted game was turned over, the feast for the Goddess of the Home sprawled all over the floor. The fire in the golden fireplace was almost out; its flames were the same sickly green as she saw outside. The marble hearth around it revealed reddish-brown streaks, and the princess had to force herself to not gag at the sight of the blood; she closed her eyes in silent prayer, hoping her sisters were all right.
There were quiet moans of pain around the common room, which resounded in the halls of the dimly lit temple. The Vestal Virgins were lying down at various corners of the temple , their limbs were contorted at unnatural positions; from where she was standing, Diana counted four unconscious women in the common room, plus the foot of another in the hallway.
"Queen Hippolyta!"
Philomena's voice bounced off the halls of the temple, but the Queen knew where she was- the heart of the temple, Hestia's treasure trove. The Amazon leader sprinted to the center, finding her trusted guard kneeling by the sacred fire, holding a bleeding woman. Hippolyta gasped- it was the high priestess of Hestia. She kneeled down next to the pair.
"Little one," she cooed, gently rubbing the priestess's face and bruised shoulders, "wake up."
A few seconds later, the young woman opened her blue eyes, hissing in pain.
"Careful, child," Hippolyta warned.
"Do you remember what happened?" asked Philomena.
The high priestess cringed again before whimpering, "Man…"
"A man? On Themyscira?" Hippolyta's eyes widened in surprise, "but no man has been able to come in for millennia!"
"The lasso…" the priestess hissed.
The Queen stood up, looking for the lasso in the trove. Unlike the chaos in the common room, everything seemed to be in relative order. However, the golden lasso was not on its pedestal, making Hippolyta's heart beat wildly.
She looked at Philomena, still holding the priestess who finally fainted of exhaustion. Her guard's grey eyes started to mirror her worry.
"Bring the high priestess to the healers, and tell everyone to be on high alert. A man has stolen the golden lasso of Hestia. We must find him immediately."
"There will be no need for that, Queen Hippolyta," a calm, cool, eerie voice resonated in the trove.
A beam of light pierced through the room, and coming from it was woman. She had fiery red hair peeping through her pale gold hood. Her eyes were of an unearthly gold color, as if it were the molten metal inside her orbs.
Hippolyta gasped and quickly prostrated herself before the goddess, "Gracious Hestia, we need your guidance."
"It will not be just my guidance you will be receiving, Hippolyta," the Goddess of the Hearth replied, "Follow me."
The Queen quickly stood up, following the goddess out of the trove. Hestia was emitting a warm, inviting gold color, which brightened up the dim hallway to the common room.
As she was walking- more like floating, to the front, Hestia resumed talking, "When it started to rain on Paradise Island, Olympus suddenly was no longer able to see you. We had to send Hermes to see what was going on, but Hera told him to not make his presence known. He returned and told us that there was rain over the island, but Demeter knew the Hyades were elsewhere. Even wise Athena was confused of its origins at first.
"However, we did sense a different kind of magic afoot on the island, one that even the likes of Circe did not possess. Zeus should be able to stop the rain, but the fact that a man has set foot on Themyscira so silently has gotten all of us on edge. And now he has the gall to steal my lasso?"
The duo reached the end of the hallway, greeted by Diana and several more Amazons behind her. They immediately kneeled on the floor and bowed.
"Kind Hestia, we appreciate your presence in our time of need," Diana greeted.
"Rise child," the goddess ordered, "for my siblings and I have a task for you to do. Follow me outside."
Just as Hestia said, the rain was starting to lighten up, and there were breaks in the clouds, allowing Apollo to show off his grand display once again. The Amazons were all still at the temenos, their bouts of shivering betraying their pretenses of strength. At the sight of Hestia, they started to lower themselves in reverence.
"Dear Amazons," Hestia announced, "we on Mount Olympus have not forgotten about you, and we in fact did not send the rain. However, someone was able to come into Themyscira, a man with magic that we ourselves have never encountered."
There were gasps and mutters of concern that filled the air, but Hestia raised her arms to silence them.
"My lasso has been stolen by this man, and I, with the approval of all the patron gods and goddesses of Themyscira, give the responsibility of finding it to your princess, Diana."
Diana's mouth was opened wide in surprise. She looked at her mother, whose blue eyes mirrored her daughter's shock.
"With all due respect, great Hestia," the princess started, "I do not find myself ready to go outside of Themyscira."
"She has never been outside the island," Hippolyta added, "Please don't allow her to be tainted by the filth of Man's World in your quest. You can take a group of my veteran soldiers, or even me, for we have seen what Man's World is like."
Hestia looked Hippolyta in the eye, "Why do you doubt the abilities of your daughter? We have all gifted her at birth with unique powers; no one, and I mean no one on Gaia truly has all her powers. She will be able to retrieve my lasso and put the thief in his place."
The goddess then turned to the princess.
"So what do you say? Will you take up this delicate task?"
Diana looked at her mother, at the goddess, and finally, at the crowd of Amazons staring back at her. They were all standing proudly, hope starting to overshadow the confusion from the day's chaos. Her heart beat widely. Her sisters need her to do this.
The princess finally returned her gaze back to Hestia's.
"Gracious Hestia, I accept your mission. I will bring back your lasso and bring the thief to justice."
*- the temenos is a piece of land designated for holy puposes
**- The Homeric Hymn to Demeter translated by Gregory Nagy
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