CHAPTER ONE

She gazed at her mother in tears. Her mother was her role model, the person that she trusted above anyone. She loved to watch her mother get ready every morning, the elegance and carefulness in her movements. Her mother was graceful and beautiful, someone that anyone would want as a mother.

So you can imagine how Liane felt as she watched her mother get ready for battle, into her armor, wiping off her everyday makeup and ripping off her "mom jeans". "You don't have to go, Mommy," she cried, sniffling. "They can handle this by themselves."

"Liane," her mom said in her thick Amazonian accent, "I've done this before. Every single day there's a new evil I have to fight. Why are you so… clingy now?"

"Because that's everyday evil. This is a greater force, one so powerful that not even you can defeat it alone. But Grandma and her troops are amazing warriors. They can do it by themselves, mom," Liane said, already knowing her cause was hopeless. But she still had to try.

Diana shook her head sadly. She knew that this was going to kill her daughter, but she had to go. She was the strongest of all of them, being a goddess with actual powers instead of a mortal Amazon with intensive battle training. "I have to go, Liane, and you know that. I'm the best of all of them. Don't worry, I'll be home in a week. Be good. Don't be rude to Petra's parents, okay?" Petra was Liane's best friend, and whenever Diana was gone, they would let Liane stay with them.

"I love you, mommy," Liane said, snorting, with tears running down her face. "Please come back home."

"I promise I will, Liane. Now, run along and go to school. I'll be back. I love you, χρυσή μου." Diana kissed the top of her daughter's head, and walked out the door confidently.

Liane waved quietly. "Goodbye…"

I love you, my golden one.

Liane sucked up all her strength and stood up tall. She forced a smile and strutted out of the door into the streets of Greece. She sat on her curb, head held high, hands clasped until Petra's car came to pick her up.

"Hey, Liane," Petra said, hugging her and kissing her cheeks. Petra was a beautiful blond girl with bright blue eyes and light skin. She was born in Sweden and moved to Santorini when she was four. She speaks Swedish as well as Greek, and she has a bit of an accent.

Petra was wearing a blue sundress that looked amazing with her eyes and hair. Liane was wearing a white sundress, similar to Petra's, that made her skin look very tan.

"So Liane. We were thinking of going on a short vacation to Cyprus next weekend, just to see what the beaches are like, scoping out for summer." Mrs. Anders twisted around in her seat to look at me while we were stopped in traffic. "We were assuming you'd come, but if you don't want to, we understand." Liane couldn't tell if this was Mrs. Anders trying to get her not to come, or if she was just being genuinely considerate.

Liane thought about it for a moment. That would be fun, tanning on the beaches of gorgeous Cyprus with her best friend. She supposed that then her mom could stay longer to fight, and even though Liane didn't want that to happen, she knew Diana had to help the Amazon warriors. "Sounds fun. If my mom isn't back by then, I would love to come."

"Just know," Mrs. Anders said quietly, hitting the gas pedal again, "that if she is back, we would love to extend the invitation to Wonder Woman."

The Anders' are the only people who know Wonder Woman's secret identity, aside from her grandma and the other Amazons. Her father, Steve Trevor, died in World War I when he blew up a plane full of gas to save millions of people. Turns out that night they got a little bit… carried away, Diana got pregnant with Liane, but never knew until about a month after the war.

Her mom always talked about her dad like he was the most amazing man alive. "He was handsome, the first man I'd ever met. He was kind, chivalrous, brave, and he always was willing to to what was best, even if it risked his life." He defeated Germany and the Ottoman Empire, because he destroyed evil Dr. Maru's supply of deadly gas. He was a spy for England.

He sounded like he was amazing and awesome, almost as wonderful as Diana. But nobody could ever be as great my my mom, Liane thought.

The car pulled up at Liane and Petra's school, and they parted ways as they walked to different halls. Nearing the end of tenth form, these girls were considered the most beautiful girls in the form, especially Liane. With a mother like Diana and a father like Steve Trevor (very, very handsome, Liane had seen pictures of him), how could she not be?

Liane's hair was dark as ebony and down to her collarbone, her skin a light tan color. She had full red lips and a smile that shined as bright as the sun. Her eyes were hazel, so deep and flecked with color that one could spend hours just staring into them. She had high cheekbones and she was built like a model, with long legs and a short torso, with a final height of 5'7". She had C cup breasts and long, luscious eyelashes.

There was no guy in school who didn't want to date her.

"Hey, Liane, your eyes are red. Been crying, baby? Need a little… picker-upper?" Nicolas, one of the playboys of her form, sauntered up to her and licked his lips, trying desperately to be sexy.

"Nicolas, you are not, and never will be, an attractive person. Just go sit on the lawn with the druggies and have sad lives. Back off, asshole," Liane snarled in his face, using the "Back Off, Pervert 101" lesson techniques that her mom had taught her. Liane liked to be known as a badass sweetheart. The girl who'll be Prom Queen, and also the one who can kick your ass if you so much as touch her.

She walked with confidence to her Maths class. She was nearing the end of her Geometry unit, but she was also taking Beginner's Calculus because her regular classes weren't challenging enough for her active mind. She was also taking Turkish 6, Spanish 8, Honors Greek, English 6, Latin, AP Biology, and AP World. She was one of the smartest kids in her school, runner up for Salutatorian of her form. Even in ninth grade, everybody knew that Liane Prince was going to go far.

After Geometry, she had BC, and Latin right after that. "Miss Prince! Quod praeteritum, est forma: 'Ego sum currit'?" Liane's Latin teacher Ms. Andonikos looked straight at her, hands on hips, stern look right down her nose.

The whole class knew that Liane was busted- she'd been doodling under her desk, not paying attention, and she clearly couldn't know what the answer was… "et cucurrit. Duh. Scio Scilicet, suus 'basic scientia Latine." Of course I know that, it's basic Latin knowledge.

Clearly it wasn't, because the rest of the class looked astonished that she knew it. But why would they? Liane's always been really smart, a huge overachiever. All of the teachers loved her, because she would check in with them and make sure that her grades were great, asking for extra credit, anything she could do to be the best person she could be. That was a quality that American universities really looked into, the Guidance Counselor at her school always said. That was Liane's dream, to go to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States of America.