Olympus is nothing and everything Diana had expected it to be.
When trekking up Mount Olympus, she'd had time to wonder. For the thirty years she'd been searching she'd always pictured it as a village of sorts akin to Themyscira. On Mount Olympus she'd changed her mind and thought it to be large, bronze, and intimidating with fires burning all around her.
Olympus is a courtyard in the shape of a circle. As she walks through it, Diana can distinctly recognize the twelve sections—one each for Artemis, Apollo, Athena, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Dionysus, Hermes, Demeter, Ares, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. Each section is a ring around the very center.
As Diana strides past Ares' section, it withers before her eyes and crumbles to dust.
Finally, at the end of Zeus' section, the innermost ring, looms twelve magnificent thrones. They all face Diana in a horseshoe pattern. The biggest three thrones are the 'top' of the horseshoe, so to speak.
Diana blows out a breath. They are all empty. She had hoped...
Still, she crosses over the threshold of the gardens, hoping to reach her father's chair and pray for guidance but the second her foot leaves the garden, the eleven remaining Olympains are just there, staring at her expectantly.
"Daughter." Zeus spreads his arms welcomingly. "Enter."
Diana assesses the situation like she would any battle.
Zeus, the king of the gods and Diana's father, has crow's feet and a long, white beard that may not reach below his chin but the length combined with the frizzy quality is not a good combination—though Diana would never say that. His skin is pale but not overly so and his eyes are an electric blue.
Hades, god of the dead and the Underworld, looks sullen and pale. It's summertime, Diana realizes, and he's lonely. Out of all the gods, she has pleaded to him most often, even above her father, even though she knew there was no chance he was listening. It appears there was a chance. No matter how evil men will say Hades is, Diana has always sympathized with him in the way an Amazon can with a god. Diana does believe the poor man—god—gets an unfair reputation. He has shadows under his obsidian olive-shaped eyes and his wavy dark hair slickd back makes him look solemn without hardly trying.
Poseidon, Earthshaker and god of the sea, openly smiles at her. Diana knows he is as temperamental as the waves—well, it is really the other way around—but her impression of Poseidon to her in the myths was a bumbling, powerful boy-king with a kind heart who is used to getting his way. Poseidon's eyes are green like seaweed but not overly so, not a poisonous green. They are captivating. Poseidon's glistening silky, wavy hair flops over his forehead the way a boy's might though his appearance now is that of a man in his late thirties or early fourties, tanned and rippling with muscles.
Hephaestus, tanned and scarred and burned from working in his forges, looks on with an unreadable expression. In his hand is a machine that he tinkers with before opening his palm and releasing it. A phoenix flutters its wings, cocks its head, and soars around the room as Diana approaches. The machine lands again on the god's open palm and he pets it with far more gentleness than Diana had expected those grizzled hands to possess. His warm black eyes twinkle at her and Diana realizes he may not be as indifferent as he seems. The sunlight glints off his bald head.
Athena, goddess of wisdom, removes her war helmet in respect as Diana approaches. They nod at each other; one warrior to another. Athena has golden curls not unlike that of a princess and Diana finds that surprising that the goddess of wisdom would wear that hair. As long as Diana's lived in Men's World, she has seen the stereotypes of 'dumb blondes'. She suppresses a smile at the goddess' quiet rebellion of social norms.
Diana notices Demeter, goddess of agriculture, smiling smugly at Hades. Her bushy hair is the color and texture of wheat and a flower crown adorns her head. When the goddess gazes at Diana, her eyes are the color of fresh soil.
Hermes, god of thieves, messengers, and trickery, slips somthing into the goblet Apollo is holding. He catches Diana's eye and winks. His eyes are hazel and he has the features of a young boy with golden hair and a thin nose.
Dionysus, god of wine, truly looks intoxicated, purple robes bulging, laurel wreath hanging off his ear, and hands clutching a goblet of dark-colored liquid Diana can only presume is wine. Maybe mankind has influenced Diana more than she realizes because she wonders, why, with all the powers a god possesses, does Dionysus choose to take on multiple chins, a potbelly, and flab?
The twins of Zeus are different in appearance. Artemis has eyes the color of the moon and a plain silver circlet adorning her straight black head of hair. She appears to be around the same age as Hermes.
Apollo has eyes that shine like miniature suns and golden hair to match. He has the body of a muscular man in his early twenties but he looks significantly less handsome when he sips some of the liquid Hermes tainted and spits it out, hacking, directly into the goddess of beauty's face.
Aphrodite raises her hand and the droplets turn into doves that fly away quickly. The goddess of love is glaring at Diana, presumably because she killed her lover. Each time Diana blinks, Aphrodite has taken on a new appearance, each more beautiful than the last.
"Father." Diana kneels at the throne of Zeus.
"Rise, daughter." The god regards Diana closely and she lifts her chin to the challenge. "What brings you here?"
"I wish for the soul of Captain—"
Poseidon cuts in, green eyes gleaming. "And why would we grant you that wish when you stride into our halls only to think me a 'bumbling, powerful boy-king with a kind heart who is used to getting his way'?"
The words come out without her consent: "With all due respect, Lord Poseidon, it's nothing I haven't thought before."
For one horrible silent second Diana wonders if she is to be blasted into oblivion but then Poseidon roars with laughter.
"You speak the truth, Daughter of Zeus!"
Zeus casts an annoyed look at his brother and motions for Diana to proceed.
"I wish for the soul of Captain Steve Trevor to be returned to his restored body and walk the earth alongisde myself for as long as I may serve the gods," Diana proclaims and then takes a breath.
Aphrodite mutters something but Diana will not acknowledge her. The only other sound in the room is the phoenix machine ruffling its metallic feathers.
Zeus frowns. "Why are you really here, Daughter?"
Diana straightens. "I Diana, Princess of Themyscira, Godkiller, climbed Mount Olympus to kneels at the throne of my father and beg for the soul of the man I love. I admit, I had not expected to be graced by the presence of any of you. I was told only Zeus survived and as of yet he was still healing."
"Niece, when a god is destroyed by another god, his essence is not killed, only absorbed," Poseidon explains. "No god can be truly killed except by the Godkiller." He inclines his head towards Diana, his expression unfathomable. "When you killed Ares, our essences were released and, well, you can see the result."
"We have neverending gratitude for your services in defeating Ares," Athena intones. "You will be surprised to learn, however, a minority of the gods in this room were averse to allowing you access to Olympus. Indeed, at the time you first set foot upon this mountain, Zeus himself had to still my hand."
Diana blinks, off-footed for the worst of reasons. The bluntness, for one thing, and how she hadn't even noticed her life could have ended and she wouldn't have even seen the blow coming.
"You must understand our wariness," Athena urges. "We were unable to sense your intentions and you are the sole living creature in this universe capable of slaying one of us." Athena peers at Diana closely. "If we deny you this wish shall you wreak our walls with war even after Ares is dead? If we fulfill your request shall you come again and again, over and over, with more demands? I, for one, refuse to live that way. So tell me, Diana, princess of Themyscira, Godkiller, what shall you do if we refuse?"
Diana suddenly regrets adding 'Godkiller' to her title as she introduced herself. She swallows.
"If my wish is not granted," she begins but the thought of getting this close to having Steve back and then failing is unbearable, "I will enter the Underworld and drag Captain Steve Trevor out of it myself. If I am being completely candor I may, as shameful as it may be, hold a grudge after I defeated Ares and restored all of you to full power and I cannot bring back one small, insignificant mortal. That does not mean I shall slay the gods. I believe in men and mankind. I have seen war yet I still believe in men. Some may be impure by my father's creating is too beautiful to resent for their mistakes. That is why I slayed Ares; I believe in man, and he was poisoning their hearts and slaying them en mass.
"If another god takes up arms against man so that they are corrupted to the point Ares made them, I will take up arms against that god, but now, I fight for men. I would never slay the gods out of cruelty or anger. I protect, not attack."
Diana had directed her speech the most to Hades and Poseidon. She has the feeling Poseidon may be amused by her, if not slightly fond of her, and Hades knows the agony of being separated from the one the one you love, if only for half the year.
"And so you expect for the restoration of your lover after slaying mine?" Aphrodite finally speaks up bitterly.
"Oh, go play Cupid," Demeter snaps and waves her hand at the goddess. Aphrodite disappears with a puff of more doves.
Diana is really starting to dislike doves.
Artemis speaks up first. "I do not believe in man's romance."
Diana wilts at that. This is not a good way to start off the vote.
"But," Artemis stresses, letting the word hang, "that is because I have seen men lessen the warrior in their partners and for all his efforts to keep you out of harm's way, Captain Steve Trevor only stoked the firest of your ferocity." She looks around the room, meeting the gazes of the Olympians each before pronouncing her final verdict: "I say yes."
Diana sags with relief. "Thank you." She can feel the pressure behind her eyelids threaten tears and she still has to hear the decisions of the nine other Olympians.
Apollo conjures another goblet. "You guys are a pretty cute couple, so I say yea." He winks at Diana and then pours the goblet on Hermes' head.
Just before the god is soaked, he and Dionysus disappear with a puff of purple smoke and trade places. Hermes balances the wreath on his head with a boyish smirk and takes a big gulp out of the goblet as Dionysus is drenched.
"Oops," Apollo says sheepishly.
Dionysus lets out a squawk of indignation and promptly turns Apollo into a dolphin before drying himself off with a snap of his fingers. As Artemis pokes her brother, Dionysus looks at Diana before blandly declaring, "Never wanted a sister anyway. No."
Diana's heart sinks at the negative vote and realizes this god is also a child of Zeus, as well as the twins.
Apollo turns himself back, albeit more ruffled, and with a snap of his fingers Zeus returns Hermes and Dionysus to their rightful thrones.
"I like her," Hermes says without preamble. "Kid's got spunk. I say yes."
Three to one, Diana thinks with a mental sigh of relief.
"Yes," Hephaestus says quietly as his phoenix takes flight again. He offers no explanation as Diana reaches for the bird and as it lands on her shoulder. Diana strokes it but it doesn't feel like metal. In fact, the feathers are pliable under her fingers and as the phoenix turns its head to look her in the eye, Diana realizes it's alive. She looks at Hephaestus with awe but he merely grins, exposing two gold teeth.
One by one, the gods turn to look at Athena, whom is still coldly calculating Diana. Just now Diana realizes they must be following an actual order and the gods aren't just speaking up whenever they want.
"I do not trust her power," Athena finally begins and Diana's hopes sink. She'd wished for the goddess to be a little more understanding. "And now that she lives and loves like man, who will say she might not be corrupted with greed like man? INdulging her once is not a wise idea. I vote no."
Diana nods at her and glances around the ring for the next god(dess) to speak up. All is silent. It must be either Ares' or Aphrodite's turn, or maybe both.
Finally Demeter speaks. She, like Hephaestus, offers no explanation as hse braids together daises, instead offering a single word: "No."
Hades and Poseidon look at each other for a long time before nodding in unison.
"As always, I shall not offer my opinion," Zeus proclaims. "The final vote is six to three, six for yes."
It is all Diana can do to keep from melting to the ground and starting to sob.
"Princess Diana of Themyscira, Godkiller, Captain Steve Trevor shall be returned to you in both body and sul as long as—"
"Wait!" Diana holds up her hands.
Zeus looks annoyed. "Daughter—"
"Can I just ask him if he wants to come back?" Diana pleads, desperation cracking her voice. "i don't want to—"
Hades rolls his eyes and waves his hand, conjuring a looking-portal to the spirit. "He is in Elysium," Diana breathes.
"Diana? Is that you?"
Diana starts to weep and even Dionysus closes his eyes. She scrabbles at the looking-portal fruitlessly, half-laughing, half-sobbing.
"Steve!"
"Diana, what are you doing? Are you dead?"
"No, I'm not dead—"
"What—how, then?"
Steve, just listen—if I could get us all the time in the world, would you want to come back?"
"What kind of question is that? Of course—"
Hades waves his hand and Steve disappears.
Diana slumps to the ground.
"A-hem. As I was saying, daughter, you may have Captain Steve Trevor in both body and soul as you remember him as long as you worship us. Time will not touch you—"
"Blah, blah, blah," Dionysus interrupts. "Are we done?"
"Thank you," Diana says but suddenly the gods are all gone except for Athena, whom slowly rises from her throne and approaches Diana. She grows smaller with each step so that when they are face-to-face they are equal in height. Athena's grey eyes, identical to the shade of her helmet, soften.
"I apologize," she says, sighing, "for my decision. It was the wise one, not the kind one, and you cannot have both at once sometimes. As I am the goddess of wisdom, not kindness, I had to choose the wise decision."
Diana bows her head. "Thank you," she says again.
"Do not thank me," Athena says. "Now please, reunite with your lover. I imagine even Aphrodite will be excited."
She places two fingers on Diana's forehead and suddenly Diana's waking up, like always, in her apartment in France at eight o'clock. This time is different, however, because when she opens her eyes there is a face over hers.
"You did it," he breathes. "You actually—"
"I love you!" Diana cuts in.
Captain Steve Trevor's face softens. "Yeah," he says, reaching down to cup her cheek. "I do, too."