My goodness, I don't know how to thank y'all for your reviews! I'm too elated that I could just fly to each of your places and kiss your venerable feet. But uh… that would be too steep and awkward for me to do so. Plus, one of you might have contracted athlete's foot… euw…
Kidding! Forget I mentioned it. XD
Proponent of EVO: Thanks for your review. I hope that you'll enjoy the next chapters to come.
Lavender Gaia: I'm glad that you liked the 'little scenarios', especially on Donna Troy. I'd have to say that I enjoyed writing about her just as much as you love her. I appreciate your suggestion, and I'll try my best to make Flash's fateful love interesting. :P
Miguel Angel Dubón Lanza: Thanks very much for your comment! I'll bear it in mind… and I'd have to agree too that Flash needs some new love, eh?
Jill: Everybody loves Linda! Well, mostly… but thanks for suggesting. Thanks for loving my fic so far.
Gotham's Princess: Thank you, thank you. I'm really happy that you like it so far… Thanks also for the short love anecdote of Wally and Linda. I really appreciate it. XD
ldypebsaby: Haha! Love you for liking it. Thanks!
CatGirl R and S fan: Thanks for your review… and for understanding my minor predicament… bows
ccabello: Thanks for liking it. XD
Skite: I never knew that a lot of people like Donna Troy. I'm practically stunned. To be honest, it was supposed to be a mother-daughter talk in the beginning, but Donna just popped into my head and that's what happened. Hehe… Thanks for your review! XD As for Flash, not so sure. I'm still thinking it over.
brainfear: Well, two thumbs up for you too! ;D
a.k.a wonder woman: Thank you so very much! Hope you'll continue liking it. XD
Enjoy!
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"Well, well, well… if it isn't the sisters of heartless Themyscyra . Long time no see, my very dangerous friend," He said lightheartedly as he hugged Diana warmly. "Welcome to Olympian suburbs!" Hermes made a short bow in front of the two sisters.
Diana playfully cocked her head to the side. "Last time you came to me, you weren't as courteous as now. Why the change?"
"Ah… that time I could see that you were moody. And my jokes are not always light, have you forgotten already?" Hermes went back to his tiny station beside the golden gate that led to Olympia. He began to search for the guest's scroll, which was required by the gods so they could consider if the visitant could enter through the gates of Olympia.
"Here it is…" He stretched open the scroll and dug out a feathered pen from his tunic. "Sign here." He pointed at the line below Circe's name.
Diana looked at it inquisitively. It was dated just a few weeks ago and the word 'Approved' was posted beside her signature.
"Circe was here? Isn't she forbidden to cross the gate to Olympia?" she asked.
Hermes smirked at Diana. "Always so curious." He dug out a signed laurel from his tunic and handed it to Donna. "Your pass," he told Donna as she received it. Diana turned to see a grinning Donna holding the laurel protectively.
Donna sensed Diana looking at her, and then replied, "Advantages of keeping contact." She grinned at Diana. "I don't need to sign my name anymore."
Diana sneered at Hermes. "It's been a long time that I now need to leave my name." After signing her name, the scroll instantly vanished into a puff of white smoke.
As they waited for the gods' approval if Diana could enter the gate or not, Hermes answered Diana's query as he leaned on the golden counter of his workstation. "Zeus may have banned her visits, but not Helios, her father. They fought over it." Hermes chuckled. "Circe had to wait for hours, and you wouldn't believe how trying the situation was for the both of us. She kept cursing, not softly mind you. But I ignored her. She even sworn that she would turn Zeus into a pig, but before I could hem her mouth, Zeus sent his approval. But only on one condition—it shouldn't take longer than fifteen minutes. And hearing that, Circe wasn't pleased at all."
He started laughing. "It was similar to either take it or leave it." He patted Diana's hand. "I'm sure you would have laughed at the sight of Circe's face turning into a frightening shade of scarlet."
"And find ourselves rolling on the floor laughing our guts out until she turns us into rolling pigs in the mud eventually." Diana smiled. "It's been a long time since we had this sort of conversation, eh?"
"Yeah," he said as he rubbed off happy tears from his eyes. "Those were good times."
Suddenly, the scroll materialized on the counter, and the word 'Approved' prompted Diana to smile.
"No surprise there," Hermes said as he tucked the scroll away. He then handed a laurel to Diana. "You can go inside now."
Before walking through the gargantuan gate, Diana leaned over the counter and kissed Hermes' cheek. "See you later, my friend."
Hermes smiled at her. "You have just made my usually monotonous days bright." He waved her a quick goodbye.
As soon as they were safely inside Olympian grounds, Donna said, "I wonder if Cupid would just be as delighted to see you as Hermes was."
Diana raised her brow at Donna. "Is it strange that Cupid won't be excited to greet me as before? He's one of the nicest gods I've ever met…"
"But he ignores me… that's why I was never close to him." Donna crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. "He's a snub," she said.
Diana smiled. Cupid was very fastidious about his choice of friends. She couldn't even believe that they became as close as siblings ever since she declined his offer to find her a match. She reminisced that day as if it only happened yesterday.
"You're a stunning sight, Princess Diana. It's not hard to find many men crawling at your feet." Cupid suavely took her hand in his and kissed it. They were in Zeus' temple. A social gathering was held for the reason that the gods were rejoicing Zeus and Hera's nth anniversary. Princess Diana at that time was the representative for Themyscyra.
Revolted that a male touched her, she briskly pulled her hand away from his hand. "They would be crawling at my feet with writhing pain. And it's not hard to see you doing the same if you attempt on holding my hand again."
Amused beyond measure, Cupid's hand gracefully raked through his thick, beautiful brown locks, and grinned. "You really are absolutely amusing, Princess. Usually, your sisters would start advancing towards me no matter who my mother or father is. But you…" He dared stroke her chin as if trying to spark the bonfire inside her. But Diana stood composed, cold. Smiling, he continued, "Your bark is just as appalling as your bite."
Smirking coldly, she brushed his hand away. "If you love my appearance so much, why don't you marry me?"
Cupid started to laugh. "That would be a wonderful prospect… but it's against the rules. Especially under your law. I wouldn't want your mother and mine to fight over this. War, whether it involves many or few, is destructive and aimless." He sipped his wine. "Men and women can actually live peacefully if you've observed other worlds, my dear. War only devastates the soul, and reckless pride is not worth fighting for."
Since he emitted those words from his mouth, Diana's view on men changed forever. Back home, she was continually taught that men were cold-hearted, brutal war-freaks, and Amazons were born to annihilate men from their fruitless existence. But since that very venerable day, she became rebellious about her mother's teachings and became inquisitive about the Man's World by every passing minute.
As time arduously passed in her immortal dimension, she had grown to be more flexible at mind and at heart, especially when it involved friendship; she made fast friends with Cupid and Hermes, who was also Cupid's best bud. They then taught and showed her the makings and goings of the Man's World. By then, Artemis relayed Diana's inevitable fate to her: her justice-serving days on earth were growing imminent. And it obviously happened.
Shaking away from her reverie, Diana realized that they stopped in front of a palace that stroke her reawakened memory. The walls were gleaming with pearly shine, the diamond-sparkled gate was almost as huge as Olympia's entrance, the lawn's shrubbery was speckled with myriad roses of different, bright shades, and the neighboring abodes of other gods were just as amazing as what stood before them.
Even as a frequent guest of Cupid and Psyche's home, the sight of it never could stun Donna once.
"Amazing, isn't it?" Donna later asked. She quickly shook the bell fixed on the wall beside the gate, and a resonant sound hung in the air until a beautiful, young woman emerged through the doorway.
Recognizing Donna's face, the brunette resisted the urge to jump like a trampoline was beneath her but hurried to the gate and unfastened the lock. She hugged Donna so tight that Donna had to hiss, "You're killing me."
"Oh, sorry," she said. When they let go of each other, Psyche noticed Diana smiling at them. Searching for a strand of her memory, she suddenly exclaimed, "Diana!"
"Psyche." They kissed each other on the cheek and were enveloped in a quick embrace. Grinning, Psyche said, "You haven't changed a bit."
"I hope that's a compliment."
Psyche laughed. "It is." She widened the gate's entrance and motioned them to come in. As they were walking through the glitter-embossed footpath, Diana noticed that only one room was lit in the house.
Before she climbed the marble porch, Diana asked, "Is Cupid busy?"
"Not quite. Just reading the mortal's love stories to past the time," she said as she closed the door behind them. "Shall I tell him that his old friend has returned, or would you rather surprise him yourself?"
By now, Donna spoke out, "I have a better idea…"
A minute passed before Psyche and Donna appeared in the living room. Without looking up from his book, Cupid dully greeted Donna, "Hello. Please don't mind me. I'm just reading this overrated Shakespeare novel."
When Donna and Psyche still didn't flinch from his dismal tone, he finally put away his book and stood up.
"Is everything… fine…?"
His jaw dropped when he saw another muscular figure leaning on the room's doorway.
"Donna's right about you being a snub," Diana said as she squeezed past Psyche and Donna. When he was still silent, she continued, "It's rude not to greet your guests properly."
Shaking his head, he began chuckling. "Fine." He held Diana's hand and kissed it with a gentlemanly grace. "How are you, Princess?"
Smiling, Psyche pushed Donna to the kitchen. Diana nearly laughed out loud when she heard Donna murmur from the other room, "Why doesn't he do that to me…?"
Without wasting another second, Cupid gestured Diana to sit on the couch beside his lounger. Sitting down, Diana inspected the room carefully. The furnishings were still the same as before; diverse paintings of himself and Psyche covered nearly every inch of the walls, the marble fireplace was festooned with cherubs that were playfully extracted from Cupid's supposed likeness on earth, the laced curtains looked refreshing, and the furniture was still hard and quite uncomfortable but Diana noticed that the easy chair where Cupid was sitting on was modern, like a La-Z-Boy imitation she saw in earth's stores.
"Where did you get that?" She pointed at his chair.
"I see that you've noticed its incongruous design in the room." Cupid smiled at her. "Psyche bought it from earth. My old chair hurt my back numerous times that she insisted on me to try this." He paused for a moment. "The mortal's fickle inventions can be very useful and relaxing, don't you agree?"
Diana nodded amiably. "Cupid…"
He interrupted her by saying, "I'm sorry. Where are my manners? Do you want anything to drink, Princess?"
Princess. She choked back the tears that almost welled up. She shook her head vigorously. "No."
Puzzled by her abruptness, he asked, "Princess Diana--?"
"Please don't call me 'Princess'. It brings unpleasant memories," she said, her eyes ignoring his concerned, sapphire stare.
Pursing his lips, he leaned back, then asked, "I assume you need a favor?"
She looked at him, her sad eyes instantly turning into a cold, hard gaze, nearly making Cupid shiver with uneasiness. "I don't need your arrows… but the orb."
Cupid only nodded his head. "Before I bestow what you want, tell me what's wrong." He wasn't pleading or asking her to tell him her reasons; he wanted and needed to know because Diana was his friend. After long years without her friendly visits, he missed her immeasurably. It was hard not to admire Diana. And he wondered who on earth would dare break her heart.
Diana reluctantly told him everything. And she was able to prove his dread to be right when he saw the depression through her face, making Cupid despise the Batman the more she continued her story.
When she was finished, she said, "I'm sorry if I'm devastating you, but somehow, I feel better telling you all this."
She attempted to smile, but he looked at her sternly. "Please don't force yourself. It pains me to see a close friend forcing herself to smile while she feels like frowning all the way."
Diana felt the urge to kick his shin. "Don't belittle me just because you've seen my vulnerable side, Cupid." She straightened up, her eyebrows in a haughty arch. "A princess never frowns all the way."
"But you're itching to do just that," Cupid retorted teasingly.
"Don't play coy with me, Cupid," She leaned her elbow on the armrest. "Maybe a cup of your best wine would ease my frazzled nerves a bit."
"Aren't princesses prohibited to indulge in inebriated pleasure?" When she feigned annoyance, he moved his hand gracefully in a circular motion, then a silver cup half-filled with grapey, alcoholic goodness appeared in his hand.
Diana accepted it without complaint, then sipped the wine indulgently. When she settled the cup on the brass coffee table, Cupid said, "I don't like this Batman. He sounds unworthy of your amity."
Diana smiled at him. "Maybe so, but he is a good man. I have to give him points for that. He's just so emotionally deficient… he fails miserably in that field."
"And you want me to make you into just that? Just like him?" As he said it out loud, he began to understand Diana's plan. "Oh… Now I see. You're going to retaliate by rebuffing his cold blow with the orb's help, instead of the usual, trite fiery arrows of mine." He combed back his long, brown bangs back. "I was actually getting tired of watching the gooey feeling you see in the victim's eyes after my love arrows have made its effect."
Diana and Cupid exchanged devious grins. "I love you for making my day feel quite exciting for a change." He stood up and stretched his back, which cracked loudly as he did so. "Being a god can be so tedious."
Diana chuckled. "But being an Amazon can be the opposite of your current sentiment."
"Oh sure, envy me now. As you can see, I don't want to fight my own kind or to be in any kind of bloody, bone-shattering brawl for that matter," he contentedly shot back. "I'd rather go stupid with boredom than die for nothing important but plain rancor," he added indifferently.
"Suit yourself," Diana sang cheerily.
Cupid rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, then with another elegant flutter of his hand, a black orb materialized in his smooth palm.
It was not bigger than a tennis ball, so Cupid could easily enclose it with his long, immaculate fingers. He approached Diana and held it in front of her face.
"Here it is. I call it, 'The Orb of Apathy'. But my wonderful wife calls it, 'Insanity'." He smirked. "She prefers my old method. She believes this will only bring more pain, which I also believe she may have a point."
Diana eyed him questioningly. She asked, "What do you mean?"
He gently dropped the orb in her open hand and sat himself in his chair, leaning forward with his hands resting on his knees. Diana tossed the dark object from one hand to the other as if it only weighed as light as a ping-pong ball.
"Would you be surprised if I told you that Circe tried it herself a millennium ago?"
Diana mused over this. Then she turned to Cupid. "If you mean that because of the orb, she turned from bad to worse—I can't see it. What happened?"
"You can see the result in its active splendor these days," Cupid shook his head as if regretting the day he magically created the orb out of sheer curiosity and tedium. "Many centuries ago, long before you were molded from clay by your mother, Circe had an explicit relationship with Odysseus. If you've heard of this story, you should know that she compelled him to love her, otherwise, he and his mates would be turned into swine."
"I know that, but what's the connection--?"
Cupid interrupted her by saying, "Don't rush me, Prin—Diana." He cleared his throat, then continued, "When he finally left her, she was in pitiful depression. She would turn anyone—that includes both men and women, even children—into boars and devour them. She went insane. It was her conduit of rage to Odysseus. Just the thought of him maddened her even more. By then, you were already born." Cupid smiled. "You've never really known her from the beginning. She wasn't all evil before she met Odysseus. She was only a sadist, but she didn't eat her victims at that time. Sometimes, she would even turn them back into their human forms." He paused to sip a glass of wine. "So, when she met Odysseus, she instantly loved him, but then he left her, and when she was banned from the mortal realm—all gods are banned except for Hermes—she couldn't bear the thought of being apart from Odysseus."
Cupid leaned his head on the soft leather of his chair. "Helios turned to me for help because apparently she couldn't be stopped… or sustained. So, that's when I created the Orb of Apathy. It worked… for only a limited time. It erased her memory of Odysseus… but she became inscrutable." He paused to lick his dry lips. "She was the first to use the orb, so I didn't know its real affects to the user's mind. When she wore the orb for more than twenty-four hours, she gradually became erratic; she was so unusual and immeasurably rebellious. As you've noticed a few months back, she descended to earth countless times—and you know that's prohibited to a god—and began producing havoc there. My guess is that her subconscious mind is reminding her of Odysseus' betrayal to her… that's why she is messing the Man's World from time to time. In short, she has become a quintessence of subliminal rage and unconcerned for what her damages can do to man. She can never change back to her old self because the orb has made her for what her heart secretly desires—a channel of destruction to avenge Odysseus' disloyalty to her."
He stared at Diana, hoping that the information sank in without difficulty.
"No matter how chaotic her mind has become, I can never forgive her for what she did to me when she came to earth. She is the most despicable god I have ever become acquainted with," Diana added with venom rising in her voice.
Cupid laughed at her reaction. "Don't let Helios catch you there."
Smiling now, Diana looked at him, her face a mirror of understanding. Then she asked, "Does that mean I can't use it?"
"To be honest with you, you can. But it's unstable and the time of use is limited. It shouldn't take longer than twenty-four hours presumably."
"How do you mean?"
He took the orb from her then continued, "It can take any form you want it to be. Let's say, you want it to take a form of a necklace, any color you choose, may it be red or yellow, it's fine." He then sat down next to Diana on the hard couch. "You wear this for only one day, not more. Otherwise, you'll turn out like Circe or the other gods who used it for more than twenty-four hours straight."
He saw that Diana was about to ask about the other gods' condition, but he interrupted her. "Don't ask. It doesn't sound pretty at all. Trust me." He squeezed her hand amicably.
Diana went silent again. Then she clarified, "So I can wear the orb for only one day, otherwise, I'll never be able to return to my old self again… ever?"
Cupid only nodded his head. Diana's mouth opened in question when suddenly, Donna came stumbling through the doorway, Psyche close behind with her hand over her mouth.
When Donna finally composed herself, brushing off imaginary dirt that clung to her pants, she apologized. She saw that Diana was frowning at her, and she quickly countered her sister's questioning face.
"She pushed me," she pointed at Psyche, who was blushing.
"Sorry…" When she saw her husband's lingering gaze on her, she admitted, "I couldn't hear too well."
Diana arched her brow at Donna. "How much did you hear?"
"Let's see… he mentioned something about Circe turning people into pigs, the Orb of Insanity… Apathy, I mean," Donna and Psyche tried to stifle their chuckles. "Uh… the latter part was pretty much a blur."
Impassive, Cupid turned to Diana. "I'm sure that you wouldn't mind if Donna goes to Earth with you?"
"What?" The sisters asked in unison. Diana's face was startled, but Donna's was ecstatic. By now, Psyche came to her husband's side and leaned her weight on his back, her arms hugging his neck.
"Why?" Diana asked.
"To keep an eye on you," he shifted the orb to his other hand. "Twenty-four hours, remember? Unless…"
"Unless?" Diana asked.
"Unless you take it off before the twenty-fourth hour has stroke," When Donna's head slanted in confusion, he explained, "You could only wear for it one day, not more than that. So, if you take it off before the day ends, you're safe. And you can put it back on the next. That simple. The only glitch is not more than one day, got it?"
"Now I think I understand most part of it," Donna grinned. "So my sister is going to act like a mega-intimidating feminist, so indifferent towards the guys and the Batman while having skin contact with the orb. Before clock strikes twelve of midnight, she takes it off… back to my sister's friendly self. Then she could wear it again the next day to spoil the Bat's noddle. Sweet!" Donna started to giggle by herself, ignoring Cupid's inquiring eye on Diana.
Diana only shook her head. "Blame the Flash."
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To be continued…
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