The Parthenon at night was a sight to behold.
The pillars of the ruins were illuminated brilliantly, and the yellow lights made the white marble appear gold. Though the temple had been destroyed ages ago, it still shone with a brilliance worthy of the Gods that night.
"It's beautiful…" Diana murmured.
"It is impressive." Ivy relented, walking ahead of Diana when she didn't move forwards. "Now we might want to hurry here. I doubt we're allowed to walk the grounds at night, so we'll have to be sneaky."
"We should stick together then, to keep an eye out for guards or groundskeepers."
Ivy nods and they are careful to keep quiet as they hurry up the steps to the Parthenon.
They search the ruins again, inside and out, and come up with nothing.
"Okay, this is getting ridiculous." Ivy huffs, sounding just as frustrated as Diana felt. "Were we wrong? Was the next location not the Parthenon?"
"Let met see the note again." Diana offers her hand, and after rooting around in her pocket, Ivy gives her the note. She reads it over several times, and shakes her head. "Well, there are other temples dedicated to Athena, but this one is the most well-known. I can't imagine they'd try and trick us this late in the game."
"Is there any part of the ruins we've looked over? Maybe another part of the temple that isn't technically connected to this?"
Diana thought for a moment, then she had the urge to smack her own forehead. "There's an olive tree atop the acropolis."
"Yes, I've seen it several times now. A beautiful tree. An old one as well."
"Have you asked it about the hint?"
Ivy hesitates, is quiet for a moment, and then blushes. "It- someone tied a note to its upper branches just before we got here."
Diana gives her a reassuring smile. "It's alright. I'm sure we're both just tired from this trip. Let's get our hint."
Ivy begins to lead the way. Just as she is about to round the corner out of the ruins, the redhead startles and backs into Diana. Alert and ready for another attack, she grabs onto Ivy as she is pulled into a nook between a pillar and some rubble. She holds Ivy close, turning them as best she can in the tight spot so that she covers Ivy with her own body.
And then she sees a simple security guard come into their view, glance about, then mosey along his way.
Diana sighs out the entirety of her chest, and she feels Ivy tremble under her grip. She looks down, worried she might have hurt her in the shuffle, but quickly realizes she's trying to hold in laughter. Diana lets out a different kind of sigh as they wait for the guard to move further away, with Ivy still laughing into her shoulder.
When they unfit themselves from the nook, they hurry down to the olive tree and Ivy has it drop the note right into her hand. Diana looks over her shoulder as she opens it, and they both scramble to catch the little envelope that falls out of the folded paper.
"Damn, I can't read it. It's too dark." Ivy holds the note close to her nose before giving up and pocketing the letter and envelope. "We can read it when we get back to the hotel."
Diana agrees, and then gets an idea.
"It's a beautiful night tonight."
Ivy raises an eyebrow at her, and Diana wonders at how she already is on to her. "It is…"
"And the starts are out in mass."
"Well, there aren't any clouds tonight. A wonder in a city."
Diana offers her hand. "Would you like a better view?"
Ivy's smile is devious, and she takes her hand. "You're spoiling me today."
"Everyone deserves to be spoiled sometimes." Diana pulls her close and wraps an arm around her torso.
"Be careful, I might come to expect it." She teases as their feet lift off the ground.
Diana carries Ivy up to the top of the Parthenon and they seat themselves just out of sight of the ground. Feeling inspired, Diana begins to point out constellations she knows and tells Ivy the stories behind them.
She sees Leo, Cygnus, and Pegasus, and Ivy finds Sagittarius and Hercules and Libra. Ivy listens intently, toying with the charms on her necklace. When Diana has named and explained all the constellations she can find, Ivy introduces her to a game she and Harley played while camping in the Amazon.
"Look, it's easy." Ivy had them both lie flat on their backs, with their heads right next to each other, and points to the sky. "Those three in a line there, and those two branching off of it… and there, those six in a circle looks like a flower."
"It kind of does," Diana plays along, though she can't quite tell which ones she's making out.
"And now we make up a story." She thinks for a moment. "Once upon a time, there was a child that painted the most beautiful flower in the world. She cherished that flower and wanted to keep the picture forever. But one day, she misplaced her picture. She asked her parents, her friends, and all her neighbors to help her find it, but it was gone.
"She cried over her flower, sad to have lost it, and a… a goddess heard her cries. The goddess came to her, and when she heard the child's tale, she asked the girl to paint her another picture of the flower, and when she did, she hung the painting in the stars, so she'd never lose her flower again."
Diana smiled. "A sad but sweet story, like most epics. Well done."
"I may or may not have taken inspiration from some of Harley's stories. I can find the patterns, but I'm not good at the story telling."
"Well, how about you find the patterns, and I'll tell a story?" She suggests.
"Alright…" Ivy trails off as she looks up at the night sky. "Those two lines there, and the circle they branch off from. They look like two people making a circle with their hands."
Diana scrambles for ideas. "Ah, I have one. Those two girls are the closest of friends. They loved dancing and singing with each other and wished to spend the rest of their days with each other in eternal happiness. But one day, suitors came for the girls, and wished to take their hands in marriage."
Ivy lets out a huff. "Just like men to ruin something so good."
Diana raises an eyebrow and continues her story. "Men and Women alike sought the two for their beauty and kindness, but the girls feared separation. None of their suitors came from the same place, and if they accepted any offers they would be torn apart for sure. So, they prayed to their goddess to never be separated.
"And the goddess answered. 'Dance,' she told them, 'Dance and play and love forevermore.' And when they did, the goddess placed them in the stars, so they may never be apart."
"You're way better at this than me." Ivy smiled.
"I know many stories, and my sisters and I played a similar game when I was a child. But we'd retell the stories of old constellations, and we all would have to make up a single sentence and put them together to form a new story."
"I'm sure some pretty wild stories were made from that game."
"Too many to remember." Diana confirmed with a laugh.
They play a few more rounds, before a comfortable silence surrounds them. Diana sits up and looks out across Athens.
"A glorious view." Diana comments as Ivy shifts to sit up with her. "Like a God looking down upon their township."
"As a Demigod, will you be joining the stars someday?" Ivy asks. "Like Hercules or Orion?"
"Maybe, and if I do, I hope it not to be any day soon." Diana sees Ivy has a far off look in her eye, one she had seen before. Back in the sauna and when she questioned her about her false death.
"Was it frightening?"
The question surprises Diana. "Was what frightening?"
"To learn you could live forever?"
Diana senses that this is uncomfortable territory, so she treads lightly. "I grew up knowing of my longevity. I may be a demigod, but I am not immortal. I can still die in battle, or of illness or famine."
She is quiet for a moment, her jaw working quietly as she works up the courage to speak. "I… don't think I can die."
Seeing this is deeply upsetting to Ivy, she takes the woman's hand and notices her pale skin has begun to turn green again. Diana finds that she prefers the green now.
"There was an accident a few months back… and then back in the cave… I was- I should be dead. Twice over at least, but I keep coming back. And I haven't aged a day since the accident made me this."
Ivy refuses to meet her eye, but she grips her hand back as if she fears letting go. Diana tries to think up something reassuring to say, but she knows no immortals other than the Gods, and even they can die given the right circumstances.
"I… only ever feared my longevity when I fell in love with Steve Trevor," Diana admits, deciding Ivy would want her honesty rather than her pity. Ivy does look to her then, slightly inclining her head. "The pilot. I loved him, and he loved me. I had never known such a wholehearted love before. I hadn't even noticed he was aging until I looked upon a picture of us ten years after we had met.
"On Themyscira, I had nothing to fear. No one to lose. In the outside world, I find myself trying to feel every second that passes us by, afraid I will miss out on moments with the ones I care for."
Ivy's eyes are glistening, and Diana knows she's struck a chord with the woman.
"There is no shame in fearing the loss of the ones you love, Ivy-"
"Pamela." Ivy turns away and scrubs her cheeks with her free hand. "Please, call me Pamela."
Diana fights down a grateful smile at being gifted such a privilege, "There is no shame in fearing loss, Pamela. I fear losing the ones I love every day, and al I can do is spend what few spare moments I have with them- without neglecting my own needs."
"How in the hell do you do that?" Iv- no, Pamela sounded genuinely miserable.
"Practice?" Diana shrugged. "I don't think loss ever gets easier, but you come to know what to expect when it happens. Change is natural, and there isn't much we can do to stop it."
Pamela lets out a soft huff. "Death is natural. I don't understand why I'm being denied it."
"Maybe you still have a greater role to play?" Diana suggests. "The gods revive heroes when they are needed in the world. Maybe nature saves you because it still needs you to fight for it?"
She smiles softly. "Even if the fight is hopeless?"
"No, it isn't hopeless." Diana pulls Pamela close to her side, luxuriating in the feeling of the woman's head resting against her shoulder. Diana thinks for a moment. "They will never replace the ones you love, but if it is loneliness you fear, I will take you to Themyscira. You will be welcomed amongst my sisters, and they will live long with you."
"Truly?" Pamela's spring green eyes find hers, and she sees a glimmer of hope in them.
"Truly. Whenever you desire, I shall take you there, and if I fall in battle before then, I shall inform my sister Troia of this promise, and she will uphold it in my stead." Diana vows.
Pamela is quiet, and then gives her a full, grateful smile. "Thank you, Diana."
She pulls Pamela close and kisses her forehead lightly, and the two lean against each other as they watch the city lights for a little while longer. When they stand to leave, Diana hears a coo from behind them, and when she turns, she sees an owl and white dove perched together on a pillar opposite to them.
"Diana, what are you looking at?" Pamela questions her but turns too late to see the two birds as they glide off the pillar and into the darkness.
Diana feels her heart skip a beat. A smile tugs at her lips as she swoops Pamela off her feet and carries her all the way back to their hotel.