A/N: So, um, approximately one year ago I started this story. And now we are on chapter five. I'm not exactly going at lightspeed, I know. I apologise about that. And I thank you all for your patience and support! Thank you all so much! It means a lot, really. Anyway, you haven't waited that long to read me talk. Enjoy!
"You are a…man" said Diana in awe.
I found myself at loss for words, incapable of even making a sound. It was clear that the stranger had come from outside Themyschira, from somewhere beyond the deep ocean. Just like…like me.
"Yes, I mean…" the man's voice was coarse, but his confused tone was unmistakable "Yeah. Do I not look like a…" he paused again, "Where am I?"
"You are on Themyschira…"
"Who are you?" the words left my mouth before I could stop them.
The man's eyes turned to me, and he hesitated. But then he saw something behind me that seemed to help him make up his mind.
"I'm one of the good guys" he said and pointed to the sea "and those are the bad guys."
I turned, confused by his words, and my eyes widened when I saw what he was referring to. Four boats had appeared, and they were speeding for the beach.
"What?" asked Diana.
"The Germans" the man said, and offered no further explanation, "Come on we need to move" he said standing up.
It sounded like the smart thing to do, and I was going to follow him when a voice was heard above us.
"Diana!"
The Queen and her guard where standing on horseback on the cliff, prepared for battle. Somehow, they had been alerted of the imminent arrival of those…Germans. But were they really going to fight them?
"Ready your bows!"
Well, apparently yes.
"They have guns, right?" the man asked, wide-eyed, but I barely heard him. There was just too much happening all at once.
Up on the cliff, an Amazon was running down the line of archers lighting their arrowheads with a torch. It was an action I had seen thousands of times before in the training grounds. But I had never imagined I would seen it in a real battle, with real enemies.
"Fire!" ordered Hippolytha.
Flaming arrows sailed high above our heads and fell upon the boats. Screams and yelps filled the air as they found their targets. The sounds awoke me from my dream-like state and I forced my legs to move. Diana seemed to have had the same idea and, together with the strange man, we hurried to a near group of rocks and quickly took cover. Panting, I stole a glance in Diana's direction and found her dark eyes staring back at me. In them, I saw the same fear and shock I felt.
A sudden war cry caught my attention, and as I turned my eyes to the edge of the cliff I saw a group of Amazons flinging themselves down, a rope attached to the rocks on top of it firmly secured around their waists. And without a moment of hesitation, they started firing arrows at the invaders. Seeing them in action helped me compose myself. Us Amazons, we were warriors. The foolish invaders, whoever they were, had no chance against my mother's army.
A loud crack was heard, dangerously close, and my head snapped back to its source. One of the attackers was holding a strange weapon, and from it's end a puff smoke was bursting. Something small and shiny, too quick to see clearly, buzzed pass Diana's head following a perfect straight line. Until the body of one of the Amazon's crossed its way, and the small object imbedded itself in her abdomen. The warrior, still readying and arrow into her bow, suddenly went limp and doubled over herself. The bow and arrow fell from her hands, and she hang like a ragdoll from the rope still attached to the cliff. She moved no more.
I couldn't see her face, but her armour was familiar enough. I had seen it beside my mothers plenty of times. If I tried even a little hard, her name would fall from my lips. But I didn't want to. The light of her mind was…gone. There was only darkness. And I preferred to keep that darkness anonymous.
I forced my head to turn towards the battlefield, ignoring the vision behind me. Luckily, the sound of hundreds of hooves against the sand was soon heard, capturing my attention completely. On the far side of the beach, charging through the stone archway leading to it, a stampede of Amazons on horseback were coming to their sister's aid. Antiope was leading them, fierce, majestic and every inch the General everyone knew she was. And by her side, red cape fluttering in the wind and spear in hand, Menalippe rode with rage twisting her features.
In any other situation, seeing that picture would have let me in awe, pushing my fear down and fuelling my strength. But then, just after what I had witnessed, it only filled my mind with questions. Could the Amazon army really fight against those Germans? Against their strange weapons capable of killing a woman in mere seconds? I preferred not to answer them, but that didn't stop me from fearing for my mothers.
Was I a coward for wishing they weren't on the front lines? Would they be ashamed if they knew that those were my thoughts? But could anyone blame me for having them?
"Stay here!" shouted the man, bringing me back to then and there.
Deafening sounds came rushing to me, and I suddenly realised that the number of bodies covering the sand had multiplied. I looked up to see the man rushing to one of the soldiers closest to us, the sun glinting on the knife in his hand. He caught the German by surprise and quickly dispatched them with a precision that one only gets when doing the same action a hundred times. He grabbed the enemy's weapon and started using it against the attackers.
At that moment, Diana decided she had grown tired of doing nothing and sprang into action. Which didn't surprise me at all, but did make my heart beat faster than it already was. Without missing a beat, she grabbed a bow and arrow from a fallen sister and started shooting at the Germans. When I saw her arrows struck their targets, a strange feeling started filling my chest. It did look a lot like vengeance, and I decided my time of inaction was over too. I grabbed the sword hanging from by belt, a weapon that had mostly served as a decoration until then, and ran after Diana.
As soon as I stepped out of my hiding spot, I found myself face to face with one of the attackers. I was so close, I was able to see that he was a man too. But I had no time to on the new revelation before I was pushed into action. He seemed to have misplaced his weapon and was instead using a long knife. That I knew how to fight against.
Luckily for me and my rusty movements, he wasn't really good at using the weapon. I quickly sent his knife away with my sword and before he could react I hit him on the head with its pommel, effectively knocking him out. I didn't really fancy the idea to kill anyone, at least not yet.
I had to fight two more Germans, both men once more, before I arrived to where Diana was. By then, her quiver was empty, and she was having to defence herself with her fists and feet, not that she was having much trouble because of that.
"I need to borrow your sword!" she yelled before grabbing it and deflecting a German's bayonet with it.
"Hey! How am I supposed fight now?" I said as I ducked a punch directed to my face, and answered with one of my own, which landed on the German's face with a satisfying crunch. This one was a man too. Interesting.
"You don't need a sword!" she said, as if stating the obvious "use your powers!"
My blood ran cold.
"You know I can't do it under pressure!" I said, barely dodging a kick "I need peace and quiet to concentrate!"
"Of course you can, I know you can" Diana sent her enemy sprawling to the floor and turned to me "just because you have never done it doesn't mean you can't do it. I trust you."
He grabbed my hand squeezed it, looking at me with her beautiful dark eyes. For a second, I forgot where we were.
"Okay" I took a deep breath "but I'll need you to cover me."
"Always" she smiled, and I found my strength in her gesture.
The moment was broken when a German came at us, and Diana had to jump into the battle again. I, on the other side, scanned the beach looking for anything that I could use to my advantage. The ground was covered in discarded weapons, but I trying to move more than one object at a time seemed impossible even by Diana's standards. No, I needed something that could knock out more than one enemy at the time. My eyes went to the cliff. If I managed to make a piece of it to fall upon the German's heads…That could do the trick.
Trying to ignore the battle raging around me, I concentrated on the wall of rocks in front of me. I tried to feel it under my fingertips as I raised my hand, imagining what it would be like to feel its hard and cold surface under my skin. I curved my fingers as if holding the wall, and after taking a deep breath, I brought my hand down with a sudden movement.
Nothing happened.
I swallowed, trying fight the panic that was seizing me. I could do it. I just had to try again…
Suddenly, I heard a cry and my eyes immediately turned to its source. My mom, Menallipe, was clutching her thigh as a group of four Germans surrounded her.
"Mena!" I heard Antiope scream, but she too was swarmed with enemies. There was no way she could arrive in time to help her.
The fear filling my body suddenly turned into resolve, and I felt a wave of energy leaving my body. Seconds later, a large rock stumbled down the side of the cliff in the direction of the soldiers. They only had time to look back before it crushed them. Mena quickly finished them off, and I suddenly didn't feel so proud of my accomplishment. But then my mum locked eyes with me and smiled, nodding in my direction before jumping back into action.
Honestly, I didn't know how I had done it. I stared at the rock for a few moments, too stunned to move, before someone rammed into me sending me to the floor. I looked up to see the man Diana and I had saved from drowning, and I felt one off the small buzzy things pass over us. He had saved me.
"Thank you" I said breathless.
"You're welcome" he said, helping me stand me "just don't stand still too much."
"I'll keep that in mind."
I scanned the battlefield, and I was surprised to see that there weren't many Germans standing left. Diana kicked her last enemy one more time, and the man stopped moving. She looked at me, and smiled.
"I knew you could do it"
"You saw it?" I asked, surprised. I had expected her to be too busy fighting to notice my beginner's luck.
"Of course I did" she winked at me.
"Watch out!" shouted the man beside me, before shooting a man that was pointing his weapon at us.
His aim was so good the man was dead in an instant. One more prove that the man we had saved was no stranger to killing. I looked at him, both in awe and carefulness, and thus didn't see the other soldier until it was too late.
"Diana!" I heard Antiope scream.
Time slowed down, and I saw my mother rushing towards her. At the same time, a man barely standing on a bleeding leg aiming his weapon towards my partner. My mother jumped, stepping between the enemy and Diana. I felt a scream making its way towards my mouth, and my ears rang with Mena's own.
Seemingly by its own accord, my arm lifted up towards the German, my palm facing the soldier as if signalling him to stop. And then, once again, I felt a wave of energy leave my body and go through the air until colliding with man. The soldier felt backwards, pushed by that invisible force, but shot his weapon anyway. Antiope's body fell against the floor rising a cloud of sand.
Things sped up once again, and I felt my legs weaken under me. But that didn't matter. Diana throw herself at Antiope's body, hiding her from my body. The almost-drowned man shot the soldier as if by reflex, but stood still afterwards. Mena flashed by me, pushing Diana out of the way while screaming my mom's name. Hippolytha approached too, and at that moment I realised that I was supposed to do the same.
I forced my legs to move towards their group. Antiope's head was on Mena's lap, who was caressing her head with a vacant expression. Diana was clutching her aunt's hands, refusing to let go. I dropped to my knees beside the Queen, who for the first time in my life looked lost.
"Diana…" my mum's voice was but a whisper, but the beach was so silent that I could hear her words perfectly "the time has come…you…you must…"
She swallowed, struggling to speak. We all leaned closer.
"Godkiller…Diana, go…Godkiller…"
Her voice faltered and her eyes closed, all strength leaving her body.
"Go where?" Diana searched her aunt's face but found no more signs "Antiope!"
Mena started sobbing and beside me, the Queen bowed her head in defeat. It was as if they expected the worst, but I knew better. I could still see my mother's mind shining, maybe not as brightly as it used to, but it shone. She was alive and nobody was moving!
"Quick! Someone go call Epione!" I yelled, confused my everyone else's lack of action.
Mena shook her head and looked at me with an indescribable pain in her eyes.
"She's gone, my dear. She's gone."
"No, she's not!" I insisted, getting frustrated "look!"
I pointed at her chest and sure enough, it was rising and falling.
"She's alive" whispered Mena, not quite believing it.
"Artemis!" the Queen said, quickly standing up "quickly, go fetch Epione!"
The Amazon didn't hesitate and soon disappeared from the beach.
"You!" Hippolytha turned her attention to the only man left standing.
He instinctively shrunk under her gaze as she approached him.
"Mother, no!" Diana said, still clutching Antiope's hands "he fought beside Ariadne and I!"
"Men only fight alongside their own people" said the Queen, her voice dropping with hate.
"They weren't my people" he dropped his weapon on the sand showing his surrender. I admired his braveness.
"Then why do you wear their clothes?" asked Aella, approaching them with her sword firmly held in her hand.
The man sighed and looked down.
"I can't tell you that."
"We should kill him right now and be done with it." Said Venelia, standing beside Aella.
"What's your name?" asked Hippolytha
The man sighed again.
"I can't tell you that either."
Aella and Venelia seemed ready to kill him right then and there, but Phillipus stopped them.
"He dies, and we know nothing about who they are and why they came."
She took her place beside Hippolytha and the other Amazon's stepped back, even if they weren't entirely happy about it.
The man turned his eyes toward me, and I doubted he found the reassurance he needed it on my face. But one thing was clear: he had saved my life, and killed the man who had tried to kill my mother. He had fought beside us, even if he had no guarantee that we would help him back. The least I could do was to return the favour.
A/N: Ariadne is me in the cinema, watching Antiope's death. Like seriously. My initial plan was to follow what the movie showed, but as you can see I've changed my mind. There's already too much sadness in the world, so in my fanfic Antiope is going to live. As she should have in the movie, but whatever. Btw, let's see if I can't finish this before WW 2 comes out. Anyway, thanks for reading!
