I do not own any D.C. or Disney characters named herein, and am only using them for a story meant for entertainment purposes only.
Kim Possible: Wonder Girl
By LJ58
5
"Kimberly, good. Diana, you must take her to the grove at once. Athena came to me, and she has said Kimberly must come before her. She will be given an audience. If she is worthy…..the goddess will hear her. What comes after, even I cannot say."
"Aristia said….."
"Yes. Athena herself came to me. It is the first time she has chosen to request someone attend her. It is…..unprecedented," the queen said, eyeing Kim with genuine concern in her guileless eyes. "I fear what it may yet mean."
"Whatever happens," Kim told her. "I won't let anyone harm you, or your daughters," Kim told her. "You have my word."
"So, now you would risk the gods' own wrath? You are daring, Kimberly. Go. Let Diana prepare you. Just heed me. When you approach the sacred grove, go meekly, and humble yourself before Athena. It may sting your pride, but it may give you the answers we both need," she advised her.
"I'll try," Kim said quietly, and looked to Diana, who had been a constant companion of late, even if she weren't a lover.
If anything, she seemed more obsessed with her and Shego.
Now, it seemed Kim was about to face whatever fate had in store for her here.
She almost smiled.
"You do not fear meeting the goddess," Diana asked, noting her confident expression.
"I live for moments like these," Kim admitted. "It's sitting around, and waiting that bothers me."
"I think you sound much like your Shego, Kimberly," Diana murmured. "Come, I will prepare you."
"So, Athena is the real goddess of wisdom from the myths? The actual goddess herself?"
"She is," Diana nodded. "But she is far more. She gives us courage, inspiration, the arts. She is the wellspring of culture and civilization. Once worshipped as Gaia among pagan lands, men dismissed her simply because they desired the raw power of Ares, and other gods they deemed greater than her aspect."
"So, even among the gods, women don't get any respect," Kim murmured.
"It is ever the way."
"Well, whatever is waiting, I'll face it the same way I always have. Head-on."
"You should….."
"To be honest, Diana. I don't know any other way."
"I was going to say to just be yourself. It seems to work for you, rider of demons," she smiled now, and led her to a room where she brushed out Kim's damp hair, and threaded it with flowers. Then she pulled off the damp robe she wore, and replaced it with a silvery-white garment that hung to her ankles.
"You should go barefoot before the goddess. It is not deemed proper to wear sandals in the goddess' glade. It implies your attempt to elevate yourself."
"Okay," she said, pulling off the sandals after Diana adjusted the robe. Then adjusted it again after she stood upright once more. "So, walk in, be myself, and….see what happens?"
Diana smiled.
"It is the best any of us can do," Diana told her quietly.
"Have you ever seen her?"
"I've….felt her. Sensed her. Never, though, have I been blessed to actually see her. Only mother has had that boon."
"Oh."
"I have seen Ares, though." She glanced away, then looked back at Kim. "It's a vision I wish I could wipe from my mind."
"I'll take your word on that one," she said. "So, shall we go?"
"I can only escort you. Once we reach the glade, you go on alone."
"No big," Kim nodded again.
Diana walked in silence beside her as they left the quarters where they stayed, and walked down the main thoroughfare toward the forest beyond. Down a lane she had never taken. In fact, now that she considered it, she had never even been allowed in that direction.
Diana nodded to two armored women that stood at the end of the lane, and stopped just beyond them.
"The glade is directly ahead. You cannot miss it. Remember. Go humbly, but be yourself, sister. The goddess must have a plan for you. What it may be, only she can say. The gods bless you, Kimberly. I am proud to have known you, and prouder to call you sister," Diana told her somberly.
"Uh, you're being kind of….."
"It is expected. One never knows what will occur when the gods are involved," Diana told her. "I shall await you here," she said, and hugged her before letting her go. "Hopefully, I can learn more of your...kung-fu when you return," she smiled.
"I have very much enjoyed knowing you, and all your sisters, too, Diana. I could call this home if I didn't already have one."
"And if you can never leave," Diana asked quietly, meeting her green gaze.
Kim smiled.
"I never say never," the redhead smiled.
Then she turned, and walked down the faint path, and into the very thick of the moonlit forest beyond.
For a time she felt as if she were just taking an endless path. Until it abruptly ended at a wide clearing with a towering statue surrounded by flowers, and offerings of food, and other miscellaneous items. The statue was very feminine. An image of a perfect, statuesque creature in her prime clad in a robe that covered her to her feet. Her arms stretched out, as if inviting all to come to her, and her smile was…..
"Wow," Kim murmured, vaguely aware that the quality of the air was changing around her.
It was as if the coolness of the evening were growing warmer around her, and a more exotic scent filled the air as if she had just stepped into Cocoa Banana's perfume aisle at the Mega-Mall, and the air was filled with the most costly of all fragrances.
"Are you now impressed, daughter of Man's World," a voice whispered, and she spun around, seeing nothing.
"Not even your eyes are swift enough to see what does not wish to be seen, little one."
"You're….Athena," she murmured, looking around, but seeing nothing.
Yet the unnerving sensation of being watched pressed in on her as if she were a mouse in a maze being stared at by dozens of observers.
"I am called so by some. I have other names. Other manifestations. You may call me….Mother."
"No, thanks, I have one already," she quipped, then blushed furiously. "No disrespect meant, of course."
The voice laughed lightly, and the air shimmered all around her. Then, just that suddenly, there was another person with her in the glade.
The woman was no giant. She was no shrimp, either.
Well over six feet, the raven-haired woman had eyes so blue they almost hurt to look upon. She wore a robe so white it was like fresh snow. Whiter than snow. Her skin was flawless, glowing with a translucence that suggested a contained power beyond her imagination.
And Kim had quite the imagination.
She stared at the smiling goddess, and blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.
"Can I go home now," she asked.
The woman laughed softly, and reached out to caress her cheek. The touch made her shiver, as if every cell in her body had just been electrified.
"You cannot know how much you please me. I have watched while you took your first step. I watched when you fell, and when you picked yourself up. You never cried. You never made excuses. You just kept going. You, child, please me greatly."
"You've….watched me," she frowned, feeling oddly creeped-out by the notion someone was out there watching her all this time.
"I have. So when I learned I needed a new champion, I knew I had to bring you here. To prepare you. To grant you the gifts necessary to face the enemy soon to appear in your world."
Kim frowned.
"That….sounds bad."
"If you are strong enough, and wise enough, you will stand. But, to stand, you need someone beside you."
"You could send….?"
"Diana has her own path to walk. No, there is another waiting. For you to stand, for your world to have a chance, you must find her. And you must redeem her."
"Redeem….her?"
"Look into your heart, child. Even Diana has seen where it leads you. The child of the comet was, indeed, blessed by the gods. It was hoped to prepare her for the challenges before you all. Only she turned her back on all of us. If she not redeemed, not only may you all yet die, but her soul shall be cast into the lowest pits of Hades, forever lost in torment."
"No," Kim gasped, knowing exactly who she meant now.
"You can redeem her. I have faith in you. You must stand together if your world is to have a chance."
"What….? Who is coming," she asked.
"You already know," the goddess told her, turning translucent now, almost invisible again.
"Are you saying….?"
"It is time for you to return to the world that spawned you, child. I believe, though, we may meet again."
"What about my grandmother?"
"Anastasia has fulfilled her purpose, and her time. Do you begrudge her the solace of home, and the comfort of her sisters now that her time is done?"
Kim felt scolded by those gentle words, but she knew she was being silly.
She had not even realized Anastasia was still alive. Why would she? Yet finding her here, and learning of their bond, she was loathe to give her up so soon. She shook her head, and looked up again.
"I'll miss her. I just started to know her, and….."
"Life is filled with sorrows. Just as it is filled with joys. It is time for you to return daughter. Find the woman who holds your heart, and redeem her. It is your only chance. It is her only chance. Good journey, and know….. I am ever watching."
The goddess just vanished.
"But what if she won't listen," Kim cried out, knowing Shego was going to be seriously stubborn if Kim just popped up, claiming she had to help her save the world again. Especially if she added it was at the behest of a genuine goddess.
The soft breeze blew around her, the scent still strong, still filling her with that otherworldly presence.
"I grant you two boons, daughter. If you will grant me a sacrifice in kind," the voice murmured, even if the goddess didn't reappear.
"What do you mean?"
"I will give you the means to achieve your task, but what do you offer in turn? What are you willing to give up?"
"Anything," she said after a moment, fists clenched in resolve. "Whatever you want, I'll do it, if you help me save Shego, and the world."
"Done. You will know what to do when it is time. Until then, I grant you this gift. The full strength, and blessing of an Amazon born. I gift you with the powers Diana herself harbors. You, Kimberly Anne Possible, shall become a wonder to your own. I have decreed it."
Kim shuddered, feeling…..different. Feeling….better.
"Thank you, Athena," she murmured. "I'll…try to be worthy."
"I know you shall, daughter," the wind whispered, and then the otherworldly scent, and the presence, was gone.
Kim dropped to her knees, feeling physically shaken to her very core by the experience.
She had stood before a genuine goddess.
A real goddess.
She slowly reached up, and pulled the flowers threaded through her hair from her head, and gently lay them at the foot of the statue.
"Thank you," she murmured, then smiled brightly as she realized what Athena had said.
She was going home.
After so many months, she was going home!
She all but ran from the glade.
KP
"Hippolyta," Kim shouted, running toward the great temple. "I saw her! She was there! I saw her!"
"I believe you," the golden-haired queen smiled, and extended a hand, inviting her approach as she rose from her porch chair, and stood to meet her. "What did our patron-goddess say?"
"She said….I'm going home. Ares isn't coming here. He now thinks to strike at our world, and she is sending me home to face him."
"Mother," Diana cried, coming up behind them, surprised at how easily Kim had ran past her before she could even react. "She cannot face him alone!"
"Athena said I had to….redeem Shego. That she would stand with me, and we would know what to do when the time came."
"Still, two against the god of war," Artemis murmured, standing close by.
"My queen," Anastasia bowed as she dared approach unbidden. "Perhaps…."
"Hear me. Athena has said Kimberly shall return to her world. Did she say anything more?"
"Only that she would grant me….a boon that would aid me. One I would know to call upon when it was time," she said quietly.
"How did she appear to you," Hippolyta asked her after a moment.
"She was….beautiful," Kim murmured, and stared blankly for a moment.
"Kimberly's words are true. She has seen the goddess. Heard her words. She will depart at dawn. Artemis, Anastasia, prepare the ship from Man's World. She shall use it to return, for it is now obvious why the gods spared it."
"But, mother," Diana fumed.
"I have spoken. Say no more," she said, and turned her back.
Diana stared, but said nothing as her mother walked away.
The queen paused at the wide entrance to her private rooms, and looked back. "Kimberly, you should rest, and prepare yourself for this journey. It is my experience, that when the gods send you anywhere, it will a trying chore. Do not fear, all you need for your trip shall be prepared for you."
"Thank you, Queen Hippolyta," Kim said quietly, just staring between mother and daughter. "I will never forget your kindness."
"And we shall never forget your boldness, and courage, daughter of Themyscira," she called her before disappearing into her quarters.
Anastasia walked up behind her, and slowly turned her to hug her.
"I wish you were coming with me," she said earnestly.
"Oh, Kimberly. My time is gone. I can't go back. I'll miss watching my great-grandchildren grown up, and I'll wonder how you're doing every day of what remains of my life. But my place is here. You must know by now that I have duties here, too. Besides, I've outlived my own life out there. Now, you have yours to tend. Anne is sick with worry. You should go to her. Reassure her."
"Can I….tell her? About you, I mean?"
"Do as your heart bids you," Kim was told as the woman hugged her fiercely. "Always do as your heart bids you, and you'll do no wrong."
"I'm going to miss you. I just met you, and I'm going to miss you."
"I'm going to miss all of my daughters," the Amazon told her. "Now, go, and rest. I'll ensure the boat is loaded with all you need. There is still plenty of fuel, too, so don't worry about that."
Kim nodded, and turned to find Diana had slipped away. Heading for her own room, she looked around, and found she wasn't tired.
She was energized. Impatient. Eager to go.
She made herself sit down anyway.
"I've never believed in magic. Or gods. Or anything like that," she told the night just outside her window. "But, you know that."
She stared up at the moon, and tried to remember the impossible beauty of that shining face.
"I don't understand what to expect. Not really. But if you can help me stop this threat. This danger. Then I'll do whatever you want. And Kim Possible always keeps her word," she said firmly, and forced herself to go the bed, and lay down.
Outside the room, Diana stood near her door, and overheard the soft words of a simple prayer. She listened in silence, and then walked away just as quietly as she had come.
KP
Kim stood before the small pier where the launch was docked, surrounded by the other Amazons. Today, she was not wearing armor, or a robe. She wore a form-fitting blue-black bodysuit adorned with crossed thunderbolts, and crowned with twelve. Twelve stars, for the gods that blessed the island. A silver belt supported her waist, and she had a short sword on it that made her slightly uncomfortable. Still, she could hardly deny it fit.
The matching boots had armored greaves to protect her shins, and with her bracelets, which Hippolyta told her Amazons wore for life as sign of their bond to the goddess who blessed them, she still looked quite ready for battle. For the garment had been produced by the queen herself, who felt she could not wear traditional Amazon armor back to her world without causing problems.
It seemed the queen did know something of Man's World, but was simply reluctant to share too much.
Just then, Kim found it hard to smile as she hugged Anastasia again, then turned to look for Diana.
"She wouldn't come down," the redheaded Artemis told her. "You know how stubborn she can be," the warrior sighed.
"I'll miss all of you."
"You have a job to do, sister," Artemis told her. "If you can, perhaps you will return in your own time, too. If so, we shall welcome you anew. This is now your home, too."
"Maybe," Kim nodded, "When the time is right, I might not mind it."
"You can bring your Shego," the smirking warrior told her. "I should very much like to meet her."
"Gods bless you, Kimberly. Go with Athena, and all our prayers," the queen told her as Kim stepped onto the launch, and Anastasia cast off the mooring lines for her.
"Remember," that woman told her. "Go due west, and keep your eyes upon the horizon. It might not hurt to throw Poseidon an offering, too," she added. "He's ever a fickle one."
"Aren't all men," Kim laughed, and triggered the ignition, the twin turbo engines turning over with a roar of subdued horsepower.
Artemis eyed the wake as Kim turned the wheel, and pulled away from the docks, casting a final wave behind her.
The shouts of those behind her faded as she moved farther and farther away from the island, and she couldn't help but look back a final time before she did as Anastasia told her, and set her eyes on the horizon ahead.
"Athena," she murmured. "Here I go."
"Guard your sister well," that otherworldly voice murmured, even as the sea suddenly tossed the ship as the air around her shimmered, and the very sea changed.
Suddenly, the bow was cutting through darker, choppy water, and she just knew she was heading back into her world. She could feel it. She resisted the urge to look back, and shouted a cry of exultation as she opened the throttle, and headed west for home.
Just before she realized something was right ahead of her as if it had just materialized there, and she spun the wheel around. A single glance made her realize it was she that had somehow materialized right in the heart of the Virginia shipyards. One moment she had been at sea, and now suddenly she was surrounded by half the U.S. Navy even as a dark head poked up from beside her where the cabin hatch was located.
"Diana," she gasped, staring at the Amazon wearing a very abbreviated, and very colorful costume of some kind with a short sword at one side, and a golden rope coiled on the other.
Diana smiled as she climbed oto the deck beside her, and looked around.
"Athena has brought us right into your world, sister," she exclaimed, staring around them at the ships filling the harbor.
"I'll say," she said, spotting two Coast Guard cutters heading right for them as she spun the wheel to avoid that battleship just ahead of them, and turned toward the nearest dock. She never got the chance to get close.
"Cut your engines," someone shouted over a bullhorn, "And prepare to be boarded," a man ordered as the nearest cutter moved to block her course.
She eyed Diana in her red and blue garment, and grimaced as she cut the engines, and pointedly put up her hands.
"Welcome to America, Princess Diana. I suggest you let me do the talking," as a small boat loaded with armed men in uniform sped toward them.
"Is something wrong?"
"Oh, not really. It's just we appeared in the middle of one of the most heavily guarded navy shipyards in the country. These guys don't like that. At all."
Diana didn't seem to be worried as she kept smiling at the men approaching their launch.
"Keep your hands up, and don't move," an officer on the motorboat shouted as the cutters now bracketed her launch.
"Not moving, guys," Kim shouted. "Just really, really glad to be home."
Which was when someone shouted, "Kim Possible! It's Kim Possible."
Things got crazy after that.
To Be Continued…