Chapter 20

Her bare feet left blood foot prints as she walked to her armoury. Her own armour was inappropriate for the situation; she needed to co opt the strength, the glory, of a better, more innocent time.

"Mother," she whispered, putting her hand up to the glass in front of the iconic Wonder Woman uniform for a moment, leaving a red blood stain as her fingers slid down. She flicked the latch on the side of the case and let it swing open.

She carefully took the uniform down, a red leather chest plate with a golden eagle on the top edge. She slid it around her body, buckling it across the side, synching it tight. A leather kilt, tinted blue, was the next part; it sat around her hips, the tips coming down to her knees. The armour wasn't nearly as protective as her steel chest plate was, but it was more flexible, and more than that, it possessed an ancient right and her mother's spirit. The boots were simple, leather with a red tint to them, coloured to match the chest plate; again, her own armour with it's cold steel and heavy protective plates, made Hippolyta's look downright flimsy, but it wasn't the durability of construction Diana was looking for.

When her mother had donned this armour, even though she was fighting as Champion of Ares, God of War, she was fighting with a purity of heart, of purpose. She fought for the lives of others; so that there might be peace, as much of a contradiction as that might seem.

Many nights since her exile had seen Diana kneeling on the hard stone floor, looking and contemplating the differences between herself and Hippolyta as far as their ruling, and war making, styles had gone. Never once had Hippolyta allowed herself to be used; Diana had allowed her emotions and sorrow to blind her to the goading of Pentisilla, her own Aunt and Hippolyta's sister! Diana had allowed the other woman to get in her head, use the mistrust that had been seeded by the false assassination attempt on her own life and the successful murder of her mother, Pentisilla's own blood, to guide her into a bloody conflict that ended what could have been, what should have been, the merging of two great civilizations.

Part of her felt unfit to wear the armour, to be "Wonder Woman" any more, and the outside world would be inclined to agree, she imagined. Both her and Orin had been labelled war criminals after the peace accord was enacted and Diana suspected that were they to show their faces to the outside world an outcry for their heads would shortly follow.

Deep in thought and reflection, Diana hardly noticed the pressure in the temple increase. It wasn't until the hair on the back of her neck went up that she noticed him. Her hand darted for the trident, gripping it tightly as she spun around; she was not alone in the temple, someone was watching her.

She smelt the tangy, metallic scent of blood invading her nostrils and wondered what was going on, before it clicked. As if dealing with one deity in a day wasn't enough.

"You look just like her," he spoke, and without being told or asking, Diana immediately knew that he was speaking of her Mother.

"Lord Ares," she spoke, her voice dropping in volume and tone as the words tasted like ash in her mouth.

"My Child," he replied, nodding his helmeted head as he stepped out from the shadows, merely a red glow eluding to where his eyes were.

"Am I?" she challenged, in no mood to be told more about the games and bothersome politics of the Gods; she had a mission which she must succeed at, not just for her own sake, but for the sake of Themyscira and her Amazons. Even though Triton and the threat of the island being sunk were now gone, Circe presented a much larger threat to the safety and security of the island, and to the world at whole. She was an agent of Chaos, a former member of the Cult of Ares, and former concubine to the God himself, before her mother stole his heart and provided him with a male heir, her brother Thrax, that is.

Ares simply regarded the Amazon in front of him. "You are an apt war maker, a natural born leader in the field of politics and battle," he spoke in strong words, with a hint of absolutism in his voice; for the God of War there was no gray area, it would appear, merely black and white, win or lose. "You are the daughter of my favoured companion, and my child."

The revelation was shocking and hit Diana like a punch from a titan, and yet somehow knowing she still had a parent, a guardian, and a conduit to her mother. "And the Queen?"

"You are the Queen, child," he spoke, with what Diana thought was tenderness. "Your Mother has found peace in the Elusian Fields, having died to protect her beloved daughter, though she ached during the war. She saw you being manipulated by her sister and she wanted greatly to intervene, she begged me to intervene, but..." The God of War shook his head. "Even us immortals are not without our rules and vanity; you paid such homage to me. You were never more my child than when you headed your Furies against Orin."

His words were cold comfort and caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up on end.

"The sorceress you are fighting..."

"Circe," Diana stated, there was no question at this point.

"Yes," Ares nodded, still standing in the shadows, keeping as little exposed to the child he finally claimed. "She is a former companion of mine. She is bitter because I chose your mother rather than her to bare my heir."

"Thrax."

"And yourself," he added with a gentle nod. "You are more a warrior than he; your brother is merely a very skilled killer who claims the right of being my son. You my child, were you not of my blood, are still of my spirit."

"But why now?"

"You needed to know what you are up against in Circe," the God of War spoke in a very plain, matter of fact tone.

Diana nodded and when her eyes returned to the shadows where the glowing eyes had been, but they were gone. Taking a deep breath she reached for the trident, the weapon of Poseidon, of Arthur, and steadied herself for the journey ahead of her.

Circe's temple was likely to be guarded by slaves from the Ancient times; heroes whom she ensnared with her beauty and whiles. Diana's heart ached with the idea that she might be forced to face Arthur in mortal combat once again. The two were an even pair, on land she had a slight advantage, and the opposite was true underwater.

Luckily for Diana, Circe's temple was located at the top of a mountain, with no water in sight.

"I'm coming, Arthur…" she whispered as her feet left the ground and Diana, Queen of the Amazons, took off into the air.