Chapter 33

"Diana!" Arthur screamed from his purple prison like enclosure. He had put the trident on his back as a matter of trying to get out of the "bubble" Circe had encased him in. "Diana, don't let this witch defeat you!" With both fists he slammed into the edge of his purple enclosure, fighting to get out but, even with the power of his water barer hand, he only succeeded in flooding the orb.

"Oh shut up you miserable man!" Circe growled. "I've grown tired of her whining and complaining," she said, turning her attention to Arthur, allowing Diana to recover but only slightly. "I can see why the Amazon here got tired of you so quick! Not to worry, though, the two of you won't be long for this world much longer," she said with a chuckle, flicking her wrist and tossing the orb with Arthur in it out through the double doors.

Even in her weakened state, Diana's eyes widened. Arthur could not fly, and before he left her sight, she saw the purple orb dissipate, the water he had filled it with splashing on the marble tiles of the veranda. "Arthur!" she shouted, reaching a hand out. There was the off chance that he could land in the river, or that Circe's force was enough to pushing him all the way to the ocean, but they were nothing that Diana could count on.

Get up, she urged herself. There isn't much time. You have to get up. You have to get past Circe's spell. Arthur needs you. Now!

Her legs, coiled and full of potential, pushed off with a brutal force. Circe had held her at bay long enough. This was personal; this was visceral. Arthur had been brought into this by Diana, it was her fault he was about to die, and just as they had forgiven each other.

No, this will not happen, she thought to herself, pushing back into a standing position, her arms crossed in front of her face, her mystical bracers now taking the brunt of Circe's attack, allowing her to steady herself. Diana raised her crossed wrists, raising the level of Circe's attack. Her hands came down, uncrossing in front of her as she let out a deafening battle cry. It was the call her mother had used in battle, a single, non verbal sound made to honour the God of War.

Thrown off by Diana's ability to come out from under her attack, Circe was silenced, her eyes going wide as Diana charged past her.

"There will be time for you later, Witch," she said, dashing past her enemy and diving off the edge of the balcony.

Her body ached, a deep, full body, deep in the bones ache that told her she didn't have much time in the air. She had to find Arthur, fast; too much time had already passed for Diana's comfort. She flew as fast as she could, seeing a streak of red, where his shirt had been purple before, happily seeing that he was still in the air, and that the last holds of Circe's control had left him.

Diana dove down, her blue eyes locked on Arthur's falling form. Just as she had feared, he was going to land nowhere near any water, unless she had something to do with it. She kept her eyes locked on him as he crashed through the top canopy of the jungle, and she followed after him. She could use her lasso on him, but the impact of her pulling up when his body was falling down might be just as detrimental as her letting him fall into the ground.

Tree limbs and leaves obscured her view, but didn't slow her down as the Amazon braced her arms in front of her face, crashing through branches and trees as if there was nothing there, bent on catching up with Arthur at all costs.

She caught him, her arms wrapping first around his upper body, before managing to scoop up his legs as well, making their bodies more in line with each other, mere feet from the forest floor and immediately stopped their decent.

She slowly let their bodies come down, watching him as she sunk to her knees, letting his body rest on the ground. There was a large gash on his head and his eyes were closed, but he had a pulse, all be it faint.

"Oh Arthur..." she whispered, brushing his short cropped blonde hair, feeling the short, bristly texture on the tips of her fingers as she leaned over him, her other hand inspecting the wound. It appeared to be merely superficial; it was just a cut, probably from a tree branch. The impact perhaps simply stunned him. She held his head gently, stroking his cheek with one hand, supporting his head and neck with the other, making sure he remained still just in case the injury was more severe.

She cradled his head in her lap, his shoulders pressing against her knees. The back of her fingers brushed along his cheeks gently as she whispered to him, "Arthur... please wake up," she whispered. "I need you to wake up right now. I'm sorry. I need to tell you I'm sorry." Tears started to come to her eyes, but still hadn't flooded to the point of causing them to roll down her cheeks. Leaning over him, Diana brushed her lips to his forehead, the tears finally starting to flow down her cheeks, dropping onto his smoothed, unwrinkled forehead. "I'm sorry you got wrapped up in this mess. I'm sorry you got hurt because of me... again..."

In the panic that surrounded Arthur's free fall, Diana was completely ignoring her own wounds; he back was bleeding profusely still, and she had been severely drained by Circe's magic, with bruises on her palms, wrists, knees and at least four broken ribs. And yet, despite her injuries, Diana remained bent over Arthur, monitoring his pulse, his breathing, the flicking of his eyes, his eyelashes fluttering.

It caused a breath to become caught in the Amazon's throat as his blonde eyelashes fluttered, not quite parting to open and reveal his beautiful ocean blue eyes, but there was movement, which meant that he was going to wake up. He was going to be okay.

"Come on, Arthur," she whispered to him. "Open your eyes," Diana's voice pleaded to him, stroking his cheeks once again, her knuckles gently brushing over the arch of his cheek bone, down the flat of his cheek to his jaw. "Please come back. Follow my voice, Arthur," she whispered, leaning closer to him.

"Hmmm?" a sound came from his throat and Diana had to hold herself back from becoming too excited. She continued to keep her cool edge, stroking his cheek, her opposite hand resting on his chest, letting his head rest against the crook of her elbow, offering stability to his neck with her arm and comfort with her fingers.

"Sh... It's okay," she whispered to him, smiling over him.

"Circe!" He said, trying to sit up, but the pressure from Diana's arm against his chest kept him in a down position. He groaned; it looks like Diana wasn't the only one who was suffering from some core injuries. "We have..."

"Hush now," she said, shaking her head. A curtain of raven hair came over her shoulder, brushing Arthur's cheek gently as she spoke to him, her lips pulling into a smile. "The Fates will bring me another chance to recapture her. You are more important."

Her words hung between them as both King and Queen deciphered what they meant, what she had just admitted to. His ocean hued eyes peering up to hers, blue as well, but lacking the green shades his possessed, coloured more like a cloudless sky than water. He dared to move a hand, lifting his right hand to rest on her left as it rested on his chest, letting his fingers intertwine with hers, his thumb brushing her own.

The silence grew between them, her eyes starting to dim.

"Diana?" Arthur forced himself into a seated position, remembering the injuries she had sustained, mostly at his hand, not to mention the pressure and force of the attacks Circe had fired at her. "Diana," he called a second time, quickly getting to his hands and knees, kneeling in front of her, supporting her weight at her shoulders, her head bent over. "Di!" his voice was desperate at this point. He didn't want to shake her and risk aggravating her existing injuries.

He felt her pulse; it was incredibly weak, but there, and that was enough for him right now. She could have let him die; let him fall through the canopy and lay on his own, but instead she stayed with him, called him back from the lights of death.

"Hold on, Diana," he whispered, picking her up, supporting her shoulders and under her knees, her head resting against his shoulder. "I can't fly like you, but I'll get you home. I promise," he whispered, looking at her serene looking face; it almost looked like she was sleeping, so peaceful, so serene.

The hike to water was not easy for Arthur, still weak and injured, but he was determined to soldier on. He had to; she would do it for him, without a second of hesitation.

The water called to him, the river that Diana had rinsed herself off after battling the Gorgons Stheno and Euryale, and once he reached it, he checked Diana's pulse a second time. She hadn't faded, but she hadn't improved either. He had to get her to the Amazon healers, they were the only ones who could bring her back. He hadn't the skill or the gifts for healing.

The water lapping against his booted feet was heavenly; like being welcomed home even though Atlantis was still far away. Just being in the water would help Arthur heal, though he knew he must be cautious as to not lose track of what he was doing, lest Diana drown on the rescue ride to Themyscira.

"Just hold on, please," he whispered to her, taking her into the water and swimming towards the open ocean. He couldn't speak the words he felt in his heart; his pride was still far too bruised by the nastiness between them from the years of war and destruction, and the hatred that had seeped into his soul while he battled challenger after challenger to his reign.

Please, Diana, don't die...