Superman, Son of Hippolyta - A T-Rexcellent Reviews Fanfiction
I of course own no DC Comics properties or characters and make no money off of this, I am merely a giant DC Fan who wants to share my stories with all of you.
Chapter 14: A Prince's Purpose
On the Island of Themyscira, in the Training Grounds of Athena...
The two weary warriors eyed each other intensely from across the battlefield, their sweaty hands gripped tightly around each of their near identical sword and shield, the pair of combatants walked in a loose circle around each other, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike back at the other.
As they did this, they spoke to each other in words most dramatic.
"You can't win Kal, give up now and I promise to spare you another humiliating defeat, brother."
"I think not Diana, this time, you will be the one to bow down to me, sister."
Finally, the two ceased their circling and rushed forward in a sudden burst of speed, colliding into each other with a thunderous bang of their shields as the loud clacking sound of wooden practice swords striking furiously at one another echoed around the courtyard, as young Princess Diana and younger Prince Kal duelled with each other in the Training Grounds of Athena, being watched by a crowd of elder Amazons, the queen and her circle of her personal guards included.
The two royal children had been sparring a lot as of late, sharpening their combat skills against another, in the hopes of proving themselves as worthy warrior heirs in the eyes of their tribe and especially their mother, they had been using only wooden weapons for a while now, but soon would move onto real steel and real iron, or so their teacher Phillippus and their mother Queen Hippolyta had told them.
Speaking of which…
"They've both come so far so fast." Hippolyta said fondly with a proud smile across her beautiful face. "My Little Sunlight and Fallingstar."
"The royal children fight with skill far exceeding their ages". Menalippe said in approval from her place in the observing crowd. "You have taught them both well, Phillippus."
At this, the usually stoic general gave a smile of thinly veiled pride. "Thank you, sister, but it's not all my teaching at work here, the prince and the princess are both natural born warriors, the best in their class, and someday, they'll be the very best of us all."
"Mmm, perhaps Phillippus, perhaps." Alkyone mused, from her place by their queen's side. "But one must be better than the other, there can't be two top warriors after all."
As if to prove the circle captains' point, at that moment, Diana disarmed her younger brother of both his wooden shield and sword in an instant, before knocking him over and pining the prince to the ground beneath her shield with her wooden sword at his throat.
"I win again, little brother." Diana said smugly, smiling as she watched Kal struggle in vain to escape her hold on him.
"Yes, you have, Diana." Kal said dejectedly, as he finally stopped struggling and once again reluctantly admitted defeat.
"And so, it seems, one is." Alkyone finished, sounding just a little too pleased with herself at the moment.
Phillippus for her part, chose to ignore the slight against her male student and instead called out to the two royal children as she made her way over to them while the princess helped her brother up off the ground. "Well done, Diana, well done Kal, you've both made your tribe and Themyscira proud to call you our Prince and Princess today."
"One a little more than the other, thankfully." Myrto muttered under her breath, which her sister Epione still heard and glared at her for, which the triton wielding warrior outright ignored.
"This is… what? the fourth or fifth time I've won a sparring session against you, little brother." Diana asked with a smirk as her brother dusted himself off beside her. "Perhaps, the next time I beat you I'll earn a new title in the process, Diana the Prince Pummeler or the Demigod Dominator?"
"Both excellent titles, princess." Charis said laughing in her deep booming voice.
Kal glared at his smirking sister out of the corner of his eye as he rubbed the dirt off his face. "The only reason you win all the time is because I let you, Diana, I wouldn't want to best the Princess of the Amazons in front of the entire council now, would I?"
"Oh Kal, is that you or your wounded male ego talking?" Diana asked teasingly, pulling at her brother midnight locks of hair that were just starting to form into a wild mane.
"Children." Phillippus said in her usual stern, no-nonsense tone of voice as she stood over her two-star pupils in such an intimidating manner that it immediately made the two royal children straighten up and cease their sibling banter, as it always did so.
"Like I was saying." Phillippus spoke slowly with narrowed eyes. "You've both made our tribe and me very proud today, but it seems you both still have a lot to learn about the art of sportsmanship." She turned to her princess.
"Diana, be more gracious in victory from now on." The general chided her queen's daughter. "A real princess and future queen does not rub her success in other faces, especially their siblings."
"Of course, Phillippus, I will." Diana said in a more modest tone, humbling herself before her mentor.
Phillippus nodded before turning to her prince, who still looked upset at his loss. "And Kal, don't be so bitter in defeat, these sparing sessions between you and your sister are to help both of you reach your warrior potential by fighting against an equally skilled opponent, not to achieve alpha dominance over one another, is that understood?"
"Yes, Phillippus." Kal said in his usual sullen manner he got into whenever he felt he was being chastised.
"Ahh, so the Prince of the Amazons is also the Prince of Pouting it would seem…"
Lifting his head, Kal looked around suddenly as his ears picked up the voice he had been hearing for a while know, the voice was unmistakably male and mocking in tone, but no matter where he looked, nothing and no one around him seemed to be the source of the words.
But still, he knew someone was watching him, watching and laughing…
Even more annoyed now, Kal felt his eyes narrow and a threatening growl build up in his throat at whoever was watching him.
"Kal, are you alright my Little Fallingstar?" Kal heard his mother say and it took him by surprise to find his mother had walked out onto the field and was now standing before him, concern visible on her regal face.
"Oh, is that what Hippolyta calls her Demigod son? How adorable."
"It's nothing mother." Kal said, forcing the snarl off his face and putting on his best boyish smile for his beloved mother. "I'm fine, really."
"That's right kiddo, keep telling your mother that and maybe one day it will be true."
"Shut up, whoever you are." Kal hissed under his breath as quietly as possible, not wanting anyone besides the owner of the mocking male voice to hear him say those insulting words. "Shut the hell up."
Kal looked back up at his mother, mentor and older sister who were all looking at him with visible concern about his unusual behaviour, but whatever words they going to say to at that moment were drowned out by a great reptilian roar, three of them in fact.
RRROOOAAARRR! RRROOOAAARRR! RRROOOAAARRR!
A great black winged shadow flew over the training grounds, covering the group below in its blackened shade and temporally blocking out the golden light of the sun above with its sheer mass.
The giant reptilian winged creature flew in a loose circle around the training grounds before finally landing in an open area with a thud that shook the earth and a wing sweep that sent dust flying into the air.
The Three Headed Hesperian Wyvern gave another roar as it landed, all three of its heads shrieking together as one, the great white Wyvern was a gigantic creature, easily on par in size with the Hounds of Hades themselves, though the draconic creature was much lighter and leaner looking as was to be expected of a flying animal.
Each of its three golden horned heads were connected to three long serpentine necks leading down to a great two-winged, two-legged body covered in albino scales, its sturdy hind legs led down to huge clawed feet which dug grooves into the earth as it settled down, while its florescent wings were large enough to cover half the courtyard in their shadow when spread, behind it, two long scaly tails rattled loudly with their arrival.
The white scaled, blue eyed Hesperian Wyverns three heads stared at the crowd before them with a chorus of ominous hisses before a regal female voice called out scoldingly. " Lydia, Eura, Iora, that's enough girls, I've told you three before not to hiss at my Amazons, please."
Then the Wyvern lowered her three long necks and the Queen of the Greek Gods, Hera herself, could clearly be seen, seated on its back in all her divine glory before standing up and began climbing down. Her massive mount's three heads arranged themselves in a manner similar to that of steps so as to allow their mistress an easier descent as a form of apology for their antagonistic behaviour just as a beam of rainbow light shot down from the sky and a brightly, blue dressed woman with long, rainbow coloured hair and amazingly enough, feathered rainbow-coloured wings landed in front of the great three headed drake as the other Goddess descended.
"Amazons of Themyscira! I proudly present to you Queen Hera of the Greek Pantheon!" The rainbow haired herald announced loudly with a flapping, flourish of her colourful wings. "Goddess of the Sky, Womanhood, Family and Marriage, Lady of Mount Olympus and Queen of the Heavens!"
"Thank you, Iris." Hera said to her colourful herald and assistant Wyvern's three induvial heads, stroking their golden horns as she passed them before finally stepping onto the courtyard as the crowd of Amazons rushed over to greet them.
"Queen Hera, you honour us with your surprise visit." Menalippe the Priestess said hurriedly as she and her Amazon bowed before the female leader of their Gods Pantheon and her personal assistant. "If we had known you and Lady Iris were coming, we would have prepared a proper welcome, your majesty."
"No need, Menalippe." Hera said warmly as she and Iris stopped in front of the crowd of women. "The sight of my loyal warriors of Themyscira rushing to greet me is welcome enough."
"Indeed Hera." Iris readily agreed wit her mistress. "I must say it is good to be amongst the warrior woman of Ancient Greece once again."
The Queen of the Greek Gods and her rainbow winged messenger than began conversing with the various Amazons around them, laughing and chatting amicably with the warrior women while Kal just tried desperately to block out that irritating voice once again.
"Ahh, so the high and mighty Hera, Queen of the Heavens, miss 'buzz off messenger boy' has finally decided to pay her feminist fangirls a visit, has she? How very generous of her and she even decided to bring along her rainbow shining sidekick."
The sheer amount of sarcasm coming from the ever-annoying voice in that moment actually made Kal grit his teeth in frustration as he watch the strangely familiar, purple eyed Goddess walk over to his mother and sister.
"My dearest Hippolyta, I swear you look lovelier every time I see you." Hera said to the Queen of the Amazons who humbly bowed before the Goddess who had given her tribe sanctuary from the cruel world of man.
"Thank you, Queen Hera and Lady Iris." Hippolyta said to Hera as Iris then looked down to address her daughter.
"And how is our favourite princess doing today, Diana?" The Rainbow Goddess asked, smiling at his older sister.
"Feeling proud over my latest victorious against my brother, Queen Hera and Lady Iris." Diana said beaming up proudly at the two Greek Goddess, which they both chuckled lightly in response at.
"A wonderful feeling, I have enjoyed myself princess and one I hope to feel again someday." Hera told the young girl before her gaze lifted from the princess and turned to the one member of the royal family, she had yet to talk to. "Speaking of which…"
"And now we get the REAL reason Hera and her favourite feathered friend came down here, to asses her Amazons pet Demigodling's progress at long last."
Continuously confused and growing ever more annoyed by the voice's words, Kal did not notice the sound of talking had turned to silence as the crowd of Amazons turned the boy standing a short distance away seemingly listening to nothing at all.
"Prince Kal." Phillippus said pointedly and the boy felt himself snap back to attention at his teacher's authorial tone. "Come forth and pay your respects to the Queen of the Greek Pantheon and her rainbow herald."
Suddenly feeling a lot like a dog that had just had its leash yanked, Kal hurried over with his head down before giving a low bow, trying desperately to ignore both the irritating voice again and just how much the purple eyed Goddess had made him feel uncomfortable since she had arrived.
There was just something about her eyes, something unnervingly familiar…
"My apologises Phillippus and my sincerest welcome to you, Queen Hera and Lady Iris." Kal said rather uncomfortably with his head still down in a low bow.
A long awkward silence followed this before Hera finally spoke.
"My, my, my." The boy heard the Goddess say almost fondly down to him. "How you've grown, Kal."
More than a little surprised, Kal looked up suddenly to find the Queen of the Gods looking down at him with a surprisingly warm smile.
It took Kal a few moments before he finally found his voice again under Hera amethyst gaze. "Pardon me, your grace, but… but have we met before?"
The Goddesses smile became more amused at his question as her purple eyes glowed renewed interest. "Now dear, whatever would make you think that?"
"Your eyes and your voice." Kal said more assuredly than before. "There just… familiar to me, that's all."
At this, Hera gave a low chuckle. "How very observant of you, but to answer your original question dear, yes, we have met before, Kal."
"We have?" Kal asked, trying to remember exactly when that had happened, he was pretty sure he would remember meeting the Queen of the Greek Gods before.
"Of course, dear, I was they're on the night of your birth, it was with my blessing that your mother was allowed to keep and raise you here with your sister instead of sending you away." Hera said before bending down to look the young boy in the eye. "It was I who gave you the gift of life, Kal."
Something about those exacts words took Kal aback as he just had to ask. "What… what do you mean?"
"I mean, Kal." The Goddess said as she began brushing back the boys messed up mane in an almost motherly way. "Is that you had come into this world too early dear, you were so weak when you were born, that your mother and her sisters were afraid you wouldn't last the night."
"I was." Kal asked numbly, feeling a little unnerved at this new information the Greek Goddess was giving him.
Hera nodded grimly as she finished fixing his hair. "I'm afraid so dear, they all prayed for your survival, luckily for you, I heard their prays and assured your survival with my divine gifts." At this, Hera took hold of the boy's arms and raised his wrists to his face, the emerald encrusted silver bands shined in the midday sun.
"These bands you wear around your wrists, they were given to you by me when you were still just a babe, Kal, they gave you strength when you had none of your own and assured you would live to see another day and every day since." Hera explained before she releasing his arms.
Kal stared at the bands around his wrists like he was just seeing them for the first time, he knew they had been gifted to him on the occasion of his royal birth and that he had worn them with pride longer than he could even remember, but had never known they were so important to his early survival or that they were a gift from the Queen of the Greek Gods.
Looking up at the Goddess again with newfound appreciation, Kal asked the question that was running through his mind at the moment. "But why?"
At this, Hera smiled in a maternal manner. "Because I am you and your sister's godmother, Kal, it's my job to watch over both of you, I may not have been here in in person dear, but I have always been watching you, since that day to this one." The Goddess then stood up straight as she continued.
"And I must say Kal, I am very pleased to see how you've grown up into such a brave and bright boy, your mother and her sisters have done a remarkable job in raising you into a prince Themyscira can be proud to call its own."
Feeling both flattered and very honoured at that moment, Kal smiled and gave another his godmother a more proper bow. "Thank you, Queen Hera, for your kind words and for saving my life".
"My, what a nice boy your godson is Hera." Iris said with a charmed smile, her bright eyes almost constantly changing, switching through the colours of the rainbow.
"Yes, such respect and so polite." The Greek Goddess said in a very pleased tone of voice before looking back down at Kal with a smile. "You are most welcome dear, and yet, I sense you still pine to know your purpose for being here on this island in the first place, don't you Kal?"
Looking up, Kal's shining blue eyes met the Goddess amethyst ones with a resolve most eleven-year-old wouldn't normally possess.
"Yes… yes I do Queen Hera." He told her firmly.
"Well then." Hera said, looking around at the surrounding Amazons who had all been respectfully silent up to this point. "Perhaps its past time you were told, come along Kal, its time your true purpose as the Prince of the Amazons was finally revealed to you."
"True purpose? Oh, this should be good…"
The return of the mocking voice caused Kal's smile to fall, but luckily no one seem to have noticed as Hera, Iris and Hippolyta led the crowd of Amazons back into the city.
Kal however, lagged behind as the sound of small, bird-like wings flapping caught his ears, he turned in the direction it was coming from, but saw nothing, he turned his head in every single direction and still he saw nothing, then he growled.
"I know you're out there; I know you're watching me… and I want you to know these tricks of yours are starting to annoy me."
As he hurried to catch up, the Prince of the Amazons looked out of the corner of his eye and saw his pet Wolfdog Krypto by the edge of the jungle, eating what was left of Jackalope Hare he caught for lunch, the beasts red eyes locked with the boy's blue ones as he finished swallowing the final scrap of meat from the kill.
The canines furry head titled in a clear question and boy nodded in a wordlessly response.
Eyes narrowed and ears raised back, Krypto promptly abandoned the skeletal remains of his meal and silently slunk out of sight, following his master and the group of Amazons by a fair distance back into the city, sticking to the shadows and therefore out of sight of whoever it that has been harassing his beloved boy for some time know.
Whoever they were, they would pay dearly for it.
A little later, inside the Royal Palace of Hera...
Kal and Diana looked at each other in surprise as Hera, Iris and their mother revealed a secret doorway in the palace throne room, the camouflaged doors opened with the groaning of stone and revealed a long hallway filled with large stone statues on either side.
The two royal children looked at each other in surprise as the Goddess and the Amazons entered the hall before hurrying to catch up, the prince and the princess had played in this room together since they were little and they had never seen this part of the palace before.
"Epione, what is this place?" Kal asked as he and Diana walked alongside their surrogate aunt, both children looking at the towering stone giants all around them with great interest, one statue had snake-like chains wrapped around his wrists while another had a antlered helm and one was even wearing armour in the shape of what looked like a bull.
But one thing that the statues all had in common, was that they were all of men…
"This is the Hall of Horrors, Kal." Epione explained as they walked by statue after statue. "A statue gallery for all of the great adversaries of the Amazons, our enemies."
"Enemies? Why would we make great statues to honour our enemies?" Diana asked, sounding very confused and looking at the statues with a little less interest and a little more disdain now.
"As unpleasant as these statues are to look upon, Diana." Phillippus said, answering for Epione. "They are a necessary reminder of what we Amazons have had to overcome and those we have fought against for our freedom back since the days of Ancient Greece."
Mnemosyne, the island's brunette braided, blue eyed Head Historian than began naming and pointing out several of the statues for the royal children. "Such notorious nemeses include Pirithous the Pompous, Theseus the Treacherous and Achilles the Aggressive just to name a few."
"But even all of those monstrous men are nothing in comparison to the Golden Lion himself." Alkyone said as the group finally arrived at the very end of the hallway, towards the largest statue in the gallery.
The statue was of a giant, rather handsome looking man staring down at them with an almost ominous expression, very noticeable muscles were bulging out of almost every part of his body, his various armaments were adorned with eagles and lighting bolts symbols all across them, while his cloak was fashioned out of the skin of a Nemean Lion, in his hands was large bronzed club with a golden human skull attached to the end of it while under his feet lay the body of a slain Seven Headed Hydra.
One did not have to be well versed in Ancient Greek myth to figure out who exactly this statue was of…
"Mother, is that?" Kal heard her his sister ask uncertainly.
"Yes, Diana." Queen Hippolyta said with a stoic face, but Kal could still hear the barely noticeable tremor in his mother's voice as she answered her daughter's uncomfortable question. "That is Hercules."
"Formerly known as Heracles before he changed it to the name, he's so very famous for today and the so-called Greatest Bastard of my brother Zeus." Hera spat out distastefully and everyone in the room could hear the hatred in her voice as she said those words.
Kal looked up at the towering titan of carved stone with its chiselled features, the disturbing decorative face was positioned in such a way that it was partially looking down at those before it in the hall, looking down on the Goddess, looking down on the Amazons… and looking down on Kal…
The Prince of Amazons was barely able to repress the shudder that tore through him as he felt the statues granite gaze on him. Snap out of it Kal, it's just a stupid statue.
"The Destroyer of Ancient Greece." Epione said aloud with clear discomfort.
"The Bane of the Olympian Gods." Menalippe declared with undisguised disgust.
"The Enslaver of the Amazon Tribe." Alkyone growled out hatefully.
"The King of the Barbarian Horde." Phillippus stated with reserved revulsion.
None of those rather terrifying titles helped ease the boy's state of mind and after barely repressing another shudder, Kal finally turned himself away from the statues unnerving presence and back to the two Goddesses who had brought them here.
"But Queen Hera, Lady Iris, I don't understand, what does Hercules have to do with me?"
"Not long before you were born Kal." Hera explained as she accepted a chalice of wine from Iris. "My colourful herald here discovered that my brother Zeus had stopped ordering new restraints for his bastard Demigod and the rest of his horde of foolish follower's cells, he intends for Hercules and his barbaric brothers to one day break free and escape from the Underworld." The Sky Goddess finished before taking a long drink of nectar.
"But, Queen Hera, Lady Iris." Diana asked, suddenly very timidly, looking more scared than Kal had ever recalled seeing her before. "If that happens, wont they…" She stopped short and he could tell that his sister couldn't even bring herself to finish asking her question.
"I'm afraid so, Diana." Iris answered grimly before sighing heavily. "When Hercules and his horde of Barbarians escape, Queen Hera and I have no doubt that he will attempt to invade Themyscira with his army and seek to finish what he started back before the Fall of Ancient Greece."
"My brutish brother will no doubt forbid the rest of my pantheon from interfering in his bastard's twisted ambitions and if Hercules and his Barbarians should win the coming War for Themyscira, I'm not sure there will be anything we Gods can do to thwart his victory this time." Hera said after taking another long drink from her chalice.
Kal watched as the usually tall, proud warrior women he had looked up to all his life, suddenly seemed smaller and more afraid than he had ever seen them before, even his own fearless mother and brave sister seem to become frightened at the two Goddesses words.
"I knew like once before, that my Amazons would need salvation from this terrible fate, salvation, I unfortunately could not give them this time, but I knew I could give them something else instead, so I did, I gave them a champion to put their prays and hopes in." Hera said, finally turning to face Kal.
"This is the reason you were allowed stay on Themyscira with your mother and sister, Kal." The Goddess said as she kneeled down in front of her godson and looked him right in the eye. "This is what Phillippus has been training you for all your life dear, this has always been your true purpose as the Amazons prince, my champion."
Those last word broke Kal out of his stunned state as his boyish brain began connecting the dots and with wide eyed trepidation, he finally asked. "Wait, you mean… one day… I'm going to have to fight him?" He asked gesturing to the giant statue of the Amazon's greatest enemy.
"Unfortunately, Kal." Hera said as comfortingly as she put her right hand on his shoulder. "Yes… yes, you are dear."
Scared silent, Kal looked up at the towering momentum to the evils of his gender with a newfound sense of fear.
Then the voice came back.
"Oh, look how the Demigodling trembles in the shadow of a statue, so much for the new Champion of Themyscira."
But this time, the voice was closer than it had ever been before and Kal knew whoever it was who was talking down to him, they were in the hall with them, with him.
He heard the flutter of bird-like wings again and turned his head in the direction of their source right beside the statue of the Demigod he was raised to slay.
"I heard that." Kal growled lowly, confusing Hera, Iris and the Amazons greatly with his sudden change in demeanour.
"Kal, what's wrong." Epione asked what every other Amazon was thinking.
The voice spoke again, but this time, shock had taken over the formerly mocking tone.
"Wait a minute… you can hear me?"
The new panicked edge the annoying voice had now taken on pleased a darker part of Kal's heart and with a savage snarl, he answered. "Yes, I can and I just figured out where you are too."
Before anyone could ask him what he was going on about, Kal picked up Hera's chalice full of wine she had placed on the floor to talk to him and hurled its content at the empty space of air right beside the statue.
Only it wasn't empty at all, as the wine splashed against the invisible figure who stepped back, sputtering in outrage at the liquid assault.
"Dammit kid!" Hermes said as he unexpectedly decloaked and appeared in the hall for everyone to see, his white robes drenched in wine. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get nectar wine out of Olympian silk threads?" He asked while wiping the wine off his handsome face with the back of his hands.
Stunned silence and a pair of angry boyish eyes were all that met Hermes in terms of a response as the male deity slowly realised, he was no longer invisible before the audience of Amazons.
But in truth, it was not any of them that Hermes was worried about at the moment, as he saw Hera's eyes go from shocked to fuming in a matter of seconds, as she stood up and advanced on him with her Celestial Sceptre which she pulled out of a hidden compartment in her robes and extended it to its full length with a pair of menacing clicks.
"H-Hera, it's so wonderful to see you, may I say you're looking as lovely as ever." Hermes said nervously as the angry Sky Goddess came ever closer to him. "Look, I'm sorry to just drop in on you like this, but I-."
Hermes sentenced was promptly interrupted as Hera swung her sceptre at him with a fierce war cry, Hermes however, saw the attack coming from a mile away, quickly stepped back and out of the way of her swing, before speeding off to the side.
"When will you learn, my queen." Hermes said laughing as he spun himself dry of the stained wine before once again addressing the glaring Goddess. "You just can't touch me."
"I see you remain as annoying as ever, Messenger Boy." Hera growled in irritation before she quickly regained her royal composure but still maintained her glare. "Though I must admit, I think I prefer it when you remain invisible, so I don't have to look at your smug face."
"Ahh Hera, you should know that your petty insults are nothing but hollow words to me." Hermes said smirking as he causally began to flip a golden coin up in the air. "You've never managed to hit me with that Celestial Sceptre of yours and you never will either."
"Queen Hera, Lady Iris, you both know this male intruder." Diana asked suddenly, never taking her eyes off the speedy immortal before them.
"Unfortunately, Diana, yes we do." Iris said, narrowing her eyes at the younger Olympian who continued to smirk at as he flipped a gold coin in the air. "He is Hermes, Spymaster of Mount Olympus, Messenger of the Greek Gods and Royal Pain in our Necks."
"The one and only God of Speed." Hermes said grabbing the coin before he dashed around the hallway so fast it was hard to follow him. "Also, known as the Triclopslayer, the Master Trickster, the Collector of Souls, the Prince of Parkour, the Helper of Heroes, the King of Thieves and the Cleverest of all Olympians." He finished as he came back to stand before the crowd of Amazons, taking off his winged turtle shell cap as he gave a showman's bow. "No need to hold back the applause now ladies."
His arrogant words were only met by stony silence from the group of warrior women. "Geez, you Amazonians are a tough crowd, aren't you?" The Greek God muttered to himself as he put his cap back on his head.
"YOU." Kal growled that word with such ferocity that it got the attention of everyone in the hall, Amazon and God alike. "You're the one whose been spying on me, your one who has been driving me crazy."
With a completely unapologetic grin, Hermes nodded. "That I am, but please don't take it personally kid, I drive everyone around me crazy." Then in a truly impressive example of jumping ability, speedy Olympian leapt up to the top of the statue of Demigod and leaned casually against it as he looked down upon the boy who was glaring up at him.
"But then, I already know who you are kiddo." Hermes said with a mischievous glint in his teal eyes. "Kal, Son of Hippolyta, new Champion of Themyscira and future Demigodslayer."
"Also known as Hippolyta's Little Fallingstar, the Wolf Boy and the Prince of Pouting." Hermes announced grandly in a clearly sarcastic tone, the same tone that had been irritating the boy for a while now, before letting out a mocking laugh, a moment later, the Messenger God leapt down in front of the kid with a smirk plastered across his handsome face.
"Lovely little titles you've earned for yourself there, kiddo." Hermes said as he petted the boy on his head as though he was a dog. "I'm sure Hercules and his horde will just be terrified when they hear them". The speedy Olympian then quickly dashed away as the kid predictably took a swing at him, laughing again as he did so.
"Nice try kid, but in case you hadn't realised it yet, the reason none of your mother's loyal warriors haven't tried to skewer me on their pointy swords yet, is because they know they can't." Hermes said grinning at the annoyed looking Amazons and the still glaring Goddesses. "I'm so fast that not even the Queen of the Heavens or her rainbow winged sidekick can catch me, and believe me, they've both tried and failed."
Still grinning, Hermes turned his attention to the only other queen in the room.
"So, Hippolyta." Hermes began in an overly friendly tone. "I'm curious as to which one of my half-brothers you laid with to make this little Demigod Prince of yours? I've been trying to figure it out myself for a while now, but I honestly just can't tell."
Hippolyta cold stare was the only response the Greek God got to his question.
"Oh, come on Hippolyta, tell me who it is?" Hermes said imploringly with a crafty grin as he looked thoughtfully at both the Amazon queen and her son. "I mean, he has Ares muscular physique, Dionysus's unpredictable nature and Apollo's good looks, or did you lie with all three in the same night, hoping to get some kind of combination of their traits in your future Champion of Themyscira?"
Hippolyta opened her mouth to finally respond, but Kal stepped forward with an angry growl and spoke. "Watch your tongue Hermes, I don't care if you are a Greek God, you are addressing the Queen of the Amazons and more importantly, my mother, you will speak to her with respect."
"Oh look who thinks he's Perseus the Protector come again, you're so adorable when you try to act tough kid." Hermes said with a smirk, chuckling as the boy's face grew even angrier. "Your attempt to defend your mother's honour would be sweet if it wasn't so funny."
To Hermes surprise though, instead of getting angry again, the boy only smirked himself and said "Yeah well, we will see if you're still laughing after I get my hands on you."
At this unexpectedly bold declaration, Hermes threw his head back and howled in laughter that echoed throughout the Hall of Horrors "You! Catch me? Don't make me laugh harder kid." This was followed of course, by Hermes laughing even harder.
"I've been watching you for a while now kiddo, and if you couldn't beat the Amazon's precious princess in a one-on-one fight, how can you expect to catch me! Hermes! The God of Speed himself!" The Greek God said as he pulled his winged serpent staff out of his satchel and casually twirled it around like it was a baton, never noticing the red eyed, albino creature stalking silently in the shadows of the halls numerous statues towards him.
But Kal saw it and with a knowing grin, he said. "Well first… I'm going to start by stealing one of your boots."
At this bold boast, Hermes stopped twirling his staff around and gave the kid a contemptuous look. "Oh really, and just how do you plan to do that?"
At that moment, the white furred creature finally stepped out from behind the statues and snuck up behind the cocky deity and a grinning Kal responded with three simple words.
"Krypto! Boot! Now!"
Hermes, of course, was confused by this answer but soon realised what the boy meant, when with a savage growl, a large white Wolfdog leaped out from behind the young God and took his right Winged Boot in his long jaws.
"Ahh! Hey! Let go Fido!" Hermes said while hovering erratically in the air like a confused budgie and whacking the growling Wolfdog biting onto his lower right leg with his serpent staff in the face in a desperate attempt to get the beast off him, to no avail.
Eventually, after much pulling and shaking though, Krypto managed slip the winged footwear off Hermes leg, to the Messenger God's obvious shock, landing on all four furry legs, the victorious Wolfdog bounded over to his boy and dropped the Winged Boot into his hands with a triumphant bark.
"Thanks boy." Kal said petting his Wolfdog furry head before slipping the hover boot around his right leg, amazingly the divine piece of footwear reshaped itself to fit his size perfectly as he stood up to the still stunned God of Speed with a little more confidence than before, his new speed booster fluttering its wing in apparent readiness.
"Well, that's one down." Kal said grinning at the flustered King of Thieves he had just successful stolen a sacred piece of footwear from. "And one to go."
Hermes glowered at the triumphant face of the young Demigod prince whose pet Wolfdog had just robbed him of half of his most iconic item, but then the God of Speed's face broke into a challenging grin as he said. "Yes, well then, congratulations kiddo, first point goes to you, you've gotten one of my boots, know let's see if you can use it."
With a flick of his cape, the God of Speed turned on his still booted foot and dashed down the hall at lighting fast speed, but making sure to leave one last echoing taunt to his new opponent as he did so.
"Catch me if you can, kid!"
"Oh, don't worry Hermes!? Kal said as he took off racing down the Hall of Horrors after the annoying messenger boy before anyone of the Amazons could even attempt to stop him. "I will!"
Greetings to all my fellow fanfic readers and writers, I hope you all enjoyed Superman, Son of Hippolyta Chapter 14: A Prince's Purpose, so Kal has finally been told his real purpose for being raised on Themyscira and unfortunately, it looks like the poor kid is going to have a difficult time accepting what is to be expected of him, to fight and kill Hercules one day, add into that the revelation of the Goddess who has been watching him from afar since the very beginning and the God who has been watching him from close by for a while now, our boy is definitely feeling the eyes on him.
Anyway, the chase is on guys, so make sure to place your bets on who you think is going to win this little game of Wolf and Hare between the Prince of Themyscira and the God of Speed?
Also, if any of you want a better idea on what Persephone and the Hesperian Wyvern look like, look up Queen Fareeda from the great Netflix show The Dragon Prince and Moonhidorah the fan made Legendary Monstervse Kaiju, they were the inspiration for these characters designs.
Now onto answering some more fan questions from all of you guys…
1. HaywireEagle, Yes, I am very aware name Cerberus means Spot even long before my buddy and creative consultant Luke pointed it out to me, I even reference this little fact by naming the Hellhound's left head Spotty if you recall, one thing you must remember about the portrayal of creatures with more than one head in this story, like The Hellhound from the previous arc and the Hesperian Wyvern in this chapter, is that they are not a case of a single animal with three heads, but rather, three induvial animals who all happen to share synced control of the same body, just wait until I get to creatures like Chimera and the Seven Headed Hydra.
2. evolution-500, first of all thank you, I tried very hard to convey Kal's loneliness and sense of frustration in the unusual circumstances he find himself in, something I think we all have had to experience at one point in our lives or another, as for slight revision to Persephone's backstory of her marriage to Hades, just remember, this was a time where kidnapping your future wife wasn't as frowned upon as it is today, I mean look at Helen of Troy and Prince Paris, the point is one persons kidnapping is another person elopement, its also implied Demeter actually knew it was an elopement and just called it a kidnapping as a way to get her little girl back to Mount Olympus.
3. Also mate, it's cool, you didn't know about my Asperger's Syndrome, I mean, how could you, I honestly don't know if my punctuation will ever be perfect, but I'll keep trying and thank you for pointing it out to me and thanks again for telling me what a wonderful job I've been doing with this story, it means a lot and I really do try, also as you seem to be a fellow fan of Greek Mythology, please feel free to message me and share any ideas you might have for scenarios involving Greek Gods, Monsters, Beasts, Artifacts and Famous Figures for the future of this story and that goes for all of my readers, I'm always open to ideas guys.
4. MoonKnight030, You never though of Cerberus and his brothers as cute before, why not? They were the inspiration for Clifford the Big Red Dog believe it or not, anyway, anyway I'm so glad you're enjoying the story mate, your reviews are always a pleasure to see, thank you for respecting my romantic choices for my characters, Steve Trevor will be showing up in this story, but not as a Romantic interest for Diana and not in the usual manner you'd think.
5. Also on the subject of Diana, please let it be known that your suggestion for a sparing session actually helped make this chapter happen, sorry about the lack of sibling moments up until this point mate, but other plot elements kind of demanded set up first, anyway I hope it met all of your expectations and like all of my readers, please feel free to share your ideas with me in the future.
6. ManOfSteel, its not the best environment for a young boy to grow up in I admit, but both Kal and Hippolyta need to make the best of difficult situation and to be fair to the Queen of the Amazons here, she really is in a catch 22 where there is most likely going to be negative consequences no matter what she does, as for the Greek Gods, their interest in Kal will be increasingly peaked over time, especially know that Hermes has begun to spread rumours from Mount Olympus all the way to the Underworld about him, mostly for his own amusement, but it will be a while before any of them realise just how powerful he could become.
7. Daka, yeah, Kal has been keeping his slowly manifesting powers under wraps for a while now, for his personal reasons, they know he's strong, but don't know just how strong yet, but don't count Hercules out of the fight just yet guys, this guy was one of the original inspirations for Superman after all, their fight will not be a one sided one, but considering the Prologue again, its safe to say the Barbarian's attack on Themyscira probably wont go quite the way the Hercules's men are expecting it to go though.
8. Guest, on a scale of 1 to 10 on how bad it will be when Kal finally uncovers the truth, it's a little hard to gage exactly, but I'd say definitely over 5 but still somewhere below 10, I hope that helps give you an idea.
9. TheCrackKing, thank you, your majesty, I'm so glad you think so.
10. Artimuos Sen, Possibly, that depends on the version of the myth you're refereeing to my friend, there are two versions of their story, where Persephone jealousy fought with Aphrodite over Adonis as either a romantic partner or a maternal figure, its worth mentioning though that Persephone does actually compare Kal to Adonis and think he'll grow up to be even better looking than Greece most handsomest man, Adonis himself will actually appear in this story at some point so prepare for that confrontation…
As always, a shout out to my amazingly supportive friend and fantastic fellow fanfic writer Ricardo753 for supporting my work, go check out his own stories, their T-Rexcellent as well as my new creative consultant and Greek mythology expert Luke5921, proud to have you onboard as an advisor as I write this story mate.
Now please allow me to thank all of you who have followed, favourited and especially reviewed this story.
SuperWonderStan, ManOfSteel, Luke5921, cabrera1234, Joel, HeartOfChaos13, GR8ER3241, Kalel4444, JustAnotherIntern14, Erika Lopes, SilveerKnighT, SuperKamiGuest, dakota, Shall-lin, d,Chinook, MoonKnight030, StevenBodner, Daka, evolution-500, Goldenhue, welcome007, Dak, Arik Kkuznetsov, Yeye anaawangazia, HaywireEagle, TheCrackKing and Artimuos Sen please keep the reviews coming guys, their what fuels these chapters and to all my other readers, if you write me some reviews in the future, then you can be seeing your name here to, until next time this is T-Rexcellent Reviews signing off.