Diana, Princes of Themyiscara and former Wonder Woman, was cast out from her Island home with the Amazons and was forcibly removed from her position as Wonder Woman by her Gods when she unwittingly released the creatures of Myth from Pandora's Box. Stripped of her powers, she was taken in by Maya, the Earth soul and granted the status of Earth Elemental. During this time, she fought as an Elemental. Until Maya was captured, and killed, by an unknown enemy. Removed from her position by the Parliament of Stones, who never agreed to have Diana as their Avatar, she is once again a woman made from Stone. However, her recent love Geo-Force, had a proposition for her – he loved her and to save her further pain and heartache – would she become his wife?
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ANN #2
AUG 14 |
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“Potential Nuptials”
Metropolis
She stood in utter silence, completely immobile. The city behind her was just beginning to come alive. In a few hours, people would start the routines of their daily working lives. Already at half four in the morning, she watched the docks that were active and bustling. Fishermen were removing their catches from their boats and sailors were mooring their vessels.
She stood in the concrete marina atop a large wall, a wall that prevented the strong waves of the open ocean around them from flooding in. The spray of particularly big waves touched the soles of her feet. She felt safe here, at least. No man would come onto the wall, the spray from the sea below and strong winds would surely knock them off. Like criminals, sailors were a superstitious lot, a sentence that filled her with no small amount of joy.
“Diana!”
She turned into the wind and was nearly taken off her feet by the force of the embrace. Superman wrapped his huge arms around her tightly. His fingertips caused tiny snaking cracks in her shoulders, his face buried in the nape of her neck.
“We've been so worried about you! Where have you been? Why haven't you come to us?” Superman pulled her to arms length to get a good look at her. His smile was quick to dip into a slight curl of concern, before he regained his composure and flashed white teeth again. “You look....”
“Horrid, I know,” she said.
“I look different to how you remember me. No more beautiful, raven hair, or pale, alabaster skin. Just...cracked granite and glowing veins of lava. Hideous.”
Kal smiled and shook his head. “You know, as well as I do, that outward appearances have nothing to do with this.” He took her hand, stroking his thumb over her knuckles. “You look sad, is what I was going to say, Diana. You look sad.”
Diana forced a smile and pulled her hand away. “I am sad, Kal. I am, but I have a lot to be happy for.”
She sat down on the edge of the wall, letting her legs dangle over the edge. Kal sat next to her. He lifted up a small carrier bag. “I hope you don't mind. I stopped at a couple of places along the way. There's this pretzel place down on 45th that does amazing cinnamon pretzels. I thought you might want to share one? I remember you always did like to try new food.”
Diana looked down into her lap. “I do not eat the way I used to, Kal, but thank you.” She looked up at him. “For remembering.”
“You know me, Diana,” Superman said.
“I do. Kal, I have...”
He said nothing, putting a hand on her shoulder and giving it a gentle rub. He pulled the pretzel out of the bag and two cups of coffee. He tore a piece off the pretzel and chewed it thoughtfully. “Something to get off your chest? I do too, Diana. I'm...I'm so sorry we've not been there for you.”
Diana shrugged his hand off and retracted into herself. She clasped her shoulder blades. “It...” she began. She wanted to tell him it didn't matter, but the words wouldn't come out.
“We've failed as the League and as your friends. The League was supposed to stick together, Diana. We're supposed to protect our world, but more paramount than that, is protecting ourselves. It seems more than ever these days they're out to get us rather than try for power amongst themselves, or take over the world. It's just murder and death.”
Diana nodded. She knew better than others. “Our world is changing, Kal. Arthur and Bruce, they know that. You?” Diana shook her head. “You I didn't expect to be so...perceptive.”
Kal smiled, taking the compliment regardless of its angle, and a sip of coffee. “I notice as much as the others, Diana. I just choose not to let it drag me down into anger and...” Superman trailed off, he looked down at his coffee. “What did you want to talk to me about?” he said.
“You know of my changes and the changes to the world?” Diana asked.
Superman nodded slowly. “Some of them, Diana. I know you are...the Earth Elemental, is it?”
“Formerly,” Diana said. She ground her teeth, sending sparks from flint shards sliding against each other.
“Oh,” Kal said. “Diana, the League will...”
“Not help me in this instance,” she said. She raised a hand and quickly balled it. “I am coming to terms with all of this, Kal, but it is happening quickly. I cannot be expected to take these changes to my life with gay abandon and bounce around in perpetual happiness.”
“Nobody expects that, Diana,” Kal said. “We want to help you. We...expected to help you.”
Diana tilted her head slightly, trying to analyse his sentence. “You...expected...me to ask for help, Kal?”
“That isn't what I’m...”
“You expect me to come to you, or Batman, begging you for assistance? Can you not see I can do this alone?”
“Diana, I didn't mean...”
“Are you so sure of your roles in this world, Kal El, that you'd tell me how to fulfil mine? Or is that simple Machismo that all Leagues roll around on their tongues like...”
“DIANA!”
She stopped immediately. Superman had got to his feet, casting a long shadow over her body. “We're family. Stop pushing us away.”
She closed her eyes. “I never thanked you for trying to stop what happened that day, Kal. I've not...”
He sat down next to her, sliding an arm over her shoulders. “Diana, we're family. Thanks aren't needed. Please, will you come with me? The others are worried about you. I think we'll all sleep a lot easier knowing you're safe and well.”
Diana rested her head on Superman's shoulder for a moment. He truly was the best friend anyone could ever ask for. “Not this time, Kal. This time I just needed to tell you something, to...ask you something.” She gazed down at her fingers again, stretching them out to test her strength. “Brion has asked me to marry him, Kal. I...am not sure.”
Superman increased his grip fractionally on her shoulder, his fingers digging into the stone. “Geo-Force?”
“Yes,” Diana said, “Geo-Force.”
“Well, that is certainly unexpected,” Superman said. “I can see how it might work, though.”
Diana nodded curtly. “He is kind to me. He cares very deeply and he loves unconditionally. I...”
Superman took Diana's hand in his own and stroked the top of it gently. “There is no room for doubt in marriage, Diana,” he said. “I understand that you're not sure now. Everyone wobbles, but if you have to ask then perhaps it isn't right?”
Diana looked up at him. “I am so alone, Kal,” she said. “I have lost everything and Brion helped me rebuild my life. Myself. I owe him.”
“You may owe him, Diana, but do you love him? Debt is not a sound bedrock for a relationship.” Kal released her. “That's what marriage is about. Not debts or doubts, but only love. Do you love him?”
Diana said nothing, opting to sit in silence and stare out across the city. “I think that is what I need to find out, Kal.” She kissed his cheek and cupped her hand over his chin. “I miss you, Kal.”
“I miss you to, Diana,” Superman said. He closed his eyes. He knew what would happen next.
When he opened them again, Diana was gone.
“She spent too long with Bruce...”
The Curry Light House
She raked her fingers against the surface of the cliff face. The Curry Light House, in the light, was every bit the powerful beacon it was at night. The geological construction of the cliffs purred at her touch, releasing tiny pips and trills. This was a place where elemental barriers were at their lowest, where the Vapors and the Waves gnawed at the edges of the Stones. She felt a certain amount of peace, that while the Vapors and Waves eroded the foundations of the Stones, the sand under her feet whispered reassurances.
Two figures emerged from the water in the distance. Diana cupped a hand over her brow and watched the tall blonde male talk, apparently sternly, to the younger girl as the waves lapped at their feet. The girl stayed put, although she appeared to be particularly unhappy about it. Her hands created all sorts of gestures, a few Diana even recognised. The man, Aquaman, padded up the beach towards Diana, his face giving no emotion away.
“Princess,” he said. “Nice of you to show up.”
“Majesty,” Diana said. She crossed her arms over her chest, a movement that Arthur mirrored.
“What brings you here?” he asked after a few moments.
Diana stared him in the eyes. “A father figure? I see that we've all changed, haven't we?”
Arthur curled the corner of his lips. “It is hardly a change for me, Diana. I've been guiding Atlantis in some form or another for years now. A single person or a nation, it doesn't matter to me. I've always been a figure head.”
Diana nodded. “Good to see you actually accepting of that role and responsibility, Arthur. I know how that feels.”
“Of course you do,” Arthur said. “Not that I don't like seeing you, but, why are you here?”
“I need advice,” she said.
Arthur uncrossed his arms and walked closer to her. She watched him study her body. She no longer wore her costume, her grey stone skin now clad in a much more regional toga, created from slate and other soft, pliable rocks. He put a gloved hand against his chest. “I much prefer this look, Diana. You have the look of royalty about you now. Something I only saw before in your eyes.”
Diana turned away from him and pulled her toga tighter. “That’s the mark of true royalty, Arthur; a look of royalty should only be from the eyes and it rule from its heart. I belong to neither any longer.”
Arthur nodded. “Yes, yes. Royalty. Leading. All of those things...” Arthur put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her into a hug. Her elevated body temperature evaporated the water from his clothing, leaving plumes of steam between them as he pulled away. “I don't care about any of that. You'll always be a Princess to me.”
Diana smiled, taking his hands tightly. “And you my King, Arthur,” she said. “So, as your subject, I ask from you a boon.”
“Granted, my lady,” Arthur said. He grinned at her and returned her tight grip.
“I am engaged, Arthur. I am engaged and I do not know if I said yes because I love him, or yes because I owe him.”
“You realize that both those answers have the same result, don't you?”
“I realize that I have two distinct reasons for marrying him. Kal told me that there is no room for doubt in a marriage – so, I wonder, if I am unsure if I love him, should I?”
Arthur scoffed. “Kal would say that, Diana. Doubt has never entered his mind. The man can move mountains without breaking a sweat, but Diana, doubt is all we ever have as rulers. The key is what do we do with the doubt?”
Diana nodded, releasing him from her grip. “If I love him, I should marry from love, not because he helped me. Correct?”
Arthur nodded. “Make sure you do love him, Diana. That's the real issue here – do you love him for him, or because he helped rebuild you?”
Diana shook her head. “We have a connection, Arthur.”
“Of course you do, he's an Earthmover,” Arthur said. He paced around to the side of Diana, his hands clasped together behind his back. “But do you love him or his abilities?”
“His abilities don't even come into it, Arthur. He cares for me, treats me like a Princess.”
“Well, he is a King. So, that's it? He doesn't use his powers on you, he uses his station. You're a Princess once more.”
Diana shook her head with even more ferocity. “It isn't like that! He treats me like a Princess but I push him away from that. I don't want to be a Princess any more, I want to be me. I want to be Diana.”
“He wants to treat you as a Princess, but you won't let him. How does he treat you, then?”
“We are equals.”
“Are you? He is a King and you are his consort. Are you equals?”
“He asks my opinions, he helps me with my life and I help him with his, we...”
Arthur came up close to her, staring into her eyes. “So, who are you then?”
“I am Diana, Arthur. I am me. Brion helped me rebuild myself.”
“What does he call you? Diana? Princess? Wonder Woman?”
The last two words dripped with emphasis. Diana whipped a hand out, slapping the hero across his face. Aquaman gripped her wrist tightly, twisting it towards the ground. “What does he call you?”
“Diana,” she said. She pulled her arm from his grip and thrust it down against her side. “He calls me Diana.”
“So, he treats you as an equal, he calls you by name and not by title, and he has never used his connection to you as a mask for love?”
Diana stared into Arthur's eyes, pushing her face closer to his. “He has not. He loves me.”
Arthur smiled and turned away from Diana, walking back towards Aquagirl. “Sounds to me like you don't have any doubts about him, Diana. Sounds to me like he's the perfect husband for you.”
Diana stood, realizing that she'd been played by Arthur. “Arthur...” she called. 'What should I do?'
Aquaman stopped and turned to face her. “You don't need to ask me, or Kal that question, Diana. We know you as Princess, as Wonder Woman. We can answer for them, but we can't answer for you. The only question I have is: 'What would Diana do?’”
Diana stared blankly at him. How could he know her so well and care so much about helping her when she'd cut them so surgically from her life.
“Don't let it get so long between meetings next time,” Arthur said. He said something Diana couldn't quite hear to Aquagirl and the pair dove into the Ocean, leaving Diana alone with her thoughts.
Gotham City
The Cave was as dark and damp as it had always been. Diana could visit Aquaman and Superman in the day, but her final stop required the fall of darkness. She walked from the shallow waters and ascended the sheer face of one of the many platforms that stood raised from the cold liquid. The Bat Cave wasn't quite the place to envision meeting Bruce, but with the light fading quickly, she knew that she would find him here before he began his nightly patrols.
“Diana,” Bruce said from the central console. He was over twenty feet away. Diana questioned whether it had been the computer systems that had alerted him, or simply that pre-natural ability he had to know everything.
“Bruce,” she replied.
“You should have called ahead,” he said. He turned in his chair and faced her, his cowl pulled down off his face and onto his shoulders. Diana paused to examine his features. Despite how hard his eyes had always been there was a softness when he looked at her. She walked towards him and he quickly swivelled his chair back towards the computer.
“You've been gone a while,” he said. “Nice of you to come back.”
“I've been...”
“I know,” he said. “I've been keeping up.”
“You have?” she asked.
“Mhm,” Batman paused, his fingers over the top of the keyboard.
“Well, then I thank you for your iron will in neglecting to contact me,” Diana said. Bruce said nothing, hunching over the computer keyboard a little more. “Hrn,” Diana grunted. “Perhaps this was a mistake.”
Bruce sat up slowly. “You could have asked for help,” he said.
“Clark said the same thing and, yet, neither of you tried to intervene.”
“Hrn. Not strictly true is it, Diana?” Bruce asked, standing out of his chair. “Clark tried to prevent any of this happening because of your own mistake.”
Diana felt the slap of his words and took a step forward, her arm raised towards him.
“Don't,” he said. He pulled the cowl over his face, the transformation from Bruce Wayne into Batman complete.
“I will do as I please.”
“That's what got you into this situation in the first place,” Batman replied, walking away from her.
“Goddess, Bruce! Why can't you just...”
“Because you're Wonder Woman, Diana,” Bruce said, turning back to look at her. “You don't want my pity and you don't deserve it; the fact that you're even asking for sympathy from my lack of perceived action in all of this shows how far you've fallen.”
Diana stopped in her tracks, her rage freezing in the back of her spine. “What?” she asked, quietly.
“You want pity from me because you've been cast out of what you saw as your whole life. You want me to try and defend your actions, claim that the way you've been acting is perfectly acceptable. It isn't. It's not you.”
Batman stalked towards her. He put his hand gently on top of hers.
“Marriage is for love, Diana, not because you've had a nervous breakdown.”
She pulled her hand away from him. “It's not a nervous breakdown, Bruce. I had my whole life ripped out from under me. Surely you understand that.”
Batman took a step back and looked toward the far corner of the cave.
“You know the answer to that,” Batman said, “but I wasn't built when my parents were killed. I wasn't already who I would be. You are. You are supposed to be a warrior, Diana. You're supposed to be an Amazon, an emissary of peace and compassion, and you're running around lost in anger. Donna told me as much.”
“Donna?” Diana asked, the stab of betrayal inside her molten chest.
“Please,” Batman said. “You know how this works.”
Batman put his hand on her shoulder. “I can't tell you how to love or how to live your life. I can't tell you how to deal with what you've been through, everyone deals with that sort of pain in a different way, Diana. When it happened to me, I didn't want it to happen to anyone else, ever again. I can do that as Bruce Wayne or Batman. That was a different set of circumstances. You were a warrior of mythology, a princess of a magical island. Now you're an avatar for the planet itself...so how has that really changed who you are, Diana?”
“Bruce, I...”
“How? Look at you, outwardly, you've changed. You never struck me as shallow before, Diana. That appearance mattered over what was inside.”
“I don't...I...”
“Marry him. Don't Marry him. Do whatever you think is best, Diana, because nobody lives your life for you. Nobody.”
Diana shook her head slowly, stepping away from Batman and heading back towards the small pool in his cave.
“Diana,” Batman said quickly, “promise me one thing.”
“What?”
“Be yourself. Be Diana again. Forget your past. Forget whatever is your future. Just be you.”
Diana smiled and turned back to face him. “I am me,” she said quietly.
“Not right now you're not, Diana.”
“Considering,” Diana said, “you talk about forgetting my past and that is the entire guidance of your mission of anger, you may want to think about your words more carefully, Bruce.”
Batman nodded, turning from her and toward the Batmobile. “Let yourself out, Princess Markov. I've got things to be doing.”
Diana skulked away, her fists balled in anger. She stepped into the water, lapping around the edges of the Batcave, sending plumes of steam into the air. She paused, waist deep in the water. Perhaps Bruce was right. She had lost herself in the complete removal of everything that had made her, from her Mother and place of origin, two things she had already lost individually, but compounded with the loss of her body, her sense of self, she had sunk into anger.
Anger that had taken over her life. Diana unclenched her hands. Bruce had given into his anger to become the Batman. That anger had guided him to never trust, never love and never really be himself. She wouldn't take that route. This body was hers now, this life was hers to take and mold. She was no longer Diana, Princess of the Amazons.
She was Diana, Avatar of the Earth.
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So, what is Diana going to do?
Will she agree to Marry Geo-Force, despite her own doubts on the matter. Is she marrying for love, for duty, or for fear of lonliness? Stay tuned to the pages of Wonder Woman and Sensation Comics to find out!
As this is an annual, it would only be fair to include other ‘extra material’, right? Otherwise, it's only a bigger than normal issue!
So, here we are – a short story of Diana in her role as Earth Elemental
“Green Leaves, Cold Stones”
Giant’s Causeway, Ireland
A geological marvel, caused by the intrusion of Lava into Chalk beds 60 million years ago created pillars which, to this day, still held special properties to be the world of humans, as a tourist attraction and as an area of outstanding natural beauty.
For the Parliament of Stones, it represented a place where they could meet, on platforms that bespoke their standing within the Geological world. A natural construction for all to meet and speak as equals.
Once every hundred years, the Geological Parliament of Stones would meet at the Causeway and, for the next five hundred years, debate their roles within the world.
Time moved much differently for the Stones than that of the Fire, or the Waves. Their role was almost eternal, excluding those whom lost their lives to the continual erosion and war of the Vapors and the Waves.
Nature is a constant.
Diana sat in the surf, called to the Causeway by the Stromatolites whom sat in the shallows around the causeway. Their plea was simple – they do not exist in environments such as this normally and, because of that, they were subject to destruction by the local flora.
However, that Flora had been more aggressive than ever before, destroying Stromatolites in a matter of hours, instead of years. Diana believed there was more to this destruction than first met the eye.
“I will investigate for you,” she said. The Stromatolites thanked her with their moderate salinity and by varying their microbial films. Stones do not communicate in a manner which humans understand. Their conversation is too slow, too alien.
Diana pulled herself from the water, understanding that in conversation with the Stromatolites, she had been sat in the shallows for almost two weeks.
She caught a glimpse of him as she ascended through the causeway, the plinths bending to her reach, allowing her to climb with deft hands and quick feet, considering she was composed of stone.
“Who are you?” the man asked, his finger-tips embedded into the ground. His face composed entirely of flora, flowers blooming on the back of his head.
“I could ask something similar,” Diana said.
“Jason Woodrue, Floronic Man. Judging by the look of you, you’re the Earth Elemental?”
“I am. You are the Greens?”
“If only,” he said. His voice held a wistful note. “No, I am a scientist who is trying to understand the Green, and the best way to do that is...”
“I remember you,” Diana said, pulling herself to her full height. “You are just a paltry villain. Someone trying to grasp for grandeur but falling short. Very short.”
“Yes,” Jason said, scrunching his nose, “everyone always says something like that. Do you understand? You people, you elementals, you don’t choose, you’re chosen. You make your place once you’ve been put in it. I have no place. I made me and I have no benefactor. No Parliament.”
“I am sorry for your loss, but what you are doing…”
“You were what, a woman? A mother? Before you were Earth Elemental. How does it feel now to touch the face of the planet and BE it? I was a scientist before, and now I am a scientist still...a scientist who can graze the face of the plant world. Who can hear a tree, but NEVER, EVER be one. Feel one.”
“I was not a mother before this,” Diana said carefully. Her temper flared, the lava blood under the rock shell flared and dribbled through a few cracks. “I was a warrior.”
“Soldier? Warrior? It doesn’t matter, you are Elemental, and I am an Element. These are not equals. If I am not bound by the same definitions, why should I be bound by the same laws?”
“These are laws put in place for people like us, Jason,” Diana said, taking a step towards him. “I am sorry that you do not belong, but I will have to ask you to leave or be forced to leave.”
Jason snarled at her. “Have you seen what a tree can do to a boulder?” Jason asked.
“I have seen what the Earth can do to plants,” Diana countered, twisting to the left. Jason’s bladed hand shot past her, embedding itself into the ground a few feet away. Diana’s fist, shifting into obsidian, sliced clear through the tree limb.
“Plants grow from the ground. You will only make me stronger!”
Diana took a flying leap through the air, her knee smashing into Woodrue’s chest, sending splinters flying and filling the air with the sound of bark splitting. Woodrue flew back onto his backside and slid to the edge of the causeway, over the sea below.
“I have met you before, Woodrue. In another life, I was a member of the Justice League. Founder. I was Wonder Woman. Now, now I am reduced to this. To say that I was nothing before and then belonged after I was given these…abilities? It is a lie.”
Woodrue’s eyes grew larger.
“I didn’t know,” he said.
“Nobody does. Nobody cares, Woodrue. I used to belong, but now I do not. I do not even belong to myself. For you? I know your pain. I know your suffering.” She reached out a hand to him. “I know you, Jason Woodrue. Would you know me?”
Jason gripped her hand tightly, pulling himself to his feet. He looked at the floor for a few moments, before throwing his arms around her shoulders. He sunk into her embrace, wrapping small trailers around her waist. Diana held him, stroking the back of his head gently. “We can be alone together,” she said quietly.
“Thank you,” Jason whispered, “Thank you for giving me…something.”
“A thing is all a person needs, Jason. Something to cling to. Something to hold on to when it is darkest. Let me be your thing now; let me hold you until the dark has past”
The pair slow shrank down, holding each other as the Irish Sea brought rain to drench them both.
Hippolyta knelt in the sand, the waves washing across the Theymiscaran beaches and across her legs. She had positioned herself at right angles to the sea, drawing intricate designs in the sand with the blade of a small knife.
The scene before her, half melted by the ocean, showed the Birth of her Daughter, Diana. Carved from magical clay, she was born on this very beach, given to Hippolyta by the Gods. From there, Diana, the being made from love and hope, trained and fought and left the Island of Women to spread their message of utopia and compassion to a world of men who understood only Capitalism and violence.
That part of the story had melted, eroded by the passage of time and water, leaving only the latter part. The part where Diana, despite fighting for their cause, as hard as she could, was removed as a Goddess, was taken away from her role as Ambassador of the Wonder Women and stripped of all past, privliage and role. She was simply Diana.
It was an anniversary of this event, of sorts. Hippolyta was unsure if a year had past, or more, only that time had been cruel. It had robbed her daughter from her, the Gods had ensured that. A decision, that was impossible to make, to back the Gods, who had always brought her wishes to life, who she had served with dedication and love since her birth because they were divine, or the Daughter who she loved more than her own life. A Daughter who brought her love not just to the Island but to the world itself, and at times, the stars.
A Daughter who was a Wonder Woman, but was now an Earth Elemental*. A Daughter she had failed.
*Queen Hippolyta is unaware that Diana has been stripped of her title as Earth Elemental, and returned to a lesser, more fragile Clay form.
To the right of her, away from the ocean waves, Diana's face looked up at her from the thick packed sand. An image Hippolyta had carved from memory and love.
“My Queen,” a voice came from the crashing waves. She looked up, sadness having drawn her face into a mockery of its former beauty. Gaunt features, stretched taut over her cheeks, sunken, dark eyes.
“Yes, Phillipus?” she asked, her voice thick, husky, as though she had spoken nothing for months, save for customary grunts and moans.
“Please,” she said, waving a spear towards a small cove, “you must see.”
“I am busy, Phillipus,” the Queen said, pushing her hands into the sand. Her palm twisted the face of Diana into a grimace, which pulled at Hippolyta's heart, as she stood.
“You have been busy for months, my Queen. Staring into your own heart and finding nothing you want or need. You have forgotten that as a Mother, you have lost. This is something we cannot compare with, but as a Queen, you have nearly been abandoned. You have nearly lost your subjects, Hippolyta. You have nearly lost the people who love you as a Mother.”
Hippolyta bowed her head, letting thick strands of unwashed hair drop over her shoulders.
“No more, Phillipus,” she said. She gathered her hair together in a bunch and flung it over her shoulder with a twist. She sucked in a deep breath and strode towards the young woman in armor.
Hippolyta embraced Phllipus tightly. “I will have no more loss on this Island,” she said.
“Then, please hurry,” Phllipus said. “There is the potential for that, in this instance.”
The pair charged through the waist deep water, making their way out into the ocean to double back into the protected cove. The form of a woman, soaking wet, clung to the small and disappearing, section of beach, her fingers dug into the sand, the cliff face around her too shear to climb.
“How did she get here, the Megaldon's alone are...”
“Circling,” Phillipus said, “but not hunting. Their fins?” she pointed out to the waters.
“Their fins are up. They disappear under the waves when they are to attack. This is...concern, I believe?”
“Concern?” Hippolyta said. She pulled herself over a coral formation and began to rise through the water, towards the beach. “How can those animals show...”
She stopped herself. Diana had once the ability to calm and tame any animal around her. They reflected her own love back at her. For a moment, hope tugged at her. Her daughter had returned to her.
No sooner had she reached the beach properly, than she noticed that the raven haired woman, who clung to the shrinking beach, was not Diana. Not olive skin but pure white, and her eyes were brown, staring up through Asian features.
“Please...” she said, with a thick accent, “please! Help?”
Hippolyta crouched down and took the woman's hand tightly.
“We shall. We will. What is your name?”
The woman coughed, sea water dribbling from her bottom lip.
“Maya,” she said, “My name is Maya.”
To Be Continued in Sensation Comics #1 – The Resurrection of Hippolyta
Previous Issue | Next Issue
A geological marvel, caused by the intrusion of Lava into Chalk beds 60 million years ago created pillars which, to this day, still held special properties to be the world of humans, as a tourist attraction and as an area of outstanding natural beauty.
For the Parliament of Stones, it represented a place where they could meet, on platforms that bespoke their standing within the Geological world. A natural construction for all to meet and speak as equals.
Once every hundred years, the Geological Parliament of Stones would meet at the Causeway and, for the next five hundred years, debate their roles within the world.
Time moved much differently for the Stones than that of the Fire, or the Waves. Their role was almost eternal, excluding those whom lost their lives to the continual erosion and war of the Vapors and the Waves.
Nature is a constant.
Diana sat in the surf, called to the Causeway by the Stromatolites whom sat in the shallows around the causeway. Their plea was simple – they do not exist in environments such as this normally and, because of that, they were subject to destruction by the local flora.
However, that Flora had been more aggressive than ever before, destroying Stromatolites in a matter of hours, instead of years. Diana believed there was more to this destruction than first met the eye.
“I will investigate for you,” she said. The Stromatolites thanked her with their moderate salinity and by varying their microbial films. Stones do not communicate in a manner which humans understand. Their conversation is too slow, too alien.
Diana pulled herself from the water, understanding that in conversation with the Stromatolites, she had been sat in the shallows for almost two weeks.
She caught a glimpse of him as she ascended through the causeway, the plinths bending to her reach, allowing her to climb with deft hands and quick feet, considering she was composed of stone.
“Who are you?” the man asked, his finger-tips embedded into the ground. His face composed entirely of flora, flowers blooming on the back of his head.
“I could ask something similar,” Diana said.
“Jason Woodrue, Floronic Man. Judging by the look of you, you’re the Earth Elemental?”
“I am. You are the Greens?”
“If only,” he said. His voice held a wistful note. “No, I am a scientist who is trying to understand the Green, and the best way to do that is...”
“I remember you,” Diana said, pulling herself to her full height. “You are just a paltry villain. Someone trying to grasp for grandeur but falling short. Very short.”
“Yes,” Jason said, scrunching his nose, “everyone always says something like that. Do you understand? You people, you elementals, you don’t choose, you’re chosen. You make your place once you’ve been put in it. I have no place. I made me and I have no benefactor. No Parliament.”
“I am sorry for your loss, but what you are doing…”
“You were what, a woman? A mother? Before you were Earth Elemental. How does it feel now to touch the face of the planet and BE it? I was a scientist before, and now I am a scientist still...a scientist who can graze the face of the plant world. Who can hear a tree, but NEVER, EVER be one. Feel one.”
“I was not a mother before this,” Diana said carefully. Her temper flared, the lava blood under the rock shell flared and dribbled through a few cracks. “I was a warrior.”
“Soldier? Warrior? It doesn’t matter, you are Elemental, and I am an Element. These are not equals. If I am not bound by the same definitions, why should I be bound by the same laws?”
“These are laws put in place for people like us, Jason,” Diana said, taking a step towards him. “I am sorry that you do not belong, but I will have to ask you to leave or be forced to leave.”
Jason snarled at her. “Have you seen what a tree can do to a boulder?” Jason asked.
“I have seen what the Earth can do to plants,” Diana countered, twisting to the left. Jason’s bladed hand shot past her, embedding itself into the ground a few feet away. Diana’s fist, shifting into obsidian, sliced clear through the tree limb.
“Plants grow from the ground. You will only make me stronger!”
Diana took a flying leap through the air, her knee smashing into Woodrue’s chest, sending splinters flying and filling the air with the sound of bark splitting. Woodrue flew back onto his backside and slid to the edge of the causeway, over the sea below.
“I have met you before, Woodrue. In another life, I was a member of the Justice League. Founder. I was Wonder Woman. Now, now I am reduced to this. To say that I was nothing before and then belonged after I was given these…abilities? It is a lie.”
Woodrue’s eyes grew larger.
“I didn’t know,” he said.
“Nobody does. Nobody cares, Woodrue. I used to belong, but now I do not. I do not even belong to myself. For you? I know your pain. I know your suffering.” She reached out a hand to him. “I know you, Jason Woodrue. Would you know me?”
Jason gripped her hand tightly, pulling himself to his feet. He looked at the floor for a few moments, before throwing his arms around her shoulders. He sunk into her embrace, wrapping small trailers around her waist. Diana held him, stroking the back of his head gently. “We can be alone together,” she said quietly.
“Thank you,” Jason whispered, “Thank you for giving me…something.”
“A thing is all a person needs, Jason. Something to cling to. Something to hold on to when it is darkest. Let me be your thing now; let me hold you until the dark has past”
The pair slow shrank down, holding each other as the Irish Sea brought rain to drench them both.
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Hippolyta knelt in the sand, the waves washing across the Theymiscaran beaches and across her legs. She had positioned herself at right angles to the sea, drawing intricate designs in the sand with the blade of a small knife.
The scene before her, half melted by the ocean, showed the Birth of her Daughter, Diana. Carved from magical clay, she was born on this very beach, given to Hippolyta by the Gods. From there, Diana, the being made from love and hope, trained and fought and left the Island of Women to spread their message of utopia and compassion to a world of men who understood only Capitalism and violence.
That part of the story had melted, eroded by the passage of time and water, leaving only the latter part. The part where Diana, despite fighting for their cause, as hard as she could, was removed as a Goddess, was taken away from her role as Ambassador of the Wonder Women and stripped of all past, privliage and role. She was simply Diana.
It was an anniversary of this event, of sorts. Hippolyta was unsure if a year had past, or more, only that time had been cruel. It had robbed her daughter from her, the Gods had ensured that. A decision, that was impossible to make, to back the Gods, who had always brought her wishes to life, who she had served with dedication and love since her birth because they were divine, or the Daughter who she loved more than her own life. A Daughter who brought her love not just to the Island but to the world itself, and at times, the stars.
A Daughter who was a Wonder Woman, but was now an Earth Elemental*. A Daughter she had failed.
*Queen Hippolyta is unaware that Diana has been stripped of her title as Earth Elemental, and returned to a lesser, more fragile Clay form.
To the right of her, away from the ocean waves, Diana's face looked up at her from the thick packed sand. An image Hippolyta had carved from memory and love.
“My Queen,” a voice came from the crashing waves. She looked up, sadness having drawn her face into a mockery of its former beauty. Gaunt features, stretched taut over her cheeks, sunken, dark eyes.
“Yes, Phillipus?” she asked, her voice thick, husky, as though she had spoken nothing for months, save for customary grunts and moans.
“Please,” she said, waving a spear towards a small cove, “you must see.”
“I am busy, Phillipus,” the Queen said, pushing her hands into the sand. Her palm twisted the face of Diana into a grimace, which pulled at Hippolyta's heart, as she stood.
“You have been busy for months, my Queen. Staring into your own heart and finding nothing you want or need. You have forgotten that as a Mother, you have lost. This is something we cannot compare with, but as a Queen, you have nearly been abandoned. You have nearly lost your subjects, Hippolyta. You have nearly lost the people who love you as a Mother.”
Hippolyta bowed her head, letting thick strands of unwashed hair drop over her shoulders.
“No more, Phillipus,” she said. She gathered her hair together in a bunch and flung it over her shoulder with a twist. She sucked in a deep breath and strode towards the young woman in armor.
Hippolyta embraced Phllipus tightly. “I will have no more loss on this Island,” she said.
“Then, please hurry,” Phllipus said. “There is the potential for that, in this instance.”
The pair charged through the waist deep water, making their way out into the ocean to double back into the protected cove. The form of a woman, soaking wet, clung to the small and disappearing, section of beach, her fingers dug into the sand, the cliff face around her too shear to climb.
“How did she get here, the Megaldon's alone are...”
“Circling,” Phillipus said, “but not hunting. Their fins?” she pointed out to the waters.
“Their fins are up. They disappear under the waves when they are to attack. This is...concern, I believe?”
“Concern?” Hippolyta said. She pulled herself over a coral formation and began to rise through the water, towards the beach. “How can those animals show...”
She stopped herself. Diana had once the ability to calm and tame any animal around her. They reflected her own love back at her. For a moment, hope tugged at her. Her daughter had returned to her.
No sooner had she reached the beach properly, than she noticed that the raven haired woman, who clung to the shrinking beach, was not Diana. Not olive skin but pure white, and her eyes were brown, staring up through Asian features.
“Please...” she said, with a thick accent, “please! Help?”
Hippolyta crouched down and took the woman's hand tightly.
“We shall. We will. What is your name?”
The woman coughed, sea water dribbling from her bottom lip.
“Maya,” she said, “My name is Maya.”
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To Be Continued in Sensation Comics #1 – The Resurrection of Hippolyta
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