Chapter 265:
The Queen's sister, Antiope, gave us a quick tour of the palace when we arrived. I had to admit that it was a very beautiful place to live. It was a Greek paradise, and I could definitely see myself vacationing here with my family in the future. The only thing the place really lacked was electricity. The Amazons still used candles and torches to light their halls at night. I didn't notice before since we had been outside most of the day, but the nights here were a bit of a culture shock.
[I wonder if they have working plumbing? Or do they all poop in buckets still…]
'You know what, I don't think I want to know the answer to that question.'
"...And finally, this is the throne room," Antiope said as we reached a large pair of steel double doors. Guarding both sides was a pair of Amazon warriors who had clearly been informed of our arrival. They were gazing at Artemis reverently. "The Queen is inside, and I have news that the Princess is also set to return soon." she informed us.
"The Princess? You mean Wonder Woman is arriving soon?" I asked with a tinge of excitement. She was my favorite DC heroine.
Antiope nodded. "Yes, Lady Layla. My niece sent word a few days ago that she would be arriving soon. Apparently, there has been some trouble in man's world that she wishes to discuss with us." Antiope shrugged indifferently and muttered something about there always being "trouble in man's world."
"Who's Wonder Woman?" Artemis asked me quietly while Antiope was distracted talking to the guards.
"You're half-sister. She's the daughter of Zeus and the Amazon Queen. She's basically the top female superhero in this Universe." I whispered back and Artemis nodded in understanding.
"We shall see if she lives up to the hype, as they say." Artemis said indifferently. She was pretty used to her father pumping out demigod kids every few years. Artemis had told me that she and Apollo tried to never get too attached to their half siblings since they almost always died young. Most of the time when they were attempting some asinine quest to try and impress their father. I'm glad that guy is gone, he sent far too many children to their early deaths. I never understood the point of Demigod Quests. Most Quests were very either petty or just completely unnecessary considering the gods could solve most of their own problems with the snap of their fingers.
The two guards pushed open the doors and we stepped inside the throne room. At first glance, the place wasn't as large or as grandiose as the Asgardian throne room. This one was about half the size and I couldn't see a hint of gold anywhere. The Amazons didn't seem to care about showing off their wealth.
[I don't think they have any wealth. It's not like they can make a lot of money living amongst themselves on an Island for over a thousand years.]
Realization dawned upon me. 'Le gasp! The Amazons are communist!' Not a single Amazon I had seen today had been carrying any form of currency at all. Even as we walked through the markets, it seemed like all the women could simply take whatever they wanted.
[Oh snap, I think you're right! Remember when I said that your date probably wouldn't end without the island sinking. You should sink it now along with all these commies! Embrace democracy, or you will be eradicated!]
I internally giggled. The System obviously wasn't being serious.
[You don't know that…]
We strode inside. There were about a dozen guards to our left and right as we approached the throne. Queen Hippolyta sat atop it, but she looked more nervous than regal at the moment.
To the right of the throne was a large hearth that I imagined was used to keep the place warm during winter. It was currently being tended to by a young servant girl. A girl who looked out of place considering the Island wasn't supposed to have any children on it after Diana.
"It's a bit chilly in here. Add more wood to the fire, girl!" the Queen ordered the girl before her attention snapped back to us. She stood up from her throne and greeted us properly. "Greetings, Goddess Artemis…and her current consort, Lady Layla. Themyscira is always happy to host the divine," she said while bowing her head.
"Except for Hercules…" Antiope whispered venomously to herself from nearby. "He is never welcome here."
"It is a very beautiful Island," I said sincerely. "We really enjoyed our date here today. Is there a reason you wanted to see us?" I asked the Queen.
"I don't appreciate being summoned at the drop of a hat," Artemis added, her voice laced with annoyance.
The Queen bowed her head to Artemis even further. "I apologize. When I asked Antiope to bring our visitors before me, I didn't expect them to be two Goddesses. I heard you both arrived through a magical portal. I feared you were agents of Circe, or members of the group my errant daughter has been parading around with for the past few years. The Justice League…" She spoke the name with annoyance.
"You don't like the Justice League?" I asked her curiously. "Aren't they heroes?" I hope we weren't in some kind of dark DC universe. Was I going to have to deal with Ultraman?
Hippolyta shook her head. "The League does not stand for Justice. They only exist to inflate their own egos and morals. My daughter has forgotten what it means to be a warrior after she joined them. Warriors have to make hard decisions, they cannot show mercy to enemies who will show them none in return," she said. She seemed pretty passionate about her opinion.
"What's the Justice League?" Artemis whispered in my ear.
"They're like the avengers but they refuse to kill their enemies," I whispered back to her.
"What's the point of that…? Then your enemies will just come back and attack you again." Artemis muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.
Hippolyta sighed loudly and nodded her head. "That is correct, Lady Artemis… And they do. My daughter has fought the same villains DOZENS of times in the past few years. Every time she and her friends put those villains in prison, the villains end up escaping and wreaking more havoc upon man's world. Sometimes, those villains aren't even locked up for more than a few weeks before they manage to escape."
"That sounds… repetitive?" I replied while tilting my head. "It doesn't have anything to do with us though, does it?" I asked her.
"I'm sorry, you are correct." Hippolyta apologized. "I do not wish to vent about my daughter's poor life decisions in front of my guests. Instead, I wanted to invite the two of you to a feast in your honor. My daughter is also set to return in an hour, the feast will be then."
That sounded like a fun way to end the night. The food the Amazons had cooked for us earlier had been delicious. I had no problem accepting her offer. I told her that we would be happy to extend our date a few hours longer.
"Maybe I can talk to your daughter for you when she arrives," Artemis suggested. "I admit that there are times when you should spare your foes, but that is not every time."
The Queen smiled at Artemis gratefully. "I admit, I was hoping to request that, I just didn't know how to bring it up. I'm proud of my daughter for sticking to her own principles so vehemently, but not if those principles keep putting her needlessly in danger," she said.
"While we wait, I'm going to go visit with Hestia." I said while walking towards the "servant girl" tending the hearth nearby. It had taken me a couple glances to figure out why the girl looked so familiar to me. She hid her Divine Power well, but she couldn't hide from my Observe skill.
{The Goddess of the Heath (DC)-Hestia: Level 81}
She was slightly weaker than my Universes Hestia. I figured that was because there were far fewer demigods in this Universe actively worshiping their own pantheons.
Gasps rang out across the throne room from royalty and guards alike after I spoke. Everyone was looking at me in shock before their eyes all turned towards the young girl tending to the hearth.
Hippolyta looked more shocked than everyone else by far. "L–Lady H–Hestia!? W–What? How…"
The young girl stopped tending to the hearth and turned around. She perfectly resembled my Universes Hestia, except she appeared much younger. She pouted at me as I approached. "I've been tending to the hearth here for hundreds of years and no one ever spared me a second glance until you arrived, Outsider."
By "Outsider" she clearly knew I wasn't born in this Universe. She could probably sense that this place wasn't my "home." No doubt she also knew that my Artemis wasn't her actual niece as well.
"Hundreds of years!?" Queen Hippolyta looked mortified to hear that declaration. "Oh Gods… I've been treating an Olympian as a simple servant girl for hundreds of years…" She may or may not have had a small mental breakdown upon realizing that. "I called her "girl" so many times…" Her knees went slack and she slumped to the ground.
Hestia glanced at the Queen and shrugged. "I didn't really mind. I didn't want everyone to put me on a pedestal here. I just wanted to live in a place that felt like home again. I ran away from Olympus and came here centuries ago."
That…honestly sounded like something Hestia would do. She was one of the few Goddesses who never seemed to care about how people addressed her.
"You haven't been to Olympus in hundreds of years? How did we never know of this? How does Zeus not know?" Antiope asked as she squatted down and patted her sister's back. Hippolyta was sobbing to herself in mortification…
"I left a decoy behind on Olympus. It's basically a puppet loaded with my memories and a tiny bit of divine power. The fact that not a single member of my family realized I replaced myself after all this time pretty much speaks for itself," Hestia replied sadly.
[Oof! There's being unobservant, and then there's just straight up being ignorant!]
Artemis walked over and gave her "Aunt" a small hug. "I'm sorry to hear that, we live together in our home and we get along quite well. After Zeus got killed and Olympus was destroyed of course…" she whispered awkwardly.
"Wait? W–What!?" Hestia sputtered. "How did that happen?"
I shrugged. "He fucked around and found out. We all knew it was bound to happen eventually."
Hestia furrowed her brow but didn't disagree with me. "I suppose you have a point there. My younger brother has made many enemies over the milenia. There's a reason he hardly ever leaves Olympus anymore. I don't know how long he would survive outside his place of power." she said and I agreed with her. The DCU was a dangerous place to be an arrogant asshole.
"Are you going to join us for the feast?" I asked her. "I'm sorry I exposed you. I thought everyone knew who you were honestly. I did think the way Hippolyta addressed you wasn't very nice though…" I said that last part loud enough for everyone to hear. I found the Queen's reactions to be funny.
"Please forgive me, milady! Forgive my centuries of ignorance!" Hippolyta let out another sob in the background while begging Hestia for forgiveness. Were Dogezas a Greek thing? They were now.
[You're mean, host.]
"I suppose I will join the feast now that everyone knows about me," Hestia said while waving her hand and conjuring three chairs by the fire. She gestured for us to sit next to her. Artemis and I accepted the gesture and sat down. "While we wait for my niece to arrive, why don't you two tell me about your own Universe," she suggested.
We all started chatting while we waited for Wonder Woman to arrive. For once, I think the System was wrong and we were actually in for a pleasant evening. We would have a nice dinner, Artemis would have a small chat with Diana–although I doubted it would accomplish anything, and then we would portal back home.
[Uh huh…]
…
Wonder Woman
"Why are you doing this, Diana?" her aunt asked her in despair.
"I apologize, Aunt Hestia, but it's time for a new world order. The Olympians cannot be allowed to exist. You are a threat to his rule!" Diana said as she swung her sword. Hestia's head separated from her shoulders. It clattered onto the floor. Diana frowned. "That's odd…"
"What's odd?" Kal-El asked as he walked over and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. His black and yellow costume was drenched in Ichor–God blood, but Diana didn't mind.
She reached down and picked Hestia's head off of the ground. "There's no blood," Diana said as she examined the head in her hands. "This is a puppet. The real Hestia isn't here."
Kal-El frowned and let go of Diana. "That's disappointing, I was hoping to eliminate all of the Gods in one fell swoop," he said while gesturing to their surroundings. They were standing in the most famous amphitheater on Olympus. The place where all the Gods gathered together whenever they felt like passing judgment on Mortals. On this night, the entire amphitheater was painted in a brand new shade of gold. Olympian blood was splattered almost everywhere. Every single god and goddess who dwelled on Olympus had been slain by herself and Kal-El. "At least Hestia is one of the weaker Goddesses, right?" he asked Diana.
"She should be," Diana said. "Even so, I wouldn't underestimate her when we find her. She is the older sister of my father after all."
Kal-El smirked. "Don't you mean your former father." He reached down and picked up Zeus's severed head. "Are you sad that your dad's dead?"
Diana shook her head. She was actually glad he was dead. "You know, this is the first time I've ever actually met him in person. My mother told me that she crafted me from clay and he gave me life, but we all know that's not what happened. He forced himself upon her and she had to cover that fact up. If she hadn't, the Amazons would have all rebelled. Zeus would have sent Hercules to try and conquer my people a second time," she explained her thoughts to her beloved.
Kal-El unceremoniously dumped Zeus's head in a garbage bag they had brought with them. It landed right next to Hercules's head. The man who had enslaved the Amazons, the man they hated above all else. "This gift should turn your people to our cause, right?" he asked her. "They should follow me as their only god now?"
Diana nodded, although she wasn't absolutely certain. "Delivering the head of Hercules should sway most of the older Amazons to your side. Some of the younger Amazons might resist at first, but they will eventually submit to your rule all the same."
"That's good," Kal-El said before checking the yellow ring on his finger. "Ring, what's the time?"
"It is currently 8:30 PM."
"Right on time," Kal-El said. "Your mother's expecting us."
Diana did one last sweep of all the bodies. She made sure none of the Gods were faking their deaths. She had almost been disappointed at how easy wiping out her own pantheon turned out to be. When she confirmed they were all truly dead she turned back to Kal-El and smiled widely. "The Earth is now yours, Kal-El. The UN has fallen, Atlantis has fallen, Batman has been finally captured. All that's left are the Amazons and the world will be completely under your control."
Kal-El nodded grimly while gazing at the yellow power ring on his finger. "As it should have been all along. Metropolis would still be standing if I had done this sooner. I wouldn't have lost Lois…"
Diana grimaced in annoyance. She hated how Kal-El still had thoughts about his dead wife and unborn son. They were gone and she was here. She placed a kiss on his cheek to try and distract him from those unnecessary thoughts. "Come, Themyscira awaits us..."
XXX