STEVE POV
I stepped into the bath, the warm, glowing water a stark contrast to the cold terror of the sea. I placed my bag on a stone ledge beside me, surprised and grateful it had survived.
As I sank into the liquid warmth, a deep sense of calm settled over me. The tension bled from my muscles, and my mind, which had been racing since the plane went down, finally found a moment of stillness.
I closed my eyes and simply existed, letting go of the stress and the fear.
After a few minutes of blissful reprieve, I pulled myself out, my focus returning to my precarious situation and what to do next.
The sound of approaching footsteps snapped me out of my thoughts. I hastily pulled on my pants, turning to face the newcomer.
"Ah, it's you," I said, a little too loudly, as I saw the woman who had pulled me from the ocean.
"It's me," she replied, her voice clipped.
"That was awkward," I admitted, a small, embarrassed smile on my face. "I'm Steve. Steve Trevor."
Her gaze was direct and unwavering, a regal intensity in her eyes. "I am Diana of Themyscira. Daughter of Hippolyta."
I blinked, a little taken aback by the formality. "Right. Diana. Can I ask you some questions?"
"Sure," she said, though her tone was completely neutral, revealing nothing of her thoughts.
"Where are we?" I asked, looking around at the serene, glowing surroundings.
"Themyscira," she replied, as if the name itself explained everything.
"No, I got that part. But... where are we? Geographically?"
She simply raised an eyebrow, a flicker of confusion crossing her face. It dawned on me then that the question was meaningless to her. Her world wasn't on any map I knew.
"Then how do you speak English so well?" I pressed, shifting gears. "Who are you people?"
A glimmer of excitement lit her eyes. "We speak hundreds of languages. We are a bridge to a greater understanding between all men."
Right. That made perfect sense, I thought sarcastically. What the hell does that even mean?
"Right," I managed to say.
"You know, I didn't get to thank you earlier," I said, trying to keep the conversation from falling apart. "Thank you for dragging me out of the water. You saved my life."
"Thank you for the warning," she replied, her tone softening slightly. "And for what you did on the beach."
Well, at least risking my life earned me some points with the beautiful savior.
"So, you're here to let me go?" I asked, hoping against hope. Say yes, please!
"I tried, but it's not up to me," she said, a hint of frustration in her voice. "I even asked them to send me with you."
Asked who? My mind raced.
"…or anyone, an Amazon. The Amazons."
"The Amazons," I repeated, the name resonating with a myth I knew. That might make sense. I didn't see a single man on the island.
"It is our sacred duty to defend the world. And I wish to go, but my mother will not allow it."
"I would agree with her. The way this war is going, I wouldn't want anyone I care about near it," I said. No wonder she's the leader.
"Then why do you want to go back?" Diana asked, a flicker of genuine curiosity in her eyes.
"I don't think 'want' is the correct word. It's more like it's all I can do right now," I explained, the words feeling heavy. "My father used to say, 'If you see something wrong happening in this world, you can either do nothing and hope for the best, or you can do something to change it.' I made my choice."
She simply nodded, her expression thoughtful.
"By the way," I said, trying to lighten the mood, "correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a lasso used to bind animals?"
"Yes," she said.
"Then wasn't I treated like an animal?"
"Is there not a saying that all men are animals?" she replied, a subtle smirk on her lips. With that, she turned and left.
"Fair point," I muttered to myself, a small smile on my face. Ouch.
-------------------------------------------
As evening fell, I began to make a plan for my escape. I was startled by the sudden appearance of a pair of feet in front of me and quickly jumped to hide my things.
Looking up, I saw Diana, but she was different now. She wore a striking red and blue armor, a sword strapped to her waist.
On instinct, I blurted out a compliment to cover my fumbling.
"Nice outfit," I said.
"Thank you," she replied.
Now that I take a closer look, it really does look nice on her.
"I will show you the way off the island," she said, her voice firm. "And you will take me to Ares."
I had no idea what she was talking about, but there was no way I was going to refuse. "Deal."
She led me to a tiny, solitary dock with an absurdly small sailboat. I couldn't help but ask, "I'm leaving in that?"
"We are," she corrected.
"Yeah, we're leaving in that?"
"Do you not know how to sail?" she asked, a touch of surprise in her voice.
"Of course, I know how to sail! Why wouldn't I? It's just been a while." Successfully doing it twice during training counts, right?
Then I heard the sound of hooves. It was her mother, the queen. I quickly jumped aboard the boat, and moments later, we departed, the queen's shouts echoing across the water.
"How long until we reach the war?" Diana asked, sitting across from me as I worked with the sail.
"Where exactly? It's a four-hundred-mile-long battlefront."
"Where the fighting is most intense," she said with absolute conviction. "I'm sure I'll find Ares there."
"Ares? As in, the God of War?" I asked, a laugh threatening to escape. Is this a joke?
"The God of War is our responsibility," she stated. "Only an Amazon could defeat him with this"—she gestured to her sword—"and then the war would end."
I don't know what she's on about. I tried to reason with her. "Look, I appreciate your spirit, but we can't stop this war. We need to go to London and get the men who can."
"I am the woman who can," she insisted. "Once I find and destroy Ares, the German armies will be freed from his influence. They will be good men again, and the war will end." Her eyes glowed with a fierce, unwavering light.
Her naivety and absolute belief were so endearing that all I could do was smile, completely mesmerized.
"Great," I said, knowing in my heart that the world didn't work that way.
"So, what's your reason for fighting?" she asked.
"Well, I always had a voice in my head that told me, 'Watching an injustice that you can stop happen makes you as much a sinner as the one perpetrating it.' So I decided, 'When I die, I want to die a hero in my story.'"
As I lay beside her, the small boat bobbing gently on the waves, I remembered her earlier comment. "If you never met a man before, what about your father?"
"I had no father," she said. "My mother sculpted me from clay, and I was brought to life by Zeus."
"That's neat," I replied, suppressing a sigh. First Ares, now Zeus. Great.
As for our other conversation, the one about the lasso… I'd rather not talk about it. It broke something inside me, most likely my pride.
We rested for the night, sailing toward a war she believed she could end and a world she could not possibly imagine.