It was 1918, not the beginning of the war but the point where everything was reaching its end. All resources and personnel were tied to the war effort, so a general's secretary quickly fetched an elderly man with thick glasses from downstairs.
The old man's knowledge was no joke. He barely needed to think before finishing the translation of the notebook.
A few Allied generals listened to him read through Doctor Poison's notes as if they were hearing a bedtime story. Then, with formulaic indifference, they told Captain Steve Trevor he had done well and could go get some rest.
Steve was furious at their bureaucratic attitude and lashed out at them for being useless—demonstrating vividly to Thea and Diana what "beating someone out with a stick" looked like as security dragged him away.
Watching Steve being hauled out, Diana whispered to Thea in confusion, "Why do these human generals ignore something this important? Are they under a spell?"
From the corner of her eye, Thea noticed the limping Ares twitch an ear. If he wanted to listen through her sound barrier, nothing would stop him. She pretended not to notice his disguise, and he pretended not to see the two of them. The dynamic was… interesting.
As for Diana's question, Thea couldn't explain too much. Diana's beliefs weren't as firm as in the original timeline; if Thea described the ugliness of human society too honestly, Diana might just quit like Pigsy in Journey to the West and go back to Themyscira.
To avoid exposing anything to Ares, Thea put on a serious face.
"I didn't sense any magic. Maybe those generals are just cowards."
"Hmph. Naive Amazon…"
As expected, Ares scoffed. His vantage point was too high to care. He did wonder why an Amazon warrior would know magic, but he didn't dwell on it. From his brief contact with Steve, he had skimmed a bit of the man's surface memories and learned the unexpected Amazon was named Artemis.
He knew the gods of Themyscira very well. The sliver of divine power on Thea he simply assumed was an incidental blessing carried by that name. At most he was mildly surprised that his divine "sister" Artemis was still alive and granting power, but the thought passed quickly. He didn't care.
Diana believed Thea's explanation without suspicion. She simply shot a disdainful glance at the lead general, interpreting political compromise as cowardice.
She shook her head.
"Steve has completed his task. Let him finish his mission. We're going to the front to find Ares. I will cut off his head myself and end this war!"
Thea's face twitched. She forced herself not to look at the "dog head" standing inside the room.
If this so-called God of War got angry and refused to follow the script—transforming right here in London—that would be catastrophic.
So she straightened up and declared confidently that this was also her mission, grabbed Diana, and marched out of the command building.
Without Steve as baggage, Diana still couldn't fly, and Thea didn't want to pull out her flying board in broad daylight. So they bought ship tickets to Belgium, planning to head directly into the battle zone and search for the elusive "Ares."
Back in Liverpool, Thea had squeezed the local gangs dry, and her Elk Ring was stuffed with British pounds. Not enough to be rich, but enough to count as "comfortable."
The two bought their tickets and checked into London's most luxurious hotel.
Just after changing clothes, while Thea was happily reading her Beginner's Black Magic, an urgent knock sounded at the door.
"You are… Mr. Trevor?"
Thea opened the door, staring at the face swollen with bruises. It took her a moment to recognize Steve, whom they had parted from only hours ago.
The patriotic young man was exhausted.
"I searched all the inns in the city. I finally found you! You have to help me…"
He was miserable. He didn't dare use American intelligence personnel, so he'd been asking around from the docks to the train station, learned the two hadn't left London, assumed they had no money, and searched every cheap inn. Only after scouring nearly the whole city did he find them in the most luxurious hotel.
"Miss Artemis, I need your help… and I'm sure you also need mine, right?"
Steve had almost lost hope until a limping aristocrat offered support. The kind "sir" casually suggested he find a few helpers. Steve had no idea this thought had been planted by Ares; thinking it was his own idea, he thanked the man profusely before running himself half-dead around the city to find the two women.
Thea had expected this. Ares's plan wasn't hard to guess—he wanted Diana to witness human evil, weaken her belief, and then sway her with honeyed words.
His method was to cut slowly, letting her see more and more.
But he didn't have enough divine power to monitor her directly, so he manipulated Steve instead. As long as Steve stayed glued to Diana, Ares could track them.
Thea welcomed it.
If the destined battle happened on schedule, and she collected enough energy without disturbing the timeline, what better ending could there be?
She brought Steve to Diana.
Steve launched into a heartfelt performance: selfless, uncompromising, devoted to justice and humanity—begging for their help.
And Diana, sworn protector of humankind, fell for it instantly. She promised to do her best.
After confirming their travel plan, Steve left. He knew he couldn't rely solely on the two "goddesses." He still hadn't figured out what "Ares" even was—a name, an organization, something else? He had no idea.
To prevent them from running off on their own, he needed more people.
Whether to strengthen his influence in the team or for future independence, he had to recruit more companions.
The next morning, when Thea and Diana went downstairs for breakfast, they saw a hotel staff member blocking one of Steve's recruits.
"Sir, I'm very sorry, but your Indian servant is not allowed inside."
"I'm not a servant!"
The short, curly-haired man with Indian features protested angrily.
But the staff member remained impeccably polite and absolutely firm.
"This is the most luxurious hotel in the world. Indians may not enter."