"Leave this to me — you go deal with the enemy!"
Thea's whole purpose here was to show up, do a little good-guy routine, and not break the historical timeline. Whether these villagers lived or died honestly had nothing to do with her. She was just putting on her "protector of life" act. And with a tank like Diana here, how was she supposed to happily slack off if Diana didn't move forward? The sooner she pushed Diana to the frontlines, the better.
"Be careful!"
Diana had no idea what calculations Thea was making. She thought Thea was sincerely taking care of her worries — and, touched, she dashed into the German stronghold like a gust of wind.
Left hand: sword slicing down.
Right hand: shield smashing forward.
And those two long legs of hers — the moment she saw an opening, she flew in with a kick.
Standing outside, Thea watched her move with the agility of a one-woman war beast. Anyone Diana touched was either dead or maimed. Getting hit by the fake God-Killer sword was still considered "mild." Getting slapped in the face by the shield left heads dented out of shape. And the unluckiest ones? The few soldiers she'd kicked more than ten meters away — their insides practically came spilling out…
Once Steve acted as a human launchpad, tossing Diana up ten meters to deal with the sniper in the village's clock tower, the battle finally came to an end.
Thea saw that things were wrapped up. The last remaining German soldiers scattered and fled, and she herself ended the little farce that had been disguised as "evacuating the villagers," but in reality was just her playing tag with them like some twisted version of "Eagle Catching Chicks." She even deliberately delayed the evacuation by a few minutes to avoid getting caught in the infamous photo scene.
These villagers were unbelievable. The enemy had barely left, their homes were smashed to rubble by Diana's rampage — and they immediately started taking pictures? A whole group celebrating noisily, crowding around Diana, their "savior," and snapping the photograph that would be passed down for generations.
"How does it feel? Being the savior — pretty great, right?"
After politely declining several villagers inviting her home for a meal, Thea walked over to Diana, who was standing alone among the ruins.
"Those German soldiers were so fragile… not much different from the villagers. Why didn't the villagers fight back? Because of the weapons?"
Diana pointed toward the hundreds of villagers who had suddenly poured into the square, confusion written all over her face. Many of the men here looked strong and capable — why had they all hidden during the battle?
In her understanding, if something like this had happened on Themyscira, the ground would already be covered in corpses and rivers of blood. These villagers had functioning limbs — why didn't they resist at all?
"Humans are complicated. You can't measure them with simple labels like good or evil, cowardly or brave. Some people are timid all their lives — but they're not bad people. Some never hesitate to act — but that doesn't make them good."
Thea gently brushed her fingers across Diana's cheek, wiping away the dirt.
"Diana, you're not a god. You're not human."
Her voice softened.
"And you're not truly Amazon, either. You're too unique — you're one of a kind in this world."
"Humans have their own path of development — not even gods can interfere. You're not their nanny. And humans aren't as weak as you think. You can't use your power to solve everything for them. What you should do is hold fast to the justice in your heart."
Thea knew changing her beliefs wasn't something that could be done in a day. Diana's worldview had been shaped by five thousand years of Hippolyta's patient molding.
It wasn't wrong or right — just idealistic. And in the years to come, even though Diana would continue fighting on the frontlines, she still wouldn't understand her true purpose.
After Darkseid died, the heroes ascended to godhood one by one:
Superman — the God of Strength.
Batman — the God of Knowledge.
The Flash — the God of Death.
Even Shazam — that little brat — somehow got the title "God of Gods."
What did he ever do to deserve that?
And Diana? She got nothing. She started as she ended — unchanged.
Was she not working hard enough? Was she slacking?
Of course not.
Thea knew the real problem was that Diana had never found her true inner core. The blessings of the gods had elevated her vision and strength — but also chained her development.
Compete with Superman in strength?
Compete with Batman in intellect?
Naturally she lost both.
Her "average score" was superior to most heroes — and that's why she could stand until the end — but she still lacked a path that was hers.
If she had always held onto her belief in protection, she could've become something greater. But the ugliness of human society repelled her. In the end, almost exiled, she drifted to the Louvre and became an academic curator.
Thea wanted to help her solidify her belief.
The Titles like "God of Strength" or "God of Knowledge" were far too extreme for Diana's nature.
But "Goddess of Protection"?
"Goddess of Justice"?
Those… might be possible.
However, thanks to the damn restrictions of time travel, Thea couldn't say too much. She could only skim the surface, hinting at the direction she envisioned for her.
"Protection… Mother said something similar. Since you both think so, I'll continue on this path."
Diana was still lost, but she didn't linger on the topic.
"Sigh…"
Thea quietly sighed.
Her attempt at guidance had barely worked.
Diana still didn't understand what she truly wanted. Right now, she was like a child — whatever her elders told her to do, she'd do.
This wouldn't do at all.
Thea wanted nothing more than to fly straight back to 2008 and give her a proper education!
"Hey! I found Ludendorff's location — just a few kilometers from here! They're holding a banquet tonight. This is our chance!"
Steve came running over, panting, delivering the "good news."
This was the next step they'd already planned.
And over the next few minutes, Steve gathered his buddies and explained — with way too many unnecessary words — their "great plan."
Which was basically:
Sneak in → kill Ludendorff → profit!
Kill one, break even.
Kill two, bonus points.
In Thea's mind, this translated to:
"So… you're just gonna jump in recklessly and stab the guy. No plan for escape, cover, retreat — anything?"
Captain Steve clearly hadn't thought that far.
How was he so sure that killing this one German general would prevent the release of the toxic gas?
Thea opened her mouth to speak — and forced herself to stop.
This man was painfully naïve right now. For him to eventually grow into the cunning, steady leader of the Eye of Heaven decades later…
How many failures did he have to suffer over the next century?
To prevent future complications, Thea had spent the last few days studying Constantine family grimoires. Before leaving this time period, she planned to erase Steve's memories of her. Inspired by how Ra's al Ghul manipulated Malcolm Merlyn, she even brewed a special herbal mixture — one drop added to Steve's meals each day.
Two methods at once. Without extremely advanced magical skill, no one would detect it.
And even if they did, the memories would already be fully erased. No mage, no matter how strong, could recreate memories that no longer existed.
As for Steve's little team?
They didn't require such finesse.
Theoretically, none of them would live long enough to see the 21st century anyway.
Thea would just… mind-wipe them directly when the time came