The first thing Thea focused on was her new meal ticket for the foreseeable future — the Silvermoon Bow.
By now, she'd begun to grasp how this world's energy truly worked. Fire, earth, water, air, plus light and dark — six elemental forces. That's how mortal mages interpreted the fabric of the world. But in the eyes of gods, those were merely different flavors of divine power.
Divine energy itself had no fixed element — and it stood above all six. It was the source code of the universe.
Naturally, Artemis' Silvermoon Bow worked best when fueled by divine power. Still, its craftsmanship allowed it to function with high-level magic as well — a sort of universal adapter. With it, Thea could channel directional spells into her arrows, creating all sorts of enchanted shots — longer range, faster release, lower mana cost. If her magical mastery grew further, she could even layer two or three spells at once. The potential was terrifying.
Unfortunately, her grasp on fire and wind spells was still basic. A plain old Fire Arrow might've been impressive in ancient times, but in a world full of tanks and plasma rifles? Not so much.
So she turned her attention to the light and dark attributes instead.
Light-attuned arrows paired perfectly with her Eye of Horus — she could fire incredibly far. Maybe not eight hundred miles, but theoretically, the arrow could keep flying as long as there was light to feed on. It absorbed ambient energy mid-flight, losing almost no momentum.
In theory... as long as light could travel there, her arrow could too. That thought alone made her sweat a little. So… if I can see it, I can hit it?
Of course, there was a catch — divine restrictions still capped her Eye of Horus. Her vision simply couldn't reach that far. And even if the arrow flew halfway across the galaxy, it still lacked the destructive power to kill Darkseid on Apokolips. But Earth? Oh, she could ruin someone's day just fine.
As for dark-element spells — thanks to her Chosen's inheritance, she had far more to work with there.
Most of Artemis' teachings were way beyond her current comprehension — in terms of age alone, comparing Merlin to Artemis was like comparing a toddler to a university professor. Thea could only piece together fragments from the goddess's insights, aligning them with spells she already knew — Black Fog, Dark Bind, and others.
One spell, however, caught her eye immediately. Shadow Labyrinth.
It was a high-tier spell — one that would drain her dry if she tried to cast it normally. But with a trace of divine power and the Silvermoon Bow as a catalyst, she could barely manage it.
Targets struck by this spell would be dragged—against their will—into a maze made entirely of shadow. The intelligent or strong-willed might glimpse a path and have a slim chance of escaping. If not… the labyrinth would eventually collapse, dragging the victim straight into Artemis' divine realm.
The goddess was currently dormant there, after all — probably bored out of her mind. She'd no doubt enjoy some unexpected company.
There was also something called Black Oil, which just coated the ground in slippery shadow-mud. Clearly, a running-away spell.
In total, there were hundreds of divine incantations, each profound enough to study for years.
When Thea finally emerged from the plaza—after six hours of standing under the blazing sun while the sculptor chipped away—she felt like she'd survived a divine trial. The artist finally dismissed her, saying the initial modeling was done and she'd handle the rest alone.
Relief washed over Thea like cool water.
And learning that the finished statue would be displayed only inside the inner temple, never open to outsiders, made her even more grateful. The last thing she wanted was for Steve Trevor, six months from now, to land on the island and see a very revealing stone version of her. She might actually gouge his eyes out. For everyone's safety, private placement was best.
Dragging Diana along, she scoured the temple in search of the three troublesome priestesses. She'd planned a triumphant "face-slap" visit, but even the Eye of Horus couldn't locate them. Disappointed, she gave up and went to spar instead.
The following days passed in blissful routine. Though Thea still looked down on the goddess's overly sentimental style, she had to admit Artemis knew her stuff — even when it came to cooking. To keep her hunters from starving in the wilderness, Artemis had compiled a massive trove of recipes and survival tricks.
With that divine guidebook, Thea finally escaped the communal horror of "Amazon porridge."
Niobe — the once-proud warrior now turned servant — soon started showing up for meals daily. Their relationship thawed considerably, her loyalty rising with every good dish. Even Diana, the perfect little soldier, was eventually corrupted.
The three of them — and one big, ever-hungry elk — would sneak off to feast together in secret. The animal ate everything, bless it, which made things much easier.
Between meals, of course, they trained. Sparring had become their favorite pastime; there really wasn't much else to do on this island anyway.
By now, Thea could technically leave Paradise Island — the divine restrictions no longer held her. But she had no idea where to find more divine energy. Once, she'd tried shooting an arrow during sparring, hoping to siphon some stray godforce. No luck. Maybe the island's magic field was blocking her.
In theory, she could recharge using other gods' energy — like Vandal Savage's, for instance — but she had no clue where that immortal fossil was right now. And even if she found him, he wouldn't summon Horus unless desperate. And Thea didn't have the heart to scam that poor bird god again.
As for the priestesses summoning any other deities… forget it. Without near-infinite life or a full-blown blood ritual, no mortal could pull that off.
After weighing her options, only one viable path remained — follow Diana and fight Ares. The clash between them should release enough divine energy for Thea to harness. And so, as the War of the Gods quietly drew near its stage, Paradise Island returned to an uneasy calm.
Over the next three months, Thea devoted herself to absorbing a drop of Horus's godblood — one of the four common drops she'd obtained, aside from the two pure divine ones. Ray Palmer had used one already; she planned to keep the last two for her parents.
Her own body, however, was far beyond ordinary. Using Artemis's divine transmutation method, she converted the blood's essence into divinity, then into usable godforce. The process locked her in meditation for three full days — not eating, drinking, or moving. The refinement took another three months before it was complete.
The strand of divine energy in her body that had once been as thin as a hair was now as thick as a toothpick. Her strength, speed, and endurance all jumped across the board.
That morning, she sent Niobe off with the elk for a walk and went to spar by the seaside with Diana. Diana's growth had been nothing short of explosive — rocket-fast. What had started as Thea winning most matches had evened out into a perfect balance. Over half a year, they'd clashed countless times, each bout fiercer than the last.
Then suddenly— "Hm? What's that?"
Both froze mid-swing as a deep rumble echoed across the sky. They turned in unison, gazes lifting toward the clouds.
"It's… a plane."