Daniel paced inside the small stone chamber where Steve had been confined. Maps were spread across the floor, a compass in Steve's hand as he tried to piece together a route to Britain the moment he found a way off the island.
"Mr. God, why are you looking irritated?" Steve asked without looking up, still tracing imaginary sea lanes across the parchment.
Daniel stopped pacing.
"Stop calling me Mr. God. My name is Daniel."
He ran a hand through his hair, visibly annoyed.
"And I'm irritated because they're still arguing. How long does it take to make one decision? They've been going back and forth for ages."
Steve glanced up. "You can hear them?"
"Of course I can hear them," Daniel snapped. "Diana says Ares is behind the war. Hippolyta refuses to let her leave. Antiope keeps pushing the destiny angle. It's the same points repeated in different tones."
He pointed vaguely toward the distant palace.
"Protect. Duty. Destiny. Repeat."
Daniel rolled his eyes. "I swear, I've heard less repetitive dialogue in taverns."
A bottle appeared in his hand. He pulled the cork with his teeth and took a long drink.
"I'd rather drink than listen to that debate drag on," he muttered. "They've been circling the same point for hours."
Steve glanced at him while spreading the map wider across the stone floor. "You're irritated because they're arguing?"
"I'm irritated because I already know how it ends," Daniel replied flatly. "And yet I have to sit through every dramatic pause."
Time passed. The light at the cave entrance dimmed until night finally settled over the island.
Daniel lay on his back against the stone floor, staring up at the ceiling. He tossed a small ball into the air and caught it again, over and over, the rhythm steady and bored.
Across from him, Steve hunched over the map and compass, plotting sea routes in the faint torchlight.
Daniel caught the ball one more time and sighed.
"Any minute now," he said quietly.
A shadow appeared at the cave entrance.
Draped in a dark cloak, hood drawn low.
Diana stepped into the torchlight.
"Do you wish to return to your homeland?" she asked Steve.
There was no hesitation in her voice now.
She had already made her choice.
She had gone to the armory vault. Taken the Godkiller sword. The shield. The armor of her people. The Lasso of Truth rested at her side.
Steve blinked. "Yes… yes, I do."
"Then I will help you leave this island," Diana said. "And you will take me to Ares."
Steve hesitated. "I don't know where Ares is."
"The war," she replied firmly. "Wherever the war is strongest, he will be there."
Daniel, who had been lounging, gave a small shrug. "Technically true."
Steve exhaled. "Fine. I can take you to the war."
Moments later, they stood at the shore. A modest fishing boat waited in the moonlight, tied loosely to the rocks.
Steve stared at it. "We're leaving in that?"
"Yes," Diana said simply. "You do know how to sail it?"
Steve sighed. "I'll manage."
Hoofbeats echoed across the sand.
Queen Hippolyta approached, dismounting before them.
"I'm going, Mother," Diana said.
"I cannot stand by while innocent lives are lost. If no one else will defend the world from Ares, then I must."
Hippolyta's gaze softened, though her posture remained regal.
"I know," she said quietly. "Or at least I know I cannot stop you."
"There is so much you do not understand."
"I understand enough," Diana replied. "I am willing to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. As you once did."
Silence stretched between them.
"You know," Hippolyta said at last, "that if you choose to leave, you may never return."
Diana did not waver.
"Who will I be if I stay?"
Hippolyta stepped closer, placing a hand gently against her daughter's face.
"Be careful in the world of men, Diana. They do not deserve you."
Her voice broke slightly.
"You have been my greatest love."
"And today… you are my greatest sorrow."
Hippolyta's gaze shifted to Daniel.
"If your greatness does not mind," she said carefully, pride set aside for her daughter's sake, "watch over her."
Daniel met her eyes. For a moment, there was no humor in his expression.
"I will keep an eye on her," he replied. "Your concern isn't wrong. She's powerful… but she's still innocent."
Hippolyta nodded once.
Then Diana stepped into the boat. Steve followed. The ropes were untied, and the small vessel pushed off into the dark water.
Themyscira faded behind them.
—
Later, beneath the open sky, Diana sat at the bow, the wind brushing her face. The island was now only a shadow in the distance.
She turned toward Daniel.
"If Ares is behind this war," she said firmly, "and you are a god… why are you doing nothing? If he is causing so many deaths, shouldn't you stop him?"
Daniel leaned against the side of the boat, calm as ever.
"It is not my place," he said evenly. "These are human wars. Not a war of gods."
Diana frowned. "But Ares is a god."
"And humans choose to follow," Daniel replied. "Gods can influence. They cannot create what is not already there."
He looked out across the sea.
"It is not the role of gods to interfere in every conflict of mankind. If we did, humans would never grow. Never choose. Never bear the weight of their own decisions."
"If we have the power to stop suffering, we should use it."
Daniel glanced at her.
"That belief," he said quietly, "is exactly why your mother fears for you."
"Having power and choosing to help people in need sounds noble. It is noble. But it rarely ends cleanly. Even if your intentions are pure, not everyone will see them that way."
He rested his arms on the side of the boat.
"Some will see your strength and feel threatened. Some will see your difference and call it unnatural. And some will fear you simply because you are not like them."
Diana's expression hardened slightly.
"Humans," Daniel went on, "do not easily trust what is stronger than them. Or different from them."
He exhaled and stretched. "And that concludes tonight's lecture. I'm going to sleep."
Without ceremony, he lay back on the wooden deck of the small boat, using his arm as a pillow.
Diana watched him for a long moment. This god was nothing like the ones in her mother's stories. No booming voice. No radiant aura. He spoke of humanity with detachment, yet there was no cruelty in it.
After a pause, she lay down beside him.
The boat rocked gently beneath them as it cut through the dark sea.
Daniel opened one eye. "You know, in human culture, it's usually considered improper for a woman to sleep beside a man like this."
Diana looked at him, unbothered. "Why?"
"It suggests… intimacy."
She glanced around at the empty water and sky.
"There is no one here to misunderstand," she said simply. "And I am not afraid."
Daniel studied her face for a second, then gave a small breath of amusement.
"You are going to find the world of men very strange."
Diana closed her eyes.
"I already do," she murmured.
*****
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