Chapter 47: The Queen's Request
October 23, 2023 Author: Rowing Without Oars 233
Hera, the Queen of Heaven.
Orin Vale suddenly seemed to understand.
Until just a moment ago, he had assumed this was some tale of divine feuds and grudges involving the Divine Race's bloodline, a grand conspiracy where some supervillain sought to obtain the bloodline of Zeus. But that wasn't it.
After all that, it was just the main wife hunting down the mistress all over the world.
From this perspective, Hera must have a real headache. This wasn't a new habit for Zeus; for many years, he'd been like a pile driver wherever he went. The stack of green hats that had accumulated on Hera's head over the years could probably pierce the atmosphere. If any alien friends happened to pass by, they would be stunned, thinking they'd taken a wrong turn and arrived on Oa, because that sky-high stack looked just like the Green Lantern Corps' Central Power Battery.
Truth be told, if blame were to be assigned, the fault lay first with Zeus, who fabricated identities to trick and deceive young women. Yet Hera had the time to hunt for mistresses across the world but never tackled the problem at its source. Perhaps she figured she was no match for Zeus, and confronting him would likely just end with her getting the pile-driver treatment, so she decided not to bring that humiliation upon herself.
Of course, this was just speculation.
But when Orin Vale suggested that perhaps they could get Zeus to step in and resolve it—after all, it sounded like a domestic affair for Olympus—Queen Hippolyta rejected the idea.
"No one can find Zeus," she said, pausing for a moment. "At least, not anymore."
Orin Vale noticed the subtlety in her wording. "What do you mean?"
"The King of the Gods has not appeared for a long long time, and no one has heard any news of him. Even the other Gods don't know where he has gone."
Hippolyta shook her head, seemingly unwilling to continue on this topic.
"We have indeed received the god's will. Rest assured, Zola will be very safe on Paradise Island. And thank you very much for your help along the way.
"But as you should know, Paradise Island has very strict rules about men setting foot here. Even as Queen, I cannot arbitrarily change the laws, so..."
"It's fine, I didn't plan on staying long anyway," Orin Vale interrupted crisply, then said, "To be honest, I came here partly because of Zola's situation, and partly because a friend of mine sent me.
"He told me that Paradise Island stores some Nth Metal. He said he's an old friend who fought alongside you on the battlefield many years ago. I wonder if you remember this name...
"The Wizard Shazam?"
Queen Hippolyta's expression changed imperceptibly.
"Of course," she nodded. "The guardian of magic in the Current Reality, *that* Wizard who guards the Rock of Eternity—he's hard to forget. I remember."
Queen Hippolyta stopped walking. The Amazon warriors around her also stopped, casting questioning glances at her, waiting for her to speak.
She frowned in thought for a moment, seemingly making a difficult decision.
But it wasn't long before she looked up and made a hand gesture.
"Take Miss Zola to a safe place," Hippolyta said faintly, then turned to Orin Vale. "Follow me."
The two of them broke away from the main group. Orin Vale followed behind the Queen, weaving through the dense, overgrown Amazonian jungle.
They arrived before a rather steep rock face. The Queen refused Orin Vale's offer to fly her up, stubbornly climbing it with her bare hands. But she was quite agile, scaling the cliff in just a few movements. Orin Vale activated the propulsion at his feet and flew up after her.
A protruding rock appeared ahead. Queen Hippolyta walked forward and pressed her hand on the rock. The entire mountain peak immediately let out a low rumble. A pale blue fluorescent light flashed across the surface of the great rock, and a heavy stone door slid open with a boom.
Hippolyta led the way inside, and torches on both sides of the grotto lit themselves in sequence. The orange-yellow light flickered and danced within the cave, illuminating a bright path.
All sorts of weapons were displayed around the cave.
Swords, spears, halberds, shields, bows and arrows, and other weapons whose names he didn't know.
Although they were all melee weapons, Orin Vale's Super Senses could detect a certain dangerous aura from many of them.
The Amazons' combat methods were indeed primitive, but Orin Vale knew that many of their weapons were something special. A very small number of the weapons might be mixed with Nth Metal, while most others were forged from a magical alloy called "Amazonian Metal."
This metal was not only incredibly hard but also possessed a rather powerful property: an excellent affinity with magic. Its role as a material was similar to the Uru alloy from the Marvel Universe next door, used to forge Thor's hammer. Besides its own superior performance, its greatest characteristic was its suitability for enchanting, and it was known in the lore as "the metal of the gods."
Its most outstanding divine artifact representative is Wonder Woman's pair of Silver Bracelets. Whether in the movies or the Original Work, they displayed extraordinary defensive capabilities, being completely Impervious. They could even withstand a Kryptonian's Heat Vision. They also had the function of amplifying and unleashing Diana's divine power, or a Thornmail-like function of absorbing and reflecting energy, similar to the Vibranium from next door.
"Your Wizard friend was right. There is indeed still Nth Metal on Paradise Island, but very little is left."
Hippolyta spoke as she walked to the deepest part of the armory. She reached out and pressed on a hidden door, which quickly sprang open.
"But we have an abundance of our Amazonian Metal. It is also a very superior material... if you are interested."
Nth Metal is known as the Ninth Metal in the DC Comics system, and Amazonian Metal is the Eighth Metal. Not only does this material also have superior performance, but when the Eighth and Ninth Metals strike each other, they can trigger an additional effect.
"And then there's this."
She revealed a rope.
This time, Orin Vale was genuinely surprised.
The Lasso of Truth? Isn't that one of Wonder Woman's three iconic divine artifacts?
No, it's not the Lasso of Truth. Although it looked a bit similar, and he could also sense some kind of magical fluctuation from it, it wasn't exactly the same.
"My daughter has a similar rope, which represents truth and verity. While this one is not as good as hers, it is no ordinary item," Queen Hippolyta said. "This is the 'Lasso of Lies.' Corresponding to truth, it represents lies."
Orin Vale understood.
He remembered this thing, too. In the comics, Batman had once bought one from a magical Black Market as an item to use against Wonder Woman. It had the function of weaving an illusion and immersing the restrained person in a hallucination.
This was a precious gift.
Orin Vale pondered for a moment, then tilted his head to look at her. "My intuition tells me you're not showing me these things just because of your friendship with the Wizard, or because I helped Zola, are you?"
"You are very clever." Queen Hippolyta nodded. "I do indeed need help... It's about my daughter."
As she spoke of this, her expression dimmed.
"Her name is Diana. A long, long time ago, on a moonless night, I molded the clay of the Amazons into the shape of an infant and prayed to the Gods, praying that they would grant me a child.
"The Gods heard and answered my prayer, and they granted this child life. And so she came to be, my Diana... the most perfect Amazon soldier, protected by the Gods, born with divine power, a Primordial Spirit Body formed by the heavens and earth."
Hippolyta paused, then added: "At least, that has always been the legend. She believes it to be true, and that is what I have always told my sisters on the island."
"But that's a lie," Orin Vale said.
"Yes, it's a lie," Hippolyta admitted frankly. "The reason I told this lie is that I didn't want her to know... I only wanted to protect her."
Orin Vale deliberately made his tone sound somewhat surprised, even though he had long known Wonder Woman's true origin story.
"Your daughter... her father... could it be...?"
"Yes. Her father is the King of the Gods, Zeus."
Hippolyta sighed softly.
"I thought this truth could be hidden forever, that she would never have to know... But I should have known long ago. No truth can be hidden forever.
"There are signs that the Queen of Heaven may already know about this. And if she truly knows, then she... will certainly be very angry.
"But Diana is no longer by my side. She left for your human world a long time ago, and I don't know where she is. But if the Queen of Heaven finds her, and she still doesn't know her own origin—"
Orin Vale understood. "You want me to help her."
Nth Metal is the metal with the best anti-magic properties in the world. Hippolyta was willing to give it to him not just as a reward for the mission, but also as a bargaining chip to use against Hera.
But Orin Vale thought for a moment and said, "But we've only just met for the first time."
"I have no other choice. I cannot ask the Gods for help; no god would be willing to offend Hera for my sake," the Queen sighed. "Perhaps I brought this upon myself, but Diana knows nothing. She is innocent.
"I can see that you possess extraordinary power, perhaps power far beyond my imagination. And you mentioned the Wizard Shazam—not many people in this era know his name, so I am willing to believe you are telling the truth. And from what I know, that Wizard despises evil as his foe. If you are truly on good terms with him, then I believe you are also pure of spirit and a person who keeps their promises.
"There is nothing more I can do now. I ask for nothing more, only that if you happen to see Diana, or find her in peril... I hope you will lend her a hand."
"...Alright."
"Thank you." Queen Hippolyta turned and started walking out. "There are still a few boats on the island. You can take one when you leave."
"Thanks, but I don't think I'll need a boat," Orin Vale said with a smile.
"You don't understand," Hippolyta shook her head. "Reyasto is circling the nearby Sea Area. It is a minion of Hera, ordered by her to patrol the vicinity.
"Reyasto is not like that weak sea monster you killed on the coast. It is a true Fierce Beast of the Deep Sea, possessing the authority to control the ocean.
"It might not stop someone from landing on Paradise Island, but it will not let anyone leave Paradise Island.
"But our boats have an Interference Magic cast on them. If you leave by boat, it might not be able to detect you..."
Orin Vale pondered for a moment, then asked, "This sea monster you're talking about... it doesn't happen to have a shell like stone, a body that glows red, and the ability to shoot tentacles and discharge electricity, does it?"
Queen Hippolyta: "?"
"Just asking," Orin Vale said. "If the sea monster you're talking about is that one, then it... uh... might already be dead.
"We did indeed run into a monster matching your description on our way to Paradise Island. It rushed out of the sea and tried to swallow us. I was forced to act in self-defense and, well, I blew it up."
Queen Hippolyta's eyes widened slightly.
Just happened to... blow it up?
Listen to yourself, are those even the words of a human being?
The Queen was silent in contemplation.
But in that moment, she suddenly realized that she might have just made a very wise decision for Paradise Island.
(end of chapter)