6th July 2010 Early morning

Unsurprisingly, crew and passengers alike chose to leave the next morning. They offered to take us with them, but they definitely weren't heading to Themyscira. I watched from the shore as they sailed away from the island. A surprisingly large number of harpies joined the vigil, including most of their young. The captain said that 'he'd think' about coming back, but I doubt it will happen.

My talk with the harpies was pretty unenlightening. I fielded questions about the wider world and the ring, they tried to answer mine about their history and culture. I don't think I was able to adequately explain the difference between the technology the ring uses and the magic they are more familiar with, at least in part because I don't understand exactly how it works myself. Their oral approach to history made me long for solid dates and timelines. Maybe an actual anthropologist could compare events for which we have a definite timeline to work it out?

We're back in the jet, and Wonder Woman is back in her standard armour. Fifteen minutes to Themyscira. Maybe half an hour until I swear my life away for a year. I need something to stop me feeling so nervous.

"You were up early?"

"I don't need much sleep. I also wanted to make preflight checks on the jet."

What else can I talk about? I've never been any good at small talk. Oh god, not that. Don't even think about that. I mean, I'm probably going to need to find out whether it's true or not eventually, but no. What did she say yesterday?

"Why 'Man's World'?"

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"Well, I mean, the population's about fifty fifty. Obviously the presence of men is a change from Amazonian society, but I'm not sure why you still call it that."

"Name one female head of state."

"Angela Merkel."

"Who?"

"The German Chancellor? No? She is in my parallel."

"Gerhardt Brandt was elected three years ago."

"That... Argentinean woman?"

"You don't know her name?"

"Only thing I ever heard about her was that she was banging on about wanting the Falklands back. Argentinean leaders tend to do that when they don't have anything intelligent to say."

"Santiago Ortiz."

"Oh."

That's… that doesn't make sense. No female heads of state?

"Guess you've kind of got a point then."

"Of course, your country is different. The head of state of your country is Queen Elizabeth the second, and you've had two female Prime Ministers."

"My country in my parallel has only had one. Who did we get here?"

"Elizabeth Taylor of the Conservative party, and Danielle Goldsmith of the Liberal Alliance."

Liberal Alliance?! I am in a strange universe indeed.

"I've never heard of either of them. Same queen. I know… I mean… I know there are more men in politics than women, but it's getting better, isn't it? I mean, compared to when you first came to the United States?"

"A little, in some places. But going from terrible to bad is nothing to be proud of."

"I've… never experienced that myself, obviously. But, it has sort of annoyed me that every copy of 'On Liberty' lists John Stuart Mill as the sole author, while in fact he wrote it jointly with his wife-"

Ring, name?

Harriet Taylor.

"-Harriet Taylor. My old copy actually has an introduction which talks about it, and still only has his name on the cover. I mean, he refused to modify it after her death because he didn't think he'd do a good enough job without her. There's no reason for it."

"I actually didn't know that. I'll have to pick up a copy."

"Might not be true for this parallel. I didn't really compare histories."

Silence for several minutes.

"How… are the other Amazons going to feel about you training a male student?"

I think the plane is descending, but I don't have a good angle to the window.

"They'll find it strange that I would want to. But my mothers have always supported my decisions regarding Man's World."

Mothers?

"I… wasn't aware that Queen Hippolyta had an, um, a consort...?"

Oh, wait, no, that's not what she-

"No, she doesn't. I was referring to the other Amazons who helped mother, Queen Hippolyta, raise me."

"Yes, I should have realised."

I barely feel it when we land, but I definitely notice the engines shutting off. I close my eyes.

"Wait here. I'll check the Temple and then I'll come back for you."

I hear her unbuckle and then get up and walk towards the exit. She stops just past me.

"Why are your eyes shut?"

"I appreciate that I'm here on sufferance and I don't want to risk accidentally seeing something I'm not supposed to."

"We're not maenads here, Orange Lantern. Really, even if I wasn't here, if you told them that Alan was your sponsor you would probably be fine."

I open my eyes. Always thought that Amazons were pretty misandrous. They had reasons, sure…

"Because… because the two of you used to work together?"

"No, it's…"

She avoids my gaze and looks uncomfortable.

"It's probably something he should tell you about himself. Suffice to say he is well respected here."

"They'd take my word for it?"

"You wouldn't be allowed to go anywhere until they'd checked you were telling the truth, but yes."

"Huh."

She walks through the cockpit door and then out of the main door. For a moment I feel a wind and hear birdsong. There is a scent of moist soil and pollen.

How exactly am I going to word the oath? Does an avatar of Gaea turn up and hear it in person? Are we going to write it down? Because I'm honestly not sure I could sign my name without fainting. What I agreed to certainly doesn't sound like a traditional oath. Can I just say 'we agreed to something earlier, I swear to keep up my end'? I try to work out how to actually say it in a way that doesn't sound stupid.

"I swear that I will obey…"

No, the returning the lantern thing should go first. Or not?

"In exchange for ownership of Mr Alan Scott's power lantern… I will obey any non-suicidal orders given by either Diana, Princess of Themyscira, also known as 'Wonder Woman' or by a single individual nominated by her. I agree not to leave this star system."

No, the time limit should come first.

"In exchange for ownership of Mr Alan Scott's power lantern I agree that for the duration of one year I will do the following. I will obey any non-suicidal orders given by either Diana, Princess of Themyscira, also known as 'Wonder Woman', or by a single individual nominated by her. I agree that I will not leave this star system of my own volition. I may rescind this oath by returning ownership of the power lantern to Mr Alan Scott."

I think that's it. Sounds a bit legal for a mystic oath. I hear the door again.

"Alright, we can begin. There are no other Amazons around."

I get up. For a moment I wonder if I could have handled things better and not needed to do this. But it doesn't matter. This is what I am doing.

The jet doesn't have steps at the door. We both just float down the meter or so to the ground. It's dull grey.. stone, and natural looking. There aren't any markings and it certainly isn't paved. Behind the jet the stone continues a little way before breaking up into a beach of grey stone flakes. On the other sides the cove is surrounded by a steep grass covered bank. It also looks natural, though I suppose it would serve to suppress the noise of take off and landing. We're following a footpath around its edge. Away from the stone landing area everything else is covered in uneven clumps of grass. It might be grazed but it certainly isn't mowed. The area around the path has a small layer of good soil over stone and where they path it the soil has mostly been worn away. If it had chalk rather than whatever the grey stone is it could be the Downs back home.

It might be faster for us to fly, but I suppose raising my height would increase the chance of seeing something I wasn't supposed to, or of the locals being forced to notice me. The boots I'm wearing are tough but they aren't really designed for hiking. As we move past the mound I get my first unobstructed view of the Themysciran landscape and it turns out that the Downs were a pretty good comparison. I can see a flock of sheep in the distance but otherwise the whole area could be uninhabited.

"If you don't mind me asking, how many people live here?"

"One hundred and eighty two thousand nine hundred and sixty one."

"That's a very precise answer."

"The population doesn't change. No one is born, no one leaves and since no one ages it is unusual for anyone to die."

"You were… I mean, you're more recent than that, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"I… look, if this is something I'm not supposed to ask then just tell me to shut up, but are they planning to make any more in the way they made you?"

She stops. I wince.

"The last time I asked, they were debating it. Amazon society has barely changed in the three thousand years since coming to these islands. My… creation… was the first time it had increased in population size. If I had… sisters? If that was even possible, it would inevitably change more. Even if they lacked my more unusual abilities."

"Are Amazons very conservative?"

"That isn't the problem. Some like the idea. But even for them there is no sense of urgency. Mother feels that something that big should be a decision taken by our society as a whole."

She starts walking again. I decide not to ask about other available forms of reproduction.

"From what you said, I assume that there are no Amazons on your world."

"Not like your people, no. No magic and no gods means no immortality. The history which led to the Amazons leaving mainland Greece probably didn't happen. I'm… I'm having trouble coming up with any female dominated societies. I think some Greek city states had some types of property passed down the maternal line, but I wouldn't want to swear to it."

"An arrangement between father in law and son in law."

"Probably."

We've turned inland. The land is rising towards an area of woodland.

"If there's one hundred and eighty thousand people, where is everyone?"

"The main settlement is on the other side of the island. You can't see it from here. There are herds of animals, but none are in this area at the moment."

"I know you said that it's all horribly patriarchal, but what do Amazons think of everything else about the rest of the world?"

"They barely have any contact with it. Major acts of magic might result in investigation using the scrying pools, and there are wards around the islands to detect trespassers. Other than that, they know only what they hear from me. Most aren't interested."

"Why not? I'm sure it's nice here, but if they've been here three thousand years…"

"When I first went out into Man's World I had no real idea what I would find. From mother's tales of mainland Greece I was confident that I didn't want to go there."

"How old were you when you left?"

"Fifteen."

"Seriously?"

"I was… restless. I could fly and crush granite with my hands, and all of the world I knew was this island."

"Not much of a night life?"

"Oh, I don't know about that. You haven't seen it during the festival of Dionysus."

"I though you said you weren't maenads?"

"Hah!"

I guess Amazons indulge responsibly the rest of the year.

"Anyway, I was gone for years. It wasn't until after the second world war that I could spend the time needed in order to visit."

"You were really out of contact the whole time?"

"Not completely. Kent was eventually able to create a two way scrying pool. I could see and speak to mother at intervals."

Kent?

"When I came home I told them what I had been doing. Because I wanted them to be proud of my achievements as a warrior, I told them about the war. I think the idea that the entire world could be involved in something like that reinforced the idea that isolation was the best policy. Did your world have a Second World War?"

"Yes. I don't know how similar it was to yours though."

"The Amazons lived in isolation for three thousand years and then I came back and told them that the atomic bomb existed."

"Oh."

"I did… try… to forge links. Later. One of the smaller islands housed a very successful women's prison and rehabilitation center for nine years."

"Why did it close?"

"We found that taking petty criminals out of their normal environment and giving them useful work to do broke them out of harmful patterns of behavior. Even hardened criminals could be turned into valuable citizens, given time. We weren't prepared for a genuine madwoman. Do you know what dissociative identity disorder is?"

"Yes."

"We thought that we had treated her. She showed every sign of being cured of her wickedness. But only one personality was being treated. We found out later that the switch between personas was caused by stresses that we had worked to eliminate from the prison environment. When she was returned to America she… reverted. She murdered eight people and injured many more before the Justice Society was able to stop her. After that, a senate committee investigated the prison. We thought that their concerns were reasonable, so we showed them the measures we used to ensure the safety of guards and prisoners alike."

"Was this the Committee on Un-American Activities?"

"Yes."

"Oh."

"We thought that the inspection went well."

"I can see where this is going."

"We used enchanted bracers and girdles to prevent violence amongst the population, and to encourage rehabilitation. We were accused of using mind control magic to turn them into our serfs."

And they probably weren't all that fond of the homonormative aspect either.

"And of trying to convert them to a heathen religion."

"Oh."

"The prison ceased operation shortly afterwards."

"Yeah, I… um… yeah."

We're just entering the wooded area. She stops again.

"Why are you doing this?"

Huh?

"Because you wanted to be sure you could trust me?"

"No. I mean, why are you so insistent on getting a lantern. Alan told me how dangerous you think the… our world is, but the fact remains that there are any number of people who live perfectly happy lives without super powers."

"Not safe lives. I appreciate your concern, but don't worry. I want to do this."

"But you didn't need to."

"I have no records, no legal existence, no friends and no family. All I have is this ring. I need it. I'm… I'm not complaining about the unfairness of the universe, I don't rail against the heavens and I certainly don't beg for help. It is within my power to deal with this situation and that is what I will do."

She appears to consider this. She nods.

"Alright. Come this way."

"Is the Temple in the woods?"

"The Temple is the woods."

I'm momentarily stunned.

"The Temple is the woods. Of course the Temple is the woods. Gaea is the Titan of the Earth and nature."

"What did you think it was going to be?"

"I was expecting something Acropolis-themed? This… this makes a lot more sense, actually."

And it does. Now that I look again I see a clear line of tall trees. I don't know what kind. Dad's the biologist. They are arranged in an arc too even to have occurred by chance, marking out the entrance in the way that carved stone pillars would on a more classical Greek temple. There are smaller trees forming a circle around them and they act to conceal them in such a way that you don't realise exactly how much taller they are than the rest. Their canopy and the vines I can see running between the trunks block a great deal of the light.

I follow Wonder Woman towards a gap between two of the larger trees. Should I feel something strange here? I have no experience of being affected by magic, but it just looks like a normal wood to me.

If it turns out that the oath isn't anything special I'm actually going to be disappointed.

Oh… what?

We've passed between the taller trees, and now we're in a clearing? There wasn't a clearing. I turn left and right and I can see a vast tree line… it wasn't this big. Right. Pass through the trees and end up somewhere bigger on the inside. I look left again and see that the tree line has a slight curve… Is that… I think I can see me in the distance. I'm looking away… I turn right, and I'm there as well. Experimentally I extend a hand in the opposite direction and see my doppelganger do the same. Feeling a little light headed, I wave at me. Yes, he waves as well. Reminds me of that episode of Star Trek with the floating head nebula thing.

"I realise that this must seem a little strange to you."

"No, no. Yes, but I can cope with a little spatial distortion."

Wonder Woman is giving me a moment to adapt. Maybe this clearing isn't actually all that big? Might be impossible to tell. There's a slight rise in the ground, heading towards a small grove. Wait. I look at the sky. There were grey clouds around before we came in. I come from Britain and so didn't think anything of it. Here, the few clouds are wispy and white, adding to the blueness of the sky with their contrast. I actually feel warm despite my environmental shield, when a hike across the island didn't change my temperature at all. Could it be psychosomatic? Yes, but the Harpy island had more 'hot' indicators. The grass is off as well. Rather than the clumpy overgrown moorland outside it looks like a mowed lawn that has been allowed to get a bit long. There are some low lying flowers -I can see many buttercups- but nothing else except at the top of the hill. I can smell them as well, and from this distance and in this concentration I shouldn't be able to.

I actually can't see the soil through the grass cover. As we start walking towards the grove I realise that I am reminded of the walks I took with my sister and mother through the parks of Eastbourne when I was of primary school age and younger. I suppose there's no reason…

Ring, remove my boots.

My feet feel strange for a moment, and then the boots are gone and I can feel the grass. Dry, slightly springy. The breeze on my feet feels nice, though the temperature hasn't changed. Usually I hate walking barefoot anywhere, but this feels appropriate, somehow, Ooh, that isn't a buttercup. I drop down on all fours to get a better look at it.

"Do you know what this is?"

Wonder Woman has gotten a little ahead of me.

"Uh? No, I don't. Is it important?"

"Probably not. Just curious."

I lean right up to it. I don't remember ever seeing one quite like this.

"Were you planning on moving any further?"

Right! Right. Goodbye, little plant. I get up and jog to catch up with Ms Doesn't-Stop-to-Smell-Flowers. As we continue up the hill I take a good look around. I can't see any other versions of me, so maybe the space bending thing only happens around the exit? The rest of the walk doesn't take long. The grove itself is a circle of short trees with a pool of water at the centre. Their roots appear to have grown into one another, like that old tree in Hampden Park park. I go to step into it, but Wonder Woman puts out an arm to stop me.

"This is one of the most sacred places in Themyscira. It is also my birth place. I understand that you don't worship the gods that I do, but I expect you to be at least respectful of it."

"Of course."

We step into the grove. Though the canopy blocks the light overhead it isn't dim so much as shaded. Wonder Woman kneels in front of the pool.

"Why are you doing that?"

"This is a Temple every bit as much as the stone buildings of the other gods. A reverential attitude is the appropriate one."

"Reverential? No, not reverential."

"If you're not going to take this-"

"Joyful."

I walk over to one of the trees and place my hands on its bark. It isn't enough. I lean into it, press my cheek against it. Breathe it.

"The life here. The drive to grow, to create verdant existence out of barren earth. Why would I kneel? I want this, it's wonderful!"

She's looking at me strangely. Have I said something wrong?

"That's an… unusual attitude to take."

"Is Gaea here?"

"That question doesn't really make sense. Gaea is everywhere on the Earth."

"Then why is this place so…"

I wave my hands. I'm not really sure what I'm trying to say.

"Her attention is more focused here, due to the blessings she has bestowed on my people. There used to be other places like it, in other parts of the world. There might still be, but this is the only one that I know about."

"Is there a ritual to perform, or do I just say it?"

"There is a traditional ritual, but since you aren't an Amazon all you really need to do is place your hands on the bare soil and state what you are promising."

"Is there likely to be a response from, you know, Gaea herself?"

"Possible, but unlikely. I've spent a great deal of time here and I've only spoken directly to an avatar of Gaea on two occasions."

That must have been amazing.

"So, how do we know if it's worked?"

She breathes out heavily. I guess that while Gaea doesn't really care Wonder Woman wanted reverence.

"It works."

I move next to her, and drop down onto crossed legs. Leaning forwards, I put both hands on the earth. Agh, what was it I was planning on saying?

"In exchange for ownership of Mr Alan Scott's power lantern I agree that for the duration of one year I will do the following: I will obey any non-suicidal orders given by either Diana, Princess of Themyscira, also known as 'Wonder Woman', or by a single individual nominated by her, and I agree that I will not leave this star system of my own volition. I may rescind this oath by returning ownership of the power lantern to Mr Alan Scott."

Nothing happens.

"Was that right?"

"I think you covered everything."

She stands up.

"We should probably get back to New York and see if you can actually use the lantern. If you can, I'll need to work out a training schedule for you."

I grin. Progress!

"Rightyho. Lead the way."

She starts back down the hill, and looks over her shoulder at me.

"Are you..? Are you feeling entirely well?"

"I feel… I feel good, actually."

Oh, that is the best idea ever. When did I last roll down a grass slope? Back in Scout camp when I was twelve? That one camp site that was basically a cliff? Uncomfortable thistles, though. But none of them here! I drop to my stomach and wiggle enough to start moving.

"Weeeeeeee!"

"Orange Lantern, what are you doing?!"

That was fun, but my unevenness has caused me to take a turn and now my feet are pointing downhill rather than across. That used to happen when I was little as well. Okay, I can't roll down like that…

"Ring. Zorb."

I rise into the air as the twin orange spheres form around me. For the first rotation I slide to the bottom of the zorb, but as it picks up speed I stick to the inner layer. Trees! Grass! Sky! Trees! Grass! Sky! Trees! Grass! Wonder Woman! Sky! I'm probably not moving as fast as I feel but the tree line is coming up pretty fast! Wow, this is great! Hey, if I time this right…

The zorb ceases to exist just as I hit the tree line and I'm flung straight forwards back into the woods and what the hell did I just do? Leaves and branches hit me in the face as I frantically trigger the ring to arrest my momentum. I finally stop and drop to the muddy ground, eyes wide. Why did I...? I don't..? What..? I haven't moved a moment later when Wonder Woman flies through and stops in front of me. She looks… relieved?

"I… I am so sorry. I I I I don't…"

"I should have realised. If you've never encountered magic before then you probably don't have any resistance to it. I still feel some of what you just felt whenever I go back there, but you experienced it at full intensity."

"Did I? Is Gaea going to be annoyed about this?"

"It's extremely unlikely."

"I think I'll make a donation to Greenpeace just in case."

As we start back to the jet I try to stay calm. Shit. Ambient magic messes you up. And apparently the ring doesn't block it. Or can't. I'm going to have to try and do something about that.

Jan 30, 2019