Owner	Pose
Donna Troy	The formal discussion with the leaders of Themysciran society could have gone better, but it also could have gone worse. Diana is back from leading the scouring of the lands to ensure there are no more centaurs, but not without a suspicion that their presence may have caused other problems in the Forest she'll attend to soon. Troia has seen the Titans settled into their quarters, where they are mostly taking the time to rest and recuperate. Hippolyta has taken her time at the temple to meditate on the events of the day and exchange a few words with whatever goddesses might have been listening.     There will be a celebration at the palace in the evening, to mark the success against the largest assault on Doom's Doorway for centuries, to honor the Amazon dead, and to honor the unusual guests to the island. In the palace preparations are underway, but at last for the members of the Themysciran royal family, there is a few moments of peace, a brief window with nothing urgent for them to attend to, where they can get together to reflect on the events of the day.     The sun is low in the sky and the evening looks like it's going to turn into a pleasantly cool one, at least by Themysciran standards, but there's still a lingering heat in the air. Long shadows stretch across the formal gardens in the courtyard of the palace, but there are still fingers of bright sunlight alternating with those shadows. A small cluster of low stone benches makes the best of both, with space to sit in the shade or warm sun, depending on preference.     Troia is seated firmly in the sun. Cool shade is pleasant, but after a couple of days in the Land of Shadow, she's sticking to nice warm sunlight for now. Refreshing coolness can be provided by drinks; a large jug, filled with an iced mixture of water, fruit extracts and wine, perfect for quenching the thirst. Troia is on her second glass already, and she's barely just got there.     "I told them I knew the way out," she says. "That wasn't exactly true. I'd studied some maps. I could recognize a few landmarks. I knew the general direction and I was confident I could find the way to the Iron Gate, but I exaggerated my knowledge of the place a bit. It felt like a good idea to give my friends reassurances."
Diana Prince	Diana had gone back to her chambers to change and clean up. She'd arrived here in the courtyard moments ago and indulged in a drink herself. Dressed now in a sleeveless red tunic with a leather bodice around her midsection, a leather skirt pleated down to her mid thighs, and simple accessories adorning the rest of her form, she's sipping from the drink and leaning against a stone column in the yard. Her eyes are on her sister. "You got everyone out of one of the worst places imaginable, Troia." Diana reminds her softly, speaking with affection and a warmth at having her here to even talk to at all. "You have to look at the positives now..." She trails off and smiles to her sister. "You now are one of the leading experts in everything beyond the gate." She smiles more widely then as she pushes off of the column and walks over to Donna's side to put a hand on her shoulder around her back. "And now look how many smelly men you have brought home to see mother. You're basically a huge pain in her side now! Just like the movies like to paint things to be for mother and daughter." She's playing, of course, because there is a lot to celebrate here, after all.
Terry O'Neil	Queen Hippolyta is half in light, and half in shadow, part of her body illuminated by a band of waning sunlight. After her return from the temple, she has been in a quiet, meditative mood, but her subdued demeanor is suddenly broken by a quiet laugh at Diana's words. "Perhaps, even in Patriarch's World, some things are immutable. You recall how she used to bring wounded creatures from the woods or Eponia to heal," she says to Diana, "It was only inevitable that eventually she would bring men." The Queen is only on her first glass, which she nurses on her lap. "But your sister speaks rightly- as the only one among us who has trekked through that amount of Tartarus, I imagine Iphigenia will hound you to make some maps of your journey before you leave. I am surprised that she has not camped outside of your chambers as she threatened to do with Diana when she first returned." She pauses to take a slow sip from her glass, and adds, "Phillipus will be pleased to know that you listened to her lessons, daughter. A wise general shares with her troops that which will ensure victory and survival and shoulders the burden of impossible odds. The knowledge of how lost they were would have only disheartened them, and not all might have survived."
Donna Troy	roia grins wide at Diana's teasing, but the grin doesn't last long before it's replaced by a grimmer expression. "Honestly it wasn't too bad. It was nerve-wracking, but there was a surprising lack of any real danger. Kerberos didn't seem too worried about letting us past, I guess because we weren't supposed to be there anyway. Robin and Waspette seem to have a way with animals. They just wanted to pet the great big puppy. Then next thing we know we're at the bottom of the stairs. I can't help wondering if my visit there should not be considered typical. I might not be that much of an expert, though before I leave I will relate to Iphigenia and Amarantha as much as I can recall of the journey, to add to our records."     She downs the rest of her glass in a single go, and pours herself a fresh one. The battle had been thirsty work, but the trek that preceded it thirstier. All of the Titans have been asking for a lot of drinks since the battle had ended, and only in the case of the winged one, Kian, had it been for any purpose other than refreshment.     "I owe you an apology mother," she says at last. There's little indication of contrition in her words -- they are distinctly more in the form of a peace offering, but there is definitely a lot of fondness in them. "I have wanted to bring some of my male friends here for a long while. It has been an ambition that one day I would persuade you to make the ruling you made so quickly today. But it was not my intent to force your hand in the manner I did. That was just... it was the moment, mother. I did not intend to bring them, but they would not be left behind. And I am fiercely proud of the choice they made."     "I do not regret it now it has happened. If circumstance forced you to make a decision you know to be right, then that is all for the good. But I know that decision will cause you trouble. Hellene was just the start of it. And for that I apologize."
Diana Prince	Diana's eyes go up to the sun streaked visage of the Queen, and as the regal ruler speaks, the younger Princess (supposedly) crafted from clay offers a growing smile to her mother, and what she says in response. Then, her eyes shoot over to Donna who speaks of the time beyond the gate. "I imagine a group as formidable as yours had some merely observing you from within. You likely made the trek before they were daring enough to confront you. Otherwise... mmm, that is a bit odd that you were able to travel as easily as you did. Of course... that army of undead horsemen begs the question of just how 'easy' it really was." She smiles softly a moment before she takes a sip of her drink. Once again Diana steps away from Donna and this time walks to a pedestal that she placed a leather bag upon. She sets her goblet down and reaches inside it to take out a silken bag that she pulls the drawstring open upon and walks toward the Queen with. "This, I believe, is how our fair and lovely Titans all ended up within the Gate's realm." Diana says, offering the bag with the box to the Queen. "I thought you might wish to see it, before we find a place to store it away..."
Terry O'Neil	Hippolyta holds the bag and peers into it with her piercing eyes. "Thank you, Diana. This is curious, and as I have said before, I cannot rule out the subtle machinations of the Key Holder in this, that word of its existence should have arrived to you in time to interfere with Eris' plans. And that the vessel should be in a shape that plays so neatly into men's misunderstanding of the story..." she glances up at Diana, "I believe Magala will wish to make a study of this, though I do not expect the secrets of Hekate, if it is indeed she who made this box, will yield to any investigation. Nevertheless, she will insist." Returning the bag to Diana, she turns her attention to Donna. "Troia, I would be a poor mother if I were displeased that you took counsel from the things you know to be right and acted accordingly. Even if the outcome brings toil, very little that is right is ever easy. Both of you," she says, looking from Diana to Donna, "have demonstrated that you are worthy successors, should one the throne of Themyscira be vacant. I cannot tell you the peace it brings me to know this." She reaches for her glass again, and takes a sip. "Hellene was indeed the beginning, but we cannot be proud that we are a bridge to a greater understanding without reaching out to those within us who misunderstand. Immortality makes some deep-set in their ways and are resistant to change. I may have been in danger of being frozen in amber in such a fashion, but the Five saw to it that I would have to contend with two very inquisitive and headstrong daughters." She smiles softly, "Ultimately, Hellene and the others may have to petition the Five to hear them. There is no wrath from The Five, but I sense expectation- they are witnessing the change and shall pass judgement ultimately from its fruits. It is too early too tell, but so far they have not opposed this."
Donna Troy	"It may have been that Ixion's actions were simply keeping the attention of Tartarus elsewhere, and that is why it seems so quiet," Troia says thoughtfully. She glances at the box Diana passes to Hippolyta, but with little curiosity. Though she never had the chance to look at it properly, it somehow feels somewhat irrelevant now.     "We did encounter one of the hundred-handers, when we reached the gate. But that was when Hekate showed up the first time and offered to send us to the stairs. She sent the hundred-hander away."     She rattles the ice-cubes in her glass, watching the play of light across them. "Not before... gods, I wish I knew what it was all about. It was strange. For a while she pretended to think that we were the /actual/ Titans. You know, the ones that the hundred-handers would be less than happy seeing trying one of Hades' gates. I did not expect to meet a goddess and have her play /pranks/ on me."     A prank indeed, but Troia isn't in on the joke. Diana and Hippolyta are, but the ways of Hekate are famously inscrutable. Olympus would surely not be happy, though they must know that Troia's origin will not remain a secret forever. Especially with her truth sense, something that has always made certain discussions something of a mine-field. It might seem like a cosmic joke if it was not for the fact that Phoebe was the second bearer of the Oracle, and it seems most likely that the Titan's intent on granting a shard of that power to her daughter was to ensure that one day she would discover the truth.     Troia sighs a little. "More than pranks. She was mocking me. The Lampad was trying to provoke me to ensure I was distracted from the magic of the stairs, I am sure of that. But I worry that there was more to it than that, because that doesn't explain why Hekate was trying to provoke me earlier. Mother... Diana... I'm not sure what game Hekate is playing. Some of the things they said to me... I am not sure this is the end of it. I worry that there is some more complicated game and that we are pieces on the game-board."
Diana Prince	Once Diana hands the box off to the Queen she pays her mother a light smile at what she hears from her. "And... never shall you leave the throne for us to even remotely test what we might do within it." She states back, reminding Hippolyta that she's not going anywhere! Diana touches her mother's arm a moment, out of affection, before she leaves her with the magic cube and walks back to where she left her drink. Her eyes go over to Donna as she raises the goblet up to sip at the wine within it. When she lowers it again she turns toward Donna. "Hekate deals in magics and mysteries that I could not possibly wrap my head around. If she felt the need to 'toy' with you, and the others, she must truly have driven herself mad. Bored Gods... finding unique ways to entertain themselves is certainly not new to the histories of our world... but... Hekate? Mm, that seems very petty of her." diana approaches Donna again and sits down near by to her. "You are certain it was her, and not another posing as her?" She knwos her sister is certain of this, but it has to be asked, for chances sake.
Terry O'Neil	In truth, raising Troia had been an excellent exercise for Hippolyta in the realm of learning what to say, when to say it, and how. A child who could tell when a parent was the ultimate nightmare of some. But Queens, like generals, must know when to say enough, and withhold enough without lying. "We are all pieces on the board, daughter, in one way or another. Our creation itself was geared towards advancing the teachings of The Five, from that moment on we were fated to play some part or another in the plans of the gods." "Hekate's purpose is often unfathomable, and it is seldom direct. It may be that actions she took towards you will have repercussions on an entirely different person. Or god."
Donna Troy	Troia greets Diana's approach with a quick, easy smile -- but Diana's words bring a subtle change to Troia's expression that's hard to read. Hippolyta's words about being fated to play some part in the plans of the gods just deepen the inscrutable reaction.     Ever since Diana had returned to Themyscira to find she had a new sister, she had found Troia's emotions and state of mind easy to read. Diana is empathic, of course, but there seemed to me something more to it than that, something more supernatural. Even when they were apart, Diana would often get a sense of Troia's state of mind that would later turn out to have been accurate - perhaps just some little natural magic of sisterhood, or perhaps a small additional gift of the goddesses. Perhaps a counter to that sometimes troublesome truth-sense.     Troia is a little troubled, and that Diana can sense easily enough -- but in that reaction to Diana's words, in that hard-to-read expression, there's something that's hidden from Diana, and that's not normal.     "You saw her, Di," Troia replies. "After the battle. You all /felt/ what I felt. I do not think I would want to claim to be /certain/ when it comes to one such as Hekate. But... who would dare to pose as /her/? I think we should be more worried if it were not truly Hekate than if it were. I /think/ it was her. That she was acting in a way that seems..." she nods her head in Hippolyta's direction. "Well, that. That her purpose seems so... unfathomable. That's no reason at all to doubt it is her."     Troia leans forwards, shoulders slumping slightly, and takes a sip of her wine. "The Lampad - if that is what she truly was. She was trying to provoke me, as I said. At first she accused me of pride and arrogance, suggesting I felt self-importance I did not deserve because I was adopted by you, mother. That I acted the princess I am not really. Then she changed her argument right round. Told me I was too deferrential, that I live in Diana's shadow, that I define myself to service to Themyscira, and service to the Titans, instead of trying to be myself. She said a lot of other things to, but..."     She shrugs her shoulders and sits upright again, eyes going first to Diana, then to Hippolyta. "She could see the first approach wasn't working, so she tried another. Or so I thought at the time. But now I'm not so sure, because when I consider what happened -- in that change from one angle of attack to another, she was mirroring what her mistress had already done. When we met Hekate at the Iron Gate, she changed my clothes to robes of saffron, like her own. And then, after she had mentioned Ixion's army, and I had said I would go to the Bronze Gate to warn Themyscira, she changed those robes to the armor of the palace guard. She was saying the same two contradictory things, in the same order."     Though she does not raise the point, it will be lost on neither Hippolyta or Diana that wearing the armor of the palace guard was hardly unusual for Troia. Even her black and silver 'Troia' armor that she wore for years as a Titan was just a recolored version of the guard's armor. Had that choice, to wear the armor of the guard, been her subconscious way of indicating that she did indeed, as the Lampad implied, define herself only by duty Themyscira, that being adopted into the royal family was something she had to pay for? It was a theory that both Magala and Philippus had raised privately with both Diana and Hippolyta in the past.     And if that is true, what does it mean that since losing her black-and-silver armor during her months in space, she has not yet sought to have it replaced - or indeed get any Themysciran armor, of any design, to replace it with?
Diana Prince	Diana's eyes go over to Hippolyta upon hearing Donna's reaction to what she'd said. If there's anyone on the island that could explain what and why Donna might have been treated this way by Hekate, it'd be the Queen. But still, the emotion that Diana feels upon hearing more detail at what Hekate had said to Donna... it upsets her. "Well." Diana says, her cup lowered down to her left thigh. "Now I wish to have a word with our fair MMagic Goddess..." She grimly notes. "I do not care for her putting these negative thoughts in your head, Troia... You are not in my shadow. You are an Amazon. You are a Princess of this island. You are in no one's shadow...." She glances at the Queen then back to Donna. "Except perhaps hers." She then shares a cheeky smile that comes and goes quickly for Donna. Her head shakes side to side then. "I cannot imagine why this was said to you, but it does entirely sound like a game. A way to lead you toward something that Hekate probably desires. It also sounds like you likely did not react how she hoped... but... who is to say? If she appears again, I hope you react the same to her pestering ways."
Hippolyta	Hippolyta is silent for a few moments as she processes what Troia has told her. Hekate was a Titaness, and yet she had sided with Olympus in the Titanomachia. Why, then, was she nudging a defiance of the edit of Olympus by casting these doubts in Troia's mind? Perhaps the Titaness herself had finally found the veiling of Troia's true origin too offensive to bear- or perhaps there was something looming ahead of all of them, hidden to all but the guardian of the crossroads, that necessitated that Troia claim her full heritage. She shakes her head briefly. It was pointless to second-guess Hekate. Poised with a difficult situation to unravel, Hippolyta thiks about the core hidden in Troia's words, and gives her daughter a slight smile. "You are so young. Though not as young as our sisters see you. You have lived through much that is unknown to them. And yet, though you have much of lived wisdom, perhaps those questions are set to point you to greater wisdom still. Although you are my daughter and a princess of Themyscira, and although you are a Titan," she says, briefly savoring the subversive act telling the truth in a way that breaks no pacts, "you are also your own, and perhaps you have let the weight of your responsibilities distract you as to those parts of yourself that belong neither to the world nor to Themyscira, but to your innermost self." She sets her empty glass down.
Donna Troy	Troia reaches out a hand for Diana's, to give it a squeeze and a smile that's full of love for her sister's fiery protectiveness. "Di... I think she /did/ get the hoped reaction. I'm fairly sure that she was trying to provoke me to motivate me. Keep me angry so that the magic of the stairs couldn't get a grip on my mind. The Lampad said... she said lots of things. Trying to find levers to pull. Often things that didn't really make sense. That I should be jealous of Cassie, that I do not truly embrace either America or Themyscira, that... lots of things. It worked. I got angry, and the stairs... when I was on those stairs before, three years ago, it was tough. It played so many tricks on my mind to encourage me to turn back. This time, barely anything. She helped, Diana. It was not a fun way to help, but she helped."     Troia's smile gives way to a playful grin. "If it makes you feel better Di, I'm pretty sure the Lampad was not happy being given the task of provoking me. She was scared of me, of what I might do if she pushed too far."     She gives Diana's hand another squeeze before letting go. "But I think there was more than one purpose. I suspect that may always be true when it comes to Hekate. That Hekate would send us to the bottom of the stairs, not the top -- and yet send one of her servants to help us reach the top -- it suggests that she wanted us to experience that journey. I cannot guess why. I have not yet had time to hear what all my team-mates experienced on that climb, but I think it will have changed several of them, and perhaps for the better. It will help them grow."     She gives a gradual shrug. "Perhaps me, too. But I think, mother, that this was something the Lampad thought might be, rather than something that is. I know who I am. I am an Amazon, and I am a Titan. Both. I joined the Titans because I chose to. And I know that were I to spend my days here in peaceful study and self-indulgence, you would not exile me from the island for it, though you might encourage me to make more of myself. I choose my responsibilities, and they /are/ a part of my inner self."     "But perhaps there were also things that she wanted me to hear, for her own reasons. The Lampad said things that were simply wrong, but there were things she said which..." she turns her gaze to Hippolyta, and looks uneasy. "I am sure that it was intended that I should say this to you, mother. But I won't speculate whether this is because it is true information Hekate had some subtle reason to impart, or if it is part of some scheme or manipulation. One thing the Lampad said, and seemed to say out of anger and frustration, was that the Amazons are... that we are..." she looks away for a moment, and shakes her head, unwilling to say it but steeling herself to do so.     "She said that we are irrelevant. That the Amazons were created as part of a power-play by the five. Mainly by Athena, I guess. And honestly when she said that, there was... it felt like there was a ring of truth to it. Though... though that is to say it was how she saw it, not necessarily... Anyway, she said that Ares and Eris had made that play redundant. That we were no longer needed, and that the goddesses didn't really know what to do any more."     Troia looks down, unable to look Hippolyta in the eye. "I'm sorry mother. I just... if there's an element of truth in what she said, it is important that I pass that on to you. Only your wisdom can judge if it is information that is worth knowing, or worth doing anything about."
Diana Prince	Diana's gaze goes to their mother before returning to Troia when she feels her sister take her hand. She smiles quickly and softlya t the gesture while she listens to all Donna has to say on the subject. There is comfort in some of what Donna elaborates on, and it does quell some of the annoyance Diana felt in her spirit for Hekate in the moment. Because it was true, it was /not/ how Diana would motivate... but the results couldn't be argued. The rest, gets a bit more morose, at least with regard to the Amazons as a whole. It also reminds Diana of what she said to the Senate just mere moments ago in the council room within the palace. "Well...." Diana says then after Donna, her eyes rising to The Queen. "Our relevence is what we make of it." She says before putting her eyes back to Troia's own. "We have made great steps in the past handful of years to make the Amazons a far greater relevence to the world beyond our borders. They now fully ... believe in our abilities. The world has seen them first hand, no longer just hearing you and I spout romantically about our homeland. The people of the mortal world have seen it, have seen us, in action now. I would say that our 'relevence' is entirely and completely on the rise, but it is up to us to keep pushing forward to continue to enhance that which we've done toward this goal." She takes a brief pause before adding. "We are on the right track, to truly making Themyscira be a beacon of hope for Earth's continued safety, and is that not as relevent as we could ask to be in this day and age?" She glances between the two of them before drawing in a breath and rising her shoulders up a little. "And... we should all be jealous of Cassie. There is no question in that." She states before quickly grinning ear to ear.
Hippolyta	The Queen looks inward for a few breath, and when she answers it is with an unusual tension in her voice, as if finally betraying some old anxiety. "I have, for some time, worried about our place in the realm of the gods. We were created with a purpose in mind, and then we were brought to this island. Perhaps my sisters choose not to observe that we were brought to here in penance as much as for refuge- although Man's world was not ready, we also failed in our own way. All these millennia, we have spent time perfecting ourselves in various endeavors, and yet Man's world remains corrupted by the ways of Ares." She glances at Troia, "In this way, Hekate spoke true: We have been rendered irrelevant, men do not know the laws of Athena, nor the gifts of Aphrodite." And then there is a tilt to her head, and she muses, "Perhaps Olympus has grown restless. And perhaps that is the reason why you two were granted as blessings to us, for you have, in your own headstrong ways, dragged us towards Man's world. To no small amount of resistance." She smiles a little more, "And through you, the first Amazon born on Man's World has come forth, patroned by Athena herself. Aikaterine. It is this that has been on my mind, and why you did not force my hand as much as you think, daughter. Though it may scandalize Hellene, I could clearly intuit that we were standing on the threshold of something, and we could choose to lock ourselves away forever, and lose ourselves in oblivion once the gods finally gave up on us, or press forth. It is not coincidental that the godess of the places in between may have pushed us to decide whether we would finally be irrelevant... or not."
Donna Troy	Troia looks back and forth between sister and mother a few times, then leans back and laughs. Shaking her head a little, she takes another sip of the refreshing, flavored wine, then sets it down beside her.     "Maybe... maybe this is exactly why all of it happened. Diana is right. We are as relevant as we choose to be. Perhaps the Lampad spoke the truth that the things that drove the goddesses almost four thousand years ago to create the Amazons are no longer relevant. The power play, if that's what it was. But that doesn't make us irrelevant unless we let it. Diana is right."     "And perhaps it is not Olympus that has grown restless, mother. Perhaps it was Hekate. Perhaps Olympus has grown /complacent/ about us, and we too have grown complacent because of their complacency. Because they do not demand much of us now. But our mission is no less now than it ever was. The wisdoms the goddesses gifted us no less true. And if it is true that Athena does not know any longer what to do with us, then we should not wait around, but act. Act the way she always wanted us to, and /remind/ her."     She covers her mouth with her hand, and shakes her head again slightly, her eyes growing a little damp. "I - I think I love you two more now in this moment than I have ever... I couldn't be jealous of Cassie, Diana. I couldn't be jealous of anyone. How could I be? How could I ask for more than I already have?"
Diana Prince	Diana doesn't speak further on the subjects at-hand, not when she sees Donna's reaction to it at the end. She moves her wine cup from one hand to the other and then puts her arm around Donna's shoulders. A big warm smile is sent to her sister. "You do not need to let all of this rest on your shoulders as heavily as you do, dear Troia. You are far too young to have so much stress beating at your doorway. And to that end..." Diana looks over to their mother, and then back to Donna. "What say we go and immerse ourselves in the festivities, and stop hiding here in the courtyard. Iimagine /some/ people are well aware of what we're doing, hiding like this. They expect us, you know? More stress." She says before giving Donna another quick one-armed hug and then rises up to her feet. She nods to the box that she'd given the Queen. "I will take that to the secured storage i nthe palace." She notes as she reaches for the black silken bag from the stone bench where she'd set it beside herself. "Hopefully it becomes little more than a dust collector hence forth..."
Hippolyta	Hippolyta advances and gives both of her daughters a hug, "Listen to your sister," Hippolyta says with some humor in her voice. "She is right in that we have been neglecting our guests. You will want to fetch them." And then she grows thoughtful, "and you may want to sit by the one who looks like he is overwhelmed or terrified. The chronicler, if I recall. He must have a nervous condition, I remember he seemed as skittish at the Arts Center." Glancing at the box, she nods slowly. "Magala will study it and become engrossed by it. Until something else comes along to take up her attention." Wizards were, after all, the same everywhere.