Chapter 23

After the fight had ended with the Thanatos Guild's defeat and the capture of all their operatives except Athena, who after seeing how outmatched they were, chose to escape in the chaos and would no doubt cause problems later, but after the fight, before Artemis could even say anything to her unexpected partner, she found that Wonder Woman had vanished as quickly as she'd appeared.

Luckily, there were perks to essentially being a goddess, since whatever Wonder Woman was, since she clearly wasn't human or at least not completely human, it gave them some kind of connection. A connection that Artemis was currently using to track her, since she had a feeling that whoever this person was, she was what Artemis had sent her back to Star City to find.

So imagine her surprise when she found that the trail had led her to one of the most luxurious hotels in the city, the Star City Plaza Hotel. Which, if Thea's memory served her correctly, her brother had become a stakeholder of and had a permanent suite on file, which she was sure her brother would be using for little getaways with Laurel, but anyways, Artemis was planning on calling her brother to see if he could help out at all when she heard someone land on the roof behind her.

"So, you tracked me down." Wonder Woman asked her as Artemis turned to face her.

"Well, you did leave without saying goodbye." Artemis said.

"Well, I didn't feel like having this conversation in a police precinct. But I do have questions." Wonder Woman said.

"So do I. So, why don't we start by answering the obvious questions first. I'll reveal my identity to you if you'll reveal yours to me." Artemis said and Wonder Woman nodded as Artemis removed her mask and hood to reveal the face of Thea Queen and Wonder Woman removed the golden circlet on her head, which somehow revealed her to be none other than Diana Prince.

"How did I not recognize you, since we met at my mom's house earlier today?" Thea asked, shocked, since honestly, Diana's suit did not offer much in terms of identity concealment, and yet she still hadn't recognized her.

"My circlet possesses powerful concealment magic that renders its wearer unrecognizable, no matter how many times you've seen me." Diana explained.

"Honestly, considering the fact that I've got a Greek goddess using me as a vessel, that's not even the strangest thing I've ever heard." Thea said.

"That answers one of my questions, specifically why I can sense you possessing the power of my sister." Diana said and now Thea had even more questions, but honestly, she didn't really feel like having this conversation on a rooftop.

"Is there anywhere we can go that's a bit more private and comfortable to continue this conversation?" Thea asked and Diana chuckled, but nodded.

"Yes, why don't we take this to my hotel room? Especially since after that fight, I could use a shower and a decent meal." Diana said.

"Sounds good to me." Thea said as they both put their identity concealment items back on before Wonder Woman grabbed Artemis's hand and flew them both across the street and onto the balcony of one of the many top floor hotel rooms.

"Damn, this is a very nice room." Thea said as she willed her suit to disappear and be replaced by her street clothes and she was very glad that Artemis had seen fit to have her quiver morph into her overnight bag, since that meant that she had all her clothes packed with her for after she took a shower, since she agreed with Diana that they both could use them.

"Wow, that's a useful trick." Diana said as she removed her circlet again.

"Yeah, being merged with a goddess has its perks." Thea said.

"I'm still curious about how that happened?" Diana asked.

"How about after we both get cleaned up and eat. Dinner's on me." Thea said.

"I appreciate that, but I already have a tab going. But I will be showering first." Diana said and Thea nodded, since that was fair since this was Diana's hotel room, she was just crashing here for now.

"So, you're the daughter of the Queen of Amazons and King of the Gods and you've been walking among the humans since World War One?" Thea asked after Diana told her her story while they ate burgers and fries while enjoying milkshakes after they'd both showered and changed into pajamas.

"In a nutshell, yes. Now, your turn. How did you end up being the vessel of the goddess Artemis? I thought that the old Gods died out centuries ago?" Diana asked.

"They didn't die out, they were murdered by Ares." Thea said.

"The traitor." Diana growled.

"You've heard of him?" Thea asked.

"I fought him in World War One and I thought I'd killed him. He killed the man I loved." Diana said angrily and Thea sighed.

"Then you're really not going to like what I have to say next, since he's still alive and he's actually been absorbing and feeding off the powers of the other gods and that's what caused them to die out, not a lack of belief or prayer or whatever else you thought it was. Artemis was one of the last surviving holdouts until she eventually found me and appeared in my dreams and told me everything she knew and made me her vessel, which actually worked out in more than one way." Thea said.

"What do you mean?" Diana asked.

"Since Ares thinks he killed Artemis like the other gods, he stopped feeding on her power, not realizing that as long as the goddess and I are connected, she'll never truly die and since Ares is no longer trying to absorb her, Artemis has begun to heal." Thea explained, much to Diana's surprise.

"She can come back?" Diana asked her.

"Eventually, but not anytime soon. Which is why she needs me to maintain her power as the moon goddess and to finish what you started. She wants me to kill Ares and I'm going to need your help." Thea said.

"And you'll have it." Diana said.

"You know, I originally came here because Artemis told me that my family's art gallery had a map to Themyscira hidden in it." Thea said.

"It doesn't. I looked over every piece in your gallery." Diana said.

"I know. I'm thinking that she actually sent me here to meet you, since she told me I needed to go to Themyscira and you can take me there. I think she wants me to train with the Amazons." Thea said and Diana smiled.

"I'd be honored. And while my mother may be skeptical at first, once you prove to her that you are connected to Artemis, she'll immediately help, since the Amazons are honor bound to obey the will of the Gods, except Ares." Diana said and Thea smiled.

"Glad to hear it. And then after I train with them, will you come back with me to help me defeat Ares once and for all?" Thea asked and Diana nodded.

"I nearly killed him once, might as well finish the job." Diana said and Thea nodded.

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