"So now do you believe me?" Daniel asked as the weight in the hall faded and the torches steadied.
He exhaled lightly. He really needed to find a less dramatic method of introductions. He couldn't keep dropping death on people every time someone doubted him.
The reactions around him were anything but unified.
Some Amazons stepped back instinctively, fear flickering across hardened warrior faces.
Others looked confused, struggling to place him within everything they had been taught. They knew the Olympians. They knew Zeus. Ares. The old gods of their history.
But this?
There was no shrine to him.
No oath spoken in his name.
No story warning of a God of Death beyond Olympus.
The realization unsettled them more than the display of power.
If he was not one of the Olympians… then what was he?
Whispers spread across the chamber. Spears remained raised, though not as steady as before.
Even Queen Hippolyta did not immediately respond. She had faced gods before. She understood their pride, their tempers, their wars. But this one stood calm—without rage, without demand.
And that made him harder to read.
Gods were dangerous by nature.
But a god who ruled death itself—
That was a different scale of danger.
The throne room stood suspended between reverence and readiness, uncertain whether to kneel… or prepare for war.
"No need to think too much," Daniel said lightly. "I didn't come here with an agenda. I was wandering and ended up here. I'll leave soon enough."
A visible shift passed through the throne room.
Hippolyta did not relax completely, but relief touched her expression.
If he had come with hostile intent, Themyscira would have had few answers. There were not many on the island who could face a god—perhaps only one, and she did not yet understand what she truly was.
Antiope stepped forward.
"Honored guest," she said carefully, "you had no part in the men who attacked our island?"
Daniel snorted softly. "Why would I side with the Germans? I may appreciate certain aspects of their future engineering, but at this point in time I rather dislike them." He casually jerked a thumb toward Steve. "If anyone brought them here, it was this one."
The Amazons' attention shifted sharply.
Steve shot Daniel a look of disbelief. Was this really how gods behaved?
Hippolyta's gaze hardened. "Then tell us who these men are—and why they came."
The lasso glowed faintly.
Steve straightened.
"British Intelligence received word that General Ludendorff, leader of the German Army, would be visiting a secret military installation in the Ottoman Empire. I posed as one of their pilots and flew in with them."
The words flowed steadily, compelled by truth.
"According to our intel, Germany was running out of everything—troops, money, munitions. But we were wrong. The Turks were building weapons for them. New weapons."
He swallowed.
"Designed by Ludendorff's chief chemist—Dr. Isabel Maru."
A few Amazons exchanged confused looks at the unfamiliar names.
"She's creating a new kind of gas," Steve continued, his voice tightening. "Stronger than anything used before. If she succeeds, millions more will die. The war won't end."
He drew a breath, steadying himself.
"But if I can get these notes back to British Intelligence in time, they can develop a countermeasure. It could save millions. It could end this war."
Diana stepped closer, confusion written plainly across her face.
"What war?" she asked.
Steve looked at her, stunned.
"The war," he said quietly. "The war to end all wars."
The hall remained silent.
"For four years now," he went on, voice tightening, "twenty-seven nations have been fighting. Twenty-five million dead. Soldiers. Civilians. Women. Children. Entire villages burned to the ground. Weapons you cannot imagine."
His eyes darkened.
"It's like the world is tearing itself apart. Like it's ending."
The words lingered heavily in the throne room.
Diana's expression changed—not confusion now, but something deeper.
War.
Daniel stepped out of the throne room without protest. He had no interest in listening to the rest of the debate. He already knew where it would lead.
Steve was escorted outside as well, two Amazons flanking him with disciplined silence. Daniel stood near the edge of the courtyard, looking out toward the sea as if the entire matter bored him.
Steve cleared his throat.
"Mr. God… would you mind helping me get to Britain?"
"No."
Steve blinked. "Why? If I don't go back, the war continues."
Daniel didn't look at him. "Wars always continue. This one will end. Another will follow. Humans want what others have. Land. Power. Resources. Pride. Conflict is predictable."
Steve frowned. "So you're just going to stand by?"
Daniel's gaze shifted slightly. "You cannot stop this war entirely. Something else moves behind it. Something not entirely human."
Steve's expression tightened, but before he could respond, raised voices echoed from within the hall.
Diana's voice rang out—clear, fierce.
"If this is Ares, then it is our duty to act!"
The name carried across the courtyard.
Hippolyta's tone followed—firm, unyielding.
"You know nothing of the world of men!"
Antiope's voice cut through next, resolute.
"She must know it. If Ares is involved, then this is her destiny."
Steve looked toward the hall, tension rising in him.
The argument continued—duty against protection, destiny against caution—until finally Hippolyta's voice ended it.
"Themyscira does not interfere. We do not leave this island."
*****
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