Long Past Dawn

I laugh, maybe it's the honey wine but somehow I have a feeling that things will get better. "Don't know maybe I'm just lucky."

"Some luck," Lyra muttered with a grin as she popped a red berry into her mouth.

I smirk and grab one of the berries before she can eat it, I pop it into my mouth with a grin as Lyra sticks out her tongue at me.

I'm about to steal another when something in the forest catches my eye, I'm surprised to see it's a man, the first I've seen since I've been here, but when I look closer I notice that his lower half is the legs of a goat along with two goat horns poking out of his head and if it wasn't for the simple cloth skirt dr.a.p.ed around his waist he would be completely n.a.k.e.d. I also notice in one hand he has a pan flute in one hand.

"Hey," I say, sitting up a little straighter to get a better view, "Who's that?"

Lyra, Eulalia, and Anastasia all turn to see who I'm talking about but... No ones there.

"But he was just there..." I say, staring at the spot where the man, if you can even call him that, was.

"He?"Lyra and Anastasia stiffen at my words. But Eulalia only takes another swig of honey win.

"Half goat? Pan flute?" Eulalia says before pouring herself another glass.

I nod and Anastasia and Lyra visibly relax.

"Ah, you really must be a lucky one to see Pan," Eulalia says in between her drink, how she drinks so much I'll never know.

"Pan?" I echo.

"The god of nature of course, though you don't see him often, they say man has poisoned the world so much they might as well have killed him," Eulalia says ruefully.

"Hah!" Anastasia says, elbowing Eulalia in a joking matter, "You're not one to talk! You drink enough to drain cellars, beat a maenad in drinking and maybe even rival Dionysus when it comes to how much you drink in a night."

They all laugh as another round is poured, I don't have any this time. I'm not sure I understand the joke but we continue on away from the subject of Pan, but somehow I can't get his image out of my mind.

A god, huh? I say to myself as I chuck a small chunk of cheese into my mouth.

'A god' the voice answers.

***

We spend the rest of the late afternoon to early evening in the clifftop field. We mostly talk and eat though sometimes we play a game like tag.

As we watch the sun setting over the ocean we're all exhausted.

Eulalia and Lyra share a look before Eulalia turns to talk to me, "So um... We've all been wondering... But is there a reason Diana brought you to the island?"

My vision clouds for a moment before I shake it away, "It's a long story... I guess you could say I lost some of the people closest to me and I'm tired... I'm tired of losing the people I love and... and I'm scared that maybe I'll just keep losing them..."

We're all quiet for a moment before Eulalia stands up and extends her hand to help me up, I take her hand and she pulls me off the ground, "Now that doesn't even begin to make sense."

What? How does that not make sense?

Eulalia must see the question on my face because she smiles before throwing her arms open and gesturing to everything around us.

"Dawn right now you are on the greatest island on the Earth, you have people who care about you enough to bring you here and you made friends with us. If you were really scared that you'll keep on losing people then you wouldn't be here. Right now, right here, with us."

Maybe she's right.

The grass whistles in the wind as the sun turns the ocean a golden color, almost like honey wine. It's beautiful.

"Wow now that was poetic for a drunk," Anastasia says in a playful matter before getting up herself. "Now that's all over how about we get to the real matter at hand?"

There's almost a wild look in Anastasia's eyes. I don't even want to think about what we're going to do.

Lyra gets up too and now I'm really confused. "What are we doing...?" I ask, unsure I want to know the answer.

"Hmmm... Initiation." Anastasia says after a moment.

... Great...

"Come on Anastasia, you're scaring her," Eulalia laughs, she then turns to me, "Don't worry, it's just a cliff jump, we do it all the time."

Cliff... jump? Yes, that makes me feel so much better...

"Come on, it's fun," Anastasia says, grabbing my hand and jogging towards the cliff.

"Is this really safe?!" I yell but it's almost as if my voice is lost in the wind.

"Of course, the tides in, it'll be perfectly safe," Lyra calls over her shoulder as we run.

As we get closer and closer to the edge of the cliff somehow I'm not as scared as I thought I would be. I mean for crying out loud I have super healing and can fly. Is a cliff jump going to scare me?

As we get closer and the dirt under the grass starts to turn into sand and before I know it, it starts to feel as if we're running into the sunset itself and not just the ocean.

"Now jump!" Anastasia screams over the wind.

I jump and the next thing I know I'm falling. I look down to see they were right, when Lyra and I were climbing up the cliff the tide was coming in and now the whole beach has been covered in the amber-colored water.

A chill creeps through me as the cold saltwater covers me from head to toe. My arms are thrown wide behind me as I slowly open my eyes, the saltwater sting my eyes but the view is amazing.

The water surrounds me on all sides as my hair swims around me like it has its own mind, below me I can see the white sand on what used to be the beach, small fish, sea stars, and even crabs scuttle around. I can even see multi-colored anemone waving like small flowers.

It's beautiful.

But before I realize it my head has broken the water and I can see out into the ocean, nothing in sight but I can also feel the cool winds behind me.

Eulalia, Lyra, and Anastasia are all beside me. I let out a laugh, I'm exhausted but it was amazing. We all stay there in the cold ocean water as we watch the sunset into the water, laughing and even throwing water at each other.

"Welcome to Themyscira Dawn."