E8: Wonder Woman #1

[Spider-Man Beyond]

E:8 Wonder Woman #1
Helper of Men Part 1 of 4

Written by Colee Wisemiller
Edited by Daniel Dyer

"Youth fades; love droops, the leaves of friendship fall;
A mother's secret hope outlives them all.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)

Cassandra Sandsmark was born in Gateway City, USA. She grew up in a single parent household due to her father’s death from a prolonged illness. This happened before she celebrated her fifth birthday causing the few memories of him she had to quickly fade as the years passed. Her mother, Helena Sandsmark, vowed to give Cassandra the best life possible. That meant long days in the office to ensure she could afford the best education.

Helena worked for an auction house. Over the years she became the go to person whenever it came to selling any priceless artifact from an ancient time because of her passion for the past. Before her husband passed away she was on her way to become an archeologist, something she wanted so desperately to be since she was a young girl visiting a friend of her parents’ in Greece. Something about the many mysteries left to be discovered caught her attention. After the death, Helena decided to put a hold on that dream, thus her career in selling antiques started.

Life was kind to the duo. The two shared a solid relationship. Promotions managed to reach Helena quicker than expected and a career in archeology was a probable future for her. Cassandra was quiet, choosing to be an observer of life as she liked to call it. She loved being outside, inhaling the fresh air and watching the clouds in the early morning or the stars late at night all the while wondering if anything else was out there, hoping there was something better out there.

Granted she wasn't a popular one, something about the way those girls paraded around as if they owned the world shied her away from that. She wasn't a book worm either. It wasn't that she wasn't intelligent, she had the potential to be top in the class, she just didn't see a purpose for that. She was a loner more than anything, and she was proud of it.

Cassandra knew she was different. Something about her just wasn't the same as the other girls. Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary, yet she knew she was unique. She was positive other ten year old girls did not think like her or have the powers she did. Of course at the time she had no powers but she knew one day she would.

One afternoon after school Cassandra was dropped off at Gateway Antiques, the auction house her mother worked at. It started out as her visits usually did, first her mother would make it a point to spend the beginning of her trip discussing the day. They'd share the most exciting events first, sometimes exaggerating a bit. Then Helena would have to return to her duties. These varied depending on the account.

This particular afternoon fell on the day the Kapatelis family's collection arrived. Helena still had to archive over half of the collection and Cassandra was supposed to stay occupied doing homework and what not in her office. “I’ll be back soon kiddo. Deborah is in her office if you’re bored and you know where the snacks are.” And so began the rest of Cassandra’s life.

~*~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Something was nagging at Cassandra, calling her to a particular piece. A chess, dated sometime before the time of Christ, sat on a table not too far away. It was small, barely larger than a cigar box, however twice as deep. There were several fading pictures of what could have been various myths. The chess itself had some type of puzzle as a lock.

Helena had started to examine it, but was side tracked when Cassandra arrived. Knowing better than to touch such a relic she ignored her mind's plea to open it. As time passed the feeling became unbearable and before Cassandra knew what she was doing the chess was opened.

She prudently peered into it, hoping nothing was ruined. To her relief, or perhaps disappointment, the inside was bare. After taking a moment to reflect on her foolishness for risking the condition of the item simply for some gut feeling she had, several thoughts crossed her mind. How was it she knew how to open the chess despite what looked like a solid attempt to prevent anyone from doing such a thing? Most importantly, how did she open it without her recalling of doing so?

Before she could process everything she heard footsteps approaching the door. Quickly, and as carefully as time would allow, she closed the chess and scattered to the chair she was sitting on previously. Just as she picked up the book she was reading her mother opened the door.

Cassandra pretended to be too involved in her studies to notice her. Helena smiled at the sight, proud to see all the hard work paid off. “I’ll be right back. Then we’ll get some ice cream on the way home. Okay with you?”

Cassandra took a second to respond to better sell her performance, “Yup! Sounds great!” Once Helena left she let out a sigh of relief. If her mother had come any closer she would have seen that she wasn’t reading the book at all. How could she if it were upside down?

~*~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

That evening Cassandra could not help but think about the chess. She had a conscience after all, and felt terrible about being so careless. If anything was damaged because of her, Helena would get the heat and that did nothing more than make her feel worse. She still could not remember opening the chess. It was as if those few minutes were erased from her memory.

Her sleep was filled with nightmares about it. She was older, twenty-something, and was wearing what appeared to be golden armor and a golden Corinthian helmet. She tightly grasped a Machaira Sword in one hand and a shield made of nothing she had seen before in the other. Her surrounding wasn't exact, somewhere underground, perhaps in a cave. She sensed others with her, but could not see nor hear them. Straight ahead illuminated by a small patch of fire was the cause of her troubles.

With her heart racing, adrenaline pumping and no clue as to what was going on Cassandra walked towards it. Cries of pain and suffering echoed off the walls, cries that made her realize she was badly wounded and in great pain herself. As she continued her journey a woman hissed, "The daughter returnssss. How precioussss." Suddenly, a half snake, half woman creature slithered out of the darkness.

"Echidna," the name spat effortlessly out of Cassandra's mouth, "It ends now!"

Cassandra plunged towards the lady serpent. Her sword sliced into green flesh and Echidna wailed in pain, "Enough, you wretched ssss..." Both stopped, knowing full well someone else was there.

"She's mine, Echidna, just as she should've been. Leave!" Cassandra heard the voice, raspy and filled with hate, but could not find its owner. Echidna slithered away, saying something inaudible. She took a deep breath while trying to regroup and noticed for the first time the stench of something rotting. Until now she hadn't noticed it but as the seconds passed it was getting stronger. "Tonight you, Cassandra, daughter of Helena, are safe. Tomorrow you are mine."

Cassandra jolted up in bed, screaming. Helena rushed into her room. No words were exchanged but none were needed. Helena had an idea about what happened, and so she turned to the only person she felt could help.

~*~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

The next day, Cassandra was on a plane with one of her mother's close friends, Art. Helena decided it would be in the best interest of Cassandra if she left for awhile. At the time Cassandra did not understand what this meant, but her mother promised all would make sense in time.

As the mother and daughter shared their final good-byes a tear fell from Helena’s eye.

“Mom, you’re so dramatic. I’ll be back soon.”

Helena couldn’t help but laugh. She took a moment to take a mental picture of her Cassandra, so naive about her destiny. For a beat she considered taking back her promise to the red haired lady standing at Cassandra’s side. At that second she wanted to tell her everything, to give her a choice. Then reality sunk in. The fates would not change fate for anyone, man or god. Cassandra would have to grow up fast.

“Yeah, Cassie, we’ll see each other soon.” They shared one last hug. Cassandra and Art headed towards their line. Cassandra looked back one last time and waved, a bright smile spread across her face. That was when Helena saw what everyone had told her, why her daughter was so special. Her smile gave hope to a world in great need of it. With that Helena watched as her daughter left her life, possibly forever.

Continued....