Purple is the colour of royalty. Purple is the colour of love.

The trek to the purple ray was not a long one, both guards carefully brought the elderly Phin Thracy with them into the tall chamber with their queen and Stewart behind them, along with an additional pair of guards who staggered behind, keeping an eye on the worried Gary Thracy and his son being carried in his arms to keep up. Slowing down only to soak in the large antechamber of the purple ray, Gary found the architecture was the same as Diana’s quarters or of the other buildings in the city, filled with tapestries, art and frescos that made up the domed structure of the ceiling, except for one striking detail.

The grand interior was filled with a deep purple light coming from what Gary at first thought was a bulb like you would find from a lamp. But instead, it was a kind of… Lense, like from a magnifying glass. Tinted purple and angled in such a way that it drew in sunlight from an aperture above the center of the arch of the ceiling, sunbeams poured light through the crystal and bathed the entire room with purple light. It was strange, the moment he stepped into the room it felt… Soothing, his muscles felt relaxed, and the ache in his back from carrying his son seemed a distant memory.

“Place him there.” Commanded the queen, pointing to a stone carved table at the far wall, the two guards rested Phin over it like a bed, a cushion placed under his head as he wheezed and hissed out shallow breathes. Trying to step towards the table, Gary found another spear tip aimed his way, giving him the gist to stay put.

“Daddy, is grandpa going to be okay?”

“We shall wait and see child.” Answered Phillipus, taking the other side of the table across from her queen, the two watching the man intently as his breathing steadied. “The purple ray is a gift, a gift of healing powered by love itself.”

Seeing Phin’s breathing slow and grow deeper, the elderly man’s complexion gained more colour, the palpitation dripping from his brow, neck and arms ceasing. Seeing him heal further thanks to the light of the purple ray, Queen Hippolyta looked to her four guards and the two they surrounded. Standing with a greater poise, the Queen nodded to the closest guard.

“At ease, my Amazons.” Seeing them turn their attention back to her, their spears were pulled back. “You two are likely hungry this morning, my sisters, bring them something to eat, if this one’s medicine is in the possession of our librarian and scholar, escort them to our libraries to fetch it.”

“What of HIM your majesty? Would you not want us to guard you from the man?” Nodded Atla towards Phin, leading Hippolyta to narrow her eyes back at her royal guards.

“WE are not threatened by the prone and feeble, besides, Phillipus is all the protection I need here. Now go.”

Saluting, the four gently guided the father and son out of the healing temple of the purple ray. The two whispering to each other as they made it to the threshold of the door.

“CAN WE SEE GRANDPA LATER?” Called out the young boy, stopping the guards in their place as they turned to their queen.

Folding her hands in front of her, Queen Hippolyta approached Gary and his son, the sight of her making the boy blink and lean back against the arms of his father as the withered crone almost towered over his dad by almost half a foot, staring down at the now worried child, just as her glassy eyes softened, and she bent at the waist to see him eye to eye.

“When we are certain that he will be well, you can see him child, now go, your morning feast awaits.”

Looking back to her guards with a nod, the amazons knew her desires without needing to hear another word, guiding the two outside where the Queen turned at her heel and returned to the table. Looking down at the old man now soundly asleep, the Queen’s demeanor remained stern.

“What do you think my love?”

Raising a hand to gently feel the heat off Phin’s brow, the elderly looking woman frowned.

“He is cold to the touch… But he is getting warmer.”

“Indeed, colour has been restored to his pale skin.” Reaching out to feel his hand, the queen noticed his fingers did not yield at first when she snaked her fingers around his. They seemed… Stiff, like stone. Slowly turning his hand over, she found his knuckles appeared enflamed, the finger bones almost fused together at the joints. Making his hands all but useless. “Time is truly cruel to the men of man’s world.”

Rubbing a thumb over the back of his hand, Hippolyta found his arthritis slowly fading away, the joints of his finger bones regaining their cartilage and the fingers falling limp where before they were frozen in rigor. Tracing her hand over his arm, she watched as previous scars from decades long ago faded and healed until there were no trace. Looking past his arm, she found something leathery poking out of the pocket of his pants. Curiosity getting the better of her, she reached out for it and plucked the wallet out where it opened as soon as it landed in her hand.

“What is this?”

Not understanding the purpose of the leather-bound item, she traced her finger over a few plastic cards held in thin folds, sliding them out easily with her thumb to find they bore iconography she did not understand, thumbing them back into place until she found something else catch her attention. Plucking the water-stained photograph out of its sleeve, the Queen narrowed her eyes, tilting her head to the picture of the man on the table, many decades younger in a black suit with a woman in a white dress and soft brown hair kissing him on the cheek. Handing the photograph to Phillipus, the woman looked over the picture, tilting her own head in fascination.

“She seems… Happy.”

“Happy… With him.”

Finding more photos in the wallet, Hippolyta sifted through each of them. Some were damaged from the sea water the man washed up from but were still intact to show a clear image. One of them showed both at a beach, waving back at the viewer from the safety of a parasol. Another of the woman holding a bundled child in her lap, sitting in bed with a tired smile on her face. Another where the two were standing in… Outlandish costumes. Her, wearing a blue dress with red shoes, her hair braided in pig tails while he in what could be best described as the scare crows her farming sisters used to keep out starlings from the crops. The child now older and wearing a dog costume as he dangled between their hands. The three smiling together.

“This one… Is not like the men of so long ago.” Mused Phillipus, putting the photos gently back where they were found. She placed it to the same of the table, folding her hands over its polished surface as she checked his hands in hers. The arthritis deposits had all but disappeared now, his fingers yielding as she snaked hers between his and gently squeezed. “Even though it was centuries, I have known their barbed whips across my back and course hands around my neck. This one could hardly hold a cup, let alone a truncheon to strike with.”

“So much time has passed, with us blessed to endure its currents like a stone in a river, while man has faded and wilted like grass after a harsh winter.”

Looking down more closely at his serene face, she noticed even from the wrinkles and bags under his eyes, his lips and cheeks bore laugh lines. Showing he had a more jovial disposition in his past. When the Queen had first met him, his face was a mask of pain, at first, she had assumed it was from being detained, but now she had to wonder. It was then a gurgling sound from the man’s stomach alerted the two to his chest and waist. His pot belly began to deflate, his chest rising with each breath with more ease as the wastes and excess fluids in his body all but evaporated, leaving his clothing slack and baggy, now oversized after losing several inches to his waistline.

“That, that was not fat.” Stated Phillipus, leaning her head back at the implications. The purple ray healed the body, it did not take away what exercise or disciplined diet could do alone. Whatever that was, excess growths, tumors, cysts, she was unsure. But now they were gone. Their absence now showing how much space they previously took and poisoned his quality of living. “What ailments have you suffered? How LONG have you suffered until now?” She asked Phin, knowing he was still in no condition to answer.

Despite herself, the Queen found herself bringing a hand over to his thin, grey hair, combing her nails gently over his scalp almost affectionately as the question rung through her mind, as did the photos she had seen earlier.

“You… You are a monument to suffering, and yet you make the effort to show two people happiness.”

Leaning down, the Queen of the Amazons kissed Phin Thracy on the forehead. Followed swiftly by Phillipus, pulling the veil away from her elderly and blistered face to kiss his brow. The two showing pity for the man even as he healed in the light of the purple ray… Then something happened.

Hippolyta breathed in sharply as a shiver coursed up her spine, forcing her to close her eyes at the sensation as she felt her entire body crick and creak, as if her bones were realigning themselves. She had felt this sensation before, during the horrors of that terrible night, but this felt different, felt… Pleasant. In the span of seconds, she felt her clothing feel tight over her, where once it felt baggy and draped over her shallow frame. The tightness coming from her hips and chest while the rest of her body felt stronger, healthier. Looking down, she watched as her emaciated hands regained their vigor and plump, no longer looking like the skeletal hands of a dying woman, her fingernails cleanly manicured and glistened with a polished sheen. Another shiver went up her neck as she felt her hair regain its volume, full dark locks grew where it had previously fallen out, framing her face as it cascaded down her shoulders and back.

Gasping, Hippolyta raised her hands to feel her face, now smooth skinned, unblemished, and perfect. Her lips had plumped, and her cheeks rosined, pliant to the gentle caressed of her fingers. She did not realise the scope of the changes until she looked up to her consort, who pried off the veil around her face and neck to free her now regrown hair, shaking it loose after pulling down her hood and letting it hang down over her left shoulder. The woman’s beauty had been fully restored, her green eyes returned to a sparkling emerald, her face, once sallow and weathered was now smooth skinned and angelic.

“My Queen!” She gasped, moving around the table to approach Hippolyta and raise a hand to gently stroke the Amazon queen’s supple cheek. “You are magnificent.”

“And you…”

Too emotional with relief and joy to complete her sentence, the Queen pulled her closest advisor and lover close to embrace and share a deep kiss. The two closing their eyes as their lips joined together.