Medusa and Lewis strolled through an alley toward the warehouse district. She was back in her human form, so nobody on the street would notice her strange appearances. Lewis kept his hood over his deformity.

They have been walking for so long; the sun was already raising. Medusa yawned, but she kept rubbing her eye pupils to keep moving. She needed to examine the Cetus's head to figure out how she could reanimate him. And her mind was like a library, full of knowledge.

Lewis doesn't look tired. He kept walking with his purple eyes widened. Perhaps golem minions don't need sleep to help their stone bodies to recover. Her magic fueling inside him kept him in motion. Without it, he would remain as a mindless statue.

Medusa yawned again. Maybe sleep first should help her prepare her mind for studying the artifact.

"Tired?" Lewis asked, strolling behind her.

Medusa rubbed her right eye. “A little, but I am too excited about my victory.”

“You should rest before our enemies find us. I’m not sure I need rest too.”

“You don’t, that’s why I changed you into that form. You are stronger and flawless.”

“Maybe, but how long?”

Medusa sighed. “As long as I need you. But you’re right. I should get some sleep today.”

“I will watch over you.”

Medusa smiled at him. You make a delightful pet.

Past two more buildings, they reached the warehouse, now in full view beneath the sunlight. It looked more damaged than how it appeared last night.

Pieces of dry wood fluttered off its surface, windows remained broken, and a potent smell of seaweed drifted through the air.

Of course, they were close to the ocean, but Medusa never saw it when Lewis brought her to his hideout. Still, she couldn’t wait to relax on the couch. It may not be a beautiful soft queen-size bed, but it will do until Medusa could conquer the human world.

After Lewis pulled the door open, Medusa peeked through and dropped her mouth. She almost thought nobody else could find her secret lair. How foolish of herself.

Inside the warehouse, two women were eating bags of chips while watching the television set. As Medusa gained a closer look, she realized they weren’t human at all.

The tallest brown woman has two sharp black horns on her head above her long black hair. Bull horns kind of. She wore a white tank top, exposing her massive thick muscular arms, and skinny cut off black shorts that gave her colossus legs some breathing over her black combat boots. Her chisel face was a little narrow with a golden ring, hanging through her bull snort. Long ears pointy and a long tail with black hair on the tail’s tip that could be mistaken for a brush.

Her companion, sitting next to her on the couch, appeared human with short raven brunette hair, blue eyes, red lips, and creamy Caucasian skin. Unlike her companion, she has an outstanding beauty that would make Medusa very jealous, However, the woman’s long scorpion tail, sticking out from under her red dress, would scare away her admirers.

“Who’s in god’s name are you two?” Medusa shouted.

The two monster women stopped their munching and glanced at Medusa. Pieces of chips covered their mouths.

“Who the f**k are you?” the minotaur woman asked.

“I am Medusa, and this is my lair!”

“I thought nobody lives here,” said the scorpion woman. “This blows!”

The minotaur woman laughed. “Well, I didn’t see her name here. Finders keepers.”

Medusa gritted her teeth.

How could her lair be discovered by two foolish monsters? She was sure nobody else could find her place in an area where people rarely venture to. Maybe she should have built defenses around the warehouse to keep anyone out. If she created more golem minions or found scrapes to build traps, she wouldn’t have this problem now. “How did you find this place?”

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The monster women shrugged.

“After we robbed a clothing shop, we hid here,” the scorpion woman answered.

“Where else could we freaking hide?” the minotaur woman asked.

Obviously they escaped from the Underworld. Medusa released them to make her escape easier. Now she was regretting it.

I have enough of this. I need to rest! Medusa pointed her staff at the women. “Get out now!”

The women glared at her.

“Or what?” the minotaur woman asked.

“Or I will send you back to the underworld where you belong.”

The minotaur woman tossed the bag of chips to the floor and rose. She punched her large fists together and snorted like a bull. “I’ll turn you into ground beef before you do!”

Medusa spread her feet out, ready to fight. She never fought a minotaur before, but she heard about the famous Minotaur who was slain by Theseus. The Minotaur was extremely strong, stronger than both man and bull himself. In fact, the people would consider him as strong as an army of bulls. But Theseus was the only mortal who managed to kill the bull-man with one sword. Anyone could kill the Minotaur if they have the wit and skills to outsmart the creature. But magic could defeat anything.

The minotaur female charged.

Medusa blasted a purple energy ball, but the beast woman leaped over it. She reached Medusa and punched her so hard, she sent Medusa falling into a wall.

After she slammed against the wall, her green form returned and her snake hair hissed. The minotaur approached her until Lewis charged into her.

He pushed her to the floor and swung his fist toward her face. She grabbed his fist and caught his other fist before he tried to punch her again. Both of them growled at each other in a struggle in a gurgling tag of war.

“Wait!” The scorpion woman jumped off the couch and dashed toward Medusa. “I know you!”

Medusa rose while rubbing the back of her head. “How?”

The scorpion she-beast pointed her finger at her. “You’re Medusa! The one who set us free!”

“You knew I was the one who began the riot?”

“Oh yes! We followed your lead to the gateway! If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be here!” The scorpion woman turned toward the minotaur woman and kicked her. “Anysia! Release him!”

The minotaur, Anysia, stopped and peered intently at her companion with her eyes widened. “But….. But-”

“Do it!”

Anysia rolled her eyes and pushed Lewis off her. She rose and brushed her shorts.

Medusa turned to Lewis. “Step away, Lewis. Let them talk.”

Lewis got up and stepped away.

“So you know me,” Medusa stated, holding up her staff.

“Yes, well, we heard your story before we died and got imprisoned in the underworld,” the scorpion woman explained. “But we are one of your fans!”

Medusa grinned a small smile of satisfaction. “Ooooooooh.”

“By the way, my name is Nysa and my friend is Anysia.”

Medusa glanced at the minotaur woman. “You’re a minotaur?”

Anysia approached Nysa’s side. “My father was the Minotaur and a bastard. He raped my human mother in his labyrinth before Theseus arrived and killed him. After she escaped, she birthed me in Cythera and died. A family of farmers raised me before a group of bandits butchered them. I survived alone in the wild before I met Nysa.”

“I was born like this,” said Nysa, raising her scorpion tail. “My mother was stung by a Scorpioch while pregnant. A witch cured her, but the poison changed me before my birth. My parents took care of me until the villagers saw my tail. They sent soldiers to get rid of me. I survived, but my parents weren’t fortune. All my life, I robbed and killed to survive. I soon met Anysia, and we teamed up to survive together.”

“We met our fates when three Amazonian bimbos discovered our lair and defeated us,” said Anysia. “Thus we were sentenced to the Tartarus to be damned. We never saw sunlight ever again.”

“How interesting,” said Medusa.

Nysa bowed to Medusa. “We are very sorry for stumbling into your lair! Please forgive us by letting us become your servants.”

Anysia turned to her. “What?”

Nysa pulled the minotaur’s ear, silencing her. “We will do anything for you!”

Medusa rubbed her chin.

She wouldn’t mind having two strong minions, but the girls were being annoying. Perhaps they could keep the Cerberus while she prepares to summon Cetus. It would help her more than being bothered by the fools. “There is one thing you can do.”

The scorpion girl smiled brightly. “Yes?”

“The Cerberus who tried to stop me is here. I want you to find her and kill her. If you can bring her heads to me, I will let you rule by myself.”

Nysa jumped up with joy. “Yes! We will do that!”

“What are your plans?” Anysia asked.

“Just find her and get rid of her,” Medusa ordered. “She is with a human, wearing a guardsman uniform. I suggest finding him first.”

"What does he look like?" Anysia asked.

Medusa looked around until she approached a box. She picked up a pad of paper and a pen.

She drew a picture of the human who was with the Cerberus. After she finished, she showed the picture to the monster women. "He looks like this."

The minotaur woman narrowed her eyes at the picture. "That drawing looks like shit."

Medusa glared. "You dare question my work of art?"

"Oh, no no no no no! It looks fine!" Nysa shouted while waving her hands.

"Good." Medusa handed the drawing to the scorpion woman. "Now go before I change my mind.”

The monster girls nodded their heads and left.

Medusa turned to Lewis. “I need to rest now. To watch for me.”

Lewis nodded. “As you wish.”