The evening was bright and beautiful as Cilla picked a yellow flower off the grass. She held it toward her nose and sniffed the sweet aroma from its pollen.
As she turned her back to the ground to face the beautiful sunny sky, she imagined flying through the sky as the sun touched her light smooth skin.
She loved flowers blooming on a sunny day. They helped her relax while resting from her hard day of training.
As she glanced at the sky, she stroked her long blonde hair. She wished she could relax forever than fight with her fellow Amazonian sisters.
"Hey, Cilla!" Katina's voice shouted. "Make your ass useful this time! I need a sparring partner!"
Cilla sighed and sat up. While stretching her arms, she glared at Katina, standing in the middle of the small training field near the Amazon city.
Katina wore her silver chain mail chest plate and her short armor skirt over her black leather boots. She tied her long silver-blonde hair in a ponytail that stretched over her left shoulder. Although slender, her muscled body was strong enough to lift a bull.
Compared to Katina, Cilla was taller with a slim athletic body, making her one of the fastest-moving Amazon warriors in their kingdom. She didn’t need to shed her muscles to become strong like the other women. Maybe because she was more of a gentle type than a ruthless type.
“Katina, why can’t you leave me in peace?” she asked in her soft voice. "You have that training dummy here."
Katina glared at the wooden mannequin wearing a bronze helmet. She growled like a dog and kicked the contraption to the ground. "That thing is a piece of crap! I need a real woman to dominate!"
Cilla glanced at Labda. "Labda! Can you practice with Katina this time? I am not in a sparring mood!"
Sitting on a stone bench, Labda yawned and rolled up a scroll. The dark-skinned woman wore a golden breastplate and a golden chain mail skirt with a leather belt. Unlike Cilla and Labda, she has leather sandals that expose her golden painted toenails. She was taller than both of them, with long light brown hair touching her shoulders.
Labda glared at Cilla, pursuing her big dark-orange lips. "Can't you see I'm reading, Cilla? My mind is fully occupied."
Katina hissed through her teeth. "What kind of women are you? None of your asses would last in the battle!"
Labda's eyes turned narrowly toward Katina. "Is that a challenge?"
Katina smirked. "Show me what you got, and I won't call you chicken for the rest of your life."
Labda rolled up the scroll and placed it down. "Let's get on with it then."
From beneath the bench, she pulled out her trident weapon and carried it toward Katina. "You will see I am not a chicken."
Cilla giggled as she sat on the bench. "Thank you, Labda!"
"Quiet, girl! Let the adults handle this! I must show this woman I am still capable at fighting."
Cilla puffed her cheeks. She hated all the women calling her a little girl. She might be younger than the two, but she wasn't a little girl. When will every Amazon sister respect her?
Katina picked up her shield and mace, her favorite weapons. "Are you prepared to feel pain?"
Labda smirked. "Are you prepared to feel your pain?"
Katina clenched her teeth and charged with her mace raised.
Labda ducked and swung her trident fast. She swiped Katina off her feet.
Katina fell, landing on her shield. She rose on all-fours but paused when the center blade on Labda's trident touched her cheek.
"I studied your moves many times, Katina," said Labda. "You are quite predictable."
Katina growled, showing off her white gritted teeth.
Cilla knew Katina doesn’t appreciate defeat from anyone. She whether die than face defeat.
“Enough you two!” a woman’s voice shouted. “I demand your attention!”
Cilla glanced past Labda and Katina, seeing their trainer, Orthia, approaching their destination. The women immediately stood side by side and bowed to the tall, muscled middle-aged blonde woman.
“Forgive us, Orthia,” said Labda. “We were only-”
“There is no time to listen to your childish games,” said Orthia in her deep voice. “The new queen wants to speak with you.”
Cilla widened her eyes. “The new queen?”
Orthia frowned. “Yes….. Penthesilea is now in charge.”
“What about Queen Hippolyta?” Katina asked. “I thought she is our queen.”
“Not anymore….. She was murdered last night.”
Cilla’s heart dropped, and a cold chill swiped through her skin. “Murdered?”
Orthia took a deep breath. “Penthesilea will explain all the details to you, but you must come immediately. All three of you.”
“Why only us?” Cilla asked.
Orthia raised her left eyebrow while her other eye glared. “You dare question our new queen?”
Cilla shook her head. “My apologies.”
Amazons who questioned their superiors were whipped or locked in pits where the sun burned their skin. Every warrior must obey, even if it meant sacrificing their life.
“I hope you will watch your tongues when you meet Penthesilea,” Orthia warned. “She isn’t kindful as her sister.”
Cilla nodded and followed Orthia with her companions. How could Hippolyta be murdered in her own home? She was the daughter of Ares and the first Amazon queen, Otrera. No mortal enemy could ever achieve the chance to kill her successfully. So who did it?
*****
Inside the throne chamber, Cilla, Labda, and Katina kneeled before Queen Penthesilea, who sat on her throne at the back of the white marble chamber. The young woman was very beautiful with dark curly hair, wearing a white greek robe that barely covered her long legs.
She might be one of the most alluring women in Themiscyra, but she was more of a warrior than a merciful princess. Now in charge, who knew how she would change the city to her own liking.
“Heracles is the one who murdered my sister,” she explained, gritting her hands on her throne arms. “He took her belt and ran off like a fleeing cowardly lion. Even worse, his companion kidnapped Antiope and took her to Athens. For this treachery, I am declaring war on the Athenians to rescue my sister. I also want Heracles’s head, but unfortunately, I cannot do both. You three will hunt down Heracles and execute him. If he has my sister’s belt, you will bring it back too.”
Labda glanced up at her queen. “If you may, my queen. I would like to ask you one question.”
Penthesilea rested her chin on her fist. “I will grant you one question if it doesn’t waste my time.”
Labda cleared her throat. “Why us, specifically? Katina is suitable, but Cilla is young and fragile. I am more of a scholar than a warrior."
Penthesilea pursed her lips into a grin. “I expected all my women to fight at all cost. Since I never heard of you women fighting, I thought it would be wise to give you something to do. I will not ignore anyone who never tasted blood before."
Cilla gulped. Their new queen sounded ruthless and very strict. She was clearly the opposite of Hippolyta.
Penthesilea pointed her finger at the three women. "You will find Hercules and bring his head back here. If you don't, your punishment will be death. Understand?"
Cilla and her sisters nodded their heads in agreement.
Penthesilea smiled and directed her finger toward the door. "Dismiss, and don't return without his head!"
The woman rose and strolled to the door.
"I like our new queen," Katina whispered.
Cilla rolled her eyes. She doesn't like Penthesilea, but she will obey her for the sake of avenging Hippolyta. The kindful quen was like a mother to Cilla; the only Amazon who respected her. Heracles will pay for her murder
*****
Two years passed since the three Amazon women left their home. After slaying monsters and completing quests for folks with rewarding riches, the women reached Tiryns, the home of King Eurystheus. They learned the king was responsible for ordering Heracles to get Hippolyta's belt. So they managed to sneak into his palace and interrogate him while he took a bath. Katina wanted to kill the king, but Labda said one war was enough for the Amazons.
King Eurystheus said he sent Heracles on his final labor to finish his punishment for murdering his family. He has to travel to the Underworld and bring Cerberus to his kingdom. The task was supposed to be difficult since nobody could tame the three-headed hellhound. If he fails, the gods will punish him to death.
This gave the women a clever idea. If they reach the Underworld before Heracles, they could stop him from completing the labor. Then their quest will finally come to an end, and then they can return home.
After they left the king in his bath, the women traveled to Taenarum where they entered a dark rocky cave with a tunnel, leading them miles down to the Underworld.
"Oh no!" Cilla gasped.
Katina glanced back at her, glaring. "What’s your problem?"
Cilla gulped. "We forget to ask King Eurystheus to give us back Hippolyta's belt."
Katina dropped her mouth. "Are you shitting me-"
"Calm yourselves!" Labda shouted in front of them. "Once we sabotage Hercules's labor, we will return to Tiryns and get the belt. Do not forget it."
Katina sighed. "I won't if Cilla doesn't f**k it up."
Cilla glared at her. "Well excuse me!"
At the end of the tunnel, the Amazons stopped near an enormous ghostly looking water. White mist glowed across the drifting surface as moaning sounds haunted Cilla’s ears. Her skin chilled, listening to the sounds of the dead.
“I believe this is the River of Styx,” Labda whispered.
Katina kneeled toward the shore and stuck her finger into the water. Something screamed, and Katina fell to the ground onto her butt.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
"Shit!" Her body shivered. "What in Hades was that?"
Labda crossed her arms and shook her head. "Souls of the dead, fool. This is the Underworld."
Cilla observed the water. "Can we cross it?"
Labda glared at her. “Highly no. We will not make it to the other side.”
Katina flung her hands up. “Then how are we supposed to cross it?”
With a grin, Labda picked up a rock and tossed it into the water. A tiny splash echoed in the distance without disturbing the dead.
Katina chuckled. “Is that supposed to summon a sea nymph to carry us across?”
Labda grinned at her. “Better than a sea nymph.”
From the darkness, a boat drifted toward the beach, stopping before it touched the shore. A tall figure stood on the boat, wearing a heavy black coat with a hood over its head. It has two skeleton hands, gripping a long paddle to steer the longboat. After the boat stopped, its red eyes glared at the women from beneath its dark hood. “Greetings, mortals. I can smell that you are not dead. How very fortunate you came here alive.”
His voice sounded very cold, sending shivers up Cilla’s spine.
Labda stepped toward the boat. “We demand you to give us passage across the River of Styx, Charon. We wish to reach the Gate of Acheron on the other side.”
Charon drummed his bony fingers on his paddle. “May I ask why you wish me to escort you to Hades? Only the dead can enter the Underworld.”
“Not the gods either?” Katina added.
The skeleton man chuckled, clicking his teeth. “Actually, anyone can cross, for a price.”
“What price?” Cilla asked.
Charon held out his palm. “One obol for each passenger.”
Labda clenched her teeth. “Shit! We don’t have any.”
Charon laughed like an old man coughing through the smoke. “Then I can’t help you, young ladies. Go back, or die here.”
Labda turned around and gestured Katina and Cilla to approach her closely. The women huddled together with their arms over each shoulder.
“There is no turning back now,” she whispered.
Cilla nodded. “Of course, Heracles might be close.”
“So what do you want us to do?” Katina asked.
Labda thinned her lips. “I don’t know. There is no other way around the river. Crossing it is the only way to reach the gate.”
“But we will die if we cross that damned river.”
“As I said, there is no other way.”
Katina growled. “I'll handle this.”
She pushed Cilla and Labda away and stomped toward the boat. “Hey! Bony!”
Charon glanced at her.
“Let us pass, or I will turn you into a pile of bones!” Katina shouted, pounding her fists together.
Charon laughed. “You can’t threaten me. I am-”
Katine lifted him from the boat and tossed him to the ground. While roaring, she jumped and body-slammed his back.
Charon screamed as his back cracked.
Katina rose and kicked him multiple times. “Let us pass!”
Charon groaned. “Never!”
Katina glared at her companions. “Stop staring and help me kick his ass!”
“I have no ass!” Charon cried.
Katina stomped his rear. “Shut up!”
Cilla and Labda glanced at each other until they shrugged. They joined Katina and kicked the fallen bone man while screaming at him.
“Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!” Charon cuddled as kicks and stomps pounded his back. “You’re killing me!”
“Let us pass, bone ass!” Katina shouted, kicking harder and harder.
Charon waved his skeleton hand up, crying. “Okay! Okay! I’ll let you pass! I’ll let you pass!”
The Amazon women smiled and stepped off him.
"Good!" Katina giggled. "Now get your ass up and prepare your boat!"
Charon rose on all-fours, but he fell back down. "Can you….. At least….. Help me get up? I think you cracked all my bones!"
Cilla helped him up while her sisters laughed. Good thing she was more caring than Labda and Katina, although she attacked Charon too. Still, they needed the ferryman to get them across.
*****
Cilla sighed when she spotted the other shore past the river. Relief washed over her as the boat came closer and closer. The more she stared at the water, the more chills swiped through her.
As soon as the boat touched the beach, the women leaped off it.
Charon glared at the women. "Happy now? I hope Hades will break your bones when you meet him."
Katina laughed. "Don't let your paddle slap your bony ass on the way out!"
Charon flipped his bony middle finger up at the woman. "Too bad you didn't break this bone!"
Katina stuck her tongue out at the skeleton man until he vanished into the darkness. She glanced at her sisters. "Now where do we go?"
Labda pointed her trident at a canyon between a tall stone wall. "Through there I suppose."
"Is that where we will ambush Hercules?" Cilla asked.
"No, I shall repeat myself once more." Labda held up her finger. "We will reach the Gate of Acheron and slay the three-headed beast. Without him, Heracles cannot complete his final labor, and the gods will punish him."
“And we don’t have to fight him?” Katina asked.
“No.”
Katina growled. “Dammit! I want to kick his ass!”
“But he is stronger than us,” said Cilla. “He completed eleven impossible labors.”
“We battled monsters before! What makes Heracles so different?”
“He is a demi-god, and we’re not.”
Katina sighed. “I still want to fight him….. For Hippolyta.”
Labda smiled and placed her hand on Katina’s shoulder. “Keep your spirit strong, Katina. We are still doing this for Hippolyta and for our people. If he kills us, we will never return home. Understand?”
Katina frowned, glancing at the floor as if she lost a battle. But she slowly looked back toward Labda’s face and nodded.
“Good, now let’s slay the beast.” Labda headed toward the dark canyon while Katina and Cilla followed her.
Through the canyon, they approached an open dusty field on the other side, facing an enormous black gate in the middle of a giant stone brick wall that stretched miles and miles.
Below the gate, a horse-sized black hound laid on the ground with three heads, snoring. He was muscled with smooth dark brown fur that could be mistaken for leather. Large paws with sharp claws and a whip-shaped tail behind his humped back. Each head wore a spiked collar around his thick neck. With huge jaws, Cerberus could bite anything in half.
"Awwwwwwwww, he looks so cute!" Cilla exclaimed. "Do we have to kill him?"
Katina smirked a mischievous grin. "I can kill him!"
She charged, raising her mace as she screamed a battle cry.
"Katina!" Labda shouted.
The dog's six red eyes opened, glancing at the attacking Amazon.
Before she reached him, Cerberus jumped to his paws and roared. The three heads roared so loud, Katina immediately stopped. "Oh shit!"
The hound charged and head-butted Katina, knocking her back toward her friends. She landed on the ground below their feet and rose while gritting her teeth. "That bastard moved fast!"
"You're lucky he didn't bite off your head." Labda glared at the beast. "We have to strike his legs and stab his chest.”
“I will distract him,” said Cilla, holding up her sword and shield. “You two can circle him while his eyes are on me.”
Labda nodded.
Cilla sprinted toward the monster while Labda and Katina raced to opposite sides. She stopped and waved her sword up, drawing the beast’s attention. “Hey! Over here! I’m more tasty and sweet!”
Cerberus growled and swung his tail. Cilla aimed her shield forward before the tail struck it. It pounded her shield and sent her flying through the air.
When she hit the stone wall, everything turned black.
*****
“Cilla! Cilla! Are you alright?” Labda shook Cilla’s shoulders as the young woman opened her eyes at Labda’s face.
She groaned and rubbed her head, standing up. “I’m fine….. What happened?”
Labda smirked. “We did it. We killed the beast?”
“Huh?” After Cilla’s vision cleared from her blurriness, she saw Katina standing on top of the three-headed hound.
Red marks and blood decorated the dog’s flesh. All his eyes were closed while his tongues hung out from his breathless mouths. More blood leaked out below his wounded belly.
Katina wasn't unscratched either. She has battle bruises all over her skin, and blood dripped down from her lip.
Cilla widened her eyes. “Wow! You actually slew him!”
Katina laughed and jumped off the corpse. She wiped her blood off her mouth. “It wasn’t easy, but Labda stabbed his ass good while he slammed me all over the place."
Cilla sighed. "Thank Ares and Artemis. Now that Cerberus is dead, Hercules can't-"
"WHO DARE SLEW CERBERUS!?" a loud voice echoed from above.
Cilla’s entire flesh turned cold as she glanced up. A black cloud appeared with red glowing eyes. He glared at the three women like a demon.
Cilla gulped. "Are you Hades?"
"Who do you think?" The monstrous voice roared in the dark cloud. "Why did you kill my dog? What the f**k is wrong with you?"
Labda's lips trembled. "Let me explain. We came here to-"
"Silent! I don't care anymore!" Hades roared. "I should kill you all and torture you in the Tartarus for all eternity! But I have a better fate for you because death is too easy!"
Cilla noticed Cerberus's corpse melting into a black puddle of goo. After it stopped, it moved toward the women like water.
"You will become my new Cerberus!" Hades explained. "Three of you will share the same body and share the same pain. You will be stronger, but your will and dignity will be mine. Disobey me, and I will have the pleasure of torturing you. For now on, you will become my three bitches- FOREVER!"
Cilla trembled, watching the black ooze crawl toward her feet. She bumped into Katina and hugged her. Labda joined their embrace as the goo surrounded them.
There was no escape. Hades has them under his fingertips.
When Cerberus's goo flew toward the women, Cilla screamed until she realized she was glancing at a cavern ceiling.
Her massive furry muscled body lay on sandy ground, and she could hear the sound of waves outside. Sunlight barely shined into the cave from the opening.
"Cilla, what's wrong?" Labda asked near her head. "You screamed through my ears."
"Oh….." Cilla’s memory slowly returned inside her canine head.
Back in the Underworld, Medusa created a portal after she turned Hades into a piece of furniture. The portal sucked them all into the past in Greece; the age when the humans worshipped the Gods before the Gods left. When they reached the shore, they decided to rest inside a cave for a while.
Cilla must have dreamed the time when Katina, Labda, and her left Themyscira to avenge their queen. Her spine chilled, remembering the goo melting her and fused her with her sisters into a three-headed beast woman painfully.
After their transformation, Heracles defeated them in a wrestling brawl and brought them back to Tiryns. He completed his labors, and the Cerberus women returned to the Underworld forever. Cilla was the only one who didn't kill Cerberus, but Hades punished her anyway.
"Just a nightmare," Cilla sniffed.
Katina yawned. "Geez, must be one scary nightmare."
"Yeah….." Cilla widened her eyes and looked around. Someone close to her was missing. "Where is Roger?"
Katina yawned again and scratched her red mohawk. "I don't know. Maybe a giant crab ate him."
Cilla scowled at her.
“Hey, girls!” Roger’s voice shouted. “I got breakfast!”
With relief, Cilla saw her beloved human man dragging a great white shark into the cave. Saltwater dripped down his black armor suit, which belonged to Hades. The god of the Underworld gave it to him so he could defeat Acrisius at his level. Since Medusa sent them to the past, Roger has no choice but to keep wearing the armor and carry Hades’s bident. If he loses the gear, the god will burn him alive in Tartarus.
He dropped the shark near the Cerberus women. “I tried to catch a fish, but this thing attacked me in the water. I hated swimming in the ocean.”
Cilla sat up on her knees, gazing at the shark. “Wow! How did you catch it?”
Roger held up the bident. “Did Hades know this weapon is good for fishing?”
“Hardly, but it is a brilliant weapon to catch a fish,” said Labda.
Katina giggled. “Eating a predator is the best meal ever! Let’s feast!”
Cilla sunk her fangs into the shark flesh while the other heads munched the meat like hungry wolves. Although the skin has a urine taste, the red meat was fresh with a salty chicken flavor. As a Cerberus, the women could never get sick from eating raw flesh.
Cilla paused and stared at Roger. “Are you hungry?”
Roger waved his hands. “No thank you. Seafood is not my taste. I’ll hunt something when we leave.”
Cilla shrugged her right shoulder. “Very well.”
She continued to devour the shark until only bones and blood was left. She bulged and licked the blood off her muzzle. “Yummy!”
Katina padded the women’s belly. “Damn, I feel full now.”
“We all do,” Labda corrected. “Now I believe it is time to plan our next move.”
“About time! I was getting bored inside this stupid ass cave.”
Roger sat down and crossed his legs. “So what is the new plan?”
Labda rubbed her chin. “In order to return to the present, we need to find Chronos, the god of time. He is the only one with time-traveling powers.”
“But did Medusa appear here too? She might still have the scepter,” Cilla mentioned.
Labda shook her head. “I am not sure, but she could be anyway. But if we can meet the gods, they will help us.”
“Where can we find them?” Roger asked.
“Why, at Mount Olympus, silly,” Cilla giggled. “All the gods live up there.”
“Except Hades and a few others,” Katina added.
Roger bit his lip. “I should have studied Greek mythology more.”
Labda laughed. “We will guide you, handsome. After all, we grew up in this time period.”
Roger smiled at him. “How do we get there?”
“Well, we can either walk or search for one of the gods’ temples. They will come to our call.”
“And they will believe you are Hades in that suit,” said Cilla.
Roger stared at the helmet next to him. “Is that a bad thing?”
“We will explain everything to them so they won’t harm you,” said Labda. “But they do hate mortals posing as them with their sacred gear.”
Roger gulped.
“So that is your plan?” Katina asked. “Find a temple, get summoned to Mount Olympus, and meet Chronos to send us home.”
“What if Medusa is here?” Cilla asked. “She could ruin the timeline.”
Labda narrowed her eyes with a little grin. “Then the gods will hunt her. Reaching Mount Olympus is our only task to return to the present.”