Sybilla faces her challange at Tartarus and disobeys the Gods. She also realizes some very important things about herself and what she did.

Theodora rode out with her sister Sybilla most of the day with their assembled guards. Nighttime was coming soon, and it was getting dark.

The two women camped out and ate. Theodora said to Sybilla, “I knew changing you was a big mistake very soon after it happened. I saw the hatred simmering deep in your eyes. I knew there would be anger at me after what I did. But the lever of total hatred simmering in your eyes every time you looked at me was shocking, even to me. It was like a black cauldron of rage that would not die. The consistency you talked about regaining the crown and killing me was also frightening. I knew as dedicated as you are with the level of hatred you had that you would eventually take the crown from me. You will eventually win. Unless I would have you killed or jailed. And I couldn’t do that to you. But you are hurting many people in this. What is it that you really want out of this quest?”

“I want to kill Hekate. I want to watch her die. She must pay for what she did to Serren. He didn’t deserve what happened.”

Theodora shrugged. “Well, if you defeat a Titan. I am sure defeating a Goddess will be easy after that. I just wish you would understand what we wanted and not kill the Goddess. She is really a kind and great Goddess who has very good intentions. We accomplished so much. I wish you would understand.”

“I can't,” Sybilla sneered. “I suffered too much under you all. You destroyed me. I cant forgive it or understand it. You struck at me. I will respond and rip everything you accomplished apart.”

“I half figured you are leading me to my death,” Theodora said to Sybilla.

“No,” Sybilla responded. “I don’t want you to die. After all,” Sybilla flashed a sideways evil smirk, “as I learned, living can be much worse at times. I want you to see how strong I have become and will become after this. If I survive. And I really want to see how you can fight a Titan.”

“Me too,” Theodora said back, “but you are the one with the power of Hera, not me. I really don’t know what you expect me to do in this. I suspect you just want me to die?”

“No, I want you as a witness in this. And to know how helpless you are against these powers.” Sibilla said to her.

“Sybilla,” Theodora responded, “I want to know. Do you really hate being a woman this much?”

“I hated being a woman at first. I felt nothing but rage and total humiliation. I wasn't meant to be a woman, and you know it. This was forced on me. You changed me just to deny me my birthright as a man. But I love it now.” Sybilla responded with a smile. “I feel so much more powerful than I was as Serren. I asked Hera to resolve my internal conflict between my male and my female side. She helped me destroy my male identity, so there was no more internal conflict or humiliation. I accept it now. I feel at peace being a woman. The conflict comes with the abuse I suffered because I was a woman. The rape by your allies. What I suffered at the hands of the witches. Your relentless teasing and the restrictions you placed on me and making me pregnant. Then trying to take the children I delivered. That’s what I hate Theodora. That's why you must fall. It was so stupid that after all of that, you came to me and said you think I learned my lesson, and I know the pain women go through. I learned that from Pyett’s assault within the first month. I learned that from my first period weeks after the transformation. It just got worse. But you enjoyed all of that. But I don’t see you enjoying it anymore. That’s what I enjoy now. Thanks for making me a woman.”

“You’re welcome,” Theodora said acidly, ”I can see why you are still so angry, and I can hardly blame you. The Goddess Hekate really should have protected you. If she wanted us to turn you into a girl. I can see why you are so angry at us that you are willing to destroy all of our hard-won progress and set us back to the rule of man. Sadly, the Goddess couldn’t see this happening. I now think she was very wrong. I really am sorry, Sybilla.”

“Theodora, did you really hate me that much?” Sybilla asked her sister. “I know I said many things that made you mad at me. I still loved you. The things I said where what I was taught about women. But, did it really make you hate me this much?”

“Yes,” Theodora replied with a tight jaw. “You were horrible, but it doesn’t justify the pain that we inflicted on you. That was wrong, but watching your privileged life and you throwing it all in my face enraged me so much. And the fact that I wasn’t even considered for the crown even if I was older. And now that you set everything back frustrates me even more. It makes me so sad that it was all for nothing. Women will live horrible lives of brutal persecution and oppression once again.”

“You have to know why they did this in the first place. The first Valois King lived under the brutal persecution of the Witch Kings during the time of the Matriarchy. Men had to fight for their rights, and they rightfully blamed women, and your Goddess. This is what you don’t understand, Theodora. Had you all reinstated that system, men would have eventually fought back, and it would have resulted in another round of brutal wars. That’s what many of the women wanted when they changed Serren.” Sybilla pointed out.

“What many of those men didn't understand was that I had no intention of reinstituting that system. Men and Women were equal, and I didn’t remove any man from his position under my rule.”

“Yes, you did, you replaced many men with women.” Sybilla looked into Theodora’s eyes. “And many of your allies that helped you gain power over me wanted to reinstitute the Matriarchy. So you can see how we all thought that’s what you were wanting. And you did force it through your edicts of female-only inheritance, and that the crown must go to a female. That’s why there was so much opposition to your rule. And I can't really blame them. As things were going, you would eventually have faced a widespread rebellion and a massive war against you by your own people. I just sped up the process and did it myself. I proved my strength to you and everyone. I showed that I was stronger than any of you thought I was.”

“I know what we all did to you was very wrong,” Theodora pleaded. “I was wrong. I admit that now and I can face that even the Goddess Hekate was wrong. We should have helped you instead of using you to unleash our pent up anger on. We did what we did, and now everything is worse.”

“Do you really hate men,” Sybilla asked a final question. It seemed like she did resent men a lot.

“I hate how many of them treated us,” Theodora snapped, “and I bet your daughter will resent men too.”

“I bet she will,” Sybilla agreed. “But this is all your doing. It would have been much better if you had helped me adapt to being a girl. If you had shown your love and helped guide me instead of treating me cruelly.”

“That’s what inspired your rage at me, and at the women in general. I can admit that I was wrong.”

It took another long day of hard riding until they finally reached a massive darkened cave that was the entrance to the underworld. Sybilla could see the statue of Hades standing in front of the cave. The cave was huge and seemed to be very unnatural. It was as if it was made and not a natural feature of the planet.

Sybilla stood directly in front of the massive statue of Hades, and she spoke to it in the ancient language of the Olympian gods. As she chanted some ancient prayer or request to the statue, Theodora watched as the statue glowed and moved. Then the ground seemed to open up, and she saw steps leading under the ground.

Sybilla walked down the steps with Theodora following. Sybilla said to their guards, “You can’t follow us where we are going. This is something we have to do ourselves. Hades only welcomed us to the underworld. If you follow, you won't return alive. We will.”

Then they went down the steps that seemed to go on forever. Sybilla guessed that they had at least gone several miles down when they entered a room. There were more statues of Hades, and they seemed to make a circle. Then there seemed to be a dark, pulsing circle in the center of the room that would take them somewhere. Sybilla pointed and said, “That is the portal that will take us to Hades’s realm.”

Then Sybilla glared at her sister and said, “This is the life that I wanted to live. I know you also wanted the life of going on quests and adventures around the world. It wasn’t my fault that my father invited me to go with him and left you at home. But I was also my father's son before I became his daughter. I also wanted this life, and it pained me so much that you deliberately left me when you went on your campaign. That was a very cruel thing to do. I know better now, and I invited you to this one with me. I knew you would want to go.”

Theodora laughed bitterly and said, “Oh, thanks, sis. You invite me to the underworld on a quest in Hades’s realm. To fight the king of the Titans. Oh, thanks a lot. I still think you brought me here to die.”

Sybilla snapped, “Sis, If I wanted you to die, then I could have done it.” Sybilla looked at Theodora then reached out her hand. Her body ignited in an ethereal glow, and she tightened her open hand into a fist. It felt like an invisible band had tightened around Theodora’s throat, and she began choking uncontrollably. She couldn’t get any air. Theodora began gagging and choking uncontrollably. She started to blackout and die when Sybilla opened her hand, and Theodora gasp and nearly collapsed. Sybilla cruelly said, “So you see Sis. If I want you to die, it would be no problem. I want to take you on this adventure with me. We are both our father's daughters. Even if I hate you, I can try to be a good little sister even if I am clearly the stronger sister here. Now let's go visit Hades and see if we can find our way through the underworld and find Tartarus.”

Then both sisters leaped through the portal and found themselves standing on the bank of a river of sickening black sludge. And it was so cold that both sisters felt like shivering. Sybilla knew they were on the bank of the river Styx. An ancient rickety boat docked and a sickening looking thin man in a robe welcomed Sybilla on. He said in a voice from the grave, “I was told to welcome you, Sybilla Plantagenet. You have been given the power of Hera. You can come any time you wish, with that power and authority. I wasn't told to welcome your cruel sister Theodora Valois. But as you have the power of Hera, you can bring anyone you wish. But it is risky to bring a mortal into this realm. Her protection is your responsibility. Unless you intend on leaving her here. I saw what she did, and I wouldn’t blame you if that was your intention.” Said the tall sick looking man. Sybilla guessed that this man was Charon.

“I wanted her help,” Sybilla said to Charon as they stepped onto the boat.

Charon asked, “So what is your destination.”

“We need to go to Tartarus.” Sybilla boldly stated.

Charon shook his head, “I can’t take you there. I can take you across the river, but you must make your way there yourselves. I think you know the way, Sybilla.”

Charon pushed the boat off, and they made their way across the Styx, and they docked at the opposite bank. And they went off toward Tartarus. Sybilla did know the way. Tartarus was in the deepest part of the underworld. It was going to be a dangerous path to make it to the deepest part of the underworld.

It seemed that no sooner than the two women set off on their quest that they were met by a robed figure blocking their path. Theodora didn’t know who this was, so she drew Justice out, ready for combat when Sybilla knelt in submission and said, “Lord Hades. I am here ready to fulfill Hera’s request.”

Hades looked at Theodora dismissively and said, “I don’t know why you brought her here. I know she thinks she is here to help you, but she will be no help against the challenges that you will face. There are people who will really want to hurt her. And they are sure to get their chance to cause her harm. They have built up a hateful grudge against her over what she did.”

“I suspected. I figured she would be some help here,” Sybilla replied.

Hades shook his head, “She won’t be. There’s no way she will be able to fight the creatures down here. Even the former humans will be too much for her. Unless you intend to show your superiority against her by making her show her weakness against them. Or to leave her here.”

Sybilla giggled and replied, “I think she will be down here soon enough paying for what she did to me. And so many other innocent people.”

Theodora snapped, “What about what you did?”

“I will be immortal. Anyway, what I did was in response to you, so it's still on you.” Sybilla snapped back.

Hades said, “It's all on Hekate. It was her dumb plot. It's so funny. You all had that saying about man's rule ending at the seven falls and pestelensia rising. Man’s rule ends at the seven falls. But it never mentioned man’s rule being restored a year later. And it being restarted by the very woman they struck down to end man's rule. It's so ironic and funny. It’s also fitting. It could have worked if you women treated her better. But you didn’t, and she devoted her life to ending Hekate's plan. But I don’t think it will end in man’s rule. I do think what Sybilla does will make the rule of man look merciful by comparison.”

Theodora shivered at that statement.

Hades said, “There will be many challenges to face before you make it to Tartarus. And then there will be many challenges once you make it in the prison. And if you intend your sister to live through this, then it will be on you to protect her. She will only be a burden to you from this moment on.” Then Hades faded away, and they were left alone to continue their quest.

They continued on their way and saw a shriveled man pushing a big boulder up a hill. The bolder kept rolling back down and requiring him to push it back up the hill. He repeated it countless times. It looked like he was compelled to do it. They saw worse horrors on their way when they were confronted by a small army of soldiers that Theodora had struck down during the war.”

The man in the lead said, “We had no choice but to fight with the lord of our house. If we had refused to follow her, we would have been killed as traitors. We surrendered when the house finally fell to your final attack on the Island. And then you killed us all after we had clearly ceased hostilities against you, and we were pleading for mercy. I would have gladly joined you after the war. But you killed us all, and now we are going to repay you for that.”

These men looked dead, but they were many times stronger than they were when they were alive. They drew their swords, and one of them attacked Theodora. She tried to fight the man with her added strength. But it was clear that she was being overwhelmed and her strikes had little effect on the man. That was until Sybilla drew her sword and joined the fight. The men fell back, not wanting to contend with the power of Hera, or the sword of Ares. Sybilla said to them, “I will ask Hades to give the most worthy of you another chance at life. As it seems, many of you lived a doomed life. Either be killed by the forces of your own Lord, or by the King's forces. Either way, you were doomed in a war many of you didn’t want. But was given no choice.”

One of the men in the back said, “Some of us wanted to fight to restore the previous order of things. But it seemed doomed. And some of us would have loved to fight for you. But our lord Lady Valentinian thought you were a joke. Many of us thought it was a sign that you were unworthy after what happened. But some of us would have loved to stand up against what they did to you. But you didn’t give us the chance. I wish you fought it more back then and made a stand against your sister.”

“I just hoped that she would eventually accept me as her sister or restore me, and be better. She never did treat me better. But none of you cared about what I was going through. I still will help some of you get another chance if you don’t attack us.”

They didn’t want to fight the power of Hera and fell back as the two women made their way across the desolate plains of the underworld. “This is the central plain of the underworld. We follow it, and it will take us lower and lower into the center of the underworld. We will eventually make it to Tartarus.”

“I will be no help here,” said Theodora. “So I think you just brought me here to show me how strong you have become and that I will require your protection now. How the roles have reversed from when you needed my protection.”

Sybilla just smirked.

“You tricked me, and lied to me.”

“Just like you said, there was no way to reverse the spell you cast on me to turn me into a girl.” Sybilla snapped.

And then they saw a massive flying creature overhead. The creature blew fire at them, and Sybilla protected them from the creature's fire.

Theodora looked at the massive creature and asked, “Is that the Dragon Kursar?”

“Yes,” Sybilla replied.

“Then why is he attacking us,” Theodora inquired with confusion.

“Because of you Theodora. You betrayed your goddess and made me the way I am.” Sybilla told her. “Instead of showing me the love and guidance that I needed after my transformation. You showed me brutality and cruelty. Then I was raped. Because of that, the Goddess’s plan fell, and they blame you.”

Kursar landed in front of them. The dragon turned and attacked them with his tail. Sybilla drew her sword and defended them by slicing Kursar’s tale off with one swing. Then she leaped into the air and came down on the Dragon with her sword at the dragon's neck. She snarled, “You served the cursed goddess that did this to me. You are an evil creation of the Goddess herself. It was you that helped my cruel sister defeat the priests at the temple. You deserve what you get.” Sybilla raised the sword above the Dragons neck, preparing to strike.

The dragon replied, “After the way, the priests treated you after what happened. I would think you would have no interest in restoring them in the world, Sybilla. Didn’t they threaten you when you asked for their help after Theodora seized the crown? Didn’t they demean and insult you because you were a woman?”

“Yes, they treated me as they were taught to treat women and acted like it was my fault. But they made a mistake. But their mistake was nothing like what my sister did. But the priests will get theirs.” Then Sybilla struck Kursar and his head fell off. It would be reattached later, and the Dragon would have to find another person to fight. That was his curse.

Sybilla felt she was getting closer to Tartarus. They were getting lower into the underworld. It was getting darker and colder. Sybilla didn’t mind the freezing cold. It hardly affected her. It did seem to affect Theodora, and Sybilla used her power to give her sister some heat. They went lower into the underworld, and Theodora began wondering what went so wrong with their great plan. Wasn’t Serren supposed to be happy as a girl, instead of so angry and vindictive? Why couldn’t he be happy?”

Then she saw Hekate beside her walking. She spoke into Theodora's mind as they walked, “What went wrong was me, and you, Theodora. In changing Serren the way we did, I counted on him being able to find happiness and become content as a woman. Your ruthless teasing and abusing him caused much of the problem. I saw all of that, and I thought he would be able to rise above it and find his happiness. I didn’t see that he would still feel so cheated by not getting the crown. He wanted the crown so bad and felt he deserved it after all of his suffering. He wanted to rule. While you continued to rule after what you did to him made him unable to get past what he suffered. He wanted the crown above everything else. I didn’t see how badly he would want it and to punish you for what you did. There was a good chance he could get past that and find his happiness as a woman. That could have happened, but it didn’t. He felt cheated, abused, and Sybilla became vengeful and embittered by what happened. She was unable to get past it. In a way, it was a lot like how you were unable to let what Serren did to you go, and you became embittered and spiteful. I should have seen that and encouraged you to not hurt him. I should have encouraged the witches to treat Serren kindly. I didn’t. So the entire plan collapsed, and now things are much worse. Now, Olympus will have a vengeful Titan on the throne guiding events. And you will have to face your older brother.”

“I don’t have an older brother,” Theodora snapped.

“You do now. Sybilla created an older brother whose returning for the crown. He is very powerful, very intelligent. He's a lot like Serren would have been raised to be if he had been allowed to mature naturally. I don’t see you being able to beat him like you beat Godson.”

“I thought that Sybilla wanted the crown,” replied Theodora.

“She thinks she does. But if she succeeds here. She won't really want the crown of the Shattered Isles. She will want Zeus’s crown. She will rule the Gods, and that’s why she has created another brother to come to claim the crown from you.”

“What about her babies that she loves so much?”

“That’s going to be her problem and something she will realize to be a big mistake she has made by putting a sexist older brother on the throne to restore the rule of men, just to spite you. And it will be something that will be difficult for her to undue once she realizes her error.” Hekate smiled.

The two women smiled at each other as they continued to head down to the lower levels of the underworld. They encountered a long unstable bridge stretching across a dark chasm that they didn’t think they wanted to fall into.

Then the siblings saw a large army on the other side of the long bridge blocking the way. They were flying the flag of their father. The army was being led by the war priests of Ares. This was a large, disciplined army that was clearly out for revenge. Sybilla looked sideways at Theodora and asked, “Are you ready for this?”

Theodora was highly intelligent, and she was a warrior in her own right by this time. She had fought in battles against armies. But herself against an army of thousands was too much. This was something that exceeded her strength. “Are you kidding me, sis? Am I ready to fight an entire army? Myself?”

“I will be fighting with you, Theodora,” Sybilla countered as she approached the bridge and drew the sword of Ares. You wanted to fight like me, so let's take them on.”

“You take them on, this is your quest, Sybilla.” Theodora snapped with a look in her eyes.

Sybilla didn’t hesitate from the challenge as she boldly walked toward the bridge with her sword ready for a fight. Theodora watched her sister approach the bridge without a thought to her own safety.

The scene before her struck something inside of Theodora here. Her sister flaunted her femininity and didn’t attempt to hide it. She wore armor clearly designed for a woman's form. She didn’t even wear heavy plate armor like Theodora did. Sybilla wore tight-fitting heavy leathers on her body and some sort of skirt. Her body moved in a very feminine manner as she approached the bridge. Then Sybilla pulled out a bow and began unleashing a torrent of arrows that rained down on the army on the other side. Sybilla's movements were precise, and each arrow struck. Sybilla's movements were so quick they were like a blur. She unleashed arrow after arrow on the other bank. It was so fast, that it was as if the air was filled with arrows. It was almost as if an entire column of bowmen were firing. When Sybilla had annihilated part of the army across from her, she drew her sword and ran across the bridge, then leaped high into the air and landed in the center of the army.

Theodora watched with her jaw hanging open as her little sister decimated the army. She leaped into the army and began destroying them all. Her mighty sword was killing dozens of them at a time. Sybilla’s moves were faster than her eye could follow and be able to see what exactly was happening. None of the troops were able to touch Sybilla. They tried to attack her and were struck down. She blocked, parried, and counter struck them. Dozens were falling at once.

Theodora realized that Sybilla had obviously been training herself to fight. Her strikes were precise and deadly. Theodora didn’t think that Sybilla could train herself to fight again. Sybilla clearly did, and she was preparing for another war to fight her. Then another sad thought occurred to her as she watched her sister fight this army by herself. This was what Sybilla was meant to do. She was born and bred to be an elite warrior. It was her birthright and what was meant to be. Theodora and the witches wrongly tried to strip her destiny from her and that hurt Sybilla worse than anything else. She was meant to be a warrior as a man or a woman. Anyone who tried to refuse or deny her in being a warrior made them her enemy, and that was Theodora now. That was the plan because everyone knew if they allowed her to train and fight that she would fight to regain the crown and depose her. They couldn’t allow that because this was the will of a Goddess. Even the Goddess was wrong on this. There was no way Sybilla could be happy unless she was able to fight as a warrior. Theodora tried to take it away and sideline her sister from the wars as she went, and cruelly left Sybilla at home. This is what made Theodora her sworn enemy, and it could not be forgiven. This was why Sybilla insisted on bringing Theodora along. It was to make a point. That point was being made. Sybilla dispatched the army and there was soon bodies lying on the ground. The army had died in the underworld and would not return. Theodora went across when it was safe, and now they were much deeper in the underworld. The light was very low by now. They were very close to Tartarus.

Sybilla could see the enormous underworld prison in the distance. They were still far away from it, but Sybilla could see it clearly enough. The prison must be massive. It had to be massive to hold the Titans. She also saw that the prison was guarded by something else that was massive. She had no idea what she was seeing. They were still 100s of miles away from the prison of Tartarus.

By now, Theodora was just following her sister. They were so deep into the underworld that there was no longer any light to see. It seemed that Sybilla had no problem seeing. But she was given the gifts from Hera. Theodora could see nothing. Sybilla looked sideways at her sister with a cruel sneer and snarled, “How does it feel to be totally helpless, Bitch?”

Theodora snapped, “That’s how I felt most of my life. I was being married off and had no say in the matter. Helplessness was a feeling I felt most of my life until I got the crown and tried to make things better for us. “

“How were you helpless?” Sybilla asked as she suddenly stopped and looked at Theodora. “You were the princess of the whole Kingdom. You had enormous power.”

Theodora laughed bitterly. “I had no power over anything, Sybilla. I was being forced into an unwanted marriage. Anything I said about anything was ignored. I was a woman living under the rule of men. It was taught we were too irrational and emotional to be intelligent. Just like your mother lived under, she was the queen but had no power or say in anything. That was the life we lived sister,” Theodora snarled in anger. “That’s why I did what I did. And you, in your rage at what was taken from you and made to live as we did, lashed out so cruelly you reversed everything I accomplished just to spite me. And you think you are teaching the women a lesson. But SIS, its a lesson we know very well. We have lived under the system for the past 1000 years. And any time a woman even mildly complains about her position or lack of say over anything, she could be accused of being a witch and burnt alive. This is what your daughter will live under thanks to your anger.”

For the first time, Theodora stood her ground and watched as Sybilla was totally speechless. She had no response at all.

“I fully admit that what I did to you was very wrong,” Theodora said. “I had so much pent up anger at you. I was wrong in how I treated you. We all wanted you to experience the helplessness and frustration we lived under. I unleashed more of it on you. I was wrong. I deserve your anger, but you are unleashing it on everyone just out of spite.”

Sybilla just stood there thinking and a mask of horror overtook her entire face. “You are so right, Theodora,” Sybilla finally admitted. “I was wrong. I was right to be angry at you, but you see that. I was wrong to take it out on everyone. And now I don’t know what I will do. I did something horrible before I left. And I don’t think either of us can defeat this boy.”

“I know,” Theodora said, admitting she fully knew, “before I left, I had a talk with mother and she was confused by memories of having another boy before me, or you and she knew she only had you and me. She is a witch and you can't trick them. They can sense changes in time. She knew how many kids she had. But there is another son coming for me. He left home and was raised by the war priests. He is very skilled in combat, far stronger than I or you were. He's a very powerful magician. So the witches can’t fight him. You made him the perfect enemy to come and claim the crown. You were going to enjoy watching him defeat me and claim the kingdom as his own.”

“Yes, I was. But not now, and I don’t know what I can do. I know I am very powerful, but if I use the power of the Titans to overcome him, he will rightfully claim it’s unfair. That won’t be accepted by the people.” Sybilla said helplessly.

“You are starting to realize your mistakes and what you put us under,” Theodora replied with a smirk. “You are starting to learn how we all felt. And how I felt living in your shadow so helpless against your relentless taunting and comments about women. I took it way too far on you, and I can admit I was wrong. You took it too far to an extreme. Many future generations of girls will suffer if you don’t find a way to fix it.”

“This is my fault,” Sybilla admitted. “I must find a way to fix it. I know that I was wrong to unleash my anger at the entire country and turn back all of your hard-won progress.”

Sybilla had a good idea of what she would face in Tartarus. Hades had given her a lot of information about what was in the prison. Much of it frightened her, but she knew she had no choice. There were so many enemies, obstacles, and tricks facing her even before she reached the center where the Titans were held. There was a good chance that she would never make it there. Then fighting Cronus. Theodora may get the pleasure of watching her die.

Sybilla didn’t realize she said it out loud. “I never wanted you to die, Sis,” Theodora replied. “I just wanted you to understand how I felt in my life living under the priests and the rule of man. Especially living under you, in your shadow.”

“I am sorry for how I treated you,” Sybilla apologized. “It was how we were all taught to treat women and you wanting the male life of fighting really brought an ugly side out in me. I was taught that it was unacceptable. I was taught wrong. I really wanted to make father proud of me. I was still meant to rule. I think even Hekate knew that.” Then Sybilla flashed a most hate-filled look in her eyes and said, “While I can admit how I treated you was wrong. You hurt me far more than I ever hurt you. I don’t forgive you for that. There can be no forgiveness for what you did to me on this side of the grave.”

Sybilla added, “One of your biggest weaknesses is you reject your sex and want to adopt a male life. You stole my entire life away. You destroyed my life, Theodora. You sought to take away everything that I loved in life and take it for yourself. You left me with nothing. I can’t forgive that. You destroyed my life. I will destroy yours. Everything you got will be taken away from you the way it was taken away from me. You will watch helplessly as I wreck your life apart. Theodora.”

Theodora still preferred to do things in a male way. But she accepted that because of her, Sybilla had become very feminine and actually embraced it in a way that Theodora never considered possible. She thought it was disgusting and repulsive at first. Her brother becoming so feminine and not being ashamed of it? It really turned her off, but it was her doing. The witches pushed Sybilla into it. She realized she had no right to criticize it now. It was her doing. This was the plan all along. It was time to accept Sybilla as her sister. It was clear that Sybilla still hated her with a vengeance.

Sybilla drew the sword of Ares and looked sideways at Theodora with an evil smile on her face and said, “Do you want to go,” Sybilla turned to face her sister. “Draw Justice out, and lets really fight. Right now.”

Sybilla just wanted to defeat and humiliate her, and Theodora wasn’t going to have it. “No, Sis. I won’t fight you like this. Don’t you have something to do for the Gods here?”

“You aren’t afraid of me, are you,” Sybilla took an aggressive step toward Theodora and rose her sword in the air, preparing to strike. “You wanted to be such a fighter. You have your enchanted armor that gives you unmatched speed and power. You have fought many men and many monsters. You have made yourself a hero to the kingdom. Don’t be a coward here, how can you fear little me, your little sister that you claimed such superiority over when you took my crown.” She took another step toward Theodora as her sister backed away.

“It is clear that I am no match for you now,” Theodora tried to reason with Sybilla. “I have my father's ancient sword Justice that struck down the last of the witch kings from the Matriarchy. I am beloved by Hekate and chosen by her. But you have clearly made an even more powerful alliance and have been given a God's sword. You have been given great gifts that I can’t even try to fight. I won’t fight you.”

Sybilla stepped toward Theodora and swept her off of her feet. Then she batted Justice from her hands with one angry swing and held her there with her sword pointing at Theodora's neck. Sybilla said in disgust, “How can such a brave and heroic warrior let herself fall like this. You fought on the front lines in many wars. You cut down Lady Valentinian while her husband was in your prisons. You killed his son. You led the conquest of their Isle, and now you refuse to fight your little sister. You let her knock you off of your feet, and you cower for your life.” Sybilla was clearly enjoying this.

“Take my sword and claim your victory if that’s what you want,” Theodora said. “You are clearly more powerful.”

“But you were so proud of your victory over me,” Sybilla said with a smirk. “After you turned me into a girl and declared to everyone that I was your little sister. You ruled my life, and I was your helpless little sister. You set such rules for me and required me to dress as a girl. You belittled and mocked me for my weakness. I was even unable to draw my father's sword anymore. How can you submit to me?” Sybilla mocked.

“You are not that girl anymore?” Theodora snapped. “You are much more powerful and stronger now.”

“Ooooh,” Sybilla mocked. “So when I was that weak girl, you had no fear of belittling and ruling my life. You only fight people weaker than you. Theodora, you are a coward.” Sybilla snarled. “How can anyone think you are worthy of any respect. You aren’t brave, you aren’t even that strong. You clearly have no honor. It was fear of the witch's power that turned me and put the crown on you. That power that no longer exists now. I have succeeded in destroying them all. Keep our father's sword. You will need it.” Sybilla said with a cruel smirk.

They approached Tartarus and saw what was guarding it. There were five massive cyclopes standing in front of the huge prison, guarding any approach to it. They were glaring at Sybilla, daring her to come. Theodora stood back, not wanting to fight a hundred-foot tall cyclops. It was time to really unleash the power of Hera now. She called for her lighting and unleashed powerful blasts of electrical energy at the cyclopes. It blasted them with its full strength. The lightning tore into the huge cyclopes, lighting them all up. They shrieked in pain as the energy tore into them. But they all remained standing when it was over. They stood there smoking with blackened skin from the blasts. But they stood there waiting for Sybilla. She pulled out Ares sword and flew toward them, ready for a fight.

As Sybilla flew toward the cyclopes preparing to strike. The leading cyclope reached his enormous three fingered hand out and caught Sybilla in the air. He stopped her flight and then struck her with the other hand sending her flying back hard and landing hard on the ground. Sybilla groaned in pain as she stood up, shaking herself. That really hurt. Theodora saw her sister get caught in the air and a giant fist struck her hard, sending her flying back and crashing into a massive rock.

Sybilla tried it again and lept high in the air and flew toward the five enormous cyclopes ready for a fight this time. Her sword was drawn and ready for a fight.

This time, when the cyclope prepared to strike Sybilla. She was ready and drilled her sword’s point into the cyclope’s hand. Sybilla turned the sword and totally cut the cyclope’s hand off. The huge hand fell from the creatures wrist. Sybilla spun in the air and began descending toward the ground. She rose the sword and cut the cyclope’s arm off from the shoulder. She landed among the five of them. She leveled the sword and cut the first cyclope’s foot off from the ankle. Another one tried to kick her, Sybilla’s quick reflexes sliced his foot off too. She leaped up and cut his entire leg off from the knee.

The first cyclope came at her with the hand that was still attached. Sybilla lept at him and finished the job with the neck. His entire head was severed from his neck and flew off. One cyclope was dead. Another was on the ground, unable to stay up from a severed leg. He was crying to whatever Gods they worshiped. There were still three more that were coming at her. Another tried to make a fist and smash her. Sybilla’s lightning reflexes prevented that. She slid to the side and severed that cyclope’s hand off. She went up to the arm and cut his arm off and then his head followed.

It was still two against one. One of the remaining cyclope tried to smash her with his enormous foot. Sybilla cut his foot apart and then went up the leg severing the entire leg from the hip. He fell, and she finished the job with the other leg. Then she went for his head. The final cyclope fell when she quickly severed his head. All five of the cyclopes were down by that point and Theodora was just stunned.

Both sisters were there staring at the huge wall of Tartarus, wondering how to get in. Theodora asked, “Now, what do we do.”

Sybilla just smirked and walked up to the outer wall of the underworld prison and recited a line in the ancient language of the Gods. Nothing seemed to happen. Theodora was about to shrug helplessly as Sybilla stepped forward and walked through the wall. She turned to Theodora and said, “Come, this is the way in. But it won't last and you don’t want to be trapped outside. Follow me.”

They were suddenly inside Tartarus. Theodora couldn't see. They were in a darkened hallway with no light to see anything. Sybilla could see that they were trapped in a dead end. There was a solid stone blocking them from going any further. Theodora was lost.

Sybilla knew to reach out and touch the stone in front of her. Theodora cried out in terror as the entire hallway seemed to rapidly move sideways. They passed through other rooms which required them to duck as stones and walls passed overhead. It was a frightening experience for a mortal.

They ended in some maze and Sybilla had to find her way to the Titans. She knew the way from Hera and followed the path as they twisted and turned in the maze.

Then they encountered their first obstacle. They faced a huge snakelike creature with more snakes slithering on her head. Sybilla knew enough to not look at the creature's face. She wasn’t sure about Theodora. She was a woman and may be able to look the creature in the face without dying. But men couldn’t look at her. They died instantly. She wasn’t sure about herself but as a former man, even if she was transformed, and even Hera helped her resolve the painful internal conflict she used to feel after the transformation. She didn’t want to risk looking at the creature's face. Since Theodora rejected her femininity, it may also apply to her. She yelled, “Sis, don’t look into her face!”

Sybilla could easily kill this creature, but she didn't really want to. Sybilla had no desire to kill such a tortured creature as this. It was her beauty that condemned her. One of the gods were so jealous with rage at this woman’s beauty that she cast a painful curse on her. Any man that looks into her face dies. This creature was raped by Poseidon. He was offended at the mortal woman rejecting his advances and then cursed by a Goddess for her beauty. Killing this creature would be easy. She could be killed by a mortal man. For a woman with the power of Hera and a sword from Ares. It would be no contest.

Sybilla stayed hidden until the creature turned and faced her. Sybilla looked down, refusing to look up. She stood up and said, “I could kill you easy, but I won't. In fact, I will restore your beauty and punish Athena for what she did to one of her most loyal priestess of her temple. I will also punish Poseidon and teach him that it is not wrong to be rejected by a mortal woman.”

“How can you restore me?” The creature snarled through her slithering tongue.

Sybilla called her lightning and struck out. The point was clear. Then she said, “I know too well what it is like to be transformed by a goddess against our will. I used to be a man.”

The creature laughed, “Yes, that is clear. But you can look on me. It will have no effect on you since your nature was also transformed. You have a woman’s mind, her nature, and heart. That is why you feel sympathy for me.”

“Yes, so please don’t make me kill you. Let us pass, and I will reward you. I will make you one of my most powerful priestesses.” Sybilla said.

The creature moved to let them pass. She said as the two women pass, “Destroy Athena for me.”

They walked down the darkened hallway, and Sybilla sensed that they were getting very close to their destination. She also felt a horror that was slowly approaching, like nothing they experienced before.

Theodora said deep in thought as they walked down the hallway. “Sybilla. There is something almost funny about this whole situation. Want to know what I find so funny now?”

Sybilla thought none of this was funny and she shook her head.

“It’s that you have totally embraced the Goddess Hera. And you hate Hekate. Hera is the protector of women and childbirth. There is also the fact that she may be one of the most cruel and vengeful goddess and never let an offense go. She has wreaked her revenge on many women. Some protector,” Theodora said acidly. “But still. And child birth and marriage. And there’s you a former prince of the rule of man, and a very sexist entitled boy now a woman and embracing her. She saw you and your need and gave you the ability to fight us. There is just so much irony. But I can see why you embraced her and became the virgin mother to the whole kingdom. But I knew that Zeus himself offered to restore you weeks after I seized the crown and turned you into a girl. And you refused, I never understood why.”

“Because Zeus was an ass,” Sybilla said. “He was insulting toward me because of my new sex. And he hinted that I was somehow at fault for it. I didn’t like him. He was little different than the war priests and their religion that blamed me for it and thought this was a curse by the Gods. Such stupidity.”

Theodora laughed, “That's what we face as women a lot.”

As they walked toward the end of the hallway, Sybilla sensed the horror growing. There standing right in front of them blocking their path was someone they never expected. She turned toward Theodora and said snidely, “Do you want to deal with this again, Sis. You killed him twice already.”

“I didn’t kill him the first time. That was one of the creatures of the Goddess. I killed him again after that, but how did you know?”

“First, yes you did kill him the first time. You knew what he was going out to fight and neither of you decided to warn him of the monster he was going to face. You all knew he had to die so a new king could rise. That was all your plan, Theodora. And second, I know because Hera told him about your adventures in the mountains during the war. How you destroyed the priest's final main temple that finally destroyed their power. Want to kill him a third time?” Sybilla cruelly said.

There standing in front of them was their father, Gerrick holding an enormous electrified sword. Sybilla recognized it as the sword of Zeus.

Theodora shook her head again. This was way too much for her but she stepped forward to see this man standing in front of them.

“You murdered me in that temple, so I know asking you to restore your brother is no use. You don’t care about him at all. But you stole his birthright from him.” Then he raised his sword, preparing to strike his daughter.

He slashed down toward her head when Sybilla flew in between them, blocking the slash with her own sword.

Gerrick looked at the siblings with disgust. “You are both fools. You, Theodora released the Goddess Hekate on the Kingdom and destroy your brother. Then you wonder why there was so much strife and why your brother utterly hates you. And then, my idiot son comes here to release the Titans. That is on a whole new level of stupidity. I have never felt so much shame, Serren.”

Then he struck Sybilla. A blast of electrical energy shot from Gerrick and tore into Sybilla. She collapsed, crying in pain. Gerrick struck again as Sybilla was lying on the ground in pain. Another blast of lightning tore into Sybilla as she was helpless. Gerrick had been given the power of Zeus and he was killing Sybilla.

“You fool, Serren. You embraced the shame of your new sex instead of fighting to retain your masculinity.” Gerrick struck again with his lightning. “You are such a fool Serren.” Then he struck again and the lightning tore into Sybilla. Sybilla was in a fog of pain by now. She felt her life drifting away.

“I raised you to be a strong man. You were to lead the Kingdom. But LOOK AT YOU. You have demeaned yourself as a woman. Then you embrace Hera and your womanhood. You are not my son, you fool.”

Then he struck out again. Sybilla prayed to Hera to give her strength. She felt a new strength fill her and she raised her sword to block her father's blast.

Sybilla stood up, blocking another blast. “You are the fool, Father. This is your doing,”

Then she leaped at Gerrick and struck him across the head with her sword. “You are the Fool. You were warned of the witches regaining their power. You ignored it all.” Sybilla struck again.

“Even mother started openly talking about restoring the rule of women and you ignored it. The priests warned you and you dismissed the prophecy as a child's fairytale. You ignored all of the prophesies coming true right in front of your faces. So many signs that you dismissed. Father, you are the fool, and what happened to me was your fault. There was no way for me to fight it until I learned to accept my womanhood. And now I am so much stronger than Serren ever was.

She continued to thrash her father until he totally collapsed. Pieces of his body fell from Sybilla's powerful slashes.

Gerrick fell and withered away. Then a very powerful bolt of lightning struck there and, Sybilla saw Zeus himself standing and blocking their way.

The God said to Sybilla, “Please, do not release the Titans. Don’t do this, I know how you feel, but don't destroy the world.”

Then Hera stood by Sybilla. Nyx stood on the other side. Zeus feared the power of both of them, and he withdrew.

Then suddenly everything exploded away. Sybilla was standing at the end of a hallway, and the hallway blasted apart. Everything they saw was suddenly engulfed in a hot fire. Then they were standing on the ledge facing an enormous beast. This being was much more massive than the cyclopes. It was so huge she couldn’t even see the head of the beast. The beast roared and the entire chamber shook. This must be Chronus. He must have been a thousand feet tall, or more. He roared with flames, “Sybilla. You will die.”

Sybilla drew her enormous scythe and held it high leaping toward Cronus. She really had no idea how she was going to fight this creature. What ever she expected when she agreed to this, this was not it. This being was enormous. She slashed with her powerful scythe at the creature as she flew at Cronus and hit him in the body. Cronus staggered back from the power of the strike. She flew to another ledge and watched as the damage she did was repaired almost instantly.

She was suddenly aware of vast new powers within the scythe that she was not aware of before. This was something of unimaginable power. It was as if the power of creation itself was within the scythe. She could rip apart the entire planet with this weapon. She could rip apart entire stars with it, entire galaxies. She could create them all too.

She was also aware of the vast powerful being in front of her that was so massive, her eyes couldn't imagine the size of this creature. He created this weapon. Those vast powers were within this creature itself. He, along with the other Titans created all that existed. They were overthrown by the new olympian gods when they combined their power against Cronus. They won the war and imprisoned them and took over. And what did they do with their power and authority over creation? The Gods acted like jackasses and did more harm than good for the most part. The tortured mortal creature she encountered in this prison was an example of the God’s uncaring and cruel brutality. She herself was also an example of the cruelty of the Gods. Were these being so cruel? She didn’t think so. But she really began to doubt she had what it took to defeat this creature. Her only advantage was this powerful scythe which she held.

Cronus stepped toward her preparing to strike her with his massive fist. She concentrated the power within the Scythe and struck out with it. A concentrated stream of charged particles streamed out of the scythe and struck Cronus in the face. He blocked the blast and continued approaching to strike her.

Sybilla drew the scythe back and swung it at Cronus’s arm as he was preparing to strike her. She struck at Cronus’s arm that was swinging at her. He moved his arm up to block her swing and then caught the scythe in his hand and wrenched it from her easy.

Then suddenly Cronus held the scythe and he smiled. “Thank you for my weapon back. Sybilla.”

Then his power flooded back in him and he shot out with an enormous blast. Suddenly the entire prison blasted apart and Cronus was free from Tartarus. Tartarus was no more. The prison was shattered apart and destroyed. Cronus laughed at her futility as she tried to use her lightning on him. The blast of electrical energy had no effect at all.

Cronus smiled as he made a fist and pulled it up above her. Then the enormous powerful fist slammed down on top of her. There was nothing she could do but take the full power of the strike. The fist was hundreds of feet across slammed down on top of her with crushing effect. It was as if she was in a torrent of a blast of fire. She was nearly crushed from it and the fire engulfed her entire body. She cried out in searing pain as the force hurt her bad. Then Cronus made another fist and slammed down on her. She was engulfed in an even hotter more devastating fire. She had totally collapsed in agonizing pain and began to wither.

Cronus laughed cruelly and said, “Let’s see how you like it now, little mortal woman. You think you can fight Titans. Ha.”

She felt the energy concentrate within his scythe and the energy lanced out in a concentrated beam of power just like the one she struck him in the face with.

Only this one was many times more powerful. It lanced out toward her in searing agonizing pain. She cried out and collapsed. She felt her power leaving her as the blast ripped into her with terrifying and painful effect. Sybilla was dying.

Cronus lashed at her again and again. She withered under the blasts as she felt her power and life drain from her. She was unable to move or do anything to defend herself.

Cronus reached out and took her in his hand and began to squeeze her. She felt he was crushing her. He dissolved and took her with him up into the atmosphere and then up higher and higher. She felt the air thinning and she could not breathe. Then he flew out into the nothing of open space and left the entire system and entered another one many systems away. He threw her into open space and watched her struggle and die. Cronus reached out and grabbed an entire planet and threw it at her. He grabbed more planets and threw them at her.

Entire worlds crashing into her, crushing her time and time again began to really drain her power away. She felt herself getting close to nothingness. Then he took Sybilla and flung her into an enormous star. She was unable to resist as she was flung into the heart of a blazing white-hot star. It burnt her as she flew into its blazing surface and sunk beneath it. She was pulled into the crushing core of the star and was unable to free herself. She felt the massive forces of the star crushing her from all sides. Then Cronus cruelly enlarged the star to impossible dimensions. The forces on her body increased exponentially. The size and forces increased on her until the structure of the star could no longer handle the forces exerted on it and the entire star began to collapse into her. The structure of the star collapsed in on itself in one cataclysmic blast and it suddenly became a black hole. The pressure on her increased to unimaginable levels. There was no escaping from this. He was imprisoning her forever in this. Cronus fed it more and more energy trapping her even more in the impossible forces of the black hole. It grew and grew around her. The forces of the black hole increased. It was suddenly a supermassive black hole with the mass of several galaxies being trapped within it. She was unable to escape it, and the forces on her would eventually drain her energy and crush her. There was nothing she could do.

But she felt something else within this. Time slowed to nothing at the heart of this black hole. It wasn’t really the end. She could see all possibilities in time. She could go back to witness her childhood and she saw how really cruel she was to her older sister as a boy. It suddenly became all too clear to her why her sister did what she did and felt she had no choice. And why she lashed out so harshly. It was a lesson, but she also saw that her sister had a very natural cruel streak. Some of it was her doing, but much of it was Theodora’s nature. The Goddess was very wrong to choose her, but the Goddess was angered by Serren. She went farther back to see the time of the matriarchy and everything became very very clear. She understood why the men did what they did. They had no power over their lives. The matriarchy was brutal on the men and they lashed out after a few thousand years of having no say in their lives and being used. They lashed out harshly and started a brutal long war and established the rule of men over women. Then they outlawed the witches and worship of the goddess. They did everything possible to ensure that the Goddess was gone, and the witches would never rise again to establish the matriarchy. The witches went into hiding and waited for the right time to strike. It was men’s greatest fear. But she saw they were right to fear it.

Serren was a very kind boy that was taught wrong. He was led to his doom from birth. But, Sybilla could change all of that from within the heart of a massive black hole. Sybilla went back and changed Serren. She gave Serren the ability of foresight to see things to come. Serren was given the desire and ability to use and control magic. He would no longer be a helpless victim unable to fight back. But, he would desire the girlhood forced on him. So the day before his brutal transformation when Theodora approached him. He approached her and told her to do it, but it would not end how she wanted. She would rule for a time because he allowed it but he would eventually take the crown back. Then he told Theodora that he was powerful and proved it. He said to her that he would allow her to transform him and it would be good. Then he told her about the time of the matriarchy and how cruel it was and if he allowed her to do what she wanted, it would only ensure another rebellion within generations and a new round of brutal wars. The witches must never rule again.

Then things progressed. But Sybilla wasn't raped or abused by Theodora. She did everything possible to suppress Sybilla but it didn't work this time. She grew in power, made friends with the powerful gods, then went to Tartarus and challenged Cronus. And ended up in this black hole again. But black holes are the most powerful forces in the universe. This wasn't the end by a long shot. Sybilla reached out and created a massive ring of super hot plasma to be sucked into the black hole. It circled the black hole. Eventually, it was way too much for the black hole to handle and it concentrated in the center and blasted out in a powerful jet of superheated concentrated material. It shot out in a massive jet directly into Cronus as he was laughing at his victory. He didn't survive at all. Nothing could survive the force of the jet. It tore Cronus apart. It ended his energy and force entered her. She took his Scythe and his power. Now, Sybilla was the Queen of the Titans and held the power of the King of the titans herself. she was going to teach zeus and poseidon a lesson they would never forget and take control of Olympus. And then she was going to settle a few scores in her homeland, then they had a war to win.