The Titan Queen

By Cynthia Jeanette

It is six months since Sybilla had her children, and it’s been years since she was transformed into a girl. Sybilla is still angry at losing her male life, and the crown that was supposed to be hers.

Chapter 1
An imposing winged female stands on a podium with her people towering above a sea of other winged people. The crowd before her must number in the hundreds of thousands at least. She was wearing the fearsome crown of her people and a blood-red scarlet robe. It was clear she was very angry.

The crowd was calling for blood. They chanted a single word, “WAR WAR WAR.”

She shouted at her people, “The Humans have broken the treaty that has kept our two peoples at peace for over a generation. They have shed Fay Blood. They have not returned the prisoners and have refused to meet with me. Their new Queen Theodora must be reminded of the consequences of angering Fay!”
The crowd called for war.

“The humans have offended us in the worst possible way. The treaty her father made with us has been broken. Our people have been taken prisoner and killed. This offense has only one answer. What shall our response be, my beloved people?”

Her people responded with one resounding word, “WAR. WAR”

Each ay was usually many times stronger than a human. Even their women were many times stronger than the strongest human male. And the magicians and witches stood no chance against a common fay. The Fay were beings created in magic. And the Fay mages held enormous untold power. Considering that and that the fay reproduces at a rate the humans couldn’t begin to match. The humans faced being overwhelmed.

“Yes. We go to war against the imbeciles of the Kingdom of the Shattered Isles. They attack our people without provocation and kill our people. This has only one response. WAR. Mobilize our army for war. Assemble the generals and chiefs. The other Fay Kingdoms have responded to our call for war against the humans. We will destroy their glorious cities and temples to their Gods. Their fields will be soaked with human blood. They must be taught a lesson they will never forget. They have aroused the anger of the Fay. The Humans must die.”
Her people shouted War and Blood in response as they raised their swords in the air. Their queen rose her enchanted sword in the air and lightning struck it.

@ Months Later

A beautiful Princess Sybilla sat with her Twin babies on the floor watching her eldest girl struggling to stand on her feet for the first time. Her oldest child Blaze, a six-month-old girl was struggling to stand. The boy Gerrick who was only a few minutes younger than his sister Blaze was being held by her mother.

Sybilla was stunningly beautiful. She was reformed by the hand of the Goddess herself during her stunning transformation more than a year ago. It was tragic and considered a curse at first. What had she done to deserve such a horrible fate. The birth of her children helped her but she was still very angry at what was done to her. She was the crown prince and supposed to be the King of her people. The crown was stolen but she had her babies to keep her occupied and she loved them more than anything. But she was still seething with rage at what was taken from her and at the people that so willingly betrayed her. They were getting what they deserved. She was safe and Blaze was standing next to her, balancing herself by holding on to a table.

Blaze was unsteady and almost ready to fall when Sybilla pulled the girl into her arms and kissed the baby’s head. Blaze melted in to her and wanted to try to stand again.

Her husband Seryna walked in and watched her care for her children. Seryina married Sybilla using the title of husband. She wondered in awe how such an arrogant boy could become such a loving and compassionate mother. She remembered when it was arranged for her to marry the crown prince of the Shattered Isles. She liked the young man but he was so arrogant and full of himself. She felt such sympathy for him when he was forcibly transformed into the princess on the day of his coronation and the crown was seized. He threatened to kill his sister that day and never moved past his rage. Even as the princess, Seryna saw the seething rage in his eye. When she read of the invasion by Fay, Sybilla smiled in happiness. This was good news for her. Especially when she heard that her sister Theodora lost her entire army and came back in defeat. Only she knew how to defeat Fay. But Sybilla simply didn’t care. The Kingdom could burn as far as she was concerned. Seryna knew that Sybilla would not lift a finger to help her sister. As far as Sybilla was concerned, the entire Kingdom could burn. The people would be killed or enslaved and Sybilla wouldn’t care one single bit. Serna knew talking to her wife was useless. She was concerned about her family still remaining in their lands near the capital.

Her family, the Plantagenets, were still loyal to the King Theodora Valois. They were going to remain loyal, but they were likely to be killed if this war continued the way it was going. Theodora was trying to raise another army to fight the Fay. Her glorious army that won so many victories over the rebellious families after her seizure of power was utterly destroyed by the Fay. They never stood a chance.

She was watching Blaze try to stand for a second time but that first time about wiped her out. Then there was a loud knock at the door and Seryna opened the door to see some official looking man there. He announced himself as a Representative of the King. Syrina knew this meant trouble.

The representative asked for Princess Sybilla. Sybilla stood up, moved aside from her babies and walked over to the man as if she didn’t give a damn what the man had to say.

The man said he was here in the name of the King Theodora requesting her help leading the war. The King was demanding her help.

Sybilla simply said, “I have no interest in helping in this war. You may leave and tell my sister to handle this war herself. She wanted to be king so bad, this is her problem. I have my family here, my babies and my beloved spouse. We are safe here far outside of the boundaries of the Shattered Isles. Deal with the war yourselves.”

The mans face turned red and said louder, “This wasn’t a request. It was a demand by the King herself. You are required to help us in this time of need. You will follow me to the capital. Only you can help us. You know how to defeat the Fay.”

Sybilla giggled girlishly. She said, “Of course I do, as I was my father’s heir and he taught me. He didn't teach Theodora. She wasn’t supposed to be King. You all wanted her, not me. This is all on you. She was never taught about how to deal with Fay or how to keep the peace with them. She messed up and it’s her problem. I don’t care. Now leave.”

The man refused and became angry. He reached out for Sybilla to force her to come with them when he suddenly cried out and flew head over heels backward. An invisible force threw him back. Sybilla was glowing with energy flowing from her fingertips to her hair. She shouted, “Leave now or you will die.” Then she turned and shut the door.

Seryna looked at her wife with sadness and said, “You know many people will die unless you help them. I wish you would reconsider.”

“They are all getting what they deserve. The Fay will never come this far. It isn't our problem.”

The man left and didn’t bother them again. He wanted to remain living and he knew that Sybilla was serious about killing him. He limped back to the capital. But Sybilla knew this wasn't the end. More people would come requesting her help. Some may have to die before they get the point. The Shattered Isles was doomed, and she was happy to see the kingdom burn around her sadistic and cruel sister.

What was supposed to become a new golden age of peace and enlightenment under the glory of a goddess and female empowerment over their lives, that allowed her to marry the woman she loved as a boy would turn instead into a nightmare under her cruel sister’s ignorance. Sybilla was meant to be the King, as a male. It was supposed to be a male succession, not female. His sister changed all of that thinking she was older and stronger. This mess was her problem, not Sybilla’s. Let her deal with Fay. She simply didn’t care at all. Sybilla smiled a cruel and sinister smile into the darkness of the night thinking of Fay reaching the capital and burning it down. Then carting the survivors to become the slaves under the Fay. The thought brought such joy to Sybilla. She knew there was only one hope for victory against Fay now. She would have to release the Titans from the underworld prison of Tartarus. They were the human’s only hope for victory against the power of the Fay Kingdoms. She wasn’t about to try to enter Tartarus for a bunch of people that humiliated and betrayed her. The memories of her sister turning her into a girl, then claiming the crown because Sybilla was now her younger sister. She no longer had any claim to the crown. There was no male heir anymore. It was such a crushing defeat and so much humiliation. Then Theodora tried to claim her own children. Theodora came to her place and tried to have the guards take her own children from her. Sybilla defeated her sister then but was prevented by the Goddess from killing her or claiming the crown. The Goddess still favored Theodora so be it. If she wanted Theodora to rule then let her solve this problem with Fay. Even this Goddess didn't dare face the power of the Fay. They killed more than one God in the past when they were angry. Theodora royally fucked up.

Sybilla just laughed. Then late into the night, she picked out a book about the underworld and the prison of Tartarus and began reading it. She may help them out now. But they were really going to have to give her everything she wanted. Especially if she was going to go to Tartarus and risk releasing the Titans.

Request from the Author

I would welcome anyone that wants to help me with this. I hope this can become a popular story. i intend to make this a very long epic story of war, betrayal and redemption. BUt I am not the best at spelling and such. I hope someone wants to help me with this

By Cynthia Jeanette

Sybillas goals begin to move forward as we start seeing what she is really after and we get to learn about some of her past and what led to her being the way she is.
And, I am a very inexperienced writer and I would welcome anyone who wants to help me make this tale more readable.

Chapter 2

Sybilla still felt the seething anger within her as she remembered her past. She sat alone in the darkness of the night remembering everything that had happened to her. She still remembered being the best swordsman in the entire kingdom. Her speed and skill as a boy was unrivaled in the entire kingdom. As a boy, he trained every day for battle and that was his destiny when it was stolen away from him by his wicked sister.

She knew why her sister felt she had to do this to her. She understood the reason. Much of it was because of her arrogance as a boy and the way he treated her. Another reason was her damned marriage that their father was forcing them into. Her father made a contract with the valentinian family for her daughter to marry the son of the Valentinian family. That man was a brute, and he was very ugly and scared from a previous war he fought in. But he was powerful and a brilliant commander and very wealthy. But Theodora was horrified of being forced into marriage with such a man and resisted. When their father died and Serren was set to gain the crown, Theodora put pressure on him to break off the contract. She begged him just like she begged their father. He wanted to but found the pressure from the lords threatening war was too much. He decided to keep the contract in force and told her. That was the deciding moment for Theodora, Sybilla knew and she decided to go through with the plot of seizing the crown and making Serren into her little sister. One of the first things she did on seizing the crown was to break off her marriage contract. Then decree that all marriage contacts were invalid. No one could be forced into a marriage against their will.

She still remembered the horror of being turned into a small weak teenage girl. He was so helpless and was horrified and humiliated to suddenly become the princess of the Kingdom as his older sister claimed the crown and was proclaimed King. He was proclaimed the younger sister and didn’t get the crown. She knew nothing but suffering from that day. She was forced into dresses and constricting corsets that girls wore. She was unable to stop the women from dressing her. She was forced into it.

Then Sybilla remembered the glorious celebrations and bells tolling through the streets. She didn’t understand it at the time but Theodora had just repealed many of the social and legal restrictions placed on women and declared the worship of the Goddess to be legal again. Worshippers of the Goddess were no longer to be hunted or illegal. It was forbidden to prevent the worship of their goddess. Many women were cheering all night and it just enraged Sybilla. These were the women who destroyed the boy. Instead of being the crown prince, she had to go to school with the girls.

She was to learn the refined skills girls usually started learning at around five years of age. She learned to walk and move like a refined lady. She no longer had her strength or skills. She suddenly became afraid of men, whom he would previously have no problem defeating. Her sister became the best swordswoman and developed a swagger like a male in her step and gained the confidence of a man. She was often seen wearing a military uniform that the noble men wore. Theodora threw it all in her face. Sybilla remembered the horror of her first period and how Theodora joked about it and mocked her. Then she was sexually assaulted by one of the sons of his family's enemies. She felt so helpless and luckily the guards stopped it before it became a rape. That boy would later get to her and rape her within the year. This assault occurred at a tournament that she planned on winning as a boy. But instead, she was the princess just watching and cheering on the boys and men. She felt so humiliated and enraged by it all. And to top it all off, she was there wearing a pretty corset and a heavy elaborate gown and a pink princess tiara as her sister watched wearing pants.

She was treated as a helpless young woman and she felt much like that as her sister took the crown and began leading the kingdom. Sybilla was further enraged as war overtook the Kingdom. The Valentinian family rebelled against the King. They armed for war and Theodora was forced to mobilize the army. This was the family whose son Theodora was arranged and being forced into a marriage with. As king, she called it all off and that family declared war. She didn’t care how many people had to die for her marriage. Theodora was always very selfish and threw away many lives. And Sybilla was enraged that she had to stay as her sister mocked her weak female attributes as she marched off to war with the army after Sybilla spent a lifetime training for battle as a boy. She swore she was going to kill Theodora and said it right to her face that first day after Theodora transformed Serren into Sybilla. Theodora had to die for this humiliation.

Sybilla began studying witchcraft soon after her sister marched off to war. It was a struggle to be accepted by the witches. They still regarded Sybilla as a boy and witch’s study was only for girls. But Sybilla forced them to accept her as a girl and into the classes with the girls. Either she was a boy or a girl. If she was a boy then the crown must be hers. But she was a girl now, forced into dresses. The crown couldn't pass to her as the little sister. She was treated as a girl so she was going to learn witchcraft. And she learned she had skills that even her sister lacked. She learned that Theodora was a very poor witch. She transformed Serren with a lot of help. There were enough girls who wanted a female to ascend the throne and withdraw the restrictions.

Sybilla learned very fast and gained power like she never imagined as a boy. She could transform herself into a boy now, but she felt so much more powerful as a girl in this society. She was going to make her sister pay. After the conclusion of that war, Sybilla found out she was pregnant. She found out later after her delivery that it was caused by a spell by the witches under her sister’s orders. She had few choices at that point. So Sybilla married her love Seryna and had her babies.

Theodora thought it would destroy Sybilla. It nearly did but as the date of her delivery came closer, Sybilla knew a joy she had never known before and was looking forward to her precious babies. Becoming a mother was going to be great. So when her delivery date came and she delivered her babies, Theodora watched expecting it to be a crushing experience. Instead, she saw joy and love on Sybilla’s face as she embraced her babies. That enraged Theodora and she plotted to steal the children away. Sybilla’s power protected her new family and Theodora failed.

Theodora won that war but Sybillla withheld so much from her sister and just waited for this moment. She won the war against the Valentinians and forced them back into the Kingdom. The restoration of the Goddess to the Kingdom was successful. But Theodora’s lack of knowledge of the world and the Kingdom’s various treaties was going to bite her back. Theodora was never taught about the Fay or her people’s agreement with the Fay Kingdom. They were to transport goods and materials to the Fay for a price each year. It was a secret agreement and Theodora didn't know and didn't transport the goods this year. So the Fay tried to come and talk. Theodora was alarmed and had the Fay that came to the capital arrested.

Some were killed and now the Fay were on the warpath. Sybilla wasn’t going to raise a finger to help her sister after everything she had to suffer. Theodora was not prepared for such a widespread war shortly after her restoration war. Now her kingdom was facing destruction and it pleased Sybilla. She could help the Kingdom if she would find a way to free the Titans and control them. The Titans could defeat the Fay. And then she would direct the Titans against the Kingdom and claim the crown for herself. What could Theodora’s army do against Chronos and his Titans?

But Sybilla had to find a way to control the Titans. Otherwise, the Titans would destroy everything in their path and claim the world for themselves. It was only by the power of the greatest gods combined that they had been able to defeat the Titans and imprison them in the first place. There were ways Sybilla could get what she wanted. And she felt she was very close to it as she kept reading about the Fay and the Titans.

Then there was a rude knock on her door. Her babies were asleep with Seryna watching over them, so Sybilla went to open the door. She saw the last person she expected to dare show up at her door. There standing on the other side of the door was the ruthless Oolae Fawna. The high witch of the order of Hekate and one of the main professors of the girl’s school. She and her friend Arcadia hatched the entire coup to turn her into a girl and give the crown to her elder sister. And this person dared show up at her door? The reaction was immediate. The Professor saw Sybilla’s features turn bright red and sparks danced in her hair. Sybilla was clearly preparing for a battle.

The Professor tried to reason with her. “Please listen to me Sybilla. We are desperate and need help. You have to listen to us, and give up your anger for the good of the Kingdom. I as the High Witch and the regent for the King request your assistance. We are willing to place you in charge of the army. You will be their general and leader. Isn’t that what you always wanted?”

Sybilla’s features became more sinister. She nearly snarled. “No. I want the crown itself. I was the heir and it was supposed to belong to me before you all seized it from me. That’s what I want and you know it. Since I can’t have it, you all can deal with this crisis yourselves. I don’t care if the Fay burn you all. You deserve what you get.”

“Sybilla you are so selfish. All you want is the crown and you don’t care about anyone else who’s suffering. We all wanted to be free of the church and it’s cruel priests. We needed to end the inquisition and liberate the women. You just can’t see that because of your selfishness. We had to do what we did. Why can’t you see that?”

“I don’t care,” Sybilla responded with a cruel look in her eye. “If I was the King, this would have never happened. I don’t know what you expect me to do with an inexperienced army against 100s of thousands of Fay on the warpath. With an experienced army trained by our father and years of experience, I could have pulled off a victory. But your king foolishly lost that army. The King you wanted, and placed on the throne. So good luck against the Fay. You may leave now unless you want to duel and I would love that.”

An even more cruel look appeared in her eyes. “Because unlike the previous representatives of the King, whom I allowed to walk away, you are the high witch responsible for all of my suffering and the rape I survived. I won’t allow you to walk away Fawna. You are responsible for me being this way.”

Sybilla walked out with fire in her hair. She floated up above the ground with a sinister look in her eyes. “I am forming a plan to help. I may end up helping but when I do, I will be doing it at great risk to myself. I will demand the crown when I succeed and then I will place all of the previous restrictions on women in the kingdom and restore the witch hunter and the inquisition. Your freedom will be very short-lived. Considering what you all did with your freedom, and how cruel you were, you don’t deserve the freedom. I will take it away.”

“You are such a selfish and cruel girl,” the professor spat out raising her own defenses.

“You made me,” Sybilla said to her. “You were one of the witches there chanting the curse to turn me into a girl in front of the entire kingdom. It is your doing. I was a very kind and loving boy before you did this. I have suffered more pain and humiliation than you can ever imagine. You all deserve to pay.”

Sybilla made double fists and sent a torrent of fire at the professor. She did her best to block the attack but it was difficult. She flew back from the force of the blast and collapsed. Her energy spent and Sybilla was preparing to strike again. Her fists were tightening with a cruel sneer in her face seeing the professor’s helplessness. There was nothing she could do now.

“And now professor, you will die.”

She knew that she stood little chance in a battle against the princess. The princess’ body had been reformed with a very ancient and powerful magic and as a result of the transformation fused itself into her body. As a result of such a transformation, the princess would become blessed to be a very powerful witch. She was to be one of the most powerful witches ever. The professor hoped that the princess would understand and join them once she understood the injustice and horrors they all faced. That never happened. The princess became terribly embittered and hateful. She had suffered horribly after the transformation. For one, her sister Theodora treated her extremely cruelly. She unleashed years of pent up frustration on her. Then she was used by enemies of the family and assaulted and raped. What was supposed to be a learning experience for the princess turned into a living nightmare.

Sybilla was very right to be this angry but none of it was the professor’s doing. Yet she was being solely blamed for being a major part of the plot. She saw the princess drawing on her power into her fists and sent an even more powerful blast of fire toward her. She used up her strength blocking the first blast. She had nothing left to repel another attack. She barely blocked the force of the first attack. This was nothing like the first attack by a few boys who only briefly studied magic and attacked her and Arcadia a few nights after their seizure of power. That was easy to deflect. Those boys were almost a joke and they paid for their attack. The princess was way more powerful. The professor knew she was about to die.

The blast of fire engulfed the professor and she screamed out in pain as the fire burnt her alive. It consumed her flesh and incinerated her entire body in a flash of pain. There was nothing left of her body but a charred hole in the grass. “And now, Charon will take you to the realm of Hades. You will pay the price for what you did to me.”

Sybilla then returned to her home and her babies started to wake up. She picked up a crying Blaze and held the girl close to her heart. The girl was clearly hungry and she was starting to grew teeth. Sybilla sat the girl in a chair in the kitchen and began feeding the girl soft baby food. Her babies were so sweet. This was one of the most rewarding experiences. But she still couldn’t forgive the pain she endured because of the transformation. She had to repay the favor and that was coming later in the day.

Hours later Sybilla was found in her area mixing ingredients in a massive black pot in the center of the room. A mixture of rare mushrooms, herbs and some gems and stones prepared the potion and then there was one final part of the entire process. She held up a knife and put her hand over the pot. She gripped the blade tightly and quickly pulled the blade down slicing her palm open. The blood dripped down into the pot and the potion was ready. She cast the spell and then awaited the guests that were to arrive any second. There was a knock and she told them to come in.

Lord Philip walked in. He was the lord and head of the entire Plantagenet family. The family her spouse belonged to and that consented to the marriage between their daughter and the princess. This was the man she wanted to see. He greeted her and walked in asking why he was summoned.

The man was already largely under her influence. “I need your family ring Lord Philip.” Sybilla told him.

Lord Philip Plantagenet knelt and said, “As you wish, my princess.”
“I want you to publicly announce to your people that I am the lord of the Plantagenet family. I am in charge as of this moment. You and your wife will abdicate. The title now belongs to me. I will become the lord of the Plantagenet family.”

The lord replied, “As you wish, my Lord and my Queen.”

“I am not the queen, yet.” Sybilla replied. “Not yet. Now we make arrangements to receive the Valantian family’s lord, as well as the Constantine’s family head.

The Titan Queen Chapter 3

By Cynthia Jeanette
Sybilla forms a formidable alliance against the reigning king and finds more allies in her quest for power.

The Valentinian family’s head Brom followed shortly after Philip came and the same process was executed on him. He became inescapably bound to Sybilla’s will. They were bound to obey her every command. And then she went back to take care of her precious babies. She knew she would be leaving them to fight in this war and that it would be heartwrenching. But that it would be necessary.

@

King Theodora sat on her throne alone. Her anger at her infernal little brother simmered within her. It had grown into a white-hot rage. This was all his doing and she knew it. That asshole had deliberately withheld the knowledge of her father’s treaty with the Fay Kingdom from her. This was his plan all along. She knew it in her heart. He knew of the treaty and the goods that the Fay expected. He knew all about that treaty and told her nothing about it. So she didn't know what was expected. When they came to her doorstep she had no idea and thought it was a plot or an attack and responded accordingly. She had no idea. And now they were on the warpath to totally destroy the Kingdom. The Fay had already destroyed many of the border towns and some of the major cities on the border. Tens of thousands of people had already been killed including the bulk of the army. This was exactly what her brother wanted and would use this to show that she was unfit. She knew in her heart that she would not be ruling for much longer. It infuriated her to no end. Her brother was going to reclaim the throne and there was nothing she could do about it. She needed his help and she knew what he was going to demand for his help. She could try to refuse, but it would cost her everything. She was willing to sacrifice the power she claimed if it would protect the people. But she knew that her brother in his anger and thirst for vengeance would undo everything she had accomplished as king just out of spite. He would reverse her edicts that made men and women equal. He would re-institute the restrictions on women’s lives and their freedom just to spite her. He would revive the witch hunters and destroy the followers of Hekate. Witches would be burnt again. The freedom people knew under her rule would be very short-lived and that made Theodora very sad. Her brother’s selfishness and hate would destroy everything she worked so hard to accomplish.

She remembered the pride and the accomplishment she felt when she first seized the crown from her little brother. It was such a victory over that annoying incompetent asshole who only was the heir because of his sex. She knew she was wiser and stronger. She was much more worthy and she did it because she wanted to help the people in ways he wouldn't.

He simply could not have accomplished what she had in such a short time. And it was even prophesied that he may have been killed if he ascended the throne. She nearly was killed in several attempts on her life. But her brother was only sixteen when their father died. Her brother was young, he was very childish and he was mean. He was loving toward his parents and he had many friends. But he was a very sexist and entitled boy at sixteen. He felt that he was above women and that males were superior. He felt that girls were too weak and they needed a firm hand to rule over them. Of course, that was how he was taught by the priests of the church. It was how society was designed and had worked for over a thousand years. He threw it all in her face every chance he got. He teased her because of her female weaknesses. That attitude was what she needed to end and she had gone a long way toward that end.

She freed the women, she liberated the witches and restored the worship of the Goddess to the land. They were all very happy. She knew how angry her selfish little brother was at it all and just wanted to rule for himself.

Her brother’s rage at being turned into a girl and seeing her claim his crown as the King of the Shattered Isles totally enraged him. His rage was frightening. She had never experienced such anger in her life. He threatened her life that day. He told her right to her face that she would die for this. And she hoped that he would come to understand the need, but Serren never did. He kept telling her that he was going to kill her. His rage never ceased. It only grew. It was very frightening but she knew she was safe. Until he began studying witchcraft. That was a move she should have seen but it was a female art and she never considered he would willingly subject to the study of witchcraft and the Goddess. He studied it and excelled at it. By the time she saw the threat growing, it was too late. Threatening the King was a crime he committed many times. She dismissed it as impossible, but it was possible now and he was too strong to imprison. Luckily, he never made an attempt to kill her. He knew he would not have had the support he needed to seize the crown. At least not until now when he knew that he was going to be needed to lead the army. If he led them to victory, then he would have the support to claim the crown.

And she knew what he was going to do to them all once he reclaimed the crown. He was going to kill them all and restore the restrictions on the witches. He was going to seek a terrible revenge on them all. She had to do everything possible to prevent him from regaining the crown. But she knew in her heart that he was going to reclaim the crown and kill her. He said it to her face multiple times. Her rule and the liberation of the women was going to be extremely short. It was coming to the end. There was little she could do about it.

She heard that he had killed the professor in cold blood. He was going to kill more of the witches. Her brother seemed to hate the witches with a passion. When he reclaimed the throne, Theodora knew he was going to kill them all. Her brother had become so cruel and so selfish. His wrath was going to be terrible.

Theodora let her thoughts go for several more long minutes as she tried to find a way out of this. What got to her the most was that she had been manipulated from the very beginning. The girl who she relied on the most and thought was one of her best and most trusted friends had been manipulating her from the very beginning. Arcadia knew how she felt about her annoying little brother and had used that to encourage her to unleash more of the pent up resentment and anger she had at how he treated her to return the favor. She said he deserved it. All along knowing how he felt and how he would take it. Arcadia encouraged her and did some herself to punish and mock Serren all along knowing it was arousing his anger and what the end result would eventually be. She didn’t know Serren did love her. But she kept pushing him and eventually he broke. Yes, he did threaten her from the start and was very upset but with enough love and guidance, they could have moved past it. But she unleashed her anger at him and kept humiliating and mocking him. So his anger grew and grew and it eventually broke. She and Arcadia cast the pregnancy spell on him, he got pregnant and that didn’t work out how they planned. Instead of it being a crushing and devastating experience for the boy, it was one of the most loving and wonderful experiences for him. He fell in love with his new babies and resolved to raise them as a mother. He was declared the virgin mother to the entire kingdom and expecting mothers flocked to him for advice. Arcadia encouraged her to take his children as her own and she followed that horrible advice. Arcadia knew what the result would be and it ended how she planned. He finally fought back and nearly killed her. He would have if not for the power of Hekate protecting her. Arcadia planned on her brother killing her so she could reclaim the throne. She was a descendant of the last of the witch kings from the age of the matriarchy. She felt the throne was hers and she was probably one of the few witches in the entire world that stood a chance against her brother’s power. Theodora knew what her brother would want now. He never trusted Arcadia and he wanted her bad. No one knew where she fled to but they had to find her.

There was another matter that she had to resolve and she knew it would be difficult. But if he was willing to cause this war and watch the destruction of the kingdom then that is something she had to face. The fact that he did this to her knowing what the result would be meant he was very determined and there wasn’t much she could do. She would have to give him what he wanted to save the Kingdom. She was willing to give him the crown if it would save the people from destruction. This type of rage wasn’t something she could face. But it hurt her to admit this. By him pulling this on her proved she was worthier and more mature. She deserved it more than him, not that it mattered anymore. If he caused this, then clearly he had a plan that had a chance to defeat the Fay. He was their only chance. But this war was his doing. He knew it would happen. He knew what the Fay expected but she was going to be blamed for it and he would use it against her.

But no one told her about the secret agreement with the Fay Kingdom. She had no idea of the goods she was supposed to provide them each year. In return for vast amounts of gold. No one told her of it. No one really knew. She knew her father trained him for the crown and Serren knew. She didn’t know. So she didn’t transport the goods. She was rightfully alarmed to see a heavily armed group of Fay marching to their gates and she responded to defend her city. She didn’t know that was only a diplomatic state visit to inquire why she had broken their agreement. She had the group arrested and several Fay were killed. The Fay declared war and the next thing she knew there was an army of Fay marching across the border and burning down her border towns and several of her large cities. They were headed here. She mobilized her army to fight them. She marched off to war expecting a victory. Her huge Eagles and Hawks and griffins helped her in their first war against the Valentinians and crushed their army. It didn’t work against the Fay though and they swept her creatures from the sky. Her army was crushed and she barely made it back in defeat. She was now raising another army and hoping she can convince her brother to help. She knew he would eventually help. He had grown and matured. Gone was the sexist boy who only wanted to party and sleep with girls. He was now a woman on a mission to crush her and if that meant crushing the Fay and marching back as a hero, that’s what he would do. And Theodora knew once he did that, she would have no choice but to surrender the crown to him. And she also knew that he would unleash his wrath on the witches and turn back all of her progress. Things would go back to what they were before she ruled. She only wondered how he would justify it to himself now that he had chosen to remain living as a woman and a mother to his babies.

Her first job was to find Arcadia and she called the witches to her chamber.

The elder women arrived within the hour and she gave them the orders. It pained her to realize the witch’s freedom was now on borrowed time and was about to end. As was her rule of the Kingdom. “We need to find the manipulative Arcadia. She has betrayed the crown and she has been missing long enough. She must face justice for what she did. We know my little sister will be coming any time and what she will demand in return for her assistance in this war.”

The new High Witch Amanda inquired, “Why do you need to give the princess anything for her help? You rule not her.”

“The princess is the only hope we have in this war now. She is our only hope to survive. She is very angry at how she was treated. We are all guilty of abusing her because of her sex. She will make steep demands for her assistance. One of them is sure to be Arcadia’s head. Find where she is hiding. You all found Zakister and brought him back for justice. Find Arcadia as soon as you can and bring her back for our justice.”

“Yes, your majesty.” And they left to follow her commands.

@

Sybilla knew she was going to have to help the Kingdom. She really didn’t want it all to be destroyed. She wanted to rule it herself. She only wanted her wicked sister to know how hopeless the situation was for her. Sybilla wanted Theodora to know that she was her only hope. She also wanted to kill the professor. That bitch deserved to die. The professor led the witches and took a leading part in her abuse. None of them thought what they were doing was wrong. They all deserved to pay. They wanted to create a better world where women were free to determine their own lives, or even marry who they chose to. That is all fine, but there was little reason to abuse her then. But as a boy, she knew Serren represented everything that they were taught to fear and hate. He was an entitled sexist boy set to rule in the name of his father who was the same way. It was how he was taught to be since he was a little toddler. There was nothing he could do about it. Nothing that happened to them was his doing at all. But everything that happened to her was their doing. The witches were clearly evil. He was taught by the priests that women were too emotional to be in positions of power. They were unable to lead. They were too weak to fight. That only men could be trusted to have power. Sybilla’s experience taught him that much of what he learned as a youth was wrong. She learned that as a woman. She also learned that women could be as cruel as men. Both sexes were guilty and had done terrible things to each other. She was going to override many of her sister’s achievements when she wore the crown. But she wasn’t about to put the dumbass priests back in charge. They had been defeated and proved their unworthiness. No. A new order was going to be instituted under her rule. Both orders were going to be wiped out. The witches under Hekate as well as the priests under Ares and Zeus. They were all going to be destroyed.

Morning was coming and she felt she now knew what she needed to know to accomplish her goal. But none of it was going to be easy. She feared trying to enter Tartarus. She would first have to enter the underworld of Erebus. That was where Hades ruled and from what she heard, he wasn’t nice at all. It was an easy place to enter, but getting out alive was the more difficult part. And even then, she would have to find and enter the inescapable prison of Tartarus where the Titans were held. If even the mighty Titans couldn’t escape Tartarus, what hope did she have? And releasing and trying to control them. There were ways to do it. But Sybilla felt that the people who knew how would have no interest in helping her do it. But if there was any hope of doing it, it was now. Now was the time.

It was just at that time that the person she had been expecting to come had finally made it there. Her mother Ellyn had finally arrived. Sybilla figured that Theodora thought that the influence of their mother may finally convince her to help. Theodora was wrong. Sybilla had no love at all for her mother. As far as she was concerned, her mother betrayed her and she no longer had a mother.

Sybilla was sitting outside in a large decorated ring when her mother came in her carriage and stepped out. Ellyn knew this was nearly hopeless. She knew that Sybilla hated her almost more than she hated her.

She looked at Sybilla and said, “Sybilla, I think you...”

Then Sybilla interrupted, “Yes Ellyn I know what foolish mission your daughter Theodora sent you on and you may as well return because I have no intention of doing any favors for her, or for you. You can deal with the daughter you favored all along and set on my throne.”

“I am your mother, you are my daughter” Ellyn tried to say. “Won’t you do anything for us?”

“You are not my mother,” Sybilla said cruelly. “I am not your daughter. You only had one daughter. Theodora was your daughter. You had a boy about a year later. His name was Serren. You betrayed and killed him. You had no girl named Sybilla. Since you didn’t love your son and did this. You now have only one child. I am not your daughter. You killed your son just like you two arranged the death of your husband Gerreck.”

But then since Ellyn was already there. She may as well let her watch in horror since she already arranged for it to happen. “But since you are here already. You can see how I intend to help you all. I still have no idea what you expected me to do with an untrained inexperienced army against hundreds of thousands of pissed off Fay. If I am going to fight I intend to win it. But you are trying to set me up for a defeat. There is only one hope here. So just watch.”

Then Sybilla knelt in the circle and began chanting a very ancient and powerful spell. Sybilla was chanting in an incomprehensible language. It was not the language of the Goddess or of anything she could understand.

As she kept chanting her spell. They all felt the ground beneath them began to violently shake. A great rumbling could be felt far beneath them. Ellyn was very frightened but Sybilla kept chanting her spell and kneeling on the ground as if in worship of whatever she was summoning.

Then she saw a great massive feminine figure began to materialize in front of Sybilla as she lowered her eyes and said, “My Goddess.”

Ellyn was horrified beyond reason. “Oh No, please Sybilla. You didn’t summon her. Please, anything but this. Please don’t do this.”

“My Goddess Hera,” Sybilla said as she knelt in submission. “I need your help in this conflict. Please, I will give you anything you ask.”

Hera laughed bitterly. “You silly girl,” She said arrogantly. “Why should I help you? You caused this war. It was your plotting that caused your sister to offend the Fay. Why should I help you at all?”

“We are your creation,” Sybilla said. “Please protect us. I know you would hate for us all to be wiped out. And there’s another thing. You know what I want and I know what you want, My Goddess Hera and I will give it to you. I know you are tired of your husband’s arrogance, infidelity humiliating you, and his ego. I know you hate him now and you want to destroy him. I will give you what you want if you help me.”

That intrigued Hera more than anything. She knew exactly what Sybilla wanted. “Yes, you could overcome my husband Zeus if I give you what you want. But you know I don’t even have that power. It took all of the greatest Gods combined to defeat them the first time. If I help you release them, what assurance do I have that you can control him enough to not let them destroy us all?”

“If I have Cronus’ crown, I can protect you from them.” Said Sybilla.

Hera laughed. Then she thought for a second and said, “Fine, but I will only trust you if you can defeat him. You will fight Cronus, and you must defeat him in battle. Only then will I agree to help you.”

Ellyn spoke up, “Now you know she has no chance against Cronus. Even you and your husband stand no chance against him. You are setting Sybilla up to be killed.”

Then Hera touched Sybilla and a massive torrent of power entered into Sybilla. She began to glow with an enormous powerful divine radiance. It was then that another figure appeared beside Sybilla.

Ellyn was more horrified as he looked at Sybilla.

Hera said, “I summoned my nephew Hades. He will grant you safe passage through his underworld. He also has a weapon that can defeat Cronus.”

Hades said in the voice of the dead, “Hera requests that I grant you safe passage to the underworld. Charon will allow you to enter and you may pass through the underworld and enter the prison of Tartarus. If you survive passage through the prison and find the Titan King Cronus. You two will combat. This weapon can defeat him. But don’t lose it.”

Hades gave Sybilla Cronus’ massive scythe, a key to enter the prison and an enormous deadly sword. “This is the sword of Ares. Protect them. They are your only chance to beat Cronus. And this is your last gift. IF you defeat Cronus, make him drink this. It will give you power over him. Just don’t die.”

Hera told Sybilla, “And if you do this, then you will have the power to defeat Zeus. I will be free from him once and for all.”

Ellyn stood there stunned and horrified at what she had just witnessed Sybilla do. She was now extremely frightened. The bargain Sybilla just made with the wicked Goddess Hera now just gave her unimaginable power over the world. She could now do anything she wanted and no one could stop her.

Sybilla looked at Ellyn and said, “No, I can’t do anything I want yet. The Gods can stop me and take my power away if I don’t hold my end of the bargain I just made. I am expected to do several tasks for them and then this becomes permanent. I must defeat Cronus first. Then I must deal with Hera’s unfaithful husband and I don’t imagine any of those will be easy. Even with the new weapons Hades gave me. And then, I will deal with my evil sister.”

“Your sister is not evil,” Ellyn tried to explain in the most sympathetic tone she had. “Your sister was entrusted to change things. She was chosen by the Goddess herself. She received visions of the changes and instructions to follow. These changes were things we needed to do. Things could not continue as they had for the past thousand years. And you must know that by now. You were female at the beginning of your sister’s reign. You experienced the oppression and fear we lived under. And you saw how things were once she lifted the restrictions, she suppressed the priests and begin the restoration of the Goddess. The lives of women became much better. Theodora had to become king. It was prophesied. Your change was prophesied. We kept hoping that you would understand.”

“I do understand,” Sybilla said harshly. “But I felt like a sacrifice. Like something being led to the slaughter. I suffered under my sister’s rule. She inflicted great suffering on me. I was forced into everything. Then I was mocked, I was belittled, terrible restrictions were placed on me and I was even imprisoned and forced to beg her for the simple freedom to move around and attend school. There was no reason to do all of that to me. And then, I was even sexually assaulted multiple times. Then Theodora and her friend Arcadia cast a spell on me to make me pregnant with twins. Don’t get me wrong I deeply love my babies. But what she did was still cruel. How can you say she isn’t evil after all she did to me?”

“She was rightfully angry and resentful at you for how you treated her all her life. You were harsh to her.”

“I never abused her the way she did to me,” Sybilla spat out hatefully. “I never forced her into a girl’s life. That was just the life that was chosen for her. None of the oppression was my doing either. I would have continued it as King. But that’s how I was taught all my life. And when I rule again, I will reimpose them all on you.” Sybilla looked at her with a cruel sneer that made Ellyn very frightened.

“I just can’t believe you Sybilla.”

“And this is what really makes me angry. It enrages me big time. It’s the worst of all. What I believed in, is what I was taught to believe in since I was a tiny toddler learning to walk. These lessons were drilled into me by father, and the priests at the church, and the boy’s temple. You didn’t even try to correct what I was being taught. That blessing was afforded to my sister. So I was taught all of this junk you hated. And then you knew it would condemn me later on and cause me to be hated, reviled and made me suffer. Had I known how wrong it was, I could have been willing to help as King and there would have been no need to destroy me. But now, I simply don’t care after what you all did to me. I set it all up and I am happy. Now, you all need me to help you and it’s going to cost you a lot for my help. And you know it.”

At that moment, Hera rematerialized in a flash beside Sybilla. “There is one thing I forgot to tell you and this is a secret that we have kept from you. I have one question for you Ellyn. Why do you think Sybilla was so powerful in magic?”

“This strength is a side effect of the transformation spell we cast on her. This spell was created during the age of the Goddess and the matriarchy. Being transformed into a female was seen as a great gift back then. It was only cast on worthy boys. As a result, they were gifted with great power in magic.”

“But those boys, like King Devinia, Devin still had to study for years to understand and do magic. Not months. Within meer months, Sybilla was able to match the most experienced and powerful witches. Even Arcadia was frightened of her by then. Crushing her sister and nearly killing Theodora after she tried to steal Sybilla’s twins. This type of power wasn’t even given to those boys during the Matriarchy.”

That much was true and they both looked blankly at Hera.

“The answer is, another god interfered in the transformation. Sybilla, your stunning beauty and grace as a woman, as well as your extreme power and the rapid pace you learned it all. Was a gift by the Goddess Aphrodite. Your body wasn’t transformed by the spell, or by the Goddess Hekate as they expected. No, your body was transformed by Aphrodite. And she saw the suffering that was planned for you. She saw what was intended and aided you.”

They saw a brilliant flash beside Sybilla at that moment and it was almost as if an older clone of Sybilla was standing beside her. There was Aphrodite standing looking lovingly into Sybilla’s eyes.

“Yes,” Aphrodite said mischievously with a smirk, “that was all me. And I must say the stunning beauty you were transformed in was quite a shock to the witches. You truly have a divine beauty now. And I saw the horrors they had planned for you. I saw your sister’s seething resentment at the male privilege you were born with. The freedom you had as a boy and the crown you were going to get just because you were male. How she was dismissed and ignored. The hatred Theodora had built up at you over the years and what they all planned to do to you. It was as wrong as could be. And you could never have learned witchcraft enough to fight them. So I gave you a few godlike gifts. You were able to learn at a stunning speed. That shocked them a lot. As a boy, you were never really into learning and books. But once you found out the only way you could try to fight it, you dived right into the books of witchcraft and the classes. You progressed at lightning speed. That frightened them. I also gave you much more power than other witches. Sybilla those were my gifts and I am glad you were able to use them. And now,” Aphrodite smirked, “I have pushed Hera into this but she is all too willing if it gets her free of her stupid husband. You have been sent on a quest. If you are able to complete it, you will be able to take your place among us on Olympus. After that, I would think being the king of a small minor island nation would not be enough for someone of your power. You will be above a king. Even the Kings will have to submit to you. You will be their Goddess. Even Hekate will fear you. She will be so sorry for what she did.”

“Only if I can do alone, what the most powerful gods were barely able to do. Defeat Cronus all by myself. Theodora loves to fight. She wanted to be a warrior king. Maybe I will take her to Tartarus and see if she can fight Cronus.” Sybilla giggled cruelly at the thought of taking her cruel sister to Tartarus and making her face Cronus.

But Aphrodite and Hera’s harsh look made Sybilla rethink that plan. Maybe it wasn’t so good. Then Hera said, “Think about it Sybilla. Setting her up to be killed may seem good at first. Watching her do what she loves only to be vastly overpowered by a Titan and killed may seem like a good idea. But letting her live and watch you gain power over her, and for you to have such amazing authority and power she can’t ignore. She must submit to your power as the God she loves is diminished by you. Imagine her then. Some times, living is a worse punishment. You were born for greatness and you are beloved by the Gods. Theodora will end up being despised. And now you need to prepare for your first challenge and your future. You must go to the city of Plantagenet for the grand ceremony you arranged. He is assembling the Lords and the army for you. It’s exactly what you wanted and it’s about ready.”

Ellyn was confused as Sybilla arranged for the pink princess carriage with the Plantagenet crest on it and they began the long trip from the countryside with his ex-mother, and his spouse and their babies to travel to the city of Plantagenet, the territory’s capital.

As they traveled there, Sybilla was remembering the first time when he was supposed to be named the King in a grand ceremony like this. The one where instead of getting a grand crown, he got a small pink tiara and was named the princess. He was turned into a girl and watched his sister betray him and claim the crown. Then the betrayal of the lords as they proclaimed their loyalty to her. She didn’t know everything that Theodora did to gain the lord’s loyalty. She met with each of them setting up the entire betrayal, giving each of them royal gifts as they arrived. All of it behind Sybilla’s back. It was such a monstrous betrayal. Sybilla let her anger simmer and now some of the lords were going to proclaim their loyalty to her. One of them was going to name her as the lord of the family. Things were going to change this day.

As they got closer to the territorial capital, Sybilla saw the army camps of the various families that traveled here to be part of this ceremony. Things were finally coming together for her and she was getting what she wanted out of life. Theodora was going to get a rude shock very soon when several very important families abandoned her and there was little she could do about it right now. She had a very poorly trained army and the Plantagenet and the Valentinian family had well-trained armies. An army raised and chosen by her influence, and she set up a grueling training program. She had a vast and well trained and loyal army now. Unlike Theodora and the Valois royal family who was now doomed. They lost their army. They lost their heir. All they had left was Theodora and there wasn’t a man alive that would marry her and agree to lose his last name to her. The Valois family was dying, all because of Theodora’s betrayal. The Plantagenet family would ascend to power.

The carriage parked and they stepped out of it. Sybilla walked through the sea of people assembled according to their rank or nobility. The massive number of each family's soldiers stood in formation with their armor and shields. Their crest marked which family they served. The nobles stood in front and Lord Philip Plantagenet stood on a raised platform with his people waiting for Sybilla to arrive with him. The ceremony was about to begin as Sybilla walked up to the raised platform wearing her ceremony’s gown and her family sash marking her as a member of the Plantagenet family. She was wearing her sword on her belt and she loved this sword much more than her former family’s sword that was taken away from her after she was betrayed. No one was going to take this sword away from her. A strange and very powerful and fierce-looking man stood beside Lord Philip. He was wearing no family crest but he was clearly a very powerful warrior. She had no idea who this man was or what he was doing on the raised platform. Philip seemed to accept him so Sybilla hoped that everything was alright with this man. It was still strange. She also saw agents of the king among the crowd. They were in for a rude shock.

She walked up to the raised platform and Lord Philip signaled that everything was ready to begin. The crowd quieted down as Philip began to speak to the vast sea of people assembled before them. They would have quite a lot to report to the King.

“This event will signal a great change in the order of our noble families. This marks a momentous and undeniable moment in time. This powerful young lady who was betrayed and denied her place in her own family has proven herself to be a powerful young woman and a most valuable member of this family. Her dedication to the Plantagenet family deserved to be rewarded. She had reformed the army of our family. She has raised a very powerful army in such a short time and she single-handedly designed the training regime that has made them so strong in combat. And this is only the beginning. When the Plantagenet join the war against the Fay, the Plantagenet family will be able to take the lead in the effort to push the Fay back. The Valois will no longer be able to take the lead, and nor will the false King Theodora. She will have to follow our lead. So, as this effort was led by the Lady Sybilla Plantagenet, I have decided to reward her. Bear witness that as of this moment, I am stepping down as the leader of the Plantagenet and lord of our family. I name Sybilla as the head of our family as of this moment. She is the leader, and the Lord leading the Plantagenet Family. Members of our family including me will from now on take direction from Sybilla.”

Then Philip knelt and swore fealty to Sybilla.

Many of the members of the Plantagenet were unhappy and were hesitant to follow Philip’s lead. This was unexpected and the noble ranks of the family were unhappy with Sybilla.

Sybilla stepped forward and drew her sword in a very threatening gesture. Her body began to glow with an angry and divine radiance. Her sword glowed bright red with fire. The nobility backed away in fear.

Then the strange man stepped forward and shouted with a godlike boom, “How dare you betray your family. Sons and daughters of the Plantagenet. Your former lord gave you an order and named a new leader who proved herself very worthy. You kneel and obey your new lord, or be named traitors and enemies by your lord Ares.” He glowed like the God of War.

That answered that and the lords knelt and swore allegiance and loyalty to their new lord Sybilla.

Then she kept her divine sword drawn showing her as an ally of Ares. It was clear who that sword belonged to. The man Ares smiled at her in approval. He whispered in her mind, “I don’t mind. I had another sword made. You are clearly worthy of that sword and it likes you. You will do well against Cronus.”

It was time to address the crowd herself. “Thank you members of the Plantagenet family for with your loyalty and trustI will lead us to power. And thanks to the members of the other families that have sworn loyalty to me. We will make a fearsome alliance against the King if she chooses to start hostilities, which would be a foolish choice when our entire kingdom is under attack.

And then she walked into the noble’s palace and down the great hall and turned into a council chamber where she had called a meeting of the other lords and administrators of the territories now under her control. She took her place at the dais as the other lords and administrators took their seat around the table. This was where she belonged. This was the position that was stolen from her. She had a feeling that some of what she had to say would be very shocking to say the least.

Sybilla began the meeting. “As of now, I am reimposing the restrictions on women’s lives. Women in positions of power must be removed. Women are to hold no positions of power within the territories under my control. Are we agreed.”

There were several women there holding administrative positions but they were outvoted. Much to their shock and despair. One of the ladies protested, “How can you do this?”

“It’s easy, and the measure has passed. Next on our agenda is to restart the inquisition.”

This was very shocking. Sybilla continued, “The edicts repealing the laws forbidding worship of the Goddess are hearby repealed. Worship of the Goddess is a crime in our territories. The witch hunters are reinstated. The church is to be reinstituted. Their power is to reinstated. Are we agreed or not?”

The women opposed it but they were outvoted again by the council. Few really wanted to oppose Sybilla. Some were bound to agree with her. Sybilla really enjoyed the shock and despair on the women’s faces as they saw where this was going. They would be removed from their position and replaced. No woman would hold a position of power again. They couldn’t understand how Sybilla could betray her sex like this.

The measures passed. The women were really upset and the council meeting ended with Sybilla standing up and walking out. She then met with Philip and asked what he thought. Philip smiled and said, “You were ferocious. Few of them had the courage to oppose you. You did great.”

Then Sybilla walked out to address what remained of the crowd. “As of this moment, I have made several key changes to the way our areas operate. As of this moment, I am reinstating the previous status of women. Contracted marriages are hereby enforced. Women’s place in society is what it was under the church. The witch hunters are reinstated and will do their job. The previous restrictions and laws against worship of the Goddess are hereby reinstated. Worship of the Goddess and their religion is outlawed. The inquisition against the witches will be reinstated. Women in positions of power and authority are to be removed. Only men may hold positions of power within our area.”

One of the noblewomen stepped forward and asked the obvious question, “What about you, aren’t you a woman in a position of power?”

“No,” replied Sybilla, “I wasn’t supposed to be a woman. This was forced on me against my will, by the witches. And now, I am clearly above men and women.” Her features ignited in a brilliant blaze. Her eyes lit up, her hair ignited in fire. She held her fury sword high in the air. “I am a Goddess.”

By Cynthia Jeanette
Sybilla settles some more scores while she goes to visit the King to arrange their alliance for the war.

The response to her new orders was expected and they were shocked. Some of them were very happy to see things return to the way they were before Theodora changed everything. She saw the agents of the King respond with total horror to see all of the progress their glorious and great king had achieved be reversed in an instant. The King’s agents thought that this may likely result in a new round of wars. Only this time, it was unlikely that the King would win this time. They knew that and Sybilla thought it was unlikely that the King would try to go to war this time. They must work together to survive against the Fay.

Many of the women who had positions of power were in despair to hear the new orders. Sybilla just smiled in triumph. In a horrifying instant, those women’s lives were transformed. Their newfound power and freedom was stripped from them. They were removed from their positions of power within the territory, their new titles were stripped. They were now consigned to be wives and mothers once again. This was a stunning act by Sybilla. She wondered what Theodora would think about this.

Then she proudly stepped off of the raised platform looking at the despair of the women around her, and the horrified and tearful look in Ellyn’s eyes. The horror and total betrayal she saw in Ellyn’s eyes said everything she needed to know. Sybilla simply returned with a triumphant smirk as she nearly swaggered down from the podium. Many of those same women didn’t give a damn about what was taken from him or how Sybilla would live her new life. So she didn’t really care about them.

“I never knew you could be so evil and vicious, Sybilla. This isn’t the boy that I once knew as Serren.”

“That boy no longer exists,” Sybilla responded. “And I never knew my own family could be so evil. What you did to me was cruel and vicious.” Then Sybilla stepped back into the carriage to go back home. She had preparations to make for a long trip to Valois city in the capital to get an audience with the King. They had arrangements to make for their alliance in this war.

She also had someone to see, and a score to settle with a certain someone who really deserved it. This someone probably would know beforehand that she was coming. But this person probably knew her time was up and there was no longer any way to avoid what was coming. This score had been a long time in coming. She was really going to enjoy the look on that bitch’s face.

The trip was very long. The carriage went deep into the countryside long into the night. The soldiers and guards stayed back and the carriage parked near a tiny isolated cottage in the countryside. A darkened forest of trees hid the cottage from most onlookers. Then Sybilla was stunned to see Arcadia standing outside waiting for her. Sybilla opened the door to her carriage and stepped out to meet the deceitful lying woman.

This had been something Sybilla had been looking forward to and she thought that she would enjoy the stunned and fearful look in Arcadia’s eyes when she saw the angry vengeful former boy coming for her head.

Instead, she just saw a resigned smile and she looked totally at ease accepting her fate. Arcadia smiled and said, “So you have come to kill me, go ahead. Take your revenge. I know that I stand no chance against you. This won’t even be a challenge for someone gifted with the power of Hera. You could have killed me at any time you wanted with a snap of your fingers or a thought. So get this over with and then take your revenge on your sister for what she did.”

It was Sybilla’s turn to be totally stunned.

“What,” Arcadia said with a smirk. “You thought I would actually fight you. That day long ago, when you came to hurt me and force me to give you the transformation spell. I knew I stood little chance against you. You showed your strength to me and I was barely blocking your attacks. You smashed my enchanted staff. And now you have been granted the power of Hera. Several things now make more sense. They made no sense when it was happening. It was Aphrodite that gave you such immense power as a witch. No wonder you were able to overcome even the greatest witches of our time. And I was being manipulated from the start?”

Sybilla looked even more stunned. “You were being manipulated?” Sybilla said incredulously.”How do you think that when it was you manipulating everyone?”

“I was led to believe we were going to restore the rule of women over men. That’s what we set out to do and I was led to believe that was the goal of the Goddess Hekate. But no, it was never her goal. She wanted equality between the sex’s and that’s what your sister set out to do all along. We still had to wage war against the church to destroy their power. I was never to regain our place in society and that’s what I thought the Goddess wanted. I was deceived and then ignored once I fulfilled my role in this plot. I was cast away by your sister once she got what she wanted. It almost worked, but the goddess deceived me too.”

“Booo Hooo,” Sybilla said sarcastically. “I feel so bad for little suffering Arcadia. You thought his whole plot was to restore the witch kings and the rule of women when it was nothing like that. Hekate never intended you to get the crown. She never intended for your family to get revenge for losing it so long ago. The Goddess intended my sister to retain the crown. You must be suffering so much,” Sybilla sneered. “But what you endured and suffered can’t even begin to match what was done to me. By your hand?”

“You could never appreciate the great gift the Goddess gave you. If you could have appreciated it, you would have been far better off but you could never get past what you lost. The Goddess made a mistake there. We all thought you would eventually be happy as a woman. Especially with your kids. I saw you as a happy mother and you were almost happy. But you still wanted the crown and became so embittered by that, that you were unable to be happy as a mother raising your kids. You did everything possible to undermine your sister and you accomplished that. Now, you have betrayed the women and restored the church, all to make them suffer what you endured. That brings pleasure to you.”

“This is only the beginning,” Sybilla flashed a wicked evil smile.

“Was I really going to be killed if I was crowned King? You told my family that to get them to support you in the plot. They thought they were saving my life even though I am not convinced they really cared about that in the end. It was just an excuse they told themselves. In the end, they did it for their goals, and for the Goddess. But still, they thought they were saving my life. Would I had really been killed or is that something you were just telling them?”

“You were childish and arrogant back then Sybilla. As Prince Serren and then King, people would have tried to kill you.”

“People tried to kill Theodora too. That just goes with the crown. But was death inevitable for me as King or could those plots had been thwarted? I think they could have, especially if you helped me. But you had no interest in my life did you.”

Arcadia thought for a second and then decided to be truthful. “Yes, I could have protected you. Death wasn’t inevitable if you were crowned King. But we were following the Goddess’s plan. Theodora had to get the crown for things to change. Now you are preventing those changes and reversing all of our progress. I know you love that.”

Then Sybilla asked, “You always used your abilities to help my sister. You can see into the future, so tell me my chances of being successful?”

Arcadia giggled. “I can’t even see that. I just don’t know Sybilla. You are going to the underworld to fight a being that even the most powerful gods fear. But I see you have a version of the potion that I gave to your sister to make her stronger. It won’t give you power over him. It will give you his power. But I just can’t see the outcome of this. But seeing how powerful you have become, you have a chance. A very small chance. After all, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades combined could barely contend with Cronus and you want to fight him by yourself with the power of Hera. You have a good chance of not coming back alive. But there’s a chance, a very small one that you can defeat him. I can’t see the outcome of this. I helped your sister against human opponents and those were easy to see. My abilities won’t work in the underworld.”

Then Sybilla pulled out Cronus’ massive scythe. It towered above little Sybilla such that it almost looked comical. But it was very serious and Arcadia saw that Sybilla could handle such a massive and powerful weapon. “The sword I was supposed to get was stolen from me. I was supposed to wield Justice, the sword of my father but my evil sister and you had it taken from me. This will have to do.”

She pulled the enormous scythe back preparing to strike Arcadia down. “We have talked enough and it is now time to die.”

Arcadia didn’t look afraid at all as she looked at the enormous weapon with wonder. Then she said, “Oh my. That can easily destroy little me. You could destroy an entire nation with that weapon. We are discussing the Titans now.”

And then Sybilla said, “There is something I want you to know. You are right about women being stronger. I do feel much stronger as a woman than as a man. I feel that my sister embracing her masculinity and living a male lifestyle is weakening her. I embraced my femininity and I feel it has strengthened me. I feel much stronger than Serren ever was. So I thank you for this gift. But you had to know that it made me much better for the crown than Theodora. But we know what you intended all along. But had it worked out, I would have claimed the crown after everything I went through. I may have killed you then. The only thing is, I would have liked to have had a choice and if I was given a choice, Serren would have refused. Serren was happy as a boy and that’s what he was meant to be. The pain and conflict were still there until Hera changed me. Her love took away the conflict and made me happy as a woman.”

“Bye Arcadia. I have made sure that Hades has a very painful afterlife planed for you. Something you really deserve.” Sybilla struck with all of her mighty swinging the enormous scythe down on Arcadia. The blade crushed Arcadia and then it impacted the ground driving a deep hole in it. The explosion of power was totally unexpected. The power of the scythe caused such an enormous blast that it wiped out the cottage and miles of forest behind the cottage. She found herself holding the scythe standing on charred and scorched ground for miles around her. The forest was destroyed.

Hera appeared beside Sybilla with an angry look in her eyes. She shot out harshly, “You really need to learn to control your rage Sybilla. Especially with that weapon. You could have destroyed the entire Kingdom with that weapon. It’s capable of shattering the entire world if you put enough rage in it. You should have just used Ares sword on her. That scythe was meant to fight against Cronus. It’s about the only weapon that stands a chance against him.”

“You are sending me on a quest that it’s very likely I won’t return alive, aren’t you Hera?”

Hera nodded, “Yes, your chances of survival are very small in this. But you do have a chance. I have given you the weapons and the strength you need. You can defeat Cronus. But yes, you do stand little chance against him. But it is the only way you stand a chance against the power of the Fay.”

“I could defeat them now with your power,” said Sybilla, and she shook her head no.

“No, you don’t. The power of the Fay is on a totally different level. They can nullify our power. Even Gods stand little chance against them. That’s why I sent you to the Titans and the underworld. Theirs is a power that can defeat the Fay. The Titans can overwhelm them. Once you get them, nothing can stand against you. That’s what you want isn’t it?”

“Yes, and thank you. My Goddess. I will do your will when I succeed.”

“Just learn to control your anger.”

Sybilla was even more horrified when she returned to her carriage to see the ground scorched and charred black. The only thing standing was the carriage there and Ellyn alive who was frightened beyond all reason. The blast should have destroyed that too. Some divine power was protecting the carriage, the horses and Ellyn. Sybilla didn’t want Ellyn to die. It wasn’t out of love. She wanted Ellyn to see all of their progress be destroyed, and to watch Sybilla gain the crown. Sybilla wanted Ellyn to see her succeed. All of their efforts would eventually be for nothing and the brutal patriarchy would be reestablished right in Ellyn’s face. Sybilla could already see the pain in Ellyn’s eyes as Sybilla stood up in Plantagenet City and erased all of the women’s achievements and depose all of the women who had gained any sort of power. It was such a brutal and cruel thing to do. She loved the betrayal and pain in Ellyn’s eyes at seeing all of their work be destroyed in an instant. The pain and betrayal were almost as bad as her own that day she found out the person behind her transformation and her losing the crown was her own mother. Ellyn did this to Serren. She was on Theodora’s side all along and this had been in the planning for months. That was such a cruel and brutal betrayal and anything built on that must be destroyed.

Ellyn was in for an even bigger shock when they met up with her fully equipped and highly trained armies. All three of the greatest noble houses were there with their vast armies waiting for Sybilla to meet up with them. They all yelled and cheered when they saw their lord and commander. She truly felt like the goddess of war now. She raised up her powerful sword in the air and yelled back. Real fear and horror gripped Ellyn to see this vast army meeting Sybilla and how much they loved and respected Sybilla. They all loved her. She designed their training, she helped them train and designed their new weapons they would fight with. She helped the miners find the materials to mine to forge the new weapons. They really didn’t understand why Sybilla would require thousands of tons of stinking sulphur, charcoal and saltpeter. Those minerals seemed useless but Sybilla pushed each of her houses into mining thousands of tons of them. Then Sybilla taught them how to mix it properly and what it could do. They were amazed.

Then Sybilla designed the new weapons for the minerals. Weapons with a long steel tube with a trigger. She called the weapon the arquebus. She ordered the new weapon to be mass-produced. She wanted tens of thousands of them. Then she designed the training that would be required for thousands of their soldiers in order to use it effectively in combat. The soldiers were drilled relentlessly with the new weapon until they could fire three to four times each minute. They were trained to fire by rank. While the front ranks were firing, the lines behind the front rank were loading their weapon and they would fire while the front ranks were reloading. They were trained to fire fast, and accurately. By now, they were highly trained troops. She also drilled the men at arms and swordsmen relentlessly until they were lethal and ready to face combat. She had a very highly trained army by now. They were about ready to face combat with the Fay. They were also trained in the formations and flanking maneuvers they would need to face the Fay.

Ellyn saw the highly-trained army of tens of thousands of soldiers standing there in formation. What shocked her was their sheer numbers and each one standing behind their commanders proudly wearing the crest of their house. The flags were waving in the wind and their knights and swordsmen were standing there proudly. Their arquebus troops were standing there with their new lethal weapons. They were all ready.

Sybilla stood in front of her new army and said, “I welcome you and I am counting on the loyalty of the great houses you belong to. My own Plantagenet house, the house of Valentinian and the house of Constantine. You are all my most trusted allies. I have restored your armies and equipped them. The power of the Kingdom now belongs to us. We will march into the capital and show our pretend king what a real army can do under proper training and competent leadership. But remember, we must be allied. The house of Valois, Lancaster and Fawna are our allies in this war. We must all remain allied with each other against the Fay or we will all fall. We need the King’s loyal allies in this war. We will show them what a real army can do. We must help raise their levels of training and competence so we can rely on them in this war. We can destroy them later once we wipe out the Fay.”

Ellyn was shocked to her core. This was all Sybilla’s effort. She had trained these troops and helped raise these armies after the disastrous defeat. That monumental effort was somewhat amazing. Then keeping them together, gaining their loyalty was something else. This was something Serren could not have done. That arrogant childish boy was long gone. This woman was highly determined and proved herself a very competent commander. It was just sad that she was very angry and determined to undermine the King and take over the entire kingdom. Then destroy all that had been achieved. This was clearly a woman out for revenge.

She marched at the head of her army as they all progressed to the capital for a meeting with the King. For once, their king would start to see how helpless she really was.

Ellyn also looked at her fully armored and equipped Sybilla. There was clearly something else about her that was very odd. She wore armor clearly designed for a woman warrior. She didn’t shy away from expressing her femininity at all. Theodora wore male-like armor that diminished her femininity and it gained her the respect and admiration of the men following her. Sybilla wore her thick leather armor and fully expressed her femininity for them all. She flaunted it like a seasoned female warrior and leader. As Ellyn rode beside Sybilla, Ellyn looked at Sybilla and said, “I really wish you would stop being so angry and spiteful. You really need to understand why we did what we did. You seem determined to destroy our progress and that’s so sad. You will only hurt so many women who got their first taste of freedom in over a thousand years. This was all the will of the Goddess.”

“Your Goddess Hekate was wrong and she is corrupt and wicked,” sneered Sybilla hatefully between her gritted teeth. “Your Goddess of women seeks to undermine men and destroy them the way she destroyed and murdered your son. The same way she led your beloved husband and my father to his death. In following this Goddess, you and your daughter have betrayed everything your family stood for. Wasn't it the first Valois king that first struck down the last king of the Matriarchy and hunted down the witches. He declared himself king under the God Ares. Then they started a full-scale war to establish their rule throughout the land. They destroyed all of the Goddess temples, conquered the country and struck down the worship of Hekate. Now his descendants are destroying all of that and betraying him, and the family. You destroyed their last son Serren. Serren just wants revenge and to honor his ancestors. Even if it’s as a girl.” Sybilla smiled cruelly.

“The Goddess was wrongly vilified and blamed for many things that were happening back then,” said Ellyn.

“Seems Hekate was very correctly vilified. She formed the witches. She established the rule of women over men. Men were totally disempowered over their lives and the Valois king couldn’t accept he had no power over his life. That was the will of Hekate.”

“And now you want to do the same thing to women,” Ellyn accused, “and you think it’s right.”

“Only for a time,” Sybilla sneered. “I want them all to experience the helplessness and frustration I felt.”

“Many women lived under that helplessness under your father’s rule and his ancestors. That includes his daughter Theodora and myself. We only wanted power over our lives. Your sister wanted power and control over her life, and to be able to marry who she wanted. Not forced into it. Many women all over the country felt that helplessness. They were joyous over their first taste of freedom. Now, you are taking it away. All out of spite and hatred.”

“Then I should have also been freed,” remarked Sybilla. “I should have been respected as a new woman under this new freedom you spoke about and the joy they felt. I felt no joy. I felt suffering and anger at the abuse I endured. Your daughter abused, mocked and belittled me. I was sidelined from the war when I may have fought by her side. Why do you think I was so angry and threatened her. She insulted me daily and threw in my face that I said women can’t fight wars. Of course, she proved what I said right. She was too weak and had to wear her bewitched armor that gave her strength. She eventually had to steal the skill and strength from one of the Kingdom’s greatest warriors and make him into a thin helpless teenage boy. Now she is strong. And she proved it when she made me helpless as a girl. Of course, there are women warriors that prove us all wrong and don’t have to use magic or resort to stealing men’s strength to fight. They do it well on their own training. But the witches aren’t interested in them. That’s why I hate them and firmly believe the witches must be hunted down. They are an evil I must defeat.”

Ellyn could see that trying to get Sybilla to understand was no use. She was firmly convinced she was right. She hated the Goddess they worshiped. There was nothing else to say as they all marched toward the capital. During their march, she also heard the soldiers singing songs. She heard some of the marching songs from the King’s soldiers during the restoration war. But they were nothing like these songs. These were clearly war-like songs to inspire hatred, and loyalty in their lord. They were thunderous songs of war and glory. Some of them were also about death and destroying the enemy.”

Sybilla said to Ellyn, “You really shouldn’t have done what you did to Serren. It was so wrong and hurt him so much. You should have loved him and allowed him to claim his destiny.”

“It was the will of the Goddess.”

“A corrupt Goddess whose evil will should have been ignored. What’s happening now is a direct result of that. The Goddess will fail now. Her will of a new golden age will not happen. The boy she abused and mistreated will get his revenge. Your son will reclaim his crown and rule as a man. Nothing will change.” Sybilla said with a hard look in her eyes.

“I thought you said you were happy as a girl,” Ellyn said confused. “My son?”

“I am happy as a girl and I feel so much stronger. I won’t change. But you will see what I mean. Serren will return and claim what is his.”

Ellyn was now very confused as she saw the great city of Valois in the distance. Then Sybilla said to the commanders, “Battle formations. Just like we trained. Let’s make a good impression on the King. I am sure that bitch is there waiting with her army.”

She watched as the army assembled into the battle formations. The arquebus troops formed the first ranks and moved into a giant wedge formation. The swordmen stood behind them and the bowsmen formed their formation behind them. The armored knights rode on the sides ready for an enclosure or flanking move. Then they marched toward the capital.

They began seeing the glorious King Theodora with her ragtag army that she was having trouble training for battle. It was clear they were a long way from being ready for combat. Few even held their swords correctly. But it looked as if their troops were worried about the large formation of troops approaching and they were preparing for an attack. Theodora was also frightened to see Sybilla ride to her city with her soldiers assembled into battle formations ready for combat.

Sybilla’s soldiers stooped and the Arquebus troops leveled their weapons ready to fire into Theodora’s troops if they attacked. The knights held their weapons ready.

Sybilla rode forward and said, “Theodora,” refusing to address her sister as King “we come in peace. You invited me to come and help you in your war against the Fay. I have no intention of attacking our allies in this war. Please restrain your troops and I will help them prepare for combat against our real enemy.”

It was still unsettling to see a vast formation of troops facing them with their weapons ready. But she trusted Sybilla and ordered her troops down. She had to shout the command multiple times to get them to lower their weapons. Then Sybilla ordered her troops to stand down. They did in one command and her arquebus troops lowered their guns. The swordsmen lowered their swords and slid them in their scabbard. They broke battle formations. Theodora had no clue how her sister had formed a massive professional army in such a short time. But it was Serren who received a lifetime of training on how to lead troops and fight. It was his destiny that she tried to take from him. It was clear her sister would not be denied. She knew now that if Sybilla really intended to destroy her and claim the crown, there would not be a damn thing she could do about it. Sybilla could order them to attack her troops, the attack would take place. Her army would be slaughtered and Sybilla could reign as King. There would be nothing she could do to stop them. She felt more helpless than ever.

Theodora ordered the troops to remain outside of the city walls. Sybilla agreed and said she wanted to inspect the King’s troops later in the day. For now, they went into the city with the commanders and generals, and the personal guards of each. Theodora made arrangements to meet with Sybilla in the King’s throne room.

Theodora went into the throne room and sat on her Throne as Sybilla stood before her with her guards and commanders behind her.

Theodora saw that Sybilla was holding herself as another monarch here meeting an equal. And she may as well be at this moment. Several of the most powerful houses had left her. They have joined forces with Sybilla and swore loyalty to the house of Plantagenet. The Plantagenet has named Sybilla as the head. At this moment, Sybilla held immense power and has a large, very powerful army behind her. Theodora looked into Sybilla’s eyes and was really shocked by what she saw. She saw nothing but simmering hatred in the eyes of Sybilla. There was still that hate that Sybilla held. She felt the hate radiate from her in palpable waves. She could feel the level of the hatred and saw it in Sybilla’s eyes as she glared at Theodora. This was not going to be easy at all. It was as if Sybilla had been totally consumed by her raging hatred.

“I am glad that you have agreed to come and help us in this war against the Fay. We welcome you, Princess Sybilla.” Theodora said.

“I have agreed to nothing,” Sybilla responded harshly. The steel tone that came from Sybilla's mouth was shocking.

“But you have come here at my invitation. I assumed you agreed to help us,” Theodora said confused.

“I may and may not. I require a few concessions from you, and I will agree,” Sybilla said with a cruel smirk. “First, I demand an apology for what you did to me, admit you were wrong!”

“As King, I can never apologize. I was not wrong,” Theodora said. “I won't apologize.”

“Then this is your war. My allies won't help you.” Sybilla turned and began to walk out. The guards blocked the door as Sybilla approached and said harshly, “You may not leave. Your King requires your presence.”

“Move,” Sybilla commanded and when they refuse to move and held their weapons out. Sybilla's features glowed with power. She made a small gesture with her hands. The two guards blocking her way out suddenly lifted up off their feet and flew into the wall. They collapse in pain. One of them looked as if he had a broken neck. He was no longer breathing.

Sybilla opened the door to walk out when Theodora cried out, “Please, Sybilla. We need to be allied in this war. I need your help.”

Sybilla turned to her sister and said, “Then you know what you must do. This is not a negotiation. These are my demands. Or I walk out.”

“We will fall without you, And so will you?”

“Yes, they will fall,” Sybilla said harshly.

“Fine,” Theodora said. “I will apologize to you. Is that what you want?”

“Yes,“ Sybilla said. “But I need you to beg me. Get off of my throne. Get on your knees and apologize to me in front of your people here, your administrators, your generals, and commanders. Apologize to me for what you did. Admit you were wrong and beg for my help.”

Theodora thought she should have known what Sybilla would demand, and there was no choice there. She stood up and walked forward toward Sybilla and got on her knees. This was going to be very unkingly, and humiliating. Sybilla stood there with a triumphant smirk. She said, “I am sorry for what I did to you, my sister Sybilla. I know I was cruel and harsh to you. It was wrong of me. I was deceived, and you knew better than to trust Arcadia. Please accept my apology on behalf of our kingdom.”

“I accept your apology. We will fight united, under my command. You will place me in command of our combined forces. My houses will be in the lead. Even you will follow my command.”

“I agreed to place you in charge of the army. But your house will be in the lead. Okay, I accept that condition too.” Theodora accepted it.

“And when we win,” Sybilla said with a smile. “You will step down and name me as the King of the Shattered Isles. I will rule as I was meant to.”

“I have seen how you rule,” Theodora looked at Sybilla. “I heard you took command of your house. You forced their lord to step down and name you the head of the Plantagenet. The rebellious Valentinian family swore loyalty to you. So did the Constantinians. You have a large number of houses loyal to you too. Just as you wanted, they left me. And I heard what you did with it. You undermined all of my progress toward equality. You restored the church's power. You restored the cursed witch hunters, and witches fled. Many were caught before they escaped to the capital. They were burnt alive at the stake. You have removed all of the female administrators from their positions. You have done everything our father did. You are a very cruel ruler, Sybilla. How can I place you as King.”

“Because I am the only one who can achieve victory here,” Sybilla said. “You have proved your incompetence. You did well against one weak house with a vast advantage against them and using your witchcraft against them. But you can’t fight me here. We have the advantage. I am very competent. You will lose if you try to fight us. If you refuse me, I may simply assume command.”

“Fine,” Theodora said, defeated. “I will accept your conditions. I will name you King if you can save us.”

“There's one more condition I require. Bring forth your personal guards. I want them all.”

Theodora suddenly got a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She said, “They were only following their religion and mother's orders. There was little they could do to help you. Please, Sybilla, don’t do this.”

The harsh and cruel look in Sybilla’s eyes told her there would be no mercy and no compromise on this. “I hold them guilty for what happened to me. They share a lot of responsibility for my suffering. They were following your orders; they followed the professor's orders to remove me from the coronation after I was betrayed. They betrayed their sovereign king; they turned their backs on the previous king and planned on betraying him all along. I know why. They were secret followers of the Goddess Hekate. Mom made sure all of the King's personal guards were followers of the Goddess. They planned on betraying father from the very beginning. They betrayed me that day and didn't lift one finger to help me. No one stood up for me after that day. They are guilty, and the entire kingdom is guilty.”

The guards assembled there suddenly lost all color in their faces. They knew what was coming and knew they couldn’t do a thing to stop it. They were probably going to die very soon.

This was worse than Theodora thought it was. Sybilla not only held her guilty for it, Sybilla didn’t even consider only the followers of Hekate guilty. She held her guards, and the entire kingdom guilty. When she got the crown, Theodora knew that her little sister's wrath would spread across the entire kingdom. That's why she started this war with the Fay. Sybilla enjoyed the Fay burning her towns down. Putting the church back in power only helped make the citizens suffer. It was more than just to spite her. She knew that many of the people hated the war priests of the Church. Sybilla was really completely consumed with rage.”

Her guards assembled in front of Sybilla, and Theodora watched in horror as Sybilla drew the powerful sword of Ares and began beheading each of the guards one by one. She stopped at the tenth guard and spared the last two. Then Sybilla said, “It's too bad your captain died during the palace siege during your assassination attempt by Pyett and Valentinian’s son Godwin. I would like to have personally killed that traitor. But it's just as good he died. They are all going to suffer in the lake of pain, in the underworld of Hades. You better make sure your next batch of guards are followers of the war God, or they won't survive my rule. You wouldn't want to knowingly condemn more people to die, would you? And you better fire these last two.”

Theodora spate out in pure hatred, “I don't know how you can consider me so cruel and evil when you do the things you do just to cause suffering. You knowingly withheld vital knowledge of the treaty with the Fay’s Kingdom. Knowing that it would result in a war. You formed an alliance against me, and put the cruel church back in charge of those areas. You stripped the women of all of the rights they just gained from me. How can you consider me worse than what you just did.”

Sybilla smiled, “After what I suffered by your hand, I consider anything that opposes you to be justified. Your witches the cruelest of all. And have you forgotten the atrocities you committed on Valentinian’s Isle during the restoration war. Your troops rode into the Valentinian's army after they surrendered and were cowering and begging for mercy. You ordered your army to go in and behead them all as they were cowering in their church. That was a war crime, Theodora, and you talk about cruel. Why do you think it was so easy to get Reginald of Valentinian house to ally with me so quickly. They are angry and want revenge. I hardly had to use the Ring to get his obedience. He is so willing to follow me and is counting on my protection. He was very impressed at the speed I was able to raise a new army for him and train them to be competent warriors so quickly. He just doesn’t know that army is mine and not his.”

“They were traitors and fought a war of rebellion against the Kingdom. I gave them chances to turn away, but they refused. There weren't many left by that time anyway. It had to be done, but I know it was harsh. It pained me to do it. But its the job of the King. The father you loved would have done worse. But the war you started has cost far more lives than that. And the war you plan on fighting with me if I don’t hold my end of this agreement will cost many more lives. I have a feeling you will kill many more people when you wear the crown. I see the rage burning in your eyes. Sister, you are really much more cruel than I am. I did what I had to do to you to retain the crown. I know some of the things I did and said didn't have to be done. But making you live as a young woman had to be done.”

“You didn’t have to be so cruel to me when you did it,” Sybilla said triumphantly. “And changing me into a girl caused me to be assaulted, abused, and raped by Pyett. And then you cast the spell to make me pregnant. I really suffered at first until I grew to love it. And because of it, I have two precious children that I love dearly. But still, you intended it to be a crushing experience that would destroy me. When it didn’t end up that way, you were enraged and did one of the worst things you could have done. You tried to take my children away. I must depose you. Now, let's inspect the troops you trained.”

They began to walk down the hall of the Kings and headed toward the main door. Theodora said as they walked out, “Just so you know. You just took your daughter's future away from her. Because of what you just did, she will have no future except to be a wife of some man you arrange for her. She may want more but be unable to get it now. I think you should know that.”

Sybilla suddenly stopped at the door with a deepened, troubled frown on her face. “I never considered that. You are right.” Sybilla said in a strained troubled tone. Then she went deep in thought, just standing there with a frown on her face. Her daughter Blaze was six months old, and she could already tell that the girl had a fierce spirit of independence. She was already standing and preparing to walk. She was trying to walk. She refused to crawl like a baby, and Sybilla knew she would be walking by the time she was seven months old. She had a fierce unconquerable spirit that blazed brightly. That’s why Sybilla named her Blaze. She was so proud of her when she was born. She praised her daughter and counted on that spirit, changing the world. Now in a thoughtless act of vengeance, Sybilla had stolen her daughter’s entire future. Sybilla knew she had Theodora's fierce spirit and would want much of the same things. Only, Sybilla counted on having her guidance in life that Blaze would not adopt the cruel parts of Theodora's personality. She would shelter and love her brother Garrick. But now, she would likely resent her little brother just the same as Theodora did. And there was even worse coming very soon. And it was coming directly for Theodora, and Sybilla was looking forward to it until now.

Theodora bitterly laughed at her little sister's reaction to that bit of news. “You didn't think about that did ya, when you destroyed all of the progress I had made at such a great enormous effort and risk to myself. You weren't thinking about your daughter's life, were you? You were thoughtless and cruel. You were much worse than me, and it never occurred to you that I was doing what I was doing, not for my own glory, but for the good of the people. I made the sexes equal. I freed the women of the Kingdom. I made women's lives much better. They finally had power over their own life, including yourself and your daughter. In one single act of vengeance, you destroyed it all. That's why I did what I did and seized the crown. I did it all for the people, not myself. And I thought the plan would bring me happiness. It only made me conflicted, miserable, and hated. None of it is easy, and I almost feel like I am living a double life, as a woman, and a king living a male lifestyle. You have no idea how unhappy I am with all of this pressure on me. And so many people hate me so much, including you and many of the nobles who are finding much of the privilege they used to have is going away. I got a glimpse of what your life would have been like, and it is shocking. The glory would have gone to you. You would have been made some sort of powerful prophet enforcing the will of the Goddess and helping the people. You would have been beloved as the virgin mother of the Kingdom and a direct enforcer of her will. Even I would have had to listen to you. But you never got past your bitterness toward the Goddess and me. And now you are succeeding in destroying it all. You and your daughter will suffer because of it. I hope you are proud of yourself, little sister. You are restoring the rule of men. Thanks a lot. You deserve the credit. Now let's go examine the army.”

They walked out toward the Valois and the Lancaster’s family army training in the field. She even saw Brom Lancaster, one of the few lords that survived the disaster. He was training his army. Sybilla examined the swordsmen training and sparring in the field. Their slashes and thrusts, defense moves, dodging, and blocking. Sybilla was highly disappointed and could not believe this was several months of training. It looked like the first week to her. She looked at Theodora and said, “We may be months away from starting our offensive, and this is what you have to offer, Please Theodora tell me these are new recruits.”

Theodora glared at Sybilla and said, “This is why I need you. I didn’t receive the training to command and train an army. I needed training at first, but I really have no idea how to train an army. And we have very few lords left that are competent, and there’s only so much Brom can do.”

“This is pathetic,” snapped Sybilla.

Then she watched the pikemen and felt the same disappointment. She watched the archers miss almost every shot, and they had no idea how to coordinate their fire to fire volleys. She watched the horsemen and the knights train, and she gave up. She cast her eyes up and shouted toward Theodora, “How the fuck can I lead these people against the Fay. Theodora, you are a disappointment. Luckily, we have our lords who know how to train an army.”

“What about you,” asked Theodora.

“I have my own problems to solve. But I trained these lords and generals. They can train your army while I am gone. They will be in shape within weeks and be ready for war within months.”

Sybilla stopped the army’s training and made them assemble in front of her and her generals. Then Sybilla said bitterly, “This is pathetic. This is not what I expect with two months of training. If I took you into battle against the Fay right now, you would all fall. Your army would be destroyed. None of you would survive. Watch and learn. This is what I expected.”

Sybilla called two of her newest recruits that came about three weeks ago. Two young swordmen stood facing each other and went at it. They slashed, dodged, thrust, blocked, and battered each other’s armor. The power of their strikes, their accuracy, and ferocity were most impressive. Sybilla said. “This is what I expected from you. Keep watching.”

About twenty archers stood in rolls and fired at the targets downfield. Their fire was consistent and accurate. They were very deadly. There weren't many archers left in Sybilla's army. They were replaced by the Arquebus troops. Then they watched the knights go at it, and they were very impressive.

Sybilla then unleashed her Arquebus troops. They loaded aimed and fired as a group. Their rank style firing was very impressive. The blasts and smoke from their weapons were terrifying. They were able to keep up firing at least every ten seconds from volley to volley. It was clear they would decimate any army within a very short time.

Then a small army combined and demonstrated combat tactics and maneuvers. It highly impressed Theodora's army.

Sybilla then said, “This is what I expected. Sadly, your king is unable to properly train an army. She had no place trying to be a king. As of now, I am taking command of your army and training will be by my generals and commanders. They will train your swordsmen, archers, and knights. You will also be trained with our new weapons which we call the arquebus. And we will train you to fight the Fay. The thing about them is that they are very vast and strong. Never go at them from the front. They will destroy you. That was Theodora’s mistake. You must flank them. They are weak on the sides and the back. You must strike their wings. That is where they are very vulnerable. Their wings and back. Never the front. You will be trained in flanking maneuvers.”

Sybilla’s generals took command of the army's training and began setting them up in groups to train. Sybilla was confident that when she returned, she would have a reasonably competent army to lead against the Fay.

Then she faced Theodora and asked her, “How would you like to go on a quest with me, Sister?” Sybilla smiled warmly.

“Excuse me, I have work to do here. And anyway, forgive me for not trusting you here.”

“This is not a trick,” Sybilla said, “and with my generals here, they will do what needs to be done, and we can be gone for a time. I think I need your strength for this quest. I need you, Theodora. It will involve a lot of danger and fighting. The things you love. It will be a lot like that mission you went on in that mountain temple last year when you freed the dragon and took the primary temple of the war god. I think you will have a lot of fun if you go with me.”

Theodora was still suspicious. And she really wondered why with all of Sybilla's strength, why she would need her now.

Sybilla answered Theodora’s thoughts. “I am really not that strong. I was given much of Hera's power. But still, my body is still very physically weak. Thanks to you. I still have the physical strength of a young woman. You have the strength of a powerful man, and your armor gives you even more. I will be facing great danger where I am going, but the rewards will be immense. And then I will be able to face an army of the Fay from the front. Will you help me?”

Theodora still didn’t entirely trust her little sister, but this really sounded fun. So she smiled and said, “Okay, I will go with you. But where are you going to?”

“I am going into the Underworld, and to the prison of Tartarus. There’s something there I need to get, and they have monsters that will attack me.”

Now Theodora was almost sorry she agreed. Her face twisted and said, “You’re kidding me?” She shouted.

“You aren’t afraid of a few monsters, are you,” Sybilla said mockingly. “You fought and killed monsters.”

“Yes, up here, not in the underworld. Yes, I am afraid of those. But it does still sound fun so I will go. I wonder what the hell you got yourself involved in.”

“I made a deal with Hera,” Sybilla said.

Theodora laughed, “You moron. You should have known better. I see why you need my help. I should let you go and die. After what you did, but you are my little sister, so let's go. I just hope we all don’t die. Anyway, what are you supposed to do?”

“Kill Cronus.”

“Whaaat?” Theodora almost screamed. “You are insane.” She laughed, “I see why you need my help. But still, I don’t know what you expect me to do against the King of the Titans.”

The two made some last minute arrangements and orders for their armies and commanders.

Then Theodora watched Sybilla approach Brom Lancaster, and she got another really sick feeling in her stomach as she watched Sybilla approach him with a very harsh and determined look in her eyes. This wasn't going to be good at all.

Brom braced himself for a very unpleasant meeting with Sybilla as he watched her walk toward him with a cruel look in her eyes. It seemed unavoidable. She was clearly very angry at him, and he really couldn't blame her after all she suffered. She approached him and stood there, glaring at her. Theodora watched and was ready to step in if she needed to. She just wondered what good she could do if he really did need her to protect him.

Sybilla said to her, “Brom, I am giving you a choice now. You need to choose one or the other.”

“Okay,” Brom said, looking at her. “What choice do I have to make.”

“Choose one. Once I regain the crown after my quest. I am fully ready to give my army orders to go to Lancaster Isle and hunt down each and every member of your house. Round them all up and kill them, and burn your houses and fields. That's one of the options.”

“How could you do something like that,” Brom gasp in desperation picturing his entire family dead.

“Easy, just like you watched me suffer and never lifted a finger to help me. And you saw what Theodora did to me. But you sided with her against me. Watched me suffer in total agony as my life, my future, and everything was taken away from me. So I am fully prepared to issue those orders as soon as I regain the crown. Your house will be dissolved. I will kill your sons and daughters, and your grandchildren right in front of you. And then you will join them in the grave. That is if you refuse my other offer.”

Theodora approached and said, “None of this was his fault. Why are you holding his family responsible, you can’t do that Sybilla. You will need his support.”

“I will have all of the support I need. I won't need some spineless traitors help. He served my father and then turned his back on everything and lost his honor and respect. He watched me suffer helplessly, and I was abused and mistreated. I lost everything. So I will take everything from him. Your other option is to renounce all of your titles. Your royal house will be dissolved by your command. A new house will take your place. Then I won't exterminate every member of your family.”

“Sybilla,” Theodora said.

“Don’t even speak to me, Sister. It was you who caved to his request to release Pyett Lancaster from the dungeon, knowing what he was going to do to me. He raped me then, and you knew he never gave up his grudge and lust against me after I was transformed. You didn’t have the courage to refuse his evil request. Then you told him you would hold him responsible if Pyett attacked me. You didn’t have the courage to follow that. You let it all go after his family attacked me. You were more concerned with his family’s loyalty than your sister's safety.”

“I was bound by honor to return the boon I gave him for his loyalty. I really had no choice.” Pleaded Theodora knowing Sybilla would refuse to listen. “But, you will understand the pressure once you take the crown from me.”

“I would have refused that offer and then asked him how he could possibly consider releasing a would-be rapist and if he is at all concerned with my family. Then I may have taken action against his family for even daring to request such a despicable thing. But his family is clearly full of despicable traitors and rapists. But accepting your gift in return for betraying and destroying my life is alone worth destroying his entire family. The rape I suffered at his grandson's hands just resolved it for good.”

“I will accept your offer and abdicate and renounce my titles.” Said Brom totally defeated.

“That isn't enough. Your entire family, you the Duke, and your counts, your barons, every member of your family must renounce their titles forever.”

“There's more,” said Sybilla. “A male member of your family must also submit to me to be turned female. I will turn a male member of your choosing female. He will become a girl and live the rest of his as a girl. That is my offer, or I will choose the first one.”

Brom looked down, totally defeated and almost cried. Theodora gasp, “My Goddess, you are so cruel Sybilla. How in the name of the Goddess can you do something like that.”

“Just like you did Sister, you did it to Serren,” Sybilla said. “How can you disagree with it now.”

“I did it to free the people and make a better world than you would have. You are doing it to hurt them. It’s totally different from what I did,” Theodora said to Sybilla.

Brom yelled, “How do you expect me to make such a choice!”

“Just like you chose to watch me suffer and not lift a finger to oppose my cruel sister. You just watched me suffer in agony. Anyway, after what she did, I figured you liked such things and would look forward to more males being transformed just like Serren was. So what will be your choice?”

“There really is no choice, I will abdicate my titles, and submit a boy to being transformed by you. You will have your vengeance against my family. And you won't have us all killed.”

“Good,” Sybilla said, smiling. “And I will expect the boy you choose when I return. If not, I will seize the crown and then issue my first order.”

Theodora said, “I see your wrath starting and I can't believe I will give you the crown.”

“You better, sister. Or I will have to fight the flies buzzing over your rotting body to pry the crown from your severed head.” Sybilla snarled cruelly.

There was no compassion or kindness in Sybilla at all. It was so clear she was so consumed by rage. She really feared Sybilla's rule, but there was no avoiding it now.

And then the two sovereigns sat down for a show being performed by Sybilla's army. The men built a stage and stood there to perform some shows for Theodora's army. They performed some feats of combat, put on a sparring show, and did some large maneuvers. The Arquebus troops even performed and fired their weapons in the air.

Then her army assembled and Sybilla stood up and went on stage with her army to perform several songs for the guests. But unlike the previous ones she sang for Theodora's army during those days. This was a vastly different song. The trumpets started thumping a warlike beat and then her army began singing.

They sung in an angry determined tone.
“Arise our vast country.
For our battle to the death.
Against the dark evil forces and their cursed hordes.

Let our wrath boil like a wave.
Our national war is going.
This is our sacred war.”

They repeated that line in an angry tone with the trumpets thumping a continuous angry beat.

Then they kept singing.
“Done their black wings dare fly over our land.
Don’t their enemy dare tread over our vast fields.

Let our wrath boil like a wave.
Our national war is going.
Our Sacred War.”

Theodora was very frightened at these displays and that song they sang. It was clear that it was an angry war song meant to inspire loyalty in the troops, and arouse their anger.

And then their army began marching and singing a frightening marching song about treading on enemy land, laughing at Hades as they send the enemy to the underworld. They called it Hades’ song.

Sybilla had won the hearts and minds of her lords and the army. It was clear the army wasn’t loyal to their family anymore, or the lords of their land. They belonged to Sybilla and that would probably be the same for Theodora’s army very soon. This was very frightening and unsettling. It was clear that Sybilla wasn’t going to stop by pushing the Fay out of their country. This may become a war of extermination and conquest.

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.

By Cynthia Jeanette
Sybilla and her brother Serren offer some payback for what she suffered and they finally go to war against the Fay

Theodora was confused now. The last thing that she knew was seeing Sybilla getting her ass kicked by some massive creature more than a thousand feet tall. Sybilla was fighting Cronus, and he had disarmed Sybilla and began thrashing her. She was helpless under his brutal beating, and then the entire place exploded. That was the last thing she knew and now she was transported to this place just outside of the city. She was looking at the Seven Falls. The place was still destroyed, and the witches could not seem to repair the damage the priests did during the war. She was still the King and began making her way back to the capital. She didn't know if Sybilla was alive or dead.

It didn’t take her too long to make her way back to the capital from the Seven Falls. The people greeted her and her guards took their positions protecting her, but they seemed unsure of how to treat her now. There was some confusion and things didn’t seem right at all.

And her confusion was answered when they made their way down the street and made it to the Palace. There proudly standing in front of the palace was a six-foot tall boy with dirty blonde hair. He was huge, his shoulders and arms massive. This boy was extremely powerful and confident. This was Serren as a boy. Or it is what he would have become if his maturity wasn’t prevented. But he seemed much older than Serren would have been.

Standing behind Serren was a large group of war priests that were following him. These priests seemed much more powerful than the previous ones they hunted down during the war. Everything seemed set in place to reestablish the rule of man over women. Theodora felt so helpless.

Serren was armed with an enormous six-foot long two-handed sword. He held a zweihander sword that was slung across his back. He spoke, “It is nice for you to finally make your way here from Tartarus. Our sissy little sister has survived and defeated the Titan. She is on her way to take control of Olympus and that should be no problem for her now. I challenge you to a duel little sister Theodora for the crown of the Kingdom.” He pulled his zweihander and held it. “I will fight you in the Seven Falls. Let's go and bring your witches to watch.”

There seemed to be no way to avoid this fight. They went back outside of the city and stood at the banks of the great falls.

Serren went to the center of the great falls standing on a blackened destroyed island. The first war priests had taken pleasure totally destroying the Seven Falls as an example of their power. They set fire to everything and caused a huge earthquake that was felt and sent terror across the land to the palace dozens of miles away. Theodora had defeated the war priests there and their hero Godson who fought her with no armor was surprised and defeated by her. Men’s rule did end there, and she began establishing the third age where men and women would be equal.

Serren’s priests stood across from the witches in a half-circle watching from the banks. The witches stood across from the priests watching Theodora. Theodora watched as Serren ignited his magic and the blackened water began turning color. It changed from a blackened muck to a blueish color. The destroyed stones turned alive with green grass and weeds. The falls were restored to what they had once been. Serren was an extremely powerful magician. This wasn’t the Serren that she remembered. There was no comparison and she began to seriously doubt she could defeat him like she defeated Godson. She deceived that man into underestimating her. He paid for it with his life.

He shouted in a magically enhanced booming voice, “You will not deceive me, little sister. I know you have a man's strength in your body. You took it from a talented blacksmith and forced him into a humiliating life. You stole his family and his life. You can wear your armor, I don’t care. I will beat you anyway.”

Serren stood there bare chested with no armor and holding his zweihander. Since he offered, Theodora decided to put her armor on and walk out to meet Serren. This wasn’t the Serren she knew. This was the Serren that Sybilla created as her elder brother who was returning for the throne. This man looked cruel and totally without mercy. She saw the hatred simmering in his eyes. “And now you will pay dearly for what you did to our little brother. I will be his weapon of vengeance. He deserves it even if he did embrace his femininity instead of fighting it like a real man. He never did stand much of a chance. Let's go.”

Serren held his weapon ready and waited. Theodora drew her weapon and stood there waiting for Serren and he didn’t move. “Serren, didn’t you want to fight?”

“I thought you were the one thirsting to be a warrior all your life. What, you can only fight if you use deception?” Serren mocked.

“You have that huge sword, I figured you would come at me first.”

So Serren went at her. He stepped in and did an overhead swing and came down on her block. She blocked his overhead swing and he redirected it to her midsection faster than she could possibly respond. His midsection swing clashed with her armor sending her staggering back and he took advantage of it and came at her a few more times battering aside her blocks and totally disarming her. She realized she didn’t stand a chance against this boy's strength. He disarmed her as if it was nothing.

He backed away and threw her sword back to her. “Girl, I am holding a six foot long sword that weighs nearly thirty pounds. This is designed for attack. You have a simple long sword. I have a massive advantage, especially if you stand back and let me come at you first. This sword is designed for crushing attacks. It will destroy you. Your only chance is if you come at me first, to negate the power of this sword to prevent it from going on the attack. If you let me attack you, you will stand no chance against the weight and power of this sword. But of course, you only had a few weeks of training at most. You compensated for it with magically enhanced speed and power, but you lack the skills and training we men had. Like your brother who spent his entire life training for war. And you stole it all from him in an instant. And trapped him in the life of a maiden. It was a life he wasn’t meant for. He hated it. He felt so helpless and humiliated it. And you wonder why he was so enraged especially watching you take his clothing and train in the sword. You wonder why he did what he did? I know exactly why. You showed you are cruel and totally heartless, Theodora. You are a sadistic monster for how you treated him. You deserve all that’s coming to you. It is shameful he didn’t fight it more. He could have fought it and he had options to really destroy you if he wanted to. But he didn’t fight it and he slowly adapted to the life and even began studying witchcraft. What you did was wrong, Sis. This is why he is the way he is. And now he has defeated one of the most powerful beings in the entire universe. HER Titans have put Olympus under siege and she will destroy Zeus and rule. We will all be kneeling to her in worship as she guides us. Even you will worship her Theodora. She will be our goddess.” Serren almost looked disgusted at that thought. But even he knew he stood no chance against Sybilla now.

Theodora understood and went at Serren with her full speed and power. But she didn’t get in a hit at all. She swung at Serren and he simply pivoted away. He slid away just out of her reach or pivoted and turned. Serren was playing with her, just avoiding her. Then she rushed in with an overhead swing. Instead of pivoting away from it, he closed the distance and blocked it. Then easily disarmed Theodora. He gripped the handle of her sword and tore it away from her hand.

“This fight is over!” Serren loudly declared.

“But I am still standing,” Theodora said weakly.

Serren sneered, “For now. This isn’t a fight to the death. We don’t want you to die. The Goddess wants you to live to see the rule of man be restored, and to live under it once again. Forced to watch all of your corruption and so-called progress toward equality be destroyed before your eyes. The Goddess also wants you to get married. We will find the perfect man for you. Perhaps a Fay to secure peace between our two kingdoms.”

The thought of marrying one of those Fay sent shivers of revulsion through her body. But she guessed that these two thought it was fitting. After all. It was a marriage that started it all. Facing an unwanted marriage sent her into action. Even if her brother had wanted to end it for her, he didn’t have the strength to stand up to the lords threatening war if he called it off. She did have the strength and faced the war against that family and won. She knew that Serren was going to go out of his way to make the rest of her life in misery and suffering. The sadistic and cruel look on his face told her that.

“You are still standing, and I guess that means you aren’t ready to admit defeat.”

Theodora shook her head, but she still knew she stood little chance against Serren.

Serren stepped forward and struck Theodora across the face with the pommel of his huge sword. She staggered back and fell. The crown fell from her head. “You will wish you had admitted defeat. Now I will have to beat it out of you! Bitch.” Blood was streaming down her face. Serren reached down and tore her shimmering chestplate off of her body.

He felt it and said, “Disgusting corrupted witchcraft from Hekate. This is why witches must be destroyed.” Then Serren crumpled the plate armor between his hands and ignited his own power. The armor was blasted apart. Much of her strength left her when Serren ripped her armor off. She was humiliated and defeated. And it didn’t look like Serren was in any way ready to end this.

He pulled back and threw a vicious kick right into her midsection. Theodora cried out in pain as she gripped her stomach. She curled in pain. Serren kicked her stomach again and then kicked her in the chest. Serren was just beating his little sister by now. It was clear the fight was over, but Serren wanted to punish her. “You trapped your brother in a life he hated, you kept humiliating and hurting him. Then you made him pregnant and he had his twins. You let the man that assaulted him go on a deal you made with that family's loyalty. Luckily, he wasn't raped by that boy. Somehow, Sybilla destroyed and killed him. But You crushed your brother's male spirit. There was nothing left of the brave warrior boy after a year. You may as well had murdered him. Now, you will pay.”

Serren reached down and grabbed a handful of Theodora's hair and pulled her head up by her hair. He made a fist in the other hand and slammed it into her face at full power. He kept a hold of her head and thrashed her face several more times before he threw it back down. Blood was streaming down her face now. Serren pulled his sword back out and raised it above her head. Theodora was helpless, beaten and in pain. Serren swung the sword down on Theodora’s leg, cutting it clean off by the thigh. Theodora cried out in agony.

Serren reached down and took Theodora’s crown and placed it on his head. He yelled for all, “Bear witness that as of now, I am King of the Shattered Isles. I rule, and the rule of Man will be reestablished at the Seven Falls. Theodora, you have just begun to pay for stealing your brother's crown. Your punishment isn’t anywhere near over.” Then Serren pulled back and threw another powerful vicious kick right into Theodora's ribcage. Everyone heard a loud cracking sound as his foot connected with her ribs. Then he kicked her across the face shattering her jaw. Theodora cried out in agony and then went limp as she blacked out. Serren stood over her, laughing. “It is very clear that girls can’t fight. She should have never even tried. Had any of the men been competent, Her rule could have been prevented.”

Then Serren glared at the witches who were looking fearful and defeated. There was no denying that they were now defeated by Serren. He said, “Priests, seize the witches and kill them. Then heal Theodora. Don’t let her die. And seize the witches and put them to death for their treason. Witchcraft is a crime against the crown. We will follow Goddess Sybilla. Now let's go back to the capital and see Brom Lancaster and the boy he has surrendered for Sybilla's transformation.”

The Titans had put Olympus under siege. The Gods of Olympus sensed impending doom and defeat as the Titans were released and then marched on Olympus. The powerful gods were under siege. Sybilla and Rhea, along with Atlas marched into Olympus as the Gods all surrendered, knowing they stood no chance against Sybilla or Atlas now. They marched into Zeus's chamber and took his crown.

Zeus knew that he stood no chance now. And his fellow gods weren't by his side. Hades stood against him, conspiring with his rebellious wife Hera to help Sybilla. Poseidon also refused to help him. Zeus stood alone against the power of the Titans now. He sat there facing Sybilla who had the strength and power of his father Cronus now. He knew he stood no chance and stepped off the throne and gave Sybilla his crown.

Sybilla looked down cruelly at Zeus. “You continually humiliated your wife Hera. You caused many mortals pain by your infidelity. This is Hera’s will, I have no problem executing it for her. We have the most fitting punishment for you, Zeus.”

After taking the Crown of Zeus, Sybilla reached her hand out and touched Zeus on the chest. His god elixir began draining from his body and his ethereal glow dimmed and diminished away. His powerful body shriveled down and he lost his immortality. He was a human boy now. That wasn't enough. Then Zeus began transforming before their eyes. His boyish chest swelled with fat and mammary glands. His hips swelled, his face softened into a beautiful feminine oval shape. It lost his hard male edges. Zeus turned into a human female. Then she was sent to live in the Shattered Isles under the rule of Serren.

The Gods were assembled before their new Titan Queen Sybilla. They all knew that even combined, they stood no chance against her. Sybilla now ruled Olympus. She roared, “Hekate, step forward and face your punishment.”

Hekate stepped forward showing fear in her eyes. The arrogant and cruel goddess that led the witches of the Shattered Isles now looked small and very frightened.

“My suffering was because of you. You led my sister to transform me into a girl, and steal my life away. It was all your doing and you must pay for making me suffer. I suffered horribly all because of your stupid plot. It is all your doing and you made me feel like nothing but a SACRIFICE. You have to pay.”

Sybilla stood in front of Hekate with her mighty fists. Hekate said, “I know you are angry but I needed to make things better for everyone. The people and the women were suffering under the priests. It needed to stop. You should have realized that.” She looked very sad. “The suffering of my subjects pains me so much, Sybilla. Please.”

“It’s hard to undertand all of that with as much pain as you inflicted on me. You all destroyed my life and they took pleasure in it all. I can’t understand that. A better plan may have been to encourage my mother and sister to educate me on the injustices they all lived under. Teach me about your love and the religion of the Goddess so I understood what must have been done. So I could reign as king and free the women of the Shattered Isles and take down the church. But no, your plan was to destroy me and inflict horrible suffering on me. That way I suffered and got so embittered and hateful that I hate the women and your people. And I want to inflict my suffering on them all. Great plan, cunt.”

“That would have never worked,” Hekate said to Sybilla. “It was the rule of Man then. Your father would have never allowed your mother and sister to educate you on that. You were to be educated by the church.”

“You were the Goddess. You could have encouraged them to, and encouraged my father to stay out of it.” Sybilla replied.

“What about Ares, it was his church.” Hekate pointed out.

“Ares was never that interested in it. Anyway, he isn't that sexist at all. Many of those priests were violating his ways. He was a warrior God, but not sexist. His sister is the Goddess of War, both sisters are. And then he knows the Goddess of the Hunt. If he was that sexist as the religion says, his sisters would kick his ass, rip his balls off and feed them to him. He wouldn’t have had a problem with my mother and sister taking care of my education. It could have been done in secret away from my father's eyes. Then this wouldn’t have had to be done to me. But then you and your people wouldn’t have had fun humiliating the boy princess. So fuck you all.”

“That could have been done but I don’t know if many of the people would have accepted that,” replied Hekate.

“Another good plan was to change me, then love and guide me instead of being so harsh and cruel to me. I could have supported my sister then and we would have stood together against the enemies of the Kingdom. But the witches had so much fun demeaning the boy princess, didn’t they?”

Sybilla pulled back and slammed a fist across Hekate’s jawline. The impact was devastating, and Hekate, the Goddess flew back from the force of the Titan’s punish. Then Sybilla leaped into the air and threw a devastating kick into Hekate’s chest and she collapsed from the force. Hekate screamed in pain. Sybilla stood over Hekate, repeatedly kicking her in the ribs and chest. Sybilla beat her face in. Hekate was beaten, and badly bruised by the time the sadistic beating ended. Then Sybilla drained Hekate’s elixir and made her into a mortal woman. She took Hekate in her arms and went down into the mortal world, standing in front of a badly beaten Theodora. She looked up through her swollen eyes and saw the beaten form of her beloved Goddess, now demeaned into the form of a mortal woman. Theodora cried. Everything was lost, and now their goddess would live helpless under the rule of man. All hope was lost. Sybilla laughed and left the Goddess with her to suffer under Serren’s rule. “Hekate, I am really considering making you marry Serren and be his wife.”

Sybilla materialized back with her family. She saw her husband Syrina and the man she loved, Adam. She fell in love with the man as a woman.

Syrina said accusingly, “So Sybilla, my beloved wife. You couldn’t let your grudge go. Now you accomplished everything you wanted. You crushed your sister, you had her crown stolen away. You destroyed her progress and subjugated the women under men once again. I hope you are proud for destroying our hopes and dreams. That also includes your daughter.’

Sybilla smiled as she took her Daughter Blaze in her arms and held up a vile with Hekate’s elixir. She fed it to Blaze and she drank it. Sybilla said, “Blaze is your hope. She will defeat Serren. When the time comes. It will be your job to make sure that Gerrick grows up right. Don’t let him be taught like I was. Teach him to respect and love his sister. They will make a mighty team when the time comes and they will change the world and defeat my older brother Serren. Blaze will reign as their queen.”

Of course, they would still have to live under Serren’s darkness for over a decade before Blaze would be anywhere near ready. But that was the price they had to pay for the evil they had all done to Sybilla. They deserved it all. Sybilla would enjoy watching Serren destroy many of the women’s dreams of liberation. A boy named Serren so long ago had dreams of a life that was destroyed by those women. Serren would sterilize the islands
of the witches.

But for now, it was time to inspect the progress of the army, meet the lord of the Lancaster’s for the last time before they are dissolved forever, and the boy they had submitted for her transformation. And then to take the war to the Fay. Sybilla wasn’t sure about Serren being part of this war. He was bred to be a warrior and would insist on being on the front lines with her. But he was more likely to be hurt by the Fay than she was here. But, Serren would insist and refuse to be left behind as King. He would be on the front lines with her whether she liked it or not. And it was his right.

Theodora was transported back to the palace under guard to be secured, and for recovery from her injuries. This was going to be the first time she would not be going out to war with the troops. She was going to be sidelined and left behind as her little sister and older brother took care of things. That was demoralizing and infuriating. She wanted to fight and was going to be refused. And there was nothing she could do about it but lay there and hurt from her injuries. She didn’t even have a leg to stand anymore. Serren had beaten her brutally.

Then, Sybilla did one of the cruelest things she could have done to her. Of course, it was one of the things she really deserved. She had sought out and found the man Feather that Theodora had remanded and made a palace maid. He was abducted and forced into the life against his will. She found the extremely small and weak man wearing a maid’s dress dusting the palace with a feather duster and brought him to the room where Theodora was recovering from her beating.

The tiny weak man glared down at Theodora hatefully. She was no longer wearing the crown, and was laying there with one leg and still covered in bruises. Part of her body was bandaged up. He didn’t bother to hide his contempt for her anymore, like he did when she was the King over him.

Sybilla said, “Speak your mind now, let her know what you really think of what she did to your life. You have nothing to fear from her anymore. Her power has been destroyed. Our brother Serren now wears the crown and men will have nothing to fear from women like her any longer. He will be a just and noble king.”

“You had become my enemy the minute you took my strength and my life away you ruthless, sadistic bitch. I hope you suffer for what you did,” the small man snarled.

“Take off that dress,” Serren said. “Your body will be restored.”

Feather lifted the heavy maids gown over his head and threw the humiliating garment on the ground. Serren’s features glowed with his internal power and he touched Theodora and the small man named Feather. The stolen strength was pulled from Theodora's body and she felt her body weaken. The strength she had was pulled from her body. Feather’s small frail body enlarged with rippling powerful muscles once again. His arms enlarged, his chest and stomach. He had the body he was proud of once again.

He smiled with pride. He had worked years to gain this and some bitch that didn't deserve it took it away just because she wanted it.

“You obviously cared for nothing and nobody in your quest for power. You are beneath contempt. You are not worthy to be the King. I no longer have to address you as my lord. That’s a relief.”

She said in a weakened voice, “I just felt it was wrong that I was so weak as the King. Almost every man was stronger and more able than I was to fight. I didn't want to be afraid anymore.”

Serren said with contempt, “You deserve to be afraid after how you treated your little brother. And now, Urwin, I have an offer to make you the Lord of the Lancaster Isles if you want. You will hold the title of Duke and reign over those Isles.”

The man shook his head, “I know nothing of being a lord. I simply want to get back to my family and be a blacksmith. That was what I was meant to be before that bitch stole my life from me.”

Then Serren said, “I will have to put some limits on the power of the King over private citizens and their businesses. So this does not happen again. And the women who bullied you into becoming a maid will be lashed in the town square. Now lets see the Lancasters.”

Sybilla took the lead as they went out to face the Lancaster family. Brom was standing there with his wife, his daughter and a teenage boy standing in front of them. They were being detained by the palace guard on Serren’s order. They looked frightened and Brom looked demoralized and afraid. Sybilla smiled in triumph.

She strode up to the demoralized man and his wife with a smirk. Sybilla looked down at the small frightened teenage boy and said, “I assume this is the boy you are offering me to transform into a girl. How does he feel about being offered?”

He spoke up in a meek trembling voice, “Please, my lord Sybilla. Don’t do this to me? I don't want to be a girl. Please?” He pleaded with tears rolling down his face.

Sybilla just looked into the boy's eyes cruelly.

Brom said, “There is no reason to do this to the boy. He has done nothing to you. He just wants the life that he was meant for.”

She looked cruelly into Brom’s eyes as he withered back in fear. “Why do you care? And, there is nothing wrong with being a girl. I learned that boy. That’s what was told to me. And Brom, I wanted my life too. But no one gave a damn about me. Not you, not your family. Immediately after my sister seizing my crown and making me her little sister in front of everyone. You rallied to her, you went to her and helped her secure her rule. You offered her advice and your friendship and love. You cared nothing of how it all affected my life. Not one damn bit.” Sybilla snarled in anger. “So I thought you were into this type of thing and would care nothing for this boy's life. It happened to me, so why not make it happen to a member of your family so you experience what it is like. You can callously look into this boy's eyes as if he deserves it just like I did. If you think he doesn't deserve it. Neither did I. I wanted my life as a boy, but it was stolen from me. Perhaps you should have risen your voice and defended me instead of turning your back on me. It's too late for that now. This is your punishment.”

Sybilla reached out and touched the chest of the small teenage boy and began chanting in the language of the Goddess. The boy in front of them began transforming into a girl. His hair grew out, his face softened, and his chest swelled with two mounds. His hips and legs were reshaped. He turned into a girl in front of their eyes, and he wailed in despair. Sybilla said, “Enjoy your life now. And Brom, perhaps next time you see an injustice happen, maybe you will oppose it, or it may be on your family next. Let that be your lesson. Your debt has been paid to me. Your family is stripped of all of your titles and landholdings. The gifts my sister gave you to betray me are mine now. Your family has nothing and now you have a daughter. I put a seal on her so no witch can turn her back.”

The boy collapsed in tears as Sybilla turned and walked away to examine the state of their new army and prepare to march off to war. The wailing girl had hoped to march off with the soldiers soon and that life was taken away from her. She had no idea how she was going to live the rest of her life. She had no idea why this was done to her. She had heard what Sybilla said before changing her. If that was true, she could hardly blame Sybilla for her anger at them. When one sees an injustice, one should speak out and her father Brom clearly failed that. So now he faced an injustice as a result. The girl glared into her father's eyes with hatred and total contempt. “We should all stand against injustice, you failed to take a stand, and I paid the price of your cowardliness and failure. This is your doing.”

Sybilla watched the king's troops training on the field and she was greatly impressed. This was no longer the poor army she feared to take out to war. The arquebus troops were firing much more accurately now. Their fire was consistent and accurate. Their rank firing was impressive. They could fire as a group on a target, and then the second row would aim and fire while the front line reloaded. Their reloading skills had greatly improved, and they could pour fire on an enemy on a consistent basis. They were able to fire between two and three times each minute.

Their bowsmen were able to fire much more accurately and quickly. Their swordsmen were now deadly and swift and their knights were lethal. This was now an army ready for war. Sybilla was very proud of her generals.

Sybilla stood there with King Serren proudly, and she said, “This is now an army trained and ready to march to war. Assemble tonight, we march out to war. The situation is dire. The Fay are marching toward the capital as we speak. They are ready to besiege the capital and overrun us here. We march out to meet them and crush their army. Then we will retake the cities and towns they took and burnt. We will march to victory. So kiss your children and your wives. We march out tonight.”

Serren looked contemptuously at Sybilla and said dismissively, “You are marching with us?”

“Yes,” Sybilla answered, “of course, I am. I trained many of these troops and their generals. This is largely my army.”

“But you are a woman,” Serren replied. “We don't need a woman marching with us to war. You may be a goddess but you still have the strength of a woman under it all. We don't need you on the field.”

Sybilla burnt in anger at Serren’s words. But this is what she wanted and what she asked for. But now she knew how her sister felt all of those years being dismissed out of hand for her sex. Knowing she was meant for more. There was nothing to be done with Serren’s attitude. She replied, “You will need me to march with you. You have a large and very competent army now. But still, you are outnumbered three to one. And may I remind you, the average Fay solder is three to four times as strong as a human male in his prime. Without me, your army may be defeated. They will surely put up a fight much better than the first time. But you still may lose without my help and my friend’s Rhea and Atlas.”

Serren shook his head as if he totally ignored what the woman said to him. “We won't need a woman marching with us. But you are a Goddess, so if you insist, there’s nothing I can do about it. But a woman doesn’t belong on the field.”

Sybilla felt like kicking Serren’s ass. She was starting to understand how Theodora felt all of those years. But that was left to someone else. Sybilla set this all up and it went exactly how she had initially planned. It had worked perfectly, and she was enjoying watching the Goddess and Theodora’s plan fall within a year. It all turned over right in their faces and they were helpless to do a thing about it. It was great. It was going to end. It had to end.

A goddess wasn't going to let anyone else march in the lead. They all set off toward the front that was rapidly approaching the capital. Sybilla demanded she marched in the front of the army, leading them. Even great powerful Serren had to very reluctantly submit to it all. The threat that if he got to disrespectful to the goddess that put him in charge, and she could reconsider her decision any time and find another to replace him eventually took. That pissed him off, but he knew he had to respect the Goddess in some areas. So he marched behind Sybilla as they marched. The horns were blaring and the singers were singing hymns of glory as they all marched out. She remembered being trapped as a teenage girl watching her sister gloriously march out with her shining crown and armor, being honored the way Sybilla wanted to be honored so bad. Theodora’s comments about Sybilla being pretty hurt. She was nothing more than a pretty face for the Kingdom, while Theodora took power and respect. Sybilla’s hatred simmered, and now she was finally getting the respect she wanted. She didn’t wear the crown of the Kingdom. But that was okay. She wore the crown of Olympus. There was no one anywhere that could question her say on anything now. Even the great Kings had to kneel to her authority.

They marched out of the city gates and went on their way. The great marches were exciting at first, but as they left the city, the marches to war became an exercise in boredom, and monotony. After an hour or so after leaving the city, it was really boring and rough on the soldiers. They sung their hymns to keep from getting too bored. Sybilla’s thoughts went to the boy she so joyously destroyed in front of his father. She hardly knew his name, but the look in his face said everything. She was ashamed, it was horribly wrong. This had more to do with hurting the father than anything having to do with the boy. He was irrelevant. It had worked as intended, the father was crushed. But the innocent boy was also crushed, and she knew what that was like all too well. Now she had done the same thing. Sybilla knew she was wrong, and she had to fix it. Unlike herself, she highly doubted the boy could handle a girl’s life as she did. She saw his despair, and knew it would not end well. She wasn’t suited for it and didn’t have the strength to deal with it. Sybilla resolved to fix it after their first battle.

They started seeing the Fay Army in the distance after many long hours of marching. They didn’t have far to go. The Fay’s vast army started coming into sight. Their front line of soldiers in their shining armor assembled for battle whiletheir flags waved in the air . They were there waiting.

The Fay Army started seeing the vast army of the Shattered Isles marching toward them. They quickly assembled into battle formations. Their commanders saw it and had been wondering where their army was all this time they have been marching from the border into the interior smashing through city after city with no opposition. Where was the new army that their king was raising? It was finally here, and their commander knew what was going on. They were training and this wasn't a fresh new army. These were trained and seasoned troops facing them. And they were obviously under new leadership. A young man was leading them, with some small woman in the front. They were both obviously monarchs and very experienced.

The Army of the Shattered Isles assembled to face them. The flanks of the army was very strong and assembled into an enclosure formation. The Fay commanders observed this with alarm. Oh no, they thought. Not only was this an enclosure formation to exploit the Fay’s weak flanks. The flanks of the Army of the Shattered Isles were also armed with new powerful weapons. The Shattered Isles now had firearms. That was about the perfect weapon to fire into their flanks and destroy the Fay’s wings. Even though the Army facing them was still outnumbered three to one here. This was going to be a fight. But, the woman took the center of the army facing them where they were the strongest and unbeatable. What was that woman thinking? So did the boy.

She still needed to punish the God Poseidon for what he did to that tortured woman and have a talk with Athena that she will never forget. Poseidon would learn what it was like to be hunted for his beauty and not have the strength to fight the hunters. Especially in this culture where a woman keeping her virtue is one of the most vital things for her and where the society goes to ridiculous and oppressive levels to protect and control women. It was one of the things Serren kept throwing in Theodora’s face constantly. It wasn’t as fun when Theodora threw it in her face. And since she was changing society for the better for women, it shouldn’t have been, but Theodora was having just so much fun she couldn’t help it.

The woman in the front shouted at them, “This is your one chance to turn away, and leave the Shattered Isles. We won't pursue you, and you will be allowed to leave in peace. If you insist on fighting us, we will have no mercy. We will destroy your army, and pursue you to your homeland. We will destroy your homeland and your cities.”

These people were very confident, thought the Fay General. It was almost laughable, but there was something strange here. He felt a strange new power emanating from the center of the formation. It was coming from that woman. He couldn't figure it out. It wasn't any of the power of the Olympian gods. If it was Zeus or any of them, it wouldn't bother him at all. They could deal with Zeus. He knew better than to annoy the Fay. They cared nothing about the Olympian gods. This was something different. It was something far worse. Their commanders started having a very bad feeling about this. The Human troops bearing firearms leveled their weapons at the flanks of the Fay. The Fay troops turned to face them and raised their defenses. This was going to be a fight far different from their first. This woman was obviously very competent and she knew the Fay weaknesses.

The Human flanks moved into flanking position on the Fay, the first three ranks leveled their arquebus weapons and opened fire on the Fay ranks. Then they knelt to reload as the second three ranks leveled their weapons over the heads of the first three and fired their weapons. By the time they were finished, the first three rows were ready to open fire again. It was a tactic that they were relentlessly drilled in and they fired like an unstoppable machine. Since the Fay had turned to face the flanks their weakness wasn’t as exposed to the concentrated firing and it didn’t do as much damage to the Fay ranks. But they were powerful firearms and they were killing Fay now. The Fay found it difficult to advance and attack the Human flanks under this intense fire and began to fall back as the Humans advanced.

They figured the middle was rather weak and Sybilla and Serrren stood there with their troops ready for the right time. Sybilla pulled out her scythe and Serren pulled his enormous zswiehander sword ready for combat. The Fay were told to attack the front ranks hoping they would be able to flank the Arquebus troops. It was at that moment that the heavy knights up to the top of the formation unexpectedly rode right into where the Fay were weak when they were busy trying to withstand the intense fire from the arquebus troops. The Fay were being devastated.

The Fay marched into the middle ranks of the Humans where they felt the Humans were weak. They couldn’t have been more wrong and Sybilla tried to get Serren to fall back, but he refused. He would not take battle commands from a woman, even a Goddess. Sybilla feared for his safety in this. Sybilla marched forward and began totally destroying every Fay she encountered. She swiped dozens of them at once with her scythe. The Fay found they were totally helpless against this powerful woman. They attacked her in groups trying to take her down. She was completely invulnerable. They could not hurt her in any way and she wiped them out with a tiny fraction of her strength. The commanders in the back watched it with fear and he suddenly understand. Especially with Atlas beside her. He yelled, “She’s a titan. Withdraw. Withdraw.”

The Fay had lost over fifty percent of their forces by that point and it didn’t seem to end any time soon. But the Fay had been totally surrounded and Sybilla was having the most fun marching into the Fay ranks destroying them all.

The Fay had lost another thirty percent by the time they were able to organize an effective withdraw from combat and broke out of the enclosure. It made no difference. The Humans were in a bloodlust and refused to let them go. The pursuit was relentless, and they were all hunted down and killed to the last. There was no avoiding Sybilla and she beheaded the Fay top generals one by one. It was a resounding victory for the humans.

Sybilla ran up to her older brother to inspect him. She seemed very concerned when Serren pushed her away and said, “Take it easy, sis. I am very strong and hard to take down. Theodora found that out even with her immense strength. Many men fell to her, except me. I have my skills and my strength. I may not be a God, but I am still much stronger than anyone else. There's a reason I am King. And a reason you aren't. I am exactly what you wanted to rule the Shattered Isles. Have some faith in me.”

“If we were facing regular human foes then I wouldn't be as worried. But we are facing Fay. They are many times stronger than you. And you prefer to fight face to face with your sword. They could have defeated you.”

Serren laughed bitterly and said, “No, they couldn’t and found that out when I cut down Fay after Fay. This isn’t a regular sword. This sword was created for me by the Elven Kingdom.” He smiled and said, “Theodora wasn’t the only one with tricks of her own. She can keep Justice if she wants. I have a vastly superior sword, so much so, that if I wanted, I could have shattered her blade with one strike. But I felt that would have been insulting to my ancestors who held that sword proudly. Having a woman hold it is probably insulting enough. I made sure she will never fight again. I hoped she liked her one year of glory. It's now over and its back to living a woman’s life.” They both laughed. Serren still hardly respected Sybilla except when he was forced to.

Then Sybilla turned to her elder brother and said, “You take command now. Their first army is defeated, you go on to glory and retake our cities and begin reconstruction. But don't get cocky. I have been raising another army that will join you shortly. We will have roughly seventy thousand troops.”

He looked at her sternly and said, “Yes, I know. This was the easy part. Just wait until they bring their seasoned troops in, and their mages to the front and begin fighting with fire. They underestimated us, and it cost them. They won't make that mistake again. But we can handle it. I won't underestimate them either. We can counter their mages.”

“I have some business in the capital, and I will rejoin you soon.” Sybilla said as she saddled her horse and rode back to the capital with her personal guards from her temple.”

Her horse leaped up into the sky and flew the rest of the way. Sybilla had acquired the horse Pegasus. She wished she could have got some of the Dragons from the Elves. Since the massive war, most of the Dragons took refuge with the Elves. The Dragon Kursar was captured and bound to the ground in front of the first major temple to Ares and used as a guard. Theodora and Arcadia freed the dragon during their assault on the mountain temple and killed the priests, destroying much of their power over the land. Kursar was killed by the priests during the restoration war. Kursar was the first and most powerful of the dragons.

The Lancaster were still going to pay but they would pay a different way. Sybilla landed in front of the palace and said to the regent, “Please summon the Lancasters and that new girl. I need to speak to them.”

The regent bowed to the Goddess saying, “As you wish.” and he turned and walked away.

Sybilla decided to enter the palace and go through some of her memories. And then to visit some of the more forbidden parts of the palace for her since she wasn’t the King.

First, she entered the King’s personal office. It had once been her father's office and she occupied it for a short time before she was overthrown in that humiliating coup. This was now her older brother's office. She had occupied it for several weeks and it was a few weeks of utter frustration. She was only sixteen and very far from ready for the responsibility. She didn’t even have the strength to oppose the older lords pushing him to agree to his sister’s unwanted wedding to one of the worst lords there was. He knew that he had to, but he couldn’t and didn’t want to plunge them into war. The frustrations and responsibilities were overwhelming and his mother and sister weren’t really interested in helping him. He was so unprepared and that was one of the things that convinced his family he was unworthy. So they changed him to a girl in front of all of the lords and crowned his cruel sister. She was older and more prepared, but she was a monster. And now Sybilla was following that example. If they want a monster, let them have a monster. Serren will bring them to their knees.

Then Sybilla went to Serren’s old bedroom. It was mostly empty now. None of his old stuff was there. Serren’s old clothes were stolen by his sister. He was given Theodora's clothes and her corsets. He remembered his first forced dressing and beating by Rose Bucket and her mother Stone. He had to endure a beating before he was willing to let them dress him. He really fought it. They really hated him, but he had forcibly seduced Rose when he was Serren. He didn’t know she didn’t want it. He was taught and assumed that all women were willing and fell for him. So those women had a lot of fun humiliating him. He couldn't blame them, but he still felt like a meaningless sacrifice. He felt like he was led to it all since he was young. That was all that he thought, and no one ever considered to try to teach him right. Rose and Stone were really going to pay for what they did to him. He felt nothing but humiliation, and that was the plan. They all agreed they had to be harsh and cold to him. And now they are wondering why Sybilla wants them too to burn. They really can't understand it.

Then she visited the bedroom Theodora occupied as a teenager before she occupied the King’s royal private chambers.

She wasn't welcome here very much and was ran out. But now she was a Goddess. She could go anywhere she pleased. No one could stop her from invading Theodora’s chambers, and she would probably be forced back here when Serren took over the King's private chambers.

Sybilla went to the back where Theodora stored her old artwork. Much of it didn’t surprise her at all. They were pictures of her as a warrior. She was a pirate in many of them, a sailor fighter in others, or a swordswoman in many of them on a field of battle. There was one where she was rescuing a weakened Serren from a field of battle where he was wounded. That never happened. Thankfully. There was one sad picture that really struck Sybilla. That was one painting where Serren is a girl crying in a window while Theodora and her father walk out to go hunting. Leaving Serren at home. She wanted to be respected as a boy so much and wanted her father's approval and love. Gerrick could not do that and he would not. That hurt her so much that she lashed out at Serren so hard over things that were never his doing.

And she never understood her need to be a warrior. Girls shouldn’t fight and most women didn’t want to fight. They often saw war as a waste. During the time of the matriarchy, that’s how it was. The King was called the King or the Great Mother at that time. The greatest mothers were those that led in times of peace and that peace brought prosperity. Theodora never understood that and wanted to be a warrior king like her father. It cost her so much.

One of the greatest kings or great mothers was called Devinia. That name means blessing of the Goddess. Devinia was Devin, the first born son of the third King during the Matriarchy. Erenia was cursed to have three sons. Many of the witches and women thought that Erenia must have displeased the Goddess to have no heirs to her throne. The witches considered choosing a daughter from another family to crown.

But there was something about Devin. He was very thoughtful to his younger siblings and helped them any way he could. He was a thoughtful and caring boy. Devin had many of the qualities of a young girl. He was selfless, brave, compassionate, caring and courageous. He showed great care to his younger brothers. It seemed that Devin was longing for a girl’s life. But he didn't want to really be a girl. But like other boys at that time, sensing the superiority of a greater sex he longed for the life. Erenia often caught Devin sneaking into the witch's library reading books of magic meant only for the eyes of females.

Boys often went thought the phase of wanting the rights of the superior sex, but Erenia saw something different in Devin. He seemed to have the mental acuity of a girl.

So Erenia went to the high witch of the order of Hekate and asked if there was some way to give her son the gift of girlhood. After much consultation and prayer, they all decided that there was a way. They called the spell the Blessing.

Erenia went to her son Devin and explained that he was to be honored with a new sex, Elevated to female and made the heir to the throne. He resisted and explained that he had fallen in love with one of the most beautiful females of the Kingdom. Allania and she had even asked for his hand in marriage. He wept and suffered, but to his mother’s pride in the end he consented to the transformation. He did what a girl must and put other’s needs before her own. Devin consented to his mother’s wishes and the wishes to the entire Kingdom. In what became known as blessing day, He was transformed before the entire Kingdom and made the heir to the throne.

Devinia threw herself into her new life and duties to the Kingdom with the devotion expected of a woman. This was proof that it was the will of the goddess. Under her rule, the land knew peace and much prosperity. She bore three strong brave girls. She became known as one of the Great Mothers.

Since that time, when a boy showed great promise he was honored with the blessing to be elevated to the status of women.

But that was not what was done to Serren. It was also supposed to be done with the boys consent. The great blessing was corrupted to do harm to the boy and crush him in the eyes of his family. Revenge was demanded. This horror was not an act that could be ignored. Serren’ wrath spread across the entire kingdom.

Then she went to the throne room that would never be hers. She had a much greater throne now anyway. It didn’t hurt her and observed that it was now Serren’s, and he was going to rule with the iron fist of a tyrant. Sybilla had poured all of her hate and malice into Serren.

Then the regent came in with the Lancaster family and the young girl that had obviously not got anywhere near acceptance of his new sex.

Sybilla walked up to the grieving family. She had learned that they had abdicated all of their titles to the Isle of Lancaster. Serren was going to choose a new family to rule the lands. She looked at the young suffering girl and said in a voice full of sorrow. “I am sorry for what I did, Greg. I will restore your masculinity. If that is what you want.”

The girl looked up with hopeful but doubtful eyes and said, “Yes, Please. I cant live this life. Please.”

Sybilla smiled warmly. “It was done to me and your family ignored all of my suffering. It was almost like your dad approved of it. So I will restore you on some conditions. First, you will leave your family and I will put you with a new family to be raised in the great temple. So you won’t be taught the male supremacist bullshit and be doomed.”

His family looked totally shocked at this. But they accepted for the sake of their son and knew it was for the better.

Sybilla touched the girls chest and she again was transformed into the form of a young man. His shoulders broadened, his face hardened to that of a male face. His hair shortened and his hips shrank. He was a young teenage boy once again and he smiled.

Then in the eyes of his grieving family. Sybilla took the young man on her horse and flew away not even allowing them to say goodbye to their son. Her guards followed in their large eagles and they flew up to the mountain fortress temple.

They flew up to the snowy peak and landed next to the enormous door which Theodora forced open during her assault. Their restoration was slow and had not even touched this temple yet. Her guards and helpers came and they began clearing out the bodies Theodora left during her attack and cleaned it up. Then they saw her family. Syrina and her children Blaze and Gerrick were there and they ran into the arms of their mother.

Sybilla told her husband, “This is our new boy, Greg. I have rescued him from his old family and their ways. Can you accept him Syrina?”

Syrina looked at the boy and nodded. He looked kind and loving. She said, “Yes, of course and we will restore this temple for you. And your new religion.”

Sybilla smiled and kissed her husband. Then she said, “Remember, Blaze will be the heir. No one knows it but we already see how rapidly she is progressing. She will defeat Serren and claim the crown. We will do this when our new religion is ready to take control. Until then, we will gain power in secret and wait for our time. We will allow the war religion control until then.”

Syrina smiled and said, “So basically, we are to grow in secret and wait for our time. We will usurp the old religion like your sister Theodora. I think you don’t know what a shock that will be. It wont be a peaceful transformation like you think it will be.”

“They started it,” was all Sybilla said with a wicked smile.