Oh, Shit!

And just like that, Byron learnt that after they reached this realm, Hippolyta became the villain.

Usually, the Amazonians had many queens so that there would never be a vacuum in case one died in battle.

But Hippolyta claimed she was to become the only queen and Penthesilea accepted because she didn't want to fight her.

Her first order to her was that she should dye her hair. "I don't want to look like you," she said to her, and Penthesilea obeyed and turned her jet black hair into a blond one.

All the Amazons were supposed to be sisters and work together, but Hippolyta enslaved some, forcing them to build her a new castle in Themiscyra because she claimed that Penthesilea had entered all the others at some point in time, and that it tainted them.

Penthesilea was OK with Hippolyta belittling her and making her suffer, but she couldn't let others become slaves because of her.

"It's me you hate," she said to Hippolyta one day. Their mom, Otrera, was there, listening. "You shouldn't involve others. No one should become a slave because I fucked Zeus. It wasn't my fault anyway. I didn't know it was him."

Hippolyta took it as defiance.

"We agreed that I'm the only queen. How dare you raise your voice in front of me then? How dare you question my decision and say it wasn't your fault that I'm now separated with my Orpheus? Who was it that killed her son?"

"I was merely giving you a companion into the afterlife," replied Penthesilea. "And even though I regret it now, back then it was my way to apologize to you. You of all people should know it's among our traditions."

"That teadiri," said Hippolyta as she poked Penthesilea's chest with her index finger. "That tradition condemned all of us to this fate of endless suffering. I want you out of my city."

That's how Penthesilea left Themiscyra.

Alcippe, with a few other Amazonians, followed her and later others joined, escaping Hippolyta's harsh rule.

She would miss Orpheus and she would yell at them. She would ask them to sing for her so she could dance as she used to back when she was with him and she would go rampage because none of them could sing or play lyre as good as him.

She would ask them to build a statue of him but lash at them saying it looked nothing like him. It was a living hell for the girls who stayed under her rule.

Except for those who were like her of course. The ones who blamed Penthesilea for their suffering.

Eventually, New Themiscyra, Penthesilea's city, flourished.

At first, Hippolyta was cool with girls leaving her city, but soon, she realized she would end up almost alone so she started threatening death to anyone who would be caught trying to leave.

Of course that didn't stop those who wanted freedom. They kept escaping and Hippolyta was left with no choice but to attack New Themiscyra, kill Penthesilea and become the Only Queen again.

She had the support of those who held a grudge on Penthesilea for their predicament, and they were so many.

At the time, they didn't know Hera's rules. They didn't know that males fell into the rivers across the realm and that it led to a boost in their lust.

So, whenever their lust would increase to a hundred times, they would direct their anger to Penthesilea.

Those who tried to form couples and died, their friends would blame Penthesilea. Those who masturbated and died, the same thing happened.

"Blame Penthesilea," they would say. "She's the reason for all our suffering. Perhaps if she dies Hera will have mercy on us. We have to attack New Themiscyra. We have to kill her."

Otrera could not let that happen. She was their mother. The thought of her daughters slaughtering each other made her stomach churn.

But then again, if she remained with Hippolyta, it would mean she sided with her. Going to Penthesilea would mean the same. She would lose the neutrality she always had.

This new realm of theirs would plunge into chaos with no one with a voice as strong and as convincing enough to stand between both sides and mediate them.

That's why she left Themiscyra and built her own city that she named Harmonia.

Next, she mediated them, and they came to an agreement. Everyone was to stay in the city she was in. There was to be no more escape from Themiscyra.

Even the visits weren't allowed.

This was soon revised after they realized dead men were falling into their rivers, and that touching them could allow one to play with herself and release the haunting libido.

So, if a male fell into a river close to a certain city, girls from other cities could pay a visit and get some pleasure.

There were other points agreed upon, of course. Every male's right hand would be cut and sent to Hippolyta.

Penthesilea's city was to supply food once a week; among many other odd demands made by Hippolyta.

Both Penthesilea and Otrera thought they could live with that, so they agreed, and the war was averted.

"That means," said Alcippe. "That Hippolyta might demand your right hand because the agreement says so."

"But I'm alive," Byron protested.

"And that's where the problem lies. She's going to want you for herself. For her city. If we refuse, she will claim that the hand is hers and we're going to refuse to cut it and she's going to use it as an excuse to threaten the war. And, of all the things to fight for in this forsaken realm, a male who is alive is something all of us are willing to die for. A war is inevitable."

'Alcippe is right,' thought Byron. 'If all the girls in Hippolyta's city are as violent as the redhead back in the valley who held me on the tip of her sword as she rode my cock, then Penthesilea's city is cooked.'

But hey, he was there, right? Surely, he could do something about it.

"If a war happens," he said, carelessly chewing on his meat. "Don't worry! We would have an advantage."

"And what is that?"

"The outside world had advanced so much during these 41 years you weren't there. Weapons, tactics... There is so much I can teach you that Hippolyta doesn't know."

Of course he wasn't referring to the world of Pachilles. He was talking about the modern world. Guns. Bombs. Fighter jets.

Of course he didn't know how to manufacture any of that. But surely, he wouldn't fail to guide them on how to make a hot-air balloon, right?

He imagined flying over Hippolyta's city with buckets of oil and pouring it on them, burning them alive.

'Yikes! I hope it doesn't come to that. Losing those beauties to fire would be such a shame.'

Anyways, how many were they?

He was gonna ask that, but Penthesilea smiled at him and said, "It's so good to hear that you're prepared to help. However, if mom gets involved and her city sides with Hippolyta, we would be forced to hand you over. There's no way 74 people can fight over 300 hundred people."

'Oh, shit!'