Amazons Part 4
Trip to Paradise From All's Fair...
After Mariah's meet and greet had been finished, the senatorial hopeful gathered her niece Jenna and friends, and headed back to Metropolis International Airport. A colorfully painted private jet awaited them. Once on board, Mariah sat comfortably in the black leather chair.
Jenna, and her two friends, Namika and Athena, sat quietly on a large leather couch across from Mariah. The wily politician had given instructions to the pilot to fly into Athens where they would board a smaller plane to the Greek Island of Zakynthos.
The lengthy flight was completed without incident, and the second leg was just as uneventful. By now, Jenna, ever restless, was wondering why her aunt had decided to immediately fly to Greece in the middle of a hot political campaign.
"Girls." Mariah began. "We'll take cousin Myklos' yacht for a ride. I want to show you all something." Jenna glanced up from her double latte coffee. "I forgot my bathing suit, Aunt Mariah." She confessed as the other girls' nodded in agreement.
"Not to worry." Mariah smirked. "We have plenty of gear on the Eye of Artemis." Their cousin's yacht was a pristine fifty-four footer. "We may be out a while at sea." Mariah teased as her dark eyes sparkled. Jenna shrugged. "I have nothing pressing to do at the moment."
A mere hour or so later, Mariah and the girls were aboard the Eye of Artemis, slowly cruising away from Zakynthos out into the Ionian Sea. They were skirting the Greek coast towards Crete when Mariah slowed the boat to a crawl.
Dressed in a sensible, flowered, one piece swimsuit, Mariah stood before the bikini clad girls who had all just passed their eighteenth birthdays. "You are of age now, Jenna, as are Namika and Athena." She announced as Jenna gazed over the top of her dark sunglasses.
"You mean we have to only be eighteen to drink in Greece?" Namika asked cheerfully. Mariah laughed heartily. "No, my sisters, you are of age to know the truth." The elder woman hinted. Jenna narrowed her eyes. "The truth about what, Aunt Mariah?"
"The truth about your birthright." Mariah informed her, in a more serious tone.
Jenna didn't like the sound of that. She also wondered why her aunt had called her 'sister'. With that, Mariah stood at the bow of the Eye of Artemis, extended her arms toward the warm, open sea, and shouted: "Selos estos Magape." Jenna had no idea what language this was.
"What?" Namika asked worriedly, fearing that Mariah had been drinking too much Greek wine, and may fall overboard. "It means 'we are the Magape!'" (mah gah pay) Mariah informed them. Instantly, a humid mist seemed to envelop the ship, appearing out of a clear blue sky.
Athena stared at the upcoming mist and wondered what Mariah had meant about their birthright. She couldn't really remember her parents, and had been on her own since moving to America as a child. Her guardians, Mariah's staff members Erin and Lauren, had been responsible for her.
The crashing waves subsided as the Eye of Artemis inched forward into the thickening fog. The yacht's pilot, (Mariah had referred to her only as 'my sister Penny'), guided it carefully in a roughly circular pattern. The sky was totally filled with gray and brown. The intense sunlight of the Greek Isles barely filtered through the stale, tepid, air.
"Where exactly are we, Aunt Mariah, the Bermuda Triangle?" Jenna asked warily. Mariah chuckled. "Wrong part of the ocean, my dear." She said, seemingly unconcerned about the fog and near zero visibility. "Prepare to step into a whole new world." Mariah stated vaguely.
A craggy land mass appeared fairly close to the ship. Some parts were covered with untended, overgrown vegetation; other areas were simply covered with milky white sand. "What island is this, Aunt Mariah?" The ever-curious Jenna inquired.
"The old ones call it Themyscira, but for our purposes, we can call it Paradise Island." Mariah directed Penny to pick out a suitable landing spot for the Eye of Artemis. They dared not get much closer to the strange, uncharted island, lest the yacht be stranded on the rocky reef.
"Paradise Island?" Namika parroted. "It sounds nice." Athena put in. "I thought that was a resort in the Bahamas near America." Jenna commented skeptically. "Where do you think that they got the name for it from?" Mariah needled, as Penny slowed the yacht to a stop and dropped anchor.
Mariah scanned the island's visible outline from the Eye of Artemis. "Aunt Mariah, are you sure that if we land on that island we won't be attacked by dinosaurs?" Jenna quipped as she helped scan the misty foliage for any signs of life. Mariah laughed heartily.
"No Jenna, the only lizards on Themyscira are probably iguanas, and possibly a stray Komodo Dragon or two." Mariah joked. "It seems deserted." Namika commented. "Oh, they're out there." Mariah reassured them. "Who? Who is out there?" Athena prodded.
"Your heritage." Mariah replied cryptically. "Penny! This spot looks good." She called to her younger ship's captain. Penny slowed the Eye of Artemis down and dropped anchor. They were a good distance away from the pristine, white-sanded beach, but well within rowing distance.
"Come on girls, I'll need your help gathering our things." Mariah directed. "I thought we were only paying a short visit, Aunt Mariah." Jenna sounded puzzled. Penny opened up a cargo hold door, which was filled to the ceiling with boxed, bagged, and tagged items.
"We need to bring all this along." Mariah explained as she flipped on the light and started down the staircase into the hold. "The people on this island don't have many luxuries. I decided that it would be nice for us to bring them some supplies and gifts."
The five women quickly organized themselves into a working line of cargo distribution. They would need to make multiple trips in the two small rowboats that the Eye of Artemis carried. Soon the first two loads were on the beach. Jenna tried to read the tags, but the language was unfamiliar to her. It looked like a cross between Greek, Ancient Latin, and one other.
The girls tied the rowboats to some well-placed boulders on shore. The sandy beach was filled with toed footprints, Jenna observed. Clearly, they were not alone. The footprints had a specific pattern, almost like the footprints at one of her Naval bases. These were in a guard patrol pattern.
Mariah cautiously went up the slight incline of the beach where the sand met rough foliage and pebbles and rocks. "Samon, ettas Magape!" She shouted into the trees. Had Mariah lost her mind? Athena wondered as the older woman repeated her call.
The girls noted some noise high above them. The leaves on some palm trees moved, and on the thicker, more robust types of tropical trees as well. In the blink of an eye several women dropped from the trees via crudely made vine ropes. Some simply vaulted to the ground from lower points on the tree-lined ridge. The women were barely clothed and wreaked of sweat and whatever else.
Mariah saluted the tree dwellers by pounding her fist onto her right breast. "Sesan cristos Magape! Senan Queen Hippolita!" The tree dwellers exchanged glances and muttered among themselves. "Aunt Mariah, what are you saying to the natives?" Jenna asked worriedly.
"First, I called out to the island patrol guards that we are Magape and mean no harm." Mariah explained without taking her eyes off of the closest women. "Then I said that I was a member of their tribe and seek an audience with their queen."
"You honor us with the tongue of the old ones." A husky voiced, tall, stocky, partially naked, blonde haired woman replied. "What is your Amazon name?" She questioned, obviously checking Mariah's story out. "I am called Marinthe of the Western Tribes." Mariah verified.
"Amazons?" Jenna and Athena chorused, while Penny and Namika waited in stunned silence. "Yes Jenna, that is our heritage…your heritage…we are descended from the Amazon Nation." Mariah answered while the patrol girls circled them and chattered among themselves.
Jenna watched the Amazons closely, observing their features and clothing, what there was of it. The warrior girls were all different sizes, skin colors, and their hair colors varied widely. Some had colorful feathers in their hair strapped in with multicolored leathery animal skin headbands.
All of them carried weapons…antique weapons, by the look of them, she observed. Jenna picked out broadswords, crossbows, daggers, spears, maces, and lassoed ropes. None of the poor warrior women would be a match for a good clean .45 Magnum or 7 MM automatic pistol, of course, but Jenna appreciated the ancient culture's display of defenses.
"Marinthe, Queen Hippolita has spoken of you at Tribal Elder's meetings." A brown skinned Amazon with lengthy disheveled black and red hair began. "I am Enza of the Southern Tribes. Who are the others you bring with you?" Mariah bowed slightly and pointed to Jenna.
"This is my niece, Jenna, and her friends Namika and Athena, and my servant, Penny." Mariah gestured to the frightened girls. "All are of the Age of Consent, and are of Amazon blood by birth." Mariah explained further. "We seek the ceremony of womanhood."
Jenna didn't really like the sound of any of that, but remained silent out of respect for her Aunt and the ancient Amazon culture. "The ceremony will take place four nights hence, when the moon is at it's fullest." A tall, thin, white skinned Amazon with lengthy blonde hair said.
"Andrea speaks truth." Enza verified. "Marinthe, what are in these bags you bring to Paradise Island?" Mariah smirked before answering. "Booty and plunder from the Man's World. I bring it all as an offering to the Queen." Jenna's eyes went wide. Her Aunt had stolen items for the Amazons?
That seemed highly unlikely. It must be a cover story, she reasoned. "Really?" An older blonde haired woman sounded skeptical. "The Queen has forbidden any supplies from the Man's World." Mariah nodded. "True. And you are?" The older woman appeared to be in her early forties and struck her breast partially, but it seemed more like a half- baked gesture to Mariah. "Sheba, leader of the Themyscira Tribe."
"Sheba, I will present the gifts to Queen Hippolita and let her decide how best to use them, if at all." Mariah said with some authority to her tone of voice. "Agreed." Sheba quickly backpedaled, nearly making Jenna laugh, but she held onto her stoic face.
"Marinthe of the Western Tribes, you will follow us." Enza directed them to a path into the thicker foliage higher up the incline. "My sisters, bring Marinthe's gifts!" Sheba ordered. Immediately, four to six of the Amazons hustled to the rowboats and carefully began to lift the bags and boxes onto their broad shoulders.
Two of the younger Amazons lingered behind, staring at the huge, shiny ship at the edge of their cove. Jenna noted that with some apprehension. What was to stop them from getting onto the Eye of Artemis and ransacking it for whatever they deemed useful? She silently wondered.
"Aunt Mariah, I have some questions…actually a lot of them." Jenna said from behind the first row of Amazon guards. "I'm sure you do, honey. Let's not upset our hosts, though. We'll talk later on." Mariah politely warned, a signal received by Jenna and the others.
The trail leading away from the beach seemed to incline indefinitely, and on more than one occasion, Athena and Namika tripped over fallen tree roots, or slimy foliage, yet they pressed on. It was about an hour's walk through the dense part of the tropical wilderness.
Soon, the visitors saw signs of life. More and more women showed up along the main trail, stopping whatever work they were doing to gape at the strangers. Amazons were in the trees, clambering up hills like monkeys, bathing unabashedly in plain sight in various brooks and streams, and finally the foliage cleared and several structures were visible.
The Amazon village was built into a large hill. The most impressive structure, which Jenna assumed was the Queen's Temple, was the largest and highest above all other buildings. Its entrance was built with classic Roman stone columns, a good twenty feet in height, by Athena's estimate. A good forty or so stone steps led to a pyramid-like conclusion.
Two more mostly stone structures flanked the Queen's Temple, which Namika assumed belonged to the next in line in the culture's hierarchy. This pattern had been repeated all over the ancient globe from Greece, Rome, and Egypt, to the Native American Indians in the United States and the pyramid dwellers of ancient Mexico, Central and South America.
At the top of the stone steps, between two columns, stood a tall woman with blonde and brown hair that looked to be in her late forties to early fifties. At her side, was a tall dark haired young woman, that from Jenna's estimate, could've been their age, or in her early twenties.
As the entourage approached the base of the steps, it stopped and the girls placed all of Mariah's gifts gently on the first few stairs, piling them neatly as high as they could go. The Amazon brigade turned to face the temple, and all suddenly dropped to one knee, placing their right hands over their breasts.
Mariah mimicked the gesture of respect, and Jenna and her friends followed suit. The rest of the village, except for the youngest children, followed those gestures as well. "Arise, my sisters." Queen Hippolita's voice somehow boomed across the village, without any amplifiers of course.
"Andrea has informed me that we have visitors." Hippolita turned part of the way around so that all of the local Amazons could hear her. "Please welcome our sister from the Man's World, Marinthe, of the Western Tribes, and her niece, Jenna, and fellow sisters Namika, Athena, and Penny. Show them the same respect as you would show me."
In one smooth motion, all of the Amazons stood and faced the visitors. They dropped to one knee and covered their breasts in unison. Jenna was truly impressed with how well disciplined the ancient warrior women were. After a few seconds, the Amazons went back to their daily routines.