Before moving on to the actual chapter, I understand some of you may be confused by the fact that The main group is going off to fight Cerebus and not the Cyclopes. Well, to explain, I thought I had made it clear in previous chapters that once The Cycploes took the treasures, they spread them all over different locations on the island and put up several guards, including Cerebus. If I did not explain this well in the past chapters, I apologize.
The walk was a long one, but the caravan had to take it. As they were making there way uphill, they heard a roar coming from some place off in the distance. It was a roar they had become all to familiar with.
"It's him," said Sabrina.
"If we end up needing him, he'll come."
"How do you know, Cody?"
"I cant say for sure, Jesse. I just know."
Jesse looked to Sabrina and Ryu, but they just shrugged.
Everyone else agreed.
"It sounds kind of far," said Ryu.
"He'll come."
Everyone looked to Cody.
"He's right. He will come if we should need him," Estevan concured.
"Whatever, let's just get this over with."
"Leave it to Jesse to ruin a semi-emotional moment."
Ryu chuckled a little at Sabrina's comment. They continued walking uphill through the wildlife to the location on the map. After walking for a little bit, they were stopped again.
"Hey look, you can see the ocean from here," said Athena as she pointed out to the huge body of water.
Everyone followed Athena's gaze at the ocean. As they were gazing, something else caught Ryu's eye.
"Look, it's a ship!"
Everyone looked out at the approaching vessel.
"Maybe we can get on it and get away from this place," said Sabrina, the excitment in her voice obvious.
The excitement was growing in everyone else as well.
"It looks like a viking ship," said Estevan.
"I think it is," Cody added.
"What's that doing here?" asked Jesse.
"Maybe the portal travels through time as well as dimensions," Ryu theorized.
"Maybe," said Sabrina thoughtfully.
"Yeah, but what's that?" said Jesse.
"What's, what?" asked Estevan.
"That," said Jesse as he pointed.
"Hey, I can see it now too," said Sabrina.
"Yeah, me too," said Ryu.
"Me too," said Cody.
"Hey, I see it now too," said Estevan.
There was something underneath the water, something that looked shadowy from under the ocean waves.
"These eyes are good, but I cant even tell what that thing is from this distance, what is that?" said Athena.
"It's getting closer to the ship," said Cody.
Suddenly a giant, clawed hand rose up from underneath the water and wrapped itself around the ship, crushing it before dragging it under. Everyone just stared in shock at what had just happened. As quickly as it started, it seemed to end just as quickly. Everyone came to the same conclusion.
"THE KRAKEN!"
"That hand definitely belongs to the monster that attacked me when I first came to this place," said Athena.
Then she started trembeling. Estevan came over and wrapped his arms around Athena to try and comfort her.
"Come on guys. The map says we're almost there," said Ryu.
Everyone started walking away, but Estevan took one last look at the floating debris left over from the Kraken attack. I hope we never have to cross paths with that demon of the deep, Estevan thought to himself. A half a mile later the caravan found themselves at the mouth of a cave.
"Is this it, Ryu?" Estevan asked.
Ryu examined the map for a moment.
"I believe so," said Ryu as he looked the map over one more time.
"Yep, this is it," Ryu confirmed.
Estevan took in a deep breath before he turned to face his team.
"Okay guys, this is it. The first step in us getting off this island and getting back home. I have confidence in all of you and I hope you do in me. So, keep your weapons held high and at the ready. And above all, look out for each other."
Everybody nodded, then raised their weapons in a defensive way as they entered the cave. At first it wasn't so bad, the light from the outside helped everyone to see. But of course, as they walked deeper into the cave, it got much darker. They heard the sound of water dripping from the top of the cave down to the ground, which did not help to ease the caravan's tension as they looked around for the centaurs treasure and the foe who would surely try to keep them from taking it. It was extremely difficult for the humans to see, for their vision couldn't adjust well because it seemed to get darker and darker with every three feet they moved forward. But as for the non-human member of the caravan,
"Can you see anything, Athena?" asked Cody in a whisper.
"I see everything," said Athena.
"Hey, the centaurs gave me a lantern we can use," said Ryu.
"We might end up attracting Cerberus," said Estevan.
"Hey, if Athena can see through this eternal darkness, then I'm gonna say its a safe bet that Cerberus is able to as well," said Ryu.
"Good, point," said Estevan.
With that, Ryu lit the lantern and raised it.
"Now we'll all be able to see," said Ryu proudly.
They walked and walked and walked, being ever so vigilant, keeping an eye out for the multi-headed hellhound that they knew was lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike, possibly watching the caravan at that moment, biding his time.
"Athena, can you smell Cerberus?" Estevan whispered to his companion.
"I smell something, that's for sure. But the stink is all over the cave, I cant log it down," Athena explained.
"Oh boy."
Estevan let out a worried sigh as he looked the dark enviorment around him, knowing a demon of an animal was in waiting in the deep, dark caverns. A little ways later, they noticed something. A bright glow coming from somewhere ahead of them. The excitment grew in the caravan as their steps got faster, not wanting to see what was making the glow ahead of them, though they were all pretty sure on what it was. They moved faster and faster until they came to the part of the cave the glow had eminated from. And then they saw it, the golden cup.
"Its so...pretty," said Sabrina.
"Yeah..., I want to touch it," said Jesse as he was about to take a step forward.
But Estevan stuck his arm out in front of Jesse to stop him.
"Hey, what gives?"
"It might be dangerous, Jesse. So I'll go first. Watch my back." Estevan slowly walked forward to the stone structure the golden cup rested on top of.
Inbetween steps, Estevan looked around. He knew that somewhere in this cave, there was still a multi-headed monster of a dog waiting to sink its teeth into Estevan and his friends. Estevan sucked in a deep breath, then let it out before walking the final steps to the golden cup. Then he slowly reached out his hand and grabbed the golden cup. But he waited a few seconds before taking it off it's mantle. Obviously, he has seen "Raiders Of The Lost Ark" before. But nothing like that ended up happening as he took the golden cup off it's stand. He looked to his colleagues and gave them a thumbs up and they all responded with quiet cheers. Estevan's cheerful mood was short lived as his expression turned to sheer fear and terror as he saw a dark, shape running towards his comrades. Athena's ears also picked up the footsteps of the approaching creature and looked around to see that it was the three headed devil dog, Cerberus.
"LOOK OUT!" Estevan and Athena shouted together.
Everyone jumped and ran out of the way of the charging hellhound. Cerberus spun around when it realized it missed it's intended prey. All three heads snarled at the members of the caravan as they surrounded him. Some of the warriors poked and prodded their weapons at the Cerberus creature, but it seemed unphased as it shook around like a mad bull. But then it stopped for just a moment when it saw that one of the intruders was holding the 'special' item Cerberus's masters told it to guard. This would surely make it's masters angry and if they were angry, Cerberus was angry! All three heads let out loud howls that echoed through the caverns. The howls were so loud, they forced the caravan to cover their ears. Then Cerberus ran towards Estevan, gowling all the way. Estevan was ready as he swung one of his exile blades in one hand, while he held the golden cup in the other. The blade slashed across the face of Cerberus's middle head. But that didn't stop Cerberus who just kept coming. Sabrina, Ryu, and Jesse ran to aid their friend locked in combat. Sabrina swung her nemesis whip while Ryu swung his Hades claws from a small distance at the demon dog. Cerberus turned to the direction the assualt was coming from and used it's heads to roll and throw boulders at these foes. Jesse used his war hammer to smash as many of the rocks as he could, but he ultimately ended up having to duck down to avoid the flying rocks. Cody and Athena ran up behind the demon dog, with Cody swinging his sword, while Athena thrusts her spear forward. Cerberus spun around, slamming one of it's heads into Cody's stomach, knocking the wind out of him as he went flying.
"CODY!" Sabrina shouted in concern for her brother.
Estevan and been running to try and join the combat after placing the golden cup out of the way, but when he saw Cody go flying through the air just to slam into one of the cave walls, he stopped and stared at the horrible sight. Meanwhile, Athena was struggling to keep possesion of her weapons, as two of Cerberus's heads had wrapped their mouths around Athena's spear and shield and tried to tug them out of her hands.
"Talk about a game of tug of war," said Ryu.
But no one paid attention, as both Estevan and Sabrina ran forward to assist Athena. Estevan ran up to the free head of the demon canine and started slashing and stabbing his exile blades at the beast's head. Meanwhile, Sabrina whiped across the back of the demon dog, wanting it to feel as much pain as possible for what it did to her brother. Athena wasn't having as much success, for Cerberus had managed to rip the shield from her hand and tossed it aside. But this allowed her to use both hands to pull her spear free from Cerberus's maw. Cerberus quickly spun around and used it's girth to knock Sabrina off her feet, then Cerberus spun back to Estevan and Athena and started snapping it's drooling, foaming jaws at the combatants. Athena thrusts her spear forward several times, but she only got two of those hits, as Cerberus managed to dodge most of the attacks with surprising speed. Ryu dug his Hades claws into the ground and used them to slingshot himself onto Cerberus's back. This was followed with Ryu digging his Hades claws into Cerebus's back. This did not last long, as Cerberus violently shook around until Ryu went rolling off Cerberus's back and onto the ground made of stone. Unfortunately, Cerberus stepped over Ryu, trapping him underneath the great beast.
"Help, help! Get me out from underneath this fat ass thing before it decides to sit, or roll over and make me play dead without playing!"
Jesse (still ducked down), approached the thrasing devil dog. When he thought he was close enough, he stood up straight and lifted his hammer up and slammed it onto the upper back of Cerberus. Then Jesse brought his hammer up again, then slammed the war hammer into Cerberus's ribs. Cerberus limped away as it tried to get it's footing back after taking two hard blows. Estevan and Sabrina took the oppertunity to grab Ryu and pull him out from underneath Cerberus.
After they pulled Ryu up, Sabrina said, "Are you okay?"
Estevan added, "I hope so, we need all the help we can to take down that son of a bitch."
"No," Ryu responded.
"No? What do you mean no?" asked Estevan.
"He's not a son of a bitch. I got a good enough look while I was down there."
"You...you mean...?" Estevan had a hard time getting over the idea.
"You mean, Cerebus is a bitch?" asked Sabrina.
"Oh yeah? Well so am I," said Athena after she heard the conversation.
She ran forward and stabbed her spear into Cerberus's chest. Cerberus rushed forward with the intent to flatten Athena, but Cody sprang into the scene and got Athena out of the way and managed to snag back her spear that was still impailed in the hellhound's chest. Estevan rushed forward to check on the two of them.
"Athena are you okay?"
"I'm fine Estevan. It didn't even touch me, thanks to Cody."
"Good, good. How about you Cody, how do you feel?"
Cody stared contemptly at Cerebus.
"Cody, how fo you feel?"
"Pissed off and ready for round two."
And with that, Cody grabbed his sword and swung at Cerberus's upper leg. Then he stabbed it into Cerberus's side. Then he swung his sword across Cerberus's body a few more times, leaving sveral deep, blood squirting cuts. Then Jesse swung his war hammer across the face of one of Cerberus's heads, dislocating the lower jaw. Estevan swung his exile blades around and let them cut across Cerberus's torso. Athena drove her spear into Cerberus's body, followed by Sabrina and Ryu swinging their weapons slashing across Cerberus's body. Then finally, Cody swung his sword down and cut off one of Cerberus's heads. Cerberus colapsed to the ground. After that, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, Cody even dropping in a sit down position. Everyone took a moment to catch their breath.
"Man...I cant believe that just happened," said Ryu.
"I cant believe we actually managed to pull all that off," said Sabrina.
"Well...when you set your...mind to it...you can accomplish anything," said Estevan.
"He's right you guys. We did it," said Jesse.
Ryu let out a weak, but sincre celebratory "WHOOP!"
Everybody let out weak laughs.
"It's good thing you came in with that hammer, Jesse," said Estevan, giving the hammer holding warrior a thumbs up.
"Yeah, seriously. If it weren't for you, I probably be a pancake on Poochy's ass," said Ryu.
No one saw Cerberus's middle head stirring until it was too late. Cerberus sprang forward and snatched Jesse up in her jaws. Everyone sprang up and used their weapons on Ceberus at the same time. Cerberus shook Jesse in the air until, Estevan landed on the head that held Jesse and dug both of his exile blades into the top of that head. Then Athena drove her spear through one side of the last head and out the other side, killing the beast. But despite the monster's death, Cody kept stabbing his sword into into the monster until he was tired, then he left the sword stuck in Ceberus's dead body. Then Cody crawled over to where Jesse laid and pushed everybody else out of the way.
"Jesse, Jesse come on. Please, speak to me Jesse. Jesse. Please talk to me big brother. Talk to me, please! PLEASE! Jesse, I love you!"
Jesse reached out his hand to touch his brother's, but he stopped as he felt the life leave his body. Then his arm and head dropped. Ryu and Estevan put their arms around Sabrina to comfort her as she cried. Athena stood by herself, chanting a prayer. Cody looked over his brother's dead body as he let tears fall from his eyes onto Jesse's corps. Cody let out his sad sorrow in a loud bawl. Then he growled and screamed in anger as he got up to his feet and grabbed his sword out of Cerberus's body and started stabbing into the dead carcass of the hellhound ocer and over again.
"DIE, DIE, DIE! DIE YOU BITCH! DIEEEEEEEE!"
Ryu, Estevan and Athena rushed over and wrestled to get the sword out of Cody's hands. But even after they took it from him, Cody still continued stabbing down like he still had it. Estevan got in front of his friend and held his arms to try and stop his friend.
"Cody,-Cody look at me. Cody look-Cody, it's okay. It's gonna be alright."
Cody stopped stabbing, but dropped his head on Estevan's shoulder as he cried. Estevan wrapped his arms around Cody to hug him, as he cried with his friend. Sabrina slowly made her way over to the two men and wrapped her arms around them both and cried, as did Ryu and Athena. It is hard to tell how long they all cried, but when it was over, Cody and Sabrina were sitting next to their brother's body. A few moments were spent in silence, as everyone tried to get themselves together.
"So..."
Everyone looked. It was Cody's voice.
"...what do we do with his body?"
Everybody looked at each other, not sure what to do.
"I know what to do," said Sabrina.
"Ryu, Estevan, bring Jesse's body outside."
They did as Sabrina asked and picked up Jesse's body, while Cody grabbed Jesse's war hammer. When they were outside, Sabrina told them what to do next.
"Put him down for now. Gather up tree branches, and wood of all kinds. Athena, can you give eulogy?"
"Yes, Sabrina."
"Good, we'll need you to."
And with that everybody gathered up wood until Sabrina said it was enough.
"Put Jesse on the wood pile."
Estevan and Cody did as Sabrina said. Then she pulled out her fire bow and an arrow.
"You may begin, Athena," said Sabrina before she shot the flaming arrow at the wood pile, setting it a blaze.
As Athena spoke her eulogy, everyone else stared at the image of Jesse's burning corps, with fond memories of their fallen comrade ran through their minds. Finally, when it was all over, it came time to decide what would be done with Jesse's weapon.
"We cant take it with us. It'll slow us down," said Estevan.
"Someone should return it to Eldimore," said Ryu.
"I'll do it," said Sabrina.
"I'm going with her," said Cody.
"Wait, no your not," said Estevan.
"What, why?" asked a slightly annoyed Cody.
"We need your sword. It's to great of a weapon to lose," Estevan explained.
"Well, you can have my sword. I cant let my sister go out there alone, especially after what happened to Jesse," said Cody as he started removing his sword from it's holster.
"We also need someone big and strong like you to weild it," said Estevan as he put his hand over Cody's to stop him.
"Cody, please. We need you. What do you think Jesse would do if he were here right now?" said Estevan.
Cody looked away, but answered.
"He would do what was best for the group."
"Go, Cody, I'll be okay,' said Sabrina as she put her hand on his shoulder.
Cody hugged his sister in a warm embrace.
"I love you, Sabrina."
"I love you to Code man."
They gave each other smiles before hugging again.
"Okay, I'll go with you guys. But I still want someone watching Sabrina's back."
"I'll go with her," Athena offered.
Estevan looked to her and smiled.
"Thanks a lot, Athena."
She nodded to him and they shared a kiss. Then Sabrina and Athena started heading back for Eldimore, but Estevan stopped them. They looked back to him. He pulled out the golden cup and tossed it to the female duo.
"Better take that with you. Give the centaurs something to be happy about."
They nodded and Estevan gave them a thumbs up before walking over to Ryu's side.
"Oka, Ryu, where to next?" Estevan asked.
"Our final resting place according to this map," Ryu responded.
"What?" asked a confused Estevan.
"It says here, the closes place that we have to go to next is,...'gulp'...Medusa's garden."
MEANWHILE
In the brush of the jungle, there is a lake. And at the lake right now, sticking it's head in looking for fish to eat is a monster not of this land. In the land he comes from he is a hero to some, an enemy to others. In his world, he has been given the appropriate title of "King of the monsters". This is the beast known all across Earth as Godzilla. He popped his head out of the lake and looked around. For some reason he felt danger. Not for himself, but the humans he had taken upon himself to protect.
Godzilla followed his senses which took him to the edge of a clearing where he saw the human girl and the half human, half animal girl were being chased by a 50 foot tall cyclops and it was gaining on them. The fully human girl tripped and fell. The anthramorph ran to aid her fallen comrade, but that left them open to the cyclops catching up and getting ready to devour them. But the three were suddenly covered by a shadow of a much bigger creature. They looked up to see Godzilla standing over them. The cyclops's one eye went wide with fear. Godzilla snarled at the pathetic bully before lifting up his mighty foot and stepping on the cyclops, squashing it like a pancake.
The two girls could only stare in amazment at what had just happened. Godzilla looked down at the two girls and gave them a reassuring nod. Then he senses kicked in again. The other humans were in need of his help. He took off in the direction his senses told him to go. Godzilla would spread his brand of fury all over the island if he had to, so as to satisfy his desires.
Uh...HEY, GODZILLA'S BACK! Look, the reason I killed off that character is because, frankly I was getting tired of writing for so many characters. I thought I could pull it off, but these characters are sooooo underdevelopted. I killed off Athena's mother much earlier in the story for this same reason, well...and also to set up her romance with Estevan. I dont know, am I doing good with my characters? I really wish someone would tell me in either a review or a private message. Or do you even care whether these characters have good development, or not and only care about the story and plot? Please let me know that, along with your other opinions on this story in a review. Anyways, I swear, I will not kill off anymore characters, regardless of if you care about them, or not. Also, eventhough it may not seem necessary to reintroduce Godzilla in this chapter, I kind of felt like I had to. After all, it is called, "GODZILLA On Mythology Island". Also, I'll try to keep my chapters more consistant in terms of length. No more 9'000 plus words (referring to Chapter 19). I'll make sure the chapters from no on are under that. I'm The Guy Who Likes To Write Stuff, signing off.