Twelve years ago, the Year of Claudius, the City-State of Syracuse, under the reign of Lord Amiran.

Water was flowing from the mountain river, into the city aqueducts. It directed the water down to Syracuse and flowed to a fountain, where people in the city gathered to retrieve the clean mountain water. The system was a masterpiece of hydraulic engineering with precise control on the optimal slope for the flow and irrigation distribution. The aqueduct of Galermi stretched over 139 stades (about 25km in modern day measurement system), most of its tunnels were hidden, but there were exposed bridge channels near the mills. Exposing aqueducts were signs of power, a showcase to the enemies that they were fearless of their attacks. A grand display of their city-state as a land blessed by Goddess of War and Wisdom, Athena.

The young 5 years old Arete ran to the training field, where Amiran was training the young boys. They waved their long wooden sticks, practicing on stabbing the target dummy.

“Father! Father! Arete wants to join the training!”

She grabbed a shorter wooden staff and started to wave it around. “Hya! Hya!”

“Haha, well, Arete, this training is only for boys!” said Amiran.

“Not fair! You always say boys and girls are equal. Why don’t you train me?”

Amiran smiled and he picked Arete up with his arm.

“Silly girl, I already am training you! To be a better leader!”

“And I ran away when my homeland was in chaos… what a disappointment.”

Arete woke up from her day dream, feeling bad about herself not being able to prevent the downfall of Syracuse.

"That day, those attackers, they were not regular bounty hunters... More like trained assassins. They were trained to kill themselves when defeated. Were they ordered by Nero? He wanted me dead!"

She was still on the way to Eretria after the encounter with a group of bounty hunters. It had been raining for the whole night, it was wet and cold. The horses were exhausted, and they were looking for a place to take some rest.

“We will need to take a break at the nearby village…” she said.

“Agree! I’m starrrrrrrving!” Agave replied, holding her stomach.

They came to a village gate which was not as grand as the city gates of Syracuse and Thebes, but a simple wooden gate to a village. The guards noticed them.

“Hello, greetings! We are looking for a place to take a temporary escape from this weather!” Arete raised her voice and said.

“Outsiders are not welcome!” the guards replied. They were fully covered with dark clothes from head to toe, only revealing their eyes.

Agave took out her bag of gold and waved it in front of them. “We have gold and silver to pay for our stay!”

A shorter, fully covered person tapped on the guard’s shoulder, and with a deep mature voice, he said “We are very sorry, the village is not ready to receive any visitors…”

“Please, we beg you! With this weather, we might get sick and die in the middle of our journey! We promise to repay your kindness if you let us stay for a night or two.” Arete pleaded.

The man sighed, and said: “Our village, Kataratos, is in an epidemic. If we allow you to stay, you might have a higher chance of getting sick and dying too.”

Kataratos, a cursed village, was known as a place where the Eretrian deported those people who do not met their aesthetic preference and physically abnormal citizens to. Arete realized that the village was very far away from Eretria. There was no way for them to skip this village for there were no other villages nearby along their way.

“Please sir, we may offer our services to your village!” Arete tried to negotiate with them.

“My cousin here, Agave, she can cook and work for your kitchen or help you prepare medicinal concoctions.”

“My servant Matea may help you retrieve wild herbs in dangerous locations.”

“I am Arete, I offer my service to fight against the epidemic that landed your village!”

The man hesitated a while, then he nodded, and the guards opened the gates.

“It is not my real name, but you may call me Hephastos, the chief of the village.” said the man.

Hephastos? A name of a blacksmith god Hephaestus, there were some who were delusional enough to actually believe themselves to be a god. Arete remembered that when she was taught about the previous emperors, Caligula, the cousin of Nero, was the one who claimed to be Zeus himself. She was aware about his slight mispronunciation and the clarification about the name though. Hephastos was not his real name.

“We have rules in this village, you all need to cover up, it is to protect yourselves,” he added.

“We have lost many of our people when this strange disease went out of control.”

“Although we had found a medicine to cure the disease, two of my herb gatherers were attacked by a pack of wolves.”

“We need helpers. As you mentioned, someone who can cook for the sick, gather the herbs and figure out a way to end this mess.”

“We will do our best to help your people.” Arete replied.

The next dawn came in, Agave started the fire to boil water to cook the medicinal concoction according to Hephastos’s instruction. He then briefed Arete about the situation in the village and their strategy to prevent spread of the disease.

Matea carried a big empty basket at her back for herb collection, waiting for her guide to her first day as a gatherer.

“You don’t seem like a strong man…” said a person fully covered like one of the village guards. Her voice was slightly chesty. The difference was, she even covered her eyes with a cloth. Although Matea was relatively taller than most women, her build was still considered as average.

“I am not… are you the guide?” Matea replied.

“Uhgg! A woman! I asked for someone who can protect themselves!” She replied with a disappointed tone.

“My name is Pryne! I can’t fight well. So don’t expect me to save you if you get into trouble!”

“The previous two men who followed me into the jungle got eaten alive by wolves!” she said with an exaggerated voice.

“And I already told Hephastos, send me some large strong man who can at least, AT LEAST protect himself or know how to run away!”

“I’ll bring a spear then…” She took Arete’s spear and tied it next to the basket.

“Whatever, you better be a good runner!” Pryne replied with a dissatisfied voice.

She has to make her sentences clear and full of emotions. After all, her face was fully covered and she wanted to make sure people understood how she feels through her voice. They left the village and went into the jungle. They came across shrubs of herbs.

to be continued...