“Big cats 30, lizard heads 3… check!” Agave counted the dead creatures, making sure they all died. While Arete examines the creatures.

“STITCHES???!!!” She discovered that the horns on the chimeras’ heads were foreign bodies that were wire-stitched into the lion’s head.

“If that’s the case, the chimeras were just normal lions. They probably attached the goat horns on it to make it look like chimeras.”

Arete examines the hydra…

“But the hydra looks like a single creature. It doesn’t seem like a made-up.”

“Cuzie, I heard Pryne said that Hydra previously had swallowed her and poop her out!” Said Agave, pointing her finger at Pryne.

“I NEVER SAID THAT!” Pryne shouted with a flushed face.

“Hey, I heard that loud and clear! I even asked you to confirm that.”

Pryne remained silent for a while, then she took a deep breath and said: “I can’t die in its stomach, so it pooped me out… That’s how they captured me previously!”

“EEWWWWWW….” a disgusted expression etched on Agave’s face.

“Since when did you first encounter this creature?” asked Arete.

“It belongs to the Three Elders. They are the secret leaders behind Rome. Those who started the idea of the Teleios.”

This information is something new to Arete as she never read about the Three Elders from the scrolls and letters in Vitellus’s secret library.

“Could you tell me what you know about them?” she asked.

"The three, they have no official position, and no one knows since when they became Nero’s consul. I don’t even know what’s in their minds, those pesky old buffers. They attempt to breed the perfect god-like noble man. Calling those who will conceive the perfect child as the Teleios…”

“Hey, that’s not right! In Thebes, people used to call me the Teleios of Thebes. I used to believe that it is just a term given to the favourite girl of a city-state…” Agave butted in before Pryne was able to finish her sentence. Annoyed by her interruption, Arete raised her hand and gave a signal to Matea. She responded with a nod.

“Lady Agave, let’s go find something to eat…” She dragged Agave out of the temple area.

“Oh yeah, I have something I wanna try…” They left Arete and Pryne.

Arete was expecting Pryne to continue her sentence, but she was looking at her, apparently there was something else in her mind. Arete was aware about the arrow wounds on her shoulder. The bloodstain was still fresh on her silk himation, but the skin on her shoulder was as smooth as nothing had happened to her.

“So, they are trying to breed you?”

“Yes, but the funny thing is…” Pryne chuckled with a sad smile.

“I had been a hetaira for years, yet I haven’t been pregnant.”

“Noice! Hehehe, this part got just the right proportion of fat and meat for the perfect steak!” Cutting a piece of meat from the neck of the fallen Hydra head, Agave poured some wine from her bottle to remove the dirt from it. Matea started a small fire with the surrounding wood pieces collected, some were the broken pieces of the temple door, some were twigs from the trees. Stabbing the meat into the twig, they roasted it on top of the fire, cooking the Hydra next to the broken temple door.

The day was about to end, the sun set and the city had returned to peace and quiet. Although the Roman soldiers had left Eretria after they released the Hydra, people still locked themselves in their own home in fear of monsters and the soldiers.

“Wow… Beautiful smell, beautiful scenery. Eretria sure is something!” taking a big sniff on the delicious scent of the charred Hydra meat, Agave seasoned it with some unknown shiny powder she kept with her all the time.

“Ahh, what a dream come true. My life goal is to taste all the delicious food around the world! No matter how hard the journey may be! I can’t wait to taste this legendary Hydra steak!” Full of enthusiasm, Agave stared at the meat while Matea slowly turned it.

“Whatabout you, Mate?”

“Let everything go to the crow, retire on a farm, build a hut with… that’s all.” She replied with a dull tone.

“Thebans love songs, and we know lots of songs.”

“Let the glory of the empire goes to the crow

Just want to retire after twenty-five years brawl

Give me a small farm in the wilderness to live

Keep me alive I return to a lovely wife-to-be”

“I heard that several times from the Syracusean hoplites, but the Romans dislike that song. Saying that it promotes cowardness. And then they started to introduce those disgusting chants like… thousands of Persians, beheaded over and over again… Eww…” Agave shuddered while reciting the Roman’s war chant. She then noticed there was a marble statue of Aphrodite in some distance away.

“Phew, and beautiful statues… but the toad now turns into a dove, Mate. Your lovely wife-to-be is now an Archontes of a city.” Agave waited for her response, but to no avail, she kept staring at the meat and turning it slowly. Only the crackling sound of the burning wood was heard.

Taking a deep breath, Agave continued:

“Too much jealousy, misunderstanding and bitterness. No wonder the great Epicurus never put too much faith in relationships.”

“If they found out that you weren’t able to conceive…”

“I feared the worst could happen!” Pryne suddenly added.

Arete squatted down to examine one of the chimera's corpses. The metal stitches were all intricately sewn to combine two different animal parts. She attempted to tear open the joint, and discovered that the muscles underneath the skin were combined. She had never seen such a thing before.

“If they can do it on animals, they might be able to do it on humans.” Pryne conveyed Arete’s biggest fear. Just the imagination of it would make her sick in the stomach.

“I need more, more information about the Three Elders! Who are they?” Arete stared at Pryne, demanding for her immediate answer. But Pryne showed just her worried expression.

“I’m afraid my knowledge has reached the limit. Probably, we could get some answers from the Oracle.”

“Asking an Oracle? That’s ridiculous…”

“I know, but please hear me out! Arete! This Oracle is not a joke.”

“Where should we find them?” Arete questioned with doubt still etched on her expression.

“He is nowhere to be found and everywhere if you seek…”

“You already started to speak like them!”

“Alright! Alright! The last time I met them they mentioned that they will wait for us in the ruined city nearby!”

“Wait for us?”

“That’s why, I’ve told you, this Oracle is some real deal.”

“Great, we shall depart as soon as possible.”

to be continued...