"Alright, everyone, line up! We have a lot of work to do today."

Hallie turned around, all too aware that she was the only one to do so. Everyone else was too busy staring at her.

The newcomer was a large Taktikós. They had broad shoulders and towered over Hallie's short, frail frame. It wasn't every day you saw someone as tall as them, most people had their growth stunted due to a lack of proper nutrition. Being a Taktikós probably helped them reach the height that they were. They must be five feet tall, a giant.

"Charax!" Hero was over their shock and was ready to find answers. Not a face Hallie wanted to mess with. "Why did you hire this... this... this girl?!"

Charax closed their eyes. They took a deep breath in and out. "Her parents asked if they could send 'this girl' here. They said she was Kardián, and from the looks on your faces, it's true." They sighed. "You should know better than anyone, Hero. I can't deny a Kardián anything."

Hero huffed. They didn't look all that pleased about this new arrangement. Having to treat someone else, i.e. Hallie, with respect must be taxing.

"Now," Charax clapped their hands together. "line up. I won't ask you all again."

Grumbling, Hero joined everyone else as they shuffled together to form one long line.

Hallie didn't know if there was any specific order to the line, but Charax was watching her, so she went and stood at the end of the line.

"Today, we will start practicing the first play in The Oresteia, Agamemnon" Charax began. "You know the drill: you'll split off into groups based on your character to memorize your lines."

Niobe raised her hand. "Who am I playing, sir?"

Charax's mouth formed a thin line. They closed their eyes and took a deep breath. "Are you going to ask that every time before I get the chance?"

Niobe smirked. "Every time."

Charax sighed. "Niobe, you're playing Cassandra and will split off with Cois-"

Cois raised his hand. "Who am I playing, sir?"

Charax gave both Cois and Niobe a death glare, while they both innocently blinked up at him. "Agamemnon."

For the second time that day, Cois and Niobe looked shocked, but this time, everyone else followed suit.

"A-Agamemnon?" Cois's eyes widened. "You've never given me such an important role before. Usually, I'm just a background character."

"Yeah," Charax gave a wry smile. "Don't make me regret this."

Cois nodded vigorously. "Yes, sir!"

"You're giving that idiot the role of Agamemnon?" Ah, so now was the time when Hero saw fit to add her two drachmés. "He'll mess it up so quick, mortals will be too confused about what went wrong, they won't have time to laugh!"

Cois's bright, beaming smile fell off his face. Niobe gravitated over and began consoling him. Everyone else spent their time glaring at Hero, but also making sure they couldn't see their glares.

Charax flinched. "I knew you wouldn't like that. How about this: You get to play Clytemnestra, so you can kill him."

Hero mulled Charax's gruesome proposal over. Hallie was glad to find she wasn't the only one who was mortified at this, even Charax and especially Cois.

"Another reason I wouldn't touch that girl with a twelve-foot-long rod." the person next to Hallie muttered.

"Same here." their friend said.

Then they noticed Hallie was watching, so they shushed each other and focused their attention back on Hero. Hallie flushed at this.

"Okay," Hero said, crossing her arms across her chest. "Who's going to play Aegisthus?"

Charax, looking more worried than content at Hero's cooperation, turned to Doriskos. "Him."

Hero scrunched up her nose. "Him?"

"Him."

Charax and Hero stared at each other, their staring contest growing more intense as each second ticked by.

Hero sighed and roped her arm around a reluctant and scared Doriskos, leading him up the steps to who knows where.

"Okay!" Charax's eyes boasted victory. "Once you know who you're playing and who your partner is, you can split off and go practice your lines."

He shooed Cois and Niobe off the stage before continuing to recite off parts. Soon, the only people left were Hallie, Charax, and Nikas.

Charax locked eyes with Hallie. "Your name is Hallie Nephus, correct?"

Hallie gulped. "Y-Yes."

For the first time, possibly ever, Charax smiled. "Well, Hallie, you're going to play Electra, and Nikas will play Orestes."

Nikas nodded. "Is there anything else you wanted to tell us, sir?"

"Yes, you were probably already going to do this, but I want you to help Hallie with memorizing lines. You have more time considering both your characters first appear in the second play, and in Hallie's case, only the second play."

"Yes, sir. We'll start right away." Nikas reached out and grabbed hold of Hallie's hand. They looked at her, making sure she was okay with it, before leading Hallie away from the stage.

"So," Nikas said as they led Hallie through the streets. "do you have any other plays memorized, or is it just The Frogs?"

Hallie reddened. "I-I mostly memorized comedies, s-so I don't have any of The Oresteia plays memorized if that's what you're asking."

Nikas nodded. "That's alright. We have plenty of time to go over our lines."

They continued in silence, but for once, Hallie didn't mind. Shocker, right? It gave her the time to admire the city.

The surrounding buildings were made of stone and lined with wooden beams. They were bakeries, craft stores, apartments, and book shops, some doubling as houses.

Kardiá was one of the few Synolikán city-states that didn't have agriculture as its main export, relying on other city-states to import agrarian products.

"Um." Hallie knew curiosity killed the cat, but curiosity also killed her quiet nature and survival instincts. "Wh-Where are we going?"

"Back to my place." Nikas stopped and let go of Hallie's hand. "Is that fine with you? We can practice lines there; I have copies of the second and third plays."

Going to some random person's house wasn't the smartest thing to do, but Hallie still felt her mouth forming the words "That's fine." If she was lucky, which she was never, Nikas'll have roommates like Kirphis. Roommates who will save her should Nikas decide to turn this into a horror movie.

Now that they weren't connected at the hands, Hallie had to follow Nikas manually, praying to all the gods they wouldn't separate her from Nikas.

Hallie found it odd that the more time she spent in Kardiá, the more she believed in the powers of the old gods.

After a couple of minutes of dear-separation panic, Hallie found Nikas and herself in front of The Diamérisma.

Hallie blinked. "You live at The Diamérisma, too?"

Great, if Nikas still wanted this to be a horror movie, they could just sneak down the hall whenever they wanted.

Nikas opened the door and raised their eyebrows. "Apparently." It was perhaps the closest they could ever get to surprise.

Hallie walked through the door but stopped to wait, so she could follow Nikas instead of taking the lead.

They guided her up the stairs and towards their room. Before opening the door, Nikas' turned to face Hallie, somehow looking even more done than when she first laid eyes on them.

"I can trust you to know where my apartment is and not graffiti it when I'm gone, can I?"

Hallie searched their face for signs of a joke. "Yes?"

Their expression didn't change from the same serious and calculating stare.

Hallie cleared her throat. "Why?"

Nikas shrugged. "No reason."

Hallie relaxed. But of course, her body language spoke too soon.

"Except, Niobe and Cois found out where Doriskos lives and painted the phrase 'The Frogs know all' in sparkly pastel colors all over the place. It took weeks for him to clean it all up. Took just as long to get the twenty-year-old pranksters to shut up about it."

Hallie shivered.

Nikas rolled their eyes, half-smiling as they did so. "Don't' worry, I didn't actually think you would do something like that. Plus, it's best if you know right off the bat what Cois and Niobe are truly capable of." They shivered and opened the door.

Hallie took her eyes off them and stared into the vast and desolate apartment before her. Their limited furniture created monsters with their shadows, and the marble floors shone with the sunlight like the amphitheater's steps did. Only these were ready to open up and devour an early lunch.

"You coming?"

Hallie's eyes snapped up, catching Nikas in the door frame.

They stared at each other for a while until realization dawned on Nikas's features. "I won't hurt you. But if you're still not comfortable, we could always use your place or find somewhere else where they are plenty of witnesses."

The phrasing could be better. Maybe, "where you would feel more at ease" would make her more relaxed than "where there are plenty of witnesses."

Nevertheless, Hallie took a shaky breath and stepped over the threshold.

She was still alive. A miracle, considering all the stage fright, being late on the first day of work, and depraved mortal-eating floors. Soon, she may call it a normal Tuesday.

Nikas stepped back to give her space to look around.

Okay, the room wasn't exactly vast, only a few square feet. It was mostly empty, save for a chair, a small portable stove, a pile of roúcha on the floor, a wooden table, and a chest of drawers.

Hallie trusted the chest the least. It was the one most likely to hold a knife or something. The pile of roúcha didn't look so innocent either. It was a good thing she prepared her vocal cords for situations that had the potential to render her lifeless.

"Do you want to start practicing?" Nikas had their right hand on one of the drawer handles.

Hallie stepped back. "Practice for what?"

"The play? The Oresteia, or in our case, The Libation Bearers?" Nikas opened the drawer and pulled out a stack of parchment.

Oh yeah, right, the play.

Hallie cleared her throat. "Sorry, sometimes I can get very paranoid."

Nikas handed her the parchment. "It's alright. If I were in your situation, I would be wary too. I am a stranger, after all."

"Okay, thank you." What was Hallie thanking them for again? Who knows. "So, should we get started?"

Nikas closed the drawer. "The sooner, the better."

---

"I heard some people say the old gods blessed the Sómata with our abilities." Nikas pointed their piece of bread at Hallie. "I don't believe it. If the gods blessed us, why? o Días chained Promithéas to a rock and had his liver torn out by an eagle just for giving mortality fire. It's not like they want us to match them in any way, shape, or form."

Hallie rolled her eyes. "I don't believe it either, but the gods always had strange plans. For all we know, this could be one elaborate scheme to get mortality to hate each other."

Nikas brought the bread up to their mouth and took a bite. They chewed and swallowed before telling her their rebuttal. "If so, it's working. But on the other hand, the gods were way too contradictory in what they said to agree on anything. For instance, was Éros the son of Afrodíti, or was he a primordial god born from the endless void of Cháos?"

Hallie considered this while chewing her dried vegetables. "I suppose you have a point. I mean, Iraklís contains the name Íra, but Íra hated him."

Nikas snorted. "Of course she hated Iraklís! He resulted from o Días cheating on her for the trillionth time. Anyone would hate him."

"Still, letting two snakes loose in his crib wasn't the best way to handle the situation," Hallie said, eating her own bread.

"Agreed. Divorce was the better option."

Hallie chuckled but quickly stifled her laughter when her oh-so-helpful brain reminded her of what she bothered her ever since she arrived at the Kýrous Amphitheater.

It was a good thing Nikas noticed her discomfort. Otherwise, she may not have found a time to voice her queries.

"What's wrong? You don't have to worry about lunch. I told you, my treat."

Hallie set her bread down. "No, that's not it. Thanks again, by the way."

"You're welcome. Then, what is it?"

"I'm just curious: Why are there more Taktikoí in the cast?"

Nikas blinked. Whatever they thought she would say, it wasn't that. "What do you mean?"

"Taktikoí aren't seen as physically skilled as Sómata are, I guess I just assumed there would be little to none Taktikoí in professional sports or performing arts."

Nikas went quiet.

Oh gods, did she say something wrong? She knew she should've kept her mouth shut. The delicate balance of Sómata and Taktikoí in society may have broken thanks to her and her transparent mouth.

"It's not that simple."

Hallie looked up. Good, Nikas didn't hate her. Now they could remain friends, and Hallie wouldn't have to deal with the stress of wondering if Nikas liked horror films.

Nikas sat back in their seat and glared at a few pedestrians. Harsh, but okay. "For one thing, this is the performing arts. It's not as exhausting as other sports. And another thing..." They sighed. "It's more impressive to see a Taktikoí run a mile than it is for a Sóma. Sómata just have to move the energy in their bodies, so they can run the mile without putting in any effort. Taktikoí have to put in the effort."

"That makes sense," Hallie said. "I never thought about it that way."

Nikas gave her a wry smile. "You never think about it when you're surrounded by people with the same abilities as you, your entire life."

Hallie ducked her head and stared at the table. Luckily for her, Nikas didn't notice and continued their speech. "You never think about it until one day someone comes up to you and decides the prefix 'dis' has a nice ring to it."