The tunnel was steep. Granit took out a torch from his satchel and lit it so that they could see their surroundings within the darkness. It was several minutes of silent walking while Mimoza stroked her hands against the paintings on the walls. Mimoza finally said, "these tunnels aren't natural."

"No kidding," Granit said sarcastically.

"What I mean is, this tunnel shouldn't be here. In ancient Babylon, tunnels used to exist to connect regions in secret. Traders, prisoners, and refugees would use those tunnels to live hidden from the eyes of tyrants. To escape unjust sentences and move without fear. What I don't understand is, why would such a thing exist in Athens? In Athens, people are free to live within the laws of the democracy. How could tunnels like this exist, if there's no reason for people to create them?"

Granit's mouth flattened, "you don't know about Peisistratos, do you?"

Mimoza shook her head. Granit said, "about seventy years ago, Peisistratos was Tyrant of Athens. He took control of the city after he got the farmers to overthrow the old aristocracy. Since he was a military general and not a politician, he delegated official roles to elected officials. As tyrant he wiped out the debt of farmers and banned slavery for Greeks in Athens. Most importantly, he taught Greek citizens how to rule themselves, instead of being ruled by lazy men who were born lucky."

Granit pointed to a picture on the wall. It spelled out the words, 'the Tyrant is the state.'

He said, "but his son wasn't the same. At first he was a lot like his father, doing his best to follow in Peisistrato's footsteps. But after his brother was assassinated, Hippias went mad. Paranoid and obsessed with power, he went out of his way to solidify his stronghold over the city. He backtracked all the laws his father had made, took away many freedoms of Athenians, and even killed everyone who dared to speak freely against him. He went so far as to kill his own advisors and bodyguards, refusing to even bury them so that they couldn't pass over to the afterlife peacefully."

Mimoza looked at the drawings on the wall. It described exactly what Granit was telling her, a man on a throne, pointing at his soldiers to kill other citizens. Depictions of women, men and children, getting slaughtered in the dozens by the hand of a man screaming ahead of them. It was the perfect depiction of tyranny, and a simple explanation of what Athens stood against.

"Athens under Tyranny," Mimoza said quietly, "hard to imagine, with the way the city is now."

Granit nodded, "it wasn't until the Oracle of Delphi told the king of Sparta, Cleomenes, that Hippias needed to be stopped. After the Spartans overthrew Hippias, the freedom of the people was returned. And democracy was fully established in Athens."

"A city without leaders, created in response to a mad tyrant." Mimoza looked at him and asked, "Granit, how do you know this? I've been here for a year and I've never even been told of how democracy started in Athens."

Granit grumbled a bit, "the thing about bad history, is that people tend to hide it when it hurts them bad enough. My um... Father, was killed by Hippias. I'd rather not forget what he did to him, but most people affected by Hippias would rather forget his existence than remember the losses of the past."

Mimoza stared at him for a moment. "That's why you never left the city, you want to protect the city that overthrew him."

He chuckled, "since I can't kill him, the best I can do is help the city that hates him the most."

Mimoza smiled, "then these tunnels are a remnant to Hippia's reign. They were clearly meant to smuggle people from the surface, to escape from a cruel and tyrannical leader. The question is, what are they being used for now?"

They walked more paces ahead of the tunnel. It was dark inside, but Granit's torch provided enough light for the both of them. The tunnel shifted between widening and narrowing. As their footsteps became louder, a scent filled the tunnel around them.

"You smell that, don't you?" Granit said it first.

"Yes, it's probably brimstone."

Granit shook his head. "Mimoza, whatever we see next, it's not going to be brimstone."

The tunnel widened more after a few more paces forward. It widened until it stretched forward into a larger room, carved out in the shape of a square with commodities inside. The floor and walls were stone, more decorated than the makeshift tunnels that they were traveling from.

The smooth carved space was carved from stone, painted well to give it the same sense as an Athenian temple would. It was well built, but also crude. Large and rectangular with multiple other passageways connecting to the center.

"The base of operations," Mimoza said. "This room connects to all the tunnels, this is the center point of the paths. The room that connects to all the tunnels in the city."

Mimoza stepped around and felt at the walls. It had to have existed for decades. After stepping forward, her foot stepped on a bone.

The light from Granit's torch revealed the contents around them. A bone collection was settled at the center of the room. Neatly stacked in the pattern of a pyramid, the bones were the sizes of children. They were carefully woven together using human hair, with the skull heads tied at the sides of them. Stains of blood fell out of them, with the stains spreading around the 'alter', and across the room. The bone pyramid was the centerpiece of the room, like a decorative ornament meant to draw all eyes to the center of the area.

Mimoza turned around a vomited on the ground.

"We found them," Granit said in a sadder tone.

"What," Mimoza swallowed a heavy breath. The gross smell from before suddenly made sense. "Why would... Who would do this?"

Granit lifted the torch higher up at the ceiling. Above them, it was an artist's painting of a god holding wine. "The Dionysus cult. I had heard they made human sacrifices to appeal to Gods. I never believed it until now."

"What kind of God would demand human sacrifices!?" She yelled aloud.

"They don't. Gods want human worshipers, not human blood. Dionysus followers are the craziest of the bunch." Granit looked at the triangular pile of bones and let out a steep sigh. "Sorry kids, looks like we couldn't find you in time."

Mimoza stood up and began searching the room. As much as she hated the presence of the area, she knew she needed to investigate if she wanted to bring the kidnappers to justice. Mimoza looked around the alter. The bone stack was actually on a stone alter shaped as the size of a table. There was no doubt that the alter was the platform in which the sacrifices were performed. Mimoza studied it closely with the bone pile looming over it.

Hieroglyphs were carved on the edges of the platform. Pictographs of deities sketched in stone. "There's Egyptian writing here."

Granit raised an eyebrow, "that's odd. Dionysus is a Greek God, not Egyptian."

"Aten," Mimoza read aloud. She traced her hand over the carving of a god standing in front of the sun. "I've seen these before..."

"Seen what?" Granit asked.

Mimoza's eyes widened at the circular symbol at the edge of the alter. Mimoza turned to Granit and said, "we have to go, now."

"What? Why?"

"I know who their next target is."

The sound of voices came from the distance. Mimoza and Granit sprinted behind the alter. They stayed quiet as the suspects drew closer.