The Endless Hourglass

Chapter Sixteen

That was enough to send Pandora's nausea over the top. She doubled over, vomiting into the grass. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ban attack Jericho. He appeared to be just as appalled by the idea as she had been. If only he were alive all those years ago to see how monstrous they truly were. He only had an idea of just how awful demons could be.

Pandora coughed, staring at everything that was going on in front of her. Ban and Jericho were fighting while Guila tried to tear a sobbing Elizabeth apart from her sister's corpse. Pandora shook her head in disappointment. She wished she could say the world was once not like this. That there was once more goodness than evil in the world. But she couldn't. After all, in the legend, Pandora was named after, Pandora's box only gifted one positive thing upon the world of cruelty. But that was the funny thing about hope; it was often too fickle a thing to make up for all of the pain. The blonde looked down at the ground, unable to see another second of the suffering.

A few moments later, she felt someone pick her up and pull her into a hug. She thought that just maybe there was good left in the world when Ban gently smoothed her hair. Maybe not all hope was lost. Maybe hope could stand a chance in a world of misery.

When the purple crystal shattered, she instantly thought otherwise. Her brother escaped from it in the form of pure and utter darkness. Hope never stood a chance.

"How did you break out of the Goddess Amber?" Meliodas didn't respond. Instead, he just cut Guila's hand clean off, taking his sword back, her hand still holding on to it. Pandora gasped and tried to go over to her friend. It didn't matter to her that Guila wasn't herself, she needed to protect her from her brother. Ban held on to her tightly, not letting her go.

"Stop, I need to save her! He's going to kill her!" Pandora struggled weakly against Ban's grasp. Meliodas effortlessly raised his arm, releasing a large attack that hit Guila dead on.

"N-Not good! She's dying!" Pandora heard Jericho yell to herself. Pandora struggled harder, still too weak to free herself.

"I need to heal her! Let go! Please."

"You're going to kill yourself by healing everyone today. You need to stop! Can't you tell your body can't handle it?" Ban asked, referring to the stream of blood that was coming from Pandora's nose.

Pandora reached a hand up, wiping her nose. Her fingertips came back with a fine layer of blood painted across them. She used her sleeve to wipe it away. She felt Ban's grasp loosen but his arms were still protectively around her.

"It doesn't matter if I can protect the people I care about." She took the opportunity to break out of his grasp, sprinting as fast as she could over to Guila. She grabbed the girl's hand off the ground as she ran past it. She pressed it to Guila's arm and healed her.

Pandora sighed in relief when Gulia moved her fingers effortlessly. Jericho was about to attack her but Ban picked her up and pulled her away. Pandora's eyes were tightly shut, waiting for the impact. She opened her eyes to see Ban's red eyes staring back, full of concern. Pandora leaned against him, barely able to stand. The dog ran to stand between Pandora and Jericho, growling deeply at the latter.

"Hey, thanks for these, Joricho." Ban said, holding orbs between his fingers, his other arm wrapped tightly around Pandora.

"You bastard! It's Jericho!" Ban looked down at Pandora, not seeing Meliodas coming towards them. Pandora saw him though. She pulled herself away from Ban and shoved him as hard as she could with what little strength she had left. He flew a dozen feet, completely missing the blow from Meliodas. Pandora, on the other hand, wasn't as lucky. Meliodas flew past her, leaving a deep wound on her abdomen. She pressed a hand to it but it barely covered half of the gash.

"What the hell, Pandora? I just saved you!" Ban yelled from the ground. The dog sprinted over to Pandora and nudged against her leg gently. When Ban stood up, his face was covered with anger before it quickly changed to worry. Pandora pushed him out of the way to protect him.

"And I saved you." A weak smile spread across her lips before she crumpled to the ground. Ban sprinted over, pulling the blonde into his lap. He placed a hand over her wound but it was futile. She tried to talk but he quickly cut her off.

"Shhh. You're gonna be okay." He grabbed the orbs out of his pocket and held them up to her. "Which one will heal you?" He asked, becoming more desperate as blood continued to leave her abdomen at a concerning rate. It was starting to pool on the ground around them. She smiled at him.

"None of those."

"Damn it!" He threw the orbs to the side, trying to think of what he could do. He suddenly remembered her healing powers. "You need to heal yourself!" He grabbed her hands and placed them on her stomach. She smiled weakly again.

"I can't."

"Let me get this straight, you'll run around healing everyone but when you're the injured one, you won't?"

"Ban, I can't-" She was cut off by him grabbing the knife from her pocket and cutting his hand deeply. He placed his arm gently on her abdomen.

"If you want to heal me, you have to heal yourself." Pandora chuckled softly and let light spread from her hands. When he realized she healed him, he pulled her hands away from her stomach to get a closer look at her stomach. He looked up at her with concern when she was still bleeding profusely.

"I wasn't being a hero, I meant I am physically unable." Pandora said, chuckling. "I can only heal other people." Ban held her in his arms, trying to comfort her while he figured out what to do next. She wasn't the one who needed the comfort though.

"I don't know what to do." He said, mostly to himself.

"There isn't anything you can do. Just let me rest for a moment." Pandora didn't wait for a response before she closed her eyes. Ban raised his hand to her face and gently tapped her cheek while the dog licked Pandora's other cheek.

"No, Pandora. Don't go to sleep. You'll be okay." She didn't respond and kept her eyes closed. "You aren't gonna die on me."

"Ban, you seem to forget I'm immortal. If you don't go save the others I'm gonna kill you, got it?" Pandora asked weakly. "Just leave me here with my dog friend. We'll be okay, she'll watch over me. You need to go." Ban shook his head and stood running to the others, carrying Pandora in his arms as he did.

"You're crazy if you think I'm leaving you behind, immortal or not." Pandora smiled to herself.

Ban grabbed the others and sprinted in the opposite direction, destruction right on their tails. He didn't stop running until he realized all of their opponents were gone and the fighting was over. He put down everyone except Pandora, who he held tightly in his arms.

"Sorry for attacking you, Ban." Meliodas smiled at his friend but didn't get a smile in return.

"You actually attacked Pandora, not me." Meliodas gasped softly.

"What? No...She's mortal." Pandora stood up from Ban's arms but he still had an arm wrapped protectively around her. Her dog leaned gently against her in support.

"Watch out, Melio. People might think you actually care about me." She smiled weakly at him. "And instead of attacking you as you just did me, I think we need to talk. It's been a while, brother."

"I'm not your brother anymore." Anger filled Pandora but she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Meliodas. There once was a time where we only had each other. If you can't do it for who I am now, do it for who I once was."

"The person you once were is dead."