Pandora's Box

Chapter 6

"Mom! Mom!" Pandora had swam at least 50 miles, 30 of them out into deep sea. Normally she wouldn't venture this far, but she was desperate. She needed answers, and she needed them now!

"Mom!" The older mermaid paused in her cooking.

"Pandora?! Are you alright, my little siren?" Pandora hadn't been to the reef for at least 9 years, give or take birthdays for her younger half siblings, and Yin's birth.

"I really need to talk to you!" Pandora gasped for breath. She hadn't made anystops, too fearful of the outcome. She had her theories of course... But there was only one way to find out.

"What's wrong Honey?" Her mother placed the small knife for opening mussels down next to the seaweed on the counter. Warm strong arms steadied her colder blooded half siren, half mermaid daughter.

"It's about my soulmates... I think mine are... Human." Pandora's eyes glowed nervously. Her mother remained silent for a moment.

"I guess I should have known this was the case. Pandora, what do you remember about your father?" Pandora frowned.

"Dad?... I remember he had the most beautiful voice. We would have so much fun in the summer pranking the mortals, and he taught me how to summon the Spirit horse. I think he had red hair and ice blue eyes... Right?" Her mother sighed. She had hoped she had a few more years, but she silently agreed it had been too long.

"Your father was a wonderful man. A siren yes... But he was more than just a siren." Pandora looked up, shaken from her memories.

"Mom?" She looked up into her mother's grey eyes.

"Your father was a Elemental God, a living embodiment of the spirit. Now you hold his power in your veins, the last living proof of his existence.

'A spirit guardian?!'

*-*-*-*-*

Little Pandora sat in her seat, eagerly awaiting to start the class. Today they were learning about the elemental gods. At the top she knew was the Spirit God. He held the most powerful magic, and it was controlled based on his emotions.

"I can't wait to learn about Gwanini! " Little Pandora spoke excitedly.

"That's what you said about the humans, Dora." Her green haired classmate told her.

"But I reeeeally want to know! It's just so fascinating!"

"Pandora, you know why we can't mix with humans. Our touch is fatal to them. Even worse, if a human kisses a siren, they can become literal zombies! Not that it's our fault, but that's why we got such a bad rep from the Greeks."

"But why?! Why are we so... Toxic to them?"

"Pandora, seriously?! We learned this last year in biology. Our DNA is hard-wired out of pure love. A human is reckless, and once they've had a taste they become addicted. Just one note of our voices can sway even the most stubborn of mortals."

"Wait! What if you're a Guardian? Surely then they'd be safe, right?"

"That's the worst thing you could be Dora!"

"Why?"

"Because! If their soulmate was in danger, no one would stand a chance in their way. It is rumored that once Gwanini had almost lost his child and wife to a jealous siren. Instead of them dying, he faught the siren to the death to protect his family... Both perished."

"That's so sad Sanjana! What... happened to the wife and the baby?"

"No one knows. Only that he left his power control necklace to his only daughter, as she had inherited his powers."

-*-*-*-*-*-

"So you mean to tell me I'm another freak of nature?! That I'll go berserk one day and kill someone?!"

"What?! No honey, I didn't say that, it's just-" Her mother came closer to try and soothe her daughter, but Pandora stepped away.

"You knew, and you kept this from me?! Knowing that I grew up hating everything to do with the elementals because of their possessive insanity?!"

"Pandora-"

"No! Father was never blood thirsty. He never harmed anything. I know the dark magic siren women use, and I know their intentions towards the mortals; merfolk, human, or otherwise. I shall not be apart of it!" Her mother reached out one more time.

"Stay away from me!" Pandora cried out, and she swam away to the only place she knew she could keep comfort...

Jamsu Bridge. Where her father first introduced her to the world of the humans.

*******

Outside in the city of Seoul, the river's current pulled stronger as high winds stirred up along the coast. The waves upon the beach crashed violently, and lightning flashed. Rain began to steadily pour, and Maria feared the worst. Both she and BTS had spent the last 5 hours researching anything about Pandora's necklace.

"Have you found anything?"

"No. Just some 'ancient' recipe for fish again." Yoongi sighed out, and went back to staring at the now pulsing necklace in his hands.

"Come on! There's got to be something about enchanted mermaid jewelry." Maria suddenly remembered something she'd often hear her mermaid friend speak of with distain, but only forgave it minutes later because of her father.

"I remember Pandora saying she was half siren..." Maria put in. Namjoon immediately pulled up all he could on the subject.

"Sirens. Siren, in Greek mythology, a creature half bird and half woman who lured sailors to destruction by the sweetness of her song. According to Homer, there were two Sirens on an island in the western sea between Aeaea and the rocks of Scylla." Maria blinked.

Was that why she had those little nubs on her back?

"Oh. My. God. Look at this!" Jin had finally got a hit on the mysterious necklace.

"In relation to the Pandora's Box in Greek mythology, there was a prophecy spoken by the isolated tribe of the Sirenix Islands. Pandora was the daughter of a Spirit God Gwanini, the most powerful of the Elementals. Gwanini had been known to mess around a lot with time, and the humans. But after meeting his mermaid wife, he had changed to a more benevolent, although no less cheeky Spirit Guardian. He passed his powers onto his daughter, and in his desire for the best for his little girl, took inspiration from the Greek stories to bring his daughter her own special gift: Hope, Laughter, Leadership, Innocence, Truth, Confidence and Uniqueness. In other words, her 7 soulmates would end up being her own version of Pandora's box."

Hoseok leaned forwards for a better look.

"That sounds like us."

Taehyung ran into the back of the library, carrying an old news clipping.

"The Gwanini guy looks so much like Dora, it's insane!" Jimin noted.

"That's definitely Pandora. Look!" The others looked at the little picture in an old article about 20 years ago. A little girl and her father who looked exactly like Gwanini was taken on the Jamsu Bridge. The girl was laughing and water droplets hung in the air like suspended animation.

"Boys... The evidence is overwhelming. She is your soulmate. Now let's go find her, before it's too late. " Maria spoke darkly. Her best friend needed her. No... She needed her soulmates.