Rise Of Pandora

Rise Of Pandora : XXXIII. The Rise Of Pandora

"I no longer believe in prophecy. But even so, in some ways, we are destined for certain things. Suffering and death are what I have found and I have fulfilled one in my lifetime."

-Atlas

I. Gift, Inside a confined area deep within the Shadowlands

A collection of presences gathered around a small box which shook uncontrollably on the zenith of a large white stone. Those who stood around the box muttered a language not known by the human tongue. They spoke with both soft and hard intonations. Shafts of light erupted from the box illuminated the dark contours of the room, irradiating their faces and accentuating their features. Frightful expressions were shown by the light. These creatures were small in stature and relatively hairless. Their limbs were wrinkled but their faces were smooth.

Amongst these creatures was one tall and muscular figure who stood with an amused bewilderment. He too possessed a body that was hairless and gray. He was bare. His limbs were odd in the way they were pigmented: his left arm and right leg were dark gray, his right arm was light gray as was the left leg. He looked down at the box, the bright lights illumining the brown irises of his eyes. His face was cold and his eyes were firmly locked upon the box which bore conspicuous scribes carved on it.

From the box, particles surged outwardly. There was a cover upon the small box which was shaking loose until it opened entirely. The translucent particles ceased and from there black silhouettes began to erupt from the box. Small, dark figures shot out from the box, their numbers endless. The small murky room's walls and ceiling, unable to contain their numbers, broke into several large chunks. However, the continuous up-flow of these creatures simply carried the falling debris away with them.

The little gray humanoids sought shelter behind the large gray individual whose expression was monotone and listless. As he spread out his large arms, an invisible power repelled the emerging figures away from him as they blasted from the box.

His stern expression became more relaxed almost as if he was not in the least bit concerned about the creatures that were still bursting out from the box and a thundering pace.

He continued to distance the creatures for an elusive period. The atmosphere became even darker than it had already been throughout this dark, distorted forest. A musty odor unfurled as the little creatures continued to gradually roam about. Their little bodies hovered throughout the area which was abundant in inconspicuous appearing trees that contorted and curved awkwardly at the bottom. 

Finally, after several hours of those strange creatures soaring from the box, the seemingly perpetual exodus of those little dark creatures ceased, and a little woman appeared naked on her hands and knees inside what remained of the broken building. The little gray folks were shocked; even the large man was attentive to her. There was a feeble and noticeably faint green hue radiating on her body. From her scalp was an abundance of long red hair strands which fell over her face and her chest. Her body was severely thin and pale.

Feeble and hardly alive, she craned her head up, straining her little neck until she was able to lift her eyes to behold a congregation of little gray creatures gathering in the midst of the dark haze. They were looking down at her frail figure. She did possess beauteous features but she appeared more as a skeleton than a woman. Her skin was thin and her body was angular and underfed. 

Her rib cage pressed against her skin just under her flimsy breasts and her spine pressed outwardly on the thin stretch of skin on her back. She was malnourished, even her hair was deprived of health, although there was a vivid orange radiation visible from it. Her eyelids were sunken and grim with awful distress and heavy impression. Because of her malnourishment and dehydration, the features of her skull left more of an impression on her face. Her cheekbones struck out from her face, accentuating that grim skeletal visage of hers.