Rise Of Pandora

Rise of Pandora: LVII. In The Silence

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IV. Gift, Near the castle in the Shadowlands

"Are you feeling better, Pandora?" The large grey man asked.

"I feel much better," she replied.

He nodded silently. "And was the food to your satisfaction?" 

"Oh, yes," she replied with a brimming smirk on her face. She rubbed her belly and said, "It was very rich. I had not eaten in so long."

"We hoped you would like it. It was our duty and pleasure to keep you healthy. That reminds me, how are they coming along? Did you make progress after all these hours?" He asked, his gaze shifting to the countless deities that surrounded the land. 

She turned and exposed two rows of teeth. She was smiling from ear to ear. 

She extended out her hand and to his surprise, he saw swarms of the remaining deities rushing towards Pandora. 

"So you can finally control them again?" He asked but in a way that sounded more like an assertion. 

She nodded and smiled. "It was thanks to you. If you hadn't fed me, I don't think I'd have enough strength to bond with them. I would still be out here failing."

She pointed her finger out gracefully. "Look at them. They're moving around so freely now."

"I believe it is due to the link between you and them. You were not fed and perhaps as a result neither were they. But now that you are in much better condition, it seems they are too." He said, trying to make sense of the phenomena.

She nodded. "We do have a real connection, them and I. I can feel what they think and why they think it. It can actually be overwhelming at times. A billion voices speaking at once," She admitted while yawning.

"A billion?" He asked. "Is that how many there are?" 

"Honestly I do not even know. I probably never will," she said.

"How many would you say there are? Guess."

She paused. "Billions, maybe?"

Pandora suddenly dropped down to her knees and sat on the floor while gazing at the myriad of deities that still lingered in the area. "I had a reverie...after the meal. I was thinking about when I was first acquainted with them. You told me before that you knew of my past through the legends but do you know how I got the box?"

"The man named Zeus gifted it to you. It was after a grand war, I believe. At least that is what I've been able to hear," he said. "I do not know much beyond that."

"I will tell you," she said. "What you said is essentially true so I will jump ahead to when I  finally had the urge to open it. You will understand how I became the woman I am today. It was a sensitive time for me and I returned to the place that I had called my home since I was a young girl. Just so you do not judge me, I had resisted the urge to look inside for a very long time. It had always been difficult not to open it but I did what I was told. If it were not for my fear of opening it and my fear of disappointing the gods, I would have surrendered to my curiosity long ago. But anyway, one night I just find myself staring at that large jar that I had been told never to open. Really, I knew the warnings they gave me on why I shouldn't open it. But I was never told why it was given to me in the first place." 

"None of it really made much sense to me when I really began to think about it.  I stayed up for countless nights just barely resisting my urge to open it. That's what I did and for a very long time, I began thinking more and more about the entire situation. All my life, I had been told by others what to do and I did as they said...never questioning and never causing problems. They were being so kind all along so why would I, right? What right did I have to betray their trust in me, right? But a large jar containing things so dangerous that no one was meant to open...so why give it to a young woman? That had been one of the several questions on my mind that night. So I am just sitting there with the jar on the opposite end of the room not knowing what was actually inside. I can't even begin to remember how long I had been sitting there contemplating. All this time it was with me for many years and I resisted every urge to open. They congratulated my urge to resist the temptations. It gave me a sense of pride and satisfaction and that drove me to keep going. Their words gave me the power to keep going."