Chapter Three: Pandora
All written works displayed are (C) K.E. Wright.
The darkness was receding
slowly like a low tide, but I clung to the peace and oblivion it offered even
as the low murmur of voices I couldn’t quite understand soothed me into
wakefulness.
“It seems she is waking. Perhaps you should fetch him?” a soft feminine voice inquired, piercing through the veil of my half-sleep.
A warmer voice murmured a reply I couldn’t quite hear, but I still felt too tired to even attempt to recognize the voice –not that it was likely that I would, considering.
“Ambrose?” The woman inquired, leaning over me and touching the inside of my wrist lightly. “Are you alright, then, Lady Ambrose?”
Lady? The title threw me quite a bit until I remembered the prophesies my mother hand taught me about the Nodos –the ones handed down through the Iron Tribe for generations. To the Iron Tribe, the Nodos was to be their savior, after all. How was she to know I was not part of her prophesies, and therefore undeserving of her care and much more deserving of her censure? “I…I’ve been better,” I croaked out softly, still trying to keep the light and the world out with my closed eyes. Letting the light in aggravated things more often than not, anyway.
“Psychic overload is never a pleasant occurrence in my experience,” she informed me wryly. “Though I’ve never had the condition myself, I am frequently called upon to tend to our princess because she has a habit of stretching herself far too thin. I am Aneasha Ol Megarla, Lady Ambrose. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
“Nice to meet you, as well, Aneasha.”
She moved away slowly. “Is there anything I can get you, then?”
“Uh… water, maybe?” I asked.
“I’ll see to it, then, m’lady.”
After a few seconds passed, I found myself completely alone. It bothered me a bit, I supposed. I had become accustomed to being a bit of a spectacle, and to awake to no one at all drove home my feelings of impotence. Silent as the grave, I lay back and strewed in the juices of my inadequacy and desperation until someone poked my shoulder. My eyes fluttered open slowly and I blinked twice, hard, as though to verify what I saw as truth. But he was still there. Amazed, I gazed up into the startling blue of his eyes and had to smile.
“Hello, Pan-dor-a,” he greeted slowly, as though sounding out my name and trying it for the first time outside of his head.
“Hello there, brother Age,” I greeted back. It was the only person he could be, knowing my true name that way even though there was no reason he should. Aside from that, we seemed to resonate on the same frequency –it had something to do with the cores of our Nodos powers, I had no doubt. It was more than pleasant: it felt like I was home for the very first time, and it was a feeling of comfort that I had never really had before even with those who had raised me. Age, himself, felt familiar, like a brother I hadn’t seen in years.
“Ah, Pandora, then. It’s a lovely name, m’lady: it quite suits you.”
Whipping my head around hard enough I thought I might have given myself whiplash, I gazed upon a very smug-looking Iolaous. Still, something darker than amusement lurked in the shadows of his eyes, and I was drawn to them. “It’s not as fair a name as yours, Iolaous,” I shot back, reaching out to touch Age’s hand and cement me to this time and this place.
“Pandora likes Iolaous?” Age asked, his voice charming in the innocence it harbored.
“I do find him interesting –even amusing, when he’s not being annoying. How is it that you know my name, Age?” I asked softly.
He shrugged. “Dad and the others told me about you.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw steel work into Iolaous’s spine.
“Dhianeila calls them the Golden Tribe,” Age added slowly.
The smile I wanted to wear would not cross my lips. “Then do you know why I am here, Age? Do you know why I exist?”
His smile took my breath away. “To save them, of course. You are here as I am here.”
“I don’t know who I am bound to, though…” And it bothered me greatly, as it had always bothered me. Why was I the Nodos no one wanted? I had spent my life as the person that no one wanted, after all. Shouldn’t someone desire the power buried within me?
“Your life has always been your own, Pandora.”
That declaration had me sitting up so fast I became light-headed. It was both freeing and shocking in the same breath. “Can you save me, Age?” I whispered.
“The dark box has been opened and all of the evil has fled from it, but what is left inside?” he asked me suddenly.
I swallowed hard. It was the tale my mother had often told me when I was young, the story of Pandora and her box. After all, it was the origin of the name I bore, and my mother had always known I was more than I seemed to be. “Hope is what remains, but hope is not enough.”
“If hope is not enough, then you don’t have enough hope.”
That Iolaous had said such a thing startled me. He’d struck me as a hard soldier, dedicated to his cause and his princess, but that was not something a soldier would say. Those were the words of a philosopher, a poet, a lover –not a soldier.
Age nodded quickly, as though to add his assent to Iolaous’ words.
“Too much hope is the opposite of despair,” I murmured softly. “But too much of either will consume you in the end.”
Age’s hand found mine quickly, as if he knew that I needed the contact through some instinct. Maybe it was our Nodos that resonated so well with each other. I squeezed it in return and tried hard to offer him a smile, but I wasn’t exactly sure I managed it.
“It’s not too much hope, Pandora: it’s just enough to chase the despair from you.” Iolaous’ words weren’t loud, but they shook my world off of it’s axis and left me at the mercy of the others.
Luckily for me, Age had me wrapped tightly in his arms and I knew that he wouldn’t let anyone hurt me –not even his friends. For once in my life, I was safe. Wrapped in deceptively frail arms and held to a thin chest, I knew that I would never be safer in all of my life as I laid my head on his shoulder to hide the tears I could no longer hold back.
“It seems she is waking. Perhaps you should fetch him?” a soft feminine voice inquired, piercing through the veil of my half-sleep.
A warmer voice murmured a reply I couldn’t quite hear, but I still felt too tired to even attempt to recognize the voice –not that it was likely that I would, considering.
“Ambrose?” The woman inquired, leaning over me and touching the inside of my wrist lightly. “Are you alright, then, Lady Ambrose?”
Lady? The title threw me quite a bit until I remembered the prophesies my mother hand taught me about the Nodos –the ones handed down through the Iron Tribe for generations. To the Iron Tribe, the Nodos was to be their savior, after all. How was she to know I was not part of her prophesies, and therefore undeserving of her care and much more deserving of her censure? “I…I’ve been better,” I croaked out softly, still trying to keep the light and the world out with my closed eyes. Letting the light in aggravated things more often than not, anyway.
“Psychic overload is never a pleasant occurrence in my experience,” she informed me wryly. “Though I’ve never had the condition myself, I am frequently called upon to tend to our princess because she has a habit of stretching herself far too thin. I am Aneasha Ol Megarla, Lady Ambrose. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
“Nice to meet you, as well, Aneasha.”
She moved away slowly. “Is there anything I can get you, then?”
“Uh… water, maybe?” I asked.
“I’ll see to it, then, m’lady.”
After a few seconds passed, I found myself completely alone. It bothered me a bit, I supposed. I had become accustomed to being a bit of a spectacle, and to awake to no one at all drove home my feelings of impotence. Silent as the grave, I lay back and strewed in the juices of my inadequacy and desperation until someone poked my shoulder. My eyes fluttered open slowly and I blinked twice, hard, as though to verify what I saw as truth. But he was still there. Amazed, I gazed up into the startling blue of his eyes and had to smile.
“Hello, Pan-dor-a,” he greeted slowly, as though sounding out my name and trying it for the first time outside of his head.
“Hello there, brother Age,” I greeted back. It was the only person he could be, knowing my true name that way even though there was no reason he should. Aside from that, we seemed to resonate on the same frequency –it had something to do with the cores of our Nodos powers, I had no doubt. It was more than pleasant: it felt like I was home for the very first time, and it was a feeling of comfort that I had never really had before even with those who had raised me. Age, himself, felt familiar, like a brother I hadn’t seen in years.
“Ah, Pandora, then. It’s a lovely name, m’lady: it quite suits you.”
Whipping my head around hard enough I thought I might have given myself whiplash, I gazed upon a very smug-looking Iolaous. Still, something darker than amusement lurked in the shadows of his eyes, and I was drawn to them. “It’s not as fair a name as yours, Iolaous,” I shot back, reaching out to touch Age’s hand and cement me to this time and this place.
“Pandora likes Iolaous?” Age asked, his voice charming in the innocence it harbored.
“I do find him interesting –even amusing, when he’s not being annoying. How is it that you know my name, Age?” I asked softly.
He shrugged. “Dad and the others told me about you.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw steel work into Iolaous’s spine.
“Dhianeila calls them the Golden Tribe,” Age added slowly.
The smile I wanted to wear would not cross my lips. “Then do you know why I am here, Age? Do you know why I exist?”
His smile took my breath away. “To save them, of course. You are here as I am here.”
“I don’t know who I am bound to, though…” And it bothered me greatly, as it had always bothered me. Why was I the Nodos no one wanted? I had spent my life as the person that no one wanted, after all. Shouldn’t someone desire the power buried within me?
“Your life has always been your own, Pandora.”
That declaration had me sitting up so fast I became light-headed. It was both freeing and shocking in the same breath. “Can you save me, Age?” I whispered.
“The dark box has been opened and all of the evil has fled from it, but what is left inside?” he asked me suddenly.
I swallowed hard. It was the tale my mother had often told me when I was young, the story of Pandora and her box. After all, it was the origin of the name I bore, and my mother had always known I was more than I seemed to be. “Hope is what remains, but hope is not enough.”
“If hope is not enough, then you don’t have enough hope.”
That Iolaous had said such a thing startled me. He’d struck me as a hard soldier, dedicated to his cause and his princess, but that was not something a soldier would say. Those were the words of a philosopher, a poet, a lover –not a soldier.
Age nodded quickly, as though to add his assent to Iolaous’ words.
“Too much hope is the opposite of despair,” I murmured softly. “But too much of either will consume you in the end.”
Age’s hand found mine quickly, as if he knew that I needed the contact through some instinct. Maybe it was our Nodos that resonated so well with each other. I squeezed it in return and tried hard to offer him a smile, but I wasn’t exactly sure I managed it.
“It’s not too much hope, Pandora: it’s just enough to chase the despair from you.” Iolaous’ words weren’t loud, but they shook my world off of it’s axis and left me at the mercy of the others.
Luckily for me, Age had me wrapped tightly in his arms and I knew that he wouldn’t let anyone hurt me –not even his friends. For once in my life, I was safe. Wrapped in deceptively frail arms and held to a thin chest, I knew that I would never be safer in all of my life as I laid my head on his shoulder to hide the tears I could no longer hold back.