PANDORA. Hope Dies Last: ToG

When Hope Fails

Chapter 1

My name is...was Πανδωρα. 'All-Gifts' was what it meant. It was ironic as the sole purpose of my creation was to punish my fellow mankind.

I was the first mortal woman, created and gifted by the gods to the man who would be my husband, Epimetheus...and bring all evil with it.

I still remember the moment when Hephaestus, the god of smiths, breathed life into my clay body as it became flesh and blood. I still remember the gods of Olympus and many more standing around as they marveled my birth. Their expressions which only looked of awe, in retrospect I could see the pity in their eyes. The joyous laughter which echoed around was, in reality, the laughter of mockery.

As my name suggests, they endowed me with gifts mortals and immortals alike would most likely never lay their eyes, much less hands, upon. The various goddesses gave me Eternal beauty, charm and sorcery and the gods gave me their strength, wisdom and will. The servant gods of Olympus, too powerless to share their attribute, gave me the worldly goods of the Earth; mountains of gold and layers of dresses which would have surely earned the envy of all women should it have existed at that time.

Finally, at long last the King of the Gods, Zeus, came to me to offer his gift. I had kneeled before his majestic presence but I remember a small smile...or was it a smirk? A small slip from his perfect mask as he knew he would be getting his revenge on mankind.

For what sin did man commit for Zeus to order the creation of...me? It would only be later I find out the petty crimes of man in which the King brought down all evil upon them.

As he got down on one knee, the Lord of the Sky kissed my forehead as I felt a foreign entity enter my mind. One in which I got no explanation of...it was when I was brought to me husband that I would find out it was Curiosity and it's true purpose.

As a parting gift, they gave me one final worldly item, a pithos or a Jar. A jar so large that it would have been impossible to have carried alone but thankfully the gods have enchanted it. Tied to my soul, it will always respond to my call and appear right next to me...and only I would be able to open and close it. I was the key.

As Hermes lowered me down to the mortal realm, he warned me to never open the pithos. I was a mere creation of the great gods, so who was I to disagree? Without a moment of hesitation, I agreed and swore my oath that I would never open the jar.

There isn't much to share about my marriage life as for me it was a life with no love. To Epimetheus I was nothing but a trophy. A tool for pleasure and adoration, a decoration which no other man had. Something to show off to the other men as they congratulated him on his loyalty and reward. It's a strange concept to think that none of the men had any bad feelings towards him in this day...of course it would be because none of those were with man just yet.

Years passed but I never aged. None of us did. Mortality was not yet a concept and it was only natural that man would live forever...except they didn't. Day after day, year after year the small part of my mind that I had shut off grew louder and louder taking more and more of my will to keep quiet.

The courage of Ares and Poseidon's iron will helped me keep the endless whispers quiet...but it grew stronger and louder. The sound demanded to be heard until I could not ignore it any longer.

The gift of Zeus pounded in my skull ordering....ordering me to open the jar but I held. It begged me to take just a small peak inside, it pleaded me to satisfy its need but I held on. After all I had made an oath with the Lord of Messengers after all, it was a bad omen to ignore advice from the gods.