Pandora's Box

Building Up

Uni, Pandora's mother, is in the kitchen of their home working on getting dinner ready for her family. She's frying something on the stove when suddenly, her hand starts to shake. The frying pan in her hand starts to shake as well and she has to force herself to let go and step away. She closes her eyes and tries to calm herself down but when she opens her eyes, they flash with a yellow light and Uni is forced to close them again. Pandora's mother leans forward with her hands against the counter, gripping it firmly as she takes several deep breaths to keep calm.

Just then, the front door opens.

"Hey Mom, are you home yet?" asks Pandora from the door as she and her father unload their things from school.

It takes Uni a while to answer, "In here."

Uni takes another deep breath, opens her eyes and they're normal. She straightens up quickly just as Pandora and Jove enter.

"How was work dear?" asks Jove.

Again a few moments pass before Uni answers, "Oh, you know, another day, another load of cases."

"I hear that's a big part of being a judge." Pandora comments with a joking tone.

"Well then I guess it's a good thing I like passing judgment on situations. Speaking of which, how are things going at school with Sarah and the Maenad?" Uni questions her daughter.

That makes Pandora pause, "Okay I guess. I think she's evolving. Today I saw her draw energy from some of the girls and the leader of the drill team. It was weird."

Jove asks the obvious, "Weird how?"

"She stepped in every time things were about to get serious. It's almost like..." Pandora explains before being cut off.

"She was feeding off them?" Uni interjects.

"Yeah." responds Pandora.

"That's what a Maenad does. It feeds off conflict." explains Uni.

"Or more like unresolved conflict." adds Jove.

"Unresolved conflict?" asks Pandora.

"Maenads were an angry, emotional bunch. They reveled in butting heads with everyone willing to take the bait. But it wasn't fun unless they got the most out of the experience." Uni elaborates.

"Basically, they needed whoever it was to get just as upset or angry or whatever it was the Maenad wanted." Jove insists.

"That made them develop the ability to feed off unresolved conflict and use it to their advantage." Uni adds, "People need to express themselves. The longer they go without letting it out, the worse things get when it eventually explodes out of them."

"So Sarah's feeding off the school's clubs and keeps them from dealing with their problems with each other?" asks Pandora somewhat rhetorically.

"I guess the question is, what is she building towards?" Uni asks.

* * *

Sarah stands in front of a trophy case. Her eyes focus on one trophy in particular.

"What are you doing?" Nina asks with a loud whisper.

The head cheerleader looks to her teammate, "Nothing."

"Then why are you standing around out in the middle of a prank? This isn't even our school. Do you want to get caught?" Nina wonders.

Sarah looks at the trophy for a few long moments before walking away.