A/N: Oh geez, here I go again. I promise I WILL put up more than one chapter this time! Well, they don't really count as chapters because they are just loosely related oneshots. Anyway, this fic is another fic celebrating my belated thirteenth birthday, which was the end of last month. I had some sweet little Mother 3 scenes in my head for ages, but I hadn't had time to get them on FFnet since I had a piano exam coming up, which I just had today! So now that all the drama is over, I finally have time to do this. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Go get a brain transplant and then come back. You cannot possibly think that a thirteen year old girl like me could create a Nobel-Prize-deserving masterpiece like Mother 3. I don't own this version of Pandora either. It's from ancient history. about od /grecoro man myth1/ a/ 050410 Pandora_and_her_box_or_pithos. htm
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
Flashback
"Flashback speech"
1. Hope
Lucas could still clearly remember his mother's soft, sweet voice as she'd read him and Claus their routine bedtime story after having tucked them safely in their blankets. He had loved the way she'd soothingly carded her fingers through their hair as she'd told tales of brave knights, dragons, princesses, frogs, fairy godmothers and glass-slipper dropping girls. Claus, naturally, had tried to deny his enjoyment of these fairy tales by continuously complaining that he was too old for them. But halfway into the story, he would be staring as raptly at his mother as Lucas.
Most of these fairy tales had been pushed to the back of his no-longer-innocent mind. No longer did he believe in fairy godmothers that could make your dearest wish come true. He did not believe in any of his childhood fantasies anymore, really. He had prayed, wished with all his might that it was all a horrible nightmare, that when he woke up his mother would be at his side holding him and whispering reassurances and that his brother would be calling him a big baby and laughing heartily. None of his desperate pleas had been answered by anything that might have been out there, however. He was sure no old granny waving a sparkly magic wand could bring half of his family back to life and drive an army-ful of men in pig suits, their 'king', and their strange metal contraptions off his homeland anyway.
There was one special story, however, that had braved currents and whirlpools of bad memories and dark thoughts and fought its way to break the surface of the waters of his mind. It was special, because it wasn't one of the usual childish tales purely for the purpose of making a child squeal with excitement when their favourite heroic knight fought off the evil fire-breathing dragon. It did not have any of those foolish notions or imaginary characters.
"Alright boys, it's time for bed!" Hinawa called over the shouts and squeals of the two boys rolling around on the floor.
"Yay! Do we get a story tonight too, Mummy?" Lucas asked, his soft voice high with excitement.
"Of course, dear," his mother replied, smiling sweetly.
"Aw...do we have to, Mum? We're too old for bedtime stories! You should know that, Lucas," his twin grumbled.
"Now, now, Claus, I have a special story tonight," Hinawa laughed.
" Ooh! What is it, what is it?" The younger twin bounced excitedly. The prospect of a hearing another story of a princess and prince living happily ever after was just about the only thing that could make Lucas as excitable as he was now.
"You'll both have to come to bed to find out!"
After brushing their teeth and changing into their respectively red and blue striped pyjamas (Lucas eagerly and Claus with much groaning and scoffing), the twins were finally settled in their shared bed.
"We're in bed, so can we hear the story now, Mummy?" Lucas asked.
"Now, this is an important tale," Hinawa said, her voice and expression more serious than usual.
Lucas leaned forward, prepared to drink every one of his mother's words, while in as Claus turned away, looking disgruntled.
"Listen carefully and try to figure out the moral of the story," Hinawa instructed. "Yes, you too, Claus," she added in the direction of her eldest child.
Claus made a 'hmm' sound, and grudgingly turned his body to the front, facing his amused mother with a sullen expression.
"Good. Now that we're all ready, I'll start," their mother smiled.
"This story is called Pandora's Box. Once upon a time..." Hinawa began.
"I hate how the stories always begin with 'once upon a time'. It's so babyish!" Claus whined.
"Claus, do you want me to tell you the story or not?" Hinawa's voice had gained a sharp edge.
"Claus, be quiet! I want to listen!" Lucas hissed.
Hinawa and Claus looked at Lucas in surprise. Lucas usually never got angry, hostile or aggressive to any degree. In fact he was usually the complete opposite. Fortunately, the revelation that Lucas wasn't completely incapable of asserting himself shut Claus up, allowing Hinawa to continue.
"Once upon a time, on a tall mountain named Olympus, many Greek gods resided. The king of the gods, Zeus, was angry at a human called Prometheus for stealing fire from the gods."
"Wait, so humans didn't have fire before Pro... Prome... ugh, whatever, stole it from the gods?" Claus asked, already forgetting about his earlier reluctance to hear the story. "Why didn't Zeus want humans to have fire? And how did he steal it anyway?"
"Well, according to Greek mythology they didn't. Zeus didn't like humans much, and that's a story for another time." Hinawa answered each question in rapid succession.
"To take revenge on Prometheus, Zeus ordered Hephaestus, the god of the forge, to create the first woman on earth. Her name was Pandora. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, gave her clothes and intelligence; Aphrodite, the goddess of love, gave her beauty; and Hermes, the god of boundaries, gave her the ability to speak.
"Zeus presented her to Prometheus' slower-thinking younger brother Epimetheus as a bride. Along with her came a box gilded in gold and decorated with gems, and a label telling the newlyweds to never open it. Epimetheus was so dazzled by the beauty of his bride that he forgot his shrewd brother Prometheus' advice to 'never accept gifts from Zeus'. He also thought they were supposed to hold the box in safe-keeping for Zeus until his return – that it wasn't a gift at all.
"Epimetheus insisted that his wife obey the instructions on the label. Unfortunately, one day, Prometheus left Pandora's side for a few hours. Even more unfortunately, curiosity was one of the gifts bestowed to her by the gods. The box was a gift, she reasoned, so why shouldn't she open it? Maybe if she just took a quick peek...
"Looking around to make sure the coast was clear, Pandora lifted the ornate lid just a crack. But the lid flew open, and terrible, howling forms gushed forth. Hatred, toil, illness, sadness, death, guilt, cowardice, gluttony and infinite other sins flew out and became present in the world of humans. No longer could humans live an easy life with nothing to worry about. Now they would have to labour, strife and succumb to illness.
"Pandora immediately regretted disobeying the words on the label. She realised what she had brought about on the world. The room had become dark in the wake of the evil that had filled it, but then, Pandora saw a light. It was tiny, but bright, so very bright, like a flame defiantly resisting the wind. Very carefully, afraid of unleashing another evil, she picked it up. It unfurled in her hand like a flower, grew brighter, and then flew out in pursuit of the evils that had been in the box with it.
"While, according to Greek mythology, it was Pandora's fault that all these sins exist, the tiny light made to combat all these evils was also unleashed by her. We call this light Hope."
As Hinawa finished speaking, she looked at her sons in surprise. They would usually interrupt every three sentences or so to ask questions. Though, she reasoned, this was a special story, not like the meaningless fairy tales she usually told them.
Claus was sitting up straight, his emerald eyes sparkling with interest while Lucas huddled slightly into the blankets, his cerulean eyes wide.
"That was the best story ever!" Claus shouted gleefully. "Mum, you should tell stories like that more often!"
"I will, if you like," Hinawa said, taken aback by her eldest son's enthusiasm. "But first, you have to tell me the moral of this story."
"Umm..." Claus seemed to ponder this for a moment. Lucas remained in the same huddled position he had been in after Hinawa had finished telling the myth.
"I know!" Claus exclaimed at last. "You shouldn't be curious and you should always listen to tags on boxes!"
Hinawa laughed at his childish interpretation of the story. "Yes, the story certainly does teach you that. But that's not quite the one I'm thinking of. See if you can guess it!"
Claus thought for a moment again. Finally, he said, "I don't know..." He seemed disappointed.
But then, a small voice spoke up. "As long as you have Hope, everything will be alright." Lucas intoned in a faraway voice.
Surprised for the third time in one night, Hinawa exclaimed, "That's right! Well done, Lucas."
Claus pouted, and resumed his sullen attitude. He was not used to Lucas beating him at anything.
Lucas did not sleep well for days after that particular tale. His slumber was plagued with nightmares of his family and the Tazmily villagers being devoured by terrifying wraiths which came out of strange, pink boxes. Pandora's Box became his least favourite bedtime story, and had remained so until now.
Thinking back, Lucas realised that perhaps the nightmares he had had were visions of the future created by his just-awakening PSI, foretelling the coming of the Pigmasks and their 'Happy Boxes' and money, which had caused sins like greed and hatred to corrupt the villagers' minds.
Perhaps his mother had known that they would have to make use of the story someday. After all, Pandora's Box was too sombre and profound a story to be telling five year olds. Perhaps she had known, even though their lives were so carefree and blissfully ignorant back then, that one day, Hope would be the only thing driving them forward and keeping them from giving up, as the ghosts from the box wrapped around them, trying to strangle them to death.
Lucas thanked his mother for whatever had compelled her to tell the myth to him. The moral she had instructed them to take heed of had been effective in the long run. Now, the Hope in the midst of so many evils was the only thing sustaining his and his friends' resolve, the only thing that had allowed him to fight and sacrifice so much, the only thing that had made him strong enough to accept the burden of the world's fate on his shoulders instead of breaking down.
He had just one needle to go. And the only thing keeping him from pulling it was the other person who had heard the tale, his beloved twin, who had also received the message of Hope. So, with that very virtue at his back, he dove forward, towards his long lost brother, urging him to wake up, urging him to remember Hope.
A/N: Why is it that whenever I try to write happy things, it always turns out angsty? AM I A NATURALLY ANGSTY PERSON? *Falls to knees and starts sobbing.* OK, enough theatrics, I'm actually quite happy with this. Please review and tell me what you think! REVIEWS ARE GOLD!