Chosen Chapter 4: Rise of the Titan
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High in the cold and snowy mountains, as a thunderstorm lightened the sky with endless bolts of lightning, two figures made their way past a dangerous pass among the rocks. One was a tall and muscular man dressed in bronze armor and white tunic, with dark brown curled hair and dark brown eyes. The second was a slender and beautiful woman, with long black hair and bright blue eyes. She was covered in a thick cloak, though the cold was unforgiving. As the two reached the top of the mountain, the woman fell into the snow. The man, who had his sword drawn, sheathed it and kneeled down beside her.
"Hold on, Pandora, we are almost there." The man said pleading. "Just a little while longer and they will not be able to find us."
"I cannot go on, Prometheus, leave me behind." Pandora replied in tears.
"Do not give up. They cannot find you; you know how unforgiving they are." Prometheus said.
"I still do not understand what is going on. Why are they after us?" Pandora asked.
"I did something that has angered them greatly." Prometheus explained. "But I did it for you, for all of humanity, so you could be free of their tyranny."
"But the world is dying, pain and despair is spreading through the lands, people are going to war." Pandora explained. "What have you done?"
"What needed to be done." Prometheus replied. "The Gods have become the very thing for which they were created to defeat. They force the world to worship them and it must stop. So I did what had to done, I unleashed a great power that will bring them to their knees."
"But what of the people?" Pandora asked.
"It is a necessary evil. A few must pay the price for the rest of the world to be free for all eternity." Prometheus explained.
"But this is not the way! How can you let humanity suffer like this?" Pandora asked. "You claim to have nothing but love for humanity. Now you are willing to sacrifice humanity to bring down the Gods?"
"Please understand, Pandora." Prometheus begged. "I did this for you, because I love you. I want you to live in a world free for tyranny and suffering, I need to destroy the Gods."
"I cannot support you in this." Pandora replied in tears. "I believed you were nothing but good, but you have gone too far. I am sorry."
"What do you mean? Pandora, please, I need you." Prometheus begged.
"Mighty Zeus, please hear my plea." Pandora whispered her she closed her hands and started to pray.
"No! Pandora, Stop!" Prometheus called out.
A sudden bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky next to them and blew them both in opposite directions. Prometheus rolled over and drew his sword as he saw three figures emerging from a bright light. He silently cursed them and wondered desperately why his love had betrayed him. The three figures stepped out of the light and took the form of the Gods. However, the bright light only revealed their figures and obscured their faces. The leader of the figured raised a hand and a lightning bolt blew Prometheus' sword from his hand.
"Prometheus, you will be judged for your crimes against the Gods and humanity." Zeus, the leader of the Gods, spoke.
"I have done no crime to humanity." Prometheus replied. "I only seek to end your tyranny and free this world from your reign."
"Unleashing the sorrows has weakened us severely, already the ones that granted us our power have begun to make their move on us. One by one, the Gods are falling." A female Goddess said. "However, despite your intentions, it is humanity who suffers the most."
"Do not pretend you care about humanity." Prometheus called out. "You have been corrupted by your power and lost all sense of humanity. You rule this world like tyrants and force mortals to worship you. You have become the very thing you were meant to destroy."
"Do not lecture us, you traitorous Titan." Zeus spoke. "We allowed you to survive because you sided with us in the war against your brethren. However, now you have betrayed our trust as well, with dire consequences."
"It is not too late to repair your mistake, call back the sorrows." The third Goddess spoke.
"Even if I wanted to, I cannot. The container has been destroyed." Prometheus said.
"There is still one way we can call back the sorrows before they destroy this world." The second Goddess said. "The woman."
"No, leave her out of this!" Prometheus called out.
"Silence!" Zeus called out angrily.
Zeus raised a hand and a lightning bolt hit Prometheus in the chest, electrocuting him as he fell down in the snow. Zeus laughed as he cried out in pain.
"No, please stop!" Pandora yelled as she ran over and fell on her knees next to Prometheus. Zeus stopped attacking and Pandora placed a hand on her lover.
"You would still defend him?" Zeus asked.
"He has committed a horrible crime, though I do not believe him to be evil." Pandora said. "He has gone too far, but his intentions were pure. I still love him and I beg your forgiveness."
"Don't kneel to them." Prometheus said. "Their reign is ending, we have defeated them."
"At what price? I cannot endure this suffering in the world." Pandora replied.
"Then you possess the power to end the suffering." The second Goddess said. She waved her hand and a black and golden box appeared before Pandora. "Call back the sorrows and free this world from its suffering."
"Don't do it." Prometheus begged. "Don't listen to them, we will find another way."
"I am sorry, my love, but I must do this." Pandora said. "You unleashed the sorrows for me, which makes it my responsibility to call them back and save this world from your mistake."
Pandora picked up the box and opened it. As she laid her hands on the box, it started glowing in a golden light. Soon streams of darkness appeared from all corners of the world and started swirling above them like a dark cloud. Pandora closed her eyes and focused as the cloud broke apart in thousands of small streams and entered the box. When the sorrows had entered the box, it closed and glowed again. Meanwhile, the world around them grew slightly brighter, though clouds of thunder still filled the skies.
"From this moment forth, the mortal Pandora will be known as the guardian of the sorrows. She will guard the box with her life and upon her death, the box will transfer to a new chosen one. This way, the box will be guarded throughout all generations." The Goddess explained.
"What have you done?" Prometheus asked.
"I have protected this world from you." Pandora replied heartbroken.
"Now, step aside, mortal." Zeus spoke in an angered voice. "It is time for this Titan to be judged and face his punishment."
Pandora looked at her lover with a saddened face and gave him one last kiss. She then picked up the box and stepped aside. She softly whispered she was sorry, though Prometheus could not care. All he could feel was her betrayal, after everything he had done for her. They could have been together for eternity. The Gods had nearly been defeated, though she sided with them instead of him. Prometheus cried out in anger as Zeus raised both hands and tortured him with lightning. The lightning shattered his armor, leaving him dressed in a simple tunic. The pain seemed unbearable, and it only stopped when he was on the brink of death.
"Death is a far too lenient punishment for you." Zeus spoke. "For your crimes, you must suffer for all eternity. You will suffer the pain of death each day, though you will never die. Once a day, you will feel my wrath. Then you will heal until the next day. This, Prometheus, will be your punishment for betraying the Gods of Olympus."
Zeus held out his hand and thick metal chains bound Prometheus to the ground by his wrists and ankles. The ground beneath him rose up until the mountain had formed a new peak. A dark cloud appeared above the mountain. A bolt of lightning coursed down and electrocuted Prometheus. As he cried out in unimaginable agony, Pandora fell to her knees and cried as the Gods disappeared from the mountain.
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Centuries later, two young college students climbed a large mountain range somewhere in Greece. Hannah, a pretty blonde in her early twenties, had convinced her boyfriend Mark to go hiking. She enjoyed adventurous vacations and exploring different cultures, even though he preferred to go to the beach and relax instead. They had made a compromise that they would do both in on vacation. When they reached the top of the mountain, Hannah dropped her bag and grabbed a bottle of water.
"Are you sure you know how to get back down?" Mark asked. "I told you we should have gotten a guide."
"Relax, I have been climbing since I was twelve. I know what I am doing." Hannah replied somewhat annoyed.
"I can't wait to get to the beach." Mark said as he splashed some water over his short black hair, since was already dripping in sweat. "What's so interesting about these mountains, anyway?"
Hannah sighed, Mark was really hot and very sweet, though their interests were completely different. Things between them had started as a casual thing, and she was worried it was getting too serious. She could not imagine spending the rest of her life with him.
"Hey, what is that?" Mark suddenly asked.
Hannah turned around and saw he was pointed at a group of rocks that looked like they had fallen from the top a few feet above them.
"Probably nothing, the townspeople said that lightning strikes the top of the mountain every night, and that sometimes a few rocks fall down." Hannah explained. "There is this weird myth about it, since apparently it has been happening for thousands of years."
"We should take a look." Mark said. "Must be something that is attracting it, like a lightning rod or something."
"On top of a mountain?" Hannah asked skeptically.
"Just a quick look, we can easily climb over those fallen rocks." Mark replied.
"Alright, fine." Hannah replied.
The two of them started climbing over the fallen rocks and a little while later, they had reached the true top of the mountain. There was a small crater, with some rubble lying in the middle. The crater did not look natural, as it was a perfect circle.
"I think there is something there!" Mark said.
Hannah looked to where he was pointing, but before she could see anything, Mark ran down the crater. She yelled after him to be careful and slowly followed him. When she reached the middle, the noticed Mark looked at something with a shocked expression on his face.
"What are you looking at?" Hannah asked.
"Am I going crazy, or is that a dude lying there under the rocks?" Mark asked as he pointed.
"Seriously, that is cra…" Hannah started to say as she looked at where he was pointing, though she suddenly stopped when she saw something as well.
There was a man lying in the middle of the crater, half buried under the rubble. Hannah and Mark quickly ran over and started removing the rocks from his body. As they cleared him, Hannah noticed it was a tall and muscular man dressed in a white tunic like they wore in movies about ancient Rome and such. She wiped the dust from his face and saw it was a very handsome man with a strong jaw and short stubble and dark, curled hair. She could see he was still breathing and noticed his arms and legs were bound by thick metal chains.
"This is insane. What the hell is going on?" Mark asked.
"Mark, go get the water bottles and use the radio to call for help!" Hannah ordered him.
"I am not leaving you alone here!" Mark replied.
"Mark, now!" Hannah yelled. "He could be dehydrated and dying."
"Fine." Mark said reluctantly as he left.
As Mark crawled out of the crater, Hannah grabbed a small, sharp rock and started smashing the chains. Luckily, they were so old and rusted that they easily broke. She removed the restraints and she took the man's hand and checked his pulse, which was very weak. She placed her other hand on his chest and suddenly felt a strong heartbeat. The man opened his dark brown eyes and looked around in shock. Before Hannah could move, he sat up and looked at her as his hand painfully grabbed her wrist.
"Where am I, what year is this?" The man asked.
"Stop, you're hurting me." Hannah pleaded tearfully.
"Tell me what year it is!" The man said with a furious look in his dark eyes as he tightened his grip. "How long was I trapped here?"
"2007." Hannah cried out in pain.
"Impossible." The man said in disbelief as he let go of her hand and stood up. "What has become of the world, has the tyranny of the Gods ended?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Hannah said as she cradled her hurt wrist. "Please don't hurt me, We just found you here. What are you?"
However, the man had apparently stopped listening to her as he looked around in the distance as he wiped the dust from his body. Hannah carefully backed off and looked around to see if Mark was coming back. Whatever this man was, she was convinced he was not human. His grip had nearly shattered the bones in her wrist and she was scared out of her mind.
"The world looks so different. Much has changed since I was trapped here." The man said to himself. "I must discover what has passed."
A strong gust of wind suddenly appeared out of nowhere and started circling around the man. Hannah looked in shock as a small twister appeared around the man and he disappeared into thin air. As he disappeared, a thunder sounded in the distance. Shocked and confused by what she had seen, Hannah remained on the ground paralyzed. She barely noticed Mark coming back and asking what had happened. She did not even know how to answer him.
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On a cold early winter morning, Billie walked over the campus grounds in a stylish grey winter coat and a purple scarf wrapped around her neck. She was not looking forward to having to go to class, since she was heading toward psychology, which was one of the rare classes she shared with both Violet and Duncan. Things had been awkward for about two weeks now, ever since Violet had told Duncan she had a crush on him and he had admitted that he was gay. Billie was not quite as surprised, because in some way she had kind-of seen it coming, though she did feel guilty for encouraging Violet to admit her feelings to him. Either way, she was totally fine with Duncan being gay, though it had led to this uncomfortable situation. Neither of them was speaking to the other, because Violet was still hurt and humiliated, while Duncan just didn't know what to say and just tried to avoid the situation. Billie's attempts to get them to talk had usually ended in one of both of them walking away. So yeah, things on team Chosen had been fun lately.
At least it distracted Billie from thinking about something else she did not want to think about, a little thing called Jake Porter. They had definitely shared a moment after vanquishing the Wendigo, but them he did a complete one-eighty and told her to keep her distance. Out of all the hot guys she ran into, why did she have to fall for a damn Witch Hunter?
Billie entered the classroom and noticed Violet sitting in the front with her head buried in a book, while Duncan was sitting a few rows behind her looking anywhere but in her direction. Part of Billie wanted to run away, but she had to face her friends eventually. She walked across the class room and sat down on her own in between the others. She looked at neither of them and grabbed her books from her bag.
"Is this your way of telling us you're not picking a side?" Duncan asked softly as he dropped down in the seat next to her.
"There are no sides to pick, you're both my friends." Billie replied, loud enough so Violet could hear.
"Well clearly things aren't working out like this." Duncan said.
"You think?" Billie remarked sarcastically. "Seriously, why couldn't you just say 'Hi, I'm Duncan, by the way, I am gay, so don't start crushing on me' when we first met?"
"Do you tell everyone you're straight?" Duncan asked.
"Don't even go there, that is such a lame excuse." Billie replied.
"Alright, fine." Duncan said with a sigh. "Look, I just don't like talking about it. Coming out to my parents was a disaster, since then I have been trying to avoid it."
"But we're your friends, you're supposed to trust us with stuff like this." Billie replied.
"I know, I should have told you sooner." Duncan said. "I just never imagined getting stuck in a mess like this. I just figured it would come up eventually."
"But you're okay with it, right?" Billie asked. "It's not like you are ashamed or worried about it?"
"No, nothing like that. I accepted it a long time ago." Duncan replied. "What about you?"
"Me? I'm fine with it. I mean, I never had a gay best friend before." Billie remarked. "We can go shopping, get manicures, gossip and check out cute guys…"
"You know I am nothing like that, right?" Duncan replied with a half-smile. "I would rather die."
"I know, just kidding." Billie said with a smile as she bumped his shoulder. "Don't worry, we're not going to start treating you like one of the girls all of the sudden. You're still the same person."
"Thanks." Duncan said somewhat relieved. "So what about Violet?"
"Give it some time." Billie replied.
At that moment, the professor came in and started the class. Billie was confident that her friends would be alright after getting through this awkward stage. Instead of worrying about it, she started focusing on the class, since magic had distracted her from school and she did not want to fall behind. However, after a few moments, her phone started vibrating. When she noticed Duncan grabbing his phone as well, she suspected that another distraction was coming up. When she saw it was a message from Mikelle, her suspicious was confirmed. Psychology would just have to wait.
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