Beyond Grim And Evil
(A/N: Second up today.)
A Curse Upon Man
Pandora. All gifted. She was born of a titan's handiwork, or a god's. She no longer really remembered which version was true. She had been the first female to walk upon the face of the Earth, and she had been created as nothing more than a curse upon mankind. Not so much a punishment nowadays, was she. No. Men could not imagine a world without her kind these days. She had been gifted by the gods and goddesses of old, each in their own time. Granted some had opted out of it, but it didn't matter. Not even close. She had been granted enough to get by. She had been granted just enough to ensure that she could make mistakes. Mistakes that, true to her purpose upon this Earth, would plunge mankind into disaster.
You see, Athena had taught her needlework and weaving, Aphrodite had showered grace and beauty upon her head. Hermes had given her speech, Athena had clothed her. Persuasion and the Charites adorned her with necklaces and jewels and perfumes whilst the Horae gifted her a garland crown. Hermes himself had named her. Everything a woman would need. Charm, grace, beauty, kindness, talent. All in all one would assume it was all good. No. Not by a long shot. For you see, besides grace and beauty, Aphrodite 'gifted' her with cruel longings and cares that wearied the limbs. Besides a name, Hermes had graced her with a shameful mind and deceitful nature. Besides speech, the same god had filled her mouth with lies and crafty words. Not so gifted now, was she?
Hardly into girl hood, she had been tricked by those same cruel gods whom had only a few years before gifted her. They had tempted her, held out of reach a single forbidden object. A box. Just a box. To be forbidden from opening said box, however, was a stark contrast to how she had been created, however. They knew. They'd known that she couldn't resist. Not with those traits with which they had adorned her. It hadn't prevented them. Sure enough she had opened it, and from that box had sprung all the evil, all the wickedness and disease, that had ever been unleashed upon humanity. She had become a mother, and she was not but a mere child. Then society had spurned her, then she had been sent away, cursed to roam Earth always waiting, always looking for someone to open her box. She no longer cared about humanity. She no longer regretted making them suffer. For all the wrong they had thrust upon her they deserved as much. In that moment she had gone from compassionate and innocent to hardened and cruel. This was to be her curse was it? So be it, but she would not suffer alone. Why, then, did she beg for forgiveness in her dreams?