a.n: high on pocky. sorry for the inconvenience. I LOVE POCKY! augh! Sorry, had to get that out of my system. okay. And now…. There will be more rock star twins. I thought it was too damn funny to pass up. Have fun children, and don't forget to review.

d.c: we've been through this before people, i don't get any money off this nor do i own the matrix. although if i somehow tricked the Wachowskis into leaving it to me in their wills, and I killed both of them, then I would own it. But that takes too much effort and I'm too lazy. So. I don't own it.

White Striped Skittle: wow. That has to be the funnest review in the history of reviews. Glad you liked it. The paper scissors rock was partially from the play at my school. Nitrous… you gave me an idea. wai!

Kit19: pocky is only the best sweet candy type food ever. Its Japanese and reeeally hard to find. I'm sorry about making you laugh so hard. I'll be more careful this time and like put up warnings. Hehe. jp. Glad you liked it so much.

Audrey A: hehe! Thanks so much! This isn't nearly so funny, but… well, you'll see.

Pandora the Brave

Chapter Ten (ooooooooo)

"So you're telling us that a voice told you you were curious and gonna be punished?" Two asked.

"Yes!" cried Pandora. "For the thousandth time, yes!"

One snorted. "You have got to be kidding us!" he choked out between laughs. Slapping his leg, he said, "Look, shortie. You were drugged up on laughing gas the whole time. You were high. High as a dove! There's no way a voice would say that to you, of all people!"

Pandora sputtered, angry at the insult. "Yeah," she challenged. "Well, you're… You're just jealous!"

"Whatever. It's our turn to deal," Two said.

"Well, we would need to cards, now wouldn't we?" One snapped.

Pandora sighed and scooted closer to the marble coffee table and asked, "What are we gonna play?"

"Dunno," answered Two.

One said, "What ever game we deal. How 'bout that, idiot?"

Pandora nodded, not taking her eyes off the deck as One shuffled. "Sounds good to me," she agreed.

"I'm not an idiot!" Two cried.

Pandora said dully, "No one said you were."

"What? But—" Two sputtered.

One began to deal the cards. He laid three cards face down in front of each of them and three cards face up on top of those. Then he dealt three cards to each player, set the stack in the center and flipped the one card over.

"So," said Pandora. "Nines are reverse?"

"Yeah," replied One.

Two looked confused. "Wait… What are we playing?"

Pandora rolled her eyes, fiddling with her hand. "Idiot," she sighed. Playing a six on the four.

"That game," said One. "We're playing that game."

"What game?"

"That game," answered Pandora.

"Huh?"

"Look, us, we're playing That Game. Idiot, A Game, Stupid, etc. The many names of That Game," supplied One. "Now, play something higher than a six or a two."

Two looked puzzled. "But why a two?" he asked.

"Twos drop the deck to zero, tens clear the deck, nines reverse the order of turns," said Pandora. "The object is to get rid of all your cards. You have to keep three cards in your hand at all times until the draw pile is gone. Twos, tens, and aces beat everything. Fours beat threes, fives beat fours, sixes beat fives, sevens beat sixes, and so on. King over Queen over Jack. Make sense? Now go. It's your turn."

"What are these other cards for?" asked Two, motioning to the six cards lying on the table in front of him.

One said, exasperated, "We'll explain later, just GO!"

~@~

The tables had always been laid with fine linens and silver place settings. The restaurant was designed to be the most beautiful, the most perfect, the most desirable place on earth. And it was. At first, it had stunned Persephone—it had flattered her; she felt she was the luckiest woman in the world, to have a husband who would go to such lengths to make her home so magnificent. But as time wore on, the magnificence lost its glamour, and now Persephone looked upon it with disdain. It was so perfect it was daunting.

She spent so much time in thought these days that the happy chatter of the humans and exiles around her was silent to her ears. She didn't listen to them anymore. Her days were relatively melancholy. Until she thought of her daughter. But that amusement couldn't keep her here much longer. She loved Pandora, but the life she led was stifling.

Persephone suddenly remembered her PDA. She quickly pulled it out and checked it.

So it has been six decades…

Six, six, six… Everything around her was six. Every six months, Persephone liked to completely redecorate the house, from bright colours to dark ones and back again. Every six years, the Chateau was repainted; rooms that had black wood became white, rooms that had white wood became black. And every six decades, Persephone left. She left the Merovingian.

To find herself.

To reverse the oppressive effect the perfect life had on her.

Why did ever, ever decide to stay here?

Six seeds of a pomegranate, so tiny, so small… Cursed little seeds.

She would leave tomorrow. It was best to give the cook a day to get a hold of a pomegranate.

~@~

Two had seven cards, Pandora had four, and One had two. There were no cards left in the draw pile.

~@~

The Merovingian looked down for only a fraction of a second, but when he looked up, two identical women plopped down in the chairs across from him. They wore white. One carried herself like a queen, strong, proud, and regal. She seemed to be the elder of the two. Her hair was in a low bun, messy but stylish. The other carried herself like a princess, fiery, rebellious, and mischievous. She seemed to be the younger. Her hair was in two messy buns on the sides of her head. While the elder wore a long white skirt and tank, exposing a little midriff, the younger wore a short ruffled skirt, camisole-tank, and arm warmers. They were alike, but they were different.

"Well?" the Merovingian growled. "What is it?"

They shared a glance, and the younger nearly laughed aloud. Without looking away, she said, "We know the fate of the box."

~MnI~

Wow, I'm mean. I didn't intend to leave this as a cliff-hanger, but that last sentence was just too tempting. Don't worry, I'll definitely write more in religion. Hehe. Please review!!!