**not a real update. wintergirl alerted me to several typos. i do not tolerate typos *growl* so i fixed them. (i hope)**
A.N: if you haven't noticed and if you don't know, this is the absolute longest I have ever actively worked on a story while progressing the plotline at the same time. so as the plot of Pandora begins to close in my mind, I would ask if you would stop me as soon as I sound like I'm just wrapping up. (that's just for the last chapter)
D.C: you make me very sad. of course i don't own the matrix, you fool! leave me be! *cries*
Pandora the Brave, or the Very Manipulated Pandora
Chapter 16
The hangar was comfortable, neither too stuffy nor too chilly; the doors were closed, and no wind could get inside. Pandora expected Greece to be warm, but since she had not been in the elements since France, she could not know.
A limousine waited patiently as they had stepped off the plane, the Merovingian leaning on it like James Dean, although he was loathe to admit it; he was irritated, tapping his foot and grumbling like he had somewhere to be. Pandora gathered there was some order to get in the car, otherwise the Merovingian would have waited in the car, unless he did not want to appear like he waited on his servants? Politics…
As the Twins ushered Ate and Eris into the car, they motioned for Pandora to follow, and in their brief arrangement of their seating, they shoved Pandora into the corner. No sooner than had they sat down, Cain and Able climbed into the car, followed by Vlad, who had fixed a scowl on his face for whatever reason. Only then did the Merovingian ceremoniously step into his limousine, an aggravated Persephone throwing herself in beside him. Two more vampires sat down next to the doors, and the hangar doors began to lurch open.
Silent for once, the Merovingian watched his minions from the corner of his eye, but it hardly took five minutes to notice the most dangerous part of the limousine: those Twins had placed those two idiot women right next to each other, with the idiot girl beside the idiot Twin. Four idiots all sitting in a row, two stupid idiots and two dangerous ones, the Merovingian logged that away, hoping the relatively intelligent Twin could explain his foolish actions later, assuming they made it out of the car alive. For now, it seemed Ate—that was her name, yes?—was content to bother the other subtly; hopefully, it would stay that way, although he knew it would not. He could only hope nothing terrible erupted right in front of him; for although it was not unusual for his minions to fight, it was unusual for them to fight in his presence in public where he could be embarrassed. Inwardly, he was livid, but he kept his appearance as disinterested as possible.
For a moment, he briefly wanted to tell Persephone. There was once a time when he would have gladly shared this information with her, run it through her, listened to her advice, mocked the involved parties… But that was a time long gone, besides, she hated him now. She had begun hating him long ago; his only comfort came from manipulating women now, as they had manipulated politics together. It hurt, yes, it stung, yes, but it was his life now whether he liked it or not. For that brief moment, he wished his wife had not begun hating him years ago, because now the damage was complete, and he could never win her back. Stupid Persephone.
But at the same time, Persephone's thoughts ran a parallel track for the first time in centuries. She, too, wished her husband had not tired of her, had not used her up like a doll. What could she do now, when she had no reason to stay? Pandora had been a welcome diversion, not only that, but she almost, almost, almost brought her husband back. Nothing could do that now, nothing could save her from the loneliness she knew she was to endure for the rest of her existence. At the same time she loathed him, she also pitied him, because her heart knew he loved her and her departure would drive him farther into his wanton ways.
~@~
Pandora kept her head down, wanting nothing more than to sink into the seat: Eris was sitting next to her and Ate just would not stop pushing her limits. She poked Eris, purposely fell on her when the limousine turned, sang softly in her ear, and taunted her any other way she could. Ate was acting like she was drunk, as if she had no idea of how absolutely terrifying Eris really was. Pandora cringed every time Eris breathed; she knew at any moment Eris could explode. Why was Ate playing with nitroglycerin? The Twins should stop her, separate them, anything. She looked to Two, sitting next to her; he was staring straight ahead, pretending not to notice anything. Not for the first time she wished she could have their mental link, too; she wanted to make them stop this madness. Gently, she tugged on his sleeve, looking pleadingly into his sunglasses, hoping above anything he was not closing his eyes. Apparently he was.
~@~
Two looked away, shaking Pandora off his sleeve; she was twelve and did not need to tug on his arm. But even as he thought it, he realized it was not so. Pandora was still a six-year-old, loud-mouthed brat, seven if she was lucky. For all that junk Eris said about thinking and growing up and such, Pandora was still a kid. She had not had the experience to make her an adult, even a pre-teen. Yet at that moment, it was not Pandora he needed to worry about; it was Eris. Again, he realized as he thought it, it was Pandora he needed to think about; she was afraid—no, she was terrified. He quickly tagged One and shared the memory of Pandora tugging on his sleeve. Then, Two tried to show One his feelings about this, but One stopped him.
Just talk to us. We don't have to understand us, we already do, twit. We are still us.
Two decided that would definitely be a memory he wanted to keep. Why did we put them together?
They need it. Did we see how they exploded in the plane?
Yes! Exactly why we should separate them.
No. One said quickly, almost too quickly. They need to work out their differences.
Why? Two asked. Why do they need to learn what we've always known when we can do it for them?
One did not answer for a minute. Two thought he sensed pain, but it registered more as guilt, so he ignored it.
That's not the point, One eventually replied.
Why, us? Two asked stubbornly.
We know, so should they.
They aren't twins like us. They aren't twins at all.
So? They still need to know. Concern began to seep through One's voice. What if some day they're caught and they have to work together?
Two answered automatically, Then we come save them. Besides, it's not like they can't work together.
One sighed aloud; Two glanced at him. Us…
What aren't we telling us?
No. We hit the head on the nail is all.
Two paused for a moment, but then believed his brother. What do we mean?
The point: they can work together. They've done it as long as we have.
Not so long as we've known them.
One cringed, but continued, In the past, what if they never fought?
Go on.
Would not something then have been the catalyst? Something to make them fight all the time?
Before Two could answer, they felt Pan's terror elevate; Vlad did, too, they knew. This required immediate attention.
We have to do something, Two demanded.
Give us Pan.
What?
Set Pan in between us.
We just called her Pan.
It doesn't matter! One growled. Just move her!
Why don't we sit next to Eris?
One: it ruins the plan. Two: Pan needs to know we care about her.
But us—
Just do it!
One broke off the mental link harshly, and turned to quiet Vlad, who appeared to be searching for an answer, with a look of pure venom.
Two only noticed that Eris looked more murderous than he had ever, ever seen her before when he saw how frightened Pandora really was. With her attention focused entirely on Eris, Pandora jumped when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap. Trembling, she wrapped her arms around his neck while he hugged her.
Then One tagged him. Put her between us. Two did not argue, and he set Pandora down between them. One took her hand, and she looked into his face, bewildered for a moment. She smiled awkwardly for she was still afraid, but she accepted One's comfort. It was weird, but she liked it anyways. He had rarely paid attention to her before, maybe Two had said something? Unlikely, and she was ashamed instantly to think that One had risked his neck to get her out of the dungeons and here she was, doubting his sincerity.
~@~
Eris and Ate bickered quietly, beginning with veiled insults, slipping into wild and ill-conceived accusations, and finally settling on violent death threats. The gruesome details were laid out in excess; the plans often could not work, but no matter—they understood exactly what the other was capable of and did not doubt she was creative enough to combine each plan into something far horrible than anything actually mentioned. It was so easy to threaten Ate with an electrified dagger through her abdomen, just as it was easy for her to inform Eris of her imminent death by infant vipers.
They were so infinitely close to physical harm when the limousine pulled into the hotel driveway, they did not really notice.
"We're here," the Merovingian said dryly.
~MnI~
FST- thanks! I hope I can live up to the expectations of intrigue. Did you know that intrigue can refer to conspiracies?
Protectress- thanks for the good luck, I hope it worked. *prays to the mainframe for good grades* Sorry bout the cheerleaderness, but everyone I know, myself included, talked that way for a while… back in the day… *cough* anyways… most people talk that way actually, you just can't tell because they're talking so fast. Of course I shall continue! I like being mean to you guys and pulling in random greek mythology and plotting out fight scenes and such. Muahahaha.
Wintergirl- maybe I should write another eris and ate story for you… I really want armwarmers tho… that was totally my twisted sense of style coming through… Pan's still a preteen, so I still get the best of both worlds into the story.
Kit- more bitchy Pandora next chapter! Yay! And there will also be a little annoying brat Pandora, too. As for her sealed fate, I mean that I already know what's going to happen to her and I'm not changing my mind. It's such a pity that character development sucks the hilarity out of things. Thanks a ton!
~it's been a long while since i've asked this question, and i ask it again, earnestly, in fact, because this whole chapter was devoted to one thing: character development, and now i want genuine feedback. i'm such a demanding author, neh? Cupcakes for everybody!! *confetti* please don't forget to tell me, how was my character development?! i try and i try and you never tell me if i get it right *sob* please? Arigato gozaimasu! And don't be depressed, there's several more chapters to go, even if i've ended the storyline in my head.