Pandora chapter 2

Prometheus pulled back the velvet drape and gazed down upon the earth, where Pandora and her creations were going about their odd daily routines. How he wished it could be him down here, with his mortals. But as Zeus had not seen fit to let his mortals live, they had been wiped out and he, the clever titan, had been banished back to Mount Olympus. And now Pandora, the goddess that came from the earth, was using those lands to house her own mortals.

"Where am I?" Prometheus wondered aloud. Surrounded by dirt walls, it was black as midnight, yet why was he then able to see his hand in front of his face? As he began to turn his head in a panic, a glimpse of yellow caught his eye.

"Who's there? Who would dare call me out here?" Prometheus failed at his attempt to regain his cocky attitude, instead, his voice quavered. 'Is this fear?'

Again, a flutter of color. Prometheus could tell that even though he was so close to seeing the wearer, he never would. However, instinct took ever, as he reached out, daring to wish he could find the phantom figure. His hand clenched shut, with nothing but air in his grasp.

"Do not be a fool." The voice was dark, and void of emotion.

"Who are you!" he meant to demand, but instead, all that came out was a timid "Who..?"

"Yes, this is fear," the being responded, as if he could sense Prometheus's thoughts, "It is a new emotion, eh? For you?" The last part was said mockingly, the unknown person toyed with what it knew would make Prometheus tick. Again the resonating voice boomed bemusedly, "I have a surprise. Allow me to show you."

A gust of wind pulled Prometheus's brown locks forward. All the air rushed past him, in from the surrounding walls, to a core somewhere a few feet in front of him. Instantaneously, a ball of light exploded, blinding the titan. Light flowed everywhere, chasing the shadows out from the walls, an orb hung at the center of the light, an orb bearing an uncanny resemblance to…earth. His earth.

"Zeus," Prometheus accused, his hatred for the man causing his tone to darken.

Out from behind of the gently floating orb, he stepped gracefully. Zeus stood in from of Prometheus; he stood in front of Prometheus clad in black, a black that contrasted neatly with his snow-white hair.

Taking a menacing step towards Prometheus, he spoke, his voice similar to the thunder he was god of.

"Ï gave your humans a second chance, Prometheus, I gave you a second chance. And now, Prometheus, your humans, your mortals, are warring against each other. You see it, don't you, Prometheus?" Then after a pause, the thunder god emphasized, "Prometheus, you have failed."

With that, the sphere representing earth dropped with a crash, spreading sharp, sparkling pieces of glass. The orb dropped before the clever titan could react, before he could open his mouth and persuade Zeus.

With the shattering of the orb, the lives of Prometheus's humans also shattered.

"She has taught them well," Zeus commented, coming to stand by Prometheus, as his own gaze drifted downwards.

"I could have taught them better," muttered Prometheus, unable to keep the anger and resentment from seeping into his voice.

"I gave you your chance, you failed me," reminded Zeus, as he was fond of doing. "She is succeeding."

Prometheus, enraged, made as though to attack Zeus. Pulling back quickly, he thought better of it. After all, exile wasn't the worst punishment Zeus could conjure up…

After giving a look of utmost loathing, Prometheus turned on his heel and stalked out of the bright room, slowing his pace to a lazy gait, he made his way down the hallway. As he neared an oaken door, carved with an intricate network of ivy, he heard voices. From the nature of the argument, it seemed as though Aphrodite's daily vigil had been interrupted.

Pushing the heavy door open tentatively, he was met with a blast o shouting. Stepping into the spacey chambers, he saw Aphrodite and Hercules in the middle of a heated disagreement. Prometheus however was not seen by them. Either they were too enthralled in their own argument to notice his entrance, or his presence annoyed them and, therefore, they chose not to acknowledge him. The latter was the more probable, for the exiled titan was not very popular with the other gods and goddesses. Prometheus sighed heavily as he attempted to make sense of the bickering.

It appeared that Hercules had, in the middle of the night, stumbled into Aphrodite's bedchambers, mistaking them for his own. He had then promptly fallen asleep on the bed. In the morning, Aphrodite had awakened to find herself in bed next to nonvoter than Zeus's son. She had then shrieked quite ear splittingly, as any sane goddess would when finding that she had been asleep next to the rough and unpredictable Hercules. This call from sleep had done nothing to alleviate the warrior's mood. And from his disheveled appearance, it appeared the warrior was…

"Still drunk," muttered a hoarse voice issuing from somewhere behind him. Spinning around, he saw an old crone by the door, whom he recognized immediately as Aphrodite's mother-figure. Prometheus had been too engaged in the argument to notice her. As she watched the young people fight animatedly, she chuckled bemusedly. For all the faults Aphrodite found in Hercules, she knew that the woman cared for him deeply. And, for all Hercules was attempting to make it appear a mistake of the darkness and his drunkenness, she knew that a part of him had told him to stumble and crawl into Aphrodite's bed.