It was dark. Any visible shapes were blurry around the edges, but they may have been rocks?
Any little sound echoed loudly in her ears. She could hear…voices? But they sounded weird. A little staticky. Finally, a shape came into view. It was much brighter than anything else in the room. It was like a window, a square shape of light and color. Moving closer, the shapes became more pronounced.
There were different shapes, they looked like people, but she could only see glimpses of them. Four of them looked shorter than the others. She saw flashes of purple, green, blue, black, and red.
An irrational rage bubbled up inside her. Anger, greed, sadness?
In a flash, something was chucked at the bright square, causing it to shatter and go dark.
Blue eyes flashed open and she sat up, gasping, in bed. Looking around, Pandora relaxed, realizing she was just in her bedroom. She heaved a sigh, laying back down in her bed until her heart rate returned to normal.
Her bed dipped suddenly as a bulky, 35 pound shape clambered up onto her bed. Her breath was knocked out of her as the shape flopped over onto her stomach, just under her ribs. She chuckled breathlessly as she looked down, her hands coming up to pet the beloved dog.
Griffin was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, a breed that was commonly lumped in with a few others referred to as Pitbulls. His short coat was a blue-gray color with a white blaze between his eyes and a white muzzle. The white then traveled down his chest and belly. He also had white toes. His big, blue eyes were currently staring up at Pandora while she scratched behind his short, floppy ears. He was a big ball of chunky muscle, but he still apparently thought of himself as a lapdog.
Pandora had adopted him about five years ago from a nearby animal shelter, when he was just under a year old. Her mother had been hoping to get a small toy breed, but one look at those baby blue eyes and floppy ears and Pandora was in love. There was no way she was taking anyone else home.
"Good morning to you, too." Pandora told him quietly after getting her breath back. His response was stretching up one front paw to lightly bop her cheek. Pandora snorted slightly in response.
She laid there for a good five minutes, letting her heartbeat return to normal after her abrupt return to wakefulness. Already, most of the details from her dream had drifted from her memory other than a few flashes and emotions.
Her alarm clock went off and she sighed, rolling over and stretching her arm toward her bedside table to turn it off. Griffin groaned when her movement caused him to slide onto the mattress next to her.
"Come on, you lazy mutt." she chuckled, ruffling his ears before sitting up. Griffin remained sprawled out on her bed while she got dressed, pulling on a green blouse and ripped jean shorts. She brushed out her blonde hair, letting the waves hang down her back. When she finished, she left the room, her loyal dog trotting along at her side.
They walked through the small house made of white stone, walking out the front door and crossing the large yard of green grass, a pristine pool several feet away. Within a couple minutes, they were entering the much larger main house, where most of Pandora's family was already in the kitchen.
A large table was in the middle of the expansive kitchen. Zeus was sitting at the head of the table, eating a small mountain of breakfast foods on his plate. In between bites of food, he was having an expressive conversation with his son Hercules. Megara was sitting next to her husband, smiling fondly at the pair.
Pandora took a seat next to Meg, exchanging a smile with her in greeting.
"Good morning, Dora." Hera greeted her warmly, setting a plate down in front of Pandora as she passed with her own plate. "Sleep well?"
"Morning, Auntie Hera." Pandora returned with a smile. "I did, thanks."
"Morning, sweetie." Persephone walked by, pressing a kiss to the top of her daughter's head as she passed.
"Morning, Mom." Pandora returned once again.
"Dora, answer something for us." Zeus boomed eagerly, both him and Hercules turning to her. "Which tourney team is better, Olympus or Auradon Prep?"
Pandora hummed thoughtfully, poking at her eggs. "Well, I guess that depends on when it is you're asking." she admitted. "Overall, probably Olympus, but the last few years, definitely Auradon Prep."
"Aw, you're just saying that because Herkie was in Auradon Prep." Zeus whined before adding quickly to the whole table, "Not that I don't love my favorite grandson."
"He's your only grandson, Dear." Hera laughed, shaking her head.
"That's besides the point." Zeus waved her off casually, causing everyone to chuckle slightly.
"And I'm not playing favorites." Pandora argued with a grin. "While Herkie, King Ben, and that Jay guy from the Isle were on the team, Auradon Prep was practically unstoppable."
"She has a point." Meg agreed, smirking slightly as she glanced at her father-in-law.
"Fine. But only because of my grandson." Zeus relented good-naturedly, returning to his mountain of food.
For as long as Pandora could remember, actually her whole life, her mother and her lived in their home on this property. Their house was one of three on the large property at the very top of Mount Olympus. Hercules and Meg lived in the other smaller house with Herkie when he was home. And of course Zeus and Hera lived in the much larger main house where they were currently all eating. It didn't make much sense to most people, because Pandora and Persephone had no blood relation to Zeus and his family at all, but it was all Pandora had ever known.
"Pandora, what are your plans today?" Persephone asked from across the table.
Pandora swallowed her bite before answering. "I was going to apply to a few places before meeting up with Pavati to hang out."
Persephone pursed her lips briefly, tucking a blonde curl behind her ear. "While you're out applying to a few places, maybe you should stop by the University." she suggested casually.
Pandora bit back a sigh, dropping a small piece of egg to the floor for Griffin, who was sitting at her side patiently. "I already told you, Mom. I'm not going to Olympus University."
Pandora had graduated from the local high school, Olympus Academy, a couple weeks ago, but she had absolutely no idea what she wanted to do with her life.
"And I still think you should reconsider." Persephone countered as if they'd had this conversation before. Which they had, dozens of times. "It's not too late. They'll still accept you. And you have scholarships."
"You know, those scholarships are good at other colleges, too." Pandora pointed out.
Her mother sighed. "Pandora-"
"I haven't hardly seen anything outside of Mount Olympus. I've gone to Auradon City for a couple of Herkie's games and graduation, and that's it. I want to see what the rest of Auradon is like." Pandora told her mom pleadingly. "I don't have to go far. Aaron's going to Northern Wei. I could apply there. Or-"
"Pandora, we've been over this." her mother cut her off tensely, standing with her empty plate. "You're not ready to leave home, yet. Just go to OU for four years while you figure everything out. Then we can talk about after."
Pandora clenched her teeth, knowing everyone else at the table was uncomfortable with the conversation. She hated fighting with her mom in general, but she really hated doing so in front of her family. She loved her mom, she really did, but she had a tendency to be overprotective.
Taking a deep breath, Pandora followed her mom to the sink with her own plate, which was only about half empty. She'd lost her appetite. She scraped the eggs and one strip of bacon into Griffin's food bowl before cleaning her plate in the sink. Her mother was a couple feet away at the coffee pot.
"I'm leaving. I'm applying at a few places." she told her quietly, putting her plate in the dishwasher. "Not OU." she added pointedly, grabbing her purse and leaving the house.
She made the short walk down the long driveway until she reached her car, a small, used, dark green car. She pulled out her keys only to pause near the drivers door. Staring down at the green grass of the lawn lining the driveway, and the small plant sticking out only about an inch taller than the blades of grass.
A quick glance around assured Pandora no one was watching. She squatted down, bringing her hand out with her palm tilted slightly up until her fingertips touched the small plant.
Taking a deep breath, Pandora closed her eyes and concentrated. She felt warmth blossom within her chest, spreading and expanding up and through her arm down to her fingertips and into the small plant. She could picture the change in her mind and opened her eyes after several seconds.
What started as a small, two inch plant that could have been mistaken for a blade of grass, was now a beautiful yellow flower, it's petals stretched toward the warm sun.
Pandora had discovered her powers several years ago. Her mother, Persephone, was the Goddess of Spring and growth. Her grandmother, Demeter, was the Goddess of Agriculture. So, it made sense that Pandora's powers were similar to theirs. But she hadn't told anyone for several reasons, and she planned to keep it that way for now.
Smiling briefly at the flower, Pandora let her fingers brush the soft petals before she stood and got in her car.
AN: I hope everyone liked this Prologue/first chapter of my newest Descendants fanfic Of Life and Death. I've had this idea in my head since before Descendants 3 came out, but I kept getting writers block and losing motivation.
Just a quick warning, there will be D3 spoilers, so if you haven't seen the third movie I recommend not reading this yet. I will also be using characters/details from all the movies, books, and cartoons, as shown when I mentioned Herkie in this chapter.
Feel free to leave a review to let me know what you think so far! Not much has happened but things will start picking up soon!