The early morning breeze in the forest was cool and comfortable, carrying the vast scents of the forest like pinesap, damp moss, and flowers.
Pandora was sitting out in one of the chairs on the stone patio in front of the cottage's front door. She leaned back in the chair, holding a mug of coffee between her hands as she enjoyed the early morning. Last she checked, most of the house was still asleep, or at least not moving about downstairs. The coffeemaker had been on a timer, so she made herself a cup and waited outside for everyone to wake at their own speeds. Griffin and Dude were running around the yard, exploring all the fun smells.
Pandora jumped slightly in surprise when someone came running up in the corner of her eye. She turned and relaxed when she realized it was just Jay. Then she blushed bright red when she got a good look at him.
His long hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and he pulled ear buds out of his ears when he noticed her. The only clothing he had on were a pair of red running shorts and black tennis shoes. Everything else was bare skin.
Pandora quickly turned forward again, taking a sip of her coffee and forcing a gulp of the scalding liquid down her throat.
"Morning." Jay greeted her, breathing heavily as he sat in the chair across from her. Strands of his hair had fallen out of his ponytail and stuck to his forehead and face with sweat.
"Morning." Pandora returned the greeting, pleased that it came out naturally and didn't squeak or anything embarrassing.
"How long have you been up?" Jay asked her curiously.
"Oh, about half an hour." Pandora shrugged. "I didn't want to bother anyone, so I've just been enjoying the peace out here."
Jay hummed, looking down at his phone. "Well, Evie's likely up, but she's probably still doing her makeup or whatever it is she does every morning. Everyone else will likely be sleeping for at least another half hour."
"I didn't take you for an early riser." Pandora noted, eyeing him curiously.
Jay shrugged. "Apparently it's better to work out in the morning. Something about burning off more fat and calories than if you work out later. Or at least that's what Carlos claims. Now it's just part of my routine to run for a while in the morning, mostly because that's what I did for practice during the school year."
Pandora hummed in acknowledgement. "That's right, you were in both Tourney and ROAR at Auradon Prep. And you graduated this year, right?"
Jay nodded, taking a drink from a water bottle he'd been carrying on the run. "Yeah. I'm going to college in Sherwood Forest this fall. You said last night…are you going to Olympus University?"
Pandora pursed her lips. "No, that's where my mom wants me to go. I've been going around applying to places for a job in Olympus the past few weeks, but I don't want to go to college in Olympus. The only way I could leave and do anything outside of Olympus is if me and mom have a huge fight and I walk out. As much as she gets on my nerves, she's still my mom. I don't want to fight with her."
Jay nodded, his eyes on her as he listened. "If you could choose any college to go to, which one would it be?" he asked curiously.
Pandora's eyebrows rose as she thought it over. "Good question." she joked lightly. "Um, well I've thought about Northern Wei, because my friend Aaron is going there. But I was considering that one mostly because it's close to Olympus and I thought I'd be more likely to convince my mom to let me. But she wouldn't budge. Other than that,…I've thought about a few. Like Neverland, Triton's Bay, MIT…"
Jay's eyebrows rose. "Magical Institute Training? I got an offer from them for ROAR. You need top grades for that."
Pandora raised one brow at him. "You implying I don't have the grades?"
Jay's eyes widened slightly. "Uh, no, that's-I mean, I don't-"
She smirked. "Relax, I'm messing with you. And you'd probably be right. I have good grades, but probably not quite what they'd be looking for. Of course, as you just implied, they're usually willing to make…exceptions."
Jay raised an eyebrow curiously before leaning forward, resting his elbows on the table in front of him with his water bottle in his hands. "Exceptions, huh? You holding out on me? Do you secretly play ROAR or tourney in your spare time?" he joked.
"As if." Pandora chuckled. "I'm probably one of the few of my friends who doesn't play any sports."
"Okay, so what can you do that might make MIT consider you for a student?" Jay asked curiously.
Pandora chewed her lip thoughtfully for a moment, debating. She'd never told anyone about her powers. Not her friends, family, or even Herkie. Should she tell these people who she'd just met yesterday? Of course, she came here for answers. What if her powers had something to do with her dreams? She couldn't see any connection herself, but maybe they would.
Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Pandora sat back and turned in her seat to sit sideways. She reached a hand out toward the bush of carnations that grew around the patio. She brought her fingertips to one of the flowers that hadn't bloomed yet, lightly touching just by where the bud met the stem.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, concentrating on the small bud at her fingertips. Warmth filled her chest before spreading through her outstretched arm, to her fingertips, and into the small bud. She didn't hear the thud of Jay dropping his water bottle in shock.
When she opened her eyes, the bud had blossomed into a full carnation. Pandora smiled slightly before turning to look back at Jay. He was gaping at the flower, his eyes flickering from the plant to Pandora's face.
"You can do magic?!" Jay exclaimed in shock. "Why didn't you mention that last night?"
Pandora shrugged uncomfortably, turning and crossing her arms over the tabletop. "Well,…it's complicated, but…basically I've never told anyone."
Jay stared at her for several moments, his eyes blinking a couple times. "You…have magic, but you've never told anyone?" he repeated, sitting back in his chair and just staring at her. "Is that…normal?"
She shook her head, looking down at her crossed arms. "No, I'd say not."
"Is having magic normal in Olympus?"
"Kinda." Pandora admitted. "Almost every kid in Olympus is the child of a God or Goddess. So most of us are Gods or Goddesses ourselves, or demigods, or mere mortals. So some of us have powers, too."
"So, wait, demigod? What's that? And which one are you?" Jay asked, looking like he was trying to catch up.
"A demigod has one parent who's a God or Goddess, and another parent who's human. Like Herkie, his dad Hercules is a God, while his mom Meg is a human. And…I don't know what I am." she admitted quietly. "I don't know anything about my father. I think he might have had something to do with the issue my mom had before I was born, that lead to her living with Zeus, but I'm not sure."
"So, why haven't you told anyone about your powers?" Jay asked curiously, leaning forward again and resting his elbows on the tabletop.
"Well,…" Pandora thought about how to word it, "everyone's powers…kind of vary in strength. Some kids have strong powers like their parents. Some kids, like my friend Pavati, have pretty minor abilities compared to their parents. Pavati's father is Poseidon, the God of the Seas, and he can control the ocean and stuff like that. All Pavati can really do is breathe under water and talk to sea creatures.
"Then there're kids who really don't have any powers. My friend Aaron is the son of Athena. And sure, he was Captain of the ROAR team and Valedictorian of our class, but that's not because of any powers he has. He studied and worked his butt off to earn those titles. He might have some natural talent, but not enough to be considered powers.
"At Olympus Academy, where I went to school, they kind of split us all up; students with powers, and students without powers. We weren't completely divided, and it wasn't for any malicious reasons, it was just that students with powers were required to take certain classes to learn how to use and control their powers."
Jay nodded in understanding.
"But at the same time, kids with powers were…treated a little better. It's probably because they have more chances to make their parents proud or something."
"So, you haven't told anyone about having powers, because you don't want to be treated differently." Jay guessed, to which Pandora nodded.
"Basically, yeah."
"And no one ever noticed anything?" Jay asked dubiously. "I mean, wouldn't something like that be hard to hide."
Pandora nodded. "Yeah, there were some close calls. But I was also a bit of a…late bloomer, so to speak. Most kids start developing powers pretty young, sometimes even at birth, depending on the powers. I didn't start showing signs until I was eleven."
"Do you know why it took so long?" Jay asked curiously.
Pandora shrugged, shaking her head slightly. "No. I have no idea. But I've worked on my powers the past several years, and I've gotten better; stronger. I used to nearly pass out making a plant grow an inch. I've come a long way since then."
"Clearly." Jay agreed with a smirk, his eyes flicking briefly to the flower over her shoulder, the one she made blossom a few minutes ago. Pandora smirked in return.
Later that morning, Pandora and Jay joined the others for some breakfast in the kitchen. Jay nudged her into telling the others about her powers, and they were all curious and eager for her to demonstrate. Evie plucked a wilting bouquet of colorful flowers off the kitchen counter, and Pandora effortlessly brought them back to their bright colors.
Other than talking about Pandora's powers, they also all discussed what the other four planned to do now that they were all done with high school. Pandora already knew Jay was attending Sherwood Forest thanks to a sports scholarship. Apparently Carlos was entering his senior year, along with his girlfriend Jane. That explained why Pandora thought he looked a bit younger than his friends.
Evie was running her own business designing clothes, which Pandora had pretty much guessed. Plenty of girls even up in Olympus raved about Evie's 4 Hearts. And from what Pandora had already seen, the girl truly did have a gift.
And of course, there was Mal. It was common knowledge that Mal was King Ben's girlfriend, and was given the title of Lady Mal at the Cotillion. But Pandora also learned that Mal planned on traveling all over Auradon in the next few months to get to know her people better.
After breakfast, almost everyone left to start their day. Carlos left with Dude to hang out with his girlfriend, Jane. Mal left to work with Ben on some kind of royal duty. Jay left to hang out with some of his friends from the Auradon Prep ROAR team.
Pandora and Griffin stayed at the cottage with Evie. Pandora was flipping through a bookmarked section of a sketchbook Evie had handed her, eyebrows high on her head.
"You sketched all these out last night?" she asked in amazement, her eyes taking in the detailed sketches, each one depicting a girl that strongly resembled Pandora dressed in a different outfit.
"I know, they're just rough sketches. But I wanted your input before I started actually making them." Evie explained from where she was working on the long, dark purple gown she'd been working on yesterday.
Pandora stared at her incredulously. 'Rough sketches' her foot. This girl was clearly a perfectionist. "Well, I love all of them. But honestly, this is too much. You must be busy with other work. And I don't have enough money on me to buy this many outfits."
"Nonsense. I'm not charging you." Evie informed her, waving her hand casually while most of her focus remained on the dress. "I love designing and creating outfits. Especially when I'm hit with inspiration. I added a few little details to those after you showed us your powers earlier." she added, turning and vaguely pointing at the sketchbook before crouching to mess with the hem of the dress.
Pandora nodded, looking back down at the sketches. She'd wondered as much, since a few of the sketches included certain designs like flowers and vines.
"If you're sure." Pandora answered hesitantly. "Maybe I could pay you back with…I don't know. Adding something to your garden? Or something?" she suggested hesitantly.
Evie turned and smiled over her shoulder at her. "That would be wonderful."
"So, is that dress for Mal?" Pandora asked curiously.
"Is it that obvious?" Evie giggled.
Pandora smirked lightly. "Only a little." The dress was purple and green, the shoulders resembled dragon wings, and some of the details looked like scales. It wasn't too difficult to tell the dress was specifically designed for Mal. "It's beautiful. What are you designing it for?"
"It's for the day we go pick up the new VKs." Evie explained. "So, I know you don't want to go to college in Olympus. Do you know what you want to do? Like, for a job?"
Pandora sighed, pulling her legs up to sit cross-legged on the chair. "Honestly? I have no clue." she answered. "That's kind of why I want to go to college somewhere else. I'm hoping, maybe if I can get out in Auradon, and see new things, and gain some new experiences, maybe I can figure out what I want to do. Right now, I have no clue. The only thing I can think of is my powers. But I don't want to work in a flower shop with my mom and grandma."
Evie nodded, now turning her full attention to Pandora. "I get that. Actually, I understand that better than you can imagine." she admitted, sitting on a stool next to Mal's dress. "Growing up, my mom raised me to think that I needed a prince. Everything was always about my looks. My hair, makeup, clothes, all had to be perfect all the time. I had to know how to cook, clean, sew. I needed to be the perfect princess, and just focus on landing a prince and getting a big castle. That's all my mother really cared about. But then I came here."
Evie glanced up and smiled softly. "And I realized that I was more than just a pretty face. I was smart. I studied and got good grades. I realized I didn't need a prince. I started this business in my dorm room. My boyfriend, Doug, helped me with organizing my spreadsheets. He's…he's definitely not a prince." Evie admitted with a laugh and a soft, warm smile as she thought about Doug. "But he's perfect. He treats me like the most important, beautiful girl in the world. I don't need a prince when I have him.
"But my point, is that none of that would have happened if I hadn't left the Isle. I got out, and learned more about myself. I learned what I loved, and what I was able to accomplish. And I think you're right, you need to do the same thing. And I'm sure your mom will understand that."
Pandora smiled gratefully. "Thanks. I really appreciate that. And maybe you're right."