Bewildered, Emma gaped at the woman kneeling beside her. "Pandora? But..." She glanced at the container sitting on the ground. "So that's your...?"
"Hope chest, Emma? Yes," Pandora gave a girlish giggle. "I thought the name most appropriate. "And that's five."
Even more confused, Emma stammered, "But Neverland? We used your, well, Gold said it was yours. So how come you...?"
Pandora gave another giggle. "Oh Emma, six, you silly girl – you've made the same mistake that all mortals seem to make. The box doesn't determine who I am, I determine what the box is." Reaching out to caress the chest's lid, she explained, "When my fathers created me all those ages ago, they gave me a vase, of all things. It had nothing to seal it with so of course all the ills and evils of the world escaped to plague mankind. I was just used by the gods as the scapegoat for unleashing misery on the the world." She smiled to herself. "Naturally I 'accidentally' dropped it – whoops – and replaced it with an urn which had a stopper at least. Over the centuries I've had many containers that have been used to confine hope – some broken, some stolen – such as the one you and your friends used in Neverland." She rose to her feet and, picking up the chest, she walked a short distance from Emma to stand in a patch of shade.
Emma tried to stand but discovered that her limbs were still pinioned by some invisible force. "What do you want with me, you bitch? When I get the chance I'm gonna..."
"Rip my heart out Emma?" Pandora pretended to look shocked. "But isn't that the specialty of your beloved Regina? My, my Emma, hanging out with that woman has most certainly corrupted your values. And that's eight." Pandora laughed, a full throaty laugh that vastly contrasted with the girlish giggling she had affected earlier. "You're not going to ever be able to touch me."
"I said," Emma snarled angrily, "what the hell do you want with me?"
Pandora gave a twisted smile. "I suppose I can divulge that much. You have great power within you, immense power – enough to draw me to you in order to take advantage of it. Once I have finished with you, I will finally be able to pay my fathers back for making me bear the blame for the suffering inflicted upon humans."
"How? I don't understand what you're going on about." Emma was becoming more confused by the second. "I know I have some magic but Regina and Rumplestiltskin..."
"Aren't even in your league Emma. Sure they have great magical skills and they're both broken in their own ways, but you, me dear, are the most broken of them all and that is what I need."
"Huh? You're crazy lady."
Pandora laughed again. "That was nine by the way, just so you know. It's all the lost hope that used to be yours – combined with your magic it becomes something immensely powerful indeed."
"I still don't get what you mean," Emma said, trying to stall this obviously insane woman until she could think of a way out of her predicament.
Pandora opened the chest she was holding, reached in, and withdrew a handful of something that looked like opaque indigo-coloured jelly. It twisted and writhed on her open palm with a life of its own. "This is some of your lost hope dear. When you develop a hope that something will occur and then it doesn't, well, the hope you held is shattered – dust in the wind. And then I can capture it. Your hopes of ever being adopted; your hopes of a happy life with Neal; your hopes of forging an enduring friendship with Regina; even your hopes of your relationship with Regina turning into something more permanent and intimate: all shattered and all in my possession. I have been collecting lost hope for ever so long and now, finally, I have the opportunity to do whatever I want. And it's all thanks to you Emma."
As Pandora said Emma's name for the tenth time, the blonde woman slumped back against the rock, unconscious.
"And ten." Pandora smiled to herself before she addressed the oblivious figure before her. "Really I'm doing you a favour – you wouldn't like to be conscious for what happens next." Returning Emma's hope to the chest, she carefully closed the lid and set the chest back down on the ground. With a small gesture she dismissed the spell that had been restraining Emma. Then, using both hands to make the required gestures, she levitated Emma's limp body high into the air.
"No loose ends, my dear," she muttered as she made a sharp cutting gesture with her hands, allowing Emma's body to fall and break on the boulders beneath.
Calmly bending and scooping up the chest, Pandora turned and walked away to disappear amongst the trees. Not once did she deign look back at her handiwork.