“Not for me,” said the voice. “I alone am free.”
This couldn’t be true.No onewas free in Pandora’s box.
“Except for… its creator.”
Oh gods, no.She wanted to vanish from existence, to hide from this presence that had haunted her for her entire life.
Of all the sins she wanted to escape,thiswas what she yearned to be rid of the most.
“You cannot hide from me, child. You never could. I amalwayswith you. And now that we are inmydomain, I have the power I have always craved.”
A form shimmered into view, piercing through the darkness. Golden tan skin. A white dress draped over one shoulder. Raven black hair. And burning amber eyes.
Pandora. The true Pandora.
The goddess smirked, then flicked her wrist.
With a gasp, Trivia inhaled her first breath in what felt like eons. Her own body materialized, hovering directly infront of Pandora. Her skin was just a shade darker than Pandora’s. Her hair looked like flames against the darkness. It floated behind her as if she were completely weightless.
Perhaps she was.
A cold sweat broke out on her skin—gods, it felt so strange to haveskin.She blinked, her eyes dry and irritated. Her throat burned, and every inch of her ached with a bone-weary exhaustion that made her want to crawl into a hole and never come out.
“That would be too easy,” Pandora crooned. “No, you must bepresentfor this part, dear Trivia. I offered you freedom, and you threw it all away. To rest peacefully amidst the darkness would be too light of a punishment for you.”
“I would hardly call thispeaceful,” Trivia snapped, her voice raspy from days—months? Years?—of silence.
Pandora planted a hand on her hip, one thin eyebrow raised. “Are you complaining? Youchosethis.”
Trivia had no argument for that. Because it was true; shehadchosen this.
But somehow, she hadn’t realized it meant an eternity withher.Somehow, she had believed she’d finally been free of the goddess who tormented her.
How foolish of her.
“Mm, foolish indeed,” Pandora agreed, smiling wide enough to show her teeth.
“Stop reading my mind,” Trivia snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. She realized she was dressed in a burgundy tunic and brown trousers—the same clothes she’d been wearing when she and Sol had activated the failsafe in Elysium.
The last day she had seen Sol, she’d been wearing this.
When he’d screamed her name, begging her not to give herself up…
And she’d sobbed, pleading with him to save her mother instead of her…
“Gods, you’re pathetic,” Pandora sneered, waving her hand at the darkness that surrounded them.
In an instant, the world shifted, and a square of light appeared to Trivia’s left. Through the square, she could see all manner of shapes and colors. They spun in a dizzying array, making her feel nauseous and disoriented. She shut her eyes, but Pandora tsked at her.
“None of that. I need you to see this.”
An invisible force peeled back Trivia’s eyelids, forcing her to watch. When her gaze fixed on the image in the square, her heart tumbled in her chest.
Sol.
He was standing next to the portal alongside Gaia. It looked like they were arguing, though Trivia couldn’t hear anything. Sol gestured with his arms, his expression dark with anger.
So many times, that fury had been directed ather.
