He withdrew a fist-sized sphere from his pocket and held it out to her. “This is the last thing he left to us. No one in our family has ever been able to meld with it nor do we fully understand its purpose. The instructions he left said to only pass this to Tatum Allegra Winters or a worthy successor in the event one of the Creators pierced the veil.”
Tate reached out to take the sphere from him. “A pandora’s box.”
“You know what it is?”
Night edged closer as Tate brought the sphere up to her face. Resembling a crystal-like substance, the core was gold with tiny iridescent scales that shimmered with the colors of green and azure trapped in its depths.
Tate couldn’t help her wonder as she turned it over, watching the light glimmer on the scales.
“I should. I was with him the first time we encountered one.” And it had been her idea to adapt them to their use—an idea Jax had told her was impossible. Looked like that had changed sometime after her sleep.
“I would be very interested to learn more.”
Tate lowered the sphere. “Would you now?”
The duke gave her a bland smile. “You forget this concerns my family’s own history. Jaxon was a part of our childhood. You could say we feel an immense curiosity and possessiveness toward anything pertaining to him.”
Tate let out a soft sound. “Did you know Jax was an orphan? At least by today’s standards. In our day, we were what was called creche babies. It’s how they referred to those children commissioned by the government.”
Ostensibly, children were born to keep the population up since many didn’t have the time, or want the responsibility, of raising children. Technology in that place had advanced enough that humans were no longer necessary for the procreation of the species. Those the government raised inherited the debt upon their coming of age. Most were sent to the military while those who showed promise were sent for further education in the sciences.
Almost all of Tate’s squad had similar backgrounds. The natural born tended to avoid service requirements.
“I think he would have found this world’s obsession with lineage quite amusing.”
“There are stories, yes,” the duke acknowledged.
It wasn’t entirely surprising the stance Jax’s descendants took regarding their lineage. Being related to him was something to be proud of even if the sentiment would have been completely foreign to Tate and the rest back then.
Besides, Tate couldn’t bring herself to hate their way of thinking. Jax was remembered even all these years later. There was a certain comfort in that.
Tate refocused on the sphere, putting aside such unimportant matters. She would have dearly loved to know exactly how Jax managed to create this. A pandora’s box was considered powerful because of the potential that lay inside. No one ever quite knew what would be waiting for them if they opened it.
To form a sphere, you had to sacrifice a small bit of yourself. It was why they were so rare. The Ijiri weren’t known for being altruistic and humans were too fragile to summon the power needed to shape one of these.
The other reason was because not many would want to gamble that they’d be able to obtain something useful in the endeavor. The pandora’s box was as capable of imparting a blessing as a curse depending on the person and how it was used.
Tate pushed her senses into the sphere, wanting to know who Jax had used to create something this powerful.
Jax’s own essence she expected. The essence of the others made her freeze in place. It had been centuries but how could she not know their names. Suze, Trace, Kenneth. Every one of them was present in the sphere Tate held. Had imparted a bit of themselves.
Their voices whispered words of apology and hope for her future. The goodbyes they never got to exchange and the regret over how their actions had hurt her. Beneath it all was a conviction and desire for Tate’s happiness.
Tears spilled down her cheeks as a bittersweet feeling filled her. After everything, they still had faith in who she would become. That she’d come out the other end alright.
Their message soothed the sting of betrayal Tate had steadfastly ignored, telling herself it was impossible to feel betrayed by people she didn’t even remember. Then the memories had started to come, and it became impossible to reconcile events with the people she’d once known.
With this, she could tell they genuinely thought they were making the best decision for a friend who wasn’t in her right state of mind. Watching someone slowly lose their mind was one of the worst experiences a person could have. Doubly so when you saw that person as a sister and comrade-in-arms. They’d done the only thing they could think of at the time—even though it was hard. Even though it likely felt like a betrayal.
The pandora’s box brought closure. Something Tate never thought she’d have.
“It seems my faith in you wasn’t misplaced after all,” Tate said softly.
It wasn’t easy creating something like this. An impossible existence that would evolve to meet the changing circumstances. How long must it have taken Jax and the others to give life to the sphere? They would have needed to fill it with their personal memories and essence on a near constant basis for years.
It wasn’t something that could have been done if they were as divided as records and Jax’s avatar led her to believe.
It was their final gift to her—and it had arrived when she needed it most.
