Pandora's Gift (Part 5)

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"But you still opened it," I said.

She nodded. And changed the subject back again.

"But he understood. He knew how powerful it was. He knew that mortals having choice, free will, was necessary for us."

"You speak like you are one of them. Look what they've done with it!"

"Oh Athena! I know you're wise, but sometimes you're really dumb. They're flawed. Broken. They hurt and destroy and use their will for bad. Often. But they are also beautiful. And REAL in a way that you and I will never be. Because they have choice, and everything in their lives is affected by that."

"Sounds like you don't need me after all."

She grinned, a very unusual, room-lighting grin. "Hey, you came looking for me, remember." The grin faded, as fast as it had come. "I've had a lot of time to think about it."

"So... why'd you still open it, despite knowing that fate was nonsense?"

"That's what they always leave out of the story. They assume I didn't know what was in it."

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She told me how she had started to wonder. After her conversation with Hephaestus, she knew that she could open it herself. But if Zeus had misled her about that, what else had he misled her about? So she left it for a day. And the day turned into a week. Which turned into two weeks.

Simply, she had started to wonder what was in it. And why it was so important to Zeus that it be opened. So she decided to find out before she opened it. So that she could better decide. She wanted to know, now that she knew she could decide, how to make the right choice.

She asked Epimetheus everything about it. Where it had come from. What he knew. But it seemed like all he knew about it was that his brother had given it to him for safe-keeping, and that he had told him in no uncertain terms that he must never allow it to be opened. Pandora began to realise that the one person who knew the answers was currently tied to a rock with an eagle eating his liver every day. Which was a bit of a problem. Nevertheless, she resolved to go and see him.

This part of the story was new to me. I had no idea that Pandora had ever spoken to Prometheus at all. And I certainly didn't know what he had told her.

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