Pandora's Gift (Part 7)

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"And still you opened it?" I asked, surprised.

She looked askance at me. "He didn't only tell me what Zeus knew. He told me the rest too. And I think you know what I mean. I also think that's why you're here. Because you thought I didn't know."

"what did I think you didn't know?"

"That it was about choice. That box had all the evils of the world in it, yes. Disease, pestilence, plague, the works. And, of course, the infamous hope. But that's not all it had. It had choice. For mortals. Or, rather, the understanding that they have choice." She smiled wryly. "And all the accompanying drama."

"Ah." I smiled quietly. She'd gone part of the way. I just had to push her through the rest of it.

"So you deliberately gave them choice at the cost of everything else?"

She dropped her eyes to her now-cold coffee. "I have to admit, I have wondered sometimes if it was worth it. At the time, because of what Heph and I had talked about, it seemed like the right thing to do. It seemed that it was a worthwhile bargain. I had visions of people free of Zeus' tyranny, the tyranny of fate. People free to make their own lives. I thought..."

"You thought they'd thank you."

She nodded.

"But they didn't. Quite the opposite."

A tear fell.

"Still hurts you, doesn't it?"

She shrugged, dashed the tear away, and sat up straight.

"So maybe I chose wrong. At least I chose. They make some terrible decisions a lot of the time. But sometimes they get things right. And that's always beautiful to see. I do doubt my choice, but I don't regret having it, and sometimes that's enough."

I felt a pang of sympathy for this strong, broken girl. I stood.

"Come with me."

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