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The tides had changed. It was time to use the key.
“Don’t touch me,” she hissed with psychotic rage. “NO ONE TOUCHES ME. Ever. You are a lowly nothing—a piece of shit beneath my shoe. I am Pandora, Goddess of the Darkness. If you touch me, I will destroy you.”
I forced myself to remember that at one time she was good. There was very little evidence of that anymore, but if all of our findings were correct, hope still lived inside the wretched woman. If I could get to it, she might be free of the evil and chaos the Higher Power hadgiftedher. She would still pay for her sins, but it might afford her some peace.
“The truth can shift,” I said, speaking the key aloud. “In the Darkness, the seed of hope awaits. Behind every smile lies a dark secret. What you see is rarely what you get. Some bridges are meant to be burned. Embrace what is repugnant to discover the beauty that lies beneath. Often the answer has been in front of you the entire time.”
“Stop it,” she snarled. “Rubbish. You know nothing of what you speak. Donottouch me. I will make you regret it.”
The key wasn’t supposed to be used to lock Pandora away in a box. The key had been meant to save her. The key was to open the box and let the hope seep out. It was to let the box out of Pandora and free her from the evil that had been her prison for so long. Both of the Goddesses had been tested horridly by the Higher Power. In the end, both had failed.
This test wasn’t the end for me. It was the beginning. I could create change by embracing the repugnant to discover the beauty that lies beneath. My gut told me the answer was in the embrace.
“Look at me,” I told her sternly.
She refused. It didn’t matter. She had ears. The Demon would hear what I had to say.
“The truth is shifting. Your people no longer have faith in you because you have committed the most vile sin a Goddess can commit. You killed Lilith.”
She raised her head and glared at me.
“Your smile belies the tragedy that lives inside you,” I said. “You are Pandora’s box. The box is you.”
She reached out, her fingers splayed in a move I’d seen her use when shooting electricity at her foes. With her power zapped, nothing happened, not even a piteous spark. In her frustration, the Demon Goddess spit in my direction.
Her reaction meant I was probably on the right track, so I kept going. “Burn the bridge that you’ve walked on for so long. It’s the past. The only thing left in Pandora’s box is hope. I can help you let it out.”
“Fuck you,” she ground out.
“I’d rather not,” I replied.
Her lackeys laughed. The irate glare she shot their way didn’t affect them. They were done. She knew it, and they knew it.
“Don’t let your pride be the sin that destroys you,” I said calmly.
“It already has,” she screamed. “Let me out. Let me leave. I’ll not bother you again.”
I shook my head. “Not the way it works. Embrace what is repugnant to discover the beauty that lies beneath.”
Getting down on the floor next to the broken Goddess, I wrapped my arms around her. She fought me tooth and nail, but she was no match for a Goddess at full strength. As I hugged her tight against my body, she began to sob. It pulled at my heart, and I held her even tighter. In my arms was the woman who had killed my mother—the woman who had done her best to destroy me.
Pandora’s hatred for me might never go away. My hatred for her might last for eternity, but it didn’t outweigh my pity for what the Higher Power had done. Who knew? In time, I might even learn to forgive her.
I felt the tendril of hope heat both of our bodies. A golden glow surrounded us and danced over our skin. The sensation was glorious. Pandora’s eyes rolled into the back of her head as she went limp in my arms.
Oh, holy Hell. Was she dead? Had I killed her? That hadn’t been the plan. Killing the Goddess would make me no better than her, regardless of my intention. To top it off, we were still live on the Demon Network.
Frantically, I searched for a pulse and let out an audible sigh of relief. Pandora’s heartbeat was steady and strong. The Demon Goddess wasn’t dead.
There was applause, and I couldn’t tell if it was the Demon’s or one of Cher’s audio effects. I let out a soft squeal when the glowing enchantment lifted us both off the ground and suspended us high in the air. A summer-scented breeze gently wafted through the scene before the golden light surrounding us went from warm and gentle to nuclear blinding.
I shielded my eyes as we floated back to the ground cradled in the breeze and landed softly. When the light diminished, Pandora’s eyes shot open and bored into mine. She appeared desperate and terrified.
“It’s okay,” I whispered. “You’re okay.”
Her smile was fleeting as she began to fade. My pulse kicked up a notch as I held her tighter in the hopes that she wouldn’t disappear. This wasn’t a transport. She wasn’t escaping. No. This was something I couldn’t have expected. Pandora was literally fading into nothing.
“What’s happening?” I cried out.
