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Outside was a pink and orange pastel paradise. The sun seemed to kiss the earth and the rock as it slowly rose into the sky. The ground below him lit up in sparkling colors of various hues and tones. It was a world of only brightness that illuminated the jagged rocks above and beneath him. He sat on a flattened rock ledge that jutted out from the mountain just slightly above the entrance to the cave. He raised his clawed hand to his face, shielding his eyes from the light. He laughed quietly. “I had no idea the world was this intensely light…”

He peered down at the cave entrance. This is a place of only shadows and darkness. The stale air has been overused. Maybe that’s the reason they were dying, because no one could feasibly live in that world. But was it only the darkness that was suffocating them? Or was it me?

He glanced back toward the rising sun. So bright… Has the world always been this way? I don’t think I’ve ever seen this much light or felt this much warmth, even with God… It seems incredibly bleak and cold here, like a place where no one was allowed to survive. He hugged his knees lightly. Wasn’t the entire world shrouded in darkness like that?

He lifted his wrist again and stared at its emptiness in the light. Pandora…

“Do you want to be free?”

Does being free mean you can go wherever you want? Even… Even leaving this cave? Can I finally see the world beyond the small and dark universe I live in? Is that what being free meant? That anyone could stand on their own two feet? Or is freedom something greater than that?

He rested his hand back on his knees and lowered his head to his knees as well. Why is she trying so hard? For a monster... Is it really possible to rescue me from this stagnant place? When I’ve been here for so long… And more than that… why does she want to do it so badly? What good does it do her if I can run away from this place?

Her face flashed through his mind and he saw her tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she lowered her head. When she glanced back up at him, her eyes seemed bigger in the dark and her face flushed.

His pulse raced as he squeezed his knees. I… don’t hate her… No… I could never hate her… Even though… He shut his eyes as he held a hand to his chest. It’s warm...

He raised his head slowly as he opened his mouth. A very small, but clear tone emanated from his lips. Tears began falling from his eyes and he closed his mouth quickly, then raised one hand to his face to wipe away his tears before lowering his head back to his knees.

So sad that it makes even me cry… What was it that was taken from me? Was it something different from my freedom? Is it… really what I’ve always wanted most? He raised his head and leaned back on his hands. I wanted… to always be near the light of God… I wanted something loving… and warm… A light that would always hold me close and never let go… A light that would give me the strength to stand and fight… His lips formed a quiet smile. A light that can create miracles…

That was all that I ever really wanted… That’s not an impossible wish, is it? Can anything grant that wish? A light that creates miracles… That must be impossible… But… Maybe…

Maybe the box can create that sort of miracle?

The box was created by God with his holy sealing powers… and a priestess must retrieve it… If that is the case, then maybe the box can create that miracle… Created by holy power and obtained by holy powers… It must have that power… But…. Can I get any of that power for my wish?

He held his knees tightly. I don’t… I don’t actually want to go with her to try and see if the others are alive… because… There isn’t a place in this intensely light world for someone like me… I really… I really do belong to the darkness… Someone like me… someone who is weak and small… someone like that deserves to be in the darkness… only in the darkness…

But… if she’s going to get the box… Then… then maybe I can borrow some of that miracle creating holy power and get my wish… If that’s the case, then maybe I have to go with her… His lips curved into a smile. And I think… I think that maybe if she was willing to break my chains… He raised his wrist to his eyes. Then I’m sure that she will definitely give me some of that power to create my own miracle…

~*~



Minako stood facing the outside of the cage. She wrapped her fingers around the bars. What lies beyond this chained hell? I have no idea, but… my heart longs for the outside… Even if the world is only filled with stale darkness… Even if death is waiting for me in the darkness… Whatever difficult and ominous future lies before me… It’s better than the present… So, I… So I have to get out of here…

The cold metal of the bars pierced her hands as shivers pricked her skin. Her heart shuddered and hid against her spine. Even if the bars were small slivers, the room closed in on her and all the inhabitants there. She gasped for breath as she tightened the grip of her fingers around the bars. She clung for them, as if holding them would pull her out of this nightmare.

Somewhere, far beyond the darkness, Renee is waiting for me… In my heart, I have no doubts about that… Renee must have searched every inch of the studio and every corner of Times Square to find me… She lowered her head. Would anyone guess where I am?

This world… The horned boy with wings… Did they exist in reality? Or was it a dream? The withered souls in the cage claimed that my reality was a dream… And this ominous dream was a reality… Her fingers shook as they gripped the bars. How? How could it be that everything that was normal, happy, and bright was a lie? Did reality only exist in the darkness? What kind of a reality is that? Minako held the bars tighter and lowered her head as tears began falling from her eyes.

Without Renee… I feel so lost….

The darkness clouded her sight. Everywhere I turn, there’s no pocket of light in the shadow. The darkness filled her throat and choked her. Tears welled in her eyes as the hands of darkness closed tightly around her throat. The stale air will claim me and then what will become of everyone? I’m supposed to rescue them, right? She laughed quietly. I can’t do that if I die… She put her hand to her head, how stupid am I?

There was a clicking sound.

That noise…

The sound grew closer.

She gasped. I recognize that sound now, even without the scraping… Footsteps… His footsteps...

Even though the inhabitants of the caged room had spent the night with him when he was the curled child nestling in the warmth of the priestess, they still feared him. As Minako struggled to breathe, the other girls backed into the corners of darkness.

She turned to face them. So… they recognize those footsteps too…

In those corners, they could conceal themselves entirely from the demon.

She shut her eyes. Why are they such cowards? He has a gentle kindness that can overcome the darkness… Minako crumpled to her knees as the darkness finally overtook her. Her jaw shook as she sniffed back her tears. Why… Why am I so weak? Why? She forced a large breath down her throat.

The clicking sound stopped. “Pandora…” His voice sounded cold.

She managed to lift her head, if only briefly, to look into Nick’s eyes.

His eyes narrowed as he glanced at her, but faced back toward the way he came from. His face reflected the coldness in his voice and his lips curled into a smirk. “Well, Pandora… The darkness has grown stale since you appeared...”

Minako struggled to breathe. “Why…”

Nick’s eyes shifted to the opposite direction. “Only God and the Devil know.” He turned back to her. “Death… is approaching.”

Minako gripped the bars tighter, they were her safety, the only thing in this desolate hell that gave her life. Her breath shortened as she struggled to speak. “Why…”

Nick turned to face her fully and the smirk faded from his lips as his eyes became gentle.

Her body trembled in the darkness as it was engulfed by the stale air. Whatever breathable air existed escaped her lips and hid in the shadows amongst the other girls. Her hair clung to her face, equally frightened of the darkness.

Is this the powerful priestess? She doesn’t seem like one… I’ve heard the story of the Priestess from Rubiihoppou. Her strength overpowered the demons there and her heart crushed their hopes… Their wishes… Her strength was selfish… But this priestess… Even as her body and soul crumples, she stands up to me. She faces me. Is her strength from her heart?

He knelt to her level. If I can reach out to her, then maybe she will regain her strength. We’re trapped together in this prison of darkness: me, the priestess, and all the others… If I can reach out to her, then maybe she can push the darkness away from them all by lighting the torch of hope…

The bars, though solid metal, looked as though they would shatter under the weight of her hands, as though her fingers were one thousand times stronger and the bars were merely dust.

“Not… enough…”

Nick put his hand on the bars. “Pandora…”

She stared straight into his eyes “Why… Why do… you… torture us? We’re… so weak…”

“Torture?” Nick frowned and wrapped his hands around hers. I’m not… Can I transfer any of my newfound strength to her? Somewhere in my heart, whatever little light still exists, maybe I can give it to her, and then I can complete her. Maybe she just needs some light to ignite the torch… Maybe it’s impossible to do alone… I’ll give her that for my miracle… It’s a small price to ignite the darkness...

“This hell… it’s killing us… Right now… You… are the… strongest… creature… alive… End this… Let… me… out… and… every…one… else… too…”

Nick pulled her hands through the bars and cradled them close to his heart. Just a little light to ignite the miracle... “The Priestesses will descend upon this earth as the shining light within the darkness. In their hearts, they hold the secret of the box, the box that God hid, but the Devil protects. They will find it, because in their hearts, they know the names of the demons… the demons that desire the box. They will lead us to it, and we will prosper.” He looked into her eyes. “That is Pandora’s true duty…”

“Why… is…” Minako began to cough. Her voice was strained as she struggled to breathe… “box… so… im…portant…”

Nick’s face hardened as he gripped her hands tightly, crushing her small fingers beneath his grip. “I want it back.”

Minako shut her eyes and tried to pull away, but Nick had immense power over her. Her arms grew limp as her struggle ceased beneath his tight grip.

“I want it back, more than anything.” His voice grew raspy as he growled. “No one else can have it! It belongs to me!”

“What… did… they… take? What… is it… that’s… missing?”

“It’s been so long, that even I don’t remember its true form or shape, but my power… my life… is sealed inside that box.”

“Your… life inside… a box?”

Nick glanced away from her. “You may think you are the weakest ones in this world, but even now I am dying… If it’s not returned, then I know I will die. It is… a part of my body…”

“How… long…?”

“A year… A decade… Always… Never… Now... Nothing in life is certain…”

“Nothing?”

“But… Even if I can only live a short time… No, whether or not I live for only a short time, it is still mine. God… God had no right to take it!” Nick released Minako’s hands and stood up, causing her to collapse on the ground.

He clenched his fists and they began flickering with a sapphire light. “GOD HAD NO RIGHT!” His tail stood upright and even his wings began to flare out. Nick grabbed the bars and as he clenched his fists, the sapphire glow flared and the bars shattered beneath his grip.

“Pale… blue… light? Why?”

The bars that shattered like glass no longer sealed the cage. Nick stood before the open cage, his face hard and cold again. His body lost the ease it possessed earlier and it regained its rigid quality. The soft heart within the demon had become consumed with his rage, hate, and bloodlust for God -- the man who trapped him in the stagnant darkness and stole what was most precious from him. “If you’re weak in that cage, you should get out, Pandora… You will find the other demons, you will find the box, and then you will return what was stolen from me. That is your purpose in this world.”

Minako gripped the dirt as she stood on her trembling legs. Her knees shook beneath her. Dirt sprinkled from within her hands and her whole body trembled from weakness. She began backing into the darkness, still gripping at the grains of dirt for support.

“You refuse me?”

“Everyone… Everyone… else… You… will… let… them… go… too… I… won’t… go… without… them… Got it?”

“I have finally found you, Pandora. They are free to leave as they wish. You are the only one I want…”

Minako released the dirt and put her hands to her heart. Her legs shook violently. The only one… you want… Her hands shook. That embrace…

“Pandora… Come to me…”

Minako stepped back as she searched the darkness for the glowing yellow eyes. Some of the pale-skinned, life-drained girls emerged from within the darkness. Minako stumbled toward Nick, her body was becoming too weak to support her own weight. “Come… out… He’s… letting… you… go…” Though she could see some of the girls through the stagnant darkness, their yellow eyes would not respond to her pleading. “Come… out… Hurry… Please…”

“We’re… not leaving.” A single voice called out from the darkness. The yellow eyes seemed to nod in agreement with the voice, but all of them stayed in the shadow of the stagnant darkness.

Minako’s knees shook as they pulled her back to the ground. She shut her eyes and clenched her fists with all her remaining strength. “You… can’t… stay… here… You… have… have… to… come…”

“No,” the single voice responded firmly, “We’re staying here. This world is not like the dream we awakened from. We don’t like it. It is too dark… too frightening and it is filled with rotten people. We do not want to see it, so we won’t leave.”

“IF YOU STAY HERE YOU’LL DIE!!!!!!!!!”

“That is… okay…”

“But… you’ll…” Minako’s last ounce of strength had failed her. She toppled to the ground. Even if I can’t save myself, please in this one moment I want to save all of them. But this darkness is consuming me… this darkness where death hides. How could the others think it protects them? It’s the silent murderer among us. With her hair and arms lying limp on the ground, Minako resembled a small doll.

Nick leaned down and put his hand to her face. She’s so peaceful looking… even if she released all her power… He wrapped his arms around her body and stood. "Pandora..."

The yellowed eyes stared up at Nick as they shook almost pleadingly.

Though there were hundreds of them, Nick towered over them in the darkness. He glanced down and looked into the yellow spotlights they created “Your lives are your own. Live them out where you choose. Pandora wants your freedom, so I will grant it if I really even have that power. There are no more bars, there is no more cage. Come and go as you please. Even if you won’t leave, you are your own caretakers now…” Nick held Minako’s limp body in his arms, close to his chest and the warmth of his heart. “I almost have the only thing that I ever wanted.”

“Make sure she lives…” A sole voice called to Nick from the darkness.

“Whichever eye lit lamps call out to me now, you can find peace in knowing that I will not let Pandora die. The priestess who lifts up the hell-creatures should never be allowed to close her eyes. She will give me the light that creates miracles, so I will protect her life with my own hands. That is… the only promise I can keep…”

“Find peace,” a chorus of yellowed eyes called out to him. He was center stage within the spotlight of their prayers.

Nick tightened his grip on Minako and exited the darkness. His clawed feet made the familiar clicking sound of his footsteps.

I won’t tell them this, but it’s because you were kind… If you hadn’t broken my chains, I would never have seen that world of light outside this world of only darkness. And I wouldn’t be able to leave now… I feel a little bad taking advantage of all the kindness you’ve already shown me, but… He swallowed. My stomach is rippling. He held her closer to his chest. I must be nervous about this journey. He glanced down at her. But you only exist to retrieve the box, right? And if that’s all you exist for, then I don’t mind borrowing that holy power to create my own miracle… Some day… when I already have my strength back… I promise I’ll try to thank you… Until then… I’ll protect your holy power with whatever I do have so you can create my miracle. Is that okay… Pandora?

He would escape the stagnant dead air with his life, and so would Minako. They would regain their strength in time. In his arms, Nick carried the goddess of hope. In her heart she carried everyone’s dreams and one day she would be strong enough to light the torch called hope and rescue them all from darkness. Nick’s grip grew stronger each moment, he knew better than anyone else that a very special kind of strength was necessary, because hope was the most fragile glass.