VI. Dark Revelation

     It was almost midnight when we went in. It started to rain outside. Ruby rushed to get a first aid kit, Hugo made chamomile tea, Erika sliced the cake, and Pietro pretended to do something. Not long after, we settled down in the drawing room and while Ruby treated my wounds, Hugo and Erika served tea and cake. It was silent in the manor. A lot of questions have started invading my mind; everything is just too surreal to absorb.


     "Please explain everything," I said politely as I warmed up my palms with my cup of tea.

     Hugo took his seat and said, "Let me tell you a story, our story; however, before I start telling you the tale. Tell me, do you know Pandora?"

     "Are you pertaining to the jewelry brand or the first woman in greek mythology?" I asked.

     "What do you know about Pandora's box?" Hugo asked.

     "Well, the greek gods created Pandora as an act of vengeance for the men who stole fire from them. Hephaestus created her from the earth, Athena clothed her, Apollo gave her musical prowess, and Aphrodite made her irresistible among men. She was beautiful, talented, and guileful."

     "Very good, little miss. You retained the greek mythology that your late grandfather used to tell you,” Hugo praised.

     "Why are you asking about Pandora?" I continued.

     "Because everything started there. Let me continue the story. According to the historians, Pandora's box was originally a jar or a vase that contained all the dark and evil entities that now walk the earth; however, there is more to it than that. The jar didn't technically contain anything. It wasn't what's inside the jar, it was the jar itself that opened the gates to a dimension of primordial beings."

     "So all the evil that came out were actually primordial beings?" I asked.

     "Not all primordial beings were evil, little miss. If you remember the story, there was something left inside, or rather, someone. A being neither evil nor good," Erika answered as she crossed her arms and leaned on the wall.

     "Hope," I whispered.

     "Elpis, to be precise. She was the daemon of hope," Ruby added as she finished treating my injury and tidying things up.

     "A demon? You mean that hope was a devil?" I replied in shock.

     "No. Contrary to how the word is used today, a daemon is an entity between gods and humans, a personified spirit of sort. Ever wonder why Elpis was inside in the first place?" Hugo explained.

     "You know what, it does make me wonder why she would be trapped inside with all the darkness," I replied.

     Hugo leaned forward from his seat and continued the tale saying, "She wasn't trapped, little miss. She chose to stay there. You see, the dimension where all the entities were bound is called Tartarus. It is the deepest section of the underworld which harboured all the darkness and evil of the world; some birthed by Tartarus itself, some children of dark primordial beings such as Khaos, Nyx, and Erebos. Among these children are the triad of death namely Moros, daemon of doom; Ker, bringer of violent death; and Thanatos, spirit of gentle passing. Their presence combined gave birth to a condition of aspiration and desire to live; hence, the existence of Elpis, spirit of hope. Elpis stayed within Tartarus and provided redemption to dark entities who desired a more pleasant fate out of Tartarus. The realization for redemption was simple, yet fleeing Tartarus was a trial of life and endurance for merely indulging in sin would consequent to being pulled back into the pit. Slowing down was never an option; it took years to travel the realm, barefoot with no food and no sleep. Among hundreds of redeemed spirits, only seven daemons survived in escaping the underworld in human form; these are Hybris, Zelus, Himeros, Ploutos, Lyssa, Aergia, and Adephagia. Upon reaching the world of mortals, the seven wanted to save Elpis from the pits of Tartarus as an act of gratitude for aiding them to redemption; however, there was one problem: how? The seven recalled that hundreds of their companions were reeled back to Tartarus once they succumbed to the dark. They thought that by collecting a lot of sin and darkness, they may find a way to open the gates to Tartarus just in time to save Elpis. For years, they roamed the surface of the earth cleansing it with all its darkness and harvesting the sins of mankind. Eventually, they infused all the sins they have gathered into clay that was then turned to a vase and once shattered on the ground, may open the gates to Tartarus; however, someone should notify Elpis of the plan to save her. So the seven crafted two vases, one to send the rescuer to look for Elpis and another to provide them the exit. Since time doesn't work the same in Tartarus and the mortal world, the seven calculated a meticulous timeframe in order for the plan to work. They shattered the first vase and Ploutos, the daemon of greed went in. Not long after, the olympian gods found out about the scheme, surprised the six remaining daemons, and confiscated the second vase. Ploutos and Elpis remained trapped in Tartarus trying to survive and hide from all the dark entities."

     "Then how did the vase fall into Pandora's hands? And what happened to the remaining spirits?" I asked as I took a sip of tea to relax my nerves from all this.

     Erika took her seat, crossed her legs, and continued the story, "Zeus was enraged not only by the escape of the daemons, but also because of Prometheus' theft; therefore, he decided to punish all mortals roaming the earth. He ordered Hephaestus to create a woman from clay that would drive men to madness; the first mortal woman: Pandora. She was presented to mankind and mankind was stupid enough to fall for her charms. It didn't take long, she was married to Prometheus' brother, Epimetheus. On their wedding, Zeus gave Pandora the vase and she was a fool for breaking it, opening a portal to Tartarus and spreading all evil and darkness to the world. Luckily, Elpis and Ploutos managed to escape before the gates closed. But, the world began to die."

     "As for the remaining daemons," Ruby added, "The gods were furious and wanted the daemons to return to tartarus; however, getting there is much more difficult than escaping it, so the gods took the souls of the daemons and had them reincarnated into mortals where all their memories of tartarus were lost."

     "What happened next?" I asked.

     "After a lot of generations and so much history, the six daemons were repeatedly reincarnated until such time they got scattered across the whole world. Ploutos, considering he wasn't reincarnated, lived on as an immortal tracking and trying to gather all his companions in every generation, battling the darkness and evil endlessly. Pandora was never heard of again after the incident. Elpis, on the other hand, sacrificed herself by becoming an entity that gave hope to men despite all the chaos," answered Hugo.

     I tried to absorb all the story told to me and remain sane at the same time. It isn't difficult to understand, but it feels so bizarre as if all this is happening in a fantasy novel. I'm not satisfied yet; I took a deep breath and without averting my stare into Hugo's eyes, I asked, "How does the fight earlier fit into this? Why did you have weapons? Why is this even happening?"

     All of them fell silent to my questions. The rain started pouring harder, thunder claps echoed from the outside. During the uncomfortable silence, I heard the front door open and footsteps walk in. I was surprised because I wasn't expecting anyone tonight.

     "I'm soaking wet. I had to chase that possessed all the way to the park where it almost attacked a civilian. Why the hell did you guys let it escape?" I recognized the voice in an instant. If I'm not mistaken, the person who just walked in is Noah, the number one delinquent at our school and the student council's nemesis. He is a difficult, undisciplined headache of a student. I stood up and faced him saying, "What do you think you're doing waltzing in our home uninvited? You got some nerves, delinquent!”

     "What are you doing here? Why are you still awake?" asked Noah in the most arrogant way possible as he hung his wet black leather jacket on the coat rack. How could he ask that? I live here!

     "I should be asking you that question. This is trespassing; you have no right to be here. You-you... hooligan!" I'm not the kind of girl who would normally insult people but this guy really gets into my nerves. He just scoffed at me and gave me a half smile which made him look less hostile and more annoyingly handsome, but still he's infuriating. There is no day in school where he won't cause trouble for the student council.

     Hugo cut in the argument, "It's okay, little miss. Sir Noah is involved in this. He is..."

     "Ploutos. That makes me way older than you so show some respect to your oniisan, will you?" Obnoxious twerp. I'm speechless. Where did the anime reference even come from? How do I respond to that. I can't think straight. "I guess you're still confused. Let me explain this further into detail. To start off, I'll introduce myself properly. You may have known me as the ruggedly handsome delinquent from school, Noah; however, my real identity is Ploutos, child of Demeter and the embodiment of wealth."

     "Which later became greed and was exiled to tartarus. And by the way, for your information we didn't let the possessed escape. There were five of them and we defeated four," added Erika rolling her eyes at Noah.

     "Hush now fry cook," responded Noah taking his seat and smearing mud all over the furnitures. I saw Ruby biting her lips trying to hold back her tears.

     "If only the the little miss wasn't here; I swear, I'd stab you," replied Erika as she stormed out of the room and into the kitchen. I can hear her sharpening her blades.

     "Sorry about Erika. It's not everyday we get an arrogant guest. Please, do continue your tale," I urged. He smirked and brushed his damp shaggy hair which was one of the many reasons why the council hates him.

     "Now, where were we. I'm guessing Hugo explained the history with you, didn't he? So let me explain the situation at hand. The thing you fought a while ago, I call them 'possessed.' They are humans who succumbed to the dark and were blinded by it driving them mad and ridding them of their sanity. Hugo, Erika, Ruby, and Pietro are four of the reincarnated spirits who escaped tartarus, and as I've mentioned, so am I. Here's the thing, since Pandora opened a portal to tartarus and all evil went out, I've been battling these entities for centuries now; however, all I could do is subdue them for some decades and they rise again. A never ending battle. I'm pretty exhausted already," Noah continued, or is it Ploutos?

     "Then why do you fight if you're so tired of it and what's up with the masks?" I asked.

     "I made a promise to Elpis. She sacrificed herself to give mankind hope, and she entrusted me with the responsibility of fighting these evil. Unlike us, other spirits are hostile and are incapable of redemption, so the only choice is to return them to tartarus which is impossible without all seven spirits. If I don't fight, the evil entities will tip the balance of the world destroying humanity as we know it. As for the masks, it's still a mystery. Maybe a fashion statement made by the gods; I really don’t have a clue” he answered calmly. He's become serious about this matter. I can't imagine the weight of the burden he has to bear.

     "If all of this is true, you must be thousands of years old. You mean to say all that time you haven't completed the seven spirits who escaped tartarus?"

     "Well, the measurement of time changed throughout millennia so I really can't tell how old I am. And to answer your question, no. I failed to track down all of them in a single generation, but this generation may be different," Noah continued.

     "How is this different?" I asked with a soft voice. The mood has become serious.

     "Well... For starters, you appeared. To be honest, I’m really impressed by how calm you are right now,” Noah answered.

     “Unlike people my age, I am more capable. I process information well and I contemplate on how I should react. In this situation, calmness proves to be quite effective in keeping my sanity intact. Anyway, how am I involved in all this?" I replied.

     Pietro began to speak, "You see, little miss, according to Noah, it takes him years to track down a single spirit. Sometime, when he finally gets near to gathering them all, the others die of old age and get reincarnated again. This generation is different because you're here. No one knows why but somehow you managed to draw five spirits close to you already."

     Noah stood up and started walking towards the front door, "This is the first time it happened. I was baffled knowing four daemons have been gathered in the same continent, let alone under a single household. I don't understand, but this feels like fate, and everything connects to you. Anyway, I have to run. The rain has stopped and I don't want to be late tomorrow and be harassed by the oh-so-mighty student council. Do me a favor will ya, keep your sanity and sleep on it. I'll see you tomorrow."

     "Wait. Why are you a teenager and why do you choose go to school? If you don't mind me asking," I asked.

     “Well, I don’t reincarnate, but I do have some sort of a reboot system. I still age, and when I get too old, I transform to a baby. To answer your second question, most possessed are teenagers. Maybe because they have vulnerable hearts, so think of it as a steak out.”

     "Last question. Why did you tres- uhh.. come here?"

     "Well, I wanted to check on the sins and I needed a place to dry off."

     "Sins?"

     "Yeah. You haven't realized yet? The daemons who escaped tartarus are the embodiments of pride, greed, sloth, lust, wrath, gluttony, and envy,” he answered as he took his jacket. “The seven deadly sins," he continued as he shut the door behind him.