A Story of Evil

Chapter 34: The Shadow

"Where"

Solomon woke up finding himself in an unfamiliar place. It looked a lot like one of the [Chaos Areas], those inhabited by the monsters. But there was a different vibe to it. The floating rock formations. The waters that didn't flow. The trees which grew dark toned leaves.

There was a kind of calm that it brought. Something which Sol didn't understand. Yet this was the least of his concerns because, apart from that, he also couldn't' feel his own body. In fact, as he looked at his hands, they were almost transparent.

"Did I die?" Solomon began recalling the whole fight with the wolves from a third person's point of view. He saw his own body and how it seemed to function beyond what any Void could accomplish. A wild beast that tore through its opponent's weaknesses.

"No, there's definitely something weird going on in this place." Solomon felt a similarity between his current location and Pandora's box.

He thought that he should hold his claims until someone actually comes and talks to him. And this was exactly when a creature finally showed up.

"Jubilee was right, you really do have what it takes." Solomon looked to where the voice was coming from.

"Above you kid." The voice furthered, making Solomon gaze at the sky which had the divine looking creature descending upon him.

"Who are you?"

"Really kid? That's the first thing you're gonna ask me?" Sol thought how feminine the voice and the features of the person was. Yet he couldn't be sure yet.

"What should it be then?" Sol asked calmly, thinking how there was no way he could escape.

"How about we start with shock or a bit of amazement at least?"

"That doesn't seem to be necessary, seeing how everything about this doesn't make sense to me. Plus, my emotions don't seem to function well in this place." Sol calmly replied.

"Ahh yeah, I forgot about that part about emotions. Sorry kid, I don't get a lot of visitors so I tend to forget about these things. Anyway, welcome Solomon!" The creature was finally on the ground and, putting her left hand on her chest she said:

"I am Pandora."

Both the statement made and, the appearance of the thing in front of Sol reminded him of one thing. It reminded him of the creatures shown by King Jubilee through Pandora's Box. Those that descended during the Great World War. The Seraphims.

Yet there were a few differences. The dark aura. The six black wings. The horns sticking out of her forehead and, the eyes similar to that of a snake. Her clothes were also coated heavily by gold and black which made her look like an evil monarch.

"By Pandora do you mean"

"Nope. I am not the training rooms within Pentagon itself. I am the core that runs the Pandora and, the runes used by the building are provided by me. Most of the things happening within Pentagon and, in the immediate vicinity, all of those are powered by yours truly."

"So are you also a Seraphim?"

"Ah, you don't even pause with the questions, do you? I am. In fact, I was one of the first ten to exist, bearing the title of Shadow Weaver." Sol thought how detailed the answer was when all he asked for could be answered by a yes or no.

"I'm assuming you are also one of those who agreed to taking care of us." Sol suggested, making the creature named Pandora smile.

"Oh, indeed I am. In fact, I was the leader of the group of Seraphims that decided to take care of the Voids."

"But why? With everything King Jubilee said, there should've been no reason to take us in, right?"

"There is something child. It's called love and as unreasonable as that may sound to you, that was the only reason we took care of the first Voids. It was only later that we discovered what you could be capable of."

"So "

"A.A.A. I don't want another question from you boy. It's my turn to explain for now kapish?" Sol nodded.

"Right, so first of all the situation. You are inside my domain; think of it like my own private world and, you my boy, are the only visitor here." Pandora raised another finger.

"Second, the reason you are here is because you almost died. I believe you remember your fight with the wolves, right? How you suddenly became a superhuman who could dodge lightning strikes?" It was a bit blurry to Sol but he did remember fragments of the event.

"You were able to access a little something called the seed. I won't explain the whole thing to you but, basically, that was the cause of your sudden power up and, also the reason why you almost died. I mean, the wolf was able to hit you but the majority of the damage was self-inflicted. All your muscles tore open and your bones cracked and shattered. Even your brain had severe hemorrhage kid." The things she said about the damage made sense to Sol. In fact, deep down, he thought that he would die in that fight.

"Okay so, you're not dead kid. That's the good news. Your body has been stitched by my shadows because, what am I again?" Pandora pointed one finger from both hands on top of her head, waiting for Sol who finally got the correct answer as he responded:

"The Shadow Weaver."

"Exactly! Man, I get impressed by myself sometimes. Anyway, as soon as you wake up, you'd be able to move like nothing happened." Sol was unconsciously beginning to doubt the authenticity of Pandora being a Seraphim.

"But the bad news is that, you would not be able to access your powers for a while. The ability needs to be cultivated for another year because, the structure of your body needs to adjust to that awakening. You didn't just get powers kid; you also opened the mana pathways on your body. And the assimilation that happens to newborns on other domains would only start on your body now." The things she was saying made sense to Solomon because it was easy to follow and understand.

"Basically, I'm still powerless."

"Well, not necessarily. You'd be able to access your powers little by little through the shadows that repaired your body. Part of me now flows within you kid and, that means you'd manage using mana somehow." It was still a lot for Sol to take in but he at least knew that there was something to be said.

"Thank you, Miss Pandora." The boy bowed his head. A lot of things would change from that moment on and, the new opportunities were only opened by King Jubilee and the Seraphim named Pandora.

"Well at least you know how to properly thank someone." Pandora thought of how Jubilee only knew how to demand things from her.

"But how will I use these powers? Will I have any sort of guide?"

"You will. Once you wake up, you'll find yourself in the core of Pentagon. King Jubilee will be there and he'd be more than willing to teach you the ropes."

"King Jubilee?" Pandora's words didn't make sense to Sol.

For the boy, the king was truly a great person. But he questioned how a normal person with no experience of any powers would be able to teach him anything. And, this gave him a moment of eye widening realization. One which made Pandora smile.

"So, you figured it out huh? I'd expect nothing less from someone chosen by Jubilee."

"So all this timethe king"

"You seem to have a difficulty saying the words so I'll do it for you." Pandora said, with a wry smile on her face.

"Jubilee Pendragon is the first to awaken Solomon's Wisdom."