The Dark Rebirth of Pandora: Revenge of the Abyss

Chapter 723: A Response to the Past

Oriane talked quite a bit with Shion. She’s so spontaneous, though a big part of it is just because she already knows exactly every question and every part of the conversation she’s supposed to bring up.

After chatting for a while, Oriane went off with my past self to play on one of the playground toys. Of course, we can see the two of them playing from here, so it was just me and Shion.

"Your friend is really nice. It’s rare to see young people so cheerful and friendly," Shion says, striking up a conversation with me.

"Yes, she’s a true goddess."

"Hahaha." Shion lets out a little laugh at what I said, as if she’d just witnessed something adorable.

"Have you known her for a long time?"

"Yes, we’re people who’ve been together for some time now, even though she’s far too good for someone as bad as me." In terms of acting, obviously. Oriane is a "good" goddess. I’m an "evil" goddess. But in the end, we’re goddesses without any real alignment — we just play a side.

"Do you carry burdens from the past?" Shion asks, showing empathy toward me.

"No, I truly feel nothing about the past. Oriane doesn’t care about my past either. We just live together and have fun together and share things because we’re similar in some ways."

"That sounds like a difficult life. And your parents? Don’t they help with your situation?"

"...I only have my mother, but she’s someone who lives in her house without ever leaving it. She’s not bad — she’s actually pretty nice — but she doesn’t know what I do with my life."

"As for Oriane, she doesn’t have a mother or a father." Oriane came into being from herself with no prior state of existence, unlike me, who had a prior state of existence as Takashi, then Pandora as the demon king.

"I see. It’s a shame that a young woman as good as her has no family. But at least she has you, right? You two seem to care about each other a lot."

"...Yeah, we ’care about’ each other a lot. We’re like water and wine. She’s the water — pure, spontaneous, and gentle. And I’m the wine — somewhat bitter, with an attitude that hits hard when someone tries to drink."

"...I didn’t quite get that, but that’s a good thing, right?"

"Yes, it’s a good thing, because we complement each other." Without Oriane, I’d probably have to find other things to do — different from the ones I do now.

"Can I call you Shion? And you can call me Pandora, by the way."

"Pandora... what an unusual name. And yes, you can call me Shion." She just accepts it.

"I’m from very far away from here, so my name follows a different style. I think my mother chose well — it’s unique, and I really do think it’s a good name."

"Yes, it’s a good name. Oriane is an unusual name too. Are you two English?"

"Hahaha." I laugh at her question.

"No, I’d say it leans more toward Greek in that sense." Because of the whole thing about us being goddesses, the meaning ends up tilting toward Greek.

"Oh, visitors from Greece. How unusual. You communicate very well. Are you thinking of living around here?"

"No, we’re just passing through. I brought Oriane so she could see a person from my past."

"I hope you find who you’re looking for." Shion is so kind — a kindness that unfortunately means nothing to me, but one that, in its own way, is interesting to observe.

"Thank you. You’re quite different from most humans." Shion isn’t special. There are millions of humans just like her. But if there’s one thing that sets her apart, it’s that her kindness is a little less restrained in how she acts around others.

"You speak in a somewhat odd way. Oh, right, and I didn’t even ask — are you feeling okay? You’re much too pale. If you need sunscreen, I have some." She says it while already digging through her bag.

"There’s no need. I’m fine. I’m naturally pale, and the sun doesn’t hurt my skin." I know that the extremely pale tone of my skin resembles that of someone gravely ill. It’s an unnatural paleness, leaning toward literal white, practically.

"Now, changing the subject — what do you think of your son? You seem to love that boy very much." I say, looking at Takashi on the swing with Oriane, who has a beautiful smile on her face.

"Yes, my little Takashi is a sweetheart. He’s well-behaved, polite, and loves to draw. He’s still deciding what he wants for the future — a true sweetheart, already thinking about when he grows up."

"That’s great. Thinking about the future is important." I see that even as a human, I always had this trait of wanting to plan the future down to the smallest pieces, even if in a more restrained way.

"And your husband — are you married, if I may ask? I see the ring on your finger. It’s a beautiful ring." She looks at the ring and smiles.

"Yes, my husband is wonderful. He’s a loving person too. He’s busy working, so he couldn’t come out with me and Takashi today."

"I see." I observe her emotions. She truly loves him very much. It’s a shame that man is a scoundrel who will abandon her in the future.

"Wow, look at the time... I’m sorry, young lady, but I have to go. I need to make lunch for Takashi." Shion says, getting up while I give a nod.

"That’s fine. Thank you for the conversation. It was... interesting. I hope you have a wonderful lunch."

"Thank you. You two are wonderful too. It’s always nice to see young people so lively, living their lives." She gives a wave as she heads over to Takashi. She says goodbye to Oriane as the two of them return to the park path and continue on their way.

Oriane comes over to me with a completely neutral expression and sits down beside me, as if she wants to ask something but without really thinking about anything at all.

"Did you enjoy what you saw, Pandora?"

"It was as expected, Oriane. I already knew it would be like this... but I feel nothing." It’s not that being omnipotent gives me some limit that makes me incapable of feeling emotions. If I want to, I can feel any emotion at any moment.

But what happens is that, because of omniscience, I feel everything there is to feel at every moment, from every moment that exists or will exist. That means there are no emotions of the moment to feel.

I experience every possible emotion from all times simultaneously, so no specific emotion from that instant stands out. There is no "emotional novelty," because I have already known, already lived, and already felt absolutely everything.

"She’s just a human in the end. It was obvious I wouldn’t feel anything. But I must also say that I enjoyed the interaction. It was better than many of the simple scenarios we’ve done — a valuable experience to be felt." Oriane smiles at me.

"That’s good. Before you became omnipotent, you always avoided things involving your mother. Now you can finally close this milestone from the past that you ignored because it was irrelevant to your new existence."

"...Yes. Should I cry? It would make more sense, wouldn’t it?"

"...Yes. Even if you feel nothing, you can show the value of this moment by crying. I think this ’scenario’ deserves your tears." When she says that, by choice, I start to cry, though I make no sound.

"Let’s stay here for ten more minutes. Then we’ll do something else." I say to her, looking up at the sky while Oriane beside me also looks up at the sky without saying anything.

’Crying, huh...’ I can’t say whether there’s any value in crying by personal choice, since that’s something interpretive for each individual. But I hope that for beings of low comprehension, my tears hold some personal meaning — even if no one besides Oriane sees.