Hanamichi could feel a cold breeze on his face - it was like an airy pack of ice smothered into his face. The ominous feeling seemed to sink deeper and deeper into him until -

"Wake up, idiot!"

Blearily opening his eyes, Hanamichi could only register darkness at first. But as his eyes adjusted to the dim light around him, he wished he hadn’t woken up at all.

"This is no time to fall asleep!"

The sight of the hated creature who bested him, the monster who threatened and shamed him in front of Youhei and the rest only made his blood boil.

"Shut up, asshole ..."

The dark-haired youth beside him just rolled his eyes impatiently and shrugged.

"You were the one who got us into this mess anyway ... asshole ... "

Hanamichi intended to raise his arm for a fist fight before his memory wrangled with his annoyance and took control ---

He had jumped out of the window, fully intending to fight for his own dignity and chase after that winged monster. But that damned intruder had waited for him and he had fell, right into his waiting arms. Only to be carried, like some helpless babe as they both landed softly on the concrete ground outside the inn.

Boiling with rage, he had wanted to shout at his enemy; but he was restrained and shoved to the back as two other people he didn’t know stood silently in front of him, and the winged youth.

"Be quiet, Rukawa - resisting us would only be futile." The one on the left warned, a small wooden cube resting on his outstretched hand.

Rukawa? Hanamichi had thought, his first encounter with his enemy’s given name.

The one who stood on the right was only a little behind, his expression looking slightly worried.

"Uzomi, you promised me that you wouldn’t - "

The one named Uzomi didn’t answer. All he did was stare calmly at Rukawa, but it wasn’t his words that was the warning. It was his very presence that mocked and threatened - a sense of overpowering pressure that smothered Hanamichi - almost as if the other had him on his knees and tightening a noose around his neck - and he wasn’t even directly challenged ...

It seemed strangely appropriate that Rukawa didn’t seem bowled over by that warning. Somehow Hanamichi would have looked down on him if Rukawa had meekly gave in to that threat.

In fact, all that Rukawa did was to stare back at Uzomi coldly, even as he held on to Hanamichi in an iron grip.

"Leave with us - or you will regret it. General Akagi would be here soon and you in your wounded state would not be able to resist him and his men for long. Please ... " This one had worry in his voice - and Hanamichi decided that this other one was not as offensive as the one named Uzomi.

He does remind me of Akagi though ...

"No."

Hanamichi could feel Rukawa’s whole body tense, as they both got ready for an imminent struggle.

"Then don’t blame me - " Uzomi lifted his hand, a note of worry in his voice that even Hanamichi could pick up. The wooden box looked for all that it was worth, a simple common thing that even inexperienced craftsmen could have created. An innocent toy that was crafted for children to play with.

Rukawa’s slight hesitant step to the back irritated Hanamichi at the thought that Rukawa, the one he had just lost to (temporarily!), was afraid of a little children’s toy.

No one threatens the tensai without paying for it .. ! With luck, he could even hope to shake off Rukawa when Akagi finally gets there...

Moving with sudden speed, he broke to the front and pulled his right fist to the back, intending to hit Uzomi on the face. He must have been fast enough, because he heard Rukawa’s surprised gasp ; for even Rukawa wasn’t fast enough to pull him back.

He only remembered that Uzomi raised his arm to protect himself and then there was only a blinding flash of white and the feeling of sinking down somewhere ... ...

"What? You seeing stars?" The cold, sarcastic voice brought Hanamichi back.

Hanamichi only shook his head dazedly, as the missing bits of his memory finally shifted back in place and got up, looking at the surroundings in a new light.

They were both in a dimly lit place that looked like a dungeon, only it was huge and seemed endless. There were pillars everywhere and they were placed with a mathematical precision - almost as if the creator had known exactly how big the dungeon was; no matter how infinite it looked.

There were no lights that Hanamichi could see - not one single torch was seen hanging on the cold pillars. But yet, the light was bright enough such that he could see Rukawa. It even felt sickly, that dim light ...

Rukawa’s right hand had stopped bleeding and Hanamichi found himself wishing that it would never stop. As anger rose at the situation, he found himself clenching his fists and half-shouting at Rukawa, "I don’t want to stay here!"

"Who does?" This time, Rukawa’s tone was cool as he stepped away from Hanamichi, peering into the shadows.

"You ...!"

It was only an instant before he was one step away from Rukawa, but it seemed that suddenly the ground shifted and it seemed to Hanamichi that he was suddenly standing on quicksand.

He didn’t even have time to shout, and the muffled curse caught Rukawa’s attention as he turned back - only to be greeted with a sight of Hanamichi slowly but surely sinking into a pit of murky mud that looked strangely red.

It wasn’t there before -

Instinct took over, and he could feel his wings emerge as the survival skills drilled into him over and over again kicked in. Carefully, he avoided the quicksand and floated over to where Hanamichi was. By now, the other red-haired youth could no longer disguise his fear - and blood-shot eyes that panicked glared at Rukawa; as if daring him to leave him now.

All Hanamichi saw was a monster, who couldn’t care less about a village gangster’s life or death. What he didn’t see was the same fear that reflected itself in the nervous twitching of Rukawa’s wings.

Slowly, as he reached a place slightly above where Hanamichi once stood, Rukawa reached out to pull Hanamichi out of the quicksand. It was an agonisingly slow moment - and Hanamichi could only watch on in helplessness for the third time in a row that night.

It was therefore surprising to them both when the quicksand vanished from the moment Hanamichi’s legs no longer touched it.

Rukawa could only gaze down at the floor in surprise as he held on to Hanamichi in a tight grip against himself - his heart still beating at the exertion of pulling Hanamichi up.

"Let go of me, baka."

Rukawa could only give an irritated glance at Hanamichi’s flushed face before dropping him unceremoniously to the ground and spitting out;" And you should go lose some fucking weight, do’aho .. "

Hanamichi, who was still trying to catch his breath only muttered an indignant "What is this damned place anyway?!"

Rukawa had to give him credit. Any other ordinary guy would have quivered and died of fear by now.

"That thing that Uzomi was carrying was no child’s toy, ignorant fool."

"I am NOT ignorant!"

Ignoring that last statement, Rukawa only pulled out a light silver chain and a lock. Hanamichi watched him suspiciously for a moment before his quick mind nimbly grasped his intentions.

"No ... "

Grimly, Rukawa reached forward only to be surprised yet again at Hanamichi’s speed at avoiding his grip. However, once there was distance between them, the ground shifted again.

The quicksand licked at Hanamichi’s feet, even as the look of horror appeared on his face. He was, yet again, sinking inexorably into the gently bubbling bloodied mud...

"Hanamichi ... " Rukawa managed to grate out, and this time, he flew right at Hanamichi, grabbing him bodily and lifting him up before he sank to his knees. But not before, a silver glint of something dropped from his hand into the thirsty quicksand.

This time, he didn’t let go when he next landed on a part of the floor that looked at least concrete. And like before, once Hanamichi was out of danger, the quicksand disappeared without a trace - as if it wasn’t there before. And this time, he retained an arm around Hanamichi - fully intending to keep him by his side before anything untoward happened again.

Rukawa was slowly understanding how things worked here, in this place.

Hanamichi, it seemed, was at a loss of words. Taking advantage of the moment, Rukawa slipped the chain around Hanamichi’s right hand and then over his own left hand, and clicked the lock on it.

By the time Hanamichi had got over the shock, they were both inexorably chained to each other.

"You treacherous, evil ... "

"There was no choice. Stick close to me, and we would still have a fighting chance of leaving this place." The quiet voice now echoed throughout the dungeon, if Hanamichi could even call it one.

He wasn’t stupid - he saw the relationship immediately; the moment he left Rukawa’s unmarked protective circle, the quicksand would appear, ready to drown him. This place was not what it seemed to be - it was not just a simple 3D dungeon. There were things, energies that swirled around the whole place, whirlwinds that warned of danger into his ears. He somehow could feel the murmur of a thousand voices, sighing into his whole being - seductive, cajoling ... pleading for release ...

"Stop listening to it." The quiet command shook him up, as he suddenly jerked at the warm presence beside him.

"Listen, there is no way you will go anywhere without me here -"

Was there a note of disdain? Or was that concern?

"I will survive with or without you - unlock the chain now..." Hanamichi’s slightly strained voice was also laced with frustration.

"I can’t."

"What do you mean - you can’t?!"

" ... ... " Rukawa let out his breath, wondering what he was doing in this god-forsaken place with this god-forsaken person...

Hanamichi glared at him belligerently.

"Why can’t you?"

"I lost the key just now."

"Nani?!"

"Hmph - if it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t even standing here now ... " Rukawa shrugged.

"Of ALL the stupid things in the world to do - you had to do the most stupid one -"

"Shut up. Now listen carefully, I will only say this once." Rukawa cursed softly at the fate that left him with this stupid oaf in such a situation that even he didn’t have confidence in winning.

"What Uzomi was holding is an ancient artefact called the Pandora’s Box.* The Pandora’s Box was only a legend - no one knew whether such a box really existed. It was named after Pandora."

At Hanamichi’s blank look, Rukawa only muttered:" Don’t you go to school?"

"Baka - of course I went to school - and of course I learnt of the Pandora’s Box!"

They don’t teach about Pandora’s Box in school, do’aho - only the half truths that come along with it ...

"Yah and get an education on how to dream intelligently." A deadpan answer seemed the only logical response to that grossly inaccurate statement.

"Do that again and I swear - " Hanamichi’s hot-headed speech was interrupted as Rukawa cut in.

"We are somehow trapped inside the Pandora’s Box. This ancient artefact was designed specifically for that - entrapment till eternity. No one has ever left the Box once he enters it."

"Don’t talk rubbish ... how can that be?"

Hanamichi could only recall how neatly the small wooden box fit into the palm of Uzomi’s hand.

"Unless the box somehow turned big ...?" Hanamichi muttered to himself, his mind slowly turning the unresolved problem here and there.

"It was not that the box turned big - it commanded enough power to transport us into its reality."

Do’aho ... don’t tell me this is the only limited extent of your intelligence?

For a while, there was only a strained silence as Hanamichi strove to comprehend what Rukawa was saying.

"Have you heard of Pandora’s Legend?"

A sullen shake of the head was the only answer he got from the red-head. They were, in realistic use of the language - handcuffed to each other, and the chain linking Rukawa to Hanamichi wasn’t very long so the furthest they could stand away from each other was at the most shoulder-to-shoulder.

It is almost sinister how that thing only seems to attack Hanamichi though ... ... why doesn’t it touch me at all?

The only logical answer that Rukawa could come up with was the one that had been thrown back at him for as long as he had lived.

Monsters recognise each other ... he thought grimly.

Am I really one? Did the thing somehow acknowledge me as one of them?

"Heeeeeelllo? Anybody home?" Hanamichi rapped his knuckles on Rukawa’s head, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Rukawa didn’t deign to reply to that remark and instead, proceeded to attempt to start educating the red-head. Quietly, he began -

"Pandora’s Legend starts with the gods getting bored in heaven. One day, they saw a young man on earth who was feeling lonely. Feeling generous, they decided to make a woman for him. She was to be beautiful, intelligent, gentle - in short; all that a woman should be."

Hanamichi gave an appreciative whistle, as Rukawa rolled his eyes.

"They named her Pandora, and gave her to that young man. With her, came a strange box which was kept under lock and key. The gods warned the young man that he was not to open the box, under any circumstances. Thus, he in turn told his new wife the same."

"Ah - the same box?" Hanamichi asked, as he gazed at the dark dungeon that they were in.

"Stop interrupting." Rukawa said, irritated at Hanamichi’s restlessness.

"However, as the days passed - the young man grew busy with this work and his wife often became lonely and depressed. Pandora’s curiosity about the box grew until one day, she could no longer withhold it.

The moment she opened the box, a black, huge swarm flew out and attacked her. Some resembled insects or even worms - some were just monstrous beings that she had never seen before. They climbed into her ears and whispered their names to her.

Greed, lust, hate, jealousy, anger, malice ... ...

Pandora had unknowingly released all the evils into the world. A long time after the swarm had left to find other victims, she peered into the box."

" ... so what did she see?" Hanamichi asked in a low voice. He had this strange feeling that he wouldn’t like the answer.

"A little creature slowly floated out of the box and whispered its name to her, and it soothed away her pain and wiped away her tears.

‘Hope,’ it said. ‘Now I am free to roam the world.’"

There was silence as Hanamichi digested the story. It was beginning to irk him that he could detect no sense of life in that place - other than the ghostly whispers that he had heard just now. Only a flat kind of emptiness was left after that two quicksand episodes.

"Rukawa ... "

"What?"

"What is the Pandora’s Box?"

"Pandora’s Box was the name of the box that Pandora opened. It was also the box that contained all the evil of the world."

Don’t tell me you didn’t understand the story....

"And we are trapped in this thing that also carries the same name as this Pandora’s Box?" Hanamichi asked, trying to hide his sudden panic.

"Yes."

All right - he can be rather logical when he wants to ...

"Are they the same?"

"How would I know?" Came Rukawa’s diffident answer.

"Rukawa ... if Pandora’s Box was a box that contained the evil of the world, wouldn’t it mean that the greatest evil was -"

The sudden rush of sympathy was unexpected. Rukawa found himself suddenly wishing that he hadn’t told Hanamichi the legend.

To lose one’s innocence is one of the things that had to happen in this world and I only happened to be the catalyst - no more, no less ...

"Yeah, you are right."

So he really isn’t stupid.

Looking straight into Hanamichi’s eyes that were slowly gaining comprehension, Rukawa found himself completing the sentence for him.

"It means that the greatest evil released in the world was hope."

Note: Make the connection - make the connection!!! *evil laff* Go think about it ^_^ One thing: the legend of Pandora originated from Greece. I have modified the story a little to suit TP but it basically retains the essence (hopefully...!)