greek mythology stuff

Chapter 17 Linkos

20 years, Pandora has been in the world for such a long time.

She wandered in the wilderness and witnessed the changes of human beings in the past 20 years.

Although she is also a human being, it may not be appropriate to say that. From a certain point of view, Pandora can no longer be called a human being.

She will not age, she will always be young and beautiful, and she does not need to eat. The garland of flowers on her head is still fragrant after years of baptism.

The women created by Pandora and Athena came to the world at the same time.

The difference from the human beings created by Prometheus is that this group of women has grown up since birth, and they also have corresponding wisdom and common sense, which can help them integrate into the crowd faster.

Newborn women come into contact with long-lived men, and they quickly grasp the secret of reproduction and work hard for it.

Twenty years on, their numbers have doubled, many have aged or died unexpectedly, but many more have been born.

Pandora did not dare to approach them. She held a magic box containing disasters. If she accidentally opened it, plagues, floods, and droughts, these natural disasters that humans cannot resist, would spread across the land.

Pandora likes humans and considers herself a part of them. She doesn't want to hurt them.

But she is so tired.

Even though she won't grow old, time still left a mark in her heart, and the initial distracting thoughts were wiped away, leaving only the firmest thought of not opening the magic box.

In the lonely and cold wasteland, she also thought about giving up countless times, so that she could return to the embrace of the goddess Hestia.

But in the end, when she put her hand on the lid of the magic box, she didn't have the courage to open it.Maybe it's out of sympathy, maybe it's compassion, maybe... just simply not wanting to give up.

Sometimes Pandora would also think about why the god who entrusted her mission never urged her to allow her to make such ridiculous resistance, was it because she was afraid of that kind goddess?
But when she came back to her senses and found that she was still in the deserted wilderness, she found another answer.

Because God is God, and she is mortal.

God can live ten thousand years like one day, but she can live one day like ten thousand years.

God has a long enough time to wait for her to give up, or for an accident to occur.

In the wilderness, Pandora is not afraid of danger. On her head is a hairband sent by the goddess Hestia. It was made by the god of fire Hephaestus. Among the gods, he is best at forging artifacts. A hairband, the malicious person can't see her.

But also because of this, Pandora rarely has anyone to confide in. Loneliness is like a bug hiding in her body, biting her fragile heart from time to time.

Even so, she still didn't want to take off this hair tie. While she liked humans, she was also afraid of them, afraid of their intrigues, and afraid that her previous efforts would be wasted.

Don't contact strange humans rashly, this is what Pandora's friend told her, a human youth named Linkos.

Linkos was leading a group of people through the wilderness at that time. He was the leader of the group, and he was the only one who could see Pandora among them.

He was shocked by Pandora's magic, chatted with her, and listened to her tell about his mission and inner struggle.

After listening to Pandora's narration, Linkos did not laugh at her determination to fight against the gods, but chatted with her about human development and his own ideals.

He told Pandora that the Creator left after bringing back the flame, leaving human beings alone in the empty world. They worshiped fire very much at first, built altars, and put burning fennel branches on the top of the altar, like Worship it like a god.

But soon, women appeared on the land, and they began to multiply, increasing in number, and the clan could not afford it.

So most people left. They established countries, built temples, and turned to believe in gods. One country after another was established, and kings were born one after another. Gradually, no one remembered the Creator anymore, and no one worshiped the flame anymore.

Corinth proudly told Pandora that he came from this flame-worshipping clan. They had no king or queen, and one generation educated the other.

Pandora still remembers the light in Collins' eyes, and the way he uttered his ideals aloud.

He said: "I am going to find the Creator, to find the true origin of human beings!"

"Then, save him!"

Pandora recalled wandering aimlessly in the wilderness.

Suddenly, a tall figure blocked her way. Pandora didn't raise her head. She had encountered this situation many times. People couldn't see her, so they wouldn't give way to her. She had to avoid it by herself.

She walked to the side, but found that that person was always in front of her. The strange thing was that that person didn't move at all. Instead, it seemed that the world was catering to him and sent Pandora to him.

Raising his head, he saw a decadent middle-aged man.

Pandora asked, "God?"

The man answered her: "I am."

Then he said, "You can call me Epimetheus."

"The elder brother of the human creator Prometheus you are familiar with."

Pandora was a little excited: "Are you here to take away the magic box in my hand?"

Epimetheus lowered his eyes: "I'm afraid you will be disappointed."

"I've come to let you open it."

"But please believe me, my intentions are good."

"Hephaestus, the god of fire, told me you were here, and I rushed over immediately."

"Only by opening the magic box can I save you."

Pandora was a little disappointed: "Why? Aren't you the brother of the Creator?"

"Why must disasters be brought to mankind?"

Epimetheus answered her: "It is the will of Zeus, and it is the future."

Pandora questioned him loudly: "But you are also a god, you have the power to change everything."

"But he is the king of gods, the king of the gods in name, and his will is also the will of the gods." Epimetheus said.

Pandora was even more disappointed, she said stubbornly to Epimetheus: "Then please leave, I don't need to be saved."

Epimetheus's always indifferent face finally showed a wave of fluctuation. His eyes had seen the future many years ago, and he saw that the girl in front of him would become his wife. No god would like his partner to be a mortal. At least, Epimetheus, the god of ignorance, didn't like it.

But at this moment, his determination wavered.

He solemnly said to Pandora: "You will be my wife, I admit you."

He stretched out his hand, and the magic box in Pandora's hand broke free and fell into his palm. He gently lifted the lid of the magic box, and the disaster inside flew to all parts of the world.

He said: "The grievances between the gods should not be borne by you, a mortal."

"you're free."

Looking at the opened magic box, Pandora was stunned for a while, as if something important in her heart had collapsed, she sat down on the ground regardless of her image, buried her head and wept softly.

The sky began to rain heavily, but Epimetheus did not use his divine power to calm it down, and was drenched by the heavy rain with Pandora.

He glanced around, his sharp eyes passing through the barriers of mountains, looking for the two peeping eyes in the world, he had already discovered it, but he just didn't want to pay attention to it.

Now, his hands were itchy suddenly, and he longed for... a battle of gods!
Epimetheus soon spotted his target.

Hephaestus sat cross-legged on the highest point of Lemnos Island with a history book in his hand, showing a teasing smile as he watched the excitement. When he saw Epimetheus looking over, he waved his hand triumphantly.

Ignoring it, Epimetheus continued searching.

Finally, his eyes met the goddess Hestia's. There was a touch of anger in the corner of the goddess's eyes. Even though thousands of miles away, Epimetheus heard her dissatisfied blame.

"Be nice to her, otherwise, you can try."

Epimetheus lowered his eyes, bathed in the rain.

He doesn't want to fight anymore...

……

The end of the earth to the east.

Lin Kesi led the crowd and finally came here after all kinds of difficulties and dangers.

Without the mighty travel, hunger, beasts and the environment made them experience a large-scale attrition.

There are old people and children among them, all of them are dressed in rags and look numb.

But, it's worth it.

They had come to the foot of the Caucasus mountain where Prometheus was imprisoned. The sharp-eyed Linkos looked up the mountain and immediately found a black spot in the shape of a human.

He shouted excitedly, somewhat incoherently: "We found it, we found it!"

"I see the Creator, and there he is, on top of the mountain."

"I'm going to save him, we're going to save him!"

"Oh!" Like a dead tree in spring, this dead team burst out with amazing vitality in an instant.

They asked Linkos ecstatically, asking him to show them.

So, everyone saw the unattainable figure on the top of the mountain, they knelt down on the ground, shed tears, and kowtowed reverently.

But soon, they regained their composure and marched towards the top of the mountain with high spirits.

The last hour was not yet come, and for every moment they delayed, the Creator had to suffer a little longer.

They move forward, they are silent, and there is a huge power in this silence, which makes them give up life and death.

The Caucasus Mountains are high and the weather is unpredictable.

Every time the team moves forward, one person will die, either from the cold, from the strong wind, or just die suddenly.

The gods seemed unwilling for them to climb this forbidden mountain.

But the more this happened, the more persistent they became.

The mountains were so steep that they couldn't climb them, so they took a detour. When the wind blew, they crawled on the ground. It was very cold on the mountain, and it was still snowing. They held hands, which would make them feel better.

No one looked behind, and people kept falling behind, and those who fell behind were not because of fear.

Instead, they died.

They moved forward, they died, and when they reached the mountainside, Linkos was the only one left in the team.

However, no gods favored him.

He was also blocked.

Ahead is a tall and smooth cliff, with no way around, no food, no water.

Linkos has no way to retreat, and he tries to conquer this cliff with his last strength.

He climbed up, and halfway through the climb, he was blown down by the strong wind.

He fell bloody.

Linkos didn't give up, he continued to climb, this time he didn't even reach half of it.

He struggled to his feet, continued to climb, and then fell.

Climb, fall, climb, fall...

After an unknown number of attempts, Linkos fell to his knees.

He is not dead.

He wanted to continue, but he was so bloody that he couldn't squeeze any more strength, and he couldn't even feel his own fingers.

So he stopped supporting his spine, and placed his head on the gravel of the Caucasus Mountain.

He was crying, lying on the ground, unable to see his expression clearly.

Only faint murmurs and choked sobs echoed in the mountains: "The Creator, I'm sorry..."

(End of this chapter)