She received the gift of God [Greek mythology]

Pandora gasped, sat up abruptly, and stared blankly at the dim stone house wall.

is a dream.

After a while, she touched her lips hesitantly, and then quickly withdrew her hand after a moment.

The lingering warmth of the dream has not yet dissipated, and she still seems to be able to feel the strange feeling of her lips.Something deftly pushed in, rolled all the way down the throat and into the chest.It's like swallowing a warm fire whole, without feeling the sting of scalding, the heat spreads and penetrates, turns and climbs to the heart, and dyes the neck and cheeks red by the way.

What a strange dream.thought Pandora.What she saw was today's events, and she could deduce that it should not be the past of the two Ilysion residents.Whose dream is that?Probably... it wouldn't be Hermes'.

She curled up, burying her face in her knees.

Why does she have such a dream?

Pandora looked out the window guiltily.The shrine stood silently in the purple mist flowing from the top of the hill, only the outline of the porch and the roof could be vaguely seen.She felt that she had done something wrong, and it was not easy to confess.But maybe Hermes didn't need her confession to be lenient. After all, he seemed to have seen through everything.He probably didn't care what she dreamed about.He is a god from the summit of Olympus, and she...

What is she?

- You are Pandora.Born to be loved.In order to show the supernatural power of Zeus, the father god, to fascinate the world and be loved by all.

She remembered clearly the answer Hermes gave her on the first day of coming to Fuleyuan.

And in the eloquent narrations of the angels, and on the oak leaves that record all the facts in heaven and earth, the word "love" and its various inflections appear from time to time.To love, to be loved, to love, to love, to be loved, to be lovely.Hades loved Persephone in spring, so she took her away; Aphrodite loved handsome shepherds, so she uttered lies.Pandora felt that these two types of love were slightly different.It is love that keeps the companions of Ilythion's inhabitants shoulder to shoulder, but it is also love that provokes war.Love and lies and deceit are inseparable.

What kind of love will she get?Who will love her again?Hermes prophesied everyone...but who is everyone?What is love?

Too many questions.

It was as if suddenly there was a torch in his hand, and the corners that he hadn't paid attention to before were lit up, and Pandora didn't feel sleepy anymore.But Hermes had warned her not to leave the stone house before dawn.She can only lie down.Every time when sleepiness creeps up her eyelashes, she suddenly wakes up again.She was afraid of having that dream again.

The mist outside gradually thinned, revealing a milky shimmer.

The moon chariot also drove away, and the goddess of dawn quietly passed by, shedding dew as she walked.

Before the early bird poked its head out from under its wings and uttered its first cry, a familiar aura suddenly appeared and landed on Pandora's bedside.Hermes only stayed for a moment, as if he just stopped by to check on her condition when he left the shrine.When she opened her eyes, he was gone.

Pandora got up slowly, washed by the well under the hill, and then entered the shrine to say hello and report as usual.Hermes was indeed not there.She walked aimlessly in the direction of the smoke.

The village today is more lively than before. Residents built fires and started to cook food early in the morning. Herds of cattle and sheep were driven to the center of the square, as if preparing for something.As for the young women who gathered by the well to chat, their low whispers revealed excitement.Pandora noticed that there were more flowers and ribbons in their hair than usual.

This is not only the case for this village, but also for the next settlement that Pandora went all the way.

She bumps into Faol by chance.The boy sat on the wooden fence of a family, with his bare legs dangling, eating a large bunch of grapes in his arms one by one.

Pandora glanced at the fruit-filled pergola in the yard behind the fence, and immediately knew that it was stolen.

"Do you want to eat?" Faol was actually willing to share the spoils with her.

She was not polite, leaning against the fence next to the boy, picked a grape from the stalk, slowly bit open the dark purple soft skin, and swallowed the fruit.The round fruit burst into dark juice, flowing from the corner of her lips to her fingers.Very sweet, moderately sour and astringent in the sweetness, not sluggish.She feels better.I want to taste the sweet taste again.So she licked the wet white fingertips, and flicked her bright red tongue quickly at the corner of her lips.

Faol stared at her blankly, his face turned red slowly.

Pandora looked sideways, and asked puzzledly, "What's wrong with your face?"

"You—!" The boy was a little furious, "I still want to ask you, why did you suddenly become like this?!"

She fell silent in bewilderment.

Faol couldn't answer, but he felt that today's Pandora was different from yesterday.

"Can I have some more grapes?" Pandora asked.

"Ah? Hmm." Faol replied absently, and his eyes couldn't help sticking to her face again.

Pandora looked a little uncomfortable, and changed the subject: "What special day is Ilysion today?"

"A ceremony dedicated to Artemis," Fao lifted his chin towards the well near the village square, and introduced in a mature manner, "Each village will select the most beautiful unmarried women, and then go to Artemis after noon The guard of honor from the temple will go out. When the moon rises, the maidens chosen from each village will dance together around the idol of the goddess and the golden deer."

"Ilysion also has a temple of Artemis?"

"Of course, all the gods of Olympus have temples here. It's just that the time of the ceremony is messy, and I don't understand how they set the day for the sacrifice. In short, not long before you came, they just sacrificed to Apollo. , it won’t be long before he will sacrifice to his sister again.”

Pandora nodded.She was originally a quiet personality, no matter how much Faol teased her, she couldn't force a few words, but today it seemed that she didn't have anything to say, but she had something to worry about.

Seeing this, Fao began to talk: "Because Artemis protects young girls, after each divine dance, all unmarried women will join in the dance, praying for the protection of the goddess... And then, I also hope to find the lover I like. .So everyone is so excited today."

Her reaction was still indifferent, and she frowned when she heard "lover", but she seemed to be more interested in Grape again, staring straight at it.

Faol swallowed, and simply gave her the whole bunch of grapes, coughing and changing the topic: "By the way, I saw Hermes just now."

Pandora didn't answer right away, and turned to look at him after a while: "He has something to do today, so he can't take me to the oak tree."

Fao nodded in the original way: "He and Hebe probably made an appointment to meet. I don't know what she is doing here. She won't come here to watch the Artemis Festival."

"Hebe..." she repeated the name softly.She knows who it is.

The daughter of Hera and Zeus, the cupbearer of the king of gods, and the goddess of youth.

Suddenly she no longer wanted to eat grapes.The surface of the tongue is so greasy that it seems to be burning.

"Thank you for the hospitality." Saying so, Pandora handed back the remaining bunches of grapes and got up by herself.

"Hey, where are you going?"

Pandora turned her head: "I didn't think about it."

"That..." Faol's face suddenly turned red again, the sun is obviously not very vicious today.He faltered and suggested: "Would you like to stay a little longer, and let's go to see Artemis' guard of honor together?"

Before Pandora answered, he added with blood dripping from his ear: "And... I guess you don't know, but inviting the opposite sex to watch Artemis's ceremony is... an expression of goodwill."

She froze for a moment, then laughed.

Faol suddenly realized that until now, she hadn't smiled much today.

What happened is actually not difficult to guess.

"I like you too," Pandora said calmly, "but you—"

Faol didn't let her finish, and reiterated angrily: "I'm not an ordinary child! Wait a minute..." After finishing speaking, he jumped over the fence and ran into the shade of the pergola.After a while, a young man with blond hair and blue eyes came out.

Pandora stared at the familiar face, and called uncertainly: "Fao...?"

Pretty boys grow up to be handsome youths.

"Yes, it's me, this is the head office!" Faol stroked the ends of his golden curly hair.

It's a pity that his tone and demeanor still don't feel grown-up, it's a little funny, but also innocent and cute.

Faol's expression became serious: "So... would you like to go with me?"

Pandora felt inexplicably that she could no longer just perfunctory him.The change in appearance is not without effect.She hesitated, not sure how to respond.She had learned many techniques for dealing with such situations, but she didn't want to upset Faol.Although Faol was mean and bad-spoken, she didn't hate him.

Seeing Pandora's silence, Faol rolled his eyes: "I know you like him, but he is a god. Everyone in Ilysion will tell you that getting too involved with Olympos will not end well."

Pandora seemed to be amused: "Me? Like him?"

"Isn't it? When I mentioned Heber just now, your face changed."

Pandora shook her head resolutely, her eyes were clear and calm, and she said firmly: "He treated me very well and taught me many things. I am very grateful to him and respect him. But it's not what you think."

After a pause, she said again: "Fao, if you say that again, I will be angry."

Faol narrowed his eyes in confusion.She doesn't look like she's lying.But after all, he is a disciple of Hermes.

Pandora sighed immediately, and showed a rare mocking expression: "And, like, love, these... I don't even know what it feels like."

"I have a crush on you, I want to make you happy, I want to go to the festival with you, and I don't like you talking about Hermes all the time, isn't it very simple?"

It sure sounds simple.

Pandora actually hoped that Faol would stop talking.He said one more word, and a new and terrible sorrow invaded her.Her tolerance for pain is very low, and she will feel uncomfortable even a little bit.

The heart goes down, and the place where the lower abdomen goes up twitches and tightens.It was as if a little monster had been hatched in her body, emerging from the fire that had crossed into her chest in that dream, it hadn't learned to walk, it couldn't speak, it could only tremble, shaking off sweet and stinging throbbing.

She shuddered.Something cold and vicious whispered in her ear.

Hermes was nice to her, but Faol was also willing to be nice to her.Hermes hurt her, Faol didn't.

Faol stared at Pandora uneasily, watching her raise her head.

She smiled at him, her gray eyes like mist on a lake under the moon: "Let's go to the Artemis festival together."

At the same time, above the layer of clouds, Hermes suddenly lost his mind and couldn't hear what Hebe said.He smiled apologetically and asked her to repeat.

After Hermes left, Zeus remembered that Bliss was lacking in spirit, and the gods of Olympus were not suitable to stay for too long.So Hebe was ordered to follow Hermes away with celestial food and wine. There was only a short interval between her departure and the envoy, but when she arrived, six or seven days had passed in Ilysion.

"I originally wanted to bring you a seven-day potion of immortal delicacies, but my mother said that five days would be enough."

Hermes took the golden pot of wine, thanked him kindly, and didn't say anything about Hera's intervention.

"Is that a gift from father?" The goddess of youth followed Hermes' line of sight and looked curiously at the ground through the clouds. She was not present when Pandora was born.The distance in space makes no difference to the gods, as long as they concentrate, everything that happens no matter how far away they seem to be in front of their eyes. "Ah, beside her is..."

The blond young man was holding Pandora's hand, and she smiled at him.The young man murmured and looked away.

"Our father will be very satisfied. You taught well." Heber said with admiration.

Hermes just laughed when he heard that.

Possibly taught too well.