The Dark Rebirth of Pandora: Revenge of the Abyss

Chapter 722: A Piece of the Past

”...Oriane, you look great in that outfit. Really beautiful.” I say to Oriane. She’s wearing an elegant black skirt that falls to just a little below her mid-thigh, paired with a café au lait sweater that does a nice job of accentuating her breasts. She’s also got on a pair of round-rimmed glasses.

Overall, she gives off the image of an elegant woman who’d enjoy spending a pleasant afternoon in a library.

”You look beautiful too, Pandora.” She speaks as I glance down at my own clothes. Mine are more casual — a simple black skirt and a slightly loose white top, so even though my large breasts are noticeable, they’re not stretching the fabric.

”Thank you. It’s great that we decided to do this.” I say while looking around. We’re in the past. We decided to have a unique experience. In a way, Oriane and I thought of an interesting alternative to a scenario.

Today we’ve come to visit my mother — my mother from back when I was human. Since we’re both omnipotent beings, our interaction in this timeline doesn’t alter the future unless we both do so intentionally.

We can insert ourselves into any moment in time, change things, and not alter the future outcome. Useful.

”Your mother obviously won’t recognize you. Interacting with her sounds a bit strange, but it’ll be interesting to meet the woman who gave birth to your first form of existence.” Oriane follows me as we stop in a park.

”She’ll pass through here in about two minutes. She’ll stop at this bench to rest, and then we can interact with her. Considering all that, do you want to play some kind of role?”

”I don’t think so, not right now. I want something more formal. After all, I’m meeting your mother. Well, technically I’ve already met her, but physically speaking, I’m about to meet her.” I look around.

Honestly, I don’t feel anything. She’s just another human like any other human. But it’s the same for Oriane — it’s just another ”game” we’ve chosen to play. It’ll be ’interesting,’ as Oriane put it.

”Hmmm... hmmm... ah, there she is.” Oriane and I watch her coming down the park’s walkway.

”Oh, she’s quite pretty by average human standards.”

”Hahaha... yes, she is. If you want to steal her from my father, I wouldn’t mind. That man is garbage anyway, while my mother is a sweet woman. Having her stolen away by you would be wonderful. I wonder if you’d manage to convert her into a lesbian.” I say with a little giggle.

”I’d rather not mess with this timeline too much.” Oriane partially dismisses the idea as she approaches.

My mother is a woman 170 centimeters tall, with long black hair and brown eyes. She has large breasts and a seductive figure — a big butt and wide hips, with a slightly slim waist. She’s in excellent physical shape. Even at 37 years old, she’s a mature woman who’s preserved traces of her youth.

And she’s wearing very conservative clothing that isn’t able to hide her beauty. At this point in time, Takashi Nakamura — that is, my human self — was four years old.

”Look, there you are.” Oriane says, pointing at the little boy accompanying my mother.

”Yes, me at four years old. Back then, everything was perfect. After all, I still hadn’t met those people who would turn my life into hell.”

”Shion Nakamura... I never spoke her name again after I became Pandora. I always referred to her as ’mother’... saying her name now feels like saying the name of some stranger.” Even though what I’m saying sounds cold, it’s an unavoidable reality.

”It’s a shame that you and I can’t feel anything, since we feel everything in all states at the same time. But still, it’s great for me to be able to see this in person.” Shion approaches the bench where we’re sitting and politely addresses us both.

”Hello, could we sit here for a moment?” She gives us a gentle smile. What a sweet woman — asking strangers for permission to sit in a public place. Truly top-tier politeness.

”Of course. We’re just enjoying the view for a moment.” I say to her with my gentlest smile. She thanks me and sits down a little apart, maintaining an appropriate distance while she talks to little Takashi.

I glance at Oriane. We don’t need to say anything. We know exactly what the other wants to say in the most literal sense of the word. Considering that Oriane was the one who proposed this experience, I leave it to her to talk to Shion.

”...Excuse me, could I ask you a few things?” Oriane asks, standing up and approaching Shion.

”...” Shion glances between her and her son.

”If you want, I’ll keep an eye on the boy. Oriane can be quite distracting.” I say to Shion, who looks at Oriane.

”Your eyes...” Shion murmurs while looking at Oriane’s eyes, which aren’t exactly the most common. Oriane always tends to keep the sclera of her avatars completely black.

”Oh, that’s a medical condition. I’m sorry if it looks frightening. My white hair with red streaks is part of it too.” Oriane gives a super natural excuse.

”Ah, I see. S-sorry for staring. It’s so unusual. Young people these days usually like to dye their hair once they finish their studies, so I assumed that was the case.” Takashi comes over to me and just stares while Oriane sits down near Shion, starting a conversation.

”You’re really pretty...” Takashi says to me.

”Thank you. One day, you’ll be just as pretty as I am.” Literally, metaphorically, and symbolically — after all, he is me.

”Your mother seems like a really kind person. What do you think of her?” I ask, crossing my legs as he climbs onto the bench and sits to my left. Oriane is on my right, and Shion is on Oriane’s left.

”She’s really nice! The best mom in the world.”

”That’s wonderful. You should protect her from everything. Family is very important. You should always fight for your family.”

”I will!!” When he says that, I think back to before I was omnipotent. If I were Pandora from the past, I would’ve found this pathetic for a number of reasons.

’...’ Across numerous futures, Oriane just asked me if I’m going to change the future — even though she already knows the answer.

My answer is no. I’m going to let Shion die as she was meant to die, and let Takashi suffer as he was meant to suffer. Not because I can’t change it or because it would affect me.

But simply because it doesn’t matter. The past is just that — a fragment I can revisit only to observe, but one I see no need to make different.

After all, if I wanted to change this, I would’ve already done so. A visit isn’t something that’s going to make me change my mind.

”Takashi, if you were a being who could do absolutely anything, what would you do?”

”...I’d be a hero!” The childish answer from my past self differs 100% from the reality that came to pass.

”I see... a hero, huh...” Pandora the Demon King, the ”absolute evil” who spent millions of years destroying and killing to become omnipotent — a complete opposite of any form of heroism.

”I hope you manage to become a hero.” That’s never going to happen, because there’s only one omnipotent version of me, and as omnipotent, I naturally made it so that every branching version of me is still part of me as a single experience. This Takashi right now is still me — just me in another form of experiencing life.

All the Pandoras from all timelines are part of me and of what I feel. That simply means there isn’t a single Pandora who becomes a ”hero” the way this poor Takashi believes.

”But a hero’s destiny isn’t always chosen by the hero. So think carefully about that, okay?” I tell him with a gentle smile as he nods his head.