Shackled (The Lord Series) by Carlos

I want to ask about it, but Ansel claiming that Olivia can bring back the dead gets Rin and Steven's attention. "That's impossible. No one has such power. Except God," Steven says, but there is hope in his voice. I don't blame him. Losing his twin must have fucked him up well. Not only Isak but Gavin as well. Rin's eyes turn black. If Olivia were here, he would have already dragged her out of the house all the way to where Levi was put to rest for eternity and demanded she would bring him back.

"It has to do with Olivia's heritage," Ansel says. "She is the descendant of a very powerful Archangel. Her name was Pandora. She is the original owner of the twin daggers. At least, that's what I learned when I was researching about her. More than that, she is also the one who put Ophyr and the Nephilims inside the box. Lucifer is the one who made the Dybbux box in the bowels of Hell. Ophyr is the being that attacked Camila." Pandora is not someone I have heard about before. Not the name, but an Archangel with that name. And why don't I know anything about Ophyr? Is it because the Elders don't know about him or because they are hiding things from us? It wouldn't surprise me if it were the latter since they then keep a lot of information about the Dukes to themselves, maybe thinking they are protecting the Lords, but all they are obtaining is to put more people in danger. "Isn't there a legend about Pandora?" says Tyson. "And who is Ophyr?"

The story of Pandora is one of the first ones my mother told Camila and me when we were children. She was the first woman on Earth and the one who opened the box which contained all the evil of this world. When the box was closed, the only thing remaining inside was hope.

"Myths and legends are based on real events. Pandora's box was a reference to the Dybbux box, but it was more like a prophecy of what was to happen than a tale of the past. As for the hope that remained in the box, I think it's a reference to Pandora's descendants and how they will fight against evil." Ansel's eyes glow a strange shade of red. "From what I gathered, Pandora had only daughters, and so on. Olivia is a Pandora hellstar, referring to her lineage. The powers Olivia has are a fraction of what Pandora was capable of doing.

"As for Ophyr, there is little to no information about who and what he is. But all I know is that he hates everything God created and wants to destroy the entire Universe with the help of the Nephilims, who are his creation. Well, more or less his creation, but it is something he...altered," Ansel explains.

As much as I want to know more about Ophyr, there's something I don't understand. Didn't Wasp say the hellstars born now were originally from other worlds? "Do you know what happened to Pandora after she defeated Ophyr?" I ask. Ansel rubs his chin. "Not all the Nephilims were locked inside the Dybbuk box. Part of them were sent to the end of the many worlds God created, scattered all over the Universe so they wouldn't find each other again. Pandora left this world to ensure what happened here wasn't happening in other worlds. At least that's what was written in records, Ladybug, thought that during the battle between Ophyr and Pandora, she got mortality injured. Since she put most of her divine power into the daggers she used to defeat Ohyr, she couldn't heal herself and ultimately died. For all I know, it can be something between the two. What I do know is that Pandora is not in this world anymore."

"So how do we know Pandora only had daughters?" Jasper raises a valid point.

After a loud sigh, Ansel mutters, "It's unbelievable how much of the history of the Creation is hidden not only from humans but from Lords and Dukes as well. Lucifer and Pandora were in love, and Lilith was born from their union. To protect Lilith from Michael, who hated the humans more than Ophyr hated the Universe, Pandora asked Dabriel and Ariel, the first demon-angel pair, to raise Lilith in the Garden of Eden. Despite Lucifer and Pandora's efforts to keep Lilith safe, she disappeared without a trace. Lucifer blamed Michael, while Pandora suspected Ophyr to be the blame. Despite the great love Lucifer and Pandora had, the loss of their beloved daughter drove a big wedge between them, and unfortunately, they stopped speaking to each other.

"Lucifer continued to visit the Garden of Eden in the hopes that Lilith would return. Pandora retreated to her home from Heaven, and some time later, she had another daughter, Runa, who means secret, because Pandora kept Runa a secret for a long time. More than that, Pandora never told Lucifer about Runa, as she was scared her second daughter would disappear, just like her sister. As Runa grew happily but hidden in her mother's home, Lucifer grew closer to Aya, the daughter of Adam and Eve, who tragically died when Azael attacked the Garden of Eden.

"Lucifer, despite being the King of Hell, took each death personally. But what hurt him most was Azael's betrayal. After his wings were cut off and he was stabbed in the chest with his own sword, full of grief, Lucifer retreated deep within his realm to mourn not only the loss of his dear friend but everyone who perished because of Azael and Michael. He also regretted letting Pandora go.

"The first clash between Pandora and Ophyr was soon after the attack on the Garden of Eden. By then, Lucifer had already locked the gates of Hell and didn't know Pandora had taken it upon herself to stop Ophyr from destroying even more of what God created.

"It started soon after Pandora descended on Earth, which was God's latest creation and not yet ready for humans to live on. This is why Pandora is called the first woman and Earth, because she was the first to step on it. Anyway, Ophyr-who had nothing to do with Azael or Michael-and her army of Nephilims tried to destroy Earth. Pandora, who was preparing Earth to be suitable for humans to live on, faced Ophyr. Without any help, Pandora was defeated but not killed. She escaped Ophyr and put protection around Earth so Ophyr would not destroy it until she returned with help. With the help of angels who took a liking to the humans, Pandora chased Ophyr and the Nephilim army far away from Earth. But they returned time and time again.

"The fight between Pandora and Ophyr extended for a long time. Earth became populated with humans, and the fight between the two kept raging."

Tyson interrupts Ansel and asks, "If God loved his creation so much, why didn't he stop Ophyr? Or helped Pandora defeat him and the Nephilims? And more importantly-how the fuck do you know all this?"

Ansel lets out a long sigh. "I don't know why God never stopped Ophyr, but I can explain how I came to learn all of this. Before Francesca and Reid took me in, I lived in a...very secluded place. There were no other children to play with or adults to talk to except my...teacher. While she was a lovely woman, I often felt lonely. Since Ladybug was preparing me for my...role, she had plenty of old books. I read them when I got bored of playing alone. That's how I learned about Pandora. Ladybug confirmed it was all true. She was a direct descendant of Pandora, but she wasn't like Olivia. She was a historian; her family had many books about the past. Her power was to 'see' who would put an end to evil. Ladybug referred to that person as the heir of Pandora."