Rewriting Pandoria

*NOTE: The following fictional tale within this equally fictional story is not based on any real media. If certain aspects sound similar to another person's work, then that is by pure coincidence.

Hope you enjoy! <3

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The most popular TV show of the year had just finished wrapping up its series finale.

It got a 4.5 out of 5 overall score from critics, which is considered pretty freaking high. Yes, the show, "Pandoria" would certainly become the most highly regarded story of the generation with its engaging lore, intense fighting, and- what probably bumped up the ratings a notch- their steamy love scenes.

"The passion between Nero and Pandora is enough to make anybody believe in true love again!" one critic posted. That comment would go on to hit the morning news, where entertainment reporters raved over the two-hour long special. Everybody who didn't live under a rock was keeping up with the show, and it appeared that they all were pleased with the outcome. That is, except for one...

"Seth, unlock the door!"

The man in question groaned and opened his bedroom door to his sister, Holly, who dashed into his room and jumped on the bed with no warning. She laid on her back with her phone glowing in her face as she read aloud to him.

"Nero and Pandora deserve all the happiness in the world. I'm so glad that they got married in the end!"

"Ugh..." Seth bemoaned.

"Just when we thought Nero couldn't be any sexier..."

"Ughhh..."

"Pandora is one lucky woman. I wish my man would clap my cheeks like that!"

"Will you shut up?!"

Holly squealed with glee, drinking in her brother's agony. "What? These aren't my words!" She turned to her side as she continued searching for more comments to annoy Seth with. "I think there may be a spin off with Benjen by the way. He was the one whose story was left a little ambiguous, so I could see it happening."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"The spin off you mean? Why not?"

"People always want clear answers to things. Where's Benjen? What'll happen to Nero now? Will him and Pandora have children, although it's heavily implied that they will!" Seth felt his rage boiling over as he balled his fists, "Sometimes, it's more fun for things to be left unsaid, so that the audience could decide for themselves what happened!"

"Oh yeah?" his sister's mouth curled, "Like you wanted with Ales?"

Seth's heart skipped a beat. He had just realized from the time Holly entered the room, he was pacing around in a frantic state. No wonder she was so eager to piss him off. She knew exactly what was on his mind, and any real sibling would do everything to poke fun at it. His jaw was also painfully tight, so he unclenched it and released his fists. He sat at the edge of his bed, staring at his reflection on the TV screen.

He couldn't believe how upset he was over the series finale. He watched it with Holly just a few days ago. She dedicated part of her summer to coming back home and spending quality time with him. As a token of thanks, he forced her to binge watch every episode of, "Pandoria" from sunrise to sunset. She needed to know the context behind the story before the finale would air. At one point, she claimed her eyes were bleeding from keeping them open so long, but she was still a good sport about it. So, by the time they got to the end, she was all caught up with the show. As she was learning about the fantasy drama, she noticed Seth's love for a particular couple, but it's not like he was shy about it.

Nero was the lead protagonist of the show. He came from an impoverished background and fought long and hard to become the brave knight he was destined to be. Through it all, he was supported by many friends, but none more important than his childhood best friend, Alessandro.

In season one, their bond was clearly established. Nero was the quiet, brooding type and Ales was more outgoing and affectionate- the definition of a ray of sunshine. However, Holly was shocked to discover that by the end of season one, Ales would be kidnapped by the evil wizard demon: Azvameth.

The audience was unaware of what happened to him until mid season 2, when he returned as Azvameth's disciple. Enslaved by his magical brainwashing, Ales was a shell of his former self. Once kind towards Nero, now a trained killer who was encouraged to bring Nero's head to Azvameth's altar. If not for Nero's compassion for the man he once knew, Ales would've been killed. But Nero vouched for him against all odds. Even Pandora were against Nero saving his friend. That damn Pandora...

Ales would eventually be reverted back to his normal self and from there the two worked together to defeat Azvameth. Their relationship was stronger than ever. They would train together, reminiscing on old times, and the episode where Ales cried in Nero's arms was so well done that the average viewer couldn't appreciate its beauty. At least, that's what Seth had claimed.

But then, the unthinkable happened.

The second to last episode of season 2 released which would be the infamous scene where Nero turns down Ales' invitation to go to a festival so he could spend some alone time with Princess Pandora. Nero and Pandora seemed to bicker at every turn, or as fans would call it, "having a lover's quarrel." But this episode, they finally unveiled their repressed feelings for one another as they made love on the river's dock, underneath the moonlight.

Since this was a show only available on streaming sites, there was little to no worry about censorship. So, Holly and Seth saw the couple take each other's virginity in full quality. Nero sucked on the princess' breasts while he thrusted himself into her deflowered hole. She wrapped his arms around him and moaned softly to avoid anyone spotting them being indecent, even though they weren't against fucking on a dock, but I digress.

"We're finally one, Nero..." Pandora gasped, "I don't want you to stop!"

"Never...," he kissed her lips, "Not until my last breath."

They were in perfect rhythm the whole time, with only the sounds of their moaning and gently swaying leaves accompanying the moment. The episode ended when they were approaching orgasm, and just as the scene cut to black, Pandora's achieved orgasm with a moan that was delivered as gently as an innocent lamb.

"What bullshit..." Seth muttered under his breath, "I've watched this scene like five times and it still doesn't make sense!"

Holly had to laugh over her little brother's passion over the fictional tale, but she had to admit once they got to the ending she caught herself getting emotionally invested as well.

It was the final battle between Nero and the gang versus Azvameth and his disciples. Many were killed, and at one point Pandora was captured (again) and to everyone's surprise, it was Ales who saved her. It was the only moment that the two shared on-screen chemistry together. If the author would've expanded on that relationship, they could've had the potential of being great friends. But, apparently, happy endings aren't in style anymore.

When Pandora was taken to safety, locked away in a secret attic of the castle, Ales returned to Nero's side and saw that he was injured by one of the enemy's arrows. He took him to a more quiet location to try and bandage him up, which was his fatal mistake.

"A demon's power never truly leaves its host," Azvameth snarled as he caught the friends hiding away from battle. Through magic, the villain took control of Ales' body and pushed him to attack Nero once more. Though Ales physically fought Nero, his eyes proved that he was not fully gone as he was last season.

"Do what you must..." Ales' eyes read, and with no other choice, Nero grabbed his sword and sunk it into Ales' chest.

"He's a threat as long as he's alive," Pandora once told him, "Once you're controlled by Azvameth, there's no stopping it..."

Nero knew that life was only temporary and eventually one of them would pass, but he never imagined it'd be this soon. When they're both so young and just learning about the world. He held onto his dying friend, letting hot tears drip onto his cheeks.

He remembered what Ales told him when they were children. How excited he was, pointing across the field. "I want to see what's beyond that mountain!" Ales cried. The two were sitting in a tree, being little rascals, hiding away from their troubled lives. It was their place. Their home.

"I'm so sorry, my friend..."

Ales raised a hand to Nero's cheek, "No need...just promise you'll go beyond the mountain. That way, I could finally see it...through your eyes..." Ales' hand went limp and his eyelids shut forever, with a peaceful smile on his face.

Holly noticed that Seth was itching to throw the TV remote. His teeth were barred as his tears coated his reddened face. She would've laughed at the pathetic display, but her vision was a little blurry from some clear liquid filling up in her own eyes.

Everything else went as expected: Azvameth was defeated, Pandora's town was saved, and she and Nero were married not long after with a 10-minute long honeymoon scene to follow. The show ended with Nero looking out at the mountains surrounding the town of Pandoria, as he rode his noble steed towards it.

"Seth, are you okay?" Holly asked right after the show ended. Her brother was quiet at first, just taking the time to wipe away his tears. But then, he answered her in such a low tone, Holly needed to move closer to hear him.

"What was that?" she said.

"I need a moment..."

Now that the initial feelings have subsided between them, Holly felt better about making fun of him for crying.

"I've never seen you crush this hard on a character since that guy from-"

"Don't remind me!" Seth covered his ears, "It's not that I liked Ales that way..." He put down his hands and plopped on the bed next to his sister, "You saw it for yourself. The relationship he had with Nero was so pure. If we didn't live in such a homophobic world, they totally would've ended up together!"

Holly snickered, "Uh, Seth, I don't think it's all that black-and-white. We're in the 21st century, and gay relationships are more common nowadays. If the writer wanted Nero and Ales together, he would've done it. I doubt it has anything to do with hating gay people."

"I beg to differ," Seth huffed, "Yeah, we're more progressive, but you can't tell me gay couples still aren't met with hate online," he started mocking an imaginary critic with this obnoxiously nasal voice, "Another gay character? The media is trying to corrupt my child! Why does everything have to be gay nowadays? This new generation is too PC!"

"Oh my God! You should really be a critic yourself," Holly laughed, "You're always so passionate when it comes to things like this!"

"So I've been told..."

The siblings laid on the bed in silence, with both of them scouring the internet for more juicy gossip on the series finale. After several nose inhales and light chuckling, Holly heard Seth take a sharp gasp and asked what was wrong.

"Finally, someone who agrees with me!" Seth showed off a page revealing a very talented artist's fan art of Nero and Ales leaning into one another atop a mountain. The sun was setting, with the light of it perfectly blocking where their lips would meet. Below the drawing was a captain that read, "What could've been..."

"Wow, that guy's good..." Holly commented.

"No kidding, but you see? Nero and Ales were perfect for each other!"

"I never said they weren't."

"I just wish the author noticed that too," Seth moaned, "Or maybe he did and purposely didn't do it to fuck with us! The bastard!"

Seth's rants would go on forever if Holly let him, and as much as she loved her brother, she was starting to get hungry. "Will a nice greasy pizza cheer you up? I'm gonna order one anyway, but I need to know if I have to share." Seth looked at his sister with a sassy face, "Like I would turn that down. Hell yeah, I want a slice!"

Seth spent the rest of the day refraining from talking about the show, but he couldn't hold his thoughts back from that lovely drawing he saw of Nero and Ales sharing a kiss at the mountain top.

If he had enough skills, he would rewrite the ending to prove to fans that they missed out on a romance far more powerful that the one between Nero and the princess. But that wasn't meant to be.

...Or was it?

.....

"Seth, come on. You gotta brush your teeth!"

"Nghhh..."

Holly was rubbing her brother's shoulder, but was shrugged off by him at the suggestion of moving from his comfortable spot on the couch. After the two had devoured a small pizza pie, Seth fell asleep. All the ranting he had done earlier really tuckered him out, and Holly knew this. So, she didn't get too much on his case for not conducting personal hygiene before bed.

She rubbed her brother's shoulder again, but without the intention of waking him up this time. She just did it to show affection. It had been months since they've really spent time together like this.

She had been away studying for her Masters for the past year, which left very little room to goof off. But after this summer was over, she would start her final year wrapping things up and getting her degree.

Seth on the other hand would've been a sophomore in college by now, but he chose to skip a year. Two years, actually, but it wasn't supposed to get that far.

After a rough high school experience, he was completely drained from wanting to learn anything about the world. "What was the point of it all?" he would think. It depressed Holly to see her baby brother like that.

He was so carefree before those people took advantage of it. At least their mother was accepting of his decision. She said he didn't have to go to college at all, but he promised her he would. He felt selfish for hogging up the house, but he also knew that he needed to recuperate from those traumatic memories. It wouldn't be wise of him to jump from one school environment to the next without making peace with what happened in the past.

When he's not tutoring kids at the learning center, he's cooped up in his bed binge watching TV. This was a normal hobby for Seth, but Holly didn't expect to come home to a raging superfan.

"You don't know?!" Seth screamed at Holly when she didn't recognize his inside joke. "Hellooo? Azvameth? The bringing of doom? Casting only but gloom to the loom?! Benjen loves singing that song!"

"I don't even know who the hell Benjen is."

"Well obviously not!" Seth groaned, "That's it! We're watching it right now!"

Holly put her luggage in the corner of her old bedroom, "Seth, I literally just got home... Can't you save it for later?"

"Oh sure!" he chimed, "Just like you did when Modern Maiden was on air!"

Seth talked like an asshole, but he never really lived up to it. He did spare his sister of the torture of watching all of season 1 right away. He waited until tomorrow. Holly wanted to hate "Pandoria" to spite her brother, but it wasn't that bad: a prophesied warrior trying to defeat an evil wizard demon? It was cool enough.

"Oh Jesus!" Holly got startled upon hearing thunder outside the house. The news warned her that thunder would occur tonight, but it still took her off guard. It was just bright and sunny moments ago. She took it as a sign to clean up and get to bed. But, even after throwing away the trash and turning off the living room television, she still felt the need to sit with her brother.

"It's just a TV show. He'll get over it in a week..." she thought, but she at this point, his heartbreak over the finale was the final straw in seeing him being so miserable. Compared to everything else that happened to him in the past couple years, this was nothing. Seth would tell her himself that it meant nothing. Holly didn't have to do what she was thinking of doing to him...

But she did it out of love.

"Pandoria...Pandoria...Pandoria..." Holly whispered in Seth's ear. Her classmate claims that if you whisper key words in someone's ear then they will think about them in their sleep. It could be so powerful that the dreams could feel like reality. Holly knew it'd be impossible to change the ending of Seth's favorite show, but it may bring her brother some happiness to imagine something better. The true ending that he always wanted.

"Sweet dreams, little bro..."