"I have no talent for this." Nicolas responded.

"I was never... given it? I guess?" he shrugged.

"Look, I'm Prometheus. My existence is to hold onto that box, stop it from being opened, and seek out Pandora should it be opened." he sighed. "That is my life." he said.

"...I assume fallen angels are an Achille's heel of yours then?" Ilias asked.

"When they double-team and ambush me, yes." Nicolas responded.

"Regardless, I don't know how to cast, don't know alchemy, my mana is violently destructive when it goes active... I'm not meant to save the world, I'm meant to protect it and then aid those who CAN, when I fail that duty." he told them. "...pretty much until I die or get ejected from my position." he said.

"Ejected?" Cain asked. "You can be fired?" he asked further.

"In theory." Nicolas replied. "It's... not come up. Death has always been what causes the title and job of 'Prometheus' to shift." he admitted.

"Another deity figured that Pandora had suffered enough with the constant knowledge of the whole box thing, and that Zeus was being kind of a dick, so they offered Pandora a solution. Now, she's free of the guilt she once felt, and isn't burdened by the knowledge of the box." he continued.

"Or... wasn't." he then mumbled. "Can't speak for the guilt, she may have moved past it, but Pandora now has the chance to live her life in peace, but still be around if need be." he stated.

"Also, more difficult to break?" he asked.

"All right, you've intrigued me." he admitted.

"That's something I'd like to see."

"Hm." Nicolas mumbled.

"Go ahead." he shrugged. "Try it." he told her.

"I'd like to see it happen." he went on.

He then leaned against the closest wall, and folded his arms over his chest.

"Oh, and should you succeed, yes, that WOULD be a heck of a deterrent."

Cain cracked his knuckles.

"Let's do this." he said.

And so they did. They all worked on the lock and key. For close to 20 straight hours. Aedan and Cain were fine, but Kiah and Ilias were showing their tiredness. However, with one last pulse of mana, and one more splash from something the alchemist mixed up, the entire group was sent flying against the walls from an expulsion of mana and compressed air.

As they got their bearings, they saw them on the table; a perfectly formed, exquisite, lock and key set.

"...wow." Nicolas mumbled.

"You all did it." he said, approaching the implements.

Cain groaned as he got to his feet as well, shaking his head slightly.

"It still hurts." he told them.

"Ugh..." Ilias mumbled, standing up slowly.

"Now what?" he asked.

"Now, Pandora closes the box, and I lock it." Nicolas responded.

Pandora then picked the box up, and pressed down on the top as hard as she could, the box giving considerable resistance, but she managed it. Nicolas stepped up, lock and key in hands, and they nodded at each other. He put the lock around the clasp and put the key inside it, turning it, with a loud clicking and clunking sound being heard from it.

And then... nothing. In the most literal sense. Kiah could sense the nothingness around them now, and the rune on her skin was beginning to fade away.

Cain's expression was that of immense relief when he heard that.

"Oh thank goodness." he said.

"Sicknesses should be getting much better, attitudes should be improving..." Nicolas interjected. "Overall, really, things will rapidly improve." he assured the group that was there.

"Good." Ilias responded.

"So we've saved the world?" Cain asked.

"You have." Nicolas confirmed.

Ilias shot a look towards Aedan, as Nicolas shrugged.

"Perhaps." he said.

"Perhaps?" Cain asked.

"Depends on how she likes her food." Nicolas replied. "With disease and famine and all that death, things would have been grim all around." he explained. "Bodies and organs would NOT be in good states." he said further.

"Ah." Cain said.

"But that is all academic now." Nicolas declared.

"I'm going to call the medical wing and let them know the situation has been solved, and things should improve." Ilias told them, before turning and leaving the room.

"I'll go see how things are going there." Cain interjected, following Ilias out of the room.

"..." Nicolas was silent, gathering the box and putting it in the backpack, as well as the molds and now-empty cloth bags.

"And I am going to... fade away again." he sighed.

"Pretty much disappear into obscurity." he added, shaking his head.

Nicolas watched them go and looked confused and quizzical, before looking to Pandora when they were alone.

"What?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

"I am Prometheus. It is my destiny to spend my existence guarding the box, sequestered away from humanity and the world." he said.

"So why do you say I am not doing so?"

Nicolas was about to argue her points when she paused... before he was completely thrown off guard by her final statement.

"I... I..." he stammered.

"I'm sorry, what?" he asked.

"Come home with you?" he asked her.

"As in... LIVE with you?" he asked further.

"Good boy!" Pandora responded, clapping lightly.

"...why? Why would...? I mean...?" Nicolas started to ask further, but couldn't really get it out.