Pandora's sudden outburst made everyone jump. Caitlin wasn't there today, and the only combat-capable person in the lab was Barry. Everyone else was, without exception, an ordinary human being.
Thea frantically made gestures, pointing at Pandora then tapping her own head, finally managing to calm everyone down.
Cisco, who'd had some romantic interest in the mature woman, now looked pained. So she's mentally ill? Better get her out of here quickly. With Dr. Wells' help, he worked at lightning speed, producing two brainwave readers.
When she wasn't having an episode, Pandora was quite polite. She put on the reader and worked hard to recall that unbearable scene from her past.
Her carefree days in the tribe, the passage of time... Where her tribal settlement once stood, skyscrapers now rose. From a primitive tribeswoman to today's cold, stunning woman—even after ten thousand years, she still yearned for that life, because it was her home, the home she could never return to.
Memories flew past rapidly until they reached that fateful moment. While gathering wild fruit alone, she spotted a glint of gold in the grass. Curious, she pushed aside the foliage and discovered a golden skull.
Under a gray sky, a strange ripple knocked Pandora unconscious. When she woke, she found herself in a stone fortress where an imposing old man harshly interrogated her, as if she'd committed some heinous crime...
In the outside world, an hour had passed. After seeing part of her memories, Cisco sat up with sympathy written all over his face. Pandora's eyes were also moist—reliving this memory was far from pleasant.
"I can't guarantee anything, but I'll help you get justice for what happened to you back then." Thea understood this memory had wounded her once again. Seeking justice for Pandora would also give her own conscience peace.
Pandora's face twisted with internal struggle. No matter how much she deceived herself about releasing evil into the world or the Seven Deadly Sins ravaging humanity, her subconscious combined with ten thousand years of accumulated knowledge made her vaguely realize: Who the hell am I anyway?
Those wizards with extraordinary magical power could change heaven and earth, darken the sun and moon with a wave of their hands. The forest druids could commune with the world's will, their wisdom as deep as the sea. Even they hadn't accomplished anything world-ending. Me, a primitive tribal girl—release evil? Do I have that kind of power?
This thought was fuzzy, buried deep in her memory. On ordinary days it would never surface, but today, with Cisco's brainwave reader, it finally emerged.
"I don't know if what he did back then was right, but I... I... I don't think I should suffer this punishment!" Pandora started hesitantly, but by the final sentence, she was practically screaming with all her strength.
The confusion that had settled over ten thousand years shattered in an instant. Pandora saw her true heart. The Seven Deadly Sins, the deep sins—it was all fake! She spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Cisco, whose spirit was still partially connected to hers, also turned deathly pale.
Everyone rushed to help. The medical giant of the modern age, Thea, examined them both and faced Barry's concerned gaze. "They're both fine. Pandora's emotions surged—she just needs rest. Her mental illness should improve considerably. We're lucky—Cisco helped bear a lot of the damage."
While the others tended to Pandora, Cisco recovered briefly and stood aside, struggling to use his vibe powers to sense the Rock of Eternity's location.
This took an entire day. In the middle, Thea and Barry even went out to fight a small-time villain.
Some guy called "the Turtle" was stealing things. The guy was ugly as sin with a completely forgettable face—the type you'd lose in a crowd. But his meta-ability was extremely powerful.
He could emit inertia waves around his body that slowed down anyone or anything that approached. Even the overpowered Flash wasn't immune. No matter how fast Barry ran, he'd be slowed to a crawl.
Thea ultimately defeated the villain with a large-scale soul blast.
Since she took him down, she'd handle him. Plus, she constantly invoked government authority to requisition things, and most superheroes really couldn't refuse.
She tossed Turtle to Deathstroke. No time now—she'd study him thoroughly later. This guy was practically a perfect weapon against speedsters.
At dawn the next day, after hundreds of attempts using various black-market tech that made Thea dizzy just watching, Cisco finally located the entrance to the Rock of Eternity.
Thea sensed it—the spatial coordinates were stable. Using the Mother Box to traverse would be no problem.
"You worked hard. Let Pandora rest here with you all for a few days." Thea didn't mention her purpose, and the others wisely didn't ask. But based on the memories Cisco had seen, the old man who'd made Pandora's life so miserable was definitely a bastard!
"BOOM—!" With an explosive sound, an orange-red portal opened. Thea stepped through, and when her feet touched ground again, she found herself inside a rather magnificent underground palace.
Heaven and Hell's energies neutralized each other? The moment Thea entered the palace, she felt a sense of ease. Two extreme forces maintained a balance here. Space couldn't constrain this place, and time had to stop its advance. Calling it the Rock of Eternity wasn't wrong.
Lightning-shaped decorations appeared periodically on the floor and walls. Eastern-style dragon-carved pillars held eternal lamps in the dragons' mouths. In the windless chamber, the flames showed no movement, frozen in the instant they'd been lit millions of years ago.
Thea slowly walked through the corridor. The path was fairly well-constructed, with only a few scattered corners showing sword cuts and axe marks left by the angels and demons who'd once fought here.
Old Shazam's collection was as chaotic and disorderly as the man himself. The old guy's appreciation and taste were utterly terrible. Murals, pottery, stone spearheads and arrowheads from various cultures were scattered everywhere in messy piles, making the usually fastidious Thea frown.
Passing through another gate—whose guardian suits of armor she'd disintegrated with two dissolution spells—she found them to be a ridiculous mismatch: a Japanese samurai and a medieval knight in tattered armor standing guard. Were you trying to look pathetic?
A reasonably spacious room finally appeared before her. Thea saw seven chairs, but only the center one was occupied. She knew she'd finally found the man himself.
Fortunately, old Shazam probably hadn't watched any talent shows and didn't play that annoying trick with spinning chairs. Otherwise, Thea would definitely blow this rat hole sky-high.
A withered old man sat curled up on the stone chair. He had curly brown hair tied loosely at his forehead with a red cord.
Dull yellow eyes, a filthy face, and teeth about to fall out—he looked like he was at death's door. The only remarkable thing was that his left hand still firmly gripped a lightning staff.