A/N: This idea came to me ages ago, and after extensive research, I am ready to write it. The introduction is really long, but I promise that other chapters will be so much shorter. I do not own Librarians, or any Greek history references. Just the plot. Please review!

Prologue: The Box

It wasn't anything special. Not at first. She really didn't have too much of an idea why she was drawn to it in the first place. It was pretty, she supposed, and well crafted. But it was so old, and the metal was degraded pretty badly. She was sure her mother hadn't meant for her to use her birthday money on something useless like that. So why was she so fascinated?

Sixteen year old Pandora Sideri wouldn't even have noticed the old box if her mother hadn't suggested she take some of her new birthday money down to this old antique shop and ask about any of their rare coins to complete her ever growing collection. It was a hobby of hers, passed down from her father, and to her father from his father, and they had quite an impressive collection going.

The shop was called "Ελλάδα μυστήρια".

It was this small, rundown little place, hidden away between the shadows of two of the high-rise buildings in Athens, New York. Pandora had no clue what the foreign letters spelled, but the shop itself was intriguing. It was almost stuck out of time. Inside, it was dark, almost pitch black, the windows drawn with shades and the only light coming from old-fashioned kerosene lamps strewn around the shop. Pandora felt as if she was on the verge of something otherworldly, and she couldn't help a nervous giggle that escaped her. There were rows of shelves cluttered with thousands of things, of the oddest antiques, things like clay masks and thin jewelry, or small statues of half-naked women, or vases of men with broadswords held high over their heads in triumph.

It wasn't until she had reached the back of the dusty shop that she had seen it. It was as if it had called out to her by name, and she turned around to see this small, rusty gold box sitting alone on a shelf. It looked almost like a music box, with two small golden handles hanging dejectedly on the sides. The sides were intricately warped with images of what looked like…animals, crawling and twisting. As she stepped closer, she saw that there were people, also. Some were crying, some were screaming, and some were being torn apart by a whirlwind of black smoke. It was strange, and yet….

Pandora took a step closer to the box. It was as if it was calling out to her, whispering to her. It was strange, but in a good way. It was as if she was looking at something oddly familiar to her, even though she had never seen the rusted box before in her life. As she came closer, the whispers grew louder and louder until her ears were buzzing with a different energy. Pandora reached out and touched the lid lightly. A sudden electric pulse shot through her and her eye's widened. This wasn't natural. Something was happening, and it had to be the box. Pandora couldn't look away. The whispering had turned to a sort of music in her ears, like drums and trumpets. It was urging her on….almost begging her….

It was the box. This beautiful, ancient…magical box. Pandora reached out, and opened the lid.

Jacob Stone leaned back in his chair, his feet propped up on top of his desk, his laptop resting on his knees with the beginnings of a brand new thesis article tentatively written out. He gave a contented sigh. He honestly could not remember the last time he had felt so at peace. Even during his brief sty with the Monkey King , he had been constantly on edge worrying about the rest of his team, how they were faring without him there, about DOSA's next moves, about Flynn's recklessness, about what Apep was planning. Now, with the world once again saved from a magical-apocalyptic disaster, Apep destroyed and DOSA officially dismantled, Jake felt as if a huge weight had been magically lifted from his shoulders.

Well, maybe "magically" was the wrong word. Jake looked down at his right forearm where his new…. tattoo was residing. Or rather, the gift he was bestowed by the Monkey King. It was a series of ancient, inky black runes that circled from his wrist to his bicep. He sighed again and looked out towards the rest of his crazy magic team-his family, to be exact-was relaxing, same as him.

A lot had changed these last few months, years really, for all of them, good and bad. Jake glanced back down at his arm and smiled wryly. All year he had been adamantly protesting, mainly to Cassandra, against the use of magic in their jobs. Now, here he was, imprinted by the rawest forms of magic ever known.

Irony makes hypocrites of even the best of us. Jake thought to himself and shook his head. As he did so, his eyes landed on none other than Ezekiel Jones, who was currently playing with Excalibur in a frantic fencing match on the second floor. Jake would never admit this out loud, but lately he had been rather surprised by the formerly cocky thief, and not in a bad way. He was still an arrogant Australian smartass, but he and Ezekiel seemed to have gotten into a sort of groove the last month or so, and it was…nice. Like having a not-so-nerdy little brother to hang out with. However, as much as he sometimes appreciated the backwards friendship they had going, the kid still irritated him to no end most days. He had once thought that the "Great Ezekiel Jones" wasn't capable of anything deeper than his obvious narcissism and egotistical arrogance. But after the incident a few months ago with that girl, Cindy….Jake chuckled to himself as he remembered the thief's evident blush. Ezekiel Jones-world's greatest thief-had had his heart stolen, and had fallen in love. There was no better blackmail than that when it came to Ezekiel Jones.

Jake turned his observational study then on to the next person he saw: Jenkins. The immortal knight was tinkering with the finicky backdoor, which had been dismantled by Baird once DOSA had raided the entire Library. He was a tough nut to crack, this Galahad, even after they had been working with him for over three years now. He had continuously surprised Jake over and over again, like when Morgan La Fey had revealed his true identity along with hers, or his history with Duloc, or even those days when the Library's caretaker shared with them the seemingly endless wealth of magical knowledge he had on artifacts and their powers. But the thing that had gotten to him the most was when Jenkins-stuffy, melodramatic, old-as-time-himself Jenkins- had confessed his everlasting love for Charlene. Charlene, the Library's own Guardian. There had been no words to describe that shocking plot twist.

Jacob Stone then looked over to the desk across from him-Eve Baird and Flynn Carson. The Librarian and his Guardian. Their Guardian. Jake smiled at the two, Flynn perched on Eve's messy desk, the ex-NATO woman smiling sloppily up at him. Those two had done so much for them all-lied, disappeared, stole, been stabbed, kidnapped, lost in time, frozen in stone. Again, he would never admit it but he owed them so much more than his life and friendship.

He watched as Flynn and Baird's flirtations became more and more heated, so he quickly averted his eyes to the last Librarian. Cassandra Cillian. She was the only person who had ever made him feel so much in such a short amount of time. Her reddish-gold hair was twisted into a knot at the base of her neck, and she was wearing another one of her colorful, sophisticated outfits. She was reading what looked like a rather lengthy article on her laptop. Jake wondered if she was reading one of his newly published papers on Art History and the Sciences. He frowned at himself.

Lately, his feelings towards Cassandra had been leaving him feeling more than a little confused. He was still working on his trust issues, and truthfully, he and Cassandra had really grown closer over the last year and a half, both as friends and Librarians. He remembered how hard it was when they first started working together versus when they had traveled to Peru…what they had confessed a year ago during that job in Oklahoma…and especially how he had felt when Cassandra collapsed and rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. Yes, his feelings had most definitely changed. For a long while now. Jake had almost confronted them once-in London, he had briefly asked Cassie out for a pint-but they were interrupted and h had retreated.

Jake sat up slowly, placing his laptop gently on his desk, his barely written paper forgotten. His mind was reeling. Apep was gone, DOSA was no longer a threat, and there was nothing in the clippings book for once. If he was ever going to make a move, maybe now-

A explosion suddenly shook the entire Annex. The building vibrated hard, sending everyone and everything flying. Ezekiel flew up over the second floor railing and came down fast and hard, landing on the center table with a massive crash. Flynn and Baird dove over their desk and took cover, and Cassandra and Jenkins did the same. Jake, who had been rising to stand, was thrown up and over his own desk and across the room, his head smashing painfully into the metal bars of the staircase. For a moment, he couldn't move as black swarmed his vision.

"Jacob!" Cassandra screamed out, and Jake struggled to get upright amidst the rolling earthquakes. As his vision slowly cleared, he saw the others lying strewn around the floor of the Annex. Flynn was lying atop of Baird, trying to cover her from the flotsam and jetsam hurtling around them. Cassandra was huddled into a small ball underneath her desk. He didn't see Jenkins or Ezekiel anymore, and he hoped to whoever was listening that they were alright.

Another wave of explosions shook through the Annex, sending books, artifacts, dust and debris raining down on them. The vibrations hit a violent point and Jake gripped the bars of the staircase, and he watched as cracks started to break through on the walls. He yelled out for Cassandra, for Flynn, Baird, when suddenly-it stopped.

For a minute, all that he heard was the deafening silence, and that was more terrifying than the earthquakes. As it stretched out longer and longer, he slowly let go of the bars, gingerly testing the waters to see if the disaster really was over. When nothing else happened, Jake took a stumbling step towards where Cassandra was huddled. The desk had taken the brunt of all the damage, leaving Cassie shaken and covered in a fine layer of dust.

"Cassie, are you okay?" he asked, his voice choked and hoarse, and he let out a rough, hacking cough. His head was killing him and his vision was coming in and out of clarity now.

"Jacob, you're bleeding." Cassandra reached out and touched a spot near his hairline and he winced. She pulled her hand back, her fingertips stained with his blood.

"I'm okay." He assured her, taking her hand in his. "Really. I've had worse."

She opened her mouth to say something, but just then a muffled groan was heard from the furthermost corner.

"Eve!" Cassie exclaimed. "Flynn!" She let go of his hands and raced over to her friend and mentor. Jake started to follow, but suddenly he remembered the two others who were missing from the scene.

"Jenkins?" he called out, another cough breaking through. "Jones?"

A series of broken coughs came from beneath the center table, and he made his way over. His left leg twinged painfully every time he took a step, and his chest was starting to ache when he breathed, indicating cracked ribs at the very least. He managed to make his way with minimal pain and saw Jenkins and Ezekiel on the floor, half underneath the desk, their legs sticking out haphazardly.

"Mr. Stone." Jenkins' voice came out steadily from underneath the table. " If you would be so kind as to assist Mr. Jones and myself-"

Jake reached down and grabbed hold of the caretaker's leg and pulled, dragging both him and the thief, who was sprawled on top of Jenkins, from the rubble.

"Ah, yes. Thank you." Jenkins coughed and made to stand, groaning as he did so. He was coated in dust, his white hair askew and his trademarked everyday suit was torn in several places. "And now, Mr. Jones."

"Is everyone okay?" Eve Baird's clear cut voice came through from behind them and Jake turned to see Cassandra and Baird supporting a limping Flynn, and Baird was sporting several shallow cuts across her face and arms.

"Depends." A muffled Australian accent came up from the floor, an Ezekiel Jones's backswept hair came into view from behind the desk and dust as he sat up a little. "Did you catch the number of the bus that hit me?"

"We're alive." Jake assured the Guardian, who was looking at the devastation in saddened horror. "We'll be fine as soon as we get a moment."

"What the hell happened?" Flynn moaned, his eyes clenched shut.

"According to the news," Cassandra started, her phone in hand, "there were startlingly enormous, violent earthquakes happening worldwide. The devastation is monumental. " her eyes glazed over as her numbers started to form. "Based on the incredible velocity and power with which they spread and the range of one set of tremors to the next-"

"It wasn't an earthquake." Jenkins said forebodingly, and they all looked at him in question.

"Are you saying this was magic?" Baird asked. "Someone trying to attack the Annex? The Library?"

"Oh, not again!" Ezekiel whined. He was still on the floor, one arm slung over his eyes. "We just finished dealing with those DOSA blokes, not to mention the whole fiasco with Amen-"

"Apep." Jake snarled, but Jones waved him off.

"Whatever. All I'm saying is that a little courtesy vacation would be nice after all the heroics."

"Well, I'm afraid that may have to wait for quite some time, Mr. Jones." Jenkins said, and again, the team of Librarians looked at the knight with questions in their eyes. Jenkins sighed and motioned to something behind them in the rubble.

"Look at the clippings book."

Jake turned around, his eyes moving towards where he knew the familiar large, tan scrapbook floated on the center desk. Except-it wasn't there. The top of the desk was covered in torrents of books, papers, dust, and debris from the upper levels that had come loose during the explosions. But among it all, there was no sign of the clippings book where it should be.

"Jenkins, where-?"

"Ah. There, Mr. Stone."

And what Jenkins pointed to made all of Jake's injuries throb incessantly and there was a burning sensation on his right forearm, right where his tattoo was imprinted. The clippings book was completely torched, as if it had gone through a flash fire. Jake remembered how the book had burst into flames when Apep was released, yet somehow this was much worse. The entire book, cover to cover, was completely black, every cage charred to a crisp and scorched beyond repair. It was ruined.

"Oh my God." Cassandra whispered, and Jake could hear the pain in her voice. The clippings book was like the soul of the Library-it alerted them to all the rampant magic in the world and of what needed them the most. Without it, they were lost.

"Jenkins-" Flynn started, stumbling out of Baird's grasp. "This-this isn't possible. The clippings book- there is no kind of magic I've seen that could cause this much…"he trailed off as he got closer to the book, his eyes wide and one hand reaching to touch the charred pages.

"If this isn't magic, then what were those earthquakes? Dragons again?" Ezekiel asked, now standing.

"Dragons wouldn't turn the book into-that." Jake pointed out.

"It wasn't dragons." Flynn cut in. There was an odd note to his voice, and he hadn't yet looked away from the book. "It was magic."

"But I thought you just said-" Baird started, but Flynn waved her off.

"I know what I said, and I was right. Partially, I think. No normal, current level of magic use, or misuse, could create this much energy and power, not for a worldwide scale. This has to be ancient magic. Powerful magic dating back centuries, if not further. Magic like this-to be able to physically burn out the clippings book-"

"The End of the World." Jenkins finished. "Total Chaos."

"I thought we just stopped chaos." Ezekiel said slowly. "Or did we just go through all of that just to kill the messenger?"

"Mr. Jones, Chaos is innate. One being that personifies it does not control the actual urge or essence of the instinctual design. Besides, Apep wanted the total chaos that would come from the release of pure eveil. This-" he motioned to the book again, and he went to stand by Flynn as he talked, stepping over shattered glass. "This is pure chaotic magic."

"So what ancient magic is powerful enough to set off earthquakes worldwide and literally blackout the entire clippings book?" Jake said quietly.

"Not the entire book."

That caught their attention. Flynn had been flipping through the empty pages, almost with this absentminded disbelief. He had reached the very last page, something that, until now, Jake hadn't thought was possible. This page was just as destroyed as the others, but unlike the others, this page wasn't empty.

"It's an article." Baird said, stepping forward. "A small antiquities shop-is that Greek?"

Jake came over to where they were huddled and leaned over their shoulders to look at the faint text. The article was almost as burnt as the paper, but most of the writing was still pretty clear.

"Ancient Greek. This adaptation is not commonly used except in more historical relations. Roughly translated, "Ελλάδα μυστήρια" means Ellada's Mysteries. Ellada is another name for Greece."

"So the shop's name was literally "Greece's Mysteries"?" Baird clarified. "Odd choice of title for a place in the middle of New York."

"Athens." Cassandra clarified. 'It was in Athens, New York."

"Forgive me if I'm wrong but isn't that, like, a party city in actual Greece?"

"It's not a "party city", Jones." It's the major acropolis." Jake shot an annoyed look at the younger man. "It's absolutely central to Greece, dating back all the way to ancient mythology, when it was a place favored by Gods and Goddesses."

"Like Athena." Jenkins nodded. "The Goddess of craft and intelligence. It was her temple in the center of the city."

"Athens…Greece…mythology…" Flynn muttered to himself. "I've got a bad feeling about this, Jenkins."

"Likewise, Mr. Carson." The knight said seriously. "This is looking dark indeed."

"So," Baird continued, "it looks like this shop, "Greece's Mysteries", was destroyed in a fire this morning. Some sort of explosion resulting in two casualties."

"Who?" Flynn demanded. "Is there anything that says what was found on the bodies? Or what survived the fire? Anything from the shop?"

"Um," Baird furrowed her brow but leaned back in to decipher the singed article. "The shopkeeper, a Mr. Teno Rubi, died along with a customer who happened to be in the shop at the time. Sixteen year old girl named Pandora Sideri."

'Those are Greek based names-"

"Pandora? Like the music station?"

"More like the-"

"Box!" Baird exclaimed suddenly, making them all jump. Flynn spluttered in surprise and turned, eyebrows raised, and looked at his Guardian in absolute shock.

"What?"

"The only thing the fire crews were able to salvage from the wreck was a small antique box." Baird read, and she raised her eyes to her silent team with a look of apprehension. "Is this what I think it is?"

"She found it." Flynn whispered, and he and Jenkins shared a long, serious look. "Pandora's box."

"Wait, what?" Jake interrupted. "Are you serious? A girl literally named Pandora, who's possibly of Grecian descent, happens to find herself in a New York city named after a Greek city where she enters a Greek antiques shop and finds the only magical object in there-an powerful, ancient object from Greek mythology that leads to mass destruction? Does that seem fixed to anyone else?"

"Well, when you put it like that-"

"Um, excuse me, but could someone please explain what a Pandora box is to those of us who were actually cool in high school?" Ezekiel butted in, a note of irritation evident in his tone. Jake resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Pandora's box." Jenkins took over. "One of the most ancient, and by far, the most dangerous artifact in existence. Now, according to Greek mythology, the box contained all the evils of the world. Pandora was the first woman on Earth, created by the Gods, and unjustly punished by Zeus by being presented with the box and tempted to open it. When she did, she released all the death, war, sadness, and chaos unto Earth. When the box was empty, only Hope remained."

"According to mythology?" Leave it to Cassandra to pick up on the weak spot immediately. "So it's not completely true?"

"No one knows a whole lot about the real Pandora's Box." Jenkins said slowly. "We know of it, but not of appearance. And what we do know is still very uncertain."

"Well, what do we know?" Baird asked curtly.

"Pandora's Box is incredibly dangerous." Flynn explained, starting to pace despite his limp. "It's an artifact Librarians have been trying to obtain for centuries, but one that no one could ever find. See, while it's true that the first woman, Pandora, was given the box, it was not by Zeus, but by Athena. The goddess of craft and intelligence-"

"And war." Jake said with a pointed look.

"Yes. It was a simple gift, but Pandora was greedy and jealous. She wanted to join the gods on Olympus and share in their immortality. She was one of their creations, their child, and yet she would die. When Zeus refused, Pandora became angry and enabled the help of a magister to capture all of Olympus and trap it forever at her side."

"Pandora trapped Olympus, along with every God and Goddess ever written…in a box?" Baird asked skeptically.

"She was created by Gods and so she was capable of instilling their downfall. She was no ordinary mortal." Jenkins shrugged.

"So, if this artifact has always been out there, why hasn't it been opened before now?" Ezekiel prompted. "I mean, I'm assuming that's what happened here."

"Aha!" Flynn exclaimed. "And there's the brilliance. Athena had crafted her gift so that only Pandora would be able to open it under the right conditions. She counted on Pandora to never lose the artifact as long as she lived. It's what's prevented the box from being found and opened recklessly ever since. The magic hid itself until another able to use it was presented."

"Okay, okay. Hold on a second." Jake raised his hand to stop Flynn's excited babbling. "Let me get this straight. Athena charmed the box so only Pandora could open it properly. So when a sixteen year old girl with that exact name came along…."

"If she was as closely connected as we think she was, then it is possible that she was drawn to it by a greater force." Jenkins mused.

"And then released who knows how many immortal Greek deities who have spent all of time imprisoned in a box directly unto Earth." Cassandra concluded and they were quiet for a long time. Jake thought back to the explosions that had just happened, and they was just because the box had been opened.

"We need to get that box." Flynn said finally. "We need to figure out how many Gods escaped from Olympus and get them back before they start wreaking havoc."

"Something tells me that they won't be too eager to go home." Cassandra muttered to Jake, who smirked and nodded in agreement.

"Jenkins!" Flynn yelled, the enthusiasm that had been missing during these last twenty minutes returning with fervor. "Fire up the back door. We're going to Athens. New York!"

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