Alright, so I haven't watched the movie, but I've heard the rumors and spoilers. If they are true, I don't want to see anyone sending hate mail or going back to old fics and hating on them because of the new information or anything, this is something that's had literal YEARS to grow and develop. No hints whatsoever outside of the fact that Shinichi's father and Kaito's father were rivals, and Shinichi's mother was taught by Kuroba Toichi. So if the movie reveals our worst fears as kaishin fans, just remember that it isn't the shippers fault, none of us could have known or realized because there was little to no information at all up until this point and,again, we've had years to develop the ship, over 20 years worth of potential shipping fuel and tension.
On Sunday I watched the movie "The Dragon Pearl" with my mom and it has this scene where they open a secret passage with light reflected on a gem:
Which reminded me that in The Avatar: the Last Airbender the firebenders and sun warriors use a similar mechanism:
So I was thinking... What if Pandora was a key?
Let's imagine that the original legend spoke of a powerful Wizard who amazed people with his magic. He also helped people with it.
There were thousands of rumors about said Wizard, but the one that resonated the most was that of his eternal youth. The man always looked young for his age, which led people to believe that he was immortal. Many, guided by these theories, turned to him in search of eternal youth. The Wizard always refused to tell his secret, until the people's insistence made him give in. He told them that it was thanks to magical waters. Thus, the magician allowed only a select group of people to have access to those waters. This caused quite a stir. Many people begged and demanded that the Wizard allow them free access to the waters. Some even went so far as to commit violent acts in order to scare and extort the Wizard. These damning acts provoked his anger.
It is said that using his magic, he enclosed the power of the waters in a gem and hid it from the world.
This did nothing to stop people. But rather the opposite. They called him selfish and persecuted him to reveal the location of the gem. He never told them. And to teach them a lesson, he cursed all the citizens and then disappeared.
He never told anyone about the gem that was named Pandora. So it was lost, forever.
This is a fantastic story created from rumors, misunderstandings, superstitions and ignorance.
The real story is that the "Great Wizard" was actually an inventor who scammed people by pretending to do real magic.
The "magic waters" are actually hot springs. The guy found a couple of ponds hidden in a cave and kept the secret to himself. Just because he liked to enjoy them in his privacy.
When rumors started and people started asking, he decided to take advantage of this situation. He invented the story of magic water and allowed only people who paid him a lot to enter the cave. Some of these people were not trustworthy and began to lead others into the waters. They also scammed people to get them there. When the inventor realized this, he decided to hide the place.
He sealed the cave with an intricate lock that could only be found with a gem.
When people found out about all this they began to harass the Inventor. Out of spite, the man hid the gem and left.
Pandora has two functions:
First: It works as a map. Inside it has an old map that indicates the place where the hot springs are. This map is only seen when you put the gem in the light.
The second: It works as a key. The gem has to be placed in a specific place and must be illuminated with the light of the Moon. The reflection of light touches the lock and opens it.
Magic may exist in the world of MK. But the greatest attraction, in my opinion, that manga has is the ingenuity and the artifacts they use to create the illusions. So I like that Pandora follows this resource. It's fun and interesting.
It is also interesting to imagine how they find the gem. Maybe Kaito asks Akako (in a way that tries to be subtle but fails miserably) if she has ever heard of said gem. She would tell him no, she knows of the existence of many other magical gadgets that can work in a similar way but she has never heard of Pandora. Which would make sense, since Pandora is not a magical item. It's a scientific invention (or something like that). So the Witches never heard of her.
I am in favor of Hakuba being the one who finds out about the real existence of the gem or knows its location. Only he doesn't know his real function. How, his family owns this really ancient gem that has a very fanciful legend. But he notices the details about the moon and the light in the gem and questions if that's not what KID is looking for. Which begs the question "Why would Kuroba want that specific gem?" "Did he really believe in the magic he supposedly possesses?" "Or is there something else you're not seeing?" All of these questions end up with him keeping an eye on Kaito and trying to discern why that gem. Which bothers Kaito because he feels their gazes even more insistent and annoying.