However, sometimes dreams are true, they just haven't happened in the Awake world yet.
And Cassandra knew this very well.
It wasn't always a good thing. Well, it never was. Cassandra always seemed to see horrible things that frightened her, they ran through her head as clear and as smooth as dreams can possibly be, so vivid that Cassandra was sure that she was awake.
A young woman, the age of myself, was on a ship. She smiled gaily, although there seemed to be a sense of sorrow behind the smile. She wore a pale blue palla, and I could scarcely make out the girl's matching eyes. Her hair was flaxen, rippled like the sea, and burst into a froth that tickled her slender shoulders. The beautiful girl turned around to admire the vast sea. I turned, as well. But instead of the sea, there was a raging battlefield, with dead men lying everywhere, the ground soaked with blood. Men everywhere were killing each other. The faces of two men seemed to call out to me amongst the terrible destruction. My brother...and Menelaus.
Watching the battle scene was absolutely horrendous at times, but Cassandra soon learned to watch for strange things. These things weren't actually there when the dream happened in real life.
An old man, who didn't seem to actually be there. A soft glow breathed around him, and he held a piece of papyrus and a quill. He looked up and seemed to be taking in the ghastly war scene. He saw me looking at him and disappeared, leaving me to watch the hideously violent scene before my eyes.
To escape from it all, dreams and reality, Cassandra would often saunter outdoors, trying to forget the horrible things she knew would happen.
I would walk to forget the horrible things I had foreseen. People would point at me and whisper. "The girl," I heard one say, nodding, "she sees all before it has occurred," and the other would nod. "A gift from the Gods. Apollo." I only wished I could tell these people that it wasn't a gift. It was a curse, a terrible curse that I did not know how to break.
And so, Cassandra lived her life knowing what was happening before it was actually happening, the horrible "gift" from Apollo ever haunting her...
I fear that Apollo is punishing me for something I have done...yet I do not know what it is, and I never shall. It is one thing I cannot see, even if I try and try.
After the horror of seeing many die twice, Cassandra began to see a pinprick of light in the darkness of the war...
The war has been raging for over eight years. I have seen that the suffering shall end soon. Helen and Menelaus will reunite. The war will stop, and all will be well... However, I know that this curse is far from breaking, and shall haunt me for life...