She's the new daughter of Hades, but there's something more to that. Long ago, back before the Trojan War, Apollo cursed the prophetess Cassandra with something very, very horrible...Rewritten.

[A/N]: Hey all, this is a rewrite of my story, since I was randomly reading through this again and realizing—this writing kinda sucks o.O

The plot hasn't been changed…but the writing quality's (hopefully) a lot better. And perhaps, a few extra scenes. Enjoy. And leave a review while you're at it, if you can :)

So this is how the rewrite is going to go: I'm going to delete the other chapters, and rebuild this story by updating chapter by chapter.

zynaofthenight does not own PJO.

-Cassandra's Curse-

By: zynaofthenight

Prologue

Winter Solstice 1930

...

It was a cold night—a night for dark, demented screams and frozen thoughts. Flurries of snow fell in a blizzard upon the earth, covering everything in a deathly pale white. A deep silence resounded in the atmosphere, and in the distance, a small girl trudged through the steadily thickening snow in the direction of what seemed to be a camp.

She staggered over the boundary line, her black hair snapping in the harsh wind. There was a wary look in her eyes; the look of a hunted animal. Her teeth were chattering and she hugged herself with numb fingers, looking over her shoulder every once in a while.

The spirits had told her it was safe. They had told her Camp Half-Blood would be a home for her. Yet as she stood over the snowy crest of the hill, she saw no signs of living beings—just snow, snow, and snow.

She tried reaching for the the spirits. They had helped her before—but this time, it seemed as if all the ghosts of her past would not respond to her pleads.

"Help me," she cried, her weak voice fading quickly in the muffled air. "Someone! Help me!"

There was no response. All the campers were at Olympus, and no one was guarding the camp. The little girl stumbled down the hill, to the middle of the camp, where a smoldering campfire lay, forgotten. She desperately tried to warm herself, but with no avail. Her clothes were no asset here; she wasn't even wearing a coat.

Cold. It was too cold. She felt the wet snow on her cheek, and she attempted feebly to move it out of the way. Maybe she should go to sleep. Maybe she should just rest a bit, and when she woke again, there would be people there to help her. Maybe…

Snow continued to fall softly, covering the whole world in a deadly white. Silence pervaded.

When the campers came back from their trip to Olympus, they were shocked to see the frozen body of a little girl by the campfire, her lips blue with the last sensation she felt in the living world.

They held a funeral for her. Covering her with a delicately made shroud, they burned the body in the flames, everyone making a prayer, hoping that the innocent little girl, who met her death so young, would be allowed in Elysium. As the smoke drifted into the air, it was clear to all what image was hanging in the sky above the shroud.

The sign of Hades.

She felt the icy sensation shoot through her, and the world was dark, with nothing to feel, nothing to know. A void of black ink, bleeding out into life—shadowy figures, whispered voices, and then there was nothing. Nothing.

After an eternity of darkness, she felt a strange itching under her eyelids, forcing her to open them. Dim florescent light filtered through her pupils, and she blinked rapidly to adjust her vision to her surroundings.

She seemed to be in a waiting room filled with many, many people. An old sign hanging by the door read: DOA Recording Studios. No Solicitors. No Loitering. No Living. As she glanced about, she noticed a man sitting behind the security desk, the only one here who seemed distinguishable from shadow.

He saw her too. As she stared at him, his eyes pierced her own gaze, and he beckoned to her with one finger.

"Hello?" she asked when she had reached his desk. "I'm lost. I don't know where I am."

The man sighed through his nose, and stood up, towering over her. "Another one of those Hades godlings, eh?"

She stared at him, puzzled. "Godlings? I don't understand you, sir."

"Never mind. Come with me." The man took her hand—not without wrinkling his nose in disgust—and led her to a boat filled with other people.

"Where are we going?" she asked, fidgeting nervously as she realized something was wrong with the whole place. "Why does this place seem so scary?"

There was no response as the man took out an oar and started rowing the boat. Mist began forming on all sides, and the girl whimpered from the back of her throat as she clutched the seat she sat in. The people around her began to change, becoming transparent and ghostly.

And she—she was becoming a spirit too. She frantically ran her hands over her seat, but she just went through the wood.

"W-Where are we going?" she asked again, her bottom lip trembling as she fought to keep the fright in her at bay. "What is this place?"

"The Underworld," was her answer this time. "The River Styx—the place of hopes, dreams, and wishes that never came true."

"W-What? I-I don't understand…"

The man sighed again. "Keep quiet, and you'll know, pretty soon."

They landed on black sand by the banks of the river, and the ghostly man led her out. "Wait here," he told her. As she turned her head around, she noticed him climbing into the boat and grasping the oars.

"Wait!" she called. "Don't leave me alone!"

But the man gave no sign of hearing her, and rowed away. The girl sat down, burying her face into her hands, whimpering. It was cold, she was frightened, and she wanted to go home.

A hiss above her made her look up. An old woman was standing there, but she had scaly wings sprouting out from her back.

"W-Who are you?" the girl stammered, backing away.

"No need to be afraid," the woman rumbled. "I am Alecto. Come with me."

And with that, she grabbed the girl and flew her away.

They landed in front of a stone cold black palace, and the girl was put down—none too gently—on the ground. She opened her eyes, which had been squeezed shut, and looked around.

"Where am I?" she asked, not for the first time.

There was no answer; just a knock on the door. The gates opened to reveal a huge, dark hallway, and—

And a man in dark robes. He strode over to the girl and looked at Alecto. "You are dismissed."

The woman cackled and flew away. The man turned to the girl again, and the look on his face softened slightly to reveal a kinder expression. "My child, are you alright?"

She nodded, but shivered. "I'm a bit cold."

The man smiled. "That's alright." He snapped his fingers and she felt warm all over immediately. "Now, why don't you sleep? You need some rest."

She was suddenly too sleepy to do anything but nod, but she managed to say "Thank you," before she collapsed onto a bed that had suddenly appeared out of no where, and fell into deep slumber.

It was a few hours later when she woke up, in a different room. Heaving herself to a sitting position, she gazed around. Behind the wall to her right, she heard voices. Softly walking towards the wall, she crouched, and started to listen.

"Hades! This is ridiculous! Another child? I've let Maria di Angelo off. I've let the two kids go. But another?"

"Calm down, Persephone!" It was the man that told her to sleep. The little girl listened harder.

"I won't! No more children of yours!"

"She's not a new child! Maria never told me! I thought the only children she had were Nico and Bianca! Maria hid this girl from me for some reason! I never knew!"

"A third child? Are you sure she's yours? Maybe Maria had her with another man."

"I'm totally sure. She might not look like Nico or Bianca, but she is definitely mine."

"Ah…then is she Maria's? Perhaps yet another woman." A hint of anger.

"No, Persephone. She has Maria's eyes. Though why she doesn't look like Nico and Bianca is a mystery to me."

The girl tried to listen, but the rest of the conversation was lost to her. She remembered now. She had a mother, didn't she? An older brother and sister. Nico and Bianca. They used to have fun…But her mother never liked her. Who was her father? Hades. The man who spoke to her. But yet…for some reason…She never met her father before. Every time he came to visit, she was hidden in a closet while Nico and Bianca rushed to meet him. She had asked her mother why.

"Because you look different. And you're a third child. I never wanted three children with Hades. Two was the limit. I'm keeping you hidden."

"But Hades is my father and you're my mother, right? Nico and Bianca are my siblings, right?" the little girl had asked.

Maria looked at her with distaste. "Yes."

And it wasn't a lie. The little girl could sense that Maria was telling the truth. It was a gift that made the girl feared, for some reason. She knew if someone was lying or not. And in this case, Maria di Angelo was not lying a bit.

So she ran away. Camp Half-Blood, the spirits had told her. A safe place.

Why was she here though? Hades was the lord of the dead. That meant…and the meaning of the shadowy figures, the cold feeling, and the silent, dark air came clear to her. She was dead.

She started sobbing. The door opened, and Hades stepped into the room.

"There, now, child," he said. "Don't cry."

She raised her head. "I'm dead, aren't I?"

The question seemed to surprise him. "Yes, I'm afraid so, child."

He wasn't lying, and her last hope washed away.

"Do you remember your mother?"

She looked at the floor. "Yes. She never liked me. She never showed me to you, didn't she? I recognize you now. You're Hades, my father. I had two siblings, Nico and Bianca. Where are they?"

Hades looked at her, his face full of grief. "Your mother is dead. Nico and Bianca are in a safe place."

Her face betrayed no emotion. "Camp?"

"No. A different place. Perhaps, one day, you'll see them again. Come with me."

He held out his hand, and she took it, following him out the palace and to the banks of a shimmering river.

"The River Lethe," Hades said, looking sadly into the waters. "A sacred place. It cleanses your memory, all of it. That's why Nico and Bianca don't remember you anymore."

She stared at him, tears running down her face. "They…don't remember me anymore? But…but we loved each other! Nico was my big brother! H-he said he would never forget me!" She started to sob again.

Hades dried her cheeks. "It's sad," he murmured. "I know, child. But do you want to see them again someday?"

She nodded tearfully.

Hades took her hand and led her to the bank of the river. "Yours is a strong mind, child. You know the truth. The River Lethe won't wash your memory away forever. Someday, you'll remember everything again. Until then…" He gestured at the river. "Reincarnation. I hate to see my children die before they even grow up a bit. You are still young enough. Perhaps, in more than seventy years, you'll see them again."

She looked at him. "But I'll be so old! I'm already six right now so that would make me…uh…"—she screwed her face up in concentration—"really old."

He smiled down at her. "No, you won't. I'll make it that when you meet them again, you'll be only a bit younger than Nico. Nico won't age. Neither will Bianca."

She brightened. "You would? Then he'll still be my big brother! I want to go!"

Hades lifted the six-year-old up and placed her into the water.

"What's your name, daughter?"

"My name…is…" It was getting hard as she could feel the memories of her home fading away. Soon, she would forget everything.

"It's…" What was her name? And then, she remembered.

"My name's Cassandra di Angelo," she told him. "But it's too long. Everyone else calls me Calli for some reason."

He smiled. "Calli is fine. I'll see you in a while, daughter."

She tried to nod, but the river swirled over her and she didn't remember anything anymore.

Hades turned from the river, lost in memories, only to find a young girl with short hair and a peaceful expression on her face standing behind him.

"You!" he spat. "After the curse I've put on you, you dare to come again?"

The Oracle of Delphi looked at him with calm, level eyes. "You should not have reincarnated her. Do you understand what you have done?"

"Stop cursing my children! You're the cause of all my misery."

She shook her head sadly. "If you had just left her as a spirit, it would have been better. But you would've reincarnated her anyways. Lord Apollo does not forgive easily."

"What does Apollo have to do with anything?"

She stared across the river. "Cassandra, the prophetess in the times of the Trojan War. She was cursed by Apollo."

"So no one believed her. What does that have to do with anything?"

"That was just a small trifle, caused by Apollo's anger. Lord Hades, you know all the dead. You must've felt Cassandra's spirit many, many times in different eras over the centuries. You felt her in your daughter."

The god was silent.

She continued. "Your daughter has already died many times. For two lives, she is reincarnated as a child of Hades. She has already died once. When she is dead again, she will be reincarnated into another life. A different person altogether. She will never feel the blessing and rest of death. She will never remain a spirit of the Underworld."

Hades clenched his fists, gritting his teeth in anger and frustration.

The Oracle's eyes went blank, her voice multiplying many times. "Apollo's real curse was that Cassandra of Troy would be doomed to die forever, never to feel the eternity of the afterlife."

She disappeared, leaving a heartbroken Lord of the Dead standing on the bank.

"No," he whispered. "What have I done?"

[A/N]: Mm…this was rather hurried, so if I made any mistakes, please point it out. Ta.

Review please, if you can :)

I'll rewrite chapter two…sometime…