Fluorescence ♛ tw/pjo au

V

Lydia's heart skipped a beat as she woke from her sleep, almost falling from her bunk hearing the terrifying shriek echoing through the camp. Almost immediately, she hopped from the bed and slipped on her nikes.

The screaming continued and Lydia glanced around her cabin, seeing everyone still soundly asleep. She paced around, stopping at Allison's bed and leaning forward to shake her awake. Once her skin came in contact with her friend, the scenery changed. They were now in the woods, Allison lying on a bed in the middle of a clearing, Lydia's hand resting on her shoulder.

Lydia jumped back, letting go of Allison, who flickered and disappeared. She started backing away from the center of the clearing.

"Lydia. Oh, sweet Lydia." She heard a male sounding voice say.

"Terry! That's not what we are here to do. Lydia, we have a message for you." A woman's voice said.

Lydia then heard a gurgling sort of noise. She began to look around her and then she looked up. Three birds were perched on a branch up in a spindly tree.

"I'm sorry, who are you? What do you want." She shouted at them, backing away.

"Lydia, it's not time for introductions, but I assume you probably know who we are." The female voice from before came from the middle bird.

Lydia focussed and thought back to her lessons. She caught glimpses of three birds while she dug through her memory. "Terry... Tereus, the one who raped his wife's sister and then cut off her tongue.... But then the two sisters conspired and.. Cooked up his son and fed him to him and then the gods made you all three into birds.... Am I correct? Tereus, Prokne, and Philomela?" Lydia finally caught the full memory and she spouted from her photographic memory.

"Wow, such a bright girl. Too bad we have bad news for you, child. Bad for you and your precious camp anyway, mostly good for us, but we are just passing on a message." The man's voice now came from the bird on the left.

Another gurgle came from the bird on the right. "Mel, we are trying to speak to this child, no one can understand you with your tongue gone. Anyway, Child, our master Ouranus has sent us to deliver a message. He has been spending the past ten years gaining strength to strike at your camp for what they have done to his beloved Gaia. He is now almost ready to strike, sweetheart. And nothing can stop him." Prokne said.

"W-why are you telling me this?" Lydia stood stunned at the gained information.

"Our master likes a fair fight as well as a challenge. Although this will be no challenge for him, for you puny Demi gods and gods can do nothing to stop him, but he sent us to deliver this message, and we obey master Ouranus." Tereus stated.

"Hope to see you again, Lydia, give your mother our best." Prokne said smoothly. The birds began spiraling upwards out of the deep forest. Lydia saw but one gleam as they disappeared into the sky.

Lydia collapsed to the floor, falling through it as the green grassy floor began to stretch, almost like elastic and then, right where Lydia had been sitting, the dream broke and she fell through, screaming until she sat upright in her bed, hair plastered to her neck and face in sweaty spirals.

-/-/-

Malia was pacing the beach, her fingers tearing through her hair. Her feet were pressing into the sand, as she slowly thought over what just happened.

"I think you're really pretty." Malia spouted out.

"W-what?" Kira stepped closer to Malia, who could now feel her heat radiating from her body.