Prelude

DISCLAIMER:

This story takes place in Ancient Greece. This is a "What if" kind of setup. Callisto is from the television series' Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. The Crow is the same as the one from the two movies, The Crow and The Crow: City of Angels.

She awoke peacefully from what seemed to be an eternal sleep, but all she could see was black. Her head started to pound with pain, and her body was sore. As she tried to move her hands and feet, something was not right. Why couldn't she move? Her hands and feet were tied together behind her back. Her mouth was gagged and tied. She struggled to get free, but her attempts were futile. She stopped trying to move, so she could figure out where she was. She began to feel around herself. It felt like . . . dirt. She was surrounded by dirt.

"Am I . . . buried?!!"

This thought scared her and she began to struggle again, harder than before. This time, her struggling paid off, she was soon able to get her hands free. However, she was not able to move her feet. The dirt on top of her was too much. Snaking her arms upward, with one forceful push, her arms punched through the dirt and felt the surface. Her hands were no longer surrounded by dirt. She felt the cold, damp air on the surface. It also felt like it was raining. She slowly, but with great effort, pulled herself toward the surface. She pulled herself towards freedom. She finally made it to the top.

She then removed the gag in her mouth and the blindfold covering her eyes. She took large gasps of air as the rain fell on her body. Her vision was blurred, and she was cold. Her next move was to free her feet. She pulled her feet out of the shallow grave and untied the old ropes. She didn't even notice the cold winds and heavy rains that were coming down on her half-naked body. All she was wearing was a torn, battered dress that was falling off her body. She shivered and twitched as finally the weather was taking an effect on her body. She looked around trying to see if she could recognize where she was. Nothing looked familiar.

"Where am I?"

As she finished speaking to herself, she heard a strange noise. It sounded like flapping in the distance. She followed the sound and saw a huge, black bird flying toward her. As it landed next to her, she shied away and hid her face. The bird landed next to her and made a loud noise, like a mid-pitched screech. This scared her even more. She turned her head back to the bird. The bird was looking right at her, almost as if it were looking into her soul. It was talking to her mind.

"Follow me . . ."

She listened and looked confusingly at the bird. The bird flew to a nearby branch, waiting for this girl who sat in the mud. She began to rise, but her feet were too weak to support her weight. As she tried to stand, she fell back to the ground. She tried again.

Slowly, she finally was able to stand. She held what was left of her rags to her body and began walking slowly toward the bird. It saw her and moved on. She continued to follow not knowing where she was going.

By Lisle Brathwaite