Once Upon A Dream

All Demigods see things when they sleep. For most residents at Camp Half-Blood that meant nightmares. Visions of quests they are about to embark on, or even tragic retellings of events from past quests. Of course these sorts of nightmares only occurred with demigods who actually got to go on quests. Like the Ares Cabin. Children of Ares begged to prove their worth to the War god through quests. But some cabins, the Aphrodite cabin for example, very rarely supplied a sibling for a quest. It wasn't that children of Aphrodite didn't want to prove themselves to their mother, of course they did! The Aphrodite kids and the Ares kids just differed severely in what qualified as proving one's self. One of the bonuses to not going on quests was not having the accompanying nightmares. Some demigods were even rewarded with dream gifts from their parents. A son or daughter of Hephaestus might dream of schematics for a new invention. A child of Aphrodite might dream of true love for themselves or someone else. Aurora, daughter of Aphrodite, learned firsthand about this particular gift.

Like some of her fellow demigods, Aurora wasn't raised by her mortal parent. Her father was a politician who knew that a demigod daughter could drag out monster's from all corners of the country. So to keep both his daughter and his political career safe, Aurora was sent to live with her father's three sisters at a young age. Her three aunts; Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, had done the best to give her a safe and happy childhood. They always went out of their way make every holiday a grand affair but that didn't stop the girl from feeling lonely. She grew up in a cottage away from any town and away from children her own age. That's why she'd been so excited when her aunts had told her they were finally sending her to Camp Half-Blood. She'd never been so excited in her whole life. That was until she dreamed of him.

The first time she dreamed of him was a week before her tenth birthday. She had been packing for her second summer at Camp when she'd closed her eyes for just a few seconds. After all, packing was hard work! One minute she'd been deciding between two dresses, a blue or a pink, and next thing she knew she was watching a handsome brunette boy. He was playing in the woods somewhere. Someone had tied a red sheet around his neck like a cape and he wore a jagged crown made of cardboard. Gripped tightly between his two small hands was a long tube of cardboard that he was using as a pretend sword.

"Stand back beast!" He hollered at a basset hound that had wandered across his path. The dog was obviously this boy's pet as it seemed use to this sort of play. Plus it had a set of cardboard wings fixed to its collar. Rather than looking alarmed or offended by his master, the basset hound simply flopped down with it's saggy face drooping to the forest floor.

"Samson!" The boy groaned. "You're supposed to be a terrifying dragon! How will I ever train to be a proper hero if you can't be a proper dragon?" Aurora couldn't help but giggle at the boy and his adventures. She woke herself with her own laughter. As he headed out of the forest later that afternoon the boy would have sworn on Samson's life that he'd heard a young girl's laugh coming from the sky.

The third time Aurora had dreamed of him she had dozed off during a mandatory first aid class. He was twelve now, the same age as her. He was glaring at a mirror that hung crookedly behind his bedroom door. The boy frowned.

"I still don't understand why Dad has to get married." The boy complained as he fiddled with his tie. That would explain the fancy clothes. Aurora thought as she studied his child sized suit. The boy made a face before addressing Samson, who was lounging lazily on his bed.

"What do you think Sam?" The boy held up his arms before sighing. "I think this is as good as it's gunna get."

"I think your tie is crooked." Aurora mumbled to herself, but she could have sworn her dream boy had heard her. He swung his head around and looked directly at her. That was the first time Aurora really noticed how handsome he was.

"Phillip? Are you in here?" A man's voice called.

"Yeah, Dad." The boy sighed. "Yeah, I'm coming!" he shouted back at the door. With one last glance in Aurora's direction he left the room.

"Phillip." Aurora mumbled as one of her siblings shook her awake. "So that's his name."

"That's who's name?" Snow White, one of Aurora's older Aphrodite sisters, asked. "Oooh were you on a dream date?"

"They're not dream dates." Aurora insisted as she adjusted herself in her chair. "He doesn't even know I'm there when I see him."

"But you've seen him twice now!" Snow pointed out. "That has to mean something!"

"Well maybe it does." Aurora sighed. "But I suppose we'll never know since I have no way to find them."

"Someday, your Prince Charming will come." Snow assured her sister. Aurora didn't know how she could be so confident, but having faith seemed better than the alternative, especially when you're a demigod.

After that Aurora was determined to meet her "Prince Charming". She concentrated hard on her dreams as tried desperately to make contact with him. Sometimes it seemed like he really could hear her. Other times she almost gave up. Then she had a breakthrough.

Phillip was laying on top of his bed sheets thinking of the girl he'd been seeing so much in his dreams. She was probably the prettiest girl he'd ever seen in his life. She had wavy blonde hair, and sky blue eyes. Of course she wasn't real. She was just a girl he saw in his dreams. He saw her sometimes laying in a field of flowers or talking with her friends in a busy mess hall. Simple things. He stroked Samson's head absentmindedly as he thought of his beautiful girl. Rowry her friends had called in her dreams.

"Rowry." He whispered. A smiled spread across his face. It had to be a nickname for something, no one would name their daughter something so cool. Even if that was her name; it didn't really matter to the Phillip, he liked it just fine. Someday he'd find a girl as pretty as Rowry and make her his princess. "Princess Rowry." He whispered again.

"Phillip?" Phillip bolted upright in his bed. Someone had just whispered his name in the dark.

"Hello?" He whispered silently. "Who's there?" Samson didn't even lift his head. Useless dog. He thought to himself.

"Hello? Can you hear me?" A young girl's voice asked. Phillip recognized that voice. It was Rowry his mystery girl.

"Rowry? yes! Yes I can hear you!" Phillip exclaimed excitedly. He didn't understand what was happening, but he must have fallen asleep while thinking of his mystery girl.

He can hear me! Aurora smiled at the thought. She tried not to get too excited for fear of waking herself from her dream and losing the ability to talk to him. Sure she hadn't exactly figured out how to physically show herself to him yet, but she could work on that. For now she was happy just talking with Phillip.