I had never listened to the rain before. There is a lulling sensation that comes over you when the small droplets hit a windowpane or a rooftop. Even the dura-plasti-steel of the Metropolis Hilton penthouse where I chose to spend my birthday, the rain sounded different than I remember growing up on Naltor.

There were no meteorological systems that altered our weather patterns the way there are on Earth. There was no fair warning before a thunderstorm…other than the fact that I could foresee them. I knew when the clouds came in my dreams and the rains came against my face and I awoke from my bed that there was a storm on the rise...we all did. All of us who were Naltorian, that is. All of us blessed with Cassandra’s curse. Save my sister, that is; Mysa never knew the future as certain. She never had the comfort that came in planning your day around a vision or the calm in the aversion of disaster by simply dreaming it.

Mysa, however, knew the wonders of magic and the might of mysticism. She used that might to augment my own abilities so that I might be of more use to my people. And I was. With the slightest nudge in the right direction, I became a Seer of such magnitude that I was able to see years into the future with pinpoint accuracy. My mother had told me later that it was only that Mysa unlocked a doorway that I would have eventually unlocked myself. She said that my sister had sped up a process that would have happened naturally and I believed her.

Today, I cursed her, as well, as my sister, the White Witch.

Imra had been so happy throughout the entire term. Her twins were born healthy and beautiful, shining symbols of the union of she and the man she loved. Then...one of them was stolen from her. I saw the entire thing. I saw the evil transcend on us in perfect clarity. I saw in perfect detail the hand that snatched her child away and return that same child to us all in the form of the mad creature, Validus.

Shrinking Violet had been violated. I saw her body encased in healing fluid and Element Lad streaking in to save her. I saw Projectra and Nemesis Kid on the battlefield and heard the sickening snap of his neck as Jeckie took his wretched life. I saw Mentalla breathe her last breath moments before it actually happened and I could do nothing because I was not in the position to do anything. I was back in time during Violet’s imprisonment; I was unconscious on the battlefield at the hands of Hunter’s allies, the Slasher and Titania. I knew I would be. I was battling Flare, Caress and the others when the new Legionnaire was killed. I knew that I would be.

This day, I knew would come and I have dreaded it. This day, Thom and I would be the happiest we had ever been. He came home today and things had been wonderful. He was laughing and smiling the entire way home. He changed into his clothes from the hospital and we’d had dinner. He’s said all the right phrases and done all the right things. After we’d come home from the City Star, we’d made love for hours and fallen asleep in each other’s arms the way we always did, afterward.

I woke up in a sweat and tore myself from the bed.

I didn’t reach for my Dream Girl uniform but rather for the battle-ready transuit that we wore after the Legion disbanded. It was sturdier and would help me. I knew that this would be the toughest fight of my life. I also knew the rest.

I couldn’t believe the way I burst into the room took apart the situation. All the training at Karate Kid’s hands, the hours in the gym with Brin, the way I’d pored over new forms of self-defense paid off when I burst in upon the robbery in progress and Thom fighting to defend the tellers and other innocents. I was moments away from distracting the lone gunman when he opened fire.

Just like I knew he was going to.

Thom’s body fell lifelessly to the floor and I cradled his head in my lap as the gunmen flew away as quickly as they’d arrived. I didn’t know what to do but cry. As I held him to me, the sickening stench of his charred flesh, I didn’t think I’d ever suppress the urge to vomit. As I pushed myself to my feet, taking his lifeless body with me, I felt the hot sting of my tears on my cheeks and they fell...like rain.

I’d never listened to the rain, before. Now, it seemed like all I could hear. The apartment was never so quiet. The carpets muffled my every step, as I knew they would. The universe never seemed so big as when I faced it without Thom. I knew that it would. I had never felt so powerless as the day I dreamt this entire thing. I stood up from my bed and knew that the day was not far away. I called former Legionnaire and knew as they refused me help due to various problems and complications that they would do so. I knew as I frantically dressed to save Thom that I would be too late.

Now, for the first time, I realize why my mother was so sad the day my father died. Now I know the look of relief when I regarded her blankly. I hadn’t foreseen my father’s death nor have I foreseen hers but as I think of myself kneeling with Thom’s body in my arms, I knew that this would happen. Now, for the first time, I realize why the same blessing is also called, Cassandra’s Curse.

Now, I truly understand and for this understanding, I have paid a horrible price.