𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗿𝘂𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀, luke castellan

ꜰᴏᴜʀᴛʏ-ᴇɪɢʜᴛ

The Truth?

🌎

    WHEN RORY FINALLY OPENED HER EYES, reality came rushing back in with a cruel clarity. She found herself alone in her bed, tangled in the sheets that felt impossibly heavy, like they were trying to pull her back into the dream. The room around her was eerily still, too still, the only sound the faint creaking of the ship’s hull as it swayed gently with the currents of the sea. The familiar surroundings of her room aboard the Princess Andromeda offered little comfort.

    She thought of Luke. His presence had been so real in the dream, so close, and now that it was gone, the emptiness it left behind was like a hollow ache deep within her. His warmth, his touch, the way his eyes searched hers—they were all gone, and the emptiness that replaced them gnawed at her heart. How could everything have changed so quickly? One moment, they were together, and the next…everything was unraveling.

    Slowly, Rory pushed herself upright, though her limbs felt heavy, as if she were still partially trapped in the remnants of the dream. Her muscles ached, and there was a dull throbbing in her temples that wouldn’t quite go away. She blinked a few times, trying to clear the fog that still lingered at the edges of her vision, but it clung to her stubbornly, as if the dream refused to fully let go.

    The vividness of it all haunted her—the feel of Luke’s hands gripping hers, the heat of his skin, the sound of Aphrodite’s cruel, mocking laughter still ringing in her ears. Rory could still see the hurt in Luke’s eyes, the sharp betrayal that had flashed across his face when she recited the prophecy, the words falling like stones from her lips.

    The words of the Oracle looped in her head like a broken record, each line sinking deeper into her thoughts.

    She couldn’t shake it, couldn’t escape it, and now—now Luke knew. The truth she had fought so hard to keep from him was finally out, and there was no undoing it. Would he ever forgive her? Would he even understand why she had kept it from him? Would he see it as an act of protection, or would he see it as a betrayal? Was this the betrayal the prophecy foretold? No. It couldn't be. This was too tame, too mundane. The betrayal in the prophecy had to be something darker, something catastrophic. And yet… she couldn’t shake the sinking feeling that maybe this was it. Maybe this was the beginning of the end.

    Her fingers moved on their own, instinctively finding the cool metal of Hermes’s ring. She twisted it around her finger absentmindedly although she still couldn't take it off. But as soon as she realized what she was doing, Rory yanked her hand away from it, pulling her fingers apart as if the touch of the ring burned her. She didn't need Hermes's stupid ring for comfort. She didn't need anything from him. The gods meddled, they played their games, but they didn’t care about the lives they ruined in the process. Aphrodite had made that perfectly clear. She would figure this out. On her own. Somehow.

    As if on cue, a knock rang out at her door, the sound startling in the quiet of the room. Rory froze for a moment, her heart skipping a beat as dread coiled in her stomach. She knew who it was before she even opened the door. Luke.

    With a deep, determined breath, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, the motion slow and deliberate as if bracing herself for what was to come. When she reached the door, she hesitated for the briefest of moments, her hand hovering over the handle before she pulled it open.

    There he was, just as she had expected. Luke stood in the doorway, his figure framed by the dim light of the corridor. His face was a tight mask, his jaw clenched so hard that she could see the tension in the lines of his neck. His eyes were hard and cold, unreadable now.

    “Can I come in?” he asked, his voice rough, barely above a whisper. He was trying to keep his tone level, but Rory could hear the strain in it, the raw edge that betrayed how close he was to losing control.