Destiny Jackson

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YOU MUST READ THIS BEFORE READING: you may not have read the last few paragraphs on the last chapter, because I believed I had added them, but apparently didn't. Check to make sure you have, or you may be terribly confused.

Hades was mad. Certifiably, absolutely, mad. There was no way in, well, Hades, that Harry had been to, well, Hades. They were making things up to make me upset and use me. They didn’t want to hurt me and tell me he was a traitor. They were hiding something. Anything. This was everything, anything, but the truth.

“Who was he, then?” I choked on my words, determined to prove them wrong. “If he wasn’t my Harry, who was he?” I took a deep breath, and my entire body shook with anticipation. If they wanted to take anything, they could take it. But they couldn’t take Harry.

“Dest-” Luke started, then stopped. His eyes shifted to the council, as if waiting for approval. Poseidon nodded. Zeus glared at him for a second, then shrugged.

“Ah, very well. Continue, son of Hermes.” I stared at Luke a second, looking for the truth in his eyes. They were bright blue, and watering like the sea. The same as mine. For a moment, in fact, looking into them, I believed I was looking into my own.

“It...it was not Harry that you knew. It was someone in Harry’s body. The feelings, those were, well, mainly Harry’s, if he were to-erhm-” Luke cleared his throat, and it was clear to me he could not continue. This was breaking him, if only because it was breaking me. How couldn’t I have seen it before?

“Luke.” I ran towards him, pulling him in my arms, and hugging him tightly. It felt-true, somehow, like there had been something caged inside me finally released. “I’ll always have you,” I whispered in his ear.

“Aw,” A voice came from a throne, and I tore away from Luke to see.  Staring up, I realized it was Aphrodite. I tried to glare at the goddess, but it was difficult, as she always appeared so beautiful. At the current moment, Aphrodite looked like Athena and Grandma Jackson mixed with Carolyn and Audrey Hepburn. Her face kept shifting, occasionally adding in a pair of eyes that looked suspiciously like Taylor Swift's, but I didn't care enough to be sure.

"I just love seeing one member of a pair die, and then come back years later only to fall in love with their girlfriend or boyfriend's child!" Aphrodite giggled.

I pulled Luke back in beside me, feeling the warmth of his body, and staring at the scar on his face. I wished I could run my fingers over it.

"So it's true, then?" I tried to look him in the eye, but he kept shifting away, his cheeks reddening. "You're-" I choked on my tears, but I couldn't tell whether they came from happiness or sorrow. "You're really - in love - with me?" I inhaled deeply, trying to lose myself in Luke's eyes. But he still could not look.  

"That's-that's not important at the moment, Destiny." Luke pulled away from the hug we were still in, refusing to look me in the eyes. I couldn't even begin to imagine what was going through his mind. Well, I could...but I refused to listen. I just couldn't. He was probably my best friend in the whole world.

"Just listen. Listen to the gods. I'm-I'm sure you have a lot of questions, Dest." His voice shook, and sounded with an indifference I knew was false.

“Lu-” I was interrupted by my great-uncle himself.

“Destiny-” Hades smiled bitterly, something I never thought possible for him. I had always thought of him as a grumpy old man, and I had never seen him smile once. Apparently, he only smiled for me. That just made me feel all the worse.

“Destiny, like we told you before, you were with Harry. He just-erhm-did not realize.” Hades’ voice was soft, as if he was trying to comfort me, but one can not be comforted when they’re told that their love, true love, their only love, has been false all along.