Destroying Fate

Chapter 12

I swiftly wipe my sweaty palms on the sides of my dress. I can’t let anyone see me this nervous. This is supposed to be the most exciting moment of my life, though I know better than to believe such a thing. I will most likely be dead after this, or I will wish I was dead. I’m over an hour early, but I need to talk to Gwenn. She must know something, and I trust her to tell me.

Taking a deep breath, I push open the heavy metal doors. I nearly crumple to the floor in agony from the blast of cold air shooting from the air conditioner. This isn’t anything new, and I will not let it get to me, not today. I refuse to die because I was too much of a coward to embrace this part of me. I will find strength within this weakness as I do with everything else.

A scrawny lady, about my mom’s age, comes in jumping around with a cheerful attitude. “Miss Galanos, happy birthday. Do you need something?”

“Um yes, is Gwenn available?” I say.

“Follow me.” She says and bounces out of the room.

I know exactly where Gwenn’s office is, and if this lady hadn’t shown up, I could’ve easily taken myself there. I am however, in no mood to argue. She stops in front of the door, knocks twice, opens the door, and leaves without saying another word.

“Persephone, what a wonderful surprise! I was almost positive you wouldn’t stop by.” She gets up to greet me, and wraps her arms around me briefly. “Come in, come in. Why don’t you take a seat? I’m sure we have a lot to discuss.”

I do as she says and sit down. I look around nervously, not knowing how to start this. My lips are raw, and there’s hardly anything left of my fingernails. I clear my throat in attempt to start explaining. “I don’t really know how to go about this… But, you see, a lot of stuff has happened this week and I just don’t kn–”

Gwenn interrupts, “Honey, I know exactly why you’re here, I know who you are, and I know you have a lot of questions. There really isn’t much time to explain, and you will have to figure a lot of this out on your own.”

Dumbfounded, I mutter, “How do you know?”

She scoots her chair closer to me and sticks her neck out towards me. “Because I’m just like you.”

“How so?”

She scoots her chair as close to me as she can, leans over her desk, and puts her mouth up to my ear. “I think you know what I’m talking about, Alexis.” As she moves away from me, a giggle seeps through her lips and she slaps her hands over her mouth. For a grown woman, she has such a childish demeanor, although I admire that about her.

“How do you know about that?” I ask a bit too harshly. “We haven’t even gone through my Naming yet. You’re a Goddess?”

The wicked grin that crosses her face makes me want to scream. She’s known about this all along, and she hasn’t tried to help me!

“Honey, I haven’t known about you all along. I found out about you a month or so ago. Keep your voice down.” Lowering her voice, she says, “I’m actually not just like you. I’m a demigod. You on the other hand, created your own destiny and became your own source of power. I’m not sure how you managed that.”

I shake my head in confusion. I have no idea what she’s talking about. I didn’t create anything for myself in this area of my life, so how did I make this all happen? I didn’t ask to find my etairon, and I most certainly didn’t ask for my death.

She turns her head around and peers out the window. Looking back to me with a wicked grin, she jumps out of her chair and closes all of the blinds, leaving the room too dark for me to see anything. After a few seconds of adjusting to the dark, I look to where her silhouette should be. I’m left staring at the now closed window. Where did she go?