The other Hellenicus would be surprised if they knew how repulsed I was at the prospect of reuniting with my soul mate. Most claimed that having a soul mate was romantic and that we should be grateful for Apollo’s gift of the click. But for me, having a soul mate was more like being subject to an arranged marriage that I could never run away from, even if I wanted to. Once I was Awakened, it would be possible for me to have a click that would cause my soul mate’s mind to be instantly linked to mine. I would always be able to hear my soul mate’s thoughts, and they would always be able to hear mine. If that wasn’t a total breach of privacy, I didn’t know what was. And the idea of being tied to someone I possibly didn’t even know existed until the day we were revealed to be soul mates was the icing on the cake.

Honestly, I’d prefer to be a Nescient. At least they could ignore the whole soul-mate situation if they wanted to. Of course, this was all merely wishful thinking. As a Hellenicus I was destined to be reunited with my soul mate in the most invasive way possible.

“—girls pray to Aphrodite, wishing to be reunited with their soul mate as soon as possible. You should be praying too. Let me see if I can get—”

“Mom.” I stopped her before she signed me up for some obscure Greek ritual that I didn’t even know about. “It’s late. Didn’t you say you wanted me to get to sleep early?”

“Yes,” she said. “Go back to your room and have a good rest.”

I quickly headed to my bedroom before my mom had a change of heart. It was rare for us not to bicker, and I knew that I should cherish this moment. As I lay down on my bed and stared at the ceiling, I thought about how impossible it was to escape my destiny. It was so disheartening.

The Fates shaped each of our lives. They were the three weaving goddesses—Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos—who were in charge of assigning mortals to their destinies. From birth to death to how and when we would meet our other half, and even whether we would meet them in this lifetime—everything was in the hands of these three goddesses. If even the Great Zeus, king of the gods, could not overrule their decree, how did I stand a chance?