Designed Destiny

2. #neverseenthiscoming

Planet: Nysa

*Snap!* Snap!* Snap!* Snap!* Snap!*

Persephon kept rapidly clicking the capture icon on his HALO tablet, the tilt of his head only altering slightly between each selfie. If he didn't upload at least twenty before lunch with various hashtags and witty punchlines than his billions of followers would think something was seriously anti-chill in his life. And after the other night's disaster of a party that may or may not have been trending just then, he needed his fans to know that he wasn't melting down in a bucket of vegan ice cream. Hell's no. "#alllemonsqueezy," he smirked as he watched the likes roll in. Sigh. Yes, he knew he was the gods' gift to social media.

"Anyway, back to what I was saying," he huffed and rolled his eyes as he accepted a Bloody Mary from one of the dozens of Oceanid droids constantly buzzing around him. He was outside in the garden, wondering for not the first time why his mother didn't employ real pool boys and not just droids who were cleaning up the remains of last night's wild party. He certainly could have used the eye-candy to help forget about his latest nightmare of a breakup that undoubtedly went viral. "Narcissus can jump into a pool and drown himself in his own reflection before I ever acknowledge his social media presence again," Persephon insisted while scrolling through his MyLife page, debating about when the appropriate time to update his dating status was. What was too soon? What looked too clingy? The online universe was such a judgmental jungle to navigate.

Ugh. Decisions. *Swipe.* Single.

"Oh, sunflower!" His mother, the sensationally beautiful goddess Demeter, swept onto the over-hanging balcony towering above their vast garden. "Scrumptious! There's been a slight change in plans! Mommy must go! Apparently, there is a sudden meeting on Olympus, and I simply have to be there!" She rolled her amber and green eyes, heterochromia iridum eyes her son inherited. "But I swear I'll be back in time for your polo match, lovie! And after you and I can talk about which dating show you want me to get you on! I can't wait to see my baby on the HALO!"

Persephon flipped her off.

She pretended to catch a kiss. "I love you, Mouse!" She struck a dramatic pose as a rainbow mist blew across her -courtesy of Iris, the goddess of rainbows and the official chauffeur of the gods- an instant later Demeter was gone, whisked across the void of time and space, and delivered to her desired location in a mere matter of seconds.

"Ugh, gods, I have got to get famous for something else other than being her son," he muttered as he checked his HALO tablet again. Per the usual, he had a million and one creatures trying to get in touch with him, but he was pretty sure they only wanted anything from him because his mother was Grand Minister of the planet. While it wasn't "public knowledge" that Demeter was a goddess, she was still the definition of a big-time baller and everyone who was anyone loved and worshiped her and wanted to get in good with her. Persephon was quite sure that was why creatures sucked up to him and tolerated his terrible temper. He could act like the most obnoxious, bitchy pain in the ass imaginable and yet creatures would still applaud and claim he was cool, it was practically unbearable. Was everyone so plastic?

"I needed to get my own life, like, yesterday..." He groaned and tapped the tablet to his head.

Suddenly the ground began quivering violently with a resonating growl that was steadily morphing into a deafening roar. All the power in the droids abruptly died and the entire outdoor staff dropped limply to the lawn, one even toppled into the pool. The statues artistically placed around the garden shook so violently they crashed to the ground, splintering into jagged stone pieces. The pool itself began to split open, fresh soil ballooned in the water and sloshed over the edge onto the immaculate lawn. Persephon gave a curse of alarm and jumped from the lawn couch, staggering to and fro as what felt like the entire world swayed. The pergola above the outdoor furniture he was just lounging on collapsed, crushing everything beneath it, the lattice and roses wrapped around it flew into the air from the impact.