The Fate Reveals Itself
Percy, Grover and Annabeth searched everywhere for the address they had to reach the Underworld; but, really, no one seemed to know such a place. They were draining their energy. They had searched all night and, the next day, they almost spent an entire day without getting even a single clue.
Anxiety was beginning to cling to them. They had around three or four days left, and they couldn't afford to lose them blindly searching for a place that seemed not to exist.
Percy was becoming more and more stressed; they literally couldn't find information anywhere. They asked in taxis, buses and even some neighbors; but nothing.
He let out a long sigh to try to control his mind.
"Okay, let's stop for a moment," Percy said to his companions, who were truly exhausted. They had walked for hours in circles; and when they heard Percy's words, even though they wanted to keep searching because it was an important mission, they couldn't help letting themselves fall onto a nearby bench, resting all at once.
"What do we do? We can't keep searching blindly," Annabeth said with a worried look. The sky was beginning to darken again. Nearly an entire day had passed without finding absolutely anything. They weren't sleeping well, had barely stopped to eat, and the stress was increasing.
"What do we do?" Grover asked, nervously ruminating while looking at Percy.
"Calm down, I'm thinking," Percy said as he closed his eyes and brought his hands to his head.
"Can you do that?" Annabeth said with sarcasm.
"This is not the moment," Grover said quickly, forcing her to close her mouth with her lips pressed together in a silent apology. None of them were in a good mood after sleeping so little.
Percy kept trying to find an idea, focusing on what he had learned from his master. But Miraak had never taught him how to enter the Greek Underworld. So, no matter how much he searched his memories, he couldn't find anything that might help him.
"Think, Percy; think," he murmured to himself, trying to find some clue. But he really had nothing. He opened his eyes for a moment and looked at his companions.
Then something happened.
It was just an instant; barely opening his eyes. Those threads he had seen the day he drank the elixir his master gave him appeared once again.
Percy frowned, confused. He closed and opened his eyes again. The phenomenon repeated. A flash. A blink. The threads were there… and then disappeared.
Grover and Annabeth watched him, confused, seeing Percy squeeze his eyes shut and then stare at them… or rather at their heads.
Grover even thought, for a moment, that maybe his horns were showing; he brought his hands to his hair, alarmed.
"What are you doing?" Annabeth asked, looking at him strangely.
"Shhh, be quiet," Percy said while closing his eyes again.
"Did you just shush me?" Annabeth said, annoyed.
"Yes, be quiet," Percy repeated without opening his eyes.
That irritated her even more, as if she couldn't believe it.
Percy opened his eyes for the sixth time, and just as the thread began to fade, he focused completely on the one above Annabeth's head; he stared at it without blinking a single second. This time, the thread stopped. And the more Percy stared at it, the more it began to take shape. Using all his concentration, he saw how the thread became more visible, until he finally could see it completely.
A softly golden thread, similar to one of Annabeth's hairs. It started at her head and extended upward several meters before disappearing. Percy, now fully focused, looked at Grover's head; he had one too. Both went in the same direction. And it seemed that, a few meters above, the two formed a small knot… as if they were tied to something.
Percy focused entirely on that knot; and then he saw a third thread, tiny, so thin it almost didn't exist. This one was heading toward his own head. Percy brought a hand to his hair to check, although he didn't feel anything. For a moment, the threads almost disappeared; but he concentrated again.
"What are those threads?" he murmured, confused, not realizing he had said it aloud.
"Threads?" Annabeth asked, hearing Percy's murmur.
"Yes. I can see them. You both have them on your heads, and they're tied to what seems to be mine… although I can barely see it," Percy said, trying to explain.
Annabeth and Grover brought their hands to their heads, trying to feel something; but there was nothing. They looked at each other, just as confused, and they didn't see anything either.
"Maybe you're tired. We should sleep and continue searching tomorrow," Annabeth said with an exhausted sigh. They were on the verge of falling asleep; they could barely stand.
Percy heard that and wanted to say something else, but it was true that they hadn't found anything. The later the afternoon got, the fewer people there were to ask. Maybe what he was seeing was useless.
That's what he thought… until Annabeth stood up from the bench.
The instant she took a step forward, the thread above her head seemed to tense. And with it, Grover's thread and the barely perceptible one belonging to Percy also tensed in unison, glowing softly in a faint golden hue, as if Annabeth's movement resonated through the other two.
As if they were connected by that invisible knot.
"Wait," Percy said immediately, raising a hand to stop her while staring fixedly at the thread above her head.
Annabeth looked at him with a mixture of exhaustion and confusion.
"Just take one step back," Percy asked, without taking his eyes off the thread.
Annabeth frowned, demanding more explanation, but he only repeated:
"Just do it."
Annabeth stepped back without turning around. The thread above her head dimmed slightly, although it remained tense.
"Turn around," Percy said.
Annabeth looked at him with tiredness, but obeyed. She turned to look behind her.
The thread above her head stopped tensing; it loosened a little, as if that simple action had changed something subtle but real.
"Can you tell me what you're trying to do?" Annabeth asked, turning back to Percy with an expression that mixed confusion and annoyance.
Percy saw that the thread above her head tensed again the moment she looked back at him.
"Well… you might not believe me, but…" Percy took a deep breath, looked at his friends, and explained everything: the thread he saw after drinking the elixir his master gave him, the one he was seeing now, how it changed according to Annabeth's movements, and how he had managed to keep it visible.
Grover and Annabeth looked at each other. This whole thing about the threads sounded far too similar to some ancient stories… stories they had both heard, though neither ever imagined seeing something like that with their own eyes.
"Are you sure you can see them?" Annabeth asked, this time with a nervous laugh, as if she didn't know whether to believe him or not.
"Yes. Unless I've gone crazy. They're right there; though I have to concentrate a lot," Percy replied.
"And what about him?" Grover said, pointing at a homeless man sleeping on a nearby bench.
Percy stared at the man for several seconds… but no thread appeared, unlike with Grover and Annabeth.
He shook his head.
"This is really strange," Annabeth murmured, although a spark of analysis was beginning to appear on her face. "Come this way. Follow me. And Percy, check if the thread changes and tell me in real time," she said, already entering strategic mode as she walked toward a random direction.
Percy nodded and followed her along with Grover. He watched how the thread loosened and became less and less bright, turning into a silvery tone.
"It turned silver and it's loose," Percy reported.
Hearing that, Annabeth turned toward another direction.
"Oh, gods… now it's getting really dark," Percy said as he watched the thread change abruptly, almost as if it were twisting.
Annabeth opened her eyes in surprise when she heard that. Her expression changed completely.
"Percy… a second ago, while I was walking, I was thinking about going to the bus terminal to give up already," Annabeth said with a soft, sincere shock.
"Give up?" Grover said, alarmed.
"It was a test, dummy," Annabeth said quickly. Then she looked at Percy with a mix of amazement and a spark of excitement. "And apparently I was right. Percy… you're seeing the threads of fate."
"Fate?" Percy blinked, surprised. He hadn't expected something that big. "Are you sure?"
"Yes." Annabeth took a deep breath, now completely convinced. "If we were going to give up, the war on Olympus would end in the worst possible way. Our fate… and that of many others. That's why the thread turned so dark. It makes sense. Maybe we can find the way with this," she added, almost smiling; she was exhausted, but a new hope was keeping her standing.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Percy said with renewed energy, feeling that they finally had a real direction.