Tied Destiny
The moment the plane reached its destination, as if everyone suddenly wanted to kiss the ground as soon as possible, all the passengers practically rushed out in a stampede, completely ignoring their luggage in the process.
While the flight attendants tried by every possible means to calm them down. But it looked like they also wanted to run away. Maybe even take a vacation before stepping onto another flight.
The only real problem now was that the plane, which should've headed somewhere specific, ended up diverting because of the violent storms and was forced into an emergency stop in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
And thanks to Zeus's annoying tantrum over Percy traveling by plane, it looked like a lot of flights would end up temporarily canceled or delayed.
Percy looked at the departures board and rolled his eyes at the sky god's childishness, who really was nothing more than a pain in the ass.
"So now what?" Grover asked, wearing a tragic expression after noticing this. But he still couldn't stop a smile from creeping out from the corner of his mouth at being spared from boarding another plane.
Percy was about to open his mouth to answer, but before doing so he seemed to feel a gaze completely focused on him while he stood surrounded by dozens of irritated people whose flights had been canceled and delayed.
Percy searched through the crowd for that burning stare that almost seemed to lightly scorch him, as if it desperately wanted him to notice it.
Until he found what looked like a homeless man staring directly at him before giving him a smile for a moment.
"Look for a bus map so we can trace a route," Percy said while heading toward the homeless man, who turned around and calmly walked away.
"Where are you going?" Grover asked.
"Bathroom," Percy added without turning around before disappearing into the crowd.
Only making Grover shrug his shoulders and, accompanied by Thalia and Bianca, go search for what Percy asked for.
...
Percy walked around trying to find the homeless man he had seen, but he couldn't spot him even after reaching a less crowded area where several workers could be seen carrying ownerless suitcases toward a place labeled lost and found.
But it was strange, because if you literally took just a few more steps you could see a sea of people constantly moving back and forth. Yet strangely none of them got too close to this place.
As if something or someone was preventing them from approaching in order to have a private moment.
"Oh, cruel gift granted to so few! To see the thread of destiny; to witness the future before it is born... and yet still be incapable of altering even a single strand. Such is the curse of seers; those beings only capable of watching cruel destinies come to pass without being able to stop them. Except..."
A voice sounded behind Percy, making him turn around to look at that beggar, who seemed to be acting in some ancient play while giving him a slightly arrogant look, as if he had just spoken the greatest poetry in the world.
"You just repeated the same thing with different words," Percy said in a somewhat monotone tone while looking at the beggar and his horrible poem.
"That's what you think," the homeless man said while his golden eyes gleamed for a moment as he rubbed his chin, trying to think of how to fix it.
But Percy interrupted before he could let more nonsense leave his mouth.
"What does the Greek god Apollo want from me? Or did you forget I'm technically competing against your pantheon?" Percy told him while letting out another sigh, something that lately seemed to be turning into a habit throughout this journey.
"You know, both you and your master possess an ability many would truly envy; changing destinies. But many also fear that power," Apollo said calmly while looking at him.
"Yeah, I already heard that," Percy said, remembering Odin's words.
But Apollo didn't care and continued.
"And if you add your gift of seeing the thread of destiny, that makes you far more important than you think, Percy Jackson," Apollo added while giving him a smile before turning around to look through the sea of people at the hundreds and hundreds of destiny threads rising upward, each one a different color.
Some black. Others faintly silver. Others on the verge of fading out. And some seeming ready to split above the heads of certain women, signaling a new birth.
But the most eye catching ones were the threads coming from Grover, Thalia, and Bianca, which carried faint golden colors. And all three of them were moving like crazed snakes, as if someone were trying to forcibly manipulate them, trying to tie them into one giant web.
After loosening slightly, and this thanks to Percy moving far enough away, Bianca's in particular was becoming darker and darker as it was dragged toward a specific direction.
"Zeus wasn't the only one upset that such a great and exciting adventure got skipped," Apollo added while looking directly at Bianca, whose thread was being violently pulled.
Percy frowned for a moment after hearing that.
"What are you talking about?" Percy asked.
"Those who contemplate destiny cannot always speak of what they see. Some truths are so cruel that not even the gods wish to hear them. And changing the course marked by the threads of the future is impossible equally for men, kings, and monsters alike. Except for..."
Apollo stopped once again and gave Percy a look.
Only causing another sigh to leave his mouth before he turned around to walk away from this somewhat stupid god.
"Hey, hey, wait," Apollo quickly told him, stopping him in his tracks. "I gave you plenty of signs. As a good disciple of your master, wouldn't you complete a mission for me? I heard your master even completed one for Hades," Apollo said quickly.
Percy looked at him with slight annoyance. If those stupid poems were supposed to be signs, they were truly the worst ones imaginable.
"Talk," Percy said, unable to stop himself from following his master's code of accepting any mission. Even Miraak himself had ended up babysitting the children at Camp Half Blood because of this. And Percy had mocked him for getting trapped by his own rule.
Now he himself seemed to be suffering the same fate.
Apollo, who had a faint smile on his face, couldn't help becoming slightly more serious.
"It's my sister. I need you to find her," he told him in a serious tone.
That instantly made Percy frown, because Artemis was supposed to have gone looking for Annabeth. And now...
"She's missing?" Percy asked, his frown deepening more and more.
"Not completely. But a shadow is hiding her from me entirely and I don't like it at all. I'd go myself, but she'd probably get pretty annoyed. Besides, you're already heading toward the same place she was last headed to, right? To save the girl you lost." Apollo formed a smile before adding, "Mount Othrys." For a moment, when he said those words, a strange gleam crossed his eyes before vanishing just as quickly as it appeared. "Though I think it's called Mount Tamalpais now, in San Francisco," he added, trying to sound calm.
Percy stared at Apollo for a moment before nodding, accepting the mission.
"Great. I knew I could count on you. That's why I like you. By the way, Dionysus was somewhat upset because one of the Hunters escaped from camp. Something that was partly my fault... and my Oracle's. If you find her along the way, please try helping her a little. After all, they're my little sister's followers," Apollo said with a somewhat shameless smile forcing Percy to look away before the light burned his eyes.
"Hey. That would be two missions," Percy immediately said.
"Well, I gave you two poems, right?" Apollo replied completely shamelessly before glowing more intensely, forcing Percy to look away for a moment so the light wouldn't burn his eyes.
And with a flash, Apollo disappeared.
Only leaving Percy there slightly annoyed, feeling completely scammed by the god of the sun.