Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson.

Have you wondered why the stories always ended so? Why it is that almost every single Greek or Roman story was a tragedy, a macabre story in which nothing seemed to be gained save for sorrow? All they seem to show is the futility of humans and gods to defy their fate.

It wasn't always like this. No, what very few people know is that, at the beginning of Time itself, before Gaia emerged from the Chaos, an entity even more powerful than her emerged. We do not know His name. All we know is that, before the Fates governed the lives of mankind and the gods, this god controlled both Time and Fate itself. He created a huge loom, one that would bind everything else that would be born from the Chaos, and with that became master of Fate.

He could see the threads of every creature, mortal or divine, being woven. Each thread represented that creature's life. He found that he could tamper with them, but decided against it. He believed that every creature had a right to choose its own Fate. There were no prophecies then, back then; all were truly free to create their own futures.

There was, however, a problem. He noticed that the threads of those whose lives had ended in sorrow ended up spoiled. The more gloomy the life, the more the thread would begin to unwind, and even spread to poison other threads. He was distressed at this, for it meant that the sorrow of one creature would inevitably lead to the sorrow of others.

So, that is when the Fates were born. He forged them out of the last remaining shreds of Chaos that remained in the universe. Their job was to eat the sorrow that dripped down from the tragedy threads, as they called them, which was their food and sustenance. In the beginning, that was all that they did.

However, they began to question their Master. They began to disagree with Him. So they made a deal with Gaia. They would help her overthrow Ouranos, and in return she would help them seize control of Fate itself.

I believe what happened is common knowledge. Kronos killed his father for power, urged on by his mother. What remains hidden is that, when Ouranos was slaughtered, his thread of fate withered like none before it. The death of a god, and in such a manner, released more grief and suffering than even the Fates had imagined. The Fates swallowed the immense amount of suffering and pain, and using that they gained power, and with it they caught their Master by surprise and disposed of him and became rulers of Fate. They assumed complete control over what happened to the gods and mortals alike.

They made sure that no one would ever oppose them by bending Fate completely. If only He had done that to them, they would never have been able to rise against him.

So, now they sit upon their thrones, wishing misery after misery on the rest of the world. For that is their meal. They do not feel sorry for those whom they hurt; they merely see the rest of creation as a giant buffet. They feast, and become ever more powerful. They began sowing despair from the moment that they had overthrown their Master, after all, immediately after then; Kronos received the prophecy that one of his children would overthrow him. They twisted Cronos until he couldn't even recognize himself and forced him to resort to swallowing his children, and then plunged the entire world into a war.

Yes, that had been a delicious period. They had gained most of their powers during that time. Afterwards, they had thought they had had enough, but then mankind showed up. And what creatures they were! The Fates harvested more from them than that they could ever have hoped to otherwise.

The rules binding immortals, preventing them from directly influencing anything, were all made by them to weaken the gods. The prophecies are merely another one of their tools. They allow them to be created so that those who hear them will dread them, and the more the suffering, the more power they would gain. Endlessly, they seek to plunge the world deeper and deeper into despair. Certainly, the gods have some powers, but they can do practically nothing against the Fates. Sure, sometimes the Fates are lazy and let someone have their happy ending, but that is only rarely.

However, there is still yet a shred of hope. The First Prophecy was made by their Master as he lay dying. He foretold that one day, he would be reborn. And then, he would overthrow the Fates and establish himself once again as the true God of Fate. He said he would destroy the loom he had created, and so, finally, truly, make everyone free to make their choices.

We can only hope that someday that day will come. The Fates are vigilant, they constantly view the threads to see if there is one that they cannot control and bend to their will. For when a thread like that will come into existence, they know it will be the thread of their reincarnated Master. And they will go to any end to make sure that that will never happen. They hid the story of their Master, not even Zeus or Kronos knows, in order to delay his rebirth.

Yet, sometimes they believe that The First Prophecy was a joke. After all, it has been billions of years, and no one has ever escaped their clutches. As they bring an unhappy mortal life to end, and swallow the misery, savoring the taste, they seem almost lethargic.

But, perhaps, The First Prophecy is true. And if it is true, the true God of Fate will overthrow the treacherous sisters, and then declare all prophecies null and void. He will allow the world to usher into a golden age that has been unheard of for millions of years, and the gods and humans will all live happily ever after.

Maybe, someday.

Someday…