New chapter! Yay! This one was tough to get out, and it probably shows, so I'm sorry for that. BUT don't give up on me yet- the next few chapters are solid Percabeth. Bear with me readers, we're getting there.

As always, reviews make my life, and I honestly happy dance over every one. So enjoy the story, Merry Christmas, and may the odds be ever in your favour.

Sorry. I watched the hunger games today.

It wasn't every day three old ladies fell from the sky onto the deck of your ancient Greek warship.

But to be fair, Frank reckoned, it wasn't every day you were on an ancient Greek warship, either.

Grabbing Jason's arm, Frank and Piper tugged a slightly disoriented Jason out from under the three old women- who, quickly and with a grace that didn't match their age, got to their feet.

The crew of the Argo studied them carefully. The three of them were, quite literally, skin and bones. Their almost translucent skin and wispy white dresses gave the impression that, any second, they might be carried away by a stray gust of wind. And yet, despite their appearances, Frank felt a sudden, very powerful urge to get as far away as possible. He glanced at Hazel, who's hand drifted to her jacket pocket. Frank briefly wondered if the old women had any kind of fire powers, then Nico stepped forward.

"Moirai." he said, in the closet to a respectful tone Frank had ever heard from him. The old ladies gazed at them all expressionlessly, emotionlessly. Hazel tugged Nico's shirt nervously, and he explained, without breaking the ladies' gaze, "The Fates."

Instantly, the mood darkened. You couldn't go on a quest, certainly not one like this, without questioning your own mortality once or twice. Each member of the seven had faced imminent death multiple times, so it wasn't anything new- all the same, fighting a monster was quite different to seeing the Fates in front of you, knowing that, with one errant thought, they could end you forever.

More than a little freaked out, Frank felt his heart pounding in his chest.

Then, of course, the Fates turned their glares on him.

Instinctively, he took a step back. Hazel took half a step in front of him, but was pulled back warningly by Nico. The tallest of the women approached Frank slowly, and as she did so, he saw that her face was slightly less lined than the other's.

When she spoke, her voice was raspy, like it hadn't been used in years. But it also sounded like it was once beautiful- once, long ago. "Demigod." she said, piercing gaze freezing Frank where he stood. "You are important to the sacrifice."

Frank whipped his head towards Hazel, and, as if sensing what he was worried about, the Fate almost smiled. "Your time will come. The other's will first. And what he decides will either save you or condemn you." The way she spoke, neither sounded like a preferable option.

Frank forced himself to speak, voice wavering under the stares of the fates and his friends. "Who are you?"

The woman looked at him, and her crooked back straightened marginally. "The Spinner. I am Catho. Birth, youth- all was mine. Is still, but..."

"But what happened?" asked Frank, curious.

For a moment, an unidentifiable emotion showed in the woman's eyes. "What happened? Life." Instantly, her face slipped back into it's emotionless mask. "Thousands of them." She trailed a hand slowly through the air, and as she did so, a thin strand of blue yarn appeared, hovering in midair. Nico inhaled sharply, and muttered something that sounded like "Luke".

The fate didn't spare him a second glance.

"We rarely warn. It rarely helps." She looked slowly across the deck, eyes landing on each of them in turn. They all started slightly as she did so, then she turned her gaze again to Frank. "Remember, demigod. Sacrifice goes hand in hand with choice."

She turned, and slowly shuffled back to her sisters. Without meeting anyone's eyes, she spoke again. "I am birth, and new life. But I am not the only fate." At her words, the oldest and ugliest Fate grinned toothlessly, making a scissor-like motion with her two fingers.

Then they vanished.

"Well," said Coach Hedge, in a conversational tone. "That was a first."

"Not in a good way." said Nico, a hint of panic in his voice. "They never give warnings- ever."

Leo raised his eyebrows almost past his forehead. "Maybe we're just special."

They all ignored him.

"This is going to be bad. And Frank- what do they mean, a sacrifice? What friend?" At Nico's question, the original five looked at each other, all with the same identical sense of dread.

Hazel answered with another question, her voice small but determined. "What did you mean? When you said Luke?"

Nico sighed, almost impatiently. "At the end of the Titan war, Percy and Annabeth watched Kronos and the guy he'd been posessing die. No one really knows what happened, but they said something about a blue thread. That blue thread had meant..." his voice trailed off, but no one asked him to continue.

Someone had to die for the war to be won.

They didn't know how. Or who. Or where. But Frank had a nagging suspicion.

It wasn't every day that you were on an ancient Greek warship.

It wasn't every day that you were visited by the fates.

Unfortunately for Frank, it was every day that your life was tied to a piece of wood. And to be quite honest?

It sucked.