Approaching Delos during Blood of Olympus

Piper

It was nice to seemingly have a day off. Relax and eat some gelato. It also gave her a moment to ponder her silent conversation with her mother when the three girls had seen her so long ago. Was it really only three weeks since they picnicked with her?

Taking a deep breath Piper looked at the strings. They were distracting, but she figured she'd get used to them. Aphrodite explained that some of her more powerful children could see them, but they were never to be mentioned. The fates were difficult to appease. Should Piper choose to pursue someone with a string in the future, it was okay, as long as she did not interfere with that individual's relationship to the other end of the string. Also, while she was forbidden from mentioning the strings to people she must know that that included her siblings. The strings usually became visible to demigods as they became close to people, though that wasn't an exact rule, and not everyone had them. So, Piper could assume Hazel, Frank, and Percy were the only members of the crew to have soulmates, but Drew might see a string around Leo's finger that she was never aware of. If they were to swap information a lot of menacing could be achieved and that was considered a big no-no.

It hurt Piper's head to try to think about everything that had to go right in order for soul mates to actually find each other. They had to be born around the same time for one thing. Frank and Hazel had somehow cheated that requirement. They also had to live somewhere they may cross paths. And countless other necessities. Looking at her own hand she was glad she saw no string-that seemed easier. She supposed all the intricacies involved in making such a match was why her mother enjoyed it so much. She and her siblings couldn't see the whole tapestry and could unravel it far too easily.

She took a seat on the upper deck and watched the crew as they made for Delos. Leo, Hazel, and Frank planned to fly/ride over once they got close enough. For now Piper was fascinated watching the string between Hazel and Frank shrink and grow as they walked about the deck. Percy's seemed to stay constant. It ran up to the front of the ship. She'd seen it shift as the ship turned one way or the other, but it seemed to be holding steady with their heading at the moment. She idly wondered what that could mean.

When they finally anchored so that the questers could leave she watched as they seemed to follow his string as far as she could see.