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When he was seven, there was a crippling carving into his wrist like someone was outlining his veins with a steak knife.
Well, that was a little dramatic, it was really just a sharp, neat tingling. Heart pounding, he pulled up his sweatshirt sleeve to see the word “hammer” written in black with a check mark next to it.
“Mom?” Percy screamed, eyes widening.
The tinging continued, “hammer” soon followed by “snack” and then “hairbrush.” The word “snack” was checked, but after a beat the word “hairbrush” was crossed out.
“What? What is it?” Sally ran into the room, running a frazzled hand though her hair.
Percy wordlessly held out his arm, tears brimming.
His mom visible relaxed. “Oh,” She breathed, and then smiled. “That’s your soulmate?”
“My what?”
“Your soulmate. Everyone’s meant for somebody and there’s a special thing for each pair that lets them know. Looks like you have the writing one.”
“What does that mean?”
“Every time your soulmate draws on themselves, it’ll appear on you too. The same for them when you draw on yourself.”
“Who’s my soulmate?”
Sally smoothed his hair. “That’s up to you to decide. If you want to.”
“Why do they need a hammer?”
“What?”
“Look,” Percy held out his wrist. Sally frowned. “What?”
“That looks...” She paled. “Uh, nothing. Sorry. I just didn’t see it clearly.”
She was acting weird but Percy shrugged it off.
“Mom, what’s your soulmate thing?
She opened her mouth and then shut it. “Colors.” She finally said. “I couldn’t see colors before I met him.”
“You couldn’t see any colors when you were a kid?”
“Nope.”
“Was it my dad?”
She smiled a little sad. “Yes.”
“But if you were soulmates, why didn’t he stay?”
Sally hesitated. “Not all soulmates are reciprocal.” She patted his hair and then touched his arm. “Are you going to write back?”
“I don’t know.” Percy frowned. “I can’t really write or read too good, ya know.”
“I’m sure they won’t care. But there’s nothing wrong with not writing back.” She cupped his cheek. “I’m going to go finish dinner, okay? Keep playing.”
Percy didn’t realize until he was lying in bed that night that for once in his life, he’d been able to read what his soulmate wrote completely clearly.
His soulmate didn’t write again for almost a year when on his left palm the words “archery” showed up. He didn’t know what that all was about (and had to look up what archery meant later), but this time Percy noticed that his soulmate wasn’t writing in English.
He grabbed a piece of paper and carefully copied down the letters, thankful his soulmate was also right handed so he could still see the words on his left. His soulmate seemed to wash the words away a few hours later, but this time he still had a copy of it. Percy stashed the paper in his nightstand. It felt too personal to leave lying around where anyone could see it, but he still read it over and over at night, trying to figure out what language it was.
__
“What’s the point of keeping those old languages up on school stuff?”
Percy stopped and backed up to where his science partner, Alex, was scowling up at the school flag. It was a big crest showing an eagle and the words “ever to excel” in loopy letters. Percy had never thought much of it or even really looked at it.
“What do you mean? It’s just the school motto.”
“But why not just say it? It’s dumb.” Alex shrugged. “C’mon, we’ll be late.”
Percy had never really looked at the crest until at a second glance he saw it actually read “αἰὲν ἀριστεύειν.” Definitely not English. Yet he knew exactly what it said. And some letters seemed to be the same as the ones on his soulmate’s note.
“I, uh, forgot something. Meet you there.”
“Alright, dude. You’re gonna get in trouble though.”
Percy nodded, heart hammering and mind racing.
“Good afternoon, Percy!” An older teacher in a wheelchair rounded the corner, raising a hand in greeting.
“Mr. Brunner! I, uh, have a question.”
“Regarding what?”
“It’s kind of dumb but, uh, what language is that in?“
Mr. Brunner’s eyes narrowed a little. “Ancient Greek.”
Percy’s heartbeat sped up even more. “Okay. Okay. Thanks.”
“Percy,” His voice was low and even. “Is everything alright?”
“Um, yes. Thanks, sir. See you in class.”
Greek. Not just Greek, Ancient Greek. This girl was weird. (Well, he assumed it was a girl. The handwriting was too pretty to be a boy’s). Seriously? Of all the languages in the world, the one that he could read was one that’s not even useful?
__
“What’s on your arm?”
Nancy Bobofit sat at the desk next to him in English. Percy’s heart leapt into his throat as he saw his soulmate’s even script appearing on his wrist.
He shoved the sleeve of his sweatshirt down. “Nothing.”
“C’mon, Prissy, what is it?” She leered over with a wicked grin.
“I said it’s nothing.” He snapped back.
Her grin just widened. “Whatcha writing on your arm, Prissy? What’s the big secret?”
“I’m not. Shut up.”
Nancy reached over and yanked on his sleeve. Percy pulled back. “Get off!”
Their teacher turned around from the blackboard. “What’s going on back there?”
“Percy’s trying to copy me!” Nancy screwed her fat face up like she was upset.
“No, I’m not! She’s ––”
“See me after class, Jackson.” Mrs. Irkle cast him a disapproving look and turned back to writing on the board.
Nancy leaned back in her seat smirking.
--
Grover was waiting for him by his locker, shifting his weight anxiously. He perked up when Percy got closer.
“Where were you?”
“Had to stay after in English.”
“Why?”
“Stupid Nancy Bobofit.”
Grover nodded sympathetically. “Sorry, man.”
Percy shrugged.
“What’d she do? Nancy?”
Percy opened and shut his mouth. He’d never told anyone about his soulmate except the one time he showed his mom. He’d never written back to the girl, it felt too personal. Everything she wrote felt so important, like sketches or notes. He didn’t want to mess any of it up and make her mad. So it’s not like he was hiding a secret correspondence or anything. It wasn’t even a big deal. He didn’t know who this girl was or anything about her. He rolled up his sleeve and held it out.
Grover frowned at it. “What? You were drawing on your arm?”
“Not me.”
“Then wh—” Grover’s eyes widened. “Your soulmate?”
“Guess so.”
“Whoa.” Grover’s fingers hovered over the writing. “Wait, what is this?”
“I think it’s Greek. It’s all notes about gods and stuff so I guess she’s really into history.” Percy shrugged, trying to act like he hasn’t spent hours looking up what she’d written about to try to understand.
He didn’t know what he expected Grover to do but it sure wasn’t for him to drop his arm and the blood to drain out of his face. “Oh.”
“What?”
“Nothing.” He said quickly. “Just weird, right? Probably nothing. What does she write?”
“I don’t really know. I don’t understand most of it. Gods, buildings.”
“Buildings? Like architecture.”
“I guess.”
The corner of Grover’s mouth twitched. “Huh.”
“What?”
“Nothing, nothing. Have you talked to them?”
“No,” Percy traced his pointer finger over the writing. “I don’t want to mess up her notes or anything.”
“Probably best that way.” Grover smiled a little but it quickly dropped and he looked a little anxious. “You probably shouldn’t write back. Not for a little while.”
“You think?”
Grover’s head bobbed quickly. “Yeah. Yeah. Not yet.” He paused awkwardly before changing the subject. “So, did you start Mr. Brunner’s essay yet?”
“Ugh, don’t remind me.”
__
The rest of the year went by alright until the whole Mrs.-Dodds-tried-to-kill-him-but-there-is-no-Mrs.-Dodds-sorry-Percy-you’re-just-crazy fiasco. And just like that, Percy was told he was not welcome back next year and would have to go back to his mom who’d smooth his hair and tell him next year would be different like always but he knew he was disappointing her again. Grover was acting weird too. Percy knew he was hiding something, but Grover’s chin would tremble and he’d change the subject every time Percy tried to bring it up.
It wasn’t until he heard Grover and Mr. Brunner talking about him one night when he stood outside Mr. Brunner’s office,
They weren’t making any sense, talking about Kindly Ones and a mist (was there, like, fog forecasted or something?). Mr. Brunner said they had to focus on keeping him alive until next fall. Percy dropped his mythology book and almost got busted.
Percy couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he made out Grover say “––I think it’s Annabeth, actually.”
There was a long pause before Mr. Brunner spoke. When he did, it sounded lighter than before, like he was amused. “Is that so?”
Their voices lowered again and Percy couldn’t make out what they were saying.
__
Soulmates, it turns out, aren’t common in the demigod world. Since gods couldn’t soul-bond, the gene could only be passed down through the mortal side, which was rare. The Aphrodite kids were an exception, all of them having their soulmate’s name on their wrist. Other campers didn’t talk about soulmates. Percy only found out when he asked Grover if his soulmate’s Ancient Greek writing meant she was a demigod. Grover had bleated anxiously and explained the situation, emphasizing the rarity of it all. Still, Percy couldn’t shake the feeling that, whoever she was, she was a half-blood too. That almost made him feel a little better about it all. Percy touched his wrist, wishing his soulmate would write something. Even if they didn’t talk, he could use some familiar comfort about now. He wondered if she was at camp or if she was still out in the mortal world.
Thoughts of soulmates and writing were soon tossed to the side when the annoying little thing of Percy being accused of stealing the king god’s weapon and having to go on an epic quest to retrieve it happened. After that, Percy was a bit preoccupied with staying alive. Soulmates didn’t cross his mind again until the back of the Vegas zoo truck.
“Once my dad met his soulmate, he really decided he didn’t want me.” Annabeth twirled a piece of hay over and over between her fingers. “He had her and then they had their kids and they were that meant-to-be family. I was just in the way from them being perfect.”
“I’m sorry,” The apology was lame after what she’d just said. “My mom had a soulmate, but I don’t know who it was. It’s not my stepdad, that’s for sure.”
Annabeth hummed.
“I think it could’ve been my dad.”
“Gods don’t soulbond.” She said patronizingly.
Percy was quiet.
“Sorry,” She winced over at him from the corner of her eye. “That was mean.”
Percy shrugged. “’S’fine. It’s true.”
“What about you?”
“What?”
“Do you have a soulmate?”
Percy’s fingers instinctively curled over his wrist. His soulmate was private, something only his mom and Grover knew about. Talking about it felt… wrong somehow. Like it made it less special or he was exploiting her. But Annabeth had shared all that about her family, and there’d been a few times this quest where it seemed like she could be less of a pain and actually a pretty good friend.
“Yeah, I do.”
Annabeth’s head snapped towards him, her eyes wide. “Really?”
“Do you?”
“No! What’s your mark? Do you know your soulmate?”
“Uh, it’s a writing one and no. I’ve, uh, never talked to her.”
She frowned. “Why not?”
Percy shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t know…”
“You should.”
“Maybe someday. I’ve got enough going on now.”
“That’s true,” Annabeth nodded. “I think soulmates are pretty dumb.” She added after a few seconds.
“Why?” A strange need to defend his soulmate coming over him.
“Believe in them all you want,” Annabeth raised her hands. “But wouldn’t you rather choose who you be with? The universe shows you one person and that’s it. And isn’t it doomed to fail? The expectation of who someone wants their soulmate to be is always going to be so big that they’ll never live up to it. It’s just setting both of them up to be disappointed.”
“But it’s the one person that the universe is saying is perfect for you. I think that’s amazing.”
She sniffed. “Good luck. I’ve just never seen a soulbond work out.”
Well then. She had a point, as much as it stung.
“I don’t mean to…discourage you.” Annabeth said awkwardly.
“I mean, that doesn’t encourage me.”
“Maybe the people I’ve seen just haven’t cared as much about it. I don’t see you just giving up.”
“I’ll make sure mine works. Even if it’s just so you can be wrong about something.”
Annabeth tossed a fistful of hay at him.
__
PART TWO
Over the school year, random doodles would appear on his wrist, but nothing worth noting. Once he picked up a pen and went to write something, but couldn’t think of what to say or draw, so ended up just leaving a pathetic dot on his palm where his pen had hovered.
He wanted to talk to someone about it, but it felt weird to talk about this sort of thing with his mom, Annabeth didn’t believe in them, and Grover got really weird the one time Percy brought it up at the end of the summer. He’d stammered a bit and then abruptly changed the subject.
__
The school year after the Sea of Monsters summer, Percy met up with Thalia and Annabeth sometimes to do homework. Not much work was actually done, as all three of them were a little preoccupied with half-blood duties and none of them caring enough about schoolwork to motivate the other two.
One Sunday afternoon in November, Percy Annabeth and Thalia met up at a coffee shop in Midtown, all halfheartedly studying for finals and wholeheartedly sipping hot chocolates.
Usually, Annabeth and Thalia sat next to each other across from Percy, but today he was very aware that Annabeth was right next to him. He tried to make sure he made minimal noise as he shuffled his papers around, careful not to knock elbows with her.
Annabeth held out a stack of flashcards. “History test. Can you quiz me?”
“Oh, sure.” He shifted to face her more fully and pulled out a random card. “Treaty of Versailles.”
Annabeth immediately started rambling off about the Allied forces and economic downfall, but Percy wasn’t paying attention to fact-check what she was saying. Instead, he was staring at the small, curly letters on the card. Ones he was sure he’d seen before.
“Right?”
Percy snapped out of his thought and looked up. Annabeth was looking at him impatiently, one hand twisting a loose curl.
“Oh. Um, yeah. Great.” He said quickly. “Did you, um make these yourself?”
Thalia looked over her papers at him with a bemused expression on her face, eyebrows raised. He decided to ignore her.
“Yeah?” Annabeth gave him a funny look. “Why?”
“Oh. Nothing. I just... figured your handwriting wouldn’t be readable.” He fumbled for a way to tease her.
“Well, we don’t all rush through things.” She said haughtily. “Next card, please.”
How had he never noticed Annabeth’s handwriting before? He turned through the cards, quizzing her but trusting that whatever she was saying was right. He had to have seen her write before. There was no way. In a wild moment, he wondered if she’d notice if he pocketed one of her cards to compare later on. No, that would be insane. He immediately decided.
She flew through the notecards and took them back, thanking him quickly and turned back to glaring at her textbook. Percy went back to his notes, hardly taking anything in.
He’d guessed that his soulmate had been a demigod, with the Ancient Greek and all, but he’d never really stopped to think it could be someone he knew -- and one of his best friends at that. Still... Annabeth... The corner of his mouth quirked upwards and he jerked his expression back into place.
What now? Did he say something to her? Did he write on his arm to her? Could he even be 100% sure it is her?
“Seaweed Brain.” His head snapped up again. Thalia was standing, and Annabeth had her bag packed in her lap. “Ready to go?” She tilted her head, obviously trying not to laugh at how lost in thought he’d been.
Little did she know.
“Oh. Yeah.”
“Don’t think too hard.” Thalia offered. “We wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”
“Thalia, always a pleasure.” Percy rolled his eyes, sliding out of his seat and nodding mockingly at her. She rolled her eyes again and Annabeth shifted her feet awkwardly.
“Okay, we should go Thals. See you, Percy!” Annabeth gave a quick wave and she and Thalia left, leaving Percy alone with a million questions.
__
He had to do something. Percy paced his cabin anxiously twisting his hands together. He was pretty sure he had a way to contact Annabeth. And she was in trouble. Even if the others were thinking about Artemis...
Percy pulled open his drawers and turned out his pockets looking for some form of a writing utensil. But what if Annabeth saw and had no way to answer? Then what?
He still would’ve tried. Percy finally fished out a red pen from his backpack and uncapped it, hovering over his wrist.
Heart hammering in his ears, Percy wrote the words “We’re coming.”
__
Nearly a whole pegasus ride across the country, and Annabeth hadn’t breathed a word about the message. Her hands had been cuffed behind her back, so maybe she just didn’t see it, Percy reminded himself. He found himself glancing over, trying to see her left wrist, but only seeing bright red and blue bruises that made his stomach twist. Through all that, she probably wouldn’t even see the red ink of the pen, but that was the least of his worries right now.
“You didn’t believe I was dead?”
He looked over at her, hair blowing behind her in the wind. His heart did a somersault. “Never.”
“Neither is Luke, you know. I mean... he isn’t dead.” She said, eyes fixed on the horizon.
“Annabeth...” There was no way. They’d all seen that fall.
“He isn’t dead. I know it. The same way you knew about me.”
Not all soulmates are reciprocal, his mother’s words from years and years ago floated back, making his stomach twist even more.
__
The winter solstice was... a lot.
Percy stood by the wall watching. Some of his friends were dancing, Thalia was talking to Artemis, a silvery glow emanating from her now.
Athena did not approve of their friendship.
“Percy!” Annabeth ran up to him, hand running up and down her left wrist.
He quickly looked down at her covering hand, and back to her. Unfortunately, Athena was right there, staring through his soul so he didn’t say anything.
Instead, they danced. She wasn’t joining the Hunters. There would be other times to talk.
__
Rachel Elizabeth Dare whipped out a permanent marker and grabbed his wrist, scribbling her phone number and telling him he owed her, and then she was gone.
Annabeth stared at him before spinning on her heel and stalking down the street.
“Hey!” Percy jogged after her, trying to explain but she was determined to look at him, folding her arms tightly around herself.
The cab ride was not the most pleasant experience of his life.
Annabeth stared daggers out the window, still determined to keep her arms wrapped around her stomach and not talk to him.
“Can I... call my mom?” He asked tentatively after about an hour of this.
Wordlessly, she handed her phone out. After he hung up from the voicemail, Annabeth tucked the phone back into her front pocket and Percy caught a flash of black writing on her arm. He tilted his head, trying to make it out. He thought he saw a “5″ before she crossed her arms again. Percy’s eyes darted down to the number on his arm, and a flash of hope rushed through him. If he could just see more to be sure....
“Cold?” He asked her, awkwardly.
“What?” She snapped.
“Just... since you’re...” He hunched his shoulders and folded his arms, mimicking her.
She chewed her bottom lip. “No.”
“Oh.” He said dumbly. “I, uh, have a jacket in my backpack if you want.”
“No.” She said again, turning back to the window. She uncrossed her arms but kept her elbows tucked into her sides. His heart hammered. She was definitely hiding her arm. Exactly where, on his, Rachel Elizabeth Dare had written her phone number in Sharpie.
“Okay.” Percy made accidental eye contact with the driver in the rear-view mirror who seemed to pity him.
When they reached the crest of Half-Blood Hill, Annabeth turned towards the cabins. “I’m gonna grab a jacket. I’ll see you later.”
“I offered you a --”
Annabeth rolled her eyes and huffed “Mind your own business, Percy!” And sprinted down to Cabin 6.
Okay then.
__
Hello?
The word appeared on the back of his palm in blue ink. Percy stared at it for a full twenty seconds.
“Do you have a pen?” He asked Calypso frantically.
“A what?”
“A pen, something, anything to write with.” He felt himself getting more and more impatient.
Calypso frowned. “No. Are you okay?”
“I...” Percy took a deep breath, looking at the paradise around him, and then back at the small, hesitant writing on his hand. “I have to go back.”
__
He found himself back on the fire escape, carefully touching a leaf of the moonlace plant. It was close to midnight but the traffic below was still going, the city loud and bright.
He jolted as a tingling feeling came across the arm holding the plant.
Happy birthday.
Percy’s heart leapt into his throat, everything he’d been suspecting in the back of his mind for the last two years confirmed. He scrambled back inside, grabbing a pen from his desk. The tip of the pen hovered over his skin for either thirty minutes or three seconds as everything he’s wanted to say for years rushed through him. But instead of that, he just wrote Thanks.
__
“You’re a coward, Percy Jackson.” Annabeth spat, straightening her neck so they were eye to eye.
He absolutely was. His left wrist burned, as if sending off a wailing reminder to him of everything he hadn’t said to her. He opened his mouth and closed it again. They just couldn’t get into this now. Not with the ticking time-bomb of his 16th birthday, and the whole Rachel and Luke thing, and the fact that they hadn’t had a calm conversation about anything in nearly a year.
He could see the disappointment flash across her face, replaced quickly by more anger as she spun on her heel and stalked away from him, punching the tether ball as she passed.
__
They did it. It was over.
Percy repeated this inside his head, over and over, as he watched the waves lazily rise up on the beach.
His wrist got warm and the words “Hey” came on his arm. He felt himself grin and looked over his shoulder. Annabeth stood by the edge of the mess hall leaning against a pillar, with a pen in one hand and a misshapen blue cupcake in the other.
“Hey,” He called softly.
She smiled and pushed off the pillar, coming over to the Poseidon table. She placed the cupcake down on the table in front of him. “Happy birthday.”
“What?”
“It’s August 18.” She raised an eyebrow. “Your birthday, right?”
They broke the cupcake in two and shared it. (Annabeth flicked some frosting at him when he criticized the shape).
After a few minutes of quiet eating, Annabeth spoke again. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
He brushed off his hands and glanced over at her. She was keeping her eyes fixed on the horizon.
“About what?” He joked, but her expression stayed serious. “I...I didn’t know for sure. If I was yours. And then when I was sure last year... there was just so much else going on.”
“I know,” Annabeth nodded, finally looking over at him. “I thought I didn’t have one. I mean, I wrote on myself all the time when I was little.”
“I know,” He laughed. “I thought I was going crazy.”
“Why didn’t you write back? When you said you had one... I thought it was someone else.” She looked seconds away from tears.
“I didn’t know what to say.” His heart twisted a little. “But no, it was always just you.”
Seemingly the confirmation she needed, Annabeth surged forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and crashing her lips against his.
__
“I’m going to draw a mustache on next time you have to give a speech or something.” Percy promises later at the bottom of the lake.
She raised an eyebrow. “Do it and I’ll draw a dick on your forehead next time you see your mother.”
“Touché.” He laughed. “So, remember when you told me soulmates weren’t real?”
“I didn’t say that exactly!”
“I was right, and you were wrong.”
“No,” She narrows her eyes. “I said I would rather choose someone because I liked them rather than because I felt like the universe wanted me to.” She blushed. “And both worked out, so, you know, that’s good.”
“Well, congratulations to both of us.”
__
He doesn’t draw on her face. But she does, laughing, have to tell him to stop writing messages during counselor meetings.