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annabeth chase was five years old the first time her father told her about how soulmates worked. they sat on a picnic blanket, just the two of them, at the park near their house. he explained that the world is filled with color, however, until you meet your soulmate, you see in shades of gray. she looked down at the blanket and stared at the varied shades. she knew what colors were but she didn’t know what they were. she had heard plenty of adults discuss colors and teach kids about colors, but annabeth was always confused because she was not able to see them.
“what’s a soulmate?” she asked, her eyes filled with curiosity.
he thought for a moment before he spoke.
“a soulmate is a person who is meant for you, they connect with you perfectly like puzzle pieces fit together.”
annabeth noticed her father smile softly. she wondered if he was thinking about her mother. he never spoke about her, it was too painful for him to talk about. the first time he spoke about her mother was a few months ago when annabeth asked for a bedtime story. he turned the day he met athena into a princess story, with a happy ending of course, the one he yearned for but didn’t get. he told her how the princess had bumped into the prince in a big castle. the princess had been carrying the prince's favorite book and from there they fell in love, got married and lived happily ever after with their baby girl.
“you and your person are tied together with an invisible string,” he started to speak, stopping to look at annabeth search for a string around her body.
“it’s not a physical string, sweetheart,” he chuckled as he picked her up and placed her on his lap.
“you can feel it when you meet your soulmate, as if it’s there, but there’s no actual string. it’s just what people have described it as, how it ties you to your person,” he smiled.
annabeth smiled back. she looked around the park and wondered what color everything was. she wondered if the color of the sun was connected to how the sun made you feel warm. she wondered what color the trees were, if the color was why the birds made their nests in the trees.
“what does it feel like to see colors?” she asked curiously.
her father tried to think about how to answer her question. seeing colors was one of the best things in his life, but it also reminded him of athena and the life he could’ve had with her. he wanted annabeth to know how beautiful the world was. he wanted her to know what it felt like to see your first sunset, to see a field of flowers ranging in every color possible, to see how breathtaking the world was. he had been seeing colors for so long that it felt normal. he thought back to the moment he had seen athena and he knew how to describe it.
“it feels warm like a batch of fresh chocolate chip cookies on a rainy day. it feels exciting like opening gifts on your birthday. it feels comforting like a hug when you’re feeling sad. it feels like drinking hot chocolate by a warm fire. it feels wonderful, annabeth,” he said proudly.
“you’ll understand more when you’re older,” he said looking up at the clouds.
___
annabeth was twelve when she heard her classmates in the back of the classroom talking about why people called it “invisible string.” she heard a boy talk about how it’s a string because sometimes the string breaks. sometimes people never get to see color because the string holding them to their soulmate was delicate and many people have had theirs snap. sometimes they never get to meet their soulmate because they died. sometimes it’s because by some odd chance, their soulmate ends up with someone else and they’re left with a broken string. sometimes it’s because they end up with their soulmate but their relationship doesn’t work out and the string that had just tied them together had been cut in half. annabeth was far more into soulmates and the invisible string than she had ever let on. she was a big romantic at heart and read so many stories about the beauty of colors. she read stories about how wonderful it felt to click with your soulmate and live a long life together. her classmates started to make her feel stupid about being so in love with love.
it wasn’t until she met a boy named percy jackson at camp half-blood a few weeks later that she forgot about what her classmates had said. she swore she felt a pull to the beautiful boy. she first felt it when she saw him drooling while he was knocked out from surviving to get into camp. when he woke, she noticed that he had gray eyes that made her knees weak, and even if she couldn’t see the color yet, she knew they were breathtaking. he had a friendly smile that made her feel comfort. they survived a quest together, almost dying a few times, but successfully returned zeus' master bolt. the quest strengthened the string they shared. when they bid their goodbyes after summer camp was over, she thought she saw a glimpse of the color on his shirt. it had flashed for a couple seconds, making her lose her train of thought.
“heyo, is everything alright?” percy asked her, waving his hand in front of her face.
he had a worried expression, his eyebrows knit together.
“i’m okay, it’s nothing,” she smiled at him.
it wasn't nothing, it was definitely something. she wondered if perhaps percy felt it too. they shared one last hug before they separated, leaving her an ache already as she’d have to go a year without seeing the boy she had a huge crush on.
the sea of monsters had been anything but inviting and easy to survive. annabeth had just seen her mom, dad and luke having a picnic at the park, the mirage inviting her to join them. they looked so happy, so warm. she was seconds away from losing herself in the mirage. percy had to save her and bring her back to the boat. she had her head on his shoulder while she sobbed. she knew luke was no good and there was no saving him, but she hoped every single day she could save him. she couldn’t deny she had feelings for him but she knew they weren’t soulmates. the frustration only made the situation worse.
she looked at the ocean and she thought she saw a glimpse of color. it was bright compared to the dull gray she saw every day. this time the color burst lasted just a bit longer. percy’s arms around her body made her feel warm and peaceful. she felt that tug come back, as if the string was wrapped around both of them like it was hugging them. she hoped she had seen a color. finding your soulmate at thirteen was very rare, but she was craving a world in color, and the few random moments of color left her wanting more. she didn’t see any more colors that summer.
annabeth was fourteen now. she was at the park on a warm day, a rarity in december. winter break would be starting soon and she would be seeing percy jackson again. her heart fluttered and the strangest thing happened. the grass around her blanket she was sitting on changed color. she didn’t know what color it was, but it looked beautiful for the brief moment she was able to see it. she picked up the book that sat on the blanket and tried to read the pages but she was so flustered. percy wasn’t even at centennial park, she wasn’t sure how she was able to see a color. she was so attached to seeing colors because demigods were not known to have long lives. she just wanted to have a world in color and a world where she was able to meet her soulmate officially.
when she finally saw percy again, her stomach was filled with butterflies. they were on the way to westover hall. grover found two new demigods and needed help to get them back to camp. they crashed the school dance and she wanted more than anything to dance with percy. perhaps she would see another color. due to the nature of why they were at the school, her time with percy was cut short when dr. thorn had held onto her while he fell and escaped, taking her to a mountain where the monsters used it as a headquarters. she had been forced to take on the burden of the sky. the only thing she could think about to keep her from collapsing from the intense pain was percy. she thought about the moments they shared together. she thought about when he held her in his arms, his smile, his laugh, how wonderful she made him feel. she thought about the moments when they were not on a quest or battling to survive, but when they were able to just hang out and bond. with every moment that her body was losing strength, a new thought about percy popped into her head. her body was being crushed, making it impossible to breathe, but still when she saw percy arriving to save her her breath had been taken away.
“you didn’t believe i was dead?” annabeth asked him.
“never,” he replied back. his smile was charming.
she looked up at his eyes, instead of seeing gray like usual, she saw color. her heart skipped a beat. she couldn’t name the color(which she later learns to be green) but she could name the feeling it brought her. it reminded her of the color she saw at centennial park. she remembered her dad’s words about how colors brought you comfort. he was right of course, for percy’s soft eyes made her feel like a warm summer day. percy’s eyes turned gray almost immediately but she would always hold onto this moment.
annabeth was now fifteen. her feelings for percy had grown even stronger since last summer. they were supposed to go on a date, but somehow those plans were ruined. she saw percy with a girl she had never seen before. she noticed a phone number was written on percy’s arm. the trip to camp was not pleasant and the opposite of what they had planned. she was angry at percy for giving another girl attention, which was stupid because percy wasn’t even her soulmate and she shouldn’t be feeling this for him in the first place. she noticed percy kept staring at his arm and it stung. they should’ve been at the movies together, sharing popcorn and being on a date. yet they were on the way to camp because another monster issue happened and percy was in trouble, again.
this quest they had to go into the labyrinth. the demigods who have come in either don’t come out or come out being broken. to add on to annabeth’s luck with percy, rachel was the key to getting the quest done. she felt like the invisible string that she had desperately wished to have with percy was getting weaker. she hadn’t seen any colors yet on this quest. recalling what her old classmates had said about people’s strings breaking, she was starting to consider that percy was not her soulmate. this crushing feeling was different than holding up the sky. this crushing feeling made her heart ache, made her chest hurt. when she and percy had to separate to get a task done, she made a last second decision to kiss him. not a kiss on the cheek, but a REAL kiss. it made her feel hopeful that they’d both be okay.
she looked away quickly from embarrassment and swore percy’s shirt, upon which her hand rested, turned into color. she placed on her cap and vanished from percy’s side, leaving him shocked from the kiss. she didn’t see him again. they had a funeral for percy at camp. the world was gray like always, but this time she felt cold. her father promised her that colors brought you warmth. if they had, then why had she seen all those colors just to have her soulmate die? the world was cruel, it didn’t bring any presents, it didn’t bring you happiness. when percy crashed his funeral she noticed the campfire turned into color. the fire was meant to reflect the mood of the campers but she didn’t know how to describe the color. she didn’t need to describe it, she knew it was a gift. she saw color after seeing percy, that was a sign. it had to be.
the rest of the summer flew by so quickly and they were saying their goodbyes again. percy held her in his arms and her knees were close to buckling. she found that even without colors, percy had been her person. he had been there with her through thick and thin. he had been her first kiss. he had been her comfort, her shelter. he had given her so many memories that she was forever grateful for. she recalled her dad telling her that soulmates fit together perfectly like puzzle pieces. she didn’t want to be too full of herself, but percy was definitely the half to her puzzle. when they fought together in battle, they were unstoppable. they always got along well and were best friends. they had to be soulmates.
time had passed again before she saw percy. another summer, another quest. percy’s birthday was right around the corner. his death was also right around the corner. annabeth refused to show it, but she was having a hard time keeping it together. a battle with kronos was days away and annabeth’s not-boyfriend-but -basically-boyfriend was going to battle him. while percy was prepping for the big war, he was doing his own things with nico. being away from percy was hard for annabeth to deal with, especially with the big prophecy nearly giving percy his death sentence. one evening annabeth felt the strongest pull on the invisible string she had ever felt. it was as if she could grab a physical string in her hands that would guide her to where percy was. she was certain percy could feel it too, wherever he was at that moment. that exact feeling came back when they were in battle. she felt a tug on her body and threw herself in front of percy, taking a poison dagger to her shoulder.
laying on a cot in a hotel, she looked at percy while he checked on her. she felt very weak but defended her decision of taking the dagger. she didn’t want him to die. he looked so broken and worried, it made her heart flutter. she let it slip that he looked cute when he was worried and could tell the statement embarrassed him. when he guided her hand to the weak point in the small of his back, her fingers tingled against his skin. she saw a flash of color on his shirt and smiled. she imagined the invisible string wrapped around their wrists, like bracelets that connected. the moment ended a few moments later and the war carried on. monumental destruction and many deaths later, they had succeeded and won the battle. it was officially percy’s 16th birthday. she made him a blue cake. well, the box said blue devil’s cake but she couldn’t see the blue. she wasn’t even sure percy could see the blue but she had to give him a blue cake. percy’s favorite foods were anything blue which annabeth found odd. she knew it was because his mom would always give him blue everything, but still if he couldn’t see the colors then how had they become his favorite food? what part of it being blue had made it his favorite?
she sat next to percy at the table and gave him the cake. they shared some cake and sat in silence. they felt like normal teenagers for once, well as normal as a demigod could feel. later that day they ended up in the ocean, percy keeping an air bubble around them so they could still breathe. it was there that they shared their first of many underwater kisses. this kiss felt different. this kiss was everything she had dreamed of and hoped for for a long time. the string had pulled them even closer together. the feeling in the ocean changed in a good way, like something magical was going to happen. when annabeth opened her eyes she saw the teal of the water, and not just a flash, but the entire ocean. she felt overwhelmed and content at the same time.
“percy,” she breathed out.
“i can see color,” she looked back at his face.
his eyes were in color again and they made her stomach full with butterflies. percy gave her a warm smile. his eyes reminded her of centennial park again. whatever color this was, it was her favorite color of them all. it was this color they made her feel safe, made her feel like nothing in the world could take away the warmth percy radiated. this color felt like a fresh batch of cookies on a rainy day. this color felt like the excitement annabeth had when opening a new book. this color felt like the sweet scent of the strawberries that they grew at camp half-blood. this color felt like home.
“did you know your eyes are gray? everything is in color but your eyes are gray,” he whispered in shock.
when they got out of the water they googled the different types of colors. they noticed the sunset was purple and pink, so enchanting and breathtaking. the colors swirled together with hints of orange. they noticed the healing fleece was a bright, glowing gold that radiated warmth. they noticed that the orange of the camp half-blood shirts could have definitely been a prettier orange, but they didn't complain too much. they looked at the red strawberries in the fields, how bold the red looked compared to the green of the vines. annabeth couldn’t stop staring into his emerald eyes. they spent the rest of the day exploring all of the colors they could. they discussed the moments they both saw colors over the past four years. annabeth was in awe when percy explained what moments sparked colors for him. it had taken four years. four years of tiny glimpses of colors. four years of yearning. four years of anticipation. annabeth looked at the gray streak in percy’s hair, reminding her of the streak she had in her hair. they were destined to live a happy, long life together. she placed her head on his shoulder, sighing in content before speaking.
“isn’t it just so pretty to think, all along there was some invisible string tying you to me?”
she thought about how hell was the journey that brought her heaven. she lost friends, family, and normalcy but here she was with her soulmate. she noted that when she saw her dad again to thank him for describing how colors felt, because he was absolutely right. seeing the world in colors was wonderful.