Chapter Text
Percy never gave too much thought to his soulmate words. It was nice to know he had a soulmate, of course, but he was much more interested in science, and tinkering, and languages, and knowledge. He really didn’t think about romance or sex very much at all. His siblings, on the other hand, seemed to spend all their time bent over each other’s left forearms, examining the words. Was there any indication of gender, where they might meet, what they were like? They pushed up their long sleeves whenever they left the castle, away from the eyes of their parents who told them "it’s not proper" . They spent long evenings guessing the context for Vesper’s ‘Can you keep a secret’ or giggling over the expletive that was etched into Oliver’s skin. Percy didn’t participate, but he also didn’t escape the teasing, not with ’Hello, handsome’ printed so elegantly between his elbow and wrist.
Percy wanted to know everything else about the words, about how they worked. There was precious little research to be found about them. They were not necessarily the first words you heard, but the first words said specifically to you or a group you were part of. They didn’t guarantee a successful or healthy relationship. Not many people were willing to be studied or even talk about it, too private and precious. Percy had some idea that it might be time magic, but since he had no talent or way of getting more expertise, he put aside the research topic in favor of metallurgy and black powder. Only once in a very long while, right before falling asleep, did he let himself wonder about the person whose words he bore. He’d try to picture them, sometimes a woman, sometimes a man, different hair colors and body types as he tried to figure out what he liked best. He would imagine them wearing shorter sleeves, proudly showing off his words; usually he imagined those words to be delicate curves of Celestial, a language he had taken such great pains to learn. It always took place at a ball or political dinner, he rarely met anyone elsewhere, and none of the people he imagined were quite the sort of person to turn to him and say his words, but he figured it would make sense at the time. The one constant was how much they loved him, immediately, how much he felt like he belonged, and he would wake up from those nights more disappointed than usual, more out of place and alone.
It wasn’t until after he ran from his home in the dead of night that he thought of soulmates seriously. Were there six people out there who had now lost theirs? Did their left arms ache? Were the words fading already? He had made some theories, that the magic was a stable time loop, that having words were something of a guarantee that you’d live to hear them, but now he knew that wasn’t true. The words on his arm, dark printed against his pale skin, might go unsaid if he couldn’t be careful. Ripley had seen his words, had used them in her torture, bringing in people to say them and then be beaten. Your fault , she had hissed, and he had gasped out apologies between breaths, but he knew they weren’t true. Ripley was sadistic and wanted to hurt him and it was working, working so well, he blamed himself, but his soulmate wasn’t any of those poor hurt people. He wasn’t sure if any of them survived his escape, if Cassandra had been able to release any before finding him, but at the time, behind all the fear, blood loss, and pure selfishness, he hadn’t given it a thought. One more thing to blame himself for. He cried, sometimes, at night, when he thought about what he’d done and what he’d lost, and he swore his vengeance, and one of those nights, he saw a swirl of black smoke and his vengeance spoke back. Percy was so sure he knew what were the first words that demon would say. He was wrong.
Two years of running and fishing and tinkering and planning. He hadn’t met many people, and he was even less likely to be called handsome now that he was so skinny and dirty and his hair had grown in white. Chasing Ripley was going just as poorly, Percy’s only lead had gotten him arrested for attempted murder, and now he was stuck in a cell for gods knew how long, the guards perfectly clear that they would be happy to let him rot there. It was likely that Ripley would find him first.
“You’d better hurry up,” he addressed his arm. “If you’re going to meet me, I think you’re running out of time.” His arm felt slightly warm, even through his shirt and coat, although he knew it was nonsense. He shifted in the corner of the cell, trying to keep his coat between his back and the cold cell wall. He hated the idea that he might die without killing the Briarwoods, without avenging the family. Now, he could add ‘not meeting his soulmate’ to his list of regrets.
Percy jolted awake, there were no windows in his cell to tell night from day, and the constant torchlight kept him from resting very deeply, but it had been several hours since he had received any food or water. The loud clanging certainly wasn’t keys, though.
“Oh, wonderful, brother, very sneaky.” A female voice. He hadn’t noticed any female guards yet.
“Did you want to pick that lock? I didn’t know it would fall that easily.” This one was male. Guards didn’t bicker like this, either. And although the voices were getting nearer, he didn’t hear any footsteps.
“If you want to let everyone in this hole know we’re here, then certainly- don’t roll your eyes, how childish.”
“You’re childish.”
“You’re childish,” the female voice mimicked back.
“Really?”
“Really ”
Percy crouched, there was no place to hide in the cell, if they wanted to hurt him he wouldn’t be able to get away, but he felt less vulnerable if he was on his feet. He grasped the bars, peering out at the two figures now leaving the hallway. They were both attractive, fine features and dark cloaks, one with their dark hair flowing loose, the other with a long braid. They stopped in front of him, matching expressions of happy surprise. “Hello, handsome,” said the male, with the loose hair.
“Hello, handsome, ” said the female with the braid, still mimicking her brother.
In Percy’s imagination, when he was in this moment, he always had something smooth to say. His practiced Celestial words, for one, or complimenting his soulmate back. Right now, he was too thirsty, aching, tired, and outright dumbstruck to say anything intelligent, just “There are two of you?”
Vax’ildan and Vex’ahlia shared everything, no one was all that surprised that they shared words. People didn’t generally care long enough to notice the small difference, and Vex was perfectly happy with that. Made it less likely anyone would try to play them for a fool. The words didn’t much matter when they were the same thing just about everyone said when meeting them. For fraternal twins they still looked an awful lot alike. The twins rather expected those words on everyone's lips, and whenever they met someone new, would listen carefully and separate them into two columns, his and hers .
Vex used to think about her soulmate often, used to hope . At first, she hoped that it was a fullblood elf, someone her father respected, someone who would pull her fully into the society of Syngorn and would be so important that no one would dare say a word against their halfblood spouse. Someone who would prove she belonged. After she and Vax left, she tried hard to pretend that didn’t matter anymore. She tried to stop hoping, but every time she heard those words, her heart still leapt into her throat a bit. Vax might jokingly point out which people they met were hers, but she remembered every one, and thought about what her life would be like with each of them. She probably spent too much time thinking about her soulmate, but she had plenty of quiet nights just her and her bear while her brother worked for the Clasp.
Vex and Vax had taken little jobs before, occasionally with another mercenary or sellsword, but never in a group like this. Vex frowned. Two gnomes, a goliath, a red dragonborn, and an elf. No, a half-elf. She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but a more put together crew would have been welcome. “Is this the whole group?” she asked.
The half-elf turned around, red hair flying and eyes lighting up. “There’s two of you!”
Vax laughed and nudged his sister. “Ah, one of mine, then.”
The half-elf’s expression grew even more excited. “One of your what? I always wondered.”
“Wondered? Oh. Oh! Oh-woah-woah!” Vex’s grin grew as she turned to her brother, his posture stiff and face frozen. “One of yours is right!” She poked Vax hard on the arm, right on the apostrophe that she lacked, and offered her hand to the redhead, who turned out to be named Keyleth. She couldn’t wait to start the teasing.
There didn’t seem to be much of a difference in Vex and Vax’s relationship, even days after Vax met his soulmate. They weren’t pursuing anything yet, but Vax was always watching Keyleth, as though trying to figure her out without having to do any bothersome talking. Vex could only hope that he would have a chat before the tension coiled up in his body snapped, killing them all. When they stopped for the night, right outside Stillben, Vax placed his bedroll as far away from the fire as possible, far far away from the druid, and lay down immediately with his back to them. Vex’ahlia sighed, brothers could be so troublesome. Still, she was glad for a break, a chance to examine the tiny kernel of envy inside her heart, to see how much was because she wanted to be the most important person in her brother’s life, and how much was because she wanted to find her own soulmate. After Keyleth’s opening words, Vex had listened to the introductions expectantly, waiting for someone else to have the same thought, after all, she and her brother had done everything together since before birth. She hadn’t considered one of them pairing up much before the other. A glance at her twin, shoulders moving evenly as he pretended to sleep in order to avoid a grown up conversation, reminded her of the one thing she would be sure of all her life. The words were about romantic soulmates. She didn’t need words to be absolutely whole-heart sure of who her soulmate really was. Vex placed her bedroll next to his. “Move over, brother, I’m freezing and want to share your blanket.”
He lifted it in invitation. "Alright, Stubby. just bring my nephew over to warm our feet."
Getting used to a group was difficult, after so long of it just being the two of them, or three if you counted Trinket, but Trinket always agreed to Vex’s plans. The planning session here had consisted of several people trying to talk over one another, Scanlan making several lewd jokes, and Pike trying to keep anyone from having their feelings too hurt. Vex wasn’t even sure why they were breaking into a jail, but it was the first decisive action they’d taken in days, so she was on it. “Vax can pick locks,” she had volunteered, “and I’ll go with him. We’re both very stealthy.”
“Good, I’m not.” Pike announced cheerily, her heavy armor clanking as she sat. “We’ll wait out here for you.”
Tensions were high and Vex very much wanted this test of skill to go well, prove to the group what great assets they were, but Vax wasn’t focusing. Because of Keyleth probably, Vex fumed. He opened the jail door but let the heavy lock hit the metal doorframe, echoing loudly down the halls.
“Oh, wonderful, brother, very sneaky.”
“Did you want to pick that lock? I didn’t know it would fall that easily.” Vex shook her head, even as Vax walked ahead of her and wouldn’t be able to see. He had never quite cared what people thought as much as she did. She was still trying to make up for the entire populace of Syngorn, she was still trying to prove her value to people. She wanted this new group of theirs to be impressed. After all, her brother’s soulmate was one of them, so they were likely sticking around for a while. She stepped quickly to catch up with him.
“If you want to let everyone in this hole know we’re here, then certainly- don’t roll your eyes, how childish.”
“You’re childish.”
“You’re childish,” she sing-songed. She couldn’t help but jump back into her old role of annoying little sister (three minutes younger, three inches shorter, not quite taken seriously).
“Really?”
“Really. ” She elbowed Vax slightly as they passed into a larger room, full of cells, all empty except the one closest to them. She bumped into Vax, who stopped abruptly.
“Hello, handsome.”
“Hello, handsome, ” Vex repeated automatically. Then her gaze landed where Vax’s had, and she whispered the words again.
There was a man inside the cell, a dirt streaked human in a long coat, but his face was pressed against the bars, and he was unmistakably the most attractive man she had seen in a long while. Stunning, really, with a shock of white hair and glasses that magnified intelligent eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, hopefully something charming, but the man spoke first.
“There are two of you?”