Chapter Text
Everyone was born with soulmarks, they are for the people that you will be the most tied to throughout your life. You can only have one, or you can have multiple. They are invisible to everyone except for the person that they are tied to, and most people get a sense when they’re within five feet of the other person.
You can always tell what kind of bond you have with that person, which is typically a clue towards what type of bond you will/do value most during your life. For many people it is romantic, but it can also be a family or platonic bond.
But when you form a close bond with someone you can form/make a soulbond mark with them that will mark both of you. This typically happens between family or close friends. A lot of times when someone who wasn’t born with a romantic soulmark get married, during the ceremony they make a soulmark on each other.
You get a sense of how the person on the other end is feeling through the soulmark, and a lot of times it will be animated or change based upon the other person’s mood. When one half is upset the other can send good feelings or comfort through the bond, which only becomes stronger once you have met the other person and officially connected.
That was the world that this Percy Jackson lived in.
He had just finished his school year in Yancy Academy and made his way home after ditching his only friend, Grover, due to him being weird and looking at Percy as if he was a dead man walking.
Plus there was the added weirdness of his Pre-Allgebra teacher, Mrs. Dodds, turning into some kind of monster that then everyone seemed to think that their Pre-Allgebra teacher was actually someone else-!(Who was much nicer and a better teacher than Mrs. Dodds admittedly…) And after Mrs. Dodds turned into that monster he then killed her, maybe? Or at least he thinks that he did, she did turn into gold dust afterall. But even before that she was saying a bunch of weird stuff.
Plus shortly after he confronted Grover about a bunch of stuff, which he didn’t say much about other than giving him a card. He saw three old ladies that were knitting MASSIVE socks, then cut a string of yarn which caused Grover to begin his massive freak-out.
Not to mention his soulmarks had been hurting since December 21st. It was clear something was going on with all of them, likely fighting of some kind, but he had no idea exactly.
Percy had been born with 14 soulmarks that were all over his body, making it look almost like some kind of art piece. He had never met or bonded with any of them, but he could feel that they were all soulmarks of family or platonic love. Which he was honestly rather relieved about, because if most of them were romantic he didn’t know what in the world his future would look like!
But back to his soulmarks and thus soulbonded hurting and/or fighting- He had done his best to send waves of calmness and comfort through the bonds. It was another reason why he had tried to act his best, because he didn’t want to put any more pressure on any of them. It was clear that they were all going through something, and he would like it if in return they’d extend the same courtesy to him.
Still dealing with Gabe always made him feel upset, as such he appreciated the small spurts of comfort that came from his shoulders, his chest where his heart was, and neck/collarbones. That was at least four soulbonded who felt his discomfort from dealing with Gabe. But it was nice to feel their care. It made him smile.
Just then his mom walked and softly called out “Percy?” and any lingering discomfort faded away. His mom was the only one who could make him feel good just by walking into the room(or at least so far- It wasn’t far to his soulbonded as he hadn’t even met them yet). He smiled and softly called back “Hey, mom.”
She immediately walked up to him and hugged him tight, saying “Oh, Percy. I can’t believe it. You’ve grown since Christmas!” He smiled wider and hugged her back tighter in return. He wasn’t sure how much of this his soulbonded through their much more muted bond, since they had never met, but he hoped that it felt good to those that could.
They sat on the edge of the bed and talked while he ate blueberry sour strings she gotten from her huge bag of ‘free samples’ while she ran her fingers through his hair. They talked and she didn’t once mention about him getting expelled.
She did see him flinch his arms once, seemingly randomly. Her eyes grew concerned and she asked “Are your soulmarks still bothering you?” He nodded and replied “Sometimes it’s really intense, or it’s a low enough level of pain that I can eventually ignore it, other times it’s just one sharp stab of pain and then it’s gone. I- I don’t even fully think they realize how it's affecting or how it feels to me…”
She gave him a look of sympathy and then asked “And you still haven’t met any of them?” He shook his head and told her “As much as that’s a surprise I’d probably leave out of my letters to see your reaction in person. I probably would have tried to bring the person here to meet you as well. So, still not one of my soulbonded so far.”
It seemed like she was about to say or ask something else when, from the other room, Gabe yelled “Hey, Sally–how about some bean dip, huh?” It made him grit his teeth, his mom was the nicest lady in the world! She should’ve been married to someone amazing, not some jerk like Gabe.
As such it seemed their time for now was almost up, so he rounded out his last days at Yancy Academy, trying to sound upbeat. He ended up putting such a good spin on it all that he almost convinced himself.
Well until he got to the museum trip and paused for a biiit too long, which his mom immediately noticed and tried to (admittedly gently) push him on. He lied to her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, and his only friend acting weird afterwards. But he wanted, needed, at least today to just be normal with his mom. He’d tell her the truth tomorrow, probably, if he remembered…
His mom pursed her lips, she knew he was holding something back but didn’t push anymore than she already had.
Finally she said “I have a surprise for you. We’re going to the beach.” His eyes widened and he asked “Montauk?” She nodded “Three nights–same cabin.” “When?” She smiled and answered “As soon as I get changed.”
He was ecstatic, and couldn’t believe it, they hadn’t been to Montauk the last two summers because Gabe had claimed there wasn’t enough money.
Just then Gabe appeared in the doorway demanding the bean dip he had yelled about earlier. His mom and Gabe argued/debated about the trip even happening while Percy did his best to just stay calm.
Finally Gabe scratched his double chin and said “Maybe if you hurry with that seven layer did…And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game.” Percy wanted to curse, or kick Gabe in his soft spot! But his mom’s eyes warned him not to make Gabe mad, Percy really had no idea why she put up with this guy!
Still he muttered out “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now.” Gabe’s eyes narrowed, his tiny brain was probably trying to detect the sarcasm in his statement. With a scowl he finally decided and said “Yeah, whatever.” and went back to his game.
Once he was gone his mom thanked him “Thank you, Percy,” and said “Once we get to Montauk, we’ll talk more about…whatever you’ve forgotten to tell me, okay?” And for a second he thought he saw the same anxiety or fear in his eyes that Grover had after the bus broke down and they saw that yarn get cut.
At the time when seeing the old ladies it had felt like every single one of his soulmarks had flared up, basically firmly saying “NO! NOT HIM!” Which was nice… but at the same time made it feel all the more ominous.
Still he brushed everything off and an hour later they were ready to leave.
Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to watch Percy lug both his and his mom’s bags to the car, complaining about everything he was losing by letting them do this the whole time. “Not a scratch on this car, brain boy.” Gabe warned him as he loaded the last bag “Not one little scratch.” As if Percy would’ve been the one driving, he was twelve! Not that it’d matter to Gabe.
As Gabe reached the doorway, Percy made this hand gesture he’d seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of warding-off-evil gesture, a clawed hand over your heart, then a shoving movement toward whatever, or in this case Gabe. The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the staircase as if the man had been shot from a cannon.
Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but Percy didn’t stay long enough to find out. He just got into the Camaro and told his mom to step on it. Let Gabe deal with whatever by himself with either of them to take it out on.
They soon arrived at sunset and set up the cabin for their use, before then taking a walk down the beach. Then when it got dark they made a fire and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, with his mom telling stories about the past and hopes for books she wanted to write in the future.
Even just being here made his right arm where one of his soulmarks feel good, but it made his other arm feel… how to best put it…? Tense? Or uneasy?
His soulmark covers on his right arm looks like waves/the surface of water, or more pressingly the ocean. While on his other arm… On the top side of his left arm from his shoulder to his wrist, it looks like lightning and clouds, with some lingering down to the lower half of his left arm. While mainly on the underside of that same left arm was a different soulmark of a series of shadows and bones(with skulls on every joint) of the dead. But there are some that linger on the upper side. Both soulmarks covered from just about his shoulder/armpit to wrist.
After a while Percy worked up the nerve to ask about what was always on his mind when they came to Montauk, his father. Which his mother mostly answered, even saying that he looked just like his father. He felt some anger at his father, because maybe if he’d never gone on that ocean voyage everything would have been better.
Eventually he asked “Are you going to send me away again? To another boarding school?” “I don’t know, honey.” Her voice was heavy. “I think…I think we’ll have to do something.”
Words came out before he could stop them “Because you don’t want me around?” It was a minor sore spot because despite the closeness and love he felt towards his mother, there was no soulmark that he was born with to prove it. So sometimes he worried that maybe he was preventing her from really living her life, and that his mom would be better and happier without him around.
His mom’s eyes welled with tears, and she moved to pull him into her side, squeezing him tight, as she told him “Oh, Percy, no, I–I have to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away as much as I hate to do it.”
While softer and giving him some comfort, her words just reminded him of what Mr. Brunner had said in front of the whole class. About how it was for the best for him to leave Yancy.
“Beacuse I’m not normal!” Percy spat out, clutching at his soulmarks. It was rare by itself to have multiple, but the amount that he had just made it, made him, strange.
She kissed his forehead and told him “You say that as if it’s a bad thing, Percy. But you don’t realize how important you are. To me, and all your soulbonded. Still I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away… I thought you’d finally be safe.” He asked “Safe from what?” and as he met her eyes a flood of memories about all the weird or scary things that had ever happened to or around him came back to him. Some of which, he’d tried to forget.
He knew now was probably the time that he should have told her about Mrs. Dodds at the art museum and the old ladies at the fruit stand. But he couldn’t make himself tell her, he had a strange feeling that the news would make their trip end early. Which was the last thing he wanted.
But before he could go further on trying to force himself to just tell her his mom said “I’ve tried to keep you as close to me as I could.” She paused before continuing, clearly having internally debated doing so, “They told me that was a mistake. But there’s only one other option, Percy–the place your father wanted me to send you. And I just… I just can’t stand to do it.” For as much as he was wary, he was far more curious about what she was talking about, so he asked “My father wanted me to go to a special school?”
His mom shook her head and softly said “Not a school, a summer camp. With year-round options.” That just made his head spin. Why would his dad—who hadn’t even stayed around long enough to see him born—talk to his mom about a summer camp? And if it was so important, why hadn’t his mom ever mentioned it before?”
She could clearly tell where his thoughts had gone from just the look in his eyes, she was teary and told him “I’m sorry, Percy. But I can’t talk about it. I–I couldn’t send you to that place. Especially since it might mean saying good-bye to you for good.”
He wondered, even if there were year-round options, why she thought he wouldn’t want to just stick with the summer version and stay near her. Regardless, as his mom turned towards the fire he knew from her expression that if he asked her any more questions she would start to cry.
~
That night he had a vivid dream.
It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf. The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse’s muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagle’s wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.
The fight between the two animals made his right arm soulmark and the top half of his left arm soulmark, burn. And whatever monstrous voice that was goading them on, was only making everything feel worse.
It was rare, but he had heard of soulbonded getting dreams based on the other when things were really bad in some way or another, as a kind of warning sign to help them.
So he ran towards them, knowing he needed to stop them from killing each other! But it felt like he was running in slow motion, and he knew that he would be too late. And just before they could actually harm each other he woke with a start and screamed “NO!”
His scream, added with the storm outside, woke his mom up. She looked around for whatever had caused him to become so startled. He took deep breaths and clutched onto both of his soulmarks that he had felt burn due to the dream.
Once he was calm enough he told her “I just had a dream about two of my soulbonded… They’re fighting and someone is encouraging it.. I-I…think at least?” She frowned after hearing what he said, but couldn’t do anything about it before everything became super hectic.
As someone began yelling and pounding on their cabin door. His mom sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock. Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn’t…he wasn’t exactly Grover. “Searching all night,” he gasped. “What were you thinking?”
But his mom seemed more scared of why Grover had come than him somehow finding them. “Percy,” she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. “What happened at school? What didn’t you tell me?”
He stammered out about what had happened with both Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies at the fruit stand who cut a string. Which made his mom’s face grow deathly pale as he explained what had happened. Afterwards she grabbed their emergency bag, which was just stuff for both of them in a situation where they immediately needed to get out such as a fire, and worried yelled at them to get into the car. His mom quickly joining them and starting the car.
They were definitely going over the speed limit as his mom kept her foot on the gas pedal, going along dark country roads. Percy was shocked by Grover being half goat and the two ended up arguing about how Grover had kept stuff from him and just the situation in general. His mom even had to tell them to stop briefly, which made them nearly crash due to the speed they were going.
But then he felt something along his top side of his left arm, right where his lightning based soulmark was. It felt horribly painful like someone had just cut his arm open and down to the bone. He let out a scream of pain from it, then felt worse as it felt like he was being crushed, fried, and hosed down all at the same time.
The pain of his soulmark dimmed and he peeled his forehead off of the back of the driver’s seat and let out a pained whine as he clutched his left arm. His mom worriedly shouted “Percy!” He comforted her “I’m okay… Just one of my soulmarks felt just…awful!” there were tears in his eyes from the pain that still flowed through it, even if dimmed now.
Percy tried to shake off the daze, him and his mom weren’t dead yet at least. They’d ended up swerving into a ditch which now resulted in the driver’s-side doors being wedged in the mud, and the roof looked like it had been cracked open like an eggshell so rain was now pouring in as well.
He looked at his soulmark and figured something out, lightning. That was the only explanation. They’d been blasted right off the road.
Next to him in the backseat was a big motionless lump, “Grover!” The half-goat was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. Percy shook his furry hip, thinking ‘No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you’re my best friend and I don’t want you to die!’ Luckily all of Percy’s shaking made Grover groan out “Food…!” and Percy knew there was hope at the very least.
They needed to get out of the car though, it wasn’t safe at all to stay inside of it. Especially as through flashes of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, Percy saw a figure lumbering toward them on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made his skin crawl. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns.
It would be impossible to get out through the driver’s-side doors due to them being wedged in the mud and the hole in the roof was still hot with the edges still sizzling and smoking. So the only option was the passenger side doors.
His mom told him to run to a big tree, a white house christmas tree-sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill. “That’s the property line,” his mom said. “Get over that hill and you’ll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don’t look back. Yell for help. Don’t stop until you reach the door.”
He forced her to come along, and help carry Grover as well. Along the way he recognized the thing that had been coming closer to them as the Minotaur, but his mom told him not to say the monster’s name due to Names having Power.
But weren’t fast enough in the end as the Minotaur ended up grabbing her by the neck and lifted her in the air before she disappeared into shimmering gold, then she was simply gone. After that it tried to go after Grover, but after losing one of the most important people to him he wasn’t about to lose his main/only friend regardless of how he currently felt about all the lying done by him.
So Percy fought with the Minotaur, feeling support from his soulmark on the left side of his ribs when he ripped the horn straight off of the monster’s head, which he later used to kill it.
After that he went to Grover and hauled him up the hill towards the pine tree his mom had told him to go towards. Normally he would have been crying and feeling everything, but the soulmarks around his collar-bones and heart seemed to give him what he knew was temporary emotional numbness.
The last thing he remembered in the end was collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above him, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a familiar-looking bearded man and a girl, her blond hair curled like a princess’s. They both looked down at him, and the girl said, “He’s the one. He must be.”
“Silence, Annabeth,” the man said. “He’s still conscious. Bring him inside.”