A/N: No Soulmate this PULL. This instead. Sorry anyone fishing for the next chapter, I'll add a preview at the end of this.

Disclama: I don't own no Percy Jackson, Ricky Riordan, or anything else, y'all hear?

RLM: The End by My Chemical Romance


She clenched her fists in frustration, trying hard to remember.

'This is crazy,' She tugged on her fire-engine hair in a attempt to not focus on the tugging in her heart.

Why? Why was it that she couldn't remember Percy's eye color? Why was it she could remember Apollo's gorgeous eyes, or Terrence, that cute guy in her art class's dead black eyes, but not Percy's? She hardly even liked Terrence, and she could remember his!

She loved Percy. She should love Percy. After all they'd been through, how could she not? But if she loved him, why couldn't she just remember his eyes?

She glances around, at the scene in front of her. War. Angered and pained shouts, blood, armor scattered about Manhattan like leaves scattered across a forest floor. Somewhere out there, a boy with beautiful jet-black hair and a somewhat sideways sense of humor and clear (Black? Blue? Amber?) eyes was fighting like there was no tomorrow for what seemed like a hopeless cause, and she should feel proud, that her hopefully-soon-to-be-boyfriend was doing something so heroic... But she didn't. Instead, she just felt annoyed.

This war just seemed like a dilemma to them getting together. Before he had left- she kissed him. That was what was supposed to happen... Right? But she felt... Wrong. Like she wasn't supposed to happen, like to everyone else she was the dilemma to Percy and Annabeth happening.

Percy and Annabeth... She frowned. Back at the Labyrinth, when she saw them together... She knew. She knew exactly what was going on and, at the time, she had told herself to relax and let time make Percy forget about Annabeth. she had the whole school year to sweep him off his feet- he would forget about Annabeth and let them, Percy and Rachel, Prachel, happen. But now...

Was she really Percy's perfect match?

Yes. Every part of her wanted her to say yes, that they belonged together. That they were getting together as soon as the dumb war was over. But, for some reason, she just couldn't believe it any more.

She wasn't in love with Percy. It was never them as a couple- Percy had been her path into the demigod world, and that was all. They weren't in love, and they didn't belong together.

Oddly enough, it didn't hurt, letting go. It wasn't the heart-breaking sadness she had thought it would be. It was just... Soothing. Knowing she didn't have to think about winning Percy over, worry about how she looked or if she was funny enough. It was oddly comforting, knowing Percy wasn't "the one". Almost like she was happy her perfect match was still out there, waiting and hoping for her just as much as she was for him. She realized that with Percy, her heart hadn't been in it. From day one there were too many secrets, too many things they didn't know or understand about each other. Even if they ended up in a relationship, it would have been too stressful and full of lies and secrets. Her and Percy simply weren't compatible in any way but friendship.

But then... Why was she here? If the reason for her becoming so involved with Camp Half-Blood and the world of demigods wasn't Percy, then what was it? Why had she been led here, to the middle of war and chaos instead of relaxing on a nice beach somewhere (Although quite honestly, she'd rather be here than with her too-proud parents anyway)?

A memory suddenly came to Rachel. It was a small scrap, no more than the little pieces of dreams you've had that come back to you in the morning. A voice. Floaty and old, tiered and ghastly. "Hover Dam," It had said. "Go. Important..."

Rachel pinched her eyes shut, trying to remember what had happened after that. Quite honestly, that day had been a real blur to her. She only really remembered bits and pieces, and they had been coming back in small scraps. Only recently had she remembered where she was that day.

Suddenly, as if the memories of that day had been shot at her like a bullet out of a gun, she remembered it. All of it.

The fight. Her father, screaming at her to come back before they disowned her. The limo out of town. The hotel room. The scary voice, telling her exactly where to go, and why. Her weak voice, "I'm getting tiered...". The ride there. Everything right down to when Percy first locked eyes with her.

And suddenly she knew why she was here. She knew what she had to do.


She chose not to tell anyone because she knew what would happen if she did. Chiron knew, and approved. She assumed the Oracle and the gods knew, but then again, with all the other chaos around her, she doubted her little quest was on the top of anyone's priority list.

So she would take Percy's pegasus and left, without another word to anyone. By the time anyone figured out what she was doing, it would be too late anyway. She wanted to do this. She had to.

And so she left, leaving her love for Percy behind, on the deck of the Plaza Hotel.


A/N: ...Meh. Not the greatest, but I like the backstory. Oh, and here's a little preview for any Soulmate fans:

"It seemed almost as quickly as I had Rachel... she was gone again. Only this time, I feared it was for good."

What's gonna happen? You'll have to wait and see. :)

~Q