Hey! So, this is a story called Soul Shards. It is, as you should have seen in the description, a soulmate AU, and hopefully I (and my wonderful friend Ellie) have come up with something that differentiates this from all those other soulmate AUs you see. And I like to think so. So, this is Soul Shards. But first, I really need to thank my wonderful friend Ellie- or, ThatGirlWithaCat. Before I had decided I was going to do this, she had already decided for me, and she really spurred me on with doing this because otherwise I don't think I would have. So really this is all her fault and I hope it's a good all her fault and she also is the beta of Soul Shards (thank yous) and anyway, we go onto the story after this glossary I have happily provided for you of terms that I made up simply for the good of this fic:

Soulmate: The term for two people drawn by 'Destiny' to fall in love and be together.
Soulmating: The science of soulmates, and the 'act' of soulmates.
Soulbond: The bond of two soulmates, encompassing the mental and physical parts.
Soullink: The physical link and/or bond of the two soulmates.
Soulshard: The spiritual or mental link and/or bond of the two soulmates.
Soulbreak: The term for the bond/link of two soulmates being severed or broken.

Annabeth's POV:

Miss Annabeth Chase sat in a small upscale café- Skyview Snack Bar, she was pretty sure- not very popular, not very big- the perfect place, at least in Annabeth's opinion, to write.

(She was a writer, if you hadn't figured that out already.)

(Well, correction. She was trying to get published, and she was an 'assistant' at Pallas Olympiad- an also not very popular, not very big place- but an architecture firm, and a not very popular, not very big bookstore- Bücherregal Bookstall. She was pretty sure 'Bücherregal' was the fancy German word for 'bookshelf'. If you couldn't tell, that was the sort of place that Annabeth Chase preferred overall, altogether. Not too big and not too popular. And so far it had worked out well for her.)

"Small vanilla latte for Arabella." She rolled her eyes. This was what they'd come up with this time? Arabella? In the past, Annabeth had been Annabelle, Anabel, Annabel, Anabelle, Anabella, Annabella…and all other forms of Annabelle or Annabella. The Starbucks baristas' seemed to show an inability to get anyone's name right here at the SSB. Or the Skyview Snack Bar…which didn't have that much of a sky view. For one thing, it wasn't on the top floor of the complex, so it didn't have the greatest view of a sky, in fact it was on the bottom floor, meaning there was almost no 'sky view'.

Annabeth stood up and collected her coffee, scowling at the messily-scrawled Arabella on her cup, before deciding not to stay in the café at all- Skyview was nice, yes, but it wasn't- not right now, at least, the place to work. It had been three days ago, but today, Annabeth had changed the font on her novel from Didot to Avenir, so today was a day of change, including her chosen place of hangout.

So she stood up and started to take the stairs, already dreading the cold that would creep into her empty apartment, to her feet.

Once upon a time, Annabeth had this roommate. Her name was Rachel Elizabeth Dare, but it was a really long story- Rachel's roommate Reyna Ramirez-Arellano- who is, by the way, the new governor of California, and Annabeth can say that she knows the governor of California- had moved out, and so Rachel had offered Annabeth the empty bed that Reyna had occupied, and Annabeth, who didn't really have a place at the moment, had accepted.

Three weeks later, Rachel moved back in with Reyna in her new apartment, but not before she left Annabeth with an apartment that had every room painted with something on the walls (food and cooking things in the kitchenette, toiletries in the bathroom, furniture painted on the walls of their living room, and one wall of the one bedroom painted with books and, on the ceiling in a corner, 'Annabeth and Rachel'. (In another corner, it says 'Rachel and Reyna', but Annabeth blotted that over.) And she's really thankful Rachel did so.)

So anyways, Annabeth is alone in her apartment now, and it's kind of Rachel Dare's fault, but Rachel was a flighty artist and she can't really blame the girl she didn't know well- they still work at Bücherregal Bookstall together, but still- and so she's alone.

Well, not totally alone.

Annabeth, climbing onto her bed, made a move to sit down on a black and white pillow, before she paused and considered it- or rather, her- as the pillow yawned and stretched, revealing herself to be Annabeth's cat roommate- Mango.

She smiles at the fluffy being. Annabeth adopted Mango- well really, Mango adopted her- six months ago, she's pretty sure. Time has a funny way of getting away from her, after all. Mango's a tuxedo cat, yes, and her body is the most symmetrical thing Annabeth has ever seen. Her face, though, Annabeth doesn't refrain from calling 'the wonkiest face on a cat I have ever seen in my entire life'. Because it is, it really really is, and Annabeth loves her for it.

In all honesty, Mango's name is actually Green Mango, because her eyes are the color of green mangoes, that same beautiful green-yellow, which is Annabeth's favorite sort of mango- it's not mushy or sweet, but crisp, usually, and with a sour tang. Mango the cat, however, likes to curl up on Annabeth's lap, or her bunk bed and sleep, getting in the way all the while.

Yes, a bunk bed. After Rachel moved out, Annabeth's neighbor Leo Valdez- a Latino elf-boy who's far too ADHD and likes to take things apart- asked if Annabeth had any spare wood. Annabeth, who wanted to remake her room, bought a basic metal bunk bed from IKEA and gave him her old bed frame. Leo didn't stop thanking her for about five seconds until he got sidetracked.

See, there were a few pros to getting a bunk bed- it's more fun, for one: Annabeth likes that she has a bunk bed in her (probably too childish) bedroom. Two, it gives her more storage space in the same amount of space- as she's roommate-less, she uses the bottom bunk- because obviously she has the top- for storing everything that she doesn't really need to unpack, the odd Christmas decoration or old clothing or Mango's cat carrier, or the bulk cat food she stress bought once. She also has an excuse to use curtains- so she has these gauzy seafoam green curtains drawn around the bunk bed space, and she loves it. However, she can't use a nightstand...so, she commissioned Leo Valdez, the aforementioned neighbor, to build her a wooden ladder.

Leo did not disappoint. The ladder was double sided and made of light wood like her old bed frame was. It was tall enough that it went up to her bunk bed, but wasn't adjustable, which was just fine. Annabeth, who didn't need a fancy ladder to climb up to her bed, used it as her own personal bookcase, and nightstand on the top. She had two sides' worth of shelf space, and a nightstand, and curtains, and a bunk bed, and basically, she had a great space.

Mango meowed and blinked sleepily as she stretched against the pastels of Annabeth's bed- lavender mattress, light blue pillow, light pink and cream airplane pillow things…Annabeth wasn't ashamed to admit how much she liked pastels.

Annabeth pulled out her laptop and took a sip of her coffee, the vanilla taste lingering on her tongue. Mango kneaded slowly on Annabeth's lap, but the blonde did nothing about it, unhooking Mango's claws.

"I have to work in half an hour, Cat," she said, mock-crossly. "So I have to leave soon, I only needed to check in and write something down. I'll feed you before I leave." The cat only hooked her claws again into Annabeth's pants, and Annabeth just sighed exasperatedly.

"There is no winning with you, Mango." It was at that moment that the sky chose to start falling, in one of those Oregon/California rains so heavy that if you had looked up, you would have been blinded by the droplets falling densely into your eyes, but before you were, you would have thought that the sky was falling. Annabeth loved the rainfalls. "…Okay, I have to go because now it's raining and the commute will be slower because of that." Unhooking Mango's claws took longer than Annabeth would care to admit but she did love her cat and so that was that.

(Also, Annabeth really wasn't looking forward to working- it was time for her to go work at Pallas, where she didn't have much standing due to not working there for very long and though she had talent in architecture she was pursuing a career in literature and so she only really got coffee for people.)

Annabeth took the bus- a rickety old thing.

She was pretty sure it hadn't been upgraded, just fixed up again and again, in years, because she lived in New Pine Creek, CA/OR, and there was a population of about 120, or so she was told, and everyone in this town knew everyone. She was pretty sure she'd picked practically the weirdest town to live in on the West Coast.

For one thing, New Pine Creek was in both California, and Oregon. But the residents just called themselves New Pine Creekans. Saved hassle. It made getting a driver's license, getting things delivered…it just made addresses in general, and legal state stuff, harder to do.

That was why Annabeth didn't have a driver's license. And as she walked the yards from the bus stop to Pallas Olympiad, she could feel the rain soaking into her skin.

It was a small building, the only architecture firm in her city...her city didn't have much of anything. It was small, like said before. And yet, Annabeth was still getting people coffee, sort of like how Rachel Green on that TV show Friends did when she was an assistant in the fashion industry, despite that not being Annabeth's big interest.

"Good afternoon, Dr. Almandine." She said evenly. "Afternoon, Miss Aberdeen, Miss Duvall." She passes the group of three women- Sorrel Almandine, a PhD in some architecture thing, and two friends of hers- Eira Aberdeen and Delta Duvall, ones Annabeth's never gotten to know particularly well even though they've worked together a rather long time, but she's just an assistant who's worked there for two years, and they're moving up in the small company. "Afternoon, William, Malcolm." The two men she knows better- William (Bill) Bentley started around the same time she did, and Malcolm Pace is her half-brother.

Another one of her mother's failed soulmates' children, she thought darkly to herself. No one was hearing her say that.

"Hey, Annabeth." Bill, while starting the same time she did, is loads more successful at Pallas than she is. "Can I get a tall, skinny caramel macchiato?" Annabeth chewed on her bottom lip but she smiled.

"Of course, Bill." If he noticed the barb in her voice, he didn't comment, but he smiled back at her and turned back to Malcolm brightly. Annabeth collected the coffee orders- black, for Sorrel and Delta, Eira didn't drink coffee, Malcolm already had his hazelnut latte in hand- before walking out the door into the pouring rain, relishing the feel of the droplets of water soaking into her skin.

She tripped some girl- mahogany hair and odd eyes, kaleidoscopic- muttered a quick apology to her and without waiting for her response, probably to reprimand the coffee girl, as this girl looked like one of those popular, mean girls who didn't like nerds (self proclaimed and proud ones) like Annabeth, and she hurried into the coffee shop she'd been in almost an hour before. The Skyview Snack Bar.

"You know, let's just…" She murmured to herself as she gave the barista the coffee order. "One tall skinny caramel macchiato, two black coffees...and a vanilla frappe." She'd already had coffee today, but with the way her day was going she'd need more than a small vanilla latte. Or, more likely, she'd want more. She was just planning ahead.

"And name?" The guy asked helpfully. His name was Pollux- he was rather bad with names, apparently, as he was always here when Annabeth was and not once had she been 'Annabeth'. She'd always been an 'Annabelle' derivation, and this morning, an 'Arabella'.

Annabeth gave him a small smile. "Jordan." that had to be easy enough, right? It was a relatively common name- she'd known a Jordan at school, which meant something as there weren't that many people in New Pine Creek- and most everyone knew how to spell the name "Jordan."

She got her coffee order back with the scribbled name of Jørdyn. She sighed, deciding to just let it happen. It wasn't going to change anyway- apparently Pollux was really bad at names, and if he couldn't spell Jordan correctly than he was never going to be able to spell any other names Annabeth gave- she wasn't sure how long she'd be stuck getting people coffee in the rain with misspelled and mispronounced names.

I need something better than this.

Okay…explanation time.

I have never been to New Pine Creek, and I may never get to know there, so I apologize if you're a New Pine Creekan and I've butchered your wonderful town. Everything I know is off the Internet sorry. The reason I said California/Oregon, or CA/OR, is because New Pine Creek is in BOTH California and Oregon! And according to Google the population is about 120…again, I apologize if I get anything wrong. Every building that I use in this fanfiction will be and is made up, so the Catnip Cottages, Skyview Snack Bar, Bücherregal Bookstall, and Pallas Olympiad are all figments of my imagination. I want to explain some other things…I'm sorry if this chapter was a little slow, it will get better, I promise.

Oh, and a really big thank you to ThatGirlWithaCat, my beta reader, my friend and the person who gave me a lot of the stuff that appears in Soul Shards. Thank you!

Also, I am now convinced that 'I Know You're Out There Somewhere' by the Moody Blues is like Annabeth's song from TLH to MoA when she was searching for Percy, so there. Thanks for reading!