Chapter Text
Soulmates were once a common occurrence, when humanity was few and the souls reborn quickly. But humanity did not stay few, and souls began to rest in the afterlife, some even remaining alone or paired. But being rarer does not mean disappearing.
One soul, two bodies, once one.
In life immemorial, before records were kept and when language was young, the Gods looked upon man. Man did not look back, for man did not look past itself. Man was made of More then, four legs and four arms, two heads and mouths, moving in an odd manner to those of now. They were strong though, for all their seeming clumsiness. They were strong, they were proud, and they cared not for the rules of the world. How could they? They knew not what the Gods did to preserve life and rights. But preserve them the Gods did, and with this spirit they looked upon humanity and frowned.
Humanity did not care for life and rights and divine will. They did not care for what was good and what was bad, for those existed but humanity had not learned them. Prometheus had made humanity strong and capable, with all that was left from his brother's careful work and with his own clever mind at the forefront. But he forgot, in all his wisdom, to imbue these humans with morality, for he was focused on survival and strength and what might let them live long lives.
And so, the Gods watched as humanity became a bane upon the world, strong and clever yet with little care for right and wrong. The Gods could not allow this to continue, they had a duty to the world, nature, plants, and animals. A duty to all who would come after.
And so the Gods stepped in and split humanity in half.
Once holding four arms and legs and two heads, now there were two stumbling awkward figures with two arms and legs and one head. Yet... at their core, their most important aspect, that which made them mortal and human, their soul still remained one.
A soul is not limited by the body, it is enhanced by it. Now it simply had two of them.
Apollon looked upon the stumbling humans, incomplete and halved, and felt for them. He was himself one of a pair, his sister by his side in all things. He could sympathize with them, stumbling and lost as they were without their other half, and so he went down to the dark Earth, with no light or fire for Prometheus had yet to steal it, and knelt before humanity.
With gentle hands he knit them together, smoothing the differences between the halves as best he could.
The rough cut was smooth, bound together at the navel, and the humans steadied.
The soul could not be split however, and so Apollon did all he could to steady it in the two bodies. These souls would forever more be forced between two bodies, stretched thin and separated by the necessity of the world.
His act introduced something to humanity that had been missing in their makeup: kindness.
With Kindness came Mercy, and with Mercy came Forgiveness, with Forgiveness, with Forgiveness came Understanding.
Humanity grew into the morals that had been forgotten, blooming with them all at once. And Apollon smiled, leaving them to it.
His kindness was not forgotten, nor his following kindness throughout the years to follow, but that is not the matter at hand.
No, what is at hand is soulmates, and how they came together.
For you see, humanity was few in those days but now they are not. That doesn't mean they've forgotten.
Soulmates always know their pair, in their blood and bone, in their heart of hearts. It is not a flight of fancy, it is not slow realization or sudden understanding. It is quiet smiles and raw trust. It is faith and love and eternal strength. It is staying together in all that you are, for the two that are one is what you are. And who you are is two that together rewrite the stars.
The strength of soulmates cannot be denied, and perhaps that is why the matches slowed over time.
A pair wrought by Prometheus, shaped by Apollon, and brought forth once more by the hands of the Fates themselves. It is a rare blessing to be of these first souls, the ones who began humanity.
A blessing that is granted only when needed, wanted, desired. A gift: to themselves, to others, to the world at large.
For soulmates make waves.
They are remembered.
And they are whispered about, throughout history. Many names have they been known by:
The dual-bodied
The body-switchers
The kindred souls
Companions
Two halves of a whole
Mirrored bodies
Perfect Matches
You could know them by a thousand names, but the end result is always the same: They are soulmates.
Not two souls but one soul in two bodies, two halves of a whole.
And you know of some soulmates, some written of and spoken of and sung of long past their days. Fables and legends write their tales, for unbelievable they seem indeed. But they are real.
Sing, O Muse, of the love of Achilles. Achilles and Patroclus, embodying the raw power of ancient humanity. Soulmates lost mid-switch, two bright sparks waging war on themselves and others. Who truly was the warrior of them? Achilles? Patroclus? What a silly question, they are one. But we do know Achilles fell in Patroclus’ body and Patroclus lived till his last breath as Achilles.
Whosoever can recognize true words, let him consider what a wise man said in days long past, one with whom all the world has since concurred: Guinevere and Lancelot did indeed hold true. Their courage was not lacking and yet all the pleasure in the world could not make up for the tragedy which followed. The brave man is always the tragic man, living in unduly lament.
Nay, but this dotage of our tales o'erflows the measure. Those goodly eyes did look upon the beauty of Cleopatra locked in hand with Mark Antony. Devotion viewed plain and clear for all to see, yet madness beneath crept. Look where they went, grief and sorrow a venomous bite. Triumph fallen flat to the tragedy that came upon them.
In the book of our memory-the part of it before which not much is legible-there is a heading: Dante and Beatrice. Under this heading their love was bound, if not for eternity then through life and death alike. Indeed, the heaven of the light had returned to where it was many a time before their love faded. At different points in orbit, yet bound across worlds. It followed with fixed stars through the trials of hell.
Legend says that these butterflies are the transformations of the souls of the couple, the red being Liang Shabno and the yellow being Zhu Yingtai. This kind of tragedy is ubiquitous, still being called love and loss. Ten days from marriage, a lifetime as each other, and separated by fate. Yet, not even death could keep them apart. Immortalized forever, wing beats in sync, they shine in reds and yellows.
Henceforth this plan of composition will be followed no longer, for here Empress Theodora and Emperor Justinian shine center of each scene. Their record as it should have been, with great minds raising an empire. Wisdom and cunning brought forth great victory. And yet, equally so, hitherto which was undivulged, their cunning brought them low. Yet, a fine burial shroud do the glittering mosaics make for a pair so renowned.
There are more tales, of legends and fables, of history and record, soulmates wound tight together. Few spoke of their status, indeed many only spoke of love.
But all lived as partners in mind and body.
Greater than the tragedy of those who found and lost, together and apart once more, are those who knew to look but did not find their match before death. Such tragedies rarely left childhood even, jealousy filling those lacking in such a blessing. And jealous is a venomous beast which bares its fangs and strikes deep.
Even the Gods could feel jealousy at such, for they are complete and whole. Indeed, how could such a great being have a soulmate? A soul is too small for what they are. The wind is the wind, paired with the world at large, there is no one pure half, which is all of them. To see such a small being, two such beings, wrought by divine hands and separated as well by them, find such joy and happiness, envy could not be denied.
The Gods are whole and complete as they are, more perfect than mortality, indeed the only Gods who understood the feeling of soulmatched humanity were the Divine Twins, Archers born one then the next. Whole together and apart.
Even the Gods might conspire to separate soulmates, but even the Gods understand the pain and aid them.
Look at the Butterfly Lovers, separated by divinity and reunited too.
Together soulmates are whole, complete, and unmatched.
We sing of Achilles’ rage, of Cleopatra’s empire, of Lancelot’s prowess, of Dante’s stories, of Justinian’s conquering, of Niulang’s stars and the beautiful butterflies for a reason.
Intertwined and aware of themselves and each other, few can match a pair reunited. Separation is the only hope to defeat them, yet what can be done to separate a shared body and soul?
Soulmates were, are, and will be the perfect pair now and always. Prometheus wrought, Apollon healed, and Fate bound how could there be a greater truth? In tragedy and victory, joy and sorrow, their beings are completed in strength unmatched. Two that are one, one that is two, what can be said except that they are as humanity perfected.
Apart an individual whole they might be, but together? Together they are known.
And should you hold doubt still, even as we sing of the many tales before, read on and learn of the newest and grandest of soulmates. The children of the Gods whose blood ran red and whose souls shone gold.
Perseus Jackson and Annabeth Chase.
Read and learn with breath bound and mind open as the wisest of the sea and the wildest of the tame defied the Fates themselves and wrote their names amongst the stars.