Even before Ariadne opened her eyes, she knew that her day was going to go to Tartarus.
It started with the fact she could no longer feel the silk sheets that her beloved kept on his bed. The woodstock water bell that he kept in the room (because it reminded him of her) was no longer chiming. She couldn't hear the giggling of the nymphs that helped around the temple.
What she could hear was the sound of a river not too far from her. That was actually another big clue that something was wrong. The temple that the two of them slept in had been at least two miles away from any rivers. [After so many surprise visits from her father after everything while her beloved's hand was between her legs tossed out the idea of any waterside lovemaking.]
The next thing that she realized was the sun shining on her skin. While she was used to the burning heat brewing under skin, this was different. She was also so far from a morning person that Cabin 7 and 11 and the gods learned the consequences the hard way about waking her before a reasonable time. Chiron, himself, had given up on waking her in time for breakfast after one too many visits ended with him being on the wrong side of Stormsurge. Her beloved had been thoroughly threatened at sword point himself to never open the drapes in his temple before high noon if he ever wanted to touch her again.
And the last clue was hearing the familiar sound of her twin brother grunting and cursing as he awoke. She was certain that she had paid 5 drachmas to cover with their mother and stepfather as she snuck out to find comfort in the arms of her beloved. [She hadn't been able to get the sight of golden eyes and rows of fangs in an opening maw out her nightmares.]
And considering how her own relationship ended with Ariadne's father, Sally Jackson heavily disapproved of her relationship alongside her stepfather. Not that they had any right to. Still, if it weren't for the fact that her brother clearly adored the two of them, (and yeah, there was some love there on Ariadne's side) she would show them exactly why she was called the next Kymplomeia.
Despite all of this, Ariadne was still hesitant to open her eyes. It hadn't been too long after the end of the Second Titanomachy. She was tired. She was hurt. She was grieving. She made it to sixteen against all odds just as the prophecy stated.
[But at what cost?]
She had been planning to do what Luke suggested when she first made it to camp; she was going to sit back and let someone else handle everything. Ariadne had been running headfirst into everything since she could walk. She and Percy had done their best to pick up the slack and keep their mother from worry. [Considering that they had fought in a war, they hadn't succeeded that well.] She had been so close to becoming an eventual housewife with all the skills she learned cleaning up after Gamy Gabe and the Gabettes; and there were the etiquette classes that she learned at her school.
If Ariadne was being honest, finding out that she was a demigod had been the best thing for her. The sea does not like to be restrain; her father had once told her that. Being a demigod set her free. It gave her a purpose in life.
Taking a deep breath, Ariadne opened her eyes.
Beautiful.
Just one word. That was the only thing she could think of as she took in the sight before her. Despite how brightly it shined; the sun was still not far in the sky. She wanted to call out; Apollo would know what was going on. But-something stopped her. Her brows furrowed as she looked around. Everywhere Apollo's sun shined seemingly glowed with the divine light and reached towards the sky.
The pure beauty of it all made her want to weep. There was a freshness in the air that she only felt when she sat near the Golden Fleece at camp. Her lungs nearly burned at the crispness of it. [She remembered how Apollo tutted at the pollution in the air and that his essence was fighting a constant battle to rid her body of it. ]
