TW: MENTIONS OF RAPE | MURDER | ATTEMPTED SEXUAL ASSUALT
--
The voice of Helénē startled Ariadnê as she gazed about the kingdom with Hektōr and Aineíās at her sides. Her brother was strolling through the kingdom with Annabeth and Ariadnê was intrigued by the way they orbited around one another. They had been at each other's sides since they were twelve, able to move around like an extension of themselves, but it somehow seemed stronger. She wondered if the talks that they held before where they laid their feelings out bare contributed to that.
(It had pleased her greatly to see the prideful girl be humbled by her brother's terse words. It soothed some part of her when she realized that Percy was making her understand how it felt to be second in someone's life. It had irritated her greatly how everyone catered to her, but now Annabeth was saying no and letting others take the lead.)
"What are you doing here," the princess demanded. The three of them raised a brow as she came closer. "This is the best time to strengthen your defenses. You should all be out there doing whatever it takes to win."
"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to get rid of me," the child of the sea muttered as she turned to look back at her brother tracing his fingers alongside the border walls.
"What, no," the other yelped. "It's just you're so strong and skilled. It doesn't make sense why you're still here. You could easily end this."
Ariadnê leaned towards the other, fluttering her eyelashes. She smiled lightly, with a purr in her voice as she said, "How sweet. You think I'm strong and skilled."
Helénē lit up like a Christmas Tree, face flushed in almost angry patches. Ariadnê cackled as she looked away. "It's the period of mourning," she told her. "There is no need for us to be on the field right now." She glanced at the other, eyeing her in consideration. "Besides, I've been playing around with an idea that would really turn the tide."
"What is it," Helénē asked.
"You'll know soon enough," Ariadnê smiled in secret. She hummed, "Have you been practicing like I told you?"
Helénē froze before shaking her head. "I, um, I don't get why you're training me." Ariadnê turned her, eyes gentle and skillfully, ignoring the feeling of electricity in the air. She had already gotten to know how the lightning that Helénē wield intimately and with a host of applications that she adored very much. "I'm not like you. I'm no warrior."
Ariadnê rolled her eyes. "Darling, this is a man's world, but it would be nothing without a woman." Standing slowly, she made her way over to the other trusting the two princes to watch her back. "You are also the daughter of Zeus Basileus. You are the daughter of the king, and a princess of the heavens. You are a child of the storms, a being of nature." She cradled the other's face in her hands. "You are more than just a pretty face and even still, there is beauty in destruction."
Helénē teared up a bit.
"You don't need to learn how to fight," Ariadnê pointed out. "There are other things that you can learn to do, but I do request you keep up your practice. It's always good to have hidden tricks up your sleeve."
"Is that why you have been training the troops so hard," the princess questioned. Ariadnê nodded her head with a shrug, "We may have lost the most ground, but we have not suffered the most losses."
She tilted her head at the other, "Maybe we should start your training to see if you can speak to beings of the sky?"
"Like birds," Hektōr questioned. Ariadnê nodded her head. "I can speak to horses and all of the animals within the sea."
