Chapter Eleven - I Fess Up
Posted: Tuesday, January 23rd 2024

"Nightmares?" Annabeth asked looking at me with curiosity across her face.

"Something like that," I said, trying to rub the sleep from my eyes.

"Me too," Annabeth said, I noticed how tired she looked. "I was just about to go for a walk when I noticed that you were having a dream. Do you want to join?"

"A walk sounds good," I said, "Won't the cleaning harpies eat us if they find us?"

"It's 5am, they're off duty now," Annabeth said.

I pushed myself out of bed and shoved my feet into some shoes.

"You were sleeping in your clothes?" Annabeth asked when she saw that I was fully dressed beneath my covers.

"What else would I sleep in?" I frowned.

"Pyjamas?" Annabeth said.

"What are Pyjamas?"

*

The two of us walked in silence towards the beach. The sun was just beginning to rise and the early morning light danced across the Long Island Sound, giving the sea a beautiful shine.

Annabeth began to tell me her story almost unprompted. I could see her motivation behind this easily. She wanted to know my story and telling me hers would allow her to pry without looking like she was prying.

"So what about you?" Annabeth asked, "you're pretty old to have not made it to camp until now. How old are you?"

"Seventeen," I replied.

"So where have you been all these years? If your dad is a son of Athena how did you stay away from monsters, your aura is powerful, I can't imagine monsters not being able to sniff you out."

"My dad died when I was six," I replied, "I moved around a lot since then, mostly I was on my own." I had decided that the best course with Annabeth was to tell her the closest thing to the truth but remain vague. She struck me as an intuitive person, I had a suspicion that she would see straight through my lies.

Annabeth analysed me, "did you have a lot of monster attacks? How did you defend yourself without training?"

"Yeah I had my fair share of run ins with monsters," I said, "my dad taught me a bit of fighting before he died, but mostly I picked up what I could along the way."

*

Two days after I arrived at camp, a capture the flag game took place. My team won, but I had tried to keep a low profile during the game, not wanting to draw any more attention to myself than I had to.

I took a similar approach to the activities and training sessions that I partook in, adopting a carefree attitude towards them. It was nice to be around other half bloods, and whilst I enjoyed camp I was constantly on edge trying to keep my identity hidden from everyone and I felt strangely unwelcome at the camp.

It wasn't anything any of the campers did, in fact everyone was pretty welcoming, but I felt as though someone, or two someone's specifically didn't want me there. There was much concern amongst the campers that the magical boarders were failing as thunderstorms began to roll through the valley regularly.

Lightning seemed to strike near me whenever this happened, and I took the storms as a warning for Zeus specifically for me. Reminding me of my promise not to go against him and not to step out of line or he would strike me down.

The darkness began to feel more unfriendly the longer I stayed at camp. I couldn't help but be drawn into the war discussions and preparations. The recent battle of the Labyrinth was fresh on everyone's minds and everyone was certain that the final battle that would decide the fate of the world would take place next summer.

At the end of the summer I was presented with a leather necklace and a single bead with a design of a maze painted on it. I felt like a fraud accepting it as I hadn't actually been there for the battle, but it was a camp tradition so I bit my tongue and accepted it.

As the camp emptied of anyone who was not a year round camper I realised that I hadn't heard anything from Apollo since my first night at camp. With how busy the activities had kept me I had almost forgotten, but once I remembered I realised that I missed the idiot.

The year round campers began to be sent out in small groups for quests to strike blows at the Titan army. I was unsurprised when I was not sent out on any quests.

However, I was surprised when one October afternoon, I was called to the Big House and entered to see Annabeth and Chiron in discussion.

"Ah Ariadne," Chiron looked up at me when I entered the room.

Annabeth turned to look at me too and frowned, "I don't know Chiron I think there are better choices, I don't know if..." she trailed off looking me up and down.

"I assure you Annabeth there is not better choice at this camp for this particular task," Chiron said.

"What task?" I asked.

Annabeth shot Chiron a look as if she was mad that Chiron had bought me here. She sighed, "We need a spy," Annabeth said, "we suspect that someone at camp is feeding information to the Titans, it only makes sense that we have a spy too."

"Oh, you want me to join the titans?" I asked.

"That's the suggestion," Annabeth said, "but if you don't think you're up for it..."

"No it's not that," I said, "I just don't know if I should..." I looked towards Chiron, trying to say without words what I was thinking. I was certain that if I joined the Titans, even with the intention of being a spy for Camp Halfblood, that Zeus would take personal offence and take the excuse to smite me, even if it risked the wrath of my mother.

"I think it would be best if we all spoke freely," Chiron suggested, "Annabeth, I know you believe that Ariadne is the spy for the titans. I personally vouch to you that she is not. Ariadne, Zeus will not smite you if you elect to join the titans for the purpose of bringing them down."

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"Why would Zeus smite her?" Annabeth asked.

"Please sit," Chiron said to me. I hesitated, but did as he asked. "I think it is time that you share your true story with Annabeth. That is the only way that she will see that you are the correct person for this."

"Everything?" I was shocked, I felt exposed, as if Chiron had just asked me to strip naked and do a lap around camp.

"Everything," Chiron agreed.

I sighed and turned to look at Annabeth, who was looking between me and Chiron with confusion written across her face.

"I am a grandaughter of Athena," I said, "but I am also a daughter of the Primordial Nyx."

"Nyx, the goddes of night?" Annabeth repeated.

"Primordial." I corrected, "but yes. I spent most of my life in Tartarus and escaped last year. There's uh- there's a prophecy that says I'll make a weapon that will destroy Zeus, he made me swear on the Styx not to go against him, but I still don't think he trusts me. After I escaped Tartarus Zeus kept me on Olympus until I escaped with the help of... a friend."

For some reason I didn't want to tell Annabeth about Apollo. It felt like a sacred secret and if I said it aloud I wasn't sure why, but it felt like it would make Apollo less real. I missed him a lot and I didn't want to loose the memory of him as well.

"I think Chiron thinks I'd be good for this because..." I struggled to put it into words without making myself sound awful, "well because it's my fault that Kronos was able to get out of Tartarus. The prophecy says that I had to leave with him so couldn't leave unless he left so I collected up the pieces of him and took them to the surface when I escaped."

Annabeth stared at me, her mouth was slightly open in shock. "A child of night shall see the day," she said, her voice was barely more than a whisper.

"That's me," I said, I had to hold myself back from doing jazz hands because it really didn't fit the setting.

"Wow," Annabeth muttered, "you're right Chiron, she's perfect."

That was how I landed myself on the task to be a spy for Camp Halfblood. Whilst initially wary of me after discovering I had a hand in restoring Kronos, Annabeth seemed to understand that I had no choice. Over the next few days, whilst we prepared me to go to the Princess Andromeda, Annabeth questioned me extensively on my life in Tartarus, she seemed fascinated by the concept, but I wasn't that keen to relive that time and picked up on that, so her questions turned to more informational ones about my abilities and how I planned to infiltrate the titan forces.