The Forbidden Daughter | PJO Book One

one

THE AFTERMATH

grief
/ɡriːf/
noun

1. intense sorrow, especially caused by someone's death.

or:

Grief; the anguish experienced after significant loss, usually the death of a beloved person. Grief includes physiological distress, separation anxiety, confusion, yearning, obsessive dwelling on the past, and apprehension about the future.

Ariana was overcome with grief.

"If anything happens, give that to Nico. Tell him... tell him I'm sorry."

"You'll do great things Ariana, you really are your mothers daughter."

"I hate you!"

She had lost three people in two different ways. Two siblings she had lost. Two of her last family members.

Bianca Di Angelo and Zoë Nightshade, two girls she went on a quest with. Both of them died within her presence. She blamed herself for both of their deaths.

Nico Di Angelo, a young boy whom she recently discovered was her brother. He blamed her for her sisters death, he ran away hating her.

Ariana sat alone in the Hermes Cabin, her once pale and porcelain skin now had a dull grey tint to it, the result of sleep-deprivation due to her grief.

Her raven hair had lost it's lustre and hung limply by the side of her face and her eyes were dull and lifeless.

She looked frail and thin, and it looked as if though she hadn't eaten in weeks. Ariana had lost much of her beauty and grace, and instead looked like a sad ghost of the stunning girl she once was.

It had been weeks since the quest. It was now February and here nobody had managed to help her out of her state.

Ariana heard a mumbled conversation outside the cabin door as Silena stepped inside.

Silena's eyes widened as she saw the state that her friend was in, and she approached her calmly and with pity in her eyes.

Ariana just sat there, blankly staring at Silena with eyes that had no life in them. For a while she was silent and not responding to Silena's questions of concern.

After a while, Ariana spoke in a small voice, her eyes still staring at Silena as if asking for help.

"I cant do this Silena." She spoke.

It was the first words she had said since she entered the state.

Silenas eyes watered. "It's going to be okay, Ari."

Ariana finally broke down.

Her eyes welled with tears as the words tumbled out, and she hugged Silena tightly while tears started to fall.

"I can't do this Silena.. they are gone because of me.."

Ariana struggled to suppress her tears but was unable to, and her words became incomprehensible as she started to truly sob and grieve for her lost loved ones.

Silena continued to hug the girl and they stayed like that for hours as she spoke affirmations into her ear.

Eventually the tears stopped and Ariana fell asleep.