THE FINAL TWO YEARS AT NEOPOLIS ACADEMY

Arden’s last two years at Neopolis are... quiet. She learns to simmer down during her final years, though she’s never not known as being prissy or opinionated. They’re also rather lonely, with Ellie already graduate and Isaac leaving after her second year. She tries out for cheerleading during second year to make some friends, and though she makes the team, she decides not to join. She apologizes in a formal letter posted onto the journals, and I am sure that she is mocked. I like to imagine she TAs for a class during her third year, but she’s mostly participating out of a need to have something to do. One of her favorite things, however, is that she continues being the main costume designer for all NA productions -- thank you, Professor Mycroft! In general, though, she can’t wait to get the hell out of Neopolis, and in early January 2012, she finally gets on a plane and leaves for New York City.

MID to LATE FIRST DECADE: THE COLLEGE YEARS

Her years in New York City are when Arden really comes into her own -- not after some trial and error, though. She begins at The Parsons School of Fashion as a way to follow up on her years of costume designing at NA. Getting along with trendy, flamboyant arteests proves to be difficult for Arden, but this time she has a secret weapon that she's willing to use: hypnosis. Harassment of Miss Medusa's headbands and ruffles cease immediately. However, despite the fact that she's finally finding some modicum of popularity, she quickly becomes unhappy with the way fashion is taught (re: edginess valued over prettiness) and drops out after a year. The next school she tries her hand at is Sarah Lawrence, where she pursues an Art History degree. She lasts three semesters before deciding that that, too, isn't what she wants and she leaves the program. What follows is a grocery list of schools that she only remains at for a semester or two at a time: Cinema Studies at Tisch, History at NYU, and Ancient Studies at Columbia. Just when it was beginning to look as though all hope was lost, she settles on the seemingly random Business degree from Yale and completes her major in a tidy four semesters.

Almost immediately upon moving to New York, she is approached by Versace -- with whom she has had professional relations with in the past -- for an internship. This is during her fashion stage of her education, so it's an opportunity she would be stupid to pass up. However, it quickly becomes apparent that they want to use the decedent of their trademark less as a source of creative input but rather as a face. Arden is hesitant at first, but when it is ensured (sometimes by hypnosis) that she would have input and get to keep her modesty, she goes with it. It's not as though Arden C. Harding would ever turn down someone asking for a picture. Pictures of her soon make appearances in advertisements and editorials, but she would never consider it a modeling career.

It should also be mentioned that Linus dies during this period of her life. It is deeply upsetting to her, but at least she was able to spend his final years with him. After his death, she becomes active volunteering at the local dog shelter. Linus is memorialized a year later when a dog park bearing his name is opened in the city. It is astounding what you can get done with large donations of money.

LATE FIRST DECADE to EARLY SECOND DECADE: THE WORKING YEARS

Upon completion of her Business degree, Arden gets to work. For practically the entire time she's been in New York at this point, she's been helping out her uncle out with a few business endeavors, but it's always been relatively under the table. She would accompany him to business dinners and social events to "slip a few good words" about her uncle to potential clients and contacts, but when she finally has a degree, she can finally join him in the boardrooms and business meetings. It isn't common knowledge that she has hypnosis up her sleeve, and she begins to use it in a very calculated, profitable method. With her aid, his multimillion dollar company becomes a multi-billion dollar industry -- rivaling even that of Trout Industries and Donald Trump's holdings.

However, it's during this career success that her personal life also takes a positive turn. Isaac, whom she's been dating consistently since NA, finally proposes and they elope. Arden even finally gets her grand European vacation in the form of her honeymoon. However, their three month tour is interrupted when she discovers that she's pregnant, and the newlyweds do the first thing that comes to mind: run to Mama Crowley. It isn't the easiest of pregnancies, but in the end, they have a baby girl that they fondly name Elizabeth. Around the time that their second daughter is born -- Victoria -- Arden steps back from her helm at the head of her company. She will always remain an influence in its success, but she becomes more interested in her family around this time. Isaac also managed to convince her to return to Neopolis with her girls, though she has many reservations about the move.

MID SECOND DECADE and SO FORTH: THE FAMILY YEARS

For good reason, apparently. It isn't long that someone harboring a beef with Isaac decides to kidnap her children. The girls are quickly recovered and the husband and wife team never go into much detail about how matters were handled. Their success is quickly followed by another pregnancy, and nine months later, a son is born -- Alexander. Her life slows down considerably after the birth of her son. She becomes content to simply be "mommy" for a while.

Until she gets bored, that is. Around the time all of her babies are school aged, she begins to arrange frequent vacations for them -- many of which take them to the Ancient Greece dimension in which Nana Medusa lives. David frequently accompanies them as their winged steed (and fearless protector). These adventures slow down once the children get older and Isaac managed to convince Arden that they can no longer miss school.

Given the fact that, by this point, an empty house occasionally makes her cry, she takes on a lot of extracurricular work to keep her busy. She never goes back to work -- short of the occasional business trip -- but she does commit herself to a lot of volunteer work. She volunteers at the local animal shelter, she reads to orphaned children, and she gives hugs to the mentally handicapped. All of those disadvantaged, unwanted members of society? Her heart (and wallet) bleeds all over them.

In conclusion, she never gives up headbands. Suck it, haters.