Chapter 12- Escape
Cortana's P.O.V.
I slowly blink my eyes to force open, it is completely dark with no clock, but I know that by the aurora lights in the sky, it is midnight, maybe eleven.
Perfect. Now I can begin my plan, I pretend I fall back asleep, knowing there are security camera's everywhere. But I secretly focus on every security machine they're can be in this place. Soon I hear the soft sound of ice freezing over something, turning it into ice completely, and I know it worked. But I don't stop concentrating I let the ice make its way to every device possible, camera's, inferred sensor's even loud speakers.
Soon I stop, pausing to listen for intruders, but hear nothing. I don't have any weapons, they confiscated them all when I was captured here. But I guess if I was careful enough, I could make it somewhere besides here without being caught, maybe I could even find some ice skates around here, after all, everyone I meet seems to have awful contraction on this ice, unlike me.
I quietly creep through the thin space that the door could open with out making any noise. They must've not realized how resistant I am to the cold, because they immediately made me dress in more winter attire, grumbling on how I could possibly last this long in the cold in only a tank top, jeans and sneakers. So instead I'm now wearing white knee high snow boots that have wedged heels, isolated with fur. I tucked my jean bottoms inside the boot also, and then they made me put on a white winter coat that also breaks the icy winds of winter, completely isolated with fur, even the hood. I'm just glad it doesn't appear to be polar bear fur. But now I'm barley roasting in my new clothes, so I unzip my coat slowly. I'm still hot, but I cool off slowly. At every corner I carefully peek over to see if anyone is there, I keep seeing strange creatures though. I think Nico told me those were monsters, I know I mustn't wake them, I have no weapons and would surely be either locked up again or even worse...dead.
But every corner seems like the same one, only each one has monsters, supposedly guarding it. So instead of trying to find a way out, I change my route to perhaps find a room that contains anything of my use, weapons, food, skates. But I soon stumble upon a narrow walkway, over the side is darkness, a trench, but they're is a highly locked up door on the other side, if only I could get to it, it has to have something of importance inside.
I gulp, but don't convince myself not to go, but I let out a yelp as the ledge ahead of me broke off, falling into the darkest or dark trenches. I quickly cover my mouth and look around to see if anyone noticed. As my heart rate slows and the little color I have returns to my face, I realize no one did wake. I take a breath and carefully take a large step over the icy ledge, I don't wait to see if another part will break away, I'm now sprinting across the ledge, but I nearly run into the secured wall before I realize I had made it across safely. I carefully summon this fog that envelopes the high tech door, freezing it entirely. I then kick the door, making it shatters into tiny snowflakes. I see inside, it must be some type of refrigerator or even a freezer, it contains food everywhere. I restrain myself from gorging myself, but I notice they're is a backpack amongst the pile as well. On the very tip top. Great...
Anyway, I decide it would be best to eat before I scale the large pile, so I do, slowly at first, they've been limiting my food portions, almost as much as I got when I was in the orhange as a kid, but the lack of food has taken a toll on my body, I'm really skinny, and feel paper thin, and wihtout energy, and I bet you anything I could count every single one of my ribs easily.
I finish my food, I'd eaten almost as much as I would've before I got locked up in this bloody place. And now I was waiting to see if I would throw up, then I'd have to eat, again. But the food has done wonders for my health, I feel much, much better and fine as far as energy goes. I wonder if this is some sort of Greek god food or something, maybe even magical or enchanted food. I will have to remember to pack more later on.
I decide it is okay to start climbing now, I don't show any signs of getting sick or anything so, I begin scaling the pile. Its actually harder than it looks, the food it squishy, very hard to make a good step on, and every once and awhile, I take a step and my entire leg is swallowed by the food, so then I have to dig it out forcefully, sometimes my whole body up to my waist gets trapped in the pile, that takes a long time for me to get unstuck.
When I finally make it too the top, I sit their for a while to regain my strength, even risk eating some more. And just when I pull the backpack onto my back, the whole pile begins shaking and rumbling like crazy. Me being at the very top and the food falling down like an avalanche, plus my clumsiness, I fall, well I fall a few feet and land in the food.
I grunt, even though its just food, its hurts. And now I'm covered in everything from mustard to peanut butter. Gross. I'll never understand this American sauces. But since the food is already tumbling down the pile, I do too, rolling and somersaulting down the hill.
That is until I reach the bottom, my momentum from the fall causes me to slide a few feet away from the rest of the pile and for some reason, I can feel the ice causing scratches and bruises on my stomach. I grunt. Slowly getting up, but I am stopped when I giant dinosaur like creature's foot makes a huge dent in the ice not a foot from where I was laying.
I don't move, fearing it would only make things worse. But I slowly look up, and I have to cover my mouth not to gasp.
Its a gigantic rhino. Like as big as the ceiling. Its foaming gross silvia at its mouth, which since I'm a demigod and apparently nothing good ever happens to demi-gods, its probably acid or some other deadly concoction. And on its head, it two of the largest horns I've ever seen atop its head. The smallest one is as tall as me easy. The rhino is breathing angrily, causing puffs of cold air to come from its nostrils, which I could probably fit in if I had too.
Bloody hell, is all I'm thinking. I doubt my throwing knife could do any damage at all, even if I had one, considering its rough skin is probably as hard to get through as the Nemion lion's was when Percy fought it, which he told me he did at camp, all weapons just recoiled off its pelt.
But it had to have some sort of weak point, not that I was in any condition to find it or anything.
Come on think, what do I know about Rhino's...
Then probably the most helpful fact I know about them came to my mind, Annabeth had told me this not far back, they have really acute sense of hearing, but their practically blind.
With this information at my use, I bolt to through the door, coating it with ice as I went, but like I said, it roared in anger, finding its intruder. I didn't look back, but judging from the gigantic chunks of ice that flew past me, I'd say it just broke the entire wall down. I'm not very fast, not without skates, but I create a path across the chasm I'd crossed before to make it across. And I do.
That chasm is bigger than the Rhino, huge. It stamps its foot into the snow. Huffing in debate. Its thinking whether or not to cross. Hopefully, it'll get stuck, but I'm reminded that demigods have no such luck and it leaps across the chasm with a bound. I struggle not to pass out from fear, it was at least a foot away from me, again.
I couldn't see its face, it was hidden by its huge horn, but I know its trying to find me, but it can't, I'm too close, and he's blind.
Then I remember their accurate hearing trait. And stand as still as possible.
I continue not moving until I think I'm frozen that way, until I am saved by a shout. "There she is get her!" A voice shouts, but I hear a smack and I know that was not the right thing to do.
I'm proved this wasn't the right thing as the Rhino turns away from me, and charges at the group of people who came to capture me, I'm relieved I'm no longer in danger. But I'm quickly reminded that I am, because as I slip on the skates that were inside the pack, I realize the entire walls as being plowed into by the rhino, causing debris to fall everywhere.
I curse and in my British accent, it doesn't sound so menacing. But as soon as I get my skates on, I fly out what is left of the wall.
Then I see just how massive and dangerous the rhino really was, because the entire palace is being destroyed. My palace, well my mother's palace, but that really doesn't make me feel much better.
Debris is falling everywhere, so I have to watch my back every so often, one of these fall on me, and I'm dead.
I have to hurdle over some of the already fallen debris, which is quite difficult because its been built up. And people's screams ring all over the place, which probably not helping the rhino's rampage stop. My deprived feeding makes me have to stop every so often to regain energy, but then I'm off again in a heartbeat. I'm so scared my body is quaking, which is not helping considering the floor is just as bad as the rhino's stomps shake the palace.
Its hard to skate in difficult situations like this, I whobbled and am repeatedly slowed as it rages on. I can feel the shaking growing, and I know the Rhino is chasing me again. But I am close to where the exit is, I remember from when they drug me here.
I can feel its breath on me as I make it through the small hole which is the exit. The shaking stops for a moment, but I don't any sort of gain on that thing I can get will help. But I can feel my muscles aching as I continue to skate.
I fly down corridors and hallways of the once beautiful mirror like walls, but now they just freak me out.
And then I crash into the person I'd most wanted to see this entire time.
Nico Di Angelo.
A/N: I wanted to fix and change this chapter to make it more dramatic, sorry if you don't like it. I know its a paint to have to re read stuff.
