gilded lily, p.jackson

014, a tour of the princess andromeda

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
a tour of the princess andromeda

—— Danica couldn't tell how long she'd been locked in the small cell, it was tiny, she couldn't lay down unless she was diagonally. She stared at the wall in front of her, it had blue paint...maybe purple, the lightening wasn't brilliant so it was hard to tell. The painting was chipping and the vintage wallpaper was creeping out from under it.

How long have i been staring? she wondered. Time went slow. Hours felt like days. She'd been staring at the wall for too long, noticing all the holes, the chipping of the paint, the small cracks and nail marks where people tried to escape but never did.

Her body ached, her head was pounding and with every rattle of the floor, walls or bars it hurt even more. The days merged into one, sometimes sleep couldn't greet her, and she'd be up for hours on end, or sometimes it wouldn't and she couldn't tell how long she'd slept. But either way, she woke up tired, still.

Her body had healed and was beginning to grown stronger, but it was painstakingly slow. Whenever she woke, she force her legs to not buckle, taking tiny steps around the small enclosure. Annabeth rarely seemed to be awake when she was, it annoyed Danica how Luke was able to ruin them so easily.

The feeling of the unknown was picking at her skin, she wanted to know how long she'd been trapped in there. What was happening outside the cramped cell she was in. And mainly, where was Percy and was he safe. Luke had wholeheartedly said the son of Poseidon believed she was dead, but Danica knew that he didn't. She knew Percy wouldn't have given up hope that she or Annabeth were alive.

It was horrible being confined to a tiny cell inside a room. No shower, a bucket for a toilet and boredom towering over her, threatening to overwhelm her while she was awake.

If and when her body managed to revert back to a normal sleeping pattern, she might be able to figure out the times by the food schedule, that was even if it had a schedule. Most of the time, when she woke, a cold, metal plate with runny gruel and a side of stale bread, and another empty plate which was for Annabeth. Danica would eat it, gagging and forcing it down.

She didn't see Luke again, at least not while she was awake. She didn't know if he had visited her while she slept, but if he did, she was glad she wasn't awake to see him.

Luke barged into the room, Danica rolled her eyes at his dramatics. He grabbed her and Annabeth, throwing them to the ground with ease. Annabeth must've hit her head when she fell, she didn't wake up after that.

Danica, although extremely exhausted, struggled against Luke. The older boy easily won and pinned her to the ground, he yanked her arms behind her back, strapping her wrists together with the rough rope.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, trying to wriggle free but Luke's weight was too much. "Get off me, you big lump!"

He didn't look at them as he stepped away, he pulled her to her feet, another man entered the room and grabbed Annabeth. "Where are you taking her?"

Luke didn't say anything. His hand was like a vice on her wrist, pulling her against him so her back was to his chest. Luke shoved her to the door when she wouldn't move, pushing her ahead.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked, trying to slow him down but Luke was too strong.

He tugged her out of the room, heading down a corridor, passing doors of cells just like hers. The corridor was luxurious, royal blue carpet stretching ahead and frames of fancy boats on the walls. Most of it looked in tack, except from the shredded carpets and claw marked walls.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll behave." Luke hissed to her as he continued to push her down the corridor. "You and Annabeth were good bait, and served your purpose. If the General had it his way, you'd be killed. The only reason you are alive, is because of me. so, do what i say or you'll be killed."

"Am i supposed to be grateful?" she hissed back. "Kill me now, get it over and done with."

Luke stayed silent, causing Danica to shift her head to look at him. A soft, saddened expression was on his face, though he covered it quickly with hard eyes and a scowl when he noticed her looking. He shoved her forward roughly, causing her to stumble over her own feet.

They were headed for a flight of stairs at the end of the corridor, she assumed it lead to the top deck of the Princess Andromeda.

The last time she had stepped foot on this ship it was bad, but it looked worse now. The deck was damaged pretty badly, walls missing, parts of the floor too, left weapons and blood splatters scattered the deck. Danica grimaced as she spotted a monster wearing a budgie smuggler.

As Luke passed with her, some of the monsters stopped and watched, eyeing her hungrily. Their mouths formed into sickening grins as they took her in, Luke glared at them and they quickly looked away.

Luke pushed her to the side of the deck, not giving her any warning as she fell over the side. Shock trickled through her body, not giving her much time to react nor scream. She thought she was about to become platters demigod, but hands caught her.

She looked up to see herself surrounded by monster, she couldn't even bring herself to recognise them. But they all stared at her with a devilish smile. Higher above Luke was climbing down the ladder, the Princess Andromeda towering over her.

When he reached her level, which was a dock, he pushed his way through the crowd of monsters and pulled her back to her feet.

"Move," he snapped, shoving her through the crowd.

She stumbled but managed to to catch her balance, shooting Luke a dirty glare and anyone else around her. Boats were docked around her, but unlike the Princess Andromeda, they looked abandoned.

Up ahead was a mountain, the top a mass of black clouds. She shivered with dread as she took in the scene before her. She had already been up there and it wasn't pleasant.

— author speaks!

my update schedule is terrible, but titans curse is finally done with re-writing and im not into writing battle of the labyrinth. im lowkey excited for it as more characters come into it.