Tormented: Day 13

Word Count: 78,026

Summary of Events:

Zeus brought Esperanza some new dresses just before his party began, and then intended to announce her specially, but she refused to go out because he wouldn't call her by her name — Esperanza — instead of her title — Aphrodite. Riel delivered his most subdued and heartbroken argument of the entire court proceeding, calling for the police to admit they'd messed up the investigation and go about things properly. Esperanza and Ana-Maria, the new Athena, were sitting outside when Selene came over worried that Esperanza would be getting sent to the Thanatos soon, but Esperanza was confident . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

""How can you laugh?" Selene asked, looking at Esperanza like she couldn't believe what she was being told.

"Because he won't break me," Esperanza replied.

"But he's a man," Selene said. "Even if he isn't as powerfully built as Hercules and the other Argonauts, he's still stronger than you, he can still hurt you."

"Physically," Esperanza replied. "But he and I are both talking psychologically. He wants to mentally break me, like he broke Angelina, but I will not let him break me, and besides, he can't."

"How do you know he can't?" Selene asked.

"That's why I made him mad at the party," Esperanza replied. "He told me to come out when he said my name, but then proceeded to call me by my title instead. I told him he either had to call me by my name, like he'd said he would, or he had to tell me he would call me by my title. He told me he would call me by my title."

"So?" Selene asked.

"He gave in to me," Esperanza replied. "He acknowledged that Aphrodite is merely a title, and that I have a name, instead of insisting that Aphrodite is my name."

"Oh," Selene said. "And you think things will continue that way?"

"If I have anything to say about it, yes," Esperanza replied. "Of course, that would be only so long as I'm here."

"You're going to escape?" Selene asked, her eyes eager.

"Why wouldn't I?" Esperanza asked. "I've never meant to stay here until I'm sent to the Thanatos."

"You mean you have a plan?" Selene asked.

"I do," Esperanza replied. "A plan to at least get all three of us out of here, although I wouldn't mind finding a way to get everyone out of here if I could."

"What have you been thinking?" Selene asked.

"I've been thinking that the next time Zeus has a party, we should find a way to sneak outside and into the back of one of the guests' vehicles," Esperanza replied.

"Who knows how long it will be until then?" Selene asked, sagging.

"Zeus told me he plans on having a lot more parties, he bought me a significant collection of party clothes for them," Esperanza replied. "We'll just have to bide our time for an opportunity at one when it comes along."

"There are cameras out here, though, haven't you seen them?" Selene asked.

"I have," Esperanza replied.

"I don't know where the controls are for them, or I could take them out," Selene said.

"You could?" Esperanza asked, startled.

"Yes," Selene replied. "I worked with computers at school, it was my favourite class, I even once succeeded in hacking into my neighbour's security system, just because I could, and I cleared his footage history for a period of five hours, just because I could."

"Where do you think the controls would be?" Esperanza asked.

"On a computer," Selene replied. "But I've yet to run into a computer.""