chapter sixteen; overthinking
Jinx did something wrong.
She had to have done something wrong. There was no other explanation for Leo's coldness other than that.
Something in common people with anxiety have is overthinking. Something can take over their entire mind and indulge them with thousands of possibilities, usually none of which were the cause of the problem.
"Can a week apart really change a person?" Jinx mumbled. She bit her lip anxiously and twirled her ring around her finger so fast that it might leave a skid mark.
She's never had a close group of people her age that she could call friends, much less someone more than that. Leo's difference in character was noticed by everyone, but no one wanted to say something. At least not in front of her.
I told you change was in the air.
And the last thing she needed was her scheming father whispering in her ear.
Maybe it was the Greece soil, but he seemed more active. He was making a ruckus in her mind. He was slowly rising from his long sleep, whether that was good or not, Jinx didn't know.
She didn't know a lot of things. Like how her father came into existence, or why Leo was acting strange. The latter bothered her more than she wished to admit.
Jinx paced around her room. She wondered what the aching feeling in her chest was.
Heartbreak. You are heartbroken, my child.
When Khaos spoke like this, he changed into his goddess figure. He took both the father and mother roles onto his shoulders and urged Jinx to call him father.
Jinx was still creeped out by his sudden tenderness.
You know what to do... Where to go.
Ignoring him was proving to be difficult, but a battle was the best distraction.
"There!" Nico's voice shook Jinx out of her thoughts. As usual, Nico was perched atop the foremast. He pointed toward a glittering green river snaking through the hills a kilometer away. "Maneuver us that way. We're close to the temple. Very close."
As if to prove his point, black lightning ripped through the sky, leaving dark spots before Jinx's eyes and making the hairs on her arms stand up. She anticipated a fight, and to be completely honest, she craved it.
Jason strapped on his sword belt. "Everyone, arm yourself. Leo, get us close, but don't land—no more contact with the ground than necessary. Piper, Hazel, get the mooring ropes."
"On it!" Piper said.
Hazel gave Frank a peck on the cheek and ran to help.
"Frank," Jason called, "get below and find Coach Hedge."
"Yep!"
Jinx watched Frank disappear below deck. She wondered if they didn't trust her enough to find Hedge. If she indulged in this thought process any longer, she'd feel skeptical about everything.
She knew that Frank was more comfortable with her and that he would never intentionally do anything to hurt her... Jinx thought the same of Leo.
Maybe it was her quietness or lack of contribution to the conversation, but Piper seemed to notice her discomfort. Piper intertwined their fingers and stayed silent, watching the clouds with Jinx. Piper squeezed her hand. It was a subtle way to say 'I'm here.'
Sure, they weren't the closest of friends, but they've been in enough life-or-death situations to let silly arguments end a relationship.
Jinx squeezed back.
Things were changing.
Piper moved forward, breaking the silence. "Is- is that what I think it is?" She tugged Jinx along, "Hey, guys!" Piper called from the bow. "Better get over here. You need to see this."
They'd found the source of the dark lightning.
The Argo II hovered directly over the river. A few hundred meters away at the top of the nearest hill stood a cluster of ruins. They didn't look like much—just some crumbling walls encircling the limestone shells of a few buildings—but from somewhere within the ruins, tendrils of black ether curled into the sky, like a smoky squid peeking from its cave. As Jinxwatched, a bolt of dark energy ripped through the air, rocking the ship and sending a cold shockwave across the landscape.
"The Necromanteion," Nico said. "The House of Hades."
Jinx blankly stared. This didn't scare her, but the thought of losing her loved ones did.
Piper hugged her arms and Jinx missed her warmth. "I feel vulnerable floating up here like this. Couldn't we set down in the river?"
"I wouldn't," Hazel said. "That's the River Acheron."
Jason squinted in the sunlight. "I thought the Acheron was in the Underworld."
"It is," Hazel said. "But its headwaters are in the mortal world. That river below us? Eventually it flows underground, straight into the realm of Pluto—er, Hades. Landing a demigod ship on those waters—"
"Yeah, let's stay up here," Leo decided. "I don't want any zombie water on my hull."
Jinx tried to avoid Leo after his harsh actions, but his voice drew her in. She couldn't help but stare his way.
Next to Frank, Nico raised the scepter of Diocletian. Its orb glowed with purple light, as if in sympathy with the dark storm. Roman relic or not, the scepter troubled Jinx. If it really had the power to summon a legion of the dead...well, Jinx has a bad history with ghosts.
"So, uh, Nico..." Frank gestured at the scepter. He seemed to show the same concern as Jinx. "Have you learned to use that thing?"
"We'll find out." Nico stared at the tendrils of darkness undulating from the ruins. "I don't intend to try until I have to. The Doors of Death are already working overtime bringing in Gaea's monsters. Any more activity raising the dead, and the Doors might shatter permanently, leaving a rip in the mortal world that can't be closed."
Coach Hedge grunted. "I hate rips in the world. Let's go bust some monster heads."
Frank looked at the satyr's grim expression. Suddenly he had an idea. "Coach, you should stay on board, cover us with the ballistae."
Hedge frowned. "Stay behind? Me? I'm your best soldier!"
"We might need air support," Frank said. "Like we did in Rome. You saved our braccae."
His scowl relaxed. Relief showed in his eyes. And once again, Jinx was left out of something. She knew Hedge was hiding something, but she didn't know why he hid it from his ex-bunkmate.
"Well..." he grumbled, "I suppose somebody's got to save your braccae."
Jason clapped the coach on the shoulder. Then he gave Frank an appreciative nod. "So that's settled. Everybody else—let's get to the ruins. Time to crash Gaea's party."
Jinx mulled her thoughts over and she knew what she had to do. Stopping on the hill, she tapped Jason on the shoulder.
He turned, giving her a genuine expression of concern.
"Jinx? Are you okay?" Everyone knew that Jinx had the least combat experience, and he worried that she was feeling nervous.
"Jason, I have a favor to ask."
Jason wiped the sweat off of his brow, the oncoming battle was weighing on his mind and Jinx was only adding to this. She could only hope that she wasn't being a bother by asking.
"What is it?" He didn't know what to say if she asked about Leo's sudden attitude toward her. Everyone was aware of the way he treated her when they reunited. They all knew that Leo had met someone else. Jason wondered if Jinx knew too.
"After this... The battle here- after we get Percy and Annabeth, I need to go somewhere."
Jason frowned. This is not what he expected. "Where?"
"Ascra."