Jɪɴx ➪ 𝙡. 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙯

Casualties

chapter seven; Casualties

AN IDEAL way to wake up would be a breakfast-in-bed type of thing. Of course Jinx had never had that happen to her, but it was ideal.

What wasn't ideal was to wake up to Coach Hedge shaking her awake, yelling, "monster! Wake up! Monster!"

Jinx groggily swiped at the faun, "Coach, now's not the time. Now I have to begin my script from the start."

"I don't know what that means, but I'm going for my bat!" She felt his presence leave.

"A bat's not going to do anything." She heard Leo's voice.

Jinx was about to curl back into a ball in the middle of the deck, where no one had bothered to move her, but the ship tilted.

She heard shouting behind her, but her mind was still reeling from earlier that day. Jinx opened her eyes, about to tell them all to shut up when a sea monster's tendrils were about to slap her right across the face and possibly take off her head in the process.

Jinx screamed in panic, throwing up her hands to cover her face, making the monster stop in just enough time for her to scramble out of its way. She ran over to the other demigods, tripping over her feet as the monster unfroze.

"Huh." Leo said, snapping her out of her fear. "I never thought freezing something in time would look like that."

"It's frozen. Did you think it would wave it's arms around while stuck in one spot?" She snapped.

He would've said something, but the monster continued it's attack. It's tendrils slammed into Percy, who was still weak from earlier, and he tumbled down the steps. Another wrapped itself around Piper's legs and dragged her towards the railings. She screamed and flailed around, trying to free herself.

"Nose-hair attack!" Hedge shouted, happy for a fight. He started beating the tendrils with his bat, but it was useless.

Jason, on the other hand, slashed through it with ease, but he wasn't fast enough. He was still sluggish from the fight. Many more nose hairs took its place, attacking everything in its way. Annabeth took out her dagger and slashed her way through, but Jinx didn't think she'd get far. Frank took out his bow and started firing arrows at the sea monster's body, but it didn't harm the creature.

Jinx stared at it in a daze. She was too tired to do anything, and her body burned every time she moved. Not even Percy had come back up, maybe he just laid there, in too much pain to do anything else. She wouldn't blame him, doing what he did, she'd be fast asleep for at least four days.

The ship rocked and she stumbled, grabbing one of the nose hairs to keep steady. She took off her ring, supplied it with the blood needed, and sliced at it. It didn't matter because another one grew back.

Jinx just wanted to go back to sleep.

This sucked.

"Hey! Di Angelo! Get over here!" Hedge shouted. She looked over to him. Wherever Leo had gone, Coach had taken over the controls. "Snap out of your daze!"

"Coach, I am so tired right now." Jinx made her way to the controls, cutting off whatever tendril had decided to be in her way. "My bones ache so bad."

"Cut off anything that gets too close to this stuff." He said as he focused on not letting them drown.

She nodded, halfheartedly digging her sword through a tentacle that came from nowhere.

"Holy-!"

"Shit!" Jinx finished for him as a green light exploded from inside of the monster's body. "Is-is that Greek fire?"

Coach nodded furiously.

"The others! Gather the others!"

Jinx treaded out into the deck, keeping her sword up.
"Percy?" Annabeth asked.

"I think he passed out on the steps." Jinx moved to check on Piper and Jason.
"Are you guys good?"

Jason gave a groan and Piper held up a thumbs up.

"Good."

"Wait- Leo."

Piper scanned the deck for their Hispanic friend, hoping to see him running around somewhere and cracking jokes. But he was no where to be found.

"Oh. He got eaten up by the monster." Jinx shrugged, "so did Hazel, I think."

"A-and Frank?"

"Probably drowned... I don't know."

Piper stared at her, waiting for her to burst into laughter and say, "just kidding!"
But Jinx walked away.

"I'm going to inform Coach of the casualties."

Casualties?

"They can't be dead." Piper argued to an out-of-it Jason.

She swept his blond hair out of his eyes. He'd worn himself out. They all did.

Except for me...

Piper mentally scolded herself for bringing herself down again.
She propped Jason up. "Let's get you inside."

Coach stayed in the controls room, keeping an eye out for any other monsters or demigods.
Piper and the others gathered in their 'war room', which was just where they ate.

"He- They're all alive."

Annabeth agreed. "They couldn't have been eaten by the monster-"

"Shrimpzilla." Percy corrected weakly.

Jinx slightly raised her hand, "I saw them get eaten."

Piper withheld her annoyance, "then why didn't you help?"

"Because Coach said to stay with him and defend the controls system."

"But-!"

"Piper," Annabeth gave her that look.

This was supposed to be a meeting between the five of them, but two were basically out of commission, and Jinx was saying unnecessary things. Besides, she looked like she was about to fall over at any moment.

Piper suppressed her feelings. "We have to look for them."

"And we are."

"I'm not." Jinx's head slumped on the table, "I'm burnt out. If I do something else I'll probably die." She said in exaggeration.

Even though her voice was muffled, she could hear the drowsiness in it. But her annoying British accent made Piper want to bang her head against the wall.

She had nothing against people from Britain. Nothing against people with accents. It was just Jinx.

Ever since their first meeting they didn't get off on the right foot. And what was the deal with who her godly parent was? She still didn't understand.

Piper didn't know much about Greek mythology, but she was sure that a demigod able to control time would be a child of Kronos.

Guess I was wrong.
Her hand curled into a fist.

"Okay. Now that it's settled that they are alive. Let's start looking." Annabeth stood. "I'll talk with Coach."

That left Piper and Jinx alone in the room. But maybe she was alone, seeing as a snore came from Jinx.

She knew that if they got to talking, they could be great friends, but not with their current attitude.

Piper scoffed to herself and went out to do whatever she could to search for her friends.