Jɪɴx ➪ 𝙡. 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙯

Uncertainties

chapter twenty-four; Uncertainties

JINX WAS numbed from really feeling anything. 

She felt overwhelmed. She felt like she could've done more to help them. Annabeth and Percy didn't deserve to fall in there. 

Jason had flown her up to the Argo II when everything came crashing down, and Frank had gotten Nico and Hazel. Leo had quickly pulled the ship out of the cavern when the remaining demigods were on safe and sound. The Argo II was now parked on a hill overlooking the city.

It was such a beautiful scenery, Jinx felt guilty for enjoying it when Percy and Annabeth were seeing the complete opposite. 

 Jason, Hazel, and Frank had returned to the scene of the catastrophe, hoping to dig through the rubble and find a way to save Percy and Annabeth, but they'd come back demoralized. The pit was buried in huge amounts of debris. There was not a single chance that the three of them would have been able to save them. 

The scene was swarming with police and rescue workers. No mortals had been hurt, but the Italians would be scratching their heads for months, wondering how a massive sinkhole had opened right in the middle of a parking lot and swallowed a dozen perfectly good cars.

Leo and the others carefully loaded the Athena Parthenos into the hold, using the ship's hydraulic winches with an assist from Frank, part-time elephant. Jinx watched in amazement, wondering what exactly was the extent of his power. 

The statue just fit.

Coach Hedge was too miserable to help. He kept pacing the deck with tears in his eyes, pulling at his goatee and slapping the side of his head, muttering, "I should have saved them! I should have blown up more stuff!"

And Jinx was desperate to offer some sort of comfort, but she was still attempting to wrap her mind around it. She saw it in front row, yet she still couldn't believe it.

Leo told Coach to go belowdecks and secure everything for departure. 

The seven demigods gathered on the quarterdeck and gazed at the distant column of dust still rising from the site of the implosion.

Leo rested his hand on the Archimedes sphere, which now sat on the helm, ready to be installed. He refused to look at her, and Jinx believed it was because of the immense sense of guilt she felt from him.

"It's my fault," he said miserably.

The others stared at him. But he continued to sulk. 

Jinx had nothing to say to that. She had no idea what he was talking about. 

"No," Hazel insisted. "No, this is Gaea's fault. It had nothing to do with you."

Hazel stepped forward, glancing at Jinx before taking Leo's hand.

"Leo, listen to me." Hazel said. "I won't allow you to take the blame. I couldn't bear that after—after Sammy..."

She choked up, but Leo seemed to know what Hazel meant. 

Nico di Angelo shuffled over, leaning on his black sword. "Leo, they're not dead. If they were, I could feel it."

"How can you be sure?" Leo asked. "If that pit really led to...you know...how could you sense them so far away?"

Nico and Hazel shared a look, then looking over to Jinx.

"We can't be one hundred percent sure," Hazel admitted. "But I think Nico is right. Percy and Annabeth are still alive...at least, so far."

"Can't you feel it?" Nico asked. 

Jinx shook her head, she wouldn't be able to sense a single thing unless they encountered her father.