DIVINE » l. valdez

xxxiv

❝i'm a bunch of broken pieces, it was you who made me whole ❞

Thankfully, the tunnel led them back to the hills above ground. Smoke billowed up from the ruins, the concrete sunken in on itself. 

Overhead, the Argo II hovered, Percy hanging from the rope ladder haphazardly and yelling down.

Seeing the ship, Hina couldn't help out a sob. Annabeth joined in, the two crying in Piper's arms, finally mulling over everything that had just happened. 

In seconds, Percy was on the ground sprinting towards Annabeth at full speed. Hina briefly wondered if he was planning on tackling her to the floor, but he stopped in time, wrapping Annabeth in a tight hug. 

"What happened?" Percy asked. 

"Let's talk on the ship," Piper suggested, grabbing hold of the rope ladder. For a second, Hina feared Piper was going to cut the rope again, but she didn't. 

They gathered everyone in the mess hall, Piper sitting at the head of the table. Hina leaned back against Leo, not eager to hear Piper recount the story of Mimas. 

She was still shaken up, the darkness of the abyss bringing chills to her arms. 

Everyone was silent after Piper finished. Percy kept shaking his head but didn't speak. 

After an uncomfortable minute, Frank looked up from where he sat, his arms folded in front of him. "We got what we needed, Apollo will be able to give us insight on this physician's cure. For now, let's keep pushing towards Delos." His eyes softened. "You three, take it easy, we can handle the ship for a while."

Hina managed a weak smile. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Frank was a good leader, and he cared about the crew. Frank and Hazel left to patrol the deck, while everyone else split up.

"Are you okay, Ina?" Leo asked gently.

"Yeah. No... I don't know," she admitted, pressing her palms against her eyes. "I feel so useless. Gods, without Piper I'd be dead. The second we stepped into the temple I was paralyzed with fear, they took everything I've seen and kept replaying it over and over. They were preying on my fears and worries. How can the gods expect us to do this?"

Leo took Hina's wrists in his hands, pulling them away from her eyes. "Hey, you are not useless, Ina. You saved my life like a hundred times, and you brought Jason back from the dead. Don't forget, you single-handedly walked through the House of Hades and fought off demon triplet grandmas!" 

With every word, Leo gave Hina's hand a squeeze, earning a smile from her. 

"Thank you, Leo."

"You should get some rest," he replied.

Hina turned to face Leo, placing a soft kiss on his lips. "You too. Come on, it'll  be like old times. You can pretend Buford is Will if he starts yelling again."

Hearing Leo laugh lifted some of the darkness weighing down on Hina. No matter what nightmares they'd face in Athens, he'd be there to bring her some light.

Underneath the projection of stars, it almost felt like they were back at camp. Hina pointed out some of the constellations she made as a child to Leo, who kept grinning ear to ear. He traced along the palm of her hand while she talked, keeping her thoughts far away from the dark cavern in the ruins.

"If you look straight above you, there's a little line of stars that make a little leaf shape- it's the Park. I named it after this trail my mom used to walk me along as a kid, it was covered in these beautiful cherry blossom trees and in the summer the wind blew them around like snowflakes," Hina turned, seeing Leo fast asleep, a quiet snore escaping his mouth.