The Last Arrow - The Great Holiday Mystery

5. Fatal Betrayal

~Behind Aphrodite Cabin, In The Woods~

Annabeth raised her eyebrows, ‘That’s new.’

The dove cooed softly and scratched her feathers with her beak.

‘You don’t see that every day,’ Piper agreed.

‘What’s that tied to its foot?’ Frank asked, squinting in the light of the February afternoon sun.

‘Maybe another clue,’ Hazel suggested excitedly.

‘Only one way to find out,’ Piper grinned, switching on the charmspeak, honey practically dripping from her next words, ‘Come down here, little dove. Fly down here!’

The dove, with no immunity to the power of a charmspeaker, complied instantly. She swopped down with the ferocity of a hawk and the magnificence of an eagle and landed on Piper’s shoulder where she nipped playfully at the daughter of Aphrodite’s dark choppy hair.

Piper giggled, ‘It likes me.’

‘Who wouldn’t?’ Juniper mumbled sarcastically.

Percy frowned. The group drifted further apart every second, growing to hate each other more and more.

For some reason, Percy didn’t seem as compelled to be hateful towards his friends or girlfriend. He wondered why, then it occurred to him; his fatal flaw was personal loyalty. Being malicious and detestable went against everything natural inside of him. Annabeth, on the other hand, had the fatal flaw of hubris. It went against everything inside her to be spoken down to. She had to be on top. It wasn’t her fault, just the way she was.

Which also meant Percy was stuck as the mediator until thing were sorted out and they found Cupid’s missing bow.

Piper gently reached up, so as not to disturb the dove, and unwound the parchment from her leg. The dove cooed once more before taking off in a flurry of pearly white feathers.

Piper unfurled the parchment, ‘It’s a map!’

‘What?’

The other seven gathered around as best they could.

Piper was right. The features printed on the parchment were similar to that of a pirate’s treasure map the eight had seen in movies. A picture of the camp dominated the page, with a track starting behind the Aphrodite cabin and ending at-

‘Zeus’ fist,’ Percy said quietly. He grunted as he tested his weight on his broken ankle. ‘Not good.’

‘Not at all,’ Annabeth agreed.

‘It starts behind the Aphrodite cabin,’ Grover noted. ‘Why is that? How did they know where we were?’

‘Uh, I’d like to know the more important question, “Who are they?”’ Juniper said.

‘But if we know how they knew where we were, we could find out who they are,’ Grover argued.

Juniper shook her head, ‘Or, we could find out who they are and skip a whole step!’

‘Guys!’ Percy shouted. ‘You too love each other. Act like it!’

The satyr and dryad’s eyes softened and they moved towards each other in one motion, linking hands like a lifeline.

Percy rubbed his temple with his free hand that wasn’t draped over Annabeth’s shoulders.

‘Okay, so we start-’

‘Guys,’ everyone turned to Jason who was staring at the dirt covered ground like it was the most interesting thing since the invention of ice-cream. He glanced up, but refused to meet their eyes, ‘I can’t do this.’

‘No one said you had to lead, Jason,’ Piper said.

‘No, as can’t do this, any of this,’ he sighed. ‘I’m sorry Piper. I’m sorry guys. I’m out.’

The son of Jupiter stuffed his hands deep into his pockets and started back in the direction of camp, his shoulders hunched in shame and defeat, his silvery blonde hair has lost all its sheen.

‘Jason,’ Piper cried, seeming to want to run to him, yet not at the same time. A single tear leaked out of the corner of her eye, but she barely felt it. ‘Please, come back.’

Jason didn’t turn. He continued until he was down the path and out of sight, leaving only the fresh memory of his betrayal of the group.

‘Piper,’ Hazel lay a hand on her shoulders. ‘Are you-are you going to go too?’

A hardness overcome the daughter of Aphrodite’s eyes as she stared down the path her boyfriend had walked. Her kaleidoscope eyes shifted to unbreakable colours; the blue of a stormy ocean, the green of lightning struck tree, the brown of an avalanche.

‘No,’ she said firmly. ‘He’s chosen his path. Mine’s with my friends.’

Hazel, Frank, Grover, Juniper and Annabeth smiled proudly and sympathetically. Percy, though happy Piper stayed, couldn’t help thinking that if Jason could walk out on them, what if the others did?

‘Zeus’ fist,’ he managed. ‘Come on, guys.’

~Zeus’ Fist~

The giant rock look as much like a pile of deer droppings as ever. The air was a little chillier since the Battle of the Labyrinth, and of course the Christmas fiasco a few months back.

‘What do we do now?’ Piper asked awkwardly, staring at the map.

The red marked trail ended where they stood, utterly confused. Like a default nervous gesture, the now seven of them tugged at their orange and purple t-shirts unconsciously.

‘Maybe there’s another clue somewhere?’ Hazel suggested.

Annabeth shrugged, ‘Seems reasonable.’

‘So, we have to look?’ Grover complained.

Juniper rolled her eyes, ‘Cry a river, build a bridge and get over it, Goat Boy.’

Grover blinked, hurt. Juniper glanced around the clearing not knowing the pain she’d just stirred up in her boyfriend.

Percy sighed, ‘The sooner we start, the sooner we finish.’

And so they searched, crawling around the rocks and digging through the base of every tree. But nothing was found. Piper volunteered to climb Zeus’ Fist for a better view. She got to the top and gasped.

‘The map! The map!’ she cried excitedly. ‘It’s changed!’

‘What do you mean?’ Percy called up. He’d taken some ambrosia, but still needed Annabeth’s assistance to walk properly.

‘The path’s changed,’ Piper explained. ‘It doesn’t end here anymore!’

‘More walking?’ Percy groaned.

‘Hush,’ Annabeth said. ‘Come down, Piper, we’ll figure out where to go next.’

Piper nodded and began the climb down, carefully grabbing the most promising hand and footholds. About half way down was where it all went wrong.

Afterwards, the others would dismiss it as a trick of the light. But as Piper slipped and fell, each and every one of them would swear they saw a patch of ice materialize beneath her sneaker.