A Crown of Golden Leaves: A Percy Jackson Fanfiction

Capvt XXIII: Spiral of Truth

A smile tugged at her lips and she didn't try to repress it. She felt so much more comfortable these last few days since Percy left. No, since that misunderstanding with the Caesar. There was still the fear that lurked in the back of her mind that someone was going to try to hurt her, but it was steadily going away. She understood that they were taking it slow until she was ready- until both of them were ready, she suspected.

Who would have thought: talking about it did make it easier.

"Annabeth?" Piper's voice called out, and she appeared in the doorway. The board creaked. "Did I just see Reyna leaving?"

"No," she said, looking up and dropping the chalk. She hadn't even finished the writing the sigma in "ερος". "You know that-" she stopped herself when Piper's completely baffled expression registered. "Wait, you were talking to me just a moment ago."

"Uh, no. I was folding laundry. I haven't seen you since daybreak."

Hold it, if that hadn't been Piper, then who had it been? Was this even Piper? Annabeth felt her throat begin to close up, so she cleared it and took a deep breath. This must be the real Piper, because if she were a fake Piper then she wouldn't have advertised the fact that she was fake. Plus, the other Piper was acting weird. But maybe this was a fake Piper and she was pretending she was the real Piper in order to disorient her, so she would give up sensitive information. But if she was the real Piper, then she could have said something sensitive to the other Piper without even realizing it . . .

There was one way to know for sure though. Her mind flashed back to the day when they realized she was engaged to the Heir of Rome.

"What was the thing I told you, the day we left Athens?" She asked immediately after that train of thought finished. She reached for one of the daggers Percy kept in a secret compartment. Piper's eyes sharpened.

""You're the truest friend I've got." What did I tell you that day?"

Annabeth would have smiled if she didn't feel so worried. That conversation had been engraved in her mind. There was no way she could ever forget Luke, Thalia, or Piper's declarations of loyalty, though Thalia had been the least eloquent of all of them, with a simple, "where you go, I go".

""I'll follow you to the depths of Tartarus if you ask."" She replied instantly. Nico had just glared at her when Thalia had tried to get him to say something.

Piper relaxed visibly and placed the linens down on the chair the other Piper -the fake Piper- had lounged on. Annabeth wanted to kick herself as she finally began to understand what happened. She should have realized something was wrong, but she had just blown off the Fake Piper's behavior like it was no big deal.

"What happened?"

"Uh," she said. The idea that there was someone who could take the form of Piper was beginning to sink in. What if they could take on other forms as well? They could pretend they were Octavius and order manslaughter! Or Percy! "Your exact doppelganger just came in here. Literally."

"Huh?"

She shook her head in an effort to clear her thoughts. She had to stay focused on the conversation. She could panic later. "I don't know how it's possible either. Someone who looked exactly like you just came in here." Piper sat down on the chair and leaned forward, cupping her chin in her hands. Her expression was not her normal cheerful, but sober.

"This is really bad. What if I said something to someone who I thought was, I don't know, Nico, and it's not something we want to get out in the general public?"

"I know," she agreed quietly. The possibilities she was coming up with made her feel sick to her stomach. "And who knows who else has been imitated. There's something wrong here."