The 12 Days of Christmas - The Great Holiday Mystery

The Seventh Day of Christmas

~Zeus Cabin~

'Thalia!' Leo called. 'Where are you? We're supposed to meet up with Annabeth! You know how she gets. Where the Hades are you?'

The son of Hephaestus searched the Zeus cabin, though there wasn't much to search. Besides, Thalia had been staying in the Artemis cabin. But where else could she be?

Realization hit Leo ever so slowly. He clapped a hand to his head and sighed.

'Stupid,' he muttered, running back out towards the centre of the cabins. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid.'

He spotted the rest of the demigods clustered together, waiting for everyone else to turn up. Annabeth had her head resting in Percy's lap while he played with her blonde princess curls. Nico and Hazel sat next to the two lovebirds, deep in a conversation that involved a lot of hand gestures.

'Hey guys,' Leo said glumly, sitting on the grass next to them. 'I can't find Thalia. And since the rest of us are here, I think it's safe to assume that she's the one who went missing today.'

Hazel bit her lip, 'That leaves just the five of us.'

'Out of twelve,' Nico added. 'Does anyone else find that suspicious? We looking for keys that tie in with the twelve days of Christmas song, it started twelve days out from Christmas, and there were twelve of us to begin with?'

Annabeth frowned, Percy still fiddling with her hair, 'It does seem very fishy.'

Percy smirked, 'Just like me!'

Nico rolled his eyes, 'Did anyone find the next note?'

'Oh yeah,' Percy shifted and Annabeth fell onto the grass. 'Sorry, Wise Girl. I've got the note here.'

As Annabeth sat up a leant against her boyfriend, he pulled the paper of doom from his pocket and read it out to the demigods present, '"On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, seven dancing canes, six Christmas goblets, five wooden sleighs, four working craftsmen, three volar reindeer, two wrapped up presents, and mistletoe up a pine tree."'

Hazel heaved a big sigh, 'Great; dancing canes. Where in Hades are we supposed to find those?'

'Well, I don't think they'll be in Hades,' Leo said slyly.

Hazel scowled and hit him over the head, 'You know what I meant, Leo.'

'Guys,' Percy interrupted. 'This isn't really the time. There are five of us left, and one goes missing ever day. We have to make the most of who we have left, because we don't know who wont be here tomorrow. For all we know, if we don't find these keys, we'll never get any of our missing friends back. So we have to stop acting like the gods, and starting working together!'

Percy finished his little tirade and was greeted with a stunned silence. Annabeth, Leo, Nico and Hazel all stared at him with mixed expressions of shock and amusement. Percy blinked as if startled by his own outburst.

Suddenly, Leo started clapping, grinning like a madman who'd been given a new axe for Christmas.

'Inspiring,' he shouted, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. 'Simple spiffing! Absolutely stimulating!'

'Where did you learn all those big words,' Nico asked with a straight face.

'Says you,' Leo retorted.

'Did no one listen to me!'

'I did, Seaweed Brain,' Annabeth kissed him on the cheek. 'And while I was surprised you were so ... um, vocal, it was incredibly moving.'