—————December 25, 2012—————

Nico woke up, looked outside, and immediately dropped his head again. "UUUGGGHHH" resonated throughout the snow-covered campgrounds, shaking the ground ever so slightly.

"Knock, knock, knock" Outside the door a deep inhale was heard, before a deafening shout of "NO" flew out of the cabin.

"DO YOU WANT TO BUILD A SNOWMAN?????"

"NO!!!!!"

"COME ON LET'S GO AND PLAY!!!!!"

"GO AWAY!!!!!"

"I NEVER SEE YOU ANYMORE"

"SHUT IT!!!!!"

"COME OUT THE DOOR!!!!!"

"SSSOOOLLLAAACCCEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"ITS LIKE YOU'VE GONE AWAY!!!!!"

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU-"The door to the Hades Cabin slammed open, narrowly missing Will who jumped back as he heard footsteps approaching.

"It's Christmas Neeks! Come celebrate with me!"

"NO! I'm going back to bed!"

Will formed a ball of light in his palm and chucked it into the cabin behind Nico, where it began to glow brighter and brighter, leaving no shadows in the Hades Cabin.

Before Nico could protest, Will grabbed his wrist and yanked him out of his doorway, which he slammed shut, and sealed with light.

"HEY!!!!!" Nico yelled, voice muffled by the snow he was face-down in. "What was that for?!?"

"Relax. If you cooperate, I'll let you summon up a few reindeer at the campfire tonight as a present for the littles"

"I'm. In. My. Pajamas." said a shivering Nico.

Will formed a tiny ball of light and held it out to Nico who sighed and infused it with shadows, before using the matter to create brown snow boots, warm black jeans and shirt, as well as a brown, hooded aviator jacket.

Will looked him up and down before taking a dark green scarf off from around his waist and putting it on Nico. "You need color."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Reindeer."

"Fine."

The two walked off hand in hand, heading towards the forest before jumping into the shadow of a tree.

The two walked out of a bright green fire next to a few people dressed in both robes of all colors and clothes of all types.

They strolled through the area, eventually passing underneath a sign proclaiming "Welcome to Half-Blood Hogsmeade!"

Deep underground, beings of godly blood or of mythical origin created stores and stalls, all lining a few small streets.

First they stopped at a stall labeled "Halfling's Honeydukes," where they paid for a number of enchanted Christmas candies, including candy canes that put stripes on your tongue and chocolate stars that made you hum Christmas carols.

Next they walked down the street to a small cafe where they ate a small lunch and drank hot chocolate together. After, they walked back to the green fires where Nico shadow-traveled them back to their woods and they entered.

Hours later, they exited, covered in glitter and chocolate as they headed to the campfire. The entire camp was present as the couple rode in on skeleton deer, each covered in wrapping paper and bearing gift boxes on them.

The children in the crowd ran forward, attacking the deer with toy or practice weapons, playing as the deer eventually lowered to the ground, letting the 'victors' have their rewards. They all unwrapped a large box filled to the brim with candy of all types.

Laughing, the children ran back to their siblings and parents and shared their earnings,

Red sparks, green, white, and red stripes, and Christmas melodies were everywhere as everyone dug into candies, and, as the clocks hit midnight, Nico di Angelo looked at the crowd, all of the smiling campers, turned to his boyfriend and smiled.

Published 12/25/19

Word Count 584

—————Author's Note——————

It's still the 25th somewhere. Merry Christmas!!! This happens about a year before the story actually takes place. (Nico ends up in Gotham in 2013).

How did you like it? I tried a new style of writing and almost found it easier and I want to know what you think!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me!

*Yes I am aware that everyone is kinda OOC in this. It's rushed.