PJO Winter One Shot Stories

5. The Christmas Spirits

By TheRedSourPatchKid
Nico di Angelo

Nico used to love the holidays. How could he not? Once December came around, all the boys and girls in Venice were on their best behavior, hoping for lots of toys from Babbo Natale.
Nico's mother could never afford the most popular toys. They weren't special; lots of people were dirt poor in those days. Fortunately, he and his older sister Bianca were happier with second-hand books than in sock monkeys or army men. The year they received a deck of playing cards to share between the two of them was the best Christmas ever. There were more games to play than what Nico and Bianca could possibly learn, and when they were tired of competing, they built card houses on the kitchen table.
Then just like those card houses, Nico's life collapsed. His mother moved him and his sister to America, only for them to become orphans shortly after settling in. Before Nico and Bianca could spend their first Christmas alone, Hades whisked them away to the Lotus Casino. They'd missed dozens of Christmases they'd never get back.
But the first Christmas without Bianca had to have been the worst, no doubt about it. Nico had never felt so alone. He was so angry at everyone and everything, and he almost began to hate Christmas.
Almost.
Nowadays, Nico's Christmas traditions were anything but conventional. This Christmas would be no different.
By the time Nico finally emerged Cabin 13 on Christmas Eve, he'd missed both breakfast and lunch. What else was new?
"Merry Christmas Eve!" Nico's boyfriend, Will Solace nearly knocked the wind out of him with a giant bear hug. "Check it out! We're decorating the whole camp! Lots of people can't go home for the holidays, so we're bringing the holidays to them!"
Indeed they were, Nico noted. All of the cabins, including his own, were covered top to bottom in Christmas lights. Some of the younger campers were throwing fake cotton snow at one another. A candy cane walkway led towards the Big House, which was barely visible behind the enormous artificial Christmas tree.
"We're decorating cookies at the arts and crafts table if you want to join us! And then the Aphrodite Cabin is going to host a present wrapping contest, and then," Will gasped, as he was running out of air, "we're all going to drink hot cocoa around the campfire and sing Christmas carols!"
He threw an arm around Nico's shoulder. "I know singing isn't really your thing, but it really would mean a lot to me if you came."
Nico's stomach growled, either out of hunger or uneasiness. He couldn't tell. "That sounds great, honestly, you've put a lot into this whole Christmas thing-"
"Oh, don't worry!" Will interjected. "There's a Menorah for each of the cabins; you can pick yours up in the Big House. Wouldn't want anybody to feel left out!"
Nico stopped in his tracks, or rather, right in the middle of the candy cane walkway. "Listen, this is great, but I actually have plans. I'm sorry."
Will's smile faded ever so slightly. Gods, how was he always so positive? Nico didn't deserve someone so sweet.
"I get it. Let me know if you change your mind. I'd love to share my Christmas with you." Yep, Will Solace was literally perfect.
"Thanks for understanding," Nico said sheepishly.
"'Course. Cute outfit by the way," he added. "Hey, Harley, what I say about climbing ladders without supervision?" Will rushed off to hold the ladder steady under Harley, who was using some sort of contraption to hang lights on the Hephaestus cabin.
Nico smoothed the wrinkles in his shirt. He had been so distracted by the Hallmark Christmas village being constructed around him, he hadn't thought of an excuse for his outfit. It was still all black- you couldn't get Nico to wear any other color no matter how hard you tried- but he swapped his casual grunge style for something more formal: black jeans, black button-down, and he was still deciding if he'd wear the black tie or not.
He triple-checked the contents of his backpack before heading out. The two-liter bottles of soda he'd bought a few nights ago from the camp store took up most of the space. He'd have to be careful walking to keep them from fizzing all over him later.
Nico considered shadow traveling, but he wanted to keep his strength up for the party. His friends were counting on him being a good host. Unfortunately, the walk gave Nico lots of time to think. Contrary to popular belief, brooding was not, in fact, something that Nico enjoyed. Quite the opposite actually; he preferred to keep himself busy.
However, Christmastime-at-Camp Half-Blood-busy just wasn't Nico's kind of busy. Plus, he had pre-existing commitments.
"Six Happy Meals, please," Nico ordered when he reached the register. "Three with nuggets and three with cheeseburgers."
The great thing about McDonald's was that the workers had already seen it all, so nothing Nico could possibly say or do would come off remotely suspicious.
"Apple slices, Go-Gurt, or extra fries?" the monotone worker asked.
"Extra fries, please." Nico's friends didn't need to worry about staying healthy- not anymore. "And can I get the MythoMagic cards with those?"
***
"Let the dead taste again." It was a dark and gloomy incantation but it was always worth it. Besides, Nico wasn't fazed by darkness and gloom. He hadn't been for a long time. Nico emptied the two-liter bottle of Sprite over one of the graves.
One by one, each of the ghosts emerged from below. Elizabeth began her vocal warmups. Gordon Ramsey, no affiliation with the world-famous chef, wolfed down a cheeseburger. There was also Dustin, a former gang member who insisted everyone call him 'Turbo' (it wasn't catching on), and Pinkie the hamster.
Nico didn't know all that much about them; he'd found that ghosts didn't like it very much when you asked them about their deaths. They were quite a strange group, all of them coming from different backgrounds and even different centuries, but they all had one thing in common: they loved Christmas.
"No Pepsi?" Dustin complained.
Gordon Ramsey licked the Big Mac sauce from his lips. "You're the only one that drinks Pepsi. Everyone else knows that Coke is better. Santa endorses Coke; haven't you seen the commercials?" Typical Gordon Ramsey. He took it upon himself to learn anything and everything he possibly could about Santa Claus. Nico recalled him mentioning that in life he had been a mall Santa, so it made perfect sense. Besides, it's boring being dead. You've got all of eternity to take on a new research project.
Elizabeth stood up, or rather, began to hover. "Well, I for one love Coke. Let us all thank Nico for this wonderous feast!"
It wasn't every day a band of misfit ghosts thanked Nico for Christmas dinner- just once a year. It wasn't conventional by any means, but Nico loved it, even if he only saw them once a year.
Nico stuck his hands in his pockets. He never knew how to respond to positive attention, even when it was well-deserved. "Well, uh, Elizabeth, don't you have a song you've prepared for us all?"
"Ah yes! Gather around everyone!"
Nico's legs ached slightly from standing for so long, but he wasn't about to use a gravestone as a seat. That was disrespectful.
Pinkie the hamster floated onto Nico's shoulder.
Most people would not have chosen Ave Maria for a Christmas Eve feast. Then again, most people would not have chosen Happy Meals or a graveyard for a Christmas Eve feast. But they weren't most people.
The song was wonderful, even with Dustin's attempted rap verse and Gordon Ramsey's loud chewing as a backtrack.
Everyone let the silent winter atmosphere take over. As cheesy as it sounded, Nico was pretty sure he'd achieved peace on earth for just a moment. Snowflakes were once again beginning to tickle his face. It was absolute serenity. Sure, 24/7 summer at Camp Half-Blood was nice, very convenient for training, but Christmas just wasn't the winter wonderland it was supposed to be without that numbness in your nose and toes.
A sudden warmness came across Nico. So this must be Christmas cheer. He wanted to cherish that warm and fuzzy feeling forever.
And then he felt really, really warm. Like, physically warm.
"Well, well, well," said Dustin. "Who's this punk crashing our feast?"
Nico whipped around to see the intruder. Pinkie burrowed under his sleeve.
Barely visible underneath his snow gear was none other than Will Solace. That explained the warmth. His golden curls peeked out from underneath his hat, and his white coat slightly resembled a marshmallow. The snow around his feet melted.
Will pulled his scarf from his mouth and said, "You know, when you said you had plans, I thought you meant you were going to hide in your cabin and brood all night. This is a nice little thing you've got going on here."
"You came," Nico said, totally awestruck.
"Care to introduce us to your friend, Nico?" Gordon Ramsey said with a mouth full of fries.
"Oh, sure," Nico said. "Um, these are my friend Elizabeth, Gordon, Pinkie, and Dustin-"
"You mean Turbo!" Dustin interjected. Elizabeth tried to hit him, but alas, they were ghosts, so her hand passed right through his head.
Nico chose to ignore that. "This is my boyfriend, Will."
"Want a fry, Will?" offered Gordon.
Will took a handful of fries and sat in the grassy patch that his warmth had made.
Nico sat down next to him, "You really don't have to stay; I know you were looking forward to Christmas carols this evening."
Will shrugged. "Eh, that stuff's kind of tacky if I can't be with you." He slipped his mittened hand into Nico's. "How are you not cold?"
"Seriously? You're like, radiating sunshine."
"Aww, so sweet," said Dustin.
"No, you idiot," said Gordon Ramsey. "I haven't felt warmth since I was alive; there's something about that kid."
Of course, Nico knew what that something was. Dating a son of Apollo came with many perks, one of which was a personal magical space heater. Will's heat was barely noticeable in the year-round summer of Camp Half-Blood but in the dark and cold graveyard, it stuck out like, well, a big blond space heater.
Pinkie glided out from beneath Nico's oversized coat and clung to Will. He was warm enough to send a dead hamster straight into hibernation. Do hamsters hibernate? Nico wondered.
"Did somebody say Christmas carols?" Elizabeth bellowed. "I simply adore caroling!"
"Hey, me too!" said Will.
Nico let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding in. Will seemed didn't seem freaked out by Nico's ghost friends. In fact, he seemed... comfortable. And the ghosts- they liked Will.
Never in a million years would he admit it, but he was hesitant to introduce Will to the Christmas party. It didn't have anything to do with them being two boys in a romantic relationship; Nico secretly loved making people uncomfortable with that. The problem really was that the party, despite their efforts, was so dark and depressing compared to Will's sunny disposition. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't picture a scenario with Will joining the Christmas party.
So to say Nico was pleasantly surprised was an understatement. He felt pure joy, actually, an emotion not often encountered by the son of Hades.
"And now for one of my favorite Christmas songs, 'O Holy Night'," Elizabeth cleared her throat, ready to sing.
Nico cocked an eyebrow. "O Holy Night" wasn't exactly a secular song given the polytheistic world they lived in.
Will pulled Nico closer and brushed some of the snow out of his hair. "Shh, just enjoy it," he said as if he could read minds.
Nico rolled his eyes, but it was pointless: the Christmas spirits were upon them, and gods, did it feel good.