𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢 || 𝙿𝚒𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝙼𝚌𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚗

ℂ𝕙𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕞𝕒𝕤 𝕠𝕟𝕖-𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕥

Christmas eve at Camp was always one of Thea's favourite parts of the year. Usually, she'd spend a lot of her time in the underworld during winter, but ever since the war, she'd stayed back at camp to be with Marielle and the other campers instead.

They never paid her much attention. It had lasted for a week back when she and Nico had brought their father to the battle, but after that, the campers got uneasy again. Children of Hades had always been bad omens.

Thea wondered whether Nico would join her for Christmas this year, but she doubted it as she hadn't seen him since she returned from her quest to free the most insufferable goddess ever.

"Thea? Are you almost ready?" It was Marielle.  She was the only one who didn't knock when entering the Hades cabin, save for Nico of course. She'd have to have the talk about California with him once the holidays were over.

"Thea?" Lost in her thoughts, the daughter of Hades had immediately forgotten her best friend at the entrance. They had been invited to a Christmas party in the Dionysus cabin.
The only inhabitant was Pollux, but after having lost his brother the year prior, he'd do anything to get his thoughts away from war for all of Christmas eve. That's how everyone was invited.

Thea wasn't planning on actually going, but Marielle with the help of piper's charmspeak had convinced her it would be fun. Thea had decided she hated when Piper and Marielle teamed up.

"Yeah, I guess I am," Thea said, turning around to show her best friend the outfit Persephone had sent her. How the goddess had figured it all out, Thea had o idea. It almost felt as if Persephone had some informant on the inside sometimes.

The queen of the underworld had sent her a black dress with a flower design. Thea loved it. She wasn't usually one for wearing dresses but taking it off hurt her soul whenever she did. She loved wearing them, but it wasn't exactly demigod attire.

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"You look amazing," Marielle gushed, closing the door behind her. The dirty blonde-haired girl didn't look too bad herself. She was wearing a dark red dress. One that matched the colour of her cabin, but somehow the daughter of Ares had pulled it off like no other.

"You do too," Thea commented. She wasn't sure if she was ready to go to a party just yet. Her ankle had healed up thanks to the apollo cabin, but she was still struggling to sleep after the countless near-death situations she'd been in during her little across-the-country trip with the new campers.

"Alright, let's go." Marielle didn't wait for an answer before dragging Thea out of the cabin. The daughter of Hades would not stay in her cabin as long as the daughter of Ares had something to say.

"I can walk alone you know," Thea grumbled, but the scowl on her face disappeared as soon as the hades door was closed. There stood Piper and some other person Thea had never seen before.

"Lana, hi," Piper said, bringing the girl into a hug. They'd seen each other earlier that day, but Thea didn't mind. Piper's hugs gave comfort.

"You look great," Thea commented before remembering the two other demigods who stood next to them. She looked at the one she didn't know. "Hey, I'm Thea." It didn't sound all that interesting, but the demigod smiled.

"River," they replied. "Child of Hecate."

"Pleasure to meet you." She didn't feel like saying her parent. It was obvious enough after she'd literally walked out of the Hades cabin.

"River is sort of new here," Marielle said, smiling at the blue-eyed demigod.

Thea nodded, a confused look on her face. But it soon switched to a smirk once she noticed the blush on her best friend's face.