A/N: Welcome to the lowest level of Solangelo hell. I shall be your guide. If you step this way, you'll find another Christmas special. Happy Holidays!

Based on "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens.

"I hate holidays," Nico groaned as he plopped down beside his sister at the dining table.

Hazel sniggered. "Good morning to you, too, Nico."

Nico flicked a green jellybean off of the table. "I mean, Christmas is a Christian holiday! Why is everyone here making such a big fuss over it?"

His sister sighed. "Oh, c'mon, Nico! It's Christmas! Look how happy everyone is! Isn't that reason enough to celebrate?"

"No," he huffed determinedly. "It's a dumb idea and I'm not going along with it."

"And what does Will have to say about that?"

Nico blushed heavily and quickly looked over his shoulder, as if expecting the son of Apollo to be standing directly behind him. "Nothing!" He spun back around quickly, glaring at his sister dangerously. "He doesn't own me, you know!"

"Oh, Nico, you're so whipped it's sorta pathetic."

He gawked at her. "Excuse me?"

Hazel lowered her sandwich and rolled her eyes. "What about last night at dinner?" She cleared her throat and continued in a deep, fake voice, 'Hey, Nico? I'm going to be working late tonight so can you maybe bring me some of that leftover lasagna you made?' And you just blushed and muttered that you'd be there at six." She poked his cheek. "Whipped."

Nico waved her away. "All right, all right! You made your point! But he still can't make me go through with this! Did you know he signed up to be Santa? And he wants me to be an elf."

Hazel giggled. "That's actually really cute."

"It's not cute!" Nico hissed. "It's embarrassing! And I'm not going to stand in the blistering cold in the middle of New Rome just so Will can ask some little kids what they want for a holiday that doesn't even go with our culture!"

"Sounds like someone's heart is a few sizes to small," Hazel taunted, singsong, and picked up her sandwich again. "Really, Nico, it's just one day. Will's excited. I'm excited. Heck, the whole city is excited! Just do it."

Nico crossed his arms. "I won't! You know, I used to be revered – feared, even!"

"And now you're like a little declawed kitten," Hazel teased. "Nice sweater, by the way."

Nico gestured to the hideous red and green sweater with a grimace. "See! This is exactly what I'm talking about! Will made me wear this!"

"How did he make you wear a sweater?"

"Uh." Nico's cheeks turned red. "He, er…"

"Never mind. If you're making that face then I don't want to know."

He resisted the urge to hide his red face or to melt into plentifully available shadows behind them. "Shut up."

Hazel shrugged. "Just bite the bullet. You two are going to Seattle together in the fall, right? You're probably going to be doing a lot of stupid stuff like this for each other."

Nico groaned and let his head thunk against the table. "Kill me now."

Hazel patted his head and began eating again, humming a Christmas carol that just lowered Nico's mood straight to miserable-levels.

"Nico!" a sudden voice shouted. Reluctantly, he raised his head from the table in time to see Jason Grace and Percy Jackson rushing up, bundled in their winter gear. "Can we borrow you for a second?"

"No." He face-planted the table again. "Leave me alone."

"He's hiding from Will," Hazel stage-whispered.

Jason and Percy nodded urgently. "That's fine," Percy said. "But we could seriously use your help!"

"It better not be Christmas related."

"Er…" Percy shuffled on his feet. "Actually…"

Nico glared up at him, but Jason stepped in front with his hands up. "Please, Nico? Boy Wonder, over here," he jerked his thumb in Percy's direction, "let Tyson pick the tree but it's huge. We can't decorate it all ourselves so we were kind of hoping you could summon some dead guys with extra hands."

Nico gaped at them. "That would be a huge abuse of my power! You think I can run around summoning skeletons willy-nilly just to decorate some stupid tree? You want Santa hats on them, too?"

"Can you do that?" Percy blinked and Jason smacked the back of his head lightly.

"Help us or we'll tell Will where you are!" Jason pointed at him threateningly.

The shadows at Nico's feet stirred. "You wouldn't dare."

"Oh." He drew himself up higher. "I would! He's been looking all over for you. Someone about getting fitted for your costume."

Nico's eye twitched, but he relented. "Fine! But, I swear to Styx, if you breathe a word of this to Will—"

Jason pretended to zip up his lips. "Bones where the sun don't shine. Got it."

Nico rolled his eyes but stood up and followed the other two demigods out of the dining hall, using them as cover in case Will came by. Just as they were nearing the tree – which had to be as tall as most of the buildings in New Rome, Nico was actually pretty impressed – he became aware of a presence at his back. Feeling a formidable sense of foreboding, Nico cautiously turned and was immediately seized into two familiar arms. "GOT YOU!"

Nico squawked and struggled against his captive's arms angrily. "Let go of me right now! I'm not playing around! WILL!"

Will Solace just chuckled and held on, lifting Nico right off the ground and into a rib-crushing bear hug while somehow dodging the rapid stream of desperate kicks Nico was aiming at him. Nico hated when Will did this. It made him feel like a little kid. Stupid tall sons of Apollo. Will was oblivious to Nico's plight. "Thought you could just escape, huh? Sorry, hun, but in all that black you stick out in the snow like a sore thumb!"

"WILLIAM SOLACE!" Nico roared. "Put. Me. Down."

"Nope! You agreed to our little deal! One day as an elf and I'd do that… thing."

Up until that point, Jason and Percy had been silent, but at the mention of 'that thing' they started to chuckle and Nico felt the blood rush to his cheeks again. "A thing?" Percy smirked.

"What's that about, Nico?" Jason sniggered. "Oh, is it one of those kind of deals?"

"Shut up, perverts, it's not like that at all!" Nico snapped at them, aiming his fluttering kicks at them next, but Will had a strong hold on him.

Jason and Percy just broke into hearty laughter, collapsing onto each other. "You know what? We'll just see if Frank will morph into an octopus or something," Percy choked out. "You guys have fun."

"Yeah, sorry for interrupting. Have fun as an elf, Nico!" Jason saluted him.

"Get back here, you cowards!" Nico yelled at their retreating backs.

Will just snorted against his hair. "Calm down, will you? It's not going to be as bad as you think!"

"Yes, it will!" Nico huffed, but ceased his struggling. "I don't want to do it."

"You said you would! You even agreed to the deal!"

"Deal's off."

Will's jaw dropped. "Deal's off? Seriously? You can't be serious!"

"Why do we have to celebrate something as stupid as this anyways?" Nico ripped out of Will's slacked grip and stumbled back while pulling his dark coat over his shoulder again.

"It's Christmas! And it's the first one we get to actually celebrate together!" Will gave him a kicked-puppy look. "I just wanted it to be special."

"Well, I don't!" Nico hissed out before thinking. "I hate this time of year! It's for idiots! Singing carols and dressing up trees. It makes no sense!"

Will's expression steeled. "Then I guess I'm stupid for actually wanting to act like a normal couple for once and spend the day with my boyfriend."

Nico's eyes gleamed. "Guess so."

Will let out a disbelieving cough. "Gods! Do you even hear yourself? We're not kids anymore, Nico! You can't keep pulling this stuff! Why are you always so…?" He shook his head, took a deep breath, and held his hands up. "You know what? Forget it. I don't even care anymore. I'll see if Piper or Hazel will help me. You can spend Christmas alone. Like you want. It's always your way or the highway, anyways. Why would I think this time would be any different?"

Nico squeezed his arms tighter around himself, staring down at the thin sheet of snow building on the road. He already felt a guilty sting at Will's words, but instead of apologizing like he wanted to, he just gave a shrug and tried not to wince when Will gave an angry puff of air.

"Whatever. Just do what you want." Will straightened the knit cap on his head before brushing past Nico quickly, their shoulders colliding. "Merry Christmas," he muttered bitterly as he passed.

Nico spun around, but the apology died on his tongue as he saw Will's angry stomps. His shoulders slumped and he exhaled, long and heavy and a visible mist against the December chill, and made his way back to the little apartment Will and he were staying in during the winter break.

It had been Will's decision to spend Christmas at New Rome. Nico had wondered why he wouldn't prefer to spend it with his family, but Will had been adamant that he wanted to spend it there. "Wouldn't it be nice to spend it with all our old friends?" he had reasoned and Nico shrugged.

It had been a while since he'd seen Percy and Annabeth or Jason and Piper. They were attending college, too old for camp, and Nico and Will were about to face their final summer as well. It was a strange thought. Camp Half-Blood had become the closest thing to a home he'd had in seventy years. He liked the Hades Cabin and how it overlooked the Apollo Cabin, and how he could sometimes hear the Apollo kids break into a musical number and, even though the medic would deny it later, listen as Will's slightly off-tempo voice led them. Will had grown into the role of head counselor of his cabin over the years, becoming to many young campers a guiding figure. It was going be a heavy loss when he left.

Nico kicked the snow off of his shoes and stomped inside, still reeling from their argument. It was nothing new for them to argue. They fought a lot. Constantly. But usually it was done while hiding a grin or immediately made-up for with a lot less talking and a lot more kissing. They rarely argued. He knew he'd hurt Will by refusing to get all holly-jolly for the holiday season, but what did Will really expect? He didn't like parties, presents, or people, and all three were pretty much the definition of Christmas.

He started to miss the days where he would rush off and melt into the shadows whenever he wanted, could let off steam by tearing down row after row of monsters, and come back to camp to Will, whose anger would disperse the moment he saw the tiniest scratch on Nico's skin and immediately pull him into a warm hug, kissing the wounds until they resembled tiny freckles.

We're not kids anymore, Nico! You can't keep pulling this stuff!

Nico scowled at his reflection in the window. Nico was acting childish? Will was the one running around in a Santa Clause suit. He shook his head. He didn't understand him.

He shrugged the thought off and went to go heat up some coffee. Will had turned him onto the stuff during all those mornings the moron had stayed up all night in the infirmary and downed the caffeine in gallons. Eventually, the dependency spread to Nico and he could barely get up in the mornings without it. He poured himself a cup, assuring himself that Will would come home soon and apologize for him and everything would go back to being normal.

Three hours later, Will still wasn't back.

Nico tried not to let the worry get to him. He ignored the guilt stirring in his stomach and got another cup of coffee.

The sudden strum of a harp made Nico jump and drop his mug, which splintered into a dozen pieces against the floor. He spun around when a loud, charismatic voice sighed out, "Young love can be hard. Stubbornness gets you nowhere. Suck it up and go."

Nico glared at the man sitting in the chair across from him. He was holding a harp, dressed in summery clothes, and smiling sunnily. His blonde hair and rugged features were identical to Will's, crystalline blue eyes obscured by a pair of dark sunglasses. "Apollo," Nico huffed. "What are you doing in my kitchen?"

The sun god chuckled and tipped back so that he was balancing on the back to legs of the chair. He gave a lopsided grin that his son so often used that it made Nico feel uncomfortable. The physical similarities between Will and his father were stunning, and did nothing to quell the sense of regret rising in him. "I'm answering one of my children's prayers." Apollo spread his arms out in a 'come-at-me-bro' manner. "Merry Christmas!"

Nico took a few steps back and said nothing.

"Now, Nico. Is that how you greet your father-in-law?"

He choked on air and blushed violently. "You are not my in-law!"

"Not yet!" Apollo winked. "God of Prophecy, my boy! Anyways, I couldn't help but overhear that lovely spat you got into with my son earlier…" he trailed off, but Nico could hear the warning in his voice, could see the threat glinting behind those sunglasses.

Nico gritted his teeth. "It's none of your business!"

Apollo let out a slow chuckle and leaned forward. "Actually, it's exactly my business! You see, I have a vision of the future – one that I would very much like to see happen – and you, son of Hades, are wrecking it!"

"Shouldn't you be locked away on Mount Olympus?" Nico hissed. "Butt out."

"My father… has dealt out his punishments." Apollo shuddered and played an ugly chord on his harp. "But that's neither here nor there. I'm here because of you."

Nico pointed at himself. "Me? What's the big deal? Just because I don't want to make a fool of myself suddenly makes me the bad guy?"

Apollo sighed and shook his head. "In order to please the ones you love, you will always have to do things you don't like. Even if it makes you a fool."

"There are some things that I just can't do," Nico muttered. "Christmas is one of them."

"And why is that?" Apollo tilted his head to one side. "Christmas wasn't always such a sore subject with you."

Nico scowled. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Allow me to refresh your memory." Apollo grinned and snapped his fingers. At once, the kitchen began to dissolve around them. Nico, habitually, reached for his sword, but it wasn't at his side. He gasped as everything twisted, condensed, and went dark.

A/N: There are four parts to this story! One will be uploaded each day counting down to Christmas. Because there aren't enough Solangelo X-mas stories already. X3