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-YOUBETTERNOTPOUT.

Ryuu: On the tenth day of Christmas my true love wrote for me.

Warnings: If you haven't read The Lost Hero and Son of Neptune, then you might not understand what's going on. Also, short story is short.

-YOUBETTERNOTCRY.

Christmas was a busy time for everyone. The gods were not excluded from this rule either. For Nemesis, it was time to grant those rare "Christmas miracles" to those that had too little fortune. It was also the time to ruin those that were too prosperous.

It was her role as a goddess, and she had no qualms about it. Balance was everything.

Or so she questioned as she arrived at Camp Jupiter.

Maybe it wasn't all that surprising that a Roman camp would thrive so well, but Nemesis couldn't remember any time that the camp had tipped the balance of fortune and misfortune so drastically. If this kept up, the members of the camp would unknowingly drain fortune away from people who needed it more.

The only problem was that no one in Camp Jupiter boasted about their fortune excessively. There were a few standard cheers and hopes that this peace would last, but no one was too prideful about it. It wasn't as satisfying to punish those that didn't harbor hubris, and these children were demigods.

It was only harmless celebration. But she is a goddess, and might made right. She could do what she needed, and no one could truly complain.

She was only doing her job after all.

And so she made small openings in the barriers protecting Camp Jupiter. Terminus and the ghosts that guarded the area wouldn't be able to find them all in time. She walked away from the camp as small creatures crawled in through the cracks.

She stood on the other side of the Little Tiber, listening to screams and hisses and roars as she watched more and more creatures enter the camp. Who knew this area had so many monsters around it?

She watched and listened quietly until some of the demigods had run outside to squash the monsters and help seal the barriers up again with the help of the ghosts finding them quickly.

The camp had quieted down once the commotion was over. At least it was quiet until the goddess could hear soft sobs coming from a few of the demigods. They were too prideful to outright cry, silently mourning for the tragedy on a day that was supposed to be joyful.

'Don't pray to your parents, children. It's already too late.' She thought to herself as she left to complete her next task.

-YOUBETTERNOTSHOUTIWASJUSTDOI NGMYJOB.

Ryuu: Takes place when Camp Half-Blood didn't even know Camp Jupiter existed. And this story marks that the Days of Christmas project is approximately one-third of the way complete. Hooray.

Holiday moral: Sometimes there is no one to blame.

Ryuu: -looks through books- It's been a while since I've last read this series.