The fall and winter sessions at Camp Half-Blood were far different than their summer counterpart; For a start the camp had all but emptied out, leaving only twelve campers; A girl from Cabin 4, a guy from Cabin 6, a trio of kids from Cabin 10, five kids from Cabin 11, and of course, Alexa and Jazz. Even the nature spirits had taken leave of the campgrounds, only those of evergreen trees remaining to help run the camp.

The activities had been banished to the back burner for the most part; sword fighting and capture the flag replaced by mathematics and history. Alexa had never been to school before, her only experience with a proper school setting was the second hand accounts from her sister and what she saw on television, but she was fairly certain that most schools were held indoors and were not run by centaurs. Chiron was, by all accounts, a great teacher; he kept his students engaged, helped everyone understand their specific course material, and was always great about any subject posed to him, whether it be Latin, Shakespear, fractions, or the Spanish-American war.

That wasn't to say that the campers didn't practice their monster fighting skills, that was just kept to after class and on weekends.

The classes ended on December 19th, the books were packed away, there was a light snow on the ground, and the Big House had been decorated with lights and crossed olive and wool wrapped laurel branches over every door way.

Alexa and Jazz stood in the middle of the sword fighting arena, both drenched in sweat, despite the light dusting of snow around their feet. They had been sparring ever since the last bell had rung, and they were starting to draw a crowd; A pair of kids from the Hermes' cabin and, Alexa's insides squirmed a bit, the boy from Aphrodite's Cabin who had caused her to fall out of her canoe.

He seemed to be hanging out a lot more as of late, watching the pair of them. Although this fact didn't seem to escape Jazz, it also didn't seem to bother her as much. During their sparring sessions it was all about making sure Alexa improved. She had improved immensely since the day she had arrived at camp. The first day they had fought she went down every few seconds, and she hadn't gotten a single win on Jazz. Now, she could last several minutes and even pull a win out of the air once in a while. That was impressive against a child of a war god.

One thing she had learned to value was her shield, the leather covered piece of hardened bronze clanged loudly as Jazz brought her sword down on it. The vibrations ran through Alexa's arm, making her very bones rattle, but she managed to push back against the blade. She caught the hilt on the edge of the shield, flipping upwards in a move that was meant to disarm her opponent. Jazz, although knocked back slightly, had managed to hold onto the blade, and deftly parried the follow up strike aimed for her left shoe.

This match had been going on for a good fifteen minutes or so, easily the longest fight they had had that month, and neither side was giving an inch of ground. Jazz feinted left, then she spun her sword around and tried to catch Alexa's sword hand. The sword flew from Alexa's hand, skittering across the floor. Instinctively Alexa reached for it, over extending to one side and just as suddenly, Alexa knew what was going to happen. Jazz's blade shot forward, ready to deliver the faux killing blow, it'd stop inches from her throat unless she could stop it. With her heart beating fast in her ears, she drew her neck out to one side, avoiding the blade. She brought her shield up, hitting Jazz's wrist, while her right arm came around. The bronze battered the older girl's arm, knocking the blade free from its owner's hand. Alexa plucked it from the air and spun it around, bringing the point of the blade right up under Jazz's chin.

"Death…" Alexa panted before promptly falling backwards in a crumpled heap, utterly exhausted.

Jazz brought her hand up, touching the spot on her chin where the tip of the blade had touched her. Jazz broke into a grin as she retrieved both their weapons and two bottles of water. "See? Told ya, you're getting better!"

"Yeah" Alexa wheezed. "Still can't get ya all the time though."

"And that, my dear, little Spitfire, is why we practice." She sits down next to Alexa, handing the younger girl one of the bottles. As Alexa sipped at the cool liquid she looked up at Jazz. Her best friend seemed a bit distracted, staring up into the stands. She had been doing that quite a lot lately, and Alexa was starting to worry if something was wrong. However, just like all the other times before, she shook herself out of it. She turns to Alexa with a little smile on her face, though Alexa thought she could detect something else in that look. Something like apprehension.

"Listen kid...I kinda have a thing to go to. Family get together. We do it every Christmas." Jazz explains.

Alexa felt her heart sinking. Of course. Of course Jazz would be going out for Christmas. Half of the remaining campers probably were. She tried to sound upbeat, as she answered. "Oh...well that sounds fun. I'm sure you'll have a good time."

Jazz looked confused, then puzzled, then finally amused. "Well...mom tends to make a lot more than what we need and there's a lot of room at home. I was actually thinking it might be more fun if you were there too."

Alexa's heart leaped into her throat and for the first time in a very long time, she imagined an actual Christmas; A tree, stockings over the fire, a big dinner with people laughing, presents, gingerbread, everything flooded into her head with lightning speeds. She could barely get out the words "Y-you really want me to come?"

"Well I already told mom you were and she already has a ticket paid for you so I was thinking if you said no, I'd have to bop you on the head and drag you onto the plane." Jazz said in that tone that made it hard for Alexa to figure out if she was joking or not. Alexa couldn't help but smile, hopping up to her feet, momentarily forgetting her sore muscles and rubbery legs. She wobbled there for a moment before she managed to get her balance back.

"When are we going?" She asked eagerly. The sound warmed Jazz's heart. She actually sounded like a normal kid! A normal kid ready for Christmas!

"The plane leaves tomorrow, a little after noon. Mom'll pick us up from St. Paul's when we land and then we'll be there for like a week." Jazz explained. Alexa couldn't help but smile, nodding her head.

"Alright, that gives me plenty of time to pack!" She said, practically bubbling with excitement.

"Get to it, kid! I'm not waiting around for you tomorrow! If ya miss the bus you miss the bus!" Jazz teased.

Alexa was off without another word. Once she was back in her cabin she began to calm down. She took a quick shower and dressed herself in a pair of faded jeans, a baggy camp t-shirt that hung to her thigh, and her sneakers. She tied her hair back with a scrunchy, her head bowed over her suitcase. It took a remarkably short amount of time to fill it, but once it was packed with her clothes, a problem presented itself to the child.

There was something important that she had forgotten to do. Something she needed to do before spending Christmas with Jazz's family. How she could've possibly forgotten she didn't know, but it was, mercifully, a quick fix.

Alexa hurried up to the Big House, her backpack bouncing on her shoulder.. The porch was deserted, but she could hear movement inside, the sound of hooves on hard wood and the unmistakable voice of Elvis Presley singing Blue Christmas. Alexa followed the noises to Chiron's office and gently knocked. The music cut out. Chiron opened the door and beamed down at her.

"Oh I'm so glad you are not Mr. D." The centaur said with a soft chuckle. "He always gets so agitated when he has to come back for something. Come in, my dear, come in!"

She followed him into his study, and when she was motioned to the seat in front of the computer, she sat.

"So, what can I do for you. Not that your company isn't welcome, but I have a sneaking suspicion that you didn't just come to wish me a merry Christmas." His eyes seemed to twinkle as he looked down at her. It was the kind of look that made it impossible for her not to smile back.

"Well...um...well Jazz just invited me to spend the holidays with her and her family." Alexa started to explain. Chiron chuckled.

"About time too, she's been sitting on that invitation since Thanksgiving. If I told that girl once, I told her a thousand times, she can't keep procrastinating!"

"Right…" Alexa said, though, she really didn't know what else to say. She didn't even know what procrastinating meant. "Well...see since we're going so soon I kinda need to go into the city."

"Oh?" Chiron asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do I need to give you the procrastination talk too?"

"I...don't think so?" Alexa responded, squirming under his gaze. "I was gonna actually do this closer to Christmas day, but because the plans changed I kinda...sorta…" Alexa trailed off, her gaze drifting down to settle on Chiron's hooves.

"I see" Chiron said, his voice becoming gentle. "Well...where is it you need to go?"

"West 155th." She answered his hooves immediately. Chiron nodded.

"Alright" He said. "You have everything you need?"

"Yep!" Alexa said, quickly returning her gaze to his face.

"You have mittens?" He asked, suddenly businesslike. Alexa nodded and pulled a pair of mittens out of her coat pocket. "A scarf?" She responded by pulling back her collar and showing the camp branded orange and black scarf wrapped snug around her neck.

"Weapons?" He asked, undeterred.

Alexa responded by reaching under her coat sleeves and tapping a pair of bracelets against one another. The one on her left arm expanded into a round shield, the one on her right, a sword.

"Now when did you learn to make enchanted weapons?" Chiron asked, momentarily pulled out of his business like tone.

"Saph left her design book and Otto's been mailing me forge homework every week! We Iris every month for grading!" Alexa explained brightly, returning the two items to their bracelet forms. Chiron beamed with pride. It wasn't often that his charges could get one past him like that.

"Very well. You wait right here and I'll have Argus get one of the vans ready." With that, Chiron turned and trotted out with a swish of his tail.

After nearly an hour of crawling through the heavy traffic, Alexa and her many eyed companion were parked in front of Fine Fare Supermarket. She had told the giant of a man that she wanted to make the last part of the journey alone. Thankfully, he seemed to understand...or at least he didn't argue. That might've been because of the eyeball on the tip of his tongue, but Alexa didn't ask.

"I...dunno how long I'll be gone." She said sheepishly. "I promise I won't take all day but...I dunno."

Argus just nodded, several eyes on his neck and the back of his hand blinking at her in sequence. She hadn't had many interactions with the 100 eyed security officer up until this point. She had seen him on occasion, but she had never really talked to him that much. As was always the case, she began to wonder about what she was seeing; She wondered just where all his eyes were? Did the ones in his armpits cry sweat or tears? Did he have eyes on his butt or the bottoms of his feet? How painful must it be for him to do anything if he has eyes on his feet!

To stop herself from going too far down this rabbit hole, she popped open her door. "Thanks again for the ride!" She said, slipping out and quickly hurrying down the street. The streets, though normally packed with pedestrians, got quieter the closer she got to her destination. Most people rushing around for the holidays were either grabbing last minute presents, or preparing for meals, or else picking up family from the airports. Not many were going where she was going.

She pushed open the creaky wrought iron gate and made her way inside. There were a few people here, standing in their own little corners, huddled against the snow and the winds. She pulled her coat a little tighter around herself as she passed by the rows, silent except for the occasional whisper or rustle. She sighs as she found what she was looking for, the simple marker had already been covered up with snow.

Squatting down, she rubs the moisture away, enough to see the lettering etched into the stone.

"Morgan Elizabeth Barber: Born: March 3, 1979. Death: May 24th, 1993." Below this was another inscription, written in a fancy cursive script. "You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, and loved more than you know"

Alexa sighed. It hadn't been her idea to put that as an epithet. She was Morgan's only living family besides their mother, so as her caretaker it had fallen to Chiron and Camp Halfblood to figure that part out. Chiron had chosen a quote from one of the few children's books still in the Barber family apartment, and coincidentally, he had chosen one of the two sisters' absolute favourites. The whole thing, the funeral, the burial, the gravestone, was paid for by Camp Halfblood's 'Antiochus Fund', something former campers and even a few immortal backers chip in for moments such as these. It was only attended by Alexa, Chiron, Theo, and a bunch of kids from Morgan's class. Had it been up to Alexa, she would've made the whole of Manhattan attend her sister's burial.

"Hey sis…" Alexa said, softly. "You won't believe what happened today…" She sat down next to the gravestone.

"We finally finished classes and me and Jazz were doing the sparring match, right? So it went on longer than any other time and I disarmed her!" She beams at the stone, practically glowing with pride. The stones, as they always were, said nothing. They never had, not since she had started coming here, but she thought, or rather, hoped that her words would make it down to the underworld somehow. Maybe newly arrived spirits would pass the message along.

"And then" She continued. "Then Jazz invited me to her mom's for Christmas!" She smiled down at the stone, even as the tears began to come. They always did.

"I wish you could come too, Morgan...I wish you could be here to see all this...I wish…" The grief and pain washed over her again, her smile melted like snow in July. She bowed her head and sniffed, very quietly "I wish it had been me…"

Her throat closed up, the tears fell hot and fast down her cheeks, but she had managed to learn how to cry silently. She didn't know how long she had stayed there, but after some time, she wiped her eyes, and forced a smile back onto her face.

"H-hey…" She said, reaching to her back pack and pulling it free from her shoulder. "I brought you something."

She unzips the bag and starts to pull out what she had brought. "I was going to save this for Christmas day but since I'm not gonna be here...well…"

She brings out the frame, the bronze glinted in the light as she gently sets it up, driving a pair of little stakes into the ground just above the stone to keep thieves from taking it. Smiling out of the picture was her sister, gap toothed and pig tailed, about ten or eleven years old, with a pudgy, brown haired toddler clinging to her side and giving the camera a suspicious look. She had been too young to remember this picture, but she didn't think her mother had taken it. For one thing, it was in a park, not far from their home, with some sort of bronze statue in the background. Their mother, among her many faults, did not take her children out very often at all. If she knew anything about Morgan, her sister had saved up pocket change just to get a disposable camera and take this.

It brought another tear to Alexa's eyes, but she wiped it away just as quickly.

"I love you, Morgan" She said gently, brushing a bit more snow off her sister's name, the stone cold beneath her fingertips. "Merry Christmas"