Hi! The last scene came to me while I was taking out the recycling, and the rest expanded. So here's one last Christmas story for you guys, I hope you had fantastic days!

Disclaimer: Me no own the Percy Jackson characters

The Magic of Christmas

"Oh, this is where you're getting groceries?" Percy asked looking at the department store.

"Yes. Why, what's wrong sweetheart?" Mom asked.

"I think I got kicked out of there once."

Mom rolled her eyes, a smile on her lips. "Wait outside, then. I'm not spending another Christmas Eve at the police office."

"We weren't there that long." Percy said, trying to laugh at what had been the guiltiest, most horrible night of his life.

"Of course not, I'm teasing you." Mom said kissing his cheek. "Don't wander off, this shouldn't take long."

"Kay," Percy said digging his bare hands into his coat pockets and leaning against the light post. The little bell dinged and Mom was in the store.

"This feels too easy," Alabaster said.

"You've done all your checks thrice, Alabaster." Claymore assured him. "Though I still think that this vengeance of yours is going too far."

"I'm living the life I'm living because of Percy Jackson," Alabaster said. "That boy survived two apocalypses and a myriad of wars while I lost everything and over half of my brothers and sisters died in one. I'll be damned if I let him live."

"Yes but Alabaster it's Christmas Eve." Claymore tried to reason, though he should have known long ago that his young friend wouldn't let bank holidays or anything to do with sentimentality stop him.

"Christmas doesn't matter." Alabaster snapped bitterly. Claymore jumped back.

"Like you said," Alabaster said more calmly, spying on the boy across the street who was leaning against a light post casually. "All my checks are done. There might not be a time other than on Christmas Eve."

"Mama!" He heard. Percy turned around and saw a little girl wearing a pink coat and gloves with holes. "Mama!" She said again, spinning around looking for someone. Nobody else was stopping by- one businessman in a trench coat nearly ran into her and walked on as if nothing had happened, though the little girl burst into tears. Come on people, Percy thought, it was Christmas Eve!

Percy approached.

"Hey you," he said kneeling down in front of her to see her eyes. Her polar bear tuque was pulled to her eyebrows. "Are you lost?"

The little girl nodded.

"Well that's too bad," Percy said compassionately. "How about I help you look for your mommy?"

The little girl's lower lip trembled and she turned the other way and darted off.

"Hey!" Percy said, thinking that he'd scared her because he was a stranger.

He looked over his shoulder. Mom had said not to move, and she did tend to get jumpy since his kidnapping last December… Oh, screw it. She'd understand.

He ran after the little girl.

He chased her into an alley- which should have been suspicious but he wasn't. Once he got there he managed to grab onto the little girl's wrist- only his hand passed right through her. The image flickered and she disappeared.

"What..?" He wondered. Part of it was familiar, though. He'd seen something like it before. Lou Ellen made shapes that looked real but couldn't be touched all the time at camp. She called them Mistdudes, fakeforms, mistforms..?

That's when Percy felt the arm around his throat, and felt the whisper of a blade to his chest.

"Say a word I slice you open, move a muscle and I stab." Someone said.

Percy's heart stopped beating.

"Bro- you're not a monster I can tell. So just let go and we're going to be okay." Percy tried to reason.

"As a matter of fact, Percy Jackson, I've tried to let go but it's never okay." His attacker said.

"That's a shame," Percy said. He propelled himself backwards and squashed his attacker as they fell. He managed to break free of the hold since his attacker was surprised, and pinned the guy.

"For you," Percy elaborated. "Now who are you and what's your problem?"

The guy had brown hair, dirty and unbrushed. His face was splashed with freckles and his eyes were an unsettling unnaturally bright green à la Rachel the Oracle. His clothes had runes scrawled onto them, the kind of things that decorated the Hecate cabin.

"Son of Hecate, aren't you? I haven't seen you around camp, have I? No, not at all. How do you know magic?" Percy asked.

"Maybe because I'm the original," the guy said. After a wrestling move Percy would have applauded him for on any other day; Percy was suddenly on his back in the snow again.

Percy bit his hand and flipped again.

"What are you doing with Imperial Gold if you're Greek?"

"I'm a bit of a mismatched creature, now aren't I?" He said. "I'm a child of Hecate. When are we normal?"

"Point taken," Percy said thinking of Lou Ellen's quirks. "What's your name? What's your problem?"

"Alabaster Torrington," he said. "Not that it'll matter much to you for long."

Percy was seized from behind by beings with incredible grips that he knew he wouldn't get out of. They held him by the forearms, so that Percy couldn't reach him.

"Golems," Alabaster said proudly. "I borrowed these stone men from another mythology. Harder to make and control than mistforms, but very rewarding."

"Okay, question two still stands." Percy said. "What's your problem?"

"You, of course." Alabaster said, getting up and brushing off his clothes. He was wearing a bulletproof vest. Gods, this guy must have it rough, and he must not get peace and quiet very often.

"Why aren't you at camp?" Percy asked. "I mean, you're obviously tired and beaten and used to it. I'm sure Lou Ellen, she's the head counsellor by the way, would love to have you around the cabin."

Alabaster's face looked bitter when Percy started talking, but at Lou Ellen's name his face softened.

"Ellie…" He said. "I haven't seen her in forever. My gods- how is she doing?"

"Lou? Oh she's fine, she's doing great. Bubbly and hyper and playing tricks on everyone she sees." Percy said, though he wasn't sure that he should be talking about a demigod to a total stranger. But then again, the caring look on his face was pretty telling. "She got hurt in the War with Gaia though, but they made her a really nice prosthetic arm back in the forges and I think she likes it better than her real arm."

"What?" Alabaster said, livid. "She got hurt?"

"It was a complete accident," Percy clarified quickly.

"Why I knew that- wait, you said they made her prosthetic for her?"

"Umm, yeah. Leo did. It changes colours and has a Northern Light multi-colour setting." Percy said realising that it was a very bad time for him to be talking about Lou Ellen. "She's one eight of Inspector Gadget now, as she puts it."

Alabaster smirked and gave out a short, dry laugh and looked surprised with the sound coming out of his mouth. "That's her, alright…"

"But seriously, I don't want to sound like a mama's boy or anything but I can't be here right now. What did I do?" Percy asked trying not to sound like a whiny five year old.

Alabaster rolled his eyes. "Have you ever considered why some of us were fighting for Kronos in the war?"

"Kronos wasn't in the war." Percy frowned.

"Two wars ago," Alabaster said annoyed. "Did you?"

Percy didn't say a word.

"Well I'll give you an answer; whatever Kronos was, he gave us a home. And that wasn't something any children of Hecate or Hebe or Nemesis or Iris had. So of course we took it when we got the chance. You should know, you just fought for your home a season or so ago."

Percy tried not to let the memories intrude the moment.

"It was the first time since I was eight years old that I woke up in the morning without thinking 'shoot, where am I and who am I with', or having to wonder what I was going to find to eat, or if I wanted to risk eating the food that was offered to me, or even having food offered to me. And that's the shallow stuff. When I was with Kronos' army, I could always turn to someone who could fix a spell gone wrong, or find company when I was lonely, or have someone to take care of and someone to take care of me… When I was with Kronos' army, I had a family.

"And you, Percy Jackson, were the key component of why I lost my home and Zeus strike me dead if you've ever thought of that." Alabaster said angrily, the grip he had on his sword turning his knuckles white.

Percy's face fell.

"Aww, man…" Percy said. "Look, Alabaster, I'm really sorry. You're right, I never thought about it. And I'm sorry, because honestly you look pretty cool apart from the whole trying-to-kill-me thing. That was clever, with the little girl. Totally fail proof when it comes to me and my fatal flaw, you're a pretty smart guy."

Alabaster frowned and looked at Percy suspiciously.

"And you obviously care about Lou Ellen a lot more than you care about yourself, other siblings too probably." Percy kept going.

Alabaster frowned and starred at his shoes, his face haunted.

"Let's just say that if a family was what there was in Kronos' army, I was the big brother in charge."

"I'm sorry, man. That sounds like a pretty sweet gig the children of Hecate had back there. But you know what, that's what they've all got going on at Camp Half-Blood. And they're safe and clothed and sheltered and happy, without having to be mercenaries." Percy said.

Alabaster seemed to be hesitating now. He'd have killed Percy a long time ago if Percy wasn't hitting a sensitive spot.

Alabaster couldn't help but think of his worst Christmas. It was the one where he'd had to run away from home because the alternative was to fall into the iron-gripped foster system.

He couldn't help but think of three Christmases ago, which was the first one since then that had been good.

The children of Hecate were, for the most part, camped out near New York during the Titan War. They were scouting the city and evaluating how many mistforms they'd need to summon to help their mother slow down the city's action, and try to clog a few battles. They were practising magic and helping the monsters train. But on Christmas, the demigods were free. Even Titan Lords respected bank holidays. Who would have thought?

Alabaster was woken up by all of his siblings. Thirteen of them jumped on his bed and summoned jingle bells and gongs and cymbals to wake him up –or give him heart attacks. They seemed just as happy about both. Usually he was the first one up, watching them all around the room where their mattresses and sleeping bags were spread out.

They'd decided on going with a Secret Santa format that year. As names were drawn out of hats, gifts were made in thin air out of mist and energy and every other tool at their hands. Sunshine, for example, had given Alabaster a beautiful statue of the nine worlds of Norse mythology made of ice that would never melt. Alabaster had made Lou Ellen an ear cuff of a dragon that actually talked and gave advice and told knock-knock jokes which his little sister found unconditionally funny. A few of the little ones had made mist forms that had, evidently, faded after a few days of swimming or leaping through the air, but they had been just as loved and appreciated.

So many smiles and tips on magic had flown around… Alabaster couldn't even describe that moment- it felt nearly sacred. And the pang of it was bittersweet on Alabaster's heart, especially tonight.

See? That Christmas had been the most amazing day of Alabaster's life and it'd made the small, misfit family of the children of Hecate more tightly knit. But had that mattered when fate had decided to separate them, by death or exiles or fugue? No. All was lost, none of it mattered anymore. It just lived on in Alabaster's head and some people thought that that was enough, but when you were on your own and roughing it: it wasn't enough.

It was like he'd told Claymore earlier; Christmas didn't matter.

"If you let me down I can tell you more, or I can help you fix whatever problem is keeping you from Camp Half-Blood." Percy said. "Maybe you could even see them?"

"I can't. The gods have forbidden it." Alabaster spat out.

"Well let me help fix it," Percy said. "I mean, you're a demigod. Whatever problem you have with me shouldn't stop you from going to Camp Half-Blood. Besides, you've already lost a lot of siblings haven't you? Come no, nothing should make The Titan War worst." The look on his face was so honest to Alabaster… there was no way he was being lied to.

Alabaster sighed thinking why am I doing this?

The golems melted back into the asphalt ground, and Percy landed on his two feet. He rubbed his forearms.

"Thanks, Alabaster." Percy said. "Thanks a lot."

Someone emerged at the end of the alley.

"Percy!" A woman with brown and grey hair with a grocery bag in each hand said. "I knew you'd go wandering. What did I tell you?"

He wasn't really being scolded, something in the woman's face told Alabaster that she was incapable of doing such a thing.

"Not to," Percy said.

The woman looked at Alabaster kindly, which told him right away that she could see through his mist charms. She was probably Percy's mother, in that case.

"Percy are you going to introduce me to..?"

"Oh, Mom, that's Alabaster." Percy said nonchalantly, as if Alabaster hadn't just been trying to kill him. "Alabaster, that's my Mom."

"Nice to meet you, Alabaster." Sally smiled. "Percy, does your friend know that he can come over for Christmas supper yet?"

"What?" Alabaster said.

"What? Umm, no." Percy said. He turned to Alabaster. "Want to come over for supper? My mom makes the best stuffing and a mean pie, and you look like you could use it."

Alabaster looked over his shoulder at Claymore.

"They're being too kind," he said to his guardian telepathically.

"Not really, Alabaster." Claymore said. "They're just being human. I think you should say yes. Gods know that you could get used to it again."

Alabaster didn't say a word.

"I'd…" He looked at Percy. He should kill him now. He should kill his mother first to make his last moments horrible, and then kill Percy.

But they were being kind, and Percy had apologised. He'd actually taken what Alabaster said to heart, had thought about it, had been human –as Claymore put it… Maybe he was being just as judgemental of Percy Jackson as he'd assumed Percy Jackson would be of him.

Besides. It was Christmas.

"I'd love to, yes." Alabaster said. He put his hands in his pockets, bit down on his lips and shifted his weight awkwardly. "Yes I, I would."

"Perfect!" Percy's mother said. "I'm Sally, by the way, Alabaster, just Sally."

"Okay," Alabaster nodded.

"Come on," Percy said nudging his head. "The apartment isn't far away."

Alabaster managed to move his body out of shock, and he followed his archenemy and his mother back to their home for a meal.

Maybe Christmas did make a difference, after all.