It wouldn’t be hard to imagine Nico’s favorite holiday being Halloween; It’s got everything he knows: monsters, death, ghosts, zombies, and skeletons. But that’s not why he likes it
At first he doesn’t care for it. Just another day like any,he comes back to camp from doing a side quest. He almost forgot about it until a little kid at camp told him
A monster from the woods found its way to the dining pavilion, and Nico had dealt with it by summoning a few skeletons.
And this little kid who saw the whole thing, comes up to him and starts gushing about how cool his trick was, and that he should to it at the campfire tonight
Nico asks why, ‘cause this is the first time anyone wanted him to do underworld magic for fun, especially at the bonfire. But the kid just tells him it’s Halloween and that it would really get everyone in the holiday spirits
That’s when he notices all the pumpkin carvings and “scary” decorations scattered around camp– even the infirmary has little tissue ghosts floating around
He finds Will and sees that he has a black cat mask on and a little orange bow tie
Will’s a bit surprised to hear that Nico didn’t know/ doesn’t really care for Halloween. “ “Isn’t all that scary stuff suppose to be your thing?” But he sees that Nico is uncomfortable and suggests that they go see Chiron about doing something fun for the bonfire
Chiron is more than happy to tell Nico all of the fun things CHB does to celebrate Halloween: hay wagon rides, pumpkin carving contests, costume contests, and a lot of pumpkin pie at dinner. He tells Nico that it would be okay if he summoned a few skeletons for the younger campers
Nico is a little nervous, but all of his friends tell him that he’s going to do great. Hazel tells him that it would be fun, and that afterwards they could carve pumpkins and eat candy apples It’s getting dark, and everyone is sitting around the bonfire. Katie Gardner was telling a scary story of a beautiful flower that would lull you to your death and use your body as fertilizer, when suddenly-
The earth split open, glowing green lights spilled out along with bony hands that have lost all their skin. Campers jumped to their feet, reaching for the hilts of their swords, but they never got the chance to attack A hoard of small children rushed forward-stabbing and slashing every bone in sight
Reyna had made a deal with them: if they fight off the scary skeletons and protect camp, she’ll make sure that they can meet Nico and ask him questions. Nico wasn’t really sure if that would be a good idea- why would a bunch of kids want to be around him anyways? But he agreed
The whole camp watched in amaze as these little kids fought off the dead. The skeletons shattered into pieces, skulls were sent flying, and though they could not make a sound, they rattled and creaked and groaned from the young ones almighty pummeling
Hazel and a few children of Hecate and twisted the mist into making it look like a claymation (in my opinion, those are more horrifying than any real set of bones). It was all very dramatic The dust had settled, and the earth had closed once more. The remaining bones disintegrated into dust and blew away with the wind. It was quite the spectacle.
The older campers were congratulating and cheering their little siblings Now it’s time for the Q&A! Nico stands off to the side, awkwardly. He’d love to answer their questions, but he doesn’t think they even remember he was there. Until he gets swarmed by the cuties, that is
One daughter of Iris asked if he could reanimate dead thing; only human skeletons and zombies, I’m afraid. She says that it’s probably for the best
Another kid asks very bluntly if he ever summoned a zombie to like turn off the light switch across the room or something; once, but I got in trouble
All the little kids told him how cool he was, and that he should do something like this every year. The child of Iris even asked for a hug, which Nico shyly obliged. She giggled and ran off afterwards
At the end of the night Reyna found him giving one of the kids tips on how to fight the dead. The kid runs off with a smile on there face
Reyna notices the small smile on Nico’s face too. She leans next to the tree where he stands and asks him if any of the kids were too pushy. He looks startled? surprised? He immediately defends the kids, saying that it was nice and happy to do it. Reyna smirks, and he realizes why she had asked that
It made him happy. It made him happy that so many kids wanted to hear what he had to say, and were impressed with what he could do… and that they weren’t afraid of him
It was very validating for him
Nico spends the rest of the night in the Hades cabin with all his friends, retelling the night’s events. Leo over dramatizes the whole thing while stuffing his mouth with skittles
Hazel and Will compliment him, saying that what he did was very nice for the kids, and that he should do it again next year
When everyone goes to bed, Nico is left with a smile on his face, and ideas swimming in his head for the next Halloween
That is why Halloween is Nico’s favorite holiday
