Camp Half-Blood: A Salty Christmas

Feliz Navidad

"Sienna, I'm begging you, please stop." Quiet Maddox wasn't one to speak his mind, but listening to Feliz Navidad for an hour straight had worn him down. The two were holed up in the Hecate cabin while Vex went out with Olthen. Sienna had enchanted an old radio to play the one Christmas song, while she leafed through a spellbook for ways to "make Christmas more rad and less sad".

"I told you! The spell plays songs by memory! Unless you want a garbled version of the YMCA or the How A Bill Becomes A Law chorus, you're stuck with this jam." Sienna jabbed her thumb in the direction of the radio. "Besides it's festive! And silence is boring!"

Did Maddox want to spend the day with Vex? The answer was yes, absolutely. He'd been dying to get some alone time with the girl he liked, and a nice simple date on Christmas Eve would've been perfect. Like usual things didn't work out in his favor, and as much as he cared for Sienna, he died a little inside everytime Feliz Navidad restarted.

"Could you turn into a snowy owl for a sec?" She asked, her eyes scanning the page. Maddox didn't bother to ask why. The transformation would give him ten seconds away from Feliz Navidad and that was more than enough incentive. He shifted forms and flew onto the ground where Sienna beckoned him to do so.

"Hoo?" He squawked at Sienna curiously, unsure if he trusted her intentions.

"You, Bird Brain. Duh, who else would I be talking to?" She seemed far too proud of herself for making that terrible joke. He didn't justify it with a response, and glared up at her from the ground. "Alright, just stand still and..." she read something off the page. For a second, all he could see was a deep sapphire blue light. He flapped his wings, half blinded.

"Stop doing that! It worked, dummy. Ugh- Mads!" He stopped squirming as he was lifted up off the ground. His eyes were firmly shut, and he didn't intend on opening them until he was sure he wouldn't be completely disoriented.

"Come on, Mads. I've done worse to you. You look sick, man! But you gotta let me know if you can see. I uh... didn't read the fine print? This could cause blindness if it's done wrong." Sienna gently set him down, sounding slightly nervous. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked several times. It took a moment to adjust, but to his relief he could see. He shifted back into human form and ran his hands through his hair, shaking the leftover feathers out.

"What do you think? Cool, right?" Sienna grinned widely. Maddox looked at himself to see he was faintly glowing blue. "It was supposed to be a white glow, but I can't get rid of my color for some reason." She rambled, examining her hands. He merely blinked and remained silent.

"...why?" He looked over at Sienna, confused.

"Same reason as Feliz Navidad, bud. It's festive!"