Nico left camp a day after the battle. The next time he could think of appearing in the demigod world...well, it would be Percy's birthday. So he had months to himself. He couldn't visit Hazel yet, but there was someone he could finally see. So he shadow traveled to the Underworld.
He had on a backpack he had stolen off a corpse he found on the side of the highway, then he had his hoodie and gloves, and his sword hanging from his belt. In the backpack, he had a canteen of nectar, some of his extra knives and weapons, snacks and a couple of water bottles from a gas station, and the Hades figurine he took back from Percy.
When he stepped out of the shadows before his father's throne in the Underworld, everything went silent around him. But his eyes landed on his father's, he saw that he was alive and well, and relief filled his soul.
That's him, he told his souls. That's my father.
Hades stood from his throne, his robes billowing around him, his crown on, his eyes narrowed. Then he gestured for all spirits and ghosts and anything else in the room to leave, and suddenly it was just Nico and Hades.
"Son," Hades greeted. "You've finally come to explain yourself."
Nico nodded and tried not to get emotional. But he couldn't help himself, and before he knew it he was hugging his father, and another tear or two escaped his dead eyes.
"Dad..." Nico whimpered, feeling like a small kid. "Oh, gods, dad..."
Hades was stock still, his body tense, his aura flickering between emotions. "Son...what are you doing?"
Nico detached himself from the god of the Underworld and wiped his eyes. "Sorry, I'm sorry. I've just missed-...it's been so long..."
Hades stared at him.
"Sorry," Nico apologized. "Didn't mean to get so close. I'm sorry. Just forget that it ever happened."
Hades cleared his throat before looking him over. "How old are you?"
"Should have turned eighteen," Nico guessed.
"You didn't bow."
"No, I didn't."
"You have souls attached to you."
"I'm aware."
"You're missing an ear."
Nico raised an eyebrow. "That's what you focus on?"
Hades sighed and grabbed his shoulders, looking him over once more. "You're strong...both your body and your powers. You hold some of my life in your energy. You fought for the gods in your timeline, correct?"
Nico nodded. "Still do."
Hades stared into his eyes before finally letting him go. "Explain what you've been through."
"Dad, fate-"
"Don't give me that bullshit," Hades snapped. "My son is standing in front of me, has obviously been through hell, refuses to bow to me. I want to know what blackened your soul. And yes, I can see it, Nico. I can also see the souls of those your harbor."
"Are you going to force them from me and into the afterlife?" Nico asked.
"I would like to," Hades admitted. "But it's impossible. They're stuck to you for eternity."
Nico let out a breath. "Good."
"Good?" Hades asked. "What do you plan on doing with them, son?"
Nico played with his knife. "I...I protect the souls that I can. Where...where I'm from, they...didn't have anywhere to go. Nowhere safe. Death wasn't safe."
Hades's face turned stone cold. "Who dared disrupt the dead?"
Nico looked in his eyes. This was his father, this was the god that waited for him before letting himself die. This was the man that had done his best to point his son in the right direction, to save him from the curse of all Hades children, to keep him alive and fighting.
This was his father, and he was home from war, and he collapsed into those arms and told the story he had been bursting to tell.
Everything. He told Hades everything. He gasped and sobbed and broke down in his father's arms. The dam holding him together finally broke. His sanity cracked some more. All children of Hades go insane, he warned himself. It was only a matter of time and he needed to finish his task before he did so. But no doubt Tartarus and the mansion sped it up.
He wasn't sure how long he spoke, how long that story took to tell. But by the time he finished and looked up, his throat and eyes raw, he saw his father had transported them into Nico's room in the Underworld. They were sitting on his bed, no one else in sight, alone.
Silence followed. Hades stared at him, just stared, anger and something else in his eyes. But no words left his lips.
"Are you mad at me?" Nico croaked, his tear ducts finally dry for good.
Hades stood up and paced. "Why on earth would I be mad at you?"
Nico watched his every move. "I sent Bianca marching to her death."
"You explained why. In that circumstance, I would have done the same. It's the trolley problem, Nico, the gray between right and wrong. A train is going down a set of tracks. In front of it, one person is tied to the track. You can pull the lever, but the train will switch to the set of tracks where five people are tied. Everyone, whether they like it or not, would let the one die."
"Than that one, they're just damned because you want to save more people? Their life means nothing?"
"Of course they mean something. You saved their souls and brought them into your own." Hades crossed his arms. "You're sure that all that shit happened? Your story is true?"
"I think I'm pretty damn sure-"
"Right, right, that's not something you'd make up," Hades dismissed. "I'm going to murder those Fates."
Nico frowned. "Why?"
"I agree with Hestia, what she told you," Hades said. "They chose you, set you up for this, made you into their champion. They could have chosen Jackson, Grace, but no, they chose you."
Nico looked down at his lap. "You're saying I'm not good enough to be their champion?"
"I'm saying you deserve better."
Nico blinked at the compliment before eyeing his father. "But...it was all my fault...I let Leo Valdez live."
"You were trying to save a life, son. That's no reason for punishment."
Hades stopped his pacing and ran his hands through his hair. Stress seemed to radiate off of him. "We will fight side by side in the coming battle. We can do this, no matter what Kronos plans this time around."
Nico curled up. "Dad...can I ask you a question? And...and I really want an honest answer."
Hades nodded. "Ask."
"Were they telling the truth?" Nico asked. "Pan and Hestia. Will I really be able to die and rest where Earth will never reach me?" Earth. He didn't dare use her name yet.
"If that's what you want, if we beat her, then yes, you may," Hades nodded. "If we beat her, I will grant you that wish."
"Where would I go?" Nico asked. The thought of it all, of death, it was like a small kid imagining their future vacation. It was like a bedtime story. A lullaby. "When I die, where will you send me to rest?"
"I have some ideas, but you have time to decide," Hades answered. "You could rest in Elysium, in the Isles of the Blest, could stay alive and live wherever you want. Or you could travel to Tartarus and jump into Chaos."
Chaos. Nothingness. The thought was the closest thing to happiness he had felt in forever.
"Chaos," he pleaded. "Send me to Chaos."
"When it's all over, I can do so," Hades agreed. "But now we must prepare for war, we must find out what he's planning. And then we'll focus on cutting off Earth's weapons before she even knows they exist."
Nico looked around the room. "This is my room again...right?"
Hades nodded. "You should use it to rest. It is the safest you'll ever feel in this life. You have an Underworld of the dead protecting you, you have me protecting you. You can rest knowing that you'll wake."
Nico grabbed his arm before he could leave. "I have one more question."
Hades stared down at him. "Yes?"
Nico gulped as he stared into those dark eyes. "Are...Are you proud of me? Back...back then, you always said that you'd rather have had Bianca live, not me, that I was a disappointment. Are you upset it was me to come back, not her? Do you feel stuck with me simply because you now realize your life is at stake?"
Hades sat beside him and let out a low sigh. "Son, I am not a mortal. Us gods view offspring as just that, offspring. We aren't human. It's why we have so many, why other gods can just ignore their children unless they need something. But you- you make me proud. If everything you told me is correct, you have the strength of your mother." He took Nico's face in his hands. "You are my son as much as your mother's, you are the champion of the Fates, you have survived Tartarus when no god has. If you weren't so intent on dying, I'd offer you godhood. I am proud of you, Nico di Angelo, and that will never change. Even after you dissolve yourself into Chaos."
This. This was what going through Tartarus had been for. This moment, it had all been worth it.
Even if they lost again, it would be okay. This made everything okay.
Get ready, Gaea, I promised on the Styx to rip you limb from limb. And that will only be me getting started.
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AN: Yes, I know the Isles of the Blest are for those who have reached Elysium three times, and Hades knows this. Nico just doesn't realize what it means for him in the heat of the moment