Chapter Text
~Prologue~
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Nico had a long day, being a wanted person was not easy. He was summoned for the smallest of things. From helping out at the stables to picking strawberries to sparring sessions. It was honestly such a drag. He no longer felt out of place at camp and he was happy with his life but he really just wanted to sit back and relax. And he was, which was the worst part.
This were calm, too calm. Like the calm before a storm. Nico was chilling on the beach, laying down idly on a black beach blanket with small bone prints all over, watching the waves. Summer was finally here, meaning the camp would be swirming with demigods. He got up and rolled his blanket. He was bored so he decided to go to the infirmary and annoying his significant annoyance.
He left his blanket in his gothic cabin and walked towards the infirmary. As he got closer, he saw two kids rushing another kid into the infirmary. Nico narrowed his eyes at the three and realized that one of the kids was the one and only Sherman Yang, head counselor of the Ares cabin(his scarred face wasn't hard to miss). The other one seemed to be one of the Stroll brothers, which was suprising because they were never seperated and the third kid was obviously not the other brother. Infact, he was someone Nico didn't recognise. Nico jogged towards the infirmary, curios to know more.
The infirmary was in chaos. You could say goddess Eris herself made a quick visit to the place. A bunch of kids were running around, some trying to find extra band-aids and some stuffing a few files into a drawer. In the middle of the room were Sherman Yang and Will who seemed to be holding down boy onto the bed while Austin was taping him down...? Um, what?
"Am I interupting something?" Nico started off, eyeing to group curiosly.
"Oh Nico thank the gods" Sherman Yang said. Nico hated that sentence. It ment that the person wanted Nico's help with something.
"Can you pass us a pair of scissors? I'm pretty sure it's somewhere around here near to table" Will said without looking up, too busy trying to hold the boy down. Nico spots the gaudy purple scissor almost instantly and hands it over to Sherman Yang. Sherman cuts the ducktape and straps proceeds to throw the roll to Will so that they can strap his legs too. Nico just stood there and watched with horror.
"Uhm, somebody care to explain what's going on?" Nico asked.
"We asked Conner to hand us a pair of scissors but he disappeared into Narnia I guess" Sherman replied.
"Not that Sherman!" Nico said, annoyed "I mean, why are you strapping that kid on the bed? With ducktape that too? Don't you get like, elastic fabric straps for this?" Will, Nico's boyfriend, took the initiative to answer.
"Someone thought it was a brilliant idea to give dysfuntional teenagers with ADHD some skittles mixed in Coke along with ambrosia which did some weird voodoo shit and turned this guy into a skittle obsessed moster now. People like to call the 'Skittle fever'. Courtesy of the Ares cabin" Sherman snapped his fingers and pointed at Nico, looking proud about something. Will shot a glare at Sherman, as if saying 'This isn't something to be proud of, Sherman'.
"And for the straps, the ones we have are already used for the other two paitents so" Will just shrugged. They were so chill about strapping a kid on a bed with a duck, gods, what even the fuck happened in there?
"Why do you have to tape to the bed though?"
"Because we do not want him to turn into a skittle-craving zombie" Sherman replied. Nico blinked at him.
"Chiron isn't here to help us with this situation as you know, he's gone to meet the Party Ponies, and I'm pretty sure Mr. D forgot about this" Will said the last part with a sigh.
"I have acquired the holy pair of scissors" Connor (or that is who Nico pressumed him to be) entered dramatically, with a pair of purple scissors, swinging them in the air.
"Oh Conner! My knight in shining armour!" Sherman replied in a soap opera voice as he faked a dramatic feint. "I fear you are too late" He says in a grave voice.
"Huh?" Conner gapes at him "How come?"
"Sire Nicolo Di Angelo has already graced us with a pair, which was inside the room"
"What the fuck" Nico blinked.
"Where?" Conner frowned.
"On the fucking table, Conner" Sherman rolled his eyes.
"Oh"
"Well, we could you use an extra pair around here " Will tried to lighten the mood. Conner mumbled something under his breath.
"Welp, I really wanted to see the rumoured skittle zombie" Conner shrugged. As if on que, the boy taped to the bed started moving violently, making weird zombie noises.
"Looks like your wish came true" Sherman said.
"Out of everything you could wish for, Conner!" Will cursed as he ran towards the bed, Sherman following him. Nico decided that it was the perfect time for him to leave. It's not like he didn't want to help or anything, he was just too tired to deal with this kinda stuff, and besides, there was Will and Sherman. They could handle the situation quite well without his help.
"I'll just go outside," Nico pointed at the door, "away from whatever is happening here" He deemed it best to go and sleep in his cabin, because why not. No one needs a reason to sleep. All he could wish for was dreamless sleep.
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Nico wasn't as lucky as Conner. Nico 'woke up' standing in an abyss which slowly trasformed into his father's throne room back in the underworld in a swirl. He focused his eyes to the figure infront of him. It was none other than Hades, the lord of the underworld and his father. He decided to spice things up with his attire (A/N: definately not because the author forgot how he usually looks in the books). His lucious jet black hair was short, much shorter than before, was slicked back, exposing his palish-blue skin which shone like a pearl. His face was sulken, which brought out his cheek bones. His black eyes filled with life ironically popped out around his dark circles. He wore a back tailored suit made up of the souls of sinners which actually looked good on him.
"New look" Nico started.
"Mingling with the mortals of this era was harder than expected" Hades admitted "But it's nothing I can't handle"
"Right..." Nico replied. The father-son duo just stared at each other. Well, this was akward.
"So, uh, is there a reason why you've summoned me father?"
"Does a father need a reason to summon his son?" Hades asked. Nico raised his brow.
"Okay, fine. Maybe I do need ask a tiny favour from you" Hades admitted begrudgingly.
"May I know what 'tiny favour' you wanted to ask from me, father?" Nico narrowed his eyes and asked cautiously.
"So, a while back, I recieved a letter from our relatives in the clouds. Something about dark underworld-y or 'weird voodoo shit' things roaming around in a city. Souls not coming to the underworld or something" Hades shrugged. Hades summoned some sort of paper and let Nico read it.
To the brooding lord of the underworld,
It has come to my father's notice that some weird voodoo shit is going on in the city of Gotham and it is originating from your domain. He requests you to do something about it or something. We would appreciate it if you finish the job in two months or so.
Your amazing and favorite nephew,
Apollo
"Isn't that Thanathos' job?"
"Thanathos is only incharge of human souls. From our investigation, those souls aren't quite human"
"I'm not able to follow what you're saying father"
"No one knows what's happening in that city. It's quite...what do mortals call that again? Ah, yes. Freaky" Nico blinked at his father. Now he may be over hundred or something but he considers himself pretty well-versed with modern-day slang. Talking to people makes you educated in various topics. He didn't expect his ancient father to use modern-day slang. He didn't know how to feel about it.
"Which city father?" Nico asked.
"Gotham" Ofcourse.
"The coustume freak club city?"
"Yes, that. Which is another reason why we cannot continue our search" Hades said "These, vigilantes aren't your typical mortals. Their visual prowess is so good that even the mist struggles to cover things up. That is why for our safety, we don't go around that area. We also placed a spy in their so-called league to prevent them from finding our secret."
"Wonder Woman?" Nico asked. She was quite popular among the campers. Who wouldn't like a buff and superstrong woman anyway?
"Yes"
"And what does this have to do with me?"
"I want you to go to Gotham and report to me about the situation" Silence.
"I know you're finally getting along with your peers and actually having a social life. I don't want you to-" Hades was intterupted by Nico.
"I'll go"
"Pardon?"
"I said, I'll go. A change of scenery would be nice"
"I wounldn't call Gotham a scenery"
"When do I leave?"
"I reccomend leaving as soon as possible"
"So tomorrow?"
"As you wish. I shall arrange an accomodation for your stay"
"Cool"
"And son," Hades started.
"Mhm?"
"Be careful. I may not be able to help you if you get in trouble. And remember to stay clear from vigilants as much as possible"
"I'll remember that, father" Nico was about leave when a rainbow appeared infront of them. An iris message. Huh, Nico didn't know you could recieve an IM in a dream. The rainbow revealed Hermes smilling wear blue PJs with small arrow doodles.
"Wassup Uncle H" He greeted.
"What do I owe this IM?" Hades asked blankly.
"Oh, nothing much. Just wanted you to help win this argument. Pinapples on pizza is a good combo"
"Pinapples on pizza is a crime!" Apollo butted in. He was wearing the same PJs as Hermes, but in yellow.
"Uncle H agrees with me, since I'm his favorite nephew and all" Hermes stated proidly.
"Pa-lease, I am his favorite nephew" Apollo bit back.
"Nah it's me" Artemis said. She also wore the same PJs but in grey. "Right, Uncle H?"
"Right" Hades smiled slightly.
"But that doesn't make any sense!" Athena interupped. The 3 started fighting.
"Uh, we gotta finish this IM before Ares realises that we're using his fauset water" Artemis tried to explain.
"Ugh, children" Hades rolled his eyes. "You should leave now, take passes slowly in the dream realm" With that, Hades dissapeared in a swirl. Nico woke up in his cabin. He got up and opened the door. It was nighttime. He decided it was best to see Mr. D and inform him about his father.
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"So, your father visited you in your dreams and asked you to go to Gotham on some sort of stealth mission?" Mr. D summerised.
"That seems to be the case, sir" Nico replied. Mr. D took a sip from his diet coke and scratched his beard.
"And when does he want you do leave?"
"Tomorrow, sir" Mr. D scratched his beard.
"And why are you telling this to me?"
"Because you are the director of this camp, and Chiron isn't here"
"Oh, right" Mr. D said, taking a sip from his diet coke. "Very well, I guess you can go" Mr. D waved his hand, signaling Nico to leave. Nico made his way to cabin 7's table. He spoke to Will about his dreams and quest. He quietly listened to Nico. It made Nico feel nervous, as if he did something wrong. After Nico finished, Will asked,
"When are you leaving?"
"Tomorrow morning" Will was quite. Awfully quite. Nico saw Will's face twist with various emotions, some he could desipher, sadness, concern and fear maybe?
"Some of my relatives live there, in Gotham" Will said. Everyone raised their brow. From what Nico knew, Will's family lived in Texas.
"They're pretty distant" Will continued "and I've heard some stuff, bad stuff from there" Nico waited for Will to continue.
"You know, vigilants and stuff. And I know you've been to the underworld twice, and that you are capable of taking care of yourself, but I'm still scared. I-I wanna go with but I know I can't" Nico blinked, trying to process what Will had said, then he laughed. After the whole tartarus incident, Nico decided to become more 'open' and he smiled more, but it seemed that some people still got startled by it.
"Why are you laughing?" Will asked.
"I just find you worrying about me cute" Will blushed. "And I'm glad that my boyfriend cares about me you know"
"I assume you don't know much about vigilantes right?" Will asked
"Mhm. Are you gonna help me learn?" Nico asked.
"I'm more of a Star Trek person, but I do know someone who can help"
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And that's how Nico ended up in the Athena cabin with Malcom Pace. According to Will, Malcom was a hardcore superhero fan(A/N: Head Canon alert!). If anyone knew anything about vigilantes, they wouldn't as good as Malcom. They sat on Malcom's bunk, with a hundred pictures and newspaper article cut-outs about vigilantes. By now he had learnt the names of all the 'Superheros' and 'Supervillians' in Gotham and other places.
"What do I do if I get caught?" Nico asked.
"Caught?" Malcom asked.
"As in if someone finds out that I'm a demigod"
"Well, no demigod goes to Gotham because it's a grey area. The mist isn' that dense either" Malcom pondered. "You can pretend to be a metahuman"
"A what now?"
"A genetically modified human being with superpowers" Malcom explained. "Here's your alias: You're a metahuman with the ability to teleport, but for some reason you can only teleport in the shade. You also have another secret. You're a defective metahuman. You can't teleport more than three or four times in a day. You were tortured even more in a laboretry to "fix" you. You ran away from there and ended up in Gotham"
"Wow" Nico was in awe. How the fuck did he come up with that in just two minutes will forever be a mystery to Nico. Guess it helps to ask a child of Athena.
"Thanks a lot, man. I really apprieciate it" Nico said.
"No problem, just helping a fellow demigod out" Malcom smiled.
"Oh, and Nico" Malcom started.
"Hm?"
"Beware of Batman, specially when it comes to your metahuman alias. He's...not a fan of metahumans so."
"Thaks, Malcom. I'll keep that in mind, but its not like I'll meet Batman of something" After saying goodbye to Malcom, Nico went back to his cabin to sleep. Thankfully, he had an uneventful, dreamless sleep. He woke up early in the morning to pack his stuff which wasn't much. Some change of clothes, ambrosia, nectar in a flask and a few band-aids, a first-aid kit, mortal cash along with some sharp knives and a few notebooks pens and comics for entertainment.
Though Nico said a few things, he ended up with a suitcase, a backpack and a duffle back (all black). It was around 8:30 by the time he came out of his cabin. He went to the Apollo table and had breakfast along with his luggage. He went to Halfblood Hill along with everyone who wanted to wish him goodbye. There was Will, Kayla, Austin, Malcom, Sherman, Damian White and Valentina (Nico suspected the only reason Damain came was because of Valentina).
"Stay safe" Kayla said.
"Don't get killed" Sherman said.
"And don't forget the stuff I told you" Malcom reminded.
"If you need any help, you know who to call" Will said.
"Be careful," Valentina said "Gotham is shit so don't expect much from it"
"I second that" Damian said.
"All the best man," Austin said, "I know you'll ace this stealth quest"
"Thank you, all of you. I mean it" Nico said. He was really happy they had come to bid him goodbye. There was a warm, fuzzy feeling in his heart.
"Group hug!" Kayla yelled. And with that, everyone hugged Nico, who was, well, suffocating. They let him go and he coughed a few times.
"You guys sure know how to suffocate someone" Nico said.
"Thanks man" Sherman replied.
"I know you're gonna do great" Will said as he hugged Nico ad kissed his cheek. Everyone else oooh-ed. Nico's face warmed up.
"Thanks" He said. He kissed Will back, turned around and started walking, he looked back to see and blushing Will getting teased by everyone else. He smiled and waved at them. They waved back. He turned around and walked towards Julias Albert, his zombie chaperone and got in the car.
"Take me to Gotham, Julias" Nico said.
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Nico arrived at Gotham during the night. He deemed it best to go on foot from here on out. He took out his phone (A/N: World Building Alert!) which was made specifically for demigods to go unnoticed by monsters. This was made by the Hephaestus kids from Camp Half-Blood and the technicians from Camp Jupiter. This was their first collaboration after the Second Giant war. Apparently they made the SIM card out of Celestial Bronze and the other parts a mix of Celestial Broze and Imerial Gold. Since he was in Gotham, which was a grey area, he couldn't risk using IMs as the mist barely works. Nico could manipulate the mist in normal circumstances, but in a place like Gotham, only people like Hazel or Thalia can control the mist. The others back at camp know this too, so they'll stick to using phones.
He tried finding the accomodation his father had prepared. He wanted to find a place to rest at first. It was (you guessed it) a cemetary. He sat near a grave and tried to use the GPS on his phone. He somehow figured the co-ordinates and got up. He turned around and started walking when his face hit something hard.
"What the hell?" Nico cursed. Infront of him was a black...breast plate? Weird. His eyes drifted up and realised he bumped into a man with a bat mask. Fuck. How did Nico not notice him coming this close to him?
There was only one person in Gotham who wore a bat mask at this time of the night, Batman. Nico wanted to avoid his man as much as possible, but 10 minutes in Gotham and he already bumped into the man. How the fuck does one bump into Batman? The words he told Malcom last night flashed into his mind. Wow.
"Um, hi?" Nico said. Batman said nothing. Oookaaayy. He stepped aside and tried to go but Batman came into his way, again. They kept doing this until Nico was fed up, which was three times.
"Sorry man, I'm tryna leave here" He said. Batman just looked at him and asked.
"Why are you here?"
"Uh, that's non-"
"Why are you here" Batman intterupted. Great. Nico was trying to be nice but-
"Where are your parents?" Okay. That's it. Fuck this guy. Who the hell does he think he is?
"6 feet under" He wasn't lying. His father lives in the underworld and his mother is dead.
"Oh" Was all Batman could say.
"Uh huh" Nico said. "So, can you like, step aside...?"
"Most people would tremble in fear when they see me" Batman said.
"Well, I'm not most people so" Nico tried escaping yet again but failed.
"Come with me" Batman ordred.
"Excuse me?" Nico said. "I'm not going anywhere with you if you aren't taking me to the place I want to be at"
"And don't try to escape" Nico debated whether he should attack Batman and run, but he didn't wanna be in Batman's radar and he wasn't sure if he could win this match.
"Whatever" Nico decided to follow Batman. If some weird stuff happens he's just gonna shadow travel away from there. They walked for sometime and ended up in...an orphanage? What the fuck.
"Why are we here?" Nico asked.
"You're gonna stay here for the night"
"No I'm not"
"Yes you are" Batman said.
"I have somewhere to go"
"Doesn't look like it" Batman replied. "Look, kid. Just stay here for the night. Even if you have someplace to go, it's not a good idea for you to try finding it at night in Gotham, unless you wanna get mugged at every ten metres"
Nico hated how Batman's arguement made sense.
"Fine. But like, will they let me stay?" Nico asked.
"You're an orphan, of course they'll let you stay"
"Wow, okay" Nico said. Batman proceeded to go and knock the door. After a few minutes a very suprised and kinda shocked lady looks at Nico as Batman signals him to come over. They went inside and the woman made Nico fill a few forms. Nico took out his Demigod TM reading glasses, specially for dyslexia. He wore the glasses and filled the form.
Now that he was registered, they sent him to some room to sleep. There were other kids who were pretending to be asleep. After the lady left, they all woke up and asked him a bunch of questions. Nico ignored them and dropped onto the bed he was assigned to.
"Don't touch my stuff" With that he fell asleep. He had another dreamless sleep, which Nico appreciated. He got out of bed when the woman from last night entered the room.
"Oh good, you're awake" She said. Nico stared at her.
"Get ready" She said, "You're getting adopted"
"Huh?"