His hands trembled a bit as he stood in front of the gates of the palace. Nico knew he was screwed. His father must have found out what happened and now there was going to be, well, Hades to pay.

He slowly pushed open the gates of the palace as they creaked with the familiar rusted screech that they always did. He looked up above to see Alecto and her two sisters looking at him. He wasn't sure what they were thinking but it was probably something along the lines of them hoping his father would let them eat him.

He had a terrible feeling that that may be exactly what was going to happen.

He slowly made his way into the palace, hoping for some type of divine intervention to help him escape his father's wrath for breaking the most ancient and important laws of the Underworld.

He knew it was wrong but after losing Bianca to rebirth, he had been desperate for some type of family. His father had never exactly been father of the year material, nor did he treat Nico much better than he did other demigods, trying to kill one of his best friends in Percy on multiple occasions. His friend who was also currently missing in action.

That was another unnerving thing as he wondered if perhaps his father had finally caught up with Percy. He had checked the prison cells his dad had put Percy in before but they had been empty.

As he stepped into the throne room, he couldn't help but sigh a bit in relief to find Persephone nowhere to be seen. She would only have made the situation worse.

He gazed up at his father and flinched a bit at the look on his face before he steeled his nerves and met his father's cold dark eyes.

"You wanted to see me Dad?"

Hades narrowed his eyes for a quick second before the returned to normal and the Lord of the Dead sighed loudly.

"I know what you did Nicholas and you are incredibly lucky I am the only one to know about it. I should toss you into punishment for a couple years for being foolish enough to think you could do this without my knowledge."

Nico bowed his head a bit but was relieved to hear his father wasn't going to kill him.

"What is your plan? Bring Hazel to Camp Half-Blood?" Hades asked in an almost mocking tone to his son.

Nico was confused but slowly nodded his head, "Yes, why can't she go there?"

Hades smirked, "She is not a daughter of Hades."

Nico's eyes widened, "Yes she is, I can feel it about her. She is my sister." He said with conviction but a small part of him feared that his father was telling the truth and he hadn't found more family.

Hades rolled his eyes a bit, "She is a daughter of Pluto, not Hades."

Nico's face was comical and had his father not been Hades then he may have been laughed at. The Lord of the Dead glowed a bit as his body shimmered until he was in his Roman form making Nico's jaw drop.

"Hazel is a daughter of me, Pluto. This is my Roman form boy." Pluto explained in a stern tone before he shimmered back into Hades who looked slightly amused by Nico's confused expression.

The Lord of the Underworld sighed as he sat in his throne before starting at the beginning and telling Nico all about how the Roman gods came into existence and how the gods were now split between their Greek and Roman aspects. He explained about the other demigod camp in California and the role they played during the war with the Titans. He explained about the Civil War and how Zeus and the other gods ordered the demigods to be separated from each other and their memories of the other groups erased.

When he finished, Nico looked like his world had just been turned upside down.

After a minute the young demigod found his voice.

"Why are you telling me this if the Greeks and Romans hate each other?"

Hades gave his son a wry smile, "Because I'm sending you to Camp Jupiter."

Nico's eyes widened and his face looked at little fearful, "B…But why?"

"You brought your sister back and now she is your responsibility. She is a Roman and that is where she needs to be. You will say you were sent as an ambassador of Pluto to bring your sister to camp as well as represent me."

Nico paled, "Won't they kill me?"

Hades mentally face palmed at his son's simple thinking.

"There is no difference between a son of Pluto and a son of Hades you dolt. They won't know that you're Greek as long as you don't act like an idiot."

Nico's face reddened in embarrassment and he nodded to his father and prepared to leave before Hades spoke again.

"There is another reason you are going to Camp Jupiter." He said making Nico stop in his tracks. He turned around to look at his father questioningly.

"Are you wondering where your little friend Jackson is?" Hades asked casually.

Nico paled, "Tell me you didn't hurt him."

Hades glared at his boy, "I did not hurt the little upstart you fool."

Nico let out a sigh of relief and waited for his father to continue. He was slightly concerned by his father's almost nervous expression.

"Hera has kidnapped him." Hades said as he held up a hand to stop Nico from speaking. "She has concocted a dangerous plan. She has taken Jackson and the leader of the Roman camp as she plans to exchange them. She plans to merge the camps to deal with what is to come."

"What do you mean? What is coming?" Nico asked warily.

Hades face turned even paler than usual before he shook his head, "You will see when everyone else does. Hera is going to place Jackson inside the Roman camp as a part of her plan to unite the Greeks and Romans. That is the other reason I want you there. I need you to make sure Hazel trusts Jackson."

"What? Why are you telling me to do this? You hate Percy so why would you want Hazel around him?" Nico asked suspiciously.

Hades let out a bone chilling laugh.

"Hate him? No, I do not hate Percy Jackson. He's a mouthy and disrespectful upstart and that is exactly why I like him. No one has managed to get under Zeus' skin as much as Jackson in millennia and that is enough to earn my favor."

Nico stared at his father waiting for him to yell 'GOTCHA', until he remembered his father was Hades and he definitely did not do things like that. His father had about as much sense of humor as Zeus had humility, which would be none.

Nico was suddenly smacked hard on the back of the head. He reached for his sword as he spun to find his attacker only to see a skeleton warrior behind him.

"Pay attention boy! I'm not done talking." Hades growled at Nico who glared at the skeleton before turning back to his father.

"So what, you want me to watch Percy's back or something?"

Hades groaned in exasperation, "No, Jackson can handle himself. I want you to make sure your sister trusts him. I believe she will need Percy if you want her return to the world of the living to be permanent."

Nico stared at his father for a minute before he nodded his head.

"I'll make sure she trusts him. I'll bring her to Camp Jupiter father, I won't let you down."

Hades opened his mouth to respond but stopped himself. He waited a second before nodding, "I know you won't son, you never have." He said in quiet tone that Nico still heard.

Nico's eyes widened but he quickly ran towards a shadow before his father saw his shocked expression. That was the first compliment his father had ever given him and he had no plans to spoil the moment. He popped out of a shadow in New York where Hazel was waiting for him on a park bench. She noticed his smiling face and smiled as well as Nico approached her to let her know he had found her a home.

A.N: I had trouble thinking of anything creative for this challenge so this is what you get. Not my best but it will do. Hopefully I get a better idea for the fourth story of the contest.