Author's Note: Sorry.

Tino had quieted down by the time they reached the palace walls. Nico wasn't sure if that was a good thing. He was still carrying his brother, and the poor boy hadn't moved a muscle since he'd stopped crying. While it wasn't the most enjoyable thing to have a child screaming in his ear, the lack of movement was concerning.

The dead guards let the boys through the gates without a word. Nico carried Tino through their stepmother's garden and set him down when they'd entered the grand foyer. Tino's legs crumpled beneath him and slumped to the ground. He stared blankly at the empty air in front of him. Nico knelt down in front of Tino and gently shook his shoulder.

"Tino? Are you okay?" Tino shook his head slowly. "That was your mom back there, wasn't it?" Tino sniffled and his lip began to quiver again. Nico hugged his brother as he cried. "I'm so sorry, Tino." One of Hades's nameless servants tapped Nico's attention and informed him that their father awaited the boys in the throne room. Nico waved him away and focused on consoling Tino. Hades could wait.

He did his best to calm Tino down at least a little bit, drawing from his memories of Bianca hugging him, rubbing his back, and singing to him whenever he got upset as a little kid. Singing wasn't exactly Nico's forte, but he could do the rest. It took a while, but Tino eventually settled down enough to at least breathe properly again. Nico pulled away and gave his brother a moment to wipe the tears off his cheeks with his tiny orange t-shirt.

"Do you want to do this today?" Nico asked. "If you're not up to meeting our father right now, I can take you back to camp and I'll explain everything to him."

"Explain what to whom?"

Nico swore under his breath and stood up as he turned. "Good evening, Father."

Hades gave his older son a small nod of acknowledgment, "Nico." The god tilted his head to peer behind Nico. One of his eyebrows twitched slightly and his mouth formed a hard line. "Am I to assume that's my other son?"

Nico sighed and gently prompted Tino to his feet. He didn't resist, but he stood more listlessly than most of the ghosts in the Underworld. "Father, this is Soldatino, my younger brother."

Hades looked over his younger son with his eternally stony gaze. Tino continued to stare blankly at the mosaic on the floor, although it was anyone's guess if he was actually seeing it. Tino didn't seem to notice the tears beginning to trickle down his cheeks again. The muscles in Hades's face shifted into a look of disapproval.

"I expected more."

Tino's shoulders went rigid and his head jerked, but slumped back down before he came anywhere close to eye contact with Hades. Nico felt his chest tighten and his nails dig into his palms. "Father," he growled through a clenched jaw, "A word?" With an air of reluctance, Hades nodded and stalked through an archway into another room. Nico squeezed Tino's shoulder. "I'll deal with this, Tino. Forget what he said." He knew the damage was done, though. The kid looked like he'd been frozen the moment after being punched in the gut. It was painful enough to see his distress, but Nico knew exactly what Tino was feeling.

Nico stormed after his father and as soon as he was within earshot, he hissed, "How could you say that to him?"

"Excuse me?"

"You're his father! You know nothing about him, yet the moment you see him, you write him off like yesterday's trash? What's wrong with you?"

Hades snarled, "How dare you speak to me in such a manner?"

"Look, I know you don't think much of me, Father," Nico pointed to the archway, "But that is my little brother out there. Your son. Do you think I would stand by and let you say something like that to him? How could you?"

"I don't need another whimpering pup for a son, Nico," Hades said coldly, "I need a proper soldier. A potential hero."

"He's six years old! You can't expect Tino to be some stone-hearted soldier when he's just a little kid who found out ten minutes ago that his mom died!"

For a moment, Hades's face slackened and he seemed to lose his words. "He just found out?"

Nico narrowed his eyes. "You knew she was dead?"

"Of course I knew. I didn't realize he didn't."

"He's a six-year-old child!" Nico argued, "Of course he didn't know she died! No kid his age is going to assume their missing parents are dead!"

Hades groaned, "Alright, I concede. I may have made an improper judgment given the circumstances. Even so, I maintain my wish for-"

"A strong child like Bianca. I know. You only remind me every time you see me."

"Mind your tongue, Nico. I've just about had it with your attitude."

"My apologies, Father," Nico gave his father a mock bow. "Look, you can judge me and compare me to my sister all you want. But don't you assume Tino's some mewling weakling just because he's a little kid. He survived on his own for over a year. Even a lot of older demigods can't do that. He's plenty 'strong'."

Hades thought in silence for a moment. "I see your point. I take back what I said. I'll reserve judgment on your brother until he's had time to prove himself. Let's rejoin… what did you call him?"

"Di Immortales, you can't even remember your own son's name?"

Hades glared at Nico. "Watch yourself, boy. Keep in mind that I've only just met him. Unlike your childhood, I wasn't present in his life until now."

Icily, Nico growled, "His name is Soldatino. Remember it."

Father and son returned to the foyer. Tino had finally moved on his own, which was good. He was sitting on the floor, curled up into a ball with his forehead on his knees in the corner behind a pillar, which was not so good. Nico crossed the foyer, crouched beside Tino and tried to comfort him, but just like before, he didn't respond. "Come on, Tino. Let's go back to camp. Some sleep would do you good."

"Actually, boys," Hades interrupted, "I must insist that you stay a while longer."

Nico shot his father a sharp glare out of the corner of his eye much like the ones Hades himself was known to give. "The get-to-know-yous can wait, Father. I think Tino is exhausted enough as it is."

"I agree, but I don't believe it would be wise to leave without paying proper respects to my wife."

Nico thought for a moment. "He's not in a state to handle her tonight."

"Do you really wish for your brother to face additional animosity from her?"

"Just tell her we weren't here. I'll take responsibility and give her an offering or something."

"It's a bit late for that, di Angelo."

Nico stood and turned to face his resentful stepmother as she entered the foyer. He did his best to block Tino from Persephone as he bowed to her, but he suspected it was a futile effort.

"That's your new one, is it?" she said to Hades, loud enough there was no way the boys wouldn't hear. With an unimpressed huff, she stalked off down a corridor. "A meal has been prepared. Come."

Unless you had a deathwish or an intense desire to be turned into a random plant, there was no refusing a goddess. Albeit with quite a bit of resistance - or perhaps merely a lack of cooperation - Nico managed to coerce Tino to his feet and get him plodding along behind Persephone. They were led to a dining room, already set for the whole "family". At the goddess's command, the boys sat down. A few silent servants served all four of them nectar and ambrosia, as well as some normal food for the two demigods. They all ate in silence for quite a while except for Tino, who just stared blankly at the plate in front of him. Nico glanced at him from time to time to make sure he was still okay. Well, as okay as he could be.

Eventually, Persephone broke the silence. "What's wrong with the small one? Doesn't he move?"

"He's suffered a bit of a shock today, my dear," Hades said, "It's probably best to give him some space while he works through it."

"What could be so awful? Every prayer he's ever had has been answered. He even got to see his mother again." Tino's eyes twitched to look at Persephone. She took a sip of her nectar. "Oh, that got your attention. Not quite what you had in mind, was it? It was inevitable, really. The Fates are rarely kind to people like your mother who don't know their place."

"Persephone…" Hades warned.

"That's just what happens when you're a common wh-"

"Persephone!" Hades shouted and slammed his fist, startling everyone in the room. "Have some tact. You can either show Soldatino some damn compassion, or you can leave this table." Nico and Persephone stared at him for a minute. He rarely ever lost his temper, even for a moment.

Persephone pursed her lips and straightened her shoulders. "My apologies, my dear husband," she said, her voice clipped, "Pardon my rudeness."

Hades turned to his sons and said quietly to Nico, "I'm sorry about this. I think it's long past time you took your brother home. I suggest informing Chiron about what happened tonight so he can be ready to help your brother if needed."

Nico nodded. "Goodnight, Father." He stood and picked Tino up. He walked out of the room and through a shadow, leaving Hades and Persephone alone in the dining room.

"Are you pleased, Persephone?"

"I still can't believe you had another child."

Hades groaned. "It's been six years. Can't you let it go? You know what the circumstances were."

"You could have refused her."

"Persephone-"

"You should have refused her. Have you forgotten about that stupid oath you made with your brothers?"

Hades glared and took a bite of ambrosia. "Ah, yes, you mean that oath they both broke?"

"Yes. The one you were still bound to when that one was born."

"You know very well I could not have said no to Soldatino's mother. Suzanna and I had a bargain. I made a promise, and I had to keep it."

"By breaking another? How honorable."

"That oath was long since dead. If my brothers would not hold themselves to it, I had no reason to either."

Persephone crossed her arms and huffed. "Regardless, you let her talk you into breaking a sacred oath. Did it ever cross your mind that maybe that was why the stupid woman died? Whenever gods break oaths, the punishment usually goes to those close to them."

"Please. Why would it go to Suzanna? We had one deal. That's not grounds for-"

"I didn't say it went to Suzanna, Hades. I could practically smell the curse of misfortune on that boy. He's going to suffer because of you."

"The punishment for breaking a sacred oath is death. A life was paid. It's done."

She shook her head. "I doubt it. Something wasn't right. There's something wrong with that child."

"I know you're never fond of my children, Persephone, but-"

"I'm not trying to be spiteful, Hades. When he looked at me… I don't know. Something was off. His eyes reminded me of someone, though I can't quite put my finger on who."

Hades shrugged. "Probably me. The family resemblance is typically quite strong, you know."

Persephone gave her husband a sharp look. "It's not you. Perhaps one of your previous children. You've had more than your share of bad apples."

Reluctantly, Hades agreed. "You're not wrong." He took a drink from his cup. "Look, I won't ask you to think fondly about Suzanna. I don't think all that fondly of her. But don't take your frustrations out on Soldatino. You know he's blameless in all of this."

Persephone sighed, "I know. I'll do my best to be at least civil. I genuinely didn't mean to be quite so rude earlier, you know. It might've helped if you told me they were coming."

"In my defense, I didn't think they would come so late at night."

"Hm. Fair enough. By the way, I've been wondering, since when was he called Soldatino? I seem to recall telling me Suzanna had named him something else entirely. What was it again?"

"Doesn't matter anymore. For one reason or another, he's chosen a new name. I don't know why, but Soldatino is the name he uses now. I have no complaints."

"Whatever you say, my dear." Persephone finished her cup of nectar. "I just wish I could figure out what's so odd about that boy."

Nico and Tino reappeared in their cabin. The second round of Shadow Travel went much smoother than the first, fortunately. No bouts of frightened crying. Although, Nico suspected Tino couldn't cry anymore even if it had scared him. He carried his brother over to his bed and set him down. Without acknowledging anything, Tino pulled his blanket up over his head and rolled over. Nico wasn't surprised. At least he wasn't trying to kill anyone with skeleton monsters like Nico had. Nico shuddered. That hadn't been his best day.

He left Tino alone to fall asleep and checked the time. It turned out they'd been in the Underworld much longer than it had seemed, and there was less than an hour left until sunrise. Nico decided to let Tino sleep and left the cabin. He figured someone would be awake up at the Big House, and if not, he could wait for Chiron to wake up so he could let him know about their misadventure. Tino was going to need some help to cope with his loss, and Nico knew he wasn't equipped to handle it properly. He only hoped the old centaur would know what to do.

As the sun began to rise and the first traces of light began trickling through the cabin windows, Tino laid in his bed, silent, still, and awake. The ghost of his mother was burned into his eyes. She looked exactly the same as the last time he saw her alive. He was such an idiot. Mom would never leave him alone for so long. She would never let him go off on his own like that if she was ever coming back to him. He should have known she was dead. She said she would see him again. She'd lied to him. The last thing she'd said to him was a lie. A lie to get him to run away. A lie so she could stay behind and die. She died protecting him from those monsters. She died for him. She wouldn't have died if it wasn't for him. His mom was dead.

And it was all his fault.