He'd been avoiding it for the longest time, but.. It was time to go to the Underworld.

It was time to visit his father.

Nico glanced back at the blonde, before giving a suspicious glance at the crack that had birthed into being a moment ago, starting off from where his foot was, and branching off.

..Yeah, no.

"Uh, Yamada-sensei? If I ask you to let me do something alone, would you let me? Would you.. tr-" Trust? That seemed a bit too fast for what were basically acquaintances. "–have confidence in my abilities to discern when there is danger, and to not go into it? And that I know what I'm doing?"

To know someone is competent enough to do a thing, and to trust someone to be able to do a thing, is completely different. In that, there can be suspicion and distrust, however knowing that someone is capable.

On the other hand, trust is to be willing to turn your back on someone and not expect a knife in the back.

Maybe he wasn't explaining it well, but trust was.. Intimate. Personal.

For gods sake, the campers knew he was capable and fully willing to help in any way he could, however that didn't mean there weren't some who would be absolutely unwilling to turn their back on him. And it sucked, but having trust issues was how one survived.

Yamada stared at him for a long moment, as if to see if that was the truth or not.

Nico.. cracked under the pressure. "I-I swear I'm not self-sacrificial?"

Except for that time he nearly died by going on a solo mission in Tartarus–

"I know my limits! Truthfully, I'll only be meeting la famiglia. Um, mio papà , e la mia matrigna . Maybe others too but I don't know them, and this is the only way I know for sure I can reach them. Think of it like how similar quirks are passed down through genetics. While for the others it's unsure, there's a place I can reach where my father remains. You could think of it as perhaps another world? A place that only he or other members of the family can access. I really don't want to know what happens if a non-family member tries to enter."

('the family' 'my dad, and my stepmother')

Somehow, their conversations (so as not to be utterly depressing or work-related) turned to languages. They were basically implementing other words while speaking, and it was.. oddly fun.

His teacher nodded in understanding, "I'm trusting you to come back safe and whole. If you, for whatever reason, feel as if your life is in danger, do not hesitate in coming back to me, okay? I'm here to protect you, and I can't do that if I don't know what's going on."

And to monitor him.

"..Yep. Okay. Cool. So–"

"Repeat after me, mata ne. "

It said a lot that Nico didn't question the sudden lesson.

" Mata ne. "

('see you again soon')

Yamada nodded to himself, "Now you can't break it. Think of it as a good luck charm to return back."

..He wasn't suddenly blinking back tears, shut up–

"..Cool beans. I'll just um, go now." Gods, who even said cool beans anymore!?

The crack widened, until it split apart, and a clear path on the stone opened up, leading to an ominous doorway.

"Don't judge a book by its cover, it's not that bad–"

He wondered for a second about religions, and if people still believed in a singular god or something like that. It'd probably look like Hell to them. Er.

"Bye!"

And he left.

At first, he probably could've been fooled. It looked familiar, it felt familiar, it could've been as if he was right back home, in the year 2016.

Until he entered what was dubbed ' the waiting room ', which he had to do a double take.

The chairs were strewn across the floor, and marks across the room gave evidence to the fact that the people there were or had been fighting.

Correction, still fighting? He could see what were clearly quirked people arguing over something, which made him sink a little more into the safety of the shadows.

His gaze was caught by a figure at the desk, peeking out.

Holy dad, is that Charon? Yep, he'd recognize that miserable old man anywhere.

Charon jerked his head in his direction, motioning for him to come over, and giving a pointed cautious look at the quirked.

Did he even want to know? Not really.

It was an awkward moment where he was quietly guided to the doors that would lead him to the Underworld.

Not even asking for a drachma?

Only once they made it onto the boat, drifting through the river (it both looked terribly polluted, and yet at the same time.. Dull? Old? Dusty. It was more like the river had been left alone once the demigods had died out.) had Charon finally turned to him incredulously.

"Where have you been? No, how are you not dead!?"

He shrugged, "I don't know! There was this guy–"

Charon made a gagging noise, " Eugh , mortal love."

This made him gag in turn, shuddering, "Ew no! He gave off major creeper vibes, and he looked like a potato! I was fighting him, but next thing I know, I'm in some building I've never seen before! Oh, and I'm a cavolo ton of years in the future! The future! Che palle! That crazy figlio di puttana— Quando lo trovo è così morto! E a quanto pare anche gli dei sono a malapena all'altezza di lui, il che, sul serio!?"

Nico sharply inhaled, continuing his angry Italian vent, " Sono così incazzato! Sono stato mandato in un paese, all'improvviso ho imparato il giapponese fluentemente e c'erano bambini soldato! E, stranamente, tutti i miei amici sono morti! Che diavolo è successo mentre ero via, Charon!?

('crap' 'what balls' 'son of a bitch' 'When I find him he's so dead! And apparently even the gods are barely a match for him, which, seriously!? I'm so pissed off! I was sent to a country, suddenly I learned Japanese fluently, and there were child soldiers! And, strangely enough, all my friends are dead! What the hell happened while I was gone, Charon!?')

When only silence met him, he turned back to the daimon.

"Fuck, kid, your dad really missed you, y'know. Your boytoy was the one who realized something was wrong, but apparently communications between the gods and their kids abruptly shut down. What I do know is that you got a prophecy assigned to you. All for yourself, isn't that fun?"

Nico had frowned at his term for Will (and gods, Will, wasn't that something?), before paling at the mention of a prophecy. What. Of course.

"Do you..?"

"Nah, but your old man does. It was bad when your sister died, but that was prophesied. You, however? He had the chance to talk to you, to be a father to you. You were his pride and his joy. And then you disappeared, right in his domain. Where, for all intents and purposes, should've been the safest place for you. And it wasn't. He nearly drove himself insane trying to find you. Certainly didn't help that finding you kept being brushed off cause another war started."

"What. " Oh gods.

"It was quiet. For a moment after that. And then those freaks showed up, with their flashy powers and shitty costumes. And they don't have any respect! Or self-preservation! At all! It was a nightmare!"

There was so much time coming from when he left to where he was now . Gods, what could he even do? He had so little information..

Fuck.

"Better have a convincing reason, kid, or your dad'll lock you in a room, baby-proof everything, and probably wrap you in a blanket burrito just to be safe. I'm not joking. He'd probably break if he lost you again , and would do anything he could to keep you as risk-free as possible. Maybe even turn you into a god if he could, however gods need believers, and with the world in the state that it is, it's all too likely you'll end up fading before long. Get ready to be babysat every hour of the day."

" No. "

Shudder. Helicopter parents. Wait–

"That includes Persephone. She ended up warming up to you but you disappeared."

"She turned me into a dandelion !"

"Family spat. In any case, whatever you were planning to do might have to be put on hold, indefinitely ."

"But I–"

"Hold the excuses for your parents. I certainly can't do anything."

Oh for gods sake.