[The picture above came from @Wisegirl2023 please let her know what you think of her work in the comments.]

[Edited July 24, 2022]

  Nico woke up the next morning with a new sense of purpose. He knew what he had to do, but he still had to figure out how to do it. There were a lot of skills he had picked up over the years as a solo demigod that he knew would come in handy, but he wasn't so arrogant to think that he was prepared for Tartarus. There was a lot he would still need to learn before he could even think about making the leap. He needed a plan.

The demigod had woken up earlier than usual so he used that time to take a quick shower and then compile a list of skills he thought he would need in Tartarus. He was sure that Bruce and the others would have more ideas, but he wasn't about to let them in on his plan-- they'd never let him go through with it if they knew about it. Nico wrote down the first things that came to mind and tried not to get discouraged by the thought of having to go through the process of learning all these things. It was one thing to know what you needed to do, it was entirely another to actually do it.

On the list he wrote:

Reconnaissance skills
Wilderness survival/ basic first aid
Stealth training
Endurance training
Diplomacy skills
Diversion tactics
Rock climbing?
Grappling hook skill/parachutes/other support gear

Nico reviewed his list and started to feel overwhelmed. He had no idea how he was supposed to survive the fall into Tartarus or what was waiting for him down there once he did. He didn't know whether he would be able to make it to the doors unnoticed or not or what would happen if he couldn't. There were so many variables to consider and failure wasn't an option.

The problem of the fall concerned him. The only thing he could think of was parachuting down, but he had no idea how he would practice that. There was no way he was getting on a plane to try it out. Where would he even get his hands on a parachute? He was sure Bruce had some but how would get away with taking one? If he did get one, where would he go to practice and how would he get assistance if something went wrong? Maybe he could convince Bruce it was for his vigilante training, but he didn't think the older hero would buy it.

First aid and survival skills spoke for themselves-- there was no telling what sort of environment he would be dropping into or how long it would take him to complete the mission. If he was going to be there for an extended period, then he would have to live off the land. He would also have a limited supply of ambrosia and nectar so he would have to stock up on some medicinal herbs from Persephone's garden. She wouldn't like it if she found out, but this was too important to skip. In a pinch, details like those could be the difference between life and death.

Nico had no idea what kind of monsters he would meet in the pit, but he knew that some of them would monologue. The son of Hades figured that it couldn't hurt to learn some more diplomacy skills. He'd known demigods to survive encounters using all sorts of methods other than fighting. Some used deception or flattery while others were able to turn whole groups of monsters against each other and let them take each other out. If he could do anything to help himself avoid a fight, he was going to try it.

With an idea of what he needed to do, Nico took a few moments to compose himself well enough to not be suspicious and made his way downstairs for breakfast. There was one thing that he had managed to pick up from the others without even trying, a mastery over how he allowed himself to express his emotions. He had learned how to steady his breathing and relax the muscles in his face to hide what he was truly thinking and feeling. He had even managed to confuse a lie detector test. Hopefully, it would be enough to fool the Waynes.

During breakfast, Nico tried not to dwell on the mission. I needed to seem happy and unbothered because if he gave even the slightest hint that something was off and they would be all over him. He made it through breakfast without a hitch and spent the rest of the morning in the gym. He might as well start on the list immediately. The exercises helped to clarify the mind and he added a few more things he needed to his mental list. Nico knew that he would need to study up on monsters and try to figure out touchy subjects and weak points. He needed to have anything that would help at his disposal.

Though it was risky, Nico also made a plan to get his hands on some Greek fire. He could use it for light or a bomb in a pinch. He knew Thalia could make it since she'd done it before with Luke. He also knew that he could convince her not to ask questions. The two of they may not always see eye-to-eye but they still had a special bond that only the children of the Big Three shared. She'd do what she could to help him and she knew that he would return the favor.

Nico finished his workout and moved on to the library. He grabbed one book about mythology off the shelf and relaxed on a couch. The volume wasn't very thick and was mostly diagrams. The son of Hades figured that the others wouldn't question him as much if the book was mostly pictures. Maybe he could pass it off as research for a school project or for camp. That'd make sense.

All he had to do was grab every book off the shelf and take them to his room but that was probably the biggest red flag in the world. Reading the book turned out to be murder at first but the more he read, the easier it got to piece the words together as he went. The words didn't get easier to read, but he could predict what they said more easily using context clues and what little spelling knowledge he had. It was kinda like learning a new language.

Nico read for maybe an hour before he got fed up. He shoved a little sting from his jacket in between the pages to serve as a bookmark before he started wandering the library, looking for other useful books. He was surprised to see that Bruce had ordered an entire mythology section. The demigod supposed that it was probably for them to reference when monsters came knocking at the door. Nico thanked him in his mind, knowing that this was exactly what he needed. Thank the gods!

He got bored of wandering the library rather quickly and moved out to the hallway and hear his brothers shouting and getting heated about something or other. He followed the commotion into the living room to find that they were playing Xbox. It was Jason versus Dick and Jason was winning. He wasn't sure what game it was, but it seemed to be a game that involved guns and killing the other player. Seeing them happy together made a lump form in Nico's throat-- he wished that he could stay with them instead of going on a suicide mission. He retreated from view before he could be noticed, resolving to spend more time with the people he cared about.

After a while, it was time for lunch. Bruce was at work and Alfred had some errands he needed to run so he and his brothers were on their own. Needless to say, they ordered Pizza. Though no one allowed Dick to order a 2 liter of pop. Nico's curiosity got the better of him and he finally had to ask.

"Why can't he have soda?" My brothers were silent for a good while, sharing looks.

"He gets a sugar buzz. Last time the fire department had to get him down from the chandelier after they put out the oven fire." Jason said, deadpan. The demigod couldn't help but bust out laughing.

"Are you serious?" He asked. They all nodded solemnly while Dick rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Nico felt his smile become forced as the gesture reminded him of Percy and he didn't feel as happy all of a sudden. He relaxed his face into one that he hoped mimicked amusement and eyed the others as they picked on Dick a bit more about some of the other times he apparently went wild under the influence of sugar.

The group all shuffled to the breakfast bar in the kitchen where they all found places around the counter. Tim got the plates, Jason got the napkins, Nico got the silverware, Damian got the cups, and Dick brought the pizza. The others dug in, but Nico wasn't very interested in his meal anymore. He took small bites of his pizza and occasionally took a drink of his water, but he wasn't very enthusiastic about it. The bat fam noticed, of course.

"Nico, you ok? What are you thinking about?" Tim asked frowning. The table quieted down as the demigod in question glanced up and found his brothers looking at him. He shrugged uncomfortably.

"I was just thinking about Percy."

"You still don't have any idea where he is?" Dick asked empathetically. Nico pursed his lips, not wanting to lie but not being willing to tell them about New Rome either. He glanced at Jason who was watching him evenly. The antihero knew what he was thinking and why he was hesitating to reply.

"Not exactly." He took a bite of his pizza. It tasted like cardboard. The heroes weren't going to drop it so easily.

"Not exactly?" Dick crossed his arms over his chest and leaned up against the counter. Even slouched over like that he managed to seem intimidating.

"I have an idea of where he is but he's out of reach." Nico trailed off, not knowing how to say this.

"Out of reach?" Jason echoed. The demigod shook his head and took a drink of his water to try and hint that he didn't want to talk about it anymore. His brothers weren't at all deterred.

"Nico," Dick prompted, "you can tell us anything, you know?"

"I just can't get to him right now, ok?" Nico insisted, feeling defensive about all the questions that were being thrown his way. He wished they hadn't been such good detectives.

"Then you know where he is?" Damian phrased it like a question, but his tone made it clear that he wasn't asking. Before Nico could respond, he got cut off by an Iris message popping up in front of his face.

"Good timing," He muttered under his breath.

"Nico? Jason, Piper, and Leo got back" Annabeth started as soon as the connection was made. The son of Hades felt his heart sink. She probably knew that he was at the other camp. Jason probably had his memories back and ratted him out. He wouldn't blame him, the legionnaire probably thought he was a spy or something. Why else would he be going back and forth between the camps without telling anyone? It would be likely that Jason would assume he was working for Gaea and want to put him on trial. This was going to be very bad.

"The wolves I saw are in Sonoma! Jason saw them at the Wolf House! We have a lot to talk about. I need you to come to camp as soon as possible!" She rushed.

"Wait Annabeth! I can't..." Nico started to tell her he couldn't get to camp but she cut the connection.

"Sonoma? Sonoma California?" Tim asked after the message had faded. Nico cursed under his breath, only loud enough for the others to hear him.

"What's wrong? Isn't this good news?" Dick asked, "They have a place to start looking."

"I already knew he was in California, or at least that he will be there soon."

"What do you mean you knew?" Damian's frown deepened. Nico sighed deeply, the Iris message hadn't gotten him out of anything after all. In fact, it might as well have been Jason Grace calling him a spy. Even if he hadn't reacted so viscerally, he would have had to explain to his brothers why he wasn't rushing over to Sonoma to find Percy himself. There was no way she could go to the Roman camp and steal Percy from them without ruining whatever plan it was that Hera set in motion or turning the Romans against him. Nico didn't like the queen of the gods, but he figured that there were things at play that were beyond his comprehension.

"Percy was taken by Hera..." Nico went on to explain everything he knew about Percy's disappearance, including his dream of Hera, the appearance of Jason Grace at the Greek camp, and everything else that had been going on since the gods went silent.

"So you're telling me that the Roman pantheon is also real and that there is another camp in California for the Roman demigods. Not only that, but your camps are deliberately unaware of each other because every time you meet you fight. Am I right so far?" Dick sounded incredulous. The older boy started ranting about safety and transparency and Nico couldn't tell if he was concerned or angry. Maybe a bit of both.

"You go to this camp, knowing that they will probably kill you if they find out you are a Greek. You don't tell either side about the other, instead going back and forth as you please. You refuse to tell us where you are going, just that if you get caught there could be war. What the hell were you thinking?" Dick hissed

"I have no choice. When Hera took Percy, she also took another boy, Jason Grace from new Rome. I think she plans on switching their places. Jason is already at Camp Half-blood, I think Percy will eventually pop up at Camp Jupiter. I'm the only one who knows that the switch was made." The son of Hades argued back. "Look, I don't know what Hera's play is but we're in too deep for this to fail now. I need to make sure Percy is accepted into the legion."

"You've been sitting on this all this time?" Tim sounded astonished.

"I had to. If either camp learns about the other on bad terms, it could easily start another civil war."

"What?" Damian was thoroughly confused now. He could keep up with a lot of things, the politics of a mythological world run mainly by old immortals and teenagers was new. He was out of his depth.

"They started the last civil war," Nico explained tiredly, he was done sugar coating things. He took another drink of his water and stared wistfully at the slice of pizza on his plate. This conversation had stolen what was left of his appetite.

"How?" Dick's voice was stern and serious. They were finally understanding that this wasn't just kids fighting kids. A war between the camps meant an all-out war for the entire country.

"Romans were pro-slavery, Greeks were anti-slavery. Well, it was more complicated than that, but that was how it was divided for the most part. And they aren't that way anymore," Nico didn't want to get into all that right now.

"If Hera put two very important demigods in each other's camps and made the camps earn their trust, they may be able to form an alliance." Damian had caught back up.

"That's why it is so important that I make sure Percy makes it into the legion." Nico agreed.

"How are you going to do that?" Tim frowned.

"I'm sure Percy can make it past Lupa..." The demigod was cut off.

"The Lupa?" Dick asked incredulously. Nico nodded, choosing not to elaborate.

"After that, he will have to make his way to the camp and gain entry. Then someone must vouch for him and he will be admitted as a probatio member." He explained. Nico had planned on trying to get Hazel to vouch for him. She was a full member now, after all.

"How long does it take before he will be accepted?"

"He must either be there a year without dying or perform an act of valor."

"What kind of act?" Damian sounded intrigued.

"It depends. One girl stopped a stampede and that counted. Others go on quests, or show tremendous courage during the war games."

"Are you a probatio member?" Tim said around a bite of pizza.

"No, I'm acting as an ambassador to Pluto. For now, I am allowed to come and go as I please."

"That's convenient," Damian muttered. Nico chuckled lightly, that was one way to put it.

"Ok, you still haven't told us why such an alliance would be important." Damian pointed out. He knew all about the pros and cons of alliances and he knew that one this risky required a massive threat.

"That's the thing, I'm not sure." Annabeth probably has some idea so I'll see if I can meet her tonight."

"What about Jason... Grace? Won't he recognize you? He did see you at Camp Jupiter before he disappeared." Dick reminded him. He had to clarify which Jason he was talking about because Todd was glaring at him warningly.

"I'll just have to hope he still has amnesia. Percy too. Percy is about as subtle as a blinking neon sign sometimes." The son of Hades chuckled to himself.

"There are a lot of holes in this plan." Damian pointed out. Nico frowned-- he had actually thought that this was one of his better plans.

"I've worked with less before."

"That's really reassuring." Todd didn't sound reassured.

"Look, I've got to go make a few IMs. I'll be in my room." Nico dismissed himself from the table. He was planning on asking Thalia for the greek fire and then maybe contacting Thanatos. He needed to know more about the doors of death. He'd have to iris message her which was always a risk in the manor. He was starting to realize that everyone hear everything around here. He just hoped that his brother was off doing their own things and wasn't spying. He didn't want to try and explain why he needed bombs.

Nico tidied up his room a little bit to make it a little more presentable before taking his prism to the window to make the rainbow. It was only after he had made the rainbow when he realized that he couldn't find his coins. He knew that he had just seen them moments ago, but he wasn't sure where he had moved them to. Then he had to go hunting for those for several minutes. When he had finally found some stashed away in a drawer and placed the call.

"Oh, Iris, goddess of the rainbow. Please accept my offering. Show me Thalia Grace, wherever she may be." It took a few moments but eventually, his cousin came into view. She was sitting around the campfire with the other hunters.

"Nico?" she asked in confusion.

"Hey, Thalia. Did Annabeth tell you the news?" Thalia shook her head, "She thinks Percy might be in the wolf house." Thalia shook her head.

"Look, Jason and I were just there. I didn't see Percy." Nico raised his eyebrow. So she had met Jason, then. He wondered if they found out they were related.

"Maybe he just isn't there yet," Nico suggested. The son of Hades knew that Percy would end up there eventually. That is if Hera was planning what he thought she was.

"Maybe." She replied, but she didn't sound convinced.

"That's not what I wanted to talk to you about," he admitted. Thalia frowned.

"Then what do you want to talk about?"

"I need greek fire, and I know you know how to make it."

"How do you know that?"

"Let's just say that I know Hal Green. He says hi." Thalia groaned.

"What do you need the fire for?"

"Look, I can't tell you that right now. Just that I need it. I need you to trust me."

"Nico." There was almost a growl in her voice.

"Please, Thalia." The daughter of Zeus pursed her lips and looked around the campfire at her sisters. Without Artemis present, it seemed that she was in charge.

"When do you need it? Before you get any ideas, this doesn't mean that I agree." She warned.

"As soon as you can get it. I owe you one."

"You sure as hell do." She cut off the message and Nico sat back, relieved. There was one thing he could cross off the list. Next, he tried to contact Thanatos but his coin fell right through the rainbow to the other side every time he tried it. Something about that just wasn't right. He knew that Thanatos had warned him that he had been captured, but it would take a lot of magic to prevent Iris Messages from going through. Then he tried to reach his father and that message went through. Hades was sitting on his throne, reading over a scroll.

"Father," Nico called. Hades glanced up and zeroed in on the message.

"Nico, what do you need." He went back to the scroll.

"I was wondering if you knew where Thanatos was." That got Hades' attention.

"No, why do you ask?"

"I just haven't been able to get through to him. I was wondering if something was wrong."

"I'll keep an eye out for him. I have a feeling that something foul is at play. Be careful, son." Nico frowned when the god called him a son. He hadn't done that in a very long time. Before Nico could ask anything else, the god of the dead waved his hand and the image disappeared.

Nico sat by his window for a long time just thinking. Something big was coming, and he wasn't sure he was going to like it. There was still work to be done and he had no idea how much time he had to do it. He had to plan things out very carefully from now on. Nico's brothers knew part of the problem, but he still had a mission to prepare for and a secret to keep. For now, he would just have to prepare for every eventuality.

He'd come far while training with Batman, now he just needed to get a little farther.