Don't You Have Enough Edgy Kids, Bruce?

A long, unannounced hiatus for no actual reason? me??? never

This time around, Nico is careful not to use shadow traveling at all.

It would make everything easier if he would, but he really doesn't want to pass out for the third time since coming to Gotham.
Or would it be the fourth? When he got back home, he had to spend less time with Jason Grace.
Clearly his friend's tendency to faint was contagious.
Though, now was not the time to ponder that - Nico was currently on patrol with a different, far edgier Jason.

Appearantly 'patrol' means Jason and him  go around town and beat up some criminals, though nobody actually gives them much of a challenge.

They take a break and get some milkshakes after a while, only to get interrupted by someone claiming to be the Condiment King.

He isn't much trouble to take down either, but he's so bizarre that Nico nearly gets a face full of ketchup, distracted by the wildness of the situation.

"Only in Gotham", Jason mutters. "You think Metropolis citizens get this kind of crap?"

"I don't know what metropolis is, but I highly doubt they do", Nico admits.

On their way back to the manor, they stop two robberies, a mugging, and an attempted arson by some crazy lady with red hair and admittedly cool eye tattoos on her arms. Then another robbery, and a case of aggravated assault.

Gotham really does have a problem.

It definitely helps Nico let go of some of the stress he's been carrying though.
Jason obviously has experience punching his emotional problems away, which Nico can respect.

In the end they decide to take a bus home, because of how tiring it is to find a parking spot for Jason's bike every time they spot a crime.

"I'll grab it tomorrow, if it's still there", Jason promises.

It's easy to forget how rich Jason is, with his down to earth attitude and ungroomed hair.
It's kind of unsettling.
Then again, Nico could be considered rich too. His dad was the god of riches.

They really were similar, him and these batkids, in more and more ways.

Jason's voice woke him from his thoughts.

"This is our stop."

The walk from the bus station to the manor was quiet, contemplating.

The night's darkness put him at ease, and the chilly air was refreshing.

When they got in, the house's warmth filled Nico with a comfortable drowsiness.

He went up the stairs, and when he collapsed on the bed that had become his, he had no trouble sleeping.

No, the trouble kindly waited until he was asleep to show up.

"Finally, you arrive", hissed Alecto at him in his dream. "Lord Hades wishes to speak to you".

Hades visited Nico in his dreams more than he did outside of them.

At first it seemed cold, that he couldn't find the time to come up and see him. But it was also a relief, usually, to not have to deal with Hades in his full awkward terror.
Eventually he came to the conclusion that it was for the best.

Not in this case, though.

This Hades was different from his father.

By a lot.

He found himself wishing he had his new friends with him, but he was on his own, in the space between death and sleep, in an audience with the king of the dead.

"Why are you here?", Was the first thing this version of his father told him.

Pretty in-character for the other version too, actually.

"Uhh. You summoned me?"

It ended up being more of a question than he intended.

His voice echoed through the void they were in, its darkness completely opposite to the comforting one he was surrounded by earlier that night.

"In this world", clarified Hades.

He sounded totally disinterested. Indifferent.
Bored.

His head was engulfed in flames, but they exuded coldness.

Distantly, Nico missed Hestia.

"I don't know", Nico answered, his tone becoming almost desperate. "I was hoping you would, being a god. Uh, my lord", he quickly added.

Hades hummed. It sounded like an electric bas guitar being shredded.

"In your world, the gods are thriving. Yes?"

"Yes", Nico replied uneasily.

"Not here", Hades said. "Here we are left without believers. Here, the amazons, wonder woman's people, are the last to have faith. The world is crawling with madmen in capes, calling themselves names, creating pantheons for themselves. They have followers instead of us, the old gods."

During his speech Hades had gotten up from the throne he was on, seemingly taken by emotion.
Now he sat once more, and though his face wasn't visible through the fire, his exhaustion somehow was.

"We're still gods. We still hold immense power. But it is different. We don't rule the world, though some of us still pretend to. I can't send you back. The most I can do is tell you that a powerful magic was involved in this somehow."

The whole thing was so sad that it took Nico a few seconds to take in that last sentence.

"Wait, no", he said. "Alecto said technology brought me here! Was she wrong?"

Hades seemed to be too busy sulking to pay much attention to Nico, anymore. He waved his hand.

"The gods are different in your world, but I'm sure even there they prefer to let you figure things out for yourselves, no?"

"Yes", Nico admitted, "but, I mean, how can this be? How can it be both magic and not magic? And are there more of us here? Who did this? Why?"

By the end he was gasping for air, having stumbled in his words, but suddenly there seemed to be none left. The void they were in was fading, or maybe he was.
It was hard to tell.
Either way, he was out of time.

Hades nodded his head tiredly.

"The original wasn't magic. The interference was. As for who, what, why… I don't care enough to know."

"What!" Nico cried out. "That's-"

"Show some gratitude for me helping at all. It would be wiser of me not to, you know."

"Then why did you", demanded Nico. "If it's such a bother, why did you even summon me?"

"I wanted to see", said Hades, "what it would have been like if I had a son."

Nico only had time to feel a strange sense of wistfulness, mixed with a deep anger, before Finally waking up.