Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basuke and Percy Jackson and the Olympians are not mine.
Summary: Stupid Muro-chin. Murasakibara had always thought Muro-chin was a nice, sensible demigod, so he had no idea how exactly Muro-chin got into so much trouble that he became the subject of a rescue quest. PJO AU. Sequel to The Misfortune of Aomine Daiki, the Loyal Son of Poseidon.
Author's Note: *whistles nonchalantly like I didn't abandon this series for like three years* This is probably the most difficult installment for me to write, as I've never written in Murasakibara's point of view before and I don't know him very well. Hope I did him justice. Also, this installment is darker than the previous two despite it being narrated by Murasakibara (can't really avoid that, as TTC is the first book where someone important actually died…).
The Quest-keteers
Murasakibara Atsushi – Son of Ares
Akashi Seijuurou – Son of Zeus
Midorima Shintarou – Son of Apollo
Aomine Daiki – Son of Poseidon
Kise Ryouta – Son of Aphrodite
Aida Riko – Daughter of Atlas, Lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis
Others
Himuro Tatsuya – Son of Dionysus
Kagami Taiga – Son of Hephaestus
Momoi Satsuki – Daughter of Athena
The Trials of Murasakibara Atsushi, the Fearsome Son of Ares
Camp Half-Blood had good food.
That was really the only reason Murasakibara stayed in camp year-round. That, and Aka-chin and Mido-chin and Mine-chin and everyone else stayed year-round too. And he didn't have relatives outside of camp. Too bad Muro-chin only stayed during the summer. Maybe if he crushed Muro-chin's stepmother he'd stay year-round too—
Oh. Aka-chin said he shouldn't do that.
But maybe if he had followed up on that thought, crushed Muro-chin's stepmother, he wouldn't be in this situation right now.
Because Sa-chin had been missing for almost two weeks now and Mine-chin was going crazy. Even Aka-chin was getting worried; Murasakibara could tell by the slight crinkles on his brows, signs that he had been thinking far too much and eating far too little.
So there he was, eating at the dining pavilion with three of his half-siblings (the rest were living in the mortal world) when suddenly the Oracle, decomposing flesh and all, suddenly strolled right in the middle of dinner and made everyone lose their appetites. Everyone fell silent, all eyes on the mummy. Murasakibara stole his brother's dessert.
Then the Oracle started spouting green smoke and the smoke was forming a scene and it was showing Muro-chin in chains carrying something really heavy and how dare they hurt Muro-chin he was going to crush them—
And the Oracle told them:
1. The son of Ares shall lead a quest with a mixed group of campers and Hunters working together if they want to save Muro-chin
2. The son of Ares shall watch someone die in the desert
3. There shall be a guide to direct the son of Ares on where to go
4. The son of Ares shall be involved in something called the Titan's curse
5. Oh, and another person shall die too
The Hunters had been staying at Camp for a while now, ever since Artemis left on her super-secret godly mission to, well, do godly (goddessly?) things.
In the meeting room, Murasakibara pounded on the ping-pong table, leaving noticeable cracks on the surface, and told everyone in no uncertain terms that he shall be the son of Ares that would lead the quest. None of his siblings disagreed. Seeing this, Murasakibara pulled back, satisfied. Okay then. He opened a pack of chips and watched impassively as everyone else argued on who else would go. Aka-chin wanted to go, and so did Mine-chin and Kise-chin, and everyone else was ganging up on Mine-chin because he got to go on a quest already so he should let someone else get the chance (no one was stupid enough to go against Aka-chin). Murasakibara, personally, didn't care. He didn't mind Aka-chin—he was nice to Murasakibara, and he always gave him snacks whenever his stash ran out—and Mine-chin was good at fighting, he supposed, so he wouldn't be a deadweight, at least. Kise-chin was too annoying for his own good though. Oh well. As long as his companions didn't prevent him from eating what he wanted, he didn't particularly care.
In the end, the campers who were going were Aka-chin (duh), Mine-chin (because he wanted to look for Sa-chin), Mido-chin (because they needed a healer), and Kise-chin (because he wouldn't stop whining). Among the Hunters, the Lieutenant, Aida Riko, was the only one who volunteered. Mine-chin told him it was because the rest of them were man-haters. Murasakibara told him they needed to chill and eat melon pan.
So off they went to look for Muro-chin. Murasakibara wasn't really interested in leading them—too much work!—so he just went along with whatever Aka-chin said. This way, Aka-chin could do whatever he wanted and Murasakibara could just eat and think about Muro-chin.
Stupid Muro-chin. Murasakibara had always thought Muro-chin was a nice, sensible demigod, so he had no idea how exactly Muro-chin got into so much trouble that he became the subject of a rescue quest.
Murasakibara got the answer to that question in the name of their prophesized guide. That is, Kagami Taiga.
Murasakibara didn't know Kagami very well. He knew he was Muro-chin's adopted brother and Kuro-chin's friend and Mine-chin's rival, but that was about it. So when they ran into him all panicked and asking if they had a prophecy about Muro-chin, Aka-chin correctly deduced that he was supposed to be Murasakibara's guide.
So Murasakibara grabbed Kagami by the collar and told him to get going.
Kagami didn't like that and hit Murasakibara.
Now, what happened next wasn't very clear to Murasakibara, but Mine-chin ended up dragging Kagami's bloody corpse away from Murasakibara, and Murasakibara himself needed a new shirt because his current one was so bloody.
Odd. Murasakibara wasn't usually this violent. Maybe Muro-chin's situation was getting to him.
After Kagami woke up from his mini-coma, he led them west to the mountain he saw in his own dreams. Apparently Muro-chin had been looking into some strange monster activity near their home, but he hadn't been back in a week. Kagami found out that Muro-chin's stepmother had sold him out to the monsters in exchange for her life. (Murasakibara was going to crush Muro-chin's stepmother.) So Kagami was going to Camp Half-Blood to ask the Oracle for advice on how to find him. Well, no need for that, Murasakibara had his prophecy.
Kagami also informed Mine-chin that Sa-chin was last seen talking to Muro-chin a week ago. Wherever Muro-chin was, it was likely it was near where Sa-chin was. With a clear destination in mind, they once again set off in high spirits.
Everything was going so well, and Murasakibara got to eat so much new food he hadn't gotten to eat before since he was almost always stuck in Camp.
Then they went into that Junkyard, and that was when everything went wrong.
Kise-chin stupidly picked up a little figurine of Hades to give to Kuro-chin as a souvenir and activated a defective Talos automaton.
Kise-chin had to sacrifice himself to defeat it.
Murasakibara stood over the downed Talos, unable to even find the body of Kise-chin and give him a proper hero's send-off as Mido-chin tried to use his stupid compass lucky item to find Kise-chin and Mine-chin screamed his anger at the world for taking Sa-chin, for taking Kise-chin—
For the first time in a long time, Murasakibara felt a deep-seated rage within him. Not even Muro-chin being taken made him this angry because he knew they'd be able to retrieve him, Aka-chin always succeeded in his goals, but now Kise-chin was beyond saving, and even though he was incredibly annoying he was still Murasakibara's friend and it was all Akashi's fault for daring to lead the group but not saving Kise-chin, Akashi was weak and there was no reason to follow him anymore—!
Aida Riko slapped them all and reminded them of the quest. She said that Kise-chin wouldn't want them to mope around, and he would want them to save Muro-chin and find Sa-chin and bring them both back to camp safely.
That got them going. No one wanted to dishonour Kise-chin's name by not fulfilling the quest he died in.
But Kise-chin was still dead. That was unacceptable.
And so Akashi stood in front of them and swore to the River Styx that he would find a way to bring Kise-chin back.
He had that look in his eyes again, the glint that made Murasakibara follow him from the first day they met, the glint that said that he would stop at nothing to achieve his goals and damn everyone that got in his way.
Huh. Aka-chin was worthy again.
Aka-chin's oath galvanized them because everyone knew the Son of Zeus did not break his promises.
So they continued west, a little subdued, a little broken, but still going.
They stumbled onto Sa-chin at the Hoover Dam, and after crying over Kise-chin's death, she revealed that she was on a super secret quest for her mother Athena, and that she was looking for a monster that could be used against the Olympians and she needed to kill it before it presented a threat to the gods and—
Wait. It was that fish cow thing? It didn't look very delicious.
Mine-chin had apparently been seeing it around random bodies of water throughout the quest and never thought to mention it to anyone. Mine-chin was so dumb.
Mine-chin refused to let Sa-chin kill the Ophiotaurus. There had been enough death in this quest, and Murasakibara couldn't help but agree. So Mine-chin volunteered to accompany Sa-chin to Olympus to negotiate a deal with the gods on keeping the powers of the Ophiotaurus away from the enemies of Olympus without killing the thing. He had only really joined the quest to find Sa-chin, and he needed some time away to grieve for Kise-chin, so no one had any problems with him leaving.
The rest of the group, which consisted of Murasakibara, Aka-chin, Mido-chin, Kagami, and Aida, continued to Mount Othrys to save Muro-chin, where they encountered and had a little scuffle with the dragon Ladon. Aida didn't look completely fine to Murasakibara after that, but since they were so close to saving Muro-chin, she insisted on continuing.
They found Muro-chin carrying Atlas's burden and noooooo, Muro-chin was too weak for that, Murasakibara was much stronger and therefore much more suitable to carry that weight, so while Aida and Aka-chin and the rest of them were fighting Atlas, Murasakibara went over, freed Muro-chin from his chains, and took the burden from him.
Oh.
It was. A bit heavy.
Murasakibara was going to need lots of snacks after this.
But there was a reason he was called the Shield of Aegis. He was going to protect his friends, protect Muro-chin, and something as stupid as clouds wasn't going to defeat him.
He wasn't paying attention to the fight—soooooo soooooo heavy—but he vaguely registered the presence of a goddess in their midst… maybe Aida called for help from Artemis? He didn't really know. But he did notice the massive Titan heading straight for him. He loosened his hold and allowed Atlas to take back his burden. Ugh. So heavy.
But there's something wrong.
Muro-chin and Kagami and everyone else was kneeling beside Aida. Mido-chin poured nectar on a poisoned wound and said something about Ladon and Atlas and internal injuries… not again…
Tears fell from Aida-chin's eyes, but a brilliant smile illuminated her face. She stopped Mido-chin from healing her. She was sad that she was leaving this world, but also relieved because she had been living for such a long time, and she knew her time was up the moment she heard the prophecy. She was looking forward to the afterlife and seeing all her friends again… Right now, all she wanted was for the goddess she had served faithfully these past few centuries to be with her in her last moments.
Above, the moon twinkled as Artemis knelt beside Aida-chin and soothed her pain, promising her Elysium and a memorial in the stars until the light went out of her eyes. Murasakibara saw Kise-chin in her, the way she selflessly sacrificed herself for the rest of the group, and absently made a note to sacrifice some Maibou to Artemis in Aida-chin's name when they get back home. He thought she'd like that.
Artemis ran her hands over Aida-chin's body and dissolved her into starlight. The goddess hung her loyal lieutenant up in the stars as a new constellation: the Huntress.
Artemis offered to let them ride on her sled to Olympus, and they accepted because there was still a lot of things that needed to be done. They had saved Muro-chin, but Sa-chin and Mine-chin were still up on Olympus fighting for the life of the Ophiotaurus. Kise-chin was dead, but Aka-chin swore on the River Styx he would find a way to bring him back. Artemis needed a new lieutenant, but she was still too grieved over the death of Aida-chin to be thinking about that right now. Murasakibara was so, so tired, but. They had saved Muro-chin. He wasn't going to let him leave his side anytime soon. Everything else, he could deal with later.
Oh. Wait. There was one thing he could deal with right now.
Murasakibara gave Gami-chin a Pocky for his contributions to the quest.
Author's Note: HOLY SHIT DID I JUST KILL OFF KISE AND RIKO? I did not plan on doing that but I did it anyway. Even I have to follow what the prophecy says ;)