In A Time of Heroes
Prologue
The race of man did not always have the power to bend the elements to their will. Indeed, the powers which are so taken for granted by the shinobi were in fact a gift of the Gods of Olympus. Long ago, man was subject to their rule. Sacrifice and prayer were met with victory in battle, bountiful harvests, and full wallets. Offense was met with destruction, suffering, and disgrace. Many a poor soul can attest to the fickle nature of the Olympians, having tempted their wrath only to have all that they cherished ripped away.
Even those who paid tribute and gave no offense suffered from the God's fickle and prideful nature. Often would the mighty deities of Olympus argue, only to use man as their arbiter. Indeed, for every war of man there lies buried a foolish argument between Gods. Over time, mankind grew weary of their undeserving misery, and began to beg the Gods to settle their disputes amongst themselves. Zeus, the King of the Gods, understood that if a war broke out amongst the Immortals, the race of man would not survive the fallout. In his wisdom, he forbade the Gods from making war on one another long before the race of man was born into this world.
Still, Zeus was sympathetic to the cries of his children. He called together the pantheon of Olympus, claiming that he would create a judge of the Gods, who would decide their issues with the combined wisdom of all the Immortals. In a goblet forged by Hephaestus, he gathered a drop of blood from each God. He held the goblet up for all his fellow deities to see, and with his power over the skies cast it into the rains so that it could be given to man. The Olympians were enraged by this, but knew that Zeus was far too powerful for anything to be done about it. Seeing the rage of his fellows, Zeus began to explain his actions.
"The race of man shall praise us for this, our first and only sacrifice to them. Too long have they suffered for inability to resolve petty squabbles. They have only a small amount of our power, but it will be enough that they can survive the foolishness we visit upon them. Mankind are our subjects. Every peasant knows to respect his king, but as a whole, the peasants are the only fit judge of their leader." Most of the Gods bowed their heads in compliance. Only Hades, the Lord of the Dead, was willing to speak out.
"Brother, what you have done will destroy you, and all your children." His voice echoed with the emptiness of his realm. "Man cannot wield the strength of the Gods. They will grow as arrogant as we, and before long this Earth will be naught but a battlefield. While the bloodshed continues they will pray to us still, but in their hearts they will know that is the Gods who have cursed them with the power to destroy themselves. They will forget us. With your powers diminished you cannot sustain yourselves; not without the prayers and sacrifices of man. First your children, then you, will fall into the unending slumber of the River Styx, only to awake when man again sings your praises. Only I and Thanatos will remain, for only we will remain fixed in the minds of man." With his grim prophecy given, Hades returned to his domain in the underworld, to lord over the many souls who would soon enter his realm. Indeed, his words came to pass exactly as given.
It took generations for man to grasp the powers they had been given. Eventually man gained mastery over their new strength, but instead of using this power to defend against the machinations of irate Immortals; they wasted them on each other. Each army prayed to the Gods of their cities for the duration of the war, but seeing the destruction Zeus' gift had driven man to create, they soon turned against their masters. Too weak to punish the race of man for its transgressions, the Gods were soon relegated to myth, and eventually, forgotten entirely. Even the heroes of the era, having been descended from the Gods, faded into distant memory, remembered only on crumbling murals and long since faded scrolls.
Although the deities themselves faded, their gifts to man continued. So it was that in an era without Gods, an Oracle was born at Delphi. The Oracle was born into the last remaining village of man in the land of Greece, formed by a collection of refugees from other city-states. She grew up never knowing of the origin of her power, having only the understanding that she was the only one of her kind. However, without the aid of Apollo himself she could only give one prophecy. This too she knew instinctively, and it would prove to be the plague of her existence. Many visions would come to her, but to speak of more than one of them would falsify the second prophecy and all that preceded it.
For years the Oracle waited, letting prophecy after prophecy pass into the deep oceans of memory. Often she would observe the events she had long ago envisioned come to pass, some of which would torment her consciousness for all her days. She grew to be an old woman, and still, none of her visions seemed worthy. As she lay on her deathbed, she received one final glimpse of the future, and with her dying breath, spoke it out to her handmaiden.
"There shall come a time soon when the last son of Heracles shall leave this place for the homeland of his people. He shall return when his face bares its first beard; at this time, he shall have truly become a man worthy of his ancestry. When this comes to pass, take him to the sea, and wait there for the son of thunder. It is he who holds the key to mankind's redemption and salvation. Heracles' heir must aid him, or all will be lost the Red Moons. Together, they must gather a pantheon of heroes to ascend into the heavens themselves, and reawaken our forsaken Fathers." With that, the Oracle began to fade into the cold embrace of death. Frantically, her handmaiden attempted to shake her back to consciousness.
"Please my lady, tell me, who are these men you speak of? Who is the last son of Heracles? There is no one by that name in this village…" The Oracle placed a finger on the lips of the young girl, silencing her. She then let her wrinkled hand drift to the child's belly, where she let it rest.
"Be strong, child, as strong as you can be. Teach him, so he may teach the others…" With that, the last Oracle of Delphi passed from this world.
The handmaiden wept for her mistress; letting the prophecy burn into her mind. Taking to heart the Oracle's final words, she went through life meeting any challenge presented to her. With each failure, she grew wiser and stronger. Many years later, she would gain the heart of the village's best hunter by aiding him in the slaying of a lion which had preyed on the sheep of the villagers. Together, they conceived a child. Before the child could be born, however, his father died of sickness.
The handmaiden, now a widowed woman, was forced to give her child his name alone. She chose to call him Thanasius, and it was agreed upon by the village men that he should be taught by each of them as recompense for the service his father and mother had done for them. He grew up strong and handsome, but always he was restless. As the Oracle had predicted, the boy left the village in the thirteenth year of his life.
Far across the oceans, on the other side of the world, another strong and handsome boy was beginning a great journey of his own. His golden hair shone brightly in the sun, and his blue eyes radiated with a limitless enthusiasm for life. "Ero-sennin!" He called out to a figure waiting for him on the road outside of his home.
"Hurry up, Naruto. We have a long road ahead of us..." The man replied. "And don't call me that, brat!" The boy's only answer was a mirthful scoff. Uzumaki Naruto set off with his master, having no idea of the true scale of the adventure upon which he had embarked.
Author's Notes:
Future chapters will be longer. Also, I reiterate, will focus much more on Naruto, although he will be sharing the spotlight in this story. I will do the best again to accurately represent the mythological beings that work their way in here, but by no means am I an expert in the subject. If you spot a glaring flaw or piece of misinformation, please let me know. Beta-readers, please, lend me your grammatical precision!
Now then, this story can go a lot of places. It's going to be an epic journey, and I'm open to suggestions about challenges for Naruto and his companions, be they riddles of the mind of feats of strength or otherwise. Critiques of my work are more than welcome, but please remember to do so in an intelligent and constructive manner. Reviews are always appreciated but believe me my self-esteem is not so delicate that a lack of reviews will make me cry myself to sleep at night.
Some things I most definitely will be including in this story include violent, hopefully epic fight scenes and romantic interludes including lemons. I am no pervert, but I am trying to emulate Greek myth somewhat, and they didn't give a crap about narrating sexual content. If you have a problem with this, fear not, such sections will be adequately warned against. If you are looking forward to it… well, don't expect too much, it's not what I'm here for. As for the pairings, e-mail me all you want regarding your ideal choice, but really, it's whatever works for the story.
Anyway, I want to give credit to a few people for the inspiration to start this little venture. First and foremost, the author of the long-abandoned Heirs of the Warrior, TheVoidWalker. At first I thought he was ripping off God of War a bit too much and I told him as much. I found out he had never actually played it, and I gave the story a second chance. Very glad I did, wish he would get off his ass and finish it, but I'm sure he's gone onto bigger and better things. Second, I would like to credit the aforementioned video game series. God of War III was so epic that following my completion of the game, I have been unable to cease envisioning the sheer and utter carnage that is Kratos. Finally, the entire crew responsible for Clash of the Titans deserves their due here. A truly worthy remake despite its flaws.
One final note: If you are unfamiliar with an element of Greek mythology, e-mail me and I will be more than happy to personally explain it to you. However, there's this little website you may have heard about called Google. There are some pretty decent sites out there, although some of the kiddier ones tend to gloss over the raunchier parts. Some sites also provide alternative versions to various portions of Greek myth, so double check before you e-mail me regarding a mythology error. Anyway, thanks very much for reading!