AN: Alright, here's chapter 3. It's not as long as the other chapter, but it's still longer than the first hehe. Anyways, I'm going to answer some reviews once again. But first! The whole ordeal with Poseidon. Let's see, I believe that if Naruto was the son of any of the big three, it would have to be Poseidon. Some of your questions as to how Naruto could even be related to Poseidon will be answered in this chapter. Onto the reviews.
-redlox2 - Yes, No, and yes. He was well aware of Naruto being his son. And it was suspenseful so, yeah, sorry about that.
-Krazyfanfiction1 - He is still very much relevant in this story.
-Okay, I'll admit that Naruto will most likely not be paired with a guy or a fellow shinobi.
Back to this chapter. As the title states, the story will now progress past the camp and into the real world. You will notice that I have made several changes that will change the overall structure of the plot. It is still the same quest, just set up differently. Oh, and some strong knowledge of Greek Mythology would help you enjoy this chapter that much more. Finally, I do want to reveal the girl being paired with Naruto. But I decided to have a little fun with this. Her name will be scattered throughout the chapter, the only hint of her cryptic name will be with the letters that correspond with her name. They will be shown as this (Oh and this is a freebie-enjoy!)= [E]. Once you find all the letters, you'll have to unscramble them in order to completely reveal the name. Happy hunting, enjoy the chapter, and I'll see you at the bottom.
Chapter 3: The Quest Begins
"Hmm…" A whiskered faced blonde said out loud while rubbing his right pointer finger on his cheek. His fellow half-brother was also doing the same thing, but instead of rubbing his cheek, he was scratching his chin. In front of them was a cabin with walls created from gray stone with pieces of seashell and coral. The cabin as a whole was low, long and solid, with all the windows facing the sea. Both boys were content with just admiring the cabin in front of them, and were in no rush to go inside. However, their female companion was less patient with their gazing and was getting quite ticked at the two boys carefree attitude. The girl standing to the right of [N]aruto, who had flowing blond hair, had quickly become agitated and, finally, voiced her annoyance to them.
"For the love of gods! You two are so much like your father! Stop standing around like two awestruck blockheads and go inside already!" Annabeth yelled while pulling on her hair unconsciously. When they had arrived at Poseidon's Cabin, the boys had uncharacteristically began to stare at the building with immense interest. They had proceeded to stare at the unchanging building for about a good thirty-minutes before she lost her patience.
"Geez, can't you admire our father's cabin? Considering the fact that you want to be an architect, surely you can enjoy it with us?" The blonde haired boy asked, still eyeing the cabin critically.
"Yeah, it's not everyday you see a cabin this well made. Especially one that we are now going to be living in." Percy added while whistling at the beautiful looking building.
"That's the point! Because you guys will be living in this cabin, you'll be able to stare at it as much as you want. And as for being an architect, I prefer a building that can withstand the test of time. A perfect example of this would be the Parthenon. Besides, it doesn't help that this building is associated with Poseidon." Annabeth muttered the last sentence quietly. Percy didn't hear it, but Naruto did and reminded himself to ask her about it later. Sighing in unison, both boys decided that it was high time for them to enter the cabin. Walking up to the door, Naruto gently pushed against it and slowly opened the door. When they were inside, they were welcomed to the sight of walls that glowed like abalone. Several bunk beds, six in all, were divided evenly. On both sides of the room, there was exactly three of them laid in a line against the wall. A window was positioned directly above each bed with the left side's windows showing the sea. The boys then noticed that there was two chests in front of two beds. Deducing that one of the chest belonged to one of them, both boys carefully began to walk towards their respective chests (they guessed). When Naruto got to his chest he noticed a golden nameplate labeled on it. Peering closer to the nameplate, he was a bit shocked when he read his name on it. Realising his father, Poseidon, must have prepared the cabin for their stay, he nervously unlocked the chest and looked inside. Right away, Naruto found a note laying on top of a pile of clothing. When he picked it up, he quickly read it, "Dear Naruto, I know you love your orange outfits but everyone else, including the gods, find them to be damaging on the eyes. In light of this, I have decided to gift you with some new clothing. Note, they do not have any ORANGE on them. Best of luck on your quest, my son.
P.S. There are some trinkets that I have put in the chest that I think you will find interesting.
"Quest? What quest?" Naruto thought while gripping the note tighter. His second real contact with his father was a relief for him, but the last sentence in the note was baffling to say in the least. He then noticed the clothing and held them up to be inspected. He quickly understood that the outfit was practically the same one as his current orange and black one but there were some slight modifications to it, namely the color scheme. Instead of the overabundance of orange on it like his current outfit, this one had a cerulean color replacing it, and yellow replacing the black parts. When he delved deeper in the chest, he found another article of clothing. It was a short-sleeved white coat with black wind patterns along the hemline. All of the clothing were similar if not the same as his only with different colors. Frowning at the lack of originality, he decided he would change into these new articles of clothing later, specifically when no one would be around to watch him change except for his half-brother. Putting down the clothes, Naruto brought his sights back to the inside of the chest and found something that piqued his interest. On the bottom of the chest was a necklace. A blue, spherical shaped object was centered in the middle of the necklace. Naruto then noticed that it was connected to a golden spherical piece that surrounded it and connected both pieces to the necklace. The center piece, however, could be spun and created a brilliant display of bluish light that emanated from it when he flicked it. He guessed that the jewel must be a sapphire and the surrounding ring around it must therefore be gold. Wondering why his father deemed it necessary for him to wear jewelry, he nevertheless was thankful for it since it would allow him to replace his previous necklace that was destroyed during his fight with Pein. Putting it on, he suddenly felt a sense of power emanating from it. It gave off a faint glow before it faded shortly after doing so. Curious as to what this necklace could do, he carefully placed the spherical object in his left hand. Feeling it with his right hand, he was surprised when the jewel was cool to the touch when he rubbed his fingers against it. "Woah, this is so cool!" Naruto thought excitedly to himself before letting go of the necklace and letting it rest on his chest. He then realised that he had forgotten about Annabeth and Percy, and quickly changed his attention towards them.
"A watch? Why did he give me a watch?" [A] clearly confused boy asked while tinkering around with it.
"It's obviously not just any watch if it was given to you by a god. Here, let me have a look." Annabeth suggested while reaching over to grab the watch that was now on Percy's wrist. When she got a hold of it, she began to inspect it closely. "Hmm, there's a button on the side of it. I wonder what will happen when I press it." She thought out loud before pressing the button. Instantly, a bronze shield spiraled out of it much to everyone's surprise. Meanwhile, Naruto had now reached the two when this happened.
"That's pretty awesome! It's just like your sword." Naruto stated while sliding his hands across the surface of the shield. The shield had a simple trident design on the front of it; indicating that it was owned by the Sea God himself. Both Percy and Annabeth nodded in agreement before Percy pressed the button again, hiding the shield in the form of a wristwatch once again. Annabeth, noticing Naruto's new necklace, walked up to him and grasped it in her hands.
"Was this inside your chest?" She asked innocently. Naruto simply nodded and allowed her to play with the object in her hands. "It's so beautiful…" She mumbled quietly while still playing with it. Naruto couldn't help but to smirk a little at the girl's truth.
"Hey, does that necklace have any powers also?" Percy asked while inspecting the necklace with Annabeth. Frowning again, Naruto replayed the feeling he got from putting it on earlier.
"None that I'm aware of. Though it did feel empowering when I first put it on my neck." Naruto confessed.
"Maybe it has passive abilities? Necklaces do seem to have a habit of doing just that." Annabeth suggested. Both boys nodded their heads in agreement about that theory since it did seem to be a very plausible answer.
"Hey, I was wondering, where is that other boy you were with?" Naruto asked now remembering the missing boy from two nights ago.
"Yeah, where is Grover anyways? I haven't seen him since yesterday when he was giving me a tour around the camp." Percy added on. Both boys now looked at Annabeth expectantly, an action she was sure would be a common occurrence between them.
"Since Grover is a Satyr, he has certain obligations that he must perform. One of his duties being to find and bring demigods back to Camp Half-Blood, which he is currently doing right now." She answered back much to Naruto's puzzlement.
"Grover is a what?" This made Percy tap Naruto's left shoulder and inform him that a Satyr is a half-man and half-goat thing. "What? You mean that boy is actually half of a goat?" Naruto cried out with disbelief.
"Again, the proper term for Grover's kind is a Satyr." A familiar voice corrected Naruto. Turning his head towards the new voice, he found the voice to belong to a certain Centaur.
"Oh, hey there horse-man!" Naruto greeted knowing full well that the name would rouse something out of the Centaur. The half-man and half-horse person scowled slightly at the remark.
"Excuse me, but I've told you before that I am a Centaur not a horse-man, child," Chiron huffed before walking up to Percy. "As for you Percy, Son of Poseidon, we need to have a little chat regarding previous events." The said boy then became a little nervous from the sudden serious tone. Nodding his head in understanding, he followed Chiron out of the Cabin and back to his domain.
"I wonder what they're going to be talking about?" Naruto asked out loud while scratching the back of his head in thought. But Annabeth quickly felt uneasy about the whole situation. She knew very well what Chiron was going to talk to the boy about.
"Yeah, about that, I think we need to have our own little chat about recent happenings," Annabeth stated while walking towards one of the beds and sitting down in one of them. Naruto was confused by what she meant until he saw her pat an empty spot on the bed right next to her. Shrugging, he did as he was told, and walked over to her and sat beside her.
"What do you want to talk about, wise girl?" This made the girl scowl slightly from the name.
"Why do you insist on calling me that? Is calling me Annabeth that difficult for you that you have to give me a meaningless nickname?" She asked in an irritated voice.
"I can't help it. Ever since Clarisse called you that, I can't control myself from calling you that." Naruto confessed with a grin adorning his face. Annabeth just rolled her eyes and proceeded to change the topic.
"So, you are the Son of Poseidon." She stated simply. Naruto nodded, but was hesitant when he did so.
"Yeah, but I don't really understand how," Naruto grimaced while scratching his cheek in thought, "I mean, yeah, I was claimed and all but other than that I have absolutely no abilities that could distinguish me as being his son." This statement made Annabeth think once again. She didn't see Naruto do anything with the water that could be compared with Percy's control of it when he was in the girl's bathroom. But she did find something odd when she remembered, specifically, during that afternoon when they were playing Capture the Flag that Naruto said something rather peculiar while in the creek.
"Whenever you were near water before, did you ever feel… different?" She asked while looking directly into the boy's eyes. Naruto thought about it before answering back.
"Not really. Today was the only real time that I've felt anything wierd near water." He replied while pursing his lips.
"Yet, today was the day you were claimed." She whispered mostly to herself with her head down. It was evident that she was still in deep thoughts. She then quickly glanced back up at Naruto, "You said you were a soldier in your other world?" He nodded in confirmation. "So you must have fought near a water source at one time or another. Did you get wounded at all during any of these fights?"
Naruto rubbed his temples in thought before a certain fight popped into his head. "As a ninja I'm almost always getting wounded, but back to your question, yeah, there is one fight that gave me what you would consider as a wound." He admitted before leaning back into the bed in thought.
"So, what exactly happened?" But Annabeth instantly regretted asking that question when she heard Naruto's answer.
"Using one of his abilities, my opponent stabbed me through the chest and created a hole in it." He replied back casually, which made the girl's eyes widen in shock and disbelief at the boy's lack of emotions towards the event.
"Bu-But how are you alive? No man, even a demigod, could survive a hit like that!" She reasoned before Naruto shook his head.
"True, but I'm not just an ordinary demigod either. I have something inside me that can protect me." He said while standing back up and turning his back towards the now curious girl.
"What could possibly be inside you that could heal you that quickly?" She asked while eyeing the boy closely. But she didn't see the boy's look of pain flash across his face when she asked.
"I guess the best way of describing it would be calling it a demon." Naruto answered back, his eyes now fully closed. But Annabeth was shocked at the revelation. She couldn't understand how a demon could be living inside the blond haired boy.
"But how?"
"It's complicated, but in short, I was used as a sacrifice in order to save my village and I was the baby forced to be the bearer of it." He replied while unknowingly clenching his hands into fists. She saw this, and knew right away that she had crossed into a touchy subject. Mentally slapping herself at her ignorance, she slowly got up and placed a comforting hand on the now conflicted boy.
"I'm sorry about asking. If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have asked." She said truthfully. Naruto turned his body and was now facing directly in front of Annabeth's. She couldn't read his face, but she knew the look wasn't a happy one.
"It's not your fault. The issue is a mute point as of now though," He said before continuing, "but I think I need sometime alone right now." She wanted to ask more about the subject but nodded anyways, fully grasping the current situation, and promptly began to leave the cabin. But before she exited out the door, she turned around one last time and spoke to the saddened boy, "Again, I'm sorry about the past. When you feel better, you can meet the rest of us at the Dining Pavilion that I showed you earlier." She finalized before leaving the boy alone to his thoughts.
When h[e] was alone, he began to fiddle with his necklace. He couldn't explain it, but whenever he touched it, he instantly felt a sense of comfort and security- that was similar to Thalia's tree- emanating from it.
"How could I possibly be the son of a sea god. I don't even have an affinity for water. So that brings up another question. If I am truly his son, why do I not have any water abilities?" Naruto mentally berated himself.
"It seems you are at crossroads, foolish boy." A demonic voice suddenly spoke, interrupting the boy's thoughts.
"It's nice of you to finally wake up, stupid fox," Naruto mentally muttered dryly while taking a seat on a nearby bed. After they had defeated Madara, the Nine-Tailed Fox had decided to go into a short slumber much to Naruto's shock. His reason being that he was no longer vengeful at the world, and was quite at peace with himself.
"I see you haven't changed much at all." The Fox snorted. This made Naruto roll his eyes at the fox's jab.
"Seriously, it hasn't been that long since you fell asleep!" Naruto informed the fox.
"Maybe, but remember, time means very little to me," The fox countered, "as to why I am even speaking right now, I couldn't help but to hear two little birdies chatting quite obnoxiously from outside my domain."
"You still got problems if you think birds can talk." Naruto joked quietly.
"I will never get used to your childish ways of thinking, brat!" Kurama growled out much to Naruto's amusement. "Back to the point. I believe I can help you with your little dilemma revolving around your dad," This made Naruto raise an eyebrow. He definitely did not expect the fox to know anything about his godly father.
"I'm listening, Kurama." Naruto voiced. This made the Bijuu grin widely now at having the boy's full attention.
"Well, when you first fought that Uchiha kid at the Valley of the End, it is true that I did heal you. But…" Kurama trailed off eliciting Naruto to narrow his eyes at the speakers incomplete thought. "But, I was not the only thing that helped keep you alive."This truth made Naruto gasp slightly in surprise. He always believed that it was the fox who solely kept him alive in that fight.
"What do you mean, Kurama? I am in no mood for riddles so give it to me straight." Naruto commanded, but the fox merely rolled his eyes at the empty show of dominance. Snorting, he decided to be serious and meet the boys demands.
"Did you ever find it strange that whenever I did leak out of your seal that my Chakra was an oozy, red liquidy substance? Of course not, you're an idiot. Oh, and you will forever be an idiot no matter how old you get." Naruto was quickly getting irked by Kurama's not so subtle insults of him as evident by his now rapidly tapping right foot. The fox, realising Naruto's slowly decreasing sense of patience, went back to speaking in a serious manner. "Moving on, I don't know if you would have known this, but my true Chakra form more closely resembles that of fire than liquid." Naruto frowned at this piece of information, he was still in the dark about where this conversation was leading him towards. But he did find that truth to be somewhat intriguing.
"So why is your Chakra liquidity?" Naruto asked innocently.
"Before, I would have told you that I didn't have the slightest clue. But now after coming to this world and learning about all these gods and goddesses, I have made a theory about it. Because in any normal person I would have had fiery Chakra, it is now guaranteed that you had a strong, no change that, godly affinity for water before I was sealed into you. This, of course, overrode my natural affinity of fire and changed it into, in essence, boiling water." He growled out. Clearly not happy at the memory of losing his affinity. But Naruto was still in deep thought.
"So, from what I am deducing, every time the seal was weakened, my natural affinity was also being leaked out?" Naruto asked expectantly. The fox nodded, and Naruto continued speaking, "So when I was stabbed through the chest by Sasuke's Chidori, it was both you and my water ability that healed me?" Again, Kurama nodded. "If that's the case, then why can't I use any abilities similar to Percy's?" This question made the giant fox laugh loudly.
"I'll answer that question with one of my own! Have you ever even tried to control the water after releasing me?""Naruto's mouth absolutely dropped down to the floor. Of course he hadn't tried, how could he if he knew that he didn't have any affinity to water whatsoever. Palming his face, he began to shake his head in disgust while the fox looked at the boy's odd action in amusement.
"Although, I am still mystified as to why you also have an ungodly affinity to wind…" The fox trailed off. Naruto's ear perked up right away from hearing this subtle revelation. He gazed back at the fox intensely before speaking up.
"Wha-What? But that would mean my mom was a goddess? That's impossible!" Naruto induced mentally since it seemed logical because his father gave him a strong water affinity.
"Listen brat, if there's anything I've learned while being stuck with you, it's that the word 'impossible' is irrelevant with the both of us." He rationalized while laying back down and resting his head on his two front paws. "That is all I currently know, kid, and remember, this is all just a theory. So if you don't mind, I'm going back to sleep." And just like that, Naruto was swiftly kicked out of his mindscape.
Naruto now found himself lying on top of his bed. Pulling his hair in frustration, he decided that he had answered enough questions for himself that night. Pulling himself out of the bed, and began changing into his new clothes. Afterwards, he hastily walked towards the door, and promptly slammed it when he left. However, when he closed the door, a subtle [b]reeze of cool air rushed through the now empty cabin and slammed both chests closed.
~Dining Pavilion~
When Naruto finally arrived at the pavilion, he noticed Annabeth waving at him and indicating him to sit next to her and Percy. Nodding to her that he understood, he walked to towards their bench before a hand halted his progress. Letting his gaze wander up the person's hand and arms, he wasn't surprised at who the person was who stopped him.
"Yo, how's it going, Clarisse?" Naruto spoke simply still not moving from his current position.
"Warrior boy, I heard you're the Son of Poseidon." She stated loudly which caused the whole area to go silent. This, however, made Naruto narrow his eyes ever so slightly.
"What of it?" Clarisse then looked him straight in the eye before breaking out into a large grin.
"I just wanted to congratulate you on being claimed by one of the three most powerful Olympians!" She exclaimed while giving Naruto a playful punch to his left shoulder. He wasn't expecting such a powerful punch from her "play", and had to hide his discomfort in his shoulder while he was rubbing it soothingly with his right hand.
"Eh, thanks I guess?" He thanked while still nursing his sore shoulder.
"You know, this means that you're going to have to spar with me sooner rather than later, right?" She said while slowly reaching back for her spear.
"What the hell? She hasn't been awake for longer than a few hours, yet she still wants to fight?" Naruto inwardly cursed at Ares's influence on his children. "Yeah, as much as I would love to fight you, I kinda am not in the mood after the whole, you know, oh your godly dad happens to be one of the three great Olympians!" He explained sarcastically while silently praying that he would not have to fight with the war crazed chick.
"Very well. You defeated my best warrior with complete ease during the match. Though I do apologize for what he said to you earlier, I believe what you did to him was just and, indeed, warranted." She said while giving him a subtle bow.
"Easy there warrior girl, I think you may be getting too soft." Naruto laughed. But immediately after he said those words, Clarisse pulled out a knife from one of her hidden weapons pouches and threw it at Percy who was currently enjoying a slice of pizza. From Percy's perspective, all he heard was quick swoosh and then a sudden feeling of weightlessness on top of his head.
"What the hell?" He said aloud. Cautiously, he tapped the top of his head, and to his horror, he realised that he was missing a chunk of his hair. Glancing behind him, he soon spotted both Naruto and Clarisse laughing their asses off at him. Even Annabeth was trying desperately to hold in her giggles. Having enough of this embarrassing moment, Percy threw his hood up with disdain.
"Hahaha, what was that about me being too soft, warrior boy?" Clarisse asked in between laughs.
"Nevermind that I said that," Naruto chuckled. Sure, Percy was his half-brother, but Naruto still enjoyed funny gags such as that one. But he was surprised when Clarisse then unexpectedly grabbed the collar of his shirt, and pulled his face mere inches from her own.
"You know Naruto, I wouldn't mind being a particularly bad girl for you." She cooed much to Naruto's growing discomfort. He was now flushed and uncomfortable from the girl's words.
"I-Uh-Umm-" He couldn't finish before Clarisse released him from her grasp, she was laughing once again.
"Wow, I never knew I could have that effect on a guy, especially you, sexy stuff." She whispered flirtatiously while still laughing. "By the way, nice clothes." She complimented genuinely.
"Funny, you're such a tease warrior girl." Naruto growled out at being teased at in front of everyone.
"Am I?" She winked seductively at him. This quickly made Naruto go red once more, and he decided to just walk away from the girl.
Hearing a cat call coming from the direction of the Hermes table, Naruto heard a sudden smack and scream of pain from one of the campers. "And she's back to being the warrior girl." He mused quietly to himself. He eventually made it to Annabeth's table, and was puzzled as to why both his friends seemed to be angry at him. Percy, he could understand, but Annabeth? Why was she so red all of a sudden?" Giving up, he decided that it would be best to just sit down and order something to eat. That's when he realized he didn't know how or where to get the food. But his question was soon answered when a wood nymph appeared out of nowhere and asked him what he wanted to eat. Both people were then surprised by Naruto's odd behavior. His right eye was currently twitching and his mouth was held agape.
"Any-Anything?" He stuttered out slowly much to [h]is friends amusement and uneasiness. The wood nymph hesitated for a moment before slowly nodding her head in confirmation. "Ramen. I wish to have a huge bowl of Ramen." Naruto stated simply. But his voice was strained when he said that. Nodding in understanding, the nymph then clapped her hands and Poof! a giant bowl of steaming Ramen appeared in front of the now mouthwatering young boy. He was pleasantly surprised to find that there were two chopsticks laid neatly beside the bowl. Without waiting, he snatched up them and began diving into his bowl. Percy, Annabeth, and even the nymph were shocked at the appetite of the young boy. He quickly downed his Ramen and was about to ask for more before he heard a swirling noise coming from inside his bowl. When he peered back down at his bowl, to his utter amazement, the Ramen bowl had been refilled. "Thank the gods!" Naruto cried out in ecstasy and began crying anime tears while slurping up another bowl of Ramen. This humored everyone tremendously from seeing such a powerful demigod acting so childish around a soup dish. When Naruto was finally done with his meal- about twenty bowls worth- he laid back against the bench with a contented sigh escaping his mouth. Annabeth could only shake her head in disbelief before she noticed a certain group of girls walking towards their table.
"Great, it was only a matter of time before they came to "claim" him." She muttered quietly with a scowl now evident on her face. Naruto, noticing the group of girls, stared at them with piqued interest.
"Wow, they are all so pretty…" Naruto stated while being struck into a dazed like state. One of the girls from the group stepped forward while giggling and gave Naruto a bright smile that nearly made Naruto faint from the warmth that it radiated.
"Hi ya there hot stuff!" The girl said cheerfully while giggling at Naruto's helpless state. It was quickly becoming apparent to him that there was something more to their attractiveness that was lullying him into this pathetic state.
"Damn it, why did that one simple sentence make my mind turn into mush?" Naruto asked himself mentally while trying desperately to break this invisible spell. He was relieved, though, when Annabeth's cold and calculated tone broke him out of his stupor.
"What do you whores want with Naruto?" She asked venomously. But the girls simply waved her away and continued their [c]hat with the boy much to her annoyance.
"Silence ugly, you have no right to call the daughters of Aphrodite anything but magnificent," the lead girl replied while leaning closer to Naruto's face. Again, it seemed as the girl's simple smile could pierce into his heart. Finding this new feeling taxing on his psyche, he realised enough was enough.
"Okay, can you please stop being so ridiculously attractive!" Naruto gasped out, still dazed by their apparent beauty. The girls giggled at his request, but complied nonetheless. They were still exquisite but not so much that Naruto couldn't talk normally now. Taking a deep breath in, he looked to his right and saw Percy passed out with blood oozing out of his nose.
"Poor kid." Naruto thought emphatically before switching his gaze at Annabeth. He was unsettled at the sight before him. Instead of her usual steel colored eyes, they seemed to now take the form of flames, and she was currently glaring daggers at the girls. Gulping, he looked back at the girl in front of him. She was still radiating warmth from her smile towards him. "So these are the children of Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love? If these kids are bad, I don't think I could handle being around their mom no less." He shivered at the thought.
"Quite the gentleman aren't you? That is sooo hot!" The girl cried out in a sweet feminine tone.
"Crap, even their stupid voices are effecting me!" Naruto inwardly groaned while trying desperately to block out the girlish cries.
"Enough you wretched sluts! Isn't it apparent that he has no interest in you girls whatsoever? If it wasn't for your damn abilities, he would've done the same thing that he did with Clarisse and ran for it!" Annabeth cried out, her hatred towards the girls were becoming more and more apparent.
But, they ignored the girl's remark and simply rolled their eyes before the lead girl once again spoke up, "I don't know if you knew this, but every new camp member gets a special welcoming gift from the Aphrodite Cabin!" The girl shrieked with excitement. Naruto could only frown at this. The only other welcoming gift that he had heard about was from the Ares Cabin where the childre[n] of Ares would dunk the newbies into the girl's toilet. The girl, noticing the sudden distress coming across Naruto's face, giggled at his harmless fear. "No, silly, unlike the amazonian bitch, our gift is envied by all." She explained while gradually leaning closer to Naruto's face. He was about to ask what the gift was exactly before his lips were passionately slammed into the said girl's lips and held there for a few moments while his eyes quickly bulged out of his sockets.
"What? Her lips taste exactly like Ramen!" He mentally cried out in surprise. Her lips were angelically soft as could be, and her breath was extremely intoxicating. He was resisting the girl's attempt to have her tongue enter his mouth and was slowly losing the will to fight it before the girl's lips were hastily removed from his, courtesy of a now furious blonde haired beauty.
"Why can't you girls keep your dirty mouths to yourselves!" Annabeth cried out while wrestling the girl to the ground. For not fighting very much, the said girl was putting up a decent fight with the daughter of Athena.
"Ha, jealous that I kissed boy wonder over there first?" The girl mocked before she was silenced with a mouthful of dirt in her mouth by Annabeth.
"There, that's how you should clean your mouth, bitch!" Annabeth said with a triumphant huff.
"Mmph!" The girl tried to retort but, alas, dirt in her mouth had obstructed her use for words. The other girls were about to swarm in and help their fellow sis[t]er out before a loud cough drew everyone's attention. A slim, beautiful girl with black hair and blue eyes had a look of disappointment shown on her face.
"What is with all these pretty girls?" Naruto cried out mentally before going over to Annabeth and helping her up.
"Really sisters? You had to try to rape another camp member? I'm completely disgusted with you girls right now." The angry girl said while rubbing her right temple in anguish. The rest of the girls looked down in regret and a few of them muttered out a quiet sorry. Without saying another word, the girl pointed at a nearby cabin and, by some silent command, they all rushed back towards it. The girl then looked back at Naruto and frowned. He was still dazed and, overall, still out of it. The girl then walked up directly in front of him and snapped her finger in front of his eyes. Instantly, Naruto felt normal once again.
"Sorry about that. My sisters can get a bit eccentric around [h]andsome men like you." She stated apologetically. "I'm so rude! My name is Silena Beauregard and I am the daughter of Aphrodite." She said while shrugging in a carefree way. "I know what you were thinking when you were around my sisters. They were using a little love magic to influence the way you thought. Hence, why you couldn't speak normally when they talked to you." She explained while getting a nod from Annabeth who was, surprisingly, acting quite civilized around this girl.
"Thanks a lot for the help, Silena." Naruto thanked. The girl nodded at this before looking over at the laying figure that was Percy. She sighed out loud and walked over to the poor boy. She then bent down and whispered something quietly into his ear. Percy immediately sprang up and had a look of absolute terror on his face. This puzzled Naruto since he was curious as to how she woke him up so easily and in that state.
"What did you say to him?"
"Oh that. I simply muttered some incantations and, lά, he's back to normal," she answered with a french accent, "more or less…"
"Yeah, thanks Silena. If you hadn't arrived things might have gotten… messy." Annabeth thanked while wiping the dirt off her clothes.
"What? What happened?" Percy asked now getting back to his feet and stretching. Silena rolled her eyes at the foolish boy before reverting her sights back on to Naruto.
"I better leave before my sisters do something stupid again," she said, "well Naruto, I'm sure I'll see you around, hmm k?" [S]he hummed before running back to her respective cabin. Naruto just dumbly nodded at her disappearing figure before looking back at Annabeth. The girl was still visibly upset and about ready to kill anything. Then a thought abruptly entered his mind.
"Yo Percy, what did Chiron want to talk to you about?" Naruto asked to a now serious looking boy.
"I think it would be best if we talked about it on the way back to our cabin." He answered back while motioning for them to follow his lead. Naruto simply shrugged and followed but Annabeth was quickly anxious about what Percy was going to tell him. But she too followed after them after a few seconds of indecisiveness. But none of them had noticed a pink cloud of smoke from directly behind them. It had originated from a certain Goddess of Love's table with a bouquet of roses laying elegantly at the spot the Goddess had been standing on.
On their walk back, Percy was, for the most part, quiet much to everyone's creeping nervousness. He finally broke the silence when he spoke up suddenly, "I was given a quest." He finally said. This, however, struck a chord with Naruto. He suddenly flashed back to when he read his father's note to him.
"Best of luck on your quest, my son." Did he mean this quest? Naruto thought quietly to himself. He didn't notice that he h[a]d stopped walking, and now his two friends were looking at him worriedly.
"Uh, Percy, what exactly is your quest dealing with exactly?" Naruto inquired while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"It's quite simple. I have to find and return the Master Bolt to Zeus by the Summer Solstice." Both Naruto and Annabeth face-palmed themselves at the boy simplemindedness.
"Okay, I'm just going to ignore that stupid statement, fish brains," Annabeth said, "now I know you have met the Oracle. It is necessary for everybody in order to partake in a quest. Can you tell me exactly what the Oracle said to you?" Percy had to think for a minute before relaying the prophecy in its whole.
"You shall go west, and face the god who has turned,
You shall obtain the legacy of Philoctetes, and only the mortal son of two can wield it,
You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned.
You shall also return a part of you back to your creator,
You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend,
And you shall help a brother reclaim his lineage."
Percy relayed before taking a deep breath in. Naruto was confused by this prophecy, there were so many various meanings for each statement that it completely boggled his mind. But Annabeth wasted no time in theorizing the whole prophecy.
"Okay, the first line simply states the obvious. If Hades is the prime suspect for stealing Zeus's Master Bolt, we have little to no choice but to venture down into Hades. Which so happens to be located in the city of Los Angeles and directly West of our current position. But the god part is perplexing. We won't know until we face him I guess." Annabeth murmured before continuing with her analysis of the prophecy. "The legacy of Philoctetes. I haven't heard that name in quite a while…" She trailed off.
"What exactly is the legacy of Philoctetes?" Percy asked questioningly. He had never heard of the name before, but apparently he was an important figure if his name was mentioned in the prophecy.
"Percy, do you know the name of the only person willing to light Heracles funeral pyre?" Annabeth asked while still in her thinking posture.
"Heracl- who?" Percy worded out much to his difficulty.
"It's Hercules! But Heracles is his true Greek name. Hercules is the Roman name for him." She muttered out with annoyance. Naruto was happy just to watch the interaction between the two. He honestly had no clue about what they were talking about. But as long as one of them understood the prophecy, then he didn't really care all that much then.
"Okay then. So I'm guessing this guy, Philoctetes, was the man who lit his funeral pyre?" She nodded before speaking out again.
"I mind as well move this along since you know little about Greek Mythology. At least Naruto has an excuse but you, ugh, you're just hopeless with it!" Annabeth cried out in defeat while throwing her hands into the air. She knew she was overreacting a bit, but it frustrated her to no end that a boy who was given a prophecy wouldn't have understood it without her being there. "The legacy of Philoctetes is actually a weapon. Namely, it is called, simply, The Bow of Hercules. It was used by the Greeks to win their war at Troy, and it was it that killed Paris and officially ending it. The location of the bow remains a mystery however since several stories mention Hercules eventually regaining his bow. But the only person who would know its location would be Apollo, he was the person who first gave the bow to Hercules in order for him to complete his twelve labours." Annabeth then sighed at knowing that obtaining this godly weapon was only half of it. "There's also the son of two issue. From inferring what we already know, and that The Bow of Hercules is an incredible weapon, I'm guessing the son of two is actually a son of two divine beings." Naruto's eye grew widely at the claim.
"Wait a minute, Annabeth. Wouldn't being the son of two divine beings make that person a god then?" Percy nodded also in agreement with the boy's logic. But Annabeth sighed once more, and rubbed her temple in deep thought.
"Usually that would be the case, but there are ways for a god to become mortal. I guess the easiest way would be for the god to abstain from drinking Ambrosia, the substance that keeps a god immortal. Still, that would take a while and is very unlikely since most gods would be unwilling to just give up their godhood. So the most plausible and likely scenario is that the baby was born mortal from two godly parents." Annabeth concluded while pacing back and forth in an impatient manner.
"Okay, well let's just go with that theory and move onto the next statement." Naruto comforted her while also trying to keep progress.
"Yes, the next part is the returning of items. The first part I understand as being the Master Bolt. But the second is very vague in its explanation." She mumbled while still pacing. Both boys didn't have a clue what it meant either, but decided to think about it later.
"Okay, so the next part is the betrayal. Hmm, I think we should skip that one also." Naruto suggested, and both people nodded their head in agreement. "So that leaves us with the lineage thing." Naruto finalized while scratching his head in thought.
"Well it does state that I help my brother, so as of right now, I'm going to help you uncover your lineage." Percy stated with a happy tone. Naruto smiled warmly at his half-brother and nodded in thanks for his willingness to help him.
"So I guess it's true. My mom is indeed a goddess. Still, I wonder how I could have been born mortal." Naruto pondered. He decided to share his sentiment out loud to his friends.
"Hey, I think I'm the one who is the son of two divine beings." Naruto revealed in front of his friends. Both of them now had a stunned look, and gazed at him expectantly. "Obviously, my dad is Poseidon. But my mom I do not have a clue. But apparently her powers deal with wind." Naruto explained. Percy and Annabeth began to think about all the goddesses who could potentially be his mother.
"I know several gods dealing with wind, but I can't seem to remember any goddesses who also had abilities dealing with wind." Annabeth said with a sad voice. But Percy shocked everyone, mostly Annabeth since Naruto still didn't know much about Greek Mythology.
"This may sound crazy but could this goddess have been potentially a… Titaness?" Percy suggested much to Annabeth's shock.
"Wel-Well it's not entirely out of the picture, but I find it difficult to see Poseidon, one of the three most powerful Olympian, being associated with a Titan, no less a Titaness." She whispered out quietly. All these theories and hypotheses were now overloading a certain whiskered faced blonde's brain.
"I think we've done enough brainstorming for one century," Naruto exclaimed sorely, "Annabeth, how many days do we have until the Summer Solstice?"
"As of tomorrow, nine days." She answered back. "It will also take quite a few days to get to Los Angeles since it's located on the other side of the country." Percy groaned at this. He only had about nine days to retrieve the bolt and return it back to Mount Olympus or else the gods would go to war.
"Alright then, we know what to do and where to go. So let's go!" Naruto cried out while running in no particular direction.
"Umm, he does know that West is the other way, right?" Annabeth asked appalled at seeing Naruto's abundance of energy for the long quest.
"Why are you asking me? You're talking to a boy who can barely read a compass!" Percy hyperbolized while waving his arms for added effect. But Annabeth rolled her eyes, and began walking towards her cabin.
"When you get Naruto, I suggest you two pack accordingly and meet me by Thalia's tree tomorrow morning at dawn. Our ride will then drive us into the city." She finalized before getting out of earshot of both the boys. She then proceeded to begin praying to her goddess, [A]thena, "Mom, since this quest deals with Hercules, one of your favorite heroes, please give me some guidance during this journey that may help us find his bow. Your help would greatly be appreciated. Oh, and one last thing," Annabeth was now blushing profusely when she entered her cabin, much to the dismay of her fellow cabinmates, "can you help me with… boys?
Pretty interesting, huh? Well I hope you enjoyed the chapter and learned a few interesting things along the way about Greek Mythology. If not, more power to you. Oh, and if you weren't able to uncover the name (Highly unlikely since most of you seem to be pretty intelligent) then I will officially reveal it next chapter. Don't forget to REVIEW! Until then, ciao!
Small Update 2/9/14: There will indeed be a second girl paired! You may now once again debate about who she is.
