A/N: Alright ladies and gentlemen, I'm alive! I've been better given all the problems I've been going through, but I'm still breathing. Still kicking. I've been on a Mass Effect craze as of late as I'm sure you all noticed; its just my way of coping with life atm. Not only has my stupid heart failed on me again, but I've been suffering through the loss of several family members. Add to that the state of my joblessness and the school bills that keep racking up, and I'm in a bit of a tight spot at the moment. Yet here I am, fighting this damned depression, not giving into despair. To all my readers/reviewers who have encourage me in this time, I say this:
Thank you all for you support, and here's hoping I make it through the rough road ahead of me! *Raises glass in a toast* Long live Fanfiction! And in case my health goes south...Love ya'll! Expect an update for Bring Down the Sky to be coming soon! Remember, I own nothing! And prepare for a shocker! And of course, a fair bit of humor! But in this chapter there is a great deal of action-not to mention a shocking revelation for poor Naruto regarding the reapers, one. that may just send our favorite blond over the edge...
ALSO! My computer is down! BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH! I literally woke up this morning and it wouldn't work-whereas it was just FINE LAST NIGHT!? Anywho, I'm writing this from my stepdad's computer, so updates might be sporadic for a bit! Grrrrr...so angry right now! But hey, this is a nice looooong chapter, and we cover a lot of ground here! Also, I'm not going to tolerate any flames unless they're constructive criticism. So, fair warning! If you've nothing nice to say, please, don't say it.
Well...here ya go! =D Enjoy the humor! And we get to see some new characters this chapter! One of which I'm sure you'll recognize...AND FAIR WARNING! An awful lot happens in this chapter! ITS ANOTHER LONG ONE! The God of War bit was a new one, frankly, and I thought it interesting to try something else I haven't seen yet. If you have recently played God of War: Ascension, or beaten it like I have, then you should get the gist of the idea behind this story. That's right. Naruto isn't exactly the hero in this story. But is he the villain? Only time will tell.
Anywho...
...LOOOOONG CHAPTER AHEAD! Hope ya like it! Again! Play Ascension, people! Else you'll be hopelessly confused! Remember, Ares mentored Naruto first. Kratos came second. So the timeline is a bit diluted in terms of Kratos and Naruto. No Orkos, no Oathkeeper. Meaning Kratos has full control of his faculties, and he knows the horrors of what he did. An' he feels bloody awful. And we see a LOT of death in this chaper! I worked long and hard on it! And remember, I own nothing but the idea here folks! Naruto and God of War belong to their respective owners!
Hope you enjoy!
"I was only trying to make you a better warrior!"
~Ares (Shortly before his death).
God of War
For the longest time after that, madness consumed me.
Every waking moment the same scene played out before me. Blinded by rage and fury, my blades carving a path through Aphrodite's temple, slaying all in my path. Screams. The lifeless eyes of my little brother staring up at me in silend condemnation. I closed my eyes and I saw his face. Sleep offered no escape, the visions persisted even in slumber. Food had no taste. The numbing stupor of drink promised no salvation for the cruel images branded in my brain. The pleasures of the flesh -which I partook of most gratuitously after my brother's death- soon became hollow and cold.
My hands had bathed in the blood of countless lives, many of them innocent, but it was the death of my brother that broke me. I felt wretched. I was no warrior. I didn't even deserve the weapons chained to my wrists anymore, not by any means. That day I broke from Ares. Severed all contact. I had few enemies then, but my Father-the one responsible for molding me into this monster, this animal that I'd become-stood squarely at the top of that list now. I even resembled him.
I didn't know he'd found himself another pawn; a spartan named Kratos. I didn't care. Didn't notice how like me he was; his ambition knew nearly no bounds. He was going to lose everything. Just like me. Sure enough he did. Eventually he fell into the same trap as I had, unknowingly killing his wife and child in a temple of Athena, much as I'd done with Orkos in the realm of Aphrodite. For all his claimed strategy my fathered seemed to relish using the same strategems over and over again. Didn't want to notice. For the next ten years revenge filled my every waking moment. Possibly his as well.
Athena proved my saving grace. She said Zeus held no ill will against me for my part in Are's plot. She promised me forgiveness from my sins. She understood, or at least, I wanted to think that she did. She swore that she would remove the stain of my brother's blood from my body. To erase this insanity. It was all the hope I needed. False or not, I didn't know. It gave me purpose. Drive.
I didn't need Pandora's Box. I was the Son of Ares. I had all the searing fury of the God of War wrapped up inside of me, and the madness of the Furies. I had a goal, and I swore that I would see it complete, no matter the cost.
Nowhere was I in my right mind when I went after him-I just wanted revenge. Justice. Retribution. I knew he was responsible for placing Orkos there the day I killed him. To this day, I don't know how. I just knew. But when I stormed into the citadel of the Furies, into my home, he was nowhere to be found at first. I raged furiously. The...coward! Perhaps he knew I was a true-genuine!-actual threat to him now-that if we were ever to confront one another one of us wouldn't be walking away ever again. One of us would die. But I reasoned my mother and aunts would be able to tell me where he was. And if they didn't, they'd go to Hades for planning to dispose of my brother.
That was the day I first laid eyes upon the Ghost of Sparta. Trapped in the prison of the damned like so many others before him. I saw him there, chained and broken. Someone who'd suffered just as I had maybe even more. I saw myself. Somewhere in the pit of my shriveled heart, I took pity on him.
Then they made the mistake of trying to stop me that night...
Calliope...
"Snap out of it, man!"
Kratos jerked painfully as a large hand cracked across his vision and slammed into his visage from seemingly out of nowhere, jerking him out of memory and illusion. He awoke to find himself in chains, his body bound, the Blades of Chaos tethered to posts at either side, leaving his arms stretched as lay buckled onto his knes. He nearly despaired as reality rose around him. No, no, no, he didn't want to be here, back in the present-a man who'd murdered his wife and child. The illusions of the Furies were better, at least they promised him some semblance of solace...
But the voice seemed determined to deny him his sanctuary. Another blow rocked his vision. Had he still been bound by an Oath to Ares, he might've not noticed it. But no, he was painfully aware of evey nuance, filling his face with the pain of a swollen lip. He tried to blot it out, tried to focus once more on the blessed illusions. All h felt was pain.
"So help me Kratos, if you do not wake up this instant I will gut you!"
That voice! It sounded just like...
"Ares!"
Fury flooded his vision, the madness bubbling up at the mere mention of the God of War and shattering the false peace. It sounded like him, and yet not him. But it had to be! The God of the War had come to mock his failure yet again, to laugh at him...to...to...
"No, not Ares." the stranger replied, still unseen through the murk. "Though there is a bit of a resemblance. Now. Wake. Up!"
A hand rocked his head back, fingers pressing into his face. Faced with the pain of having his eyes potentially gouged out, the former general came back to himself with a gasp...
...and found himself looking at a monster in the torchlight.
If he was the Ghost of Sparta, than this man was a wraith. His skin was black as midnighnight, his harsh blue-red eyes glittering like wrathful diamons in the back of his skull. A crop of shaggy, flaming red hair hung over his head like a mane, and poured down his back in a wave of spikey needles all of it contrasting sharply with the silver tunic andd armor he wore. It was like...loking at a young Ares. But this one was covered in blood. And there wrapped around his arms, a pair of blades. So much like those he wielded, yet more-an amalgamation of death and despair and destruction all forged into cold, ruthless steel.
"About time." the man grunted, reaching around to free him from the choker that bound him to the central dais. "I was beginning to think you'd never recover." Together he helped him tug free of the rest, reaching up to shatter the shackles that bound the Blades of Chaos away from him. Kratos drew his once-favored weapons to him, and fought a cringe. These had taken the lives of his family. Just looking at them filled him with an anger so intense it made his very bones quiver with contempt for the God of War. But above that contempt came another emotion. Curiosity.
"Who...?"
"A friend." came the answer into the night. He stepped away, those dark hands ghosting over his own weapons. "Someone who hates the God of War and wants him dead." This close he could see that the stranger truly did share an eerie resemblance with the God of War. But there was an anger in those eyes, one that wasn't directed at the world, but inward. Here was a man who had suffered greatly under the God of War, who lived with the pain of what he'd done. He had no way of knowing, but he was looking at the Son of Ares.
"Don't dissapoint me, Spartan."
That was all he had time to hear before a mottled green blur straked out of the darkness, slammed into the wraith, and sent him sprawling off the dais.
"You will not leave this place alive, traitor!"
Megaera was furious with me.
So was I.
Deep down, I'd always hated her. She'd been a thorough bitch to me since the day of my birth, not trusting a half-breed as she so contemptuously put it, to complete the task set before him. Taking her arm had soured things between us even further. Perhaps my betrayal had vindicated her in the begining but now? Now there was fear in those bright green eyes as we fought. Her skills had slackened in the decade since I'd last laid an eye on her, she relied more upon her possession beetles and minions to slow me than her combat skills.
The Hecatonchires raged around us, its many arms grasping, groping, trying to dislodge me as we fought. But I knew this prison like the back of my hand. There was no advantage they could turn against me that I had not already seen, could not counter. Her hate meant nothing in the face of my vengeance. It didn't matter that she was family. She was just another body on my blades.
She died like a pig.
Demigod and Fury raged across the citadel in a flurry of blood and steel. Nephew against aunt, blood against blood, the latter incessantly attacking, the former moving in a steady parry. It was ironic, really. He'd always feared Megaera when he was young. Now? He felt nothing but contempt.
The Blades of Oblivion cracked like whips from his arms, snapping murderously against
"You were never a warrior!" she shrieked at him as they fought, all thoughts of Kratos forgotten as she struggled for her very life. "Just a brute!"
"By your design!" he roared. "Your machinations!"
He dipped between the weaving limbs and struck a mighty double-bladed blow into her chest. New strength and power flowed up the chains into his body as he drank his aunt's life. He whirled to hamstring her, but she was faster than he'd anticipated, even with her mortal wound. Claws swung, sweeping him off his feet then stabbing for his throat in the next instant before he could so much as blink. Against anyone else that would've spelled death, guaranteed them a one way trip to Hades. But against a demigod?
She signed her own death warrant.
Naruto dropped the Blades of Oblivion and opened his hands, fingers splaying even as the serated talons screamed towards his face. Greek fire sizzled within his palms, a gelatinous mass of pure plasmas. Then he flung it into her face. Megaera screamed. Her lone arm was suddenly devoted to scraping the hellfire out of her eyes and in that instant, slipped out from under her claws and kicked up with both boots, his legs cannoning out with enough force to crumble a mountain. Ribs shattering like glass as she twirled backwards and tried to scramble away, but her claws gave out beneath her.
Naruto stood and the Fury shrank back. A tinny-sounding shriek fleeing from her bloody lips.
"You have caused me pain for the last time, nephew!" she spun around and leered with her remaining eye, teeth bared in a rictus of fury as he approached. The Blades of Oblivion were nestled once more upon his back-a cold gleam shining in those hearltess eyes. "Coward! Weakling! You were never your father's son! You WEREN'T!" She tried to open her mouth to insult him further...
...and died.
Green eyes widened, her pupils shrinking to a sliver of color within those white eyes. Her entire body convulsed. Twitched. Spasming, she struggled to look at him, her eyes traveling to the hand trapped in her stomach. Naruto said nothing, he simply kept his hand where it was, the chained forearm sheathed into her guts. She felt his fingers curl around her spine, locking about it in a vicious vice. Then he began to pull. A look of horror dawned on the Fury's face. Her good arm thrust into his chest in a desperate stab, trying to stop him but to no avail. She was too weak.
"No," she begged. "Please, don't...!"
"You're right." he said quietly, ignoring the wound she'd dealt. "I've caused you enough pain."
Snap.
His hand wrenched, snapping her spine like a twig. Megaera went limp, slumping forward in his arms. Naruto pulled again, and a portion of her spine came free with his hand, the jagged bone bending back as he swung the improvised whip forward at her neck. The fury didn't even scream. Her lips simply parted in a small, round O. Even as her head rolled from her shoulder, he was already moving, pressing deeper into the Citadel. He glanced back at her body only briefly, wondering if he should feel something. But there was nothing there. Nothing.
Nothing at all.
Tisiphone was...difficult. She'd always cared for me. There had always been kindness in those milky-white eyes. She'd never said a harsh word to me, never raiseda hand against me. She sang me to sleep sometimes in the dark, soothing me with her soft voice when I couldn't sleep. She was the closest thing I had to a real mother. To a parent. But she knew her duty-just as I knew mine. There could be no quarter given here to her. It would be a fight to the finish for all parties involved. Nothing spared. None taken. She knew I was here for vengeance.
And I feared she would deny me that sweet release, like so many others.
Dealing with her...was the hardest thing I'd ever done.
Probably because I had to deal with a small army, first.
Reaching his second aunt required less finese than it had Megaera and more brute, stubborn, strength. She'd learned well from her sister's death, and called all manner of monsters and other beasts to her side to delay him; prevent her nephew from reaching the inner sanctum where Alecto doubltessly dwelt. Naruto had since left Kratos far behind, he could hear the sounds of the Spartan's exertions as he too beat back the beasts. It was incredibly cruel of him to press forward while the Ghost of Sparta dealt with the small fry.
That left him to deal with the cyclops barring his path.
He whirled to bifurcate the beast with his unbrekable swords, but the enormous monster was faster than it looked. The one-eyed creature swept its vast club into a rising parry and cleared the blades from between them, then dropped its club and wrapped those gargantuan arms around Naruto's chest, pinning both arms to his side. The Cyclops squeezed until the demigod's ribs began to crack and clouds of blackness washed through the wraith's vision.
The Cyclops roared its triumph-until its lone eye focused on Naruto's face. The Son of Ares was smiling.
Then he unleashed the Rage of Ares.
Fire burst from him in a tidal wave, a decade of pent up emotion searing forth, branding his captor until it yowled in pain and was forced to slacken its grip. In that instant the warrior tore his arms free, and the Blades of Oblivion tasted blood. They came down at the joining of the Cyclop's neck and shoulders, carving a gore-splashing V downwards until they met at the creature's monstruous heart. Naruto released his blades to seize the Cyclop's head-which stilll blinked its eye in astonishment-and then hurled it into the path of three oncoming satyrs, bowling the infantry over themselves.
As the rest of Cyclop's body shuddered and collapsed-crushing still more soldiers-Naruto kicked off it into a small gap betwen the corpse and a stone alleway. Bracing his arms on either side for leverage, he shot up the incline with a burst of speed, scooting his way to the top. Strong hands grasped the edge of the ledge and swung himself over the edge-
Naruto nearly died.
He didn't see the Juggernaut until it was almost too late; hadn't even realized it was on the roof. Hells, he didn't even hear it. The only warning came when its shadow fell over him. Then its sword slammed down on his back. His saving grace was that he'd sheathed the Blades of Oblivion a moment ago; so, instead of finding flesh, the pachiderm's blade slammed down into the mighty steel forged by Hades. Bruising him badly, yes, but sparing his life. Dropping a knee and rolling aside, Naruto offered a quite thanks to the Lord of the Underworld for creating such durable weapons.
"So nice to be appreciated." the God's raspy voice echoed deeply in his head. "Try not to die, nephew. I'd be so bored without you." Naruto laughed grimly in retort and finished his roll, coming up swinging. It was good to know that at least some Gods still suported him in his quest for vengeance. Spinning back to the Juggernaut, Naruto opened his hand, preparing another cone of flame.
A gout of Greek fire only served to enrage the mighty mammal.
Trumpeting its fury, the beast lumbered after him, seeking to impale him on its tusks. This time, Naruto was ready. Spartans like Kratos might never retreat, but any wise warrior knew a frontal assault was fated to fail when faced with those deadly spikes. Besides, this was no base beast that could be killed with a flick of the wrist. A terrifying cross, a hybrid between man and elephant, the Juggernaut posessed all the raw destructive power of a Cyclops, but with the cunning mind of a man. This wasn't a creature he wanted to face alone if it could be helped, not when he still had his aunt, mother, and possibly even Ares to face this day. And then his mind seized upon an idea.
Help.
That was it! His eyes cut to the carnage below and caught sight of Kratos. The Spartan was raging furiously against everything the Furies had thrown at him thus far; but one could clearly see the exhaustion begining to wear him thin. Months-years-spent chained were taking their toll. A stark bellow boomed from his throat, momentarily stunning the Juggernaut where it stood.
"Spartan!" He called, raising a hand! "Take cover!"
The former general did so without so much as a second thought, dropping flat to the nearest wall in the same instant that Naruto called down hellfire upon the horde arrayed against him. It was as if the sky itself rained fire and death,. Satyrs, serpents and Cyclops all burned as the fiery comets fell down upon them, charring them to ash. When the rain of death finally ceased, the spartan glanced towards him,those dark eyes dissecting his strange ally on the rooftops, calculating the route he would take. Even from here he could see the struggle taking place within; the Ghost of Sparta was wondering if he could truly be trusted.
And then he ran.
Not away from the fight, but rather, towards it. With surprising speed and agility the Ghost of Sparta scaled the walls much in the same way he had, clamoring up the building cliffside with a grace that defied his age. In mere moments they stood side by side, facing the elephantine beast as it finally recovered. A heavy stomp beneath them caused the roof to momentarily, its loud braying seemed to drive all sound from the world.
"You need my aid against such a creature?" Kratos scoffed. "What kind of warrior are you?"
"Just shut up and help me kill it!"
As one the twin blades of Chaos and Oblivion flew forward, unlimbered from their master's wrists with a skill born from years of battle. The air was suddenly a storm of blades and blood, the chained weapons arcing out at the massive berserker. It could find no rest their in that malestrom; whenever it turned to ward off one, the other would close in, relentlessly pressing the attack.
Caught between Naruto and Kratos, the bloodied Juggernaut seemed momentarily at a loss, its red eye sweeping back and forth from the Ghost of Sparta and the Son of Ares. Finally, it decided to go for what it deemed to be the lesser of the two, bounding toward the weary Spartan. A mistake.
Kratos swerved aside with contemptuous ease, sneering at its suicidal charge as he rammed his blades home into its back. In that same instant, Naruto swept its legs and plunged his own weapons deep into the hulking creature's throat, dragging it down to the rooftop and holding it there. From there the Spartan delivered the killing blow-the hooks of Chaos sinking deep into the beast's brain. It keeled over with nary a whimper. There was a final shudder, no doubt some effort for it to rise against, but with its mind gone, the muscles merely spasmed haphazardly.
Naruto straightened from his crouched, appraising the kill. Their kill. He smiled. Even after being chained for so many years, Kratos' ability and skills hadn't slackened in the slightest. He offered an arm to the spartan-a gesture of camradarie and friendship as ancient as time itself. Kratos lingered for all of an instant before taking his arm in his. They shook. The Demigod couldn't quite keep the smile from his face.
"Not bad, for a spartan."
"Not bad for an Athenian." Kratos countered.
Naruto opened his mouth to say he wasn't-
BA-KRAM!
Their victory was short-lived, however. Their battle with the Juggernaut, quick as it had been, had allowed the other beasts to surround them. Naruto spun in a circle and saw dozens of horned satyrs, gorgons and other less than savory creatures advancing. If they engaged one or two, that many more would attack from behind. Naruto crouched behind the Jugggernaut's massive body, using as a battlement while he reached back over his shoulder, and his hand filled with fresh fire. He wasn't expecting Kratos to step ahead of him.
"I'll hold them off." he said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Uh, Spartan? I think that'd be a task best suited to me. You know, someone who isn't exhausted-what the hell?!" He got a hard shove for those words; the sudden jarring motion sent him stumbling forward and off the roof. Instinctually he leapt before he could plummet to the seas below, his second jump carrying him to the next rooftop. His spiked greaves scraped across the stone, drawing sparks as he skidded to a forceful halt. His eyes found Kratos almost immediately, looking on in quiet horror as the Spartan drew his blades and prepared to face his doom.
"What're you doing?!"
"Go, fool! You have a better chance against the Furies than I do!" His blades spun, creating a tornado of steel and fire, driving Alecto's forces back. Naruto hissed. Idiot! He'd die! But if left alone he might buy him some time before the legions of the furies overwhelmed them both. Curse his need for vengeance!
Before he could deliberate the matter further his body betrayed him-taking another lunging leap, then another. One final bound took him over a grate and left him staring at the door to the innermost chambers of the Citadel. If his mother was anywhere, it would be here, close enough to command her forces, yet also far enough to retreat should he penetrate the heart of her sanctum. Tisiphone was likely within as well. Would she stand between him and his goals? The Gods themselves wanted the Furies whiped out, destroyed for their corruption. Did he have it in him to kill the only other person who'd ever shown him kindness.
Destiny awaited him.
His scarred hand pushed open the door and he stepped into darkness. The Blades of Oblivion lit an eerie violet as he entered further into the black, the flames of Hades burning brightly in the gloom. A face formed itself in those fires. For a moment, he thought it was Hades himself, come to give one last final remark to his nephew. But no, this visage was female, with eyes that seemed to pierce into the very heart of his soul. It took an instant to recognize her, but when she spoke, he knew her at once.
"Athena?"
"Naruto," the visage of flames spoke to him with a great urgence, "You must be careful. Alecto is stronger than you know. Your mother will seek to warp and twist your mind with her illusions, turning your deepest fears and greatest desires against you. I cannot offer you any aid, only the hope that you will prevail. Trust in your heart, keep a sound mind, and you will succeed."
"And Tisiphone?"
There was a moment of silence. "Do with her as you will."
He turned aside, suddenly doubtful. "Why place so much faith in me?" he muttered, the words spoken almost to himself. "I was going to kill all of you."
"Forgiveness is there for us all, warrior." the Goddess replied, and for a moment-just a moment!-he imagined he felt her reach down from Olympus itself and lay a hand on him. "Even one such as yourself is not beyond redemption. Complete this task, kill Ares, and you shall be cleansed And more." Just what was she implying?
Once more, the Son of Ares started forward. "Very encouraging. Thanks ever soooo much."
"Go with the Gods, Naruto." Athena intoned at his back, fading from sight. "Go forth in the name of Olympus!"
"No pressure."
Scarce had he spoken those very words than the flames of his blades guttered out, plunging him back into blackness. Naruto froze at once, raising his weapons in preparation for an ambush. Something clattered in the dark. A cold chill stole over him. But nothing came. Still he waited. Nothing emerged. Nothing, beyond the sound of his own breathing. Grimacing to himself he pressed on, resolving to continue in spite of whatever was stalking him in the shadows. The next door he came to was immediately flung open without thought-entered into a sparsely decorated hallway. No attack came. He slammed through another door. Still nothing. Another still. No sign of Tisiphone or Alecto.
Then he arrived.
He found himself staring at a well-lit antechamber, all high vaulted walls and ceilings, golden and pearl and marble. He'd been here before. This was his mother's personal chamber. Which meant she should be near. He drew a Blade of Oblivion, tensing in preparation for battle. She would tell him what he wanted to know. Or what? An insidious little voice whispered in his mind. You'll kill her? Your own mother. Why not? You've already got the blood of a brother and an aunt on your hands. Might as well go for broke.
Naruto wanted to stamp that voice out, but he couldn't. A servant scuttled past him, head bowed low, shrinking back as she saw his weapons. Naruto roared at her and she retreated, shrieking into a corner. He came to one last door as he pushed past the servile girl; this one he knew led to his mother's bed. He pushed it open, taking in her dark bed and the curtains draping it at a glance. No sign of his mother at all. If she wasn't here then-
"Hello, brother."
Naruto spun at the voice and stiffened, his spine shooting ramrod straight all over again. No. His eyes were drawn to a figure leaning against the wall, a shadow dettaching itself. Dark hair glinted in the candlight. Stark yellow eyes stared back at from a tanned visage.
He was looking at Orkos. The man took a step forward. Naruto shrank back. No. No. He'd stopped having the visions. This wasn't real.
"You...you're dead."
"Am I?" his sibling replied, circling him. "I feel quite alive."
"You're a ghost." he refused to acknowledge this spectre. This...phantom. "I-I laid you to rest years ago."
"Are you certain the body you buried was mine?"
"Yes!"
Orkos smiled. "The arrogant Gods have many ways of deceiving us mortals. They could've put my face on another."
Naruto felt his mouth twitch. "You always respected the Gods. It was you who told me not to kill them!"
"I lost that respect when they tried to have me killed."
The scowl depened.
His mind was whirling, struggling to proccess what his eyes were telling him, the images that he was receiving. Orkos? No. Not Orkos. Orkos was dead. A scowl tore across his face. Ten years. A decade. Orkos had been dead for ten years. His blood stained his body, turning his skin black. And they thought that the sight of him was enough to still him. They were right. It had made him hesitate, if only for a fraction. No more. His blades whipped outwards in a violent arc, skewering his "brother" in the point of either shoulder, spilling hot blood. The cry that parted his lips was still his. Naruto felt his mind start to break. No. Not his voice. NOT HIS!
"Brother, what are you doing?!"
"LIAR!" Roaring, Naruto swung the Blades anew. Another crack of those chains pinned Orkos the wall. Black blood spilled. His brother's blood. Orkos screamed. The Son of Ares swarmed forwards-driving a knee into the stomach of his sibling. When that didn't deter him he lashed out again, seizing Orkos by the throat and slamming him facefirst into the wall, bloodying his visage. "Stop!" Once. Twice. Three times the blond smashed his face inward to the wall. Three times his younger brother wailed. Shrieked. "Stop!" Naruto willed his heart to stone as he drew back again.
"You're hurting me!"
"Get out of my head!" he thundered! "Now!"
"I-
"OUT!"
Before his very eyes Orkos rippled. Male became female. The writhing man in his grasp turned into a slender woman; body pressed against his, those delicate curves concealed in a golden-black robe. White-eyes stated back at him in pain and agony, the blood on her face the same as that of Orkos. Naruto recoiled with a hisss, dropping her as though he'd been scalded to the touch. He might as well have been. If there was one person in the world whom he wished no harm, one being whom he still loved and respected, it was his second aunt.
"Tisiphone?" he'd been expecting Alecto. Then it hit him. The servant! The one he'd passed in the hall! "What have you done?"
"What was neccessary." she rasped. "I...couldn't let you kill her. If she dies, it'll ruin everything."
"I didn't want to kill you!"
"You'll never get to her now." His aunt tried to laugh when she slumped to the floor, but it ended in a painful cough, expelling a bloody gob onto the floor at his feet. "She'll be long gone now by the time you finish with me."
Greek fire burned in his hands. "Tell me where!"
She stared at him for a long moment. She looked almost...sad.
"No." she said at last. "I don't think I will."
"Damn!" The hybrid flashed into smoke, Orkos's Oath Stone in his off hand, Greek fire still blazing in the other. Too late, Tisiphone realized her mistake. The fiery missile flew, and the blond was gone. Miles down the corridor, a dark rumble reached her ears. There was a long moment of silence. Then they both heard it, a terrifying sursurus of sounds that made their blood simultaneously freeze and boil at once. A scream. Alecto's scream. The Son of Ares sneered, snuffing out the fire in a hand.
"She'll have nowhere to go now...but here." They both knew of the exit of which he spoke, the secret passages hidden in a trapdoor here beneath the bed. It had been used to meet Ares for their secrets trysts, the very clandestine meetings that resulted in his birth. His mother was probably furious with him now, and that fury clouded her judgement. She could've willed herself away, but he knew she would want revange for the chaos he was causing. She would never let a blow slide once it had been struck.
They were alike in that lone aspect, at least.
"You're insane!"
"Insane?" Naruto returned his attention to Tisiphone, still alive, if wounded. "No, I think I'm sane for the very first time. I never wanted this destiny that Alecto forced on me. But you...you were like a mother to me. I'd always look to you for solace or advice, even comfort. I wish we could have avoided...this." he gestured to the room, to the destruction he'd wrought.
Tisiphone leered up at him furiously. "But you're still going to kill me, aren't you?"
Naruto considered her words for a moment. He should kill Tisiphone. He should. His aunt was a threat. If given the chance-she might try to kill him. But for all the lessons Ares had beaten into him over the course of his life, his heart, shriveled and blackened, refused to allow it. In the end, he made his decision and lived with it.
"Leave." he said at last, standing and taking one last look at his auntie. "I don't want to kill you. "I don't even think I can. That's not a burden I think I can bear." Sheathing his blades, he chose the most difficult path of all. He chose that which his heart abhored more than anything else. He walked away. Without so much as another word, he left her behind. "Enjoy the curse of eternity but know this; if I ever, and I mean ever, see you again, I won't hestitate."
"No; because you hesitated just now!"
A burning bird of blue and yellow fire burst into existence behind him before he could reply. Tisiphone latched onto her pet, allowing it to hoist her upright.
Naruto had never seen his aunt truly angry before. Now, with her roiling emotions, the room around them seemed to writhe and shift; he suddenly stood at the prow of a boat being drawn into a whirpool. He felt the salty spray splash on his face, and kept his eyes locked on his aunt as their surroundings warped once more. Then they were both baking in the searing heat of the Egyptian sun boring into him. Then he stood at the place of his greatest failure, the body of Orkos at his feet. With all his willpower the Son of Ares refused to falter.
"I offered you mercy!" he called out into the flames. But the madness in her eyes told him Tisiphone did not hear. This was not the same aunt he had known all those years ago. Something had changed her, just as it'd changed Megaera and his mother. But whatever it was, he didn't have time to ponder it.
"Come my lovely." she cooed, stroking the beast's beak. "If pain is what our nephew shows us then pain is what he shall receive!" With a wordless cry it darted forward at him, ready to pluck out his eyes.
Naruto didn't even glance at the Daimon. He simply opened a hand. The bird cawed in surprise, expecting an easy kill. It was completely unrepared for the wave of molten fire that came pouring forth from his palm, an almighty wave of destruction that reduced the bird to bare bones in the blink of an eye. The Son of Ares brutally reached out and broke the creature's neck before it could reform. Its body turned to ash in his hands like fine snow falling from his palm. His aunt was already swooping towards him, fingers drawn back for the kill.
Naruto waved a hand, and sudddenly there were dozens of him. An illusion. Distraction. Tisiphone saw through almost immediately it of course, she'd always been far more skilled than he. But that instant was all it took for him to raise a Blade of Oblivion and thrust it through her chest, piercing her heart. She crumpled like a sack of potatoes, the breath leaving her lungs in a quiet whoosh. She gasped, perhaps in shock, or surprise, he would never know. It might have been anger.
It was a quick, clean death. She never saw it coming. Indeed, by the time he pulled the blade from her chest Tisiphone was already dead; and, by the time she even realized she was dead, she was in Hades. It was the least he could do for the woman who'd all but raised him.
Laying her to rest, Naruto placed both hands over her chest and placed her body upon the bed. She was so small. So fragile. How had it come to this? He was well and truly a kinslayer now, murderer of his family. The penultimate piece of this painful puzzle was coming for him even now.
He kissed Tisiphon softly on the forehead, one last time. A lone tear trailed out of his eye, rolling down his cheek to land on her face.
"Goodbye, auntie." There was a beat of silence. Then he heard it. Footsteps. In the distance. A slow hiss greeted his ears.
"Prepare yourself, my son."
Swallowing quietly, the Son of Ares steeled himself for the all-consuming fury of his mother.
Alecto-mother-was a challenge of a different sort.
Can you truly call someone your mother when they never care for you? Oh, she certainly made a good show of it, going on about how it was my duty to rid the world of Zeus, and how I should be honored that as a Son of Ares that my father had chosen me to aid him in his goals. But did she ever say she loved me? No. Spend time with me? No. Tuck me into bed when I was child? No. Tend to me, when I was illl? Comfort me when I'd had a nightmare? Not a once. From the moment I could walk and talk, my childhood was over in her eyes I was expected to be a warrior. I was expected to excel in all things; and if not, I'd be cast aside.
There was never any love in her heart for me. I was just a pawn to her. A means to an end. The token affections she did give me were just enough to fool me into thinking that she cared. Enough to keep me clinging to her skirts, chasing after scraps. For the longest time
I had fought through hell and back to have my redemption. I had crossed through paradise and perdition and forsaken both to claim what was rightfully mine. It hung in my grasp now, just out of reach. Closer than I'd ever dreamed it to be. And all that stood between me and that fate was the woman who'd given birth to me.
I would not be denied.
Mother and Son collided in a storm of magic and illusion.
Spells were cast then discarded in the next instant; bolts of lightning dissipating harmlessly against great comets called fom the night sky, their stark light standing out against the stars themselves.
"Where is he?!"
"You'll never know!"
One moment they were in Greece; the next, they were in ancient Asia. The citadel crumbled around them, great chunks of masonry falling from the sky, threatening to crush them where they stood. Alecto became both beast and human, monster and titan, even a God, constantly warping and shifting forms in an effort to get an upper hand. She couldn't find it. For each abomination she became Naruto countered her. She became both his worst fear and greatest desire, and her eldest, quite simply, stomped her into the ground. All the while she ridiculed him, cursed him for the chaos-the pain-he'd caused.
"You shame me, my son! Oath-breaker!" her skirts twirled away as a gout of greek fire splashed at her feet, sizzling and searing at the stone. "You think you want your father's death," Naruto lunged after her, chains a violent blur of black and purple as they carved out at her face. "But it will only bring you pain! Fool! You were supposed to fight for us, not against us!" They grappled as he knocked her to the floor, the deadly hooks of his weapons tearing still more blood and strength from her body. He wrenched her to the floor, sending shards of sharp, glassy pain bursting befroe her vision.
Gasping, wretching for breath, she managed to clamor to her feet. Her son towered over her, his dark skin glinting harshly in the starlight. She struggled to find words as he pulled his hand back, fingers clencing into an obvious, taut point, as though he were forming a spear with his very arm. His eyes brimmed with anger and emotion, all of it locked behind those bright blue eyes.
"Then I will live with that pain." Then he struck.
Golden eyes widened, pupils shrinking to sliver of color in those white eyes. Her entire body convulsed. Twitched. Naruto said nothing, he simply kept his hand where it was, the chained forearm sheathed into her chest, to the elbow. She felt his fingers wrap around her heart. There was no pain. He'd never held it before; from the moment he'd been born, Alecto simply hadn't been able to bring herself to love him. In her heart, she had no desire to care for something that looked to be an abomination.
"My death will not save you." she hissed, blood bubbling up between her clenched teeth.
"It doesn't have to."
She couldn't bring herself to believe that this fair-haired, blue-eyed child had been birthed from her womb. Even Orkos at least resembled her. But here, in her last moments of life as he ripped her still-beating heart up and out of her chest, Alecto felt something for her son, her only living child. Sorrow. He looked so fragile beneath all that anger. Orkos death had broken something in him. Killing the rest of them-killing her-would likely only unhinge him even further. By this time tomorrow, most, if not all, of his family would be dead. Regret coursed through her.
Here, too late, Alecto felt love for her child. She should've felt it sooner. She wanted to tell him, but all she managed was to raise a hand and cup his cheek. Words spilled from her mouth like water; in her last instants of life, she told him what he wanted to hear.
"You...won't have to find him. He will come for you."
He squeezed with all the force of a God and her heart burst between his fingers. She shattered like fine china. And Alecto went to join her sisters. Naruto laid her to rest on the marble floor. His knees threatened to fall out from underneath him, betraying him with their weakness.
"I'll see you soon, Mother."
And then they gave out.
Naruto wasn't sure why-or how long-he cried. It could have been minutes. It might've been hours. Only that when his tears were finally dry, he felt cleansed. He'd just murdered his own mother. There could be no such thing as forgiveness for this. Not for him. The Gods might deem him expediated, but he'd never be able to forgive himself. And now he was about to commit patricide. A harsh humorless laugh left from his lips and took hold of him until he could no longer speak. Then, and only then did he rise.
With weary steps, he clamored out of the temple. Kratos had freed the prisoners since he'd seen him last, but of the Ghost of Sparta there was no sign. For all that his mother had said, there was still no sign of the War God, either. He needed to find another lead to Ares, some other way of-
"BOY!"
An earthquake shook the citadel. Naruto had to stop and widen his stance in order to keep his feet. Smoke filled his vision. Wait. Not smoke. It was darker than that. Larger. Moving. It was as if a giant had just stepped out of the sky, a mountain of flame and fire, landed before his very eyes. And then that voice spoke.
"You have meddled in my affairs long enough!"
Naruto shivered. Ares.
The huge god stepped through one of the many arms of the Hecatonchires and strode up the causeway, stepping on any prisoners or monsters too slow to escape his advance. The war god roared, shaking the heavens and earth. He reached down, caught one of the few fools running towards him, giant fingers crushed around the man in a vice, plucked the weapons from his very hands. Ripping. Tearing. Even from here, Naruto could hear the sounds of flesh bursting, bones breaking.
"Is this who you collude with now?" Ares thundered, his voice breaking with scorn. "Traitors and oathbreakers?!
"Put him down!"
"Gladly!" The God laughed and flicked the man away as he might an annoying bug. The scream the man gave was not thin and high as one might've expected; it was hoarse, furious and incredibly familiar. It died with the man's voice when he crashed into the earth mere feet from Naruto. His white, ashen skin was matted with fresh bloods. The blades on his back and arms were now little more than broken shards, tattered strips of flesh, burned and broken. The demigod felt his world slow to a crawl.
"Kratos!" he darted towards him without thought, giving no heed to his rampaging father only a few miles away, growing closer with ever step. He had no way of knowing that he'd just spared the city of Athens from a terrible fate at the hands of his father, Naruto was far too focused on the broken mortal before him. His heart twisted. His gifts were of pain and death; his regeneration a one-way street. He couldn't heal him.
The Spartan managed to drag himself up onto an elbow, but no further. He vomitted blood. Dark eyes drifted open and shut. He saw Naruto. A weary smile creased his face. Naruto tried to shake him, but to no avail. It did nothing but make the man blink. This Spartan was mean to best the God of War. Not him. He was mean to be so much...more. Now he was bleeding out in some misbegotten pirson.
"My time is finished." he murmurred, reaching out to grasp him by the arm. "Avenge me, Son of Ares. Do what I could not. Kill him! Kill the God of War!"
How did he know that?
"I-
Kratos gripped his arm tighter, his grip breaking in the throes of death.
"Avenge...me!"
Those were his last words; he went to Hades with his next breath. His already pallid flesh seemed to become even more pale, his body slumping lifelessly in his arms. Naruto felt-watched-the claws of Hades come up to claim their prize; and he let his uncle taken the Spartan away, ushering him down to the pits of Tartarus. Perhaps Kratos might find his wife and child within. Rage boiled within him at the thought. Death was a relase-a freedom he could not afford. Not yet.
Naruto stood slowly. Woodenly, without care. His eyes found his father, fury carving its way into his face.
"Ares...
"Bah! This is what I get for raising a child! DISSAPOINTMENT!"
Then Ares began stamping on any who caught his eye, his fury palpable. Ares rampaged through the citadel crushing buildings and kicking away any who dared to cross his path. The prison was entirely at the mercy of the God of War, and mercy was in short supply. Naruto's father had no more mercy than he did compassion or self-restraint. It was a bad night to be a mortal. Naruto was both a demigod and Fury. When was it ever a good time to be a weak mortal? Ares had slaughtered countless lives, and now Kratos was merely another casualty added to that list.
No more.
"Father,no...ARES!" he showed his teeth to the night like a rabbid wolf, his howl causing the God of War to spin where hs tood. "You die tonight!" Deep within him, something broke. He smashed through a barrier he'd not known to exist, and invisible wall erected to keep him in check.
And he became something more.
Naruto cried out as power surged through his body, filled his soul...and more. His arms rose over his head, and tiny sparks danced between his fingers. Never had he imagined such power dwelling within him. Was this what it felt like to be a God? Then the world shrank around him. He experienced a terrible instant of vertigo, and his eyes snapped shut agains it; it felt as though he were about to plunge feetfirst into Hades. But then that vertigo passed, and when his eyes next opened, Kratos was but an ant beneath his feet.
Naruto didn't realize he'd grown until he stood face to face with his father. Eye to eye. It was as if his body now matched the enormity of his anger. Where before he had not stood as tall as Ares's ankle he now looked the god square in the eye. And in those eyes he thought he'd just seen a flicker of fear.
Ares chased away his dismay with towering fury. He took a step back, considering. "Impressive." he did not sound surprised; if anything, he seemed quite pleased. He lifted his face to the skies again and threw wide his arms. "Is this the best you can offer, Zeus? You send my own son against me?! You-oomph!"
He never got to finished that sentence; because Naruto drew first blood. A devastating right hook slammed into Are's face, spinning him around and sending the God of War staggering backward. Ares righted himself in an instant, whiping a thin trail of blood away from his mouth. His face twisted into a contemtuous sneer. "You may be my son, but you're still just a mortal. Every bit as weak as the day I took you under my wing."
"I am what you made me, father." Naruto straightened, and when he spoke, his voice too, shook the citadel. "Ten years you've made me suffer. Now, you die."
Ares's sneer expanded into dark laughter. "Do you really think you can kill your old man?!
Naruto dropped into his fighting crouch, unlimbering the Blade of Oblivion from his back. In response, his father drew a massive flaming halberd from nothingness, its gleaming edge singing sorrowfully as it rent at the air between them. Naruto dipped deeper into his stance. A flick of his wrist sent the left blade twirling, arcing around his head like an ancient flail.
"Won't know until I try now, will I?"
With a snarl, he stepped forward and unleashed war upon a god.
Athena watched the fight shown by the scrying pool before the throne of Olympus, Zeus and Hades at her side, her heart pounding until she could barely breathe. This was more than base anxiety at having reached the climax of a decade-long-plan. Astonishingly, she worried for Naruto! Though she could hardly believe it, she somehow worried for the Son of Ares. When Naruto met his father's enraged charge by casting a palm of fiery napalm into his parent's eyes, she caught her breath.
When Ares thrashed through the flames and slammed him down with the flat of his blade, she gasped. Naruto lurched upright and tackled his father to the ground; now he was straining to drive a Blade of Oblivion -what might very well be Hades's greatest creation- into his father's skull and turn his brain to bloody pulp, Athena found herself on her feet with no memory of having stood. She found herself clenching her fists as Naruto fought, grinding her teeth, shoulders twitching as though she could somehow will her champion to win. When Ares kicked him off and made it back to his feet, she again could not breathe.
Naruto was dauntless, however, throwing himself back into the fight without hesitation.
"He fights well." Hades rumbled to her left. "See how he wieldes those blades? My blades?"
"You chose your champions well, my daughter." Zeus seemed inclined to agree. "I haven't seen such tenacity in-oh, look at that!"
Athena glanced up from the scrying pool, fighting to hide her smile at Zeus's praise. The Sky Father was famous for his impartiality, but even he seemed to be delighting in the storm of chaos raging on the world below their feet. One might even go so far as to say he was excited.
"Now this is a fight!" he exclaimed. His eyes danced and color was high on his cheeks. Tiny flashes of lightning showed in his beard of clouds. "None of this modern leaping around. This is how it used to be. He's reflects well on your decision."
"Ares chose." she sniffed proudly. "I refined."
"So you did, my chil." Zeus nodded, patting at her shoulder. "So you did."
"Ha!" Hades boomed out a laugh as Naruto grabbed his father by the flaming beard and slammed him down into the mountain. "And she chose rightly! See how Ares flails!"
"You favor him as well, brother?" Zeus sounded momentarily amused, the animosity between him and his brother all but forgotten as they watched the melee. "I would've thought you indifferent."
"The boy is my nephew. Of course I favor him."
"Is not Ares also your nephew?"
"Bah," the Lord of the Underworld waved a dismissive hand at the words. "Our family line has always been a muddled knot. Although," His helmet turned toward Athena, his eyes shining in curiosity. "That would explain why our little Athena seems so taken with him. Better a demigod than a mortal, eh?
Athena jerked at the question and then flushed with shame for being so transparent. "Nonsense," she said, summoning up a veil of calm to mask her anxiety. "I care for him as Hades cares for Persephone and as you care for your eagles, father. As I care for all my worhsippers."
Father and uncle exchanged a knowing glance. "As you say...
"It is as I say!" The Goddess of Wisdom colored anew as she redirected her attention to the pool. Her expression softened as she watched the Son of Ares rage, his body enfulged in flame. "Once he kills Ares, he will be forgiven. The visions, his pain, the blood that marks his skin and the memories that haunt him so...he will finally have peace.
"Who said anything about that his memories?"
"What?"
Zeus hooted, tacitlly refusing to answer her question. Athena worried. No. Naruto needed-deserved-forgiveness for all he'd done. If that was denied...
Hades frowned, cutting that train of thought mercilessly short.
"Looks like we're coming to the climax...
"Gah!" Ares staggered backwards with a roar as his broadsword flew from his hand. Cursing, he clutched at the stinging limb, watching as his favored weapon sank fully into the skull of the Hecatonchires, finally stilling the thrashing prisoner of the Furies at long last. But his son wasn't still. Though he too was bleeding from a thousand cuts, he still moved swiftly, slinging his cursed blades forward like a pair of dread boomerangs-may Hades be damned to Tartarus for forging such a masterpiece!-taking advantage of his father's brief moment of inattention to claim the blade for himself.
With his own two hands he wrenched it from the creature's skull, the blade pulsating an eerie blue in his palm. He swung forward and sent his father sprawling. Any assault on his mind was rendered fruitless, so intense was his rage. Ares didn't understand. He had taught the boy everything he knew! How could he be losing! HOW?!
"Give up and die with honor." his son sneered. "Maybe you'll find some redemption that way."
That earned him a snarl.
"Foolish whelp! Now you'll learn what it truly means to anger the god of...WAR!" Ares hunched over, and his face blackened with strain. Bursting through the impenetrable armor on his back came jointed appendages, writhing like legs of some nightmares spider/scorpion, armored in black shell, and ending in blades longer than the very weapons his son wielded. "Now, it is time for your final lesson!" With a clatter of his bladed limbs Ares sprang like a wolf spider, every blade angled to drink deep his son's blood.
Abandoning defense altogether, Naruto stepped to mee this father. Blade beat against blade as God and Demigod pressed the attack, goring and skewering one another, only to heal moments later AGAIN. Blood bathed the seas and turned the waters red with the life of the God of War and his son. And then in an impossible movement, Naruto bested him. Slinging the chains forward even as he stepped bakwards in retreat, he wrapped them around the piercing limbs and yanked. Bereft of his balance, Ares stumbled forward-
-and onto his own sword.
Naruto swung hard with the mighty weapon, severing the many limbs on his back, driving Are's own sword into his hand and severing the fingers there. Ares scrambled drunkenly to his feet, clutching at the wound, his broken hand hanging uselessly at his side. Another slash bit into his side, leeching still more strength from his father. With a roar that was more outrage than pain, Ares finally collapsed, dropping to a knee. Naruto kept after him, sword arcing up to bite at his face, cutting into his flaming beard.
Ares tried to raise a hand again and Naruto swung again, taking that hand clear off. This time his scream was more pain that outage. His father spasmed and spat black-red blood.
"What," he gasped. "What have you done to me?!"
Lips peeled back from his teeth. "How do you like your little mosnter now?"
Ares stared up at him, in his eyes only fear and pleading could be seen there. His remaining arm stretched out imploringly.
"Naruto...wait! We can still rule, you and I!"
The blade ascended.
"My son...I was just...trying...to make you a better warrior!"
Naruto scowled down at the God of War, his face twisting in cold, quiet fury as he leered upon his father. Ares had always been a part of his life, a towering spectre that shadowed his very existence. His machinations had robbed him of a decent life, of love, of family, of nearly everything. He was the only living member of his broken family that remained-he didn't count the gods themselves-all that remained of a horrid legacy that had haunted him for the last ten years.
Now, here at the last, he had fallen. His face bloodied and broken, body bent down on bended knee, the God of War was begging for his very life. The marked warrior felt the tiniest stirring of pity in his chest. Perhaps Ares wasn't the true villlain in this after all. Perhaps his intentions had been noble in the beginning, only to be lost somehwere along the way. But he'd taken everything he had ever loved.
Now it was time to pay the price.
He permitted himself that lone moment of empathy. Then those dark, pitliess orbs snapped open. He took his father's hand and pulled him forward. Relief shone in his parent's eyes. As he stepped forward-
"You succeeded."
Right into the waiting blade.
Ares gawped down at the wound in disbelief. Naruto thrust his sword through his father's chest. Then his body began to twinkle with myriad lights. The lights turned into dancing motes that pulled away from his body-a rainbow of blood and death coiling upwards, swirling up into the heavens. Then, with a blinding flash and a clap of thunder like the world, it was done. Ares, was gone. Nothing of his body remained. Naruto dropped the blade, feeling himself beginning to shrink as his rage evaporated. Now, he stood no taller than the pommel of the weapon he'd wielded. Soon even less.
Exhaustion took him. He collapsed backward, his mortal form once more crashing down to the roof. A laugh left his lips.
Naruto through back his head and roared. For the first time in all his life, he felt only one thing.
Relief.
But his journey was not yet over.
It was only just beginning.
A/N: What happened?! There we go, folks! If you have recently played God of War, Ascension, or beaten it like I have, then you should get the gist of the idea behind this story. That's right. Naruto isn't exactly the hero in this story. But is he the villain? Only time will tell. I found this a rare opportunity to see what made Ares the way he is. Where did he go bad? What made him rebel against Zeus? Was he a madman to begin with, or was there a catalyst that led to this? Of course, the Furies are here as well!
The idea of having a son who actually lived up to his expectations was a challenge suggested to me by a fellow author who wishes to remain anonymous -but you know who you are, girl!- and this idea was born. Kratos will still appear in this story, but not in the way it might be expected. Will Naruto step out from the shadow of his father? Will he try to destroy Olympus? Or is there a higher calling in store for him? Who knows where this will take us? But in God of War, the story is seldom a happy one, and tragedy is about to befall our beloved blond...
So...In the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review, Would You Kindly? And of course, enjoy the preview! Sorry I forgot to add it earlier!
(Preview)
Naruo stared up at Athena's statue, and he felt the beginnings of confusion bgin to creep onto his face as he stared at the pearly gates. As he looked on, the last of Orko's blood dripped off of his body, his skin regaining its healthy hale complexion once more. But the visions, the madness, they remained. The memories of what he'd done, the brutal butchery of his ENTIRE FAMILY still haunted him.
"Take your place on your father's throne, Naruto." she said.
Naruto didn't want to be a God. Damnitall, he just wanted peace!
"But I did everything you asked! Athena!"
She didn't answer him.
Now he felt a different emotion.
Disgust.
Rag.
R&R! =D
