Naruto held up his hand and focused on the thought of fire, in response, it was enveloped in flames like a torch so he and Desma could see. They were dealing with magic, after all. And if this guy they were dealing with someone that could summon monster armies, they couldn't be too careful. And getting blindsided underground because they couldn't see was bad in any situation.
Desma looked grim as the opening they had just come through vanished like a mirage, leaving a bare surface and trapping them in this place.
Naruto's eyes widened as an ethereal purple lige erupted further down the cavern they were in and when it faded, there was the orange-red of flames in its place and there was a silhouette casting a shadow where the light was coming from.
The two demigods whipped their attention to the other flame as it neared them, what was odd was it shaped oddly, like it was lopsided and pouring over or something...and what was that sound? Metal hitting stone in regular intervals.
Naruto and Desma tensed and Naruto extinguished his fire, then wrapped his arms around his younger companion's waist and lept to the ceiling, sticking to it with chakra, ready to get the jump on whatever was coming their way.
When the flame got right to where they were, Naruto stared and Desma paled.
It was a girl, but one of the weirdest Naruto had ever seen. Her hair was flames, she had red eyes, her skin was pale white and her teeth were fangs and that wasn't the weirdest part. Her left leg was brown and shaggy with a donkey's hoof. The right leg was shaped like a prosthetic human leg, but it was made of bronze.
She looked around and then Naruto released his chakra flow, causing the duo to get the drop on the monster-girl...literally. They landed in a heap and the two half-bloods wrestled her until Naruto eventually got his celestial bronze hunting knife against her throat and she froze while Desma got to her feet, walked around to the front and notched an arrow and aimed it at the female monster.
"Ok...who...or what...are you?" Naruto asked.
The monster-girl held up her hands as if she were ordered to do so by the police.
"Easy! Easy! I'm not here to fight! The name's Serephone. I'm an empousa, a servant of Hecate, the Goddess of magic." she said.
Naruto and Desma looked to one another and shrugged. A goddess-serving demoness named Serephone? Sure, why not? Not like that seemed any weirder than anything else that was happening here in Russellville.
Serephone looked over them and spoke, trying to sound casual, which wasn't easy. Monster or not, it was difficult to be calm when had weapons aimed at you.
"So you're the ones, and I take it you're that son of Hestia. The Being Born of Fire, the demigod from that ninja-based world." she said, looking at Naruto and smiled, exposing her fangs. Not bad. She'd prefer him shirtless, though. She WAS a seduction demon, after all. It didn't surprise her that the huntress had set her sights on such a fine specimen, she had a knack for determining the value of a living creature she set her sights on after all, it must have been a hunter thing, the demoness figured.
Naruto tensed and his eyes widened. "Who told you about me?!" he demanded.
"Scrying is a magical practice of looking into a translucent ball or other material with the belief that things can be seen, such as spiritual visions, and less often for purposes of divination or fortune-telling. I serve the goddess of magic, hard to hide things from her unless other Gods are involved." Serephone said.
"Oh-Kaaay...so are you here to kill us too?" Naruto asked.
She shook her head as minutely as possible, "Far from it. Our Mistress, Lady Hecate, told me about you both, I was told to serve as your guide here. Orders from up top...Oh, and do me a favor small favor: Don't mention the legs."
Naruto grinned, "Don't call me"Male Goddess" and your kind have all got a deal."
The demoness laughed. Fair enough. He hated that nickname and empousa hated when someone mentioned their mismatched legs. Mutual agreement to overlook what caused them both annoyance was something that was easy to agree on. "Can't speak for the rest of my race, but I can agree to that." she said.
"So what do you mean, you were told to guide us?" Desma asked.
"Don't you think it's a little bit funny that the demigod who currently owns this place wants you to leave, yet the Mist prevents your ability to do so," Serephone said, "my mistress wants you two here to handle this situation. And I will not cross the Dark Lady. I'm swear on the River Styx that I'm here to help you and mean you no harm while you see to resolving the matters here." she said and the crashing roar of thunder was suddenly heard.
"Uh...Take it that's serious?" Naruto said. Seriously, hearing thunder underground? He knew enough about weird things from back home to know that things like that didn't happen without reason.
"Breaking an oath on the Styx is extremely unwise for anyone due to the fact that once you swear upon it, the three Fates are watching them. When you break such an oath...Whatever, just don't do it. There are worse things than death." Desma muttered to Naruto.
Naruto nodded. Keep to your word. He got up and pulled his knife away and helped her stand before he addressed Hecate's servant, "Alright then...but if you try turning on us after we're done with this, you'll regret it." he warned.
Serephone nodded, prior to her arrival in this underground city, she'd been warned by Hecate that this young man wasn't someone that you wanted as an enemy.
"Follow me, I can show you the correct path. Able to sense magic...lot of traps here." Serephone stated.
Naruto and Desma shared a glance, neither of them trusted the demon, but she was bound to her oath and who knew what Hecate would do to her if she broke it.
She turned around and led the pair down the halls and they knew they were going lower and lower until they stopped and gawked at where they were. A underground cave. The ceiling of the entire place glowed with blue bioluminescent light. There was a white fog that clung to the ground and spread out in every direction. But what really caught the attention of the two demigods was the massive palace in the center of cavern.
The palace itself looked like a very oversized mausoleum, was made completely from pure black obsidian. The palace's glimmering black towers reached the ceiling. Runes and glyphs in every language glowed in pale, almost sinister colors along the temple and the cavern. Undoubtedly for some rather nasty arcane wards.
Naruto stepped forward and motioned for Desma and Serephone to stay back, then formed a quick clone. The duplicate grimaced, yet nodded and stepped forward towards the temple.
"What are you...?" Desma asked.
"If you want to test waters, toss something in and see how far it sinks." Naruto muttered.
Serephone nodded. "Smart, testing the defenses with a copy. Never be reckless when it comes to magic. Trust me, serving Hecate teaches that very quickly."
As the clone neared the temple, one of the runes glowed bright and shattered, releasing the energy that it contained and everyone was blinded, Naruto jerked as he felt his clone die and when their vision returned, they wish it hadn't seen what did it.
Serephone winced "Oh. that's bad."
Standing before the temple was a thirty-foot tall scorpion. Its pincers snapping and it tail raised. It scuttled and turned towards the three intruders.
"THAT thing?! Oh, that's just a slap in the face!" Desma moaned.
"Why you saying that?!" Naruto demanded.
"Trust me, there isn't a child of Apollo that doesn't know that scorpion." she said grimly.
Naruto wondered about why that was for a split second, before the thing charged them like a flung his hands forward and flames shot from them, causing the scorpion to let out what sounded like a screech from it's mandibles.
"Run!" Naruto shouted, keeping the fire going. The scorpion thrashed it's tail left and right in frustration, unfortunately striking the wall and knocking stones loose from the roof and they fell on top of Naruto's blaze, smothering it under the rubble.
Shit!
The Scorpion crawled over the rocks and seemed to leer at them, Naruto's fist roared with flames and he thrust it forward. The column of fire sent at the insect made it seem to screech and backed away quickly to avoid the flames.
The trio scattered and the giant arachnid went after Naruto first, as though it were compelled to for some reason, and caught his leg in one of it's pincers. It was seemingly frothing at the mouth, as if eager to eat.
Not liking the idea of having this thing eat him as much as the Scorpion did, Naruto channeled chakra into his knife and brought it down, but the blade bounced off the chitin harmlessly. Naruto's eyes widened. Even with wind chakra augmenting it, his weapon couldn't pierce the thing?!
The scorpion, clearly feeling that one good turn deserved another, since Naruto had tried to "sting" it, sent it's own stinger rushing at him and got him full in the chest.
Naruto looked at it, it was touching him and pressing into his chest, but he wasn't dead. The impact had been dull, like a push, but hadn't hurt him or even damaged his clothes.
Naruto couldn't tell who was more stunned. Himself, his allies, or the monster. He shook it off quickly and grinned. 'Thank you, Nemean lion!' he thought, glad for the vest and pants made of the indestructible lion pelt.
"Let go of him!" Serephone commanded the scorpion. Naruto didn't see what good telling it that would do if his blade or Desma's arrows wouldn't, but to Naruto's shock, the bug released his legs. He stared for a second, then leapt back and away, flooding chakra into his legs as he did so to add further distance.
He twisted his body in midair and landed feet-first on the wall, "How'd you do that?" he demanded.
"Charmspeak. It's a type of hypnotism or persuasion in which it allows the speaker to convince someone else to do or get whatever they want. Once it wears off, the person has no recollection of why they did what they were commanded to do." Serephone said, then looked thoughtful before she leered at Naruto with a downright predatory smile, "Come to think of it... I wouldn't mind seeing you dancing in my palm, Fireboy." she told him.
"Won't work, on account of this ring Artemis gave me, told me to think of it as an engagement present. As long as I'm wearing this ring, I'm great with a bow and arrow skills, can learn to speak to beings of nature, but not only that...as long as I'm wearing the ring, no other woman other than Artemis will ever get to me, if you know what I'm saying." Naruto said.
"Is now the time for that kind of conversation?!" Desma shouted, firing arrows that bounced harmlessly off the monster's chiton. "Damnit! My arrows can't peirce this thing!"
"Just be careful with those things!They're all pure Imperial Gold arrows. Definitely Apollo's style, but if Imperial Gold is broken it would cause an explosion powerful enough to create a thirty-foot-deep crater in a mountain!" Serephone shouted.
At that, Naruto's his eyes widened.
Wait...Charmspeak...Artemis's ring...Bow and arrow...explosion...fire...
"I've got an idea for how we can kill that thing. But you'll think I'm completely insane!"
"Better crazy than dead!" Desma shouted as she kept shooting.
"Desma, give me your bow and an arrow, Serephone, charmspeak this sucker and get the thing to stop moving and have its claws and tail out of the way, also, I'll need it's mandibles open as wide as possible!"
They stared at him, but they figured that what he had in mind was better than nothing.
Reaching into his ninja tool pouch, Naruto produced an explosive tag as Desma tossed the Pyroman her weapon and wrapped the tag around the middle of the arrow's shaft.
"Scorpion, stand still for a few seconds, tail and claws out of the way, mandibles open as wide as possible." Serephone said in the sweetest tone she could muster and as the Charmspeak took hold of the monster's mind and compelled it to obey, Naruto fired.
As the arrow flew, the sound of hissing issued from the weapon, and the attached tag slowly dissolving, even as it vanished into the scorpion's open jaws.
A second later the explosive note went off, and apparently destroyed the golden arrow. Naruto's face scrunched up with concentration, "GAAAHHH!" Naruto screamed as he clutched his head in pain a wrenching pull made him feel like his brain was being ripped from his skull through his nasal cavity. And if that wasn't enough his nose started leaking blood, while his head was pounding like mad. Spots danced before his eyes and he felt himself falling to the ground and laid unconscious...
For the benefit of those that have never been rendered unconscious, it is a very strange sensation to say the least. Before you even open your eyes the first thing that comes back to you is the ability to hear. Where before it would be some kind of droning white noise, the noise begins to clear and become more and more coherent and less echoey until it is fully restored.
From that point your sense of feeling comes back and you try to move. It is only at that point when you try and fail due to the recent rebooting of your motor skills that you become aware that your eyes are fully open and that the reason you could not see was because you were readjusting to the light.
This is the fate that met one Naruto Uzumaki upon his reawakening. He groaned while clutching his head almost as if he was experiencing a hangover, and dimly felt someone grab his arms and help him into a sitting position against the wall.
"Yeesh...I've seen plenty of demigods, but you, Son of Hista, could easily be the craziest, most impetuous of them all! I mean, pyrokinesis! You used your ability to control fire you got from your mother to keep the explosion suppressed inside the scorpion's body when the arrow blew up...not bad, but you're right: You ARE insane!"
"That's what I said, how is it you're up so fast, much less not dead?" Desma asked.
"Urrrugh...my...head..." Naruto moaned as they set him against the wall of the cave, "how long was I out?"
"An hour...I think the one who summoned the scorpion didn't want to see what other insanely stupid thing you'd pull if he tried jumping us." Desma said.
Naruto groaned as he stood up and noticed what the scorpion had left behind. The spoil was a piece of it's armored shell with ancient greek, like a tablet.
"Your arrow was what did that thing in, so you can have this. Mind if I read it first?" Naruto asked, picking up the object from the golden powder of monster essence.
"Hey, I don't mind. But...if that says what I think it does, don't freak about it, ok?" she said, looking nervous. 'Gods of Olympus, please DON'T let it be THAT story!' she thought.
Naruto raised an eyebrow as he wondered why his companion had requested that, then turned to the tablet.
Orion was the most handsome man in the world, a mighty hunter, an untiring dancer, a hearty eater. Many women loved him, and so did the men, because of his generous nature and caring heart. Orion loved the women as if he were their brother, and with the men he formed his most intimate and physically satisfying attachments. Even the gods and goddesses took notice of him, and enjoyed his company. But his favoured fortune led to his early death and legendary destiny. Such is the fate of heroes.
One day while he was hunting in the forest, he came upon a beautiful young woman who was also hunting, with a pack of the finest hounds he had ever seen. Both packs picked up the scent and they hunted together. When the deer was caught and killed, Orion saw that his companion was no mere girl, but the Virgin Goddess Artemis herself. He averted his eyes from her in respect.
Artemis and Orion passed the summer together. By day they hunted and sported, challenging each other to foot races, archery, and storytelling. In the evenings around the fire they bared their souls and told each other about their lives, their lost loves, their secrets. Orion spoke of the men he had loved and hoped to love again. Artemis spoke of the nymphs who attended her, their love affairs, and her attachments to the goddesses and women of her cities. They became, in short, fast friends.
One night, when Artemis and Orion sat at their fire telling stories, they shared an embrace. The next day, Apollo, the brother of Artemis, was walking through the forest. He smelled a low-burning campfire, and found the glade where Orion and Artemis lay still asleep. He saw and appreciated the beautiful Orion, but grew angry when he saw that Artemis lay with him. He assumed that Artemis also appreciated Orion in the masculine manner he himself did, and had compromised her virginity, her separateness from the sexuality of men. But he concealed his anger, put on a mask of friendliness, and whistled a bright tune until the two friends awoke. Seeing who was making the noise, they invited him to breakfast.
Later in the morning, Artemis attended to her priestesses elsewhere, and left her brother and friend to amuse themselves together.
Apollo is very beautiful; he is the sun; he is a god selected to sit among the twelve Olympians. He is vain, yet kind; wise, yet full of fun. Orion was immediately captivated by him, and naturally so. Apollo's heart was also caught by Orion's friendly company and gentle yet thoroughly masculine manner. Apollo took as his lovers many women and goddesses, and also men and gods. Unlike Orion, he was secretive about those male assignations, and would deny them if questioned about their exact nature.
But the attraction between Apollo and Orion took its natural course, and before the end of the afternoon the man and god had enjoyed together all the pleasures of manhood, to their mutual satisfaction. As the sun set they lay together in tender friendship murmuring in quiet conversation. Orion mentioned his happy anticipation of the return of Artemis and how the three of them might now be friends. Apollo stiffened in anger at the mention of his sister's name, for he had forgotten his misinformed but potent jealousy.
"What incurs thine anger, my lord?" asked Orion.
"I'm surprised you would question my apprehension at the arrival of another who enjoys your favors."
Orion laughed before he could think not to. "My favors?" he exclaimed. "But Artemis is a chaste goddess. She has not known me, nor any man. We are companions, but of the hunt and the forest, not any bed or bower. Besides, I am a lover of men'as thou art."
Apollo saw the truth in what Orion said. He did not relish realizing his mistake, and he lashed out at Orion.
"You insult me-mortal," Apollo said, standing up, his face a blaze of wrath. Orion cowered at his feet, an unlikely posture for such a noble man, but he thought it prudent in the face of this capricious god. Apollo picked up Orion's head by his hair and bellowed into his face, "I am not a lover of men-like you," and he spat out the last phrase in disgust. "I take women as my lovers, as nature intended. You are nothing but a boy, to sport with."
"My lord, I did not intend any insult-how could I after the joy we have known this same day?" But Apollo did not answer, turned, and strode away without a backward glance.
Hours after Apollo left him, Orion was found by Artemis in the dark, weeping quietly. She comforted him, and hearing his story, took him to his house, and left him alone, as was his wish. She returned to her house in the forest.
During the night, a terrible dream possessed Orion. He dreamed that a scorpion rose up from the forest floor and nearly killed him before he could defend himself. He did not know it, but it was Apollo who sent this scorpion. He dreamed he could not strike through the scorpion's armor, no matter how powerful or direct his thrust. He fought the scorpion in his dream the night through, and just before he awoke, the scorpion had almost stung him directly in his heart.
He woke at dawn, drenched with sweat, and relieved that the scorpion was only a dream, for he had never met a beast he could not kill. He went out, hoping to meet Artemis and tell her of his dream, but outside his door waited the giant scorpion from his dream, more terrible in reality than even in his mind. He fought it valiantly, with arrows and his sword, but as in the dream, he could not pierce its armor. The scorpion backed him to the sea, and Orion plunged in, hoping he could swim away from it.
Meanwhile, Apollo visited his sister. She angrily told him she disapproved of his treatment of her friend. He mildly begged her to hold her tongue, for something far worse was in need of her vengeance and loyalty. He said an evil man, Candaon, had the night previous attacked and raped Opos, one of her hyperborean priestesses, and was right now swimming to a distant island, hoping to escape the wrath of Artemis.
No one escapes the vengeance of Artemis when one of her own has been ravaged. Without even pausing to first comfort Opos, she grabbed her quiver and sped down to the sea. Apollo followed her, and pointed out the speck in the distance that was Orion's head, still putting distance between himself and the scorpion. "There he is," Apollo said, standing behind her so his face could not betray his treachery. Artemis loosed her arrow with unerring aim and slew her friend. When he saw his plan had succeeded, Apollo ran away. Artemis went back to the forest and found Opos who supposedly had been raped. Opos was unharmed, and knew nothing of an attack. When Artemis saw the girl was well, she soon deduced the truth. She retrieved Orion's body, but even Asclepius could not revive him, though he applied drops of the gorgon's blood to the lifeless lips of Artemis's true friend. Orion's spirit had already descended to Asphodel Fields.
Artemis placed Orion's body among the stars as a tribute to the friendship they once shared, a reminder to all mortals that men and women enjoy friendships of every variety and degree. The scorpion she killed, and set it also in the sky, behind Orion, as a warning to everyone under heaven of the treachery of those who are false to their lovers and false to themselves.
Naruto's amber eyes widened and he went a little green in the face at what he had just read. His mind going back to what Desma had told him about her mom. He didn't hold the way Apollo was against him as far as romantic interests went, but Naruto had a personal reason why he didn't like this news.
Great! Just absolutely freaking great!...he was going to get a psycho, bisexual brother-in-law with the ability to see everything under the sun who would try killing him as part of a package deal as soon as he married his sister!
Well, no wonder Desma told him not to freak out when he read this and why she told him Apollo's kids knew the scorpion.
Serephone laughed, obviously seeing his expression. The demon could see he understood what he had just found out.
Desma looked miserable. This was practically a slap in the face: a guy her aunt Artemis liked, Apollo, the scorpion APOLLO had created, and now he knew about Orion!
'Thanks Dad, the way you swing both ways and your ego really messed this up for me bad!' she thought, she was enjoying her journey with Naruto for the most part, now he'd probably want nothing to do with Apollo's kids! She didn't want him to take her back to Camp Half-Blood and ditch her there out of disgust for her dad!
"Well...as long as he doesn't kill or hit on me..." Naruto shrugged, then tossed the spoil to Desma. Hey, if he could forgive Sasuke for all the shit he'd done to him and the multiple murder attempts, Naruto didn't see why he'd be bothered by his future brother-in-law's tastes unless he was given a reason to.
Both females looked shocked stupid at Naruto's reaction to what he had just found out, but then the impromptu member of their trio started glowing and she let out a shriek like she was being tortured. Naruto and Desma turned and rushed to the empousa as she was held in place and felt like she was being electrocuted.
"Serephone!" Naruto and Desma said in alarm as he rushed over to help her.
"Don't touch me," she warned, but it was too late as they were blasted back by the hold that was on her.
"Must be...Banishment Spell...!" Serephone said before she vanished completely.
"That's enough of her. Took a while to find the spell to send her away. Mother's servants...why must the meddle in things? Still, I must confess that you three were an effective team. Never thought Apollo's scorpion would be beaten by burning alive from the inside out like that. Most impressive." A voice said, and Naruto and Desma whirled around. That was the same voice that the humanoid shape the Mist had take used!
The person walking toward them from the temple was a pale young man, at least a year younger than Naruto. His hair was the same golden color as Naruto's Nemean Lion outfit, and his body possessed the grace and savagery of a jungle cat, he had blazingly bright emerald eyes and he was dressed in sweatpants, a T-shirt, and leather boots.
"And you are...?" Naruto asked.
"Robert Airamus, the Son of Hecate." he said, his eyes narrowed at Naruto and Desma. He stood up and his hands crackled with energy.
"And you two aren't leaving here alive!"
Naruto growled and his hands ignited in fireballs and Desma readied another arrow.
"We'll see about that, Houdini!" Naruto growled.