Disclaimer: Naruto is property of Masashi Kishimoto and Percy Jackson is property of Rick Riordan. I don't own this in anyway so please don't sue me.
Chapter 2: Thalia torches New England (HA!)
Grover totally started groveling to Artemis when he learned her name.
"Thank you, Lady Artemis! You're so….Wow!"
"Get up Goat Boy!" Thalia snapped "we have other things to focus on, Annabeth is gone!"
"Whoa!" Bianca said, "hold up, time out!" everyone turned to look at her, as she pointed her finger at all of us like she was trying to connect the dots "who….who are you people?!" Artemis' expression softened
"It might be a better question, my dear, to ask, who are you," Artemis asked, "who are you barents?" Bianca glanced nervously at her brother, who was still staring at Artemis in awe.
"Our parents are dead," Bianca replied, "we're orphans, there's a bank trust that pays for our school but…" She faltered as the looks on our faces told her we didn't believe her. "What?" no one spoke "I'm telling the truth."
"You are a half-blood," Zoe said "one of thy parents was mortal, the other was an Olympian."
"An Olympian..Athlete?"
"No, one of the gods."
"Cool!" Nico shouted
"NO!" Bianca's voice quavered. "This is not cool." Nico was dancing back and forth on his toes.
"Does Zeus really have lightning bolts that do 600 damage? Does he get extra movement points for-"
"Nico, SHUT UP!" Bianca put her hands on her face "this isn't your stupid mythomagic game, okay? There are no gods." I felt a pang of sympathy, I'd been in their shoes once, granted I took it better than they did, but learning you're the child of two beings that existed in two different worlds is kinda shocking. I tills looked at the di Angelos my sharingan taking in every detail, the chakra that flowed around the, I pushed more chakra into my eyes and saw the outline of a man who had pale skin, vivid green eyes, two scarlet dots on his forehead and white hair that formed a zigzag pattern. He wore a light lavender shirt that was loose forming zip up, black pants that cut off around mid calf and bandages wrapped around his ankles, finally he had a purple rope like belt tied with an inverted bow around his waist. The man was clinging tightly around Nico and the man looked at me, then he shuddered trying avert my attention. He started whispering to Nico but no words could be heard, However, thanks to my eyes I could read his lips.
'Nico, be wary of the black haired boy, he is also a transmigrant of a lost clan." Nico stiffened and looked at me.
"Bianca," Thalia said "I know it's hard to believe, but the Gods are still around, trust me they are immortal. Whenever they have kids with regular humans, kids like us. our lives are dangerous."
"Dangerous, like the girl who fell?" Thalia turned to me fearing how I would react but I was completely stone faced, however I'm sure Artemis could sense my sadness and rage.
"Do not despair for Annabeth," Artemis said "She is a brave maiden, if she can be found I will find her." I tore my gaze from Nico and looked at Artemis
"Then take me with you." I said. "I have sensory powers far beyond most demigods, I can help."
"I fear not, while you are powerful you have other duties to attend to."
"Oo!" Nico raised his hand, "What about Thorn, that water attack, the fire attack and that sphere of gravity and what about that red cha-energy stuff."
"In order." I said looking at Nico "As I am a son of Poseidon water bends to my will, the fire attack was a manipulation of the black flames of the Amaterasu which burns all that it touches, the gravity attack was part of the the red chakra was the power of the beast within me, Kurama, the Kyubi. However he was a Manticore, I hope he was dispelled for a while, but I doubt it, however Monsters never die they reform over and over again and must be killed whenever they appear."
"Or they hunt us." Thalia said and I nodded grimly, Bianca shivered
"That explains...Nico, you remember last summer those guys who tried to attack us in the alley in D.C."
"And the bus driver," Nico Joined "the one with the ram horns, I told you that was real."
"That's why Grover has been watching you." I said 'to keep you safe, in case you turned out to be demigods." Smiling at Grover remember how we met.
"Grover? "Bianca said as she stared at him "Are you a demigod?"
"Well," Grover said, "A satyr, actually." Grover kicked off his fake feed revealing his hooves, Bianca looked ready to faint
"Grover!" Thalia scolded "Punt your feet back on, you're freaking her out."
"Hey, my hooves are clean!"
"Bianca, Nico." I said looking at them "Like I said earlier we've come here to help you...both of you need to train in order survive, Dr. Thorn won't be the last monster you'll meet, you need to be brought to camp."
"Camp?" Bianca echoed confused
"Camp Half-Blood," I clarified "it's where half-bloods learn to survive and dan-fight I-I meant fight." I had to make a conscious effort to avoid my verbal tic. "You can join us, stay year round if you want."
"Swee, let's go." Nico said excitedly
"Wait," Bianca said shaking her head, "I-don't."
"There is another option." Zoe said
"NO!" Thalia said rounding on Zoe "no there isn't!" Zoe and Thalia glared at each other, I could tell they had a dark history with each other, they looked ready to kill.
"We've burdened these children long enough," Artemis said "Zoe, we will rest here for a few hours. Raise the tnedts, treated the wounded and retrieve our guests' belongings from the school."
"Yes, my lady." Zoe said
"And, Bianca, come with me, I would like to speak with you."
"And what about me?" Nico asked, Artemis looked at him
"Perhaps you can show Grover that card game you enjoy so much, I'm sure Grover would be happy to entertain you, as a favor to me?" Grover just about tripped over himself getting up.
"You Bet!" Grover said excitedly "come on Nico!" Grover and Nico walked off talking about nerd stuff like hit points and that sort of stuff. Artemis led a confused Bianca along the cliff, Zoe glared at Thalia then left to oversee setting up camp.
"Can you believe the nerves of those Hunters?" Thalia shouted aggravatedly
"Well on one hand I agree with you, but on the other hand they did run with my mom so I'm giving them a chance before I start to hate them." I said sheathing riptide and collapsing my shield, Thalia looked at me she looked like she was about so shout at me but tears started running down my face as I looked at the cliff where Annabeth had fallen.
"It's alright Percy." Thalia placed her hand on my shoulder, "we'll get her back."
"I know but I dropped my guard and I feel like this is all my fault."
"It's not all your fault, Percy."
"What if she dies and I never tell her how I feel about her...I don't want that to happen to spend the rest of my life wondering if we could have been more than friends all because I was too stupid to make sure I had a monster trapped and unable to kill anyone."
"Don't worry about it Percy," Thalia put her hand my shoulder and smiled at me I smiled sadly and looked over at Grover and Nico
"I'm going to talk to Nico I've got some things I want to confirm." I walked off thinking about the man whose chakra clings to the small boy "Hey, Kurama" I said to my, slightly Irritating, partner
"Hmm?" Kurama said his tone making it clear he had been asleep
"Do you recognize the guy who was clinging to Nico?"
"Yeah, he once fought Naruto when he was my Jinchuriki, he was a servant of Orochimaru went by the name, Kimimaro he's of the Kaguya clan, they are able to use their bones and manipulate them into making weapons."
"An interesting Kekkei genkai." I walked over to where Nico and Grover were sitting I looked at all of Nico figurines and saw my dad, Zeus, Dionysus and many others "Big Collection." Nico Grinned
I've almost got all of them and their holographic cards well except the really rare ones." I looked at Nico and once again saw Kimimaro clinging to him
"So," I stated my face neutral "Can you use Kimimaro's power yet" Nico nested and looked at me shocked
"How?"
"My eyes are very perceptive." I showed nico my rinnegan "with these eyes I could see his chakra clinging to you."
"What are those eyes?"
"The Rinnegan, they are known as the eyes of a god for a reason." I looked at the moon My rinnegan showing me the hollow part where the Gedo Mazo once rested
"That kinds arogan isn't it."
"These eyes created the moon."
"Really!?" I got up and dusted my armor and walked a few feet.
"Mini Chibaku Tensei." A small gravity score no bigger than my index finger was created and the ground around me rose up into a small mon and I held it out to Nico
"Whoa!"
"That is just a small fragment of their power." Nico looked at me and I sat down again "you shill haven't answered my question."
"I can use it for a little while then I get tired."
"It will come with practice, I can help you if you want." Nico smiled at me and nodded
"So, you said that you're the Son of Poseidon right?"
"I am."
"So are you really good at surfing?"
"I don't know, I've never tried, but I think it would be fun."
"Do you argue with Thalia because she's Zeus' daughter?"
"Move often than you'd guess."
"If Annabeth's Mom is the wisdom Goddess why didn't she know better than to fall off the cliff?" I remained silent but my knuckles whitened in rage. "Is Annabeth your girlfriend?"
"Don't I wish." I muttered twirling my pen then I sense a presence behind me, I threw a kunai without hesitation, the kunai hit the tree just next to the person a hair's breath away from hitting the person's neck. I turned around and saw that it was Zoe who was quite stunned at the accuracy of the toss. "It's considered suicide to sneak up on a shinobi you know."
"Lady Artemis wishes to speak with thee." She said I wanted to say something scathing but I knew better than to ignore a summons from a god, I got up and walked toward the command tent I opened the flap and saw Bianca and Artemis sitting on the floor, Zoe entered behind me, I looked at the Goddess of the Hunt.
"Join us Percy Jackson." I sat down and looked at the Goddess "your eyes are very perceptive, how are you doing?"
"Better." I said my face impassive
"I understand little of romance given my desire to remain a maiden and forsake men, but even I can tell the nights' events have bothered you more than you are willing to admit." I knew that I shouldn't say anything but my rage got the better of me.
"So what if it has?! I should be out there looking for her and yet I'm sitting here TWIDDLING MY THUMBS! She's out there She's in danger I should be looking for her My mother's friend or not I'm not going to just sit here and do nothing while she could get hurt or, gods forbid, killed." Zoe snarled at me murder in her eyes
"How dare-" Zoe started and I cut her off with a blast of Killer intent so intense she started shivering fear.
"Enough." Artemis commanded and I stopped Zoe started to regard me as a serious threat "I know you are troubled but we can not sit her throwing threats at each other. Young Bianca has mention some things you mentioned that are quite disturbing, but I want to hear more as you might know more." I took a deep breath to calm myself and looked at the Goddess.
"I saw that Luke and the others are using The Great Stirring and that they would soon have the greatest monster that would bring the downfall of Olympus." Artemis was still as a statue. "Not good I take it?"
"No," Artemis' look was grim "I have missed the signs, I must hunt this monster." Zoe was trying to recover from the fear that I had instilled in her
"We shall leave right away my lady." She said and Artemis shook her head
"No, I must hunt this beast alone."
"But Lady Artemis-"
"This task is too dangerous even for the hunters, you know where I must start my search and you can not go with me."
"As...you wish my lady."
"I shall find this beast," Artemis vowed "and i shall bring it back to Olympus by winter solstice, it would be all the proof I need to convince the council of the GOds of the danger we are in."
"You know what the monster is? I asked curious, Artemis gripped her bow
"Let us pray I am wrong."
"Can a Goddess pray?" I asked and Kurama snickered, as a smiled played at Artemis' lips
"Before I goe, Percy Jackson, I have a task for you."
"Does it involve getting turned into a jackalope?"
"Sadly, no."
"Oh Thank the Gods!" I breathed a sigh of relief I didn't know I was holding in
"You're welcome." Artemis smiled
"Finally!" I threw my hands into the air dramatically "an Olympian with a sense of Humor, I was beginning to worry none of you knew how to tell jokes." Artemis and, surprisingly, Zoe bust out laughing as did Bianca and Kurama.
"Humor aside," Artemis continued after she stopped laughing "I need you to escort the hunters to Camp Half-Blood."
"What?!" Zoe sputtered "but Lady Artemis we hate that place, the last time we stayed there-"
"Yes, yes I know but I'm sure Dionysus wouldn't hold a grudge because of uh, misunderstanding."
"I wouldn't hold your breath." I muttered
"Besides I heard they rebuild the cabins you burnt down." Artemis said
"Oh that's, nothing." I laughed "I took the entire Ares cabin out of action for two weeks, yeah, Clarisse still wants to kill me for that." Zoe looked at me
"Thee took down Lord Ares' sons and daughters, I highly doubt that."
"Wanna test me?" I smiled
"Can you two stop trying to kill each other for five seconds?" Bianka asked
"I'm inclined to agree with you my dear." Artemis said, "now the time has come, have you made up your mind my dear."
"I don't like this." Kurama said
"You didn't." I looked at Artemis
"I don't see-" Zoe started
"ENOUGH!" Artemis thundered and we both turned to her and we both kept quiet as we saw silver fire burning in her eyes.
"Yes ma'am." Zoe and I squeaked
"I have," Bianca said, "what do I need to do?" I turned to her shocked
"Are you sure about this," I said "Nico can't join, and while I could help teach him to defend himself he'll think you abandoned him."
"I know Percy," Bianca looked at me "But this is something that I have to do." I looked at her and she looked at Zoe "What do I need to do?"
"Repeat this pledge." I swear that I saw Zoe smile "I pledge myself to the Goddess Artemis."
"I pledge myself to the Goddess Artemis."
"I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the hunt." Bianca repeated the lines
"Now what?"
"If Lady Artemis accepts thy pledge it is binding."
"I accept it." Artemis said, the brazier brightened and I could see Bianca's chakra chang with my sharingan, which I activated out of reflex
"I feel...stronger." Bianca said inhaling'
"Welcome sister." Zoe said
"Remember your pledge my dear as it is now your life." Artemis said
"Well…" I said "if that's all you need from I need to get us to camp, so if everyone could get into a large group I can use my Kamui."
"Not Necessary." I looked at the goddess "I have already called for my irresponsible twin, Apollo." A while later we were standing on a hill, I was twirling my pen, (which I found was becoming a habit) looking at the east."
"I can't believe Bianca joined them!" Thalia growled
"Can you blame her," Grover sighed "eternity with Artemis."
"You satyrs all of you are in love with Artemis, don't you know she'll never love you back."
"But she's so….into nature."
"You're nuts."
"Nuts and berries, yeah." Eventually the sky began to lighten
"Finally," Artemis muttered "he's sooo lazy during the winter."
"We're waiting for sunrise?" I asked even though I knew that all Greek Myths were not all as they seamed.
"Yes, for my brother, by the way don't look, not till her parks." Just as she said it the horizon burst to life with light and a wave of warmth. I averted my eyes and so did everyone else, the warmth and light intensified and I silently thanked Madara for teaching me fuinjutsu and the temperature control seals. When the light died down I saw the snow had melted in a perfect circle, and the car I saw was one that I wanted. The driver got and I saw he was blond, he looked about 17 or 18 but I knew he was much older than that.
"Apollo is hot." Thalia muttered
"He's the Sun God, and your half-brother."
"Buzzkill." Thalia said but I knew she didn't mean it.
"Little sister." Apollo smiled "what's up? You never call you never right I was getting worried!"
"I'm fine Apollo and I'm not your little sister."
"I was born first." I smiled as the two argued back and forth
"Anyway we need to get my companions and some of Chiron's campers to camp I have to some hunting."
"Sure sis!" Apollo smiled "I feel a Haiku coming on." The Hunters Groaned and I suddenly felt the urge to destroy something Apollo cleared his throat "Green grass breaks through snow, Artemis pleads for my help, I am so coo." He looked at us expecting applause
"That last line was only four syllables."
"And here I thought Killer Bee was bad." Kurama said "Poor Gyuki had to put up with the guy rapping every damn sentence."
"How bad are we talking?" I asked
"Let me show you." (A/N: just watch the tale of Killer Bee Yeah I didn't feel like writing that...you're welcome)
"By the Gods," I Shuttered "he's horrible." I looked at the car and then back at Apollo, then did a small head count and realized that we needed a required a school bus "Uh, Lord Apollo." I gained that God's attention "Not to be the bad guy but we're going to need a school bus to transport us to camp." Apollo frowned
"I usually hate changing out of sports car mode but you're right." Apollo said then he chirped the car alarm and the car changed into a school bus, then he looked at Artemis "So, where are you going?"
"Hunting….Alone." Artemis said "and for what, not your business."
"DOn't pull that, I sea all, know all."
"Just drop them off, and no messing around."
"Oh, no." Apollo smiled. "I never mess around." Artemis rolled her eyes and looked at us
"I will see you by winter solstice, Zoe do well for you are in charge of the hunters." Zoe straightened
"Yes, my lady." Artemis knelt and touched the ground as if looking for tracks, when she rose she looked very troubled.
"So much danger, this beast must be found." She sprinted into the woods and melted into the snow and shadows. Apollo turned around jinggling the keys a smile on his face
"So, who wants to drive." The hunters clamber in sitting at the back, which I personally had no problem with, I could feel Zoe glaring daggers at the back of my head. I turned to her my sharingan activated and I smiled a sick smile at her. Zoe junged at me but two other hunters held her back. The whole time this was going on Apollo and Nico were having a conversation about the sun and how it functioned
"So...can I drive?!" Nico asked
"No," Apollo said "too young."
"Oo! Oo!" Grover said raising his hand
"Mm, no." Apollo said "Too furry." He looked past me, not that I complained, and focused on Thalia "Daughter of Zeus, Lord of the Skies, Perfect." Thalia blanched
"Oh, nooooo." Thalia said "I don't think so."
"Come on," Apollo said "How old are ya?" Thalia hesitated
"I don't know." Apollo tapped his finger on his chin
"You're fifteen almost sixteen."
"How did you know that?"
"I'm the god of Prophecy, I know stuff you'll turn 16 in about two weeks."
"That's my birthday December 22nd,"
"Which means you're old enough to drive with a learner's permit." Thalia shifted her feet nervously
"Uh-"
"I know what you're going to say.' Apollo smiled "you don't deserve an honor like driving the sun charrior."
"That's now what I was going to say."
"Don't sweat it! Maine to long Island is a really short trip, and don't worry about what happened to the last kid I trained You're Zeus' Daughter he's not going to blast you into a million pieces." I looked up at the sky then back at Apollo
"If it's all the same to you Lord Apollo I'd rather make my own way to Camp Half-Blood, Zeus gave me a pretty clear warning about flying on Olympus." Apollo placed his finger on his chin and was silent for a few moments
"Don't worry about it, Dad is cool with it because you kinda don't have a choice." I looked at the sky making a silent prayer to Zeus that he won't blast us out of the sky just to kill me (Personally I didn't have high hopes) Apollo looked at Thalia and smiled "Take it away you're gonna be a Natural." Once we were all ready to go Thalia got a quick rundown of how to drive the fun while I thought about Annabeth, our first kiss and all the things I was going to say to her when I rescued her. My thoughts were jolted to a close when thalia floored the accelerator and we blasted up into the sky. "Slower my dear." Apollo said
"Sorry!" Thalia said. "I've got it under control!" I managed to get to my feet. Looking out the window, I saw a smoking ring of trees from the clearing where we'd taken off.
"Thalia," I said, "lighten up on the accelerator."
"I've got it, Percy," she said, gritting her teeth, but she kept it floored.
"Loosen up," I told her.
"I'm loose!"Thalia said. She was so stiff she looked like she was made out of plywood.
"We need to veer south for Long Island," Apollo said. "Hang a left." Thalia jerked the wheel and again threw me into Grover, who yelped. "The other left," Apollo suggested. I made the mistake of looking out the window again. We were at airplane height now— so high the sky was starting to look black. "Ah…" Apollo said, and I got the feeling he was forcing himself to sound calm. "A little lower, sweetheart. Cape Cod is freezing over." Thalia tilted the wheel. Her face was chalk white, her forehead beaded with sweat. Something was definitely wrong. I'd never seen her like this. The bus pitched down and somebody screamed. Maybe it was me. Now we were heading straight toward the Atlantic Ocean at a thousand miles an hour, the New England coastline off to our right. And it was getting hot in the bus. Apollo had been thrown somewhere in the back of the bus, but he started climbing up the rows of seats.
"Thalia." I said my voice clam as I could possibly be "can I place a genjutsu on you so you don't know I don't know GET US BLASTED INTO A MILLION FUCKING PIECES!
"I've got this under control, PERCY!" She clearly didn't something had her in it's clutches and it was not going to let go.
"Ah, Long Island dead ahead," Apollo said "and let's slow down dear, 'Dead' is only an expression."
"I got this."
"Brake."
"I can do this."
"BRAKE!" Thalia slammed her foot on the brake and we went pitching forward at a 45 degree angle, I used my Susanoo to shield myself and we slammed into the lake with a huge cloud of steam.
"Never….Again." I growled and I heard Kurama whimper in agreement.
"Well, you were right my dear, you had everything under control, Let's see if we boiled anyone important shall we?"