In a remote region of Canada one could hear agonizing inhuman cries of pain. A village of Laistrygonian Giants was under assault by an enemy the Laistrygonians could not see. The village of a hundred human eating monsters was going up in flames as their attacker periodically set the buildings aflame as a distraction. It seemed to the brutes that every time they looked one direction someone would be attacked from another direction. A few saw a flash of orange flash of light out of the corner of their eyes, but it was gone before they could react. The vast majority of the attacks on the Laistrygonians were fatal one hit kills. However, a few of the monsters were lucky enough to avoid an instant death and were nearly mortally wounded. These Laistrygonians quickly fell upon their dead comrades desperately consuming their former friends' flesh to enhance their monstrous healing abilities before the corpses dissolved into dust.

This act of cannibalism only increased the paced that the Laistrygonians were attacked. As the pace of attacks sped up the monsters were assaulted by a horrifying pressure that carried the promise of their deaths. Finally, the last Laistrygonian had her head bashed in from behind and she fell to the ground to dissolve into dust. Naruto stood behind where the monster had stood with his kanabo in hand and a grim look on his face. Naruto looked about the burning village with revulsion clearly on his face. The Laistrygonians had once been a regular mortal people who collectively traded away their humanity for power. Their power was cursed as in return for their great size and strength the monsters could only sate their hunger with the flesh of sentient beings.

For the next few minutes, Naruto stood amid the burning village trying to gain control of his motions. Even if they were the worst sort of monsters morally, the monsters in this village had been living people with hopes and dreams of their own no matter how dark those might have been. What made the experience all so terrible for Naruto was the fact that the worst had yet to come. These Laistrygonians had been preying upon the nymphs and mortal hikers of the region for months. They had even started arranging nature trips over the internet to bring their meals to them. For the greater good of the mortal and mythological populations they had to be eradicated.

Once Naruto had hardened his resolve again he started moving through the village using his sensing abilities to try and find any lifesigns. Tyche was in a bitchy mood again and Naruto sense almost a dozen more life signs with chakra that matched a Laistrygonian's profile. Naruto quickly tracked the signals down to the basement of a building that wasn't on fire yet and nearly cried. The life signs he had sense came from Laistrygonian children which the halfblood shinobi discovered by looking through a basement window.

For a moment, Naruto considered saving the children. They were only kids after all and perhaps they could be rehabilitated to be part of society. What kind of monster would he be if he killed someone merely because of what they might do in the future? However, these thoughts vanished when Naruto noticed that the children were nervously eating satyr. The look of utter agony on the satyr's face and the signs of struggle implied that the poor satyr had been alive when the children started to eat him.

The look on the satyr's face hardened Naruto's heart and allowed him to complete the grizzly task at hand. Naruto slung his kanabo to his back and pulled out two kunai. He quickly sharpened the kunai with his wind chakra and then jumped into the room. Before the Laistrygonians could realize what was happening, Naruto and quickly ending the children. Once the children were dust Naruto collected the half eaten satyr's remains so that he could bury it.

Naruto quickly left the village and passed by one of the many kage bunshins he had left to secure the village's perimeter. Without making a handsign, Naruto created another two dozen clones and had them join his other clones to start making a fire break. Just because he wanted the vile village burnt to the ground did not mean he wanted a massive forest fire on his hands. About half a mile from the village Naruto found a large oak tree that had taken a turn for the worst. No doubt the Laistrygonians had eaten the nymph that used to call it home. There was a nice clearing at the base of the tree and Naruto quickly knelt down by it. He set the satyr gently on the ground and then dug a grave for him. Once the grave was dug, the young halfblood gently set the satyr in the grave. No coins were added because nature spirits didn't need to pay Charon. After the satyr was buried Naruto allowed himself to cry over his actions.


Artemis was in her tent having a light breakfast with Zoe. The former nymph looked at her mistress and asked, "What is troubling you milady? Is Naruto's expected arrival today bothering you?" Like the rest of the hunters, Zoe never felt completely comfortable with Naruto being in their camp. He was a good person for a boy and he along with his clones always treated the hunters respectfully. It wasn't the difference that Zoe was used to from respectful males, but it was respect none the less. Naruto did not look down at the hunters for being girls or get annoyed at them for rejecting the company of men. Such men were extremely rare that they might as well be extinct in Zoe's mind. Still, no matter how good of a person Naruto was that didn't get rid of the fact that he was a guy who spent a lot of time in the Hunter's Camp which was supposed to be a girls only location.

The goddess shook her head, "Naruto's arrival today does not bother me." Privately, Artemis was thankful that Naruto either hadn't heard about her brawl with Sunna or that he was respectfully keeping quiet about it when he agreed to meet with her for the two of them to go to Camp Halfblood. "Although, you should expect him to be solemn if not glum because he took out that village of Laistrygonians we have started to hear about last night."

Zoe nodded her head and then grabbed a few pieces of cheese. Thanks to that blowup Naruto had with Annabeth last year everyone knew about how he felt about taking lives. On the one hand, Zoe and the rest of the hunters could appreciate Naruto's respect for life. On the other hand, it was naively foolish of him in their opinion to give such views to monsters. Monsters that didn't want to hurt halfbloods, mortals, or nature spirits like satyrs or nymphs were even rarer than good men. Zoe could count those monsters with one hand and knew them all by sight so she didn't accidentally kill them. Still, it was a foolishness that she could tolerate if it helped him stay semi-acceptable for her lady.

A small smile appeared on Artemis's face as she glanced at Zoe's surface thoughts. Her thoughts then drifted back to what she was thinking about and sighed. Artemis took a small sip of nectar and then spoke. "What is bothering me Zoe is the fact that I will only have sons in the future when Naruto and I are married."

Thankfully for Zoe's sake, Artemis said that between bites or the lieutenant would have been choking from surprise. While Zoe and the hunters all knew about Artemis's marriage plans for Naruto, none of them had really given any thought to what Artemis being married might mean. It took a minute for Zoe to reset her mind after that announcement and another minute to think of a response. Finally she said, "Why must your future children be boys Milady? While I'm sure they would be excellent examples of what men should be with you as a mother, wouldn't you rather have daughters? As the goddess of childbirth wouldn't it be within your power to determine what gender your children will be?"

To Zoe's surprise, a stormy look crossed Artemis's face. The goddess sighed and said, "It is because of my powers that I know I will only have sons in the future Zoe. I have over 40 adopted daughters currently living, but I will never permit myself to have a daughter of my own blood." A bitter look crossed Artemis's face as she continued. "I did some research and I discovered that any maiden with my blood would be unable to take the Hunter's Oath. Apparently, the power I use when accepting your oaths will interpret the power any hypothetical daughters of mine would have inherited from me as the oath already being in effect. So, even if I had daughters who gave me their oaths they would never receive any of the blessings I confer on you all with the oath."

It was a bitter pill for Artemis to swallow. She loved each and every one of her hunters as if they were her daughters. Once she accepted the fact that her years as a virgin were numbered she started to consider the fact that she would be able to have children of her own as a silver lining. However, that silver lining became bitter sweet when she realized that she wouldn't be able to have any blood daughters as her hunters. She also knew that it might cause her to resent her adopted daughters and so decided she would avoid the problem all together.

Before Artemis could think further on this matter, she sensed a claiming occurring. Despite what many halfbloods thought, a claiming was far more than a holographic symbol of their divine parent. It sent a message to all deities about whom the child was and who their parent was. A small frown appeared on Artemis's face when she learned that Poseidon had claimed Percy Jackson as his son. This was not good. First there was the fact that the Great Prophecy was in play again. However, a more immediate concern was the fact that a previously unknown halfblood son of Poseidon would be a reasonable candidate for the diadem's thief. Artemis just hoped that Hera remained less trigger happy than her father usually was with this news.


The next day after Percy got situated in Cabin 3, Chiron knocked on Cabin 3's door early in the predawn morning. Percy quickly opened the door looking a bit disheveled in his pajamas. He then blurted out, "Why are you here so early Chiron? Breakfast won't be called for another two hours."

Chiron kept a small smile from appearing on his face at that outburst. "Percy, there's someone who has come to Camp to see you. She is waiting for you in the Big House so please follow me. This is very important."

These words were like a splash of icy North Atlantic water on Percy driving away the remains of sleep that had been clinging to him. Percy knew that being the son of Poseidon was not a good thing for him at the moment. With the pledge for no more halfbloods, the mysterious Great Prophecy revolving around a halfblood like him, and the theft of Hera's diadem things were not looking good for him. Percy just hoped that whoever had come to see him wasn't going to turn him into a tree. Chiron quietly led his halfblood nephew to the Big House and then led him to the side living room which was rarely used by the campers.

Amphitrite was sitting in one of the chairs that were in the living room looking more like she was on a throne than a simple living room chair. The Queen of the Oceans gave Percy a cold distant look and then glanced at Chiron in a much warmer manner. "Thank you for arraigning this meeting for me Chiron. You may leave now as you probably have much work to do maintaining this camp."

Chiron nodded his head and politely backed out of the living room. He then closed the door leaving Percy alone with his stepmother. Once they were alone, Amphitrite rose from the chair and looked down at Percy. After a few seconds of examination she sighed and said, "I will be blunt Perseus Jackson. I do not approve of your existence. While I am willing to tolerate your existence like I have your older halfblood siblings; I have never particularly cared for you and your similar siblings existing in the first place. Your father's recent oath only heightens my annoyance."

Percy's hands turned into fists and his bit his cheek slightly to keep himself from verbally attacking Amphitrite. He could understand that she was annoyed at his existence. Any wife would be upset at their husband having an affair. However, it wasn't like he chose to be born as a son of Poseidon! Why was she bringing this up when both of them knew that this was going to be the case? What reason could she possibly have to come here, bringing up his existence which must annoy her to her full attention, and pissing him off at the same time?

Amphitrite read Percy's thoughts and was pleased at what she saw. Very few halfbloods bothered to think about what their divine parent's family felt about their existence. Percy was young and definitely rough around the edges, but he would do. Poseidon was still going to be camping on the couch for a few months, but she might permit him back into her bed by the winter solstice. Amphitrite then spoke again, "I am pleased to see that you know how to somewhat control that temper you've inherited from your father. Still, it will be beneficial to you in the future to work on controlling it better."

The Queen of the Oceans sat back down and almost smirked at the surprised look on Percy's face. "Do not be too surprised Perseus Jackson. While I may not like to admit it, you and your halfblood siblings before are members of the Atlantian royal family along with being my step-children. Your behavior reflects upon our family as a whole so it is in my interests that you do not embarrass or shame our family. Besides, it would hypocritical of me to attack you for being who you are given that I have had such children in the past." For a moment, Amphitrite's thoughts drifted back to her most famous son the Emperor Heraclius of the Byzantine Empire. In addition to his mortal exploits as emperor, Heraclius had driven the Roman halfbloods out of the empire when he overthrew the previous emperor. Even to this day, the Romans feared going into the western part of country they lived in thanks to Heraclius's actions.

Returning to the present, Amphitrite continued to speak to Percy. "In addition to the fact that you are a member of family there is also the fact that your father has given you to me as a champion. As my champion, your actions and deeds reflect on me. Any favors or recognition Poseidon might have received from your future actions will go to me instead. As such, any misconduct on your part also reflects on me." Given that a strong or intelligent halfblood could generate massive amounts of favor and glory for their parent most gods and goddesses were extremely reluctant to let their children become another deity's champion. Amphitrite figured that Poseidon had suggested this so that his punishment for breaking his oath would be mitigated. Not that she figured Poseidon's punishment could be as bad a Zeus's as unlike his brother Poseidon hadn't been flaunting the oath practically every year since it was made.

"However Perseus," Amphitrite calmly continued her explanation. "You becoming my champion also make me your patron. As your patron I am responsible for making sure you have a fair chance at accomplishing any quests I give you. I am also expected to protect you from an inordinate amount of divine attacks due to your parentage or for being my champion. Do you understand what I have told you young man?"

Percy relaxed his fists slightly and replied, "Yes Amphitrite." Percy couldn't say he was happy at this situation as it sounded to him like his father had traded him to his stepmother like mortals traded baseball cards. The fact that she was constantly calling him Perseus instead of Percy was also annoying to him.

A small tick of annoyance appeared for a second on Amphitrite's eyebrow before she smirked. "It is good that we understand each other Perseus." Amphitrite deliberately emphasized Percy's full name as minor payback for him not referring to her as Lady Amphitrite. "Now, as my champion you will be given a quest in the next couple of weeks. Your quest will be to clear my name by finding out who really stole Hera's diadem and returning it to her. Given your age and the difficulty of this quest I am giving you some warning before I officially issue the quest. I expect you to make the most of this warning by preparing yourself as best you can beforehand." With that said, Amphitrite disappeared from the Big House in a pillar of sea foam.


Several hours after Amphitrite ended her meeting with Percy, Artemis came to Camp Halfblood along with her hunters and Naruto. Percy was sitting by Thalia's tree wondering what he was going to do about his future quest with Grover by his side when they heard everyone arriving. Percy noticed Naruto coming to camp first out of everyone in the group and frowned. He respected the older halfblood even if he mostly just knew him through the older halfblood's clones. Naruto had done quite a lot to help him and Percy was afraid that Naruto would start giving him the cold shoulder since he was Poseidon's son. Several campers had started to distance themselves from him ever since his father claimed him. Annabeth and her sudden hostility towards him had been especially painful. What made that worse was the Percy couldn't figure out why she was upset at him.

Grover quickly noticed Percy's uneasiness and said, "I wouldn't really worry about Naruto's opinion of you changing Percy. Your cousin is someone who goes about life by their own rules. Besides, you're the last person Naruto would ever suspect of stealing Lady Hera's diadem since he knows how ignorant you were of our world when he helped to rescue you from the freak dragon."

That brought a small smiled to Percy's face and then his curiosity got the better of him. "Grover, why are the Hunters of Artemis coming to Camp? I understand that they came here for the summer session the past two years, but before that they only came by for a couple of days every few years. What changed?"

With a slightly immature huff Grover replied, "Naruto showed up. You know how in the school for halfbloods it's been mentioned that mortals do not always remember the events they dub 'Greek Mythology' with complete accuracy and that there are a few stories that they either never heard of or forgot about. Athena's brain children are one example of this since their existence was known in the ancient Greek world and then it was lost."

Grover then glanced at Naruto riding next to Artemis giving him a slightly jealous look of a second. Sure Grover knew he never had a shot at Artemis, but who could blame him for a being a little jealous of Naruto. The boy was living every satyr's dream! Grover then shook his head and continued to explain things to his friend. "Mortal's never heard about this, but there was a time when Aphrodite started to harass the hunters and was making their lives extremely miserable. Artemis decided to put a stop to this by getting Aphrodite drunk and tricking her into a deal. Aphrodite agreed to leave the Hunters alone if Artemis agreed to marry the first halfblood son of Hera. Since Hera doesn't run around having affairs with mortals, that is her husband's job, everyone figured that Artemis got off free with her deal and her hunters were safe."

The satyr didn't need to say anything more to Percy about Naruto and Artemis's situation. Everyone in Camp Halfblood knew about Hera getting so enraged at Zeus that she accidentally sent a fragment of herself to another world. It was one of the first things covered by Percy's teachers at Camp to explain to him why Hera was in charge and not Zeus. A thought crossed Percy's mind and then he frowned. "Has anyone asked Artemis how she feels about this? I mean, I thought she also swore never to marry so she can't be happy about her current situation."

With a shake of his head the satyr quickly corrected Percy, "You're thinking of one of the more inaccurate myths that mortals tell about the gods. Of the three virgin goddesses, only Hestia took a vow of celibacy. Athena and Artemis's status as virgin goddesses is a life choice for them. Artemis asked her father Zeus that he'd never force her to marry. All that means is that the only person who can determine who Artemis marries is Artemis herself. She's has refused to accept everyone's marriage offers for her hand. As the goddess of maidens, Artemis isn't about to have a casual fling with anyone since that goes against maidenly honor. Several mortals mistook the oath Zeus gave Artemis as a vow of chastity since among the mortal ancient Greeks fathers controlled their children's marriages."

"As for how she feels about the marriage, that's a rather dangerous question to ask. It's generally considered a wise move for mortals and halfbloods to not poke their noses in the gods' business. That becomes doubly important when something the god or goddess in question is sensitive about comes into play. No one can say how she feels about the marriage, however the general consensus among the older campers and the nature spirits is that Artemis is either taking a neutral or a slightly positive stance to her upcoming wedding."

Percy nodded his head and stood up. He then turned to Gover and said, "Well we might as well go done and greet Naruto." Percy then stood up and started walking to the crowd with Grover quickly following behind him. The surrounding halfbloods soon noticed Percy's presence and quieted down. Many of them were worried that a fight might break out between the two cousins. It had happened before on many occasions in Camp that the children would fight when their divine parents quarreled.

Naruto shocked most of the onlookers by quickly getting off of Bucephalus and quickly pulled Percy into a friendly hug. After a second, Naruto broke the hug and kept his hands on Percy's shoulders as he moved to stand an arm length away. A smile appeared on the older halfblood's face and he cheerfully said, "Congratulations on your father finally realizing it was safe to claim you cousin. How are you getting used to having a cabin to yourself?"

Everyone watched the two halfbloods. Many watched in shock while a few watched in amusement as Percy replied in a confused manor. "Ugh thank you Naruto. I'm still trying to get used to the new cabin as it's very different from when I was staying in the Hermes Cabin."

Naruto nodded his head and said, "I'll take your word for it Percy. Oh, before I forget there's something I promised to give you." Naruto quickly pulled out a small scroll and opened it. There was puff of smoke as a large platter of warm freshly baked blue chocolate chip cookies appeared in Naruto's hands. Naruto cheerfully handed the platter over to Percy saying, "Here you go. One platter of homemade cookies that came from your mother's kitchen and that was sealed out of the oven."


Later at the campfire, Naruto was sitting next to the Artemis and the hunters roasting six marshmallows. Each marshmallow was on its own chopstick and Naruto was holding the sticks between his hands like a bizarre wolverine. While Artemis technically didn't have to be at the campfire as a staff member, she had joined the campfire tonight as she always had. If asked she would probably claim that she was there to make sure no one tried to start any problems with her hunters. However, practically everyone knew that the real reason for her presence was sitting to her right. As soon as the marshmallows were done, Naruto handed one to Artemis, gave four away to the nearby hunters, and kept one for him.

Percy got up and approached Naruto just as the older halfblood made up a s'more. Naruto looked up at his cousin and said, "Hey Percy, are you looking for some more marshmallows to roast? I think we still have a full bag around here somewhere."

The younger halfblood shook his head, "Not at the moment Naruto." He then said in a quieter voice, "I actually wanted to talk to you about an upcoming quest that I've been told I'll have to go on soon. Apparently, my father made me Amphitrite's champion and as such I'm going to have to find Hera's diadem so that Amphitrite can clear her name of the theft. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind helping me out on that quest when it is issued."

Artemis narrowed her eyes and waited to see if she would need to intervene. She didn't half to as Naruto sighed and shook his head. "I really wish I could help you on the quest Percy. Unfortunately, I'm explicitly forbidden to join you future quest. Since the 800s there has been a standing rule that halfbloods whose divine parents or champions are quarreling with each other are not to be on the same quest. There were cases in the past of gods and goddesses having their kids use the confusion in the middle of a quest to kill the other deity's child as a form of attack. I can help train you here at Camp, but I can't help you on the quest."

Naruto handed Percy his s'more and said, "Cheer up Percy. I might not be able to go with you on your future quest, but I can still train you beforehand to maximize your chance of success. Besides, under the rule I'm the only one forbidden from joining your quest. The children of longtime rivals don't count for that rule unless their parents are quarreling." Naruto paused to glace over to where Annabeth was sitting with her siblings. Thanks to his shadow clones, Naruto knew that Percy had become friendly with Athena's daughter.

A moment later, Naruto returned his gaze to Percy and he spoke in a serious tone. "Percy, I want you to listen very closely to what I'm about to tell you. When you are issued the quest you will be expected to go consult the Oracle. When you do you must listen closely to what she has to say, but you must also keep an open mind. Everything she has to say will have at least two meanings and can be interpreted in a dozen different ways."

Percy nodded his head and replied, "I know that Naruto. It was covered in class a few weeks ago."

Naruto gave Percy a hard, sole piercing look. "Do you really know what I'm telling you Percy? Even the gods are prone to jumping to conclusions when it comes to prophecy. A prophecy is only truly clearly understood after the fact. Still, a wise person or someone humble enough to ask a wise person can understand a prophecy better than a regular person on his own."

"Take Luke Castellan for example," Naruto pause to direct Percy's attention to brooding scared teenager who was sitting off to the side. "Two years ago he got a quest to try and steal a golden apple from my mother's garden. This quest has been issued many times in the past but has only been completed successfully twice. I don't know what the full prophecy he received was, but I do know that one of the lines was 'success or failure rests with the gardener's aid'. Luke took that line to mean that he needed the help of one of Demeter's children. Actually, the line was referring to a nymph that had once served in my mother's garden. Chiron knew this, but since he thought at the time the information was to be kept quite he was only able to hint at this. I discovered this fact through some research of Camp records. Luke ignored both of our attempts to point this out to him since he was sure that he knew what the prophecy meant. Two campers died as a result of his pride."

Artemis spoke up at this point. "Naruto is correct on this matter boy. However, I am curious about something Naruto. What did you mean when you said that that the gods are prone to jumping to conclusions when it comes to prophecy as well?" Many of the nearby campers and all of the hunters started to listen in at this point curious as to what Naruto would say. A few were wondering if Naruto was going to go in the doghouse over what he said.

Naruto put another marshmallow on a stick and put it over the fire. "I meant exactly what I said Artemis. Take this 'Great Prophecy' that everyone is so worried about for example. Many of your fellow gods and goddesses are reacting to it since it mentions the possibility of Olympus being razed. As such, your jumping at the first interpretation you have that you think makes sense. For example let me point out everyone is jumping at their interpretation of the first line: 'A Half-Blood of the eldest gods'. From what my mother told me, Zeus immediately assumed that this line referred a child sired by either him or his brothers. Since this is an interpretation of the prophecy, everyone quickly assumed that it is the correct interpretation right Artemis?"

The goddess quickly nodded her head and let Naruto continue. "However, it is not the only interpretation. First off, the prophecy was said in English. This is important because English is mostly gender neutral when it comes to nouns. The word gods is equally valid to use to refer to just male deities or the gods and goddesses in short form. This was even more so back in the 40s when this prophecy was issued. So right off the bat we've got six possible parents for the halfblood in question if we go with Zeus's interpretation that the prophecy is referring to the oldest Olympians. This understanding would mean that the Halfblood in the Great Prophecy currently could refer to me, Percy, and the enter Demeter Cabin. There are also gods and goddesses still in existence who belong to the same generation as the older members of the Olympian Council such as Hecate. This makes the possible pool of halfbloods the prophecy could apply to expand even more. Now the question of just who this halfblood might be becomes even more muddled when you stop to consider the fact that the Olympians are themselves fairly young as gods. There are gods far older than them even if certain members of Olympus would prefer to deny the relationship. The phrase eldest gods could also, and some might argue even better, be applied to the Primordial Deities. If that's the case then the halfblood in question is most likely not in camp if he or she has even been born yet."

Naruto had to hold in a smirk as he looked at everyone's faces. Perhaps he shouldn't enjoy tearing their view of things to shreds. However, his extended family had really set themselves up to be knocked down. Sk'elep had used the Great Prophecy as an example of how one must always keep an open mind. That's why whenever the Regents tried to interpret a prophecy they called their interpretation the 'currently favored interpretation' since they understood that everything could change in an instant.


Author's Notes: Before anyone complains about what I have Grover say about the three virgin goddesses I would like to explain a few things. While it was understood that Hestia, Athena, and Artemis were virgins in the classical world the myths explaining these beliefs are rare. Hestia is the most clear as she vowed celibacy in order to take herself off of the marriage market and thus avoid a clash between Poseidon and Apollo over who would have her as a wife. Most myths regarding Artemis have her getting Zeus to swear that he would never make her marry. For the ancient Greeks, this effectively was a vow of celibacy as only the father was seen as having power to arrange marriages in their culture and a goddess of maidens would obviously not debase herself by sleeping with a man who was not her husband. Athena has almost no reason given for remaining a maiden in mythology. The closest source we currently have that I could find is that in some myths about the kidnapping of Persephone Aphrodite mentions Athena had sworn off love. However, love did not have anything to do with marriage in the ancient world. In fact, some scholars today believe that Athena is a composite deity created by a merging of a Doran god and an Ionic goddess during the Doran Invasion.