Percy and Naruto both stared at the Hagoromo Otsutsuki in shock and surprise. Naruto was wondering why half of Ouranos's face had appeared behind the legendary Rikudou Sennin while Percy was trying to figure out what was going on. It was obvious even to Percy that the various people he had seen and somehow knew of were various incarnations of the man standing before them. But, what Percy couldn't figure out is why the person who Naruto initially called father referred to both of them as his sons.
Meanwhile Hagoromo smiled at his reincarnated sons enjoying the opportunity to be with them again. All of his children from every incarnation were important and special to the sage. However, Naruto and Percy were somewhat unique even among his many children. As the reincarnation of Asura, Naruto was Hagoromo's only child to be born to him in two different incarnations. Naruto and his previous lifetimes had also worked hard to try and bring peace to the lands they lived in while not sacrificing the safety of their friends to do so. As the reincarnation of Astyanax, Percy was first child Hagoromo had in his series of incarnations on Earth. In almost all of his past lifetimes, Percy had either become a wise and powerful ruler or a strong and faithful lord for a ruler and Hagoromo was sure Percy could achieve similar success in his current incarnation if he so chose.
Hagoromo walked up to the two boys and gently placed a hand on each of their shoulders. He smiled and said, "Good thinking Naruto on using the Yata no Kagami to restore Percy's memories. One's identity and sense of self are what truly matters most about a person. Without that core and all that it entails, it is impossible for a person to be good or to make connections with others. Percy might have lost that as the Oracle foretold, but it was not a permanent loss for which I think we are all truly grateful."
"However, a less potent shinju-kyo would have been a better choice to use if you had access to one. The Yata no Kagami pulled out Percy's memories and identity like you hoped Naruto. But, it also pulled out all the memories and identities of your brother's other incarnations. Atik Yomin made humanity from its first version to the current version to be very adaptable; just not adaptable enough to handle so many different lifetimes all at once. It was also dangerous to not check your surroundings better to make sure that you image couldn't possibly be reflected into the Yata no Kagami."
This speech ended quickly to the surprise of the boys as Hagoromo pulled both Percy and Naruto into a group hug. Both of the halfbloods were shocked at the sage's actions, but they quickly responded to the hug. The strength, safety, and pride that Hagoromo projected with his paternal love was something both boys craved. Naruto happily soaked up the hug without any reservations once he got over his surprise. Percy was a little more reserved and slower to respond given his experiences with smelly Gabe and his complicated situation with Poseidon. However, the core of Percy's soul and his own deep wishes to experience a father's love soon got him to accept what Hagoromo was offering him.
No one could say just how long the trio stood there hugging each other in the shared mindscape given the subjective nature of the perception of time in such places. But, Hagoromo knew he could not stay in this moment no matter how much he wanted to do so. The Rikudou Sennin pulled away with great reluctance and looked down at his two children. He then sighed and said, "There is much I must say and do during our short time together my two sons. Not all of it will be pleasant or enjoyable for me, but it will be necessary."
Instantly, the mood of the mindscape changed as Hagoromo radiated a since of authority and power that could not be challenged. He then issued a proclamation. "When my first existence shattered itself and was reformed into Hagoromo and Hamura Otsutsuki, the soul that became my first incarnation of Hagoromo Otsutsuki was given many tasks. One of these tasks was to find an heir to what I could not be as only the larger reformed shard of a once greater soul. My heir must be able to take my place when the time comes and insure that peace reigns throughout Earth and the Elemental Nations."
"Naruto," Hagoromo turned to face the young shinobi as he continued. "In my first lifetime, I decided that your incarnation at the time was the wiser of my two sons in finding a path to peace. From your first lifetime as Asura to your present one as Naruto you have pursued a desire for peace and understanding that has made me proud. When harsh or violent actions were needed you and your previous incarnations did so out of necessity and never enjoyed those ugly actions."
"The same cannot be said for Indra who was your elder brother as Asura. He and his incarnations have fallen from one deprivation to another caring only for their own pleasures, powers, or desires. I chose you to receive the elder child's birthright and history has proven my choice to be the correct one."
Hagoromo paused to summon his shakujo and slammed it into the mindscapes ground. "I now call upon the power entrusted to me as the guardian of my first existence's power to finalize this decree. As of this moment and for all eternity I denounce Indra and all of his incarnations as my child." A thundering boom filled the mindscape and, unknown to Percy and Naruto, the entire western world. "I strike from that soul all of the powers that have been inherited by it being born to my existence as Hagoromo Otsutsuki known as the Rikudou Sennin and the original God of Shinobi as well as any powers it has gain in its various incarnations from the blood that came from me and my line." Again Hagoromo slammed his shakujo into the ground causing a thunderous boom which now was heard throughout the Western Realm and the Elemental Nations. "I decree that upon the death of Indra's current incarnation his soul is to be bound in Naraku to suffer the worse torments in that bardo until the day Atik Yomin steps foot on the Earth again." With that said, the sage slammed his shakujo into the ground a third time sealing his decree for all eternity.
Naruto and Percy were both shocked at what they had witnessed. A formal disinheriting and disowning like they had just seen had massive consequences in the mystical world. What those consequences would be besides what they had heard Hagoromo decree they could only guess at. Decrees like this were irrevocable and hadn't happened in centuries at the very least for those in the mystical realm. Both boys wondered what a person, even over a series of lifetimes, could possibly do to deserve such a fate. They saw a small stream a tears rolling down Hagoromo's cheek from what he had done before they could react to the disinheriting. It was obvious that this action was something Hagoromo had deemed necessary to preform even if he didn't want to do it.
After almost a minute had passed, Hagoromo regained his composure completely and continued his pronouncements. He then turned to Naruto and gently placed his right hand on the young man's forehead while raising his left hand in a sign of blessing. With a solemn voice the sage pronounced. "By right of Asura you were named my heir as Hagoromo and by right of blood you are my heir as Minato. I now call upon the power entrusted to me as the guardian of my first existence's power to permanently confer unto you the rights, privileges, and blessing of the First Born. Henceforward, you have been granted dominion as head of the family over all those descended from me in my various incarnations or descended from my children's various incarnations with only one exception. In time, you will gain access to the wisdom and powers your previous lives had. Furthermore, I shall grant unto you half of my power with that power one day becoming accessible and that being the portion that you never gain as Asura. When both wisdom and power blossoms within you I trust that you will remember all of the hard work and effort you went through and do not let it get the better of you."
The sage then pulled away from Naruto and gently placed his right hand on Percy's forehead again raising the left hand in a sign of blessing. Hagoromo then announced. "By right of blood as Astyanax, you were my heir as Hector. While your time as Astyanax was far too brief, your previous incarnations of Emperor Heraclius, King Canute the Great, Zheng He, Shahanshah Ismail I, and Hokage Tobirama you proved your ability to be a great leader and more importantly a good man. I now call upon the power entrusted to me as the guardian of my first existence's power to grant you this blessing. All your works to help your family will succeed in a manner best suited for helping your family even you do not know or see the best path. Furthermore, I shall grant unto you half of my power to one day become accessible to you. This power will be gained quickest with the help of your brother, but hard work and training will strengthen your body and grant you access to the power at a slower pace."
Hagoromo then pulled away from the reincarnated siblings and the massive image of a celestial being appeared around the sage twinkling with the light of a thousand stars. This celestial being raised its hands which seemed like massive walls to Naruto and Percy. The hand nearest to Naruto glowed with a soft purple light and had the glowing sigil of the moon in its palm. On the hand closest to Percy was the glowing sigil of the sun in a cheerful orange light the hand itself also faintly glowed with the light. Both halfbloods looked at the hands wondering what was going on.
An answer was quickly given to the unvoiced question. Both monumental sized hands glowed exponentially brighter and a flood of chakra was unleashed from both hands. The soft purple chakra came out of the moon sigil like torrents of fire to engulf Naruto in a spiral of flames. The bright orange chakra gushed out of the sun sigil and drowned Percy in a whirlpool of energy. Within seconds both young men were forced to close their eyes as they tried to deal with the tremendous power that was forcing itself into each of them.
Suddenly, there was a massive explosion and both Naruto and Percy found themselves outside of the mindscape. Both of them looked around in confusion. The last thing Percy could clearly remember before being in the mindscape was falling into a river so he couldn't fathom how he ended up in his current location. Naruto was confused since the duo were standing in a large crater instead of the cave he had created.
The duo's location quickly became clear to Naruto as he spotted several mountains in the distance that he had noted when he made the cave. Obviously the cave the duo had been was transformed into a crater. As Naruto was looking around he noticed the Yata no Kagami lying reflective side down in the ground. He immediately sealed the mirror away so that no one else could be affected by the item. Once the Yata no Kagami was secured the shinobi returned to examining his surroundings. Naruto wasn't a master at reading blast craters, but he could read a few things to determine without question that the energy that had created the crater had come from Percy and him. Also, both of them had released the energy at the same time.
Percy was pulled from looking at his surroundings in confusion by a warm pulsing feeling in his right hand. He turned his hand to look and see what was going on. As soon as his palm was in view his eyes bulged in shock. "Naruto," Percy called out, "There's a seal on my hand!" Percy then turned and held out his hand so that the older halfblood could see the slowly fading orange sun on the palm of his hand.
Naruto blinked his eyes in surprise for a moment and then looked down at his left hand. As he half expected given what happened to Percy, there was a fading purple moon shaped seal on his palm. Naruto showed it to Percy who only stared in shock. This shock ended when Naruto smacked Percy upside the head as he promised to do once the boy regained his memories. The two seals had disappeared by the time Naruto explained why he smacked Percy to the boy.
While Percy was rubbing his head, Naruto gave the crater one last look around. He then turned to his cousin/brother from another incarnation and said, "Let's move. This crater is very visible to eyes in the sky and I don't want to be here when the mortal authorities come to investigate." Percy paled at the thought of dealing with the government and quickly nodded his head in agreement.
The next day Percy's group along with Naruto and Zoe were on Olympus to witness Hera's diadem being returned. Issei had taken off for Alaska an hour before the Yata no Kagami was handed over to the Fates. Percy's team was in the dark about why Issei left; however, Naruto and Zoe knew it was to help keep the North and the West separate. Dozens of deities would no doubt focus on Naruto's team as soon as the quest was officially completed when Naruto handed over the mirror. The less attention drawn to Issei and the North in general the better and it would be harder to find Issei if he was far away from the group. Naruto and Bucephalus had quickly gotten everyone across country in record time allowing for both deliveries on the same day.
Naruto was happy to be able to accompany Percy and his team as he wasn't expecting an invitation to accompany the return which had been delivered this morning by Hermes. Naruto had quickly assumed a guarding post in the group as they slowly walked through Olympus. The only one in the group who was not awed to be on Olympus was Zoe who had spent years in the city over her millennia of service to Artemis. Annabeth had been to Olympus once and the city still seemed as breath taking and awe inspiring now as it did on that visit. Unlike Annabeth's previous visit there were several nymphs discreetly keeping an eye on the visiting halfbloods, hunter, and satyr.
The quintet soon made their way to the grand palace on Olympus where the 12 golden thrones were housed. To some of the heroes' surprise, a large number of nymphs and non-councilmember deities were gathered in attendance at the palace. A path was made for the quintet to enter the palace where they saw Hera and Amphitrite sitting. Hera was on her throne while Amphitrite was sitting on Poseidon's throne which the god of the seas allowed when he wasn't in attendance to show that Amphitrite could speak with authority on his behalf.
Naruto quickly and happily bowed to his mother joyful to see her again. His simple joy at being with her even on a formal occasion caused a ghost of a smile to appear on Hera's lips. Annabeth, Zoe, and Grover gave Hera a formal bow which she politely accepted. Percy then committed the fax paus of reluctantly bowing to Amphitrite instead of Hera. Several muted gasps of shock could be heard from the assembled crowd.
A frown appeared on Hera's face as she turned to look at Percy. She then spoke with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "I would recommend brushing up on your etiquette nephew. You will do your patron a lot more honor by following proper protocol instead of giving her homage out of turn. Now then, I understand that you have the proof that clears Amphitrite of the charges raised against her?"
Percy nodded his head with a twinge of annoyance in his eyes and produced Hera's diadem from his backpack. He then handed the diadem to his aunt who gratefully accepted it. Hera gave the diadem a quick once over for any hidden traps the thief might have left behind and then put the diadem on her head.
The goddess looked down at Percy and said, "Thank you for retrieving my diadem nephew. Who did you retrieve it from?"
The preteen halfblood looked a little nervous and said, "I didn't retrieve the diadem so much as I was given it. The diadem was either summoned or hidden in a backpack that Ares gave me." Murmuring could again be heard from the courtier crowd. Percy continued speaking ignoring the murmuring, "When I got the backpack from him, Ares told me that Hades had the diadem to start a war between Atlantis and Olympus." This news caused the murmurings to become louder.
Hera held up her hand to silence the crowd. She looked at the crowd and firmly said, "My son Ares will have the chance to defend himself and his actions soon enough. Percy has let us know everything he knows about the situation which is likely only a small part of the whole situation. Any punishment Ares will receive for his part in this travesty will depend on his guilt in the crime. My son could have been tricked or received faulty information that he passed to Percy. At the same time, he could have been an active participant in this crime trying to exacerbate the situation. Where the truth is in between those two extremes is what the investigation will uncover."
The goddess turned her gaze to Percy and continued to speak while quickly reading his mind for any further details that the boy might have missed or dismissed as unimportant. Her face paled slightly for a split second as she saw certain memories, but no one spotted it. "To help in the investigation I request that you turn over the backpack that my son gave you Percy. An examination of how the backpack either hid or summoned my diadem will help in the investigation into Ares' actions." Percy nodded his head, quickly emptied the backpack of his things, and then handed it to his aunt. He then got a scroll from Naruto and quickly sealed away all of his things thankful that there wasn't anything embarrassing in the backpack.
While Percy was sealing his things, Hera turned to look at her sister-in-law. The Queen of Olympus then shocked the court by bowing her head as she spoke. "Amphitrite I withdraw my demand that you swear your innocence on the River Styx for any part in the theft of my diadem. I also ask that you accept my apology for accusing you of the crime. Please understand that my accusation was based of the best information I had at the time on the thief. While the true identity of the thief hasn't been determined just yet, it is very likely that the evidence implicating you was planted to sow discord between us. Please forgive me for falling for this ploy."
All of the gods, goddesses, and nymphs attending court could not believe what they had just seen. Hera's rule over Olympus was still very new for immortals and most of the crowd was still mostly used to Zeus's old regime in terms of expectations. Zeus would never have admitted when he made a mistake or even thought about asking for forgiveness. At best he would have brushed off his mistake and pretend it never happened. Amphitrite was put on the spot looking completely lost about what she should do. She then hesitantly said, "I accept your apology Hera."
Hera smiled at Amphitrite and said, "Thank you sister." Shen then sat back down on her throne discreetly scanning the faces in the crowd to judge their reactions to her actions. As the crowd got over their shock they started to show signs of increased respect and admiration for Hera. That was precisely the reaction the goddess wanted to happen and why she had publicly apologized to Amphitrite instead of choosing to do so in private. By apologizing in public and admitting her mistakes while also taking responsibility for them Hera knew she would be able to better weld Olympus's support to her reign. She was already a popular and respected ruler, but a wise ruler never misses a chance to increase their support. Hera was showing her subjects that she was the kind of ruler that they wanted over them and thus insured that they'd support her if things ever were to become dicey.
Now on her throne, Hera spoke again. "We have a rather unique but happy occasion at the moment. Two new quests have successfully been completed at the same time. Amphitrite's champion Percy has foiled an attempt to sow discord between Atlantis and Olympus by recovering my lost diadem. Additionally, my son Naruto has successfully completed the first quest issued by the Moirai. In recognition of their actions and the actions of their teammates on this quest I hereby grant a special two hour dispensation and visitation rights allowing them to visit the gods and goddesses that they so wish. I am also calling a recess to this court session. We shall reconvene tomorrow to investigate Ares's part in this issue."
Naruto, Eileithyia, Hebe, and Hera were sitting around one of the parlor rooms of Hera's temple enjoying a chance to be together as a family. Hera had quickly pulled Naruto to the side after she ended court and invited him to meet his sisters. Sadly, Eris was hanging out with Ares somewhere stirring up mischief. Knowing those two, the divine family members figured Eris and Ares were starting a gang war to amuse themselves. None of the assembled ladies like to think about such things and knowing their family would cause such a thing for giggles. It was just something they had to put up with since those two were family.
Enyo was currently off of Olympus in her Roman aspect of Bellona searching for another boyfriend. Most of the deities were rather ambient about being in their Greek or Roman aspects with a preference for their Greek side since that was their original aspect. Enyo and Athena were the outliers among the pantheon when came to the Greek-Roman divide. Athena hated her Roman aspect and tried to avoid it as much as possible. Enyo loved her Roman aspect and preferred to be Bellona as much as possible. Before joining the Council of Regents, Hera hadn't really given her daughter's preference much though. Now that she knew the complete truth the goddess was very worried for Enyo.
Eileithyia put down her cup of nectar and said, "Those are some lovely glass angel statues mother. When did you add them to your temple?" Hebe and Naruto followed Eileithyia's gaze to a small shelf with six small glass angel statues about six inches tall.
Hera had a wince of pain on her face when Eileithyia mentioned those recent decorations and the queen was thankful none of her children saw the wince as they were looking at the statues. Hera then masked her pain by saying, "I got those a couple of months ago from a mortal store. I thought they would add a nice homely touch to this room." Hera hadn't gotten those statues for decoration; they were memorials to the six of her children with Zeus that the Council had needed to expunge from existence due to being born as demons. While the ruler within her understood and accepted the necessity of the Council's actions, the mother within Hera wept and raged over the loss of her children that she hadn't even been able to remember even having. She had lost six of her twelve children to demonhood, Hera refused to lose a seventh.
Once they were done looking at the statues, Hebe and Eileithyia started an animated conversation with Naruto. The two goddesses were intrigued with their younger demigod half-brother. Having a halfblood half-brother was a normal situation for them, but this was the only time the half-brother came from their mother instead of their father. Then there was the fact that neither sister could read their brother's mind which was unique for halfbloods. They had observed Naruto with remote viewing techniques from time to time and knew that he had a friendly and agreeable personality. Add in Artemis's friendship and need to become their sister-in-law as well as being their half-sister and Naruto had the goddesses' interest.
Seeing her son and daughters connect as siblings brought a smile to Hera's face. Many halfbloods would have been arrogant at having the opportunity to talk with goddesses. Naruto didn't have any arrogance in him, all he cared about was the fact that he got a chance to be with his mother and sisters. The fact that they were goddesses and he was a halfblood didn't matter to Naruto. The three siblings got more involved in their conversation as they got used to each other. Hera would occasionally add a comment or two shifting the conversation one way or another.
After about an hour into the conversation, Hera sensed an unfamiliar and yet familiar chakra sealed somewhere. She quickly deduced that the chakra was sealed in Naruto's left hand. The Kyuubi's chakra was still firmly sealed in Naruto's gut which made the goddess curious. "Naruto, how did you get that extra source of chakra sealed in your hand?"
Both Hebe and Eileithyia turned to look at their brother. Hebe looked with curiosity while Eileithyia looked with confusion. Hebe knew about chakra since she had a full grown halfblood living in Miami that got chakra lessons from Naruto along with a son of Triton and a son of Hermes who her son worked with in addition to a clear sighted mortal woman. There could have been a fourth member to the Miami chakra class, but the son of Nike who was the only other halfblood in the city didn't get along with the other three. Sad, but Nike's son ran a CSI team while Triton's, Hermes's, and Hebe's children were fixit people of hire trying to get Hermes's and Hebe's sons back into the CIA. Eileithyia was confused because she didn't really know about chakra since she didn't have any living halfblood children at the moment.
Naruto looked down at his hand and felt like smacking himself. Seeing his mother again and his sisters for the first time had caused him to temporarily forget about meeting Minato/Hagoromo and everything that had happened in the mindscape. He related everything to his mother and sisters with appropriate editing who listened to Naruto's story with rapt attention. Hera was especially interested in the tale since she thought Minato had damned himself for all eternity when he used the Shiki Fuujin to seal the Kyuubi into Naruto. Everyone had been interested in hearing that Minato had been the latest in a series of incarnations and the goddesses had been even more surprised when they heard who Minato's previous lives had been.
Hebe started to chuckle when Naruto got to the part about Percy and his line of previous incarnations. "You mean to tell me that Poseidon's current halfblood that he gave to Amphitrite in order to avoid calling down misfortune due to his oath was Amphitrite's most powerful and famous son in a previous lifetime? The irony is just too much for me."
Everyone looked at Hebe for a moment and then joined in the chuckle. The conversation then drifted on to lighter subjects for the remainder of Naruto's allotted time. Once Naruto's time was up, Hera escorted her son out of her palace and to Olympus's exit. Hera gave Naruto a kiss on the forehead when they got to the elevator and bid him goodbye. She then waited and watched the old style elevator level indicator indicate that the elevator was going down until it got to the ground floor. When the elevator reached the ground floor the goddess let out a small sigh and walked away from the closed doors. It was only 6 more days until she could see Naruto again in person.
As Hera walked back to her temple her mind turned to more serious matters. She had been able to get a good read on the power sealed into Naruto's hand and it concerned her. The power was sealed tightly away and couldn't be noticed if one wasn't a very good sensor which was surprising given that chakra sealed away was in the same league as Typhon and the Kyuubi. Percy had also been given a similar power and Hera wouldn't be surprised the power sealed in her nephew's right hand was of similar size to the power sealed in Naruto. Why had Hagoromo given Naruto and Percy such power?
The reason behind her mortal husband's original incarnation's actions wasn't nearly as important to the goddess as what she was going to do about the repercussions of his actions. Both Naruto and Percy would need to be trained to control their powers at some point. It would already be difficult enough in a few years when Hera planned to train Naruto in how to use the Kyuubi's chakra. Most of the gods and goddesses would have been enraged and frightened at the thought of a demigod having the power to rival Typhon. Now there were potentially two such demigods with one of them possibly being able to be twice as strong as Typhon. Things would definitely be interesting in the future.
Author's note: For anyone still confused Minato in my story is the latest in Hagoromo Otsutsuki's series of reincarnations. Percy is the latest incarnation of a soul who started his first life as Astyanax the son of Hector of Troy. Percy got the blessing that Naruto got in the Manga from Hagoromo while Naruto got the blessing that Sasuke got in the Manga. As for Sasuke, he got his sharingan turned off and a mandatory sentence to the closest Buddhist equivalent of Hell when he dies.
I know Sasuke fans who read this are going to be upset but get over it. One thing I don't like in stories are karma Houdini's and Sasuke and his previous incarnations are masters of this. Betrayal and kin slaying are two massive crimes in any society. Indra committed these sins when he fought against Asura to make himself Hagoromo's heir. Madara betrayed his village and his clan. The fact that his own clan would think that he stole his brother's eyes tells that there were some serious issues with Madara that the series doesn't go into. Madara also bares a lot of responsibility for the suffering in the 4th shinobi war because he came up with the plan for it. As for Sasuke he betrayed Konoha to join Orochimaru, betrayed Orochimaru to fight Itachi, betrayed Akatsuki to fight for the five village alliance, and finally betrayed the alliance to try and become the eternal enemy for peace. Sasuke also made it a goal in his life to kill his brother and criminal or naught, him killing Itachi would be kin slaying.
Hagoromo's speech when he talks to Naruto about the reincarnations of Asura and Indra implied that both incarnations generally acted the same way in each life time as they did in the previous one. Hashirama's childish behavior when he isn't in battle is very similar to Naruto's general behavior. Before anyone asks, in this story Hashirama is Benzaiten's avatar and not an incarnation of Asura. Slight canon fudging, but in my defense that little fact hadn't be revealed in the Manga when I started planning this story. Based on the known incarnations and Hagoromo's implications, it is logical to suspect that Indra's other incarnations would commit massive crimes like betrayal, kin slaying, and other immoral actions. With them generating such massive negative karma it's a bit of a head scratcher that Indra's soul could reincarnate again as a human as quickly as it did in the time between Madara's real death and Sasuke's birth. Shouldn't he have to spend a few centuries as a worm or an ant to work off that negative karma?