A/N: Anyone who wants to do a story where the characters read 'The Legacy of Athena and Hermes' series is allowed to do so as long as they tell me before hand.
I don't own Percy Jackson series or Naruto series, or any of the characters of either series. Nor am I the writer of the Son of the Huntress series
Warning: Read these stories if you haven't before reading this story:
'The Legacy of Athena and Hermes: The Lightning Thief'
'The Legacy of Athena and Hermes: The Sea of Monsters'
'The Legacy of Athena and Hermes: The Titan's Curse'
'The Legacy of Athena and Hermes: The Battle of the Labyrinth'
'The Legacy of Athena and Hermes: The Last Olympian'
'The Legacy of Athena and Hermes: The Staff of Hermes'
'The Legacy of the Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero'
I'm going to make this clear to those who don't approve the idea of legacies in Camp Half-Blood.
One: If you actually looked into Greek Mythology you know there been plenty of Greek Legacies. Heck Frank's ancestors were Greek legacies before they joined the Romans.
Two: Time and time again in the Percy Jackson series they mention many famous names Rick Riordan used as demigods Greek Demigods reaching adulthood-George Washington, Amelia Earhart, F.D.R., General Sherman and many more-many of which had children of their own which would make their kids legacies.
Three: About Naruto not being wise enough to be a Legacy of Athena, keep in mind in future reference for any sequel fanfictions of Percy Jackson that when Percy and Annabeth have kids, if they have any of Percy's personality they might not have much interest in school and thus not show much of any of Athena's wisdom. So I should have a pass on the matter with Naruto because of that fact.
Four: Since I made Naruto a legacy of Athena through Minato, he can't have any connections with the Romans as for any god/goddess, Olympian or Minor to have a legacy they must have children who later grow up to have children of their own. Minerva doesn't have kids, and it been clear before the return of Athena's Parthenos the idea of the matter was saw as a disgrace to the Romans as it meant Minerva broke her vow in their eyes. Not to mention the fact that the feud between Greek and Romans was kept alive for so long because of Athena.
Also for anyone who thinks it be okay having a child/Legacy of Artemis or Hestia to meet the romans, although Diana or Vesta wasn't treated any worse from their Greek counterparts as the comparison of Athena and Minerva, keep in mind they also made a vow to not have any kids, and since Romans take their vows so seriously they have their own god whose domain is over vows I think they would frown upon the idea of Diana and Vesta breaking their vows. Although I did enjoy The Son of the Huntress series, even though Naruto saved Reyna and Hylla the fact any more Romans would accept the idea there being a child and grandchild of two virgin goddesses feels a bit far fetch.
Also there is now video recordings of me reading the Legacy series under my real name Ashleigh Stratmann. It's under 'Reading of the Legacy of Athena and Hermes: The Lightning Thief' as right now it's just the first story being read so far.
Legacy of the Heroes of Olympus: The Quest for Buford
Leo blamed the windex. He should've known better. Now his entire project-two months of work-might literally blow up in his face.
He stormed around Bunker 9, c- himself for being so stupid, while his friends tried to calm him down.
"Oh man, something must be up if he's this riled up," Naruto said.
Leave it to Naruto to figure out something is wrong based on Leo's behavior. Then again, it's no secret Naruto spend much of his free time in the forges with the rest of Cabin Nine, and Leo wouldn't be surprise if the rest of his siblings get riled up when one of their hard work is about to go down the drain. Leo doubt their projects was going to be this disastrous though.
Naruto looked like your typical camper at Camp Half Blood who came from another world. He had tanned skin, spiky blond hair, grey-blue eyes. He wore a leaf village standard flask jacket of a Jonin of the Villlage hidden in the Leaves of the Elemental nations over his camp Half-Blood t-shirt, a pouch full of deadly weapons-each made out of celestial bronze, two bracelets that turn into two different type of Shurikens when called on, a full upper body restraint like suit with arm straps that turn into celestial bronze wings for flying and wind style jutsus, a black standard wrap around headband with a celestial bronze forehead protector over his forehead with the Leaf Village symbol in the center and a pair of orange aviator goggles over it that he moves down over his eyes whenever he takes flight. Naruto look like one of those guys that should be too popular to hang out with someone like Leo, but in terms of personality, Naruto was much like Leo in sense of humor and love of pranks.
By Naruto's side was his two headed monster-dog Orthus. Although normally Orthus scared Leo whenever he sees the beast ever since he first saw the dog, Leo found himself glad Naruto brought his K9 companion. Orthus seemed more at home in Bunker Nine ever since Naruto first brought him there. Naruto told Leo that Orthus use to live on a ranch that Hephaestus use to visit for inspirations on traps for Aphrodite and Ares, and that the bunker probably reminded Orthus of Hephestus and his workshop.
"It's okay," Jason said. "We're here to help."
"Just tell us what happened," Piper urged.
Thank goodness they'd answered his distress call so quickly. Leo couldn't turn to anyone else. Having his best friends at his side made him feel better, though he wasn't sure they could stop the disaster. Well, except maybe Naruto.
Like Naruto, Jason looked cool and confident as usual-but at the same time in a different way. Jason had an all surfer dude handsome with blond-hair and sky-blue eyes. The scar on his mouth and the sword at his side gave him a rugged appearance, like he could handle anything.
Piper stood next to him in her jeans and orange camp T-shirt.
Her long brown hair was braided on one side. Her dagger Katopstris gleamed at her belt. Despite the situation, her multicolored eyes sparkled like she was trying to suppress a smile. Now that Jand and she were officially together Piper looked like that alot.
In the fake memories Hera implanted in Leo's head of Jason, seeing the two together use to make him feel like a third wheel that just got in the way. But now with Naruto, Leo felt less that way. It helped that Naruto himself was use to being the third wheel.
Leo took a deep breath. "Okay, guys. This is serious. Buford's gone. If we don't get him back, this whole place is going to explode.'
Piper's eyes lost some of that smiley sparkle. "Explode?"
"Leo, what did you do?" Naruto asked.
"I'll show you," Leo said.
He led them across the hangar floor which had more construction equipment than it did when Leo and Naruto first discovered the place-courtesy of a Bridge Builder from the Land of Waves that Naruto knew-carefully skirting some of his more dangerous projects. In his two months at Camp Half-Blood, Leo had spent most of his time at Bunker 9. After all, he and Naruto had rediscovered the secret workshop. Now it was like a second home to him. But he knew Jason and Piper felt uncomfortable here.
He couldn't blame them. Built into the side of a limestone cliff deep in the woods, the bunker was part weapons depot, part machine shop, and part underground safe house, with a little bit of Area 51-style craziness thrown in for good measure. Row of workbenches stretched into the darkness. Tool cabinets, storage closets, cages full of welding equipment, borrowed construction equipment that been modified by Cabin Nine to fit their standards (Naruto decided just to tell Tazuna the Bridge Builder it was a thank you gift for letting them borrow it as he sure it will do some good for the Land of Waves), stacks of construction material made a labyrinth of aisles so vast Leo and Naruto figured they only explored about ten percent of it so far. Overhead ran a series of catwalks and pneumatic tubes for delivering supplies, plus a high-tech lighting and sound system that Leo was just starting to figure out.
A large banner hung over the center of production floor. Leo had recently discovered how to change the display, like the Time Square JumboTron, so now the banner read: Happy Valentines Day!
He ushered hsi friends to the central staging area. Decades ago, Leo's metallic friend Festus the bronze dragon had been created here. Now, Leo was slowly assembling his pride and joy-the Argo II.
At the moment, it didn't look like much. The keel was laid-a length of Celestial bronze curved like an archer's bow, two hundred feet from bow to stern. The lowest hull planks had been set in place, forming a shallow bowl held together by scaffolding. Masts lay on one side, ready for positioning. The bronze dragon figurehead-formerly the head of Festus-sat nearby, carefully wrapped in velvet, waiting to be installed in its place of honor.
Most of Leo's time had been spent in the middle of the ship, at the base of the hull, where he was building the engine that would run the warship.
He climbed the scaffolding and jumped into the hull. Naruto, Jason and Piper followed.
"See?" Leo said.
Fixed to the keel, the engine apparatus looked like a high-tech jungle gym made from pipes, pistons, bronze gears, magical disks, steam vents, electric wires, and a million other magical and mechanical pieces. Leo slid inside and pointed out the combustion chamber.
It was a thing of beauty, a bronze sphere the size of a basketball, its surface bristling with glass cylinders so it look like a mechanical starburst. Gold wires ran from the ends of the cylinders, connecting to various parts of the engine. Each cylinder was filled with different magical and highly dangerous substance. The central sphere had a digital clock display that read 66:21. The maintenance panel was open. Inside the core was empty.
"Is that water from the river of styx?" Naruto pointed to one of the vials.
"Yes," Leo said hoping Naruto sees the problem.
"Leo, that river disintegrates anyone that bathes in it without preparations-both body and soul. Even with preparation I only know two people besides Achilles who survived it. How did you get your hands on water from it?" Naruto asked.
"I found it in this bunker along with everything else here," Leo said, although he found himself glad he didn't get it himself.
Jason scratched his head. "Not to interrupt you two, but... uh... what are we looking at?"
Leo thought it was pretty obvious, but Piper looked confused too.
"Okay," Leo sighed, "you want the full explanation or short explanation."
"Short," Piper and Jason said in unison.
"You better keep it simple too, Leo," Naruto said.
Leo understood that as keep the techno mechanical stuff that a normal person can't understand out.
"Fine. In one hour, these fluids mix and make the Bunker goes ka-boom, turning one square mile into a smoking crater," Leo said.
"Oh..." Piper said in a small voice. "Can't you just... turn it off?"
"Gee, I didn't think of that!" Leo said. "Let me just hit this switch and-No, Piper. I can't turn it off. This is a tricky piece of machinery. Everything has to be assembled in a certain order in a certain amount of time. Once the combustion chamber is rigged, like this, you can't just leave all those tubes sitting there. Even when I found this stuff, they were stored specifically to each need. The engine has to be put into motion. The countdown clock started automatically, and I've got to install the syncopactor before the fuel goes critical. Which would be fine except... well, I lost the syncopator."
Jason folded his arms. "You lost it. Don't you have an extra? Can't you pull one out of your toolbelt?"
Leo shook his head. His magic toolbelt could produce a lot of great stuff. Any kind of common tool-hammers, screwdrivers, bolt cutters, whatever-Leo could pull out of the pockets just by thinking about it. But the belt couldn't fabricate complicated devices or magic items.
"The syncopator took me a week to make," he said. "And yes, I made a spare. I always do. But that's lost too. They were both in Buford's drawers."
"So that's what you working on during your free time the last two weeks," Naruto said.
"Who is Buford?" Piper asked. "And why are you storing syncopators in his drawers.
"Buford is a automaton table that can move and help store things," Naruto said getting a look from Piper and Jason. "What? I was here when Leo discovered it."
"So what happened to him?" Piper asked.
Leo felt a lump rising in his throat. The guilt was almost too much. "I-I got careless. I polished him with Windex, and... he ran away."
Jason looked like he was trying to figure out an equation. "Let me get this straight. Your table ran away... because you polish him with Windex."
"Automatons tend to be tricky that way. You wouldn't think a machine can be picky, but automatons tend to surprise you," Naruto said. "You should have met Festus before Leo and I repaired his dragon form before the quest. He use to not let just anyone near him."
"I'm an idiot!" Leo moaned. "A brilliant idiot, but still an idiot. Buford hates being polished with Windex. It has to be Lemon Pledge with extra-moisturizing formula. I was distracted. I thought maybe just once he wouldn't notice. Then I turned around for a while to install the combustion tubes and when I looked for Buford..."
Leo pointed to the giant open doors of the bunker. "He was gone. Little trail of oil and bolts leading outside. He could be anywhere by now, and he's got both syncopators!"
Piper glanced at the digital clock. "So... we have exactly one hour to find your runaway table, get back your synco-whatsit, and install it in this engine, or the Argo II explodes, destroying Bunker Nine and most of the woods."
"Basically," Leo said.
Jason frowned. "We should alert the other campers. We might have to evacuate them."
"No!" Leo's voice broke. "Look, the explosion won't destroy the whole camp. Just the woods. I'm pretty sure. Like sixty-five percent sure."
"Well, that's a relief," Piper muttered.
"Guys, I think what Leo is trying to say is he doesn't want the other campers find out he screwed up," Naruto said. "It's a common trait in Cabin Six and Nine."
Jason and Piper looked at each other. The clock display now changed to 59:00.
"Fine," Jason said. "But we'd better hurry."
"Good thing I brought Orthus, then," Naruto said. "He can track Buford down."
...
They had Orthus sniff the oil trail Buford left since that was the closest thing of Buford to use to track by.
"Are you sure we can't ask Hinata?" Piper asked. During their time in camp, Leo Jason and Piper got to know some of the campers including Hinata and her clan's Byakugan.
"We're not looking for something that uses the Mist, so we should be fine with just Orthus' sense of smell." Naruto responded.
They trudged through the woods, the sun started to set. The camp's weather was magically controlled, so it wasn't freezing and snowing like it was in the rest of Long Island, but still Leo could tell it was February. In the shadows of the huge oak trees, the air was cold and damp. The mossy ground squished under his feet.
Leo was tempted to summon fire in his hand. He'd gotten better at that since coming to camp, but he knew the nature spirits didn't like fire. He didn't want to be yelled at by any more dryads.
The thing is though, Leo had never cared so much about a project before. The Argo II had to be ready by June if they were going to start their big quest on time. And while June still seemed a long way away, Leo knew he'd barely have time to make the deadline. Even with the entire Hephaestus and Athena Cabin helping him, constructing a magic flying warship was a huge task. It made launching a NASA spaceship look easy. They'd had so many setbacks, but all Leo could think about was getting the ship finished. It would be his masterpiece.
Also he wanted to get the dragon figurehead installed. He missed his old friend Festus, who'd literally crashed and burned on their last quest. Even if Festus would never be the same again, Leo hoped he could reactivate his brain by using the ship's engines. If Leo could give Festus a second life, he wouldn't feel so bad.
But none of that would happen if the combustion chamber exploded. It would be game over. No ship. No Festus. No quest. Leo would have no one to blame but himself. He really hated Windex."
Orthus sniffed the ground at some marks in the mud.
"Hopefully those tracks means we're on the right trail," Naruto said. "As long as I had Orthus I never had him track an automaton. But that doesn't mean he never tracked one before."
"What kind of ranch did you find Orthus?" Jason asked.
"Geryon's Triple G Ranch."
"Geryon-as in the three body monster Heracles killed?" Piper asked.
"Yep. Eurytion was fine lending Orthus to me after Percy and I killed his boss," Naruto said. "Orthus can go back to the ranch after I die."
Suddenly the water gurgled. A girl in a shimmering blue dress rose to the surface, SHe had stringy green hair, blue lips, and pale skin, so she look like a drowning victim. Her eyes were wide with alarm.
"Could you be any louder?" she hissed. "They'll hear you!"
Leo blinked. He never got used to this-nature spirits just popping up out of trees and streams and whatnot.
"Are you a naiad?" he asked.
"Shh! They'll kill us all! They're right over there!" She pointed behind her, into the trees on the other side of the stream. Unfortunately, that was the direction the tracks led.
"Relax, I'm Naruto Uzumaki of the Council of Cloven Elders," Naruto said. "These three are my friends. I'm helping one of them searching for something he lost. But we won't let anyone harm you. Just tell us who is scaring you."
Leo got to admit, having a demigod that is some kind of leader of Nature Spirits. Most of the time Nature Spirits listen to Naruto. Not all do though, as in the case of storm spirits they faced during the quest.
The naiad's face seemed to relax, which told Leo she heard of Naruto, but she was still uneasy. "It's my crazy cousins, Lord Naruto. You can't stop them. They'll tear your friends apart. None of us is safe! You are best to hide."
"I appreciate the concern, but we got to keep on the search or else your cousins might be the least of our worries," Naruto said. "What's your name?"
"It's Brooke, Lord Naruto."
"Brooke the brook?" Jason asked causing Piper to swat at his leg.
"Just call me Naruto, Brook. Thank you for the warning." Naruto responded. "You can go back into hiding."
"You don't have to tell me twice." Brooke melted away.
"Crazy Cousins?" Piper frowned. "Any idea what she was talking about?"
"I don't know, but it could be an aggressive type of Nature spirits, violent even, like rogue harpies and storm spirits," Naruto said.
"Maybe we should keep our voices down then," Jason said.
Leo stared at the stream. He was trying to figure what was so horrible that it could tear apart a river spirit. How do you tear up water? Whatever it was, he didn't want to meet it.
Yet he could see Buford's tracks on the opposite bank-little square prints in the mud, leading the direction the naiad had warned them about.
"We have to follow the trail, right?" he said, mostly convince himself. "I mean... we're heroes and stuff. We can handle whatever it is. Right?"
"Right," Naruto said. "I think its best we sneak around and be quiet, like Jason said. You guys follow my example, do what I do. Got it?"
Leo Piper and Jason nodded. They know that when it comes to sneakiness, Naruto was the best. Not just because his grandfather was Hermes: God of Thieves and trickery, but also because Naruto was a trained ninja and specialize in such stuff.
Leo expected Naruto to take out his katana that normally takes form of a pen that he can click to cause it to expand, but Naruto reached in his pouch and took out a kunai knife, which glowed with celestial bronze metal. Leo guessed if you want to be sneaky, a kunai knife was a better choice.
Jason drew his sword-a wicked Roman-style gladius with an Imperial Gold blade.
Piper unsheathed her dagger. She stared into the blade as if hoping Katoptris would show her a helpful vision. Sometimes the dagger did that. But if she saw something important, she didn't say.
"Let's go," Naruto said.
...
There was no more talking as Orthus led them down into the woods. The birds were silent. No monsters growled. It was as if all the other living creatures in the woods had been smart enough to leave.
Finally they came to a clearing the size of mall parking lot. The sky overhead was heavy and gray. The grass was dry yellow, and the ground was scarred with pits and trenches as if someone had done some crazy driving with construction equipment. In the center of the clearing stood a pile of boulders about thirty feet tall.
Orthus let out a low growl from both heads which Leo knew wasn't a good thing.
"Oh," Piper said. "This isn't good."
"Why?" Leo asked.
"It's bad luck to be here," Jason said. "This is the battle site."
Leo scowled. "What battle?"
"The Battle of the Labyrinth," Naruto said. "This is where the first battle of the Second TItan War took place." Naruto pointed at the pile of rock. "That's where Gamabunta, Briares and I destroyed the Kampe."
"Great," Leo grumbled. "Buford has to run to the most dangerous part of the woods."
"He probably didn't know it." Naruto said. "He was locked up in the Bunker through out the war after all."
"We better watch our steps here." Naruto said. "There might still be paper bomb traps left from the battle."
"Oh goody." Leo learned about some of Naruto's variety of ninja tools, some of which aren't your typical demigod stuff. Paper bombs were paper with special seals that causes them to explode like your average explosives you find in the Land of the Gods.
"Relax, Orthus can sniff out the Paper bombs if there are any left, we just got to be careful not to trigger them," Naruto said.
Though Leo would've preferred to stay in the cover of the trees, he followed his friends into the clearing to the pile of boulders following Orthus. Leo pulled a watch from his toolbelt and strapped it to his wrist. Roughly forty minutes until the big ka-boom.
"Does Buford have a round tabletop?" Piper asked. "With little steam vents sticking up on one side?"
Leo stared at her. "How did you know?"
"Because he's right over there." She pointed.
Sure enough, Buford was waddling toward the far end of the clearing, steam puffing from his vents. It was indeed a magical walking table, three feet high, mahogany top, bronze base, three moveable legs. As they watched, he disappeared into the trees.
"That was easy," Jason said.
"It's never this easy," Naruto said.
Just then they started hearing voices from the woods on their left.
"Someone's coming!" Leo said.
"HIde," Naruto warned. Naruto and Leo pulled Jason and Piper behind the boulders.
A dozen girls skipped into the clearing. They were teenagers with tunic-style dresses of loose purple and red silk. Their hair was tangled with leaves, and most wore laurel wreaths. Some carried strange staffs that looked like torches. The girls laughed and swung each other around, tumbling in the grass and spinning like they were dizzy. They were gorgeous, but Leo wasn't tempted to flirt.
"They're nymphs but I don't recognize what type," Naruto said. "They could be the crazy cousins."
As the nymphs got closer, Leo started to notice odd details about them. Their staffs weren't torches. They were twisted wooden branches each topped with a giant pine cone and some were wrapped in snakes. THe girls' laurel wreaths weren't wreaths, either. Their hair was braided with tiny vipers. The girls smiled and laughed and sang in Ancient Greek as they stumble around the glade. They appeared to be having a great time, but their voices were tinged with sort of wild ferocity. If leopards could sing, Leo thought they would sing like this.
"Are they drunk?" Jason whispered.
"Maybe... those staffs are Thyrsus-symbol of Dionysus," Naruto pointed out. "They could be some of Mr. D's followers."
"That's a good thing, right?" Piper asked. "I mean, you are Council of Cloven Elders."
"That depends on their loyalty," Naruto said. "After all, the Cloven Elders are followers of Mr. D too to look after nature in Pan's absence."
That wasn't reassuring for Leo.
Then things got complicated. In the woods to their right, something roared. The trees rustled, and a drakon burst into the clearing, looking sleepy and irritated, as if the nymphs' singing had woken it up.
Leo had seen plenty of monsters in the woods. The camp intentionally stock them as challenge to campers. But this was bigger and scarier than most.
The drakon was about the size of a subway car. It had no wings, but its mouth bristled with dagger like teeth. Flames curled from its nostrils. Silvery scales covered its body like polish chain mail. When the drakon saw the nymphs, it roared again and shot flames into the sky.
At first the girls didn't seem to notice. They were doing cartwheels and laughing and pushing each other around.
Finally one of the girls noticed the drakon. She squealed in delight, as if she spotted a cute puppy. She skipped toward the monster and the other girls followed, singing and laughing, which seemed to confused the drakon. It probably wasn't used to its prey being so cheerful.
A nymph in blood-red dress did a cartwheel and landed in front of the drakon. "Are you Dionysus?" she asked hopefully.
It seemed like a stupid question. True, Leo never met Dionsus, but he was pretty sure the god of wine wasn't a fire breathing drakon.
The monster blasted fire at the girls feet. She simply danced out of the kill zone. The drakon lunged and caught her arm in its jaws. Leo winced, sure the nymph's limb would be amputated right before his eyes, but she yanked it free along with several broken drakon teeth. Her arm was perfectly fine. The drakon made a sound somewhere between a growl and a whimper.
"Naughty!" the girl scolded. She turned to her cheerful friends. "Not Dionysus! He must join our party!"
A dozen nymphs squealed in delight and surrounded the monster.
Piper caught her breath. "What are they-oh, gods. No!"
Leo didn't usually feel sorry for monsters, but what happened next was truly horrifying. The girls threw themselves at the drakon. Their cheerful laughter turned into vicious snarling. They attack with their thyrsus, with finger nails that turned into long white talons, with teeth that elongated into powder, its spirit returning to Tartarus.
Jason made a gulping sound. LEo had seen his friends in all sorts of dangerous situations, but he'd never seen Jason quite so pale.
Piper was shielding her eye, muttering, "Oh, gods. Oh, gods."
"Those are Maenads." Naruto realized. "Chiron warned me about them. They're followers of Dionysus that attended his parties and tend to cause destruction when they get excited. They come to every now and then during Christmas looking for Dionysus."
"But its February," Leo said. "What are they doing here now?"
"I don't know, but Chiron told me whenever they visit we have to capture them and send them to Atlantic City," Naruto said. "The problem is, they only listen to Dionysus. No one else. Not even the other members of the Council. But we can't destroy them as Dionysus is very protective of his followers."
"We have to get out of here," Jason said.
"But they're between us and Buford!" Leo said "And we only got-" he checked his watch. "Thirty minutes to get the syncopator installed."
"Maybe I can fly us over to Buford." Jason shut his eyes tight.
Leo knew Jason had controlled the wind before-just one of the advantages of being the uber-cool son of Zeus-but this time, nothing happened.
Jason shook his head. "I don't know... the air feels agitated. Maybe those nymphs are messing things up. Even the wind spirits are too nervous to get close."
Naruto looked to the nymphs and Leo saw in Naruto's eyes he was formulating a plan.
"Okay, Leo and I will distract the nymphs. Jason and Piper you two retreat to the woods and skirt around. Take Orthus with you to find Buford," Naruto said.
"How do you plan to do that?" Piper asked.
"They were asking for Dionysus, right? I say we give them what they ask for."
Jason Piper and Leo were confuse what Naruto meant until Naruto made the hand sign. "Transform!"
A puff of smoke surrounded Naruto and when it cleared Naruto took the appearance of a chubby face, red nose guy with curly hair so black it looks purple. He had watery blue, bloodshot eyes of a heavy drinker forced to go silver. Naruto was wearing a leopard-spot Hawaiian shirt and purple running shoes.
"Um Naruto, what are you suppose to be?" Leo asked.
"Dionysus," Naruto said in an older man's voice. "This is what Dionysus normally appeared as when he's here at camp."
"Guys," Piper squeaked in alarm.
Leo looked up. He hadn't noticed the Maenads approaching, climbing the rocks with absolute silence even creepier than their laughter. All Leo can guess is Naruto's jutsu caught their attention as they now peered down from the tops of the boulders, smiling prettily, their fingernails and teeth back to normal. Vipers coiled through their hair.
"My Lord Dionysus? Is that really you?" she asked Naruto.
"Yes," Naruto answered. "It's me."
Jason Piper and Leo rose, weapons ready.
The Meanads giggled and danced and push each other around. Several fell off the rocks and landed hard on the ground. That didn't seem to bother them. They just got up and kept frolicking. Then the Maenads twirled Naruto around. Several produce goblets from thin air and began to chug... whatever was inside.
The girl in red looked uncertainly at Piper Jason and Leo. "Lord Dionysus, are these three sacrifices for the party? Should we rip them to pieces."
"As great as that be, I have to decline. These three are campers that found me out here, and I'm still under probation of Lord Zeus to not do any bodily harm to them," Naruto said. "This is James, Pippie, and Leonard-oh, right, sorry. Jason Piper and Leo-whatever. Why don't you introduce yourselves to them."
Did he just got our names wrong? Leo thought.
"Well I'm Babette, and these are Buffy, Muffy, Bambi, Candy-" Babete rattled off a bunch more names that all kind of blended together. Leo glanced at Piper hoping she know what Naruto was up to. But Piper looked like she was trying not to scream as two Maenads were running their hands over Jason's shoulders.
The other Maenads circled Naruto, smiling and humming. Normally Leo be jealous, but right now he was thinking better Naruto than him.
"So, Barbette. Not that I mind having you around, but why are you and your friends out here in February?" Naruto asked.
"We been looking for you, Lord Dionysus! You promised us a holiday celebration but when we got here, you never showed," Barbette said.
"Oh... That's because Lord Zeus had decided to call me back to Olympus to close it down," Naruto said. "Something about earth stirring and wanting to lull it to sleep by stopping all interactions. Bah, like it made any difference. At least I got to spend time with my lovely wife Ariadne. Unfortunately Zeus send me back here to continue my punishment."
"Punishment!" Muffy the Maenad shrieked pressing her hands over her ears
"Punishment!" Buffy wiped her tong as if trying to scrub away the horrible word.
THe other Maenads dropped their goblets and ran in circles, yelling, "Punishment! Sacrilege! Kill Punishment!" Some began to grow long claws. Other slammed their heads against the boulders which seemed to hurt the boulders more than their heads.
"Settle down! I'm only have to being Camp Director for Fifty years and follow a few restrictions. Other than that we can still have a party, we just have to obey Zeus' restrictions," Naruto said. "Unfortunately that includes no alcohol as I rather not risk increasing my punishment."
"That's fine Lord Dionysus. We're underage Maenads. We haven't graduated to wine yet. What would our parents think?"
"You have parents?" Jason shrugged the Maenads hands off his shoulder.
"Don't mind him," Naruto said. "At least we can have some diet coke then."
Naruto reached into his pocket. Leo guessed Naruto keep a seal there because he pulled out a can of diet coke.
"Of course Lord Dionysus! It's still a great party beverage!" Babette slammed her pinecone staff against the ground and dark frothy liquid bubbled up. The Maenads rushed forward to fill their goblets yelling about parties and killing.
"James Pippie, why don't you two go ahead and head back," Naruto said. "Leonard, why don't you go to that bunker I heard you found and prepare it for the party." Naruto winked at them. Leo Jason and Piper got the message and headed to the woods.
...
Leo Jason and Piper with Orthus by their side rushed to the edge of the clearing and dove into the trees out of sight as Naruto kept the Maenads busy.
"What now?" Jason asked
Leo checked his watch and saw they have twenty minutes left. They might be able to pull together an idea.
"I think we can still use Naruto's suggestion," Leo said. "Jason and Piper take Orthus to find Buford then bring him back to the bunker quick. I'll go to the bunker nine where I can set up a trap."
"Uh, isn't bunker nine about to explode?" Piper asked.
"It's the best plan we got," Leo said. "Jason can bring Bufford to the bunker by flying."
Piper and Jason nodded and they went their separate ways.
...
Getting back to Bunker Nine was easy. He made it to the cliff side and opened the doors with ease. Leo got to work and raced off down the aisles snatching things from tool chests and supply cabinets .He grabbed machine parts and wires. He threw switches and activated time delay sensors on the bunker's interior control panel. He didn't think about what he was doing anymore than a pianist thinks about where his fingers are landing on the keyboard. He just flew through the bunker, bringing all the pieces together.
Leo found the last thing he needed-a quilt size stack of shimmering golden fabric. He fed the mectalic cloth into the nearest pneumatic tube and pulled the lever. Done-assuming the plan had worked. Leo raced up to the catwalk with the switch ready to hit. Now just need Naruto to arrive with the Maenads.
At that moment he heard Naruto speaking, "Don't worry. That Leonard boy make a fine sacrifice Babette." he said as Leo heard Maenads singing some tune.
Naruto arrived at the bunker with the Maenads at his feet. Naruto glanced up, seeing Leo at the Catwalk. Leo pointed at the hull. Naruto nodded and led the Maenads there and into the the ship.
"An interesting place to party, Lord Dionysus," Babette said.
"Yeah, well, I thought I use places like this as a new style for parties. Out of way place where no one knows where we are and stopped it."
The Maenads cheered, and Leo press the button. For three incredibly long seconds, nothing happened. Then the whole bunker whirred to life. All around the Maenads, pipes rose from the floor and blew purple steam. The pneumatic tube system spit out metal shavings like glittered confetti. The magic banner above them shimmered and changed to read: WELCOME MAENADS!"
Music blared from the sound system-the Rolling Stones, Leo's mom's favorite band. He liked to listen to them while he worked, because it reminded him of the good old days when he hung out in his mom's shop.
Then the winch system swung into place and a mirrored ball began to descend right over Naruto's head. A few Maenads started to dance once more.
"What is the meaning of this, Lord Dionysus!" Babette asked.
"Uh yeah, about that." a puff of smoke surrounded Naruto and he returned back to normal. "I'm not Lord Dionysus!"
That stirred up trouble as Babette yelled. "Kill the unbeliever!" Babette screamed.
But Naruto disappeared in a flash before they could get near and reappear next to Leo. "I hope this set up comes with a trap," Naruto said.
"It does," Leo said.
BLAM! The nearest pneumatic tub shot a curtain of gold mesh over the Maenads, covering them like a parachute. A perfect shot.
The Maenads struggled against the net. They tried pushing it off, cutting the ropes with their teeth and fingernails, but as they punch and kicked and struggle, the net simply changed shape, hardening into a cubical cage of glitter gold.
Leo hit the button and the music died. The party ended. Leo and Naruto climbed down next to the cage.
"Isn't this made from the same material as the netting your dad used on Aphrodite and Ares the first time he caught them?" Naruto asked.
"Yep." Leo answered.
"Let us out!" Babette shrieked. "What evil magic is this!"
She slammed against the woven bars, but even her superstrength was no match for the golden material. The other Maenads hissed and screamed and banged on the cage with their thyrsus rods.
Leo looked at the digital display next to the ship's engine. His heart sank. "We only got two more minutes until Kaboom."
That was when they heard a familiar sound from the bunker entrance: a puff of steam, creaking gears, and the clink-clank of metal legs running across the floor.
"Buford!" Leo called. The automated table chuffed toward him, whirring and clacking its drawers.
Jason walked in behind him, soon followed by Piper and Orthus. "Waiting for us?" Jason asked.
Leo hugged the little worktable. "I'm so sorry, Bufford. I promise I'll never take you for granted again. Only Lemon Pledge with extra-moisturizing formula, my friend. Anytime you want it!"
Buford puffed steam happily."
"Leo! The Syncopator!" Naruto hollered.
"Right!" Leo opened Bufford's front drawer and grabbed the syncopator. He ran to the combustion chamber. Twenty three seconds. Oh, good. No rush."
He would only get one chance to do this right. Leo carefully fitted the syncopator into place. He closed the combustion chamber and held his breath. The engine started to hu, The glass cylinders glowed with heat. If Leo hadn't been immune to fire, he was pretty sure he would have gotten a nasty sunburn.
The ship's hull shuddered. The whole bunker seemed to tremble.
"Leo?" Jason asked tightly.
"Hold on," Leo said.
"Let us out!" Babette screeched in her golden cage. "If you destroy us, Dionysus will make you suffer."
The combustion champer opened its various chambers with a click, click, click. Superdangerous liquids and gasses flowed into the syncopator. The engine shuddered. Then the heat subsided, and the shaking calm down to a comfortable purr.
Leo put his hand on the hull, now thrumming with magical energy. Buford snugged affectionately against his leg and puff steam.
"That's right, Buford." Leo turned proudly to his friends. "That is the sound of an engine not exploding."
...
Leo didn't realized how stressed he'd been until he passed out. When he woke up he was lying on a cot near the Argo II. The entire Hephestus cabin was there. They'd gotten the engine levels stabilized and were all expressing their amazement at Leo's genius.
Once he was back on his feet, Jason Piper and Naruto pulled him aside and promised they hadn't told anyone just how close the ship had come to exploding. No one would ever know about the huge mistake that almost vaporized the woods.
Still, Leo couldn't stop trembling. He'd almost ruined everything. To calm himself down, he pulled out the Lemon Pledge and carefully pollished Buford. Then he took the spare sycopator and locked in in a supply cabinet that did not have legs. Just in case. Buford can be temperamental.
An hour later, Naruto brought Chiron and Argus to take care of the Maenads.
Argus, the head of security, was a big blond dude with hundreds of eyes all over his body. He seemed embarrassed to find that a dozen dangerous Maenads had infiltrated his territory unnoticed. Argus never spoke, but he blushed brightly and all the eyes on his body on stared at the ground.
Chiron, the activities director, looked annoyed. He stared down at the Maenads-which he could, being a centaur. From the waist down he was white stallion. From the waist up he was middle-aged guy with curly brown hair, a beard, and a bow and quiver strapped across his back."
"Hello, Babette," Chiron said.
"We will destroy you!" Babette shrieked. "We will dance with you, feed you yummy appetizers, party with you until the wee hours, and rip you to pieces!"
"Uh-huh!" Chiron looked unimpressed. He turned to Leo and his friends. "Well done you three. Naruto told me how you help him capture them. The last time these girls came looking for Dionysu, they caused quite a nuisance, which is why I warned Naruto about them might return again. Dionysus will be pleased they've been captured."
"So they do annoy him?" Leo asked.
"Absolutely," Chiron said. "Mr. D despises his fan club almost as much as he despises demigods."
"We are not a fan club!" Babette wailed. "We are his followers, his chosen, his special ones!"
"Uh-huh," Chiron said again.
"So..." Piper shifted uneasily. "Dionysus wouldn't have minded if we had destroyed them?"
"Oh, no, he would mind!" Chiron said. "They're still his followers, even if he hates them. If you hurt them, Dionysus would be forced to drive yoiu insane or kill you. Probably both. So well done." He turned to Argus. "Same plan as last time."
Argus nodded. He gestured to one of the Hephaestus campers who drove the forklift over and loaded up the cage.
Since Naruto already told Leo and the others where Chiron send the Maenads, they didn't ask. Then Chiron and Argus headed back to the Big House, and Leo's campers help him lock up Bunker 9 for the night.
Usually Leo worked into the wee hours, but he decided he'd done enough for one day and deserve a break.
Everyone was in a good mood at the campfire drinking hot chocolate. There was sing-along songs and the usual multi color flames of Hestia's hearth.
"You saved my hide again, guys," Leo told his friends. "Thank you."
Jason smiled. "Anything for you, Valdez. You sure the Argo II will be safe now?"
"Safe? No. But she's not in danger of exploding. Probably."
Piper laughed. "Great. I feel much better."
"Hey it's not your typical demigod life if something isn't risking your life," Naruto said.
No arguments there. They sat quietly, enjoying each other's company, but Leo knew this was just a brief moment of peace. The Argo II had to be finished by the summer solstice. Then they would sail off on their great adventure-first to find Jason's old home, the Roman camp. After that... the giants were waiting. Gaea the earth mother, the most powerful enemy to the gods, was marshaling her forces to destroy Olympus. To stop her, Leo and his friends would have to sail to Greece, the ancient homeland of the gods. At any point along the way, Leo knew he might die.
For now, though, he decided to enjoy himself. When your life is on a timer to an inevitable explosion, that's about all you can do.
He raised his goblet of hot chocolate. "To friends."
"Friends," Naruto, Piper, and Jason agreed.
A/N: With that I'm done with Naruto, Piper, Leo, and Jason until the Mark of Athena. Next up is 'Legacy of the Heroes of Olympus: The Son of Neptune', and I will be closing my poll for Yugito.
Yes I moved the setting to February but that's because Leo said he had two months of work done, and since the Winter Solstice is on December, I obviously couldn't keep the Christmas theme.