Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Percy Jackson and the Olympians, I don't own multi million dollar franchises. However, the amount of work and research I've put into this chapter is astounding so give me a little bit of credit. Making Percy Jackson and Naruto into a far more epic tale shall now be a reality.
Saturnalia Part Two
The night was dark, except for the bright flashing lights along Broadway. Naruto looked up in the sky and could occasionally make out the moon peering down from above. After making up his mind on taking part on this mission the only thing Naruto could think about was his possible doom. If two prospects had already failed in their attempts at espionage. Then Naruto Uzumaki was the most qualified man for the job in all of Manhattan. If he could sneak into the Hokage's residence and get away with the ultra-secret-uber Forbidden Scroll of Sealing. What would be stopping him now?
"Wha-what do you mean back of the line?" Naruto asked with the occasional clattering of his teeth.
"I said back of the line kid, now beat it or I'll call the bouncer!" Yelled a gruff man. Naruto was about to protest with his hands in the air before seeing a sign which said "18 To Enter" and one below that saying "Bouncer IDs".
Walking to the back of the long line of people who were just waiting to get inside of The Saturn did nothing to raise Naruto's spirits. He was tired and running low on chakra from that long chase across Manhattan from earlier. Those NYPD monsters were able to keep up with him even though he was pumping enough chakra in his legs to beat several world records. Naruto's spirit continued to diminish from the looks of amusement and disgust at his shameful walk past the waiting line of people. The line of yearnful partiers stretched down and around the corner of 50th Street. As Naruto walked by the many soon to be patrons he couldn't help but feel like he dressed too ruggedly for this place. Everyone in the crowd looked to be executives, rich college kids, and preppy New Yorkers from Brooklyn and the Upper East Side, and even gruff tough looking gangsters in suits from wherever. Also it didn't help that he just turned 14 and still didn't have his driver's license.
"Haha mommy forgot to tuck ya into bed didn't she." Said a pretty red headed woman who Naruto passed by. Her comment brought the eyes and ears of the crowd of people on Naruto.
Naruto's cheeks turned red and he walked faster to the back of the line. He had to think of something fast. If he could somehow henge into say someone about thirty years old he could very well fool the bouncer. Yet by the look of the bouncer with his black leather jacket, weathered face, and huge biceps, the guy looked like he took his job more seriously than he should. The other bouncer beside him with hundreds of tattoos, a nasty smile, was currently turning down a cute woman with incredibly big boobs trying to get inside. Crap! He doubted he could get away with using the sexy jutsu on those bouncers so plan C was ruined.
"My, my, my, you are such a cute little boy. Why are you here alone in the middle of Broadway way past midnight" Said a woman from Naruto's side with what had to have been the most beautiful voice he ever heard in his life.
Naruto turned and saw a black limousine parked beside him. The window of the limo was rolled down and Naruto stood speechless at what he saw along with several people in the growing line. A woman with smooth bright slightly tanned skin giggled and then smiled, "How about you hop in and accompany me for a ride Adonis."
Naruto not being asked twice nearly sprinted at the limo and ignored the glares many men within the line gave him. The limo roared and sped down Broadway, shuttling Naruto away from his main target The Saturn, but at the moment Naruto could care less. One of the most stunning women Naruto had ever laid eyes upon just openly wanted him of all people to get inside her limo. The woman before his eyes made girls like Sakura, Ino Yamanaka, Tsunade, and Rachel Mcgee all look like disheveled crones. Naruto ignored the strange feeling in his gut, about what most people would ague a sketchy situation. The inside of the car felt so warm like he was back in Konoha.
When the limo began to speed down Broadway Naruto fell back, right beside the woman who smiled at him lovingly. The limo's interior was lit up by a faint orange light and Naruto realized that both he and the woman were separated from the driver by a thick black glass divider. Naruto gasped and his heart thumped in his chest at her beauty. The woman in front of him was dressed in a light red dress that flowed from her body like a cloak with flowers stitched at the bottom of the dress. She had beautiful luxurious auburn hair that had some strands of bright yellow mashed throughout. Her fingers were rosy and Naruto wanted to grab them and hold them forever. It was like just being around her presence promised him nothing but hope and happiness. Yet the most beautiful thing about her had to have been her eyes. They glowed and burned in a light orange color and the fact her eyes were his favorite color, made the butterflies in his chest fly around as if millions of caterpillars had just transformed into Monarch butterflies.
Wanting to say something smart, witty, impressive, and just awesome to impress her Naruto ended up saying something along the lines of, "aaaaaaaah."
"Oh my does my beauty intimidate you?" Asked the beautiful woman with a giggle. Her light orange eyes all the while blazing into Naruto's sapphire ones.
"N-n-no it do-doesn't one bit." Naruto stammered, his eyes wide and just wanting to take in her presence for eternity.
"Well my young hero. What is your name?" Asked the woman with an amused smile that made Naruto break out of the spell she commanded of him.
"Uh um ah ahem... my names Naruto Uzumaki and yours," Naruto asked while catching the woman's intoxicating scent. She smelled Earthy like a combination of fresh cinnamon, mint, and the first leaves of fall all in one. An odd combination but it reminded Naruto of the time he woke up early one morning to meet Haku and he spent the entire day picking herbs, smelling cinnamon trees, and watching the leaves fall down to the ground in Wave.
"Most people just call me Dawn." Dawn began with a playful chuckle, "You know I find it ironic I ran into a hero on my way to The Saturn."
"You were going to The Saturn?" Naruto asked slightly surprised by the weird encounter he was now having.
"Why yes I was. After all I planned on making it to an important meeting there. Instead I ran into you Naruto. You know why I picked you up?" Dawn asked while her amused and affectionate smile grew wider.
Naruto simply shook his head and continued to suck in her very presence like it was heroin. He then remembered something she had just said about a meeting at The Saturn. Then a more fearful thought entered his head. Two other prospects had died the day before. The Saturn was a hard place to sneak into and a mysterious woman named Dawn pretty much picked him off the side of the road. Naruto looked at her dreamily but with some worry in his eyes that he knew didn't go unnoticed.
"Oh don't worry Naruto. I knew those old Greeks sent you to sneak into The Saturn and spy on a meeting that should be taking place within an hour. After all sunlight reveals almost all shadows." Said Dawn with a mischievous grin.
Naruto looked at her slightly afraid and backed away from her slowly. What surprised Naruto next was the incredibly warm and soft embrace of her hands around his. Naruto couldn't fight her no matter how much he wanted to. His will just died with her rose petal soft hands. Her eyes shined with nothing but admiration and concern.
"I told you not to worry. You see I know almost everything about this world and most of the dark secrets that lurk in the shadows. The people who gave you that job sent you to sneak inside of The Saturn all alone, with no weapon, nor anything else to aid you did they not." Spoke Dawn with full authority.
"Yeah." Naruto replied.
"See you coming into my limo is the only thing keeping you from certain death. You may not have noticed but there are dozens of cameras around the building. Armed guards in the crowds picking off suspicious looking individuals. You were about to be kidnapped and you wouldn't have known a thing about it until you were locked away in a Kronia cage." Dawn said her orange eyes glowing brighter.
"Who are the Kronia?" Asked Naruto her warm hands taking his pain away and revitalizing him as warmth spread throughout his body.
"The Kronia is an old cult that worships the great lord Kronos. Dating back from ancient Greece they have been lurking in the shadows and slowly gaining back the strength they once wielded in the mortal and immortal world until now. Saturnalia is based off of lord Kronos and is celebrated from December 17 all the way until December 23." Naruto was trying to take in her every word and kept silent, "Now they are at nearly full power and tonight one of our leaders was going to invite me to a special meeting to recruit them into lord Kronos' grand army."
"Why are you telling me all of this?" Naruto asked with pleading eyes, which only made Dawn smile even more mischievously.
"Well for one even though I support lord Kronos and you will hopefully make the right choice to join his cause. I have many doubts over how effective the Kronia will be in the war to come. The group that wants to recruit you would be a far better choice. Join them, humiliate the Kronia, and survive the rest of Saturnalia. I already have a lot riding on you tonight and the last thing I'd want would be for a handsome young hero like you to die." Said Dawn, making Naruto blush.
"Alright I'll screw over those Kronia bastards." Said Naruto only to make Dawn laugh.
"Good my young hero. Now I have several gifts that may help you on this quest," Said Dawn who handed Naruto a weapons pouch similar to the one he had back in Elemental Nations, "Inside the pouch are what may seem like three small marbles, but be very careful with them. They pack a very blinding punch. Also I'm to give you this, but I will want something in return."
Naruto looked Dawn in her beautiful bright orange eyes in utter confusion. He wasn't sure what was going on one hundred percent, but if one of the people in the meeting wanted him to succeed. Along with Deci in their fight against the Kronia, then it seemed like all parties would come out on top. Not only that but Naruto would get the Kronia off of his back and possibly a position in whatever group Deci was a part of. The one thing confusing the blonde more than anything at the moment, was the pleading look in Dawn's eyes and whatever request she wanted from him. The only thing Naruto wanted was to please this woman.
"For helping me out I'll do anything!" Naruto said enthusiastically.
Naruto's eyes widened when he felt her left hand against his cheek and her lips around his. The electric shock of their kiss made him feel absolutely happy the happiest he ever felt in his life. If he died right there and now, it would all be worth it. Their kiss deepened and his eyes closed. Dawn surprised Naruto when she aggressively pushed her tongue into his mouth and tasted him. No matter how much he fought against the onslaught of her tongue she defeated him. Dawn began wrestling her tongue against his for about a minute. Each time her tongue massaged his Naruto only wanted to melt in his seat. The kiss would have lasted longer had it not been for a leak on the ceiling of the limo.
Several drops of water fell from the ceiling with the heavy scent of a field of grass after a night of rain. Dawn broke apart from the blonde and smiled with tears in her eyes. Naruto looked at Dawn with a heavy blush and felt slightly awkward. He was a fourteen year old boy in the seventh grade. He had just made out with a woman probably in her early thirties and to top it all off she was crying.
"What's wrong?" Naruto asked feeling slightly guilty.
"Nothing is wrong Naruto. You just remind me of a beautiful young man. Have you ever heard the story Eos and Tithonus?" Dawn asked, the blushing blonde simply shook his head.
"A long time ago a very handsome, strong, young man with a heart bigger than any gods was loved by the goddess Eos. She loved him so much she did everything in her power to make sure they'd be together forever. He was mortal and she immortal. During this time Zeus... you know about Zeus?" Asked Dawn with slight anger in her voice.
"Ye-yeah he's like the king of all the Greek gods on Olympus right?"
"Yes he is the king of the gods. So Eos asked Zeus for one simple request. She asked Zeus to make her lover immortal like her. Zeus looked her in the eyes and granted her one wish." Spoke Dawn, more droplets of water fell from the ceiling of the limo as she continued the story.
"So they lived happily ever after right?" Said Naruto who looked at her with a blush.
"No! Years passed on and her beautiful lover began to grow wrinkles. His beautiful black curly hair turned gray. His strong muscles turned weak and Eos could do nothing about it."
"Wait but I thought Zeus gave him immortality?" Naruto said slightly confused about the story.
"Zeus gave Tithonus immortality, but the beautiful Tithonus grew older and older before Eos's very eyes. She went to Olympus and asked Zeus why her Tithonus was fading before her eyes she thought he was immortal after all. Zeus laughed at her and told her she was foolish because he granted Tithonus immortality. She then requested Zeus to give Tithonus his youth back but Zeus only said one thing 'One simple request'. Those word repeated in Eos's head as she went back to her once beautiful Tithonus. So Tithonus grew older and older. Until he shriveled up to the size of a grasshopper his legs gone, his arms no more, his beautiful face disfigured. She loved him so much she wanted only the best for him. Instead the gods damned him and Eos for just one simple request. Tithonus suffers in constant agony for all of eternity and no matter where the goddess Eos goes she hears his cries for death." Said Dawn with tears in her eyes, Naruto looked at her slightly shocked.
"What is the point of that story?" Naruto asked feeling her sadness engulf him.
"Take this vial Naruto, if you are cornered with no escape drink it. Promise me to live every moment to the fullest and to always be wary of the gods." Said Dawn while wiping away a tear, the limo stopped and Naruto realized they were behind The Saturn, "We must part ways now. You have a job to do and I a meeting to attend."
Naruto wanted to protest, but whatever he wanted to say died in his throat. The taste of Dawn still lingered in his mouth. She left the lingering aftertaste of the sweetest sugar cane and the most refreshing water he had ever had in his life. Naruto wanted nothing more than to kiss her again, however the look she gave him told him everything. Not wanting to disappoint the most addictive and most attractive woman he ever laid eyes on. Naruto grabbed the vial that had a strange purple liquid in it and smiled. She departed and left the blonde in the limo by himself to further formulate a plan.
The Saturn
Breaking into The Saturn turned out to be an easy affair. Despite, the odd itching feeling in his gut over breaking maybe a half dozen laws Naruto smirked. Although he doubted anyone in the club could see it. Naruto hanged from the ceiling of the big loading docks of The Saturn, like a vampire. However, his expert use of the meisaigakure no jutsu allowed him to follow Dawn's escorted group of four bodyguards through the loading dock doors of the club.
Naruto watched Dawn greet a tall, handsome, college aged young man with short-cropped sandy blonde hair, blue eyes, and a muscular build. He had a sneaky look on his face that evoked a sense of uncertainty. Naruto thought he looked like the spitting image of a god and reminded the blonde a little bit of himself. The only thing truly unsettling about the young man was a thick, deep pale scar that ran from the bottom of his right eye down to his chin.
"I would have thought the goddess of dawn would have arrived earlier than the others." Said the young man humorously.
"Dawn comes early almost year round, but around Saturnalia I have the freedom to go and do what I please." Replied Dawn with a smirk on her face, Naruto stood above them slightly confused and jealous at her giving the young man so much attention.
"Then follow me, I need your support after all if I'm to convince Triumvirate Holdings and the Kronia to fully pledge their loyalty to the cause." Said the young man while escorting Dawn out of the loading bay.
Naruto slowly followed them from the ceiling with much difficulty, he had to maneuver over large pipes hanging from the ceiling of the loading bay and somehow sneak through the many doors that opened in front of Dawn and the young man.
"I know for sure the Kronia will pledge their support to the cause. I'm just worried their army will be insufficient in their capabilities." Said Dawn while climbing the stairs behind the sandy blonde haired man.
"The Kronia have helped win many wars and battles as far back as the Diadochi. They recruited most of of the monsters around Manhattan today to their cause. The promise of their once beloved lord rising from the depths of Tartarus will boost their morale. Not only that but they have roughly nine thousand mortals under their belt with years of experience from Myanmar to Angola. Nothing can stop them." Spoke the sandy blonde haired man confidently as they walked across a walkway with glass peering below into the roaring nightclub below.
Naruto looked at the flashing lights, smoke, hundreds of dancers grinding on each other, all of whom were unconcerned about where their money was going by the sound of the those talking below him.
"There is another group Luke. One far more dangerous and experienced than the Kronia. If we can get them to joi-" Began Dawn only to be interrupted by Luke.
Naruto quietly followed Dawn and the young man named Luke down the walkway, his eyes narrowing in on Luke. He remembered Deci calling Luke a shit and whatever Luke was planning had to be big. If Luke was mustering a mercenary force of monsters and over nine thousand strong heavily experienced soldiers he had to be planning a large scale war. Naruto remembered from the Anabasis Alexandri that just one experienced macedonian phalanx of one thousand men could route an army of twenty thousand given the right conditions.
"You really think they would ever side with us? They swore an oath to protect Camp Half-Blood. What makes you think they would ever side with us?" Said Luke sourily, "After all they are weaker than ever before and the Kronia have been crushing them at every turn. They sent two fresh recruits to spy on me and the Kronia snuffed them out. Does sending fresh recruits to accomplish such dangerous tasks speak highly of those who were once invincible?"
"We both know the oath means nothing anymore. Never underestimate the will of those who aspire to be great." Said Dawn before stopping in front of a door protected by several well armoured guards.
"I'll take your advice into account. After all you have the most experience in that regard." Stated Luke with a smirk.
Luke's smirk fell flat when the whole walkway began to shake. Dawn's light orange eyes glowed as bright as the sun and Naruto nearly lost control of his invisibility jutsu and posture on the ceiling. The raw power she released made his gut churn and the hairs on his neck stand up. The room turned humid and Naruto's sweat slowly picked up from the top of his forehead. He had experienced many things in his life. From nearly dying of his wounds at the Valley of End. The pain of Sasuke's chidori and the feeling of betrayal by his best friend were nothing compared to the despair unleashed by Dawn. Luke looked straight at her face with nothing but fear, Naruto couldn't blame him. If he hadn't experienced so much hardship already he likely would have curled up in a ball and begged for Dawn to stop.
"Please stop!" Screamed one of Dawn's bodyguards who had his hands clutching his head and was on his knees.
Everyone in the room, even the fierce battle hardened grunts who guarded the doors to whatever laid ahead, looked at the beautiful woman with the bright orange eyes in absolute fear. Naruto couldn't believe the woman who helped him out not long before, could unleash such dread that it made Zabuza's killer intent look like a girl scouts taunt. If just one impassioned kiss could bring him absolute happiness. Just a bit of her raw power and dread reduced him into nothing more than a pitiful baby.
"I-I… I'm sorry that was out of line." Said Luke with the best of his abilities. Dawn's eyes went back to normal and she smiled the same smile that first made Naruto blush in her presence. Naruto wasn't blushing, no he stared at the beautiful woman in fear.
"Apology accepted. Unlike Zeus or Aphrodite, I'm far more forgiving to mortals. Especially cute young heros." Spoke Dawn as with a sultry tone of voice. Naruto only glared at Luke and he wanted to jump down there and strangle the scarred blonde haired man with all his might.
Luke and Dawn entered the room and Naruto soon followed them along with the escort. Naruto quickly made it to a far off wall all while his chakra still stuck to the walls like super glue. The room was dimly lit and there were a dozen comfortable looking leather seats surrounding a large oval table. The only lights in the room came from a lit fireplace connected to one of the walls, from various lit Churchill cigars from several barely visible figures, and from a red light shining directly above the center of the red oval table. At the center of the table sat the most ominous gold sarcophagus Naruto ever laid his eyes upon in his entire life. Just looking at it made the hairs along the jinchuuriki's neck stand straight up.
Luke took a seat at the head of the oval table right where the fireplace stood directly behind him. Dawn took a seat by two figures with bright red cigar butts that flared in the dimly lit room.
"Io Saturnalia!" Yelled Luke who got up from his seat with a large cup of wine in his hand.
The twelve figures, one of whom was Dawn got up from their seats and repeated, "Io Saturnalia!"
"I've brought us all together to not only celebrate the most holy of holidays. All about liberty and upending the social order. But to come together with a single unifying goal, the destruction of Olympus. Olympus is the social order we need to upend and with our combined strength we may be able to do just that!" Spoke Luke full of determination and hope. Naruto watched the whole scene with full eyes, Saturnalia didn't seem so bad.
"I Melinoe goddess of ghosts pledge my army of the undead to lord Kronos. I can muster six legions of zombies when the day of battle arrives." Spoke one of the figures who must have been Melinoe in the most eerie and bitter voice Naruto ever heard.
"I Hecate goddess of magic, sorcery, the mist, the night, and the crossroads from this point forth pledge my loyalty to lord Kronos. With my help and the Empousai at my side we will crush the Olympians and their children." Spoke Hecate in the dimly lit shadows who was petting something that purred.
Naruto became more and more confused. The way Dawn referred to Deci and Saban as old Greeks. The fact the people in the room referred to themselves as goddesses. The fact Luke and Dawn spoke of Zeus as if he was more than just a really fit crossfitting trainer. Were these people all on drugs planning some sort of mass takeover of America? It reminded Naruto a whole lot of Charles Manson when he saw a documentary of the guy on tv. Maybe they were all on drugs and Luke was their cult leader, right? Naruto wanted to believe that but the way Dawn stroke fear in everyone while they were on the walkway. None of this was adding up.
For several minutes several individuals pledged their loyalty directly to Luke's cause. One of the more interesting of the bunch a rich Texas billionaire named Hank Hughes who proudly proclaimed, "I pledge my loyalty to lord Kronus. I got two dozen heavily equipped Boeing AH-64 Apaches ready for take off. Two thousand devout followers of Lord Kronus in the American military ready to be deployed along with my families fortune in military weapons manufacturing. Get me enough of em celestial bronze and I'll be able to fashion whatever weapons needed for the coming war!"
Naruto had to hold in a laugh at how much enthusiasm the man had about serving Kronos because the man went on.
"My family served on both sides of the corp during the Texas Revolution against Santa Anna, who by the way was a son of Hermes. We've been fightin for generations for Kronus's ideals for Liberty and upendin the social order. I served in the Kronia, fightin in wars for the freedoms of others. I remember rallying the sons and daughters of the gods to help bring the Berlin Wall down. I've spent my whole life fightin and Luke maybe the one chance I got to see the world be just for a change. Did my service and I'll do it again at a moments notice. Non them green campers will see what'll be comin when Hank Hughes gets a hold of em! You can believe that Luke!" Said Hank Hughes proudly while puffing smoke from his cigar. If Naruto hadn't been helping Deci with his fight against the Kronia he'd admit a speech like that would have gotten him to switch sides. The other people around the oval table stood silent for a moment and the golden sarcophagus seemed to glow a little after the speech ended.
"Hank I think you earned a spot as a captain in our army." Luke said happily.
"Thank you Luke I'll whip our boys into shape!" Yelled Hank Hughes proudly.
"I Eos goddess of the Dawn and the mildew, pledge my loyalty to lord Kronos may he bring down the Olympians and bring a new dawn. One that is fair not only to all the gods and goddesses, but also to the mortals." Yelled Dawn, and Naruto just stared ahead unable to say anything.
"We of Triumvirate Holding pledge our loyalty to lord Kronos. As a sign of our loyalty we shall gift to you Luke the Princess Andromeda a fine cruise ship to better help you recruit monsters to your ever growing army. We also plan on loaning six and half billion dollars to the cause. If you need anymore money we shall be only a phone call away." Spoke a dark voice from one of the figures around the oval table.
"I Memnon leader of the Kronia am glad to finally pledge our endearing strength and loyalty to lord Kronos's cause. We had roughly fifteen thousand strong mercenaries in our army before the 20th of December." Spoke the deep and authoritative voice of Memnon, "Today as of the 22nd day of Saturnalia we now have eighteen thousand strong within our ranks. We have roughly seven thousand various monsters in our ranks and eleven thousand well experienced mortal men ready to die for lord Kronos. I believe in about three years we may reach roughly forty thousand strong and when we go into battle nothing will match us!"
Naruto made a mental note of the number of troops in the Kronian army. Eleven thousand experienced mortal men sure was more than the nine thousand Luke originally said. He had to give it to his awesome shinobi skills. Not only did he get to kiss a possible goddess, although more likely just a super sexy crazy woman with supernatural powers. He also had done it all effortlessly, all he needed to do was wait for the meeting to end and to get the hell out of The Saturn before he got caught.
"Memnon you shall be the brigadier general of our new army and orders of your deployment shall be posted soon. You have done well over the last few days, not only with recruiting but also getting rid of the prying eyes." Said Luke with a mischievous laugh and Memnon followed suit. Naruto saw the fireplace roar brighter in flames, which revealed two severed heads on two seven foot long pikes on either side of the mantel.
Naruto nearly threw up from high up on the wall at the sight. Even though the room was dimly lit he could make out darkened almost black blood dripping onto the floor of the room. The heads of the two prospects looked swollen and disfigured. Almost like someone had spent a long time smashing their heads until just weirdly misshapen masses of flesh attached to a skull remained. Cuts and exposed bone covered the flesh in certain places. Naruto could say many things about the disgusting sight, yet nothing would compare to the anger building up in his gut
"So tell me Memnon did you recruit or capture that monster lord Kronos felt in Manhattan nine hours ago?" Asked Luke with a smirk.
"I sent out two Strix to recruit it but they failed miserably." Spoke Memnon slightly annoyed, "Supposedly I got word they were killed not too far from here."
"Really now." Said Luke with some curiosity, "I had more faith in your group. Did they not try to coerce it onto our side?"
"They were two hot headed idiots who made their way through the ranks of the NYPD. I wouldn't have expected any monster to just openly attack another one especially something posing with such high authority. They had already recruited over a dozen Cyclopi that day." Said Memnon.
"Does anyone have a description of this monster? Supposedly lord Kronos said it had the capability to evenly match a god in battle." Replied Luke with wonder spilling with every word, but the room became silent.
"So lord Kronos hasn't figured it out yet." Said Eos, making Naruto shudder.
"What do you mean?" Said Luke threateningly, the sarcophagus in the middle of the oval table rumbled.
"The energy spike in New York City was no monster, but rather a cute young boy." Said Eos, causing many of the people in the room to gasp.
"That is impossible no boy has such power at his disposal!" Yelled Melinoe bitterly.
"He is also a good kisser. Isn't that right Naruto?" Asked Eos who turned in Naruto's direction. All the people in the room did too and the figure calling herself Hecate waved a hand causing his invisibility jutsu to falter.
"H-how?" Luke asked who only saw a fourteen year old boy with thick golden locked hair in a near gravity defying manner, who had sapphire blue eyes, three whisker marks on both cheeks, and a look on his face like a kid who got caught stealing cookies out of the cookie jar.
"Seems like the boy knows how to use magic or chakra to a wieldy extent." Said Hecate while petting something, "Thing is boy you are powerless in my presence."
With that the chakra flowing from Naruto's feet into the wall diminished almost instantly. With nothing keeping the blonde stuck to the wall, he fell nearly twenty feet from the air down onto the ground. A loud crack was heard throughout the room as gravity once again proved to be a dangerous enemy. All the figures in the room looked at him with surprise except for Eos or Dawn. She looked at Naruto seductively with a grand smile. Naruto only wanted to hold his damaged chest and fall asleep on the cold floor.
"The Kronia failed Luke. However, I brought lord Kronos a great gift. Would you like to introduce yourself my young Adonis?" Asked Eos with a seductive smile.
Naruto would have stammered an hour ago and fallen on his knees begging to do whatever she wanted. He would have killed and slayed every one of her enemies in cold blood if she had asked, but the spell she once had on him was broken. All Naruto could say in his defense was, "Why? I thought we had a deal!"
"The thing is my young Adonis is that lord Kronos could use someone with so much potential and power behind him. Have you not guessed what you just walked into when you came to this world?" Eos asked while licking her lips, her orange eyes breaking Naruto's spirit with each passing second.
"What do you mean he came to this world?" Luke asked confused like everyone else in the room except for the orange eyed goddess.
"Can't you tell my young demigod, Naruto isn't from our world. He has the stench of Chaos all around him, he is from another dimension, a plane connected only by Chaos. One of the gods broke the most sacred rule, and brought him over here into our plane. Now Naruto introduce yourself to Luke and lord Kronos." Eos asked in a commanding voice, "Did the fall hurt you?"
The fall did hurt and he felt like he cracked a rib upon impact, luckily for him the Kyuubi was already on the job fixing him. The bad news was he couldn't feel any chakra flowing throughout his body. If he didn't do what they asked or answered soon he'd likely end up just like those two prospects by the fireplace. Although the pain in his chest made just standing on his feet a challenge.
"The name is Naruto Uzumaki so you better remember it cause I'm Konoha's genin extraordinaire, number one party thrower in the Big Apple, absolute badass, and you guys don't know who you are messing with!" Naruto yelled full of determination. If he was going to die like the other prospects or become a weapon for whoever this Kronos guy was. Then they better expect him to go down fighting.
"Hahaha I like your fighting spirit kid. How about this," Began Luke with a sneaky grin on his face, "You swear loyalty to lord Kronos. And I can promise you a position in our ranks, money, women, and whatever you want. Not only that but I'll promise to explain everything you need to know. Tell me who are your parents?"
Naruto looked at Luke slightly surprised by the turn of events. What was he going to do? He couldn't use chakra. It had just turned off and he felt powerless without it. Not only did he lack anymore tricks, he had been manipulated by Eos into falling twenty feet into a trap. The items she gave him were the only… yes!
Naruto took out one of the red marbles from the bag Eos gave him in the limo causing the woman to laugh, "Go ahead Naruto! Do it!"
The way she said that made Naruto take a one eighty at the situation he was in. He doubted that her gifts would help him in the slightest, and that concerned him more than anything in the world. Naruto lacked a weapon, he lacked his chakra, he lacked a backup plan, he lacked all his tricks, he lacked his confidence as soon as Dawn became Eos, and he lacked knowledge about what even was going on. There was only one thing he had and it had gotten him into this mess to begin with.
"I could use your power now more ever fur ball!"
"So worthless! Why should I help out someone who never wanted my help to begin with?"
"Because my head will be a fireplace decoration and that'll mean you dying too!"
"Troublesome." Said the Kyuubi in Naruto's head.
All the eyes in the room stared at Naruto patiently waiting for the jinchuuriki's response. Half a minute passed by and getting no response. Seeing no way out of this mess. Naruto fell to his knees making Luke smirk, before he could bow his head, swear fealty to lord Kronos... Naruto's eyes turned a bright crimson red. He felt the hot and icy chakra of the Kyuubi flow throughout his body causing him to smirk, "You cornered the wrong fox."
Luke watched Naruto disappear in a blur but Memnon was hot on Naruto's tail, "After the brat don't let the little fucker escape!"
Several heavily armoured Kronian guards entered the room and the guards already inside took out bronze swords only to stop when everyone in the room saw Naruto standing atop the golden sarcophagus. Luke glared furiously at Naruto and yelled, "You will regret this! Hecate get rid of his magic!"
Before Hecate could do anything everyone heard Naruto yell, "Taju kage bunshin no jutsu!"
The room erupted in a massive cloud of smoke and Naruto was already out the door letting his eight hundred shadow clones deal with Kronos's cronies. As soon as Naruto kicked open the door to the glass walkway he was met with seven armed guards with bronze swords already drawn out. Hearing dozens of clones pop in more clouds of smoke in the other room Naruto cracked his neck and sighed. Another fight.
"Arrgh!" Yelled the guard closest to Naruto who swung his blade with the clear intent on slicing the blondes head off. Naruto ducked under the quick swing and punched the guard in the man's chest. The added strength of the Kyuubi's chakra propelled the poor Kronian guardsman through the glass walkway and into the dance-floor below, causing everyone in the club to scream.
Gunshots and the sound of heavy fighting below soon erupted below in a cacophony of total chaos. Dozens of men and women were already fighting various Kronian troops below on the dancefloor. Stray bullets and the loud 'PHOUH' pop of burnt metal echoed throughout the night club including the glass walkway. Naruto dodged another Kronian swordsman and kicked the man across his cheek causing the man to crash into several of his mercenary friends, giving Naruto several seconds of time to jump from the broken window he just created, into the chaotic mess below.
Naruto fell to the nearly empty dance floor only to be pushed to the floor by a man pushing him to the ground, "Get some cover you dumb twerp!"
Naruto couldn't help but thank whatever god sent Deci. The white pony tailed hulk of a man dragged Naruto behind a bar counter effortlessly, like he had done something of this sort many times in the past. Naruto felt the Kyuubi's power and the intoxicating feeling dissipate while the action truly began. Grime, soot, and wet liquid from the dance-floor covered Naruto's face. Bullets whizzed over head, smashing into the wall behind three other men who seemed to be Deci's allies. They all were dressed in warm winter clothes but had the same recognizable white sash around their hips, much like the one Asuma-sensei wore. The only difference between Asuma-sensei's sash and Deci and his allies was that a bright golden star stood at the center of the sash. The star had a distinct swirl in the middle of a small circle, and sixteen bright yellow rays coming from it. It simply looked like a beautiful star Naruto seemed to have recognized from somewhere before, he just couldn't put his hands on it.
Naruto came back from the land of confusion when Deci sprang up from behind the counter, and shot two blasts from a small wooden shotgun in his strong tanned hands. Deci laughed when a Kronian soldier dropped dead with a spray of blood on the dance-floor, "Hahaha want some more you bastards! Futui!"
Deci crashed back behind the counter of the bar when several Kronian soldiers returned fire. Deci then smacked Naruto across the face and said, "Magar! I sent you over to sneak inside of this place and before any of my agents could help you out… you just decided to go into some woman's limousine like a magar!"
Naruto was shocked not only from the hard slap to his face, but also to the fact Deci knew about him entering Eos's limo. Also whatever a magar was if sure didn't sound like anything good.
"Wait you were outside of The Saturn?" Naruto asked over the sound of bullets. The whole club had the strong smell of gunpowder, blood, and alcohol.
"You think I'd send a prospect alone into this with no help! Aghhhh!" Deci yelled only to scream in pain when some broken glass sprayed into his face.
"Enough you two can argue later! We gotta get outta here right now before the Kronian's send in monsters to counter attack against our assault." Spoke a woman who stood up and started returning fire upon various Kronian soldiers hiding behind columns around the bar on the other side of the room.
Deci grabbed Naruto by the collar of his white winter coat and they both crawled near the edge of the bar counter while their ally suppressed the various armed enemies with her semi automatic rifle. When they made it to the end of the counter, Naruto spotted a passageway leading out of the rave room to a bar below. Even more fighting was happening in the passage ahead of them. Before they could make a move Deci handed Naruto a large dagger that was almost was the size of a regular sword.
The dagger was around the same size and design of a bowie knife. It was perfectly made and the grip of the dagger was constructed in the smoothest of wood. Naruto examined the razor sharp edges of the one sided 18 inch (46 cm) blade. It glowed a light gold in the lights of the bar and Naruto realized the blade was made of some sort of bronze metal with various ancient Greek letters etched along the curved keen point of the blade.
"Take it! If you see someone trying to kill you just thrust it into their belly. Now go!" Said Deci who sprinted with his head low and Naruto following behind him. The woman behind the counter courageously fired her weapon buying them both time to escape into the passageway. From the corner of Naruto's eye he saw her get torn to pieces her body lying still against a cash register, blood pooling onto the floor of the room.
From the passageway Naruto and Deci sneaked their way past other individuals fighting and crawled their way behind a bar. Police sirens were closing in on the club and Deci took that as a cue to half drag the blonde jinchuuriki straight out of the front doors of The Saturn to a black SUV waiting for them out front. Naruto wasted not even a second and bolted into the car with Deci behind him. The car lurched forward down Broadway, but several black and red sedans followed them in a hot pursuit.
A dark skinned woman with braided hair sat in the passenger seat with the window down throwing weird bags at the asphalt below. The driver was none other than Saban who cut his way in front of cars all the while honking aggressively to get further down the street.
"Can't you drive faster! Use some of that Bombay blood and get us the fuck out of here!" Yelled Deci while reloading his shotgun.
"Okay! Okay! You speaking to best driver in New York City friend." Replied Saban applying more pressure to the gas pedal.
Naruto looked at Deci who lowered the car window on his side of the car, and began firing rounds at the hood of a red sedan following their tail. Several police cars were following their pursuit, but after half an hour of Saban turning from street to street around the city they were the only car on a backwards road by Central Park right close to the edges of Harlem.
"Okay boy tell me everything that happened and don't leave any goddamned details out. I just lost eight companions tonight getting your ass out of there!" Yelled Deci.
Naruto did his best to explain everything from his encounter with Eos, her gifts, the way Luke tried to get him to join his ranks, and he included everything just only leaving the small detail of the Kyuubi out of the mix.
"Hmm I guess there is no point in keeping it from you. You likely already have your suspicions don't you?" Deci said as the SUV turned onto 5th Avenue.
"Yeah is everyone in this world on drugs or something? People were talking about being the goddesses of dawn and ghosts. I mean you guys got monsters and weird female vampire things but god's..." Naruto questioned while trailing off.
"Look twerp, there are gods in this world, and every goddamned world whether we like it or not. First off that woman Dawn you made out with, right." Deci began getting a nod from Naruto, "She is Eos the goddess of Dawn and you are lucky to not have used any of her gifts. She is weakest only during Saturnalia. Those marbles contain some of her tears and if they are even broken just a bit they will release enough light to blind anyone on the spot. You're smart for not having fallen into that trap or else you'd either be blind or her powers would have quadrupled until her tears evaporated. Now give me that damn vial!"
Naruto handed Deci the purple glass vial who then threw the liquid out of his car window in fury. The glass shattered far off in the distance and Naruto protested, "Hey that might come in handy in the future."
"Yeah come in handy with getting you into gods know what. The only vials Eos hands out are rape drugs for young mortal men she wants to screw until their balls fall off. If you had drunk that shit back in The Saturn you'd have woken up behind bars or in Eos's personal lair. So count your lucky stars you had some common sense tonight." Said Deci with the car coming to a stop.
"Wait are you saying the goddess of Dawn wanted to ha-have sex with me? Really awesome sex? For like who knows how long?" Naruto asked with a slight nosebleed. He could have lost his virginity to a goddess… man if only Ero-sensei found out about this. His time with Ero-sensei sure rubbed off on him cause if one kiss from Eos could make him forget about all the pain he suffered…
"Look twerp, I can tell you that all mortal men who lay in bed with Eos suffer terrible fates. Either from her doing or from the gods. I know she may have gotten you to see stars in the dead of night, but she is siding with the Kronia and no stars shine under those with dark hearts." Spoke Deci bringing Naruto back to reality and making him remember the dread he felt back in the glass walkway.
The Manhattan Sanctuary
The SUV parked just outside of a building along 35th Street not too far from Naruto's home. Deci brought Naruto inside of a near rundown building and the group entered an elevator near the buildings maintenance room. Instead of going up the elevator the group went down into a large barely lit basement. The basement of the building was massive. It very easily was the size of The Saturn with over a dozen bunk beds along both sides of the walls, with some people already sleeping soundly not even the slightest bit concerned of the new arrivals. Naruto realized it was pretty late and wanted to sleep, however Deci had none of it and brought the blonde boy into a dark office at the end of a winding hall.
Deci turned on the office's light revealing a smooth oak desk with two flag poles on either side of a map taped to a wall. One of the flags was an American flag, and the other flag was the groups sixteen pointed star sigil with a white background. A map of America with dozens of blue and red pins lied along different locations on the map with only one green pin along an island by New York. There was another map but on a different wall. The map seemed centered around the Balkans, Greece, North Africa and all the way to China with various markers on different spots in various countries.
Deci made Naruto sit across from him at a desk before saying, "I'm not going to blame you for being too ill informed about the game plan. You passed all the tests with flying colors and I'm planning on informing our leader about your deeds tonight. Not only did you find out about the Kronia's true strength but you also helped to shine light on their new allies and enemies. As a sign of good faith you are advised and more than welcome to explore the halls of our Manhattan hideout until the end of Saturnalia. The forces of Kronos will now be after you, so get some rest twerp. Since it's holiday time were serving brunch everyday at noon and you won't have to worry about waking up for parade."
Naruto couldn't really remember how he drifted to an empty bunk bed with a comfortable blanket caressing his body. He felt so tired and after spending over a day awake fighting for his life on multiple occasions. Sleep seemed like the best thing in the world to the jinchuuriki. This reminded Naruto of his past life as a shinobi. Hopefully, after a little bit of rest he could choose to kick some ass again.
When you are trapped underground in a secret base belonging to a mercenary group dating back thousands of years. You end up losing track of your sense of time and place. Naruto still felt drowsy but he pushed it away to get some grub at the brunch buffet. After bringing four plates completely full of food to a white plastic cheaply made rectangular table all by himself, Naruto began to dig in getting the various mercenaries to look at him curiously.
"So if it isn't the lady's man." Spoke Deci while taking a seat across from Naruto, "I've brought you a couple of gifts."
Naruto looked at Deci with a mouthful of scrambled eggs while Deci pulled out a long necklace. Deci handed Naruto a long leather necklace with a metal pendant in the shape of a eye. Attached to the necklace was a small leather pouch.
"This is my gift twerp. It will help to keep misfortune at bay and shall hide you from the many monsters hunting you. Every member carries one." Spoke Deci, his tobacco laced breath causing Naruto to swallow his scrambled eggs in discomfort.
"How does that work?" Naruto asked.
"Simple really. The metal pendant is an evil eye it protects mortals from the influence of evil whether it be your enemies or the gods. The pouch contains a scent that is different to anything coming at you, monsters tend to get confused when confronted by such a thing." Said Deci who used a dagger to cut up a sausage, "Now then finish up your breakfast and meet me in the training room."
After finishing another four plates of free food, Naruto met Deci in the training room of the sanctuary. A question that had been plaguing his mind came forward and right next to him was the only man he knew who would possibly answer, "Look Deci I'd love to thank you, for your group giving me protection, but I don't even know who you guys are or what you represent?"
"Even though you aren't a member I guess I can throw a bone in your case. You see Naruto we have gone by many names throughout history. At one point in time some called us The Free Company at another point in time we went by the name Vieille Garde or simply The Old Guard." Began Deci making Naruto scratch his head in confusion at the history lesson.
"Really what's your name now?" Naruto asked.
"I was getting to that twerp. Even though our name has changed since our inception going back before Alexander the Great. People from Gaul all the way to India learned nothing but to fear the hetairoi."
"So your super cool secret mercenary organization goes by the name Heman?" Naruto asked slightly disappointed.
"Hetairoi, get it he-tai-roi. Look you don't see people here walking up to each other calling themselves hetairoi that simply was just the name given by Philip the Second of Macedon. The name simply means The Companions. The first demigod warriors banded together under the Macedonian king, and were the most unstoppable army the world had ever faced. No one could ever match the might of The Companions, no matter how vast or powerful the army, the Companions were undefeated. You Naruto have more than earned a spot within the ranks despite your age." Deci finished causing Naruto to look at the mans strong brown eyes in shock.
"Really? That is like... so cool!" Naruto said nearly jumping up and down after hearing about how badass these guys were.
"Hahaha! Now hand me that dagger I gave you last night." Deci commanded.
Naruto handed Deci the bowie knife he gave him during The Saturn raid. Deci then brought out a small round metal keychain and then said the word "thiki" causing it to turn into a small plastic toy space gun. Of all the things that Naruto least expected to happen it was his cool bowie knife turning into a simple plastic space gun one would attach to a keychain. Naruto began to sweat drop having seen a similar one in Saban's stand one day.
"Uh what did you do to the bowie knife?" Naruto said still dumbfounded over what he just saw.
"This is yours Naruto" Said Deci who handed the keychain back to Naruto, "Simply press the trigger."
Naruto pressed the trigger to the space gun and it turned into the glowing bronze knife before his eyes. The bowie knife felt perfectly balanced in his hands. Deci smiled at Naruto's fascinated reaction.
"If you want to simply sheath the knife just say the greek word thiki. If you want to unsheath the blade just press the trigger. The blade will harm both mortals and monsters. Like the Kronia we forge our Celestial bronze with tempered steel. Monsters won't be your only foe in the future Naruto. Companions fight to protect Alexander's greatest legacy… Western Civilization so our foes are endless. Get ready, cause in ten minutes we shall train until the end of Saturnalia." Spoke Deci, making Naruto groan.
Christmas
Percy Jackson should have been annoyed. Ever since the Lightning Bolt incident from the previous Summer, Percy made sure to cherish every moment he had with his mother. Every smile they shared after hearing about one of Percy's tales, every moment he blushed when she embarrassed him about emailing Annabeth, and every moment they sat at the dinner table just talking about whatever. Percy nearly lost his mother for good last Summer, and he had to fight the god Ares and accomplish many impossible feats just to get her back. It taught Percy maybe the most important lesson of his life that no one appreciates anything until it's gone.
"Perseus Jackson!" Called his mother Sally Jackson from the living room, "Come on over to the table before the food turns cold. My uncle always used to tell me that kids are starving in China!"
"Mom! I'm talking with Annabeth!" Percy shot back from his bedroom. The look Annabeth Chase shot Percy with her honey blonde eyebrow raised only made Percy blush in embarrassment. This was the first time since Summer he had a chance to talk with her face to face. On Christmas morning no less. It didn't help his mother had to intrude in on his Iris message.
"Okay sweetie, but hurry it up! I got a call from Naruto and he should be over here soon along with Tyson!" Yelled Sally Jackson further embarrassing her young teenage son.
"Oh you never told me about your friends Percy." Annabeth asked curiously.
"I'm sorry I forgot to mention them. Didn't really think you'd have been too interested in them." Percy replied honestly. If there was one thing that sucked about being a demigod it simply was the double life of living in the real world and the immortal world.
"Well I'm just glad you got friends seaweed brain." Said Annabeth.
"Hey!"
"I didn't mean anything wrong by it." Began Annabeth slightly embarrassed over her comment, "It's just you don't know how hard it is to just meet normal people. You know… the mortal kind. The ones that make you I don't know feel-"
Annabeth was cut off when the doorbell to the Jackson residence rang five times in a row like a pinball machine. Naruto's universal way of signaling he had arrived. Before Percy could wave his hand to disconnect the Iris message he heard his mother open the door and say, "Oh my Naruto it's so good to see you and you brought over so many presents!"
"Yeah, I thought I should get into the Saturna-, uh, I mean the Christmas spirit! Right Tyson?" Naruto yelled in his usual loud and cheery voice.
"Yeah he got me plenty of peanut butter donuts!" Said Tyson from the front door happily.
Annabeth had a surprised and slightly questioning look on her face when she said, "normal…"
"..."
"..."
"Hey where is Percy, Mrs. Jackson?" Naruto yelled, "I brought enough presents for everyone!"
Percy waved his hand and cut the Iris message off before his mother could say something embarrassing. He rushed into the living room and saw his long brown haired mother helping Naruto to set presents down on the living room floor while saying, "You didn't need to do so much for us Naruto."
Naruto looked Sally Jackson in her sparkling blue eyes before sadly saying, "I'm sorry I went a little out. This is my first Christmas and it's hard to explain it but you guys mean so much to me."
Sally Jackson looked at Naruto a little surprised, "You've never once celebrated Christmas before?"
Percy saw Naruto shake his head. Even Tyson looked at Naruto a little shocked. If there was one holiday overly commercialized around the world it was Christmas. Percy remembered seeing pictures of kids in Hong Kong placing presents under a large fake tree in a city square. It always hit Percy like a weight train, knowing Naruto had a pretty much lacked any sort of childhood to begin with.
"Hey let's open up presents!" Naruto said with a forced smile.
Sally Jackson noticed the blonde's forced smile and said, "Naruto you are as much a part of this family as anyone else."
Naruto looked at Sally Jackson with wide glossy eyes full of happiness and smiled back. This one wasn't forced.
Listen to: Hallon- by Christian Bjoerklund :on youtube
(for awesome end of chapter music)
So that concludes the Saturnalia arch. I hope you readers enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. There will be many developments later on and by the end of Sea of Monsters, believe me the battles I have envisioned for this story will be grand. I originally planned on Naruto finding out about the Greek gods and the world of Percy Jackson when he first arrived at Camp Half-Blood. The only problem with that was my idea of introducing The Companions and the Kronia into the story, this idea really came to mind around chapter 2 and I thought it would make the story more original and epic in the future. These two groups were very real historically, especially The Companions who were famed for being the best cavalry/infantry army in the ancient world.
Concerning this chapter, I really wanted to include details, scenes, and character interactions that were mentioned in the Percy Jackson books, but were entirely left out. Like how Luke somehow gained the Princess Andromeda or the mortal mercenaries in The Titan's Curse. I do hope the scene with Naruto and Eos in the limo wasn't too cringy, but to keep loyal to how Eos would have been portrayed in the Percy Jackson Universe and how Homer described her in the Iliad. My depiction of Eos is pretty damn accurate. Out of all the gods and goddesses, I find the myths surrounding Eos to be the most depressing and I feel she was one of the few Titans/Gods to have actually cared about the well being of humanity. I'll post links on my profile page that will show some of the research I've done for this story including the myths I used or will use in the future. Next chapter be prepared to swim in a sea of Monsters!
On that note I guess the limo scene brought back some suppressed memories of my childhood of some of my encounters with crazy older women so maybe it was just me cringing… ew right?
Anyways, spend 2-3 minutes of your life (if you have that much to spare) and review this chapter, and tell me if you liked it or hated it. It will really help me know if the chapter I just wrote is good or bad and I love constructive criticism. Also if you have enjoyed this story so far please follow or favorite it. Just those two simple actions lets me know people have interest in my work and keeps me motivated to continue writing. Most of all my main motivator is just the fact many people from around the world are still reading this so keep on reading. I love all you beautiful readers and want you all to have an amazing day. :)
Autismguy593- You deserve an internet cookie just for putting out the effort to review every chapter. I have many plans for how Luke will develop in the future, he was a pretty amazingly well written scumbag in all of the books. So I want to raise the bar on how demented and evil Luke will become in his pursuit to bring Olympus down. I believe karma exists in the universe for all people including a spoiled brat like Matt Sloan.