"Next please," The Ferryman's hollow, a stoic voice called for the next dead spirit that was waiting for the boat to take them to the other side, namely the lands of the death. His bony hand extended openly, palm up for the drachma. But none landed in his open hand, people had forgotten the old ways, or they rely on the help of the newest religious god, who was arrogantly enough to claim the name, God. Opening his eyes, Charon gazed coldly at the spirit in front of him. "No drachma, no ride. Now get out of my sight!"
"B..but s..sir.." The spirit started, intertwining his fingers nervously. "M..my f..family never..."
"Knew?" Interjected Charon annoyingly. The God of boundaries and territories had heard that kind of excuse a billion times, every damn time when a new spirit would enter Hades realm. "Of course those stupid mortals didn't know. They forget the old rituals, traditions, all expected to send to Heaven or Hell or whatever place they had named now for FREE! If I was you, I would have studied the old ways, and not had listened to that so called God." Ranted Charon when he shooed away a new spirit who joined all the others in waiting, and if you would ask how long they waited, well, don't ask as all you need to do is look at the clothes, or lack off. "And milord cut off my wager, saying that all the drachma that comes from the newly departed spirit would make me a fortune, they will, IF THEY HAD THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE!"
"Um...sir?" A boy with sea-green eyes squawked out, causing Charon's gaze to drop until it rested on the boy. Leaning over the counter, his boney fingers squeaked when he grasped the edge. From down under his hood, a skeletal voice with hollow sockets pierced the demi-god's living body. "I have some drachmas for me and my friends."
Charon gazed at them, long and hard. His boney index finger scratched his chin and said. "I accept the drachmas, but I can't let the living enter the underworld."
"We are death, sir." Shouted the female of the group, her long blonde hair wet from her fight with the mythological creature the Hydra who was after them, stupidly believing that she and her friends held the symbolic power of Zeus. 'No wonder in my mother's name, if Zeus thinks that Perseus have his weapon, everyone else would believe that too. In Athena's name, they are so dumb!'
Charon lifted a bony, elegant brow up in surprise, wondering if he imagines things. After all, which living person would visit the underworld on their own free will. Blinking, 'How do I lift an elegant eyebrow if all that remains of me is a skeleton construction? Well, nevermind, continue.' Rubbing his chin for a second time while studying the demi-gods in front of him. "No, you three reeks of the living. And one of them smells like a hairy, wet donkey."
"Hey! I am not a hmmm..." The satyr was interrupted by his blonde female friend who clamped a hand over his mouth. Grey, brilliant eyes fell on her sea-green fellow demi-god who gulped slightly under the horrifying gaze of Charon who started to ooze out a negative, death aura. Feeling and seeing the slight supernatural powers coming from Charon, the daughter of Athena mind worked over hours before an idea presented herself. "We drowned!"
Charon shot back, standing straight at the unexpected confession. His threatening aura of death dispatched and with razor sharp grin he spoke. "Drowned... how I may ask did you drown, and all at the same time?"
"We drowned in the bathtub!" The sea-green eyes demi-god exclaimed which earned some exasperated looks from his friends and one from Charon while in the distance a nekoshou laughed quietly while she buried the arm of her sensei between her growing breasts. The son of Poseidon noticed the disbelieving look of the ferryman, he elaborated. "A..a very massive, large, gigantic bathtub!"
"You mean a swimming pool, is that what you want to tell me, son of Poseidon?" Charon hissed out in annoyment. His negative, dead aura back on, oozing out of him while he glared with hollow sockets at the two demi-gods and one satyr. The son of Poseidon, daughter of Athena and the satyr all shivered on the terrible visions of death that now plagued their mind, sending horrifying images of countless deaths, and if that wasn't worst enough, images of torture in the deepest part of Hades realm. "What stops me from killing you three and grant you access to Hades realm?"
The son of Poseidon fear melts at the comment of the god in front of him, images of his beautiful, gentle and kind mother flashed in front of his mind eye. The thought that she would never see her again, the things he did to free his mother from Hades grasp overcame him, and with an angry roar, Poseidon's son shouted. "MY MOTHER IS IN THE HAND OF THAT BITCH! YOU WILL GIVE US ENTRANCE OR I'LL... I'LL..."
"Or what?" Charon threatened in a menacing tone. "Kill me? As if you can hurt a god. Push me aside, with what, your feeble strength? Bribe me, blackmail me, you have nothing to me? Well, Son of Poseidon, what will you do?" The lazy ferryman now straightened up, standing tall and towered over the demi-gods and satyr, a menacing aura oozed out of him while the god now grinned at them with greed. "Or would you make a deal with a god, a deal with the ferryman, Son of Poseidon? A deal with me, one soul from one of you that will grant a safe passage to the temple of Hades. Choose, Son of Poseidon!"
The Son of Poseidon glared at the Ferryman who just towered over them, power oozing out of him that told them just how powerful this deity is. In the shadows of the hollow sockets that normal humans have eyes in, for Charon there was a pair of eerie red light that are strained on him that the Son of Poseidon stupidly or bravely shouldered. "I will not offer one of my friends, nor my own. Just let us pass and you will not see us again!"
"P-Percy..." The Satyr blared quietly in righteous fear, a warning tone in his voice. "C..calm ..down.. you ..don't want ...to..know..."
"I DON'T CARE, GROVER! ALL I WANT IS MY MOTHER!" Percy cut off his friend with his loud, enraged voice. Cursing at the gods, especially that one god Hades who took his mother, all in the stupid belief that he have the so-called weapon of Zeus! "MY MOTHER WAS DRAGGED INTO THIS BECAUSE THE GODS ARE DUMB ENOUGH TO BELIEVE, THAT I HAVE SOME CALLED LIGHTNING STICK!"
"Nya, sensei, what is that boy's problem? Can't he just pay and take the ferry," Charon, Percy, Grover, and the still unnamed girl all turned to see that a very attractive girl had spoken to a tall figure who had his hand rested on the girl's shoulder. "And what does he say?"
"Kuroka-chan, this boy's dialect is from the time when Greek was in great power. That is the reason why you don't understand him, and another reason is that these children are Greek demi-gods, children from said gods." Explained her sensei at why she did not understand the boy's tirades. "As for what the boy's temperament is for, let's say that his mother is kidnapped by my old friend."
"Nya?" Kuroka tilted her head cutely, eyes large in disbelief. She felt her sensei push her forward to the group, guiding her, and with each step, she could see the confusion of the three humans that her sensei called demi-gods. And for the god who denied the three demi-gods passage on his ferry, he was slowly inching away, fear clearly seen in his movements. "Konnichiwa miina..."
"Another group that needs entrance to the underworld, Annabeth?" Whispered Percy to his friend, the only female in the group. Sea-green eyes watching the two strangers who closed the distance between them. "Any ideas if they are monsters?" He added after a second thought.
The blonde female studied the two and quickly caught strange features from the girl. She noticed that hidden in the sea of soft, silky black hair a pair of cat-like ears twitched, hazel, golden eyes that had cat-like pupils gazed with curiosity at them. Behind the girl, a pair of black tails swayed lazily behind her, showing she was calm and a bit playful. "Percy, Grover, stay on guard. That girl is not human, she has cat-like features and I am certainly that she is a monster. Never would I have thought that a monster would try to attack us here."
"J..just great, blah!" Blurred Grover, eyes large as dinner plates when his danger radar goes off, warning him for danger. "That tall person next to hear gives me the chills. The same chills when I am in the presence of the whole council."
Percy uncapped his ballpen that morphed in his father's gift, Anaklusmos. Next, to him Annabeth followed his example, her knife in hand she took a defensive stance. "What do you want, monsters! You have no powers here in Hades realm." She threatened from her perspective view, strangers bordering enemies. "And you," Annabeth pointed with her knife at the catgirl, "What are you?"
"Good to see you again, Charon. How's the business going?" Naruto addressed the god, ignoring the demi-gods in favor to finish quickly his business. Charon himself inclined his head in honor for the Infinite God who graced his presence and answered.
"You can see how business goes, Naruto, no one use the old rituals to pay the ferry," Charon said in a gloomy tone. "They are all stuck here, most of them are Christianities. Believing that their God would grant them free passage to the afterlife or in my case, Hades Realm. God or his children don't pay for them, nor won't the other gods and so they will stay stuck here for all of the eternity, tormenting me with their wails."
"Yes, very unfortunate. In his arrogant, God forgets the rules, I and the other three rulers know that there is a need for balance in the world. Everyone here on earth, in this universe have the task to do the things they were born for, even I." Naruto commented, conjuring a sack of drachmas that he threw towards Charon. "And for now, I pay for these kids, my apprentice and I the passage to Hades Temple and when you return I expect you to give these unfortunate souls a ride to their destination. After all, what contains in the bag easily secures that."
"Thank you Naruto, I appreciate your help." Charon thanked the Infinite God with grace, the bag with drachmas fell in his extended hand and picked one out. "Unbelievable, it has been a while when I touch one. Very well, I'll grant those you wishes passage on my ferry, please enjoy the ride."
Percy moved his left arm, elbowing his blonde companion in her side. "Pst Annabeth, do you know what they are talking about because I can't understand them." At first, the son of Poseidon had thought that they spoke in a very, very old ancient Greek but to him, it was more gibberish. "And why are they not attacking us? They are monsters, right?"
"How would I know," Retorted Annabeth with some heat in her voice to the dimwitted son of Poseidon. It irked her that she do not understand the dialect, a language that is used in the far east in the land of Asia where the Greeks hadn't marked their existence. "But if I should guess, I bet that they speak Japanese. And if I am right then that girl would be an Asian monster, so stay on your guard's guys."
"Come Kuroka, let us board the ferry and visit Hades." Kuroka clung to her sensei's arm and pulled him up the ferry and glanced around. Smiling she noticed a small bench and pushed Naruto on it before she jumped on his lap and cuddled against Naruto's chest. "This is Charon, God of Boundaries and Territories. He is the Son of Nyx Primordial Goddess of the Night and the Ferryman who carries the soul of the newly deceased across the River Styx. As you have seen, many newly deceased are stuck on the border between the living and the realm of the dead. Each religion has their own rituals to secure the newly deceased a safe passage to the afterlife, Valhalla, Underworld etc."
Kuroka nodded at the lecture from her sensei. "I had never known, but why are there still a lot of them here at the entrance of the Greek God of the Underworld? You blamed the Christianity God, why?" The Nekoshou questioned her sensei, curious about why the blame lay at the Christianity God's feet.
Naruto spread out his free arm to the river on the other side of the ferry, green dull water stretch out endlessly as far the eye reach. "The River Styx is a sacred river that separates the land of the living from the realm of the dead in the Underworld." Kuroka nodded when she glanced at the bank to see many spirits that had waited for a very long time. She also noticed the demi-gods entering the ferry, standing next to them. "Oaths made by this river brings something 'worse than death' to the Oath Bearer if not fulfilled. If anyone bathes in the River Styx, that person becomes invulnerable to most physical attacks. But the reason why this river is so dull and polluted is that the Gods make empty promises, passing off to those who can't fight the curses. The river is now filled with lost hopes and dreams, as well as wishes that never came true, and that do not only affect the river but also the world. Our chakra will try to filter the pollution but I will explain that another time."
"You sound if there is more to our powers, something that only we can do." Kuroka teased her sensei, rubbing her cheek against his chiseled chest that caused him to bust out in laughter while Charon finally pushed off the boat from the shore and the current pulled them along the river. "But back to why you blame God. What is the reason?"
"The Christianity God promised mankind a place in Heaven but obviously failed, yes creatures and humans die, but as you could see they all arrives here at the Death or Alive entrance with no money to pay the ferryman. While others like the Norse Pantheon sends their Valkyries, the Christianity Religion are too busy with their foolish war, and if the followers of their God prays for him, all they do is guide them to here, letting their souls wait for eternity." Naruto finished what he believes what caused this long line of souls waiting for the next life. For Kuroka, she pitied them, those poor souls as many of them looked downcast and waited for salvation. "Another note of attention, only the gods appointed to care for the death can give them eternal rest or resurrection. Even I can't bring back the death without a tool or a favor."
"That's horrible," Cried Kuroka in a low volume, her face buried in her hands.
"I could not disagree with you, Kuroka-chan." Agreed Naruto while stroking her silky black hair, watching the river flow past him and with his only free hand he plunged his finger in the water. A faint glow came from his index finger, curing the river that let off an emerald light and a part of the river became less dull, clear like the clearest of water. And a soft, caring tone of a woman could be heard. 'Thank you Naruto-kun for purification a part of my river.'
The ferry glide through the river, moving across the water to the other shore were a massive, dangerous Cerberus was guarding the true entrance to the underworld to Hades realm. Three massive heads snapped at them, three pairs of eyes burned with hunger. Large, sharp canines snapped a few feet away from them. "Nyaaaa! What is that for a creature!" Kuroka hissed out cat-like, her body shook in fear for such a massive creature, especially when that creature is a three-headed dog. She turned her head to her sensei when sounds of chuckles escaped his throat that only became stronger in volume until it was a full-blown laughter. Question marks would have appeared if this was a comic show but she her expression was enough for her sensei to answer while behind them the trio of demi-gods and satyr send each other a questioning look.
"This is Cerberus, Hades guard dog, isn't he cute?" Naruto told her, caressing her hair that caused her to purr. "You only need to give him a thick, fat moist slice of meat and you will be friends in no time."
Percy turned to his companion, Annabeth with a questioning gaze, wondering what these two were talking about. When the three-headed dog suddenly doomed out of nowhere and dangerously close, Percy to his eternal shame and possible the same could be said for his friend Grover, they screamed like girly girls when the massive teeth almost caught them. Having slowly recovered from his bout of panic, arms wrapped around Grover, Percy shouted to Annabeth. "What in God's name was that? That massive, three-headed dog! And why is that white man so calm?!"
Annabeth herself, of course, had reads books upon books about the dreaded guard of the underworld. The tales that survived through the centuries did not give enough credit about the size of this monster and she wondered how heroes like Hercules survived a confrontation with such a monster, how heroes like Aeneas and Sybil managed to tame this beast until it sleeps and then stole the guard of the underworld from Hades. Taking a deep breath, she almost retched out when the scent of the death filled her lungs, Annabeth explained. "Cerberus, also known as the guard of the underworld, not much is known but according to myths, Cerberus can devour the souls of departed."
A sick laughter erupted from behind them and Annabeth, Percy and Grover turned around to see the Ferryman making that sounds. "Oh my dear daughter of Athena, Cerberus can do much more than devouring souls, like devour you here right now to please him. After all our poor guard hadn't eaten much lately." The Ferryman spoke in a ghostly voice that sounds like steel rattling against steel, and screams of departed. "But your Greeks are lucky, you're in a presence that not even I, let's stand Cerberus want to fight."
Three pairs of eyes turned to the tall, white man who was in conversation with that very attractive girl who sits in his lap. From Athena's daughter perspective, the man didn't seem so special, strange, yes. Strong, definitely a no. But for curious sake, she needed to know who this man is that seemed to help them so far. "Who is he?"
"Someone you don't want to make enemies with, girl, remember that. For now, we have arrived at your destination." The Ferryman told her, a clear warning that whoever this person is, that he is quite deadly and dangerous. Without a second thought, Annabeth leaped out of the boat and rushed towards her friends who followed the strange duo. All around her was a plain of death, lifeless trees, rotting corpses of small animals, and there are even small, skeleton animals that ran around. The daughter of Athena quickened her pace, fearing this place rightful. She finally joined Percy and Grover who were not far from the strange duo with the white man pointed at several things, talking in that strange language that explained several things to the younger girl.
Kuroka smiled at her sensei, letting out a giggle when he pointed out at several zombified celebrities that moved towards a beautiful city, majestic, yet still held the gloom of death. At the foot of the towers, you could see several skulls of the damned that were main structure, eyes glowing eerily the further they entered the city of death. "Nya, your friend governed this city?"
"Yes, little Hades govern this beautiful city, a bit gloomy, yet it has its tastes. You can say that Hades made out the bests out of what he gained of the three domains. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades might be the rulers, however, that is only a small part. Like many other godly deities, they need to share their domain with others, splitting their strength with many immortals. Romans and Greeks share the same powers because they are the same person, only carrying different names. Then you have of course the Norse Pantheon, they govern the northern part of the world, following with the Asian Parthenon that is split into smaller ones, a god for each country while some of them carry many names like that of the Greek and Roman. All these Parthenon have one thing in common, carry out justice and balance. However with the rising of the Christianity that balance was broken, chaos ensured and the gods fought for control, trying to bring balance back. Even I shares my title, my other half is Ophis the infinite dragon while Great Red, Dragon of the Apocalypse shares his title with the Great Beast, 666."
"Sensei... you sidetracked again, nya!" Kuroka sulked, hearing her sensei side track again, while informative, she, however, wanted to reach the underworld of the Devils quick and capture a devil's peerage member to see how bad it is. Grasping his hand, Kuroka pulled Naruto with firm steps through the halls of Hades temple, blue flames guided them. "You must learn to focus on one thing, not on hundreds other, my sensei, nya!"
Naruto let out a laugh, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulled her towards him. "I'll try, I promise. Now, let us greet the great Blue Devil of the underworld." Kuroka who looked up when her sensei called a god such a thing, but Naruto being a deity far above that of a normal god could easily afford such an insult. But when they entered the throne room, she could see why her sensei called one of the big tree of the Greek pantheon such a title, Hades is a tall figure, wearing black chiton with golden Greeks fortunes on the edges of his robes. Pale, blue skin and bald head with blue flames covering his head, just like the Hades from the Disney movie Hercules. "He..he's blue!"
"Welcome Naru—" Hades started with a hellish warm smile that quickly dropped when the small companion of his friend called out that cursed color. Within seconds smog raised out of his ears, pale blue switched to a volcano red color and his hair erupted. "Narutoooooo! Dispel immediately this monstrous illusion, right now!" The god of the underworld shouted out in rage when he noticed that his old friend had called that dreadful illusion. Sinking in his throne, sulking about evil friends while his mood didn't improve when the scent of the sea, forests and so-called wisdom reached his sensitive organ. "Oh~, don't tell me you brought more brats with you?"
"I didn't," Naruto told his old friend in an English dialect, much to the demi-gods surprises. "They sneaked on Charon's boat when I and my cute, little apprentice Kuroka here needed to talk with you. I have my suspicion that they couldn't wait to meet you before their unfortunate death."
"Yeah, yeah, sure you did," Hades grumbled out in pure disbelief. Straightening himself in his seat while a door creaked open and his wife Persephone entered the throne room with grace. Her face lit up when she caught sight of Naruto, something that caused Hades sunk back in his chair. "Great, even my wife is happier than me in seeing this bastard."
"Oh cheer up love, I haven't seen my old friend for so long," Persephone exclaimed while hugging Naruto and peppered his face with kisses. Once she stopped in showering him with kisses, her eyes caught sight of an adorable little girl, her smile only grew. "And who might you be, young Nekoshou?"
"Kuroka madam, Kuroka the nekoshou and pupil of Naruto, nya!" Kuroka squealed out in happiness while Persephone wrapped her arms around the girl, pulling her into a tight embrace. Rubbing her face in the cleavage of the Queen of the Underworld, Kuroka told her the reason why they are here. "And we need your help in entering undetected in devil's territory, nya!"
