NPU: Battle of the Labyrinth

Chapter 13

On to the dark number of 13. I wanted to get this out sooner than I did but there was a problem. First my aunt had breast cancer, but they caught it early to no real problem there. Next my grandfather found out he has stage 4 pancreatic cancer that has spread to his liver and spleen…we visited him yesterday and he is doing ok….for now. Although he says he is ready to go….which is good for him, sucks for us. So I thought I would give you guys what I have now instead of you all waiting more. Here we go.

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Through the fire and flames caused by the sudden eruption of Mount St. Helens, the clone of Naruto was suddenly dowsed in gallons of water. The clones regained his bearings and swam for the surface, not wanting to go poof yet. He wanted answers.

Soon he broke through the surface to see roaring waters all around as a storm took place and soon he felt himself getting caught up in a current. This current turned into a rather large wave that let him see the horizon, but it was hazy thanks to the rain. However, he was pretty sure he saw an island in the distance.

Then, the wave came crashing down, sending him back into the water below. The force of it should have popped him, but it didn't and that was what confused the clone to no end.

So eventually, the clone of Naruto fought his way across the storm ridden waters to the island. It was a hard and difficult journey for the clone, but he made it. As he panted and felt himself losing consciousness, it smiled. Maybe its original could find this place; he was obviously here for a reason.

As it lost consciousness, it saw someone standing over him.

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The next thing the clone knew, it was waking up on a cushioned bench on the outside, staring at a beautiful garden. He noticed a rather beautiful girl tending to it as small animals watched and she sometimes chatted with them, like she could actually understand them.

Then she looked up and back at him and smiled. It was the kind of smile that Aphrodite had once. One that could make your heart skip a beat. Was she a daughter of that goddess? Why was she on an island of all places?

Questions filled his mind as she walked over to him. He noticed that she had caramel, which smelled of cinnamon. Which brought on an odd memory of Hinata for some reason, maybe it was the cinnamon rolls she used to bring to class and sometime shared with him. Anyway, her hair was braided over one shoulder, dark almond-shaped eyes and a milky face that appeared to be timeless. Was she immortal? That couldn't be right, she looked to be 15 or 16. She wore a white sleeveless Greek dress with a low circular neckline trimmed in gold. She had a peach-colored complexion and pouty lips.

Just who was this beautiful person?

"I am glad to see that you are awake young hero." She said and then frowned. "Normally I am told who the person is that is being sent to my island, but the gods have been unnaturally quiet about that. So, let's introduce ourselves. I am Calypso and this place is Ogygia."

The clone of Naruto blinked multiple times at this information. "Seriously?" Clone Naruto asked, getting a nod. "Alright then, my name is Naruto Uzumaki, Son of Hades and Legacy of Aphrodite and somewhere down the line, I am also a legacy of Nyx. Boy, that is a mouthful."

Calypso's eyes widened at that. This boy looked NOTHING like a child of Hades, possibly that was because of the mixed heritage? This mixed heritage also made him look very handsome as well.

"Still, if this isn't a dream, this is pretty amazing, considering that I am not really here." The clone stated.

This statement greatly confused the usual sole resident of Ogygia. "I don't understand."

Naruto looked at her again and then it hit it. She really does never leave this place. "Oh right, you can't leave this place due to what happened in the past. Ok here you go then. While I am here, I am also not because I am a mere shadow clone of the original. Now, demigods do not usually have this power and this is because I am actually from the hidden lands that the gods like to visit. Usually they had to be reborn as a human per the rules, but it is a nice vacation for them."

"I think I heard about that. Hermes sometimes takes about that and his own descendants there….something he calls Mail Ninja." Calypso replied thoughtfully. "Still, the ability to clone yourself is quite the power and I have never seen it until now."

"True, not a lot of people back home can do it either, especially with the version I am using since it does take a lot of energy called Chakra to do." Naruto replied.

"I see." Calypso replied, "So I guess that is how you will leave." At that she turned sad. This boy was quite likable for a child of Hades, but that was thanks to the mixed blood she assumed.

"Yes actually, but I do feel bad for leave you here all alone again." Naruto grumbled. "After all, you made sure I was ok at least."

"Yes well, I am cursed like that. I help people who come to my island." At this calypso stopped with a sad smile.

"And as you help them, you slowly fall for them, but they still have to leave. I get it." Naruto replied with a sad sigh.

"Right." Calypso replied with a tear rolling down her check, something Naruto didn't like and he got an idea on how to help his new friend.

"You know what, I consider you one of my new friends in this world, so I am going to help you." Naruto declared, catching the girl of guard.

"We are friends?!"

"Of course, you helped me and are very nice. I think you have been here long enough, so I am go to try and get the gods to repeal your punishment. Sure you helped the titans back then, but that was in the past."

"I…I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. I like doing things for my friends." Naruto said with a smile, making the girl blush. "But I also know that this place to also very hard for us demigods to find again, thankfully, I have a solution to that." With that Naruto took out a familiar tri-pronged kunai. "Do you have an empty place?"

"Yes, but how will this strange knife and an empty place help?" Calypso asked as they got up and she led them to an empty spot in the middle of her garden.

"This kunai will disappear when I do, but I am sure if I imprint this seal somewhere, it won't disappear." Naruto explained as he stuck the kunai in the ground. "This seal is called the Hiraishin seal, a teleportation seal. The original version was created by the Second Hokage, an old leader of my village, but my dad in human form revamped it." This made Naruto pause for a second. "You know, not much is known about the guy, but I am sure Athena was his mom and Poseidon was his dad, both in human form and they didn't even know it. Heh."

That statement made Calypso giggle at the implications since she did know how those two acted around each other. "But how did you come to this conlusion?"

"Well, he has a mastery over water that was just crazy, so that made me think of Poseidon, but for Athena, the guy was incredibly smart. From what was able to read back in the academy, he was smart enough to create his own teleportation technique, create a lightning based sword, create another technique that could raise the dead, and many more techinques." That line of thought also made Naruto wonder if the mother of the First Hokage was Demeter and in that ever warring time, her human form died too soon. That would make sense since in his world, the elements of Earth and Water made the Mokuton or Wood Element possible for the guy.

"I see your point now." Calypso replied with a smile.

"Awesome, now let's see if this works." The clone replied as he performed a handsign, making the kunai glow brightly before the seals on it spread to ground, burning and changing it to make itself permanent.

The whole process was foreign to Calypso, who knew only a bit of magic, but this was surely something else. It was beautiful. Then she noticed the blond nearly fall to his side, so she did what she did best and helped him stay upright. "Are you ok?!"

"Yeah, that just took a lot of my remaining chakra to do." Naruto replied with a grimace. "Looks like I have to go, but I will remember my promise, since you are my friend."

Calypso had tears in her eyes at that. She did have a fear of losing people close to her and to just be alone. If she didn't have her animal friend to keep her company, she figured she would lose it after every Hero she fell in love with left.

Naruto saw the look, feeling guilty as he too had that look of loneliness as a child. He shift around until he was able to give her a hug, startling the poor girl. "Listen, I will get you out of here. The pain of loneliness, it is horrible, I know. You won't have to suffer it much longer and when you are free, you will be free to live your own life, the way you want to and fall in love with whomever you want and actually be able to stay with them."

"Thank you!" Calypso cried out, her tears finally streaming down her face.

"Hey, we are friends, no need to thank me." Naruto replied as he started to fade away in her arms. It was strange, he wasn't going poof like his clone brethren usually do.

Calypso just held on to him as tightly as she could before he finally was gone. She looked at his seal with a sad smile and this time, she chose to have hope. "I believe in you, Naruto Uzumaki."

XXX

The original Naruto, along with Annabeth finally walked through Hephaestus' door. The mechanical spider that brought them back was nowhere to be seen. It has somehow gotten destroyed in the oncoming fire. Annabeth was actually ok with that, with her fear of spiders and all that. She also wouldn't admit that she kicked it into the on coming fire.

Once inside, they saw the place was spotless and Silena had a proud look on her face. Percy, Tyson, and Grover just looked tired, like they did all the heavy lifting. And Hephaestus? Well he was off to the side grumbling about how he had a system before.

"Well, we are back." Naruto replied uncertainly.

"I see that," Hephaestus groaned. "I also saw that you basically destroyed my forge!" At this, Naruto and Annabeth looked nervous. That is, until Hephaestus smiled. "While that was not the agreement, I am grateful for the removal of the creatures occupying the place. What where they by the way?"

"Telekhines." Annabeth replied.

"And they were using the place as a puberty school." Naruto replied with a snicker.

Hephaetus snorted. "Great, at least they are gone now, but I did get word from the local mortal news that the volcano blew its top. However, not by much, they are describing what happened as a small time explosion."

"Well, at least it is not life threatening." Naruto commented.

"True, but the force of the explosion did stir Typhon, so we must tread carefully." Hephaestus grumbled, making Naruto wince.

"I'll take care of that if he ever shows his face." Naruto replied.

Hephaestus smirked, "That blade you are making with my son?" A nod. "Good, just compensate for the venti when he is defeated, those spirits will cause a headache later on."

"Oh right! I can't believe I forgot about that." Naruto exclaimed, making the Smith God chuckle.

"Right, so I assume you want that answer now." The Smith God stated, getting nods all around. "Well now, here's the thing. It has nothing to do with Ariadne's string. Not really. Sure, the string works. That's what the Titan's army will be after. But the best way through the maze…Theseus had the princess's help. And the princess was a regular mortal. Not a drop of god blood in her. But she was clever, and she could see, lad. She could see very clearly. So what I'm saying—I think you know how to navigate the maze."

Percy's eye twitched and Naruto smirked. "Oh I think we know a person like that." Naruto replied with a smirk as Percy groaned. That girl was confusing at times.

"I don't like it." Annabeth replied, "But if it helps my quest, I guess I should trust my teammates."

"Ok," Grover replied, "but how do we even get to her."

Hephaestus just snorted as he walked away to rebuild his mechanical owl. "Simple, follow the owl and it will lead you to a place where she could be."

"Wow, thank you" Annabeth said with a big smile, happy with following an owl instead of those creepy ass spiders.

"Good luck, I feel that you will need it." Hephaestus replied as he watched them go, all the while sending a small glare at Silena. When they were gone, he looked around as his super clean workshop and groaned. "Now…where did she make those boys put that tool!"

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End of chapter, beginning of Hephaestus' journey.

The Smith God had thought a lot about what Naruto had said, long after that group left. Since he was not getting anything done in his workshop thanks to his wife's daughter, he left to got think on it some more.

He thought about the advancements medicine and how it could help him. Back in the day, he had to forge his brace for his leg and just magic just to look less hideous and he was so tired of that. He wanted to be looked at normally instead of the looks of fear, disgust, and pity.

So that is what led him to one of Apollo's many mansions in Beverly Hills, hoping that he was home. Knocking on the door, it opened to reveal a party ready Apollo. The inside of his pad was what you would expect from a typical rich person, full of expensive items that the general can't afford and are basically never used. Plus there was a large breasted red head hanging drunkenly off his shoulder.

"Did I come at a bad time?" Hephaestus asked.

Apollo blinked rapidly under his designer sun glasses and replied, "Not really, just pre-party drinking and whatnot. What can I do for you bro?" They were family after all, with both of them having the same father….just different mothers.

"I…need your medical help." Hephaestus let out. "I need you or one of your kids to help me be less…hideous."

"Oh you fine, honey!" the drunk red head slurred as she lifted her head to see him before passing out.

"If only see knew." Hephaestus replied sadly.

Apollo nodded as he disappeared back into his mansion, dropping the girl off on his couch and then returned to his brother. "I am surprised you are coming to me now of all times man. When I offered all those years ago, I admit that the medical procedures weren't that great, but now they are. So just tell me, what's changed your mind."

"Indeed I did refuse because I was too hopeful that my wife would come back to me. I was too stubborn to see the truth." Hephaestus replied. "Now, thanks to one of her legacies, I see the truth. I am unhappy with the way things turned out. I want someone who will take me for me. Not out of pity or along those lines."

"Like Athena did all those years ago?" Apollo asked knowingly.

"Yeah, she was the first to see me for me." Hephaestus replied with a sad smile. "And I will let her keep her oath if she so chooses, we can still have children her way…..and to be honest, i kind of like it that way."

Apollo smiled brightly, "If you really want to do this bro then let me introduce you to a few of my children and their mothers. They are the best in the business and I have a feeling they would love the challenge of fixing that leg and see what they could do with all that scarring and general dark aspects of your face. This is going to be fun because as that old 70's show said, we have the technology to rebuild you."

"Well I do like technology." Hephaestus replied while rubbing his smoldering beard in thought.

"Heh, I believe we found a new domain for you if this work out for you bro." Apollo replied with a brighter smile than before. At that, Hephaestus laughed along with Apollo as they disappeared from sight.

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That's it for now as I work on the next chapter. I know it was short compared to others but it was either this or wait some more. Plus I need to see how I am even going to do the next chapter seeing I am diverting a lot from the main way the story went.

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