Battle of the Labyrinth

Chapter 14

I know some of you don't like the fact that too many deities are part of the Naruto world, but I never said it was canon. It was a just a theory I had. I never confirmed it. I just thought it would a funny if it were true.

Now…I recently got Destiny so that is where my time has gone after work…..and after a week or two, I am level 24…..somehow. The light system still confuses me…and I don't know how to get the purple and gold shit and the crucible is taking too long! ARGH!

But yeah, sorry for taking so long on this.

XXXXXX

The gang were currently in Percy Jackson's home, where his mother, Sally lived. They were lucky they ended up somewhere nearby because the Labyrith was grating on everyone's nerves. After greeting Grover again and meeting her step-son Tyson, she had them all sit down in the living room before looking at Naruto specifically.

"What?"

"You know what and I thank you." Sally replied causing everyone to be confused.

"Ok…what is going on?" Percy asked.

"Naruto decided to help Paul out by giving him sight." Sally explained.

Annabeth's eyes widened, "You didn't!"

"I did." Naruto replied as he explained that he gave Mr. Blofis a seal that when touched, cleared the mist from a mortal's eyes.

"There is a seal for that?" Annabeth exclaimed.

"Percy, go make that call." Naruto stated before turning back to Annabeth. "I found that seals are very similar to Hecate's magic circles, so I tested it. It apparently worked."

"You…that was risky Naruto." Annabeth replied while making a mental note to look up books on magic. Maybe that will help her better understand seals.

"I know, that man could have gone insane." Naruto replied nervously making Sally glare at him for a moment. She was just glad nothing bad happened at orientation and that for once, Percy was not in trouble due to monsters and the mist.

"Only you Naruto. Only you." Silena replied with a shake of her head.

XXX

"For the record, I would rather have taken Percy's mother instead." Annabeth deadpanned once they arrived in Times Square in front of the Marriott Marquis. This was the place their guide said to meet and they found her rather quick too. Why? Well she was painted gold and was stand still as a statue. Next to her were a few other kids painted in other metallic colors like bronze, copper, and silver.

It was….different.

It was so different that Naruto was barely holding in him laughter at the scene. It seemed that while he knew what they were doing was for charity, it was still funny.

"Hmm…I wonder if I mess with her, will she just not move like the guards in Britain." Naruto replied.

"Push her over." Annabeth replied, annoyed with the whole situation. This was her quest, it seemed stupid for her to let someone else lead for her.

"While that would be entertaining, that would make her brake character." Naruto replied. "But as you know, I love messing with people just for fun, not to hurt them."

"No kidding." Percy replied under his breath. "But is messing with her necessary?"

"Necessary? Probably not, but as you know, we get bored easily as this is the best remedy." Naruto replied. "Besides, maybe I can help with the little charity thing they got going on."

"How." Both Percy and Annabeth asked as one.

Naruto smirked, making them nervous. "I could sing a song….but I am thinking that In the Dark of the Night is a bit much. While she now knows some of what the song says with our situation, the other parts are a bit…creepy."

"But wouldn't that make you Stand Out a bit too much." Annabeth asked worriedly.

Silena shook her head as she knew what her boyfriend was doing. "Come on, can't we just see Eye to Eye?" she asked, making the group look at her oddly…except for Naruto who was grinning.

"You are right, but Why Should I Worry? I mean, these people won't remember it after it is done. The most that will happen is Hecate would make them all think the statue people through a concert." Naruto replied.

"Well, you are just One Jump Ahead, aren't you?" a voice asked from next to the blond son of Hades. Naruto turned to see that Rachel was standing next to him with a sly smirk on her golden painted face.

"You got it." Naruto said with a smile, "but you have to admit it, song I would choose would make you Shake Your Groove Thing."

"Boo!" Grover groaned.

"Yes, can we please stop with the song puns." Percy replied with an annoyed look on his face as he finally got what was going on."

"Oh Let It Go, Percy." Rachel replied getting odd looks from the group seeing as that wasn't a song….yet. "Anyway, come, let's get some coffee, then you can explain some things and why you guys seem to need my presence. Also, please explain the one eyed guy."

"Tyson? He's my half brother." Percy replied like it was nothing. According to him, it was nothing since he was used to the big guy already.

"Uh huh." Rachel replied with a dead panned look.

XXX

They walked down to a place called the Java Moose on West 43rd. Rachel ordered an Espresso Extreme, basically the same thing Grover got with glee. Annabeth and Percy got fruit smoothies while Naruto, Silena, and Tyson all got water. They decided to sit at a table right under the stuffed moose. Nobody even looked twice at Rachel in her golden outfit.

"So," she said, "it's Annabell, right?"

"Annabeth," Annabeth corrected. "Do you always dress in gold?"

"Not usually," Rachel said. "We're raising money for our group. We do volunteer art projects for elementary kids 'cause they're cutting art from the schools, you know? We do this once a month, take in about five hundred dollars on a good weekend. But I'm guessing you don't want to talk about that. I saw you before when Percy and Naruto got me out of that school, so I am guessing you and the other girl are half-bloods as well?"

"Shhh!" Annabeth said, looking around. "Just announce it to the world, how about?"

"Okay." Rachel stood up and said really loud, "Hey, everybody! These two aren't human! They're half Greek god!" Nobody even looked over. Rachel shrugged and sat down. "See, nobody cares."

"Well, that's new, but I get it." Silena replied once see calmed down a bit.

"Still not funny." Annabeth grumbled.

"So, who are those two then?" Rachel asked, pointing to Grover and Tyson.

"I am Grover, a Satyr." The goat boy replied, "The big guy is Tyson, a Cyclopes."

"Please tell me we aren't going to be attacked by them because every time I see Percy and Naruto, something is coming for them." Rachel replied calmly.

"That sounds a bit right, but no, not this time." Silena replied with a chuckle. "I am Silena by the way."

"Nice to meet you." Rachel replied with a smile.

"So Goldie Locks, think you can help us again?" Naruto asked with a goofy smile.

"You need my help?" Rachel asked with a twitching eyebrow.

"Well, technically, our quest leader needs to ask that." Silena replied.

Annabeth grumbled, "Yeah, maybe."

"Ok, what do you need my help with again?" Rachel asked.

Since Annabeth wasn't forthcoming on the nature of the quest, Percy decided to explain things. So he told her about the Labyrinth, and how they needed to find Daedalus. He also told her what had happened the last few times they had gone in.

"So you want me to guide you," she said. "Through a place I've never been."

"Only because you can clearly see through the Mist." Naruto explained. "Annabeth would have been fine with Percy's mom, but she mentioned that her ability to see has been diminishing over time."

"And just like my mom and a girl from the past name Ariadne, I'm betting you can see the right path. The Labyrinth won't be able to fool you as easily." Percy replied.

"And if you are wrong?" Rachel asked.

"Then we'll get lost. Either way, it'll be dangerous. Very, very dangerous." Percy replied nervously.

"And you will probably go insane like us." Naruto replied with a smile, adding icing to the cake.

"I could die?"

"Yeah."

"I thought you said monsters don't care about mortals. That sword of yours—"

"Yeah," Percy said. "Celestial bronze doesn't hurt mortals. Most monsters would ignore you. But Luke…he doesn't care. He'll use mortals, demigods, monsters, whatever. And he'll kill anyone who gets in his way."

"Nice guy," Rachel said.

"He's under the influence of a Titan," Annabeth said defensively. "He's been deceived."

Rachel looked between Percy and Annabeth for a second and then to Naruto and the rest of the group before smiling. "Ok, I am in."

Percy blinked, thinking that this would have been a lot harder "Are you sure?"

"Hey, my summer was going to be boring. This is the best offer I've gotten yet. So what do I look for?"

"We have to find an entrance to the Labyrinth," Annabeth said. "There's an entrance at Camp Half-Blood, but you can't go there. It's off-limits to mortals."

She said mortals like it was some sort of terrible condition, but Rachel just nodded. "Okay. What does an entrance to the Labyrinth look like?"

"It could be anything," Annabeth said. "A section of wall. A boulder. A doorway. A sewer entrance. But it would have the mark of Daedalus on it. A Greek Delta Symbol, glowing in blue."

"Like this?" Rachel drew the symbol Delta in water on our table.

"That's it," Annabeth said. "You know Greek?"

"No," Rachel said. She pulled a big blue plastic hairbrush from her pocket and started brushing the gold out of her hair. "Let me get changed. You'd better come with me to the Marriott."

"Why?" Annabeth said.

"Because there's an entrance like that in the hotel basement, where we store our costumes. It's got the mark of Daedalus."

"Hold on a second." Naruto replied stopping the group. He fished in his pockets before revealing a small diamond. "Go and give this to your charity group."

"What!?" Rachel asked a loud. "Why would you give me something like this?!"

"Because you guys are doing the statue thing for a good cause, so why not?" Naruto replied with a shrug.

"Naruto, where did you get that?" Annabeth asked.

The blond looked at her for a second before saying, "You guys always seem to forget that I am a son of the guy nicknamed, The Rich One."

"But wouldn't that cause them bad luck then?" Silena asked.

"Only if he is giving it to them. For me, it is safe." Naruto replied with a shrug.

Rachel blinked, "You are a son of Hades?"

"Yep!"

"Huh, I would have guessed Apollo." The red head replied.

"Eh, what can you do?" Naruto replied with a shrug as they left the coffee shop.

XXX

The metal door was half hidden behind a laundry bin full of dirty hotel towels. There didn't seem to be anything strange about it, but Rachel showed them where to look. And there was recognizable faint blue symbol etched in the metal.

"It hasn't been used in a long time," Annabeth said.

"I tried to open it once," Rachel said, "just out of curiosity. It's rusted shut."

"No." Annabeth stepped forward. "It just needs the touch of a half-blood." Sure enough, as soon as Annabeth put her hand on the mark, it glowed blue. The metal door unsealed and creaked open, revealing a dark staircase leading down.

"Wow." Rachel replied looking seemingly calm.

She'd changed into a ratty Museum of Modern Art T-shirt and her regular marker-colored jeans, her blue plastic hairbrush sticking out of her pocket. Her red hair was tied back, but she still had flecks of gold in it, and traces of the gold glitter on her face. "So…after you?"

"You're the guide," Annabeth said with mock politeness. "Lead on."

"Gee Annabeth, why so jealous?" Naruto asked quietly to her.

"Shut up." The daughter of Athena replied grumpily.

The stairs led down to a large brick tunnel. It was so dark they couldn't see two feet in front of them, but Annabeth had made sure they restocked on flashlights before they went back down. As soon as they were switched on, Rachel yelped.

A skeleton was grinning at them. It wasn't human. It was huge, for one thing—at least ten feet tall. It had been strung up, chained by its wrists and ankles so it made a kind of giant X over the tunnel. But what really sent shivers down Percy's spine was the single black eye socket in the center of its skull.

Silena held Tyson's hand as he whimpered at the sight. "Don't look, I'll guide you."

"Ok." He said like a scared child.

"Come on." Annabeth replied, a little unnerved herself.

After fifty feet the group came to a crossroads. Ahead, the brick tunnel continued. To the right, the walls were made of ancient marble slabs. To the left, the tunnel was dirt and tree roots.

Naruto noticed that Grover seemed to be a in a trance as he started walking down to that path. "Grover, what are you doing?"

"Can't feel it?" The Satyr replied. "It's the call of the Wild. I….I have to go or I might not get another chance at this." That's right, the council had given him a week at most to find Pan or to outright give up.

"We can't let you go by yourself!" Percy replied, worried for his friend.

"Um…" Tyson spoke out, looking nervous. "I will go." That was brave for the young Cyclopes because for some reason, he was scared of the much smaller Satyr.

"Are you sure buddy?" Percy asked.

"Grover no go alone." Tyson replied.

"Alright." Grover replied nervous, scared himself of the much big monster. It was really odd how they were both afraid of each other.

"Then we must go the other way." Rachel stated.

"Why?" Annabeth asked.

"You don't see it?" Rachel asked. "Look at the floor."

There was nothing but well-worn bricks and stone to the demigods.

"I also don't like the other way. It feels like a…" Rachel stopped as the ground rumbled and she blinked owlishly. "Ok…that trap is gone now, just more of that green landscape. Man, this place is a bit confusing."

"No kidding." Annabeth grumbled.

"Alright, let's go." Naruto replied before turning back to Grover and Tyson. "Be careful you two."

"You too." Grover replied nervously as he let the feeling of the wild guide him once more with Tyson nervously following after him.

"Ok Red, lead the way." Naruto said to Rachel, making her growl. She was the one to usually mess with people.

Percy noticed that Annabeth was grumbling again as they started walking, her pride not liking to be lead again said this was her quest. Silena just shook her head at her friend.

Together the group kept walking down the brick corridor. It twisted and turned, but there were no more side tunnels. Theyseemed to be angling down, heading deeper underground.

"No traps?" Percy asked anxiously.

"Nothing." Rachel knit her eyebrows. "Should it be this easy?"

"I don't know," Percy said. "It never was before."

"So, Rachel," Annabeth said, "where are you from, exactly?"

She said it like, What planet are you from? But Rachel didn't look offended. "Brooklyn," she said.

"Aren't your parents going to be worried if you're out late?"

Rachel exhaled. "Not likely. I could be gone a week and they'd never notice."

"Why not?" This time Annabeth didn't sound as sarcastic. Having trouble with parents was something she understood.

Before Rachel could answer, there was a creaking noise in front of us, like huge doors opening. "What was that?" Annabeth asked.

"I don't know," Rachel said. "Metal hinges."

"Oh, that's very helpful. I mean, what is it?

Then the group heard heavy footsteps shaking the corridor—coming toward them.

"Run?" Percy asked.

"Run," Rachel agreed.

they turned and fled the way theye'd come, but didn't make it twenty feet before they ran straight into some old friends. Two dracaenae—snake women in Greek armor—leveled their javelins at our chests. Standing between them was Kelli, the empousa cheerleader.

"Oh great, you again." Naruto deadpanned.

"Don't try anything Ninja boy." Kelli stated as she pounced at Rachel. Her hand turned into a claw and she spun Rachel around, holding her tight with her talons at Rachel's neck. "Still can't believe this one is still hanging out with you demigods, mortals are so easy to break."

Behind them, the footsteps came closer. A huge form appeared out of the gloom—an eight-foot-tall Laistrygonian giant with red eyes and fangs. The giant licked his lips when he saw us. "Can I eat them?"

"No," Kelli said. "Your master will want these. They will provide a great deal of entertainment." She smiled at Naruto and Percy. "Now march, half-bloods. Or you all die here, starting with the mortal girl."

XXXXX

And that is where I will stop things for now. I have a question for you all. Since they are going to fight in the arena. What should Naruto fight? Should he take Percy's battle or no? I am leaning towards no cause I want him to fight something else for fun. Hell, he might even fight with Silena at his side.

Please review!