Chapter 5

Horror Stories & New Quest

[Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto manga or Percy Jackson series. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Rick Riordan respectively. This fiction is just for fun.]

"Character Dialogue"

'Character Thought'

'Telepathic Conversation'

"Jutsu!"

"Demon / Monsters/Summon/ Angry God"

In the Kamui realm, Uchiha Naruto was sitting on a cold, stone bench in the centre of the platform. He wasn't wearing anything, well except his pants. Behind him was a large tree with no leaves. The tree itself was odd. It wasn't a normal wooden tree; it had been made with hot lava stones that had several small cracks over them, oozing hot red magma and its large roots were plugged into Naruto's body.

Naruto eyes were closed. The holy marking over his body were visible, shining brightly.

"Master," Karasu said. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes," Naruto said as he opened his eyes. They were still purple, but they now had very small golden-yellow rings surrounding the pupils. "I've never felt better than this before." He smiled. "It will take a few days for my body to adjust, but I can feel it...I can feel Kronos' power flowing into me." He created small shockwaves around him.

"Then, what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking about the Golden Fleece."

"And?"

"It has been missing for centuries! How Grover found it was beyond luck."

"Yes," she said, "but we have to find Grover first to discover its location."

Then something clicked in Naruto's mind. "I think I know its location." he smirked.

XXX

Clarisse was standing near the edge of the lake, waiting for something, or someone. It must have been important, because it was completely unlike her.

"Are you waiting for Naruto?"

She turned around to see it was Thalia, who had asked her that question. She nodded before asking, "And you?"

"She's also come here to meet me."

It was Naruto. He had appeared there with Daichi. Both of them were in their civilian clothes.

Thalia noticed there was something different about him. "What happened to your eyes?" she asked, looking closely at his eyes.

"It's a side effect of my new jutsu," he lied to her.

Thalia nodded and dropped the subject.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Clarisse asked.

"Grover has found a powerful item that can help us," Naruto said.

"Really?"Thalia asked in disbelief. Naruto nodded his head. "What is it?"

Naruto stared at her before saying, "Let me tell you a story first. There were these two children of Zeus, Cadmus and Europa. They were about to be offered up as human sacrifices, when they prayed to Zeus to save them. So, Zeus sent this magical, flying ram with golden wool, which rescued them in Greece and carried them all the way to Colchis in Asia Minor."

"Well, actually it carried Cadmus. Europa fell off and died along the way," Daichi said.

"Whatever, that's not important," Naruto rolled his eyes. "Anyway, the point is, when Cadmus got to Colchis, he sacrificed the golden ram to the gods and hung the Fleece in a tree in the middle of the kingdom. The Fleece brought prosperity to the land, animals stopped getting sick, plants grew better, farmers had bumper crops and plagues never visited. That's why Jason wanted the Fleece. It can revitalize any land where it's placed. It cures sickness, strengthens nature and cleans up pollution—you know; all that good stuff."

Both Thalia and Clarisse's eyes widened at that.

"With something like that, we could cure both myself and my tree," Thalia said.

Naruto nodded. "And, it would totally strengthen the borders of Camp Half-Blood."

"So, where is Grover?" Clarisse asked.

"He was captured by Polyphemus."

"What?" she shouted. "Say that again!"

"Well, Grover was captured by Polyphemus, and the Golden Fleece is there too."

"Naruto, Polyphemus is the worst of the Cyclopes. And there's only one place his island could be. The Sea of Monsters," she said. "And you know, it's off the east coast of the U.S. now, just northeast of Florida. The mortals even have a name for it."

"The Bermuda Triangle," Thalia said.

"Yes. It's a huge area. Searching for one tiny island in monster-infested waters isn't the best idea," Clarisse said.

"But I know its exact location," Naruto said.

Daichi said, "30, 31, 75, 12."

"Eh?" Clarisse said.

"They're sailing coordinates," Daichi explained. "Latitude and longitude."

"30 degrees, 31 minutes north and 75 degrees, 12 minutes west," Naruto said.

"How did you find that out?" Thalia asked.

"The Gray Sisters gave those coordinates to Percy and Annabeth," he said.

Clarisse growled, hearing the Percy's name. "But how did you know that?" she asked. "You weren't with them in the taxi."

"Because, my summon was there when they were telling them the coordinates."

"You spied on them?" Thalia asked in disbelief.

"Well, yes," Naruto said, "because Percy is trouble magnet and it's the only way to save him and the people around him."

Thalia shook her head.

"But why did you want me?" Clarisse asked as Naruto turned to her. "I thought Percy was your friend and you would prefer him to go with you on this quest, rather than me."

"Because you have a better chance of getting a quest than him," Naruto said. "There is no way Tantalus will give a quest to Percy."

"That's true," Thalia said, "Because the way he looked at Percy; he must hate him."

"Then, how will we get Tantalus' approval for a quest?" Clarisse said.

"Leave it Percy and Annabeth," Naruto said. "They will soon ask Tantalus for a quest and that man will never give it to them. If I am correct, he will give it to someone else." He looked at Clarisse.

"Me?"

"Yes," he said. "Just stick with my plan if you want this quest."

Thalia raised her eyebrow and asked, "Plan?"

"Yes," Naruto said, "Plan."

XXX

That night at the campfire, Apollo's cabin led the sing-along. They tried to get everybody's spirits up, but it wasn't easy after Daichi's attack. All campers sat around a semicircle of stone steps, singing halfheartedly and watching the bonfire blaze, while the Apollo campers strummed their guitars and plucked their lyres.

They performed all the standard camp numbers: "Down by the Aegean," "I Am My Own Great-Great Great-Great-Grandpa," "This Land is Minos's Land." The bonfire was enchanted, so the louder you sang, the higher it rose, changing color and heat with the mood of the crowd.

Dionysus left early. After suffering through a few songs, he muttered something about how even pinochle with Chiron had been more exciting than this. He then gave Tantalus a distasteful look and headed back towards the Big House.

Daichi wanted to smash his head on the ground. 'When are they going to stop?' he thought.

Then the last song ended.

'Thanks kami.'

"Well, that was lovely!" Tantalus said.

He came forward with a toasted marshmallow on a stick and tried to pluck it off, real casual like, but before he could touch it the marshmallow flew off the stick. He made a wild grab, but the marshmallow committed suicide, diving into the flames.

Tantalus turned back toward the campers, smiling coldly. "Now then! Some announcements about tomorrow's schedule."

"Sir." Percy cut in, making Naruto smirk.

Tantalus's eye twitched. "What do you want?"

Percy looked at Annabeth, who nodded her head. They stood up. "We have an idea to save the camp."

It had gotten everybody's interest, because the campfire flared bright yellow.

"Indeed," Tantalus said blandly. "Well, if it has anything to do with chariots—"

"The Golden Fleece," Percy said. "We know where it is."

The flames burned orange and before Tantalus could stop Percy, he blurted out his dream about Grover and Polyphemus's island. Annabeth stepped in and reminded everybody what the Fleece could do. It sounded more convincing coming from her.

"The Fleece can save the camp," she concluded. "I'm certain of it."

"Nonsense," Tantalus said, "We don't need saving. Besides, Lord Zeus' daughter is safe." He pointed at Thalia.

"My tree is dying," Thalia said, catching everyone attention, "and without it, there will be no magical border to protect the camp."

After thinking about it, horror dawned on everyone's faces.

"Even if it's true," Tantalus said. He turned to Percy. "The Sea of Monsters? That's hardly an exact location. You wouldn't even know where to look."

"Yes, I would," Percy said.

Annabeth leaned towards him and whispered, "You would?"

"Yes," he said, before turning to Tantalus. "30, 31, 75, 12."

"Ooo-kay," Tantalus said. "Thank you for sharing those meaningless numbers."

"They're sailing coordinates," Daichi interjected as everyone looked at him. "Latitude and longitude. 30 degrees, 31 minutes north and 75 degrees, 12 minutes west."

Annabeth said, "He's right! The Gray Sisters gave us those coordinates. That'd be somewhere in the Atlantic, off the coast of Florida. The Sea of Monsters. We need a quest!"

"Wait just a minute," Tantalus said.

But the campers took up the chant. "We need a quest! We need a quest!"

The flames rose higher.

"It isn't necessary!" Tantalus insisted.

"WE NEED A QUEST! WE NEED A QUEST!"

"Fine!" Tantalus shouted, his eyes blazing with anger. "You brats want me to assign a quest?"

"YES!"

"Very well," he agreed. "I shall authorize a champion to undertake this perilous journey, to retrieve the Golden Fleece and bring it back to camp. Or die trying."

Finally they were getting somewhere. Percy was so happy about this; he was going to help the camp again!

"I will allow our champion to consult the Oracle!" Tantalus announced. "And choose two companions for the journey. I think the choice of champion is obvious."

Tantalus looked at Annabeth and Percy, as if he wanted to fry them alive. "The champion should be one who has earned the camp's respect, who has proven resourceful in the chariot races and courageous in the defense of the camp. You shall lead this quest...Clarisse!"

"Ahem!" Naruto did a fake cough to get his attention.

"And Naruto," Tantalus added fearfully when he heard him.

The fire flickered a thousand different colors. While the Ares cabin started stomping and cheering for Clarisse, Naruto's fan club and some campers began clapping and cheering for Naruto.

"CLARISSE! CLARISSE!"

"NARUTO! NARUTO!"

Both Naruto and Clarisse stood up from their respective places and smiled at everyone.

"We accept the quest!" Clarisse said for both her and Naruto.

'The first part is complete; time for part two,' Naruto thought. After that he gave a nod to both Thalia and Daichi.

"I also want to go to the quest!" Thalia shouted. She quickly stood up as everyone turned towards her.

"No!" Tantalus shouted back.

"It is my tree, so I want to part in this quest," she said. You could hear the thunder rumble in the distance and the lightning crackle as it struck the ground somewhere.

Daichi also stood up from his seat. "I'm also going; I'm Master Naruto's bodyguard."

Tantalus gritted his teeth as he looked at both the half-god and half-titan, but before he could say anything to them, Naruto cut him off.

"We accept!" Naruto said, while Clarisse nodded her head.

"Very well, you can go on the quest," Tantalus said, gritting his teeth.

"Wait!" Percy shouted. "Grover is my friend. The dream came to me."

"Sit down!" one of the Ares campers yelled. "You had your chance last summer!"

"Yeah, he just wants to be in the spotlight again!" another said.

Clarisse glared at Percy. "We accept the quest!" she repeated. "I, Clarisse, daughter of Ares, will save the camp with my companions Naruto, son of Hades, Thalia, daughter of Zeus and Daichi, son of Gaia."

"And bodyguard of Master Naruto," Daichi said.

She added, "Yes, bodyguard of Naruto!"

The Ares campers cheered even louder. Annabeth protested, she wanted to join the quest, and the other Athena campers joined in. Everyone then started taking sides—shouting and arguing and throwing marshmallows. Percy thought it was going to turn into a full-fledged s'more war until Tantalus shouted, "Silence, you brats!"

His tone stunned everyone except Naruto and Daichi.

"Sit down!" he ordered. "And I will tell you a ghost story."

All the campers reluctantly moved back to their seats. The evil aura radiating from Tantalus was as strong as any monster.

"Is he going to tell them about him?" Daichi whispered in Naruto's ear.

"Maybe," Naruto replied without taking his eyes off Tantalus.

"Once upon a time there was a mortal king who was beloved by the Gods!" Tantalus said as he put his hand on his chest.

"This king," he said, "was even allowed to feast on Mount Olympus. However, when he tried to take some ambrosia and nectar back to earth to figure out the recipe—just one little doggie bag, mind you—the gods punished him. They banned him from their halls forever! His own people mocked him! His children scolded him! And, oh yes, campers, he had horrible children. Children—just—like— you."

He pointed a crooked finger at several people in the audience, but he never pointed at Naruto or Daichi because of fear.

"Do you know what he did to his ungrateful children?" Tantalus asked softly. "Do you know how he paid back the gods for their cruel punishment? He invited the Olympia—"

"Cut it with your lame story, Tantalus," Daichi said, stopping him from saying anything more.

Tantalus looked at him angrily.

"We know your story. How you cut your son, boiled him, and served him up in a banquet for the gods," he said everything casually, as if talking about the weather. Many campers' faces turned green just thinking about it. "It isn't that scary if you ask me. I've heard and seen many horrible and terrifying things in my life. I knew one person wholiked to tear out the still-beating hearts of powerful shinobi to extend his own lifespan and arsenal. His name was Kazaku. Then there was Sasori..."

As Daichi began to tell them about the many horrible actscommitted by ninjas, unknown to them, Naruto was adding his own illusions to give a dramatic effect to the stories. After hearing the stories, most of the campers' faces turned green while some of them just passed out.

Daichi said, "...Then there wa—"

"Just stop it!" one girl from Aphrodite's cabin shouted. Her face turned three shades of green. She then stood up and she ran to the bushes, throwing up.

"Daichi, you can't stop without telling them about him," Naruto said.

Daichi turned to him. "Who?"

"Orochimaru," Naruto said as the air around them became cold.

"Is it just me or it is suddenly getting colder here," one camper said as he rubbed his hands together.

"No, it's not just you," another camper said, shivering slightly.

"Yes, Orochimaru," Daichi said as he turned towards campers. "He was sadistic, selfish, disgusting and heartless. He was a mad scientist; he kidnapped sixty children, and experimented on them, inadvertently killing 59 of them." All of the campers' faces turned pale after hearing this. "To gain immortality, He conducted many experiments on himself, turning himself into a giant white snake made up of smaller snakes." To scare them more, Naruto placed an illusion on them as an image of a large white-snake appeared behind both him and Daichi.

"And he had succeeded in it," Naruto said as everyone looked at him. "He had achieved pseudo immortality by transferring his soul from body to body using his Living Corpse Reincarnation jutsu. And, you know he was always preferred bodies of young kids." All color drained from their faces as they gasped in horror. Some campers just passed out. Ignoring their reaction, the son of Hades turned towards Tantalus. "Can we go to see Oracle now?" He pointed his thumb at campers. "I don't think, they have any more complaints."

Tantalus didn't say anything, he just gave a nod. Naruto and Daichi hurried off to the Big House, but not before taking Clarisse and Thalia with them.

XXX

Both Clarisse and Thalia were a bit nervous after the stories that Daichi and Naruto had told, and walking at night to the Big House where the creepy Oracle lived would make anyone scared shitless.

Thalia turned to Naruto and grabbed his hand. "Are those stories true?" she asked.

"Yes," Naruto answered as he pulled her closer. "They were filtered versions of real stories."

"If those were filtered versions, then I don't want to hear real stories," Clarisse murmured before she noticed they were at the door. She took a deep breath and said, "Here goes nothing."

Daichi opened the door for them and they went inside. They went up four floors that ended under a green trapdoor. Daichi pulled the cord and it swung open to reveal a ladder.

"So, this is the Oracle," Daichi said, looking at a female,human body shriveled to a husk. She wore a tie-dyed sundress, lots of beaded necklaces, and a headband over long black hair. The skin of her face was thin and leathery over her skull, and her eyes were glassy white slits.

Then, a green mist poured from the Oracle's mouth and they heard a voice in their heads:

"I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach seeker, and ask."

Naruto looked at his friends and gave them a nod.

"What is my destiny?" they all asked at the same time.

Once again the green mist spewed out of the Oracle's mouth and it turned into an image of Ares, Clarisse's father.

"You shall sail the iron ship with warriors of bone...

You shall find what you seek and make it your own..."

But despair for your life entombed within stone…"

He changed again to an image of a woman, who had blue eyes and blond hair.

'Mom,' Thalia thought.

"You shall fail without friends, to fly home...

Know this, the journey will not be easy..."

She then turned to an image of Madara Uchiha.

"You shall gain something that..

But you shall have to face your past…."

He began to dissolve. The mist retreated, coiling into a huge green serpent and slithering back into the mouth of the Oracle.

"That was fun," Naruto said and they made their way out of the Big House.

Clarisse asked, "What do you think of the prophecy?"

"This is going to be a tough quest," Thalia said as she gave her opinion.

"And an interesting quest," Daichi added.

"And what did she mean we shall gain something more?" Thalia asked Naruto.

"Who knows?" Naruto said.

Then they said goodbye to each other and left to their respective cabins.

XXX

It was almost midnight. The sky was clear and starry. Percy had decided to go to the beach to calm his mind. He was drinking a Coke and checking out the constellations Annabeth had taught him.

Somebody then spoke to him, "Beautiful, aren't they?"

Percy almost spewed soda because standing right next to him was a guy in nylon running shorts and a New York City Marathon T-shirt. He was slim and fit, with salt-and-pepper hair and a sly smile.

"May I join you?" he asked. "I haven't sat down in ages."

Percy didn't know what to do, but the guy acted so calm about the whole thing that he found it hard to be afraid.

"Uh, sure," he said.

The guy smiled. "Your hospitality does you credit. Oh, and Coca-Cola! May I?" He sat at the other end of the blanket, popped a soda and took a drink. "Ah ... that hits the spot. Peace and quiet at—"

XXX

Inside of the Hades' cabin, Naruto opened his eyes and stood up from his bed.'What is a god doing here?' he thought.

"What happened, Master?" Daichi asked as he entered the room with his mace in his hand.

"There is a god in the camp."

"A god?" Daichi asked. Then he closed his eyes and placed his finger on the ground. A few second later, he opened his eyes and looked at Naruto. "Yes and he is with Percy."

XXX

"Um...who are you, exactly?" Percy asked nervously.

"Haven't you guessed by now, a smart boy like you?" the guy front of him said.

"Percy, he's Hermes, God of thieves, messengers and travelers," a voice said.

They turned in its direction to see Naruto, dressed in a black shirt and pants.

"Smart aren't you, son of Hades," Hermes said as he took out his phone. The mini-snakes writhed up and down the antenna right next to his ear. "Original form, please."

The phone glowed a brilliant blue. It stretched into a three-foot-long wooden staff with dove wings sprouting out the top. Two full-sized green snakes coiled together around the middle. It was a caduceus, the symbol of Cabin Eleven.

"You're Luke's father," Percy said.

'Idiot.' Naruto shook his head for his stupidity.

The god pursed his lips. He stuck his caduceus in the sand like an umbrella pole. "'Luke's father.' Normally, that's not the first way people introduce me. God of thieves, yes. God of messengers and travelers, if they wish to be kind."

"God of thieves works," one snake said which was around his caduceus. His name was George.

"Oh, don't mind George," another snake said. Her name was Martha. She flicked her tongue at Percy. "He's just bitter because Hermes likes me best."

"He does not!"

"Does too!"

"Behave, you two," Hermes warned, "or I'll turn you back into a cell phone and set you on vibrate!" He turned to Naruto. "How did you know we were here?"

"I'm a sensor and you have a unique energy signature. I can sense you," Naruto said.

"Ok," Hermes said before he turned to Percy. "Now, Percy, you still haven't answered my question. What do you intend to do about the quest?"

"I—I don't have permission to go," Percy said.

"Percy, don't break the rules; just bend them in your way." Naruto gave Percy his advice. Hermes gave him a nod before turning to Percy. Then Naruto watched Hermes tell Percy a story and give him advice on how to save Grover. After that he offered him some gifts in exchange for saving his son, Luke.

"Look," Percy said. "Lord Hermes, I mean, thanks and everything, but you might as well take back your gifts. Luke can't be saved. Even if I could find him ... he told me he wanted to tear down Olympus stone by stone. He betrayed everybody he knew. He—he hates you especially."

Hermes gazed up at the stars. "My dear, young cousin, if there's one thing I've learned over the eons; it's that you can't give up on your family, no matter how tempting they make it. It doesn't matter if they hate you, embarrass you, or simply don't appreciate your genius for inventing the Internet—"

"You invented the Internet?"

"It was my idea," Martha said.

"Rats are delicious," George said.

"It was my idea!" Hermes said. "I mean the Internet, not the rats. But that's not the point. Percy, do you understand what I'm saying about family?"

"I—I'm not sure."

"You will someday." Hermes got up and brushed the sand off his legs. Then he looked at Naruto.

"I don't have any intention of killing your son...not yet anyway," Naruto said, whispering the last part. He turned back and took a few steps before he disappeared, leaving Percy alone with Hermes.

(TBC)

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