Reading: Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian II: A Hero's Peril
IV
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
"Can you tell me how this is my fault again?" Percy asked in annoyance as he and Annabeth examined the abandoned ruins that they had fallen into.
"Yes, please tell me what I did wrong this time?" the son of the sea asked his girlfriend.
The blonde girl turned and fixed him with a glare, putting her hands on her hips as she did so.
"Ah, the lecture pose," said Percy dryly.
"You pushed me down here, Seaweed Brain!" Athena's daughter accused. "And instead of doing what a sane person would do and going to get help, you fell down after me!"
"You always blame me," said Percy with a pout to his girlfriend.
"Out of love Percy, out of love," said Annabeth as she teased him.
"Hey, you're the one that told me to look over your shoulder. What else was I supposed to do? Use mirrors?" defended the son of Poseidon before he looked up at the hole they fell through. "Maybe we could climb back up."
"Wouldn't you like to know what this place is first?" Annabeth asked as she turned back to the wall and ran her hand over the stone.
"I thought she wanted to get out?" Leo asked with a blink.
"Naw, Annie would much rather look around." Thalia teased, getting her friend to look pink cheeked.
Percy scratched the back of his head while answering, "Not really, no. I'd rather be back at the Cabins talking to Tyson."
"You did that yesterday, didn't you?" Annabeth asked, still running her fingers over the stone before finding an engraving, "What the...Gods above!"
Geez, and she said Thalia spent too much time around Naruto? Percy silently joked as he turned and looked at what she found. Carved into the stone was a thick triangle, one that he recognized as the Greek symbol of Delta
"Wait, he knows it?" Annabeth asked in disbelief.
"Hey!"
...Okay, one that he was forced to recognize after the Quest for Artemis by Naruto. Percy shuddered as he tried to repress the thought of studying with Naruto.
"Oh now this I must hear." Athena smiled
The blond demigod had made good work on teaching Percy everything he should've already had memorized by now, and had joked that if Percy ever had an important test, Naruto would always be willing to help. Percy made sure never to tell his mother about Naruto's 'miracle' teaching method.
"Oh it couldn't have been that bad." Nico said with a roll of his eyes.
The constant writing of names to where they belonged in myth-history made his hand ache at the memory. Writing it in both Greek and English.
The horror.
"Baby." Was muttered by a few, getting dirty looks from Percy as he huffed and crossed his arms. That was torture, at least to him.
"Do you know what this is?" Annabeth asked him. The raven-haired son of Poseidon looked at her with a face that said 'Duh'.
"Never seen that face before," Annabeth said in an honest tone.
"The symbol for Delta," he replied easily. The grey-eyed blonde gave him a look of surprise that he wasn't sure if he should've been insulted by or not.
"No, no, I feel insulted," said Percy as he continued pouting.
"Well, it's that, but more importantly it's the symbol for Daedalus," explained Annabeth as her eyes glistened in excitement,
"As they would," Annabeth gushed a bit, getting Percy to laugh at her somewhat in her excitement.
"Percy...We're inside of the Labyrinth!"
"...The Labyrinth?" Percy repeated after a moment of thought, "You mean that place that Minos had built for the Mino-er, Pasiphae's Son?"
"...Who are you and what have you done with Percy?" Annabeth asked with false accusation as a smile threatened to break through her joking façade.
"I can be smart," said the boy in question, getting some wishy-washy hand motions from the crowd. Darn it!
Percy crossed his arms and frowned at his friend.
"I'll have you know Annabeth Chase, that I do have a brain," retorted the raven-haired teen.
"Damn right!"
Annabeth snorted and stifled a giggle, making Percy scowl at her. He turned and went back to the hole, glaring up at it while mumbling to himself about not being stupid and friends that took jokes too far sometimes.
"You people honestly do." The sea child said to them all.
Annabeth rolled her eyes and went back to running her hands over the stone, "Oh, come on, Percy. You know I'm just kidding."
"You've been hanging out with Thalia too much," Percy grumbled
"Or just the right amount." Thalia said with a quirked lip.
"Aw shut it," Percy said, grumbling about stupid cousins.
as he started to check the wall for loose stones. "Maybe if we pry one loose-"
The path they were in suddenly shook, causing the two teens to stumble backwards into each other. With a grunt, Percy pushed himself back to his feet before offering Annabeth a hand up. The daughter of Athena immediately went to the wall and pressed her ear against it, ignoring her friend as he caught sight of something beyond her.
"This...This is amazing," she quietly exclaimed. Turning to Percy, she waived him over, "Percy, you have to come listen to this! It sounds like something is moving the stones!"
"Not a something," both Percy and Annabeth stated.
"Uhh, Annabeth, something isn't moving the stones," Percy said, pointing at the still shifting walls in front of them, "The stones are moving themselves!"
"There it is," said Percy.
"Wow, seriously?" Leo asked Annabeth, who nodded.
"That's...That's so awesome!" Annabeth exclaimed, her urge to examine the once lost maze rising to new levels.
"Sure it is," Percy said with a small smile, amused at her excitement, before grabbing the excited girl's shoulder. "C'mon! We have to go and tell Chiron about this!"
"Ah, but...I suppose you're right," the slightly disappointed girl sighed out.
"You just wanted to keep it for yourself to figure out," said Thalia with a roll of her eyes.
The child of wisdom flushed at the truth of it.
She turned her head to the hole, "did you hear that?"
Percy strained his ears before recalling something Naruto had taught him, Thalia and the di Angelos (the big three's kids trained well together, who knew?).
"Who indeed," said Jason.
Percy, Nico, and Thalia looked at each other and shrugged, they didn't see how it was possible.
Taking a deep breath and going to his center, Percy muted out the world around him.
"I think that is just taking a forced nap," Hazel said with a smile on her face.
Naruto had taught the four children of the Big Three how to find their centers in case they felt like they were going to lose control of their abilities.
"Wait, we can do that?" Nico asked with a blink, getting rounding blinks from the other Big Three kids.
While Percy didn't know what Nico or Bianca's abilities were,
"Oh come, how could you not know?" Nico asked as he looked to Percy, "I mean, it's pretty obvious!" he exclaimed while using hand gestures.
"Oh, forgive this lowly mortal Ghost King," Percy said with a roll of his eyes has he rested his chin in his palm.
he knew that if either he or Thalia lost control of themselves, someone would be in a world of hurt. Currently, Percy felt like he was floating in the ocean; his body had relaxed and faintly he heard someone calling his name. It sounded a lot like...
"That's Grover!" Percy exclaimed, cupping his mouth and shouting up the hole, "down here! We're down here!"
"Wow, that looks like a useful thing." Leo said.
"Huh, maybe something to train for," said Jason with intrigue written on his face.
"…Dude, always with the training."
A few seconds ticked by and Grover was above them with a tall curly haired teen with a single blue eye in the center of his face standing behind him. Tyson, the dimmer than average teenage Cyclops, smiled down at his half-brother, "Percy!"
"Tyson." Percy said with a smile. "Good to see him in the story."
"Annabeth, Percy!" Grover sighed in relief, "Thank Pan you're both okay. I'll pull you up!"
"How are you going to do that? It's a eight foot drop," Percy asked, getting a look of bewilderment from Annabeth.
"How did you know that?" the girl herself asked.
"I don't know, maybe we'll find out if you don't interrupt wise girl," the boyfriend answered, getting a flustered look from his girlfriend that made him smile.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Percy sheepishly replied, "Naruto, uh, taught me the way he learned how to measure distances."
"I really think this boy is a blessing for your spawn, squid god," said Athena as she teased her rival, who got grumpy at the title.
The hard way, added the demigod as he recalled Naruto throwing Percy into the ocean from various heights with Blackjack's help.
"…I hate the blond jerk, I really do." Percy said with a perfectly straight face. Everyone else was cracking up.
Percy still felt a little betrayed at the way his steed had laughed at him.
"No, no, I feel your pain brother."
Then again, he also felt sorry for Naruto, who had tried to teach the other three,
"That dick," said Thalia in disbelief. He was supposed to be her boyfriend?! Not her tormentor!
Zeus was grumbling at the thought of having Hades' children in the air.
only for Zeus to stop him from teaching the di Angelos with a very close meeting with a lightning bolt
"There it is," Hades said in a dry tone.
and Thalia to threaten him with a pain beyond imaginable in a place no man would ever recover from if he even tried to get her on the pegasus' back.
"Good for her." Thalia nodded sternly.
Percy had to hand it to Naruto; the blond had guts to shrug a threat like that off.
"Blast," Zeus silently cursed while Apollo grinned like a fool at his brave (some noted idiot) son.
Then again, I'm just not used to it, Percy thought as he looked up at Annabeth as she was pulled out of the Labyrinth. Percy's eyes glazed over when he accidentally stared at the girl's jean-covered rear, not that he was aware of it.
"Perv," Thalia glared at Percy, how dare he!
Percy sweat a bit at the angered look he was getting, but felt his throat dry at the sly look Annabeth was giving him.
"So, you liked that huh?" was all she asked.
He turned away from her, giving a fake cough, "Um, continue please?"
So the story did.
He was snapped out of it when Grover said, "Alright, your turn, Percy!"
"Yeah, sure," Percy mumbled, still a little dazed from the sight he just took in,
"I'm sure," Nico joked to him, getting Percy to scowl and playfully push him.
jumping up to grab his friend's hand. Grover and Tyson pulled the teen out of the ground. Once he was back in the small cave he had entered through, Percy smiled at his half-brother and friend, "Thanks guys, for coming so quickly."
"Quickly?" Grover repeated in confusion while Tyson just beamed at his brother. Percy looked down at the hole and then around the cave, nearly having a heart attack when Annabeth's sabertooth Washington growled at him when his gaze went over to his teammate.
"Trouble at home?" Leo asked
"I think someone's in the dog house," said Piper with a smirk.
"Wouldn't it be litter box?" Jason asked in amusement.
"Ooh, good one Jay," said Thalia as she grinned.
"…Hate you, all of you." Percy grumbled.
The blonde girl grinned and patted her large cat on the head.
Annabeth had a quivering lip, like she still wanted her own awesome big cat.
"Good boy, Wash," she praised. "Helping them find us."
Percy's eye twitched as he watched the cat turn into a happy puppy at the side of his owner. Washington hated him,
"Sucks for you bro," Leo said with no sympathy. He got the same looks all around, but some were laughing quietly to themselves.
probably because of how negatively Annabeth had reacted to him stealing her hat when they had first met,
"Yes, very stupid of you," Annabeth scolded her boyfriend.
"It wasn't me!"
and had taken to trying to trip him up whenever he wanted to hang out with Annabeth last winter.
"Wow," Thalia blinked, "Kitty vendetta much?"
"Like a ninja!" Nico snickered out.
What made it worse, Annabeth refused to believe that the cat was out to get him.
"Ohh," Apollo drawled out. "It's like one of those situations. Tough luck, wethead."
She just thought that he was being mean because he was a dog person, which was an ironic claim considering one of the first monsters that had tried to kill him was a Hellhound and afterwards there was an incident with Chimera disguised as a Chihuahua.
"Very ironic." Percy said in a dry tone, looking to Annabeth and asking (pleading), "Please don't get a cat or dog any time soon."
Annabeth just hummed cheerfully, a finger to her chin. "I'll think about it," she said in a light hearted teasing tone.
It didn't ease the son of the sea at all.
"Percy," Grover started, snapping the teen from his one-sided staring contest with Annabeth's Sabertooth, "We've been looking for you for two hours."
"Ah, the time issues." Annabeth said in a tired tone, "That was a problem."
"Big time." Percy agreed.
"What?" Annabeth and Percy questioned as one, equal amounts of surprise on their faces. They looked at each other before looking back at the concerned satyr.
"Grover...that can't be right," Annabeth said as she stopped lathering her cat with attention,
"Aww, you made the pussy sad. Ow! Someone had to, though!"
"Not you!" Artemis growled at her brother with a disgusted look on her face, one that the females in the chamber shared.
"We were down there for maybe ten minutes at most."
"It was two hours," Grover said confidently. He should know, he was hypothesizing what horrible events could have happened to them while they searched.
"Thanks Grover," said the couple dryly. Leave it to the Goat-Man to think up stuff like that.
Tyson nodded, his curly locks bobbing with his head as his single eye turned into one full of worry.
"Yeah, me and Grover have been to the lake, the big hill, and searched most of the forest," the Cyclops added, "I even got stuck in the entrance for a few minutes before Wash came and pushed me through."
"Well, it seems Tyson's vocabulary has gotten better." Annabeth said. Percy nodded to her on that one.
Percy and Annabeth shared another look before the son of Poseidon came up with a hypothesis, "Time moves slower...like in the Lotus Hotel?"
Nico shivered a bit at the mention of that place.
"That could be it," Annabeth said before looking to Grover, "We have to tell Chiron about this."
The satyr nodded in agreement, turning around and squeezing through the gap. Tyson followed with a small push from Washington, the large cat following after him. Annabeth went next,
"Leaving Kelphead to ogle Annie's backside, again," said Thalia with a pointed look at Percy. He just flushed once more.
and Percy followed after her. This was starting to look like it was going to be another one of those summers,
"It's always going to be one of those summers," said Percy with a pout. "I never get to have a normal summer, ever since I went to summer camp."
"Normal is overrated," Hermes waved off.
Percy didn't fully agree with him.
one that could mean the end of the camp. Realizing this, his mind went back to Thalia and Naruto and wondered how their mysterious quest was going.
"Not fun obviously." Thalia said dryly.
A few hours prior, on a highway in the middle of Nevada, Naruto was pressing himself against the back of a black SUV while one of his old friends, and the term is used loosely mind you, took shots at him with a handgun, scaring the poor family within the vehicle.
"Asses," said Piper with a frown.
"The dead aren't all like that Piper, they're just, programmed that way," Hazel tried to tell her friend.
"Well, those ones are still jerks."
He heard the Skeleton step on broken glass in approach and the sound of a clip falling to the ground.
This reminds me of that film you and Zeus' girl watched, Helios idly commented, You know, the one with that huge muscle guy who sounds German. What was it called? Obliterator? No wait...Eliminator?
"Terminator Hel's, c'mon bro," said Apollo with a smile. Leave it to Helios to say something like that!
"Once again, Godly commentary is wonderful," Hades snickered out.
You're really not helping right now, Naruto silently replied with a frown as he scanned the area before finding one of his stray arrows just a bit away from him. Pushing himself to his feet, Naruto dashed for the arrow, making the Skeleton hurry after him. A car was approaching and about to merge in the other lane to avoid the gunman, consequently causing the arrow to be shattered.
"Nemesis is really showing her bitchy side to him," Apollo said as he frowned.
"Nah, this is teaching him not to slack off like a moron." Ares argued.
"Hm, I guess," but the Sun God didn't have to like it though.
Naruto pressed himself to run faster, diving for his arrow just as the car began to merge.
"Does, he, make it?!" Apollo shouted out like a sports announcer.
"Hirashin!" Naruto announced as soon as his fingers touched the arrowhead. The nearest point he could think of was at Thalia's side, which is where he ended up. Landing in the car and ignoring Thalia's gasp at his current state,
"Just another day at the office honey." Hermes smirked, getting snickers all around.
Naruto panted before lifting his hand and grinning when he held the arrow within it. Slamming on the brake and tearing his seal off the accelerator with his other foot, Naruto waited until he came to a complete stop before looking at Thalia. Giving her a small apologetic smile, Naruto said, "Be right back!"
"Honestly, overtime at work?" Apollo played along with Hermes.
"But I want to buy that new car. I need it," said the Thieving God as the brothers broke out into laughter.
"Wait-!" But he didn't.
"Jerk." Thalia said as she huffed.
Naruto once more teleported with the hood of the Peterbilt in mind. He had left that Skeleton unsupervised and two humans in a wrecked SUV at its mercy.
"He better clean up his mess," Piper said sternly with crossed arms.
That and he could hear honking horns and gunshots. Reappearing on top of the dreaded Peterbilt, Naruto pulled his bow out and prepared the arrow he had obtained. Flicking the nock, there was a brief hum before the arrowhead whirred and unfolded, turning into a blade-like arrowhead that was about two inches in width.
"That's deadly looking," Frank said…finally.
Naruto whistled sharply, gaining the attention of the Skeleton, before releasing his arrow.
The Skeleton's head was severed from its neck and much to his ire the monster didn't dissolve into a pile of dust.
"You'd think you'd give him some kind of Stygian Iron for a situation like this," Poseidon spoke to his dead ruling brother.
Hades shrugged, who knows. Maybe the kid never asked or the god just didn't want to give handouts.
It did get hit by a swerving car, though, sending its bones across the interstate.
"Pickup sticks anyone?" Leo asked with mirth.
"I could use a new xylophone." Apollo mused with a rub of his chin.
"Oh, boo, that was cliché!" Hades countered to his nephew.
Come to think of it, none of the other skeletons dissolved into gold dust either. With a twitching eye, Naruto grumbled and asked, "What does it take to kill you guys?"
"Us," Nico said with a grin, "or stygian iron." He supplied dutifully.
Sighing, he dropped from the hood of the Peterbilt cab, grunting as he landed on the ground. He jogged over to the SUV and knocked on the driver's window, peering in before he asked, "Hello~? Anyone home? Sorry I hit your car...Wasn't exactly my fault, but you know."
"At least he's polite about it," said Hestia with a small giggle as she finished reading the line.
"Still doesn't help we wrecked though." Piper said as she pouted. That had to hurt, despite the airbags.
The driver's door opened and after he stepped back, Naruto had to do a double take at who stepped out. His mouth popped open before he dropped his bow, pointing at the man in shock, "Holy shit, you're-you're...You're Tristan McLean!"
"He's star struck~!" Apollo sang out with a loony grin.
Although concerned for the teen's safety, Tristan couldn't fight down his amusement, "Yes, are you alri-?"
"Oh shit," Naruto said as his eyes widened and his hands went to his head, "I just hit Tristan McLean's SUV! His fan base is going to kill me!"
"He does have a good point," Piper giggled. Okay, this was a somewhat hilarious way to enter the story.
"I'm just saying that he's starting to drive me up the walls," a displeased Thalia said as she sat in the car with her arms crossed, glaring at the empty driver's seat. Around her left wrist was Kyu in his bracelet mode.
"Couples consoling already?" Aphrodite asked in amusement, "with a demon bracelet of all things?" the goddess asked further with snickers coming from all around.
"Oh shut it," Thalia pouted.
Since she lacked the ability to lend him chakra, he couldn't materialize in his spiritual form. And now he was stuck listening to his partner's chosen mate
"No one says that anymore! It's girlfriend!" Thalia protested with pink cheeks. Everyone rolled their eyes at how fast she defended that one. Someone seemed to be getting into the story, a bit too personally perhaps.
(or girlfriend as the Kit insisted) complain about the Kit's suicidal/stupid plans.
"More like crazy with a splash of awesome!" Apollo argued strongly.
"No, if he gets it from you, it's stupid." Artemis attested, getting a whining pout from her archery brother.
"Wow, you're slow on the uptake," Kyu commented,
"Even the demon is getting annoyed," said Hera with a grin, getting her stepdaughter to scowl at her comment.
getting a glare from the daughter of Zeus,
"Damn right," Thalia added her own glare.
"It's a curse of the Uzumaki to be as crazy as possible when in battle.
"Of course you would have a lover like that," said Artemis with a sigh.
"I just know how to pick 'em~!" said Apollo with a smirk.
A pregnant Mito, the Kit's great-grand cousin or something, once dove headfirst into battle when she heard her beloved husband had been scratched by a kunai.
"I am loving this woman," Aphrodite smiled widely. Now that was love.
"While she was pregnant?" Artemis asked with a frown.
"All in the name of love Artemis~" the love goddess stated, getting the goddess of maidens to scowl at her. That could have risked the child greatly.
And let's not forget the Kit's mother! Talk about a nut job, now she's a woman I would rather be allied with than against."
"What was his Mom like?" Thalia asked, fishing for information her secretive boyfriend refused to share.
"Why?" Jason asked, "Want info before you meet her?" he asked with a small smirk.
Thalia pushed him, hard. "Stuff it, Superboy," she answered with pink cheeks.
Whenever she asked him about it, he would smile and say that she would eventually find out.
"Not ominous, whatsoever," Piper said with a chuckle.
"Agreed," Hazel nodded, grinning a bit.
What irked her even more was that she had asked it in front of the di Angelos and Percy, both of who were given knowing looks from her blond boyfriend, which meant that they knew something she didn't.
"And so the jealousy sets in," Annabeth giggled.
"Oh, no you don't," Kyu chastised with an audible frown in his voice, "The Kit will tell you about Kushina in due time...All I will say is that he got his stupid suicidal plans and most of his personality from her."
"See, see!" Apollo pointed, "Right there in fine print." He grinned to his sister, "He gets it from his mother."
"Still, you decided to have a child with her, so it is partly your fault." The moon goddess countered.
Thalia frowned, trying to think of what Naruto's mother looked like. She had to be beautiful, Apollo wouldn't have had a child with someone (even if he was amnesiac) who wasn't,
"You are amazingly vain like that," Artemis quipped with a frown, getting a sheepish look from her sun god brother.
let alone marry them.
"Wait I married her?" Apollo asked with an owlish blink.
"Apollo got married?" asked his siblings in disbelief. Was it the end of the world?
Hera looked at Naruto in a whole new light now. This was certainly an interesting development.
And even that had to mean she was beautiful.
Aphrodite huffed a bit, still remembering the picture. Oh, why couldn't that one be hers, or even a legacy? Was that so much to ask for? She beamed at the thought of Naruto being a legacy through his mother.
From what she could get out of the spirit within her boyfriend's weapon, she was feisty and bad at planning in the long term, coming up with crazy battle plans on the fly.
"Sounds like someone I know," Annabeth grinned at Percy, who flushed a little at the comparison.
The raven-haired punk of a demigoddess growled and closed her eyes in frustration.
"Ugh, I'm so sick of thinking about Whiskers' past," Thalia grumbled to herself. Kyu chuckled and she shifted a glare down to the gleaming red ruby on her wrist.
"Great, I'm being mocked by jewelry."
Aphrodite just smiled at that one.
A black slit appeared across the gem, looking up at her almost gleefully.
"Then perhaps you should stop thinking about it and just beat the answers out of him," Kyu suggested.
"…I am liking that demon bracelet a lot right now." Thalia said with mild glee.
"Of course you would," her friends quipped dryly in stereo.
Thalia's mouth curled up in a smile as she replied, "That is tempting."
Before Kyu could say another thing on the subject, her door had been pulled open and Naruto peered in. Unbuckled, Thalia was free to jump out of her seat, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him.
"Aww," the girls cooed at Thalia, who just pouted at their stupid running joke. Little brats.
Naruto grinned as he hugged the girl back, standing upright as he did so and consequently pulling her out of the Challenger as he did so. Putting Thalia back on the ground, the girl immediately punched him in the arm.
"Ah, there's the Thalia we know and love," Percy smiled.
"You're a gods damned lunatic!" scolded the girl, "You just had to go and do something crazy like jump out of the car while it was still moving! In case you haven't noticed Whiskers, I can't drive!"
"Yet…hopefully." Thalia added with a pout, she could never be taken seriously behind the wheel now.
"Sorry, sorry," apologized the blond teen as he rubbed his arm. He then gestured to his right and her left, to the father and daughter he had pulled from their wrecked car, and continued, "Thalia Grace, meet Tristan and Piper McLean."
"And so the sister-in-laws met," Leo narrated, getting the couple to blush and Thalia to give Piper a mock stern look.
Thalia gaped as she stared at the heartthrob movie star, a faint blush coming over her cheeks before shaking herself out of her daze and looking at the girl next to him.
"Oh ho!" Aphrodite cried out, turning to Thalia she asked, "Window shopping I see, not that I blame you of course."
"Lady Artemis!" Thalia whined out childishly.
"There, there Thalia," her matron goddess spoke and glared at the love goddess, "Enough, this is getting old."
"Oh it never does~!"
Furrowing her brows, she looked at Naruto questionably. The blond had a grim smile on his face and nodded, making her cover her eyes before asking, "Do they know?"
"Not...exactly," sheepishly admitted the blond, turning his girlfriend around and whispering into her ear, "Told them that we're secret agents
"Oh like we would believe that," Piper scoffed.
...Tristan seemed to buy it a little to eagerly.
Piper deflated, "We'll, no way I would," she argued weakly.
Don't think he's the spiritual type so let's just keep our real purpose out here on the down low."
"Wow, he got a good read on him fast," Leo said to Piper, who nodded in return.
"A secret agent?! That's the best you could come up with?" Thalia hissed, slapping him in the arm once more.
"It sounds interesting enough," Hazel said.
Naruto winced and rubbed his arm. That was going to bruise if she kept hitting him in the same spot.
"Oh grow up and heal sun boy," Thalia said with a roll of her blue eyes.
"Dad's the God of Truths and I'm the reincarnation of the God of Oaths. I don't lie well...
"That's nice to know," The Hunter said with a cat-like smile.
"Uh-oh, poor Naruto." Percy said, pitying the blond.
The only time I do is when I leave things out and it's really obvious when I do that," He admitted before realizing his slip and the slight widening of eyes Thalia gave him. Her eyes narrowed and a brief flicker of lightning danced across them that made Naruto's Adam's apple bounce as he swallowed.
"He done goofed," Nico said with a dull look. Poor guy, they hardly knew thee.
"We're having a long talk after we get to wherever we're going," Thalia snapped aloud before smiling at the father and daughter, "So, uh...Hi."
"…Not awkward at all," Hazel muttered.
"Hello Thalia," Tristan greeted with a smile and a nod that would melt hearts,
"Mm, it certainly does," the lady of doves smiled.
"Thanks for letting us hitch a ride with you."
Thalia sent another look to her boyfriend. Naruto sheepishly laughed, "I kind of...hit and wrecked their car."
"A long talk," Thalia reiterated, making Naruto nervously chuckle.
And there came the whole group whipping noise. The boyfriends and husbands sighed, life was tough, it really was.
She looked back to the movie star and his daughter before sighing, "Alright, let me move my bag first."
Once everyone was situated, Naruto slid his seat back in front of Thalia, who gave him another glare. He gave her an apologetic glance, but he and Tristan were too tall to comfortably sit in the back of the sports car.
Thalia got some looks and she flustered a bit. "What? I really like shotgun!" she said in defense of herself.
Tristan looked at the rear window and his eyes widened when he realized it was shattered.
"You weren't kidding when you said it was a dangerous job," Tristan mumbled before looking at Piper, "You all set, Pipes?"
"Oh, he didn't!" the child of love bemoaned and covered her face with her hands.
"Da-a-ad," Piper groaned in embarrassment as the handsome blond
"Ooh, watch out Jay, Piper here may be smitten with your sister's boyfriend if you don't run into her soon~" Leo teased the two.
Piper frowned with crossed arms. "Not funny, Leo," she huffed.
"Or she may just have a thing for blond hair and blue-eyed guys." The child of the forge added, getting swatted on the shoulder.
and his equally beautiful partner laughed at her nickname.
"Aw, thanks for the complement, Pipes," Thalia grinned to her brother's girlfriend, who just blushed a little bit.
Tristan smiled and sat forward before looking at the blond driver.
"So what brings two secret agents, teenage ones at that, to Nevada's highway?" he asked.
Naruto grinned back at him, "Secret mission, what else?"
"Duh," Mr. D drawled out, silly mortal.
"Of course," the movie star chuckled out. The radio blared to life as the tires squealed, which was quickly turned down by the blond driver. He smiled apologetically to the amused Tristan, who waved it off.
The four sat in silence, save for The Used's Pretty Handsome Awkward playing in the background,
"Perfect song for the this setting," Apollo chuckled out along with Hermes.
before Piper, a little curious asked, "So...how old are you, Naruto?"
"Why? Want a date?"
"Shut up Leo!" Piper frowned at her friend, who just laughed at her anyway.
Thalia arched a brow and a smirk tugged at her lips when the blond easily replied, "Seventeen."
"Seventeen? And you work for the government?" Piper asked with her brow furrowed.
"Dig it deeper, please." Piper said in a smug tone.
Naruto groaned inwardly while Thalia's smirk became more prominent. The girl was smart. Hopefully she was another Annabeth.
"We hoped," Annabeth stated to her friend who giggled at her wanting to be a child of wisdom at her first knowledge of her demigodhood. But still, Piper was far more down to earth then the rest of her siblings.
"Yes..." Naruto said uncomfortably, shifting in his seat. A strange feeling was coming over him, a lot like when that girl Drew...Oh dear gods no.
"Wow, charmspeaking him for info, nice Piper," Thalia complimented on, getting a thank you from the love child.
"So, he knows who you are," the love goddess stated with a wink, "Seems you may be going to see your own boyfriend soon~" she teased, getting her daughter to smile brightly at the thought of meeting Jason in a more, well, proper way. Not that she regretted the way the met now of course.
Taking a deep breath, Naruto quickly started to expel chakra through his body in quick pulses. The last thing he needed was for this apparent daughter of Aphrodite to charmspeak him into telling her every single one of his dirty little secrets.
"Yes, because that would be so bad," Thalia stated with a roll of her eyes.
"Yeah Piper, stop trying to ruin the plot!" Apollo mock whined to the girl.
Piper just huffed, it wasn't like she was trying to ruin the story so soon!
Last thing he needed to do was tell his girlfriend about that time in Tea Country.
Thalia did not like the thought of what happened in Tea Country. Aphrodite and Apollo, however, were frowning at the lack of information, both of them (along with the other Olympians) were curious.
"Okay," Piper replied, unconvinced, "So where are you going?"
"California," Naruto replied. It was a reasonable destination considering where they were and who they were with.
"Why?" Piper asked.
The love goddess giggled a bit at her daughter, ah, the ever annoying question of that three letter word.
Naruto behind him briefly to look at the girl before looking forward once again, merging around another car.
"Trying to get a cover job," he answered, trying at least to stick with his first lie.
"Smart, but he hasn't faced a persistent little pre-teen before I bet when it comes to questioning." Hermes stated.
"What as?" pressed the young and unaware demigoddess. Thalia's smirk had turned into a full out grin and she was trying oh so hard not to laugh as her boyfriend's shoulders tensed.
"You like watching him squirm," Percy pointed out.
"I do."
Percy turned to his girlfriend, "Please don't end up like that." He pleaded.
"Hey!" Thalia cried out, "That is right here," she growled, but Percy ignored her. Something he would pay for down the line.
"I'll think about it seaweed brain."
A sign of his annoyance at the way the curious girl was trying to pick apart his earlier statements.
"An actor," Naruto answered, his left hand gripping the wheel tight enough that he was cracking the plastic underneath the leather cover.
"Wow, poke the bear," Hazel said to the child of love, who in turn just shrugged it off. She was a curious child.
Thankfully his rescue came in the form of the girl's father.
"Aw," Piper whined, her dad was taking away her fun~!
"An actor? That's not going to be an easy cover you know," Tristan replied, before adding, "Unless you have the right connections."
"Well, a little prayer here or there could help," the god of arts mused.
"Huh, what a shame," Thalia added in obviously false disappointment. "And he doesn't have any of those."
"…Wow, you are trying to mess with him," Jason said to his sister who shrugged in return.
"Serves him right with all the stunts he's already put my other through."
"Yes, it is a shame," Naruto said through gritted teeth, looking at the mirror and meeting his amused girlfriend's eyes. He should've known that she'd be against him in this. This had to be payback for his 'game' of chicken earlier.
"See?" Thalia said in a haughty tone.
"I could help if you like," Tristan added, nearly making Naruto lose control as his surprising statement made the blond choke on air.
"Alright, I can see where this is going," Apollo grinned, "My kid, the rising star," he said in a dramatic tone, holding his hands out like a camera, imagining names on movie posters with a wide grin.
"Don't get ahead of yourself," Artemis snorted.
"Aw come on sis, it is so going to happen. And with how much he takes after yours truly, well, how could he not become an amazing actor." The god of the sun asked with a hand over his chest.
"More like a Ham," Hephaestus stated with a roll of his eyes.
"You could?!" Both Thalia and Naruto questioned in equal amounts of shock. The blockbuster star nodded.
"Sure, why not?" Tristan said with a shrug, "Be nice to have a friend in the business. And there's this script I was sent from a friend of mine, and they're looking for a blond teenager like yourself. The working title is Theseus."
Dionysus growled somewhat and Percy started to squirm a bit, but Poseidon just gave his nephew a look while looking proud to have a movie about his son.
"Theseus," Naruto repeated as his brows furrowed, "Like the son of Poseidon, Theseus?"
"That's exactly right," Tristan confirmed with a nod, ignoring the 'what the fuck' look Thalia had donned.
"Seriously, how does that just happen?" asked the hunter.
"Fates?" was Annabeth's response, somewhat unsure.
"Of course it would be."
The actor continued, "They wanted me to play the villain, King Minos,
"Good for him," Nico said in a bland tone, while Piper looked intrigued that her father would have a villain role.
and I said I would if they could find the guy they were looking for."
"What's the story? Another ancient Greek remake?" Naruto asked. Tristan shook his head.
"No, they wanted to go another route," the movie star replied as the girls in the back listened to him, "A modernization of the story with a happy ending for Theseus and Phaedra, who is replacing Ariadne."
The god of madness snarled now, yeah, he was not liking this. Theseus in general was bad enough. At least they are removing his wife from the equation.
Take the job! Helios ordered, Happy ending for the win!
How do you even know what that is?! Naruto asked internally while Tristan went into the details of the story. An alternate futuristic utopia ruled by the tyrannical king (Minos) who had a monster and a prison that acted as though it was alive. A young fisherman, Theseus,
A position Poseidon seemed to approve of. Hm, maybe he should get Percy involved in that.
would be sent along with eleven others to the prison and would have to survive traps as well as evade the monster.
The demigods nodded, it sounded interesting so far.
There was a side-love story that made Thalia's jaw clench.
"Aw, someone doesn't like to share," said Annabeth as she teased the Hunter.
"How would you like Percy having some actress all over him?" Thalia asked back, getting Annabeth to zip her lips. "I thought so."
Eventually there would be a face-off between the Minotaur and Theseus and by that time, Naruto was sold.
"All right...so where are auditions taking place?" he asked, not aware of the way Thalia was glaring at him.
"Jerk, at least ask me first," said the hunter as she pouted, crossing her arms in annoyance. Before what she said caught up to her, and blushed a bit.
"Well, they're still in development but you could drop us off at the producer's office," Tristan said, "Mr. Lyre,
"Oh, we know who this is," Artemis groaned, palming her face.
Hermes snickered, turning to his brother he asked, "Really? That's your cover name?"
"What? It sounds simple and still holds flair to it." Apollo argued.
whose the head of the production company, is a pretty nice guy and actually kicked off my acting career after his brother's wife saw my photo on his desk."
Piper turned to her mother in surprise, "Did you really…" she trailed off.
The goddess of love winked at her daughter, "I knew he had it in him, Apollo seemed to agree, too."
Piper gained a soft smile as she turned back to the story.
"Really, what's the production company?" Naruto inquired curiously.
Tristan looked to the west with a small smile on his face before he said two words that made Naruto and Thalia groan, "Sunrise Films."
"Even more tasteless." Artemis stated with a look towards her brother, "To appease your ego?" she mocked a bit.
"Oh yeah~" he grinned back, "And it seems I'll be making a cameo~ Who da god?"
"Not you," was the resounding answer from the other gods, getting Apollo's shoulders to slump.
"Jerks."