Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Reading: Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian II: A Hero's Peril

XXIV

Naruto returned to camp just as his father started to dip out of the sky towards the west. He dropped Annabeth, Leo and Michael off and before Chiron could stop him, sped over to the airport, intent on picking his no doubt traumatized girlfriend up.

"Ha ha," Thalia said dryly as some sniggered at her.

While he waited for their flight, Naruto lazed around at the airport, going to the fountain occasionally to check in on camp. One time it was Annabeth who answered, asking him about the seal and how he knew it was Uzumaki work. That made him laugh and he tapped the side of his nose, making her pout and end the call.

Annabeth huffed at that with a pout, crossing her arms as she got a few amused glances.

The second call he made, around eight or nine-ish, had him talking to Will about doing a concert the next night to celebrate Michael's birthday and to help Bianca get back into the swing of camp.

"Aw, that's sweet of him," Aphrodite giggled as Apollo whistled at that for his little player.

Hades and Nico on the other hand simmered a bit.

After a bit of teasing Will about Wianca, Naruto ended the call and looked to his left, where a young boy was looking at him. He had brown hair and his equally brown eyes were wide as he looked at him.

"What did you just do?" he asked.

"Another demigod?" Percy asked, since the kid just clearly saw through the Mist.

"Maybe." Annabeth said with that thoughtful look on her face.

"Do you believe in magic?" Naruto asked. The boy nodded and Naruto knelt down in front of him. "Well...What do you think I did?"

"Magic?" the boy asked.

Naruto winked and held a finger to his lips. "Don't tell anyone, okay?"

He nodded and Naruto smiled. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a drachma he had sealed away. "Here, maybe one day you can do magic, too."

Apollo rubbed his chin, "This seems important somehow."

"You really think so?" the boy asked.

"I'm usually pretty good at this sort of thing. Hey, is that your dad?" Naruto asked, looking past some other waiting people at the approaching man that looked a good portion like the boy in front of him. When the boy turned to look away, Naruto bent the light around him and left that spot for now. Cool exit for the possible demigod? Check.

"Oh, without a doubt." Leo grinned, so swag.

Now, to see if he could get a name...

"Carter! Carter, what'd I tell you about wandering off?" the boy's father asked. Carter told his father about the magic man that had his dad hurrying off like he had a monster on his trail.

"I swear I've seen that guy before." Hades mused with narrowed eyes, now where was it?

The poor confused boy was asking him what was wrong while the departing man pulled him along.

Carter huh? Cool name. Naruto thought with a grin as he reappeared back by the fountain. The blond son of Apollo couldn't help but feel that he'd seen the man before somewhere.

"See? Naruto agrees with me." Hades noted towards his employee.

Shrugging it off, he went over to the arrivals board and searched for the flight coming from California. He snorted as soon as he found their flight. "Gate J-1...what are the odds?"

"One must honestly wonder." Poseidon mockingly said as Zeus glowered at him.

So he had some authority over an airport, so what? Like mister all-my-children-can-operate-anything-on-the-ocean could say anything.

After going to the waiting area by the gate for Thalia and Piper's flight's luggage pickup, Naruto plopped down in a chair and leaned back, relaxed. He had an hour to kill still and his mind drifted to, oddly enough, Percy.

"Thanks." The son of Poseidon said dryly.

He wondered what was taking the wetheaded wonder so long to come back. Maybe if he took Zephyr out to scour the area around Mount St. Helens he could find a hint as to where the son of Poseidon would be.

Or find a charred corpse…

Percy gaped at that while Annabeth herself blanched at the very thought.

"I don't think there would be anything left of him to be honest." Hephaestus said, getting some looks, "What?" he asked with a blink.

but he felt that wasn't going to be the case.

About an hour later, Thalia was clinging to the armrests of her seat on the large jet. There was a piece of gum keeping her from biting her tongue off and helping her adjust to the cabin pressure in the aircraft.

"You look catatonic." Nico said in fascination.

"Shut it, di Angelo!"

Next to her, peering out the window with a smile on her face was Piper. She had a blast seeing her dad and hanging out at Camp Jupiter with Jason.

"I'm sure she did." Leo grinned at her, as Piper flushed and hugged Jason's arm, who smiled back at her.

She took a glance at Thalia and bit her lip to keep from snickering when the older girl jumped at the captain speaking to the passengers.

"This is just priceless." Percy snickered, but Annabeth came to Thalia's rescue.

"Funny, when we were on one, you were just like that."

"…I had every reason to be!"

"Ladies and gentlemen this is your captain speaking. We will be landing momentarily and I'd like to thank all of you for riding on what was my smoothest flight yet." The pilot's chipper attitude had Thalia growling.

"So she makes planes safe, I see." Leo mused and looked at Jason, "I wonder what would happen if you become a jet pilot?"

"He would be the best." Zeus boasted with a smirk as the gods rolled their eyes at that while Jason gave a sheepish smile to the praise.

"Well at least we know that you can handle flying if it involves visiting your baby brother." Piper said with a smile. Thalia just glared at her.

"I will shave you bald." She said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, I was just teasing. So extreme." Piper rolled her eyes.

"And cruel." The lady of doves huffed, shaving her baby bald…oh, Thalia was lucky she loved Nalia.

"You deserve it." The hunter stated with a glare.

Catching a glimpse out the window of their descent, Thalia sat back in her seat, closed her eyes and started to take deep calming breaths.

"The landing is just the worst part."

"Valdez! So help me!"

"Message received." Piper said as they landed. The two demigoddesses got out of the 'death machine' as Thalia dubbed it,

"It isn't a death machine." Zeus muttered as Ares laughed.

"I'd like to see that though. Hey, Heph-"

"No."

"Tch. Jackass?"

"Hey pot, I'm kettle, how's life?"

and quickly exited the terminal to where Naruto said would be waiting for them. As they entered the terminal, he stood upon spotting them, giving them both a bright smile and waving them over.

Thalia hurried over to him, smiling lightly back at his beaming face. As he opened his mouth, most likely to ask how their trip was, Thalia cut him off by grabbing both sides of his face and pulling him down into a heated lip-locking kiss.

"Whoo, go Thalia! Use some tongue!"

"Annie!"

Piper blinked at the sight along with the confused, but welcoming, Naruto. The blond in question quickly relaxed into the kiss with his girlfriend and wrapped his arms around her.

Aphrodite giggled, "How bold, Thalia. Such a public display. I knew you had it in you."

Thalia was grumbling at that with pink cheeks.

"Ahem..." Piper coughed into her fist to gain the couple's attention. "Please save it for the bedroom."

"Shame they haven't gone that far, yet."

"Aphrodite, so help me…" Artemis glared at the love goddess, who tried to look innocent. It didn't really work.

The two broke apart, blinking in surprise at all of the attention on them. A few women were smiling at them while a few men looked a bit annoyed, like they would have to top that later or something.

"Yeah, guys, you will." Hazel snickered.

Thalia flushed lightly and Naruto scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Point taken, Pipes. So how was the flight?" He asked as he rested his arm over Thalia's shoulders.

"Don't call me that." Piper said.

"You so know he will, forever, right?" Leo told her with a smirk as Piper pouted.

"I figured."

"It was alright for the most part."

"That's good," Naruto said, turning to Thalia with a smile. "And did you enjoy the flight?"

Thalia lightly elbowed him in the side. "Shut up. It was a one-time thing."

"Says you, sister," Thalia snorted, "I will never get on one of those things."

"Aw, really? I've always wanted to go into an airplane..."

"One. Time. Thing." Thalia said sternly. She crossed her arms. "Never getting on that death machine or anything like it again."

"Fine." Naruto said, sighing in defeat. There went that plan for getting on the Mile High Club during his already planned Hawaii trip.

"Oh, I'll mile his high for him alright." Thalia said in a menacing tone.

He loved those islands and their waves. "So how did your trip go after getting off the death machine?"

Thalia huffed through her nose. "Well after we got off the damn thing, we managed to find Piper's dad in the crowded LAX terminals..."

"Which shouldn't be awkward at all." Piper nodded mockingly.

"Piper!" Tristan McLean said with a smile as the father and daughter reunited with a hug. Thalia walked up to the two, her bag slung over her shoulder. "I thought you would be coming by cab...How and why were you in New York?!"

"Uh..." Piper struggled to come up with something.

"Definitely not awkward." Leo nodded, but got a slap to the arm, "Ow…girl, you hit hard."

"Mister McLean." Thalia got the man's attention and used her lessons in Mist control via Naruto–

"You'd think Hecate would have fudged her up on her attempt." Apollo stated, getting a smirk from Hera and a grumble from Thalia.

"I knew that was a good idea! Er, sorry, Thalia-chan. You can continue."

"Thanks."

–to alter Tristan's memory a bit. The actor's eyes glazed over a bit before he shook his head and smiled at the girls.

"So…brainwashing my dad."

"I had to!"

"Still!"

Leo snorted, "You kinda gave him a mind wipe drink, didn't you?"

"Leo!" Piper complained as Thalia rolled her eyes.

Hypocrite.

"So what made you guys decide this was a good meeting place?" Tristan asked. "I mean, it's a long drive from my hotel just to come here and wait for you two to show up."

"Sorry, Mister McLean. Piper just wanted to show off how well the camp is doing for her. It's only been a few days and so far not a penny is out of place." Thalia said, getting a glower from Piper.

Piper gaped at Thalia, who was whistling innocently. Leo was snickering though.

"Really? The, uh, problem is taken care of?" Tristan asked, surprised and smiling.

"Dad!"

"Yep! Been a quick learner this one."

"I hope you both know that I can hear you." Piper said, pouting at the two as they walked and talked.

"I just want to make sure that the camp is doing everything that was promised." Tristan said.

"Isn't that sweet of him, piper," Thalia told her with a smirk as the daughter of love pouted.

He patted his daughter on the head and smiled. "Are you making friends?"

"Yes. She's unfortunately one of them." Piper said with a pout to Thalia, who shrugged. It was the first thing she thought of. Wasn't her fault Piper was the convict in-training.

"Convict, huh?"

"I try my best." Thalia smiled shamelessly.

"Anyone else?"

"Well, Thalia's brother is nice." Piper said, her words making her father purse his lips slightly.

"Well, that seems to be a future issue." Leo commented, getting Jason to look uneasy at that.

Thalia arched a brow, but before she could comment, the daughter of Aphrodite continued. "There's also Leo and Silena. And Naruto, of course. He's kind of crazy, though."

"I've met his father. I'm not too surprised." Tristan chuckled.

"Cause we both so awesome." Apollo smiled that dazzling smile.

"Anthony Lyre is very eccentric when it came to his work. He always seems to be bouncing between projects at a speed I just can't comprehend."

"The mind of a squirrel on coffee." Thalia said,

"Fairly accurate." Artemis nodded as Apollo looked stunned.

"Ouch, why are the lil' sis' so mean?"

"Someone has to," his twin told him bluntly.

making a mental note to keep Naruto away from coffee. For life.

"Now that is just cruel." Leo pouted, since Piper and Jason do the same thing to him.

"I wouldn't go that far. He's eccentric." Tristan said.

They made small talk, Tristan asking more about the teachers at camp, pleased to hear about the good curriculum and the possible scholarships offered. He was also forthcoming with some information about the next gig Naruto was signed on for.

"Ooh, what? What?!" the sun god said in excitement.

"What?!" Naruto said with wide eyes. "I signed on for one film!"

"That's what I thought." Thalia said with a frown as she looked at him and slugged him hard in the arm. "That's for not reading the fine print, idiot."

"...That sneaky Roman bastard..." Naruto said under his breath as he rubbed his arm.

"I know how you feel, nephew." Athena nodded, getting eye rolls from everyone.

"Hope you enjoy the role of Barry Allen, whoever that is." Thalia said, making Naruto blink before he grinned.

"What?!" Hermes said, glaring at his brother, "One of my kids should get that slot. Hell, he was based off me!"

Apollo snorted, "I beat you in a race, plus which of your kids could act?"

"…Shut up."

"On second thought, I might have to thank that sneaky Roman bastard."

"No, hate him!" Athena exclaimed.

"Why?"

"No reason, just continue Thalia-chan."

"...You'd better tell me later." Thalia said, before going back to her story.

"Yeah, she wants to see him in the suit." Nico sneakered, getting punched by Thalia, "Ow!"

"Don't hesitate to call me or Cathy, Piper." Tristan said as he gave his daughter a hug outside the small gas station. Thalia had once more used the Mist to make him think he was dropping them off at a bus stop, she was getting good practice with the Mist as of late. He and his demigod daughter broke apart and Tristan gave his heartthrob smile to Thalia. "Thanks for helping out. Tell Naruto I said hi and that he should drop a line to me soon."

"It really is a dazzling one." Aphrodite sighed as Ares bared his teeth.

"Sure thing, Mr. McLean." Thalia said, averting her eyes slightly from his smile. He gave Piper another hug and a kiss on the head before he got back in his car and drove off, honking twice as the demigoddesses waved goodbye.

The two girls shared a look before turning and beginning the familiar trek to the tunnel that would lead them to the Roman demigod sanctuary. In a short amount of time, they found themselves standing outside the gates, Thalia and the Roman god of boundaries exchanging glares. Piper stood to the side, watching as the two argued.

Jason groaned, "Only you would argue with a statue."

"God," Thalia corrected him, "Statue god."

Thalia was merely defending them as Terminus called them lowly Greek children that didn't know the difference between a faun and a fern.

"He loves to pick fights." Frank noted as Hazel nodded in agreement.

Before the shouting match could really get heated, the gates opened and the two Praetors walked out.

"Thalia!" Jason said, elated at seeing his sister on much safer terms. "I take it the quest was a success?"

"Finally, some sib bonding." Thalia smiled, wishing she had more time to do it in this dimension to be honest.

"Yep. We're here to deliver some information we found on the way back to camp." Thalia said, hugging the boy and ignoring Terminus' grumblings. "And to play catch up. We barely got to talk on that quest. Stupid ninjas and all."

"Stupid ninjas." Thalia pouted.

Jason hugged her back with a laugh. "Yeah, well. What can you do?"

When they broke away, Jason and Piper shared a greeting while Thalia and Reyna greeted each other civilly.

"Suuure." Said everyone as Thalia grumbled, stupid Roman girl.

"Liar." Piper coughed into her hand. Thalia leveled a glare at the girl and Naruto blinked in confusion. He hummed for a second in thought before shaking his head with a sigh of acceptance. Well, hopefully they did become civil while he wasn't present.

"I doubt that."

"Shut up, fish boy."

"Nah, don't wanna."

He and Piper shared a look, knowing he'd get an unabridged story from her some other time.

"Little traitor." The hunter glared at the charmspeaker, who shrugged in return.

"Turnabout is fair play."

"Zing!" Apollo laughed, getting Thalia to pout.

Thalia continued after deciding that she'd deal with Piper later.

"Ha, busted." Thalia smirked at Piper, who blanched. Uh-oh.

"So anyway, Jason and the other praetor, Reyna, greeted us."

"Welcome back to Camp Jupiter, daughter of Ju-Zeus." Reyna said. She looked a bit disgruntled at using the Greek name for the god of thunder. "You as well, daughter of Ve-Aphrodite."

"You can just see the pain in her eyes." Leo snickered as Jason gave a light laugh to that.

"Thanks." Thalia said leveling the girl with a look. She turned to Jason and smiled. "Didn't really get a clear tour last time. What with all the excitement of the attack taking place."

"I hope that Choji guy healed..." Piper said behind her.

"I don't." Reyna said, frowning.

"Me either." Ares said as Mr. D scowled.

"Shut up, Ares."

"Hehe."

"Honestly, me either." Jason said. "He had the nerve to attack my camp. Got what he deserved."

"Yeah, but he was under orders." Piper said.

"Does that forgive what happened in World War II?" Reyna countered, getting Piper to begrudgingly agree.

"That was smooth." Leo whistled as Piper scowled at Reyna getting one up on her.

"Anyway, about that tour?" Thalia asked, looking at her brother in an attempt to change the subject.

"We got a better tour of Camp Jupiter this time around. Actually having enough time to have a full one instead of stopping to eat." Thalia said, making Naruto frown at the reminder of her anger at him. She caught this and gave him a small apologetic look that he countered with a reassuring smile. His arm over her shoulders pulled her just a bit closer and Thalia continued.

"See? All is well with love and a little drama," the love goddess sighed out happily.

"So instead of ending with the mess hall, we ended at the gladiator arena."

"Best thing ever." Dionysus commented with a smile.

"Sounds fun."

"Fun...Yeah, I suppose it was fun." Thalia said, smirking while Piper shook her head.

"You got into a fight, didn't you?"

"Thalia just had an innocent look on her face, it was possible though.

"And this is where we do gladiatorial combat." Reyna said professionally, gesturing down to the dirt covered ground where two sons of Mars – according to Jason anyway – were doing battle with shields and swords.

"Go at it boys!" Ares cheered on, Frank joining him a little for his brothers.

"Not bad." Thalia said, humming in thought. "I wonder how good it is compared to our Camp's combat training."

"It's vastly superior." Reyna said before Jason could speak. "You Greeks may have a decent culture, but we are warriors through and through."

"Bitch say what?" Thalia glared.

"Ooh," Percy whistled, "Now she went and done it."

"Oh really?" Thalia asked, feeling challenged personally by that and a bit of anger burned within her. "Then let me test that with a fight."

"Destroy them, Thalia." Athena supported her half-sister in a second.

"I don't know, Thalia." Jason said carefully, getting a look from his sister. "I mean, it's just that with your heritage, I don't want this to affect our camps' relationship. It's shaky at best with the Senate divided on the issue."

"Do it." Athena pressed as the gods rolled their eyes.

"I see no harm in it." Reyna said, getting a baffled look from Jason. She looked at him and shrugged. "What? Naruto has our support and we may not rule Jupiter solely, but we do have a larger sway than the Senate when it comes to the upcoming war. It's just a friendly bit of competition."

"Oh, real friendly." Thalia grinned, wondering what Roman noob she would be smocking.

"I'm still not sure..."

"Oh, come on Jay. Have some faith in your sister." Thalia said, before frowning at him. "Or do you think I can't handle it?"

"Dude, keep it zipped." Leo told him.

"Duh." Jason said in return, he was not that stupid.

"Uh..."

"Might want to let her do it, Jason." Piper supplied with a sigh. "She's got that look in her eyes and this isn't an argument you can win. If it helps, we can go over the documents we found while we watch?"

"Together, alone, holding hands and playing footy~" Leo teased the couple, who gave blushing smiles.

"There you go. Something to occupy you during the fight. You did like to investigate things...like that stapler, for instance."

"Oh you-!" Jason stammered as Thalia and Piper snickered as Leo laughed hard at that. Jason just crossed his arms, so not cool.

"Shut up, Thalia." Jason said, pouting at the smirk Thalia gave him. He knew the story of his scar thanks to Naruto, who learned it from Thalia,

"You told him?!" Jason gasped out as Thalia laughed louder now, "I hate you."

"Oh man, this is just priceless."

and now it was apparently teasing material. "Fine."

"Excellent. I'll go get everything set up." Reyna said with a small smile.

"So you actually fought in the arena? Who'd you fight?" Naruto asked. He wished he could've seen her fight. It probably would've been awesome.

"I was no doubt." Thalia said smugly as Percy rolled his eyes.

"So full of herself."

"I know." Nico nodded.

"What was that boys?"

"Nothing!" the boys of the Big Three said with smirks.

"Someone from the First Cabin." Thalia said, shrugging.

"Cabin?" Jason asked her as Thalia shrugged, same thing to her to be honest.

"Cohort, Thalia." Piper said, correcting her before Naruto could. He grinned at her and she flushed.

"Little Cabin Six wannabe."

"Shut up, Naruto."

"Make me, Pipes."

"I hate him." Piper pouted.

Thalia smirked as the two began their small banter, recalling her fight silently.

"You're sure about this?" Jason asked for the umpteenth time as Thalia stretched her arms across her chest. Her spear was stabbed into the ground beside her and she was waiting for her lazy opponent to show up.

"A lazy Roman?" Hazel asked questioningly.

"Say it isn't so." Frank mock fretted with a small snicker.

"Yes, Jason. I'm sure. Now get out of here before I decide to kick your butt." Thalia said teasingly, making him frown.

"You can't kick my butt."

"Please, I could own you."

"I can fly."

"And you'll be giving me a moving target for my bow, so shut up."

Jason just grumbled at that. Stupid sister.

"Oh, I can so kick your butt, little bro."

"Cannot."

"Can so." Thalia said, smirking. "I've got a ninja boyfriend. Sure he's an idiot, but there's some perks to it. Quite a lot of them actually"

"Proof is in the boytoy." Aphrodite grinned as Thalia smirked, making Jason pout.

"...Shut up." Jason said as he groaned. The last thing he needed to think about was his sister and Naruto as a couple. He tried not to think about what they did together, that damn health class from last month was fresh in his mind.

"Aw, did Jason learn the birds and the bees?"

"Go drown, Leo." Jason said firmly as the Latino laughed.

"Then beat it before you lose a seat." Thalia said, looking back at the opposite doors. She grabbed her spear and called her shield out. "Aegis!"

Athena let out a dark laugh that honestly creeped some of the gods out.

The arena was slowly filling and Jason regrettably left the floor when the opponent doors creaked open. He hovered up to where Piper sat and landed next to her before sitting down. "How many times did I say I don't approve of this?"

"Like eight times already?" Piper said with a small amused smile. "I'm sure it won't be too bad. Thalia's not going to kill anyone."

"Yeah, all friendly and stuff."

"I don't believe you." Jason said with a deadpan.

"It's not her opponent I'm worried abo-...What in the name of Neptune?" Jason asked, gaping as Reyna walked out, wielding her spear and decked out in full praetor armor.

The audience was silent for a moment until Leo spoke.

"Shit just got real."

Athena was beaming, perfect!

"...Okay, scratch that. She might kill Reyna." Piper said under her breath.

"Understatement." The demigods muttered as Thalia seemed pleased by this.

"What?"

"Nothing, Jason. Let's just have some ambrosia and nectar on standby." Piper said. If there was one thing she quickly picked up on, it was the healing qualities of ambrosia and nectar. Thalia explained that to her in Texas, and on the flight back to California, she looked it up some more. So they could eat a bit of the food of the gods and get healed, cool. Too bad they could wind up as melted stains on the carpet if they ate too much, if the legends were anything to go by.

"What are you doing out here?" Thalia asked, not really minding that Reyna was her opponent. It was still surprising, though.

"Catfight!" Leo cheered, along with the other young male gods, as the women frowned at that word.

It was just a spar.

"I'm here to ensure that Roman combat training is superior to Greek combat training." Reyna said, giving a small confident smirk.

"And then get your butt whoop."

"I don't know, Thalia." Jason said, "Reyna's tough, I mean really tough."

"Um, ninja boyfriend training?"

"Okay, so maybe it won't end as bad as I think it will be." Jason said but grinned, "Boyfriend, huh?"

"…Shut up."

"...I'm going to enjoy this far more than I should." Thalia said, grinning as she lifted her shield.

"Bring the pain, whoo!" Ares cheered, finally, a fight scene!

Her smile widened as Reyna's confident smirk faltered a bit when Thalia's shield glared at her, a visible shiver going down her spine. Already the daughter of Zeus had the advantage.

"Indeed she does, go Thalia." Athena openly cheering for the girl. Aegis, do your work!

"As will I." Reyna said once she recovered her composure. She spun her spear in her hand and brought her own simple shield up at the ready. "No fatal blows?"

"Even I know that isn't going to happen." Percy said dryly as Annabeth nodded.

"I make no promises, but if you want the handicap..." Thalia said, grinning as they circled each other.

"Ah, battle banter." Apollo sighed with a smile, always good to see.

Reyna's eyes hardened. "It is you who should be asking for the handicap."

"And she's pissed." Jason groaned, great.

"Really?"

"Indeed."

"Then let's test your theory!" Thalia said, rushing forward with the charging leap that Naruto had shown her. Her shield collided with Reyna's and the Romans in the stands released roars of approval. The two girls' faces were inches away, both glaring into the other's eyes. Reyna's helmet-covered head reared back and slammed forward, sending Thalia stumbling back to a knee.

"Tch, of course she armors up." Athena sneered, "To afraid to get hurt?" she mocked.

"Athena." Hestia said, "Comments to a minimal, please."

"…Yes, Aunt Hestia."

"Thank you."

"Only the arrogant and foolish rush to their deaths." Reyna said, smirking at Thalia as she growled. "Greeks are overly emotional. Quite easy to guess you'd make the first move."

"Oh wonderful," Hades groaned, palming his face, since Grace was like her father…

"Better than being a stupid little girl who's in over her head." Thalia said as she got back to her feet. Reyna's smirk fell into a small scowl once more and Thalia's lips quirked upward. "Bring it, bitch."

"And the bitch line has been thrown," Hermes shook his head, "It's all downhill from here."

"I am loving this," Leo grinned, eating more popcorn.

Reyna moved this time, swiping her spear from the side, Thalia deflecting it with her own. Reyna narrowed her eyes, sliding the shaft of her spear down, twisting the head up under Thalia's arm and tugging back in an attempt to disarm her opponent.

Thalia snorted, "Like I would fall for that."

Thalia was a spear woman herself, twisting with the attempted disarm and countering with an electrified swipe at Reyna's feet. Reyna hopped back, avoiding being shocked and glaring at the daughter of Zeus.

"See?"

Nico rolled his eyes, "Yeah, Thalia, we see."

"Resorting to cheap tactics?" She asked.

"No such thing," Ares grinned as Athena rolled her eyes, but silently agreed in this case.

"'If you're not cheating, you're not trying.'" Thalia said, smirking as she quoted her boyfriend. He had learned that from his uncle, and the Campers loved using that quote whenever they had the chance.

"Which uncle said that?" Ares questioned with a grin as Hermes snorted.

"Please, like you could come up with that. So it's obviously form me."

"Ha! You wish speedstick!"

It had caused a lot of fights between Cabins Five and Six, though that wasn't too surprising.

Reyna bristled at the quote and carefully reevaluated the situation. She had sparred against Jason and was prepared for powerful gales of wind to be thrown at her, not lightning.

"So you mainly focus on wind?" Thalia asked as Jason shrugged, he liked wind.

This made her wonder if she shouldn't have grabbed the lighter shield in favor of speed over defensive qualities.

"Foolish mistake." Athena gloated, some war child she was!

"I'm dying of old age over here." Thalia said with a smirk, making Reyna's eyes narrow.

"Sadly you can't do that here." Hades commented with a smirk to his niece, who scowled at the remark.

"You're not the only he's taught to spar." Reyna hissed, once more moving forward. She stopped short and allowed her spear to slide until the end was in her hands. She turned swiftly, avoiding a jab and with her spear out to its fullest reach, swung it hard. Thalia caught the attack with Aegis, sliding along the ground from the force of it and then struck.

"Nice hit," Frank whistled.

"Yeah, Reyna has always been good with her spear." Hazel added.

Her spear became encased in a large amount of electricity and she brought it back for another jab. Reyna just barely managed to bring her shield up as Thalia sent a large lightning bolt at the girl's previously exposed side.

"Dance," Thalia grinned as Zeus was smirking at the sight. Ah lightning, how wonderful you are.

The result was explosive, Reyna's shield fell to the might of Thalia's lightning and Reyna let out a cry of pain at the jolts going through her arm. She stumbled back and took a knee as she tried to regain feeling in her left arm.

"Which she really won't." Jason noted.

"It won't do you any good. Your nerves are fried."

"See?"

"Yes, Jason." Piper smirked, go Thalia!

Thalia said as she brought her spear back. "You can go ahead and surrender now."

The Romans hissed at that, bad move.

"Romans do not surrender! We never concede!" Reyna said, scowling at the girl. Her shaky left hand reached behind her and unsheathed a dagger just as big as her forearm.

"Okay, that's impressive." Thalia nodded, her respect for the girl going up a bit. If she could still move her arm after that, it was impressive.

In the stands, Piper leaned forward a bit, curious how she would use her dagger, being a dagger user herself. She had picked it out before they left, Katropis, the dagger of Helen.

"So now I've got two daggers?" the love child questioned with a grin, "Nice."

"Piper's going to dual wield? That sounds interesting." Annabeth noted.

Jason caught her interest and a golden brow arched upward before he returned his attention to the fight.

"What good will that do you?" Thalia asked, eyes narrowing. It was admirable that she didn't give up, Thalia didn't either, but Reyna was down an arm.

"Ooh, she's lowering her guard."

"I am not." Thalia frowned at Nico's remark.

"Uh-huh."

"I'm much more efficient on offense." Reyna said as she got back to both feet. "Did you ever learn just who my godly parent is?"

"Bell-something, right?"

The goddess of wisdom snickered at that while Jason just looked at Thalia, who had an innocent smile on her face.

"Bellona." Reyna said, lifting her dagger and spinning it around to hold it in reverse like Naruto would a kunai. "Goddess of war."

"Bah!" Athena sneered, she was the war goddess!

"Big whoop." Thalia said, feeling a bead of sweat form on the side of her face. A goddess of war. Great. Annie was tough as it was with her own dagger, but this girl had been raised in a military camp.

"…I could win." Annabeth stated firmly, "Right, Percy?"

"Um, yeah," he nodded quickly, "For sure." He supported.

Annabeth nodded, that was what she thought.

"Add that to the training of Camp and Naruto's teachings..." Reyna continued, making Thalia stiffen at her boyfriend's name popping up.

"Bad move." Percy said.

Reyna suddenly rushed forward with her spear brought back. Thalia prepared to defend against it with Aegis, batting the spear away, but in doing so, exposed her spear-wielding arm to Reyna. The daughter of Bellona slashed at the arm, drawing first blood by cutting through Thalia's leather jacket and quickly retreating. "I'm not your average daughter of Rome."

Thalia gasped, so did Annabeth, "She-! She-!" the hunter stammered with a furious face.

"You little...!" Thalia said, her teeth gritting tightly at the taunt and the small sting of fresh air on her arm. She wasn't really all that pissed about getting hurt. Her jacket was sliced! She loved this jacket, damn it!

"Really?" Jason asked her, "That's all that matters."

"At this point, yes, very much so." The hunter huffed.

Now she'd have to get Annie to fix it...again!

"Thanks, Annie."

Annabeth glared at her, "So, I'm your seamstress now?" she asked with a bit of bite.

"Because you love me?"

"And you're lucky for it."

"I love you too, Annie."

"I believe it's your turn." Reyna said, smirking.

"That's it, the kid gloves are off!" Thalia said, bringing the cut arm back and swiping it through the air. A large gale of wind sent Reyna sliding back to the walls of the arena, the Praetor using her own arms to shield her face.

Thalia pouted, "I don't usually sue wind."

"Seems Naruto fixed that for you." Jason smirked, getting his sister to scowl.

"Lightning's still better!"

"Of course." Jason nodded mockingly.

Thalia glared harshly at the Roman girl. She had the nerve to slice her jacket.

"Total bitch." Thalia nodded.

The balls to insult her camp to her face.

Annabeth shook her head, "Not cool."

The audacity to suggest she was better than Thalia in a fight.

Nico rolled his eyes, "Yes, because that is such a crime to your ego."

"Shut it, death breath."

And to top it off, the bitch went and hugged her boyfriend right in front of her.

"Someone get the pyre ready." Aphrodite commented, it was so on now.

Granted a hug could mean a lot of things, it wasn't an innocent hug and Thalia knew it. That was the grounds for war, but Thalia decided to be the bigger woman and let it slide. Until now, anyway.

"How amazingly mature of her," Poseidon said dryly, "Why, the benevolence of her father runs strong."

"Silence, Poseidon."

Thalia raised her spear up to the sky and the clouds over Camp Jupiter started to darken and swirl. A bolt of lightning shot down, striking the tip of the spear, supercharging it.

Apollo started to hum the chords for Thunderstruck, getting Thalia to look amused.

Piper and Jason were calling her name, but she tuned them out in favor to fire small bolts from her now crackling spear at the Praetor.

"Dance little Roman, dance!"

Ares just looked at his war sister, "Da hell is wrong with you?" he questioned, getting her to flush.

If Ares was asking that…oh Order!

Reyna was forced to drop her spear in favor of dodging the shots more efficiently and attempt to close the distance between them. That is until one bolt found its mark, sending the Praetor back into the walls of the arena with a loud bang.

"Ah, may aim so good."

"Probably only because of Naruto," Percy snorted since her aim use to suck at times.

"What was that, fish boy?"

"You heard me." He smirked, getting the Hunter to glower.

Thalia lowered her smoking spear down as Reyna groaned, her head free of the helmet and her golden armor caked in a nasty scorch mark, charred and indented.

"Amazed that it didn't blow up." Jason commented, since imperial gold was unstable if broken, but he guessed being dented didn't count.

The daughter of Zeus stalked forward as Reyna struggled to get to her hands and knees. Thalia willed Aegis away as she approached and gripped her spear with both hands, bringing her still smoking spear tip to Reyna's neck.

"Yield." It wasn't a suggestion this time.

"Well, that was a good fight." Annabeth nodded, Reyna tried her hardest and she did pretty well in her opinion.

Reyna looked up to glare at her, her face caked in dirt from the impact. There was still fight in her eyes, but this wasn't a battle she was going to win.

Jason palmed his face, "You should have knocked her out."

"Why? I won."

"You'll see."

She expected the smart logical response Annie would've given,

"That's because she's a child of the honorable war goddess." Athena frowned.

"Reyna doesn't give up easily." Hazel stated.

and that was what caused Thalia to be caught off guard.

"Never!" Reyna said, throwing dirt up into her face. Thalia gave a small cry of surprise and pain as the dirt hit her eyes. She cried out again when she was cut on the leg, making her drop to a knee and half-blindly stab out with her spear as she also rubbed at her eyes.

"Wow," Frank whistled, "She must really want to win," Reyna wasn't the type for cheap moves.

"I am loving this cat fight." Leo grinned widely.

Her spear flew from her hand and Thalia was kicked in the side, sending her to the ground. One of her eyes cleared up as she was kicked in the side again before her own spearhead was pressed against the underside of her chin, tilting it up.

"Bitch took my spear!"

"You will yield." Reyna said, scowling at her.

"What happened to cheap tricks?" Thalia asked with a glare through her one good eye.

"It's sometimes necessary to succumb to barbaric tactics when facing a barbarian." Reyna said,

"Well, she's right on one part." Hera commented, getting a glare from Thalia, but she just smirked in amusement.

digging the spearhead into her chin a bit. "Now surrender."

"Fuck you." Thalia hissed, swinging out with her arm and using the wind to layer over her fist, nailing Reyna in the gut hard enough to send her into the air and make her land a few feet away on her back.

"How eloquently put." Percy commented, "Very Thalia-like."

"Silence, water boy."

While Reyna tried to regain her lost wind, Thalia got back to her feet and rubbed furiously at her one bad eye in an effort to get dirt out of it.

"Now that's just asking for an infection." Apollo tutted.

She grabbed the dagger Reyna dropped and chucked it at the girl's hand as she reached for Thalia's now discarded spear.

"And Thalia with the ninja throw." Annabeth smirked at her, getting the hunter to roll her eyes.

Reyna quickly pulled away, glaring back at her as Thalia picked the spear up and capped the tip, returning it to the form of a mace canister, tucking it away into her jacket. The daughter of Zeus discarded her jacket and tossed it aside, looking at Reyna's discarded spear and holding her hand out. She made a vacuum of wind and the spear came to her hand just as Reyna picked up her knife.

"Okay, now that was cool," the hunter whistled, "Note to self, practice wind powers."

"Stealing weapons now?" Reyna asked as she got to her feet, looking a bit tired. Thalia felt the same. Layering on wind over her hand was as far as she could get, but Naruto had been helping her since the spring with her manipulation over the wind. He was trying to coax her to accept all aspects of being Zeus' daughter, use everything to her advantage. And honestly, until now all that control training seemed like a waste of time.

"Karate Kid thought the same thing, now look at what he did." Apollo said smugly.

"Hypocritical bitch." Thalia said accusingly. Reyna scowled.

"Lightning throwing puta."

Covering his mouth, Leo oohed at that while Thalia looked confused. Some of the gods blinked at that one, while Apollo joined Leo and Ares burst into laughter.

Thalia frowned and asked. "What'd she call me?"

"A whore." Hera happily supplied, a coy smile on her face.

"…Bitch!" The hunter snapped with rage on her features.

Oh no, she didn't! Thalia thought with sparking eyes. She charged forward with the spear, jabbing it forward in a feint and then aiming a swing with the rear end at Reyna's face. Reyna blocked with her dagger and took hold of the middle of her spear, the two girls struggling with it.

"Where's the mud?!"

"Leo." Jason snapped at his friend, "Sister."

"Not sorry at all. Whatsoever." The fire user said with a shrug.

Thalia growled at her opponent, sending a powerful current through the weapons that had Reyna dropping them. Reyna backed away from a follow up swing, kicking the spearhead down and then swinging her arm out. The spear shot deep into the dirt, and try as she might, Thalia couldn't pull it out. She had to let go of the weapon as Reyna swung a punch at her.

"So the claws come out now, huh?"

"Leo," Piper scolded him.

"This is hot. You can't stop me from making comments." The boy told her.

Thalia backed up, settling into a stance of her style that Naruto helped her create. He ended up jokingly calling her style the 'anti-ninja', seeing as it was more of a mixture of brawling and the beginnings of his village's academy's taijutsu.

"Sweet." Thalia cheered.

"Come on, Thalia!" Annabeth cheered for her friend.

"Go Reyna!" Hazel said and got some looks and she shrugged, "What? Got to go with home team, right?" she asked and looked at Jason, who was squirming at bit at that.

Thalia brought in her own fists, now caked in electricity, like a boxer would. Her jabs had Reyna backing up and countering with her arms, trying not to directly catch the thrown fists or the electrically covered arms that were being swung at her.

Jason hummed with intrigue. That was an interesting idea. He'd have to try that out. Thalia was thinking the same thing.

Reyna caught an attempted punch with one arm and ducked around Thalia, driving her elbow into Thalia's unprotected back. Thalia stumbled forward, her hands dropping the static arcing off it, quickly spinning around to keep an eye on her opponent. Reyna swung several punches at her before being caught by the wrist and being elbowed in the face.

"Whoo!" Ares cheered, "That one had to hurt."

Athena was cheering with him, it was so weird.

The crowd let out a low 'ooo' at that hit, seeing as their Praetor's nose was most likely shattered.

"Ouch," Jason winced, man, he was happy Reyna wasn't here. It would get ugly, fast.

Thalia followed up by grabbing the back of Reyna's neck and driving her knee into Reyna's stomach. The armor had Thalia regretting that decision slightly, but it did the job, winding the younger girl and forcing her to her knees.

"It's a chest plate for a reason, Thalia." Annabeth mock scolded as the hunter simmered and crossed her arms.

"I was getting into the fight, sue me!"

Thalia brought her foot up into Reyna's side much like the daughter of Bellona had done earlier to her, making Reyna fall to her back. A black combat boot slammed down on Reyna's chest piece, getting a gasp of pain from her.

"Bow before me!"

"Thalia," Percy told her, "Calm down."

"Never!"

"Surrender." Thalia said, glaring at the girl. "Now!"

Reyna coughed once, meeting her glare with defiant eyes. "Never!"

"Tough girl…but it won't do her any good sadly."

Jason just shook his head, his sister was taking this too personally now.

"You just don't know when to quit do you?" Thalia asked, glaring at the girl. She leaned down and grabbed Reyna by the top of her hair. "How are you going to outlast Naruto when you can't even outlast me?"

Thalia flushed and Apollo whistled as Hermes laughed.

"Innuendo!" the brother chorused with laughter as Thalia stammered.

"No way we did that!" she proclaimed intensely.

"What are you talking about?!" Reyna asked, her cheeks quickly gaining some heat as she thought about what that sentence implied.

"See," Aphrodite giggled, "Even Reyna knows what you're saying."

"We didn't!" Thalia just knew they hadn't.

Reyna got an answer in the form of an electrified fist slamming into her forehead. The Praetor slumped down, her eyes closed as Thalia stood upright and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well, that distracted her." Piper smirked to Thalia, who glared at her.

"At least she won," Athena said, feeling proud for the Greeks in winning.

She was still getting way too into it.

"Spars, you stupid bitch. Don't think about my boyfriend like that." Thalia said quietly, a bit of pink in her own cheeks.

"Ha! See?"

"Boo," the love goddess pouted with crossed arms.

The crowd was silent before Piper cheered, making the arena burst into applause. Despite her heated cheeks, Thalia quirked a grin and raised her arms in victory.

"I'm so awesome." Thalia grinned as her friends rolled their eyes.

"Thalia-chan?" The daughter of Zeus shook her head and looked at her boyfriend curiously. He was arching his brow and looking at her in confusion. "I've been trying to get your attention for a few minutes."

"Oh. Sorry, Whiskers. Just spaced out." Thalia said, smiling at him slightly. "What did you want?"

"I wanted to know if you won the spar." Naruto said. He blinked in surprise when her smile grew and she rested her head on his shoulder as they walked.

"Oh she certainly had, now to claim the spoils~!"

"Aphrodite." Artemis frowned.

"I won, idiot." Thalia said softly, wrapping one arm behind him and around his side. Her smile was wide. She had many spars with Reyna after that, always ending in a similar manner, but each time Reyna was more relentless and determined to wear her down.

"That must have been entertaining," Nico said as Thalia grinned but it turned into a scowl when he said, "Seeing Thalia get slapped around that is."

"Go hump a tomb stone."

"Really? I couldn't tell. You're gonna have to tell me about it sometime." Naruto said, grinning.

"Maybe one day, Whiskers." Thalia said, grinning up at him before looking at Piper. "But not today. Right now, I just want to go home."

"As my lovely lady commands, so it shall be." Naruto said with a chuckle as he led them to the parking space where his car was. They loaded up and headed back to Camp Half-Blood, Thalia having a secretive smile on her face while Piper and Naruto shared a look in the mirror. Things were definitely looking up.

"Yep, they are." Annabeth said and gave Percy a look, "You better be coming back soon." Her tone stern.

"Yes ma'am."

"Whipped." Leo rolled his eyes.

"Most of them are." Nico commented to the boyfriends, who couldn't really argue on that one without getting a look from their significant other.