Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian II: A Hero's Peril
XXVII
"Ow, hey! Manhandling is not necessary just because I'm a man!" Naruto said
"I would." Aphrodite said.
"MOM!"
"What?"
as the Laistrygonian that held him at bay forced him to watch Percy fight another demigod that belonged to Luke's forces. Ethan Nakamura, an unclaimed boy from Hermes' cabin that looked like he had a huge chip on his shoulder.
Percy frowned and looked down at the mention of Ethan.
That, and he looked like the bastard son of Kakashi, who was staring intently at the boy's eye patch from his own place in Sylvia's grasp.
Leo's eyes went wide since Nemesis said her kid was missing an eye…was this him?
She really did like him, it seemed.
"Quiet!" Antaeus said. "You fought already once before, proven worthy to be immortal champions of my temple."
"A mighty honor." Hades nodded, making Poseidon glare at him. The god of the dead just gave him a small amused smile.
"Hooray." The two shinobi drawled as their eyes stayed locked on the arena. Percy had Ethan on his knees, waiting to be killed.
"Do it!" Ares cheered as Percy glared at him.
Naruto watched intently as Antaeus ordered Percy to kill him. He knew what Percy's answer would be – and it was a good answer as any for a hero – but that choice was going to get the rest of them, and consequently the camp killed.
"Yes, it very well could have, Peter." Dionysus tutted the boy, making him frown since Castor died.
"He should just kill him." Kakashi said under his breath. Naruto glanced at the white haired shinobi who continued. "The boy gave up his eye for something. And...he gives me a bad vibe."
"Child of Nemesis, they all have a bad vibe to them." Hermes shuddered.
"He's in Luke's army." Naruto said, getting a glance from the blond in question. "Of course he gives you a bad vibe. All of them are as slimy as the rottenest nukenin."
"Nukenin? Comparing us to your forces, Naruto?" Luke asked, a brow arching.
"Only to the people who are lower than trash." Naruto said.
"Ouch," Hermes winced as Ares snickered, making the blond glare at him.
"Wha? It's true." The war god said and Apollo nodded begrudgingly in agreement.
Luke scowled at him and Naruto grinned. "Aw, what's wrong? Did I hurt your feelings?"
"You'll regret not siding with me sooner, Naruto."
"Why? Because someone has daddy issues we should all hop on the bandwagon?"
"Burn." Leo said simply, getting some looks from those who knew Luke. What? It was the perfect moment.
"The Olympians do not care for us!"
"Lies!" Apollo cried out as all the gods nodded with him rather sternly.
"Maybe. But that doesn't mean we should dedicate our lives and the lives of our siblings to defeating them!"
"Stop squabbling!" Antaeus said, already furious with how long this execution was taking. "Son of Poseidon! Kill him!"
Percy ignored him and lowered his sword, offering his hand instead.
"Boo! You suck, Jackson!"
"Still kicked your butt." Percy mocked the god, making him seethe as his sibling snickered at him.
Ethan stared at it for a moment before he took it and stood with Percy's help. Antaeus stood from his seat, outrage on his face.
"You'll both be sacrifices to Poseidon for insulting the games!" he shouted.
"No thank you please." Said god said, he did not want any more human sacrifices.
Percy said something to Ethan under his breath before turning to Antaeus. "Why don't you fight me instead!? Prove that you've got Dad's favor!"
"Which he honestly doesn't, he has his mother's favor." Poseidon said.
"You wish to fight me?" Antaeus looked a bit bewildered at the challenge and the crowd started to mumble. Naruto caught a few mutterings of 'been a while' and 'may have lost his touch', which made him arch a golden brow.
"I bet he has." Zeus said, making Poseidon roll his eyes at the attempt to make him irked.
So the son of Gaia hadn't fought in a while, eh? The blond grinned in a feral manner, eyeing the surrounding monsters like they were meat.
"I'll kill you, you, you, and you especially." Ares pointed out through the crowd.
When this fight was over he'd cover the others' fleeing. Maybe pound Luke again. That would be fun. A punch here and a tooth flying there...Oh yeah, just like old times.
"I like these old times."
"Ares!" the speedy god shouted, seriously, enough.
Ares just chuckled darkly.
"I'm the greatest wrestler in the world, boy!" Antaeus said with a smirk.
"Blasphemy! You insult the Hulkster and the Ultimate War-!" Naruto shouted, getting muffled by the Laistrygonian's hand.
"Amen to that!" the younger male gods agreed with the male demigods.
"To the Warrior!" Leo cheered.
"Hulkamania's running wild up in this bitch." Ares grinned, ah, wrestling, the best thing ever.
Thalia looked ready to burst into laughter, though.
Antaeus ignored the outburst. "I've been wrestling since the pankration."
"The what?" Kakashi asked.
Naruto wriggled his way out from behind the Laistrygonian's hand and looked at his father's student. "The pankration is a no hold bars hand-to-hand combat sport once held in the Olympic games. It's like the chunin games."
"Ah, so it's a publicity stunt to get bragging rights and clients."
"That so figures that ninja's stole that from us, too." Zeus huffed. Honestly, the Greeks did it first.
"More or less."
"Interesting."
"Winner takes all!" Percy had the two shinobi's eyes on him once more. His sword was pointed at Antaeus and a determined look crossed his face. "I win, we all go free. You win, we all die. Swear on the River Styx."
"Okay, that's an epic moment. Nice one, Percy."
"Thank you, Frank." The Hero of Olympus smiled.
"What's that?" Kakashi asked under his breath.
"An oath so powerful that not even gods can break it without consequence." Naruto said darkly, thinking of this as punishment for the stupid asinine oath made by the big three. They all knew they couldn't handle that oath. They should've known better than to try.
"Well, I did." Hades smiled, his brothers grumbled, glaring at him for being so smug.
Not that he was upset they broke it, but it was the principal of the thing.
"I'm sure he wasn't." Aphrodite said knowingly, looking at Thalia, who glared at her.
"...Remind me to not do it impulsively."
"I have an issue with it myself." Naruto said sheepishly. He accounted that to Helios' presence, though.
"This shouldn't take long!" Antaeus said with a laugh. "I swear to your terms, fellow son of Poseidon!"
"Famous last words." Annabeth smiled.
He leapt from his seat and landed with a ground-shaking boom,
"So he can shake the earth."
"Ha-ha." Poseidon said dryly to Athena's statement.
making Percy stare up at the red skinned giant nervously. He was outclassed in size once again, but he managed to get the best of Atlas for a second...he could beat this guy...Right?
"Yes." Percy said, a smirk on his face.
"Kick his ass, Jackson!" Naruto said from the sidelines as Antaeus cracked his knuckles, his tattooed arms flexing and making the waves move like Poseidon's domain.
"That's cool, I'll admit that." Apollo said, nice effect.
A savage grin spread across Antaeus' face, revealing his carved teeth that elected Percy's attention.
"Weapons?" The giant asked.
"I'll stick with my sword." Percy said, gripping Riptide tightly. "You?"
Antaeus raised his hands out and wiggled his fingers in anticipation, the sausage-like appendages becoming one of the most terrifying things Percy had ever seen.
"To be honest, I might have peed myself." Leo freely admitted after seeing that image, "Props, Percy."
"I'll go without...all I need are my hands to kill you."
"That's literally the eighth hundredth time I've heard someone say that." Kakashi said in annoyance.
"Go figure." Apollo nodded, impressed.
"Two hundredth." Naruto said.
"Poor kid." Ares frowned for the young adult. Only two hundred threats? How sad.
"Master Luke, you will be our referee!"
"The honor is mine." Luke said, looking to Naruto as the blond mumbled something. "Excuse me?"
"Gonna act like daddy and be biased, mister son of the cheating god?" Naruto asked.
"Hey!" Hermes exclaimed, looking pissed.
"He isn't wrong." Athena huffed, making the blond man pout.
He prayed to his uncle to ignore the insult, since he respected doing whatever it takes to win in a fight, but not whatever it takes to win cash. A strange sense of honor, but it was what he went with.
"Well, okay, but just this once." Hermes said, forgiving the teen.
"A son of Hermes?" Kakashi asked, getting glared at by Luke.
"You will be quiet!" He hissed at the masked man and then glared at Naruto. "I'm fairer than any Olympian can claim to be."
"Aphrodite's gonna be pissed at you for that one."
"Here, here!" the goddess cried out, Hera and Athena glaring daggers at her when she smirked their way.
"Would you be quiet for one second!?" Luke snapped. The giant holding the whiskered blond slapped his hand over Naruto's mouth, getting muffled groans, while Luke sighed in relief. "Finally." He turned to the arena. "Begin!"
It was too late, for Antaeus had already lunged at Percy,
"Trigger happy, huh?"
"Go count your gems, Bonehead."
getting sidestepped and sliced deep in the side.
"Yeah, go Percy!" Leo and Frank cheered, but Percy just shook his head.
"No, just wait and see," he groaned.
He finished healing and got back to his feet, grinning savagely.
"He can heal?" Piper asked, blinking in surprise.
"Yep."
"Like you?" Jason asked Percy.
"Yep, just differently."
The red giant charged again, and once more Percy avoided with a roll, coming out of it with a stab into the giant's side under his arm. Sand poured where blood should have, the dirt rising back up to cover the wound and heal it, as the dirt fell away and he was back to pristine condition.
"Antaeus, the strong giant that fought Hercules..." Kakashi mumbled.
"Well, he certainly learned fast." Athena complimented.
"Heracles." Thalia corrected with a small smirk, payback against her stepmother was due after all.
Thalia laughed while Hera scowled at her, why that little-!
"Percy! He's a son of Gaia! A son of Ga-!" The giant standing near her silenced Annabeth, his hand covering her mouth. Her cries were now muffled but the message was sent and Percy thought back to his lessons with Naruto.
"Wow," Annabeth blinked, "It's a miracle."
"Hey!" her boyfriend cried out, but she just playfully nudged him, showing she was teasing. He still pouted though.
Antaeus, ran into Heracles in the midst of his eleventh task, had been challenging people for skulls to make into...well he got that far.
"…And we were so hopeful." Thalia commented, getting a glare from Percy.
Percy evaded another attempted tackle and backpedaled to get more space between him and his 'brother'. A son of Gaia...well, that explained the dirt. Guess that with age and a lack of willing (or rather unwilling) participates in his temple dulled the need for Antaeus' strength, and so Gaia now heals him.
"At least we don't have to fight him." Leo commented, rather happy about it.
She's almost as good a mother as his own.
"Well, she is very loving to her own." Hestia commented lightly.
If Gaia could make blue food, there may be a chance for a tie. But Percy doubted that.
"Yes, Percy Jackson," Hades said in a drawl, "Gaia would certainly do that. In fact, she makes the best dirt cookies ever." His siblings snickered at that one.
No one was a better mother than Sally Jackson.
"Oh come on, so not true." Apollo said to Percy, the god's own mother was amazing!
Elsewhere, a red-haired woman with purple eyes sneezed.
"Or Naruto's mom!" Apollo gleefully added, making the water boy and his father frown ever so slightly.
"Goodness, bless you. That summer cold must be in the air." Her current lunch companion said. Kushina smiled at her.
"No, probably my sochi talking about me. He loves spreading rumors. Come, come, tell me more about this class you're taking before my boss calls me back from my lunch hour. Honestly, I think she keeps me around just so she doesn't kill her mother."
"I'd believe it." Hades said dryly, getting Demeter to glare at him.
"I'll never understand how a florist family can be so violent."
"Ever witness Grainzilla?" Hera commented, making her older sister flush brightly at that, while the rest of the siblings snickered in remembrance.
"Ah, you underestimate the savage secrets of the agriculture world. Let me tell you a story about a man named Hashirama..."
"I'd like to hear more about him," Demeter commented eagerly.
"But who was Kushina with?" Piper asked and got shrugs all around.
Percy rolled to the side again and stabbed his sword to the hilt under the other arm. Riptide was lodged in Antaeus' ribs; that was good. Percy was flung to the other side of the arena, monsters cheering at that, and was now weaponless. That was bad.
"Very bad." Percy nodded.
Antaeus cried out in pain, fumbling with the sword while Percy inwardly cursed stupid cheating healing gifts.
All eyes locked onto a sheepish Percy.
Let it be known that Percy Jackson does not recognize the word hypocrite in the dictionary because of his dyslexia.
"Percy." Annabeth frowned, but the boy shrugged.
"I just don't read it."
"I'm getting you the Greek version." Annabeth told him simply, making the boy pale greatly.
Antaeus pulled the sword out and tossed it behind him, grimacing as the dirt trailed up the sand and covered the wound, healing him. When it was healed and the dirt had fallen away, he towered over Percy once more, smirking victoriously. Percy glanced to where Riptide had landed, making to move for it, but Antaeus blocked him. Percy looked to the other side, making an attempt to feint around the giant, only to quickly retreat as Antaeus picked up on that plan rather quickly.
Well, damn. It was like trying to go around a brick wall...only the brick wall was poised to crush you as soon as you got too close.
"The best kind of bricks." Ares commented with a grin, eager to see Percy smashed.
"Nowhere to run now." Antaeus said, smirking. "Now you see why I never lose, demigod. Come to me and I promise to make it quick."
"Pass." Percy said, feeling a familiar weight in his pocket.
"Thank you, Riptide." Percy grinned, best weapon ever.
He needed to get the big oaf in the air somehow. Percy let his eyes look up, looking past Antaeus' smirking face. Chandeliers made from skulls of opponents long since dead hung above the arena on chains.
"And that is creepy." Hazel frowned, feeling sorry for the skulls and the people they belonged too.
Two thoughts came to his ADHD addled mind at that.
First of all, who took the time to make those? Seriously, those were intricate and, despite the gruesome origins, very well put together. How were they being held together? Glue? Some sort of monster guts he wasn't aware of?
"Really?" Nico asked Percy, "You're fighting for your life and you think about that?"
Percy shrugged, "It was weird."
"You're weird."
"Pot meet kettle. Guess what?"
The second and most important thought that hit Percy's head was a plan.
"There we go." Annabeth smiled brightly.
If he went up, Antaeus would have no option other than to follow. So when the big oaf in question made a grab for him, Percy ducked under the arms, slipping around behind his half-brother and climbing up the giant's back as fast as he could. He jumped, using Antaeus' head as a step, to the chandeliers and thankfully didn't miss.
"Because that would have been awkward." Leo nodded.
He heard Rachel cheer alongside Thalia for him as he scrambled to the top.
Percy smiled at Thalia, "I am touched, really."
"Psh, don't think it'll happen often." The hunter smirked at him.
"I know, but I'll take what I can get."
Once more the question of how the chandeliers were made hit his mind. He could easily stand atop them like they were stone. It was mind-boggling!
"Percy, focus." Frank said.
"I cannot help how my mind works!"
"Coward! You are not worthy to be a son of Poseidon!" Antaeus said with a glare.
"Nonsense." Poseidon frowned.
He jumped for the chandelier, but Percy had climbed over to another rope. "Come down here and face me!"
"You come up and get me!" Percy said in return as he grabbed a nearby chain bar of a chandelier and used his sword to cut it.
"Coward!"
"Sticks and stones, fatass!"
Hestia gave a light glare to her nephew, who had the decency to look sheepish. "Sorry, Aunt Hestia."
"Percy Jackson!" Thalia said in mock anger. "The mouth on you!"
"Indeed." Hestia nodded to Thalia, who gave a mock serious nod back, glaring at Percy while trying her best not to laugh.
"Thalia, seriously not the time!"
"No, it is." Thalia grinned, nice one, other Thalia.
Antaeus jumped again, catching the chandelier and climbing as best he could up it. Percy finished cutting the chain and swung it at Antaeus, managing to hook it on his diaper-like loincloth on the fifth try.
"Eww." Was the response of pretty much everyone.
"Hey, I had to do it." Percy said, he had it far worst.
He attached it to the chain he clung, securing it as best he could. Antaeus grabbed two other chains to keep from flipping when he tried to return to the ground, since he was kept in the air by his keister.
Percy just prayed that the loincloth would hold.
"It will." Athena said, getting some looks, "What? It has strong stitching."
"Only you, Owl Freak." Ares said, getting a scowl from the wisdom goddess.
With the expertise of a monkey, Percy swung around, looping chains like the messy child he was around his half-brother. Antaeus cursed and swore at him in Greek and English, which increased as Percy dropped to the ground, Antaeus suspended in the air by the chains wrapped around him.
"I'll kill you! Get me down!" roared the red skinned giant.
"Free him!" Luke said. "He's our host!"
"Then you do it." Thalia rolled her eyes.
"I'll free him." Percy said, spinning his sword around and holding it parallel with his face before thrusting the blade forward. He impaled Antaeus in the stomach, sand immediately pouring out of his body. He started to dissolve, unable to meet the earth that protected him so readily while the audience watched on in disbelief.
"And that's how you do it folks." Percy grinned.
"Show-off." Annabeth teased, but it was ruined as she kissed his cheek.
"I try."
When it was done, nothing remained except for a loincloth hanging from a chain.
"...worst spoil ever." Percy said with a scowl.
"That really is." Piper nodded in agreement.
He turned to Luke, who was seething while the monsters grew antsy.
"Jackson! I should've killed you long ago!" Luke said with a glare.
"But you wimped out like a bitch."
"Ares!"
"You tried. Let us go, Luke! We had a deal with Antaeus. I won, we go free!" Percy said
"Antaeus' oath dies with him." Luke said coldly, glaring at Percy before looking to the monsters holding the shinobi. "Kill them! All of them!" He turned and met Annabeth's eyes. "Except for her! ...I want to speak with her before our great triumph!"
"Asshole." Percy scowled, yes, look was decent in the end, but he still hated him somewhat.
"Go near her, Luke, and I'll kill you!" Thalia said heatedly, making Annabeth's eyes widen along with Luke's.
"Wow, go Thalia." Jason said as even his sister was blinking at that one, but then again it was perfectly understandable.
"And that's our cue." Kakashi said, bursting into smoke along with Naruto, leaving only logs in their stead. A hand of lightning burst through the chest of Sylvia, who gave a shriek of horror while the Laistrygonian giant next to her lost his head thanks to Eclipse.
"Like a ninja!" Frank said with a grin.
Naruto stood in the giant's place, fending off monsters with his sword while Kakashi rushed over to where the girls were being held hostage, Thalia already taking the other guards out, the remains of her binds laying in burnt ash from the application of high voltage of static.
"Love that." Thalia grinned for her other.
Kakashi used his sword to cut Rachel's binds, leaving her and jumping down to the main arena where Percy stood, holding an icy whistle. Kakashi grabbed the boy and jumped back up to the stands as he blew the whistle.
"Best whistle ever." The son of the sea said, too bad it could only be used once.
Kelli screamed as she was suddenly tossed through the air, landing on Luke and knocking him down with her bronzed leg. A giant black mastiff appeared next to Thalia and she was about to stab it until Percy stopped her. "Wait! It's Mrs. O'Leary!"
The bark she gave at her name shook the cavern.
"Wonderful, you have a giant dog." Thalia said dryly.
"Hey." Percy glared at Thalia. "You do not diss the hellhound."
"You have a giant cat!"
"Exactly." Percy nodded, making Thalia snort.
"That's Whiskers' cat!"
"See, Wethead?" The hunter smirked, making the boy grumble about stupid cousins.
"We need to leave!" Annabeth said.
"I'm not leaving Mrs. O'Leary!" Percy said with a frown.
"Go, Jackson! Kakashi and I will make sure she gets out of here!" Naruto said, holding off monsters as best he could while Kakashi leaned back and shot a wave of fire from his masked mouth, incinerating the monsters that charged him.
"How does the mask stay on and not burn?" Leo questioned with a scratch of his head.
"Fireproof?" Hephaestus suggested.
"Nah, it's because he's a badass." Hermes said, as though it were obvious.
Mrs. O'Leary jumped into a pile forming near the group, biting and chewing their way out there. Thalia held up the rear, stopping just at the exit while looking at Naruto, who looked over his shoulder and gave her a nod. She nodded back and left, the doors slamming shut behind them.
"So now what?" Kakashi asked as he fended the monsters off. "We can't do this forever!"
"We don't have to!" Naruto said, making clones and letting them fend off the monsters. He whistled and got the attention of the Hellhound. "C'mon girl, take us to Daedalus!"
"He knows?!" Annabeth said, jaw dropping along with Percy.
The Hellhound barked again and rushed over to them. Kakashi climbed atop the giant dog's back. She charged to the entrance in the west, Naruto jumping onto her back, waving farewell to Luke with a ball of red wool in his hand.
"Oh, nice." Hermes blinked in shock, Apollo was laughing.
"Swiped your kid good!"
"Yeah, yeah," Hermes waved off, his pride a bit wounded. Still, it was a nice move and he gave the boy props.
"No...NO!" Luke roared, getting to his feet. "Naruto! I'll kill you! Horribly! Painfully!"
"Love you too, Luke!" Naruto said with a gleeful laugh as he left his fellow blond behind.
"Bromance much?" Hazel asked with a grin, getting some laughs.
Luke slammed his fist onto the dirt. "Dammit! Ruined! It's all ruined!"
"Is it?"
Luke spun around to glare at who spoke, his eyes going wide when they landed on the speaker. "W-What are you?"
Cracked lips spread up into a cruel smile as golden and red eyes locked with blue. "Your salvation."
"Of course, another bad guy." Apollo said with slumped shoulders, damn, right when things were going Team Olympus' way.
"So...He's pretty much the demigod equivalent of Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.
"Ouch." The messenger god frowned, that one hurt. That guy was really crazy.
"Pretty much, except his Orochimaru happens to be a nearly all-powerful Titan king that terrorized the world under his rule."
"And that would be bad if it happened again, yes?"
"Very." Said the entire room.
"Yep." Naruto said with a nod. "You seem to be taking all this in stride."
"I've been reading." Kakashi said simply.
"Remind me to get you the demigod version." Naruto said, quirking a grin.
"I would appreciate that."
"We always get the facts right." Annabeth nodded.
He patted the side of the Hellhound they rode on. "A good dog. Giant, but good. Is this the dog that always catches its prey?"
"Nope." Naruto said with a grin. "This is Mrs. O'Leary, a hellhound that belongs to the camp's new swords master, Quintus. He wasn't at camp when I left though..."
"I wonder why." Annabeth said dryly.
"Quintus...that sounds rather foreign."
"It means the fifth in Latin."
"Fifth what though?"
"I dunno, fifth son?"
"Could it be the fifth swords master?"
"We don't have those." Percy said, just skilled campers.
"Who thinks that far ahead? And we've never had a swords master. We had some campers that were pretty good at it, though, like Sir Douche-a-lot back there."
"And look where it got him." Ares tutted mockingly, getting some glares.
"Ah. ...I'm thinking of retiring from the shinobi forces and I could really use a nice retirement job away from all that death..."
"Ninja teacher!" the demigods cheered, so awesome!
"I'll see what I can do."
Kakashi's eyes turned upward in a smile. "I knew there was a reason you were my favorite student."
"Aww." Apollo smiled.
"...You taught Sasuke the Chidori."
"Boo." Apollo frowned.
"For the last time, he was going up against the Kazekage!"
"Excuses!"
The two shinobi continued to bicker on Mrs. O'Leary's back, the Hellhound ignoring them as she ran in the direction of where her master was.
"Mush!" Leo cried out, getting a few snickers.
The group of four escaped far enough from the arena that they escaped, Percy brooding over what Ethan said about mercy being pointless in this war.
"It's true." Ares said, getting Apollo to sadly nod since his brother was telling the truth.
He and Rachel sat near the campfire they set up in the tunnel, making small talk about what they went through and Percy getting a bit more out about the girl.
Annabeth pouted at that.
Thalia and Annabeth walked away, Thalia leading the younger blonde girl in search for some spare twigs. It was partially because Annabeth was getting more and more hostile towards Rachel, and partially because Thalia needed to talk to Annabeth.
"Someone's in trouble~"
"Shut it, Death Breath."
"Thalia?" Annabeth said after a moment.
"Yeah, Annie?" Thalia asked, looking over her shoulder at the girl.
"D-Did you mean what you said to Luke?"
"Probably." Thalia guessed, making Hermes frown along with Annabeth.
Thalia stopped, turning around and letting Annabeth seeing her grave face. "To be completely honest with you Annie, yes. Yes I did mean what I said to Luke."
"See?"
"B-But Thalia, he-!"
"Annabeth, this needs to stop!" Thalia said, cutting the daughter of Athena off.
"Tell her."
"Percy!" Annabeth frowned, but he was unmoving on this one.
"Luke...Luke chose his side."
"We can still-!"
"No, Annie, we can't." Thalia said, her eyes filled with hurt. "I'm done with him. He poisoned me, Annie. Do you know what that feels like? That kind of betrayal, it runs deep. After growing up together on the run...to wake up and find out that your friend poisoned you...It was hard to even fathom forgiving him.
"I really couldn't." Thalia admitted freely, as Jason was frowning with clenched hands.
But last winter...Annie, you weren't there, seeing him at his worst. He stabbed me and I nearly died."
"Yeah, so stabbing him back is the best plan."
"Agreed." Zeus said to Ares, making Hermes sad at that.
Annabeth looked ready to protest but Thalia wouldn't let her, bending down to pick up some more twigs. "That betrayal alone shattered whatever remained of the trust I had in him. I'm sorry, Annabeth, but I can't give him a third chance."
"It's always threes." Percy noted, seriously, it was.
Annabeth faltered, trying to say something, anything to get Thalia back on her side.
"I can feel her desperation from the pages." Hades commented, making Athena glare at him, but he shrugged it off.
"Do what you like, Annabeth. But if I run into him again, I'll kill him." The daughter of Zeus stood and began walking back, the sticks in hand. "I can't bear to go through that kind of pain again."
Thalia lowered her tone even further, looking at something in her other hand as she spoke. "Not after I finally found peace."
"Aww, the feels!" Apollo laughed as Thalia looked a little red, but was happy for her other at the same time.
"How long would you say we've been riding?" Naruto asked, lounging back and counting bricks as Mrs. O'Leary ran.
"Oh, about two, three hours tops." Kakashi said, flipping through his coveted Icha Icha first edition (that was the most important part) novel. "Ah, Naomi...so innocent...so coy..."
Artemis fumed while Apollo silently gave a thumbs up to Kakashi.
"Must you really?"
"Hm? Oh, I'm sorry, would you like to read, too?"
"...Thanks but no thanks, Kakashi-sensei. I'm already in a lot of hot water with my aunt as it is."
"Without doubt."
"Arte, come on." Her twin pleaded.
"Humph!"
"What does that...Naruto, I'm so going to treat you to ramen."
"While the offer is tempting, you've never treated me to ramen. I always end up paying anyway."
"With clear reason." Hazel nodded.
"I will this time. And I'll get you a cigar."
"Now that's classy." Hermes smirked.
"Smoking is bad for the lungs."
"Do you honestly care?"
"Considering I'm the son of the medicine god...And recovering addict..."
"Addict?"
"Did some stupid stuff when I was younger, about three years back."
"Very stupid." Hestia frowned.
"Ah. ...How's going to a strip club sound?"
"No." Thalia and Artemis frowned, what a pig. Apollo just shrugged. It was technically window shopping.
"I just said I'm in hot water with my aunt. I'm lucky she doesn't speak to my mother. Oh the holes they would rip into me."
"...Wait, Kushina-sempai is alive!?" Kakashi asked, his face turning pale.
"Well, someone's scared of someone~" Apollo grinned, who this sounded fun.
"Yeah, that deal I made with Lord Hades was a real good one." Naruto said, proceeding to tell his sensei everything about his deal. After getting the clarification on Kushina's status, Kakashi was now stark white.
"Wow, she scares him good." Apollo whistled.
"Excellent." Hades smiled that he had someone like that watching over his wife.
He looked at the book in his hands. "...Uh-oh..."
"What? Something wrong?" Naruto asked with a blink of his eyes.
"I-It's nothing." Kakashi said with a swallow. Only that your mother made me swear to stay away from Jiraiya's work. I completely forgot about that after she...Oh boy...Life just hates me...
"It's the Fates." Percy said.
"I can tell when you're lying, sensei."
"How!? Er, I mean, how?"
"Sensei, son of the truth god."
"Boned boy." Apollo grinned. He loved that power.
"...Right, I knew that." Kakashi said sheepishly. Life was so much easier when I didn't have to worry about lying to Naruto. While I respect his desire to expand his knowledge, he just had to make things so much more complicated by doing so. Kakashi frowned. Great. Now I have to be careful with what I say.
"We all do." Hermes pouted while Apollo grinned even more.
Naruto arched a brow as Kakashi began mumbling to himself. His sensei wasn't normally one to act...well, like he ran into Dionysus on a bad day.
"Life was nicer when he was drinking." Helios said.
"I know!" Dionysus nodded, looking at his father. Zeus just glared at him rather harshly.
I figured. Naruto thought in return. Shame he had to go after that nymph.
"Is that what happened? He's married though! Probably the most loyal marriage I've ever seen, at that!"
"Yes, Dionysus." Hera smirked at him, eyes cold, "Indeed you are, yes?"
"Er…"
Yeah well, according to Chiron it's because he drank too much.
"Amazing how that backfired on him." Ares laughed cruelly as Dionysus glared heatedly at him.
"...Really not surprised by that."
Me either. What do you think that thing he said when we first met meant?
"No clue."
...This is you being 'all-seeing' seer, isn't it?
"Very true." Artemis before her twin could answer, making him pout.
"Maybe..."
Helios, you're an asshole.
"Got that right." Ares grumbled as his cripple of a brother chuckled.
"Low bridge."
Don't you mean low blo-? "Ow, fuck!" Naruto said, holding his head where a stray root hit him.
"Heh, nice." Leo snickered, that was classic.
Kakashi snorted as he sat upright while still flipping through his book, apparently over whatever was bothering him before.
"Ha-ha!"
Seriously, that's the last time I let you watch the Simpsons. Naruto thought with a glare at his former sensei for laughing at him.
"Love that show." Apollo grinned.
"Meh, lacking these days." Leo said.
"Blasphemy! Heathenous lies!"
He cut the connection with Helios, crossing his arms.
"Hey, Mrs. O'Leary. I know you don't exactly speak, but give me a bark for yes and two barks for no. Okay?"
Mrs. O'Leary barked once.
"Cool. Are we there yet?"
There were two barks.
"...How about now?"
"Really?" Athena questioned, "He's doing that to a dog?"
"Hellhound." Poseidon corrected her mockingly, getting a scowl that was ever so worth it.
"Naruto, I swear to your father, if you start..."
"Aw, c'mon sensei! I want to see if dogs can get annoyed."
"Naruto. You've met Pakkun."
"Who?" the audience asked.
"He's a summon, that's different!"
"Nonsense! He's a good dog, the perfect dog!" Mrs. O'Leary growled and Kakashi looked sheepish. "Er, the second perfect?"
The Hellhound barked once.
"Damn right." Percy smirked.
"That would be a yes." Naruto said to Kakashi, who rolled his eyes. Their banter was cut off as Mrs. O'Leary made a sharp right, bursting through the wall and startling the five people in the room overlooking the Garden of the Gods.
"Great view." The gods agreed to one another.
Kakashi and Naruto fell off Mrs. O'Leary's back, both groaning from the jarring action.
"Naruto!" Annabeth said happily while the giant Hellhound bounded over to Quintus. "Naruto, we found him!"
"That's great, Annie. Now, if you don't mind. I'm going to sit here and rest my burning migraine for a moment." Naruto said, his eyes closing for a moment as he recovered from the landing. Damn branch really messed with his head.
"Tree Trauma." Hades shook his head, "The worst."
"Says you." Demeter huffed.
"I do say."
"Mr. Uzumaki? You're here as well?"
Naruto's eyes snapped open at that and he looked at Quintus, Quintus' exposed mechanical arm, back to Quintus, and then at the roof. "So that's what his name means...Fifth body..."
"Oh..." Kakashi said in understanding.
"Huh, go figure…so we have cyborgs?" Leo questioned.
"Automations." His father corrected.
"Nah, that's a cyborg."
"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Quintus asked the white haired shinobi. "I don't recall your name, if we've met before."
"Kakashi Hatake, reinstated ANBU." Kakashi said, making Percy go wide eyed. The guy was ANBU? He remembered Naruto saying that ANBU were the assassins and black operations of the shinobi village. What was he doing with them!?
"Prissy peeing himself?"
"No." Percy glared at the mocking Ares.
"I'm sorry, ANBU?"
"Long story, Quint." Naruto said after he kipped up to his feet. "One I'm sure you have time for...if you tell me why you gave our enemies this?"
Naruto held out the string and Quintus-Daedalus gasped. "How did you get that!?"
"You done now sucker." Ares grinned wickedly as Athena frowned ever so slightly.
"I stole it from the lightning thief." Naruto said, smirking, quite proud of himself for that comment.
"Ooh, good one." Apollo nodded in agreement.
He played with the string for a minute before hardened sun-filled eyes looked at the quasi-immortal. "I'll ask again...why did you give Luke the string of Ariadne?"
"...He promised me a life free of my past, where I would be free from the judge of the dead." Daedalus said, looking solemn. "It was an enticing deal."
"How weak." Hades said, as Athena looked saddened by her son's actions.
"...Kakashi, hold this." Naruto said, tossing the ball to his fellow shinobi, before he unsheathed Eclipse and moved in a flash, holding the blade to Mrs. O'Leary
"Hey!" Percy shouted, frowning. No threatening the dog!
while holding a bronze arrow at Daedalus' throat. Mrs. O'Leary growled for the threat to her master, but stayed at bay because of the sword. "You sold the camp out...because you couldn't accept your past?!"
"Wimp." Ares sneered.
"You haven't been in fear for your life for two millennia. It was a cowardly move on my part, I admit, but if it's the price for freedom-urk!" Daedalus cut off as the arrow pressed into his throat.
"How the mighty have fallen." Hermes shook his head. It was a pity really.
"If you had only lost your son, I would be sympathetic to your fear of Minos." Naruto said with a glare. "You killed your nephew, Daedalus, out of petty jealousy. You may not have done it physically or even on purpose, but you killed him. You are forever branded murderer." He spat the word out and Daedalus flinched.
"Sniveling little coward."
"Ares," Athena said in a tight tone, "We get it."
"Hm, I'm not sure." The war god scratched his chin, making his sister scowl. He grinned, so worth it.
"Now you make the same mistake twice. I should save us the trouble and send you to Minos myself!"
"Naruto, you can't! He can still help us!" Percy said in an attempt to help the man he wasn't exactly fond of, but didn't think damning him was the solution.
"I'd do it." Nico said, getting some looks that made him shrug, "A screw up like that? Without question I would."
"I don't think he can." Thalia said, her eyes narrowing at Daedalus' depressed look. "You've lost control of it, haven't you?"
"Yes...yes I have."
"No." Annabeth said, horrified. "You mean...?"
"The Labyrinth grows and obeys no one but itself now." Daedalus said ominously.
"Damn," Leo whistled, that was scary.
"...Well that's wonderful." Naruto said, before turning to the opening. "We have guests."
"A very good awareness you have, Heir of Helios." Kelli said, walking into the room with a bound Nico.
"...You were supposed to stay in camp this time." Hades told his son, who looked sheepish.
"Oops?"
"Big oops." Percy nodded, getting Nico to scowl at him.
"But unfortunately, a bit late on the uptake."
"...I am so fired." Naruto said under his breath.
"Well, you might not be." Hades said, since Nico did go off on his own.
"Sorry Naruto..." Nico said in a small voice. "But...my friend said you guys needed help..."
"Yes, Minos was quick to sell this little cutie out if we agreed to his deal." Kelli said, Daedalus going wide eyed.
"Well, there goes that deal." Hazel said dryly.
"Should have gotten it in fine print." Hermes added.
"W-What? Treachery! That wasn't part of the deal!" he said, sounding absolutely terrified.
"Should've made us swear on the Styx, tin man." Kelli said smugly.
"Or that works too." The messenger god said.
"Can't believe I'm asking this, but...what would it take for you to let Nico go?" Naruto asked, getting looks from everyone.
"Well...We do want Hecate on our side..." Kelli said, frowning at him. "You've been keeping her inches away from joining us. Whatever side gets you, gets the goddess of magic's favor."
"Sweet." Apollo grinned, "She put that time spell all around Manhattan, so if we get her own our side."
Zeus was grinning a bit at that, Hecate was one of the most powerful minor gods after all, right up there with Triton.
"I totally understand."
"Rachel, really?"
"I have to give her credit Percy." Aphrodite said, making Percy pout.
"Percy, he's hot."
"So what?"
"Such a boy."
"He is." Piper, Hazel, and Thalia nodded.
"What's so bad about that?" the son of the sea questioned, but received no answer.
"Would you please stop talking as if I'm not right here?" Thalia asked the clear sighted mortal in irritation while her cousin asked what Rachel's comment meant.
Everyone just looked at Percy, "Okay, so I don't know girl talk, forgive me."
"Forgiven." Annabeth told him simply, she was fine with it really.
"We've been over this, it's called window shopping." Rachel said, waving Thalia's annoyance off.
"All of you shut up!" Kelli ordered, her claw digging into Nico's cheek. "Now, Tin Man and Boy Toy, front and center."
"Boy Toy?!" Apollo glared at Kelli.
Naruto lowered his arrow and sword, looking at Daedalus. "You heard her, boy toy."
"Okay, that was a good reversal."
"You're the Boy Toy." Kelli told the blond, but he just grinned.
"Nah, I'm the Tin Man." Naruto looked at Thalia. "Right?"
"Correction, now that is an amazing reversal."
"Apollo!"
Thalia was red in a second. "Dammit, Whiskers!"
Rachel clicked her tongue. "Lucky."
"Mortal Girl, I swear!"
"Really. Stop." Thalia said, it was annoying for her other and she could feel it from here.
"Enough shouting!" Kelli said. "Another word and I'll-urk!"
"Shh..." Kakashi said, using Ariadne's string as a garrote to choke the monster. "Sleep now...Sleep. And...She's down."
"…Holy hell that was awesome!" Ares cheered.
"Like a real ninja." Frank nodded.
"I wanna be a ninja now." Leo gawked.
"...That...was terrifyingly awesome." Annabeth said, Percy nodding in agreement, his green eyes wide as he stared at the unconscious monster.
That was what ANBU did on a daily basis according to Naruto, since most of them went insane around the third year assigned to the corps. Naruto said they used the insane soldiers because those 'crazies' were the only ones with enough experience to get the job done right.
"I try." Dionysus said in a humble tone.
He even joked that with all the voices in his head, he'd be a prime candidate for ANBU. Come to think of it...Percy looked at the white flak jacket on Naruto and the headband tied to his arm, taking note of both for the first time since his head was relatively clear. He'd have to ask what he missed, because last he checked, Naruto said he wouldn't ever be going back to that village.
"Well, there's a funny story about that." Piper smirked.
Kakashi put the string away and caught the chains that Daedalus tossed to him, using them to bind her. During this exchange, Naruto went to his charge and freed him with Eclipse. No sooner was Nico free did Naruto smack him upside the head, getting a loud cry from the boy.
"Hey!" Nico cried out for his other.
"Again." Hades said simply, getting his son to look betrayed.
"Why'd you hit me?!" Smack. "Ow! Why!?"
"Thank you."
"Idiot! That's for leaving the camp after I strictly told you to stay put. The second one was for getting captured and not shadow travelling out of there!" Naruto said before whacking Nico again.
"Why?!"
"Always threes." Percy told his cousin smugly, it was usually him that got hit.
Nico just scowled at him.
"Ow-w-w!"
"And that was for the chewing out I'm going to get from your dad! Thanks, that's exactly what I wanted to deal with after all this was over. Not to mention the hell I'm going to get from Bianca...well I could always turn that around and tease her about Will..." Naruto said, scratching his chin.
"Wianca for life!" Apollo cheered, making Nico and Hades scowl deeply.
Nico glared at his 'protector'. "Shut up. I don't want to think about that."
Naruto just gave him a feral grin. "Wianca for life."
"See?!"
"Silence, Apollo." The dark prince glared, but the sun god was in far too good of spirit to care.
"I think I hate you."
"I love you, too, Nico-chan."
"Aw, see Nico? Love."
"Shut up, Hazel."
"...I definitely hate you."
Naruto just chuckled before turning to Daedalus. "So, now what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to leave before the empousa wakes up." Daedalus said. He went to Mrs. O'Leary's side and patted her head. "Probably try to make my way to Camp...Maybe."
"Not even willing to fix things? How un-Athena of him." Poseidon said, making his rival glare at him.
"Really?" Naruto asked, arching a brow as he tensed up. The rest of the group joined him. "You're outnumbered, Daedalus. You come quietly, or we make you...actually, come peacefully or come in pieces. There, no innuendo."
Aw." The male gods pouted, getting most to roll their eyes at their maturity.
"Gods...dammit, Whiskers." Thalia said, closing her eyes and trying to get that sentence out of her head.
"Sorry! I've had no one but mister porn book for company for the past five hours!"
"Not his fault." Apollo said, but Artemis rolled her eyes.
"Gets it from his teacher."
"Oh, let it go already. I'm not a saint like you; I get it! Let me live my life!"
"Meh."
"…You are so cruel to me." Apollo sulked as Artemis had a tiny smile, she loved to mess with him.
"Aw, are we not friends anymore, Naruto? My feelings are hurt."
"Yep, shot through the heart and all that jazz." Naruto said, making Kakashi pout behind his mask.
"And you, Naruto, are to blame!" Apollo sang out dramatically.
"My cute little student became a jerk."
"Got other things on my mind, Kakashi."
"...Good things?"
"…I will hunt him." Artemis frowned.
"Seriously!? Minors are in the room!"
"And the millennia old robot dude is gone." Rachel said, all eyes looking to her and then to where Daedalus once stood.
"Wow, robot man moves fast." Leo whistled.
"And quietly." Thalia nodded.
"...Well...shit."
"Well said, Thalia."
"Really, Thalia?" Percy scolded with a smirk
"Shut up, Percy."
"Yeah, Percy, shut up."
"Make me."
They spent the next twenty minutes arguing over what to do before settling on trying to find their way out of the maze. Daedalus had betrayed them and left them for broke, but they had the two ways out of the Labyrinth. Things were definitely looking up.
"True, both the string and Rachel, you are set to be perfectly honest." Athena said.
"Better off than we were." Percy noted.
"Well on the bright side," Naruto said, "we've got Ariadne's string."
Kakashi was playing with the string while whistling idly, making Percy walk closer to Annabeth and away from the trained killer.
"Smart move." Annabeth nodded, she'd keep her distance too.
"And we've got a fork...two golden paths..." Rachel said with a swallow as they stopped at the fork.
"Hm...two paths, which means we either can get out either way, or we were destined to walk both." Kakashi said, getting a glower from Naruto for his comment. He made a cat's cradle with Ariadne's string and hummed in content. "Which way, Naruto?"
"Not my call." Naruto said. He looked to Annabeth. "What do you say Annie?"
"I don't want to choose." Annabeth said without hesitation, sounding rather small. Naruto glanced at the corridors and noted that they were exactly alike, making him hum in curiosity. He looked at her as she elaborated. "Early on in the quest we met Janus..."
"Ah," Apollo nodded in understanding where she was going with that.
"The Ro-Mah!" Kakashi avoided a kunai thrown at his head by Naruto. He arched a brow and Naruto gave him the signal for later.
"Still a secret." Jason nodded at Naruto's action.
"...and he wanted me to make a choice." Annabeth continued, holding her arms as the tension from that moment fell down on her again. "Like the fate of the camp depended on what I chose."
"Okay, so you don't want that kind of pressure..." Naruto said, pulling a drachma out and flipping it. "Heads we go left, tails we go right."
"Leave it to Tyche." Hermes grinned, "Smart call."
"That sounds good." Annabeth said, giving him a grateful smile.
Naruto caught the Greek currency and clapped it onto the back of his other hand. "Tails. We go right."
"Should go left," Hephaestus said and got looks, "What? NASCAR logic."
Rachel led them down the path, before falling back with Percy and Annabeth, letting Naruto and Thalia take the lead, Nico close behind them. They came to a stop at another metal door with the symbol of Daedalus on it, Naruto reached for the handle and he paused.
"There is something very old and very powerful behind this door." Helios said gravely.
"Pan?" Hermes hoped.
Percy paled, oh no…
I felt it too. Naruto thought before steeling his resolve and grabbing the door handle. It opened slowly with a loud creak, and a few seconds, almost a minute, later, the door was open letting the group of eight into a small room with only a cone of light in it. It was centered on a golden box with ancient glyphs all over it.
"Crap." The Big Three said as one while the other gods looked fidgety.
"Oh...shit." Helios said. "Kid, you gotta go check it. Make sure there's nothing...reformed in there."
"That's like, the opposite thing you should do in this situation!" Leo exclaimed.
"Monster movie logic?"
"Duh." The Latino told Piper.
"This screams bad idea." Kakashi said, grabbing Nico's shoulder and keeping him outside. "We'll wait here."
"Aw, but I want to see!"
"No, no you don't." Nico shook his head.
"Nico, stay with Kakashi." Naruto said, making the boy pout. He looked at Percy. "Jackson, you're with me. Thalia, you're on support."
"Fine." Thalia said begrudgingly, keeping close to the door with a frown as the two boys entered the room, going immediately to the illuminated box.
"Don't open it." Hazel muttered, never open shiny boxes.
"What do you think it is?" Percy asked.
"I'll tell you what it's not." Naruto said. "It's not an endless supply of ramen."
"Real reassuring." Percy said.
"For me it is." Naruto said.
"And that's all that matters in the end." Apollo nodded sagely.
They stopped at the edge of it and shared a look before both of them grabbed the edge of the lid and pushed. With a bit of effort on their part, the lid moved, creaking open like the sound of stone grinding against another stone. Naruto and Percy both grunted as the lid fell off. Smoke exited the box and they covered their eyes.
When they opened their eyes, their jaws fell open.
"Oh no..." Naruto said, horrified. There lay Luke, eyes closed and his arms crossed like he was a pharaoh of Egypt. His skin wasn't sickly anymore, and his body seemed to be a bit bulkier than before.
"Oh Luke," Hermes sobbed once, not even able to look at the image. Apollo just patted his shoulder like a good brother.
Luke's eyes snapped open and locked on Percy's. "Well...it's the little hero..."
"…I peed myself a little." Frank admitted with no shame, some others joined him.
"Oh crap..." Percy said.
"And you brought a friend." Luke said, though it wasn't Luke speaking. This wasn't the voice of a boy pushed over the limit of his patience, this was the voice of a being that had nothing but patience.
"He has all the time in the world." Apollo joked to lighten the mood, but got looks instead, "Too soon?"
"Too soon." Everyone said.
"Percy...let's go." Naruto said, both of them backing away as Luke got out of the coffin, since that's exactly what type of box it was.
"Good idea." Percy said, agreeing in an instant with the older demigod.
"Leaving so soon?" Not-Luke asked, holding his hand up in an effort to stop the two as they turned to run, both of them moving like they were in slow motion.
The elder gods bulked, hoping to never see that power ever again.
Thalia shot a bolt of lightning at it, but the bolt stopped in midair, going at the same speed as the two boys were. "I think not."
"Of course he slows down lightning." Thalia said plainly.
"Fuck us sideways, we're so dead!" Helios said.
"Wow, he's throwing in the towel fast." Poseidon blinked.
What happened to the optimism!?
"I never went against the big guys, well, only Atlas, but he was arguably one of the weakest. Kronos, Oceanus and Father? Hell the fuck no, I didn't fight them!"
"And they were the strongest." Hades surmised quietly.
What do we do!?
"Keep trying to run!"
"Hey, back off!" Rachel said, throwing her plastic blue hairbrush at the smirking Not-Luke. It hit him square in the forehead, his head snapping back and making him grab for it.
"…That is the bravest mortal I have ever seen." Zeus proclaimed, "Someone send her something nice."
"Will do." Hermes waved off, looking miserable.
"Ow!" Luke said, dazed. It seemed to also stop whatever spell was over Naruto and Percy, both of them running to the door as fast they could. Luke glared at them. "Get back here!"
"Flee! FLEE! Flee like the wind!"
"Pass! Thanks for the offer, but we've got full plans!" Naruto said, slipping behind the door with Annabeth and Kakashi. "PUSH!"
They did, shutting the door with force as Not-Luke returned and ambled out of the coffin after them.
Naruto turned around and slid down to his butt.
"Holy crap that was scary." Leo whistled, wiping his brow.
"Next time...we go left."
"That's what I said." The smith god said smugly.
"We get it Heph." Apollo said.