16. Home Again, Home Again

It was well past midnight when the Chinook roared across the New York State border, shimmering out of existence due to a cloaking seal that I had put on all of the Eagle Roost's helicopters. Simultaneously, David activated a transponder jamming program that made anyone watching us on radar believe that we were heading straight back to Eagle Roost. As we went off the map in concerns to normal tracking, I walked in to the cockpit and placed my right hand on the cockpit ceiling and twisted it a quarter turn clockwise. The anti-Illusion seal that was there for the general purpose of removing illusions that were produced mainly by different temperatures creating mirages had its sensitivity boosted to its maximum level removing all illusions from the sight of anyone in the Chinook. These three actions took us completely out of the 'normal world' and fully into the 'mythical world'. The thought had me chuckling at the terminology that was so similar to what was used in the Digimon show.

I waved off Andrew and David's curious looks and said "Just thinking about how we 'changed worlds' just now like in some cartoons." Andrew and David nodded having watched Digimon a couple of times themselves just for the heck of it when nothing was going on at the Roost.

After we crossed the state border it didn't take long to reach New York City. Andrew and David cut the Chinook's speed back down from a flat out sprint to an almost leisurely walk of sixty miles per hour as we passed over the city's limits. As we headed towards the Empire State Building, everyone in the Chinook could see the massive mountain that was floating above it, full of twinkling lights that I instinctively knew was coming from massive braziers that were identical to the one that was nestled between the cabins back at camp.

When we reached a point that was just ahead of the area of the city that the mountain was over, Andrew kicked the rotors back into high gear and we began rapidly climbing up to the mountain's level. We continued rising even as we passed the first level of habitation for the mountain and we began moving forward again, passing over a city of mansions that clung to the mountain, snow covering its summit. All of the multileveled palaces had white columned porticos, gilded terraces, and bronze braziers glowing with a thousand fires. Roads wound crazily up to the peak, where the largest palace gleamed against the snow, even at night. We passed over precariously perched gardens and an open air market, followed by a stone amphitheater built on one side of the mountain while I noticed a hippodrome and a coliseum on the other.

And everywhere below us, people were looking up into the sky in confusion as our now uncloaked helicopter's rotors roared and sent a downdraft of wind as it continued towards the palace at the top. Within minutes we were in front of the palace, which other than glittering white and silver instead of black and bronze looked to be an exact copy of Hades' palace. Andrew turned the Chinook until it's rear hatch was facing the entrance to the palace and David said "Here's your stop Naruto."

I nodded and thanked them for the ride before I took off my radio headset and headed to the back, my three traveling companions joining me. I lowered the hatch and easily jumped the ten feet between the hovering Chinook and the ground. After I caught the others as they jumped out one at a time, the hatch closed and the Chinook took off at cruise speed, intent on returning to Eagle's Roost in order to complete its own delivery of custom engine parts to Richie.

We watched the Chinook go until it reached the end of the mountain and once again cloaked before I turned back towards the entrance of the palace we were in front of. Taking in a deep breath, I said "Well, let's get this over with."

I lead the way up the steps and into the courtyard, and then into the throne room. Well, ROOM was really an understatement. This place made Grand Central Station look like a broom closet. Massive columns rose to a domed ceiling, which was gilded with moving constellations. Twelve thrones, built for beings the size of Hades, were arranged in an inverted U, just like the cabins at Camp Half-blood. An enormous fire crackled in the central hearth pit. The thrones were empty except for two at the end: the head throne on the right, and the one to its immediate left. I didn't have to be told who the two were sitting in them were.

Zeus was wearing a dark blue pinstriped suit. His throne was rather simple considering just who was sitting on it, simply being a block of solid platinum carved into the shape of a chair. He had a well-trimmed beard, marbled gray and black like a storm cloud. His face was proud and handsome and grim, his eyes rainy gray. Those gray eyes were narrowed as the four of us entered the throne room.

Poseidon on the other hand was dressed extremely differently. At first glance, dad reminded me of a beachcomber from Key West, wearing leather sandals, khaki Bermuda shorts, and a Tommy Bahama shirt with coconuts and parrots all over it. His skin was deeply tanned, and his hands scarred like an old-time fisherman's. His hair was black, like mine and his face had that same brooding look that had always gotten me branded a rebel in this timeline. His eyes however told a different story. Sea green like my Percy Jackson's form, and surrounded by sun-crinkles that told me he smiled a lot more than he frowned. Further separating him from his brother was his throne, a deep-sea fisherman's chair. It was the simple swiveling kind, with a black leather seat and a built in holster for a fishing pole, which held a bronze trident, which flickered with green light around the tips.

I took this all in with a glance without stopping as I walked to stand in front of the two gods. When I reached them, I calmly took my sealing notebook out and unsealed Zeus' Master Bolt and Ares, drawing raised eyebrows from my father and a shocked look on Zeus' face at the state the still unconscious god of war was in. Giving a deep bow of my head to Poseidon, I said "It's good to finally meet you dad. I had been hoping for a chance to ever since Chiron confirmed some of my theories about who you were."

My father had a proud smile on his face as he said "It is good to see you as well Percy. And I must say, I am quite proud with how you have handled things."

I grinned at his words, feeling a warmth in my chest at his words before the warmth went away as Zeus spoke up and said "Should you not address the master of this house first boy?"

When I had first entered the throne room, the atmosphere around me had been serious but calm. After Zeus spoke, the air around us seemed to drop ten degrees as I looked at him. Shifting into my century old form, I began bombarding the god with my killing intent going at full blast as I coldly said "You lost all right to that sign of respect when you attacked me and the people around me three times for no reason. You attacked me, my mother, and Grover when we were escaping the minotaur for no apparent reason other than the fact that I was a descendant of Poseidon, you created that massive thunderstorm when we were traveling to Detroit and tried multiple times to kill me then and then you sent Echidna and her children after us. Now why don't you just sit there and let me have a long overdue discussion with my father. Oh, and another thing, try to keep a better track of this next time." Mini rant over, I tossed the Master Bolt over to Zeus who hastily grabbed it out of the air.

I could practically hear the jaws of everyone who was standing behind me drop to the floor. Zeus himself looked like I had just slapped him in the face with a five foot long trout. I gave him one last blast of killing intent for good measure before I eased off and shifted back to my Percy Jackson form and turned back towards my father who had a surprised look on his face that rather quickly turned into a smirk telling me he found me verbally ripping the rug out from under Zeus amusing.

Taking a deep breath to get the last dredges of anger out of my system, I started giving a report to Poseidon. "Father, the Master Bolt was stolen by a son of Hermes by the name of Luke, along with Hades' Helm of Darkness, I request permission to deal with him personally. When Zeus sent the others out to search for it, Ares caught up to him but someone convinced him to let him go. I believe this person was dear old grandpa." A concerned look crossed Poseidon's face but he gestured for me to continue. "When I reached Detroit, Ares here slipped me the Master Bolt after I had dealt with that trap Hephaestus had made. He did this by giving me a bag that would summon the bolt after a certain condition was met. When we reached the Underworld, a pair of flying shoes that Luke had given us activated and dragged Grover to the entrance of Tartarus. I was able to keep him from falling in and that is when I discovered the bolt. After making sure no one else could get it, I got mom out of the Underworld, although Uncle Hades is going to have to be doing a lot of redecorating from everything I did down there. Anyways, Ares met us on the beach at Las Angeles and pretty much indirectly admitted his guilt and saying that he had been getting orders through his dreams. You can see the results of our discussion before you. After placing Ares under a stasis seal and ensuring that news of what happened on the beach didn't spread further than the police officers who were called in response of witnesses seeing Ares and my fight, we came back to New York as fast as we could."

As I finished my report, Poseidon leaned back in his seat and threaded his fingers together in under his chin. Zeus frowned as he leaned forward and said "You believe that our father was behind this?"

I turned my focus to him and said "Yes. I had a dream before accepting this quest where you and father were fighting, and a voice from underground was egging the two of you on. Hades was not the one who stole your bolt so the only other likely option when coupled with how Luke's shoes were spelled to drag whoever was wearing them into that pit is grandpa."

Zeus and Poseidon looked at each other and began a quick, and rather intense discussion in Ancient Greek. Listening to them reminded me of listening to a Mexican or Spanish group of people speaking amongst themselves in their native language: rapid fire words that even if you knew what the words being used meant couldn't quite catch all of them to mentally translate before you had to translate the next. I didn't even bother trying to follow the discussion. Instead I focused on the mannerisms of the two gods to get an idea of what they were saying. Dad made some kind of suggestion, but Zeus cut him off. Dad tried to argue only for Zeus to hold up his hand angrily. He began to say something but his mouth shut with an audible click as SOMETHING made its presence known in the throne room.

Everyone's eyes snapped over to the brazier as an immense sense of power, tightly contained but still easily twenty times stronger than the two gods combined appeared in it. My mind instantly remembered my meeting with Kami even as the air over the brazier shimmered before erupting into a bonfire that reached the ceiling shading the entire room blue from its obviously not normal flames. And then a voice that held more power than I could ever truly grasp spoke from the fire.

"Do not take the young Uzumaki's words lightly Zeus. Trouble is stirring on the planet you and your family rules over, and when it fully awakens from its millennia long slumber, you and your court will be in the fight of your lives. But know this, when that time comes, my chosen warrior will be there to aid you."

The fire rapidly died down and went back to a normal fire leaving everyone staring at it for a moment before I said "Wow, Kami wasn't kidding when she said her counterpart had a flair for the theater."

Everyone's eyes snapped towards me as Zeus demanded "Boy, do you have any idea who that just was that you are speaking so causally about?!" Then his eyes turned confused as he actually registered what I said and asked "Wait, what did you mean by this Kami's counterpart?"

I snorted and said "Oh come on, you can't honestly believe that I'm actually from this world originally can you? Not twenty four hours ago, I went to the Underworld and blasted dear Uncle Hades out of his throne room and into his back yard before poking ten big holes in the Underworld's roof turning the place into the world's biggest indoor swimming pool. Before that, I shredded Echidna and her hydra to bits on the microscopic level with an S class wind jutsu. Before that I was flying through that thunderstorm you sent at me with wind manipulation when I am clearly a son of Poseidon due to my water manipulation abilities." Now chuckling, I said "To answer your question though, Kami is the goddess who is in overall charge of the realm I was born in on my first life."

Poseidon blinked and said "If you are from a different realm originally, then why are you now in this one?"

I turned back to face dad and said "Kami was approached by her counterpart for a favor. That favor was for the soul of a warrior to come into this realm and be reincarnated for a mission. Guess who she chose."

PoV Change: Zeus

My jaw actually dropped a little as I realized I had attacked the avatar of the one who was in charge of the entire Universe we were currently in. Oh, this was bad, really bad. I had been pissed when I had discovered who Percy Jackson was, so I had tried to hinder his escape from the Minotaur. I was even more pissed when the mortal had dared to enter my domain. Said mortal calling me a large spark plug not once, but twice certainly didn't help matters and I had retaliated both times. Thankfully, the avatar seemed to just be annoyed with me, and not planning on giving me a severe beating like he did to my son and apparently to my brother as well, for which I was extremely thankful for. I just hope I never did something that would change that fact. If this young mortal had been the choice of the ruler of his first Universe to be the avatar of ours, he must have been incredibly strong in his first life. I did not want to see just how strong he was with him as an enemy.

PoV Change: Percy/Naruto

I could practically feel Zeus' 'oh shit' moment when I saw his jaw drop slightly when it became known that I was chosen to come to this new Universe by Kami. I mentally smirked at the sight but kept most of my focus on my father, who looked at me incredulously for a moment before he seemed to snap himself back onto more important matters and gained a serious look as he took control from his shell shocked brother and said "While this new information is certainly surprising, there is the matter of the thief to take into account. You wish to deal with this Luke yourself, and I am willing to grant you your request, so long as you capture him. If for some reason you fail to do so, we shall take the matter into our own hands and hunt him down. Moving on, I need you to remove whatever you put your cousin under so that way we can begin figuring out if he had acted out of his own will or was somehow magically manipulated through his dreams. After you do so, we and your mother will be able to talk for a short while before you must leave."

I nodded as my face gained its own seriousness. Poseidon was right, first we needed to see if one of the gods had turned by himself or if the process had been helped along with more than words. After that, we could have a short family reunion before we dealt with the other traitor. Kneeling next to Ares' head, I placed my hand over the stasis seal and concentrated. A blue flash appeared under my hand before the black seal receded. Ares' wounds began bleeding golden Ichor again, although much slower than before, making me think that there was an inherent regenerative factor in play. Stepping away, I said "He's all yours dad. With the damage and the hit to the back of the head I gave him, he should be out for at least ten more minutes at the extreme least."

Poseidon nodded his thanks and took his trident out of its holster. Placing the center tip to Are's forehead, his eyes gained a sharp focus and the trident began to glow green for about a minute. After that, the glow died down and Poseidon lifted it, a slight frown on his face as he said "Brother, please come here and run a mental scan on Ares for me. Focus on the Zien wavelength, there seems to be something unusual there but I cannot make heads or tails of it."

Zeus knelt down next to his son and did what his brother had asked of him. Ten seconds later, I saw his brows furrow as he said "There is definitely magic there, looks like something to give Ares specific dreams, as well as a mental command spell, and something else there, but whatever it is seems almost purposely unfocused, almost like-" What it was almost like I'll probably never find out since Zeus' eyes widened and he immediately began cursing in rapid Ancient Greek before he teleported away in a burst of thunder taking the war god with him.

I blinked at where the two gods were before I looked back at dad and said "Do you have any idea what he was talking about?"

Poseidon had a frown on his face as he shook his head and said "I honestly have no clue son." He shook his head again to clear it before he looked over to where the others were and said "Sally, well you please come join us? I would like to have a family discussion."

One hour later, me, mom, Annabeth, and Grover, were being driven to mom's apartment in what looked to mortals like a police car that was driven by a Cyclops named Richard whose Mist covered form made Chris Rock look like a high school football player. Why might you ask? Because apparently Poseidon was pissed off with Gabe slandering me on national television earlier on the ten o'clock news and he was sending one of his subordinates to make his displeasure known. This coupled with the fact that apparently mom only married Gabe so that way his rather repugnant scent could cover up my demigod one meant that me and her no longer had to deal with him anymore. I considered it fortunate for Gabe that Richard was going to be the one bringing him in because I certainly wouldn't have left enough of him for processing when Poseidon had shown me said interview and it had become known that Gabe had hit mom more than a couple of times while I was away at school.

Annabeth and Grover were sending uneasy looks at the guy from where they were sitting next to me in the back. But when I asked them what was wrong, they both shook their heads and said it was nothing so I dropped the matter.

Our car pulled into the block holding the apartment building and our driver flipped a switch causing blue and red lights to flash like a real police car's would. Pulling up to the curb in front of the apartment, we all stepped out of the car and walked over to the entrance where Mom unlocked the door and led us up to our floor. Mom unlocked the door to our apartment and turned on the entrance hall light as she said "You kids make yourself comfortable in the kitchen while I whip up some blueberry punch. Richard, would you like anything? I have both instant coffee and tea if you do."

"A cup of coffee to go wouldn't be remiss ma'am. Straight black if you will." Richard said as he and I walked past said room and continued towards the main bedroom. We were five feet from the bedroom's door when it opened showing a sleepy Gabe who had an aluminum baseball bat in his hand, having awaken when the lights had turned on and our voices woke him up. His sleepy eyes widened in anger at the sight of me and he brandished the bat in my direction as he shouted "You! What are you doing here?!"

I rose an eyebrow and said "I'm here because I live here. A fact that I am happy to say we will not share in common from now on."

"Wha?" Gabe asked before Richard stepped forward and drew Gabe's attention to him causing said walrus' eyes to widen at the size of the Cyclops as he said "Gabe Ugliano, you are under arrest for purposely laying false accusations of kidnapping against one Percy Jackson, spousal abuse against your wife, and generally being an overall scumbag. Will you come quietly, or will things have to get physical?"

Gabe's eyes turned furious as he shouted "I ain't going nowhere!" and swung the bat at Richard's head, only for the Cyclops to lazily catch the bat in his left hand.

Gabe's eyes widened as Richard grinned and said "And now we can add assault on an officer of law to your crimes." Richard's hand flexed and the aluminum bat crumpled inward like a crumpled soda can causing Gabe's eyes to widen and to drop the handle of the bat before Richard's other hand shot forward and grabbed Gabe. Richard spun Gabe in a quarter circle and pushed him none to gently against the hallway wall as Richard said "Spread 'em." and gently kicked Gabe's legs apart. Well gently for a Cyclops anyway, Gabe's legs were probably going to have a nasty bruise on them in a couple of minutes.

Dropping the now useless bat, Richard pulled out a pair of handcuffs and cuffed Gabe's arms behind him and proceeded to pat search Gabe for any other weapons on his person before he pulled him away from the wall and pushed him towards the exit of the apartment where he stopped only long enough to take the cup of instant coffee from my mom's hands with a word of thanks before continuing out the door with me following.

The other people living on our floor were staring out of their own apartments having been rudely awakened by Gabe's shouting. They stared as Richard marched Gabe out and to the elevator. When the elevator doors closed behind the two, their heads all turned to look at me and I gave them a cheerful wave before I turned and went back into the apartment shutting the door on the way. Once inside I went to the windows facing the street and looked down to where Richard's car was still flashing its lights. A few moments later I saw Richard march Gabe out of the building and to the car where he opened the door to the back of the car and pushed Gabe in before he slammed the door shut and proceeded to walk around the car to the driver side and got in. The car's engine started before it pulled away from the apartment taking Gabe away from me and my mom's lives forever and leaving me with a deep sense of satisfaction.

I turned away from the window and walked into the kitchen. Receiving a glass of blueberry punch from mom, I thanked her and sat down at the kitchen table and sighed as I said "Well, the seiuchi's no longer a problem for us to deal with. Mom, with him out of the way, there's nothing stopping me from going to a casino and winning enough money for you to start taking those college classes you wanted if you want me to, maybe buy a car as well. But that's something to think about later. We need to get back to camp tomorrow morning to officially complete the quest and I've got a traitor I need to bring in for dad."

Annabeth sighed as she put her empty glass on the table and said "I still can't believe that Luke was the thief." She frowned and looked at her empty glass before she corrected herself and said "Actually, I can believe it, he changed so much after that quest of his, but he tried hide it behind a facade and I just didn't want to look too deep and see that." Lifting her head so that her eyes met mine, she said "If Luke is willing to be the spark that lights the powder keg that would be a war between gods, than he needs to be caught."

Grover frowned into his second glass of punch for a moment before he too looked up towards me and said "Annabeth is right. As much as I don't like it, we need to bring him in."

I nodded and said "And he will be, you can be sure of that. One way or another, Luke will answer for his crimes."

"That can wait until tomorrow." Mom said softly but firmly, entering our conversation as she continued "It is well past three in the morning, we all need to begin going to bed. We can call a taxi to take you three back to the camp when the sun is up."

The three of us nodded and I drained my glass before placing it in the sink and walked out of the kitchen, the others following my lead. Ten minutes later Grover and Annabeth were settled in the apartment's small guest room and mom was in her own room getting ready for bed. In my own room I stared out of my window in the direction of the Empire State Building and thought 'We may have prevented a war from breaking out for now, but I doubt this was the only plan grandpa had. I'm going to have to keep my ears peeled for the next one. But until the next plan is revealed we can only bring in Luke and take a wait and see approach for everything else.'

Turning away from the window, I turned off my light and slipped into bed, and fell asleep with plans to bring Luke to justice running through my head.