NPU: Welcome to the Sea of Monsters
Chapter 7
"You know." Tantalus started, "Those vicious birds would not have attacked us if Percy and Annabeth could drive their chariots correctly! They were minding their own business after all."
"What!" Percy and Annabeth shouted angrily.
"Now that is a load of bull." Naruto growled.
"Well the noise you two created drove them mad, what did you expect. I would hate to see you two drive those cars, that mortals drive." Tantalus groaned.
Naruto gained a twitching eyebrow at the jab at his friends and could see Percy and Annabeth were getting pissed. That much was clear with their red faces. "Oh, go chase another singing donut!" Percy shouted, making the blond inwardly groan.
Tantalus' face was not red from anger and he would not stand for this type of disrespect. He then gained an evil smile. "Well, if that is how you feel, then I am giving the three of you kitchen patrol! You brats get to scrub the pots and plates for the rest of the afternoon. Oh and try not to melt your hands off. HA!"
The man then turned to the rest of the camp and smiled. "Now to celebrate, we are having a special luncheon banquet for our winners. Clarisse and Naruto! A full course meal featuring country fried Stymphalian death-bird." The whole camp seemed to perk up this but they did feel sorry for Percy, Annabeth, and even Tyson.
Naruto walked up to his friends and sighed. "Percy….that was pretty cool."
"Yeah, not I have to pay for it." Percy grumbled.
"No, we have to pay for your big mouth!" Annabeth said angrily.
Naruto grimaced at that and said, "Yeah….good luck with that man."
XXX
While Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson were working in the underground kitchen with the harpies and trying not to melt their hands off because of the harpies use lava to wash dishes, Naruto was sitting at Clarisse's table for lunch since he was invited by the girl.
He had told them about this dream about Grover and the table was in deep thought. Most of them did not know the goat boy that well and could not give him an answer. Clarisse spoke up though, "Maybe he found something. I am not sure because I really don't know. Your best bet to go and ask Mr. D about it."
"Heh, I will." Naruto said but didn't get up. "First…I am going to EAT!" The whole table smirked and cheered at that before they all dug in.
XXX
"So you say Grover was in florida before he was captured by that idiot Cyclopes?" Mr. D asked, a bit annoyed as he and a few Satyrs played a card game.
"Yeah."
"And he says IT is here." Mr. D asked again.
"Yeah." Naruto answered again.
"Well." Mr. D started before he was cut off by a smart ass remark from Naruto.
"Man that is a deep subject."
The Wine God actually smirked at that. He might use that line later on. "Anyway, it seems that Grover has found a powerful object that can help us."
"Question is…what?"
Mr. D stared at Naruto before saying, "Let me tell you a story and then you will know. There were these two children of Zeus, Cadmus and Europa, okay? They were about to get offered up as human sacrifices, when they prayed to Zeus to save them. So Zeus sent this magical flying ram with golden wool, which picked them up in Greece and carried them all the way to Colchis in Asia Minor. Well, actually it carried Cadmus. Europa fell off and died along the way, but that's not important."
"Heh, might have been for her. She did die after all." Naruto commented. "I wonder if I'll ever see her in the Underworld."
"Who knows." Mr. D grumbled as he lost his hand in the game of cards. "Now shut up and listen. When Cadmus got to Colchis, he sacrificed the golden ram to the gods and hung the Fleece in a tree in the middle of the kingdom. The Fleece brought prosperity to the land. Animals stopped getting sick. Plants grew bet-ter. Farmers had bumper crops. Plagues never visited. That's why Jason wanted the Fleece. It can revitalize any land where it's placed. It cures sickness, strengthens nature, cleans up pollution…you know, all that good stuff."
Naruto's eyes widened at that. "I see. So this Golden Fleece is what we will find when we find Grover. With something like that, we can cure Thalia's Tree and strengthen the boarders around camp."
"Correct, boy." Mr. D said. "But the problem is, that the damn thing has been missing for centuries! How Grover found it was beyond luck."
"Right. The point is, is that he found it." Naruto said before he smiled. "And knowing Annabeth, she probably told Percy about all of this in the kitchen and Percy will probably want a quest to find it."
"True." Mr. D groaned. "However, I doubt Tantalus will give it to him. However, he will have to give it to someone."
"I'll go with whoever it is then. I need to save Thalia." Naruto said with determination in his eyes.
"Good to know, but do you know where to look?" Mr. D asked.
That stumped Naruto. Even if they did get a quest for this….where in Florida would they look? Suddenly the words of the Grey Sisters hit him and he asked, "Do we have a map?"
"Yeah…here." The Wine God said and in a poof of smoke, it was on the table, the card game long forgotten because of the conversation. As Naruto's eyes scanned the map, mostly in the Florida region, Mr. D looked on curiously. "What are you looking for?"
"The Grey Sisters gave us a set of numbers before they got the hell out of dodge. I think they are latitude and longitude coordinates." Naruto said before he went to the spot to find it in the ocean. "Great….in the middle of the ocean,"
"Oh…I don't think so. Think about that area." Mr. D offered.
Naruto looked at it more closely with all the small islands near Florida. It could be anywhere….but why in the middle of the…. "No freaking way. The Bermuda Triangle! The Sea of Monsters in the Bermuda Triangle?" He almost shouted as he remembered all the stories he had heard about that place. It did make sense.
"It would seem so." Mr. D said. "Now get out of here so I can finish me game!"
Naruto chuckled at that. "Ok. Man this will be fun….after all we will be in the best vacation spot in the world. Oh yeah, this will be fun! Aruba, Jamaica, oh I wanna take ya." Naruto sang as he waked away…with Mr. D rolling his eyes, wishing he could be there instead of at the damn camp.
XXX
That night at the campfire, Apollo's cabin led the sing-along. They tried to get everybody' spirits up, but it wasn't easy after that afternoon's bird attack. They all sat around a semicircle of stone steps, singing halfheartedly and watching the bonfire blaze while the Apollo guys strummed their guitars and picked their lyres.
They did all the standard camp numbers: "Down by the Aegean," "I Am My Own Great-Great-
Great-Great-Grandpa," "This Land is Minos's Land." The bonfire was enchanted, so the louder you sang, the higher it rose, changing color and heat with the mood of the crowd. Naruto's songs usually had the desired affect because he usually got the whole camp to sing and that made the fire go twenty feet high, perfect for roasting marshmallows.
Dionysus left early. After suffering through a few songs, he muttered something about how even pinochle with Chiron had been more exciting than this. Then he gave Tantalus a distasteful look and headed back toward the Big House, but not before nodding to Naruto.
When the last song was over, Tantalus said, "Well, that was lovely!"
He came forward with a toasted marshmallow on a stick and tried to pluck it off, real casuallike. But before he could touch it, the marshmallow flew off the stick. Tantalus made a wild grab, but the marshmallow committed suicide, diving into the flames. That actually made Naruto smile, it was a good pick me up to watch Tantalus try and it something. It wasn't as funny as Tom and Jerry, it was good entertainment.
Tantalus turned back toward the group, smiling coldly. "Now then! Some announcements about tomorrow's schedule."
"Sir." Percy cut in, making Naruto smirk. Now was the time.
Tantalus's eye twitched. "Our kitchen boy has something to say?"
Some of the Ares campers snickered, but Percy wasn't going to let anybody embarrass him into silence. He stood and looked at Annabeth. Thank the gods, she stood up with him. He then looked to Naruto and the blond nodded. It seemed that Naruto knew something and was pushing for Percy to come out it with already. He had to smile at that. "We have an idea to save the camp."
Dead silence, but He could tell he had gotten everybody's interest, because the campfire flared bright yellow.
"Indeed," Tantalus said blandly. "Well, if it has anything to do with chariots—"
"The Golden Fleece," Percy said. "We know where it is."
The flames burned orange. Before Tantalus could stop him, he blurted out the dream about Grover and Polyphemus's island, with Naruto confirming because he was connected as well. Annabeth stepped in and reminded everybody what the Fleece could do. It sounded more convincing coming from her.
"The Fleece can save the camp," she concluded. "I'm certain of it."
"Nonsense," said Tantalus. "We don't need saving." Everybody stared at him until Tantalus started looking uncomfortable.
"heh, he must really want to go back to hell." Naruto muttered andit was loud enough for some to laugh at, but thankfully Tantalus didn't hear it.
"Besides," the man added quickly, "the Sea of Monsters? That's hardly an exact location. You wouldn't even know where to look."
"Actually we do." Naruto said, getting a smirk from Percy.
"You do?" Annabeth asked.
"Yeah, you can thank the Grey Sisters for that. Tell them Percy."
The son of Poseidon smiled. It seemed that Naruto found out about the plan as well. He should have known. "30, 31, 75, 12,"
"Ooo-kay," Tantalus said. "Thank you for sharing those meaningless numbers."
"They're sailing coordinates," Percy said. "Latitude and longitude. we, uh, learned about it in social studies."
"Oh yeah." Naruto said randomly. "I somehow passed that test….even though I didn't study for it."
There was a collective sweat drop at that. Annabeth shook her head while Percy snorted. It was pure luck in his opinion. Annabeth then smiled. If both Naruto and Percy had figured that out, she was impressed. "30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west. Their right! The Gray Sisters gave us those coordinates. That'd be somewhere in the Atlantic, off the coast of Florida. The Sea of Monsters. We need a quest!"
"Wait just a minute," Tantalus said.
But the campers took up the chant. "We need a quest! We need a quest!"
The flames rose higher.
"It isn't necessary!" Tantalus insisted.
"WE NEED A QUEST! WE NEED A QUEST!"
"You can't escape this, Tantalus." Naruto said with a smirk, which made the man's eye twitch because the blond was right.
"Fine!" Tantalus shouted, his eyes blazing with anger. "You brats want me to assign a quest?"
"YES!"
"Very well," he agreed. "I shall authorize a champion to undertake this perilous journey, to retrieve the Golden Fleece and bring it back to camp. Or die trying."
Finally they were getting somewhere. Percy was so happy about this, they were going to help the camp again! Naruto smiled, it was about to get interesting again he was sure they were going to need his help.
"I will allow our champion to consult the Oracle!" Tantalus announced. "And choose two companions for the journey. And I think the choice of champion is obvious."
Tantalus looked at Annabeth, Percy, and Naruto as if he wanted to flay them alive. "The champion should be one who has earned the camp's respect, who has proven resourceful in the chariot races and courageous in the defense of the camp. You shall lead this quest ... Clarisse!"
The fire flickered a thousand different colors. The Ares cabin started stomping and cheering, "CLARISSE! CLARISSE!" Naruto quirked an eyebrow, but smiled all the same. He might be able to help out after all. Still what would this do for Percy.
Clarisse stood up, looking stunned. Then she swallowed, and her chest swelled with pride. "I accept the quest!"
"Wait!" Percy shouted. "Grover is my friend. The dream came to me and Naruto."
"Sit down!" yelled one of the Ares campers. "You had your chance last summer!"
"Yeah, he just wants to be in the spotlight again!" another said.
Clarisse glared at me. "I accept the quest!" she repeated. "I, Clarisse, daughter of Ares, will save the camp!"
The Ares campers cheered even louder. Annabeth protested, and the other Athena campers joined in. Everybody else started taking sides—shouting and arguing and throwing marshmallows. Naruto sighed and kept quiet as he observed the scene.
Tantalus shouted, "Silence, you brats!" The tone he used creeped out Naruto and stunned Percy.
Sit down!" he ordered. "And I will tell you a ghost story." Naruto narrowed his eyes, the way he said that, meant it was not just a ghost story….he felt he was going to learn something about this man and why he was put under that curse.
"Once upon a time there was a mortal king who was beloved of the Gods!" Tantalus put his hand on his chest, and many got the feeling he was talking about himself.
"This king," he said, "was even allowed to feast on Mount Olympus. But when he tried to take some ambrosia and nectar back to earth to figure out the recipe—just one little doggie bag, mind you—the gods punished him. They banned him from their halls forever! His own people mocked him! His children scolded him! And, oh yes, campers, he had horrible children. Children—just—like— you."
He pointed a crooked finger at several people in the audience, including Naruto and Percy.
"Do you know what he did to his ungrateful children?" Tantalus asked softly. "Do you know how he paid back the gods for their cruel punishment? He invited the Olympians to a feast at his palace, just to show there were no hard feelings. No one noticed that his children were missing. And when he served the gods dinner, my dear campers, can you guess what was in the stew?"
No one dared answer. The firelight glowed dark blue, reflecting evilly on Tantalus's crooked face. However, Naruto looked pissed. He was feeling so much rage at what Tantalus had done to his own flesh and blood that the fire also took on a red tint in the blue. His father did do enough to torture this man…no, monster.
"Oh, the gods punished him in the afterlife," Tantalus croaked. "They did indeed. But he'd had his moment of satisfaction, hadn't he? His children never again spoke back to him or questioned his authority. And do you know what? Rumor has it that the king's spirit now dwells at this very camp, waiting for a chance to take revenge on ungrateful, rebellious children. And so ... are there any more complaints, before we send Clarisse off on her quest?"
Silence.
Tantalus nodded at Clarisse. "The Oracle, my dear. Go on."
She shifted uncomfortably, like even she didn't want glory at the price of being Tantalus's pet. However, she got a few words out. "I…am talking Naruto with me and that is it."
"GO!" Tantalus snarled, not happy.
She bowed awkwardly and hurried off toward the Big House, but not before motioning for Naruto to follow her, which he did quickly before he did something to that creature he was regret.
However, he did hear what Tantalus had to say next.
"What about you, Percy Jackson?" Tantalus asked. "No comments from our dishwasher?"
There was no answer. It seemed he was not going to give this sick….monster the satisfaction of an answer. Naruto had to smile at that. So before he was too far away, he created a shadow clone to observe the rest of the conversation before he ran to where his partner for this quest was.
"Good," Tantalus said. "And let me remind everyone— no one leaves this camp without my permission. Anyone who tries ... well, if they survive the attempt, they will be expelled forever, but it won't come to that. The harpies will be enforcing curfew from now on, and they are always hungry! Good night, my dear campers. Sleep well."
With a wave of Tantalus's hand, the fire was extinguished, and the campers trailed off toward their cabins in the dark.
The Naruto clone walked up next to the water boy and asked, "So, are you going anyway?"
Percy looked to his blond friend. He knew this must be a clone since he knows that Naruto is with Clarisse in the big house. He looked at his friend's clone and could not help but feel a little jealous. Naruto was going on the quest to save the camp and he wasn't. But, he didn't feel that way for long because he figured the blond was doing this more for Thalia then for the camp….and he could understand that. "I don't know."
"You know, I won't stop you." The clone said. "I know you are stubborn and want to help the camp, which it good. If you go and we find you, I will back you up…just like always."
Percy smiled. Naruto was one of the best friends he could ever have. "Thanks Naruto."
"No problem." The clone said with a smile and he watch as Percy trudged off toward his cabin, however, he did not disperse. The original wanted him to make sure if Percy went or not.
XXX
Clarisse was a bit scared after the tale that Tantalus told them about and walking at night to the Big House where the creepy Oracle lived would make anyone scare shitless. She is just glad she has her crush with her. Turning to him, she smiled. "Thanks for taking up the offer of coming with me."
"It was an offer? It felt more like a demand" Naruto asked smartly, which earned him a punch in the shoulder.
"You idiot. You could have said no." Clarisse grumbled.
"Yeah, but I like to help my friends. So sue me." Naruto countered with a smirk.
"And that is why I asked you to join me." The daughter of Ares replied before they both noticed that were at the door to the Oracle. She took a deep breath and said, "Here goes nothing."
Naruto offered a smile as he opened the door for her and they both went in. the blond felt a chill run up his spine. The Oracle freaked him the fuck out the first time he went with Percy…now he had to deal with it again.
Once again the green mist spewed out of the Oracle's mouth and it turned into the image of Ares….her father.
"You shall sail the iron ship with warriors of bone,
You shall find what you seek and make it your own,
But despair for your life entombed within stone,
And fail without friends, to fly home.
Know this, the journey will not be easy,
The Son of Death must fight his enemy.
The lost son of Echidna will be revealed."
When it was over, the two quickly made their way out of the Big House and to the circle of cabin. Clarisse turned to her friend with a smile. "This is going to be a tough quest, you better be ready."
"You know I will be, but you have to wonder. Who am I going to have to fight?" Naruto said.
"Well….the children of Echidna are tricky, so who knows."
"Yeah." Naruto said while scratching the back of his head. "You know, I am already in deep shit with his for killing the fox, I highly doubt she will be happy with me when I beat the next kid she sends after me."
"Oh yeah…this is going to be interesting." Clarisse said with a laugh before she said good night and went in her cabin.
As Naruto walked to the Aphrodite cabin, he stopped because he gained the memories of his clone. He smirked. "Well….it seems you guys are going after all. See you there…just don't get lost. Man, Hermes is a genius…though the two snakes are weird." He said to himself before he made his way in the cabin.
XXX
Echidna observed two people in an underground lair. One was a snake like man with Sound Attire on. The other had the same clothes, but he was much younger and had a permanent scowl on his face. They were Orochimaru and Sasuke Uchiha and it seemed that they were at a standoff, but from what she didn't not know, nor cared.
Orochimaru's eyes cut to the woman, who was in her true form, a snake like woman. "Who are you and how did you get in?" he asked, wary of this strange woman. Sasuke just eyed the woman with distaste.
"I have come….for my son." Echidna replied with a devilish smile.
XXXX
And cut! There you all go. Sorry about the late update.
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