Chapter 19
Naruto examined the Underworld surrounding around him, and had to admit this was pretty much what he expected of the Underworld. Lots of fire, some spirits roaming around, monster flying over head and the creepy looking River Styx they were currently paddling down on a wooden boat.
"I swear, am I ever just going to get one normal day?" Naruto thought before he let a smirk cross his face when he saw Annabeth's hand grab onto Percy's.
"I knew it." he thought as he nudged Grover and pointed at Annabeth and Percy. He too let a smirk appear on his face.
After a couple of minutes he shoreline of the Underworld came into view. Craggy rocks and black volcanic sand stretched inland about a hundred yards to the base of a high stone wall, which marched off in either direction as far as we could see. A sound came from somewhere nearby in the green gloom, echoing off the stones—the howl of a large animal.
"Feed me" Naruto swore he heard the howl say and knew they were no doubt going to have a problem since everyone but they were dead.
"Old Three-Face is hungry," Charon said. His smile turned skeletal in the greenish light. "Bad luck for you, godlings."
"Cerberus?" Naruto asked getting a nod from Annabeth.
"Most likely."
They eventually got to the shore line where everybody when began to depart from the boat and follow the signs that had been set up for the dead to follow. No doubt to be judged on where they will be sent to.
Charon said, "I'd wish you luck but there isn't any down here. Mind you, don't forget to mention my pay raise." he said he turned the boat around and began to paddle back up the river leaving everyone behind.
"Well that was quite an experience." Grover said as the others nodded, and followed after the group of spirits.
They simply followed the worn down path until they found themselves at a pair of gates. However despite being the Underworld, instead of looking at giant black gates, like Naruto had thought they would see, instead the gates were similar to airport security gates, but instead of security guards there was just some sort of booth with a couple of dark robed figures similar to Charon.
The dead queued up in the three lines, two marked ATTENDANT ON DUTY, and one marked EZ DEATH. The EZ DEATH line was moving right along. The other two were moving at a very slow pace.
"What do you figure?" Percy asked Annabeth who had a analysing look on her face.
"The fast line must go straight to the Asphodel Fields," she said. "No contest. They don't want to risk judgment from the court, because it might go against them."
"There's a court for dead people?" Percy asked again, this time getting Naruto's attention too.
"Yes there are three judges normally. They switch around who sits on the bench. King Minos, Thomas Jefferson, Shakespeare—people like that. Sometimes they look at a life and decide that person needs a special reward—the Fields of Elysium. Sometimes they decide on punishment. But most people, well, they just lived. Nothing special, good or bad. So they go to the Asphodel Fields."
"And do what?"
"Imagine standing in a wheat field in Kansas. Forever. Not seeing anything but a giant field of wheat for the rest of eternity."
"Damn that kind of sucks" Naruto mentioned getting nods form the rest.
They began walking closer to the gates and went they were just a few feet form the gates they saw where the howling had been coming from and caused all four to get a little wide eyed at the site in front of them.
In front of them was by far the biggest dog any had ever seen. It was a giant Rottweiler, that was easily bigger then a normal house, with three snapping and snarling heads, with teeth the size of knives. It's fur was a mix between black and dark brown and it had black spiked collar on each other heads necks.
They noticed that the dead didn't seem to fear it and just walked on past. But they figured since they were dead they did not look all that appetizing to the giant dog.
They however were still alive and they all noticed that Cerberus was staring directly at them licking its lips and with a hungry look on its face.
"I don't think Hades fed Cerberus today" Naruto whispered to the others.
"If we don't come up with something, we are going to become dog chow." Percy said as he was gripping rip tide tightly in his pocket. Though Naruto was not sure how Percy's little sword would hold up against a giant beast like Cerberus.
"But that's okay," Grover said, trembling next to Percy. "Because we have a plan right?"
"Right," Annabeth said as she shook a little. "There is a plan.
"There's no plan" Naruto thought sadly.
They made another move forward and they saw the middle head growling loudly at them ass Naruto and Grover heard what Cerberus was saying.
"Hmm demi gods. GET IN MY BELLY."
"Urm no thanks" both Naruto and Grover said.
"What's it saying" Percy and Annabeth asked as Naruto and Grover looked at each other a little hesitantly.
"Well let's just say Cerberus is currently picking out whom to have for his main course." Grover said making the other two pale a little.
"Wait Naruto how can you understand it. I thought you could only understand animals and not monsters?" Percy asked getting a shrug form the blonde boy.
"I guess Cerberus is just more animal then monster since he is kind of just a giant dog that happens to have three heads."
Percy then reached around with his hand into the back pack and brought out a big wooden stick and began waving it in front of the giant three headed dog.
"Hey, Big Fella," Percy called up. "I bet they don't play with you much. You want to play."
"Yeah we are dead. We are so dead" were the thought of the others looking at Percy like he grew a second head.
"Eat him first" Cerberus declared as Percy continued to wave the stick in front of the Cerberus. He then threw the stick and was expecting Cerberus to go after the stick but instead the giant dog just stood their unimpressed. It even looked a little insulted that Percy would think that it would go after some stick.
"Well that was a great plan." Annabeth deadpanned causing Percy to chuckle nervously.
"It was worth a shot right?" He said but she remained unimpressed.
"Ten more second then I eat you." Cerberus declared as a happy glint appeared in all the eyes of the three heads.
"Yeah we have ten second before Cerberus will eat us. Or to be more specific will eat Percy for his main course."
"What? Why only me?" he asked with a horrified look on his face.
"Cerberus thought the stick throwing was an insult, and was wondering if you knew it was beneath him to run after a stick. Therefore you die first." Naruto said. He said it in such a cheery voice that Percy just became more terrified.
Just as Cerberus looked like he was about to snap Percy us and the three boys prepared for whatever was about to happen Annabeth's voice rang out. "Wait."
"Urm five seconds" Grover said trying to keep calm but was shaking like a lead. No doubt Cerberus was think that Grover would make a decent side dish.
Annabeth had her hand in one of her pockets before she suddenly pulled out a red rubber ball the size of a grapefruit. It was labelled WATERLAND, DENVER, CO.
"Well that was handy." Naruto thought as he watched Annabeth march right up to the three headed dog, without any fear evident on her face, before she stopped right in front of Cerberus and showed him the red rubber ball.
"Cerberus see the ball" she called out getting the giant dogs attention which surprisingly she did. The hunger look that Cerberus had just moment ago had now completely vanished and his attention was solely on the rubbed ball in Annabeth's hand.
"Sit" she called ut again and the others were again amazed when the giant dog did exactly as she asked. However when it did sit, Cerberus inadvertently sat on some passing sprits and crushed them with its giant behind. Thought no one really cared. They were already dead so it's not like they could die again. The spirits just made muffled hisses as they dissipated, like the air was being let out of tires.
"Good boy." she said smiling at the giant dog before she began waving the red ball around in the air before she threw it down one of the long corridors.
Cerberus immediately bounded after it as Annabeth turned around and looked at the others making a 'get moving' motion with her hand.
Not needing to be told twice the boys all started to move.
However the Cerberus didn't stay gone long as he suddenly reappeared in front of Annabeth with the red ball in the middle heads mouth. It looked over at the boys, more specifically Percy and growled.
"Stay!" Annabeth ordered the monster. "If you want the ball, stay!"
Cerberus whimpered, but he stayed where he was.
"I know what I'm doing" Annabeth said before he made a motion that told them to continue walking forward. The three did just that sand quickly walked underneath Cerberus. Naruto also praying that Cerberus didn't to suddenly sit down on them. That would not be a pleasant experience for any one.
"Good boy" Annabeth said as she tried to keep Cerberus's attention on her.
When they made it through Annabeth shook the red ball around before she threw it again. It got caught by the middle head before the other two head began fighting with it, trying to get the ball away from its massive jaws.
Annabeth took the chance to go follow over towards the guys and left Cerberus behind playing with the red rubber ball.
"How did you do that" Percy asked in amazement.
"Obedience school. I use to have a Doberman before I left home. He is the same as any other dog. He just wants some attention and someone to play with."
"Someone to play with huh" Naruto thought as he looked over at the big dog that now whimpered a little since his new friend was now gone.
"No one to play with again Cerberus whined getting a sad glance from Naruto.
"Aww the guys a big softie. He just wants someone to play with" Naruto said with Annabeth nodding sadly before Naruto had an idea. He made a familiar hand sign and called out "Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Six clones poofed into existence as Naruto said go play with Cerberus and keep him company. The six clones looked at him as if he was a little crazy but shrugged none the less and went to go play with Cerberus
When they did the others looked at him al little surprised while he shrugged it off. "Well at least if we have problems with dogs in the future, we can just go to big bad Annabeth" he said nudging the younger blonde who blushed a little from the name before she smiled.
As they left they could hear loud sound so f laughing and howls and barks of joy coming from behind them. No doubt Cerberus was having some fun with the clones. Naruto just hoped the clones lasted long enough so that they did not get dispelled.
The group burst through the EZ DEATH gate, which started even more alarms blaring, and raced into the Underworld, not daring to look back since they did not want to know what creature in the underworld was going to be chasing them.
"So after that little obstacle what have we learned children?" Naruto asked as they ran down the paths of the underworld.
"That Percy's plans stink!" both Grover and Annabeth called causing Percy to almost trip over.
"It wasn't that bad was it?" he asked getting a look form all three that said 'your honestly asking that question.'
"Fine" he said as he continued to pout like a little child making the other roll their eyes but have a small smile all on their faces. They were so close. It was just a little bit more and finally they could put an end to the quest and go back to camp.
Eventually as they ran through the Underworld they found themselves in the Field of Asphodel. It was by far the biggest field Naruto and the others had ever seen while there were millions of people just scattered all over the place as far as the eye could see.
Annabeth, Grover, Percy and Naruto tried to blend into the crowd, keeping an eye out for security ghouls but they couldn't help looking for familiar faces among the spirits of Asphodel, but the dead are hard to look at. Their faces shimmer. They all look slightly angry or confused. They will come up to you and speak, but their voices sound like chatter, like bats twittering. Once they realize you can't understand them, they frown and move away.
Naruto was not sure why but he couldn't help but wonder if his dad was here. Since he lived in the Elemental Nations would his spirit go to this worlds Underworld or to some after afterlife back in the other world.
He knew it was unlike but he kept his eyes open for his dad just in case. Lets face it you never who you might meet.
They followed the line of people that were lined up in front of a big black tent. On it, it read:
JUDGMENTS FOR ELYSIUM AND ETERNAL DAMNATION
Welcome, Newly Deceased!
"How lovely" Naruto thought looked at the banner before he looked at where the lines were leading. One was leading down to a very rocky place that was dark and filled with fog. Naruto swore he could hear screams coming from that direction.
Then down the other path he could see a faint glow coming from there with the path beginning to turn into a sandy path and Naruto could hear some laughter coming from there. Elysium.
He didn't want to think it but since he had a big bad demon sealed within him, if he died would he go to Elysium or would he go to Fields of punishment. Or would they he was neutral and remain in the Fields.
They left the judgment pavilion and moved deeper into the Asphodel Fields. It got darker and darker to the point where it looked as if their clothes were beginning to have the colour form the sucked out.
The walked in silence as they walk on forward and heard the familiar screeching up above them. They looked up to see the all too familiar forms of the Furies however over a dark castle a little bit further in the distant. It would not take them long to get over there and they were all now beginning to feel a little nervous.
"I suppose it's too late to turn back," Grover said wistfully.
"Just a tad" Naruto added.
"We'll be okay." Percy said as he tried to sound confident.
"Maybe we should search some of the other places first," Grover suggested. "Like, Elysium, for instance …"
"No no we are not going back after we have come so far" Annabeth said as she grabbed Grover's arm.
However when she did the small wings on Grover shoes suddenly shot out and began flapping around like crazy. They began to move Grover away from Annabeth ad in another direction.
"Dude where you going?" Naruto asked as his friend looked like he was struggling to control his legs.
Grover was about to speak before he let out a loud yelp as the shoes suddenly lifted off the ground and began moving at a faster pace away from the group.
"Maia!" he yelled, but the magic word seemed to have no effect. "Maia, already! Nine-one-one! Help!"
"Crap why did the shoes have to go all ape shit now" Naruto thought as he and the others ran after Grover who was beginning to get further and further away from them.
The path Grover was taking was downhill and he was beginning to speed up more and more before it made him look like a bullet going down a hill. The others were gaining slowly but they were also trying not to make any little mistakes. One little mistake down in the Underworld could be the end for anyone.
"Grover you have to untie the shoes" Annabeth yelled. "Get them off your feet now."
Grover obviously heard them as he was trying to sit up long enough to untie them but the speed the shoes were dragging him at was making it all but impossible.
As they continued to chase after him the cavern walls began to get tighter and narrower that led them into some kind of tunnel. The place looked all kinds of creepy but pushed on after their satyr friend and his crazy flying shoes.
"Grover try and grab onto something" Percy shouted.
"Hold onto what? There is nothing to hold on to" he shouted back trying to stop his head from bouncing n the rocky path beneath him. He tried to grab onto some of the small rocks but they were too small for him to get a firm grip on and just continued to being dragged across the floor.
The tunnel got darker and colder. The hairs on the arms of the demi god began to stand on end as well as a shiver run up their spine. It smelled evil down here. It made me think of things I shouldn't even know about—blood spilled on an ancient stone altar, the foul breath of a murderer.
"We really should not be here" Naruto thought as looked at the place in front of him. This place was kind you had nightmares about.
However when they reached the end of the tunnel they all stopped dead in the tracks when they found themselves in a giant dark cavern. In front of them was the biggest can any one of them had ever seen and seemed to span at least a mile wide in length.
Naruto also had to look a little amazed. The place made the Valley of the End look like a crack in the wall in comparison. At least he was amazed until it clicked n is head where they were exactly.
"Tartarus" he whispered. Luckily no one heard him or looked at him to notice that Naruto's hand was shaking slightly. It wasn't the site of Tartarus that had him on edge. It was what was contained in Tartarus.
They all snapped out of it when they saw Grover still being pulled by the shoes and noticed that the direction was right for the pit.
"Isn't that-"
"I know!" Annabeth shouted to Percy with her voice faltering slightly. "The place you described in your dream! But Grover's going to fall if we don't catch him." She was right, of course. Grover's predicament got him moving again.
The flying sneakers had always been a loose fit on him, and finally Grover hit a big rock and the left shoe came flying off. It sped into the darkness, down into the chasm. The right shoe kept tugging him along, but not as fast. Grover was able to slow himself down by grabbing on to the big rock and using it like an anchor.
However Grover was not able to hold on long before he found his slip form the rock and hurl of the chasm side.
Percy was the first to reach him and grabbed his hands in success but then found he was being pulled in as well. Annabeth did the same to Percy but the same thing was happening. "Just how strong are those shoes" was the thought on everyone's mind.
"Shit" Naruto thought. "Shadow Clones Jutsu" he said as he leapt over and grabbed Annabeth's ankles but the four were still going off the cliff. All the clones Naruto made grabbed the original Naruto and began to pull the group of four back safely to the side.
As they did that Grover's eye were staring directly down into the pit and his eyes widened when a dark mist suddenly began to form in front of him and the form of a hand was suddenly coming right towards him.
"Come to me." a voice called out like the wind causing everyone to shudder at the voice.
"PULL ME UP! PULL ME UP!" Grover shouted in hysterics as the hand was coming closer to him. Percy who was holding onto Grover's arms saw the hand too and began shouting the same thing.
"Pull damn it!" Naruto shouted to the clones who finally got the bearing together and pulled the group back up and away from the pit. After a couple of second the hand that was made of black mist must have realized it would not get them since it suddenly just evaporated into thin air before they were safely back on solid ground.
They all collapsed, exhausted, on the obsidian gravel as the all felt like they were having some kind of panic attack. Well except Naruto but he was breathing a lot deeper then he normally would. That was far too close for his and everyone else likes.
Grover was scratched up pretty bad. His hands were bleeding. His pupils had gone slit, goat style, the way they did whenever he was terrified. Although no one could really blamed him since he was horribly close to falling into a place that was even worse than the Underworld.
They were silent as the only thing that could be heard through the whole cavern was their heavy breathing. At least it was until they began to hear whispers of voices coming from the pit.
"You hear that?" Percy asked as they all listened, trying to make out what the voices were trying to say. Percy uncapped riptide which made the voices falter only for a second before they continued.
"It sound like chanting" Grover said finally getting a hold of himself as he tried to listen like the others.
"Magic" Annabeth said startling the others as she suddenly stood up looking a little fearfully at the giant cavern.
"We have to go. We can't stay here any longer" Naruto said as he helped Grover up.
They went as fast as they could since they could hear the voices getting louder and a dark chuckle sounding out through the cavern. They did not even want to think who that was.
They were struggling forward, and finally reached the top of the tunnel, where the cavern widened out into the Fields of Asphodel. The wind died. A wail of outrage echoed from deep in the tunnel. Something was not happy we'd gotten away.
"What was that?" Grover panted, when we'd collapsed in the relative safety of a black poplar grove. "One of Hade's pets?"
"No" Naruto whispered to himself as Annabeth stood by his side as Percy checked on Grover leaving the two blonde to talk quietly amongst themselves. "Something far worse."
"I-It was him wasn't it? That voice we heard and the hand that tried to grab Grover" she whispered. Naruto could tell immediately she was frightened by the sound of her voice. Hell even he was a little frightened. They had come so close to meeting the one entity that the gods greatly feared. Even the big three would pale a bit at his name.
Annabeth and Naruto looked at each other, both with uneasy looks in their eyes. They knew they should not mention stuff like this to Percy. At least not yet, not when they were so close to putting an end to this exhausting quest. Plus they knew Grover would be terrified out of his mind if they mentioned what happened back in the cavern so they felt it was best to keep quiet for the time being.
Because the fact of the matter was, what was down there had downright terrified not only Grover, Percy and Annabeth but he was as well.
He had come across some amazingly strong, and sinister people back in the Elemental Nations. Zabuza, Orochimaru, Kisame, Itachi were as bad as they got. But the feeling he got from what was down in that pit made them look like kittens in comparison.
Before long they were back on the move and were headed straight for the creepy looking black castle.
High above they could all the Furies circling them and they no doubt knew that the Furies had spotted them but they were keeping their distance. No doubt they did not want o be shot down by Naruto again.
As they got closer, Naruto could see the engravings on the gates that were scenes of death. Some were from modern times—an atomic bomb exploding over a city, a trench filled with gas mask-wearing soldiers, a line of African famine victims waiting with empty bowls—but all of them looked as if they'd been etched into the bronze thousands of years ago. He wondered if I was looking at prophecies that had come true. Percy was thinking the same as he eyed the engravings.
When they were past the gates the saw the strangest garden they had all ever seen. There were multicolored mushrooms, poisonous shrubs, and weird luminous plants grew without sunlight. Precious jewels made up for the lack of flowers, piles of rubies as big as my fist, clumps of raw diamonds. Standing here and there like frozen party guests were Medusa's garden statues— petrified children, satyrs, and centaurs—all smiling grotesquely.
Naruto let out a growl when he saw the stone statues of the little children. A fate worse than death. Something those poor children did not deserve. If he ever saw Medusa again no doubt he would do far worse than just cut her head off. If there was anything Naruto hated it was seeing kids being harmed. No child should ever have the kind of childhood that he had to put up with.
In the center of the garden was an orchard of pomegranate trees, their orange blooms neon bright in the dark. "The garden of Persephone," Annabeth said. "Keep walking."
The tart smell of those pomegranates was almost overwhelming. They had a sudden desire to eat them, but then they remembered the story of Persephone. One bite of Underworld food, and they would never be able to leave. Naruto used his hand to pinch his nose together to try and stop the smell. Not because it was horrid smell, it was the exact opposite. It made him want to eat the fruit but, he knew that would only lead to bad news.
Although Naruto and Percy did have to grab Grover, and swipe away a pomegranate when he was inches away of devouring it in one bite.
As lovely as the Underworld was, it was not somewhere he really considered calling home.
The group walked up the steps of the palace, between black columns, through a black marble portico, and into the house of Hades. The entry hall had a polished bronze floor, which seemed to boil in the reflected torchlight. There was no ceiling, just the cavern roof, far above.
As they neared a pair of giant iron black doors, there U.S. Marine skeletons there guarding them. They grinned down at the group, rocket-propelled grenade launchers held across their chests. Naruto just gave them the evil eye which made them turn their heads.
"You alright their Percy?" Naruto asked causing Percy to huff slightly.
"This backpack ways a tonne all of a sudden. Did any of you put rocks in here?" he asked but they all shook their heads. Although it did sound like a good prank, Naruto kept it for future reference.
Annabeth knocked one the giant doors making a loud rumble occur from it. A few second later the doors swung open and the guard went and stood to the sides.
They stepped inside the giant hall and the first thing they all noticed was the big marble like throne that looked like it was combined with bones and skeletons. At the end of the hall. They noticed it first because the throne was currently occupied.
All four breathing hitched. No doubt the man they were staring at was a god. Just by looking at him, you could see this god like aura around him that demanded respect.
The man was easily over teen feet tall and had albino white skin with shoulder length black air. Naruto thought if the hair was nay longer it would have been a giant version of Orochimaru. He was wearing black silk robes and wore a crown braided with gold. He was not as bulked up as Ares but you knew he had power just by the look of him.
"You are brave to come here, Son of Poseidon and friends," he said in an oily voice that echoed through the hall. "After what you have done to me, very brave indeed. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish."
"Probably more foolish" they all thought as Percy took a step forward towards Hades.
"Lord and Uncle, I come with two requests."
"Not beating round the bush here are you Percy" Naruto thought since Percy was probably right. It was better just to get it over with and then get out of the Underworld.
Hades raised his eyebrows at that. "Only two requests?" Hades said. "Arrogant child. As if you have not already taken enough. Speak, then. It amuses me not to strike you dead yet."
As Hades spoke Naruto eyes peeled over towards the smaller throne next to Hades that looked to be in the shape of a flower and was colored in black and gold. It was kind of pretty. No doubt that was where Persephone sat during her time in the Underworld when she was not with her mother above the surface.
"Lord Hades," Percy said. "Look, sir, there can't be a war among the gods. It would be ... bad."
"Really bad," Grover added helpfully.
"And we don't want innocent people to get heard because of it" Naruto added as well.
Hades turned his attention from Percy to Naruto and looked at the boy in front of him. "You know there has never been a shinobi from that world ever come here before. You are the first." he said a little off topic.
"Oh, cool" Naruto said giving him two thumbs up.
"Your Artemis's son huh? Surprised she actually broke her oath. My little niece is not exactly what you would call sociable with men."
"So I have heard" Naruto said before his mind went back to a topic he was thinking about earlier. "Um Lord Hades I don't suppose you could answer a simple question for me could you?" he asked politely as Hades stared at Naruto for a few second before giving a small nod.
"People from my world. Do they go to the Underworld in this world?" He asked since he wanted to know if there was any chance that he could meet his father one day. However his look dropped when he saw Hades shake his head.
"No they go to the afterlife in that world. I have no control over the after in the Elemental Nations since it is run by the Shinigami of that world. That world afterlife is not a place we gods or anyone else can ever visit."
"Oh okay. Thank you for answering" Naruto said as he politely bowed and kept his head facing the Hades so the others couldn't see the sad look that was on his face.
The silence ended when Percy spoke up again saying "Return Zeus's master bolt to me, please, sir. Let me carry it to Olympus."
Hades's eyes grew dangerously bright. "You dare keep up this pretense, after what you have done?"
"Um ... Uncle," Percy said. "You keep saying 'after what you've done.' What exactly have I done?"
The throne room shook with a tremor so strong, they probably felt it upstairs in Los Angeles. Debris fell from the cavern ceiling. Doors burst open all along the walls, and skeletal warriors marched in, hundreds of them, from every time period and nation in Western civilization. They lined the perimeter of the room, blocking the exits.
Naruto brought the pen out of his pocket sand was preparing to uncap them at any moment if things got any uglier while the others were trying to decipher why Hades was mad.
Hades bellowed, "Do you think I want war, god-ling?"
"Um you're the Lord of the Dead. Would you not want to expand your kingdom?" Annabeth said as Hades scoffed at the answer and crossed his arms like an angry child.
"A typical thing for my brothers to say! Do you think I need more subjects? Did you not see the sprawl of the Asphodel Fields?"
"Well..."
"Have you any idea how much my kingdom has swollen in this past century alone, how many sub-divisions I've had to open?"
"More security ghouls," he moaned. "Traffic problems at the judgment pavilion. Double overtime for the staff. I used to be a rich god, Percy Jackson. I control all the precious metals under the earth. But my expenses!"
"Oh Charon wants a pay rise" Percy said.
"And you should get Cerberus someone to play with. He is getting lonely down here with no one to play with" Naruto added as Annabeth nodded.
"Don't get me started on those two" Hades said putting a hand through his hair like he had a hard day at work.
"But you took Zeus's master bolt" Percy pushed on not understanding what was going on here since Hades did have the bolt from what they knew.
"Lies!" More rumbling was felt all around the four as Hades rose from his throne, towering to his full size staring down at them, "Your father may fool Zeus, boy, but I am not so stupid. I see his plan."
"Okay now I am just really confused." Naruto said shaking his head. Did Hades have the bolt or not. He just wanted a straight answer.
"You will be exposed as Poseidon's thief, and I will have my helmet back!"
"Whoa whoa, hold on. Your helmet is missing as well?" Naruto asked surprised since things now went from bad to worse. Now two of the big three's weapons had disappeared and they still don't know who took them.
"Return my helmet now, or I will stop death," Hades threatened. "That is my counter-proposal I will open the earth and have the dead pour back into the world. I will make your lands a nightmare. And you, Percy Jackson—your skeleton will lead my army out of Hades."
"Not happening" Naruto said uncapping his hunting knives as the others did the same and got their weapons ready as the skeleton soldiers began to circle around them with Hades still glaring at them with hate in his eyes.
"Return my property."
"I don't have it" Percy shouted back.
"Open your pack then" Hades shouted back as the others stood a little confused at the statement an looked at the backpack on Percy' shoulder.
Percy did just that to prove he did not hand it before the others say his eyes go wide and pull out a metal cylinder about two feet wide.
"Percy," Annabeth said. "How—"
"I—I don't know. I don't understand."
"H-How the hell did I not sense something that powerful was in that backpack" Naruto thought. He thought that perhaps the metal cylinder blocking it off somehow?
"You heroes are always the same," Hades said. "Your pride makes you foolish, thinking you could bring such a weapon before me. I did not ask for Zeus's master bolt, but since it is here, you will yield it to me. I am sure it will make an excellent bargaining tool. And now my helmet. Where is it?"
"Wait hold on" Naruto said getting everyone attention. "The master bolt had been in the backpack, and we got the backpack from"-
"ARES" they shouted not believing they could let the God of War fool like he had. Naruto eyes began glowing red at how angry and pissed off her was. Oh the God of War was going to pay. Percy was the same as any liquid from in the area began bubbling uncontrollably. How he wanted to beat the life out of Ares right now.
"I know why you have come—I know the real reason you brought the bolt. You came to bargain for her he shouted towards Percy as Hades formed a ball of gold fire from his palm. It exploded on the steps in front of me, and there was my mother, frozen in a shower of gold, just as she was at the moment when the Minotaur began to squeeze her to death.
"Mom/Mrs J" Percy and Naruto shouted as Percy went to touch her but his hand just went through her while burning his hand slightly at how hot it was.
"Return my helmet, and perhaps I will let her go. She is not dead, you know. Not yet. But if you displease me, that will change."
"Percy." Grover put his hand on my shoulder. "You can't give him the bolt."
"I know that Percy said.
"We could use the pearls but there are only four of them. If we decide to take Percy's mom with us, then one of us will have to be left behind" Annabeth said sadly. They really were in an impossible spot.
Grover offered to remain down in the Underworld first but that was quickly shot down. Then Annabeth but the boys immediately said no to that too. Naruto was about to do the same since out of the four of them, he knew he would have the best chance of getting out of the Underworld then the others, no matter how slim the chances were.
Percy meanwhile looked towards the image of Sally Jackson and whispered "I'm sorry. I'll find a way, I promise." He then dug his hands into his pockets and handed the other three a pearl each.
The others looked at him surprised. Percy are you sure Grover asked since no doubt this was tough for the boy to do.
"You will fail to save what matters most in the end" Naruto thought as he remembered the prophecy Percy was given and now understood that line. Percy would have to leave his mom behind and rescue her later.
I'm" starting to hate prophecies" he muttered as Percy looked up at Hades.
"I'll find your helmet, Uncle," I told him. "I'll return it. Remember about Charon's pay raise."
"Do not defy"-
"And don't forget to get a playmate for Cerberus" Naruto chimed in.
"NOW" Percy shouted as the four stomped on the pearls. At first nothing happened until a sea green like mist appeared around the before suddenly a milky white sphere encased them all. It began to float of the ground before they took off with great speed away from Hades's castle and back towards the surface.
Hades shouted and cursed them as they disappeared while his skeleton warriors were trying to chase after them but were nowhere fast enough to keep up with them.
They went straight through the walls and the very caverns before it just went into complete darkness.
Naruto shut his eyes preparing for whatever was about to happen next. He did know that he would not be visiting the Underworld again anytime soon though.
Chapter 19 Completed
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