Reading of: An Extraordinary Sage's Not-So-Ordinary Adventure

by RedFistCannon

As Percy and his group return from their quest to rescue Artemis, a mysterious book appears alongside several people. The book promises a way to right the mistakes of their futures and mayhaps, offer some redemption and a happy ending. (Collab work. Crossposted on Ao3. Chapters will be readings of the rewrite)

6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hey y'all! Been a while.

None of my works are abandoned, I've just had a LOT on my plate in the last few months. C'est la vie!

Before anything, I wanted to say this: please do not spam my PM inbox with requests for updates. I already blocked someone because of this and it wasn't something I wanted to do.

This chapter is lore heavy so I hope it doesn't confuse you. If it does please inform me so that I can address this issue later on.

I've been thinking of posting images of the scenes or characters in question on Ao3 and SpaceBattles (just to make the descriptions easier for you all). It obviously won't be how the characters look EXACTLY, but it'll let you imagine them.

If anyone wants to just talk or hang out on discord, I mostly frequent Curiosity's Chat Group. Just use discord . gg / KynJXJHsZ4

Also, got a Ko-fi, if you wanna give me a bit of encouragement).

Also x2, sorry for any grammatical mistakes that may come up, I didn't have time to get a beta on this one.

With that said…

Without Further Ado!

---

"-Now, are you two going to behave?" asked a stern voice.

"Yeeees," the reply came from the two Olympian troublemakers, now slumped on their thrones.

"Yes?"

Apollo and Hermes let out a whine. "Yes, Auntie."

Hestia nodded at the two, seemingly satisfied… for now.

Artemis, for her part, snickered at her twin's predicament. This, unfortunately, had the effect of earning her the Hearth's attention.

Hestia put her hands on her hips and creased her brows at her niece, "and you, young lady, I have yet to forget your rude behavior!"

The Huntress squawked, "That was the other me!"

"So you're telling me you'd have behaved differently? Be more courteous to a stranger?" Hestia's tone conveyed her suspicion.

"Of course, I would!" The Moon goddess denied it immediately, but under Hestia's stare, she quickly quieted down and awkwardly twiddled her thumbs, "Err, I mean…I'll try?"

The eldest Olympian wanted to remain strict, but Artemis' pouty expression was just too much.

Biting her lower lip, she looked to the side and huffed, "Hmm… I guess that's acceptable."

Everyone around them had taken a few minutes as an intermission. Zeus, however, quickly became impatient and pointed at the last reader, "can we get on with this already? Continue, Aphrodite!"

The goddess daintily raised a hand to clear her throat, but a loud ringing came from her purse just as she prepared to start.

BEEP!

With the flick of a finger, the goddess' PDA was taken out, and the ringing stopped, "Oh! Désolé, can't do! It's time for my hourly nail filing!" Aphrodite apologized without any shame before flicking the book across the room.

Athena almost threw a spear at her for the disrespect, but as if the universe chose to jest her, the large book was caught by none other than her arch-rival.

Poseidon coughed and opened the book, turning a few pages to find the sixth chapter.

Thalia whispered to Bianca, "Can't she just snap and make her nails perfect?"

Seemingly hearing her, Aphrodite gasped as if offended, "I will have you know! A lady is meticulous about these things! Besides, it's a hobby!" she huffed.

Quetzalcoatl snorted and nudged her sister, "it's like Chang'e with her face paint,"

Amaterasu, despite herself, snorted, "or her poses. Can't argue that the people love'em though…" she said, remembering Oraeguk's biggest diva. The ex-Taoist goddess of the Moon had turned into a music/media sensation among the crowd of the Sage realm and loved all the attention she received.

"Ahem," Came the god of the Sea's voice, interrupting their musings as he began to read.

Chapter 6: The Good, The Sage, and The Ugly

Aphrodite scrunched up her nose. Another ugly person? Ugh!

"Heh," Zeus, among many others, was amused at the reference. The King, in particular, was a cinephile and became a fan of Clint Eastwood back in the 60s.

The Sage sat before a bearded man, a row of objects between them.

"Look brat, dis' da best I can do righ' now. Take it o' leave it," the man gruffed out, his face aged despite the youthful glint in his eyes.

Amaterasu perked up at the sight of her older full-blooded brother.

Quetzalcoatl tilted her head to the side. The god looked familiar, but she could not put her finger on why.

Many eyebrows were raised, and several heads turned to look between Hephaestus and the bearded man on the screen.

'The resemblance is almost creepy,'

'Did Hera have twins? Maybe she chucked the first one to Japan and was just too tired to do the same to our own Smith?'

'Never knew Heph was into cloning. No, wait… the other guy's older… so maybe Heph is the clone?'

'While he's not as ugly, he doesn't look like the spryest chicken in the barn,'

Cutting through the awkward silence, Demeter nudged her sister, almost hesitantly, "Hey, uhhhh Hera, did you maybe-"

The Queen's glare cut the goddess off, "sister. No."

"Umm," Annabeth raised a hand nervously as many eyes turned to her, "I know this might be late to ask, but how come we can understand them? Aren't they speaking an old Japanese dialect here?" she asked.

Athena looked down at her daughter with a smile, proud that she was the first one (after her, of course) to catch this particular tidbit.

"Huh, she's right," Thalia blinked at the idea. As a matter of fact, why would Naruto and Zetsu speak American English to each other before coming to the US?

"Oh! That's right!" Rhea nodded as well before turning to her son, "Guppy, maybe there's something written in the beginning?"

Poseidon hmphed as his siblings snickered at his nickname, choosing to ignore them. They shouldn't be throwing rocks when they all had the same glasshouses in the form of embarrassing nicknames, after all. Flipping the pages as his mother said, his eyes caught a tiny, almost imperceivable script at the end of the book's first page.

"P.S. All languages spoken in this story will be automatically translated into the reader's preferred tongue, with some exceptions," the god of the Sea read.

Zeus snorted, "That's convenient."

Poseidon rolled his eyes, "well, that explains that," he said, flipping back to continue from his last point.

The Sage snorted and rolled his eyes.

"One, I got underpants older than ya, Kagutsuchi, so quit pretending to be a geezer," he raised a finger as the spirit in question chuckled lightly.

The Queen scrunched her nose, "I did not need to hear that," her husband nodded in agreement.

"Even I only keep my old togas as a memoir at this point," the King said.

Down with the rest of the audience, the Aztec's teal eyes widened as she finally put two and two together.

"That's Tsuchi-Bro?!" Quetzalcoatl turned to her sister in surprise at how different one of her best friends looked, "but he looks so diferente now!"

The shout garnered some attention from others.

"Oh? Is he hot now?" Aphrodite asked, her attention lured for the sake of a mental comparison between her 'husband' and his Shinto counterpart. If the other one had a glow up, maybe she could convince Hephaestus to do the same, if only to make the sight of him more bearable to her eyes.

Apollo snorted at her statement.

"If you meant in a literal sense, yeah… I mean, the guy's a walking furnace. Last I saw him, he looked like a Transformer" he admitted with an undertone of awe in his voice. His cautiousness of the god certainly didn't mean he couldn't appreciate the Shinto's absolutely radical look.

Despite not understanding the reference, the Aztec nodded, "Tsuchi-Bro looks so impresionante now! Como un medio hombre, medio tanque!"

As if to illustrate her point, the screen shifted to show a picture of the current Kagutsuchi.

Apollo and Quetzalcoatl's descriptions were not too far off. A behemoth of a figure, looking to be made of more machinery than flesh. A variety of weapons, ammunition and tools seemed to peek out or hang off of different parts of his body, which was entirely covered by cybernetics.

Everything about him was metal! Even the beard!

The audience was almost split in their reaction.

Aphrodite in particular, reeled back in her seat and covered her eyes, 'non, non, NON Monsieur! This is not what I had in mind! He somehow looks worse than Hephaestus!'

Unlike her, Nico, Percy, and Thalia, alongside every other male or tomboy in the audience cheered.

"He's a robot-man! A cyborg! So cool!"

"Can he shoot lasers?"

"Can he shoot missiles?"

"Can his arms turn into guns?"

"He's gotten even bigger than when I saw him last time!" Apollo exclaimed, even if he felt some dread at what that god would do to him if they ever met again. Getting closer to Amaterasu was not an option, even if it was really, reaaaally tempting.

Hermes didn't seem to notice his brother's worries and proceeded to barrage the Shinto goddess with questions of his own, his eyes wide in amazement.

Even Luke couldn't stop his eyes from sparkling at the sight. After all, he was a mere boy faced with the awesomeness of a real-life cyborg.

In a rare moment of brotherhood, Ares and Hephaestus displayed a shared admiration for the foreign god. For the god of War, he looked like a walking armory and a true menace to society, while the god of Smithing was in awe of the bio-technological craftsmanship that went into his body.

"Hey crip, ever think of upping yourself like that? Would sure look a lot better," the god of War commented to his brother, and the latter, against all expectations, actually considered the idea.

'Maybe I should borg up a bit myself,' the bearded god rubbed his chin. His brace was getting a tad old-fashioned after all. Not like anyone'd complain…

Anyone that wasn't Aphrodite that is…

'I can barely stand him now! I'll be damned if I let him turn himself into a toaster! Je ne peux pas être associée à ce cirque!'

Amaterasu's smile became strained at the barrage of inquiries from the children and man-children, having also gotten used to this particular reaction back home.

'Every. Damn. Time.' she felt a vein pop on her forehead at the ridiculousness of the situation. Yes, she could admit her brother looked very menacing and powerful, but what was with boys (and tomboys) and their almost stereotypical fawning over robots and the like?

It was ludicrous. Kagutsuchi could not walk five minutes in Takamagahara without some self-proclaimed fan begging him to shoot something with his shoulder cannon, eye lasers, or his damn mini guns. Naturally, that had earned him the ire of the handmaidens and servants who had to clean up every mess he left.

She'd lost count of the number of complaints she received about his behavior, so much so that she had to set up a PO box outside her palace to get them all. Susanoo, Musashi and her own sister enabling him in their own ways did not help matters.

As if to illustrate her earlier point, most of the ladies in the room were far less excited about the entire thing, even if some were curious.

Athena chose to voice said curiosity to the Shinto in the room, "hmm, gods typically don't change their appearance so drastically. Might there be a reason for it?"

The daughter of the Sage pursed her lips, "if the book doesn't go over it, then I'll tell you why he's like that…" Amaterasu paused and sighed, "but it isn't a happy tale."

Rhea, who had been silently gushing over her grandbabies' childish reactions, felt the Shinto's emotions and frowned.

'That can't be good,' she thought.

"And two," a second finger came up. The blond sighed, "I know… that guy's ability is damn annoying, but it's also crazy difficult to counter.

Many were curious at the mention of such a power.

I got Samehada and some other stuff, but I feel like it ain't enough." He scratched his cheek in thought as he gazed at the strange items in front of him.

"What's a Samada?" Bianca raised her hand curiously. She hadn't spoken in a while but felt curious about all the buzzwords being thrown about. It might also be her love for exploration (which had been another reason to join the Hunt), rearing its head at the idea of the world being so much larger and more magical than she had initially thought.

"Samehada or 'Shark Skin' in your language," Amaterasu corrected, getting Poseidon and Percy's attention. "It's one of Papa's weapons… and his pet," she said with a small grin.

'Pet?' Annabeth's eyes sparkled at the information as she quickly noted it down.

"Coooool," Percy felt more invested in it. He hoped to see the weapon. It had to be wicked to have that kind of name!

Quetzalcoatl giggles silently, knowing it'll surprise them. She loved the monstrous sword almost as much as it loved eating her lightning.

Ever the arms aficionado, the Greek god of War, had to ask, "One of his weapons? What's his main one? OH! Is it that black staff he used against the Jade prick?"

His maternal brother also rubbed his sparking beard.

'A sentient weapon, perhaps? It'd be interesting to compare forging methods. While the easiest one is to simply stick a soul inside the weapon, the Sage doesn't strike me as the kind to do so, hmmm…'

Rhea shushed her grand-nephew, "now Ares, let's not spoil ourselves, I'm sure it'll be mentioned later," the Titaness paused before smirking, "whatever it may be, I'm sure it gives him an edge in battle."

"Boo!" the god replied, both at the denial and the pun.

Amaterasu chuckled to herself, 'oh Auntie… if only you knew…' she thought in amusement.

The Sage's favorite weapon was as blunt as he was after all…

The Smith took a swig out of the gourd on his side.

"No kill like ovakill eh? Kehahahaha! Well, I'm glad ya came ta me fo' dis anywae, even if ahm a bit of a noobie compa'd to da Hindus" Kagutsuchi laughed.

"You don't give yourself enough credit Boyo," the older man chuckled, "don't worry about nothin'. Your work's world class, ya know?"

Hephaestus' beard flared again, this time as a sign of visible happiness. Even if it wasn't him, it was nice to see the old Sage held respect for craftsmen and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't interested in comparing notes with his fellow artisan.

Surprisingly, Apollo shared that happiness, as he always loved seeing budding talent supported.

"While It Is Always Best To Believe In Oneself, A Little Help From Others Can Be A Great Blessing," the god of the Sun spoke in a low grave tone.

Athena looked impressed, "well said, brother, might I ask whose wisdom this is?"

The god of the Sun whirled to his half-sister, his eyes shining as his inner geek came out, "only the greatest uncle in animated history, the great Iroh from ATLA."

The wiser goddess twitched.

The smith looked a tad bashful at the praise.

The blond gained a pensive look, "but eh… even if I wanted to see the Hindus about it, things ain't looking too well for 'em… "

That sentence sent a chill through the elder gods' spines.

"That can't be good," Poseidon muttered in worry.

"You tell me… someone giving the freakin' Hindus a hard time?" While not as informed about foreign affairs as the older generation, Apollo was still more familiar with the East than his siblings. If there was one unwritten rule he'd learned in his frequent travels there, it'd be that 'one simply does not fuck with the Hindus'.

"Are they that strong?" Annabeth breathed out and looked at her mother, "I remember what you said in the last chapter, mother, so it's hard to imagine a being of that magnitude."

Athena looked pensive, "if the events described here are of thousands of years in the past, then it's more likely the Hindu pantheon wasn't as powerful as it is now, so whoever that person they speak of here is, they shouldn't be compared to what we have today," the goddess explained her point, before looking at the Japanese goddess, "Lady Amaterasu, would you say this is true?"

The ravenette thought a bit about the issue, then pursed her lips, "Papa did mention he'd fought many powerful enemies long before the Heavenly War, and I do have an inkling as to who that opponent here might be," she paused, eyes pensive, "and if that is the case then while not a powerhouse by themselves, that particular being dabbled in arts considered taboo at the time. Their abilities gave them a particular edge even against adversaries far stronger than them."

Wariness and curiosity swept through the audience, as they all wondered who the mysterious being was.

The Aztec perked up to the side, "ooooh, is it one of the guys we saw before?" she asked giddily, referring to the assortment of characters mentioned in the last chapter.

"Maybe…" Amaterasu creased her brows, "I'd rather just leave it to the Book to confirm it," she said, getting an eye roll and a pout from her sister.

"Sì, sì,"

"The guy's followers and monsters are giving them a lot of trouble, but ah well," he shrugged, "as long as I can cut off the head of the snake, all should be good."

"Bit of a blunt way to phrase it, but a wise action nonetheless," the King reluctantly admitted. He had a similar approach to his problems.

His brothers both rolled their eyes. Yes, the 'Zeus Method of Problem Solving' AKA flinging lightning with all the grace of a chimpanzee flinging their excrement.

"It doth sound to be the most direct course of action," Zoe commented. It just sounded logical to her as a Huntress.

The bearded man hummed in understanding.

Something still nagged at the Sage, so he decided to seek clarity. "You were pretty quick to help me. Ya sure you won't get in trouble?" he asked.

He was referring to the current isolationist policy that the Shinto pantheon had taken in response to the growing threat in the mainland of the continent. More accurately, the one the two men were discussing right now.

Athena blinks, "that's the second time I hear of Japan doing such a thing. How strange," she commented.

Nico leaned into his sister, "hey Bianca, what's isolanit mean?"

"Isolationist Nico," his sister corrected before turning to the blonde daughter of Athena, who had already opened her mouth to answer, "I guess you wanna take this?"

Annabeth flushed while Percy and Thalia snickered at her quirk. Nonetheless, the well-read demigoddess explained to the boy, "Isolationism is when a country more or less withdraws as an active player from the international arena and passively follows developments there."

"Err…" both Nico and Percy held a look conveying their confusion.

Annabeth sighed while the eldest demigoddess smirked.

"It means Japan didn't want to get involved with other countries," the daughter of Zeus simplified it.

"But why would a country do that? It sounds dumb," the son of Poseidon scratched his head.

"There's many reasons to it Seaweed Brain," the blonde demigoddess said, "it could be to prevent other countries from interfering in their internal affairs, which can be the case for civil wars, or it could be a means to better control the population by cutting them off from the outside world, or it could be a defensive policy," Annabeth counted off, much to her mother's appreciation, as Athena visibly beamed with pride.

Seeing that Percy (for once) was listening, Annabeth decided to continue, "Although considering the geographical location of Japan as an island nation, as well as the geopolitical environment around it, with the Taoists and the Hindus at minimum neighboring the Shinto, I'm tempted to go with the latter option."

When the blonde girl finished her tirade, she looked back at her friends, only to see them collectively staring at her. Even some of the gods were looking down at her with visible surprise, which made the demigoddess nervous.

Athena especially had a large smile on her face while resident Nana cooed at the 'mini-Athena'.

Next to the demigods, Amaterasu felt impressed by the explanation, "That is the case indeed, Annabeth-shonen," the Shinto deity confirmed Annabeth's statement, to which the girl nodded, trembling a tad from nervousness and excitement at having the entire room's attention.

"But I will add one thing," the raven-haired goddess spoke while looking back at everyone else, "the blockade Papa and Tsuchi-kun speak of was enacted by Izanagi in response to both external threats, in the form of the pantheons you mentioned," she nodded at Annabeth, making her fidget, "and internal threats in the form of Papa and the Bijuu -Papa's siblings."

"Aha!" Zeus couldn't resist but to proclaim triumphantly, "so I was right to worry about the Sage!"

His exclamation was met with a tired look from his wife as the rest of the room pointedly ignored the King, much to his annoyance.

"My word," Rhea said, ignoring her son, "I knew of your father's reputation even millennia ago, but I had no idea your aunts and uncles held a similar weight."

Quetzalcoatl, who had been silent as to let her sister speak (since she always explained boring stuff like this better than her), decided to chime in, "nuestras tías y tíos didn't have the fancy armies of an entire pantheon, but they made up for the lack of cantidad con calidad," she explained, getting a nod from her sister.

"According to Tsuchi-kun, Izanagi was always afraid of them," Amaterasu admitted, "their very presence at the time had rallied the Yokai and the mortals who felt ostracized by the old Shinto policies and they never seemed to act with a specific agenda, so the old teme could never predict their next moves."

"It also didn't help that they were pretty much walking, breathing armas de destrucción masiva," the Aztecs shrugged, ignoring the surprised looks she received.

Zeus and his brothers collectively scowled at the explanation and mulled over the implications. Despite Greece's many wars throughout history, they had never opted for such an extremist policy. It spoke volumes of what the Sage and these 'Bijuu' were capable of if they could drive an old god-like Izanagi into a corner with their existence alone. Especially considering they did not behave like a typical pantheon.

Luke, who had been paying rapt attention to the explanation, was further in awe of the Sage and his family. The more he heard about him, the more he felt like the old man was simply too good to be real. A being of his power, in his experience, always oppressed others in some way or form… and yet… everything he heard only pointed at a person who wanted to live life without burdens and without burdening others. Luke yearned for a life like that. He yearned for such freedom.

"Eh," the Shinto shrugged nonchalantly but elaborated, "dun matter, a man dun let a debt remain unpaid. And mine to yous is one I can nevah repay."

Zoe felt her lips twitch up at the statement, visibly appreciative that a god, a male one at that, displayed some modicum of honor and dignity for once. She just wished others like a certain lying son of Zeus had that integrity.

"Awww," Hestia cooed at the statement. She wished more of her family would stick by these values.

Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"Oi… Debt? I never did anything of that magnitude for ya, and even if I did ya don't need to risk being labeled a traitor," the Sage's excuse got a laugh out of the god.

"Tha's where yous wrong," the man leaned closer to the blond, while tugging at his robe, revealing his scarred neck.

Rhea and Hestia looked on in sadness at the scar while Hephaestus leaned forward. Even if his mother denied it, the idea of Kagutsuchi being his long-lost brother was sounding less ridiculous by the minute. The more learned about the god, the more fraternal he felt toward him. The same went for Amaterasu, as the Greek god of smithing saw a lot of himself in both of the foreign deities.

And if the previous image was anything to go by? Then all the Greek could say was that he was happy his fellow craftsman was so submerged in his art.

"There's a juicy story behind that scar, I just know it," Ares commented while rubbing his hands, while his lover rolled her eyes at him.

"Ya see, da only reason am still breathin' is cause da old man thinks imma be useful against you n' yous siblins' in da future," he snorted, "joke's on'im. Basterd can go stew in a pot."

There were a lot of frowns among the audience, mostly from those more family oriented than others.

None were as saddened as the god's sister though.

"That's… rough…" Thalia admitted. Scars were still something cool to have, but this one sounded like it only brought up bad memories.

Percy crossed his arms as he muttered, "is it just me… or are all the old pantheon chiefs jerks?"

He got an elbow from his best friend for his trouble as she hissed at him to watch his words.

"And what did you mean by that comment Jackson?" Unfortunately for Annabeth (and especially Percy), Zeus's domain over Air also included feeling sound waves.

The son of the Sea suddenly felt all the eyes of the rooms on him, as he became nervous, "I… err…" He stammered and looked up at his father, not knowing what else to do.

Poseidon, who had been smirking at the comment, sighed bemusedly at his son and turned to the King, "Brother, I believe my son was referring to the older generation of chiefs," he placated his frowning sibling before turning to whisper, "not that this one's any better."

"What was that?" Zeus narrowed his eyes at Poseidon.

"Nothing, brother, absolutely nothing," both the elder sons of Rhea snickered.

Hestia, ever the peacemaker, chimed in as well, "while I wouldn't have been so vulgar," she glared briefly at a sheepish Percy, "his words do ring true when you take into account our own father, the older generation among the Norse and Egyptians, and even the Jade Emperor according to our guests."

"Hijo del mar's right" Quetzalcoatl added in her two cents while nodding to Percy, who held a confused look at the name, "Tezcatlipoca was the same. A real pendejo-"

"Ahem?"

"Lo siento Big Sis," the Aztec rubbed the back of her head with a grin while the goddess of Family sputtered in embarrassment at her new title.

Demeter and Hera both smirked at their older sister's reaction. This and the previous instance were shaping up for a gold mine of teasing material.

Rhea herself settled on sending a coy look at her daughter. If only she hadn't made that oath… she'd have made as great of a mother as she was a big sister.

Nevertheless, Hestia's words drew a huff from Zeus. "Good," he crossed his arms and turned away, "it would be a shame to have to smite the boy for a silly little lie."

'What lie?' The Queen had to bite her cheek to prevent herself from voicing her thoughts, so she settled on an amused eye roll alongside many others in the audience.

'Him and Susanoo would get along juuuuust fine' Amaterasu thought with a sigh. She hoped that man-child of a king never met her drunken oaf of a 'brother'.

The Sage gazed at the scar, knowing it was from a sword strike. He had an inkling about what the smith was referring to, having learned bits and pieces about the circumstances of the spirit's birth, as well as the reason the Shinto's Chief spirit was so confident in his son's power.

At everyone's (bar Apollo and the two foreign deities) looks of confusion, Athena sighed and turned to her helium-headed brother.

"You want to take this, or should I?" she asked the Japanophile, who whirled and threw a blinding smile in her direction.

"You betcha!" he exclaimed, before clearing his throat, "alright, so it goes down like this… Once upon a time in a land far, far away-"

"No Apollo… just… no…"

"Spoilsport…" the god pouted before sighing and turning to Amaterasu, wordlessly asking for her permission to tell the tale. At the goddess's nod, he began recounting what he knew, "in short, the original myth goes that, when he was born, Kagutsuchi burned his mother Izanami to death," the statement drew a few gasps from the audience, while the Shinto goddess clenched her fist, "and his father, Izanagi, stricken with grief, beheaded Kagutsuchi," he paused as several more gasps were heard, "and cut his body into eight pieces."

Shaken by what she heard, Rhea quickly turned to the Shinto goddess, "b-but that's not what happened, isn't it dear? Or else your brother wouldn't be speaking to the Sage in one piece," she asked, wanting to placate her worries.

The ravenette, whose visage had twisted into a mix of anger and sadness, solemnly nodded to the Titaness, "indeed," she said before pausing as her sister leaned on her to show her support.

"What err…" she turned and squinted at the god of the Sun, trying to recall his name, "Mr. Popo here said was only half-true," she gestured to Apollo, even as Hermes, Artemis, and many others snorted at the name while he pouted, "Izanagi had held himself back from decapitating Tsuchi-kun fully, and had come to a decision to instead use him against Papa."

"Round of applause for father of the year," Dionysus drawled having woke up momentarily, "didn't fully dice up his own son, what an achievement" his voice dripped in sarcasm, which drew the ire of his aunt and grandmother. He shrugged at their reaction and went back to snoring away.

Against all odds, though, the Shinto smiled in amusement, "Yes, I can say he set a ridiculously low standard for parenthood. It's why Tsuchi-kun and I favor Papa so much more than him."

"Excuse me Lady Amaterasu," Athena interjected, "but that story doesn't explain how the Sage found you like he did. From my understanding, he felt as if you were older than your brother, and yet he found you as a babe when your twin was already decades old?" she commented, even as Hestia frowned at her for the very invasive question. However, the story didn't make sense to the goddess of Wisdom. If Amaterasu was born of Izanagi and Izanami and yet was physically younger than Kagutsuchi, how could Kagutsuchi have killed his mother? Wouldn't she have had to live to give birth to Amaterasu? There was also the comment that the Sage had made about the goddess' aura to think about.

It made no lick of sense! The puzzle pieces simply did not fit!

'Didn't the Book say she was found in a pile of ashes? Could they have been Izanami? But if the timeline of events is to be trusted, then that means she hadn't died immediately upon Kagutsuchi's birth. Izanami survived for decades longer, burning all the while, until she gave birth to her daughter and faded. That is the only explanation I can think of that doesn't involve something as utterly outlandish as time travel.'

Athena didn't want to think about that possibility. Not only because of its ridiculousness but also because it was simply too cruel a fate to befall anyone.

Amaterasu did not deign her with an answer, and the audience took the goddess' silence as a sign to move on from the subject.

Kagutsuchi's flames possessed the power to either build up or break down anything they touched, something that the lad must have gotten from his birth parents, Izanagi and Izanami.

A strange yet powerful ability, especially if it fell in the wrong hands… or those of a newborn…

Hephaestus rubbed his beard in thought. It was poetic in a way… an ability that represented the two natures of fire so perfectly: to give warmth and to destroy.

By the foreigners, Rhea got up and moved to where the Shinto goddess was seated, much to the latter and her sister's confusion. The two deities squawked when the Titaness reached down to them and brought them into a comforting hug.

The elder Olympians held back their reactions, even if they (bar Hestia) envied the two guests for receiving their mother's attention. The goddess of the Hearth let a tiny smile grace her feature as she felt the emotions of the Sage's daughters.

'This is nice,' the embrace made Amaterasu remember the comfort of her own birth mother.

'Hmmmmmmm,' to Quetzalcoatl, the feeling was foreign, with the closest sensation being her father's hugs. She'd never known her birth parents, nor did she care to.

Away from the wholesomeness, Bianca shivered as she imagined a baby version of Nico using shadow travel. She had been stressed enough as she was looking after her brother after their parents disappeared, she was more than thankful he wasn't able to frickin' teleport at that age.

"..." Naruto chose to remain silent, and Kagutsuchi took that as his sign to continue.

"Plus," the smith's beard let out a few sparks as he grinned, "ah need to pay back da man lookin' after mah baby sistah"

"Aww Hephhh, he does the thing with his beard too!" Hermes teased lightly, getting the god in question to react similarly to his Shinto counterpart.

From where she sat, Hera again looked between her son and the Shinto god. The resemblance in their appearance and character was almost unnerving. Had she not been able to recall the memories of her deplorable action toward her son, she would have been almost inclined to buy into Demeter's comment about her having twins.

From her place nestled near Rhea, Amaterasu blushed in embarrassment at her brother's words about her.

"Bebe hermana eh, Sis?" the blond amazon nestled on the other side of the Titaness teased.

Amaterasu reached a hand around the older immortal's ridiculously large front bumpers and punched her sister on the shoulder, "Shut up baka!"

The Aztec did not take that lying down and reached her hand in a similar way to return the strike.

Rhea, seemingly predicting what was about to happen, looked down at the two sternly, "now girls…"

…Only to be ignored as the two deities wrestled with reaching each other, sandwiching Rhea between them in the process.

"Baka, I might be, but you're still the bebeeee~"

"Haaaah?!" veins appeared on the Shinto goddess' face as she entered what her family called 'Yakuza mode'. She pushed back into Rhea in an attempt to get closer and pummel her sister's smug face.

"Girls!" the mother of the Olympians called out again, even as the two goddesses ignored her and squished into her in an attempt to reach the other.

"You heard me bebeeeee! Bebeeeee!"

"I'll shut yer stupid face up, ya little brat!"

"Whatever you say, beb-OWWWW" the Aztec's next taunt was cut off by the pain in her ear, while her sister received a similar treatment.

"Calm down." Rhea's tone and her patented Pinches of Motherly Fury (TM) did the trick.

"..."

"..."

"Sorry, Auntie/Tía Rhea"

"Hmph…"

"Amaterasu's your-"

"Dat her name? 'Is a pretty one…" the bearded spirit sighed, "'Am sure she a pretty gal too…

'Damn right,' Apollo nodded and glanced at the goddess longingly.

But ye, dat's da only reason she'd be born in the place Ma died," a flash of guilt passed over the Shinto's eyes, as he remembered the fateful day of his birth, "but ah feel dere's mo' to er' story than tha'... ya felt it didncha?"

"...Yeah," the Sage remembered the sensation he got from his new daughter's aura.

"Please look aftah her, I have a feelin' da girl gone surprise us all," the smith grinned.

Some of the ladies, mainly Hestia and Rhea awwed at the scene. Despite the god's gruff appearance, the brotherly love he held for his sister was both endearing and refreshing to see, especially among their kind.

Amaterasu for one felt her cheeks burn. Aaaaah! She loved it when her family praised her but it was always so embarrassing!

Adding fuel to the fire, Querzalcoatl poked her sister's cheek, "Awww, is the bebe hermana embarrassed?"

Before the red-faced Shinto could respond, Poseidon cleared his throat loudly, wordlessly asking them if he could continue.

The Sage mirrored the expression then grimaced as he looked at the objects before him, each no doubt a useful tool for his impending fight.

"Ah, befo' I forgat dere's also dis" the spirit snapped his fingers as a wooden case slid over to them.

As the Sage opened the box, he grimaced.

"Goddamnit Kagutsuchi"

"Kehahahaha!"

"He's certainly more upbeat than our grease monkey," Hermes chuckled while looking at the god in question, earning some giggles around, while Hephaestus crossed his arms with a huff.

"I'd be upbeat too if I got some appreciation for my work," the Smith glared snidely at his siblings, some of whom looked away with an uncomfortable look on their faces.

'Fix that Heph, polish this Heph. Oh hey Heph, since you're free how about giving my chick magnet a tune up? Blah blah blah…'

"Wonder what's in the case," Thalia commented. It must have been something reeeeally weird if it got that reaction out of the old man.

…

A pile of bones sat in a cavernous room riddled with runes and what looked like fleshy cocoons.

Percy scrunched his face in confusion, "how can a room be carnivorous?"

"It's 'cavernous' Seaweed Brain! It means it's a big place," Annabeth said while shivering at the sight of the cocoons. It fiercely triggered her arachnophobia.

"Eughhh…" Aphrodite and Athena among some of the classier deities were of a similar opinion, as they turned their heads in disgust.

Atop the pile of bones sat a stone throne.

Atop the stone throne sat a bizarre being.

Eyebrows were raised in curiosity.

Once upon a time, the creature could have been considered human, but its body had long since shifted. Morphing and twisting into a monstrous form.

"EEEEEEWWWWW!" Aphrodite's screech had the demigods covering their ears, as the goddess looked upon the image of the being on the screen.

"Dite calm the hell down!" Ares shouted at her as he held his left ear in pain, her voice having been right next to it.

"Non! I will not!" The goddess yelled back at her lover, "what's with this story and all the ugly people? Je veux un peu de beauté! Putain!"

Demeter creased her brows, "girl's got a point, it's like every second person in this book is some kind of monster or looks like one," she concurred with the goddess of Beauty's statement.

"Sister," Hestia frowned at her sibling. Ugly or not, pointing out someone's physical flaws was rude!

The being sat idly, caressing one of the cocoons hanging near them with one of their four arms while their two faces looked deep in thought. The lump of flesh squirmed in response to the touch as a muffled screech sounded out from within it.

"Stop! The! Ugly!" the Lady of Doves clapped with each word.

"We! Don't! Care!" Hades mockingly clapped back, feeling very much done with the goddess' attitude.

Aphrodite snarled at him, making a mental note to rock his and Persephone's relationship a bit in response.

With the demigods, the most noticeable reaction came from Annabeth whose face had gone pale at the sight. Her reaction stemmed less from disgust and more from fear, as the entire aesthetic of the room and the character on the screen made her remember some unpleasant memories dealing with creepy crawlies.

The other kids near her weren't much better, as a feeling of apprehension overtook them all. Nico even dove back into his grandmother's arms, trembling in fear from the image on the screen.

The reaction was shared among many. Even Rhea and Hestia, while above judging someone for their physical appearance, couldn't help but reel back from the aura of wrongness that emanated from this being. It practically radiated deprivation, perversity and negativity to a degree far higher than even the ex-Titan King.

Some might think this was a bit over the top, but the audience have understood by now that the Book's characters do or have existed at some point.

The idea of living on the same planet as someone like that, was dreadful.

"So it is him," Amaterasu muttered to the side, while her sister leaned in with wide eager eyes.

"Wow, se ve tan fuerte!" The Aztec, unlike the rest, was noticeably pumped up, as she jumped up and down in her seat. Oh she hoped she could see her father and the guy duke it out!

It would be Legendary!

"I'm more worried about whatever's in those things," Demeter expressed with a frown. She deign not imagine what sort of horrid creature could make such a sound.

The inhuman being smiled, for the seeds it had sown were slowly sprouting, unraveling into veritable chaos unlike anything this world had ever seen. One that would bring about the anarchy it so craved, the world of bloody evolution it sought.

The Big Three scowled as one at that and mentally etched the being's appearance and aura into their minds. It made them remember their own war against their father or worse, Typhon himself so many years ago.

For once, even Zeus' paranoia felt warranted when met with that level of… sheer Evil (one could practically hear the capitalization).

The being was known by many titles, each gifted to them from those who feared them.

The Evil One, the King of Curses, the Bringer of Death, and the Archdemon of Kāmadhātu…

With each title, the audience reeled. None of those names evoked any good news.

But for simplicity's sake, it chose to go by 'Mara'.

Zeus blanched, a memory of an old meeting he had with his Norse and Egyptian counterparts springing back to the forefront of his mind.

'Mara… that's another Pantheonic Threat!'

Unaware of his father's worry, Apollo squinted his eyes at the being, "something about his name sounds… familiar…"

His half-sister rolled her eyes, beginning to tire from the onslaught of interruptions and questions, but nevertheless answered him, "that would likely be because it is the name associated with a malignant demon in Buddhist cosmology. Mara is said to be the 'the personification of the forces antagonistic to enlightenment'."

Zoe blinked, "That doth sounds very ominous, but I do question the name itself. I was expecting a more… menacing title."

Athena stroked her chin, "if we go by its etymology, its meanings include 'killing' and 'causing death'. I do believe it is menacing enough."

The Huntress nodded at that, "point taken. I thank thee Lady Athena."

From his daring escape out of Naraka, to the pandemonium he had unleashed in Moksha Bhumi, the being relished in its recent achievements.

"Naraka is the Hindu Underworld, while Moksha Bhumi is India's ancient name," Amaterasu spoke before anyone could ask about the names.

Athena nodded in confirmation.

Hades leaned forward, now far more invested. He hoped there would be some insight into foreign Underworld. He could use some new ideas.

"Wait but I thought he was a Buddhist demon?" Bianca raised a hand questionably.

The goddess of Wisdom sighed, "Buddhism does not constitute a pantheon like others, it is more of a philosophy branched out from the Hindu's mythos."

That information worried the elder Olympians. After all, an enemy of a faction as powerful as the Hindus would not be weak.

As powerful as they were, the Trimurti would remain appropriately distracted by his troops, especially with how many human villages there were for him to prey upon and use as sacrifices… or recruits.

"Just as despicable as the Croaked One," Rhea seethed.

She had immediately understood Mara's implications, for she had helplessly witnessed what some of her more depraved siblings, and especially her ex-Husband, got up to in the last few decades before the Titanomachy.

In that regard, Mara and Kronos were one and the same.

Her wretch of an ex, after doing the unspeakable to her children, had truly gone off the deep end. Seemingly doing a complete one eighty of his previously, somewhat demure and benevolent personality.

He'd become someone who relished in the suffering of others, who treated mortals like a mischievous child would an ant as they enjoyed tearing it limb from limb.

Had her heart not been proverbially shattered from the Titan's first betrayal, she was sure that his following actions would have driven the nail of treachery just as deeply into her.

She loved immortals and mortals alike, and to her, anyone who took pleasure in toying with the lives of either was a despicable creature.

Seeing the scene before her, she hoped beyond all hope that the Sage had given that monster a good beating.

The cocoons around him once again squirmed as if eager to come out.

Annabeth and her mother shivered in disgust.

Now, all he needed was to permanently establish a base of operations from which those pesky gold-blooded leeches could not reach him.

The room abruptly exploded in shouts and protests at the insult.

"LEECHES?"

"WHO IN TARTARUS DOES THAT KNAVE THINK HE IS?"

"BIG TALK COMING FROM SOMEONE THAT LOOKS LIKE THE BOTTOM OF MY SANDALS"

"FUCK YOU! FUGLY ASS MOTHERFUCKER!"

The Castellan boy had to bite his lips to prevent a snicker from escaping.

"Everyone!" Hestia attempted to placate her angry relatives, brow twitching heavily at the deplorable language being thrown about, before she sighed and turned to the reader.

"Brother please," the goddess pleaded for Poseidon to continue. The god in question stopped himself from making a very rude gesture at the screen (and earning her wrath), and sighed as he coughed to get everyone's attention.

Attacking the Taoists to the North was out of the question. Powerful enough to challenge that fool Okhwang he might be, but his forces were not.

Even though most had no solid grasp on the Jade Emperor's power, the existence of someone as strong as him, and especially one just as malicious, spelled only bad news.

The South was not an option. Even with all the destruction his precious creations were dealing to the land, it would only be a matter of time before someone like that foolish brat Karttikeya rallied the region.

Nico groaned, "Who is that? There's so many names!"

Before Athena could answer, a reply came from an unexpected source.

"It's the Hindu god of war, brat," Ares spoke while looking intently at the screen, ignoring the glare he received from his uncle. Upon noticing the looks he got, he crossed his arms and huffed.

"What? I make it my business to know who the big war gods are!"

The West? He could sense some distant groups in that direction. Some had already solidified their positions on the borders. However, the logistics of such a task would be an issue, especially if he intended to keep control over his armies here.

Rhea narrowed her eyes. He couldn't mean-

A pity… He'd heard they had quite the young leader, full of ambition and pretty malleable… Corn or something along those lines… Conos? Kroras? Croker?

The elder Olympians and their mother collectively let out a laugh at the name.

"Ah yes, Croker the Croaked One."

"A perfect name if I may say so myself."

Recomposing himself, and in a rare moment of childish amusement, the King suddenly raised his hand in a sign for a decree to be made.

"All in favor of changing the Crooked One's official name to Croker?" the god's question was answered with an almost unanimous "Ay!" with even their mother, elder sister, and the demigods joining in. The only ones disagreeing being Athena and a sleeping Dionysus.

"Motion passed!"

Even Luke couldn't help the snicker of amusement at the name.

Athena huffed. They weren't the ones who'll have to replace every single mention of Kronos' name with his new one in the texts! Or send out couriers to the other pantheons with mentions of that change. The mortals had to be convinced it's always been the case after all and she didn't have the authority to change the Mist in other regions of the globe.

Ah, no matter. It'll come back to him…

Hmm… maybe he'll send him a party favor. Something to keep him interested in any future business endeavors.

Hades sported a hard look, as he turned to his relatives, mainly his youngest brother and mother, "Did you ever see… Croker," he said, testing the name as snickers filled the room, "having an item like that?"

Zeus considered his brother's question and racked his mind for anything, "he did not to my knowledge. Mother?" he turned to the Titaness, who sported a shocked look at the Book's revelation.

She could only shake her head.

The Queen frowned at this, "we barely beat father, the first time… I dare not imagine what would have occurred if he had such a creature at his side."

Hestia hummed, "as much as it displeases me to admit, but it's likely that even if he did have such a trump card, he wouldn't have used it," she said, getting a nod from her mother, "much like us, he must have sensed that nothing good would come from making a deal with this demon."

Zeus frowned but shelved that information for later. If the Book was from a similar world as theirs, then there's the possibility Kronos had a powerful item like that in his possession. He'd need to look into it… just to be safe.

And that left… the East. That was a different story… he'd heard whispers of a new gaggle of so-called godlings that had popped up on the large island there in the last few centuries, no doubt a young pantheon, new and just ripe for the picking.

In other words, a perfect target for his eventual (hopefully bloody) takeover.

"Like Papa would've let you!" Amaterasu snapped and glared at the demon.

A certain war god, on the other hand, had different feelings about it.

"We gonna see the fight? Please tell me we'll see the fight!" He wanted some action damn it!

"Ooooh! Ohhh! Can we? Can we? I hope Tìo Kurama's in this! He'd chew the diablo up!" Quetzalcoatl added, much to her sister's chagrin.

Many in the audience groaned at the two battle junkies.

'Great. Just what we needed. There's two of them!'

His decision made, the demon snapped his fingers, prompting some of the cocoons to answer the unspoken order. The sound of membranes ripping was heard as all manner of monstrosities tore out of their fleshy prisons and fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Although newborn, the creatures immediately shifted their stances into a deep bow toward their master and creator.

Aphrodite, wanting to avoid any trauma, made sure to refrain from looking at the screen. Something her lover was secretly thankful for, as his ears could not take much more of her screeching.

Unlike the Lady of Doves, many of the audience were more interested in the creatures, especially Hades who held a fancy for monsters, and the two Huntresses who wanted to gauge any potential prey.

"Ugh," Demeter scrunched her nose, "they're as horrible as I imagined."

"W-what are those?" Nico said from next to his grandmother, while the Titaness comforted him.

"Death Paintings," the cold fury with which Amaterasu spoke those words was unsettling, and made many look at her with worry.

"Sis?" Quetzalcoatl poked her sister with a frown, only for the goddess to turn to the rest of the audience, her face stony.

"Mara's title as the King of Curses is quite literal," the Shinto revealed, much to the curiosity of the audience, "Curses in this context are not merely spells, but also spirits created from negative emotions propagated by all sentient creatures," she explained, having earned the rapt attention of the Olympians.

"But how does that relate to these monsters?" Hera found herself asking in morbid curiosity.

Athena already had a theory about it, having linked the different tidbits throughout the chapter, as well as what the Sage had said, to reach a conclusion. But she wanted the goddess of the Sun to confirm it.

"Well…" she began with a grim tone, "a spirit in this case needs a body right? And from what Papa told me… There was no shortage of those among the mortals in the Indian subcontinent…"

Many of the audience adopted looks of shock and horror, although some were already expecting something like this.

"Ugh! This is sick!"

"This is revolting!"

"W-wait so those are people?"

"Were people, Percy…"

"Oh…"

While the rest were reeling in disgust, Hades rubbed his smooth chin, 'Death Paintings… what an interesting name…'

Mara's faces twisted into a pair of devious grins. All the pieces were in place… except for one…

As if summoned by his very thoughts, the giant iron doors to his throne room were blasted open by a powerful strike. The monsters, heads bowed, simply crawled back to clear a path for him toward the door.

"Here he comes!" Hermes said excitedly. The Hero enters the scene!

Mara's grins, if possible, widened in glee.

Ah! His 'esteemed guest' had arrived! And just as he was monologuing as well! Perfect timing!

Such a flair for dramatics was both expected and welcome from his eternal rival! His antithesis!

Hera raised a brow and side-eyed her husband.

Zeus felt his wife's stare and turned to her, "What?"

The Queen huffed with a smile, "you have a similar flair for theatrics."

Her words made the god's cheeks glow a gold hue, "no I don't," he hissed in embarrassment while Hera giggled.

With the other gods, Athena narrowed her eyes at the last statement as it fueled a hypothesis she'd been cooking up.

"I want an eternal rival!" Quetzalcoatl groaned, which was picked up by her admirer.

"Quatzi, shush," her sister poked her and she whined in response.

Ares rubbed his hands and licked his lips. His crush was as passionate about fighting as he himself was, so that could be used to his advantage. The only difference was… to be her rival (and potentially something more), he'd have to get stronger… Stronger than he was even at his peak in WW2…

'Gonna have to ask Crip for his fancy magic weights,' the god thought.

Aphrodite would later curse her lover for ignoring her in favor of his new 'grindset'.

He rolled his shoulders and prepared for one of the greatest battles of his long existence.

Adjusting his hair a tad as he turned, he grinned at the entrance just as the dust settled, "so you've finally arrived…" Mara paused in surprise as he beheld the ridiculous sight before him, "What the Naraka are you wearing?"

Everyone leaned forward to see the screen, as a brief montage of Naruto putting on his suit played before them.

Aphrodite felt some dread.

As if reading her mind, Rhea snapped her fingers and made ear muffs appear on her and the demigods' heads. Her daughters caught on and did the same.

A person whose aura certainly felt like the Gallant Sage of the East came into the room, dressed in what the demon could only describe as a set of clothing more fit for a court jester. He did not even pay attention to the large bandaged blade or the assortment of tools the Sage carried, for his eyes were too busy gazing upon the skin-tight bright orange set of armor the man was displaying with less subtlety than a peacock.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK"

"DAMNIT DITE!" Ares screamed at his lover, holding his ears in pain as ichor leaked from the holes.

The demigods, who had been confused about the headgear, were suddenly thankful for it as they saw several gods convulse from the Lady of Doves' horror-filled scream.

Dionysus, hilariously enough, had tumbled out of his throne in shock, much to Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia's amusement.

"I resent that statement," Hera grumbled at the last word, likely thinking about her sacred animal.

The blond in question, face as red as a cherry, stammered out the best response he could.

"HE'D BETTER BE EMBARRASSED!" the resident fashionista screeched.

"IT'S MY ASS-KICKING OUTFIT! BITCH!" Naruto hollered as he charged the demon and his creatures, the large sword raised in the air.

The room filled with guffaws at the one liner.

"Insert Boss- no wait-" Hermes snickered as he played with his phone.

Not a few seconds later, a hip hop remix of circus music (1) filled the room as the audience, even the two foreign goddesses, exploded in laughter.

"Whoever dropped that beat, pick that shit back up!" Dionysus grouchly commented from his throne, feeling personally offended by the trashy tune.

Barely recomposing himself, Poseidon resumed his reading.

~~ The Wise and The Depraved ~~

None were more amused at the title than Athena and Annabeth, who found it fitting.

'This is looking more similar to the myth about the Buddha and Mara. But then, are the Sage and the Buddha the same person? This opens a whole other set of possibilities, many of them negative,' the smartest on Olympus thought. Although doubtful of the case, she had never been able to pinpoint the mortal called 'Siddhartha Gautama' who became revered as the awakened one' and thus had considered him a fabricated character built to support a nascent philosophy.

However, with each memory and tidbit of data revealed about his past, Athena was slowly but surely making connections between the Gallant Sage of the East and the founder of Buddhism, alongside many other historical and fictional characters.

---

Delaware Seashore State Park, 27th of July 2000

"Mr. Naruto! We should add a column here!" Annabeth exclaimed while molding a bit of mud in her hands.

"Yay! Tin-abeth is back!" the daughter of Zeus jumped on her surrogate little sister's back and pinched her cheeks.

"Damnit Thals! Stop it!"

The demigoddess sat on the beach, dressed in a gray frilly swimsuit the father had helped her pick out the day before, with said man crouching near her. The pair were currently working on a sand model of the Greek Parthenon at the girl's insistence. Finding her enthusiasm endearing, Naruto had gone the extra step and used [Creation of All Things] to conjure up a small construction helmet for her.

The screen showed a picture of the scene, with a happy Tin-abeth excitedly pointing at a part of the temple while a smiling Naruto obeyed her instructions.

While many of the goddesses (Athena especially) and the demigods appreciated the adorable sight of the budding architect, some were also shamelessly admiring the blond Sage's almost naked physique.

As if to add to the last point, a wolf whistle reverberated around the room as most turned in the direction of a certain goddess of Love.

Having recovered from her earlier hysteria with the sight of the eye candy, Aphrodite looked at everyone's faces and huffed, "Oh please, I have more class than that!" she said, much to everyone's disbelief.

"I doubt that very much…" Artemis said to Zoe as both snickered, ignoring Aphrodite's glare.

The goddess huffed and went back to her nails. Yes, she liked the eye candy, and yes Zeus might not be the sole possessor of the 'Almighty Libido', but she was still a classy lady.

Meanwhile, Rhea hid her flushed cheeks in her hands, thankful that no one suspected her. She couldn't help it! She might have lived through thousands of years of her family barely covering their body, but the more she looked at her fellow parent, the more she realized...

'Oh noooo he's hoooooot!~' Rhea gulped, her lips suddenly very dry.

'Has he been lifting dictionaries? Because that's a looooot of definition' a traitorous part of her mind whispered, its tone sultry enough to make even Aphrodite blush and stammer.

She punned when she was nervous okay? Oh darn it! She felt so embarrassed!

From the Hearth, a pair of flaming eyes narrowed suspiciously at the Titaness. While Amaterasu and Quetzalcoatl, both still sitting next to Rhea, turned to her with looks of wariness.

'The scrapbook is gonna be so good!' the man thought excitedly. Oh, he couldn't wait to gush over the pictures with his siblings. He was sure Kokuō and Matatabi would especially love the little demigoddess. Chang'e too… if she didn't try turning her into a mini version of herself.

For some inexplicable reason, Annabeth and Athena felt a shiver go down their spine.

Rhea clapped at the idea! She loooooved looking at baby paintings of her relatives! Oh, if only she had some for her children. Alas, with five being stuck in their father's stomach and one earnestly training to save them, the Titaness had been left without any precious 'baby pictures' to gush at.

Apollo perked up at the last name. Chang'e was a name he'd heard of in many, many stories in Chinese mythology, especially in the Journey to the West. As the god of the Sun, a part of him was always curious to meet the foreign gods looking over his and his sister's respective domains.

Except Tsukuyomi. The mere reminder of his last meeting with that smug jerk was enough to annoy even him.

'Hopefully not, I like the gal but Oraeguk has enough divas as it is'

'Good,' Athena thought, creasing her brows. She'd rather her children not act on their hubris and become melodramatic fools like Apollo's spawn.

Quetzalcoatl nudged her sister, "think he's talking about Tìa Matatabi too?"

Amaterasu snorted, "her and Gekka-O. I swear their fashion shows and concerts are getting more extravagant every year."

"Oh?" the god of Music and goddess of Beauty both looked intrigued at that.

Meanwhile, little ways away, Thalia sat peacefully on a blanket under a large parasol. Dressed in a modest black one-piece swimsuit, she seemed content to remain on land and had been strangely hesitant about going into the water.

The father felt his Pranking Sense (TM) tingle at that. There was fun to be had with this~

Thalia felt a shiver down her spine. That old man better not be thinking to do what he's thinking to do! She had a rep damnit!

"Heh… what's he gonna do? Throw you in the water?" Annabeth nudged her teasingly.

"Dipping Pinecone Face in the ocean? Say less," Percy added his two cents as his cousin glared at him while both Bianca and Nico snickered.

Zoe felt amused at the idea. The daughter of Zeus certainly deserved the humbling for all her snark.

Hermes tsked, 'As if the gramps could trademark pranking!'

That just made him more excited for the opportunity to get one over him. It only made a potential Prank War II all the more probable.

'Ku ku ku' the god met eyes with his brother, as both rubbed their hands maliciously.

Hestia gripped her fire poker menacingly, while Zeus, more than familiar with his two sons' antics, glared at them sternly.

"Coool! How didja build this castle mister?" A youthful voice interrupted his musings as he turned to its source.

Poseidon paused in his reading, having seen what was ahead and looked down at his son in surprise.

"Huh? Who's that?" Quetzalcoatl wondered.

"Oooooh another munchkin?" Rhea clapped her hands in excitement.

'Well ain't that a surprise?' the Sage raised a brow at the child before him.

A young boy, about Annabeth's age, stood behind him. Dressed in a blue pair of swim trunks and carrying a plastic rake of the same color, the raven-haired boy's sea-green eyes were wide open as he looked at every part of the sand structure.

Poseidon stopped to properly admire the screen. This picture of Percy was one of the rare instances he'd ever seen his son as a small child.

"Awwww look at widdle baby Percyyyyy," Thalia replicated her actions with Annabeth, and got ahold of the boy's cheek. Percy yelped and struggled against her to push her back.

This would have escalated the small fight, were it not for Rhea who had practically bounded over to them to hug the two demigods tightly into her chest.

"Oh I love how cute my grandbabies are! These pictures make you all look positively scrumptious, and I'm only hungry for more!" the Titaness squealed, while Percy and Thalia struggled against the soft confines of their Nana's embrace.

'I can only imagine how many more babies I'll see! Eeeee~' Rhea squealed internally as her imagination went wild with all the potential cuteness.

Seeing the sight filled the god of the Sea with warmth as he gazed fondly at his family. With a sigh, he continued.

It wasn't so much their appearance that surprised him, but what his eyes showed him about his nature.

"MMMMMFFFFF," Percy let his opinion be known from within the suffocating embrace. Thalia was no better as her struggles had begun to slow down.

"Umm mother?" Hestia, thankfully came to her nephew and neice's rescue by gently prying them away from the overly-affectionate immortal.

"Hmmm?" Rhea snapped out of her maternal-induced haze and pouted at her daughter, "awwww but I wanna hold them some moreeee~"

Hestia sighed and gazed back at her mother sternly as her two charges breathed all the precious oxygen they needed.

The Titaness smacked her lips and pouted, before turning to the rest of the demigods. All of them, even Nico who had been loving his Nana's caresses, took a step back.

Thankfully, Poseidon decided to reprieve them by continuing the chapter.

While the popularized eastern concept of 'auras' was thought to be hogwash by most mortals, it did have some truth to it. What the East called Chi, or Chakra, among a plethora of other names, the West knew as Magic or Mana. Creatures, no matter how small, possessed some manner of aura to them which was a result of the energy radiated naturally by their bodies. Naturally, for those that could perceive the different frequencies of this radiation, reading someone's 'aura' was a simple manner of translating the wavelengths seen into information, and that information covered everything about a person, from their physical characteristics to the apparent strengths and probable talents they had for one domain or another.

"Ughhhh what is this a college lecture?" Ares complained like a brat.

"Boooooring!" Quetzalcoatl kicked her legs up in her seat and slumped back, making her sister sigh.

"Shush you oaf!" Athena quieted the manchild of a god as she and her daughter noted down the explanation.

"And stop behaving like a child Quatzi!" Amaterasu rubbed the top of her head in shame. She could never take her baby sister anywhere public!

"But it's boring! Papito already taught me that ages ago!" the Aztec whined again.

Hades, who had been listening to the interaction, rubbed the bridge of his nose, 'I don't know if I should be proud or embarrassed that Nico isn't the most immature one in the room.'

The kid was just like Luke, Annie, and Thalia, if a little more related to the latter with how his energy fluctuated and subtly resonated with the ravenette.

As he opened his mouth to reply, his blonde ward beat him to the punch by walking around the castle to stand in front of him, her tiny torso puffed out in pride.

"Yeah, we built the Temple! I have the plans right here!" the girl spoke loudly, waving around a rolled up piece of paper.

"Bob-ette the Builder? Is that you?" Percy teased, getting a dry look from his friend in response.

The two children immediately struck up a conversation. The boy or 'Percy' as he'd called himself, asked Annabeth to lend him her shovel so he could make a moat around the castle, only for the girl to disagree since it was a Temple and Temples did not have moats.

"Then where're you gonna put the crocodiles?" Percy asked which prompted a sigh from both mother and daughter of Wisdom.

Poseidon, who mentally read the next line, let out a quiet harrumph before looking at his son with a grin.

"Then where're you gonna put the crocodiles?" Percy asked, getting a sputter from the girl.

Chuckles erupted all around while Percy looked sheepish.

While Annabeth gazed dryly at her friend, Thalia nudged the son of Poseidon.

"Flawless argument, Kelp head."

Bianca giggled to herself. This was the kind of logic she'd see Nico come up with. Her cousin was one funny guy.

The Sage watched them quietly as the two began bickering, with Annabeth going as far as to drag the boy with her to see the structure from all sides, her mouth going a mile a minute as she attempted to list off all the details of her creation.

Rhea and Aphrodite both squealed. One out of motherly affection and the other because even in a different universe, her OTP was getting built up.

As for Annabeth and Percy, both teens blushed at the teasing looks Thalia and Bianca gave them. Nico simply looked at the scene in confusion.

'[Water], [Storms], and is that… [Quake]? Hooo boy,' There were a few more Domain Links he could recognize, but they were nowhere near as potent as those three, and those three were among the more destructive domains out there.

Amaterasu perked up at the last domain and gave the demigod of the Sea a curious glance.

Both mother and daughter of Wisdom simultaneously took out their respective notebooks to jot down some observations. The sight of the two studious ladies being so in sync brought a smile to both Hestia and Rhea's face.

'Thena really did make a mini-me, fufufufu~'

"Wait…" Quatzi looked at the screen then at the elder Olympians, "ya mean to tell me you just let niños with dominios like that run around without anyone guarding them?"

Her question got looks of confusion among some of the Olympians, while both Hesta and Rhea sighed in frustration. Poseidon, who looked momentarily annoyed at the interruption, looked at the Aztec and smacked his lips.

"Lady Quetzalcoatl-" he began.

"I told you all to call me Quatzi!" the Aztec interrupted him with a pout.

Despite his siblings' visible amusement, the god continued, "fine, Quatzi, while we do have agreements not to target each others' children-"

"And that works?" the blonde goddess cut him off again, making him groan.

"Most of the time," here, he glared at his brothers who sneered back at him.

"And for when it doesn't?"

"We have a haven for them as you've heard in the book," he explained.

The amazonian goddess did not stop her interrogation however, "oh, so they can go there anytime they want?"

Poseidon opened his mouth to reply, but looked at his siblings and mother. Hestia and Rhea looked especially crossed with the subject.

Even the demigods adopted looks of both disappointment in their parents, and sadness at their situation. The older ones especially knew the truth. A demigod was screwed without a Satyr's guidance, and it wasn't uncommon for a monster to reach a demigod before a Satyr could.

From his throne, Zeus looked down at Quetzalcoatl, unwilling to let anyone, let alone a foreigner question his decrees, "oh? And how exactly do you two handle the issue?" he asked, tone filled with derision.

"A choice between your duties as chiefs of your pantheons and duties as parents is a hard one, after all," Hera surprisingly agreed with her husband, even with how she hated the concept of demigods altogether.

She acknowledged their existence as necessary to maintain the minimum of faith required for Olympus to exist, but their nature as both halflings and (more often than not) bastard children was an insult to her domain.

Here, the Aztec looked puzzled, "but it's… not?" she said, much to the confusion of many deities.

Seeing as they had their attention, the Shinto continued in her sister's place, "While this isn't an issue with the Aztecs any longer because of errr…" she looked at her sister with unease painted on her face.

Quetzalcoatl shrugged, "I mean it was before with Tezcatlipoca and Huitzilopochtli hunting down each others' kids to use as sacrificio," she said making the demigods pale and their parents look very uncomfortable, "but it ain't really a problemo anymore with euuuh you know…" she slid her thumb across her throat while making a 'glurk' sound, referring to her pantheon's fading.

"That is horrible," Rhea gasped while Hestia looked almost heartbroken.

The revelation suddenly made Luke thankful for what he'd faced. At least all he, Thalia and Annie had to face were the Cyclops and occasional Hellhounds. He didn't want to imagine a murderous god or two on their tail.

Picking up from her sister's explanation, Amaterasu spoke out, "As for the Shinto, well… while the need for demigods is almost non-existent due to our traditions being maintained, the few times someone like Susanoo has a kid, their mortal families are given the choice to move to the Sage Realm. If they wish to stay, then a member of Oraeguk or Takamegahara's military is assigned to guard them and assist in their training," she spoke before muttering to the side, 'that's if Papa or one of our aunties don't take them in first.'

Her speech left many in the audience flabbergasted, Rhea, Hestia and the two leaders of Olympus more so for different reasons.

Zeus was especially torn as he wished to argue his point. A demigod should have a past that hardens him, they should go through trials that build character. It was one of the reasons they gave out quests after all. For how else would they grow into great heroes comparable to those of old?

But he sensed, nonetheless, that if he were to voice this argument, his behind would be getting an intimate rendez-vous with his mother (and possibly sister)'s sandal.

First Thalia with her [Lightning], [Storms], and [Air], and now this.

Said ravenette perked up before looking down at her hands, briefly making them spark. Her father pointedly looked at Poseidon with a smug look on his face before it shifted to a proud one for his daughter.

He had to wonder how the Greeks were fine letting kids with these kinds of connections just walk around without any kind of protection or supervision. Nevermind monsters preying on them, their bodies and powers alone would make them a target for anyone wanting to mess with the Greeks.

"I get it comes from a good place, but the way he just bashes us is just… ugh!" Apollo groaned, receiving many nods of agreement.

"And is he wrong in his opinion?" Hestia asked, getting the attention of the Olympians.

"Sister…" Zeus muttered with a frown.

"Spare me the excuses brother, as much as I love all of you, I do believe some hard truths need to be said here," she spoke with finality while her mother and the two foreigners nodded in agreement.

Rhea especially looked constipated with how she had pursed her lips. Hestia felt- no, knew the Titaness would explode sooner or later.

This reminded him distantly of something he'd learned during his early days as a mortal.

The screen shifted to an image that grabbed everyone's attention. A silver-haired masked man laid on a futon, appearing to be sick, while three children surrounded him.

"Is that…" Rhea muttered, looking at the three children.

Amaterasu and Quetzalcoatl's eyes widened as they recognized one of the three kids. An orange-wearing boy with a familiar set of whisker marks on his face and eyes as blue as the ocean.

'Is that Papa/Papito?'

Aphrodite, while similarly curious to everyone else, huffed at the sight of the orange child. Of course, the Sage's horrid fashion sense would date back to his childhood! On the other hand, that pink haired girl next to him had the most fabulous hair color even if her forehead was a bit too big for her visage. The raven haired boy with them looked like he would grow into her type of baby daddy if given enough time (and a shirt that wasn't so high collared), and finally, the silver haired man had that air of mystery about him, and she instinctively felt the need to pull his mask down to see his face.

To the demigods, it was a curious sight. It showed that even super-powerful ninja old men used to be children like them at one point in time.

'Huh…Neat,' Percy nodded.

'A Shinobi's body can reveal important information. So by killing and disposing of the missing-nins who have abandoned their village, the Hunter-nins protect the information from getting out.

The voice of the silver-haired man made its way to the audience, capturing their attention. The two Huntresses especially perked up at the name mentioned by the man. Artemis however, felt an inkling that these particular Hunters shared only a name with her group and not much else.

They are the specialists who guard their village's secrets. No sounds. No smells. That is a shinobi's fate.' his first master had said during their first mission back when he was still but a child himself.

'Ah so I thought correctly,' the goddess of the Moon held a grim look on her face at the information.

Hestia shook her head in sadness. That wasn't something you were supposed to tell children! And what was this about a mission? Was the Sage a child soldier?

Unlike his aunt, Ares had no such qualms about the Sage's past. In fact, the idea of the Hunter-nins sounded quite appealing to him. A contingent of soldiers (mortals and demigods alike) who would hunt down traitors like the dogs they were?

Oh, he wished he'd thought of that before! Maybe he'd have had Castellan's head on a pike by now if he did!

His know-it-all of a sister would have agreed with him too!

Percy and Nico sobered up at that statement. Maybe the ninja life wasn't as cool as they thought after all.

Luke shivered as he saw the god of War's vicious grin directed at him. Oh he was glad he never had to deal with people like those on his tail, even if the Hunters were given the notice to shoot him and other traitors on sight.

This was why most military organizations back in his time as a mortal had body disposal specialists like Hunter-nins.

"Ugh," Hestia made a noise of disgust. She hated hearing about this!

Orochimaru, Kabuto, Mara, Okhwang, Yama, Tezcatlipoca…

The images of each of the characters appeared briefly on screen, earning looks of disgust or scowls at their features.

Except for Okhwang, who looked quite handsome even with his third eye, the rest of the characters all possessed some glaring physical faults, all of them looking like they could star in their own horror movies.

Orochimaru appeared as a deathly pale man with long hair and just as long of a tongue, all topped with a pair of poisonous yellow snake eyes that pierced into the audience's hearts.

Kabuto appeared as a man with scaly snake skin and similar eyes to the previous man. Perhaps they were related in some way?

Yama appeared as a giant obese figure, mostly hidden under torn robes tied together with glowing chains. Although his head was covered with a horned helmet, from the glow emanating from the eye sockets, some like Aphrodite or Apollo personally doubted he looked any better than the previous two.

Finally Tezcatlipoca looked to be the most deranged of the lot. Appearing as a man sporting an assortment of metallic piercings that stretched and tore into his flesh to give off a sight far more demonic than divine.

"Ewww… are these guys snake-men?" Nico gagged at the first two pictures. He especially got a bad feeling about the first two, something far worse than simply 'Stranger Danger.'

His father especially felt the urge to shield his son from the bizarre men on the screen.

"Again with the ugliness~" Aphrodite moaned in faux-pain, dramatically sweeping her hand across her eyes.

Rhea scrunched

There was no shortage of madmen in this world who loved to experiment on others, and demigods, as Naruto had learned throughout history, had often been the target of these malicious intentions.

The group of children winced at that, and the Titaness felt her Motherly Instincts (TM) flare up at their looks of discomfort.

'Hmm I'll have to whip up a good meal for them, my babies will love it~'

…

But yeah, back to the issue at hand, the kid here had a colorful arsenal in his hand, even if he didn't know how to wield it yet.

'Looks like Thalia-chan ain't the only one with a stacked deck anymore.'

Heh… who knows? Maybe the two could get along. It'd certainly be quite interesting to witness in the future.

Annabeth and Bianca simultaneously snorted at the idea. The daughter of Hades, while not as close to the two troublemakers as the daughter of Athena, felt she knew enough to call 'bull' on that.

Looking back at the two teenagers of the group, he let out a smile at the sight of a carefree Thalia and Luke on their spot, something that was proven by how lax their bodies had gotten. There wasn't a hint of the nervousness or trepidation that had accompanied them throughout the first few weeks of their journey.

Rhea awwed, making the two teenagers in the audience flush in embarrassment.

All he could see and sense were a bunch of youngsters enjoying the springtime of their lives without having to look over their shoulders. He'd partially credit that to [Peeping Tom Begone], a nifty chakra-blocking seal he'd developed some centuries ago, back when that brat Susanoo couldn't keep his eyes off Takamagahara's public hot springs.

Apollo and Hermes started giggling, while Artemis glared daggers at them.

Aphrodite simply took out a piece of paper titled 'Sleeping with the DILF' on which figured a PRO vs CON table. On the PRO side, she added 'insinuated Artemis was a pervert'.

Hmmm… on one hand the man had a horrible sense of fashion, a terrible sense of humor while also being a tad too parental for her tastes (she wanted a Daddy, but not that kind of Daddy!)...

But then again…

'Under hot bod, hot scars and hot tats, how about 'Being a (metaphorical) pain in the virgin's ass'? Yeeees Mama likey~'

Now that one of the Olympians was aware of them, he'd do his best to make them undetectable while leafing the rest to Zetsu, who was sure to send the 'goddess' down the wrong root (hehe).

"Little Zetsu might be talented, but I'm sure my grandbaby Arty could sniff him out, I'd lichen her to a pack of wolves," the Titaness winked at the two daughters of the Sage, while said 'grandbaby' whined at the horrible pun even if she preened at the praise as well.

Zoe, out of respect for her lady, bit the inside of her cheek to stop any giggles from escaping.

Speaking of his kid, where had he disappeared to now?

…

Amaterasu and Quetzalcoatl both sighed as one.

"I take it little Zetsu has a habit of doing so?" Hestia asked with a smile.

The two foreign goddesses sighed again.

"Big bro likes to take long senderismos at random times…" the Aztec shrugged while smiling to herself at Hestia's chosen adjective for her older sibling. The guy would certainly flip if he heard it.

"Yeah, it's weird how he always ends up in bizarre locations," the Shinto agreed.

Eh… Zetsu's a big boy, he'll come back on his own.

"What is he, a cat?" Dionysus muttered half-asleep, much to his brothers' amusement.

"Well he pretty much acts like Garfield so there's that," Hermes chuckled.

"All that's missing is a love for lasagna…" Apollo muttered beside him.

Quetzalcoatl who heard the man, snickered to herself, 'hmm with Ze-hermano's love for anything with meat, señor tamale isn't too far off, hehe'

"Hello? Excuse me sir?" a voice once again snapped him out of his thoughts.

'Really gotta stop zoning out.'

"Hmm? Yes? How can I help you Miss…?" he trailed off as he looked at whoever spoke to him.

The sight of a nervous young woman carrying a plastic bag greeted him. Dressed in a conservative blue swimsuit that did little to hide the mature curves of her body, and a large sunhat nestled on her brown hair, she struck a pretty sight for any who'd look upon her.

As the picture of the lady in question appeared on screen, another wolf whistle rang out in the room and Poseidon snapped his eyes up from the Book to find the source. His son did the same with an angry look.

The resident blond playboy sweated as he tried to maintain his poker face, even as his Uncle glared suspiciously at him. He didn't want to be 'poked' by his Uncle's trident but damnit, Sally Jackson (he recognized her almost immediately) was hawt as love!

"Who's the looker?" Thalia asked, only for Percy to scratch the back of his head with an embarrassed blush.

"That's my mom," the boy replied, making his friends turn to him in surprise.

Annabeth looked at him, then his dad and the picture, before raising her hands to mimic a camera, "eh… can't see it…" she stated with a shrug.

"Hardy har har, Wise Girl…"

Rhea and Amaterasu both frowned at the description of the mortal, both with a smidge of jealousy and protectiveness respectively.

A quick look at her aura, however, made him imperceptibly frown.

As said before, one could tell a lot about a person by reading their aura. Things like knowing the one before you were one of those 'sharp eyed' (or 'clear sighted' or whatever Zetsu called them) mortals, or more alarmingly, showing traces of healing injuries on one's body, as was the case of the bruises and signs of trauma alongside the lady's torso and abdomen.

Rage overtook Percy as he clenched his fists. All of the female immortals, namely Hestia and Rhea, felt the same way, even Hera who never liked the women her male family members slept with, felt sympathetic to Sally.

None of those feelings compared to the sheer murderous aura Poseidon was exhibiting, one that even drew the wary looks of his brothers.

It was only after getting calmed down by his sister that he resumed reading, this time through gritted teeth.

'You're lucky you're dead, mortal or I would've ran you through with my Trident!'

'That ain't a good sign,' the man thought, smiling disarmingly at the brunette.

The woman seemed to respond to his invitation and held out her hand, "Sally… Sally Jackson, Mister…" she trailed off, and he answered by clasping her hand in a firm, but delicate handshake.

"Naruto… Naruto N. Uzumaki," he introduced himself, which drew a curious look from Sally.

"N? Does it stand for something?" She asked and he shrugged.

Hermes snapped his finger, "I was wondering about that."

"Got two last names," he huffed, "makes it less of a mouthful, ya know?"

"Huh, and those are?" The god of Messengers leaned forward.

Everyone turned to look at the two foreign deities, who sighed.

"Papa's full name is Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki," she said, "It's both Grand-Papa and Grand-Mama's surnames respectively. Papa said it was his own way of honoring them," she explained and most nodded in acceptance, while Hestia smiled at the gesture.

It showed the man's modesty, if he was willing to honor his more humble origins. It was also unconventional for someone to use their mother's maiden name primarily rather than their father's.

She nodded at his answer then seemingly remembered why she came here, "Oh, umm. Sorry to disturb you Naruto- may I call you that?" her nervousness resurfaced again.

'Ain't she a polite one?' he smiled pleasantly and nodded.

Hestia and her mother smiled brightly as well.

"Only if I can call ya Sally," he grinned toothily at her and a smile wormed itself back to her face.

"Ohohoooo~ Careful Poseidon, the sugar daddy might be gunning for your baby mama~" Aphrodite's tease held an undertone of teasing and excitement. Could this be a potential ship? Could NaruRhea be facing NaruSally?

The abused wife getting rescued by a dashing man as they both bond over their shared experience as parents, their connection slowly blossoming into love?

'Eeeeeeeeeee' she squealed internally, clueless to the look of worry that crossed Poseidon's face and the unease that took over his son.

Percy was especially NOT into the idea. Much as he liked the old man with being an uber-cool ninja warrior and all, his mom was not up for grabs here!

The Lady of Doves' comment elicited different reactions from two ladies in the crowd.

While Quetzalcoatl only humphed in amusement, her sister was another story entirely.

Amaterasu was a Daddy's girl at heart. It was only natural she'd feel annoyed at any half-decent-looking woman that cozied up to her Papa.

Like her, Rhea felt a twinge of annoyance, although for a very different reason.

'Come on other me! Show up and dazzle that man with our brilliant puns!'

She nodded, "I was just worried about my son, I turned my back for one second and he just-" she gestured with her hands and he chuckled, "did you happen to see a boy in blue shorts pass by? He's about this tall," she again made a motion with her hand to showcase the lad's height, then continued, her voice slowly becoming more frantic "black hair, green eyes but not green-green, more like sea-green like the sea you know? He'sgotabirthmarkon-"

"Mom!" Percy shrieked in embarrassment while his friends laughed around him.

Luke cracked a smile at the interaction, one less cheerful and more bittersweet, as he reminisced about better days.

Before she continued, Naruto had hurriedly got up to placate her, "Woah, woah, woah, calm down Sally, take a deeeep breath," he did so slowly and encouraged her to do the same.

"Now, don't go putting his picture up on a milk carton just yet," he grinned cheekily at her and pointed ahead of him at the sand structure, where the two children could be heard playing from behind it.

Rhea giggled, "Well, we all have our mom-ment, especially when our babies are in potential danger," she said, earning herself both smiles of appreciation and groans of annoyance.

Understanding his cue, Sally turned to the Temple, "Percy honey!" she called out.

"Mama?" the boy peeked out from behind the corner, his hair sporting a small crown of green algae and matted with sand.

"Really earning your nickname Kelp Head."

"Shut it, Pinecone Face."

"What did I say about wandering off? I even got you your favorite popsicle!" Sally pried her bag open and held out the blue plastic-wrapped treat, now melted into a bag of liquid, "but because you made me look for you for ten minutes, the Sun ate it first!" she shook her head.

Poseidon threw another glare at Apollo, who started sweating.

Artemis tsked, "stealing candy from children, brother? I thought only Hermes did that…" she shook her head alongside her lieutenant.

"Hey!" the god of Thieves looked incensed, especially when his son looked somehow more disappointed in him, "I only did it once!" he claimed.

"Coughcoughliecoughcough," the god of Truth added.

Little Percy gasped audibly, "Awwww! But I just wanted to see the cool castle!"

"It's. A. Temple! Seaweed brain!" a pair of tiny hands reached out from behind the structure and grabbed the boy's shoulders angrily.

"Same thing! Wise girl!"

"Oh Us! Even their nicknames came in early!" Aphrodite clapped while Rhea squealed alongside her.

Percabeth was going Multiversal!

Athena glared at the screen. As amusing as it is to see her baby girl worked up like that, she did not want to think about what that airheaded love goddess was insinuating! It was bad enough her daughter here rubbed elbows with Poseidon's spawn here, she didn't need the boy corrupting her earlier!

Sally raised a brow but exhaled with visible relief when a little blond girl came out, and angrily got into her son's face, both children proceeding to bicker.

Seeing her more subdued, the Sage plopped back in the sand and patted the spot next to him. Sally shyly complied with the wordless gesture, as the two adults watched the munchkins bicker and laugh with each other.

Letting themselves be enveloped in silence for a few minutes, the blond man used their closeness to subtly send a bit of healing chakra into the brunette's body, slowly but surely healing her.

Of course, that's when his subconscious need to help others reared back its head.

Poseidon, for the first time since the reading started, felt some shame at the way he had insulted the Sage previously. Even while wary of the man's intentions toward Sally, he wouldn't stop him or anyone else for that matter, from helping her.

His son looked naught but happy at the sight. His respect for the Sage was mounting with each chapter.

The same could be said for many others in the room.

Amaterasu and Quetzalcoatl both smiled sadly at the last sentence. This particular quality was both a blessing to their father's loved ones and a curse to himself. They couldn't count the number of times they, alongside other members of their family, had to intervene and put a limit to his self-sacrificial behavior.

'Should I?' He looked pensive for a moment, looking at the young mother next to him, who had her eyes closed, relishing in the stress-free environment around her.

Percy stared sadly at the screen, 'I've rarely seen her so… relaxed,' a voice in the back of his head spoke with traces of shame.

His mother didn't deserve the hardships she went through. She didn't deserve what Gabe did to her or the trouble his very existence brought to her.

Sometimes… times like these… he genuinely wondered if her life would've been better had he never been born. It felt wrong to blame his dad for seducing her and impregnating her with him like he did since he was still his dad and all, but he couldn't help but feel wistful for another life, one where his saint of a mother wouldn't have to suffer so much.

Poseidon wore a grim look as he gazed at his son and his old lover on the screen. Sometimes, he felt regretful of what he'd inadvertently made Sally go through, even if Percy was growing up to be one of his favorite children.

If only these stupid laws could be bent…

Unbeknownst to both father and son, the same thought echoed in their minds.

'Maybe… Hopefully… the old man'll help her other version in that other world. She needs that at least.'

They'd certainly be grateful to him.

Zetsu would be mad buuuuuuut…

'Ah, screw it,' he decided to address the elephant in the room with as much tact as he could.

That is… none whatsoever.

"Little Annabeth is like Percy, ya know?"

Athena, her father, and stepmother/aunt collectively facepalmed at the bluntness. Go figure. A twelve thousand-year-old cryptid with the subtlety of a hammer.

"Classic Papa/Papito,"Amaterasu and Quetzalcoatl giggled as one.

The mother's blue eyes snapped open in shock and she whirled to Naruto, suddenly looking very alert.

"W-w-what d-do you mean?" she reeled back from the blond, to which he only raised his hands again in the same disarming motion.

"You and I both know what I mean…" he smiled at her, "now why don't you tell me your story Sally Jackson?"

Rhea had been holding her hands together, silently wishing the mortal would listen and that the Sage would in turn, help her.

Percy was nervously wringing his hands as well. His mother deserved to have her troubles go away after all…

The old man was already growing into a sort-of idol in his eyes. The Sage just checked all the boxes of what counted as 'cool', even if he did make some bad jokes (but hey, his newfound Nana did too).

But if he helped his mom too?

Percy might just build the guy a shrine out of gratitude.

The brunette looked at Annabeth and her Percy, then back at him. She silently observed him for a few minutes, searching for any seeming evidence of danger on his body, other than the scars and tattoos…

"Eying him up a bit too much there darling not that I blame you~" Aphrodite teased while the Father and Son of the Sea frowned.

After a while, she sat back next to him and inhaled deeply. Opening her mouth to speak, she felt the words roll out without any control over them.

The Sage listened.

The Sage's two daughters sighed fondly. There goes another one…

At this point, handing out help and therapy to random people was as natural to the man as breathing. It was a great thing to do, even if it could get a tad tiresome sometimes… Especially when it came at the cost of his well-being.

---

While the ravenette lounged in the shade, the oldest demigod could be seen walking back towards her from a snack bar, a pair of soda cans in one hand and a plastic bag in another.

"Hey Thals, got your drink," Luke called out to his friend, handing her the drink while taking a seat next to her.

Like the older blond, he had gotten a pair of swim trunks, those being black in color and wore a white shirt over his frame.

The demigoddess thanked her companion and opened her can. She took a gulp, while looking at the two blonds making an architectural wonder in the sand.

Thalia and Luke both felt a tad awkward seeing this. It was nostalgic to be sure, but also a jarring reminder of how different theirs and their counterparts' lives and relationship is now.

The two teenagers had to chuckle at Annabeth shamelessly bossing around the man and helping him build the tiny temple. Another amusing sight was how seemingly oblivious the blond was to the looks he was getting from the other beachgoers, especially the women.

Then again, Thalia could maybe understand where they were coming from.

Zeus and Thalia choked on their spit, while Apollo, Aphrodite, and Hermes pulled the ever-famous, Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson's Eyebrow Raise (TM) at the girl.

'What did she saaaayyyyyyyy?'

Said ravenette buried her face in her hands when Annabeth and Percy both side-eyed her slyly.

Even though the man acted and felt like the weird uncle she'd never had, she could still admit he looked uber cool, especially with the full-body tattoos.

The daughter of Zeus (and her father especially), let out a sigh of relief.

'Thank everything my other is not a weirdo,' the girl would have died of embarrassment if she'd been caught lacking like that, especially to a guy older than her own father and even grandfather too maybe.

Apollo nodded. Body paint was an art he's dabbled in the past. He especially loved how some civilizations, namely those of the Pacific, incorporated them.

Said man was currently sitting with his back to them, next to a lady they'd never seen before, both seemingly deep in conversation while watching over Annie and her new playmate. Thalia had been pleasantly surprised to see another beachgoer, a boy about the blonde girl's age, approach the demigoddess.

Eh… It would be good for Annie to have a friend her age.

'But does it have to be that boy?' Athena pursed her lips in disappointment. Out of all the possible demigods, why did her daughter have to meet her arch-rival's spawn?

Looking at the sight, her eyes drifted across the two adults and the children, before her eye caught something peculiar about the man, and she turned to her friend.

"Hey Luke, didja see Mr. Whiskers' back?"

Many blinked at that comment and looked on the screen as the image of Naruto and Annie reappeared.

The boy was puzzled at the question, "Huh?" He turned to look at what she pointed at and had a look of surprise.

"Oh."

"Yeah I thought so too… looks painful"

"What does he mean- Oh…" Apollo winced as he caught sight of what the kids possibly meant.

"Ooof…" Hermes shook his hand in sympathy while many of the other gods adopted looks of either indifference, interest, or compassion.

Rhea and Hestia stifled a gasp at the sight, while the Sage's daughters wore a pair of grimaces.

Unlike them, a certain goddess of thirst bit her lips.

"I guess? I mean just the size of it… Jeez," the boy whistled lightly, "and there's three of them."

The demigods were at first confused, before Bianca's eyes widened as she caught the detail the others missed, and pointed it out to the others, who reeled back in response.

What the two teens were talking about were three, fist-sized circular scars on the man's back. The three were positioned where the heart and lungs would be located. Unlike the rest of the man's tan skin the three scars were a rosy color, encircled with the orange flame-like tattoos that traced the man's entire body.

"That's some badass ornament," the god of War nodded his head in approval, his own scars itching in response.

Real recognize Real.

His comment didn't get as much support from the audience, but his lover did fan her face at the sight. She was always an enjoyer of the rough and rugged aesthetic, especially on muscular hunks like the Sage.

Unlike the two, Hestia felt negative emotions skyrocket from where the Sage's daughters sat.

'Damn you Yama… damn you all the way to Hell!' the Shinto in the crowd gritted her teeth with enough force to generate sparks.

Even with the worrying looks the Greek 'Big Sis' and 'Auntie' threw her, she didn't calm down. Even with her sister nudging her a bit, she didn't calm down.

For she remembered just what monster injured her Papa like so.

It was not Okhwang. It was not Mara. It was not even Sasuke Uchiha, the supposed 'best friend' who'd stabbed her father in the same place when they were children (or that's what her Uncle Kurama had said) as the wounds left by the shinobi had long since healed by the time her father received his current scars.

The offender was just as powerful and heinous (in her opinion) as those three.

Yama... the Taoist Lord of the Underworld and the Master of Greed…

One of the only beings to have ever brought her beloved father to the Shinigami's doorstep.

The two demigods almost didn't want to see the man's front, because if the same scars were on both sides, it made them genuinely wonder how he was still alive.

'Strengthen your body and sharpen your mind to the point you feel like you'll fall off the edge of your own sanity, but keep your heart firm, that is when you'll be able to ascend past your limits'

"That's… incredibly foolish advice…" Athena's blunt criticism cut through the room and drew the attention of the two foreigners.

"Wanna say that again gaki/chica?" Both sisters spoke as one, an annoyed look on their face. Amaterasu was still angry from the last scene and did not need some know-it-all speaking as if they knew better than her Papa.

Despite the implicit threat by the two goddesses (and her own father's mounting worry), the goddess of Wisdom stood firm, "I will not apologize for stating the truth, Lady Amaterasu, Lady Quetzalcoatl. You surely know the body, especially the mortal one, has limits. Overtaxing one's muscles does not so much strengthen them, as much as augment the risk of serious long-term damage," the goddess spoke sternly, no traces of fear on her visage despite the situation.

"It's all fun and games until you tear a muscle at the gym," the god of Sports chimed in to support his half-sister, even if he was inwardly apprehensive of the two foreigners at the moment.

The two sisters opened their mouths to retort. The Shinto especially looked angry and constipated, but both still took a moment to think, then Quetzalcoatl shrugged. Her sister on the other hand frowned and crossed her arms.

"Look underneath the underneath," she stated, drawing a curious look from the goddess of Wisdom.

"Pardon?"

"It's a phrase Papa says sometimes, and it also applies to this piece of advice," Amaterasu ended her explanation and turned her head.

Thalia recalled the man's words during one of the grueling exercises he occasionally had both teenagers run through. While the sentence sounded like some weird mumbo jumbo from a kung fu movie, she wasn't about to question the wisdom of the guy helping her become tougher.

"You have much to learn young grasshopper," Percy deepened his voice and stroked his smooth chin, grooming an invisible long beard.

"You're the last guy I wanna hear this from, Kelp Head" retorted Thalia.

Even if the fact she couldn't keep up with him, or the fact they weren't doing anything beyond physical exercises and some boring studying, were both frustrating to her. Because at the end of the day, she knew herself enough to admit she could maybe be a bit impatient in some aspects.

She wanted to be a badass damn it! Put the fear of her into any nasty monster gunning for their group!

'Atta girl,' Zeus looked like a proud papa, nodding earnestly at the last sentence while his wife rolled her eyes at him.

"You know Thalia Grace… you could easily accomplish that in the hunt," Zoe smirked at the ravenette who glared back at her.

But again, the same guy telling her this was the guy with the wicked scars and absolutely gangster-looking tattoos. Maybe this was what he meant?

She was sure if she got hit by whatever he'd gotten hit by and survived it, she'd look at herself in a new light too. Get some weird perspective about life and stuff…

"The Miracles of Shock Therapy by Dr. Grace," Annabeth giggled and elbowed her surrogate elder sister.

"Annie!"

"Yeah… think some monster gave'em to him?" Thalia suggested.

"Eh, I don't know if there are monsters in Japan," the boy was quick to cast his doubts, "oh but he used to be in the military wasn't he?"

"Huh," the girl looked pensive at that, then slammed her fist into her palm, "I gotta ask him about it!" she made to get up, only for Luke's hand to hold her shoulder down.

"Thalia dear, no. That might be insensitive," Hestia shook her head.

"Thalia, no, that might be insensitive," the blond advised.

The goddess of the Hearth beamed at the flushing demigod, who sunk into his seat, while the rest of the children giggled.

After all, scars might look cool and all, but the story behind them wasn't always so.

"Oh come on!" the ravenette whined, then perked up as she got an idea, "Or I could ask Zetsu!"

"Good luck with that," the demigod snorted, then looked around, "where is the jerk anyway?"

"Where is the little gremlin?" Zeus narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Zetsu not being there wasn't the problem by itself, but his absence being called out more than once in the story was a sign of something big to come.

Or that was what his inner-screenwriter told him. He was the god of Theatre after all!

His silver-eyed daughter shared his worries, but for different reasons. What prank could that little monster be planning to play on her?

Luke had never thought he'd meet someone with a bleaker outlook on life than he did, but the younger Uzumaki had made quite the impression as the poster boy for pessimism. But speaking of the grump, he curiously had been gone for a while now.

"Giving Debby Downer a run for her money," Hades chuckled. He could really relate to the little guy.

His sister disagreed, shaking her head with a huff. Little Zetsu might seem like a cute little guy but there was no need to be so negative all the time!

Eh… since the father wasn't worried, he wouldn't think about it too much. Thalia seemed to share the same idea.

Nevertheless, the two demigods continued their conversation while taking this precious moment of peace to relax from their journey.

"You know," Bianca looked pensive, "we should do something like this. Just to unwind," she proposed. With the memory of her death still vivid in her mind, the girl gained a new appreciation for life, and wanted to spend more time with her friends and family.

Plus it'd be a first for her and Nico. They never got the opportunity to back in Italy or in the Lotus Hotel.

"What? A beach day at the lake? I'm in," Percy agreed immediately, while Nico nodded excitedly as well.

Annabeth and Thalia agreed as well, "we could ask Chiron, maybe he'll be able to convince Mr. D," the blonde demigoddess whispered.

"As long as I'm not on the planning committee, I don't care," said god commented from his throne, having heard his name.

---

Sally hadn't had a good life.

"And now I'm sad," Apollo sighed, already feeling the tonal shift.

Percy and Poseidon looked both frustrated and guilty as they both blamed themselves to some degree for not doing enough to help the one they both cared for, or in Poseidon's case, being one of the reasons her situation was as hard as it was.

Orphaned at a young age, losing her only other relative before she even finished high school, having to settle for dead-end jobs to make ends meet, and then getting into a marriage she never wished for to protect the only ray of sunshine left in her life.

The more he read, the worse Poseidon felt. He… he really messed up big time huh? He practically added a mountain of issues to an already present pile then left without a word.

'The rules… those damn rules,' the god gritted his teeth while glaring lightly at his younger brother.

His elder brother on the other hand, glanced back at the god of the Sea with a rare look of sympathy, both having caused their lovers great pain whether directly or not.

Percy looked on, shocked into silence at the information. He knew he didn't have any extended mortal family but he never questioned it.

He… he never realized…

And the way she described him. Percy knew his mother loved him as she never shied away from saying it but his heart still swelled with this simple sentence. Even with all the trouble he brought her, with all the schools he was expelled from, with the target he had painted on his back because of his blood…

His mother was the best…

From the side, the rest of the demigods held looks of pity and sadness as they gazed at the boy. Annabeth and Thalia, being the closest to him, both put a hand on his shoulders in a silent show of support.

Rhea bit her lips and breathed a bit louder. She hated this. It was like having her own failures shoved in her face. Her failure to act as a grandmother and a matriarch.

She needed to stay calm. She had to stay calm.

'Naruto… please,' she thought pleadingly, hoping the man could help the poor mother.

Even with the circumstances of his birth, and the potentially dangerous life he might lead, if there was one thing the brunette would say she'd never ever regret, it would be having Percy. Her sweet, adorable, and excitable little treasure.

"Love you too mom," the boy whispered with a bittersweet smile, while Annabeth squeezed his shoulder.

She didn't even regret refusing her ex-lover's offer for a palace under the sea.

"Oh, I'm sure Amphitrite would have loved that," Hera said in annoyance. Zeus had tried that nonsense before and she'd ended up with a new fern for her garden.

The god of the Sea was not in the mood for his sister's snark, "at least my wife is civil enough not to target toddlers."

"Poseidon," Zeus glared at the god dangerously, who didn't back down and glared with just as much intensity.

"Children." Their mother's voice cut through the tension, her tone as dangerous as the aura of parental wrath she was exhibiting.

As fantastical as that idea sounded, and as exciting as their summer romance had been. Sally simply could not see a future where she'd settle in such a mythical environment, let alone close to the father of her child and his wife.

She needed normalcy. She needed stability. She did not need drama.

"Booooo," Aphrodite pouted. Everyone needed drama!

As such, even if she had resigned herself to her 'relationship' with Gabe Ugliano, she had always kept an eye open for any alternative solution.

'All of this because she fell in love,' a certain Huntress thought to herself with a scowl. Sally's situation was not only tragic, but reminded her of her own past. Even if she had come to terms with it, and realized her earlier views might have been a bit… extreme…

But it didn't take away from a simple fact: Falling in love was a dangerous risk. Quite similar to gambling in this manner.

While you might find yourself floating on a sea of euphoria,

She might have held some hope for the marriage back when she first met the man. As repulsive as his smell and appearance were, he had appeared nice enough to tolerate, if only for the sake of her son.

Hera suddenly felt a bit bad about her distaste for the woman. Even with her being the mother of a demigod (one born out of wedlock at that), she could slightly relate to having a husband with some very unappealing trait and still trying to make it work.

That impression had quickly soured and she came to realize that she wasn't the only one putting up an act and that the man's personality matched his less-than-appealing appearance and fragrance. So, she was left with no choice but to put up with anything he threw at her, from treating her like a servant to the abuse he (thankfully) only ever committed away from the eyes of her son.

"I am blessing this woman" Rhea spoke with finality through gritted teeth, drawing a shocked look from her family.

"Mother!" Zeus squawked much like his sacred animal, but the woman glared at him while both Poseidon and his son looked incredibly pleased.

"I will not be arguing about this Zeus! Either you accept it or you don't and pout about it!" the Titaness almost yelled at her son, barely restraining herself from doing so.

The two foreign goddesses, who had stayed somewhat silent throughout the scene, nodded in agreement with Rhea, as did Hestia who was more demure about it.

Said Titaness clearly wasn't finished, as she made a bold show of getting up and marching around the throne room.

"While I'm at it, I'll need a list of all the demigods you've had. I'm vetting their parents and taking action," she counted off, her stature growing to an even greater height than the Olympians and her voice growing louder with each word.

Some of the demigods, despite their newfound love and adoration for their Nana, couldn't help but flinch at her imposing size.

Zeus, in a rare show of defiance, stood up as well, his eyes narrowed at his mother.

"I cannot allow you to do this mother! We cannot simply ignore the law when it pleases us!"

"You put those damned laws in place! And where in the laws is it written that I can't see my grandchildren and great-grandchildren?"

"I did that for Olympus! The gods need to be focused on their duties and not a-"

"Zeus I swear to everything I hold dear if the next word out of your mouth is 'distraction'... King or not. Public or not, I will be bending you over my knee!"

The King clamped his mouth shut, face paling at his mother's threat. It wasn't so much that it would hurt, but he knew the Titaness would utterly humiliate him in public if needed.

"No. You know what? I'm not even angry at you. I'm disappointed in myself for not doing this sooner. Because a perfect stranger should not be taking care of our children better than us. Because those laws of yours," the Titaness spat the words out with obvious frustration, "do not have anything preventing me from being a good Nana to my family."

"Mother please, the rules-"

"TO TARTARUS WITH THOSE RULES!" Rhea's power practically burst out like water from a dam, prompting Amaterasu, Quetzalcoatl and Hestia to stand in front of the demigods to shield them from the wave of magic.

"I HAVE HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH YOUR NONSENSE ZEUS!"

"I'm not going around putting a mortal's buns in my oven, I don't have anything better to do with my time," before her son spoke out, she pointed at him, "and don't you dare say 'I don't have to'. It's my duty as your parent!"

"Mother!" Hera unexpectedly interjected, "I agree with my husband."

That declaration sent most of the Greeks reeling. Hera? Agreeing with Zeus on demigods?

Hades made a mental note to check if Tartarus had frozen over. He and most of the other gods nevertheless stayed silent as they both didn't want to be the target of the Titaness's ire, and personally because he wanted to see how big of a grave his brother and sister could dig themselves into. From the side, he could even spot Aphrodite enjoying a pink bucket of popcorn like the drama loving ditz she was.

"Hera…" Rhea's tone made the Queen almost flinch, "if you're about to say what I believe you're going to, don't."

Even hesitant about speaking against her mother, the youngest of Rhea's daughters did not "I understand your reservations mother, but think about it like this, wouldn't your actions encourage them to have more children?" many of the gods looked sheepish, knowing it would be true. "You shouldn't have to clean up their mistakes," It would be like telling a child to clean their room, then hiring a maid to do it for him.

The demigods who understood what the Queen said, bristled in anger at being referred to as a 'mistake'. Luke especially looked cross and justified in his earlier feelings towards the Olympians.

Before the Titaness could retort, her eldest daughter finally had enough, "cleaning up after them? Sister these are not dirty stains on the floor! They're children! OLYMPUS'S CHILDREN!"

Her yell reverberated around the room, and the children in the audience felt their hearts soar at the passion in the goddess's voice.

"I agree wholeheartedly with my mother. I've only ever kept to the side because I did not want to cross you brother, sister," the goddess of the Hearth nodded at Zeus and Hera, "but if you're going to use 'duty' as an excuse, then I might as well do my own as goddess of Family!" she announced.

"Should we say something?" Quetzalcoatl whispered to her sister, casting a worried look at the argument underway.

"No," Amaterasu shook her head while looking at both Rhea and Hestia with a fond smile, "let them cook."

It would take another half an hour before the four immortals, and mainly the angry mother, calmed down enough. It had taken an oath on the Styx from Zeus to postpone the issue until just after the book's reading, for the situation to be somewhat resolved… for now.

It had been an interjection from Athena which had saved her father from the Titaness, if only temporarily. She had theorized that if Rhea's alternate requested for the book to be sent, it must also hold the solutions to the present issue, or at least offer a potential future they could look into, especially since it promised to resolve many of their problems. This was something they very much needed as even Apollo's foresight fell short. Seeing as the Sun god's ability was too random and uncontrollable, this was the next best thing.

She's held out for six years of this, her only reprieve being the time she spent with Percy, especially their annual trips to Montauk.

The place brought her peace and some sense of nostalgia for a better time.

This year had been no different, but due to her son's recent expulsion from school they had a lot more time on their hands and since the boy was as thirsty for adventure as any child his age, he'd begged her to travel to see other beaches on the coast.

Poseidon looked proud at his son's accomplishment, while Percy blushed in embarrassment, especially as Annabeth teased him about it.

Sally certainly wouldn't complain about more time with her little Percy, or more time away from her home. She just shuddered at the thought of what she'll have to return to. She had no doubts 'Smelly Gabe' as her baby not-so-affectionately called her 'husband' would be bringing his poker buddies and turning her home into a pigsty… again.

Most of the ladies and even the more well-mannered men in the audience wrinkled their noses at that last word.

This did not bode well.

But nevertheless, she resolved to leave 'tomorrow's problems to tomorrow's Sally' and just enjoy her small vacation with her only real family.

"Here here!" Dionysus raised a glass of Coke, having adopted a similar philosophy himself.

It had certainly been a pleasant surprise to see her son get along with a child his age, as he'd often had a hard time making friends at school due to all the trouble he unintentionally attracted. It had been a shock to know the other child, an adorable little girl named Annabeth, was just like her son, and even more so to finally meet someone she believed was in a similar boat to herself (pun unintended).

Rhea held herself back from giggling at the pun. She needed to keep a stern face on right now, or else her babies won't take her earlier rant seriously!

Poseidon had no such issues, as he freely chuckled lightly alongside his son.

Perhaps this was why the words had burst out like water from a dam. All those bottled-up emotions that had been aggregating in her for years had suddenly come to the surface without any kind of resistance.

'So… many… water puns!' the Titaness struggled to contain her titters.

Her son felt a brow twitch as he too, caught on to the plays on word. While amusing on its own, he'd rather it not occur so much while his old flames had her woes! He needed to feel sad, not amused!

A veritable deluge of emotions was delivered upon her fellow parent.

"Snrk," an unladylike snort escaped Rhea's mouth, as she quickly covered up and turned away in embarrassment.

Percy chuckled at his Nana, she was a weird lady, but also a very awesome one nonetheless.

The Sage's two daughters alongside Rhea's children simply rubbed their temples

She'd told Naruto everything, even as she tried to keep herself composed, but he didn't react beyond scooting closer to her and offering her wordless support and a much-needed ear to talk to.

The god of the Sea squashed the instinctive jealousy before it bubbled up. This wasn't the place for these feelings and it was obvious Sally was only reacting like this out of desperation.

After all, he had a good idea of what type of man his old lover was into. The charming, fun loving type that took her on adventures and introduced her to a brand new world while also being mellow and down to earth enough that she wouldn't feel too inadequate next to him.

Poseidon looked at the Sage on-screen, his face drooping at the sudden realization.

…

'Us-damnit!'

As her tale came to an end, she took a deep breath and shuddered, suddenly aware of what she'd revealed. She looked at the blond man as her nervousness came rushing back to the surface. He looked neither sad nor annoyed with her. She didn't see any form of pity or anger in his eyes, albeit she did notice his features had softened before.

Her anxiousness grew. Maybe this was a bad idea after all…

"L-look, let's forget everything I said okay? Just-" she tried to wave off everything she'd just said and stood up.

A hand firmly grabbed her own.

"Sit," the man said calmly, but just as firm as his hold.

"B-but," she protested weakly.

"Park it, girl," the man repeated, giving the brunette the image of a father rearing up for a lecture.

'Oh if he told me to park it, I know where I would,' Aphrodite bit her lips and shamelessly ogled the man's lower half.

Amaterasu and Quetzalcoatl grinned at each other. Back on Oraeguk, people practically lined up just to be on the receiving end of one of Naruto's famous Talk-no-Jutsus(TM).

The same could not be said about the Belt-no-Jutsu(TM).

She did as told, and stiffened when he put a hand on her shoulder while raising the other toward her, balled up into a fist.

Percy and his father both narrowed their eyes at the man, while many others felt curious at the gesture.

"My man was like 'Cool story sis, put it here', heh" Hermes did an impression of Naruto and bumped fists with his brother, both giggling like children.

"Sally Jackson. You've trusted me and opened up your soul to me. Allow me to do the same," the sternness in the man's voice had disappeared, now replaced with a much kinder and softer tone.

This got many of the audience blinking in surprise. Was the Sage about to reveal himself to her? Just like that?

Rhea, Hestia, and the foreign deities all hid an eager smile behind their hands.

Nevertheless, the mother looked confused. Seeing this, the man smiled and nudged his fist closer.

"Boop it," he said.

"Gesundheit," Apollo fake coughed, drawing a dry look from his twin.

Demigods and gods alike were confused at the act.

"Huh?"

"Boop it!" he said again, now with a large grin.

"Saying it twice doesn't really explain anything, gramps…" Percy muttered.

Swallowing her spit, Sally raised a fist despite every instinct in her mind screaming at her not to, that this was bizarre, this was unnatural. That this was just like the time when her ex-lover had revealed himself to her!

Poseidon gripped the book in nervousness as his eyes frantically scanned ahead, hoping it wouldn't be anything harmful.

Unlike him, the two daughters of the Sage looked at each other with knowing smiles, much to Rhea and Hestia's confusion.

But despite all of this, she didn't want to throw away what could possibly be her only lifeline. So, slowly, hesitantly, her fist came close to the man's own.

When her skin merely brushed against his, something overwhelming washed over her. Her eyes widened as what she could only describe as mental images, physical sensations and emotions rolled through her mind at inconceivable speeds.

A tsunami of information crashed into her mind, threatening to drown her, and yet, she didn't. After the initial shock, the feeling became more comforting and more familiar, but more than anything, it became clear.

She understood.

Everything.

Suddenly, she knew whom she was speaking to. She knew why he had come here. She knew why he responded the way he did to her story.

But more importantly, she knew she could trust him completely.

As this was happening, the screen flashed rapidly with several images, many of them passing by too fast for most of the audience to catch. Many of them showed the Sage at various stages of his life.

Scenes where he was surrounded by people and ones where he was alone.

Scenes where he fought enemies, both monstrous and fantastical, and ones where he simply relaxed peacefully.

Scenes where he danced with different creatures and ones where he wailed in a wasteland.

A collection of characters, animals, monsters, humanoids of all shapes and sizes were shown with the Sage. Both friend and foe.

Rhea cooed internally as she saw a few images of the man caring for children. Both those in attendance and others.

All in all, everyone was trying in vain to take in every image show in an attempt to understand the enigmatic immortal Sage and paint a better picture of him in their minds.

As she came down from her daze, she looked back at the man with pure astonishment written across her features. That feeling was accompanied by a brief surprise when she saw Naruto look back at her, eyes visibly moist.

Percy's eyes widened at the look. He couldn't describe it, but something in him told him the Sage understood his mother's pain and empathized with her for it.

A warm feeling overtook him, as he sensed something ruffle his hair. Looking up, he was surprised to see a glowing hand made of fire, which strangely did not hurt him in the least. His sea-green eyes shifted across the room until they caught the flaming orbs of his aunt.

Hestia smiled at the boy, glad he was doing okay. Unlike the others, she understood immediately what the man had done. She had no doubt her mother had as well. After all, they all shared the ability to understand a person's very emotions, and thus, their soul.

No matter how experienced and hardened anyone is, any resistance meant nothing when you experienced the emotions of another. The most one could do was rationalize these feelings so as to not be burdened by them. Naruto had no doubt gleaned and practically experienced Sally's pain and suffering, both mental and physical, and by his reaction, one could deduce his heart had gone out for the poor woman.

"What was that?" the King chose this moment to interject, referring to the ability used by the Sage.

His wife nodded alongside him, but let her eyes drift over to her mother and sister, feeling a sense of familiarity.

Before Amaterasu could answer, Hestia beat her to it, "from what we've seen, I assume this is quite similar to my and mother's empathic powers," she explained softly to her brother.

Hera frowned, "And yet, I've never seen you use it in such a manner, Sister."

Her statement earned a hmph from the Titaness, "that's because it's not as simple as the Sage is making it look," she raised a finger to count of, "Sensing emotions is easy, infusing emotions in something or someone is manageable as well for us," here, she narrowed her eyes and looked at the two daughters of the Sage, "but what the man has done here is one of the highest form of empathic spells. It is nothing short of a soul merge… which is strange considering how hard it is to remain the same person after it. Does your father do this often?"

Her question got Quetzalcoatl and Amaterasu to blink and look at each other.

"Kinda?" the Aztec began before her sister continued, "Papa once told us about the Sage of the Six Paths, who was the equivalent of a 'god' back in the Shinobi era," her words caught the interest of the Olympians, even the ever-drowsy Dionysus, all of whom have only ever heard the name in the first chapter of the Book.

"That's a cool title," Hermes commented, with his brother in agreement.

For all the Japanophile knew, this guy was even more mysterious than the Gallant Sage of the East and could have had a bigger impact than him. His name itself could be seen as an allusion to the Buddha with the 'Six Realms'.

"The Sage of the Six Paths was the one that gave humans of the time access to chakra, or magic as you call it," Amaterasu continued her explanation, with her latest statement earning scoffs from the King and Queen.

'Sounds like a crazier version of Prometheus,' Zeus thought with a grimace.

"A rash and foolish decision if I've ever seen one," Athena commented, while her war-loving brother rolled his eyes.

"Nah!" Ares grinned, "giving people better ways to kill each other? I'm liking this old guy already!" His words drew a small growl from his wiser sister.

While Quetzalcoatl found the two's contrast to be hilarious, Amaterasu sighed to herself, "ironically Athena-dono, that is exactly what the Sage ended up seeing."

The goddess turned to the audience and addressed them, "giving magic to humans was a double-edged sword. The Sage's original intentions were to give people a better understanding of themselves, as well as others, and lead the world into an era of peace through the network magic created through its many users," her explanation drew smiles from Hestia and Rhea, while many others saw the reasoning as an admirable one.

"Umm… then what happened," Bianca asked, still reserved about addressing the deities so casually, even if they seemed approachable.

Both sisters gained a dark look, "Zetsu happened," spoke the Aztec, before correcting herself at the looks of confusion she received, "the first one I mean not big bro."

"The one this Zetsu claimed he didn't want to be like?" Annabeth asked, remembering what the short immortal had said before.

This earned her a thumbs up from the Aztec, "Exacto niña!"

Seeing she needed to elaborate, the Shinto ushered back everyone's attention to her, "The first Zetsu was also the first being to weaponize Ninshū -the name of the Sage's philosophy- into Ninjutsu -the ninja arts-, and from it, usher in an era of war and conflict, that continued up until Papa's adulthood."

Ares nodded at the information, his legs awkwardly crossing over to hide how bricked up he became at the mere idea of such an era.

"And then Gaia's cataclysm happened," Athena stated, having noted down everything said by the Japanese deity.

Everyone else digested the information, some taking it better than others while some didn't care as much about the entire thing, having moved over to other business.

"We should move on, I understand the Book should go over these subjects the further we go into it," Hestia said, turning to her brother who nodded.

"Sorry, this always gets me," the blond chuckled while wiping his eyes with a hand, "but yeah, now you know my story, and I know yours…"

Before she could stop herself, Sally felt her mouth utter the word "...and?"

The blond man smiled.

"And I can help ya!" his voice took on a more exuberant tone, "I know we're at the beach, but I can't let ya drown in your problems, ya know? Bahahahaha!"

The man's infectious laughter might as well have been the straw that broke the camel's back, or in Rhea's case, the pun that broke through her facade.

"Snort", her lips puffed out in a vain attempt to restrain herself, "huhuHUHU- DARN IT!" She cursed lightly as the poker face she had tried to maintain broke down and the air of seriousness she'd put up went up in smoke.

Many, especially the demigods and the weaker immortals like Zoe exhaled in relief.

In any other situation, the mother would've probably snorted in an unladylike fashion at the pun, on the nose as it was, but right now, in Sally's heart raged a maelstrom of emotions, especially after the brief experience she'd had, and the new knowledge she attained.

She wasn't too surprised about the man's existence per se, as she'd already gone through that particular song and dance with Poseidon. But him helping her? Now that was a shocker!

The god of the Sea masked a wince at this and shifted his gaze to look down at his son with guilt marring his features. If there was one thing Sally and Amphitrite had in common, it would be how easily they managed to guilt trip him.

Not that they were wrong in their feelings…

She remembered that time when her old lover had explained the nature of the Divine Laws to her. It had broken her heart to know her baby wouldn't know his father and would possibly never meet him. But it also made something clear to her: that she shouldn't hope too much for a helping hand from them.

Many of the Olympians, particularly the more kindhearted ones, followed Poseidon's example and reacted with a similar amount of guilt. That particular accusation, as old as it was, always rang true on some levels.

The King and Queen were the only ones that disagreed with it, as they saw their efforts in bettering the mortal as a good enough asset to allow some sacrifices.

So, she was understandably skeptical and decided to make that clear.

"B-but why?"

"Why not?" the almost instinctive nature of the answer stunned her.

Amaterasu and Quetzalcoatl grinned at everyone's expressions, as they mirrored the mortal on screen.

'Papito never really needed a reason to help people…' thought the Aztec. Ever since her father had found her all alone in the Amazon all these years ago, played her songs to cheer her up and took her in as his daughter, she'd come to learn his kindness was as vast as the sky above.

The man patted her back gently in a show of comfort, then pointed at the sand structure where the two kids could be heard playing.

"Call your son over for a bit will ya?" his smile lowered her guard, and despite her nervousness, she decided to comply.

"Percy! Come here for a second!" Sally called out.

The demigod in question, his father and his friends perked up as one and looked at the screen.

Zeus narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

The voices of the two children quieted before Percy once again emerged with a more elaborate algae crown on his head.

Thalia snorted and draped a hand around Annabeth's shoulders.

"It's like destiny…" the ravenette cooed while her surrogate little sister raised a hand to her forehead dramatically.

"Even as a young lad, Seaweed Brain never shied away from his namesake," the blonde girl giggled to herself alongside the Di Angelo siblings and even some of the gods, especially Poseidon.

Percy's answer was a dry look.

"Yeah, mama?"

The mother gestured to the blond man, who waved at the boy, "Mr. Naruto here wanted to talk to you."

Percy looked visibly confused, and looked back behind the Temple, only for Annabeth to push him towards the two adults. Coming before the man, he was greeted by a large hand held out in front of him.

"Hey there little man," Naruto grinned at him. Understanding the queue the lad clasped his hand in the man's own.

Percy scratched the back oh his head bashfully

"Careful not to get your arm torn off Prissy," Ares' comment soured the demigod's mood.

"Says the one that tripped on my sword!" the boy snapped back, getting a savage grin from the god of War.

"Ohohooo I'll shove that sword up-"

"Oh boooooys~~~~ 3" Both god and demigod paused and shivered as their grandmother merely glanced back at them.

Looking up at him, Percy gave a toothy grin, "Hello again, mister!" he spoke earnestly, "Thanks for letting me play in the awesome castle," he ignored the distant yell of 'temple!' from the blond demigoddess and began rambling about all the fun he's been having.

"It's obviously a temple, Seaweed Brain!"

"Give me a break Wise Girl! I was barely seven!"

"Still!"

Naruto chuckled, "Well, a castle wouldn't be a good one without a King would it?"

"Oh come on!" the blonde demigoddess glared at the Sage for his wording.

he reached a hand into one of the pockets of his swim trunks, "But since the thing's a tad small for you, how abooooooout giving ya something more fitting?" after he said that, he pulled out his hand from the previously empty pocket, only to reveal a toy figurine.

The boy's eyes looked down at the toy in shock, immediately recognizing the character.

Bianca glanced at her cousin then at her brother with a surprised look. It amazed her how similar both younger Percy and Nico could be when excited. Maybeit was a sign of their family relation, even if she wasn't sure the gods' family tree worked that way.

"IS THAT AQUAMAN?" Percy yelled in shock and took the action figure eagerly.

Sally's eyes almost bulged at the toy. That was way on the nose!

Poseidon narrowed his eyes, sharing his former lover's sentiment. The old man was waaaay too perceptive!

"I mean if he knows their domains then maybe making the connection with their parents isn't too far-fetched?" Hermes rubbed his chin in thought.

It was impressive in a way, because even some of the gods sometimes could not distinguish the parentage of a demigod, seeing as how so many immortals shared some domains with each other.

"Bahahaha!" The man guffawed at the boy's reaction, "ya like it? You can keep it if you want boyo!"

"Really?"

At Naruto's nod, Percy practically threw himself into the man, wrapping his tiny arms around the blond's neck.

Rhea squealed at the sight. Alongside her, many cooed and awwed at the wholesome scene, especially Amaterasu and Quetzalcoatl whose faces were split in a pair of megawatt smiles.

Even Luke couldn't deny the image was a sweet one, reminding him of his own mother's embraces as a child.

'If he calls him Pop-Pop, I might just dieeeeeee~' the Titaness held her cheeks as they turned gold at the thought.

Thalia chuckled good naturally, "so all it takes to win over Kelp Head is a plastic toy. Take notes Annie," she teased her blonde friend who blushed at the insinuation.

"THANKS, MISTER!" the boy shouted in the man's ear, as Naruto chuckled and patted the boy's back.

Poseidon guffawed at the sight of his son's energy, and even his brother couldn't contain the smiles on their faces. As many, many, many issues as they had between each other, the three were still fathers and all shared a fondness of their children in that regard.

Hera was the only one who looked conflicted. Even if the sight was admittedly adorable, she was unwilling to show an inkling of approval for the demigods' existence, much to her sisters' unseen disappointment in her.

Unseen to anyone but Sally, the blond's hand briefly glowed a faint blue, before the energy seemingly vanished into Percy's back.

"Ayo!" Apollo snapped up and pointed at the screen, "I saw that!"

"Yes brother, bravo~" Artemis mockingly clapped for him alongside a smirking Zoe.

Poseidon looked on with his brothers, now more curious than ever, if a bit wary.

For all they knew, the Book could be building up into an unexpected slip.

With his piece said, like all boys his age, the lad ran back to show off his new toy to his new friend.

Sally looked at the Sage who had a fond look on his face.

"... what did you do?" she asked, more curious than cautious.

Naruto shrugged, "I toldja didn't I? I'm solving your problems," he dug a finger in his ear as he spoke," you wanted your son safe from monsters, so I sealed his scent, easy peasy."

The demigods collectively tilted their heads to the side in confusion.

"Wait…" Percy narrowed his eyes, "is that something you can do?"

"Is that something you can do?" Thalia took his question and redirected it to the Olympians, only to be met with a personally hilarious sight: her father's shocked look.

The Big Three would forever deny the flabbergasted look they had sported at that moment. Hades was especially struck as with all his knowledge about monsters, he was never able to accomplish such a feat without turning the demigod completely mortal.

It was Athena that spoke up, having taken her time to fill up a few dozen pages ith theories and potential spells, "I'm afraid doing so is… or was impossible to do quasi-permanently, even for us…" the goddess admitted, "for as powerful as we are, the scent of a demigod is intrinsically tied to their powers and the nature of their blood. Sealing it, or removing it for too long, might turn the demigod mortal," she explained, drawing a look of panic on several faces in the audience.

"You mean I/my son/my grandbaby might lose my/his demigod side!?" the question was spoken by Percy, his father and Nana respectively, all of them worried for different and similar reasons.

The daughters of the Sage chuckled to themselves at the shocked look everyone sported. Oh they had seen nothing yet!

"Don't worry hijo del mar, Papito's done that to many other demigods in the past and it always worked out muy bien" Quetzalcoatl placated the demigod and his family and threw an extra thumbs up to compliment her toothy smile.

Amaterasu nodded alongside her sister. "Yes, Papa is by far the greatest seal and jutsu shiki master on the planet, his experience with that domain is larger than any of us can comprehend. You have nothing to worry about Percy-shonen," she spoke with a calming smile.

This obviously relieved the three Greeks, while others like Athena and her daughter almost salivated at the potential well of knowledge.

If there was one thing Annabeth was sure of, it was that if she ever met the Sage, she was hounding him for information. Her other didn't have issues wrapping him around her tiny fingers so maaaaybe he'd teach her the sealing arts!

'Huehuehuehuehue just imagining all the books I can store away~' the blonde thought with a scheming look on her face that got the other demigods to take a step away from her.

Meanwhile Luke sat there, his face frozen in shock at the revelation, as well as lamenting on his luck. How many of his problems could've been solved if the Olympians could do so? Why couldn't they? Did they just never bother to research a better way? Because there obviously was if the Sage's actions proved it!

This entire situation was frustrating to him because of how torn it made him feel. There was no question that he still had a bone to pick with most of the gods, but the Book, as well as the actions of his alleged 'Nana' as well as Hestia and the two foreign goddesses were slowly dousing the wrathful fire he stoked in his heart.

(Which was ironic considering what Hestia's domain was but whatever)

There was also the manner of his former friends. He wouldn't lie and pretend the looks Thalia and Annabeth had been giving him from the start were anything but painful, and while previously he might have taken comfort in the excuse of 'doing what's necessary for the greater good', even that justification was growing more and more flimsy with time.

The mother blinked, not sure she fully understood what the man said, before her mind processed the explanation, and her face turned to shock.

"You mean I…" a hand on her shoulder cut her off.

"You're free Sally," the man's tone was serene and his words filled the woman with warmth.

"Go out there and live that best life, you hear?"

"YES!"

"WOOO!"

Several people whooped in the audience, including Percy who plopped back into his seat, arms raised in the air and face split with a joyful grin.

Poseidon for his part couldn't look more grateful. His face practically glowed from happiness as he looked down at the book with relief.

He truly hoped Sally could lead a good life.

---

That night, Sally would once again have the surprise of her life.

"There's more?" the son of the Sea sat back up started jumping up and down. Maybe he'd get to see the Sage beat up Smelly Gabe!

The Sage's daughters hid their excited grin. They couldn't wait to see the looks on everyone's faces when their father, once again, goes above and beyond for a perfect stranger.

She had never thought she'd be so excited to come back home. She didn't even feel any worry about the potential spring cleaning she'd have to do later, her only focus was on putting Percy to bed, then to lay into, and possibly kick out her 'husband'.

She was a woman on a mission, and that mission was to unshackle herself from the biggest burden that had plagued her life for over half a decade.

"WOOO!"

"You go girl!"

"You tell'im Sally!"

Poseidon and his son both practically vibrated in excitement at the news.

On the other side of the room, Zoe and Artemis shared that sentiment but for different reasons. Yes they were happy for the mortal woman, but seeing a stupid male get his just desserts? Say no more!

Hera, while adamant about the sanctity of marriage, did not feel any disapproval toward the dissolution of this one. It was practically a sham at best after all.

So, opening the door to her home with a groggy Percy dragging his feet behind her, she had expected to be greeted by a warzone, or whatever the aftermath of leaving Gabe alone for a weekend would be.

Imagine her astonishment when she saw no Gabe, no smell, and no trash but a newly refurbished and cleaned apartment. It was almost like she had just bought the place!

"He works fast," Hephaestus admitted, impressed if nothing else. That, or the Sage could conjure objects like many of the gods.

"Nice crib," the god of Messengers commented, "wonder if I can get him to sign part-time with one of my companies."

"Oh I'd pay to see that," Apollo grinned.

"Soooo he gave her the means to end a toxic relationship, helped her son, and gave her a new house?" Aphrodite looked at the two foreign goddesses with mischief in her eyes, "Your daddy really knows how to treat a lady huh?"

Amaterasu, Quetzalcoatl protested loudly to the insinuation. Poseidon and Percy did so silently.

Her son, in his tiredness, didn't seem to notice anything wrong and with slow steps, instinctively made his way to his room.

"Classic Seaweed Brain," Annabeth nudged her friend who didn't protest. He gave off the same degree of excitement as a puppy.

'He looks cute when he's happy like that,' her treacherous mind supplied as she fought down a blush.

Sally in the meantime was left in the doorway, her jaw ajar as her eyes scanned every detail of her, admittedly, new and improved home.

Her eyes rove over the living room, before settling on the coffee table in the middle atop of which lay a tiny case with a note on it.

'Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart,' the note read.

"Pretty cliché, but fitting," Athena muttered to herself.

The brunette mused over the words, before prying open the chest… and almost dropping it in the process.

"Ooooh~~ what is it?" Demeter leaned in, as if trying to peer into the screen, while her brother rolled his eyes at her.

'I-I-Is that gold?' she could not believe her eyes. How much did that man do?

"That's what we want to know!" some said semi-exasperated by the Sage's generosity.

Hades in particular raised a brow at the mention of the precious metal. Was it pure ingots or coins, and if so, perhaps from a past civilization? That would certainly raise their market value exponentially.

Percy was currently vibrating in his seat with a smile that seemed permanently glued to his face. His behavior earned him some chuckles from his friends and even his father looked down at him fondly.

The Titaness and her daughter were in a similar state of glee.

"Mama! Come look!" her son's voice yelled out, and Sally instinctively followed it to his room.

Percy stood with his face glued to a sizeable terrarium in his room facing his (also brand new) bed.

"Cool!" Nico grinned, "Wish I had a room like that!"

Bianca ruffled his hair, while their father looked at them with a small, almost imperceptible smile. Looks like he had some remodeling to do in cabin thirteen.

Curious as to what had her son so energetic, Sally approached the glass enclosure and peered into it. A large brown toad looked back at her, its bulbous eyes seemingly glaring at her.

"Did he-?" Poseidon bit his lips to hold in his laughter.

"I think he did, brother," Hera tittered, very much approving of the punishment.

"Oh us! That's-" Aphrodite was at loss of words as she was torn between laughter and instinctive disgust.

Many of the other gods caught on to what happened and laughed as well. Even the ever kind Hestia and her mother cracked a smile.

"Nice one Papito/Papa!" the two daughters of the Sage spoke as one, giggling to themselves.

Whether it be her women's intuition or just an inner feeling, the brunette felt like the little critter was her missing (and now ex) 'husband'.

'Well Gabe, it pains me to admit but this is the best you've ever looked,' as if reading her thoughts the toad croaked and rammed itself into the glass, attempting to jump at the woman.

"Look how hopping mad he is! Huhuhuhu~" The mother of the Olympians giggled, and for once, was joined by most of the room as they all laughed at the mortal's fate.

"Look at him! Look at him and laugh!" Percy said to his friends, as he pointed and guffawed loudly at his former stepfather, his laugh just as mocking as Nelson Mutz.

"That is indeed a very good burn from Sally Jackson," the goddess of the Hearth's joke drew a gasp from her mother, while her siblings looked at her with mounting horror.

Rhea clapped in excitement, "Tia-dear are you finally coming to the Pun side?"

Hestia only rolled her eyes with a smile, "I would never wish to encroach on your territory mother."

The Titaness narrowed her eyes playfully and tsked.

"One day…"

She chuckled at the fruitless attempts before something else caught her eyes.

Another note.

'I toad you not to worry ╭⊚‿⊚╮'

'This man keeps getting better and better!' Rhea hopped in place excitedly giggling to herself amidst the many groans of the audience at the pun.

She couldn't wait to make his acquaintance!

Sally Jackson giggled, then the giggles became light laughter, and before long, the woman found herself guffawing with tears in her eyes at the ridiculousness of the situation.

"Mama! Are you okay!" Percy's yell didn't lessen the laughter, as Sally finally felt all the weight she had been carrying on her back vanish.

'More than you'll ever know honey…' she thought amidst her chortles, 'thank you Naruto. Thank you for giving me hope!'

"Thanks, super-gramps!" Percy cupped his hands and yelled at the screen, even if he knew the man wouldn't hear him.

'I am building the guy a shrine when we get back!' the boy promised to himself.

"Thank you, Gallant Sage!" Poseidon spoke with relief in his voice. He had been momentarily worried about the man possibly having nefarious or even amorous intentions toward his lover, but he was glad that was not the case.

Luke, who had remained silent once again throughout the reading looked at the screen with a bit of hope.

'Maybe… maybe he could help my mom?'

As Poseidon prepared to pass the book to someone else, he noticed something at the bottom of the page, "Hmm?"

"Something wrong brother?" his eldest sister asked, getting everyone to look at the reader.

The god for his part furrowed his brows, "Looks like there's a bit more to the chapter…"

Hera rolled her eyes, "Well then brother, perhaps you should finish it."

Poseidon gave her a dry look, then sighed and flipped the page to continue.

---

EXTRA 1: The Poker Player's Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Like father, like son, both Poseidon and Percy's grins took over their faces.

'So much YES!'

In a homely apartment in Manhattan, an aging woman clad in a nightgown and a full face mask cozied up in a large leather chair. She had set aside a glass of warm milk and was currently reading one of her favorite romance novels.

"Who's the old lady?"

"Nico! What did I say about calling people old?"

"But she is!"

CRASH

"Goddamn, son of a-" the distant sound grabbed the lady's attention, and she quickly got up and moved her windows' curtains to check the source.

Ares, who had been busy shamelessly ogling the blond Amazon, perked up at the sounds of violence.

His aunt narrowed her eyes at the cussing.

Her eyes scanned the building facing her home before she caught signs of movement in the apartment on the same level as hers. What seemed to be a fat figure was sitting on a chair while another, slimmer one gesticulated widely.

Oh… it was that apartment.

"Ohh ohh~ which apartment?" Aphrodite leaned in, thirsty for some gossip.

Her hand, which had reached the nearby landline phone, intent on calling the police, instead picked out a different number.

After a couple of rings, it was picked up, "Eghhh whoever's calling better be dying or dead because I'm not in the mood to-"

"Sophia, girl you ain't gonna believe what I'm seeing," the woman said, straight to the point.

Apollo rubbed his chin, "Sophia… why does the name ring a bell?"

Artemis rolled her eyes, "With all the women you've bedded, of course it does," her comment earned her a snicker from Zoe.

"A man naked from the waist down?" The immediate comeback made the woman roll her eyes.

Aphrodite giggled, "I like this mortal's style"

"And that quick-witted retort," the god of the Arts muttered, eyes squinting suspiciously.

"Ugh. No, but seriously, so I heard some screaming in the other building and you know what I see? Someone broke into the apartment there!"

"Dorothy darling, I know you're getting there with age but I don't see how you mistook my number for 911," the voice sounded both amused and exasperated.

"Dorothy… Sophia… damnit where have I heard these names before?" Apollo muttered to himself.

"Why the hell would I call 911?" the woman blinked, before realizing her blunder, "oh wait. So I didn't tell you but it's Ugliano, and he's alone."

The lady on the other line paused briefly.

"... Tell me you're recording this." Dorothy, who had already gotten the camcorder in her other hand and pointed at the scene, snorted. What did that shorty take her for?

At the word 'shorty', a lightbulb figuratively appeared above Apollo's head, and he gave a grin that literally lit up the room.

"NO WAY!" the god turned to the son of Poseidon, who was squinting painfully from the light, "You were neighbors with the Golden Girls?"

"Apollo! Tone it down you oaf!" his sister yelled from the side.

"The who?" the demigod being questioned asked questionably.

Many of the gods perked up, with Demeter, Aphrodite, Rhea, and even Hera looking down at the boy with astonishment.

"Ohh~ I love that show!" the goddess of Agriculture spoke.

"And they're real in that world? Luckyyyy~" Rhea felt a tad envious of this.

"A shame it ended so soon, Bea Arthur could've stuck around a bit more," Aphrodite pouted but Apollo shook his head.

"As much as I loved it as well, it's better to have ended it on a high note then to stretch it out for too long…" he gained a grimace, "but at least we have the Golden Palace."

Hera shook her head with a sigh, "but it's just not the same…"

With the demigods, Percy turned to his friends, "any idea what they're talking about?"

While most of the group shook their heads, Thalia rubbed her skull as a distant memory surfaced, "I think it's an old show from the eighties or something. My… mother," she spat the name out, "used to watch it…"

"Huh…" the god of the Sea shrugged at the information but internally felt bad for bringing it up. Much as he and Thalia fought, they were like siblings in a way and didn't want to actively hurt one another.

"Don't have to tell me, you know how long I've been waiting for this? I'll send you the tape later," the woman smirked as the apparent home invader began laying into the fat slob.

"And make a copy for Sally, I'm sure the girl would appreciate it," Sophia said on the other line with a chortle. Both women had been, like the rest of the neighborhood, unfortunately, acquainted with the abusive man and his terrible smell that seemed to blanket the entire building. They had always wondered what drove a doll like Sally Jackson to get hitched to that poor excuse for a human being.

Aphrodite sniffed disdainfully, "I'm fully with Sophia on that one," she turned to Poseidon, "you could've at least have me set her up with a hunky businessman or a model but nooooo…"

Poseidon rolled his eyes at her.

'Like I'd let you play with her heart…' he thought with a grimace. He, his son and the Sage agreed on one thing, Sally deserved a good life, and the thought of the burden he'd set on her back filled him with guilt.

'I don't regret Percy's birth… I could never, but I wish things could be different.'

Well… at least now he was getting his due!

'Yes, yes, yes, yes!' both father and son of the Sea thumped their legs in anticipation.

"Heh, this ought to be bueno," Quetzalcoatl chuckled.

---

In the apartment in question, Gabe Ugliano was tied to a chair as he struggled to free himself, all the while attempting to scream and shout at his captor. He no doubt wished to curse at him and ask about the reason for his presence.

'Get fucked Gabe,' Percy thought with as much malicious intent as he could conjure. His anger against his stepfather was even greater than the one he felt against any opponent he had faced up until now. Because at the end of the day, Gabe was the first monster he had encountered, and the one he had spent most of his life fighting against, even if not physically.

Unbeknownst to him, Poseidon gave a similar, positively sadistic smile as he waited to see the foolish mortal get his just desserts.

The man who had tied him up would have answered if it weren't for the duck tape firmly slapped on Gabe's mouth. That, and the taller blond man, dressed in bright orange coverall reminiscent of a janitor, was busy with another more urgent matter.

"Got whatchu wannnnt got whatchu neeeed~" the god of the Sun began humming a jaunty tune.

'What can I call it? Cleaner of your dreams? Heh… better get Hermes in on it!'

Aphrodite "This is the worst! I find myself a mega-hunk and his fashion sense is just-" makes gagging noises.

"Come off you damn piece of…" the man muttered angrily. The tone would have sounded more threatening if it wasn't for the clothespin he had clamped on his nose, making his voice come out nasally.

The audience collectively snorted and chuckled at the funny voice.

The Gallant Sage of the East, a being classified as a natural calamity by his enemies, was currently aggressively mopping the hardwood floor of Sally's home.

"Status update: Local DILF cleans wood then proceeds to lay pipe (probably)," Hermes jokingly typed on his phone.

His statement earned him a glare from Poseidon (who understood the innuendo, unlike his son) and a thumbs up from his half-brother.

"Ohhh~ if only~" Aphrodite approved of the idea as well.

"Grown ass men, but don't know how to use some damn plates"

"Honestly, must he be so crass?" Hestia pouted at the language even if she did agree with the sentiment. Look at all that wasted food on the floor!

Quetzalcoatl, who heard her, blinked at the statement and turned to her sister, "Sis, we gotta keep her away from Tìo Shukaku," she said seriously, getting a nod from Amaterasu, who was just as serious.

Hestia was too pure of a soul to be exposed to the absolute dumpster fire that was their youngest uncle's vocabulary.

His daily five pm rants against Kurama certainly didn't help matters.

"MMMMMFFFFF!" Gabe expressed his opinion, his eyes bulging from anger as he jumped up and down in his chair.

"Shut yo ass up, mortal!" Ares yelled at the screen.

"ARES!" the goddess of the Earth frowned. If her family was going to let their potty mouths loose, then maybe she should cast a censoring spell on the children's ears.

"Shut yo ass up, boy!"

"Thanks, Old Man!" the god of War grinned at the Sage, while subtly glancing at Quetzalcoalt. Did she see how in sync he was with her dad? Some women were into guys that acted like their dads, right?

"MFF MMMMMMMMMM-!" *SMACK* A well-placed backhand silenced Gabe's protests. Seeing his captive subdued, Naruto returned to his task.

"Aaaah, the good ol' Pimp Hand," Hades nodded at the strike. It was a classic used in the fields of punishment on unruly spirits.

"Dad? What's a pimp?" the question from his son froze the elder Olympian in his tracks, as he could feel the heat from his sister and mother's glares at him.

Fortunately for him, and in a rare act of brotherly care, Poseidon decided to continue, while Bianca decided to distract Nico.

He had expected, because of what he gleaned from Sally, that the apartment would most probably be filthy. He had come with the intent to give the woman a fresh start, and that meant removing any proverbial, and literal clump of filth that stained her life.

Percy snorted, "you underestimate Smelly Gabe's power!"

Thalia and Annabeth scrunched their noses, "is he really that dirty?" the blonde asked.

The son of the Sea turned to his friends, eyes fixed in a thousand yard stare, "more than you can imagine…"

His friends decided not to press the subject.

Rhea, who had overheard the conversation, once again promised herself to send Sally a blessing. Her and other parents in similar situations. She wouldn't take no for an answer either, even if she had to resort to getting physical with her children.

Sparky especially was practically asking for a Motherly Spanking(TM) right now.

He had been mentally ready to enter a mildly dirty room (as it had only been about two days since the Jacksons had left their home, what's the worst her 'husband' could do?), find some laundry strewn about, and maybe some trash lying around.

He had not been ready for the veritable communal dumpster that had greeted him. He had no idea how a mortal with no special abilities of his own, could somehow turn a fairly decent home into something out of Yama's pits, but the man certainly had a hidden talent for that.

Clearly, he had underestimated Gabe Ugliano.

"See? I told you!" Percy pointed at the screen and looked at his friends.

"Ewwww!" many in the audience reeled in disgust at the sight.

Apollo pointed at Hephaestus, who was still writing his notes, "Heph quick! How high is his filth level?"

The sudden shout surprised the god, but he shrugged and conjured a scouter over his eye.

Seeing the flashing numbers, the god took out his creation and crushed it in his hand from disbelief.

"It's over nine thousand!"

Half-a-dozen trash bags littering the living room, torn leather couches, food lying in places you wouldn't expect food to be lying in, floor stained in vomit, and is that-

'Oh Hell to the no'

Many in the room had a bad feeling about this. Many also echoed those exact thoughts.

The Titaness especially gripped her armrests in anger.

The man stopped in place, eyes fixated on something in the corner. He even rubbed his eyes to make sure he was truly seeing what he was seeing, then, upon confirmation that this was indeed not a scent-induced hallucination, turned to look at his victim in disbelief. That expression turned to anger as he walked towards him with large heavy steps.

"MMMMFFF!" Naruto's hand grabbed the man's skull and squeezed painfully, shutting him up again.

Quetzalcoatl winced. Her father could melt diamonds with his grip alone, so seeing him this angered, it was a wonder how he was holding back so much.

The Sage proceeded to drag Gabe by the head, the chair he was in creaking and threatening to break from the movement until he reached the corner of the room.

The smelly man screeched as his face was mashed into the corner, where a puddle of dried urine greeted him.

"AAAH SICK!"

"EWWWWW!"

Many in the audience shouted in repulsion.

Percy almost lashed out at the sight, knowing that his mother had regularly come home to this.

Hestia pursed her lips, almost biting them out of disgust and rage. She knew there were worse people out there. Some truly disgusting individuals that lived with less hygiene than literal pigs.

But that sorry excuse for a human here was supposed to be her nephew's guardian. Her family was exposed to this filth regularly.

Much like her, Poseidon, Rhea and Hera all felt some level of anger at the sight.

The god of the Sea almost tore the Book from his grip alone.

'I'm gonna have to try and convince Hades to let me see this piece of shit in the Fields,' the god thought in rage.

Almost stuttering from anger, he managed to force himself to continue.

'He's a toad in that world at least, and he'll end his days as he's lived them previously. As a slobbish creature.'

"Look at this!" the blond man yelled, "Look at this shit! You think this is funny? You think doing this at your age is okay?" Naruto pulled back Gabe and gave him another slap, sending his body tumbling across the room and into the trash bags, as well as breaking the chair to pieces.

"You're a Goddamn adult and you're gonna be acting like this? Where's your sense of responsibility? Where's your fucking dignity?"

The demigods blinked in surprise, as instead of an insult, their ears registered a loud *BEEP*.

The goddess of the Hearth humphed to herself. At least the kids won't have to listen to the man's potty mouth.

Even so, she was pleased to see that his words (the non-vulgar ones) reached some of her relatives as they now looked a tad chided.

Even if the Sage wasn't addressing them, his point still stood. The Olympians were far from children, they were supposed to know better.

Before he could continue on his rant, another blond man looking strikingly similar to Naruto poked his head in from the other room.

Zeus looked stricken. Granted he shouldn't be surprised as even the weakest gods could make copies of themselves, but he didn't want to think of a Pantheonic Threat doing the same!

"Boss! I'm gonna replace the mattress. That thing smells worse than the underside of Shukaku's chair!" the shadow clone went back into the room, his piece said.

Demeter scrunched her nose. Oh yeah, she was definitely steering clear of that Chookakoo fellow.

The two daughters of the Sage snorted at their father's words.

"He can make clones too? Super-gramps is so cool!" both Percy and Nico had stars in their eyes.

Annabeth held a look of awe on her face, "amazing! The potential workload he could get done with this is just…" she trailed off, simply shocked silent by the technique.

From up on his throne, the local japanophile and Journey to the West aficionado rubbed his chin. Yet another parallel with Sun Wukong, since the Monkey King had a love for making duplicates of himself.

Oh hell… Naruto took a deep breath.

'Sally regularly came home to this?' his respect for the mortal woman was rising in proportion with his frustration toward her husband.

The same could be said about everyone in the room. Even Dionysus, as much of a slob as he presented himself to be, would never dream about burdening his dear Arianne like this.

Nah… nah… screw this. Cleaning this place wouldn't do, he was going to replace every square inch of it.

'Good man,' Rhea thought in happiness, alongside her seafaring son and grandson.

With a mental command, several other clones appeared in puffs of smoke, and with a nod, each went to the side to begin a different task.

The blonde demigoddess crossed her arms and pouted enviously. If only she could learn the technique! Just thinking about how much more books she'd be able to read, the work she'd get done!

Thalia and Bianca who were next to her, eyed her warily.

After a few minutes of contemplation, Naruto turned to Gabe, whose earlier anger had been replaced with fear, if his trembling body was any indication,

Poseidon nodded. Good.

"You know… I was genuinely going to let you go after this," the man admitted, giving the other some hope.

"WHAT?" the god of the Sea and his son gaped.

"Oh calm down, he obviously didn't do it," Hades rolled his eyes at the two, even if he could understand their shock. Had someone done this to one of his old flames, the Fields would've felt like Elysium after he was done with them.

Amaterasu and Quetzalcoatl both frowned but nodded in understanding. They knew why their father was so insistent on second chances, even if they didn't always agree with that philosophy.

"Erase your memories, maybe implant some mental commands on how to take a shower, and then just drop you off somewhere on the other side of the world. Maybe the Philippines…" the man hummed and approached Gabe.

"What's wrong with good old fashioned cursing?" Zeus crossed his arms, while his wife nodded and turned questionably to the two foreigners.

The Aztec shrugged, "It's… rare for Papito to curse others. It takes a lot to get him to do that, especially if it's something that plays with someone's libre albedrío."

At her side, her sister nodded, "Papa would rather make sure you can't hurt anyone and give you a chance to fix yourself, rather than just throw you aside like trash."

Artemis who had been silent for a while, chose to interject, "And turning into a toad isn't doing the latter?" she asked, not that she had any place to speak, seeing how many times she'd done given similar punishments for far less.

Hestia who looked a bit uncomfortable, spoke next, "well, at least the man can spend the rest of his days acting like himself, without hurting anyone." The goddess was among the few beings that disliked the notion of cursing, as it deprived people ofa chance at redemption. But here? This was the case of someone who was consciously and unapologetically malicious.

The disgusting man cowered and crawled back as much as he could from the man's approaching hand. Nevertheless, his skull was once again grabbed in a tight grip, and the slob felt something wash over him.

"But see, if you're gonna behave like an animal, I'm going to treat you like an animal," those last words Gabe Ugliano heard before sweet darkness took him.

"Get fucked Smelly Gabe!" the son of the Sea couldn't resist yelling out, his voice filled with vindictiveness.

Before Annabeth or Thalia could rebuke him for the outburst, a bar of soap materialized itself in his mouth.

"PERSEUS JACKSON!" the ever-polite and kind goddess of the Hearth hollered as she marched down to the boy, her fiery eyes promising discipline and a thorough tongue washing.

'Enough was enough!'

The rest of the demigods promptly jumped back.

Poseidon smirked at the scene, both happy for his old lover and his son, and amused by his sister's antics. Feeling pity for the boy, he decided to see if there was anything else.

"Is it over?" Dionysus moaned from his seat.

The reader was once again surprised at the presence of another extra scene.

"Not exactly…" the god muttered then started reading again.

---

EXTRA 2: Marimo Enjoys Local Delicacy

"Marimo is a type of moss," Apollo clarified to any who didn't know.

Quetzalcoatl guffawed, "Kahahaha! We already call him moss head so that's a new one!"

"Quatziii, that's mean~" Aphrodite unexpectedly jumped in, much to everyone's surprise.

"Like you have any place to talk," Zoe muttered, only for her patron to shush her with a smile.

"So we're gonna know what Zetsu was up to?" Hades asked curiously. He wanted to know what his favorite character was up to. glared at the screen.

"No doubt some nefarious plan to threaten us," Zeus suggested, eyes narrowed in suspicion. He'd make sure that little gremlin kept his paws off his throne!

Rhea and her daughters collectively rolled their eyes at the King's words.

The ocean was never still. Even under good weather conditions, waves as large as ships could be often seen and felt on its surface.

Most would not call such a place the very opposite of peaceful.

snooooore "zezezezeze"

Looks of confusion appeared on everyone's heads at the peculiar sound. Though the two daughters of the Sage quickly caught on and stifled their giggles.

Rhea looked at the two goddesses before her eyes snapped open in realization, "is he…"

Her eldest daughter giggled as well, "fufufufu~ I do believe Zetsu is resting quite well, mother."

One by one, the audience caught on and started chuckling.

"Oh us, that's adorable," Demeter tittered alongside her sister.

"Never thought I'd see the day Big Bro gets exposed like that. Kehahaha!"

"Talk about ruining all your street cred," Thalia muttered with a grin, while the demigods laughed quietly.

Then again, Zetsu N. Uzumaki was not most.

Uncaring of the turbulent waters below him, the greenette, now in his true form, slept like a babe on the surface, whilst treating the rhythmic rocking of the waves as a bonus to his nap.

"Luckyyyyyyy~" Percy whined. He wanted to do that!

"Heh, at least the little guy knows the proper way to relax," the god of the Sea nodded in approval while his brothers rolled their eyes.

Having a body so in tune with Nature had its perks. One of them was wood's innate buoyancy which the Uzumaki had learned to take full advantage of throughout his immortal life. More precisely, during the few centuries he, his father, and his brother Māui had spent sailing the great expanse of the Pacific.

snooooore "zezezezeze"

The audience giggled again at the cartoonish sounding snore.

Zetsu relished in the moment of peace. Here, he could feel his worries fade away.

No kids bothering him with incessant questions,

"Hey!" Annabeth pouted.

no stupid cringe-inducing puns,

"Hey!" Rhea pouted.

no stress about his game of cat and mouse with a certain bratty goddess.

"Hey!" Artemis pouted.

Apollo almost bit his tongue off to stop a witty reply from coming out.

"Ohoooo? Did little Arty just admit she's a bratty goddess?" Clearly, Aphrodite held no such reservations.

"Have you chosen death, harlot?" the two huntresses got up from their seats and reached for their bows.

A threatening wave of Hestia's fire poker made them sit back down.

snooooore "zezezezeze"

Yup. This was what life was aaaaall about.

Apollo instinctively began humming the Jaws theme. It was quiet… too quiet. He just knew something was coming.

As if to deny him any semblance of tranquility, something pulled him down and woke him abruptly.

"CALLED IT!" The god of the Sun pointed at the screen with a triumphant look on his face while his sister sighed at his idiocy.

"Bwwuhh," he managed to sound out in confusion, even as his body instinctively grew gills to adapt to the new environment.

His eyes opened just as he felt several more hands grab onto him, and he was greeted by several humanoid creatures, each an ugly meld between a fish and a human female.

"Atlantis' welcoming committee everyone," Zeus mocked.

"Brother, I never expected you to send your best looking mermaids as a greeting," Hades teased.

Poseidon didn't seem affected by their taunts, he was too happy at the moment.

Amaterasu snorted, 'Big bro'd probably call it an entrée.'

The monsters (sirens, his mind supplied helpfully), pulled at his body in different directions, as they argued over who was to devour him.

"He smells like a Satyr!"

"I saw him first! Back off!"

"You ate the last one! This one's mine"

GROOOAAAA

Everyone jumped at the rumbling sound emanating from the screen.

Their arguing paused at the sound of a deep rumble that vibrated even the water around them. The monsters turned to the source in curiosity, only to blanch at the sight of their captive.

The ink-skinned imp they had grabbed was looking at them with an expression they'd often seen on each other during their previous feasts.

"You poor, poor montruos, you've just volunteered as tribute," Quatzi fake gasped before giggling to herself, getting uneasy looks from some around her.

"Itadakimasu" the Uzumaki spoke, as his mouth enlarged to show rows upon rows of sharp teeth.

The demigods collectively felt a shudder at the unnatural sight. That guy just unhinged his jaw like a snake and had the denture of a shark!

"That's some Lovecraft level of messed up," Apollo commented. He and the rest of the immortals felt no surprise at the sight.

They'd seen much worse.

On the surface of the water, bubbles popped out from the struggles below, before a black mass broke the surface.

Zetsu, whose body now looked like a large beach ball, swayed a tad as he stabilized himself.

"Tharr he blows!" Hermes jokingly yelled, earning several chuckles, even from the two foreigners.

BURP

A sizeable cloud of golden dust came out from his mouth, and the greenette's eyes drooped.

Some of the less dignified gods laughed while the women scrunch their noses at the poor manners.

'I'll come back in a few more hours, I just hope Pops and the clones aren't messing things up.'

snooooore "zezezezeze"

"Aaaaand… he just jinxed it," the god of the Sun didn't even need his foresight to see what was coming.

Quetzalcoatl shook her head, "knowing Zee-hermano, I doubt it," she said with surety that compelled many to believe her.

"I mean…" her sister looked unsure, prompting the Aztec to look at her questionably.

"What?" the blonde asked.

"You weren't around when it happened, but I just hope this doesn't end up like another 'Reign of Zetsus' incident," Amaterasu spoke with a worry that infected the audience around her as they looked at her uneasily.

"What is this incident you speak of?" Zeus' voice boomed as he took on a serious demeanor. It would not do for that gremlin to do any damage to Olympus after all.

"Umm uhh..." the goddess, funnily enough, began acting nervous and stuttering all over, which drew everyone's curiosity even more.

In a vain attempt to divert attention from herself, the goddess hurriedly looked up at the reader, "Hey uhh… Fishy-jiji," she said, receiving a dry look from the god in return, while his son stifled a laugh, "can you umm, read ahead?"

"Amaterasu! I asked you a question!" the King thundered at the Shinto, who kept her gaze on the god of the Sea.

Her sister looked between them and shrugged, opting to play with her blonde hair.

Poseidon looked down at the goddess and then at his brother who glared at him, daring him to obey her. Nodding to himself, he turned a page to the next chapter and read a few lines from the middle of the page, before his eyes widened.

"By Father's crusty hide," the god of the Sea swore.

---

A/N: Some info for anyone confused, since I changed up the Shinto myths.

The timeline for the Shinto are:

Marriage of Izanami and Izanagi

Birth of Tsukuyomi (eldest son)

Birth of Susanoo

Birth of the twins: Kagutsuchi is born first and burns his mother while Amaterasu is still inside her.

Izanagi falls to the earth from it.

? (I'll reveal it later but you may guess what occurred meanwhile)

Several decades later, baby Amaterasu is found in a pile of ashes on top of Sunlight Mountain.

Naruto's influence on the Shinto and his followers would have made them feel more comfortable being themselves, rather than putting up appearances for each other like many of the Olympians do. They'd be less inclined to be 'proper' and just do what they want. So I figured Kagutsuchi, who I've portrayed as a boisterous and quirky inventor, would take this attitude to the max by basically upgrading himself into a cyborg. From the audience's reactions, I'm sure many of you have already drawn the parallels between this and Oda's running gag in One Piece (boys are amazed by robots, girls just 'hmph' and act unimpressed. It's just a joke so please don't break my balls over it).

Appearances:

Kagutsuchi: Hound from Transformers

Amaterasu: her character in SMITE

Quetzalcoatl: her character in FGO

Mara: Sukuna from Jujutsu Kaisen

(1): look up youtu. be /tZ9-eJsw4eI

See ya in chapter 7 of the OG fic!