Ch. 3 : Homecoming, Dissatisfaction
A/N : You cried for it, and so I give it to you. Here's chapter three of Nulla Gratia. Enjoy...
Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto, Overlord, or any obscure references to other owned or written material, either official or those of fandom. They are all property of associated parties.
XxXxXxX
- Forest Path -
They had been following the Minion Master for the past twenty minutes, and he had yet to say anything. Every once in a while he would complain to the minions carrying the Tower Heart, but that was where conversation ended. After the initial shock of seeing the creatures for the first time, Anko, Lee, and Iruka had tried to get Naruto to open up on what he knew, to no avail.
"Naruto, come one. I'm your teacher. You know you can tell me anything! All I want to know is how long you knew about them."
"And as your student, Iruka-sensei, I'm telling you. I met the gray one yesterday. Just after you guys left the Hokage's office. He took me down to this hidden chamber full of artifacts. Told me about how that Tower Heart thing was a family heirloom that has been guarded for generations. I touched it, got drawn into what I'm guessing as some kind of mind scape, and talked to Gnarl. We had a conversation that made no sense whatsoever, and then I found myself back in the artifact room. The Hokage sealed it into that blood scroll and told me to take it with me. That's all I know."
Anko snorted, obviously unimpressed, while Lee kept trying to address the Minion Master.
"What are you! I've never seen a creature that looks like you before. I mean I have read stories about creatures that hide from people and everything because they are shy, but-..."
"Shy? No, we aren't shy. My race and tribes under my control once struck fear into the frail hearts of man. The only reason we have 'hidden' is because we lacked an Overlord."
Lee recoiled at the venom in Gnarl's voice, and Naruto chuckled darkly.
"Good job Lee, you offended him."
"I apologize, Gnarl-san. I didn't mean anything by my words. I am simply curious."
Gnarl glared at the boy for a moment before shrugging and waving him off.
"Yeah yeah, whatever. Don't expect me to be friendly or anything though. I don't do 'people'. And don't call me 'Gnarl-san'."
"So Gnarl, where are you taking us anyway?"
"To da Towa'! Da Towa'!" One of the browns yelled, excitedly.
"Grubber is correct. We are taking you to your ancestral home, Master. We can't very well begin your reign of terror from an apartment now, can we?"
"Reign of terror?"
Naruto wasn't the only one surprised by that, and in fact Iruka was casting murderous looks at the Minion Master. Even Anko was sporting a look of concern. Who would have guessed she would have an issue with becoming evil? Gnarl looked back at the group incredulously.
"Ye-eah. What the hell else do you plan to do with an army under your command? Sell girl-scout cookies?"
"What's a girl-scout?" Lee was ignored.
"Well you still haven't exactly explained what it is you plan to do with us when we get to whatever this 'tower' thing is."
The Minion Master grunted before hobbling over to a batch of overgrown bushes. A faint glimpse of some kind of brown circle could be seen on the ground beneath.
"Alright you worthless lot, get to clearing off that Tower Gate, unless you plan on heaving the Tower Heart all the way to the Tower on foot."
The minions who weren't busy carrying the massive glass orb gave a few cries of excitement and started hacking at the shrubbery with their cudgels. They were surprisingly effective too, considering they had no bladed weapons. In a few short seconds the job was finished, and the clearing showed a strange relic of some lost age.
"This is a Tower Gate, Master. They are arcane links between the Dark Tower and your kingdom, sire. Once one has been activated, these can transport you between them and the Tower instantaneously. Evil doesn't like road trips, after all."
The four humans watched as the Tower Heart was placed on the gate and disappeared in a show of sparks. A moment later, the edges of the gate started glowing red, and Gnarl clapped his hands together.
"Excellent! Power to the Tower has been restored, and the gate is active once more. You have no idea how troublesome it was hiking all the way from there to your pathetic village. I haven't been this active in a couple hundred years."
Gnarl must have missed the looks he was being given, as he herded the minions onto the gate as well, and they all disappeared in the same way the gate did. With a show of blue sparks. When they were gone, the Minion Master looked took his place on the the portal and waved to the humans.
"Come on already. We don't have all day. It's perfectly safe, really."
Iruka and Lee obviously didn't want anything to do with the transportation device, and Anko didn't miss the opportunity to screw with the Chunin.
"Oh come on Iruka-kun, don't be a coward. What's the worst that could happen?"
Before he could answer, both Anko and Naruto stepped forward to stand next to the Minion Master. Lee had no intention of leaving his best friend to the devices of the little creatures alone, leaving Iruka to be the only one standing outside the glowing circle. He glanced back in the direction of Konoha and sighed loudly.
"Well, I've come this far..."
Besides, maybe if he stayed with Naruto he could find a way to keep him from becoming the next evil Overlord or something. He stepped onto the gate and the world faded to black as they felt a sensation of weightlessness.
XxXxXxX
- The Dark Tower -
As the weight of the world returned to them, Lee dropped to his knees and heaved loudly over a shallow pool of water. Gnarl hobbled over to him quickly and started hitting him over the back with his walking stick.
"Hey! Not in the pool!"
Lee wasn't the only person effected by the transportation, and Naruto sat down heavily on the closest thing he could find that would support his weight. Anko, feeling a little tipsy, 'lost her balance' and fell conveniently right in Naruto's lap, with her legs dangling over the arm of the chair and her breasts pressing into his chest. Iruka swayed lightly, but steadied himself with a hand on the stone wall.
"Well that's a hell of a thing."
When Lee rolled over onto his back and away from the reflecting pool, Gnarl stopped beating him and gave the group a few moments to adjust. He took his place at the right of Naruto while letting Naruto check his new home out. The blond took the moment to examine his surroundings while doing his best to ignore the quiet whimpers Anko was making, and the effect it was having.
The main hall, at least he assumed that was where they were, was in a state of disrepair. It was actually pretty pathetic. The majestic walls of gray stone had crumbled and lay in ruin. Vines and weeds grew along the walls and through the cracks in the floor. He was sitting in a large throne at the end of a short walkway with staircases that led deeper into the Tower, though they were blocked by chunks of debris. Behind him were a set of flagpoles that he assumed were there to hold his banners, and on the wall after that were a set of plaques, though they held nothing.
"This is the Dark Tower, huh?"
Gnarl nodded proudly as he looked around. Not too bad, if he did say so himself.
"I'm not impressed."
The Minion Master's ears drooped, and he nodded sadly.
"Yes, I know. As I have said, it has been a while since we had an Overlord and the Tower has fallen into shambles to reflect that. Now that you are here, however, it shouldn't take us too long to get it back into a proper bastion of evil, Sire. Provided we get the materials we need, of course."
"Of course you do. Nothing can be simple, can it?" He sighed. "Alright, what do you need in order to fix this damn place up?"
Iruka and Lee both finished checking out their surroundings and came to stand in front of the throne in order to hear the conversation. Anko rolled over a little bit to look directly up at Naruto, who pushed her off of his lap. She must have had enough of flirting around, because even she stood up straight and started paying attention.
"Well first of all, the Tower is capable of repairing most of its own damage as long as it has its heart. You have managed to return it, so some of the minor repairs should begin shortly. We will still need some heavy equipment in order to clear the debris from the passageways though. A crane would be ideal."
Naruto frowned at that and turned to Iruka.
"Any ideas on where we can find a crane around here?"
"Naruto, I don't even know where we are. Let alone where to find supplies we need."
"That's... actually a really good point. Gnarl, where in the hell are we?"
"Well Sire, the Dark Tower is located on a mountain range in the land you have humans have called Numa no Kuni."
Neither Naruto nor Lee had ever heard of it, and while Iruka had seen it on the map, only Anko seemed to have any experience in dealing with it.
"Swamp Country huh? Awesome! I had a mission here once to protect the Daimyo, so we are on pretty good terms. Maybe this won't suck so bad after all."
"Alright, you know what? It's too late for all this crap, and I haven't slept in like... thirty two hours."
"Lightweight..." Anko muttered under her breath.
"I have a pounding headache, my entire body is sore, and if one of these damn minions says something stupid one more time, I will throw them out the window. I swear to god!"
The Browns in the room quickly scattered and went their separate ways, disappearing down the various hallways, though most went down a flight of stairs leading to a lower level of the Tower. Gnarl didn't share their apprehension, and remained steadily where he was.
"Perhaps the Master needs a good night's rest. We can make plans in the morning. Your private chamber is to your right, Sire. The servant's quarters are on the opposite side. I will have some Browns prepare your rooms."
"And what about mine?"
"Your room has always been in serviceable condition, Sire."
"Good," The blond stood and made his way to the hall Gnarl had pointed out, eager to get some sleep. "I don't want to be disturbed."
"As you command."
The group watched as he exited then the humans turned to stare at Gnarl for a minute.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...what?"
They all shook their heads and headed to the rooms Gnarl had pointed out. Hopefully they would be inhabitable, at least.
Naruto couldn't help but whistle at what was no doubt ground zero for whatever weaponized natural disaster had struck. The once majestic four-poster bed had partially collapsed in the middle, sagging heavily under the weight of the massive mattress. The thick drapes on the window had been devoured mostly by moths and hung in tatters, though he was willing to overlook those because they at least looked tasteful. Judging by the debris in the center of it, some upper part of the fireplace had fallen in on itself, leaving it totally inoperable. Various other details were so horribly out of place he couldn't even begin to catalog them all.
"This place is in total bloody shambles!"
He grunted angrily and dumped his duffel bag in the corner by the door. Anywhere else and it ran the risk of getting... whatever all over his belongings. He kicked a foot out from under the bed, causing it to fall the rest of the way in a much more balanced manner. Once again, the blond Overlord looked it over.
"First order of business? Either get this place cleaned up, or find somewhere more suitable. Because this sucks."
He shrugged off his jacket and overshirt, but left undershirt and pants where they were. He still wasn't a hundred percent on making skin contact with the bed as it was. Hell, he was pretty sure that something had made it their nest at some point. Doing what he could to ignore the feelings, Naruto rolled over onto his side and bunched his jacket, using it as a makeshift pillow.
"Well... the castle is in horrible condition. That much is obvious. Plus we are closer to populated areas than I feel comfortable with. Besides that, Gnarl said that this place has fallen to the enemy before. If it happened before, it could very well happen again. We are in the middle of a clearing, and the land around us is a defensive nightmare."
He shifted so he was lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling.
"We need a better base."
Something solid and heavy skittered on the other side of a stone wall and he heard the unmistakable sound of a minion laughing. Whatever was making all that racket was running from the Brown, and by the sound of it, it wasn't doing so well. Sure enough just a few seconds later the laughing came to a crescendo, followed by a meaty thwack of a club hitting flesh.
Naruto squeezed his eyes shut covered his ears with his hands, groaning loudly to himself.
At first his dreams were of the mundane variety. Lee getting hit by runaway horse cart. Konoha being invaded by every rivaling village at once. That sort of thing. At some point however, his subconscious wandered back to his dilemma.
'I can't believe I got stuck with such a shitty tower.'
His surroundings bled out, changing from the vague city street he was in to an blank black expanse. His also realized that he was thinking much clearer than he usually did when he was asleep.
'What kind of Overlord lives in a place that is about to collapse?'
As he thought the words, a bizarre sensation came over him. Like he was being watched, only different somehow. Like he was being watched by something, but at the same time he wasn't the only thing. As though he was barely worth consideration, and was added as an afterthought.
Then, as if whatever entity was there finally deemed him worthy of notice, it spoke to him. Not with words though. He got the feeling that the being was far beyond speaking in something he could comprehend. Instead, its acknowledgment came in the form of images and emotions. They came in a series of flashes, almost incomprehensible in their speed.
Each image had an emotion that associated with it, and they lasted just as long. The first was an image of him being cradled by his mother on the day of his birth, and he felt an unfamiliar emotion. Regret, he supposed. Next was happiness as his father taught him how to hold and throw kunai correctly. It was followed by a surge of pride as he once more stood before his father, who was smiling down at him warmly. In his hand he clenched an acceptance letter to Konoha's Shinobi Academy.
They continued long after that, summarizing his life with the highlights. The positive moments soon ran dry though, and he was left with the negative. Most noticeably anger and hatred. The entity seemed as pleased as something that vast and alien could be.
"What are you?"
There was silence and nothing for a moment, as though it was deciding how to answer. It was over in an instant, and he was overwhelmed with the strongest concentration of negative emotion he had ever felt. Rage, loathing, madness... and yet none of these. Naruto felt things he could never explain and would never try to. He faltered in the presence of such strength, unsure of what to do. After all, it was just a dream right?
"What do you want from me?"
More images assaulted him, but this time it was nothing he had ever experienced before. So they definitely weren't his memories as the last batch had been. He saw men and women in various states of undress, and the clothes they were wearing were falling apart. There bodies were illuminated by a wide ring shaped bonfire, built around a tall stone slab.
Atop the slab was between seven and eight inches in height, and of exquisitely artistic workmanship. It represented a monster of vaguely anthropoid outline, but with an octopus-like head whose face was a mass of feelers, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and fore feet, and long, narrow wings behind. This thing, which seemed instinct with a fearsome and unnatural malignancy, and squatted evilly on a rectangular block or pedestal covered with undecipherable characters. The tips of the wings touched the back edge of the block, the seat occupied the center, whilst the long, curved claws of the doubled-up, crouching hind legs gripped the front edge and extended a quarter of the way down toward the bottom of the pedestal. The cephalopod head was bent forward, so that the ends of the facial feelers brushed the backs of huge fore paws which clasped the croucher's elevated knees. The aspect of the whole was abnormally life-like, and the more subtly fearful because its source was so totally unknown. Its vast, awesome, and incalculable age was unmistakable.
Out of the corner of his vision, Naruto noticed something strange in the eyes of the dancers as they stared adoringly up at the sculpture. Upon further examination he recognized it to be a glint of madness.
"What? You want worshipers? You expect me to bow to you?"
He received a negative, and this time had a vision of people as before, this time bowing to himself. At the same time there was a shadowy silhouette towering behind him in the same shape as the idol he held before him in outstretched arms. He was wearing a strange suit of eldritch armor, covered in bizarre designs, and radiated an immense aura of power.
"No... you want me to be your emissary?"
Again, he saw himself but this time, as a king. He was sitting in an elaborate throne. Before him stood nine blacked out figures, facing away from him. Looking up to him from the vast chamber were a strange set of figures, each in immense numbers. Only one group looked to truly be human. The others varied widely, from lumbering giants to lizards, to a weird human/snake hybrid. He couldn't even begin to name them all.
"All these beings will follow me to you when I call?"
For a moment he saw himself standing above on of the blacked out beings, it writhing on the floor in pain and terror. Meanwhile, he was grinning. The unfortunate creature must have resisted in some way.
"And what's in it for me? Other than your army, apparently."
This, once more, seemed to please it. It showed him images of mountains of gold, the major cities of the elemental countries with his banner flying about them. He saw himself in a throne while two beautiful, but shadowed out women hung from his arms. He got the sense that when he met them, if he took what was offered, he would know them for who they were. He was still skeptic though, and the entity showed him one more image. Konoha in flames.
"And when all of this is complete? After I gather your army, what then?"
He was shown a calendar flipping quickly, its pages becoming a blur. Behind it was a landscape with the sun and the moon spinning through their cycle to match the speed of the calender, implying the passage of time. Finally, after what must have been decades, it stopped. A massive pair of doors filled his vision. He and the nine shadow figures stood before it. With some ritual the doors opened wide, and there was movement within the shadows.
"You want to be released. Where are you? In fact, how the hell am I even supposed to raise an army in the first place? I'm fifteen, no one in their right mind would want to pledge their allegiance to a boy who had a dream. My tower is in ruins, and I don't even have my entire birthright!"
A wave of exasperation. Not impatience, but as though the being was angry at being doubted. He was shown an image of the Dark Tower in its disrepair. The wind shifted to look at the rising sun, and rushed towards it. The landscape swept by in a blur, stopping every once in a while to show landmarks he was to follow to his destination. After what signified weeks of travel by foot, he saw the ancient ruins of what once had been a great city, now half-sunken in eerie green waves. A twisted black tower rose from the center, piercing the heavens. For the first time, Naruto felt a word reverberating through his mind.
"R'lyeh."
His body shuddered at the alien power in the voice, and started to understand just how insignificant he was in the eyes of this creature. He swallowed nervously and took a moment to steady himself before he asked the ultimate question.
"Why me?"
His vision shook in what he hoped to be amusement. He was shown an image of something he was well familiar with. The night of the Kyuubi attack, fifteen years ago. This time something was different. As though he was being told some obscene, forbidden secret. The textbooks and recollection spoke of the Third's sacrifice as though it was heroic and pure. But this just felt... wrong.
As he watched the demon fox bat aside the soldiers of Konoha, the Third Hokage arrived atop the shoulder of a massive monkey summon. In the old man's arms was a bundle that Naruto recognized from the stories to be himself. The monkey boss did what it could to distract the Kyuubi while the Sandaime performed the sealing technique to summon the Shinigami. Something went wrong in his hand-seals though, and he summoned something much worse. No one in Konoha would know if for what it was though. No one had ever felt the energy of a death god before, after all. They had no way to know that it wasn't. The Fourth Hokage would have doubts, but never enough to act upon them.
Naruto watched as the technique was finished, despite the mistake. As soon as the power was fully conjured, he recognized it for what it was.
"He summoned you!"
The vision continued, and Naruto watched as the creature appeared. The draconic wings and tentacled maw, as well the gasp of horror from the Third sealed his suspicions. Arms and claws capable of crushing planets themselves seized the Kyuubi and held him in place. The monstrosity drew the Kyuubi, no larger than a pup to the God, towards itself. Countless tentacles lashed out and tore into the fox's flesh and Chakra. The wounds didn't just separate the Chakra, but devoured it and cut directly into the soul of the strongest of the Bijuu. The Kyuubi howled in pain as its very being was shredded, leaving gaping holes that would take years to heal and scars that never would.
As Naruto watched, seven tails were torn from the body of the beast and consumed by its attacker. Finally, the fox was able to wrench itself free and it took the opportunity to flee, abandoning any trace of dignity in an attempt to survive the night.
The humans cheered as the fox fled, but the God-being wasn't quite finished. It turned to Sarutobi, who was about to collapse from the technique, and the young newborn he cradled protectively in his arms. With infinite care, the being reached out a single tentacle and, ignoring the retired Hokage's pitiful attacks, pressed it to the boy's heart. The baby cried in agony as his very soul was seared by something not of this world, and something was wrenched from him in much the same way as the Kyuubi had. Naruto gasped in understanding.
"It was you! Somehow you took something from me. That's not all though, is it? You game me something in return."
A blinding pain ripped through him that had nothing to do with the dream. He was vaguely aware of his body roaring in agony as he rolled in his bed, grasping his chest directly over his heart. He pulled up his shirt to see the area burning, only to find strange symbol growing darker and more pronounced. The center was an octopus like head with tentacles reaching out to form three crescent moon shapes in the form of a symbol often seen around Konoha's hospital.
Eventually the pain ended, and before he could ask any questions, he was sent some more visions. The being trapped in an ocean of silence, unable to communicate. The surprise when he was ripped from his slumber to see a blood sacrifice and a being of great power on which to feed. It wasn't enough to forgive humanity of its transgressions, but it was sufficient for him to return a fraction of his power. Enough to make Naruto its Champion.
Then, Naruto was given his orders. He was to travel to the sunken city, where the God's powers were strongest. There, his questions would be answered. Naruto felt the connection weaken, and he called out a final question.
"What are your called?"
There was silence for a moment before it spoke in its mind rending way.
"...Cthulhu."
XxXxXxX
- The Dark Tower : The Next Morning -
Naruto awoke to the sounds of construction and was pretty unsurprised to see Minions swarming everywhere, trying to remove what rubble they could with their bare hands. It would have been an amusing sight if he wasn't taking it in at seven in the morning.
"Why are you guys making so much noise this early in the morning? What in the hell is wrong with you?"
One of the minions standing on a makeshift scaffold raised a claw to say something, but its companion nudged it in the ribs to shut it up. The first glared at it and shoved it, leading to a push fight that ended with one of them falling from the scaffold and hurtling toward the stone ground, screaming. Naruto thought for a moment that it was dead, but it sat up, both eyes spinning dazedly.
"Ah, good morning, Sire! Good to see you up bright and early. I had the Browns begin working to clean this place up as quickly as possible."
"So you're the reason I was woken up, huh?"
Gnarl gulped hesitantly.
"Uh, I mean... what I meant to say was, um..."
Naruto placed a hand on the Minion Master's shoulder and smiled kindly, though the darkness in his eye only twisted the look into something Gnarl was quite fond of. If it wasn't directed at him, that is.
"Oh Gnarl, I'm not the one you need to be worried about." He turned Gnarl around with the arm on his shoulder and pointed in the direction of one of the the guest bedrooms. "She is."
Standing in the doorway was Anko with three vicious looking vipers slithering down from each arm. Usually her coat sleeve concealed their origins, but as she was only wearing a long t-shirt, they were shown to meld into her skin at the crook of her elbow.
"G-good morning, Mitarashi."
She yawned slowly, somehow giving off an innocent appeal despite the malicious glare she was wearing.
"It will be better after I feed you to my snakes."
Gnarl spun on his heel to beg his Master's protection, only to find himself alone. Naruto was walking down the throne walkway, examining the surroundings in better detail. His distraction ended up being his downfall, as he felt serpentine cords encircling his arms and waist.
"MERCY!"
Anko hesitated from giving the order to her summons, and pouted when Naruto signaled for her to release him.
"I need him. For now."
Gnarl remained motionless until the snakes had fully retracted before hobbling over to stand by his Master's side. He gave the snake mistress a dirty glare before paying attention to Naruto. The boy had seemed to come to some kind of consensus and nodded to himself.
"Gnarl, how long has this tower been standing?"
"At least a few thousand years, Sire. No one knows its exact date of construction. Even vaguely."
"And the Tower Heart is the soul and power source of the Dark Tower, right?"
"Well, basically yes. It's actually-..." He was cut off.
"That's what I thought."
Naruto turned and continued his walk down the massive hall, taking notes of the collapsed corridors that lined its length.
"And how many times has it been penetrated and ransacked by the enemies of the Overlord?"
Gnarl hummed and tapped his chin with a claw.
"Well I'm not sure of the precise number, but it couldn't have been thatmany, Sire."
Naruto stared at him and cut through the crap.
"Many or few?"
The Minion Master's ears drooped a little, and he scratched his head.
"Well I wouldn't exactly say many, but..."
"I thought so. Well that settles it then."
By this time, Gnarl was completely confused.
"Settles what? What are you talking about?"
Naruto crossed his arms and leaned against his throne. Even the chair was broken, he noticed. A chunk of stone was missing from the top left corner of the back rest.
"It has fallen before, and that means no matter how much effort we put into defending it, it can and most likely will fall again. This is unacceptable, no?"
The aged Minion was shocked and a little put out.
"What! Master, your predecessors all lived and ruled in this very Tower! Ever since the very first Overlord created us."
"And they are all dead, aren't they?"
Gnarl made to comment, but the words wouldn't come out. Actually, he didn't have any in the first place. The boy was right. They had all fallen to their enemies. The only exception was the Third Overlord, and even then he was brought to ruin by his enemies... sort of. Still, he had hope that his old and favorite Master was still alive. There was no way anything like the Infernal Abyss could stop someone like the Third, after all.
"Well even so, what place could be better to rule from than the Dark Tower? Nothing is impenetrable, and we have total control over the only place that is closest to it."
"Not true. I've heard rumors about a place that is both safer, and far more powerful than the Dark Tower ever was, or will be. Tell me, Gnarl. Have you ever heard of a city called R'lyeh?"
"Of course. It used to have been this massive and majestic city before it just sunk one day. Many people have sought it out over the centuries, hoping to recover some long lost riches or artifacts, but very few returned alive and the ones that did died soon after. It is supposed to be inhabited by some kind of monster, but there are no specific details about it and it hasn't been proven. The survivors were quite mad, after all."
A thought struck Gnarl, and he frowned at Naruto.
"Actually, how do you know of it? You people haven't even discovered it yet, and as far as I know we have no records of it in the Tower that you could have accessed over night. So where did you learn that name?"
"That is for me to know, and you to never question my orders or methods. Now do you know where it is or not?"
"I believe one of your later predecessors wanted to explore it some, but he was forced to contend with some pesky heroes and was killed before he got the chance. He did send out some scouts though, and we even managed to dig out a Gate for quick travel. It was never used, but it should still function quite well."
Naruto nodded, satisfied.
"Good enough. As soon as Lee and Iruka awaken, send them to me. Anko as well."
"As you wish. Where will you be, Lord?"
"I am going to be reading through these records you mentioned. Have some of the Browns bring them to me as soon as possible."
"Very well. What are your plans for the Dark Tower, Sire? Should I have the Browns continue to fix the place up?"
"No. Don't bother."
"Then what do you plan to do with it?"
Naruto's eyes hinted at an inner darkness, and the corner of his mouth quirked upward.
"I'm not going to use it, but I don't want anyone else getting their grimy hands on it now, do I? Do we currently have any high yield explosives in stock?"
Gnarl returned the look and chuckled, though there was obviously some bit of regret. Obviously he wasn't too fond of the idea of destroying the home of his Masters. Still, Naruto was the new Overlord and as such, his word was law.
"I'm sure we could find something to suffice. Are we going to save the artifacts and library, Sire?"
"Of course. Have the Browns gather anything that will be useful to us and prepare them for travel. I want this place stripped down and ready to be leveled by the end of the day. Understood?"
"As you command, Sire. What will you be needing your companions for?"
Naruto stood from his place and cracked his neck.
"You said you had an open gate near this 'R'lyeh'? I will take Iruka, Anko, and Lee and go check it out. No sense in traveling out there only to find it to be unsuitable for our needs."
The young aspiring Overlord walked past a trio of Browns fighting over a jester's cap and rod and descended into a staircase that led into the only place in the Tower that was in a relatively intact state. The library.
Lee and Anko, led by Iruka, brushed away layers of cobwebs and did what they could to avoid breathing the layers of dust and filth that had somehow accumulated in the lower level, despite the presence of countless Minions over the decades. Their guide didn't seem to have the same reservations about the atmosphere though, and the only pause it made was to snatch a large spider off the stone wall and stuff it in its mouth greedily.
Their journey was short, and they found Naruto hunched over a table with a couple of books open before him, turned to various pages with markers for his place. The school teacher leaned over Naruto's shoulder to read what he could, but he was unable to make sense of most of it. In fact, the manner in which the characters were written made his eyes hurt and his stomach twist. One line caught his eye though, and when he payed attention he noticed that it was repeated in the other book as well, all circled to make it stand out better.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
"In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming." Iruka jerked in surprise when Naruto spoke up. "As close to a translation as anyone has been able to make out, I guess."
. "And just who is this Cthulhu? I've never heard of him."
Naruto looked over at his classmate and shrugged before rubbing his eyes.
"I don't know. No one does, really. It is important though, and if I am correct, he will be an extremely important ally."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Gaki. So the hunched over thing told us you wanted to see us?"
The blond slammed the book shut, throwing up a plume of dust, and tossed it over his shoulder in the direction of a Brown who was in the process of carrying an expensive looking vase. The gremlin-like creature did its best to catch the book and juggle the two objects, and with a surprising show of dexterity managed to hold them both without dropping either, though it didn't look like it was going anywhere any time soon.
"That's correct. Tell me, what do you think of the Tower?"
Iruka rubbed his neck, unsure of how to put it without sounding too degrading.
"Well, its definitely a fixer-upper. Has a lot of potential though." Lee followed his example as best he could.
"You can definitely tell there is a lot of history in this place. It has strong walls and seems to have a decent foundation. With some work, it can become something pretty impressive." Anko didn't share any of the same inhibitions.
"I'm not gonna lie brat. This place sucks."
"Exactly."
"...huh?"
"This place is a total shit heap." Naruto spread his arms wide to indicate their surroundings. "The walls are falling down, the fabrics are rotten and falling to pieces. I'm surprised the ceiling didn't fall in on us and kill us while we were asleep."
"Okay, Naruto-kun you have a point. But what do you mean we are taking road trip? Where are we going?"
Naruto patted him on the shoulder on the way past.
"We're going to investigate a rumor about a more suitable base of operations. I refuse to lead from a fortress that has already fallen to the enemy."
"Naruto, if you ever say that again, I'm going to back to Konoha."
Anko nodded in silent agreement with Iruka as she trailed behind the others. Any other questions were either laughed off or ignored entirely as they returned to ground level and stood next to the shallow pool of glowing water. The Minion Master was already in front of it, waving his stick back and forth and muttering to himself. The pool of water showed not the reflection of the ceiling or the gathered humans, but of bizarre places they had never seen before. A flowery and grassy field, snow peaked mountains with clouds of vapor hanging at eye-level, even an overgrown forest with massive trees.
"Gnarl, what all is this?"
The Minion Master didn't look up from his work, though he dared not ignore his new and noticeably unforgiving master.
"This is the transportation system of the Tower, once fully activated. Once you take control of your power you will, or would have, used the Reflecting Pool to choose the location of any activated Tower Gates in the world and use them to teleport yourself directly there, instead of trekking through miles and miles of overgrowth and civilizations. One doesn't become Evil for the sake of backpacking, after all!"
"Damn straight. So if it is that easy, why is it taking you so long to find this place?"
"Well the Reflecting Pool works best with places you have been to before and can visually recognize it. As it is, its been veritable centuries since I have looked at this place, so it's taking me a minute to remember what it looks like." He heard the telltale signs of hidden snickering and he glared at the three humans he wasn't bound to servitude towards. "I'm not old, dammit!"
"I believe you, Gnarl-san. Don't work yourself up too much, you might throw your back out."
The two adults laughed at Lee's joke while Naruto rolled his eyes and Gnarl fumed in outrage, but didn't retaliate. Instead he focused solely on his work, and his efforts paid off a few minutes later.
"Found it!"
Apparently 'it' was exactly what it was described to be. A city of ruins sticking up and out of some unnamed ocean. What hadn't been in the records however, was the inhuman air to it. And they weren't even there! Just looking at the damn place gave them all shivers, except for Gnarl who was used to things of such an evil magnitude, and Naruto who was shivering for an entirely different reason.
"Excellent. I was worried we might end up having to trek all the way there after all. That would have sucked. The question is, where is it exactly?"
Gnarl scratched his chin in thought.
"That's a good question. This area is both farther north than 'Tsuchi no kuni' and farther east than 'Kaminari no kuni'. Basically, it is on the other side of the world. If we were to travel directly north until we arrived, we would have to go through the polar cap."
Naruto nodded and his eyes were focused on something far away.
"Well its a good thing we aren't walking there on foot now, isn't it? Now that I think about it, we aren't taught much in the Academy on the geography outside of the Elemental Countries. There has to be more to the world than just that though, doesn't there?"
"Yes this is very true. In fact, very little is known about the world outside of the major continent and the countries that it has been divided into. Years ago, Shinobi teams were sent out from all of the Hidden Villages in an attempt to establish land before any of the others. Very few of those parties ever returned though. Whatever is out there, it is far more dangerous than even highly trained Shinobi." Iruka swallowed hard after his lecture. "Are we sure we really want to go out there? We will literally be out in the dark."
Lee grinned cockily and slapped his teacher on the shoulder.
"Oh come on, Sensei! You always said you wanted to be a pioneer, right?"
"What? No! I wanted to be a teac-..."
"Exactly! Then I say we go to these new lands, and see sights no living man has seen before!"
"Lee, there is a reason no living man has seen them." Iruka was ignored.
Naruto smiled out of the corner of his mouth.
"Then its decided. Hey Gnarl, any ideas on what might be waiting out there for us?"
"The basics, I suppose. Animals untouched by human influence and thus allowed to grow to gargantuan sizes. Ancient and inhuman cultural civilizations based around hunting, slaughter, and blood sacrifice to their heathen gods. Terrain unscouted with countless death traps just waiting to lure us to our deaths?"
Anko flashed her own blood-lust smile.
"That's what they said about the Forest of Death as well, but I made that place my bitch. I say we do this thing!"
The group of humans shared a look, and Iruka groaned loudly and commented about how he knew he was going to regret this before nodding along.
Gnarl lifted his stick, and the pool began to glow. The entire group felt that surge of energy from before, and they each braced themselves this time.
"Well then, I'll see that the Minions have everything packed and ready to go for when you get back. If you get back."
As the group vanished into sparks, they all decided to pretend they didn't hear that last part.
XxXxXxX
- R'lyeh: The Sunken City-
The landing was much easier on all of them this time, and it barely took them any recovery time before they began taking in the sights. Lee, to no one's great surprise, was the first one to make his opinion known.
"This is much creepier than the ad suggested. I want to speak to my realtor."
The only response was Anko's snort of amusement, but no other words were wasted as they analyzed their new environment. The only real way to describe it was... wrong. The sky was an unnatural yellowish tint, contrasted heavily with the gray-green waters that surrounded them. The air was deathly silent, and there was no hint of life. It was as though they were the first living being to set foot in such an accursed area in centuries.
Semi-intact buildings in various levels of structural decay poked out of the waters, reaching heavenward in a fruitless attempt to escape from the waters that had long since dragged them down below the murky depths. A few remained strangely untouched by the ravaging tendrils of time, however. In the center of the waters was a massive spire, even taller and larger in girth than the Dark Tower itself was. Around it was a ring-like wall, wide enough for an army to stand upon and spread along it were staircases, leading down below the water's level. Curiously, it suggested that there was more to this 'city' than what they could see immediately. The tip of the iceberg, really.
"Doesn't look like much of a city to me."
"Yeah, but twenty bucks says the rest is down... there."
"Cut the chatter. We came here with a job to do, so let's do it. I don't particularly want to get stuck out here unprepared when the sun sets."
"But Naruto-kun, it was morning at the Tower. If we are on the other side of the world like Gnarl-san said, shouldn't it be night already?"
"Lee, natural law also demands the sky be blue, water clear, and something like this not be creepy as shit. I don't think the laws apply any more."
"Short stuff has a point. I say we get this over and done with. Maybe things will be nicer once we get some more fighters out here."
Iruka cocked an eyebrow at the fabled snake mistress of Konoha.
"Scared, Anko?"
"More than you know. I feel like there's something in this water... watching us."
Her statement put him on edge pretty badly, but not as badly as Naruto's answer.
"There is. Let's go. We need to split up and cover ground faster."
"Oh no we don't! I don't want to be by myself when the walls start to bleed!"
Naruto rolled his eyes at Lee's behavior.
"Not alone, numbnuts. In teams of two. I'll go with Anko. You go with Iruka. We'll meet back here in two hours and then we'll head back to the Tower, okay?"
The three others shared a thought about the youngest of their group giving the orders, but none of them felt any overwhelming urge to call him on it. This was his thing after all. They were just along for the ride. If they had known where they were going to end up though, they might have changed their tune before they even left Konoha. Still, it was too late to go home now.
They split into the two teams and went their separate ways to cover as much ground as they could. Lee and Iruka were going to check out the staircase leading below the waters, and the other two were going to check out the massive tower in the center of the lake. Neither were sure who were the lucky ones. They just hoped with everything they had that they would be around to laugh about it at the end of the day.
A/N : I'm not even going to bother trying to lie about this one. This took a lot longer to write than most chapters will, but for very good reason. I understand that I am taking a massive risk here with the elements I am incorporating, but I just couldn't help myself. Of all the fics I have read and enjoyed, only one has even hinted at the Lovecraftian Mythos. Well this needs to be remedied, in my opinion. Maybe it will go over really well, maybe not. I just know I am going to have a lot of fun with it.
My sincerest thanks to toxinvictoria for his review and ideas. He was actually the prime inspiration for the new track this work is going to be taking.
As always,I hope you enjoyed and feel free to let me know what you think. If enough people show their support, I might even add a free taco bar.
Say Frosty...
- Nikolai