Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto nor Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I am just a lowly writer with too much time in my hands.

Warning: This is a sequel story. Read the following first before you read this story.

Child of the Moon: The Lightning Thief
Child of the Moon: The Sea of Monsters
Child of the Moon: The Titan's Curse

Chapter 7

The ground behind the demigods exploded with smoke as a stack of crates almost flattened them.

Currently, our heroes were running for their lives, The sound of massive wings was sounding awfully close behind them. There was a hiss as Naruto flung another kunai at their pursuer. The monster growled in the same language from before, the ancient tongue.

They scrambled down the final staircase and passed a guard's station. They found themselves in another block of prison cells.

"Left!" Annabeth pointed out, remembering the tour she took some time ago.

Our heroes finally burst out into a courtyard. The sun was glaring down at them, causing them to shield their eyes. After being underground for so long, the light almost blinded them. Outside, everything seemed normal. There were tourists casually walking around, taking pictures. The wind blew cold air from the bay. In the south, the city gleamed in the sun, but in the north, clouds swirled almost like a storm over the mountain. The whole sky was black compared to the sky over San Fransisco. What was weird was the clouds didn't bother the tourists one bit. Who could blame them? The mist must be shielding their eyes from the supernatural storm.

The demigod's tingled, Naruto especially. Their bodies felt the phantom pains of everything they endured on top of that mountain. It was a grueling battle that they somehow survived.

Annabeth, though, had a different thought.

"It can't be," She said as she stared at the funnel of clouds. "The storms had been bad all year, but this…"

"What are you doing?" Briares wailed, breaking the others from their musings. "She's right behind us!"

The group continued running as the ground shook.

"The wall is holding and the door is too small for her," Percy said triumphantly. "We're sa–"

Just as Percy was about to finish his sentence, the whole wall gave way. The tourists around them screamed and scrambled to get away. Who knows what the mist let these mortals see.

"You gotta stop jinxing us," Naruto told his brother.

Out of the dust and rubble, Kampêappeared. Her wings were spread out covering the whole courtyard. She was holding two giant swords, two long bronze scimitars that glowed an eerie green aura that boiled wisps of vapor. The demigods could smell the sour odors and feel the heat even from across the whole yard.

"Poison!" Grover yelled. "Don't let them touch you or–"

"We'll die?" Percy guessed. "Gee, why am I not surprised?"

"Well, yes…" Grover nodded. "After you slowly shrivel up to dust."

"Then, we better avoid the swords," Naruto said as he sat on the ground. "Buy me time. I'm entering sage mode."

"Briares! Grow to your full size!" Tyson begged. He ripped a lamppost off the ground like it was a toothpick.

Briares did not oblige. The Hundred-handed one instead seemed to shrink even more, and his face morphed back to his terrified face. He just cowered in fear in the corner.

There was no time to push him to fight. Kampê was thundering towards them and fast.

Tyson decided that that was enough. If his idol wasn't going to help him, then he will buy Naruto time, even if it was just on his own.

"I'll help!" Percy yelled, drawing his weapon.

"No! Poison will kill you. Only hurt cyclopes!" Tyson yelled back as he hefted his pole like a bat.

Just when the ancient monster was awfully close to them, Tyson swung the lamp post like a bat. Kampê was sent flying where she crashed into the wall she burst through, stunning her for but a moment. Pools of poison oozed from her weapons and melted the ground. That was enough for Percy to heed his brother's words

"Get Briares to safety," Tyson said, as he hefted his weapon like a makeshift lance.

Percy, Annabeth, and Grover dragged the cowering Briares. Thanks to his terrified state and small stature, the three were able to get him away from the fighting just as Tyson charged Kampê like cavalry in a jousting match.

The ancient monster was nailed in the chest, but she held her ground. She slashed her weapons across the pole, disarming the cyclops, but he was able to leap back.

Kampê went for another slash at the unarmed cyclops. Tyson just smirked and leaned back partially as the shadow of a massive spear appeared overhead.

"Senpō: Odama Rasengan!" Naruto called out his attack as he ground the move into Kampê's face.

The attack exploded leaving a crater in the prison courtyard.

Naruto landed next to the young cyclops. "Glad I got there in time."

"You were awesome!" Tyson cheered.

"So were you, big guy!" Naruto clapped the cyclops's shoulder.

He turned serious once more, hearing the shuffling from the rubble.

"I think we need more firepower if we hope to beat him," Naruto told his partner,

Tyson nodded as he picked up another weapon.

Kampê stood in front of them, the dust swirling around her form to heal her injuries. The hair on her head hissed. Then, a lion suddenly popped up from the half-formed faces on her chest, briefly roaring at them before disappearing. She growled in the ancient tongue once again.

Naruto seemed to pick up that she wanted to tell her something, but he just couldn't understand.

"Uhh, is she trying to tell me something?" He asked.

"She said, 'You insolent demigod. I will kill you for that.'" Tyson translated. Just like earlier, he copied the jailer's raspy voice.

"Great," Naruto let out an exasperated sigh. "I just made her angry."

Shrugging off his frustration, Naruto raised his fingers to form a cross to form his favorite hand sign.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto yelled, creating four identical and solid clones.

One stayed behind and started gathering chakra, while the other three joined Tyson and the original and got ready for round two.

All of them charged at each other. Somehow, Kampê had gotten back her swords and brandished them as she shuffled towards her prey.

Tyson and the three Narutos evaded the sword swings as they met in the middle. Tyson shot his arm forward stunning the monster. One clone plowed through her serpent feet knocking her to the ground. Then, the two other clones pinned her to the ground. The vipers and the predatory animals tried to snap at Naruto, but the blonde's rock-hard skin saved the clones from dispelling.

After their altercation, a loud screeching noise came from the original.

Tyson turned back and saw the original holding up a shuriken. It wasn't just any shuriken. It was a shuriken made of pure chakra. It had a Rasengan core and four blades of chakra spinning fast.

"Get out of here Tyson!" Naruto barked. "You will get caught in the blast!"

Tyson heeded the shinobi's words. He ran towards the direction Percy and Annabeth had dragged Briares.

As he looked back, he saw Naruto leap into the air and throw the shuriken.

Kampê let out a screech of her own. The attack hit true and exploded on top of her. To the naked eye, they could see a dome of air spinning. To the gods, they saw microscopic wind blades ripping the monster shreds even to the microscopic level.

As the attack exploded to its climax, a huge gust of wind blew outward. When everything dissipated, Naruto approached the explosion site. Not even monster dust was left in the crater that was formed by the spiraling sphere.

"I didn't expect that to happen," Naruto mused to himself as he inspected the crater.

Looking down, he saw two pens glinting in the middle. He leaped down to the crater to check out whatever drop he had gotten. The pens reminded him of his and Percy's own retractable weapons. He clicked the bottom of both pens, causing them to grow into their full length.

They both turned into Kampê's swords, except they were small enough to be carried by a human. They also glowed a greenish hue. Something told Naruto not to get sliced up by those swords. The results wouldn't be pretty.

"Cool," Naruto gasped to himself at the thought of wielding these weapons.

His fascination was cut short when he remembered his friends. The thoughts of the quest and the overwhelming time pressure returned to him.

"Right," He said, pressing the bottom of the scimitars together to shrink them to pen form.

After that, he felt for the familiar feeling of his marker. After finding it, he disappeared in a yellow flash.

WITH THE REST OF THE QUEST-GOERS

"Get yourself together!" Percy barked out as he, Annabeth, and Grover basically lugged Briares towards the cell door where they exited from.

A tremor worried Percy a little. That did not sound good. He and his friends immediately thought of the worst.

"Can't…go…any further…" Briares huffed. He hadn't run like this in his entire life, he had just been content with being caught by Kampê and getting tortured.

Percy dropped the Hundred-handed one's arm and turned to glare at him. Feeling the other arm go slack, Annabeth and Grover did the same.

Without anyone lugging him this time, he fell to his knees. "What's the use? She will come back for us after she's finished with them.

"Will you snap out of this?!" Percy snapped, trying to hide the fear and worry on his own face. "Tyson and Naruto are fighting so we can get away!"

Annabeth and Grover patted Percy on the back to calm him down.

Just as Percy was about to speak again, Tyson came bounding in from where they came from.

"Peeeercy," He said as he came running in.

"Tyson!" Percy perked up as he heard his half-brother.

He wrapped Tyson in a bear hug as best he could despite the big guy's size.

"You made it out!" Grover said, but he noticed the lack of a certain blonde shinobi.

"Where's Naruto?" Annabeth voiced the question.

"I left him there," Tyson answered. "He finished off the monster."

"I'm sorry, what?" Briares got to his feet completely gobsmacked at what he just heard.

"Kampê is defeated," Tyson repeated himself.

"Surely, you jest, young cyclops," Briares said, still not believing what he heard. "If what you say is true, then where is your friend."

Annabeth clutched her kunai in the small scabbard she kept hidden at her back. "No, Naruto is fine. He can come out of anything."

"Young demigod, you do not know Kampê as well as I," Briares shook his head. "She–"

"Did I miss anything?" Naruto's voice came from behind the Daughter of Athena.

She turned around and the worry left her face. It was replaced by a look of relief and happiness.

"Y-you're back!" She said wrapping the blonde in a hug.

"Of course, I'm back Annie. It takes more than Kampê to bring me down," Naruto answered. The girl wasn't bothered by her nickname this time.

"I-impossibe," Briares said. "H-how?!"

"Futon: Rasenshuriken," Naruto simply said.

"No way!" Percy exclaimed. "You got it to work?"

"I'm just glad it didn't explode in my face when I tried it," Naruto slowly melting in Annabeth's embrace.

"I-I don't understand," Briares just stared at the brothers banter.

"Oh right," Naruto remembered as he unwrapped himself from the embrace. "Did I mention that I'm not from this world?"

If it was possible, Briares' eyes widened even more at the revelation.

Seeing his reaction, Naruto shrugged. "I guess I did not, but yes, I am not from here."

"But that still does not answer my question," Briares said. "How did you defeat her?"

Naruto held out his hand and formed a sphere in his hand. "I'm not exactly your normal demigod. I'm a shinobi, a ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village. We mould chakra into our weapons or into our jutsu to attack. I ripped her to shreds with the final form of this jutsu."

It was like Briares's mind broke with that statement. It was like Briares still couldn't believe what he just heard.

"Come on, man," Percy waved off the statement. "We have better things to worry about."

"How can you act like this?!' Briares threw off his gasket. "He…He might be the key to defeating the titans."

"Nah man," Naruto shook his head. "I know I'm not the one in the prophecy. Whoever that guy is…we're in his hands."

"This is good and all, but does anyone know how to get out of here?" Grover spoke up. He looked like he had been looking for a way out all this time.

"Look for the mark of Daedalus," Annabeth pointed out. "The Greek letter for Δ."

Everyone did their fair share of looking. Even Briares did, despite his shock and awe.

"There!" Percy pointed out to his friends at what looked like a tiny scratch on the prison wall. He touched and the mark glowed blue, followed by the stone wall grinding open.

Now that the ancient monster was defeated, they had all the time in the world to wait for the wall to open for them.

Naruto offered to let Briares go first, but he hesitated.

"What if we get attacked in there?" He whined.

"Then we'll just take them out," Naruto answered patiently.

"What if we get attacked by something as big as Kampê," He whined again.

"Then you just grow to your normal size," Tyson said happily. "If you're big again, then we can fight her."

Briares looked hopeful. He tried to morph again, but just like earlier, he fell short.

"It's no use," He said sadly. "I am still scared."

"But Kampê is not here anymore." Percy argued.

"Monsters reform boy," Briares argued. "And with the titans in charge…Don't even get me started with them…"

If it was possible (we know it is cause he's not a human), he shrunk even further. He walked forward into the now fully opened entrance to the maze. He gave one more look at the children and said, "Don't bother fighting them. If they managed to almost win before, then they'll be able to now."

He continued on his way.

"Briraes! Wait!" Tyson called out but he didn't stop.

Percy placed a hand on the cyclops' shoulder and shook his head. Tyson had learned an important lesson that day. Never meet your heroes.

The team delved deeper into the Labyrinth. As soon as they set foot in the maze, the wall behind them snapped shut. Once again, they were left in the darkness.

"We're going back in here again," Grover muttered to himself. He still wasn't a fan of underground places despite staying here for who knows how long now.

After walking for gods know how long, they found themselves in a room full of waterfalls. There was no floor, only a pit in the middle where the water drained into. When you looked down the hole, they couldn't see anything, even if you shined a light down there. It was in this room where they found Briares washing his face over a waterfall.

"This pit goes down to Tartarus," He said as he heard the group come in after him. "I should just jump down there to save you the trouble."

"Maybe you should if you'll act that way," Tyson muttered to himself, but he sounded like he didn't mean it. He sounded more hurt than angry.

Annabeth, hearing the cyclops' comment, shot him a look. "I know you're mad at him Tyson, but that's no way to talk to him." He told the young monster.

He then turned to Briares and talked to him in a big sisterly voice. "Don't be like that, Briares. You can come to camp with us. Help us set up for the coming war."

"I have nothing to offer, child," Briares shook his head. "I have lost everything."

"But didn't you have brothers?" Percy asked.

"They are no more," Briares answered, his face morphing into that of a grieving one. "They have long since faded."

"But…" Percy couldn't comprehend what he has just heard. He was taught differently. "Weren't monsters immortal like the gods."

"Percy," Grover said weakly. "Immortality has its limits. Sometimes…sometimes monsters get forgotten, and they lose their will to stay immortal."

"If that's the case…" Naruto voice trailed off. "Is Grover's quest for naught?"

His thoughts didn't end there. His mind traveled to that time Apollo told him about the old sun god Helios. He thought about the Egyptian Gods. They were much older than the Greeks, Romans, and even the Norse gods. The last of the Egyptians perished a long time ago. If they are anything like the Greeks, it would be impossible, if not unlikely, to have people out there continuing the faith in the Egyptian Pantheon.

That would make sense right?"

SOMEWHERE IN EGYPT

Achoo!

A well-dressed man suddenly sneezed. He was of African American descent and he has piercing brown eyes.

A younger man noticed this and looked at him with concern.

"Are you okay dad?" The teen asked worriedly. He was also an African American that had short, curly brown hair.

"I'm fine son," The older man answered his son with a smile. "It's probably just your mother and your sister thinking about us."

"Okay, dad. If you say so," The boy shrugged chalking it up to some dust his dad inhaled.

BACK IN THE LABYRINTH

"I must go," Briares turned to leave in between the children.

"We need you at camp," Tyson said half-heartedly. He had low hopes that his former idol can change his mind this time. "

"I cannot. I am not as strong as I used to be," Briares mourned.

Percy moved in front of the Hundred handed one. "Stop!" He yelled, but the bigger guy just gave him one look and looked down again.

"Another demigod, Luke, plans to invade Camp Half-Blood," Percy told him. "There's a Labyrinth entrance right in the middle of the camp, and he plans to hit that."

"Right now, he's looking for Ariadne's string to navigate the maze," Naruto added. "If Camp Half-Blood falls, then there truly is no hope."

"Uhm, not to mention the golden sarcophagus that holds the Time Lord's remains," Grover gulped.

"If they have his remains, then it is only a matter of time," Briares shook his head. "All hope is lost. I do not have the finger gun to win this war."

"Maybe that's why immortals fade away…" Percy said, realizing something. "It's probably not the mortals believing in you. It's maybe because you lose faith in yourselves."

He still stood there his back to them, not saying a word. If the demigods could see his face, they would recognize a look of shame.

He started to walk away.

"Before you go, let me just remind you that if the titans win, there is no place on Earth or Tartarus where you can hide away from the Titans," Naruto said. "They will find you eventually."

After hearing what he had to say, he walked back into the darkness of the Labyrinth and disappeared.

"Maybe it's better if he doesn't join the war," Tyson said as he looked at where Briares went with a tone of dismay in his voice.

"Don't be like that," Grover patted the big guy's shoulder. "Everything will be okay eventually."

Tyson sneezed. "No, Goat-boy. He was my hero."

Percy wanted to say something to cheer the cyclops up, but he couldn't think of anything to say.

Finally, Annabeth stood and shouldered her pack, "This pit is starting to make me feel nervous. We should find another place to camp."

"I agree," Naruto said. "We don't want a repeat of the last time."

"Nuh uh," Grover was the first to start walking, remembering that incident in the Underworld. "I'm not doing that again."

The others promptly followed.

Just as before, they still had no idea where they were going. They were still clueless as to how to navigate the maze.

After what seemed like hours, they finally settled in a corridor made out of huge marble blocks. It could have been part of a Greek tomb or something; they would never know. It was lined with bronze torches along the walls giving them light. It looked to be one of the older parts of the dungeon. Annabeth took it as a good sign.

"We must be close to Daedalus's workshop," she said. "Get some rest, everybody. We'll continue in the morning."

"Uhm, how do we know if it's morning?" Grover asked.

"We don't even know if it's night," Naruto shrugged.

Annabeth sighed in annoyance. "Knock it off you two and just get some rest."

Grover didn't need to be told twice. He immediately pulled out a heap of straw from his backpack, ate some of it, and made himself cozy.

"What I'd give to have a tree around here," Naruto sighed as tried to get himself comfortable on one side.

"You and me both," Grover remarked before drifting off into a deep sleep.

"I'll take the first watch," Annabeth said.

"No, you need some rest," Naruto countered.

"But I'm the leader of this quest," She argued.

"All the more reason for you to get some rest, so you can plan our next move," Naruto argued back."

"There's no winning against you, huh?" Annabeth sighed.

"Only if it's for your sake," Naruto smiled. "Now, get some rest."

She unfurled the sleeping bag that was strapped to her bag. Instead of going to sleep, she dragged her sleeping bag towards Naruto who was sitting down.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked as he noticed the girl walking towards him.

"Uhm…" She twiddled her fingers together. "Can I sleep here next to you…"

"Sure, just don't snore," Naruto said jokingly.

"I don't snore!" Annabeth huffed annoyed that the blonde would even tease her like that. She didn't walk away though; she still made herself comfortable beside the blonde shinobi.

Annabeth tried to follow Grover's example for a full minute, but she just couldn't fall asleep.

Naruto noticed the girl's tossing and turning and talked to her. "Something on your mind?"

Athena's Daughter sat up. "Yes. I can't get my mind off this quest. Some leader I turned out to be." She berated herself.

"Hey don't say that," He said trying to get off the negativity in the girl's head. "You're doing great so far!"

"Really? We get lost in the maze and end up in the other side of America, only to be chased by some dragon lady."

"Hey, nobody said the quest was going to be easy. Things would be suspicious if it were that way."

She brushed her hair out her face. Naruto noticed a smudge of dirt on her chin. Naruto took out a handkerchief and wiped the dirt away. This caused the girl to blush and grab the hankie away from the blonde.

"I can do it myself," Annabeth protested, trying to keep her voice from cracking from the flustered state.

Naruto looked at the girl as she cleaned herself up. She was trying to act tough, but Naruto deep down she was scared. He couldn't help but imagine a younger Annabeth travelling with Thalia and Luke all those years ago. Perhaps even now, she still needed someone to lean to in time like this, but Naruto knew not to underestimate her. This girl still had guts.

She noticed Naruto staring at her.

"What are you looking at?" She asked, trying to sound annoyed.

"You," Naruto said nonchalantly. "It's hard not to stare at you."

"C-can you not?" She didn't sound as annoyed as she wanted. She sounded flustered.

"Alright, alright," Naruto held his hands up in a placating gesture. "What seems to be bothering you?"

"This quest," Annabeth confided. "I just wish this quest was logical. I mean, we're travelling now, but we have no control over where we're going. It doesn't make sense! How can we walk from New York to California in a day?"

"You said it yourself, space isn't the same in the maze," Naruto pointed out.

"I know…" Annabeth looked up hesitantly. "You know, I was kidding myself when I thought that I could handle this quest. All that reading and planning I did, it was all for nothing."

"To be fair, we don't have a way to navigate the maze the way Theseus did in the stories. Besides, we all know you're doing your best. Everyone here will support you."

"But I feel like I'm letting everyone down…"

"No one thinks that. Look, we always somehow get out of anything that's thrown at us. Remember, Circe's Island? I was told Percy was cute as a guinea pig."

"HEY!" Came Percy's indignant voice as he heard his name.

"He was," Annabeth giggled, ignoring Percy's protest.

"What about in Waterland when the War God's shield turned out to be booby trapped?" Naruto continued listing off their escapades.

"Alright, I get it," She smiled.

"I know you're strong, Annabeth. Heck, you even held up the sky!"

"Thank you, Naruto. I needed that pep talk. I think I can go to sleep now."

"Anytime! We are all here for you. Good night."

"Good night."