Sun of the Suns
Chapter 9
Guess who's back! Really sorry about the long wait for this chapter. I kinda realized I accidentally shot myself in the foot, plot-wise, with some choices made for the previous chapters, so I had to take some time to do some research and figure out an alternative plot that would get me back on track to the stuff I drafted out for the plot. I have a rough draft set up till midway through Sea of Monsters, with ideas for the rest of the book and tidbits I want to put into play for Titan's Curse, so please stick with me.
Disclaimer: see previous chapters.
Naruto let out a groan as he fought back the urge to throw his map down on the ground in frustration. He had been traveling for several of days since the Jorōgumo incident, and he was no closer to finding the entrance to the Underworld than when he left Camp. He had managed to trade a few Drachmae for some mortal money at one of those shops that offers to buy gold from people, so he was able to at least find meals for himself every night, but he still had no way to get to Los Angeles and thus finding the entrance to the Underworld.
"Dear Kami," groaned Naruto out of habit, "my first Quest and I can't even get to my destination. Now what am I supposed to do? Sorry Tou-san, Baa-san," he apologized with a sigh."
Suddenly though, that reminded him of something Chiron had explained to him during his lessons back at the Camp, when he was undergoing what basically amounted to remedial classes about the Greek Myths and the gods involved in them.
xXflashbackXx
"Chiron," Naruto asked the immortal Centaur as they walked through the Camp, "Why do so many Campers end up as unclaimed? Don't the gods love their children."
"It's a complicated subject," said the trainer of heroes, "do not misunderstand, while the gods are known for their flings and dalliances," he paused with a shake of his head as thunder boomed over the camp, "the gods, for the most part, truly care for their children, yet the Ancient Laws prevent them from directly caring for and intervening on behalf of their children's lives."
"However," Chiron continued as the blonde demigod made to protest, "that does not mean they don't find ways to circumvent this law. When a parent, god or mortal, truly cares for their child, they will always hear their calls for help. If ever a time comes that you need their help, the gods will hear your prayers."
xXflashback endXx
"I guess it's as good an idea as any," sighed Naruto before kneeling down and clapping his hands together, "Tou-san, I don't know if you can hear me, but I could really use some help with this. I need to find an entrance to the Underworld to stop a war, but I'm running out of time and options. Please, I need some help."
Naruto was pulled out of his prayers when a large swan landed in front of him, nearly startling the teenage demigod. Before he could shoo it away though, the swan reached out and snapped up his map with its beak before flying off, forcing Naruto to give chase.
"Get back here you dumb bird!" Naruto yelled as he chased after the avian thief, but despite his best efforts, the swan kept ahead of the blonde demigod until it came upon what looked like a donut shop with a marquis showing the shop's name in big black letters, though Naruto's dyslexia made it difficult to read.
His concerns were elsewhere though as the bird flew over the shop and into the shop's back alley. Groaning to himself, Naruto quickly glanced around to make sure nobody was watching, and then leapt up and over the side of the shop, dashing across the roof, before landing in a crouch in the alley behind the building. Looking around, he saw the swan sitting next to a large manhole that had been boarded up, with his map firmly held in its beak.
Naruto was just about to make a grab for his stolen belonging, when he felt a chill go down his spine, his combat senses going into overdrive, like someone was slowly raising a sharpened blade to cut him down.
"MOVE BRAT!" the Kyuubi suddenly yelled from his mindscape, prompting Naruto to dive forward into a roll, just barely avoiding getting bitten by a serpentine head that had been inching up behind him.
Whirling around Naruto paled at what he saw: a gigantic monster resembling a scaly lizard with nine diamond-shaped heads filled with razor sharp teeth that were dripping with acidic venom.
"A Hydra," breathed Naruto as he remembered Chiron's lessons, "crap!"
With a roar, the monster lunged at Naruto with its numerous heads, and the blonde just managed to avoid getting eaten by pulling off a quick Kawarimi with that left the monster biting into a log. As it spat out the resulting splinters, which were already melting away from the Hydra's venom, Naruto quickly made several Kage Bunshin and drew forth his archery set as his copies readied their swords. Naruto's copies leapt forward swinging their blades, but the legendary monster lashed out with its numerous heads, dispelling many of his clones, but two managed to make it through the assault, swinging their tantos at one of the necks, decapitating it with ease.
The fight was far from over though, as the decapitated neck promptly split in two down the middle and formed into two new necks, each with its own snarling head. Naruto swore mentally as he only then recalled the remedial combat and mythology lessons he had had his Kage Bunshin attend while he was in combat training. The Hydra of legend had the ability to sprout two new heads for every one that was severed at the neck. The key to defeating one of these beasts was to burn the stump before the new heads could grow in its place.
Jumping back to avoid the hydra's snapping maws, Naruto quickly made several more Kage Bunshin and sent some of them to distract the hydra's many heads while a remaining handful readied their swords and leapt at the hydra once again. The summoned Kage Bunshin pulled out their celestial bronze shuriken and began to launch them at the beast's various heads, the spinning blades cutting shallow gashes in the monster's skin that dripped acidic, toxic blood, causing the hydra to recoil in pain. Taking advantage of this, Naruto's copies leapt at one of the beast's long necks and managed to sever another head with the razor-sharp edges of their blades. This time though, Naruto didn't give the beast a chance to recover, as before the severed head had even hit the ground, the blond demigod quickly notched and fired an arrow from his bow, the enchanted projectile igniting mid-flight and burying itself into the stump, causing the fire to cauterize the wound and prevent a new pair of heads from growing in its place.
"Alright!" cheered Naruto, "How do you like me now, ugly?"
The hydra, in fact, did not like him at all, and it expressed that dislike by lunging at the young Shinobi with all its remaining heads in an attempt to tear him limb from limb with its jaws. Naruto let out a yelp as he leapt away from the hydra and quickly dashed up the wall of the alley by quickly channeling Chakra to his feet so they can stick to the flat surface, just barely avoiding the razor-sharp fangs as the hydra snapped at his heels.
"Ok, I think I just made it angry," said Naruto before dodging several globs of venom that the Hydra had spat at him from its various heads, "Yup. It's angry."
Naruto quickly tried to take another head out of play using the same strategy as earlier, but when he sent his summoned Kage Bunshin to distract the hydra and sever one of its heads, the beast proved that it had learned from its earlier mistake and dispelled the copies that were preparing to throw their Shuriken with blasts of acidic venom spat from several of its heads, while the remainder took care of the ones that were reaching for their swords by lashing out and biting into them as the beast of old lunged forward with surprising speed, before turning its attention back towards the original and spitting acid at him as it tried to clamber up the wall Naruto was sticking to, causing the blonde to quickly scramble up higher to avoid its jaws.
"Right," muttered Naruto, "that didn't work. Looks like it's ugly and smart. Perfect. Time for a new plan."
"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto called out as he placed his hands in a cross-seal, summoning several dozen Kage Bunshin that proceeded to draw their swords and bum-rush the hydra, with one remaining behind at Naruto's side.
"Let's go!" said Naruto as he held out his hand and started channeling his Chakra. As he did so, his clone worked to mold and shape the chakra, containing it within Naruto's palm as a spiraling sphere of pure compressed Chakra formed in his grip. Once the sphere was stable, the Kage Bunshin dispelled and Naruto launched himself off the wall, landing in a crouch in front of the hydra, before thrusting the sphere into its chest.
"RASENGAN!" yelled Naruto as the sphere tore into the hydra's scales and sent the beast flying back into the donut shop, tearing through the building before exploding into dust as the sphere popped and blew the monster apart.
"Great," breathed Naruto as he looked at the ruins of the donut shop, "looks like that took care of it. Now, where's my map?"
Suddenly, Naruto heard a familiar squawk and saw the swan from earlier sitting atop the boarded-up manhole. Looking at the blond demigod square in the eye, the bird tapped its beak onto the wooden planks several times before spreading its wings and taking flight, leaving Naruto alone.
"What was that about?" asked Naruto as he moved closer to where the bird had been standing, "Seemed pretty weird."
Naruto then noticed something carved into one of the boards sealing the hole and, upon looking closer, saw that it was the word, 'Alcyonian' written in Ancient Greek.
"Wait a minute…" said Naruto as he thought back once again to the lessons on Greek myths he'd had back at Camp, "it couldn't be…"
Pulling out a kunai, Naruto pried the boards off the hole, revealing a deep pit that was filled with dark, murky water, but there seemed to be a flickering light deep withing the watery depths.
"Well," said Naruto, "if this is what I think it is, then it's my best chance to get there. Sure as hell hope I'm not wrong, because that'll suck."
Taking a deep breath, Naruto dove into the pit and into the pool of water within, swimming deeper and deeper as he pressed on towards the bottom and the light he could see in the distance. Naruto swam and swam, and it was starting to seem like he had made a huge mistake, when suddenly he broke the surface with a gasp and found him in a cavern made of dark stone, treading water in a small pool.
He had arrived in the Underworld at last.
Notes: not sure if anyone caught it, but the monster Naruto was facing was the Lernaean Hydra which lived in Lerna which was the location of the bottomless Alcyonian Lake, one of the many entrances to the Underworld in Greek Mythos.