Lunar Phases II: Manifesto ch 1

Disclaimer: I don’t own PJO or Naruto. All rights belong exclusively to the current owners, creators, editors, etc., and so forth.

The Primeval Prelude

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‘Declaration. Both an action and an object. Together, powerful and world changing. A declaration, simply put, is a formal statement or announcement, usually made by the head(s) of a state or country, that can be either written or spoken. The United States of America’s Declaration of Independence is a staple example of this for most Demigods, given most modern day Demigods of this pantheon are born in the United States it’s to be expected, but it isn’t the only example. Another, far more impressive declaration, comes from the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. This declaration was headed as “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights” and was agreed to by all participating cultures and relations at that time. Since its establishment, the UDHR has been printed in over five hundred different languages and became the basis for many sociological papers, including the one you read now…’

– An excerpt from freshly graduated Prof. M. Namikaze’s written argument, scripted amidst a mock debate class at Yale. Copies of the unpublished work found their way to Olympian Chair No. Six, and were organized in the Grand Olympian Library, later filed under the section that argued for Demigods’ Rights to Parental Recognition by Olympians, as in accordance with the wish of The Hero of Olympus.

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February 18, 2009 

The manufactured shrieks of harpies echoed across the grounds of Camp Half Blood, courtesy of a device mounted atop the Big House’s roof that was – naturally – created by Cabin Nine’s talented smiths. The actual harpies haven’t been seen in weeks, and many of Cabin Six have hypothesized that the cleaning harpies that normally acted as the Camp’s night patrol were either coerced to the Titan’s faction, or sitting things out until one side emerged victorious. The Head Counselor of Cabin Six, one Annabeth Chase, thought something was amiss and came up with a ‘side-quest’ to determine the reasons behind the absence of the camp’s cleaning Harpies.

To fully implement it, Annabeth called for the aid of her best friend and fellow demigod, Percy Jackson. Unfortunately, he had caught some sort of bug in the few days that passed since they last hung out – Annabeth really hoped it wasn’t something she could’ve caught while they shared a bucket of popcorn at that (apparently terrible?) reboot; she wasn’t the one to critique films based on plot, but she’d seen and lived scarier things on the road growing up – on the Fourteenth, so that left her to fall back on her other best friend. The same demigod that doubled as her older sister figure: Thalia Grace, the daughter of Zeus.

The last time they had talked was months ago and things now were tense because, well, Annabeth still hadn’t exactly apologized as she was told to.

Though it was an understandable outcome of the highly stressful confrontation she and her boyfriend survived on her eighteenth birthday, Thalia’s little ‘temper tantrum’ that day had allowed the daughter of Athena to skirt around issuing an apology to the aforementioned boyfriend. Why did Thalia want Annabeth to apologize to her boyfriend? Well, she might have implied the life of that particular mortal had no value in the larger picture of the war, but it wasn’t like she had said it outright! 

It was just, at the time, Annabeth just didn’t want to see him die in some misguided belief that he needed to protect the daughter of Zeus. She still didn’t want that outcome to come to pass, but she had dropped the issue for now. It was an argument she could just tell would take hours if not days of repetitive debate with Thalia to get her point across, and frankly, Annabeth didn’t have the time for that.

Not only had the Harpies gone missing, but more and more Demigods were failing to check in after being dispatched on ‘side-quests’ and the Council of Cloven Elders were refusing to send any more Satyrs out to find more demigods or tell the Campers if any venturing Satyrs needed help. Part of that came from the revelations made last summer, where Grover told everyone that Pan was dead – which, deus, Annabeth still had issues coming to terms with being a witness to the death of an actual god – and part of it came with the arguments they were having with Mr. D concerning their reparations for their help prior to the war’s beginning!

So, yeah. Arguing with a stubborn daughter of Zeus about her choice in living arrangement? Not something Annabeth had the time nor patience for. Asking for her help concerning the aforementioned missing Harpies, however…

“They’re just a bunch of missing birds, Annie. So what if they’re gone?” Thalia asked from where she sat on one of the couches within Cabin Six’s library/war rooms. The Daughter of Zeus flipped through one of the tabloid magazines that Camp Half-Blood were using to keep track of any shenanigans that the Titan’s faction may be partaking in. It was a tried and true method that had been started up before the turn of the millennium, apparently one Cabin Six member that had since moved on with their life had been inspired by a blockbuster film or something and, on a hunch, they started to look into postings by The Weird World News weekly paper. Apparently, many of the clear-sighted mortals that witnessed things they couldn’t explain would sell their outlandish tales to these tabloids. One such example was in Thalia’s hand and focused on a supposed survivor of the Colorado Incident, an article titled, “Husband Ripped Apart By Werewolves!” ...Annabeth had yet to prove any of the validity to the interview on page six, but she couldn’t exactly disprove it either.

“Thalia, the cleaning Harpies know the ins and outs of the camp’s defenses better than most of us.” Annabeth explained with a frown. “Heck, they have information on the best of our fighters–!”

“Annie,” Thalia lowered the tabloid to level her with a pointed look. “Luke is leading the Titan Army. Any demigods that defected with him have the same, if not better, information.”

Annabeth crossed her arms as her eyes slid away. She knew, logically, that sort of information made sense. It was practical. Rational. Expected. Still, openly labeling Luke – their Luke – as the leader of the Titan’s Forces left a bad taste in her mouth. It was the one part of her mind, the mortal human part, that was too stubborn for her own good.

“I know.”

“So, why are we worried about these glorified birds?” Thalia asked dryly. Annabeth sighed and walked over to a desk she had her notes and files spread out on. She grabbed a packet set atop it and walked it back.

“I tried to condense it as best I could or find a work around, but...according to my findings and the records at Cabin Nine, most of our Celestial Bronze ore comes from deliveries the Harpies make in Hermes’ stead.” Annabeth explained as the older girl flipped through the paperwork. “I asked the Stolls if they could talk to Hermes on our behalf to iron out the discrepancy, but on top of his duties as Olympus’ Messenger, he’s working behind the scenes trying to get us leads on the Titans’ outposts to raid. It’s one such outpost that I think our Harpies are being held at.”

“So, basically, the Messenger God delegated, because he’s overworked? Damn, I wish I was more annoyed at how much that makes sense.” Thalia muttered as she scanned over the third page. She grunted and lowered the paper to rub at her shoulder. “Ugh, this stupid thing needs to heal.”

“Are you hurt?” Annabeth frowned. That could potentially hinder the planned raid, with Percy out of commission, Thalia was the only other ‘heavy hitter’ confirmed to be on the Olympians’ side, and a Big Three child was essential to Annabeth’s planned raid. Thalia huffed and rolled her shoulder with a grimace.

“Nah, I’m just a little sore and the skin is tender.”

“How is that not being hurt?”

“It’s nothing, Annie, don’t worry about it.”

“Thalia.” Annabeth leveled her best friend, adoptive sister, and somewhat heroic idol with a flat stare. “Take off your jacket.”

“And risk You-Know-Who whisking it away when my back’s turned? I don’t think so.” Thalia huffed as she went back to reading over the debriefing. The golden-haired demigoddess hummed and strolled around the back of the couch. Just as Thalia turned to the second to last page, Annabeth struck. She pulled the collar of the jacket back, expecting to see a bandaged shoulder with dried blood or something along the lines, only to have a metal grey coiled serpent stare back at her. The daughter of Zeus yelped – and it was a yelp, don’t let her bravado fool you – at the act and cursed at her. “Annie, what the sh–?!

“You got a tattoo?!”

“Ugh, dammit, Annie, it’s not done yet!” Thalia jerked out of her grasp and grumbled as she rubbed the once more covered shoulder again. “I have to go back for some touch ups in a couple weeks–”

“Thalia!” Annabeth groaned and rubbed her face. “Why did you get a tattoo? No, better yet, why did you get a snake tattoo?!”

“It’s the one from the cover of Metallica’s Black Album, just a little brighter.” Thalia huffed and groaned as she inspected the collar of her jacket. “You better not have torn the leather, Annie, or I’m making you buy a replacement.”

“Oh my gods, Thalia–”

“Annabeth, I’m eighteen! I can get a tattoo if I damn well want to and Vaughn’s a freaking artist! Seriously, if you see this awesome sketch he worked out that complements the snake–” 

“When did you get the tattoo?” Annabeth asked. Thalia tossed her dossier to the table and glared up at her. The daughter of Athena gave her a pointed frown. “Thalia, if it’s too fresh I can’t bring you along, open wounds like that–!”

“Valentine’s Day, alright? I’ve been taking care of it.”

“How is three days–?”

“Whiskers helped.”

“That doesn’t explain–! Ugh, just forget it. We can discuss it later,” Annabeth sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. It wasn’t a fight she needed to win right now and she could have whoever joined them from Apollo’s cabin check it out. Although, speaking of Thalia’s weirdly absent boyfriend got Annabeth wondering. “Where is he anyway? I invited both of you–”

“He can’t come to Camp.” Thalia interjected curtly, a scrunch of her nose and a faint rumble from outside tipped Annabeth off to how she felt. Which, fair. Annabeth supposed she’d be upset if her significant other was banned from the sanctuary of Camp Half-Blood, too. The older girl huffed and leaned back in her seat. “He decided to go check out something nearby.”

“Check out what?” Annabeth asked with a frown. All that was in the immediate vicinity were the strawberry fields that Mr. D and Cabin Four laid claim to and the forest around the camp.

“Something he heard about the marshes from one of his...old friends.” Annabeth stared at her, waiting for more information. Thalia gave her a flat glower. “The less we know, the less likely he is to get in trouble with You-Know-Who.”

“Mm.” Annabeth pursed her lips. Like any rational being, she hated it when friends kept secrets from her. And being told she wasn’t supposed to know something was just infuriating on principle. In an effort to distract herself from that annoyance, she plopped down beside Thalia. “So, do you think he’d be able to join us on the raid?”

“Yeah, if he’s done with whatever ‘errand’ he’s on as soon as we leave.”

“Hm...Did he tell you-?”

“How’s Percy doing, Annie? You guys hung out recently, right?” Thalia’s abrupt change in the subject told her two things: One, she hadn’t gotten any more details than she shared with Annabeth; and Two, the limit of her temper about the subject had been reached.

Naruto, you’d better be doing something important, she thought as she began to navigate the perilous avenue of keeping Thalia from losing her cool while avoiding any potential ‘grilling’ about her and her best male friend’s nonexistent relationship.

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A figure stood on the edge of the marshes outside Moriches Bay. The figure wore a white shirt bearing a silver crescent moon visible beneath a hooded acid-stained jacket, the hood was drawn up to rest atop an untamed golden head of hair. Its blue eyes seemed to faintly glow within the shadow cast by its hood. The figure sniffed the air and curled its lip at the wafting smell of rotten eggs.

Ugh. The disgust expressed by a deep, baritone voice echoed within the figure’s head. Swamp Gas is awful regardless of the reality. How utterly disappointing.

“What, were you expecting it to smell like freshly bloomed daisies?” The figure asked as it pulled at the neckline of its shirt. The hemming glistened with magical light as it grew in length, becoming a fitted half-mask that covered the figure’s nose and mouth. The figure winced as a slight burn started in the left side of his neck. “Ow, Fox! What the–?!”

Don’t mock me, Naruto. The voice, Fox, growled. The burning sensation cooled off and any lingering ‘pain’ vanished. I let this heal naturally, but I can always speed up or reverse the process.

“Okay, alright, you’ve made your point.” Naruto huffed as he rubbed the spot that his tag along had targeted. “Stupid fox.”

Dumbass Brat. Find whatever it is your stupid ‘Patron’ or whatever wants fast, this stench is irritating.

“..Wait, aren’t you sealed in my arm? How do you even smell–?” Naruto scowled at his shoulder as he felt the connection terminate. “Insufferable, moody bastard.”

Resigned to continuing this ‘request’ alone, Naruto trudged into the marsh with careful strides. His father – though back in hiding amongst mortals lest an attempt of deic influence come his way once more (or in the more likely event that Zeus changed his mind) – had written down a few helpful notes on chakra manipulation, and one such method was the water or wall walking method. The former was harder for him to get away with, given that most of the bountiful water source he could use to practice were heavily overseen by Olympians at the moment, and that ability was not something he wanted their attention on.

Practicing the latter was easier to get away with. Granted, he did so in his girlfriend’s apartment. That in itself was only so fruitful, especially when Thalia suddenly started to get on his case about ‘shifting’ his preference to Spider-Man. Apparently, being a fan of the Web-Head seemed to upset her now for some reason. Whatever, Naruto was a Moon Knight fan through and through.

Unfortunately, that particular trait of his kept Khonsu on his case. Even if the God in question still owed him a favor, sometimes the way Khonsu – or any deity, really – phrased things made it seem like there’d be more trouble than necessary if he didn’t listen. Such was the case with this particular request. 

“I should have just signed up for that botanic class being offered, but no-o-o, I had to accept that unknown phone call from Kent, New York. Blocking that number as soon as I’m done here.” Naruto grumbled to himself. He took one wrong step into the reeds and unbalanced before he tumbled into the water with a splash. He laid there for a moment, face down, underwater, and debated remaining there to spare himself any further humiliation.

Too late for that, Brat. The Fox chuckled. Great, something else for the egotistical giant entity of energy to hold over his head. I’m not that petty, oh and another thing? You might want to move. Something’s interested in you, and not in the same way your mate is.

What is that supposed to mean? Naruto thought back as he pushed himself out of the water. As he did so, he came face to mouth with a massive crocodilian reptile wearing a pristine golden necklace around its throat. A puff of warm air was huffed into his face and the white-clad blond’s eyes went half-lidded. Ah. Interested in me as in ‘will probably eat you’.

Sage be praised, he can be taught. Now if only your mate or I can instill proper survival instincts into you.

“So not funny.” Naruto muttered as he slowly rose up and froze when the croc hissed. The cold chill of fear started to creep its way up his spine, but he fought it down as his eyes hardened. “You must be the creature Khonsu sent me to deal with.”

A guttural growl answered him as the cold, golden eyes of predatory instinct met his gaze. With that was an underlying curiosity, the kind only available in young, but given the size of the crocodile, it couldn’t be that young. Stranger still, the scars that were present on its body seemed too fresh. Again, Naruto’s eyes went to the necklace the crocodile wore. The croc’s tail flashed and it hissed again, drawing him back to the slits it had for pupils.

“...This is another stupid magic thing, isn’t it?” He grimaced and jerked back just as the monstrous reptile snapped at him. He stumbled and grimaced as he took a second to focus on his chakra flow at his feet. Now that he was standing atop the water as if it were land, he could lead the croc away from its den and–

“Whoa, what spell is–? Watch out!” A younger boy cried behind him. Despite that distracting new development, Naruto didn’t take his eyes off of the crocodile as it lunged for him, and jumped up over its lunge. He landed on its back, turned and jumped off again, this time landing on the bank of the marsh as it whipped around in an effort to snag him.

Oh hey, someone else was stupid enough to show up here. The Fox mumbled. Naruto ignored the commentary and looked over at the other boy that had shouted. He was lean and lanky, likely from the wonderful growing spurts the early teen years were subject to, and had short curly hair that looked a little unkempt, in contrast to his khaki colored slacks, button up and the sweater vest he wore – geez, was this kid some kind of librarian assistant or something? Whatever. More striking than his physical appearance and choice of clothes were his brown eyes that shone with the same gleam that bounced off of his sword, a Khopesh. The very sight of such a weapon made Naruto groan aloud and bury his face into his left hand.

“There was a Magician already dealing with this issue?! Come on, Khonsu, I could have signed up for that class today!” He grumbled sourly as he dragged his hand down his face. “This counts as the favor, this absolutely counts as his last favor.”

“Er, well, technically speaking, I’m a–Er, I mean, ahem, y-yes!” The younger teen’s voice cracked and he cleared his throat when Naruto gave him an unimpressed stare. “I’m Carter Kane, Magician of–”

“Cool, that’s great, listen, I don’t care,” he cut the boy, Carter, off and looked back at the giant crocodile. Yeah, it was a little rude, but there was the whole monster Saltwater Crocodile trying to set up territory in Long Island’s marshlands – oh, and it was eyeing the both of them up like they were brunch and linner respectively – so he figured manners could take a backseat for a second. “What’s the deal with Wayland Jones? Did Set have his own half-bloods with some flushed gators or something?”

“I–Half-Blood-? What are–?”

“Focus, Magician! I need details!” Naruto barked at the teen as he pulled a handful of silver crescent shuriken from his pocket – three should be enough to gauge the durability of the croc’s hide; he hoped anyway, he was running low and might need to request a few more from his mother at some point – and pulled his axe from where it was clasped in its piercing form on his ear. The crescents were thrown and struck true, right in the croc’s snout. Looked like maybe three quarters of an inch went in, yeah given how they were easily shaken out, that seemed right. And now it was coming at him. Alright, he could hold this thing off until the Magician sealed it–

“Khefa!”

A massive fist of blue energy flew over his shoulder and cracked into the prehistoric reptile’s snout, launching it from the water into the sky. The giant crocodile tumbled through the air, head over tail, and disappeared into the clouds. It would be very, very impressive if not for the fact that now that giant croc was likely across state lines and would land somewhere only the Gods would know until it popped back into his life. Likely in an explosive and violent manner.

Naruto held this realization with a twitch in his eye as he lowered his readied axe. He turned toward the astounded Magician, who stared at his hand in surprise and awe.

“It’s never been that strong outside of the Du’at..maybe the blessing hasn’t fully settled in yet?” Carter muttered aloud to himself, before he seemed to realize Naruto was staring at him. He flushed and lowered his hand. “Sorry! Sorry, it was lunging at you and I just thought that, well, if you weren’t going to cast anything–Where did those crescents even come from and your axe is...weird.”

“...It’s Kane, right?” Naruto asked tightly. The young teen nodded and he gave a curt nod back. “Kane. Okay. Kane, two things: One, you never answered my questions about that croc–”

“I was, there was a giant crocodile lunging at you! I couldn’t just stand there and think about whether Set could have kids! I don’t think he can do that, because they live in the Du’at, but it’s an interesting theory–”

“Two,” Naruto grunted as he put his axe back to his ear and grabbed the boy’s sweater vest once he was close enough. He pulled the teen close and pulled his soaked scarf down to bare his teeth. “Think about what you’re doing before you do it! Now I have to go hunt that thing down before anyone else gets involved–!”

A loud vibration at his hip made itself known and he growled before he shoved Carter Kane back. He pointed a finger at his face as he pulled the enchanted phone his dumb uncle forced on him out.

“Don’t move or say anything.”

“You can’t just–!”

“Kane, life will be very hard for you to live without legs! Quiet!” He snarled before he closed his eyes and flipped his phone open. “Hey, Tree Girl.”

“That’s a weird na-” Kane’s mutter was cut short when Naruto glared at him from the corner of his eye. Content that Kane would remain quiet, he focused on his girlfriend, who was probably using Annabeth’s ‘secret’ cellphone.

“Hey, Whiskers. Annie’s got a Camp animal rescue operation she wants us to help her with–”

“No, I don’t–That’s not at all what this is! It’s a certified Quest to raid an enemy outpost, Thalia!” He faintly heard Annabeth protest. He could feel Thalia’s eye roll from here.

“It’s not summer, it’s not a Quest, Annie. You know that,” she said. A frustrated huff came from the youngest member of their initial group.

“It’s a Side-Quest to raid the outpost, then!”

“Tree Girl, please, can you get to the point? I’m in the middle of something involving, er, Moon Knight.” He swallowed back a groan as soon as the words left his mouth. Kane mouthed them as his brows furrowed, only to be growled at for more silence, while his girlfriend went quiet on the other end of the line.

“Whiskers.” Oh, that tone of voice boded so poorly for him. “You’re not beating the life out of some random muggers again, are you?”

“That was only three times, Tree Girl.” He rolled his eyes. What, did his girlfriend think he just ran out to beat up random guys every night? That...was actually something he could do, now that he considered it and his extended ability pool.

“The one at Pollux’s place counts, Whiskers.”

“Fine. It only happened four times. I meant that I’m dealing with an Egyptian issue.” He sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. She went quiet again. He grumbled and took a breath to calm down as he ignored the snarky snicker in the back of his head from his forced companion. Stupid Energizer Fox. “It’s just a giant crocodile. I can handle it.”

“Just a giant crocodile, huh?” She sounded very unconvinced. It was a little annoying, almost as annoying as the sudden light combing over the marshlands. Naruto scowled as glowered up at the sun that was peeking through the clouds. His eyes narrowed; his Uncle Fred better not be spying on him. Again.

“Thalia, listen, dealing with Killer Croc is part of that favor I was asked to look into. Look, I'd tell you more, but I think Uncle Fred’s planning to abduct me, so if you need help on the raid, the time to tell me is–”

The roar of an engine and a blinding light preempted the arrival of his Uncle. Kane yelped and rubbed at his eyes while Naruto groaned. The door to the Sun Chariot’s driver seat – why, why did he have it in the form of a Lamborghini? How was that in any way inconspicuous?! – popped open and his golden hued uncle stepped out, an uncharacteristic frown on his face. Fantastic.

“Correction, I am about to be abducted by my Uncle.” Naruto deadpanned. Thalia groaned and he sighed. “Trust me, I agree with you. I’ll call Annie’s phone when he’s finished with me."

“Seriously, his timing is awfully convenient..."

"If he wasn't walking towards me at this very moment, I'd give you that." He chuckled before he sobered up. "Be careful on this 'side-quest' of yours, okay?"

"You, too, Whiskers.” Thalia sighed. "I love you."

"Love you, too, Tree Girl.” Naruto hung up before he turned to face his frowning Uncle and crossed his arms. “Uncle Fred.”

“Not quite, Lil’ Nephew.” Oh, that was a more serious tone. The god of light removed his sunglasses, allowing his bright and colder eyes to lock on him. Ah, it was his other Uncle then.

“Uncle George, my mistake.” Naruto let his arms fall slightly and nodded once the Roman Apollo stood before him. He blinked and any residual dampness from his dip in the marshes were gone. “How can I help you?”

“The–” Uncle George caught himself and looked at Kane. The boy was rubbing his eyes and trying to stare at Uncle George. Or through him. It was hard to say. Uncle George looked back at Naruto with a hard glare. “Why is there a Magician of Aegyptus here? So close to Idiot Me’s Camp?”

“I’ve yet to discover that myself, Uncle.” Naruto muttered as he side-eyed the boy that was watching them. He looked up at his uncle. “But I believe he was also sent to deal with a bastard son of Set. Or possibly Ammit.”

“Impossible, those parasites and their ilk cannot dwell outside of the Du’at.” Uncle George hummed as cupped his chin.

“Shame.” Naruto deadpanned. He closed his eyes. Why was his Uncle George here? So close to Camp Half-Blood?

“Hm, well, he can be dealt with later,” the Roman God of the Sun shrugged and put his hands on his hips as he stared down at him. “Naruto, I’ve had a vision, and I need your help to see it never comes to pass.”

Of course he does. Naruto closed his eyes and quietly groaned. Selene, Helios, Cthulhu, Primus...Why Me?

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AN: And so it begins!