Chapter 21

June 5

"Annabeth, you need to let go of the mast," yelled Naruto as he tried to persuade his sister to let go of the mast, "Rachnera is harmless."

"But she is a spider! "replied Annabeth, "Spiders are evil!"

"Not all spiders are evil," shouted Naruto, "Phil hasn't bitten anyone considering Clarisse won't stop poking him."

"It's only a matter of time until he does!" replied Annabeth

'In a way she's right,' thought Naruto, 'it's a miracle Phil hasn't bitten Clarisse yet.'

"Percy are we near a dock yet?" asked Naruto as he cradled his forehead, he'll deal with his sister later.

"Yes, but we now have a problem," replied Percy, 'The Princess Andromeda is up ahead."

"What!' yelled Annabeth as she finally descended from the mast, "I thought we lost them in Georgia."

"Well they caught up," said Percy

"Is this ship important?" asked Clarisse

"It's the ship that Luke runs," replied Annabeth, "he has a bunch of monsters on the ship with brainwashed passengers acting as food."

"Now that's low," commented Silena, "using innocent people as a food source goes against our morals."

"He's evil now and willing to do anything to complete his goals." said Naruto, "He is no longer one of us."

"Since he is no longer one of us we can attack," said Clarisse,

"Prepare the cannons! We are attacking that traitorous boat!"

"Who is she talking to?" whispered Percy.

"I think she's talking to us," replied Annabeth

"I said 'prepare the cannons'!" yelled Clarisse

Tyson, Annabeth, Percy, and Silena panicked and began to run to the bottom of the ship and arm the cannons. Tyson loaded the black powder charges in the mussel as Percy pierced the black powder to insert the wicks, while all of this was happening Naruto and Rachnera were standing on the deck wondering what to do.

"Should we go down and help?" asked Rachnera

"Do you know how to arm a cannon?" asked Naruto

"No," replied Rachnera

"I guess we just steer the ship and make sure we're on the right course," said Naruto as he walked to the steering wheel

"I'll manage the sails then," said Rachnera as she climbed the mast.

So far Luke Castellan's plan to destroy Olympus was going swimmingly. He gathered a right amount of rejected demigods and convinced them that destroying the palace was the answer to their problems. He 'persuaded' the owners of the yacht to let him use it without the couple knowing what it was being used for, various monsters walked the deck, to battle or feast on the hypnotized humans depending on their mood, without a shred of fear in them.

"So, what do we do from here?" asked a demigod.

"We wait," replied Luke, "they should be bringing the Fleece any moment now."

"Who?" asked the same demigod.

"The one that still follows the gods," answered Luke, "and with-it Lord Kronos will rise again."

Luke walked into the captain's cabin to reveal that he had the casket that housed the remains of Kronos, the father to most of the Olympians. He was the key to destroying Olympus and showing the gods what happens when you ignore your children.

"There's another ship coming!" yelled another demigod, "and it's being pulled by water horses!"

"I see they finally arrived," said Luke as he exited the cabin and waited on the dock to welcome his 'guests.'

The Queen Ann's Revenge docked near the yacht, and various monsters greeted the group. Tyson took the rear, assuming a boxer's stance, while Silena and Clarisse armed

themselves in the front. Naruto bypassed the two girls and walked until he was a yard away from Luke.

"Luke, I see you are in good health," said Naruto, "I see you even managed to make a few new friends."

"I'm surprised they let you out of the camp," said Luke, "I guess they were really desperate. I can only imagine how many orders you will have once you get back, that if you do go back."

"I will make it back that's for certain," said Naruto, "you do remember I have the Love Goddess on my side along with Hade's wife. Do you really want to deal with two enraged goddesses?"

"You may have protection, but that only applies to you, your companions, on the other hand, have no protection," said Luke

"They do not need such protection," replied Naruto, "While you were off gathering an army we back at the camp we were training for the day you would invade."

"Such training will be useless when I revive Kronos, and we take our revenge against the gods." said Luke as he drew his sword and readied himself, "Now hand over the fleece."

"Never!" shouted Percy as he ran towards Luke, this action started the battle.

'Idiot,' thought Naruto as readied his rapier for battle.

Clarisse charged with her spear and battled the monster the Luke called allies, Silena, on the other hand, weaved around the enemy striking at their weak points. A few feet away Tyson was in his battle using his brute strength to smash other monster and fling the enemy demigods away. The test of his fighting ability came when two bear-like creatures approached him. The two were named Agrius and Oreius, children of Polyphonte and Tyson found out that they were very durable as the two took several of Tyson's hit and seemed unfazed by them.

"Enough!" shouted Percy, "We'll settle this like we do at camp, a duel. If you win, we had over the fleece, but if I win you let us leave unharmed."

"I accept those terms," said a confident Luke, "one on one to the death."

'What is that idiot doing?!' thought Naruto as he looked at the spawn of the sea.

While the monster we distracted Naruto went back to the ship to get Rachnera and his sister, hopefully, nothing happens until he gets back. It was easy getting Rachnera off, but Annabeth proves to be difficult as she decided to hide in the crow's nest, the furthest distance from the spider-woman. Naruto was trying his best to get his sister to come down not knowing that a smaller master snuck on board and snuck behind the blonde. Rachnera looked back to see if Naruto was coming, as he was taking a while, and saw the monster on the ship;

"Naruto watch out!" shouted Rachnera to her husband

"Ha," replied Naruto as he turned around to spot the monster.

"Die!" shout the monster as he did a downward strike with a sword, only for the sword to snip once it touched Naruto's skin, "What!"

"Stay away from my husband," whispered Rachnera as she strangled the monster, while she was doing that Naruto was looking at his hands.

'What happened?' thought Naruto

Annabeth came down a second later also fascinated by Naruto's feat.

"How did you do that?" asked Annabeth

"I don't know," said Naruto, "but we can figure it out later, Percy looks like Percy is about to lose."

Naruto was proven right, but as they watched he noticed Percy throw a drachma in the ocean and carefully forming his dialogue carefully, the end result was Percy forming am Iris message to the camp. Percy continued his fight with Luke, making the son of Hermes confess that he was the one that poison Thalia's tree and what he plans to use the Golden Fleece for.

"I have heard enough," said Mr. D, surprising Luke

Luke, in his enraged state, charged at the sea spawn only to be intercepted by an arrow tipped with a boxing glove.

'Great, they're here' thought Naruto in dread, 'The party ponies.'

The reason for his dislike for this particular group of centaurs could be described in two words, destructive and tacky. He was a fashion designer by trade so seeing the flurry of neon colored shirts and various torn clothing was nauseating for the boy. Sure, they were a great ally to have, but they always wanted to party and not take life seriously. Naruto seriously thought that these centaurs worshiped Mr. D. and just keep parting to preserve his memory.

"Clarisse! Silena! We need to get going, we're running out of time." yelled Naruto as grabbed Rachnera and ran to the entrance to the pier,

"Thalia's life is at stake."

"Right," replied Silena

"But we're in the middle of a huge fight," said Clarisse, relishing in the adrenaline of battle

"The barrier of camp is crumbling risking the lives of various campers, your family, but you want to stay here and enjoy your battle pleasure," said Naruto in a flat tone

"(growling with a hint of whining) Fine! but we are having an all-out fight when we get back." said Clarisse as she caught up to Naruto and Silena

"Fine, but it can't be with me, you're going to have to settle it with your brothers and sisters," said Naruto as they began to run

"So how are we going to get back?" asked Silena

"We can't take my jet as it's in the shop, so we have to take commercial," replied Naruto

"Great," said Clarisse in a sarcastic

The Miami International Airport was swarming as people from all over the country conjugated to go home or go to some other places for business or for pleasure. The group of four, plus one spider, reached the airport and began to discuss their plan for arrival.

"Silena you go and IM Mr. D that we will be arriving a bit later than expected." said Naruto, "Clarisse you get the tickets, and I'll package and have Phil mailed to the camp."

"Why do I have to get the tickets?!" complained Clarisse, "Silena can charm speak the teller and get them for free."

"One; you look the oldest among us and two; the only teller that is open also has charm speak," answered Naruto

"And how would you know?" asked Silena

"I've been to this airport before," said Naruto, "and how else do you think she became my personal traveling assistant."

"Seriously?" asked Clarisse

"I can in to get a ticket, she recognized me, and by the end of it she now gets five percent of my profits and is an occasional model for my dresses." said Naruto in a sense of dread, "not one of my proudest moments."

'Why do I have a feeling my mother had something to do with that.' thought Silena

Once Clarisse got the tickets and rounded up the rest of the team they proceeded to get to the security gate. It took twenty minutes for the three to get through the checkpoint, they went to the gate and found three seats together. Silena left a few minutes to look at souvenirs for her sisters and brothers, Clarisse followed her lead and left to get them something to eat as they wait. Naruto took a book out and read until the plane started to board, which took an additional forty-five minutes, and the group of four had to deal with the usual hushing on the plane. Luck missed them as they all had separate seating, Clarisse had to deal with two sleeping fat guys, Naruto was seated between a mother and child, while Silena and Rachnera had to deal with crying babies. For three hours they had to deal with the other passengers, Clarisse can only handle so much spit, and her shoulders were killing her from being a support rest for the two whales. Once they touched down, it took ten minutes for them to get their bags and exit the airplane.

"And that is why I have a personal jet." said Naruto in a dead tone, "to avoid babies and other annoyances."

"I agree," said Clarisse as she rolled her shoulders

"I think we should wait before you impregnate me," said Rachnera as she was trying to get the ringing out of her ears.

"I agree," said Naruto

"I hate flying," commented Silena

"Let's call the sisters so they can bring us to camp and we can end this quest." said Naruto, "anyone got a drachma?"

"Here, I'll probably take a nap during the ride," said Silena

"Need more beauty sleep princess?" said Clarisse in a snarky tone

"Oh, shut up," said Silena, "or I will tell the camp that you modeled for a dress."

"Just get in the cab," said Naruto notifying the rest of them that the cab had arrived, not telling them that he had to pay extra for Rachnera. The cab ride only lasted for fifteen minutes, silent as the group didn't know what to talk about. They were basically kicked out once they reached their destination, turns out the grey sisters don't like having monsters in their cab for extended amounts of time. The trip over the hill was exhausting, but when the rest of the camp saw the four, thinking that Rachnera was another demigod, and began to celebrate as their camp was saved. They swarmed the group and started to hug them and jump up and down.

"Yeah, yeah, now where it the Fleece?" asked Mr. D in a flat tone

"Naruto, the fleece," said Clarisse

"Yeah, there's a problem with the fleece," said Naruto

"What Problem?" said Clarisse through clenched teeth

"Whenever I'm stressed I sleep knit, and the fleece was in my hand, so~," said Naruto as he brought out a large golden tea cozy, "I changed its shape, but I think the magic still works."

"Let's try it," said Silena as she grabbed the cozy and nailed it to the tree.

Once the fleece was secured to the tree, it caused an instant reaction as Thalia's tree was renewed with life as the tree's leaves turned green and the grass surrounding the tree turned greener and since the tree was better the barrier that surrounded the camp was repaired and was made stronger. Now that the camp was safe the campers hoisted the group on their shoulders and carried them the center of the camp. The partying lasted till night, and even the burning of the death shrouds was turned festive. Now came the tough part, explaining that Rachnera is a monster and is Naruto's bride. When they heard the news two things happened; one, everyone formed a giant circle around Naruto, and two everyone got out their weapons.

"Listen, guys, she's harmless," said Naruto as he stood in front of Rachnera

"She's a monster," said one of the campers, "she is programmed to kill and eat demigods especially children of knowledge."

"She's different," defended Naruto, "I have been with her for several days, and she didn't attack the other quest members or me."

"It's only a matter of time until she does," said another demigod

"She's not leaving," said Naruto firmly, "during the quest we bonded and plan to explore further. If it makes you comfortable, I'll move my shop outside the camp boundary preventing her from entering the camp, but it any harm comes to her there will be retribution to the attacker."

The camp talked amongst themselves and agreed to Naruto's terms, even if some of them were reclusive to do so. Relocating the shop was easy, and all Naruto had to do was flatten the building and carry it to the camp's borders, this relocation did surprise Melinoe, but she quickly got over it when she saw Rachnera, and she explained how she became Naruto's wife. Melinoe emphasized with the spider princess, and she ended up hugging Rachnera and telling her that she will be alright, but it quickly became awkward when Rachnera suggest the three of them participate in an orgy to celebrate and as a way to quickly get to know each other. Melinoe pulled the spider aside and began to explain that they don't do that anymore, while Naruto when to the back of the shop and check on his pet owl and introduce Phil to Stilio and hope that they don't kill each other.

"Pets are okay, and I have a new wife," said Naruto, "never a dull moment in my life that's for sure."

The next day Percy's group arrived, but most were excited because Tantalus was leaving and Chiron was going to be reinstated. The child eater resisted as the shackles that were on his wristed dragged him back to Hades, he didn't want to go back to that island and be tormented by the hanging fruit. As the camp was celebrating Percy's return something unexpected happened, Thalia's tree began to shake, and dirt beneath it started to fall away revealing a black-haired girl with a black leathered jacket covering her. The campers crowed to see if their eyes didn't betray them, it did not as Thalia Grace was indeed alive and was no longer a tree. Chiron quickly scooped up the unconscious girl into his arms and transported her to the Big House to recover. This was a happy day as Zeus blessed the camp with his daughter, making the camp stronger. The news of Thalia's return makes both Annabeth and Naruto run to Big House to greet their big sister and make sure she wouldn't leave them again. The scene of Annabeth and Naruto hugging the now awake Thalia made Chiron cry, but Mr. D gagged and retreated to his hot tub to enjoy the bubble and hot water.