Chapter 8: "Fruit, Fairy Wings, and Other Draining Affairs"
(In which Naruto learns that healing others takes more out of you than fighting monsters, Alice proves dryads are the best caterers, and even Gaia isn't immune to being adorable.)
If you've ever been to Olympus—and I mean the real Olympus, not some marble-themed spa resort in the clouds—then you'd know one golden rule: never interrupt Zeus when he's brooding.
Unfortunately, the walls of his palace hadn't gotten that memo.
They creaked like they were about to file a noise complaint as Zeus stormed into the throne room. Thunderclouds gathered in his wake, because of course they did—he was the Immortal of storms, after all. And also because no one in the universe brooded quite like Zeus. It was part weather phenomenon, part divine tantrum, and fully terrifying.
He looked like a walking statue carved out of solar flares and bad decisions. His beard was immaculately curled (thanks to centuries of narcissism), his robe shimmered with lightning threads, and his eyes? Two volts of divine displeasure aimed directly at a single glowing sign on the far wall: SECTOR 67.
That was the kicker.
The source of his thunderous mood.
The thing even he, King of Olympus, Lord of the Skies, Slayer of Titans and serial father of problematic demiImmortals—couldn't touch.
The sign mocked him.
And Zeus didn't do mocked.
He dropped onto his throne with all the grace of a dying planet, golden carvings rattling with the impact. His fingers drummed against the armrests like distant thunder rolling over a battlefield. He leaned back, eyes fixed on the cursed sign like he could vaporize it with sheer indignation.
He couldn't. Believe me, he'd tried.
It wasn't just a number. Sector 67 was a place. A decree. A sealed off section of Olympus and the mortal realms that not even Zeus's Immortally influence could crack. It had been locked away by a council older than the Olympians themselves, signed in divine blood and guarded by oaths that even he had once sworn—back when he still cared about such things.
His jaw clenched. Muscles in his face twitched with every memory that boiled to the surface.
"They don't understand me," he muttered.
Which, roughly translated, meant: Why won't the other immortals let me blow things up to feel better about myself?
He stood, his movements sharp as lightning strikes, pacing before his throne. His footsteps shook the chamber, and a few brave torches flickered in protest. One even went out completely. (RIP, brave little guy.)
Zeus's mind spiraled. Old regrets. New obsessions. He remembered the centuries he'd spent drowning his frustration in pleasure and decadence, in illusions of control. But those distractions had dulled. The emptiness returned.
Until recently.
Until it happened.
"The world smiled upon me," he said aloud, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "And gifted me with clarity."
He wouldn't say what "it" was—Immortals love their cryptic monologues—but whatever it was had lit a fire in his stormy heart. A path to power. A new plan. One that didn't require council votes or the permission of stuffy Olympians like Hera or Athena or—ugh—Poseidon.
"No more chains," he whispered. "No more 'sacred balances.' No more babysitting mortals who don't even know how to sacrifice a goat properly."
Lightning crackled around him. The air ionized. One of the statues lining the hall—an unfortunate likeness of Hermes holding a lyre—exploded into marble confetti.
He didn't even flinch.
Zeus stopped pacing. His hand rested on the edge of his throne. Then tightened. Cracked. Shattered.
Splinters of celestial metal skittered across the floor like frightened mice.
He turned slowly toward the glowing sign again, the predator's gleam in his eyes unmistakable.
"Soon," he growled. "Sector 67 will burn. Olympus will kneel. And I—I—will be free."
And if Olympus had ears, it probably would've started sweating right about then.
But it didn't.
So it just rumbled instead. Clouds churned above the golden dome. Thunder boomed.
Somewhere far off, a nymph fainted. A satyr tripped. And a random mortal developed a sudden fear of rain for no reason at all.
Because when Zeus gets ideas, they're never small. Or safe.
They're storms waiting to happen.
And this one?
This one had already begun.
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Naruto staggered into the grove that had become something between a sanctuary and a campground for mythical creatures too stubborn—or too weird—to blend in with the rest of the mortal world. The sun bled across the sky like it had picked a fight with a titan and lost, casting everything in molten gold. He could almost pretend it was peaceful, if not for the stabbing pain in his ribs and the fact that he was basically one massive walking scab.
He wasn't alone in his suffering.
A strangled cry split the warm evening air, and Naruto's instincts kicked in before his brain even caught up. He spun around and caught Ella just as she plummeted from the sky like a feathered meteor. She was light in his arms, deceptively so for someone who could bench-press a minotaur mid-flight when she was healthy. But right now? Her wings drooped, her claws twitched uselessly, and her golden eyes shimmered with exhaustion—and something else. Shame, maybe.
"Ella," he murmured, holding her closer, ignoring the fresh bolt of pain lancing up his spine. "Stop struggling. I've got you."
She blinked up at him, her fierce harpy pride visibly at war with her very rational need to not die. After a tense second, she gave a small nod and sagged into his chest, her trust complete.
Naruto shifted her carefully, trying not to wince as her claws brushed a particularly nasty cut on his shoulder. He hated this—seeing her like this. Seeing himself like this. He'd promised to protect her, and instead, they were limping back home like broken toys after a failed trial run.
A flurry of wings and fluttering leaves signaled the arrival of Gaia. Tiny, smug, and glowing like someone's overachieving garden gnome, she zoomed down and landed on a low-hanging branch, arms crossed, looking like the universe had personally offended her.
"You look like a piñata after a demiImmortal birthday party," she said. "You both do."
"Nice to see you too," Naruto muttered, easing down onto a tree stump with Ella still cradled against him.
Gaia huffed and floated a little closer, her leaf-draped wings buzzing irritably. "You should've been more systematic. Plan, Naruto. That's what the rest of us do when we want to survive. Not this glorious blaze of reckless self-destruction you insist on calling 'training.'"
"I had a plan," Naruto said, then winced. "It just… didn't survive contact with three cyclopes, two manticores, and an exploding bush."
"Exploding bush?" Ella rasped, her voice weak but amused.
"Long story," Naruto muttered. "Had eyes. Didn't like us."
Gaia made a noise that might've been a groan or a very tiny scream. "You still have two weeks! Two whole weeks! Do you know what most heroes do with that much time? Not bleed out in public, for starters!"
Naruto's smile was faint but resolute. "I can't take it slow, Gaia. Every day we rest, the threat grows stronger. The nymphs, the dryads—they're counting on me. They're not warriors. They have flowers for hair and bark for armor. They're trusting me. So yeah, if I have to break a few bones getting ready, so be it."
Gaia was quiet for a moment, her glowing green eyes softening. "You've got a hero complex, you know that?" she said, not unkindly.
"It's either that or let someone else bury the bodies I could've saved." Naruto's voice cracked on the last word, but he didn't flinch.
Gaia floated closer and perched on his knee, her tiny hand resting lightly on the tattered edge of his pants. "Just don't die, okay? Tartarus doesn't exactly do customer service. If you fall… your soul will be reborn in his pit, and if that happens—" Her expression darkened like a storm cloud made of moss and old sorrow. "He'll know. He'll feel me in you. And then he'll come. With legions."
Naruto swallowed hard, cold dread snaking through his ribs faster than any poison. "Right. Avoid dying. Step one."
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Naruto had a lot of talents. He could dodge a lightning spear with half a second's warning, talk his way out of a celestial tribunal (mostly), and survive falling off a cliff with only a bruised ego. But apparently, flying was still off the table.
"So… any news from Olympus?" he asked as casually as someone asking if the weather looked good for a picnic.
Gaia—currently snack-sized and perched dramatically on Ella's feathery head like the world's crankiest lawn gnome—let out a breath of relief. "They're occupied. The Gigantes—my other children—are keeping them distracted. Your presence hasn't drawn their attention yet."
That earned a blink from Naruto. "Wait, so the demi-immortal I saw earlier throwing lightning bolts at something the size of a New York skyscraper...?"
"Porphyrion," Gaia said, nodding with what Naruto could only describe as a mix of maternal pride and existential dread. "King of the giants. Zeus's personal nightmare. Probably him."
Naruto let out a low whistle. "Interesting. Maybe we'll bump into him after I deal with the dragon."
Gaia stopped mid-air like someone had hit pause on her animation. She narrowed her eyes so hard they might've bored holes through titanium. "Tame the dragon? You didn't say anything about taming it."
Naruto gave a shrug that screamed I'm definitely underplaying this for dramatic effect. "I can't fly, Gaia. My old speed? Gone. So unless one of you knows how to turn into a supersonic jet, we need a ride. Preferably scaly, fireproof, and airborne."
Ella, tucked under his arm like a particularly loyal pillow with claws, chirped enthusiastically. "I vote dragon ride!"
Gaia crossed her arms, hovering in front of his face now like an annoyed fairy Immortalmother from Greek tragedy. "And what if it doesn't want to be tamed?"
Naruto's grin turned wolfish. "Then I'll convince it. One way or another."
For a heartbeat, silence hung between them. The kind that suggested the universe was taking bets on whether this would end in triumph or barbecue.
Finally, Gaia sighed and rubbed her temples like she was developing a mortal-sized migraine. "You've already survived things you shouldn't have, Naruto. Just… don't make me doubt if you'll survive your own ambition."
Naruto looked toward the horizon, where shattered buildings gave way to broken sky bridges and the smoky silhouette of the city's edge. Somewhere out there, beneath the rumble of forgotten Immortals and sleeping beasts, was the dragon. His ticket to the skies. Or his fiery doom.
He tightened his grip on Ella, who nuzzled closer with an almost trusting purr, and nodded to Gaia.
"I'll be careful," he said. "But I didn't come here to play it safe."
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Naruto stumbled through the iron gate of the Central Park sanctuary like a demiImmortal who had wrestled a minotaur, a gorgon, and a vending machine all at once—and possibly lost to the vending machine.
His tunic (or what was left of it) was singed at the edges, his face was smeared with dirt, and he looked like someone had taken a weed whacker to his chakra network. In short, he'd seen better days. But his eyes—those wild, defiant, too-stubborn-for-his-own-good eyes—still burned with purpose.
Alice, a wind nymph who had the kind of beauty that made poets weep and air spirits twirl in delight, floated toward him with an audible gasp.
"Oh my breezes—you look like you lost a fight to a cyclops and his emotional baggage," she said, then quickly added, "But welcome back!"
Naruto smiled faintly. "It was productive."
That was Naruto-speak for 'I got chased by murder-harpies, made a soul pact with a vengeance-obsessed immortal, healed an injured fae, and managed not to die. Again.'
"Do you have any fruit?" he asked, rubbing his stomach with a wince. "I tried foraging on the way back, but everything tastes like it's been cursed by a disgruntled forest spirit."
Alice tilted her head, her windswept hair dancing like silver leaves. "You're in luck. The dryads just harvested the starfruit groves. Come, rest."
She led him through a path shaded by whispering willows and luminous blue ferns, where the sanctuary's magic filtered the air until it felt like breathing through silk. Naruto carefully lowered Ella—his pint-sized, winged companion—onto a soft patch of grass that shimmered faintly with healing energy.
Her wings, torn and flecked with dried blood, trembled as he placed a hand over her chest and began to pour the last dregs of his energy into her. His skin glowed faintly, like moonlight through fog, and ancient seals flickered across his fingers.
Ella whimpered, her tiny hands balling into fists, but she didn't scream.
"You're okay," Naruto whispered, brushing her red hair away from her forehead. "You're safe."
He was trembling when he finished. Not from pain—he could shrug that off—but from exhaustion so complete that even blinking felt like a feat of strength.
"Now I understand how civilians feel," he muttered, leaning back on his elbows. "How do they survive doing anything with so little energy?"
From a floating crystal orb nearby, Gaia—yes, the Gaia—hovered like a smug librarian with infinite wisdom and very little patience for mortal nonsense.
"That's what the strong always ask," she said. "How the powerless manage to keep going."
He gave her a half-lidded glare. "You're not helping."
Gaia grinned. "Wasn't trying to."
Ella stirred and curled against him, resting her head on his lap like a sleepy kitten who had just survived a war. Her laughter was faint—more air than sound—but it was genuine. It lit something warm in Naruto's chest.
"Tickles," she mumbled.
Naruto smiled and ruffled her hair. "Sleep, starlight. You've earned it."
Around them, soft footsteps crunched on the grass as a small flock of wind nymph children crept forward, eyes wide as dinner plates. They looked like they'd seen a unicorn and were trying very hard not to scream in delight.
One brave girl whispered, "Is he a sky prince?"
Another murmured, "Can I touch his whiskers?"
Before chaos could erupt, Alice appeared like a stern babysitter who'd had one too many caffeine-deprived mornings.
"Back, you sparkly fiends! Let the man breathe."
The nymphs scattered with disappointed sighs. Naruto chuckled.
Alice returned shortly with a large leaf platter stacked high with fruits that shimmered like they'd been blessed by Apollo himself—starfruit, sunberries, cloud-pears, and a melon that pulsed with gentle warmth.
"These will help restore your stamina," she said, setting the platter beside him.
"Thanks." Naruto plucked a starfruit and offered it to Ella, who nibbled on it slowly, her gold eyes half-lidded in contentment.
Then, on impulse, he picked up a small cube of sunberry and held it toward Gaia's projection. "You watching me with judgmental eyes deserve a taste too."
Gaia blinked. For the briefest moment, the primordial Immortaldess looked… shy.
She drifted closer, took the fruit with delicate fingers, and nibbled at it so daintily that even Ella stopped chewing to watch.
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Cute."
Gaia nearly choked. "I—I am not cute."
"Sure you're not," Naruto replied with a smirk, leaning back against the grass, one arm curled protectively around the girl in his lap.
For a moment, everything felt still. Safe.
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If someone had told Naruto a week ago that he'd be strategizing with nymphs, gearing up to fight a dragon, and getting wind-armored by a blushing nature spirit, he might've assumed they'd eaten one too many moldy dumplings. But here he was—eating stale trail mix on the edge of a collapsed fountain—while surrounded by very concerned-looking elemental girls and one smug miniature Earth Mother.
The tension was thick enough to be cut with a kunai.
Alice, a high-level wind nymph with hair like silver clouds and eyes like stormlight, fidgeted with the hem of her tunic. "Naruto," she said, her voice as soft as breeze-blown grass, "do you require our help in facing the dragon?"
Naruto paused mid-chew. Trail mix clunked against his teeth as he pondered. "Yeah," he said finally. "I'd like the wind nymphs to distract it from above. Keep it busy. Make it think we're everywhere and nowhere. Meanwhile, water nymphs can douse any fire it breathes. Ella and I will handle the rest."
There was a chorus of nods from the gathered nymphs. All business. Except Alice, who stayed frozen in place like her sandals had rooted themselves to the stone.
"I—I'd like to offer something else too," she said, voice wobbling. "The dragon is aerial, and while Ella is strong, carrying you during combat might limit her movements."
Naruto blinked. "How would you help?"
"I can combine with you," Alice said, cheeks going cherry red. "As a high-level nymph, I can become armor. It would boost your strength, speed, and…" she hesitated, then pushed through, "grant you flight."
For a second, the only sound was the wind whispering through the broken stone archways.
Then Gaia, perched cross-legged on a tree stump, snorted. "How romantic," she cackled. "Naruto, you sure know how to woo the woodland spirits."
Naruto gave her a glare that could've peeled bark. Alice looked like she wanted the earth to swallow her—which was ironic, considering she had Gaia standing ten feet away.
"Can you… show me?" Naruto asked gently.
Alice's eyes lit up. "Yes!"
She reached out, fingers trembling slightly. Naruto took her hand—and in an instant, her form dissolved into shimmering threads of air. The breeze picked up, circling him like an eager dog, until it wrapped tightly around his body in a swirling dance of energy and windlight.
The air solidified into armor: sleek silver plates over dark mesh, crowned with shoulder guards like winged crests. Ethereal wings burst from his back, glistening like morning mist. A thin circlet formed on his forehead, resting above his eyes like a crown forged from the sky itself.
You should be able to move like the wind, Alice's voice echoed inside his mind, clear and steady now, no longer shy.
Naruto tested the armor with a cautious hop… then shot into the sky like a cork out of a shaken soda. "Whoa!" he yelped, spinning once—twice—before leveling out. He looped through the air with increasing grace, wind trailing behind him in silver ribbons.
Below, nymphs stared, their jaws somewhere near their knees.
Even Ella—the fierce little harpy with talons and loyalty to match—looked up at him like he'd sprouted a second sun. "Naruto… you're flying!" she called out, her wings fluttering in delight.
He landed softly beside her, his boots barely making a sound. "Looks like we've got a real shot now."
Alice's form coalesced beside him again, stumbling slightly. She was pale, cheeks flushed with exertion, but her smile could've lit up the ruins. "I'll rest and recover. I can do it again during the battle."
"Thank you," Naruto said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You were incredible."
Alice ducked her head, then scampered off with the dignity of someone who'd just turned into power armor in front of a crowd and maybe developed feelings about it.
Naruto turned to Gaia, arms crossed. "Okay. What was that laugh about?"
Gaia swung her legs lazily and smirked. "Oh, nothing. Just that your nymph girlfriend literally became your second skin."
"She's not—" he began, then cut himself off with a sigh. "She was offering help. That's all."
"Sure," Gaia said. "Next time, maybe she'll 'help' you into a wedding ring."
He groaned. "I can't believe I'm being heckled by a pint-sized Earth deity."
She gave him a wink. "Believe it. Now come on, Sky King. There's a dragon to roast."
With new strength in his limbs, wind beneath his feet, and a growing team at his back, Naruto felt—perhaps for the first time in a while—that they had a real chance. A spark of hope, wrapped in wings and mischief.
The hunt had changed. And so had he.