Chapter 22

It has been a week since Naruto came back from his quest to the Sea of Monsters and he was currently working on a customer's order. He was facing away from the door when he felt a disturbance in his shop, Naruto turned around to see the last person he would want to see.

"Hello mother, what can I do for you," said Naruto in a dull tone

"Good to see you too son," replied Athena, "I see that you are in full health."

"Yes, I am, but something tells me you're not here on a social call." said Naruto

"You would be right," said Athena as she looked around, "Why is it that you have a monster living with you, a descendent of Arachne to make it worse?"

"She is may second wife after Melinoe," said Naruto as he returned to his work, "I met her in the Sea of Monsters."

"What! You are my offspring and I will not have someone from my mind associate with such a vile creature!" Yelled Athena, "you are to kill her by night fall."

"No, we have had a rocky relationship at first but I began to appreciate her quirks and flaws, such as she did I with me." Said Naruto, "And I maybe your son but you are not my true mother, that honour belongs to Hestia. You abandoned me the day I was born, standing back as I dealt with the death of my father, the doubt that I was a mistake that no on wanted, and finally being used as a slave because of my gifts. The only sign that you acknowledge me was when you claimed me at camp, which took days if not weeks to happen. You could have helped me when my siblings decided to throw me out of the cabin because I was an oddity to them, but no you sat back and watched. Annabeth was the only one of my siblings that talked to me after my exile from the cabin. I always wondered what you were like and I soon reached the conclusion that your mindset was that of a scientist, seeing humanity as nothing more then rats for you to test on. If anything, you just see me as another specimen for you to study, trying to figure out what went wrong with my development. I was lonely until Melinoe can into my life and brightened my life. She asked me about my day and tries to help me overcome obstacles that get in my way. When I introduced Rachnera to her she was excited as she now has someone else to talk to when I am away. So, no mother I will not kill Rachnera because she's a monster."

"She has a name," said Athena, "It's obvious that you have gotten too close to her, I'll have one of your siblings kill her since she has you under her control."

"I can tell you that plan will fail," said Naruto, "I will defend her from both my siblings and the other campers. Send them If you don't believe me but they will be sent to the Infirmary or worse. I will not let you kill my wife in cold blood!"

"Cold blood. Cold blood! That woman's family is responsible for the deaths of many children, both mine and the other gods. She has to die to make amends for their transgressions!" Yelled Athena

"Rachnera hasn't killed a single demigod," said Naruto, "and clumping her with the monsters of the past is low, even for you. 'The past is over and the future can change' is something I believe in, grudges should be forgotten and we should just look towards the future. We shouldn't live in the past, something you seem to be doing, and just get on with our life's. Also you created Arachne in the first place, just because she was boasting that her talent exceeded yours. You couldn't handle someone saying that they were better than you at something so you turned her into a monster and cursed your children with being torment by Arachne's descendants. I see my marriage to Rachnera was a chance to fix the past and end this petty rivalry!

"Foolish words from a foolish boy," said Athena, "you have yet to see the true nature of monsters and just hold onto the belief that some monsters can be saved. I will leave you then but you will be sorry for not listening to my words. Good bye Naruto, I hope you mature by the time you see me again."

Athena's form disappeared and Naruto turned back to the dress he was working on.

'I will not be brainwashed by her words, she Is the foolish one for holding onto such grudges of the past.' Though Naruto, 'History is the past and should stay in the past, there are exceptions such as Hades but he's in charge of punishing the wicked so he's okay.'

An hour has pasted until the door opened and Melinoe walked in;

"Naruto, I'm back from the Underworld," greeted Melinoe

"Welcome back Melinoe, how was your trip?" Asked Naruto

"You know the usual," said Melinoe, "a few haunting there, guiding a few souls to the afterlife, you know. How is Rachnera adjusting to camp life?"

"She seems to be doing fine," said Naruto, "she made herself comfortable in the attic keeping Phil and Stilio company."

"That's good," said Melinoe only to pause, "did you have a visitor from New York?"

"Yes, my mother decided to pay me a visit." Said Naruto

"Which one?" Asked Melinoe

"The one that gave birth to me," replied Naruto, "she wanted me to get rid of Rachnera because she's a descendent of Arachne. We had different points of view and had a little argument."

"So, she's staying," said a hopeful Melinoe

"Yes," Answered Naruto

"Yeah! I know I chose the right person to be my husband!" Said Melinoe as she hugged Naruto

"Melinoe! Please release me, I have orders to complete." Said Naruto as he tried to escape from Melinoe's sign of affection.

"Oh! You are so cute," said Melinoe as she continued to hug the blonde

"Melinoe, way don't you take Rachnera into the mall to get her some new clothes and teach her more about the modern world." Said Naruto

"That's a great Idea!" Said Melinoe as she released Naruto, "we can have some quality girl time and talk about her role in the company."

"That sounds good," said Naruto as he got back into his chair, "Here's my card, so don't worry about prices."

"Thank you!" Said Melinoe as she took the card and ran upstairs to get the Spider princess, "Rachnera we are going to the mall!"

'She may be a goddess but she has her teenage moments,' thought Naruto as he resumed his work, 'but she is cute when she has them.'