Chapter 11: Nightmares, Nymphs, and the Relocation Blues
(In which Naruto tries to bury a dream, Gaea forgets she's ancient and wise, and a whole forest prepares to pack up like it's moving day at Camp Half-Blood.)
You know that moment when you stare down a fire-breathing dragon the size of a cruise ship, and instead of becoming a pile of crispy human toast, you end up saving its life and accidentally adopting it?
Yeah, Naruto was having one of those days.
Albion—the dragon in question—was not exactly thrilled about it. He sat sulking like a grounded teenager, his massive crimson wings tucked in, smoke still curling from his nostrils. His serpentine eyes, as ancient as forgotten mountains, narrowed with suspicion while the nymphs flitted around, weaving golden threads of magic to stitch his wounds.
Inside, though, Albion was fuming.
How dare this two-legged scrap of mortality challenge me, wound me, and then offer healing as if I were a stray mutt licking its paw? Porphyrion will crush him. He'll see. He'll—
"What's your name?" Naruto's voice cut through his inner brooding like a thrown kunai.
The dragon blinked. A beat passed. "Albion," he growled, each syllable coiling with reluctant defiance.
Naruto gave a lopsided grin. "Cool name. Bit edgy, but it works."
Albion's nostrils flared. Was this mortal mocking him? Complimenting him? He couldn't tell. Either way, it was infuriating.
Naruto was already walking away. He didn't have time to argue with a brooding lizard the size of a temple. Ella was the real priority now.
She lay cradled on a bed of moss, surrounded by dryads who looked like woodland nurses with floral clipboards. Her right wing was wrapped in layers of glowing leaves, and every now and then, she let out a soft murmur that sounded suspiciously like "ow" mixed with "but I won."
"You did well, Ella," Naruto said, kneeling beside her. His voice was gentle—something rare and precious, like sunlight in a storm.
He touched her shoulder and let a pulse of his energy flow into her. She gasped lightly, her eyes fluttering.
"Ella did good… hehe," she mumbled, her grin sleepy and crooked before her eyes drifted shut.
Naruto smiled, but it didn't last. His own vision blurred. His muscles, bones, and soul—all of it screamed for rest. Between the constant fusion with Alice, Albion's flame breath, and sheer adrenaline, he'd officially hit the wall.
He collapsed next to her like a puppet with its strings cut.
Alice, who had clung to consciousness only out of sheer stubbornness, gave a final sigh before joining him on the mossy battlefield carpet.
And from above, Gaia landed on Naruto's head with all the grace of a Immortal who had seen far too much chaos in a short time.
"Well, that was chaotic," she muttered. "Dragons with humanoid forms? Since when? I swear, blink once and the world rewrites its own rules."
She floated down to Naruto's chest, her usually serene expression giving way to quiet concern. He looked up at her through half-lidded eyes, silent but understanding.
You did your best. That's what he wanted to say. But words were heavy, and his body was heavier.
"You're sweet," Gaia whispered, brushing the sweaty bangs from his brow. "Even when you're half-dead. But listen, Naruto…"
She leaned close and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.
"You're a dragon rider now," she said. "That's more than a title. That's a legacy. Be proud."
He was already slipping into unconsciousness, but her voice followed him like a lullaby.
"Rest now, my Champion. Let it go."
And just like that, the battlefield quieted. The smoke faded. The stars blinked through the canopy.
The dryads worked silently around the sleeping trio—one boy, one spirit girl, one semi-reformed dragon. Gaia kept her vigil from atop Naruto's chest, her ancient eyes scanning the dark woods like a mother watching over her cub.
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If you've ever been stared down by a primordial earth Immortal while poisoned and cuffed by magical vines, then congratulations—you've lived a more interesting life than most people. Albion, unfortunately, wasn't enjoying the honor. Not one bit.
Gaia hovered above him, her massive, leaf-and-stone wings casting jagged shadows across the clearing. Her eyes glinted with cold, ancient wisdom—the kind that made volcanoes tremble and tectonic plates develop anxiety disorders. She wasn't angry in the traditional sense. No, Gaia had transcended human emotions millennia ago. What she felt now was elemental. She was the Earth scorned.
"Albion," she said, her voice low and sharp, like mountain rock cracking under pressure. "Are there more of your kind in the region? Will they come if you are not back?"
Albion, who would've preferred spitting fire over speaking, clenched his jaw. But the compulsion placed on him by Naruto's chakra-infused antidote—it didn't just heal. It bound. Every cell in his twisted dragon-born body wanted to defy Gaia. But Naruto's will anchored his instincts like chains forged in stormlight. He felt like a lion muzzled in its own lair.
"Yes," he hissed. "There are three more. If I don't return, they'll sense it. They'll come."
Gaia didn't blink. Her gaze narrowed to a lethal slit. "What was the point of attacking the nymphs?"
Albion bared his teeth—not quite a smile, not quite a snarl. "They served the Olympians. And those who serve the old Immortals must perish, by the command of my master."
There it was—the slip. The crack in the foundation.
Gaia's entire frame seemed to still, then tremble with something deeper than rage. She didn't scream. She didn't lash out. She seethed, the ground beneath Albion subtly shifting. Grass died in a ten-foot radius around her as her power began to coil like a snake preparing to strike.
"I advise you," she said with terrifying calm, "to stop trying to be smart. Naruto is a being beyond your comprehension. You're not dealing with a child of Olympus anymore."
She turned sharply, her wings beating once to carry her gently across the field toward where Naruto lay resting. The clearing was quieter now, save for the rustling trees whispering secrets to each other. Gaia could feel the shift in the winds, the scent of fear still lingering where the dragon's humanoid form had bled into the grass.
Naruto had collapsed not long after the final blow. Gaia had seen many battles in her time—wars between Immortals, titans, monsters—but she had rarely seen one like Naruto. He fought like he didn't just want to win. He fought like losing wasn't an option, like he owed it to the world to succeed.
Now he slept, breathing shallowly, his body bruised and cloaked in dust. Gaia's hand hovered above his chest, the tiniest nudge of her power flowing into him—not healing, but grounding, stabilizing. He'd wake soon, she knew. And when he did, he'd need to know what Albion had confessed.
"You've gone too far, Porphyrion," Gaia thought bitterly. Her fingers curled into fists as vines slithered back beneath her skin. "I will not save you again. You've let me down too many times."
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If there was one thing Naruto definitely hadn't signed up for, it was prophetic nightmares involving interdimensional Immortal, ancient space clans, and moral dilemmas wrapped in cosmic doom. All he'd wanted was a nap. A good ol' post-dragon-punching nap.
But fate? Fate was like that one relative who barge-calls you during your only day off and starts with, "I need a small favor that involves a lot of blood, soul-searching, and a secret from the dawn of time."
Naruto lay sprawled in a crater of scorched grass and regret, arms flopped wide like a sunbathing starfish. The battle with the dragon had taken a toll—his muscles twitched like they were still fighting, and his chakra reserves were emptier than a ramen bowl after a fight with Sasuke. But even as his body begged for sleep, his brain said, Hey, let's drop you into a horrifying spirit trip instead!
One blink—and the world shifted.
Now he was floating. Not like whee-I'm-flying floating. More like a ghost tethered by curiosity and a creeping sense of dread. Below him stretched a massive city—ancient and majestic. Stone rooftops, jade-tiled towers, little alleys like veins through a forgotten kingdom. The kind of place where every rock probably had a story and most of those stories ended in blood.
He drifted downward, pulled by some invisible hook, until he hovered near the tallest structure. It wasn't flashy—no gold domes or obsidian thrones—but it felt powerful. Sacred. Heavy with secrets that weren't ready to be whispered yet.
And there, in the center of a quiet courtyard, was her.
Kaguya.
Only…not the "I'll-warp-you-into-a-soup-dimension" Kaguya. No, this version wore white robes instead of wrath. She was barefoot in a blooming garden, her silver hair braided with flowers. Beside her, two children played, and a pair of maids hovered nearby like cautious shadows.
Naruto blinked. Was this… her real self? Was this who she used to be before everything exploded into madness and moon jutsu?
For a second, peace reigned.
Then—crack.
Like a thread snapping in the air.
Kaguya's face twisted in thought, her gaze distant. Her lips parted and Naruto felt her words echo not in his ears, but in his bones.
"How do I fight against the clan? I don't know when they might find out about this place…"
The air thickened, the flowers wilted, and the playful laughter of the children seemed to mute beneath an incoming pressure.
She stood abruptly. A gust of power rippled through the courtyard, and even the dream-sky dimmed. Then, her voice—sharp as steel drawn in moonlight:
"No. I will not comply."
She wasn't talking to the children. Or the maids. Or even to herself.
She was talking to them.
Whoever they were.
That's when her eyes snapped toward Naruto.
He froze.
No, seriously—time itself seemed to stop as she locked onto him like she knew he was there. Her hand rose slowly, fingers curling in a motion that screamed seal technique or dimensional prison or existential crushing.
Her power surged. A tsunami of chakra drenched the dreamscape, turning the flowers to ash, the garden to stone, and Naruto's bravery to a very nervous gulp.
"This isn't your place, boy."
And then—blip.
Like a switch had been thrown, the entire world spiraled into itself. Time, sound, and color collapsed inward like a black hole, and Naruto was flung back into his body like a rubber band.
He woke with a violent gasp, back in the real world, soaked in sweat and surrounded by scorched earth. His chest heaved as he struggled to shake off the chill in his spine.
"Huff… huff…" he muttered, dragging a hand down his face. "That was too dangerous. Damn… these visions might end up killing me someday."
No response, obviously. The universe didn't do feedback forms.
He sat up slowly, every joint protesting like an angry old man at a Genin talent show. Somewhere in the sky, the sun was peeking over the edge of morning like it knew something he didn't.
Great.
Because if that dream was right… Kaguya wasn't the real threat.
Whatever she feared—was.
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A soft flutter of wings and the distinct creak of ancient bark brought Gaea to his side. Not the Earth Mother in all her apocalyptic glory, thank Immortals—this was the smaller, sassier version who looked like she belonged somewhere between a dryad and a sarcastic owl. She perched on a low branch nearby, frowning in that way that meant she was about to pretend she wasn't worried.
"You okay?" she asked, voice softer than the breeze but tighter than usual. Concern pulled at the corners of her expression like roots squeezing stone.
Naruto blinked, still half in the dream, and forced his lips to curl into something that vaguely resembled a smile. "No worries, just a nightmare."
It wasn't a lie, exactly. Just… the kind of half-truth you tell your immortal forest girlfriend so she doesn't storm off to obliterate the concept of bad dreams itself.
Gaea narrowed her eyes. "You're a terrible liar."
"I know," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head. "But thanks for letting me pretend."
For a moment, nothing but the forest answered. A bird hooted somewhere, maybe mocking him. Maybe not.
Finally, Gaea sighed. "Alright. I'll drop it. For now. But if you start seeing flaming unicorns, you have to tell me."
"Deal," Naruto replied, cracking a weak grin.
But the moment of softness passed like mist. Her posture sharpened; the humor drained. "We've got a problem. Other dragons are near. They'll come looking for Albion. We can't stay."
Naruto's expression turned serious, but the calm didn't leave him. That dream might've left him shaken, but it hadn't broken him. Not this time.
"Then we leave today," he said.
Gaea blinked. "You're not surprised?"
"Not really. I was already planning to move. You just gave me the deadline."
For someone who had lived through multiple mass extinctions, Gaea looked... blindsided.
"I thought you were going to help the nymphs recover longer. A week at least."
Naruto stood and brushed the moss from his cloak. "If we stay, we'll just draw more fire. You saw what Albion nearly did. The next one might not be so chatty."
Gaea hopped from the branch and landed lightly on his shoulder, her bark-like wings folding behind her with a snap. She sat there, her back rigid. He could feel her annoyance humming through her like static.
"I'm letting my disgust get in the way of logic," she muttered.
"I didn't say anything," Naruto teased.
"You thought it loudly."
He chuckled under his breath, surprising even himself. The dream still haunted the edges of his mind, but at least now it had some competition in the form of grumpy forest spirits.
Then came the command. No ceremony, no preamble—just Naruto's voice cutting through the morning haze like a thunderclap.
"Everyone! Gather the leaders—we're moving out today."
Across the forest clearing, where nymphs had been busy repairing tree bark, healing burns, and pretending not to stare at Naruto every five minutes, a flurry of movement began. Leaves rustled. Water spirits flicked into motion. Even the roots beneath the soil seemed to stir.
The sense of urgency spread like wildfire.
The forest had survived a dragon. Barely. And now, another threat loomed.
Naruto watched them hustle, his arms crossed, his expression unreadable. It wasn't the first time he'd had to lead people into the unknown, but it never got easier. This wasn't just about fighting anymore. It was about protecting. Moving. Surviving. And somehow doing it without losing your sanity—or your soul.
He glanced at Gaea, who was still scowling like she wanted to punch a cloud. "You good?"
"I'm always good," she muttered. "Just not always patient."
"Then you're definitely traveling with the wrong guy."
Gaea rolled her eyes. "Don't remind me."
But even as she said it, she reached up and gave his hair a reassuring tug.
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For someone who had just survived a battle with a dragon, nearly passed out from overexertion, and woke up from a cosmic horror dream featuring Kaguya and psychic dread, Naruto Uzumaki was surprisingly calm.
Too calm.
That was the problem.
Because underneath that calm—under the steady voice, the confident stride, the gentle smiles he gave the nymphs—something was roiling. A sense of pressure. Not just from the looming threat of other dragons sniffing out Albion's absence, but from something deeper. Something older. His memories were catching up with him, and he didn't like the direction they were heading.
He stood with his arms crossed, watching the forest in early morning light as the nymphs buzzed around him like bees in a shaken hive. His presence still had them flustered, worried, and above all—grateful. Maybe too grateful.
"Yes, how can we help?" asked a water nymph, her voice full of both reverence and guilt.
Naruto offered a nod. Calm, collected. Measured. But the weight behind his next words hit like thunder.
"We need to leave," he said. "There are others like Albion. If they sense him gone for too long, they'll come looking. And when they do, we don't want them anywhere near here."
The forest seemed to quiet. Even the breeze paused.
"I'll have Albion make noise out of the city," Naruto continued. "False trails, signs of travel. It'll buy us time. Maybe even mislead them."
He glanced around, taking in the soft faces of the nymphs who had cared for him, fought beside him, offered fruit like it was the answer to every world-ending threat.
"I appreciated your reception," he added. "But this is goodbye. For now."
The weight of his words hit harder than a dragon's tail swipe. Some of the nymphs blinked, stunned. Others bowed their heads. A few had tears in their eyes.
Another nymph stepped forward, her voice trembling. "Is there anything we can do to help?"
Naruto smiled—soft and kind, like the sun rising after a storm. "Just fruits for now. And information, later. I'll be back when I can."
It wasn't much, but it gave them purpose. Within minutes, they were scurrying through trees and groves, gathering the ripest, most vibrant fruits in the forest. Two large bags were soon packed with glowing peaches, glittering grapes, and even a few golden berries that looked questionably magical.
Naruto's gaze turned to Ella, who still lay unconscious beneath the healing glow of dryad magic. Her breath was steady, her face relaxed in sleep, but her injuries had taken their toll. He knelt beside her quietly.
"You did good," he murmured.
He didn't wake her. She needed rest more than reassurance. The same went for Alice, who lay nearby—her spirit dim, her energy spent. Naruto's heart twisted. She had fought like a wildfire, poured everything into the battle, and now… she was a shadow of herself.
He wanted to take them both with him. But he knew better.
I can't drag others into this, he thought bitterly. Not when I don't know what's coming.
He stood and turned to the one being he didn't want to take with him.
Albion.
The dragon—still licking his wounds in every sense of the word—stood to one side, glaring like he was being forced to babysit a flock of angry geese. He looked better than before. Still scarred, still grumpy, but whole enough to fly.
"Back to your true form," Naruto said sharply. "And start thinking about how to fake your escape."
Albion let out a low growl—not quite disobedient, but just enough to communicate: I hate this, and I hate you, but I don't want to die, so fine.
With a shimmer of light and a reluctant grunt, the dragon shifted back into his massive serpentine form. His scales glistened under the morning sun, and his wings cracked open like sails in a storm.
Naruto turned away from him. "I hope you'll change… eventually."
Albion didn't reply.
But Naruto didn't need him to. The dragon was more of a tool than a companion right now.
As he prepared to leave, a flutter of tiny wings surrounded him. The littlest wind nymphs—the ones who had been trailing after him since day one—were sobbing. Literally sobbing.
"Please don't go!"
"Champion-san, stay!"
"We'll be good!"
"We'll hide from the dragons!"
Tiny hands clutched at his cloak, his boots, his arms. It was heartbreaking. He knelt down, eyes kind but firm.
"Calm down, little friends," he said gently. "I'm not leaving forever. We'll meet again."
The words didn't do much. They were kids. They didn't understand forever. They understood now, and now he was leaving.
The water nymph leaders stepped in, gently herding the children away.
"Don't disturb the Champion," one said firmly. "He has to go so he can come back."
Naruto gave a nod of thanks. Then he turned to the older nymphs, who were still bowing, still apologizing like he'd saved their entire civilization. Which… he kind of had.
"We're so sorry for the trouble we've caused," one said. "We owe you everything."
"You don't owe me anything," Naruto said. "You're my friends. That's enough."
The simplicity of his words struck them harder than any epic oath.
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If Naruto had a drachma for every time a quest threw a curveball at him, he could probably buy Olympus. Not that Zeus would sell it, because, you know, throne envy.
The sun had barely begun to rise, a soft blush bleeding into the sky, when one of the water nymph leaders approached him with the kind of urgency that made his gut twist like he'd swallowed a live eel. Her footsteps were silent, but her intent was as loud as a thunderclap.
She held Alice in her arms like a wounded prayer. Her voice wavered—not with fear, but with something harder to ignore: hope. "Please," she said, "take her along."
Naruto blinked. "Wait, what?"
"This is her desire," the nymph said, glancing down at the unconscious girl. "She wanted to help you as much as possible. If you take her, we'll be able to send information through her—she's connected to us. To the rivers, the lakes, the silence between raindrops."
Naruto hated making decisions like this. Alice had already risked a lot—too much, if he was being honest. She had fused with him mid-battle like it was no big deal (it had definitely been a big deal), and now she looked like she'd run a marathon on a diet of lightning bolts and pure adrenaline. Her usually sharp features were slack in sleep, hair stuck to her forehead, body bruised and limp.
He frowned. "I didn't plan to bring anyone else."
The words didn't even finish leaving his mouth before Gaia, who had been watching nearby with her usual vibe of Immortal who knows everything and judges you silently, suddenly stepped forward.
"You should take her along," Gaia said, her tone as crisp as cracking ice. "With her help, we can finish the quest faster. You're not just walking into danger—you're walking into a warzone of riddles and ancient grudges. She may be the key."
Naruto stared at Gaia. Coming from her, that was practically a written endorsement from the universe.
He turned back to Alice. When they had fused, it hadn't been like anything he'd experienced before. Her magic had wrapped around his like it had always belonged there. They had understood each other—not with words, but in a way that felt older than time.
"I'm not dragging her into this," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.
"You're not," the nymph said, quietly. "She's walking in willingly."
Naruto sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Fine. But if it gets dangerous, she's out. No arguments."
Just then, a gust of wind thundered over the cliffs. Albion stretched his enormous wings, his red scales catching the morning light like molten fire. The dragon looked positively smug, which was weird because dragons weren't supposed to smirk.
Without warning, Albion took off. His wings kicked up a cloud of dust, nearly knocking Naruto over, and with a roar that echoed across the valley like a warhorn, he flew into the sky.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Naruto shouted, coughing. "You show-off lizard!"
"That's enough," he muttered under his breath, glaring at the crimson blur in the distance.
But he wasn't really mad. Not entirely. Because that roar? That wasn't just a flex.
That was a warning.
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If you ever find yourself flying on the back of a sarcastic, semi-retired death dragon with a literal Earth Immortal whispering dramatic inner monologues next to you, congratulations. You've officially hit "hero mode: expert." Naruto wasn't sure when his life had shifted from ramen breaks and shadow clones to mythological politics and celestial tagalongs, but here he was.
"So, where are we going?" Albion's voice rumbled like someone dropkicking a thundercloud into a canyon. The dragon's tone held a note of genuine curiosity, but there was something else under the surface—mistrust, maybe. Or boredom. It was always hard to tell with ancient creatures.
Naruto adjusted his footing on the dragon's broad back and squinted into the horizon. "Camp Half-Blood."
Albion grunted, which, coming from a dragon, sounded like a building collapsing in protest. "Seriously? That demiImmortal daycare center?"
"They might be useful," Naruto replied, his expression calm but focused. "I want to see what they're about. If they're really going to be in this fight, I need to know what kind of people they are."
Gaea flew beside them, silent and pensive, the wind tugging strands of golden hair across her face. She wasn't physically speaking, but Naruto could feel her thoughts brushing against his like leaves in a slow current. The children… They made their choices. Do not pity them.
He didn't answer her. Not out loud.
Below them, the world stretched like a patchwork quilt—mountains, rivers, cities glittering like stars that forgot which sky they belonged to. Somewhere out there, the camp waited. He remembered the name from Ella's briefing: a training ground for children of Immortals, demiImmortals, half-bloods—whatever label fit this week.
Albion muttered to himself again, the wind catching his words. "Working with the demi's… Doesn't matter. I will definitely be free." His wings beat harder, pushing them forward, but Naruto didn't miss the tension in his shoulders.
He glanced down at Alice, still unconscious but resting peacefully in the makeshift cradle between his arms and his gear. She looked fragile. Not weak—he'd seen her power firsthand—but delicate in a way that made Naruto think of glass held in sunlight. Something bright. Something breakable.
He remembered how easily their powers had fused during the battle. She hadn't hesitated. She'd trusted him without words.
He sighed. "When she wakes up, she's going to be mad that I didn't ask her opinion first."
"You're such a romantic," Albion deadpanned.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Says the dragon who tried to set a forest on fire just because someone looked at him funny."
"It was a very condescending look."
Their banter continued, but underneath it all, Naruto felt the pressure mounting. Camp Half-Blood wasn't just a destination. It was a test. One of many.