15. Reencounter

I wake up in a bed, I am in my Leviathan form, and I feel someone passing something to me. I see a beautiful woman, she has a briefcase in her hands, and she tends to my wounds. She looks very familiar, but completely different from what I know.

"Who are you?" I ask low but still audible, trying not to startle the woman tending to me.

"I am Laufey, the guardian of the giants. I saw you injured in my visions, so I came to help the one who protects the worlds. I also saw that you blessed my future husband, so this is my way of thanking you." she smiles at me, and turns to the wound.

"Thank you, I hope I can help in the future," I thank her from the bottom of my heart.

We spend some time like this, in silence with her just treating my wounds, and I close my eyes and rest. Too tired, too much pain.

I open my eyes when I feel the arrival of two more beings, and she seeing my state of alertness, tries to calm me down. "Don't worry, they are friends," she smiles again.

Then I see two little creatures, very small. Actually, they are short in stature, but they have magic around them that could mistake them for the powerful Vanir witches.

"This is Brok and Sindri, the Huldra brothers. They have come to bring me the weapon that would aid in victory against the evil Aesir, who are trying to destroy the 9 realms." she introduces them to me.

"Nice to meet you Huldra brothers, I am Leviathan Skyggedrage." I introduce myself to them.

"That's strange, the name of the weapon is Leviathan too, and we couldn't put the magic we wanted on it. Now we bring it in and find a real Leviathan. Weird." Brok grumbles.

"Would the lord bless the axe?" Sindri asks excitedly.

"I can. But what blessing the axe will bring depends on who wields it," I clarify to them.

They then hand the axe to Laufey, who stands in front of me. I just touch her head with the tip of my claw, letting a trickle of her blood touch the weapon. "May this weapon be used to destroy evil." I touch the weapon, and it glows brightly for a moment.

I touch Laufey again, and her cut heals. Then I close my eyes again for a well-deserved rest, when the shadows pull me in again.

I wake up again and see a giant serpent attacking a giant, a Vanir witch using her magic to save a man full of tattoos, while another man, this one big and bearded, protects a child.

Having recovered a little, I roar in rage at all the destruction they are doing. I feel a taint in the air, on the land and in the water. The serpent sees me and moves away, while the controlled giant tries to catch the man with the child.

I use my shadow to stop the madness, and destroy the giant's carcass with my black fire. The man, who was protecting the child, then takes advantage and holds the madman with tattoos.

"Please stop, he is my son." The woman screams in desperation.

"I will stop if he stops attacking us and trying to kill you," the man warns.

I then go to my human form, and the guy holding the other seems to recognize me, releasing him. "You're finally back." he tells me happily.

"And who would you be child?" I stare at him, and he looks a little familiar.

"In the war against the Gods, the you blessed me and my brother. Unfortunately, that world cracked, and several others were born, and I ended up in this one, where the gods are crazier than in the old one." he tells me hopeful about something.

"Are you Kratos?" I look at the man now, and see him wielding the axe I blessed not long ago. Or was it?

"Yes. We have been waiting for your return for a long time. We have been waiting for your help, and I carry your axe with me, the same axe you gave my wife.

I see out of the corner of my eye the crazy tattooed man trying to hang his wife. I just walk over to him and take back his strength. As well as the tattoos that protected him. The woman screams in desperation.

"Who are you woman?" I look at her.

"I am Freya, Baldur's mother." she points to the man, who is happy to be able to feel the world. "You have just sentenced him to death, and started Ragnarok." she says in desperation.

"No Freya, you started Ragnarok, when you were overcome with madness and despair. What I did was give the boy what he always dreamed of, what his mother should have given, but didn't care."

"I just wanted to protect him. He is everything to me." she cries.

"To protect him, you didn't have to condemn him to torture and madness, just teach him how to be a good person. Being loved, he would be protected even if he didn't need it. But look what you did to the boy. Look how much madness you have brought him. Is that how you love your son?"

She just looks lost as I undo the curse of madness she carries. The curse was strangely familiar, but different at the same time. She looks lucidly at what she has done.

I go to the boy and do the same, then he comes out of his lunatic trance and embraces his mother, both forgiving themselves for the years of torment and torture. I go to Kratos and thank him for being able to help their family, then bless not only him, but also the child who calls him his father.

I use the rest of my strength to go find my father.

"Father, can you completely seal my powers and let me live as an ordinary human? On earth 0." I hopefully ask him.

"Of course son. That will help you recover, and not just your power, but you as a whole. Just enjoy life." He then opens a door and I appear in some city.

So I resume my life as an ordinary employee, from an ordinary place, living an ordinary life. I make friends, smile with them, play with them, have fun with them. I begin to understand life as something good and sincere, even if sometimes people can hurt us.

I begin to understand what Hestia felt when she protected her family, which makes me love her even more.