40 - Norse Realm

The Greek gods entered the place where Poseidon was, '' Poseidon! You are awake!''

Hephaestus was the most excited about Poseidon's recovery.

Poseidon smiled a little, '' I'm not going to die so soon.''

Hestia and Iris were also happy that Poseidon woke up, '' The way you were, we thought you would never wake up...''

Poseidon stood still for a moment and said, ''That Eye, he said the name Cthulhu. That must be the thing that attacked me... He was very strong. No kind of plan would be able to stop him. Imagine if he attacks our realm.''

Silence. The Gods knew the situation was bad, but they had a mission. The faster they completed it, the faster they would return home.

''Let's not think about that! Let's celebrate the fact that you survived!'' Hestia said.

The gods agreed, '' A great idea.''

Poseidon then looked at his chest. He now has a giant scar there.

'' We tried everything to fix it, but it didn't work. We can only assume the power from the chaos has something that makes us unable to heal fully.'' Hestia gave her opinion.

Mind you, with her powers and the other Gods, they brought Kratos back from the dead. Now, even with the Gods from Egypt, they couldn't even heal scars.

Poseidon touched his scars, '' It doesn't matter. Besides, I think it makes me even more bada- handsome.''

'' And how about my weapons? Are they okay?''

Hephaestus nodded, '' They took quite the beating, but they weren't the best weapon from our realm for nothing. I already fixed and improved it with the metals that Ra gave me. It's even stronger now.''

Poseidon thanked Hephaestus, '' Now we just have to wait until we arrive at the Norse Realm. We heal Laufey and go back to our realm.''

'I know it will not be that simple, but let's not say that.'

Everyone nodded.

'' Now, what can we do to pass the time?''

So, for the next few hours, the Greek Gods, along with Isis, started talking with each other and socializing.

' I wonder how Kratos is doing...'

WITH KRATOS

' Dealing with a child is ... hard than I thought.'

Kratos, who once was a father, thought it was easy to be one. Regardless, with his first daughter, he spent more time on the battlefield than raising her. He still loved her with all his heart, but he wasn't there when she was growing.

Now, with Atreus... it was different. Kratos was with him almost all day long. ' It's interesting and at the same time, quite scary. Watching the boi grow old and following what I teach him... But am I doing a good job raising him?'

While Kratos and Laufey raised Atreus together for almost 11 years, for the last few months it was just Kratos, Atreus, and Pandora. The Goddess was by Laufey's side all day long, to help her protect her body.

And Kratos was now raising the boi alone. He was having a lot of doubts regarding his choices, ' What should I teach him? How to kill Gods? ... I'm struggling with this.'

Regardless, as Pandora can't leave Laufey's side, today was another day when Kratos and Atreus went out to hunt.

'' You have everything you need, boi?'' Kratos said as he opened the door.

Atreus doubled checked everything. He nodded, '' Im ready!''

'' Then let's go! Pandora, please take care of Laufey.'' Kratos and boi then went out to hunt.

Pandora smiled looking at the scene. Laufey, who can't leave the bed, was also smiling, '' He's really cute.''

Pandora nodded, '' Yes, Atreus will be a lady killer when he grows up.''

'' I wasn't talking about him...''

''...''

------

Kratos and Boi were following a trail left by some animals. Well, more like Kratos was teaching Atreus how to follow trails. As a Spartan, Kratos's method of teaching was... not normal.

Atreus was looking at the ground, then around the area. All this while Kratos observed him. ' If anything that could really kill him attacks, ill help. If his life isn't in danger... he would handle it.'

It didn't take long for Atreus to find the animal they were looking for. It was a deer.

Atreus stopped when he saw the animal. Kratos came to his side, '' Why did you stop? He's eating, it's the perfect opportunity to attack.''

Atreus hesitated to speak because he knew how his father was. He started to talk after a few moments, '' ... Maybe we can let this leave and look for other foods? Like berries or something.''

Kratos looked down at the Boi, ' He's still too soft. Every time we go out to hunt it's the same thing.'

Kratos sighed, '' Boi... you know that we can't let that opportunity slips. Your mother, sister, you, and I need to eat. Your mother, in particular, needs a lot of meat to heal better.''

When mentioning his mother, Atreus closed his eyes. When he opened them, Kratos saw that there was no more hesitation.

Atreus aimed the bow at the deer. ''I'm sorry.''

Just when he was going to release the bowstring, a small sound startled the deer, making it run away.

'' Damn it!'' Atreus started to pursue the animal, with Kratos right behind him.

They didn't lose sight of the deer, but Kratos noticed the area they were heading was famous for being infested with Trolls, ' I really hate those creatures.'

Soon after, the deer ran to a dead end. On one side was a cliff, and on the other, two Gods who wanted to kill him.

The deer finally looked around and didn't find anyone in the vicinity. The animal then started to go back to the forest when suddenly, a roar startled it again.

It was going to start to run, but an arrow hit it in the throat. The animal fell to the ground soon after.

Atreus and Kratos came to the side of the deer. It was dying.

Kratos took this as an opportunity to teach Atreus, '' it is dying.''

It wasn't the first time Atreus went hunting, but he always hesitated to do the killing blow.

Kratos touched Atreus's shoulder, '' Son, I know how much you struggle to end a life. But this animal is suffering, and you can help ease the suffering by doing this.''

Reaching out to Atreus, Kratos took a knife from the boy's waist, '' Do it and help it go without too much pain.''

Atreus took the knife and looked at the deer. It was clearly in pain and didn't know how to react.

The young Boy put the knife to the throat of the animal, but he couldn't do it. He looked at his dad, '' I'm sorry.''

Kratos sighed, '' Don't be sorry. Be better!''

Kratos took the knife from Atreus and killed the deer as fast and with no pain as possible.

After killing the deer, Kratos said to Atreus, '' As you didn't kill it, you now have to carry it home.''

Atreus said nothing but carried the dead animal with him. Kratos nodded and both of them went back to their home.

Just then, the owner of the roar who startled the deer before, appeared in front of Kratos and Atreus. The troll roared again, '' ROARRRR!''

It then went to attack Kratos and Atreus, but before it could react, he saw the world being flipped. This confused the creature.

More than just flip, the Troll could see his own body, ' But how?'

The last thing the beast heard was, '' I hate Trolls.''

-----

The Troll that attacked Kratos and Atreus was decapitated as soon as he revealed himself. Kratos didn't hesitate to use the Leviathan Axe and kill the beast.

After calling the Axe back, Kratos looked at Atreus, '' I know you don't like to kill things that much, but that Troll could've hurt your sister and your mother. He had to die.''

Atreus sweated, ' I doubt anyone besides you could hurt sister... she's ... crazy, to say the least.'

Anyway, Atreus nodded to his father and the duo continued their way home.

They arrived shortly after, '' Love, Pandora, we are back.'' Kratos said as Atreus put the deer down.

'' Welcome back!'' Pandora came to them, '' What do we have to eat today?''

'' A deer!'' Atreus showed Pandora the animal, '' I hunted it!''

Pandora patted Atreus' head, '' Of course you did! Now, how about you help me make dinner.''

Pandora went to the kitchen area and Atreus followed her while saying, '' It is TRUE THIS TIME! I shoot the arrow that took it down!''

'' Of course, I believe you!''

'' PANDORA!''

While the siblings went to cook dinner, Kratos went beside Laufey, '' How are you feeling today?''

Laufey smiled, '' Same things as yesterday and the months before... I know you want to save me, but sometimes it's destiny.''

Laufey could feel she would die soon, ' I did my part...'

''Don't say that. Poseidon is coming with Gods who have healing powers. They will fix you!''

Laufey weakly touched Kratos' hand, '' I know. It's just that you need to be prepared in case anything happens to me.''

Kratos just shook his head, '' You can't die. Not on my watch.''

' If necessary, I will raid the underworld of this realm to get her. Of course, she can't know that.'

After that, the family ate dinner in peace.

'' Atreus, what happened at today's hunt?'' Laufey asked from her bed.

'' I tracked down a deer and shoot him. I couldn't finish it off though... then, we found a troll but father killed it in less than a second.''

''' I hate Trolls.'''

Everyone at the table hated Trolls. Atreus was the only one that was neutral to those beasts.

It was a nice dinner. In the end, when everyone had already finished, the communicator came to life.

Pandora ran toward it, '' Hello!?''

'' Pandora? It's Poseidon... We arrived at the Norse Realm. Now, where are you?''