Disclaimer: I do not own God of War or Mass Effect

A/N: Don't know where this idea came from. Please tell me what you think or any mistakes that need to be fixed.

Prologue: All For Nothing

'Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torments of man.'

~Friedrich Nietzsche~

"No!" She cried, watching in disbelief as years of careful planning were destroyed by the actions of the same man she used to achieve her goals.

Hope spread all around her and into the world as Athena's rage began to rise from the ashes of her disbelief. Kratos, nothing but a lump of meat and bones before her and giving his last breaths.

"That was meant for me! They will not know what to do with it," she cried one last time before approaching the Spartan.

The man before her, blinded by rage and hounded by his past, had been a perfect pawn. He'd been nothing but a wild dog she set on those needed to accomplish her goals. Beasts, Gods and Titans fell before him and somewhere along the way she lost her sway over him. Perhaps she'd been the fool for trying to use him again after he struck her down. Disgust at herself fueled her rage as she approached her fallen half-brother. A ghost-like hand pulling his head up to look at her, intent on having the last say before he finally died.

"You disappoint me Spartan."

But the man did not despair. He did not cower and did not howl at her in rage. He stood his ground, defiant, confident that she was powerless to stop what he'd done. She was dead, and most of her power gone, but she was not powerless and she would show him. There were other pawns she could use to find Hope for her.

With a satisfied smirk she pulled the Blade of Olympus from him and threw it on the ground beside him. She didn't have the time to watch him die, but she was loathe to leave him without having witnessed his death. Kratos had defied death enough times to make the goddess doubt it would finally hold him. Maybe it was better if she sent him somewhere else.

"Say farewell to this world, Kratos," she intoned, power flowing through her fingertips and enveloping the warrior.

Kratos didn't have time to respond. Already his strength was waning and his eyesight grew hazy and dark around the edges when Athena struck him. Her power chilling him to the bone in a way not even death had done before. Numb fingers reached down as the taste of blood finally came to his mouth. His laugh was the last thing Athena heard as the body of the Ghost of Sparta disappeared in a flash of bright light.

When the light disappeared Athena couldn't hold her scream of rage. Athena was now free to find a way to get Hope without worries but that damned Spartan took the Blade of Olympus with him.