Past Chapter 01: The boy learns magic

Kratos chopped the wood behind his house, cleaving it right through with one swing of his axe. The dwarves' upgrades made the weapon stronger, finally fit for his strength. Before, he had to be careful as he feared the wood couldn't contain his power and snapped.

His mind wandered.

Atreus had grown up. He was a mere boy at the start of their journey. Hardly more than mortal. But then his divinity grew as he aged and learned who he was and what he would become.

Kratos was proud of that. Not in his power or destiny, no, but his growth. The old god assumed that Atreus would be even stronger than him when the boy reached his 30. The boy was clearly more talented than him. Nothing put more pride on parent's chest than seeing them grow.

Part of him was sad about that. He wouldn't be able to teach the boy much and the fact that he grew stronger indicate one thing.

That Ouranous' curse was still in effect. A curse that ensured one of his sons would be his end. And that son would have an even more powerful son to end him.

And he only had one son.

"Put that thought out of your mind brother, that pantheon is no more than dust" Mimir comforted him, as best as a disembodied head could.

"The curse is still in effect"

"Sure it is, but that never stops you before, so why bother?"

That brought a small smirk out of the old god. It was true. Besides, if his death was to come, he supposed it wouldn't be that bad to let it end in the boy's hand.

"He took a long time" Kratos stated as he looked at the sun, almost completely hidden in the seemingly eternal cloud. Fimbulwinter hadn't ended yet, but he was still able to tell time by watching the shadow cast by Sol.

"You think seiðr is a parlour trick? The boy is a prodigy if he comes back today" Mimir replied, he was not that thrilled being left with Kratos, he wanted to see Sigrun god damn it. The boy had to left him with the old war god so he would not be lonely.

The boy was either the sliest trickster or the most clueless god in the world.

The old god grunted as a response, lifting the large tree on his shoulder. He still had his misgivings about the whole thing. After all, even though the Valkyries were not friendly with Odin, they were still honour bound to Valhalla.

"Rǫcstóll aff Valkyrs, we'll go there after this" the old god declared, leaving no room for protest. Not that Mimir wanted to.

"That is not how to do it, little god" Sigrun flapped her wings lazily, floating from one side to the other.

"Well, it's hard!"

"Don't be discouraged, travelling without using Týr's temple or mystic gateways is one of the hardest seiðr to master. Only dwarves were born with the ability" Sigrun consoled the child.

She'd been teaching the boy to use the Bifröst crystal the way it was meant to be before the deceased god of war's creation made the world forget of the old ways. Only Valkyries and veterans of Æsir–Vanir War remembered how to use it, as they had to be at the site of battles faster than what Týr's temple afforded. Fortunately for Atreus, they were not only one of the few practitioners, but they were also the only ones to truly mastering it.

It came with lots of advantages too. One could summon elements instead of creating one out of their energy, eliminating the need for bag or quiver by summoning it from pocket realms, and travel the world without needing to find doors and even travel the nine realms.

Travelling the nine was hard, however, and required the user to be capable of flight. Part of the reason Valkyries have wings.

"Let the light of Alfheim flow through you, but do not let it overpower you. Focus. Channel it to every surface of your body"

Atreus did as he was told, this part he was able to handle.

"Now feel the world around you. The tree encompasses everything. Find it. Find the branch"

This was the part Atreus hadn't been able to master. He had to find gaps in the realm, a gap that would enable him to grab onto a branch of the world tree, where he could travel instantly by hopping branches. But it was harder in practice. The world pushed back against him. It didn't want him to find one of that weakness in the fabric of space. But it was only a matter of time. The world couldn't deny the little god what he wanted.

The space distorted around his hand as he found it. The world became malleable around him.

"I did it!" said Atreus, victorious.

"Stay focused. If you put in too much of the light, it can create realm tear" Sigrun warned.

"That might summon countless monsters. Got it" Atreus push the spot, his hand disappeared like it was swallowed by an invisible beast.

"This is so weird" Atreus smiled, remembering when Freya taught him of the elven architecture, when the idea of solid light baffled him.

Atreus push more and more, and his body was swallowed by the world. Sigrun smiled as she too disappeared from Miðgarðr. They had gone past the hardest part of the lesson.

"Where do you want to go?" the Valkyrie queen asked as she floated on the tree, between the world and ginnungagap while Atreus balanced himself on top of a branch.

"Home? I want to see father's reaction" Atreus grinned mischievously. Sigrun resisted the urge to shake her head.

"Channel the light into the branch, imagine your home. The more detailed your memory, the faster you can travel"

Atreus did as he was told as he channelled the light of Alfheim. Lines of runes light up until it was so far Atreus couldn't even see it anymore. But Atreus knew it had arrived at its destination, as it had stopped draining his Bifröst crystal of the light. It was still far away though. Atreus lifted an eyebrow.

"You are not walking there, little einherjar. Otherwise, this would be a highly impractical seiðr." Sigrun answered his unvoiced question. Sigrun had mentioned to Atreus during the theoretical study about how the longer they are there, the greater they risked falling into the yawning abyss. Highly impractical indeed.

"So what should I do?"

"Space and time is nothing to the Yggdrasil. It encompasses everything and anything that was, is, and will exist in the world. We can tap on it. Add a bit of your power into the line and ride it" Sigrun's answer was not the clearest, but Atreus had learned not to mind about it too much. For that matter, it made her sounded like how Freya would answer such question.

He missed her.

Dismissing the thought, he brought forth his untapped well of power. Jötunn's ice and father's fire coalesced inside him. Becoming his own energy. His true self. A completely chaotic power he hadn't been able to truly master.

He dropped a bit of it in the world tree and he quickly disappeared, as if he wasn't there to begin with. Sigrun smiled, the boy had succeeded.

Kratos was about done chopping the wood when his son appears out of thin air above him and almost drop kick him in the face. Almost.

With experience and honed reflex, the spartan dodge it and was about to summon his frost axe until the sight of his son stopped him.

"What are you doing boy?" Atreus didn't answer, busy spitting out the snow from his mouth.

"He has learned seiðr of the Valkyries" the voice of Sigrunn answered behind him as the queen waved to the former Æsir advisor strapped on Kratos' hip.

"He has?" Kratos lifted an eyebrow as he watched his son ridding himself of dirt and snow. He remembered the fight between him and the Valkyries. How there was a slight distortion in the air as they summon countless weapons. His boy had learned that, at such a young age, in so short of a time frame?

"Yes I have, now we don't need to use the mystic gateways!" Atreus answered, energized from his recent success. The look from his father was especially worth it.

"Incredible, the boy is a prodigy after all!" Mimir exclaimed, happy that the boy had just increased the chance of them surviving Thor's visit. Why fight the thunder god while you can run away across the realm? He doubted the buffoon knew such magic anyway.

.

.

.

It was nine months later when Mimir realised he had tempted the fates, for the Thunder God had learned and mastered hopping the realm like lightning striking the trees.

Yes, Odin had spent the last nine months in Valhalla drilling the magic through Thor's thick skull.

Truly the allfather knows all, as the saying goes.

This is not all fanon. In creating the valkyries page on the PlayStation site, they said that the way Kratos and Atreus used Bifröst crystal is very physical while the Valkyries has mastered it to such an extent it is part of their fighting style. I got inspired after reading that.

godofwar dot playstation dot com/stories/creating-valkyries

That Einherjar thing is unofficial title the Valkyries granted Kratos and his son, for defeating and saving the Valkyries.

This is totally not me delaying chapter release because I got writer block. Trust me. Trust me, damn it!