For my "Rules of Kratos" readers... I need more time . seriously... I will be very busy this month. Also I had a terrible writer's block there.

I'm sorry if I keep pacing in this story :( My first mission was to bring Jor, the main antagonist in this story, but it didn't turn out that way. I ran out of power.

In case of confusion, these are the current Norse god characters:

Xander Aurion: Kratos' father, previously named Vidarr, the god of silent, eldest of the current gods. He doesn't say much...

Kratos' strange trio uncles

Baldr: "The Pansy" (also known as the god of aesthetic)

Hod: The blind god. He just...can't see.

Vali: "Mr. Quickly" also known as the god of speed.

Before Ragnarok (age of gods) = The age of Giant Kharlan Tree = age of goddess Martel (Mithos' tyranny)

The world of Midgard = Aselia = Aselia Nova (New Aselia)

Acropolis = Meltokio (I named it first Corinthos...but soon I discovered that Corinth is Turkish...not Greek T_T So I change it to Acropolis)

Fēng Chē (also meant in mandarin means "windmill") = Asgard

"Who has ever wandered through such forests, in a length of many miles, in a boundless expanse, without a path, without a goal, amid their monstrous shadows, their sacred gloom, without being filled with deep reverence for the sublime greatness of Nature above all human agency, without feeling the grandeur of the idea which forms the basis of Vidar's essence?" - From one of many poets in Norse mythology.

Many thoughts ran through Xander's mind when he entered Acropolis, the main city of Aselia. It is a strange name to replace Midgard, the name of the world after the war of gods. Perhaps after the gods deceased they needed a new name, a new hope. He had slight flash back of how the world had change within 6000 years.

This castle, the one he was entering, was on the highest peak of the city. Ever since the Kharlan war, they feared the King's safety. Thus the King was isolated to a protected place where he can govern with high security, not much citizens knew what was going on in that castle. Only certain people can enter that place, that include the Tethe'alla's elite soldier commander, Xander Aurion.

Before he arrived at the main gate of the castle he was greeted by a familiar figure.

"Eldest!" One of them called, soon Xander recognized him.

He was his brother, Baldr, the god of aesthetics.

There were two things that made Xander outstanding from the rest of the gods. He was one the tallest, though still not as tall as Thor. He was the only god who had deep rich red eyes, a glaring color which destined to avenge his father. The second was his strange mouth armor. He had a heavy metal that covered his mouth... It was strange to see him wearing it. But for Xander's brothers who acknowledge him as the silent god, that mouth armor was a lifetime symbol.

Baldr had bright curly golden hair, short and neat through his shoulder shimmering like sun. His hair wasn't the only thing that glittering ridiculously, his clothes are shinny too. Gold accessories and bright white clothes which he wore are catchy in the eyes. Xander...on the other hand had volume platinum colored hair, slightly messy like Kratos because his wife was no longer there to comb it. His hair was long dangled messily to his chest. His golden armor was rusty and worn out from battle unlike Baldr's.

Baldr's weapon of choice was a well-carved rapier dangled on his waist belt. He enjoyed a beautiful fencing, while Xander had a bulky giant sword attached on his back. His giant sword's purpose was much simpler than Baldr's rapier...it was meant to dispose any giant obstacle.

"I...I heard Kratos was kidnapped!" He cried dramatically. Of course Baldr, as one of Kratos' uncle was so worried of the boy's safety. Since he was a god of aesthetic, he tends to be emotional, than the rest of the gods.

"Fear not Baldr. I heard my son is well."

"Oh, thank goodness!" Baldr sniffled.

"My last worries are the King. He had known my son's disappearance. Nevertheless he wasn't pleased."

"No! Go, find your son! Never mind the King, we will explain that to him...though...we had a slight problem."

Xander sense a slight predicament. Since Baldr cannot control his sentiment unlike the rest of his brothers, Xander could sense a dire quandary. He can see that Baldr's masked emotion control will soon crack.

"Is something wrong, Baldr?"

Baldr laughed nervously, "No, no...Everything is well and swell..."

"Kratos was in good hands. Whenever he was, Ratatosk wouldn't let anything happened to him. So I suspect he was in good care under Ratatosk's watchful eyes."

Baldr's masked emotion quickly dropped as he pulled Xander without warning, "Bless that Summon Spirit. Now Xander...HELP US!"

When they entered the castle, Xander was engulfed with strange deadly and dull aura. The castle guards who were supposed to guard the castle's gate had lied to the ground unmoved.

"What happened to the guards?"

"They had died..."

"What?"

"Not...exactly, their souls are removed from their body, but those souls are still above them floating. This was the problem; all of the residence in this castle had died! Out of nowhere a black magic was cast and poof! There goes the life of them, but they're not died...yet. It did not affect us, because the spell was not strong enough to kill gods. Something must've needed their soul."

Xander saw a strange orb floating on top of them. He suspected it was the human's soul. Not all gods had the ability to see souls, only Odin's sons. Thankfully Xander and Baldr was one of them.

"For what?"

"Well, we haven't known the culprit yet." Baldr complained.

When the disguised gods entered the castle, they spotted the other brothers, Hod, and Vali.

Hod was Baldr's twin counterpart, and it was not a joking statement. Instead of having sunny golden blond and wearing over bright clothes, Hod had the darkest ebony hair with dark and black clothes. While Baldr was the god of aesthetics, Hod was the god of blind...literally. His weapon of choice was a simple staff made for defense and to guide him as well.

There wasn't much appearance of Vali, Xander's closest brother. But he was an archer. His large bow was dangling on his shoulder stretched out to his back. Vali had a peculiar myth when he was born. The day his mother labored him, he had grown within a day. He was the quickest among the gods.

The two are currently debating. They discussed on what happened to the dying residence in the castle. The victim bodies they mentioned were scattered from where they stand. When Xander and Baldr were approaching them, they had realized that those brothers aren't currently arguing with each other. Instead, they're arguing to surprisingly...Hel.

"Eldest???" They ask in bewilderment noticing Xander...or Vidarr had arrived.

Hel nearly scoffed. One can see she was not pleased to see Xander. If her expression wasn't enough, her outlandish raven hair stretched out dangerously like a threatening snake.

"Nice to see you again, Hel." Xander greeted apathetically.

Hod asked in confusion, "You two just met?"

"Yes, it was not a pleasant ending indeed." Hel hissed.

"Did you two just have a fight again?" Vali sighed, the relationship between Hel and Xander hadn't gone well ever since Xander was married.

"Will you stop that already Hel? We know you have fondness with our eldest brother but you still have your hatred get in the way again." Baldr spoke that thought without thinking.

Because of Baldr's words Hel snarled viciously to the brightest god. This action petrified Baldr that he hid behind Xander's back.

Hel denied but her face slightly flustered and her voice shook, "I have no affection to a god who allowed himself turned into a dog by a human!"

Xander denied, "Hel, for hundred times the king is my cousin in law!"

"That worthless king should have been died!"

But suddenly Vali spoke, breaking the tension between the both of them, "Oh...I see where this going."

All of the conscious presence looked back at Vali.

"You were mad at the King so you're here to take revenge." Vali answered.

Baldr gasped, "Hel, I could not believe you would avenge our eldest by killing the King! That is indeed amorous...yet twisted."

"I should've known you were behind all of this Hel. You caused the humans of this castle lost their soul" Hod nodded in agreement.

"I did not!" Hel objected.

"Soul remover spell was your fixation! Who else has this kind of ability?"

"That didn't prove anything!"

"Enough!" Xander's roaring voice boomed stopping their uncontrolled arguments, "Hel...explained why you were here."

"I am here to retrieve my possession." Hel huffed, "Someone stole my broom..."

"The broom?"

"The soul remover broom." (1)

"What kind of object that was?"

"One of Hel's deadly nine worlds, I presume."

"Oh, isn't that the lame broom weapon that was replaced by your scythe?"

Hel glared at the last commentator, Vali. Now the god of speed

"I mean...the scythe was a lot grander though."

"Indeed" Hel somewhat agreed with a growl, "That soul remover broom had the ability to remove souls, which I used a very long time ago before Ragnarok. It was much a reliable weapon. Many souls can died with one sweep of the broom. Unfortunately during this time there's mana. The broom was no longer effective. It can remove souls but cannot dispose the soul."

"Which is why you change your weapon into scythe?"

"Much more effective...I agree."

"Who would dare to steal your broom?"

"Someone manage to steal my possession from my chamber...how dare this fiend!" When Hel growled her black hair twisted dangerously.

"Well, Hel..." Xander sighed, "We might find the wrongdoer lurking in this castle. While we do that, perhaps we should do return those souls to their bodies."

"We?" Hel laughed, "There's no we... I had no intention on helping you. I was only looking for the broom."

"Hel..." Xander sighed, "We can't possibly return the souls without you."

Hel smirked. Though Xander was not actually begging, Hel felt the god require her assistance. She was pleased how things turned out. "Why should I care about these worthless being? Can't you see them now, Xander? The humans are arrogant weaklings that needed to be disposed. We don't need them...they're the ones who need us!"

Xander Aurion was about to denied Hel's way of thinking until his brothers stopped him.

"Xander, can we talk for a while?"

The Xander's brothers grouped themselves, isolating Hel for a while. The goddess could only puff as she crossed her arms waiting patiently.

"If you want to make Hel do what we wanted you must give what she wanted."

"What does she wanted then? As far as I knew she's one of the gods with least desires."

"It was quiet simple really... She wanted you."

Xander paused for a while until he narrowed his wine eyes dangerously. Because of that reaction his brothers was slightly afraid.

"What are you implying?" Xander's tone darkened.

"Weeeeeellll.... We can use... the woman pheromone."

"Baldr…" Xander warned.

"Goddamnit, NO!! Anything but that, Baldr!! You always had the worse ideas!!"

"We had no choice." The brothers whimpered, "This was the only way to save the people in this castle!"

Suddenly Xander pulled Baldr's collar and threatening him in front of his face, "If my son SAW this, I would literally kill you!"

Xander released his blond brother quickly as the poor aesthetic god shivered mentally, "He's scarring me! Did you know that?"

Vali commented while calming Baldr, "I can't blame you. He's the one who slain Fenrir..."

The brothers watched carefully while their Eldest approaching Hel with distressing manner, a palm on his face...very Aurion way.

When Xander was in front of the goddess he paused for a while, "Well?"

"Hel I had...something to say to you..."

Hel waited patiently, but without warning Xander took both of her hands and held it gently...like...like taking her hand in marriage. In Xander's mind he was cursing himself, but the curse was meant more to his father, the great all father god, Odin.

This...woman pheromone was a strange ability that some of the gods had, inherited from Odin. One thing people must know about the gods, they're strong and handsome as well... Vidarr was not an exception. This pheromone is attracting their opposite sex effortlessly, more than one, perhaps million if it's possible. Xander...or Vidarr's father, Odin, was the best example. He even had perhaps more than dozen wives because of that ability.

This was plainly the reason why Xander's facial didn't match his brothers. They're not exactly his brothers, but half-brothers, all from different mothers.

Xander refused to follow his stupid father's path on being a womanizer. He was too careful in his relationship and only Kratos' mother was his wife in his life. He just wished his son wouldn't be like his grandfather. But the boy had women pheromone as well, unfortunately. Ever since Kratos was a child, many little girls give candies to him. As he grew older his son cannot escape from his hundreds of fans...even though he was away to war. (2)

Goodness, this women pheromone is a curse! But Hel was affected by it, immediately. Her once sharp toxic green eye was suddenly dazed.

"Hel... I beg of you to help us... I need you."

Now the goddess' emotion popped like a balloon, drowning in euphoria. Freya blessed her! Vidarr's eyes are beautiful red rubies, platinum hair framing his strong jaw perfectly...his broad shoulders, well-toned muscles!! What a man!!! ....wait...

"HOW DARE YOU USE THAT DAMNED PHEROMONE!!" She screamed all her might blowing Xander's long hair.

She breathed heavily to recover from what happen. Damn it all! Why is she falling for him of all the gods in Valhalla? She cannot forgive him for killing his brother...yet his large hands cupping her hands are warm... no..no...no...damn it all!

"Well are you willing to help us or not?" Xander's tone suddenly returned to normal.

She should say no, but instead, "...very...well...."

Damn to all Odin's sons.

"Tell us how to return the souls to their bodies."

"It should be simple." Hel snorted, "Use the mana to link the souls back."

"Thank you, Hel."

"I hate you." She muttered though timidly with her face blushed.

"I know that." Xander nodded while he lowered his hands.

His brothers had scattered to castles when they discovered a way to save the victims.

Xander spoke while noticing the goddess walked beside him again, "You could stay if you want to."

"I want the broom." Hel stated though her voice shook.

"Of course, you will retrieve it later once we saved all of these souls. I...am sorry for scolding you later."

"..."

"You are…beautiful too, Hel. But you're not my wife. You remember the main reason why I did not marry you until today."

"-Because I still held a grudge against you." The goddess looked away, she always jealous of Xander's wife, even though she had deceased.

Xander nodded while he started linking the mana from the unconscious body.

"I sense a strange dark presence nearby. It had also the broom beside it. It might be the stealer." Hel suddenly spoke another topic.

"We are over six thousand years, Hel. What would surprise us?"

"I sense my brother...Jormungand, here."

Back in the Kharlan Tree Lloyd was in the middle of a serious discussion, between a young god, his once protozoan, and Ratatosk.

"Tynan, I don't understand. Why did you bring Lloyd into this? I thought we were only taking Kratos." Noishe spoke, he was definitely upset, "Is it because you're still upset about your father?"

"Don't...bring my father into this..." Tynan snapped dangerously, he loathed the mentioned of his old man.

Unfortunately unlike Lloyd or Kratos who didn't shrug at his harmless tantrum, Noishe...was far more sensitive.

Then Noishe wailed, "Don't you yell at meeee!! You should've respect of your elder. I'm older than your father, older than your grandfa-!!"

"Yes...yes! I know you're older than any of us." Tynan sighed, "I'm sorry for yelling at you, Noishe. I'm being a jerk lately, ever since Dad was…. I'm so sorry..."

"Is Tynan sad...?"

The young deity muted for a while until he answered, "Yeah..."

"Does Tynan need a hug?"

Now Lloyd didn't expect that.

The young deity chocked, as in he swallowed something that cut his respiration, "Noishe for goodness' sake, I'm not a kid anymore!"

"Aw come one! I know you want to. Noishe will make you better..." Noishe still offered his hug spreading his arm welcomingly.

For some reason Tynan seemed tempted. "....no licking..."

"No licking." Noishe grinned.

"All ri..." Tynan spoke timidly but it was cut as soon as Noishe embraced him vigorously. It almost seemed that the boy was squeezed, but then Tynan sighed in relief.

"There, there..."

Strangely it worked, Tynan sniffed, his tantrum lowered down while Noishe still hugging him.

"Name giver..."

The two stopped hugging when they saw Ratatosk towering them. Lloyd who was beside them answered his calling, "Is something wrong Ratatosk?"

"Please go with the protozoan, I had things to discuss with this young deity."

Tynan groaned, "Again?"

Noishe reacted faster than Lloyd while he took Lloyd's hand he waved to the death god, "Take care Tynan...and be nice to Ratatosk!"

Lloyd may not the smartest kid in but he was certainly not an idiot. The problem was...he needed some time to think for a while with this rapid information. His father was not entirely human, so was his mother, but then this sudden revelation with this Norse gods...wow are they're really a pact of troubles. It's all because of the god's hereditary that his mother became the exphere experiment. Zelos and Colette's parents suffered a forced marriage within years, because their races are adaptable once they're injected with Aionis.

"Lloyd..." a voice called.

"Ah...huh?" Lloyd quickly looked up.

"Are you all right?" This was Noishe was asking him. Noishe that once was Lloyd's pet was now a human that walked in two feet.

The mentioned brunette warrior's mind snapped back to reality.

"Y-yeah… I'm okay."

Noishe sympathized face came in focus, "Are you sure?"

He was very far different from what Lloyd remembered. Noishe here was slim figure, but not as slim as Tynan considering he was older looking than that kid. He wore strange overlong dress like a bishop, fully white and blue and green, contradicting Tynan's dark appearance. He was carrying a strange staff with cyan jewel in the middle, it must be made from a very skilful blacksmith (3). From Lloyd's observation Noishe might be a white mage, now. The only recognizable feature was his bushy green hair and green eyes.

"Yeah...yeah it's just. It's all pretty confusing you know?"

"I just want you to know that we're here for you, Lloyd. Do you understand? Whatever happens we're here to help..."

Lloyd gave a slight smile, even though this guy was almost a stranger to him. He was still acting like the considerable and caring Noishe whom he knew.

The human protozoan continued naively, "Of course not technically we're since little master was talking with Ratatosk."

The red clad warrior was confused for few seconds to whom Noishe was talking about. But when the humanoid protozoan's eyes were on Tynan, he understood. They were separated from the young deity because Ratatosk was having a serious discussion with him.

"Well, I guess they're having long talk. Let's go see Kratos!" Noishe pulled Lloyd's arm with enthusiasm.

"Noishe...how did you met Tynan anyway?" Lloyd asked suddenly.

The protozoan stopped, he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "I uhm...It's kind of hard to explain. I was obligated to follow Tynan ever since he was wee little kid..."

"Since that's the future, where am I?"

"Uhm...uhm...it's kind of far future. You had other things to do so I was left to take care of Tynan."

"So I somehow trusted you to him?"

"Um...ye-yeah....?"

"So that's how Tynan seemed familiar! I will meet him in the future."

Noishe somehow had a blank expression for few seconds, as if he was amused with Lloyd's oblivious. He then nervously laughed at that statement, a fake attempt to agree with Lloyd.

"So what am I?"

"Pardon?"

"What am I, exactly? A...a...god?"

"We're...not sure."

"What do you mean?"

"You have about 50 percentage of human being. But your mother made all the combination too complex. You're a quarter god, and some far parts of elven blood, white elves, even dwarf."

"All of it? Even dwarf??" Lloyd gasped.

"Yeah, it's possible, though it's unheard."

"How...how's it possible?"

"I remember your mother...Anna was a Nomadian, they're a clan of vagabonds that often travelled the world and didn't stay longer than a week riding caravans. The Nomadians are gentle race who will accept anyone to their caravan. It is seldom for them to marry any race, dwarfs, elves, white elves, even the gods. They became extinct once Cruxis hunt them down. Anna and some had survive, but it wasn't long they deceased one by one until she was the only one left."

Lloyd winced, another reason why he began to denounce the god races... Mithos killed his mother's family for that reason.

"We called those type blood are the 'Advanced' race. Not many of them live long enough. Despite they have potential on becoming ultimate race. However, their genetics can't mixed up easily."

"Okay, since you all talking about biology I'm beginning to confuse."

Noishe giggled, "I've lived quiet long time Lloyd. So I've unravelled the races in this world, from the strongest to the weak ones. The strongest...by far was the Norse gods, rare, and deadly, but few survived after the plantation of Kharlan Tree. They're alive for the purpose to bring balance of the world's essence. For example one of them was the god of summer, he must maintain the continuity of summer with winter, etc. Nowadays these gods' roles were replaced by the Summon Spirits."

"Wait...wait, I thought you were born after Kharlan Tree, but you get to see gods?"

"Actually I've got to meet some of them. Not much, but I used to see my creator often. Also, he was known as your grandfather, in case you remember."

Lloyd stammered, "X-Xander Aurion...."

Noishe nodded, "It's him all right."

"From what I've heard he's supposed to be the leader of the seven surviving gods, right?"

"Yes, well, he's...a fatalist. That's the sad part about being a god."

"Fatalist?"

"The disability or will to have hope, too many tied with fates...and only believe life based on fate that befalls to them. Gods are not humans, Lloyd, they can't change destiny or have dreams like humans do. They have set of line and they're being forced to follow that. Most gods heard their future from the fates, and then they didn't believe in second chances either."

"You know I still don't get this!" Lloyd was frustrated, but he wasn't mad at Noishe. He was frustrated at himself. "These gods are nothing but trouble! They're the reason why the tree was born but they didn't do anything for the Kharlan War. They're the reason why my Dad, Zelos and Colette's lack of hope!"

"Lloyd..."

"I'm sick of them, Noishe! Do you know how many lives had suffered during Mithos' tyranny age? Zelos and Colette was the last one and they thought their lives were based by sad faith. I may save them, but what about the previous chosen-s? I've seen their floating coffin back in Regeneration Journey. The gods really didn't responsible much, aren't they?"

"Lloyd you can't blame lord Xander for abandoning his duty..."

"What, Noishe? What could possibly a good reason for him to leaving his duty as the leader of the gods?"

"He married Kratos' mother."

Lloyd was silent.

"He was married to a human who was considered taboo to the gods, because human's life span was short. But he married her and had children. If he still continue his duty Kratos wouldn't born."

Noishe accidentally patted Loyd's stuck out hair, "He had faced his consequences after that happened, his wife and children were killed, leaving Kratos alone."

"I...I had no idea."

"He's been alone aver since...only the god knows, how long. I guess that effect your father's personality too, he's being a hopeless pompous with all this 'blame your fate' things." Noishe snickered.

Lloyd almost laughed but many minds pilled to his head that he can only laughed feebly, "So...Dad was being like that because he's a half god?"

"Sad but true. The ironic thing is...Kratos wasn't actually fated. He was one of the ultimate being to have his father's strength with his mother's being as human. He should've known that his life wasn't fated. Thankfully you're the first one to made him realized that."

"What about Yuan? What is he?"

"He's a normal half-elf. He had no connection with the gods whatsoever. He did have...but it must be over hundreds of generating gaps. He was a fatalist after the Aionis injected to him."

"So...what other races are you talking here?"

"White elves are the second most ultimate race after the gods." (4)

"What's the different with the elves? I'd never heard of this race before."

"Considering they're half elves and half gods, of course they're different than just any elves. First generation after the gods had planted the Kharlan Tree they married elves mostly. They preferred elves because of their long life span unlike humans who can only live for a century."

"Hold on, what about demi-gods? Wasn't Xander married to a human?"

"The only one and it was actually an accident."

Lloyd gulped.

Noishe continued, "White elves are powerful yet gentle race which can be seen evidently by their ability to materialize things with songs or dance. They're a highly skilful alchemist, but not interest in gold. Sadly this race had extinct because they're a fatalist like the gods. Their king and his family were slaughtered, they had no power and their kingdom was vanished for thousand years."

"Oh...wow..."

"Yes, it's a tragic thing. Few had survived though, but they'll probably disguise as humans."

"Like...?"

"Martel's and Mitho's mother is a white elf."

Lloyd choked, "W-what?"

"Lady Verdandi, the goddess of present and one of the Norns. Her mother was an ordinary elf while her father was a god of birth, creator of Summon Spirit Maxwell, named Hoenir."

One cannot describe how shock Lloyd was.

"Hoenir? Wait...he was one of the seven surviving gods?"

"Yes...though he was considered as Vidarr uh...Xander's uncle...we never sure. But if they are...that means Martel and Mithos have far relations with Kratos."

"Seriously??"

"Serious... That also explains how she died...."

"What happened?"

"She married human, she was killed by mobs. Ratatosk wasn't able to save her."

After the long pauses Lloyd asked, "Other races?"

"Elves...came out of nowhere from Derris Kharlan planet, gentle yet hated the continuity and considering the outside world is rubbish. Half-elves...unlike white elves they're half humans, currently the most condemned species among all. There's also Dwarfs, a reliable race with talented forger skills, not so friendly race..."

"Hey! Dirk is nice!"

"Of course, but they're antisocial, despite one of their vow about never leaving anyone behind, don't you know? But you ever wondered why his house was isolated from Iselia town?"

Lloyd never thought of that, no wonder Kratos was amused that Dirk accepted him easily as his son.

"The rest races?" Lloyd asked Noishe to continue.

"Monsters, half-elves and humans, I guess I don't need explanation what they are. Monsters created by lord Ratatosk to set balance of mana in this world. Half-elves are hybrid of human and elves with appearance like a human and ability to cast magic and spells. Humans...well they're the weakest race among all, despite their dominance among race ever since Kharlan Tree was born."

"Hardy har har..." Lloyd spoke sarcastically, "So what are we going to do now?"

"We're saving your mother."

"How are we going to do that?"

"Travel back in time 4000 years after this. Originally our plan was to go back the past snatch Kratos to fish out Xander."

"It's like what Tynan said." Lloyd nodded, "Remind me again why we need Xander?"

"We're against another god."

"Right, Tynan mentioned him too many times. His name is Jor."

"Ah so Tynan told you well. Well as you can see Jormungand here wanted to exterminate your existence. None of us are strong enough except the seven gods. Xander was the strongest among the seven gods. So we have big hope that Xander can fight Jor."

"Wait, I thought he was going to kidnap Tynan or kill his Dad."

"Hmmm" Noishe pondered for a while, "Let's just assume he would accomplish all of that if he killed your mother."

"Huh...Okay. I don't understand how but...I trust you." Lloyd scratched the back of his neck. He didn't much understand but he trusted Noishe. Now with him on Lloyd's side, he can agree to do what Tynan wanted.

"His objective was revenge. Tynan was a successor of Hel, and she was Jor's sister, he didn't take the fact very well."

"That giant serpent was a goddess brother?"

"Don't forget their eldest was Fenrir the large demon dog that can devour the world. That's the way of Norse gods....don't ask." Noishe frowned, "Besides you believe that I was about ten thousand years old." He finished it with a grin.

"Heh....eh...." Lloyd replied his grin.

"Anyway, taking Kratos was one of the brilliant idea, concerning he was Xander's only weakness. The bad news is Jor was following us, the second problem is Tynan was off another portal without me." Noishe whimpered, "Eventually he added another risky plan, adding you to our mission. I'm surprised he managed to catch you here."

"He...stole my locket, and he threatened me to do what he said." Lloyd grumbled, "Or I wouldn't have my locket."

"Oh, can you believe that brat? He had the nerve to disturb your life."

"Well, he did promise me to meet my parents."

"Point taken... You just crossed Kratos, we will see your mother soon." Noishe muttered, "But that's not an excuse for what he'd done. I'd swear I will tell his father and he'll ground him good."

"From what he told he was injured."

Noishe looked at him with confusion, "Did he tell you that?"

"Not exactly, I had the dream. I saw what happened to Tynan's Dad...whoever he is."

The humanoid protozoan rubbed his chin in curiosity, "Interesting... But he was injured not dying, goodness, Tynan can be overreacting most of the time!"

"I guess he's just lonely without his old man."

This time Noishe eyes misted, "Poor boy, he is a death god right now. He can sense dying people. He might be afraid if he was sense it first from the people he cared."

Suddenly Lloyd's feeling was clouded with sadness, he couldn't explain why but it happened. Lloyd was an empathic person. It's just he didn't understand why it felt so bad when he remembered Tynan as if he knew the boy too long.

"So...how did Tynan become a god in the first place?"

Noishe smiled sadly, "His father made an agreement to save his life. So in order to keep him alive, Tynan must live as a death god."

"That's riskful."

"...Well... his father was just like any father. He was afraid of losing his child. He's actually a good guy, I like him. He's actually a nice guy."

Lloyd sighed, "So our next mission?"

"Our time travelling fuel was based on mana. We can't see what will happen to Tynan when he's travelling without me, he was using his own mana."

"I see, so that's why he was so tired when I met him for the first time."

"Right now Tynan was trying to convince Ratatosk to lend us some mana to travel back. It won't be easy since he was..."

"....frugal?"

"Correct, so we're back to his weakness."

"Which is..."

"Kratos again."

"Huh?"

"Actually there's a funny story how Kratos became Ratatosk's knight. Ratatosk was created by Xander. He realized who Kratos was to him. So if something happened to Kratos, Xander wouldn't hesitate to blame and dispose Ratatosk's life. In order to keep Kratos safe, he had to become his knight under watchful eyes of Ratatosk's monsters."

"Gee... I know my Dad was cruel. But I never knew his father was crueler."

"Oh you had no idea. He must've been cursing us for taking Kratos now. But as you can see taking Kratos here is like killing two birds with a stone!"

"Did it succeed?"

"Not...exactly, probably Ratatosk would let us leave but he won't let us take Kratos. We still need him until the end of the mission. We could've bribe that summon spirit that we will uncover Kratos' father identity but I guess he can see that we were just bluffing."

"Why is Xander keeping secrets from Kratos?"

"Probably he's just like your Dad...afraid of rejection."

Lloyd winced.

"No, actually, that was the least of his problem. He didn't want Kratos to blame himself for what happened to his mother and his little brother's assassination. It's complicated."

"So what are we going to do?"

"Plan B then..."

"What's the plan B?"

"I guess we have to bribe Kratos to come with us."

THIS IS A RAW FIC! Not yet edited. And hopefully, it will reach to SymphoniaFreak. Many thanks to her effort.

Sorry… It was short again… I swear I'll get those boys travelling time on the next round .

(1) As stupid as it's sounds… Hel's main first weapon is a broom. Or at least it was the original weapon according to the myth. Kratos' uncle was right…scythe was much better. The myth of the broom was originated because of the sickness "Black Death"

(2) YES! I believe this was the main reason why Kratos attracted many girls!! The divine women pheromone! (Or in goddess' case, "men's pheromone"). It's not just a joke, it was exist in Norse myth!! The word god could also mean "good-looking" men or women. Odin is a womanizer…it's a fact.

Most of the Norse gods are attractive, Xander (Vidarr) was not an exception, in one of the poet he actually described as "tall, strong, and handsome, has a broad-bladed sword."

(3) In case you've been wondering… Yes, the blacksmith was none other than Lloyd.

(4) In the Norse myth white elves are called Vanir. They're originally another race of gods besides Xander's (the Aesnir). They originally had nothing to do with hybrid.