With the revelation Atreus had memories of another life, the little oddities that Kratos had always noticed but never commented on made perfect sense. Now that his father knew, the small things became less hidden.
Atreus no longer hung back as much, and the next time they met Brok he made a point to pick up a small sword that suited his stature. Kratos raised an eye at it, but made no comment.
Kratos had no issue with teaching his son had to use a sword. His skills with a shield were more than adequate, so he was quite eager to see how Atreus would fight with a blade. While he would never pass down those blades to his son, the idea of passing on his people's fighting style was still within the bounds of reason. And he had no issue with his son being proficient in as many weapons as possible like his father.
It was something they could bond over, at least.
"Boy, show me how you fight," said Kratos, picking up a stray branch to act as his own blade. The worst his son would get from their training was a bruise, and he wanted the boy used to the blade's weight sooner rather than later.
Atreus carefully insured his bow was out of the way, and picked up the shield first. A wise choice. Then he held the blade in his dominant hand in an odd position as the blade's hilt was a tad too big for his hand at the moment. Kratos absently corrected his son's posture and the boy didn't argue once.
"Come, boy," said Kratos.
This wasn't like the time Atreus had tried and failed miserably to control the natural rage of a Spartan. His expression was more calculating, calm...resolute. Kratos approved.
Kratos deliberately shifted his position, and as expected Atreus attacked. His strike was awkward, but he recovered quickly as he immediately guarded with his shield. It was obvious to him that Atreus was somewhat experienced with a blade, just very rusty at it. However the boy was quickly regaining his ability, which meant Kratos could focus more on the actual training.
By the end of it Atreus was exhausted, but there was a closeness between them that hadn't been there before. For once in a very long time, they had something they agreed on.
"Boy. We will practice every night save for when we hunt," said Kratos.
"Yes father."
To his slight annoyance, the lizard showed up sometime during their sparring. It immediately curled around his son, who easily shared some fish he had saved for the creature.
As they traveled, Kratos decided to test the extent of Atreus' knowledge from his past life. He found the boy's battle tactics good enough to suit his own standards, but it was the tidbits he shared without thinking that really had his attention.
"You have met people from other lands?" said Kratos.
Atreus nodded.
"We never really left the archipelago, but we did get a lot of traders from other lands once we moved to a different island," said Atreus after a moment. Seeing Kratos look mildly interested, Atreus shrugged. "Mostly we dealt with the Celts to be honest. The others stuck closer to their homelands."
"I see," said Kratos.
Atreus suddenly remembered something, from when he was getting out of the small space in their home.
"You're Greek, aren't you father?" said Atreus. Kratos visibly stiffened, mostly from shock. "I recognized a symbol or two from that box in the crawl space, though I have no idea what they translate to."
"You had Greek travelers?" said Kratos.
Atreus noted the odd note in his father's voice, but couldn't place the cause for it. He considered why his father would react oddly to his homeland before a possible cause hit him.
"Were you one of the refugees fleeing from the Ghost too?" asked Atreus, sympathy in his voice.
"Ghost?" said Kratos, a pit of dread in his stomach.
"The few traders who made it as far as New Berk would tell stories of someone they called the Ghost. From what I remember they said their native god of War did something bad, and created the Ghost who terrorized the seas for over a decade," said Atreus. "To be honest we rarely had any Greeks visit us so I didn't get much detail about it."
"What do you know of this Ghost?" asked Kratos. He had to know what stories had reached his son's ears.
Atreus thought hard.
"Well...from what I heard, the Ghost was a berserker of sorts. The god of war cursed him so that he would not know peace, and he fought like a demon in order to free himself. I'm not sure what exactly caused his rage, just that whatever happened to him was so awful his spirit would not find rest," said Atreus slowly. "The traders didn't want to speak much about him, almost like they were terrified speaking of him would draw the man's attention to them and bring him there. I do recall they mentioned he was so strong he could fight literal monsters and come out more or less intact though."
Kratos relaxed a bit. His son clearly didn't know he was the Ghost of which the traders spoke of.
He stirred the coals, mostly to keep the fire from completely dying.
"I have to admit, what little I was able to piece together made me feel somewhat sorry for him," said Atreus absently, as he stroked the lizard's back.
"Sorry for him?" repeated Kratos, in disbelief.
"Well from what they said, he used to be a normal, highly important man before the gods did something terrible to him," said Atreus. "I get the feeling that he was just acting out of hurt because he didn't know how else to express his pain."
Kratos remained silent. He refused to tell his son that he was the Ghost of Sparta, the demon of which he spoke.
Atreus turned to his father, a sort of childish curiosity in his features. For once he looked his physical age.
"Since you know Greek, can you teach me? The traders never spent enough time to share their culture or their language, save for the common ones I memorized."
Kratos thought about the request. Teaching the boy his native tongue was a harmless thing to pass on, and it would remind him of the good times before he became the God of War. Besides, Atreus was already more than old enough to learn how to fight like a Spartan.
"I will teach you as we walk. After we spar, I will show you the writing of my people," said Kratos after a moment.
Atreus' face light up. If he had known the boy's interest in languages, he would have taught him long ago as a way to connect with him.
Kratos had to admit, Atreus was a very fast learner. Within a few hours he was already speaking passable Greek, though his accent needed work. He picked up the Spartan hand signs and shield code very quickly. Atreus needed only a few moment's instruction to pick up the soft and harsh taps that were an unspoken code among the Spartan elite fighters. Apparently his village used something similar.
The Spartan in him was proud...his son would have been a great warrior and general had he been born of Sparta, not this land.
The lizard cried in warning, and Atreus immediately jumped back as a troll appeared.
Killing the troll was one thing, the hel-walkers were another. They barely managed to make it past a door that Kratos barred firmly.
He eyed the lizard approvingly. That warning it gave had given them precious seconds and avoided a nasty hit.
It crooned nervously, clearly scenting something it did not like at all. It hid in Atreus' pack once they were past the deer-headed statue.
Atreus looked at the mine with awe. He had never seen anything like it.
As they ascended the mountain from within, the terror kept trembling until it looked ready to bolt. Something inside Atreus warned of great danger, and it took him a while to realize what it was.
"Father," said Atreus in concern.
"What is it boy?"
"I think there's a Titan Wing or an Alpha nearby. I can't be sure, but it's the only thing I can think of to explain the dragon's behavior," said Atreus carefully.
"What are they?" said Kratos seriously. Atreus felt a strange thrill of pride that Kratos didn't dismiss him.
"A Titan Wing is an elder dragon who's ascended to the final life stage of their kind. They're bigger, stronger and far more dangerous than normal," said Atreus calmly. "Or in Greek terms, they would be the older generals who got there by experience and kills."
Kratos mentally summed this up to a dragon who could be his equal before he became the Ghost of Sparta. He would treat them as a threat accordingly.
"And Alphas?"
"Basically the 'kings' of the dragons. Only certain dragons achieve that state, and those that do can assert total dominance on the lesser dragons to the point they would obey any command, even going against their own natural instincts," said Atreus promptly. He considered this for a moment, before he said "I think we're in a Titan Wing's lair... I'm not sensing the usual 'dominance' of an Alpha."
Atreus was proven entirely correct when a massive beast attacked them as they ascended the mountain via the lift.
They followed it outside, and Atreus immediately spotted a problem.
"I think that's Sindri!" he said. "We have to help him!"
Kratos eyed the troublesome dwarf. He briefly contemplated letting the overgrown beast eat him, before realizing it would serve no purpose. The beast had to be put down, for them to reach the top unscathed.
"Fire only when I tell you to!" ordered Kratos. Atreus nodded, and drew the dragon's attention.
It took a great deal of effort, but they managed to slay the beast. Atreus eyed it sadly for a moment, before steeling himself. Then he seemed to go around to the side while Kratos watched the dwarf improve his ax.
It took him a few moments for him to register Atreus trying...and failing...to do something to the dragon.
"Boy, what are you up to?" demanded Kratos.
"I'm trying to retrieve the dragon's Heart Crystal. If we treat it right it could be extremely useful," said Atreus. "But the scales are too thick."
Considering Atreus had given him some very useful advice and had used his shield to distract the beast in a way Kratos hadn't known was possible, Kratos walked over to his son.
"Where is it?" he asked.
Atreus pointed at a specific spot, and Kratos used his ax to open it up. Once it was through, Atreus dug into the dragon without a second thought before pulling out a fist-sized crystal that sparked with the same blaze the beast had tried to roast him with earlier.
Sindri, as expected, looked rather sick at their operation and was openly relieved Atreus didn't expect him to work with it. Casting the magic on the tooth was the limit of what he could handle for the day.
As they walked, Kratos spoke to his son.
"How did you know the shield would distract it?"
"Dragons are sensitive to sound. The clanging disorients them so that they can't aim or fly properly," recited Atreus. "Also if you can get the smaller dragon's head wet, then most of them won't be able to blast you. They also have a shot limit, but it varies between species."
"What species was that?" asked Kratos.
"I don't know. I know most of the dragon species, but considering what Sindri said about the dragons being killed off, odds are most of the ones I would know about are gone now," said Atreus sadly.
It didn't help that Night Furies, which he was eager to see again, might very well be extinct. They were extremely rare in his own time.
As they reached the summit, they were attacked by more Hel-walkers. More worryingly were the voices. Atreus didn't even need to see the owners to know he would not like meeting them.
They reminded him far too much of more arrogant, condescending versions of Snotlout, only with the actual skill to back it up.
Kratos tensed, as he heard Baldur's voice.
As they slowly climbed up the mountain peak, trying to stay out of view of the people above, Atreus noticed something. His father was too busy keeping them safe, but he would swear he saw familiar blackish scales lodged in the odd crack or two. If he dared to remove a hand to pick one up, he was certain he'd fall off.
Finally they left, allowing Kratos and Atreus to ascend to the top.
There, Atreus saw even more signs something else was nesting up here.
Atreus felt pity for Mimir, even so he couldn't watch his father cut off the god's head.
Before Kratos had a chance to do so, there was an odd cry on the wind.
"Oh dear. I forgot he tends to return once those fat dobbers have left," said Mimir. "Might be best to let me do the talking brother...he doesn't take kindly to strangers."
"He?" repeated Kratos.
The second Atreus saw what was coming, his face lit up.
He'd recognize that cry and that form anywhere. It was a Night Fury!
He could only hope Toothless had been reborn with him.