Happy HOWL-O-WEEN Everyone!
Sindri took one look at the half-broken shield and was beside himself.
"Where did you find this? This was made by the Dragon King himself!"
"Really?" said Atreus in mock surprise. Sindri was too busy salivating over the ancient shield to notice.
Kratos watched as his son expertly played the dwarf into reconciling with his brother.
"Why did you do that?" asked Kratos.
"Because I'm tired of hearing them bad mouth each other for no actual reason," said Atreus grumpily. "They need to get over whatever it was that drove them apart, and if I have to bribe one of them to actually talking to the other, then I will."
Kratos was not sure he liked this side of his son. He was acting extremely manipulative.
That and Atreus was sure that once they made up and Sindri showed Brok the shield, they'd make better weapons and shields.
As they ascended the mountain again, Modi appeared and blamed them for his condition. He looked horrible and it was clear Thor was very pissed about him failing to help his older brother Magni from Kratos' ax.
Kratos slammed him into the floor and the coward wept. Atreus glared at him as he was honestly tired of being attacked by this ass.
If Kratos was alarmed by Atreus becoming highly manipulative, he was openly alarmed by the fact that a few well placed words from his son had Modi losing all sense of reason to attack him when his back was turned.
Only a fool would have done so, as Kratos obviously had no qualm about killing others and he was right there within range of his ax.
However Atreus drew his sword in one smooth movement and before Modi could properly process what was happening, impaled himself in the stomach with it. Atreus barely kept the sword in his hands as the fat demi-god y slid off the other end of it.
"Why did you do that?" demanded Kratos, as he did not like how his son was changing.
"I've meet his type before," said Atreus tiredly. "He might have left us alone so long as he remained as he is now, but the second Odin or someone else gives him enough power that he mistakenly believes himself stronger than us, he won't hesitate to pursue us to the ends of the earth to regain what little dignity he has left. And honestly, I'd rather not leave that sort of petty enemy at my back."
Kratos and Mimir were silent, mostly to digest those words. While there was quite a bit of truth behind them, it didn't change the fact Atreus had been the one who set Modi up to inadvertently kill himself.
The rest of the trip up was made in silence. Mimir tellingly did his best not to look at his now dead body.
And then Baldur showed up. Today was really not their day.
Atreus didn't shiver too much in the cold winds of Helheim. Berk was always cold, so he was pretty much used to it by this point, except for when he fell sick. Besides, Loki had fallen with them and his body heat helped a lot.
He grimaced watching his shadow self trick Modi into dying. He really didn't need the reminder.
As they made their way to leave Helheim, they ran into Baldur watching his own shadow self argue with someone who could only be Freya. The image brought to mind her strange reaction to the arrows Sindri had given him (that Atreus made a point to never bring in her presence...no point destroying a perfectly good quiver of arrows after all).
"Wait...Freya is Baldur's mother?" said Atreus.
"Aye lad. He's never forgiven her for the spell she put on him," said Mimir.
"What is Baldur's weakness?" demanded Kratos, as he was really getting sick and tired of the god bothering them.
"That I'm afraid I do not know," admitted Mimir. "I believe Freya may have cast a spell on me so that I would not reveal it to anyone."
Atreus however was trying to think of any reason why Freya would hate arrows made of...
"I'm an idiot," said Atreus suddenly, grimacing. "I can't believe I forgot one of the legends of Ragnarok."
"Boy, what are you talking about?"
"In the old legends, Loki tricks the blind god Hodr into throwing a spear made of the one thing Frigg never demanded an oath to never harm her son, which kills Baldur instantly. Hel demands that every living thing weep for the god's loss, or else she would never allow him to leave her realm. Everything does except for a frost giant woman, who is really Loki in disguise," said Atreus calmly. His tone was of someone reciting a story they had heard many times.
"What was the material made of?"
"Well if Freya is Baldur's mother and did the same thing Frigg did, then it's probably mistletoe...the same material that Sindri made those green arrows out of," said Atreus.
"Are you certain?" demanded Kratos intently.
"I'm positive...why else would Freya react so badly to the arrows and demand I destroy any I came across?" said Atreus sensibly.
"That's all well and good lad, but why did you say it was one of the precursors of Ragnarok?" asked Mimir curious.
"Because in revenge Odin has a son who kills the one who unintentionally murdered Baldur, and they chain Loki to a rock using the entrails of either himself or his son," clarified Atreus. "He breaks free at Ragnarok and joins the side of the giants, and his three children are all key figures in the battle...one of which is the World Serpent Jormungandr."
Atreus really couldn't decipher the very strange look his father shot him hearing that.
"So we need mistletoe to take down Baldur once and for all," said Kratos.
"Yeah, too bad I used up all the arrows already," said Atreus annoyed.
As they made their way back to Midgard, they kept their eye out for Baldur.
It was near the bridge that something happened. The ghost dragon appeared once more.
Atreus recognized him immediately.
"Toothless?" he whispered, a pained longing in his voice.
Toothless looked very much like he wanted to tackle Atreus in greeting, but knew it wouldn't work. Instead he used his claw to draw in the frozen land around them, which made Atreus laugh, though he was closed to tears from how much he missed his original dragon.
Loki looked at his older counterpart with confusion and wariness.
There was an intense stare-down between the two.
"Boy," said Kratos, though there was understanding in his tone. If he had the chance to see his wife and daughter from his life before he came to these lands, he would have felt the same emotions his son was.
Toothless seemed to understand, and looked behind them to the realm beyond. He let out a silent growl, as if detecting Baldur's presence here.
He looked at Atreus one last time, before jumping through him. The area around Atreus' heart became quite visible as if charged up, and Loki let out a noise of surprise as the ghost of Toothless went through him as well before disappearing.
Atreus knew Toothless had done something, but he couldn't figure out what.
With the bridge on the peak destroyed, there was no way to Jotunheim... unless they could find where the lost tower went.
Which meant they would need Mimir's lost eye, and Odin hid that a long time ago.
Atreus had a headache. Why couldn't things ever be simple?
You could imagine his surprise finding that Sindri and Brok had finally made up. Apparently the shield Atreus had given Sindri from his old life had interested the older brother enough that he agreed that maybe all the fiddly little things Sindri preferred over his weapons were useful. Maybe. With a great deal of cursing from Brok of course.
He took a major interest to the sword Atreus had to modify, and adjusted the hilt and pommel so that the crystal fit better. Atreus could only feel relief as the dwarf even fixed the blade which had become chipped from use. The blade was now much more efficient at channeling the dragon gem, and with a little dwarf ingenuity was able to channel other gems should Atreus get his hands on them.
Sindri for his part, fixed the pommel so the gem at least didn't look ready to fall out like it had before. He just had to pretend he didn't know where the gem had come from. Considering it looked more like a rock than a piece of a dragon, it was somewhat easy.
While they are fixing the sword, Mimir realized there might be another way into Jotunhiem...but it would require his missing eye. It was at this point Brok and Sindri both comment about the overgrown statue (that Jormungandr had eaten out of spite) of Thor that Odin had demanded they make for him.
Atreus, not being an idiot...groaned.
"The eye is in the statue isn't it?"
"Most likely," agreed Kratos, equally displeased.
"Which means we're going to deliberately let the snake eat us so we can find it, since I doubt it's been fully digested yet," said Atreus.
"If it's any consolation little brother, I doubt he'd be happy about the prospect either," said Mimir with entirely too much cheer.
"It's not," deadpanned Atreus.
There were no words for how bizarre it was to explain to the world serpent they needed something out of his stomach. Jormungandr looked about as happy about it as they did, for much the same reason. At least he knew the two wouldn't actively be trying to murder him for it.
Kratos allowed Atreus to row them to the giant serpent's mouth. Mostly to get his son's mind off what they were about to do. Atreus, much to his father's surprise, was surprisingly competent at using the oars. While he wasn't as fast as his father was, he did use the correct method of directing the boat to his father's satisfaction.
Atreus tried not to pay attention to the fact that he could see Jormungandr's fangs above him or that the sky was getting proceeding dark as the world around him closed in.
Kratos took over once Atreus' arms began to tire, right as the serpent closed his mouth. The sound of the serpent breathing was really, really creepy.
Not even the smaller dragon would dare go into the serpent with them, so it was just Kratos, Atreus and Mimir.
Finding the eye was easy enough, and Mimir was thrilled to be able to see properly again.
As the trio was heading back up the serpent's body, something happened the closer they got to the mouth.
"What's happening?" shouted Atreus, holding on to the boat.
"I don't know!" shouted Kratos.
The serpent's mouth opened up wide and spat them out, causing them to go flying in the air. Atreus saw Loki in the distance, but he was too far away even for a Night Fury to get to them.
They crashed on the ground, hard.
"Boy, are you alright?" asked Kratos.
"I'm fine...I really wish I had my wing suit," said Atreus.
"Wing suit?" repeated Kratos. Then his attention fell on something far more important. Namely the presence of Baldur.
This was not going to end well. For Baldur.
Kratos drew his ax, Atreus drew his shield.
In the middle of their fierce battle, Freya showed up looking at her son in a panic. Baldur, rather understandably, was still very pissed about the curse she had him under.
Atreus could understand where she was coming from. He had been a parent after all and had only wanted to keep them safe.
But personally he felt she had gone it the wrong way...rather than training Baldur so that he could take on anything that tried to kill him, she had put him under a rather nasty curse. Sure, being invulnerable sounded great but having it at the expense of no longer being able to enjoy anything was a pretty crappy price tag.
Atreus tried not to envision all the fun he'd had with Astrid in his past life. Right now really wasn't the time for it.
So yeah, he did have some sympathy for Baldur...that wasn't going to stop him from putting the bastard down once and for all though.
Baldur went to grab Atreus. His shield was more or less shattered at this point from the blows. Then he let out a cry of pain...and surprise.
It took Atreus several seconds to register the fact that Baldur had stabbed himself with the piece of arrow Kratos had used to fix his quiver. The mistletoe arrow piece he had forgotten about completely.
Freya shouted horrified as the curse she had put on her son broke. Baldur was vulnerable now, and she knew it.
Atreus had to admit, it was pretty damn horrifying seeing the looming body of the dead stonemason (complete with chisel still in his head) trying to crush them.
Fortunately Jormungandr had recovered enough to attack the dead giant and pin it down.
"Well done boy!" said Kratos, after Atreus called for help.
Freya looked defeated, as Baldur went to kill her. Mostly in revenge for what she had done to him.
Atreus was just done with this nonsense.
"Haven't you had enough already?" demanded Atreus, before Kratos could stop him. "The curse is broken already! She can't use it on you again! Why are you wasting time trying to kill your own mother instead of using it to make up for everything she took from you?"
Dead silence.
"Boy..." warned Kratos.
"I can't think of a better revenge then for you to go and have children and then curse her so that she will never be able to interact with them, ever," continued Atreus. "She's so determined to be a good mother, nothing would crush her more than to have grandkids that she will never be able to interact with or dote on, regardless of what she does."
Baldur, rather than look hatefully at his mother, looked at Atreus. He thought over the boy's words and realized he had the right of it...that would crush his mother's spirit far more than killing her would.
Kratos gave Atreus an odd look.
"What makes you think that would hurt more?" asked Baldur thoughtfully.
Atreus' deadpan stare met his own thoughtful one.
"Once you kill her, she's dead and can't suffer anymore, even if Helhiem's gate is currently broken. Dying is easy...living is harder especially if she's cursed to never be seen or heard by her own blood because of what she did to you," said Atreus simply.
He should know...it had hurt worse than any wound knowing that while Toothless was alive, he couldn't see him again because it wasn't safe.
Baldur tossed his mother to the ground. The idea of making her suffer never seeing him or any children he sired, rather than simply killing her outright appealed to him greatly.
Kratos was stunned, mostly at the fact that Atreus' plan worked.
Freya looked devastated.
"What did you do?" she demanded.
Atreus tried to get the kinks out, mostly because that had been a rather painful fight.
"Would you rather my father simply kill him? Because I have no doubt that would have been the end of your son if he had continued."
Freya was angry, and stormed off. Baldur was already long gone.
Kratos looked at Atreus. Atreus was trying to perform a minor repair on his quiver.
"...Well done boy," said Kratos. Atreus smiled at him.
A few days later...
Getting the missing Jotunheim tower to return was pretty easy compared to the headaches of getting to this point. Atreus would be thrilled once they were finally done, as he was mentally and physically exhausted from this entire journey. He could tell his father was just as eager for a good night's rest in their own home.
Entering the realm of Jotunheim (without Mimir, who stayed behind since it was a personal matter), Atreus was amazed. In the distance, he could see the remains of large giants, but he couldn't see any of the smaller ones.
"They're all gone...unless they hid themselves like the dragons did," said Atreus.
He paused as he watched his father undo the wrappings he had kept around both wrists. Under the old and beaten leather were scars that looked incredibly painful...the remains of his father's past.
Clearly, Kratos no longer felt the need to hide what he was anymore. Atreus was glad, but at the same time felt pain for his father's sake for having to undergo so much anger and sadness before then.
The chief inside him swore that he would give Kratos the sort of family he needed, not the distance he wanted. It was obvious his father was still atoning for his past mistakes and likely would for as long as he lived.
Atreus would have to remind him of what living was like, and not just surviving.
Kratos handed his son the bag containing the remains of his mother Faye.
Atreus ran ahead...and had to scowl at the way Odin and Thor had marked practically every surface of the walls.
"Odin and Thor really had to ruin everything, didn't they?" he said. Atreus touched the nearest wall, and to his shock the markings began to fall away like ashes on the wind until it revealed entirely new scenery. "This is the world serpent! And this...this just happened!"
Kratos looked at it stunned, though his eyes were caught by a picture hidden by a tapestry. Atreus was too busy examining the paintings to notice it, but it was an image of Atreus holding a body that was too damaged to properly make out the face. Kratos had a sinking feeling that body was his own...the markings on it were about right.
Atreus tore his eyes away to look at another painting...this one of his mother arguing with the giants.
"It's mother... Mother was a giant?" said Atreus dumbfounded.
"It seems I am not the only one who had secrets," said Kratos.
"But I don't understand...why do all the paintings call me Loki?" said Atreus. Because that was really bothering him and he had a horrible feeling as to why.
Kratos was silent for a few moments before he answered.
"Your mother wanted to name you Loki when you were born. We had a brief argument before she agreed to name you Atreus, after one of the finest soldiers from my homeland," said Kratos.
Atreus stood there stunned as this sank in...before he looked very much like he wanted to bang his head against the nearest wall.
"Boy, what bothers you now?"
"The god Loki...the one I knew from the old stories of my previous life...he was born to the giantess Laufey," said Atreus. "How did I miss that?"
Seriously, he knew the legends of Loki. Born to the giantess Laufey, and considered one of the gods. He had a silvertongue and was known for causing trouble, and having the ability to shapeshift.
The two allow the moment to pass, and head up to the highest peak to scatter the ashes. They glint like golden sand as Kratos held out the bag so that Atreus could grab a handful. He takes his own handful, and they released it into the winds.
As they released the ashes, a sense of closure filled them both.
The two silently headed back for home. As they did, Kratos told Atreus of his namesake, mostly because he knew his son would appreciate knowing why his father had chosen that name instead of the one his mother wanted.
Atreus felt rather proud, hearing about the soldier who had impressed his father so.
Mimir was less than happy about his position, but he was pleased to see them back. So did Loki, who pranced about and looked like he wanted to tackle Atreus in happiness.
The poor Night Fury was dreadfully lonely, and Atreus was the closest thing to kin he had.
Rather than put off heading home via land or water, Kratos reluctantly joined Atreus on the dragon and they flew.
Once home, the two went inside and headed straight for their beds. Loki curled up next to Atreus' bed and went to sleep as well. It had been a long journey, filled with far too many shocks and headaches.
Atreus knew this was just the beginning. He still had no answers as to what happened to New Berk or his old village.
From the way Mimir spoke of his village, they had been dragon riders for as long as he could remember...but that had only happened after Hiccup had shown them how. And all his legends were from a time after the gods had left the world.
Was it possible that Jormungandr wasn't the only one to be flung into the past?
With that last creeping thought on his mind, Atreus fell into a deep sleep.
In it, he dreamed of Fimblewintr, and of another visitor that did not belong.
He saw a great forge, and a few weapons already made. Loki looked about the same age as Toothless after the battle of the Red Death. He was growling at the intruder, and a wind blew the cloak aside to reveal...a hammer that cracked with electricity.
Atreus knew this was Thor, and he had come for revenge.
From that point, his mind slipped into the blissful darkness of sleep...however he couldn't escape the feeling that this was a warning. A portent of things to come.