"Boy!" Normal Speech.
'Boy!' Normal Thought.
"Nista!" Jutsu/Power/Technique.
"Loki" Demonic/Dragon Speeches.
'Loki' Demonic/Dragon Thoughts.
Summary: At seventeen years of age, Atreus and his father found themselves in another realm, one that was unfortunately filled with the less crazy, but irritating versions of the gods they had slain. Can they live their life in peace? Or the supernatural world of DxD will be forced to know the full might of THE God of War? Atreus will try to make sure that won't happen… anytime soon at least.
The story will focus on Atreus, with Kratos being a side-character most of the time.
Warning: There will be a lot of smut, lemon and 18+ stuff in this story. Read at your own risk! You have been warned
Son of War
Chapter 6
"Sirzechs-sama, Rias-ojou sama has arrived!" Grayfia Lucifuge informed her master dutifully as she stepped into his office and lowered her head to him. Even by devil's standard, Grayfia was an incredibly beautiful and voluptuous woman, appearing to be in her early twenties with gorgeous red eyes and stunning back-length silver hair that featured a long braid on each side with small blue bows at the ends, while the rest was let down and ended in twin braids.
Being the head maid of the Gremory devil household, and the personal assistant of Sirzechs Lucifer himself, Grayfia was dressed in a blue and white form fitting French maid outfit with long sleeves and a white maid headband over her head. In addition, Grayfia also donned light makeups with red lipstick as cosmetic accessories, which accentuated her beauty even further.
"Ah, let her in, Grayfia." Sirzechs said, nodding his head to his assistant, who in turn lowered her head to him before taking her leave from the room to go retrieve Rias. It did not take long for Grayfia to return, walking back into the room with Rias following closely behind her, wearing her usual school uniform even though she did not have school that day.
"Sorry I am late, onii-sama." Rias spoke to her brother as Grayfia closed the door behind them, before the two of them walked toward Sirzechs, who, like Rias, had blue eyes and crimson colored hair that they both inherited from their father.
"It's quite alright, Rias. You actually came just right on time." Sirzechs smiled warmly at his sister before gesturing his hand to the spot on the couch next to him "Take your seat."
"Yes, onii-sama." Rias nodded her head, and did what she was told to do, sitting down next to her older brother as Grayfia walked to stand next to the table before them, setting out to prepare a communication magic circle on the table before them. "Where's Serafall-sama? I thought you said she would be here as well."
The crimson haired heiress asked curiously while looking around, expecting the bubbly Leviathan Maou to jump out of her hiding spot and throw herself at her. Having known Serafall since her childhood days, she knew very well that it might just be something that the Maou of foreign affairs, while at time could be very serious, would do to surprise her.
"She was here, but a more important matter came up so she had to leave early." Rias nodded her head in understanding as Sirzechs answered her question about Serafall's absence "She did remind me to make sure that you remember to not reveal any crucial information to Azazel. We only agreed to have this meeting with him because he claimed to have some interesting information to give us in exchange for sparing his subordinates, so it's best that we keep ourselves from doing the same in return."
"Don't worry, Onii-sama. I won't." Rias shook her head and said firmly, making Sirzechs smile and nod his head to his beloved sister before looking at Grayfia, who had finished preparing the communication magic circle and activated. Soon, the hologram figure of the aforementioned man appeared before them.
"And here I thought you weren't going to call back, Sirzechs. After all, there's still much for us to discuss." The leader of the fallen angel, Azazel, greeted Sirzechs with a small smirk before he turned his eyes over to Rias and spoke to her "And you must be Rias Gremory. Please to meet you. I have heard a lot of great things about you, young lady."
"How unfortunate, governor." Grayfia coughed softly into her hand as Rias said that, even though the crimson haired heiress had tried to speak it in a neutral tone. It was obvious that the maid could detect the displeasure in Rias' voice as she addressed the leader of the fallen angel, who could do it too but simply laughed humorously in response.
"It must have been quite unpleasant for you to clean up the mess that my subordinates caused, and for that, I think I owe you an apology." Rias simply crossed her arms and scoffed quietly under her breath, because Azazel did not sound like he was sorry at all. "By the way, thank you for sending them back to me instead of just killing them there. Save me the trouble of having to remind some of the guys here that it's not the declaration of another Great War or anything like that."
"It's for the best. However, I cannot take the credit for the decision that I did not make." Rias replied to the governor matter of factly, making Azazel arch an eyebrow at her in wonder. Beside Rias, Sirzechs also had a similar look, but the crimson haired young woman had a feeling that both of them had already predicted what she was going to tell them next. "It was Atreus who told me it's best that I sent them back to you instead of finishing them there, and because he was the one who defeated them, I chose to honor his wish. I am glad that it turned out just as he had wanted."
"Hoh, so it was really him." Azazel said, rubbing his chin with a knowing smirk. "Well, he certainly looked like someone who would make such a decision."
"How do you know that, exactly?" Rias couldn't help but ask, before widening her eyes in realization "You met him?"
"Azazel…"
"Hey, don't blame me for feeling a bit too curious about this mysterious young man of ours." Azazel raised his hands in defense and interrupted Sirzechs before he could finish, but that did not stop Rias from glaring at him. The other fallen angels were one thing, but to show up himself here in Kuoh, her shared territory with Sona, was a completely different matter. A figure of his position just couldn't come and go as he pleased, without anyone knowing "Not after he sent one of my fallen angels back to me with a clear warning that if I couldn't control my own subordinates, then he would do it for me."
"No offense, governor, but I would certainly do the same if I were him." Rias said with a roll of her eyes.
"It's not the warning itself or the fact that he sent me one of my own subordinates all tied up that caught my attention, oh no." Azazel shook his head and said with an amused chuckle "It was his messenger, the one who delivered both his warning and Raynare to me that made me want to see this young man in person and find out who he really was."
"Who is it then, Azazel?"
"Aphrodite."
Even though Sirzechs had suspected that it wasn't going to be someone he could have expected with the anticipation the governor of Grigori had built up, the crimson haired Maou still found himself widening his eyes in clear surprise at Azazel's answer. Beside him, Grayfia was also having a similar expression, having dropped her calm demeanor almost as soon as she had heard the name that came out of the governor's mouth.
"Aphrodite, you mean… the goddess of love Aphrodite?" Rias asked, gasping in shock.
"Yes, the most beautiful and desirable woman in all of the realms, the Greek goddess of love and beauty herself." Azazel nodded his head in confirmation, recalling the event that had happened as he continued with an amused chuckle "Trust me when I said that I was even more shocked than you guys right now when she showed up at my doorstep that day to deliver Atreus' message. Even the girls swooned at the sight of her smiling, and don't get me started on the guys. I think some of them really lost it when she just waved her hand at them."
"Anyway, you said that his name was Atreus, right?" As Rias nodded her head at the governor in confirmation to his question, Azazel then continued, pointing out with a knowing smile "Atreus is a name of Greek origin. Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love. Coincidence? I think not."
"So you are saying that he might be related to the Greek gods?" Sirzechs then asked. Considering that more and more descendants of the Greek gods and their children, the heroes of the ancient era, had been popping up more and more the past few years, Sirzechs wouldn't feel surprised at all if Rias' new friend turned out to be one of them.
"It is a possibility. You can't really rule out anything these days." Azazel nodded before continuing "Still, he probably wasn't aware of us Three Factions enough to know where my base of operation was, so he asked Aphrodite to do it for him instead. After meeting him and seeing myself being read like a damn opened book, I doubt that the kid was just flexing. I would if I were him though."
"Oh and uh…" the governor then suddenly continued before either Sirzechs or Rias could speak anything to him, looking somewhat uncomfortable as he said "… be careful of his father."
"Wh… why? What about him?" Rias couldn't help but ask. She had had Akeno dug up some information about Atreus, so she also knew a fair bit about his father. While she had not seen or met the man, she had no doubt that he was also someone of great power.
"Uh… I'd rather not talk about that, but yeah… I think I have shared enough information with you guys today." Azazel said, sounding hurried. From the devils' point of view, it looked like he was trying to end their conversation quickly, so that they wouldn't be able to press on and ask him about Atreus' father "So, if possible, I will catch up with you guys later. Tell Serafall I said hi, and I will try my best to keep my fallen angels out of your town. Bye!"
And with that, the call ended, with the hologram image of Azazel disappearing.
"What just happened?" Rias asked, looking at her brother and then Grayfia, who looked just as confused as she was.
"Rias, how much do you know about Atreus' father?" Sirzechs then asked his sister, sounding more serious than before.
He doubted that Rias could do the same, but he could see that not only did Azazel sound embarrassed, but he also looked nervous. Not many people could do that to the normally laid back and somewhat insane governor of the fallen angel, having met him once in the past and getting to know him despite the strained relationship between the devils and fallen angels, who both occupied the Underworld together.
It concerned him someone like that was living in the same town as his sister
"Atreus' father is a security guard working for a local construction team of Kuoh Town, onii-sama. His name is Kevin." Sirzechs cocked an eyebrow at that, but Rias quickly continued before he could ask anything "Yes, I know. It's probably just a fake name. Still, I heard from Atreus his father was a very serious man, and he was the one who taught him everything that he knew."
"I see." Sirzechs nodded his head in understanding. That was a fair bit of information, but at the same time, it still wasn't enough for them to know more about Atreus and his father, as well as who they were and what relationships they had with the Greek gods.
"Onii-sama, there's something that came to my mind when Azazel claimed Atreus was related to the Greek gods, but I did not want to tell him." Rias then said, making Sirzechs and Grayfia look at her in wonder "I don't think it's just Greece. Atreus has tattoos of words written in ancient Northumbrian runes here and here." As the crimson haired girl said that, she pointed her finger at the side of her neck, and then at her arms "Each word has a different meaning to them. One of them is 'steady mind', and another is 'skilled arm'."
"A reference to his archery skill?"
"I believe so, onii-sama."
Rias nodded her head, having already informed her brother about how Atreus had taken down the group of fallen angels and stray exorcists to help Issei rescue Asia a few days ago. Even though she hadn't been there to see it, Rias had to admit that the way he wielded his bow and arrows as told by Issei was nothing short of amazing.
"Do you think that he is also related to the Norse gods, onii-sama?" The crimson haired young woman finished. It was because of them that before Azazel told them about Aphrodite, she was almost certain that Atreus could be related to the Norse gods, even though his name said otherwise.
Even after becoming friends with him for almost two months, it appeared that Atreus was still full of mysteries.
"Just like what Azazel said, we can't rule out any possibility these days." Sirzechs answered with a shrug of his shoulders, making Rias nod her head in understanding before he continued "For the time being, you should continue to act normal around Atreus. From the way you have described him to me, I agree that he doesn't sound like a bad person. However, you and your family will still need to be very careful. There's still much that we don't know about him, but at the same time, it's not wise to make an enemy out of someone with connection to such powerful forces like the gods themselves… not to mention his father… if that man can make Azazel act so awkwardly like that, I have a feeling he's much more than just a 'Kevin'."
"You don't have to worry, Onii-sama. I know what to do." Rias replied to her brother, nodding her head with a smile. Unless Atreus had been tricking her and everyone into thinking he's a nice and likeable person, then she had no reason to stop being friends with him. Not counting Kiba, who was her servant, he was the first boy that she didn't think was weird, and found herself comfortable around with. There's no way that she would let her doubt about him and who he really was get in the way of their friendship.
"Alright, if you have nothing to tell me, then you can leave now." Sirzechs said "You are going to bring your new servants to the Familiar Forest to find them their familiars later tonight, yes?"
"Yes, onii-sama." Rias smiled as she stood up from her seat and smiled at her brother "Then I will take my leave now. Take care, Onii-sama. Grayfia."
She added, smiling at the silver haired maid, who had a small smile on her face as she lowered her head to her, before walking to the door of her brother's office.
"Ojou-sama. There's something else." Grayfia suddenly spoke up before Rias could leave the room. "Your mother… she wanted me to tell you to call here as soon as you can this week. She wished to talk to you about your engagement..."
"I know. You don't have to tell me about it, Grayfia." Rias replied emotionlessly as she put her hand on the doorknob and opened the door to take her leave from the room, not wanting to hear more about it. Behind her, Sirzechs could only sigh.
As Rias took her leave from Lilith castle, she tried not to think about her engagement, distracting herself by thinking about her servants. Rias had been fortunate to be blessed with two new amazing servants in such a short time, and she planned to spoil them just like how she had spoiled Koneko, Kiba and Akeno. Giving them the chance to find amazing familiars for themselves would definitely be a first good step.
Then, her thought wandered to Atreus, and could not stop herself from wondering what he was doing at the moment.
Was he with Aphrodite at the moment? Doing naughty things with her? Rias' cheeks reddened as she thought about all the possibilities. She had read, heard and learnt a lot of stories about Aphrodite, so she knew very well the goddess of love and lust wasn't just a title. She didn't know if Atreus was into that kind of woman or not, but she had no doubt that Aphrodite liked him enough to do things for him. Gods never did anything for free, and any man, even woman, in this world would feel blessed to be able to spend their time around someone like her.
Or was he training at the moment? Someone like him had to have trained a lot to become as good with the bow and as strong as Issei had claimed him to be. It wouldn't be a surprise for Rias if he was practicing archery, or even sparring against his father, the man who he claimed to have taught him everything he knew, to become even stronger. As one of the only pureblood devils of this generation who trained themselves and their servants, Rias knew very well the importance of training. Atreus probably trained every single day to keep his skills sharp.
Yes, that's probably it. Atreus had to be training at the moment – Rias successfully convinced herself, as she tried her best to not imagine Aphrodite and Atreus together on their bed like an ecchi manga she had read in the past.
Break
"Ah, looks like I won again, gentlemen!" Atreus had an urge to face palm, his eyes widening in shock as Aphrodite put the cards in her hands down the table in front of them and showed him and the Hulda Brothers that she had indeed beaten them again in yet another round of card game.
"Wha… ya cheated!" Brok accused, sounding even more annoyed than normal while Sindri just scratched his head in confusion, trying to figure out why Aphrodite, the goddess of love of all people, was able to beat all three of them again, winning even more of their bet money.
"Excuse me, dwarf. You think a goddess would need to cheat to beat you in these types of games?" Aphrodite asked, but she did not sound offended at all as she reached his hands out to pull all of the bet money, four gold drachmae coins, to her side of the table. Brok just grumbled loudly in response and waved his hand dismissively at him as Sindri picked up the cards and started shuffling them so he could distribute them, as it was his turn to do so.
"No, for real though, how are you so good at these games?" Atreus asked, as he got his cards from Sindri. He had only played a few games with Kiba and Issei at the Occult Research club, but Atreus knew he had gotten the basics down and came up with a few good strategies for himself. But no matter what he tried, he just couldn't seem to beat Aphrodite, who showed new tricks every single time.
"It's a secret." Aphrodite winked, and Atreus could only roll his eyes at her. He had a feeling that it probably wasn't anything serious, though. She's probably just messing with him… again.
As Sindri gave Aphrodite and Brok their cards for another game, Atreus took a moment to look at the people walking on the street outside the shop, having come to Olympia that day to see Brok and Sindri, who wanted him to return after a few days after buying their bow so they could get his feedback and run some maintenance checks, as they wanted it to always stay in perfect condition. Apparently, the Hulda brother was a commercial advertisement for their weapons on Aphrodite's suggestion, so they needed all the good feedback that they could get from their customers. Of course Atreus could not risk attracting attention and ending up exposing his true identities, especially to the other gods of Olympus, so he asked them to put him as anonymous, which they had no problem doing.
Nonetheless, Atreus had given them his feedback, telling them that the Yggdrasill bow was one of the finest bows he had ever wielded. Aphrodite had also given hers, having bought a simple dagger to support Brok and Sindri's financial problem, but Atreus highly doubted her words would mean anything because she had never been acknowledged as a fighter among the Greek gods, even though her power itself over love was one of the most dangerous and deadly. Still, Atreus thought it was very nice of her to have chosen to support Brok and Sindri.
"Alright, ready to lose more money, gentlemen?" Aphrodite asked, turning Atreus' attention back to the game. Before she could continue, however, Atreus and the two Dwarves heard a ringtone coming from Aphrodite, and turned to look at her as she took out a cellphone from her pocket, looking at the details of the message on the screen for a second before saying "Well, sorry boys, but it's look like I gotta answer this call."
"We can wait." Atreus said with a shrug, but Aphrodite simply shook her head at him before saying.
"No, you three continue playing. A subordinate of mine just returned, so I probably should go see her. Don't worry it won't be long." The love goddess explained, pointing her hand at the phone in her hand and mouthing the words 'godly duties' before walking out of Brok and Sindri's workshop and heading back to her palace, leaving Atreus behind with the Hulda brothers.
"Well, guess it will be just us three." Brok said, smirking a little at the chance of winning back some money from his brother and Atreus. As he and Sindri started the game with Atreus, the blue skinned dwarf decided to strike a conversation with the young man, asking him something that had been wondering about "So kid, heard from the lady ya father didn't want ya to wander around this city, so ya two have to be discreet about it every time she brings you here. Does he know that ya are here today?"
"We can always come to your home to check on the bow next time if you give us your address." Sindri pointed out. "You are our VIP, so it's the least we can do for you."
"For an extra fee of course." Brok added with a dark, humorous chuckle, making Atreus have an urge to face palm. Of course, why was he even surprised?
"It's fine, you two don't have to worry about it. And yes, my father knows that I am on Olympus today." Atreus began, remembering the conversation that he had had with his father a few days ago.
Before he could continue, the door of Brok and Sindri's workshop opened and the three of them fully expected to see Aphrodite coming back in. However, the person who walked into the shop wasn't the blonde goddess of love, but an incredibly beautiful girl around twelve or thirteen with long auburn hair tied in a braid, and brilliant silvery yellow eyes, shining like a bright full moon on a cold winter night. Her outfit was fairly simple, being a silver tunic, black leggings and matching colored black athletic boots.
"We're on a fuckin break, kid, and we don't sell candy today. Come back la…!" Brok shouted, but he was immediately silenced by a hit on the back of his head from his brother Sindri, who had a look of bewilderment on his face as seemed to have recognized her. "What!?" the blue skinned dwarf asked in annoyance, before he turned back to the girl and took a closer look at her. After a second, he gasped, almost falling off of his chair.
Atreus, meanwhile, just took a sip of his mead, wondering if the girl was a big deal. He was on Olympus, the home world of the Greek gods, after all.
"You two are Brok and Sindri, the Hulda brother, I presume." The girl asked, her tone was calm and collected as Brok and Sindri stood from their seats. "The bowstring of my bow broke the other day, so I am looking for someone who can fix it for me. Can you do that?"
"Your bow? You mean…"
"Yes, this bow."
The girl nodded and held out her hand. In a bright flash of silver light, a silver bow appeared in her palm, making the Hulda brothers' eyes widen in shock and amazement, the same feelings Atreus was having. Though it was not because of how the girl had made it appear like that, but because it was the most beautiful bow he had ever seen in his life, seemingly glowing faintly the same color as her eyes even in the daylight.
"So, can you two do it?" She asked again, and while the bow seemingly had no string, Atreus doubted it had a normal one.
"Yes, yes we can." Sindri nodded his head and reached his hands toward the bow as she held it out for him. Gripping it tightly, he held it up as he and his brother marveled at the sight of it "Woah... it… it is…"
"A masterpiece."
"So clean."
The two dwarves said, almost at the same time, making them look at each other before turning back to stare at the bow.
"Yes, I always keep my bow in good condition. You two should get to work." The girl nodded as she followed the Hulda Brother toward their workshop, with them carrying her bow very carefully. She gave Atreus and the table full of cards before him a simple glance when she walked past him, before turning around and stopping at Brok's counter.
As the two brothers started working on the bow, the girl then looked to the side and noticed the bow on the other side of the table, which had been left there when Brok and Sindri decided to take a break from work and invite Atreus to play a game of cards with them.
Walking over to that side of the table, the girl picked the bow up, seemingly testing its weight. After a second, she twirled it around and held it up vertically before reaching forward with her other hand to pull back the bowstring, doing so like it was her second nature.
"This is a very good bow. It is so well balanced." The girl praised, looking at the bow in her hands for a second before turning over to Brok and Sindri "How much for it?"
"That bow is mine." Atreus spoke up before either Brok and Sindri could say anything to her, making the girl turn her head to look directly at him finally.
"Hmmm… name the price then. I will buy it." The girl said firmly as Atreus stood up from his chair and walked over to stand in front of her. The heigh difference was obvious, as Atreus completely towered over the girl, but she didn't falter for even a bit.
"It's not for sale anymore, and just because I'm here with Brok and Sindri doesn't mean I'm also blacksmith a weapon dealer." Atreus replied simply to her, before gesturing his head over to her bow that Brok and Sindri were still working on "Don't you already have one hell of a bow there? Why do you need another one for?"
"One of my hunters can really use a fine bow like this." The auburn haired girl answered, making Atreus raise an eyebrow at that… before widening his eyes in realization.
How many girls in the world had eyes with the exact color and as bright as the moon?
How many of them had a group of hunters following her, and used a bow as her signature weapon?
Or should he say godly weapon, a divine possession?
"You are the goddess Artemis." Atreus stated, not believing it even after he had said it himself. He knew he could never judge a book by its cover, and looks could be deceiving, but why was the Olympian goddess of the hunt and moon a little girl?
"And you aren't on your knees, boy." Artemis responded to him nonchalantly, crossing her arms on her chest even though she did not sound like she was actually ordering him to bow to her. "You are still not going to sell me this bow even after knowing that I am the goddess Artemis, are you?"
"Well, yeah… you being a goddess doesn't mean that I have to sell my bow. Gotta find a better reason than that." Atreus reasoned as Artemis started looking around. He loved his new bow too much to sell it away for money. Not to mention that it cost Aphrodite quite a fortune to buy it for him, since Yggdrasill wood wasn't easy to come back. He planned to pay it back to her once he had saved up enough money though, even if she had said that there's no need for him to do so.
There's a currency exchange system, with a rather good rate for mortal money, so he was actually planning to find a part time job after school to make some money. The last thing he wanted would be Aphrodite using the Yggdrasil bow as a reason to make him sleep with her again.
"How about we have a little challenge?" The goddess of the hunt began as she walked over to the table and picked up the cards that they left on it. Shuffling the deck in her hand, Artemis then turned back to face and continued with a small smirk "I will throw these cards into the air, and you will try to shoot them before they hit the ground. Miss one card, then you will sell your bow to me. I will buy it at whatever price that you want. How does that sound?"
"Do I get anything in return if I manage to hit all of them?"
"Well, if you can prove to me that such a fine bow won't be wasted in your hands, then I will give you my blessing. Your quiver will always be full of arrows, and you will never have to worry about running low on ammo ever again." That did not sound bad at all, Atreus had to admit. It would save him a lot of money, because while he hadn't run out of arrows yet, he would have to restock them from Brok and Sindri, who would never do anything for free even after he had done them a great favor.
But then again, he might not need it at all. In the end, he had no reason to accept Artemis' challenge. He would have to continue to say no to her until Brok and Sindri had finished fixing her bow, and then she would be on her way. It was highly unlikely for them to meet again in the near future.
"I am still waiting." Artemis spoke up, flicking a card up and down in her hand using only her index and middle fingers.
"Well, I certainly can use an infinite quiver… but, there's another thing that I want from you." Atreus began, making Artemis raise an eyebrow in wonder. She did not say anything, however, and allowed him to continue "If I win, I want you to sponsor Brok and Sindri. You buy some bows for your hunters from them, and give a few comments on their services and weapons. They are running an advertising campaign here on Olympus, and can really use some feedbacks from someone like you."
Artemis was the goddess of the hunt, and from the stories he had learnt from Greek mythology and Mimir and even his father, she was one of the finest warriors of Olympus. Her skill with the bow and arrow was second to none, rivaling even the likes of Skaði, a Jotuun whose hunting skills surpassed even that of the gods of her realm. If someone like her praised Brok and Sindri's services, then surely people would start returning to them for new weapons.
"K-Kid, you don't have to…"
"It's fine Brok." The young god grinned, giving the two dwarves standing behind their workshop a thumb up before picking up his bow, making the quiver appear on his back "As long as you give me a discount the next time I buy something here, I am fine with it. Plus, it's not like I am going to lose, you know."
"Hoh, cocky, aren't you?" Artemis asked as she walked to the side "Alright, let's see if your skill can back up your ego, boy. Ready?"
"Ready." Atreus said, nocking his first arrow. Looking at him for a second, Artemis then flicked a card into the air.
The young god could see that with the first card, she was simply testing him, not even putting any strength before her flick but a simple movement of her wrist. As the card spun through the air, Atreus waited for the exact moment it was directly in front of him to fire his arrow, making it impale through the card right in the middle before hitting the wall.
"Hoh." Artemis made a sound of surprise, as she flicked two more cards into the air, both of which Atreus shot into the wall without any problem.
She could see it in his posture, the way he nocked his arrow while raising his bow, not even taking half a second to aim before shooting it accurately at the very center point of every card she had thrown… that the bow was a skilled archer, far better than some of her hunters who had been with her for years.
"Alright, try to hit these." Artemis said, holding up four cards and flicking them into the air. From the way they were spinning in the air, he knew the cards would be tricky to hit, and as he had expected, they began to curve and change directions, no longer flying in straight paths.
All of these passed through his eyes in less than a second, as Atreus rapidly knocked three arrows and fired all three of them in quick succession. To Brok and Sindri's surprise and delight, and as Artemis had expected, all three arrows found their targets, flying through the air and piercing through the cards before impaling into the wooden wall one after another.
Another five cards were thrown, each one flying faster than the last, but Atreus had no trouble hitting them. Three more cards, and Artemis began to combine both speed and tricks, making cards fly around in the most random directions, forcing Atreus to shoot even faster than before.
But it wasn't anything that he couldn't handle.
"This will be the last one." Artemis announced, but she simply flicked the last card into the air, allowing Atreus to fire the easiest shot of his life. "Not bad. You certainly have skills, boy."
"Thanks." Atreus said gratefully, before glancing over to Brok and Sindri, who both gave him massive smiles and all four thumbs up in celebration. A bright flash of silver light then drew his attention, and Atreus turned his head back to look over his shoulder to see arrows replenish itself inside his quiver. However, instead of the normal steel arrows, they all appeared to be silver.
"As I have promised." Artemis said simply, before she turned to Brok and Sindri, who put her bow on the counter before her. Picking it up, Artemis put her other hand at the space where the bowstring should be and pulled back, causing a bowstring along with an arrow that seemed to be made of pure moonlight materialize. The arrow itself seemed to radiate divine power, and Atreus knew just by looking, getting hit by one wasn't going to be pretty.
"Splendid work." She praised and made her bow disappear with a wave of her hand, nodding her head to the two dwarves before placing a bag full of drachmae coins on the table "Here, for your trouble." With that said, she turned around and began to make her way out of the shop.
"Hey, what about the other thing you promised me?" Atreus called after her, making Artemis stop at the door before turning her head back to look at him from over the shoulder.
"I will come back tomorrow with a few of my hunters to buy some pieces of hunting equipment from your friends. We are running low on weaponry anyway." She said, making Atreus smile before she looked at Brok and Sindri "Of course, I will expect their quality to be the same, if not better than his bow."
"You can trust us on that, milady." Sindri said with an assuring nod of his head.
"I trust that you do. I will also let others know about your shop. My words here today should be enough too, correct?" The Hulda brothers nodded their heads in confirmation, allowing Artemis to turn her attention back to Atreus "What is your name, boy?"
"Atreus." The young god answered, seeing no reason to lie to her. Aphrodite had also confirmed that there were a lot of people in Olympia who had the names of the heroes of old, so the name Atreus shouldn't make a goddess like Artemis get any wrong idea…
… not like the name Loki, at least.
"Alright. I hope we will have the chance to meet again, Atreus." And with that said, she opened the door of Brok and Sindri's shop to walk out, stepping out on the street just in time to come across a returning Aphrodite. The two goddesses stared at each other for a moment, and it did not take a genius to see that the two didn't seem to like each other one bit.
"What happened while I was gone?" Aphrodite asked after Artemis had left, noticing the wall full of arrows as she walked into the shop and closed the door behind her. "What did Artemis want?"
"Well…" Atreus began with a chuckle, looking at the Hulda brothers who simply shrugged their shoulders at him in response.
Break
"Thank you for coming, Akeno." Atreus said with a smile as he finished the summoning ritual, allowing Akeno to arrive at his home with the magic circle that had appeared on the floor of his living room. It was nighttime and Atreus had just returned from Olympus, having decided to try enlisting his devil friends' services for the first time.
"Ara, it's no problem at all, Atreus-kun. You summon me, and I answer the call." Akeno giggled softly behind her hand as she spoke to him.
For the first summon, it was random, but Atreus actually informed Rias and Akeno beforehand that he wished for Akeno, so there's no way that he would end up with Issei
"It's a lovely home you got here, Atreus-kun." Akeno praised as she looked around his house for a moment. "Is your father home?"
"I am sure that he will return in a couple of minutes." Atreus answered her question. His father, while he might look scary to some people, would definitely not be as frightening as a talking head lying around on a table, so to not freak Akeno out he had had to hide Mimir away in his room for the time being. "Why are you still wearing our school uniform? You haven't returned home?"
"Ah, I actually just got back from a trip to the Familiar Forest with everyone. We were there to look for Issei-kun and Asia-chan's familiars." Akeno explained, making Atreus whistle in amazement while nodding his head slowly "It's tradition for young devils to find their familiars in the first full moon, which is also the only time of the month that you can bind a magical creature to you."
"Ah… I see, I see." Atreus grinned before he asked "So what familiars did they get? Anything cool?" He could almost imagine Issei wanting something weird for himself, like slimes or something similar. He didn't know if any of them could be real though.
"Oh, Asia-chan got a Sprite dragon for herself."
"A dragon? No way!?" Atreus gasped in amazement, his jaw almost hitting the ground.
"It really is. It's still a baby though, but we have no doubt that it will become a fearsome dragon in the future." Akeno giggled, making Atreus nod his head in understanding. Now he wanted a dragon or something similar for a familiar. That would be so cool. "So, what do you want me to do, Atreus-kun? Of course, naughty jobs are prohibited."
"Haha." Atreus faked his laugh, as Akeno struck a sexy pose before him. "Can you…"
Before he could finish making his request, Atreus heard the front door of his house being opened, and leaned his head to the side to see his father making his way in. Kratos then paused to look at his son and Akeno, who had a look of bewilderment on her face as he looked at the towering man standing in the hallway.
'So this is his father. What a scary looking man!' Akeno thought as she lowered her head to the man to greet him in a traditional manner, trying her best to act calm and normal. She had mentally prepared herself after hearing about him from Rias, who had warned her to prepare for anything when she came to Atreus' home, but it still shocked her to feel such an overwhelming presence from him, even though he did not look like he was trying it. "Good evening, sir."
"Father, this is Akeno. One of my friends from school." Atreus decided to introduce the black haired young woman to his dad, walking over to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "You know, those friends that I told you about." Akeno looked at Atreus in surprise as she raised her head. So he had already told his father?
"I see." Finally, Kratos spoke up, his tone deep and calm as ever "Welcome to our home. Feel free to enjoy your time here."
"Ah… thank you, sir." Akeno nodded her head with a small smile to him. The man seemed to be friendlier than how he looked.
"Ah, of course. Akeno, can you cook us something for dinner tonight?" Atreus requested when Akeno turned over to look at him in expectation.
"Oh, that should be no trouble at all." The black haired girl nodded her head, smiling at Atreus as she glanced over Kratos to look at the kitchen behind him. "Is there anything specific that you two would like to eat? My specialties are Japanese and most Asian foods."
"Anything that you are comfortable with should be fine." Atreus shrugged, before remembering Akeno's cookies and tea, which led him to say to her with a wide grin "Oh, don't forget to bake us some of your famous cookies too."
"Will do." And with that said, Akeno walked into the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and pantries to see what ingredients that she could make use to make a splendid dinner for two.
"What?" Atreus asked in confusion as Kratos placed a hand on his shoulder when he walked up to stand next to him. After the moment, the former God of war walked away, heading toward his room to change and leaving his son standing there with a look of confusion still on his face.
Sometimes, he just couldn't get the man at all.
End of Chapter 6
Note: and that, folks! Is the next chapter of Son of War! Sorry for taking such a long time to deliver this one, as I had some trouble with the first part of it. Nonetheless, after managing to finish it, I was able to finish this chapter in a swift.
Hope that you guys have had a great time reading this chapter. Don't forget to leave a review once you have finished reading! Reviews are all that matters! So make sure to leave one for me, yes!?
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See you in the next chapter everyone!