"Boy!" Normal Speech.
'Boy!' Normal Thought.
"Nista!" 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 8
"What are you doing, Atreus?" Rias asked, walking over to Atreus who was currently sitting on the chair on one side of the room, where her club had retreated to, drawing something into the page of an old, scaly looking notebook with a yellow handprint of a left hand on the front cover using a pencil.
The Occult Research Club and the Phenex group, who were currently occupying the other side of the clubroom, were both currently waiting for Grayfia to return, as she had left half an hour ago to return to the Underworld and inform both families of the changes in the situations about the marriage engagement between their children. The third son of the Phenex devil household did not look worried about the upcoming fight in the slightest, as he was just relaxing on his seat while being surrounded by his girls.
In fact, he was currently pissing Issei off by casually making out with some of them in front of the young man, who appeared to have the dream of being the harem king. The only girl who appeared to be the only one that did not want any part in it, was one with hair in the same shade of blonde hair color as Raiser's, tied into twintails with large, drill-like curls and blue ribbons keeping them in place.
She was dressed in a light purple dress with dark purple accents and a blue bow at the front. At the back, three feather-like extensions mimicking a bird's tail protrude from the dress, which, when combined with her wings of fire, give her a bird-like appearance.
"Just taking notes." Atreus answered simply, closing the notebook with a wave of his hand. "Any news from Grayfia-san?" He asked while looking around the clubroom, expecting the silver haired maid to teleport back in at any moment.
"Not yet, but you don't have to worry. I don't think Grayfia has ever done anything halfheartedly." Rias said, making Atreus nod his head in understanding. The crimson haired young woman then paused for a second, with Atreus looking at her in expectation, before she said, her tone softening "You don't have to do this, you know."
"And leave you to marry… that?" Atreus asked, a smug grin on his face as he crossed his hand on his chest and made a gesture toward Raiser "Sorry, not going to happen. Not if I can help it."
"But we…"
"We are friends, and that is all the reason that I need." Atreus grinned, interrupting Rias before she could finish saying anything.
Rias couldn't help but smile as she spoke to Atreus, "You really like to help, huh?"
"Heh, you don't even know the half of it." Atreus shrugged with an amused chuckle before leaning toward Rias, and tapped her forehead lightly with the eraser end of his pencil "It's not that I don't trust you and your servants to have what it takes to win the fight against your fiancé and his servants, but you guys are outnumbered, and quite clearly very ill prepared. I will beat him for you, this time, to buy you the time that you need."
"But if he, or anyone, ever come to ask for your hand in marriage in the future, to force you to marry them out of power and pleasure, but not for the love that you desire, and it is settled with a match like this, then I trust that you will be able to lift your own weight and beat them yourself."
"And for that to happen, you need to sort things out for your servants." Atreus smiled, gesturing his head to Akeno and the others, with Kiba and Asia trying to hold Issei back from lashing out at Raiser, while Koneko just gave him a blank look and Akeno hid her smile behind her hand "I know you love them as your own family, but a mother or sister cannot lead her own children and siblings into a fight for herself. You gotta be their leader."
Rias widened her eyes at that, looking at the young man sitting before her in surprise for a moment before she lowered her head, understanding that everything Atreus had just said to her was a crystal clear truth.
"Are you certain that you can beat him?" Rias couldn't help but ask. She knew that Atreus was incredibly strong, but only from Issei's story of how he was able to defeat an entire group of fallen angels and stray exorcists by himself without even breaking a sweat, but Raiser Phenex was on a level of his own, being a pureblood devil who was born with the powers of a phoenix.
Even if she had been confident in her peerage's chance to beat him and his group in a rating game before Atreus pointed out the obvious flaws that most of her servant had, Rias didn't know if she could really beat him if they ever went head to head in a straight up one versus one battle.
"I will beat him, no problem." Atreus answered, and Rias would love to believe him if he did not sound way too confident. She knew he could be quite cocky at times while they played cards and chess with each other, but she still did not know his power well enough to determine if he could really defeat Raiser in a straight up fight… with bow, and arrows no less. "So anything besides those flaming wings and a not so charming personality I should be worried about?"
"Actually, he…"
Before Rias could finish, she was interrupted by the activation of the magic circle in the middle of the clubroom, as it lit up brightly before Grayfia appeared before them. However, she wasn't the only one who had teleported into the room, as there were other people standing besides her.
The first had the appearance of a middle-aged, handsome looking man with bright blue eyes and a short, neatly trimmed beard, and long crimson hair that was tied in a loose ponytail with a black hairband. The man was dressed in a simple, yet fancy looking white overcoat hanging on his shoulders and a stylish white shirt and dress pants underneath.
Standing next to him was an incredibly beautiful woman, who looked so much like Rias Atreus could have easily mistaken her for his friend's sister, but with shorter flaxen hair and violet eyes. She was dressed in an elegant white dress that hugged her voluptuous, curvy figure quite well, and carried with her a serious, no nonsense aura similar to that of Grayfia. Atreus could easily tell she and the crimson haired man was Rias' parents.
The third person was a man of similar noble posture to Rias' father, but with short blonde hair, dark blue eyes and the facial appearance of a more mature, and less arrogant looking version of Raiser, his son. The third person, meanwhile, looked exactly like the girl in the purple dress in Raiser's group, appearing to be in her early twenties with the same blonde hair and blue eyes, with the only exception of her hair being done up very high with ornate hair decorations. Like Rias' parents, the two were dressed in expensive, fancy robes, but in darker colors.
"Father, mother." Rias greeted, her voice respectful as she looked at her parents, who smiled and nodded their heads at her, before turning over to the blonde haired man and woman standing next to them, lowering her head to them respectfully as she said "Lord and Lady Phoenix, welcome to Kuoh Academy."
"Hello Rias, it's been a while." Lord Phenex smiled at the crimson haired girl in a soft tone, before he turned his head and looked directly at Atreus, who confidently met his gaze, seeing that he had become the main focus of the newly arrived devils.
To his surprise, however, none seemed to have any ill feeling toward him, with the head of the Phenex household showing it quite clearly on his face. The man simply looked at Atreus, studying him for a moment before sighing longingly and nodding his head, more to himself than to anyone.
"Lord and Lady Gremory, do you mind if we go talk to our children before we carry on?" Lord Phenex asked, looking at the crimson haired man, who smiled and nodded his head at him.
"Of course, we'd like to share a few words with our daughter and her friend as well." With that said, the group parted, with Grayfia following Rias' parents toward Rias and her group, while Lord and Lady Phenex came to stand before Raiser and his peerage, with the girl in purple dress walking over to the noble woman's side, smiling at her when she put a hand on her head and stroked her hair lovingly.
"I'm Atreus. It's nice to meet you both, Lord and Lady Gremory." Atreus spoke as he stood up from his seat and offered Rias' father his hand, making the man look at it for a moment before smiling and taking it, shaking hand with Atreus while his wife watched him, her eyes studying him in the same manner Lord Phenex had done before.
"How do you do, young man? I am Zeoticus Gremory and this is my wife, Venelana Gremory. As you can clearly see, we are Rias' parents." Zeoticus spoke in a calm tone as Atreus nodded his head and took his hand back, putting it in his pocket as he continued to look at the man "Grayfia has informed us of the situation. You really wish to challenge Raiser Phenex for my daughter, do you?"
"Not for your daughter, sir, for her freedom to choose who she wants to be with." Atreus answered simply "I simply wish for her to have the chance to do so, nothing more."
"That chance has been given to her when we decide that she can settle it with a match…"
"A match that she currently has absolutely no chance of winning, ma'am." Atreus interrupted the lady of Gremory devil household, making both her and her husband look at him in surprise "My apology, but you of all people should have been able to see that your daughter and her servants are no match for Raiser Phenex and his peerage as they are now. Did you do it because you wanted her to have the chance to decide her own future for herself as you claimed, or because you knew that she would lose to him regardless?"
As Atreus asked that question, everyone could feel the atmosphere weigh heavily down upon them, affecting even Grayfia. Even if Venelana wanted to be angry by the question the young man had just asked them, the sound of thunder striking across the sky suddenly stopped her from doing so, and caused her to stand there and look at him in utter surprise.
"And if you are set on marrying Rias to someone who doesn't genuinely love her like Raiser Phenex, then why even bother making the preparation for the game between them then? No, why even continue the marriage, when you know that your daughter doesn't want to get married to someone who is forced upon her? Is it because of her duties to your household, and to your people? Or is it because you want her to see that even if she doesn't want to do it now, she will come around with your decisions eventually, and you were right?"
"You! How dare you speak to the Lord and Lady of Gremory in such manner!" Raiser snarled, being the person to break the silence that had fallen upon Rias' parents, though Atreus simply spared him a glance "Moreover, how do you know that I don't love her? Why would I want to marry her if I don't love her?"
"Care to repeat that?"
"Are you fucking deaf, I said…"
"Care to repeat that, Raiser Phenex?" Atreus repeated his question, speaking in a much harder tone than before it and with Raiser's name at the end of it as well, causing the blonde haired man to shut his mouth, instinctively knowing that whatever words he was about to say next wasn't going to be what he wanted to let others know. "I know a certain someone who can prove to everyone here that you do not love Rias from the bottom of your heart. Would you like to take that chance?"
Grayfia and Rias widened their eyes in surprise at that, being the only two devils in the room who instantly understood that he wasn't bluffing, with his unknown connection Aphrodite, the goddess of love herself. If there was anyone who could tell one person's feeling for another, it would be her.
"Next time, don't speak when you are not spoken to. This is between me and the Gremory." Atreus spoke, giving Raiser one final look before he turned back to Zeoticus and Venelana, both of whom looked plagued by their own thoughts. "Now, Lord and Lady Gremory, you do not have to answer the questions I have asked you. I am simply a curious stranger who sees things with the eyes of an outsider, after all. I could be wrong about the whole situation, but I am not afraid to accept that, and so should you."
"But with that in mind, I will fight Raiser Phenex, whether you two like it or not. He has already accepted my challenge, and if he lose, then the engagement between him and Rias is canceled."
"I understand." Zeoticus spoke, nodding his head and clearing the heavy atmosphere in the room with his voice. "If that is what Raiser wants, then I will respect the decision that has been made, and allow this fight to commence." He finished, nodding his head to Atreus.
"Thank you, sir." The young god said as Zeoticus became somewhat relaxed along with his wife, who seemed to have been holding her breath the entire time after the tension in the air had disappeared.
With a smile on his face, Atreus then reached his hands forward and placed them on Rias' parents' shoulders, making them look at him in surprise before saying to them, his tone softening "Lord and Lady Gremory, I am not a devil, and I do not know of your ways… but I know that you two are her parents, and simply want the best for her. But sometimes, you gotta allow Rias to make her own decisions, and see for yourself how well she can do, and how far she can go with them. Don't just force her into the choices that you have made for her, or put her into the path you have set up for her from the start…."
Atreus said, as he remembered Baldur and Freya, how her love for him had become the very reason that he ended up despising her, and almost killing her, even if she had accepted it in the end. If he could help it, he would never allow such a thing to happen again, as it would cause nothing but tragedy.
"…And if you wish for her to become the future head of your devil household that you want her to be, then you should start treating her like one as well. Rias wanting to be seen as her own person doesn't mean that she has forgotten the weight of her name." Atreus said, looking at Rias, who was smiling at him from behind the bangs of her crimson hair "She's quite proud of it, as far as I can tell."
Atreus finished with a light pat on both Zeoticus and Venelana's shoulders, causing the two of them, Rias and the other devils in the room to look at him in surprise and amazement. Even Raiser was speechless, as he stared at Atreus in surprise.
"To be told that by such a young person." Zeoticus spoke finally, a smile making it to his face as he put a hand on Atreus' arm. "I must admit. I am quite shocked. I knew I was in for a surprise when I got ready to come here with my wife, but never before has anyone dressed me down in such a manner."
"Tell us, young man, how can someone so young like you know so much about being a parent?" It was Venelana who continued her husband's words, asking him "Or are you actually much older than you look?"
"My father." Atreus said, smiling "He taught me everything I know, and I learnt from watching how he cared for me."
"Then he must be a great man. I truly hope that I can meet the man one day." Surprisingly, it was Lord Phenex who had spoken that one up, having been listening to Atreus like everyone else in the room.
Atreus simply laughed lightly at that, causing the devils to look at him in slight confusion.
A great man? His father? Not a chance, not when he had done things none of these devils in the room could possibly imagine.
But he sure was one hell of a father.
"Alright then, I think we all have been standing here long enough." Zeoticus then announced, as he turned around to look at the Lord of the Phenex household, making the man nod his head at him in response before saying "Let's go. It's time for us to settle this."
"Kaa-sama, nii-sama is not coming?" Rias asked, as she stood with her father and peerage behind the barrier that had been set up around the school yard, where Raiser and Atreus would face one another. The sky had gone dark, and the Phenex were just on their right, looking expectedly at the two combatants standing before them.
"He wanted to come, but your brother was called to a meeting, Rias." Venelana answered her daughter's question.
"When we talked to him earlier, he looked quite pleased." Lord Gremory said, chuckling in amusement as he recalled the look on his son's face "Not that we were surprised, after all, your brother has always been the more vocal one between the two of you when it comes to protesting against the marriage."
"Nii-sama did?" Rias asked, looking quite surprised.
"Though, we have never taken his words in the matter seriously, even if he's now Lucifer himself." Venelana spoke with a sigh, looking to the side when Rias turned back to her "I thought he simply loved you too much to be able to let you go, and you of all people know better than anyone about his unorthodox way of expressing it. But now as I think back to the conversations about you that we had in the past, Sirzechs might have seen dead serious the whole time. Your brother might have also seen something in this arranged marriage that we are all too blinded by our own greed to see."
"Kaa-sama, please…"
"It's quite alright, Rias." Venelana shook her head to her daughter.
"Are the two combatants ready?" Grayfia then asked loudly, being the only one beside Atreus and Raiser to stand within the barrier around the schoolyard. As they nodded their heads at her in confirmation, Grayfia raised a hand in the air before announcing loudly "Very well, then you can begin."
"Finally!" Raiser cried out victoriously, as he summoned his flaming wings and took off into the air, unleashing its full power and causing an intense wave of heat to wash over the entire school yard "I saw that you were able to shift Lord and Lady Gremory's decisions somewhat with your sweet words, punk, but do not think that…"
Before Raiser could finish his statement, a silver arrow shot through the air and impaled into his forehead, sending him flying several meters before crashing down in a heavy thud. While the devils watching from the sidelines did not look worried by the fact that Atreus had just shot Raiser in the head, they all were surprised by his speed, as the only ones who could see him draw his bow and notch the arrow were those with eyes that had gotten used to high speed, namely Grayfia and Kiba.
"Ah, so you really have all the power of a phoenix, huh?" Atreus asked, lowering his bow down just a little bit as he watched Raiser slowly picking himself up while grunting loudly in pain, his hand reaching up to grab the arrow by its shaft before forcefully yanking it out. The wound on his forehead instantly closed and healed up, leaving no scar or even a trace that it had been there behind.
"You… how dare you shoot me, you punk?" Raiser growled hatefully as he unleashed a tremendous amount of phoenix fire from his hand, his flame of fury that he wished to show Atreus while burning down his arrow. To his surprise, however, the arrow remained as it was no matter how much more power he put into his flame, glowing a faint silver aura.
"We are in a fight, you punk." Atreus mocked back in response and, before Raiser could even react, punched him square in the face. In rage, the Phenex threw a flaming fist at Atreus, only for the young god to grab his knuckle and twist it, snapping the bones of his entire arm before head-butting him so hard his face was literally carved into his skull.
Dazed, Raiser threw his arms blindly at Atreus, only for him to stomp hard on his shin, breaking his bone and making drop down on one knee before twirling around to crouch down low and firing three silver arrows in quick succession into his chest, sending him flying back into the air. As his body slammed into the trunk of a tree several meters away, Atreus did not let up and continued his assault brutally, kicking Raiser so hard in the face the back of his head slammed against the tree trunk and broke with an ugly crunch before punching the tree itself with his bare knuckles, knocking away a portion of it before grabbing it and yanking it down, causing the whole thing to fall down upon Raiser's body with a booming thud.
"I have fought one who could also heal from any wound before, Raiser Phenex. But unlike you, he felt no pain, while you feel everything." Atreus said as Raiser grunted painfully beneath the tree trunk, his bone and flesh sizzling and smoking as they healed themselves back to normal shape. "I wonder how strong your mind is, and if it can really keep up." With that said, Atreus grabbed the arrow in Raiser's hand and stabbed it down his palm, causing blood to spurt out and Raiser to cry out in pain before pinning it down into the ground.
"GAARRRH!" With a roar of anger, Raiser once again unleashed his wings to free himself, causing the air around him to explode violently in phoenix fire. The moment Atreus saw what he was trying to do, the young god threw himself back and notched an arrow, aiming it Raiser. To everyone's shock and amazement, Raiser's fire began to swirl around him and his arrow, which was fired in a full blast of fire that carved into the ground as its made its way toward Raiser, who blew away the tree on his back to get up and unleashed his own blast of fire at Atreus.
The area exploded violently as the two attacks met, but it was Atreus who emerged from it unscratched with only minor burns on his uniform, while Raiser had half of his torso blown away, coughing blood as he struggled to stand. Atreus raised an eyebrow in amusement as he watched Raiser's body regenerating itself back to how it had been before. His flaming wings still burned bright and strong, but it had dimmed significantly as the son of the Phenex Household took long, harsh breaths, though he was only able to do so once his lungs had fully regenerated.
"You look tired, Phenex." Raiser growled angrily at the insult "Would you like to take a break? You can certainly use a time out? Hey Grayfia-san, can we have a timeout?"
Atreus turned to the silver haired maid to ask, but she chose to ignore his question. Not that she needed to answer him, as Raiser created and then tried to throw a large fireball at Atreus, who turned back and shot the attack with an arrow, dispersing it in midair even before it could leave Raiser's hands.
"That regeneration ability of yours, Phenex, it's does not make you invincible." Atreus said, as he dodged a wave of flame from Raiser, firing an arrow at his shoulder. As the son of the Phenex household tried to dodge it, he was instantly hit with another on the other shoulder. Atreus' speed of firing his arrows proved to be too much for him to keep up to "You can still feel the pain that is inflicted on your body, and as your body regenerates, your stamina and power start to wear down with it. It's not hard to tell you are weaker than you were before, and you are reaching your limit."
"Shut up! This power of mine is absolute! It is one worthy to combine with the power of destruction to create an even stronger one!"
Raiser threw himself at Atreus with his whole body engulfed in flame, closing the distance between the two of them so as not to give Atreus the range advantage as quickly as possible. Atreus let him, waiting for just the right moment to duck his head to the side, feeling the wind ruffle his hair as Raiser's fist sailed by overhead as the man unleashed a flaming hook, and throw his fist at the man's abdomen with so much force a shockwave was generated, stirring the canopies of the tree around the school yard.
As Raiser stumbled back, holding his stomach in pain, feeling like his guts had once again been shattered, Atreus lunged at him and the blonde haired man glanced up just to see his bow coming down his face, breaking his jaw before Atreus took a small leap into the air and kicked the man on the other side of his face. As a loud crunch resounded from his once again shattered skull, his feet were lifted into the air as he began sailing backwards, but he did not get anywhere far as Atreus hooked his bow around his ankle and yanked him back to meet another earth shattering blow to the face.
The punch did not just break his only just healed skull, but sent him sailing into the air without a hope of stopping. As Raiser soared through the air, Atreus notched an arrow and instantly fired it at him without needing time to aim.
"Fálki lið!" Initially, the arrow looked normal at first, but upon hitting Raiser with Atreus crying out those words, it seemingly exploded, becoming a horde of falcons made of pure energy that hooted loudly and circled around Raiser, pecking violently at his flesh and clothes before diving down, generating explosions that caused Raiser to scream out in agony as he crashed into the ground, with large chunks of rocks and earth shattering around him.
No longer having the strength to do anything else, Riser was left to lay there on the ground, groaning to the world as his immortality forced his body to regenerate back. Having never been beaten so hard in his life, the pain that he was feeling was indescribable. It was as if all the punches and kicks he had ever gotten in his life were just loving taps from his opponents.
"It's over, Raiser Phenex." Atreus said as he grabbed Raiser by his shirt, or at least what was left of it, and pulled the blonde haired man up to look at him in the face "If you ever dare to show your face before me again, then make sure it is the face of a better man than this. If it's not, then this will only be a warning for the world of hurt that will come at your way." With that said, Atreus released Raiser from his hold, allowing the man to fall back into the hole he had been slammed into earlier.
Seeing that Raiser had been defeated, Grayfia lifted the barrier around the schoolyard, allowing Raiser's peerage to rush to his side while his parents decided to remain behind, looking as if they had accepted their son's defeat long before Atreus put him into the ground with that last attack.
Rias, her peerage and her parents were still standing where they were, with Rias having a smile on her face as she looked at Atreus, who simply gave her his thumb up in return as he made his bow disappear.
Now that's all left was for Grayfia to make the announcement, and she did so loud and clear:
"The winner of this match, …"
"… and so, Grayfia-san called out my name. Rias' marriage engagement was canceled. She's now free to choose who she wants to be with." Atreus finished telling the story to his father, as the two of them sat facing away from each other in a boat floating in the middle of lake at the outskirt of Kuoh Town, fishing for dinner. It was the weekend, two days after his fight against Raiser, and Kratos had just come back from another business trip to another town.
"Hmmm…"
"Well, I recognize that dour expression anywhere." Mimir spoke humorously, as he laid on the plank in the middle of the boat. "Don't you have anything to say to the young lad, brother?"
"I know, I know… berate me all you want." Atreus said, looking at his father as he turned around and laid his fishing rod on his left thigh "I should not pick that fight, and you even told me I should not get involved… but Rias is my friend. I just… gotta help her, I guess." Atreus finished with a shrug, remembering the talk that he had had with his father a week ago about the devils and fallen angels of this world, and how he got himself involved in their affairs.
"So much like your mother." Kratos said simply, leaning back with one hand resting on his knee. As much as Kratos had wanted himself and his son to avoid any form of conflict with the supernatural species of this world, he knew sooner or later, they would have to run into beings like the devils, as those like Rias lived among the humans and coexisted with them and other supernatural beings, unlike the gods.
It's only a matter of time, and his son, being the more reckless one between them, just happened to do that first to do so.
"I also told you to be careful, boy." Kratos then spoke, turning slightly around to face his son. "They might not be the gods, but there is no telling how many of them are just like those we have faced in our world. Be very mindful, and try to avoid putting a target on your back for them to aim at as much as you can."
"Of course you don't have to tell me that, father." Atreus nodded his head, knowing that his father was right. There's still much he did not know about the devils and other supernatural species of this world, but one thing that he knew, there were good and bad people everywhere.
"But is the girl just a friend though?" Mimir suddenly asked, causing Atreus to choke on the water he was drinking from one of the bottles he had brought with them on this fishing trip.
"Mimir, you think that the reason I decided to help her is because I like her?" Atreus asked, looking at the head between him and his father "No, it's not like that. Rias and I are just friends." He stated matter of factly, raising the water bottle to his mouth to drink it properly this time.
"But you did impress her, correct?"
Atreus instantly choked, spitting the water out of his mouth when he heard his father ask that question in his usual calm and dead serious tone, with Mimir busting out in joyous laughter.
"Not you too, father." Atreus asked in disbelief and annoyance at Kratos, whose face was still devoid of any significant emotion, even though he could tell that the man was quite amused.
The man then asked, grabbing the jug of wine that he had brought with them, "What about the other girl? She was there too, wasn't she?"
"The other girl? You mean Akeno? She is also a friend, father." Atreus tried to reason, but Kratos did not say anything back in response, as he simply tipped his drink at Atreus before bringing it to his lips and drinking the whole thing "Wh… Mimir, stop giving him weird ideas! Aren't you supposed to be the smartest man alive?"
"Oh my, did I say anything weird, lad?" Mimir laughed in amusement, making Atreus growl in response.
"Boy!" Before Atreus could say anything, his father suddenly spoke loudly, causing him to snap his head around to see his fishing rod slipping off the board, being pulled by a fish that were trying to swim away. Without wasting any more time, the young god shot forward and grabbed his fishing rod to stop it from falling into the lake before he started to reel the fish in, with Kratos getting down on one knee behind him and watching intensely. "Do not lose her, boy. Use her strength against her."
"I got it, father." Atreus replied to the man hurriedly, as he pulled his rod back further, causing the fish to jump out of the water and reveal itself to the father and son deities.
In the end, the two were able to catch two more fishes before heading home, with Atreus carrying Mimir inside his backpack to avoid unnecessary chaos. Each of the fishes that they had caught was as large as Kratos' bulging bicep, and while Atreus had no idea what type of fish they were, he and his father would love to see if Akeno could make them a delicious meal tonight.
"Huh, isn't that…"
Just as the two entered the street leading to their house, Atreus caught a glimpse of a familiar crimson color, and widened his eyes in surprise when he saw Rias standing with her back leaning against the wall beside the door of his house. He had no idea how long she had been standing there waiting for them, but from the way she was fumbling in the cold while burying her hands in the pockets of her jacket, it had to be for a while then.
"Hey, Rias!" Atreus called, waving his hand above his head to get the girl's attention. "Is there a problem? What are you doing out here in the cold like this?"
"Ah, Akeno is busy tonight, so I decided to fill in for her." Rias answered with a beaming smile, before she glanced over at Atreus' father, who was sizing her up while holding the fishes in his hand, finding herself widen her eyes as she looked up at his intimidating posture. "Go… good evening. I am Rias Gremory, a friend of your son from school. How… how do you do?"
Bending at the waist, Rias bowed her head deep to the man, stumbling her own words over in a poor attempt to make a good first impression, but she knew very well that she had failed. His overwhelming presence continued to make her shudder in nervousness, and no amount of warning Akeno had given Rias could have prepared her for someone like this…
… and he just happened to be Atreus' father too.
"Here." The man suddenly said, making Rias look up to see him giving her the fishes while looking down at her expectedly "I expect a three course meal from these. You can do that much, can't you?"
"Yes, to… I mean, sir!" Rias answered, nodding her head firmly to the man as she took the fishes from him, not shying away from the fishy odor they were releasing. With that, Kratos walked toward his house, unlocking the door and leaving it open for his son and Rias as he made his way in without saying any other words.
"Well, that was weird." Atreus said, glancing at his father before turning to Rias, who were looking at the fishes hanging from a string she was holding in her hand, seemingly making very careful decisions of how to cook them the way Atreus' father had demanded her to. "Do you need my help with those?" Atreus offered, but Rias simply shook her head.
"It's fine. I can take care of them on my own." Atreus nodded his head in understanding as Rias spoke to him "I knew how to cook, remember?"
"It's not that, and I do remember you telling me you know how to cook. It's just… I didn't expect to get to taste your cooking so soon, especially after you spoke so highly of it, that's all." Atreus said with a shrug, smiling at Rias as he held the door for her to enter his house first.
"It's the least that I can do for the thing that you have done for me, Atreus." Rias said softly, looking at the brown haired young man as he closed the door and turned back to look at her "It… means a lot to me, you know."
"Well then I am glad that I can help." Atreus said finally, before gesturing his head into the house "Come on, let me show you to the kitchen. We should not just stand here and keep my father waiting."
"Yes, please lead the way."
End of Chapter 8
Note: And that, everyone, is the end of this chapter. Really took me a while to write the conversation between Atreus and Rias' parents, so I really hope that it worked out the way I wanted it too. I really hope that everyone has had a great time reading!
The next few chapters will be an original arc with relationships and characters developments, a short time before the Excalibur Arc. I noticed a reader pointing out that Atreus' personality is a bit dull, and this is something I have to absolutely agree. The reason for this is that I do not wish to make this teenager version of Atreus too OOC by the time that we see how he is in Ragnarok.
Still, even though I have shown him to be more mature, this is an Atreus going through his teenager year after all, so maybe a bit of something like an ego (not like his god ego, which I believe he has grown out of in God of War 4) or explosive temper will not hurt, right?
That will be all. Once again, I hope that you guys have had a great time reading this chapter. Hope you enjoy the beatdown Atreus gave Raiser.
As usual, 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!?
Don't forget to check out my p/atreon and join my discord community for the earliest updates of my stories (new chapters will always be up much earlier there. It is also where you can keep track of my status updates as well as discussions about my stories, so make sure to join if you can). Your support would be much appreciated in this difficult time.
See you in the next chapter everyone!