Kratos, and his small family stood outside in the snow, a couple feet away from their cabin, ready to venture forth to see the dwarves. The warrior eyed the path leading to the long route there, before glancing at his daughter, whom gazed around the environment hand in his, excited to see the world. Normally he opted to take the path with Atreus, since it gave plenty of opportunity for the boy to train, but with the massive amount of Draugrs appearing of late it did not seem wise to bring Calliope down there without a weapon. Kratos fished into his pockets looking for the blue crystal to make this trip safer. The warrior extended the object in front of him, and watched as a pile of rocks begin to vibrate in a violent manner. The stones drew together forming an archway in front of manifesting from thin air a door followed. Calliope gawked at this display, because despite her time in the underworld the girl never saw much of anything in the realm of magic. Kratos's upper lip tempted to twitch into a smile seeing her face, but it didn't quite make it. He turned his attention to the portal, and stepped forward. Both his children followed Kratos' lead as he entered the bright shiny light, that would take them to Brok and Sindri.
Together the family entered the portal; leaving their beautiful snow covered home behind. The portal enveloped them with Atreus leading the group, and Kratos following behind with Calliope in hand. Once entered the young Spartan girl blinked away the specks of color that littered her sight until her vision was clear. This place was not what she was expecting.
This realm was mesmerizing, with its arrangement of blue vegetation, and timeless feel, thanks to its lack of day/night cycle. The first time he saw the world tree's branches it boggled his mind too, so Atreus couldn't help but to smirk at the familiar expression Calliope had. Her eyes glistening with awe and wonder.
"Welcome to the realm between realms! " Atreus rang out happily. "We are on the branch of the world tree!"
"Καλώς ήλθες στο βασίλειο μεταξύ βασιλείων" Kratos translates his son's more complicated phrases "Ήμαστε πάνω στα κλαδιά του δέντρου του κόσμου"
"Father, Τι είναι το δέντρο του κόσμου;"
"Θα σου εξηγήσω αργότερα μικρή."
Calliope nodded at her father's reply then let go of his hand to get a better look of the surroundings. Everything had this glowing tint that was very unusual, even magical in her eyes. Atreus would beckon his sister over to show her the large crystals and grass along the path. He enjoyed the arrangement of reactions and sounds she would make. Even in a different language he could understand the 'oohs' and 'awws' in her voice.
Kratos observed from afar as Atreus showing Calliope all the different and strange things on the branch. Their excitement was an interesting thing to see, such spectacles did not leave him in awe anymore. A lifetime of answering to the gods showed him the majority of what the world could offer. Instead, he would just live vicariously through his children. Everything was still fresh in their eyes. However, the moment didn't last long since Calliope leaned over and looked down below, intrigued by its never-ending void.
Snatching Calliope away from the edge Kratos pulled her very close to his person "Μόνο ο θάνατος σε περιμένει εκεί μικρή"
"Yeah, the only destination you would end up in is Hel"
"Hel…?"
"Όπου οι νεκροί πηγαίνουν σ 'αυτό το βασίλειο"
"Αρα, είναι σαν τον Άδη…?"she inquired
"Ναι και όχι μικρή"
"What's Hades?"
"The place where the dead go in my homeland."
"Oh, I wonder what Hades is like…" he trailed off. "Is it like Hel? Wait no. I'd rather not find out," Atreus shivered remembering their own trip to Hel.
"Yes. I suppose that is wise, now come boy," Kratos said leading the charge towards the end of the path. The group exited the area by entering another similarly colored portal of light.
This time the family was greeted by the sight of two figures hard at work. The surrounding structure was made with glittering gold, that shimmered in spots that light trickled through. It was so tantalizing that Calliope had to forced herself to not touch. She had distracted everybody enough by her curious nature. The family walked closer to the two strangers, and Calliope started to notice a few things about their personalities already.
On one side, laid shiny tools lined in a linear fashion. Calliope couldn't help thinking someone must have put in a lot of effort to make them align so perfectly. In contrast laid a pile of tools clearly haphazardly tossed onto the table, still covered in black ash, worn with use. There stood a short...blue..? Fellow that slammed his hammer away on the anvil. Turned around placing a rod of metal into the forge was another dwarf fashioned in gold armor, but with more classical human features of tannish skin. She walked close to the workbench were the two brothers labored away.
The blue dwarf hammered away at his latest project. As of now he held only a piece of hot metal. The tip glowed hot orange. It was like it contained a small sun on it. The dwarf then crashed down his hammer with a swift but precise strike. Its embers looked like stars that litter the night sky.
"Brother, would you keep your station clean?"
The blue one grumbled in annoyance. "Yeah yeah, keep yer' armor on" The one known as Brok blew on the anvil forcing bits of discarded metal to roll off onto the ground. Afterwards he wiped any excess off with his bare hand. Sindri made a very unpleasant face at his brother's choice. Brok only rolled his eyes and proceeded to wipe his face. Allowing the ash to mingle with his sweat and skin leaving a giant streak on his forehead.
"You know, we have a cloth for that. In fact, I made sure we had a cloth for cleaning your face and the surrounding workstation" Sindir bickered.
"Who has time for that horse shit when we are burning daylight?"
"Well, you look disgusting."
"It runs in the family. Mainly, slapped onto your shit face. Don't be mad, I was given all the looks."
"Ahh, is that why I have all the talent?"
Brok looked at his brother surprised "How long you've been practicing that line?"
"Um, well"
"Um, well indeed. I would normally be mad at your bitchin but I got to admit when you bested me"
"Hey Brok! Hey Sindri!" Atreus rang out with an excited wave thrown in.
"Fuck, do you want?"
"Atreus, what brings you here?"
"Aah...well" The boy paused to turn towards Kratos who lumbered behind him with Calliope in hand.
"Who the fuck is that?" Brok wondered spotting the newest figure with them. The two brothers had paused what they were doing to see the little spartan girl. The sight of somebody new with Kratos and Atreus was an odd one. Not many people would dare travel with these two trouble makers.
"Her name is Calliope and-" Atreus paused wondering if it was okay to tell them about them being related. They were two good friends with his own mother…It might not be a good idea to say father had a different wife before.
"What? Ye' swallowed a fly or something? Spit it out!" Brok crossed his arms eyeing the entire crew.
"I need something made," Kratos interrupted. He beckoned Atreus over. "The journal, boy," he asked with his hand reaching out. Atreus took a moment in order to fish it from his person, before handing it back to his father, and contemplated the information about his father's past which was stored within its passages. The young boy couldn't help, but to inch himself as close to Kratos while he looked through its contents.
Kratos flipped a couple of pages at the beginning of the journal. It didn't take long to find what he was looking for. Laid within the page was a detailed sketch of a dagger, rendered with careful detail, that had notes describing the materials and methods that should be used for its creation. Kratos turned the book to face Sindri.
"It should be light in weight Dwarf"
Sindri took the book form Kratos' hands. "Quite impressive. A lot of thought was put into maintaining movement without sacrificing its durability with such light materials. In fact, I could add reveriant hair and maybe so-"
"Do what you wish, but only improve it dwarf. It should not hinder the original plans"
"Ahh yes. Not a problem at all. It shouldn't take that long to finish anywa- Wait is that blood?" Sindri said no longer engrossed by the delicate design of the blade. However, the overall quality of the journal hit the poor dwarf in full force. Pages had turned yellow from age and torn in places. It had grime caked on the spine, and the current page contain blotches of dried blood that flaked off with the rustling of the journal. In fact, with further investigation the dwarf noticed how the corners of the pages curled, as if someone licked them to turn them.
"Oh, that's disgusting!" He yelped out
The germophobic dwarf began to gag at the sight. He held his hands out in absolute horror at this realization. The journal dropped out of his hands and fell wide open onto the metal floor. Sindri stood frozen unsure to do at first. In the end his eyes laid on the forge. Everyone could tell his thoughts at once of 'Fire does purify a lot of things'.
"No, you damn idiot!"
"Aaah, fine!" Sindri cried out while rushing over to a basin laying on his side of the shop. He started to scrub his, armored gloved, hands in the water vigorously. The entire time dry heaving at the sight.
Atreus had to turn around from the sight and cover his mouth in a poor attempt to hide his giggles. He did feel bad for poor Sindri, but he couldn't believe that the dwarf really thought about using the forge like that. Calliope on the other hand was out right tickled by the stranger's odd reaction to the journal. She didn't try to hide the odd look she boasted onto Sindri and her bubbles of laughter.
"Sindri, are you okay?" Atreus managed to say in a steady voice.
"Yeah, just let me scrub a bit more…."
"Oh, for the fucking love of Odin's big white hairy ass! It's not that bad," Brok huffed out.
"Odin's arse surely is brother. You wouldn't be joking about that horror unless you've seen it," the head countered.
"Wait...Mimir you've seen Odin's…"Atreus stared in disbelief.
"Look little brother, there are some things a decapitated head wants to forget about, and since drinking is no longer an option…..I'll have to settle with hoping your father will bash me a couple of times against the floor by accident until I forget. In truth, it was the real reason I lost my eye."
"Mimir, sometimes I can't tell if you are telling the truth or not," Atreus confessed. "You say it with such conviction."
"Oh brother, it was terrible. That's how he tortured me throughout the years. He just threw down his breeches and showed where the sun don't shine, but the moon sure did. It was so bad that my eye popped right out!"
"Now I know you are lying."
"Fine, fine. You caught me lad, but I am not lying about how ugly that son of a bi-"
"Head" Kratos interrupted with his arms crossed ready to get back on track.
"Oh for fuck sakes, can we please get to the cock dangling point?" Brok barked out
"F'ck?" everybody stopped what they were doing to stare at the small spartan girl.
Calliope cocked her head at the dwarves. It was a strange sounding word that keep showing up in the conversation, so she assumed it had something to do with blacksmithing. Though right away she regretted saying it since everyone had frozen up.
Atreus's eyes got big and waved his hands towards his sister "Aaah! No Calliope you don't want to say that"
"...Τι είναι αυτή η λέξη;. Fuuuck?" Calliope
Kratos closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, then exhaled in an attempt to calm down. It came to his surprise, but throughout the years neither of his children had a foul mouth. In a matter of minutes of meeting these two the dwarf fixed that. He sighed, crouched down on Calliope's level, and held both of her shoulders. Calliope was confounded at this reaction.
"Μην επαναλάβετε τίποτα που λέει το μπλε. Το στόμα του είναι πιο βρώμικο από το σφυρηλάτηση που δουλεύει. Η λέξη fuck είναι βρώμικο όρος για την επαφή."
"Τι?!" Calliope gasped out (What?!)
The young spartan recoiled away at the news, not expecting to say such a crass thing, and hid her bright red face in her palms. Atreus came up to his sister and patted her back to provide comfort. Even Kratos gave her shoulders a lite squeeze before standing back up to face the smiths.
"Τα λάθη συμβαίνουν μικρή. Καλύτερα που δεν το ήξερες" Kratos offered for comfort.
Brok shifted in his spot watching the newcomer embarrass herself. He grunted, wiped his hands on his apron, and then snatched up the book his brother dropped. He halfheartedly glance at the plans on the page.
"Quite your cockhorsen mouths. Nothing bad ever came out of fuck. In fact, fucking is my favorite activities." he mused "Now, no reason to piss puddling around a few fuckin words. I'm guessin the Hel spit is new around these parts?"
"Um…" Atreus glanced at his father, whom was staring at the blue one with cold impatient eyes, leaving him to his discretion "Yeah, Calliope just arrived here, and is trying to learn the language"
"Aaah, well that explains a few of my questions…and just ignore Brok. That's the closet he'll get to apologizing." Sindri mumbled "I'm sorry, but are you two related? There is an uncanny similarity to the two of you."
"Yeah…Calliope is my sister"
"Wait, I didn't know Faye had a daughter too. How many kids did she have?" Sindri pondered
"Calliope is not Faye's" Kratos stated without further explanation.
"You weren't faithful to Faye?" the dwarf stared dumbfounded. It didn't take long for his shock to twist into anger.
"Apparently, fucking is everyone's favorite activity" Brok quipped
"Oh, hush!" Sindri snapped at his brother.
Brok grunted, crossed his arms, and watched as Sindri raised both his fist towards Kratos. The scrawny dwarf was ready to throw down for disrespecting their good friend. Even though he knew he would lose. Kratos felt himself annoyed at this action but understood were the dwarf was coming from. He did not want anyone to tarnish his wife's name.
"Wait, no Sindri! Father was loyal to mother, it's just..things are a bit complicated." Atreus quickly explained "See, Calliope was dead"
"..Dead?"
"Yeah, and now she's back." Atreus nodded "Isn't that right father? "
Kratos grunted in agreement. He trusted Faye, and her judgement in characters, but did not feel comfortable sharing his own history with the dwarves. He outright refused to tell them anything about their Godly status. However, it would be simpler to deal with them down the line if did they know of Calliope.
"She's kind of like Mimir! But, um…Not a head...and we aren't sure how she came back. She showed up last night." Atreus announced to the dwarfs.
"Ah, well...I see" Sindri eyed the little girl not sure what to think "It's nice to meet you then…"
"Calliope" Atreus filled in for him.
"Yes, it's nice to meet you Calliope"
Atreus watched as Calliope came closer to the two dwarves after hearing her name. She turned her head waiting for some translation
"They are saying hello. Λένε γεια" Atreus said smiling
"Χάρηκα που σας γνώρισα και τους δύο σας."
"She says it's nice to meet you two," the boy parrated back
Sindri grinned at Calliope before turning his attention to Kratos. "Now, back to business. Who's this dagger for?"
Kratos motioned his chin to his daughter's direction and grunted "For her."
"Well, it's a practical design. But, if it's for her…How about I add a little elegance to the it? The handle and scabbard are, no offense, on the bland side. What does she like?"
The warrior glanced at the tiny form standing next to him then back to the dwarf. "Crocus flowers."
He paused for a second thinking of something "They look like this" Kratos flipped a couple of pages of the journal Brok was still holding. On the parchment laid a drawing of a toddler Calliope laying in a field of them with a face of pure glee. Her chubby hands wrapped around a bunch of them as she inhaled deeply. "She is fond of the flute, and most types of music as well."
"Wow, Calliope you were so tiny!" Atreus exclaimed looking at the drawing "Father, do you have any drawings like that of me?"
Kratos glanced over to his son's direction as his hand twitch at the question "Yes. Further back, boy. "
Atreus flushed at the unexpected answer from his father. It was hard for the boy to imagine his father sitting there sketching a baby for sentimental value. Yet, it made sense if he considered all the strange objects lying around the cabins from his father's homeland. There were a lot of things in there that Atreus never even considered to have further meaning until now. When they got back he planned to reevaluate everything in there.
"Aww, how fucking cute. Now while you two ladies drool over that sentimental nonsense I'll get started" Brok snatched up a pair of metal tongs on his side of the table "All that pretty shit won't help you in battle"
"That's not the point of it and you know it. A weapon needs to have a balance between practicality and beauty. Like it or not this is an art form," Sindri rolled his eyes. "I'm sure I'll get a design that the little sunspot will enjoy."
Calliope stood there without the slightest idea what was happening. She only knew that the one in gold armor was discussing something with her father, and it seemed she was the source of the issue. The conversation was way out of her league, and there wasn't anything for her to do besides stand by her family in silence. So, she turned her focus elsewhere.
Calliope watched as the intense flames danced along the log while bathing in its generous warmth. The winter was baited away by their intense forge, making this ornate area feel pleasant and even homey. The strong scent of hot metal filled her senses as Brok threw in some materials which sent a slight tickle at the back of the head. The entire scene seemed very familiar, but she wasn't sure from where.
Kratos nor her mother every took her near the blacksmith, since they were both busy during the day. That being said, Calliope's childhood did not lack weaponry. Her parents had plenty at hand for their own training purposes, and often took part in practicing together to keep in shape. Many of the Spartan's girl's earliest memories involved her mother's spear lunging towards her father, and in hearing it clang against a shield. Her mother would have teased anytime her father messed up, and her father kept a normal focused disposition in battle. It was a wonderous thing to witness, and Calliope would often have asked to join in, but promptly be denied by her father. Kratos was not afraid to teach her the different types of weapons and their purposes but did not want to over exert his sickly child. Often, instead she would sit on the sidelines as her parents dance in rhythm with her flute, as their weapons clashed, since keeping one's beat on time was the utmost importance in battle. A spartan warrior relied on his brother in arms to protect him with a shield. If he came too close, then his comrade would be at risk, or step to far away, then his own life in danger. This required hard training and reliance on one another to keep tight formations. Thus, their armies valued discipline, rhythm, and power. It was that strive for those attributes that inspired Calliope, on days when she felt well enough, to ask if they would let her join them. It was an often occurrence for the little spartan to badger them with that request. However, Father refused out right.
Calliope's mother, Lysandra , on the other hand felt it important for her daughter to take arms for her overall development. Since, Calliope was ill, the elders isolated the girl from the normal education that would be provided to someone of her age. It was a compromise the Elders had gracefully provided to prevent any sickness from spreading from healthy future warriors and wives. So, Calliope was raised mostly within the walls of her mother's estate, until death or defiant proof of health. Because of this Lysandra did everything in her power to insure Calliope did not fall behind in any field. During times of war for Sparta, which was often, Lysandra would show the basics of weapon holding to her, since her over protective husband was on the battlefield. The added benefit to this training would it be helpful in cause of an invasion or attack, and it was a way to protect their daughter. No one could be at her side always. Her mother also believed a weak body could only benefit from hard work that pushed the mind and body. So, she put in a system to help coaxed Calliope into doing that. Endurance training was rewarded with more secret lessons with father's spear, so Calliope would run circles around the estate, sweaty and hacking her lungs out. Spear lessons were rewarded with Calliope being allowed to deflect with a shield. Any spare time her busy mother could spare was teaching Calliope other important things such as athletics, mathematics, proper worship of the Gods and Goddesses, and, what Lysandra valued above all else, the ability to negotiate.
There were days when Calliope's body still felt weak and achy from the entanglement of sickness, but her mother would urge her to practice the flute or go outside for a run, or even watch from afar how Lysandra maintained their land. Always, her mother would push her to do anything to get out of bed when Calliope could. Yet, she never forced her daughter to do anything she did not want to. Instead, Lysandra would encourage any activity that Calliope was interested in. It was something Calliope was forever grateful about. Her mother gave her a chance to strive to be a proper spartan woman. However, their deaths cut that hope short, and left her training unfinished…..
But, those thoughts did not contain the answers to this tingling feeling that itched at the back of her brain. She came closer to the workbench as nostalgia taunted at her memory, refusing to show the source of it, only leaving a vague notion that she had to have been around a forge before. Calliope looked up at the dwarf in yellow, whom was working on the start of a handle, hoping for it to trigger further recollection but came to the conclusion she was imagining the deja vu.
In a blink of an eye and a few swings of a hammer the dwarves finished the blade, along with its sheath. Atreus stood by his sister staring as they worked their magic, wrapped up in the process of it. Together, the two brothers put their shop's brand onto the new weapon. It sizzled against the metal leaving their mark there forever. Sindri held out the blade to Kratos with absolute pride.
"Calliope" Kratos beckoned at her "Περίμενα πολύ καιρό για να στο δώσω. Λυπάμαι που δεν είχα ποτέ την ευκαιρία, αλλά τώρα χρησιμοποίησε το καλά κόρη μου. Είναι ένα εργαλείο για προστασία και παρολου που φαινεται μικρο, ειναι ισχυρό με τον δικό του τρόπο. Όπως εσύ μικρή" he mused
Kratos watched at his daughter trace the handle of the weapon with delight. Atreus took out his own blade noticing a lot of the similarities in the overall design. He brought it next to Calliope's to show that their father had done it for them both. Seeing his father repeat this gesture hit the boy with a realization. Atreus was starting to conclude that this was his father's way of showing affection in a tangible manner that didn't involve touch or talking. It was a sign of his love and want to protect his family.
"Atreus, knife!" Calliope was happily surprised to see his. "Ας τα δοκιμάσουμε! Πολέμησε με αδελφέ"
"Father, what is she trying to say? I don't know that word"
"It means to battle. She wants to spar with you"
"Oh. Ναί!" Atreus beamed at his sister and took a couple steps away from her "Just don't think I'll go easy on you!"
Notes:
Translations:
"Καλώς ήλθες στο βασίλειο μεταξύ βασιλείων"
(Welcome to the realm between realms! )
"Ήμαστε πάνω στα κλαδιά του δέντρου του κόσμου"
(We are on the branch of the world tree!)
"Father, Τι είναι το δέντρο του κόσμου;"
(Father, what is the world tree?)
"Θα σου εξηγήσω αργότερα μικρή."
(I will explain later child.)
"Μόνο ο θάνατος σε περιμένει εκεί μικρή "
(Only death awaits you there child.)
"Όπου οι νεκροί πηγαίνουν σ 'αυτό το βασίλειο"
(Where the dead go in this realm)
"Αρα, είναι σαν τον Άδη…?"
(So, it's like Hades?)
"Ναι και όχι μικρή"
(Yes, and no child.)
"...Τι σημαίνει αυτή η λέξη;. Fuuuck?"
(What's that word? Fuuuck?" )
"Μην επαναλαμβάνεις τίποτα από αυτά που λέει ο μπλε. Το στόμα του είναι πιο βρώμικο ακόμα και από το σιδηρουργείο που δουλεύει. Η λέξη fuck είναι ένας βρώμικος όρος για την ερωτική επαφή."
(Do not repeat anything the blue one says. His mouth is dirtier than the forge he works. The word fuck is filthy term for having sex.)
"Τί?!"
(What?!)
"Τα λάθη συμβαίνουν μικρή. Καλύτερα που δεν το ήξερες"
(Mistakes are to be made child. You did not know better)
"Χάρηκα που σας γνώρισα και τους δύο σας."
(It's nice to meet you both)
"Περίμενα πολύ καιρό για να στο δώσω. Λυπάμαι που δεν είχα ποτέ την ευκαιρία, αλλά τώρα χρησιμοποίησε το καλά κόρη μου. Είναι ένα εργαλείο για προστασία και παρολου που φαινεται μικρο, ειναι ισχυρό με τον δικό του τρόπο. Όπως εσύ μικρή"
(I waited too long to give this to you. I've regretted never having the chance, but now use it well daughter. It's a tool for protection and despite its small looks it can be powerful in its own right. Much like you child)
"Ας τα δοκιμάσουμε! Πολέμησε με αδελφέ"
(Let's try them out! Fight me brother )
Ναί!
(Yes!)