AN: Hey, here's chapter three. Sorry for the wait and thanks to all of you for the reviews. I'm surprised at how much attention this story's been getting as of late. Enjoy, read and review!
Chapter 3: Kratos Rises Again
Olympus, Chamber of the Pantheon…
Calliope and Lysandra made their way to Athena, sitting down beside her as Kratos and Ares prepared to duel. Kratos flipped the spear around in his hands. Ares merely laughed and unsheathed his sword. "Are you ready to die, Spartan?" the God of War asked his opponent.
"I have defeated you once, fuelled by revenge, now I will defeat you fuelled by my will to protect my family." Kratos shot back. Everyone excluding Athena and Zeus, who knew that this Kratos was from the timeline when Ares tricked him, stared at the Spartan in confusion. The God of War barked out a laugh and raised his sword.
"Let us fight Spartan! Then maybe I can rid you of your delusion." Ares swung his sword to ready himself. Kratos nodded and the God of War ran forward to begin the fight. Ares slashed at the Spartan's waist, but the hit was blocked and his blade was shoved away, putting him off balance, which allowed an opening for Kratos to attack by stabbing him in the side.
Growling in pain, Ares stepped back. "It seems that I have underestimated you, Spartan. But let me show you the true power of the God of War!" he pulled out an item from his pouch. The Pantheon gasped as they saw Pandora's Box dangling in Ares' grip. "Would you fight me if I used this on you?" Kratos glanced at the fearful looks the rest of the Gods gave the madman before him.
"Yes, God of War. But only to have you die by my feet." He answered.
Enraged, Ares opened the Box and felt his power increase. "Haha! Now you will see true power, Kratos!" Looking around, Kratos decided to reveal his own trump card. "I have more power than you, Ares." He replaced the Spear of Destiny and unsheathed the glowing blue blade from his back and swung it around to get used to feel of the weapon again.
Ares paled as he realized what weapon his opponent was wielding. "How did you get hold of the Blade of Olympus?" The Spartan smirked. "I know more than you think, Ares." Releasing some of his energy into the Blade, Kratos swung it towards his enemy, sending a wave of charged power towards Ares which cut through the God, sending him back in pain.
The two Gods of War stood, unmoving, glaring at one another. Then, a smile appeared on Ares' face. "Haha! Whomever aided you must truly be powerful, Kratos." The madman spoke. "For I know that the Blade of Olympus is in the hands of our father. Therefore, you must have returned from a different time."
Kratos merely struck the God again. "None have aided me, Ares. In my true time, I killed off you and most of the Gods, and All of the Titans. I returned because I rued my mistake, I came to change the destiny of the world." Another blow was thrown, but was blocked by Ares' blade. "It seems my other self had taught you well, then, to be able to kill almost all of us." Ares spoke. Kratos shook his head. "I am done speaking to you, Ares. You will now face your judgement."
With those words, the Spartan increased his ferocity, striking blow after blow, of which only a few were blocked by his opponent. The Gods were surprised by Kratos' speed and strength.
Soon enough, Ares was downed, lying on the stone floor before Kratos, bleeding heavily out of a gash in his side. "Kratos, do not do this. I merely wished to make you a better warrior!" the mad God tried to reason with him. The Spartan glared at him. "You wished to make me a better warrior at the cost of my family, Ares. At the cost of what I cared for most." He readied the Blade.
"In the timeline I am from, you succeeded. And it resulted in the destruction of Olympus at my hands. I killed almost all of the Gods, because they had been tainted by the sins of Pandora's Box, which I used to kill you with in that timeline." Kratos explained. "I will NOT allow the world to fall again." With those words, he implanted the blade of his weapon through Ares' chest.
Ares grunted in pain as the blade was removed. "Damnation upon you, Kratos." He grunted before falling backwards, uttering out his last breath as his back hit the ground. This time, Ares' body didn't explode in the magnificent explosion it had when Kratos fought him the first time, the body merely dissolved into glowing orange specs of light.
Once the body was completely destroyed, Kratos sheathed his weapon and turned to the Pantheon and his family. "It is done, Lord Zeus." The King of the Gods smiled and held out his arms. "Then you are now welcome upon Mount Olympus, Kratos, as the new God of War." He nodded, but then posed a question to his father.
"What of my brother and my mother?" Zeus faltered for a moment, but then regained his confidence. "Your brother will be freed and his injuries healed, and will be returned to your mother in Sparta." He said, motioning towards Thanatos, who merely snarled angrily before teleporting away to complete his new task.
As the Olympians celebrated Ares' death and Kratos' rise, the victor himself made his way out of the Hall of the Gods, where the celebration was taking place. Athena, who had spoken with Lysandra before the former mortal woman and Calliope had left with Hera for a tour of Olympus, made her way after her brother in worry. She was aware that he was not of the current timeline before Ares revealed it, due to her being the Goddess of Wisdom, she had the ability to learn anything about anyone just by setting her gaze upon them for a specified amount of time.
The longer she watched, the more she learned.
A cunning trick she discovered back shortly after she gained her title. However, what she didn't know, was how or why he came here, and to try and gain this Kratos' trust, she'd rather ask him personally. She found the new god sitting upon his throne, in a thoughtful pose. "Kratos?" the warrior's gaze moved to her and he removed the hand supporting his chin to the armrest. "Athena, what brings you here?"
The goddess walked closer to him. "I am aware that you are from a different time, Ghost of Sparta." This surprised him greatly. He had not expected her to be aware of that. "And what will the Goddess of Wisdom do with such knowledge?" Kratos asked as Athena turned to leave. "Nothing, as of yet. But beware, should you step out of line, Spartan…"
With the threat, the goddess left and the Spartan sighed and tried to relax into his new throne.
Once again finding the throne uncomfortable, Kratos began remodelling his chambers. The torches that aligned the walls he remodelled into the shape of Spartan war hounds, the marble floor was split into three elongated sections and the sections against the walls sunk down and filled with water. Seven golden, curved spikes moved out of the wall, red banners hanging from them above the water.
The throne was a large chair made of gold, with ram skulls carved into the armrests and a crimson shroud hanging over the back. Beside the throne were two giant torches, alit with crimson-gold flames. He extended the room to the left and right of the throne, with two rooms on each side. On the left were his sleeping chambers and bathing room, and on the right were his armoury and his war chamber. He erected a prayer pool inside the war chamber, before relaxing in his new, more comfortable throne.
The heavy golden doors of his chamber opened and his family entered. Lysandra and Calliope looked over the room in awe. Realizing Kratos had forgotten about his daughter, he quickly created a room for her next to his sleeping chambers. "Does this appeal to your image of the God of War?" he asked as he rose from his throne and walked over to his family. His wife smirked and caressed his torso, feeling over the scar below his right chest. "Indeed, Lord Kratos." She answered, kissing him on the chin.
Calliope's eyes were opened wide at the design of the room. "Father?" she asked, noticing the throne. Kratos noticed his daughter's line of sight and nodded. "Yes, Calliope, you may." He said, prompting her to run up and sit down on the gold chair. Sitting up straight and pretending to hold an aura of being higher than the Gods, she spoke. "I am Calliope, Goddess of War and all mortals shall bow before me."
Her parents let out a laugh as they went along with her pretending, bowing before her. "I do hope our pretty goddess will spare us." Lysandra said, looking up to her. Calliope giggled. "I might, if you can persuade me." Kratos held his right hand to his chest. "I will defend my goddess to the death." The little girl smiled and climbed off the throne, running up to Kratos and wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you father." After a while they broke the hug and Lysandra lead their daughter to her new room, putting her to bed with a song while Kratos went to his armoury.
He made his way up to the spear that was the Arms of Sparta. Flashes of a mighty city, ablaze and crumbling, with its citizens screaming in pain and crying out to the former General. Soldiers being crushed by god-sized feet and fists, buildings being stomped on and smashed.
"Kratos?" his wife's voice broke him from his memories. "Yes, my beloved?" he returned, turning back to face her. "What ails you, God of War?" she asked, moving up to him. Kratos smiled and softly caressed his wife's cheek with the back of his hand. "Visions of my past life." Was all he said, before kissing her and making his way back to his throne. Lysandra walked after the man, only to notice him speaking with a servant.
"Lord Hephaestus demands your presence in his chamber, Lord Kratos. You are in need of armor, as the new God of War has an image to maintain." With a nod, Kratos followed the servant, leaving Lysandra to herself.