What Lies Beneath

God of War and all associated characters and interpretations are property of Sony Santa Monica. Kingdom Hearts and all associated characters are property of Disney and Square Enix.

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Thrúd left shortly after Sora had given his advice—whether she went to be alone or find Skjöldr, Atreus didn't know. What he did know, however, was that he didn't want to follow his father and Mimir as they visited the other villages. Oddly enough, Sora didn't either. He'd been fairly subdued, after the meal. Even the children noticed, and they'd subtly shifted away from him as time went on. As such, Atreus offered to take him back home—it would give him a chance to check on the traps, the wolves, and get supper ready by the time Father returned. Sora was quiet all the way home. He had on that same melancholic expression he had at the docks. Atreus didn't ask anything during the trip, though. He wanted to leave that conversation until after he'd checked the traps and fed the wolves.

But something made him pause as he neared his home. A certain smell. A…pleasant smell? He opened the door and tilted his head at the sight of Sora hunched over the cooking pot.

Without looking over his shoulder, Sora said, "Close the door! You'll let the heat out."

Atreus did so and placed his bow and quiver against the wall. Unwittingly, he sniffed the air, a delighted hum slipping past his lips. "Oh, that smells amazing! I didn't know you could cook."

"Thanks!" Sora said cheerfully, not looking up from stirring the pot. "Little Chef taught me everything he knew—well, after he used me for all I was worth."

"Little Chef?" Atreus repeated. In response, Sora pulled out his Gummi Phone and swiped across it.

"Here he is," Sora said, showing Atreus an image on the device.

"…That's a rat."

"Little Chef, yes. Head cook of Le Grand Bistrot."

"You learned how to cook. From a rat?"

Sora chuckled. "You've gotta learn to keep an open mind, Atreus." He lifted up the ladle. "Here, taste this."

"There's a difference between keeping an open mind and claiming to have lear—" he was cut off as Sora shoved the ladle to his lips. His eyes widened as the soup poured past his lips. "Oh wow! This is great!"

"Little Chef knows his stuff."

Atreus rolled his eyes and sat down at the table. "So did this...Little Chef teach you back on your home world?"

Sora froze for a moment. "No, no, uh…I met Little Chef on another world. Never learned how to cook beyond grilling fish before then."

Atreus nodded. "What was it like, your home world?"

Sora looked over his shoulder with a wistful grin. "It's wonderful. It's just a small chain of islands—though I only ever visited one other than the main island regularly." His smile widened. "Me and my friends would play almost every day on the smaller island. Racing each other, fishing, playing ball, sparring." His smile shrank. "Haven't played like that in a long time."

"Sounds nice," Atreus said. "I grew up with just my father and mother here in these woods."

"Just the three of you?" Sora said, eyes wide. "Wow, I can't imagine that. I mean, we all had our own homes to sleep in, but everyone always hung out together—a real community, you know." The wistful tone returned to his voice.

Atreus looked down. "…I bet your parents must miss you, huh?"

Sora froze, then let out a breath. "…Let's not talk about my parents, alright?"

Atreus winced. "Sorry! Didn't mean to open up any wounds. But, well, if you had a community of people around you—"

"Ah, it's not that. My parents are good people, it's just…" Sora turned around and leaned against the table. "Things…changed…after I got the Keyblade and started travelling to other worlds."

"You get stir crazy?" Atreus asked. He felt it too now that he'd started travelling outside the Realms. He'd always be glad to return home, but he just couldn't stay put anymore. Even without his goal to find the giants that had fled in the wake of Odin's evils, there was just so much to discover!

Sora's face pinched, before he sat down. "Ok, it's like this." He propped his elbows up on the table. "A few months after I got the Keyblade, I ended up at this place called Castle Oblivion. There was this girl there, Naminé, and she has the power to manipulate memories."

"What?!" Atreus exclaimed. "How?"

"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure, but what's important is that she can. She was held captive by this group called Organization XIII. They used her powers to mess with my memories in order to turn me into their puppet—don't ask why, we'd be here all week."

"They made you forget your parents?" Atreus said, eyes wide.

"If only." Sora chuckled mirthlessly. "See, at the end of the day I saved Naminé, but my memories were so fractured that I had to be put into a deep sleep in order for her to repair them. And in order to repair them they had to be completely torn apart and stitched back together." He took a deep breath. "Unfortunately, this complete restructuring of my memories affected the people I knew. Made them…forget things."

Atreus gasped in horror. "Wait…are you telling me that your parents—they—"

"Forgot I even existed," Sora finished, voice monotone. "For one year everybody in all the worlds, save for those involved with the plot to control me in Castle Oblivion, forgot who I was. Went on with their lives not knowing I was missing from them."

"B-But they got them back, right? Their memories of you?"

"Oh yeah. And my parents, and the other people from my world, freaked out over somehow forgetting about the kid they'd all watched grow up." Sora sniffed. "They all got hit really hard, harder than Naminé intended. The people I met from other worlds; I'd only known them for a couple months at most. There wasn't much to forget, and when they remembered it was a sort of 'oh yeah' realization, you know? But my friends? My parents? Oh, they were a mess." He mumbled something under his breath. Something about Kai-someone being remarkably well-adjusted.

Atreus struggled to find his voice. Your parents—everyone you ever met—forgetting you existed? He supposed it was a small mercy that Sora was asleep during the actual forgetting part, but having to pick up the pieces afterward? He couldn't even begin to imagine what he would do in Sora's place.

In the end, he managed to stammer out. "How did you, everyone, you know, get beter?"

Sora's lips spread into a wan smirk. He held out his right hand, and his Keyblade—the silver one—flashed into existence. "Thanks to this. I come back home and tell everyone that I've got a magic weapon and go on all sorts of magic adventures and, we all clung to that. Made it our new normal—for the short amount of time I actually spent on Destiny Islands."

"…And your parents?"

"We…ignore it." Sora smiled—wide and utterly fake. "Not like I spend much time with them much anymore." He chuckled bitterly. "I mean, jeez, last time I was on Destiny Islands I didn't even think about them. I just wanted to spend one last sunset with…" he trailed off, eyes glazing over.

Abruptly, he shot up from his seat. "I need some air." He walked to the door without even looking at Atreus. "Stew just needs a few more minutes in the pot. Maybe add some salt if you want."

"Sora!" Atreus called out, but the otherworldly youth slammed the door shut behind him. Suddenly, his home felt very cold

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"It's good of you to visit the mortals as often as you are, Brother," Mimir said as Kratos led them back home, just after sundown.

"It is the least I can do," Kratos replied. The other mortal villages were doing well. Like Skjöldr and his people, they were all preparing for the anniversary of Ragnarök. Multiple people had asked him to make an appearance, but Kratos was hesitant to agree. It was a good idea, he knew. To let the mortals know that he was approachable and open to their revelry.

But it was just awkward to think about. The only 'celebrations' he'd attended as Greece's God of War were little more than petty ego trips in his honor. He didn't know how to…party.

He found himself wishing that Faye's mural of his potential future—beloved and wise and worthy—came with step-by-step instructions.

"Still, doing more than I ever did," Mimir said. "Back when I worked for Odin, I never really spent all that much time with the mortals of Midgard."

"Truly?" Kratos asked.

"Oh, yeah," his friend replied. "I think I mortal'd myself out during my wayward youth." He chuckled sheepishly. "I made an ass out of more than a few of them, let me tell you!"

Kratos grunted. "I too interfered with mortal lives for…petty amusement."

Mimir sighed, mournful. "Aye. It's a terrible thing, isn't it? The moment it sinks in just how much more powerful you are than everyone else?"

"It is," Kratos said, mind flashing back to the cruelties he would subject the mortals of Greece to in terrible attempts at alleviating his own misery. And even further, to when he was still just a mortal man under the service of Ares. He had grown brutal even by Spartan standards. To the point that outside of battle the only people that willingly associated with him were Lysandra—who had never put up with his nonsense even before he sold his soul to Ares—and Calliope, to whom her father could do no wrong.

Until he did.

Kratos took a deep breath as a wave of anguish washed over him. "We cannot allow the…callousness of our youths to follow us into the present, or future. We will be better, so those that follow after us can be their best."

"Well said, Brother. It's something the gods should have learned long ago, really." Mimir grew silent for a moment. "Makes you wonder if other worlds' gods are like the ones on this world."

Kratos said nothing in response.

Mimir cleared his throat. "I said—"

"I heard. I also heard your unasked question, to which my answer is this: I will not speak of my travels to other worlds with you."

"Oh, come on!" Mimir whined. "Sora's happy to tell me of his otherworldly adventures!"

"I am not Sora."

"More's the pity," Mimir groused, to Kratos's quiet amusement. They fell into silence after that, Kratos maintaining a brisk pace back to their home.

Until Kratos heard Atreus's voice calling out from the distance.

He hurried his step and was able to make out his son's words. "Sora!" He called out. "Where are you? Sora!"

Kratos rushed forward and found his son along one of the animal paths near their home. "Father!" Atreus said, jerking back in mild shock.

"What is wrong?" Kratos asked. "What has happened to Sora?"

"Nothing bad!" his son quickly assured. "But it is kind of my fault." He crossed his arms. "We were just talking, and I asked what ended up being some very personal questions." He shuddered. "And got some very disturbing answers."

"About what?" Mimir asked.

"Just…his home." Atreus looked down at his feet with a gloomy expression. "I…I don't think he has one to go back to." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, he's been gone for a while now."

"Well, I doubt he's in any real danger, but we should at least find him, so we know where he is," Mimir said.

"Have you found tracks?" Kratos asked. In response, Atreus gestured to the trees. Kratos looked up and saw a zig-zagging pattern of broken branches and disturbed leaves.

"Huh. Haven't tracked a man moving through trees in many an age," Mimir remarked as they followed the tracks.

"You've done this before?" Atreus asked

"Ah, once or twice in my wayward youth. Chasing my kith and kin for fun and profit." Mimir sighed heavily. "I know better than to bemoan my current state, but sometimes I really do miss my body."

"I'm sorry it rotted before we could get back to it," Atreus said.

"It's fine, lad," Mimir said, and Kratos could hear the smile in his voice. "I'm here now. And meeting the two of you—I'd give up my body a thousand times for that."

Atreus hummed. "Still, it'd be nice if you could have both."

"Oh sure, just trample all over a beautiful moment!"

"What? It was still beautiful."

"Not when you undercut it like that!"

"I'm just saying it'd be nice to get both things."

"Yeah, but that's not possible, so it just brings down the mood."

"I don't believe this," Atreus said with a scoff. "Father, can you back me up here?"

"You are old enough to argue your points yourself, Atreus."

"That he is Kratos! Go on lad. Debate me."

"I don't believe—look, there's Sora!"

"Oh, no! You're not getting out of this with some poor excuse!"

"No, he is right," Kratos replied. "We have found Sora." He was sitting on the cliff face where Atreus had killed the deer on his and Kratos's first hunt, years ago. He had his back to them, head tilted up to gaze at the stars.

"…You got lucky," Mimir muttered. "Sora's fine, though?"

"It would seem so," Kratos replied. But there was a sad air around the young man. Oppressive in its melancholy. It was something Kratos was intimately familiar with.

Part of him wanted to leave the young man be. But…there was a conversation Kratos had been meaning to have with him, and now was as good a time as any.

"I shall speak with Sora," Kratos declared. He unhooked Mimir from his belt and handed him to Atreus. "Head home. I shall return soon."

Atreus nodded hesitantly. "If you're sure."

"They'll be alright, Atreus." Mimir said. "Besides, it'll give you time to defend the hill you've chosen to plant your flag on."

"Ugh, can't you just let it go?" Atreus groaned as turned around.

"Never!"

Kratos chuckled as the pair walked back into the woods. His cheer died, however, as he turned back to face Sora. This…would not be easy. But it needed to be done.

He strode forward, pausing when Sora looked over his shoulder. "Oh, hey Kratos," Sora said.

"Sora," Kratos nodded. "All is well?"

The youth blew out a breath. "Mostly." He frowned. "Sorry if I made you guys worry, running out like that."

"It is fine." Sora nodded gratefully.

He pat the ground next to him. "Seat's open, if you're waiting for an invitation." Kratos did so, slowly sitting down cross-legged. He stared down at the clearing where he and Atreus had once fought the troll Dauði Kaupmaðr.

He remembered a time when the odd troll in these woods were the only thing he had to worry about. Now he had to protect and guide the mortals of Midgard, assist Freya with keeping the peace with the other Realms, and fret at the possibility of otherworldly visitors.

Beside him, Sora took a deep breath and slowly lay down. "You know, I was really hoping the stars would at least be somewhat familiar."

Kratos turned and arched a brow. "Would the night skies in each world not be different?"

"Ah, but that's the thing, Kratos!" Sora raised his arms up towards the stars. "All worlds—big and small, light and dark—they share the same sky." He lowered his hands to his chest, just above his heart. "One sky, one destiny. The stars hanging up there might be in different places when you look up at them from each world, but at the end they're always the same." He sighed. "At least, that's how they used to be."

Kratos hummed. "One sky, one destiny," he repeated. "An interesting phrase."

"Ah, it's something the people from my home world say." He smirked. "Growing up I didn't really think anything of it. But then I got the Keyblade and suddenly it all made so much sense."

"And what was your home world like?"

Sora stared up at Kratos with a mirthless smirk. "Atreus told you what I told him, huh?"

"Nothing specific. But he did say that your home world is no longer…home."

Sora frowned. "…I can get see where he got that. But even if that was true, I have another home. Wherever my friends are. And…And Kairi, especially."

There was a soft inflection in Sora's voice as he said the name 'Kairi'. An inflection Kratos had both heard and used himself. "And who is this, Kairi?" he asked.

Sora heaved a great sigh, lips curling into a lovesick smile. "She's…my destiny." But his good mood quickly soured into sadness.

Kratos grunted and turned to the stars. He could offer no advice in this situation. The women he loved were dead, not somewhere beyond the boundaries of the world. To that end, he wondered how to broach the topic of his world's Olympians, the entire reason he sat down in the first place. Sora needed to know—to hear the truth from Kratos before anyone else—but he was unsure of how to begin. To say nothing of the fact that Sora was already feeling down. Hearing what had happened to this world's Greece—what Kratos had done…

But Sora surprised him, asking, "Hey, so what exactly happened to this world's versions of Herc, Hades, and Zeus?"

Kratos stalled for a moment. "Are you certain you wish to know now?" he asked. "The events are…upsetting."

"No time like the present!" Sora said with fake cheer.

Kratos took a deep breath—dredging up the memories—and began his tale. A heavily abridged one, at least. "The gods of my homelands—the gods of Greece—were all killed by my hand. Including the likes of Zeus, Hades…and Hercules."

Sora listened with a neutral expression as Kratos relayed his time as a servant of Ares, and then the God of War. Of how Zeus and the other gods grew to fear him due to a prophecy of a 'Marked Warrior' that would destroy Olympus. Of how, one-by-one, he slayed the Olympians the stood in his way—including Hades and Hercules—before finally killing Zeus. Of how after he had nothing left, he realized that in his pursuit of vengeance, he'd destroyed Greece and its people. In the end, all but his most heinous, private sins were laid to bare.

Sora had sat up during Kratos's recollection and pulled his knees to his chest. He stared hard at Kratos. Scrutinized him. Finally, he drew a deep breath, smiled softly, and said, "Okay." Kratos waited, but Sora just kept smiling at him.

"Okay?" Kratos slowly repeated. "That…That is all?"

Sora shrugged. "What, you want me to beat you up over it?"

Kratos blinked. "I expected more of a reaction. Especially since you are friends with Hercules."

"Another world's version of Hercules," Sora corrected. "But, yeah, you killing him because he stood in your way wasn't…great to hear. And destroying your home was obviously terrible" He shook his head. "But that was years ago, right?" Kratos nodded. "And you regret what happened. So, it's okay."

Kratos couldn't help the incredulous huff that burst past his lips. "Is it that simple?"

"Did you mean to destroy Greece?" Sora asked.

Kratos paused. Even before he finally killed Zeus and truly saw the utter havoc that had befallen Greece, he was aware of the terrible things that had happened after killing the gods. But it had not truly sunk in until that moment. He'd ignored all the signs in his lust for vengeance. "I did not," he finally said.

"There we go!" Sora proclaimed. "Better than Riku, at least."

"I beg your pardon?" Kratos said incredulously.

Sora laughed mockingly. "Oh-ho, you're gonna love this!" He clapped his hands together. "Riku's my best friend since I was born. We did everything together. As we grew older, the two of us, and Kairi, decided to build a raft to travel to another world."

"Travel to another world. With a raft?" Kratos deadpanned.

"Hey, we were kids! And besides, the oceans of the worlds are also mostly connected, so we probably would have landed somewhere else. You know, assuming we hadn't drowned at sea thanks to Ursula, since I guess that's what was going to happen. But that was probably part of the Mark of Mastery exam, or maybe a nightmare brought on by the beginning of our dives into the Sleeping Worlds. I don't know, really doesn't matter in the end."

Kratos blinked twice. "Who is Ursula? And what is a Sleeping World?"

"Ursula's a sea witch I killed twice—maybe three times, but again, that probably wasn't real. And Sleeping Worlds are worlds that fell to Darkness and got stuck there without being either restored or fully destroyed" Sora cleared his throat. "Sorry, getting off track. Anyway, about two years ago, Destiny Islands was attacked by the Heartless. They were everywhere, a massive storm was raging, and Darkness itself was permeating the air and sinking down to your bones. And Riku decides that the encroaching Darkness destroying everything we know and love is a good thing and gives himself into it." Sora let out a breath. "Now, if that's all he did, then things would be fine—utterly stupid, but fine. But then, he strikes a deal with Maleficent in an attempt to save Kairi—and I'm not even going to begin getting into who Maleficent is or what was wrong with Kairi."

"I appreciate that," Kratos replied.

"No problem! So, Riku wanting to save Kairi is, like his initial fall into Darkness, not the absolute worst thing in the world. But the thing is, part of his deal with Maleficent involved spreading the Heartless into other worlds so they could send those worlds into Darkness, and kidnapping princesses to bring about the end of the Realm of Light."

Kratos sucked in a breath. "Your friend sought to destroy all reality?"

"Yeah, he went nuts. Tried to kill me indirectly a bunch of times, and after he failed at directly killing me, he let himself get possessed by a guy who we all originally thought was Ansem, but turned out to be Xehanort's Heartless—another long story that I won't get into right now—to gain more power to try and plunge the worlds into Darkness and kill me."

Kratos looked up to the stars. "And…He is still your friend?" Sora nodded. "Why? After all he had done?"

Sora smiled. "Because he came to his senses, in the end. Atoned for what he did and put all his effort into making sure he never did something that stupid ever again." He chuckled. "If I can look past and forgive deliberate destruction, I can do the same for ignorant chaos." He turned his gaze to the night sky. "Besides, you're a good person, Kratos. I don't know about who you were in the past, but the guy sitting beside me? He's a good friend."

Kratos allowed a small smile to ghost across his face in the wake of Sora's sincerity. It reminded him of Faye. "Thank you, Sora. For your friendship."

"Anytime." He looked over his shoulder. "Should we head back?"

"Yes." Kratos stood and offered a hand to Sora, who accepted it and rose as well. "With any luck Atreus has made supper upon his return."

Sora waved a hand through the air as they walked home. "Oh, I already made dinner."

"You can cook?"

"Yup. Learned it from a rat that was the head chef of a restaurant." Sora peeked up at Kratos and deflated slightly when all he did was arch a brow. "Aw, I was hoping to make you freak out a little like with Atreus."

"I have seen my fair share of fantastical things, if you will recall."

"Fair enough."

Kratos hummed. "Was this rat human-like?"

"No, a regular, tiny rat."

"Then, how did he teach you?"

"He climbed on my head and puppeteered me using locks of my hair.

"…This rat possessed magic that controlled people through their hair?"

"You know, I'm not sure how Little Chef was able to do that. I know I wasn't the only one he did it to—when I wasn't around, he controlled one of the waiters the same way. But when I had Donald and Goofy pull my hair like he did, it just hurt."

Kratos grunted. "Strange. But I have met fair share of strange animals." Sora let out an inquisitive hum. Kratos was silent for a moment, before saying, "Do not speak of this to Mimir. He has been trying to get me to speak of my travels through other worlds and I refuse to indulge him."

"Why?"

Kratos allowed himself a small chuckle. "It is…amusing to watch him squirm."

"Aw, that's mean!" Sora said with a bright laugh.

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A/N: Riku was almost unredeemable in KH1 and his redemption arc following that is honestly astounding.