What A Surprise?!

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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"I'm just saying, if you're fighting something as big as a Kraken, your best bet is to keep your distance and attack if from afar," Sora said, gesticulating to make his point.

"All that does is allow the creature the chance to flee," Father gruffly replied. "Better to get as close as possible and strike truly."

"Do you think they'll ever stop?" Atreus asked Mimir, who he was holding in his hands. The talking head wanted to 'observe the pair', so Atreus was on head-holding duty.

"Bite your tongue!" Mimir hissed, not taking his eyes off Sora and Father. "This is the most I've heard your father speak in one go, and you're not going to ruin it."

Atreus supposed that was true. Aside from a brief lull between exiting Vanaland and entering the Wilds, all his father and Sora had been doing was comparing the best ways to kill things. Indeed, it was the single longest stretch of time he'd ever heard his father talk. He was surprised his father's voice hadn't gone dry from overuse.

He might have felt jealous at the ease with which Sora got his father to open up, years ago. Now, though, he was just glad that his father had, well, a friend like this. For sure, he had a brother in Mimir and…something he wouldn't think about with Freya, but this thing with Sora was different. Maybe it was because they both had experience with other Worlds. Maybe Sora was just that charismatic.

"…Ice is the way to go if you want to stop something in its tracks, and if you freeze it completely another blow will shatter it to pieces. But light it on fire and it'll panic and, probably, spread it to whatever else you're fighting."

…Or maybe Sora was just as bloodthirsty as his father.

Mimir sighed fondly. "There's something to be said about two experts discussing their trade, isn't there?"

Atreus stared down at the head. "…You're really weird, you know that?"

"It's part of my charm."

Atreus shook his head with a snort, only to pause as something rustled in the overgrowth. He tied Mimir to his belt. "Father," Atreus called out as he pulled his bow off his back and loosely nocked an arrow.

"I heard it as well," his father relied, his axe in hand. Sora too had a Keyblade out—this one shaped in a wide, swirling pattern of blues, yellows, and purples that wouldn't be out of place in Vanaheim, if not for the large star stuck within a hollow opening at the tip of the weapon. Honestly, Keyblades were so weird.

The three of them moved closer to one another, standing back-to-back-to-back.

"Could you kindly not squish me between your asses?" Mimir's muffled voice called out from Atreus's hip.

"Sorry," Sora said as he shuffled forward.

"Silence!" Father declared, scanning the shrubbery. Sora quickly did the same. Atreus, however, focused on a different sense. He slowed down his breathing and let his hearing wash over everything else.

His father's and Sora's heartbeats were steady and strong beside him—the latter's pumping a bit faster. The sound of Mimir breathing from his hips almost distracted Atreus from the sheer implausibility of it all—he didn't even have all of his throat, much less a pair of lungs—but he managed to ignore it and spread his focus outward.

Where…Where…There! Harsh, hungry rasps of air. Another second and he could feel gluttonous hunger and spiteful rage roiling together.

"Wulvers," he said with a grunt. "Six of them."

"What's that?" Sora asked.

"Bipedal wolves with just a little less muscle than Kratos. Not to mention razor sharp fangs and claws," Mimir supplied.

Sora hummed. "…Any chance they're friendly?" At that moment, the Wulvers stepped out into the open, growling and snapping their jaws as if offended at the question. They stood in a loose circle around them, two Wulvers for each.

"Not a chance," Atreus replied with a grim chuckle. Sora clicked his tongue and glared at the Wulvers in front of him.

"On your mark, Atreus," Father said.

Atreus nodded, taking a breath as he fully drew his arrow. The two Wulvers in front of him tensed, licking their chops and flexing their claws. Atreus released his breath, and quick as a flash, loosed his arrow.

One of the Wulvers howled as the arrow pierced its knee, forcing it down. Then, the rest struck!

Atreus ducked to the side as the uninjured Wulver of his pair lunged forward with a roar. He held his bow by the lower limb with both hands and bashed it against the back of Wulver's left knee. The monster fell onto its snout with a yelp, and Atreus stepped forward and slammed his bow repeatedly into its skull. It flailed and roared, but by the fourth hit Atreus had broken its skull and turned its brain to mush.

"Behind you, lad!" Mimir shouted, just before a Wulver's enraged growl filtered into Atreus's ears.

Atreus ducked to the side, the other Wulver—a bleeding hole in its knee form where it took the arrow out—flying overhead. It gave Atreus a chance to see how his father and Sora were faring.

His father had already bisected one of his Wulvers and was currently blocking and parrying the second one's furious blows. Sora had burnt one of his to a crisp and was currently…floating in the air and smacking the second one silly as it flailed in the air.

In any other situation, Atreus would have stared in awe at someone just causally floating in the air unassisted—even Odin had needed some sort of spell to keep himself aloft for more than a few seconds—but his remaining Wulver had landed and whirled around on its four limbs. Well, only three were functional. It snapped its jaw, spittle flying everywhere as it charged Atreus.

Atreus huffed, nocking an arrow and letting it fly at the Wulver's head. It sank into its eye, and the creature yelped in pain, but didn't stop its charge. Atreus easily side-stepped the wild attack and shot an arrow into its neck. The Wulver crashed to the ground, and another arrow through the skull put an end to its struggles.

He turned around to see Sora had landed—the Wulver he was pulverizing little more than a bloody pile of broken bones at his feet. He had held his Keyblade against his shoulder, head tilted to the side as he stared at…Ah.

Atreus stepped closer to Sora. "Quite a sight, isn't it?" he said as they watched his, and hand latched hard on the Wulver's neck, pummel it into submission.

"He's an angry person, isn't he?" Sora blandly replied.

Mimir guffawed. "Oh, I could tell you stories!"

Sora looked around at the corpses with a slight frown. "Gotta say, I'm not used to seeing so many corpses after a fight."

"What, you vaporize all your enemies with lightning?" Atreus teased.

Sora shrugged. "If I have to. But what I'm saying is Heartless, or Nobodies or Nightmares or Unversed, disintegrate when I kill them."

"Self-cleaning foes," Mimir mused. "Convenient."

"Yeah. At most they leave behind some Munny or materials Moogles can use to synthesize items for me."

"Moogles?" Atreus asked.

"Later," Sora replied. "It's a long story, and your dad looks like he's about done."

Indeed, Father finally got bored and ceased the beating. He grabbed onto the Wulver's lower jaw and yanked on it. The creature's jaw broke off from its skull, but it was still attached to its skin, which peeled and peeled until Father finally stopped at the Wulver's navel, exposing its muscles to the world as he let it flop dead to the ground.

Sora groaned and averted his gaze as Father bent down to collect materials from the creature. "Oh man, that was gross!"

"Yeah, he's not usually so visceral," Atreus replied. His father was usually a lot cleaner with his kills—bloody to be sure, but nothing as cruel as tearing off their skin. "It's…kind of my fault." Sora let loose an inquisitive grunt. "Well, the first time we ever fought Wulvers, one of them clawed at my legs, left a pretty deep wound. Father went nuts." He smiled fondly at the memory—watching his father brutalize the monster was the first time it really sunk in how much the man truly cared about him. "He tore that one apart like this one, and just…kept up the habit, I guess."

"…It's a gross habit," Sora said with a shudder.

"Yes, yes, Kratos can be disgusting," Mimir cut in. "That's old news. Atreus, lift me up." Atreus did so, bringing Mimir to Sora's eye level. "Lad, maybe I was seeing things, but I could swear that you were flying just a moment ago."

"Oh, that wasn't flying," Sora replied as he dismissed his Keyblade in a flash of light. "Just floating." Before either Atreus or Mimir could make a snide remark, Sora exclaimed, "This is flying!" He leapt high into the air, then twirled in the air, somehow gaining extra height, and whopped with joy as he started to, well, fly. Without any sort of physical or magical assistance.

Father came up beside them, equally mystified as Sora zipped around the air like a bird, twirling and flipping with abandon.

"He can fly?" Atreus asked, bewildered.

"He can fly!" Mimir exclaimed, thrilled.

"…Hm," Father grunted, indifferent.

Atreus turned incredulously to his father. "That's all you have to say?" He gestured to Sora doing loops in the air. "Look at him!"

"Sora wields a weapon capable of cutting of the World Tree from its realms. Even the Giants, with all their incredible magic, could only obfuscate the pathways connecting Jotunheim to the other Realms" his father bluntly stated. "Any other skill Sora possesses pales in comparison."

"You really know how to suck the wonder out of everything," Mimir groused.

Father grunted. "I did not saw this is not…incredible." He stared at Sora. "Merely…expected."

"You expected that he could fly?" Atreus asked.

"I expected him to keep surprising us," Father corrected him with a chuckle.

"Too right there, brother," Mimir replied. Atreus just hummed, ruminating on his father's words. In that case, what other surprises did Sora have in store for them?

"Besides, what Sora just demonstrated with the Wulver is nothing I have not witnessed…or accomplished myself."

Atreus and Mimir stared wide-eyed at his father. "You mean to tell us that you can, what, fly? Jump up in the air and…juggle creatures in the air?"

"I could never fly without the use of a magical item," Father declared. "However," his tone gained a wistful edge, "I used to be able to…juggle creatures in the air as Sora just demonstrated."

"Well, why'd you stop?" Mimir asked. "Those Wulvers were helpless up in the air with Sora." He snickered. "Could you imagine doing the same to Odin?"

Father sighed. "I can no longer…float as he does."

Atreus clicked his tongue. "Those old knees, huh?"

Father harrumphed. "It was something all those with access to Greek magic could do. From the lowliest monsters to the mightiest god."

"…Knees probably aren't helping, though," Atreus added with a smirk. At his father's glare, he held up a hand. "Okay, okay. I'll stop…Don't wanna strain your old ears."

"My but you've gotten bolder with age!" Mimir declared with a chuckle. Father just grunted, but Atreus could spy a hint of amusement in his eyes.

Eventually, Sora came to a stop in front of them, still floating above the ground. His face was split by a wide, toothy grin and he 'lay down' before them, hands clasped behind his head.

Mimir spluttered for a moment, before saying, "I never thought I'd see the day! Unaided flight! Oh, Sora, you are a marvel!"

Sora chuckled and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Well, I am using wind magic to do this, so it's not, y'know 'unaided'." He hummed. "And I kinda fibbed a bit. This isn't really flight—I can't rise any higher once I start. It's more…falling with style." Atreus arched a brow at the statement, but could see that Sora was, ever-so slowly, falling to the ground. Miniscule millimeters at a time but falling all the same.

Father grunted. "Can you scout the route ahead of us?"

"Of course," Mimir huffed. "You see the impossible happen and immediately want to put it to work."

Sora snickered at Mimir's words as he landed on his feet. He shrugged at Father. "Maybe." He turned his head to the jungle's canopy. "The trees are pretty tall, though. Even if I climb one of them and jump as high as I can, I wouldn't see much from just overhead."

"And if you were to gain more height?"

Sora crossed his arms with a hum. "If cast an Aero spell—a wind spell"—he clarified at Atreus's inquisitive grunt—"and ride the air current I could give myself a bit of a boost." He stared at Father, before snapping his fingers. "Hey, Kratos, you can summon spears, right?" Father wordlessly flexed his hand, summoning a Draupnir Spear. Sora peered closer at the weapon. "…I think I've got an idea. Can you toss it in the air? Just a soft throw?"

Father arched a brow but did step away from them. He reared back and lobbed the spear in a lazy arc.

Sora focused on the spear, and then another crazy thing happened. The sound of shattering glass emanated from Sora, and he shot forward towards the spear like a bolt of lightning, blue sparkles trailing after him. Sora landed with both feet on the spear, the weapon, somehow, bearing his weight and not budging an inch in the air as Sora launched off it, the blue lights still stuck close to his body.

He landed before them with a proud grin just as the spear sank into the ground. "Alright, it worked!"

"What was that?" Atreus asked in wonder. "I saw you use it a couple of times in Muspelheim."

Sora clasped his hands behind his head. "It's called Flowmmotion. I learned it while in the Sleeping Worlds. It's kind of hard to explain, but it's like…" he trailed off. After a moment, he said. "It's like I'm coating myself with a layer of magic to let my body ignore the physical world. For a little bit."

"Ignore the physical world?" Mimir repeated, nonplussed.

"Yeah," Sora nodded, as if that explained everything. "I mean, how else can you explain how I was able to launch off of that spear and not mess with its trajectory?" He shrugged. "I could do more with Flowmotion in the Sleeping Worlds, but those were dreams, and you can do pretty much anything in a dream."

Atreus stared blankly at Sora. Only to laugh at the sight of Mimir, eyes wide and jaw propped open.

"Don't laugh!" Mimir protested. "This, I don't—that doesn't make a lick of sense!"

"It was a dream, Mimir, they don't have to make sense," Sora stated flippantly. "Okay, Kratos, throw this next spear as high as you can." Father readily did so, hurling a spear high into the sky.

"Wait, you can't just—!"

But Mimir's protests were ignored as Sora shot towards the spear in a flash of blue lights. He launched himself further off of it and performed whatever magic he did to keep himself aloft.

"Path looks clear!" Sora shouted down at them. "I'll let you know if I find anything weird." And with that, he flew ahead.

Mimir groaned. "Why'd you let him leave?! I have so many questions!"

"You can ask your questions after we find the Niflheim seed," Father rebuffed their friend as he walked on. "Which is the entire reason we are here."

"I can do two things," Mimir grumbled.

"Consider this a lesson in patience," Atreus said as he attached the head to his belt.

"I don't need to hear that from you."

Atreus rolled his eyes and bent down near one of the Wulver corpses, only to pause upon seeing that it was already stripped of everything valuable. He shrugged and moved on; Father must have collected everything when he wasn't looking.

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"I have to say, Vanaheim is a lot more boring since Fimbulwinter ended," Atreus said as he hopped over a fallen log. After that first pack of Wulver's, they'd only come across three Tatzelwurms and a rabid Gulon. Atreus and his father had killed both groups before Sora even had a chance to touch down and help. He was up in the sky again, flying up and down the path to the gorge—well, a mountain with a cave system that exited to the gorge, at least.

"I think the word you're looking for is 'peaceful'," Mimir snidely remarked.

"I know what I said."

Father grunted and looked over his shoulder. "If you are so bored, once we collect this seed we can train together." He smirked. "It has been far too long."

Atreus chuckled nervously. "Ah, I-I'm good!" His father chuckled, but, to Atreus's mounting horror, didn't rescind the offer. He had once assumed that, after Ragnarök passed, his father would ease up during training or sparring.

Nope. If anything, his father was even tougher compared to when they were preparing for Ragnarök. He'd brought it up; they'd survived Ragnarök! Beaten Odin and all the forces of Asgard! Surely, they could afford to ease up a bit. His father countered by reminding Atreus how tough Balder had been, and confessed that their first all those years ago had been a brutal and close match. His father admitted that he'd grown lax in his own training after meeting Mother and living together, and they couldn't afford to be caught off-guard like that again.

And, sure, his argument made sense. But Atreus always felt like he'd been thrown off a mountain their 'training', and all the tender care Angrboda could give him didn't even come close to making up for it.

"Why don't you ask Sora to train with you?" Atreus offered, grasping for an excuse. Thankfully, his father hummed in thought, turning his head to the sky, where Sora was making wide, lazy circles high above them.

"An excellent idea, Atreus." He father walked forward. "He can join us when the opportunity arrives."

"Wait, that's not what I meant." His father ignored him. "That's not what I meant!" Mimir snickered from his waist. "Quiet, you."

"Oh, just indulge the man," Mimir said with a light tone. "You're gone so often, nowadays."

Atreus's mood dropped. "Oh…I didn't think of that."

Mimir clicked his tongue. "Ah, not like that, lad. You know your father's proud and happy that you're out and about this world, searching for the Giants. And he's not about to try and take that away from you. But he's still your father, and he does miss you. And wants to have fun with you when the stars align and you're together again." He hummed. "Of course, his idea of 'fun' is knocking each other silly with deadly weapons, but we all have our flaws, no?"

Atreus let out an amused huff, and he vowed to face his father's offers to train without fear. Well, with less fear.

They travelled in silence after that, basking in the natural wonders of Vanaheim. Until a shrill whistle came from above. They looked up to see Sora waving at them and gesturing towards the mountain. Atreus and his father tensed, until they saw a pair of winged women flying towards Sora. Olrun and Hildr—he was wondering when they'd run into each other.

The shield-maidens came to a halt in front of Sora. Atreus couldn't see much, but if he had to guess, the two were staring at Sora in utter bewilderment. Sora, for his part, descended to the ground. The two women landed as well, and though they wore helmets, Atreus could easily see the baffled expressions on their faces as they stared at Sora.

Sora tilted his head at them. "What?"

Olrun kept staring, but Hildr shook her head and turned to Father. "We have found the World Tree's seed."

"Is it with the dragons nearby?" Atreus asked.

"Actually, it has been taken by a group of Seiðr practitioners." She cleared her throat. "Who worship the dragons in the area, dwelling within the cave system the dragons call home. The aspect of Ratatoskr is currently mapping the caves and will meet you at the entrance."

Atreus smirked smugly down at Mimir. "You're lucky I didn't make you a bet on the seed."

The talking head rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, damn me for a fool."

"Were the dragons bred by them for nefarious means, or are they innocent creatures?" Father asked. Atreus couldn't help but feel proud that his father had asked such a thing unprompted. While dragons old and large enough to make the average giant look tiny were typically monsters that had to be put down—something to do with the excess magic in their systems driving them mad—most dragons never got that big. While still dangerous, they were essential parts of their Realm's ecosystem. Killing an entire brood outright could spell disaster, and the father Atreus had grown up with wouldn't have cared one wit.

Hildr turned to Olrun, who was still staring at Sora, who was ignoring her in favor of staring at the surrounding flora. Hildr cleared her throat, and when that didn't work, she reached over and flicked her shoulder.

"Hm, what?"

"The General asked you a question."

Olrun's wings—freshly regrown by Freya after Gná tore off her previous ones during Ragnarök—flittered in embarrassment. "Oh, forgive me, General. I was simply…distracted."

Father held up a hand. "There is nothing to forgive. As Mimir can attest, Sora is a…vexing individual." The young man in question just grinned. Father grunted and repeated his question.

Olrun hummed. "These dragons are wild—this is a new flock that we've been keeping an eye on for a few months now—but if left alone they can be corrupted by Seiðr magic and turned into mindless beasts."

"Then our task is two-fold," Father said with a nod. "Retrieve the seed and eliminate the Seiðr practitioners to prevent them from using the dragons to their own ends."

Hildr crossed her arms with a hum. "Olrun and I can grab the beasts' attention and lead them away."

"Why would you volunteer me for that?" Olrun asked.

"We can fly, they can't." Hildr gestured to Sora. "I've never worked with him before."

Olrun sighed, her wings slumping slightly. "I hate caves."

Olrun just laughed, clapping her shield-sister on the back. "C'mon, it'll be good practice for those new wings of yours." She nodded at Atreus and the rest of them. "Do you want to engage these thugs first, or shall we lead the dragons away and you strike in the chaos?"

"Lead them away the moment we enter the caves," Father replied. Hildr nodded, and took to the air, Olrun reluctantly flying after her.

"What's Seiðr and why's it dangerous?" Sora asked as Father led the way to the cave.

"Seiðr magic," Mimir began, "is a very corruptive soul magic. It can grant people tremendous power but eats away at their soul, piece-by-piece. Use too much, and you'll become little more but a monster in your old skin."

Sora hummed. "Sounds like the Darkness."

"You know, it rather does, from what you've told me of it," Mimir replied. "Although, Vanir gods—and other Realms' gods, I suppose, if they've been properly trained—are able to safely use Seiðr magic. Godly souls are made of different stuff than a mere mortal's. But even they need to be careful."

"Only them?" Sora asked.

Mimir grew silent for a moment. "…Yes. I can't recall any records of a mortal keeping their soul while using Seiðr magic."

"Ah, that's one thing that's different from the Darkness," Sora said with nod. "Anyone can use the Darkness—you don't need to be a god or something special like that. And at the end of the day it'll corrupt anyone that can't properly defend themselves."

"Can you use it?" Atreus asked.

Sora sighed and hugged his arms across his chest. "Not much. I can protect myself against it just fine, but fine control isn't in my wheelhouse." He smiled. "Not like Riku, he's got amazing control over the Darkness."

"Riku?" Father asked, turning to Sora with an arched brow. "I would think after his experiences he would not want to associate with this Darkness in any capacity."

"You and me both," Sora said with a chuckle. "But it became a part of him, and he learned how to utilize it without losing himself to it like he did the first time around." He shrugged. "Plus, he's got a natural talent with the stuff."

"I'm sorry," Mimir cut in. "Who's Riku?"

"My best friend," Sora replied.

Mimir bobbed in place. "I see, I see. And how do you know about him, Kratos?"

"Sora told me of him last night," Father replied. "When we were discussing our respective travels to other Worlds."

"Ah, makes sense," Mimir said. Then, seconds later, he exclaimed, "Wait, what?! Atreus, lift me up!" Atreus did so.

Mimir locked eyes on Father. "You told Sora about your travels to other Worlds?"

"Yes."

Mimir spluttered. "Well, you haven't spoken a word of them to me!"

Father shrugged. "You would not understand."

"Not underst—I can certainly learn to understand!" Mimir shouted. "It's how I became the smartest man alive, you cheeky bugger! Hoarding this knowledge for yourself is—it's pure evil!" He shifted his gaze to Sora. "Sora, you're a kind lad, tell him!"

Sora scratched his chin, before his lips spread into a mischievous grin. "I don't know, Mimir. Kratos is right—it's one of those things you have to experience for yourself."

Mimir went slack jawed. "…Did I finally die? Did I live such a poor life as to be tormented so for eternity?"

Atreus rolled his eyes at the melodrama, doing his best to not openly laugh as Sora—and Father, of all people!— continued to tease Mimir.

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A/N: Did you know that Olrun died in GOW: Ragnarök? Killed by Gná during the start of the invasion, and the only friendly Valkyrie to die (also the biggest nerd so…do with that what you will). I only found out as I was editing this chapter…I'm going to ignore that.

Also, I don't set out to bully Mimir. It just happens.