Dream Matchup
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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Kratos had to admit, using Flowmotion to bound across the landscape was…freeing. There was an earnest joy in his movements that he had not felt since he was a child, chasing and being chased by his brother Deimos in Sparta.
Seeing Atreus bound through the stormy sea with a joyous smile and triumphant cries…He saw much of Deimos in him. Had always seen and been reminded of his short few years with him, in truth. It was one of the many aspects of his son, of the life Kratos and Faye had built together, that had once crippled him with fear. Back then, he still grappled with the idea that he had the right to such things, in light of all he'd done.
…He was glad Faye forced him forward regardless.
They followed Sora as he led them to the closest island. He did not attempt to slow down or keep pace with them—indeed, neither Kratos nor Atreus could hope to keep up. But that was a good thing. It gave them a means to measure their own usage of Flowmotion. And while Kratos doubted they could master the technique in this singular dream—where Sora had already traversed several—it would not stop him from putting in his full effort.
He landed against a wall and looked down at his belt. "You are well, Mimir?"
"Surprisingly so!" his friend chirped. "I can't exactly use Flowmotion like you all can, but I can at least keep the rain from falling on my face." Kratos blinked and looked down at his body. Indeed, the rain splashed against the magic surrounding his body, leaving his skin and armor dry. Another convenience.
He leapt forward once more, and in no time landed beside Sora and Atreus on the island. Their Dream Eaters all appeared from smoke seconds later.
"Man…I kinda didn't want that to end," Atreus said in awe as the glow of Flowmotion left his body.
"You'll get more chances to use it," Sora replied. He gestured to the sky. "See the Dream Eaters flying over there?" Kratos looked up and grunted at the sight of multiple avian Dream Eaters circling the other side of the island. "My guess is the Lyngbakr's over there."
"I recognize this island," Mimir spoke up. "This is where we made our base for hunting for a Lyngbakr." He hummed. "Sora, this is a Nightmare, correct? As in, a sort of recreation of one's worst fears and experiences?" Sora nodded. "Then…Assuming the Lyngbakr's constantly reliving its worst memories, and if this is the island when I first saw it—or at least, a copy of it—then once we reach the other end of the island, we'll find the Lyngbakr when I found it."
"When you found it?" Sora repeated as they walked forward.
"Aye." Mimir hesitated for the briefest moment. "As a child, still hanging onto its mother's teat."
Sora and Atreus faltered. "Mimir…that's—"
"Standard animal husbandry," Kratos interrupted his son. "For those that are unable to understand and speak with animals, like yourself, it is standard practice to take an animal as soon after its birth as possible to train it." He grunted. "The only issue comes with the fate Mimir wished to subject the young Lyngbakr too." Atreus and Sora grew silent once more.
"Thanks, Brother," Mimir whispered. Kratos grunted and led them forward.
They found more Dream Eaters along the way, the fantastical creatures sniffing the ground and searching through bushes and under rocks. Their own Dream Eaters would greet them whenever one got too close, petting, preening, or licking each other as appropriate.
After Atreus's KO Kabuto returned from locking horns with another, green-colored one, he asked, "Where do Dream Eaters come from anyway?"
"They're formed from the Darkness within Dreams," Sora replied. He bent down to pet Meow Wow. "They form naturally, but sometimes they can get corrupted and change into creatures called Nightmares. When you destroy those Nightmares, they break apart into base components that you can use to create new ones."
"Do you think we'll find any of these Nightmares within this dream?" Mimir asked.
"Doubt it." Sora clasped his hands behind his head. "There's no Darkness here to corrupt them." He frowned. "But now that you've brought it up." He looked up and whistled loudly. Seconds later, three avian Dream Eaters flew down before him. "Remind everyone to not be reckless while they're exploring this Dream." The three Dream Eaters all stared flatly at Sora. One of them cawed in what Kratos assumed to be disbelief.
"Hey! I learned my lesson!" Sora countered.
Another caw, and a shake of its head.
Sora deflated. "Yeah, well…You've got me there. Still, just be careful!" The three Dream Eaters affectionally pulled at his hair, before soaring into the sky.
Kratos grunted as they turned into speck in the sky. "You can speak with them?" he asked as the group moved forward once more.
"Kinda," Sora replied. "It's less words and more a general sense of their emotions. Some flashes of images if they really want to tell me something. Like how you can talk to animals, Atreus." He hummed. "If we had enough time, I'm sure you guys could learn to communicate with them too."
Mimir sighed. "If only we weren't in such a dire situation, I'd love nothing more than to study these wonderous creatures!"
"Better squeeze in all the time you can," Atreus remarked as he watched KO Kabuto scuttle over a fallen log. "How do we fight with them, anyway? Do we give them orders?"
"Dream Eaters can take care of themselves." Sora bent down to pick up Meow Wow, who squeaked and leaned into him. "Magic, techniques, pure brawling—they don't need you to hold their hands. At most, just keep an eye on them to make sure they aren't about to fall in battle."
"And should they fall?" Kratos asked.
"You've got a small window to revive them before they break apart into their base components." He grimaced. "The…process doesn't hurt, according to them. It's like falling asleep until they're reformed, either naturally or with someone's help."
"A type of resurrection, then?" Mimir said.
Sora clasped his hands behind his head. "Yeah. Sometimes the Dream Eater will have changed from its original form, too." Mimir's Peepsta Hoo chirped overhead. Sora eyed it in interest. "Huh. Peepsta Hoo's saying that it used to be a Nightmare Majick Lapin until Riku destroyed it back in The World that Never Was." Another chirp. "It's saying it likes how it can fly now but misses its prehensile ears."
Mimir groaned. "Sora, please, stop. My head can only take so much. Especially with the Lyngbakr's fate weighing upon me." Sora grew somber, and they continued in silence.
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They quickly reached the other end of the island, where various avian Dream Eaters hovered above a particular stretch of the churning sea before them. A handful of aquatic Dream Eaters popped out at the shoreline, and Sora hurried forward to speak with them.
To his side, Atreus groaned, and pressed a hand to his head.
"What is wrong?" Kratos asked, as the KO Kabuto reached over and pat Atreus's shoulder. Atreus's body glowed pink, and his pained expression vanished.
"I…I think I'm beginning to sense the Lyngbakr." He winced. "If this is how it's felt since we got here, I don't how Sora can stand it."
"Practice, I imagine," Mimir stated.
Sora returned to them and bent down to pat Atreus on the arm. "Woah! Are you alright?"
"Better thanks to KO Kabuto." The Dream Eater puffed its chest out with pride. "Out of nowhere I started to feel the Lyngbakr's pain. It's…It's a lot."
Sora arched a brow. "You can feel it that deeply? Wow. I mean, I can feel it too, but I only ever felt things that deeply from Roxas and Ventus, who were, you know, stuck in my Heart." After taking a moment to help Atreus stand, Sora turned to the rest of them. "Well, as you can probably tell, the Lyngbakr's close."
"How close?" Kratos asked.
"No clue," Sora said as he stared out at the sea. "It's nearby but hidden. Kind of." He rubbed his chin. "More like its waiting for something."
"Waiting for what?"
"Well, at lease we've found a good spot to set up camp," Mimir suddenly stated.
Kraots blinked, and unhooked Mimir to bring him to eye-level. "You wish to make camp? Here? Now?"
But Mimir bore a wide-eyed, bewildered expression. "Brother, I didn't say that."
"Uh, guys?" Atreus grabbed Kratos and Mimir and turned them to the left. "Please tell me you can see that?"
Kratos stared as a spectral version of Mimir—with his body, and decades, if not centuries younger—appeared from the foliage, along with a dozen or so Asgardian soldiers and hunters. The Dream Eaters in the area gave the specters a wide berth, some of them growling and pawing the ground, but otherwise not engaging. The specters stared right at both the Dream Eaters and Kratos and the others, but acted as if there weren't there as they conversed amongst themselves and set-up camp.
Sora narrowed his eyes at the copy of Mimir. "Huh…a memory-version of you from when you came to the area."
"But how can it be here?" Mimir asked, staring as his duplicate's body with a wistful expression. "The Lyngbakr couldn't have been aware of me and the others arriving on this island. We were here for days before we found it!"
"I think…your Heart is resonating with the Lyngbakr's," Sora said, slowly gaining confidence with each word. "You were also present during the source of the Lynbakr's trauma, and entering its Dreams means that your Heart is treading down a sort of shared memory between you two." He snapped his fingers. "That's why the Lyngbakr is present but hiding! It's waiting for your memories to 'catch up'."
"You know, that actually made sense," Atreus remarked.
"Mimir," Kratos said. "It took multiple days until you found the Lyngbakr?"
"It did," he friend miserably replied. "But believe me, if we could just skip past all that, I would." Suddenly, the spectral Asgardians moved like blurs, a spectral campsite formed in the blink of an eye. "…Was that me?"
"They're your memories," Sora stated. He made to say more, but the Dream Eaters in the sea started clamoring.
"Sir!" one of the spectral Asgardians shouted from the shore. "A pod of Lyngbakr have been sighted from the east!"
The spectral Mimir chuckled and clapped his hands together. "Finally!" it exclaimed. "Get the boats ready!"
Mimir gasped. "Oh, no, no! Stop them. Someone, stop them!" Atreus did try and grab onto one of the passing soldiers, but he slipped through them as if they were made of fog.
"This is a memory," Kratos softly intoned. "We cannot stop it."
"Then why are we here?!" Mimir cried. "Just to watch myself and the abuse I hurled upon the poor creature?" He darted his gaze to Sora. "Sora, why even bring us here if we can't do anything?!"
Sora brought a finger up to his lips and gently shushed Mimir. "Hold on! I think…The Lyngbakr's calling out." He dipped his head towards the ground and pressed his right hand over his chest. He nodded and held out his hand. Lights and sparks of lightning erupted from before him as he summoned a Keyblade Kratos had not seen before. The handle was styled like Grecian columns, a gold coin emblazoned with a cloud and lightning bolt for as its token at the end. The blade itself appeared to be made of bronze and gold and was…shaped like the other version of Zeus Sora had showed them when he first arrived on this World, stern and proud as he held a lightning bolt in his hand.
Kratos had to fight to keep his voice even as he asked, "What Keyblade is that?"
"Hero's Origin," Sora offhandedly replied. "Got it last time I was at…Olympus." His eyes widened as he stared down at his Keyblade, then up at Kratos. "Ah…Is this a…problem?"
"…No," Kratos ultimately ground out. Well, it was, but it was not Sora's concern. Sora just blinked and turned back to the sea. The spectral Asgardians and Mimir had gone out to where the cluster of Dream Eaters were. Off in the distance, Kratos could see a pod of spectral Lyngbakr breach against the surface, swimming closer and closer to the waiting specters. Then, when the two groups met, the specters struck.
"Sora, please tell me you've got a plan," Atreus said, with a strained frown. "The Lyngbakr…it's getting worse." Sora just nodded, not taking his eyes off the scene before them.
It was over far too quickly, the adult Lyngbakr left floating in pain as Mimir and the Asgardians dragged a young Lyngbakr behind them in a large net. Yet, unlike the Asgardians and other Lyngbakr, this one was solid and whole. As was the net it feebly struggled against.
Mimir and Atreus watched in trepidation as the spectral Mimir landed ahead of the other boats, crowing in delight. "Hah! Told you all it would be simple!"
One of the Asgardians smirked as they moored the boat. "I'll admit, that was easier than I thought. Would have never thought to strike behind their eyes like that."
The spectral Mimir snickered. "Well, that's why I'm the Smartest Man Alive, isn't it?"
"Oh, please, make it stop!" their Mimir cried.
As if waiting for those words, Sora, previously still as a statue, moved forward. His body flashed pink—the same pink of Flowmotion—and seconds later so did the Lyngbakr. Sora pointed his Keyblade at the Lyngbakr, and the tip glowed purple as he swung it in an arc, slow at first, but steadily rising in speed.
With one last flick of his wrist, Sora thrust his Keyblade high in the air. The water around the Lyngbakr erupted like a geyser, tearing the net apart and carrying the creature far away from the spectral hunters.
Atreus cheered as the Lyngbakr swam away. "Alright, Sora!" Mimir too, cried out in relief. But Kratos noted that Sora simply frowned at the result of his handiwork.
"It didn't work," Sora said with an edge of frustration, cutting Mimir and Atreus's celebrations short. Indeed, the Lyngbakr—no, everything around them—froze in place. The Lyngbakr's form shuddered, shrinking and losing its color as a harsh buzzing sound sounded around them. At the same time, Atreus fell to his knees and clutched his head—though KO Kabuto started comforting him before Kratos could do so, the pair glowing once again. The Lyngbakr flashed, and vanished from sight, reappearing in the net seconds later.
"What happened?" Mimir cried.
"The Lyngbakr fought back."
"Fought back?!" Mimir exclaimed. "But you were saving it!"
"Yeah, but—woah!" Sora cut himself off, leaping backwards as one of the spectral Asgardians stabbed a spear in his direction. They changed before their very eyes, losing their spectral sheen in favor of flesh and blood. But the transformation didn't stop there. Their eyes turned pure black, and thick, rusted chains and tangled, broken nets grew out of and through their bodies. From their new wounds, oil flowed freely down their bodies, and they hissed in low, cacophonous tones.
Kratos returned Mimir to his belt—and noted that the spectral Mimir had vanished as dozens of monstrous Asgardians appeared from nothing. Good. Kratos did not want to have to face a version of his friend.
"What's happening?" Atreus asked as he took out his bow and stood back-to-back with KO Kabuto.
"I think the Lyngbakr doesn't like what I tried to do!" Sora replied, crouched low and prepared to strike.
"Why wouldn't the—"
"Later!" Kratos bellowed as the Keeba Tiger roared at the foes surrounding them. "Now, we fight." Sora nodded beside him, and without further preamble, leapt forward with a sharp cry.
Kratos, surrounded on all sides, opted to use the Blades of Chaos. He moved with the grace of a dancer as he cut down the strange, corrupted Asgardians. Yet, like a Hydra, for every one he cut down, two more took its place.
At least it gave him a chance to see the Dream Eaters in action.
Sora and Meow Wow moved in tandem, the…creature knocking foes into the air with its might or magic, leaving Sora free to focus on comparatively lesser numbers. Ko Kabuto and Peepsta Hoo fought beside Atreus, the owl-like Dream Eater harrying foes from the sky and allowing Atreus and KO Kabuto the freedom to strike from afar.
But it was the Keeba Tiger that truly impressed Kratos. The Dream Eater stuck close to Kratos, but despite his worries, did not get in his way. It covered his flank, tearing apart foes with its magic techniques—when it wasn't simply biting heads off—and leaving Kratos free to focus on the ones in directly front of him.
Even the handful fighting on the fringes of the horde displayed amazing magic and abilities.
"An impressive sight, eh, Brother?" Mimir called out.
"Not now!" Kratos shouted back, holding the Blades of Chaos tight to stab at two corrupted Asgardians.
Then, he felt something. A sudden jolt of warm energy flowing down his spine. Instinctively, he turned towards Sora. The young man summoned a whirlwind from his Keyblade to tear apart a dozen enemies, and after, arched a brow at Kratos.
It felt like an eternity, but against his better judgment, Kratos nodded.
Sora smiled brightly—and smugly—and darted over to Kratos's side.
"Ready Kratos?!" he cried with glee. Kratos simply grunted and let the warm energy filling his being course over him and guide his actions.
Kratos and Sora stood back-to-back, sheathing and dismissing their weapons respectively. They bent inward, and Kratos could feel his Rage building, but it was different than usual. It felt…lighter. As one, he and Sora rose and roared to the heavens, the resulting wave of pure power knocking the surrounding enemies off their feet. Simultaneously, wind swirled around them, pure white clouds forming at their feet and lifting them up into the air.
Kratos swept his right hand forward, dozens of Draupnir Spears forming and floating before them. Together, he and Sora each grabbed one, and struck! They threw spear after spear into the enemies below, mere seconds passing between each volley. Their cloud slowly circled the battlefield, giving them ample opportunity to strike down as many foes as possible.
Eventually, after they'd mowed down countless enemies, Kratos felt the energy coursing through him reach a fever pitch. He and Sora shared a nod, and each grabbed a spear in both hands. They launched off the cloud and fell down as one with mighty roars. "Light!" Sora exclaimed as they sank the spears into the ground. The earth splintered, rays of light bursting furth as those splinters reached out to touch each spear they'd thrown before the ground erupted in an explosion of energy.
And just like that, the energy within Kratos vanished. He stood and surveyed the landscape—the only evidence of their Team Attack being the cracks in the ground. All the corrupted Asgardians had been reduced to ash.
Sora grinned up at Kratos. "See?" he teased. "Team Attacks aren't that bad!"
"It was…effective," he admitted.
"Effective?" Mimir deadpanned from his hip. "Honestly, Brother, sometimes you astound me."
Sora snorted, his cheer dying at he stared back out onto the roiling sea. Atreus and their Dream Eaters quickly ran up to them. Atreus stared at them in awe—a sharp contrast to the Dream Eaters, which appeared more interested in grooming each other than anything else.
"That was amazing!" Atreus declared. Kratos grunted.
Sora managed a quick smile. "It was fun, yeah." He rubbed his chin. "Hey, those…things we fought. They were leaking oil, right?"
"Whale oil," Mimir remarked. "And don't forget the chains and nets bursting out from their bodies." Sora nodded.
"Why'd that happen, though?" Atreus asked. "And what did you mean by the Lyngbakr not liking what you did? We're trying to help it."
"We are, but does it know that?" Kratos replied.
Sora nodded. "After I used Reality Shift—after I made that giant wave"—he elaborated at their stares—"to interfere with the Dream, I could feel a sharp sense of…panic form the Lyngbakr. And the Dream reacted to that panic. Started to defend itself."
"Using the Asgardians?" Atreus asked. "Wouldn't it make more sense for us to have fought other Lyngbakr?"
"No," Kratos replied. He gestured out to the sea, where the weak and bloody bodies of the adult Lyngbakr still lay. "The Lyngbakr learned from a young age that the Asgardians were the strongest creatures in its life." He grunted. "Though I question why they were so heavily damaged."
"A form of subconscious revenge?" Mimir supplied. "I mean…they were chained, netted up, and dripping oil from spontaneous wounds." His voice grew softer. "Rather like the pain and humiliation it endured."
Kratos considered his friend's words. "What does this mean, then? Does the Lyngbakr have control over this Dream?"
"If it does, we need to find it fast," Sora said. "Because right now, it's going to see us as intruders. And I don't want to have to fight it like Riku fought that Nightmare version of Ventus after my Heart was shattered."
Mimir huffed. "Mark my words, Sora. I am going to sit you down and pry every little morsel of knowledge from that spiky head of yours."
"Talk to Ansem the Wise. He's got at least one copy of my memories stored in his computer." Sora frowned. "Wait, does that mean Tron knows everything I do? He's still the MCP for Radiant Garden's computer systems, right?"
Atreus arched a brow. "You realize we have no idea what you're talking about, right?"
"I'm just talking aloud," Sora replied. "Anyway, we need to find the Lyngbakr again."
"And then what?" Mimir asked. "You said it fought against you when you tried to save it. Won't we just be running into more of the same?"
"Well, that's why I plan on talking to it this time." Sora placed his hands on his hips. "Once it understands what we're trying to do, I'm sure it'll let us help!"
Atreus stepped forward. "The Lyngbakr can barely communicate, Sora."
"We can using our Hearts," Sora replied. He shook his head. "Look, I was too hasty this time. But I'll take my time when we find it again." He took a deep breath. "But the Lyngbakr's probably still going to fight back, so I'll need you guys to handle the fighting while I'm getting through to it."
"Don't worry Sora, we'll keep them busy," Mimir said. "Well, I won't, but you get what I mean."
Sora chuckled and turned towards the sea. "Don't count yourself out," he said as he walked towards the shore. "Maybe you and Peepsta Hoo can pull off a combo attack."
"What would that even look like?" Atreus queried as they followed. "Peepsta Hoo dropping Mimir down to gnaw on someone's head?"
"I'd do it!" Mimir exclaimed. Peepsta Hoo chirped in agreement. Kratos grunted, internally dismissing the suggestion. If he wouldn't let Mimir chew the necks off the Dragur in Muspelheim, he certainly wasn't about to throw him at these nightmarish Asgardians.
Just beyond the shore, a herd of Dream Eaters that reminded Kratos of Hippocampi excitedly bobbed in the water. Sora crouched down, nodding along with their cries.
Sora wore a frown on his face as he rose. "The Lyngbakr's retreated deeper into its Nightmare."
"Is that a problem?" Kratos asked.
Sora hummed. "Well, delving too deep into Dreams isn't ever good, but without the Darkness from my home Realm, we should be fine." He pressed a hand over his heart. "Still, if I think it's getting too dangerous, I'm pulling us out of here."
"What?" Mimir exclaimed. "We'd just give up?!"
"We can always come back later," Sora replied as he summoned his Keyblade—the one that bore Zeus's image, to Kratos's mild distaste. "But getting lost within the depth of the Lyngbakr's dreams will just add to its Hurt, to say nothing of our own."
He closed his eyes, and his body flashed purple. Seconds later, the entire sea itself did as well. Like before with the Lyngbakr, Sora moved his Keyblade in a rapidly increasing arcing motion, the churning sea before them rising and sinking with his movements. With a final cry, Sora shoved his Keyblade high into the air. The resulting wave was enormous—it reminded Kratos of the wave washed over Greece after he had killed Poseidon. Then, before their eyes, the water swirled in the air, and formed a long, spinning cylinder that stretched on for miles.
Dozens of Dream Eaters entered the cylinder, swimming, running, or flying forward until they disappeared from sight.
Sora stepped to the side and gestured to the portal. "Well, in we go!"
Atreus eyed the entrance dubiously. He grimaced at the 'floor'. "We're supposed to walk on this?"
"Well, you could always change into an animal and swim or fly."
"You know that's not what I meant."
Sora snickered. "Yeah, yeah." He aimed his Keyblade down the tube. "Give me a second." The tip of the Keyblade glowed blue, and seconds later a large shard of ice shot forward. It traveled along the spiral of the tube, a trail of ice forming after it.
"There we go!" Sora gestured to the ice. "We can slide down now." He peered down the tube. "Didn't expect it to go all spinny..." After a moment, he grinned. "Looks cool though, right?"
"So long as it brings us to our destination," Kratos said.
Sora snorted. "You really know how to suck the fun out of everything."
"You consider the current situation to be fun?" Kratos asked with an arched brow.
Sora was silent for a moment, before he shrugged. "Sure, the reason we're here isn't exactly a pleasant one, but travelling with friends is always fun. At least, that's how I've always seen it." With those words, he leapt onto the ice, the purple energy of Flowmotion overtaking his form as he slid along it.
Mimir chuckled. "Sora's got a rather simply way of viewing things, doesn't he?"
"Doesn't mean he's wrong," Atreus replied, Kratos nodded, and the they leapt onto the ice, following deeper into the Lyngbakr's Dreams
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A/N: I struggled a lot to come up with a Team Attack for Sora and Kratos
