Dearly Dreams
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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Travelling out of the Lyngbakr's Heart was a much less dramatic affair than when they had entered it. Sora simply grabbed onto their shoulders, directed them towards the darkness above the glass picture of the Lyngbakr, and then they were back in the real world, standing before the pink crystal that led to the Lyngbakr's Heart.
Kratos looked up to the sky, frowning at the. "The sun has barely moved since we entered."
Sora nodded. "Time flows differently, slower, in Dreams compared to the waking world. Should have mentioned it before, sorry." He aimed his Keyblade at the crystal, and it vanished in a flash of light.
"It is no matter," Kratos replied. "Even if time had flowed normally, we have no pressing matters after this."
"Better slower than it going faster," Atreus mumbled. Considering their past experiences with the Light of Alfheim and Jotunheim, Kratos wholeheartedly agreed.
Mimir cut in. "I'm sorry to interrupt—believe me—but Atreus, can you sense anything from the Lyngbakr?"
Atreus hummed and closed his eyes. "It's…it's quiet. Asleep. I don't think we should—" he was cut off as the Lyngbakr groaned and shook hard enough to make them all stumble. "…Never mind, it's awake now." Atreus blinked. "And…it wants to see us, I think." He grew silent for a moment. "Yeah, it wants to see us."
"I thought the Lyngbakr could not properly communicate," Kratos said as he led Atreus down the platforms on the Lyngbakr's body to the canoe. Sora simply summoned his Nano Gear Keyblade and transformed it again, before landing in front of the Lyngbakr's eye.
"It still can't," Atreus answered. "But it's more…clear now, I guess." He scratched his head. "Look, explaining how animals communicate is hard enough, I can't go much deeper than that."
"It's alright lad," Mimir said as they reached the canoe. "It just means that what we did truly worked."
"You had doubts?" Kratos asked as he rowed them over to Sora, who was sitting on his transformed Keyblade and rubbing around the Lyngbakr's eye.
"Not so much doubts as…concerns." He sniffed. "After all, I once thought that simply unchaining the poor thing would be the end of it." Kratos grunted, and soon enough, came to a stop in front of the Lyngbakr's eye.
He could immediately see the difference in the creature—its eye was as clear as it had been in its Dream. It stared at them in what Kratos knew was recognition, and let loose a low, long cry.
Atreus let out a breath. He stared at the Lyngbakr, mystified. "Wow," he softly exclaimed. "I've never felt such sheer gratitude from…anything before!" His face reddened with a bashful blush. "It's kinda overwhelming."
"So…it's okay, then?" Mimir asked with a quivering voice.
"Getting there," Sora said as he stood up. He gave the Lyngbakr one final pat, before turning to Mimir. "I mean, it's got all those platforms and tools attached to it, but it's no longer trapped in its own head,"
Mimir swallowed audibly. "I…Thank you, Sora. This is…I have no words."
Sora smiled brightly. "Don't mention it. I'm happy to help!" He stared out towards Niðavellir. "Well, what do we do now?"
"We go home," Kratos answered. "We rest and discuss our next steps on how to help the Lyngbakr."
"We?" Both Mimir and Atreus asked, nonplussed.
Kratos grunted and, slowly, pressed a hand against the Lyngbakr's side. The creature shifted its gaze to him, and Kratos felt as if it understood that, though under vastly different circumstances, they were once in similar positions. He removed his hand with a sigh. "Yes, we," he declared, and rowed away without another word.
The silence that followed wasn't quite oppressive, but it was heavy. Even Sora bore a serious expression as he travelled beside them.
Ræb goggled at them as they docked. "You're back already? You're usually out there much longer."
"A lot happened," Atreus said good-naturedly. When he said nothing else, Ræb shrugged, and bid them all farewell. He must have also said something to the rest of the dwarves because the surrounding dwarves did not stare so intently as Sora. Certainly, a few still looked as if they wished to strip him of his clothing to study it at their leisure, but they were not so blatant about it.
"You know, Brother," Mimir said quietly as they walked through the city. "I'm…I'm so grateful to Sora that was able to heal the Lyngbakr. But it's making me think about…all the other people I've hurt over the years. Directly and indirectly."
"Freya and the Dwarven people?" Kratos whispered back, slowing down a pace to gain a bit more distance from Sora and Atreus.
"Aye, and others too. People long, long dead." His tone gained a haunted edge. "People that I can never make things right for." Kratos nodded slowly. He understood that feeling very well.
Mimir sniffed. "After we iron out what we need to do for the Lyngbakr I think…I think I to stay Vanaheim for a time. Confer with Freya and her court on what measure I can take to properly atone for all I've done."
"You've done more than enough, Mimir," Kratos replied.
"I appreciate the sentiment," he said, and Kratos could hear the sad smile in his voice. "But there's still more I can do."
"If that is truly how you feel, I shall of course support your efforts." He grunted. "I have been meaning to begin growing the seeds I gave Freya. We can travel together tomorrow."
"With the boys?"
"Let us find out." Kratos walked up beside Atreus and Sora. "Mimir and I plan to visit Vanaheim tomorrow. Do either of you wish to accompany us?"
Sora hummed and clasped his hands behind his head. "I actually wanted to go back to Skjöldr's village and cook with them again. Exchange recipes and tips and all that."
Atreus crossed his arms over his chest. "I wanted to go back to Jotunheim. Get some more practice with magic and, depending on what we decide, get some help on fixing up the Lyngbakr."
"You could get in some Flowmotion practice too," Sora added. "Lot of wide-open spaces there."
"Oh yeah, Flowmotion!" Atreus exclaimed and stared down at his body. "I almost forgot, we should be able to do that still, right? How do you call it outside of—"
"Later, Atreus," Kratos cut in. "Let us return home and recover first." His son nodded but did not even bother to curb his excitement.
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Their journey home was ultimately uneventful. Upon reaching their home, they all sat at the table, Mimir placed prominently at their head.
"Atreus," Mimir began, "you mentioned going to Jotunheim to look for someone that can help the Lyngbakr?"
"Yeah." Atreus leaned against the table. "Figured I'd just ask around for anyone that spent any time studying Lyngbakr or something. Mainly to help it develop mentally. It's so old now, but after what we did, I'm hoping it can at least learn the basics of some kind of formal language."
"What about returning it to other Lyngbakr?" Kratos asked. "While under normal circumstances returning a creature held in captivity to the wild would prove disastrous, could you not assist and smooth the process out?"
But Atreus shook his head. "For one, that would take a long time, and I'm not staying longer than a few days after the celebration for Ragnarök, or after we get that Primordial energy for Sora, whichever comes last." Ah, yes, Kratos always forgot how short these visits were. Though he would never begrudge his son's mission. "Besides, remember what you said back in the dream, about Asgardians supplanting its own species as the strongest things it knows? Even if other Lyngbakr are willing to treat it kindly, I think it'd be too nervous, afraid, or even resentful, to properly interact with them."
"Moving it is a bad idea all around," Sora said. "For better or worse, it's gotten used to living in the bay." He leaned back in his seat and clasped his hands behind his head. "You should work towards making it as comfortable as possible instead."
"I have done that, some" Mimir replied. "I've worked with Durlin to clean the bay—well, the waters around Nidalevir as a whole—and a few Vanir helped grow the kinds of sea plants and coral it likes to chew on, along with the fish it gobbles up." He trailed off with a hum. "…Honestly, getting all those platforms and tools off it is what I want to do above all else. Freya and I tried a few years ago, but it just caused it unneeded pain."
"Can you not simply remove as much as possible?" Kratos asked. "All but the items directly connected to its body?"
Mimir groaned. "We could if the platforms weren't enchanted to not break apart under any kind of stress. Freya doesn't know how to break it, nor the Aesir, Vanir, and even Dwarves and Elves I've asked about it. And trying to remove it all at once was…not worth it." His face suddenly lit up. "Oh, but Sora! Do you think you could use your Keyblade to undo the spell?"
"How would that work?" Atreus asked.
"Well, the spell on the platforms and such, essentially, locks them in the condition we first built them." He waggled his eyebrows at Sora. "Locked, eh? Get it?"
"It…might work," Sora hesitantly replied. "But the question is, would everything stay in its prime, as if the spell was never cast, or would time suddenly rush forward, and they start to rot and rust while still attached to the Lyngbakr?"
"Fair point," Mimir said with a weary grunt. "Well, let's save that as a last resort. I'll recheck whatever spell books Freya's got stashed away in her palace when we get there tomorrow. Maybe I can get Olrun to assist me, she loves searching through tomes."
"Tell me whatever you can remember about the spell before we all split up tomorrow," Atreus said. "I'll ask the Giants about it too." Mimir hummed his thanks.
"How do the dwarves treat the Lyngbakr?" Kratos asked. "Positive interactions may assist in its recovery." Faye, certainly, had down wonders to soothe his own damaged psyche.
"They mostly ignore it," Mimir replied. "I've heard from Durlin that some of the braver children make games out of getting as close to it as possible, but no one bothers it. Maybe we can get volunteers, or outright hire people, to clean it every now and then?"
The conversation continued from there, containing both small and grand ideas for how to best help the Lyngbakr going forward. It was…good. Kratos could count the number of times he'd conversed with other for the purpose of helping someone on one hand. Even rarer, the conversation called for no violent action on his part. He was simply looked upon for ideas and opinions, nothing more, nothing less.
Was this what Faye saw in his future? Calm discourse over how best to heal and mend others? How he wished to speak with her, even just once more.
After a few more minutes of quibbling, Mimir concluded, "Right then, I'll check in with Vanaheim for any sort of spell, and if nothing comes up I'll just round up some magical folk and Sora and hope for the best! And of course, regardless of that outcome, work with the dwarves to see who, if anyone, would be willing to take care of the Lyngbakr, for payment or out of the goodness of their own hearts."
"I'm sure someone out there will want to help," Sora declared. "The dwarves all seem pretty nice."
"The only reason they didn't mob you is because Lúnda threatened them," Atreus remarked with an arched brow.
"…The fact that they followed along proves it?" Sora said with a half-hearted shrug.
"Ah, it doesn't matter," Mimir replied. "Right now, I think you all have something far more important to do, hm? Something glowy and physics-breaking?"
At that, Atreus frowned. "Are you sure? This is important, and we can always practice Flowmotion later."
"I'm quite sure, we need a break" Mimir insisted. "Besides, I want to see if I can use it too." He quirked his brows up. "Not entirely sure what I could do, but that's what practice is for, right?"
"Maybe you can bounce like a ball and ricochet off targets," Sora suggested.
"I still say I can chew the necks of anything you throw me at."
"I will not use you to chew the necks off our enemies," Kratos said as he picked Mimir up and led them outside.
"Whyever not?" Mimir asked, petulant.
"Aside from the potential damage that can be done to you?" Kratos grunted and set Mimir up on a post in the backyard. "I can still vividly recall the aftermath of the one and only time you tried to 'chew' something."
"…It wasn't that bad."
"It was." His point made; Kratos turned to Sora. "How do we use Flowmotion in the real world, and what are the differences?"
Their friend crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, it's weaker, the attacks you can use during it especially." He grunted, and blue sparkles spawned and rose up from his body. "It's got the same kind of general feeling as in a Dream, but like I said earlier, it's less exact, or forgiving. If you're not careful you can veer off course." He stared at them. "You guys can call on it, right?"
Kratos grunted and looked down at his hands. He recalled the warm feeling of Flowmotion coursing through his body. Slowly, he felt it again, but it was less…encompassing, compared to when he was in the Lyngbakr's Dream. Almost as if something was hindering it. Still, as with Sora, blue lights formed around his body, as well as Atreus's.
"Nice!" Sora congratulated them. "Go ahead and jump, see how high you can go." They did so, each of them clearing the trees in the yard, before landing back on the ground, not even disturbing the dirt.
"That was…weird," Atreus remarked as the glow of Flowmotion left their bodies. "Is it supposed to feel weird? I don't know how to describe it, but it felt different, in the Dream."
Sora nodded. "See, Dreams don't really have the same…rules as reality. Things are less rigid, I guess you could call it. It's why I'm able to use Reality Shifting—literally changing the Dream to my own benefit. Part of the reason Flowmotion is weaker in the Waking World is because reality is pushing back against your attempt to ignore it." He clasped his hands behind his head. "At least, that's how I always saw it."
"Ignore reality, huh?" Atreus looked down at his hands. He held them out, palms towards the ground, and formed a shield. Then, he glowed blue with Flowmotion, and, slowly, pressed against the shield. Unlike his past attempts, it did not break under his weight. With a smirk, Atreus climbed onto the shield and sat cross-legged on it.
Sora clapped as Atreus spread his arms out and bowed from his seat. "Way to go!" he cheered. "Already using it in your own way!" Atreus basked in the praise, sliding off the shield as both it and the flow of Flowmotion vanished.
"Well done," Kratos said with a proud smile and a firm pat on his back
"Thanks," Atreus said with a bashful smile. "Still need to make it with my feet, but at least I've got a way to stand on them now." He then frowned and looked to Sora. "Hey, does Flowmotion run out?"
"Technically no," Sora replied. "But you can get too tired to use it, like any magic."
"And if I'm that exhausted, I've got bigger problems than potentially falling on my ass," Atreus concluded with a nod.
"Yup." Sora nodded back, then stared out at the clearing. "Now, let's practice moving Hmm…Got some trees we can bounce off of, but not much else. Can you guys help me stick some spears in the ground to use as poles?" Kratos and Atreus each grabbed some spears from the nearby weapon racks and planted them at Sora's direction.
After they were done, Sora run up a tree and stared down at their handiwork. "Yeah, that's good! Start moving around with Flowmotion." He leapt off the tree and landed beside Mimir. "Mimir, let's talk about what you would actually be able to do."
As Sora entered a discussion with Mimir, Kratos turned towards the spears sticking out of the ground and looked down at his hands.
His son smirked and held his hand out towards the yard. "Age before beauty." Kratos grunted at the snark but did leap onto a pole.
He could immediately tell the difference between now and the Dream. There was no invisible, guiding hand watching over him, nor could he sense and plot out his trajectory. His senses were limited to his body, which, while divine, was currently spinning at a breakneck pace. He let go of Flowmotion and came to a stop seconds later.
"What happened?" his son asked. "Are you alright?"
"Yes." Kratos replied. "But as Sora said, it is no longer automatic. If we wish to use it—on poles, at least—we must plot a course beforehand." Atreus nodded, and after taking a steadying breath, leapt onto a pole. He spun around twice, then shot off. Right at Kratos, who quickly side-stepped to avoid the collision.
Atreus slid through the air for a moment before he cancelled Flowmotion and landed on his feet. He blinked twice. "Woah. That was a…something."
"Are you well?"
"Yeah, just…" He looked over his shoulder and Sora, still in deep discussion with Mimir. "If that's what Sora go through whenever he uses Flowmotion in the real world, gotta say, I'm impressed he can move like that."
"It is nothing that we cannot achieve through training." Kratos turned back to the poles. "Come, let us go together. The additional obstacle we shall present each other will force us to improve at a quicker pace."
"Force me to improve, you mean," his son said with a smirk. "If we fly at each other, I guarantee I'm going to be the only one feeling it."
"Then we had better not collide," Kratos said with an amused grunt.
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Despite Atreus's fears, he and Kratos had only bumped into each other once during their practice. And, thanks to Flowmotion's unique properties, neither felt any pain from it. At most, they felt mild discomfort from bouncing off each other.
Still, with each pass, it became easier and easier to orient themselves as they spun around and launched off the poles. They were still nowhere close to the casual ease Sora possessed, but time and practice would see them reach that same peak.
Right now, the pair were pushing themselves to follow a set path from one end of the yard to the other. It was, frankly, fun. It was nowhere near the kind of training Kratos was used to—no obstacle course he could devise would ever come close—but Atreus bore an earnest, eager smile the entire time, even after that one time he slammed into a weapon rack.
And, of course, Kratos could not help but think of all the ways he could use Flowmotion in both his daily life and combat. Though no doubt weaker, he still expected his attacks during Flowmotion to devastate anyone foolish enough to challenge him.
"Hey guys!" Kratos, and Atreus, stopped in their tracks and turned towards Sora's voice. "I think me and Mimir have got something."
"Aye, we do!" Mimir exclaimed with pride. "Hold me up, lad!" Sora did so, and cradling the talking head with both hands as he glowed blue with Flowmotion. Then, his golden Bifrost eyes gained a rainbow-glow.
Bifrost beams shot out from Mimir's eyes. But unlike before when Mimir used this bizarre technique granted to him by the Huldra brothers, he did not cry out in pain. Nor did the beams simply explode against the ground. No, they ricocheted off the ground, and proceeded to weave through the air before finally exploding against a tree, blasting a wide enough hole that it toppled over, on the other side of the yard.
Mimir ended both the attack and Flowmotion at the same time. "Haha, you see that?" he said with a slight pant. "Let's see the next idiot try and sneak up on you, eh, Kratos? I'll get 'em right between the eyes!"
"You are not in pain?" Kratos asked as he walked up and took Mimir from Sora's hands.
"Not in the slightest!" He took a shallow breath. "But I am a bit tired. Odd, because I'm not supposed to get tired."
"You have not performed any kind of magic for over a century," Kratos said. "You need training."
"…I feel as if I've gotten myself in trouble."
Kratos huffed in amusement. "Come," he said as he hooked Mimir onto his belt. "If you truly mean to be of use in combat, we shall need to practice."
"I'll help!" Sora eagerly stated as he leapt over head and landed on a pole.
"I won't," Atreus stated as he formed a shield with his hands. "If you need me, I'll be in the trees." With that said, he summoned Flowmotion energy, and leapt off the shield, bounding through the treetops.
"Coward!" Sora teased as Atreus disappeared from sight. He turned back to Kratos. "How do you want to do this?"
"I shall stand in the middle of the field," Kratos stated. "To start, simply stand behind me and lob rocks at my back. Once Mimir destroys ten in a row, we will both use Flowmotion to traverse the yard, and Mimir shall continue to blast rocks until he becomes too tired."
"Rocks?" Sora repeated with an arched brow. "Are you sure? If Mimir misses, they could hurt."
"I've seen the man get stabbed right through the gut and snap the neck of the one that did it," Mimir replied. "Trust me, Kratos won't even feel it." Kratos grunted in agreement.
"Alright then." Sora stepped off the pole with a grin. "Let's get started!"
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A/N: Yes, I gave Mimir Omega Beams. Yes, I regret nothing.