Fight and Away
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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They had a brief meal—reheating what was left of the stew Sora made—before going behind the house to train. Sora, Atreus noted, was really eager at the mention of a spar. Whether it was the chance to burn through some of that endless energy he possessed, an actual desire to fight them, or something else entirely, Atreus couldn't say. He had meant it to just be between himself and his father, but one more person wouldn't hurt.
"Okay, how are we doing this?" Sora asked, his Kingdom Key appearing in a flash of light.
Only for Father to shake his head. "No magical weaponry or abilities." He gestured to a weapon rack full of wooden arms. "What would you prefer, Sora?"
Sora dismissed his Keyblade and crossed his arms with a hum. "…Eh, give me a sword." Father grunted and tossed it to Sora. The otherworldly youth caught it easily, twirling it in one hand before resting it along his shoulders.
"Atreus?"
"I'll take an axe," he said. Father nodded and tossed an axe his way. As Atreus tested the weight of the wood copy of his parents' favored weapon, his father grabbed a spear.
"What're the rules?" Sora asked.
"You fight until you fall upon your back, or your weapon falls from your hands." He grunted, holding the spear in both hands. "Or breaks."
"Should we…hold back?" Atreus asked his father. He knew Sora was a strong and capable fighter, but all his attacks were augmented by magic, if not magical outright. And Atreus and his father, at the end of the day, were gods.
"I'll be fine," Sora said with a shrug. "I've been stomped on by Titans, and I'm still standing."
Father nodded in approval. Still, he said to Atreus, "Simply take care to not destroy your weapon with your own strikes."
"That was one time!" It was the first time they sparred like this, and his father never let him live it down.
Sora laughed and grinned at Atreus. "Hey, you ever beat your dad?"
"A couple times," Atreus replied, the pride from those rare victories still as strong as when they'd first occurred. "Only because I'd managed to knock his weapon out of his hands, though." One day, however, he would fully knock his father down. With that said, the three of them circled each other until they were spaced far enough away in the center of the clearing.
"We begin on my count," Father declared. "Five." He set his right foot back, his spear aimed outward as he kept both Atreus and Sora in his sight.
"Four."
To Atreus's left, Sora crouched low, his blade held in a two-handed grip at his side.
"Three."
Atreus took a deep breath, gripping his axe tightly with both hands, one below the blade, the other just above the knob.
"Two."
Atreus's world shrank, the only thing left being himself, Sora, his father, and their battleground.
"One."
The second word slipped past his lips; it began!
Sora moved first, leaping for Atreus with a sharp cry. Atreus bat the strike away, but Sora moved with the momentum and swing his blade from the other side. Atreus blocked this time, catching the blade in the heel of the axe and yanking it down.
Of course, Father hadn't been just standing aside twiddling his thumbs. He charged forward with a harsh shout, spear aimed at Sora. He disengaged, stepping backwards as Father whirled around and slammed the butt of his spear into Atreus's stomach. Atreus took the blow head-on but was forced back by the force of it.
He backed off for a second to consider his next move, letting his father engage Sora. His father was fierce, but focused, swift stabs interspersed with sharp jabs. And yet, Sora was able to dodge them all, weaving through the blows like a leaf on the wind.
Atreus readjusted his grip on his axe, and ran forward, aiming a slash on his father's back. His Father just barely looked over his shoulder and thrust the butt of the spear at him. But Atreus dodged the attack, grabbing the weapon and pulling it back as he struck true.
His father let out a clipped grunt, yanking his spear forward and grabbing Atreus with his free hand. Atreus could just barely see the pride in his father's eyes before he lifted him up and threw him at Sora.
Atreus tucked into himself in the air, prepared to land on the ground and spring up to attack Sora once the other young man dodged. But Sora surprised him, and instead of dodging, he grabbed Atreus's arm and spun around twice before hurling him back towards Father. Father dodged—with only the slightest hesitance at the unexpected move—but the extra spins in the air disoriented Atreus, and his landing was far less graceful than he'd originally planned.
Still, he hadn't fallen yet.
He ran forward once more, towards his father and Sora, who were dueling once more. But this time he ducked under his father's counterattack, rising up with a slash against Sora. He blocked the blow, a sharp crack sounding from the wooden sword, and the force of it sent him soaring high into the air.
Atreus turned on his heel and slammed his axe down towards his father. He blocked the blow with a grunt, and would have shoved it away, had Atreus not hooked the heel of his axe into the spear's handle and pulled down. His father faltered, but before he could react further, Atreus reared back and headbutted him. To his instant regret—he might as well have rammed headfirst into a mountain. His father let out an unamused snort, and quickly copied the attack, to much greater effect.
Atreus stumbled back with a groan and was left completely defenseless for the sweeping strike against his legs, which sent him tumbling onto his back.
"Aw, man." Atreus huffed, his godly healing already fixing up his broken nose.
His father smirked down at him, before turning on his heel and dodging a sudden swipe from Sora. They entered a short, furious bout of strikes and dodges, before Father blocked one last swing from Sora. The wooden sword broke, and Sora exclaimed in surprise, spinning forward once from the sudden lack of resistance before coming to a stop.
"Really?" Sora pouted at his broken sword. "I was just getting started." He tossed it aside and clasped his hands behind his head with a smile. "Oh well, it was fun while it lasted!"
"Indeed," Father said, reaching down to help Atreus up.
"I really thought I had you with that headbutt," Atreus said, tapping his nose. He hated healing his nose, he couldn't smell things properly for days after.
"You did not," his father replied in mild amusement. Atreus huffed and rose to his feet. His father turned to Sora. "You are self-taught," he said.
Sora arched a brow. "You can tell?"
Father nodded. "I can. It is not a mark against you. Your strikes are precise and refined through constant battle. But there is a wildness to you that a proper teacher would have beat out of you."
"Beat outta me is right!" Sora said with a chuckled. "The only time I ever had someone teach me how to fight was when I was first learning with my friend Tidus's dad, Jecht—and the Dream Eaters, I guess. And Donald and Merlin have helped me with my magic. Anyway, Jecht was the toughest adult on Destiny Islands. He wouldn't let any of us kids carry a weapon—even wooden swords—until he hammered the basics into us. Literally."
"That sounds familiar," Atreus said with a snort.
"Eh, he stopped when we could hit him three times in a one-on-one fight." Sora looked up at the sky wistfully. "Riku 'graduated' first, but I was a close second. Tidus took forever, but I'm pretty sure he was just looking for an excuse to fight his dad and not make his mom sad." He grimaced. "They had a…weird…home life."
Atreus exchanged a look with his father. They could both deeply understand that, although Atreus was more like to avoid his father if they were having difficulties than seek out a fight.
"But I can see what you mean about not knocking your dad down, Atreus," Sora continued. "He's solid as a rock." Father grunted appreciatively at the praise. "Course, things would be different if we went all out."
Atreus snorted. "I don't think our home could survive that." Forget Sora, Atreus knew that he and his father, if they ever really, truly fought, could devastate their surroundings. Though he could admit, part of him did want to have a knockout brawl against his father, just to see what would happen.
"Perhaps another time," Father said.
"Yeah." Sora's smile widened. "For now, let's teach you guys how to float!"
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Sora hummed as he stared down at them from the air. "You're still not getting it."
"Gee, you think?" Atreus shot back with a glare, wiping mud off his pants from his latest failure to launch. "Just 'feel free like the wind', what does the even mean?"
"They were poor instructions," Father added. He, at least, hadn't tried leaping in the air to give himself a boost.
"Hey, I told you I have no idea how to teach you guys." Sora frowned. "But at this point…I think we can say you guys can't learn the magic I use." He lay down in the air and clasped his hands behind his head. "Shame. I figured Kratos couldn't do it—most of his magic is tied directly to his weapons—but I was hoping you could pick it up, Atreus."
"Ah, it's fine," Atreus waved off his friend's musings. "We just need to find a wat that work for us." He tapped his chin. "Maybe I can do a sort of half-transformation? Give myself wings but keep my regular shape?"
"Kinda defeats the purpose, though," Sora replied. "Unless you give yourself talons to kick at things." Sora landed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Although…that does give me an idea." Atreus and his father arched their brows expectantly.
Sora hummed. "Well, all my friends can float in the air like I can, and use magic to grant themselves a bit of a boost during combat, but only Ventus and Roxas can glide with the wind like me. You know, without a windstorm helping them stay in the air."
"So, what, we make tornadoes whenever we want to float?" Atreus snarked.
"I mean, you could, but then there wouldn't be anything to fight, would there?" Sora said with a snicker. "But what I was getting at, is the others can't rise any higher in the air like I can." Sora grinned and gestured to himself. "See, when I wanna gain extra height, I just push air beneath me to give myself a boost, like this." Sora hopped into the air, and true to his word, the air around them flowed beneath Sora's feet, shooting him upward with a twirl.
When he landed, he continued. "But the others…they make a magic platform for them to kick off of to gain extra height."
"Platform?" Father repeated. Sora nodded and summoned his usual Keyblade. He held the tip out towards them, which glowed white. There was a brief flash of light, and a translucent hexagon appeared above the Keyblade's tip.
"Something like this."
Atreus snapped his fingers. "I can do that. Well, kinda." He held up his right hand near his head and clenched it into a fist. His gauntlet glowed, and a translucent yellow shield appeared before him, runes spinning on the outer edge and just outside the center.
Sora clapped his hands together. "Cool! Yes, exactly like that!"
Atreus grinned, only for his expression to fall seconds later. "Don't get too excited. I can only do this thanks to a magic tool Sindri gave me. I push magic into it, and it shapes it to make the shield."
"Well…have you tried making it without the tool? It's still your magic, right?" Sora dismissed his Keyblade and summoned a ball of fire in his hand. "I can still cast spells without the Keyblade. It's not as powerful, but I can still do it."
Atreus hummed and dispelled the shield. "I guess, yeah." He looked down at his hands. "I never thought of it like that." Atreus took off the bangle that Sindri made for him and tried to form the shield again. He focused on the feeling of his magic after it had been pushed through Sindri's device. How it expanded yet condensed in front of him. His brow furrowed, his inner magic resisting his desires. It was at that moment he recalled why he'd asked Sindri to make him the device in the first place—to focus his errant magic. He never thanked Sindri for it…
Atreus growled, shaking his head free of distractions. He had to focus! He took a step back, and restarted the process, slower. Gradually shaped his magic as he desired. It took a minute, but soon enough, the outer ring of the shield shakily came to life.
Only to shatter like glass seconds later.
Atreus dropped his arms with a pant. He looked to his side to see his father with a cup of water and a dry rag. "Are you well?" he asked as Atreus took the items.
"Yeah." Atreus downed the water in one gulp. "Just…not used to using my magic like that. Haven't really, since I was younger." He nodded, face set into a frown. "I'll have to practice more." Father nodded in approval and pat him on the shoulder. Atreus looked over at Sora, who wore a pleased expression on his face. "Anymore advice?"
"'Fraid not," Sora readily admitted. "It's all on you right now." He turned to Father. "Okay, your turn, Kratos!"
"I do not require help," Father replied. "I have already devised a method to gain height." He stepped away from them and summoned a Draupnir Spear. He spun it around, the tip pointed towards the ground. The head of the spear vibrated violently, wind gathering around it. Atreus recognized this attack—and he had a feeling he knew what his father was thinking.
Indeed, Father leapt into the air, and when he started to fall, he thrust his spear downward, the gathered wind exploding out of the spear like a tornado and halting his fall. He hovered in the air for a few seconds, his spear vanishing due to the force of the technique, before landing with a grunt.
Atreus stared wide-eyed at his father, and the sizeable hole in the dirt his method created. Leave it to him to come up with such a destructive way to gain extra height in the air. To his side, Sora whistled and clapped. "Alright, Kratos!"
Father walked over to them; a touch smug. "It was an easy problem, once I decided to solve it."
"Yeah, yeah," Atreus said with a roll of his eyes. "Rub it in." Father grunted amusedly at him, summoning another spear to practice again. Taking that as his queue, Atreus pulled his right arm back and tried again.
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Atreus and his father practiced well into the night, only stopping when Sora called them in for dinner. A really, really great dinner. It should have just been venison and some cut up vegetables, but there was just something about the sauce Sora used that elevated to divine levels.
Atreus sighed, happily patting his belly. "Honestly, Sora, I kinda don't want you to ever leave this World. Nothing against you, Father, or Mother, but the last couple days have been filled with the best meals I've ever had."
"I agree, and so would your mother," Father replied, equally pleased, but much more subdued, as was his nature.
"Oh, stop, you're making me blush!" Sora smirked, but his eyes didn't have the usual glee they always had.
Atreus and his father sobered in an instant. Atreus leaned forward. "Sora," he said, "we are going to get you home."
"Or at the very least, provide you a means to leave this World," Father added.
Sora's face fell, and he sighed and rubbed his face. "Thanks, guys. I just…I guess I'm just worried about fighting Sinmara again." He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't want to hurt her. Not after everything you guys told me about Surtr."
"You are not the target of her rage," Father replied. "Should it come to it, I shall distract her while you gather the Primordial energy from the Spark of the World."
"C'mon, Kratos," Sora said with a snort. "You know I can't do that."
Father grunted, lips spreading into a wry smirk. "I suppose not."
"Besides, I did try to set her on fire. Er, melt her, I guess, since she's made of ice." He leaned back in his seat and clasped his hands behind his head. "I'm sure she's none too pleased about me."
"She may still avoid you," Father said, eyes hard. "…I believe she knows of the Keyblade."
Atreus frowned. "How do you figure?"
"As we entered Tyr's temple, before you attempted to gore her as an Ibex, Atreus, she stared at Sora—at his Keyblade."
"Is that what that was?" Sora asked. "I assumed she was glaring at me because I blasted her with fire."
Father shook his head. "No. Her eyes were locked upon the Keyblade, and the Keyblade alone." Sora closed his eyes and hummed in thought.
Atreus asked, "So, what? We send Sora in first as a show of force?"
"Yes." Father bluntly replied. "If she knows of the Keyblade, then is stands to reason that she would be cautious of what it can do. She cannot be blind to the fact that Sora completely separated both Niflheim and Muspelheim from the World Tree. Perhaps the threat of making the separation permanent may stay her hand."
"Or just make her mad and try to kill me to keep it from ever happening again."
Father harrumphed in agreement. "In any case, we must plan for a fight."
Sora nodded in resignation. "I'll pick out the best accessories for you guys to wear—stuff that's good against the cold."
"Any assistance you can provide shall be appreciated."
"We should probably get Thrúd to help us prepare," Atreus added. When Sora and his father stared inquisitively at him, he continued. "The worst thing about Sinmara were those winds she made, right? Thrúd's control of Mjolnir has gotten to the point where she can control storms. If we ask, I'm sure she can whip up massive gales so we can practice keeping our footing."
"So long as she agrees," Father stated. "And she does not dump her relationship woes with Skjöldr upon us."
"C'mon, she's not that bad."
Father snorted. "You were not here two months ago, Atreus. She came to me one day to hide after some inane argument with the boy."
Atreus blinked. "She did what? W-What did she say? Why did she do it?"
"I do not know. I did not care to ask."
"Why not?" Atreus asked without realizing. Even Sora arched a brow at him. "Sorry…Stupid question." Father grunted in agreement.
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Atreus woke up early the next morning to practice forming his magic shield. After an hour he made some progress, but the outer ring of the shield still shattered a few seconds.
"Maybe I should start with something smaller," he mumbled aloud, staring down at his hands after his latest failure. He remembered practicing with smaller shields when Sindri first gave him the bangle. The same principle should apply.
He assumed his stance, but instead of trying to recreate the shield in its entirety, he pushed less magic into it. When he shaped it, he didn't spread it out as far. It took some time, and his first attempts failed, but eventually, he was able to create a small disc the size of his fist, runes for protection rotating along the edge.
"Got it!" Atreus cheered. Alas, his momentary lapse in concentration broke the spell. Still, progress.
He would have started again, but the steady beat of wings overhead called his attention. He looked up to see Sigrún, Mimir held in her hands, dive down from the sky.
Sigrún, in a rare show, was not wearing her armor or helmet. She was dressed in a simple tunic—gold, with goats embroidered on the hems—her black and silver hair tied in a neat braid.
"Hello, little brother!" Mimir called out. "Keeping up with your magic, I see."
"More like trying something new." He smiled at Sigrún. "Haven't seen you outside of your armor in a while. You get a day off?"
"Not the whole day, I'm afraid," Sigrún said with a small shake of her head. "But I figured putting on my armor could wait until I return to Vanaland with the General." Atreus hummed inquisitively. "Last night Tyr and the Maven entered Vanaland to discuss the Gulon crisis in Alfheim."
Atreus leaned back in shock. "So soon? Wouldn't she need, I don't know, time to build her case?"
"Frankly lad, she's been building her case for some time now," Mimir said. "As such, we've come to collect your father. Is he up?"
"Should be," Atreus said, leading them to the house. "Don't know if Sora's making something for breakfast, but we've still got some of the venison he made last night if you're hungry, Sigrún."
The Shield Maiden chuckled. "After all the praise Mimir has heaped upon Sora's meals, I'd be a fool to pass up the chance to try it out for myself."
"Aye. I just wish I could eat some of it myself." Mimir groaned. "Never before have I so dearly wished for my body."
"Never?" Sigrún asked with an arched brow.
"Oh, don't be like that, woman. Besides, we still have our fun, don't we?"
Sigrún purred, of all the terrible things she could have done. "That we do, my love. That we do."
"Hey, guys, could you not?" Atreus asked flatly.
"What's the matter, lad?" Mimir teased. "Never seen two people in love?" Atreus just rolled his eyes and said nothing.
He opened the door to his home. Father sat at nearest end of the table, sharpening his Blades of Chaos. Sora sat at the far end, slicing up some vegetables and putting them beside some eggs. Over the fire pit was a pan, butter melting on it.
Father looked up from his task. "Mimir, Sigrún," he said in greeting, and then returned to his task.
Sora finished chopping before looking up at them. "Hey there!" He gestured to Sigrún. "Nice to see you without your armor on." He arched a brow. "Are you joining us for breakfast? Might need some more eggs."
"Atreus did offer," Sigrún replied, her wings magically folding into her body as she entered the house. She set Mimir down and sat across from Father. Atreus sat beside him.
"Did you make any progress?" Father asked, not looking up from the Blades of Chaos.
"Some," Atreus said. He held up his hands. "Decided to practice with smaller shields first and work my up."
"Makes sense," Sora commented, getting up and placing the cut vegetables on the pan.
"Practicing what?" Mimir asked.
"How to make platforms I can use to hop in the air."
"What's this now?" Mimir asked.
Sora answered. "I tried to teach Kratos and Atreus how to use wind magic to fly like I can." He cracked three eggs into the pan, using scramble them. "Didn't work—they can't use my kind of magic—so we pivoted and they're practicing ways to just gain and maintain height." He gestured behind his back towards Father. "Kratos blows up his spear"—and then Atreus—"Atreus is going to learn to use his magic shield as a platform to launch off of." Sigrún and Mimir stared at Sora, before directing their gazes to Atreus. He shrugged.
Mimir smacked his lips together. "Well, I'm never leaving you all alone again. Gone for less than a day and your teaching people to fly, Sora!" Sora just shrugged.
"How are Freya's efforts to root out Seiðr practitioners?" Father asked, finally putting away his weapons.
"Slow," Sigrún replied. "I'd tasked Kara, Göndul, and Hildr with scouting known cave systems." She rubbed Mimir's head affectionately. "I'd planned to take a day of rest with Mimir, but the Maven's appearance last night has dashed that entirely."
"She is ready to speak her terms?" Father asked, nonplussed.
"That she is, Brother," Mimir said with a hum. "Afraid you'll have to keep the vow sooner than you thought and leave as soon as you've finished your meal."
"Give me another couple minutes!" Sora called out.
Mimir chuckled as Father's sour expression. "You know, Kratos, when Tyr told us that you wanted to take part in these discussions, I thought he was having a laugh."
"We all did," Sigrún added. "The queen almost pulled her sword to him in fear that he had been impersonated again."
"No, Tyr speaks true," Father grit out. Atreus reached over and pat his arm in sympathy. He knew how hard it was for his father to offer himself up like that, and it would have been better to have a day or two to prepare himself. But a small part of Atreus considered it karma for all the impromptu 'training' sessions his father had put him through over the years, so he didn't feel all that bad.
"Atreus," Father turned to look at him. "Do you wish to come?"
"Not at all," Atreus quickly replied without shame. "I figure I'll get some more practice in with Sora." He looked over to his friend. "Assuming you don't want to go."
"No thanks. Sounds boring."
Sigrún chuckled. "Rather blunt, aren't you?" Sore just looked over his shoulder with a cheeky grin—though Atreus noted that he didn't stare too long at Sigrún and Mimir.
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A/N: It's really interesting that Sora's the only person in Kingdom Hearts that doesn't need to make a magic platform to use the Double Flight ability. He just props himself up with wind.