The Nightmare
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 was unsure how long they travelled down the cylinder of water Sora created for them. It could have been minutes or hours. But eventually, it ended. A bright light heralded the end of their journey, and Kratos let the energy coursing through his body guide him as he leapt forward and landed on an island—a familiar island—the Dream Eaters, save for Meow Wow, appearing beside him.
Atreus whirled around; face pinched in confusion. "Wait…this is Svartalfheim. This is the bay the Lyngbakr's in." He sucked in a breath. "Oh! Oh, this going to get…dark…isn't' it?"
"Aye," Mimir miserably commiserated. "At least it's not raining anymore. Where's Sora?"
Atreus gestured ahead. "Over there." He pointed past a handful of wooden platforms floating on the water, where Sora and Meow Wow stood on a platform near where the Lyngbakr should have been. Dozens of other Dream Eaters were either on the platforms beside them, in the skies above, or the water below. "Hey Mimir, you…you didn't need to build this many platforms, right?"
"No, there were far less than this," he replied. "And we got rid of those once…once the Lyngbakr grew large enough. No, this is more of that benevolent Dream architecture Sora spoke of."
"Then let us put it to use," Kratos said. Indeed, they did not have a clear path to traverse, nor a canoe they could use. Still, Kratos observed that there was large pole on the edge of their current island, as well as on the various platforms leading to Sora.
He recalled that Sora was able to spin on thin trees and branches and use the magically created momentum to propel himself forward. Calling upon the energy granted to him, Kratos leapt up and grabbed the pole with one hand. He spun around as if it were made of the smoothest glass, but he still maintained a firm grip. Even stranger, despite the constant movement, he did not get dizzy—though, admittedly, he had never been one to feel such things—and he could visualize the exact angle and force he needed to propel himself in any direction.
Truly, Flowmotion was a fantastic ability.
He launched himself forward towards another platform, landing on a railing and sliding forward before leaping off and spinning off another pole.
He landed on the same platform as Sora, the young man not even looking away from the water below. Meow Wow, who lay down beside Sora, did look back at them, but returned to its rest soon enough.
"That was rather impressive," Mimir noted. Kratos grunted in thanks. "What did it feel like? The energy from Flowmotion washes over me as well, but actively using it must be different."
Kratos hummed, turning around to watch as Atreus took a longer, more complicated path to reach them. Aloud, he said, "When I use Flowmotion in conjunction with an object, it is as if I am magnetized to it. But when I am leaping through the air it is less…present." He grunted. "It is as though I am being watched over, and there are a pair of hands waiting to grab hold of me should I falter."
"A little eerie, when you put it like that."
"No." Kratos shook his head. "It is…benign." In truth, it reminded him of when he was a boy, still young enough that his mother needed to keep watch over him. Or when Atreus started to walk on his own. Him and…and Calliope. They had been terrifying similar, as infants and toddlers. Equally sickly, yet with unbound determination from their mothers, and his own terrible brand of stubbornness. He had been so afraid for both of them—it was worse with Atreus, because unlike with Calliope these lands did not hold a miracle in the form of the Olympian's Ambrosia. But even after he'd done the impossible, and saved Calliope from being killed as per Spartan custom, he killed her himself in a fit of madness and bloodlust. All that he and Lysandra had done to see her healthy and whole, dashed to pieces.
There was a puff of smoke, Keeba Tiger and Peepsta Hoo appearing beside him. Peepsta Hoo flew over to rest atop Meow Wow—which slightly deflated like an old ball but didn't otherwise move—while Keeba Tiger stepped closer to Kratos. It rubbed its head into Kratos's hand, and without thought, he scratched its head.
The Dream Eater purred, the vibrations travelling up through Kratos's arm and settling into his chest. It was rather pleasant if he was being honest. It…It calmed him, despite the tumult of emotions thinking of his previous wife and child always brought. And given the pleased gleam in the Dream Eater's eyes, it knew exactly what it had done for Kratos.
"…Thank you," he whispered. Keeba Tiger huffed, licking his hand before stalking over to Sora.
Atreus landed before them with a spring in his step, KO Kabuto appearing seconds later. "Man! This Flowmotion stuff is great!" He looked down at his hands. "Can't wait try to try this out back home!"
"Likewise," Kratos replied. Sharing a smirk with his son, he led them to Sora, who had transitioned to sitting on the edge of the platform, where numerous aquatic Dream Eaters were circling the water.
"More waiting then?" Mimir asked as Kratos unhooked him from his belt and held him forward.
"Yup," Sora said, popping the 'p'. "Don't really have a clue what I'm waiting for, though."
"Mimir, my friend, sometimes you astound me."
Kratos didn't even think. He summoned his Leviathan Axe to his hand and in one fluid motion, turned around and threw the weapon at the voice. Yet all it did was harmlessly pass through the spectral form of Odin that appeared before them. Like Mimir, this Odin was younger—bore less wrinkles, his hair longer and more ruddy brown than gray. But that lone eye of his still shone with arrogance and cunning.
"Father," Atreus said, with the slightest tremor in his voice. "He's not real. Odin's dead. This is…less than a ghost."
"A-Aye," Mimir agreed, numb as the spectral version of himself appeared beside Odin, listing off his designs to extract oil from the Lyngbakr.
Sora rose to his feet. "So, that's Odin, huh?" Kratos simply nodded as he summoned back his axe. "Well, if he and Mimir are here, then the Lyngbakr's gonna make an appearance." Indeed, seconds later a gong rang, and the Dream Eaters below started to cry out. Atreus grunted in pain beside him, but KO Kabuto laid a claw on his arm, and he calmed down.
The Lyngbakr rose to the surface before them, mere feet away from the platform. It had not yet grown to its true adult length, perhaps half that size. But even now, it bore numerous scars across its body, and Kratos could see the reinforced metal sewn into its fins where its chains would attatch.
Odin—who stood disgustingly close to them—whistled as he looked down at the Lyngbakr. "Already comes at your beck and call, huh?"
"Aye," the spectral Mimir nodded. "Stubborn beast, but I broke it in easily enough." He lifted his head. "Still, job isn't completely done just yet." He cupped his hands over his mouth. "Alright lads, let's get this over with!"
"Get this over with?" Atreus repeated in disgust. "I—I can't believe you used to be so cruel, Mimir." Atreus looked down at their friend. "I mean, it's completely unlike you!"
"Unlike how I am now," Mimir said as dozens of spectral Asgardians came into being around them, running to and fro. Mimir stared miserably at the ground. "But I was a very different man, all those centuries ago." He sniffed. "And if Odin hadn't bound me to that tree, I doubt I would have actually changed."
"But you did!" Atreus declared. "I mean, even if the reasons you changed weren't because of some intrinsic righteousness, it doesn't change the fact that you have changed." Mimir said nothing in reply, but Kratos did stare softly at his son. It was easy for Atreus to believe as he did. At his core, his son was a good person. He may falter at times, grow tempted by narcissism and arrogance, but in the end, he was good. Others…were not. They had to truly work to be better. Struggle against well-worn paths branded on their souls.
Kratos jolted as Keeba Tiger bumped against his leg. He looked down at the Dream Eater, which huffed and stared up at him with a determined glare. Right. He couldn't afford to get distracted. Not now.
The spectral Asgardians, through might and magic, slowly chained the Lyngbakr up. Despite the obvious pain and discomfort this brought the creature, it only out the softest of cries.
Mimir seemed to shrink with every sound and movement the Lyngbakr made. "Why are we just standing here, Sora? Why aren't you doing another Reality Shift to stop this?"
"Because we can't just erase the past," Sora replied. "Part of the problem with my last 'rescue' attempt, I think, was that I interfered too much with the memory of its capture. You did capture the Lyngbakr all those years ago, Mimir, and you did chain it up and torture it for a long time. It happened, and we can't just ignore that or pretend it didn't happen." He stared down at the Lyngbakr, face set in stone as the last chain was put in place. "What we need to do, is let it know that it doesn't need to live like this anymore." The Lyngbakr struggled against the chains for a moment, before settling down in defeat. The creature's form shifted rapidly, and before their eyes it started to grow until it was inches away from them, its dull, lifeless eye staring through them. Spectral Asgardians moved around it like blurs as they built platforms on it and underwent the painful process of extracting its oil.
Eventually, all movement stopped, and the Lyngbakr was as it had been when Kratos first met it. Old, scarred, and resigned to its fate.
Sora reached out and placed a hand against the Lyngbakr's face, right below its eye. He smiled sadly at it. "We need to let it know that it's safe now. It doesn't need be chained, literally, by its past." He dropped his hand. "I just need time to…get through to it."
Kratos grunted. "We shall assist you as well as we are able." Atreus nodded beside him, and their four Dream Eaters all exclaimed in agreement.
"Right!" Sora said with a bright smile. "But first…how did Aqua make that barrier?" Sora summoned the Hero's Origin Keyblade and aimed it high in the air. The tip of the Keyblade sparked with white light, and a small dome made of hexagons appeared a few feet above it. The dome expanded—enough that Kratos could have comfortably stood in it—but shattered soon after.
"Well, that was a bust," Sora groused. He stared down at his Keyblade. "But maybe…" He gestured for them to move back. After they did so, he held his Keyblade out to the side. The weapon expanded to at least three times its size, the golden lightning bolts dethatching from the bronze statue of Zeus as electricity sparked along it. He shifted the weapon overhead, and they lightning bolts detached and spun around him as the statue of Zeus shrank into the handle. Electricity shot out from the weapon as clouds formed around it, before locking in place. Sora pulled down the transformed weapon, revealing it to be a large shield, a golden cloud and lightning bolt emblazoned on its front.
Sora's furs had also changed, having flashed white the instant he transformed his weapon. They were now dyed a rich honey-gold, the runes for the word 'Guardian' printed and his sleeves and pantlegs, interspersed by symmetrical diamonds. That same diamond was printed on his back, spanning the length of his torso.
"What's this then?" Mimir asked, his awe breaking through his previous melancholy.
Sora held up the shield. "This is the Counter Shield." He pulled at his color. "And my clothes changed to something called Guardian Form." He gestured to the shield. "See, Keyblades have innate properties to them; some are better at magic, or pure offense, or, like Hero's Origin, are more defensive in nature. The fairies that blessed my clothes made it so that they could draw upon those innate properties."
Mimir snorted. "They can do all that? No wonder the dwarves were drooling all over you."
Sora chuckled. "Anyway, I couldn't make a barrier on my own to help guard me while I'm reaching out to the Lyngbakr, but like this…" he trailed off with a smile. He stepped away from them and threw the shield into the air like discus. It stopped above the Lyngbakr, floating near the center of the 's body. The shield glowed blue, and split apart, thunderclouds spilling out from its center. Dozens of golden lightning bolts shot out like spears from the clouds, before dipping down as if they were made of string. Eventually, they formed a cage of lightning around Sora and the Lyngbakr.
Sora grinned as he tapped the lightning, unharmed. "Alright, it worked!"
"You sure you need us to look out for you?" Atreus asked with a mirthful grin.
"Unfortunately, I can't keep this up forever." Sora frowned. "I could probably make it last longer if I actively concentrated on it, but since I'll be busy with the Lyngbakr it'll run out on its own. Or after it takes enough damage."
"Then there is no time to waste," Kratos declared as he hooked Mimir back on his belt. Atreus nodded, and used Flowmotion to climb up a tower, KO Kabuto and Peepsta Hoo following, to provide long-range support. Which left Kratos with Keeba Tiger and Meow Wow. Kratos did not want to judge the latter based solely on its appearance—Sora clearly valued it above the other Dream Eaters for a reason, and it did bring down numerous foes during their last battle—but seeing it roll around the ground with careless glee did…not inspire much confidence.
He had no time to object, however, because Sora had walked over to the Lyngbakr and pressed both hands against it.
There was an immediate shift to their surroundings. The sky darkened, lighting flashing and thunder booming as rain crashed down upon them. Corrupted Asgardians—chained and damaged and dripping oil much like the Lyngbakr—appeared from nothing. They roared and charged at Sora's cage.
Kratos did not let them get within spitting distance. He darted forward with his Blades of Chaos, Keeba Tiger and Meow Wow right beside him. Like the previous battle, Keeba Tiger stayed near Kratos, mauling anything his blades did not cut down. Meow Wow, however, stuck close to the lightning barrier. It used its bulk to great effect, bowling over and crushing what foes it didn't blast with magic. From afar, Atreus, KO Kabuto, and Peepsta Hoo struck down foe after foe. And the other Dream Eaters Sora had summoned were assisting as well, slaughtering as many of the outer fringes of the army of Asgardians as possible.
But their foes were numerous, determined, and worst of all, intelligent.
"Atreus!" Mimir called out, his worry cutting through the haze of battle. Kratos turned at his cry, eyes widening in alarm as numerous Asgardians started to pile atop each other to reach Atreus from his perch. His son fought valiantly, but eventually Peepsta Hoo, at least, saw their efforts as a lost cause, and grabbed Atreus by his shoulders. The Dream Eater hurled Atreus away—before doing the same with KO Kabuto—and his son was enveloped in purple energy. And then something extraordinary occurred.
Atreus's form shifted in the familiar way it did when he changed to an animal. But instead of shrinking into a bird, like Kratos expected, his son's body expanded, and within seconds he had changed into a Dream Eater; one of the ones that looked like a Rhinoceros. Atreus curled in on himself, his body flashing as it transformed into a giant spiked ball, still glowing with Flowmotion's magical energy. He stalled in the air for a moment, before crashing to the ground like a comet, crushing the Asgardian's below him, and blowing dozens more away.
Atreus shifted back to his normal form seconds later, his bow strapped to his back. He stared down at his hands, before his face split into a wide grin. He ran towards one of the Asgardians and launched off it. Enveloped by Flowmotion energy once more, his transformed into another Dream Eater—one of the flying ones—and crashed through dozens of foes before coming to a stop and starting the process over again.
"You're not panicking, what happened?" Mimir asked.
Kratos grunted, returning to his own battle—well, he had still been fighting on sheer instinct and ingrained discipline, but now that he was assured of his son's safety, he could fully devote himself to the task at hand. "Atreus transformed into a Dream Eater while using Flowmotion," he said as he shifted around so that Mimir could see it in action.
"So he has," Mimir remarked. "Oh! He must be using it to augment his attacks like Sora does, though with his own, Atreus-esque flair." Mimir hummed. "Makes you wonder what else a person—perhaps an ex-God of War—could do."
"Enough," Kratos barked out, though he did huff in amusement at his friend's tone. He spied a pole just a few feet to his left. Using his shield to clear a path, he leapt onto it, entering Flowmotion as he spun around. Letting the energy guide him, he let go of the pole and grabbed the Blades of Chaos. The blades and their chains erupted with purple-tinged flames, and with a mighty roar, Kratos spun around twice, the blades extending to their full length as a tornado of fire formed around him. What foes weren't immediately burnt to a crisp were swept up in the wind, turning into flaming projectiles that crashed into their allies.
Following a hunch, Kratos sheathed the Blades of Chaos and summoned a Draupnir spear. He coated his body in Flowmotion, and like Atreus had a moment ago, leapt off a corrupted Asgardian. He tucked the spear close to his body, and once again let Flowmotion guide his actions. He spun in the air, the Draupnir Spear glowing purple it used its inherent wind magic to pull in the surrounding foes. They crashed into each other as razor-sharp air currents tore them to shreds. When Kratos landed, he spun on his heel, and threw the spear at what few foes remained. The spear gored one of them, and the following explosion of purple-tinted wind tore them all apart.
"Woo!" Mimir cheered. "That's certainly impressive!" Kratos did not fight the satisfied smirk that wormed its way onto his lips. He summoned another Draupnir Spear just as Keeba Tiger leapt beside him once more and reentered the fray.
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With a colossal shout, Kratos, imbued with Flowmotion, dove, and slammed his Leviathan Axe against the ground. A sea of purple-hued icicles snaked out from the impact, impaling the last of the corrupted Asgardians. With a satisfied grunt, he lifted his axe, the ice shattering as his foes vanished to nothing.
Atreus—who had been clearing out a different platform—leapt over to him. "Oh, man, that was amazing!"
"It was," Kratos admitted.
"I mean, changing into all those Dream Eaters, it was weird, but a good kinda weird, you know?"
"I do."
"And all those giant elemental explosions you did—I can't believe you can summon tornadoes made of fire!, and make your spears explode like that and—"
"Enough, Atreus," Kratos said with a slight grin. "These newfound abilities are effective, yes." Kratos sobered as he turned towards Sora and the Lyngbakr, who were still behind Sora's electric cage, which was starting to fade. "But we are not quite finished with our task." His son frowned, and followed Kratos as he led them forward.
The barrier disappeared when they were scant feet away. Sora pulled away from the Lyngbakr with a sigh, and gently pet it before turning to them.
Kratos didn't even get a chance to say anything before Meow Wow bound in from nowhere and knocked Sora to the ground.
"Oh, hey, c'mon, quit it!" Sora tried, and failed, to scold the Dream Eater through his laughter. As he picked himself up, Kratos removed Mimir from his belt and held him forward.
"Well, Sora, what happened?" Mimir asked.
"I figured out what the Lyngbakr needs," he replied. "He needs you to apologize."
Mimir sniffed. "Apologize? I've been apologizing ever since we freed it in the real world."
Sora shook his head. "But it couldn't hear you, not really." He eyed the Lyngbakr. "Course, there's still something tying it down, but an apology will go a long way."
"What else is there?" Atreus asked.
"Well, since Nightmare Dream Eaters can't exist here, then it's going to be some important, malevolent figure in the Lyngbakr's life."
"So, me," Mimir blandly replied.
"Probably."
Mimir grunted. "Well, bring me close, Brother." Kratos did so, stopping just in front of the Lyngbakr's eye. The creature, compared to before Sora 'spoke' with it, bore clear eyes. It recognized Mimir and started to shift and groan. But then Sora came up to its side and placed a reassuring hand on its body. It calmed, but eyed Mimir with blatant fear.
Mimir took a deep breath. He opened and closed his mouth multiple times, but after a moment, all he did was sigh. "…I know I'm supposed to apologize, but I don't think mere words can ever be enough. I stole your life, subjected you to horrible torture, all to ingratiate myself to a monster—not that I considered him such at the time. And worst of all, I didn't think I'd done anything wrong until that monster turned on and tortured me." Mimir sniffed, tears welling up in his eyes. "I can't even begin to ask for your forgiveness, I don't deserve it. But I want you to know that I am so sorry and am willing to do whatever it takes to ease the pain I've wrought upon you. If you'll let me."
The Lyngbakr groaned, eyes narrowing in distrust and anger. But then, it calmed, a let loose a long hum, before it closed its eyes and sank into the bay. The rain hammering down from above came to a stop, and the steel clouds floating in the air faded, allowing the sun to shine once more.
"…What happened?" Atreus asked after a long pause. At that moment, the surrounding Dream Eaters began to hiss and holler, glaring down where the Lyngbakr sank.
Sora stepped away from the edge of the platform. "It accepted the apology." He summoned his Keyblade in a flash of light—and Kratos was proud of himself for only feeling the slightest twinge of emotion at Zeus's visage. "Now, we fight the final obstacle keeping the Lyngbakr trapped within its Nightmares."
The water below them darkened and bubbled as something large rose to the surface. It breached, water crashing in its wake as it roared to the heavens. When the water settled down, Kratos narrowed his eyes at the monster before him.
It was Mimir, or at least, a corrupted version of his friend that towered over them. Its horns grew out of its head like spikes, and came to multiple sharp, jagged points. Instead of glowing Bifrost eyes, the monster's eyes burned like stars. Similar to the corrupted Asgardians, this monster too had chains and nets bursting out of its body, but it also had dozens of harpoons and spigots and needles sticking in and through it, oil dripping from its wounds. And much like the Lyngbakr, it too had wooden platforms violently attached to its body, near its heads and more grievous, pus-filled, pulsating wounds. It would appear that the benevolent architecture Sora spoke off didn't stop at simple traversal.
Off in the distance, Kratos could see corrupted Asgardians climb onto the platforms as well, but the other Dream Eaters quickly came in and did battle. Leaving Kratos, Sora, Atreus, Keeba Tiger, Meow Wow, Peepsta Hoo, and KO Kabuto to fight this Nightmare version of their friend.
Mimir let out a shaky breath. "I was expecting something like this, but…Well, I suppose it's only fair that this is what that poor creature sees me as, hm?" Kratos nodded solemnly, and placed Mimir back on his belt.
After securing Mimir, Kratos asked, "Do you know what those glowing wounds are?"
His friend clicked his tongue. "Well, they didn't glow like that, but back when I started extracting the Lyngbakr's oil, those would appear when we moved the extraction equipment too hastily. At first, I had the workers cut them open to let the wound breath, but that just caused the Lyngnakr more distress"—his voice fell into a self-hating snarl—"it interrupted the process. So we just left them alone to burst naturally."
Sora hummed. "Then, breaking those things apart will cause some serious damage, right?"
"Aye," Mimir agreed, and then bitterly remarked, "At least some good's coming out of what I'd done to the poor thing.'
"I don't know how I feel about fighting this thing," Atreus said, staring at the monstrous copy before them with trepidation. "I mean, it's not Mimir, but still…"
"You can bow out of this fight," Sora replied as he settled into his battle stance. "It isn't easy fighting a friend—even a corrupted copy of one."
"He is right, Atreus," Kratos stated as he summoned a Draupnir Spear. "There is no shame in stepping away." Honestly, Kratos was glad that this monster was so heavily altered. If it had simply been a copy of Mimir—whole and healthy—he would have also been hesitant to fight it.
"Don't put words in my mouth!" his son protested. "Just because I feel weird doesn't meant that I'm going to just not help the Lyngbakr." He took a deep breath, his grip tightening on his bow. "And if that means taking down some crazy version of Mimir, I'll do it."
"I can't tell if this is touching or disturbing," Mimir chuckled from Kratos's waist.
"It can be both!" Sora teased, before he dashed forward towards the monster, Meow Wow close behind. Kratos and Keeba Tiger followed, while Atreus, Peepsta Hoo, and KO Kabuto climbed a nearby tower.
The corrupted copy of Mimir roared and raised its arms high in the air. Kratos and Sora split apart, running on either side of the monster's crashing fists. But its attack did not end there. It's skin bubbled, and chains burst out to impale them. Kratos dove beneath the chains, and quickly jumped on one of them and used Flowmotion to slide up to the monster's arm. He saw Sora had the same idea, and together they climbed up its arms. The monster shot harpoons out of its skin, but all this did was allow Sora and Kratos the opportunity to use Flowmotion to ascend its body more easily.
That was where they split. Sora continued on towards the head, while Kratos dove down and landed on a platform near a wound on the monster's navel. Every time it pulsed it sent out a wave of hot air. Keeba Tiger appeared beside him in a puff of smoke.
"Be careful," he warned the Dream Eater. "The oil is hot." Keeba Tiger snarled in agreement, and they struck! Obviously, the stationary wound made for an easy target, even if they had to take care to not get drenched by the oil gushing out from their blows. But their assault was not without consequence. The flesh around the monster's wound bubbled, and Kratos and Keeba Tiger had to back off or risk getting impaled by harpoons.
Suddenly, an explosion rocked the monster, making it roar in pain. Kratos had to plunge his spear into the platform to keep his footing. There was another explosion, and Kratos followed the sound to that it originated from one of the wounds on the monster's left thigh. Within seconds of him turning to it, three arrows sank into the bleeding wound, a large purple sigil forming over it. Kratos followed the arrows' trajectory, and saw his son nod at Peepsta Hoo and KO Kabuto, who locked their horns together and fired a massive ball of bright magical energy rocketed towards the sigil.
When the ball crashed against the sigil, another explosion rocked the monster, this time tearing open the wound completely. It roared in pain, it's entire body bubbling in a now familiar pattern.
Kratos used Flowmotion to leap away just before hundreds of harpoons erupted out of the monster's body. As he landed, however, he felt a strange energy course through his being. It was an odd mix of the energy he felt when Sora wished to initiate a Team Attack tinged with the otherworldly energy of Flowmotion. Slowly, he turned towards Keeba Tiger. The Dream Eater huffed, but eyed Kratos critically. Kratos grunted but did allow the energy to course through his being.
Keeba Tiger let out a triumphant roar as their bodies flashed with a bright light. Without conscious thought, Kratos summoned a Draupnir Spear, and broke into a sprint. He moved so fast and hard, he blinked and suddenly he was in front of one of the corrupted Mimir's wounds. No, no he hadn't simply moved fast, he'd teleported. He stabbed at the wound and teleported away before dashing forward at another wound, Keeba Tiger at his side. Again and again, they teleported around the monster and struck at its glowing wounds. Briefly, he saw that Sora had transformed his Keyblade into a shield again, and bashed it against the monster's head, and Atreus appeared to be initiating his own Team Attack with KO Kabuto; the Dream Eater chared up a large orb of magical energy and shooting it towards the monster, whereupon Atreus shot it with a sonic arrow, and it split apart into dozens of smaller orbs that exploded against the monster.
With one final roar, Kratos and Keeba Tiger broke the largest wound—on the monster's back—to pieces and teleported back to the platform they originally began their assault from.
From his hip, Mimir groaned. "A little warning, next time! I can feel my brain move within my skull."
Kratos grunted, not taking his eyes off the monster as it curled in on itself and started to growl. It flexed outward with a deafening roar, and once again spikes burst out from its body. But instead of pulling them back into its body, they shot out the harpoons like a volley of arrows.
Kratos crouched down and pulled up his shield, Keeba Tiger curled up beside him as much as possible—to his side, he saw Atreus summon a large shield to cover himself and the Dream Eaters. Sora and Meow Wow, being so close to the monster, were in a much more precarious position. Indeed, Meow Wow was stabbed by two harpoons before they leapt away—though the weapons did not stay stuck to the Dream Eater. Quick as a flash, Sora sat upon Meow Wow's back as they fell, and deftly blocked the remaining harpoons with his shield—Kratos noticed that the shield began expanded and glowed blue after it blocked a few.
They landed beside Kratos just as the assault ended. The monster roared, and the harpoons all rushed back into its body as if magnetized, sinking back into its body with sickening squelches.
"Kratos, give me a boost!" Sora called out as he jumped off Meow Wow. Kratos nodded and remained crouched with his shield up. Sora ran up and leapt onto the shield. With a harsh shout, Kratos launched Sora upwards, and he stopped a few feet in the air before the monster.
"Take this!" Sora exclaimed as he thrust the shield forward. The shield glowed, and dozens of giant golden fists shot out from it and struck the monster's head at blinding speeds The monster roared in pain, and one of its horns broke off, dangling by the net connecting it to the other, as it crashed backwards into a platform. But despite all that damage, it was relatively unharmed. In fact, it started to heal itself, it's horn floating back onto place and the new wounds on its face closing. Atreus, Peepsta Hoo, and KO Kabuto kept on attacking it, but to no avail. At least, he noted, the other Dream Eaters has eliminated the remaining corrupted Asgardians; though they all hung back to lick their wounds at the moment.
"Man, this thing's tough," Sora said after he landed back beside Kratos—his clothes and Keyblade returning to their original colors and shape.
"It's rather astounding," Mimir said. "I mean, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a fighter, but as far at the Lyngbakr's concerned, I'm a nigh unstoppable monster." He hummed. "I suppose that's rather appropriate, isn't it?"
"Do not dwell on the origins of its strength," Kratos gently admonished his friend. "Focus instead on a solution."
"Well, can you light the thing on fire? Maybe make it explode?"
"Tried it," Sora replied. "Shot a couple fireballs right into the oil dripping from its face. Didn't light." He chuckled sheepishly. "Good thing too, now that I'm thinking about it." Kratos agreed as he lightly glared at the young man for his carelessness. "But, hey, notice anything weird about its body?" He frowned as Kratos continued to glare at him. "I'm serious! Look, some of those wounds aren't healing!" Kratos grunted but did turn to face the monster. Indeed, while the majority of the blows they all struck against it had healed, some slashes and burns remained. In fact…
"Those are from the combination attacks Atreus and I performed with the Dream Eaters."
"Are they?" Sora said, intrigued. "Wonder why?"
"The inherent magic of the Dream Eaters, perhaps?" Mimir supplied. "Boosted by the attacks performed in tandem with Atreus and Kratos."
"Link Attacks are powerful," Sora mused as he narrowed his eyes at the monster. "Maybe a Dual Link could do some more damage?" He looked down at Keeba Tiger and shook his head. "Nah, it'd take time too much time to build up the energy. Plus, they've already bonded so well with you guys, I don't want to mess with that." He then grinned and looked down at his Keyblade. "But…I do have another idea," He turned to Atreus and the other two Dream Eaters and whistled and waved for them to come over. They did so, Atreus leaping over with Flowmotion and the Dream Eaters appearing in a puff of smoke.
Sora frowned. "Okay, what I'm about to do is kinda like a Team Attack, but not. You don't actually have to help me with it, but we can end this thing faster if you do." He grinned. "Also, it's real fun!"
"What is it?" Kratos asked, keeping the monstrous copy of his friend in the corner of his eye—it had lurched off its back, and was now lifting itself up with the help of the nearest platform.
"It's called Attraction Flow." Sora crossed his arms over his chest. "It's…hard to explain, but I promise it's nothing weird!"
"…Atreus?"
His son snorted. "We both know I'm not the problem here." Kratos grunted at the blunt proclamation but did nod finally at Sora.
"Alright!" Sora smiled widely as. He held his Keyblade into the air. Sparkles of bright, multi-colored light formed at his feet and flow around his body to gather at the tip of his Keyblade.
FWEEEOOO—FWEEEOOO
Kratos and Atreus jolted at the sudden, deep whistles from everywhere and nowhere. To their left, the same sparkling lights Sora had summoned appeared as an arch. Golden tracks spawned on the ground, and some grand sparkling…vehicle, segmented into dozens individual carts, barreled through the arch on the tracks. The frontmost bore some sort of engine attached to a smoke-billowing chimney, and the rest were simple open carts with cushioned seating.
"Hop on!" Sora exclaimed as he leapt into the front cart. The Dream Eaters all chirped and yowled excitedly, Meow Wow hopped in beside Sora, Peepsta Hoo perched itself at the tip of the frontmost cart, and Keeba Tiger and KO Kabuto entered the two carts right behind Sora. Seconds later, before Kratos could even blink, the remaining Dream Eaters came in from all side and crowded into the carts—all but the three lead carts—which at least tripled in size to accommodate the majority of the land-based Dream Eaters. Kratos exchanged a questioning stare with his son, before they too entered the vehicle, Kratos next to Keeba Tiger, and Atreus next to KO Kabuto.
Sora looked back at them with a fierce grin, before turning around and thrusting his blade forward. "Full speed ahead!" He cried, and the engine whistled once more as they slowly started to move. Just in time too, for the monster had finally picked itself up, and glared at them with hateful eyes as the golden tracks laid a path into the air, the strange vehicle they rode cutting through as easily as Freyr's magic boat. The Dream Eaters that hadn't managed to grab a seat began to circle the vehicle—the aquatic ones swimming through the air, which was less shocking than it should have been. Once more, Kratos was struck at the notion that Sora had a rather impressive, if unorthodox, army at his beck and call.
"What is this thing?!" Atreus shouted.
"The technique, or the thing itself?" Sora called back.
"What's less complicated?"
Sora laughed. "What we're raiding is a train, a steam train, specifically. Trains are—"
"We have trains too," Mimir cut him off. "But you'll only find them in Svartalfheim, and they use water, not steam." He grunted. "Though, I suppose steam is just water in a gaseous state, so wouldn't it also be—"
"Not now!" Kratos bellowed. 'How are we to attack with this? Do you mean to ram it?"
"Nah." Sora shook his head. "See that chimney? When I pour magic into it, it releases magic explosions like, well, do you know what fireworks are?" Kratos did, but for Atreus and Mimir's sake, he shook his head. "Well, you'll find out. Anyway, it's pretty powerful with my magic alone, but since you guys can also use Flowmotion…" he trailed off teasingly.
"How can we help?"
"This entire thing is basically one giant weapon," Sora replied. "Just grab the railing and pour some magic into it. Watch!" Sora grabbed his cart's railing with on hand, and the train, which had been circling the Nightmare copy of Mimir from a safe distance, gently curved towards it.
The monster roared and raised an arm to strike them. But then, Sora's cart glowed a bit brighter than before, and sparkling, crackling lights burst out from the chimney. Most of the light vanished soon after, but a few larger, brighter lights rocketed for the monster's fists. They exploded with ear-ringing pops and even grander sparks of light, and the monster roared in pain. It reared back it's bloodied fist, which, like with the Link Attacks, did not instantly heal itself.
"Pretty," Atreus remarked, before placing his hands on his carts handle and it too, like Sora's had, glowed bright. As before, the chimney sparked, and shot out a few fireworks that exploded against the monster—it's chest this time—and left bloody, burning wounds. Kratos too, placed a hand on the cart, and successfully activated the train's magic, his own fireworks blasting the back of the monster's neck.
"Alright, you got it!" Sora cheered. The surrounding Dream Eaters all roared and chirped in triumph.
They circled the monster multiple times, each of them taking turns to blast it with magical fireworks. It roared in defiance with every blow but grew weaker and weaker the more they blasted it apart. Eventually, it was little more than a panting, wheezing corpse held together by rage and spite.
"One last shot!" Sora declared, as the train wove through the air, looping twice in the air before beginning a rapid descent towards the monster.
"Brother!" Mimir called out. "Put me on the railing! I can use Flowmotion too, somewhat. Let me help put an end to the Lyngbakr's suffering!" Kratos nodded, and unhooked Mimir before placing him on the handle.
The entire train came alight as the chimney churned out more and more smoke. It travelled faster and faster. The monster—limp and livid—let loose one final roar in defiance as it raised its head to meet them. But the train pitched and curved down and away from the monster. All the while, fireworks burst forth from the chimney, the resulting explosions deafening and blinding as they rocked the monster from head-to-toe.
The train came to a stop over one of the platforms in the bay and vanished under their feet seconds later. At the same time, the smoke and lights from the fireworks had cleared out, and all that was left of the Nightmare copy of Mimir was a fading, oily puddle in the bay.
"…Did we do it?" Atreus asked, just as the ground began to shake. The platform—all of them—were breaking apart into splinters.
"Get to an island!" Sora shouted as he leapt into the air and flew away. He didn't just leave Kratos and Atreus to fend for them themselves, however. He shot ice magic into the bay, creating platforms that they used to leap over to the nearest island.
They landed on the island just as the last of the platforms sank into the bay, their personal Dream Eaters arriving in a puff of smoke, and the rest either flying or swimming up to them. Then, calm.
"…What now?" Mimir asked after a long moment of silence. As if waiting for him to speak, they were immediately beset by a giant flash of golden light. When the light vanished, they were no longer in the bay in Svartalfheim. Instead, they were standing upon the glass image of the Lyngbakr they originally dove into. But it had changed. Instead of depicting the Lyngbakr in chains, sinking into the abyss, it was instead floating peacefully on the surface of the water, the sun shining down upon its scarred body.
Ahead of them, a swirling, golden portal appeared at the edge of the glass platform.
Sora grunted, lips spreading into a soft smile. "Now, we leave."
"What?"
"We're done. The Lyngbakr's free of its Nightmares. We can go home."
Mimir spluttered. "But where is it?"
"Resting, somewhere." Sora flicked his gaze down to the image below. "Enjoying its first peaceful rest in…who knows how long." Mimir had nothing more to say after that.
With a great sigh, Sora turned on his heel to address the herd of Dream Eaters. "Well…I guess this is goodbye again." The drop in the Dream Eaters' moods was palpable; Kratos could almost taste it. "Aw, don't be like that!" Sora pressed a hand against his chest. "We'll see each other again, I know it!" Sora brave front was obvious, but it did lift the Dream Eaters' spirits, and they all swarmed the young man as eagerly as they had when they first arrived—Meow Wow, claiming the first hug goodbye.
Kratos blinked as something wet pressed against his hand. He looked down to see Keeba Tiger remove its snout from his palm. He nodded at the creature. "Thank you," he said, "for all your help." The Dream Eater nodded back, and after one last lick to Kratos's hand, bound over to join its brethren.
He looked to his side and saw Atreus crouching down to hug KO Kabuto, whispering his own thanks to the Dream Eater. Peepsta Hoo landed behind Kratos to stare at Mimir. It rubbed its head against Mimir. "Aw, enough of that," his friend said with a chuckle. "You'll make me tear up." It backed away with a coo, and it and KO Kabuto, like Keeba Tiger, went to say their goodbyes to Sora. "And thanks again for looking out for Atreus!" Atreus looked over with a questioning grunt. "Ah, it's just, I clearly wasn't going to actually work with the thing, so after we picked each other out I asked it to stick with you."
"I was wondering about that," Atreus said beneath his breath. He turned around. "Thanks, Peepsta Hoo!" he called out. The owl-like Dream Eater chirped in reply, before returning to nuzzling Sora.
Kratos was unsure how long they stood there, waiting for Sora and the Dream Eaters to finish. In his youth—a few years ago, even—he would no doubt have grown aggravated at the spectacle. But he recognized how important this one link to his old life was to Sora, and how it may be a long time before he finds another. Still, it did, eventually, come to an end.
Sora held back tears as he stepped away from the Dream Eaters. As one, they all lifted into the air, a beam of light carrying them to the heavens. "Goodbye!" he called out to them with a wide smile. "And if you see them, tell everyone back home that I'm okay!" The Dream Eaters all exclaimed one final farewell, the light grew so bright it was blinding, and then, they vanished.
Sora's expression fell the second the Dream Eaters were gone. Atreus stepped up beside him after a moment and placed a hand on his shoulder. "We can wait, if you need it."
Sora sighed and reached into his furs. He pulled out the Dream Eater's Heartbinder. Slowly, a small, true smile formed on his lips. "Nah, I'm good." He put the charm back in his pocket. "Let's get out of here."
/+/+/+/+/
A/N: Once again, big thanks to FFN user alpha13a for given me the basic idea for this arc.