Kratos watched as the lowered sun had cast a warm orange glow on the valley, a sight he hadn't seen in three years. Fimbulwinter blanketed Midgard in a cold blue on the brightest of days, a dark black in its darkest. Here, there was no sign of it, not even if the mortal city. He wondered if he was even in midgard anymore. Questions like these floated in Kratos' mind, but with no answers to them he simply kept them to himself.
"Dinner will be ready soon, will you be joining us?" The voice of the Chiron asked from behind Kratos.
Turning away from the lake, Kratos nodded at the centaur and followed. The dining hall was starting to fill up already, children made their way into the pavilion and towards tables designated by their godly lineage. He spotted very quickly the Ares table for one reason only, the large daughter of Ares he had seen earlier had planted herself in the chair closest to him. He occasionally spotted glances she would make his way. Kratos wondered why she did this, but let it go for now.
As more and more children sat at their tables, he spotted a notable few. The sons of Zeus and Poseidon sat alone at their own tables, did they not have siblings? He knew personally that Zeus sired many children, to simply see only one made Kratos wonder. Besides them, he noticed a red headed girl sit at his table with Chiron and Dionysus. Why her? Again, he was left with no answers and did not want to draw attention to it.
As the campers finally settled in, Chiron stood up and addressed the children, listing off several noteworthy updates that Kratos did not care for. His eyes busied themselves looking for Atreus, but he was unsuccessful.
"In other news, we have a guest tonight. Campers, this is Kratos, a minor god that will be staying with us for a while. Please, show him our best hospitality." The children looked at Kratos with mild excitement. He wondered what they would think if they knew Hestia was here. The goddess of the hearth had left some time before dinner to avoid any undue attention and would come back in a few days to check in on him.
"As a reminder, Capture the Flag is tomorrow," A loud cheer rose from the Ares cabin, "Ms Dare is hosting a seminar on the latest mortal trends for campers," The redheaded child waved and a cheer from the Aphrodite cabin rung out, "And Dionysus is hosting a beach volleyball tournament next week. Isn't that so Dionysus?" A grumble from the fat god was the only thing that came out of his mouth.
"With that, please dig in." Plates were set down in front of everyone, and when a plate was set down in front of Kratos he couldn't help but look at it in confusion.
"Something wrong?" Chiron asked as he lowered himself into his wheelchair to better level himself to the table.
"What is this?" Kratos asked.
"That is spaghetti with meatballs." Kratos looked at the 'spaghetti' again, it looked like worms coated in blood and meat. "It is an Italian dish."
Kratos looked back down at the spaghetti and took a bite. It wasn't that bad.
"Mind putting me on the table, brother?" Kratos reached down and pulled Mimir up to the table. "Have you spotted the boy yet?" Mimir asked.
"Not yet." Kratos scanned the tables again, Atreus was not here.
Dinner continued, and Kratos ate in silence. The children pour some of their food into brazier in offering to the gods, he wondered if he should do the same, before quickly rejecting that idea. As he finished, his plate was taken and he stood up with Mimir. As dinner ended many of the campers made their way to the cabins and the fireplace in the middle of it all.
The campers who didn't go to bed sat near the fire, some retold tales of heroics, some of horror, and sometimes burst into song. Kratos watched from afar, looking at each face for any sign of Atreus. Still no luck.
"Not finding any success, are you?" Kratos turned around to find Chiron had gotten out of his chair.
"No." Kratos replied, turning back to the children and going over every face again. He would do it a dozen more times if needed, but he was quickly learning that he didn't need to. Atreus was not here.
"It is time for children to be claimed, watch." Kratos was about to ask what he meant when cheers came from the children.
One girl, a little younger than Atreus was embraced by some of the Ares children, above her head was one of his symbols, a depiction of a bull.
"The gods claim their children?" It wasn't uncommon to see during his time, but he certainly didn't remember the gods systemically announcing their children. He was such an example.
"They made a promise on the Styx." Kratos whipped back to Chiron, a promise made on the Styx was to be taken seriously. Noticing Kratos' reaction, Chiron continued. "Perhaps, being so secluded from the larger pantheon, you may not have heard of it?"
"Yes, I did not."
"It was almost two years ago now, after defeating Kronos and stopping the Titanomachy, a pupil of mine made the Olympians swear to claim their children. We had an issue for a long time about them not doing so, and that led to many fighting against Olympus." Chiron explained in greater detail how a young man by the name of Luke rallied other children of the gods against Olympus and became a host for the Titan Kronos. The story felt almost like his own.
"I see, and this demigod that made the gods vow?"
"Ah, that would be him, Percy Jackson." Chiron pointed to the son of Poseidon, who currently had a worried face on him. What for, Kratos did not know. The son of Poseidon locked eyes for a moment before standing up and walking away from the campfire.
"He seems very accomplished for someone his age." Mimir noted, to his side Chiron couldn't help but chuckle.
"He sure is. I've watched him grow into the fine man he is today, I couldn't be prouder." The conversation died down and the two settled into silence as they watched the children.
Kratos couldn't help but think of what Atreus would be like here. Would he enjoy it, mingling with children his age? It was not lost on him that Atreus lacked that experience. He grew up secluded from the rest of Midgard with only him and Faye for company. It was only with the death of Faye that Atreus had started to find companionship in others.
His thoughts were interrupted when Chiron spoke up again, "Will you be staying with us tonight? If so, we have a spare room in the Big House." Kratos nodded, he would be fine simply to sleep beside a tree but wouldn't mind a bed.
The two left for the Big House, but claiming some last minute paperwork, Chiron excused himself to his office leaving Kratos alone. Kratos took stock of his situation, he needed to think of what to do next. Atreus was not here, and with no leads for where to look he was left with no options. Which meant he must go out and search for him, alone if need be.
"You're thinking again, aren't you?" Mimir asked as the two entered the Big House.
"I am."
"Care to share?" Mimir prodded.
"...Atreus is not here, so we must look for him ourselves. Can we afford to stay here any longer?"
Mimir was silent for a moment, contemplating, "We are strangers in a strange land, we cannot hope to go out and search for him when we cannot help ourselves."
"We must, if it is to protect Atreus then there is no other choice before us." Every bone in Kratos' body urged him to go out and look for his son. It was better than sitting here.
Mimir sighed, "I understand how you feel brother, I honestly do, but we cannot hopefully find him without any idea where to look. Do you want my opinion?" Kratos grunted, "I say, we stay here and make ourselves known. The lad is smart, he's surely looking for us now as we speak. If we give him a place to find us, he will surely come to us."
"This land is not safe, you've seen that." The harpies were not an issue for him, but for Atreus? The boy was skilled but even Kratos worried.
"You've trained him well these last few years, he can get by. If anything, I trust him more to find us than I do about us finding him." Mimir wasn't wrong, he had been training Atreus these last few years to survive on his own. This was just the culmination of that training. But…
"I still have my doubts." Kratos said.
"The lad is smart and resourceful, you've seen to it yourself. To be honest, it's Freya that I worry about more."
"Do you think she means to harm the boy?"
"Only as a means to find you. I don't think she is going to leave us alone even now." Kratos agreed, Freya was still hellbent in her quest for revenge.
"We will be ready for her, as we always have."
"Let's sleep on it, tomorrow if you still feel like we must look for him, we will." Kratos nodded, making his way to his room for the night.
Finally, the two turned in, but worry plagued Kratos and made him restless. It surely didn't help that the bedding was too soft for him, he felt like he was sinking more and more every second. It took some time, but sleep finally came.
That night, his dreams took him back to his earlier years in Midgard. Those were lonely times, he didn't know what to do with himself. Back then, he only lived because he wasn't allowed to die, no challenge he faced could ever defeat him, despite how much he wished for it. That changed when he stumbled upon Faye, at first it was less than amicable, two warriors finding themselves hunting the same prey tends to lead to conflict. But Faye was unlike any other, the fight led to a standstill with neither side having gotten an inch. Kratos was prepared to continue the fight when Faye started laughing.
"We were so busy fighting, we let the game run away." She said to him in between her fits of laughter.
The situation seemed so foreign, so alien, to Kratos that he couldn't help but chuckle along with Faye. When was the last time he felt such amusement like that? He couldn't remember at the time. So the two stopped fighting and talked, Kratos was tight lipped about his own journey but Faye spoke freely. She told him of her time exploring the nine realms, fighting dangerous beasts, and encountering the strangest of creatures. He didn't know when it happened, but he started to admire the warrior in front of him.
They decided to help each other hunt for their food, and after that a steady friendship formed. That quickly turned to romance, and in time, it turned into new life. They argued over what to name the child, Loki or Atreus, but Kratos had won on that front. One night, in bed, Faye looked at him with a look that told him she was being serious. It was one she seldom used.
"Kratos, promise me something." She said quietly to not disturb the sleeping Atreus.
"Yes?" He asked.
"There will come a time that I am not around, but you and Atreus are, when I am too old or too weak to continue on. Promise me, be a beacon for our son." Faye took one of her hands and placed it on Kratos' cheek, giving him a soft smile.
The dream slowly faded away, leaving Kratos in a black void. Ahead of him, the young cries of Atreus could be heard.
"Father?!" Kratos tried to speak, but was interrupted, "I'm coming Father!" What came into view was not the young boy that went on a journey to scatter his mothers ashes, but a young man growing into himself.
It was a few weeks ago, Draugrs had ambushed Kratos unexpectedly on a hunt for food. In came running Atreus, bow in hand and arrow notched. It was at that moment Kratos realized it, his son was growing. The two fought off the wave of Draugrs handedly, and Kratos could not feel any more prideful of the person his son was becoming.
Kratos awoke, the chirping of birds outside the window and the beam of light coming from behind the curtains confirming it.
"Ah, good morning brother." On the drawer was Mimir, waiting for him.
"I have made up my mind." Kratos said as he stood up and retrieved his equipment.
"Oh? What is it?" Mimir asked.
Hooking his Leviathan axe to his back, Kratos turned towards Mimir, "We shall be a beacon for him," Kratos grabbed Mimir and left, if he would be Atreus' guiding light he would need to make it as bright as possible.
This one is coming in late because I didn't know how to end it off, apologies for that. Regarding last chapter, your reviews tell me that I didn't convey the tongue and cheekiness of the scene well enough so expect a rewrite of early chapters some time in the future. I've been meaning to go back and fix errors anyway so this is a good time to mention that. To anyone pointing out mistakes, thank you and know that I will correct them soon. As always, thank you for reading.