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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

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Chapter 6: A New Path

P.S. I now have a discord server! Discord .gg/ceBMM2Zz6c


Dragonspire was not a place for 'rookie adventurers', but Lumine was quite sure this wasn't going to be a problem.

Not when Kratos was the one spearheading the expedition. And now when his drive was just as intense as she had predicted it would be over his interest tied to the 'Cryo' Ax he carried around. He had other weapons, this much the blonde had seen already, but she could tell it was his favorite. And her brother had done something to take it and ditch it into that chilling hell she was venturing.

Paimon kept close, the floating girl shuddering as her petite frame could hardly generate enough warmth to keep up with the freezing temperatures of the Dragonspire. The good thing was that the weather was equally spread all over, with none of those temperatures intensifying as they progressed beyond the last checkpoint the guild had set up at the feet of the mountain and into the path leading up to its top.

A few hilichurls had seemingly adapted, some employ shields made of pure ice which made normal attacks from her sword fail to pass through. Her Anemo skills were still enough for Lumine to handle her share of the foes, while Kratos was...

He was rampaging.

It was different than the usual balanced style she had seen the bald man employ. Gone was the methodical attacks as a more mindless approach was followed through the vehemency of the fiery blades he was employing.

Out of all those weapons he used, these 'Blades' Kratos used made Lumine squirmish. She could just sense it that something about the item was wrong - the pure wrath and urge to 'destroy' made it clear she was best to keep away from his closest vicinity.

The brutality he was subjecting all sorts of monsters on the path further reinforced the feeling, while Paimon appeared confused by something else.

"Do you think Kratos is angrier than he should be?"

"He lost his weapon," Lumine argued as if it was a 'matter-of-fact' situation. Of course he would be angry for losing that ax, but Paimon didn't seem content with the rebuttal.

"P-Paimon means that there is more to it. He is clearly furious about it, but it feels like your brother hurt someone close to him."

This time the blonde merely frowned while she turned to Kratos' quiet but fast pace. He was not looking around, checking any corners as usual - he was outright marching towards their objective. It felt like it was imperative for him to get the ax back at once rather than focus on what was around them.

It was strange to consider how Paimon may have spotted a core detail behind Kratos' seemingly 'normal' attitude. And it became even more apparent there was more to it when she asked.

"Kratos?"

"Hm?" He grunted back, not even stopping to look at her for a moment as they kept on moving quickly through the chilling domain, pausing just briefly to activate heating obelisk to keep away the effects of Dragonspire's weather.

"Is the ax... that important to you?"

"It is."

"Why?"

"It was a gift. From someone that is no longer around," He replied flatly, more withdrawn than usual.

Lumine nodded, refraining from asking more as she remembered the flower she wore on her hair- the Inteyvat, the national flower of Khaenri'ah. A promise to go home... unresolved.

But where Lumine was willing to keep quiet out of respect, Paimon felt enabled to add her own bit to the conversation.

"Who was it?"

"Someone I wish not to speak of."

"Oh. Well... sorry?"

"It's fine," Kratos allowed. "The only thing you two need to know is that the ax is important and I need to find it again."

There was no complaint from either as they continued to march through the calm blizzard. But as they delved deeper, Lumine couldn't help but distract herself at the sight of ruins and ditched camps along the path. The ruins were indeed old from the way they were deteriorated, but some of the camps they were finding seemed recent.

Her mind wandered back at hearing the only child living within the Adventurer's Guild settlement in front of Dragonspire's entrance mentioning his father being missing. Could it be proof he was around somewhere?

The chances of surviving the unbearable conditions for long, especially for a normal civilian, felt abysmal to even consider. But, since fires had been set in those camps, it was fair to assume the man had taken precautions, just not enough to linger for long as he had to frequently relocate.

As they were still moving through the path, Lumine almost tripped on herself when she noticed something unusual resting on the side of the road.

"K-Kratos!" Her voice came out all at once, causing the bald mini-giant to pause while the blonde rushed to check on what appeared to be a body. "He is- he is alive but-"

Part of her thought Kratos would just tell her to let it be, to disregard the unconscious man but-

Kratos just marched towards her, crouched and helped her remove the snow that had settled on the man's body. The brown-haired fellow looked to be actually awake, but barely moving- it was as if he was lethargic. He was also quite pale, which meant he had been in the cold for a while now but... they couldn't just make it back now.

Biting her lower lip, Lumine pondered on any immediate solution- maybe they could find a heat source like a obelisk or a Pyro Seelie that could aid the man until he was better but it was clear that this wouldn't be enough.

Once again, Kratos decided to surprise her with a grunt.

"You can get him back down to camp. I can continue this journey on my own."

"I-I can do this. Don't worry about us."

For some odd reasons, the look Kratos gave her was haunting as it was filled with so much concern that Lumine felt unsure for once about her abilities. But instead of refusal, the bald man nodded.

"Fine. But don't rush into danger."

"We will not!" Paimon promised, and Lumine smiled at the odd interaction that had just unfolded.

Right as she left with Paimon and the unconscious man, her mind felt wrecked by a strange feeling of warmth that made her glad that she could trust someone like Kratos. Sure, she had wanted to see what was up with the ax, but the girl realized It wasn't something too intense, as if it was love- no, it was something contained and yet so refreshing.

Like family but... different than her brother.

So familiar and yet so unusual. In the end, Lumine decided to 'like' the feeling for now.


A small development, nothing more.

To Kratos, to not have either the girl and the brat around was nothing. They would have been helpful, but he wasn't quite sure opening to them about Leviathan's past was a good idea just yet. There was a lot he had yet to accept of this world.

It wasn't the same as the one he parted ways with and he was sure now that it wasn't just a different pantheon. This world- it was completely new. It was similar to the one he parted ways with, but it was also filled with its own share of troubles.

And he was now stuck with it. Him, Freya and Mimir.

He had resolved to find them, but Teyvat was deemed to be far bigger in scope than Greece. It wasn't as large as a landmass, but it was clearly more 'complicated' than any experience he had to face.

But none of that truly mattered in regard to the Girl.

She was an external entity like himself, someone that wouldn't have bothered to interact with major elements until after she was stripped of her brother. She had a right to involve herself, to be active, and to 'fix things' if those helped her in her goal, but Kratos felt quite unsure he could use that same purpose.

Freya and Mimir were scattered away due to Athena's meddling. And while part of him suspected she was around, he was confident the former deity of wisdom would avoid being within the same realm as he was. He had frightened her back when he used the Blade of Olympus to release Hope.

He had proved her that he could still feel the pain of others beyond himself. A selfless act in a sea of selfishness. The pain of the past, despite having been seemingly washed away by the actions he committed to in the Norse realm, were still there to haunt him.

Each step towards Leviathan felt like a memory he was trying to push back, a recollection that kept on appearing to his thoughts- it reminded him that it didn't change what he had done in Greece and what his actions led to.

It didn't take too long for him to finally reach the maximum height of Dragonspire, but he felt a wave of hatred surround him as he reached the top. A barrier of sort, soft but also oppressing. In the middle of the pitch-black platform floated Leviathan and, slightly above it, a large dark nail that was pouring a dark substance over it.

Marching to retrieve it, Kratos was about to claim it back but... he forced himself to stop. His eyes wide and aimed at the weapon as he saw a figure manifest from the substance that had poured over it. He readied Draupnir, ready to impale this new foe.

That's when he hesitated.

The shape took a more detailed form, revealing a familiar face wielding a mighty-looking norse armor. One fitting for a Great Giant. The woman stepped aside, grasping Leviathan and then giving it a tentative swing before narrowing her gaze at him.

Unease limited Kratos for a moment, but he found the strength to speak.

"Faye."

She didn't smile. She just stared at him. Gone was his wife's kind expressions, now a cold anger manifested from the silent manifestation. In a moment's notice, the darkened figure jumped and then slammed Leviathan against the ground.

Kratos jumped, the cold blast almost catching him even mid-air, but his reaction time allowing him just the right timing to avoid getting frozen by the attack. Faye didn't stop at that, however, as the ax came swinging rapidly as she hurled it at Kratos.

Almost expecting to turn the tides by merely reclaiming the weapon mid-battle, Kratos tried to take hold of it but-

"Gh!" He was forced to instantly let it go as pain erupted from his palm right as he grasped the wooden staff.

The strange dark substance felt like a burning liquid to his hand, one that his body quickly fought back, but that he could now tell was the cause of that 'corrupted Faye'.

Was this Abyssal Pollution?

While a tiny bit of his mind briefly thought of this, the rest was actively focusing on this battle now that he could tell it was truly unavoidable. The Blades of Chaos were soon used to outpace Faye as Draupnir was not flexible enough to handle the mighty hits from the corrupted Leviathan.

Despite her skills previously matching his rusty self, Kratos felt like he was far stronger than this version. Maybe it was not a true manifestation but a fragment of it. A small part of what once was Faye, twisted and corrupted to be a rabid and ferocious warrior trying to kill him.

Still, his advantage was not leading to a rapid development for this brawl. Kratos was struggling, but it wasn't a matter of physical duress. It was reluctance to go through with it.

While part of him wanted this to last longer, to try and reach out to this version- to be with her some more time, the brutality of the battle didn't allow this. He didn't grant him this mercy as eventually the woman came rushing at him, Leviathan slamming against his shield. Her strikes were relentless, wild and devoid of the same caution Faye had in her last years.

Kratos felt any remorse faltering as he remembered that he wasn't facing his wife. But a fake version of her. It made him angry again, and the Blades of Chaos reacted accordingly as they burned bright before urging him to stab her in return.

He did so after snapping out of his self-imposed chains, the blades burning soon into her abdomen, stunning the corrupted fragment and seemingly spreading the flame to the dark pillar. The pollution was burned away, leaving the large nail purified and suddenly letting out a powerful wave of energy that collapsed the platform and caused Kratos to react accordingly.

Jumping away while still carrying Faye with him, Kratos removed the blades once they both landed and he was soon mesmerized by the view he was most familiar with. Gone were the tools of war Faye had long shedded before meeting him, her usual clothes were on and her spent look from her late days impressed upon her gorgeous visage.

"I am... I am sorry."

"No," Kratos muttered quietly, carefully helping the woman to lie on the ground. "You don't need-"

He paused as her left hand cupped his cheek. "I am not her- not in the fullest," The fragment confessed. "But I feel like she used to. And I have seen your tale with our boy, Kratos. You weren't perfect, but you were amazing."

"He is... independent now."

"And all thanks to the family he made thanks to you. Our baby boy will be fine but... you. You need to do one last thing to make it through."

"...That being?"

"You need to... to accept it. The past happened. You were there. What you did in Ragnarok didn't erase it. Not at all. But you? You are not that man. You are that and... more. And I am proud you grow up too."

He didn't understand. He couldn't understand yet, but he felt his wife's last advice was not one that was given lightly. He pressed his forehead against her, the woman closing her eyes and smiling as she finally faltered into nothingness through small sparks of soft blue light.

"Our boy is now on his own... so, what will you do now, love?"

And she was gone.

Kratos remained put for a while, contemplating what had happened. He wanted to understand all that was happening, but he only felt raw feeling persisting through that monumental step he took. And as he still mourned, his gaze was stolen by a strange light coming from Leviathan.

The Ax had new runes engraved on its blade. And as Kratos studied those, he realized that those were neither Norse or Greek in nature. The green glow subsided shortly after, but he felt a strange 'hold' around his body as he pulled himself up and grasped tightly at the weapon.

Like the ghost of an embrace, a perpetual whisper of care. It was like Faye was still there, telling him to go forward. He may be 'alone', but he wasn't going to waste away once more.

And he had a Girl and a Brat to keep an eye on with their difficult journey up ahead. He couldn't just forget about that either.


AN

This Kratos didn't get to stay for the Valhalla DLC. So you may see some aspects of that growth happen in this story through the plot. It's just not as direct or as centered around Kratos becoming the God of War again. Rather, he will have to be a proper God to lead to the right path.

And yes, Kratos just got Anemo powers with Leviathan.

P.S. Also, Happy New Year!