Don't have much to say for this chapter, so enjoy and see y'all next week for patch notes.
Camp Half-Blood
Kratos sat outside of the Big House, the morning sun rose to cast a golden glow across the valley. Its rays hit him with its gentle warmth, one that was sorely missed back in Midgard. Kratos let out a barely perceptible hum, content with this small moment of time.
"You seem to be in a fine mood," Mimir said from his place on the table, "I imagine it has to do with the information we got yesterday, no?"
Kratos nodded, "We have been given a boon by the son of Poseidon, we must not waste it."
Last night, just after dinner, Mimir had volunteered once again to be the go-between for Kratos and Hermes, seeing as the former was rusty when asking for help - Mimir's own words. Kratos agreed, so when they stopped in front of the Big House, they started drawing up a plan. At least Mimir did, Kratos was just telling him how to best handle Hermes.
"He likes to speak a lot," Kratos said, remembering his time in Olympus. The Messenger of the Gods always liked to bother Kratos, Hermes always saw him as a bear to be poked at and provoked. Kratos did not do him the kindness of responding to his jabs, not until the day Kratos killed him.
"Any likes or hobbies?" Mimir was only met with a blank stare. "Just wondering brother, a bit of shared interests can go a long way."
Kratos sighed, "None that will help us." In truth, Kratos simply did not know. He never bothered learning their likes or interests anyway.
"I suspect you're not going to be of much help in this, are you brother?" Mimir was only met with a scoff. "Very well, let me handle things then. Just try and not do anything to get on his bad side when we go speak to him, it shouldn't be that hard right?"
Kratos knew to keep his temper in check, he was not as anger-prone as his younger-self was. And Hermes, much like the rest of the gods, seemingly had no memory or knowledge of him. At least, they didn't show any when he went to Olympus. As much as approaching the messenger of the gods filled Kratos with annoyance, he would do so.
"He is an irritant, but he is likely our best option."
Behind them, a cough, Kratos turned around to see the Son of Poseidon standing there. "We need to talk." The young man said.
Everything about the way Jackson stood told Kratos it was serious, his eyes were hardened. Kratos nodded, "Speak."
"You're looking for someone, right?"
"I am."
Jackson kept his eyes on Kratos, "A boy, brown hair, blue eyes, about twelve years old. Your son?"
Kratos did not immediately respond, his description of his son was startlingly accurate, he had to be careful. He didn't fully trust the son of Poseidon. "Where did you get this information?"
"My girlfriend said she ran into a boy, looking for his father with the same name as you. His name was Atreus."
Kratos stepped forward, "Where is he?" He would not be denied the location of his son.
Mimir coughed, "I think what my friend here meant to say is, would you kindly let us know where the lad is? We've been worried sick!"
Jackson shook his head, "Last I heard they were on the other side of the country, but something happened, now I don't know where they are. And I can't find them either, any time I try an Iris Message I get nothing."
"You have no idea where they might be?" Mimir asked.
Jackson shook his head, "They could be anywhere,"
Kratos frowned, what he hoped would be a concrete destination blew up before him, they were more or less back to square one. "Your information was…helpful." It wasn't really.
"Well, at least we know he has company, do you know where they were headed, lad?" Mimir asked.
"They were coming to camp, they probably still are."
"Well brother, looks like our journey won't be as complicated as we thought it would be. We just have to sit here and wait."
Kratos hummed, he could sit and wait…but. "No, we will continue on. We meet with Hermes to try and find Atreus, the faster the better."
"I was hoping you'd say that." Percy walked up to Kratos' side, "I'm coming with you."
"Not that we don't appreciate the help, but why?" Mimir asked.
"I just wanna make sure my girlfriend is safe, that's all." Kratos found it an acceptable reason.
"Well, I can't argue with that." Mimir turned to Kratos, well as much as he could as he was a head. "What about you brother, no issues with the lad tagging along?"
Kratos thought for a moment, Jackson was a formidable warrior and had ample enough reason to go. He could not deny a man like him to not go after someone he loved.
Kratos nodded, "Very well, we leave at the crack of dawn. If you are not there we will leave without you."
Percy chuckled, "Don't worry about me, I'll be there, bright and early."
Percy Jackson was in fact, not there bright and early.
There sat Kratos with Mimir, looking out over the valley early in the morning as the sun rose without Percy Jackson.
"Perhaps he overslept?" Mimir tried to make an excuse for him, Kratos would have responded if he didn't hear the pitter-patter of running feet on the dew-coated grass.
Sure enough, there was Jackson, hair slightly unkempt, shirt askew, just generally in a state of disarray. He ran up to the steps of the Big House before stopping to take a breath.
"S-sorry!" He huffed, "My alarm clock didn't work this morning, but I'm here!"
Kratos nodded as he stood up from his chair and walked down the steps, "If you are ready, let us go."
"Yeah I'm good, got my supplies in here." Jackson patted the bag strapped to his back, "Let's go."
With Jackson in tow, they made their way to the camp's exit.
Up ahead, lying at the base of Thalia's tree, was Peleus, The dragon lay there content, but not alone. Standing beside the dragon was a little girl, Hestia. She waited for them patiently to meet her. And when they did, she greeted them with a warm smile.
"Good morning, Kratos, Percy Jackson." She nodded at both of them, "And you too Mimir." She spoke to the head hanging from Kratos' belt.
"Why, good morning your highness, we didn't expect to see you here." Mimir greeted.
Kratos certainly didn't expect to see her here so soon, "Why are you here?"
Hestia rubbed the dragon's head once more, gaining another sigh from it, "I wanted to warn you."
"Warn us?" Percy asked.
Hestia nodded, "I have been busy since I left you here, looking into the disappearance of your son. I'm sure Percy has already told you of the incident in California?"
"Yes, how do you know this?"
"I have followers in Camp Jupiter, the Roman camp across the country. They housed your son for a day before letting him go. Where, upon his leaving, he was ambushed by magic outside of this realm."
It was certainly cause for concern, but Kratos knew Atreus could handle himself in a fight, he had trained him for that.
"What kinda magic do you mean?" Percy asked.
"Magic of the Nords, specifically from the Vanir gods."
"Seidr." Kratos said.
"You know of them?" Hestia asked.
"Yes, we would occasionally have to fight them." Seidr had a nasty habit of popping up at inopportune times back when Kratos and Atreus journeyed to scattered Faye's ashes.
"I'm guessing this isn't some freak accident?" Percy asked.
Hestia shook her head, "I sensed an outside force, guiding the Seidr movement to your son. Something else other than Vanir magic."
"Whatever it is, I will deal with it." If there was a third party going after Atreus, they would not live long to make the same mistake again.
Hestia gave a small smirk, "Perhaps you should deal with the tag-along first."
Kratos raised his brow before hearing a quiet swear. Behind them, the bristling of bushes revealed the daughter of Ares.
"Clarisse?" Percy looked at the girl with astonishment, "I didn't know you could sneak around."
The jab hit its mark and the daughter of Ares, Clarisse, sneered, "Shut it Jackson." Clarisse turned to Hestia and bowed, when she turned to Kratos she only gave a small nod. As if she didn't respect him as much as the Olympian.
"Why did you follow us?" Kratos asked.
"How did you follow us?" Percy doubled down.
Clarisse growled, "I have weapons maintenance today, moron, that means I gotta wake up early to keep the weapons clean. After I got done, I saw you two heading out of camp…so I followed." The young woman crossed her arms, obviously not happy to have been caught.
"That still doesn't explain why, lassie." Mimir followed up.
Clarisse scoffed, her response was quiet, so much that Kratos couldn't hear her.
"You're not doing this, really?" Percy sarcastically asked, it was like getting a confession out of a child.
"Ugh, fine, because of you." Clarisse pointed to Kratos, who only looked at her in confusion.
"Every time I see you, it's like looking at my father. You got that same energy, but a little different."
Kratos frowned, of course she would feel like that, he was the god of war. Just like Ares was before him. That didn't make him happy though. Any similarity that can be made between himself and Ares was one that Kratos would heavily scrutinize, he never wanted to be that kind of man again.
"If you come, you follow my commands. Both of you." Kratos turns to Percy, who was certainly not expecting it.
"Yes sir." Clarisse understood quickly, perhaps the show of authority was enough for her.
"You're the god." Percy nodded.
"Be careful out there," Hestia warned, "Undoubtedly monsters will catch your scent and come hunting."
"I'm sure with Kratos on our side we don't need to worry. Right?" Percy asked.
"Pride cometh before the fall, lad." Mimir quoted.
Kratos turned to Hestia, "Thank you for the information, we must be off."
"Of course." Hestia nodded, before going back to Peleus, who by now was begging for more pets.
Kratos started walking, and the two demi-gods settled in behind him.
Percy was the first to talk, "So, we gonna do some godly magic to get there? Teleport over there?"
"We walk." Kratos continued walking.
And so they walked, and walked, and walked. It was a few hours of silent walking going from camp to New York city proper with only brief stretches of small talk in between. To say Percy wasn't a bit disappointed in the lack of godly powers was an understatement. Clarisse on her part didn't give any form of disappointment, in fact she was a model at taking directions. Perhaps it was the war gods blood in her that made her like this, a good soldier. Kratos stopped that line of thinking there, he was no longer a general. And he'd keep it that way for as long as he possibly could.
By the time they reached the city, it was already noon. The mild summer heat caused some sweat to form on the two demi-gods.
"Anyone thirsty?" Percy asked as he pulled out a flask and drank from it.
Clarisse stuck out her hand, not voicing any want but clearly as parched as Percy was. Percy handed her the flask and she took a swig before handing it back.
"Hermes distribution center shouldn't be far now," Mimir noted, "Just another hour of walking and we should be there. Not that hard."
"Says the guy with no legs…or body." Percy pointed out.
"I'd have you know that keeping watch over your rears is tough work. That, and the frequent jostling and occasional falling face-first into the ground is not much better." Mimir's woes were not lost on Kratos, but they were the risks that he agreed to whenever traveling with Kratos.
"On second thought, that doesn't sound much better." Percy relented.
Kratos let the banter between them die down before continuing. The rest of the walk was shorter than getting to New York, just another hour of walking. Like a few days ago, the city was full of people going in all directions. He got some strange stares but nothing much else.
"I wonder how they see you." Percy absentmindedly asked.
As Kratos knew it, the mist was made to hide reality as is to mortals and show them something they can conceive. To Kratos, nothing about him was inconceivable, but perhaps times changed that without his input.
"Um, that doesn't look good, does it?" Percy pointed up, Kratos followed it to a big plume of dark black smoke in the distance. Where Hermes distribution center just so happened to be.
"Ready yourselves." Kratos commanded, before taking out the Leviathan axe.
Percy pulled out his sword, Clarisse pulled out a transforming javelin that gave off an electric jolt from its tip-end.
"That's not Maimer." Percy noted.
Clarisse nodded, "This is Mangler, had the Hephaestus cabin built it." On the side, a small rond expanded to the size of a shield, similar to Kratos' own shield.
"Cool." He said.
"Focus, we go in, and find Hermes. Any who oppose us we consider enemies. Am I understood?" A rhetorical question from Kratos, but one the two demi-gods seemed to get. Battle-ready, the trio marched. As they approached, they could finally understand the damage.
The gate leading to the distribution center was busted wide open, and the courtyard was a mess. Just as Hestia told him, Seidr littered the area, various spirits, other demi-gods, and creatures battled the Seidr wherever they stood. But they were ill-equipped to handle them.
"On your word." Clarisse said, shield and Javelin in hand.
Kratos nodded, "Charge!"