AN at bottom
Las Vegas
Atreus woke up in a haze, immediately his body could tell something was wrong. He couldn't tell what, but he knew something was off. First he curled his toes, that worked. Then flexed his fingers, no problems there. Lastly he tried to move, and that's when his brain started to catch up to his surroundings. His arms and legs didn't move, in fact they were bound together restricting his movement. Quickly his vision cleared, he was lying sideways on a metal bench, the room was empty except him and the bench he was put on, the only exit was a sturdy looking door.
Atreus tried to sit up but without his hands to push him up or his legs to use as a balance he was stuck in this position, and his returning senses started telling him just how uncomfortable he currently was.
"Hello!?" He shouted, but no response was made.
So Atreus waited, and waited some more. No one seemed eager to check in on him, which left him nothing to do but look around the squalid room. He hoped Annabeth was still hidden, if she was still free they still had a chance.
The sound of moving metal resonated from the doors entrance as it slid open, standing in the doorway was an older eff, his face was full of wrinkles, ears drooped down, and all that was left of his hair was patches of white puff. Beside him was Airbreeze, the guard captain from upstairs, with a mean looking scowl on her face.
"So, this is the intruder?" The old elf asked.
"Yes sir," Airbreeze said, "The other is still being tracked down as we speak." So they hadn't caught Annabeth yet, that's good to know.
The old elf walked to Atreus and looked at him intently, "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Lightweaver, the patron of the establishment you are currently breaking into. And you are?"
Atreus thought for a moment before being interrupted, "And please, no fake names. I do want to have this conversation honestly, don't you?" Lightweaver may have been old, but his steely gaze was something else.
"My name is Atreus." Lightweaver nodded.
"Welcome to the Bright Hollow Club, Atreus. Airbreeze, please remove Atreus' leg restraints. We are going for a walk." Airbreeze looked like she wanted to protest, but didn't voice anything. She took out a knife and cut the rope around Atreus' feet, as she walked away she gave him a hard glare.
"What about the cuffs?" Atreus asked as he brought up the steel surrounding his wrists.
Lightweaver gave a chuckle, "I may be old but I am not dumb, don't forget the situation you are in. Now come, let's walk." Lightweaver waited for him at the door.
Atreus followed him out of the room, "Where are we going?"
"Quiet." Airbreeze pushed him harshly as he exited the room.
Lightweaver started walking so Atreus followed, with Airbreeze right behind him there wasn't much room to run away. Atreus would have to follow for the time being.
"When I was younger, Alfheim was the pinnacle of culture among the nine realms. We had the most beautiful songs, the liveliest art, the most passionate plays, everything we did was unmatched. As a young boy, I loved my home, and I wanted it to stay that way." Atreus couldn't see his face, but his delicate voice spoke to him enough to tell that he truly did mean what he said.
"But as I got older, things started to change. Elves started venturing to other realms, bringing back whatever slop they thought was interesting. For a time, I dismissed it, the culture of Alfheim was secure. I was an old man then, content that whatever fad came along would die quickly. But then, you Midgardians came along." There was venom in his voice, a deep seated hatred.
"What are you talking about?" Atreus asked.
"What am I talking about? Here, let me show you." Lightweaver pointed to a nearby door, the runes above it said Alfheim.
The three of them walked up to the door, with a quick nod by Lightweaver, Airbreeze walked up and opened the door. With the door opened Atreus could see into Alfheim, but it was different. What he knew as a tropical forest, filled with so much life was instead replaced with something more akin to Midgard. If it wasn't for the pink sky and the elves he wouldn't have known this was Alfheim. From his view he could see elves that no longer looked like the kind he saw a few years ago, none of the beautiful structures, not even the magic was there
"Why is it so…different?" Atreus asked.
Lightweaver scoffed, "Years of Midgard influence has done that to these elves, they forget where we came from. They are too busy watching their funny videos, Alf Seidr is almost all but forgotten, we have thrown out our culture in favor of yours. We have lost touch with ourselves, when I voiced my opinion I was shunned. Eventually I left, seeing the direction my people went was not worth it. In the end, it was our people's vanity that changed us, more than anything Midgard had to offer."
"And that decision led you here?" Atreus asked.
Lightweaver nodded, "Precisely, with so much land at our disposal we were the first to set up shop. Many others followed, other pantheons sought out space for the growing influence that came with this land. But we held the power, first and foremost."
"Because you tapped into the power of the light of Alfheim."
Lightweaver turned to him, "The dwarves taught you well it seems."
Atreus looked at him confused, "How did you know it was the dwarves?" For all he knew, Atreus came by himself.
"It's simple," Airbreeze said, "The dwarves have been pining after control of Vegas for years now. Only they would have the gall to do something like this." She even pulled out a couple pictures, some even showed Garte in them. What surprised him the most was just how suspicious the dwarves looked in the pictures.
To Atreus, the dwarves struck an intimidating aura, holding the fate of Annabeth and himself over their heads. But these pictures put a dent into all that. They weren't hiding themselves very well among the crowds of people, sometimes blatantly showing themselves, making rude gestures, or even having arguments with people dressed like the staff. Likely they were asked to leave the surrounding area of the club.
"We knew one day they would make a move, but we always thought we'd have no issue with it. The dwarves are bumbling oafs; what did we have to fear? But then you came along." Lightweaver closed the portal to Alfheim and turned to him.
"More accurately, you two." Airbreeze said, "We know you had help, where are they?"
Atreus looked between Airbreeze and Lightweaver, both were expecting an answer out of him - one they probably wouldn't like. He could see Airbreeze reach for a knife strapped to his thigh, a sharp one at that. His odds of survival were plummeting, he had to find a way out and fast.
In times like these, Atreus looked back on his teachings, by his father, Mimir, Brok & Sindri. They all parted advice onto him, some that were legitimately helpful and others not so much. This time, he looked back onto a story Mimir once told him of a time when he got into trouble with a king. Mimir spared him the details "You're too young." Mimir said, but he did tell him how he got out of that situation. He bluffed. After being caught by the guards Mimir convinced the king he would stand trial, one he knew he would not be found innocent of, so he lulled his captors into a sense of security until their guard was left up. Mimir escaped unharmed and a free man.
"What's in it for me?" Atreus asked, leaning towards his captors.
It was subtle, but Lightweaver slightly smirked, he saw an in that he could take to try and influence Atreus. "Well, first off, you won't die." Airbreeze took her knife out and toyed with it, making sure he saw the sharp edge well enough.
Atreus held back from looking shaken and recomposed himself, "I wouldn't call that much, I don't really get anything."
"You get to keep your life." Airbreeze said as she once again twirled her knife. "That's more than enough for your kind."
Lightweaver calmly lowered Airbreeze's knife, "Now now, Captain, I suspect our guest here doesn't respond well to violence. How about a trade then? You give us the location of your partner, and we will give you something you want? Tit for tat."
Atreus looked at Lightweaver, he had no idea if the old elf was even willing to fulfill his hypothetical bargain, as of now this was his only shot. He would have to rely on Annabeth now.
"Let's make a deal then." He said, showing as little hesitation as he could.
Lightweaver smirked, "I'm sure we can come to an agreeable trade." He started walking down the hall, "Come child, let's go to my office, we can speak more there. Airbreeze, I need you on lookout. Send a couple guards in your place."
It was a brisk walk away but one that wasn't far, at least for Annabeth it wasn't who stood around the corner invisible to the world.
As she watched Atreus and Lightweaver walk down the hall she once again chided herself for almost letting the plan fall apart at the last second.
It was just before Atreus was knocked out and captured, she was outside the room about to come in and help when she heard multiple footsteps running down the hall. Before she realized it about a dozen or so guards entered the hallway they were in, each with a baton ready to strike. At the front was Airbreeze, the captain she had choked out above. They swiftly entered the room and caught Atreus, she barely had time to register a plan to help him escape.
"Intruder captured, Captain." One of the guards said.
Airbreeze looked at the unconscious Atreus and frowned, "This is one of them alright, but there is another still out on the loose. I want them found. Spread out!"
At the time, she was still confused, how did the Captain get down here so fast? By her own guess she should have been knocked out for a lot longer, but instead she was down here giving out commands.
"Um ma'am?" One of the guards approached the Captain, "What do you want to do with the woman who found you?"
Annabeth tried to not smack herself in the head. Of course, some random mortal had found her passed out in one of the stalls and woke her up. She should have locked the door.
Airbreeze looked a little embarrassed but waved her subordinate off, "Give them a few free pulls on the slots." The guard nodded before walking away.
It wasn't long before Atreus woke up and was let out to speak with Lightweaver. So here Annabeth stood watching their conversation planning how to make up for her mistake. Thankfully Atreus bought her some time by bluffing, but she didn't know how long that would last. She'd have to be quick with it. That said, she did thank the old elf geezer for bringing her in the right direction.
Annabeth looked at the cross-dimensional door that Lightweaver opened, remembering the layout of the facility; it was a perfect match for all the qualifiers she and Atreus made before arriving.
She waited for the hallway to clear before walking up to the door and pulling out a small stone with a rune on it. She didn't know how to read it, but Atreus told her all she needed to know.
"This is what you will be using." Garte had told the two of them back at the dwarves' casino. It was a small stone disc with a rune on it, Atreus told her it was a rune to the realm of Svartalfheim - home of the dwarves. "You take this, place it on the door, and let it do the work for you. When it's done, we will handle the rest."
Supposedly this rune stone was made to open a portal at a set location in Svartalfheim, where a group of dwarves were waiting so they could enter and overtake the underground facility. She was supposed to open the portal as soon as she reached a realm gate, but right now she needed to free Atreus first.
While Annabeth followed his trail, Atreus stood with Lightweaver in his office. "Please, sit, would you like some herbal tea?" Lightweaver asked as he sat down behind his desk, pouring himself a small glass of tea.
"Uh, I'm good, thank you." Atreus looked at the chair or rather what was supposed to be a chair. Instead of a cushioned seat, it was a bundle of branches and vines sprouting from the ground that looked like a chair. It wasn't alone, as Lightweavers desk and chair also resembled the branch and vine-like features except smoother.
Like the hallways outside, this room was covered in branches and vines that somewhat reminded him of Alfheim, except more earthy. "Something the matter?" Lightweaver asked.
Atreus shook his head, "Nothing, just prefer to stand."
Lightweaver nodded before pulling back the kettle of tea and taking a sip, a long one too as Atreus was left standing in silence as the old elf drank his tea. Atreus was hesitant to start the conversation, would it be rude of him to? Maybe he could invoke guest rights? A rush of ideas went through his head, but they all stopped when Lightweaver spoke.
"When I heard we had intruders, never did I expect it would be Greek demi-gods. You lot never seemed to be interested in our situation." Lightweaver commented as he sipped some of his tea.
"We didn't want to be interested in it at all." Atreus told him, "We were forced to do this."
The dwarves set you up for this?"Atreus nodded, "Cowards, can't even do their own dirty work. They have neither the guts nor the zeal to hold Vegas." Lightweaver waved his hand, "I'm getting ahead of myself, let us discuss the terms of this deal." Lightweaver reached into his desk and pulled out a sheet of paper and pushed it over to Atreus.
"What's this?" Atreus asked as he read the paper.
The page was a formal agreement between the elves and the signer - Atreus - that "both parties would agree to an arrangement of ceased hostilities". The document went longer, but by the time Atreus was on the third page his head was swimming with how complex the agreement was.
"This is…a lot." He said as he continued to read.
"An unfortunate side of business, I'm afraid." Lightweaver said as he drank a sip of tea, "I'm assuming you've never signed a legal document like this?"
Atreus simply shook his head.
"Of course, in a business like mine, word is law. Contracts like these are written so that all sides of the agreement stick to the wording of the contract." Atreus was about to reply when a knock came at the door.
"Hm, must be Airbreeze. You may come in Captain!" The door to Lightweavers office opened, and there was no one there.
"Captain?" Lightweaver asked.
Immediately Atreus knew it was Annabeth.
A round object came flying through the door and hit Lightweaver in the face, the old elf shouted in pain as it hit him square on. Atreus did not hesitate to run at Lightweaver and push the advantage. Atreus ran around Lightweaver and wrapped his arms around the old elf's neck.
"Tricksters!" Lightweaver growled as Atreus squeezed a little harder, struggling against Atreus.
Eventually he went limp, still alive thankfully, but unconscious.
"You okay Atreus?" Annabeth asked as she appeared in front of the desk.
As Atreus stood he only motioned to his hands still cuffed together, "Just this, otherwise I'm fine."
Annabeth came forward with a key, "I was able to beat up the guards Airbeeze sent, luckily she gave them the key." With a quick turn, the cuffs came off and Atreus was free to move his hands around.
"That's better, ready to finish this?" Atreus asked as he rubbed his wrists.
Annabeth pulled out the rune stone they were given, "I found the perfect spot."
Atreus nodded, he started to walk away before he stopped. He grabbed the handcuffs and walked back to Lightweaver, "Just to be safe." Atreus remarked as he closed the cuffs around one of the old elf's wrist and the other around the armrest of the chair he sat on.
"Good idea, now let's go. This place is going to be an all-out war as soon as we set this thing off." And so Atreus and Annabeth ran out of the room to fulfill their plan.
Annabeth had been the one to point it out to him as the two were scanning the blueprints of the facility, and it didn't take long for the two of them to devise a plan that undermined the dwarves' very own ambitions. The first step was to secure a viable target for the dwarves to enter through.
"This it?" Atreus asked as the two walked up to the very same door Lightweaver had shown Atreus not too long ago.
Annabeth nodded before handing over the rune stone, "Do your thing."
With the rune stone in hand, Atreus flipped the stone to the blank side and started a simple spell. Over his adventures and time fighting with his father, Atreus picked up on a trick many of the Nine Realms residents used to spring a trap. A simple delay spell, one commonly used by many in order to lull someone into a sense of security. Atreus and his father had sometimes been on the receiving end of it, but always came out on top. This time however, Atreus would be the one using the spell.
With the spell finally etched onto the back of the stone that would be used to open a portal to Svartalfheim, Atreus placed it against the door and smashed it. A shimmering front he slit around the door glowed with greater intensity, it reminded him of the bifrost.
"That should give us about 10 minutes before the dwarves come barging in." Atreus noted as the two of them started making their way to the next step in their plan.
Step two was rather simple, pull the fire alarm. Despite beating up and being beaten up by the elves, Atreus and Annabeth wanted there to be as few people caught in the fighting as possible. It also doubled as a great way to get people out of the central control room.
"Once we pull this, every guard will be looking for us if they aren't already. Are you ready?" Annabeth asked as she readied to pull the alarm.
"The faster we get this over with, the better." By tomorrow morning he wanted to be as far away from Vegas as possible.
Annabeth didn't argue as she pulled the fire alarm. As expected the entire facility started flashing and a loud blaring noise blasted at Atreus' ears. Already he could hear the shouting and yelling as people started moving to the facility exits.
"Dwarves should be coming in any minute now, let's hurry!" Annabeth shouted over the alarms,
Step three of the plan was the most crucial of them all, it required strict timing but also a grueling amount of patience. Before that however, Atreus and Annabeth had to meet with the dwarves.
"Ha! I knew you two could do it, you two ain't so bad after all." Garte exclaimed as he kicked an elf guard to the ground. "If we weren't already selling ya to Loki, I would have asked the boss to keep ya around."
Atreus sighed, "Don't remind us. Look, the path forward is clear, you'll be able to reach the entryway if you keep heading down this hall." He pointed back to where they came from.
Garte clapped his hands, "Excellent! C'mon boys, let's get moving!" The rest of the dwarves, now done beating up the contingent of guards that they had stumbled upon, gave a small cheer as they followed Garte.
Atreus and Annabeth watched as they left, "They really aren't that smart, huh?" Annabeth said as she and Atreus started making their way to their destination.
Atreus could only shrug, "I knew a pair of really smart dwarves…well at least Sindri was."
A short walk away and the duo were in front of the control room, which had thankfully been evacuated due to the horde of dwarves having called most guards away and the fire alarm making every non-guard run to the exits.
"How is it looking?" Annabeth asked as she scanned the array of computers.
Atreus looked up at the security cameras, the dwarves had engaged with the elves just as expected. "Good," He replied, "They're right where they should be." In the crowd he could spot Garte and Airbreeze fighting each other.
Annabeth stopped as she finally found the computer she was looking for, "Found it," She happily said as she started to boot it up.
Another part of the facility Annabeth and Atreus found out was the copious amount of blast-resistant focused around the central generator. Normally, these highly dense, extremely durable walls would shut down entire hallways if ever there was an emergency. Nothing could come in or out of the generator room with these walls up. Thankfully, with no one in said room, there was no worry of having to trap anyone inside for any extended length of time.
"Step three, seal them out." Atreus said.
With a few keystrokes, Annabeth typed in a command into the computer in front of her and watched the monitors above as the walls started to drop all across the facility, eventually making it to the entryway to the generator room. The fighting briefly stopped as the elves and dwarves watched the hallway get cut off.
"Hey, what's going on?!" Garte yelled.
Annabeth picked up a nearby microphone and tossed it to Atreus, "You can have the pleasure of addressing them, I'll start getting us a way out." Annabeth stepped back from the computer in front of her. She picked up a nearby chair and started crushing all of the computers, so no one could access the generator.
Atreus picked up the microphone and turned it on, "Sorry Garte, but we really didn't want to follow your plan. It kinda sucked." Atreus admitted.
"It really sucked!" Annabeth shouted from behind him as she crushed another computer.
"So we made our own plans, one that would leave both the dwarves and the elves out of…well power." The monitor above showed the elves started banging on the walls in an attempt to break it down, but it was useless.
"You…you!" Garte looked like he was about to blow a gasket, "You're still in this facility, and when I find you I will gut you!" He raged.
"I don't think so, our plan isn't done yet. Wanna know why?" Atreus asked.
"Huh?" Garte looked at the camera in confusion.
"Step four, let loose the goddess." Atreus turned his head over to the door they had used to let the dwarves in.
The ten minute timer had expired and the portal had changed destinations.
Back when they were devising their plan, one of the parts that stumped them was how to get to Freya. Thankfully, Atreus had been the one to figure that part out. Rune stones like the one Annabeth and Atreus were given were common, and a back up was made in case more were needed. So when Annabeth left Atreus standing in front of the women's changing room, she was finding a rune stone just for Freya. A quick rewriting of the destination and a delay-rune was all that was needed for a portal to open up directly to the dwarves' very own casino and straight to Freya.
Expectedly, what came out of the portal was a very mad, very powerful goddess.
"Hey Freya, we'll be right there with you in a moment." Atreus called out.
Freya nodded as she turned back around to the portal and shut the door, "I have your things, so hurry up!" She shouted.
One last crash behind him told Atreus that Annabeth was done with her part, "Let's go." She said as she started to make her way out of the room.
"Gotta go, it was not nice knowing you Garte!" Atreus said as he followed Annabeth, the angry shouting of dwarves was the last thing he heard as he left the control room.
As the duo regroup with Freya, they watched as elven guards attempted to fight her off to no success. More than a couple handful of elves lay on the ground as Freya unleashed a flurry of strikes not only from her sword, but the vines and branches decorating the halls.
"Everything good?" Annabeth asked as she caught up to the goddess.
Freya tossed a duffle bag at her, "Things will be better once we are out of this forsaken city." Freya said as she knocked down the last of her elven enemies.
Annabeth opened the bag and took out her things before tossing it to Atreus, it didn't take long for both of them to settle their equipment, "I can't help but agree," Atreus remarked as he strapped his bow to his chest, "Elevator is this way, let's go."
Atreus led the trio back to the elevator that brought them down to the facility, but the lounge was no better than the facility down below. The fire alarm must also have connected to the lounge as everyone was being herded out the exits as well. Unfortunately there were also a lot of guards that way, and Atreus did not want to get into a fight with so many people around.
"Let's head out the back way." He said as the trio turned to the employee entrance.
Thankfully, the back rooms were just deserted, meaning they were easily able to slip away without any fuss.
"So…not the best first impression of Vegas, huh?" Annabeth asked as they watched the lounge form a few blocks away.
They watched as the dwarves ran out of the lounge looking for them, Garte's normally pristine suit and jacket were covered in dirt and leftover twigs. They were shortly followed by the elves kicking them out onto the street. The elves may have won the fight, but both sides technically lost. For the current time, no one was in control of the power of Las Vegas, and hopefully it would stay that way for a while longer.
"The worst impression." Atreus said as the trio continued walking down the street.
"May we never return." Freya agreed.
And thus the trio left the scene.
Among the crowd in front of the lounge, a peculiar squirrel was left alone and annoyed.
"Finally I can leave!" The astral form of Ratatoskr rejoiced.
With a swipe of his tiny hands, Ratatoskr opened a small portal to the world tree, Yggdrasil, his home. The grand tree that held the nine realms was a sorely missed sight, after years under the service of that boy and the Greek war god, Ratatoskr was keen on being free once again.
"There you are Bitter, I was wondering when you'd show up." The cheerful noise of the real Ratatoskr chimed in, not far away.
Bitter could only groan, "Oh great, I'm not home one minute before you come knocking my way."
Ratatoskr could only chuckle, "Where have you been, I thought you would be back ages ago."
Bitter exasperated, "Oh don't even get me started." Despite his words, Bitter did indeed get started on his journey with Atreus and Kratos, and eventually where he just left from.
"Wait wait wait, they did what?" Ratatoskr asked.
"They blew a bloody hole through the tree!" Bitter shouted, "Look, just look!"
Bitter once again swiped his paw and opened up a portal to Midgard, two in fact. One focused on Kratos, the other Atreus. Both were not where they were supposed to be.
"Oh, oh this is bad." Ratatoskr said.
Bitter huffed, "You bet it is, but it's not our problem now, right?" The astral squirrel looked up to Ratatoskr, who was in deep thought, "Right?"
This was bad, the tree was not supposed to support this kind of travel, he had never seen this kind of warping before. Ratatoskr quickly ran across the branches of Yggdrasil, towards the one that held Midgard.
"Oh no." He lamented.
The branches of Yggdrasil were hearty, thick pieces of wood that could withstand the mightiest of foes. Very few could lay claim to being a threat to all of existence. But this, this was up there.
Behind Ratatoskr, Bitter came scampering up the branch, "What's the probl…oh, that's bad."
The branches of Midgard were curling in on each other, each one bending in unnatural ways. Even now, small cracks were starting to form at the base. If it got any worse, Ratatoskr imagined these cracks growing bigger and bigger.
"Bitter," Ratatoskr turned to the astral squirrel, "You need to go back, if we do not send Kratos, Atreus, and Freya back to where they belong…" The branches of Midgard cracked once again, the tree shuddered in agony.
"You must find them!" Ratatoskr said as he ran to the branches, he was the tree's attendant. So he must mend the wound in whatever way he can.
"But I just left!" Bitter complained.
"No arguing, go!" Ratatoskr shouted back as he dove over the ledge, out of sight.
Bitter was left alone, he could ignore Ratatoskr…but even he could see the issue with Yggdrasil breaking apart. He could only sigh as he opened a portal back to Midgard, "Rotten bastards, why is it always me that has to do the work." He grumbled as he jumped through the portal.
This took much longer than I wanted and didn't come out the way I wanted, I still think I could have done more to make this better but it was just taking too long. I wanted this to be around 3k words but it ended up at 5k. That said I think the ending is a good hook into the next half of this story. It will be expanded on later, but for right now enjoy this chapter as I take a bit of a hiatus to try and map the rest of this story. In the mean time I will likely be uploading some parts of a new story I've been working on in the background. Keep an eye on my profile page for updates, as always thank you and enjoy.