21
Athena
"What story would you like to hear tonight, child?"
"I'm not sure. Anything I haven't heard?"
"There is one I haven't told you. It's old, but my mother told me when I was your age. It's a story from the great text. It's about an evil king, and a good angel."
"That one, that one!"
"Alright, child. Lay down, make sure you're all snug under those covers."
"I'm snug."
"Alright. The tale of the evil king. Once there was an evil king. He was very mean to his subjects. Taxes were high, and life was hard for everyone. The king wore an evil crown and evil clothes. He ate evil food and drank evil drinks."
"What's an evil drink?"
"Shhh, just listen to the story."
"Yes, mother."
"One day, the evil king decided to go outside and be mean to his people. He went around, doing very mean things. But the people were happy."
"Why would they be happy? They have a mean king!"
"You'll see. Just listen."
"Sorry."
"The king noticed the people weren't sad. He asked them why they were smiling, even when he was being very mean. They said they knew something he did not."
"What was it?"
"The king asked what it was. The people replied just by saying. 'You better run. The storm is coming'. 'The storm?' the king asked. 'Why should I be worried about a little rain?' The people just laughed and laughed at the mean king."
"I'm confused."
"The king looked up. Suddenly, there was a great storm that came from the sky. Lightning shook the earth and rain pounded down on his evil crown. Then, in the eye of the storm, a great angel came down from the heavens, with great wings of light and swords of fire."
"Cool!"
"The angel came down, and without a word, he took the evil king away forever. The king's soldiers all ran away when they saw the angel, but the angel chased after them. He also took them away, never to be seen again. When the angel was done, the people asked him his name, but he never spoke. The people cheered as the angel returned to the heavens. The storm calmed down as he left, and the people were finally free."
"Is that us?"
"Yes, child. Those people were us, many years ago. Your great grandmother helped write the great text."
"Wow. Did he ever come back?"
"The angel? No, but when the angel left, a great and kind king took his place on the throne. He taught us about who sent the angel to save us, a goddess of great beauty and wisdom. With the good king's guidance, we learned the ways of hope. We wrote the great text, and learned to live in peace."
"Oh no…"
"What is it, child?"
"That story was so good, I'm too awake to go to bed!"
"You wish! Get back here, you little squirmer!"
"Can't catch me!"
"Got you!"
"Oh no!"
"Back to bed, young one."
"Aww, ten more minutes? Please?"
"You must rest, it is a long day tomorrow."
"Fine...Yes, mother..."
"Now, when you close your eyes, think about how grateful you are that the angel came, and freed us all from the evil king."
"Thank you, angel."
"And don't forget who sent him. Praise Athena, Goddess of Hope."
"Praise Athena! Goodnight mother."
"Goodnight, child."
/
Kratos stood, surrounded by death. Bones littered the ground, and the earth was scorched. The little vegetation that remained was brown and dry. The city in the distance was nothing more than ruins.
"It appears we are too late." Kratos said.
He is still here. If we stop him here, we save thousands of worlds. Billions of souls.
"Lexie. Power signatures."
"One. It's big. Forty five kilometers bearing three, two, seven degrees. I've marked it on your HUD."
Kratos stretched out his wings and flew for the blip on his HUD's map.
Careful, this one may try to manipulate you. Don't let him.
"He will fail."
Don't be so sure. He has lived much longer than you have and has condemned many souls. Close your heart to his words.
"Don't lecture me on closing my heart, spirit."
Kratos approached the location of the blip. The landscape was nothing but shades of grey and black. Even the rivers seemed dead. He landed within eyesight of his target. A dark humanoid, not terribly large in stature, but his eyes were small yellow dots, and his face was a smooth slate of bone. His mouth was a gaping hole with razor-sharp teeth lining the entire circumference of it. His body was pitch black, and his legs were digitigrade, with hoofs that dug into the ash. Its hands were claws and not much else. Kratos approached the creature before him.
"I knew you would come. Abaddon's killer." The creature said, it's voice strangely soothing. "You did the rest of us a favor."
Kratos drew his blades. The creature chuckled.
"Please, Spartan. There is no need for weapons here."
The creature turned its head to meet Kratos' eyes.
"Tell me, warrior. Do you believe every good deed you have done will save you from the pit?"
"Enough."
Kratos charged the demon, his blades swung at it, but the demon's hand formed itself into a black blade, and blocked the attack.
"Do you really believe you can save your soul from what awaits you, deep in my father's domain?"
Kratos unleashed both blades into the demon, but its speed dodged and blocked every attack.
"We really don't know what to do with you, once you get there. Anger, Heresy, Violence, Lust, Oath Breaking. There's a circle in Hell for every sin you've committed." The demon continued as the two danced around each other on the scorched terrain.
Kratos grew increasingly frustrated with the creature. In a flash of light, Kratos unleashed a wave of cosmic power from his body. The demon staggered back. Kratos grabbed the demon by the neck and threw him into the air. The demon rocketed past the clouds.
The demon laughed as Kratos caught up with him and punched the demon's bony face with the Cestus. The demon fell back down to the surface of the planet with the impact of the blow. The demon hit the ground, creating a meteor-like explosion, shooting fire and shockwaves in all directions.
"You should be thankful your son was deleted from existence. We had special plans for h-"
The demon's speech was cut short as Kratos flew down from the sky and stomped the demon into the ground. The demon grabbed Kratos' feet and threw him aside. Kratos rolled across the ashy ground for hundreds of meters before coming to a stop. He rolled to his feet and crossed the blades over his chest just in time to stop the demon's fist from hitting him.
"I'm the son of Mephisto, fool! No weapon of gods and men can kill me!" The creature boasted, levitating itself off the ground.
Kratos pulled the blade of Olympus from his belt and charged it with Eternity's power. The blade shifted from blue to yellow as the power of a thousand stars entered the blade.
Kratos shot a beam of cosmic energy at the demon. The demon tried to dodge the beam, but the shot caught its arm, vaporizing it in the blast. The demon shrieked in pain, and in a flash of demonic energy, it formed a portal and jumped in. Kratos sprinted for the portal and jumped in after him just before it closed.
Kratos landed on the steaming ground. He looked at his surroundings. The screams of untold numbers of souls echoed in the darkness. All around him, mountains of bones and rivers of fire filled his vision.
Out of the corner of his eye, the demon reappeared but was now many stories tall. Kratos dodged as the creature's massive fist was brought down on him. He spun around and stabbed the Blades of Chaos into the giant's hand. The demon recoiled and pulled its hand upward, dragging Kratos with it. Kratos used the momentum to leap to the demon's face. He pulled out the Blade of Olympus and pierced the demon's eye. Black smoke bled from the gaping hole in its skull.
The demon screamed and grabbed Kratos with its massive hand. Kratos struggled to get free as the demon crushed him in its grip.
"Little warrior, your entertainment has lost its potency. I am Blackheart, son of the devil, and you are nothing but a half-breed mortal!"
Kratos managed to get its hands free and stabbed the Blades of Chaos into Blackheart's fingers. Blackheart roared and let go of the Spartan. Kratos dropped to the ground and pulled the Leviathan axe from his back and shot a beam of ice at Blackheart's face. The demon waved its hand and conjured a wave of black energy. The dark blast overpowered the beam of ice and hit Kratos head-on, breaking his ribs and knocking the Blade of Olympus from his belt. Kratos lunged for the blade, but the Blade zipped from the ground into Blackheart's hand.
"A pity this blade was given to you, it's potential is wasted on one such as you!"
"You are not the first to say that, demon." Kratos replied, fighting through the pain of his broken ribs.
Kratos flew straight for Blackheart's other eye. Blackheart shot another blast of black energy at the Spartan, but the Spartan dodged the attack. Kratos landed on the demon's face and threw his fist into the yellow eye. More black smoke erupted from the wound. Blackheart screamed again and slapped his face with his hand. Kratos flew upward, dodging the incoming attack. Blackheart slapped his own face, knocking himself backward with the sheer force of his own demonic strength. Kratos jumped for the hand that held the Blade of Olympus and ripped the sword free from the blind demon's grasp.
Kratos aimed the black for the demon's heart. The blade hit the demon squarely in the middle of its chest, and black smoke sprang from the wound.
Blackheart shrieked and writhed as Kratos sawed into its body, the blade's cosmic energy invading more and more into the demon's heart. Blackheart's body began to shrink as its power faded, until he was once again human-sized.
Kratos ripped the blade from the demon's chest and aimed for its neck.
"Wait!" Blackheart said. "I can bring your son back!"
Kratos hesitated. "Impossible."
Blackheart's gaping mouth formed into a toothy smile. "Perhaps. Sad that you'll never know."
With a flick of its wrist, Kratos was absorbed by a portal, and he found himself back on the scorched planet. Kratos sighed and sheathed his weapons.
Damn. We were so close.
"Athena. Can the demons return my son?"
Kratos...Loki has been erased from existence. Not even the power of Hell can bring back that which doesn't exist in the first place. I told you not to listen to him! Now he is lost until the next time he reaps a planet!
Kratos sighed, then grimaced as his ribs healed themselves.
That will not be the last demon we will face. Come. The Kree resume their genocide of Torfa. We must show them the meaning of regret.
"We have done this for four years, spirit." Kratos stated. "And not one step closer to the end."
The universe is a big place, Spartan. Many evils threaten the good people that live in it.
"The good people you care about, after thousands of years of dormancy..."
I told you, Eternity spoke to me and showed me the truth.
"And yet he does not speak to me."
Kratos…trust me. Hope is a powerful tool. Together, we have brought that very thing to many worlds. The universe needs us.
Kratos huffed. "Then we must go to Torfa. Lexie."
"Boss?"
"Chart a course for Torfa."
"Charting a course to another shithole. Yes, sir."
/
Dozens of Torfans screamed and ran in all directions as Kree warriors rained plasma fire into the defenseless civilians, kicking in doors and pulling females and children into the street.
"Make sure you get every single one, we can't afford even one Skrull to get past us!" The Kree captain yelled.
"Sir!" A Kree warrior yelled, pointing to the sky.
The Kree all looked up. In the cloud break, they saw explosions in the sky above.
"Is that our fleet?" The captain asked.
"It can't be, there's nothing able to destroy an entire battle formation like that. Right?" Another warrior replied.
Suddenly, a beam of cosmic energy vaporized the Kree squad. Kratos dropped from the sky and landed gracefully to the ground.
"It's the Ghost! Open fire!" Came a voice in the distance.
Kratos felt a plasma round hit his armor and bounce off, ricochetting into the rocks in the distance. Kratos turned his head and scowled at the Kree troopers in the distance. Kratos strolled towards the soldiers, plasma fire pointlessly bouncing off of his armor.
"He's unkillable!" One voice screamed.
"Keep firing!" Another desperate voice screamed.
"Emperor protect us!" Another voice whimpered
Within seconds, the Kree strike team was dead. Kratos sheathed his blades.
"Several Torfan life signs behind that rock." Lexie stated.
"Your people are safe." Kratos called out.
Suddenly, a beam of cosmic energy hit his back. Kratos staggered forward and spun around to face his attacker. It was a woman in Starforce armor, but the color was blue and red instead of its usual green. Her face was covered in a mohawk of hair attached to its top.
"Well, well. Here I am, about to save some Torfans, when what do I find? The Ghost, himself." The female declared. "I thought you'd be taller. And less old."
Kratos sighed and pulled the Blades from his back.
"Not much of a talker, huh?" She asked. "That's fine."
"Back off. Now." Kratos warned.
"I don't think so." The female replied. "You think you can lead a bloody crusade across the cosmos and get away with it? I'm taking you in."
"You may try."
"Fine by me."
Captain Marvel reached out both arms, shooting another beam of energy at the Spartan. Kratos folded his wings around him and absorbed the attack. Once the dust had cleared, Kratos was still standing, a scowl on his face.
"What are you?" Marvel asked, surprised at the ineffectiveness of her attack.
"I am death." Kratos said, swinging his blades furiously at the woman.
Captain Marvel dodged to the side as the blade narrowly missed her shoulder. She grabbed the blade and gave it a pull. Kratos was dragged a coupled feet before he dug his feet into the ground and pulled back. Marvel's eyes went wide as she lunged forward and fell to the ground. Kratos brought the leviathan axe down on her, but she rolled out of the way and rose off the ground into the air.
Kratos blocked another beam of energy with the Leviathan axe, then threw the axe with both hands. Marvel dodged the throw with ease.
"Too easy." She said with a sneer.
Kratos held out his hand. Marvel cocked her head to one side with confusion, until she heard the whooshing noise of the axe behind her. She turned around just in time for the axe to hit her in the leg. The blade grazed past her hip, and she let out a cry of pain. Kratos grabbed the axe with one hand and threw it again. Marvel blasted the axe away with a beam of energy and flew straight for the Spartan. Kratos took flight and flew straight for her.
The two tackled each other and rose far into the atmosphere. Marvel landed some good hits on Kratos' face, and Kratos landed some good hits on her. Blows were exchanged until the two had left the planet's atmosphere. Kratos pulled a Blade of Chaos out and stabbed for her head. Marvel concentrated energy into her hand and blocked the blade. Kratos freed his other hand and grabbed her helmet, pushing her head closer to the blade.
Marvel desperately pushed against the blade with both hands. Kratos stopped pushing against her head, deciding to pull instead, throwing Marvel into the debris of a Kree warship in the distance. The debris exploded into tiny pieces as the woman slammed into the hulking metal. Marvel took the opportunity to catch her breath, not realizing that Kratos was immediately on top of her. She watched as the Cestus rammed into her face, shooting her back towards the planet.
She regained consciousness just in time to stop herself from hitting the surface of Torfa. With a blast of cosmic energy, she was upright and hovering over the ground. She looked up and braced against Kratos, who was following right behind her. The Cestus hit her energy-fueled hands, pushing her down towards the ground. Marvel grabbed Kratos by the arm and threw him into the ground. Kratos felt a foot ram into his chest as he lay there. He grabbed a rock and smashed it into Marvel's kneecap. Marvel groaned in pain and punched Kratos in the face.
Kratos pulled Marvel to the ground and got on top of her. He punched her in the neck, forcing Marvel to cough and gasp for air. Kratos pulled the Cestus out and wailed on her face until it was bloody and bruised. Having subdued her, he pulled out his blades and reared his arm back, aiming for her chest.
"Another world for your god, then..." Marvel croaked.
Kratos hesitated.
Don't listen to her. Blackheart defeated you with talk. Don't let her do it too.
"What did you say?" Kratos asked.
"For your precious Athena." Marvel replied. "Killing a path through the universe for your cult to take over."
Kratos lowered his blade.
"How do you know about Athena?"
"How do I know? Every planet you visited knows about her." Marvel said, a look of confusion showing through her battered face.
Kratos rose himself off of the woman. "Explain."
"Don't play dumb." She said, sitting up and wiping the blood from her swollen mouth. "It's no coincidence you come in, remove entire governments, and all of a sudden the planet's population is praising the same goddess."
"I was saving them from tyrants and false gods…" Kratos argued.
"Yeah, well, now they all worship the same false god. Congrats."
Kratos looked at his blades. The reflection of Athena's spirit could be seen behind him. He turned to face her.
"You said we were destroying evil…" Kratos said, his breathing growing heavy.
And we were. Every person you've killed was evil. There was no lie in my words.
"Who are you talking to?" Marvel asked, dragging herself from the ground.
"You had me kill for your own gain." Kratos said between clenched teeth. "Eternity never spoke with you at all..."
"Eternity?" Marvel asked.
Athena lowered her head.
No. He never did. I had to get you to trust me, and together, we've brought unity to the cosmos. Before, there was tyranny. Now, there is unity. There is Hope.
"You used me… again." Kratos said, his hands shaking with rage. "To create worshippers for you."
We worked together to create a universe of peace.
Marvel stared in confusion as Kratos spoke to the air.
"You used me for your own selfish ends!" Kratos roared.
Kratos, you must understand. Without me, the people of the universe were leaderless. I sent my emissaries to them, and they chose to worship me. They chose, Kratos.
"You are the true tyrant, taking advantage of the power vacuum!" Kratos roared back.
"Do you need me to leave you and your imaginary friend alone?" Marvel asked.
Yes, I took advantage of the power vacuum. But now, you have created enough worshippers for me to return to the world.
Kratos covered his eyes as a brilliant flash of light overtook his senses. The light dimmed, and Kratos uncovered his eyes. Before him stood Athena in the flesh, adorned in ancient greek armor, just as she was before Kratos killed her.
"Now you see, Spartan. Now I can spread hope to the universe myself. I don't need you or the power of the box to do so."
"Who are you?" Marvel asked.
Athena turned to the woman and smiled kindly.
"My child, I am Athena. I suggest you kneel before the only god in the universe that truly cares for you."
"Athena?" Kratos asked, shocked that she stood, in physical form once again.
"Kratos...I must thank you for everything you have done for me." Athena said with a smile.
But her smile quickly turned into a scowl of contempt.
"But I can never forgive you for disobeying me, all those years ago. How could I? Now, I have no further use for you."
Athena held out her hands, and a spear and shield materialized from the air.
"Is this bad?" Marvel asked.
"The box corrupted you, Athena, just as it had with the others. Only greed lives within you." Kratos said, pulling the blades from his back. "You've used me for the last time."
"Sorry...box?" Marvel asked, growing frustrated that no one was listening to her. "Hello?!"
"Kratos, fighting me is foolish. There are not millions, but trillions of people, all praising my name for saving them." Athena said. "I am more powerful than you ever could hope to be. Soon, the entire universe will love me, and I will cleanse this universe of all its evils, starting with you."
"And I thought I was a talker." Marvel said, shooting a beam of energy at the goddess. Athena blocked the attack effortlessly with her shield.
"Child, do not be a fool." Athena said, eyeing Captain Marvel. "I am the goddess of war and wisdom. You are a mere girl with an attitude problem."
"I like to call it confidence." Marvel replied. "Okay, big grey, we deal with her, then I deal with you."
"Very well." Kratos replied.
Athena raised her spear into the air. Behind her, a tidal wave of rocks formed, hundreds of meters high. She pointed her spear at the two before her, and the wave of rocks plowed towards them. Kratos and Marvel leapt into the air to escape the thousands of tons of raw materials careening towards them.
Kratos flew over the wave and dove for Athena, armed with the Cestus in both hands. Athena raised the spear into the air, shooting a boulder straight for Kratos. Kratos punched through the rocks and aimed a blow for Athena's face. The Cestus hit her shield, sending a massive soundwave through the air. Marvel was mid-charge when the soundwave hit her. The wave hit her eardrums, and blood spurt from her ears, slowing her charge.
There was a blast of air and both Marvel and Kratos were thrown back.
"FOOLS!" Athena said, levitating over the ground, her eyes glowing white and her spear glowing blue. "I CAN GIVE YOU POWERS, I CAN REMOVE YOUR POWER JUST AS EASILY!"
A storm began to rage overhead, and mist came creeping in from the hills that surrounded them. Kratos charged the goddess, then suddenly felt his wings flicker in and out of existence. He fell to the ground as the cosmic power began to leave his body. He scowled, brushed the dirt from his armor and continued his charge on foot.
Marvel threw both beams of energy at the goddess. Athena turned her head and flicked her spear at the incoming warrior. A bolt of lightning struck Marvel, throwing her to the ground.
"Ouch…" Marvel groaned as her armor smoldered from the strike.
Another bolt of lightning hit her while she tried to get up. Then another.
Kratos threw the Leviathan axe at Athena, which she blocked with her shield, her eyes still fixed on Marvel. The axe flew far into the distance, into the mist that surrounded them. She turned her head and waved her spear in an arc over her head. A sea of magma sprang from the ground over Athena's head and came down on Kratos. He tried to dodge, but the volume of magma was too wide to escape. He felt the heat burn away at his skin as the ocean of molten rock poured over him until only his neck and head were visible. With a flick of her spear, a gust of freezing air struck the magma, instantly solidifying it. Kratos tried to break free of the magma, but Athena pointed her spear at him, her telekinetic powers holding him in place.
"'Fuck Athena'..." Athena chuckled. "I remember that. If only you had just listened to me, all those years ago. We could have created something wonderful together. But you just had to have one more slight against the gods...against me. I have been waiting for this moment for a very long time. I cannot say I will not enjoy this."
Just as Athena pulled the spear back to plunge it into Kratos' head, she noticed Kratos' eyes were focused on something behind her. She turned around just in time for the Leviathan axe to cleave into her face. The axe stuck into her face, forcing her head to snap backward. Athena tried to scream in rage, but her breath was taken away when she felt an all-too-familiar weapon drive its way into her back, through her organs, and out the other side. She looked down with the eye that didn't have an axe through it, at the massive blue blade sticking through her chest.
"Every god has fallen before me. It was you who was the fool for believing you were any different." Kratos said. Pulling the blade from Athena's back.
"Kratos…" Athena gasped as she tried to keep her organs from falling out. "Don't do this. Not again…"
"It was you that repeated your mistake. The gods have abused their power for the last time."
Kratos punched his way free of the magma and stood over Athena, the axe still embedded in her face.
"I hate you…" Athena gasped. "You destroyed everything I worked for."
"No…" Kratos said. "There is one thing I have not yet destroyed."
Kratos held out his hand. Athena felt the pull of the axe as Kratos stood behind her. The axe began to dig harder and harder into her skull. Finally, the skull gave way and the axe cleaved her head in two. Kratos caught the axe as Athena' skull flopped in half and her fell limply to the ground.
Kratos looked away as her body once again erupted in a blast of green energy. The clouds parted as a beam of green energy blasted into the atmosphere. A shockwave of green blasted in all directions, and Kratos struggled to keep his balance, being so close to the death of a god.
The green energy subsided. Captain Marvel approached Kratos with a look of confusion on her face.
"Okay, big grey…" Marvel asked. "Wanna fill me in?"