The heart of the mountain has seen better days, having been hollowed out by Giants and dwarfs alike and now worn down by Fimblewinter's blistering cold. But it was the only safe place to travel to now as Atreus kept a tight grip on Calliope's hand, urging him to never let go, to protect her now more than ever as they were guided by the blue light of this mysterious lantern. Its flame was unnatural; it did not flicker or get pushed by any breeze, nor was it fueled by any oils or wood. It just burned by nothing, and its heat was the most comforting warmth either youth felt at the moment.

"How are you doing, Cal?" Atreus asked his sister but did not respond. She just kept looking down at where they were walking. She had been silent ever since they entered the mountain, after nearly dying several times just to get here. Perhaps all this...excitement...from this cycle of calamity was starting to take its toll on the little girl. But Atreus needed her to be a survivalist right now. A huntress, a warrior. Their father was a Spartan, and Atreus swore to him that he would have both of them alive and home, making him proud by getting through this.

"It'll be okay, Cal." He told her. "We're almost there and I'll figure out an alternate route to getting us out of here."

But that is when Calliope finally let out a whimper "Atreus...Λυπάμαι."

"Huh?" There were some words from their father's homeland that Atreus was still trying to figure out. But, like him, so was Calliope...

"S-...S-S-Sorry."

"'Sorry'? For what?"

"...Μας έφερα εδώ. (...I brought us here.)" She said. Perhaps Atreus' suspicions were right; Calliope blames herself for their situation. After all, this whole endeavor had started because she wandered just outside the protection stave and happened to have crossed Freya.

But Atreus also put the blame on himself, should've kept a closer eye. He was having so much fun teaching his sister how to thrive out here, that for but a moment, he forgot about the dangers and that survival was their responsibility.

"No! No, no. Don't talk like that. This isn't your fault, Calliope." He told her, hoping that she would understand him in two ways. "We...will get out of here. We...θα επιβιώσει."

Calliope looked up to see her brother give her a look of reassurance and determination, which she gave a small smile back to. They continued moving through the hallowed mountain, Atreus trying his best to remember the ways they had taken before. They passed by horrid-looking statues which Atreus was certain to be Drauger in hibernation. Despite the freezing cold, the embers of the undead still smolder within their eternal self-anguishing corpses. But Atreus knew that as long as they were not disturbed, they wouldn't have to worry about fighting.

"Stay close to me, Cal." He told her. "We'll be fine. As long as we don't-"

(SNAP)

Both kids looked down to see that Calliope's foot had snapped a root.

"...draw attention...to ourselves."

And, as if on cue, the sound of fires fuming and beasts growling echoed through the cavern as the Drauger awakened, one by one.

Atreus looked as annoyed as his father could get, the expression being uncanny, as he dropped the blue lantern to the ground and he and Calliope armed themselves.

"Here we go again." He said in a low, angered tone as the Drauger spotted the kids before roaring and charging. And with that, Atreus lanced arrows at high speed, aiming at various weak points that he knew the Drauger's had; in their heads, and any bursting flaming points or the weakest of their limbs looking ready to crumble. Calliope was on the defensive with her spear, thrusting the blade after parrying attacks before advancing onto the next enemy. When it looked like she would've gotten surrounded, she channeled the power of her spear to cast a blinding light that stunned the undead creatures, allowing her a chance to escape.

"Wait for me, Cal!" Atreus yelled, agile climbing and jumping from Drauger to Drauger, before slamming his bow like a club onto them, while retaking the lantern and bashing another foe in the head with it, the blue flames counteracted with their rage-fueled essence, acting like a poison to them. The Drauger fell, and its comrades looked to see how it died, seeing the lingering blue flames which they traced back to the lantern in Atreus' grip. He turned his attention to the relic, realizing it was more powerful than it seemed.

"RRAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

(SNAP)

That war cry came from Calliope, who slammed her spear into the back of a Drauger's head, snapping it off as it hung by a rotten thread while the body limped and turned aimlessly. It was almost amusing before she then attacked another, with Atreus backing her up. They continued to fight, soon picking them off one after the other, before Atreus decided to try something "fancy", in a way. Throwing the lantern up in the air, the boy lanced three arrows, and right as it was coming, he timed it just right to let the arrows loose through the lantern's flames, igniting them as they hit a Drauger, whose own flames were diminishing from the apparent poisonous light from the blue ones. But they didn't crumble...instead, they looked ready to burst.

"Cal, get down!" Atreus braced hold of his sister and carried her over and away from the fight, just as the the Drauger ignited and took themselves out. The two then stepped and took a breath, happy to see that their foes were gone. And the explosion even cleared the way for them, yet they'll be entering a part of the mountain they've yet to see before.

"Come on. Let's get out of here." Continuing to light their way with the lantern, Atreus guided himself and his sister to the cavern. "You fought bravely, Cal. I knew you could do it."

"Αυτοί οι εχθροί... ήταν τρομακτικοί, αλλά... ήμουν γενναίος. (Those enemies...they were scary, but...I was brave.)" replied Calliope as she smiled at her brother, building both their reassurance in survival.

"Yeah. See? Nothing can get in our way. And with any luck, we might be near the mountain's base. We'll be out of here in no time."

As they forged on through the tunnels, the sound of metal scraping against frozen stone soon started to echo throughout the cavern. Atreus paused for a second, getting the feeling that he knew what that might just be, and did not want to stick around to find out. The last thing he needed was another fight, especially if it's with a brutish enemy with a ridiculously huge weapon.

"Come on. Let's not figure out what that sound is." He said to Calliope as they continued, having the light guide them through the darkness. However, they soon reached a fork in the road, and there was no telling where they led to or if the tunnels were endless.

"Three passages. One of them's got to lead to the outside."

And that is when Calliope noticed something, another 'gift' from the lantern. Though there was no wind, its flame was waving, moving to the direction of the tunnel on the left. As if deciding to test it out, she suddenly took the lantern from her brother's hand.

"Hey, Cal. Wha-?"

"Ρολόι... (Watch...)" She points the lantern to the other tunnels, but its flame still moves to the tunnel on the left. Like a compass that doesn't point north, yet hopefully, to what they would want most at the moment. In this case, a way out.

"Δείχνει, Atreus. (It's pointing, Atreus.)" She said. "Νομίζω...μας οδηγεί κάπου. (I think...it's leading us to someplace.)"

Atreus caught on to what she was saying as he took the lantern back and saw the flame stretched to the left tunnel. And then, he hears the scraping of metal on stone again, this time, coming closer. Deciding to push their hopes with this, Atreus re-took Calliope's hand and the two decided to follow where the flame stretched out too. The tunnels were like a maze, seemingly without end or the two kids find themselves back to where they originally were if they took too many wrong turns. Was it some sort of magic, or were their minds playing tricks on them? Regardless, they need not worry too much, for the lantern had lit their way and even seemingly showed where they needed to go. Soon enough, they could feel an actual breeze about, cold air pushing through the caverns. It could only mean there was an opening outside, and they could use it to get out of this Hel-bitten place.

"We're almost out of here, Cal." Atreus said as Calliope picked up to pace to keep up with her fast-moving brother. The Lantern was soon not the only source of light, as up ahead was light from outside, from Midgard's currently everlasting moonlight. They soon reached the exit and hoped to finally be free.

Unfortunately, though, the light came from just above their heads.

"Oh no...and here I thought we were close." Atreus muttered to himself, not wanting to show his sudden loss of hope.

They were in but a large part of the cavern now, a large open area, but a dead end nonetheless as stone walls encircled the two youths. But there was a grave that would be perfect for plundering, and a statue, a large statue that rose up to nearly the same height as the crevice that led outside. The statue was much like the one of the stag that was back in the Giant's Mouth. However, it was that of a God, one of the Aesir, yet one that Atreus seemed only vaguely familiar with. It was a Hunter, with a quiver of arrows on his back, duel axes by his sides, and a large bow he held in his hands like a staff towards the ground. There were also two monoliths on either side of the statue, yet the curved top had an odd design. Runes spelled "ᛊᚾᛟᚹ (Snow)", and "ᛊᛈᛖᛖᛞ (Speed)"

"Huh. I think I've seen him before." He said, trying to remember. "What did mom say about him."

Calliope crouched down to the pedestal where the statue stood, wiping snow from where it covered more runes, to reveal a name spelled.

"ᚢᛚᛚᚱ"

"Oh. It's Ullr. God of the Snow, actually. Though, I can't really blame him for Fimbulwinter."

Calliope looked around either side of the statue, and much to her surprise, she found a little, cruelly handmade wooden ladder, something that was probably used while in the construction of the statue.

"Atreus, πιστεύεις ότι μπορούμε να ανεβούμε και να φτάσουμε στην τρύπα; (Atreus, do you think we can climb up and reach the hole?)" She asked her brother as she gestured to the old latter, which looked like it could snap if anyone used it right now and up to the statue and the crevice.

Atreus caught wind of this but looked at his sister incredulously.

"Wait, you really wanna use that?" He asked, looking at his sister, who shrugged and raised her arms as if she was expecting a better plan from him. Then Atreus sighed. "Alright, but you..." he points to her and then upward "πήγαινε... πρώτα." He still was catching up on his Greek. "εγω...δευτερο."

Calliope nodded and was about ready to climb, but then paused when she heard something. The scraping was back, echoing louder and louder until both children knew that a new enemy was approaching, and they had yet to escape.

"Oh no..." Atreus pulled out his bow. "Calliope, go! Αναρρίχηση! I'll hold it off!"

But his sister suddenly ran to him, pulling out her spear. "Όχι αδερφέ! Οι Σπαρτιάτες δεν αφήνουν ποτέ ο ένας τον άλλον πίσω! (No, brother! Spartans never leave each other behind!)

Atreus then saw Calliope giving him the most serious face she had seen out of her.

"Και ΔΕΝ υποχωρούν! (And they DO NOT retreat!)"

Seeing that she was determined to stay with him, no matter what, Atreus reluctantly agreed, but had Calliope stay behind her as they readied themselves for whatever was coming their way. The being they were about to face was no Drauger, but something worse, something that could thrive in the forsaken cold. A Hel-Raider, but none like any other, for it was burly and had a muscular build more intimidating than the Vikens. It wore fur-edged leather shoes that were once brown but seemed to turn white from the icy resurrection it had gone through, blue-colored pants with knee protectors, and an armored loincloth with belly armor held by two frost-covered belts. On its upper body, which had also turned an icy mix of blue and white, it wore stick fur which covered its back to the waist and added to a nuclease-like holder around its neck while its chest was exposed and covered in an Elder Futhark tattoo. The fur had also turned from brown to grey from the hel-magic. The same goes for the neck-length hair and a beard that had french-fork-styles braids in it and covered half of his face.

There was also a blood-stained gash in its neck, indicating the cause of death.

It carried a large mace with the spiked end scraping the ground in one hand, and a circular, wooden/armored-plated shield in the other. It wheezed with every step it took before coming into full view of the two youths.

The moment Atreus saw this monster, he recognized who it truly was...

"...Modi?"

Well, someone suggested it. And I had this idea in mind for a while now.

The Hel-Raised Undead Modi roared sinisterly before charging in with his weapons, attempting to crush the two with one blow from his now icy mace. The two swiftly avoided the attack and scattered, moving away from the corrupted son of Thor. Atreus felt a sense of anger rising up within him when he saw Modi. He could never forget how many times the bastard insulted, insulted his family, his mother. Every dirty slur that spewed from his mouth, even when he was on the brink of death. And even when he was not in the right state of mind, Atreus felt no satisfaction upon Modi's death.

It was not even close to what he deserved.

"I beat you once...and I'll do it again." He growled under his breath, launching and reloading arrows faster than whenever his father commanded him at the Hel-Modi. Each arrow hits its mark and sinks deeper than the last. Yet, the frozen fiend seemed unaffected as he turned his attention to Calliope, who held her spear, but her grip was shaking.

"ᚠᚱᛟᛉᛖᚾ...ᛗᚢᛊᛏ ᚠᚱᛖᛖᛉᛖ ᛁᛊ ᚨᛚᛚ..." He spoke in old norse. The Corruption of Hel had the brain in his rotten corpse primitive. All he knows it kill. But he wouldn't get his chance yet as Atreus rushed in and smashed the lantern into his face. That did push him back, making him writhe in pain before Atreus stood before his sister defensively.

"Stay with me, Cal!" He said. "If you're not leaving...then we're gonna have to take him!"

"Θα σε ακολουθήσω, Atreus! (I will follow you, Atreus!)" She replied as they saw Hel-Modi come charging in and swinging his mace at them. He fought as he did in life, if not slower and less strong. If Atreus remembered correctly, the minor son of Thor always favored intimidation and use over his magic. And that's exactly what he saw when he used his mace to throw a projectile at him. But this was a bit different, as instead of electricity, it was ice. Regardless of that, however, it was still the same Modi, and Atreus knew what to do.

"Cal! Follow my lead!" He said he ran in while sending arrows to Modi, who blocked some with his shield. Calliope charged behind Atreus, and when her brother stopped and crouched down, she knew what maneuver he was planning and climbed on top of him. She then jumped and with all her might, ironically swung her spear like a club and had the club make contact with Modi's face. It staggered him, but he was not going down easy.

"ᚹᛁᛚᛚ ᚲᛁᛚᛚ ᛁᛟᚢ!"

He charged again, but Calliope stabbed her spear into his shield before putting the back end into the ground. This was an attempt to throw Modi off-balance, which sort of worked as he nearly tripped over his own feet before slowing down. The spear was still embedded in his shield as he swung it behind him, with Calliope refusing to let go. The blade soon loosened and fell out of the frozen wood. Calliope fell onto her shoulder, but her counter left Modi open for Atreus to re-try a new attack of his, tossing the lantern up and with precision timing, sending three arrows through the flames before they hit their mark in Modi. Each arrow ignited and burst into blue flames that heavily damaged Modi as he tried to shake off the mysterious fires.

Yet, Atreus still did not feel satisfaction from the undead demigod's pain.

However, that shouldn't matter to him at the moment, as he saw Calliope, having recovered, and was now rushing over to the stunned Hel-Modi, sending to him a barrage of attacks with cuts and stabs coming from the spear of Lævateinn. But it came to an end when Modi raised his shield in defense, pushing away Calliope before stepping back himself. Atreus saw what he was doing, hitting his mace against his shield, charging up hel-ish ice energies. His sister went in, but Atreus knew that's what the fallen God wanted.

"Wait, Cal!" he cried out, but it was too late.

"ᚠᚱᛖᛖᛉᛖ ᛚᛁᚲᛖ ᛗᛖ!"

The last bash to the shield sent out a shockwave of ice and frost towards the two youths. Now, they were covered in the stuff with the cold stiffening them and slowing their movements.

If there was any bit of consciousness left in Modi, it made him laugh menacingly.

"ᚾᛟᚹ, ᛁᛟᚢ ᛊᚢᚠᚠᛖᚱ!"

Though he was on the ground and covered in frost, Atreus still tried to reach for his bow and for the lantern. But Hel-Modi towered over him, ready to kill as he raised his mace overhead. But Atreus won't die here, as Calliope was still active and still had her spear in hand, using it to reach for the lantern, taking it by its ring before pointing its intensifying flames over to Hel-Modi. She concentrated on bringing out the light from the spear's blade, which mingled with the flames of the lantern before it intensified altogether, causing a huge flash in Modi's face, which caused him to screech and cover his face with his hand while swinging his mace wildly. The two siblings managed to get away as the frost cleared from their bodies and they watched as Modi blindly walked back to the cavern he came from, unfortunately hitting the wall with his mace in the process, causing it to crack as Atreus almost instantly knew what that meant.

"Come on, Cal!" He said, picking up his sister and their weapons as he made for the statue. The chamber was starting to collapse from Modi's recklessness, but the two still had their way out with Atreus and Calliope climbing up the statue with the crevice just above their heads, yet still out of reach. But it was close to one of the walls, so Atreus knew how to just barely reach it.

"Get ready to jump, Cal!" He said before he braced his feet on the cave wall and his back to the statue's head, doing as his father told him and pushing with everything. Calliope braced herself before the statue began to give and topple over, to which she and Atreus made for the crevice. With a mighty jump, they were barely able to reach a grip as they looked to see the statue crumbled down below them.

"Hope no one's gonna miss that." Atreus said before turning to Calliope. "Start climbing...whenever your ready.

They both began to move up, but the snow and ice made it slippery as they were about to reach the top. Calliope was almost out, using the hand that held the spear first.

"Aah!"

But Atreus wasn't as lucky. Seeing him about to fall made young Spartan Girl act quickly as she managed to grab his hand the second he lost his grip. She extended Lævateinn, bracing it between both sides of the hole as she pulled her brother.

Atreus breathed heavily before looking up to his sister. "...Thanks, Cal."

The two shared a smile before making their way up. While it was a relief to be out that desolate underground, the outside wasn't so better, now back into the blistering as they found themselves on the side of the mountain. Though Atreus could see the highest peak of Midgard not too far away, the path ahead was still desolate, and they two had already gone through so much. At least they still had the lantern, but now, that might just be a little comfort.

"Come, Cal." He took his sister's hand again, "Το ταξίδι μας... τελείωσε."

Calliope nodded and they continued upward. Until they found a way home that didn't take longer than it already was, they had to keep moving.

At least they saw the last of that Hel-bitten Modi...

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Or so they hoped...