1,393"Boy!" Normal Speech.
'Boy!' Normal Thought.
"Nista!" Power/Technique.
"Loki" Demonic/Dragon Speeches.
'Loki' Demonic/Dragon Thoughts.
Summary: At seventeen years of age, Atreus and his father found themselves in another realm, one that was unfortunately filled with the less crazy, but irritating versions of the gods they had slain. Can they live their life in peace? Or the supernatural world of DxD will be forced to know the full might of THE God of War? Atreus will try to make sure that won't happen… anytime soon at least.
The story will focus on Atreus, with Kratos being a side-character most of the time.
Friendly reminder for those who might have forgotten: For the time being, Kratos and Mimir are known only as Kevin and Mike by other people.
Pairings: Atreus x Harem
Kratos x Yasaka (final)
Son of War
Chapter 23
"Woahh…"
Akeno Himejima gasped in amazement upon stepping out of the portal created by Fenrir and arriving on Olympus, the home world of the Greek gods.
"Yeah, I had a similar look when I first came here." Atreus asked with a smile, patting Fenrir softly on his head before telling her, making a gesture of his head to the side to signal Akeno to follow him "Come on. Follow me. The shop is this way."
With that said, the two made their way down the streets of Olympus, allowing Akeno to look around and take in everything around her, being filled with awe and wonder as she gazed at the towering monuments, structures and statues around her, many of which were without a doubt dedicated to the Olympians, the twelve most powerful Greek deities. Akeno had been to the Underworld, specifically the land that was owned by the Gremory Household, whose heiress she was a servant and a dear friend to, and while the place was a breathtaking sight in its own right, it did not take her words away the same way that Mount. Olympus did.
"Oh wow, there are so many people here."
Akeno stated as she walked with Atreus strolling by her side to make sure that she would not get lost in the bustling streets of Olympia, the grand city of the Greek divine world. It was bustling with activities, with shops selling all kinds of magical items, marketplaces brimming with exotic, strange looking fruits and vegetables.
To her left, a towering, imposing Minotaur dressed finely was bargaining with a butcher about the price of a large cut of meat that she had no idea belonged to what kind of animal, while on her right, Akeno could see a group of women tending to their floral shops. At first glance, they did not look any different from ordinary humans, but when one fused herself with a tree next to the shop and caused it to grow at a rapid rate, she realized the women had to be tree nymphs, spirits of nature responsible for its beauty and preservation.
"Here we are." Atreus announced, making Akeno turn back to him and see Atreus standing in front of a building, which had an entrance made of a dark metal with smooth edges. The walls inside were adorned with weapons and armors of all shapes and sizes, meticulously arranged so that each item could be appreciated on its own.
As the two of them made their way in with Fenrir being told by Atreus to be on the spot next to the entrance, where a metal dog bowl with his name on it was, Akeno could see several glass cases on the right side of the room. The cases held and showcased a wide range of weapons that appeared to be magical, as Akeno, with her talent in reading different kinds of energy flows, could feel powers radiating from them while they all seemed to emit an unnatural glow.
Towards the back of the room was a classic workshop area, with old fashioned smithing tools hanging from the walls, including hammers and tongs. A great furnace roared with heat, and sparks flew from the anvils as Brok and Sindri, the two dwarves who were famous for crafting the legendary hammer Mjolnir, worked on their latest creations. The air around them was thick with the scent of molten metal and charred woods.
The sounds of hammering, clanging, and grinding filled the place, accompanied by the chorus of grunts and light bickering from the two dwarves as they worked.
"Brok, Sindri, I am here!"
Atreus announced his arrival as he made his way towards the workshop with Akeno trailing carefully behind. Having seen the skills of Brok and Sindri and knowing that she was in their weapon shop that was full of powerful and dangerous items, Akeno had decided to be extra mindful of her surroundings to avoid accidentally touching something she was not supposed to and possibly harming herself.
"Ah, bring the girl with you as well, ain't ya? Thought you were wooing the red one, but I will not blame you for going for more." Brok asked as he slammed his hammer down the anvil and walked over to stand in front of Atreus with his brother, making Atreus sweat drop while Akeno hid her smile behind her hand. "Never mind that, you ready to get down to do some dirty work?"
"Yeah, but… what do you mean dirty work? You two are not about to ask me to do something illegal, right?"
"Of course not. What we need you to do is legitimate business." Sindri shook his head and said, making Atreus and Akeno narrow their eyes at the two suspiciously "So, in order for us to craft you that weapon of yours, we are first going to need a strong material that can withstand all the powers that are going to be put in it using the ancient smithing works. To do that, we have to…"
"What smart guy is trying to tell you is that we need Asgardian steels. Plain and simple." Brok interrupted rudely while scratching his beard "Thing is… we kinda used up everything that we had in our stock for those Valkyries. You remember them? The group with that haggling granddaughter of lady Gondul?"
'Yeah, I remember them." Atreus nodded before he was unable to stop himself from asking "Wait, you are not going to ask me to steal their weapons now, are you?"
"What? No! We would never do that… Repo is for amateurs. We are pros and we have a reputation to keep." Sindri said with an awkward laugh while tapping the tips of his fingers together in a nervous manner, making both Atreus and Akeno sweat drop at the two, unable to stop themselves from having the feeling that they had probably done it, or at least tried to at one point in the past. "Ahem, so anyway, there was this Dwarf in Niðavellir who sold them at an unreasonable, cutthroat price, but we were able to cut a deal with him because he owned us a favor and purchase a few pounds of the steels, enough to make this weapon for you regardless of what form it is going to take."
"But?"
"Guy is dead. Offed by a troll or something." Brok answered bluntly, making Atreus widen his eyes slightly in surprise. "His apprentice took over his business a few days ago, and trust me when I say you will not find a bigger jackass and drama queen than that fucker. He sent us an email saying that the deal we cut was with his master, not him, so he jacked the prize up like the mead pissing idiot Thor blasting off to the moon after getting absolutely wasted on mead."
"Is the material that rare?" Akeno asked curiously, having only read about Asgardian steels in the books "Can you two find someone else to buy it from?"
"Oh we can, if smart guy here has not already paid for it in full." Brok answered with a deadpan expression, while Sindri scratched the back of his head guiltily.
"And also… the alloy cannot be re-forged once it has taken a form, so even if we ask you to steal back those weapons that we made for those Valkyries, it is highly unlikely that we can forge them into anything, let alone one of the caliber that you asked for." Sindri explained before he continued, trying to change the topic of their conversation. "Atreus, we are going to need you to travel to Niðavellir to meet this dwarf and convince him to give us that shipment of Asgardian steels before he sells it to someone else."
"And what if I cannot convince him?" Atreus asked, but Brok and Sindri simply turned their heads to look at each other instead of answering him right away, making Atreus snort before speaking up what he had in mind "You guys want me to steal it, don't you?"
"It ain't stealing, kid, if we have already paid." Brok scoffed in annoyance "It ain't hurt to show him a little muscle either if you need to intimidate him. The little prick has skills, but everyone in Niðavellir has been trying to knock his teeth in with the way he has been running his business, so if you feel the need to give him a kick in the balls, fine by me."
"Right." Atreus sweatdropped "So, how do I get to Niðavellir from here? Got a Key of Yggdrasil for me?"
Instantly, Atreus regretted asking the two that question, because at the same time, both Dwarves furrowed their eyebrows at him before turning their heads to look at each other.
"I mean…"
"WAAHAHHAHAH, the key of Yggdrasil? Seriously? What years are you living in, kid?" Before Atreus could reason it, Brok suddenly asked, laughing maniacally and mockingly while holding his stomach. Sindri was more polite about it, but he too was also trying to hold his laughter in.
"Atreus, we have not used those stones in hundreds of years since the establishment of the Himinbjörg Station. They are more or less just useless rocks now."
"The what now?"
"The Himinbjörg Station, you don't know about it, Atreus-kun?" Akeno asked in mild surprise, and Atreus could only respond to her by slowly shaking his head.
Aphrodite did not mention it when they compared the differences between their worlds with each other so he and his father would know what they were dealing with, but then again, he did not ask her about it, nor did he think something like it would exist in the first place.
"Dumbasses kept throwing themselves over the edge of the path despites the warning signs, so the All Fucker made the decision to lock up the branches the World Tree and had the train station built in Himinbjörg as a mean for people to travel between the Nine Realms, using the Bifrost bridge." With that explained to Atreus, Brok then asked Akeno to say it to her before she could even ask "You cannot go to Niðavellir using that teleportation magic of yours either. Ancient dwarves set up magical barriers around our realms to keep outsiders from just teleporting in and yoinking our crafts whenever they please. We know, because we were there."
"I see." was the only thing Akeno could say in response.
"There is a portal on Olympus that takes you straight to the station. Just head north from here and you should see it." Sindri then said "Board the train that goes to Niðavellir and it should take you there in about half an hour."
"There is one that will leave at seven, so you have plenty of time to spare." With that said, Brok then reached into his pouch and brought out a rolled up parchment "I have mapped it out for you here, but if you are still lost then just ask for Hedrith the Jackass in Radsvinn's Rig and everyone should point you to the right direction."
"Thanks."
"And you will need to keep your bow hidden somewhere. Himinbjörg Station has a no weapon policy, but you are going to need it to protect yourself in the wetlands. You are going to have to cross them if you want to get to Radsvinn's Rig."
Sindri said, making Atreus nod his head in understanding, remembering all the hostile and dangerous creatures he and his father had run into during their journey in the Svartalfheim/ Niðavellir of their world to find Tyr, who later turned out to be Odin in disguise. He had no doubt that the region would be even more dangerous during nighttime.
"Thanks for the heads up, Sindri."
"I can hold onto your bow and quiver for you if you want, Atreus-kun." Akeno offered before Atreus could figure out a way to hide his weapon, making him widen his eyes in surprise as he looked at her. "And before you ask, yes, I am going to come with you to Niðavellir."
"Are you sure? We are not going sightseeing, you know. It could be really dangerous." Atreus pointed out.
"You know I can take care of myself. Not to mention that I cannot just let you go there all by yourself either. Rias would certainly do the same if she were in my shoes." Akeno reasoned, knowing that this could be the perfect opportunity for her to get ahead of Rias.
"Still…"
"Let her come with you, kid. Pretty sure you can manage to keep you both safe if you can handle the Hades brat." Brok interrupted, speaking to him with a chuckle, making Atreus look at him and Sindri, who was also having the same look on his face, before turning back to Akeno to tell her.
"Okay, fine. But if we run into some monsters, you will do as I say, alright?" He then asked, emphasizing his question with a gesture of his hand "No funny business."
With a beaming smile, Akeno answered him, "You know I am fine with following your orders."
For some reason, Atreus could not help but feel that she meant it in other ways too.
"Alright, off you two go then."
"And please do not forget Fenrir!"
With those words given to them by Brok and then Sindri, Atreus and Akeno left the shop with Fenrir, returning to the busy street of Olympia…
…where they immediately found themselves meeting a certain someone who left Akeno completely speechless as she stood near a carriage being drawn by a pair of white winged horses, Pegasus.
"Wa…" was the only sound that Akeno could make as she stood there frozen while gazing at the otherworldly gorgeous woman standing before her, suddenly feeling small in comparison to her grandeur. She had never thought too much about it, but in that moment Akeno could not help but feel that her own beauty felt insignificant in comparison to hers.
"Can you… like, not do that?" Atreus asked with a deadpan expression, as he was completely unaffected by her divine glamour.
"Do what? I have this kind of effect on everyone else looking like this, you know." The goddess of love and beauty asked innocently, striking a pose before the two with her hands above her head, but Atreus just rolled his eyes at her before grabbing Akeno by her shoulder and shaking her lightly, snapping her out of her trance. "How do you do, Akeno-chan?"
"You… know me?" Akeno could not help but ask.
"Why of course! As the goddess of love, it is in my duty to know every girl who is in love." Aphrodite winked as she reached her hand out to pat Fenrir, making Akeno gasp softly in shock and realization. "Aphrodite. I believe that you have at least heard, or read about me."
"Y-yes."
Giving Akeno a smile, Aphrodite then turned her attention to Atreus and asked him, "I overheard your conversation with Brok and Sindri. You two are going to Svartalfheim?"
"Yeah. You remember the thing that I discussed with them a while back? It's happening. I'm on my first job for them." The young god answered with a nod of his head. "And it's Niðavellir."
"Right. I would loove to tag along as well if I am not busy right now. Not to mention that I definitely don't want to third wheeling you two." The goddess of love giggled, making Akeno blush slightly "So, good luck."
"Thanks."
"And Akeno-chan, do what your heart tells you."
With that said to Akeno and a wink to her, leaving the young woman slightly confused but it did not take it long for her to realize what the goddess of love meant, Aphrodite turned on her heels and left, her long, beautiful blonde hair flowing in the winds behind her as she made her way back to her pegasus drawn carriage while being gazed longingly and dazedly at by everyone else on the street. The carriage then took off and headed toward the grand structure on the very top of the mountain that was known by all as the Throne Room, or the Hall of the Greek gods.
"Wow." After Aphrodite had left, Akeno finally found herself being able to utter in amazement.
At the same time, now that she could properly use her mind and think straight again, Akeno could not help but feel that there was something familiar about Aphrodite. It was as if she had met her somewhere before, and yet at the same time she could not quite place her finger around it.
"Come on, Akeno."
Before she could think more about it, Atreus suddenly called out to her, and Akeno looked over to him to see him offering his hand to her while sitting on the back of Fenrir, who had grown to the same size as the pegasus earlier. Looking unsurely at the two for a second, Akeno smiled and took his hand, allowing Atreus to pull her up to sit down behind him on Fenrir's back before she leaned toward him and wrapped arms around his waist.
Once that they had both settled, Atreus patted his pet wolf softly on the side of his body and the wolf let out a howl before he began running north, his powerful muscles swiftly propelling them forward and maneuvering through the busy streets of Olympia while Akeno held onto Atreus tightly, feeling her heart pounding with excitement and anticipation. Although the trip to the portal Brok and Sindri had pointed them to was short, Akeno enjoyed it a lot.
Stepping through the greenish, swirling mass of energy of the portal, a twenty feet tall structure that was shaped in an arch, Atreus and Akeno found themselves entering a place that was unlike anything they had seen before. The platform seemed to stretch out for miles, shimmering in a mesmerizing display of color that blended perfectly together. The air was crypt and clean, filled with the sound of trains moving in the distance.
"Oh wow." Akeno gasped, and this time, her feeling was shared by Atreus. "I really don't want to say it but… the Gremory train station has nothing on this one."
Her statement caused Atreus to raise an eyebrow in surprise, "The Gremory has a train station?"
"Yes. The Gremory built it so we can use the train to travel to the Underworld and visit the Gremory Residence every summer, especially whenever we have a new member since it's tradition. The station is also not far from the academy, actually." Akeno nodded her head and answered him, making Atreus whistle softly in amazement.
"So, where do you think the ticket booths are?" Atreus asked while looking around, noticing the direction that was shown on one of the sign above their heads "Ah, this way."
With that said, Atreus and Akeno, with Fenrir following closely at their side, headed on to find the ticket booths to buy the tickets to Niðavellir, noticing all types of creatures and mythical beings passing by them around the station besides mortal humans. Many, like the Minotaurs and Satyrs, were obviously from Greece, but there were also other races from other Pantheons and mystical worlds as well, like the dwarves, the trolls, the goblins, or even the small to medium sized dragons.
By following the instructions, it did not take it long for Atreus and Akeno to find the ticket booths, which located in an entirely separated area with a large sign that read 'HIMINBJÖRG TICKET BOOTHS' in a vibrant purple color, reminding Atreus a bit of the color of the Bifrost energy and its associated magic.
"I have…"
Atreus abruptly stopped himself when he caught the sight of a familiar figure entering his field of vision. With his eyes widening in surprise, Atreus instantly snapped his head toward them as the figure stopped in front of a grocery store and then turned around to look directly at him, meeting his gaze with their purple eyes with black sclera that seemed to emit a faint glow with the energy inside them.
Smirking, the figure then raised a hand and beckoned Atreus to come to them with a waving motion, while clutching in the other a sheathed sword, and wearing on the back of the belt a certain horn, which itself was enough for anyone to know who he was.
Atreus almost wanted to hit himself in the head. How could he forget that Himinbjörg was the name of his home.
Despite having the face that made him want to punch his skull in, the man somehow, and strangely, looked friendly enough. Atreus also did not sense any ill intention or malice coming from him, but he still decided to not let his guard down.
His father had taught him not to.
"Atreus-kun…"
"Akeno, take this and go buy us two tickets to Niðavellir. If they don't know where that is, just tell them it's Svartalfheim." Atreus instructed, bringing out from his pocket a small bag of hacksilver and giving it to Akeno, who was looking between him and the figure in slight confusion. "Fenrir, go with her."
"Woof."
With that, Atreus approached the man, planning his moves and what he was going to say carefully in his mind. Technically, the two of them did not know each other, but the way that person was looking at him in anticipation said otherwise, and considering how those eyes of his worked, he might as well know exactly who he was.
"Can I…"
"You can stop the dumb act. I know you know who I am, and it is not because of the horn, or my eyes, is it?" The man asked, interrupting Atreus and stopping him before he could finish asking his question. It was only then that Atreus hardened his gaze and lowered his tone down, noticing some people watching them, including those who looked like the guards of the station.
"What do you want, Heimdall?" Atreus asked calmly, "I do not want any trouble."
"And neither do I." Heimdall answered, making Atreus raise an eyebrow at him "Just want to come and say hi to the son of the god who slain the other Heimdall."
"You… know?"
"It is a certain… talent of mine." Heimdall answered, his eyes glowing brighter for a split second before toning down "The other Heimdall could have done it too, but I guess he did not live long enough to learn how, or he was simply just far too arrogant and thick headed to ever bother trying, using his gift only to gain immediate advantage in combat, which ended up becoming his undoing."
"And to be fair with you, every other Heimdall out there and myself can agree to the fact that the guy got what he deserved." Heimdall then continued with a shrug of his shoulder "I trust that you know what it feels like to have an evil counterpart. The you of this world has always been a pain in the ass to us all, just like how the me of your world is a problem, Loki."
Atreus simply responded with a 'right', feeling uneasy that he had just addressed him as Loki. Someone might have overheard their conversation.
Despite that, he knew precisely what Heimdall meant. The other Loki had a despicable reputation, having committed countless misdeeds and true mischief throughout history. His current whereabouts was unknown, but most people speculated he was plotting to overthrow Odin and initiate Ragnarok to destroy the entire world.
When asked what they thought Loki was doing at the moment, almost everyone would certainly give him that same answer.
"It is almost time for you to leave for Svartalfheim." Heimdall suddenly said, making Atreus turn his head to see Akeno and Fenrir waiting for him on the side of the ticket booths with two rainbow colored tickets in her hand. "When you reunite with your friends, you will learn that the tickets are free. They are my gifts to you. Take it, as my act of goodwill toward you and your friend."
"Why?" Atreus asked.
"It has already been foretold that Loki and Heimdall are destined to finish each other off in Ragnarok. When that day comes, I would much prefer the one that goes down with me is the right one, so I would like to be on friendly terms with at least one of you, rather than being enemy of both."
With that said, Heimdall extended his hand forward, making Atreus look at it for a second before taking it into his own.
"Have fun on your trip to Svartalfheim, Loki. And please enjoy your time on the Bifrost Express. Your secret will be safe with me."
Heimdall told him with a smile, and Atreus simply gave him a nod of acknowledgement before bidding him goodbye to return to Akeno and Fenrir.
End of chapter 23
Note: And that is the end of this chapter! Sorry for taking this long to send this one out guys! The more recent reviews that I got was a bit discouraging to my writing for this story, so yeah, I wasn't able to find that much of inspiration to write (not to mention that the hype for GoW Ragnarok is long gone by now, I started off this story after the first playthrough through the God of War, and got to write it over the period of time that GoW Ragnarok came out, so I was really inspired to write as fast and quickly as I can).
I guess one of the problems that I had with this story is that because I started it off not knowing how teenager Atreus would behave, but too afraid to create one that would be too differ from the Atreus that would be shown in Ragnarok, I make him… let say, too plain and simple, too perfect in a way without any of his flaws that were shown in the most recent God of War game. It was only after like 13~15 chapters that I got a glimpse of how Atreus was like with the release of Ragnarok and playing the game, so you can see some subtle changes in his personalities throughout the later chapters.
Regardless, I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter. At first I wanted to make Heimdall the 'Idris Elba' MCU version of Heimdall, but decided to stick with his original design in GoW. He will be different, however, in term of personalities as you can see in this chapter. I have some plans for him for the future arcs of this story, especially the one that focused on Ragnarok, but for the time being he will stay the train conductor of the Bifrost Express.
That will be all. As always in any of my story, leave behind a REVIEW once you have finished reading! The more feedbacks I have the more I am inspirited to pump out new chapters faster! All new chapters and updates are always available much earlier on my p/atreon than the official publish, so make sure to check it out if you want to get to new chapters earlier than official release or make requests/commissions :D (this one got official release much sooner than usual because it's been a while that I updated it, but new chapters usually stay for a few days before being released publicly).
And be sure to check out my discord channel as well, and join my amazing community (Both links to my p/atreon and discord channel can be found in my profile page).
See you in the next update everyone!