POV: Atreus (Damocles)
Fresh air once again filled my lungs. For the past ten years, I had lived as if in a dream a simple, peaceful life, filled with hard manual labor. I was no longer drenched in blood, fighting for my life. It was a beautiful time nearly perfect, a life with family, despite everything. Demeter hadn't let me awaken fully, as if holding me in an illusion made real. Perhaps, in the end, I'll return to that place… and stay there until my final breath.
"Can't we just run away? Hide from it all?" Demeter asked softly.
"Running is for cowards. I'd rather face my enemy with a blade in hand than turn my back," I answered.
"And what do you plan to do?" she frowned.
"I'll use military cunning," I smirked. "The eyes of the gods will be fixed on Kratos. While they watch him… I'll change everything."
"But why would they watch a mortal?" she asked, surprised.
"Kratos is the man from the prophecy. The one whose body is marked with red," I said.
"Him? Then who did Olympus cast into the pit?" she asked, her brows furrowing.
"His brother," I replied, already planning my next move. First, I would have to visit Hephaestus. Before Zeus's wrath fell upon him completely, I needed to hide Pandora. I knew of a sanctuary a safe place between realms. That is where I would take them.
Reaching Hephaestus would be easy. But Pandora… she was imprisoned within a labyrinth no mortal or god could cross.
I would have to return to the Underworld. There were still unfinished matters between me and Hades.
"Can you see through the plants what's happening in Sparta?" I asked.
Demeter closed her eyes for a moment. A soft green light ran down her arms, as if nature itself had answered her call.
"A large part of the Spartan army is far to the north, beyond the borders of Greece. They're fighting barbarian tribes," she said, opening her eyes.
I nodded. Everything was unfolding exactly as it was meant to.
Kratos would kill his family after Ares makes him his servant. The god of war would steal his wife and daughter, placing them in a village that he himself would later command Kratos to destroy. That's when I must act.
"Watch Kratos and Sparta. The moment anything changes let me know immediately," I said, pulling out a compass.
I activated the artifact, watching as a path between realms opened before me. I stepped through and arrived on the island of Lemnos.
As my foot touched the earth, ash rose into the air. The wind carried it away across the scorched land. Everything was dead. Not a soul, not a sound only silence and the grim grey landscape.
The settlement, as I remembered it, was gone. Once bustling with life merchants, smiths, craftsmen now only ruins remained. Something terrible had happened here.
I made my way to the volcano and descended into its heart. Deep underground, in the darkness and fire, I found the ruined forge of Hephaestus. The tools were broken. No weapons remained.
Hephaestus lay on a stone ledge, maimed and barely alive. His fingers were mangled, his master tool destroyed. His eyes were empty.
"Hephaestus," I said.
"…It's you," he rasped. The voice was not his broken, distant. He struggled to his feet, swaying as if each step brought pain.
"Was it Olympus?" I asked, locking eyes with him.
"Yes…" he whispered. "They found out I helped forge your weapon. The punishment came swiftly. Zeus unleashed his fury on Lemnos, wiped out all life, destroyed my followers. Then… he came himself. Broke each of my fingers. So I'd never dare forge again without his will."
He spoke calmly without rage or sorrow. As if he had already walked through hell, and accepted all that had befallen him.
"I came to fulfill my oath. There's a place where you'll be safe," I said.
"Pandora… Go to her first," he murmured. "Don't worry about me."
"Are you sure?" I asked, frowning.
"I'm sure. If they notice I'm gone, they'll start searching. And they may harm her. Get Pandora first… then return for me." He fell silent, his gaze fixed on me. "You've changed. You're not the man you once were."
"Much has changed," I nodded. "Damocles is dead. Call me Atreus now."
"A name matters little. Atreus it is, then," Hephaestus said, lowering his gaze.
He was in this state because of me. I couldn't just leave him. Perhaps… some shred of goodness might yet remain in his life.
I activated the compass once more. A path between realms opened before me. One step and the Underworld stretched out before me. Here, all remained the same: darkness, silence, and death.
Pandora was close. Somewhere near Tartarus.
*Caw*
A raven landed upon a nearby stone. She's watching again. Erinys… I still hadn't unraveled her mystery. What drives her? Why does she follow me? Should I strike her down before she makes her move? So far, she had given me no reason. But trust… trust is a luxury I cannot afford.
The path was littered with fallen warriors. Their empty eyes burned with hatred. I was not welcome here.
Hades would have to wait. I would visit him later I had questions he would answer. But now Pandora. I must keep my promise.
I willed my spear to life. It ignited in crimson light, from shaft to tip, pointing at the undead drawing near. One strike a burst of power seared through them all.
The air filled with the scent of battle. Metal rang, flesh evaporated, and my heart pounded faster. Muscles tensed, my entire being entered a state of perfect readiness for one purpose alone: to vanquish the foe. I remembered it well charging into battle again and again, dissolving into pain and fury. Peaceful life so sweet, so coveted…
But I was born a Spartan. War runs in my blood I absorbed its essence. I am will, tempered in the fire of countless battles. I am the spear I wield.
"I am a warrior. And I shall remain so until the end of my days," my lips whispered.
Turning, I looked upon the bodies of the fallen, strewn across the stone floor those who dared to bar my way.
And there it stood again Tartarus. The prison of the Titans. And at its very heart, suspended by chains from the heavens the Labyrinth.
It could not be breached. It could not be destroyed. It could not be deceived. It had neither entrance nor end. As long as the Flame of Olympus burned the Labyrinth remained impenetrable. And the key to the Flame… was hidden within the Labyrinth itself.A paradox.
But I knew this much: no fortress exists that cannot be taken.
The Labyrinth had no entrance. No exit. It was sealed unto itself an eternal snare for any who dared seek its path.
Drawing my compass, I looked at the needle. It quivered wildly, twitching in every direction as if lost in the folds of space itself.
I gripped my spear and hurled it at one of the walls. The metal struck and bounced away without leaving a scratch. I called to it and it returned to my palm.
Author's Note:
Upon reviewing the story again, I realized that Pandora only appeared after the first game, once the box had already been opened. It's too late to change that now, but it's not a major issue I'll keep it the way it is. In my version, Pandora is the key to the Flame of Olympus, sealed away in the Underworld. She resides within a labyrinth no man or god can pass.