Sindri had just spilled everything he knew with a casual indifference that left the group stunned.
He spoke without a care in the world, unaware of the weight his words carried as he revealed that he and his brother had known the truth about Faye all along.
Not only that, but he casually referenced the true nature of Kratos as a god, shattering the secrecy that had bound the family for so long.
Atreus, realizing that even the blacksmiths knew more about his life than he did, began asking more and more questions about his mother.
It seemed that everyone around him knew the specifics of his mother's true nature except for him, Zelos, and Kratos.
They had been kept in the dark for all of their lives, and the frustration was finally boiling over for the young boy.
"Both of my parents are secret keepers. I understand that they wanted to protect me, but shouldn't I know this? I have the right to know who I am. It is really complicated," Atreus could not help but say in a slightly annoyed tone.
He looked between his father and the dwarf, unable to help but question the reasons for his mother being so secretive about her origins.
"Boy, family sure is complicated. Believe me, I know that better than most," Sindri could not help but comment as he thought of his own brother, Brok, and their incredibly complicated relationship.
They did really care about each other deep down, but pride always got in the way of things.
It was something that Mimir could tell at first glance just by observing the way Sindri hesitated when speaking of his kin.
"Your family is still family. Do not let your pride get in the way of things before it is too late," Mimir said wisely towards Sindri.
Sindri became silent for a moment, clearly affected by Mimir's words.
However, realizing that it was not the time for sentimental reflection, he forcibly snapped himself out of his confusion.
He shook his head and started going back to his forge, where he compulsively cleansed himself and the entire area before returning to his work.
"Never mind that. What can I do for you?" Sindri then said, trying to regain his professional demeanor.
Kratos put down his axe on the table. He knew that they were now in the final moments of their journey. The peak was within reach, and the unexpected was supposed to happen.
Kratos, ever the warrior, started preparing his mind and body for a possible fight, especially with them preparing to enter a realm unknown to him and his sons.
Meanwhile, Zelos stood slightly apart from the group.
He put his entire attention towards the essence of Magni that was still lingering on him from their previous battle. He had been quietly refining it within his own magical core.
His goal was to remove the specific essence that made it Aesir in nature, stripping away the connection to Odin and Thor, and distilling it down to become a purer representation of godhood.
It turns out that Magni is not just a brute; he holds the domain of the God of Strength.
This was the same specific godhood that the concept of Strength represented in ancient myths, distinct from his father's general domain. It was a raw, physical power that Zelos found incredibly useful.
As Zelos finished filtering the entire essence, he stepped forward towards Kratos.
He patted Kratos on the back firmly. In that brief moment of contact, he transferred the essence of Magni towards Kratos without him knowing the specifics of the spell work.
The refined finish of Magni's essence of Strength was going to be a catalyst.
It was designed to restart the missing magic of Kratos that had been inaccessible since Greece was destroyed, as magic is directly tied to a homeland, and Kratos had been cut off from his source for too long.
Zelos meticulously refined this essence to let Kratos's magic restart, but he added a crucial modification.
He was directly creating a link between Kratos's dormant magic and the World Tree itself to replace the lost connection to Greece.
When it finished creating a link, it would activate, directly giving Kratos his magic back as well as assimilating the God of Strength essence that once belonged to Magni.
Kratos, feeling the tap of Zelos and a sudden surge of heat in his spine, looked at his son with raised eyebrows.
"What did you do?" Kratos asked calmly, though his eyes were sharp. He wanted to know exactly what Zelos had done to him.
"I am establishing a link between the World Tree and your godhood. You have a destroyed connection in your homeland. I do not know what happened there.
Maybe you were cast out, or the land fell, but since you are here, you should have access to your own powers as well as what the World Tree would provide.
If we are going to be fighting the oldest race there is or whatever guards Jotunheim, we need every kind of strength we have," Zelos said with a serious tone.
He was lying straight to Kratos's face regarding his ignorance of Kratos's past, but the logic held up.
Zelos knew that there were no armies of Giants in Jotunheim, at least none that revealed themselves in their would-be journey in this timeline, but he needed Kratos at full power for the battles to come.
"Would that mean that he would have access to his previous abilities, brother?" Mimir then chimed in. It was incredibly intriguing, to say the least.
Zelos's sorcery would oftentimes shock Mimir based on the sheer impossibility of his magic, but no matter how improbable something is, the more likely Zelos would be able to achieve it.
"That is correct. It is actually a variation of the spell that the Giants used on you when they gave you your Bifrost eyes.
Your eyes are directly powered by the World Tree. In this case, I just targeted Father's godhood and made it empowered by the World Tree instead of his own homeland.
Do you have any objection to this, Father? If so, I would remove it entirely," Zelos said towards Mimir as he answered the question, while also asking Kratos to see if he was alright with the intrusion.
"I do not feel anything different," Kratos said. He was looking at his arms, turning them over. There was nothing that had changed in his very being physically.
But then, after a moment, the sensation hit him. Kratos felt his heart beating faster and faster. It thumped against his ribs like a war drum.
It felt like he was entering his rage form, but clearer and more potent. Suddenly, arcs of energy danced across his skin.
Fire and lightning came out of his own body, but it was not just any lightning. It was a crackling, intense, gold colored lightning.
"This is not a part of my abilities before," Kratos said, looking at the sparks flying from his fingertips. He could not release a golden lightning blast on his own, as that specific power was part of Zeus's abilities, not his.
"I think it is what the World Tree has given you. I used the Godhood essence of Magni as a catalyst to establish your connection with the World Tree. With him being a son of Thor, the God of Lightning, maybe it did have something to do with that residual energy. You do not have any lightning-bearer gods as a relative, right Father?" Zelos then said towards Kratos.
He explained the possible reason why Kratos can summon golden lightning with a straight face, while also feigning ignorance of who Kratos's father was.
It had not been discussed by Kratos yet, and it would be suspicious if he had brought up the King of Olympus out of nowhere.
"No," Kratos then answered immediately.
This denial made Mimir directly look at Kratos's eyes. Kratos did not meet his gaze.
Mimir, who had pieced together the identity of the Ghost of Sparta, knew that Zeus was his father and thus knew Kratos was lying to his children.
Atreus looked at his father with wide eyes. It was something that was directly connected to his own nature as a god.
He wanted to know if maybe sometime, he could bear lightning too, but Kratos's answer made him a little bit disappointed that there was no hereditary link to such power.
While all of this was happening, Sindri was just finishing the upgrades on the Leviathan Axe.
The process was taking too long due to the already immense strength of the axe, and Sindri was thinking hard about where he should incorporate the structural changes to handle the new grip.
"Done!" Sindri then suddenly yelled out triumphantly.
His shout shifted the topic away from the uncomfortable discussion about the relatives of Kratos and back towards the weapon.
Kratos immediately walked off and took the weapon from the rack. As he held it, the new magic within him reacted.
He stared at the golden lightning that was creeping up the handle of the Leviathan Axe, merging with the frost to create a weapon of terrifying power.
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A/N: SORRY, IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE UPLOADED AT 12 AM, TURNS OUT IT DIDN'T AND I JUST NOTICED IT AS I WAKE UP AND GOT CONFUSED WHY THERE'S NO UPLOAD, ANYWAY, HOPE YOU ENJOY IT, AND SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT.