1 Prologue

Darkness. Cold. Pain. The endless void was a harsh mistress, and he didn't know how long he had been aimlessly drifting, not that he had a say in it. For all he knew, it could've been a few minutes, or hours, or maybe even much more than that.

He knew he couldn't last forever, but he had hope. His father would save him like he had done so many times. He was sure of that. So, he held on to that hope, doing his best to survive and stay conscious. For he knew, the moment he fell asleep, he will never wake up again.

More time passed, and he was at the end of the rope. He didn't know how much longer he could hold on, but then something occurred. He felt something wrap around him gently before flinging him. He didn't know what happened, but he suddenly found himself falling.

Roughly, he landed on the ground. His mouth opened up, but no sound escaped his hoarse throat. His entire body was filled with wounds, and he felt himself slowly bleeding. He was in a world of pain, and the situation didn't look good for him, but he knew he will survive. He had to.

He laid on the ground, his face buried in the mud as he couldn't move a muscle when he heard a voice. It spoke in a tongue he wasn't familiar with, but after each word, he gained a deeper understanding of what was said.

A hand nudged him and pulled him out of the mud. His sight, however, was still a pitch darkness. More words were spoken, but it was not like he could respond.

He then suddenly felt something wash over him. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was gentle. It almost seemed like it was trying to close the wounds on his body. However, it didn't have much success. It just made him feel a bit better.

A hand then sneaked underneath him and gently lifted him up, making him feel safe and secure. His first response was to utter, "Father." In his near unconscious state, he hadn't even realized he had spoken in the foreign language he just heard.

There was a brief and almost unnoticeable tremble from the one that picked him up; he also realized that just couldn't be his father. Although his dad always tried to be gentle in such situations, he was rough around the edges. The man, at least he thought it was a man, was also far smaller than his father. He felt alarmed realizing that. He tried struggling, but he didn't really have the strength to move.

Maybe he shouldn't have struggled as he suddenly felt himself being squeezed through a tube that was far too small for him. It almost seemed like he had taken a quick trip through the void.

Thankfully, it only lasted for a split second, but his insides felt as if they were turned outside. He was sure he would've puked everything in his stomach had it not been empty. That was the last thing he remembered before losing consciousness.

The next time he opened his eyes, he found himself on a bed. Abruptly, he raised himself in panic, only to come face to face with a blonde woman. She had soft features with gentle blue eyes and a pretty face.

Immediately, he jumped away from the bed like an agile monkey, surprising the woman with his actions. He managed to get a quick glimpse of the room and saw that it had many shelves filled with jars and vials. He didn't recognize what was in them, but he had seen something similar before.

"I mean you no harm," the blonde woman said with a soft voice. She sounded like she meant it, but he had learned not to trust others easily.

"Who are you, and where am I?" He asked while his left hand reached for his waist. It found nothing there. That alarmed him even more. He was in a room with an unknown woman without any of his stuff.

"I'm Perenelle, and you are in my home," she replied. Again, her voice was soft, trying to convey she wasn't an enemy.

"Your home? Where is it?" He asked while taking quick glimpses around the room, trying to find a way out if he needed to.

Perenelle was in the way of a door, but he wasn't sure he wanted to go that way since he didn't know where it led. There was a window next to the bed he jumped out of, which seemed like the way to go.

"It's a bit hard to explain, but it's on a private island," Perenelle answered him. She stood there without moving a muscle.

"Private island?" He understood what she was trying to say, but he wasn't sure what she meant.

"Yes. The island is safely hidden from others, and my husband was surprised to find you in your... awful condition. I don't think I've ever had a patient that was as difficult as you to heal," Perenelle said with a shake of her head. Both her potions and magic had little effect on the boy. It had taken her over a month of constant care to get him to his current condition.

Perenelle had helped him recover. He was grateful for that, but still, he wasn't sure how trustworthy she was. She looked and sounded kind, so maybe he was overthinking it.

At that moment, the door to the room opened up. A tall man with dark blue eyes and long black hair tied in a ponytail walked in.

"I see you have finally recovered," the man said as he studied him up and down.

He didn't respond. He was up and watching the two in alarm. Obviously, he had recovered somewhat.

"I'm Nicolas," the man continued and pointed at the woman, "and I assume my wife has already introduced herself to you."

There was a brief silence as the couple watched him patiently. He figured they were waiting for him to introduce himself to them. There was a time where he would jump at the chance of meeting new people and talking with them about everything that came to his mind.

Now, however, he stayed quiet and wondered what he should do. The two didn't seem hostile, but he wasn't sure how they would react to his name. In the end, he decided to be up-front with them.

"My name is Atreus," he said and studied them carefully. They nodded but didn't seem to react in any other way.

"Atreus..." Nicolas repeated before asking, "Would you mind telling us how you ended up on our island?"

"I..." he wasn't sure how to answer that as he didn't know. For that matter, "Where is your island?"

There was a moment of silence as the two looked at each other before Perenelle answered, "It's in the ocean between France and the United Kingdom."

"France? The United Kingdom?" Atreus questioned in confusion.

"You don't know?" Nicolas asked in surprise, and he shook his head.

"How about Europe?" Again, Nicolas received the same response.

"Africa? Asia? America?"

Atreus didn't recognize any of those names. Nicolas and Perenelle looked at each other in worry. To Atreus, it seemed as if the two were communicating wordlessly. Maybe through their minds? Was that even possible? Probably, he wasn't sure, though.

"Do you remember where you are from?" Perenelle asked, and Atreus nodded in response.

"Will you tell us? We can try to help you return," Perenelle said. Her tone was as gentle as the first time she spoke to him.

That got his hopes up, so Atreus answered, "Midgard."

However, he was then reminded of something important. There was no way to return back to Midgard. The realm, alongside the other eight, had all been destroyed. There was nothing left for him to return to.

Again, Nicolas and Perenelle looked at each other. By this point, Atreus was sure they were able to talk with each other somehow. He also had a question on his mind that he just had to ask.

"What are you?"

"A wizard and a witch," Nicolas replied, and he and Perenelle looked as if they were expecting some kind of response from Atreus. He wasn't sure what it was, but he had another question for them.

"Just that?"

Mimir and Kratos had preached to him so many times that gods were never to be trusted. Nothing good will come out of that. It was honestly hypocritical coming from them as both of them were gods, but he understood what they meant by it.

Thinking about his father, Atreus wondered where he was. The two had ended up in the same situation, drifting in the void, but if he had survived, then Kratos was definitely alive as well. The only question was, where was he?

"What else could we be?" Perenelle asked, and Atreus thought she sounded genuine. At least he hoped so.

"Nothing," Atreus said, almost in relief, but his answer only brought more questions for the couple. He wasn't surprised about them being wizards, so he was aware and knew about magic. However, he was scared of them being more than simple wizards. There was no point in pushing the conversation now, so Perenelle changed the subject.

"Would you like to eat something? You've been sleeping for a month. I have been giving you nutritious potions regularly, but nothing can replace actual food."

"I would like to, yes," Atreus answered. Eating wasn't a necessity, but it was one way of regaining his energy, and he was feeling weak. The fact that he had been sleeping for a month and given potions during that time alarmed him, but he didn't feel there was something out of place.

"Great, I will prepare something and bring it to you," Perenelle said brightly and turned around.

"Wait, can I come with you?" Atreus didn't think that Perenelle would poison the food since apparently, he'd been bedridden for over a month. He just didn't want to be left alone and also wished to spend more time with her. The look in Perenelle's eyes reminded him of his mother, and the one Freya had before... before the death of her son.

"Sure," Perenelle agreed, and Atreus followed after her.

"I will be with you shortly," Nicolas said and exited as well. He maneuvered through his house and entered a room filled with various trinkets. He rummaged through them for a bit before finding a locket in the shape of an eye.

Nicolas placed the locket on a table, poured his magic into it, and waited. In a moment, the image of an old Asian man in robes appeared over it. With a smile, he said, "Nicolas! You look as young as ever."

"And you, Yao, look even older."

"The years haven't treated me kindly," Yao said with a playful smile.

"My offer for that still stands."

"I know, old friend, but that is not to be. My fate has been decided," Yao said with a smile.

"I don't believe you've contacted me to make fun of my aging body, so how can I help you?"

"I want to hear your thoughts on something that might fall in your line of work," Nicolas said, and Yao turned serious, the playful smile no longer on his face.

"I'm listening."

Meanwhile, Perenelle led Atreus to the kitchen. He followed after her, always staying a step behind and carefully watching her movements. She noticed that, but she didn't say a word as the two entered the room.

"Since you haven't eaten in a month, it's best to eat small meals several times a day. Liquid food will also be better for you since your body will be able to digest it easier," Perenelle explained and made a motion with her hands.

All of a sudden, various ingredients came out of cupboards in the kitchen and flew over to her.

"I know of a recipe for a delicious soup that's also very healthy."

Atreus heard her, but his eyes were locked onto her hands. The way she made all of the ingredients fly over to her was one thing, but now she started slicing them into tiny bits by only using her fingers like a knife.

Magic. Atreus didn't need to be told what she was doing as he felt it in the air. He didn't know much about magic, only what Mimir had explained to him, but he would lie if he said he wasn't fascinated by it. Atreus wasn't good at directly manipulating it like Perenelle was doing, but he also hadn't tried much. He was, however, very experienced with runes, since to him, it was just another language.

"Can I try?" The words left his mouth before he even knew it.

"Go ahead," Perenelle told him with a smile. She had spent decades learning how to use wandless magic like that, but she wouldn't outright refuse his request and tell him it's impossible for him.

And a good thing she didn't because a few moments later, Atreus was able to replicate her feat after failing a few times. Perenelle's mouth hung open as she watched him cut a vegetable in half. It was a bit crude and not as precise as her, but he had just replicated something that took her decades!

The only question on her mind was how was someone, who according to her scans, was about 13 years old, able to do wandless magic? How talented and how much aptitude did he have for magic?