In My Head

Kratos' cry is buried by the deafening avalanche below him. The God rips his eyes to every piece of rubble as the comfort of solid ground leaves him. A muffled scream reaches his ears, and the newfound anxiety in Kratos' mind increases ten-fold. He looks below and sees another hole in a lower floor just below him, and infers that Atreus fell through that hole as well.

Diving head-first, The Ghost of Sparta nears that second hole as rubble falls all around him. Just before he passes through that jagged threshold, Kratos glances to his side at the floor he passes. A large fragment of bedrock falls past him, and as his vision opens up, the God's brown eyes meet a wide pair of blue. Atreus reaches out to his father, his leg caught under a pile of rubble.

"Atreus!" Kratos cries out as he falls to that second hole. With a speed that would merely be a blur to the average witness, the Greek God reaches and unsheathes the Leviathan ax, gritting his teeth as he slams the blade into the bedrock. The cold metal sinks into the rock, creating a long crack as it slides down quickly. The blade catches at the bottom, and Kratos' legs swing downward as he hangs from the wooden handle of the ax.

The Ghost of Sparta's eyes meet the bedrock floor below him, and his eyes roam over branching cracks under revealed under the pile of fallen rubble. Suddenly, Kratos hears a low crackle, and he turns his vision skyward to find small cracks forming in the rock that holds his blade. However, out of the corner of his eye, the God sees something appear at the top of the hole.

Fingers grip the bedrock, and Atreus grimaces in agony as he pulls himself to peek over the edge of the hole. He meets the eyes of his father again, "Father! Are you okay!?" he exclaims with wide eyes and quivering lips. The boy hisses as a tremor flashes through his body, and he grips his calf in an attempt to stop the pain. White bone sticks through his bloodied trousers, and a trail of blood stains the ground behind him.

Kratos grits his teeths as he feels the ax losing grip on its hold, quickly looking to Atreus with a frantic look in his eyes, "I am fine! Do not jump, boy! You will not survive the fall!" he exclaims.

"I know, Father! Let me help you!" Atreus responds with shaky words as he peeks over the edge again.

"No! I can see that you are in pain! Stay there and I will find my way to you!" Kratos yells as he lifts himself up on the ax. He reaches upward to grip the bedrock, but to no avail. The Leviathan ax suddenly bursts from it's hold, and the God's heavy body begins to fall like a rock.

"Father! No!" Atreus yells with an open palm extended as he watches his father fall with wide eyes.

Kratos falls with his back facing the ground below as he stares at Atreus, "Protect yourself, Atreus! I will find you!" he yells, turning in the air.

The tattooed man plummets towards the bedrock at an incredible speed, grimacing as he raises his forearm to his waist. Metal clanks together as the Guardian shield bursts into a perfect circle from Kratos' forearm, and a split second later, that golden gift from a soul long gone smashes into the pile of fragmented bedrock. Those branching cracks grow under the rubble, finally giving way as it begins to know the power of the man above it.

Kratos falls once again along with the mountain of rubble. His vision leaves him as darkness surrounds the God, and after an uncomfortably long pause of silence, vibrant light reveals a familiar room. Kratos falls quickly, that shield still unsheathed on his arm as the ground and falling rubble fills his vision. The Spartan slams to the bedrock again, the shield under his body as he releases a short grunt.

A moment passes, and Kratos stands straight as if he hadn't just fallen dozens of feet. Metal clanks and the shield returns to it's sheathe on his forearm. The lost Father's eyes zip to his surroundings and something immedietally catches his attention, "...That wall again..." he mutters as his vision is taken up by a massive wall of vibrant crystals. That silhouette is still encased behind the wall, however, unlike the half-formed entity he had seen before, Kratos notices that the figure now forms a bipedal being that stands at least seven meters tall.

"Sorry, Brother, but... What in Tyr's name just happened?" Mimir suddenly breaks the eerie silence with an exacerbated tone.

Kratos hums, still scanning the area with his brown eyes, "I do not know... Atreus is above though, and I must find him," he responds as he steps over rubble.

Mimir hums, "I noticed... I wouldn't worry though, Brother. The boy can handle himself when it really comes down to it. He is your son after all," he says.

"I am aware..." Kratos responds as his eyes turn to that wall of crystal again, "...This dungeon has proved that it is more than meets the eye though, and the boy will have a harder time facing an enemy he does not know," his grisly voice reverberates through the massive room.

"Ah, that is true, but... Have faith, Brother. I dunno about you, but I don't see the point in guessing. We'll just have to find him quickly," Mimir says.

Kratos grunts in response to the Faerie's words, and suddenly, a crack forms in that crystal wall, "...It seems I will have some obstacles to traverse myself," his calloused fingers grip the Blades of Chaos and his knees bend to a battle stance.

That crack suddenly rips through the crystal wall, and a low groan vibrates the massive room. A single moment of eerie silence falls as if time has halted, and another moment later, the wall explodes as shards of crystal whiz past Krato's body. A deafening roar flows from that silhouette which is revealed as a humanoid being with ash-white hair and dark sockets replacing it's eyes. Muscles ripple under it's grey skin as it's massive foot slams into the bedrock, causing Kratos to steady himself from the nigh earthquake level impact.

The monster cranes its neck down to stare at Kratos with those dark sockets, it's jaw snapping open like a snake as it roars again. The God stands tall as he gazes skyward at the Goliath, that familiar rage showing it's ugly head once again throughout Kratos' body.

"Ah, it's times like this I wish I had hands to hold on with. It's not exactly pleasant to be thrown around like a rag doll..." Mimir complains, sarcasm leaking from his voice. The Scottish man sighs and Kratos proves his point as he bolts towards the giant monster with those blades held tight in his hands.

---

Atreus' face contorts in agony as he leans against the wall of the dungeon. The boy uses the sleeve of his tunic to create a tourniquet, wrapping it around his broken leg while trying his best to resist the shocks of pain that fill his body with each tug of fabric. That hole is some feet away before the boy, and as he finishes the makeshift bandage with a sigh, he glances at the hole.

Atreus stares with furrowed brows, confused by a single detail, "What even happened?... I know that black minotaur was able to break the floor, but I didn't see any black monsters at all... I don't think they would be able to reach the ceiling to break it beneath us either," the boy mutters to himself, attempting to resist the fear creeping up his spine.

Since that fateful day, when Baldur had shown up on their doorstep with no explanation, Atreus had never been away from his father for more than a few moments. There was the time in Alfheim when Kratos had disappeared into the light of the Bifrost for hours, but Atreus was injured this time, and tired enough to say he had just ran a marathon. No matter the situation or threat Atreus had faced in their journey, he always had the comfort of knowing that Kratos was there to protect him. However, that comfort is gone now and is replaced by overwhelming fear and uncertainty, a feeling he had felt before, but nowhere near this intense.

Suddenly, Atreus furrows his brows. He grits his teeth and places his hands on the cold bedrock, pushing himself from the floor with some effort. A few tremors of pain and grimaces later, the boy leans against the wall with those purple blades in his hands, panting as he lowers one to his knee. Frustration halts the growth of fear for a moment, "What am I even thinking? What has father been training me for? All that effort and struggle means nothing if I can't put what I've been taught into action," Atreus mutters to himself, stepping forward with a hand guiding him along the wall.

"I can do this..." the boy mutters again, standing straight with focused eyes directed to the dim path before him, "...I can make it easier for father to find me if I can somehow get to the next floor."

And so, Atreus hobbles through the dungeon for some time, silence surrounding the boy as little voices whisper to him with no pause. He finds that those whispers grow louder with each pain-inducing step, rising to distant screams before an hour passes.

'What will happen to me?'

'Where is father?'

'What was that noise?'

Questions clouds Atreus' mind, but strangely, he finds that he is no longer afraid. He stumbles along that rough wall with wide eyes, and his body kicks into survival mode. A movement in the darkness, the sour stench wafting in his nostrils, the distant quaking of an ongoing battle, Atreus notices everything like a soldier with his back against the wall.

Those restless thoughts bolt through Atreus' mind at beakneck speeds, and they serve him well as heavy footsteps vibrate the bedrock beneath him. The boy stares forward with those same wide blue eyes, pushing himself from the wall as his knuckles turn white around those purple blades. He hobbles forward as a Minotaur reveals itself from the darkness, it's large nostrils huffing steam.

"Ah, good timing… I was starting to think I'm alone in here," Atreus mutters with a nervous chuckle as he stands straight with unblinking eyes.

A stone ax dangles from the Minotaurs bulky hand as it steps towards its prey, and Atreus limps as he does the same. After a few steps, the boy sucks air through his teeth, raising a blade over his head as he stares at his adversary. Remembering his fathers teachings from earlier, Atreus launches his arm forward and releases the blade. At it meets the open air, the blade suddenly bursts with a purple flame. Steam rolls from the Minotaur's face again, dodging the slow projectile. It's hand suddenly grips the chain and that purple flame extinguishes as the blade clangs against bedrock.

Atreus raises his brows as he holds the chain tight, "damn it!" He hisses. The balance leaves him, and the boy is dragged across the cave floor. His involuntary trip halts, and Atreus snaps his vision up to find an ax barreling toward him. Stone meets bedrock and dust stagnates the air as Atreus rolls from the impact point. The boy attempts to stand, but a rough hand halts him as it wraps around his tiny throat.

Blue eyes meet red and Atreus struggles to breath as the Minotaur lifts the boy into the air, "L-let me go!" Atreus struggles to speak as he claws at the hand that holds him. He feels his body get hot, and a bead of sweat forms on his brow.

The boy grinds his teeth at his captor, rage nigh overflowing, "I said…" Atreus hisses as the Minotaur raises its axe to the his waist, "…LET ME GO!" The boy's body explodes into bright crimson flames, and the arm that holds him disintegrates into ashes.

Atreus falls to his feet, those same red flames burning from his eyes and covering his forearms and calves. He suddenly bolts towards Minotaur with on signs of the injury paining him moments before, flashing to the one-armed Minotaur's position and leaping to the monsters height.

The Jotun's body arches back like a spring as he lingers in the air, springing forward instantly with a flaming straight left. A pop like a gunshot explodes through the cave, and the Minotaur's large head is reduced to nothing, save for a dark neck wound. The monster bursts into that black dust, and Atreus slams into the bedrock, the boy seeming to have lost consciousness while he was still falling.

Silence falls through the cave as Atreus lies unconscious, a magic stone and black stain the only things to accompany his slumber. Though heavy footsteps soon close in, and a group of the same monsters the boy had just defeated.

The Minotaurs approach the boy slowly, sensing their prey is sleeping on the job. Though their heads suddenly turn a full one eighty, and a massive blade relieves them of the burden that is carrying a head that large. That black dust pops again, and three magic stones clink the bedrock.

A cloaked man stands before the black stains, the only feature revealed under the cloth being a muscle-ridden arm gripping a great sword which is plain save for a hook-like piece of steel near the tip.

Footsteps click until the tall man stands over the unconscious Atreus. He says nothing as he stares at the boy, only grunting as he hauls Atreus up by his waistband.

The man continues on his way through the dungeon, and Atreus suddenly grunts as he draped over a shoulder, "…No! You!…" the man jolts as the boy yells, "…Don't go…" Atreus mutters, his body returning to it's limp state.