As the four walked deeper inside the main hall of the Temple of Tyr, Atreus's questions for Zelos did not stop.
He was still asking Zelos about his own capabilities as a Jotunn and what that meant for his perception of the world. Zelos decided to show rather than tell.
He turned his eyes towards Atreus and touched his head to share his vision directly with Atreus. What Atreus saw was too much for his brain to handle immediately.
The different colors, signifying differences between natures, magical currents, and living essences, flooded his mind in a chaotic stream.
It made Atreus incredibly dizzy, and he vomited on the side of Zelos, who just laughed at the reaction.
"Hahahaha, enjoyed what you saw?" Zelos asked Atreus.
Atreus wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked at Zelos with a little bit of resentment, but mostly, he was shocked by the sheer volume of information.
"Is that what you always see? Surprisingly, you are not dizzy just by looking around," Atreus said towards Zelos, who offered him a cloth to clean himself. This question made Zelos smile at Atreus.
"There is a difference between being born with it and being given it. My brain had evolved to accommodate this kind of eyesight, just as your brain had evolved to accommodate the languages you had been encountering.
Even if you are not aware of your true nature, your body has been preparing for the moment that you come to know," Zelos said towards Atreus.
This explanation made Atreus realize why some writings just suddenly entered their meaning into his brain despite not encountering the specific dialect earlier.
Zelos explained more and more about the nature of their heritage until they arrived at the center of the room, where a sand bowl mechanism stood waiting.
Kratos turned towards Atreus, who had been listening intently to the explanation that Zelos had been providing him earlier. Atreus then turned towards his father, noticing the expectation.
"Can you read it?" Kratos asked. It was as if he was trying to see if what Atreus's abilities were really true, or perhaps testing the boy's focus, as Zelos had been telling Atreus about his gifts. This interaction made Mimir giggle a little bit from the side.
"Death itself I swallow. To spring forth life tomorrow," Atreus read the riddle carved into the wood. This made Kratos raise his eyebrow towards Atreus, impressed by the speed of the translation.
"Oh, I like that one. I wonder if I wrote it," Mimir interrupted with a grin. Zelos laughed at Mimir's words.
"Please, the only things you would write are pieces of incomprehensible texts due to you never being sober enough," Zelos said to Mimir.
This sparked a debate between the two about Mimir's past habits that Kratos and Atreus chose to ignore.
"Do you know the answer?" Kratos asked Atreus. Atreus looked around the mechanism until he saw a specific rune on the dial, read it, and realized it was the answer.
"It is Earth. Let me write the rune for a little bit," Zelos said towards Kratos, stepping in to assist. He traced the rune of Jord into the sand with his knife. It was a name that was familiar to Mimir.
"Ahh, the runic symbol for Jord, the previous wife of Odin, and the mother of Thor. I remember now, I really did write this," Mimir said towards Zelos and Atreus. They waited for a moment as the magic took hold.
The entire platform where the four of them stood began to descend into the depths of the temple, as if it were a massive stone elevator.
"Now I realize why you are so angry towards me on the realm of Alfheim," Atreus said suddenly in the quiet of the descent. "You know the true nature of Mother, and your anger is culminating due to my wanting to side with the Light Elves. You do not want Mother's soul to be used for a war, instead of just peacefully resting in the Light of Alfheim, as you know that it is the place where Mother's soul is resting."
Atreus said this towards Zelos, who became silent for a bit, acknowledging the boy's perceptiveness.
"Ignorance is bliss, brother. The less you know, the less worry you have. It may seem stupid, but other people would give up anything to lessen what they know," Zelos said towards Atreus.
Atreus then got sad once again. He realized that his brother had been carrying this kind of burden for a long time.
Atreus realized that Zelos must have known the sickness of their mother that caused her death, and had done anything he was capable of to save her, but the inevitable still came.
This realization outweighed all of Atreus's knowledge that he is a god. It led to the suppression of his supposed arrogance that might otherwise have surfaced.
In this case, his Jotunn heritage was revealed earlier, which made Atreus realize what kind of burden his mother, and, by extension, he and Zelos, is under, as well as the challenges they will encounter in the future.
"Ahh, but not every knowledge is to be treated like that. Like how Tyr used his knowledge and powers to stop wars rather than create one. You should use both of your godhood for goodness, like Tyr," Mimir then said.
He tried to steer clear of the depressing topic and the brewing hatred for gods among Atreus, whose heritage as a Giant was starting to affect his opinion of them negatively.
"So there are good gods, huh?" Atreus asked Mimir. Mimir proudly stood and pointed at the golden murals of Tyr that lined the shaft they were descending through.
"Once in a moon. It has been known to happen, yes," Mimir replied.
"This one mentions places I have never even heard of. Seems Týr really liked to travel," Atreus said towards Mimir.
He continued to look closely at the mural depicting Tyr with people from many lands.
"Týr believed the mind, not might, was key to preventing war and chaos. And he also knew visiting other cultures would give him a perspective that staying in one place could not.
While Odin always hoarded knowledge, guarding it jealously, Týr was open and shared his learning and his wisdom. For this, mortals adored Tyr, showing their love by bringing him gifts the world over," Mimir explained to Atreus.
"So, whatever happened to Týr?" Atreus asked Mimir. Despite his question, he already suspects based on the state of the world.
"Odin came to regard him as a threat to his rule... he suspected Týr of collaborating to aid the Giants instead of helping to steal their secrets for the Aesir. Same thing he accused me of, frankly. Though in Týr's case, I believe he was right," Mimir said towards Atreus.
"You believe Tyr is helping with the Giants?" Atreus asked Mimir.
"I do. He felt responsible for the suffering visited upon them by Odin. I suspect he had something to do with helping them cover their tracks," Mimir said.
This made Atreus realize something important, but before he could tell it, his mouth was covered by Zelos.
Zelos moved with blinding speed and killed a spectral green raven that was flying over them in the shaft.
"Careful what you discuss in public, you do not know who is listening," Zelos said.
As he spoke, the lift that had been bringing them down officially stopped at the bottom. They all saw what the Tyr's temple consists of.
While they looked, Zelos used a curse where the birds of Odin would never be able to fly even near the Temple of Tyr, blinding the All-Father to their current location.