As the four of them went back to the platform containing the sand bowl mechanism, Atreus remained incredibly silent.
He knew that if nothing went wrong with their current plan, they would now finally go to the Realm of Origin of both Zelos and himself. He began contemplating exactly what he wanted to see in that realm.
'Am I hoping to see Giants preparing for the inevitable war of Ragnarok? Or just them living peacefully with each other?' Atreus thought to himself, his mind racing with possibilities.
"What troubles you, boy?" Kratos asked out of concern. He had noticed the deep concern and the ever-changing expression on Atreus's face.
Ever since Atreus had learned that he was part god and part Jotunn, something had fundamentally changed in Atreus's character, and Kratos was watching him closely.
"Nothing. It is just that I cannot believe that our journey is almost over. We only need to go back to the peak of the mountain, and then we will be the very first ones to set foot on the Realm of the Giants for who knows how long," Atreus said.
He tried to inject a tone of excitement into his voice, but it came out sounding fake and forced.
It was something that Kratos and Zelos, who were quietly listening on the side, caught immediately.
"Why are you really quiet?" Kratos bluntly asked Atreus again.
Atreus just became silent. His expression of smiling and excitement that he tried to display after being called out by Kratos disappeared instantly.
Atreus looked down at his feet as he sat on a stone structure that looked like a bench on the edge of the platform. Kratos moved and sat in front of Atreus to look him in the eye.
"It is just that I am worried. If we go to Jotunheim and there are Giants that we encounter there, what if they want to protect both Zelos and me because we are both members of the Giants, but they want you to be cast out because you are still a god?
What if they try separating us from you?" Atreus said towards Kratos, finally expressing his deep concern.
"I will not let them separate us. You have my word," Kratos said firmly. He got up from the bench-like structure and knelt on one knee in front of Atreus to level with him as he said these words.
"Plus, laddie, the Giants are not as unreasonable as the Aesir. They value freedom and family as much as everyone else. But I guess there are a lot of bad memories that they have with gods.
There are horrifying truths where I would not blame them even if they tried to behead me the moment they saw me," Mimir said towards Atreus, offering his perspective.
"Do not worry about uncertain things. We will cross that bridge when we get there," Zelos finally butted in. He spoke with confidence, but internally, he knew the tragic truth.
He knew that there were no armies of Giants waiting for them in the open in the realm of Jotunheim.
As far as he knew from his previous life, only Angrboda and her grandmother were the only living Jotunn in Jotunheim.
"Plus, I do not think the Jotunns are that blinded by anger to blame the sin of a god onto another god when there is Tyr, who helped them escape," Zelos then added to comfort his brother.
Atreus suddenly showed a realization face at this logic.
"Not all gods are evil. Some fight for justice and fairness," Mimir said, nodding in agreement.
"Like Father? Who never killed anyone that did not deserve it," Atreus then said towards Mimir.
This statement made Mimir turn towards Kratos with an indescribable expression, knowing the Ghost of Sparta's bloody history. Meanwhile, Zelos was trying his hardest not to smirk at this innocent statement.
"Ah, but who is worthy enough to judge?" Mimir then suddenly stated. Mimir remembered a saying that had come from his past about the complexity of morality.
This time, instead of Atreus being the one to answer, Zelos provided his own answer.
"Those who listen to their morality. That is who is worthy enough to judge," Zelos answered.
There was something about Kratos's past that he was pissed off about.
Not only did the Greek gods not realize that everything that had happened was due to the direct effect of their own actions, but they also just passed all of the blame onto someone like Kratos, who was clearly grieving and manipulated.
The Greek gods were clearly powerful. They could have gotten rid of the nightmares of Kratos easily.
They could have even just let Kratos take his own life when he wanted to. But everything that they did just added up until their inevitable massacre.
'If I were in Kratos's shoes, maybe I would do things a little differently, but the ending would be the same. Zeus and all of the gods that are associated with him would die. Even the Titans would fall,' Zelos could not help but think to himself.
"Let us go, Zelos. You are falling behind," the voice of Atreus suddenly cut through the deep thought that Zelos was in.
Zelos snapped out of his focus. He then turned to look at the figures of Mimir, Kratos, and Atreus, who were now walking ahead of him.
They had all started walking onto the bridge that led out of the temple, which made Zelos start running to catch up to them.
When Zelos caught up with them, Atreus moved closer to Zelos. He was curious to know the reason for Zelos's absent-mindedness, as it rarely happened.
Usually, when Zelos went quiet like that, it resulted in the materialization of a new magic spell.
"I am working on my transformation spell. Unlike your transformation, which is physical, mine is currently still an illusion. I wanted to create a transmutation that lets me mimic the traits of what I was transforming into physically," Zelos just said.
He lied smoothly to cover his dark thoughts about Greece, which made Atreus nod along his head in understanding.
The four then continued to cross the bridge until they started climbing the mountain path. Eventually, they found the forge of Sindri once again.
This time, Sindri was working on another project, polishing a piece of metal with intense focus. He suddenly noticed the party approaching.
"Can I tell him, Father?" Atreus then asked Kratos. Kratos looked at his son's expression, which was filled with enthusiasm to share his new identity.
"Tell me what?" Sindri then asked, looking up. He was curious to know what Atreus was talking about.
"He is talking about the knowledge that we are part god and part Jotunn," Zelos then said.
Zelos knew that there was no harm in telling Sindri, as he figured that the dwarf already knew.
Kratos turned towards his oldest son with a stern expression, as Zelos had decided without waiting for his own orders.
"Ah, that part. I knew that already," Sindri then said casually, waving his hand.
This response caught Kratos off guard.
"You really stink of god presence. It is not exactly a secret until the concealment spell is active. The part where you are a Jotunn is also known to my brother.
Faye is the one that seeked us out for that weapon. She said it was for her mission of guarding Midgard and making sure that no god reached Jotunheim once again.
Pretty ironic considering she married a god, am I right?" Sindri then said towards the four.
His casual revelation did not earn Sindri any dramatic reactions, but rather a shared silence as the group processed the irony.