Hello there,
If you enjoy my stories, you can read up to 15 chapters in advance per story on my Patreon page / patreon.com/Samael61.
Do you like Loki's creations, dangerous experiments, and willingness to challenge enemies that appear above his league? Then you will definitely like Thairon, the protagonist of my original story, Arrival : Ruptures. Comments, likes and reviews are appreciated. Here are the links for : AO3, Spacebattles, Royal Road and Webnovel.
What can you expect from Arrival : Ruptures:
Thairon the Genius MC with technology far ahead of the planet who does not take anyone's attitude,Skyler, his younger brother who is trying to save humanity from itself,Kael who is a chaos gremlin helbent on causing trouble,Tomoe, the female lead that is not a damsel in distress and knows how to kick ass,Individual and military battles, political intrigue and family issues,Expanding universe that you can be a part of as well.
Today is the day for you to join me in any of the links above.
—
Helheim
"What do you mean Tyr was Odin in disguise?!" Atreus asked, whipping his head around, stumbling. As they traversed this frozen realm of the dead, fighting Hel-Walkers and going through doors that Thor ripped off the walls, Kratos explained what had happened while Atreus was gone.
Their visit to the Norns and the erratic reactions they had towards the end, encountering two strangers playing with Jormungandr and how Tyr was actually Odin in disguise.
"He fooled us all. We would not have discovered his true identity without him," Kratos said, glancing at Loki for a moment. He was flying effortlessly alongside his hound, raining down green lances of magic that destroyed everything in their path.
"And who are you two exactly?" the young godling asked. He did not miss the fact that the blonde god had a hammer that he could throw and summon and that he could control thunder.
"Thor and Loki Odinson," Thor said.
"What?!"
Loki floated closer to Atreus, still swimming in the air like a fish in water. "There are two ways to explain this. The lengthy one where the chances you'll understand it completely are slim, or I just wave my hand and you understand it all."
"The second one?" Atreus said, his pitch rising at the end. Kratos turned to him sharply, about to warn him against it, but he was too late.
Loki, floating alongside the father-son duo, waved his hand. Atreus stopped for a moment, blinking rapidly. Information and a sense of understanding filled his head. Knowledge that he had never even considered before imprinted on his mind.
"You—you are me?" he stammered. "And you are Thor? From a different universe, a different life?"
"Exactly," Loki said.
Atreus stopped, still processing the information. "Incredible."
"I have so much to ask. Like what…" he began, but his father stopped him.
"Focus. Garm must be stopped first."
"Yes sir," Atreus replied, quickly falling into line like a soldier.
Kratos threw his chained blades towards a wedge in the column, using it to jump down on the giant wolf. He stabbed his blades on its snout, trying to drag the wolf down to the floor, but it slammed him to the wall before flinging him away.
Kratos rolled on his feet, standing before the giant wolf. Thor and Loki flanked the beast. Stuck with its back to the wall, Garm had nowhere to run.
It did not seem interested in fleeing anyway.
Garm reared and brought its paws down, sending forward a wave of ice. Kratos and Atreus blocked it with their shields. Taking the cue, Thor spun Mjolnir by its strap, launching it right into the beast's belly. A shockwave spread from the impact, and Garm fell on its side. Kratos launched his axe at the chain, freezing it, securing the beast to the ground.
Atreus had a different idea, trying to talk the beast down. His words had no effect for one simple reason. The beast was solely driven by magic. It had no soul or intelligence, only instincts.
Instincts that demanded it fight.
Garm got to its feet, ripping the chain off the ground. The wolf swung it like a whip around itself, trying to push them back. Loki caught it with telekinesis, jerking the beast back, exposing its belly.
Kratos launched a dozen spears in quick order. Thor raised his hammer, summoning the lightning. He brought the hammer down, guiding the bolts to strike the spears embedded in the beast's belly. A blue-white hue appeared around Garm as the wolf was fried alive, but it showed no reactions.
Their Greek companion didn't wait. He threw his blades to the end of the chain. He circled around, finding a crevice large enough to pull the chain through. Thor had dropped the lightning by then, lending Kratos a hand. They pulled the chain together in three heaves. Garm struggled, choking and snarling.
A clear sound of cracking bone signified the beast's fate as it fell to the ground, dead.
Or it appeared so.
"It is done. We should leave," Kratos said. He glanced at the dead wolf one last time before walking away.
"I wouldn't be so hasty," Loki said, eyes on the creature.
"It is dead," Kratos replied with a flat tone.
"Is it?" Loki asked back. Garm was absorbing the necrotic energy of the world, though neither of his companions would be able to see it. Another crack emanated from Garm's neck, and he stood up, ripping the chain out of the crevice. It jumped away, escaping for now.
"How?" Kratos turned to him, waiting for answers.
Loki glanced at his counterpart. Atreus' lips were slightly parting, and his eyes were widening.
"He is about to figure it out," Loki said. "Just listen to your heart, kid."
"Garm doesn't have a soul. That's why I couldn't hear anything from him." Atreus said, finally realizing why the wolf wouldn't speak to anyone. It had no soul to do so, just like the animals whose souls Gryla had taken.
"Yes. You can not kill what does not live. Especially when it can draw on this realm's energy to heal itself," he explained.
"I have an idea. I need you to trust me." Atreus said to his father. Kratos closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded.
"I need to get on its back," Atreus said. Thor walked next to him, summoning his hammer.
"What's he planning to do?" Thor asked. They could simply bind the creature with those chains and call it a day.
"Let's help him capture Garm and see," Loki said. He looked at Cosmo and then at the direction Garm had run off to. Cosmo bolted with a telepathic acknowledgment, off to catch her target.
"Wait, you are sending her alone?" Atreus asked,
"Don't worry. Cosmo will be fine," he said.
"Does that mean I can ask some questions?"
"By all means."
When Atreus said some questions, he apparently meant a lot of them. Who exactly was he? How did Odin adopt him? Why were the Odin he knew and Loki's father so different? What happened to his birth parents, Laufey and Farbauti? Was Farbauti actually Kratos? What about Ragnarok in his universe?
Those and more were answered, leaving Atreus in awe.
"You said Laufey is your father and Farbauti is your mother? Why the difference?"
"Those names aren't male or female only. The difference doesn't mean anything."
"But you don't like them, your birth parents."
"No disrespect to your parents, Atreus, but Laufey is a cunt and Farbauti only wanted to have a child with him because she was a seer. She thought that I would be one of the strongest beings in the universe. Laufey thought I was a runt and left me to die in a temple. In the end, I simply don't care about them at all," he said. He found mentions of his feelings towards them more irritating than their existence.
"Sorry."
"Don't be. Your curiosity is understandable."
"Okay, one last question. Can you transform into animals?"
"I can transform into anything," Loki said. He began to shrink, his form and clothes morphing into an exact match of Atreus.
"Cool. I recently figured out how to transform into wolves, and I accidentally transformed into a bear once. I just can't seem to figure out how to do that again?"
Loki leaned down, peering into Atreus' soul and magic. The fluidic nature of transformation magic was similar. The problem with Atreus was that he had an internal conflict. He was stuck, unable to determine who he was.
"The issue lies in your identity. You are torn between being two different people. It is affecting your transformation."
"That's the thing. I don't know who I am. The Giants prophesied me as their champion, but my father wants me safe and sound," Atreus said, looking at his father. Kratos had no answers and turned around, avoiding his son.
Loki squeezed his young counterpart's shoulder. "Be who you want to be. If Kratos is a good father, he will support your choice, no matter what it is."
Kratos turned around with a snarl, his fingers slowly curling into a fist.
What's with Atreus going to Asgard, seeing the issues between father and son wasn't difficult.
Over the small hill where Garm had disappeared into ruins, its massive form returned to the battlefield. It was floating belly up, however, struggling to break free from the invisible force holding it up.
Cosmo was trotting along with her tongue out under the shadow the giant wolf casted.
"How is she doing that?" Kratos asked.
"She has powers of her own."
"Hey Cosmo, could you lower Garm so I can touch his head?" Atreus asked, hoping she would understand him.
"Sure," a feminine voice rang in his mind. Whenever he spoke to animals, he understood their intentions, feelings, and emotions. None of them had ever spoken to him in words, much less in his mind.
"You can talk?"
"Duh," Cosmo replied, lowering Garm carefully. The giant wolf went stiff as she forced it to stop.
Atreus approached the wolf, drawing his knife. A cursory glance from Loki showed it had a soul sealed inside it. He raised the knife high, plunging it down while shouting one word.
"Vekja!"
The knife glowed blue as the soul was transferred to the husk. Garm's thrashing became almost frantic, as if it were actually feeling something. Cosmo continued to hold him, unbothered.
Her telekinesis was honed through decades of work and blessings from Loki. She had more power than most Aesir back home did.
The changes were quick to take. The pale coat of Garm took a darker color, the left side of his face turning white. His eyes turned an amber color and, most importantly, gained a light that Garm lacked.
He looked confused now, all aggression gone.
Atreus looked down at Cosmo. "Could you lower him, please?"
Cosmo turned to Loki, asking for permission. He nodded and she lowered the giant wolf to the ground.
"Fen? That you?" Atreus asked, raising his hands towards the wolf. He let out a whine, kneeling down, letting Atreus pat his snout.
"Good boy," Atreus said. "Didn't know if that would work."
"We did it!" Atreus turned to his father and then to Thor and Loki. Fenrir retreated a step back, watching Kratos. The God of War watched the giant wolf for a moment. "Sit," Kratos ordered.
Fenrir obeyed, shaking the area as he sat on his hindlegs, waiting.
"How is this possible?"
"It's giant magic," Atreus said. He mentioned casting a spell unknowingly when Fenrir had died. It had trapped the soul in his knife. He had simply given it a new home. He also added how he was learning things.
"In Asgard?" Kratos asked. Loki didn't need to read his emotions to see how displeased he was. Thor crossed his arms, huffing sharply.
He did not believe Atreus' words on how it had nothing to do with Asgard. He was keeping a promise to someone, just like Kratos had kept his promise to his wife.
"If I had said any of this while Odin was still in Sindri's house, we all would be in deep trouble," Atreus said.
"It is obviously a secret not his to tell," Thor said.
"Would you have trusted it if it were your brother?" Kratos asked.
"I would trust that he had a good reason for doing what he did. You either don't trust your son's honesty or his judgement. If he actually failed to learn either of those skills, then it was your failing as a parent," Thor said. "If he has learned, then it is yourself that you don't trust."
Loki nodded. He could not have said it better himself.
Kratos did not answer, simply saying they should return to discuss their next steps with the others.
—
He pulled Thor aside as Kratos stopped near the Mystic Gateway to speak to his son. Since it was a private matter, they did not wish to eavesdrop. They could see that it broke the tension between father and son.
—
Sindri's House
"It's so weird seeing you like this. In a good way though," Atreus said, watching the once reanimated head walk around with a body of his own.
"Aye, little brother, we have your, uhh, counterpart to thank for that," Mimir said.
"And Brok's condition?" he asked. Sindri had already told him about what had happened to his brother. He guessed they had Loki to thank for fixing it.
Again.
"Someone," Brok glared at Sindri, "forgot to tell me I died and that I've been living in a rotting meatsack."
Sindri laughed nervously, taking a couple of steps back.
"With Garm neutralized and you having received your answers, maybe we can talk about your actions," Freya began. "I'll never understand your decision to go to Asgard after everything Odin has done, but I hope you at least learned something from it."
Atreus claimed he had, pulling out his sketchbook to show the drawing of a mask. Odin was more interested in the mask than anything else. Mimir believed it to be a dead end, something the giants had egged Odin into researching obsessively.
"I doubt you have anything like this back in your home?"
"Kind of," Loki said, closing his eyes. He followed the branches of the Ygdrassill right up to Asgard. He found Odin in his study. Compared to the hall where his father worked, this one was a dump. He saw the mask, something Odin was turning over and over in his hands, trying to understand.
He snatched the mask from Odin's hands and retreated. He could hear the maddening howls of the Allfather though.
Everyone—except Thor, who was used to Loki's antics, and Kratos, who was too stoic—took a collective step back as the said mask appeared in Loki's hands. His magic pulsed, washing over the mask, inspecting its creation.
He snorted and threw it away.
"What? What is it, lad?" Mimir asked. He had restored his body and Brok's soul with a wave of his hand. It wasn't that surprising for him to steal the mask without stepping foot on Asgard.
"Not the key to infinite knowledge or a way to alter destiny. It's just a way of peering into the afterlife," he said. Whoever created the masks wanted the wearers to obsess over them for a purpose.
"What?" Freya asked, eyes livid. "That's it? Odin's been obsessing over this mask over nothing?" All that the Nine Realms had gone through was because Odin was fixated on a mask that did not matter in the end.
"The mask does have charms meant to make those with weak wills desire to wear it, promising what they want the most."
"A trap then. But why?" Kratos asked. Why would anyone create this mask in the first place?
"You don't want to know."
Freya jabbed a finger towards the mask. "This was the reason for Odin's actions, his atrocities. I damn well want to know."
Loki gave a dismissive 'eh.' The mask floated over his hand, trembling as its very creation was being torn apart for a purpose.
—
In the next chapter:
A rift opened in the middle of the house as Loki used the mask as a medium. Atreus noted it was similar to the one in Odin's study, but this one kept growing. It was as long as he was tall and then began to widen.
He saw nothing except for a green, buzzing field. It was pulled from both sides like a curtain, forcibly opened to reveal a battlefield.
A man dressed in a toga, tall, white-haired, and bearded, was fighting Magni. Well, more like using his face to mop the floor.
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