Curse Of The Serpent(Atreus x Reader)

|Chapter 14|

Not fragile like a flower, Fragile like a ticking time bomb. That's what Heidi had thought of me, I'd always observed and thought of her as lion hearted and strong, what was I if she was scared of me?

Then again, she didn't know the difference between sacrifice and self-slaughter. She's come back for me without hesitation when the town's people had caught me. Killing them without even blinking, I'd never seen her harm a living being before that. She'd died for me, lessening my punishment and doubling hers. I didn't doubt for a minute that she could've gotten away from the townspeople and helped our mom bring back whoever she was trying to bring back.

The sand bowl sat in the middle of the room, and the group was back at Tyr's temple, hopefully without interrupting this time. "Death itself, I swallow. To spring forth life tomorrow." Atreus's eyes scanned the runes inscribed on the bowl as Mimir clicked his tongue, a pondering look on his face. "Oh, I like that one! I wonder if I wrote it..."

Kratos gestured towards the runes on the wall. "Is that the answer there?" Atreus followed Kratos' gaze as I read the rune. "That says Earth."

"Hm. Swallows death brings forth life." Mimir pondered as Atreus used his knife to carve the runes into the sand. The sudden shift of the platform and it lowering down made a loud rumbling sound.

Atreus sighed as he leaned on the sand bowl. "I wish I had known I was a god in Alfheim, I wouldn't have felt so bad for killing so many elves." I was very taken aback by this. "Why does it change if you're a god? It's still taking a life. Every life form is precious." My question had been asked in a calm even tone. There was no malice, not even a hint of emotion, just a plain question.

Atreus thought for a moment. "I just thin-" Mimir cut of Atreus. "Lad, I'm not sure if that's the way the lesson was intended to be viewed." Kratos shifted to look at Atreus. "You have done nothing to regret. The elves forced their affairs upon us."

"No, I get it now. We had god things to do, and they were in the way, dragging us into their little problems." I stopped looking around to look back at Atreus. "Atreus, it was not a little problem. It was war." Atreus gave me a look that made me slightly anxious. He didn't say anything, though.

Mimir muttered something quietly, so only Kratos could hear. "Again...are we just leaving that there?" Kratos huffed, but before he could say anything, Atreus spoke. "Just knowing we're gods makes me feel so much...stronger!"

"Maybe you feel a little too good right now. With power comes a chhoice lad. You can wither serve yourself or put your godhood in the service of others. Like Tyr did." The platform had been progressively lowering past a large mural of Tyr. Atreus's eyes flashed around the mural, examining each detail in the weathered paint. "They really did love him."

"Ey. The god of war, the one who fought for peace. Had a reputation for being heroic and lawful, using his power and knowledge to stop wars rather than start them."

Atreus's bright blue eyes flickered over the mural. It was quite detailed and depicted Tyr. "So, there are good guys..."

"Once in a moon, it's been known to happen, yes." Mimir had been ignored when another mural caught Atreus's eyes. The tunnel they were being lowered into was dim, but the murals weren't hard to see because of their bright colors. Atreus gestured to the mural. "This one mentions places I've never heard of."

My eyes glazed over the bright colors of the mural, nodding in agreement with Atreus. "Seems that Tyr really liked to travel."