God of War: Love & Strength

"Wait," Freya said to Kratos once they had withdrawn from embracing each other, frowning at him. "I am not sure I like this."

"I..." Kratos shrugged, grunted, looked away, then back at her. "I am also not sure."

"Good!" Freya said, relieved. She gasped and relaxed, glaring over her shoulder at something. Kratos turned and looked in the same direction. He saw Aphrodite and the strange boy angel, Thor also, all looking apologetic. Kratos grunted at them, and they disappeared. Kratos then turned back to Freya.

"I am not sure what just happened," Kratos told Freya.

"Nor am I," she agreed. "I just..." She made gestures with her hands, looked away from Kratos, then back to him. "I do know this, though. What we just did... it was a path to Reconciliation between us."

Kratos had trouble imagining such a path. He stared into the distance blinking. He could swear he saw many visions suddenly waving at him, many beings glowing like angels. Thor, Aphrodite, others. Was that... was that Lysandra? Fey? His daughter Calliope? His brother Deimos? His mother? Not his father Zeus, but another son of Zeus, Apollo? And another son of Zeus with whom Kratos had once been allies, Hephaestus? Also Hephaestus' daughter Pandora? And not Athena, but another daughter of Zeus, a Greek Goddess Kratos had not slain but one he was pretty sure was dead, Artemis? Beside Artemis was... Freyr, Freya's dead brother? That blue Dwarf next to Freyr, was that Brok? Beside them... a strange God covered in fading magical tattoos? Balder? Was that Balder? Kratos stared at the waving Angels, blinking, straining to see a blinding light beyond them. He blinked at the light, then quickly looked away.

Freya was staring in the same direction, Kratos realized, also blinking and looking away. There was a black shadow looming over them now, then it was fading, receding. Then lights were flashing before his eyes and Freya was cradling herself against Kratos, gasping and sobbing into his chest. Strange music was echoing in Kratos' head. He stared into the distance, trying hard to ignore it, looking at Freya and the fading angels in the distance. The God of War blinked again, several times. Then he turned away from the vision, back to Freya.

"I am not sure I understand what is happening," Kratos said, "what I am feeling."

"What we are both feeling," Freya corrected him. She took a series of heavy breaths, then resumed speaking. "I... I want Reconciliation with you, Kratos. And with my son."

"You have it," Kratos told her. "Believe me, Freya, you have it. Or at least... a path. Did you see it?"

Freya nodded. "I did. I..."

"No need to explain," Kratos said, repeating earlier words he had told Freya. "Not to me, not for that." He reached for Freya's forearm and grasped it. She returned his smile. "You do not need to explain," Kratos repeated. "Not to me, not for that. I do not regret saving your life and never will. But the choice between life and death was not a choice I should have made for you. I should not have robbed you of that choice." He hesitated a moment, then continued. "Nor should I have robbed Balder of that choice either."

"I robbed my son of that choice first," Freya corrected Kratos. "I regret that... I regret it so much. I want..."

"Reconciliation?"

"Yes." Freya smiled at Kratos. "That. Tyr... the real Tyr, not Odin... Tyr also believes in Reconciliation. He has teachings related to it. May I share them?"

Kratos grunted, "Please."

"Thank you, " said Freya. "Blood payment can be reconciled if one who owes blood payment assists their victim. Helping a victim secure another debt of blood payment is one way. You helped me in such a thing, with Odin, with Ragnarok."

Kratos grunted and nodded in understanding.

"A better way is to help a victim rebuild their lives after they have suffered. We have been working towards that since Ragnarok. Helping rebuild the Realms. Defeating the remnants of Asgard, the Berserkers, Gna..."

"Yes," Kratos interrupted her, showing he knew this already. "Alliance can lead to... Reconciliation."

"Yes," said Freya. "I know this. But further Reconciliation..." She released a breath, then smiled and nodded. "I want more from you than just an alliance."

"I..." Kratos stared at her, realizing she was waiting for his response. He hesitated a moment, then gave affirmation. "I want the same."

"Good," Freya said, gasping in relief. She then raised her arms and embraced Kratos again. This time she stopped short of kissing him. Only their foreheads touched. It was a familiar position to Kratos, he and Fey had shared such an embrace many times. Lysandra had also shared it with him, long ago. And so had Deimos, and Calliope, and Atreus, and his mother. Never his father, but that was not important. He recognized the postion and welcomed it from Freya. She smiled, realizing his forehead did not move from alignment with hers.

"I..." Freya spoke in rapid passion. "I want to love you, Kratos."

"Accuracy over speed," Kratos told her. "I... I want you. I love you, Freya."

"I love you also," Freya corrected herself, smiling. She pulled back and stared into Kratos' eyes, frowned, smiled, then leaned in and touched his forehead with hers again. Kratos felt his heart calm as he embraced her, then his heat beat quickly as Freya withdrew from him again. She was speaking rapidly once more. "I... I am not sure I like this. The last being I promised to love like this was Odin. I..."

"Did you ever truly love Odin like this?" Kratos asked, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"I..." Freya paused, then shook her head. "No. No, I did not. I thought I should for a while, he motivated that in me, but he never succeeded. And he was wrong. Love between us was wrong."

Kratos grunted at her words. He then remembered something Fey had told him many times. Lysandra and his mother had told him similar things. "Love between us should be right," Kratos passed the wisdom forward to Freya. "True. Is it? I do not know."

"I do not know either," Freya shrugged. "I only know that I want it to be."

"I also want that," Kratos said after only brief hesitation.

Then, before either of them could stop themselves, they were embracing and kissing again. Passionately, with fervent intensity. Their convictions disappeared, and storms echoed around them. Vines burst from the ground, rose to seek the sunlight. Fire, frost, wind, lightning, and various other vessels took shape around Kratos and flashed against Freya's vines. Freya's Valkyrie wings unfurled, surrounded Kratos and pulled him against her. Her arms and legs also wrapped around him. He enfolded Freya in his arms as well, then suddenly paused, blinking.

"Freya!" Kratos pulled away from his new love, glaring at her. No, this would not work. No. He then glared into the distance.

"What is it?" Freya asked.

Kratos did not reply. Instead, he stared into the distance, grunting and glaring at an entity he could not clearly perceive.

*

Chapter 6: Meeting of the Gods.

Kratos said nothing, glaring into the distance at a light he yearned to influence. The God of War stood up, clenched his fists, and grunted at high volume. "Prosochi! Skotadi!" Kratos shouted in his native Greek language. "Prosochi Skotadi Archaea! I address a Higher Being named Prosochi Skotadi Archaea, a Higher Being who would stand above me and Freya, one made in the image of a Higher God! Freya and I are willing to do what you would make us do! But we will not do it here, nor now! Will we, Freya?"

"No," Freya agreed at softer volume, also staring into the distance. She spoke in her native ancient Norse tongue, runes flashing in the air to accompany her words. "No, Hallo Myrkyr, we will not do what you would make us do. Not here, not now! Elsewhere, in due time, perhaps, yes. But not here. Not now! I hope you understand."

Time stopped around them. The wind, vines, and other expressions of Kratos and Freya's Godly powers subsided. A blinding light took form before their eyes and a strange voice spoke at high volume. "I... AM... I AM... I am Prosochi Skotadi Archaea. I am Hallo Myrkyr. I am AchtungNight. I am not a Higher God, I am only equal to one in our current circumstances. I am merely the author of this one story and I am only one of its many readers. I am not your creator. I am not demanding anything from either of you. But will you please work with me?"

Freya answered first. "I will." She turned to Kratos.

The God of War furrowed his brow menacingly. Kratos resisted the urge to grunt, and failed. "Hmph!" he grunted at high volume, then turned away from the voice and looked directly at Freya. "I will not work with you for you, Prosochi Skotadi Archaea. I will work with you for her, though. For Freya, and for myself, but she is more important. Freya is whom I will work with."

"Thank you," Freya said with a smile. She then turned to the light that was AchtungNight. "I make the same contract. I will work with you for the sake of Kratos and myself, not for your sake. You may be an image of a God, but you are not a God. Kratos and I, we are Higher Gods than you. There are Higher Gods than us, and they do not command that we work with you. Nor should you make such a commandment."

"It is not a commandment," AchtungNight spoke at reduced volume. "Only a hopeful request from a humble boat captain. And not one from this sailor alone."

Kratos frowned, feeling strange emotions surrounding him. Voices pleading for him and Freya to get together, embrace again as they had before. What was this power, this feeling? Odin had asked Kratos once if he knew what prayer felt like. He had not answered at the time, unsure. If he had ever felt prayer before, Kratos had ignored it. But this felt like prayer, did it not? He looked at Freya and saw she wore an expression similar to his. Perhaps she too recognized the power? Kratos decided to call the power prayer. He acknowledged the prayer with a grunt. He then turned and nodded to Freya. "Yes," he answered the prayer. "Yes, Prosochi Skotadi Archaea. I will work with you."

"Freya?" the voice of AchtungNight asked. "Will you also work with me? Subject to the terms you and Kratos earlier requested?"

"Yes," Freya said. "I will. We will," she corrected herself, looking at Kratos.

"Good," said AchtungNight. "I should make something clear. I don't worship either of you, not with the highest form of worship anyway. I admire you both as characters, but you're not my ultimate Gods. I need to make that clear to both of you. I appreciate the stories I have been told of your exploits, your teachings, etc etc etc... your, um, saga. That's the right word for what I mean. Saga." The strange voice stammered a bit. "Thank you for your saga, and for working with me on this ship. Now, we need to address some details. Who, What, Why, When, Where, and How. Who and Why, I think we've covered all that. What and How, we've covered that a bit already, and we can cover it more again soon. When should be 'as soon as possible'. Other images of God I respect, readers to whom I've made promises, who may review my work, are waiting. Do you agree?"

Kratos and Freya blinked. Again, Kratos felt the power of prayer around him. He grunted, then nodded. "Yes."

"Yes," Freya confirmed when prompted. "Yes." She and Kratos embraced again, touching foreheads. They then turned and looked directly at the blinding light that was AchtungNight. This light dimmed and an image of a seated middle-aged mortal man cradling a strange tablet appeared for an instant, then disappeared.

The voice of AchtungNight returned after an instant. "Thank you for that demonstration of your power. I respect you both as characters, don't worry. You're still willing to work with me, right?" He waited for affirmation from both Kratos and Freya. "I think we still need to address Where. Not in this training area, obviously. How about..." Kratos' hut flashed with blue light. "Your Home?"

"No," Kratos said. "Mimir is in there."

"Definitely not," Freya agreed. "We are not doing what you want us to do where Mimir can fully observe us doing it."

"Okay," AchtungNight said. "Other Home, then..."

AchtungNight showed Kratos and Freya a vision of a treehouse in Yggdrassil.

A God in the form of a large humanoid squirrel appeared outside the treehouse suddenly, shaking his head and waving his hands.

"Okay, not there, either," said AchtungNight, waving at Ratatoskr. "I forgot that place is not fully within my power. A moment please. Let me consult someone who might know a place." There was a pause.

Kratos frowned at the suddenly silent AchtungNight, then at Freya. Freya shrugged.

I still want you, her expression said. I still love you.

Kratos nodded to show he still had such feelings for Freya also. They both wanted to make love with each other. But neither knew where they should make such love, that was clear.

Finally, there was a flash of light and then AchtungNight spoke again.

"Kratos," the author said. "I just spoke with Fey, your recently deceased wife. My image of her, at least. She wanted me to remind you of a certain cave within a hollow tree where you and she went often to... to do what I would have you and Freya do. You know where I'm talking about, right? You and Fey went to this cave when you wanted to be alone together. Atreus did not know about it. You and Fey went there to avoid him. The cave had certain magic protections cast on it to suppress your powers and protect Atreus on the threshold while you and Fey were inside."

Kratos nodded. He recognized the cave AchtungNight described. "That was our special place. Fey's and mine." He looked at Freya, then at AchtungNight. "I am not sure Fey would welcome me using such a place for... what you imagine."

Freya nodded in agreement.

"I understand," AchtungNight said. "Fey and I already spoke about that. She's fine with you using the cave for anything the two of you and I can imagine the two of you doing. She's fine with it. Right, Fey?"

The angelic spirit of Fey appeared before Kratos and Freya, nodding vigorously. She was frowning, looking uncomfortable. Then she was shrugging and smiling, wearing a strange expression.

"Fey is finding it difficult to speak," AchtungNight explained. "I can speak for her, though. She says she wants you to be happy, Kratos. The woman you love, who loves you, wants you to be happy. And she wants that for Freya also. She's Freya's friend too. And she, Fey, is fine with you, Kratos, using your special place for what I would have you and Freya do."

Fey nodded frequently as AchtungNight spoke. She then waved at Kratos and blew him a kiss. She gave Freya an odd look that showed both anger and acceptance, then smiled at her. She then smiled at both Kratos and Freya before vanishing. Achtung released a loud sigh.

"Thank you, Fey," the author said. "Well, Kratos and Freya, I can transport you to this place if you are willing to go there. I can also strengthen its protective enchantments to suppress Freya's power as well as yours, Kratos. Those enchantments have faded a bit with Fey's ascension to a Higher Being, but with her help, I can revive and strengthen the necessary magic. Is that acceptable to you both?"

Kratos spoke first. "Yes."

Freya agreed when prompted. "Yes."

"Good," said AchtungNight. "Then if there is anyone who does not object..."

A shadow formed, then faded under several bright flashing lights.

"Phew," AchtungNight spoke before Kratos and Freya could react to the display. "Then by the power vested in me... wait, I can't do this. Oh well, the words are proper, right? They convey what they need to convey? I hope so. I hope my audience gets it." He paused, then spoke again. "Kratos? Freya? Do you accept my power over what is to come, freely, subject to your own wills? If so, please answer with 'I do'."

"I do," Freya answered, smiling. She looked at Kratos and repeated her affirmation.

"I do," the God of War answered her expression, smiling back.

"Thank you both," said AchtungNight. "I pronounce you... lovers for this brief moment, for the rest of your mutual time in my fanfiction universe, as long as you both are willing. You, Kratos, may kiss Freya, and do whatever else you would to her, and vice versa, in the place where you both are now."

Notes- I am AchtungNight, yes, but I am not a God outside my fanfic universe. Not a Higher God, anyway. In my stories, I work with readers and characters to the best of my ability within the bounds I am willing to accept. I hope that is understood.

*

Chapter 7: The Cave of Wonders.

Kratos and Freya blinked and looked around, realizing their location in space had changed. Kratos recognized the cavern in which they now stood, the cave in the hollow tree deep beneath Midgard that had been a special place for Fey and him once. Kratos and Fey had made love with each other in this place many times. Atreus had been conceived here, Kratos remembered, and he and Fey had hoped to conceive other children also, before she fell ill and passed away. The cave had been a special place for Fey and Kratos. It was to be such a place for him and Freya now, Kratos realized, and relaxed.

"Is this..." Freya asked him, gesturing at their surroundings. "Did that... Hallo Myrkyr cast a spell to transport us to that special place he described?"

"It would seem so," Kratos confirmed. "It also seems that his influence has faded now, at least somewhat." He looked at Freya. "Are you still... Are you ready?"

"I am ready." Freya smiled and moved towards Kratos, then embraced him, touching his forehead with hers. "Are you ready?" she asked.

"I am ready," Kratos said, then took Freya into his arms.

What followed was a passionate intense coupling of souls, an experience hard to fully describe. Kratos and Freya embraced each other and collapsed to the floor of the cave. Their arms enveloped one another. Freya's wings appeared and surrounded Kratos as well. Their lips touched, their tongues licked at one another's tongues. Their hands, lips, and tongues moved over each other's bodies. Both God of War and Goddess of Love snapped their fingers at appropriate moments. Their armor and other clothing then disappeared. Soon their nude bodies were fully displayed.

Kratos separated himself from Freya and smiled as he observed Freya's naked body, its soft firm tanned curves displayed well by the cave's magical lights. His gaze lingered on various areas of her body. Areas he had glanced at before, areas on which he had not allowed his gaze to linger before now, never mind that he had wanted to give Freya such attention. He let his gaze linger now on Freya's face, her eyes, her lips. On her breasts, on her legs, on her backside and other areas of her body. Every line, every curve of Freya's body was as beautiful to him as Lysandra's and Fey's bodies had ever been, Kratos realized. And that was good.

Freya smiled also as she observed Kratos' muscles, those she had seen before and those she now was able to see more clearly. Freya glanced in particular at one certain muscular organ Kratos had that she could now fully see, smiled at it, and licked her lips. She looked back at Kratos' eyes and smiled at them also. Kratos returned her smile and watched her as she looked over his body once more. Her gaze lingered on Kratos' chest, his shoulders, his arms, his legs, and various other muscles. He smiled as she sighed in rapture, then beckoned him close with a 'come hither' gesture and look.

Kratos moved towards Freya, then stopped, frowning. Vines were suddenly rising from the ground around them, coiling towards Kratos at Freya's direction. Kratos blinked, then remembered the magic of the cave. Fey at times wanted to use similar magic as Freya in our lovemaking, Kratos remembered. Magic of restraint, bondage and discipline. He had allowed such magic. He had thought Fey a mere mortal sorceress at the time, not a Goddess. Later he had learned she was in fact a Goddess, of course. Now another Goddess was with Kratos in this cave, wanting to use similar magic to make love with him. Kratos recalled that the cave had protective magic to only allow the magic of restraint when all participants in the cave welcomed it. Freya perceived this, Kratos recognized. He nodded and released his own power over the cave's protective magic after quickly confirming that he could revive it with the appropriate word.