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?”