It was almighty night again, and Kratos had not returned home yet, which made Atreus unable to sleep even though Hilda was sleeping next to him. He slipped out of bed and went outside to debate whether or not he should go after him. Brok only came back for materials, and Sindri told him that Brok saw Kratos alive with Fraya not too long ago, but that didn't mean he was happening now. Atreus knew what his father was doing, letting him stew on what he said about lying to him. But he had to lie Angrboða made him swear not to tell him. Sindri understood Hilda and why she couldn't know, but his father would never expect his answer.

"Atreus, you think I wouldn't find you out here?" Hilda asked as she had all of her weapons on her.

"Hilda, you are supposed to be sleeping," Atreus said softly.

"So are you, but we both know you didn't come here to sleep. Doesn't feel good, does it?" Hilda asked as he knew what she was talking about.

"No, but even with all of this, he won't accept what I have to say; he doesn't see me as his equal. To him, I'm still a kid, but I'm sixteen now; I'm a man, not a kid anymore," he informed.

"You know, that is debatable for a lot of reasons. I see both sides relatively easily because I have been threw this at a much younger age," she explained.

"I know. I just want him to see that I have to make my own choices, my own mistakes," he informed.

"But you have to learn about his mistakes to Atreus. He is trying to ensure you don't do what he did. I know that's hard to understand, but you have to try. I'm sure ever since she found out about me that she has suspicions about me working for Odin. She knows everything about me, and she helped my mother give birth to me probably. But my mother told me about Odin ever since I was five, warning me about him, making sure I was ready to be on my own if I had to be. My whole life, I have been trying to be better than him, but in some ways, I will be like him even if I don't want to be," she explained.

"You are nothing like him," Atreus informed.

"Okay, explain to me how I am different than him," she said as he looked at her, confused.

"Well, you have empathy, you care about others, and you explain why you feel certain ways. You don't force me to do anything I don't want to, and you love me," he paused.

"I pretend to feel things for others to get what I want; I explain why I don't like something, so you will do what I want you to do. I don't force you to say anything to ensure we keep our trust so that you will tell me more later. I only pretend to love you to make sure you stay close to me. See? I know all that you said about me is true; however, someone that knows I'm Odin's child. That is all they will see and think of me. Some may not, but there are two sides to every story; the only time it's one side is if the person is dead and can't tell you what happened. Even if we see the same thing, we will think differently. Like when I threw my sword at you. You keep saying I threw an axe at your head. I didn't; it was my sword. I took my axes out later to kill the creature.

I love you more than anything, but people will plant that seed of doubt because of who my father is. They won't judge me by my character but his," she informed as Atreus looked down at the ground.

"Well, they can say whatever; it won't change how I feel about you. Also, thank you for explaining the two sides to the story," he smiled.

"It still won't change that both of you will fight and argue about who is right, and I will have to get in the middle to separate you two. You two both want to be right so bad all the time," she smiled.

"I'm not right all the time," he smiled.

"Oh, I know, but I'm wrong sometimes, too, come on. Want to go to bed with me. It might be our last time doing it until this whole thing is over," she said as he paused.

"Do you still have some of your old arrows?" He asked.

"I should somewhere; why?" Hilda asked.

"I was thinking about making another necklace with one of your arrows. Just in case we get separated, and you can't give me advice," Atreus informed as she smiled.

"You think I would let you go somewhere without someone going with you?" She asked with a small smile.

"No, but if I have to do something by myself, I know you will respect my choice because you trust me even if I mess up badly. You won't tell me I told you so," he said; she smiled.

"I do have an ancient chest filled with stuff I don't use; they are there for emergencies; only I can go get an arrow out of it real quick. It is right by a gate in Midgard," she informed.

"Okay, I can wait for you here; I'm not supposed to leave. I got to be here just in case he returns," Atreus explained.

"See, you are learning," she smiled as she went off to get her arrows.

Now Atreus had some time to make her something. He went inside and started to look for something he could give her, but preprevailedo. Sure it wasn't a long time, but it was better than nothing. He should have thought about this in advance, but he didn't. However, he had an abundance of arrows that still needed to be finished. He turned one of his arrow tips into a necklace for her which was relatively easy to do before Hilda returned with her arrow.

"They keep telling me I'm a pack rat. I may be starting to believe them," Hilda said as Atreus tied the knot to finish the necklace.

"We will find a use for them one day," Atreus informed as he hid the necklace he made for her and started making one out of her arrow.

She watched him smile, and before he finished the would wear wearing, he paused. He looked over at Hilda and gave her the one he had made before she came back, making her a bit confused. But then she realized why he made it, which made her smile.

"You are spoiling me, you know. Keep it up, and I may be unable to keep my hands off you," she smiled.

"I think you can resist me after all, I have no facial hair at all, and you are only interested in men. That's why you keep making fun of me," he chuckled.

"Not the only reason, but I think you will be the only boy I fall for," shegaveshe gavebrightthemsel a mile.

"I don't..." his smile almost faded entirely as he saw her eyes turn black as night.

He wasn't looking into Hilda's eyes. It was something else, but when she blinked again, her eyes turned to normal.

"Atreus, what's wrong?" Hilda asked as he took a deep breath to calm down.

"Sorry, I, um, I was sure I heard the gate open, but I must be paranoid," he said as she smiled.

"You need to relax, and I know how to help you with that. I can give you a massage," she said as she started messing with his armor.

"Hilda, I do t feel comfortable being naked in front of you; I'yo I'm," he said as she helped him take off his chest piece.

"I never said you would be completely naked, just topless. It's not a big deal," she said as he sighed.

"But I know what happens now... I mean," he paused.

"I won't touch you anywhere you don't want me to; it will be only your back," she smiled as he sighed.

"Okay, just don't be naked when I get in there, please," he said as his face turned red.

"I won't be; I can't believe you are so sh; it's adorable," she said as she kissed his cheek and went to the bedroom.

"There is a monster inside of my girlfriend that she doesn't know about; my father is supposed to die; II am supposed to work with Odin and lose everyone I care about. Her eyes did turn black, right? I must be going crazy; people's eyes don't change like that, right?" Atreus asked as Hilda popped her head out of his room.

"Atreus, you coming?" She asked as he looked down at himself shyly.

"My hot girlfriend with somehow black eyes is in there. I can do this; it's a shirt; I can be shirtless in front of her. Not a problem. I can't do this; what was I thinking? I can't take off anything in front of her. She is a girl," Atreus muttered as she came to his side and grabbed his hands.

"Atreus, you know I don't care what's under your shirt, right? I never cared about that, only what's in your chest," she said as he sighed awkwardly.

"I know I just," he paused.

"You are safe with me, okay? I promise," she informed as he smiled at her and took off his shirt.

"See wasn't so bad now," she said as she took him to the bedroom.

He laid on the bed flat on his stomach, and she sat on his waist with a bit of oil on her hands and put her hands on his back.

"Yikes! That's cold!" Atreus said as she rolled her eyes.

"It will make you feel better, promise," she said as she started popping his back.

"Dear god Atreus, what have you been doing?" She asked as she popped his back ins several different places.

"Nothing.... this feels so nice," he said as she kissed his neck.

"Well, I am good at breaking people's bones," she smiled.

"I know you are. Is it weird I find that attractive?" He asked.

"It just means you like strong girls, ones that can carry you if they have to," she chuckled.

"Well, you like doing it as long as no one sees; I will let you do it," he smiled.

"Good because I love doing it," Hilda said as she looked him in the eyes, and her eyes were once again as black as night, making him have to try not to panic.

Hilda was still with him whatever; whatever thing was, it was also a part of her. Which made him realize he didn't need to be afraid of it. Maybe it was just her powers going a bit crazy. Either way, he knew it was Hilda, not some crazy psycho-killing machine. Black, gold, blue, or whatever other colors they could change to. He was still going to love her no matter what.