"So finding the norms has nothing to do with changing fate?" Mimir asked.

"I would not ask them to change the past even if they could. I just want answers," Kratos informed as Níðhögg opened up an area to go threw, and Fraya looked at her oddly.

"Somethings wrong; Níðhögg is looking for something," Fraya pointed out as she quickly left after screaming at them for a second.

"She is searching for Hilda, and she misses her. She is afraid for her safety," Kratos informed.

"You don't think something bad happened to her, do you?" Freya asked.

"Atreus would never let that happen. That boy is very protective of her; I think he likes her," Mimir informed.

"Hilda is a woman; Atreus is turning into a man; that is the only reason his body is telling him he likes her. She has almost died protecting him because she cares for his safety and well-being, and so does he. There is nothing there other than friendship," Kratos corrected.

"If there is more than that? Are you going to get involved in their relationship? I know Hilda is Odin's daughter, but if he does care about her, you should let them be happy while the nine realms are still standing. In the end, we may not make it out of this alive at all," Fraya informed as they came up to another encampment.

The hideout was dark, but they got in relatively quickly and started to fight the Raiders there. It was easy to take them out, and almost depressing how easy they were to wipe out. They decided to explore the camp to see if they could find anything useful, but there were only metals and hack silver.

They went back outside, and the wolves still whined like they were something out there waiting to get them.

"They still whine," Kratos informed.

"Poor things, they must smell more danger," Freya explained.

"They fear something that can no longer hurt them," Kratos informed.

"The horrors of our past still haunt us even if it was long ago. You, of all people, should understand that," Fraya informed.

They saw a troll, and they went to fight it. They quickly took it down, but in doing so, it made Kratos miss Atreus. The troll was easy to fight, but he and Atreus fought those a lot when Atreus was smaller. He wondered how Hilda would have helped them out with her powers. She had excellent skills in battle, and they seemed to work well together.

"So I always wanted to know what the hell an olive is?" Mimir asked.

"I have never seen this building before," Fraya informed.

"I will explain later; let's go," he said as they explored the area.

Hopefully, this part was going to be where the norms were going to be. The longer he was away from his son, the more opportunity Odin had to turn Atreus against him. The building looked like it was a part of Týr's armor that got buried in the ice long ago and was now showing. Figuring out how to open the door was much more complicated than he thought; it was primarily since he brute forced it. The whole thing could collapse, maybe.

The cold snow had hardened in some areas making it slick. Kratos walked carefully around and climbed up to destroy some enemies. Kratos was finally able to get the door to open. They got some stuff out of it, but without another half of the key, it was useless. They decided to go to another camp that had to be nearby instead to get the answers that they needed hope.

All these little things were adding up, and he knew if he had Hilda and Atreus here, they could easily sit up and cover more ground. How he wished this was easier and less of a headache for him to have to deal with. He also wanted to know if the pair were, in fact, together. Mimir told him they weren't and how he accidentally called Hilda a whore, which pissed her off. He did trust her at first, but now, knowing the truth, it was hard to say what she was thinking. If Odin had planned this all along, maybe he dangled Hilda in front of Atreus, hoping that if they married, they would stop this.

He would have to trust Hilda for now and hope he was keeping Atreus safe and out of harm's way. They quickly went to the Raider camp and started taking them out quickly. They were a lot stronger than before, and one even set hom on fire, with pissed him off. The wolves didn't stop whinging, so there was one more they needed to get. He was getting tired of the wolves, but he did see himself in them as well as his brother.

They went to find the other Raider camp that was bothering them, and hopefully, this would be the last of the side quests they did. All he wanted was the norms and the answers they held. They went into the Raider stronghold, where they met more potent Raiders, but they were still easily defeated.

Oluf Nautson was their leader, and he was stronger than he looked. Kratos would have to be careful with him, not knowing what true power this man had. He was taller than Kratos, but with help from Fraya, they could take him down. It was all over now, or so he hoped anyway. Now the wolves could have comfort knowing these people were gone and the land was safe. There could be more hidden in the grounds, but for now, they were not his problem.

They still were whining, and he knew they were scared of him. Atreus always did well with looking after them, even if he didn't brush them. He went up to them, and they seemed so afraid; maybe he feared Hilda and her powers just like they were scared of him. Hilda never gave him a reason not to trust him and was ready to lay down her life for him to save Atreus from the cruel fate she was given.

"Do not... Do not be afraid. Good boys," Kratos said.

"Girls," Fraya corrected.

"Good girls," he said as he petted them.

"Hey! Hey! Over here!" Sindri yelled, making Kratos look over to see Sindri.

"Sindri, we told you to stay home with Brok! It isn't safe here for you. Odin could have you killed," Freya informed as Sindri scoffed.

"You thought I would stay home while my daughter was out in the cold with no armor? I had to find out what had happened to her myself. I had made extra armor for Hilda's arrows, everything I thought she would need except for a traveling seed. I don't want Odin getting a hold of that," he informed.

"Hilsa is with Odin, I'm sorry, but she was hurt badly. But Atreus is with her as far as we know," Fraya informed.

"I know I found pieces of her armor; that's why I made extra. I bribed Níðhögg with fish to hopefully find Hilda and give her what she needs. But I mean, it is a long shot; she might never find Hilda. But she does love her to death. Anyway, I collected some extra things and wanted to grade your armor up if that's alright with you. I need something other than watering Hilda's plants," Sindri informed.

"Where is Brok?" Kratos asked.

"He went to our base camp and melted metals down for your armor. He is trying to make something new and stronger," he said.

"We can always use upgrades, and I am running low on arrows," Fraya informed.

"Great, we can take a break then," Mimir smiled as they headed to their base camp.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Brok smiled.

"How are you two holding up with Hilda being missing?" Freya asked.

"I'm doing alright, but Sindri touched a fish to get some supplies to Hilda, hopefully! He never touched a raw fish with his bare hands!" Brok chuckled.

"Okay, it was nasty, but I couldn't get the fish out of the rap another way. I don't know how to fix those traps!" Sindri informed as he gave them some soup and sat down at the little table.

"Thank you," Fraya informed as she took the soup.

"We saw the beast earlier. She seemed confused," Kratos informed.

"Well, Hilda spent a lot of time with Atreus and you, so her sent is mixed up with yours now," Sindri said weakly as he ate his soup.

"You seemed worried," Kratos informed.

"I'm not worried... okay, I am. I wanted to tell you this sooner, but I fought with Atreus. It slipped my mind; I wish I were more like Hilda in that way. So I was talking to Atreus when suddenly his hand started hurting him. There was a gold ring around his wrist, and it just seemed odd. Atreus thought it was odd to do so to test his throes; he took off one of his boots and kicked his bed as hard as he could. Hilda felt his pain; I don't know why or how it happened, but if Hilda got hurt, evil Atreus might feel it. I don't know what is going on, but it might be Odin who did something. I just don't know," Sindri explained.

"Another reason to want Hilda, what better to kill two birds with one stone? Her magic is something I have never seen before. I had never even heard of transferring pain to someone like that. I hope Atreus didn't feel her pain; we saw one of her memories, and she wasn't in great shape. Odin got her before his men killed her," Fraya informed.

"Did she do it on purpose?" Kratos asked.

"No, I really don't think so. She told me she was thinking about finishing that pottery project together, I think, and she hurt herself. What I don't understand is that she hasn't been with Atreus for very long at all; she has never done this with Brok or me. Why Atreus?" Sindri asked.

"They share the pain; both of their mothers were killed. Atreus has tried to be kind to her when most boys her age want something else. They slept in the same bed to get rid of her nightmares," Kratos informed.

"He did something no one else did. He gave her peace; when her powers got free, they may have inadvertently connected to him," Fraya informed.

"Also to me," Sindri said as he took off his glove and rolled up his sleeve.

There was a faint band around his arm that was gray, making Fraya look at him oddly. Freya started to take off her armor, and Fraya found a light mark on her shoulder that was thin and barely noticeable. Anyone could easily overlook it if you weren't looking for it.

"Kratos let me look at your wrists," Freya informed as he took off his gloves and another thin band.

"What does this mean?" Mimir asked.

"I do not know, but Hilda doesn't know she is doing it. We need to find out before Odin does," Kratos informed.