They got out, and Kratos could feel Hilda was there with him. Kratos thought about Hilda and told her to leave without saying it, and the feeling of her vanished. Kratos could feel it now; Hilda was not just coming here because of thinking about her but also negative emotions. She was trying to make them feel better despite not being there. Kratos used to be the God of war; that was his form, but his nature changed, or so he hoped. But now he was even having doubts about that. Maybe that was why Hilda was trying to go to him. If Hilda could feel Atreus'spain, perhaps she could feel his too, and if that was the case, he needed to make sure to shut those doors so Hilda would stop using her powers and hurting herself.

"There should be a gateway somewhere around here; we need to leave before Odin changes his mind and tries to kill us," Freya informed as they started to head to the gate.

They found another Baserker soldier, and they fought him. It was easy to kill, just like the other one, but it didn't make him feel better. They found Durlin, and Kratos went after him.

"Nice to see you again," he said sarcastically.

"Noticed Odin hid behind you like a coward," Mimir informed.

"Your son is fine as far as I can tell, as well as Hilda. I saw them personally. Odin can't stand Hilda being there, though. Hilda can be a bitch if she gets mad enough," he said as Freya was thankful they were fine.

"Thank you. What are you doing here?" Kratos asked.

"I'm looking for my hammer, it isn't worth much, but it has a symbol of the old residence until the Asier took it. I want to boost our spirits, but I can't find it. I won't be able to leave this place without getting killed either," he informed.

"They must have buried it under that statue in the bay, the Swarf one. It's the only place they could put it to keep it out of my reach," he informed.

"We will get you your hammer," Kratos informed.

"Does Hilda look Ill to you?" Freya asked.

"Why is something wrong with her?" Durlin asked.

"She has been visiting now and again. But the cost is her blood. We don't know why exactly, and we are trying to figure it out before Odin notices. Once he does, he will kill her since she is growing stronger. Her powers might be ripping her apart," Fraya informed.

"Of course they are. I won't be able to go back, and telling me what is going on with Hilda was a stupid thing on your part. I care about her, she does her job, and she loves my pet. But if Odin finds out I'm talking to you and forces me to tell him what you told me, I would do it. I can't lie to him, I have tried to, and it ends badly, believe me," Durlin informed.

"We understand, and so will Hilda; we are just trying to help her," Mimir informed.

"Bloody bastard called her a whore. I can tell you from personal experience when dealing with her she isn't that. She hates boys her age, and for a good reason. She would never just go off and start fucking every guy she sees. If they so much as touch her, I can tell you that a spear or a chair leg will be going up their ass," he said with a smile.

"Sounds like Hilda," Mimir smiled.

"If you can find my hammer, we don't have a lot of spirits left in us," Durlin informed.

They parted ways and started to go to the hammer. Once they found it, they quickly returned it, it was just an old forge hammer, but it was still worth bearing. And they started to head off again. They began to lead to the gateway, ended up in a cave, and started fighting monsters. They were stronger than he had fought before but were easy to take out anyway.

Being back here made him think of Hilda and how she freed that creature. It was interesting how she used her powers but also made him think about the bonds between her. She was bleeding a lot, and he was getting sick due to the energy she used. If she was free from her bonds, all that build-up from the years of those bonds, the blood could be from her overdoing herself. It made sense, but that meant she must also be getting sick.

He saw the creature swimming freely in the water, which seemed happy. Kratos felt horrible for fearing Hilda was like Odin, but she didn't like them. This place looked better, and he hoped it would stay this way. They made it to the gate, and he went threw it.

"Hey! Show off your new spear!" Brok said as Sindri was working on a piece of metal.

"Oh, look at that! That one is special," Sindri smiled as he looked at the spear.

"Have you found a way to reach Asgard?" Kratos asked.

"I had a few ideas, but none of them worked. Níðhögg is going to find Hilda maybe, but she is not perfect. Also, she might end up dead. Hilda will be distraught when he finds out she's dead. If she's not dead already," he informed.

"Without a way to Asgard, what are we doing?" Mimir asked.

"I don't know. I need to think. I am... tired, " Kratos informed.

"Kratos, I know you are tired, but Atreus and Hilda have made something for you. They got it finished," Sindri said as he quickly went to get the things and brought them to him.

The bowl was in a box that Hilda had made. He opened it up and saw a bowl, and he uncovered the tree to see an extremely healthy Olive tree. It felt like he got stabbed in the chest. He read what was in the bowl and almost dropped it because it hurt him.

"What does the bowl say?" Mimir asked.

"I... love you, Father," Kratos said softly.

"What the heck are you?" Hilda said as she had a small plant in her hand.

He saw her caring for it over the years and trying to figure out what it was.

"Hey, Hilda, you said something about an olive tree?" Atreus said as Hilda looked at him oddly.

"I did?" She said.

"Yeah, maybe that's the weird plant in your garden," he informed.

He made her laugh and broker, and Sindri stopped to see what her memories were doing.

"Do you know any greek?" Hilda asked.

"I do a little why?" He asked.

"Well, write something for your father in his language," she said.

"Like what? He might not even like this," he informed.

"You never know," Hilda said.

It was tough to watch her memories, especially because Atreus was in them. He never bothered to see how close they were; he needed to sleep. He put the bowl on the table and put the olive tree next. He put Mimir on the table and sighed weakly.

"Where are you going, brother?" Mimir asked.

"Sleep," Kratos said as he went to his room.

"Hey, want to talk?" Hilda asked as he went and saw her sitting on a barrel.

"Leave," Kratos said.

"I don't know how. I don't know why I am doing this, honestly, but I can feel how upset you are from Asgard. Look, I know Odin went to visit you. We were going to go somewhere, but oddly enough, we didn't. What did he say to you? Do you understand that he was trying to get into his head, right?" She asked. 

"His words don't bother me," Kratos informed.

"Well, I beg to differ; I know you didn't like me once you found out I was Odin's kid, and that is fine. I know what you did too, and I understand what Atreus has done. I see you both as clear as day, and you can't lie to me. I feared both of you, but not because you killed gods. It was because if you wanted to hurt me you could, and no one would stop you. Sindri definitely couldn't, and I didn't want to end up dead or worse. But you both proved me wrong. You raised a good son, and he made me not afraid, which was hard for me not to be. I have been in both of your heads and seen things I didn't like in both of you, but I saw way more good than bad. So stop feeling guilty; Atreus will come back home. I know he will. He misses you too. I know I'm with him, but I'm not you," she said.

"Holda, please leave," he said as she sighed.

"Would if I could control this? I'm saying I get it. I understand everything, and I'm not mad at you for distrusting me. Honestly, I would be in your shoes too. Get some rest, okay? You look worse than I did when throwing up blood. Also, I'm just guessing I can't see you, but I feel that you are here where ever here is," she smiled as she held her head.

"Would you guys stop it already?" She asked as he heard whispers, then they stopped.

"Hilda?" Atreus asked, making her disappear.

Kratos started taking off his weapons and just tossing them on the ground. He didn't care anymore when he did the same thing to his armor. He remembered what he had done and, worst of all, what he did to himself, what those horrible gods did. He just wanted peace. He had the scares of his past on him, and he hated them, all of them. He missed his wife, and Hilda reminded him of her, especially since she always saw the positive side of things. He grabbed the bag that he had put her ashes in, and he wanted to break down.

Atreus was the last thing he had of her, and he wanted to ensure he lived. He was just tired, and now Atreus was going to lose not only him but also Hilda too. He held the bag with his wife's ashes for a moment, then put it down so he could sleep.

Kratos woke up in a dream again with Faye, and she was holding baby Atreus in her arms.

"Looks like your father is ready. Shall we go?" She asked as he helped her up.

They were by a lake, and they got in a boat. He wanted to listen to her talk about the place.

"What would you have me say?" He asked as she brought up him teaching him.

"Anything, let him learn your voice," she said.

"He is better off knowing as little as possible," Kratos informed.

"Knowledge is not always a burden," she said.

"The mighty God of war afraid of his child," she informed.

"I'm not afraid of him; I'm afraid for him; he is innocent," he explained.

"We are not our failures; we are not who we were; we must be better," she informed.

"Atreus is our future," she said as she made Kratos hold Atreus.

"Protect him, Kratos," she said as they disappeared.

He got up startled and couldn't believe he had another dream of her. He got up and took a minute to think, to focus. He got up and started to punch the wall. Not hard, just hard enough to help him focus.