Chapter Text
A bright glow blinds his vision, a headache starting to bloom.
Atreus is falling.
At least it feels like it.
Falling through realms, universes, the sky, an endless pit, a tunnel with no end.
Golden light, much like giant magic, mixed with the white of it all smashed together in a chaotic mess his eyes simply cannot handle.
He hits the ground.
*
Consciousness comes back slowly.
Dim light breaks its way through his eyelids, forcing his tired mind to awaken.
The room he wakes in is dull, dark, and unfamiliar. Really unfamiliar. The way it’s built, the items and furniture. It’s all strange, different, and strangely wrong.
The walls are grey, made of something Atreus can only guess is stone, the floor the same way. The architecture is something he’s never seen before. It’s all so unfamiliar.
A loud crash down the hall startles him out of his observations, followed by a blood-curdling range of groans and growls, inhuman. Atreus freezes before instinct kicks in. Nocking an arrow and crouching behind what he assumes to be a box of some sort. He peeks out of his hiding place, checking for whatever the threat may be.
The sight makes his breath hitch and his throat dry.
An inhuman figure stood not far away, twitching, it’s breathing haggard. Atreus had seen his fair share of inhuman creatures, but this one looked horrifying. Torn clothes hanging loose, mushrooms, fungi, growing out of it, blood seeping out of its growing flesh. It looked like a living nightmare. And the sounds, not quite human, but not far enough from human. It sounded like a creature possessing someone who was in agony, one who could no longer control the movement of their own body.
He aimed his bow, making sure he had a clean shot before he fired.
The arrow flew.
Hit the target.
The target did not fall.
The creature turned around, glaring at him with wild, bloodshot eyes. It let out an inhuman roar and charged straight toward him. He barely had time to stand up before it tackled him to the ground, thrashing wildly and trying to bite the boy. Atreus tried to push it away, holding out his arms and using all his strength. His bow too far to grasp, it would be useless close range anyway, His knife unreachable in the circumstances. If he tries to hold up this creature with one arm, it’ll surely kill him. He tried shoving it to the side to no avail, his arms were growing tired and the creature was getting wilder as time went on.
As he arms grew weak, the creature slowly inched closer and closer. Atreus moved his face to the side and craned his neck to try and avoid the creature. It drew closer, his arms grew weaker.
BANG!
Blood splattered all on Atreus’ face and torso, looking up he saw the head of the creature, a distinct hole through it. He quickly shoved it away, shuffling over to grab his bow and turn to his saviour (or attacker).
A girl, much older than him by the looks of it, stood close by, holding a gadget Atreus had never seen before.
Must be a weapon. Atreus thought, it would explain what killed the creature.
She seemed surprised, in shock, but not of the creature, but of him. The girl (or maybe woman?), stepped closer, keeping that weapon firmly in her grasp.
“What the hell…” She mutters, confused.
Atreus grasps his bow, having an arrow nocked but not aiming it at her, not wanting to antagonise the person who just saved his skin. He examines her as the both stand staring, her presumably doing the same. She’s wearing clothes that are unfamiliar to him, something over what seems to be a short tunic of sorts, with trousers and shoes he’s unfamiliar with. She has something on her back, presumably a bag. Much different to Atreus’ tunic and mix of fabrics used to keep him warm, with his own little design choices his father didn’t have much to say about.
She cautiously makes her way over, scanning him head to toe. “Who the hell are you?” She asks him incredulously, clearly baffled by his presence and whatever he looks like.
Before he can answer, another horrifying sound echo’s from far in the building, something like a cut off screech and a few clicks. The girl seems to recognise the sound, tensing up and turning behind her.
“We gotta go. Whatever you do, don’t make too much noise.” She warns swiftly walking down the corridor, the weapon ready. Atreus follows, his bow and arrow at the ready as he follows the strange girl, or maybe he’s the strange one. In all fairness: the buildings are strange, the creatures are strange, the people look strange, it could all be to him, he’s probably the strange one.
They round a corner when the girl suddenly grabs him and yanks him back, putting a hand over his mouth as she pulls him behind cover. Recovering from the shock, he moves and glances around the corner at what she saw. Another one of those creatures, except whatever was growing out of it had managed to split its face in two, the parasite fungus growing outwards.
“What the Hel is that…” he mutters, glancing at the girl, who looks more annoyed than anything.
She glances around, spotting a small, smashed, window up high. She looks from the window to him, then back to the window before finally landing on him. “If I get you up there will you help me up?” She asks, clearly suspicious of him but there seems to be no other way out, the exit probably blocked down the hallway.
Atreus looks up at the window, it’s not too high, so he could probably help her. She seems capable of pulling herself up, just needs his help due to the height. “Yeah, I can.” He confirms with the nod of his head, careful to be quiet due to the creature down the hall.
Her eyes narrow as she scrutinises him, analysing him for any lies. She doesn’t seem to find any as the next thing he knows, she’s moving over to below the window, telling him to come over. Atreus doesn’t think twice, not wanting to be in that cursed building any longer. She carefully boosts him up, good enough so that he can grab on and crawl through, but quiet enough they’re not discovered.
Once on the solid ground outside, he turns back, holding out a hand for her as she jumps up and grabs onto it, grabbing the edge of the window along with it. As a joint effort, they both manage to get her up, Atreus having severely overestimated his ability to haul up someone twice his weight.
She dusts herself off, turning to him as he stands and wipes the dirt away. She stares for a moment, watching as he wipes his face and realises the blood is still there, he’ll have to clean that. “Who are you?” She asks again, uninterrupted this time.
“Uh, Atreus.” He responds simply, “And you are?” he decides to ask, thinking it’s not best to keep labelling her as ‘girl’ like he’s his father or something.
“Ellie.” She informs him, looking over him again as if trying to figure him out. Ellie looks like she has questions, but probably realises this isn’t the best time. “C’mon. I found an old theatre, can take shelter there.
Atreus looks like he wants to question her more, but ultimately decides against it and follows her through the unfamiliar city he doesn’t belong anywhere near.
*
The theatre is much bigger than he originally thought, not to mention it was lit up by something he could clearly tell wasn’t fire, but he wasn’t quite sure what. Ellie knocked on the door, shouting to someone inside. Not long later, something inside shifted and a girl, around Ellie’s age with black hair and a short red tunic with buttons along the middle, opened the door. She seemed relieved to see Ellie, but puzzled when her gaze landed on Atreus.
“Ellie…who is this?” She asks, bewildered.
“Inside.” Ellie replies shortly, giving the other girl a look he can’t read.
The other girl sighs but opens the door slightly more so the pair can enter. Inside, the place looked even bigger and brighter. Atreus would almost be entranced by it if he wasn’t almost immediately grabbed from behind, quickly restrained and tied to a chair.
“What the Hel!?” He shouted, in a state of shock and fury. “Let me go!” He yells, trying (and failing) to kick Ellie.
Ellie steps away from him, staring at him for a moment before crouching down. “Cut the bull kid. You’re not from here, you’re dressed funny, you use a bow like the scars, who are you and where did you come from?”
Atreus could hardly believe what was going on. Yeah, he wasn’t from here, that’s why he looked funny but tying him up!? Seriously? “Atreus! I’m from Midgard.”
Obviously, that must’ve been the wrong choice, as both girls look confused at that. Ellie mutters a quiet ‘Bullshit.’ Under her breath. The other girl speaks to her in a hushed tone, something about it being late, and Ellie needs rest. Ellie looks at the girl, then at Atreus before sighing. “I’ll deal with you in the morning…” She mutters, disappearing off through a set of doors not far away.
Now, Atreus is left with this other, calmer, girl. She seems nice, but tired. Way too tired. She settles on a sofa behind her, staring at Atreus. After a moment, she speaks up. “I’m Dina. Atreus, is it?”
Atreus nods, cautious after these people literally just bound him to a table.
Dina smiles, nodding before they fall into awkward silence. Atreus’ mind wanders to things like those creatures, the buildings, the people, weapons, what is going on, being tied up. It’s all so off putting. What breaks him out of his raging mind is focusing on Dina, her small shifts and her hand instinctively protecting her stomach. Atreus may be a fourteen year old boy, but he’s not stupid.
“Are you…?” He mutters, glancing from her stomach to her face, not knowing how to put it.
She stares for a moment, not responding. Eventually she settles on an answer. “Get some rest. You’ll need it.”
He nods, shuffling a bit to find a semi comfortable position, letting his eyes drift shut as his overworked mind shuts down.
Atreus dreams about home.