26 – Kratos and Pandora Journey (1)

Getting out of the Greek realm was easier than Kratos thought. He only had to pass through a slight barrier, and he was out. Of course, what came next was far from easy.

Although Athena had given him information about the world between the Realms, Kratos was still surprised. The place between the realms was totally empty, all you could see was darkness all around. He and Pandora were constantly attacked by creatures of Chaos.

Of course, this was no problem for the current Kratos, one of the only living divinities able to stand up to Poseidon, the most powerful God in the Greek Realm.

And these attacks proved to be great training for a novice Spartan, Pandora. Kratos, after Pandora's insistence, decided to train her.

'It's been years since I left Greece, and seeing Pandora transform into this warrior fills me with... with pride?' Kratos already noticed that he saw a lot of Calliope in Pandora, but he tried not to let it change his judgment.

The God of War has opened up to Pandora so much that in training, he lets her use The Blade Of Chaos.

The first time he did this, Pandora was surprised, '' Are you sure? I know how much you hate this weapon.''

Pandora noted that for years and years, Kratos had tried to get rid of the weapon, but for some reason, the Blades always came back to him.

Kratos looked at the weapon with hatred, and passed one of them to Pandora, '' Whether I admit it or not, they are great weapons. Besides, this is just training, not permanent.''

Pandora was reluctant for a few seconds and then decided to accept, '' Fine! It's only for training!''

As soon as she picked up one of the Blades, Pandora, who, wanting it or not, was a creation of Hephaestus, recognized how powerful this weapon was, ''Strong! Stronger than any other weapon I have on me now!

And Pandora had received several weapons from Hephaestus and Aphrodite before leaving the Realm.

Pandora looked at Kratos again and asked, '' Can we continue the training?''

Kratos slowly picked up the other Blade from the ground, '' I'll teach you everything I know! Don't expect mercy!''

10 seconds later, Pandora was on the ground, defeated.

'' You were too slow. By the time you tried to defend one of my attacks, the third already hit you! You need more focus! Now, get up and face me again!'' Kratos always had this mentality, that strong warriors were born under pressure. And he wasn't wrong about this method of working with Pandora.

The Goddess slowly got up from the ground, wiped the blood from her mouth, and said, "Let's go again!''

Kratos nodded with approval and attacked again. This time Pandora stayed strong until 12 seconds, which was considered good.

'' Again!''

14 seconds.

'' Again!!''

17 seconds.

'' AGAIN!''

20 seconds.

Finally, after fighting for hours with an experienced God of War, Pandora passed out from exhaustion. Kratos held Pandora in his arms and put her on the ground. As this was The Place between realms, a bed was a luxury they didn't find.

' She is getting stronger! She does have a Spartan spirit.' After making sure Pandora was okay, Kratos looked at the darkness around him, and his thoughts, just like all nights ever since it happened, went to the day he murdered his family.

' Even the Gods couldn't do anything about this... it is getting more difficult to bear those visions.'

Kratos who was constantly fighting his demons, always remembered what Poseidon said to him before he left Greece.

FLASHBACK

'' Your path is not here on the Greek realm.''

'' This is the fourth time you told me that! How can you be so sure about this?'' Kratos asked Poseidon.

The God of the Sea sighed, '' You can call that a hunch, but you'll learn to live with your demons if you go to another realm! I promise you.''

'' And if I can't?''

Poseidon patted Kratos's shoulder, '' You'll have to trust me on this one. Besides, what could go wrong? You lost too much here, it's not a place to restart your life.''

Kratos eventually accepted his situation, '' I'll go!''

END OF FLASHBACK

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But now... Kratos wasn't so sure about what Poseidon said. ''It's been years, and I still haven't found a realm!''

Kratos looked up at the Darkness all around him. After an unknown amount of time, Kratos looked up, his eyes practically burning with motivation to keep going.

Kratos wasn't one to give up, besides, he now has Pandora to take care of, ' I have to keep going... I can't stop!'

Filled with motivation, Kratos went to wake up Pandora, to continue their journey.

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And today marks exactly 40 years since Kratos and Pandora left Greece, and the duo finally saw another Realm.

The place between the realms was totally empty, all you could see was darkness all around. So noticing this new Realm, which was practically a yellow beacon, was easy for Kratos.

''Finally! I couldn't stand eating these monsters anymore!'' Pandora, when she got out of the Greek realm was a powerful Goddess (Poseidon gave her divine powers), but under Kratos's tutelage, she is now a first-class warrior. Sure, she couldn't stand up to Kratos, but she was good.

Kratos glanced at her, '' Don't complain too much. This new Realm might be hostile toward us! Be on your guard!''

Kratos then looked at the notepad Athena gave him and checked which of the 4 realms was this one.

'To the north, we have the Nordic realm, to the east we have the Greek realm, to the west we have the Egyptians, and we have no information about what is in the south.'

Kratos looked at the description of the Norse realm and noticed that the description did not match. He then looked at the Egyptian realm and noticed that everything matched the description. 'Sand everywhere, strange structures.'

It was written in Athena's notes, 'The entrance to the Egyptian Realm is surrounded by sand. We don't know why, but it is said to be a form of distraction against Chaos creatures, who hate sand for some reason.'

Putting the notes away somewhere else, Kratos said to Pandora, ''We are in the Egyptian Realm. Athena had no information about the people, but stay alert! What have I taught you?''

Pandora, who was already holding the sword Hephaestus' gave her, '' Always be on the lookout for any attack!''

Kratos nodded, ''Let us enter. Follow me closely!''

So, after crossing a barrier, Kratos and Pandora entered the Egyptian realm.