The Silent Rift
Silver wind howled across the alien dunes. Shattered towers loomed like broken spears against a black sky.
Kratos stood apart, staring into the pale horizon, blood drying on his cheek.
Asura slumped against a cracked pillar, breath ragged. Blood leaked from the raw stumps of his arms, but his eyes still blazed with furious light.
Between them, silence throbbed like a wound.
Mithra and Atreus exchanged a look. Both knew this rift might destroy them all if left to widen.
Mithra: "I…will try talking to Master Kratos…"
Atreus: "Same with Asura… let's hope he doesn't headbutt me on the nose."
Mithra stepped toward Kratos.
Mithra paused a few feet from the Spartan's broad back.
Mithra (softly): "Master Kratos… may I speak with you?"
Kratos didn't turn, his voice low and wary.
Kratos: "Speak."
Mithra's golden eyes glistened as she searched for words.
Mithra: "My father… he carries so much pain. He believes rage is the only way to protect me. But it's killing him inside."
Kratos finally glanced at her, his expression hard.
Kratos: "He fights like a mad beast, just as I once did. He would sacrifice everything—even himself. And he believes that is strength.
I walked the same path in my younger days, letting my rage guide me. My thirst for vengeance and bloodshed brought only regret and pain."
Mithra stepped closer, her voice trembling.
Mithra: "Because he knows what it's like to lose everything. You do too… don't you?"
Kratos was silent. His eyes shifted to the Leviathan Axe in his grasp.
Mithra (firmly): "He lost my mother… was framed for killing the Emperor… and branded a traitor.
You remind him of himself. But I think you're the only one strong enough to make him listen. Please… help me save my father."
Kratos stared at her for a long moment, then finally lowered his gaze.
Atreus Approaches Asura
Across the dunes, Atreus walked toward Asura, cautious but determined.
Asura sat hunched, chest heaving, eyes fixed on the sands.
Atreus (quietly): "Hey… um… Asura?"
Asura didn't look up.
Asura (growling): "Go away."
Atreus shifted awkwardly, hugging his bow.
Atreus: "I know you hate gods. And people like my father. But… you saved him. Because of me. And because of Mithra."
Asura clenched his jaw, muscles trembling with rage looking at his ripped arms.
Asura: "I've lost my arms before. I don't care. But every second I'm like this… Eon gets closer to taking Mithra away."
Atreus knelt beside him, voice soft.
Atreus: "My father used to think rage was the only way, too. But it blinded him. And it cost him almost everything. He changed—for me. He wanted something better."
Asura's crimson eyes lifted, wild and furious.
Atreus: "I know you'd give everything for Mithra. But if you keep fighting alone… you might lose her anyway. And I don't want that. I don't want you to be alone."
Asura clenches his jaw, rage flickering in his eyes—but then his shoulders sag. His voice drops, rough and low.
Asura: "Don't speak as if you understand… You're just a child…
…but… maybe… maybe you're right.
I've seen what happens when I try to fight alone. I couldn't even save… an innocent soul… who did nothing but look at me with hope. And my wrath… it only left more blood behind."
(He turns away, trembling.)
Asura: "…I don't want to be alone. But my rage… it pushes everyone away. Even those I'd die to protect."
Atreus steps closer, reaching out to Asura. He places a gentle hand on Asura's back.
Atreus (softly): "Please… help us fight together. Only together can we save everyone—before it's too late."
The Lingering Silence
For a moment, neither warrior spoke.
The alien wind gusted around them, carrying distant roars of cosmic thunder.
Kratos stared at Mithra. Asura stared at Atreus. Both men seemed on the brink of answering—one way or another.
Far above, unseen, Eon watched, swirling in the shadows between stars.
The Crack of Worlds
A storm without warning.
The alien realm trembled beneath them, a pulse surging through its soil like a heartbeat made of collapsing stars. The air thinned. The sky split.
Eon had returned—not in form, but in force.
The heavens shattered like glass. From the cracks above, whirlpools of light and shadow spun downward, dragging the ground, the air, and even time itself into a violent spiral.
Eon's voice (echoing from the rift): "Scatter… let grief temper your strength."
Mithra screamed as the first rift opened beneath her.
Kratos (shouting): "MITHRA!"
He lunged without thinking, feet pounding the brittle ground—but the pull of the void was too fast.
Asura (roaring): "ATREUS! STAY BEHIND ME—!"
But a second fracture tore open beneath the boy, sucking him toward the burning sky.
Without a second to waste, Asura lunged forward—his instincts faster than thought. He caught Atreus by the fur of his cloak, clenching it in his teeth and lifting the boy off the scorched ground.
The two fathers reacted as one.
Kratos hurled himself toward Mithra, wrapping a powerful arm around her waist just as the vortex swallowed them.
Asura exploded forward, teeth bared in fury, slamming into Atreus as they vanished into crimson light.
And then—Silence.
No sky.
No ground.
Just darkness, and then…