Kratos and Pandora wandered around the Between the Realms, following the map that Thoth gave them. He also told them what kind of Gods and other races they had in the Norse Realm, so they knew, to some extent, what to expect when they arrive there.
Then after walking the Between the Realms, killing a lot of creatures of Chaos, Kratos and Pandora finally saw the barrier to the Norse Realm.
They looked at each other, both with different reactions. Pandora was smiling, while Kratos had a deadpan face. But the duo was glad to finally arrive at their destination after decades of walking.
It took Kratos and Pandora 4 months to reach the Norse Realm, 1 month less than what Thoth predicted, and 51 years in total.
As they passed through the barrier, a cold they never felt before hit them. Both had to use their powers to adjust to the temperature. Pandora shouted after looking around, '' What the...''
It didn't matter where Pandora looked, she only saw white. Snow filled everything, '' Thoth never told us about this...''
Kratos also looked at the scene. '' Maybe Thoth's information is out of date... Come on, we need to find a place to settle.''
The duo continued wandering around the place, noticing that even after walking for a long time, they didn't find any intelligent life, only animals.
Pandora looked around curtly, '' I wonder what happened here?''
Kratos was walking ahead of Pandora and replied, '' I can't say for sure, but it seems that some kind of conflict occurred in this place, causing all the inhabitants to flee. Ence why we don't feel anyone around here.''
Pandora accepted Kratos' suggestion since he is very experienced in knowing things related to conflicts.
The duo wandered the land for many days until finally, they found a place to settle down. Kratos looked around the area and hoped from the bottom of his heart, that he would find the peace he wanted around this place.
Kratos then looked at Pandora, who was gathering stuff around the place to build a house. He looked at her with pride, knowing that it was his training that allowed Pandora to protect herself against any kind of danger.
' Maybe if Calliope was alive, she would be just like her...' As he remembered his deceased daughter, Kratos was filled with sadness and rage.
'Control it... We don't need me to go on a rampage.' After taking some deep breaths to control his rage, Kratos went in Pandora's direction, to help her with the materials collection.
When Pandora saw Kratos coming in her direction, she smiled, '' How about you help me put some trees down? We need a lot of wood to build a house.''
Kratos nodded and took out his Blade of Chaos. He looked at his weapon with hate and solemnity, ' I never thought I would use it to chop down trees... a fitting ending to such a horrible weapon!'
Then Kratos strolled around, gathering as much wood as he could. After getting some of them, he went back to Pandora's location and gave her the wood.
Pandora thanked him and started to build their house, with Kratos' help. While she was making the layout, Kratos was putting the thing in place. It didn't take long for a house to be built.
Pandora and Kratos looked at it, then at each other. ''It's fine for a first house, we can always rebuild later if we don't like it!''
Kratos nodded at Pandora's suggestion.
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'' Now we need to build the furniture!'' Pandora was extremely excited, maybe because she was a blacksmith in the core of her being or some other reason.
MANY HOURS LATER
The inside of the house and the exterior has been modified many times until finally, both were satisfied with it. '' I think it's finally done!''
After Pandora said that, she looked inside the house again. The furniture was clearly inspired by the Greeks, but with a lot of modifications.
Pandora sat down on her bed, which Kratos help her build. After looking around the house with affection in her eyes, she asked Kratos, '' Now what?''
Kratos smiled after a long time, '' Now we live!''
To say that Pandora was shocked was an understatement. It has been a long time since she saw Kratos smile, if not the first time. But after some time thinking about what he said, Pandora also smiled, '' I look forward to the rest of our lives!''
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10 YEARS LATER
Pandora was hunting down a deer in the woods of Midgard. She, who once was a defenseless girl having to hide for her entire life, now was a full-fledged Spartan Goddess.
She followed the trail the deer left behind until she came across a gruesome scene. The deer she was hunting was getting eaten by a troll.
When Pandora saw the scene, she sighed, '' Once again, a fucking troll!''
Pandora was getting tired of encountering trolls in Midgard. It got to the point where she wanted to literally follow some of them and kill their entire race, but Kratos didn't let her, saying 'They're good training material!', so she could only kill the ones she encountered.
Pandora then slowly put her bow away and took out her sword. It wasn't the Blade of Chaos. Kratos put the weapon away in the second year.
It was a sword Pandora made with some materials she found around the area. It wasn't indestructible, but it was good enough.
Pandora made her way to the Troll, who was distracted eating the deer and didn't notice her arrival. She slowly started to put power in her leg and then jumped high.
The Goddess wanted to get done as soon as possible, so she aimed at the Troll's neck. When she was falling down on the Troll, the monster noticed her presence, but it was too late.
'Slash.'
One clean cut to the neck and the Troll was decapitated. Pandora looked to see if the deer had any meat left, but no such luck. She then kicked the Troll's corpse, '' Useless! If you're at least edible, but no... you're useless!''
Pandora gave a few more kicks until she got her rage out. She put her weapons away and sighed, '' Now I have to find another deer or some other animal...''
She then made her way to the more secluded area in the forest. It didn't take long for her to find a trail of blood around the area, '' Lucky me!''
Pandora then started to follow the blood, but noticed something strange, ' It doesn't look like an animal trail... maybe someone!?''
It has been a few months since Pandora and Kratos saw someone around the area, and all of them ended up being hostile or running away when they saw the duo.
So Pandora was excited to see if it was a person or not. She started to run deep into the forest. After a few moments, she arrived at the location of a person.
It was a woman, and she was deeply wounded. Pandora approached her, '' Are you still alive?''
The only thing the woman managed to say was a few grunts here and there. But it proved that she was alive.
So Pandora, with no hesitation, carried the woman in her arms, '' Hang in there! I'll bring you to someone who can help. Hand in there!''
Pandora started to run toward her house, where Kratos was, '' Maybe he can help her...?''
It didn't take long for the pair to arrive. As soon as Pandora saw her house, she screamed, '' Kratos!''
The door to the house was blown away, with Kratos ready to fight,'' What is it!?''
When he saw Pandora with the woman, he lowered his weapons and went to check the woman's injuries, '' She is alive, for now! Get her inside the house.''
Pandora did just that, while Kratos closed his eyes and used his powers to see if anyone was watching. After a few moments, Kratos finally opened his eyes, ' Strange... such a deep wound couldn't have been made by the types of Trolls...'
With doubts in his mind regarding who did that, Kratos entered the house. He went directly to the woman, who was laying in Pandora's bed.
While Kratos was checking the woman, Pandora asked, '' Is it bad?''
Kratos nodded, '' For her to survive such an attack, she must be strong or very lucky. Or both!''
After that, Kratos did some first aid. It wasn't much, but it was the best he could do. '' Now we wait and see how she reacts.''
Pandora nodded. Then she remembered something, '' I forgot to hunt dinner. Should I go away again?''
Kratos shook his head, '' That type of wound is not normal. Maybe an apex predator appeared in the area... Let me handle the hunt for today, while you take care of the woman.''
The God of War then took his bow and a sword and went away.
Pandora looked at the woman on her bed, '' And who are you...?''
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What Kratos and Pandora haven't realized at the moment, was that this meeting would change their lives forever.