Chapter 27 (Patreon)

Chapter 27

Atreus

The day they were set to leave, they, all of them, were gathered one final time in the Manor’s grand dining hall for breakfast.

Eggs, sausages, small tomatoes, lettuce, freshly baked bread, butter- If Atreus would miss one singular thing about this entire experience, it would absolutely be the food.

Each of the servants was by now a familiar face, and a few even joked with Mimir, who was sporting his pair of very large, very fluffy socks, about how they wouldn’t need to worry about their floors anymore.

The Servants kept bringing out more and more food, as if they knew it would be the last time and they wanted to properly see them off. Brok stuffed his plate, several times, as did his father. 

But in the end it innevitably came to an end, and when the head maid, Amalie rang a bell, she called them all to stand.

Atreus was curious but, they did all stand as requested.

And that’s when Lord Orden and Gabel marched in.

Behind them were several servants carting in wheeled trays with wrapped bundles atop each of them.

They carted them over and Atreus, doing a quick count, realized there was one bundle for each of them.

The Lord of the house looked as he always looked, stoic, calm, immovable.

But when he spoke- “Thank you for your services.” Atreus couldn’t help but notice that his voice was… subdued, almost soft. 

It was a night and day difference from the man that had all but manhandled Stark into his carriage and demanded their services when they first arrived. 

Atreus wasn’t as good with people as he was with animals, people were complicated. Messy. But he did see the way the Lord’s shoulders were slumped. He did sense the feelings hidden behind the mask of stoicism. Last night’s party, seeing Stark with Fern- it had affected him.

Atreus had always been empathetic, his father had tried to teach him to close his heart to it but it had never been a lesson he’d learned well, as much as he’d tried, and right now, he couldn’t help but feel… sad for the fire haired lord.

“Gabel.” Lord Orden called and the head servant came forward, towards Miss Frieren along with the other maids and butlers that had carted the wrapped bundles, now carrying those bundles to each of them. 

Amalie, the head maid that had helped teach him to dance walked up to him, smiling kindly as she held forward the bundle.

Atreus smiled back, reaching for it before he placed it on the table and began unwrapping the cloth to reveal-

“The clothes were made for you, ergo they are my gift to you.” Lord Orden declared and Atreus couldn’t help but… actually genuinely smile as he passed his hands over the beautiful coat that was indeed his.He had no idea when or if he’d ever use the clothes again, maybe by the time the next opportunity arose, if it ever did he’d already outgrow them, but even just having this… tangible memory of it…

It made him happy.

He heard Brok grumbling somewhere to his right, but even still the blue Dwarf tied the bundle back together and took it in hand with nary a fuss.

The Lord Orden continued, “I’ve provided enough food and provisions to last a party of your size for at least another week, and as agreed one Grimoire as selected by the Lady Frieren from the library along with the sum of ten Sthral gold.”

Atreus saw Miss Frieren take her Grimoire with the same beaming smile that Fern clutched onto the bag of clinking coins. 

Lord Orden nodded “Gabel will see you off, may you fare well on your travels.”

And just like that, the man turned, moving to march out of the room.

But before he could leave it was Stark who unexpectedly stopped him.

“Lord Orden.”

The read head’s unexpected call did bring the Lord’s exit to a stop, but the man didn’t turn around.

Even so, Stark pressed on. “I’d like to thank you for everything sir.” He said in a tone of voice that Atreus had never really heard from him before. 

Lord Orden stood stock still, the silence hanging heavy for a second. 

“You performed your task to perfection Stark… it was wrong of me to ask more of you.”

Atreus blinked, confused about that statement and a quick look to the others told him that they were as lost as he was. 

But without another word between them, Lord Orden left the room, Stark offering a shallow bow at the man’s back.

—

They were let into the stables by the stablemaster. 

Gratitude had been re-shoed, the Hulda brothers Cart granted fresh wheels and a new canvas tarp. The blue Ox was pleased enough to all but prance as she caught sight of Atreus and Stark.

The group began to organize their traveling gear and belongings into the cart, Brok hopping onto the back to “Organize it properly so we got room to sit. You fuckers will just throw yer shit everywhere” as Sindri began to saddle and yoke Gratitude onto the front of the cart with his and Stark’s help. 

“Hey, Stark-” Atreus called making his fellow redhead look at him even as Gratitude’s long tongue tried to lick all across the side of his face. “What did Lord Orden mean? Saying that he shouldn’t have asked more of you?”

He saw that the others were curious too, all eyes quietly turning towards them.

Stark offered a small, melancholy smile. 

“He asked me to stay.” The Warrior explained. “To be Wirt… permanently.”

“He what!?” Fern’s surprise practically made Atreus jump out of his skin. It was rare for her to be quite so… vocal.

“I-I turned him down!” Stark rushed to explain holding his hands up as if to ward off Fern’s fury. “I think he was… is just… you know, grieving.”

“He is.” A second surprise came now, as it was his father that spoke, marching up to Stark’s side, offering the older boy a nod. “And it was good of you to deny him.”

“Why?” Atreus couldn’t help but ask. It wasn’t… quite curiosity so much as it was a sadness, the memory of Lord Orden just a few minutes ago in the dining hall running through his mind. “I mean… if it helps…”

His father looked at him, then shook his head.  “It would be something based on a lie. It could not help. Only fester.” His father paused, staring past Atreus before he shook his head again. “The greatest help Stark could offer was saying no.”

“Aye” Mimir agreed. “Stark staying here, becoming a living Ghost of a dead man.” The robed sage shook his head, stony fingers grasping at his staff. “Nae. Brother is right. The old Lord might grieve now, the rejection might hurt, but this is the only way that wound can even begin to close even a little bit.”

“Is it wrong to still feel bad for him though?” Stark asked, turning to look up, towards the Manse itself, as though he were trying to find Lord Orden through its thick walls and tall windows. “He and Wirt… their last conversation was an angry one… and he never got to fix it. I know its stupid but, it kinda feels like I’m denying him the chance to do that too.”

Sein, sighed at the words, marching over and placing his hand atop Starks head. “No kid. It isn’t wrong. On the contrary, it says you’re a good kid who cares about other people.”

Stark didn’t look as though his mind had been put much at ease, but Sein in that moment looked at him, Mimir and then his father. 

“On that note.” The Priest sighed before looking at his father. “I’d like to apologize.”

Kratos didn’t answer, merely staring at the Priest quietly.

“I’m not ready… I’m not sure if I’ll ever be ready to accept everything you’ve all said about… Gods. Godhood and everything-” Sein shrugged, one hand rising, almost reflexively to caress the Rosarius that was the Goddess’ symbol. “But- I do see what you are. And that’s… well- Good people. I should have accepted you for that… and everything else should have been secondary, regardless.”

There was a moment of quiet, and when it was broken, Atreus was the one that did it.

“So…” He hesitated, his father and Sein’s eyes trailing over to him. “This means we’re good?”

Sein’s smile was small, almost hesitant. “If you say we’re good… then yeah kid. We’re good.”

Atreus smiled, and then looked at Mimir.

“No hard feelings Lad.” The head said hand to chest a small bow accompanying the words. “We always knew it would be a shock.”

Finally, Atreus looked to Kratos, so did Sein.

The God of War looked at Atreus, and let out a huff. “As you wish.” He said. Wether he was addressing Sein, or Atreus… no one could really say.

Watching them all from her seat on the Cart, Frieren smiled.

“I think that’s it.” Sindri said as he finished tying the last loop around Gratitude, just as Brok slammed the back of the Cart closed and latched it.

“Yup.” The Blue dwarf barked. “Everything’s packed up, secured and good to go!” He hawked up a very phlegmy wad of spit “The fuck we headed to now?”

“Aurberst is our next destination isn’t it?” Fern said, getting up onto the cart to sit beside Miss Frieren as Sindri hopped to join them, taking hold of the reins. 

“Aurberst.” Atreus’ father rumbled. “This is where the mage, Serie is?”

That made Atreus perk up. Right! That’s where he’d heard the name of the city before. He’d almost forgotten in these three months.

“Yes.” Fern answered. “It’s the heart of magical knowledge in the empire. If there’s a way to get you home, I have no doubt we’ll find it there.”

Home… It had been so long, almost a year now…

They could return home. 

As much as Atreus liked it here… he did miss home. The chill of the morning snows, the smell of pine, his wolves; Fenrir especially. It was harsh and it was unforgiving.

But it was home… and he did miss it.

His father made a sound. Perhaps curious, perhaps approving. 

Miss Frieren just smiled, her legs swinging as they dangled from the cart seat as though all was right in the world. 

“Well.” The Elf finally spoke with her soft, quiet voice. “Shall we be off then?”

(X)(X)(X)

And so we're finally off to Aurberst and our last arc of the fic.As stated before, we will be going into a hiatus for me to write up the whole arc before postingWe have the mage exam, the approaching Demons, how Serie knows of Kratos and a lot of fun and exciting things to cap off this journey with these characters and I think you'll all enjoy it when I return with everything ready in a month or soOne thing you all might have noticed is that Sein is still here. I'm gonna be honest with you guys, I really didn't care at all about Sein's leaving the group in canon it felt forced and kinda stupid so I didn't make it happen here.

He will remain as a group member. And if best girl Methode joins then hey, he'll be happier he stayed.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed and if you did; read review and all of that fun stuff and I'll see you all in about a month if all my estimates work out as intended Bye bye for now :)