Chapter 56 – The Realm That Refuses the Dead
They noticed the silence first.
Not the peaceful kind.
This was the kind that suffocated the air, that pressed against the ears until hearing itself became useless. Each footstep Kratos and Atreus took was swallowed the moment it touched the ground, as if the world refused to acknowledge their presence.
The realm before them had no sky.
Only a vast, pale veil stretching endlessly above — not clouds, not mist, but something thinner, something lifeless. Beneath their feet, the ground was a smooth, ashen surface, scarred by long, shallow grooves that ran endlessly across the landscape like trails left by something that had fled… or been dragged.
Atreus finally broke the quiet.
"Where are we?"
Kratos did not answer immediately. His eyes searched the horizon — if it could even be called that. The world seemed to curve inward on itself, bending light and distance until nothing felt far… and nothing felt close.
"Somewhere that does not want us," he said.
Atreus swallowed.
"That cloaked figure… he said there are realms the gods avoid." He looked around slowly. "Is this one of them?"
Kratos gave a slight nod.
"Yes."
A long pause followed.
"Why did we come here?" Atreus asked.
Kratos' grip tightened on the Leviathan Axe.
"Because it cannot be traced."
The words hung there.
That was when Atreus felt it.
A small tug at the back of his mind.
Gentle… almost curious.
Like invisible fingers brushing the edges of his thoughts.
"Father…" he whispered. "Something's… touching my mind again."
Kratos turned sharply. "Push it out."
"I am trying," Atreus said through clenched teeth. "But it doesn't feel like the others. It's not violent. It's more like… it's studying me."
In the distance, something moved.
Not walking.
Not flying.
Just… appearing where it had not existed before.
A silhouette formed in the far distance — tall and thin, bent at an unnatural angle, limbs stretching just a little too far as it watched them in complete stillness.
Not approaching.
Not retreating.
Watching.
Atreus slowly raised his bow.
"What is that…?"
Kratos stepped in front of him.
"Don't look at it too long."
"Why?"
"Because it will start to look back."
As if in response, the silhouette tilted its head.
Then another one appeared beside it.
Then another.
And another.
Figures emerging silently out of the pale landscape, scattered across the realm like forgotten statues.
None of them moved.
But the feeling of attention multiplied until it felt like thousands of eyes had fixed on Atreus alone.
The tug in his mind grew stronger.
Fragments slipped in.
Not visions this time.
Whispers.
Not sound… but knowing.
We remember you…
You do not belong to time…
You are the echo that broke the chain…
"Enough…" Atreus muttered, gripping his head. "Stop…"
Kratos placed a hand on his shoulder, grounding him.
"You are not alone. Push them out."
Atreus closed his eyes and focused his breathing.
The air vibrated faintly as a soft green light glowed beneath his skin. Slowly… painfully… the whispers faded.
When he opened his eyes again, the silhouettes had not moved.
But one stood closer now.
Not walking.
Just… present.
It was tall, cloaked in something that looked like peeling reality. Its face was empty — not a void, not a skull. Merely a smooth, featureless surface.
Then—
A mouth appeared.
And it spoke.
"YOU HAVE WALKED HERE BEFORE."
Atreus froze. "I've never been in this place."
"NOT WITH YOUR BODY."
The world shuddered.
Kratos stepped forward, voice low and menacing.
"What are you?"
The being tilted its head toward him.
"WE ARE WHAT REMAINS… WHEN DEATH IS REFUSED."
Atreus felt a chill run through him.
"What does that mean?"
"THIS REALM IS FOR THE THINGS THAT WERE NOT ALLOWED TO END."
The landscape around them flickered. Just for a heartbeat. And in that flicker, Atreus saw it:
Cities half-formed.
Creatures mid-dissolution.
Souls frozen between existence and nothing.
A grave without burial.
A cage without walls.
Blood ran cold in his veins.
"You mean… they're trapped here?" Atreus whispered.
"THEY ARE PRESERVED."
The word echoed strangely.
"Why?" he asked.
The being shifted slightly.
"BECAUSE THE NINE FEARED WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THEY VANISHED."
Kratos' expression darkened.
"And what does any of this have to do with my son?"
Another silence.
Heavier this time.
The beings across the realm all turned their heads at once to face Atreus.
"HE IS NOT JUST TOUCHED BY THE VEINS."
"HE IS OF THE SAME FRACTURE."
The air tightened around them.
"IF THE CHAINS BREAK…"
"THIS REALM WILL FINALLY DIE…"
"AND SO WILL WE."
Atreus' heart pounded.
"You think I'm the one who is going to destroy you?"
"NO."
The being's voice lowered.
"WE THINK YOU ARE THE ONE WHO WILL FREE US."
Kratos threw out his arm, pushing Atreus back.
"There will be no bargains," he warned. "No promises. No destinies controlled by this place."
The being's blank face slowly turned to him.
"YOU OF ALL BEINGS SHOULD UNDERSTAND…"
"FREEDOM IS ALWAYS PAID FOR IN BLOOD."
A deep vibration surged through the realm.
The ground beneath them began to glow faintly, the old grooves illuminating in pale light, forming a massive circular symbol far beneath their feet.
Atreus gasped. "Father… I think this place is waking up."
"No," Kratos corrected. "It is responding to you."
The pale veil above them began to lower, like a ceiling descending inch by inch.
The silhouettes around them slowly shifted closer now.
Not running.
Just… tightening the circle.
Atreus looked up at Kratos. There was fear in his eyes — but something else, too.
Resolve.
"If freeing them is what the Nine are afraid of…" he said quietly, "…then maybe it's what must happen."
Kratos' eyes hardened.
"Or it is exactly what they want."
Suddenly, from the farthest edge of the realm, a far louder presence stirred.
Even the trapped beings recoiled from it.
The pale veil split open slightly, and from above something massive began to descend — not physical, not spiritual — wrong in every possible way.
A voice like the collapse of worlds muttered:
"THE CHILD OF WAR WALKS IN MY GRAVE…"
Atreus looked up slowly.
"…and I have not yet forgiven the living."
Kratos raised his axe.
The realm trembled violently.
The circle beneath them flared brighter.
And something deep beneath the surface…
…began to rise.