Helloooooooooooooooooooooo my friends! Here is ze multi chapter sequel to Ghastly Vision!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Legend of Zelda or God of War, only any OCs that will be making an appearance.

WARNING: This story will contain graphic violence, reader discretion is advised.

ENJOY ZA FIRST CHAPTER! The first of the redone ones, anyway.

Greece

Kratos stared down at the bloodied corpse that was once his father and the King of Olympus, Zeus. The deceased reigning deity's face had caved in after relentless and brutal pummeling. The Spartan's eyes drifted to his hands. His ash white knuckles were painted red with Zeus' blood, as well as the blue flames that resembled the Flame of Olympus. But Kratos slightly lifted his gaze up to look at the body. He had expected to experience the same satisfaction he had felt when he killed Ares all those years ago. But he didn't. All he felt... was emptiness, a void that could never be filled. Kratos then noticed that his father's body started to twitch. He backed up as the chains around his forearms came loose and slid off, clattering to the ground while Zeus' body slightly lifted itself off the ground and became riddled with godly energy. Then without warning, a great beam shot out of Zeus and into the sky. The light show became more and more intense before the energy pulsed in all directions, and Kratos had to shield his eyes from the blinding light.

Once the light show ended, Kratos gazed at the land. Or whatever was left of it. He was just now beginning to realize the consequences of his actions. He had taken his revenge, but at what cost? By killing every god that stood in his way, he had turned Greece into a chaotic wasteland. Without Poseidon, the oceans swallow the land. Without Hades, the souls of the Underworld aimlessly roam the realm of the living, cursed to never find to never find their afterlife salvation. Without Helios, the sun was blocked out, permanently shrouding the land in a mix of twilight and night. Without Hermes, disease runs rampant, infecting whatever has not yet been touched. Without Hera, the vegetation had been sucked dry. Zeus was the only one who was capable of reversing the damage Kratos had caused. But now he was dead, and any hope of restoring Greece to its former glory died with him. Whatever was left of Greece's population was paying the price for Kratos' madness.

As Kratos contemplated on whether his revenge was worth the decimation of his home land while gazing out at the new world he had created with a blank expression, a familiar voice stirred him out of his thoughts. "You have done well, Kratos." Congratulated the ghostly form of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war. "Freed from the bondage of Olympus and cleansed in chaos, mankind is now ready to hear my message."

Kratos spun around to face the goddess that had watched over him during his ten years of servitude to the Olympians, face lined with annoyance. "Look around you, Athena." He said to her, gesturing to the area they were standing in. "The world stands in ruin. What good is your message?" He turned and walked off.

"Go if you must." Athena replied. "But first I insist you give me the power from inside the box."

Kratos stopped in his tracks. "The box was empty." He informed flatly, unable to see his eyes glowing like flames.

Athena reappeared in front of him. "That can't be true." She denied, gazing at the Spartan with scrutiny. "I can see it in your eyes. You used my power to kill Zeus. You still have it as we speak. Don't you understand? When Zeus gathered all the evils and placed them in the box, I dreaded what would happen if it was opened again. And so, I summoned the most powerful weapon in the world and I placed it in the box."

Kratos was silent for a few seconds before meeting Athena's gaze. "I told you, it was empty." He repeated his earlier statement in a firm tone before looking up at the dark, cloudy sky. "Pandora was sacrificed in vain. She died because of my need for vengeance." She was yet another victim of his madness.

"You must be mistaken." Athena retorted. "You used my power to kill Zeus. I saw you do it. Unless..." She trailed off, then it suddenly clicked. "Of course. When you opened the box, you released the evils to the gods. Infected them. Changed them. Zeus himself fell prey to the dark evils. This is why he became so enraged and obsessed with your death. He was consumed by the evil, Fear. I thought the power I placed in the box was never released. All these years I assumed you drew from the evils inside to destroy Ares. But I was wrong... the power you took from the box is mine. From it you gained the strength that Zeus could never destroy. A strength great enough to overcome Fear. Locked deep inside of you, Kratos, is hope." She finally finished.

Kratos looked at his left hand, watching as it emitted the blue flames. "It has remained buried." Athena pressed on. "Trapped by your guilt and the failures of your past. When you killed Zeus, you must have allowed something to awaken it. What was it, Kratos?"

The Spartan looked up at the sky once more. "Hope is what makes us strong! It is why we are here! It is what we fight with when all else is lost." He remembered Pandora's words.

"What was it, Kratos?" Athena asked again.

"All I remember is what I have lost." Kratos answered before walking around Athena and toward the Blade of Olympus.

"That is why you should give me the power." Athena reasoned. "I understand it's true meaning and where it belongs. I trust you to do the right thing, Kratos." She finished, placing a hand on Kratos' shoulder.

The Spartan shrugged the hand off. "You shouldn't." He countered as he knelt down in front of the weapon that ended the Great War.

"You owe me this, Kratos." Athena said angrily.

Not liking her tone, Kratos lifted the Blade of Olympus off the ground and spun around to face Athena while snarling, "I owe you nothing!"

Athena pointed an accusing finger at the Spartan, her voice laced with fury as she spoke, "I made you a god! I sheltered you from the wrath of Olympus! I delivered your revenge on Zeus!"

"It is over, Athena." Kratos said as he glanced down the massive blade in his hand.

Athena's eyes gleamed with fear. "You would dare strike me down, again?!"

The Ghost of Sparta was silent for a few seconds. "My vengeance," he started before looking at Athena, "ends now."

"Kratos, no!" Athena screamed as Kratos raised the blade before swinging...

and missed.

But Athena wasn't his target. Kratos flipped the blade so the razor edged tip was directed at him. With a roar, the Spartan rammed the Blade of Olympus into himself, plunging it deeper. He groaned in pain as blood began to pour out of him.

Athena's eyes widened lividly. "You fool! What have you done?!" She shouted furiously. Kratos slightly levitated into the air and a great beam shot out of him and into the sky. "No!" Athena yelled helplessly as the power she went through so much effort for was scattered throughout the sky. Kratos landed back on the ground on his knees, the Blade of Olympus still lodged in him, the weapon's light fading away, rendering it powerless. "That was meant for me! They will not know what to do with it!" Athena ranted. Slowly but surely, the goddess made her way over to Kratos. She grabbed him by the forehead, forcing the Spartan to look in her eyes while placing her other hand on the Blade of Olympus' pommel. "You... disappoint me, Spartan." Kratos sneered at her response. With a scowl, Athena wrenched the massive blade out of Kratos, earning an agonizing groan of pain from the Ghost of Sparta. Her scowl deepening, Athena tossed the blade aside, the weapon clattering onto the ground loudly, before drifting off, vanishing into thin air, leaving the Spartan to die alone.

Kratos wished he could take Athena with him in death. She just proved to be no better than Zeus and Ares. She had used him the same way they did. He knew there was something wrong with the goddess when they spoke in the Underworld, when she had said that she too sought the demise of Zeus, even though she had sacrificed herself to save him. She just wanted the power she placed in the box, and she used Kratos to get to it.

Kratos slowly went down on his back as blood poured out of the massive gaping wound, his life and strength fading away. He would not fight death this time. He would welcome it, allow it to take him. His life began to flash before his eyes as memories began to flood to the surface of his mind. The brutal Spartan training sessions. Training with Deimos. Deimos being taken by Ares and Athena. The day of his and Lysandra's wedding. The day Calliope was born, the same day he went off to find the ambrosia to cure his daughter of her sickness. Leading his Spartan brothers into battle. The day they fought and almost lost to the barbarians. Calling upon Ares' assistance. Receiving the Blades of Chaos. The sheer agonizing pain he felt when the chains seared themselves into his flesh. The night he unintentionally slaughtered Lysandra and Calliope, the night he became the Ghost of Sparta. Being on the run from the Furies. The day he killed Ares, the same day he was crowned the new God of War. Countless other memories rushed to the surface, each and every one of them painfully vivid.

But suddenly, Kratos heard Calliope playing her flute, and Lysandra giggling. He didn't know what awaited him in the Underworld, but he did have one hope; that he would finally be reunited with his wife and daughter, and that they would forgive him. The thought of it made Kratos slightly smile. Even on the verge of death, he could feel himself smile. It was such an odd feeling. He couldn't remember the last time a smile crossed his face.

But there was one thing Kratos did know; after decades of suffering, torment, loss, and betrayal, it would all finally come to an end. He would at long last find peace. And so, Kratos, the mortal who had bested a god in battle, survived Pandora's temple, overcame death itself on numerous occasions, slaughtered the gods of Olympus, closed his eyes for the final time...

Or so he thought.

It would seem fate was not quite done with the Ghost of Sparta. High above the turmoil in Greece, a goddess from a faraway land gazed down at the dying Spartan. An evil was looming upon her beloved land. While she did not doubt the skills of her current champions, she still feared the chance of failure. "He has good within him." The goddess spoke in a soft, angelic voice. "It has simply been buried underneath his anger and rage. If set on the right path, Kratos can find the peace he so rightfully deserves."

With that, the goddess waved her hands and they began to pulse with magic. A gold heavenly beamed darted down from the sky and landed on the God of War. Kratos' body was slowly lifted into the air as golden particles went into the wound he had inflicted upon himself and began to heal it. The lost flesh and organs were slowly reformed until the healing process was complete. The gold beam became brighter and brighter until it suddenly vanished, taking the Ghost of Sparta with it.

And that's a wrap for the first redone chapter! As always, thanks for reading, and have an awesome day!