God of War: Daughter of War

by Blackdrag-rose

First published 11th of June, 2023

Flurry ends up in the world of the Greek Gods and becomes Kratos' daughter, while joining him on his quest for vengeance.

After being abducted from her home, Flurry Heart is magically transported to the world of the Greek Gods and is taken in by Kratos, who raises her to become a fierce warrior as he pursues the cure to his nightmares and obtain his revenge on those who have wronged him.

(God of War/MLP Crossover)
(Part of the Demon War series, but reading the others isn't required)

Prelude: A New World

It was a peaceful day in the Crystal Empire, under the protective dome that kept everything and everyone safe from the cold and harsh weather that existed in this portion of the world, the Frozen North, and the crystal ponies were happy to have another uneventful day as they went about their business. After everything that had happened recently, with their return to Equestria after a thousand years trapped in a banishment spell created by the tyrant Sombra, plus the Dark King's own return and defeat, everyone was just happy to have a stress free day. Some of them did stop to admire the statues of those who had saved them from the tyrant's return, such as Spike the dragon and those he came with, while others smiled for a short period of time as they bowed their heads slightly to the large crystal palace that rested in the center of the empire, the home of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, the new rulers of their home. In addition to the normal residents of the empire there were visitors who came to study all of the newly rediscovered history that had been lost when the empire had been sealed away, and the crystal ponies were happy to have new individuals to talk to and share stories with.

The only one among their number who might be having a stressful day was Opal Radiance, an opal white coated mare who had autumn red mane and tail that were well maintained and wore a typical maid's outfit as she worked in the castle, even though most of her time was focused on tending to Flurry Heart. The little one in question was none other than the child of the royal couple, the first alicorn to be born in a long time, or ever in the eyes of certain individuals, and her power was far greater than anyone had suspected when her parents first revealed her to the world. One of her wails had shattered the Crystal Heart, the artifact powering the barrier around the entire empire, but it had been repaired by the magic of the crystal ponies and Flurry's focused power, displaying her great potential to those who were present at the time. Such a thing meant that whoever watched over her, while her parents were busy running the entire empire, had to be very careful and not cause her to go wild with her magic, least she do potentially lasting damage to anything that was around her.

For Opal, however, the stress actually came from the fact that Flurry was an energetic foal and the fact that she seemed to enjoy flying around without a care in the world, forcing her to chase after her charge, fixing anything by using her magic, as she was a unicorn, to either return them to their proper place or fixing them before running off again. The guards that watched over the palace knew this routine by now, due to the fact that it started the day that Opal was hired and had seen it at least three times each week since then, going on three months at this point, and always paused to get out of her way whenever it happened. The guards honestly felt sorry for the poor maid as she constantly exhausted herself as she did everything in her power to keep Flurry from doing any serious harm to herself or the palace, which was hard to do since Flurry was always full of energy, but they knew that Opal also got breaks and was well paid for her services, so it was well worth the effort. As the pair of guards outside the throne room thought about that they found an object flying by and, as if on queue, Opal ran down the hallway as well, panting hard as they spotted Flurry pause for a moment with a smile on her face before disappearing once more, causing the exhausted mare to follow after her.

Flurry continued to do so as they moved through the palace, in her young eyes it was seen as having fun while everyone else had different ideas on what was going on, before eventually reaching a room that she landed in, causing Opal to huff for a moment as she glanced around the hallway, only for her to close the door behind them.

"Now that the guards can't see us, and won't be by here for a time, it's time to make my move." a voice said, where Flurry turned around in the air and watched as Opal's body was engulfed in green flames, revealing a mare that stood just as tall as Princess Celestia, though her body seemed more like a bug's and she had a twisted horn.

Flurry had only a few seconds to react as the mare hit her with some sort of spell, one that formed a bubble around her, though as the mare grabbed onto the orb with her front hooves, no doubt to gloat or brag, Flurry screamed and her own magic went wild once more. The two of them vanished not a few seconds later and reappeared inside a cave of some kind, something that surprised her kidnapper, who ended up dropping her bubble in surprise as she fell onto the floor, while the bubble itself safely landed and rolled deeper into the cave. She and her kidnapper didn't have to wait too long for the sphere to come to a stop as it brushed up against the bark of a crystalline tree's trunk, where it broke apart as whatever magic fell apart, allowing her to land in front of the tree as she stared up at the figure that was approaching her. She had an idea as to why someone would want to kidnap her, given who her parents were, though while she thought about that a series of purple cracks appeared behind the bug mare and Flurry got an idea, one that might save her.

In the next instant she screamed again as her power went wild, where the bug mare was pushed back and realized that the cracks were behind her, which burst open in response to her cry and revealed a portal behind her, while the force of her action sent the bug mare flying into the portal, which closed once she was inside it. Flurry had no idea that her doing that would cause something so weird to happen to her kidnapper, though this meant that she would be fine for the time being, where she got up from where she had landed and started to walk away from the tree. As that happened, however, her world seemed to tilt as she staggered from side to side, as if she had used far too much magic, which she didn't have any control over save for when she cried or screamed, and it wasn't long before she tilted and fell on her side. After that she glanced at the tree and found that it seemed to be glowing with a red coloration, with a strange almost circular symbol resting in the air in front of it, which faded away into mist after a few moments.

That was the last thing that Flurry saw as exhaustion claimed her and she rested her head against the cave floor, knowing that, in time, she would have the strength to move again and she just needed to sleep for a time, unaware of what was actually coming her way.

---

Kratos, after having fought and killed Castor and Pollux, two individuals joined together in body, made his way up to where the Oracle of Delphi, Aletheia, had landed during the destruction of the area that the battle had taken place in, though she had sustained serious damage and claimed that the relic he now carried had no effect on her. As such he knelt beside her, a companion of sorts in her last moments as she willingly helped him learn what he was seeking and what needed to be done once she was no longer of this world, namely helping him rediscover some memories that explained everything. The ring and necklace he carried belong to his wife and daughter, both killed by his hand no less during an attack on a settlement that was far away from their home, but they had been there nonetheless and he, in his rage filled state, cut them down without a single thought, not realizing his error until after the deed had been done. In addition to all of that Aletheia informed him that the Furies were infecting his mind due to the fact that he was running from his oath to Ares, the God of War, allowing him to learn that the Shade, a figure who had been helping him, spoke the truth, despite the fact that he learned that his ally was Orkos, a Fury himself.

It was good to know that his only ally right now was definitely on his side, since he had few allies at the moment, though as he thought about that Aletheia coughed, causing him to take her hand as he sensed that her life might be getting closer to it's end, just as she had foreseen at some point in the past.

"My time grows short, Kratos... to be free of the madness that is plaguing you, you must defeat those who hold your bond to the God of War." Aletheia stated, something that caused Kratos to pause for a moment as he heard that, because such a thing meant having to fight the Furies themselves, where the oracle must have sensed his concern since the Furies liked to use illusions in their dealings, "I know you are worried about their illusions, so let me point you in the right direction: the Lantern of Delos, located across the sea, houses the Eyes of Truth, my own eyes that have been plunked out of my head, which will help you in your quest for freedom."

As Kratos opened his mouth, to say something about the situation he was in, but before he could actually say anything he and Aletheia felt the wind kick up for a moment as a flash of light appeared above them, causing him to look away for just a moment as the dying oracle coughed up some blood. When the bright light died down Kratos found that someone new was resting near them, a young girl, probably about four years old by his reckoning, who appeared to be a mix of human and what he assumed was a pony of some kind, only she had a short horn in the middle of her forehead and a pair of small feathered wings on her back, sized to fit her body. Her mane and tail seemed to be violet colored and happened to have blue highlights, while her body seemed to be more of a pinkish gray, something that was definitely unique based on everything he had seen in the past, and she wore a blue cloth outfit that reminded him of what civilians wore, similar to his own dead daughter. In addition to her Kratos found a pair of steel sickles resting near her, or what he assumed were steel since he wasn't familiar with all the types of metal in the world, but even he could tell that there was something odd about them and assumed that the girl would be able to figure it out in due time.

Aletheia, on the other hand, let out a weak chuckle, as if she had seen something interesting before her demise, which caused Kratos to turn his head towards her while the little pony girl groaned a little, meaning she was slowly coming to and would see them in no time.

"Kratos, she is... the key... to your happiness." Aletheia said, confirming that she had seen something odd with her oracle powers, though before Kratos could even question her, and figure out what in the world she was talking about, she laid her head on the stone slab that she was resting on and the last bits of life faded from her body.

He had just a few moments to himself as he heard another moan and found that the little girl was waking up, causing him to turn towards her as she opened her eyes and slowly started to take in her surroundings, a cavern that had all sorts of broken pillars and even a shattered bridge, plus the rocky walkway that they were on.

"Wh... Where am I? Who are you?" the girl asked, where she started to frantically glance around the area they were in as she noticed him standing there, a tall ashen figure standing near a lifeless body with a pool of blood nearby, something that caused her to sway for a few seconds before fainting, a reasonable response from one of her age.

Kratos sighed for a moment as he realized that his quest had just gotten a lot harder than he had thought it would, since he wasn't about to leave a little girl, especially one as unique as her, here for the Furies to kidnap and do whatever they wanted with her, he just had to be patient as he wondered what the future might hold for him now.

Ascension: Adventure Begins

Kratos leaned against the rock wall of the cavern that he had been fighting in, while dealing with Castor and Pollux, as he thought long and hard about what had just happened and what it meant for his quest, especially when he considered the sleeping pony girl who was resting off to the side. He had no idea where she had come from, nor did he understand why the Oracle's last words before she died had been about the girl being the key to his happiness, though he had accepted her odd appearance thanks to all of the monsters he had seen over his life, so a child like her wasn't too strange. What interested him was her horn and wings, like one of her parents was a pegasus or something, because they seemed unique among all of the additions that the monsters of this world had, though knowing the gods they might not be too surprised by the girl's form. The other thing that interested him was the sickles that landed near the girl, as they were sharp, similar to his Blades of Chaos, and could very well be made out of a similar metal to his own weapons as he continued to study them, but he had no idea why someone like her would be in possession of such a thing.

It was like a god had decided to have some fun by teleporting a random girl into the area that the Furies controlled, just to see if she could survive or something, making him immediately think of Ares, since it was said that he and Alecto, the leader of the Furies, had been a couple at one point in time. With that in mind it seemed weird to have a little girl here, in the domain of the Furies, since he was sure that she wasn't an oathbreaker like he was, hence his opinion that she was sent here for a bit of fun, even though he knew some gods took things seriously and might have taken an innocent oath a little too far, punishing her when it was broken. The sickles made him wonder if she might be the child of a god, given how well made and well crafted they were, even if they seemed a little too big for someone like her, causing him to move off to the side for a time as he gripped them in his hands. He had experience wielding two weapons at a time, thanks to the Blades of Chaos, so he shifted his stance and started to swing his arms as he performed some of the moves he had developed over the years, finding that he could utilize his attacks with the sickles with ease.

There was something about the weapons that made him wonder what they really were, though he couldn't place his finger on what might be giving him that feeling, though in that moment he heard some more groaning and found that the young girl was getting up again, causing him to set the sickles down as he focused on her.

"Easy. Everything is alright." Kratos said, as the young girl kind of reminded him of someone important to him, no doubt a memory that the Furies were using to torment him on his journey to free himself from his oath to Ares, hence why he was being more careful and delicate, almost as if she were his child or something silly like that.

"W... Where am I?" the little girl asked, repeating the first question that had left her mouth when she came to after waking up near him and the now dead oracle he had been talking to, though as she opened her eyes again, taking in the world once more, she noticed him kneeling beside her while noticing the dead body that had knocked her out.

"We are in the vast mountain range of Delphi, in the now ruined temple of the Oracle." Kratos replied, though as he said that, however, he noticed that none of the names he had said so far meant anything to the girl, which only made him take a moment to wonder what else he would learn about her before this particular quest was over, since he wasn't about to leave her for the Furies, "I am Kratos, general of the Spartan army, and this is the body of the Oracle of Delphi, Aletheia... and no, I did not kill her, rather she was an accidental casualty during my fight with the now deceased usurpers of her great power. Do you have a name? Do you know where you came from?"

Part of him was still worried that this might just be an illusion that even Aletheia was caught in, thanks to the state she had been left in thanks to his battle with her usurpers, but most of him wanted to believe that she was real and that he wasn't going insane thanks to the Furies.

"Fl... Flurry Heart." the girl answered, where Kratos realized something as she said that, it seemed like she had next to no memories, save for how to talk and her own name, because his second question seemed to stall her and prevented her from answering right away, "And... no... I don't know anything else."

"Not even these?" Kratos inquired, gesturing to the sickles that were resting near the girl, Flurry Heart as he corrected his thought immediately, though it wasn't long before she noticed them and shook her head to indicate that she had no idea what they were, which was really strange since they had appeared with her, causing him to let out a sigh, "Very well, since you likely have no idea how to use these, I will hold onto them for the time being. We should get going, as there is no telling when the minions of the Furies will show up and try to kill us... if a fight does break out, however, you should hide behind some cover."

Flurry stared up at him for a moment, taking in the fact that he was muscular, he had ashen colored skin, the fact that he had a red marking on one side of his face and chest, and the blades that seemed to be attached to he due to the chains that were seared into his arms, before nodding her understanding. Kratos said nothing to that as he turned and faced the only opening that was available to them right now, a passage that rested near Aletheia's corpse, as it seemed to lead out of the area her temple had been resting in, to which he beckoned for Flurry to follow as he started to move. As they did so he discovered that how to walk had to be an innate thing for her, as she seemed to move just fine, meaning he didn't have to waste time of teaching her the basics of how to move, before his thoughts were brought back to the path as he discovered that he would have to jump across a gap and climb a rock wall. He did so almost without thinking, leaping over to the rock wall and carefully climbed his way down to a partial ruined walkway off to his left, though after throwing himself over to his current target, and pulling himself up so he could dust himself off, Kratos remembered that Flurry was with him now.

Sure enough he found that the young girl was standing on the edge of the passage he had walked through, even though she did seem impressed with his climbing abilities, but before he could actually say anything she jumped towards the ledge, like he had done, and fell.

"Flurry!" Kratos called out, being careful not to get too loud with his shout, since he didn't want to bring the forces of the Furies down on their heads when he was distracted, though his worry about the girl was quickly dashed as he noticed that she was just fine, as her wings had opened on their own and allowed her to glide towards him, "I did not know you could do such a thing."

"Neither did I... maybe I can fly with them?" Flurry replied, where she found that trying to control her wings was harder than letting her instincts take over, as when she tried anything her first motion caused her to drop a little and forced her to let go of the reigns, allowing her to glide down to Kratos' position safely.

"Maybe when you are older." Kratos stated, because based on what he had just witnessed there was no way Flurry would be able to fly on her own, meaning there had to be a way to train her on how to use her wings, something he wouldn't be able to help with since he didn't have any of his own, a shame given some of the distances he had to cross, before shaking his head as he looked at the path, "Come, we have more ground to cover."

The walkway, which had been impressive before something broke large chunks of it off, allowed them to leave the cavern that he had found Aletheia in and let Flurry take her first look at the pristine and majestic mountain range that they would be traveling through for a time, since Kratos had no idea how much longer they'd be in this area. Of course he found that he would have to jump down a short height to return to a path he had utilized once before this point, since there was an open door nearby, though before doing so he picked up Flurry before dropping down to the ground. Flurry was surprised by such a thing, as she expected him to climb down something to safely reach this point, and while he set her down Kratos hold her that he was tougher than he looked, because he did this sort of thing all the time and each time he walked away unharmed, as if he were a demigod, an amusing if untrue statement. While Flurry was scratching her head, trying to figure out how he was able to do such a thing without taking damage, Kratos resumed following the path and reached an area that had a small waterfall washing over a large stone face, though he was more interested in what else he found, a walkway he assumed to be the path he needed to take.

Of course they weren't alone as some spiked spears rose out of the ground, blocking the walkway's entrance, while he and Flurry discovered that three satyrs, humanoid monsters that appeared to be more goat than human and had hooves at the end of their feet, not the same as what Flurry had as Kratos thought about it.

Since Flurry didn't know how to fight, based on her earlier words, Kratos had her hide behind one of the rocks as he pulled out one of the Blades of Chaos, because in his right hand he held the amulet he had taken from his last foe and suspected that this might be where he learned how to partly wield it's powers. He knew that the amulet had the power to manipulate time and space, he had seen such a thing while chasing Aletheia's usurpers and had even used it a few times to get up to where the now dead Oracle was resting, but he figured testing out it's combat capabilities would be a benefit for them in the future. As such he used it on one of the satyr and found that they slowed down, leaving that one open to his attacks while it's companions raised their weapons and shields in defense, something that showed him and Flurry that he would have to be careful in figuring out when to use it in battle. With that in mind he switched it out for his other Blade, allowing him to use both once more, before going on the assault as he struck out at the satyr that were around him, allowing Flurry to see that the chains stretched and allowed him to hit enemies from afar if he so desired.

She also got a front row seat to Kratos hacking apart his enemies with deadly precision, as he dodged an incoming sword swing from one of them and, before the creature had a chance to pull back, brought one of his blades down, severing the hand that was holding it with ease. As the creature screeched in pain, and a red liquid came out of the fresh wound, that was when Kratos parried the incoming attack from one of the remaining two, to avoid taking damage himself, before he kicked his second foe away and turned to remove the first foe's head with a swing of his second blade. With that done he turned all of his attention back to the second creature, who was still recovering from the kick to it's chest, which was when Kratos stabbed both of his blades into the monster's chest, surprising it in the process, before he pulled them apart and cut the thing vertically in half. The third one, despite seeing it's allies being brutally killed by their foe, rushed to fight him as well, where Kratos let go of his weapons for a moment, which seemed to make them latch onto his bare back since he wasn't wearing anything over his chest, before grabbing his foe's shield and ripped it out of the creature's hand, but he did not use it as he grabbed the creature's chest and literally tore it open with his hands.

Flurry was stunned by what transpired in front of her, all of what could only be described as death and blood, spilled with ease by one person's hand, and it seemed like Kratos enjoyed spilling the blood of his enemies, because it took him a few moments to realize that he wasn't the only one in this area.

"W... W... What are you?" Flurry asked, though as she said that she couldn't keep the fear out of her voice, because with how effortlessly Kratos had defeated all of his enemies, without breaking a sweat or even getting hit in return, it simply frightened her as she stared at the blood that was on the ground.

"...a monster..." Kratos admitted, rather sadly Flurry noted as he walked over to the waterfall and knelt for a moment, as it allowed her to clean his hands off as the spikes lowered into the holes they had sprung out of, meaning it was possible for them to move out of this area and, hopefully, get closer to his end goal.

"Are... are you going to make me into one as well?" Flurry inquired, where a small part of her seemed excited by the idea of becoming a warrior, like the thought of protecting others appealed to her for some reason, but it was overshadowed by the fear of potentially becoming like Kratos, who seemed surprised by the question.

Kratos stared at her for a few seconds, surprised that simply fighting some of the monsters that usually stood in his way, a fact that he was used to by this point in time, would bring such a question to the surface, especially from a young girl like her, making him wonder what in the world she would make of everything else he had encountered, before he walked over to her and knelt as he gently rested a hand on her shoulder.

"No... if you wish to learn how to be a warrior, a Spartan like me, I will endeavor to teach you everything I can, as well as do everything in my power to make sure you don't repeat my terrible mistakes." Kratos replied, in a more gentle tone than he intended, like he was speaking to his child or someone that needed to be comforted, though with his foggy memories he was partly unsure if he was even capable of such a thing, "If not, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe."

He really wasn't sure why he felt the need to act like this around her, but it helped calm Flurry down and that was all that mattered right now, though Kratos knew that soon they would have to move before more of the Furies' minions found them and hoped that Flurry was ready for whatever happened next.

Ascension: Into the City

Once he was sure that Flurry was ready to move again, after witnessing how he fought to keep both himself and her alive, Kratos started to walk down the side of the stone pathway that would take him back into the city he had found himself in not all that long ago, and it wasn't long before they encountered a slight problem.

"Um... the walkway is broken." Flurry remarked, as the stone path, which had some braziers lighting the way despite the sun still being out, abruptly came to an end since there was nowhere else for them to walk, though she could see what had to be the other end of the path further ahead of them, "I'm not sure I can glide over there, and even if I could fly I doubt I could even carry both of us over to the other side... is there a path we missed?"

"No, the path is in front of us." Kratos stated, where he sheathed his blades on his back, where they rested without him needing to actually have a holder or resting place for them, due to some magic based on his experience, and pulled out the amulet he had stolen from Aletheia's usurpers earlier, "Stand back and watch."

Flurry decided to do just that as she took a few steps back and made sure she was behind Kratos, who made sure she was out of the range of what he was about to do before lifting the amulet into the air and focused it's power, allowing her to watch what happened next. She was in awe as pieces of large stone, which had to be the fragments of the walkway they were currently using, lifted themselves up from where they had landed sometime ago, as she had no idea what had caused the destruction of their path, and started to refit themselves into a more solid form. It was as if time itself obeyed Kratos' will, or maybe it was the will of the relic he was carrying right now, and it wasn't just the fragment of the walkway that was in front of them that had been caught in the spell, as the entirety of the path and the walls around it reformed. Such a thing allowed her to see the majesty of the area before it was utterly destroyed, though she couldn't help but let her jaw drop as she watched all of this happen, as it was amazing that a single relic had the power to do so much, in such a short period of time.

Kratos, on the other hand, let out a light chuckle as he finished mending their path, everything locking into place while the water continued to flow down the path it had once flowed down, allowing him to lower the amulet before putting it away as he beckoned for Flurry to follow him again.

"That... was awesome! That amulet is amazing!" Flurry remarked, though as she followed after Kratos she found that he put it on what she had to assume was a belt of some kind, holding up his sash or whatever it was, leaving his hands free to grab his weapons if more enemies showed up to attack them, while her sickles hung on the other side of his belt, "What else can that amulet do?"

"As you have seen it allows me to mend broken objects, break perfectly pristine obstacles, and even freeze enemies for a short period of time." Kratos said, as he was glad that Flurry was focused on something other than what he had done to ensure they were able to continue on their way, while his own experience with the last of the amulet's powers came from his battle with it's usurpers, before he focused on the path once more.

As they walked down the path Kratos made sure to take a moment to get a quick drink, as it was cool and refreshing, and he was slightly parched from everything he had done since the last time he bothered to take a drink, allowing Flurry to do the same, since he was unsure when she might have had one before her arrival. After that they entered the tunnel that would bring them closer to their destination, where Flurry discovered that more enemies were already upon them, in the form of two satyr warriors and a floating creature that looked similar to Kratos, as in it was human. Kratos informed her that this was a sibyl siren, a female monster that looked like a human female, with it's curvy and alluring body that just so happened to show off it's ample breasts, while their feet and legs had been replaced by a cloth bottom and they floated a bit off the ground. Another thing about the sibyl he thought she should know was the fact that they had twisted smiles, all due to scars on their faces around the mouths, along with the fact that they seemed to use lightning based magic to fight their foes, leading him to telling her to hang back again.

This time around Flurry got to see that Kratos had a number of elemental powers at his disposal, flames that danced on his blade, ice that formed on his arms and weapons, lightning that arced on the edge of the strange blades, and some sort of darkness he could send out in waves if he desired. Those, in addition to his combat training, meant that none of their foes really stood a chance against him, not unless they were incredibly skilled she guessed, though his first action was to disarm one of the satyr, both of it's weapon and of the hand that held it, before taking off the monster's head. The second one didn't fare much better as he blocked a few of it's attacks, where Flurry was surprised that the sibyl siren didn't even take advantage of the distraction, before he knocked his foe onto the ground, chest facing the path, and grabbed onto it's head, tearing it off with zero hesitation. The sibyl siren seemed to float there for a moment, as if debating whether to fight him or to do something else, before it zipped through the air and appeared behind Flurry within a matter of seconds, as it grabbed her by the neck and held her as if it was going to zap her with it's powers.

That enraged Kratos, that the monster would target an innocent little girl, even if it was their nature to hunt mortals like him down, but before he could react he felt something tug on his belt and found that the sickles were moving, almost as if they were responding to Flurry's predicament. In the next moment the two weapons leapt off his belt and flew right into Flurry's hands, as she had noticed them coming thanks to the fact that she was facing him, where she seemed to react on some instinct that neither of them had known about before hand. As such Flurry stabbed them into the only surface that might aid in her escape, to open the monster's defenses so she could be freed, she brought her sickles straight down into the sibyl siren's breasts with all the strength she could muster. While the attack didn't do much to the monster, save for a few light cuts, the distraction was all Kratos needed as he charged into it's chest with his shoulder and freed Flurry as he knocked it to the ground, but before it could escape he grabbed it's head, slammed it back into the stonework, and raised his right foot before stomping on her head, crushing it with ease.

With the monsters taken care of, and he was sure that all of them had been taken care of, Kratos quickly sheathed both of his blades before retrieving Flurry's weapons from where they had landed, allowing him to walk over to the girl, who was currently rubbing her neck.

"Are you alright?" Kratos asked, though even as he said that he had a feeling that he would be saying it more frequently as the fights got tougher and tougher, since there were times where he fought more than two to three enemies at a time and he suspected that many might try to take advantage of her presence, like the sibyl siren had tried to do.

"Yeah, she just... surprised me, that's all." Flurry replied, where she was thankful that the monster hadn't grabbed her much harder, otherwise she was sure speaking would have been difficult for a time, and she found that her words calmed Kratos a tiny bit as he let out a sigh, something she felt was going to be commonplace until she could fight like he did.

"How did you do that? Calling the sickles to your aid?" Kratos inquired, as he felt it was a worthwhile thing to talk about as he turned his attention to the next ruined section of their path and raised the amulet, allowing him to mend the damage that had been done to it in no time at all, allowing water back into the city he had been in some time ago.

"No idea. They just... came to me." Flurry answered, as she was as confused as Kratos was on this matter, because she had made no call for the weapons to come to her like that, rather they had responded to her situation and came of their own free will, if weapons could even have such a thing, causing her to lift them towards the larger figure.

Kratos, however, shook his head and knelt for a moment, where he positioned the sickles on her attire like they might be resting on a belt of some kind, finding that whatever power or magic the weapons had seemed to mimic the Blades of Chaos that he carried, as they were able to rest there without a holder. From there they continued down the path and found that the only way to continue would be to jump down a side path, though Kratos did take a few seconds to smash open three odd chests, one with a white top and two with red tops, causing Flurry to tilt her head in confusion. Kratos took a moment to explain the different types of chests he had encountered so far, as the ones with green lids allowed him to restore most of his health, the blue ones replenished his magic reserves, and the red ones, interestingly enough, granted him knowledge in how to fight and he eventually discovered new ways to use his weapons. The white ones, however, contained offerings to the gods, tokens in the form of specific feathers and preserved monster eyes, of a specific beast, that supposedly granted those who bared the items whatever boons the gods had to offer, namely increased life force and even greater magic pools to unleash more spells.

Flurry was interested in all of this, since it was new for her, though she was unable to actually do anything to the chests that had been found and allowed Kratos to do the honors, where he quickly smashed the tops of the chests and claimed what was inside them, to which he returned to her side before pressing onward once more. As they started to move down into the chamber below them, however, Kratos found that there were several red eyed dogs and even a satyr commander standing between their position and the door, and with the number of enemies he had Flurry remain on the upper area, where she would be safe. With that done he dropped down into the cistern they had been traveling towards and unleashed his power on his enemies once more, channeling the power of his inner fire into a fiery explosion as he stabbed the ground, where Flurry found that it did no damage to any of his surroundings and burned most of the hounds away, informing her that the magic only worked on Kratos' enemies. The buffer satyr seemed like it could be troublesome, though Kratos had a plan as he utilized the power of the amulet to slow his foe down, allowing him to unleash a series of blows on his opponent before it had a chance to retaliate, and when the time was right he stole the monster's weapon before using it to remove it's legs and then stabbed it in the chest, killing it instantly.

With the coast clear Kratos returned to Flurry and made sure she could get down, finding that her wings definitely allowed her to glide on her own, before they headed down an underground passage he had passed through once before, while he was on his way to Aletheia's temple. While walking he paused by a smashed chest and found that the amulet worked on it as well, allowing him to gain more fighting knowledge before catching up with Flurry, who had gone ahead to see if there were any other monsters for them to worry about, only to find none. What she found, however, was a hidden painting of what looked to be a grand palace on the peak of a great mountain that was in the middle of a terrible tragedy, causing Kratos to pull her away from it, as it wasn't something she should concern herself with, before leaving the area and entering what had to be the edge of a city. As they did so Kratos found the hand of a cyclops pulling the rest of the monster up onto the area in front of the structure they had just emerged from, to which he had Flurry stand back as he walked forward, though as that happened a wall of spikes shot up to keep her trapped in the area she was in.

At this point in time Flurry wasn't even worried for Kratos' safety, he had proven himself to be a capable warrior and there was nothing for her to fear, because even when green beetles emerged to join the battle he didn't weaver, rather he used all of the beetles, which had lightning power, to stun the cyclops before climbing up it's back and jumping off so he could bring his blades down into the beast's chest, carving it open in no time.

Flurry knew she should be grossed out by the sight of all the blood that was being spilled, in fact she was sure this was the first time in her life that she had seen so much of it in a short period of time, but somehow, despite not actually spilling any herself, she found herself becoming a little numb to the sight. Kratos had nothing to say this time around, rather he focused on his task as he used the amulet to mend a bridge that would bring them closer to their current destination, since it would allow them to get closer to Delos and the Eyes that he needed to bring down the Furies. Flurry, despite seeing the blood and insides of the large cyclops, followed after him without wasting time, as she knew that monsters were becoming more and more frequent and she didn't want to be left behind, especially given the fact that one had grabbed her earlier. While they walked Flurry noticed that there was, in fact, a village or city in the area and, more importantly, it was lifeless, where Kratos informed her that the lack of water, due to the destroyed path they were restoring, had killed the entire place, since he had found many dehydrated bodies during his last trek through this place, all of them dead he added before she could think he killed them all.

He eventually found the short portion of a cliff wall that he had to press himself against while carefully climbing to either the left or the right, though as he headed to his left he found that Flurry was copying him, causing him to nod his head for a moment before they found the normal path that lead to the destroyed waterwheel he had seen earlier.

"Why would someone utterly destroy the city's source of water?" Flurry asked, because that seemed to be the case based on everything she had seen since they reached this part of their adventure, or whatever Kratos called it, but she had no idea why such a place deserved to be taken out in such a way.

"Plenty of reasons, sadly, but none of them concern us since we can't save the city or it's dead people." Kratos said, as it was a sad truth of the reality he dealt with, mortals fell at the whims of the gods or prospered accordingly, and of course there were times where it was just normal people causing chaos and despair for the rest of their kind, causing him to turn his focus towards the waterwheel, "If we restore this we should be able to access a new area, possibly even find a path to a harbor that might have a boat or ship we can use to reach Delos."

Flurry had no idea what was so special about Delos, or why Kratos was searching for it or a specific item, but she had no real say in the matter since she had interrupted his quest with her arrival, to which she joined him in looking out at the large ruined waterwheel that he was studying. Sure enough the first thing Kratos did was use the amulet to see the state it had been in before it's destruction, allowing them to see where pieces go and what they might be used for, since he told her that there were puzzles all over the land and that this might be one of them. Flurry noticed something right away as she glided down into the now clean area and pointed at the track that a lever could be pulled along, which was where part of the waterwheel had landed, something that caused Kratos to chuckle as he realized what she was seeing. He used the amulet to decay the object a bit, making it so he had a path down to the lever while positioning the fallen piece close to it's resting place, and once he had pulled the lever all the way out he resumed decaying everything so the fragment would be back in position, blocking the lever from moving.

Such a thing allowed them to climb up to a different bucket on the outer edge of the waterwheel so he could reform the entire object, allowing it to take them up to the ruined stone path so he could mend it as well, something that caused all of the water to return to the waterwheel as it moved, transporting them into an underground area.

Kratos quickly discovered something that might hinder their progress, as there was a body of water below them, which seemed to be the only path forward, and he had no idea if Flurry could swim or not, especially since he had no idea if the magic of Poseidon would protect her as well. In the end the only thing they could do was fall down into the water, which was cool and refreshing as well, though instead of sinking he found that Flurry seemed to be treading water just fine, even though she seemed surprised by this turn of events. With that in mind he had her climb onto her back, since he suspected that swimming wasn't something she knew how to do given her young age, before he dived underwater with her keeping a tight hold on his back, which would allow them to see if Poseidon's protection extended to her as well. He went slow for a time, just to be sure that he didn't put her at risk, though after what he assumed was a minute or two of staying in the same area he felt a tap on his shoulder and found that Flurry had a confused look on her face, no doubt wondering why he wasn't moving forward anymore.

With that in mind he mentally chuckled as he resumed swimming down the path that was in front of them, as in he moved through an underwater tunnel, or a system of tunnels as he soon discovered, that quickly brought him to a new obstacle, a partly raised wall held up by two massive sets of chains.

Flurry discovered a new type of enemy for Kratos to fight, what appeared to be living suits of armor or tough statues made to look like armored warriors, who climbed off their pedestals and approached him, causing her to get off his back so he could fight without having to worry about her. Fighting these foes turned out to be rather simple, as if he had fought them a few times before this point in time, due to the fact that he actively avoided being struck by their weapons, up until Kratos wrapped his blades around one and tore it out of the statue's hands. With the massive hammer in his hands he was able to swing it a few times and crush one statue before doing the same to the second one, displaying his insane strength to her as he wiped the floor with their enemies, making her wonder if he could do the same against large groups. Once the statues were taken care of he glanced around the area, to see if there was anything else for them to work with, before he and Flurry arrived at the same conclusion, using the amulet to decay the chains, snapping both in no time and lowering the barrier so they could continue on their way.

Of course that was when Flurry found that it meant going underwater again and climbed onto Kratos' back without much delay, allowing him to dive into the water and make his way through the tunnels that were under the areas he had passed through on his quest to find Aletheia. Along the way they passed by what appeared to be a wrecked ship and Flurry found a carving that seemed to be an idol of some kind, a small one anyway, which she pointed at and Kratos moved over to it so she could pick it, and a few loose coins, up. He assumed that she wanted something to remember this adventure by, like a souvenir, and indulged her for only a few seconds, because as soon as she had the idol and a few coins he started to move once more, forcing her to hold onto her treasures with one hand while the other held onto him. A few moments later and he found an opening to surface through, allowing them to walk through a section of the tunnel that wasn't underwater, all while Flurry noted that whatever protection Kratos had allowed them to emerge without wet clothing, a miracle to her as Kratos continued to delve deeper into the passage.

After that they passed through an opening in the rock wall and Kratos let a small smile appear on his face as he found that they had found the harbor at long last, complete with several ships, a giant who seemed to move ships in and out of the harbor, and a few vendors. While he knew that Flurry wanted to rest, as she seemed to be getting a little tired despite the fact that he was doing most of the work, to which he walked over to where the ship rested, though he turned to some of the vendors as an idea came to mind. Neither of them had eaten anything since her arrival some time ago and he found a few bits of food that they could enjoy, where it was fortunate that Flurry had some coins since they were able to buy what he wanted, plus a small pouch for her to keep her souvenir inside. Once he was done with the purchase, leaving them with a single golden coin oddly enough, he beckoned for her to follow and she did so without delay, allowing them to board the ship without delay, only to find that the crew only eyed him without saying anything.

In that moment he found his ally, the Fury Orkos, standing nearby, though it didn't seem to be his actual body, since it just disappeared as they approached it, though that was when he found the real one, a skinny male who had holes in his chest from where his mothers stuffed the crystal oath stones into his body, causing Kratos to tell Flurry to head for the front of the ship while he chatted with his ally.

"You surprise me, Kratos, as I thought you would be upset with me." Orkos said, because he was one of the ones who had a hand in forging the Spartan's bond to Ares, in fact, now that Kratos knew that fact, he assumed there would be a good chance that he'd try to kill him, causing him to turn his eyes towards the strange girl, "Who is she? Why does she reek of Death?"

"Her name is Flurry Heart, she arrived after I killed Aletheia's usurpers, and she shouldn't smell since we just finished an underwater swim." Kratos replied, where he assumed that Orkos, having seen him reaching this point, had convinced the crew to take him to Delos and whatever was waiting for him, hence why the crew had ignored him and Flurry, though he did see that the people around them were getting ready to depart.

"Not death, as in the blood of your enemies, but Death, a Primordial force." Orkos stated, though in that moment he let out a sigh as he realized that this might be a futile thing for him to do, so he focused on why he had come here, before it was discovered by his mothers that he was missing, as he raised a hand to stop Kratos, "Listen, the injustice of your oath is what drove me to betray my mothers, to doubt what they were doing... and to finally see why Lord Ares needed you."

Kratos raised an eyebrow as Orkos recounted everything of importance, that he was the failed son of the God of War and the Queen of the Furies, as he wasn't the warrior his father wanted him to be, but was still given the task of keeping oaths by his mother and her sisters, or his 'mothers' as he called them. It was Kratos' bond that finally made him question the actions of his family, causing him to seek the Oracle Aletheia and discover that Ares meant to overthrow Zeus, though her vision showed the utter destruction of Olympus, and to do so the mad God of War needed the perfect warrior. Kratos was that warrior, driven to making an oath with Ares, which gave him the Blades of Chaos, while his parents devised three foul tasks that involved the blood of his enemies, the blood of the innocent, and the blood of his own kin, and he had done all three without knowing he had done so. Orkos also went into how he and Aletheia tried to warn Zeus about the plot, but were captured, as the Oracle had her eyes extracted and she was imprisoned inside her own temple, and he had suffered his own punishment as well, but even then he sought to aid Kratos, though he needed time to confirm something before they reached Delos.

As Orkos departed, however, Kratos turned his attention to Flurry, who had found a bow during his discussion, and knew that for her to survive this journey she was going to need some training so she didn't rely on him all the time, where he could only hope that he had the time to teach her the basics before they reached their destination.

Ascension: Delos Landing

Kratos knew that they didn't have the time for him to impart even a fraction of his Spartan training onto Flurry, since that would take years to do, so he resolved to do the best he could with what little time they actually had, focusing on a couple of things to get her started. The first thing he did was focus on showing her how to use a bow, since she had shown a bit of interest in the weapon while he was talking to Orkos, though it was also due to the fact that the motions of using it, even in the sense of practicing the movements, would help her later on. After her first session with her bow, since none of the crew seemed interesting in trying to take it back from Flurry, he informed her that the benefits of this training included improving her overall focus, allowed them to work on her hand-eye coordination, and build her upper body strength. The last one also helped her in regards to using her main weapons, the sickles, though Kratos insisted that, for the time being, that she only use them as a last resort, just in case she was caught by another monster or foe.

Such a thing allowed her to understand that she was, essentially, playing support while he took the full focus of their foes, and she felt that it was reasonable, especially since he happened to be the experienced warrior and she wasn't, though she paid close attention to his lessons as he prepared herself for the future. Flurry knew that there were many things she didn't know and that Kratos was doing everything in his power to make her as ready as she could be, so instead of whining or even complaining she tackled his training to the best of her ability. The crew, for the most part, gave them room to do whatever they wanted, though she could tell that many were surprised by her appearance and it caused her to assume that people like her were just uncommon in these lands, even though Kratos had been surprised as well. At the same time, however, he admitted that he didn't know everything about Greece, the overall islands and important landmarks that made up what he and many others called home, so there was a chance her kind could be out there, something to look forward to once they were done with this quest.

As the days went by, however, they found themselves approaching Delos, an island of importance for the twin gods Apollo and Artemis, who were said to have been born here, where Flurry found a massive stone statue laying in ruin, with what had to be a large lantern resting in the water.

"So, Archimedes built that for Apollo... it's a shame to see it like this." Flurry commented, though she made no move to even mention the amulet that controlled time and space, which Kratos had added to her pouch to be sure none of the crew saw it, because while Orkos trusted them to get the pair this far, and they had done so with ease, Kratos simply wanted to keep it safe from prying eyes.

Kratos simply gave her a light grunt in reply, he didn't have much of an opinion on the statue itself, though based on what they were seeing he knew one thing, and that was the fact that they were going to have to put the entire thing back together to get at the Eyes of Truth, which would allow him to defeat the Furies.

"Come, we have a lot of ground to cover." Kratos said, speaking as the ship reached a dock, where he and Flurry were off of the vessel without wasting too much time, as they had stopped training as soon as they got close to their destination, and he made sure Flurry had her quiver of arrows on the back of her waist, since between her wings seemed wrong.

As they started to make their way down the dock, however, they heard a bellow as a satyr commander appeared on a level that allowed it to look down on them, while at the same time three normal satyr jumped down into their area, causing the pair to assume their new battle formation, Kratos in front with Flurry at the back. As they moved into position Flurry made sure to hand over the amulet, because she had seen that it had some uses in battle and Kratos used it quite well, before she pulled out the bow and readied herself for whatever the island had to offer them. Once he knew that she was ready to go Kratos launched himself into battle, using one of his blades to parry incoming attacks while the other dealt damage to his opponents, though he also maneuvered them in such a way to open holes in their defenses for Flurry to use if she so desired. Of course he wasn't expecting her to actually hit all of her targets right she wanted to, but her aim was good for someone her age, as one of the satyrs took an arrow in the shoulder and was only able to howl in pain for a few seconds as he smashed the monster into the ground before tearing it's head off with his hands.

The other two fell with ease, as one had an arrow tear through it's knee, causing it to look down in shock while it tried to comprehend what had happened, where Kratos removed the leg in question before taking it's head, while the other one he simply lifted above his head and tore it in half, causing Flurry to gag for a moment. Of course the commander jumped down into the area they were fighting in and marched on where Kratos was standing, who used his own reflexes to dodge attacks while utilizing the amulet to slow down his foe, allowing him to deal heavy punishing blows to his foe. Flurry found that the commander wasn't going to play fair as it called in three more normal satyr to join it, where Kratos unleashed his power of fire on them, blasting them into the air as he stabbed the ground, as his blades seemed to allow him to channel the magic into explosions below his foes. Such a thing meant that the minions were taken out in no time, burned to ash by his attack, and when he exposed a weakness Kratos took advantage of it, beating the creature into the ground before he took it's weapon to cut off it's leg and stab it right in it's heart.

Flurry was still weirded out by all the death that was going on around her, especially with how brutal Kratos could be with some of their enemies, but other than gagging when he tore a satyr in half she seemed to be fine with this, allowing her to claim her arrows so they could be used again.

"For a beginner you fought well." Kratos said, though he was also pleased by the fact that Flurry had stayed out of the way and allowed her to deal with the various satyr that had come at them, since it showed him that she could follow orders, to which he started to walk forward and found a worker with a spear stabbed right into his heart.

As they focused on that, however, the pair found that their ship, which was now far away from the island, was caught by a number of tendrils, from a powerful sea creature, and was crushed to pieces, though part of it was thrown at the island and Kratos shielded Flurry from the shrapnel that came from it crushing part of the wooden lift to pieces.

"Wait, so the island had a guardian creature and it ignored us?" Flurry inquired, where she felt sad for the sailors who had brought them to this place, since they didn't deserve to be crushed like that, even though it was easy for her to see that Kratos wasn't too worried about them, meaning he must have seen this plenty of times in the past.

"Charybdis, a powerful sea monster that seems to be in the service of the Furies." Kratos replied, though he knew that this wasn't a good sign for them, because it meant that it had either woken from it's slumber, meaning they were lucky to even get to the island, or it followed it's masters and that meant that it was only a matter of time until his pursuers arrived, a fate he would rather avoid now that he had Flurry with him, "We must keep moving."

Flurry nodded her head as Kratos used the amulet to partly mend the section of the dock that had been wrecked by the collision, forming a path with the scattered scaffolding for them to climb, though she climbed onto Kratos' back since he insisted that she do so until he had a chance to teach her how to do this on her own. He quickly made his way up the path he had created and landed on a short ledge that put them higher than before, while being out of range of their target, so with that in mind he restored the rest of the lift and used it to reach the start of the path that would no doubt take them into Apollo's statue. Flurry had to admit that Kratos was pretty good at climbing, as he wasted no movements while he did so, allowing him to make rapid progress without wasting too much energy, though once they were on solid ground again she got off his back, at least until she had to climb onto it again. That allowed them to discover that there were a couple of workers still alive and that they were being hunted by satyrs, though while both of them were unable to save two of them, as they were pierced by thrown spears, Kratos pushed the third out of the way, allowing the spear to hit the ground he had been standing in.

Such a thing allowed Kratos to grab the weapon and hurl it back at the satyr that had thrown it, piercing it's heart before it even had a chance to get out of the way, surprising it's allies in the process as he pulled out his weapons and charged into battle once more, since he had been expecting more enemies and had been ready for their arrival. Three more dropped down into the area that they were in and Flurry, just as they had trained, used a few arrows to distract the satyrs so they could be brutally killed by her guardian, blood splattering the ground around Kratos as he did so, causing him to glance at the metallic statues, silently daring them to come to life. A few seconds later, after determining that the statues were just there for decoration and not defenders of the area, he walked over to the wooden construct, which was designed to move blocks of stone, and prepared to use his blades to make a path for them, only for Flurry to call out to him. It was in that moment that he found some of Charybdis' tentacles had emerged from the water and one came down straight towards their position, causing Flurry to dive towards the ground as Kratos stood his ground, using his blades as he stabbed at the underside of the offending limb.

In the next instant he was dragged through the air, thanks to the chains attached to his blades, and thrown onto the other side of the blockade that they had been working on before Charybdis' sudden attack, though the pair of statues that were on this side came to life and attacked them.

Flurry, having been left behind since she hadn't latched onto Kratos before he was pulled away, noticed that Charybdis just left after doing that, making her wonder what the creature was even doing right now, before focusing on her target as her guardian attacked the metallic statues. Fortunately for her there were massive gaps in the framework of the blockade and she was able to slip through them with ease, especially since the stone had fallen to one side and opened the way for her to do so, before she found that neither of the statues had noticed her arrival. She knew that using her arrows on them wasn't a good idea, as she was sure they were stronger than the tips of her projectiles, so her options were either to stay in her protected area and do nothing, keeping herself safe, or she could endanger herself and help Kratos. In the following seconds she did something that might be seen as incredibly stupid, she pulled out both of her sickles, gripped them as she steeled herself, and leapt into the air as she brought them down into the back of the statue that was the closest to her position, causing it to screech in pain.

Kratos, after using the opportunity provided to him to crush his foe with it's own weapon, turned towards Flurry's foe as he waited for it to get up and brush off the attack, so he could take it down, only to watch as the statue collapsed before his eyes, it's head turned towards the sky as the energy that animated it seemed to die, allowing Flurry to pull her sickles out of it a few seconds later.

"Flurry... what did you do?" Kratos asked, because he knew that the statues were tough, especially since his blades were some of the strongest weapons for a mortal like him to have, so it was odd for him to see such a foe be defeated in such a short period of time, even though he was sure the sickles had some sort of energy to them that disappeared before he could figure out what he had seen.

"I... I don't know. These ones must be weak in the back, due to the lack of people caring for them." Flurry replied, as she knew that most of the workers, from what little they had seen so far, had been uninterested in the statues, rather it sure looked like their main focus was on moving stone to repair Apollo's massive statue.

Kratos doubted that it was as simple as that, as magical constructs seemed to last for a long time after their making, or at least that seemed to be the case based on his past experiences, and considered the sickles again, wondering if they were what Orkos meant by 'Death'. If that was the case then it made him wonder how she got these items, pieces of what he had to assume were Thanatos' power, the being who stood as the God of Death, and what it meant for everyone, due to the fact that it crippled and killed a construct statue in mere seconds. Instead of worrying about it, and possibly worrying Flurry at the same time, Kratos beckoned for her to get on his back once more before he climbed up some stones to reach the path that would let them access the feet of Apollo, or maybe just one foot since it was possible the other was on another island, given the sheer scale of the statue. From there it didn't take him long to find a path up the stonework that brought them to a flat area of the foot, which allowed him and Flurry to glance out at the massive stone lantern that was their final destination, resting among the water in the distance, meaning Charybdis could, in fact, pull it underwater if it so desired.

As he considered how best to get to their destination, however, they heard a trumpet sound as a juggernaut, which was an energy that was just as tall as a cyclops and looked more like an elephant, complete with the large ears, an elephant's long trunk, and the ivory tusks, tore through an upper area, killing the workers as it did so.

Kratos, once again, had Flurry back off so he could deal with the monster, though it was more due to the fact that this type of opponent was powerful and he didn't want her to get caught in the crossfire, causing her to nod as she backed off and readied her bow for any openings she could provide. Flurry found that the juggernaut was just as fast as the cyclops they had encountered earlier and it swung it's mace with deadly accuracy, where Kratos had to carefully dodge it's attacks, even if he narrowly avoided getting hit a few times, showing her that this might be a more even fight. Kratos also used a bit more of his magic this time around, using his four elements when he felt it was right to do so, while Flurry discovered that she would be of no help to her guardian this time, as the arrow she loosed basically bounced off the juggernaut's back, in fact it barely noticed her attack as it focused on Kratos. Fortunately it didn't look like they needed to worry about her involvement, as it was only a matter of time until the beast was disarmed, allowing Kratos to leapt onto it's tusks and stab it's left eye with one of his blades, giving him the power to force the juggernaut to the ground before he stabbed the center of it's head and just pulled down as hard as he could, splitting it's skull and spilling it's brains everywhere.

He took a moment to make sure Flurry was alright, something he didn't have to worry about since she was a smart girl and knew when to keep herself hidden, before they resumed moving along the path the workers had created, though Flurry did take her place on his back as he passed through some of the more dangerous sections. Such a thing allowed her to see just how bad things really were, because the various wooden platforms were falling apart and the statue was literally in pieces, not to mention the infection of monsters that they were dealing with, and it made her wonder if they even had the time to deal with everything that was here. Flurry also discovered something that was very interesting, as he was able to use his blades to latch onto certain points and use them to swing around or allow him to strike at things that were in their way, due to the fact that Kratos latched onto an area above a circular part of the foot's exterior and pushed his way into the inside. She quickly found that there were what Kratos called gears inside Apollo's statue, which had to be to move every piece of stone and the workers to the higher levels of the statue, though Kratos did have to use his blades to force a gear into position so he could ride the broken component to the other side of the corridor they were in.

Such a thing allowed them to crawl through a narrow passage, the sort that Flurry had to climb off Kratos' back for, before leaping over to a four sided gear that turned as Kratos latched onto it, dropping him into the area below them and forced Flurry to glide after him, only to be surprised by the arrival of a female monster that had what appeared to be curved bug arms and legs.

"Gross. What are these things?" Flurry asked, all while making sure she was out of the way as the creature started to walk towards them, first moving her hips like she was trying to do something specific, before switching to all fours, almost like an animal, forcing Kratos to swing his blades at his foe, though as that happened she also found a couple of dull brown eggs resting nearby.

"An Empusa... not to be confused with some of the infected creatures that serve Megaera." Kratos said, where he turned his head for a moment and noticed the eggs as well, ones he had seen before he reached Aletheia's temple not that long ago, which meant they were in danger if they hatched while his attention was on his foe, "Flurry, take your sickles and deal with the eggs before any of them hatch."

Flurry wasted no time in doing as her guardian asked of her, where she moved out and hacked into the eggs with her own weapons, finding that whatever was inside them perished when their containers were destroyed, meaning that Kratos just wanted to make sure they weren't overwhelmed, no doubt due to a past experience. Once she was done with the various eggs, and was sure of that fact, she studied the new monster and found that, like the sibyl sirens, this one's breasts were out in the open, exactly the same size as what the sirens had, while she wore a sash that did a horrible job covering her groin, as if she was intentionally flashing her private bits to her foes. Kratos ignored all of that as he forced the creature face first into the ground before using one of her strange feet blades to stab her in the back. Of course he didn't remove the leg to do that, like he normally did, rather he grabbed the Empusa's left shoulder before pulling her back into her own twisted bladed leg, piercing her heart in no time at all, and to be sure she was totally dead he pushed the creature's head down into the ground, snapping her spine as well as her body went limb.

With the Empusa dead, and the eggs cleared out, the pair studied the area they were in and found that there were more gears for them to interact with, along with a chain that had snapped at one point in time and a pile of gears that looked like they could be moved on their level, causing them to glance at each other for a few seconds.

It was fairly easy for them to figure out that the amulet needed to be used to restore the chain, the pile of gears served as a stepping stone to get Kratos up to the main chain's area to break it free, and then he pushed it into position after using a lever to move some of the gears, opening the way for them to swing themselves into a new area. It brought them to a very small room that they simply climbed out of, Flurry getting off Kratos' back when he found a small passage that brought the pair to what appeared to be the other side of the statue's massive foot, due to some damage in one of the walls. Kratos took one look at the path in front of them, more climbing since there was no actual path for them to follow, before having Flurry climb onto his back once more as he started to making his way outside and around the exterior of the foot, seeking a way to reach the higher areas. Flurry, on the other hand, got a glimpse into how truly massive the statue was and just how much climbing they were going to do in the near future, or Kratos would since he insisted on her not doing this until she was older, allowing her to keep an eye out for the Furies or Charybdis' tendrils.

She did, however, spot a female figure in armor standing on one of the upper walkways, this one purely humanoid based on what she was seeing, though something worried her as the figure pointed a spear at them as they reached the edge of an area for her to climb off of Kratos' back.

"Who is she?" Flurry asked, a common question she was going to be asking until she knew more about the land, though as she said that it was easy for them to tell that there were more nearly identical brown skinned ladies hanging out in the next area they would have to pass through.

"One of the Amazons, worshipers of Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt and twin sister of Apollo." Kratos replied, though while he guessed it made sense for them to be on this island, since it was sacred to both of the godly siblings, such a thing made him wonder why all of the warriors would allow so many monsters to invade this place.

"So we should be able to convince them to let us through?" Flurry inquired, where there was hope in her eyes, because it had been a long and bloody road to reach this point and she was hoping to avoid killing the worshipers of an actual god, since it would no doubt displease them greatly, causing her to turn towards the Amazon, "Excuse me, we're on a quest to repair Apollo's statue. Will you let us through?"

"By... By order of the Furies, death to... to all invaders!" one Amazon stated, something that caused the pair to pause, as it looked like something was wrong with the lady that was staring at them, like she was mentally ill or one of the Furies had broken her mind, making her see what they wanted her to see, meaning the Amazons were their enemies as well.

Kratos had Flurry get onto his back again, for just a few moments so he could climb up to the Amazon's position, and as soon as they were up there Flurry got her first look at another female monster, the harpy, a creature with the main body of a lady while having bird wings for arms and hands, plus bird feet in place of their feet and even bird tail feathers, with a monstrous fanged face. They, like the infected and every other female monster Flurry had seen so far, had their breasts out in the open, in fact neither of them wore any sort of clothing, but the pair that were in front of them stood no chance before Kratos' might as he grabbed one and split it in half with a swing of one of his blades, while the other one he tore in half with his hands. As the Amazon joined them, however, Flurry drew her bow and aimed at the additional harpies that decided to bother them, aiming at their chests while they tried to interfere with her guardian's fight, as Kratos used his blades to parry a couple of incoming spear attacks. It came to an end when he grabbed hold of his foe's spear, stabbed her in the chest with it, before lifting her into the air with her own weapon and then brought her down straight into the ground, impaling her as the spear went all the way through her.

This time around Flurry couldn't help herself as she leaned over one of the edges and hurled her breakfast into the water below them, because while she could stomach the death of the monsters that were around them, since that seemed to be the majority of the enemies they fought, killing normal people just seemed wrong.

"Are you alright?" Kratos asked, though this time he suspected that the answer was 'no', as he had seen her tackle fighting the monsters with ease, even endangering herself to ensure he succeeded in keeping them alive, and the death of his foe had been her first time seeing a human perish, so while it might not have been her first human kill, which might come in the future, it still affected her to some degree.

"I... I don't know. Does it get any easier?" Flurry inquired, because if witnessing the death of a human being did this to her, and it didn't get any easier with time, she wasn't sure what she was going to do, as she was sure that they would have to fight more people like the Amazons in the future, especially with the rest of the statue in front of them.

"For some it gets easier, for others it never does... and for others it was never a problem. For you, I think you'll fall into the first group." Kratos said, though he made his decision because of the fact that Flurry had come to terms with the deaths of all the monsters they had slain rather easily, in fact it was almost far too easy when he thought about it and the fact that she was only four years old, meaning, if he was right, she'd get used to the deaths of humans in due time, "I will do my best to help you with this."

As Flurry glanced up at him, however, she heard the sound of a bird cawing at them and found that there was one resting nearby, one Kratos identified as a buzzard hawk, one of Artemis' symbols and were usually seen as her eyes, which meant she must have been investigating the disappearance of the Amazons in this area, before it flew off to check the rest of the area for the remaining missing Amazons.

"It would seem that Artemis is seeking her missing followers..." Kratos commented, but even as he said that he had to take a moment to wonder if the Goddess of the Hunt was looking for Flurry, given her uniqueness in their world, before quickly deciding not to worry about it as he sat down near some stone blocks, "We shall rest for a few moments, let your body get over having seen a human die like that, and then resume our journey when you are ready to do so."

Flurry nodded her head as she sat down near the edge, mostly in the off chance that she had to throw up again, but she had a feeling that this was the only time this would happen, for right now anyway, and that they would be climbing up the statue in the near future, causing her to wonder what else the statue had to throw at them before they found the artifact Kratos was looking for.

Ascension: Exploring the Statue

Kratos and Flurry spent a few minutes resting in the area that the Amazon had been standing guard in, mostly in the off chance that the latter felt the urge to hurl again, but nothing seemed to happen and that was all the experienced warrior needed to see as he called for them to start moving again. Flurry nodded her head as she fell in with him again as they took a moment to look around the area for the path that would allow them to process, causing her to point out the lift that had to link the foot and leg they were currently exploring to the other one that was across the river. Kratos stared at it and found that it was the most reasonable way for them to continue making their way towards the highest point of the statue, but based on what he was seeing it looked like it was too far away for him to jump to, and with Flurry being too small to fly he knew that asking her to carry them wasn't an option either. As such it left them with only one option, he needed to break part of the scaffolding holding a block of stone up and use it as a stepping stone to reach a higher point, hopefully the rope that would allow him to ride down to where the lift was located.

Flurry, upon seeing what he wanted her to see, as he occasionally felt the urge to test her in solving puzzles, nodded as she stepped back for a moment, allowing Kratos to swing his blades at the weakened section that was his target and broke the wood with ease, dropping the stone he had noticed. With the block in position he paused for just a moment, allowing her to climb onto him back once more, before jumping on top of it and leaping even higher, allowing him to grab hold of a ledge and pull himself up as they both noticed that there was more ruined scaffolding for him to latch onto. As such he climbed up it for a few seconds, where Flurry pointed out a chain that he could use as a swing point, like he had done with the circular part of the outer foot earlier, and he simply nodded before jumping towards it, allowing him to launch over to a stone wall that he dug one blade into. Such a thing allowed Flurry to see that his blades were incredibly durable, as the one he was using cut into the stone with ease and allowed him to move downward at a decent pace, and it came to an end withing a few seconds as he dropped down onto the rope they had spotted.

With that done they reached the lift in no time at all, granting them a good view of the wrecked face and head of Apollo's massive statue, before Kratos frowned as he noticed that the only thing that could be done now was pull a lever, to which he had Flurry ready herself, by pulling out an arrow, and pulled it once they were ready to go.

As he expected the lift started to move towards the other foot once he pulled the lever, along with the fact that several harpies started to come at them, where he waited for Flurry to wound one with one of her arrows, even if the wound was minor at times, so he could easily yank it over to them. It was a tactic that utilized the best of their abilities, Flurry simply stunned their foes while he grabbed them, allowing him to either tear them in half with his hands, split them in half with his blades, or remove their heads by twisting them off, all while giving Flurry a chance to recover her arrows. After taking out six harpies, however, one of Charybdis' tendrils burst out of the water, swaying off to the right of the long side of the lift for a couple of seconds, before it came down on their lift and shattered it into two halves, causing Kratos to latch onto the pristine part as he reached out to Flurry. He caught her before she fell too far for her wings to save her, at least in the sense of gliding over to him, and once she was back on his back he started to move up the fragment he had grabbed onto after the attack, climbed up the side of a hanging stone block, and rode a rope down into Apollo's head.

While Kratos dropped down into the head's insides, which seemed to be a massive puzzle that was now broken thanks to all the damage that had been done in the past, Flurry had to wonder if the amulet could even repair everything, there was just too much based on what she was seeing at the moment.

The moment they landed, however, two sibyl sirens emerged from magical dark holes that appeared on the ground and attacked the pair, where this time Kratos put himself between them and Flurry as one loosed what seemed to be some sort of lightning based stun attack. As Flurry opened her mouth, to cry out in shock, Kratos shattered the spell like it was nothing and punched the offending siren in the jaw, breaking the bones with a surprising amount of ease, and before the monster could flee he grabbed it's face, slammed it into the ground, and smashed it's face in with a stomp of his foot, all while the second just floated there. Since it was stunned Flurry raised her bow without delay and let an arrow fly right into her target's shoulder, causing it to stagger as Kratos pulled out his blades and stabbed it twice, right above it's breasts for some odd reason, before yanking one out to bring it down as a diagonal slash that hit the side of it's neck and cut all the way through to the opposite side of it's body. Once both sibyl sirens were dead the pair remained still for a moment, just to be sure that the coast was clear before they did anything else, before Kratos signaled that it was okay to move and did so without delay, allowing Flurry to claim her arrow before they tackled the next puzzle Archimedes had designed.

There was a rusted chain he could pull, which seemed to be the only thing for them to use right now, that was actually more sturdy than Kratos thought as he carefully moved it back a bit, allowing him to see that a lift was raised in front of them, one that started to lower if he let go of the chain. As such he had Flurry stand on the lift for a few moments before he moved the chain, allowing her to reach the upper area with ease before he let go of the rusted item and leapt up onto the lift before it reached the ground, only to leap up to where the little girl was standing a second later. From there they found that the only way forward seemed to be out of reach, to which Flurry found a gear that could be turned and Kratos grabbed onto it not even a moment later, only to find that by moving it he turned a large spiral lift of sorts and dropped a stone block into the area they were in. Such a thing gave them an idea as Kratos moved it against the wall that was right below the opening they had spotted, only to discover that it brought the pair to a path of gears that weren't moving and that he had to activate all of them by using his blades on part of the exterior.

Once the gears were moving Flurry took her position on Kratos' back before he started to carefully jump from gear to gear, allowing him to reach a wooden corridor that a few beetles were guarding, so the moment he was on solid ground he took care of the bugs and kept moving, allowing them to reach the outside of the head as Kratos grabbed onto a rope that would let them access the next portion of the statue.

It took him only a second to cross the gap, as it was shorter than he thought it would be, allowing them to land on more of the scaffolding as he let Flurry walk once more, at least until they knew what form the path forward would take this time, all while keeping their weapons at the ready. This time the pair was able to drop down into a flat area that happened to be an arena, as an Amazon was waiting with a creature that Kratos said was a centaur, the upper body of a human mixed with the body and legs of a horse, which Flurry noted was male due to the lack of breasts on it's chest. Flurry discovered that there was more than one centaur in the area, in fact she could see two, and assumed that they were far more dangerous than a fair majority of the monsters they had encountered so far, mostly due to their size and appearance. Kratos, however, just proved that he was a veteran warrior as he quickly dispatched of the Amazon, using the impalement technique he used on the last one, before using her spear while he ducked under one centaur's body, slashing open it's body with the weapon as he gutted the creature in no time.

The other centaur didn't last very long as Kratos rolled out of the way of it's attacks and struck it's legs, just enough to stun it, before finding an opening that allowing him to hack off one of it's front legs, push it onto it's side, and opened it's lower side so he could tear into it with his blades, gutting the creature before it could stop him.

"You didn't attack this time... why?" Kratos inquired, as he had noticed that Flurry did nothing this time around, unlike all of their previous battles where she found openings to either let an arrow fly or attack with her sickles, and it made him take a moment to wonder if the deaths of the Amazons had affected her more than he previously thought.

"I know you don't want excuses, but... well, the centaur were faster than I thought, so I figured it was best to stay my hand and not waste arrows." Flurry replied, though she knew he was annoyed with her actions, as they had fought side by side so much since she woke up in the ruined Oracle's temple, without her knowing what to do most of the time, and here she was, standing on the sideline like she couldn't be bothered to help him out.

Kratos stared at her for a few seconds before his gaze softened and he patted her on the head, as he understood what she was talking about, because even with the larger area they were in he knew that fast enemies would be too much for such an untrained warrior like Flurry, so she made the right decision in keeping herself safe. After that they took a couple of moments to look around the rest of the area for anything that might be useful to their quest, where Flurry found that they might be heading into a knee next, since the foot it was connected to was on another bit of land, making her realize that the statue was partly kneeling. Both agreed on one thing a few seconds later, there was no way forward save for the somewhat rusted chain, so Kratos grabbed onto part of it with his blades and forced it down into position so they could use it as a stepping stone of sorts, though moving it out of position didn't do anything to the statue. With that in mind the pair climbed up onto the wooden scaffolding that was above them and found an entrance into the leg they seemed to be climbing so they could reach the peak, causing them to leap into the opening so they could figure out what to do next, as every section seemed to have puzzles and obstacles to overcome.

What they discovered was a circular chamber that had two areas that spewed fire, which Kratos said had to be powered by some sort of energy source that Archimedes discovered, since with the decay they had witnessed he had assumed the majority of the inner workings were broken, but it seemed like the man had spent a lot of time repairing it and that even included all of the traps. Fortunately there were two pressure plates on the floor that could be stood on, allowing the floor to move up towards another opening, and since they were positioned quite well they didn't have to worry about moving out of the way of the flames that were coming out of the traps. Flurry was glad for that since she didn't want to deal with being near the traps, a thought Kratos shared since some of the ones he had seen in the past could instantly kill someone, and they were out of the chamber in no time at all, allowing them to see that the path forward involved swinging from one chain to another to reach their next destination. She made sure to take her place on Kratos' back before he moved, as he swung across two of the points with ease and when he reached the third point they found that he had to bash his way into another portion of Apollo's statue, which involved more climbing on his part.

Flurry found that the area they had to move through next, maybe the neck she guessed, was falling apart and Kratos had to focus on quickly moving from point to point to ensure they survived this, only to find that it was incredibly short as he reached an area with more eggs, to which he and Flurry cut into them to make sure they weren't swarmed.

Following that he had to swing and smash through another portion of the area they were in, bringing them to an area that had more beetles to deal with, though this time around Flurry used one of her sickles to slash at the beetles that dared to attack Kratos from behind, keeping his back safe while he cleared the path forward. Once the pair dealt with all of the foes that were in the area, and Kratos was sure of that, he walked over to the edge of the area and found that he needed to climb the wall to his left for a few seconds, which involved breaking an odd black egg or goo sack that was in his way. The item in question shattered not even a couple of moments after he struck it, allowing him to climb up the wall before Flurry found a swing point outside the area they were in, something he jumped towards and latched onto it with his blades, as it allowed him to launch them out into an open area. They landed in what had to be one of the statue's gauntlets, no doubt for the hand that held up the lantern that housed the Eyes of Truth, though as Flurry touched the ground Kratos quickly discovered that this seemed to be the end of their path, at least in the components that made up Apollo's statue since he could jump across the small stones to reach the lantern.

As Flurry looked around for a moment as the area in front of them started to shimmer, where the arena that was crafted into the surface of the gauntlet started to disappear as a stone city of sorts started to take it's place, something Kratos seemed to recognize as he took a moment to look around at everything.

What is she? a feminine voice asked, one that sounded like it was a bit rough, almost as if there was something wrong with the speaker, though Flurry had to look around for a moment as she sought out the voice, where she found that part of the illusion seemed to shimmer, like she was seeing both the gauntlet and the city.

I don't know, but can you smell that? another female voice inquired, this one sounding like she was usually silent and said nothing, like an observer of some kind, where Flurry had to resist the urge to rub her eyes for a moment as she saw three figures lurking beyond the shimmering wall, one with four green spider legs coming out of her back, another that was wearing a robe and a hood that covered her eyes, and one in an odd black uniform.

Death! the third one, the one in black, stated, her tone almost like she was the leader of the three, as if she might be expecting her sisters to follow her orders or something, as Flurry was sure that she was getting a glimpse of the Furies that were hounding their every step.

As she watched them, however, Kratos had his own way to dispel part of the illusion that he was seeing, two items in the form of a necklace and ring that were special to him, something that caused the second sister to appear in front of them for a moment as she informed the warrior that they only meant to return him to his home, his roots. The bug lady quickly told the robe wearer to show him what Sparta did to traitors, though the illusion of soldiers from Kratos' homeland didn't stop him from mowing his way through them, as he knew they weren't real and any shame they were trying to make him feel didn't even register in his mind. As it turned out the bug lady, who Kratos identified as Megaera, had dark green claws for her hands, wore golden armor that showed off the tops of her breasts and the sides of her legs for some reason, had a cloth sash covering the area behind her legs, wore a single shoulder pad over her left shoulder, and had a helmet that had a blue flume on it. Megaera used all four of her spider legs as weapons, either bringing them down on where her current target was standing or swinging them into the illusions that were around her, likely to vent her frustrations despite not actually killing anything, where Kratos allowed her to kill the illusions as he dodged her attacks and lashed out at her when her guard was open.

Megaera's annoyance over the fact that she couldn't hurt Kratos, who was using his skills to avoid her attacks and deal his own in due time, eventually came back to bite her as Flurry noticed an opening that she could utilize, where she hurled a sickle through the air and struck the Fury's right hand in the palm, pinning it to a wall, allowing Kratos to bring his blades down on the exposed shoulder and severed her right arm, causing her to scream in pain.

As Flurry held her empty hand out, calling her sickle back to her interestingly enough, the illusion Fury struck by flying in on a bright blue bird of some kind that struck Kratos in the chest, pushing him away from Megaera so he didn't finish the job and kill one of the Furies, before dropping him on the side of a building. As he stood there, however, Kratos struck the familiar with his blades, finding that he was able to hit it despite the fact that it seemed like nothing was being done to it in the process, though Megaera retreated for the time being as Flurry grabbed onto the severed limb and hurled it with all of her might, causing it to end up in the water below. She wasn't sure if the Furies had the power to regenerate lost limbs or even attached severed body parts, but in the off chance they did she didn't want the injured Fury to regain her strength, a fact that allowed her to turn her attention on Tisiphone, the illusion Fury. She recalled the named that Kratos had told her earlier, so he would know their foes when she saw them, and it made her wonder where Alecto, the final Fury, was hiding as her sisters fought, before she made her move as she approached her target.

Despite all of her years of existence Tisiphone had made a mistake in her illusion, there was a set of stones that formed a small path right up to where she was standing while her pet attacked Kratos, so Flurry did her best to silently rush up all of them before leaping into the air and bringing a sickle down on the Fury's back, briefly cutting into her skin as she moved out of the way, allowing Flurry to glide down to Kratos' side.

"What the...? She can SEE ME?" Tisiphone remarked, as she had been using an illusion to keep herself hidden when her sister or her pet were in the middle of fighting, even though there were times where she needed to be present to weaken their target in some manner, but this was the first time that someone without the Eyes of Truth had seen through some of her illusions and attacked her.

Kratos, sensing an opportunity to end one of the Furies, rushed forward and grabbed Tisiphone by the head, driving her into one of the spikes that lined the area and made sure it pierced her heart, all while Flurry watched as Charybdis raised it's tendrils and pulled the Lantern of Delos into the water, before she noticed something.

"Kratos, that's not Tisiphone!" Flurry stated, because in the instant of Charybdis moving in the background the Fury that she had wounded did the impossible, she switched herself out with an illusion before her eyes could catch it, where she had to blame herself since she was the one who could see through the trick and had diverted her attention at a critical moment that would doom them.

"ENOUGH." a voice stated, where Flurry and Kratos found that the black robed figure, Alecto, emerged from the direction she had seen Charybdis in and loosed a burst of dark ink or goo at them, where Kratos made sure to take the brunt of the attack as it pinned him and Flurry to the floor, restricting their movements as the injured Megaera and the alive Tisiphone joined them, "It is time, Kratos, for you to return to your rightful place as Ares' loyal servant... perhaps we will place you on one of the thrones of Olympus one day, if you prove yourself worthy and do well in performing your duties. And not only you, but also the little girl that's been traveling with you, the one who has been touched by Death itself... who carries a piece of It's primordial power at all times. She is a boon we did not expect to find, and Lord Ares will be pleased when we deliver her into his service, especially since you seem to be doing everything in your power to keep her safe..."

"I should have done this a long time ago." a voice commented, where Flurry found that Orkos appeared out of thing air, a spell or ability that he had access to, and came to a stop behind Kratos as he rested a hand on the warrior's shoulder, but Flurry grabbed onto Kratos' leg, as she suspected that something was about to happen, "This time your plans will fail, of that you can be sure."

In the next moment, before the Furies were able to do anything, Orkos grabbed onto Kratos and teleported them, as in all three of them since it even included Flurry, to another part of the statue, one that seemed to have a lift for Kratos to use so they could access the rest of the structure.

"You will never reach the Eyes now that my Mothers now you're after them, which means you'll need a distraction to keep them busy," Orkos stated, where he let out a sigh as he considered what had just happened and what he had tried to do so he could help Kratos and Flurry reach their destination, plans that were no longer valid since the path to the Lantern of Delos had been altered due to the structure being pulled under the water, "I intended on arriving sooner, to tell you how to get to the Lantern without drawing their attention, but Alecto kept getting in the way and now those plans have to be tossed aside. I have a power that allowed me to escape the Hecatonchires, and now I hope it can help you and Flurry reach the end of your journey... do not worry about me, I will make due without it."

The power in question happened to be what appeared to be an amber seashell, orange colored that had some darkness inside it, though instead of explaining himself Orkos disappeared as soon as Kratos grasped the item, his 'oath stone' as he called the object, leaving Kratos to remark that items like this usually imparted their knowledge upon the user. As such Flurry found that he stood there for a moment, apparently being gifted the information necessary to use this item, before he beckoned for her to stand off on the side as he started to turn the crank that Orkos had dropped them near after his daring rescue. Flurry found that it started to lower a lift that would, in fact, allow them to reach another level that had no other path for them to take to reach it, and when he lowered it to a suitable point Kratos activated the oath stone, which created a shadowy black version of him holding the crank in place. In that moment she understood what this meant, as it would allow them to solve puzzles easier and keep things in position so they could move forward, at least for a time, and once the copy was in place Kratos collected her and climbed up onto the lift, allowing him to dismiss the copy and let the lift move them up to the upper level.

As Kratos realized that they were in what appeared to be Apollo's forearm, based on the appearance of the area that they were in, he gestured off to the side and insisted on letting Flurry take a small break before they started moving again, as while he knew that time was precious he also knew she needed to recover her energy since she didn't have his abilities and skills.

"Kratos, can I... ask you a question?" Flurry inquired, as there was something that had been bugging her lately and right now, with a break being given to her, she wanted to get it off her chest before worrying about the rest of the statue and all of it's various dangers, recent and ancient.

"You just did." Kratos pointed out, though as he noticed a little pout appear on her face, more in annoyance for realizing what he meant, he also knew that the Furies had said many things while she was present and it made him wonder what in the world she wanted to ask about, though he dreaded her asking about Ares and everything associated with him, "What's on your mind Flurry?"

"I... do I need to be naked as well?" Flurry asked, because while she was interested in what the Furies had said, in fact she knew that it was best to ask the question about that later on, there was a more pressing issue on her mind, thanks to all of the monsters they had seen since she joined him on his quest, though she missed him stumbling as he walked over to an area to rest as well, "It's just... well, almost every female monster we have encountered so far has been either naked or has worn very little over their bodies, exposing themselves to the world around them, and I thought that, since I'm clearly more monster than human, I might need to do like they do."

"Flurry..." Kratos said, as this wasn't what he was expecting her to ask, and yet he was slightly grateful that she wasn't too interested in what Alecto had said before Orkos' arrival, causing him to sigh as he decided to sit down next to her, since it might comfort her to have someone beside her right now, "While it is true that you aren't human... in fact I'm sure that the gods are the only ones who know what you are... you are, by no means, a monster. You are a unique individual, much like the Furies themselves since they are neither god or titan, nor mortal or specter, but I know that you are better than them in many ways, just as you are better than the mindless monsters we fight, and despite being so young you know more than all of them combined. If your current clothing is bothering you I can try to find something better once we're done with Alecto and her sisters, once we're back in Sparta or one of the other cities that I've been to over the years... until then, I would recommend keeping your attire on."

Flurry smiled as she heard that, almost as if he was suggesting she was more like a human than a monster, causing her to lean her head against Kratos' shoulder while they rested, simply to enjoy the moment before they were forced to do battle with all sorts of monsters as they sought out a new path to the Lantern and the Eyes of Truth.

Ascension: Turning Back the Clock

After resting for a few moments, and recovering from their encounter with the Furies, Kratos stirred and Flurry got up as well, to which they resumed their trek through the rest of Apollo's statue and discovered that to leave this area they had to stand on a pressure plate to activate the way out. It didn't take a genius to figure out what needed to be done, as Kratos simply stood on the device until it was fully activated and then used the oath stone to create a copy where he was standing, letting it keep the way open as Flurry took her place on his back. After that he swung them over to a long wooden walkway and they were ambushed by more satyr, this time without a commander by the looks of it, to which Flurry got down and did what she had done the last time they encountered these enemies, she hung back and used her arrows to open holes in their defenses. Kratos was pleased with her actions, because while her attack on the Furies had been foolish, despite it allowing him to confirm that she was definitely special in some manner, normal fights like this were easy for her to get involved in without actually risking herself, since the satyrs seemed to ignore her entirely.

As such he was able to sever limbs, tear a few of his foes in half, and even tore off the head of one, before Flurry openly wondered if the oath stone would work in combat and he tried it out, finding that it did as the copy battered some of their foes into submission so he could end them, causing him to smile at Flurry when the coast was clear.

With their enemies defeated Flurry found that, once again, the only way out of the area was to climb out, where she told Kratos that one of the first lessons she needed to learn was how to climb on her own, something the warrior agreed with as he started to move up the side wall and made his way out towards what he hoped was the exit. After that he found a few more places that seemed like good spots to practice with the oath stone, one where he pulled a platform close to where he was standing, giving them time to cross over before releasing the copy, while the second obstacle required him to put it down near the leftmost edge as it lowered the platform. It was a balance of sorts as Flurry discovered, they couldn't access the main path out without having something moving everything into position, and thanks to her guardian's smarts they were able to conquer it in no time at all, even though it ended with a slide down a wooden wall and Kratos having to bash his way through a blockade. Such a thing allowed them to land outside the statue, where she discovered that they happened to be near the area she had seen the centaurs in earlier, though Flurry remained on his back as he swung at a couple of chains and used them to cross the gap between the arm and leg.

This time around they were assaulted by an Amazon, a few black furred dogs that looked rather vicious, and a much larger three headed dog that Kratos quickly identified as a cerberus, all of which served Hades, the God of the Underworld, so it was likely trapped in an illusion like the Amazons were. The dogs, as Flurry discovered, were far more interested in her than they were of Kratos, forcing her to move around the large arena as fast as she could, only to discover that they kept up with her and prevented her from using her bow on them, much to her annoyance. With that in mind she switched to her sickles and drew them in as best as she could, without placing herself in harms way, where she lashed out with the weapons and cut into the sides of her pursuers as best as she could, though she also found that, after having watched Kratos so much, that her base movements seemed pretty decent for a beginner. Kratos, on the other hand, ended his fight without wasting too much time as he stabbed the Amazon in the chest with her own spear and impaled her on the ground, before leaping onto the cerberus' back and wrapping his chains around two of it's heads, allowing him to sever them with ease before he stabbed both blades into the third's skull.

It was a sheer difference in skill, Flurry, being the novice, could only deal with the lesser enemies and cause them to limp away from her, while Kratos, the more experienced and hardened warrior, put down his foes before they became more of a problem for him, causing her to sigh as she put down the weakened dogs, causing Kratos to resolve to teach her how to fight when they weren't running from the Furies.

Once the area was cleared of enemies the pair confirmed that they were in the same area they had been in earlier, to which Flurry climbed onto Kratos' back before he climbed up the scaffolding so they could return to the fiery chamber they had been in earlier. This time around they had the oath stone in their possession and Kratos was able to use it to activate one of the pressure plates, allowing him and Flurry to stand in the middle of the chamber, away from the flames that did nothing to his copy, as the platform started to rise towards whatever was far above them. Some satyr decided to appear on the large platform as it moved, though instead of actually fighting them Kratos simply latched onto them and kicked each one right into the flames that they passed by, setting them all on fire and allowing them to burn themselves to death in no time, all so neither of them had to raise their weapons to them. Even a statue warrior joined the fun at one point, though this time around Flurry knew what to do as she got behind it and brought her sickles down into it's back, just as she had done previously, and found that her tactic worked once more as the statue collapsed into an heap, which let Kratos focus on any other foes that showed up.

After clearing out the area they found that the lift came to a stop, far higher than the area they had accessed previously, a fact that Kratos confirmed as he and Flurry walked out onto some scaffolding and discovered that they were far above the water this time around, causing him to inform her that they were near Apollo's chest, his ribs no doubt.

"This statue has certainly seen better days." Flurry remarked, as they were so high up that it allowed her to see the broken arm that seemed to be connected to the Lantern of Delos, meaning that to recover it they would have to repair all of this damage, which seemed to be the path that Orkos might have been suggesting without actually saying it.

"Agreed, and there is more to climb before we can find a suitable place to use the amulet." Kratos stated, because based on what he was seeing right now the amulet would only do a small amount of fixing if he tried to use it in this area, which told him that there had to be some specific place that would fix everything in a matter of seconds.

Flurry nodded her understanding as she found a note that appeared to be something Archimedes wrote, revealing that his statue had been damaged and that he could rebuild, making her wonder if the Furies had been behind the damage so the Eyes of Truth could be hidden forever. Kratos, seeing that the only way forward was to use his blades and swing on some chains, causing Flurry to say nothing as she took her usual position on his back before he started to move, though it also included sliding down a smooth surface inside the fractured arm and launch himself at another point. From there he had to climb up the inside of the arm, jumping from point to point and even smashing through a loose section of stone that let him make his way up on the outside, and while he did that Flurry kept an eye out for the Furies or Charybdis, to prevent them from being ambushed again. While he climbed Kratos had to wonder how the little girl had been able to see through Tisiphone's illusions, as if her eyes were blessed by the power that the Eyes of Truth possessed, but considered it a small blessing since it meant she wouldn't be confused by anything the Furies used against them.

While they climbed, however, Flurry openly wondered how the workers were supposed to move their supplies around the entire statue when the scaffolding wasn't linked together by anything, where Kratos told her that Alecto likely made sure everything was broken to drive Archimedes insane, or one of her sisters did the deed in her stead.

After moving around the various pieces of scaffolding, and having to latch onto a point when a platform collapsed when he landed on it, Kratos found an area that had a satyr commander and some lesser satyr, causing Flurry to back off as she raised her bow and let him deal with their enemies once more. What made things more interesting for the pair was the arrival of a second commander, despite the first one not taking too much damage from Kratos' blows, but since they did ignore her Flurry was free to let a few arrows fly as she paid attention to the fight. Her arrows struck their mark, which was the exposed chest and stomach of the two foes that were standing in their way, and when one of them staggered Kratos took advantage of it's weakness by stealing it's weapon and hacking it apart like he did previously, opening the way for her to claim her arrows as he dealt with the second one. As the second satyr commander fell, however, they found that such a thing was followed by silence as no other enemies showed up, causing Kratos to tell her that she was improving with her current weapon, causing her to rub the back of her head as she gathered the still usable arrows.

Once she was done they headed inside the section of Apollo's chest they had landed near and Flurry stood near Kratos as he used his might to move a few metal gears out of their way, utilizing them as moveable corridors to be exact, before he opened the way into what appeared to be the heart of the entire statue. It was a massive furnace, a place of fire that had to contain a path leading to the head of the statue, or at least the shoulder based on what he had seen previously, and it meant there was likely a puzzle for them to complete to turn everything else on. At the same time Flurry found more of the eggs that Kratos had told her to take down the first time she had seen it and, with a quick nod from him, she set out with her sickles as she removed them once more, allowing him to focus on the rest of the area as he found all sorts of metallic items scattered everywhere, gears and heaters and all sorts of things he didn't recognize. As he did that, however, a cyclops pulled itself up into the square area they were standing in and Kratos rushed at it without delay, since this was a foe that was too much for Flurry to handle, allowing her to deal with the rest of the eggs before standing off to the side as her guardian dodged the creature's attacks and dealt damage to it.

As the cyclops fell, however, a grated door lowered and revealed a moveable brazier that had a massive chunk of coal in the center of the bowl, where Flurry stood back as Kratos pulled it out of the chamber it was resting in before moving the device into another one that rested near a rotating gear that multiple people had to work together to move. Kratos just showed off his insane strength once more as he moved it on his own, which caused a large metallic gear to move towards their position and lock into place, though it also moved a platform that they had to utilize first, since they were sure that it would help them turn everything on. The path on the other side brought them right up to what appeared to be the small workshop of Archimedes, whose corpse was resting on a table as they soon discovered, where Flurry looked at a couple of diagrams that detailed the full scope of what the statue was supposed to look like. She also discovered something that she decided to take as a souvenir, a set of scrolls that Kratos told her were likely Archimedes' notes, his treatise on math and engineering, a relic that people might kill for if they knew she had it, where she shrugged and added them to her pouch so it could join the idol she found earlier.

Kratos noticed that and found that the pouch didn't get bigger thanks to the scrolls, where he assumed that it had to be part of Flurry's unique nature at work and decided not to question it, at least not until this quest was complete, hence why he focused on the area around them.

He discovered a slot he could fit one of his blades into and pulled back a bit, allowing Flurry to watch as he opened a metal lid the lead into the grated chamber that was below them, to which he used the oath stone to keep it open before both he and Flurry jumped down into the lower area. Such a thing allowed the pair to find that the heart of the statue was cold, a fact that wasn't hard to figure out earlier and this essentially confirmed it, before Kratos discovered another metal gear he could rotate and did so without delay, finding that it sent sparks flying and opened the main door. In that moment both of them realized what needed to be done with the set up that was available to them, to which Kratos pulled the bowl full of coal over to the new gear and activated it, allowing a couple of sparks to fly and ignite the material, quickly burning it until nothing remained. Flurry, however, beckoned for him to move the container under the rest of the coal pile, which just so happened to be above where the bowl had been resting, and once it was in place he restored it with the amulet, allowing it to burn itself out while setting the pile on fire, something that caused the rest of the machinery in the area to activate, or at least the melting pot above them.

From there Kratos moved it into the area under the melting area and poured some gold, or maybe bronze, into the bowl, something that allowed the flame to reach higher than before while keeping the material intact, allowing him to move it over to the main furnace, something that set fire to everything around it and awakened the heart of the statue, causing all sorts of gears to move into position.

After that the pair walked out into the main area again, however, they were assaulted by more enemies that came out to kill them, where Kratos spotted a newcomer among the satyrs and pointed it out to Flurry, another female creature that wore no clothing, in fact it was totally nude, and whose legs and feet had merged into a long serpent tail, while having a cobra head and a reptilian face. It was a gorgon, who used to be women who were turned into their current state by the goddess Athena for their infidelity, while some were natural born monsters, and they had no problem moving their bodies in a seductive manner or distracting men by playing with their breasts or privates. Kratos revealed that it allowed them a perfect chance to use their petrifying gaze on their targets, turning them to stone if they were unlucky to be caught in the attack, though most of the gorgons he had encountered simply attacked with the power, knowing he wouldn't fall for all of their seductive actions. Of course Kratos also informed her that gorgons could use their tails as weapons as well, so one had to be careful when fighting a creature like this, but since they were incredible opponents he warned Flurry to stay off to the side and let him deal with this, since her inexperience would only hinder them this time.

Such a thing told Flurry that he wanted her to stay safe and didn't want her caught in this fight, so while he rushed out into the arena, to clash with the satyr, she did everything in her power to remain on the sidelines and not get in his way, only to have a gorgon appear in front of her before she could react. In that moment she learned why Kratos had warned her that these foes were beyond her current abilities, as this one was far faster than the centaur they had faced previously, so she knew that her bow was useless, especially at this range, and that meant her sickles were her only means of defense right now. The gorgon, however, did something that surprised Flurry, as she simply stared at her for a few seconds, like she was trying to figure out what sort of creature she was and why she was here, before picking her up, turned towards the fight, and held Flurry like she was a toy as Kratos fought, loose enough so she wasn't uncomfortable while being tight enough to ensure she didn't get in the way. It was an odd event that she was sure would never be repeated in the future, a monster acting differently than what she was used to seeing, though it did allow Flurry to see that the gorgons had a cobra hood attached to their heads, and, when Kratos dealt the final blow by removing the head of the other snake creature, the one holding Flurry simply sighed as she noticed the sad look in her eyes.

While she was being held, however, Flurry noticed that the odd gorgon had blue eyes while the lower half of her body was more of a black color, or maybe a dark grey, while all of her fellow creatures had a more dull green color to them, and they were more of a single color. She guessed that this made the gorgon holding her more of an outcast among her kind, due to her unusual colors, though it could also be due to the fact that she seemed more intelligent than the other monsters they had encountered since she appeared in this world. The reasoning for that thought was due to the fact that this gorgon knew not to challenge Kratos, rather she knew such a thing would result in her death, so she had opted to remove herself from the fight and Flurry had presented the perfect opportunity for her to show the experienced warrior that she meant no harm to them. In the end she guessed that this wasn't a bad thing, rather it told her there might be intelligent monsters out there, or at least she was hoping that was the case and that this wasn't the only time she would encounter a creature that knew it was unwise to challenge Kratos.

When the battle was over the blue eyed gorgon slithered over to Kratos and set Flurry down, where she patted her head for a moment as the warrior just stared at the creature for a few seconds, trying to comprehend what he was seeing right now, before slithering off without even trying to do anything to them.

"Flurry... what happened?" Kratos inquired, because with her there seemed to be a never ending series of events that he couldn't explain, and even when he thought he could explain some there might be a chance that he was just wrong on the matter, even though he had no idea why a monster would do such a thing.

"I... honestly, I have no idea." Flurry replied, as she was still processing what had just happened as well, because she had shown every monster that had come near her that she was more than willing to fight them, so they shouldn't see her as a toy or whatever the gorgon had seen her as, "Could she have been recently born, or recently turned?"

Kratos doubted either option, as neither made sense when he thought about it, rather he was sure that the gorgon had simply seen Flurry as something to keep safe and had done so, and once the battle was done the creature fled to avoid being killed like the other monsters. He stood there for a few more moments, just to make sure it didn't come back after he lowered his guard, before heading back over to the first large gear they had seen and turned it again, allowing the long platform to return so he and Flurry could continue on their way. After reaching Archimedes' resting place they found that the way forward required them jumping on the lids of the device that Kratos had pulled the lever in front of not that long ago, to which Flurry remained on her guardian's back as he started to move. It took him no time to reach the center of the pipe in question, which happened to include a lift that took them up to the next area they had to move through, which had a walkway being bathed in fire that he had to deal with, though there was a pause in it's flames that Flurry spotted and Kratos nodded as he saw it.

With that in mind they were able to bypass the first set of flames and continued down the path, climbing up the side of an upper walkway before finding a metallic gear that Kratos spun with a single push of his hands and let it fall down into the slot that was below it, activating another set of machinery as more of the heart came to life. Of course more satyr had to appear out of nowhere and interrupt them, though instead of wasting time on them, fighting anyway, Kratos grabbed all of them and hurled them into the flames that were all around them, allowing Archimedes' contraptions to kill them so he could get himself and Flurry to safety. Such a thing meant jumping from one platform to another for a short period of time as Flurry watched a number of material pots moving above them, carrying materials around to devices that would power the heart or be melted down to be fashioned into other usable components. Fortunately there happened to be a point of sorts between the various pots that Kratos latched onto with one of his blades and swung over to the highest point of the area, what appeared to be Apollo's shattered shoulder, where the chain holding the other sections of the arm rested, and, just as the pair expected, more enemies showed up to do battle.

Since it was just satyrs Flurry was able to join in, using her arrows to open holes in their defenses so Kratos could tear his foes apart, at least until two juggernauts showed up and demanded his attention for a time, something that caused him to use their strength against each other so he could finish them off as brutally as before.

Once the coast was clear the pair approached the rusted chain, which seemed days away from breaking thanks to what the Furies had done to Apollo's statue, where Flurry looked over the edge and stared down at the destruction as Kratos raised the amulet once more. A few seconds later the fallen stone fragments shifted for a moment before starting to move back into place before their eyes, something that allowed Flurry to watch as the fallen sections of the arm, and the other one based on what she was currently seeing, were affected as well. Chunks of stone and metal moved back through time as they were lifted into the air, rotating and piecing themselves back together in a matter of seconds, showing them the vast power of the amulet once more as the damage to the chest was reversed as well, fixing a good chunk of everything the Furies had done to keep the Lantern hidden. In addition to that she could see the Lantern moving as well, being pulled out of the water as the chain it was connected to was pulled along with the rest of the arm that she and Kratos happened to be standing in, until eventually the entire arm was sealed and they heard the sound of everything sliding into place not a few moments later.

"Have I mentioned how cool that amulet is? Because it's awesome!" Flurry remarked, because seeing time reverse and fix all sorts of broken things like this never seemed to get old for her, especially when they were fixing something that would no doubt appease the gods, or at least Apollo when she considered it for a few more seconds.

"It sure is." Kratos said, as he agreed with Flurry, the amulet was powerful and it was worth collecting it from the temple it had been resting in, in fact the sheer amount of damage it could repair still surprised him whenever he used it, especially after seeing the ruin that Alecto and her sisters left the statue in when they attacked it, before he put it away and started to move towards a new path, "We must keep moving, because with the restoration of the arms it is only a matter of time until the Furies realize where we are and come rushing back to catch us... we must reach the Lantern and claim the Eyes of Truth before that happens."

Flurry nodded as she followed Kratos' lead once more, all while silently hoping that they could reach their destination and claim their prize before the Furies even realized what was going on, and hoped Orkos was able to keep them distracted while keeping himself safe, before readying herself to face whatever else the statue could throw at them.

Ascension: The Lantern of Delos

With the arms and hands of the statue back in position, fully attached for the first time in who knew how long, Kratos and Flurry climbed up the metallic block that served as a stepping stone to reach the upper level, only to find that the way out involved sliding down a long metallic path that was surrounded by flames and molten material.

"You know, this might be a good area for me to glide down." Flurry commented, as the path was angled in such a way that she was sure she could simply open her wings and let the currents carry her, sort of like what she did back when she and Kratos were leaving the Oracle's temple earlier.

"It is dangerous, but so is sitting on my chest while I make my descent." Kratos said, because no matter how he thought about tackling this he knew that it was better than having her sit on his chest, since his back would be to the metallic floor most of the time and she would be in his view, so by having her use her wings he'd be able to keep an eye on her without having her taking up what he was seeing, "Let me help you up."

Flurry was glad that he was agreeing to even allow her to do this, since she agreed that it was dangerous, to which she let him pick her up and position her so she could open her wings, slowly since she didn't want to clip him in the face with her left wing, but Kratos stayed still and allowed her to prepare herself accordingly. Once she was ready to go she jumped off of his hand and let her wings catch the air, where she started to glide down the passage in front of her and found that Kratos did the same, stabbing the flooring with a blade like he had done a few times before this point. Flurry discovered that there were a few moving cauldrons that seemed to be damaging parts of the path, or Archimedes hadn't planned for such a thing when he built the statue, and sections that seemed to be pouring molten material, but they were obstacles that Kratos was able to avoid. So was she as she soon discovered, as she was able to move herself ever so slightly and get out of the way of everything that happened to be getting in their way, before spotting a pipe that looked like the one they had used to get out of Archimedes' resting place earlier.

She wasn't the only one that spotted it as Kratos positioned himself accordingly and leapt into it when he reached the end of the path, forcing her to pull herself up and pull in her wings to avoid being hurt, where they descended into the furnace they had activated earlier.

As they stepped out into the open area Flurry paused for a moment, because they had encountered enough enemies for her to be convinced that any wide open area like this was an area that enemies would attack them in, but nothing came at them and it allowed Kratos to move over to the moveable gear. When he turned it, however, Flurry watched as the larger gear moved into position and heard a chain moving, the very one that had been restored when the arms were fixed not even a few minutes ago, meaning the Lantern was being pulled into position. While that happened the floor moved as the large gear was locked into place, pushing them higher into the air and forming a new platform, with a fiery center that was different than before, and when the hounds started to ambush them Kratos informed her that the key was to sacrifice a few enemies to the flames. She guessed it was something that one or more of the gods desired in their puzzles, and was utilized in the designs of those who created all of the most important temples, such as the infamous Pandora's Temple, the resting place of Pandora's Box, a place he deemed to be nothing more than a myth.

A few seconds later Kratos confirmed that it was as he suspected as he punted one of the hounds into the flames, which pushed them higher than before, meaning he would have to repeatedly do the same thing until it reached the highest point it was supposed to reach, even though the monster changed each time. They discovered that the second wave was made up of satyr, so Flurry aided him in using her arrows to distract a few of them while Kratos weakened his chosen foe, a fact that was followed by him picking up the monster and hurling it into the flames when the time was right, moving the platform up to another level to confirm their suspicions. Flurry also found that when one stage of the trial was completed all of the monsters of that category, like the hounds or satyrs, perished all of a sudden, as if they were linked to each other in some manner, but since Kratos wasn't paying too much attention to is she guessed she should focus on the battle and worry about this later. The other stages were just a mix of hounds and satyrs, instead of other monsters Kratos had faced since he started his journey, but Flurry wasn't going to complain as the sections between the four corners of the platform pulled apart and they came to a stop in the upper level they had been moving towards.

Flurry also discovered a latch for Kratos to link one of his blades to and a metallic gear to spin, so he used the oath stone after locking the former into position, leaving his copy to keep a plate door open as he turned the gear for a time, which caused a purple beam of energy to shoot through the pipe and no doubt pierced the sky far above the statue.

"Oh, that's not good for us." Flurry commented, because the beam was a dead giveaway that they were in the statue and she suspected that the Furies would see it in no time, though before Kratos could say anything to her remark they found that the floor moved once more as her guardian's copy quickly disappeared.

It appeared that they were required to take care of more enemies to reach the highest point possible, the true highest point as Flurry thought about it, and one of the enemies they had to deal with were the statues, so while Kratos distracted it for a time, forcing it to miss multiple times, Flurry got around it and used her sickles to take it down. They also discovered that a few satyrs and a couple of hounds had joined the battle as well, something that prompted Kratos to resume sacrificing them into the central flame to resume moving the platform they were fighting on, all while Flurry kept herself safe and attacked only when necessary. She did deal with the odd statue or two that showed up to fight them, allowing her guardian to deal with all of the other monsters that happened to be in the area, before they reached what seemed to be the highest point in the entirety of the statue's chest, since the ceiling was close to their position. There was another portion of the pipe right in front of them, so once the last enemy was taken care of the way opened and they climbed inside it without delay, only to find that there was a lift with a crystal set in the center of it, which took them up to the ruined head of Apollo's statue and let them gaze out over all of Delos.

As they stepped off the lift, however, the pair noticed that the Lantern was being moved into position, high above the water to be exact, meaning Archimedes' statue was fulfilling part of it's strange purpose, where Kratos stood at the edge of a once pristine walkway and readied the amulet.

"Strange... where is Charybdis?" Flurry asked, because from what she could see of the water around the island it didn't look like the monster that served the Furies was even here right now, rather it was either asleep or it was aiding it's masters in their search for Orkos, though this worried her more than she thought it would.

"I do not know, nor do we have the time to waste worrying about it." Kratos stated, as while he shared Flurry's worry about the monster, for it was odd for it to leave the Lantern exposed like this, he knew that they had a limited amount of time left before the Furies showed up, hence why he raised the amulet and let it's power wash over the entire area.

Flurry watched as the path in front of them started to reform as the rubble far below them started to shift, time flowing backwards as Apollo's head reformed and lifted into the air, where all of the damage reversed before their eyes while it fit in above them, forming a new puzzle for them to complete as the rest of the stone fit into place. She also discovered that the beam from before had been redirected to fire through the statue's eyes, though since it seemed to be a single beam, instead of two for two eyes, they had to find a way to split the purple beam into two separate entities. Kratos agreed with her idea, especially since there was a large crystal nearby that seemed designed for that exact purpose, where he climbed on top of it for a moment and pushed off a stepping stone they needed to use later, all while Flurry glanced around the rest of the head chamber as she tried to piece everything together in her head. With the removal of the stepping stone the crystal was raised into the air and stopped just above where the eyes were located, meaning they had to figure out a way to lower the crystal back into position, do the same to the beam's main crystal, and stabilize everything to ensure both beams pierced the eyes that had been installed inside the statue's head.

She also expected enemies to show up and found that they didn't, meaning the Furies likely had no idea that someone in this world was capable of reaching this point in fixing the statue, though she did discover something interesting, which was the fact that the contraption that raised and lowered the main beam was unlocked. Such a thing meant that Kratos could move it if he so desired, since it was linked to a gear he could rotate, before he found a chain that pulled out part of a wall, revealing that it was a metal clasp that would hold something in place, leading them to realize what needed to be done with it. Kratos had to climb a ladder on the opposite side of the chamber and reach what appeared to be a belt that could move something from one side to another, dropping it right on top of the crystal, so he placed his copy at the start of it and returned to the chain that Flurry was standing by, allowing him to move the clasp into position. With that done the pair watched as his copy landed on top of the crystal's container and pushed it down into place, which was followed by it splitting the beam in half and let them pierce both of the statue's eyes, firing them into the Lantern like Archimedes had designed them to do when he first built the statue.

As that happened another ladder moved down into place and Kratos walked over to it, allowing Flurry to climb back onto his back before he started to make his way towards the peak, which had to be the top of Apollo's helmet, based on what they had seen so far, and it took them a few minutes to reach the highest point possible.

Once they no longer needed to climb up the ladder Flurry got off of Kratos' back and touched down on the metallic face of the helmet, which was harder to walk on as she soon discovered, but that was insignificant in comparison to what she and her guardian found out in the next few seconds. There was no path down to the Lantern, rather they were too far above it and she was sure that if Kratos tried to jump down to it he would no doubt miss and crush himself on the islands below, a fact that told her of Archimedes' failure to come up with a safe way down to the final structure. This was one of the times Flurry wished she was fully grown and had the strength to do some of the things that Kratos could do, since it would allow her to carry the fierce warrior like he did for her at times, but Kratos didn't seem to mind that fact as he found his ride to the Lantern. She spotted it a few seconds later, a winged creature that her guardian identified as a manticore, as it had the face of a lion, the jaw of a shark, the leathery wings of a dragon, humanoid arms and torso, and a scorpion tail with plates on it's back, a powerful foe he told her, and judging by how it was flying he was sure he could use it to get to the Lantern in a matter of seconds.

As Flurry considered how insane the plan was, since it sounded far too dangerous despite the fact that they were running out of time, Kratos rushed towards the edge of the helmet and launched himself into the air, where he flew down into the manticore's side and knocked it out of the air, pushing it around so he could safely land inside the Lantern's interior, all while severing one of it's wings in the process. She wasted no time in following after him to the best of her ability, gliding down to where he wanted to land, giving her a good view as Kratos and the beast hit part of the top of the structure and tumbled into the interior, forcing her to follow after them as she got a good view of the inside. The Lantern's interior was well designed, no doubt Archimedes' masterpiece, there was a central cage that held something important, likely the Eyes of Truth, she found a door to their left that had guardian statues that looked like they might stop the door from opening if they tried to do so, and there was a glowing magical door on the opposite side. As Kratos dealt with the manticore, since it's presence caused the interior's barrier defenses to activate and meant it's death would open the way forward, Flurry just stood off on the side as she stared at the opposite side, finding that she could see through the magic, meaning it had to be an illusion made by Tisiphone.

In the end Kratos killed the weakened manticore like it was nothing, forcing it onto it's back before removing the head of it's tail and used it to sever the beast's head, allowing it to roll away as the grated barrier descended into the floor so they could walk up to the container that held the Eyes of Truth.

"Make haste, Spartan, for my Mother's have realized that you're close to the Eyes of Truth, which they ruthlessly pulled from my dear Aletheia's head." a voice said, where they found that Orkos reappeared for a time, meaning he must have doubled back to the statue when he realized that it was only a matter of time until they claimed their prize, or this was a projection that allowed him to chat with them from afar, "I will do everything in my power to stall them, but they'll be here before you know it."

Kratos nodded as he stepped forward to investigate the area that was around them, taking just a moment to confirm that the door facing Apollo's statue couldn't be opened very much, in fact they could barely crack it open since the figures on each side kept it in place. With that in mind he made his way over to a lever that allowed him to rotate the rings of the odd container that the Eyes were resting in, creating a lens for the power of the Eyes to be focused through, allowing Flurry to see that it messed with the dark magic of the door she had been staring at. In that instant she had a vision of the other side of the portal that was in front of them, for that was what the magical door actually was, revealing an area that was a near identical copy of the one they were standing in, save for all of the moon designs, so if their side was Apollo's that told her that the other side was Artemis'. It only made sense to her, that both of the twin gods would be represented in some sort of trial to claim the Eyes, and as the vision ended she witnessed the figures on Artemis' side loosing their grasp on the door facing her own statue, or at least she assumed there was a statue, informing her that they would have to make their way to Artemis' side.

When she shared her information with Kratos, however, he nodded and used the oath stone to keep the gateway open so they could head through it, which they did so without delay and stepped into what appeared to be a shadowy realm that was a mirror image of their world, all while the gateway behind them was sealed with the same magic that had been on Apollo's side. After that Kratos walked over and opened the moon door, fully this time since it wasn't being held back by the figures on either side of it, where Flurry found that her guess was right, there was a statue resting where Apollo's was in their reality, as in this one it was a female wearing a robe and some sort of helm, though her robe was open in the front, revealing Artemis' stomach and breasts. Opening the door in this realm did the same as the previous one, it powered the crystal above the cage and opened it so they could get at the other set of Eyes of Truth, a false set designed for whatever trials Archimedes had created to make sure the real set were secure, and Kratos claimed it without delay. Doing so caused the platform they were on to shimmer as Kratos and Flurry watched as the cage disappeared, before it descended down into the depths of the Lantern, locking itself into place with an illusion that seemed to have been made by the Furies when they influenced Archimedes' projects.

They then discovered that Kratos could utilize the power of the False Eyes to undo the magic of the Furies, just like the real pair was supposed to do, so the lock broke apart in seconds and opened the way for him to force everything into motion with his blades, all while Flurry kept her eyes open for incoming monsters. The platform did move up the passage, just like they assumed it would, and when it came to a stop a few moments later a few pillars emerged from part of the floor and revealed that they spewed fire into a section of the area to stop them from heading over there, and this time their foes were the gorgons, two of them anyway. This time, despite the danger that they posed, Flurry pulled out her sickles as she leapt onto one of the creatures and did her best to deal some damage to it's tail, a distraction so Kratos could fight his foe and take it's head in a matter of seconds before doing the same to her target. In addition to the gorgons a couple of sibyl sirens joined the fight, where Kratos used the lightning power he had been blessed with to stun his foes before cutting all of them down, though such a thing required Flurry to get out of the area so she wasn't accidentally hurt, since some of his attacks covered a large area.

When the coast was clear, and both were sure of that fact when no more monsters showed up, Kratos used the False Eyes to undo the illusion lock again and let the platform move up to the next stage of Archimedes' trials for the Eyes of Truth, where this time they were forced to fight in a narrow corridor, thanks to the sections of the ground rising around them to form a narrow path, and their foes were Amazons. Flurry thought it made sense, Artemis was Apollo's sister and she felt that some of her followers would have been here regardless, be it due to the corruption of the Furies or not, though that didn't stop Kratos from impaling them with their own spears and planting all of them in the ground. Harpies also flew in to join the battle, where Flurry proved herself to be useful as she used her arrows to knock each one out of the air, opening the way for her guardian to take care of them when he had the time to do so, often tossing her arrows back to her so she didn't have to expose herself to their enemies. Even a statue showed up to join the fight, where Flurry was having none of that as she used her sickles and stabbed it in the back like she had done to every single one she had been able to fight, at least since landing on the island, allowing Kratos to deal with everything else without having to worry about a tough foe at a time like this.

With that done it was a simple matter of using the Fake Eyes to undo a magical lock and releasing the gear that would let the platform rise up towards the next level, and when it stopped Flurry found themselves boxed in with a centaur, the one foe she couldn't even begin to help Kratos with, causing him to beckon for her to get to safety as he fought the creature in the center of the altered arena. The centaur put up quite a fight, which was to be expected of such a being, but Kratos put it down and gutted it like he had done to the others, causing some odd floating skeletal beings to appear around them, a new type of foe that Kratos called wraiths, who had curved blades for hands and horned helmets. Flurry found that these foes were able to phase through the ground and attack however they wanted, where Kratos was able to use his blades on them while they were underground, yanking them back to his level so he could smash their faces in with their own blades or even sever their heads before they could react. His skills allowed him to clear out all of his foes with ease, allowing him to return to the illusion lock and undo it with the False Eyes, where Flurry watched as they returned to the area that all of the gears were resting in, allowing the illusory container to return to the middle of the platform.

For a moment nothing happened, no new traps and no new enemies, causing Flurry to wonder what either of them might have missed since the platform sunk and forced them to fight those waves of creatures, before she glanced at the area for a few seconds and realized the next step.

"Kratos, I think we have to close the door for a moment, to restore the container's lever," Flurry stated, because she knew that Apollo's version of the Lantern had a crystal above the area that the Eyes were resting in and Artemis' version had the same thing, meaning they likely had to undo a lock of sorts in this realm to retrieve their true prize.

"Yes, I see it as well. Smart thinking." Kratos said, where he rushed over to the door facing Artemis' statue before using his blades to grab onto the sides of the door, forcing them shut so the rest of the container could reappear, along with the lever they needed to use, causing him to quickly move over to it and use the False Eyes to undo the barrier that Tisiphone had placed on it a long time ago.

Flurry watched as he quickly moved the lever into position, just like he did in Apollo's realm, and used the oath stone to lock it in place with a shadow copy, before he beckoned for Flurry to follow him as they returned to their world, causing the False Eyes to disappear once they were on the other side. She knew what that meant, the False Eyes had returned to their rightful place in Artemis' realm and were now powering the systems in this realm, as she found that the gears that were in the floor started to move while the runes above them started to glow, just like what happened when she saw the vision of what happened in the other realm. As she expected the figures on either side of Apollo's door let go of the door, thus allowing it to be opened all the way, though as they walked forward several of the gears moved into position and also started to move the platform down into position, meaning they were close to their true prize. At the same time she found an odd mechanism resting nearby, a strange cube with a circular surface that seemed to be connected to the sun and the moon, based on Kratos' remarks on the designs, causing her to shrug as she added it to her pouch as Kratos approached Apollo's door.

She stood by him for a moment as he opened the door, allowing the light of Apollo's statue to open the prison that held the Eyes of Truth, though as they turned to face it, however, they found all three Furies standing around the Eyes, where Megaera was standing over a chained Orkos, arms bound in black goo, while Tisiphone and Alecto waited near the Eyes with smiles on their faces.

"All this effort, for such a powerful relic, and still you fail?" Alecto mockingly remarked, where she held the Eyes in her left hand for a moment, just to show them that she and her sisters had stolen the artifact as soon as the cage was opened, a fact that caused Kratos to growl as Flurry frowned, "Your quest is over!"

In the following moment, just as Kratos and Flurry started to move, Alecto used her black goo on them, pinning them to the floor, though it only lasted for a few seconds as they utilized the oath stone to get out of it, something Tisiphone was expecting as her companion snatched it in it's beak as it flew by. Flurry rushed at the illusion Fury as Kratos rushed to deal with Alecto, because with her sight, allowing her to apparently see through her powers, it made sense for her to take care of her, though she was unable to do so as Megaera lashed out with her spider legs, forcing her to raise her sickles to keep herself safe. Of course, since she had no real experience in combat training, the Fury was able to knock her weapons out of her hands with ease and struck her in the back, knocking her to the floor as Alecto bound both of them with ease, as if she was a coward who disliked fighting her opponents. Flurry found that the Furies spared no expense in binding her with goo, as she had far more than Kratos did, almost as if the sisters were more terrified of her than they were of the one who did most of the fighting, and they even bound her mouth, to prevent her from talking.

All Flurry could do was watch as the Furies picked her, Kratos, and Orkos up and departed from the Lantern that she and Kratos had worked so hard to get into since their arrival on the island, causing her to wonder what sort of foul plans the Furies had in store for all three of them.

Ascension: Prison of the Damned

Flurry had no idea how long she had been bound for, save for the fact that it did seem to take the Furies time to travel from the island of Delos and reach their destination, a massive imposing prison of sorts that looked like it was designed to be some sort of terrible creature. Orkos, being close to her during the flight, revealed to her the truth, that this was Aegaeon the Hecatonchires, who was the first oathbreaker due to the fact that he made a blood oath to the gods and was punished by his Mothers, a story that pleased Alecto and her sisters when they heard their son say it. He was turned into a living prison, as part of his own punishment, hence the chains that locked many of his limbs into place, and it was unknown if he was even still conscious, but it hardly mattered since his body had been turned into a living prison to contain beings like him, those who dared to break an oath with a god. Kratos was special, as Ares still had a use for his services, and Alecto quickly confirmed that they would be devoting their time to breaking him in whatever manner they could, to restore him to the path they had set him on not that long ago, which only served to infuriate Kratos even more than before.

Something sprung to mind as they started to make their way down into the prison, seeking out areas to contain all three of them, where she found that she was being stuck in what appeared to be a lone cell above one of the arms, which was just three solid walls and a fourth that was grated with an iron door.

"Why are you treating me like an oathbreaker? I haven't made an oath with a god." Flurry pointed out, though as she was forced into the cell, causing the black goo to dissolve almost instantly, she found that the Furies took her bow, arrows, and her sickles, though interestingly enough they didn't take the pouch as well, rather Alecto glanced into it and found nothing, as odd as that sounded.

"While that is true, you haven't broken an oath like the Spartan has, you are far too valuable to leave unattended for too long." Alecto remarked, as she and her sisters had seen the little one's power during the battle on the gauntlet, how she was able to apparently see through Tisiphone's illusions and had launched Megaera's severed arm into the water so none of them could get it back, and it told her that they might have found the key to Ares' plans, "So here you will remain for a time, until we're done with our work on Kratos... once he's ready to cooperate, and go back to being Lord Ares' servant, we will come collect you and deliver both of you to the God of War. Someone like you will do well under his command, maybe he'll give you a high ranking position after a couple of years, but for the time being we'll keep you here, where nothing will bother or disturb you."

Flurry rushed at the bars for a moment, to try and get something, anything, of hers from the Furies before they departed, but they remained out of reach and she had to listen to Alecto's foul laughter as they flew off, causing her to huff as she took a seat, mostly to wait until they were long gone before doing anything else. While she waited for them to go away she found herself looking at the massive being that had been fashioned into a prison, making her wonder how much they had tormented and tortured him for breaking his oath, and with which god Aegaeon had annoyed by breaking said oath, but all she could see were the additions the Furies had infused him with. It was clear that they were serious about being the ones who punished oathbreakers, with all the cells and who knew what else, since she couldn't see inside the creature's arms, legs, or even it's chest, but everything she could see informed her that they had to get out of here soon, before any of the Furies tried anything on them. From her prison Flurry noticed that Megaera moved to an area above where she was resting, instead of heading over to a structure that seemed to be Alecto's domain, and potentially her sisters as well when she thought about it, meaning she was likely charged with chaining Kratos in the place they had designed for him, as soon as they learned of his oath breaking.

After watching the area for a time, as she was able to tell the passing of time thanks to a small window in her cell, Flurry found that there were no guards outside her cell, in fact it looked like the Furies might not believe in such a thing and did their work on their own, where she found a way to get her hand through the bars and held it out, silently beckoning one of her sickles to come to her, only for nothing to happen.

"Of course it's not that easy." Flurry sadly said, as she was hoping that the summoning power, or whatever she had used to call her sickles to her side earlier, could be used without her actually having the knowledge and training to do it on her own, meaning she was going to have to figure out some other way to get out of her cell, which had no openings save for the ones she had seen so far and a small section likely for food.

Unfortunately the Furies knew her better than she thought they did, as her cell literally had nothing for her to interact with or use, meaning she was to spend her days sitting on the floor, thinking about what they wanted from her or what one of them might do to her, or sleeping on the stone cold material that was below her. The Furies had left her with nothing to do to occupy her time, save for thinking about what she had done and who she had traveled with, as if they were trying to punish her for traveling with Kratos, an oathbreaker, instead of waiting for someone like them to find her. It annoyed her the more she thought about it, that they thought themselves above everyone and everything in the world, but even then something came to her while she waited, Alecto and her sisters spoke of 'Death', as in the sickles Flurry carried since she first woke up in this land. Based on that information, along with the fact that they had tied her up far more than what they did to Kratos, it told her that they were scared of her and her power, not to mention the power of her weapons, almost as if the sickles were the keys to ending their lives.

It would explain a few things as she thought about it, as Kratos, despite having slain a number of beings with his blades, and also hacked off one of Megaera's arms during their battle, was chained in his holding area with his weapons, while she was left with nothing, signifying that she was more dangerous than he was. Even with her thoughts on the matter it really didn't make that much sense, she was a kid, a novice at fighting, and she had no powers to speak of, save for gliding from high places and occasionally making a smart call when dealing with puzzles, so the Furies shouldn't be afraid of her, even after what happened on the gauntlet earlier. There was something she was missing, that much was clear to her, but Flurry had no idea what that something could be, meaning all she could do, until she figured out how to get out of the cell, was just think about everything in silence, with no one to talk to or bounce ideas off of. Such a thing made her miss Kratos far more than she thought it would, because while he could be brutal at times, finding bloody ways to end his foes, he did care for her and it made her care for him as well, like a little family of sorts, causing her to sigh as she returned her focus to trying to figure out how to get out of her cell.

Following that she discovered that the hours started to turn into days, as she saw the passing of the sun and moon from her cell, and there were a few interesting things that happened, such as the fact that each sister to her every now and then, all for their own reasons. One of their reasons, as she quickly discovered, was to feed her, as Megaera was the first to arrive, on the night of her capture, and she carried a tray that had meat, cheese, bread, and fruit on it, though she did have a scowl on her face, annoyed over the loss of her arm, but she did make sure Flurry also had some water to drink. The other two took turns doing the same thing, as if they had a rotation of sorts between them, though in addition to that Tisiphone wanted to know how Flurry was able to see through her illusions, causing her to shrug in response, as she had no idea herself and that meant she couldn't tell the Fury anything. Alecto, on the other had, came to chat, mostly about how traveling with Kratos for a time had sharpened her skills and that she would be better served to offer her talents to the God of War, but she kept her mouth shut, mostly because she didn't believe the Fury in question.

After a full week in the cell, as she had counted the days to help stave off any potential insanity from being trapped in the same place with nothing to do, something unusual happened, because instead of Megaera or Tisiphone coming to tend to her, like she expected, Flurry found that the odd gorgon from the statue of Apollo was rapidly moving towards her cell, as if the Furies themselves were hot on her tail.

"Quick, you... must... flee." the gorgon stated, speaking the moment she came to a stop in front of the cell, where Flurry had the feeling that she wasn't used to talking, or if she was it had been some time since her last actual conversation with someone, but before doing anything else she stopped, checking to be sure the Furies weren't coming, before using one of the sickles to hack through the door lock and open the way for her to escape.

"Thanks, but I can't leave yet. I must find Kratos... my guardian?" Flurry said, as she still wasn't sure what sort of relation she had with the brutal warrior, though for right now that was the furthest thing on her mind as the gorgon held a hand out and let her take all of her weapons, as in both sickles, her bow, and a full quiver, making her wonder how the creature had gotten them in the first place, before deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

The gorgon could only stare at her and the surrounding area for a few seconds, as if studying where Flurry wanted to go before the Furies showed up, before nodding as she beckoned for Flurry to climb into her arms, though as she did so the odd creature, after making sure she was held tight, sped off to avoid being caught by the Furies. Such a thing meant that they went moving down the odd paths that the Furies had added to Aegaeon's arms, as if designed to confuse anyone who actually escaped from where they were placed, or maybe it was for Tisiphone to use her illusions, like having a base helped her use her incredible magic. Flurry realized what the creature's plan was, she was taking them to a high place, no doubt so she could use her wings to glide down into where Kratos was currently being held, though such a thing meant that the gorgon would have to flee before the Furies tracked her down, something she seemed okay with, as long as Flurry got to Kratos safely. It was a dangerous plan, since she couldn't fly and if she misjudged her mark there would be no for her to correct her course before it was too late, not to mention the fact that if a Fury discovered her she wouldn't be able to flee on her own, but she decided not to focus on those possibilities as they made their way to their destination.

When they reached the top of the hand that the gorgon was heading towards, where it was strange to not hear an alarm or something because of her escape, the creature set Flurry down as she beckoned to the hand that had been fashioned into an open holding area, where Kratos was partly chained, his blades stuck into two slots on the left and right walls, meaning the rest would come in time.

"There he is... be safe, alright?" the gorgon said, as if she knew that Flurry was going to move towards Kratos' position and free him so they could complete his quest, because the Furies were his ultimate goal and this meant it might be easier for them to track his targets down, all while showing her concern for someone of her age, especially since Megaera was on her way to Kratos' prison.

"I'll try. Going to be hard with the Furies closing in." Flurry replied, taking a moment to smile at the gorgon, showing her that she meant it, something that caused the creature to smile as well for a few seconds, despite the danger she was putting herself in, before patting her head once more and slithered off to avoid being caught by the Furies.

Flurry stood there for a few seconds, just to be sure the gorgon was safe, before steeling herself as she opened her wings and pulled out her sickles, where she watched as Megaera stopped in front of Kratos, meaning his torment was about to resume, causing her to run off the hand she was on and jump into the air, allowing her wings to catch her as she glided towards her destination.

"The little one has freed herself, Spartan... you are too far out of her reach, so where else would she go?" Megaera asked, showing that she and her sisters assumed that Flurry must have fled the moment she was no longer trapped in her cell, as if, despite her skills, they knew she wouldn't dare to come at them after all three of them bested her and Kratos after they freed the Eyes of Truth.

Kratos, despite himself, couldn't help but chuckle at that, because it was amusing to see the powerful Furies terrified of a little girl like Flurry, he could see the lingering fear in Megaera's eyes as she thought about what Flurry was capable of, like Death had been unleashed and the Furies were worried that it was coming for them, and he knew exactly who was on her way to interrupt Megaera.

"She's right here!" Flurry stated, speaking the moment the tips of her sickles embedded themselves in the Fury's back, as her plan had been to remain silent until what could be considered the very last moment, when the tips of her weapons dug into Megaera's flesh, causing the Fury to scream in pain as she waved her spider appendages around wildly, exactly as she intended.

What Flurry had been thinking was that forcing Megaera into this state would provide her with the force needed to free Kratos, using the power of her limbs to force open the locks that were holding one of his blades captive, which caused the Fury to pause in fear as the blade came from. Kratos, sensing the opportunity that had been provided to him, lashed out with the weapon by lifting it into the air and brought it down on Megaera's chest, missing her heart in the process based on what he was seeing, but right now his plan wasn't to kill her, at least not for the time being. Together the two of them started to force the Fury off the platform he had been chained on, which would keep her in a pained state as long as the second blade remained locked up, and Megaera knew that as her eyes widened in pure fear, that if she did nothing one of them would end up ending her life. She had no choice in the matter, it was either keep Kratos trapped and Flurry would end her life, since her weapons were far better at that in Kratos' eyes, something that would end in him being freed in the end, or she could free him, find an opportunity to escape, and maybe regroup with her sisters to bring them down.

Finding that she needed some prompting Flurry ripped out one of the sickles, causing Megaera to scream in pain, before using it to cut through one of the spider appendages, forcing the Fury to aid Kratos in freeing the other blade, who quickly launched them off the platform and removed Flurry from Megaera's back, allowing him to kick her down onto the ground as he landed nearby with the little girl in his hands.

"Flurry, are you alright? Did they hurt you?" Kratos asked, choosing to focus more on Flurry and less on the Fury that was in the middle of retreating, though it was at a slow pace since the sickles had done a number on her backside, something he couldn't believe when he thought about it.

"I'm fine. Honest, I'm fine... they were more interested in talking than torment." Flurry replied, which still weirded her out when she considered what the Furies had done, and what they could have done given everything she had learned about them, before she shifted her stance and raised her sickles, since this time it looked like she might be able to join Kratos in all of the fights that were ahead of them, "As for how I got out... let's save that for later, when they're gone."

Kratos had a feeling that he knew what she didn't want to say, that someone had come her to rescue, since it would alert the Furies to a potential intruder, causing him to ready the Blades of Chaos once more, where Megaera flinched as soon as she saw their determination to kill her, something that caused her to retreat into the prison. They found that the loss of a spider limb caused her to move wildly, as she moved along the various walls that were in front of them, though all it did was cause pillars to fall in their way, not that it mattered since both Kratos and Flurry could jump over the fallen stones with ease. This time around the only enemies in their way were the green beetles, where Kratos found that Flurry, despite a weak of isolation on Alecto's command, switched to her bow and let a few arrows fly without delay, taking out several of the bugs while he cleaned the rest up, allowing her to collect what was usable as they followed the injured Fury, who was growing increasingly worried as time progressed. As Megaera fled the pair followed after her without wasting time, finding that they had to jump up sections of the prison and cross oddly designed bridges to keep pace with her, plus they could see that she was growing increasingly terrified of the idea of them catching her.

Something that interested Flurry was the fact that Megaera had the amulet on her belt, meaning that when they caught up with her, and she was sure that she and Kratos would do such a thing, they could take the artifact and continue on to the rest of the Furies, they just had to take this one down first.

When the path lead into one of Aegaeon's arms, however, Flurry found that she wasn't grossed out by the fact that the Furies had hollowed out an entire inner complex and all sorts of hallways for the oathbreakers, even if it meant walking on what seemed to be bone, meaning she was far too focused on her goal right now and would likely freak out once the three Furies were no more. Megaera even dropped them into a larger chamber by breaking part of the pathway, where Flurry got her first glimpse of the infected that Kratos had mentioned back in the statue, where she found that some of the odd green beetles latched onto some of the inmates and twisted them into new monsters, as in the lower half of their arms and legs were the same green as Megaera's own spider legs. Kratos told her that it was best to think about these as brand new monsters, instead of people, since he knew she might have trouble with killing people, causing her to nod as she did her best to avoid them and cut into them with her sickles, allowing the more experienced warrior to take them down so they could press onward. Megaera even tried to insult them by stating that they 'fought like Athenaens', though it didn't do much since Kratos was ignoring it and Flurry had no idea what she meant, though once the last infected was down the Fury departed as fast as she could, showing that she was being very cowardly towards them.

She also showed them that she wasn't very smart as her attempt to flee knocked loose something for Kratos to pull down so he could jump up onto the main walkway, with Flurry on his back for that instant, before reaching a ladder that ended at a door, one that allowed them to head outside.

When they caught up with Megaera, right in front of the doorway that Flurry was sure lead to the chamber that Alecto and Tisiphone were in, she jumped over to one of Aegaeon's arms and did something disgusting, her parasites emerged from holes in her chest, which were the beetles she realized, and penetrated the arm. Such a thing caused the limb to come to life before their eyes as it's six fingers were brought to life, only a large insect creature burst out of it's palm and had two large wicked curved hands that looked like they were useful for carving things up. As the creature moved, however, they found that the arm it was part of was linked to the one that served as the walkway they were currently standing on, so the moment it started to move and tug it shattered the walkway, turning to face them on what seemed to be a makeshift area for them to fight in. Even with two enemies to fight Flurry found that the creature didn't even look at her, either because it was like Megaera and was scared of her, like all the Furies were, or maybe the cowardly Fury had commanded the couple of beetles to avoid her, for Alecto's plans, and it was doing so, focusing on Kratos.

She did, however, find that the creature was far too large for her arrows to do anything to, so she focused on using both of her sickles when it came close to the platform, and when she struck it they discovered that it flinched in pain, where Kratos was sure that there was something about the sickles that terrified everyone. Kratos used that opening to use both of his blades to get up onto the creature, shatter some armor on it's shoulder, and then slammed it into a structure when it tried to move around, before he realized that he had forgotten about Flurry's inability to do what he did and glanced at her to make sure she was fine. What he discovered was that she had stabbed the ground with her sickles, meaning that she was able to hang upside down thanks to how the creature was moving, allowing him to turn his attention back to the creature as Flurry considered how to help him. It quickly dawned on her that in this sort of situation, with a giant monster blocking their way, the best thing to do was to stay out of Kratos' way, especially as he found a way to get onto one of the creature's arms and got onto it's back, where his blades were embedded in one of it's arm blades and he used it to slash open the thing's neck, much to her continued amazement.

With the hand creature stunned, potentially dead already, Kratos leapt to the ground when he discovered that it was more like a ramp now, like what he and Flurry found in Apollo's statue, so while he slid down the path in front of him Flurry found a way to glide after him, allowing them to follow Megaera once more, only for them to end up in what looked like some sort of sewer system inside one of Aegaeon's arms.

Kratos took a few moments to stretch his arms and legs, as it had been a while since he was last able to move and he really didn't want to inflict pain on his body at the worst possible moment, before Flurry climbed onto his back as he climbed out of the area they had landed in. It wasn't hard to get out of that area and found that Megaera was still trying to taunt them, a bad move on her part since she should have fled the moment the odd creature had been made, to get her sisters, but that would spell her end soon enough as Kratos kicked a grate out of the way and found that they had to climb up the side of a wall to get to another level. Such a thing took barely a minute for him to accomplish, since he was experienced in this field as well and the climb was rather short, allowing them to walk on a flat surface for a time as Flurry pointed out a lever, one that seemed to open the way for them to pull a chain, while freeing some of the infected in the process. That only caused them to repeat their earlier actions, Flurry weakening them with a well placed hit so Kratos could finish them off in his own brutal way, usually by either splitting them in half or ripping them apart above his head, though after dealing with their enemies the pair made their way to the chain.

Flurry ended up finding an interesting piece of amber that looked like something was trapped inside it, maybe a bug or even a creature, since she was sure anything could swear an oath to the gods, where she shrugged and pocketed it in her bag as Kratos pulled the chain, lowering a door so they could press onward.

As they entered the structure, however, one of Aegaeon's arms grabbed onto the section of the prison they were walking through and actually pulled the cube they were in out, handing it like it was a toy while rotating it, meaning Megaera had to be in control somewhat, though it also caused more infected to attack them. With that in mind the pair simply repeated the plan that had worked so far and crushed their attackers with ease, though such a thing eventually caused Aegaeon to break a portion of the cube they were in, while also discovering a hand that served as a grapple point. Flurry didn't need to be told anything as she grabbed onto Kratos' back so he could get them out of there, using the blades to pull them out of the cube before it was destroyed, allowing them to land on solid ground, though for how long they had no idea as the hands crushed the cube until nothing was left. With time of the essence, since it was only a matter of time until Megaera realized they were still alive, Flurry found that there was a chain that could move a gear, but they needed to move another gear into place to accomplish whatever it was supposed to do, and Kratos discovered the lever that moved the second one.

Of course a cyclops had to show up and attack them, causing Flurry to get out of the way as Kratos used it's power against all of the other enemies, infected, that showed up to deal with them, so once the area was cleared, showing his skills in dealing with large groups quickly, he killed the creature and moved back to the gears. Such a thing revealed a point that Kratos could grapple onto, allowing them to reach a new level, before he found a door that he had to swung down into, only to find that it brought them to a cell that had a buff oathbreaker chained inside it, who seemed pleased with their sudden arrival. By that Flurry found that the man in question seemed to thank the gods for their arrival, only for the bladed arm of the creature to pierce the cell and miss him, but when the man called out for the gods to give him strength he seemingly vanished, much to the insect creature's annoyance. They also found that the creature cut off the hand sections around it, which allowed them to move as well since one grabbed the pair and slashed them through some of the walls, Kratos taking the majority of the damage since he placed himself between Flurry and the danger.

When the hand came to a stop, however, Kratos turned and slashed into it's palm with his blades, causing the hand to pull back as he and Flurry turned on the insect creature stopped close to their position, a terrible move in Flurry's eyes since it should know that they weren't to be underestimated. After weakening it for a few moments Kratos found a way to pull a section of the ceiling down on top of it, without endangering himself or Flurry in the process, something he was able to do twice before it seemed to wise up and not leave itself vulnerable, at least for a short period of time. After dealing some more damage to the creature Kratos found an opening to knock it backwards, allowing him to latch on with the blades as he stabbed it's hands into the spikes of the pillar behind it, before stabbing the creature itself in the chest with one of the larger spikes. As he did that he wasn't too surprised to find that Flurry had gotten onto his back, so while he maneuvered himself to break it's spine, thus killing it, Flurry dropped onto it's chest and swung her sickles at it for a time, like she was a distraction for him to do his job, allowing him to pull the creature's upper body back and shatter it's spine.

As that happened one of Aegaeon's pure hands grabbed the insect and crushed it against his body, allowing them to enter part of the massive creature's body, where Kratos insisted that they pause for a moment, to see if Megaera lowered her guard, allowing them to rest for a short period of time before continuing on their quest to kill the Furies.

Ascension: Dealing with the Furies

After a few moments of rest, since Kratos didn't want to wear out Flurry too much since she was still only four years old, he found that Megaera still had no ideas where they had ended up and that was good for them, since it meant that they could track her down, kill her, and get the stolen amulet back. With that in mind he started to move again and Flurry followed, her sickles at the ready in case more monsters showed up to attack them, though while there was a blocked path and another that had a lever at the very end, which just so happened to unlock the blocked one. Flurry found it weird that they were so close to each other, because if she had designed this part the lever would have been at the end of a gauntlet of sorts, to which Kratos thanked Zeus that the Furies were stupid in constructing the prison, since it meant they could get out of here a lot sooner. Such a thing allowed him and Flurry to find that Megaera was standing on what appeared to be a lift, one that would allow them to escape this area, meaning she must have figured they were down here and came to investigate, only now she started to retreat after realizing that Kratos was still alive, and that Flurry was unharmed.

In addition to that the pair found that her beetles were able to infect dogs as well, turning them into monsters who were forced to do whatever Megaera wanted, though Kratos barely looked at them before punting all of the infected dogs into a grinder that was apparently a gear to move the lift the Fury had been standing on.

Once the first group of enemies were dealt with Kratos moved the grinder into position and the lift started to move, which was followed by more infected, dogs and people, jumping down into the area to attack them, where the pair shared a look for a moment before simply hurling them into the grinder, him focusing on the people while she dealt with the dogs that came at her. Eventually the lift became stuck thanks to some metallic pieces that were in the way, though Flurry knew such a thing wasn't a problem for Kratos, who lifted them up and forced them off the lift, allowing it to continue towards the top of the shaft the Furies had forcefully added to Aegaeon's twisted body. As Kratos did that, however, both he and Flurry found that Megaera had returned and was destroying the path that the lift was connected to, likely in the hopes of trapping them in this area, though he beckoned to Flurry for a moment and together they climbed up the ruined path she had created, unintentionally leaving a way for him to climb up to the peak. She even had the audacity to try and destroy the lift, freeing the grinder in an attempt to deal with Kratos, but he ignored it as they reached the highest point in no time at all and left that chamber behind, all while the injured Fury continued to flee, instead of finishing what she started back on the shattered gauntlet.

The path lead to a ladder that just so happened to bring them out of the arm and ended at the edge of a bridge, one they hadn't been on before and seemed to end in what appeared to be a small hut, though when they entered it the pair found that it was full of mostly nude ladies, though as Kratos took it in Flurry slashed Tisiphone in the leg, causing her guardian to growl as he grabbed the Fury's head and slammed her into the ground.

"Damned pony. Why can you SEE ME?!" Tisiphone remarked, showing that she was still hung up on that fact, that out of all the people she had used her illusions on, and had tormented with all sorts of images, there was someone like her, who had the power to tell reality from her illusions, opening the way for Kratos to hit her.

"Don't know, don't care. Killing you now." Flurry stated, though as she stepped forward Megaera rushed out of the left side of the chamber and slammed into Kratos, something that caused her to latch onto the wounded Fury as they shattered a wall and fell out of the building, landing on a platform in front of Aegaeon's head.

Of course Megaera, despite telling her sister that she would deal with the pair, retreated as soon as they landed and called for more infected to deal with them, all while Megaera did her best to climb up the side of Aegaeon's head, like she might be going for his eyes, before Flurry realized what she was going to do and let an arrow fly, hitting the Fury in the leg while not knocking her off the massive creature.

"I really need to improve my aim... that was just terrible." Flurry remarked, because she had been aiming at her target's heart, or something vital that would knock her off her perch before she did the terrible deed she was about to commit, to which she turned towards Kratos as Megaera started to produce more of her sick parasites, "You might want to hang onto something."

As Kratos turned his head, after having finished off the rest of the infected, only to spot what Flurry had noticed as some of the critters burrowed into Aegaeon's eyelid, where they watched as the changes washed over his face, only to find that his eye was still moving, and it wasn't long before part of his face broke off as large insect legs emerged from his upper and lower jaw, allowing the head to move again. It was a terrible and sickening sight, that Megaera was able to use those foul creatures on such a massive creature and force it under her control, making Flurry wonder why she didn't just use the beetles on her and Kratos, given their roles in Ares' dark plans. They could only watch as the possessed head chomped down on the platform and started to move in a way that suggested it was coming for them, only for the pair to discover an interesting sight, two of the fangs that appeared behind them had sections missing, wounds for them to exploit, and the pair only had to look at each other for a moment before moving. Of course there were more infected to deal with, since Megaera loved to use them against her foes, so they had to deal with them before targeting the fangs, though upon the shattering of one Aegaeon turned his head and hurled the platform off into the distance.

Such a thing caused them to jump off and land on the underside of a bridge, the very one they had used not too long ago, only for them to discover something else, Megaera was twisting more of the limb arms into the abominations that she had created earlier, as one came at them while the head did the same. As that happened Kratos found that Flurry wasn't too happy with this turn of events and readied her sickles, though as she threw the right one, just like he did with his blades, he found that a ghostly white substance, energy of some kind, linked her to the weapon and she was able to pull herself up to the creature's shoulder. He had no idea how she had figured out how to do such a thing, since he was sure that the Furies had taken her weapons from her, but he did know that Flurry was a gifted warrior, given how much she had learned since their initial meeting, and she was of a race he had never heard of before, so he guessed that fight might lead to her unlocking new abilities on her own. Either way he wasn't going to argue with the results, as the corrupted arm tried to get rid of her without killing her, since the Furies seemed to have plans for her, and it was in vain as she brought a sickle down into it's flesh, forcing it to move around while he focused on Aegaeon's corrupted head.

That caused an idea to pop into Kratos' head as he beckoned for Flurry to bring the creature close, as close as she could with her limited control, where he waited for her to do so before leaping out onto it and stabbed his blades into it, which allowed him to seize control of the insect creature as Flurry stood beside him. With how his weapons were positioned he could use them to direct the creature's body and limbs, allowing him to swing the arm blades at the head while doing his best to dodge attacks, since taking too many would break it, like they had proven earlier. As he did that Flurry noticed that Megaera was shocked by this turn of events, as if she couldn't believe that Kratos would do such a thing, despite the fact that he used it on the cyclops not that long ago, but she wasn't about to question the Furies at this point. Kratos was able to remove one or two of the head's fangs thanks to the creature's power, though Megaera was able to retain some control as she forced the arm they were on close to the head's mouth, though Kratos had planned for that possibility and, when it bit into their ride, he and Flurry jump onto Aegaeon's face.

The Fury barely had time to react as both warriors threw a weapon at them, both digging into her flesh as they pulled her off her ride and caused her to fall for a time, hitting a platform that was below the head, though as her back hit the floor Kratos landed on top of Megaera and stabbed her chest with his blades, going for the heart, and when she tried to push herself up Flurry wrapped the insides of her sickles around her neck and severed her head.

"There... one... down..." Flurry said, where she huffed for a moment as Megaera's head rolled to the side as her body hit the floor as Kratos let go of it, as fighting like that had taken a bit more out of her than she had thought it would, though as she returned one sickle to it's resting place she retrieved the amulet and held it out to Kratos, who took the artifact as he studied her, "What? I'm fine, just... catching my breath. Are all godly creatures hard to kill?"

"They are gods, Flurry, not mortal creatures like myself... I... I do not know if all gods are difficult to kill, as none have died in a long time." Kratos replied, though he could only stare down at the slain Fury, a being that was supposedly stronger or older than the gods and titans of the land, who had the power to move a slumbering creature like Aegaeon with a bit of her own power, and had to wonder if that was true, if he truly was mortal, before realizing it was likely whatever Flurry was that had allowed them to bring Megaera down, "I will admit that this is good news for us, as there was a time, before we met, that I had wondered if this was a fool's errand, fated to end in failure... but with Megaera's death we have hope that it can be repeated, that we can break her sisters and break my bond with Ares."

"Then we had best get going... I can rest when Tisiphone and Alecto are dead." Flurry stated, though she shared Kratos' thoughts on the matter, she had assumed that the gods, titans, and other powerful beings of the land would be far above their level of power, so even with the Eyes they would have had to go on a quest to power up before returning to kill the sisters, only now they knew that death could claim even them.

Kratos said nothing to that as he spotted what appeared to be a small ghostly white orb that merged with one of Flurry's sickles, causing him to remember that the Furies had said 'Death' whenever talking about her, meaning her weapons had to be from Thanatos' realm, taking the souls of the dead for some odd reason. His thoughts were interrupted as more enemies showed up to deal with them, what appeared to be a cerberus and several infected, the latter no doubt being the last ones Megaera had made, even though he was sure they should be dead with the death of their master. Flurry sighed as they got to work, as she had been hoping for a short break, and maybe an uninterrupted walk to someplace where they could use the amulet's power, before this happened, but she decided not to worry about it as she ducked under the legs of the various infected and slashed at them, weakening them for Kratos. Such a thing allowed him to focus on breaking the cerberus, as he climbed onto it's back at one point and used his heated chains to sever two of it's heads before using both blades to pierce the last one, killing the creature as he turned and helped Flurry deal with the rest of the infected.

Once he was sure that the enemies were temporarily disposed of, since he knew more would be coming, he used the amulet on the area in front of them, allowing Flurry to see that they had landed where they had done so when she freed Kratos, so they made one massive circle around the prison, and the walkway reformed in no time. This time around they found that a door that wasn't open before was accessible to them now, where he braced himself as Flurry looked around for Tisiphone, as seemingly ordinary areas like this seemed to be her favorite for using her illusions against Kratos. Sure enough a brand new scene unfolded before her eyes, where Flurry found that they were in what appeared to be a throne room of some kind and that a man was standing at the top of some stairs, who seemed like someone Kratos knew, at least before coming to the lands to find the key to stopping the Furies. In the following moment the illusion shimmered and she found that her guess had been correct, Tisiphone was trying to trick Kratos again, so when they got close to the ruler's position she pulled out her sickles and slashed at the Fury's leg, causing her to hiss in pain as Kratos grabbed her head and slammed her down into the pillar below them, shattering the illusion while showing them that they were close to an edge.

"Accursed creature, we should have locked you up in the main sanctum." Tisiphone stated, though instead of fighting them she just floated up into the air and quickly flew over to where the large door Flurry had spotted earlier was located, the halls of the Furies no doubt, allowing the pair to continue on their journey.

As they started to move, however, Flurry found an odd cloak that Kratos was sure belonged to Orkos, though he was sure their ally wouldn't mind her taking it as well, causing her to carefully place it inside her pouch with the other items she had found so far, still not stretching the container in question. Such a thing caused Kratos to wonder if Flurry had some sort of power that was causing this change, since he was under the assumption that stuffing so much into a small pouch would have ripped it apart by this point in time, but decided not to worry about it, at least not until the remaining Furies were also dead and his bond was shattered. As he moved into the next area he found one of the empusa appeared to fight them, on her own this time since he and Flurry found that no one else was in the surrounding area, though Flurry wasn't even a tad bit surprised by how Kratos dealt with her when the battle was over, using her bladed feet to pierce her back and heart from behind. Once the empusa was dead, and they were sure no more enemies were showing up, the pair found that the only way out was to climb the outside of an area they might have walked through earlier, to which Flurry climbed onto Kratos' back and let him complete this portion of the path, something she needed to correct in the future.

Sure enough there were even more infected on the path they were following, where Kratos and Flurry hacked through all of them like they did before, until they reached a ledge that allowed Kratos to use the amulet once more, restoring the arm that lead to the sanctum of the Furies, while leaving Flurry in awe of what the artifact could do.

Of course, with how large the arm was and all the components that were resting on it, the reforming process took a bit of time to complete, though when it was complete both he and Flurry found that there was no path connecting their location to the main arm they were interested in, save for a chain hanging below it. Flurry sighed as she returned to her usual spot on Kratos' back, allowing him to make sure she was okay before leaping off the ledge they were on, where he used both of his blades on several points that looked like grapple locations, allowing him to latch onto the end of the chain and launch themselves up the smaller arms that were nearby. Such a thing actually lead them back up to an area that was close to where Megaera showed them the true power of her beetles, though the only way forward was to head inside the arm and see what sort of dangers might be waiting for them this time around, hence why Flurry climbed off her guardian's back as she followed after him. A nearby ladder brought her and Kratos to a torture chamber, where Megaera brought those she wanted to break in the most cruel of ways, not counting Aegaeon's foul treatment, but it seemed empty of enemies, but, to be on the safe side, both warriors kept their guard up as Kratos explored the area.

Flurry had more confirmation that Kratos was good at puzzles, as he moved corpses around, triggering things and raising sections of the chamber, before forming a way for them to get to the upper level, which they did so without delay since there was no telling when the other two Furies would show up. The door that was up on the upper level happened to have a door that didn't take them outside, rather it brought them to the holding area of a man Kratos called the 'Scribe', as he was the first mortal oathbreaker, who had lost his mind at this point, though it did seem like he had kept a record of what the Furies had done. Flurry didn't bother to ask him how he knew that title, rather she figured that either Orkos had told briefly mentioned him or Megaera had done so during their moments, but the man seemed happy to see them and said many things, mostly detailing how the Furies were harsh but fair keepers, that they treated their son poorly, and several other topics that weren't important for them. With the brief discussion done the pair continued up the path and found that it brought them back to the chamber Megaera had dropped them in earlier, though this time there were a couple of infected with a sibyl siren guarding the area, enemies to take down so they could progress.

Kratos found that Flurry, despite her lack of experience, did everything in her power to weaken the infected that were in the chamber, though when a gorgon showed up to attack them the girl jumped on it's tail and hacked into it's back, which caused the beast to hiss in pain while he finished his enemies, before he beheaded the creature.

From there the pair traversed a familiar path as they headed outside, quickly returning to the area that Megaera had used the true power of her beetles in, where Tisiphone was floating before the door, her arms crossed as she stared at them, a fact that told Flurry that the Fury was planning on using more illusions, but couldn't with her present. She was a counter to Tisiphone's powers, something not even she could work around, and that meant that any illusion she cast could be seen through, meaning as long as she was with Kratos there was no way for her to trick him and that, clearly, pissed her off to no end. To that end she sent out the blue winged creature to try and grab her, to separate her from Kratos for a time, but Kratos grabbed onto it's beak, smashed it into the ground, and quickly tore the oath stone out of it's chest, the artifact it had stolen from him back in the Lantern, and while he was still holding it Flurry slashed into the side of it's head, mostly to do some damage to it before they had to fight it for real. After that the bird was let go, where it returned to Tisiphone as she retreated into the sanctum, meaning she wanted to get her sister involved in the fight that was coming up, though as that happened Kratos used the oath stone after pulling a chain back, revealing a grapple point for them to use to get over the wall in front of them, and by releasing it he moved them over the last hurdle.

Of course there were two empusa waiting for them in the area in question, meaning Flurry had to use her arrows on them while Kratos fought them like he did before, something that interested him since he realized that most of the monsters, at least since Flurry started fighting, chose to fight him, likely because she was a child and the Furies had likely ordered them to keep her intact.

In the end he slew the two creatures like he had done in the past, though since there were two he had to stun one for just a few moments so he could impale the other, allowing him to repeat it on the first while she was recovering, though once that was done Kratos used the amulet again to restore the last pieces of the path so they could enter the sanctum of the Furies and end this. Sure enough they walked into what appeared to be another illusion, or at least Flurry could see that, but this time both Furies made sure to stay away, at least until they were sure that she was distracted, though Kratos did see a beautiful lady who caught his breath and a little girl sleeping on a cot in another room. This time around Flurry held her sickles back as she observed Alecto, as that was who the lady truly was, who seemed to be solely focused on Kratos as he waited for her to make the first move again, trusting her more than he trusted his own eyes, and Flurry walked as if she was curious. It was all just a diversion, really, for her to slash at Alecto's legs as she accomplished her true goal, stealing the Eyes of Truth that were, rather foolishly in her eyes, resting on the Fury's belt, so as she returned to Kratos' side, so he could take the last artifact that had been stolen from them, the enraged figure pulled back as the illusion broke, revealing a large chamber with many support pillars with amber trapped inside them.

"A simple trinket won't stop us, Spartan." Alecto remarked, because while the Eyes were powerful, and would deal with the majority of Tisiphone's illusions on their own, she knew that two Furies would be more than enough to deal with Kratos, since there was nothing the little one could do once they set their plan in motion.

"Maybe so, but I have what you fear most: Death." Kratos stated, as he could tell that the Furies didn't want to do anything to Flurry, she had become far more important to them than he had been, in fact he was sure that they were planning on taking her to turn her into Ares' new weapon to destroy Olympus, and that caused him to realize that they wouldn't dear harm a hair on her head, so if Flurry could get to them this battle would be over sooner, rather than later.

In that moment Alecto shouted that she was the 'Queen of the Furies' before transforming into a tendril of some kind that was growing larger by the second, to which Kratos and Flurry latched onto one of the tendrils as they passed into what had to be a black watery version of her goo, before reality returned as they discovered that they were on a ship, outside a massive whirlpool, a maelstrom as Kratos said, with a massive beast in the center.

"Wait... Alecto's Charybdis?!" Flurry remarked, as she wasn't expecting that, that the massive creature was one of the foul Furies they were trying to kill, and even Kratos was surprised by that fact as Tisiphone flew overhead with her bird, making illusions of other Spartan soldiers for them to fight, "Right, focus on the enemies and then the Furies... we can worry about this information later."

Kratos had to admit that he was impressed, as Flurry had come a long way since he first met her, and he suspected that the death of Megaera had boosted her confidence in some manner, though for the time being he focused on the illusions as they came at him, focusing solely on him and not Flurry. It just confirmed that neither Fury wanted to bring her harm, she was a tool they wanted to gain control of so she could be handed to Ares, something that only made him want to do everything in his power to stop them, hence why he struck down the illusory soldiers as they came at him. Tisiphone then did something incredibly stupid in Flurry's eyes, she flew down to where Kratos was fighting and tried to strike him down with her bird, though such a thing left her open to attacks as she spun her right sickle and hurled it through the air, where it hooked into her back, narrowly missing the Fury's spine. Kratos and the illusory soldiers paused for a moment as Flurry pulled herself onto the Fury's back and started to slash into her backside, though her opening allowed him to silence all of the illusory soldiers and focus on the bird, as Tisiphone sent it at him while she tried to get Flurry off her back.

This did make him wonder what sort of material had gone into the creation of the sickles, as they seemed like nothing else he had seen before, save for the Blades of Chaos, and made him consider that they might have been made in primordial death, like the blades and primordial fire, before focusing his full attention on the bird again.

Alecto called forth her tendrils and attacked them, one lifting the ship into the air while the others tried to hit Tisiphone, as Flurry realized that she really couldn't hurt her sister and this was the best way for her to try and get her off her back, but she did her best to make sure she kept her footing to keep the fight as fair as possible. Kratos seemed to appreciate that, or at least she assumed so since reading his emotions could be hard at times, though his focus was on hacking apart the tendril that was lifting the ship into the air and using the Eyes of Truth to undo the barrier illusions that Flurry's foe cast in the spare moments she was able to do so. From what Flurry could tell Alecto was actively trying to kill Kratos, especially after hearing a 'life for a life', meaning they were done with the warrior and wanted her far more than they wanted him, a fact that proved to be difficult since Kratos was far stronger and more resourceful than they expected him to be, since he was tearing through the tendril with ease. It was actually quite impressive how deadly and destructive he could be with the main targets of his quest, as he tore chunks out of the one tendril until Alecto forced him to move, swinging from one of her tendrils to another while running across a third, surprising even Tisiphone with how agile he really was, until he found an area to impale his blades in and blast the tip of a tendril clean off.

Flurry found that he fell into the water after that, allowing them to see Alecto's true monstrous face, but even then it was clear that she couldn't do too much to him, even in an area that gave her the advantage, until she dropped him into the center of the maelstrom, where a platform, similar to the one in the sanctum, rested. Such a thing gave Kratos a platform to fight on as Alecto used two tendrils to hold herself in front of where he was standing, while the rest attacked him to the best of her ability, all while Tisiphone tried to aid her sister and Flurry stabbed her again, slamming her into a rock pillar as she continued to distract her foe. Alecto did try to use her black goo on Kratos, to root him in a single spot so she could skewer him with one of the other tendrils, but he used the oath stone to escape her bindings, just like before, and struck at her when she came within range again. It was clear that whatever plans Alecto had created were impossible to achieve while Tisiphone was being contained by Flurry, and Kratos was proving to be far more than she first thought when she had been told about his skills, to which the warrior tore open a wound above the Queen of the Furies' left eye and then drove a blade into the eye itself.

In fact he even drove something from the front of a ship, a plow or something, into the left side of her bestial mouth and used the amulet to freeze the tendrils that were coming at him, and when he drove both blades into the open wound he actually shattered the entire illusion they were in, returning them to the sanctum's platform, and Alecto to her humanoid form as well.

"You bring shame on Sparta, Oathbreaker!" Tisiphone shouted, where she sent the blue creature at Kratos, choosing to try and stop him before he could kill Alecto while she was down, but this time Flurry didn't stop it, as she noticed that he had the Eyes of Truth at the ready and blasted the creature to the ground, and repeatedly until he dissolved it, shocking the Illusion Fury to the ground.

"Your words mean nothing, Fury... not when your death is assured." Kratos stated, to which he slashed at her legs and the Fury fell to her knees, all while finding that Flurry was still hanging on, keeping Tisiphone contained until the end, where he sheathed his blades for a moment and nodded to her, causing the Fury's eyes to go wide as she realized what was going to happen to her.

Flurry ripped the sickle that was in Tisiphone's back out, which lead to the Fury crying out in pain, swung it like she had seen Kratos do to get rid of the blood that was on it, before positioning both weapons around her foe's neck and severed her head, allowing it to roll as she huffed and walked over to Kratos, who nodded as he noticed another small orb merge with the material of the sickles.

"You think... you want... truth... but you will only know pain." Alecto coughed, showing them that the damage Kratos had done to her, while not manifesting on her actual body, was still affecting her as she tried to push herself onto her feet, all while both Kratos and Flurry approached her with their weapons at the ready, "Killing me will not free you, Spartan... nor will it give the little one the future she deserves!"

The pair glanced at each other for a moment, as if silently communicating, before springing into action as Kratos brought his blades down into her chest, right into the tops of her breasts, pushing her down to her knees as the last Fury realized what was coming next. She was a few seconds too late as Flurry wrapped the insides of her blades around her neck and separated Alecto's head from her shoulders, killing the last of the sisters as Kratos spotted a third orb that joined the rest of the set, but before either of them could celebrate Alecto's body reacted to her demise. Black water and goo gathered in the space above the platform before bursting outward, like an explosion had gone off, where they watched as the various oath stones that lined the pillars went dark before detonating, blowing holes in the pillars. Kratos, upon realizing that this was a measure to destroy anyone capable of killing the Furies, sheathed his blades, picked Flurry up as she did the same, and charged out of the sanctum as the pillars started to shatter and the ceiling started to fall on everything.

Fortunately the door wasn't too far and he was able to get them to safety without too much delay, though as they landed on the ground in front of the sanctum they got a front row seat to the collapse of the central part of the mountain, where he made sure they walked to a safe area before sitting on the ground with a worn smile on their faces, as it was time for a rest before worrying about what the future held for them.

Interlude: Aftermath and Beginnings

After bringing an end to the Furies, and Kratos was sure of that after what they had seen, Kratos and Flurry departed from the Prison of the Damned, finding that all of the cells were now vacant and there were no monsters for them to deal with, meaning the destruction of the oath stones likely freed everyone else. Such a thing meant that they could simply walk out of the area and not have to worry about being attacked, though even with that in mind Kratos kept his guard up, as he had grown used to battle and always trying to anticipate possible attacks. Of course with their targets dead he saw no need to carry the three artifacts they had recovered so far, though instead of simply discarding them he turned towards Flurry and let her add the amulet, the oath stone, and the Eyes of Truth to her collection, as she seemed to enjoy collecting items, plus it looked like only she could see what was inside the pouch. Another part of his reasoning was, in the off chance they might need the relics in the future, they would remain safe and sound until he could determine whether or not they needed them, plus if they were captured again none of their enemies could take the artifacts and use them against them.

As they climbed down the body of Aegaeon, however, Kratos was surprised to find an oval shaped doorway waiting for him and Flurry, resting on a bit of flat ground that had survived the battle with Megaera and her foul creations, causing the pair to pause as they stared at the glowing golden magic.

"Kratos... what is that?" Flurry asked, because while she was sure it was magic, much like some of the things she had seen since joining the warrior on his quest to kill the Furies, another part of her wasn't too sure, hence why she asked the one that had the most experience in this field.

"It seems to be a gateway... one of the gods wants to see us." Kratos replied, though this was odd timing, that a gateway that connected two points in the world would be here, even if it was a temporary one since he could see that there was no base for it to rest in, causing him to shift his stance as he wondered which god was behind this, "Be ready, there's no telling what might be on the other side."

Flurry nodded as she gripped her sickles and followed Kratos through the portal, arriving at what seemed to be the outskirts of a town or settlement, though in front of them stood a single story house that looked identical to the ones she had seen when the Furies tried to tempt Kratos with what he couldn't have.

"It would seem that someone favors us... Artemis, maybe... for we are home." Kratos said, where he relaxed a little bit, not that Flurry could tell the difference since his current stance was nearly identical to when he was focused, but it did confirm what she had been thinking about after laying eyes on the small structure, before he heard something move nearby and was quick to draw his weapons, "Who dares to interrupt us?"

"Um... hello?" a familiar voice said, where Flurry found that the gorgon from before poked her head out from behind the side of the house, meaning one of the gods must have brought her here, or she had somehow known they were going to take down the Furies and came here for no reason, making this a meeting of coincidence, before she rushed over to Flurry and pulled her into a hug, "I'm so happy that you're okay!"

"It was touch and go there for a moment, but we prevailed." Flurry stated, though this time she didn't even try to fight it, as she was too tired from all the fighting they had done to care about being in the hands of a monster, a friendly one that did seem like she wanted to keep her, and even Kratos to some extent, safe, before she glanced at the warrior, "This one freed me from my cell and returned my weapons to me... that's how I was able to save you, even though I'm sure you could have done so on your own."

"I see. You have my thanks, gorgon." Kratos said, which was odd in his eyes, thanking a monster for saving them from the dark plans that the Furies had been trying to set in motion, but she was different than the others he had encountered over the years and it made him somewhat curious about her, "Tell me, do you have a name?"

"I, um... L... Albis. I'm called Albis." the gorgon replied, where it was clear that she must have come up with it on the spot, especially since most monsters didn't have names in the first place and Kratos had only asked because she was one of the more unique individuals he had encountered, so there was a fair chance someone had named her.

"I'm Flurry Heart, and this is Kratos." Flurry added, because while there was a chance that the gorgon might have learned their names while listening to the Furies, back when they were captured and transported, she wanted to make sure that she knew what names to use for both of them, before she heard a pop of some kind and found that Orkos was standing by a lone tree, "Orkos..."

"I will talk to him. Why don't you two check out the rest of the area?" Kratos inquired, as he suspected that whatever the figure had to say was best told only to him right now, where Flurry nodded her head as the gorgon, Albis he corrected a few seconds later, departed from the house so they could check out the rest of the area, causing him to turn towards the son of the Furies, "Orkos, I am glad that you are safe as well."

"As am I, Kratos... though I have to ask: what's with the gorgon?" Orkos asked, speaking once the two were out of range, as he couldn't help himself in this situation, not when there was a friendly monster hanging out with a literal unknown entity, one that forced his Mothers to change their plans the moment they learned of her existence.

"Albis is the one that sprung us from our prisons... and she has taken a liking to Flurry, like a mother watching over their child, among other things." Kratos said, where he glanced at the two for a moment as they explored the rest of the area as he and Orkos stood by the tree, because it would take some time for him to get used to the idea of a friendly monster, to which he turned back towards the other figure, "The Furies said they had plans for her. Do you have any idea what they were trying to do?"

"Only that they wanted to make a monster... Flurry is connected to Death, which means Thanatos, but I am unsure what it means in the grand scheme of things." Orkos commented, because while he suspected that Flurry's skills and abilities had convinced his Mother and her sisters to change their plans for Kratos, choosing to kill him instead of convincing him to swear fealty to Ares once again, he could only wonder what the little girl's true powers were, "Kratos... what are you going to do with her? You do know that the deaths of the Furies will reach Zeus and the other Olympians... in fact, I'm sure some of them are already on their way to speak with you, maybe even enlist your aid in dealing with other matters that might be on their minds... but Flurry will interest them far more than you will."

"I would not let her become a servant of Ares, if that is what you are worried about. Maybe Athena or Zeus." Kratos said, as Athena was the Goddess of Wisdom and Zeus was the King of the Gods, where he was sure that both would be good for someone like Flurry, though as he said that he could see that Orkos had raised an eyebrow, like he was silently telling him that he had misunderstood him, "Oh, that is what you meant. Well, after all we have been through since her arrival in the Oracle's temple, I would take her with me on whatever is next, to face whatever dangers might be in our future, and train her to the best of my ability."

"Like a daughter?" Orkos inquired, because it sounded like the Spartan was more protective of the girl than he should be, since they didn't know each other all too well, and he could see that Kratos considered his words without reaching for his blades, as he seemed to value his opinions or views on things, which only made what he was here to do much harder than it had to be, since he was sure they could become friends, "I know you want to live in a world of truth, Spartan, and to that end I have some bad news: my Mother, Alecto, saw fit to make me your oath keeper once again, extra insurance to keep you bound to Lord Ares... to break it you must take my life. I know you don't want to spill more innocent blood, but this is the only way for you to break your bond to my Father and, ultimately, have your revenge... all I ask is that you give me a proper warrior's death."

Kratos stood there for a moment, debating how to go about this strange situation, before he sighed as he raised his right hand, gripped the blade that Orkos was offering him, and, after hesitating for a few seconds, drove it into the Fury's chest, right into his heart. As that happened Flurry stopped what she was doing as she and Albis watched the scene unfold, both of them saddened by the death of someone who helped them take down the Furies, before Kratos fell to his knees for a time, looking like his mind was being tormented by the truth of his deeds. Flurry walked up to where he was resting and did the only thing that she could do right now, she wrapped her arms around him, to the best of her ability, and gave him a hug to let him know, even in the depths of whatever was happening, that she was there for him. Albis stood nearby, as if she wanted to join in and comfort him as well, but was clearly debating how such a thing would be taken whenever he was able to regain himself, until she decided to tend to Orkos' body, moving it to the side while Flurry waited for Kratos to come back to them.

It took a few minutes for Kratos to break free of whatever painful truth he had regained, though when he did so he looked at Flurry for a moment before hugging her, as if she was now his anchor to the real world or something, before getting up to look at the surrounding area and his house. Flurry could see the determination in his eyes as he told her and Albis to break a few of the wooden items inside the structure so they could build a funeral pyre, though as they did so she found that he didn't retrieve anything from his past, where he told her that anything worth taking had already been taken during his long time away from home. It was clear that there were some items he wanted to take, namely a bracelet and a ring he kept on him at all times, the latter Albis found on the ground near where he had been resting after killing Orkos and gave to him so he didn't leave it behind, but everything else was gone. With that in mind they did their best to build the pyre for Orkos and, when Kratos was satisfied with the result, he lit a torch and set fire to some of the components inside his old house, allowing them to watch it for a time before he tossed it in and turned away, allowing Flurry and Albis to follow after him without delay.

As they walked away from the burning house, however, Flurry realized that there was a problem and had no idea if the experienced warrior had even considered it before making the funeral pyre, though it wasn't the fact that they had Albis with them, a monster, rather is was that they had no ship to leave the island.

"Kratos... how are we going to go on any new quests without a ship?" Flurry asked, as she figured that their next course of action would be to leave the place that Kratos knew for most of his life, as she assumed this was Sparta based on all the words that had been thrown around by the Furies, plus the fact that his house had been the destination of the gateway they had walked through.

"No, no more of this 'Kratos' business... how about 'father', instead?" Kratos replied, because he had taken some time to think about this, as Flurry was an unknown figure in the lands that the Gods watched over, one that caused the Furies to change their plans for him and even worried Orkos should anything happen to her, and came to understand that Orkos was right, she needed a guardian and he was the best candidate, before noticing the tears in her eyes, "What? Do you..."

He never finished the statement as Flurry cried 'yes' and wrapped her arms around him, showing him that, despite all of his past deeds, there was someone who still cared for him, though while Albis smiled, as she adored the scene in front of her, all three of them turned their heads as they heard someone approach them.

"Peace, Kratos, I mean you, your new daughter, and your new companion no harm." the figure said, where they found that the speaker was different from what Kratos was expecting, as he was expecting a human, one of the Olympians no doubt taking on a more normal form, not a female creature that had the lower body of a lioness and the upper body of a lady, though she had long fair brown hair and a revealing chest piece and helm that reminded them of the Amazons.

"Lady Artemis?!" Kratos inquired, as the Amazon armor that looked more like a metallic bra, that moved perfectly with her body and didn't get in the way somehow, was the only clue he could see that could reveal who the figure was, especially with the bow and quiver that she carried on her back, the former looking like it was forged from the rays of the moon, as it was pure silver, "Forgive me if I sound rude, but..."

"I'm not what you expected? Don't worry, my brother and I get that more than you think." the figure, Artemis, replied, as if stating a fact, in fact Flurry could tell that she didn't seem bothered by such a thing, which only made her more interested in Apollo and what sort of form her twin was stuck with, where she walked around the trio for a moment and studied Albis for a few seconds, before pausing when she laid eyes on Flurry, "So, you are the little one that helped free my corrupted Amazons on the isle of our birth... quite handy with a bow, I might add, and rather skilled in a fight despite being so very young... honestly, that reminds me of how my brother and I defended our mother after we were born."

"You mean killing Python and bringing down Tityos? Those were good days." another voice suddenly said, causing them to turn back to where Artemis had been standing before and found that someone else had shown up, who looked more half human and half animal, a tiger Kratos noticed, as he had a tiger tail and ears, his feet ended in tiger paws and like allowed him to creep silently around an area, and his hands were humanoid with clawed tips and paw pads, though he wore a set of familiar golden armor.

"Lord Apollo! You... really don't look anything like your statue." Flurry stated, as the armor, minus the ridiculous helmet Archimedes had given him, was the secondary clue as to who this was, even though his remark was enough to tell them who he was, before her eyes widened as she realized that she had been incredibly rude with her remark, "Oh gods... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so rude!"

"Easy there, little one, you aren't in trouble. Like my sister said, we're not as mortals expect us to be." Apollo replied, as he, much like his sister, wasn't too bothered by someone not recognizing them, though at the same time he knelt for a few seconds and rubbed Flurry's head, to show her that everything was perfectly fine, while considering what she had said just after seeing him, "Truth be told, I didn't have the statue commissioned... both Zeus and the Furies had a hand in creating it, each for their own reasons, and Father... well, let's just say that he doesn't like the idea of mortals worshiping gods that look like animals."

Kratos raised an eyebrow as he heard that statement, as he wasn't expecting to hear such a thing from a god, especially as he considered that Hades looked more like a demon and that was how he was depicted in his statues, but decided not to say anything on the matter, figuring that it was best not to provoke the twins.

"Anyway, we decided to track you down after I discovered your deeds on Delos, as I wanted to thank you for freeing all of the corrupted Amazons you encountered." Artemis continued, where she raised her hand for a moment and a bow, identical to the one that she carried, appeared in front of her, one that Kratos noted was about Flurry's size, meaning it was better for her in the grand scheme of things, before she lowered it into the little one's hands, "I don't know how long you'll keep using your bow, but I figured that, for the time being, a replacement that grows with you would be best... I would have given it an enchantment or power, but I didn't want to overwhelm you. I'll also throw in some archery lessons as well, when I have the chance to do so."

Flurry was at a loss for words, rather she happily accepted the gift and tried to hug Artemis, causing the goddess to chuckle for a moment as she lowered herself into a resting position so she could hug her upper body, something that pleased her as Kratos stood nearby, while noting that Albis seemed wary of the twins as Apollo approached him.

"While my sister came with a gift, I came with a warning: you'll find a ship docked nearby, fully stocked with both food and a crew to help you reach your destinations, with a statue of Athena on it." Apollo stated, something that surprised Kratos, as it was if the gods knew he would tear down the Furies and had come prepared to speak with him, or a few of them based on what was happening so far, though he remained silent as the god shared his knowledge with him, "We suspect that Athena wishes to enlist your aid in a number of tasks... for what purpose, we do not know, but after everything you've done so far my sister and I thought you deserved some warning of her gift, and possible message. Also, I have to ask: what's with the gorgon?"

"Albis helped us escape from the Furies, allowing us to kill them... and she's taken a liking to Flurry." Kratos said, though he understood why the god was a little curious about what was going on, as monsters generally caused problems for mortals and killed whoever happened to in their way, which might be what Athena wanted from him now that he thought about the warning.

"A friendly monster... well, maybe we can talk some sense into the other gods, to help them see that she's not a problem," Apollo commented, as he knew that some gods and goddesses might take one look at the gorgon, Albis he corrected, and seek her demise purely because of what she was, not the deeds she had done, which was something they might need to fix in the future, before he sighed, "My sister and I will see what we can do in terms of clothing... some armor would help others realize that Albis isn't like the other gorgon, or maybe more civilian clothing, and we'll see what we can do for the little one. Oh, that reminds me, this is from Hephaestus."

What Apollo pulled out of a pouch, which he seemed to conjure out of thin air, was a small statue of a girl praying, which seemed to be made out of bronze by the looks of it, and the figure was fully dressed, unlike some of the statues Kratos had seen during his travels.

"Don't ask me why he wanted me to give this to you guys, but maybe you can ask him... if you bump into him." Apollo said, showing the warrior that even he was confused as to why the smith god would do such a thing, but Kratos knew that it was best to not turn down the gift, as he gently took it and handed it to Flurry, who smiled as she studied it during their walk towards the ship.

Kratos was both happy and surprised by this turn of events, as he wasn't expecting Artemis or Apollo to be chill with the discovery of a friendly monster, even if they were more interested in Flurry Heart, as he could see them eying her sickles, just like the Furies had done, but neither tried to do anything to her. Rather they joined them on the walk down to the ship that had been prepared by Athena, allowing the pair to recover some of their energy from fighting Alecto and her sisters, a fact that reminded Kratos that they needed some actual food and rest before doing anything else. He could see that Flurry had taken a liking to both gods, especially since it was her first time meeting godly beings that didn't want to use her for their own twisted plans, though there was a chance she was focused on their shared aspects, she was a pony while both figures were feline in some manner. With that in mind he assumed he might see more of them in the future, since the pair likely had some archery lessons in mind for Flurry, both were skilled with the bow according to their various stories, and he might pick up something from watching them, possibly even take part in some of the lessons himself.

When they reached the ship he found that the gods were right, there was a crew at the ready, a statue of Athena resting at the front of it, and plenty of rooms for him, Flurry, Albis, and the crew, plus plenty of rations to keep them sustained for a decent amount of time. Kratos realized that stopping at the various ports would be important, both to get supplies and to get news on anything that was going on, since taking down monsters for the various settlements might yield rewards, like supplies, which he kept to himself as they looked at everything else. The ship was definitely ready for the open water and the crew looked well prepared, no doubt chosen by the gods themselves based on everything that was going on, while he discovered that the Captain escorted them to a set of rooms, one large one that had a bed his size while the other two of the three were smaller, but had beds for Flurry and Albis. Kratos was sure the gods had set up the rooms for him and for Flurry, but the friendly gorgon was definitely not something they were expecting, though the crew seemed surprised by her addition to the group, especially since she was nude like all of the other monsters, while keeping their mouths shut so they didn't piss anyone off.

In the end Kratos was pleased with the ship, as it even had some gear that Spartans used to train, perfect for Flurry, but as soon as he nodded his head both Artemis and Apollo apologized, as they did have other things to do on Delos, which let Flurry and Albis check out their rooms as he approached Athena's statue.

Kratos. a voice said, where the Spartan stared at the statue for a moment as he found that it's eyes lit up, almost like the goddess was temporarily possessing it, and it's mouth moved as it said his name, though he seemed to be the only one focused on it, as the crew was readying them to depart.

"Lady Athena." Kratos replied, bowing his head slightly, because while he knew that she had something to do with part of his miserable past, it wasn't something he could correct anymore and decided to be civilized, since he suspected that with an order the goddess could have all three of them killed if she so desired, "You have gifted us with a good ship and what looks to be an excellent crew. What have we done to deserve such a thing?"

The gods of Olympus have need of a mortal champion, and you and your new child are the perfect candidates for such a position... especially with the deaths of the Furies. Athena stated, informing Kratos that she and the others knew about the demise of Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megaera, no doubt through Ares or Zeus, though it seemed like he and Flurry would be suffering no consequences for doing what they did to free him from his bond to the God of War, In return for your service, Kratos, Zeus has decreed that we will forgive the sins of your past.

Kratos kept his opinion to himself, as he suspected that she knew about how the return of his memories had tormented him after he slew Orkos, for a short period of time, and wondered if that meant that she was warning him that he would suffer their return again and again until something was done. Her offer made sense, that the gods were willing to forgive his actions under Ares, which no doubt pissed off the God of War, and take away the potential nightmares, or at least that seemed to be what Athena was offering right now, causing him to agree. Not only would he benefit from such a thing, no doubt after a certain number of years since nothing was given freely, but he knew that Flurry would appreciate a change of scenery, while at the same time using the missions of the gods to further hone her incredible skills. Athena informed him that she would be the one delivering all of their missions to him and Flurry, meaning he would have to approach this statue every now and then to figure out what to do after each quest was completed, before she left the statue, returning it to it's previous state as he returned to the inside of the ship.

He found that Flurry had fallen asleep on her new bed, in fact the battle with the Furies must have exhausted her, and he discovered Albis was placing her weapons on a rack so they wouldn't get in the way of her sleeping, with the small statue resting nearby, to which he let a small smile appear on his face as he placed a quick kiss on Flurry's head before heading to his own chambers, so he could be ready for whatever the future held for them.

Interlude: Training and Travels

Kratos, despite the nice bed and the gentle rocking of the waves outside the ship, found that his dreams were plagued by all of the foul deeds he had done while under Ares' control, reliving the burning of the countless settlements he had burned and witnessing all the lives he had taken while consumed by his desire to bring glory to Sparta's name. When it came to the true terrifying aspect of what he had done while serving the God of War, however, he woke up with a start, as the deaths of his wife, Lysandra, and his own daughter, Calliope, was enough to shock him back to reality, just like how the first shock as he recovered his memories dropped him to his knees earlier. He knew they shouldn't have been at the settlement they had been slain in, rather they should have been at their home, waiting for his return, and yet, by a cruel twist of fate, both of his pillars had been in the settlement and he had cut them down with the cursed blades that were fused to his flesh, thanks to the searing heat of the chains that were wrapped around his lower arms. Kratos glanced at his ghostly pale skin for a few moments, another painful reminder of what he had done, as he had been cursed after the death of his wife and daughter, their ashes permanently fused to his body to give him his new look, the 'Ghost of Sparta' as some called him.

None of these things could be told to Flurry, he realized that now, otherwise he was sure that she would turn away from him if she learned the truth, something that caused him to get up and head down the hallway, only to stop at the door of her room and gently pushed it open. Sure enough he found that she was still sleeping in her bed, meaning she wasn't a fragile figment of his tormented mind, as part of him had briefly considered that he might have made her up without knowing about the demise of his wife and daughter, but he was glad she was real. As he started to close the door, however, that was when he noticed that the gorgon was resting near Flurry as well, coiled around her without touching her at all, likely to help both of them sleep, or maybe he was reading too much into the scene in front of him. In the end, however, he decided not to say anything as he silently closed the door and walked out onto the deck, as he needed to clear his head before even trying to get some sleep, which is why he made a quick stop at the ship's armory to pick up a set of special equipment.

Despite the Blades of Chaos, that had become his signature weapons these days, he occasionally practiced with the first weapons that a Spartan learned how to use, that being a spear and a shield, and if Flurry was to learn everything that he knew, to become a better warrior, this would be the first true lesson, meaning he had to recall the movements and make sure he was ready for her lessons. At the same time it allowed him to think about what was going on, namely the terrors of what he had done while serving Ares, fresh nightmares that would haunt his every waking moment, but he did have to wonder if focusing on the here and now would cancel it out, focus on Flurry and nothing else. Such a thing caused him to think about his new daughter, something he would have to get used to, especially the fact that she had a pair of wings and a horn on top of her head, two things he wouldn't be able to help her with since he had neither, as he assumed that those additions meant she could fly and use some form of magic. He guessed that he could ask Artemis to help with the flying, as she had birds and might be able to point out some things to Flurry, while maybe Apollo might have something to teach her in terms of magic, at least to help her with the basics, causing him to sigh as he stabbed the air like he was fighting an enemy in his mind.

There was also the fact that all the Furies, the sisters and Orkos, had made connections between her and Thanatos, the God of Death, which only made him wonder how she could have come into possession of the sickles she carried, before appearing before him in the Oracle's ruined temple. That was something that didn't make sense to him, if she had such a connection to Death, like they claimed, then why didn't Thanatos come for her himself, since it was possible that Flurry might be his child, something he ruled out the moment it crossed his mind. If that was the case he knew she would have been collected as soon as the Furies captured them in the Lantern, rather than allowing her to remain and potentially be tormented like an oathbreaker, meaning there had to be something else he was missing, some clue that he had missed that connected everything. Sadly he didn't have that piece of the puzzle, the lone piece that would tell him why she had a connection to Death, so he turned his focus back to his training as he recalled what needed to be done, what moves he had to make to ensure his attacks were swift and on point.

Eventually he calmed his mind and returned to his chamber, keeping the Spartan weapons on his own weapon rack, as he suspected that he would need them in the future, both for training and for keeping himself calm, and found that when he slept he was able to rest without some nightmares bothering him.

When morning arrived he found that the crew already had a destination in mind, a settlement being attacked by satyrs to be exact, and a quick visit to Athena's statue confirmed that their first orders were to sail to their aid, though since they were a few days away it meant he had time to train Flurry. Of course he didn't immediately start on her lessons, since she was only four years old and there was no telling how much she could take, so he started with a light breakfast before he got started, as there were all sorts of lessons for him to impart and he needed to plan her training accordingly. While they ate he found that Albis hung near the back of the area they were in, either too afraid to join them or she didn't want to be a bother, or maybe she was waiting for the gods to deliver on their promise of some attire and this was her being slightly embarrassed to show off her nude body to so many people. He didn't know her well enough to make a decision one way or another, rather he left the gorgon to her business and focused on his own problems, though he was happy to see that Flurry was just fine with everything that was going on, even if she deserved an actual home, something he could work on after he fulfilled his bargain with the gods.

"So, what are we going to do today?" Flurry asked, because once the meal was done she was curious as to what they might do next, though she found that she longed for adventure, just like the one they had finished before three gods showed up to give them the gifts they had been given, but decided not to say anything since it might annoy her new father, which would take some getting used to.

"We are going to start your training... as much that can be done, anyway." Kratos replied, as while Flurry had taken his first few lessons to heart, allowing her to become a skilled warrior in such a short period of time in his eyes, and it only made him wonder what might happen if he fully trained her, even though using a shield might be hard for her right now, given her current size, so they'd make something for her to complete her training.

Flurry nodded as followed Kratos' directions as best as she could, where she took one of the nearby spears, an identical one to the one he happened to be carrying at the moment, and did her best to copy everything that was shown to her as she started her first real training lesson. Kratos demonstrated how to fight with a spear, using both movements that were the common skills that a Spartan soldier would use in a fight, the basics he had learned to be exact, and his improvements, as there were thrusts and other attacks that were made after he gained the Blades of Chaos. He found that his thoughts were only half right, as Flurry was skilled enough to understand what she had been shown and attempt to use the motions like he had done, though at the same time she didn't have the skill she had with her sickles, as if they were a natural part of her and anything else had to be learned through effort. It made sense when he thought about it, he had taught her everything he knew about how to use a bow in combat and she had done her best to learn what she could in the time they had, but she just seemed to know how to use the sickles, either copying his movements and learning from watching or those weapons were just part of her being.

Either way he focused on making sure she knew how to use a spear and a shield, as they found a small wooden one for her to use, no doubt one of the crew members had created it for her to use in her training, before even worrying about any of the other weapons and skills he had learned over the years.

When it came to to switch to another weapon he found that Flurry was definitely wiped out, though like him she seemed to be ready for anything, like her body gave her more stamina than he realized, but, since she was so young, he made sure she took a break every now and then, just to be sure she didn't burn herself out. He also had her train with other weapons, just so she didn't devote all of her time to a single field, hence why he pulled out his blades while she used her sickles, though he made sure Flurry knew this was just training as they went easy on each other, simply letting their blades make contact with each other and nothing else. There was also the matter of her bow, the gift from Artemis, which he added to the lessons, as he took up one of the bows that were in the armory and did his best to show her some moves that she might not know, but his knowledge on this matter was limited and hoped that she was able to learn something new from him, even if it might be what not to do. Regardless of that fact Flurry proved that her skill wasn't a fluke, as while the waves offered some challenge during her archery lessons, causing her to carefully correct herself before loosing one of her arrows, she managed to put most of the blunt practice arrows in the targets that were set up.

While they were doing that both she and Kratos paused when they were visited by Apollo, as he, true to his earlier promise, brought some clothing for Flurry, what looked to be the normal clothing that girls from Sparta would wear, as Kratos did see one that reminded him of Calliope's clothing. In addition to that he brought a few bits of armor that looked like they might have been made specifically for her, meaning they would weigh nothing since they didn't want to wear her down right now, so this was more to get her into the idea of wearing armor without actually weighing her down. At the same time he also had a few pieces for Albis, surprising the gorgon in the process, allowing them to see that she could also wear a modified gown, a chest piece similar to what the Amazons and Artemis wore all the time, and a few other options, showing that he did care about making her different than the rest of her kind. Of course one or two of the crew seemed to think that going nude was an option, though Kratos stopped her before she did something drastic and told her that he'd speak with them later, causing her to thank the god as she picked up the clothing that wasn't being used and took them to her room and Flurry's, just to make sure none of it went missing.

After that event, which was followed by Apollo leaving, Flurry found that she trained off and on throughout the day, relaxing whenever they weren't testing her skills, along with the fact that the day that followed was more of the same, before she spotted a settlement off in the distance and told her father about it, which he and the Captain confirmed was the one they were heading towards.

"Remember, our mission is to take down the satyrs. Nothing more." Kratos said, as while he suspected that Flurry didn't need him to tell her that, she was pretty smart for someone of her age, he did know that children could be distracted and a brief reminder would keep her on track, and he found that she nodded her head to show she understood, "Good. Let's go take them down."

"Yes sir." Flurry stated, as it seemed like the smart thing to do, he was technically the commanding officer of their group, or at least the Captain and his crew seemed to act that way around her father, so she figured that speaking this way while they were doing whatever the gods wanted was a good thing, saving anything else for while on the ship or relaxing before worrying about their future endeavors.

Flurry found that their target was a settlement made out of stone, like the houses were carved out of the material, but her attention was on what had to be the outskirts of the area, as there was a force of satyr, probably about twenty based on her count, that seemed to be enjoying the destruction of crops and the ending of lives, as one was gutting a villager while a second removed another's head. One thing that was different between these ones and the ones that came before them was rather simple, these ones carried wicked looking sickles, just like she had a pair of her own, while several had what looked to be a sickle staff, one curved head on one end and another on the other. Flurry tilted her head as she saw that, as it was something she hadn't considered before and it made her wonder how in the world they had done such a thing in the first place, before wondering if the staff was just another type of weapon and not two sickles merged together, like she had thought. That was until she watched as one of the other satyr raised it's sickles for a moment and stopped when both of their ends were touching, the heads positioned like those who carried the staffs, where it seemed like the material of the handles merged into a single entity as the creature spun it around and came at them.

Kratos clashed with it and the other satyr, though he and Flurry weren't alone as Albis rushed over to the monsters that were on the furthest from him, allowing Flurry to see that she focused her gaze on it and turned the satyr in question into a stone statue, the grey material spreading out over it's body in a matter of seconds. It was a reminder for Flurry, as she had been told what the gorgons were capable of, before finding that it seemed to struggle for a few moments, almost as if the monster was still fighting it's fate, not that it mattered when Albis swung her tail and shattered the statue with a rather powerful blow. As they did that Flurry raised her bow and tracked down a couple of satyrs that needed to be put down, as a few were actually running at the sight of her father, so she was able to put them down with an arrow into the back, only to realize that they might still be alive when one started to crawl away, forcing her to shift to her sickles. Such a thing let her deal with several of the satyr, though one did try to grab her and she swung at it, severing both of it's hands before it could do such a thing, before she jumped behind it, moved one of her sickles, and removed it's head.

As the satyr fell to the ground Flurry glanced down at her weapons as she raised them for a moment, positioning them like their enemies had done before pulling them apart, creating the sickle staff out of her own sickles, though after that she thought about reverting them as she pushed the two ends back towards each other, allowing her to pull the two sickles apart and return them to their previous state. With that in mind she focused her attention on the satyrs, hacking into their legs or arms, as some she weakened like she had done before since there were so many of them to deal with and it wasn't long before Kratos either slashed them in half, picked them up and tore them apart, or knocked a few to the ground so he could forcefully remove their heads. Such a thing did cause Albis to pause for a moment, no doubt seeing this as a sort of reminder of the fact that he could have done the same to her if she had tried to attack them back in the statue, but Flurry walked over to her and hugged her for a moment, a silent reminder that she was safe and didn't have to worry about such a thing happening to her. As Kratos dealt with some of the other satyrs, brutally slipping their blood in the process, the pair made sure that the ones Flurry had struck were dead, and if they weren't one of them made sure to put them down, until the last one had fallen and they were the only ones left standing.

Sure enough the locals were somewhat frightened of Kratos, either due to his previous reputation or the fact that he had slain so many monsters in such a brutal fashion, though after a few moments things changed as the leader of the decent sized settlement approached them and told the trio that their reward would be readied in no time, supplies and what he called the 'thanks of the ladies'.

"Father... what's he talking about?" Flurry asked, speaking after the figure disappeared into the settlement to make sure all of the supplies were accounted for, since she didn't want to make people think she was unfamiliar with the various laws or traditions of the lands they called home.

"I'll tell you when you are older... let's leave your father to his business and get the supplies to the ship." Albis said, as she clearly knew what was going on and didn't want Flurry to be bothered by it right now, where she held a hand out and the little girl took it as she started to move into the settlement.

Kratos said nothing to that as he glanced back at the carnage, knowing that Flurry really did have the potential to become a strong warrior, they just had to hone her skills with knowledge and experience, before he headed into the settlement to sample the reward before worrying about what the future held for them.

Chains: Called to Battle

Flurry found that the next five years were mostly the same as what she experienced after their escape from the Prison of the Damned and the deaths of the Furies, as in she and Kratos spent most of the day training with him teaching her how to fight and move her body to avoid taking damage. Of course she didn't train with just the spear and shield combination, or with both of her sickles, rather Kratos pulled out each of the weapons that happened to be in the armory and had her practice with all of them, since there was no telling what the future held for them. They also found that Artemis and Apollo stayed true to what had been said previously and came to see how Flurry could do with her bow, often watching her practice while the ship was docked somewhere where they had set up targets nearby, though they did make sure not to get in the way of any quests the gods had for them. In addition to all of that Kratos even asked Albis to join them every now and then, mostly so Flurry could get used to fighting fast monsters, though their sessions were either unarmed or sed sticks to represent their weapons, since Kratos didn't want them to injure each other during training.

In addition to training Flurry found that they also stopped at a number of settlements, some small and some large, where the latter happened to be cities, allowing her to get a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people, even though they did have soldiers and armies in case something happened.

Albis also found a way to get Flurry other materials to work with, as in writing materials so she could teach her how to read and write, something that the twin gods helped with, that way whenever they visited a city or settlement she would be able to read the signs and understand them. Kratos was perfectly fine with this, as he felt that limiting her to just combat was a bad thing, a disservice to someone of her unique stature, especially since they were unsure as to what she was and what sort of powers she actually had, due to her horn and wings. To held her with them both of the twins did their best to step in where Kratos lacked, as Artemis had some of her birds demonstrate how to spread their wings before flying around the girl's head, but for the time being it looked like Flurry was stuck gliding when she used hers. That meant she had the potential to gain the skill one day, so for the time being they focused on other things, like Apollo showing off a bit of his magic to see if she could do anything similar, due to her horn, but for the time being it looked like she might not have those sorts of abilities.

Kratos wondered if she might be similar to himself and some of the other mortal warriors of Greece, that magic could only be given to them by the gods themselves, much like how he was bestowed magical powers during his quest to find the key to ending the Furies, even if he was sure Flurry was, in reality, what he was actually searching for. During one of Artemis and Apollo's visits he shared what he had learned from the Furies, about how Flurry was connected to Death, something that surprised the twins as they focused on the girl, and for the time being they came to the same conclusion, that what the Furies meant had to be the weapon. It was true that Flurry brought death, to monsters anyway, which was identical to what he did all the time, but other than that they had no idea what the Furies meant by labeling her in that light, though it did seem like spreading chaos might have been the main goal. Kratos thought about it and guessed that it made sense, as he was training Flurry to be like him while letting her walk down her own path, so it could have been a stab at him without actually saying what they meant, to which he decided to dismiss the thought and focus on their quests.

As the years went by Flurry found that their quests involved all sorts of monsters that needed slaying, such as satyrs, the occasional gorgon in a cave, a lone manticore terrorizing the countryside, harpies infesting an important location, or any of the other monsters that seemed to enjoy hunting and killing humans. There were times were Kratos insisted on Flurry tackling some of them one her own, just to see how she could handle fights so he could focus on other enemies, but there were monsters, like the centaur for example, that he handled on his own, mostly due to them being outside of her range of ability. Flurry wasn't even annoyed by her father doing that, rather it seemed to be so she didn't come to harm and she went along with it, though at the same time she did her best to improve herself, trying to master both the movements and the weapons that were involved in her training. In addition to all of that she found that her body grew somewhat over the years, a common sign of individuals that were her age, though with her training her arms and legs were more toned than some of the few children she saw during their visits to the cities, not that one could tell from a distance, though she had no friends since everyone was scared of her father.

With that in mind she determined that the only friends she needed were those that earned the right, something that her father seemed to live by, like Artemis and Apollo, though thinking of the gods only made her wonder if Athena or Zeus would give them a more interesting quest as she looked forward to what the future held for them.

---

Once five years had passed, and Flurry was both older and more experienced than she was during her first adventure, they received a message from Athena about a new quest, as the gods were tasking her and Kratos to travel to the city of Attica, to stave off an 'unthinkable evil' unleashed upon the city by an invading Persian army. During the journey Flurry asked what the gods meant by that, where Kratos informed her that it was likely some monster that had tipped the battle in the Persian's favor, so by crushing it they should give the defenders a chance to win the battle on their own. In addition to that she had to ask if there was a chance that the two of them would deal with the invading army themselves, crippling the Persian's forces in the process, which caused her father to remain silent for a time before telling her that he had no idea. There was always a chance that would find a way to deal with a good chunk of the invading army, making the battle easier for the defenders to carry out their duty, but there was no way for them to know until they got there and took stock of the situation.

When they finally reached Attica, and docked their ship far away from the direction that the Persians were coming from, the pair got a glimpse of what they were up against as they found a large fleet of ships approaching the city, some firing flaming bolts at the walls while others were landing to allow their soldiers to assault the gates.

"Okay, that's... more than I was expecting." Flurry admitted, as while she was expecting an army to attack Attica, since that seemed to be common among the cities she had been to over the years, not even she was anticipating the sheer size of the fleet that was coming to sack Attica, though her father didn't seem too concerned by what they were seeing.

"You see those warriors from Persia? They've got curved swords. Curved. Swords." one of the Attica soldiers stated, though it was more in a mocking tone, as if he couldn't believe the shape of the weapons that their enemies carried into battle, but as he chuckled, alone Flurry added since none of the others seemed to share his sense of humor, a flaming bolt struck the area that he was in and instantly killed him.

"Remember your training, Flurry, and focus on our enemies." Kratos said, though while he agreed with his daughter, this was far more than what he was expecting when they were given the quest to come here, this was good for both of them in the long run, as it would allow him some reprieve from the foul nightmares he had to deal with and it would give Flurry a chance to experience war, a constant of his life that she had to get used to.

Flurry nodded as she pulled out her sickles, just in time to witness some wooden ladders being raised up to their position so a few Persian soldiers could come up here and deal with the ballista that was primed and ready to be used against the fleet, causing her and Kratos to go on the offensive. This was her first time, since the Amazons of Delos, that she had to fight humans, as she had fought all sorts of monsters over the years and rarely, if ever, dealt with people like their crew or the citizens of the various settlements, but she steeled herself as she moved to the side, slashed her target's arm off as he tried to stab her, and then took his head. While that happened Kratos swung his blades around with his deadly accuracy, cutting into the Persians that dared to approach him, and the one who got through his first couple of attacks he stabbed in the chest with his right blade, before the other enemy soldiers could do anything to stop him. Flurry noticed that one of the ships was definitely trying to take out the garrison that they were defending, apparently missing a shot since it went into the ground in front of their area, so she gestured for her father to return fire as she wrapped her sickles around the neck of one of the Persians and removed his head.

While she did that Kratos carefully turned the ballista so it was facing the ship that was the closest to their position, pulled the bar that would loose the flaming bolt back, and then kicked it with all of his strength, sending the bolt flying straight into the front of the ship, blasting the front end off as the rest of the vessel sunk. Sadly their ability to use the ballista was short-lived, as two of the other enemy ships returned fire without wasting time, one breaking the weapon as Kratos did a quick jump backwards, to avoid taking damage, while the second crashed into part of the structure and broke a hole for them to use to reach the lower floor. With the weapon destroyed there was nothing for the Persians to worry about, so all of the soldiers that would have come at Flurry and her father turned their attention back to the city, causing the pair to jump down into the hole and seek a path forward. As it turned out there were enemies down in the lower level, looting a number of containers to take the weapons and armor back to their own troops to deprive the defenders of anything that might turn the tide, though no Persian escaped as Flurry and Kratos cut them down.

As they moved towards the main door, however, it burst open as a cyclops tore through it and attacked Kratos, who just raised his hands to stop it's club from hitting them, though as he knocked it back even more of the wall was torn apart as a large reptilian creature pushed it's head into the area, chomped down on the monster, and crunched it's body outside the structure, raining blood and limbs before it faced them again.

"What in the world is this thing?" Flurry asked, though since the monster seemed interested in them she raised her sickles, as there was no way she was bothering to use any of her arrows in this situation, all while finding that the beast had what looked like a large collar around it's neck.

"I do not know. Focus on killing it!" Kratos replied, as while he suspected that this might be the 'evil' that the gods spoke of, the very reason they had come to Attica in the first place, his training and experience prompted him to remain focused on it and nothing else.

It was in moments like this that Kratos was glad that Flurry's sickles seemed to be like the Blades of Chaos, because they could be swung as if they had chains linked to them, giving her greater reach if she wanted such a thing, meaning the two of them had a greater chance of inflicting damage on the reptilian creature. The interesting part about the creature was that it had the power to loose bursts of flames at them, forcing the pair to dodge the attacks before slashing into it's face, because that happened to be the only part of it that was within range for them to attack. Flurry found that the short bursts of fire didn't seem to do anything to the wall behind them, which was odd since it was fire versus stone, but she focused on the task at hand as they slashed into it's face, causing the beast to roar in pain. Kratos eventually sensed an opening to inflict large damage on it and took it, latching onto it's face so he could slam it's head into the sides of the building, before he and Flurry jumped onto it's head while it was stunned, latched their weapons onto it's head, and slammed it down into the floor, before he took the cyclops' discarded weapon and smashed it into the creature's head.

Sure enough the creature growled in pain before pulling back, retreating in the face of their power, though as Kratos and Flurry followed after it they found that the creature was fast and was already climbing a wall to invade the city, which had to be it's main goal.

Neither warrior said anything as they did their best to follow after it, though to do so Kratos found a small siege weapon and one of Attica's smaller gates, where Flurry put the pieces together as he moved the weapon into position and rammed the wooden structure three times, only to find Persians on the other side. Flurry had been worried that breaking down a gate would allow more enemies into the city, but if they were already inside it meant the army was already losing and the extra opening really didn't matter, hence why she rushed into battle without delay. As they moved through the city Kratos found some archers ripping arrows out of the slain soldiers they had fought before he and Flurry arrived, though as the pair of Persian soldiers readied themselves an arrow pierced both of their chests. His daughter's skills with a bow were far beyond what their enemies were capable of, especially since she reacted before their foes had done so, though once that was done they crossed the broken bridge in front of them and accessed a crank to open a nearby door.

Since the door would close quickly if no one was holding it open Flurry had a way to save them some time, she pulled out Orkos' oath stone, where Kratos found that, despite it's owner being long dead at this point, his daughter could still use it to make shadowy copies of themselves. It was a useful tool and it made him glad they had kept it around, instead of just discarding it after the last adventure was over, which meant they might be able to use either the amulet or even the Eyes of Truth, the latter being just in case they faced an illusion user again. With that in mind they were able to pass through the door and continue on their way, allowing her to undo the power once they were out of the way, though they did have to deal with more Persians that were readying siege towers to invade more of the city. Fortunately the siege towers were the key to getting up onto the upper levels of the city, giving them a good view of the Persian's beast as it blasted part of Attica, keeping the soldiers distracted while confirming that this was definitely why the gods had given them this task.

They were stopped by something unexpected, as when Kratos opened a door for them to enter one of the buildings both he and Flurry found a large Persian, dressed like a commander or even a ruler, running the edge of his sword against an iron barred door, tormenting some women that were behind it, only stopping when he heard them enter the area that he and his guards happened to be in.

"What evil have you wrought on the city, Persian?" Kratos asked, allowing the door to close behind him and Flurry, as they didn't want such a figure to leave this place alive, plus he figured that this would give them some information before the foul figure was put in the ground.

"Evil? It is not evil that I bring, Spartan, but the might of Persia and the sacrament of purification... as we speak my basilisk cleanses your land, so you might embrace the glory of the Persian Empire." the figure replied, where Flurry gathered that he was likely the Persian King, meaning that if they killed him, and took down his basilisk, they might cripple the invasion and save the day.

"Olympus has sent a message, and we are here to deliver it: leave or die." Flurry said, as that seemed to be what the gods wanted them to do, take down the basilisk and potentially deal with the rest of the Persian army, all while she readied her sickles as the Persian King stared at her for a moment.

"Are your gods using children, Spartan? You should leave, girl, before death claims you." the Persian King stated, showing them that he didn't care about them all that much, as he didn't take them seriously and didn't seem that interested in either of them, though when he discovered that neither was backing down he readied his weapon.

Kratos found that he didn't even need to do anything this time around as the Persian King advanced on Flurry, who just raised her sickles and used the backsides of them as she brought them above her head, somehow stopping the blade that their foe was using in it's tracks, much to the figure's surprise. In the next moment she turned her weapons to her right and actually tore the sword out of her foe's hand, sending the blade off to the side as Kratos watched, and before the King had a chance to fight back she slashed at his exposed chest, as he wore no chest piece, a foolish error on his part. Flurry gave him two long gashes on his body before kicking him in the chest, sending him backwards onto a chest full of gold, but whether it was Attica's or the property of the Persians he had no idea, nor did he care as he approached the pair and just picked up one of the other crates. Sure enough the Persian King pleaded for his life, offering them everything in his vast kingdom if they'd stay their hands, though instead of listening to him Kratos used the crate full of gold coins to smash his head into the chest he had landed on, and the few hits he unleashed ended up crushing the Persian's skull.

Flurry stood there for a moment, a tab bit unsure of what to make of the situation, before ensuring that her sickles were clean as she spotted a small lantern or lamp on the Persian King's body that radiated power, flames to be exact, and as she picked it up a bit of the flames danced around her hands, causing Kratos to focus on her without delay.

"Don't worry about me, father, I'm fine. In fact, I think... this might be magic." Flurry said, because while it seemed like she had gotten a tiny bit of power from the creature inside the lantern, a fire elemental based on what she felt, it appeared that the bit she had gotten awakened something inside her, something she hadn't used before.

Kratos watched as flames danced around Flurry's hands, no doubt her using her lessons on combat as a base to direct the power that had been awakened inside her, before she turned on a Persian soldier who dropped down into the chamber and blasted him in the chest with a fireball, instantly killing him based on the burn marks to his chest and armor.

"Flurry... how did you do that?" Kratos asked, because even he, a champion of the gods, needed specific training to be able to use the magical powers of the gods, while those who were born with magic had to be trained to wield their powers in a safe manner, despite many either using them for their own purposes, like the Usurpers guarding the Oracle, or in service to the gods.

"I... do not know?" Flurry replied, as she knew that her father got some sort of training in using godly power after pledging his life to Ares, based on what the Furies had said and what little she had been told, but she had none at all, so her best and only option was to repeat what Kratos said whenever she had a question that he couldn't answer.

Kratos stared at her for a moment, wondering how to take this information that Flurry had magic, as the flame power that the Persian King had, and didn't have a chance to use, had awakened some power inside her, though for now he guessed it was best if they continue with their mission. Such a thing was followed by him making a discovery as well, he could call on the power of the elemental inside the lantern and manifest a creature of some kind behind him that just pounded the ground and used a wave of flames to take down some Persians that followed the one Flurry killed. With that done Kratos had his daughter move on without him for a moment, as he wanted to see if either of the ladies needed aid and he also wanted someone to keep an eye on the basilisk, causing her to nod as she pushed open the door leading outside. On the other side she found another ballista and some Persians that were trying to pull it apart, since it could be fired at the large basilisk that was currently on one of the buildings, so she lashed out at her enemies and cut them down, as they thought that she was just a kid and not a trained warrior.

She also made sure to kick the ladders down so no one else could get up here, throwing fireballs into the tools to burn all of them away, allowing her to observe the basilisk as it stopped moving and just stared right at her, looking as if it might be terrified of what was coming it's way, or at least it sure looked that way.

When Kratos caught up with her he found that the creature hadn't moved at all, it was as if it was waiting for something to happen or for someone to do something, before something caught it's attention on the street below it and it breathed fire on whoever it was, leading to Kratos firing the ballista bolt into it's neck, driving it off. With that done the pair moved into the next building and found a crank that needed to be turned around, which brought them down into a square area that a cyclops was wandering around in, but when it roared at them the father and daughter rushed at it. Flurry dived under the monster's body, going between it's legs, and slashed at both of it's legs as she safely reached the other side, driving it to the ground as her father leapt into the air while stabbing it's left arm, allowing him to get to it's head as he grabbed onto it's eye and actually ripped it out of it's head. At this point, after five years of watching her father do all sorts of things to all the monsters they had fought, Flurry was completely numb to all the blood, guts, and bizarre yet creative ways her father killed their enemies, in fact it could almost be called art, to certain individuals, so she simply slashed open the cyclops' neck and ended it's suffering.

After that they found their way to a broken wall that they had to climb up the side of, which was easy to do after taking out all of the archers that were in the area, only to resume cleaving their way through the Persian army, as there were more soldiers on the upper path they were following. As Kratos followed the basilisk, removing the enemies that dared to get in his way, Flurry made sure to eliminate the ladders that they passed by, launching small fireballs at them as they continued to make their way deeper and deeper into Attica. Using another lever brought them down to a market and a plaza, where the latter had a few more Persians laying waste to the city and even had the basilisk chewing on someone, but upon seeing both of them it dropped it's meal and fled before they could even hit it. As they dealt with the Persians that were in the area Flurry found a large heavy looking crate and spotted a button off in the distance, causing her to come up with a plan in no time, as once the enemies were dealt with she picked up the body while her father moved the crate.

Her assumption was that there was a secondary weight platform on the other side of the door that was blocking their way, and, much to her surprise, her thoughts were right as Kratos finished moving the crate onto the first, revealing a path that lead to a second, where she gently laid down the body and opened the second door.

The passage in question brought them to what appeared to be another entrance that lead into the city, a large bridge that had been broken at some point in time, though as they walked outside a growl behind them informed the pair that they had company, in the form of the basilisk that had apparently followed them to a suitable open area. Flurry quickly found that this battle progressed much like the one before it, as in they made sure to avoid the creature's jaws when it tried to bite down on them, jumped out of the way to avoid it's flame breath, and slashed at it's head when they had the chance to do so, which was when it wasn't actively attacking them. Eventually it tried to retreat, to take up a position on the wall it had crawled over to get to them, causing the pair to rush at it's exposed right front leg and latch onto it with their weapons, allowing them to get on top of it's head, sink their weapons into it's thick skin, and then leap off before pulling it off the stone wall, smashing it into the ground. With the creature stunned Kratos pulled down a bunch of stones that were to it's left and piled them right on top of the basilisk, which Flurry replicated with the one to it's right, and when it tried to blast them again the pair latched onto the sides of it's jaws and got on top of it's head so they could use their strength to force it's mouth shut.

Such a thing caused them to literally blow the basilisk's head clean off, all while propelling them over the destroyed bridge, though while Flurry could glide to safety her father had to grab the edge of the cliff and pull himself up, where she landed by him as they faced the direction of the Persian army.

"Our quest is complete. The unspeakable evil has been slain." Kratos remarked, though he was disappointed in the creature that he and Flurry had just killed, as he was expecting something far greater when he heard what the gods wanted of them, but it was another task added to the pile of things that they had gone for the gods and meant he was one step closer to his true goal.

"Yeah, but... the Persians are still attacking. Shouldn't we find a way back to deal with their fleet?" Flurry asked, because she was of the opinion that their task was actually far from over, that the evil was actually the Persians themselves and not just the basilisk, hence why she felt like they should do something more than just leave Attica to it's fate.

"If there was more to do, the gods would have told us before we reached the city... or they would tell us now, to inform us that we failed to understand their desires." Kratos replied, though as he said that he noticed that Flurry seemed distracted by something else, where he followed her gaze towards the sun as the unthinkable happened, the sun fell out of the sky and struck the ground some distance away, causing them to glance at each other for a moment, "We had best investigate... this is an unknown event to me."

Flurry had a feeling that her father would say that, as in that he had no idea what they had witnessed, to which the pair took off without looking back at Attica, as this seemed far more important than dealing with the Persians and their fleet, while only making her wonder what in the world would happen next.

Chains: Investigating the Disturbance

As Kratos and Flurry tracked down the sun, something both of them weren't expecting when they got the order from the gods to come to Attica, they found that darkness started to claim everything, which made sense considering that the sun itself was no longer up in the sky. It made Flurry wonder what in the world was going on, as she shared her father's brief thoughts on the matter, this was one of the most unknown events that the people of the land had never seen before, as it meant that something must have happened to Heilos, the God of the Sun. What could have happened to him was a topic they could only guess at, since he was usually in the sky, far above everyone else, so it wasn't like he could be attacked like a mortal could, and yet, despite the odds, something had brought him and the sun down. The only downside to this was that the area that the sun had crashed into was a fair couple of miles away from Attica, though thanks to her training Flurry and her father found that she could match Kratos' pace, but he did make sure to slow down every now and then so he didn't wear her out.

When they finally reached their destination, a cliff overlooking the impact site, the father and daughter discovered that the sun looked like a cross between a large temple and a chariot, with flames receding as the darkness, and some foul mist, spread out from where it was currently resting.

As they started to make their way down the side of the cliff they had stopped on for a moment, as Flurry had found a way to use her sickles like her father did with his blades, all without damaging the weapons, she found that there was a city resting below them, one that had been crushed by the fallen sun. Kratos thought about the maps he had seen and determined that this had to be the city of Marathon, as it happened to be the closest to Attica by traveling in the direction they had headed in earlier, though it wasn't long before they reached the bottom of the cliff. By entering the only building that was in front of them the pair discovered something interesting and upsetting, it appeared that new monsters were coming out of the mist, as there was a skeletal legionnaire gutting the ladies that happened to be in the structure. What was both interesting and strange about this was that when Kratos destroyed the undead legionnaire, as it's skills were definitely rusty, black smoke seemed to emit from it's body, like it was half real, to kill people, and half illusion, though Flurry didn't see anything strange about them, meaning they had to be totally real.

The streets were filled with more undead legionnaires than the buildings, where Flurry joined Kratos in cutting them down, her sickles slashing through them with ease, but as they started to move forward she glanced at the area they were in and frowned for a moment as they cleared the area.

"Flurry... is something wrong?" Kratos asked, because while he could tell that his daughter enjoyed battle, not as much as he did at times, there were times where she seemed sad by what was going on, in fact he had seen it briefly when they saw the siege on Attica earlier.

"No... it's just... this loss of life saddens me." Flurry replied, as this was different than before, these people were innocent in the grand scheme of things and now, thanks to whoever had messed with Heilos, all these people wouldn't be able to live their lives to the fullest, something that annoyed her greatly as she sighed as more undead legionnaires showed up to bring an end to their lives.

Kratos wanted to say something to her, to comfort his daughter and figure out what was going on, though he could only guess that her supposed connection to Death was causing her to feel this way, but determined that they could look into it once they solved whatever was going on right now. There were also archers mixed in with the sword wielding legionnaires, though while he hacked the front line apart with his blades he found that Flurry called forth small fireballs and blasted the archers, showing that she didn't want to do more damage to the ruined city. He was still amazed that she was capable of such a thing, quickly figuring out how to use the magical power that they had unlocked earlier, and knew that they would have to add some magical lessons to the list of things he had to teach his daughter, even if it meant finding a god or even a goddess to do what he couldn't do. With that in mind Kratos also used the power of the Efreet to smash some of their foes into the ground, burning the undead legionnaires away while making sure not to destroy the city itself, just in the off chance that there were survivors, so they'd have a home to return to.

While they pushed through the outskirts of the city, however, Kratos heard a strange melody that was familiar to him, yet at the same time he couldn't quite place where he had heard it in the past, and as they approached a wall of fog that was blocking the way they heard someone shout to stay out of the fog. Flurry, in response to that, returned her sickles to her belt and held her hands out, forming two fireballs that allowed her to push the fog in front of them back, where Kratos let her walk in front of him while he kept an eye out for dangers, though it was short lived as he found a gate to open so they could press onward. On the other side of the gate they found a more open area that happened to have some passages for them to head through, though there was also a new foe for them to fight, where Flurry found that it was like a gorgon, due to the serpent tail that had replaced her lowered body, while her torso was decayed, almost skeletal, and her chest was on full display. Kratos informed Flurry that this was a banshee, something that was a cross between a gorgon and a siren, as it had the form of one and the power of another, which have her all the information she needed to know as she pulled out her sickles, severed the creature's spine easily, before raking her head off.

Kratos nodded his head as he found a second banshee and pushed her head into the ground, allowing him to crush it by planting his foot on her face before crushing her head by applying some pressure, before discovering a spin crack that let him seal the door that the banshees were coming from.

With that done the pair moved down the path that was beyond the area that the banshees were interested in and found a wagon with a bunch of hay on it, though a few skeletal archers were guarding it and they wasted no time in crushing them like they had done to the groups before them. Instead of going back for the torch that had been in the hands of a statue, and wasting more time, Flurry set fire to the hay with her magic so Kratos could push it forward, where she switched to her bow for a time and loosed arrows at a couple of archers that were in the fog. This allowed her father to reach the end of the patch of fog they had discovered, without having to stop for anything or because he was hit by their enemies, and once they were in the clear, for a time, the pair was assaulted by a large four legged beast that seemed to have the face of a man. The beast charged at them both without delay, raking it's claws against the ground and the air as Kratos and Flurry did what they did best, splitting up to divert the attention of their enemies, and attacking it from two directions, which did seem to be very effective as Flurry thought about it.

The beast tried it's best to push Kratos to the ground and kill him, but he pushed the creature back and latched onto it's head with his blades, allowing him to forcefully pull the creature up so Flurry could duck under it for a few moments and slice it's stomach open before getting out of the way, allowing her father to drop it off to the side as they realized that this was a dead end, so they attacked a rock wall and made their own path.

"It's a good thing our weapons are magical... attacking a rock face like that would break any other weapon." Flurry stated, where she looked over her sickles and found that neither of them were damaged by the few seconds they had struck the dead end they had discovered, which was great since since had no idea how to actually repair their weapons and wouldn't want to pause their quest to fix them up.

Kratos nodded as he found that they were at the end of the city, which made sense given the path they had been following, and spotted a worn path he could climb up to reach the area above them, though as he and Flurry did that he found that there were three statues on odd structures, a stone tablet that held information, and a path leading straight to what looked like a temple. Flurry spotted some writing that informed them that Boreas, the North Wind, rested here and that he was the one leading Zephyros, Euros, and Notos, the West, East, and South Winds respectively, where Kratos confirmed that she was correct, meaning she had taken her reading and writing lessons to heart. Interesting enough there were levers on the three statue bases near the writing she had read, though it appeared that they were missing something and made their way down the other path, leading straight to the temple that seemed to be Helios'. The path in question turned out to be a bridge that linked the two areas together, though as they reached the other side Kratos paused for a moment as he heard the strange melody he had heard not that long ago, though before he could even react to it they found a few more legionnaires simply appeared to fight them.

The undead soldiers were easy to take care of, while the banshee that joined them was cut down by Flurry before it could do anything, before passing by a head carving, likely Helios' given the temple that was above them, before finding an area that they could climb up to reach a level that seemed to be sealed off, but it was the one beyond that one that had what the pair was looking for, especially since it had a statue of Athena on it.

Kratos... the statue said, revealing that the goddess was speaking through it, no doubt assuming that someone, anyone, would come to investigate the sun falling out of the sky and had prepared a message for whoever it was, while the pair just stared at it for a few moments.

"Athena? What madness has befallen us?" Kratos asked, because if there was anyone who might understand what was going on, and could point them in the right direction, it was the Goddess of Wisdom, so which he was a little surprised to see one of her statues here, outside Helios' temple, he considered this to be a good thing for them.

I am afraid that there isn't much time, Kratos... Olympus has need of your services once again. Athena stated, almost as if she was ignoring the fact that the pair wanted information as to what was going on, as they figured that the gods needed their mortal champions to deal with the sun falling out of the air suddenly.

"Have we not given enough, Athena? We have given Olympus five years of faithful service, saving the lands from all sorts of monsters, without any sign of the nightmares stopping!" Kratos snapped, because he had assumed that the gods would have done something, anything, to show him that they were upholding their end of the bargain, and yet most nights he suffered the same nightmares that had started after Orkos' death, with Flurry's presence being the only thing keeping him sane these days.

It's not for you to say when your servitude will end! Athena replied in kind, showing Flurry that even the gods could lose their patience and treat their own champion like total dirt, or in this case act like her father was their servant, with her simply being an add-on that they clearly weren't expecting to discover.

"That's not what he meant, Athena!" Flurry snapped, something that caused the pair to pause for a moment, because her father knew she was usually respectful towards the gods, meaning she was annoyed with the one in front of them, while the goddess herself happened to be stunned by a strange mortal talking back to her, "Father just wants to know that the gods are upholding their side of the bargain... in fact, even if you take the nightmares away, we'd likely continue doing all sorts of quests for you, since it spreads his legend to the rest of Greece. Besides, wouldn't it be better for you to treat us with more respect? I mean, it's like you said, Olympus needs us."

...yes... you are correct, young one. The urgency of this situation unseated my courtesy. Athena said, her tone telling them that something drastic was happening and that Kratos speaking to her like that had caused her to snap, where she turned her eyes towards Kratos and found that, while he was accepting what his daughter had said, he was still unhappy about something, Be at ease, Spartan, as I am doing everything in my power to help you... help us with this matter and I'll do everything I can to convince Zeus to give you what you desire most.

"...very well. What is going on right now?" Kratos asked, where he decided to simply move on and focus on whatever was happening right now, and what needed to be done to set the world right again, something that made Flurry smile, as she didn't want her father to argue with the gods, since that was a way to make everything worse.

As you can see, the God of the Sun has been ripped out of the sky... the temple that stands before you, and the area that surrounds it, is the Chariot of Helios. Athena replied, confirming their suspicions on the matter, though it still failed to explain why it looked like a temple, and would be defended like one, when it was usually up in the air, before Flurry came to the conclusion that this might be the form it took in case something knocked Helios out of the sky, Without their master to reign them in, the Fire Steeds have drive the Sun Chariot into the earth... and without Helios, there is no one to stop Morpheus, the God of Dreams, from seizing permanent power over the rest of the world. Many... of the gods... have fallen into a deep slumber, and I am... afraid... that I will soon join them.

"Okay, so we have to find Helios and get him, plus the Sun Chariot, back into the sky, probably deal with tracking down the Fire Steeds, and figure out what knocked him out of the sky in the first place." Flurry commented, once more showing her father that she was smarter than people gave her credit for, as she was piecing together a plan of sorts to help them do what Athena and the gods were asking of them this time around, and it seemed like a good one based on what they had learned from the goddess so far, "Did I miss anything?"

Athena said nothing as she and Kratos noticed that the divine spark that had been powering the statue had vanished, like she had pushed herself through Morpheus' power to deliver them their next quest, their marching orders as it were, to which he and Flurry faced the temple as they readied themselves for whatever dangers might be inside it.

Chains: The Temple of the Sun

After speaking with Athena, and learning the truth of what was going on, Kratos and Flurry explored the rest of the outside of the Sun Chariot, just to see if there was anything important for them to do or collect before they headed inside the main structure, only to find that the lone gate was closed and there was nothing to pick up. With that in mind the pair walked into the main chamber and discovered that it happened to contain a lift that would bring them to the temple's entrance, so they stood on it as Kratos moved the lever and let the lift move them up to the next level. In the following seconds they found a couple of satyr, wearing nothing for some odd reason, guarding a couple of gates, two that were intact and one that had been shattered by the Sun Chariot violently hitting the ground earlier, causing the pair to draw their weapons once more. Flurry really had no idea why there were satyrs outside Helios' sacred temple, but she decided not to question what they were seeing right now and focused on taking out the enemies that were blocking their way, all her father gutted one of the satyr as she loosed an arrow into one that was behind the left gate.

Once the couple of satyr were dealt with the pair found that none of the main gates would open, but Flurry did spot what looked like a path to the left of the lift, where she and her father found more satyr to fight, these ones carrying two blades in their hands and putting up more of a fight than the previous ones. The ones with weapons were definitely tougher than those who went into battle without gear, though both she and Kratos had experience in the dual wielding type of combat and that meant that none of the three satyrs had a chance, especially when one of them was grabbed by Kratos and pulled in half a few seconds later. As soon as their enemies were taken care of the pair continued down the rest of the path and found that it was rather short, ending in a lever for them to pull, so while Kratos did so Flurry held her bow at the ready, just in case something tried to attack her father, only to discover that they were left alone. Interestingly enough the lever did open a gate, though it was one that happened to be resting near Athena's statue, requiring them to return to the lift and walk back to the statue, before heading up another path they had ignored earlier.

There were a few more satyr to deal with along the way, but with the father and daughter working together it was hard for any of them to even get a hit in, as Kratos used his experience to avoid harm while slaughtering his foes, with Flurry backing him up by loosing arrows into the ones who were at a distance and using her sickles on those who got close.

With the satyr taken care of the pair found their way to the area that the lone ranged satyr had been in earlier, where Kratos pulled another lever and found that all it did was open the gate right in front of them, though it did nothing for the main gate that would lead into the temple. In that moment Flurry had an idea as she had her father latch onto the door with both of his blades, causing him to nod his head in agreement, he saw it as well, allowing her to watch as he tore open the main door in a matter of seconds, one half still on it's hinges while the other was almost torn off. Flurry wasn't too worried about the bits of damage they were inflicting on the area, because once this was back in the air she was sure it would mend itself and return to what it had been like before the Sun Chariot fell out of the sky, or at least she sure hoped so. The pair paused for just a few moments, just to be sure that nothing came rushing out of the now opened passage, and when Kratos was sure that the coast was clear he entered the temple as Flurry followed close behind him, bow at the ready.

The inside of the temple was made of smooth stone, to the point where Flurry was sure that she could see her reflection at times as she looked at the floor, but for the most part it seemed like the entire structure, which was well lit thanks to all the torches on the walls, might have nothing to throw at them.

"You know, for a temple that would normally be off limits to the mortals of the land, this place is actually quite nice." Flurry commented, because while she knew that the godly beings liked to have great monuments made for them, and she had seen a few of them in the various cities they had visited over the years, she found it odd that Helios, of all the gods, would have such a nice place, especially given that it was constantly moving through the sky.

Kratos said nothing to that as a group of harpies moved down to attack them, where he concluded that the temple was safe from monsters when it was up in the air and was overrun after being knocked out of the sky, since it made more sense to him, though the majority of his focus was on the enemies that were blocking the way forward. Interestingly enough these harpies were far too easy for them to take down, as one well placed attack was more than enough to take them down, but that only made him wonder where the true threat was lurking, since there was always one, based on his experience. They discovered two statues that could be moved and levers to flip, one opening the leftmost door while the other did the same for the rightmost door, though they decided to move into the right one and found a single legionnaire guarding the chamber that was on the other side. As Kratos started to deal with it, however, they found that a few more appeared without much delay, causing the father and daughter to glance at each other for a moment before unleashing their fire powers on them, taking all of them out in no time.

Such a thing allowed Flurry to find that the chamber they had picked was the dead end, complete with a lever that just so happened to open a door in the other portion of the temple, causing them to back off and pass through the leftmost door so they could continue their exploration, and with no enemies they were able to pass through the now open door that the lever was connected to.

Following that Kratos and Flurry found a large lift that was locked into place and shattered the locks with their weapons, allowing it to descend into the depths of the temple, though as the lift started to move more undead legionnaires started to appear around them. Since the monsters appeared on the edge of the circular lift the pair simply did the smart thing, as in they latched onto each foe and hurled them off the lift, either by throwing them off or kicking them off, though at the same time both warriors kept their guards up in case something else showed up. After a few moments the lift came to a stop at a floor that was identical to the one they had walked down to reach the lift in the first place, and once it was locked into place they discovered what appeared to be a suit of armor with a flaming spirit inside it, which animated it, that came to deal with both of them. The key to defeating it, as they soon discovered, was for one of them to take away it's shield so the other could blast it with a bit of their fire power, and when Flurry did it, as she went second, her magic destroyed their foe entirely, no doubt due to being weakened from her father's attacks.

The pair stood on the lift for a few more moments, just to be sure there were no more enemies to deal with, before they headed up one of two sets of stairs that were in front of them and walked down the passage that was at the top of level of this floor, allowing the duo to head deeper into the large temple. As they walked through the main door and stared at the large chamber it had brought them to, however, Kratos and Flurry found that the door closed behind them, meaning that they either had to find something to unlock it or find another path to continue on their quest. It didn't appear that there was a way to actually cross over to the center of the chamber, though that was when Kratos found a ruined pillar that he could push, forming a makeshift walkway for him and his daughter to use to reach the center platform. Flurry looked at the area that was around them and found that there was a single statue for them to look at, a large one of a lady who had nothing over her chest and some cloth attire over her lower half, and she was holding a sun icon.

I am grateful that you have come, Ghost of Sparta and Flurry Heart. a female voice said, which was definitely coming from the statue, which was alive thanks to the essence of another goddess, making Flurry wonder how many of them were actually hanging on before they slipped into Morpheus' slumber, The titan Atlas has been freed from the pits of Tartarus, and he has taken my brother, Helios, from his rightful place in the sky.

"Eos? What does Atlas want with the God of the Sun?" Kratos inquired, naming the goddess that was talking to them, as it gave Flurry a chance to know who they were talking to, even though there were a lot more gods and goddesses than she was expecting when she started her various lessons.

"Well, most gods and goddesses are connected to their aspects... Zeus for the sky, Poseidon for the seas, and Helios for the sun," Flurry remarked, which made a lot of sense after seeing how removing Helios caused the sun itself to crash into the ground, something that made her wonder what might happen if a major god was slain, a terrifying thought that she quickly shelved, never to be opened again, "I take it that leaving Helios in Atlas' hands is a bad thing?"

...yes... Helios holds within him the power of the sun, and in Atlas' hands the titan holds the power to destroy the entire world. Eos replied, which caused Flurry to remain silent for a moment, as she wasn't expecting that answer, all while her father stood there and considered what needed to be done now that they knew a titan was involved, something that was followed by a door on the opposite side of the chamber opening, Please, take the Sun Shield from his throne... walk through the gates of Olympus and you will find me. Hurry, heroes, as the fate of the world rests in your hands.

As the statue went dark, just like what happened with Athena earlier, Flurry found a stone tablet at the edge of the central platform and noted that it was a message from Eos, informing them to find the Cave of Olympus, which might be a key for them to track down more information. With that in mind Kratos did the only thing reasonable in this situation, he raised his blades and smashed the stone tablet until it was nothing more than rubble, making it look like it had been broken at the same time everything else had been damaged in the temple's fall. As he did that Flurry found another pillar that could be used as a walkway and latched onto it with her sickles, pulling it down like her father did earlier, allowing them to leave the area and head over to the now open door to collect the Sun Shield, or fight it's guardian and then pick it up. Flurry did think it was odd that there were no enemies in this portion of the temple, both monsters and guardians, especially since a powerful relic was waiting to be collected, before they came to a stop in front of a cruddy stone throne.

Both of them were expecting a godly throne to be much better than this, though given the state of the rest of the temple it was easy for the pair to determine that colliding with the ground had ruined nearly everything, causing Kratos to use his blades to smash the throne as Flurry picked up the shield that had been stuck in it. It was different than most shields she had seen so far, mostly because it seemed smaller, like a buckler, and seemed to be designed with Helios' likeness on the surface, causing her to hand it to her father as he placed it over his left arm. As he did that a couple of legionnaires quickly appeared and attacked them, where he raised his left arm and they found that bright solar energy burst out of the shield and formed a circle around it, taking the form of an actual shield as Kratos blocked an incoming blow and knocked his foe backwards. Flurry stood off on the sidelines as they realized that these monsters were here mostly to allow her father to get used to the shield and it's powers, since none of the undead legionnaires came at her, where she found that he was able to repel attacks and even projectiles, which was very interesting.

When another pair showed up Kratos understood what they were seeing and handed Flurry the Sun Shield, where she did what he had done, knocking the melee foes back while redirecting projectiles at her opponents, and once they were both done Kratos, with the Sun Shield in hand, unlocked a door and found a set of stairs that they had to walk up.

As they emerged from the underside of the temple, though an opening that brought them back to where Athena's statue was located, Kratos and Flurry found that things had changed, as there were masses of darkness that seemed to be more of Morpheus' power manifesting. Such a thing told them that they needed to get started on their quest, because with what they were seeing it was only a matter of time until his darkness consumed the world itself, though at the same time they found more legionnaires and even one of the monstrous beasts they had fought earlier. Flurry leapt onto the back of the beast and latched her sickles into it's back, securing herself so the creature couldn't shake her off as she forced it off into the group of legionnaires that were off in the distance, leaving her father to take down the rest of them. Kratos wasn't even remotely surprised by this turn of events, as he was getting used to the fact that his daughter was capable of many off things, and that was without taking her new magic into consideration, but he did keep an eye on her while he tore his foes apart.

While Flurry dealt with her enemies, cutting them to bits with her sickles, Kratos found that the Sun Shield could be placed in the center of the platform they had walked by earlier, to access the left gate quite a while ago, and beckoned for her to join him, where she did so without delay and found that, when the shield was in place, the ring around the center of the platform sunk, forming another path for them to use.

"A secret passage, in Helios' temple? This is confusing." Flurry remarked, because this entire structure was usually up in the sky, so it didn't make sense for there to be a passage like this in the first place, and when she glanced at her father she found that he really had no idea why this was here either, but it was their path and they had to follow it.

Kratos found that the hidden stairs brought them to another sealed door, with another Sun Lock, as Flurry was starting to call them since they required the Sun Shield to undo, though as they entered the hidden section of the temple the door closed behind them for some odd reason. Based on what the pair could tell there was a single door for them to open and there were two locks, one on either side of the stone structure, plus there happened to be two statues that could be easily moved into position on either side of the door. With that in mind Kratos and Flurry each took one of the stone statues and started to move them so their weapons could be inserted into the slots that were on either side of the stone door, which did lower into place so beams of bright light could hit the weapons. In the following moment they discovered that the door wasn't actually a door, rather a golden bar emerged from the lower side of the structure and Kratos pulled it out, revealing that it was to form a set of thick steps for them to jump up and reach the upper level of this place.

Such a thing allowed them to reach an area where a statue of Euros rested, along with another Sun Lock, the latter just leading to a dead end, before Flurry had Kratos pull the steps out again and discovered that there was a carved out area for them to stop in, so when it returned to it's natural state they found that it brought them to a new area. This chamber just so happened to have two more statues that were directing the beams they had created with the statues in the prior chamber, so they split up and moved these ones into position as well, directing the beams onto two sun icons. With them in position Kratos climbed up to the sun icons and used the Sun Shield to gather some sun energy into the material before firing it at a sun icon that was on the upper portion of the steps they had climbed up earlier, causing it to light up as the steps moved out. Once the steps were no longer moving Kratos and Flurry headed back into the previous chamber and discovered something interesting, the statue of Euros had moved up slightly to reveal a hidden base, one that happened to have a Sun Lock waiting for them.

The pair glanced at each other for a moment before Kratos inserted the Sun Shield into the lock, where they found that it released a bit of solar energy that likely did more than what they were seeing right now, but it meant that whatever they were doing had to be the right thing. Flurry suspected that the solar energy might do something to the pillars she and her father had seen when they first entered the outskirts of Helios' temple, meaning there had to be two more statues that represented the two other Fire Steeds. Another thing happened as the energy started to shine, part of the flooring by the first two statues sunk and revealed yet another hidden section of the temple, meaning this might allow them to awaken all three Fire Steeds so they could move onto whatever the next part of their quest might be. Walking down the newest set of steps revealed a path that lead back to the area that Eos' statue was resting in, complete with a stone structure that was off to the left of the entrance, which had magic that reminded Flurry of the magical gate they had used after killing Alecto and her sisters.

With that in mind the pair passed through it and discovered that they appeared in what seemed to be a cave, one with two large statues and a path they could climb to reach another area, where Flurry wondered if they would find Eos before the other two Fire Steeds and had to wonder what might happen next.

Chains: Eos and the Fire Steeds

Kratos and Flurry found that, despite there being a pair of dead soldiers on the other side of the stone gate that brought them to the cave, there were no enemies for them to fight and take down, something that only made them raise their guards even more, since that usually meant their foes were lurking in the shadows. With that in mind Kratos jumped into the water and found that his daughter followed after him without delay, where they crossed the cavern that they had been brought to without delay and climbed out after reaching the other side, only to discover a sheer wall. Fortunately there was a carved path on the cavern's wall, to which the pair started to climb up towards the ceiling and found that the path moved right behind a statue's head, the right statue to be exact, ending in a flat carved out area. Flurry discovered that it held a lone statue of a merman, a figure with the upper body of a man and the lower body of a fish, though he carried a realistic lance that could be removed from his hands, where her father grasped it for a moment before removing it.

As he studied the weapon both he and Flurry watched as a small blue bit of energy coiled off of it and wrapped around them for a moment, something that was followed by him gesturing for his daughter to open her pouch so he could slip the lance inside it, since it wasn't a weapon.

"This isn't a new weapon or elemental power to use in combat, rather the lance has granted us the power to breathe while we're underwater." Kratos stated, as he had heard tales of heroes gaining the power to do such a thing when they aided the God of the Seas, Poseidon, usually by either tracking down a relic of his or being blessed by the god himself, though he was glad he had taught Flurry how to swim during their travels, in case she ever landed in water.

"Fascinating. Sounds quite useful." Flurry replied, because this meant that they would be able to explore new places and do all sorts of new things, especially since she was sure that there were puzzles located underwater, and possibly monsters as well, given what she had seen in the past.

Kratos nodded before he leapt off the ledge and dived into the water below, only to find that Flurry did the same without even wasting time, in fact she spun around for a few seconds as she took in just what sort of power they had unlocked due to the lance's influence. Once she was done fooling around, where Kratos had to remind himself that she was still a kid and someones she even acted like one, the pair found an opening that he smashed his way through, allowing them to swim even deeper into the cavern, following a passage that had once been above water. Such a thing allowed Flurry to see that most of the passage was ruined in one form or another, though she followed her father's example as they carefully moved towards their next destination, likely another chamber or even Eos' resting place, since this had to be where she was resting due to what the tablet earlier had told them. The path ended by bringing them back to the area they had started in, on the other side of a barred section that a lever rested in, though as Kratos pulled it they discovered that the entire cavern shook for a few moments, only to find that the large statue in the main chamber had moved, pushing a section of stone up while also revealing another path to climb.

With that in mind they got out of the water and climbed the new path, discovering that it brought them to a more modern area, since it looked more like Helios' temple, or any temple they had seen during their travels, though on the other side of the door they discovered Flurry found a new foe waiting for them, a massive bull-like creature.

"A minotaur... of course." Kratos remarked, as the anthropomorphic bull was a strong opponent, to the point that during his lessons he had taught Flurry that blocking it's attacks was a bad idea, as it was best to dodge and avoid it whenever it tried to attack them, and if Morpheus knew they were seeking the key to freeing Helios from Atlas it made sense to position such a powerful beast in their path.

As Kratos avoided the minotaur's attacks, however, Flurry ignited her hands and hurled fireballs at it, finding that it didn't like her attacks and came at her whenever it had a chance to do so, something that allowed her father to attack it before it had a chance to hit her. It was a good strategy in her mind, one of them would move while the minotaur focused on them, opening the way for the other one to attack it from behind for some decent damage, creating a cycle as the creature turned towards whoever attacked it last. Sure, it's attacks left gashes in the ground around them, showing that it's power was far more than what she was used to seeing, but Flurry knew they would succeed since the creature didn't seem too bright, at least not from what she and her father were seeing at the moment. Eventually they found a hole in it's defenses that gave Kratos a chance to slash into one of it's legs, causing it to growl in pain as it started to turn on him, where Flurry latched onto it's shoulders with her sickles and pulled back with all her might, opening the way for her father to gut the monster before removing it's head.

Flurry had a feeling that, had they faced such a beast on their own, it would have been a different battle for both of them, but she wasn't about to argue with the results as she and her father collected themselves before heading deeper into the main structure that was resting inside the cave. Such a thing meant that Kratos had to grab onto a crack and spin it so a walkway could be formed, which would allow them to reach the next part of the cave, though Flurry made sure to pull out the oath stone in case they needed to use it. To her surprise they didn't need to use Orkos' oath stone, rather the bridge locked into place and the crank sank back into the floor that it had emerged from, though they found that no new enemies came out to attack them, meaning they could walk across it with ease. After that the pair discovered a door that was lifted into the roof of the chamber, where Flurry found that they were walking into a chamber that seemed to be a resting place, especially when she and her father discovered Eos, in the flesh, resting nearby and looking like she was getting weaker as time went by.

"All glory be to Lord Zeus, for granting you safe passage to me." Eos said, where her voice and how she looked informed the father and daughter that she was definitely fading in and out of consciousness, meaning it was only a matter of time before she succumbed to Morpheus' sleep.

"No disrespect to Lord Zeus, but you can't really thank a slumbering god for something he didn't do... and it's a great way to annoy the champion of the gods." Flurry remarked, as she knew her father would be annoyed by Eos thanking Zeus for everything, attributing everything he did to the King of the Gods, where Kratos raised an eyebrow, as he really had no idea where she had gotten the backbone to talk to goddesses like this, "I mean, we had to make our way here, on our own, so we really didn't have the help of the gods."

"I see. Kratos, if you save my brother, I give you my word that he will plead your case to Zeus, to help you with both your servitude and your nightmares." Eos stated, showing that she knew what was on Kratos' mind right now, especially since their talk with Athena was still fresh in his memory, while at the same time Flurry wondered if Eos could actually convince her brother to talk with Zeus once everything was said and done, which would be nice if it was true.

"Your sentiment is appreciated, Eos, but you cannot make such a promise on your brother's behalf." Kratos said, though this time around he remained calm and collected, even if part of him was somewhat upset over everything that was going on right now, but his current mindset was to set a good example of sorts for Flurry.

"Very well. Know that you will have at least one ally among the gods." Eos replied, which informed Flurry that not even the other gods knew about the fact that Artemis and Apollo liked her and her father enough to visit them so much over the last five years, but neither of them said anything as the weak goddess forced herself to focus on what she needed to tell them, "You must hurry... the Primordial Fire is almost out... without Helios, the life giving light of the world cannot be sustained... if you do not find my brother, only darkness and Death awaits all of us. Sadly, I do not know where Atlas has taken Helios... however, if you follow this passage out of the cave it will lead you to the fire, which will help you in lighting your path to the remaining Fire Steeds. They will guide you to their master... they will guide you to my brother."

After that she started to tell them to go with the speed of Hermes, however, Eos slipped into her own slumber and they heard nothing more, causing Kratos and Flurry to head down the passage in question without wasting more time, because if Eos was starting to slumber it meant their time was more limited than they imagined. More legionnaires appeared along the way to try and deter them, to stop the father and daughter in their tracks, but Kratos split his enemies in half as Flurry used her smaller body to slip around her foes before cutting them down. Fortunately they were able to overcome the undead with ease and reached a chamber that happened to contain the Primordial Fire, in what looked to be another lift based on some of the walls, though as Flurry kept her sickles at the ready, in case more foes showed up to fight them, Kratos raised the Sun Shield and absorbed the ball of ancient fire into it. The three large statues that were around them came to life and attacked with bursts of fire, like a training session for the reflection power, so Kratos used the shield to reflect the attacks and broke the statues with ease, allowing him and Flurry to continue on with their quest.

The door that was at the end of the passage lead right back to the chamber that held the portal frame, Kratos just had to undo a Sun Lock to open the door so they could dive back down into the water, though when they approached the frame the pair found that it led back to the temple.

As they returned to the temple, however, Flurry found that the chamber Eos' statue was in was now generating energy all around the platform she and her father had stood on earlier, which had a beam that had to represent the first Fire Steed they had awakened, though Kratos activated a Sun Lock on the ground. Flurry raised an eyebrow for a moment before she found that it created a path for them to walk on, made of flaming energy no less, that connected to the main platform and formed walkways for them to either move forward or go back. In the end they turned towards the door on the left, since both of them assumed that there was more for the lift to reveal to them, and Kratos found a Sun Lock on it, one that, as it was activated, started to raise up, no doubt heading to a new level. Of course it wasn't an uneventful ride for them, since a number of harpies decided to try and take them out, though Kratos slashed them apart as Flurry latched onto her targets, pulled them down with one of her sickles, and removed their heads with a swing of her blade.

The upper level was identical to the one they had been on and the first one the lift had been resting at, but they knew that it was a new one and wasted no time in heading out to see what in the world was waiting for them this time around, since the temple was more complex than they were originally expecting. Kratos and Flurry walked out onto what appeared to be a small garden area, likely something Helios did to help him relax, before they pushed through another door's Sun Lock to get into another part of the massive temple, a large courtyard of sorts with another Fire Steed statue. As they walked into the area, however, Kratos heard the melody again and this time Flurry heard it as well, though their focus turned to a suit of enchanted armor and a number of legionnaires, so while Kratos dealt with the former Flurry used her arrows and her fire magic. She found that there was another power that had been unlocked after acquiring the Primordial Fire, which she found to be creating small orbs of more potent fire energy, maybe solar, to be thrown at the user's enemies, and instead of questioning it Flurry focused on taking her targets out.

With the enemies cleared out the pair approached Notos' statue, allowing them to study the area for a moment and see a beam piercing the darkness above them, no doubt from Euros' own statue, before Kratos walked over to the Sun Lock that was in the middle of the courtyard. Flurry watched as this one seemed to unlock some sort of crank device that allowed someone to fire a beam of solar energy at something, which turned out to be the four cylindrical sections, two on the left wall and two on the right, only for the first to open and reveal a statue like those in Euros' section, though he could only unlock the first one on each side. With that in mind Flurry rushed over to the first statue on each side and pulled them out, allowing her to position them so her father could hit the second containers, allowing her to free those ones as well, and as soon as all four were resting on a button the center of the entire area opened, revealing a fifth statue with two shields that reflected solar energy. The pair realized what needed to be done as they moved the statues around so that the beams of energy could be reflected into a central position so Kratos could reflect the energy right into Notos' statue, revealing the Sun Lock that, when activated, caused as second beam of light to pierce the growing darkness.

Kratos and Flurry stood there for a moment, smiling at their handiwork, before doubling back to the crank device that also doubled as a lift, as when Kratos activated the Sun Lock once more it took them down into the temple again, down to the area that Eos' statue was in before they stopped on a level above it. This new platform was made out of solar energy and happened to have a path leading to a new door that they hadn't been through before, despite the fact that it needed to be unlocked as well, revealing a passage that lead right into the broken chamber that had to contain the last puzzle between them and the last Fire Steed. Flurry noticed that they could climb up to where Zephyros' statue rested, though she saw no need to do so right now as they focused on tracking down the reflecting statues for the puzzle, which happened to missing it's head and shield, causing Kratos to move it into position before breaking the upper half of it. Such a thing allowed him to reflect the solar energy into the hole that the statue was supposed to do the same in, which moved the final statue up and revealed the Sun Lock that he activated without wasting time, allowing them to watch the energy form around it while no doubt generating the final beam.

As they left the chamber, utilizing the door behind Zephyros' statue, the pair found that they could return to the wall that both of them had climbed before talking to Athena earlier, where Flurry opened her wings and glided down to the bottom area as her father stabbed a blade into the rock wall and used it to slow his fall, only for them to be assaulted by another musical bit.

"That melody... Calliope?" Kratos asked, as he turned his head around a few times, to try and pinpoint where it was coming from, while at the same time Flurry found that more legionnaires were starting to appear between them and the area that the three pillars were resting in.

"Who?" Flurry inquired, though at the same time she raised her bow and loosed a few arrows into the air, striking some of the undead before they could react to their presence, before switching to her new magic as she mixed it into using both of her sickles, just as her father steadied himself and joined her in cutting through their foes.

"My... late daughter." Kratos replied, though as he lifted a legionnaire and split him in half above his head, causing some of the others to back up a little, he realized something important, he had never told Flurry about Calliope or Lysandra, or the fact that they had been slain by his hand while he was under Ares' foul madness.

Flurry paused for a moment, as she wasn't expecting to hear that information, though instead of worrying about that right now, and opening herself up to being hit, she focused on the fight as she slashed her way through her enemies while her father did the same thing. It appeared that Morpheus knew that they were getting closer and closer to their goal and this was one of his attempts to deal with them before they found Helios, to the point that he even called more banshees to join the battle, or at least Flurry was sure he was sending them after her and her father. The pillars, as it turned out, were undefended by their enemy, so they were able to focus on turning the cranks into position, or rather Kratos did as Flurry kept an eye out for any additional enemies as she readied her bow in case more monsters came at them. He was able to turn all three of them without anything coming to attack them, which was just odd in Flurry's eyes, before finding one last Sun Lock behind the pillars, though when he activated this one they had to brace themselves as the Fire Steeds came to life before their eyes.

The three Steeds were massive beings of fire, just as the tales said, though instead of wasting time they rushed off in the direction of their master, causing the father and daughter to brace themselves as they wondered what sort of location the Fire Steeds were taking them to and what dangers might be waiting for them.

Chains: Journey Through the Underworld

It took a while for the Fire Steeds to reach what had to be their destination, though both Kratos and Flurry were surprised to find that they had flown down into a large hole in the ground, likely created by their collision with the ground, and passed into the Underworld itself, something neither of them were expecting. Fortunately it appeared that Morpheus' fog hadn't reached this place, or maybe it couldn't since it didn't seem to be leaking through the hole in the underground roof, but at the same time both knew that they wouldn't find any aid down here, as Hades and all of the other gods of this place were no doubt asleep as well. Such a thing meant that they would likely have to fight their way through the Underworld, track down something, anything really, to figure out where Helios was being held, since the Fire Steeds had brought them here to find their master, and then free him to restore balance to the world. Flurry knew that there was a chance that they would have to fight Atlas, a titan, but she was hopeful that they could get to the imprisoned god before anything else happened, even if she also knew to expect the unexpected, a lesson her father had taught her over the years.

Of course there was the fact that the Fire Steeds reached the point where they were forced back into their statues, though as the Sun Chariot plummeted out of the air, heading towards a lake of blood, Kratos spotted a path and leapt towards it with all of his might, where he latched onto it with his blades and pulled himself up, only to find that Flurry glided down to him with ease.

"Helios is going to have a lot of work to do when we free him." Flurry remarked, staring out into the massive blood sea that was in front of them, or at least it sure looked like blood based on what she was seeing right now, because the Sun Chariot had landed far off in the distance, lifeless without the Fire Steeds pulling it around.

"Yes, he will. Now, eyes forward... there is no telling what this place will throw at us." Kratos stated, as the Underworld was the last place he expected the Fire Steeds to bring them, especially with all of the dangers that were said to be here, hence why he held his blades tighter than before.

Flurry nodded for a moment as she did the same, drawing her bow as they started to follow the path in front of them, one that seemed to be heading towards a large stone tower off in the far distance, only to find that they had to climb up some rocks walls, so she stayed back for a time, keeping an eye on her father's path. She was making sure that no enemies tried to stop her father from reaching the end of the path, though when he did so he turned and kept watch on her as she climbed on the walls as well, passing by a few stone statues that looked like they had been alive at one point. Such a thing meant a gorgon had to be in the area, as she had seen Albis use her petrification gaze several times over the years, so she kept her guard up as they reached a second stone wall, this one having undead legionnaires hanging on it that wanted to do them harm. With that in mind Flurry stood back and loosed a few arrows into the enemies that were in her father's way, taking all of them down in no time at all, and when the coast was clear Kratos remained near the ledge and watched over her, since he had magic that could be thrown at enemies from afar, but he found that he had no reason to do so, as nothing arrived to stop Flurry in her tracks.

After that they reached an area that a gorgon was definitely guarding, because the creature slithered out of the area that she had been hiding in and revealed herself to the pair, where Flurry discovered that this gorgon had green scales, instead of what she had seen in the past. This one didn't have the snake hood, like Albis had, so the snakes that happened to be her hair had more room to move around and do whatever it was they were supposed to do for the gorgons, and, just like almost all of the female monsters they had come across, this gorgon wasn't wearing anything. Instead of worrying about that fact, like she had done in the past, Flurry rushed at the creature and slashed into her side with one of her sickles, causing it to let out a hiss of pain before Kratos grabbed her head, slammed her into the ground, and literally ripped her head off, tossing it to the side once the deed was done. Of course there were two more gorgons waiting to join the battle, to which the father and daughter split up to tackle one each, where Flurry dodge rolled to her foe's right and jumped onto the gorgon's back, a fact that allowed her to raise her sickles and remove her foe's head, letting it roll as her father took his foe's head.

Kratos had to admit that five years of traveling and fighting, and training with him and Albis, had definitely turned Flurry into a skilled warrior, one he was proud of, though once the gorgons were dealt with the pair continued forward, keeping an eye out for additional enemies that might be waiting for them.

The next part of the pair was a set of stairs carved into the side of the mountain they were walking through, though there were broken sections in it, no doubt due to the fact that no one seemed to use this path anymore, at least not mortals since the Underworld was the realm of the dead, so they had to be careful. With that in mind they jumped at the same time, which caused part of the stairs to break and fall behind them as the pair reached the upper part of this area, but instead of taking some time to comprehend what had happened Kratos continued to move and Flurry followed him, knowing that it was best if they kept moving. The circular area that was just beyond the ruined stairs had a number of undead legionnaires for them to deal with, along with a couple of cyclops that appeared a few moments later, though this time around the pair decided to save time by utilizing their fire abilities to burn away their enemies, Kratos using the Efreet to burn the area around him as Flurry used fireballs to hit anyone not caught in her father's attack. There was one that Kratos stabbed with his blades, allowing him to climb up onto the cyclops' shoulders and forcefully remove it's eye in the span of a few seconds, though at this point Flurry wasn't even surprised by that anymore and was glad that it was the last foe in this area.

After that they had to jump over a decent sized gap, allowing them to cross over to a set of ruins that had some harpies and a gorgon guarding the area, where Kratos used his magic to burn away the flying enemies as Flurry hacked into her foe, dodging attacks as her sickles tore into the creature.

Kratos made sure that Flurry was done with her opponent before he bothered to explore the rest of the ruins, mostly to be sure she didn't need his help with the gorgon, though once she was done he discovered that the bridge connecting the ruins to the rest of the path was broken. With that information in mind he discovered a large moveable stone that could be used to form a way up to a portion of the cliff that rested above them, allowing them to climb behind a short waterfall, without any interruptions, before dropping down on the other side of the path. There were more legionnaires waiting for intruders to reach this part of the stone walkway, confirming that someone didn't want anyone to interfere with Atlas' plot to use Helios' power to bring about the end of the world, but the warriors dealt with them in no time. This time it ended in a dead end, at least until they discovered a path above them that seemed to be leading even deeper in the Underworld, though to access it Kratos smashed a nearby pillar and crushed part of ruins, allowing him and Flurry to continue moving, even if the path brought them to a large dead tree.

Beyond the tree rested a large stone gate that seemed important, since the tower was further beyond that, and to the left of the seemingly dead tree rested a locked door, hence why they headed towards the gate and discovered two animated suits of armor waiting for them, along with a number of harpies. In order to deal with the sets of armor the pair dealt with the harpies first, burning all of the flying foes away with some of their magic, before forcefully removing both of their large shields so they could deal some direct damage to the chest pieces. When they dealt enough damage the suits staggered back for a moment and the pair sprung into action, Kratos stabbed his blades into his foe's chest and landed behind it so he could pull it apart, while Flurry slashed at her opponent's chest and the life faded after her sickles cut into it. After that Flurry found that the energy of the two suits floated through the air before rushing backwards, where she followed them as her father stared at the gate, mostly to see if he could find a way to open it, only for her to discover that the energy did something interesting.

"Father, I've found the path forward." Flurry said, as the bits of energy had joined the door they had walked by and used their power to charge it, like soul energy being used to open the door, and her father nodded his head as he discovered what she had pointed out to him, causing them to continue with their weapons drawn.

The path in question held a smooth tunnel carved into the mountain they had been walking around, one that lead right to an arena with spinning blades moving from one side of the chamber to the other, complete with more suits of armor and harpies, the latter being a favorite in the Underworld as Flurry was discovering. Based on what she was seeing the layout of the Underworld really made no sense, even for a place of torment depending on which area one happened to be in, but having an arena like this, before what appeared to be a decent sized dock, didn't make sense. There was no reason for the souls of the dead to fight in this area, before boarding the ship that would take them deeper into the Underworld, but she guessed that was something that could be directed to Hades, if she had the honor of meeting him at some point, and just focused on cutting down their enemies while burning the harpies with her magic. Once they were done with their enemies the pair approached the dock and Kratos found a large bell resting off to the left, where Flurry let him ring it as she stared out at the massive river that was beyond where they were standing.

Sure enough a large ship moved down the river and rowed down to where they were standing, causing a walkway to lower into place so the pair could walk onto it's deck when it came to a stop, only to find an elderly figure with a long white beard standing nearby, wearing no shirt while having a golden mask of sorts over his face, plus he carried a scythe in one hand and wore the lower half of a robe over his lower body.

"Who calls for the Ferryman? Is it you, Ghost of Sparta?" the figure, Charon as Flurry recognized him from the tales she had learned over the years, inquired, though at the same time he moved down to where they were standing, faster than most of the enemies they had fought so far, before he turned and faced her for a moment.

In the following second Charon, as if sensing something only he could sense, jumped backwards and got away from them, but since he didn't seem to be taking a battle stance neither warrior drew their weapons, all while Flurry found that the figure seemed to be sweating for some reason.

"...Death... What business do you have here?" Charon asked, where Flurry was surprised by his tone, he seemed terrified or scared of her, which was odd since there should be no reason for her to do such a thing to someone like him, while her father seemed to be thinking about the situation they were in.

"We are looking for Helios. Athena tasked us with finding him and Eos said the Fire Steeds would bring us to where their master is being held... which apparently is somewhere in the Underworld." Flurry replied, figuring that if he was talking to her, and not her father despite the fact that he was clearly the more experienced between them, she might as well give him an answer, "So, um, we need to explore the rest of this place to find him and were hoping that you might be able to aid us in some manner... or at least find the titan Atlas, since he's the one holding Helios right now."

Charon stood there for a moment before beckoning for them to move, where he took his position on the ship and let the vessel move deeper into the Underworld, though at the same time Kratos stood there, taking in the fact that Charon, like almost every godly figure he had encountered, seemed to link Flurry with Death. This time it was more than figuring out that the two were linked in some manner, likely the sickles given what he had seen of them over the years, rather this time around Flurry's presence actually freaked out someone who was more experienced than her, someone who had no right being scared of his daughter. He glanced at the Ferryman for a moment and found that he was focused on moving them towards their destination, Atlas he reasoned, before noticing that the figure was glancing at Flurry, who was sitting near a stone statue at the front of the ship, of a woman crossed with a lioness. Charon was absolutely terrified of her, almost as if she were Thanatos himself, the God of Death itself, and that with a wave of her hand she could kill him with little to no real effort on her part, so it seemed like he was pleasing her to stay on her good side.

As he thought about all of that, however, Charon moved them into what appeared to be the depths of the Underworld, a place that seemed to be the opposite of what they needed, and positioned them near what appeared to be a small shrine to Zeus, which held an artifact of some kind inside it.

"The Gauntlet of Zeus... you will need it to deal with the now freed Atlas." Charon stated, where he tapped his scythe on the deck of the ship and a walkway formed for them to walk down to the small pitiful temple, though he made no move to leave as Kratos and Flurry started to walk down it, "Do not worry, I won't leave until you are back on the ship."

That, alone, confirmed Kratos' thoughts on the matter, the Ferryman was terrified of Flurry and he didn't want to upset her by leaving them without a way to get out of this cavernous area, though he focused on the suits of armor that seemed to be the guardians of the gauntlet. Like the pair expected neither foe stood much of a chance and it wasn't long before the area was clear, allowing Flurry to climb up the side of the statue before prying the golden gauntlet, with what had the face of Zeus on the upper portion of it, off of it's resting place. Kratos found that it seemed larger than it needed to be, as he knew that the King of the Gods wasn't too much taller or larger than he was, before they found that the object held the power to shrink and grow depending on who was using it, as it shrunk when Flurry put it on and it grew when he tried it on. The gauntlet also doubled as a weapon as they found some legionnaires coming to deal with them and Kratos used it to smash through the shields that their new foes carried into battle, a worthwhile thing since that meant they might have the power to break down walls and other things that were blocking the way.

With the Gauntlet of Zeus in hand Kratos and Flurry returned to Charon and he moved them deeper into the Underworld, this time no doubt heading in the direction of Atlas, or whatever the next step of their journey was, as they were following the bright light of Helios that was off in the far distance... and as they drew close to the palace Kratos heard the siren song once more, causing him to leap off as he called for Calliope again.

"Someone's using illusions to try and fool father... reminds me of the Furies." Flurry commented, which was just annoying that there was someone out there that would try and use this 'Calliope' against her father, sort of like how the Furies had used all sorts of tricks and people to try and do the same thing, causing her to turn towards Charon, "Thanks for the lift, Charon. I'll make sure the gods know that you did a good job helping us out... provided I can catch up with my father."

The Ferryman said nothing as he tossed a small green gemstone at her, which seemed to contain a green flame that she and her father could use to gain a new power, causing her to catch it and nod as she jumped off the ship and followed after Kratos as they moved into what had to be Hades' palace, and faced whatever dangers it might have for them.

Chains: Into Persephone's Temple

Flurry found that no new enemies showed up to attack them as her father jumped off the ship and she followed after him, which as understandable since this was the path leading to the palace of the god who ruled over the Underworld, and since the gods had tasked them with saving Helios it stood to reason they'd leave the pair alone.

"Father, slow down." Flurry said, as it was so strange to see her father, who was usually focused on the missions that they were given, be distracted so easily by the sheer possibility that his late daughter might be within reach, but at the very least her words seemed to stall him.

"I saw Calliope... I must make sure she's okay." Kratos stated, because due to his actions his own flesh and blood daughter had been denied the life that had been ahead of her, so he wanted to make sure her soul had found it's way into the Asphodel Meadows, one of the five regions of the Underworld that housed ordinary souls.

"As much as I hate to be the bearer of bad news, I doubt that was her... she would have stayed here to see you again, right?" Flurry inquired, something that caused Kratos to pause for a moment, as what he had seen had turned and floated off in the direction of the palace they were currently walking towards, but if it really was his late daughter he realized that Flurry was right, Calliope would have stuck around to see them, "And, in the off chance that it is her, she might be playing around... but, since this is the Underworld, I'd wager what you saw was a wraith or some other foul creature that's designed to lure you, and others like you, to your untimely doom."

Kratos said nothing to that as he realized that Flurry was talking about the tale of the sirens, creatures who lured men that drank seawater to their doom by calling to them, promising that they were the wives and daughters they had left behind, a fact that caused him and others to throw the affected overboard, least they endanger the ship. Such a thing caused him to realize that his daughter was right, someone in the Underworld was trying to play at his emotions, using Calliope's form and music against him, and whoever had done so would feel his wrath in due time, once he found them anyway. It also made him realize something else, whoever was trying to trick him had only used his late daughter, instead of adding his late wife into the mix, meaning that part was either coming up next or they felt that he would ignore Lysandra. Now that he knew of the trick he also hoped that his wife was somewhere in the Asphodel Meadows, since she was pure like their daughter, to which Kratos steeled himself once more as he turned towards the palace, causing Flurry to smile as her father, the one she was used to, stood before her once more.

With his head screwed on right again, and he knew that the figure he saw was likely an illusion, Kratos and Flurry entered the palace, finding that it was more elegant than what either of them thought Hades was capable of, meaning this had to be a temple or palace that belonged to Persephone. Such a thing was confirmed as they noticed a few stone tomes that were open and placed in locations for them to read, where they detailed the story of Persephone and revealed that this was, in fact, her temple, not Hades' like they originally assumed when they first saw it. One tome revealed that the various seasons were created due to the God of the Underworld taking her as his bride and Demeter, Persephone's mother, just refusing to let the earth bare fruit until her daughter was returned, but, since she had eaten some pomegranate, she was cursed to spend half a year down here. Another detailed that life flourished and thrived when she was above ground, with her mother and everything she held dear, and that everything seemed to wither away and die when she returned to her husband in the Underworld, doing with the seasons Flurry had learned about over the years.

One thing she noted, however, was that this seemed to be one side of the story, designed to make one believe her plight while not giving everyone an idea of what had actually happened, causing her to keep her eyes open for any additional tomes as Kratos pushed open the door leading to the next level.

There they found that the phantom that Kratos had been following had disappeared and a number of foes appeared out of thin air, a fair amount of satyrs and even a beast of Morpheus, where Flurry did the reasonable thing by attacking the former as her father dealt with the latter. It was a fair division of labor in her eyes, as her father was stronger than she was and he could keep the beast contained in one area, and that wasn't taking their new green flame into consideration, as Charon's Wrath dealt good damage to their foes. Flurry knew this as she formed a fireball made of green flames at a pair of satyrs, burning them as they screamed in agony, giving her a chance to rush to her father's side so he could touch the crystal and access it's power as well, since she assumed Charon meant for them both to use some of his power. With the green flames in hand Kratos blasted the beast in the back after getting on top of it, causing the creature to howl in pain as it moved around the chamber they were in, all while he stabbed into it's back to keep doing damage.

Flurry, on the other hand, used the green flames as a distraction as she slashed at the satyrs, cutting into their legs while opening a path to their chests, where she could deal the most damage with her sickles, though when one knocked her to the ground she got back up and took it's head before it could even stop her.

"You know, this just raises more questions and leaves less answers." Flurry remarked, speaking the instant the last of her enemies were taken care of, while at the same time Kratos wrapped the burning chains of his around the beast's head and severed it, making her wonder if the ones near his wrists could do the same thing, "One would think that either Hades' or Persephone's latent powers would keep the temple safe from unwanted intruders, despite the fact Morpheus' fog put all of the gods and goddesses to sleep... so how did his minions get in here in the first place?"

"What are you thinking?" Kratos inquired, because Flurry was one smart girl, that was a fact he had come to understand over the years training her and witnessing her skills with his own eyes, and he could see that the gears were turning in her head as she glanced at the monsters that had been turned into corpses and bloodstains.

"I mean, this would be totally weird, and raise even more questions... but could Hades or Persephone be behind this and set this up as a trap to kill us?" Flurry said, as the only way she could see monsters getting around the protective barriers that the two rulers of the Underworld would have placed around their domains, to keep the various monsters out, was if those very gods allowed said monsters inside, which, if she was right, only made her wonder why they'd do such a thing in the first place.

Kratos had nothing to say to that, as he knew that there were some tales of Persephone being unhappy with her entire marriage and how she was only out of the Underworld for half of the year, but even then he couldn't see a god, much less one of the major Olympians, trying to destroy the entire world. Of course if it were Ares they were talking about he'd no doubt accept Flurry's suggestion as the truth, he despised the God of War for everything he had done to him, but since it was Hades or Persephone he couldn't say anything. All he could do was grunt and make a shrugging motion in response, telling her that he had no idea on the matter, especially since it made one wonder if the gods in question might be up and about right now, and if that was the case it would raise even more questions than before. There was also the fact that she was essentially accusing an Olympian of freeing a titan from his bindings so he could bring about the end of the world, a fact that the others would take offense to, especially after how she acted towards Athena earlier, so all he could do right now was hope that none of the gods were behind this series of events.

Since there wasn't anything else for them to talk about the pair pressed onward, moving from one floor to the next while keeping their eyes peeled for enemies, such as more satyrs and harpies guarding some golden icons that looked like they might be modeled after a gorgon's head. The icons, as it turned out, seemed to release bursts of energy that appeared to be the gaze of a gorgon, instantly crushing whatever monster or intruder got this far into the temple, which Flurry just found to be weird since there should be actual guards, who were currently missing. Kratos, of course, didn't have much to say about the situation, rather he focused on their enemies and the new hazard, showing her that he was really focused on figuring out what was going on, since the end of the temple likely had answers to some of their questions. Flurry also found a way to smash the icons to cancel their ability and give themselves more room to fight all of the monsters that had come to kill them both, ending with them wiping out the group of enemies so Kratos could open the next door leading up to yet another floor.

The next group of enemies the wraith brought them to happened to be armored cyclops and more harpies, though both of them were sure that this wasn't Calliope, since she clearly wouldn't try to kill her father, nor anyone that was close to him like Flurry was, but, without any other options, they had no choice but to follow it. Flurry found the construction of the entire temple to be weird, it was just one long series of floors with a single set of stairs linking one to another, going in a circular pattern as they moved higher and higher. She did find the armored cyclops to be an interesting challenge for just a few moments, mostly until she and her father discovered that they fought like their unarmored counterparts, so it was just a matter of remembering how to get around their weapons, climb their arms, and then slash them in the neck a few times to end their lives. It was actually somewhat disappointing to her, that the new type of enemy didn't have any new or different tactics, causing her to sigh as she brought hers down and watched as her father did the same with his, though he used his to crush some of the harpies as well, killing two birds with one stone.

There were a few more gorgon icon chambers and more floors with armored cyclops guarding them, meaning whoever had created this place had no originality, before they found a lift that one of them had to turn a crank to raise them little by little. Of course the lift was attacked by harpies, which seemed to be a favorite pass time of theirs, just attacking lifts or areas that people moved through to harass whoever was passing through, so while Kratos turned the crank Flurry raised her bow and loosed some arrows at her targets. The lift brought them to a new chamber, identical to a couple that they had passed through before this point, where they were attacked by more harpies and more gorgons, these ones wearing odd golden chains in an X pattern while exposing their breasts, not to mention they had purple scales. This time, however, Kratos and Flurry did something different, they used the gazes of the gorgons to trap their allies in stone and smashed all of the statues before the monsters could free themselves, before removing their heads to ensure the same fate didn't befall them.

After that they finally, at long last, reached their destination, the peak of the temple where they found a large tree with a stone bench resting next to it, with a grove resting around them, before discovering a figure with a black dress that just so happened to be sitting on the bench, which caused Flurry's eyes to widen in surprise.

"It... it can't be. Persephone's awake?!" Flurry remarked, keeping her voice low as she and Kratos stood at the opening of the passage that had brought them to this point, since it didn't look like the figure had noticed them yet, but she knew it was a rouse, the goddess knew she and her father were standing there.

"Steel yourself... something about this smells of trickery." Kratos replied, following his daughter's decision to keep his own voice low, because if all of the gods were supposed to be asleep, like Athena had told him, seeing one in the flesh, looking as if she was unbothered by Morpheus' fog, informed him that something was up, potentially what his daughter had said before this point, to which he gestured for her to follow his lead as he stepped forward, "Lady Persephone, it is good to see that one Olympian is still awake."

"You surprise me, Ghost of Sparta. I expected you to explode in anger at the sight of me sitting here, after searching for your late daughter." Persephone commented, which she knew either to being aware of what happened in the Underworld, at least to her own degree after working and living with Hades for some time, or because she knew about the wraith and was keeping back her disappointment over the fact that Kratos was still alive, causing her to turn towards them, "Calliope is well, in case you are wondering... living with the rest of the pure souls in the Elysium Fields. Shall I open the way to her, so you can see her again?"

"No... it takes a load off my mind, knowing that she is where she belongs." Kratos answered, an answer that pained him to make, because if he was alone, and didn't have Flurry with him, he was sure that he would have taken the offer without even thinking about it, even if it meant dooming the entire world to Atlas and Morpheus, before he considered something he hadn't considered until that very moment, "What of Lysandra? Is she with Calliope?"

"Your late wife? Honestly, I have no idea... her soul never arrived." Persephone said, something that struck Flurry as totally odd, because every soul eventually ended up in the Underworld, save for monsters anyway, so the fact that Lysandra's was missing should have worried the goddess in front of them, who seemed indifferent to this information, "Maybe one of the other gods snatched her soul, before she reached the start of the Underworld, and turned her into a monster... maybe you've doomed her to a cursed existence, never to see her daughter again while constantly being thrown at you, unaware of the fact that you've likely killed her over and over again. Or maybe her soul is still out there somewhere, uncollected just to spite you... really, I have no idea, and honestly I don't care... her fate doesn't concern me, Ghost of Sparta."

In the next moment Flurry found that Kratos raised one of his blades and held it close to Persephone's neck, where it was far too clear for her to see that the goddess had pushed a button she shouldn't have, as her father loved his late wife and hearing all of that hadn't done him any good.

"You... you will not speak of Lysandra like that. I couldn't... I wouldn't do that to her, not after the events that brought about her death!" Kratos stated, though at the same time he realized that there was no way for him to know is what the goddess had said was the truth or not, and if it was the truth it sickened him, because if his late wife had been turned into a monster it was likely that Persephone was right, he had cursed her and would never know it.

"Do not threaten me, Spartan, not while I'm being hospitable. Besides, you killed her once, along with your late daughter... so what's a few more times?" Persephone remarked, almost as if she was trying to manipulate Kratos into attacking her for some odd reason, where Flurry noticed that she made sure the large tree was behind her, before her mind registered what had been said and the goddess smiled at her shocked expression, "That's right, you never told this one the truth. You heard me right, little pony, the person you call 'father' killed his own flesh and blood with the very blades you've seen him use to kill monster after monster, all in his mad quest for glory and spreading his legend to all of Greece... really, it's only a matter of time until he gets you killed as well."

"NO! I did not knowingly kill Lysandra and Calliope... Ares drove me into a blood craze and manipulated me into killing my own family, all to make me the 'perfect warrior'." Kratos replied, though this wasn't how he wanted Flurry to find out that he had killed both his late wife and his late daughter, despite the fact that he had pushed it to the back of his mind in the hopes that Flurry would forget what she had learned earlier, "You know I would never let such a thing happen to you."

"And why should she trust you, Spartan? You don't really care about the mortal world, as I can see that without her you'd give up on the gods and join your late daughter." Persephone said, confirming that she knew how to manipulate Kratos, or at least use his emotions to cause some trouble for the pair, while at the same time Flurry realized that she was buying time for something to happen, or for someone to complete their terrible task, "You would give up on her in a heartbeat, if it meant being reunited with your slain child... even if you don't deserve it, after all of the innocent lives you've taken... especially not after turning into the monstrous slave that the Olympians use to do their bidding. You don't deserve Calliope, not after all of the terrible things you've done."

Kratos, enraged by Persephone's words, growled at her as he swung his blades at her, though as the goddess dodged, so his blades could hit the tree, Flurry threw her sickles and knocked the weapons out of the way, returning her father's to his side as her weapons did the same.

"I've met a few gods and goddesses over the years, but you, Persephone... you are the worst." Flurry remarked, though that was when Kratos discovered something interesting, he wasn't the only one that had anger issues, especially when she raised her sickles and spun them in front of her a few times so that the outer edges hit each other every now and then, "Well, Ares is bad too, and I haven't even met him yet... but I've figured out what's going on: you freed Atlas, allowed Morpheus to wake up and spread his fog, and are, even now, stalling us so the titan can complete his task."

"You know, I suspected that you might be trouble... but you are becoming a thorn in my side." Persephone stated, where it was clear that she wasn't even going to try to disprove what Flurry had just said, as she flexed her own power for a couple of seconds and transformed, growing a pair of wings that looked like a dark butterfly's and gained black armor that made her look more like a warrior goddess, "You are right, I did free Atlas, who is, even now, making his way to the pillar that holds up the world... with it destroyed everything will fall back into chaos, the Underworld will be eradicated, and I, at long last, will have the freedom I crave."

Kratos growled as he heard that, as Persephone was totally unhinged and wanted to destroy everything, all because she thought the gods had betrayed her when there was literally nothing that could be done to help her out, before Flurry just stopped spinning her sickles as she formed her sickle staff again. He wondered what was going through her head, as this was one of those rare times where she acted differently than what he had seen before this point, especially since this was the first time they had found someone who didn't care for mortals or the lives that people were living. Persephone clearly didn't value life, not like Flurry did, and he could tell that his daughter wasn't happy with this discovery, plus he could see that she wasn't happy about being proven right, that she had been hoping that she was being paranoid after discovering the fact that Persephone had been awake the entire time. In the next moment Flurry burst into the air and grabbed onto the goddess' face, surprising both her and Kratos in the process, before she moved into the sky, flying for the first time in Kratos' memory as she moved higher and higher, and he was taken for a ride as well, as her magic wrapped around him and pulled him into the air, so he didn't get left behind.

Somehow it was as if her rage and anger towards Persephone had caused an awakening of sorts in his daughter, allowing her to fly without even realizing it, though it wasn't long before Flurry slammed the goddess into the side of the massive stone pillar that Atlas was reaching the top of, only to hurl her into the floor of it's peak as she lowered her father down as well so they could deal with her.

Persephone, while clearly being annoyed by the fact that someone was treating her this way, stomped on the ground and raised rubble to hurl at them, where Kratos smashed through the rocks with the gauntlet as Flurry dodged to the side, as they were ready for combat and weren't about to back down now. The goddess rushed at Kratos with her hand, figuring he was the more dangerous foe out of the pair, only to growl in pain as Flurry caught up with her and slashed into her arm with one of her sickles, allowing her to understand that her weapons were definitely deadly. She then gathered some dark green energy into her hands and tried to crush both of them into the ground, though her movements were far too easy for the pair to read, meaning she must have had no training since she was brought down here all those years ago, but that was her problem as they dodged and slashed into her back. Flurry was, quite honestly, disappointed in Persephone, due to the fact that she relied on her magic to deal damage to her enemies, or at least make an attempt to do so, and seemed to have no weapons to use upon discovering that they were dodging her attacks and spilling her blood while she tried to move around the arena.

While they were dealing with Persephone, however, Atlas finished his ascent and smashed the upper portion of the pillar, though in that moment Kratos, upon seeing that his hands still had some of the chains around them, had a crazy idea and left the goddess to his daughter, as he knew she didn't need his help. As such he rushed at the edge of the arena and just jumped into the air, finding that the titan noticed him coming and reached out to grab him, where he used his blades to latch onto Atlas' hand and let him raise his palm towards the ceiling that was above them. In the instant before Kratos was crushed he leapt off the hand, pulled out the Gauntlet of Zeus, and struck one of the chains towards the ceiling, where it struck the stone and wrapped around his hand, sealing it in place while giving him only a little room to move it after this point. As he fell, however, the titan made another mistake as he reached for Kratos with his other main hand, where the warrior turned around and struck another chain, which wrapped around the giant creature's hand and quickly chained it to the ceiling as well, permanently making it so that he would have to hold up the world for the rest of eternity.

As he landed on the outer edge of the arena, and noticed that one of Atlas' other hands held Helios, as he had four arms in total and two needed to be chained before they left, he found that Flurry had knocked Persephone to the ground and had severed her left wings, and while the goddess fell away his daughter let out an eerie whistle as she swung her sickles and removed the other pair, causing the goddess to scream in pain.

"...I know we take lives for a living, but it both saddens and enrages me to see someone like you not valuing the long life you were given. Not valuing ANY OF IT!" Flurry stated, her tone confirming her words, she was angry with Persephone, far more than Kratos had seen her in the past, and he wasn't sure if he should step in and stop her, if it meant killing the very goddess that put this series of events in motion, or if he should just keep an eye on Persephone, "There are people that are far less fortunate than you, some whose lives are unfairly snuffed out early... some don't even get a chance to live their lives, dying while they're young or barely born... but you... you couldn't find value in anything. Once you were convinced that the gods had betrayed you, you gave up on living... you became unworthy of the life you had been granted so long ago... it's actually kind of sad that you never realized how much Hades loved you."

"Flurry, she is beaten... let us tie her up and deliver her to the Olympians for punishment." Kratos said, because while he suspected that they could, in fact, kill her for her dark crimes, especially after witnessing the end of the Furies at the end of their first adventure together, he suspected that Zeus and the others would have questions for her.

"Father, she freed Atlas... what's to stop her from waiting until we're dead before trying again?" Flurry inquired, which was due to the fact that her father was mortal, he could die at any moment like everyone they fought and killed before even reaching this point, and they had no idea how long she would live, her species was totally unknown, hence why she was even considering such a thing, "As much as I don't want to do this, it's for the best of everyone... she could free the other titans as well, since she knows how to undo their bindings, and then we'd really be in trouble. I'll end her suffering now, so she can move on to whatever afterlife awaits the gods... and hope that you find value in whatever comes next."

As Persephone got up, no doubt to stop what was coming next, Kratos slashed at her legs before she could get too far, a fact that forced the goddess to kneel before Flurry, who quickly swung her sickles and made the wipe off motion as she returned them to her sides, causing Persephone's body to go limp and fall to the ground as her head rolled off to the side for a moment. In the following moment her body turned into pure energy before exploding, or at least it sure looked like it to the pair, but Kratos and Flurry stood their ground, likely due to Flurry's unique magic or something, all while the blast in question caused Atlas to let go of Helios. The God of the Sun, naturally, expanded his energy and called forth the chariot he rode across the skies, where they found that he was able to energize the Fire Steeds with his own power, at least for as long as they were in the Underworld, to keep them from disappearing until they were above ground. Of course Helios was a little shaken by these events, as he had been turned into a weapon that would have been used to destroy the world, but seeing Persephone's death, at their hands no less, was also quite a shock, one that Zeus would no doubt be told of once they were back on solid ground.

"You have my thanks, Spartan, and so does your daughter... and, as my sister said, you shall have an ally on Olympus after today." Helios said, because after everything the Spartan and his daughter had done so far, and the fact that they took out an actual goddess on their own, he realized that it might be best to just stay on their good side, or maybe on Flurry's good side since that whistle was eerie and he didn't want to cross her in some manner.

Flurry, on the other hand, simply whistled as her father nodded his head, showing he appreciated having another god that might help him get what he wanted, all while she slipped the Sun Shield and the Gauntlet of Zeus into her pouch, since there was no telling what the future might hold for them or what the gods might give them as their next task, making her look forward to their next incredible adventure.

Interlude: New Lessons

Following the death of Persephone, and the disruption of her plan to bring about the destruction of the world by using Atlas and Helios, Kratos and Flurry found that Helios brought them out of the Underworld without delay, allowing him to pull his power back as the Fire Steeds stabilized themselves to continue their flight. Helios informed them that he'd be making a short stop to check up on his sister, as he wanted to make sure Eos was fine after everything that had happened so far, all while he would be dropping them off at their boat, so they could continue with their mortal lives. When Kratos glanced at him the god made sure to tell him that he would be talking with Zeus once he got to Olympus, as he wanted the King of the Gods to know that they owed their survival to him and his daughter, especially since he agreed with Flurry. As much as he didn't want a god or goddess to die, even he realized that Persephone was too far gone to save, she was too set on her path of destruction and that death was the only true end for her, least she free the titans and destroy the world, just as Flurry had said before doing the deed.

As they moved towards their destination, and watched as Morpheus' fog dissolved as the being went back to sleep thanks to Helios being freed, Kratos walked over to where Flurry was standing and found that she was whistling, the same one he had heard while she was dealing with Persephone.

"You did well on this quest, Flurry, and I understand your reasons for taking Persephone's life," Kratos stated, because this adventure had confirmed that his daughter was a skilled warrior, even though she could be terrifying when she was angry, if the fate of the Goddess of the Underworld was anything to go by, but there were some things he felt needed to be cleared up before they rejoined Albis and their crew, "but I have a few questions: first, when did you learn how to fly?"

"I... can fly?" Flurry inquired, though in that moment she realized something, after Persephone revealed her plan to them, not to mention her total disregard for mortals and even the life she had been given, something inside her had snapped and she went on the offensive, allowing her to actually use her wings for flying, instead of gliding, and she opened them for a few moments as she faced her father, "I have no idea how I did that... I wonder if I can do it again? What's the other question that's bothering you?"

"I was curious when you learned how to whistle like that." Kratos said, as he had never heard her practice doing that while they were traveling from one port to another, and he was sure that none of the crew that served them, on the orders of the gods, had heard it either, so he wanted to know how she found the time to practice it.

"Whistle? You mean this?" Flurry asked, where she wasted no time in whistling like she had done when she dealt with the goddess she and her father had slain, letting out the eerie whistle that sent shivers down Helios' spine as he heard it, and as soon as it was over she considered what she had just learned, "Albis taught me to whistle, in addition to the few other things she taught me... but this one, well, that one just came to me in the heat of the moment, though it seems like I can use it whenever I want, like my rage towards the goddess fully unlocked it."

Kratos nodded, as he knew that the friendly gorgon had helped Flurry with things that he wasn't good at and guessed that, to pass the time during their sessions, she must have whistled a few times and Flurry figured that they could bond a little over some lessons. He was fine with this information, as it was good to see that his daughter had other skills besides just killing things, not to mention gods based on what happened to Persephone, making him once again wonder if she might have a connection to Thanatos, but dismissed it. If such a thing were true the God of Death would have come to collect her at this point in time, instead of leaving her with him to tackle whatever quests the Olympians had for them, so for the time being he was going to focus on the here and now, instead of worrying about what Thanatos was doing. Flurry, however, pointed at what was in front of them as Helios brought them down into the water some distance away from their ship, he even made sure to turn the flames off for a time so the water didn't evaporate, allowing them to disembark with one final thank you from the God of the Sun before he took off again.

With him gone the pair returned to their ship, as it was time to regroup with the crew and see what the gods wanted from them this time around, as there was always a monster or group of creatures that needed killing, only to find that there was a newcomer on the ship, a black dog that didn't seem like an animal.

Flurry recognized it as a spirit animal, like Artemis' back when they were climbing Apollo's statue, making her wonder if another god or goddess wanted to speak with them, though as she approached it the dog sniffed her hand, licked it, and then bounded into the air before rushing off into the distance. When it came back, however, Kratos recognized that it was beckoning for them to follow and he ordered the crew to move, something that caused Flurry to move onto the front of the bow so she could keep track of the beast, all while wondering which deity wanted to see them. From what she could see the beast was constantly appearing and disappearing, making sure that they were following it before continuing towards it's true goal, which really made her interested in what might be happening right now. Kratos, however, found that Athena's statue glowed for a moment, as if the goddess was possessing it, before noticing that they were busy and decided to leave for the time being, meaning she must have come to check on them and her curiosity had been satisfied, allowing him to focus on whatever was currently going on.

The dog seemed to be heading for some sort of fog, though Flurry told her father that it wasn't the same as Morpheus', as it felt more like magic based on what she was feeling right now, to which Kratos had the crew sail through it, only to find that they seemed to teleport to a new area, an island that was shrouded in fog, with the dog resting on a dock.

"Paired torches leading the way. A sign of Hecate, the Goddess of Magic." Kratos commented, gesturing to the torches that were on either side of the black dog, which he now realized was definitely another sign of the goddess in question, which only made him wonder why she was calling on them now, and why she wanted to do so in person, instead of speaking in a statue like some of the other deities.

"I think I can guess at what's going on: this adventure awakened my magic, and she likely wants to teach me before I do something bad... uncontrollable magical event I guess." Flurry remarked, though at the same time she and her father just walked off the ship after it docked, where the crew remained on the ship to keep an eye on it, no doubt because they were afraid of meeting another goddess or something.

"You would be correct. While you have some control over your magic, it is best that you learn how to control yourself, least your emotions cause untold disaster." a voice said, where the pair found that the speaker was a beautiful woman that had long black hair and wore an elegant deep red gown that had what appeared to be a spider web pattern on it, though the dog took a seat near her for a moment and she reached down to pet it, while keeping her eyes on the pair, "What I mean is that I want to make sure you can control your magic, to properly call upon it and use it without it controlling you... if you would follow me, we can begin."

Flurry understood that Hecate meant business, that whatever power she had awakened during the last quest had caused the goddess to call them to her home, so she and her father followed her and her dog deeper into what seemed to be an island, or wherever she had set up her base. Hecate explained that she would teach Flurry how to use the elements that the other gods were known to bestow upon the heroes that were called upon to aid all of Greece, so while she had just had a crash course in how to utilize fire, and even the sun in a sense, there were others to call upon. She also told the pair that several of Artemis' birds had arrived as well, as the Goddess of the Hunt wanted to help Flurry learn how to fly, as she suspected that it was time for her to learn how to do so, something that interested Kratos, that two goddesses were so willing to invest so much time into his daughter. In addition to all of that Kratos learned that he was being offered a bit of a crash course in how to channel the magic that was lent to him during their quests, so he could better utilize the power of the gods whenever he was called upon to do something great, causing him to shrug as he accepted it, since it was better to just go with the flow this time around.

The area that Hecate brought them to was an open area that Kratos would have mistaken for an archery area back in his home city, where she waved her hand for a moment and several colored crystals appeared around the area, one looking like it was frozen, another pulsing like lightning, and another shuddering like the earth. With the sheer number of them Flurry realized that Hecate wanted her to understand each and every aspect of power that existed in Greece, or at least all of the powers that the other gods and goddesses might offer them, and she realized what sort of training she was going to be doing under her watchful eye. The training consisted of touching one of the crystals, allowing it's power to transfer into her for a moment, before casting whatever power it granted her at the target that had been created to withstand being struck by whatever spells were used on it, like when she gripped the icy one and swung her hand. It allowed her to cast a small barrage of icicles at the creation, striking the target and breaking with ease, though Hecate informed her that they would also have meditation sessions and focus on just feeling the flow of magic, which should allow her to do other things as well, like use shadows to fade in and out of sight.

Kratos found this to be amazing, that his daughter was able to actually tap into each power that was contained within the crystals that were here, and based on the chirping it sounded like Artemis approved on what was going on, that control was a good thing for her to learn about.

In addition to that Hecate brought Flurry to a safe place that she could toss herself from and use her wings accordingly, a fact that was followed by the birds showing off how they used their wings before taking flight, though they suspected that this would be far more difficult than causing borrowed magic. Sure enough Kratos found that she didn't have a clue as to how to use her wings for anything other than gliding, exactly what she had been using them for since the day she joined him his quest to stop the Furies, but neither goddess seemed surprised by this discovery. Hecate made sure to have an area prepared for her to land in for when she failed to accomplish the task that was set before her, while also giving her a chance to observe the birds of the island in action so she could become inspired by them, which Kratos approved of since it helped her out in the end. While they were watching Flurry, however, Hecate told him that they weren't being forced to remain on the island, rather they were free to come and go as they liked for Flurry's training, since it wasn't right to steal the champions of the gods for her own 'personal amusement', as some might call it.

As he thought about that, however, Flurry was able to lift herself into the air, without anything assisting her, before falling out of the air for a moment as she fell back down to the resting area, but it was progress and Kratos was happy to see that she was learning from the goddesses, making him wonder how well she'd fight in the future.

---

While Kratos and Flurry were learning from Hecate and Artemis, however, Athena stood in the area of Olympus that the throne of Zeus rested in, a golden throne that many of them knew was fit for the King of the Gods, and standing before it was the figure that had called her and Helios to speak with him. Zeus was an older man, in comparison to Helios and some of the other male gods, but he was muscular and had white hair, which reached the back of his neck, while having a white beard that nearly reached his waist, and he even wore an elegant white robe that was partly open to reveal his chest, as his right side was bare. After the events of Atlas being freed Zeus had called for the god that had been captured, and had witnessed the end of the battle that saved the world as a whole, to report what had happened at the end, since the death of a goddess, namely Hades' wife and Demeter's daughter, could have serious consequences. He had also asked Athena to join them since the mortals she watched over were responsible for the deed in question, because he was curious as to how Kratos and his new daughter, who he had just learned of, had gained the power to bring about the death of someone like Persephone.

Of course they came after he got a visit from Erinys, the daughter of Thanatos, who had informed him that the God of Death was still growing weak, as someone or something was causing him to lose his power while having no disruptions to his office, making him wonder what in the world was going on at the moment.

"So, Persephone figured out how to undo the bindings of the titans... this is most troubling. Flurry was right that she had to perish, to preserve the rest of the world." Zeus remarked, though he was deeply bothered by the death of a god, even if it was one who tried to destroy everything in order to free herself from the terrible fate that she deemed had befallen her, and while he would have preferred to keep Persephone alive, to figure out her side of things, this meant that the only one who could end the world was gone, a relief in his eyes, "And you mean to tell me that she's Kratos' daughter?"

"Yes, a skilled warrior like her father, while possessing a unique body that is unlike anything we have seen before." Athena answered, though her comment made her think about that fact for a moment, she had assumed that Kratos had found a little girl and took her in after the downfall of the Furies, a troubling time since it meant the Ghost of Sparta had far more power than they first assumed, but it was only after their meeting outside Helios' temple that she realized Flurry was like a pony mixed with a girl, "You don't think...?"

"No. That prophecy is dead." Zeus stated, as there was one about the 'Marked Warrior' bringing about his death and the end of Olympus, something that had been taken care of thanks to Athena and Ares capturing Kratos' brother a long time ago, who had been handed to Thanatos and the matter was closed.

"Anyway, Eos and I agree that Kratos deserves some sort of reward for his actions." Helios said, deciding to finish his own part of the conversation and get out of here before anything else happened, because it was clear that the two gods had another topic they wanted to talk about, and he could see that Zeus had turned his gaze towards him, "Maybe we can do something about his nightmares? I recall hearing that he and Flurry would continue to do the work of the gods even after Kratos is released from the various nightmares that haunt him... perhaps we can earn some faith from him by granting his wish?"

"I... will consider it." Zeus replied, which was the truth, he would consider granting Kratos' wish since he had done them a great service by saving not only the world of men, but also the Underworld and even Mount Olympus, the latter helping to keep the gods alive since most of them had been here before Morpheus' fog washed over the world, and such a great deed deserved an equally great reward.

Helios said nothing to that as he bowed his head and departed from the throne area, as it was time for him to fully return to his duties of moving the sun with the Fire Steeds, leaving Zeus and Athena to whatever conversation they were going to have before the latter was allowed to return to her duties.

"The Furies are dead, the world was nearly destroyed, and Persephone got herself killed... I'm sensing a pattern, and I'm not okay with it." Zeus said, because this series of events, starting from the moment that Kratos decided to break his oath to Ares and ending with a goddess being slain by him and his daughter, wasn't a good sign, in fact this made him take a few seconds to reconsider the Marked Warrior prophecy, that it was alive and in effect, "Ares is becoming restless... do you think Kratos and Flurry can take him down?"

"Honestly, as they are right now? Normally I'd say no, if Kratos was on his own... but Flurry... she might tip the scales in his favor. However, to guarantee anything we might need Pandora's Box." Athena replied, as before Persephone put her plan into motion they had been doing everything in their power to stop Ares from waging total war with the rest of Olympus, or whatever was going on in his mind, and they knew that it was only a matter of time until the God of War resumed what he had been doing before being put to sleep, "I don't think they're ready for the trials of the temple, however... at least, not at the moment."

"Very well, let's keep an eye on Ares and continue with raising our savior... and hope we don't have to use him." Zeus said, because he'd rather not off another god, and such a well known one at that, much less allow Kratos and Flurry to do the deed after they had brought down Persephone, but he might not have a choice in the matter and could only hope that Ares calmed down before things got chaotic.

Athena bowed her head before departing from Olympus as well, as there were things she needed to make sure the pair in question knew before Ares did something that pissed off Zeus to the point that he'd willingly unseal Pandora's Box and let a mortal replace a god, causing her to wonder what the future held for them and the rest of Greece.

Interlude: Time Passes

Kratos found that Hecate was true in what she told them, they weren't slaves and they weren't bound to stay in her realm, he and his daughter were allowed to leave and come back whenever they wanted, meaning that Athena could contact them and they could leave at a moment's notice. He discovered that the Goddess of Magic usually opened the way for the ship to be spat out of the fog near their destination, allowing for a day or two of travel so the crew didn't forget how to sail, thus allowing them to deal with whatever the Olympians wanted in a timely manner. For the most part it seemed to be more of the same, monsters were harassing settlements and the people that called them home, often killing a few to spur the gods into calling them in to deal with the threat, where he and Flurry faced the monsters like they had done in the past. Such a thing caused all of the people to do as they did before, rewarding them with supplies that were transferred to their ship while the ladies spent a night with their savior, the latter usually followed by Flurry spending the night in her room or just hanging out with Albis.

Flurry did notice that the gorgon was somewhat concerned about something, what she had no idea since the creature had said nothing about it or her past to them, which she figured was to keep them from hating the gods or something, but she was sure they'd learn more about Albis in due time.

During their battles Kratos discovered that Flurry started to utilize her new talents in battle, no doubt like Hecate wanted, though before using her newfound magic his daughter often studied their foes for a time before using an element on the monsters, utilizing what she assumed was their weakness against them. It took some getting used to, he had to admit that fact to himself as she froze a group of skeletal legionnaires in a chunk of ice, launching fireballs that homed in on harpies and blasted them out of the air, or shocking groups of enemies into submission. Flurry, for the most part, only used her magic when she deemed it necessary to do so, meaning she was used to using her sickles and fighting beside him while they were on the battlefield, but Kratos wasn't about to lecture her on how she should use her powers, as she was capable of doing so on her own. They also found that Hecate was perfectly fine with this turn of events, as she was teaching Flurry to control the power that slumbered inside her, because if she wanted an apprentice she would have said so at the start of her lessons, so she was perfectly fine with Flurry utilizing her power however she wanted.

In addition to all of the combat spells and abilities Hecate also taught her some other spells, like the power to essentially melt into and out of shadows, even thin air depending on the situation, or creating barriers with her magic, and Flurry just soaked in everything that was offered to her. Not only did she learn more about magic, and how to use it in whatever part of life it might be needed in, Artemis showed up a few times to help point out where Flurry was going wrong in flying, as it was something that took practice and effort to master. When Flurry turned ten, however, things changed as she figured all of the motions she needed to use in order to use her wings to fly, where the pair of gods, joined by Apollo, and Kratos just watched her for a time as she lifted herself into the air and flew around Hecate's private island. Kratos was happy for her, as it was a natural part of her body and it was good to see that she was now able to utilize them more effectively, instead of being forced to glide around while they were traveling, and when they traveled with the ship she found time to fly and just feel the wind against her.

That wasn't all that happened when her tenth birthday happened, which they counted as the day he found her since it had been the start of something great, Kratos found that Flurry was starting to mature, because her body was starting to look more like an adult woman's did, something she confirmed when she found that her breasts were starting to develop. He did, however, find that he didn't have to tread in a part of life that he was unfamiliar with, as Artemis, Hecate, and Albis did their best to help her adapt to her changing body, since they were more knowledgeable than he was and he left them to teach her about the new stage of life she was entering. Of course this meant that they had to redesign her attire to match her growing body, she was no longer a child and would soon be an adult, but he discovered that the gods were willing to help Flurry out in that regard, showing that they liked having her around. Kratos also realized something else, that had he not allowed himself to be used by Ares so much he would have seen Calliope grow up and that Lysandra would have done everything in her power to prepare her for adulthood, with him watching over her with a smile on his face, but while it did pain him to think about them he smiled as he thought about Flurry for a moment.

She was growing into a skilled warrior and an amazing young woman, and he was overjoyed to be her father, despite the differences between them, something that only caused him to look forward to what the future held for them since Athena and the Olympians continued to give them quests to make use of his servitude to them.

That fact, like always, was one of the few things that left a sour taste in his mouth and quickly fouled his mood, because he expected the Olympians to do something, anything, after they saved the world from Persephone's sheer madness, but, as his past experience had told him, nothing happened save for meeting Hecate. He was left with his nightmares, despite the fact that Helios told him that he'd do everything in his power to convince Zeus to offer him some reprieve from that which still tormented him, and after a year of nothing he realized that the King of the Gods didn't care about rewarding them for saving the world. Kratos found it to be insulting, that Zeus didn't think their actions were worth anything save letting the rest of Greece know that they had stopped Atlas, because he hadn't asked for his legend to grow, rather he simply asked for his nightmares to be dealt with in some manner and that had been denied. At the very least he found that the nightmares that plagued him weren't as frequent as they had been in the past, no doubt since Flurry was with him and seemed to be the light of his life, just like the Oracle had told him when she first arrived in his life, a comfort he appreciated.

The pair also discovered that it wasn't just monsters that they had to take down, as from time to time more Persians sailed into Greece with the intent of conquering another area, no doubt to set the stage for an invasion of the land that Zeus and the Olympians ruled over, and they were their best defenders. Several gods would keep an eye out for invaders and tell the King of the Gods what they saw, prompting him to tell Athena their new orders and causing her to pass on the information when it was time to do so, causing them to sail to another part of Greece to take them down. Such a thing saddened Flurry, not just in the sense that they were too stupid to see that their invasions were massive failures, but also due to the fact that they were throwing their lives away, similar to what she discovered when they caught up to Persephone earlier. All Kratos had to say on the matter was that it might be a cultural difference, since neither of them knew how the Persians were raised or trained, something that caused her to let out a sad sigh as they continued with their lives and dealt with any invasions when the gods ordered them to deal with them.

When Flurry's fourteenth birthday finally arrived, giving them a full ten years together, Kratos discovered that the gods had new orders for them, though this time another massive Persian fleet was heading towards Attica, and they were the only force capable of standing between them and the city's eventual fall.

"They must have elected a new leader, after their King fell during the last invasion." Kratos commented, though this time he, his forces, Albis, and even a few gods, in the form of Artemis, Apollo, and Hecate, stood on the city's walls and stared out at the bay, finding more Persian ships coming towards them, though there was no basilisk among their forces, causing him to turn towards Flurry for a moment, "So, what's your plan?"

He had decided to use this as an opportunity to test her leadership abilities, as he assumed that they would do what they had done the last time the Persians attacked Attica, wait for them to get close and then kill anyone who dared to invade the domain of the Olympians, and that the gods were eager to observe them.

"Simple: anyone gets close, hit them with the ballistae." Flurry replied, though at the same time she pulled out her sickles as she focused on the Persians that were coming towards the city, only turning her head for a moment as she found that her father and the soldiers were surprised that she didn't have anything else to tell them, "That's if I let anything through... or if anyone gets around me."

As Kratos and the others opened their mouths, to question her plan since it wasn't much of a plan for someone like her, she just faded into nothingness as she took a step forward, where Kratos realized that his daughter meant it, she was going to take on the entirety of the Persian fleet in an attempt to drive them off without too many casualties.

"Sir, with all due respect, you daughter is hot... but by the gods is she scary at times." a random soldier remarked, where he found that several of the other soldiers nodded their heads in agreement, as they had heard the tales about Flurry and now one of them had been confirmed, something that seemed to frighten them somewhat.

All Kratos did was note down which soldier said that, so he could speak with him after this was over, though it wasn't long before they heard the familiar whistle that he had grown used to hearing, Flurry's eerie whistle, where he found that the Persians were surprised and confused by what they were hearing as she appeared out of thin air.

"Listen well, Persians, as the Olympians have an ultimatum: leave Greece and your lives will be spared... refuse and death will be your fate." Flurry stated, where she noticed that the moment she pulled out her sickles some of the soldiers did look like they were thinking about retreating, especially after being slightly terrified of the whistle and her appearing out of thin air, though no one moved as she spotted who had to be the commander of the ship, an armored Persian that stood taller than the others.

"Your gods are weak, girl, if you are the only thing that they'll send to fight us." the tall Persian stated, where he drew his blade for a moment and caused all of his men to do the same thing, all while Flurry could tell that the soldiers on the ships that were nearby were doing the same, indicating that they knew it was time for battle, "Blame them for sending you to your death."

In the following moment Flurry let the Persian approach her and swung her sickle the moment that he tried to strike her, sending the sword flying out of his hand and let it hit a barrel, to which she beckoned to it and told the warrior to 'pick it up', causing him to growl as he collected his weapon and came at her again. She found that his attacks were actually slow, sloppy at times, and outright sad, as there were Spartans and other warriors in Greece who could do far more than this in their training, in fact she had done so when she was learning how to fight, and she voiced her thoughts on his movements before raising her sickles to block his last attack. Flurry had mastered the art of using her sickles in battle and using the curved exterior of her weapons like this allowed her to block attacks, while also granting her a chance to redirect her foe's blade into the ground, opening the way for her to remove his left hand with a quick slash. The Persian, backing away from her in surprise as he lost his hand, beckoned for the soldiers to charge at her and Flurry sighed as they came at her, as she had been hopeful that they would have realized their error, but decided that if they wanted to be stupid she could do her job and save the city.

The wounded Persian watched in disbelief as his men failed to strike down a young lady that was far younger than them, which was disappointing since he expected their experience in battle to give them the edge against their lone foe, and yet she remained unharmed as she dispatched her enemies with lethal precision. She was killing them left and right with far too much ease for his liking, her sickles cutting through them like they were wearing nothing, an odd weapon since they had no knowledge of Spartans using them in battle, and he started to realize why she had told them to leave. The gods of this land clearly knew what they were doing by sending her to fight them, because the figure in question was killing all of his elite guards like they were nothing, taking off their arms or legs, or just cutting into them to weaken her targets, and a few of them lost their heads in the process. While she was distracted by his soldiers, and wasn't paying attention to him, he grabbed his blade with his right hand and rushed at her, only to find that she dodged his attack, slashed open his chest with her sickles, and then, as he fell to his knees, she ended his life before he could say anything else.

Flurry wasted no time in dispatching the rest of the soldiers that were on the ship, though once they were taken care of she glanced out at the other ships and found that they were still moving towards Attica, ignoring the fact that she had just wiped out a single vessel, before walking over to the ship's weapon. In the next moment she turned it to face one of the other ships, pulled the bar back, and then let it go to provide the necessary force the sent the bolt flying, where it tore into the vessel that was her target, tearing a hole into the side that water surged into. As that happened Flurry returned both of her sickles to her belt as she switched to her bow, though she paused for a few seconds as several Persian ships quickly turned their weapons on the ship she was on, which she was expecting, and when they loosed their bolts she opened her wings and took to the air, allowing the bolts to tear into the ship. While she was in the air, something that surprised many of the Persians as they realized that their foe was different from what she suspected, Flurry gathered a bit of her magic into her arrows and loosed a few down on the ships below her, where the Persians found that they exploded upon impact, tearing holes into their ships with ease.

While that was happening, however, Flurry spotted a lean figure standing on one of the ships, dressed in what appeared to be leather armor and not the attire of a Persian soldier, even though he was clearly aligned with the forces in question, who carried two curved blades and had an odd dagger on his belt, but since the soldiers were listening to him she decided to pay him a visit to end this madness, hence why she landed on the deck.

"Stand down men. Let's not be too hasty." the figure, who had brown hair and seemed to be either a commander or even a prince, stated, as he could see that the soldiers around him were raising their weapons and he decided not to annoy the figure that was in front of them, where his men glanced at each other for a few seconds before pulling back, allowing him to focus on Flurry as she sheathed her weapons, "Warrior of the Olympians, I am Prince Dustan of Persia. What message do your gods have for us?"

"Prince of Persia, the Olympians have issued this ultimatum: return to your lands and your lives will be spared... continue to declare war on us and your people will die during each invasion." Flurry replied, though she made sure to clarify that Zeus and the other gods weren't declaring war on the Persian empire, rather they wanted the invaders to know that they would die if they continued down this path, that invasions would only result in more unnecessary deaths, and she hoped that Dustan, if he was truly a prince of his land, would be wise and back off.

"Very well. Order the other ships to retreat... we just lost half the fleet to a young lady. Just know that things will change once we get home." Dustan ordered, something that caused his men to start moving without delay, showing Flurry that he, at the very least, was reasonable and didn't want to die to someone who was vastly superior to him in the art of battle, though in the next moment he detached the dagger and it's sheath from his belt and held it out to her, "Here, let this be an offering to your gods, a promise that we will not invade your lands again."

Flurry nodded her head for a moment as she took the dagger, finding that there was definitely some magic inside it, what type she was unsure of right now, before opening her wings and taking to the air once more, where she remained in the air for a time to watch as the remainder of the fleet started to turn, causing her to return to her father without delay.

"I am impressed. You not only repelled the invaders, but you were terrifying enough to make them realize that invading our lands is wrong." a voice said, where Flurry, her father, and everyone else found that Athena was present, meaning she must have arrived to see what sort of battle unfolded with the Persians, though she did accept the dagger that Flurry held out for her to take, since the deal needed to be presented to Zeus, "I wish you could relax, but Poseidon has reported that the Hydra has become a problem lately and has asked for assistance in killing it... Zeus has decided that you two will kill it before it can do anything else."

Kratos resisted the urge to groan, growl, or even sigh, as it was one thing after the other with the Olympians, though with new orders received there was little they could do but wait for Athena to tell them where the Hydra was located and then head out to kill it, all while he wondered what else the future held for him and Flurry.

Revenge: The Hydra

Kratos and Flurry spent the majority of the trip to where the Hydra was located between resting and preparing for what was about to happen, since this was a creature on the level of Charybdis, or a level before Alecto's other form, though neither of them knew what to expect this time around. Both knew that the last time they had fought a giant sea creature Flurry had been a little girl, in fact she had done everything in her power to be ignored by the Furies and only succeeded in having one of the sisters hurt the other while she was latched onto her back. This time around she was old enough to join her father in battle and not be forced into the situation she had been forced into the last time, and, if she was being honest with herself, she was a little eager to face such a monster and use all of her skills to take it down. The downside to all of this was that the monster had no doubt killed all sorts of people in the area that Poseidon had spotted it in, resulting in far more loss of life than she deemed necessary, and so she ended up spending some time convincing her father to save as many people as they could when they found the Hydra.

Despite it not being a command from the gods, and might result in more time wasted, Kratos agreed with Flurry, that they would do everything in their power to save the people that were being attacked by the Hydra, and the other monsters that were no doubt in the area as well.

"Shall I continue to guard the ship?" Albis asked, though part of her hoped that the pair would allow her to come along for a time, since she was usually hanging around near their vessel, using her stone gaze to turn attackers into stone and either shattering them with her tail or leaving the statues to be collected and hauled off by the servants of the gods.

"That would be wise. The Hydra has likely created a hazardous area that you wouldn't be able to navigate." Kratos replied, as it made sense to have someone like the gorgon, who their crew knew and even fought beside, as there were a couple of soldiers aboard the ship as well, guarding the ship from anything that might seek to do it harm while they dealt with the very creature the gods wanted them to kill.

Flurry knew that Albis wanted to do more than just be the guardian of the ship and found it somewhat amusing that there could be a monster like her that wanted to be a champion of the gods, but she had to agree with her father, there was no telling how much destruction the Hydra had caused and if there was a path for Albis to use. This was, unfortunately, the best division of responsibility, as she and her father would take to the field and defeat the Hydra, while the gorgon and the rest of the soldiers would defend the ship, not to mention anyone they were able to save during their time in this area. She knew that the Aegean Sea would be chaotic, especially the portion that happened to be where the monster was lurking, so while she understood the gorgon's opinion on the matter, that she wanted to join them for once, she knew that this was simply the best way to go about things. Flurry did, however, hope that whatever came after this would be something Albis could join them for, if even for a short period of time, but knew it was likely a wasted thought, since most of the places that had been to over the years weren't for beings like her.

Eventually she and her father were proven right, as their ship sailed close to what appeared to be a shipwreck that seemed to be the domain of the Hydra, as there were plenty of ruined ships and even some that looked like they had been pulled in rather recently, since a number were still intact. In addition to that there was a storm raging over where the area, like either Poseidon or Zeus had found a way to trap the Hydra here, so the pair could track it down without actually having to chase it down, which was a blessing they weren't expecting to discover, even though Flurry did pull her wings in since this wasn't the time to use them. Kratos ordered the crew to set them up near the outskirts of the storm, because based on what he could see there appeared to be a path from the nearby ship and seemed to head straight to the storm's heart, so if they followed it he reasoned that they would be able to reach the Hydra in no time. The one thing he did regret was the fact that he could no longer call upon the powers that he and Flurry had gained during their last adventure, the magical powers anyway, but his daughter did have the Efreet's container, the Sun Shield, and the gem Charon gave her in her pouch, though despite that fact she could still use those powers with ease.

It was one of those rare times where he was a little jealous of her abilities, where she was able to retain magic with ease, and he recalled Hecate telling him that it might be due to her unique nature that allowed for such a thing, before he turned his attention to the other ship as he found undead legionnaires on the deck.

"It would seem that we're expected. Come, let us send them back to the depths of the Underworld." Kratos stated, where he drew his blades for a moment before leaping over to the other ship, hacking into a couple of monsters that lacked armor, as if they were the weakest of the lot, leaving Flurry to make sure the soldiers and Albis had their orders before joining him on the other ship's deck.

Flurry found that the undead legionnaires were far less effective in battle than the ones they fought during their last quest, as their attacks were easy to read and avoid, where she slashed out with her sickles and cut down her opponents with ease, just as her father did since there were a few downed monsters around him. While that happened a cargo hold that had been chained down, likely by a few sailors before they were slaughtered, burst open as more of the legionnaires crawled out of the floor below them, causing the pair to glance at each other for a moment before attacking the undead once more. She disarmed her foes, by either cutting into their arms to make them drop their weapons or just removing the arms in question to leave them defenseless, before cutting down those who dared to stand before her and her father, all while her father even beheaded one of the legionnaires with his blades. While they did that, however, they heard the sounds of the Hydra off in the distance, no doubt attacking some ships or whoever dared to stand before it, meaning as long as it was preoccupied they had a chance to catch up to it and take it down, just as the gods had commanded.

Once they were sure that there were no more undead legionnaires in the area, and Albis confirmed that since she had a far greater view of the area than they did, Kratos left the area in the control of the soldiers on the ship as he and Flurry continued on their way, lifting the door to the cargo hold and jumping down into the lower deck.

Sure enough they discovered that some of the walls of the lower floor were broken, thus Kratos and Flurry had to carefully break down all of the wood that happened to be in their way, before they found a larger portion that happened to be the location that one of the Hydra heads decided to attack them in. Flurry stared at the large serpentine head that had a fair number of sharp teeth in it's mouth, plus it had fins on the side of it's head, almost like two halves of a beard, though as it attacked them the pair raised their weapons to block it's attack, as their weapons were more than capable of such a thing and allowed both warriors to push the head backward. What they discovered was that it just tried to bite them repeatedly, without changing up it's routine, meaning it was either a dumb head, if the heads were separated from each other, or the main head wanted it to do something else besides bother the main body. When an opening revealed itself to them both Kratos and Flurry latched onto the head with their weapons and swung their arms, forcing the head to move and slam into one of the walls around them, before doing so a few more times to weaken it, and when it rested on the walkway both warriors stabbed it in the eye, causing it to shriek in pain before pulling back.

"Reminds me of the basilisk." Flurry commented, as they had fought the beast in question once before hitting it again with siege weapons before coming to a final battle with it, and right now it sure seemed like they would be repeating that event with the Hydra, though she wasn't about to question it since monsters worked in mysterious ways.

"Yes, and like the basilisk the Hydra is causing havoc and needs to be put down." Kratos replied, though at the same time he started to walk across all of the wreckage that was in front of them, since the creature had done some damage to the part of the ship they were passing through, but he could see more Hydra heads attacking more ships thanks to a hole in front of them.

Flurry found that her father moved across the beams with ease, he had made sure his own training was ready for anything the gods might ask them to do, though she quickly crossed over them once he indicated that there were no enemies, not that she was expecting any after coming into contact with the Hydra, before they found what appeared to be a holding cell of a shattered ship.

"No, stay away!" a voice said, where they found a male figure locking himself in the cell, either because he thought it might be enough to save him from the Hydra or because he didn't trust them, even though Flurry found that he was looked like a merchant, likely someone who had been transporting items before being attacked by the Hydra, "I know who you are, Spartan, and I know what you've done!"

"You mean saving the world and chaining the titan Atlas to hold the world up?" Flurry inquired, because while she knew that many people knew about her father's reputation before he met her, the whole 'Ghost of Sparta' story that he told her about when he felt that the time was right for her to know the truth about his ashen skin and the fact that Ares forced him to murder his own wife and child, she was hoping their recent quest had made waves.

"What in the world are you talking about?" the man asked, his confused expression telling Flurry and Kratos everything they needed to know, something that annoyed both of them when they thought about what they had seen in the past, as some people still looked at her father like he was a monster, despite everything that happened in the Underworld during their last quest.

Kratos growled for a moment as he thought about this, as the gods had denied him the release from his nightmares that he wanted, the very thing he had asked for countless times and continued to serve them with no end in sight, and now he was learning that no one knew of their victory over Persephone and Atlas. He understood not wanting people to know of Persephone's role in everything, but it was annoying that the gods had decided not tell anyone that they had chained the titan in his new prison, though he found that Flurry was shaking her head, silently telling him not to react. It was times like this that he was glad to have her around, as she made sure he didn't explode with rage when things like this happened, to which he nodded his head before they headed down the path that was nearby, leaving the man to his fate, even though Flurry did tell him about the safety of their ship. Kratos said nothing to that, as he always found it interesting that Flurry tried to get people to see that their lives were worth living, worth valuing even in the most dangerous of times, as if talking with Persephone had caused something to snap in her and changed her approach to things.

The door at the end of the path brought them to the deck of another ship, where they found the crew of the ship under attack by both harpies and several small Hydra heads, causing Flurry to switch to her bow as she loosed a few arrows into the air, hitting the flying enemies as Kratos ushered the crew to safety before lashing out at the heads with his blades. As that happened, however, one of the larger Hydra heads, sensing that they were attacking some of the smaller heads, just burst through the center of the deck and attacked them without wasting time, meaning it either wanted to keep the other heads safe or it wanted them both dead. Either way Kratos and Flurry turned their attention on it, using their weapons to defend themselves from harm while lashing out when an opening was revealed to them, where Flurry realized that their primordial weapons, as the Blades of Chaos were said to possess primordial fire and hers seemed to be primordial death, seemed to form a shield of sorts that repelled certain attacks. It was the only way for her to explain how they were able to deflect a giant serpent's mouth and teeth without being devoured, or even severely hurt, but her father didn't care about explaining it as he focused on hacking into the head's side, causing her to do the same thing.

This head, however, they just brutalized as Kratos carved off scales and Flurry sliced through it's defenses with ease, as it offered no opening for either of them to slam it into the ground or the rocks around them, and when it had taken enough damage it fled with a weak roar, leaving behind a hole in yet another ship.

With no other path forward available to them the pair jumped into the hole that the head had made and found that they could, in fact, swim into the ship and seek another path, which involved locating a net that they could use to pull themselves up onto a damaged deck that had more legionnaires for them to fight. Fortunately none of the undead noticed them arrive, so they were able to climb up onto the deck with ease before lashing out at their enemies, both hacking the limbs off of their enemies before Flurry spotted some flyers and knocked them out of the air with her bow. Once the undead were dealt with Flurry found that a few masts had fallen near the front of the ship, one for this ship and two from other ships, forming a new path for them to take, so Kratos started to move across it first before she followed after him, finding that they were walking above some rather sharp rocks, which had no doubt crippled some ships as well. She also noticed a few crew members off to the side, trying to fight off a Hydra head on their own while using oars, though Flurry braced herself and loosed an arrow into it's eye while it was distracted, causing the head to retreat in pain before she used a bit of magic to move the pair to a safe area so they could retreat.

When they reached the end of the masts, however, they found a number of crew members under assault by several archers, undead ones using fire arrows no less, though while a man rushed up to speak with Kratos, about how their arrival had been foretold by the gods, Flurry counted her targets, readied her arrows, and rapidly loosed them, taking down the archers in a matter of seconds.

"There, the coast is clear... your salvation has arrived, just as foretold." Flurry remarked, causing the man and the rest of the survivors that were on the deck below her to stand there with a stunned look on their faces, as if none of them could even comprehend the fact that she, a fourteen year old, could take down an entire group of archers with ease, especially while in the middle of a storm.

Kratos resisted the urge to chuckle at the scene, as it was amazing to see when people were surprised by his daughters' vast skills, though he kept his usual expression as he followed her in jumping down onto the deck below them, only to move one of the crates that were on the deck to the side the archers had been on. The path they found happened to lead into the ship for a short time, coming out to the backside where a locked door was located, likely one leading to the quarters of the man who served as the captain of this vessel, and on the other side Flurry could hear ladies rushing to hide. Such a thing meant that they would have to track down the captain and retrieve his key, since their ship would be much safer than this, to which Flurry sighed as her father climbed a ladder that was nearby and then followed him without delay, since the Hydra wasn't going to kill itself. The path, as she discovered, meant climbing up the net that was above them, where she found that there were a number of legionnaires climbing down to attack and she raised her bow, loosing a couple of arrows to make sure her father was able to reach the peak without anything stopping him, and once he was in position she rapidly climbed up the net before reaching the peak.

At the peak they discovered a rope that happened to connect to a ship off in the distance, where the pair rode down it and landed on another deck, the backside of one, before smashing their way through a blockade that was in their way, allowing them to enter the ship's interior, only to discover a chamber with two statues of what looked like Poseidon and a wall of magic blocking the way forward.

"Lord Poseidon." Kratos and Flurry said, because as they entered the area both spotted what appeared to be an offering area of some kind off to the side, knocked over by the Hydra's attack no doubt, meaning that the crew likely made some sort of offering to the God of the Sea before the attack stated.

Kratos, Flurry, your skills are admirable, but you will need some assistance in taking down this Hydra... take the power I am offering and take down this beast. Poseidon stated, his voice echoing from the magical wall that was in front of them, though at the same time a surge of power rushed into the pair as they stood there, where it was like some form of lightning based on what Flurry felt.

After the rush faded the pair found that some undead legionnaires walked down into the chamber and attacked them, a fact that allowed both warriors to test the power that Poseidon had granted them for the duration of this quest, since the pair knew that there had to be more after the Hydra. Kratos stepped forward and found that when he channeled his new power it generated several bits of lightning, or electricity he guessed the scholars would call it, that stuck the area around him and shocked his enemies until nothing was left, while Flurry raised an eyebrow as she stood near the statues. It was a power to use when they were surrounded by overwhelming numbers, or if they wanted to do great damage to a single foe to bring it down quicker, though she had to wonder if there was a way for them to channel their new power into either of their weapons, something she'd have to test later. A second wave of undead legionnaires came at them after the first set fell, to which Flurry switched out with her father and channeled it at her foes, shocking them into submission with ease, and once both of them had a chance to test it out the magical barrier dissolved, indicating that Poseidon was pleased with them learning how to wield this new power and that they were allowed to move on.

On the exterior of the ship they found another net to climb and discovered that it brought them to a new deck, one that had two of the larger Hydra heads that they had fought so far, tearing into what remained of the crew, before discovering a larger one that seemed to be the main head, which ended up eating the captain who had the key.

"Well, that makes things easier for us, as now we can complete two objectives with one death." Flurry said, where she and her father shifted their stances for a moment, drawing their weapons and holding them at the ready as they stared at the heads of the Hydra, where all three turned and faced them for a time.

Kratos had nothing to add to that remark, as killing the Hydra would fulfill the quest that the gods had given them and the key would allow them to free the ladies in the locked chamber, though as he thought about that he beckoned to Flurry for a moment and she nodded her head, as there were three heads and two of them. The plan was rather simple, they were going to take different heads, him the left and her the right, where both would deal damage to their targets and hope that they knocked them down, into an unconscious or stunned state, because there were spikes that could be dropped into both of their necks. If that happened to both of the heads that were actually attacking them, as the largest one was simply watching them right now, Kratos assumed that it would cause the larger one to come down and attack them, which might end the entire beast if they were lucky, and he was pleased to see that his daughter knew the plan without being told what to do. Since neither head seemed to do anything different in the grand scheme of things, they had the same attacks that the pair had witnessed earlier, Flurry and her father were able to knock around their opponents and then, after climbing up a few crates, dropped the spikes into the necks of the heads, pinning them down before they climbed up to where the prime head rested.

The pair found that the prime head had a powerful roar, which they stood their ground against, and it tried to bite into the platform they were standing on, the latter opening the way for both warriors to wail on him with their weapons and their new electric power, shocking the creature in the process. Flurry found that it was rather foolish for the beast to do such a thing, lower itself down to where they could attack it, even if it was trying to eat them she reasoned, though she decided not to question what was going through the monster's mind and focused on the battle. They did find moments where one of them could latch onto the Hydra's prime head and slam it into the top of the broken mast that was above them, which ended up breaking it several times as well and opened the way for them to use it as a stabbing weapon. Kratos utilized it as he latched onto the head's eye, pulled himself onto it's head, and then propelled himself off in a way that allowed him to pull it down with him, allowing him to force the head down into the ruined platform as Flurry got out of the way, only for them to find that the spiked mast went right through it's jaw and an eye.

Flurry moved onto the creature's head and slashed into the top of it's head, unleashing the power of Poseidon's gift into the Hydra's head as she shocked it to death, leaving it's mouth open with the tongue out as all of the other heads perished as well, causing the pair to sigh as Kratos headed inside to see if the captain was alive.

Surprisingly the man was still alive and, despite being absolutely terrified of Kratos, he handed over the key without even a word, allowing him and Flurry to track down another rope that they rode down to the deck of the archer ship, leaving the captain to return to their intact ship on his own. It took them no time at all to return to the locked door and found that a few of the ladies had been slain by undead legionnaires, something that triggered Kratos as he slaughtered all of the foes he could find, all while Flurry did her best to make sure the others were still alive. Sure, some of the ladies wondered who she was, before realizing that they heard the tales about her and the assaults on Attica, how she turned the tides against the Persians with her father, causing them to follow Flurry to safety, even though she did use her magic to form a far safer path for them and the other survivors to use. Of course she and her father had to explain that things were fine when they noticed a few looking at Albis, worried that they were going to be turned into statues, but upon hearing that she was also a servant of the gods they embraced her existence before boarding the ship.

Once everyone was accounted for, and that included the captain who held the key earlier, they departed from the section of the sea that the Hydra had been terrorizing, though as Flurry started to unwind she found that her father had several of the female survivors gather around him.

"Of course... father gets thanked, and I get ignored. Sounds about right." Flurry remarked, though by this point in time she knew what sort of reward the ladies had for her father and understood why Albis had ushered her away from the scenes when she was younger, as it was basically him having sex with those they either saved or those they assisted in some way, like right now, causing her to sigh as she sat on the deck and looked at the sky.

"Aren't you going to go below deck?" Albis asked, as it worried her that Flurry would do this, sit on the deck in the middle of a storm, even though she guessed that it might be something unique to her, like she was doing this to help train herself in some manner that only she knew about.

"Not for a while... just have to wait until father comes storming out to talk to the gods." Flurry replied, gesturing to the lone statue of Athena that was a core component of their ship, as her father and others prayed to her every so often, especially when something caused her father's rage to surface, so while he might enjoy himself for a time she knew he'd be out here in no time at all.

Albis said nothing to that as she coiled around Flurry and positioned herself like she was shielding her from the rain, due to the fact that she didn't want the young lady to get sick from all of the rain, only to find that they didn't have to wait very long, as not ten minutes later Kratos emerged from the lower deck and approached Athena's statue, where the gorgon let Flurry out as she backed away from the pair.

"Athena, the quest you gave us is complete: the Hydra is dead." Kratos stated, though while Flurry could tell that he was a bit pissed by what they had discovered, about no one knowing about them saving the world from Atlas, she knew there was something else eating away at him and suspected that it was the nightmares, "We have survivors on board as well... shall we bring them to Athens?"

I am afraid that my city is no longer safe... my brother, Ares, is attacking my city as we speak. Athena replied, which was news to them, since none of the gods had said anything to them on the way to the Hydra's domain, save for Poseidon before the battle with the beast.

"Ares... let me guess, you want the god-killers to kill another god?" Flurry asked, though at the same time she was sure that the God of War had broken one of the main rules of the Olympians, that they weren't supposed to manifest like this, ready for battle, unless backed by their followers, or at least that was Zeus' rule on the matter, and that Athena was asking them for aid thanks to what she did to Persephone.

Yes. I cannot challenge him directly, since that would break another of Zeus' rules... but you two, the champions of the Olympians, can fight him in my stead. Athena said, where Flurry noticed that her father tried to remain straight faced as they listened to the goddess talk, even though his rage had to be burning as he imagined bringing Ares to justice for all of his crimes against him, especially the loss of his late wife and daughter, Seek the Oracle of Athens, for she will guide you on your path. Do this for us, Kratos, and the very past that you are haunted by shall be forgiven.

Kratos acknowledged the order before marching off to tell the crew to make way for Sparta, so they could drop off all of the survivors in a safe haven, as Ares wouldn't attack a city that worshiped him, and made sure that once they were done with that visit they would make way to Athens, all while Flurry wondered what the near future had in store for them and the God of War.

Revenge: Danger in Athens

Kratos and Flurry found that it took some time for them to reach Sparta, to drop off the refugees they had picked up from the Aegean Sea, though it would have taken longer had Poseidon not granted them a swifter journey, no doubt as some sort of reward for killing the Hydra. The short visit gave them a brief chance to restock their supplies, as the Spartans knew that they were on a quest for the gods and wanted to make sure they were on their way in no time, and it wasn't long before the ship was sailing once more, aided by the God of the Seas once more. Albis and the crew found that the pair spent most of the trip to Athens in silence, both thinking about what Athena has asked them to do, track down an Oracle to figure out how to bring down Ares, the God of War himself, and the fact that this would bring an end to Kratos' pain. Flurry, however, was curious as to what they might learn from the Oracle, especially since the one her father had sought in order to figure out how to break his bond to Ares had sent him on a long quest, so she was wondering if this would be a similarly lengthy quest or a short one.

When they finally got close to where the city was located, however, they and the crew could see the massive fires from the sea, saddening the crew, since some of them likely had family in Athens, while enraging the pair, causing them to get ready for when the ship reached a safe harbor for Kratos and Flurry to use.

"Kratos, Flurry, the soldiers and I will remain with the ship, to create a safe haven for anyone you can save." Albis said, as she knew this quest was important to the pair and suspected that the path would be impossible for her to traverse once more, just like what they found in the area that the Hydra had been assaulting, so this was her way of making sure they knew she would be safe while doing her best to serve the gods.

"With how long the attack's been going on, I doubt many people are still alive... but I'm going to hope that I'm wrong and that we can save the people of Athens." Flurry remarked, because with the smoke and the fires both she and her father knew it was unlikely that they would find people to save, but that didn't stop her from hoping that she was wrong, even though their foe this time around was Ares and his army of monsters.

Kratos said nothing as he found several undead legionnaires appearing on the docks, though as he got ready to deal with all of them he watched as Albis made the first move, slithering up to one of the undead and unleashed her stone gaze on it as it's companions slowly turned towards her. Kratos and Flurry lashed out at all of the other undead with ease, the former just hacking his way through his opponents while the latter disarmed her foes before taking their lives, all while Albis finished turning the undead she had picked out into stone, only to smash the statue with a swing of her tail. With that done she took a moment to bow her head before returning to the ship to help everyone else defend it, leaving the father and daughter to follow the rest of the dock towards the city, only to discover that the main path seemed to be blocked and that they would have to find an alternate route. Such a thing meant finding a hole in one of the walls and jumping into some water, though it was an incredibly short experience as they climbed out and utilized a doorway to head into the city, or at least a path that would bring them closer to their current objective.

As it turned out that wasn't the way forward, as it just looped around to the first part of the dock they had fought on, but in the following moments Flurry found a lift and pointed it out, where Kratos forced the lever into position and forced the lift to move up to the next level, allowing them to progress once more.

In the following moments they found a pair of minotaurs slaughtering two of Athens' defenders, one having a few seconds to get out that the beasts had taken the city before his death, though once they were done with the soldiers the pair turned their attention on Kratos and Flurry before rushing at them. Kratos found a way to disarm his foe, allowing him to take the minotaur's axe and slice off one of it's legs, though once it was resting on the wooden walkway they were on he got onto it's chest and slashed it open, allowing him to brutally tear out it's still beating heart, causing it to perish in seconds. Flurry, on the other hand, decided to change things up for a moment and combined her sickles into their staff form, where she used her speed to dodge the incoming attacks, making sure to avoid dealing damage to the walkway itself, as she slashed at both of her foe's legs and arms. Kratos found that his daughter was as skilled with the staff as she was with the individual sickles, dealing impressive damage to her foe in a matter of moments, and when her minotaur fell to it's knees she reverted back to her sickles and removed it's head with ease, allowing them to resume their journey.

There was another minotaur on the solid ground they were walking towards, though this one stood no chance against them as Kratos and Flurry attacked from two different directions, forcing it to pick who to attack and who to defend itself against, and in the end it was slain before it could do anything to the pair. With the minotaurs defeated Flurry found another lift and they used it to reach another section of Athens outer wall, one that seemed more like a fighting arena than a work area, not to mention it had an armored cyclops guarding it, who had a large spiked ball attached to it's right arm. Since it could only focus on one foe at a time it turned it's attention on Kratos, either on Ares' orders or because it deemed him to be the most important target, though both of them were fine with this arrangement as they tore into it's exposed skin and avoided it's spike ball whenever it used it. Flurry also found that utilizing their Poseidon's Rage power, as she was calling it, against the cyclops was a good move, as the creature growled in pain as they struck it with the electric power, and when an opening appeared Kratos took it, ducking under the creature's legs before getting onto it's back to stab it's head, causing to to fall in a matter of seconds.

As the first cyclops fell, however, Kratos and Flurry found that two more jumped into the area they were in, causing them to simply nod to each other as they each took one, as he knew his daughter was strong enough to deal with their enemies on her own, without needing to rely on him all the time. Flurry did find that her father had a power he rarely used, which he called his 'Spartan Rage', a power that utilized his own rage and allowed him to deal great damage to whoever he was fighting, something he saved for when it was needed since he'd rather not waste it's power on minor things. It wasn't like all of the powers they gained from the gods or the relics they collected, rather it was an innate power unique to him, since Flurry didn't have something like that in her arsenal, but she was fine with that, since it meant they had different strengths when it came to how they fought their enemies. Kratos, on the other hand, focused on utilizing the power as it generated small flames around his body, though they were overshadows by the blue lightning that coursed around him, a sign of the Olympians as Flurry thought about it, and his power in this state allowed him to tear down a fourth cyclops that appeared in the arena, without breaking a sweat.

With the cyclops dealt with the pair entered the building in front of them and found that they had to climb around a few large boxes, not to mention part of the walls, to reach a chamber that had a new set of godly statues, though Flurry found that the statues weren't of Athena, despite this being Athens, rather they represented a stunningly beautiful lady who had breasts that were larger than the ladies her father took to bed and wore revealing clothing.

"Lady Aphrodite." Kratos said, because while he was still annoyed by what they had discovered during their battle against the Hydra, and the monsters that had been near the beast, he also knew that showing respect to the gods would grant him and Flurry new powers and safe passage to the rest of Athens.

Kratos, Flurry, we are pleased with your progress, but we know that you will require more powers to bring down Ares and his monstrous armies. the goddess stated, which was understandable, since they had no idea what else might be waiting for them in the future, so adding more powers to their arsenals meant the pair would be able to deal with all sorts of enemies, before Flurry heard something slithering in the darkness, My gift is the power to turn your enemy's to stone, but to earn this gift you must bring me Medusa's head.

Interestingly enough the Gorgon Queen herself was here, that was the slithering Flurry had heard, even though it was a tad bit odd that she was showing up now, instead of later on to avenge her fallen kind, where she found that Medusa had a more human head, with snakes for hair, while her fingers were more like skeletal talons, and she had bones sticking out of her spine, going down from her neck to the end of her tail. Suddenly everything made sense to her, Medusa had been slain by Perseus in the past, she had heard the tale once upon a time, and so far it seemed like Ares was using undead and monsters to wage his war, so the gorgon's new form made sense, due to her being raised into some sort of undeath to aid the God of War in striking down Athena's city. Surprisingly Medusa fought exactly the same as the other gorgons the pair had fought in the past, meaning Kratos was able to dodge her attacks with ease, since she targeted him and not Flurry, a fact that ended as he slammed her into the ground, stood on her back, and tore her head off with his bare hands.

As that happened a few minotaurs appeared out of the shadows and Flurry flew up to the opening they used to reach this area, allowing her father to channel the power of Medusa's Gaze at his foes, rapidly turning them to stone like Albis did to her enemies, allowing him to smash each one to bits before they could even free themselves.

With Aphrodite satisfied by his deeds her visage disappeared and the magical door that had been blocking their progress disappeared, allowing the pair to progress once more, though Kratos had to make a holder of sorts for the head since he didn't have a pouch to contain it in, leaving it hanging on the back of his waist. Flurry knew that if it had been some sort of power or armor piece it would have been easier to carry it, but at the very least this meant her father could use Medusa's head every now and then, no doubt blessed by Aphrodite in some manner so it could remain pristine for the duration of their quest. Of course she knew that they could have just used the amulet from their first adventure to keep it pristine, but her father seemed insistent on only using the older tools when they absolutely needed to, which meant it was up to her to make that decision, based on what she had seen so far. Flurry decided not to worry about it too much as they found a very short ladder in front of them, which seemed to be the way forward, along with some legionnaires blocking the way, but all of them fell as her father unleashed the power of Medusa's Gaze and turned them to stone, allowing her to smash them before they moved up to the upper level.

The pair found that there was a ballista to fire and a wooden wall blocking their path, to which Kratos pulled a lever that was in front of them and moved the weapon into position, as the area it was resting on spun, and once it was in position Flurry pulled the bolt back before letting it loose, breaking the door down with ease.

"I know you have a question on your mind." Kratos commented, though as he said that he found a way forward and just jumped down onto the lower level, a different area than where they had been previously, because he was interested in the potential revenge he could have by destroying Ares, but he knew his daughter well enough to know when there was something on her mind.

"I was just curious as to why only Medusa's head works like this, since we've killed plenty of gorgons." Flurry said, since she had seen her father tear the heads off of their gorgon enemies in the past, but instead of utilizing their gaze against their enemies, like he just did to appease Aphrodite, he usually tossed the heads to the side without using them, "Is it because she's one of the three main gorgons, the sisters who stand above all other gorgons? Or is it due to the fact that a goddess blessed it with her power?"

"Flurry... I do not know." Kratos admitted, as it was hard for him to determine which was the truth, even though he felt it might be Aphrodite's influence that allowed them to utilize the power that Medusa possessed, but as he considered that he noticed a few more legionnaires appear in the middle of the path they were following, "We can talk about this later... for now, let us focus on our enemies."

Flurry nodded as they tore into the undead legionnaires that dared to block their path, only to find that it was just a way back to where all of the cyclops had been located, to which they doubled back to the upper level and found another ladder to use, this one heading up to a third level, which seemed far more reasonable to the pair. Sure enough it even brought the pair outside, where more legionnaires were positioned, though Kratos stabbed a few in their chests as Flurry removed her foes' heads with her sickles, before they found that to move forward they had to climb along a wall again. With that in mind Flurry switched to her bow and readied herself, because when her father started to make his way to the end of this area she found more targets on the walls, causing her to loose a few arrows to take them down, opening the way for her father to safely reach the end. While he did that Kratos found that there were breaks in the wall that allowed him to glance out at the battlefield that was in the distance, the soldiers of Athens fighting a losing battle against the monstrous army of Ares, and it annoyed him to see such a thing play out, though once he reached the end of the path he found that it had brought him to the backside of a large statue of a scholar.

He gave a silent prayer to Athena, that she would forgive them for what they had to do, before pushing the statue with all of his might, pushing it into the arena the cyclops had been in and it shattered when it hit the ground, leaving the head in an area for them to climb up to a new area. With that done Kratos utilized a nearby ladder and dropped down into the area he and Flurry had been in earlier, allowing him to utilize the head's new position so he could reach another portion of the wall, though as he did so he was assaulted by a pair of gorgons, who he dealt with in a matter of seconds. While he did that Flurry flew down to where he was standing and turned towards the statue when she landed, where he watched as she pulled out the amulet and turned it's power on the statue, restoring it to it's pristine nature in no time at all, and once that was done she put it back in her pouch. After that Kratos and Flurry utilized a ladder to reach the upper level, only to find a couple of minotaurs and a gorgon waiting for them, to which they split up for a moment, Flurry removing the gorgon's head without wasting time while her father turned his foes into stone before smashing them to bits.

From there they broke a few pillars, forming the path forward, and found an area with more legionnaires to deal with, which is what the pair did without wasting time, only to find another ballista that they fired without delay, the bolt hitting another part of the walls with a rope attached to it, to which Kratos started to climb along it. Flurry found that more legionnaires appeared on either of the long rope and started to climb after her father, one group coming from the ballista and another coming from the opening that was their destination, to which she flew over to an area that gave her a good view of the rope and readied her bow. She was incredibly fortunate and thankful that Artemis had gifted her an enchanted quiver during one of her birthdays, one that magically replenished her arrows and gave her an endless supply, since she was using them far more often during this quest than the others she had been on. Such a thing allowed her to focus on the enemies that were coming from where the weapon was located, letting her father focus on those that were in front of him, and once he finally reached the end she found that no more legionnaires dared to show up, allowing her to fly over to her father so they could continue into the city.

The rope brought them to the backside of the dead end they had spotted earlier, with the weapon that smashed down the wooden door earlier, to which Kratos utilized the weapon once more and not only broke down the door, but also a couple of minotaur, though the ladder on the other side of it allowed them to leave the walls at long last and start to walk toward the city itself, only to be stopped on a bridge by a magical projection.

Do not fear, Kratos and Flurry of Sparta, for I am the Oracle of Athens. a voice said, where they found an image of a lady, almost looking like one of the ones that had been on the ship earlier despite the transparent robe, which allowed the pair to see her breasts and even her privates, making Flurry wonder why clothing like this was even allowed for someone like an Oracle, I am here to help you defeat Ares. Find my temple in the east, and I will show you how to murder a god.

"We must need something specific to kill the God of War." Flurry remarked, speaking as the magical projection faded into nothingness, allowing her and her father to walk up the stairs that were in front of them, granting them a greater view of the battlefield that they had seen some time ago, before they spotted a massive armored figure whose hair and beard almost looked like they were on fire.

"Ares..." Kratos growled, where they watched as the God of War tanked the attacks that were coming his way, because the defenders of Athens were trying, in vain, to do any sort of damage to him, while the god, in turn, created a large fireball that he tossed down at his attackers, blasting them to death so he could turn on another group as his army of monsters tore into the other groups of defenders, before he held a hand out, "Flurry, stop... we will seek the Oracle."

"Father... he's the one who ruined your life. He ought to get a magical arrow to the eye." Flurry said, as she had been in the middle of readying one of her arrows, one she had intended on pouring a massive chunk of her magical energy into, just for a chance to deal some damage to the God of War, but when she looked at her father's face, and how he didn't approve of the idea to directly assault the deity without finding the Oracle, she sighed and returned her arrow to her quiver, "Fine, let us find the Oracle."

Kratos headed to the left of the balcony that they had come to a stop on, which allowed them to stare out at Ares and his dark army, only to find that they were actually able to enter the outskirts of Athens, at long last, and that one of the God of War's attacks destroyed one of the taller buildings, causing pieces to fall and squish some unlucky civilians. With the main street partly blocked, and not wanting to waste time in trying to move everything since he was sure it might tell Ares that they were there, if he could feel Flurry's magic, he and his daughter entered the cavern to their immediate left and found that the door slammed shut behind them. Two minotaurs, these ones wielding large hammers, happened to be inside the cave in question, with a button that seemed to be linked to a wall that wasn't important to them at all, it was just a chest with green markings on it, only for Flurry to investigate it's area and found that it actually contained a path that would get them around the wreckage. With that in mind the pair dealt with the pair of enemies, because instead of freezing one with Medusa's Gaze, like one would expect, Flurry utilized the oath stone to create a copy on the pressure plate, where she and her father walked through the opened gate and returned to the main street, allowing the power to deactivate once they no longer needed the stone's power.

As they returned to the street, however, they found more civilians under attack by the undead legionnaires, who cut them down before the pair could do anything to save them, which just annoyed Flurry as she rushed forward and slashed apart her targets, leaving none of the undead alone as she eliminated all of them. Kratos wasn't about to stop her from taking out the enemies that were in front of them, because he knew his daughter well enough to understand when not to get in her way, and when she was like this, hurting those who disliked or mistreated life, something in her snapped. This was just like what happened with Persephone five years ago, his daughter's rage got the better of her and she lashed out at those who triggered her, much like how he reacted at times to those who pissed him off, so he allowed her to do that as he dealt with the gorgons who happened to get in his way. There were also a few minotaurs hanging out along the street, which he and Flurry dealt with as they realized that the pair were even there, and they had to pause for a moment when they found a massive missing section of the street, where Flurry flew over to the other side as her father found a pair of ropes that he could use to swing over to her position.

From there the pair turned a corner and made their way into the town square of Athens, where fireballs were falling down on the buildings, harpies were carrying the citizens into the air so they could pull them apart, and a couple of unarmored cyclops were slaughtering the people that were ignored by the harpies.

Kratos and Flurry rushed out at them while they were distracted, where Kratos climbed onto the back of his foes and just jumped down while bringing his blades down into their heads, surprising the cyclops in the process since the monsters clearly weren't expecting them to be there. Flurry, on the other hand, dodged the incoming attacks that came her way and slashed at the arms and legs of her opponents, weakening them a little as she studied their movements, before jumping by their heads as she swung at them, allowing her to cut open the sides of their necks and kill them with ease. Once both of them were done they found another doorway to walk through and discovered a lady at the far end of the passage who just fled the moment she noticed them, though it was hard to tell if it was the Oracle or someone else that thought they were monsters. The building she happened to be running through was full of dead soldiers, no doubt guards to keep the Oracle safe, and she even headed outside for a moment before moving into another section of it, and it all came to a sad note as the lady, fearing for her life as Kratos approached her, seeing him only as Ares' monster and not Athena's hero like the Oracle did, fell off a balcony and plummeted to her death.

Flurry could only let out a sad sigh as she flew down to where the lady had landed, where she found that the lady just so happened to have a small golden key on her, though after collecting the key she flew back up to her father's position so they could track down the lock it went to so they could progress on their quest to bring down the God of War and bring an end to her father's nightmares.

Revenge: Wisdom of the Oracle

As it turned out the key that Flurry picked up was far a nearby hatch, which just so happened to be bolted down and had a lock on it, allowing Kratos to unlock it with ease and drop down into the area it led to, only to find that it was the path that was beyond the lowered gate either of them could open earlier. With the gate forced open, just in case they needed to come back through this way, the pair continued deeper into Athens, finding that the ongoing assault was causing the ceiling of the tunnel they were walking through to collapse in certain locations, even crushing a pair of guards in the process. After lifting another gate out of the way the pair walked out onto what appeared to be the rooftops of the burning city, where they had to climb up some strong green vines that easily supported Kratos' weight, which Flurry found to be interesting as she kept an eye on her father as he climbed to the peak. While he did that it was easy for them to see that, in the span of time it had taken them to reach this point, Ares was now inside Athens itself, occasionally hitting the buildings while watching as his army of monsters tore into the guards and the civilians, but since he had yet to notice two ants moving on the outskirts the pair said nothing as they continued on their way.

The building they entered happened to have a few wraiths tormenting a dead soldier, where Kratos and Flurry wasted no time in rushing at their foes and hacking into them, pulling them out of the shadows and cutting into the undead before they could do anything else. Flurry found that other enemies showed up as well, in the form of archers and legionnaires, but none of them really stood much of a chance against her and her father, as they cut them down, even shocked them for a few moments with Poseidon's Rage, before clearing the area out. There was even a roof level where they found a pair of cyclops, the armored type, waiting for them, though Kratos wasted no time in turning Medusa's Gaze on them and turned both foes to stone before they had a chance to attack or even reach his position, allowing him to break both statues. Flurry was a little disappointed in the power of Ares' army, as some of the monsters were far too easy for them to take, but she realized that the God of War must be keeping his stronger creatures off on the sidelines, or maybe they were somewhere else in the city, not realizing that they were even here.

In the end they were able to clear the monsters out and continue on their way, entering a main part of the city, or at least it sure seemed that way as another of Ares' attacks hit the walkway in front of them and blasted some soldiers apart, along with the stone walkway, but that wasn't enough to stop the pair as Kratos climbed on some vines and Flurry provided some support with her arrows.

The path brought the pair to what appeared to be one of the main temples of the city, no doubt Athena's since this was her city, though it was also likely that this was for another god, but they had to focus on their mission as Kratos found a ballista that could be moved, so he pushed it down a path to their left as Flurry kept watch over them. The chamber that it brought them to happened to have a large gear for them to put the ballista on, so by pulling a nearby lever they could turn it to face another direction, though to get it to face the large wooden door that was blocking the way Kratos had to spin it once more, all while Flurry dealt with the undead legionnaires in the area. Once the coast was clear, as he joined the battle the moment he found that there were more enemies than they originally expected, Kratos pulled the bolt back and kicked it, breaking down the door and allowing them to enter another passage that would take them deeper into the temple. While the pair walked, however, Flurry suspected that this was where they would gain another power, because this just seemed like the most logical place for a god to grant them more power, though the only question she had was which god would be the one to assist them this time around.

Sure enough she found that they entered a nice chamber that had some fancy art on the walls, though the entrance that was on the other side of the area had two statues of a male god, one whose statues commanded the power of lightning, meaning Zeus was going to assist them in some manner.

"Lord Zeus." Kratos said, where he decided to keep his frustrations about the people not knowing about them chaining the titan Atlas locked inside him for the time being, as there would be time to discuss this once Ares was dead, and he could see that Flurry wanted to say something about it and came to the same decision that he had.

Kratos, Flurry, both of you grow stronger as your journey progresses, but if you are to succeed in your quest to bring down Ares you will need my aid. Zeus stated, something that confirmed that Olympus was standing against Ares right now, as even the King of the Gods was willing to aid their mortal champions in their great quest, where lightning coursed through their bodies for a moment as he granted them a small portion of his grand power.

Once everything was said and done they found that the magical door faded away and allowed them to step out into the open area in front of the temple, though when the pair stepped onto the bridge they heard a couple of archers on top of the temple's roof and turned to face them. This new power, 'Zeus' Fury', allowed both Kratos and Flurry to create bolts of lightning above their hands that they could throw at their enemies, either those that were far away or those that got far too close for comfort, though for now Kratos assumed they would use it to take out ranged enemies. Flurry didn't mind a new ranged weapon or power, rather she was excited by the idea of having the ability to use lightning like this, and once both of them had a good idea on how to channel the power they headed into a building that was behind them, where the pair found a ladder to climb. With that in mind both warriors resumed moving without delay, since there was no telling how much more they would have to deal with before they found the Oracle and learned what they needed to do so they could bring down Ares, and when they reached another roof section the pair found more enemies to deal with.

Flurry dealt with the harpies that were flying around the area by either utilizing her bow or using the new power to shock all of them, while at the same time her father hacked into the minotaurs that got in their way, and when no enemies were nearby both of them leapt from roof to roof to progress.

There was an area where they found a soldier holding onto a lever, preventing the halves of the wooden bridge that was in front of them from moving into a walkway for them to use, and when Kratos called for him to release the lever the pair found that he didn't care, he just wanted to be safe from the monsters. For a few moments the more experienced warrior debated on whether or not he should zap the soldier with Zeus' power, a brief return to the monster he had been before he found Flurry, but the decision was made for them as a harpy flew down, grabbed onto him, and carried the soldier off into the battlefield. With that done the lever switched back into the main position and raised the bridge for them to move forward, which required smashing through a weak wall in front of them to enter another structure, where Flurry found a few wraiths floating around and attacked them without wasting time. As Kratos rounded the corner that happened to be in front of them, as he knew his daughter didn't need his aid, he found a few more and shocked the trio of wraiths with the power Poseidon had granted them earlier, opening the way for them to move deeper into Athens.

After that they discovered a lift that took them down into the ground, back down to an area they had walked through not that long ago, or at least a walkway that was above where that unfortunate lady fell to her death, and they discovered the Oracle on the other side of the path, only when she turned to face them a pair of harpies carried her off.

"Of course the Oracle gets kidnapped by monsters... do you think Ares knows we're looking for a way to kill him?" Flurry asked, because it sure seemed like the God of War might be making sure that anyone who might spell his doom was taken care of or brought under his thumb, to be under his watchful eye until he was sure Athens was totally crushed and he did whatever else he was here to do.

"Yes and no. He likely knows the gods have tasked someone to speak to the Oracle, but he likely only knows I exist... you he might not know about." Kratos replied, as he recalled one of the gods that they were friendly with telling him about how no one liked the God of War, so Ares was likely cut out of many of the godly conversations that the gods shared with each other, meaning he likely had no idea that his daughter even existed.

"If he doesn't know about me, despite everything we've been through, then he's an idiot." Flurry remarked, where Kratos raised his eyebrow for a moment as he heard that, as his daughter was usually more respectful towards the gods, save for those who annoy her in some manner, like when Athena was rude to them back during their previous adventure, but he decided to say nothing about this, as he didn't like Ares either.

With the conversation over, for the time being, the pair crossed the short gap and then climbed the stairs beyond it, only to find a path on the side of a mountain that seemed to bring them closer to their destination, though they did have to cut through a number of undead legionnaires in the process. Fortunately the path was incredibly short, as it reached another set of stairs that brought them to a great stone bridge that would bring them to a large temple that was larger than what was in Athens, meaning this had to be the temple of the Oracle, and, sure enough, the figure was carried into her building by the harpies that loved to carry her everywhere. Of course a number of other harpies came out and tried to kill them, no doubt on the orders of Ares, though this time around the father and daughter were ready as they opened fire on the tide of enemies, Kratos hurling bolts of lightning into the air as Flurry loosed some arrows into the air, striking down their foes in no time at all. There were also some gorgons, but they didn't last long at all, and once all of their the enemies were dealt with, and both were sure of that fact, they glanced around the exterior of the temple, seeking anything that might be of use to them in the near future, only for Flurry to find that there was a mound of dirt off to their left, with someone working no less.

The figure in question was an old man who looked like a normal person who dug graves, especially with the shovel that was in his hands, though she found it to be interesting that none of the monsters even acknowledged his existence, as if a god was watching over him, and her father walked over to the grave, finding that it was quite large and deep.

"Good my boy, good. Athena has chosen wisely... you who have the blades, the skin as pale as the moon, and who are followed by the shadow of Death itself." the old man said, taking a moment to climb out of the hole they had spotted him in, who seemed like part of his mind might have gone over the long years of digging graves and burying people, though as he did so he focused on Flurry, as if he had never seen some like her before, "Perhaps you will save Athens... but be very careful, as I don't want either of you to die before I'm finished with this grave."

"I do hope you aren't suggesting that we're going to die." Flurry remarked, because that was just an unpleasant thought to have, that this quest would come to a terrible end for one of them, and knowing her father she suspected that if what the old grave digger was saying was true it would be him to rush into his end, something she'd like to avoid.

"The gods are sending you against another god. Someone has to die, and I would like to be prepared." the man said, as if he didn't really care what Flurry had to say on the matter, rather he seemed like most of his focus was on digging his large grave, which was starting to look like a hole in the ground for some odd reason, "But don't worry, because when all hope seems lost, I will be there to lend you a hand."

Kratos knew that something was up with this scene, as no one dug graves while in the middle of a battle, especially not while the God of War was tearing through Athens and it's army, though he decided not to say anything as Flurry kept her sickles on her belt, having decided not to get angry at the man for suggesting they would die in the future. Instead of even thinking about what he said the pair focused on their main objective and headed inside the temple that the Oracle had been dragged into, as she held the key to destroying Ares and potentially getting rid of Kratos' nightmares at long last, a fact both of them wanted to accomplish. On the inside of the temple they found that a large number of harpies came out of holes in both the left and right walls, which flew around and screeched at the pair, though as that happened Kratos just let loose with Zeus' Fury whenever his foes stopped and cut into those who got close to him. At the same time Flurry used her arrows and a bit of her magic to take her targets down, though she could see that there were far more than either of them were expecting to find, something that caused an idea to form in her mind as she found two large statues that just so happened to have shields on them.

When she pointed it out to her father, however, Kratos nodded as he realized what she was saying and they rushed over to where the statues were resting, to which he moved the left one down into position while Flurry replicated the motions with the other one, allowing them to block the harpies from entering the temple.

Once the rest of the harpies were taken care of, and Flurry confirmed that the passages were blocked, the pair discovered a spiraling passage that was blocked by a gate that they removed, though it was a short walk up to the second level of the entire temple, which would involve walking across some beams. Flurry took up her stance to keep an eye out for enemies, as there was no telling with how things were going during this quest, while Kratos stepped out onto the beams and made his way towards the other side, only to find that some fell and he had to change his path accordingly. Fortunately they had no more harpies to deal with and Kratos was able to reach the other side of the level without slowing down, though once he was on solid ground once more he beckoned for Flurry to join him and she did so by flying over to his side. She could have simply walked across the beams as well, but since they had no idea what the harpies were doing with the Oracle, in fact they could be ripping into her at that very moment, she put their quest first and everything else was set aside, hence why she caught up with her father so they could move forward.

The passage that was on the other side happened to have several groups of weak undead legionnaires inside it, where the pair tore through them with ease, slaughtering the undead without pause, before reaching an area that looked like some sort of meditation area with a statue of the Oracle, or an older one, with the current Oracle hanging off a rope that was far above the ground, so if she let go she was as good as dead.

"Kratos! Flurry! You must save me! Athens' survival depends on my safety!" the Oracle stated, spotting the two warriors as they entered the area and noticed her hanging from where the harpies had left her, though her statement was true since she had information that would help them stop Ares and save Athens.

"Of course." Flurry said, where she opened her wings and took to the air, flying over to where the Oracle was hanging as she slipped her sickles onto her belt and held both of her arms out, something that caused the lady to stare at her for just a few moments before she pulled herself into Flurry's arms, who held onto her before flying down to where her father was standing, much to the Oracle's surprise.

"Please, excuse my surprise. It's just... I never expected Death to be so caring towards life." the Oracle commented, which wasn't a surprise to the pair, as everyone who encountered Flurry said something similar, calling her 'Death' and talking about it whenever they mentioned her, though she was happy that their godly friends had stopped after the first couple of visits they had with each of them.

"Why does everyone say that? Calling my daughter 'Death' all the time?" Kratos asked, because with an Oracle they might be able to learn something, other than the information that would allow them to bring down Ares, as he would like to find out why nearly all of the important figures, such as the Furies and the gods, called Flurry 'Death'.

"I wish I knew... as much as it pains me to admit it, but I cannot see her fate, nor why such a title was given to her. Flurry, I am blind to your future." the Oracle replied, informing them that, despite their thoughts on the matter, that she couldn't pierce whatever veil was preventing the various Oracles of the land from seeing her future, which Flurry found to be odd since Aletheia could, in fact, see a glimpse of her future, at least according to what her father had said previously, "But I do have some good news, I have the information you require: you must seek Pandora's Box, which the gods have hidden in the desert to the east... it holds the power to bring down a god. But be warned, as many have gone in search of the box and all have failed."

"If it means the death of Ares, then we shall not fail." Kratos stated, because with Flurry by his side he was sure that any of the challenges set forth by the gods would be conquered in no time at all, where the Oracle said nothing to his remark as she walked over to a pillar and waved a hand over one of the symbols, magic flowing into the surface as she beckoned to a path that would allow them to make good progress towards their next destination.

With the information on how to bring down Ares acquired, and their path set, Kratos and Flurry walked into the passage and found that it brought them to the side of a cliff that was across from a large statue holding a massive sword, one that formed a bridge for them to walk on so they could reach the statue. What was odd was that there was a path to their left that happened to end at a peak that was far above the water that rested around the statue, with an odd brass monument with a statue of Athena resting to it's right, which Kratos figured was godly in nature. After checking out the side path, as Flurry had flown along it while Kratos started to walk along the blade's surface, the pair focused on their objective and just crossed the bridge without anything happening, though what Flurry found to be weird was that the blade was real, it was actually made out of metal. Such a thing made her wonder why in the world it was here, and what would require the blade to exist in the first place, though she decided to shelve the thought for now as they headed into the statue's chest, without any monsters stopping them, and walked down the spiraling path that was in front of them.

The stairs brought them to the sewers of Athens, which was crumbling under the weight of the invading god since several of the pillars were broken or in the process of breaking, and, sure enough, Kratos and Flurry found more monsters simply wandering around, who were eager to attack them the instant they were spotted. When the undead legionnaires stepped into battle Flurry focused on using her arrows to take out the ranged enemies, allowing her father to cut down and hack apart the melee foes that were coming at him, while the one that rushed at Flurry died before it could reach her. Kratos knew it was due to his daughter reacting to what was going on around them, instead of relying on him to rush to her aid in moments like this, allowing him to focus on the couple of minotaur that were further along the path, cutting them down as they moved towards the exit. There were also two unarmored cyclops hanging out in the sewers, where Kratos turned the power of Medusa's Gaze on one of them and shattered the statue before he and Flurry cut into the second one, and once all of the enemies were taken out Kratos continued on his way as Flurry followed behind him.

Eventually they tracked down a ladder that brought them up to another spiral staircase that brought them back to the short bridge that the Oracle had projected herself to so she could talk with them, though to reach the summit they had to pull a nearby lever to lower the rest of the path into position.

"Great, it's morning. I didn't think it would take so long to make our way through the city." Flurry commented, because at the start of their venture into Athens, or the dock and outer walls, it had been late evening or early night, though now it was a totally different time of day, telling her that they had spent more time tracking down the Oracle than she or her father might had originally expected.

"It is a surprise, but even so our target remains in one spot." Kratos said, as they started walking once they got used to the light of the sun being in the sky, where he stopped at the balcony and discovered that Ares was still attacking the defenders of Athens, like he was purposely dragging out his invasion to have some fun with the mortals of the world, which annoyed both of them as they watched him, before Kratos turned down the path to the right, "Come, we have work to do."

Flurry nodded as she followed her father down the path in question, stopping for only a moment when they found a massive gate that had been opened from afar, likely the Oracle's doing, and the vast desert that was beyond it, which held the key to bringing down Ares, causing the pair to ready themselves for whatever the future had in store for them as they stepped out into the unknown.

Revenge: The Hidden Temple

Kratos and Flurry quickly left the sounds of battle behind, leaving the defenders of Athens to deal with Ares and his army of monsters, and entered what a nearby plague called the 'Desert of Lost Souls', which made sense given that this was where the gods decided to hide Pandora's Box and it informed newcomers of the fates of those who came before them. Of course this time around they had the backing of the gods themselves, they wanted the pair to find the box, retrieve it, and use the power that was inside it to destroy Ares, where Kratos was hoping it was an empowerment type of power so he could tear the God of War apart with his bare hands. Flurry, on the other hand, had no real opinion on what was inside the artifact, rather she was more interested in the fact that it existed in the first place and that they, out of everyone in Greece, had been tasked with retrieving it from it's ancient resting place. She could only hope that she and her father didn't end up among the people who had lost their lives trying to find the artifact, since there was no telling what sort of challenges the gods might have set up to prevent the box from being discovered and used against them.

As they passed from the rocky area of the main path and entered the start of the desert, which had sand moving thanks to either the wind or a natural storm, both warriors spotted another statue of Athena in front of them, causing them to stop in front of it as it was energized by the goddess' essence.

Kratos, Flurry, the journey ahead of you will be perilous, but one you must complete if you are to have any hope of killing Ares and saving Athens. Athena said, confirming that this might be more like the quests the pair had been on before, as in the journey to destroy the Furies and the quest to restore Helios to the world, which really only made them wonder what sort of dangers were waiting for them.

"Your Oracle spoke of Pandora's Box... does it really exist?" Flurry asked, because many of the tales claimed that it was just a myth, something that didn't exist, and as she thought about it she realized that none of their godly friends had said a word about the artifact, either because they weren't supposed to speak about it or they didn't know about it.

Yes Flurry, the Box exists. It is the most powerful weapon a mortal can wield. Athena replied, her tone revealing that she wasn't displeased by the question, rather she had been expecting it and had prepared a response to such a thing, likely one of the many things she rehearsed for those who dared to seek the artifact and passed by this area, With the Box, many things are possible... but, due to it's power, it is hidden well, far across the Desert of Lost Souls. There is safe passage to the area it is hidden in, but only those who hear and follow the siren's song will discover it... you must find the sirens, for only they can guide you to the titan known as Kronos.

"A titan lives?!" Kratos inquired, because all of the information they had gained over the years indicated that the titans, all of them, had been chained in the area that Atlas had once been chained in, making him wonder what was going on as Flurry just looked out at the sands that were in front of them, "Do we need to kill him to retrieve the Box?"

No. Zeus has commanded that Kronos shall wander the desert until someone conquers Pandora's Temple and retrieves the Box, at which point a new punishment will be chosen for him. Athena stated, informing them that they were to stay their hands and not do anything to the titan, that the gods had plans for him and that they had to abide by what Zeus said, as the King of the Gods expected his rules to be followed, For the time being the temple is chained to his back, all while the sands assault his body endlessly.

"Okay, find and slay the sirens before tracking down Kronos. We can do this." Flurry stated, because the sirens sounded like the easiest part of this entire quest, especially since there was no telling what might be lurking inside the temple that was constructed to hide the Box from the rest of the world.

Kratos said nothing to that as he nodded his head, he agreed with his daughter on the fact that they would be able to find and take down the sirens, while everything else would be determined when they encountered the challenges of the gods, to which Athena let her essence fade from the statue as they truly entered the desert. It wasn't long before they heard the sound of a siren, or maybe multiple sirens were singing at the same time, to which the father and daughter decided to just stay together this time around, as while tackling multiple of them at the same time would be better neither of them had a desire to get lost in the storm. Flurry found that there were no other monsters in the desert, meaning the sirens were the only things killing people who dared to come out this way, meaning they could focus on tracking down their targets and not worry about being interrupted by any of the other monsters the pair had seen in the past. The sirens this time were actually wearing clothes, an improvement in Flurry's mind, even though they did make sure that their breasts were more of a focus, something that had no effect on her and her father as they lashed out at the first siren that appeared in their path, cutting into her as she tried to deal damage to them.

When they damaged the creature enough, and she floated backwards, Kratos grabbed onto her and pulled her head back with enough force to snap her spine, causing her soul to burst out of it's body and surge off into the distance, though with that done they resumed looking for the other two sirens that were hiding in the desert. The second one, still singing her part of the song despite the danger that she and her sisters were in, happened to have two minotaurs guarding the area she was hiding in, as if that would do something to keep her safe from those her sought her demise. Neither warrior let the monsters gain any ground as Flurry used her sickle staff to hook a minotaur's weapon into the ground before raking it's head clean off, while Kratos used Medusa's Gaze to turn his foe to stone and smashed it with a powerful punch, right before they found the siren and broke her like her sister. The third one was being guarded in a similar manner to what the pair discovered when they discovered the second, so their first order of business was killing the minotaur before taking out the siren, breaking her body just like the previous two, and once that was done Flurry started to move towards a new glowing light with Kratos following her.

The light brought them to a temple that looked like it was mostly buried under the swirling sands, save for the doorway and the roof, which seemed to be a rest spot of sorts before the next part of everything that the gods had prepared for all those who sought the mythical Pandora's Box.

Flurry discovered a set of stairs heading into the ground and found that it was, in fact, the next part of the path, though it brought the pair to a long chamber that had a belt that moved things from one side to another, similar to what they had seen in the Statue of Apollo ten years ago. There were undead legionnaires guarding the belt itself, constantly moving over to the right side of the chamber, at least from where she and her father were standing, because of the fact that there was a spiked grinder over on the other side, designed to grind would be hunters of the Box to death. There was also a path off to the right as well, which seemed to be the way forward, and there was a door that Kratos could shove up into the ceiling, as he jumped down after discovering what was going on, which let him into a small chamber with a moveable stone that had to be a stepping stone for them to reach the path. With that in mind Flurry used her sickles to cut through the rest of the legionnaires as her father moved the slab into position, allowing them to jump up onto a ledge that had another door that had to be raised, but this one allowed the pair to enter a far more important place than the last one.

It was a short passage that ended up bringing them to an impressive looking horn, one that was facing the storm itself to be exact, though since there was nothing else to do Kratos blew into the device and it loosed a sound that opened a path in the storm itself, no doubt leading right to where Kronos was wandering around, which they were able to confirm after climbing a set of stairs and reaching a second intricate horn.

"So that's Kronos." Flurry said, because standing near the edge of the platform allowed them to stare out at the massive being the gods had tasked with carrying Pandora's Temple on his back, though she had to back off as a dust devil came through and shrouded the horn, causing it to disappear as three more sirens appeared, "Okay, look at the titan later... let's take out some sirens."

"Indeed." Kratos said, where he lashed out at the nearest siren and knocked her back towards the stairs, while the others were repelled by his daughter, as while he did share her desire to look at the titan, and just marvel at the fact that one had been left in the land of the living like this, most of his attention was on their enemies.

What they discovered was that there were more than three sirens in the area, in fact it seemed like there were at least ten in total since one replaced any that happened to be slain, but they were incredibly weak to both Poseidon's Rage and the lightning power of Zeus' Fury, as Flurry smashed a lightning bolt into one's chest and obliterated it instantly. Kratos used the first ability they obtained during this quest and shocked multiple sirens at the same time, taking two out at once due to what he discovered, though both of them were expecting some minotaur to drop down into the area and attack them, given that they had been guarding the sirens earlier. The reality of the situation was that it was just the sirens this time, as nothing else showed up to attack Kratos and Flurry, though instead of questioning this discovery they made the most of it as they tore down the remaining enemies that dared to face them, until there was nothing else for them to fight. Once the last one was dead, and both warriors were sure that nothing else was coming to attack them, they braced themselves for a moment as the dust devil returned and restored the horn to where it had been resting previously, though neither took a step for a few moments, just to make sure they were no longer under attack.

As Kratos approached the horn, however, he was stopped as Flurry held a hand out, because she was studying everything that was in front of them right now and recalled what was happening in Athens at that very moment, so she knew time was of the essence and they didn't have a lot of time to waste on climbing what appeared to be a sheer wall of rock, as that was what she could see on Kronos' massive back.

"Father... do you trust me?" Flurry asked, because she had an insane idea in mind that should, if she was right, earn them some time, something they didn't have a lot of since they really had no clue as to when Ares would tire of Athens and move on to his next important target, since he seemed to be going to war with the other Olympians.

"Of course. I take it you have something in mind?" Kratos inquired, as it felt weird for his daughter to ask such a thing, due to the fact that she was one of the few people in the world that he wholly trusted, hence why they worked so well together since they both knew that the other had their back, so it make him wonder why she'd ask such a thing.

Flurry smiled for a moment as she backed up to the center of the area the horn rested in, where she placed her hands on the ground as she opened her wings, her gaze focused on the tan form of Kronos off in the distance, before she launched herself into the air that was above the horn. Kratos watched as she flew around for a few seconds, as if giving herself a bit of speed or something, before he realized what her plan was and braced himself, waiting for the perfect moment before he rushed at the edge of the area and threw himself into the air. In the next moment he hurled his blades into the air that was above him, as if there was something there that he could use to move above the vast desert, and Flurry caught both of them as she flew by, pulling Kratos through the air as well as she locked onto where she assumed the temple had been hidden by the god. While that happened, and he got a good glimpse of the ground, Kratos had to admit that this was one of her better plans, because there was no telling how much time they were going to save by utilizing this method of travel, even though he understood why his daughter didn't use it until now, he was a heavy warrior and he felt her falter for just a moment before correcting her course.

A couple of moments later they found that Pandora's Temple did, in fact, rest on Kronos' back, an imposing place that had all sorts of dead soldiers and vultures hanging out near and around the entrance, though before they could get close to the entrance Flurry dropped him in a circular starting area before collapsing nearby.

"Flurry! Are you alright?!" Kratos asked, where he rushed over to where his daughter was resting and found that it looked like she might have strained her wings to carry him this far, as fast as she did, which explained why she didn't tell him the plan that had sprung into her mind, as she knew he'd tell her that it wasn't a good idea.

"Yeah, just... ow. Note to self: not doing that until I get my strength up, as you are too heavy for me." Flurry replied, which Kratos understood, even though he suspected his daughter was underestimating her strength, given that she had hauled him all the way to Pandora's Temple in the span of a few moments, before she shifted her position and held out a small container, "Mind helping me out?"

Kratos nodded as he took the container and opened the back of Flurry's attire, as Artemis had been kind enough to give his daughter some ointment for when she strained her wings like this, where he removed some of it and rubbed it into the areas that he had been shown when the goddess taught him how to do this. It took a few moments for him to ease some of the pain Flurry was in, though it wasn't supposed to be an instant cure, rather the goddess went with natural healing all the time, but both of them knew that it would take some time for them to fully heal, so she'd be stuck without them for an undetermined amount of time. Once he was done, and Flurry claimed that she was fine to move on again, Kratos gave her the container so she could put it away while he returned her attire to what it had been like before she put her reckless plan into action, before he recalled the Blades of Chaos to his side. After that Flurry stood up and carefully stretched, just to confirm that there was nothing else wrong with her body, before readying her weapons once more, checking to be sure none of them had fallen during the flight, and then nodded to her father to show him that she was ready to go, causing the pair to resume moving once more.

The only path available was a long wooden bridge that was older than anything they had seen in Athens, though when they reached the other side the pair discovered that there happened to be a locked gate between them and the temple, which told them that there was either a lever or something to pull to open the way forward. In addition to that there was another figure in the area, on a level that was above them, though interestingly enough he seemed to ignore them as he hauled one of the slain soldiers over to the bonfire that was near him, while some harpies came and deposited more in the flames, an odd thing to see for sure. Other than watching the man work there was nothing for them to do in the area, so Kratos found a path leading under the area and took it, only to discover that it allowed them to reach a large stone carving in the wall that looked like it could be pulled out, much like they found in the halls of the Fire Steeds. With that in mind Flurry kept an eye out for enemies as her father pulled on the bottom section of the carving, forming a set of steps for them to jump up, which is what they did and found that it brought them up to where the man was silently working on his bonfire.

"So, you two think that you can conquer the temple of the gods, do you?" the man said, though when he turned the corner the pair discovered something horrifying, he was half dead looking, as he was missing half his face, a chunk of his stomach area was totally missing, his right hand was gone and most of the flesh on that arm had been peeled off, and there was far more that seemed wrong about his body, "It's never been done, you know... sooner or later the harpies will bring what's left of you to me for burning. The gods hid Pandora's Box here so that no mortal could ever claim it's power... and yet, year after year, I open the gate for more and more soldiers and end up placing more bodies on the pyre. You are the first ones to come in a pair, as everyone else usually comes in on their own, but in the end you, too, shall meet your death in this temple... if I were you, Spartan, I'd take the girl home and live out the rest of your life in peace."

"If she were far younger, I would have considered your words more... Flurry is a skilled warrior, so it is unlikely that you'll see us until we come out with Pandora's Box." Kratos stated, because while he appreciated the man's words, showing that he still had some of his humanity left despite the long about of time he had been trapped here, tending to the flames thanks to a punishment from the gods, he and his daughter were determined to complete this quest.

"Very well, I see both of you are determined." the half dead man said, where he reached down with his good hand for a few seconds and lifted a charred skull, which he hurled at a pair of harpies that were sitting on a high rock, like they were better than the others that were carrying the dead out of the temple itself, but the skull seemed to be the sign for them to move as they flew down and lifted the gate up so they could approach the massive temple, "May the gods grant you the strength to conquer the perils and challenges that lay before you... good luck, Spartans."

As they jumped down into the area in front of the gate, so the pair could enter the temple at last, they found that three new cyclops climbed up over the side of the area and targeted both Kratos and Flurry, though while their skin was different in a few places, and they had what appeared to be spikes growing out of their backs, they weren't very tough. Flurry found that they were basically like the cyclops they had fought in the past, they just had to avoid the incoming attacks and lash out at their foes, cutting into their flesh and dealing damage to whatever part of them that they happened to be targeting. Once the three cyclops were dealt with, and Flurry confirmed that there were no more enemies for them to fight, the pair started to walk up the stairs leading to the temple's entrance and came to a stop in front of a set of stone slabs that served as the door of the temple, where each side had an arm with a sword design on them. In front of the door they discovered a crank that could be turned, causing Kratos to turn it around for a moment as he forced both slabs to move out of the way, opening the way for them to enter the true entrance of the temple, which they did so once he was done with the crank.

The chamber in front of them had a number of statues, all of Zeus to be exact, there was a circular stone slab at the other end of the room, and there was a stone tome for them to look at, though as the door closed behind them a few wraiths appeared to fight the pair. This wasn't much of a surprise to them, since this was the place that an incredibly powerful and dangerous artifact had been locked away, so it made sense for Kratos and Flurry to find more monsters here, especially since Flurry was sure that the bodies burned on the pyre outside were reborn as monsters. It was the only thing that really made sense to her when she thought about how important the Box was, that it would need an army of creatures to keep it safe from those who might be seeking it for their own ends, especially if it contained the power to bring down a god, but for the time being she shelved the thought as she joined the battle. Some undead legionnaires joined the wraiths as well, showing the pair that there were more enemies than just what they were originally expecting, but they simply attacked all of them as well, showing the monsters that they weren't intimidated by their numbers.

Once all of the monsters were dealt with Kratos and Flurry sheathed their weapons and approached the stone tablet, an item that informed all seekers of Pandora's Box that this temple had been erected in honor of, and at the command of, Lord Zeus, where only one would succeed and all others would fail, which was signed by the architect of the temple, Pathos Verdes III.

"Flurry, are you ready?" Kratos asked, though at the same time the runes around the circular door glowed and a section of the center moved out of the way, revealing the way into the center of the temple, where they would find all sorts of grand challenges and monsters waiting to kill anyone who made it this far into the massive structure.

"Time will tell." Flurry replied, because there was no telling what might be waiting for them, as it might just be more of the same, identical monsters to everything they had fought so far, which would be far too easy for them to deal with, though there was also a chance that they might encounter something new and that could cause all sorts of problems, before she let out a sigh and held her sickles at the ready, "Let's go find Pandora's Box."

Kratos smiled for a moment as he gripped the Blades of Chaos as well, because this would be an interesting test of their skills and the powers that they had been granted since the start of this quest, and he was looking forward to seeing what the gods might have in store for him and his daughter.

Revenge: Challenges and Discoveries

When Kratos and Flurry walked through the opening that was on the other side of the circular stone door they found that the start of Pandora's Temple seemed to be a ringed area, maybe with more beyond what they were seeing right now, along with the fact that the door closed behind them, informing them that there was no way to leave.

"So this is Pandora's Temple... I'm going to guess that we'll have to overcome some challenges and unlock the rings so we can get to the center of this place." Flurry commented, where she found that the walls were made of solid stone, likely the type that had been blessed by the gods to prevent challengers from smashing through all of the walls, there were gears in the walls, and there were ancient banners that were too faded to tell what they once were.

"Seems like a reasonable assumption." Kratos said, because it sounded like something the gods would create to challenge those seeking a powerful relic, and he was positive this place would somehow reset once everyone like him and his daughter were taken care of, otherwise someone would have solved the place by now.

After taking a moment to study the area around them the pair explored the outer ring for a time, quickly finding a large skull on a door that happened to have a slot in the forehead for an actual skull to be inserted in, no doubt a very specific one that they would find in due time, likely guarded by monsters. Across from where the door was located they also found a tunnel leading to a new area, though it had a number of spiked stone grinders crushing the area between them every now and then, causing the pair to simply walk through the tunnel without the hazards touching them. The chamber at the end of the tunnel happened to have some undead archers waiting for them, though as Flurry used her arrows this time around she also noticed that there was a pool of water in the center of the chamber, likely something they'd use later on, there was a stone door for them to open at some point, and there was a stone statue of some importance. Once the archers were taken care of, as they weren't hard to deal with since her arrows had knocked some down and her father cut his way through the rest of them, Kratos approached a lever near the two halves of the statue and pulled it, deactivating the grinders that were in the tunnel they had walked through a few moments ago.

As they moved away from the halves the pair discovered that they could, in fact, use a handle that extended to move both halves into position, forming a crystal that fired a beam of light at the skull door for a few moments, meaning that they had to deal with a few things before they could get at the center of the temple.

With that in mind Kratos and Flurry returned to the outermost ring of the temple and found that there was a new platform off to their left that had a crank on it, one that, when Kratos decided to turn it, happened to rotate the entire ring, meaning the door they had walked through was one they were going to use quite a lot. Flurry was amazed by what she was seeing, as the feats of engineering that went into making places like this, especially when she thought about the insides of Apollo's tall statue and it's mechanical insides, were very impressive and made her wonder how the rest of Greece would benefit from what they had seen so far. She did, however, have to move out of the way as her father rotated the crank and moved the outermost ring for a time, causing her to walk alongside him as she looked for openings for him to stop at, though he knew that if he had been doing this alone he would have had to stop and strain himself to see if he had found something new to investigate. With Flurry helping him Kratos was able to focus on moving the ring and only stopped when she found a new tunnel for them to explore, where one happened to be a short walk to a golden door missing two pieces that looked like the Muses, the daughters of Zeus, something to keep an eye out for during their quest.

The next tunnel she spotted, however, happened to have a magical door preventing one from moving forward and held two statues on either side of it, a sign that they were about to gain a new power from another god, causing the pair to approach the door, all while Flurry recognized the humanoid statues of Artemis.

"Lady Artemis." Kratos said, though this was a far more pleasant surprise for him and Flurry, because she was one of the few gods and goddesses that they trusted, in fact she enjoyed teaching his daughter how to use a bow and how to use her wings to fly, all lessons that had come in handy over the course of this quest.

Kratos, Flurry, it is with a heavy heart that I tell you that Zeus demands more of you. Artemis stated, as she had grown fond of the pair and had enjoyed their company, especially since they treated her and her brother with respect, even after discovering their more bestial forms, and disliked how the King of the Gods wanted them to talk down to the pair, who she could see knew that Zeus must have forced this upon her, You, Kratos, have learned to wield the Blades of Chaos well, and you, Flurry Heart, have done the same with your sickles, and while they might carry you through to the end of your quest, I will help tip the odds in your favor. Take the weapon I once wielded to strike down a titan and use it to overcome any and all obstacles that are between you and your goal.

The weapon, as it turned out, was a curved broadsword with purple designs on the blade and it's guard was shaped either like a bat or like the moon, where Kratos stepped forward for a moment and swung it around, finding that it was incredibly light, which made sense given Artemis' bestial body, and was likely very deadly. Flurry found that when her father used the weapon, as there was only one for them to share by the looks of it, his own weapons disappeared for a time, until he made the decision to utilize the Blades of Chaos once more, but when she tried it out she found that her sickles remained on her belt, as if she was given more freedom than her father. The chamber at the end of the tunnel happened to have a number of undead legionnaires waiting for them, where Kratos summoned the Blade of Artemis and slashed his way right through some of them, finding that the blade was just as sharp and as deadly as his own weapons, hence why Artemis no doubt granted it to him and Flurry for the foreseeable future. Flurry found that this was also confirmation on the fact that her father knew how to wield nearly every weapon in existence, even if he was forced to use the Blades of Chaos since the chains linked to those blades were burned into his flesh and the weapons were bonded with him, but instead of focusing on that she turned her attention to their enemies and lashed out at them.

Artemis' weapon, as they discovered, made short work of the undead legionnaires that were coming at them, something Kratos let Flurry experience as he dismissed the blade and his daughter summoned it into her hands, while the force of gorgons that showed up proved to be more of a challenge, due to the number of them that appeared. This time around it was four to five gorgons at once, instead of just one or two at a time, but both warriors expected this to happen, as Flurry knew that those slain in the temple were eventually brought back as guardian monsters and were positioned accordingly, which also explained the additional aid the gods were giving them. Zeus and the others knew that they might have made this whole temple far harder than necessary, thanks to the monsters overpopulating the place, and to make sure the pair were ready to tackle it's challenges they were tipping the odds in their favor, all while hoping that they were able to claim the Box and use it's power to bring down Ares. With that in mind Flurry raised her sickles and focused on the battle as she removed a gorgon's head and shocked another into submission, while her father did the same with Poseidon's power and the new weapon that had been added to their ever growing arsenal.

Once the chamber was clear of enemies the pair discovered that they would either head down another tunnel or climb up onto an upper walkway, the latter having a number of legionnaires for them to worry about, so while Kratos attacked the undead in melee range Flurry dealt with the archers before they could do anything.

"Remind me to thank Artemis later, as this is a fine weapon." Kratos said, as he was grateful for her aid in this quest, due to her being one of the few gods he actually trusted, especially since her blade made short work of the majority of the foes that were in front of him and his daughter, hence why they took turns using it so no one got overconfident during their time in this place.

Flurry nodded as her father pulled a lever that was up on the second floor, a ruined floor with a raised walkway and even a winding one that he had to carefully cross, where they watched as a heavy stone in the ceiling was lowered down into the depths below them, a floor they previously couldn't access, but now they could thanks to the rope that was tied around the stone. With it in place Kratos and Flurry grabbed onto the rope and slid down into the floor that happened to be right below the main floor, where they found that there were far more than monsters in this place, as there were all sorts of soldiers, those from Athens based on their armor, fighting and dying to monsters. While Flurry wanted to help them, since it seemed like a lot of wasted life she was seeing right now, she knew that if they did so the men would no doubt trying to use her and her father in their own quest to claim Pandora's Box, so this time she let out a sad sigh as she turned away, a fact that made Kratos wonder when the cruelty of the gods would end. With that in mind Kratos started to climb along the rope that was right in front of them, since it seemed like whatever was on the other side of the chamber was important, and while he did that Flurry used her arrows to take down a number of undead legionnaires that tried to harm him, so he could focus on the enemies in front of him.

Once they were back together the pair walked up a short set of stairs and found an altar with a silver shield of a god on it, Hades based on the designs since it depicted a helm, though when Kratos picked it up a spiked wall dropped down onto the walkway behind them and started to come towards them. With that in mind the pair made their way to the other end of the passage, tearing their way through the undead legionnaires who had been assigned to this part of the area, though as that happened Flurry took count of just how many were between them and the end of the passage. Based on what she was seeing there were between thirty to forty enemies in their way, counting those who dropped down into the area as well, but because the spiked wall moved slowly they were able to take their time and deal with their enemies safely. Once all of them were dead the moving hazard rapidly moved back into the wall it came from and stopped moving, allowing the pair to relax for a few moments before retracing their steps to where the rope between levels was located, since this told them that there had to be a slot for the shield to go into.

The moment they were back on the main level of the area both Kratos and Flurry paused for a moment, just to make sure no more enemies showed up to get in their way, before heading into the other tunnel, finding that it brought them to an area that happened to have a door with two shield slots on it.

"Based on what we've seen in the past, the other one is close by." Flurry commented, though at the same time she found that the icon on the door in question was of two Greek soldiers battling for Pandora's Box, with their shields being where the slots were located, but instead of inserting the first one right now they turned to hunt down the second one.

Kratos remained silent as he stared at the pressure switch on the floor and found that when it was pressed into the floor it caused the wall off to the right of the door to spin, revealing a backside that would likely bring them to the other shield for the door, causing him to remember a container of rocks that looked like it was moveable. Flurry followed him for a couple of seconds before realizing what he had in mind, where she watched as her father moved it out of where it had been left by the workers and moved it to the area between the spinning wall, causing her to position herself near the wall while her father did the same. With a powerful kick Kratos pushed the container and it moved onto the button, allowing the wall to spin and bring them to the other side, where they found more legionnaires that quickly moved in to try and kill the pair, a fact that they were becoming familiar with since everything in this place wanted them dead, but it didn't stop Flurry from lashing out with her sickles as her father crushed the others with Artemis' blade. After taking care of the monsters the pair found that there was a ladder for them to climb, bringing them to an area right above where the door rested, though on the other side of the upper level Flurry spotted another altar, where her father crossed over a couple of beams and came to a stop in front of it in no time.

A few moments later Kratos returned to her, showing Flurry the golden shield of Zeus, before they dropped down onto the lower level and inserted the keys into the slots, placing Zeus' on the left and Hades' on the right, where the door just raised into the ceiling in three sections and opened the way for them to progress.

On the other side of the door they found a path heading deeper into the temple, as in it was descending this time, only for it to bring the pair to a ladder, causing the father and daughter to shrug as they climbed up it and used the door that was at the end of a walkway to reach a new chamber. This one, however, seemed to be more of a trap since there were a large number of spinning blades moving from one portion of the chamber to another, in predetermined lines based on what was on the ground, so they simply waited for them to move by before walking forward. There were two levers for them to pull, one moving the horizontal bars that were blocking a doorway out of the way and another doing the same to a set of vertical bars, though while they could deal with it easily the pair headed through the unblocked passage first. Such a thing brought them into contact with more undead legionnaires, a damaged wall that Kratos smashed through, and a few more grinders that they avoided rather easily, and at the end they discovered a path leading to an exterior walkway, which was where a number of harpies were flying around.

It took them no time at all to take the harpies down and enter the area that they had been guarding, which seemed to be a decent sized cylindrical structure that could only be accessed by climbing on a cracked wall, to which Flurry took up her position as her father did the climbing, allowing her to hit each legionnaire before they could even do anything. With the aid she provided Kratos was able to reach the end in no time and lowered a thick chain for Flurry to climb up, though once they were back together they walked through yet another short tunnel and discovered that it was a chamber with a long altar on the left side, with what appeared to be a crank of some kind on it. Of course more enemies showed up, sirens and a number of undead shield legionnaires, causing them to lash out with their magic and weapons once more, Kratos doing his best to break through the magical shields with his blades as Flurry shocked the sirens to death. The one thing that did make them pause for a moment was when the wooden floor, which could double as a door, shook, as if some massive monster was coming for them, but instead of worrying about it they grabbed the handle, after making sure their foes were dead, and retraced their steps back to the trapped chamber.

With two of them they were able to pull both levers and pass through the open door without delay, avoiding the massive gap in the ground by hugging the wall to their immediate right, before reaching another door, where Flurry noticed that the figure on the door was very familiar.

"Atlas, holding a sphere on his back, which I'm assuming is the world itself... curious. How would the artisans know to even make such a thing, when it hadn't been done yet?" Flurry commented, though at the same time her father quickly opened the door and they walked into a chamber that had a couple of undead legionnaires in, archers to be exact, but they were taken down by a swing from her father using Artemis' blade, all while she glanced at the large statue behind them, "Not to mention the fact that the artisans who made this statue got everything wrong... did no one know that Atlas was a titan and that he'd cause chaos in the future?"

"Perhaps the Fates are involved, even through their will is unknown to even the gods." Kratos offered, where he found a minotaur off on the other side of the chamber and readied himself, only for Flurry to call the Blade of Artemis to her side as she moved forward, swinging her arm a few times as she hacked the monster apart before it even had a chance to realize that she had taken it down.

"Still, it makes you wonder, doesn't it? If they knew to carve all of these statues and representations, why did no one keep an eye on Atlas?" Flurry remarked, all while she and her father turned on the rest of the enemies that were in the chamber, a few more legionnaires and another minotaur, before lashing out at them like they had done to all of the monsters that had crossed their path previously, before she shrugged for a moment, "But I guess it hardly matters anymore, since we chained him up in his new prison."

Kratos really had no idea what prompted his daughter to talk about Atlas, save for the statue and carvings that didn't match the titan in question, but figured that any questions she might have would be better saved until later, once they were out of Pandora's Temple and had struck Ares down, since only the gods could answer her questions. Once both of them were sure that the area was secure, and that there were no more enemies for them to deal with, Kratos found an area to insert the handle they picked up not that long ago and slipped it into the waiting slot, allowing him to make a crank. Flurry watched as her father moved the crank around and that it caused the statue of Atlas to lift the world onto his back, before locking into place once everything was in it's proper place, though she did find a small chest behind the statue that just so happened to have one of the golden muse keys inside it. With that in hand they discovered a path leading out of the area and took it, all while finding a circular walkway that happened to have some legionnaires for the pair to take down, who stood no chance against their might as they tore through them and the archers that were on the second floor.

After all that Flurry found a lever and her father pulled it, where they watched as Atlas' statue pulled it's hands back and just threw the world at them, or rather the massive locked door that it smashed through, opening the way for them to head out onto what appeared to be the end of this path, as the walkway in front of them ended in a platform that had a large coffin in the center of it.

"It seems that this is the tomb of Pathos' youngest son, who died while building this temple." Flurry said, as she had learned how to properly read over the ten years she had spent with her father, meaning that she could read the writing on the tome in front of the tomb in no at all, all while her father walked up to the large coffin and pushed the lid open, causing her to realize what they needed to do, "The skull door... we need a skull to open it, meaning we'll have to defile this tomb to gain the key to move forward."

Kratos paused for a moment, mentally debating what to do about this situation, especially with Flurry watching him, before he sighed as he leaned forward, uttered a prayer and an apology to the son's soul, for what the gods demanded of them, before using one of the Blades of Chaos to sever his spine and free his head, though with that done he returned the lid to it's proper position, causing the coffin to move out of the way.

"A path back into the temple... should have known." Kratos remarked, though after everything he and Flurry had seen over the years he realized that this was something he really should have suspected that they would encounter at some point, a bit of safety before returning to the madness of the temple.

"Father... are you alright?" Flurry asked, as while she understood the fact that they needed the skull, since it was the key to them moving deeper into the temple itself, it was also easy for her to see that this did impact her father somewhat, and if that was the case she suspected what might be going through his mind.

"Yes... I am fine." Kratos replied, though he didn't tell Flurry what he had considered before he removed the skull, that part of him had envisioned either of them losing the other, like Pathos had lost his youngest son, to the hazards that were inside the temple, but it only served to aid him in hardening his resolve, that they would make it out of here with Pandora's Box and finally bring Ares down.

The passage below the tomb was long and winding, full of cobwebs due to the fact that nearly no one had been here since it was constructed, in fact they might be the first ones to walk through this place, though when they reached the area near the end they found a number of slain bodies. Such a thing caused Kratos to briefly remember the fateful battle that ended with his bond to Ares, a long battle with the barbarian armies and their King, and the way Ares struck down his enemies was why the dead soldiers in front of them triggered that painful memory. The good thing was that with Flurry standing beside him he was able to shake off the memory with ease, as she did bring joy and happiness to his life, just as he was told she would, and continued towards door that served as the end of the passage, leading them back into the chamber with the pool that held the crystalline halves. The tunnel with the turned off grinders happened to be where some more legionnaires decided to attack them, though once again the pair was able to deal with them in record time before approaching the skull door, where Kratos pulled out the youngest son's skull and carefully inserted it into the slot, where the door actually seized the skull as it lowered into the floor.

Such a thing allowed them to enter the second ring, of however many there were, and found a large cylinder rolling around the ring, though since it had just passed by them Kratos and Flurry walked behind it, eventually coming to a set of stairs that allowed them to get above the hazard, though that was when Kratos insisted that they rest for a few moments before they tackled whatever the next trial of Pandora's Temple happened to be.

Revenge: Obstacles of the Second Ring

After taking a short break, since the pair had been moving for some time without rest and Kratos didn't want to exhaust his daughter by forcing her to do too much, Kratos and Flurry stared at the cylinder that was moving through the second ring, both wondering what needed to be done with it. The answer came when Flurry spotted a ladder that seemed to head up into the ceiling, though it's base was along the path of the cylinder, meaning that one of them would have to get on top of it and carefully ride it over to where the ladder was located, as she was sure it would lower once someone latched onto it. Kratos, knowing that his daughter was able to figure these puzzles out in record time, without needing to be told what to do, did just that, waiting for the cylinder to roll over to where they had stopped before jumping onto it, where he walked in the opposite direction, to stay in one section of it, before reaching the ladder. Flurry watched as her father latched onto the ladder without delay and found that it fell a bit, hitting the floor and revealing that they could climb it to the ceiling, all while a section of the floor opened in front of the cylinder and it fell in, meaning the pair wouldn't have to worry about it during the rest of their trek through the temple.

With that in mind the pair climbed the ladder up to a tunnel that seemed to be heading outside, no doubt to the next trial of the gods, and they stepped out onto a circular area without delay, where they found a small dog creature that climbed up over one of the ledges and growled at them, though as it approached the pair it expanded into a cerberus, a large dog with three heads that also spewed fire.

"Finally, a new enemy to fight!" Flurry remarked, because while she was more than willing to fight hordes of legionnaires, just like they had done to reach this point, she was glad to have some variety in the types of monsters that were trying to stop them from claiming Pandora's Box.

Kratos said nothing to that as he nodded, showing his daughter that he also appreciated having a new enemy to fight, to which they rushed at the monster as it tried to breath fire on them, though at the same time Flurry found that there were a number of smaller ones as well, seeking to join the fight. With that in mind, and she knew that they could transform in a matter of seconds, she and her father nodded before diverting their course to deal with the smaller ones, because having too many large creatures to fight, at the same time, would give all of their enemies the advantage, so eliminating a couple of smaller ones was the more reasonable path right now. Since the cerberi fought like dogs, trying to bite and chew on the pair, it was easy for Kratos and Flurry to avoid the incoming attacks and hack their targets apart, either going for the heads or just cutting through them, which was even easier to do when using Artemis' blade. The larger cerberi, as another large one appeared while the pair were dealing with the smaller ones, the pair did something different with, they separated the pair of monsters, climbed onto their backs, before slicing open both the left and right heads before wrapping the chains of their weapons around the main head to snap it's neck.

The cerberi were an interesting change of pace, something that made Flurry wonder what the rest of the temple might have to offer them when she and her father overcame the rest of the challenges that were currently in their way, though once the last one was taken down the pair continued along the path in front of them.

Of course it wasn't like they were given free reign to do whatever they wanted, because along the cliff path they found two cyclops coming at them, where Flurry switched to her bow for a moment as she loosed a few arrows at the one that was coming for her, all while her father slashed into the arms and legs of his foe. With only two enemies there wasn't much for the pair to worry about, hence why both cyclops fell in no time at all, though around the corner that both monsters had walked around they found ten undead archers lined up and ready to fire at them, where Kratos pulled back and started to move a large stone cube out into the open. Flurry used it as cover as she quickly and accurately loosed her arrows into the air, where Kratos found that she struck each and every enemy before they had a chance to even hit his daughter, which he was expecting since she was incredibly skilled with a bow, especially after Artemis' and Apollo's training. With her taking out all of the archers they were able to reach the end of the path that the cube was needed for and climbed up a ledge to reach another part of the exterior path, finding three more small cerberi in the process, though this time Kratos simply kicked each one and sent them flying off the path, letting them fall to their deaths.

A few more archers and small cerberi appeared in front of the structure that was their current target, though the pair cut and blasted their way through them with ease, allowing Kratos and Flurry to enter the structure and found a lever that caused the walls to rotate when it was pulled. With that in mind the pair waited for a time as they sought the single path that would take them deeper into the temple, even though it brought them to another section of the cliff path that they had been walking along, which Flurry suspected they would be dealing with for some time. In addition to that she glanced at the area far above them and noticed that there seemed to be more scaffolding above where the temple rested, which told her that there was likely more for them to tackle and that the rings that she and her father were dealing with right now were likely the best way to eliminate those unworthy of Pandora's Box. Other than that they found a new variation of the legionnaire enemy, these ones more armored up and carrying short scythes on their backs, though while they were far tougher than the variations they had fought before both Kratos and Flurry found holes in the defenses of their enemies and took them down by either cutting off their limbs or tearing their bodies apart.

In addition to that Kratos revealed an interesting way for them to deal with these particular enemies, forcing them to stab themselves in the back with their own blades, though Flurry decided to hack her foes apart with her sickles, allowing the pair to clear out the immediate area. Once their enemies were taken care of Kratos found that they would have to climb the cliff side, using ledges that had been left for such a purpose by the looks of things, though this time it was essentially both warriors hugging the walls, without enemies to worry about, so Flurry climbed behind her father since he insisted on taking point. Flurry ended up finding the path that lead to the chest that held the second muse key, which meant that they could unlock the door they went to if her wanted to do so when they were back inside the rings of Pandora's Temple, but after that she followed her father as he found where they needed to go next, all while both of them happened to get a fair view of Kronos as he wandered through the desert. When Kratos reached the end of the cliff wall he discovered another pair of minotaur walking towards them, where he utilized Medusa's Gaze to free one so he could smash the statue, while Flurry grabbed onto her foe's hammer and used it to crush it's original wielder into the ground.

A minotaur walked down the path that seemed to be taking them inside the temple again and the pair slew it before the monster even had a chance to do anything to them, before Kratos found that it brought them to a new area that had a small well of water off to their right, which he tasted for a few seconds.

"It is fine. No impurities or poisons." Kratos stated, because they had been fighting and moving for a long time, without any food or water, and while there had been water near their last rest spot he had elected not to drink it since there was no telling if anyone had died in the large pool, while this one seemed pure, like Poseidon himself had blessed the well for those who made it this far.

"Good, I could use a drink." Flurry said, where she did the same as her father, confirming that it was wonderful water and that it didn't have anything that would harm them, before she pulled out a pair of waterskins she had collected back on their ship, before they docked outside Athens, but she had forgotten to fill them and this seemed to be the perfect spot to do so.

Kratos was fine with this situation, as the pristine water was refreshing and allowed them to fill up the waterskins for later, reminding him that his daughter had a bag of holding and that, if he was smart, they would remember to set it up with all sorts of travel goods for the future, in case this happened again. When both of them were ready to go, and they were fully refreshed, the pair continued into the area beyond the well and found that this corridor was taller than many of the ones they had passed through earlier and that there were a number of hanging cages with living soldiers inside them, either for a punishment or something else. In addition to that there was a ramp that went up to a smaller chamber, which seemed to be their main target, though interestingly enough both warriors found no enemies waiting for them this time around, a fact that caused Flurry to switch to her bow as they walked towards the chamber, just in case they were wrong. A couple of moments later they found that the chamber had fire traps, like they were supposed to sacrifice someone to the gods or something, a crank handle for the damaged crank they had walked by, and a dead soldier with a pouch that seemed like it might have something interesting inside it.

What Flurry discovered, as her father picked up the crank handle, was two circular weapons that looked like they could be thrown, due to the sharpened outer edge, with a handle that allowed the user to hold onto them with their hands, while she also found a rather fancy handheld mirror that seemed magical in nature.

"These almost look like they belong to a goddess... this soldier must have stolen them from one of the gods and they got their revenge on him." Flurry commented, where she ran a finger on the edge of one of the weapons, which were unique and not of this land, meaning the god in question must have received them during a meeting with someone from one of the other lands, maybe Persia when she thought about it, only to find that the edge was dull, "I wonder how long these have been here... the edges are completely dull... though I suspect this mirror might belong to a goddess, but I'm not sure which one it might be."

"If they belong to a god, like you say, we can return them after our quest is over." Kratos stated, because his focus was on the lever and the notes that were in the chamber, about how one had to sacrifice the 'ultimate' to move forward, and not on the items his daughter had recovered, where Flurry nodded as she slipped the items back into the pouch and then put it inside her pouch, allowing them to focus on what needed to be done.

Kratos backtracked to the previous lever and fixed it, allowing him to lower a cage to the walkway in no time, though while the soldier informed him that they could still leave the temple, and get back to Athens, Kratos apologized for what the gods demanded of them, though Flurry, who was on the lower level still, found more legionnaires appearing on the ramp they needed to use. She provided cover fire with her bow as her father pushed the cage up towards the chamber, though as he did so one of the legionnaires got close and he swung Medusa's head towards it, only to freeze both the monster in stone and the unfortunate soldier, causing him to pause before shrugging and moving it once more. In his mind it was still a sacrifice, even if the person was trapped in stone, though he made sure to avoid letting the statue take damage by just taking the fight to all of the legionnaires, slashing them apart with his blades while Flurry dealt with those he ignored for a time. Once they were sure that the area was clear of enemies the pair pushed the cage up into the chamber and set it on top of the button that was in front of the door, moving the two flame devices into position without delay, causing Kratos to pull a nearby lever that caused the flames to wash over the statue.

What confirmed that this was acceptable was that the cage sunk into a slot in the floor, which opened after the lever had been thrown, before the door opened, allowing them to walk into another passage that would bring them even closer to their main goal, or at least the goal of the second ring.

The tunnel brought them to a chamber with two pools of water, one on either side of them, with a statue in front of them that happened to be holding a trident, though the statue was of Poseidon and the designs seemed to be linked to his own domain, though without another door it became clear what they had to do. Kratos grabbed the trident, which seemed to have the same power as the weapon they acquired during their previous adventure that allowed them to breathe while they were underwater, before handing it to Flurry, who slipped it into her pouch as part of her collection. After that both warriors jumped into the water and dived under it without delay, only to find a passage that went under the chamber and had a few corroded icons that looked like Poseidon, or his head anyway, where Flurry watched as her father rushed right through them with a dash attack he could only use in this situation. She didn't mind at all as they continued to explore the area that was below the main chamber, before finding that it brought them to a cavernous chamber that had a number of cerberi waiting for intruders, causing the pair to lash out at them with a bit of their magic this time, since the lesser ones were easier to hit in this state.

As it turned out there wasn't a path down here, rather there was a lever on the other side of a door that was connected to the main chamber, it only made sense when Flurry thought about it, to which she and her father doubled back to where they found the trident and discovered that a greater cerberus was waiting for them, though it hardly mattered as Kratos sliced it open with Artemis' blade, while Flurry took out the harpies that showed up with Zeus' Fury.

After taking out their enemies the father and daughter found that part of the wall behind Poseidon's statue had moved a bit and formed a path up to a circular tunnel, causing them to climb up to where it rested before heading into the tunnel, which brought them to another underwater section of the temple. With that in mind they dived under the water, though while Flurry found some ruined pillars and walls around them, likely caused by Kronos' movement, Kratos continued to move through the obstacle that was in front of them, only to find a nyad, which was a spirit of water and one of Poseidon's daughters, swimming ahead of them. Interestingly enough she didn't want to fight them or challenge them, rather they found that the nyad simply swam around them for a time, studying them for some reason, before leaning forward for a few seconds as she kissed Kratos on the lips, where Flurry guessed that the water spirit wanted to check out the person the gods had picked to carry out this important task. As she considered if she would be included in that, since there were two people chosen by the gods, the nyad swam over to her and kissed her on the lips as well, surprising both Flurry and her father, though the smile on the spirit's face meant she approved of them and swam off before either of them would really react to what had just happened.

Their immediate response to such a thing was to shelve the thought for the time being before heading down into what seemed to be the next part of the temple's latest challenge, only to find a passage that seemed to be getting smaller as all of the walls rotated inward, complete with spikes and even saws. With that in mind the pair shifted their stance for just a couple of seconds before utilizing the dash movement to cross the tunnel as fast as possible, passing through the opening on the other side as quickly as possible to avoid being crushed by the various traps. After that they were able to jump out of the water and found a platform that had a number of enemies for Kratos and Flurry to fight, just harpies and legionnaires, to which Flurry raised her bow and eliminated the flyers before they could do anything to them. Her father, however, used the Blade of Artemis and the Blades of Chaos to hack through his opponents with ease, demonstrating that both weapons were incredible, even against the monsters that were in this place, and it wasn't long before they completely cleared out the area and accessed the lever that was in the center of the area.

Upon pulling it, however, the pair discovered that nothing in the chamber had changed, to which they dived into the water once more and burst through where the rotating chamber they had passed through previously, before tracking down a part of a wall that had moved out of the way, revealing the way forward.

Following that they found a statue of Poseidon, a large one, just above the next part of the path and they swam down into the tunnel in question, though it did involve diving down into the carved out sections to avoid the moving spike walls that would crush them instantly if they were caught by them. In the end the two warriors were able to overcome the challenge and emerged in a new chamber, after descending through another hole and using it's tunnel to move forward, only to find two minotaurs wandering around another lever, one that seemed connected to a few pillars in the large pool of water. This time Flurry dealt with them by utilizing Artemis' blade, slashing the arm off one so it couldn't use it's weapon, causing it to drop to a knee for a moment before she removed it's head, while the second one missed her, due to her dodging it's attack, as she turned and hacked it apart. Kratos nodded for a moment as he pulled himself out of the water and pulled the lever, confirming their suspicions as the pillars raised and formed a path up to another statue, though Flurry stayed back as she loosed a few arrows into the air, striking down a couple of legionnaires hanging around the new statue, which seemed to be of Amphitrite, Poseidon's wife.

According to the tome in front of her, only Amphitrite knew the secret way out of the chamber, though Flurry figured it out with ease, as she found that the statue was pointing downward, right at the large pool of water, and, upon returning to the lever and pulling it, she spotted a chamber under the fourth pillar, which she and her father moved into before it pushed them down into the depths of the temple.

Interestingly enough the passage brought them back to the chamber with the crystal halves, though without the key that was needed for the next door, another skull no doubt, there wasn't much Kratos or Flurry could do but return to the rings and hope they provided the solution to their current problem. Upon returning to the area that the next skull door was in, however, Kratos spotted a tunnel heading under the area that the upper body of a statue was resting in and they quickly dived into the water, swimming down into it without delay since it seemed to be the way forward. The tunnel brought the pair to a small chamber that linked up to a much larger area, one that had a locked door off on their left that seemed far larger than any they had seen so far, meaning there might be a powerful monster, like the basilisk or Hydra, in their very near future. What Flurry found to be interesting was that the area had what appeared to be magma flowing out of parts of the upper sections of the walls, pouring down into vats while letting bits of flames dance off towards anyone who dared to make it this far, though while she had to question how the magma was up here, since the temple wasn't on flat land, she also knew this wasn't the time for that as they braced themselves.

After nothing happened, save for them checking out the area and found that there was a modified ballista that could fire logs at something, what neither warrior had an answer for, Kratos discovered a section of a wall he could smash and did so without wasting time, only to discover a passage heading to another part of the temple, only to discover that it brought them to an area dedicated to Hades himself.

"It seems that we have to make blood sacrifices to move forward... I hope we don't have to kill more soldiers." Flurry said, as she found an inscription on one of the nearby walls, a raised area above the rest of the chamber that they had access to, and had climbed up to where it was so she could read it, something that caused a surge of power to rush through the chamber as they turned towards two new magical circles that had appeared out of nowhere.

"I think the gods heard your comment. We have centaurs." Kratos stated, as the monsters in question were smaller than the ones he and Flurry had seen back during their exploration of Apollo's wrecked statue, though these ones had spiked bows that seemed to have energy in their bowstrings.

Flurry stared at them for a couple of seconds before rushing over to one of the altars, as that was what the message had called these zones, as she swung at one of the centaurs that was in her zone, where Kratos found that she knocked it onto it's back and promptly disemboweled it, cutting along the entire length with her sharp sickles. For a moment Kratos had to pause as he realized that maybe, just maybe, he had been far too vicious with some of his kills and that, after spending so much time with him, his daughter had started to copy him on certain enemies, which he might have to correct once they finally retrieved Pandora's Box. He also knew that this was her first time facing down this type of foe, so while the first one had fallen with ease Flurry kept her guard up as she dodged the incoming attacks and slashed into her remaining foes, just as he did the same with his enemies, who foolishly stepped into his 'altar' area as he clashed with them. Kratos found that these enemies, while stronger than some of the monsters they had encountered so far, were still nothing compared to their might, especially when either of them used Artemis' blade to hack a few apart, as it was becoming one of their new favorite weapons the more they used it.

In the end both he and his daughter were able to kill enough of them to break apart the magic that was keeping the pair of altars operational, where the door Flurry spotted earlier sunk into the floor, revealing a new passage for them to use as they continued to explore Pandora's Temple, which was much larger than they had originally expected.

Interestingly enough the passage was short and seemed to bring them to an area where no enemies showed up, which let Kratos open another door and discovered a second new passage, this one having sections of the floor moving in and out of alignment, forming a path before breaking and reassembling itself in seconds. With the magma below the path, however, it was easy for the pair to realize that a single misstep would result in their demise and whenever they reached a new portion like that one moved first and cleared the area before the other followed, since the passage was built with one warrior in mind and not multiple. In addition to that Kratos found a few arrow traps and even a guillotine at one point, showing them that the gods really wanted to keep the Box safe from anyone who might reach this point, before spotting a gorgon at what seemed to be the end of the current portion of the path, only to see that the area beyond the serpent seemed to be more like a maze. The gorgon didn't last long as Kratos tore her head off, allowing Flurry to keep her eyes on the legionnaires that happened to be in the maze as well, where she loosed an arrow every now and then to stun all of her targets, opening the way for her to cut them down or for her father to break them apart.

Flurry found that it really wasn't a maze, it was just passages that had legionnaires, gorgons, or even a few centaurs for her and her father to face, meaning it was just an excuse to have the seekers of the Box slaughter as many monsters as possible before the next door opened, one that was hidden behind a stone slamming against the opposite wall.

The passage on the other side of it was short and brought them to a short walkway that had a button on it, one that, when Kratos stepped on it, caused a statue of Hades to emerge from the small pool of red water that was in the middle of the area the centaur had attacked them in. There was a lever that could be pushed or pulled right behind the statue's head, a fact that allowed one of them to turn the head so it faced the dark chamber that was on the other side of the main portion of the chamber, though if it was left go it would reset in seconds. Flurry had an idea and had her father check the pool, as she suspected that there might be a lever down at the base of the statue, now revealed since they had raised Hades' tall statue to it's new height, causing him to nod his head before he dived into the pool. Sure enough a beam of light emerged from the statue's mouth a few moments later, where she smiled as she gripped the handle and pulled it into position, so the light was shining in the dark corridor that it was designed to light up, revealing a long chamber with multiple doors for someone to open.

In addition to that it looked like there were large flaming boulders for them to avoid as well, though there was also a long gap in between the entrance and the start of the path for the flaming hazards to fall into so they could be returned to the start and used again, forcing them to jump over the gap before rushing towards the end.

Flurry found it to be an interesting challenge, as they had to focus on the boulders and the pattern they were falling in, to avoid the others that were beyond them, while both she and her father ignored the other doors for now, as they seemed designed to entice people to stop and get crushed. The gods had definitely doing everything in their power to make sure Pandora's Box was safe from those who might misuse it, even using humanity's greed to bring about the deaths of those who were unworthy of the artifact's terrible power, but she and her father were able to overcome it in no time. At the end of the path Kratos spotted a chamber and moved into it as Flurry followed him, where they found a few legionnaires in it, a fact that didn't worry them as they dismembered the undead and kept moving forward, before discovering that there was no way out of the chamber. There was, however, a tome that informed them that there were eight doors and only a single way out, meaning they would have to track it down before moving deeper into the temple, causing Flurry to use her magic in a different way than she usually did, she made a barrier to stop the boulders, allowing them to pile up near the end of the path.

Kratos, while surprised by her power and curious as to why she never did this against other opponents or obstacles they had passed previously, quickly opened all of the doors before locating the one they needed to use, and once he found the way forward Flurry let go of her magic after catching up with him, allowing the boulders to continue on their way while she and her father continued forward.

Following that they found another area with a few minotaurs and a couple of legionnaire archers, where Kratos hacked all of the former apart with the Blade of Artemis, severing limbs while gutting others, as Flurry decided to utilize her Phantom Step, the move she used to vanish from thin air and reappear somewhere else, to help cull the archers. From there they found two more paths, the one on the right just leading them to a dead end with a number of undead archers pointing at a rope line they would have to climb their way across, so this allowed them to eliminate their enemies before Kratos took the first crossing. Sure enough enemies started to swarm both sides of the rope line and Flurry dealt with those coming up on the side that was behind him with her arrows, and once he was across she quickly took to it as well and made her way over to him without incident, a benefit of being the second to cross. The circular arena the rope brought them to just held more legionnaires for them to fight, where Kratos and Flurry unleashed a wave of Poseidon's Rage to decimate them, and the pair of minotaur that showed up, accompanied by a centaur, fell to Medusa's Gaze, as Flurry smashed the statues that were left in her father's wake.

From there they climbed a ladder and entered the upper portion of Hades' area, which involved walking across beams as they avoided spinning blade traps, though since neither warrior found any archers or harpies in the area they moved out at the same time, both keeping an eye out for enemies. As it turned out there was nothing for either warrior to even worry about, as they moved the spinning traps with ease, found their way up to a second set of traps, and repeated the motions until finding a rope leading diagonally down to a small passage that seemed to be heading backwards. In the passage the pair found a crank like the wheel of a ship, with Hades' design on it, to which Kratos spun it and they heard a what had to be a lock opening, along with something beating on said opening, causing them to understand what had happened as the nearby ramp lowered into place. With that in mind they returned to the chamber that the massive door had been in and found that it was mostly unlocked, with something beating on it from the other side, and as they walked into the chamber the door behind them closed before either of them could do anything.

Following that the creature smashed through the door and revealed that it was a massive minotaur, or the original that was far more massive than the others they had fought so far, plus this one happened to be wearing armor over every bit of it's body, meaning it could fight for longer than the lesser ones.

Instead of rushing back to the stake launcher, which they remembered was in the chamber, Kratos lashed out at the beast with his blades as Flurry leapt onto it's back and lashed out at the armor with her sickles, finding that she could, in fact, do a bit of damage to them and their combined might caused bits to release steam after some time. When enough pressure had been built up the Armored Minotaur lowered it's head and covered it, hiding from them to keep itself safe, though it only caused Kratos to latch onto it with his blades and slam it's armored head into the ground, stunning it. Flurry, upon seeing that happen, understood what to do as she used her shadow movement to get up to the stake launcher and pulled the lever, allowing her to load a flaming log into the device and launched it at the Armored Minotaur, dealing damage to the apparently weakened armor. The second time Kratos and Flurry did that series of actions they fractured the armor, or at least to the point where they could lash out at the rest of the armor and break it off after attacking them enough, and it continued to attack them once they revealed it's burned skin, or muscles and bone in places.

Kratos drove one more stake right into the beast's heart, which was now vulnerable, and the creature was sent flying into one of the walls near the door, where it struggled in vain to free itself and broke open a path for them to take, though in the following moment Flurry drove the Blade of Artemis into it's head, ending it's misery as it went still, before she and her father stumbled into the area behind the door.

"Flurry, let us rest for a time and recover... I suspect the obstacles from this point onward will require our full focus and energy." Kratos said, because after clashing with a powerful monster, and everything else they had done so far, he knew it was only going to get tougher from this point forward and wanted to make sure that both of them were ready for the rest of the challenges that the gods had for them.

Flurry nodded for a moment as she sat near her father and passed him one of the water containers, allowing them to take a bit of a break as she wondered what else the temple might have in store for them, and if they would be able to find the way to Pandora's Box before Ares destroyed Athens.

Revenge: Into the Upper Reaches

Once Kratos and Flurry took a few moments to rest and regain their energy, where it was hard to tell time in the area of the temple that they were currently in, the pair headed up the circular walkway that was in front of them, noticing that there were several pillars of magma flowing down into a pit below them. The staircase didn't have any foes for them to deal with, like the Armored Minotaur was the only thing assigned to this portion of Pandora's Temple, so they were able to reach the top in no time at all, coming to a walkway that was missing the central section of it. Fortunately Flurry found a large chain container that bridged the two halves together, allowing her and her father to cross over it with ease before discovering that the end of the path seemed to be a chamber with another elegant coffin, where they would find the second skull. Kratos took a moment to look at the stone tome in front of them and discovered that another of Pathos' family members had been laid to rest here, his second and last son, causing him to sigh as he pushed the lid back and repeated what he did when they found the first coffin earlier, he took the skull and offered his prayers to the son's spirit.

With the lid back in position, and the second skull was in his pack so they could open the last door in the temple's rings, the pair headed back to the chamber that was below them, only to find that the door leading out had changed, it now had a pair of statues with another god on either side, the armored form of Hades, and a magical barrier.

"Lord Hades." Kratos said, though he wasn't surprised by this at all, because two of the three strongest gods had already lent them some aid, those being Zeus and Poseidon, so it was only a matter of time until he and Flurry found that the last one did the same, to make sure they were ready for whatever the future held in store for them.

Kratos, Flurry, your progress has been impressive, but your skills will not carry you to your ultimate goal. The souls of the dead stand ready to fight at your side. Hades stated, confirming that this was another power to add to their arsenal, for the duration of their time in Pandora's Temple and for the rest of their current quest, though Flurry was happy to see that he wasn't annoyed with them over Persephone's death, likely putting his feelings aside for the good of the world.

Sure enough, as a new power rushed into their bodies, the pair found a number of enemies, legionnaires and even a couple of harpies, entered the arena to do battle with them for a time, to which Kratos stepped forward first as he released what appeared to be three black and yellow specters into the air. The Army of Hades, as Flurry was going to call it, flew around the area and attacked anyone that the user wasn't currently fighting, so while her father fought one of the undead she watched as the specters focused on some of the other legionnaires, and even the harpies from time to time. She found that the same was true for her when she tried out Hades' gift, the specters flew around and focused on those that weren't her current foe, meaning it was another way for them to clear out an area that was filled with enemies in no time at all. This pleased the God of the Underworld, as if Hades was glad to see that they were able to utilize his power to bring down their enemies, and the moment the last foe fell he repeated the phrase all of the others had said, as in 'go with the gods', before his projection vanished and opened the way for them to retrace their steps to the temple's rings.

After swimming through the tunnel that brought them to Hades' section of the temple Kratos and Flurry quickly stopped by the second skull door and Kratos inserted the head into it, causing the door to lower while the water itself was drained as well, revealing a crank in the a chamber that was inside Zeus' statue and a familiar crystal above it.

"Of course. We have to connect the two crystals to move forward." Flurry commented, as now the first crystal she and her father had found earlier made much more sense, it was the key to bringing them one step closer to Pandora's Box, before she spotted another crank that was linked to the ring that was around them, causing her to nod, "We just have to move the second ring's main door so it lines up with the first ring and the chamber that the other crystal is resting in."

Kratos nodded his head as he opened the door that was near the crank, allowing them to see into the rings they had beat so far, though in addition to that they had to use the crank that was inside the statue to move it so it's door was facing the rest of the doors, and while Kratos did that Flurry made her way to the outermost ring to do the same. In the span of a couple of moments they had the various doors lined up perfectly, going from where the half crystals were resting and ended where the statue's crystal rested, to which the pair regrouped before heading back to where the first crystal was resting. Neither of them were surprised to find more legionnaires blocking the way forward, but Kratos slashed his way through them with the Blade of Artemis and Flurry followed after him without delay, allowing them to reach the chamber in question and Kratos moved the crystal into position once more. This time something interesting happened when the beam connected the pair of crystals together, the entirety of Pandora's Temple started to shake, where rocks and certain parts of the ceiling came down, a fact that caused both of them to dodge the falling rubble, since being squashed was something they wanted to avoid, only to witness something else.

Zeus' statue rose out of where it was resting, heading higher and higher into the air, something that no one, not even the first challenger of the temple, had seen before this point, meaning they were about to go further than anyone else had, though they had to dodge a number of rocks before the shaking stopped.

"Okay... I'm honestly not sure how the gods will reset this change to the temple, if we fall in the near future, but it's nice to be the first ones to do this." Flurry commented, though at the same time she and her father walked over to the base of the statue, finding what appeared to be a lift where the second crystal had been located a few moments ago, meaning there had to be another portion to the temple that no one had seen before this point.

"The upper reaches of the temple will likely be far harder than anything we've tackled so far. Keep your guard up and we won't fall to the traps or monsters." Kratos stated, where he stopped on the lift and pulled the lever once Flurry was on it, to which it moved them up towards the highest point of the statue, though he had to agree with his daughter, their ability to reach this point, that no one else had reached, was a grand achievement that Zeus would have to acknowledge in the off chance that they were brought down in the near future.

When the lift came to a stop the pair found that the statue was resting near the start of a new path, which seemed to be a cliff area, though as they walked out onto the hands Kratos found that Zeus' hands moved down and linked up with the start of the path, allowing them to step down and found a satyr with a sickle staff waiting off on the side. Flurry smiled for a moment as she combined her sickles into a staff as well, surprising the monster for a moment, before rushing at her foe and swinging it, showing the monster that her speed was greater than it was suspecting as she sliced into it's lower legs with ease. Kratos, on the other hand, found a few more appear out of the shadows and drew his blades on them, lashing out at a pair of new satyrs so his daughter could focus on her opponent, though he also found that using Hades' power on them was a good idea, as the specters barrelled into one, allowing him to focus on his main foe for a time, without having to worry about being attacked from behind. He even found a moment where he could grab his foe's weapon and used it to pierce the satyr's chest, before utilizing his blades to take it's head clean off, which was when he found that the specters finished tearing down their target and disappeared, all while Flurry cleaved her opponent in half.

After that they spotted something blocking the path leading to the cliffs, a harpy with jet black wings and blood red eyes, a sign Kratos remembered from when he first made his oath to Ares, though Flurry, upon recognizing it as well, loosed a bit of lightning that shocked the monster into oblivion, killing it in seconds.

"Ares knows that someone is seeking Pandora's Box, hence why he sent one of his minions to check the temple out while he's busy wrecking Athens." Kratos said, though this wasn't good news for them, because while Flurry killing the harpy was a good thing, keeping the information of their progress here out of the God of War's hands, the action would tell him that someone had reached this point, meaning they were running out of time, "He likely suspects that I'm the only one who could have made it this far, given all the training and battles I've been in over the years, but I doubt he even knows of your existence, Flurry... only because some of the other gods seemed surprised when they first saw you.

"Still, he'll know someone's reached this level in no time... we had better get moving, least he turn his full attention on the temple, and us for that matter." Flurry stated, as she understood why her father might be worried about this discovery, a fact that she now shared as she considered what the harpy meant, though at the same time she returned her sickles back to their separate form and started to cross the stone bridge in front of them.

Kratos was glad that Flurry understood the situation they were in, even though he did not fault her for killing the harpy the instant she noticed it, though they stopped in front of a stone tome that informed them that Pathos, in his grief, designed what he called the 'Cliffs of Madness', a maze that he claimed had no way out, and, interestingly enough, he didn't sign it as a loyal servant of the gods. It was easy for the pair to understood why he had done such a thing as they moved forward, Pathos had lost both his sons and who knew how many workers to this task, all without a single word from whoever was watching over him or the gods themselves, so him viewing them as uncaring made sense given his loss. They were unable to spend too much time thinking about Pathos as Kratos slashed at a couple of legionnaires and Flurry moved beyond the group so she could use her bow and lightning to eliminate a number of archers that were positioned along the cliff path she and her father had to walk to get closer to Pandora's Box. In addition to those enemies they also found some harpies were getting ready to join the battle, where Kratos shocked them out of the air with his own lightning, allowing Flurry to continue progressing as he caught up with her, though this time Flurry found a rope line that they could actually move across without getting attacked for once.

After taking out a few more legionnaires the pair reached a lift that took them to a new level of the cliffs, after Kratos took a moment to spin the crank, where they found two paths they could take, a ladder and a cave, though they quickly picked the latter and entered a cavern that had legionnaires and satyrs for them to take care of. The first thing the pair did was utilize the power of Medusa's Gaze on their enemies, with Flurry jumping into the air to avoid being caught in it, and once her father was done they smashed the statues that were left behind, eliminating a number of enemies in seconds. Those who survived that attack were subjected to being torn apart by Kratos or being slashed by Flurry, though at the same time there turned out to be more for them to fight, which made sense given their proximity to Pandora's Box, since Flurry was sure it was much closer than before. Kratos did notice that the satyrs who actually got close to them found his daughter standing in their path, slashing at them with her sickles while avoiding their attacks, almost as if she was teaching them a lesson on how to fight with their weapons, but at the very least she took down everything that came her way.

From the cavern the pair found their way out to another lift and it's crank, allowing them to access an upper level, though before heading right into the cave in front of them Kratos and Flurry found a heavy rock that could be lowered down to where another tunnel rested, one that had the minotaur's head above it, hence why they slaughtered the legionnaires that were in the way before entering it.

There were more satyrs to deal with, though Kratos decided to turn them to stone and have Flurry smash them, only for him to find that they had to cross a wooden bridge that was partly destroyed and had a crank that allowed both halves to be spun towards each other, and had archers on the other side. As he moved the bridge into position his daughter used her bow to take down the ranged enemies that were in their way, and when he was ready they used the Oath Stone to keep the halves locked in place for a time, so when they were on the other side Kratos released the power and allowed his shadow form to disappear from the crank's position. After that they discovered a path that lead outside, where they found some more minotaur that were slaughtered in seconds, due to utilizing Medusa's Gaze again, before stopping at what had to be the key to getting out of this portion of Pathos' challenges, two statue heads of the other goddesses that seemed to be linked to a stone platforms that needed to be extended. Flurry discovered that the deities represented here were Hera, Zeus' wife, and Aphrodite, though both statues were missing necklaces, based on the indent that was resting in the area below the neck, meaning they knew what needed to be found this time around.

In the following moment Flurry had the idea to spread her wings and return to the one path they had skipped earlier, an unintentional decision on their part since they had no idea what was up here, and found that it lead to a small chamber of sorts with a number of spike holes in the ground. With that in mind she simply skipped over to a lever, pulled it to bring down a gate behind her while opening a door for a moveable stone in front of her, before jumping onto the stone once it was out in the open and propelled herself up onto the upper level, allowing Flurry to find a necklace with a red gemstone resting on an altar. Such a thing caused her to smile as she picked up the necklace that was connected to Aphrodite, due to the fact that the bust liked to the Goddess of Love had red gemstone eyes, though with it in hand she headed outside and returned to where she had left her father. When she reached her destination she discovered that her had left a trail of destruction, stone fragments from monsters turned into statues that stopped at a rope line, heading diagonally into one more cave and caused her to follow after him, just in case he needed backup.

What she found was that her father had slain even more monsters, a few minotaurs and legionnaires based on the couple of scattered weapons she spotted, and found him putting stone pillars, in different shapes, into a wall that was in front of him, only for the wall to sink into the ground so he could claim Hera's green necklace.

"Very impressive." Flurry remarked, though she had to admit that this was a good idea on her father's part, that she had flown off on her own, without saying anything, so he focused his attention on finding the other necklace, figuring that was the reason she had flown off, to find the first one.

"It was simple: I just had to rotate the stones and push them into the wall." Kratos said, though at the same time both he and his daughter started to retrace their steps back to the pair of busts they had seen earlier, as it was time to head even higher and see what else Pathos had built during his insanity.

The path back required climbing up a nearby wall, and hitting the enemy climbers with some arrows, before they found an area that allowed them to drop down into the area that the rope line was resting in, allowing them to return to the busts and attach their necklaces to their respective owners. Such a thing caused the busts to spin, like gears, before moving the four stone platforms that were in the area out of where they had been resting before this point, allowing the pair to jump from one to another until they reached the main path, signified by the stone pillars at the start of it. Of course there were more legionnaires and minotaurs getting ready to block the path, causing Kratos and Flurry to engage them without delay once more, where Flurry blasted her foes with Poseidon's Wrath this time around, just to mix things up a little, though she made sure to do it away from her father. After dealing with them the pair found a ruined bridge that had ropes for Kratos to use to swing across the gap, while Flurry just flew across, before reaching another lift with a crank, allowing them to move up towards the uppermost reaches of the Cliffs of Madness.

When it came to a stop they found a tunnel that had a number of coffins lining the walls, though at the end of it the pair discovered a new structure that was either a citadel or a tomb, where they decided on the latter after seeing the amount of coffins that lined the path that brought them here.

From what Flurry could tell there were three buttons that needed to be pressed, as there was one near them that just so happened to open one of three doors on the main surface of the tomb, meaning they would have to track down the other two before they could reach Pandora's Box, as it was closer than ever before. With that in mind they carefully crossed the gap that was in front of them, avoiding spinning saws that moved from one side of the area to the other, only to find that were were no enemies outside the tomb and there happened to be a statue of an unknown woman on the left side of the structure. Flurry suspected that it had to be Pathos' wife, it was the only thing that made sense since she didn't recognize her as one of the goddesses of Greece, though for the time being her father pulled it out of where it was resting before he moved to the other side of the structure and opened a gate for them to enter another portion of the area. On the other side of the door the pair found more of the scythe legionnaires, a foe they hadn't seen for quite a while, though Flurry just moved by them and Kratos found that all of their heads were severed from their body, reminding him of what she was really capable of, but he said nothing as they continued to push forward.

Interestingly enough the path brought them to the top of the tomb, instead of a new chamber, where Kratos noticed some cyclops coming to destroy them, along with some cerberi, though the combination of Poseidon's Wrath and the Blade of Artemis allowed him and his daughter to decimate the monsters with ease, scattering arms and heads in the span of just a few moments.

With those foes dead Kratos found a ladder to climb and discovered that it brought him to a device that allowed the user to move a large stone slab around, or use it to smash through a weakened portion of the ground to reveal another area to explore, causing him and Flurry to head down there without delay. In that moment Flurry had an idea, they could use the stone on the upper button that was near where her father had found the statue and she was sure that the statue could be moved into the under area, and then they could utilize the Oath Stone to keep the final one pressed until they were safely on the other side. Kratos, upon hearing it, agreed with his daughter, it was a good plan that seemed to be what Pathos' had intended, hence why he moved the stone slab over to the area above the statue's button and lowered it into place, all while Flurry glided down to the statue and quickly moved it over to the new hole, making sure to cut down two cyclops in the process by using Artemis' blade. Once she was done with those foes she made sure to move the statue down into the lower chamber, which was just the small cavern with a button and nothing else, before moving up to where the first one was located and activated the Oath Stone on top of it, creating a shadowy clone on it as the three doors opened up.

Kratos was pleased with this discovery and moved into the chamber on the other side of the doors, with Flurry following after him a few seconds later, though as the doors closed behind them the pair discovered that both Pathos and his wife were dead in the chamber and there was a skull door blocking the way. Flurry let her father do what was necessary, as in remove the wife's head while offering his prayers and everything for desecrating her body, though while he did that she focused on all of the blueprints that were around them, as if this place had been built long before the temple had been, based on what she was reading right now. Interestingly enough she found a piece of parchment that had a diagram of the girl that reminded her of the small statue that Hephaestus had sent them as a gift a long time ago, where she carefully pulled it off the wall and stashed it inside her pouch, along with a few copies of what went into creating the temple, as this was interesting and she was sure some of the gods would want to see his notes. Once she was done her father slipped the wife's head into the last skull door and it split in half, revealing a passage that lead even deeper into the final structure of Pandora's Temple, or, as they soon discovered, a short tunnel that lead outside and brought them to a carved area that lead right to the entrance of another structure.

After passing through the main entrance the pair found a circular staircase heading down into the mountain, stopping at a large chamber that had moving floor sections, large stone grinders on either side of the area, and a passage on the other side that would no doubt bring them to the resting place of Pandora's Box. Sure enough Kratos and Flurry found that there were more enemies for them to defeat, harpies and archer legionnaires, the latter positioned in places where they wouldn't be bothered by the moving floor, though in addition to that they discovered that the raised sections weren't safe, since they had flame launchers in the walls. With that in mind the pair remained on the moving floor, making sure to stay away from the grinders as they tore into the enemies that were around them, Kratos utilizing the power of the Army of Hades, letting a number of specters slam into some of the monsters that happened to be in the chamber, while Flurry moved around and used her arrows to take out the archers. Other than those two enemies the pair didn't see anything that would cause them to pause, and once their enemies were wiped out they quickly moved over to the other side of the chamber, discovering a circular art piece in the still floor that seemed to represent Zeus battling humanity, the latter represented by the attire of a soldier of Sparta.

Instead of focusing on that, even though it greatly interested Flurry, the pair walked up the stairs and opened the door to the final chamber of the entirety of the Pandora's Temple, discovering three statues that, from left to right, represented Hades, Zeus, and Poseidon, though the object in the center was their goal, for when Kratos pulled out a lever he revealed a large brass or golden chest that had tormented soul designs on the lid and had red flames inside it.

"Pandora's Box..." Flurry said, where she walked around the object as it was lowered onto the floor, it's container having served it's purpose, before the floor itself started to descend, no doubt returning to the entrance of the temple, giving her and her father a chance to study the box.

"This holds the power to kill a god... a major Olympian, to be exact." Kratos added, as he knew that Flurry had the power to apparently do the same thing, if what happened to Persephone was any indication of her unusual skills, so he wanted her to understand that he was talking about the gods that were higher than the fallen Queen of the Underworld, ones that could give the Big Three a challenge, "With this we can kill Ares... finally, he will pay for what he did all those years ago."

Flurry nodded as she thought about that, as her father had told her about the deeds the God of War had forced him to do, about all of the people he had murdered under Ares' command, the atrocities he had committed against the rest of Greece, hence why people feared his existence, and how, in his blind rage, he had murdered his late wife and daughter. She knew that he had told her after their thinking about their discussion with Persephone, no doubt wanting to clear the air after he realized that she wouldn't hold everything against him, but she also knew that this was important for her father, because it would allow him to end a painful chapter of his life. While the lift continued it's descent she felt the power that was resting inside the Box, a great and terrifying evil that was balanced by a glorious light, hope to be exact, and this allowed her to see why Zeus had gone through great pains to keep the container secure, until it was needed anyway. After that she found that the lift stopped right outside the rings of the temple, all while the circular stone door heading into the rings closed while the main door opened, where Kratos pushed the Box off the lift and started to make his way towards the main entrance, as it was time to head back to Athens and bring this quest to an end.

As Flurry stepped out, however, both she and her father were surprised to find a large stone pillar, shaped like a spike, fly through the now open main door and impale Kratos on the stone door behind him, piercing his heart with lethal precision, spilling his blood all over his chest, hands, and even the floor as Flurry rushed to his aid.

"Father! No, this can't be happening." Flurry frantically said, as this was not how this ended, that Ares, the only one outside of the Olympians that knew they were close to their ultimate goal, would actually cheat them out of their victory by using such a cowardly attack to deal with his would be foe, hence why she looked over her father as she raced to find a way to save her dying father.

Kratos found that the damage extended to more than his heart, all of the organs around it had been damaged as well, as when he tried to say something he ended up coughing up blood in the process, where all he could do was raise his hand towards his panicking daughter, unable to say anything to actually calm her down. As he felt his life fading from his body, and the hands of Hades waiting to pull him, body and soul, into the Underworld for his final judgement, he spotted a few harpies flying into the temple, identical ones to the one Flurry had killed on the bridge earlier, before latching onto the Box with their talons. Flurry paid them no mind, focusing on him and him alone as the Box was carried out of the temple, as it hardly mattered to her after seeing what had happened to him, and yet, at the same time, he could see the fires of rage starting to burn in his daughter, something he had hoped to never see, not after everything his rage had done to turn his life upside down. It was the last thing he saw as the last of his life left his body, causing Flurry to fall to her knees in shock as he was dragged into the Underworld at long last, though as soon as the gate to the Underworld was gone Flurry's rage ignited, spreading like a wildfire in her veins, as dark energy pulsed around her body and smashed through the ceiling of the chamber as it pierced the heavens themselves.

Ares had taken everything from her father, including his life, and now he had taken the center of her world from her, to which Flurry turned her sights on Athens as her rage took hold of her, and there wasn't anything the gods could do to stop her from getting her revenge on the vile God of War.

Revenge: Vengeance

Ares smiled as his harpy minions delivered his prize, the great and terrible Pandora's Box, an artifact that could grant any mortal the power to kill a god, or even the entire pantheon that stood against him, to him, allowing him to stare at the odd container for a time as he took in Hephaestus' craftsmanship once more. Originally he had intended on utilizing Kratos to bring down the rest of the Olympians, after using the Furies to poison his mind against Zeus and the others, and when he killed Alecto and her sisters he had decided to change his plans and tell him about his brother, Deimos, to incite his rage against the other gods. After listening to Athena for a time he came to understand that the Ghost of Sparta might not be so easily swayed anymore, so he came up with a new plan that would not only allow him to start his decimation of the gods of Olympus, crushing the Goddess of Wisdom so he could cripple the gods, but also gain the Box while eliminating what could be his greatest foe. With Kratos sent down into the depths of the Underworld, to be judged for his crimes against the rest of Greece, and having obtained the infamous Pandora's Box, removing it from Zeus' hand since there was no telling what the King of the Gods might do, his victory over the other gods was assured.

At least that was his thoughts for the first few moments after he obtained the Box, only for the magic in the air to shudder as a burst of energy erupted from where Pandora's Temple was located, a dark power that reminded him of Thanatos, the God of Death that literally no one but his daughter liked, which caused him to pause for a moment.

"Thanatos must have come to collect Kratos' soul... torment him with his brother for the rest of time." Ares commented, a fact that he was fine with, because if that was true he wouldn't have to worry about Kratos breaking out of his new chains for quite a long time, or ever depending on how well the God of Death locked him up, allowing him to focus on taking down the rest of Olympus and becoming the sole god of this entire land.

As he turned his head, however, he heard something that sent a shiver up his spine, an eerie whistle that seemed to come out of nowhere, something that should have been impossible since he was the God of War, though he found that it was followed by the air to his left rippling as a young warrior seemed to materialize out of thin air. Ares recalled what several of his harpies had said when they reported on what was going on inside Pandora's Temple, that Kratos had picked up a young girl at some point in time and brought her into the terrible structure that Zeus had the mortals construct to house the Box that was now in his possession. The interesting thing was that her attire had changed shape, as it now seemed like she had a dark grey shirt over her chest, brown trousers, and a black robe over both that could have passed as a shroud of sorts, one that had a hood attached to it that could likely be pulled back to reveal her face to her foes. He took a moment to recall the fact that she was supposed to have wings, limbs that seemed to be missing right now, though it hardly mattered to him, as Kratos had been an easy bug to crush and the figure in front of him was also just a bug for him to eliminate.

Yet despite his thoughts on the matter he couldn't help but feel a great chill run down his spine, because he could tell that there was something odd about the warrior that was in front of him, as the dark energy of Death seemed to be pouring out of her, like she had stolen Thanatos' power for herself.

"So, a worthless and insignificant mortal has come to meet her end." Ares remarked, because even with the power he was feeling right now he assumed that victory would be his, as he was an Olympian and his power was far beyond anything that the young warrior could have experienced so far, though when he turned to face her she swung her right hand and he found Pandora's Box flying off towards the nearby cliff, "What the...?"

"Ares, the God of War... the fact that you don't value life at all, and enjoy reveling in the destruction of mortal lives, did piss me off, but what you just did... I am beyond angry right now!" Flurry replied, where she took a moment to pull the hood back, showing the god that her eyes were now red and filled with rage, before pulling out her sickles and spun them for a moment, letting the collision of the pair resonate in the god's mind as he stared at her, "You killed my father, Ares... AND NOW YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR IT!"

Ares, sensing the sudden change in the air, as Flurry's rage was pouring out of her while darkening the sky and caused a bit of lightning to flash every now and then, almost as if she were Zeus himself, shifted his stance as he quickly called forth his sword, a massive weapon befitting his giant form, and brought it down on where the girl was floating. Flurry, on the other hand, rushed through the air, flying like her wings were still there and he couldn't perceive them, showing that she had no concern for the weapon that was about to cleave her in half, before she had a chance to get close to him, before she did something that stunned him. She spun around when the weapon got closer, planted the base of her left hoof on it's edge, and kicked it with enough force to keep herself in the same spot, instead transferring all of the energy into his weapon as she knocked it back into the air, reversing it's trajectory while forcing Ares back in surprise. As he regained his footing Flurry landed on his left arm and hacked into his armor with her sickles, where he was surprised to find that all of her attacks were capable of bypassing his armor and actually cut into his flesh like it was nothing, before she leapt off of his arm and prepared for another attack.

What Ares discovered was that his opponent had called forth Artemis' own weapon, the Blade of Artemis, and drove it straight into his left eye, causing the God of War to howl in pain for a few seconds before she ripped it right, taking his eye with it, where he rested his left hand against the wound, keeping the blood at bay, while Flurry landed on the water and gripped his eye, squishing it like it was just a grape.

In the next moment Ares called forth his monstrous legions, moving them from the ruins of Athens, as he had tasked all of them with destroying everything else and killing anyone that remained, all to weaken Athena so he could smite her down first, but right now he had a more important task for them to accomplish and sent them at Flurry. His plan to end the little creature quickly encountered some resistance as he found that the enraged figure tore through them with ease, swinging Artemis' blade around as she severed limbs, removed heads before some of the monsters could react, and even crushed some gorgons like they were nothing. As he watched her move, however, he noticed something when she switched to her sickles and used what appeared to be transparent chains when she hurled them at some of her enemies, her movements were far too similar to Kratos', almost as if she had been with him for far longer than what his harpies had told him when they first discovered her presence in the temple. She was, as she claimed, Kratos' daughter, likely a replacement for the daughter he had lost thanks to him making him into the warrior he had become, so him ending the Spartan's life with that fragmented pillar must have triggered her, creating the monster that was literally tearing his army of monsters apart like they were nothing.

Ares, deciding not to let her get away with tearing his eye out, called forth his power as he formed a massive fireball right above his right hand and brought it down on the area that Flurry was standing in, blasting her and everything around her into oblivion with his attack, only to find that a barrier resting inside the flames. As he thought about that a magical arrow flew out of the flames and struck him in the shoulder, blasting his armor clean off with ease, before finding several more that struck him all over, only to discover that his foe also had a bow and a quiver, which had appeared out of nowhere, like she was hiding her equipment from him. Her accuracy was astonishing, as it matched what he had seen when Artemis and Apollo showed off their skills to the gods, as one had questioned their skill during a party and the pair had demonstrated why they were considered gods of archery, and yet, despite the rage the young girl was in, somehow her accuracy was just as good. In fact he had to consider the magical powers she had, as what he had seen her use so far, which included a pair of lightning bolts that slammed into his chest, were potent and trained, far more than what he expected from someone like her, which told him that Hecate must have taught her at some point in time, just like how the twin bestial gods must have done the same with archery.

His thoughts were interrupted as Flurry flew out of the rest of the smoke and punched him in the side of the face, with far more force than he thought she'd possess, though as that happened he noticed that the look on her face was one of pure rage, meaning she was losing herself in her rage towards him and, if he was lucky, she would trip up and expose herself at a critical moment, allowing him to beat her. Until that happened he had to keep himself alive and swung his sword down at her once more, intending on crushing his foe or opening a hole in her defenses, only for her to spin out of the way and let the blade hit the water below her, before her sickles started to glow and she brought them together, the edges of their blades touching oddly enough. In the following moments he found that Flurry transferred both weapons into her right hand and swung her arm, transforming the sickles into a long pole with a curved crescent blade at the peak, a scythe that seemed to have the same design as her previous weapons. As he stared at the weapon several of his flying minions took it upon themselves to rush at Flurry, before she could do anything else to him, and they were slain before they could even hit her, as she swung her scythe around and slaughtered all of them without pause.

In that moment he started to wonder something, the dark power leaking out of her was definitely Death, mixed with her rage and power, and the scythe sealed the deal in his mind, she seemed to be a replacement for Thanatos, though after everything that had happened so far he was going to kill her at the end of the day.

After that he shifted his stance and raised his sword so he could swing it at Flurry again, only to find that the blade had been cut off, the majority of it sticking in the water causing him to do something that he hadn't considered until this point in time, he manifested more of his true power, where he created six massive spider legs that erupted from his back, with sharpened blades at the tips. Normally he wouldn't do such a thing, but after losing his main weapon, and his magic just doing nothing to his foe right now, Ares realized that he needed to do something drastic, just to stave off her assault as he sought out her weaknesses, as he could see that her reasoning seemed to be fading as she gave into her anger. Based on what he had seen with Kratos an opening would show up as Flurry delved deeper into her rage, though there was also the other side of that coin, that rage only made her stronger and that the longer this went on the stronger she would become, to the point where he wouldn't be able to stop her. With that in mind he needed to pull out all of the stops, which was the reason he reached into his own storage space and drew out another of his weapons, a massive mace that had the power to breathe fire on his foes, plus he had a greataxe as well, in case this one failed.

As he attacked her, however, she used her left fist and swung upwards, where the energy that was gathering around her shattered the weapon like it was made of soft stone, causing him to wonder if he might have been better off facing Kratos and the power of Pandora's Box, instead of a young girl who seemed far more than what he was expecting. That wasn't the only thing that was going on right now, as he could feel the godly energy in the air as Zeus did something in Athens, a fact that would have demanded his immediate attention if he wasn't in the middle of such an important battle, especially one where his foe was hacking into his body with such a deadly weapon. In addition to the King of the Gods, someone he wasn't expecting to feel in the area he was in, Ares could also feel the energies of the other Olympians, all of the major ones to be exact and even some minor ones in his opinion, were positioned all around the area he and his foe were in, as if they were watching the battle unfold. At the very least they were following Zeus' rules, none of them were coming to do anything to him since that would be violating his rule on the gods waging war on each other, though as he thought about that he swung his greataxe and his spider blades, finding that Flurry dodged the latter while grabbing onto his weapon before crushing it with her power.

In the next moment, as he wondered what weapon or power he would call on next, energy danced around his foe's left hand, forming a sphere of energy to be exact, as she rushed forward and brought the back end of her fist right into the side of his chest, where it felt like she was vibrating the air or something as his bones and insides cracked. That wasn't the only thing that happened when the attack made contact, as he found that, as he coughed up blood due to the damage that was done to his insides, the air around them seemed to crack as well and was branching out in every direction, and he felt the earth below his feet crack as well. Everything around them was breaking as the earth cracked and split while the waves themselves violently reacted, even the sky itself seemed to be under the sway of Flurry's power as it cracked, a fact that seemed to worry the observing gods as they channeled their powers into a combined barrier to contain the rest of the potential destruction inside the area he was in. Even as that happened, however, an idea formed in his mind as the vibrations stopped, his spider limbs were still out in the open and he had been waiting for such an opening to reveal itself to him, so while he might do some damage to himself, which he would be able to heal on his own, he would crush his foe before she escaped from his clutches.

As he brought them down, however, he felt another massive burst of energy, this time coming from Pandora's Box, which caused both him and Flurry to pause for a moment as a new player entered the battlefield, though when he found a far more massive Blade of Chaos coming at him, wrapping around his spider legs and chaining them in place, he realized that he had been had by Zeus.

"ARES! You shall pay for your crimes!" Kratos shouted, where he appeared to be in the middle of a jump, pulsing with blue energy that must have come from Pandora's Box and granted him the giant form he was now using, as he was just as tall as Ares was in his true form, as he brought down a massive version of the Blade of Artemis and severed his spider limbs before the God of War could do anything to defend himself.

As Ares howled in pain Kratos switched back to the Blades of Chaos and drove them into his chest, where he could feel his back being pierced as well, though instead of calming down at the return of her father, like he expected, it seemed like his daughter seemed to think this was an illusion of some kind. The reasoning for that decision was because she was rushing at him and slashed into his arm as he tried to crush her with his fist, though this time around she dug the head of her new weapon into his skin and carved her way up to his shoulder, ruining his armor in the process. Kratos, at the same time, did the same thing, using one blade to keep Ares pinned where he was standing while using the other to cut into his legs or his other arm, the rage and determination in his eyes showing him that the revived Spartan, who must have crawled his way of the Underworld to be here, meant he was very serious. At the same time he noticed the blue energy pulsed around his body, something that seemed to be fueling him far more than his usual rage, like there was hope in his eyes, or maybe he was overthinking everything as he realized something important: they were going to kill him.

Flurry's onslaught had weakened him and scattered his arsenal, while Kratos' more focused attacks on his vitals proves his defenses were falling at a rapid rate, though as he thought about that Flurry slashed into his neck as Kratos put his blades aside and drove the Blade of Artemis right into his chest, tearing through his heart before he could say anything.

Together Kratos and Flurry watched as the life seemed to fade from Ares' body, where the former yanked out the Blade of Artemis and found that his body seemed to shudder, like his soul was trying to resist what was happening, before he fell back into the water behind him. The pair watched for a moment as he bled out into the water that was around him, as if waiting for something else to happen, before a bit of energy burst out of his chest, which didn't seem to do anything at all, though that was when his body started to shake, like it was going to violently detonate on them. Fortunately the pair had nothing to worry about as the air around them vibrated and Hecate teleported them over to where she and the twin gods, Artemis and Apollo, were resting, where Kratos found that the power of Pandora's Box seemed to fade as he reverted to his original size. He didn't have time to even think about what had happened as Ares' body detonated in an explosion that wiped out all of the water that was around him, the gods throwing up a new barrier to keep the destruction contained in the area they had fought him in, and once everything was said and done they dismissed their powers as Zeus and several others moved out to collect what remained of Ares.

As Kratos realized that the quest was over, that they had slain the God of War, he heard something hit the ground not a moment later and quickly turned his head to find that his daughter had dropped her weapon, hope filling her eyes as he found tears in them as well.

"Father? Is that... really you?" Flurry asked, paying no attention to anything else that had happened recently, in fact Kratos had no idea if she was even aware of the fact that the gods had just watched her use a new level of power and tear into the now dead God of War, but right now that hardly mattered to him as well.

"Yes. I am neither specter or undead... I am really here." Kratos replied, where he knelt for a moment and raised his hand to Flurry's face, wiping away some of the tears that were already starting to flow, something that caused his daughter to start crying tears of joy as she hugged his chest and rested her head against him, making sure to avoid stabbing him with her horn.

Kratos, despite having pulled himself out of the Underworld with some help, couldn't help but smile as he held his crying daughter and comforted her to the best of his ability, as for right now nothing else mattered to him, not even the reward for completing this quest, and he resolved to tackle everything else once he was sure Flurry was fine.

Interlude: An End and a Beginning

Kratos spent some time holding his daughter, letting her cry and embrace him after seeing him die by Ares' cowardly attack at the entrance of Pandora's Temple, while finding that Artemis and Apollo, at the very least, stayed near them while Hecate surveyed the damage that Flurry's magical rampage had caused. He was fortunate that the Olympians had sensed what was happening and rushed out to deal with it before something terrible happened, though with that thought in mind he wished one of the others had done something, anything, to try and stop his daughter, as her rage had nearly turned her into a brand new monster. The scythe was still resting nearby, a reminder that she had, against all odds, used her rage like he had, even though it was possible that she had no idea she had done such a thing after her world had shattered on her earlier, but it did confirm the fact that his daughter was definitely connected to Death. As he took in her altered form, attire that was simple like his attire, the energy powering the transformation seemed to break apart and his daughter returned to her previous state, the scythe following suit as it turned into her sickles, before he noticed something else.

He found a pair of markings on her legs, positioned roughly where livestock would be branded, that appeared to be a small version of her scythe with a dark formless object with red eyes behind it, like something about her was confirming that she was, in fact, connected to Death, but he shelved the thought as Flurry pulled her head back.

"How did you get out of the Underworld? I saw the gateway close after Hades' power claimed your body." Flurry inquired, because while she didn't want to talk about her father's death, since it pained her to think about it, part of her was curious as to how he had managed to get out and make his way to where she and Ares were fighting.

"Just like with all those who had perished before me, I fell into the Underworld... until Lord Hades caught me and delivered me to a hole in the ceiling. Lord Zeus was waiting to pull me into Athens." Kratos explained though he was fortunate that the gods were on his side, because based on how he descended into Lord Hades' realm he was sure that he would have been unable to save himself from reaching his final destination, not without screwing someone else over, but he didn't have to make that decision since the gods had assisted him, "Lord Zeus explained that he suspected Ares of using such a cowardly attack, but the Fates would not advise them on how to accurately deal with everything that was going on... so he created a way into the Underworld, in the off chance Ares actually killed me with a cowardly attack. Upon feeling your rage and power, after seeing me killed in such a way, the gods assembled to stop the potential destruction your clash would have caused, while both Lord Zeus and Hades made sure to collect me before I fell too far, allowing me to break out of the Underworld and come here, to join you in killing Ares."

"A fact you were able to accomplish thanks to our powers, your training and determination, and the power that had been locked inside Pandora's Box... I'd say you guys did wonderfully." Artemis remarked, where the smiles that were on her face and her brother's told the pair that they were totally fine with Ares being slain by a pair of mortals, one empowered by a new level of rage that no one had seen before and another empowered by the contents of Pandora's Box, though such a thing caused Kratos to pull out her blade, only for her to have her hand for a moment, "For now, keep the blade... I haven't used it for years, so it's better in the hands of someone, or a pair of someones, who actually know how to use it, and after seeing how you both fought with it I can loan it to you for a time."

Kratos said nothing to that as he nodded his head, as the blade was an awesome weapon and it was good to have it on hand, especially after having killed Ares with it, though as he dismissed it for the time being Flurry got up and collected her sickles, allowing them to see that she had completely returned to normal, because even her wings had returned, not that she had noticed. It made Kratos realize that her 'Rage of Sparta', if it could even be called that, was totally different from his own, in fact he had a feeling that it would take her a long time to even train the power so she could use it without the fear of losing herself to it's power, something they would have to work on in the future. This also meant that if Hecate did any additional training with Flurry it would likely be more intense and focused than anything she had experienced before this point, but that was something they could talk about when the time came, even if there was more on his mind right now. There was the nature of the mysterious markings his daughter had gained, what it could possibly mean for her and all those that knew her, and he had to wonder if the gods would do something about it, though as he thought about that he and the others found that Athena was walking over to them, after having spent some time talking with Zeus.

Such a thing caused him to stand up straight as Flurry sighed and sheathed her weapons, all while their allied gods backed off for a time, to give them space, as it was time to announce the end of her latest quest and what the next task likely was, given that there seemed to be a never ending supply of them for the pair to do.

"Kratos, Flurry, while we will mourn our fallen brother, you have done well in completing your great task, and as such your past will no longer be a weight on your soul." Athena stated, which was good news for once, that the gods were upholding their end of the bargain, something that made Kratos let out a sigh of relief, as it meant he was one step closer to living a life without all of the nightmares he dealt with, even though with Flurry beside him they had decreased in frequency, just not enough for his liking.

"And the nightmares?" Kratos asked, because that was what he truly cared about, even though it was nice to know that all of the crimes he committed while being under Ares' control were no longer going to be held against him when he finally came before the Judges of the Underworld, even if joining Calliope was something that would never happen, even if he spent the rest of his life tending to the whims of the gods.

"Unfortunately I could not convince Zeus to rid you of your nightmares... he said that there is no power to grant you what you desire, and even if there was it's something that no one, by they mortal or god, should interfere with." Athena said, a fact that was followed by her lowering her head slightly as she rubbed the side of her arm, as if she would have preferred to actually do something for their savior and his daughter, instead of annoying them by not giving Kratos what he really wanted from them.

"Is... Is there really nothing that can be done?" Flurry inquired, because she knew that she had been a good influence on her father's life and even seemed to have some impact on his nightmares, as he claimed that they had become somewhat less frequent since they started traveling and living together, but she had been hoping to help him get over this part of his past so they could face the future with their heads held high.

"I honestly wish there was something I can do, but we can't... however, with a vacant throne on Olympus, we can promise you an improved life as the new God of War." Athena stated, something that made the other gods in the immediate area pause for a moment, because none of them had expected her to say such a thing, even though it meant that Zeus wanted to fill the vacancy with the most promising candidate that was available.

Kratos thought about that for a few moments, as there were benefits to being a god and this served as the ultimate form of conquest, which was part of what drove him before he had been beaten into the corner by the Barbarian King, so if he took the offer it meant he could actually rest easy and focus on whatever his godly duties were. At the same time he knew what his first action would be, he and Flurry would head back to Sparta to tell the priests in Ares' temple about the change in leadership, no doubt something that would be fulfilled with something from Zeus himself, just so they believed what he was telling them. Such a thing could mean he'd have to spread his glory as the new God of War to the rest of Greece, as in taking down those who still worshiped Ares and refused to believe that he had been beaten and replaced, which meant he could potentially open a can of worms by doing this. If he didn't take the throne Kratos already knew that the gods would hound him and Flurry until the end of their days, because leaving two god-killers alone was asking for trouble, and there was a chance that Hercules, an idiot with a lot of muscle, could take the throne.

When he glanced at Flurry, however, he knew there was only one path for him to take, something that caused him to let a smile grace his face, despite everything he and his daughter had been through, and faced Athena while the other nearly gods smiled as well, almost as if they knew what his decision would be.

"I will become the new God of War." Kratos stated, though as he said that he noticed something, they were resting on the cliff that Flurry had found the odd gate on not that long ago, where Athena nodded as she waved her hand and opened a golden gateway to Olympus, but before he took the first step he realized something else, "What about the crew of our ship and Albis?"

"They are perfectly fine... though once your ascension is complete Zeus will be sending them back to Sparta with news of you replacing Ares, which you can access with your own gate." Apollo replied, speaking for the first time since he and his sister arrived in the area that Kratos and Flurry had been having their moment in, though Flurry noticed that he seemed a tab bit distracted by something and glanced at his sister, silently communicating something to her, but decided that it was best if she didn't bother him right now.

Kratos nodded as he and Flurry followed Athena through the portal, finding that it brought them straight to Olympus, or at least the portion that once belonged to the previous God of War, where they found a grand walkway leading straight to a temple or palace, not the main one that belonged to Zeus. As they walked into the structure the pair found that Ares had a massive collection of weapons and armor, no doubt either offerings from mortals or demands for his protection, and off to one side there was a section dedicated to Ares' trophies, items Kratos would hold onto mostly because they likely held some sort of historic significance, at least until someone came to collect them. What interested him was that Athena told him and Flurry about how two new additions had been added to the collection, the heads of the Hydra and some of the Minotaur's armor, showing them that she and Zeus likely expected Kratos to accept the offer, but he decided not to even bother questioning the King of the Gods. Artemis and Apollo also pointed out where the bedchambers were located, but since Kratos would likely raze Ares' stuff to the ground they revealed that the main room was already under renovations to make it into what he wanted, so before it was completed he would have to speak with the builders, and there was even an area for Flurry, since the gods assumed she'd be living with him for a time before, eventually, moving out.

As they looked around at the pristine floors and marble columns, plus the flames that were constantly burning to provide light to the God of War's private domain, Kratos stopped in front of a grand throne, taking a moment to think about all of this and what it meant, before sighing as he turned around and sat on his brand new seat of power.

"All hail Kratos, the new God of War." a new voice said, where they found a large figure, taller than Athena and the others by a fair amount, appear by the door of the temple and discovered that he wore the attire of a blacksmith, allowing Kratos and Flurry to recognize him as Hephaestus, the God of Smithery, though while he wasn't the most beautiful of figures he stood straight and seemed more like a common person, in terms of appearance, "I hope I'm not intruding."

"Not at all. We were about to leave... I still have to talk with Zeus about the ascension." Athena stated, where she bowed her head for a moment, mostly out of respect for the new God of War, before turning and leaving as both Artemis and Apollo did the same, even if they seemed more likely to come back and resume Flurry's training in the future.

"Good. Now then, I heard that you acquired some interesting weapons inside Pandora's Temple. May I see them for a few moments?" Hephaestus inquired, because while the other gods departed from Kratos' new domain, something he needed time to get used to, he had stepped into the God of War's domain after seeing that he and his daughter were fine with him getting close to them, a refreshing change given how some of the others reacted to his presence, to which Flurry pulled out the pouch containing the odd blades and handed them over, "It saddens me to see these like this, especially since they were a gift for Aphrodite once upon a time... not of my own making, mind you, but rather they were from a land she had visited and their best smiths produced these chakrams as a gift. She told me they had been stolen during one of her visits to the mortal realm, along with a mirror that she gave to special lovers, allowing her to speak with them over distances that would break a mortal's heart... last I heard the one she gave it to had been murdered in his sleep and she spent an entire week mourning his death."

"It seems that whoever stole it must have been cursed, but since the person died in Pandora's Temple she couldn't just go in and get them back." Flurry remarked, as she put the pieces of the puzzle together rather easily, since there wasn't too much for someone to think about when listening to Hephaestus' tale, though it was interesting to see someone like him inspect weapons, as his eye was far keener than anyone else's.

"You would be right... it's going to take me a few days to get these in working order again... oh, before I forget, may I see your sickles?" Hephaestus remarked, where Flurry raised an eyebrow for a moment before pulling them from her belt and handed them over, where the Smith God set down the worn chakrams and grasped the sickles, surprise appearing on his face as he carefully studied both weapons, showing Kratos that not even he knew anything about them, "Amazing... I have never seen weapons like these. I understand that Spartans do regular maintenance on their weapons, to avoid injuries or even death on the battlefield by having something important break, but... these look like they haven't seen battle at all... so either you've taken real good care of your weapons, or they're made of a material that doesn't need repairs."

"Still, they are great weapons." Kratos stated, though as Hephaestus handed them back to Flurry she showed the god what else it could do, combining them into the sickle staff as the Smith God raised an eyebrow for a moment, as he wasn't used to seeing this happen, especially after seeing that there was a third version that Flurry could access, though after seeing that Hephaestus reached into his own pouch and produced a familiar statue, "Isn't that the small statue you sent as a gift a long time ago?"

"Yes, but this one is special... and, to keep it safe, I need to trade it for the one I gave you previously." Hephaestus said, all while Flurry took the new one and found that he was right, it was definitely special, as this one had a crystal right where the heart was located, a silver one that seemed to have a bit of magic inside it, something that caused her to pull out the old one for a moment, "You see, Pandora's taken a liking to the tales of your adventures and she asked me to deliver this to you: a statue that will allow you to communicate with her directly. The crystal responds to if she's able to speak or not, as green will mean she's available, red means she's not, and blue means either she or the magic of the statue is trying to verify which path is right."

Kratos raised an eyebrow as he thought about that, as he wasn't expecting to learn that Hephaestus' daughter, for that was who Pandora was, was interested in him and Flurry, to the point that she wanted to speak to them directly and listen to their tales, instead of listening to them secondhand and maybe missing something interesting. In the end he agreed with his daughter's own unspoken opinion, she wanted to speak with Pandora, have someone her own age in her life and not be stuck with him all the time, and who knew what else, so he was okay with her trading the old statue for the one the Smith God was offering. He did think it was odd for it to have a system in place that warned them as to whether or not it was safe for them to speak with Pandora, though his eyebrow remained raised as he found that Hephaestus pulled out a wooden horse toy, the type of toy that some kids were given when they're young, but decided not to say anything, as they were different in how they approached their daughters. At the same time the god informed them that Aphrodite was likely to show up at some point to claim the mirror from them, since it was time for it to return to it's rightful owner, before he excused himself to tend to his wife's weapons, leaving Kratos and Flurry to get used to their new home.

The pair sighed as they headed out to explore the rest of their new home, because it would take some time for Kratos to be gain his newfound godhood and seeing what else was in this place seemed to be the best idea right now, to relax as they braced themselves for whatever the future held in store for them.

---

Athena had told Kratos and Flurry the truth, she needed to talk with Zeus, though while granting Kratos his new godhood was one of the topics they had to discuss it was one of the minor ones, because after seeing the battle with Ares she knew something was wrong and wanted to see what Zeus thought about their recent discovery.

"Zeus, as much as I hate to say it, and I really don't want to say this, but... it seems that we might be wrong in thinking that the Masked Warrior prophecy has been dealt with." Athena said, as she had seen the marking that had appeared on Flurry's body during the intense battle with Ares, a distinctive marking that was unlike anything they had seen before this point, the very same fact that once caused them to nab Deimos, for his birthmarks.

"You think Flurry Heart is the warrior in question?" Zeus inquired, though he didn't have to worry about anyone else listening in on their conversation, as the other gods and goddesses had departed for their own portions of Olympus after coming to stop the potential destruction that Flurry could have caused, all while he stood by his throne as he thought about what the Goddess of Wisdom was saying.

"Well, it certainly wasn't Deimos, whose been trapped in Thanatos' domain since Ares captured him, and honestly I'm not sure Kratos is the warrior either, despite his markings." Athena replied, because Deimos had been born with some rather distinctive birthmarks, which prompted her now dead brother to go and take him from his home, though with Deimos being taken it caused Kratos to mark himself with the red marking he was known for, to honor his younger brother, but now, after the battle with Ares, she feared they had been mistaken the entire time, "While it is true that Kratos is the likely candidate, due to his honor marking and the ashes of his slain family fastened to his body, I have my doubts that he is the one to bring down Olympus. Flurry's new marking is unlike anything we have seen before, so one can only assume that she is, in fact, the Marked Warrior... you once said that the prophesied warrior would be born of Sparta, the very place Flurry has called home when she's not out at sea, that they would have a distinctive mark, which she now has, and that they would be of your own family... while she isn't directly related to you, unless you had another affair behind Hera's back, she is Kratos' daughter in all but blood, making her your granddaughter."

Zeus hated it when Athena was right, as before Flurry's awakening, for there was no other name for the event they had just witnessed, he had long suspected that Kratos was the Marked Warrior and had been silently hoping that his battle with Ares would end in a tie, both dying so the prophecy would die without him having to do much. With Flurry's sudden awakening, and the appearance of her unique marking, he had to wonder if the prophecy was alive and might actually come to pass at some point in the future, something he had been trying to avoid since he first heard about the warrior who would bring about the end of Olympus. He could see why Athena was focused on the young girl now, because in her rage state she had dominated the previous God of War, without the power of Pandora's Box coursing through her veins no less, and tapped into what had to be one of the most terrifying powers, if not the most terrifying, in the world, that of Death itself. It made him wonder if that was why Thanatos's daughter kept telling him that the God of Death was getting weaker as time went on, that there might be someone else in the world who could utilize his powers far better than even Thanatos could, and if that was the case he needed to do something to keep them from meeting.

With that in mind he realized that they were going to start playing a very dangerous game, because regardless of who was right the fact remained that the Marked Warrior was now part of Olympus, meaning they had to be very careful in how all of them approached Kratos and Flurry in the future.

"What do you propose we do, Athena?" Zeus asked, because while he had his own plan on what to do with this knowledge, to try and stop the prophecy from coming true, he wanted to know what the Goddess of Wisdom had to say on the topic, since it involved the potential fate of Greece as a whole.

"Honestly? Not give them a reason to turn on us... I mean, Kratos is somewhat annoyed that we cannot do anything about his nightmares, but we should focus on making them feel welcome and accepted." Athena replied, cause she felt that such a thing was the best course of action right now, as she now realized that Ares had turned on them due to his ambitions to rise above his station and due to the fact that he was shunned by the vast majority of the gods that watched over Greece, so if they could nip the latter problem she felt they could stop a disaster from potentially unfolding, "If we learn from the past, and welcome our new God of War AND his daughter into our ranks, we can prevent the prophecy from happening and move on with our lives with the knowledge that we've saved Olympus from total destruction. If what Ares did was repeated, and the pair try to bring down Olympus... well, I'm not sure we'd be able to stop them, even if you used the Blade of Olympus to combat them and Flurry's newfound power."

Zeus paused as he heard that assessment, that the weapon that ended the war with the titans a lifetime ago, a weapon he had forged from the heavens and the earth to banish the titans, wouldn't be able to stand before the might of Flurry's new and terrifying power, because it was hard to believe. The blade itself was resting in a private place that only he could access, as it was his personal treasure from the says of the Titanomachy, or the Great War as some called it, but hearing that was a hard fact to swallow, especially given all the power he had called upon during it's creation. He suspected that if he used the weapon on Kratos it would work far better than anything else in their arsenal, but it appeared that Flurry was another matter entirely, something that made him wonder about things and the plans that had been put into place a long time ago. For the time being he understood Athena's opinion on the matter, they needed to welcome the pair with open arms and do everything in their power to make sure the Marked Warrior prophecy never came to pass, otherwise he was sure it would spell the end of Greece as they knew it.

As the pair departed, however, both Zeus and Athena were unaware of the darkness that was lurking in Zeus' shadow, an evil that they thought was now resting inside the new God of War, after opening Pandora's Box and absorbing the power within to combat Ares, and continued walking through Olympus without noticing the darkness that had invaded their halls as they looked forward to what the future held in store for them.

Interlude: Dealing with Changes

Kratos found that the days immediately following the death of Ares were fairly interesting, as the day right after he and Flurry settled into what was their new residence, which would take some getting used to in his mind, there was a party to honor the ascension of the new God of War. Such a thing allowed him and Flurry to mingle with the other gods, while at the same time allowing them to explore more of Olympus, as Athena felt that them knowing where everything was would be beneficial to both warriors in the future, so neither of them got lost or something. Kratos found what seemed to be the very heart of Olympus, a massive burning flame that seemed far stronger than anything else in the world, save for maybe the sickles his daughter carried at all times, where the Goddess of Wisdom told them not to touch it, as it was deadly to nearly everything, save it's mysterious key. It also gave him a chance to see a set of large stone statues that seemed to be of the Muses, though they were, oddly enough, absent from Olympus, even though Flurry suspected their father might have used a bit of his power to immortalize them in stone after their various deaths.

In addition to that Zeus personally granted him his full godhood, where it seemed like he had simply extracted the power from Ares' body, transferred it into a goblet to serve as a temporary storage vessel, and then let Kratos drink from it, both allowing the power to surge into his body and also gave him a taste of the wine from Lemnos, an island close to where he was born. Not only that, but Hephaestus had a gift for Kratos, where he and Flurry found that it was a set of armor that was more like what he once wore as the General of the Spartan Army, something he had been forced to discard after his pledge to Ares, though it was mixed with the red coloration of the God of War and the designs were modified to fit him, as he was different from his predecessor. Flurry noticed that the design on the shoulders was no longer the three cerberus heads, rather it was more along the lines of either the God of War symbol, as in the omega symbol, or maybe it might be the head and the horns of the Minotaur, she wasn't too sure which it was and the Smith God seemed intent on keeping it a secret for the time being. Her father, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind the designs too much, rather they fit with the rest of his attire, or his limited attire he had worn for quite a long time, though she did know that it would take some time for him to get used to the idea of wearing armor again.

Hephaestus also had started making plans for a new weapon for her father, some sort of electric weapon that would be like his blades, but it would take time for him to complete the plans, which was understandable since there were all sorts of jobs he had to do for the other gods, so Kratos wasn't too annoyed that it would take some time for him to get it done.

In addition to all of that he and Flurry used the Olympian Gate to head down to Sparta, finding that Albis and everyone else from their crew had arrived rather quickly, not to mention safely, which had to be due to Poseidon helping them get home, likely another reward of sorts for ending Ares' life. The reason for their visit was to tell the people of the city that Ares was no more, something that came as quite the shock since the downfall of a god was unheard of, especially since Zeus had decided not to tell anyone about Persephone, but Kratos would forgive that error in judgement since he and the other gods were telling everyone about Ares' fall. Flurry knew it had to do with the fact that Ares was an Olympian, one of the major players on Olympus, while Persephone was minor to most people, though all this did to the people of Sparta was cause them to cheer the pair on and hold a feast in their honor. Flurry also discovered that they would begin making new statues of Kratos, once they knew what his godly armor looked like, to replace the ones of Ares that were scattered all over the city, plus the temple that belonged to Ares would be renamed to suit the new God of War.

Flurry did notice that Albis looked worried about something, no doubt because she understood Kratos' story, as many of the crew had figured it out over the years, and wondered how he'd take to replacing the one who ruined his life until he found her, but, in the end, she decided to focus on the present and celebrated with her father and those who called this wonderful city home.

Kratos also found that another change happened following Ares' defeat, something he should have seen coming, and that was the fact that Flurry started having nightmares, which was understandable since she had seen him die at the end of their trek through Pandora's Temple. It wasn't just her reliving the past, unable to change anything about the event she had seen, but also her reviewing everything that had happened inside the temple as her mind wondered if Kratos would have survived the trials on his own, which likely created nightmares of him dying to many of the traps they had bested. The first time he heard her wake up from one of them he thought it would be the only one, as his daughter was smart and wouldn't be held down by this, though when it happened for a third time he quickly opened the way to Sparta, though he did have to speak to Athena about it since she was near the gate in question, and returned with the only one that could help him. Albis had done wonders for Flurry over the years, being a motherly figure to a girl who had no mother, and right now there was only one person, other than himself, that might be able to calm her down and let her have some restful sleep, maybe even conquer the nightmares by having someone support them.

Sure enough he discovered that Albis calmed Flurry down and it wasn't long before the pair drifted off to sleep, though it would be some time before his daughter fully got over her nightmares, as he found that they were persistent in nature, but at least with the gorgon helping her he didn't have to worry about her losing sleep. Of course Flurry wasn't the only one who had nightmares, because one of the ones he had was similar to hers, as in Ares' cowardly attack hitting her and not him, sending his wonderful daughter to the Underworld and his heart being filled with pure rage, though when those struck him he usually got up and rushed to her room to make sure she was fine. The second nightmare he had was more like a vision or something, where mysterious strangers attacked his village, his younger brother, Deimos, was taken by one of them, and his mother was calling to him from what appeared to be Atlantis, the domain of Poseidon and the location of his greatest temple. Kratos had long believed that his mother, Callisto, had perished years ago, further breaking his bonds to humanity, but now it seemed as if she was still alive, though seriously ill based on what he discovered in his visions, a fact that told him if he didn't act quickly he might lose out on the chance to speak with her.

On the seventh night of that happening, confirming that it had to be more than a simple dream, Kratos bolted up in his bed and made his way over to where Flurry's room was located, opening the door just enough to make sure she was still asleep, where this time his daughter was sleeping peacefully with Albis resting with her, causing him to sigh as he closed the door as silently as he could before heading out to his balcony.

"Looks like someone couldn't sleep." a voice said, where Kratos found that Aphrodite, in her pink night gown, designed to be similar to her usual attire, was standing off to the side, though it was hard to tell if she was just wandering around the vastness of Olympus because she wanted to take in the fresh air, she couldn't sleep, or she was hoping to speak with him about something, likely a night of pleasure, "Is Olympus really that overwhelming?"

"It's unusual for a mortal to be here, and unheard of for one of my kind to become a god... so I would guess so." Kratos replied, as everything that had happened since he became the God of War had been quick and he hadn't had a lot of time to stop and think about what was going on, especially since a fair amount of his attention had been on the nightmares and rebuilding some of the stuff of his predecessor's that he didn't want anymore, "But, if you must know, Flurry and I have... been dealing with nightmares, mostly of Ares' last attack before we left Pandora's Temple. That cowardly attack, and the fact that I died, have left an impression on not just myself, but also my daughter, hence why I went back to Sparta for just a few minutes and brought back the only one who had a greater chance of helping Flurry get some restful sleep."

"Right, Albis the gorgon... the first monster to ever step foot on Olympus and not be struck down... she's a cutie, so I can see why you're interested in her." Aphrodite commented, where she noticed the look that was on Kratos' face and let out a chuckle as she held her hands up for a moment, showing him that she meant no harm by her comment, rather she was just having a bit of fun with the new God of War, trying to make him feel like he was part of Olympus and not a stranger for all of them to ignore, "Athena filled us in on who she was, or what she knows about Albis, and I must say that it's very interesting to see a monster with such a motherly side to them... much less that someone would take comfort in knowing that the individual in question was watching over them in some manner. Still, I'm surprised that you'd let such a thing get in your way."

"I am less concerned about my health right now, rather I am making sure Flurry grows well and isn't weighed down by any nightmares my death might have created." Kratos said, especially since he wasn't the expert in dealing with such things, as he had been dealing with his for a long time and only made progress due to his daughter's existence, where he could see that Aphrodite was quite surprised by what he was saying, since she was so used to Ares' foul methods, "Though, if I'm being honest, there is something that has been bothering me lately: it's a vision of my mother, apparently calling from the Temple of Poseidon in Atlantis, accompanied by flashes of my brother... both of whom I have long assumed were dead. So why, after all these years, am I suddenly dreaming about both of them?"

"Hm... might it be tied to Ares himself? A curse to make you forget about them, regardless if they're alive or dead, so you would focus on fulfilling his orders?" Aphrodite inquired, because while she had come here for something different, since she wanted to welcome the new God of War in her own special way, part of her had to admit that the Ghost of Sparta, as he was called in the past, was totally different from the pure cold-hearted monster she had heard about.

"Would make sense... he didn't want you to focus on anything else but what he told you to do, father." a voice said, where the pair found that they weren't alone, as Flurry walked out from around the corner, still looking tired, which made sense due to the fact that it was the middle of the night, while Albis stood behind her, more concerned for Flurry's hearth than anything else, "I could hear you talking from my room, so I decided to investigate. There's a chance that both uncle and grandmother are still alive, hence why you're getting the dream of grandmother calling out to you... we should ask Zeus or Poseidon, or possibly both, if we can head to Atlantis. Might want to bring Athena in to confirm the benefits of letting us go see if there's anything to your dreams... we'll either find that they're true, and that your mother is alive, or we'll find that someone wants you weak and take them out."

Kratos sighed for a moment as he thought about that, as Flurry was, once more, right about the situation that was right in front of them, they needed to talk with Zeus and Poseidon, he had to make sure he didn't think of them as 'Lords' anymore since he was technically a god as well, to make sure it was okay to travel to Atlantis. If they were lucky they would only be in the city for a couple of minutes and be out before anything major happened, it really depended on where the Olympian Gate was located now that he thought about it, though this was certainly better than his idea to muster the fleet to invade the city of Poseidon. Better to ask permission and stay on the good side of the gods, especially since Ares had broken nearly every rule that existed in Olympus and attacked the other Olympians as directly as he could, since the others refused to go to war with him since it would break Zeus' rules on the matter. With that in mind he ushered Flurry back to her room, as it was still the middle of the night and she needed her sleep, though he reflected to speak with the gods he needed to speak to once morning was upon them, so they could get underway and figure out what was up with his odd nightmares, though at the same time Aphrodite excused herself, no doubt intending to come back in the future.

Once morning arrived, and Kratos was sure that Flurry was well rested, she actually looked just fine despite having to face her nightmares during the night, the pair departed from their portion of Olympus and made their way over to the area that held the Gathering Chamber, which was where the gods gathered to discuss all sorts of affairs, and, sure enough, both Zeus and Poseidon were talking with Athena.

"Kratos, you and Flurry look armed and ready to go... is something wrong?" Poseidon inquired, because while it wasn't too weird for the Gods of War to carry their weapons at all times, in fact they had seen nearly everything in Ares' collection by the time of his demise, he wasn't expecting Kratos and Flurry to be ready for another adventure, so soon after the one that had brought about Ares' death.

"I have been having visions of my mother, showing that she is alive and seriously ill in your temple in Atlantis, and we have come to seek permission to travel there." Kratos stated, where Flurry could see that the three gods were taken aback by the information her father had just given them, in fact it looked like Zeus and Athena were surprised that he had learned that his mother was still alive, while Poseidon seemed caught off guard, in the sense that he had no idea what he was talking about, as no one had mentioned Callisto to him, "I have had the same dream for the last seven days, since Ares' defeat, and it's the same every time, so I thought it would be best to investigate the source of the dreams... Athena, would you agree that it is wise to snuff out a potential danger, before it causes harm to myself or those that are around me?"

"While I'm not sure there is any force that can weaken an Olympian through their dreams, I do agree that it would be in our best interests to discover their source." Athena said, where Flurry noted that she seemed nervous about this, as if she might have some idea as to what they were getting themselves into, or maybe she just knew better than to argue with the new God of War after giving him quests for ten long years, "Honestly, I don't think you'll find anything in Atlantis, but this should give you a chance to wrap up your mortal life and get used to the idea of being a god."

"I, for one, think this is a waste of time. Given Ares' habit of murdering everyone you cared about, I doubt he'd keep your mother around for this long, especially after you became our champion." Zeus remarked, showing them that he would no doubt refuse to acknowledge Kratos' desire to see if his dreams had any weight or not, which was odd since both Kratos and Flurry thought he would have wanted to help them move on from his mortal life, "The Olympian Gate to Atlantis will remain closed for the time being... I have other matters that require my attention. If you'll excuse me."

"Brother..." Poseidon said, though what was odd was that Zeus said nothing else as he turned and left the area, which was a shock to him and Athena, as they were expecting him to give Kratos and Flurry a reason for his remark, causing him to sigh as he turned towards the pair for a moment, speaking only when his brother was no longer in the area, "I apologize for his rudeness, he has been distracted of late... something about building a labyrinth... not sure why he wants one, but that's no reason to be rude to you two. However, I will grant you passage to Atlantis... while I cannot overrule my brother's decree on the Olympian Gate, we have a way around his statement: he only mentioned my city... he never said anything about Crete. I will open the way for you two to travel to the docks of the island closest to Atlantis and have a crew ready within the hour... though you will have to be wary of Scylla, as she's been acting weird lately and I'm worried the sea monster will do something dangerous in the near future."

Kratos and Flurry glanced at each other for a moment, as that generally meant that they would have to fight the creature at some point during this quest, especially when they thought about the giant monsters of their last couple of ventures, to which they acknowledged Poseidon's offer and departed without delay, as it was time to see what the dreams meant and if there was more to be discovered.

Ghost: Journey Through Atlantis

Kratos and Flurry found that Poseidon was true to his word, he opened the Olympian Gate to Crete without delay and also booked them passage to his city on one of the ships that happened to be in the harbor, one of the small ones to help them slip by Scylla so they could get to Atlantis without delay. They knew that he was trying to deal with the monster on his own, as it was said to be the guardian of his city, and not have someone like them come in and kill it, like they had done to the Hydra not that long ago, so neither of them said anything as he worked his magic. Albis had remained behind in Olympus, since she knew it was impossible for her to travel with them when they were in the middle of a quest, but Athena did come to make sure they departed without delay, along with making sure that Kratos knew that he could speak with any of her statues when he felt it was time to call this quest over. It was odd to have two gods watching over their departure, but the pair thanked both Poseidon and Athena for agreeing to allow them to do this, and it wasn't long before the ship left the city and started to make it's way towards Atlantis.

As they sailed towards Poseidon's city, however, Kratos and Flurry found that the sky turned dark as lightning flashed, and it wasn't long before it started to rain on the area they were in, either because Zeus had found out what they were doing or this was a natural storm that no one had known of previously.

"Father, do you see that?" Flurry inquired, keeping her voice low as they sailed through the storm, as the crew were under orders from Poseidon to get them to the outskirts of Atlantis, increasing their odds of surviving without Scylla coming to kill all of them, though her comment was on the fact that there was something big moving under the water.

Kratos said nothing as he nodded his head, Scylla had already noticed their ship and was no doubt on her way to kill them, despite the fact that her boss had given them permission to enter his domain, meaning they had to be ready to get off the ship before she got to them, otherwise the crew would be at risk. After a few moments Flurry pulled out her bow, stared at the water for a second, and then launched herself into the air before anyone could stop her, where she spun around while loosing her arrows down into the water, allowing Kratos to find that she was targeting the tentacles that were coming right at the ship. Kratos, seeing that his daughter was doing what she could to keep the crew alive, ordered them to get as close to their destination as the captain dared, since there was no telling when the sea beast would come after them, and just drop him off before getting out of the area before they were discovered. Interestingly enough the captain agreed with the plan, it made sense given that Flurry was keeping Scylla back, though as they sailed towards what seemed to be the edge of Atlantis, which likely held a path that would take them into the city itself, Kratos found that some of the tentacles burst out of the water and Flurry slashed at them with one of her sickles.

It showed him that, despite the nightmares, her skill and power were still on par with what he had seen during their trek through Pandora's Temple, so he left her to stop Scylla in her tracks as the crew came to a stop near what seemed to be an old dock or something, likely before the main one was built, and once he got off the captain got them underway, which caused Kratos to wait for them to be at a safe distance before focusing on their foe.

"Flurry! The coast is clear!" Kratos shouted, calling out for his daughter to join him, where he found that she turned her head for a moment before rushing towards where he was standing, though at the same time Scylla, a massive beast that was ugly to look at, had sharpened hands to rend the life of any who got near her, and had tendrils that seemed to come out of her chest, emerged from the water behind her.

Scylla, for the most part, lashed out at them by utilizing her chest tendrils, attacking them for only a few moments as both Kratos and Flurry dodged them with ease, though she, rather foolishly, brought her head in close when she was done with her attacks, allowing the pair to attack her directly, without having to do too much on their end. She also swung her hand down at them as well, where Kratos slashed at it with his blades, causing the creature to screech in pain for a moment, but that was his intent as Flurry cut into Scylla's side with Artemis' weapon, as she had allowed them to keep it for a time and both intended on using it for as long as they could. The sea creature had another trick to use against the pair, where she called forth small mite enemies, vicious little things that looked sort of like spiders, to attack them, though both warriors simply looked at them before Flurry ended all of them with a fast volley of arrows. While she did that Kratos jumped into the air and stabbed Scylla in the face, causing him to drive her into the ground in front of a crane, where he spotted what looked like a wheel linked to it and spun it after getting off of the creature.

Such a thing allowed him to raise a spiked anchor into the side of her face, opening the way for him to leap into her head, slash up the left side of her face, and then stab out one of her many eyes as Flurry cut her way through some of the chest tendrils to keep him safe, before he cut a nearby rope and latched onto the anchor with his blades, allowing him to slam her head into the side of the cliff, only for her to swim off with a painful whimper.

"That's going to come back and bite us later on." Flurry remarked, as the fact that they didn't kill Scylla now meant that it was possible she would come back when they weren't expecting her to do so, and with how they were about to enter the domain of Poseidon, a place the sea creature was supposed to be protecting with all her might, it meant bad things were about to happen to Atlantis, if her thoughts were right anyway.

"Let us hope we can get to the temple and get out before the beast returns." Kratos stated, because destroying Atlantis wasn't on the list of things to do while they were here, in fact it would piss Poseidon off no matter what happened, plus he was sure that Zeus would lay all the blame on him and his daughter, regardless if they were responsible or not, mostly due to how much he seemed to dislike them at the moment.

Flurry nodded as she turned away from the water and followed her father as he started to make his way through the area the captain had brought them to, which involved sliding down a rope line that headed into the mountain that seemed to be their point of entry, even if they ended up dropping into a pool of water. Fortunately there wasn't anything for them to do in the water, not like their quest to conquer Pandora's Temple, so they climbed out and started to climb around one of the walls to reach what appeared to be a channel with a metallic screw inside it, which seemed to do something for the people of Atlantis. Flurry really had no idea what the purpose of this device was, she had never seen anything like it before and just knew it wasn't like the conveyor systems to move water, while her father had no idea and honestly didn't care, causing her to focus on their quest as they climbed up to another section of the path. Such a thing allowed them to find a pair of warriors blocking the way, sea folk to be exact since they resembled people with fish features and they carried tridents into battle, but since they were aggressive both Kratos and Flurry attacked them in kind.

It was interesting to fight someone with a trident, though both of them were used to fighting foes with spear type weapons, due to the training a Spartan was given, so it wasn't long before Kratos slashed his foe in half as Flurry removed the head of her opponent, causing them to glance at each other for a few seconds.

"Tritons... servants of Poseidon. They should know we came here with their god's blessing, so why are they so eager to kill us like we're intruders?" Flurry remarked, because she knew that Poseidon wanted them to figure out what was going on, since he had no idea that her father's mother was located inside his temple, so it made no sense for him to send his own army at them, not unless he was trying to cover something up.

"I do not know... keep your guard up, I suspect we'll find more enemies in due time." Kratos replied, as he had no idea why this was even happening, because Poseidon seemed like he wanted to help them and it made no sense for Scylla and his army to do this, especially so soon after they reached the edge of his city, and right now his focus was on reaching the temple and seeing if his mother was there.

As Flurry nodded she noticed that there seemed to be no path forward and used Artemis' blade to hack through a couple of fallen rocks and crates that happened to be in the way, allowing them to head down a carved path that seemed to be what they were looking for. While they did so the pair found a hairy minotaur, more intense looking than the others they had fought before this point, guarding an area in front of them, to which Kratos showed Flurry something new, he could use the Blades of Chaos on certain points like a grappling hook, throwing it at a hook to launch himself into the next area, allowing him to clash with the minotaur. Flurry just flapped her wings and jumped into the area, letting her slash into the beast's arm as her father cut into it's chest, causing the beast to roar in pain, though before they could do anything else a portion of the wall burst open as Scylla smashed through it with one of her tentacles and latched out at the pair. Flurry and her father hacked into the tentacles before they could do anything, causing a repeat as it retreated once more, letting them hack the minotaur apart, since it had been dazed by the attack, allowing them to focus on the nearby crank that was connected to a iron grate above them.

This time it remained in one place and didn't move back into position, something that allowed the pair to quickly climb the wall and pass through the opening with ease, bring them to an area with more tritons waiting for intruders, where Kratos cleaved through one with Artemis' blade as Flurry struck down the other with some arrows. After that they found a rocky wall to climb, where Flurry took point and stared at the wall as her father climbed around it, keeping an eye out for any monsters that might want them dead, only to find that there were none this time, which was just weird. With that in mind they were able to reach the upper area and found a strange sight, the tritons were chasing down some Atlanteans, those who called Atlantis home, though Flurry reacted first as she raised her bow and loosed some arrows, striking down all of the enemies that were in front of them so the people could flee. This just told them that something was wrong right now, as Poseidon's soldiers were trying to kill his worshipers, meaning another god had to be at fault, where Kratos told the group to get to safety and contact Poseidon, as he needed to be made aware of what was going on in Atlantis.

After taking out the tritons, and making sure the area was cleared so the group of Atlanteans could get to a safe place, the pair found a stone cube to move onto a pressure button, cutting off a bit of water that was blocking the way forward, and it wasn't long before they crossed the gap and continued on their way.

Of course there were more tritons in the way after that, causing Kratos to hack his foes apart with his blades or stab them in the chest with their own tridents, while at the same time Flurry dodged incoming attacks before removing the heads of her opponents, all while using her sickle staff against one that she disarmed and struck down with ease. What was odd to them was that the outskirts of the city seemed to be falling apart, as the temple structure that was around them seemed to be broken, meaning they had to climb down a rock wall that happened to be in the way since the rest of the path was out of range for her father to reach. Since he didn't want to use her wings this time around, as he doubted that the way forward was on the other side of the walkway, Kratos made his way down the cliff and Flurry followed after him, where the pair found that it was a quick climb down before finding a new passage to head down. It was also strange to see that there were no enemies waiting at the bottom of the cliff, meaning it was far too easy for them to reach the passage, only to find that it brought them to a portion of Atlantis that was more ancient than anything else they had seen.

Flurry glanced around at the depressing area, a place that no one seemed to care about, and noticed what appeared to be an Olympian Gate, an ancient one that predated those in Olympus, and she could feel the power of Death radiating from it, all while her father found a stone tome near what looked like the edge of a bridge, one that didn't exist.

"An ancient temple to Thanatos, the God of Death... which means that gate leads to the Domain of Death." Kratos said, as the tome revealed much to the reader, like how this was an ancient vestige and that it wasn't placed here by mortal hands, though it made him wonder what the dangerous God of Death thought of the fact that his daughter was considered to be similar to him.

"Still, it's odd to find such a thing here." Flurry remarked, which only made her wonder if Poseidon even knew this ancient temple was even here, given that his city was built around it, though for the time being she guessed that, since they had no way to open the actual gate, it was best if they left it behind and return their focus to their quest.

Kratos had nothing to say to that, even though he agreed with Flurry that it was weird to find an entrance to Thanatos' dark realm in the domain of Poseidon, but the tome did detail that if someone had the Skull of Keres they would gain safe passage to Thanatos' realm, something to keep in mind as they moved forward again. After studying the rest of the area the pair approached the other passage and found that it brought them to a door, with a circular lift right on the other side, though when Kratos pulled a lever, to get them moving, a few tritons dropped down on them, forcing him and Flurry to defend themselves for a time. Fortunately both of them were trained warriors and they were able to bring down the group of attackers with ease, allowing them to find that the lift ended in a drainage area that had some blood in it, due to a few corpses hanging in the channels leading to this area, meaning the defenders were definitely killing the very people that their god had told them to protect. From there they headed down a small winding path, which seemed to be flowing into the center of Atlantis, slashing their way through a few more tritons before sliding down a diagonal ramp and leaping over a small gap to reach a large balcony in front of one of the main structures of Atlantis.

As Flurry glanced across the city, to where the temple was located, the pair found a cyclops crushing a triton before using it as a weapon to send another flying over an edge, causing them to sigh as they slashed into it's legs, bringing it down so Kratos could remove it's head with the Blade of Artemis, allowing both warriors to enter the building behind them, only to pause as Scylla crushed part of the arched wall protecting the city.

"Yeah, that's definitely concerning." Flurry remarked, as it looked like the sea creature was going absolutely mental, simply attacking anything and everything that she deemed to be a threat to whatever she was trying to protect, and now she was actively attacking Atlantis with all of her might, meaning Poseidon might ask them to kill her before they left his city, but as she said that four tritons showed up and she slashed through them with her sickles.

"Agreed... especially given how close she is to the temple." Kratos stated, because he was concerned about the safety of the people who were still living inside the city and the structure that his mother was supposedly held in, something that caused him to enter the structure with all the haste he could muster, where he found a statue of Poseidon inside it, which was a good sign, "Poseidon! Do you hear me?"

Kratos, Flurry, I have been getting frantic prayers from my people in Atlantis. What in the world is going on inside my most sacred city? Poseidon inquired, confirming that he was doing his best to keep track of the situation and had found all sorts of survivors calling for him to aid them, just as Kratos and Flurry had known they would after discovering what was going on.

"Scylla's gone crazy, as she's attacking everything in sight... she even crushed one of the walls surrounding the city, but I'm afraid that's not the worst of it." Flurry answered, taking a moment to make sure the area was clear of enemies, not that she was expecting any so close to one of Poseidon's statues, before she turned her attention back to the statue as her father found a tunnel under it that would no doubt serve as their path forward, "Your tritons are also killing everyone that stands in their way, as they've been coming after us, and we have your permission to be here, and they've been killing the very Atlanteans that you charged them with protecting."

I don't understand. This shouldn't be happening! Poseidon stated, where his tone confirmed something for the pair, he wasn't behind what was going on, as there was a level of distress in his voice that told them that he was worried for his people and that he really had no idea why his forces were ignoring his orders like this, Kratos, if it comes to it, can I ask you and Flurry to slay Scylla?

"If it comes to it, we will slay her. You have my word on that." Kratos replied, though he was as lost as Poseidon was, as the series of events that had unfolded so far was totally unheard, that a god's army would turn against them and act as if they were following another's orders, though he suspected Flurry was already thinking about everything and might have some sort of answer in the future.

Both warriors got the sense that Poseidon acknowledged his statement as his power faded from the statue, allowing them to dive into the water and quickly swim to another opening, one that allowed them to reach a small chamber with a door that went outside, where more tritons were waiting for them. Kratos and Flurry wasted no time in taking them down, even using one's trident to stab it's owner right in the chest, before finding that they were close to the path leading up to where their main destination rested, as they were a lot closer to the temple than either of them had thought. As they started to move over the short bridge, however, the stone cracked and both hurried off of it, finding that it collapsed into the water without delay, and Flurry was sure that she caught a glimpse of Scylla below the waves, confirming that the creature was following them. Once they were sure nothing else was falling apart the pair headed up the carved path that lead right to the temple Kratos had dreamed about, only to discover a likeness of the God of the Seas on the front door, which informed them that they had to 'know thyself' as it opened to reveal a ghostly area, like they were stepping into Kratos' past.

Flurry found that they were outside her father's old home, where she found two young boys training with Spartan weapons while a lady called both of them into the house, confirming that it was her father when she heard the lady say 'Kratos' and 'Deimos', but before she could focus on her uncle they stepped through the opening and appeared inside the temple, only to find an elderly lady resting on a bed.

"Kratos... how I have missed you." the lady said, confirming that she was definitely ill, from what Flurry had no idea, while at the same time allowing them to know that her father's dreams were right, his mother was still alive and that she had been placed in Poseidon's temple for some odd reason.

"Mother..." Kratos replied, where he knelt beside her and raised her back a little, to help with whatever problems she was facing due to her illness, though he was overjoyed to see that his dreams were right, his mother was alive, even though it was clear they might not have a lot of time to spend with each other, before he noticed that Flurry happened to be who his mother was looking at, "Mother, this is my daughter, Flurry Heart."

"It sounds like there's a story there... one I'm afraid I won't be able to hear." Callisto said, where she coughed for a couple of seconds, showing them that her condition had to be far worse than either of them assumed, something that caused Kratos to do his best to make sure she was comfortable in what was likely going to be her last moments alive, "Your father brought me here a long time ago, Kratos, and I fear that I don't have much time left either... neither does your brother. He lives... in torment... trapped deep in Death's Domain."

"And we just passed by the Death Gate not that long ago... now all we need is the key." Flurry commented, though while it was great that the next step was clear to them and was within reach, save for the Skull of Keres, she suspected that there was more to this than what they were seeing right now, before she voiced something that had been bothering her, "You told father that his brother was dead... why tell him a lie for so many years?"

"His father... forbid me from saying anything... until now." Callisto replied, though in that moment she noticed that Flurry was thinking about the information she gave her, while Kratos was gathering the same information and reacted to what he was told, causing her to smile a little, as it looked like her son had a solid foundation in life at long last, because instead of giving into his anger her son looked like he was willing to listen to her, "The Temple of Ares, the one in Sparta, holds the key to the Death Gate... the road will not be easy, but you two must save Deimos."

"I understand... which means we need a way back to Crete, and fast." Kratos said, as there were many questions swirling in his mind right now, especially now that he had confirmation that his brother was alive and that he had been trapped in the realm of Thanatos for such a long time, without him even knowing the truth, but there was one burning question he needed to ask, "Mother... who is my father?"

"Your father is a god, Kratos, and his name... is..." Callisto started to say, though before she could get the final word out, the final piece of the puzzle that would snap everything in place for him and Flurry, Callisto grasped her chest, almost as if her illness was rearing it's ugly head again, before Flurry heard something snap in her grandmother's body and pulled her father back.

They watched in horror as Callisto transformed before their eyes, turning into a hulking monster that didn't seem to even be aware of where she was or who she had been, though her large mouth indicated that she hadn't been inflicted with an illness, but rather a curse to keep the identity of Kratos' father a secret. It was another cruel trick of whoever had put all of this together, because with the wild look in Callisto's eyes Flurry knew they were going to have to kill her, otherwise there was no telling what sort of damage she could do to Poseidon's temple, much less the surrounding area. Kratos was full of conflicting emotions, especially since he realized that he would have to kill his own mother, and it was with a heavy heart that he lashed out at his transformed mother, slashing into her arms and legs as he avoided her quick arm swings, even if the rate of her misses told him that she was still in there. They knew what had to be done, she was keeping as much of her bestial side in check, keeping the curse at bay to the best of her ability, because she didn't want to hurt them, causing the pair to hack into her body, dealing as much damage as they could so they could end her suffering quickly, and when they dealt the final blow Callisto staggered back before hitting the ground.

Sure enough she reverted to her human form, resting in a pool of her own blood, where Kratos knelt by her and held his dying mother for a time, only getting an apology for everything that had happened and a repeat of her desire for them to save Deimos, before she breathed her last. Instead of saying anything Flurry hugged her father's back, knowing that this was a time where he needed some emotional support, especially when one connected this to the fact that he had killed his own wife and daughter a lifetime ago, and now here he was, holding his dead mother in his hands. She knew that his rage was boiling at this point, and honestly she couldn't blame him since it was another family member he had lost to the machinations of the gods, but she hoped that by supporting him in this moment he would calm down, instead of going off and doing something drastic. To help him calm down she did, however, offer to use the statue Hephaestus gave them to contact Pandora, as the hopeful daughter of the Smith God had brought a light smile to her father's face the first time they tried the strange communication link out, causing him to nod as they walked off to one of the walls.

As they did that, however, Flurry picked up a bracelet that fell from Callisto's arm and stashed it away with the rest of the items she had collected over the years, as her father didn't need to see it right now, all while silently promising that they would figure out which god had done this and bring them to justice for their crimes.

Ghost: Volcanic Problems

Kratos and Flurry spent a short period of time resting, as Kratos didn't want to dwell on his mother's death for too long, due to the fact that it only made him angry when he thought about it, causing Flurry to wish Pandora well before stashing the small statue away, allowing them to head up some stairs to reach a new chamber, which had an interesting golden device resting in one of the walls.

"I guess this is where we can obtain a new type of magic." Flurry remarked, where her father pulled on the item and found that it detached from the wall rather easily, allowing them to see that it was some sort of shield, in design since they knew it wouldn't fit that purpose, that had an eye design on it's front, "Hopefully Poseidon's okay with us borrowing this for a time... I'd hate to get on his bad side, especially with the news we gave him before entering his temple."

"Still, this will come in handy." Kratos stated, as he was sure that whatever power was stored in the device would only be a benefit to them, since there was no telling what the future might have in store for them, though in that moment he heard the sound of enemies approaching and found that Flurry had heard it as well.

Flurry found that a large number of tritons were coming towards them, all looking like they wanted to kill her and her father, so her father turned the Eye of Atlantis, her name for it until they figured out what it was actually called, on their enemies and they discovered that it released an impressive amount of electricity or lightning to shock his enemies. That wasn't all it did, because after a few moments of charging her father was able to release a quick burst of power from the Eye that just decimated everyone that was in front of him, causing them to stare at the relic for a moment as they realized it might be far stronger than they originally assumed. Flurry found that she could mimic the power of the Eye by altering her own magic a little, the base form allowing her to loose branching electricity at her foes, shocking those that were coming from one of the other directions, while the full powered burst took down whoever got close to her. It was interesting to have a new relic in their possession, granting them another power to use against the rest of the enemies that would stand in their way, and the moment all the tritons were taken care of a few gates lowered, allowing them to continue on their way.

The end of the path happened to bring them to a stone balcony with a familiar stone tome waiting for them, while off in the distance Flurry found a volcano that looked like it was constantly releasing magma at a safe rate, though before either of them could access the tome Scylla smashed the balcony apart. Neither warrior had any idea where she had come from, as she had disappeared after the last time they laid eyes on her, but thanks to her destruction the pair fell into the water that was below them, causing Kratos and Flurry to latch onto the sea beast's face with their weapons and hung on. Sure enough Scylla dragged both of them through the water, smashing through some ancient ruins that happened to be in the water, all while bringing them closer to the volcano for some odd reason, before piercing the surface and quickly tossed them into a cavern. Such a thing made the pair turn around in the air and land without taking any damage, where they lashed out at the beast when it tried to fight them again, mostly slamming her head into the side of the cavern a few times before she let out a howl of pain, retreating like she had done in the past.

"So much for the 'Guardian of Atlantis'... she is such a coward." Flurry remarked, though at the same time she found that there were a few workers off in the distance, with a man that appeared to be an overseer, who happened to be standing on some sort of platform and were working on one of the odd screws they had seen back in Atlantis, "I wonder... could all of this be powering Atlantis in some way?"

"I do not know. Nor do I know why Scylla brought us here." Kratos said, which worried him a little, because with the beast having done nothing that she was supposed to, and seemed to be attacking Atlantis itself for some odd reason, he had to wonder which of the Olympians was behind this odd series of events, since they were the only ones that would be able to do something like this.

Flurry sighed as they started to move once more, as she had no idea what was going on either, because this wasn't like the last couple of adventures where she could piece everything together in a short period of time and surprise her father with her comments, though she did notice that the overseer turned a crank and the screw resumed moving. With that done she and her father found that the workers, who hadn't noticed their arrival, went into a passage and disappeared as they headed into the depths of the volcano, which seemed like the smartest move right now, to make sure they weren't here when Scylla returned. As it turned out the path they needed to take involved climbing up the wall near where the screw was resting, only to swing down and attach themselves to the ceiling, where Kratos made the first move as he and Flurry found that there was a river of lava below them, which told them that they had to be careful, all while her father smashed the small stalactites that happened to be in the way. Such a thing also allowed the pair to discover that there were mites on the ceiling, a fiery version of the ones that Scylla used against them during their first battle, though this time around there was nowhere for Flurry to use her bow from, so her father used one of his blades to hack them apart from afar, as it was the safest thing right now.

At the end of the path Kratos dropped down and then used some longer stalactites as grapple points to move forward, all while Flurry just opened her wings and glided after him, which was far easier for her since the end of the path had been on a higher level than where her father had landed. From there the pair quickly made their way up to another stone path and avoided the lava that was around them, where Flurry noted that it was definitely getting hotter as they delved deeper into the volcano, meaning they had to be getting closer to where the core was located. It only took them a minute to find something brand new, a large cavern that could either be the core or a chamber close to the core, which was where they discovered a few more long metallic screws in the walls, moving lava and doing whatever else they were supposed to do for Poseidon's great city. As they jumped down into the center of the area, however, the pair found another new foe that came out to attack them, harpies that had fire on their wings and in their hair, or rather their wings and hair were made of fire, as if they were imbued with the power of the volcano itself.

Flurry found that her thoughts were wrong about them, the flames were just for show as her father grabbed one right out of the air, slammed it into the ground, and then quickly tore off the harpy's wings like they were nothing, all while she just loosed a few arrows at her foes and dropped them like flies. She was hoping that there was something imposing inside the volcano, because if all of their enemies were mites and harpies, like they had fought so far, their visit to this place would be shorter than her or her father were expecting, especially depending on whenever they located the exit. After taking out all of the fire harpies the pair made their way up to another passage and found that this one was more engulfed in lava, as it was in the walls and even had small pillars falling out of the ceiling, hazards Kratos and Flurry avoided, the latter making sure to pull her wings in to avoid hurting them. As they encountered a magma door, due to the fractured nature that just withstood their attacks, Flurry felt something deeper in the volcano that reminded her of Atlas, which was impossible since all of the titans were imprisoned in the underworld, though she had no idea what had happened to Kronos after she and her father recovered Pandora's Box.

After that they found their way into a new chamber that had two metallic statues, unlike any they had seen so far, had a door that looked like a gear was needed to open the way, a balcony for others to stand on, and a larger door that was the direction she felt the familiar energy in.

"You there! What are you two doing here?" a voice asked, where they found that the overseer from earlier had entered the chamber, from the balcony to be exact, and he was surprised to see them in what seemed to be the chamber leading to the heart of the volcano.

"Poseidon gave us permission to visit his temple in Atlantis, but Scylla, for reasons unknown, attacked us and dragged us to this volcano. We have been looking for the way out." Kratos stated, though at the same time he and Flurry just jumped down into the lower area and walked over to where the overseer was standing, allowing him to look down at them while they talked, which would no doubt annoy the other gods if they learned of this fact, "I am Kratos, the new God of War, and this is Flurry Heart, my daughter."

"Well met. I am Lanaeus, and you stand in Methana Volcano, the prison of the titan Thera." the overseer, Lanaeus, replied, something that surprised the pair, while confirming that there was another being like Kronos that had avoided being taken to the prison almost all of the other titans had been chained in, where the man tapped his chin for a moment, "We have been getting tales of Scylla acting weird, but this is the first time we have heard of her bringing someone to the volvano, no doubt using the ocean opening."

"Should we check on the titan?" Flurry inquired, because she had a terrible feeling that she knew what might be going on, now that they knew that there was something incredibly strong near Atlantis, something that could set off a chain reaction that she would rather avoid, even though she really wanted to be wrong and was just overthinking things again.

Lanaeus thought about it for a few seconds before nodding his head, where Kratos nodded in return and pushed the door open, revealing a long path leading to a molten looking titan that had to be near Atlas' size, and based on the chains they were able to confirm that this was a prison, with Thera chained to the heart of the volcano.

"It has been a long wait, but well worth it: the Destined One comes to free us from our prisons." Thera stated, her voice causing the air that was in the chamber to shudder a little, no doubt thanks to the heat that was in the area or due to her power, all while both Kratos and Flurry raised their eyebrows as they stared at the chained titan, "Gaia foretold the one who would bring about our salvation... a warrior called the Ghost of Sparta."

"I'm afraid you are mistaken, Thera. You will remain here, just as the gods intended." Kratos replied, though as he said that he discovered that Flurry was looking around the cavern they were in, finding that there were a few lava pillars heading into the water below them, likely a way to help generate some of the power Atlantis relied on.

"Do not be so naive, Kratos, for your path led you and your daughter to me... you need my help to escape the prison you have trapped yourselves in." Thera countered, almost as if she was forgetting the fact that there was someone they could talk to, right outside this very portion of the volcano, who likely had a way for both of them to get out of here, without the need to draw on a titan's power, "If you do not... well, both of you will share my fate. My power will allow you to free us from our personal torments, and help you bring about your revenge."

"Yeah, we already did that. Ares is dead, so no need for 'revenge' anymore." Flurry said, though she was annoyed that the titan assumed that she knew her father enough to even suggest something like that, while her father shared her thoughts, if the frown on his face was any indication, but before they could do anything Thera howled in pain.

What caused such a thing to happen was a large tentacle that tore through her molten chest, one of Scylla's tendrils based on what Flurry was seeing, while at the same time several more burst out of the water, wrapped around the chains, and started to pull on the titan's bindings. Kratos and Flurry, upon seeing that happen, lashed out at the tendrils before they did anything that might trigger a terrible event, though in the following moments Flurry was able to figure out how Scylla was able to pierce the titan without seriously damaging the tip of it's tendril, there was a large seashell wrapped around it, due to the fragments in front of them. Thera used the assault to break one of her chains and grabbed at the tendrils, as if it was more important than the pair that was in front of her, though in the following moment a fragment of her chest landed right in front of the pair, causing them to glance at it for a couple of seconds. Flurry confirmed that it contained a small portion of the titan's power, something that caused her to grab it as she and her father retreated from where the titan and the beast were fighting, as the ground was breaking and it seemed like the volcano was starting to erupt on it's own.

"Lord Kratos, what's going on?" Lanaeus asked, though he had to steady himself on his balcony as he felt the ground shake all of a sudden, even though the last thing the pair found was that Scylla tossed Thera into the walls before retreating, likely to lick her wounds before showing herself again.

"Scylla attacked Thera and broke some of her chains. We must get out of here, before the volcano blows." Kratos stated, all while he really had no idea how Poseidon and the other gods would take this information, especially since a titan had just been freed from her prison, something he was sure one or more of them would blame on him and Flurry since they went against Zeus' wishes and visited Atlantis with Poseidon's permission.

"There is no lever for the door you need to use, as it can only be opened by the automaton's gear key." Lanaeus said, which seemed like a design flaw in their eyes, not having another way to force the door open, though at the same time Flurry took the fragment containing Thera's power and imbued the Blades of Chaos with it, allowing her father to truly channel the fire that rested within it, before using her sickles to bring down the mechanic golem that held the gear.

With Lanaeus staring at them in shock, as he wasn't expecting Flurry to do something like that, while Kratos wasn't even a little bit surprised, because she had done something similar during their first quest, which allowed the pair to slip the gear into the door and turn it, opening the way forward. The passage on the other side brought them back to the main cavern of the volcano, the area they had first found the fire harpies in, where both warriors paused for a few seconds as the volcano shook, dislodging one of the large screws and forming a path that lead back to the fractured door. They had no idea where Lanaeus' path would take him, since it wasn't the same as the one they were following, but right now there wasn't anything they could do to help him survive the disaster that was unfolding around them, causing Kratos to stab the fractured door as he activated the flames inside his blades. Sure enough he and Flurry found that the wall fractured even more before being blown wide open, revealing another path that seemed to head to another portion of the volcano, which they took since the one that brought them to Thera's resting place had collapsed during the last quake.

The passage brought them to a slope in a larger cavern and Kratos jumped over to an area that two minotaur were in, while at the same time Flurry flew down and struck one in the head with her sickles, allowing her father to focus on the other one as he dodged attacks, knocked his to the floor, and then stabbed it's head through it's mouth. In addition to that there were a few more fire harpies trying to dive bomb them, causing Flurry to jump onto the head of her main target and leap into the air, where she spun and loosed a few arrows at her targets, taking all of the harpies down before they could annoy her or her father. Once the enemies were taken care of Kratos found a push lever that seemed to activate a nearby water source, one that poured some water onto the river of lava that was in front of them, forming a large floating rock platform for them to stand on as they sought out an exit, which is what the pair did since there was no telling when the volcano would blow and take everything with it.

A couple of mites did appear on the rock as it took them into another chamber, which the pair were able to take down with ease since they weren't very tough, though it wasn't long before the volcano shook and they found that the chamber behind them had erupted, new lava pillars filling the area.

"Oh, that's not good." Flurry remarked, because that meant the destruction caused by Thera being freed was getting even closer as time went by, plus it also told her a lot of pressure must have been building in the volcano and was only now being released in some manner, which only made her wonder what was happening outside right now.

Kratos could only nod his head as he jumped to a cliff wall and started to climb to a safer area, which his daughter did as soon as she was sure the area was cleared of enemies, of which there were none, though both of them found that there were far more tremors happening to the volcano. Such a thing had an unfortunate side effect as another metallic screw tore itself apart up ahead of them, which explained why things were going downhill so fast, the very items that the crew of Atlanteans used to maintain the pressure in the volcano were breaking and were being rendered useless. With how they were breaking, however, it seemed like someone wanted this entire volcano to erupt in a manner that destroyed Atlantis, a fact that would drastically hurt Poseidon, both in terms of his followers and his own mental health, while also pushing all of the blame on them. As Kratos made his way towards another fractured door, so he could burst it open like the last one, Flurry kept her eyes open for anything that might get in their way, or help explain to the gods that this wasn't their fault, but there was nothing for her to collect and forced her to follow her father so she didn't get left behind.

As they climbed along the outside of a stone structure, which was on the other side of the fractured door, the pair found that Scylla burst out of a body of water to their left and tried to attack them again, causing both Kratos and Flurry to jump and latch onto the side of her face with one of their weapons. After that they started to stab the sides of her face, namely the eyes since that was the most vulnerable thing for them to target right now, causing the creature to roar as she went down into the water once more, though this time the pair were pulled along and focused solely on stabbing her. Instead of letting her flee again, to come back and do more damage to the surrounding area, the pair focused on ending Scylla's life, hacking and slashing into her head while she was underwater, and when she burst out of the water the pair leapt onto the walls that were around them before latching onto her again. Flurry noticed a look in her father's eyes when he noticed a loose screw that was hanging off part of the ceiling, he wanted to stab it into the creature's brain, so the second time they burst out of the water her father landed near his target, latched onto Scylla's head, and, with a mighty pull, yanked the sea beast right into the screw.

Flurry followed it up by getting on top of the creature's head and drove the Blade of Artemis right into the top of Scylla's head, going right into her brain, where together they brought about Scylla's death as her body went limp, causing her to pull it out before jumping over to her father's position.

"I'm glad she's dead, but I think it's too little too late." Flurry remarked, because she knew that if they had been able to do more harm to Scylla in the past, when she first showed up, they would have been able to avoid whatever was happening outside the volcano, and likely not incur the wrath of one or more gods in the process, accidentally since this hadn't been part of their plans.

"Agreed. I fear there will be repercussions for us coming to Atlantis." Kratos stated, though he was hoping that Zeus, at the very least, would be willing to listen to them before outright judging them for anything else that happened, which might be a vain hope considering that the King of the Gods didn't even want him and Flurry to come here in the first place.

Flurry sighed as they started moving once more, as the volcano rocked once more, which involved climbing up more of the rocky walls that were made for climbing, though this time they moved faster than before, as the violently rocking meant it was only a matter of time until the lava started to rise behind them. Kratos found some stalactites he could use to grapple over to another portion of the cavern, with Flurry following behind him as she made sure the lava didn't surprise them, all while they had to avoid a number of rocks that were falling from the ceiling, showing them that the volcano was starting to break apart as well. There was even a section where balls of fire fell down towards where they were moving through, but this time Flurry jumped into the air, found a footing, and loosed some of her magic at the hazards, cancelling them out so her father could reach the summit they were currently shooting for. In the following moments, however, Flurry realized that the lava was rising far too quickly and did something desperate, she rushed over to her father, grabbed onto his back like she was going to carry him off, and then weaved her magic around them as the volcano erupted, blasting them right out the side of the volcano and propelled them through the air.

Where they landed, after a few moments in the air, was in Crete, though as Flurry dismissed the barrier they discovered a terrible sight, that being the fact that the volcano was erupting like it was the end of the world, Crete was on fire, and the city of Atlantis was sinking off in the distance, leading both of them to realize that Zeus, at least, would blame all of this on them and caused them to brace themselves for whatever the ruined city had in store for them.

Ghost: Crete on Fire

As Kratos realized that they had been blasted deep into the heart of Crete, or the city of Heraklion to be exact, both he and Flurry braced themselves as they felt the volcano shudder, even from where they were standing, and based on what they were seeing it would be a long time before things returned to normal.

"Yeah, the gods are so going to hate us... Poseidon for sure, given the state of his city." Flurry remarked, because she could see Atlantis sinking into the waves that were around it, not to mention that the temple they had found Callisto in collapsed, as in the area it was resting on broke off of the main island and fell into the water, causing her to sigh as she turned to her father, "So, what now?"

Kratos knew what Flurry was asking, as she wanted to know if they were going to continue on with their quest, against Zeus' wishes and especially after witnessing the destruction that Scylla had caused in her attempts to stop them, or were they going to stop and figure out another way to get to Deimos, without pissing anyone else off.

"We keep going... but we will do our best to correct this situation we are in." Kratos replied, as his focus was mostly on his brother, he honestly couldn't leave Deimos to suffer in Thanatos' dark realm, not after discovering that he was still alive after all these years of thinking and believing that he was dead, though he also knew that it might not be what Flurry wanted to hear right now.

"Honestly, I figured you would say that. Come on, let's see if there's anyone to save... and maybe find a way out of the now burning city we're in..." Flurry said, as there was the Olympian Gate they could use to get people out of here, provided it wasn't destroyed by the ongoing chaos, but that all depended on whether or not the gods would even allow them to use the gate in the first place, given that they had gone against Zeus' wishes.

Kratos nodded his head as they started to move out of the higher area they had landed in, all while finding that flaming bits of rock struck the ground all over Crete, spewed out of the volcano he and Flurry had been in moments ago, though in addition to that both warriors heard people proclaiming that the gods had abandoned them. It was a terrible thing to hear, that the people of Crete thought the gods no longer cared for any of them, and upon climbing a ladder found that the pair of civilians they had heard were ignoring them, or at least were ignoring Kratos since they were terrified of him. Flurry, on the other hand, was able to convince the pair to follow them, but made sure they understood to stand back so they could deal with whatever monsters might be attacking the burning city, only to find that they had to use some ledges to reach a lower level. Kratos focused on the potential monsters that might be in their way as Flurry did her best to keep the survivors alive, helping them cross some of the more hazardous obstacles that would have killed anyone who didn't have their training, only to find that the first enemies they had to worry about were undead legionnaires, fresher looking than the ones Kratos and Flurry had faced in the past.

One thing they were able to confirm was that these legionnaires were just as strong as the last ones they had fought, so the pair rushed at the undead and cut them down, Kratos splitting his foes in half as Flurry simply removed their heads with a single swing of her sickles. It was hard to tell if these ones were weaker than the others the pair had fought, due to being far fresher than the other undead, or if their skills had risen to the point where such minor enemies posed little threat to them, but in the end both of them knew it hardly mattered, they were alive and the undead were dead again. As they continued on their way, however, Kratos found a pair of ladders to climb up and did so without delay, where Flurry did her best to ensure that the five civilians they had come across so far were able to reach the second ladder as her father found a rope line that crossed a decent sized gap. With that in mind he crossed first as Flurry took up her position on one of the walls near where he had started, doing her best to ignore the scene of the burning city that was in the direction of the volcano, as it was such a terrible sight to watch, as she used her arrows to take down the few legionnaires in her father's path.

As soon as he was on the other side Kratos beckoned for everyone to follow and the civilians did so without delay, figuring it was best to follow him and his daughter, since the undead would kill them in no time, though while they crossed the gap, under his daughter's watchful eye, he dealt with a few more legionnaires to clear the way forward.

After everyone crossed over the gap, and Flurry made sure no legionnaires were coming from behind, Kratos found a hole in one of the buildings they were on top of, as they were on the roofs of a number of buildings, and dropped down into it first, only to find that no enemies were coming at him. With his quick search done he beckoned for the others to follow, to which the citizens used more of Flurry's magical steps to follow him, where he was grateful for Hecate teaching Flurry how to control her magical power, since it seemed to be great to have in moments like this. Of course he did have to wonder how much power his daughter actually had, because she was using her magic quite a bit and wasn't even winded, almost as if she, too, had the power of a goddess coursing through her body, which could explain the horn and wings. In the end he decided not to question what was going on, because he hoped that the more they saved from this disaster the less their potential punishment might be when they returned to Olympus at the end of this quest, if Zeus even allowed such a thing since they went against his wishes.

Following that Flurry found that the next area they had to move through had a few undead archers waiting for them, so as her father moved a large stone out, to be their walkway to the upper level, she loosed a few arrows and quickly took down the enemies that were blocking the way. Once the undead were taken care of Kratos and Flurry helped the citizens up to what appeared to be one of the community centers of the city, a small one that someone would discover on their way to a temple, meaning they might be able to find a place for all of the civilians, and a statue of a god. Of course they had to use a diagonal rope and slide down into the area that contained a path leading right to the temple, Kratos went first to make sure the coast was clear before gesturing for Flurry to send everyone else to him, which is what she did as she kept an eye open for more enemies. After making sure everyone was safe and sound, which was odd since Flurry was expecting some new monster to show itself and attack them, she glided down to where the others were waiting and joined her father as he walked up the stairs that were right to their right.

Such a thing allowed them to discover that they were in the still being built temple of Athena, as the people of the island had been in the middle of building one before Kratos and Flurry came to gain passage to Atlantis, and, sure enough, they found a statue of the goddess waiting in the center of it, with godly energy dancing around it's surface.

Kratos, Flurry, your actions in Atlantis has confused and enraged the gods of Olympus. Athena stated, showing that she thought they were the ones behind everything that was happening right now, all while the citizens wandered off to the side, deciding it was best to get out of the area, since they knew of Kratos' new role in the godly realm, and didn't want to be near the statue when his legendary rage erupted, What have you done?!

"We have done nothing, Athena. If you are looking for someone to blame for all of this, know that Scylla, the one who set all of this in motion, has already been slain by our hands." Kratos replied, deciding to keep his rage in check this time, as this wasn't the time to annoy the gods even further, and he could see that the statue's face contorted as Athena showed them her confusion on the matter, or maybe Poseidon was pestering her right now, "We intended for our visit to Atlantis to be short: just get in, find the temple, and locate my mother... we were attacked by Scylla and Poseidon's tritons, who have betrayed the God of the Seas. Scylla is the one who damaged Atlantis, broke Thera out of her prison, and set off the chain of events that have happened in the last hour... and we ended her life."

"We also know that someone else took control of Scylla... we don't know who, though." Flurry added, as she wanted to let the Goddess of Wisdom to know that they weren't responsible for what was going on, and that they suspected that there was a traitor somewhere in Olympus without actually outright accusing another god of these crimes, otherwise they would be in another world of trouble.

I have informed the others and their rage has been soothed... but we are still confused as to why this has happened in the first place. Athena said, which was good news for them, since it meant Poseidon wouldn't come to kick them down for what happened to his precious city, before the statue's arm raised and the area glowed for a moment, meaning she must have done something to keep the citizens safe, This area will remain safe, until we can calm the volcano, but there is something I must ask you: Kratos, was your trip worth it?

"I... am still weighing that in my mind: the deaths of so many innocent people, all to learn my brother is still alive and is, even now, being held by the God of Death." Kratos admitted, where his mental division on the matter was due to the fact that if he was alone he would have easily said 'yes', for he would have taken great pleasure in hurting the gods, but thanks to Flurry being with him, and helping shape him for the better, before he let out a sigh, "However, our course is set: we will return to Sparta and claim the key to the Death Gate... and then, at long last, I will be reunited with my brother!"

Flurry could tell that Athena was thinking about the information that had been shared with her, especially the important fact that her father had a brother and that he was resting in Thanatos' realm, though it didn't seem like the goddess had more to tell them, causing her and her father to move out after making sure the citizens were safe. During that brief moment Flurry found a statue of an owl, the symbol of Athena, which several of the people insisted that they take with them, as if saying that she and her father needed her wisdom more than they did, but Flurry wasn't about to argue as she carefully stored it with the other items she had found so far. Once that was done Kratos discovered a large gate that needed a key to unlock, a large one by the looks of the lock in the ground, meaning they had to find the head priest or someone in power that held the key, before discovering that the only way forward was to utilize the scaffolding that went into making the parts of the new temple that were around them. Such a thing happened to bring them to a tunnel leading into a cavern, only to find a grinder that tore apart a man and a diseased hound, the latter having jumped on the former and sent them both tumbling into the oddly placed grinder, grinding them into a bloody paste in the process.

While Flurry wondered why a grinder was placed here, just behind Athena's new temple, Kratos knocked down the couple of hounds that were in front of them and hurled them at the device, grinding them into a paste while damaging it at the same time, eventually breaking it and revealing a passage for them to use.

The lift that they discovered, at the end of the very short passage, had a spin crank for them to use and Kratos turned it as Flurry kept an eye out for enemies, as sometimes they were attacked on the various lifts of the world, though it wasn't long before it reached the next level and they pressed onward. The passage had more grinders and contraptions for her and her father to avoid, though there were also points where they could latch onto a grapple point to move onward, but the only downside was that the levers linked to those items would reset if they weren't careful. Fortunately they had the power of the Oath Stone to fall back on, where her father formed a shadowy clone of himself once the grapple points were in position and only dismissed them once both of them were safely on the other side of whatever obstacle they were trying to get over, a fact that made him grateful that his daughter had kept the relic. Flurry really had no idea what sort of purpose the passage and grinders served, there was nothing around them to suggest anything that would help her solve this puzzle, so she just figured it had something to do with the workers, before reaching an area with a crane, like what they found near the end of the trials of Pandora's Temple.

She found the solution to what was in front of them rather easily, they had to use the stone block as a lift to reach the next area of the city, though in addition to that someone had to stand on a pressure button to open an iron barred door that was blocking part of the path, which was no problem for them since they had the Oath Stone. There was also someone trapped in one of the walls, half of his body on their side and half on the side of a burning building, to which Kratos carefully broke the wall apart and freed the man, who was grateful that they didn't just smash him with the heavy stone, no doubt referencing what Kratos would have done if Flurry wasn't there. Instead of saying anything, or getting upset with the man, Kratos focused on moving the stone into position as he found that his daughter formed a shadow on the button that opened the gate, causing him to drop their makeshift lift into position before they and their new companion climbed onto the stone. A few moments later it returned to where it had been before their arrival, allowing them to jump into the building the path seemed to be leading them in, though upon finding that the path happened to include ropes that they had to traverse, jumping from one to another, Flurry made sure the man was set on a safe path back to the temple before she and her father leapt into another structure.

That was when they found a gorgon who had just finished turning someone to stone, adding the unfortunate man to the collection she was creating, and this one wore nothing over her body, which Flurry was used to at this point since nearly all monsters preferred to be nude for some reason. Instead of even questioning what they were seeing the pair attacked the gorgon and two more that joined their target a few seconds later, where Kratos stabbed his foe right in the chest, stunning her for a moment, before punching her into the ground and taking her head off with his blades. While he did that Flurry loosed a lightning bolt right into the chest of her first opponent, shocking the gorgon into the wall as her companion took a moment to turn her head in surprise, though that was the last thing she did as Flurry removed her head. Following that she swung a sickle and took the second one down as well, wasting no time since now wasn't the time to be getting into the heat of battle, though after that she joined her father as he continued to explore the rest of the structure, a temple that had been damaged by the ongoing destruction.

After that they found a partly bloody pool that seemed to be the way forward, to which they briefly dived into the water and made their way over to the other side, only to discover a larger pool that had a number of slain people inside it, which was either due to the monsters or other citizens going insane. As they got out of the pool Flurry noticed something else in the air, ash that was following from the mountain, meaning the survivors were in even more danger than before, though it wasn't something they could help with, not with Athena and the other gods possibly coming in to calm the situation before it got worse. As she and her father made their way deeper into the city they discovered a gruesome scene, the soldiers of the city had been slaughtered in a single area, with one having his eyes gouged out as he tried to tend to his comrades, so he had no idea who he was talking to. What they learned was that there was someone hunting Kratos down, so named the 'Daughter of Death', Erinys, and that Death, itself, was waiting for the Ghost, meaning Thanatos knew they knew that he had Deimos and that he was waiting for them to arrive.

"Father... are you okay?" Flurry asked, speaking after taking a moment to utter a prayer for the fallen soldiers that were around the area, because she knew that the mention of Thanatos must have rattled him a little, especially since the God of Death had Deimos in his clutches.

"Yes... hold on brother, we're coming for you." Kratos replied, showing Flurry that his focus really was on his brother, not that she blamed him since he had believed Deimos was dead for so long, a brother he had failed to protect or help grow into a Spartan warrior, and now he had a chance to correct that fact.

The courtyard that was beyond that area had a number of shield wielding legionnaires, requiring them to either break the shields with overwhelming force or bypass the blockade with their speed, like how Flurry rushed behind one or two of her foes and took their heads with a swing of her sickles, while her father powered through them. Since that was all that the courtyard had to offer, and they even paused for a few moments to confirm that fact, the pair found their way to a rope line that went diagonally down into the burning section of the city, causing them to use it without delay. Such a thing gave them a chance to see that the entire island, as in all of Crete, was shifting, as parts of the city were moving with the ground and others were being overwhelmed by the constant eruptions, in fact it looked like Thera's rampage might have made a whole new volcano under the city, given all of the lava that was pouring out of the earth. It infuriated Flurry to no end, that a god or goddess would willingly use Scylla to not only destroy Atlantis and free a titan, which needed to be dealt with at some point in time, but also wipe out the neighboring areas as well, showing that whoever had done it really didn't care about mortals, and she was going to make whoever did it pay.

Flurry took her frustrations out on the flaming harpies that dared to get in their way, cutting through some while using a few arrows to take out those that were in the air, leaving her father to clean up the ones that she didn't target, since she didn't want to hog all of the enemies. As they made their way through the city both Kratos and Flurry knew that they had to be quick, because the group was still shifting, due to the fact that walls were collapsing every now and then, though the moment they reached a cracked portion of stonework an armored cyclops burst out of a wall and smashed through part of the ground. Since they were taken with the monster the pair lashed out at it, where Flurry found that her father used his newfound power, as in the empowered flames of his blades, to cut through some of the armor as she slashed at them as well, surprising the monster as it realized that it was already fighting a losing battle. A few moments later they cut the beast down, both warriors removing it's head as it tried to defend itself, though once that was done Kratos found one of the fractured doors in front of them and shattered it, allowing them to continue deeper into the city as they searched for the key to the gates.

Following that they made their way up a wooden set of stairs, pushed through a short hallway, and found themselves on yet another roof, where Flurry took down some archers so her father could keep going across a rope line, which headed into another building. That brought them to a bridge that shattered, taking two people into the lava before they even had a chance to help them out, though Kratos and Flurry jumped across the gap and smashed through a wall, finding an area that had a few legionnaires and a minotaur guarding a door. Neither warrior cared too much as they slashed through the monsters with ease, as none of their enemies offered much of a challenge, before raising a gate into the ceiling and using the passage on the other side to reach the forums of the city, which was cracked in half thanks to what was going on right now. The only path that was available to them brought them to an area where some gorgons and flaming harpies were resting, causing Flurry to call forth her magic as she pressed her right hand against the ground, releasing a quick burst of lightning that shocked and stunned their enemies.

As Kratos took down some of the monsters, while Flurry took care of the rest, he knew that this was an altered form of the power Poseidon had given them during their quest for Pandora's Box, which only made him wonder if she might be able to use more of the other powers in time. Once he was done with the monsters Kratos took care of a fractured door so he and Flurry could keep moving, using a ladder on the other side of it to reach the upper level of the area, which involved walking over a series of burned beams, or jumping since Flurry was skilled enough to do such a thing. The brought them outside for a moment before they turned and entered another portion of the structure, but as soon as Kratos and Flurry spotted a weakened portion of the floor, plus a heavy looking statue, they knew what to do, as the former started to move the statue as the latter opened a few doors. Flurry's work formed a path for her father to bring the statue to the upper part of the chamber and then lift it so it fell on the floor, breaking it open to a lower chamber neither of them had been in previously, to which they jumped down and continued their important search.

What they weren't expecting to find was a familiar face as they entered another chamber, which just so happened to be the resting place of a large golden or bronze key, as the figure in question was the grave digger that had helped Kratos get out of the Underworld, on Zeus' orders no less.

"You two are the greatest fools of all... Kratos and Flurry Heart." the old man stated, where he patted the ground with his shovel for a moment as he glanced at the pair, causing them to pause for a moment as Flurry quickly picked up the item they had been searching for, "Kratos... the Ghost of Sparta, the Slayer of Ares, and now the Destroyer of Atlantis and all of Crete... you should take heed, Spartans, for there will be consequences for what you have done."

"Right, Zeus' servant is lecturing us. Get with the times, we already figured out that Scylla destroyed the city and freed the titan Thera... we just don't know who would do such a thing." Flurry remarked, speaking before her father did, because it was far too easy for her to know that rage would explode out of him if he talked with the figure in front of them, or across the lava river that seemed to be flowing through the area, even though she was partly annoyed that she didn't have any titles, especially after everything she had been through with her father.

"You should show respect, young one, for only gods may address each other without 'Lord' and 'Lady'." the old man said, a fact that stuck with Flurry when she heard it, because by his own admission he should have addressed her father as 'Lord' Kratos, since he was the God of War, just like he should have addressed Athena as 'Lady' back in Athens, though her father had done the same due to his annoyance towards certain gods, making her wonder if there was more to this figure than what they were seeing, "And you, Kratos, should not seek the other one, not with what your wake of destruction causes for the rest of the world... be wise, my son... and turn back before it's too late."

"Tell Zeus that I won't stop until I find my brother... and that we won't be destroying anything but our enemies." Kratos said, which was the truth, he and Flurry would only wreck their foes and nothing else, causing the old man to huff for just a moment, as if he was annoyed by them ignoring his wisdom, before returning to his work.

With the conversation apparently over Kratos and Flurry continued moving, finding that they could now open the gates of the city at long last, allowing them to make their way back to where the main gate was resting, the one that would allow them to head towards Sparta. Along the way the pair found some skeletal warriors that Flurry cut down with her sickles, as all of the skeletons stayed down from a single neck slash from those weapons, allowing her father to continue with the pace he had set previously, which she caught up to in no time once she was sure their enemies were down. Eventually the pair found a new enemy, a few female wraiths that wore some leggings that somewhat covered their lower body and had nothing over their chests, just like all of the other female monsters, but unlike the other wraiths these ones didn't have any weapons. Such a thing meant that all she and her father had to do were cut into their bodies with their weapons and take their heads clean off, rather simple and straightforward, a fact that worried Flurry as she kept her eyes open for the true terrifying foe that would get in their way.

The only other difference between these wraiths and the other ones they had fought was that these ones seemed to have some sort of dark power to them, Death no doubt, meaning even Thanatos wanted to stop them, even if he wasn't doing too much to do so for some reason.

Following that they dropped down into a passage that started to break behind them, causing Kratos to smash through the walls blocking their path and Flurry followed, keeping an eye on the damage so they weren't caught off guard, not that she was expecting the entire building to shift on them. With that happening they had to slide down a newly formed ramp and jump over to another walkway, causing her to instantly realize that things were getting worse for the city as she wondered what the gods were doing, since the volcano was still erupting. The path ended as they leapt at a weakened wall and just smashed through it like it was nothing, landing in another street as they pressed onward and the structure collapsed not a few seconds later, a fate that the rest of the city was suffering based on what the pair could see. Kratos paused for a few more moments when he glanced at a pair of statues that were of Spartans sparing, no doubt remembering a time when he trained with Deimos, but he came back to reality as the ground shook, causing them to rush over towards a lift that took them up to another part of the city, Athena's temple to be exact.

From there they found their way to the gate and discovered that the survivors had disappeared, with no blood marks, so Kratos assumed one of the gods had come to collect them, before he slipped the key into the slot and opened the gate in no time, allowing them to continue into another area. It was then that they encountered a geryon, a giant man with four arms that carried a large electric sphere above his head, his main weapon to be exact, just in time to see him crush some of the remaining soldiers that were trying to defend the city from the various monsters. While his body was armored, no doubt to reinforce his bones to resist the strain of whatever he was lifting, they found that his arms were exposed and it caused Kratos and Flurry to rush at him, slashing at his arms before he even had a chance to defend himself, though as all of his arms were removed Kratos stabbed the metallic orb with his blades and smashed the geryon with it. Flurry had to wonder what another of Poseidon's forces was doing here, disobeying his god no less, but since they didn't have the time to actually worry about that she focused on finding the way out of the burning city, since the Olympian Gate was blocked by rubble and lava.

From there it was all a matter of following the path in front of them, as the shifting of the city had covered the path the pair had used previously, opening the gates that happened to be on the way, and killing any monsters that showed up to kill them, which only told them that someone wanted both of them dead. The fire harpies and undead legionnaires didn't give Kratos or Flurry any ideas on who might be behind this series of unfortunate events, while Poseidon had been totally ruled out since it didn't make sense for him to attack his own city, so they were left with no real candidates. Thanatos was a good one, but none of this seemed like it could be linked to him or his dark forces, save for the death wraiths, though he was kept on the table, because the more they learned would chance the course of Flurry's thoughts on the matter, since one of the gods was behind this destruction. Her father, on the other hand, wasn't too interested in that fact, rather most of his attention was on getting them to the Domain of Death so he could find his brother, leaving her to her thoughts as they made their way through the rest of the city.

Fortunately they reached the last gate of Heraklion without anything else stalling them and opened it without delay, which allowed them to leave the burning city and island as they looked upon the frozen Mounts of Aroania, the next step that rested between them and Sparta, meaning they were one step closer to their goal and caused them to wonder what the mountains had in store for them.

Ghost: Dangers of the Mountains

Flurry found that the heat died down as they entered the cold and freezing domain of the Mounts of Aroania, a harsh place that remained this cold no matter what happened, though as they walked across the wooden bridge, which would burn up in due time, she felt something else. This new source was unlike nearly everything else she had felt over the years, save for the death wraiths they had fought inside Heraklion earlier, meaning that one of Thanatos' higher ranking followers were nearby and that he was definitely hunting them down, to the best of his ability anyway. A few seconds later she spotted the figure that seemed to be the source of energy that she was feeling, a female figure that was tall and slim, whose skin was a pale gray, and who wore a worn out looking black skirt that touched the ground, even though it's holes near the top showed off the sides of her hips and even part of her buttocks. She was also wearing a dark hood that had been pulled back, letting them see her dark hair, plus she had a pair of large black feathered raven wings growing out of her back, though she wore nothing over her chest and exposed her large breasts to the world, something she didn't seem bothered by.

This had to be Erinys, the Daughter of Death, and right now she seemed to be interrogating a Spartan, who she slammed into a rock before tearing his heart out, likely because he refused to give her what she wanted, and then walked off into the depths of the mountains to track down someone else to interrogate and, eventually, kill.

"Okay, Thanatos is definitely looking for us if he's sending his daughter out." Flurry remarked, though this wasn't good news for them, as Erinys was a fierce individual and fighting her might be more dangerous than when they fought Ares, though she was hopeful that they could get through the mountains without drawing her attention to them.

"Agreed. We will deal with her if she gets in our way... and I hope she does. No one attacks my people and gets away with killing them." Kratos stated, as he was annoyed that one of his followers had been slain by Thanatos' daughter, even though it made him wonder how many more of them might be dead, since there were more Spartans stationed throughout the rest of the mountains, as this was a proving ground for Spartan youth and they watched it as secure as possible.

Flurry nodded as they found a few new enemies to deal with, as there were some green mites that popped out of the stone and tried to attack her and her father, these ones looking more like poison carriers than fire carriers, though they were far too easy for the pair to take down, as a single slash ended their lives in seconds. Unfortunately the main path into this part of the mountains was blocked, thanks to flames and fallen timbers, so they just climbed up a wall on their left and made their way over to a side path the adult Spartans had used in the past, with her father cutting down a few more mites in the process. From there they had to break some scaffolding down to continue onward, but it was easy to do and neither warrior was stopped by the short delay, even though it meant breaking a decaying statue in the process, one from Ares' era, so the pair were fine with breaking it as they moved forward. The pair then jumped over to another area that happened to have a cyclops and a few mites waiting for enemies to reach this location, where Kratos and Flurry eliminated the mites with ease and turned on the cyclops, hacking into it's arms and legs as they brought it down to it's knees, which was followed by them taking it's head clean off.

Another cyclops showed up as they cleared out the rest of the mites, though instead of wasting too much time on it Flurry just split it in half with Artemis' blade, barely giving it a chance to do anything to her or her father, but once that was done they found a short cliff wall and climbed up it, entering a short passage that was blocked by iced over rubble, which Kratos smashed his way through so they could reach the fallen Spartan.

"My Lord, I knew that you and your daughter would return." the wounded Spartan said, where he coughed up some of his blood as he talked, even though they were impressed with the fact that he had survived for so long, despite the damage he had suffered by Erinys' hand, but he waved Flurry off as he approached, knowing that she'd try to do everything in her power to save him, showing them that he was beyond saving, "The servants of Death know nothing... those who have fallen failed to gain anything from us. Elysium awaits me..."

"Though I do not know your name, nor the names or your comrades, I will make sure you aren't forgotten... none of you have failed me." Kratos replied, because he understood what most Spartan warriors desired, being remembered in some manner, just like the tale of Atreus, a Spartan warrior who secured victory for them at one point in the past, before Flurry came into his life anyway, and such a thing allowed the fallen warrior to pass on with a smile on his face.

Flurry knew her father wasn't too pleased with his discovery, that Erinys was actively killing their people while hunting for both of them, though since she had flown off, since none of the lifts in the area had been moved recently, that meant they could focus on cutting through the mountains to reach their city. She also found that the way forward was blocked by a bit of scaffolding, so her father punched at the material in question and shattered some wooden beams with ease, though as it fell, revealing the cliff face they had to climb up, a number of frost harpies came out to attack them. Flurry wasted no time in loosing a number of arrows into the air and took them down, while the lone one that tried to get away was simply shocked into oblivion, as she flew a bolt of lightning at it, causing her father to nod his head, as he approved of her skills, before making his way up the cliff wall. As she followed after him, since she wasn't going to open her wings with how cold it was, as she might freeze them off in this area, Flurry noted that the frost harpies did have blue feathered wings, as if ice had formed on them, plus their legs and talons were covered in ice, confirming they had bonded with the cold.

At the top of the cliff Kratos and Flurry found a rope line to cross, though as Kratos did that Flurry found that a massive bird flew by without actually stopping, where she noted that it was a massive raven with armor plating, meaning Erinys was still in the area, but for some reason hadn't noticed them yet.

Flurry wasn't going to question the Daughter of Death's inability to sense her, despite everyone else sensing that she had some connection to her father's aspect, hence why she focused on joining her father as they entered another portion of the mountains, tearing through some frost harpies and undead archers in the process. From there they entered a short passage and found some scaffolding that served as a grapple point to access another portion of this area, where Flurry did her best to keep track of Erinys while they moved, because they didn't want her to swoop down on them while they were distracted by other enemies. She also found that parts of the area were definitely broken, as the bridge that served as the grapple point had been intact before Erinys' arrival, so she was literally breaking whatever she wanted while she searched for them and was killing whoever got in her way, annoying the pair greatly as they surveyed her destruction. In the next cavern the pair found a large quadrupedal beast with large horns, powerful looking teeth, and armored looking ice on it's back, a dredge according to Kratos, a powerful beast that had to be taken seriously, causing them to shift their stance as it rushed at them.

The dredge had good defenses, maybe due to the ice being enchanted in some manner, as it seemed to withstand their attacks for a time, only for the ice to burst off it's back and revealed that they were actually smaller versions of the large creature, but instead of running they attacked the pair and Flurry took them down with a sad look on her face, while her father beheaded it with Artemis' blade.

Flurry said nothing as she continued down the cavern's path, where she found more archers waiting on the other side of a wooden walkway and raised her bow, allowing her father to push one of the cargo cubes over to their position, due to the fact that it would allow them to reach another rope line. As he moved it Flurry loosed a number of arrows from where she was standing, taking down all of the archers and even a few frost harpies that were flying around the area, because they looked like they were going to come in at some point in time, so she was eliminating them now. Kratos waited for her to be done with her bow before he used the rope line to reach another climbable wall, only to discover one of the gear slots they had seen on Atlantis, something Kratos had never see in this area before, meaning he either didn't know this place as well as he thought or someone had changed things recently. Fortunately there happened to be another tunnel nearby that had one of the metallic statues they had seen in the volcano, complete with a gear for them to use, where Flurry simply let out a whistle as she vanished into thin air, only to appear behind the metallic foe as she cut it down with ease.

Thanks to her doing that Kratos was able to take the gear and move it back down to the area that the lock was in, where he turned it and opened a door to the next portion of the mountain, which involved heading into a short water filled area that allowed them to get around the massive gap that was in front of them.

Such a thing brought them to an area with more of the dredge's offspring, where they, too, attacked Kratos and Flurry as soon as they laid eyes on the pair, where both warriors said nothing as they utilized their skills to bring them down, even though Kratos knew his daughter was displeased by this fact. Despite her upbringing, and the lessons he imparted over the years, Flurry had grown up with an appreciation of life that was unheard of for a Spartan warrior, and having to kill all these young creatures had likely upset her, though without some way to calm them down this was the only path available to them. Fortunately he found something to take her mind off of the lesser dredges, as there were more frost harpies that were coming towards them and she wasted no time in loosing arrows and lightning bolts into the air, tearing through her targets while he focused on quickly getting rid of the young creatures. After taking out the rest of their enemies Flurry put her bow away as she joined her father in heading down the path in front of them and walking across another walkway that linked two sections of the mountain together, before heading up another path that brought them to a long bridge, though this one was more damaged than the others.

What they discovered was that Erinys had landed recently and had slain another group of Spartans, eliminating more of the guards that were supposed to be watching over the area, though as she finished off another soldier she paused for a moment and turned to face them.

"Ghost of Sparta... the God Slayer..." Erinys said, sounding like she was either trying to be creepy or she was dragging her words a little to make her seem different than everyone else in the world, though that was when the figure noticed Flurry standing there, something that caused her to stop for a few seconds, "You... why do you reek of Death?!"

"Still trying to figure that out, Erinys. I am Flurry Heart, daughter of the new God of War, Kratos." Flurry replied, though as she said that she started rotating her sickles, letting the edges hit each other once more as her father watched the pair for a moment, as he was unsure of what was going to happen next, because there was no telling if Erinys was going to attack or if his daughter was going to beat her to the punch.

"You... you're the reason that father's been getting weaker as time went by! I'm going to take great pleasure in rending the life from your body." Erinys stated, something that interested the pair, as they weren't expecting to hear that Thanatos was actually getting weaker, almost as if he was sick or something, though at the same time she shifted her stance, resting one hand on the ground as she opened her wings, showing that she was ready for battle.

In the next moment Flurry and Erinys rushed at each other, clashing in the middle of the space that was between them not a few seconds later, where Kratos found himself being propelled over to the other side of the bridge, showing him that his daughter wanted him out of the way for this fight. As the two clashed Erinys found something interesting, the sickles were able to counter her clawed hands with ease, almost as if they were made from a material that matched or surpassed her claws, and likely the metallic plating in her monster form as she thought about it. In response to that she flapped her wings and pulled back for a moment, causing Flurry to raise an eyebrow as her foe created three dark spheres of energy that had a twisted yellow color in their cores, attacks that Erinys hurled at her with the intent of killing her before she could do anything else. Flurry, on the other hand, shifted her stance as she swung both of her sickles, slashing through the orbs before they had a chance to do anything to her or the surrounding area, surprising the Daughter of Death for a few seconds as all of the energy dissipated. She clearly wasn't expecting that to happen, in fact she was likely expecting it to do something to her, though Flurry took the opportunity that was being presented to her and rushed through the air, cutting into Erinys' side with one of her sickles, only to find that the figure had moved out of the way, hence the light cut that was on her right side, which she healed in seconds.

Erinys frowned for a moment as she unleashed more power on her foe, where Kratos found that she created far more of her dark orbs and even called forth what appeared to be death harpies into the battle, or maybe they were ravens, but it mattered little to Flurry as she combined her sickles into the sickle staff. Such a thing caught Erinys off guard as Flurry cut and slashed her way through the hazards that were coming at her, demonstrating the skill and power that she possessed without wasting any movements at all, allowing her foe to see that she was a Spartan at heart, just like her father. Not only did her powers seem to have no effect on her foe, as Flurry slashed through them with ease, it was clear that her melee attacks were worthless as well, where Erinys realized that the new God of War's daughter was far more skilled than what all of the stories claimed, as if the gods themselves had no idea of her true skills. In the next moment Flurry vanished like she was a ghost, only for Erinys to discover that her foe had appeared behind her, as if she had been fighting a shadow or phantom the entire time, which was when Flurry swung her sickle staff and slashed Erinys' wings off, causing her to growl in pain as she fell forward.

As that happened Erinys realized something important, Flurry wasn't a foe she could even begin to take lightly, not with the power that was coursing through her body, though she paused for a moment as her back shook and sprouted a new pair of raven wings, as her regeneration was far stronger than most assumed when they looked at her.

"You will regret this, young one, for Sparta will burn!" Erinys stated, because she knew that the two Spartans cared far too much about their home and that taking one's treasured place away usually shattered them, especially if someone both of them cared about died, though at the same time her body, arms, and legs started to distort as she shifted into her bestial form.

Erinys paused for a moment as she heard a whistle that sent a shiver down her spine, which was insane since she was the Daughter of Death, a being everyone should be scared of, and found that it came from Flurry as she spun her sickle staff for a few seconds before swinging it to her right side, creating a curved scythe blade at it's tip. In the next moment Flurry appeared behind her and Erinys threw herself off the bridge as she narrowly missed the scythe's head, which could have split her in half if she hadn't been paying attention to what her foe was doing, where she sped up the process and quickly finished transforming into her raven form. Flurry stood there for a moment, staring at her foe as she flew through the air, before shifting her stance as she opened her wings and burst into the air without delay, where Erinys found her coming after her and raised her talons to stop Flurry in her tracks, something she avoided with ease as she swung her scythe into her opponent's chest. From what she could see Erinys kept pulling back when her weapon got close to her, no doubt due to some sort of fear she was feeling, and she even tried to used large gusts of wind to try and take her down, only to find that such a thing didn't matter to Flurry as she moved through each attack and continued her advance.

In the next instant Erinys, the Daughter of Death, started to feel afraid, scared of the very thing her father embodied, what she had been immune to for a long time, causing her to let out a shriek as she loosed a burst of energy from her mouth and sent it straight down at Flurry. Instead of dodging out of the way of this beam attack, and dooming her father to take it without being able to defend himself against her power, Flurry rotated her scythe in front of her, creating a spinning space that collided with the incoming attack, where Erinys found that she was still coming. Her final attack was doing next to nothing against her foe, a warrior that would no doubt terrify the gods if she was allowed to continue living, and yet her mind saw no way for her to win this battle, as annoying as it sounded, despite the power she possessed as Thanatos' great and terrible daughter. Flurry, on the other hand, finished tearing through the attack, burst into the space in front of her foe, and swung her scythe before Erinys had a chance to move, slashing through the armor plating while leaving behind a diagonal gash going from her right shoulder and stopping at her left hip, all while knocking Erinys out of the air.

Erinys ended up crashing into the ground near Sparta, some distance from the city to be exact, where she screeched in pain as she forced herself back into her mortal form so she could heal, as it was easier in her smaller frame, even though she was surprised to see her blood on her chest, only to pause in fear as she heard the whistle again as Flurry appeared out of thin air near her position.

"Stand down, Erinys. I don't want to kill you." Flurry said, as there was no need for her or her father to take down another godly creature, not when she was sure that there was a chance for her to stop this before her hands were forced to take down another foe who wouldn't listen to reason, all while Erinys seemed unable to heal herself, though she knew that the figure was secretly healing herself while she listened to her words.

"Yeah? Well I want to kill you!" Erinys stated, where she rushed at Flurry before she even had a chance to say something else, no doubt an offer of some kind to get them into her father's realm, though before she could do anything her target vanished and appeared behind her not a few seconds later.

"A shame... goodbye, Erinys." Flurry replied, which was why Erinys found a number of slashes appearing on her body, just like the first one she made with the scythe a few moments ago, before her foe collapsed on the ground, where Flurry let out a sigh as the body of Thanatos' daughter evaporated into dark energy, the energy of Death, leaving behind a twisted cage of some kind that she picked up.

The artifact twisted and contorted before turning into a small sphere of energy that matched what she had seen Erinys use before her demise, which entered her chest, as if the energy recognized her as it's new master, causing her to realize that she had a new magical power to add to her arsenal. With that done she dismissed the scythe before returning both of her sickles to her belt, allowing her to spread her wings for a moment before taking off, where she headed out and found her father where she had left him, on the bridge that Erinys had partly damaged before their arrival. Instead of continuing along the path like normal, and filling her father in on what had happened, she picked him up and carried him back to the path that would bring them right to one of Sparta's main gates, though this time she was able to refrain from straining her body. Kratos said nothing during the short flight, as he could tell that Flurry wasn't too happy with having to kill Erinys, as it would likely make their quest harder in some manner once Thanatos realized his daughter was dead, but he was glad to see Sparta again, since it would allow them to rest up before the final stretch of their quest, and found that Flurry stopped near the gate closest to the path they were following.

Sure enough the Spartans near the gate were happy to see them and opened the gate without delay, allowing him and his daughter to walk inside their city, where both the people and the soldiers praised them and bowed their heads in respect, especially when they reached the brothel, where some ladies were waiting for her father.

"Flurry... are you sure you want to be alone?" Kratos asked, because he knew that time was of the essence and was slightly curious as to why his daughter wanted a small break before they secured the key to the Death Gate, especially since there was no telling what Thanatos might do to Deimos.

"I'll be fine. I just need a few moments... go and have some fun before the final leg of our journey." Flurry replied, as this was mostly to help her father unwind a little before they headed for Ares' old temple, plus there was something she could do to pass the time, so it wasn't like she was going to be alone for too long.

Kratos nodded and disappeared into the building, where Flurry spread her wings and took to the air for a few seconds, as she landed in an area near the path that would eventually bring them to the temple that the key was located in, where she leaned back and withdrew an item from her pouch, which had the color she was looking for.

"Pandora, can you hear me?" Flurry asked, as Hephaestus' new statue was amazing, allowing her and her father to speak with the Smith God's daughter, who greatly enjoyed her tales of what had happened in the past, giving her someone else to talk to that wasn't one of the gods or their followers.

Of course. a voice replied, a young feminine one that she had heard a few times so far, as Flurry had used the statue's power only a few times so far since she took Hephaestus' warnings of the crystal's color to heart, but she was happy to hear it again as she got comfortable, Are we going to pick up the story from where you left off last time?

Flurry chuckled for a moment as she resumed the tale she had started to tell Pandora the last time she did this, heading back to when she and her father were dealing with the Furies, since she had started at the very beginning for her friend, which only made her interested in what might happen in the near future.

Ghost: Into the Domain of Death

Kratos didn't spent a lot of time in the brothel, mostly due to his desire to free his brother from Thanatos' realm, though based on what he could tell at least an hour had gone by, causing him to bid the ladies who had welcomed him home farewell before he tracked Flurry down. Sure enough he found her on the path leading to Ares' old temple, which would soon be his own since he knew the people were pulling down the rest of the old God of War's statues, where Flurry got up after telling Pandora that they needed to end whatever tale they were working on there for the day. Hephaestus' gift was a great one, because it allowed his daughter to converse with someone her age for a change, and not be stuck with him or all of the other experienced soldiers they traveled with, where he silently thanked the Smith God for delivering it to them, as it helped Flurry ease her mind after the battle with Erinys. He also stopped for a moment as he laid eyes on a building that reminded him of the home his mother had raised him and Deimos in, before the surrounding area had been attacked and his brother had been carried off by Ares, a fact Kratos had tried to stop and had been struck into some debris, earning him a scar near his right eye.

Flurry noticed that as they started to walk up the path leading to the temple that had the key to the Death Gate, that her father was letting another memory surface for a few moments, a reminder of what he had before Ares took his brother and torched his settlement, leading to him moving into Sparta all those years ago.

"You okay, father?" Flurry asked, because she knew that remembering the past usually brought her father pain, at least in terms of the nightmares that had haunted him since the day they killed all of the Furies and broke his bond to Ares, and wanted to make sure he was ready for the path ahead of them, given it's end point.

"Yes, just... recalling a time when I sparred with Deimos." Kratos replied, as it had been a good day, up until the attack, and he had imparted many Spartan lessons upon his brother, causing him to sigh as he pushed his thoughts away and focused on the here and now, since they were ever closer to freeing his brother from whatever Deimos was doing to him, "Come. Let us retrieve the key and then head back to Olympus... maybe Poseidon will allow us passage to his city, after what we told him about the attack."

Flurry nodded her head in understanding, as there was a chance that the God of the Seas would allow them to head to his sinking city to help save as many of his citizens as they could, by utilizing the Olympian Gate to reach the city, which would grant them a chance to get to the Death Gate. Of course Zeus was likely going to get in the way, but hopefully they would be in Olympus for only a short period of time, enough to get permission while avoiding the King of the Gods, causing her to focus on what was in front of them as they made their way to Ares' old temple. Sure enough they found that there were a number of workers in the middle of pulling down the main statue of the old God of War that was right outside the temple, to which everyone stopped for a moment and saluted them as they walked up the rest of the steps that had brought them to this place. The leader of the group, a Spartan warrior who usually joined them on their travels, was pleased to see both of them and proclaimed that they would have a statue of Kratos' glory erected in place of Ares' old statue in no time, which was when the soldiers pulled down the statue and it fractured into a number of large pieces.

As the Spartan declared that he had something for Kratos, a gift of some kind, Flurry made sure that the workers were fine, given how the statue had fallen, before the pair walked over to the temple and pushed open the door, finding another tall statue of Ares on the inside, one that was slightly smaller than the one that had been pulled down. Kratos stared at it for a few seconds, thinking about how he had taken Ares' place as the God of War, before heading up the ramps that were on both sides of the chamber and walked up to the upper level, where he and Flurry found a throne that Ares likely sat on once or twice in the past. Their destination was a wall of ice that was smooth and reflected images like a mirror, though as Kratos approached it they found that his reflection was slightly different, not baring the Blades of Chaos or the chain marks that had been burned into his arms, before it took the form of an angry youth, her father as a kid after Deimos was taken, and jumped out to attack Kratos. Instead of wasting time Kratos grabbed onto the strange projection and repeatedly slammed it into the ice wall, as he was in no mood to be playing whatever game Ares had left behind, eventually breaking part of the ice as his past image faded away, revealing a dark skull with horns that reminded him of Erinys a little.

Flurry recognized this as the Skull of Keres, the key to the Death Gate, though she stepped up and easily pried it from the wall, in fact it almost seemed like it freed itself on it's own with how quickly it came out, though with it in their possession the pair departed from the temple and found that the Spartan was waiting for them outside, carrying something Kratos had long assumed he'd never see again.

"My Lord, I present to you the very weapons you once carried into battle... I've looked after them since that fateful day as if they were my own." the Spartan said, where he knelt for a moment and held out two items, an impressive looking spear that was different from the others that the other Spartan soldiers used, which Flurry realized was the one her father had used until his pact with Ares was made, while the other item was an impressive shield with Sparta's symbol on it.

Kratos was grateful to have these items back, in fact he had gone looking for them once and assumed they had either been taken by the barbarians or shattered in his final battle, and he told the soldier that he was pleased with his actions, which made the soldier happy as well. Of course they had to stop for a couple of minutes, as Kratos wanted to train with his old weapons, to be sure he really remembered how to fight with them, and Flurry found that his movements, despite all the time he spent using the blades, hadn't dulled at all, he could use the spear and shield with ease. With his old gear in hand the pair made their way to another part of Sparta, where the Olympian Gate rested, and quickly opened the way to Olympus, allowing both warriors to return to their new residence without delay and let the gate close behind them. Once that was done Kratos sought out Poseidon, because he was the only one could grant them access to the now sunken city of Atlantis, before it was completely pulled under the water, where they could use the Death Gate and get to the Domain of Death to save Deimos.

Sure enough the pair found the God of the Seas looking out over part of the mortal realm, no doubt overseeing the sheer amount of damage that had been done to his domain and his precious city, though upon hearing them approach he just pulled himself back and glanced at them, his expression serious, no doubt thinking about who might have caused the destruction of his city.

"Kratos, Flurry, I take it you want to head back to Atlantis?" Poseidon inquired, because both Athena and Zeus had told him that the pair intended on finishing their mission to find Deimos, though he wasn't sure how his brother knew about that fact since none of the gods had seen him for a time and then he suddenly reappeared and knew that fact, only to see both warriors nod their heads, "I will open the way to Atlantis... Zeus is preoccupied with his new project, so he won't be able to stop you, but you must be quick, as I'm sure he'll try to stop you from returning to my city, to prevent you from 'doing more damage', as he'll no doubt call it. However, can I ask the two of you to save as many of my people as you can? I'll keep the gate open for as long as I can, though you'll likely have to damage the rest of the city to save anyone whose still there."

"We'll do what we can." Flurry stated, which was true, now that she knew there were more people in Atlantis, civilians that were trapped with no way out of the sinking city, she wanted to do everything in her power to save them from the fate their city was suffering, especially since there was no telling when the rest of the city would sink.

Poseidon nodded and made his way over to his personal gate, where he waved a hand towards the material and Kratos and Flurry watched as the path to Atlantis formed in front of them, something that caused the God of the Seas to move out of the way as both warriors stepped into it. A few moments later they appeared in what appeared to be a cistern, or one of the various waterways that existed throughout the city, where Flurry discovered a number of Atlanteans that were gathering together as they tried to survive the destruction of their fair city. Kratos stepped forward and informed them that the way to Olympus was clear, their god wanted them safe before Atlantis sank into the sea forever, something that caused many of the people to flee into the gate, where they were able to use it thanks to Poseidon forcing the bridge to remain open for more than a couple of moments. Flurry counted at least thirty people in the group, which was good to see since there was no telling how many more might be in the city, but once they were gone she and her father started to explore the rest of the city, which meant climbing up a fractured wall and crossing over to an area that a few tritons were waiting in, who wanted them dead.

There was also a geryon with the group, though since they were on a time limit, since they had no idea when the rest of the city would sink into the sea, Kratos utilized the Arms of Sparta, his old spear and shield, as he blocked attacks with his old shield and stabbed his foes in the chest with his spear. While he did that Flurry hacked apart the geryon and then let loose a dark orb of energy that rushed over to one of the tritons and pulled in some of the others, allowing her to attack all of them at the same time with her sickles, something that allowed her to take them out in seconds. Once they were done with all of their enemies Kratos found that the best way to get around the city was to just smash through some of the walls, which is what he and Flurry did, though he actually used a bit of his godly power to boost his strength to the point where he could break apart the stone walls. Flurry, on the other hand, made sure that the damage her father did to the city didn't take out key portions of what was keeping the majority of the water outside the structures they were moving through, where she used her power to seal any dangerous holes by lifting bits of rubble and shoving it gently into place, buying them what little time she could.

Eventually they reached an area that held a device that seemed connected to four statues of Poseidon, all pointing the tips of their spears down at the water in the middle of the city, meaning they had to track down the cores of the statues and put them back into place. Flurry felt out what was left in Atlantis and only felt the energies of enemies, traitors to the God of the Seas, meaning the people they had saved so far were the only ones left, since she assumed the ones they saved during their first visit had been rescued from the sinking city. With that in mind she decided to do something different, instead of going out and tracking down the cores of each statue, which would allow the city to sink more as they wasted time, Flurry opened her wings, grabbed onto her father, and flew over the gap between them and where the Death Gate rested. When she came to a stop Kratos assumed that she would pull out the Skull of Keres, slip it into the lock that was in front of them, and form a bridge to reach the Death Gate, but instead she simply walked forward and he found something interesting, the gate opened on it's own and a vine path formed for them to reach it.

Such a thing made him wonder about his daughter's collection to Death, especially after Erinys' declaration that Flurry was, in some manner, responsible for Thanatos becoming weaker, though he shelved the thought as they passed through the activated gate and stepped into a dark realm, the Domain of Death.

"So, this is where uncle's been held for most of his life... we're close, I can feel it." Flurry remarked, where she glanced out at the dark realm and found that it was just as gloomy as she thought it would be, all while locating a prisoner chain that did have a bit of power to it, maybe from Deimos, and noticed that it seemed to be connected to something deeper in the dark realm that Thanatos ruled over.

Kratos noticed that Flurry picked up the chains, no doubt to keep it as a tracking item to help them find Deimos, though as he and his daughter started to explore Thanatos' realm, however, a number of enemies showed up, such as a number of satyrs, skeletons, and even the death wraiths. Instead of rushing at the pair, and possibly drowning them in enemies since there were a fair number of them in the area, Kratos watched as the force was split in half and the servants of Death knelt as they bowed their heads, as if showing respect to someone that was superior to them. In that moment Kratos realized what was going on, the monsters weren't bowing to him, the God of War, rather they were bowing to Flurry, which was the instant the pieces snapped into place for him, just like he assumed they had for his daughter, and explained why the Furies had so much interest in her. Flurry wasn't connected to Death because of her sickles, like everyone assumed, rather she was Death itself, a potential replacement for Thanatos that would set her up as the new 'Goddess of Death', hence why Erinys claimed that Flurry's existence was weakening her father's, as the power of Death had found a new master.

Even the realm itself seemed to be responding to her presence, stone steps forming out of the dark mist for them to walk on, doors opening as they approached them, thick vines and hazardous grass pulling back, and even the door that had the visage of Thanatos on it opened as she walked up to it, allowing her to reach an area where a lone figure was being held in the air by some vines.

"Deimos!" Kratos stated, as he couldn't believe his eyes, that they had actually found his brother, even though he was still taken aback by the fact that Thanatos' domain had allowed Flurry to bring them here in just a few minutes, though he did notice that his brother was older, around his age now, trained to be a warrior with armor on his waist, right shoulder, both of his wrists, and his shins, complete with a loincloth and some odd stone covers on his hands, "We must cut him down!"

"And we will." Flurry said, though for a few seconds her eyes lingered on her uncle's marking, the same her father had put on himself to honor his 'slain' brother, before she raised her right hand and flexed her magic on impulse, breaking both stone covers on Deimos' hands, and then did it again, causing the vines to let go of Deimos so Kratos could catch him and make sure he was fine.

"You shouldn't be here." a new voice said, where Flurry found that their final foe had arrived, a tall and muscular man that had the same skin coloration of Erinys, who wore a worn out black robe that showed off most of his chest, though the odd part was that his hands were slightly larger than what most people had, not that it mattered too much, before he laid eyes on Flurry for a moment, "No... what are you doing here?!"

"We are taking uncle Deimos, Thanatos... I would prefer it if you stand down." Flurry stated, because after everything she and her father had been through she wanted this quest to end without anything serious happening, like Thanatos dying or him killing her uncle before her father killed him, though at the same time she pulled out her sickles and let the God of Death stare at them for a few seconds, all while he caught a glimpse of her mark as her attire moved with her arms.

"So, the Oracle may have yet spoken true... the Marked Warrior shall bring about the destruction of Olympus... Ares was a fool to focus on the brothers." Thanatos remarked, turning his focus solely on Flurry right now, though at the same time he noticed something odd, that his target was oddly calm despite the fact that she was standing in front of Death, one of the most ancient and imposing figures in the world, "What are you?"

"We do not know what race she belongs to, but the Furies called Flurry 'Death' many times." Kratos said, though as he said that he found that his brother was utterly confused as to what was going on, save for the fact that he was there and that he had come to save him from Thanatos.

In that moment the God of Death realized something incredibly important, the young girl held his power, it explained why he was constantly getting weaker as he sought out the reason for such a thing, only to discover that the reason had come into his domain, a realm that had bowed it's head to the foul intruder. It explained why she was so calm, when others who dared to stand before him would cower in utter fear, as all of his stolen power seemed to be gathering inside her, though he couldn't explain the sickles, as he had never seen anything like them before, despite the fact that they seemed linked to his domain. He considered his options, as there was a chance that if he attacked the girl she would kill him before he was able to do anything, considering the fact that she seemed to be able to deal with all of the vines around Deimos without even moving from the spot she had stopped in, before he summoned his own sword and rushed at her. He intended on cutting her down right then and there, just to take all of his power back, only to find that she raised both sickles into the air for a moment and stopped his blade before it could even touch her, allowing Flurry to kick him off the area that they were standing on.

Flurry found that the God of Death landed on a platform down below where her uncle had been imprisoned and that he was surrounding himself in dark energy, transforming into a massive four legged beast that could pass as a bull if he was smaller, but she paid it no mind as she dropped down into where he was waiting. Sure enough she found that Thanatos gathered the power of Death, just like his daughter had done previously, causing her to shift her sickles for a moment as she shifted them into their scythe form, something that caused the God of Death to pause before he sprouted a massive pair of raven wings and took flight. She could tell he was slightly frightened, as there was no other reason for him to do this if he wasn't terrified of the fact that she might kill him, and the reason she was chasing him was due to the look she had seen in his eyes, he wanted to kill her father and uncle before they left his domain. With that thought in mind her own power washed over her as her attire took on the form she had used against Ares, though she had yet to master this form and could only use it for a few moments at most, where Flurry rushed at the monstrous form in front of her, slashed apart the beam coming at her, and slashed through Thanatos' form before he could stop her.

In the next instant Thanatos shattered, like he was going to detonate like Ares did, though the pieces that represented him fell into the abyss of his realm as the bits that were his power surged into Flurry's body, allowing her to take his place as Death itself, causing her to sigh as she returned to her father and let her power return to normal.

"Flurry... are you okay?" Kratos asked, because he wasn't sure what he had been expecting when they encountered the God of Death, but it paled in comparison to the fact that his daughter seemed sad or disappointed in something, all while his brother was still confused as to what he was seeing.

"I... do not know? How does one deal with becoming Death itself?" Flurry replied, because despite the sickles and her own rage form, plus the scythe, part of her had imagined that she might be linked to another force of Greece, like Life since she had such a strong desire to save as many people as she could, but now she knew the shocking truth.

"I share your confusion. We will figure that out together... as a family." Kratos said, as they had succeeded in their mission, Deimos was alive and well, meaning they would be able to introduce him to the people of Sparta, find his place in society and help him learn whatever he had missed out on, and they would help Flurry get used to the fact that she was now the Goddess of Death.

Flurry could only nod her head as she wondered what the gods of Olympus would say when they realized that she had just slain Thanatos and took his place, though she could only hope that this news would be well received and not be the start of a whole new mess of problems that would shape their futures for years to come.

Interlude: Back to Olympus

Due to their position in the Domain of Death, as they were closer to the end and a potential exit, something Flurry was able to determine thanks to her new position as the realm's master, she carefully forged a way towards that area, giving her father time to explain things to Deimos. For right now he gave him the basics, as the full story would have to wait until they were back in Sparta, where he went over his bond to Ares, how he found Flurry, them killing the Furies and then doing the same to Persephone for her crimes, and the death of the God of War so he could take his place. Deimos, of course, was still taken aback by even the basics of the story, since he wasn't expecting Kratos to bring down an Olympian and take their place on Olympus, though for now that paled in comparison to the discovery that really shocked him, Thanatos being taken out by someone like Flurry. Kratos was sort of in the same boat, as while he was used to the fact that his daughter was skilled, and was smart enough to figure out multiple things on her own, the fact that she became the Goddess of Death was a lot to take in, something they would have to help her get used to, especially with how feared Thanatos was.

At the same time, however, Flurry was lost in thought, as now she understood why so many powerful beings had called her 'Death' throughout the years, though instead of it being because of her skills or her sickles, like many might have thought, it was due to something totally different. She was Death itself, a force that even the gods of Olympus feared since none dared to mess with Thanatos over their long reign, which sort of explained how she was able to deal with some of the immortal beings they had fought since her father found her, as her sickles could be considered godly tools. From what she knew only a godly weapon or the power of another god could take down a god, plus the power of Pandora's Box allowed a mortal to kill someone like Ares, but now she understood why she had been able to do such a thing before this point in time, it had to be due to her sickles. Even that thought paled in comparison to the fact that she was now the Goddess of Death, a being that all gods and titans feared, which only made her wonder about how the gods of Olympus would see her once they returned to her father's new throne and spoke to some of their new friends.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she brought them to an area that looked like the cliffs that had overlooked the area that she and her father had beaten Ares in, only to find an unexpected sight, that being the presence of the grave digger they had seen several times in the past.

"You are early... I only just finished... the first... grave..." the grave digger commented, though as he turned to look at them, no doubt only expecting to see one or two of them, he paused for a moment as he found Deimos, alive and well, standing behind Kratos and Flurry, while they, in turn, could see a bloody feminine body resting nearby, Callisto's to be exact, which meant he had somehow stolen her corpse from Atlantis, "What is this?! One of you was supposed to die this day... Zeus said that one of you would die during the confrontation with Thanatos, since you refused to step off your doomed path when I told you to do so... has the God of Death gone soft, after all these long years?"

"Thanatos is dead... and no, I did not kill him. That honor belongs to my daughter." Kratos stated, but as he said that he had to wonder why Zeus had said such a thing in the first place, that he or his brother would die during the battle with the God of Death, instead of minding his own business and letting events play out without him incorrectly guessing what might happen in this realm, since it made him look like a fool, "What are you doing here, in the Domain of Death? I highly doubt someone like you would have gotten permission to come here to dig multiple graves."

"It matters not how I got here, only that I was told to come and dig two graves: one for Callisto, may the gods have mercy on her soul, and for the one who died while facing Thanatos." the figure replied, where he glanced at Kratos' group for a couple of seconds, clearly wondering how in the world his orders could have been so messed up, or maybe there was more to this than what Flurry and the others could see.

"Actually, I would think that such a thing matters, since Thanatos and his replacement didn't let you in." Deimos said, which only made him wonder what else was going on right now, especially since it looked like his brother and his niece, a fact he was still getting used to, might know the figure that was in front of them, even though he was sad to see that his mother had perished recently as well.

"His 'replacement'? Surely you aren't suggesting that your brother is now Death itself?" the grave digger remarked, where he let out a chuckle, as he found the very idea of someone like Deimos taking Thanatos' place absurd, in fact he refused to believe that Thanatos had actually been replaced, rather that Kratos and Flurry must have found a way to convince him to let go of Deimos.

"No, he isn't... I am." Flurry said, something that caused the grave digger to stop what he was doing as he focused on her for a few seconds, almost as if he was debating whether or not he should believe her statement, though the frightened look he gave her told everyone that he must have figured out that she was telling the truth, especially when she moved her right hand for a moment and the nearby mist formed into a black rose.

"Zeus was right... you are dangerous." the grave digger commented, which told Kratos that the King of the Gods must have told the figure in front of them all about him and his daughter, hence why he knew so much about them, though this also confirmed that the old man must be one of Zeus' greatest and most faithful follower, if he told him so much about those he was tasked with following all the time.

"Trust me, Zeus has nothing to fear from us. We're going to be busy for quite a while." Flurry stated, as there were a few things they had to do now that Deimos was alive and well, especially with her awakening as the Goddess of Death, and it meant that her family would be preoccupied for a time, so there was nothing for Zeus to fear from them, something that caused her to lift Callisto with her magic and gently place her in Kratos' hands, "Also, we're burying grandmother in Sparta, as this realm is no place for someone like her to rest... hopefully Zeus understands our feelings on the matter and doesn't punish you for us doing this."

The grave digger said nothing to that as he bowed his head, likely showing that he acknowledged what she was saying, and collected his tools that were resting around them, allowing Kratos to walk up the rest of the path and discovered that this place was definitely like the cliffs overlooking the area they fought Ares in, as there was an Olympian Gate nearby, one that sprung to life as Athena stepped out of it.

"Kratos, Flurry, I am glad that you are... alright." Athena said, where she found a reason to pause as she noticed that Kratos was holding Callisto, Deimos was standing behind his brother, and the air around Flurry had changed slightly, though at the same time she noticed that Thanatos' signature had vanished, "You have some explaining to do."

"And we will... once our mother is buried." Kratos replied, which was when he and Deimos walked through the portal that was behind Athena, traveling to Olympus as Flurry made sure the grave digger went through the magic as well, because she didn't want to leave him in the Domain of Death, and nodded once the old figure used the gate.

Once the grave digger was gone both she and Athena stepped through the gate and appeared in the center of Olympus, as there was one Olympian Gate there that wasn't tied to any specific location, though instead of slowing down they walked over to the God of War's residence and Kratos opened the way to Sparta. Deimos, of course, was taken aback by the fact that he was talking through Olympus, the place that the gods ruled over the mortal plane from and even lived in, along with the fact that his brother had been telling him the truth, he had become a god during his absence. From there they used the gate on the edge of Kratos' domain and headed back down to Sparta, allowing Deimos to see the splendor of the city for the first time in years, if not for the first time in his entire life, though he wasn't ready for what happened when they walked down one of the streets. Many Spartans hailed Kratos as their Lord and saluted him as he walked by, nodding towards them as he focused on tracking down those who could help with Callisto's burial, though there were those that recognized Deimos, no doubt due to his unique marking, and started to praise him like he was a god as well.

Flurry realized that they might be closer to the truth than any of them might have known, as both her father and her uncle were the children of a god, demigods to be exact, so it stood to reason that her uncle, with the proper training, might be on their level at some point in the future. Such a thing made an idea spring to mind that would not only help Deimos, but also aid them in making sure the gods of Olympus knew that they weren't about to turn on them or try and take their power, as some gods did seem to get nervous when a new one gained too much power in a short period of time. Flurry thought about the virtues that Spartans followed, ones that her father had taught her about and might have drilled into Deimos before he was taken, and understood that there might be one they could use for her uncle, if he would even accept such an honor in the first place. While she thought about that her father finally reached the area that he was interested in, allowing him to hand Callisto over to those that would tend to his fallen mother as he and Deimos gathered nearby, allowing Flurry to see that the grave digger had disappeared, no doubt to find Zeus and report what he had seen.

She then had to wonder why Athena had traveled to the Domain of Death, even though she knew they would be there at some point, before realizing that she must have known about Deimos and had known where Ares had imprisoned him, no doubt information she had been ordered to say nothing about.

"Does Deimos know what you did?" Flurry asked, because at this point part of her was sure that her father had recalled all of the memories that were connected to the day he lost his brother, meaning that, if she was right about Athena having been there the day her uncle was taken, it was only a matter of time until her father put the pieces together, which meant his anger towards the Goddess of Wisdom would return.

"He was younger than Kratos, so part of me wants to say 'no'... but he might." Athena admitted, though this was bad for her, because if Flurry was able to figure out her involvement in Deimos' abduction, even if she did nothing but stop Ares from killing Kratos when he was young, then it was only a matter of time until her father figured it out and turned on her, meaning all of Sparta might do the same, "Your father probably remembers... and if he doesn't, well, he will in no time."

"Another question: can you elevate someone else to the rank of a god?" Flurry inquired, because an idea had formed in her head as she thought about her father and her uncle, where the former would be devastated if he lost his brother yet again, even if it was due to old age since they were gods and Deimos wasn't.

Instead of replying immediately Athena considered why Flurry would ask such a thing, especially since it was clear that she and her father were gods, in fact she could tell that much without the young lady telling her anything, meaning they would live far longer than any mortals they knew. As soon as she thought about that Athena realized why the question had been asked, it was because Flurry wanted to give her father more time with his brother, so they could catch up and make up for all the years that had been stolen from them, thanks to Ares kidnapping Deimos all those years ago. Such a thing would no doubt cause an uproar among the gods of Olympus, as with Flurry becoming a goddess meant that Sparta had two, so raising Deimos into godhood would give the city three in total and might make some gods wonder if Kratos was going to try and take over Olympus or something. As she raised an eyebrow at Flurry, however, she noticed the movement that she was making, a quick reminder of the mark that her father and uncle possessed, which told her that Thanatos had revealed the existence of the Marked Warrior prophecy to them, something that could prove to be disastrous if Zeus found out that Kratos knew why his brother had been abducted in the first place.

In that moment everything snapped together, the raising of Deimos into godhood would be seen as one side offering the other something as an act of apology, while the other side accepting would be seen as forgiveness, and to mortals it would be seen as Olympus erasing the sins of the past and truly embracing the new gods. Athena then realized that if they left Deimos as a mortal there was a chance that another god, or even a mortal champion of another god, could come in and take the recovered warrior out, which would set Kratos on the war path and would bring about all sorts of destruction as he sought out his brother's killer. Such a thing would only hasten the arrival of the event described in the Marked Warrior prophecy, because Kratos' rage was unlike anything she had seen before and this scenario would only end with him going to war against the rest of the Olympians, no doubt assuming that they were responsible for his brother's demise. This was Flurry's solution to the problem, make Deimos into a god and train him to fight like the other Spartans, likely to help all of the other settlements respect him in his new role, and by keeping all three of them alive Kratos' rage would be kept under wraps, meaning they wouldn't have to worry about the prophecy.

Athena realized something in that moment, Flurry was far smarter than anyone gave her credit for, she was trying to stop a prophecy that foretold the end of the world in her own way, and honestly she realized that it had a chance to succeed, a chance to stop what Zeus was afraid of, causing her to tilt her head for a moment.

"Yes, I see now... Deimos, the God of Courage... that could work." Athena commented, because it was something that the Spartans believed in, especially since it also reflected one's strength, their defiance towards tyranny, and their incredibly strong willingness to lay down their lives for what they believed in, and she was sure that it would work for Deimos once he got over his time in Thanatos' realm.

Flurry was glad to see that Athena was willing to consider the idea that had sprung into her mind, a way to stop the very prophecy that Zeus seemed afraid of, if what they learned from Thanatos was correct, though for the time being both of them focused on her father and uncle as both rejoined them. Deimos, of course, had been an interesting surprise for the people of Sparta, and he even admitted that some were already seeing him as a god, like his brother, though Kratos had gifted him the Arms of Sparta, to give him his own weapons in case he joined their warriors on the battlefield. Athena told them that she was heading back to Olympus and that it was best that they joined her, as they needed to inform the rest of the Olympians of Flurry's ascension, plus she had her own announcement that Zeus needed to be informed of, before she could tell everyone else about her decision. Kratos raised an eyebrow as he heard that, because he knew that Athena had been part of his brother being abducted, or had been present at the very least, though since Flurry wasn't annoyed at the moment he decided to put his faith in her and followed Athena back to the Olympian Gate.

This time around Kratos and Flurry found that more of the gods were present when they reached the main chamber that all of the gods gathered in, while at the same time Zeus was now sitting on his throne, where Athena walked up to him for a moment and the two walked down one of the other passages, allowing the pair to introduce Deimos to the rest of the assembled gods.

"Athena, what's going on? Why is he here?!" Zeus asked, doing his best to keep his voice controlled, as he didn't need all of Kratos' family, the living members anyway, gathered in Olympus, not when it was time to make sure the new God of War fully took on his armor and his position.

"Zeus... before he died, Thanatos told them about the Marked Warrior prophecy. They know why Ares took Deimos, and what he intended on using Kratos for." Athena replied, though at the same time she held up a hand to stop the King of the Gods from exploding, because after Ares' death she had noticed a look of fear appear in his eyes every now and then, a small one that came and went far too fast for anyone to react to, and right now she needed to keep that contained, least he ruin everything, "However, Flurry's already come up with a plan to keep the peace... and, quite honestly, we might be able to stop the prophecy completely if we do this."

Zeus stood there for a moment and listened to the proposed idea, something he instantly hated as soon as Athena told him what she had learned from her talk with Flurry, mostly because it would give Sparta more power than he wanted the Spartans to have, and he could tell that Athena wasn't too pleased with his look of disapproval. She explained every bit of reasoning that went into this decision, why it would stop the destruction of Olympus, or so she hoped since Flurry was the rock that kept Kratos calm and collected, and why it would bring peace to Greece, for real this time. While Zeus thought about what she had to say, however, he still informed her that he wasn't too keen on allowing Sparta to have three gods, as he knew all about Flurry's ascension, but sighed as he realized that Athena was right, this might be the best chance they had to actually stop the prophecy he had spent years trying to stop. With that in mind he returned to the main chamber, where he found many of the gods chatting with Deimos, who wasn't used to being around even a single god, much less all those his brother and niece had met over the years, where he said nothing as he returned to his throne.

Such a thing caused everyone to stop talking and turn towards him, while at the same time Athena walked over to where Kratos and Flurry were standing, where she found that most of the assembled Olympians, minus Hephaestus since he was apparently busy on Zeus' latest orders, were eager to hear what the King of the Gods had to say.

"On this day we fully welcome Kratos into our fold as the new God of War," Zeus said, where the gods found that the figure in question focused for a moment and the armor that Hephaestus had made for him appeared on him without delay, while Flurry found that, without knowing it, the Smith God had made it in Deimos' imagine, at least the shoulder pieces anyway, showing that he had embraced his calling as the Ares' replacement, "in addition to that, as repayment for the years stolen by Ares, I would like to offer you, Deimos, a similar position: would you join us as the God of Courage?"

"I... I don't..." Deimos started to say, as he wasn't sure what to make of the situation that was unfolding before him, since he certainly hadn't done anything deserving of being a god, not like his brother and niece who had slain gods to reach this very point of their journeys, though one look at Flurry told him that this was her idea, to help him bond with Kratos and to stop the prophecy they heard about, causing him to straighten himself as he faced the gods, "I would be honored to join Olympus and stand among you as the 'God of Courage'."

"And what about Flurry?" Artemis asked, because after everything that had happened over the years, since the day she and her brother had met her to this moment in time, she assumed it was only fair that the young lady had earned the right to join both her father and her uncle as a god of Olympus.

"She, on her own, has been elevated to the level of a god... may we welcome her into the fold as the Goddess of Death." Zeus stated, something that sent a wave of silence and disbelief through the assembled gods, as while they knew she was tied to the element in some manner, due to her sickles, this information caught them all by surprise, where he got up and faced the assembled gods, "I must take my leave. Flurry Heart, Deimos, welcome to Olympus... may the mortals favor you as they have favored all of us in the past."

Flurry said nothing to that as Zeus departed, no doubt to return to whatever project was demanding his attention, though as that happened she and Deimos found that several gods wanted to talk to them, especially after Zeus' announcement, while noting that Hera seemed displeased and Apollo seemed worried as he whispered something to his sister, making her wonder what the future had in store for them.

Interlude: Moving Forward

Following the announcement in Olympus, letting the rest of the gods know about Flurry and Deimos joining their ranks, the family spent the rest of the day in the godly realm, allowing Deimos to get used to the fact that this was happening while also giving Athena time to actually raise him into godhood. While they did such a thing, in the domain of the God of War, Deimos discovered that his brother had taken out a large chunk of what Ares had left behind and replaced items with things that reminded him of home, so while his new home was in Olympus the items would remind him that his heart was truly at home in Sparta. For the time being Kratos offered his brother one of the rooms near his and Flurry's, as he was sure that sleeping in an actual bed, in a safe location that wasn't connected to the Domain of Death, would do wonders for Deimos, as he'd likely get a good night's sleep, especially since he didn't have to worry about Thanatos coming for him. He wasn't totally sure if they were going to need to build two more domains in Olympus, one for Flurry and one for Deimos, but for the time being all three of them could share his domain, because there were plenty of rooms for them to use and he was sure that he wasn't going to use all of them in the foreseeable future.

Of course Deimos was immediately on guard when he heard a sound that he was surprised to hear in Olympus, because he raised his spear and shield as Albis slithered out into the area they were gathered in, though he did lower his weapons the moment Flurry walked over to the odd gorgon and embraced her.

"Brother... what am I seeing?" Deimos asked, as he wasn't sure what he should think of this scene, the fact that a monster was in the domain of the gods, especially the one that his brother and niece lived in, and knew that Kratos would be able to tell him exactly what he wanted to know.

"Deimos, meet Albis, a gorgon we befriended during our first quest together... who kept Flurry out of some danger while I was fighting. She has become a wonderful friend and ally over the years." Kratos replied, which was true, Albis had been a wonderful addition to the team when they were exploring places that she could access, in fact she did everything in her power to show Athena and the other gods that she wasn't a mindless monster, even going above and beyond at times, and he was grateful to have her around, "She also teaches Flurry about things that I cannot, leaving me to teach her how to fight, while certain gods and goddesses have nurtured her incredible power and skills."

Deimos guessed that his brother meant that the gorgon was like a mother figure for his niece, which was just weird when he thought about it, but he quickly reminded himself that said niece was a pony girl, a creature none of them had seen before, and she had recently become the Goddess of Death, so things like this would no doubt be common in the future. Albis, as he discovered, was surprised to see him and Kratos explained the situation, that Deimos was his brother and that he would be joining them in their new home, causing the gorgon to nod her understanding as she welcomed him to the halls of the God of War. He also noted that there weren't any servants in his brother's domain, where Flurry explained that Ares must have called them to his side at some point, during his assault on Athens, and might have sacrificed them to call forth some of his greater monsters, or maybe Zeus had called them away until her father was accustomed to his new position. Both brothers had no information on what they were seeing, so for the time being they decided not to worry about it and went about doing everything in their power to make sure Deimos had everything he needed in his room, who told them to start small since he needed time to get used to the fact that he was truly free.

Both Kratos and Flurry acknowledged his desires and didn't press the issue, before turning in for the night, as the moon was setting based on what they could see, where Albis remained up and alert for a time, just in case anyone needed someone to chat to in the middle of the night, only to turn in herself after a few hours of nothing happening.

When morning arrived Deimos was surprised to find that he had slept well, as he had expected to be awakened by all sorts of nightmares from his time in the Domain of Death, especially given everything that had happened during his stay in that foul realm, but he wasn't about to complain about getting a good night's sleep. He found that there are plenty of food in his brother's domain, no doubt brought in by some of the servants of the other gods until his own arrived, and was pleased to find that all of it tasted far better than anything he had eaten in the past, especially since the rations Thanatos gave him were enough to only maintain his warrior appearance and tasted foul. This was truly a paradise compared to what he had been forced to experience for most of his life and he found himself thanking his brother and niece for saving him from that eternal torment, even if he had given up on being rescued since a long time had passed since his kidnapping and was happy to see he had been proven wrong. Kratos, while saddened by the loss of their mother, was pleased to find that his brother was fine and that he was slowly getting over his time in the Domain of Death, as he suspected that, in a few weeks, he'd be fully over his capture and be ready to live his life to the fullest.

Deimos also found that his brother and niece trained for a time in the mornings, usually an hour at least, making sure that their skills never rusted, especially since there was no telling when another adventure would reveal itself to them, so both warriors wanted to make sure they were ready and Deimos knew he'd be joining them in due time.

On his third day in Olympus, however, Deimos found that Kratos and Flurry were heading to the mortal realm, and Albis was with them, something that caused him to join them as well, mostly because staying in the domain of the God of War, alone, was a thought that didn't appeal to him, not after seeing how Hera frowned at them earlier. All Flurry could say about that fact was that the Queen of the Gods likely didn't appreciate the fact that Sparta now had three gods to worship, instead of just the God of War, or she might be annoyed at Zeus for allowing such a thing to happen in the first place. In her opinion it was hard to tell what was going on with some of the gods, especially since there were those that they hadn't interacted with too much, silently telling Kratos and Deimos that she really had no idea and that all she was doing was just telling them her guesses on the matter. For the time being both brothers decided not to worry about it too much, as it was unlikely that Hera would bother to leave Olympus and bother them, so they could focus on whatever Kratos and Flurry had in mind for the day, only for Deimos to be surprised when they stepped out into Sparta again.

It was still hard for him to believe that he was home, after all the time he spent in Thanatos' realm, and it was odd to see people salute him as he passed, much less the fact that they even remembered him, though Deimos wasn't about to even begin to question what was going on, since it was far better than his previous fate.

"So, what's on the agenda today?" Deimos asked, though at the same time he found that his brother was heading towards the Temple of War, where his own statues would eventually replace Ares, along with a few more that were scattered all over Sparta, or at least that was the plan based on what he learned of their previous trek through the city.

"We're going to talk to the artists and commission a few more statues." Flurry replied, where she pulled out a journal for a moment and opened it, as she had done a few things inside it while they were resting and recovering from their quest to save her uncle from Thanatos, showing her father and uncle the drawings she had made, of what appeared to be statues of them, "I'm no artist, in fact these are far from what some of the actual artists and painters can do, but it gives you an idea of what we're going to do: we're going to rest and pose while a couple of artists, painters, sculptors, and other such people prepare to make the first in a long series of statues and artwork to share with the rest of Greece. We still need to carefully tear down the rest of Ares' statues, since there's no reason to worship a dead god, but that's something we can work on in the future."

"Zeus would want us to spread the word of the new gods to the rest of Greece, and there are those who refuse to even acknowledge that Ares has fallen." Kratos pointed out, though he had been hoping that he and Flurry would be able to take a break from the constant fighting and focus on something else, like rest and getting used to their new positions, but it looked like they might be forced to take down those who were still loyal to Ares, "Once our statues are set up, and all is calm in Sparta, we'll start the process of spreading the word of our ascension to the rest of Greece... Athena should be in the middle of gathering information on who is willing to embrace the change, those who oppose it, and those who hate me for even daring to take Ares' throne."

Deimos nodded as they walked, as the Goddess of Wisdom had been rather helpful after she discovered that Kratos and Flurry had found him, almost like she was trying to stop something from happening, meaning someone must have told her about the Marked Warrior prophecy at some point in the past. If that was true it meant that she was trying to make up for the past, since he vaguely sure that she had been there when Ares had kidnapped him, though his brother and niece seemed to have forgiven her, so he decided to follow their lead and hope they didn't regret their decision. His thoughts were interrupted as he found that a number of workers were in the middle of breaking down and hauling off the pieces of Ares' statues, while other citizens of Sparta were preparing to get ready to make their diagrams or notes on them so they could begin making newer statues that actually reflected the gods of the city. It showed him that either Kratos or Flurry had spoken with the people after they returned to Olympus, or maybe Athena had spread the message and told them that the group would be coming today to do this, before he focused on what was going on as all three of them walked over to where the citizens had gathered.

Flurry, Kratos, and Deimos discovered that the various artisans had them stand in a variety of stances, mostly to see which one worked for each of them, though Kratos found that they wanted him to raise the Blades of Chaos like he was looking off into the distance, Deimos held the Arms of Sparta and stood at the ready, and Flurry held her sickles near her knees while having her wings close to her back.

"Please tell me you aren't serious!" a new voice said, where they and the workers found that there was another goddess in the area, Hera to be exact, though just like the last time Flurry had seen the Queen of the Gods she wore a silver dress and a tiara on her head, while holding onto a small silver goblet that seemed to be her personal artifact, "You're really going to design her statue like that?"

"Hera, with all due respect, I really don't see the problem... I am an unknown pony creature, after all. Why should I hide my true form from everyone?" Flurry inquired, though Hera's comment reminded her of what they saw of Artemis' and even Apollo's statues, humanoid forms that didn't connect to their actual unique animal forms, which meant that both Zeus and his wife had problems with the gods and goddesses being seen as animals.

"It's 'Lady Hera', little one, not just 'Hera'... talk about rude. You may have taken Thanatos' position, but you will find that Death has no power or standing in Olympus," Hera stated, though at the same time Kratos and Deimos noticed that they had a new arrival, Athena to be exact, but once she spotted Hera standing there she decided to not make herself known, just in case the Queen of the Gods chewed her out or something, "meaning you are, in essence, just like a mortal to both myself and my husband... and every other god and goddess, for that matter, even though War and Courage have decided to go easy on you. Besides, you are Death itself, meaning you should want people to fear you and to do that you need an imposing visage... this... this is just pathetic and will make people simply laugh at you and not take you seriously."

"In all honestly, this is just a passive stance and she's still somewhat terrifying." one of the workers stated, no doubt in an effort to defend his work, especially since they had spent a good deal of time getting all three of them into the best poses for the first stage of the process they used to make statues, plus it helped that many of them had seen Flurry in action at one point or another, so they knew how terrifying she could be.

"And this is why I despise Sparta... no one knows what they're talking about." Hera groaned, taking a moment to cover her eyes, as if she was trying to shield herself from what she deemed to be an inadequate city or even an inadequate people, a fact that caused many of the assembled Spartans to grip their weapons as even Kratos and Deimos frowned, but a quick glance from Flurry made them all return to normal as Hera uncovered her eyes.

"I'm still not seeing the problem... I mean, Hades' statues made him look like an absolute monster that will take your soul if you disrespect him, which I would think you'd have a greater problem with." Flurry said, which was the truth, the statues of Hades could be seen as the most terrifying to a mortal, instead of the benevolent god that Zeus might have been going for with most of the statues of the other gods, so she figured that Hera should have more of a problem with those ones, instead of coming and annoying them, "I really don't see why I should have my statues made to resemble a false form that doesn't represent me, while my true form will only be known to those who know me and know that I'm the Goddess of Death."

"This is just sad... you are both rude and uneducated, though I'm not sure what I expected, given who your father is... not to mention you have a monster following you around, who you should have killed by now." Hera remarked, once more showing that she had no love for mortals, or even monsters who had proven that they weren't mindless creatures that went about killing things whenever they wanted, though it also seemed like she was unaware of the fact that her words were pissing everyone off.

Albis, angered by the fact that Hera would think so lowly of her, decided that the best course of action was to just pull back and not be in the goddess' line of sight, least she take her frustrations out on her before her departure, leaving the others to talk to her and, hopefully, get her out of here before something terrible happened.

"Let me say it in a way you'll understand, girl: you are Death, one of the most terrifying entities for a mortal to experience or come across, so you need an appearance that mortals will take seriously." Hera continued, talking as if she was actually speaking to a child, to the point where she was actually being incredibly disrespectful to one of the new gods that would watch over Sparta for years to come, something she didn't have to worry about being reprimanded for since she was the Queen of the Gods and only Zeus could overturn her actions, "If you present yourself as you are now, and statues of your animal self are seen all across Greece, no one will take you seriously, no one would fear you, and no one would bother to worship you... you would be fated to disappear in due time. So let me say it again: No. More. Animal. STATUES!"

Kratos and Deimos could see that Flurry was seriously considering killing Hera right then and there, based on the fact that she was constantly changing how her fingers were gripping the handles of her sickles, before she sighed, spun them for a few seconds, and then returned her weapons to her belt as she stared at the Queen of the Gods.

"Fine, message received: you don't want any gods to be seen as animals... Spartans, just forget my statues... it's not worth the headache anymore." Flurry said, where her statement caused her father and uncle, along with the Spartans who had grabbed their weapons due to Hera disrespecting her so much, to calm down before things got out of hand, returning all of them to how they had been before the Queen of the Gods made her comment, even if many were surprised by what she had just said.

"A wise choice... maybe there's hope for a stupid girl like you after all." Hera remarked, almost as if she had to make the entire conversation be about her dismissing or degrading everyone that she deemed to be beneath her, where Flurry just glanced at everyone and made sure they stood down before war broke out between Sparta and Olympus, all while Athena just stood there with shock on her face.

Flurry just stood there in silence as Hera departed from the area that they were standing in, apparently having delivered her message to the people of Sparta, though she moved to watch the goddess as she walked into Sparta and used the Olympian Gate to return to Olympus, allowing her and everyone else to let out a sigh of relief.

"Flurry... are you truly alright with this decision?" Kratos asked, as he knew his daughter had been interested in starting the creation of their statues, so they could help spread word of their rise to godhood to the rest of Greece, though he was still angry towards Hera and how she treated everyone that was around him.

"No, but it's not worth starting a war over." Flurry admitted, because that was the last thing they needed right now, giving the other gods a reason to dislike Sparta even more than when it was under Ares' control, so she had decided to stay her hand and not strike down Hera for insulting not only her home and her people, but also herself.

"I'm happy to see that Hera was wrong, as you are incredibly smart for one so young." Athena remarked, where she walked out of the area she had been waiting in and approached the trio as the citizens got back to work, though it was with a smile on their faces as they realized that she was on their side in this situation, before she handed Kratos a scroll, "I'll checked all of the settlements across Greece, to see how they reacted to the news of three new gods rising in Sparta and Ares being slain in battle, and... well, the results aren't good."

"Most of Greece refuses to acknowledge that Ares is dead and that I've taken his throne... based on the list of names it will take years convincing everyone that Zeus' announcement is true." Kratos said, though this, as Athena said, wasn't good news at all, because it meant that the followers of Ares were refusing to acknowledge the truth of the situation and that meant they might cause trouble in the future.

Flurry wasn't sure what was going on anymore, since it seemed like multiple gods were trying to annoy them in different methods, but she remained silent as her father started to consider how to spread word of their ascension without causing war to break out, which only made her interested in what the future held for her family.

Betrayal: Surprising Discovery

Flurry discovered that things were mostly the same for her, her father, and her uncle, as in they trained every day to make sure Deimos understood how to use every weapon that was available to them, and could handle himself if he ever had to fight on his own, an event that usually took place in the morning. From there it all determined on what skills Flurry wanted to work on, as some days she focused on learning from Hecate, carefully delving into the magical power she had access to, and other days she learned from both Artemis or Apollo, as one of the twins came at any given moment. It was strange, since she and her father were used to the twins coming together and sharing their wisdom with her, though it stood to reason that the gods in question were busy and that only one could come at any given moment, which was understandable since she and her family were the same. Flurry had to wonder if Apollo might have seen something, since he was the God of Prophecies, but it was impossible to tell since he didn't usually talk about what he saw, save for telling Zeus, so she focused on what she and her family were doing on any given day.

In addition to all of that Flurry looked at the list that Athena had given her father and found that it contained the names of the various cities, islands, and everywhere of importance in Greece, plus it even listed how they felt about her father, her uncle, and herself joining the gods of Olympus, only to be surprised by the contents.

"Seriously?! Most of the settlements and cities are against Ares being replaced, despite the fact that he's dead and that there is no way for him to come back?" Flurry remarked, something that made her wonder just how many loyalists Ares had in his army just before his death, because it seemed impossible for this to happen, that so many would ignore the word of Zeus, before something came to mind as she recalled their first day back in Sparta after freeing Deimos.

"My thoughts exactly: Hera." Kratos said, as he had been wondering why the list was like this, that so many would ignore the word of the King of the Gods, and only one thing made sense to him, that this had to be the work of Hera, trying to piss everyone in Sparta off without letting anyone know it was her who was doing this, something both he and Flurry had determined without too much trouble.

"I do hope this isn't the start of something worse." Deimos commented, as the last thing they needed was the arrival of the event that the gods were terrified of, or at least those who knew of it since it was hard to tell which gods of Olympus knew about the prophecy and which ones had been left in the dark to avoid panic.

Of course there wasn't much they could do with this information, that the Queen of the Gods disliked them and that the list Athena had obtained for them complicated their lives, rather Flurry focused on how to address the situation that was in front of them, namely spreading word of her father and uncle's godhood to the rest of Greece. Her plan was simple and wouldn't incur the wrath of any gods, as the three of them would return to the ships and sail from location to location, to speak with those who called the cities and settlements home and try to convince them that the previous God of War had fallen, plus two new gods ruled over Sparta. They needed to tell people that there was a new god who stood in Ares' place, one chosen by Zeus and the other Olympians, and to do that they had to travel to the other settlements of Greece so they could speak with those in charge, to convince them of her father and uncle's godhood. Her thought process was that there was a chance, however slim, that Hera might know about the Marked Warrior prophecy and might be looking for ways to incite the other gods into crushing both Sparta and it's new gods, so by going in with a more peaceful approach there was a chance they could bypass the bloodshed.

Kratos had to admit that it made sense, because if they went around conquering everything and dominating everyone, like Ares would have done, there was a good chance Hera would use it against them when she spoke with the other gods and her husband, so he hoped that Flurry's plan would work, since he'd rather not incur the wrath of Olympus.

With that in mind they put the first stage of her plan into motion, which involved carefully sailing from one port to another and stopping at the various locations on Athena's list, because while most seemed to be against them there were others, such as Athens and Attica, who accepted that they were gods with ease. While they traveled around Greece, not using the Olympian Gates since they didn't want to miss any settlements, Flurry kept track of which locations were true to Athena's information, as in those who denied that her father and uncle were gods, and who changed their minds. There were a few locations that responded well to the discovery that Kratos and Deimos were gods, as they were able to call forth a portion of their godly power, forming a sheen of sorts around them that mortals could perceive, meaning that all they had to do after that was inform them that a ship would be by in a few days to deliver their new statues. Such a thing told the people of the cities that the people of Sparta were more than simple savages, like they had been under Ares' control, meaning the message about new gods might be easier received by the other settlements once news spread of their ascension.

Of course not everything was that simple, as there were some cities where those who worshiped Ares were in control of a decent part of the settlements and denied their claims of being gods, causing Flurry to mark them down for later, since they would come back when the time was right to try again.

There was one city that they avoided for the most part, the city of Argos, which was the one that Hera happened to be the patron goddess of, meaning the people who called it home would no doubt deny their godhood and do everything in their power to tick off the trio. It was a trap that was just waiting to be sprung, that much all three of them agreed on, so for the time being they focused on all of the other cities and settlements, occasionally returning to Olympus to check in with Athena or the other gods that were on their side. What Flurry meant by that was that Hades seemed angry all the time, Poseidon was moody and did his best to make sure the seas didn't suffer, and Hermes just gave them a twisted smile, like he knew a joke that none of them had been told yet, but none of them seemed very friendly right now. Athena shared their confusion on the matter, she had no idea why the other gods were being so weird, especially since they had welcomed the trio into the fold when the announcement was made, but that just meant they had to be careful, since there was no telling what the other gods would do in their current state.

Fortunately nothing major happened while they traversed the seas, no gods came to smite them for Kratos' past sins or take them down due to Deimos being with them, and no massive monsters dared to attack their ship, meaning they could tackle the list of settlements and not have to worry about anything else, though Flurry knew it wouldn't last forever.

Eventually they had to check in with the city of Argos, as it was the last one on the first list Athena gave them, back when she wanted to help them out, so when six months had passed, since Zeus welcomed them into Olympus fully, Flurry found that it was time to dock at Hera's city and see where they stood on the matter. As they drew closer and closer to the city she and both of her family members found that a number of soldiers were present near the docks, more than they were expecting since this was supposed to be a peaceful visit to determine where Argos stood on the matter of Kratos and Deimos being the newest additions to Olympus. Flurry had decided not to make a big deal about her own godhood, since it wasn't worth the headache Hera had started during her visit to Sparta, and focused on helping her father and uncle secure their rightful place in the hearts of the people of Greece, a feat that was much harder with Hera apparently working against them. That didn't change the fact that the scene in front of them was one that worried all three of them and Albis, who had joined them on this quest and had been given a set of light armor that wouldn't weigh her down, modified to fit her body since she didn't have legs like a normal person.

The armed forces in front of them wasn't a good sign, even if one considered that they might be out on patrol and were just passing by, but it still presented the group with an odd feeling that none of them wanted to feel right now, because landing here could be the start of something major.

"I know none of us want to be here, since this might be a trap, but this is the last stop on Athena's list... you know, before we have to deal with Ares' remaining loyalists." Flurry remarked, though at the same time she and her family did a quick check of their weapons, out of sight of the soldiers since she didn't want to give them the impression that they were here to cause chaos or bring war to their doorstep, just in the off chance that they were attacked by those who still, foolishly, worshiped the previous God of War.

"Indeed. We shall proceed as planned: land, speak with the locals, and see if they're willing to accept the word of Zeus, that we are gods of Olympus." Kratos stated, though he shared the unease that everyone felt right now, this was most likely a trap that Hera had set up to make him and Deimos seem like bad apples, meaning it was entirely possible that they would be attacked at some point during their visit, hence why he wanted everyone to be prepared, just in case they were right, to which he glanced out at the city, "If they accept his word, we will be out of here in no time and no one has to die... if not, well, we are prepared in case madness has taken hold of the city."

"I share your thoughts, brother, as I'd rather not spill blood unnecessarily either... but with Hera there's no telling what sort of orders she might have given them." Deimos stated, though at the same time he recalled some of the magic lessons that his niece had been given over the last couple of months, something he was still coming to terms with since he hadn't been expecting Hecate to take such an interest in Flurry's powers, so he knew that there was a chance that she might have a spell that could help them out.

"The loyalists are going to be annoying, especially since some still believe that Ares is alive." Albis added, because based on what they had seen during their visits to some of the other cities there were those who believed that Athena was lying, as in Ares' followers refused to acknowledge that their god had attacked Athens and had been beaten by Kratos, and she had to assume that they were going to cause problems for them, "We had best be careful."

Flurry, Kratos, and Deimos nodded their heads for a moment, showing that they agreed with Albis' comment, especially since it was the same thing Flurry had said a few times before they even reached Argos, before they departed from their ship and walked onto the dock. As they did so all four of them found that there were definitely soldiers watching them, no doubt keeping an eye on what was going on, while the people who were present noticed that they had arrived at last and got out of the way, because while the loyalists wanted to deny what Zeus had said, about Kratos and Deimos being gods, there were those who believed his decree. Some of the ordinary citizens took one look at them, their ships, and the couple of weapons they had on them, and took a step back immediately, showing that they knew who her father and uncle were and realized that something major was about to happen, even if the group was hoping for nothing more than a talk with the loyalists of Ares so they could clear some stuff up. Flurry was grateful that not everyone seemed to be standing against them, based on their reactions to her and her family, though her hands rested near her sickles as she focused on the ten soldiers that were in front of them, as something told her this wasn't going to be an easy visit.

When they reached the end of the dock the group found that there were more than ten soldiers, as more had arrived after the four of them started moving, so with a total of at least twenty individuals standing against them everyone realized this might turn into a fight, just as Hera no doubt intended.

"Stand down, warriors of Argos, we are not here to fight you." Kratos stated, which would please the citizens that would be caught in the crossfire if a fight broke out, though as he said that his eyes lingered on the men in front of him, who just so happened to be carrying swords on their belts and wore silver armor with red sashes, "We wish to speak with the loyalists who continue to serve the previous God of War, Ares, who was slain during his invasion of Athens and whose death was ordered by Zeus himself."

"So, the False God and his followers have arrived." one of the men, the Captain no doubt, remarked, where he stepped up for a moment and quickly drew his sword as he faced Kratos, pointing it right at him while his men did the same with the others, making sure that all four of them were covered as the citizens ran off to avoid getting caught in the crossfire, while Kratos and his family frowned at the men, "Lady Hera told us everything: about how you've been falsifying everything you have said, that none of you are really gods, and that you would overstep your boundaries at the worst moment... seems like this is the latter, don't you think?"

"Not really, since you are addressing the three newest gods of Olympus: Kratos, the God of War; Deimos, the God of Courage; and Flurry Heart, the Goddess of Death." Albis replied, as usually Flurry's title caused people to pause as each of them took in the information they were being given, since it connected to the tales about her and her appearance, not to mention her sickles, though this time it didn't seem like anyone was taking her seriously.

"At least the tales about you traveling with a monster are true. Kill her first, then we can focus on the Ghost of Sparta and his followers." the Captain said, his tone revealing that he wasn't in the mood to play this 'game' with them, even if they were telling the truth, while at the same time telling the group that he thought she was not worth the time to even think about, despite how peaceful she was.

Albis, after having done her best to get used to training with her body, turned around and avoided the swords that came towards her, while at the same time Flurry and her family raised their weapons to block the incoming attacks before just pushing their foes back, allowing them to spread out. With that done Albis swung her tail and knocked her foes away from her, something that opened the way for her to rush up to one and focus her gaze on him, turning him into stone before the man had a chance to defend himself, causing her to crush him by tightening her tail around it and pulverizing the new statue to dust. While she did that Deimos raised his shield and blocked the blades that were coming at him, waiting for a few seconds before swinging his left arm as he knocked his foes back, breaking their guard in no time, where he lashed out with his spear and stabbed each one in their sides, doing enough to pierce them without actually killing them. Kratos did more of the same, he used one of his blades to open his foes' defenses before slashing at their exposed weaknesses with the other one, wounding them and showing them that he was still willing to show mercy, despite the fact that Ares would have wiped them out in an instant for this transgression.

Flurry, on the other hand, dodged the incoming attacks with ease, as they were slower than the monsters she had fought with her father in the past, only to disappear and reappear behind her foes, dealing a few cuts to each of them with her sickles before she turned towards everyone.

"I don't know what Hera told you, but all of it is wrong. My father, uncle, and I are gods, just as Albis said." Flurry said, as she didn't want to kill the people that had attacked them, since they were given wrong information with the purpose of trying to make them seem like they were just warmongers to the rest of the Olympians, though this did tell the people of Argos that her father wasn't the same as Ares, "Tell you what, if you agree to help us, to correct this situation and tell the other settlements of the lie you've been told, we'll let you live."

"And if we refuse you'll kill us... we know how your father works, girl." the Captain replied, focusing on the fact that Kratos was the Ghost of Sparta, a brutal warrior who decimated everything in his path, and not the truth that was staring him in the face, all while his men stood defiantly as well, showing them that they were believing Hera's foul lie.

As he opened his mouth to continue, however, something struck down him and his men, each one dying as their heads were taking off by some unknown force, only for the group to see a black robed figure appear off in the distance before it headed deeper into Argos, and before they could react they heard the roar of a powerful beast.

"Great, we have an assassin on the loose, whose going to sully our name if we don't catch them, and it sounds like Argos, the monster, might have been released." Deimos remarked, as that was the only thing that made sense, that Hera's pet was likely on the loose, either because she wanted it to cause chaos and blame it on them, or someone had done that just to further sully their name.

Flurry sighed as she realized that another quest had come to them, though this time it was straightforward, just track the assassin down and contain them to make them confess, which only made her wonder what this quest might throw at her and her family.

Betrayal: Tracking the Assassin

"Spartans, keep the ship safe, take down any of Ares' loyalists that might try to tear you down, and save anyone who might come here seeking salvation." Kratos stated, turning to speak to the people on the ship for a few seconds, where both the crew members and the few soldiers that were with them saluted him before getting to work, allowing him to focus on what he and his family had seen, and the new foe that had showed itself to them, "The same goes for us: kill the loyalists, save any civilians that are in danger, and track down the assassin... hopefully before the figure does something stupid."

"The only thing that can make this situation worse is if the assassin kills Argos, which Hera will blame us for." Flurry said, as she had been wondering why the goddess' pet monster would pick now, of all times, to suddenly become active, based on all of the sounds they had heard previously, and she was sure that such a thing would happen if events played out the way she had just said.

"Then we had best get going... our target isn't going to slow down for us." Deimos remarked, where he gripped his shield for a moment as he imagined what would happen if the gods blamed his family for the chaos that might unfold, especially after the sinking of Atlantis and the destruction of Crete, as it might cause the other gods to turn against them, or cause them to start treating them like they were villains.

Albis said nothing as she nodded her head in agreement, as she understood that tracking down the assassin and stopping the monster were the key objectives of their quest, though once everyone was in agreement they started to move into the city itself, following the path that the assassin had headed down. What they discovered was that there were a number of loyalists pouring out of several buildings, showing them that Hera's forces had been expecting their arrival and were ready to cut them down, or make an attempt while painting whatever picture that the city's goddess wanted from them. None of them bothered to listen to the loyalists this time around, since they seemed to think that they were in the wrong and that Hera was in the right, where Kratos slashed through his opponents, Deimos stabbed one in the chest with his spear after blocking an attack with his shield, while Flurry used her arrows to pin some down for Albis to finish off. They also stayed away from the civilians while they fought, since they didn't want everyone to think that they were monsters, where Flurry beckoned for everyone who wasn't part of the fights, and seemed to be terrified of what the loyalists were doing, to get out of the area and they did so without delay.

There was one other thing she noticed as they carefully moved through the area, the assassin would appear somewhere and just observe them for a time, usually only moving as she or someone else noticed where it was hiding, meaning they were on the right track, since it seemed to be leading them somewhere. Everyone agreed that the assassin was trying to lead them into a trap of some kind, that much was certain from just a quick glance at the area their target happened to be moving through, but unlike it's first appearance Flurry found that it did nothing to anyone else. Instead of attacking any of the soldiers that were coming at her and her family, to maybe expose a weakness to use against them or blind them for a time, the assassin just stood in the shadowy areas it liked to stand in before departing to avoid being grabbed. She really had no idea who the figure was, there weren't any clues left for them to piece together and she was sure it wasn't Hera, as the Queen of the Gods didn't have this sort of speed, though while that could mean Hermes it also meant any of his kids or his most trusted followers.

In the end Flurry decided not to worry about the assassin's true identity and focused on dodging the incoming attacks that were coming towards her, where she used her sickles to block the swords from reaching her, turned them back before anyone had a chance to hit her, and cut down those who dared to stand before her.

As they moved through the city Flurry took a look at the buildings and found that they were incredibly smooth, the holes for the doors and windows were well made, far more than some of the various buildings they had passed by in some of the other cities, and even the roofs seemed to have fine tile on top of them. It told her one thing, that Hera put a lot of time and effort into her city, or maybe Zeus had commanded the mortals to build it and then told them that his wife was going to be the one ruling over them, she really had no idea which idea was right and right now she honestly didn't care who put the work into the city. She just felt bad for the people, because the monster known as Argos was likely tearing the area around wherever it had appeared, meaning it would take some time for it to turn it's attention to them, where she had to hope that they could contain it somewhere while they tracked down the assassin. While she thought about that her father turned and pulled out the Blade of Artemis, slashing an unfortunate loyalist in half like he was nothing, which was easy to do since the weapon was one of their favorites and it was wicked powerful, even though Kratos and Flurry were still surprised Artemis hadn't taken it back yet.

Such a thing allowed them to clear out the next group of enemies, where he and Flurry continued deeper into the city as Deimos and Albis huffed for a few seconds before following in their wake, as they were less experienced than they were in fighting large crowds and going on these sorts of quests.

"Remind me to get some more training in when we get home... if Albis and I are going to be questing with you we'll need a lot more skills than what we currently have." Deimos commented, though at the same time he and Albis watched as his brother and Flurry jumped up a small step and started to move down another path that seemed to cut through part of the city, likely heading towards Argos' current position.

"There will be time to get you two up to speed." Flurry remarked, which was true, there was a lot more they could do to get her uncle and Albis up to speed, other than what's been done so far, though as she said that she turned and quickly made sure that the pair didn't need assistance, only to find that Deimos climbed up the step easily and Albis just slithered up without any problems, "Though it seems that luck might be on our side: Argos hasn't damaged anything yet."

Kratos said nothing as the path quickly brought them to one of the water reservoirs that existed in the city, which seemed to be the correct path given that the assassin was using it as well, that was their only idea that they were on the right path right now since finding the monster was hard without it causing chaos. Of course that meant he and Flurry had to swing across the gap, thanks to a grapple point resting above it, though once they were on the other side he found that he didn't have to worry about his brother and Albis, as his daughter formed a magical path for them to use. Once again Kratos had to think about how useful her magic was and how much it could do, especially since there was no telling how her power would grow in the future, before he turned his attention to the inside of the building they were entering and found more loyalists waiting for them. There everyone paused for a moment as they found a sunken area that had something that all of them weren't expecting to see, so soon into their trek into the city, a giant beast that was slightly taller than them and seemed to have a lot of eyes on it's head, arms, and shoulders.

This was Argos, a brown skinned creature that was Hera's pet, not to mention a general menace since he was strong and it was rumored that only godly weapons, such as most of their arsenal, could bring him down, like the giant had been gifted the power of a titan or god, but at the same time the group decided not to worry about it too much.

"Brother, allow me." Deimos said, where he gripped his spear for a moment as Kratos glanced back at him, to which both he and Flurry got out of the way as he stepped forward, allowing everyone to watch as he gathered his own godly power for a moment and channeled it into his weapon, only to hurl it into the air.

In the following moment they discovered why he did that, as his spear glowed before it summoned a rain of spears that descended on the giant, stabbing it repeatedly all over his body, though all Argos did was howl in pain before running off, by jumping up into a hole in the ceiling to escape, causing Deimos to sigh as he held his hand out as his main spear quickly materialized in his hand. As they left the building, by following another path, he explained that he had been training with Hecate to unlock how to use his own godly power so he wouldn't be a hindrance to his brother and niece, and this was his first power, unnamed since he had only learned this a few days ago. Flurry told him that it was okay, his first attempt in an actual battle was very good, and even her father agreed with the statement, praising his efforts like one should in this sort of situation, plus Albis voiced her approval, causing him to rub the back of his head as they continued to move through the rest of the city. It was clear that he wasn't used to being praised at all, much less by his own brother, a thought that had to do with his past and how they trained before he was taken away, but he was pleased to see that they approved of his new power and what else he might have to offer them.

The path brought them back out into the city itself, full of more loyalists and citizens that were running for their lives, to which the group did what they did best, save the innocent while taking down their enemies, though this time Flurry used her bow to take down a few loyalists that were using bows. Such a thing allowed everyone else to focus on the nearby foes and kill them before they could do anything, or break them into pieces since Albis waited for the best moment to use her gaze on someone and turn them into another statue, which she promptly smashed with her tail. Some of the archers were guarding a lever that went to a wooden gate that was next to it, which meant all they had to do was let Flurry take care of them as Kratos moved a large crate into position, one that he and Deimos could climb onto and jump off of to reach the lever's location. Flurry helped Albis catch up to the pair as they opened the way forward, only to find a ladder that brought them to a rope line, one that would take them deeper into the city of Argos, to which everyone made their way up to it and Kratos started moving across it first, leaving her to keep an eye out with her bow.

It was a rather short trek as they reached what appeared to be the pools outside a temple, to which Kratos quickly dived into the water and the others followed after him, before reaching more solid ground that allowed them to continue on their way, passing by a number of Hera's statues in the process.

Interestingly enough there were now red magical doors that required souls to be sacrificed to it so they could unlock them and continue even deeper, though this time around Flurry swung her sickles and cut through the magic, allowing her and her family to bypass whatever Hera had set up. Of course that didn't stop the others from killing all of the loyalists, in fact she joined them, she just didn't think that sacrificing their souls in such a way was right, though after that they dropped down into an area that had more loyalists and her father used a power they didn't use too much, he called forth a couple of soldiers, thanks to the Army of Hades power, and set his summons off. The specters slew a few more loyalists before Albis found that one of the statues in the chamber could be moved, to which Kratos and Deimos pulled the statue of Hera in question out of the way. Such a thing revealed a passage that seemed to be leading back outside, though as the group started to walk down it they found that they had to pull another lever and open yet another door, which either Hera or the architect of the city seemed to like, before they were able to make their way deeper into the city.

As they headed outside, however, Flurry spotted a newcomer that was currently wandering the city, a skeletal figure that sat on the back of a brown horse with glowing blue eyes and carried a bone white trident, a Dead Rider, better known as a Harvester of Souls, come to claim the dead to take them to the Underworld, though interesting enough only she could see it, likely due to her connection to Death.

Since the Dead Rider wasn't interested in them, and they weren't eager to waste time on someone who hadn't annoyed any of them, the group continued on their way as Flurry nodded her head towards the rider, who bowed his head towards her, no doubt because of her position as the Goddess of Death, before they went their separate ways. Kratos was positive that if they were laying siege to the city all of the Dead Riders would be after their heads, since they would be turning against the gods, but since they were still on Olympus' side the undead had no reason to attack them, allowing the group to climb up another ladder as they headed deeper into the city of Argos. Such a thing brought him and the others to some roofs to move across, Flurry forming a path for Albis so she didn't get left behind, where Kratos hacked some loyalists apart as Deimos just stabbed his foes in the chest, though as that happened Flurry noticed that there were more Dead Riders and that they were definitely collecting all of the souls of those who had perished recently. The building he eventually dropped down into had a sacrifice door that Flurry cut through before any souls could be given to it, though as they started to move again they found that Hera's temple cracked, as if something was inside it and was damaging the structure, before it collapsed on itself, likely killing whoever was left inside it.

"Hera's going to blame that on us... isn't she?" Albis inquired, though this entire venture to the city of Argos just seemed like a constant stream of events that would be pinned on the most convenient individual, or a group of people, that could take the blame for what was going on.

"Most likely. She can be a... difficult... goddess to work with." Kratos remarked, but he and Flurry knew that there had been no one left inside the temple, they had made sure of that, and the quick surge of godly power that had torn the structure's insides apart, allowing it to crumple like this, meant someone was definitely trying to frame them for a number of crimes that they hadn't committed.

"Still, she should be in Olympus right now... so whose the assassin?" Flurry commented, as it was clear that another god or goddess wanted to chip away at their standing in Olympus, to help Hera bring them down for some reason, and while she knew there were a few gods that might have a problem with them she couldn't pinpoint which one would do this, since both Poseidon and Hades weren't this fast.

In that moment she sensed something and turned down the path that was in front of them, leading deeper into the city, and found the assassin staring at them from afar, something that her father noticed as he realized she hadn't said anything else, though instead of letting the figure go Flurry drew her bow and loosed two arrows. Sure enough the blades the figure had used to kill the loyalists earlier were used to take out her arrows before they could hit their mark, though as it turned to flee it failed to notice one thing, she had loosed another one right behind the first two, a fact that would cost it greatly. The third arrow struck the figure right in the back, briefly piercing their chest by how the assassin staggered after taking the arrow, to which Flurry realized she had missed both his spine and his vitals, as she was sure it was male based on the shape of the assassin's body. With the devastating blow, however, she had cut down on the assassin's speed as he rushed off, heading ever deeper into the city of Argos, though all Flurry could do was smile, because now they had a fighting chance of figuring out who the assassin was, they just had to catch up to him and pin him down.

Kratos and Deimos smiled at this turn of events, as this meant they could potentially present the attacker to Zeus, Hera, and the rest of the gods once they caught him, causing them to join Flurry and Albis as they moved deeper into the city so they could find the assassin and put an end to his plans, before anything terrible happened.

Betrayal: Hunting the Monster

Kratos found that tracking the assassin was much easier than before, all thanks to the arrow that Flurry had put in him the instant she realized he was waiting nearby and the droplets of blood that were on the ground, no doubt coming from his wound, and since they were on his tail he couldn't stop to remove the arrow and heal the wound. The only thing that even remotely slowed him and the others down was the fact that more loyalists decided to get in their way, causing him to cut his way through them as Deimos impaled a few with his spear, leaving Flurry to focus on her bow as she loosed a few arrows, hitting several of her targets with ease. This time around Albis did something different as she picked up two blades and turned them on their enemies, utilizing one as a shield of sorts to open some holes in her foe's defenses so the other could be used to either remove limbs or take her foe's heads off. While they did that the citizens of the city got out of the way, as they knew not to get in the way of the God of War, leaving them to deal with the last of the loyalists before turning their attention to the trail that had been left by their target, since the assassin hadn't done anything to cover his tracks.

As they walked along the path that was in front of them, Flurry tracking the blood and made sure they were on the right track, showing that she had learned quite a bit from her time with Apollo and Artemis, before finding a sunken area that the monster Argos was standing in, the angry frown on his face revealing that he wasn't pleased with them.

"Okay, so Hera is definitely in league with another god." Flurry remarked, since there was no reason for the monster to let the assassin through this area, even though it was hard to tell what sort of role Argos had in the city that bared his name, but what she found to be ridiculous was that the wounded figure moved themselves into one of the shadows to watch the group fight the monster, "A stupid god, by the looks of it."

"Let's remove Hera's pet first, then we can worry about the assassin." Kratos said, where he sheathed his blades for just a moment and switched to Artemis' blade, causing him to leap down into the area that Argos was standing in and lashed out at the monster, finding that he did, in fact, want to take all of them down.

Deimos watched as his brother used the large blade to parry some incoming attacks, blocking the hands that were coming at him as he slashed at the arms and legs without pause, causing the creature to howl in pain as he was harmed, before Kratos finished his assault with a powerful punch to the side of Argos' face, causing the monster to jump into the air as he departed for another part of the city.

"How odd... he's moving in the same direction as the assassin." Flurry commented, as she noticed the direction that Argos was moving in happened to be exactly the same as the one that their main target was heading in, totally confirming that both parties were involved in trying to frame them for whatever Hera was trying to frame them with, "Which means we'll likely fight it a few more times before we pin down the assassin and put an end to his schemes."

"Well then, let's get underway." Albis said, though even she was curious as to what this meant for them, that the monster and the assassin were working together against them, on Hera's orders no doubt, since it was clear to all of them that she didn't like them and wanted to bring Kratos down for some odd reason.

The building that the path ended up bringing them to was, for some odd reason, filled with dangerous saws that spun out of the walls and cut into everything that was at the edge of each one, cutting into the path and anyone foolish enough to stand in their way, though Flurry decided not to play around this time around. While the others dealt with the loyalists in the building, which seemed to be a temple that had been turned into a deathtrap, Flurry raised her sickles and slashed her way through all of the saws, destroying the blades as much as she could before beckoning for the others to follow her into the depths of the foul temple. Kratos left his daughter to do what she did best, which was eliminate the hazards that had no right being in this place and the sacrifice doors that happened to appear in their way, the latter being something none of them wanted to deal with since they were trying to find the assassin. Some of the citizens they saved along the way did have some information to share with the group, that there was a minotaur somewhere in the city, which was odd since it seemed like something Hera wouldn't do, even if she was trying to blame them for attacking her precious city, but figured it was to make Kratos seem more like Ares.

Flurry had told Deimos that the previous God of War had created an army of monsters, which had minotaurs in it, and this could be Hera's way to draw more false parallels between her father and Ares, though after that she focused on the path in front of her as she continued to follow the trail of blood that the assassin had left behind.

The minotaur, as it turned out, was just one of the lesser ones they had encountered in the past, ones that both Kratos and Flurry were familiar with thanks to the fact that they had faced them several times before this point in time, though instead of tearing it down with four foes they let Flurry take it. Kratos knew it would be over in seconds, in fact everyone found that he was right as his daughter dodged the incoming axe swings like they were nothing, slashing at it's arms and legs with her sickles as it growled in pain and frustration, since it couldn't hit her. She eventually brought it down by simply just slashing out it's knees, causing it to fall to one knee for a moment, before forcing it to drop it's axe so she could use it to cleave it in half, but as that happened she knew that there might be more in the city, just to frame them for a number of crimes that Hera wanted to blame on them. Her thoughts were proven right as she found a path leading to another pair of minotaur and Argos, to which she sighed as everyone got ready, as this time none of them were going to stand and watch, not with three enemies in their way, and the moment the monster roared at them the group charged at them.

Kratos and Deimos joined forces to bring down one of the minotaur, while Albis found an opening to turn hers into a new statue before smashing it, opening the way for Flurry to lash out the monster, her sickles striking her target's arms and his legs as he tried to hit her in some manner, and the fight ended as it fled from them with a familiar howl of pain.

Following that they discovered that the assassin was still moving deeper into the city, this time heading into what seemed to be Hera's garden or the area people from the city tended to flowers in, since there seemed to be bodies of water in the way this time around, shallow ones that they could easily walk through. Flurry found that there weren't many areas that required her to make magical walkways for Albis in this portion of the city, allowing her to keep up with her, Kratos, and Deimos and let her fight beside them as they tore through the minotaur that happened to be smashing stuff. The loyalists clearly wanted them dead, since Ares' remaining forces wanted to restore their fallen god to his 'proper' position, but that didn't stop the group from slashing their way through Hera's forces as Flurry kept an eye on the clear blood trail that was being left behind by the assassin. It was actually rather humorous that someone who was supposed to be sneaky and not get caught was leaving a path for them to follow, meaning whoever it was wasn't as skilled in this as they assumed he was when he first made his move against the loyalists he had slain, but she kept her focus on their target and his path.

What surprised them was the fact that the garden area was actually pretty small, as they were able to clear it rather easily, though when Flurry found that they had to cross a gap, and use a rope line that was clearly designed to kill them thanks to a few saws that were in the way, she just used her magic to form a path for them to use. She knew that Hera had to be very angry at her right now, since everything she did was screwing with whatever the Queen of the Gods had planned for them, but she honestly didn't care too much, especially since she was trying to frame them for all sorts of crimes, like she was expecting Zeus to punish them in some manner. Kratos brought her back to reality as a minotaur tore through a wall of a new building and the assassin rushed by it, to the best of his ability, even though he hacked the monster apart as they entered the structure, finding that it had three floors for them to explore as they hunted their targets. Flurry dealt with the lone sacrifice door that was in their way and found that the lever that was on the other side opened part of the ceiling, all to allow them to reach the second and third floors, only to discover another lever on the third floor that sealed that very opening and opened a path for them to open another door that the assassin had slipped through.

"Why was the city designed like this? It feels like one massive trap, instead of a place for people to live in." Albis inquired, as the number of trapped structures they had passed through since landing on the island told her that either Hera had put all of this together once Ares was dead, or she had designed her city like this, on purpose, and was only now turning all of her traps on them.

"The will of the gods can be strange at times... but I, too, am unsure of Hera's reasons for all of this." Kratos replied, due to the fact that everything they had been through since reaching this island was making him question Hera's sanity, or lack of any based on what he had seen so far, but at the same time an idea came to mind as he looked at the traps.

"Brother, please don't get any ideas." Deimos stated, as he knew that his brother was looking for ways to improve the rest of their army, finding new ways for them to improve and learn how to fight more like him and his daughter, and really he felt that such a thing might be a bad idea, given just how skilled the pair actually was.

Flurry chuckled at that, because she knew her father might end up drawing inspiration from the traps and turn them into an obstacle course for them, and maybe the Spartans, when they got back home and were done with Hera's attempts to frame them, before she turned her attention back to the path she was following. The surprising aspect about that was the fact that Argos was ahead of them, though this time around the group discovered that there was a sewer opening behind the giant, meaning they now had a way to actually trap it, before it was able to cause any additional destruction. That fact was due to the ruined pillars and statues that were around the area they found it in, which explained how some parts of the city had been ruined despite the fact all four of them had been nowhere near the structures in question, even though all four of them were sure that this was all just part of Hera's plan to turn the gods against them. It was so obvious that such a thing was her plan, because all of the evidence was poorly hidden, that it annoyed everyone greatly, but there was little for them to do right now, other than trap the monster and track down the assassin, then they could focus on telling the other gods about this and hope they believed them over Zeus' wife.

This time around Argos did his best to stand his ground, even with four enemies arrayed against him, though Kratos and the others positioned themselves so that there was nowhere for him to go, save for the direction that they wanted him to move in, though at the same time Albis did her best to make sure it didn't hit her, since it would be painful due to the fact that she wasn't a god. While they carefully moved the monster towards the edge of the area they were on, so they could drop it into the sewer system and find a way to make sure it didn't disappear into another part of the city that was around them, Flurry kept an eye out for the assassin, only to find that he wasn't in the area. It was weird that the figure would hide himself at this point, especially after everything they had seen so far, and guessed that her arrow might have caused him to reevaluate how he was going to tackle the situation Hera had gotten him to take part in, before she turned her focus back to Argos. In the next moment she, her father, and her uncle struck the monster and knocked him backwards with a combined strike attack, sending the beast down into the water that was below them, allowing the group to let out a sigh of relief as they found that he was no longer able to damage the city.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that this was a victory for them, no one felt like celebrating, not with the assassin still out there, and sure enough Flurry found that the figure had been waiting for them to drop Argos down into the sewer, where he rushed out and drove his blades straight down into the creature's heart, causing Argos to let out a death howl before he collapsed in the water.

"Oh, that's not good." Albis remarked, as their plan had been to trap Argos, and likely kill it if things progressed in a more negative manner than what they had seen so far, though before anyone else could do anything she noticed that Flurry was already on the move as she switched to her bow again.

The assassin, as if realizing what was about to happen, started to turn so he could flee, though this time Flurry was ready for his moves and the first arrow she loosed struck him in the back, on the other side of his spine that made it look like a perfect mirror image of the wound she dealt not that long ago. In the following moment another arrow found it's mark as she hit the calf of his right leg, tearing through the muscle as it tore through the front as well, causing the assassin to let out a gasp of pain, and she wasted no time in making the left match the right. Now that Argos was dead, something Hera would no doubt blame on them when she learned of this fact, she couldn't kill the figure that had done the deed, but that didn't mean she couldn't cripple his speed and make him that much easier to capture, and since he was a god this meant he could withstand a few more arrows before he collapsed due to the sheer pain he'd be in. She took no joy in tormenting someone like this, purposely missing his vitals to keep him alive, but she wanted to make sure the gods didn't pin all of this on her and her family, hence why her next arrow struck the assassin in his right shoulder, causing him to stumble into the water for a moment.

As that happened, however, they heard a louder groan and realized that they had heard the voice before, where Flurry watched as the disguised god picked himself up and pushed himself to flee once more, but with his speed reduced to such a pitiful degree she knew they'd catch him in no time.

"Were my ears deceiving me, or was that Hermes?" Deimos inquired, though the reason he was asking was due to the fact that he had only spent a few days in Olympus, meeting the other gods and seeing where they stood on him, his brother, and his niece taking over as the gods of Sparta, so he didn't know all of the voices by heart.

"You heard it right, that was the Messenger of the Gods." Kratos answered, as he knew most of the voices thanks to all of his years serving the gods of Olympus, though at the same time he had to wonder what Hera could have used to entice Hermes into this scheme, something they would likely find out once they captured him, causing him to glance at Flurry for a few seconds, "Shall we continue tracking him?"

"Indeed." Flurry said, where she used her magic to form a path for Albis to use as her father and uncle followed her down into the area that Hermes had used to escape, though once everyone was together she switched her bow for her sickles and started to spin them as she walked.

As they followed the blood trail, however, Kratos heard the familiar eerie whistle that his daughter used every now and then, something that would add to the terror that Hermes was no doubt feeling right now, and focused on capturing the god that would dare to try and turn Olympus against them, all while hoping that the other gods would believe their story once they told them of what happened here today.

Betrayal: Cornering a God

Kratos found that Flurry's arrows had done a number on Hermes and his ability to run away, as every now and then the group could see him ahead of them, limping as best as he could while occasionally trying to rush ahead, but it was clear he wasn't going anywhere fast. It didn't take him long to leave the sewer system that he had run into, no doubt thinking that if he got to the surface levels he would lose them that much quicker, but it was long before he, Deimos, Flurry, and Albis emerged and followed after him, finding that it brought them to yet another structure. They noted that it looked like this was another temple, which wasn't too surprising since this was Hera's city and that she had likely set up one for most of the major gods, especially since the temple to Ares is why they came here in the first place, to deal with the loyalists. This time around the rest of Ares' loyalists, those that saw them come out of the passage, took a step back as some heard Flurry's eerie whistle, realizing that they recognized it immediately, while those that were only now noticing them stepped back as well, showing the group their time in this city might be at an end.

Hermes, on the other hand, ran right into one of the loyalist groups and fell onto his back, which was rather painful due to the arrows that were still stuck in his body, something that caused some of the loyalists to raise their eyebrows before turning their attention towards Kratos and his family.

"Stand down, soldiers of Argos, we are not here to fight you." Kratos stated, though at the same time he moved a hand for a moment and made sure it was pointing at Hermes, who was still disguised right now, which was perfectly fine since they knew that revealing his hand in damaging the city would only make people lose faith in some of the gods, "That one, on the other hand, just killed Hera's pet, Argos, and we are going to bring him before the gods of Olympus for his just and rightful punishment for angering your goddess."

"Argos is dead? But... Hera said you released him to wreck havoc on the city." one of the loyalists remarked, showing that he and the other soldiers were surprised by this information, though at the same time some of them glanced down at the figure that was laying in front of them right now, no doubt thinking that if they might get some recognition if they helped the gods of Sparta capture the wounded assassin.

"We were trying to capture it, so we could put an end to the damage it was doing to the city, but we were unable to do so since this one ended it's life." Deimos said, as he had noted that their attacks had done some damage to the giant, no doubt due to the fact that three of them were gods, but not enough to actually seriously hurt it, allowing them to push it around for a time.

In the following moment one of the soldiers grabbed the assassin and hauled him onto his feet, where Hermes clearly did his best to avoid letting out any pained noises so his identity wasn't revealed at the worst possible moment, before doing something stupid as he pulled out his swords, cut the head off of the soldier holding him, and rushed deeper into the city as he tried to escape the group. This time, however, his mistakes were going to catch up with him as the loyalists decided to forgo their allegiance to Ares, likely upon seeing how honorable Kratos and his group was in comparison to what they had discovered so far, and joined the gods of Sparta, spreading out to deliver word to the other groups that rested in the rest of the city. Flurry was happy to see that those who used to follow Ares had decided to do the right thing, follow them instead of throwing away their lives, and not only were they being affected by the news, but so were the rest of the people who called the city home, as many heard of the giant's death and moved things in the way to stop the assassin. Albis was glad to see that everything had worked out in the end, that all it took was one piece of news like this to bring everyone in the city together to undo everything that Hera and Hermes had tried to do to them, and suspected that this would be a good thing for them and Sparta.

Hermes, on the other hand, continued to make his way deeper into the city, staggering and falling every now and then as he tried to evade the group and the growing host of people who wanted to capture him for Argos' death, cursing himself for letting Flurry hit him like she had. This was the least favorable outcome he could think of, as he was supposed to have killed Argos, with only Kratos as his witness, and get out before anyone else could see him do the deed, or the 'assassin' persona he had created for this particular mission, and he had botched it. Flurry had struck him with the fury of Artemis and Apollo themselves, like there was a third archer deity among the gods, and had cut into his speed like it was nothing, potentially an aspect due to her being the Goddess of Death, and her arrows hurt the more he moved. Such a thing had been the cause of him being spotted by all four of the individuals he was supposed to be helping Hera frame, and now he was unable to escape, as he could hear the eerie whistle closing in on him, forcing him to pull out a coin with his icon on it, as he had a way out in case things went south like this.

As Hermes approached the temple of his that Hera had constructed a long time ago, a trio of arrows pierced his back and their tips tore out of his chest, just like the other ones, where he was fortunate that they had missed his vitals again as he tumbled to the ground and dropped the coin, which rolled away from where he had landed.

"It's over, Hermes. You can't escape us now." Kratos stated, because with his daughter hitting her target again there was no way the wounded god could escape with how many arrows he had taken since showing himself, though in the next moment he felt the wind kick up as someone else decided to make themselves known.

The figure that emerged was a lean and striking figure that wore golden sandals that nearly reached his knees, a sash that was golden yellow, a red scarf that wrapped around his neck and served as a cape of sorts, a golden helmet with wings, and he carried a staff that bared the symbol of Hermes on it.

"Ceryx, son of Hermes. To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?" Flurry asked, though as she said that she also used a bit of her magic to lift the wounded god and moved him so Albis could hold onto him, while disarming him so her uncle could hold onto his weapons, as she didn't want him to hurt anyone else before they could deliver him to Olympus for his final punishment.

"Lord Zeus has sent me with a message: you are to stop your assault on Hera's beloved city." Ceryx replied, speaking to Kratos, since he was the one that the King of the Gods was interested in, while at the same time he noticed something odd in his father's temple, there was an assassin that was wounded and being held by the gorgon that followed the God of War around all the time.

"I'm afraid that you've been given bad information, Ceryx, as we weren't assaulting the city. Rather we were dealing with the rest of Ares' loyalists, just as Zeus commanded, until this one freed and killed Argos." Deimos stated, as he could see that Ceryx was interested in who the additional figure was and why they were making sure he was contained before they departed for the Olympian Gate that was somewhere in this city, since Hera likely had one installed for her personal use when she wanted to visit the city, "As you can see, Flurry hit him multiple times and we've finally caught him, before he could escape and evade being punished by Zeus and Hera for his many crimes."

"I see. Do you have any idea who this mortal might be?" Ceryx inquired, as he assumed that it was one of the many other children of the gods that remained hidden until they did something that brought them to Lord Zeus' attention, similar to Flurry he guessed since they still had no idea who her true parents were.

"Yes, but you won't believe us if we tell you... so we'll show you instead." Albis replied, where she gripped the hood for a moment and pulled it back, causing Ceryx to drop his staff for a moment as Flurry used a bit more of her magic to make a barrier that the citizens of Argos would be unable to see through or hear anything from, since she wanted to make sure the mortals didn't lose faith in the gods.

"FATHER?! What is the meaning of this?" Ceryx asked, as now he was utterly confused, because he had been told that his father was going to be busy elsewhere, hence why Lord Zeus asked for him, specifically, to fill in for his father until he returned to Olympus, making him assume his mission was to further the glory of Olympus, not drag it's name through the mud by attacking Hera's city and killing her pet.

"Honestly, we don't know. All we know is what we told you." Flurry said, though at the same time she already had an idea in mind that would help them convince the gods that they were telling the truth, and with Ceryx wanting to know the truth as well, since this was his father they were talking about, she was sure that he would help them out, "Out of curiosity, can you deliver a short message to Hecate?"

Kratos said nothing as his daughter did her work, as her plans had a way of working out in their favor, showing that letting her learn from Hecate was a good idea, or maybe she was naturally this smart and the more experience she gained the smarter she ended up becoming. Ceryx collected his staff as he listened to Flurry for a few seconds, as he seemed slightly confused as to what she was trying to do, but once the message was delivered he nodded his head and departed from the temple, though before doing so he gave his father a disappointed look as Hermes remained silent. That told Kratos more than anything else, the Messenger of the Gods knew that if he said anything it would be held against them, but that hardly mattered, as Flurry was going to expose him to the rest of the gods and show Zeus that what happened in Argos wasn't even remotely their fault. With the pieces set in motion Flurry beckoned for them to depart and Albis raised the hood so the citizens of the city didn't see one of their gods in such a state, though as everyone started to make their way towards the resident Olympian Gate the people cheered them on, showing their support for the gods of Sparta.

With the support of the people of Argos behind them, showing them that whatever Hera had told them no longer held any sway over their hearts, Kratos and his family found their target, opened the way to Olympus, and departed without delay, allowing them to return to their domain in the realm of the gods.

Upon their arrival Flurry found four gods waiting for them, those being Artemis, Apollo, Athena, and Hecate, two of them no doubt concerned about their visit to Argos, one likely coming to check on the situation, and the last due to Flurry asking for her to join them, and the nod Hecate gave her meant that her idea would work. With that in mind she nodded to Albis for a moment and let the other gods see that the assassin was none other than Hermes, where Athena seemed the most shocked by what was going on, that he'd do such a thing, though she wasn't alone in her opinion, since the other three were taken aback by this discovery. After that they replaced Hermes' hood before escorting him to the central section of Olympus, where it took them no time to reach their destination and found that the gods had assembled, Zeus sitting on his throne as the others stood around the chamber, though only Hephaestus was missing, which was odd. Flurry had no idea why the Smith God was missing, save for the fact that Zeus had claimed he had been given a rather difficult task that needed to be completed in the near future, but decided that they could worry about it later, once this ordeal was resolved and everyone had some time to rest.

While she thought about that, however, Flurry found that Hera was standing next to Zeus with a smug look on her face, as if she thought that they were going to be punished for everything that happened to her city while they were there, which meant she was either in on the plot or had heard about their visit and hoped they suffered for their 'crimes'.

"Kratos, you and the gods of Sparta have assaulted Hera's city of Argos, killed her soldiers, and have slain her pet, all in the span of an hour. What do you have to say for yourselves?" Zeus inquired, showing that he knew about their visit and that many things had happened during their time in the city, plus he didn't hesitate to show his disappointment in them, like they had actually done something wrong.

"We did not assault the city of Argos. We did exactly as you said: traveled to the city, enforced your will on the loyalists of Ares that remained, and things escalated as this assassin caused chaos during our visit." Kratos replied, though as he said that a mist rolled across the floor and he found that it was coming from Hecate, she was casting a spell of some kind, one that seemed to recreate his memories of the event, showing the gods how peaceful they had been, even willing to spare the attackers, before the assassin made his first move.

"After that we followed the figure through the city, encountering the monster Argos in the process," Deimos added, letting the scene shift as he recalled their hunt, letting Hera see that, while they did do some damage to the giant, they couldn't do any lasting harm to him and that everything ended with them dropping the monster into the sewers, only for someone else, the assassin, to finish the job, "but we didn't kill him, rather all four of us witnessed someone else kill Argos."

"And that person, shockingly enough, is none other than Hermes, the Messenger of the Gods." Flurry stated, where Albis removed the hood once more and was met with a chorus of outrage, some not believing what they were seeing right now and others shocked that Hermes would do such a thing, though it was a hard thing to disprove since they had four people serving as witnesses, five when Hecate added Hermes' memories to the mix and showed them his perspective, matching what the group was showing the gods, "We don't know why he'd do such a thing, but he's the one responsible for what happened to Argos and Hera's city."

"Come now, lying to my husband and presenting false evidence is hardly befitting of a god of Olympus." Hera said, as if she thought that everything they had presented to her and Zeus had been made up to save them from the punishment that was, in her mind, rightfully theirs, something that caused many of the gods to pause, as a good number of them couldn't believe how stupid she was making herself look right now, "And Hecate, I thought you were better than this... you need to work on your illusions if you're going to trick anyone into believing your lies."

"You and your family have committed two grave sins, Kratos, making four counting what happened when you decided to ignore my orders and destroyed both Atlantis and Crete, thus earning my ire," Zeus stated, where Flurry knew they were barking at the wrong tree, as Zeus and Hera refused to believe the evidence that was presented to them, in fact both of them seemed to believe that they were lying about everything and that they were simply warmongers, and it was clear to her that many of the other gods were shocked by his strange comment, "however, know that I am lenient and that there will be no punishment at this time... but if you continue down this road, and continue to attack Olympus with your lies and your war..."

"You'll punish us anyway." Kratos growled, where he came close to drawing the Blades of Chaos, a fact that would have been seen as treason to the Olympians, or at least Zeus and Hera, but a gentle touch on the arm from Flurry was more than enough to ground him and keep his rage from exploding, because if he attacked Zeus he would condemn himself, his family, and even Sparta to death, which he'd rather avoid, "Fine... have it your way, Zeus. Flurry, release Hermes."

Flurry did so without delay, as Albis pushed the god forward and Flurry caught him, allowing her to yank her arrows out of his body, causing him to groan as each one was removed while showing the other gods what she had done to him while she thought he was the 'assassin'.

"You're getting off easy this time, Hermes, but here's a word of warning: next time you do something like this, I'll just kill you and be done with it." Flurry whispered, making sure that only Hermes could hear her as she removed another arrow from his body, where she could feel his fear as he imagined her making that promise a reality, before taking out the last one and shoved him forward, leaving Deimos to drop his swords in front of him as the Messenger of the Gods slowed healed his aching wounds.

Athena could only watch this happen in pure horror, as Kratos and his family, plus the three gods that were allied with all of Sparta, were pissed with how Zeus had simply brushed off their evidence and declared that they were villains, while the King of the Gods and Hera walked off with their heads held high, as if they were always right, causing her to fear for what the future held for them, Olympus, and the rest of Greece.

Interlude: Heading Back Home

Instead of remaining in Olympus for a time, where they could be annoyed by the other gods that had witnessed Zeus' foul ruling over the events that had happened in the city of Argos, the group bypassed the domain of the God of War and used the Olympian Gate to return to Sparta.

"So, what now?" Deimos asked, as their visit to Hera's city had been a tremendous failure, because while they had done what they had sailed there to do, taking care of the loyalists, it had come at the price of somehow pissing off Zeus, Hera, and no doubt Hermes, at the very least, and who knew how many other gods, since many were taken aback by the King of the God's decision.

"I do not know." Kratos admitted, speaking as they stepped out into the city, where they found that the people were happy to see them, Hecate, Artemis, and Apollo, as all three of the other gods were well known in the city and were seen as worthy gods to worship, especially the ones that everyone had thought were human and discovered that they were actually half animal, like Flurry.

"I suggest rest, before we worry about the other locations that the loyalists are in control of." Flurry said, because she had a feeling that this was part of whatever Zeus and Hera had planned for them, that they would be busy taking down those that still served Ares, at least until she and her family convinced them that what they were doing was wrong, and that the rest of the gods would see them as nothing more than warmongers, despite the fact that they would have been following his last decree, "Last thing we need right now is either Zeus or Hera breathing down our necks, so we should try to get back on their good side... or at least make them focus on someone else for a time."

"I cannot believe that Hera would insult me like that... me, the Goddess of Magic itself!" Hecate remarked, though at the same time she discovered that their destination wasn't the old temple that used to belong to Ares, rather it was a house on the outskirts of Sparta, one that actually looked like it could house at least four individuals, as in Flurry, her father, her uncle, and Albis, "I think I'll go study some new spells for a week or two, just ignore her outright, and see if Zeus gets his wife to accept that she screwed up during that meeting."

"Honestly, I have my doubts." Artemis said, where they walked into the house and found that it was just like the rest of the city, Spartan to the core with no hits that would suggest that a few gods lived here, which was understandable since both Kratos and Flurry wanted this to be their 'mortal' home, even though she and Flurry walked outside to the archery range that was outside, "Zeus is so preoccupied with his labyrinth, and making Hephaestus forge many components of it so the construction can progress in a timely manner, that I doubt he's even thinking about Hera and her comments towards all of the other gods... it wouldn't surprise me if we start hearing about her insulting the others in the near future."

Kratos said nothing for a time as he collected a few cups and filled most of them with whatever drink the others wanted, as he and his brother needed some wine to just relax, Apollo just wanted water, Flurry liked having juice as she distracted herself with the practice session Artemis sprung on her, and Hecate declined the offer. It wasn't that she was being rude, it was just that she wanted to get back to her island and vent her frustrations in the safety of her own domain, causing him to nod his head in understanding, as later he intended on training with Deimos so they could work through a few of their own frustrations on what had just happened. As she left, however, Kratos noticed that Albis just coiled around one of the seats that were in the chamber and sat on it as best as she could, her focus on Flurry, once more reflecting the fact that she had been a mother before one of the gods twisted her soul into that of a gorgon. It was the only thing that made any sense to him, even though she didn't like to talk about what her last memories of being a human were, which only made him wonder what sort of horrors she might have experienced and felt before she was reborn in her current state, but, at the same time, he wasn't about to force her to relive those moments.

At the same time Kratos had to wonder about the labyrinth that Zeus was apparently constructing, where he had no idea since it appeared that not even Artemis and Apollo knew, even though they had clearly been keeping tabs on the King of the Gods' stranger habits and movements. He suspected that it had to do with Pandora's Box, as now that he and Flurry had beaten the challenges that were in the temple the container had originally been stored in a new one was needed so it could remain hidden from the mortals who might misuse it. Of course if that was the case it made him wonder why Zeus hadn't told the other gods that he was having the Box hidden again, where it made him wonder if there was a reason that he didn't tell anyone else about his plans, like he was worried that someone might come after it again. He and Flurry didn't have a reason to seek the Box again, as Ares was dead and, while there were other gods that had earned his ire, he wasn't in the mood to wage war on the other gods of Olympus and just cause chaos for the mortals of Greece, so hunting for the Box wasn't a priority.

Such a thing made Kratos shelve the thought for the time being, as it was like Flurry had said, their focus should be on not annoying the gods and dealing with all of the remaining loyalists that were spread around the rest of Greece, causing him to wonder which location they should deal with first as he hoped it didn't enrage any of the other gods.

---

While Kratos, Flurry, and their group returned to Sparta, as she had felt their Olympian Gate activate and knew there was only one place they would go at a time like this, Athena remained in her own domain for a few minutes, letting the rest of the gods scatter as everyone talked about the event that had unfolded. She was both terrified of the situation that she had just witnessed and worried what affect it might have on the rest of the Olympians, because Zeus and Hera criticizing the work that the gods of Sparta had put into saving the city of Argos and capturing the assassin, a fellow god no less, had just undid everything she had been working towards. She had been doing everything in her power to stop the Marked Warrior prophecy from happening, even though she had offered Zeus a new opinion after seeing Flurry's strange mark, and after all of her hard work the King of the Gods had discarded all of it in an instant. Instead of trying to stop the prophecy, like he had been doing for a long time, Zeus, with a simple statement, had crushed all of her work and scattered it to the wind, all while pissing off a bunch of gods thanks to what he and his wife had done, meaning there was a chance that the prophecy might come true.

With that thought in mind Athena got up from her seat, where she liked to sit when something was bothering her, like the event she had witnessed, and made her way into the depths of Olympus, as she needed to speak with Zeus before it was too late to undo the damage that had been done. If she could convince Zeus to apologize to Kratos and his family for what he had said, and get Hera to do the same to both them and Hecate, she mgiht be able to overturn the damage they had just done to the harmony of Olympus, and it would give them some points with the other gods as well. It was a gamble on her part, as she was thinking of trying to convince the King of the Gods, someone who thought that his desires were what everyone had to abide by, to change his mind on something, but to secure the future of Greece, and save them from the potential disaster that was now looming over their heads, she would have to make an attempt. While she walked through the halls of Olympus, however, she did notice that a few of the other gods were talking as they moved to other locations, all discussing Hera's actions and how Zeus didn't stop her, or even Zeus' odd remark and how Hermes did something foul without being punished for upsetting the balance.

That worried her, as cracks were already starting to appear between the gods as they talked about what was going on at the moment, causing her to hurry as she reached the domain of Zeus, what was considered to be one of the highest spots in all of Olympus, where he could look out at the mortal realm, but stopped in her tracks as she heard voices on the other side of the stone door, Zeus and others she realized.

"You idiot! How could you ruin such a perfect plan?!" Zeus exclaimed, apparently keeping his voice low enough so that all of Olympus didn't hear what he had to say, though not low enough for someone in Athena's current position to listen in on what he had to say, "We had them right where we wanted them: waging war on the citizens of Argos, killing everything in their path thanks to you strategically killing people every now and then to make it seem like they were warmongers, and then, when the time was right, kill Hera's pet without them seeing you and get out before you were seen... and even if you were seen, make sure they don't catch you so Ceryx could intercept them. You were supposed to enrage them with a brief chase through the city, taunting them without saying a word, so when it came time to face your son Kratos would ignore his words and just kill him for getting in the way... with Argos and Ceryx dead we would have had good reason to execute them in a few years."

"How was I supposed to know that that brat's skill with a bow was on par with Artemis'?" Hermes replied, where Athena could tell that he was still slightly in pain, no doubt due to Flurry's arrows hitting their mark with such lethal precision, even if she had done her best to keep him alive so he could face the consequences for his actions, "She nearly killed me while I was trying to get away from her!"

"Honestly, you would have deserved it... killing my pet for nothing." Hera remarked, which was worrisome, that she just saw all of the other gods as expendable pawns on the board that her husband was playing on, not to mention the fact that she likely valued the giant Argos over Hermes.

"Don't think you are free from blame, Hera. All you were supposed to do was tear down any remarks that Kratos and his family made about being innocent, nothing more," Zeus snapped, something that just made Athena more worried about the situation that was now unfolding, while she could hear Hera pause in her walk to a new area while Hermes seemed to go quiet, as the sounds of pain that came from him seemed to disappear for a time, "make them seem like the villain, and if Artemis and Apollo joined them you were to call them out on playing favorites by siding with their warmongering allies. Instead you went and insulted Hecate, of all the gods that were assembled... we could have used her magic to damage Sparta's influence, maybe even weaken it's gods before the fateful day if someone convinced her that they were clearly in the wrong, but now she's unlikely to help us, all because you decided to insult her powerful magic skills."

"It hardly matters, darling. Sure, Argos was a bust, but there are plenty of places where we can set up more traps... Kratos has a whole list of places to visit, remember?" Hera said, showing that she had no concern for what happened to the rest of the mortals that she was supposed to care for, like she was drunk on power or thought she had ultimate authority over everything else in Greece, and it wasn't long before Athena heard the sound of her drinking from her goblet, "We can just set up another trap in one of the other locations, lure him there, and hope the others take the bait when they come to tell us of their innocence. With any luck we'll have enough evidence to punish them in, oh, five years... maybe more if Flurry catches on to what we're trying to do."

Athena felt sick as she listened to them talk, as Zeus and Hera were actually working towards something that would bring about the advent of the Marked Warrior prophecy, effectively undoing everything she had worked towards for a long time, causing her to pull away from the door as she rushed back into Olympus, her mind torn on what to do next as she worried about what the future held for everyone.

Interlude: Plans for the Future

Flurry found that she, her father, and her uncle spent the rest of the week ignoring Olympus as they stayed in Sparta for the most part, simply focusing on improving things for their citizens, welcoming the crew that had brought them to Argos to deal with the loyalists, and integrating those former loyalists into the army. It wasn't that everyone was ignoring the realm of the gods and their seats up there, especially since Zeus would get annoyed with them and they'd rather not get on his bad side after bringing in Hermes to answer for his crimes, they just needed a break before someone snapped and Athena quickly allowed such a thing. Flurry noticed that the Goddess of Wisdom was distracted by something and would speak of other things if someone asked her what was going on, causing her to decide that the goddess would reveal what she knew in due time and decided not to pry at all, least it cause a rift to open between them and her, since Athena had helped her and her father many times in the past. There was a benefit to accepting the former loyalists and that was more food and supplies, which had been given to them by Hera and, according to Athena since they had asked her during a prayer session before leaving Argos, they were allowed to take their freely given supplies with them.

With that in mind Flurry surprised them by showing them to an area that had been under development, a farm area that would help feed the people of Sparta, since an influx would cut into their supplies, so by using some of the items they had gained from Hera she was sure they could further develop the various fields.

Kratos and Deimos spent most of the next couple of days training not only themselves, to make sure their skills remained intact, but also the soldiers of Sparta, whipping them and the newcomers into shape since they would be useful in dealing with the rest of Ares' remaining loyalists, a fact that would take years to do. Flurry also trained a number of them in how to use archery to their benefit, as this was a city of war and anything that helped in war was something they focused on, and she found that her father oversaw a few of her lessons as well, either helping from time to time or actually seeing what he might learn to further himself. Such a thing told the people that everyone had room to grow, that once you reach a certain point there is still more to learn about yourself and your skills, so while you could stop at a certain level that didn't mean it was the end, something that actually motivated the army to improve their skills to new heights. Even Deimos and Albis got involved in the training, since there was no telling what the future might have in store for them, and when they weren't learning from her she was seeing how they taught the soldiers how to use their own combat styles, which allowed them to improve the overall effectiveness of their grand army.

The major problem that the family faced was planning out how to go about dealing with the remaining locations that the loyalists were in control of, as there were too many and they knew it would take a long time to deal with them, while they all knew that splitting up was a bad idea, despite the time it would save.

"We have no idea what's waiting for us in each location, as while we're gods we also know that gods can be overwhelmed if the right conditions are met." Flurry remarked, especially since there was no telling how many more individuals like her father and uncle, the children of the gods, existed across all of Greece, and if they were trained to help their parents out, or trained to deal with 'traitors', it was possible that they might be in danger, "You have to remember that Hercules is not our biggest fan and that he might be interested in seeing us be punished for crimes that none of us have committed."

Hercules was incredibly upset that he was skipped over when it came time to decide who should take Ares down, not only in the sense of who should have gone after Pandora's Box, but also who should have faced the former God of War and who should have taken his empty throne. The reason she knew this was because the big buff idiot had come by Sparta the day before and voiced his displeasure to everyone that would listen to him, something that caused the people to frown at him while Flurry and her family simply humored him before eventually turning him away. Based on what they had seen so far it was entirely possible that he would do something drastic to weaken their standing in Olympus, all so he could bring them down and take the throne of the God of War from her father, or even the new throne of the God of Courage, since he clearly thought that Sparta had too much power. She had no idea where he was getting his information, because all of it was wrong, as while it was true that Sparta was gaining more respect with her father as the God of War, since he wasn't tearing everything apart like Ares had done, their overall power hadn't gone up since the three of them took their thrones, meaning Olympus and all of the other godly cities were still above them.

Of course the only ones that had suffered lately were Atlantis and and the island of Crete, but everything else was just as they had left it and Flurry wasn't taking any chances, as she wanted to make sure all of them went to each location to deal with the remaining loyalists, that way if they walked into another trap they could be ready for it.

"Fair. He has been seen outside the city several times, just watching us... likely on Zeus' orders, or because he has no love for us in his heart." Kratos said, not that he cared about Hercules, as they had been doing everything in their power to stay on Zeus' good side and he didn't want annoying the muscular warrior to be something that caused the King of the Gods to crack down on Sparta for some reason, though he turned his attention to the list they had been talking about, "We must determine a good approach on how to deal with the other locations... one that does not land us in the hot water with Zeus, Hera, or any other gods that might be looking to tear us down."

"How did it come to this?" Albis commented, as she was saddened by the fact that their somewhat peaceful life was, once again, in danger of being disrupted by the rest of the gods, just like what happened when Kratos first pledged to serve the old God of War, because she had been hopeful that once Kratos, Flurry, and Deimos took their places among the rest of the gods of Olympus that things would have become more peaceful for them, "We didn't do anything wrong... we did what Zeus asked and they attacked us like we were the real criminals."

Deimos opened his mouth to say something, as he didn't trust the rest of the gods, or those who were clearly on Zeus' side of the division that was slowly appearing in Olympus, though before he could actually say something he and the rest of his family heard, a knock on the wooden door of their mortal residence, only for them to find that Athena, looking like she hadn't gotten any sleep recently, had come to speak with them.

"Athena, what is it? What is wrong?" Kratos asked, as the Goddess of Wisdom rarely bothered them when she or the other gods had no need of their services, like when they dealt with the Persian fleet or when Poseidon needed him and Flurry to kill the Hydra and Athena delivered the message, so it was odd to see her here, in Sparta.

"I... would like to talk to all of you. May I come in?" Athena asked, as she knew that her authority as a goddess allowed her to travel wherever she wanted, without anyone batting a eye or wondering why she was there in the first place, despite the fact that many Spartans had seen her and likely wondered why she was here, but with Kratos' anger issues, which had been minimal thanks to Flurry's presence, she figured that asking permission was the best course.

Kratos considered it for a few moments before nodding his head, where Athena walked in as Deimos closed the door once she was inside their house, though Flurry offered her something to drink and the goddess thanked her as she took a cup of juice, even though everyone was interested in what she had to say to them.

"Athena, what is troubling you?" Kratos asked, because something major must have happened during their time in Sparta, enough to make her look like she had lost a lot of sleep and force her to come here, without calling to them by using one of her statues, as one was located in the city, which told him that it had to be major and that she only wanted to tell them whatever she had discovered.

"Kratos, Deimos, Flurry... I'm afraid that Zeus and Hera are planning on trying to frame you again in the future, using the same locations that the loyalists are stationed in." Athena replied, where Flurry noticed something interesting, there was a look of despair on Athena's face, meaning she must have heard this from Zeus himself, which she shouldn't have heard if what she was seeing was any indication of the situation, before she sighed as she stared down at her drink, "After seeing them label all of you as liars and criminals, I decided to speak with Zeus and Hera in an attempt to convince them to come and apologize for treating you so harshly, so we could restore order to Olympus. When I reached their chambers I heard them talking with Hermes and learned that they fully intended for all of you to take the fall for Argos' death and the vast damage it caused to Hera's precious city, and that they were planning on repeating the same thing as many times as they needed..."

"He wants to execute us, because of the Marked Warrior prophecy, but he can't outright attack us without evidence that we're insane, like Ares." Flurry said, which seemed like a reasonable conclusion to come to with the information they had been given, causing Athena to nod her head for a moment, showing them that she had hit the target without missing even a single beat, "Since we've been totally different from whatever Zeus was expecting, he and Hera are trying to make the rest of the Olympians see us as nothing more than dangerous warmongers that need to be eradicated... and, should that fail, either they'll stand down and let us live in peace... or we'll be in greater trouble than before."

"I can sort of understand why Hera dislikes us... one of us must have done something to offend her, especially after the whole statue incident, but I don't understand Hermes' involvement." Deimos stated, as that was the key piece that didn't make sense to him, all while he was surprised by how calm his brother was presenting himself right now, as he knew that Kratos' rage was boiling inside his body and he was doing everything in his power to keep himself from storming Olympus and killing the rulers of the gods in their own domain.

"I'm willing to bet that it's Ceryx. According to most of Greece's citizens he's more popular and more handsome that his own father," Flurry remarked, where Albis thought about their meeting with Ceryx, in Hermes' own temple, and realized that it made sense, because if Flurry hadn't dealt with Hermes' speed he would have escaped and, in his rage at losing the real culprit, Kratos would have taken his frustration out on Ceryx, likely killing him in the process, "in fact some have even dismissed Hermes and switched to worshiping his son in his stead... take that into consideration, that a god is losing their followers, and you have your motive: Zeus promised Hermes that his own son would be slain by our hand, if he agreed to help him and Hera frame us for Argos' murder. All three of us are a danger to Zeus' rule, as any of us could be the Marked Warrior of prophecy in Zeus' eye, and to save Olumpus he'd do anything to make sure he's got the rights to kill us without the other gods getting in the way."

"Sounds about right, really... I still can't believe that Zeus threw a chunk of my life's work, the many years I spent trying to stop this prophecy, aside like I was simply trash to them." Athena said, which revealed why she had lost a lot of sleep in the last week, the information she had discovered, which was essentially that Zeus and Hera seemed to be chasing the very prophecy they had been trying to stop for a long time, causing her to despair and fear for the future, though that was when she recalled Deimos' comment, "What's this about a 'statue incident'?"

"Oh, we were planning on making statues of Kratos, Flurry, and Deimos, and Hera insisted that we make Flurry human, as she had a problem with her more animal body," Albis answered, though like last time they talked about this incident Flurry just shrugged, showing that she was over it and that she really didn't care at this point, while Athena sat there like she had been smacked with a new piece of information that she hadn't known before, "it's just like how she and Zeus won't let any artisans make statues of Artemis and Apollo's animal bodies... they want the mortals to see the gods as humans, instead of seeing them for who they really are."

"I knew there was a reason behind why their real bodies were never used, but this... ugh, it makes me wonder how many other gods and goddesses they've pissed off." Athena remarked, because now she was starting to see that Olympus was, in it's own way, broken and the peace she had been fighting for, that she had been striving for, for all these years really didn't exist, rather it only existed for a specific amount of time before conflict returned, before she glanced at Kratos, who had remained silent during the entire conversation, "Kratos, I know you and your family likely have an idea on how to go about giving Zeus no reason to attack you guys or Sparta, but... well, how about we join forces and do our best to actually stop the prophecy from becoming a reality?"

Despite some of the things that Athena had done in the past, promises that had been broken that were likely Zeus' fault to help fulfill the dark visage he wanted others to see of him and his family, Kratos found himself agreeing to take Athena's aid in trying to stop the prophecy. The Goddess of Wisdom herself wanted to help them out, maybe even clear their name to the rest of the Olympians until someone was able to get Zeus and Hera to see that they needed help, and he would be a fool to turn someone with her intelligence and wisdom away at a time like this. With Athena on their side Kratos knew that she and Flurry would crank out all sorts of plans and ideas to show the gods that they weren't the warmongers that Zeus was trying to make them believe they were, that no one had to worry about a dark prophecy coming true, and he could see that his daughter was already ready to get to work. It even chipped away at the despair that had infected Athena after she discovered that the King and Queen of the Gods were working towards such a terrible future, giving her hope that the prophecy could be beaten, that they might have a chance to write a different ending for it.

It would take some time, that much he knew for sure, but he was sure that with all of their efforts they would be able to undo Zeus' damage and stop the prophecy, something that made Kratos smile a little as he looked forward to what the future held in store for him, his family, and their allies.

Fate: Disaster in Rhodes

Following their discussion with Athena, and setting their plans in motion, Kratos, Flurry, Deimos, and Albis went about their lives as if nothing drastic had changed over the last few days, as they knew better than to rise to the threats that Zeus and Hera had made after their visit to Argos. The plan was quite simple, they would visit one of the locations on their list, see what the loyalists of Ares were up to, try and convince them to surrender without killing them, and then fight their way through a host of angry soldiers while doing minimal damage to the cities and towns they traveled to. They wanted to do as little damage to the various locations as possible, to give the gods less of a reason to attack them or call them warmongers, as it would cut down on the reasons Zeus would be able to use against them in the future, and Kratos often punished those who dared to desecrate the temples of the gods. The loyalists who survived their visitations of the locations that were on their list either ended up dead, for not begging forgiveness from the gods of Sparta, or decided to be smart and asked for Kratos to spare them, usually ending in them being conscripted into the army to prove themselves.

The only downside to their plan was that they had to go slowly, instead of the fast paced method that Ares would have used if he was in charge of things, though this was for the best, as it would show Zeus, Hera, and the rest of the Olympians that they weren't warmongers. Zeus, much to their growing annoyance, continued to declare that Kratos and his family were nothing more than beasts, though in the first few years it really did seem like he was happy to see them spread the glory of Olympus to the rest of Greece, something that changed over the years. Hera, as they found out, was no better than her husband, she sought every opportunity to look down on them, to criticize them or their methods of war, or belittle most of the Spartan army, or be an outright menace to the family whenever they were trying to socialize with the other gods. Those weren't the only things she was doing to ruin their reputations, in an attempt to piss them off so they'd retaliate and do exactly what Zeus wanted them to do, as she spread rumors of their madness to the other gods, or how they loved to go around what her husband told them to do.

In fact Flurry found that a fair number of the other gods were starting to shun them, partly due to the fact that they saw her father and uncle as nothing more than warmongers who needed to be put down before they endangered the rest of Greece, as if they were just as bad as Ares had been before his demise. Some even dared to attack Albis when she was wandering the halls of Olympus, calling her a monster, as if that was all she was to them, and caused her to just abandon the realm of the gods entirely, returning to Sparta where she was accepted and wouldn't be in danger of being assaulted. Of course both Kratos and Deimos had come to her aid whenever the other gods tried to do such a thing, but it only succeeded in doing more damage to their tarnished reputations, something neither of them really cared about since the odds were clearly not in their favor. Flurry also found that she was shunned by the other gods, both because of the fact that she was a pony, which meant she was getting the same treatment that Artemis and Apollo had been getting all their lives, and because of the fact that she happened to be the Goddess of Death.

Part of her was somewhat amused by the fact that so many shunned her because of that, like they refused to acknowledge Death as part of their lives, though it did hurt when some gods, like Poseidon, glared at them and joined Zeus' side, as if they forgot what she and her father had done for them in the past.

Athena, for the most part, did her best to make sure Zeus and the others didn't realize that she was actively helping them in their plans, rather she was making it look like she was mostly neutral in the grand scheme of things, meaning there was a chance that she could gain more information to aid them in their plans. Zeus and Hera either didn't know about her siding with them or they didn't care enough to speak about it, where Athena told them that it was likely the former, as she told the King and his wife that she was still watching over the gods of Sparta, like when they were mortal. It was the best way for her to avoid being discovered, because if Zeus thought that she was working to secure the future, a twisted future that he and Hera were clearly working towards, he wouldn't task her with any other jobs and she could do everything in her power to aid the group without being seen. There was one other goddess that might be on their side, as Aphrodite kept frowning at the other gods whenever they tore down the hard work that Kratos and his family were putting into their tasks, though it was hard to tell if she was trying to be nice or if she was really on their side, since she never outright came out and said it.

Another thing Flurry discovered over the years was that Artemis and Apollo practically disappeared from Olympus, as in the twin gods simply stopped coming, as one day Hera made it painfully clear that she despised the animal gods and that her husband was the same, which saddened her since it meant her friends vanished as well. She knew they were still out there, somewhere in Greece, but for the most part the twins wanted to be alone, to just relax and not get heated due to being treated like trash, though she did think they were strong for dealing with it for as long as they had. Hecate was also withdrawn, though it was more due to the fact that she had several disagreements with both Zeus and Hera, in fact one of them had been about Hercules being granted access to her island, against her wishes, and the slaughter of some of her animals before she hurled him all the way back to Olympus with her magic. After that she locked her island off so that no one, not even Zeus, could bother her and simply withdrew from the realm of the gods, while also making sure to seal off her domain in Olympus so no one else could get in, though most of the other gods assumed that this was so she could cool off before something terrible happened.

Flurry really had no idea what was going on, other than the fact that the Olympians were starting to fall apart before their very eyes, though she could only hope that this wasn't a sign of ill omen and that things weren't going to get worse as time went on.

---

Kratos sighed as he sat on the throne of the God of War, as he and his family had spent thirteen long years to try and stop the Marked Warrior prophecy, but they were constantly hounded by Zeus and those who wanted to label them as the 'monsters' they believed them to be. Based on the plan they had come up with they had done everything by the book, as there was no true warmongering or massive loss of life, rather he and his family dealt with the rest of Ares' final loyalists, liberated the locations that they were in control of, and let the now freed people offer their thanks to Olympus, only for Zeus and Hera to belittle everyone involved. After the fourth year of it Kratos had decided that it might be best to have an emergency plan for the people of Sparta, a safe haven they could escape to in the event that one of the gods decided to launch an attack on his citizens, which required clearing out the nearby pass between here and the sea, since the various monsters would terrorize them. Deimos had taken on that role, leading patrols of Spartans into the mountains to clear out all sorts of trouble while keeping an eye on the builders who were making it safe for the citizens who might need to use it in the future, all without drawing attention to what they were doing.

While he, the God of War, wasn't allowed to actually go into battle without the backing of his followers, which Ares ignored before his demise, Kratos had a workaround that allowed his soldiers to know that he was with them without having to be there, as Flurry was allowed to do what he could not. She joined the Spartans when they were sent out to deal with more of the remaining loyalists, leading them to victory as they cheered for both their gods and those on Olympus, since they all knew that ticking off Zeus was a bad thing and wanted to stay away from his ire. Flurry did everything that Kratos knew she would do, as in she would deal with the loyalists, make sure the temples and the citizens were safe, and, if she could do so, convert some defeated foes into additional allies for Sparta, though there were times where she had to wipe out an entire group to settle things. It gave her time to take care of potential threats as they pushed to make the gods realize that Hera was wrong, that Zeus was wrong, but both he and his daughter knew the truth, that it was only a matter of time until someone blew and war unfolded on all of Greece, and they were determined not to be the aggressors of that conflict.

With thirteen more years behind them Kratos knew that Flurry no longed needed him looking over her shoulder like he had when she was younger, as she was now twenty-seven and had matured into a beautiful woman, though since she was technically his 'champion', in the eyes of Olympus, that meant he could observe her from time to time.

That usually meant he'd check in when she went out on their campaigns, taking the fight to their enemies and was usually followed by him nodding to himself as he watched her fight from the observing bowl that Ares had likely once used when he was the former God of War's champion. He knew that she was slightly disappointed in the fact that no one thanked her for her hard work, save for the Spartans who fought beside her, but he knew that there was a deep loneliness inside his daughter, a yearning for someone special to share her life with, though she sealed that part of her life shut, as no one had any desire to bed the Goddess of Death. He wasn't sure if it was due to her godhood or the fact that he was her father, but it was sad to see that no one had the desire to let her explore that part of her life, something he decided to resolve once they were done with the loyalists, as Aphrodite was the one to ask on a topic like this. There was also the fact that Flurry did look younger than what she actually was, as he had to assume it was due to her godhood, due to Athena telling them that gods aged slowly and they were no exception to that rule, so while she was twenty-seven she looked more like she was twenty, a good sign in his eyes.

Such a thing caused him to sigh for a moment as he heard some footsteps, where he found Athena walking up to where his observation area was located, though the pair only nodded to each other as the goddess came to a stop, allowing both of them to focus on the scene that was unfolding before them.

"Flurry, report: what is the status of your last campaign?" Kratos asked, because if Athena was here it meant that it was about time for them to see if their thoughts were right, as in would Zeus make a move against them, since they had done a lot to try and thwart his attempts to make them into the monsters he thought they were, or would the King of the Gods stay his hand and let there be peace in Olympus.

"The loyalist defenses has been broken, but it will take another hour before they are totally defeated." Flurry replied, as she had stopped by the statue of her father that the Spartans had brought into the city, to prepare for replacing the old statue of Ares in the main temple, the final sign of their victory over the last of Ares' stubborn forces, though as she said that she noticed something and loosed an arrow, taking down an archer before he could even hit her, "Provided there are no unnecessary distractions, and no monsters loosed into the city, Rhodes should be liberated before the end of the day, just as you ordered."

Good. Go with the gods... Go with Olympus. Kratos stated, using the same phrase that the other gods used when they talked to their mortal champions, or even the champions of other gods, where Flurry found that her father's presence faded from the statue, causing her to nod to everyone else as she headed deeper into Rhodes.

As Flurry stepped out into the open, and started to walk down the street that she had been moving through previously, she spotted a large eagle, slightly taller than a normal one, land on the massive bronze statue that was known as the Colossus of Rhodes and transfer a bit of blue lightning energy into the structure. She had to resist the urge to groan, as it was clear that a certain god was making his move at long last, just after her remark about unnecessary distractions no less, causing her to issue new orders to her soldiers, that being taking out the rest of the loyalists and making sure that all of the citizens were safe. With that done she resumed moving, slashing her way through the enemy soldiers that were in front of her as they found that the rumors about her sickles were true, they were incredibly deadly and her skill was on a level that was beyond what a mortal was capable of. While she did that Flurry found that the Colossus was coming after her, as it marched through the bay and threw a punch down at the area she was in, causing her to link her weapons for a moment as she formed her sickle staff, which she spun like a shield and blocked the attack, repelling the statue before it had a chance to hit her.

In the next moment she held her hand out and the Blade of Artemis formed, where she flapped her wings and took off as the Colossus tried to grab her, causing the statue to realize that her speed was nothing it could match as she slashed at it's right arm without wasting time. Such a thing left deep gouges in the material, causing the statue to howl in pain, which was a design flaw in her eyes since this thing was supposed to fight without a care in the world, so giving it the ability to feel all sorts of pain meant it would stall at the worst possible moment. After that she flipped forward and ran along the rest of the arm, swinging the blade a few more times as she left more damage in her way, before jumping into the air as she drove Artemis' weapon deep into it's right eye, showing that she knew it's weak points and that she was going to use them against it. A few seconds later the magic that gave the statue life detonated, or at least the portion below where the blade was located, and Flurry weaved her power around her to make sure she emerged unscathed, even though it ended up blasting her all the way across Rhodes.

She ended up smashing through one of the walls of a bathhouse, where she found a number of ladies getting out of the water and discovered that each of them weren't wearing tops, revealing their breasts to the world, causing her to tell all of them to get to safety as she flapped her wings and took off again.

As she took to the air once more she found that the Colossus was ready for her, swinging it's arms at her in an attempt to deal damage to her, where Flurry flipped over it's outstretched hand and slashed into the exposed left arm for a time, as it allowed her to get up close and personal to the face. This time around she used her sickles, slashing into the material as her power clashed with the power that was inside the statue, where the power of Death won and the small patches that she had struck went dead, the blue energy fading away, but it was minor since the Colossus could still move freely. It tried to backhand her and she dodged the attack with ease, finding that it had loosed a rock as well and flew into the path to slow it down with her magic, allowing her to drop it into the bay after breaking part of a building, one that had an alcove with an intricate urn inside it, a magical one to be exact. Flurry, sensing that it might be bad if someone else found it, just picked the urn up and stuffed it inside her pouch, though once that was done she burst into the air once more and came to a stop as the sky opened up, like a god was coming for a visit, only to find that it was a weapon.

The large blade, as long and as large as the Blade of Artemies, rippled through the air before slamming down into part of the port, or an area overlooking the port, and Flurry found that it seemed to be made fully out of either bronze or gold, all while looking like it had a hollow center, one that was pulsing with blue energy as golden lightning arched off it and lightly touched the ground around it.

"What is THAT?!" Flurry asked, even though she was sure no one would answer her question, but it didn't stop her from being curious as to what the blade was, because this was the first time she had see the weapon, and if it was from Zeus she only had to wonder where, in all of Olympus, he had been hiding it.

That is the Blade of Olympus, Flurry Heart. a commanding voice answered, which was non other than Zeus himself, meaning he must have been watching and was now, at long last, putting his plan into action, all while she stared at the blade as the Colossus made it's way up to where the weapon was located, It was this blade that ended the war with the titans, all those years ago... I offer it, and it's power, to you in your time of need. Drain your godly power into it and use it to strike down the Colossus.

Flurry couldn't help but chuckle at that, as this was clearly a trap to take out someone who threatened the safety of both the mortal realm and Olympus, or at least it seemed that way in Zeus' eyes, though she just had to check it out for just a moment as she landed near the blade. She could feel it's power, without even touching it, and as she walked over to it she moved her right sickle into her left hand, carrying two in one for a moment, before grasping the handle, where she found that the power inside the blade stalled for a second, like it was interacting with her power. In the next moment she felt the energy of the blade surge into her, like a handshake or something similar, meaning it acknowledged her and wasn't going to siphon her godly power away like Zeus had suggested, causing her to grin as she pulled it from the stone it had landed in and raised it so the tip was facing the Colossus. She shifted her stance for a moment as she returned her sickles to her belt, as she wanted to see what this weapon was capable of, before rushing at the massive statue and ducked under the punch that came her way, allowing her to slash out with the Blade of Olympus and remove the left hand before her foe had a chance to pull it's arm back.

That brought a smile to her face as she landed on the right arm and slashed into it, removing sections of bronze that fell into the bay below them, avoiding everyone that was running away from what was going on, though when it tried to use it's missing hand against her she jumped onto the other arm and continued her assault. As the Colossus raised it's other limb again Flurry fell back towards the ground before spinning around, lashing at it's exposed chest without delay as she also called forth the blade's power, blasting a hole in the statue's chest that exposed it's insides to everyone. Instead of heading inside it, like her father might do, Flurry continued her assault on the exterior as she tore into the arms, chest, legs, and even the neck and head, showing that her speed was far greater than the statue's, and with every gash she left in her wake the weaker the statue got. A few moments later, when the statue staggered on it's own, Flurry smashed into the side of it's head, entering what seemed to be the hollow inside that allowed the workers to build the Colossus, and found the energy source that was powering everything, allowing her to drive the blade into it and found that it siphoned the blue energy into it.

Once that was done, and the 'spine' of the Colossus was severed, Flurry flew out of the opening she had created and got away from the statue's head, where she found that the lingering remnants of the energy detonated and caused the entire statue to fall, though she avoided the falling hand as she watched it collapse into the bay.

"You have done well, Flurry Heart." Zeus said, as he suddenly appeared in front of her as the Colossus faded into the bay, a lot of hard work ruined by one god's desire to see Sparta lose one of it's gods, before he paused as he noticed that she was just fine, in fact he realized that his plan had failed, "How do you still have your godhood?"

"Honestly, I think the blade likes me... while it was unnecessary for you to aid me, you have my thanks for allowing me to use it for a time." Flurry replied, though as she said that she found that her father, no doubt summoned to Rhodes by the rest of the army to assist in taking down the Colossus, or maybe he was here to celebrate their victory now that the battle was over, before she spun the blade around and held the handle out for Zeus to take, which he did.

As Flurry turned away, however, Kratos found that Zeus showed his true colors at last, as he seemed to think that what his daughter had done to use the Blade of Olympus, without draining herself, was worthy of her perishing by his hand, where he rushed at the King of the Gods, intending on knocking him to the ground, only for them to find that he turned and thrust the blade into Kratos' abdomen.

"It doesn't matter which of you is the warrior of prophecy, I'll kill you both, here and now, to save Olympus from the doom you'll bring to us." Zeus stated, showing that he was totally crazy, that something inside him had snapped, either before coming up with this plan or after seeing how Flurry was able to use the Blade of Olympus without consequences, though at the same time Kratos coughed up some blood as he found himself suddenly getting weaker, "The warmongering God of War, a repeat of Ares and his constant need for war, and a minor goddess who brings death to every part of Greece... I will be doing the land a favor by ending your lives."

"Warmongering?! We did nothing wrong! You told us to deal with the loyalists, which is what we did!" Flurry snapped, as she was enraged by what she was seeing and drew her sickles without delay, though before she could even react Zeus struck her with an incredibly powerful lightning bolt that pushed her back into one of the walls of Rhodes, breaking the area around her in the process.

"Be still you insignificant speck. I'll deal with you once your father is finally dead." Zeus said, though as he said that he did one more push with the Blade of Olympus, making sure that the blade was fully coming out of Kratos' backside, before finding that the armor Hephaestus made was breaking, falling to the ground like it was nothing, "Do you have any words, former God of War?"

"Yeah, I do: watch your back, Zeus, because after this stunt your a dead man!" Kratos replied, because now that they knew that Zeus was willing to do all of this, and possibly more to kill him and his daughter, it was only a matter of time until he broke out of the Underworld, reunited with Flurry, and tore down everything and anything in their path to bring the King of the Gods down for his crimes.

The last thing Flurry saw as her world went dark was a shimmering tear in what seemed to be the fabric of time and space opened near Zeus, where she saw two figures emerging from it and clashing with Zeus, though before she could figure out who they were she slipped into unconsciousness and hoped that Zeus didn't come for her while her defenses were down.

Fate: Consequences and Actions

Flurry groaned as she finally came to and pulled herself out of the rubble that had fallen around her, where she found that she was still in Rhodes, the fighting had ceased after everyone saw what happened between the King of the Gods and the God of War, and a gate to the Underworld that closed right before her eyes.

"Father... how could we have been so naive to believe that Zeus would believe that we were innocent?" Flurry remarked, as she realized that this was partly her fault, her handing the Blade of Olympus back to Zeus had brought about her father dying again, especially since the King of the Gods hated all of them with every fiber of his being, causing her to sit there with her head hung in shame.

She knew they had failed, as everything they had done to prove their innocence to the rest of the Olympians had fallen on deaf ears, essentially meaning she, her family, and their allies had wasted their time trying to stop the prophecy, as Zeus just undid everything and made it so war would come to Olympus in the very near future. Another thing she came to figure out was that she had been far too naive to think that they could convince someone like Zeus, who had damned them no matter what they did, especially when they followed his orders to the letter, and now it looked like war would be coming to Greece, despite their best efforts. Such a thing made her sick, that a number of the Olympians would actually seek to bring about the advent of the Marked Warrior prophecy, despite their insistence on trying to stop it before Ares went mad, and she feared for the mortals of the land, as many of them were likely going to perish in the near future. After killing two gods, plus the Furies and every other major figure they had dealt with over the years, Flurry honestly didn't want to kill more of them, but she told herself that she couldn't continue to think such naive thoughts anymore, not after what she had seen.

War with the gods was inevitable, that much she knew for sure, though she decided to direct her anger towards Zeus, as he finally made the first move and now it was time for them to make their counterattack, but after what he had just done Flurry realized that the King of the Gods would have bared her and Deimos from Olympus.

"Flurry, are you alright?" a voice asked, where she found that Deimos and Athena were approaching her, though she had to assume that the latter had tracked down the former after seeing Zeus arrive in Rhodes, or maybe it was due to the fact that he attacked Kratos as soon as the blade was back in his hands.

"Physically, yes... mentally, well, still coming to terms with all of this." Flurry replied, which she could see was reflected on the faces of the others, they knew that they had failed to stop the advent of the Marked Warrior prophecy, Zeus had done everything in his power to start it and his actions today, which she could have stopped, would make anyone turn on him if they knew what he had done.

Athena opened her mouth to say something, as she was sure that there was something she could do to help Flurry with what she was feeling, though before anything could leave her mouth the area that Kratos had been resting in previously tore itself open, magically anyway, as the gate to the Underworld opened again, only for the God of War to pull himself out of Hades' domain, complete with a new scar on his abdomen.

"Father..." Flurry said, though in the following moment she rubbed the side of her arm and adverted her gaze, allowing her uncle and Athena to see that she really held herself accountable for part of what had just happened, despite the fact that all of them no doubt felt responsible for what had happened, as they could have prevented this from even happening as soon as the Colossus was down.

"Flurry, I am glad you are alright." Kratos stated, where everyone could see that he was displeased with their failure, while at the same time he had learned something important, plus Athena noticed his old rage had finally been rekindled after his second death, this time pointed at Zeus and the rest of the Olympians who wanted them dead, all while he focused on all of them, "We, and by that I mean all of us, were naive in thinking that we could convince Zeus of our innocence, since we showed him, and all of Olympus, that we weren't like Ares... we must learn that stubborn individuals, such as Zeus, cannot be reasoned with and that they will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. Now, what happened after our foe made his move against us?"

"Zeus was forced to depart before he could unleash the power within the Blade of Olympus, to exterminate the Spartans that followed Flurry here, and the Blade itself is with him." Athena said, though when with Flurry being annoyed by what had happened, and her part in allowing Zeus to kill her father like he had, she noticed that the Goddess of Wisdom looked like as she trying to hide something from them, as if she knew who had forced the King of the Gods back and couldn't say anything, "Now, he's likely weaved countermeasures into the Olympian Gates to prevent you two, Deimos and Flurry, from using them to travel to Olympus, while you, Kratos, cannot use them on your own without your godly power... however, I should be able to open the way to our realm so you can get the Blade, and your power, back."

Kratos raised an eyebrow as he followed Athena into Rhodes, causing Flurry and Deimos to do the same without wasting any precious time, and, sure enough, she came to a stop in front of an Olympian Gate that Kratos had used to get here as soon as the battle was over, only for the Goddess of Wisdom to frown as the Gate remained sealed after she raised her hand towards it.

"I don't believe it... Zeus has locked me out of Olympus as well!" Athena remarked, which was insane when she thought about it, she had been so careful over the last thirteen years, making it seem like she was checking up on the gods that watched over Sparta and that she wasn't working with them at all, and yet Zeus, in his infinite wisdom, had locked her out as well, causing her to sigh as she faced Kratos, "Sorry for getting your hopes up. It looks the King of the Gods has gone totally mental... locking the Goddess of Wisdom out of Olympus, for no reason, isn't going to be accepted by the rest of the gods."

"Then I guess the path that Gaia told me about is our best bet." Kratos stated, something that caused the others to stop for a moment as they turned towards him, since this was the first time he had talked about one of the titans, especially since Atlas hated them and the others likely disapproved of their existence, "When I roused myself from the darkness of death, and found myself being dragged down into the Underworld, a visage of her appeared before me and told me that to get my power back I would need to visit the Fates."

"The Fates... wait, like traveling through time?!" Flurry inquired, as there were tales about how the Fates could allow one to go back in time to change their story, to rewrite it, which required tampering with the Threads of Fate or Life, as it had a few names it went by, though that also required gaining an audience with the Fates themselves, who were notorious for not allowing anyone to visit them.

"Yes. Go back to when Zeus attacked, claim the Blade of Olympus, and then kill him." Kratos said, as if it would be as easy as that, though everyone knew that was just the basics of the plan since it meant they would have to kill literally every foe on the island that the Fates were supposed to call home, though at the same time he glanced at Deimos and Athena as Flurry made sure her equipment, "Deimos, I know you might be thinking of coming with us, but you should focus on the people of Sparta, because once Zeus realizes that I'm alive, and that we're heading to deal with the Fates, he'll lash out at anyone whose associated with us, just to anger us... Sparta would be his first choice."

"Agreed. I was hoping that this day would never come, that we'd need the emergency plan, but now I'm glad that we went through the effort to create it." Deimos stated, causing Kratos to raise an eyebrow for a moment, as he was expecting an argument or something from his brother, or even something about stopping and not letting his anger get the better of him, be it at his death or Zeus attacking him, before Deimos rested a hand on his brother's shoulder, "Kratos, I know that you and Flurry have this in the bag... you don't need me weighing you down. While you deal with the Fates, and whatever they put in your way, I will ensure that the people are safe and that Zeus doesn't get his way while you two are gone."

"And I'll do by best to try and convince the other gods to let me back into Olympus, or at least distract Zeus so he doesn't do anything stupid... after today, I have my doubts that he'll listen to anyone." Athena added, showing that she was going to continue working with them to bring Zeus down, because now that everyone seemed to be focused on bringing about the Marked Warrior prophecy, and potentially the doom of Olympus if that part of it was true, she wanted to be on the side that she knew was going to win, "But still... Gaia? Really? You know she has no love for Olympus and will just use you to bring Zeus down, right?"

"Yes, but if we manage to reach the Fates, do not worry: we will leave the past alone." Kratos replied, because he figured that one or more of the titans might try to use his hatred or anger for Zeus against them, to convince him and Flurry to go back to when both forces waged war with each other and bring the titans back into this world, to use their full power to bring down Zeus.

"...And if Zeus flees back to Olympus, or does something that enrages you to the point that fury takes hold?" Athena asked, which caused Flurry to raise an eyebrow for a moment, as it almost sounded like she was suggesting something without actually saying it, like she knew something and didn't want to spoil anything for them, or maybe it was just her simply overthinking what was going on lately.

"It would depend on what that 'something' is... right, brother?" Deimos remarked, as he knew his brother better than most people did, save for probably Flurry and Athena since they had spent more time interacting with him than he did, so he knew that Kratos' reaction depended on what happened when he eventually faced Zeus again.

Kratos gave them a grunt, sounding a little gruff in the process, even though there wasn't much Zeus could do to him at this point in time, not after everything he and Flurry had been through to reach this point, so he doubted that he would do anything overly drastic, like Athena was suggesting. Bringing the titans, with their full terrible power, back to this point in time would be dangerous for everyone, both gods and mortals alike, which meant it was something they wanted to avoid at all costs, so for the time being he focused on the Fates and the dangers that would be waiting for him and Flurry when they reached their destination. Athena stared at him for a few moments, clearly wondering if it was alright to allow him and his daughter to embark on such a journey, especially with the target being the Fates and the potential power to travel back in time, before deciding that she trusted Flurry to make that decision, because while they might have been naive in thinking they could convince Zeus of their innocence she trusted her to make the right call. With that in mind both she and Deimos left the pair alone as they headed out to round up the rest of the Spartans, so they could get them to Sparta and start moving everyone before their foe made his move, as Hecate might help them get there before Zeus moved to attack the city and it's people.

While they departed from the area, however, Flurry followed her father as he headed back up to where Zeus killed him not all that long ago, though he came to a stop before reaching their destination, something that caused her to realize that there was one more thing that they needed to talk about.

"You are distracted, Flurry." Kratos stated, though he already knew what was going on right now, she was too focused on the mistake that all of them had made and had barely registered what he had said upon his return to the mortal realm, and no doubt would for some time, at least until they made this right.

"I... made a mistake, and it got you killed... I shouldn't have given the Blade back to Zeus." Flurry admitted, because it was just hard to accept that her father was fine with her making such a mistake and not tearing into her for bringing about his death like that, despite the fact that they had been waiting for Zeus to move against him.

"You made a mistake, that is true... but so did Deimos, Athena, and I, in thinking that we could turn Zeus from the path he has set himself on." Kratos said, where he turned around for a moment and faced his troubled daughter, causing him to place a hand on her shoulder as they focused on each other, as he knew that, once she got over the block that was currently in her mind, she would be back to her old self in no time, "We made a mistake... and now it is up to us to fix it. If I blame anyone for this, it is Zeus, and we already have a plan on how to make him pay for what happened here today."

Flurry let out a sigh of relief for a moment, as her father had greatly matured since their early days together, where he was filled with rage and little else, before nodding her head as they resumed walking towards the summit, where an ashen coated pegasus with flaming wings was waiting for them, to which Flurry opened hers as they prepared to embark on the next important journey of their lives.

Fate: A Titan's Prison

After reaching the area that the pegasus was resting in Kratos climbed onto it's back and it took off without delay, while at the same time Flurry quickly took to the air and followed after her father, where he informed her that they were making their way towards the Isle of Creation, where the Fates were said to rest. The pegasus was supposed to get him there, or at least that was what Gaia had told him before he revived himself, though from there he had no idea where they were supposed to go next, meaning they would have to figure it out along the way, like they had done in the past. Flurry knew that it would be no simple matter, since she and her father would be facing Lahkesis, Atropos, and Clotho, better known as the Sisters of Fate or even just the Fates, but she was ready for whatever they might send at them. It was also due to the fact that they should be able to gain a few new powers along the way, to allow them to tackle some of the tougher foes, just like what happened during their last couple of adventures, which only made her eager to learn a few new things to throw at their foes.

While they flew through the air, however, a number of griffins, creatures that were half lion and half eagle, flew towards them with undead riders on their backs, armed to the teeth to stop them from reaching the Fates, almost as if Zeus knew that they would seek them out to get Kratos' power back. Kratos drew one of the Blades of Chaos as their enemies came at them, slashing at either the sides of the griffins or at the riders that dared to get close without defending themselves, as his mount seemed to be their target so he'd fall into the water far below them. Flurry, on the other hand, tore through some of them with the Blade of Artemis, stabbing the riders through the back before pulling out and slicing them in half while taking off the heads of their mounts, or used her sickles to cut down a few of them, or even used some of her magical power. By that Kratos found that his daughter used bolts of lightning to shock some of the further ones into submission, called forth an orb of death that zeroed in on certain riders and took them down, or used Medusa's head, which she had stored inside her pouch in case they needed it, to turn her foes into breakable statues.

Kratos also jumped onto the backs of some of the griffins that were riderless, as some came on their own, and sliced off their wings before stabbing them in the back of their necks, in a vein that would cause them to bleed out and die, only to hurl them towards the ground as he jumped back to his mount. Flurry wasn't too worried about those ones, as she knew they would be dead long before they hit the sea below them, which meant that she could focus on her opponents as she smashed through the statues or loosed a volley of arrows into some of the enemies that were further away. Both of them found out something interesting, there didn't seem to be a leader for the griffin riders, or if there was he or she seemed to be of the mindset that it was fine to just observe from a distance, only to find a large raven coming at them with a rider on it's back, the leader they had been looking for. This undead had a special looking spear, one that had two heads that were made out of some purple crystal, a weapon that looked like Flurry's sickle staff, where she got in the way of the spheres of energy that came at them and swung her combined weapon at them, blocking them before they could hit her father.

Such a thing allowed his pegasus to find an opening to dive into an icy mountain that was along the way to the island that was their destination and the Dark Rider, as he was more unique than the others, departed, causing Flurry to dive into the passage as well, only to find that her father had stopped under a titan's hand, which had pinned the pegasus down.

"Are you okay?" Flurry asked, landing near her father as she glanced up at the ledge that the winged horse had landed on before being trapped by the titan that was, as it seemed like they were going to have to deal with the titan they had flown by to reach this point, or at least deal with a part of him.

"Yes, I am fine. So is the pegasus, despite the titan's hand keeping it down." Kratos replied, though at the same time both he and Flurry found harpies coming at them, where he grabbed onto them and tore their wings off after knocking them to the ground, while his daughter turned and knocked her foes out of the air with her arrows, "We should get going, as there is no telling when the Dark Rider will return."

Flurry nodded as they got moving, heading down a few worn steps that happened to bring them to some gashes that the titan's fingers had made in the cavernous area Kratos had landed in, which required slashing at one of the thick fingers to get it to move out of the way. She then found that her father was going to grind down a rock wall and she took to the air to provide support, targeting enemies that dared to get in his way and took them down with a well placed arrow, opening the way for her father to reach the end in no time at all. Both warriors noticed that the enemies right now were more undead legionnaires, a favorite of the gods and other powerful forces that ruled over parts of Greece, though neither minded that fact all too much as they slashed through the enemies who dared to get in the way. This allowed Flurry to confirm a very important fact, that while Zeus might have stolen her father's godhood from him, and the benefits that such a thing had given him, he still had his immense power from the time before he became the new God of War, meaning he was still a force to be reckoned with.

Following that they found a passage that had a minotaur at the opening of it, where Flurry jumped onto it's back and just launched herself at a group of harpies she spotted above the monster, where Kratos pulled the Blade of Artemis out as he hacked the minotaur apart.

With the creature taken down the pair found a pulley system that allowed one to move crates from another section of the cave to this one, something that allowed them to quickly traverse the gap that was in front of them, or at least Kratos had to since Flurry could just glide over. The passage brought them outside, letting the pair pass through a doorway made in the likeness of a soldier's helmet for some reason, and discovered some undead legionnaires standing on a few pieces of scaffolding while snow fell on them. With this in mind Kratos smashed the scaffolding to pieces before hacking his foes to pieces, leaving Flurry to loose a few arrows into the air as she struck down several of the other soldiers that were in the area, opening the way for her to lash out with her sickles, removing their heads before they could touch her. While she did that Flurry heard what sounded like a large bird and someone screaming in pain, meaning there was someone else on this mountain, though given that they had entered a titan's prison she had to assume there was another prisoner somewhere and that they were going to find them.

There was also a minotaur outside with the pair, though Kratos stabbed into it's side and slashed the monster in half as it tried to split him in half, allowing him to climb a wall as Flurry flapped her wings to get up there once he was sure that the coast was clear for the time being, only to find their way to an area that had the large bird and the tormented man, where the former was tearing into the latter's organs and spilling blood everywhere.

"God of War, you live... and so does the Goddess of Death." the man said, as the bird took off the moment the pair walked up to where he was resting, chained to what appeared to be one of the titan's fingers, as they were standing in the palm that was nearly frozen by the looks of things, all while Flurry noted that the bird landed nearby, as if to resume it's meal as soon as they were gone.

"We no longer walk with Zeus... those days are behind us now." Kratos stated, where he and Flurry stared at the figure for a moment as he noticed that the man's entire abdomen had been gouged out by the white bird, save for the spine and what was around it, "Is Zeus the one who imprisoned you here?"

"Yes... my only crime was helping mankind, by taking the fire from Olympus and giving it to the mortals... Zeus made me mortal, and condemned me to be savagely consumed by this wretched bird!" the man, who Kratos and Flurry knew to be Prometheus, the former God of Knowledge and Creator of Mankind, according to the tales anyway, stated, though as he said that they watched as he growled in pain as his abdomen and organs regenerated before their very eyes, completely undoing the bird's work in a few seconds, "By day I am consumed by that cursed beast, and with the fall of night I am healed... I honestly do not know how long I have been here, suffering from this curse... please, I beg of you, please end my suffering."

"Hm, with the fire below us, I guess the best way to ensure the curse is dealt with is to burn you... cremation." Flurry said, quickly putting the pieces together with all of the information that was given to them, or around the area that they were in, though as she glanced back to Prometheus she found that he quickly nodded his head, showing both warriors that she had hit the nail right on the head.

After hearing that Flurry shifted her stance and slashed through the chains without delay, though before Prometheus fell she caught the chains that were still around his hands and opened her wings, where Kratos watched as she lifted him into the air, moved him out of the way, and then dropped the former god onto the flames, as per his wishes, allowing them to consume him.

"One can only imagine how many Zeus has condemned to fates like this." Kratos commented, where he thought about his mother for a moment, how she was cursed to transform into a nearly mindless monster that they had to slay, all because she started to speak his father's name, before finding that Flurry loosed a few arrows into the air and the white bird fell into the flames as well, "Was that necessary?"

"Maybe not, but at least Zeus won't know about our progress." Flurry replied, because there was a chance that the white bird might have been ordered to return to Olympus should someone free Prometheus from his curse, to tell Zeus about the deed, so she was making sure to eliminate anything that might tell Zeus what they were doing.

Kratos nodded his head as he dropped down onto the path that was near the fire and continued walking, as he suspected that there might be something they could gain from another part of the mountain, something Flurry confirmed after flying around the area for a few seconds, as she spotted another soldier tunnel. They found that Kratos had to climb a couple of walls, plus they had to deal with a few more undead legionnaires, but for the most part the exterior of the mountain just seemed to be vacant of enemies, since there were far less than the pair expected to find near a titan's prison. With that in mind it didn't take them long to reach the passage Flurry had found and they used it to reach another pulley system, one that ended in a circular area that gorgons appeared in, the ones with the missing stomachs and flesh that allowed them to see their spines. Oddly enough there were only three of them in the area, so instead of wasting time Kratos grabbed one and tore it in half, surprising the serpent lady in the process, before tearing her head clean off, while Flurry faded into the shadows before appearing behind the other two and severed their heads.

Both warriors then approached a fractured rock wall and Kratos smashed it down, allowing them to discover a path that would bring them right to the titan's face, where Flurry found an etching on a wall and discovered that this was actually Typhon, giving them a name to use as they stepped out into the open area.

"Typhon! Gaia has sent us to you in the hopes of us gaining more tools to use against the Fates and, eventually, Zeus. Was she correct?" Kratos loudly asked, speaking to the figure that was in front of them, who seemed to be ignoring them until he spoke up, though he suspected that they didn't need to be talking to the figure since they were skilled enough to deal with whatever was waiting for them on the Island of Creation.

"Go away, Ghost of Sparta. Your presence angers me." Typhon stated, showing that it didn't matter what they thought about the matter, he wasn't going to willingly give them whatever it was Gaia wanted them to claim, where Flurry found that there was an odd glint in his left eye, no doubt what they were here for.

With that in mind she opened her wings again and flew around the chamber, allowing Kratos to find that Typhon viewed her as the greater threat as he tired to use his windy breath to knock her out of the air, though it also opened the way for him to make his way across a few icy stone walkways that brought him to the highest point of the chamber. From there he punched out part of the wall and then dropped it down after Flurry flew by, forming a path for him to get at the titan's face for a few seconds, which is why he rushed at the massive figure before he put together what was going on. Flurry watched as her father jumped onto the titan's face and plunged his blades into Typhon's left eye, allowing him to free the item they had seen previously, before he jumped back for a moment and landed on the walkway he had used, only to find that the item was a bow. It wasn't like the other bows they had seen before, as it was mostly a silver handle piece that looked like it was supposed to resemble Typhon, while the upper, lower, and bowstring pieces were made out of wind, meaning it could use the power of wind against their foes, causing Kratos to add it to their collection before departing.

Sure enough more undead legionnaires appeared in the way, where Kratos and Flurry raised their bows and released a volley of arrows that downed their enemies before they even realized what was coming at them, allowing the pair to keep going without actually stopping for the undead.

With Typhon's Bane in hand, and Kratos knew how to wield it in battle, the pair used the new grapple points to get back to the area that the gorgons had been in previously, allowing them to retrace their steps as they headed outside, only to use a few more grapple points to reach a long chain that linked two areas together. Flurry took to the air once more as she used her arrows to strike down several undead legionnaires that were making their way to her father's position, to stop him from returning to the pegasus' location, though she did notice a lingering fire on his arms and legs for a moment, as if something had empowered his Rage of Sparta form. It wasn't something that they used all that much, especially since the two of them were skilled enough to not need it in battle all the time, though this might be what Gaia wanted all along, to grant her father a bit more power to make sure he was ready for the Fates. Following that they dropped down into the area that held the tunnel leading back to their destination, where Kratos smashed his way through the door that blocked the way, which must have dropped after they walked through it earlier, allowing them to enter the cavern the pegasus had landed in before Typhon trapped it.

As they walked through the cave Flurry made another discovery, the undead legionnaires were actually satyrs, instead of the undead men they were used to fighting, meaning they were actually a new type of enemy, undead satyr legionnaires, but they went down as easily as the other type of undead, allowing them to reach the area the pegasus was in and forced the hand away so it could free itself.

"This was a good stop: new power and a brand new weapon." Kratos said, even though he knew this stop was mostly for him and not for Flurry, since her Rage of Sparta didn't need a boost in power at all, given that it had to be the strongest one he had seen, and she had no need for a new bow, as the one Artemis had gifted her was still serving her well, which told him that all of this was for him to gain the power to face whatever the future held for them.

"Indeed, which means both of us should be ready for whatever is waiting on the Island of Creation." Flurry remarked, where she was pleased to see that her father was in a good mood, getting new powers and weapons to use against their foes and enemies, despite what had happened previously, though after she said that she focused on the task at hand as her father climbed onto the pegasus' back.

Neither of them had any idea what might be waiting for them on the island Gaia was sending them to, since there was next to nothing written about the dangers of the area in question, but that didn't stop Kratos or Flurry from taking off, as both of them were ready to brave whatever challenges and monsters were waiting for them in the near future.

Fate: Temple and Steeds

After departing from the mountain that Typhon was imprisoned in, as there was another passage heading outside that the pegasus used to leave, Kratos and Flurry kept their eyes open for anything else that might be between them and the island, because if there were griffin riders before the mountain there were sure to be more later. As such neither warrior talked as they made their way through the air, though off in the distance Flurry noticed a large island that had to be their destination, as there seemed to be a large statue or temple on it and there was a large structure in the water ahead of them. In addition to that she found four large horse statues that seemed to be linked to the temple that was between their location and the island itself, which had to be something they would have to deal with at some point in time, if what she had seen during the trials of Pandora's Temple was any consideration. Of course that made her wonder what in the world might be waiting for them this time around, especially given the importance of the Sisters of Fate and their incredible power, and she suspected that her father was thinking the same thing, just to think about what sort of combat tactics they might have to use.

Their thoughts were brought back to reality as Flurry found a number of griffin riders coming at them, departing from the main temple she had spotted earlier, where she and her father nodded to each other as they raised their bows, as the new one her father had obtained could convert into an icon of Typhon's head when it wasn't in use. With that in mind both of them started loosing arrows at their targets, taking out the riders before they even got a chance to attack them, while at the same time finding that the windy arrows weren't affected by the wind coming at them, though their attacks surprised all of the griffins in the process. After a few moments of doing that both warriors switched to their melee weapons and tore through the winged beasts that dared to come at them, before they found that the Dark Rider, with the unique weapon, came down to attack them again, showing that he was definitely the guardian of the Island of Creation. Unfortunately the Dark Rider was able to avoid their attacks and even slashed open the side of the pegasus, though Kratos leapt off of his downed mount, ripped the spear out of his foe's hands, and knocked him off so Flurry could kill him as he stabbed the black bird in the back of the neck.

Flurry slashed through the Dark Rider as her father severed one of the bird's wings, though as he fell she grabbed onto his right arm and descended upon the temple that was their destination, landing on one of the ledges without wasting time, as she figured that they had to do the structure in the water before heading into the island.

"A shame about the weapon." Flurry commented, where she watched as the Dark Rider's mount spiraled down into the jungle that was resting in the actual island, meaning there was a chance that they might be able to recover it before they found the path that might bring them even closer to the Fates, causing her to glance at her father for a moment, "Did he get you anywhere?"

"No, I am perfectly fine." Kratos replied, though he appreciated the concern, especially after what happened in Rhodes, but he intended for this to be one of the last few times that he would hear such a thing, hence why he focused on the rest of the temple that was above them as he got to his feet, "Come. We have more work to do."

Flurry nodded her head as her father started to climb up a stone section that sort of looked like a ladder, even though it quickly came to the end and he had to climb on the ceiling above them, where she watched as he made his way over to a ledge and pulled himself up into an area they could walk through. Once she was sure that the path was clear, since usually there were enemies on areas like this, Flurry opened her wings and quickly reached the area her father had stopped in, as he found a couple of satyr warriors to fight, who were just as skilled as the satyrs both of them had encountered during their time in Pandora's Temple. Such a thing didn't stop Kratos from tearing off one of his foe's arms and used the arm spike that was part of it's armor to pierce his foe's neck, easily killing the satyr before it had a chance to do anything to him, while at the same time Flurry dodged the axe that was coming at her, slashed at her opponent with a sickle, and took the satyr's head off with ease. Of course there were more than two satyrs in the area, in fact there were several more that dropped down onto the platform to fight them, though Kratos and Flurry just nodded to each other before rushing at their foes, slashing at some while tearing others apart with ease, in fact Kratos broke one's spine by pinning it's legs to the ground and then twisted it's upper body, killing it instantly.

This wasn't even a concern for Flurry, rather she knew her father needed to vent his anger in some manner, especially since Zeus had killed him earlier, hence why she remained silent as he devastated the satyr warriors that were coming at them, leaving her to cut down those who dared to challenge her.

Once the enemies were taken care of, and they confirmed that there were no more satyr warriors coming after them right now, Kratos climbed up another stone ladder as Flurry followed after him with a quick flap of her wings, only to find that there were some hounds waiting for them as well. She wasn't sure what the hounds were supposed to be doing for the satyr warriors, since each of them were taking down in two or three hits, though with the number of them that were in the area she pulled out Medusa's head for a moment and turned some of them to stone before smashing the statues apart, all while her father cut his down and kicked them off the ledge. Other than that Flurry found that the temple they were in was oddly well maintained, which she wasn't expecting from the satyrs they had seen so far, but it was a nice change of pace for both of them since they were used to wrecked areas, caves, and dangerous temples. After taking care of the rest of the hounds Kratos and Flurry found a lever that lowered a small platform into the chamber below them, finding a pair of gates that were linked to a crank and a button, though given what they had seen in the past one gate was likely on a short timer.

"I got this." Flurry said, where she reached into her pouch and retrieved the Oath Stone without delay, where Kratos just watched as she pulled the crank back to where the button was resting, stopping once it was in place and that the button was pressed down, something that was followed by her activating the power of the stone, producing a shadowy version of herself to hold it down.

Once more Kratos found himself thankful that Flurry had thought to hold onto everything they had acquired over their last couple of adventures, as in every weapon and every item that had been useful, as there were times where they became useful again and his daughter usually recognized when it was time to use something again. With the way open he and his daughter stepped through the short passage that had a decent sized chamber, open to the air no less, along with a long wooden bridge that was pointed at the sky, but no enemies popped out to attack them yet. Since there was no enemies for them to worry about, at least for the moment, the pair walked over to the bridge and Kratos kicked it down with ease, allowing him and Flurry to glance at the main island that their true destination rested in, where the Fates were no doubt watching them from. As they stared at their target, the odd mountain that likely held the path to where the Sisters were waiting, Flurry felt a bit of familiar magic and pulled out the small statue of Pandora that Hephaestus gave given them a long time ago, something she was familiar with using.

What she wasn't expecting was for a blue energy version of Pandora, or at least she assumed it was Pandora since the magic had no facial or body features for them to recognize, but given how often they had used the statue she was sure that it was Hephaestus' daughter.

"Pandora, what is it?" Kratos asked, because usually only Flurry talked with Pandora, though there were a few times where both of them were present when something like this happened, and even Deimos got involved a few times, which made him wonder why she'd contact them now, of all times.

I heard about the events that happened in Rhodes, about what Zeus did, and while I don't agree with the titans, I agree with Gaia on one thing: Zeus needs to be stopped. the magic replied, something that surprised the pair for a moment, as while it wasn't weird enough that Pandora knew about the disaster that happened in Rhodes, her father likely told her what he knew about it, rather the part about the titans and Gaia caught them off guard, Father told me about the time that Cronos devoured his children, the original gods of Olympians, until Rhea decided to deceive him by allowing an eagle to carry Zeus off and offering a stone in his place, which the titan devoured without realizing her treachery. Gaia kept him safe for many years, nurturing him and allowing him to grow without Cronos knowing of his existence, until he returned with vengeance in his heart... eventually freeing his siblings, causing war with the titans, and many more crimes that none of us need to go over again. So, go along with the plan, just... don't trust the titans too much.

"Don't worry, Zeus will get what's coming to him." Flurry said, though it was still odd to see that Pandora was up to date on what they were doing right now, even though Zeus shouldn't have any idea what they were doing, but since they needed to get moving she figured that once this was over, and the King of the Gods was dead, they could ask her all the questions that were running through their heads right now.

Pandora smiled for a moment before the magic disappeared, leaving Flurry to return the statue to where she kept it as Kratos turned towards the rest of the temple, as there was a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to get it done in, but as he walked across the outer walkway of the area he found that it collapsed, even if he reached the end with ease. Flurry, of course, was unhindered by such a thing as she jumped across the short gap and rejoined her father, only to drop down into an area with a few more hounds and a cerberus who had horns on the middle head, almost like a goat. Kratos quickly jumped onto it's back, pulled out the Blade of Artemis, and hacked off all three heads before the beast could even make an attempt on their lives, while at the same time Flurry sliced through the smaller hounds with her sickles, though she did keep an eye out for additional enemies. Following that Kratos found a short pedestal that could be moved around and just pushed it under the path that would take them deeper into the temple, which brought them to an exterior path that let them climb around the exterior of the structure, the lower side anyway, so Flurry took to the air as Kratos climbed outside the temple.

It was the same strategy they used in the past, he climbed and she supported him in the off chance there were enemies to deal with, at least cut down on the number of foes, and sure enough they found some satyr warriors on the second ceiling he had to climb, so she took out all those behind him while he focused on the ones in front of him.

At the end of the path they found more hounds and a number of archers waiting for them, where Flurry raised her bow and loosed arrows at all of the satyrs that were trying to attack them from afar, leaving her father to slash his way through all of the hounds and a warrior who decided to get in the way. While they did that Flurry found that they were definitely getting closer to the large horses that were behind the main temple, meaning it wouldn't be long before she and her father reached them, before refocusing on their enemies as both of them tore through another group of satyr warriors who used a lift to get in their way. After that the pair rode the lift down to another level of the structure, where the chains linked to the horses was located, where Kratos found a siren rising out of the floor, one that had a thin piece of cloth over her right breast, her left was fully exposed, and she wore sharp claws over her hands. Neither warrior was impressed by the siren, not in the slightest, so while Kratos smashed her into the wall before she could react, showing that he still had a lot of his skills, Flurry looked at the wall the monster appeared in and shattered it with her magic, revealing a path that would bring them to one of the horses.

With the way open Kratos and Flurry started to make their way over the long chain that was in front of them, where they found that it took them a couple of moments to reach the harness of one, or the platforms that had been attached to the harnesses, leaving Kratos to climb up the side of one as Flurry just flapped her wings and landed up top. What they found out was that there was a structure on the back of the horse the chains had brought them to, the third in the line, and that there was a locked door that required a special key to open, one they would no doubt find in the near future. Fortunately the pair discovered a lever that moved a rope line into position so Kratos could cross over to the fourth horse's back, since he didn't want to rely on his daughter for transport all the time, even if it meant reaching another locked door. This one had a man standing in front of it, dressed like a guard captain for the temple, and attached to his wrist was a key that had to be the one that went to the door, looking like a modified bracer of some kind, though he paused as he found the pair standing behind him.

"The Ghost of Sparta, along with the 'Goddess of Death'... so the rumors are true, you have fallen." the man, who both of them knew to be Theseus, one of Poseidon's children and the founder-king of Athens, remarked, though the way he laughed at them, or Kratos, caused both warriors to frown for a moment as he walked off to the side, "I never thought that you, out of all the people in Greece, would dare to seek the Sisters of Fate... the very Sisters that I willingly serve, to better spread the glory of Zeus!"

"Which means you are as good as dead. Zeus doesn't care for you, and even if you prove yourself he would just find a way to prove that you were planning on betraying him." Flurry said, because if the King of the Gods was willing to disown the God of War, and strike him down for crimes he thought they were guilty of, it stood to reason that the current Zeus had no love for anyone else in the world, to which she raised a hand for a moment as she stared at Theseus, "The key to the rest of the horses, if you would. I'd rather not kill you without a reason."

In that moment Theseus pulled out what appeared to be two swords merged together at the bottom of their handles, like how Flurry combined her sickles into the sickle staff, making it a double-bladed sword, and lashed out at her before Kratos was finished drawing his blades. Flurry, on the other hand, dodged out of the way before grabbing into part of the handle and lifted their foe into the air, slamming him down into the platform so her father could slash at him when he was back on his feet, driving Theseus away from the door he had sealed before their arrival. After that they found that Theseus went on the defensive without wasting time, as if he realized that they were definitely stronger than he was expecting, but that didn't help him all that much, because if he blocked one of their attacks the other hit him before he had a chance to shift his stance to keep himself safe. He did call forth his magical power, or what was in his weapon, causing ice spikes to pop out of the ground every now and then, but that also failed since the pair was ready for everything, and when he fled to the top of the door frame Kratos yanked him back down with his blades before driving the double-bladed sword right into Theseus' chest.

Flurry simply watched as her father grabbed onto the key, pried it from Theseus' arm, and then inserted it into the lock so he could open the door, only to wince as he moved their foe into the opening before smashing him between both sections for a few seconds, and it ended as he kicked Theseus through door, causing her to sigh as she walked forward and ended his suffering with a swing of her sickles.

As Kratos walked into the chamber, where a pedestal detailing how Cronos offered the Steeds of Time to the Sisters of Fate in a bid to change his fate rested, Flurry picked up Theseus' blade and spun it around for a moment, finding that it felt comfortable in her hands, which was understandable given her sickle staff. Following that they headed outside and found another rope line that brought them back to the third horse, allowing Kratos to open the door with the key they had taken from Theseus, only to discover another chamber with another lock. This one, on the other hand, revealed a new magical message from Cronos, which was essentially that he had hidden the last of his power here, to be bestowed on one that he deemed to be the champion of the titans, where most of it went into Kratos and a small bit went into Flurry. Cronos' Rage, as Flurry was going to call it, involved summoning lightning orbs that floated in place and shocked enemies as they got in range of them, as opposed to the other attacks of this element they had learned in the past, hurling them at the monsters that wanted to get in their way.

After taking out the satyrs that were part of the practice session, since the magic they gained during their quests seemed to have monsters for them to practice on, Kratos and Flurry used another opening to leave the chamber and found that the new path ended near the heads of the horses. Such a thing revealed a platform with four cranks, where each one was a different color with yellow and green on their left while red and blue were on the right, where Kratos glanced at Flurry for a moment and she nodded, taking to the air without delay. What she discovered was that each horse was linked to one of the four cranks, exactly as the colors were positioned, and each one had a lock that could only be revealed by turning the crank associated with it, plus the heads were guarded by harpies. With that information in hand she took the bracer key from her father and flew back up into the air, as the plan was to follow the color he picked, take down the enemies as he kept the various containers open, and insert the key into each lock, undoing whatever they were supposed to keep sealed.

Flurry found that the double-bladed sword was fine to use, as she slashed through the harpies with ease and even used the power inside it to freeze some of them, turning them into icicles that were smashed against the platforms below her, causing her to decide to add it to her arsenal. She also discovered that each lock was tied to blinkers that were preventing the steeds from seeing anything, so when Flurry unlocked one the devices in question, allowing the horse the lock was on to see once more, and once the last one was freed she returned to her father. Kratos waited for her to return before he undid the last lock, which the cranks were keeping locked in place, allowing the platform they were on to move back and take them close to the middle of the space between the second and third horses, causing them to understand what they had to do next. Kratos raised his blades and used them to whip the horses for a few seconds, causing them to let out the sounds of actual horses, though that was followed by the Steeds of Time starting to walk forward, pulling the chains that were linked to them as the temple's island was forced into alignment with the main island.

It was a breathtaking scene to behold, completing the first of many trials that stood between them and the Sisters of Fate, though once the Steeds went still, and the platform lowered into place, Kratos and Flurry got moving, as they were eager to face whatever the rest of the island had to offer them and wouldn't stop until their quest was complete.

Fate: Amulet of the Fates

As Kratos and Flurry made their way back to the temple that likely held the way into the main island, and the structure that would bring them one step closer to the Fates, a number of satyr warriors decided to jump in their way in front of the door that lead to the chamber that Cronos' power had been stored in. It wasn't much of a surprise since they were expecting new foes, especially after moving the Steeds of Time and forcing the temple they had moved through into a new position, which was why Kratos lashed out at some of the satyrs with his blades as Flurry used the twinblade again. She found that the new weapon was much like the Blades of Chaos, in the fact that the user could either use the elemental power inside it when they attacked or they could turn it off and make it seem like an ordinary weapon, which meant she would need to take some time to master the new weapon. Kratos found that his daughter slashed one satyr in the stomach with a light frosty mist around the tip of the blades, where the creature quickly froze before their eyes, causing Flurry to smash the frozen foe with a kick as she moved onto another opponent without wasting time.

It was even useful against the pair of minotaur that jumped down into the arena as well, as she could slash at the arms or legs of her foes and create patches of ice to slow them down, or just leave ordinary gashes in her wake, and the one she fought was so confused as she stabbed it in the heart, dropping it to the ground in moments.

"Very impressive." Kratos remarked, though at the same time he twisted the upper body of the satyr he was fighting, despite the fact there were scattered beings of two more around him, and shattered both his foe's spine and his body, where he had to admit that Flurry seemed to be liking her new weapon.

"Thanks. It wasn't too hard figuring out how to use this, given the sickle staff, or it's magical power." Flurry said, where she spun the weapon around a few more times with a smile on her face, which put a light smile on Kratos' face since he knew his daughter liked learning how to use new weapons and this was a good thing for her to discover, before coming to a stop as she focused on the chain they'd have to cross again, "Come on, we should keep moving."

Kratos nodded as he jumped down onto the chain that was linked to the Steeds of Time, crushing a lone satyr warrior in the process, and started to move across it once more, all while Flurry flew near him as she kept an eye out for harpies or any other flying pests that might try to get in his way. Oddly enough the pair was able to get to the temple without delay, with no new enemies coming to fight them, so Kratos latched onto part of the wall that was waiting at the end and quickly climbed around to another walkway, as the chamber they had been in earlier was sealed off. It brought them to a decent chamber with a spring, an oddly placed one at that, where Kratos found a number of nymphs flying around, small bugs that had four wings that could ignite and explode on enemies, or be cracked in a similar manner and thrown at enemies to deal damage. Normally they were blue colored, though Flurry knew there were also reddish ones as well, both having the same power despite their differences, but she had to smile as she slashed through the trio of nymphs that were coming at them and found that she froze them solid thanks to the twinblade.

Following that Kratos made sure to smash the frozen enemies, just in case they broke out out of the ice and came after them again, before finding a path that lead to an upper walkway and a wall he would have to climb on, since Flurry could just glide around the exterior with ease. While he did that Flurry switched to her bow and loosed a few arrows into the air without wasting time, taking down more of the nymphs she spotted, as they were coming at her father, leaving him able to climb around the wall and see where they had to go next. The path her father discovered was a large door that lead into a decent sized chamber, which seemed to have a lower level, a large statue of one of the Fates, who had the palms of her hands positioned like a lift they could use, and a gem in the helm that looked familiar to Flurry. A moment later she pulled out the Amulet of Uroborus and stared at it's gem, which was identical to the one the statue had, causing her to grin, as it looked like there might be another time altering artifact nearly and would give her one for her father to carry.

With that thought in mind Kratos and Flurry dropped down into the lower area and found that there was a lever that was linked to a gate, one that refused to close all the way since there was a corpse of a soldier somehow stuck in one of the bars, though instead of questioning it they explored the area a little. Kratos discovered that there was a pool of water and that the garden planter in the middle of it could be moved, uncovering an underwater passage he dived into without even wasting a second, leaving Flurry to notice a button that raised two circular platforms, a path to the upper level. She found that her father quickly surfaced inside the small chamber that was on the other side of the gate, where he approached the small statue that was inside it and pried an object out of the statue's extended hand, a gemstone that was like the one that Flurry was holding right now, as if they were a matching pair. Once he was back on her side of things Kratos raised his gem, which he told her was called the 'Amulet of the Fates' according to the base of the statue, as Flurry stepped on the button again, though once everything was in position she rested a hand on his back as he activated it's power, where the new amulet interacted with the smaller statue.

Such a thing allowed them to watch as time slowed to a crawl, if not stop altogether, allowing them to get up to the main walkway with ease, only to repeat the process with the larger statue's gem after the platform was on the ground, allowing them to use it to get up to the hidden upper walkway.

Hear me, fallen god: none may defy what the Fates decree. the statue said, which had to be one of the Fates, since this was their domain and one of them was likely observing them at this very moment, though at the same time neither warrior really cared about the statue, because this was usually when the person speaking to them told them that they were on a fool's errand or something, That is how it must be. Only death awaits you at the end of your path.

"Yeah, poor choice of words, suggesting that you made the decision to have father killed." Flurry remarked, because the Fates had just annoyed her father greatly, as it was one thing to realize that they had made a mistake and had allowed the King of the Gods to temporarily kill her father in Rhodes, they had made peace with that and had resolved to fix it, but this statement, suggesting that the Fates wrote that her father had to die by Zeus' hand, angered him and she shared his new thoughts on the Sisters.

What the... who are you, mortal? Where did you come from? the Sister, whoever it was, asked, which interested the pair greatly, because if the Fates couldn't see Flurry, like she seemed to be suggesting, it meant there was a good chance that they could reach the end of the path and deal with the Sisters before they realized who they were dealing with.

"That is irrelevant, Sisters of Fate. Allow us to access the Threads of Fate, and we will spare your lives." Kratos replied, as he understood what was going through his daughter's mind after hearing that statement, if they couldn't see Flurry, and were totally surprised by her appearance, it stood to reason that they might be able to keep their plans hidden from them and Zeus, plus cut them down before they had a chance to stop them.

Instead of replying to his statement, like the warriors thought the Sister would, the speaker shrieked the word 'no' at them for a few moments before the life faded from the statue, causing Kratos to draw his blades as he struck the statue's neck, breaking the head clean off and sending it crashing through the window behind it. After dropping through the opening the pair found a few wraiths forming in front of them, causing Kratos and Flurry to draw their weapons and attack them, just as they had done in the past, striking the monsters before they had a chance to defend themselves. At the same time they tried something new, as Flurry wanted to try her idea out and her father decided to go along with it, where both of them pulled out their time amulets and found that hers acted like an activator for the new one, allowing both warriors to slow down time without having to use the statues. Such a thing meant that they didn't have to play by the Fate's rules, as this meant they could freeze time for their enemies whenever they wanted, something neither of them were going to abuse since that would take some of the fun out of fighting, and once they confirmed her idea they put away the gems before lashing out at their enemies.

There were also a few nymphs that came down to try and blast them into oblivion, where Kratos paid them no mind as his daughter rushed around the area and used the twinblade to freeze all of them before they exploded, though once both of them were sure that their enemies were dealt with Kratos smashed the statue's head into dust. Such a thing allowed them to walk onto the wooden bridge they had lowered earlier, though as they stepped onto the stone walkway they found that two beams of energy fired from the eyes of the statue that was below where they were standing, one of the main designs on the outside of the main temple. Those beams struck two pillars and formed a barrier that separated where they were from the main path that headed deeper into the island, meaning they would have to find a way to block both beams if they wanted to reach the Sisters of Fate, something Flurry could confirm thanks to two slots down below them. As the pair dropped down into the area below them they found a few new enemies, an unarmored cyclops and a few warthogs, the latter being so out of place considering everything else they had seen so far, where she dealt with the smaller foes while her father slashed at the cyclops before getting on it's back and tearing it's eye out.

Two more cyclops showed up as the first one fell, where Kratos pulled out the Blade of Artemis and slashed one apart as it rushed at them, while Flurry pulled back and loosed a few arrows at her foe, striking it all over it's body before it collapsed, as her accuracy allowed her to take foes down with ease.

Once the enemies were taken care of Kratos studied the area for a few moments, as there was a passage that seemed to be spitting fireballs at a dark pit, while at the same time Flurry found something interesting, there were two statues on the level below the wooden bridge's level was located. She guessed that they could move each one into the way of one of the two beams that were powering the barrier, so while her father climbed up onto the level in question she flew over to one of them and moved the statue out of where it was resting, even though she had to raise part of the platform to make sure it matched the rest of the path. From there both warriors found that it was a simple matter to move both statues into the slots she had seen earlier, allowing the shields on them to block the beams without delay, where she and her father stood there for a moment and watched as cracks formed on the large statue's face as the beams were bounced back at it by the shields. Flurry found that the shields on the statues had to be metallic or enchanted in some manner, to allow them to bounce the beams back at the eyes they came from, though with the eyes destroyed the barrier collapsed and opened the way for her and her father to head deeper into the massive island.

As the pair followed the dirt path that was in front of them both of them kept their guard up, since there was no telling what sort of dangers might be waiting for them this time around, eventually passing by a pair of sphinx statues, a creature that was half woman and half lion, as they entered a bog. The pair had just a few moments to stare at the spire that was their final destination, since they both agreed that it was where the Fates were waiting for them, before hearing the sound of a warhorse coming at them, something they were able to confirm as a rider came at the pair from behind. Kratos used his blades and latched onto the horse's flank, dragging him along as his feet tore through the ground, while Flurry caught up by using her wings to fly above him, though her focus was on the rider, a large muscular figure that looked like he was from the barbarian tribes that forced her father to serve Ares. She was able to confirm that he had a massive hammer on his back, likely a warhammer that looked like it had been empowered by one of the gods, though he seemed annoyed by the fact that her father was latched onto his steed, meaning it had to be someone from her father's past.

The rider eventually came to a stop in what appeared to be a circular arena, which seemed a little out of place given the bog that was around them, though her father recalled his blades as he landed on the ground, allowing her to land by him as they faced the rider.

"By the gods, the information I was give was true!" the figure remarked, where Flurry could tell that her father didn't like who was in front of him, meaning it had to be the Barbarian King, the one who pushed him to side with Ares and walk the dark path that eventually brought about the deaths of his late wife and his first daughter, and she could see the mark on his neck that looked like it was done by the Blades of Chaos, along with burns all over his body, "I had to fight my way through all of the guardians of the Underworld, and smash my way through the fires of torment so I could have a chance to change my fate... and what do I get for my efforts? The Sisters have delivered to me the source of my vengeance. Tell me, Kratos, do you remember me?"

"As if I could forget that day, considering what it cost me." Kratos replied, though once upon a time he would have taken a moment to think about going back in time and stopping the event that made him Ares' servant, especially since it cost him two of his precious lights, but after finding Flurry, and spending all those wonderful years with her, along with rescuing his brother and everything else they had done, he realized that he wouldn't trade that for anything.

"And what's this? The latest one that's been calling herself your 'daughter'!? She will die, Spartan, and then I will send you to join her in the Underworld." the Barbarian King said, showing that he had no fear as he stared at them, despite the fact that one was the former God of War and one was the Goddess of Death, and he even dared to flash a smile at the pair, as if he thought that he was going to beat both of them right here, with little to no real effort.

"Barbarian King... the one who forced father to become Ares' servant..." Flurry commented, where she raised her sickles for a moment and formed her scythe this time around, something she rarely used since the rest of her arsenal was more than enough to deal with most of their enemies, all while Kratos noticed the look of anger if her eyes despite the fact that her face was calm, "Time for you to go back to the Underworld, where you belong."

Kratos watched as Flurry faded into thing air as her eerie whistle filed the air, something that caused the half dead horse to whine a little as it twitched nervously, while the Barbarian King glanced around, as if he could find his foe before she was able to do anything to him. In the following seconds several slashes appeared on the horse's body, causing the large barbarian to jump off his steed before it collapsed, where Kratos found that the poor mount was put out of it's misery as it was hacked apart, the cuts as clean as he expected from his daughter. The Barbarian King drew his weapon and swung it around the area they were in, almost as if he was expecting to hit Flurry at random, while at the same time Flurry avoided the attacks and slashed at his bare chest when an opening revealed itself to her, blood dropping from his body as he tried, in vain, to hit his phantom foe. His next attack, however, was when Flurry removed his hands and let the weapon fall to the ground, though before it could do so Kratos grabbed it and crushed the Barbarian King's chest with a single blow, a fact that allowed Flurry to remove his head with a single swing before wiping out his body with a burst of magic.

As that happened Kratos glanced at the hammer, Alrik's Hammer he guessed, and frowned, as it was a weapon of the one who helped write one of the worst chapters of his life, where he decided to toss it over to Flurry and found that she caught it without delay, her scythe disappearing as she swung the weapon around like it weighed nothing.

"I know you don't like the Barbarian King, and you don't want anything to do with his stuff, but we might need this later, if our last adventures are anything to go by." Flurry said, because usually when they found something new like this it proved to be useful, in some manner, to the ongoing adventure that they were currently on, and this seemed like something that, even if her father hated everything linked to the fallen king.

"If you wish to keep it, you may have it." Kratos replied, as that was all he wanted to say on the matter, because he had no desire to use anything of Alrik's, and even now he reluctantly carried the Blades of Chaos, though they were far more useful considering everything they had been through so far, but he resolved to find a new weapon once they were done with Zeus, to bury the past at long last.

Flurry nodded as she dismissed the hammer and returned her scythe to it's original forms, ending with her putting both of her sickles back on her belt, before both of them turned towards the path leading deeper into the bog and continued even deeper into it, as it was time to see what else the Fates had in store for them.

Fate: Dangers in the Bog

After dealing with the Barbarian King, and putting a close to that chapter in Kratos' past, he and Flurry found that one of the trees Alrik had damaged in his rush through the forest had fallen and provided him with a grapple point, which he used not a moment later as his daughter glided over the gap. The pair then followed the path that was in front of them, noticing the large trees that could hide enemies and a number of hanging corpses that seemed to be those who tried to reach the Fates in the past, all failures since they were hung for their shared crime of trying to change their fate. Some were decayed to the point of being skeletons, held together by some form of magic, while others were fresh, as in they must have come to this place within the last month or so, and the damage to their intact armor told the pair that it would be best to have their weapons at the ready. Danger was definitely waiting for them somewhere inside the bog, if what they had seen so far was any indication, where Kratos held his blades at the ready as Flurry studied the surrounding area for a time, before finding a few warthogs in their way, enemies that fell in a single hit since they weren't as tough as the cyclops.

The end of the path, which they discovered after dealing with the pair of warthogs, brought them to a new temple, a large one that seemed nearly as grand as the one dedicated to the Sisters of Fate, while Flurry found a stone plaque nearby that informed them that this was the Temple of Euryale.

"Euryale... as in Medusa and Stheno's sister?" Flurry inquired, as it was said that there were three sisters of the gorgons, all of which were given the title of 'Queen of the Gorgons', likely to represent three factions that no longer existed, but this told her that they were going to face an enemy from their past, since they killed Medusa during their quest to get Pandora's Box and Flurry still had her head.

"This is troubling information." Kratos said, because he shared his daughter's thoughts, this discovery meant that they were likely going to clash with either Euryale, since this was her temple based on the nearby plaque, Stheno, since she was the elder sister and was likely annoyed by Medusa's death, or both of them in the near future, "Keep your guard up, as there might be more gorgons waiting for us."

Flurry nodded as they jumped over to the area in front of the temple's entrance, finding that there was a large button one of them could stand on that likely activated the trap on the door, as there was a gorgon head on it and that meant it was likely designed to turn anyone who stood on it into a stone statue. From there they found that there were two paths, to the right and left of the main door, though the left one was locked by a key that neither of them had, meaning they would have to head down the right path and see what it might throw at them. After jumping over a couple of fractured bits of the path, made out of stone no less, they found a larger area that had a cave on the other side of it, one that two minotaur chased a soldier out of before he fell to the ground to avoid one of their axes, allowing the pair to drag him back into the cave with a terrified scream. Since told Flurry that either the main temple reset after someone reached a certain point, or there were different starting points that were totally different from the one they had entered through, in fact it seemed like the latter was more reasonable to help weed out those who didn't deserve to be here, and the bog had to be a shared location for all openings.

Interestingly enough there was a body nearby that the crows were pecking at, who happened to have a bronze item that matched the lock on the other door, which Kratos handed to Flurry since it would be safer in her possession, before they found that a pair of short armored individuals, with horned helmets and carrying two battleaxes each, came out to kill the pair. Flurry decided to call these new foes 'beast lords', as their hands and feet looked more like beast claws, plus she saw that one had a horn that was used to call allies to the area they were fighting in, though after that she pulled out her new weapon and focused on one of their new enemies. She found that they were definitely on the same level as the satyrs, as the beast lord swung at her with lethal precision and with the intent to kill her, but her speed was faster as she dodged a couple of attacks and swung the hammer into his chest, the short spikes on the end denting her foe's armor as she easily knocked him into the side of the cliff. Her father, of course, used his own blades to parry the incoming attacks before he lashed out at his foe, cutting into his arms or legs when an opening showed itself to him, though it didn't take him long to sever one of the beast lord's limbs, causing it to stagger before he removed it's head with another attack.

After the first two there were a few more beast lords that pulled themselves up into the area they were in, causing Kratos and Flurry to lash out at them, slashing them apart and scattering bits of them in the process, and one even was crushed with it's own weapons, taken by her father and used against them.

After clearing out the beast lords the pair returned to the front of the temple and made their way over to the locked door, only to find that more foes, the skeletons that had been resting around the structure's door, rose to fight them, though this time around Flurry crushed them into dust with her new weapon. Kratos, despite his dislike of the weapon that Alrik had carried, found that his daughter was right, it was a decent addition to their arsenal, though at the same time he had no desire to use it himself, causing him to turn on some of the other skeletons as he crushed them with his blades. Once all of the enemies were dealt with the pair made their way over to the locked door and inserted it's key, allowing them to open the door and head down a short path that brought them to a raised ruin section that was near the cave they had see the soldier and minotaurs in. As they approached the ruins one of the beast lords came out and blew it's horn, where they found that Flurry's name was right, it summoned a cyclops and latched onto it's shoulders with it's axes, like it was a rider and the beast was it's steed, though Kratos did nothing as his daughter moved forward.

What Flurry did was pull out Medusa's head and turned the cyclops, and it's rider, to stone, before leaping into the air as she brought the hammer down on them, shattering both enemies like they were nothing as she showed off the power of the weapon, only to find that another cyclops and two beast lords showed up. This time around Kratos rushed at them as he drew the Blade of Artemis, slashing through one of the cyclops' legs as it fell to one knee, which was followed by him getting onto the creature's back as he split the rider in half before it could react, allowing him to sever the cyclops' head as Flurry quickly downed the other beast lord with a pair of arrows. Once the enemies were taken care of, and they quickly confirmed that fact, Kratos approached the ruins and found that it moved with their weight, as in when someone was on the rightmost side it moved that way and if someone was on the leftmost it shifted in that direction. It was an odd thing to see, like there was something under it that they couldn't see that was influencing the entire structure, though for the time being Flurry stood on the left side and let her father pull out an oddly shaped stone block that looked like it might fit into another area, but for how he moved it out of the way.

His reasoning for that was due to the gate that was on the other side of where the block had been resting, which he was able to open with ease since it wasn't locked, and once he was inside Flurry followed after him, allowing them to enter the inner part of the ruins, only to find that the inside seemed more intact than the outside.

It included an area that moved into a cavernous area, a decent sized area that had a few wraiths and nymphs for them to fight, though to make sure that they had enough room to move Flurry smashed a stone pillar in the middle of the area to ensure their attacks wouldn't be stopped by hitting it. After clearing out the area the pair discovered that the shattered bit of the ceiling formed a grapple point that would get them to the upper area, before they decided to explore the rest of the other path and found a number of satyr warriors coming at them. Kratos hacked and slashed his way through them while Flurry simply smashed some with the new hammer, but she did stab some of them with the twinblade or even one of her sickles, showing that she could switch things up within seconds, only to discover that this was a dead end, leading to a spiked opening that showed the area they were just in. With that in mind they quickly retraced their steps once more and returned to the grapple point, where Kratos used his blades to get to the upper area as his daughter jump jumped up to where he stopped, which was only temporary as he used two more points to reach another part of the ruins.

Flurry found that the area was overgrown in some instances, roots growing all over the place, and there were a few satyr warriors standing in front of them, where they wasted no time in cutting them down and then jumped across the odd tree stumps that were heading deeper into the area. While they did that she loosed a few arrows into the air and took down a trio of satyrs that looked like they were firebombs, small pouches filled with something that ignited once the fuse reached the bottom, though by eliminating them down she was able to clear the way for her and her father. Kratos, however, just smashed the pillars that the satyrs had been standing on apart with his bare hands, reminding Flurry that her father was strong, even before he became a god, and even now it seemed like somethings never changed as he shattered the main one and formed a way for them to advance again. A trio of undead legionnaires appeared behind them, though Flurry just turned them to stone so her father could smash them to pieces, allowing them to jump on the fragmented pillar and jump up to the upper area, which was another passage through the mountainous area.

This one brought them to a new chamber that had a pressure button in the middle of it, which opened the main gate only a little, only to find that there was a lever near it that lowered another gate, leading to a small area that had a body inside it, while on the other side there was another one with another button. Kratos and Flurry glanced at each other as Kratos picked up the body and carried it over to the other side of the chamber, where he handed it over to his daughter after she moved over a raised section of a gate, allowing her to place it onto the button they had spotted. With that done the pair found that the main gate lowered halfway, just like when the main pressure button was pressed, to which she returned to the central button and used the Oath Stone to create a temporary shadowy version of her that would keep the main gate open for them. After doing that, and Kratos was sure that the area was clear of hazards, the pair walked through the now open gate and moved deeper into the ruins, or rather an outside area that had a large water wheel, another section of the overall ruin, a large body of water, and a soldier being torn apart by some satyrs.

While they stood there, however, Flurry came to a stop as she felt someone observing them, not the Fates, since the three sisters seemed to be content with ignoring her existence, rather it felt like one of the remaining gorgon sisters that were no doubt waiting for them.

"Father, do you feel that?" Flurry asked, as she wanted to make sure that he knew that someone was observing them, and not any of their allies since it didn't feel like anyone they knew, which only made her wonder which powerful being might be watching them at the moment.

"Yes. It must be Stheno." Kratos said, because there was no real information of the eldest gorgon sister, other than that she was far larger than the other two and was far older, possibly making her the first of her kind, meaning there was no way for them to know what sort of powers she had, "Keep your guard up. There is no telling what might happen next."

This time around Flurry didn't bother nodding her head, she knew what to do thanks to years of learning from her father, rather they jumped over to the first of three gears that were in front of them, where Kratos moved the crank, which also moved the gear they were on, as Flurry kept an eye out for additional enemies. A number of satyr warriors jumped out of the foul water that was around them, prompting her to swing the hammer at them and crush their chests as she sent all of her foes flying over the cliff that also happened to be a waterfall for the river. The second one was more like the first, but the third didn't need to be moved at all, rather it served as a platform for both warriors to jump onto before crossing over to the main path that would bring them closer to whatever the goal of the bog was. That was when they found a new foe standing in their way, a mass of volcanic stone that seemed to resemble a minotaur, standing nearly as large as the one from Pandora's Temple, where the stone minotaur stared at them before beating the ground with it's fists.

The pair glanced each other as they pulled out their amulets, causing time to slow down for them as they linked the magic inside both together as Kratos and Flurry rushed at the massive monster, the former blasting at it with a few lightning orbs and slashing at it with the Blades of Chaos. While he did that Flurry flew around the slowed down monster and lashed out at it with the twinblade, allowing the icy power of the weapon to lightly freeze some of the areas she hit, since they were fighting a volcanic looking monster, or maybe the stone was designed to withstand elemental attacks. When time resumed they found that the stone minotaur staggered for a moment, which was understandable given the attacks it had suffered, but that didn't stop the beast from tearing a chunk of stone out of the ground to throw it at them, even though it missed both warriors. With that done Flurry pierced the stone minotaur's left arm and froze it, allowing her father to barrel into it's chest before stabbing both of his blades into what had to be it's heart, allowing him to bring it down as they turned their attention to the next obstacle in their way, a large petrified tree stump.

Since there was nothing else in the area Kratos latched onto the tree with his blades, shattered part of it, and pulled it into place, forming a walkway for him to use to get to another part of the area, since Flurry could have just flown over there on her own, before he moved forward as he kept his blades at the ready. That meant climbing onto a wall that was nearly overgrown with roots and using a vine that crossed the entire area to get to another part of the ruins, though as Kratos did that Flurry stayed back a little as she raised her bow and readied herself. Sure enough she found that some satyrs with bows appeared on the platform that was lined up with the vine and she loosed some arrows before they had a chance to hit her father, taking each one down as she made sure that the area was cleared of enemies. Fortunately her father had a few enemies to deal with as well, the satyr warriors who climbed on the vine as well, where he crushed them with the sides of his legs, before he eventually reached the end of the line and beckoned for Flurry to catch up to him, something she did without delay.

The area Flurry landed in happened to be near the top of the massive water wheel, where they found that they could raise a thin stone door into the ceiling to reveal another statue of one of the Fates, complete with a stone to slow down time, to which Kratos pulled it out before activating his amulet.

Flurry stood there as she felt time slow down, since she had a feeling that she didn't need to use her amulet, and when time resumed she found that her father was on the other side of the area, having bypassed the water wheel completely, to which she opened her wings and followed after him. From there it was a simple matter of using the moving platform in front of the area her father had stopped in to cross over to another one, only to find that the rest of the path happened to contain avoiding beams of gorgon gazes and fighting off some satyr warriors. This proved to be far too easy for them, as all they had to do was kick the satyrs back into the beams and turn them to stone in an instant, then wait for a couple of seconds for the statues to come to them so they could smash the satyrs to dust. At the end of the path Kratos found what looked to be a few beams of wood arranged in a way to block someone from moving forward, only for them to smash it to bits and use a grapple point to reach where the archers had been located earlier, only to find a familiar looking object that was like the one near the oddly moving portion of the ruin.

After moving it out into the lower area the pair found that they could jump down to the moveable ruin and moved the new piece onto the platform as well, forcing it to raise higher than ever before, something that caused Kratos to quickly grip the underside of it before tearing the ruin from it's foundations, sending it right into the water below.

"Whoever designed this place really went above and beyond in making such a convoluted way to make a platform." Flurry commented, though she guessed that this was the purpose of the ruins, to bring down whoever wanted to visit the Fates or make them give up after seeing everything that was resting in front of them.

Kratos had nothing to say on this matter, as whoever designed this place must have gone mad based on what he had seen in Pandora's Temple, though he did cross over the new platform and climbed onto the wall that lead to the area that they had seen the minotaurs and the men in, all while his daughter simply flew over to the opening. From there they moved into the cave and raised their weapons once more, finding another oddly placed grinder and some stone statues, which seemed to be of monsters and men, meaning there had to be a gorgon somewhere in the cave. There was one soldier who was bleeding out, who, in his last moments, informed whoever was listening that 'Jason' had been taken and that he had the 'fleece', though that was all they could get out of him before he perished before their eyes. After that they found the first gorgon of the area, the half dead ones that were missing their stomachs, which Flurry slashed in half with a quick swing of the Blade of Artemis, leaving her father to stab the monster in the head with his own blade, ending her misery as they continued deeper into the cave.

When Kratos found another grinder he also found that Flurry just smashed it with the hammer, utilizing it's great power to break it and allow them to enter the area that Jason had been dragged into, finding a chamber with a cerberus that was in the middle of munching on a soldier, who had a golden piece of armor over his right shoulder, an armlet. The pair stood there for a moment as the beast tore Jason apart, he was already dead by that point, though once it focused on them the pair attacked, Kratos lashing out with his blades as Flurry utilized the twinblade as she spun around the beast, dodging it's paws and mouths. As the beast tried to kill one of them, to add more food to what it had gathered so far, Kratos found an opening and wrapped the chains one of it's heads, allowing him to heat them up so he could sever the head, though that was followed by his daughter smashing the left one with the hammer before freezing it's front paws. In the next moment both of them slashed the beast to death, cutting into it's sides before it could do anything to stop them, though before the pair killed it Kratos shoved his hand into the main mouth and extracted the fleece, letting Flurry kill it while he slipped the armlet over his right arm.

Kratos stared at the new item as one of the walls became active, spewing fireballs every now and then at them, where he got a crazy idea as he raised his right arm and used the Golden Fleece to parry and reflect the attack at where it came from, blasting the wall apart and opening the way for them to retrace their steps to the main temple.

"The Golden Fleece, such a wonderful addition to our arsenal." Flurry remarked, where she watched as her father used it to protect himself from the door's gorgon beam and redirected it into the obstacle, turning it to stone so she could break it with the hammer, allowing them to enter the main temple.

"Yes. I was not expecting to discover such an artifact, but it is a worthy addition to have." Kratos said, as he agreed with his daughter, on what it was and how good it was to have it in their growing collection of tools, before he stared at the temple that was in front of them, as there was no telling what else might be waiting inside it.

Flurry stood beside her father for a moment, as she was ready to face the dangers of Euryale's temple and see what else the Fates could throw at them before they were done with the bog, all while wondering what sort of challenges would be waiting for them in the near future.

Fate: The Gorgon Queen

Once both Kratos and Flurry were ready they moved into the temple that was in front of them, finding that the first area, a decent sized chamber, had a few stone statues that were of monsters they had seen before reaching this point, where to be safe Flurry smashed them with the hammer. She really had no idea if some of the monsters could do what her father was capable of, as in resisting the power of the gorgons' eyes and shattering the shell before they were totally trapped in stone, but she wasn't about to risk more enemies coming at them. There were also some undead legionnaires that dropped down into the passage that was to their right, showing the pair that the gorgons hadn't gotten everyone in the area, though that didn't stop them from lashing out at the undead that were standing in their way. Kratos even tore one in half with his hands, instead of slashing it into pieces with his blades, though Flurry continued to use her weapons and even a bit of magic to take out her foes, before they found that the next part of the path happened to be a stone ladder heading down into the depths of the temple.

With the first round of enemies were dealt with the pair descended down the stone path and found that it brought them to a larger chamber, where they heard a faint voice that was likely Euryale, either trying to intimidate them or whining to herself about something else, but neither warrior cared too much. Their first action as they dropped down into the chamber was to smash the couple of stone statues that were around them, though as they did that a minotaur stepped out and roared at them, showing them that the temple's guardians were coming to fight them. This time around Kratos grabbed onto the larger beast's weapon, yanked it out of it's hands, and them crushed it's head with the large mace, dropping the body to the ground as he turned towards the undead legionnaires that rushed at him. As he slashed his way through them he found that Flurry shocked some of her foes with a bit of lightning magic, stunning them for a moment before taking her targets down with her sickles, and once the area was cleared they moved down another path.

This one allowed them to see that there was another soldier further in the temple, where it looked like he was taking apart a crank so no one could follow after him, causing the two to frown for a moment as he finished his work and headed even deeper into the structure, where they did the same without wasting time.

The crank that was in front of them allowed Kratos to move a lift deeper into the temple, to a small area that had a couple of nymphs and another lift that was the very one that the soldier had damaged, though as Kratos investigated the area Flurry slashed her way through the flying critters with the twinblade, breaking them instantly. In the end the way forward was simple, all Kratos had to do was move the lift they had used to get to this area up slightly, forcing the other one that mirrored it's position, to move with it and when he stopped it stood as a raised platform for them to stand on. From there it was a simple manner for them to jump onto the wall that was in front of them and climb up the inside of the passage, a fact that allowed the pair to reach where the soldier had been working a few moments ago, only to find a legionnaire with a scythe on his back. It was interesting to see the reaper legionnaires again, though to see if they had improved any Flurry pulled out her sickles and attacked the familiar undead, where she found that it's movements were the same as before and it rarely used it's scythe, causing her to slash it apart as her father joined her.

After dealing with the reaper legionnaire the pair found their way to an outside balcony, which seemed to be a stop with nothing for them to do, and by taking a few steps back they were able to find a path to climb up, even though it did allow them to see a few traps that were on the ceiling, meaning there might be more ahead of them. In order to move forward Kratos climbed up another wall and used his blades to carefully make his way across the path that was in front of them, all while Flurry just glided over, using her mastery over her wings to reach the end in no time at all. After that they discovered another crank, this one linked to a moveable wall that had spikes on it, so when they let it go the wall would likely come at them, to which Flurry chuckled as she pulled out the Oath Stone once more, an artifact that both she and her father were glad to have in their arsenal. With it in their hands Kratos made a shadowy copy to hold the crank in position so he and his daughter could walk down the passage the spiked wall was part of, while the lever at the end allowed them to open part of the wall they had walked by and raised the end of the passage for them to get out of the way.

What the pair discovered was a fairly large chamber with one of the stone books on a pedestal, which happened to be the area that a stone soldier was resting in, one that was written by someone who came to realize that they wouldn't be able to reach the Sisters, meaning Euryale must have stopped them at some point, or a lesser gorgon did, only to jump back as a massive gorgon tore through the wall behind the book and narrowly missed them.

"Euryale, we have no quarrel with you." Kratos stated, as just with Theseus he wanted to see if he could persuade the foe that was in front of them to stand down and get out of their way, because there had been enough death recently and part of him really didn't want to add to the pile, save for adding Zeus to it, so he was hoping the second Gorgon Queen would stand down and let them pass.

"Oh, but I have my own vengeance to carry out, for the death of my sister, Medusa." Euryale replied, where they found that she was definitely taller than Medusa was, in fact she was about half as tall as the entire chamber, but she was also obese, as her body was wider and looked more like a slug in some instances, despite the speed she used to smash right through the wall that had been behind the now crushed stone tome.

"But what about your elder sister, Lady Stheno? Surely she will be sad if you die as well?" Flurry asked, because while she knew that the Fates would require them to beat the Gorgon Queen that was in front of them, the middle child in the case of the three gorgon sisters, she agreed with her father, there was no reason for them to spill more blood than what was necessary, but her hands were near her sickles, just in case, "Just let us through and no one has to get hurt."

"Ghost of Sparta, you and your daughter will die here, for the crimes you have committed against my kind." Euryale said, her tone revealing that she didn't seem to care what Flurry had to say on the matter, rather she seemed to think that she had the power to kill both of them, causing the pair to sigh as they shifted their stances, showing her that they were ready to fight and that there would be no more talking.

Euryale rushed at them and focused her gaze on Kratos, who seemed to be her main target, though she didn't seem to realize that he was wearing the Golden Fleece as he shifted his stance so the armlet could tank the blow, where it's power stalled the Gorgon Queen's gaze for a time. As that happened Flurry jumped onto the gorgon's tail and started to slice into it with her sickles, intending on working her way up to the neck so she could slash open the main vein and kill their foe as quickly as possible, before Euryale was pushed back by the Golden Fleece's power. Following that failure Euryale tried to use her gaze on Flurry after getting her off her tail, only to find that her target disappeared, as if she had never been there in the first place, before discovering that she was wrong as Flurry sliced open part of her side with the twinblade, letting a bit of frost invade her massive body. As she did that, however, both she and her father noticed that their foe, like most of the monsters they encountered in the past, wore nothing over her chest, though it did nothing to the pair as they hacked at her sides and her chest when she got close to either of them.

Eventually Euryale decided to flee from them and rushed over to one of the larger pillars that were around the chamber, where they placed a bit of a game as she tried to fill the area with a modified version of her gaze, focusing it on the ground to freeze everything that was below her in stone. Kratos found that the Golden Fleece dealt with that and kept him safe as his daughter got above the massive gorgon and stabbed her in the back with a downward thrust of the Blade of Artemis, a fact that caused the beast to howl in pain as she quickly stopped her attack. That allowed her father to get close to them and latch onto Euryale's chest with the Blades of Chaos, where he forcefully yanked the gorgon off the pillar so her face would hit the floor, dazing her so he and Flurry could slash into her body before she regained her senses. To aid them in dealing with the large gorgon Flurry slashed up the pillars that she decided to climb up and moved out of the way as her father grabbed onto the falling segments and smashed Euryale with them, dealing a decent amount of damage to her in the process.

After smashing her with the second one, and finding that the Gorgon Queen was dazed, Kratos leapt into the air while he called the Blade of Artemis into his right hand, allowing him to sever Euryale's head from her body before she was able to react, something he grabbed before it hit the ground.

"Another gorgon head... now we have two of them." Flurry remarked, though at the same time Euryale's body collapsed nearby, now lifeless since it was missing her head, but she knew this wouldn't go over well when Stheno realized that both of her sisters had fallen to them, meaning it was only a matter of time until she showed up looking for revenge.

"Yes, and fortunately it is about the same size as Medusa's." Kratos commented, as while Euryale was a big creature her head was actually about the same as her sister's, like she was supposed to be more of a monster and less like a human, before he and his daughter found that more enemies were coming at them.

Flurry discovered that their foes were just more satyr warriors, where her father turned them all to stone with Euryale's Head and then smashed them by bringing the Blades of Chaos down on them, breaking all of the statues that were left in his wake in no time at all. This allowed them to realize that both heads worked as intended, as both held the power to just turn enemies to stone, in record time no less, which meant Stheno's gaze had to be far stronger since she was the elder sister of the trio, but both warriors hoped that they wouldn't run into her anytime soon. Flurry honestly wasn't sure what Stheno would do if she encountered them, as she had been around far longer than either of her sisters and that meant she might be smarter than them or might be more like a powerful monster, so they would either be in for a fight or they might have the chance to talk her down. Kratos, on the other hand, preferred that the third and final Gorgon Queen would stay away from them, as he knew there was a good chance that, while Stheno might be stronger than her sisters, he and Flurry would be able to take her down without her doing any serious damage to them.

After thinking about that for a moment they found that a new door had opened and they entered the passage that was on the other side of it, where the pair found themselves in another large chamber that looked like it was one large puzzle of sorts, full of water, pillars, and statues that held the time gems. Kratos nodded to Flurry and she flew around the chamber for a time, finding that she was able to without something trying to stop her, which made sense since most people didn't account for there to be a trial taker who had wings, where she found that there were a number of pillars that looked like they had to be moved first. It reminded her of the first one that was right outside the passage that had brought them to this area, where her father rotated the crank for a time and they discovered the pillar moved, until it revealed that part of it was hollow and had a metallic grapple point for someone to use to get through the area. With the first one in position it was easy for Kratos to see that for him to move forward he had to pull some levers, all to open some gates, and utilize the statues of the Fates to slow time, though since Flurry had a nearly identical stone he just had to link his with hers to slow time.

Flurry remained near the ceiling of the area, just to watch over her father, and found that there were levers underwater that allowed her father to raise some of the gates that were either in his way or those he had passed by, though he made sure to get out of the water every now and then to raise the pillars into position. After raising the four main pillars into position, those that were around the outer area of the chamber, she found that her father fought a barbarian and a few undead legionnaires appeared to stop her father from raising the last one into position, causing her to land without even a moment's delay. Her father wasted no time in turning the barbarian to stone with Euryale's Head, allowing him to smash his target to bits as Flurry slashed through the undead that dared to join the attack, before she found that were was one more barbarian and crushed him with his former King's hammer, which brought a small smile, or maybe a smirk, to her father's face for a moment. There was a third one that came at them on his own, but he lasted all of a few seconds as the pair tore him down without wasting time, though once he was dead Kratos moved the crank he had discovered and the last pillar, which was missing part of it's upper section, moved into place.

With the Oath Stone he was able to lock the pillar in place before he climbed up to an area that allowed him to grapple from one point to another, utilizing the five structures he had raised before this point to reach what appeared to be the exit, or at least a passage to yet another room, only to discover that it ended in a large lift.

As Kratos pulled the lever, to get the platform moving, they found a number of hounds appear to attack them, which were nothing compared to the might that he and Flurry had, hence why they slashed and smashed the small enemies with ease as the lift moved towards an upper walkway. What was interesting about this was that they had to press their hands on the ceiling and then use their strength to force the lift down to a safer area, which Kratos did as his daughter dealt with a couple of hounds that dropped out of a hole in the ceiling to attack them. After doing that a few times they were able to jump through the now open doorway and found that it closed once both of them were on the other side, allowing both warriors to walk down a new tunnel as a few harpies came down from a hole in the ceiling to attack them. This time Flurry used her bow and took them down with a few well placed arrows, all while her father carefully walked across a section of the floor that was broken, leaving just the beams behind, something he bypassed with ease and she replicated his moves as she caught up with him.

The area it brought them to appeared to be the inside of a mountain, where one of the stone minotaurs was waiting for intruders to reach this point of the trials, though it lasted only a few seconds as Kratos and Flurry used the heads of the Gorgon Queens they had taken down and turned it into a statue, before smashing it to bits.

"You two are as skilled as the stories claim... I am impressed." a feminine voice said, something that caused both warriors to turn back to face the path they had used to reach this point, where they found a lady standing behind them who wore a tan vest that had sleeves that reached her wrists, while it had a flowing robe bottom that prevented the pair from seeing her feet, though in addition to that she was wearing a hooded cloak over her upper body and her face was mostly covered by a green serpentine mask.

"Lady Stheno?" Flurry asked, as she knew that it was good manners to address someone like the eldest Gorgon Queen, a figure who had been alive for so long and was likely far stronger than her sisters, with respect, all while hoping that she wasn't here to avenge her sisters, otherwise the entire area would break around them.

"In the flesh." the figure replied, confirming that she was, in fact, the last of the Gorgon Queens, though Flurry had heard that she was far more massive than even Euryale, as she was supposed to be massive in comparison, but as she thought about that Stheno turned and waved her hand, causing some stones to move into the gap that was between them and the next part of the path, even though they could have simply grappled over to it, "Or rather, in my chosen mortal form... you would not believe how hard it is to talk to people with my true form, especially since I tower over everyone and most mortals are intimidated when they see what I really look like."

"It is certainly... interesting." Kratos said, though at the same time he and Flurry followed the Gorgon Queen for a moment as she reached the path they needed to take to move forward, where they found some skeletons guarding the way, not that such a thing mattered to the figure in front of them as she turned all of the bone warriors to stone, allowing him and Flurry to crush them with ease, "Why are you here?"

"Medusa and Euryale, I want their heads." Stheno answered, though as she turned to face them the pair found that she raised her right hand and withdrew two medallions that had the icon of a gorgon on their front surface, with green gems as the eyes, showing them that she wasn't here to fight, rather Flurry was sure that she was saddened by the deaths of her sisters, "I'm not going to fight you for them... my kind has lost too much since Ares went insane, and now the same has happened to Zeus, whose legions are slaughtering all who dare to oppose him, or so he claims... Medusa's clan has been totally eradicated, and Euryale's was falling apart, even before her death. And that's not counting all of the other monsters he's targeted, erasing whole groups and even what little settlements they have... so you can see why I would rather not leave my race without a leader, especially in the troubling times we're in. As such I'm willing to offer you these medallions that possess the same power that a gorgon wields, which we call the 'Gorgons' Eyes', in exchange for the heads of my sisters."

"Zeus is a blight on both men and monsters... he needs to be stopped, before something terrible happens." Flurry stated, a fact that was becoming more true as time went by, though at the same time both she and her father decided to hand over the heads, because the medallions seemed easier to carry around and use, where she could tell that Stheno was glad to have her sisters back with her, even in their current state.

"You are different from the other gorgon, as you are more peaceful than the others. Is Albis one of yours?" Kratos asked, though as they walked up a circular set of stairs, which were heading upwards, he reflected on the peaceful comment, as he meant it more in the sense that Stheno hadn't outright attacked them, rather she came to talk, something that easily reminded him of the gorgon who had befriended them a long time ago.

"Albis? Is that her name? Interesting." Stheno remarked, where she thought about what was going on as Flurry pulled a lever and lowered the seal that was on the ceiling above them, which lowered the rest of the stairs into position so they could walk up into a familiar area, the one that allowed the pair to meet the Barbarian King, "I know not where she came from, as she isn't a naturally born gorgon... in fact, she reminds me of Medusa, a mortal transformed into her new form by a god, but I could not tell you who she had been before the transformation. When this is over, and everything has had a chance to calm down, I would like to speak with her."

Kratos nodded his head in agreement, as it was possible that the eldest of the Gorgon Queens might be able to help them figure out more about Albis, or even help her out in some way, before discovering that he could use the Golden Fleece to repel the fireball trap and blast open a new path for him and Flurry to use. After that discovery Flurry wished Stheno well as she joined her father in crossing the gap, which happened to contain a short cave passage that lead outside, giving the pair a view of the Steeds of Time, plus some undead legionnaires that they used the medallions on. Such a thing allowed them to discover that the new tool did the same as the gorgon heads, as in the pair could turn enemies to stone and crush all of the new statues with ease, even though there were more undead legionnaires beyond the first group. Both Kratos and Flurry lashed out at the enemies in front of them, either knocking them off the cliff and sending them to their doom or slashing them apart with their weapons, before using some grapple points to reach another part of the temple they had thought they had finished upon entering the bog.

That allowed them to discover an area that was on the same level as the area that the other large statue was in, this one bearing a fierce look on her face, while the figure's mouth was full of fangs, causing Kratos and Flurry to brace themselves for whatever the Fates had in store for them this time around.

Fate: Spear of Destiny

As Kratos and Flurry looked at the new area they found that the new statue's eyes fired two beams of energy at a pair of pillars, just like the previous area, though this time around a number of wraiths came out of the ground to attack them, no doubt the guardians of this portion of the temple. The layout of this area was slightly similar to the previous one, in that they would have to find two statues and move them into position to block the eye beams, though Flurry did find a difference in no time, namely the crank that was connected to something else in this area. In order to get a better look at things the pair did what they always did, they drew their weapons and slashed at the enemies that were around them, only to find that all of the wraiths fell rather easily, especially since Kratos tore one apart with his bare hands and Fluffy beheaded a few more with her sickles. The fourth one that showed up ended up being slain by it's own weapon, driven through it's back, though after that one fell both warriors discovered that the area seemed to be clear for the time being, allowing them to glance around once more as they kept their weapons at the ready.

The crank raised a wooden platform that had a slot in it for one of the statues that would block one of the eyes, though it wasn't long before they found a problem, the section of the other one had been broken, meaning the Fates wanted them and other seekers to devise a new way to move forward.

Based on what Flurry could see the only path for them to use was to head inside the structure that was behind the statue's head, as there was a door leading into another section of the temple, a door her father raised into the ceiling without even wasting time, allowing the pair to enter a clean chamber with a reflective floor. In addition to that both warriors found that the chains linked to the Steeds of Time even reached this point, as the chains were massive, and there were a couple of dead soldiers in the first part of the chamber, causing the pair to lower their heads a little as they moved forward. This time they found a brand new enemy, a human who was dressed in a scholar's uniform and carried a scroll that allowed him to call forth a minotaur to do battle with them, while at the same time leaving himself exposed, to which Kratos hacked apart the monster as Flurry froze the summoner with the twinblade before smashing him to bits. Of course with any new foe there were more than one for both warriors to fight, as a few more summoners appeared to call forth a few minotaurs, though instead of letting them do that both Kratos and Flurry slashed them apart before they had time to call forth their minions.

Once the summoners were taken care of, and they were sure of that, the pair found two stone pillars that seemed like the pieces of a new puzzle, either the one that was back in the new courtyard or one that was deeper in the temple, plus there was a crank connected to a lift. Kratos found that if one of them moved the nearby crank the lift would raise, though at the same time if they let go of the crank it would send the lift back into the floor, to which he and Flurry moved both pillars over to where the lift was resting. Flurry quickly realized the key to this chamber, one pillar was supposed to be placed just below the lift, to stop it from fully returning to the floor, while the other was to help them climb up onto the upper level they had been aiming for since entering the chamber. With Kratos and Flurry working together they were able to reach the upper walkway and continued on their way, all while keeping their guard up in case there were other enemies waiting to tear them down, which they were expecting given that the Sisters wanted them dead.

One thing that caused them to pause for a moment was a gated wall that separated them from another section of the temple, where a minotaur and an undead legionnaire were toying with a still living soldier for the fun of it, though since there was nothing they could do the pair climbed a nearby ladder and moved even higher into the structure. The path in question seemed to head outside for a moment, to a damaged walkway that reminded them on what they had seen on the other half of the temple, the first one they had moved through earlier, and Flurry quickly spotted the other half as she and her father kicked a pair of undead legionnaires off the bridge. There were also some harpies that were coming over to where they were standing, where the pair unleashed the power of their new Gorgons' Eyes and turned them to stone in an instant, which was followed by all of the frozen harpies crumbling when they hit the floor. Flurry had to admit that the new medallions worked like a charm, they were far easier to use than Medusa's Head, and Euryale's as well she reasoned, especially since they were easier to pull out than the heads, causing her to mentally thank Stheno as she and her father continued on their way.

Such a thing meant heading down some stairs heading down into another section of the area, tearing through a couple of undead legionnaires in the process, before discovering that it brought them to the lower level where they had seen the unfortunate soldier being toyed with. In addition to that the warriors found that a pair of sickle satyrs were guarding the rest of the passage, though this time around their weapons were two large sickles, unlike what Flurry used, causing her to rush at both of their opponents as she spun around and lashed out with her own main weapons. Kratos stood there for a few seconds as he observed his daughter, as her attacks were lethal and she struck them without any wasted movements, allowing her to kill her foes in a matter of seconds before returning her weapons to her belt. He nodded as he caught up to Flurry, as he was proud of the warrior and goddess she had become, especially with how calm and reasonable she could be at times, despite how insane her rage could be when someone pissed her off, before he refocused on what they were doing as he pushed the rectangular stone block that was in front of them.

The block landed in the courtyard they had passed through earlier, where Flurry found that it could be moved into place just below a broken wooden ladder, thus allowing her father to get up to the walkway that was above the crank, as she didn't need it due to her ability to fly, so they could see what else needed to be done. Oddly enough there was only one statue for them to use, like the other one had been destroyed, a cheap trick by the Fates to make sure no one had the power to move deeper into the island, at least from the direction the pair was fighting their way through. In addition to that Flurry found that the statue was also missing it's shield, which meant that the Fates were really playing dirty with this portion of their vast trials, though she did determine that her father might be able to use the Golden Fleece in place of the second statue, which meant they needed this one's shield. With that in mind they tracked down another door and Kratos pushed it into the ceiling without delay, allowing them to enter another portion of the temple, only to discover a barbarian with a couple of satyr warriors backing him up in the chamber that was on the other side of the door.

Both warriors utilized the Gorgons' Eyes to turn their foes to stone, shattering them with a quick blow from their weapons, where they found that this chamber was right above where the large chain was resting in the lower floor, only to discover that the next part of the path was to head outside and use some grapple points.

These ones happened to bring them closer to the peak of the temple, as they were far higher than before, where a couple of satyr warriors were waiting to guard this area from intruders, before Flurry found that the area at the end of the walkway was a large circular area with a single temple fragment between where they were and where they needed to go. Fortunately there was an easy way across the area, a pressure plate in the floor that summoned a number of decent vines that rushed out and linked up with the central platform, forming a path for them to walk on so they could move forward. Such a thing also explained why there was a time gem statue nearby, as the vines quickly retracted when no one was on the button, but neither of them needed to stop time, because all Flurry had to do was stand on the button and let her father cross, as she had wings and the Oath Stone. She also found that this button was connected to another set of vines, leading to an area that had another statue with a time gem, meaning they needed to use this one and then a second to reach the other side of the area, though she refrained from flying over immediately, as her father tore the satyr warriors apart with ease.

Once Kratos was on the other side of the area Flurry landed behind him and followed after him as they dealt with a group of satyr warriors and harpies, this time shocking all of them with the lightning power Cronos had given them at the start of this venture, tearing through the enemies with ease. After dealing with them, however, they found another root button and another Fate statue, the former connected to another set of roots that would bring them to the center of the area they were currently in, or at least the temple wall anyway. Flurry had to question the purpose of this area, as it seemed like a waste to not have a series of puzzles that needed to be solved to obtain everything needed to take care of the eye beams in the new courtyard, making her wonder if the architect had gotten lazy when making this area. Kratos found that the small chamber it brought them to had just a door that he pulled up into the ceiling, allowing them to walk into a new section of the temple that had a shallow body of water for them to walk across, even though there were no doors leading to the next area, an odd sight for sure.

In addition to that a man rushed up to them, tripped and fell face first into the water, before forcing himself to stand once more as the pair fully entered the chamber he had been walking around him, where the door closed behind them and caused the man to pound on it for a few seconds.

"You fools! That door was my only way to escape this place." the man said, where they found that he was wearing a brown civilian outfit with a blue sash that rested over his left shoulder, though it looked like he was wearing sandals, carried a gold helm in his left hand, had a sword on his belt, and happened to have a golden shield on his back, "I have faced test after test in my search for the Sisters, and now you two have dashed it all away! You two don't live up to your reputations, Ghost of Sparta... but perhaps this is a sign... am I, the great Perseus, to kill the fallen God of War and his foul monster of a daughter, all to gain an audience with the Sisters of Fate?"

"You know, Perseus, you could show a little more respect towards the God of War and the Goddess of Death." Flurry said, because while her father might have had his powers and godhood stolen he was still the God of War, otherwise she was sure that Zeus would have come down to strike her father down before they even set out on this mission.

"And who would believe a pitiful creature such as yourself? I cannot believe anyone would even dare to love a monster like you... you'd be an attractive woman if you were human, but that's tainted by your monstrous nature." Perseus stated, as if he was the authority on the subject of beauty or something, while at the same time he stepped down into the water for a time, like he was actually thinking of fighting two gods on his own, "Maybe I'll take you out first and send your soul to the Underworld to face whatever punishment Hades has for a pitiful lying monster like yourself."

Kratos stood there for a moment before stepping forward, where Perseus had a single second to realize that there was a look of pure anger and rage on the fallen god's face as his fist connected with the left side of his face, a powerful punch that sent him flying into the water as he let go of his helm, which rolled closer to Flurry. She remained still for a couple of seconds as her father went into a rage she had only seen once before, when he lashed out at Ares, and as Perseus dared to get up, while drawing his blade, he was struck with the Blades of Chaos and forcefully knocked backwards. In the next moment Flurry called forth a bit of her magic as her father pummeled Perseus, striking him with his fists after removing his blade and shield, which was what Flurry was aiming for as she collected them and the helm before it was crushed, all while the mortal warrior found his face being smashed into the marble wall behind him. He proceeded to beat him into the water for a few more seconds, in fact there was a moment where it looked like he was going to strangle him while his head was under the water, before he pulled Perseus up, stabbed him in the chest with the blades, and then hurled him at the wall, smashing a hole through it as the warrior was impaled on a nearby hook.

As Perseus expired, however, the rage that had fueled Kratos started to fade and he realized that his daughter had seen him brutalize the warrior without really giving him time to react, causing him to force himself to calm down as he turned towards Flurry for a moment.

"Flurry, I am sorry you had to see that." Kratos said, as he had tried to put on a good example for his daughter and not give into his rage all the time, like he had done in the past, though there were times where his control just wasn't good enough, something he really needed to work on.

"Its fine... everyone needs to rage every now and then." Flurry replied, because she had seen and heard of what her father had gone when fueled by his rage, even when that rage was ignited to protect someone important to him or defend those who were wronged in some manner, and while it worried her to see that side of her father she was happy that it was to protect those he held dear, instead of what drove him to Ares' side, before she considered something, "Still, that makes me wonder if he might have been right about something... I never really thought about it until now, but is the reason that I can't find love due to the fact that people see me as a monster?"

"No! You are not a monster... you are far better than one could ever hope to be." Kratos answered, where he made his way over to his daughter and embraced her for a moment, to show her that he meant what he said, though he wasn't too sure what to do about mortals not finding her attractive, save for the few guarding Attica, "Trust me, one day you will find someone who will value you for who you are, and not what you look like."

Flurry said nothing as she carefully nodded her head, as she understood what her father was saying, though once that was done they used the nearby chain, which was linked to the hook Perseus' body was on, to get her father down into the courtyard as Flurry flew down herself. From there they separated for a few moments, where Flurry moved the statue that was in the area down into the lower section of the courtyard, moved it into the slot they had seen previously, and then placed the shield into the empty hands, before moving over to the crank. Kratos, on the other hand, made his way back up to where he and his daughter had seen the area that didn't have a statue to block the eye and braced himself as he called for Flurry to turn the crank, which she did so without delay. Once the shield was in position, and Flurry made sure to use the Oath Stone to lock it into place with a copy, Kratos used the Golden Fleece to stall and reflect the second beam as the same happened to the first one, allowing them to overload both eyes and disable the barrier.

With the deed done the pair gathered near the entrance to the next zone, but not before Flurry recovered the shield, since it was blessed by the gods in some manner, though once it was in her collection again they walked up the stairs that were on the other side of where the barrier had been resting. The stairs ended in what appeared to be another ruin, where a number of undead archers were waiting for them, enemies that Flurry took down with a pair of arrows, as there were only two of them, before they moved deeper into what seemed to be a fractured ruin. Flurry found that her thought about an item being fractured was more accurate than she initially believed, as the bridge leading deeper into the island was more broken than what she believed, though her father climbed a nearby vine wall and she followed him with her wings. What they discovered was that the path in question brought them to a lever that activated a gate below them, allowing them to reach an area that held the crystalline spear they had seen earlier, along with the fallen beast that had been stabbed by it a long while ago.

"The Spear of Destiny." Kratos commented, as there were a few tales about the guardians of the Fates, like the rider they had taken down on their way to this location, and fewer still named the weapons that were in those tales, where he took a moment to pull out the spear and sent the flying beast into the jungle below them.

"An excellent addition to our growing arsenal." Flurry remarked, because they had seen it's previous wielder in action and knew how to use such a weapon in combat, so it already gave them a boost in what they were capable of, though as she said that a number of undead legionnaires appeared around them and they turned towards their enemies.

The spear was definitely a good addition, as Kratos and Flurry found that it dealt some good damage to the enemies that were around them, because it tore through their armor like it was nothing, telling them that if it had hit Kratos it would have gone some serious damage. With it now in their possession the pair were able to inflict devastating damage on their enemies, cutting through the armor of the undead legionnaires with ease, and that was even more true when they found that it had a purple blast attack as well, like it charged power in the head piece before firing it at their enemies. After the area was cleared out Flurry decided to double back to the locked chamber that was near the start of the ruins, one that seemed to require the amulets to get through, and Kratos held his up so she could activate it for a moment, though when she returned a few moments later she was carrying a magical urn like the one she found in Rhodes. He wasn't too sure what it's use was, or if it had one, but he said nothing as Flurry added it to her ever growing collection of relics that were taken from every adventure, and once she was done they returned to the crank that had been near the spear's temporary resting place.

The crank, as it turned out, spun the ground below it, allowing them to move the nearby Fate statue so it's gem was facing the ruined path, where it became clear as to why it was there in the first place, one of the fragments could be raised for a time to form a way up to the next, so slowing time allowed them to reach another part of the path. As the pair started to move down the path once more, finding that this time it involved grapple points and swinging around, though when they started to do that, with Kratos moving forward first, both warriors found that the entire path, both what needed to be used and what was nearby, started to collapse on them. With that in mind Flurry took to the air as her father swung from point to point as the entirety of the fractured bridge, even segments that weren't linked to what they were doing, broke in rapid succession as her father forced himself to move without falling into the depths of the jungle below them. As he did that, however, Flurry realized this was a foul trick on the Fates' part, making it so no one could reach them by breaking the bridge and having it fall whenever someone dared to use it, though when her father reached the end, a cavern below the end of the bridge, she joined him without delay.

Kratos huffed for a moment and beckoned for Flurry to take a seat, because after that he needed a few moments to rest and get his strength back before they tackled the next part of the trials that were waiting for them, as he knew that things were going to get even more difficult and knew they had to be ready for whatever the future held in store for them.

Fate: A Familiar Face

Once Kratos was ready to go he and Flurry walked into the underground cave he had landed in, only to find a circular area that a couple of sirens were wandering around in, though instead of letting them pass the monsters turned and shrieked at the pair the moment they spotted them. From what the pair could see this was more like simply killing their enemies and not using their powerful shrieks to break something, like how both warriors opened the way to the Steeds of Time, causing them to prepare themselves accordingly as they faced their current foes. Of course both warriors weren't surprised to find that a minotaur joined the fight and rushed at them while they were distracted, though Flurry rounded up the sirens with the ghostly chain of her sickles, something she rarely used, and took them out as her father used his Gorgons' Eye to turn the minotaur to stone. After smashing the statue the pair headed down the path in front of them and found another small area that had a sickle satyr and a few barbarians waiting for them, where Flurry wasted no time in smashing one barbarian with the hammer, crushing the warrior's head like a nut, and her father slashed the other apart before they dealt with the satyr before it could flee.

After that they left the cave they were in and found what appeared to be another fragment of a large chasm, where this time it looked like the walkway was still fine, even though there was nothing else connecting them to the center of the island, all while a crazed looking man with makeshift wings pulled himself onto the end of the walkway.

"Go back, warriors, go back!" the man, who had to be either Icarus or Daedalus, as they were the only two people who had their own makeshift wings that could allow them to fly or glide, said, though the way he marched around told the pair that he was definitely not someone to focus on as Flurry determined where she would have to drag her father to, like when she got him up to Pandora's Temple, "There is no passage here... neither of you will make it across. You think you can, but you cannot. Do you hear me?! It is my wings that will make it across, for this is my test!"

"Technically it is the test of anyone who seeks the Sisters." Flurry remarked, though at the same time she and her father stood near the edge of the walkway as she turned her gaze to what was below them, only to discover that there was what appeared to be a tunnel in the group that headed into the depths of the world, "Out of curiosity, are you Icarus, or are you Daedalus?"

"Fool, do you not know who I am? Have you not heard of Icarus?" the insane man, who confirmed that he was Icarus in the oddest way possible, stated, though at the same time he got up in both of their faces as they stared at him, finding that his mind was definitely nearly gone by how his eyes seemed to dart around before focusing on them, causing the pair to just ignore him entirely, "It is my fate to make it across, NONE OTHER! This is my test! The Sisters will grant me an audience, to change my fate... not you. You will die, foolish warriors! Both of you will die!"

"Ignore him, his mind is gone." Kratos said, where he frowned for a moment as he finished surveying the rest of the area, as it sure looked like there was nowhere for them to go without forcing Flurry to carrying him over to whatever was on the other end of the chasm, causing him to move over to another portion as they ignored Icarus, "It doesn't look like there is a way over to the center of the island... we might have to resort to using your wings to get across all of this."

As Flurry opened her mouth to say something, along the lines of that she agreed with her father about what to do next, Icarus latched onto her father's head and forced the pair to fall over the edge, which forced her to spread her wings as she jumped over the edge and flew after them. Icarus, despite the fact that he was face to face with the God of War, lashed out with his fists as he did nothing to his chosen foe, though nothing mattered since he was unable to actually land even a single punch as they fell into the passage they had spotted earlier. Her father, on the other hand, delivered a couple of attacks to his opponent's chest, in an attempt to convince him that he was making a mistake, and Flurry found that Icarus used his wings to push them deeper into the changing passage, like they were heading into the Underworld again, which would ruin things. Kratos, knowing that things had to change, decided to stop trying to save Icarus and got onto his back, allowing him to see that the man had grafted his wings to his own back, though with time of the essence he grabbed onto the base of both wings and tore them free, allowing him to spread his arms and use the wings to slow his fall.

Shortly after that they passed through a familiar hole in the ceiling as they entered a part of the Underworld they hadn't been in for a long time, where the worn and weathered form of Atlas greeted them, though Flurry loosed a single arrow into Icarus' head, killing him instantly, giving him mercy as her father landed in front of Atlas' eyes, on a walkway she was sure hadn't been there the last time they saw him.

"Are you alright?" Flurry asked, which might be a dumb question to ask since she could tell her father was fine, but she felt it was best to ask before they moved forward, though at the same time she looked at the wings and ran a bit of her magic over them, mending the feathers so they would be pristine until her father didn't need them, as this seemed like an item he might keep, before adding them to the magic that kept the Blades of Chaos floating on his back.

"Yes. We should get moving before Atlas realizes we're here." Kratos replied, keeping his voice low as he glanced at the eye that was near them, as it looked duller than what he recalled the titan having the last time they had seen him, though he did notice that all of the chains looked pristine and were holding well, meaning Flurry didn't have to reapply them, and the lava coming from the roof had altered Atlas' form, hence why his body was so different.

Flurry nodded as she hid herself from the titan's eyes and leapt up onto his brow, while her father carefully climbed up his stone nose and found that Atlas moved one of his hands to cover the opening they had come through, giving them a new objective if they couldn't find a way out. As they regrouped Flurry explained that the magic she had weaved into Icarus' Wings would allow him to open them in the air with a slight thought, so he could glide across small gaps with ease, though she reckoned that if they found a thermal vent he might be able to propel himself into the air with ease. She also found a few flaming harpies and loosed a few arrows at them, taking them out as Kratos caught up with her, giving her a chance to inform her father that even with her additions he wouldn't be able to fly like they were natural wings, but for making his way around certain areas they would be incredibly useful. Kratos had to agree, as Icarus' Wings weren't like what Flurry had, though while he was pleased with this addition to his own arsenal he was disappointed that they couldn't do anything to stop Icarus from making such a stupid decision, causing him to follow his daughter as they made their way across the platforms that were near Atlas' brow.

These platforms seemed to have been made from the chains that held the titan in place, or maybe they were inspired by them, before gliding down into what appeared to be a cave passage, one that looked more like the inside of a body, like when they were making their way to the Furies a lifetime ago. Of course there were enemies to fight, more flaming harpies and a few satyr warriors, with a sickle one mixed into the group every now and then, where Flurry dodged the attacks as she lashed out with lightning, blasting her foes into submission as her father slashed his way through them. What caught them by surprise was the fact that to move deeper into the cavern they had to move a pillar that was made of bone, as if they were in part of Atlas' lower body or something, or maybe this was the new form of this portion of the Underworld for some odd reason. Neither warrior cared too much since they wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible, because the moment Hades realized they were in his domain, and located them, he'd likely do everything in his power to keep them in one spot so Zeus could be called in to deal with them. With the Blade of Olympus in his hands Flurry knew that Zeus would have a good chance at killing her father for real, and maybe making it stick this time, while she would put up more of a challenge after everything she had been through, causing her to focus on the chamber they glided into as they found one of the stone minotaur waiting for them.

The pair glanced at each other before using their Gorgons' Eyes on the stone minotaur, turning it into a stone statue in a matter of seconds before Flurry smashed it with the hammer, allowing her and her father to use a large fragment of it to reach another passage that brought them to a larger area that gave them a view of Atlas again.

Both warriors didn't stay in the area for long, as Kratos found a weak opening in the left wall that he could open with a quick swing of his blades, where a chunk of stone fell into a lava river and started to move towards the area's right edge, allowing him to use a grapple point to launch himself to another area. The new cavern had a ledge that couldn't be reached by any of their normal means, save for Flurry's wings, though by breaking a large nearby rock they were able to open a thermal vent for her father to use to reach the upper ledge without much delay. That ended up bringing them into an area that had a fair number of nymph nests, where both warriors found more enemies coming at them, though as Flurry used the twinblade to take them down her father moved around the cavern and smashed the stone nests before they floored the area with more foes. Once those were taken care of her father climbed along the walls and ceiling of the chamber they were in and came to a stop at the opening that headed back outside, causing her to follow after him and found that it, too, gave them another good view of the massive titan, like a silent reminder that he was there.

Flurry found that her father would have to use the underside of another rock path to move forward, using his blades to aid him in his climbing, to which she hovered near him and used her bow to take down the satyr warriors that got in his way, a fact that allowed him to find an opening to a small rocky chamber. This one happened to have one of the spikes in it and he stood on top of it's small platform as it moved down into an area, though he did have to jump to another climbable area as his daughter hovered and used her arrows to take down any enemies that dared to get in his way. The purpose for such a thing, odd as it was, was so he could break some stalactites and use them to break open a thermal vent in the area just before the grapple point, causing a smile to appear on his face as he dropped back down into the center of the chamber for a few seconds, only to use the new vent to propel himself to a new area. Flurry quickly discovered that the next area they had to move through involved jumping and gliding from one spiked platform to another, with one having a crank that would allow them to reach a higher point to reach other areas, which looked like Hades must have gotten bored and built some sort of path around Atlas for fun.

There were a few enemies on a crank platform, namely satyr warriors and a few flaming harpies, but they mattered little to the pair as they turned their foes to stone and smashed their statues, allowing Kratos to move the crank, and the platform, while Flurry kept an eye out for more enemies.

At the end of the final platform Kratos found a chain he could use to slide down, like with the rope lines, that brought him to another short stone path and a stone wall he had to climb around, causing him to latch onto the wall as Flurry remained in the air, since both of them knew this would likely have enemies for them to deal with. Sure enough some satyr warriors tried to attack her father from below, so while Flurry dealt with them her father kept moving higher and higher, breaking a few bits of stone with his blades before using a few grapple points to move around to a new rocky walkway. She landed in what appeared to be an area where one had to move two identical stones into position, placing one on top of the other so they could push the higher one into a new area and use it as a platform to continue their ascent, or at least that was what she saw when looking at the area. Kratos proved her right, as that was exactly what they did by working together to cut down on the time they were in the Underworld, and it wasn't long before he started to climb up another stone path, one that had a pair of paths for him to jump between as he avoided falling rocks.

Kratos found that he didn't need to worry too much about the rocks, as Flurry loosed a number of arrows into the air and he quickly discovered that they contained a small bit of magic that tore the rocks apart, even though he had to head down a second path and climb up another portion, before he stopped at what appeared to be one of Atlas' palms.

"Who dares to scurry around me like a pair of ants?" Atlas asked, his voice sounding the same as what the pair recalled, all while this confirmed the fact that his sight must have gotten worse over the years, though as he glanced around the area Flurry and Kratos glanced at each other for a second before glancing at the titan.

"Atlas, know that it is I, Flurry Heart, the Goddess of Death, and my father, Kratos, the God of War." Flurry stated, raising her voice enough so that the titan could hear her from where they were standing, all while Kratos looked at the ceiling that was above them and knew the path back to the surface was within reach, "A great deal of time has passed since we last encountered each other, and know that we no longer walk with Zeus... as for the other Olympians, it all depends on if they walk with him or decide to leave him to his fate."

"Death? Well, that is interesting." Atlas commented, where it looked like he was lost in thought about something, no doubt due to what she had told him and what their presence meant, at this point in time, all while Flurry glanced at the hole her father had noticed and realized that to get out of here, without freeing the titan, she would need to use her wings and carry him to the surface, "Very well, since Gaia seems to be moving I shall grant you a bit of my power... I won't forgive you for imprisoning me here, but I will help you complete your task."

Flurry determined that Atlas must have felt Gaia's presence around her father, given her assistance in making sure they reached the island in the first place, hence why he was willing to trust them so quickly, despite the fact that they had put him in his current position, though she wasn't about to argue with him. This power, as it turned out, was 'Atlas Quake', the ability to call forth boulders made of magic that, with a stomp of their feet or hoof, or pounding their fists on the ground, sent the magical projectiles out into their enemies before they had a chance to react. Both of them realized this was good for clearing out large crowds of foes, provided they weren't in the same area or Flurry got into the air so her father could use it against other enemies, though for the time being Flurry used her magic to set up a magical wall between them so they could practice with ease. She also found that Atlas was doing his best to watch them, which wasn't easy given where his hand was resting right now, though it did look like he might be pleased with their progress in using his power, and the moment the satyr warriors that popped up for their test were taken care of she got ready.

She wasn't about to free one of Atlas' hands, even though she had the gauntlet that could move the chains and seal him in place again, so with that in mind she jumped off the palm, opened her wings, and circled back to where her father was waiting for her, as she grabbed onto his back and hauled him into the air. Kratos found that Flurry was wasting no time in getting them back to the surface, as her magic formed a barrier around them as she smashed through the rocked that fell down the passage she was currently using, once more reminding him as to why Hecate had offered to train her all those years ago. While they headed up the passage he also heard the sound of Atlas talking, saying something about wishing the pair well, as the 'lives of many' depended on their success, something both of them knew to be the titans, since they were no doubt upset over Zeus and the Olympians beating them during the war. With that thought in mind the pair focused on the passage as Flurry tore her way to the surface, where she found that the area on the surface that this one had brought them to was the opposite end of the fractured bridge above the chasm, allowing her to place her father on the bridge before landing beside him.

Kratos paused for a moment as Flurry brought her wings in, leaving them in the neutral state when she wasn't using them for any reason, as he was expecting her to do something to indicate she had strained herself, causing him to chuckle just a little as he realized something he had failed to acknowledge.

"Is something wrong?" Flurry asked, because it was incredibly rare for her father to chuckle, in fact the best she and the rest of their group had gotten out of him was the smile that showed he approved of something or was proud of someone, and she had only heard this at least twice during her time with him.

"No, just... you are stronger than I expected, Flurry. I am proud of you." Kratos replied, as that was the truth, he had been so preoccupied with dealing with Zeus' plans and machinations that he hadn't taken the time to say anything about just how his daughter had improved over the years, both as a warrior and as a goddess.

"Thank you, father. I had a lot to live up to, and had such wonderful teachers to help me along the way." Flurry said, where she had a feeling she knew where her father's statement was coming from, the fact that the last time she did this she had strained her wings and had to rest them for a short period of time, while this time she had suffered no injuries and was ready to face what the future held for them, causing her to sigh as she faced the path in front of them, "Come on, we had best get going... we have less time to reach the Sisters, since Hades will no doubt report our visit to the Underworld to Zeus, meaning we need to hurry."

Kratos nodded his head as he started to move once more, as he wanted to reach the Sisters before Zeus had a chance to stop them and ruin the mood, though he knew that they were more than ready for whatever challenges were standing between them and their targets and he was eager to see what the future held for them.

Fate: Palace of the Fates

Kratos and Flurry discovered that they had to cross over a few fragmented gaps, along with climbing up two rock walls, all to glide over to what appeared to be the entrance of the massive structure that was in front of them, not a temple, like they were expecting, rather it was more like a palace. It was an imposing place, which would no doubt inspire fear into the hearts of mortals if someone was able to make it this far in their quest, and there were two large statues outside, one of a god and one of a titan holding a hand towards the structure, statues in the form of Zeus and Cronos. Flurry knew it was designed to show their control over the rest of the beings that ruled over Greece, both in the ancient age and the current age, that all bow to the Fates, and her father frowned as he glanced at them for a few seconds, showing that he didn't approve of the statues at all. After taking a few moments to stare at the statues the pair continued towards the physical entrance that was in front of them, keeping their weapons at the ready since they knew it was only a matter of time until the Fate's guardians came to defend this area from intruders.

What was interesting was that no enemies seemed to show up as they looked around the outside exterior, allowing them to find that there was a lever below the ramp that served as the walkway and a handle on part of the lower level to move the main entrance, though as Kratos pulled the lever a number of beast lords and cyclops attacked them. The smaller foes stood no chance against their might, as it was a simple matter to overpower them before using their own axes to slice them apart, just like they had done back when they first encountered them outside Euryale's temple. The few cyclops, on the other hand, were slightly harder to deal with, where both warriors dodged their punches and slashed into their arms or legs, though one fell as Flurry pressed her Gorgons' Eye into the monster's eye, turning it to stone so she could shatter it. Once their foes were taken care of the pair walked over to where the handle was located and Kratos started to move it, only to discover that there were more and Flurry joined her father in moving the main door around for a time.

After reaching a certain point the handles stopped and the walkway raised back into place, allowing them to enter what looked to be a large chamber with a hole riddled floor, with another opening that was the path forward, to which the pair walked into the area and Kratos pulled the central lever.

What they discovered was that there were several sections where spikes burst out of the holes, came to a stop after they reached a certain point, and returned to their holding area while the walls slowly spun, though the opening revealed what appeared to be safe locations for them to stand in. It didn't look like there were any instances where the entire floor was raised, meaning they wouldn't have to worry about being stabbed to death, though Flurry did pick up a handle that looked like the one in Atlas' area of Pandora's Temple, causing her to collect it since it might be needed later. There were also a number of nymphs that used webs flying around the chamber, no doubt to lock them into place to get them killed, a fact that really didn't matter thanks to the power of their Gorgons' Eyes, allowing Kratos and Flurry to deal with these foes as they waited for the main opening to be revealed. In order to actually stop the wall from moving Kratos had to pull a large square shaped block out of the area that it was resting in, forcing the entire area to come to a stop as the door opened to show them the entrance into what seemed to be the heart of the palace.

The stairs that were beyond that brought them by an area that had some more soldiers that were being torn apart by a few minotaurs, though while both warriors wondered how the men could have gotten here, since there was only one path and it was fractured, neither stopped to help since there was a grated wall between the two passages.

Upon exiting the passage Kratos and Flurry discovered that there was a large platform in front of them, with a statue on either side of a lever that likely extended a bridge to where the massive spire they had seen previously was resting, which told them that there was more work that needed to be done. There was a carving of Boreas to their right, with one of the golden wind horns resting in front of it, like they saw during their quest for Pandora's Box, plus two locked doors that had shapes on their surfaces to represent keys neither of them had on them. With that in mind Kratos walked over to the right side of the area and climbed up a ladder as Flurry kept an eye out for enemies, where he found a small area with a place for the handle to go, causing Flurry to toss it up to him before he connected it to the base. Such a thing allowed him to turn the crank and take down some flames that were in the way, though instead of worrying about the time statue Flurry landed over the Oath Stone once more and he left a copy in his place as they continued to move forward, once more causing him to appreciate having the older artifacts in their arsenal.

After jumping across the platform the pair entered another passage, a circular one this time, and found that there was a steam vent for them to use to get into the air, or at least it would in her father's case since Flurry could do so on her own, and there was a lever for someone to pull to lower a spike gate for a few moments. With that in mind Flurry pulled the lever for her father to get over the gate, and once he was on the other side it wasn't long before she did the same thing, allowing them to head down another portion of the path that had to bring them to one of the keys they needed to move deeper into the palace. The warriors also discovered that there were a few hounds and a couple of undead legionnaires in the way, not that either of them were surprised, which was why both of them hacked their foes apart while Flurry shocked a couple of hounds with lightning, ending them before they could become a major problem. Once those foes were dead Kratos lifted the large carving that was right in front of them out of the way and revealed a new chamber, with an outer area that had a large stone tome on it, though the room didn't have anything important inside it, in fact it seemed more like a simple passage.

Flurry approached the outside tome and found that it was written in a language that not even she understood, despite all of her lessons from all of the other gods, though by glancing off to their right both she and her father found a figure that looked to be a scholar in another structure.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Flurry asked, because if there were scholars here that meant that one of them had to know the language that was on the tome, which had to be the key to understanding what the Sisters wanted, or maybe it was simple instructions they gave to the worthy ones that reached this point.

"Yes. The scholars are the key." Kratos replied, as it was the only thing that made sense, though at the same time he found that a decent sized stone block was hanging in the room both of them had walked through, where he cut it down and just started to push it towards the scholar's location.

As it turned out he was right to do that, as the scholar was resting on a pressure plate and that removing him cause a gate to trap the intruder or intruders until they died, but thanks to the stone block Kratos was able to move it onto the plate so they could keep the gate open. After that he held the scholar over his shoulder as Flurry turned on the satyr warriors and hounds as they charged at them, where she raised her hand and summoned a few variations of her lightning spell at the incoming foes, shocking her enemies with balls and bolts of lightning. The sickle satyrs that jumped up onto the walkway a few seconds later she had a surprise for as she turned them to stone with her Gorgons' Eye, allowing her and her father to smash them to pieces as they made their way over to where the tome was resting. Sure enough that was guarded by more foes, hounds and summoners, so naturally the pair tore into all of them with their weapons and Kratos even ripped one of the latter in half, allowing them to clear out a portion of the area so the scholar would be safe.

Once the area was cleared of enemies, and they were sure of that, Kratos turned towards the scholar and told him that Zeus needed to be stopped, that he was a blight on the rest of Greece and this was their chance to stop him, which was mostly true, though as he tried to convince him of their intentions, without violence, Flurry noticed something. There were grooves in the floor that seemed to form a design that was specific to the Fates, in fact she was sure that it looked like a phoenix, which reminded her of the central peak of this area, the odd spike of earth that seemed to be more than what they were seeing. In the end the scholar refused to betray Zeus and made a move to throw himself off the ledge, which caused Kratos to shake his head as he grabbed the man and forced him to read the tome, and when he resisted his grip he slammed his head into the stone. Flurry had to wonder why people were so willing to throw themselves at whatever stood in Zeus' way, or got out of the way of so they didn't hurt the King of the Gods, though eventually he bent and read what was on the tome, stating that another worthy of the Sisters had arrived and that to prove that the seeker was worthy they were to offer the scholar's life.

Kratos dealt a death blow without delay, allowing the blood to spill out of the scholar and slip into the grooves, while at the same time the wings of the central statue moved before their eyes, showing them that there was more to this area, and it came to an end as both warriors found a female figure, formed out of a bloody mist, floating behind them.

Well done, warrior. With this sacrifice you have proven your resolve to seek out the Sisters of Fate... however, this is but a small step in your quest to gain an audience with us. the figure said, where Flurry found that it was a fair bodied lady who was wearing a toga that was held in place by a metal belt around her waist, while also only covering the right side of her body and exposed her left breast, though she also had black feathered wings.

It was easy for them to tell that this was a magical message for the Sisters, or maybe Lahkesis since she seemed to be the face of the trio, to encourage seekers to continue with their quest, causing them to walk over to the doorway and found that it had one of the keys, a brass ram horn that was curved around in a circle of sorts. With the key in hand Kratos took a moment to force the door it had been resting on into the ceiling so they could enter a new passage, one that brought the pair back to where Flurry had found the thermal vent earlier, only this time everything was switched off. Since there was nothing stopping them the pair quickly headed back outside and returned to the main area of the palace, crossing over to the ram door and inserted the ram key into the lock to unlock it, even though Kratos had to force it into the ceiling so they could move forward. Both warriors discovered that there was a spike wall to their left that would no doubt follow them as soon as they started to move down the passage to the right, though when it didn't start moving they realized this was a trap, as when Kratos reached a certain point another spike wall appeared in front of them, before both came at them at a rather slow speed.

A large number of undead legionnaires also dropped down into the area as well, to kill them or distract them before they had a chance to reach safety, though Flurry set up a barrier between them so they could unleash the sheer power of Atlas' Quake, smashing the enemies that were coming at them without showing any openings to them. After slaughtering what seemed to be a hundred enemies, fifty for each of them, both walls retreated and allowed them to continue on their way, entering a new area that had a path leading to an area with a number of statues, every major Olympian that stood with Zeus on Olympus. Flurry found that it was almost completely accurate, as there was one for Zeus, Hades, Hermes, Helios, Poseidon, and Athena, though based on what she could see it looked like a couple were missing, like Hera for example, and many other slots were empty, likely displaying a power difference in Olympus itself. Athena's statue was lifeless, a fact that told them that their allies either had nothing to say to them or they were incapable of reaching them, for whatever reasons they might have, causing Kratos to tap on what seemed to be a way forward and smashed through part of the wall, revealing another passage for them to use.

This one required hugging the wall in front of them and carefully climbing their way down the passage, as there was no ground below them, though it was fairly easy to do since there were no enemies to worry about, which was followed by Kratos and Flurry jumping down into another chamber. Based on what they could see the Sisters of Fate wanted them to sacrifice enemies by burning them alive, since there were two levers nearby, one on the left side and one on the right side, meaning they would have to stun their foes before burning them. Neither warrior was even remotely surprised by this, as the Sisters seemed to enjoy tormenting people and having sacrifices made in their glory, to which each took a side of the chamber and focused on stunning the enemies that wanted them dead, only to find that it was just sirens. Once enough sirens were sacrificed the wall sunk into the floor and revealed a small chamber that had a large hole in the center, filled with dull red water, not to mention discarded bodies based on what was deeper in the water, causing both warriors to just say nothing as they dove into the water.

It didn't take them too long to reach the end of the watery passage, though when they reached the end the pair jumped out into what appeared to be an icy chamber full of ice crystals, frozen walls, and even a phoenix statue that was partly encased in ice, causing them to raise their eyebrows as they stepped into the chamber. As they looked around the area they found three cranks that were linked to the outer ring of where the statue was resting, where a number of icons could be seen and, more importantly, brass mirrors that could redirect the flames that would no doubt come out of the statue. In addition to all of that Flurry found that there was a wall that could be unfrozen with just a quick burst of flames from the stalled statue, freeing a circular mirror, which would help them redirect the flames once they freed the statue, or the beams of light that came down from the ceiling. Kratos found that there were some breakable crystals resting on the ceiling and each allowed a bit of light to enter this place when they were broken, which seemed to be the purpose of the spherical mirror, so while he focused on the cranks Flurry moved around and melted most of the ice walls with the item.

Of course she also had to deal with a few minotaurs that were freed from the ice, but she took them down with a burst from her Gorgons' Eye and crushed the statues with the hammer again, before both of them figured out how to free the statue, Flurry had to bounce the light of the sun off the spherical dish off of the plate her father had reassembled, which struck the ice and freed the statue.

Such a thing allowed the pair to free the door leading into another passage and Kratos raised it into the ceiling, allowing him and Flurry to enter a short passage before stopping in a small chamber with a crank in the middle, with nymph nests all over the floor and walls. Neither warrior was even intimidated by what they were seeing, where Flurry used her lightning to blast all of the nests to pieces before focusing on their enemies with her arrows, opening the way for her father to turn the crank for a time as they discovered that it lowered a grapple point into position. With this discovery he made sure Flurry went up into the upper level first and then followed after her, only to discover that it brought them to an area that had a few cerberus hounds inside it, causing Kratos and Flurry to tackle one each so they weren't overwhelmed by their enemies. Kratos stabbed one of the heads with the Spear of Destiny, much to his foe's annoyance, before getting onto it's back and used the chains of his blades to slice off both of the remaining heads, while at the same time Flurry just slashed at her opponent with her sickles before smashing it's main head in with the hammer.

By eliminating both of them as quickly as they could neither warrior had to worry about the smaller hounds coming out and growing up to become more like the larger ones, opening the way for them to climb up a stone ladder they had been guarding, which resulted in walking up to a grated door, forcing it into the ceiling, and dropping down into another part of the winding passage.

At the end of the passage the pair found a gate they could raise by pulling a lever, though at the same time they quickly found that this was where another stone tome and scholar were resting, only the moment the man noticed them coming his way he rushed at the ledge. Flurry wasted no time in stopping him with her magic, allowing her father to open the way as she did so, though that was followed by the scholar not giving them what they wanted and prompted Kratos to do what he did to the other one until he read the tome's information. Following that, which was just about the sacrifice, his life was ended with a quick slash, where they found that the massive phoenix statue spread it's wings and opened it's mouth, all while the blood gathered in the grooves, just like before, and the blood phantom of Lahkesis appeared again. This time her message spoke of finding the ashes of the phoenix so they could find the Temple of the Fates, causing the pair to walk over to the door she beckoned to and Kratos pulled off it's key, a brass skull, though Flurry did notice the painting in the chamber and seemed to be touched by time magic.

Based on what she had seen so far Flurry had to assume that the painting would have allowed them to travel a bit back in time, since the image was of the very chamber they were standing in, something she would have to keep in mind for later, as it might be a warning of things to come.

The next passage was very short, took them five seconds to reach the end, where they found a thermal vent that could be opened on their own, so Flurry quickly turned the crank in front of them and opened the way for her father to reach a very small insert where a lever was located. Such a thing caused the whole vent to be powered, as it released more power than before, allowing her father to reach the ceiling of the area and stab his blades into the material, where he climbed his way to the end of it while Flurry flew through the air and kept an eye on him. The end of it held another small chamber with a single crank, one that caused the platform to sink into the floor as Kratos turned it, and it wasn't long before they came back to the area the main doors were located in, allowing him and his daughter to glide over to the main area once more, only to find a pair of cyclops jumping down to guard it. Such a thing really didn't matter to the pair, not when they hacked into one together and Flurry removed it's head with her sickles, while the other was turned to stone and shattered before it could even fight back, showing their silent observers that they weren't to be underestimated.

A few moments later they unlocked the warrior door and found that it contained a short passage that brought them to a circular platform that Kratos had to forcefully move by grabbing the middle pillar and moving like he was climbing down a ladder, causing the floor to move in the process. While he did that Flurry spun her sickles and dealt with the skeletons that were resting all around them, severing their connection to their bodies so they didn't get back up, allowing her father to work in peace without having to worry about enemies attacking them. In addition to that she readied some of her magic and placed a barrier between them and the ceiling, because there was a spike ceiling coming at them, so this opened the way for her father to get the platform to safety so they could get out of the way. Such a thing allowed him to get them to a door that he forced into the ceiling, allowing them to enter a new portion of the palace and caused Flurry to cancel her spell as they focused on whatever might be waiting for them next.

This portion of the temple was darker than the rest, with satyr warriors and archers guarding the way forward, where the pair did what they always did, Kratos moved along the rope line that was in front of them as Flurry raised her bow and just loosed arrow after arrow at their foes. While he did that Kratos found a few gorgons waiting where some satyr archers had been standing and realized that it was a combination of sorts, they turn them to stone so the archers could break the intruders apart with their melee weapons, where he was thankful that he and Flurry didn't have to worry about that this time around. From there the pair tore through more of the satyrs that appeared in their way, warriors and archers, but it hardly mattered to both warriors as Kratos unleashed Atlas' Quake on them and crushed each one into the walls, while at the same time Flurry faded in and out of reality as she struck her foes with her phantom attacks, the ones that they had no chance of tracking. The interesting thing was that there was lava around the gaps between different sections of this part of the temple, though the good aspect of such a thing, as the pair discovered, was that they formed good thermal vents that allowed them to glide through certain parts of the floor they were on, avoiding spinning spike hazards that the Fates had installed to kill people who got this far.

Flurry raised her eyebrow as they found the end of the path and found that it had brought them to a molten chamber, all while also finding that there was an urn on another level that they would have to get to so they could progress, which had to contain the ashes of the phoenix, so putting them in the lava was the key. With that in mind she also noticed the bodies of some skeletons, those that would attack her and her father if they were left alone, to which Flurry knocked each pile into the lava and burned them to cut down on the potential enemies that might come at them. Kratos found a passage off to the left, which was guarded by a sickle warrior that he turned to stone with his Gorgons' Eye, allowing them to find that the next chamber held a bunch of spikes that could be pulled down into the floor with the lever that was near the opening they walked through. Flurry noticed a wall they could crush with a few hits, which had one of the Fates' statues resting in a small indent, though the humorous thing was that she could break it open as her father pulled the lever, only for her to trap two more scythe warriors above the spikes, so when they rushed out their enemies were impaled with ease.

She also shattered a pair of chains that seemed important, as it seemed like they were linked to the spikes, and with the hazard taken care of they were able to obtain a fist sized blue gemstone from a dead soldier, spun the crank he was near for a few seconds, and then made their way down the passage again.

The chamber it brought them to happened to have a large phoenix statue on the other end that breathed fire at them very few moments, where Flurry raised her magic and formed a moveable barrier in front of them, opening the way for her father to open a barred door on the left and right sides of the area. The nymphs and scythe warriors that decided to get in the way were brought down by a number of arrows, though as Flurry did that Kratos also pulled the lever that was near the edge of the chamber, the gap that the phoenix statue rested in, which lowered a small platform that would allow them to move a statue onto one of two pressure plates. Instead of doubling back for a statue they had passed, because both warriors recalled seeing one on the way into this area, Kratos used the Oath Stone to place a copy on the plate that opened the gate leading to the urn, while Flurry stood on the second and kept the barrier up in front of the devices, which lowered a grapple point for her father to reach the urn. Once he was in place Flurry caught up to him as she dismissed her magic, allowing the barrier to fall down as they approached the urn and started to move it, only to find that it happened to be on a pressure plate and that removing it caused the platform to lower to the start of the area.

With that done Kratos moved it into a nearby slot as Flurry pulled the nearby lever, where a device moved over, clamped down on the urn, and then moved it over to the lava before dunking it into the molten material, though they did have to cut apart some minotaurs in the process. As that happened the phoenix was reborn in the central pillar of the exit, where they watched as it burst through the hollowed pillar in question and likely moved somewhere outside the palace, likely the area across from the massive statue, meaning they were one step closer to their end goal. After thinking about that both warriors used the thermals of the area to glide up to a circular staircase that headed up towards the main statue, though a number of basic undead legionnaires tried to attack them and Kratos ignored them as Flurry slashed them apart with the twinblade. At the top of the path the pair stood on a raised platform and pulled a lever, which ended up bringing them up to the main area again, where Kratos and Flurry found that the phoenix was struggling against a magical grasp above the center of the area, before Flurry inserted the gemstone into a door behind them and opened a new passage.

This one held the body of the slain soldier from earlier and a chain for them to use to climb up to the upper level, where the pair found that they could blow into the horn and Kratos did so without delay, freeing the phoenix so it could take out two massive stone statues and dropped them into the abyss, before the flaming bird landed on the large brazier they had seen previously.

"And now we can access another area... it never ends." Flurry remarked, as there was another area for her and her father to explore, before they could reach the phoenix, something that caused her father to nod his head in agreement as they started to make their way over to it.

On the other side they found yet another new chamber that required them to raise a wall so Kratos could climb up onto the ceiling and break some chains, where Flurry remained on the ground and found that there were no enemies, almost as if they were being allowed to rest before a powerful foe appeared. One of the chains revealed a pillar for them to use to force a break in the raised wall so they could get onto the platform, where Flurry crushed the undead legionnaires that came to deal with intruders, opening the way for her father to move the pillar into place. After that it was a simple matter to pull the pillar in, so the platform could move again, as Flurry smashed another chain to open a gate, revealing the way to a crank that caused the two platforms outside to raise and move into a new position, while opening the way for them to enter a small area with a second crank. That one just spun the grated wall around them into a new position, where both of them found their way to an incredibly dark chamber that didn't seem to have anything special for them, before Flurry held a hand out to stop her father for a time.

The reasoning for that was due to the fact that a magical sphere smashed into the glass wall to their left and entered the area, forming a magical dome around them as they glanced around for a moment, only to find that an image of Hecate and Athena appeared before them.

"Athena, Hecate, is something going on?" Kratos asked, as the only reason the other gods in their alliance would contact them would be to share some information with them while they were focusing on the Fates, which meant it had to be an important message to send them such a message.

I'm afraid so: Zeus has destroyed Sparta. Athena stated, something that caused the pair to pause for a moment, as while it had been a possibility they had talked about, and even planned for, it was another thing to hear that Zeus had gone off the deep end while they were making their way to the Fates.

Zeus has broken his own rules, as he did not have the backing of his followers when he assaulted your home, but none of the other gods are willing to call him out on that. Hecate added, reminding them of when Ares assaulted Athena's city, he did so without the backing of his mortal armies and used an army of monsters in their place, openly defying Zeus in the process, before she sighed as they noticed that the goddesses were in a room on a ship, Fortunately you don't have to worry about the people, Deimos, or Albis, as everyone is on the ships and we're departing for the furthest edge of Greece.

"Ships? What ships? We didn't..." Flurry started to ask, though in that moment she noticed something behind the pair, there was a human sized statue of a feline god, Apollo she realized, which caused the information, said and unsaid, to clink in her mind as she she understood what was going on, which caused her to smile, "Of course, Artemis and Apollo! They've been busy since the events of Argos, where we thought they were just trying to distance themselves to avoid Zeus from labeling them as traitors... Apollo must have seen that doom was coming, the very event we've been trying to stop, and convinced his sister, and both of their followers no doubt, to build vessels to get some people out before it starts."

You never cease to amaze me, Flurry. All of Sparta, plus Attica and Athens, are fleeing towards the point that Apollo says will be our safe haven. Athena said, where she had a faint smile on her face for a few moments, as Flurry was one of the smartest individuals in Greece, able to put things together with great ease and with little information, and she had put the pieces together in record time, before she rubbed her left arm for a few seconds, Kratos, Flurry... Apollo confirmed that all available paths lead to war with Olympus, so... so do whatever you need to do to stop Zeus.

Kratos and Flurry nodded as they faced the ground that would bring them to the phoenix, because the destruction of their home had just added more fuel to their inner fires, and they knew that once the Fates were dealt with they could finally face and bring down Zeus.

Fate: The Sisters of Fate

With the message received from their allies, even if most of it came as a shock to them since they knew nothing of Artemis and Apollo's plans, though as they jumped down into the area that the new pillars were resting in both Kratos and Flurry found that tentacles were wrapping around them as a large beast pulled itself up to face them. This sea monster, for that was what it was, was uglier than the other ones the pair had fought in the past, even though it looked like it was pissed at them, meaning the stone statues that had fallen due to the phoenix's actions had hurt it in some manner and it blamed the deed on them. Flurry was sure of one thing, this had to be the Kraken, another monster from the tales that everyone in Greece heard over the years, though right now that hardly mattered as she and her father discovered something, the pair of tentacles holding onto the two pillars were damaged. With that in mind Kratos took the left one and Flurry took the right, both of them lashing out at their chosen, which caused the beast a great deal of damage as it tried, in vain, to harm both of the warriors, before Kratos carved a chunk out of the tentacle in front of him and slammed it into the the pressure button in front of him.

Such a thing allowed him to open a vent that granted him the power to lift himself into the air, using the thermal nature of the area the phoenix had been pushed through earlier, before he lashed out at the Kraken's head with his spear, using the rapid thrusting ability of the weapon to deal some damage to the beast's head.

In retaliation for that the Kraken lashed out with another tentacle and stabbed the vent that Kratos had opened, though in the following moments Flurry cut into it with the twinblade, freezing parts of it as she did so, allowing her father to hack the tentacle apart with the Blade of Artemis and in a way that sent the bits flying at the beast's head. Cutting the bladed tip of the limb off caused their foe to roar in pain before attacking them with the other one, where Flurry dodged all of it's attacks as her father repeated what they did earlier, hacking into an old wound to stun the beast, before using the thermal vent to get at it's head. This time the other tentacle blade got lodged in one of the walls behind them, showing them that the beast was losing control of itself, though as the Kraken tried to get it's limb out the warriors hacked into it, breaking it off from the rest of the body, opening the way for them to attack the tentacles itself. As Kratos pushed it back, however, an idea formed in Flurry's mind as she found that the beast revealed the lever that was in this area, where she glanced at her father for a moment and they both nodded before they crippled their foe's tentacles and weakened it's grasp on this part of the palace.

With that done Kratos threw the lever and a bridge extended from a slot below them, impaling the Kraken by going right through the beast's jaw and lower head as it collided with the area the phoenix's brazier was resting in, though to be sure it was dead Flurry materialized the Blade of Artemis and drove it into the Kraken's forehead, ending it's life so it didn't suffer any longer than it already had.

"Another foe has fallen, and yet our targets remain." Kratos commented, though he knew what Flurry was thinking, that the Kraken was just a pawn to stall for time, to keep them from finding their way to the area that the Fates were waiting in, and he agreed with his daughter, before he glanced at the path in front of them, "Read to fly for a bit?"

"Of course, and to bring an end to this quest at long last." Flurry replied, because the Fates had to die for them to go back and take care of Zeus, especially since they had even more reasons to do so after what happened to their home, hence why she was focused on the phoenix as well, who seemed to be waiting for them.

Kratos nodded as he jumped onto the brazier, barely touching the edge, before leaping onto the phoenix's back, causing the flaming bird to flap it's wings before taking off, heading right towards the massive statue of itself that was beyond the area it was resting in, while at the same time Flurry opened her wings and followed after it. She could see that the large bird knew not to mess with her father, especially after seeing them take down the Kraken with ease, so it was giving him exactly what he wanted and he was fine with that, which meant she was fine with this discovery. The pair flew through the air for a short period of time, the phoenix weaving around the edges of the statue, before they made their way towards what seemed to be the next part of their quest, a temple of sorts that rested inside the mouth of the stone phoenix, one that had time energy rested inside it. Flurry could tell that due to a pulsing crystal that resembled what was on the various statues they had passed by to get to this point, and the moment her father got close to the mouth, or as close as his mount dared to get, he leapt off it's back and dived into the water.

Flurry, on the other hand, landed near the stone, one what seemed to be a platform, after making sure that the phoenix was done with them, allowing her to focus on her father as both of them studied the temple area they were in, knowing that it meant they were one step closer to the Fates.

Their first order of business was to smash the larger time stone, allowing them to restore the normal flow to the area they were in as the battering ram that was attached to the central platform struck a large bell, one that was similar to one that was resting over on the right side of the chamber. There wasn't much else for them to look at, save the large head of a Fate in the center of the area, though as Flurry moved around the temple entrance she noticed something, there was a lever in the water, below where the time crystal had been resting, and her father dived into the water as soon as she noticed it. Him pulling on the lever allowed them to actually move the central device, meaning they could alter where the battering ram could go and what it could hit, before Flurry had an idea, one that ended with both of them standing before one of the two large bells. Her plan was to ring them both at the same time and that was what they did, something that cracked the face of the Fate statue head, causing both warriors to glance at each other as Kratos activated the battering ram and smashed his way through the face with ease, creating a hole for them to jump through to reach the next part of the temple.

The path was devoid of enemies as they made their way around a circular area and reached a ledge that would allow them to glide down to a large circular area that seemed to be the resting place of one of the Fates, especially with the threads that were in the area, and as they glided over to it they found Lahkesis floating down to speak with them.

"Kratos, Ghost of Sparta and former God of War. We've been expecting you." Lahkesis said, which was rather interesting, because if she knew that they could overcome the obstacles of the Isle of Creation, and in record time since they tore down literally everything that had been put in their way, it would have been nice if she skipped the formalities and just let them come to her and her sisters, before she noticed Flurry standing there, "And who is this?"

"My daughter, Flurry Heart, a goddess in her own right." Kratos stated, though at the same time both of them remained at the ready, because he had a feeling at least one or two of the Fates would deny them the ability to go back in time, reclaim the Blade of Olympus, and deal with Zeus, maybe even weaken him so they could deal with him at this point in time.

"What is a god or goddess to the Sisters of Fate? None can change their destiny, Kratos, not even the gods or the titans can force us to aid them." Lahkesis remarked, where the pair realized that she didn't seem to care that a goddess, with her full power no less, was standing before her, while at the same time it was humorous to see that she didn't seem to realize what sort of being was in front of her, "We, the Sisters of Fate, determine the fate of all those who live in Greece... it was I who, once upon a time, decided that the titans would lose their war with Zeus and the Olympians. I who allowed you to fight your way through Pandora's Temple, to claim Zeus' precious box, and use it to beat Ares. I who granted you the ability to make it this far, only to fail at the final hurdle when you realize that we bow to no one."

In the following moment Lahkesis paused as she noticed that Flurry had suddenly disappeared, only for the hairs on the back of her neck to start acting up as she heard an eerie whistle that was unlike anything she had heard before, and as she turned to look at the wall behind her she found Flurry appearing out of thin air, sickles at the ready.

"Wh... What are you?!" Lahkesis inquired, because unlike everything else she and her sisters had seen, and the work she had done to ensure that Greece reached this point in time, this was totally new to her, forcing herself to remember the deathly strand that had appeared on the loom one day, something that caused her to put some of the pieces together, "You are no mere mortal... you are..."

"Death." Flurry answered, where the air around her shuddered for a moment, while at the same time Lahkesis took a step back as he noticed her approaching her, though she also moved her sickles a little as she thought about something that she knew a number of people would have asked in the past, "And I don't mean it metaphorically, or rhetorically, or poetically, or theoretically, or in any other fancy way. I'm Death, straight up... and honestly, while I am genuinely annoyed with your disregard for life, to the point that you are willing to mess with mortals and gods alike, I might let you live if you let us..."

Lahkesis screeched as she let loose a burst of her magical power, trying to slow time enough so she could hit them before either warrior could react, though thanks to their time amulets they were able to slip through the area she had created and struck her with their fists, sending her into one of the walls as Flurry sighed.

"Okay, forget what I said. We'll just kill all of you." Flurry remarked, as she was hoping, despite what had been said, that the Sisters of Fate would realize that having Death itself visit them would make them step out of the way, but instead the first one decided to attack her and her father, causing her to focus on just killing them.

"Where did you get a second time control artifact?" Lahkesis asked, because she hadn't watched most of what the pair had done, simply glancing at their venture every now and then to make sure they were on the right path to reach this point, but she had to admit she must have missed when they obtained a second amulet that had the same stone as the one she and her sisters had placed at the start of their vast trials.

Kratos, instead of answering, lashed out with his blades and caught the Fate in front of them by surprise, as if she honestly thought they would take the time to answer her remark, though as she raised herself into the air for a moment, and let out a burst of time magic, she found that both of her opponents disappeared. Lahkesis barely had time to react as both of her foes slashed at her body and knocked her around for a moment, sending her into one of the walls as they showed her that they were serious about fighting her, causing her to realize that she might not stand a chance against two foes of this caliber. With that in mind she stabbed the end of her staff into the ground and called upon her sister, Atropos, who flew out of one of the three mirrors in the surrounding area and allowed the pair to find that she was a fair woman as well, just like Lahkesis was, only she wore bronze armor that fit her chest, waist, and head, while her lower body was a twisting mass of darkness. Atropos' hands had razor sharp looking claws on them, no doubt to help with her duties, and she held them out menacingly as both she and her sister focused on the pair, causing Kratos and Flurry to glance at each other for a few seconds before rushing at their foes, with Kratos going for Lahkesis and Flurry going for Atropos.

Instead of sticking to her sickles Flurry brought them together and spun around as she swung her scythe at Atropos, who raised her hands to block the attack and found that she was pushed back as the weapon clashed with her hands, in fact it looked like the head even dug into her claws a bit. Atropos, upon seeing that, gathered her power into her other hand for a moment and loosed green bursts of energy at her foe, choosing orbs or beams as she focused on Flurry, who flipped over her head for a moment, grabbed the back of her head, and slammed her into the wall. As she did that it was easy to see that Atropos was interested in the three mirrors that were around the area, causing her to realize what her foe might be thinking of doing, she was going to go back in time and do something to her past, likely manipulate it in some manner to make sure she died a painful death. With that information in mind Flurry decided to eliminate one of her foe's powers before she even had a chance to use them, where she used the side of her leg to kick Atropos into the ground, before she switched to her bow for a moment and prepared both her magic and a few arrows.

Atropos and Lahkesis watched in surprise as Flurry loosed a number of arrows into the air and they pierced the mirrors, half of them embedded in this side and half striking the magic that sustained them, breaking all three of them in a matter of seconds and shattering the place that Atropos was planning on hiding in while she ruined Flurry's life, but that wasn't the end of it as they soon discovered.

"Sister, watch out!" Lahkesis called out, though as she started to move she found the chains of the Blades of Chaos as they wrapped around her chest and yanked her down to the ground, reminding her that Kratos wasn't about to let her go and interfere with Flurry's fight.

Atropos barely had time to react as she lost her foe and a blade erupted from her chest, Theseus' she realized as she and her sister stared at it, though as both of them realized that Flurry was right behind her she noticed something else, ice was forming around the edges of the blade. In the next instant a wave of frost magic surged through her body, nearly turning her into an ice statue before she could even react to what was going on, as if the power of the Goddess of Death was far beyond what she and her sisters had assumed after observing Flurry and her father. As Lahkesis struggled against Kratos' chains, however, Flurry removed the twinblade from her foe's chest, appeared in the air above Atropos, and called forth the hammer without delay, allowing her to smash the first of the Fates to pieces, scattered ice chunks with ease. Lahkesis struggled against the chains for a few more seconds as Kratos stabbed her in the chest a few times, mostly to weaken her, before he quickly wrapped them around her neck, heated the chains, and severed the head of the second Fate, causing the central mirror to shatter for some reason.

Kratos suspected that the power of the two Sisters of Fate had been keeping this mirror intact, since there was a passage that lead even deeper into the temple, so with two of their targets dealt with the pair regrouped and entered what looked like a prophecy section. There was the eternal battle between the titans and the Olympians, another had three figures that were traveling towards an unknown destiny, and a third where three figures were observing a scene of desolation and destruction, two females and a male by the looks of it. After looking at the area they found a way up to the upper level and discovered that Clotho, the third and final Sister of Fate, was a massive obese creature that seemed to be chained or just contained in a single area, which appeared to be the center of the Threads of Fate. She, of course, wasn't too pleased to see either of them as they walked down a path that involved smashing a wall to their right, though after doing that Flurry opened her wings and glided over to where Clotho was resting, allowing her father to make his way to an area where he could get up to their final target.

"Death... what do you want?" Clotho asked, because now that her sisters had fought the pair, and had fallen to them, she had tracked down the thread that belonged to Flurry and had discovered that she couldn't harm it in any manner, due to the fact that she couldn't even touch it, and had done her best to quickly study up on the figure in front of her.

"To use the power that you and your sisters have abused over the years to go back and kill Zeus." Flurry stated, as she saw no reason to lie to the figure that was in front of her, though at the same time she switched her weapons around and held out her scythe, something Clotho glanced at before they locked eyes again, almost as if she knew that her options were very limited right now, "Unfortunately each path available will end in your death as well... you can either aid us, or I can give you a swift end and we'll figure out what to do next. All we want is to go back, take the Blade of Olympus, and take him out, so we can focus on the aftermath of his demise."

"War is inevitable, but... I caught a glimpse of a wonderful future." Clotho said, surprising Kratos and Flurry for a moment as they noticed that whatever she had seen had caused her to lower her guard fully and completely, meaning there had to be a bright future beyond what they were seeking, where they watched as she touched a thread and a large mirror on a level behind her changed, showing the events of Rhodes again, "Make it quick... so all may experience that wonderful future that Zeus isn't a part of."

Flurry nodded her head as she slashed open Clotho's neck, enough to bring an end to her life in a matter of seconds, but as soon as she was done with that she returned to her father and carried him up to the portal that would take them back to when Zeus attacked them in Rhodes.

"Here we are, at the end of our quest." Kratos remarked, though while he wasn't sure what to make of Clotho giving them exactly what they wanted, without even offering any resistance to their desires, he was pleased with the fact that the Fates were dead and could no longer influence the rest of Greece to suit their own twisted desires, "Flurry, are you ready?"

"Yes, let's go deal with Zeus." Flurry replied, because she was ready to bring an end to this quest, retrieve the blade that held her father's godhood, and then get on with their lives without having to worry about Zeus screwing everything else up for them or for the rest of Greece.

Kratos nodded as both he and his daughter faced the portal that would allow them to head back in time, to stop Zeus and claim the Blade of Olympus, to which they braced themselves for what they were about to do and could only hope that this was the next of their quest and not the start of something much larger.

Interlude: Time Travel

Kratos and Flurry stood in front of the mirror for a few more moments, surveying the scene that was unfolding right before their eyes, before they decided to face Zeus and stepped into the past, tearing open a familiar portal in time and space as the life faded from Past Kratos' body. In the following moment Flurry understood what she had seen before blacking out during the battle of Rhodes, the tear she had seen was them actually succeeding in their quest, returning to the point that Zeus revealed his intentions to her, her father, and everyone else. If they failed to deal with Zeus she knew that this would set their past selves down the path that would bring them to this point, but instead of focusing on that she turned her focus towards the King of the Gods after making sure her past self was unconscious. Following that her father barreled into Zeus before he even understood what was going on, pushing him towards the edge of the area while leaving the Blade of Olympus stuck in his past self's body, while at the same time Flurry gently removed it and winced a little as she saw just how bad the wound really was.

As she thought about that, however, she felt the power of the Blade welcoming her once more, like it really enjoyed her being the one to use it in battle or something, and she even extracted her father's stolen godhood out of it as she carefully channeled the power back into his body.

"WHAT?! What treachery is this? How can you... be... here?" Zeus asked, though in that moment he spotted the rift in time and space that the pair had come out of, where something clicked in his mind, no doubt recalling the times that he had spoken to the Sisters of Fate and seeing their powers in action, "So, the Sisters of Fate have aided you, in an attempt to change your fates. This is... unexpected, even for you two."

"The Sisters are dead... and you will share their fate soon enough." Kratos stated, where he paused for a moment as his godly power flowed back into his body, completing one of their objectives as he focused on the god that was watching him and Flurry, though it was good to see that Zeus was shocked by this new discovery, "War and Death stand before you, Zeus, and this time there will be no escaping your death."

"It would seem that I underestimated you two. Very well, allow me to show you the power a true god wields!" Zeus said, a statement that was followed by him and Kratos rushing at each other, surprising everyone that was still around, since there were soldiers and people who were observing this series of events unfold as Past Kratos' body was seized by Hades and dragged into the Underworld.

Flurry found that Zeus grabbed onto her father's arms as he rushed into the air, where she followed after them without wasting time, only to discover that he brought them to what appeared to be an ancient stone peak that had a couple of stone pillars nearby, along with marks that seemed to be from Cronos taking his kids to swallow them whole. Following that Zeus dropped her father on the peak and disappeared into the clouds, only for them to be disappointed as their foe grew into his giant form, much like what they had experienced when they fought Ares all those years ago, causing both warriors to raise their weapons without delay. What furthered their immediate disappointment was the fact that Zeus had to start off with a cowardly move, summoning sirens to attack both warriors, where Flurry beckoned for her father to go towards their main target as she rushed at the lesser enemies, slashing through one with the Blade of Olympus before it even had a chance to fight back. Her reasoning for this was because she wanted to make sure that she remembered how to wield the blade that was in her hand, though the first movements confirmed that fact for her without delay, where she wasted no time in slicing one into four pieces while blasting a hole through the last one, surprising that siren for a couple of seconds before it perished.

Zeus, on the other hand, raised a hand towards the air and hurled a lightning bolt at Kratos, who shifted his stance of the attack struck the Golden Fleece, allowing him to redirect the attack back at the King of the Gods, who was surprised by that fact and raised a hand to block the lightning bolt. As that happened Kratos noticed that it was raining quite a lot, no doubt because this was Zeus' arena and he wanted it to give him all of the advantages it could, causing him to jump onto their foe and hack into his side with the Blades of Chaos, causing him to growl in annoyance. Such a thing caused him to glance up at their foe's face for a moment and found that Zeus was focused on Flurry, or the Blade of Olympus to be more accurate since it held the power to end the war with the titans in a moment, meaning he wanted it back so he could bring both of them down and lock them away in a prison of some kind. That, combined with the power he had seen back when his daughter first used the blade, caused him to realize there was a way that they could deal with Zeus in a productive and empowering way, causing him to wrap both Blades of Chaos around Zeus' right hand, jump back to the peak, and yank the god forward.

His plan seemed to work quite well, as Zeus' fist collided with the side of the peak and, when their foe tried to pull his fist back, Kratos jumped into the back of his hand and stabbed the Blade of Artemis into his flesh, with enough force to pin his land to the peak for a time, allowing Flurry to stab her blade into Zeus' arm and start to siphon his power, even though he forced them back with his other hand.

"What... have you... done!" Zeus stated, where Kratos found that Flurry had targeted a specific power that Zeus had used upon reaching this area, the giant form he was currently using, causing them to watch as he started to shrink before their eyes, to the point where he had to lift himself into the air so he could touch down on the peak with his human form.

"I took away your giant form. Now we can fight for real." Flurry remarked, all while she and her father shifted their stances as they focused on Zeus, who held up his hand for a moment as the wound healed, as if he was showing them that their attacks didn't matter in the slightest, but she knew that, if they applied enough pressure, he would die like everyone else they had fought so far.

Zeus glared at them for a few seconds before calling forth more lightning and hurling it at them, where Kratos and Flurry dodged out of the way and rushed at their foe, causing him to flash out of the area before appearing somewhere else on the peak, showing them that he had his own intense speed, even if it was weaker than Hermes'. It seemed that he tried to use it against Flurry while getting away from Kratos, once more confirming that he was after the blade she carried, but she was fine with that as she faded into the shadows for a few moments, reminding him of one of her habits, especially since an eerie whistle was heard a few seconds later. While he was distracted Kratos lashed out with the spear and moved into a series of thrusts that Zeus did his best to avoid, as it was like the whistle had disrupted the King of the Gods' movements, though he wasn't about to complain as he noticed where his daughter wanted to appear from and moved their foe over to the area in question. Unfortunately Zeus caught on and dodged out of the way to the best of his ability, where Flurry cut into his side for a moment as he stood up on the other side of the peak, staring at both warriors as they stared at him, like both sides were waiting for the other to make the next move.

This time around Kratos and Zeus rushed at each other and their fists collided, causing the air to shake as their powers came into contact with each other, all while the sky split in half, which explained why Zeus issued the rule to make sure all of the gods didn't go to war with each other.

As that happened the King of the Gods decided to ignore the God of War as he rushed over to Flurry, his hand reaching for the Blade of Olympus so he could use it's power against both of his foes, where she moved to the side and thrust the tip of the weapon at him, only to find that it barely touched his chest as he grabbed onto the blade. It was interesting to see that he was trying to hold the attack back so it didn't stab him, especially since he knew that she understood how to use the siphon power of the blade against her enemies, though she decided to surprise him as a bolt of energy tore from the blade's tip and slammed into Zeus' chest. Kratos realized that it was the same move that had torn a hole into the Colossus of Rhodes, allowing his daughter to enter the construct's chest, and as Zeus collided with one of the pillars he made his own move before it was too late, as he stabbed the King of the Gods in the chest with the Blades of Chaos. Zeus stared at him for a few seconds before he was hurled up into the air, only to find that Flurry had moved into the air before he had even noticed, though this time she had both of her sickles in her hands, glowing with dark magic, as she slashed at him, forming an 'X' shaped energy wave that came at him.

Zeus was unable to dodge the attack as it collided with him, causing a massive explosion to fill the air above the peak as he emerged with a wounded chest, heavily marked from tanking that attack, before he noticed an error in Flurry's attack, she had left the Blade of Olympus off to the side, causing him to rush towards it, but as Zeus grabbed it, however, he found that it was an illusion as Flurry pierced his chest and knocked him to the ground.

"You idiot! Did you really think I'd leave the Blade of Olympus out in the open?!" Flurry remarked, as she wasn't sure if this was due to Zeus being arrogant in believing that he could have obtained the weapon while she was using it, or insanity for trying out of pure desperation, but at the same time she didn't mind as the Blade started to devour Zeus' power.

"ATHENA!" Zeus called out, where the air shifted as the storm shattered, allowing them to see Athena appearing near the edge of the area the King of the Gods had picked for their arena, though neither warrior bothered to turn their weapons on her as Flurry pushed the Blade deeper into her foe's chest, "Stop them!"

"...No." Athena replied, something that caused Zeus to pause for a moment as he heard that, as if he couldn't believe that she, one of his most trusted allies, had decided to turn on him in his moment of need, though Kratos and Flurry weren't at all surprised, not since she had been helping them since the events of Argos, "Zeus, the madness that you have inflicted on Olympus, the sheer division you have caused among our ranks, has to stop, before you bring about the advent of the Marked Warrior prophecy. I have tried countless times to convince you to step off this path, but it would see that all of my efforts have been in vain... and my life's work, wasted in a matter of seconds... so no, I won't stop them. Kratos, Flurry... do it before the others arrive."

As Kratos joined Flurry, so he could also drive the Blade of Artemis into Zeus' chest and end him that much faster, both of them were pushed back by a surge of magic that came out of nowhere, though as the smoke cleared they found that two gods had shown up, Hades and Poseidon, and before they could react the three brothers left without a word, though to stop them from pursuing Helios flew overhead and bombed the area with large fireballs, forcing them back as Zeus was taken out of their reach.

"Damn it, you almost had him..." Athena commented, as the prophecy had almost been fulfilled in a way that would stop what was going to happen next, and she had been hoping that the pair could have done the deed before the other gods showed up to spirit Zeus away, before she sighed and faced both Kratos and Flurry, "I saw what happened in Rhodes... and, judging from the portal you stepped through, you two are from the future, one where the Fates are dead."

"Yes, and we have recovered both my godhood and the Blade of Olympus... but failed to kill Zeus." Kratos replied, though as he said that he knew that she and Flurry understood what needed to be done next, even if they didn't want to do it in the first place, causing them to stand there for a moment as they considered exactly what needed to be done next, but he knew Athena had something to say, given how she was standing, "Athena, is something on your mind?"

"I... have a confession to make, Kratos, and that is that there is one last secret I have yet to share with you: Zeus is your birth father." Athena said, a fact that surprised the pair as they heard it, though at the same time Flurry found that all of the pieces they had discovered and learned over the years finally locked into place, now she understood why Zeus had this bone to pick with Kratos and his family, "You see, Zeus has long been plagued by fear that one of his children would bring about the advent of the Marked Warrior prophecy and end not only his life, but destroy Olympus as well, which is why he went beyond reason to try and stop it from happening, but... well, after you opened Pandora's Box the Evils that were sealed inside it infected some of the Olympians, and Zeus got hit by Fear. Since the death of Ares the King of the Gods has become a total stranger, letting his fear rule his every decision, and instead of working with you to bring an end to the prophecy, like I hoped, he turned against you two at every turn."

"Zeus... is my father?" Kratos inquired, where he leaned against one of the pillars for a moment as he brought his hands to his face, because this was information that wasn't needed right now, in fact he wasn't too sure what he could do with this bit of knowledge, and while part of him really wanted to deny this fact, to return to being fatherless, the other part of him finally understood some of the things that had happened throughout his life, "I... will consider this later. For now, we must focus on how we are going to assault Olympus, as the gates will be sealed and there will be a host a gods standing in our way. We have no army or forces to use against them."

Athena knew that he and Flurry could ask the Spartans to do such a thing, they would do so gladly if it meant an end to all of the disrespect that their gods had suffered, but in her heart she knew neither warrior would do such a thing, not after all of the time and effort they spent in keeping their people safe from Zeus and his plans.

"Father... what about the titans?" Flurry asked, as it made sense to her, despite the fact that they had told Athena, or their Athena, that they wouldn't do such a thing in the first place, but now she knew why the Goddess of Wisdom had been so worried by what she and her father had said before departing from Rhodes, and both figures turned to look at her for a few moments, "We want to get to Zeus, but he'll be guarded by the other gods as he regains his strength... the titans are the best distraction we could ask for, since they have a bone to pick with them as well. I figure that we can use the Threads of Fate to call them back from the past, replacing their modern selves so they'll have enough power to stand up to the rest of the Olympians, and while they fight Hades and the others we can focus on cutting our way to Zeus."

"What about Thera, Atlas, and Typhon?" Athena asked, because what Flurry was suggesting was dangerous, especially with the fact that some of the titans the pair had encountered were stuck in places that were important and taking them out, like removing Atlas from his post, might cause the destruction of Greece.

"The ones we've encountered will have to stay in their modern prisons, least we change the course of history." Flurry said, all while she could see that her father was considering this plan, because both of them had thought about this idea before even reaching the Sisters of Fate, it was why Gaia was so interested in the others helping them reach this point, even if this was an insane idea to even think about, "From a tactical perspective, this makes the most sense. We cannot ask the Spartans and our allies to throw themselves at the rest of Olympus, as they'll be wiped out before we even get close to Zeus... but Gaia and the titans can take more hits than anyone else and there's the loss they suffered during the Great War. They'll fight the Olympians as long as they possibly can, giving us time to get into Olympus, track Zeus down, and kill him while the others are distracted by the fight."

"You know, there are times where I hate it when you are right." Kratos remarked, because it made sense, there was no way Flurry could get them close to the edge of Olympus, even while carrying him, and the gates would have been locked to keep them from using Sparta's Olympian Gate to invade the domain of the gods, so a distraction was necessary, especially one of this magnitude, causing him to get up as he headed for the edge of the peak, "We had best get moving, before the rest of Zeus' allies come to attack us."

"One second, I have something else to do. Athena, if you would?" Flurry said, where she beckoned for the goddess to come with her for a moment, as there was a piece of information that only Athena needed to know, and she found that Athena was interested in what she had to say as she lowered her voice, "You cannot say anything about this to us when we awaken in Rhodes. We need to assume that Zeus has fled with the Blade of Olympus, a weapon that, to our past selves, will hold my father's godhood and godly power, a fact that will force us to seek the Sisters of Fate and repeat this process."

Athena nodded as she understood what Flurry was saying, that if the Kratos and Flurry from this point in time knew that they had succeeded in their mission they would become arrogant as they faced the dangers of the Isle of Creation, which could bring about their demise and change the course of history, so by keeping her mouth shut she could ensure that the pair went on their grand quest. With that done Flurry wished her well and returned to her father, where they glided down to Rhodes once more as Athena went about her own efforts to get ready for when their past selves regained themselves, before eventually passing through the rift in space and time as they returned to their own time. The fact that nothing was crumbling upon their return confirmed her thoughts, what she had thought she had seen after her father had died had been the truth, she and her father had returned from the future to fight Zeus, just like they had just done, completing the circle and ensuring that events played out the same for their past selves. With that in mind Flurry gathered her magic and latched onto the various threads and items that were all around the chamber they were in, where Kratos watched as she started shifting everything and the mirror behind them changed to match what his daughter was doing.

Of course they had no idea how to actually work the various devices of the Loom, but somehow, against all odds, Flurry's attempts seemed to be bearing fruit as the time window shifted again, going beyond everything they had been through as she delved even deeper into the past, before eventually stopping at the Great War.

In that moment a crackling bluish-green energy washed over Flurry as she finally made contact with her target era, where Kratos could hear the voice of Gaia resonating from the other side of the rift, who understood that she and her kind had allies in the future that were willing to pull them into the future. Kratos watched as the various threads in the chamber lit up before his eyes, as the threads of the titans, save those that he and Flurry had encountered during their adventures in the past, started to unravel a little, as she was bringing them in their full power to the present, skipping the fact that most of them had been locked away by Zeus. The window rippled, like it was made of water, as strands burst out of it, rushed all over the chamber, before slamming back into the portal as he found that the scene had changed, displaying the titans, in all their glory, climbing up the side of Olympus with Gaia at the head of the pack. Kratos could see that the areas that Gaia and all of the other titans had been imprisoned in were now empty, leaving the three they had mentioned and Cronos, as he carried Pandora's Temple and was needed in the past, before finding that his daughter was gathering even more of her power, far more than she really needed right now.

Before he could react, however, she slammed her hands against the ground and a surge of magical energy rushed out into all of the walls, where Kratos felt like something important had changed, only to find that Flurry huffed for a moment as she picked herself up and faced him.

"I sealed the Threads of Fate away, so only we can access them... wouldn't want Zeus or someone else to undo what we're doing right now, would we?" Flurry stated, though she had to admit that what she had done had taken a good portion of her magic to do, but she was satisfied with the fact that her spell had locked this place away, meaning their foes wouldn't be able to undo what was coming up next.

"Good point. Now then, are you ready for the last step?" Kratos asked, because if she was too exhausted he didn't want to push her too much, since that was an impressive display of magic, even for her, though in response to his question she got up and waved her hand at the window, opening a portal into the present, right on Gaia's back.

The pair walked through the portal and found themselves right on Gaia's back, where the titan quickly acknowledged their presence as she climbed up the side of Mount Olympus, something that was followed by him raising Artemis' blade while Flurry did the same with the Blade of Olympus as they focused on the peak of the mountain.

"Zeus, your son and granddaughter have returned! We bring the destruction of Olympus!" Kratos stated, finding that his voice was carried on the wind, a declaration of war that was targeting the King of the Gods and those that dared to follow him, all while hoping that the other gods would allow them passage and not get in their way.

Flurry knew that neither of them wanted this, not after everything she and her father had been through, but this was the path they had to use so they could get at Zeus and stop him before something terrible happened, and she could only hope that this wasn't the start of another long quest to reach their final target.

War: Beginning of the End

As Gaia climbed up the side of Mount Olympus, her gaze focused on the summit, both Kratos and Flurry found that some of the Olympians who had sided with Zeus were already on the move, as Heilos called forth his chariot before riding down into battle, Hermes ran down the mountain side, and Hades leapt off the ledge without a second thought. Poseidon, on the other hand, seemed to stay back so he could observe the battle, while at the same time Flurry noticed that Hercules was on this battlefield as well, ordering undead legionnaires to attack their enemies, even though the monsters in Zeus' army seemed to be killing the mortals of Olympus as well. Such a thing annoyed the pair as they witnessed it happen, though it was just another fact that allowed them to know that Zeus was truly mad, that his own fear towards them and the prophecy was now making him target anyone, be they innocent or guilty. After that their focus was turned towards a number of undead legionnaires that jumped down onto the part of Gaia that they were standing on, though neither warrior was sure what Hercules was even planning since these opponents wouldn't be able to do anything to a titan.

At this point in time neither warrior wasted much effort on the undead legionnaires, dispatching them with ease as both of them slashed at them with their weapons, or stabbing and bashing them depending on which weapon they used, and while they did that one of the other titans tore a chunk out of the mountainside and hurled it at the summit. The titan in question was Epimetheus, said to be the titan of Hindsight and Afterthought, though Flurry watched as Poseidon jumped off of the summit, slammed into his chest with enough force to cause cracks to form, and dropped him into the water that was far below them. In that instant she felt Epimetheus' spark go dark, as in Poseidon had just killed a titan without too much effort, only for the God of the Sea to summon what appeared to be water serpents that latched onto the legs of every titan that was climbing up the side of Mount Olympus, stalling their progress with ease. She found out what was latched onto them a few moments later as she and her father started to head down Gaia's arm, the creature stopping them was a massive beast with a horse head, anthropod limbs, and a serpent tail, known as the Hippocampi, or Hippocampus for one of them.

These creatures were supposed to be one of Poseidon's greatest creations, though he foolishly made it clear where their weakness was located, as their foe had a large rocky core in the center of it's watery body, so while Kratos dealt with the pair of claws that were nearby Flurry jumped into the air and drove the Blade of Olympus into the core, the sheer power of the blade shattering the creature with ease.

"Maybe you should hold off on using the Blade of Olympus, just to make the battles fairer?" Kratos inquired, though as he said that Gaia removed the Hippocampus that had pierced her wrist and dropped it down into the water below before she resumed her climb to Zeus' position.

"Maybe. Just depends on who or what we end up facing." Flurry replied, but as she said that both of them found one of the other Hippocampi coming towards Gaia, where they nodded to each other for a moment before jumping off the titan, as both of them knew that she would be able to drag them both back to Gaia's back when they weren't in danger.

The two of them crashed into the back of the Hippocampus in question and slashed into it's watery back, finding that the material was like skin for the creature, even though it was hard to saw what it's blood was like, though as Flurry switched to her sickles, tearing into it's back, her father wrapped the chains of the Blades of Chaos around it's neck and severed the creature's head. Such a thing caused it to flail around like a headless chicken, where the pair stood still for a time before launching themselves at the closest thing to their position, what appeared to be a path that some of the Olympians used in the past, like a path before the main palace had been completed. As they did so Flurry noticed Hades further along the path and watched as he hurled his own sickles into the air and latched onto another titan, pulling it and himself off the side of Mount Olympus, meaning another obstacle had removed itself from their path. With that in mind the pair headed down the path that was in front of them, and when Kratos climbed on a nearby ledge they found that Gaia had another Hippocampus bothering her, meaning they would need to deal with Poseidon at some point.

Of course there were undead legionnaires blocking the way forward, though after everything they had been through both warriors weren't even surprised by these enemies, tearing the undead apart before giving them a chance to do anything to them, all while understanding that the greater enemies were likely guarding Zeus, only to stop by a stone tome that was in front of a massive gap in the side of Mount Olympus.

"That's... one long chain." Flurry commented, as there was a massive long series of chains linked together that seemed to be going from the depths of the Underworld to the peaks of Mount Olympus, while on the left and right of it stood large bronze eagle statues, the symbol of Zeus' power.

"According to the tome, this is the 'Chain of Balance' that secures the bond between two realms." Kratos remarked, as he decided to look at what the stone tome had to offer, since it might be valuable information later on, even though he was somewhat impressed by the fact that someone, likely Hephaestus, had constructed all of this at one point in time, while at the same time he was sure they might have to do something to it in the future.

After staring at the chain for a few moments the pair continued on their way, Kratos using a grapple point to reach a part of the wall he would have to climb up while Flurry could just jump over whenever she wanted, only to find more undead in the area, where Kratos used the power of Atlas' Quake to smash all of them to pieces. From there he climbed up the side of the section of wall that was nearby and started to climb along a ledge that had been carved into the mountain, while at the same time Flurry simply flew behind him to make sure there were no enemies, only to watch as Heilos attacked one of the other titans, a molten one neither of them had seen before. Sure enough that titan fell off the mountain as well, which was becoming a pattern as the pair observed what was going on, before eventually reaching a stone ledge that was more pristine than everything else, allowing Kratos to stand tall once more. As that happened, however, Gaia paused for a few moments before one of the Hippocampi tore through her body, near the neck based on what they can see, though she did grab onto it and struggled to keep it contained as she broke part of the walkway, causing the pair to glide over it so they could continue on their way.

There was an ornate door in their way that Kratos opened without delay, only for them to enter a large chamber that had something neither of them were expecting to see, a grave with an imitation of Ares locked deep in the ice, causing him to growl as he realized that the former God of War, a being who had ruined his life, had been given a tomb despite the fact that no physical body remained.

"You... have got... to be KIDDING ME!" Kratos snapped, as this was outrageous, that Zeus would allow order such a thing to happen while he and Flurry were moving into their portion of Olympus, especially after realizing just how much he and his daughter hated the former God of War, causing him to turn towards his daughter, "Flurry, wreck this place!"

As Kratos said that, however, he found a centaur walking towards them with a weapon at the ready, where he growled for a moment and rushed at the monster, slashing into it's legs before it had a chance to react to what he was doing before stabbing the underside of his foe's horse body, cutting all the way to it's rear end, before using the chains to remove it's head by heating them up. While he did that Flurry sent her magic into the walls, breaking the ground and the walls with her magical power, though for the most part she was going to keep it intact until they were no longer stuck in this part of the path, even if she hated Ares like her father did. As they found their way to an upper area, allowing them to leave the tomb and regroup with Gaia, one of the Hippocampi tried to attack them and Kratos caught the claw with his hands, only to force it backwards before leaping out to fight it like the last ones both of them had seen so far. Flurry, on the other hand, followed her father out of the tomb area and pulled her hand out, where Kratos and Gaia watched as she tore the area they had passed through out of the mountain before crushing it with her immense magical power, reducing it down to a small orb in her hand before smashing it and reducing it to dust.

With that done the pair knocked the Hippocampus backwards and slammed it into the front of Gaia's chest, causing her to howl in pain, though instead of holding back the two warriors lashed out at the creature, hacking into it's limbs while going after the core, just like Flurry had done on her own. Since most of their foe was made of water they couldn't use most of their magical items, since the liquid would render the power useless in a matter of seconds, but that didn't stop the pair from hacking into the core, tearing part of it open while the other defended them. Kratos found a way to sever one of their foe's claws and, when the way was open, he grabbed it with his blades and swung it so the tip would embed itself in the Hippocampus' core, showing it all the way in to crush it and force the fallen creature to back off. Such a thing left a hole in Gaia's chest, meaning they could head inside, maybe fight a few foes, and then get out before focusing on another foe that was bothering the titans, causing the pair to nod to each other as they descended into Gaia's insides.

Kratos and Flurry discovered that some of the stone walls that were resting in their way moved in response to what Gaia was doing, breathing or talking, though neither of them had to worry about enemies, so they sheathed their weapons for a time as they made their way through Gaia's body.

Gaia's beating heart was a vessel of pure magical energy, combined with the roots of a tree and looked like a large seed of some kind, surrounded by what seemed to be the toughest stones Flurry had ever seen, crystalline quartz that was known as onyx, said to be one of the toughest materials in all of Greece. This was the first time she had seen a cluster of the rare material outside what the guards of Olympus, or Zeus to be more exact, carried in the form of their shields, though as her father studied the area Flurry held a hand out and spun the sickle associated with it for a moment. Kratos watched her for a moment as she tapped the crystal and glanced at the ceiling of the chamber, finding that Gaia made no noise as she did that, something that caused her to lash out with her weapon for a moment as she struck the upper part of the crystal and removed a small portion of the peak. It was no more than the size of the medallions they had been given after trading in the heads of Medusa and Euryale, and happened to be about half the total length, but as she caught the fragment both she and her father found that Gaia either didn't notice or she was too preoccupied to care.

Flurry decided not to extract more than the sample, where Kratos confirmed that her sickles were tougher than even the mythical onyx, though as he turned his attention to finding a way out his daughter also found an old living area that had to be Zeus' from when he was a baby, along with an eagle statue that she added to her collection.

From there Kratos found a wall that he could climb on and did just that, including using a grappling point to reach an area that happened to have some more undead legionnaires, though this time Flurry found that her father grabbed onto one of them and used it as a battering ram to tear through the rest, before tearing the makeshift shield in half as well. Following that they were able to track down another wall that would bring them outside, they just had to use another grapple point to launch themselves outside, allowing the pair to find that this brought them to the backside of Gaia's head, all while she was fighting with another Hippocampus. The fact that she was the one being targeted like this wasn't lost on Kratos and Flurry, as they were using her as a way to get up to Olympus, so Poseidon was focusing on tearing down the one titan that posed the most danger to Zeus' domain, and there was another one approaching them. In that moment both of them felt the ground shudder as Poseidon finally rose out of the water he had crashed into earlier, where he appeared in his giant form, a mass of water and magic that resembled a more warrior version of the God of the Sea, with all of the Hippocampi linked to the area his legs would have been in.

"You dare challenge me, mortals? A god of Olympus?" Poseidon declared, showing them that he had fallen into Zeus' hole of not treating them with the respect they deserved, since they were also gods that had stood on Olympus for some time, and his comment caused the pair to sigh for a few moments.

"Hello, we're gods as well. Seriously, why does everyone keep forgetting that?" Flurry remarked, the first part directed to the god in front of them while the other part was for her father, the latter having no idea why other gods seemed to ignore that they were also gods, even though both of them had their weapons at the ready as they faced Poseidon.

"A true warrior does not hide, Poseidon. If we must fight, then leave the sea and face us." Kratos stated, deciding to focus on the figure that was in front of them and Gaia, because now he was blocking the way forward, though a part of him did have a faint hope that the God of the Seas would realize the danger in front of him and back off before he died.

Poseidon, however, was either infected by the same Evil that had infected Zeus or enraged that they would dare to stand before him, as more of the Hippocampi latched onto Gaia's head and held her steady, in fact Flurry was sure that the god was making sure the titan didn't move so he could focus on them and no one else. In addition to those there were also the few that he used to try and pin down either of his foes, causing Kratos and Flurry to lash out at the Hippocampi that were coming at them and those that were holding onto Gaia's head, since freeing her might aid them in some manner. While they did that their foe lashed out at them with his own lightning attack, a much more controlled version of the power that he had granted them, though Flurry raised an empty hand into the air and swung it, forming a magical barrier in the way to stop the lightning from hitting them. Kratos found that Poseidon wasn't the only one that summoned that power during the course of the battle, as his daughter combined her magic with the lightning power Zeus had granted them during their quest to take down Ares all those years ago and blasted the God of the Seas back with a powerful eerie lightning bolt that tore through his defenses.

The shock freed Gaia long enough for her to grab onto Poseidon and slam him into the side of Mount Olympus, stunning him for a moment as Kratos and Flurry crossed over to where his chest was located, lashing out at him before he even had a chance to recover from the constant assault. Kratos utilized the opening that she provided to cut into the coral armor that Poseidon was using to protect his core, or at least that was what it looked like to him, and when he tore it off, leaving the core of his giant form exposed, he targeted Gaia again, forcing her to let go of him so the pair could deal with the few Hippocampi that were focused on her. As it turned out Poseidon was just resetting the arena back to where he could focus on them, though oddly enough he didn't bother to repair his giant form's armor, as if he knew he didn't have the time to focus on his safety as they battled each other, though the good thing was that while Poseidon was focused on them the rest of the titans continued their climb.

Instead of giving him a chance to turn the tide of the battle against them Flurry called forth more of her power and quickly formed a flaming sphere of deathly energy, twice the size of her head, before hurling it at Poseidon's chest, blasting him back and scarring his chest. Such a thing prompted Gaia to throw a punch at the God of the Seas with her left fist, like she was sensing that this was the time for them to claim victory over one of the stronger gods of Olympus, where Kratos made his move as well, leaping onto her fist as she pulled it back. When Gaia made contact, stunning the god in front of them, Kratos used the force of the blow to propel himself forward so he could smash into the severely weakened core and tore Poseidon out of his giant water form, and even after that he still had enough force to fly through the air and land outside where Ares' tomb had been. As Kratos touched down he turned and hurled Poseidon at the stone wall both he and Flurry had walked by earlier, causing the God of the Sea to crumple to the ground and cough up blood in the process, though as he did that Kratos turned his head towards their foe's giant form as it fell apart, freeing the titans who had been held back by their opponent.

Flurry landed by him a few moments later, all while Gaia caught her breath to make sure she was ready for the rest of the climb, causing them to turn their focus towards the wounded god that was resting nearby, because if this battle continued another god would fall.

"Give up, Poseidon... this battle is over." Flurry said, because while they were planning on killing Zeus, given his crimes and whatever else he might have planned after they were 'dealt with', neither she or her father wanted to kill anyone else, as in none of the other gods and goddesses that were part of Olympus.

"No... no it's not. If I let you two go, you'll just wreck havoc on Olympus, killing everyone that gets in your way... until all of Olympus falls." Poseidon stated, where he forced himself to stand as he held a hand out, creating a watery version of his trident as he coughed up more blood for a moment, showing them that the pressure of being forced out of his giant form and hitting the wall had done some serious damage to his insides, "You'll destroy the entire world if you do this!"

"We just want Zeus. He is our only target... no one else has to die." Kratos replied, though he couldn't fault Poseidon for even thinking about the fate of Greece, because they had just started the Marked Warrior prophecy and there was no real way for them to know exactly what sort of damage their assault would have for the rest of Greece, "Poseidon, you helped us find my mother, when Zeus forbid us from seeking her... and you aided us in finding Deimos, even after someone took control of Scylla and destroyed Atlantis. Neither of us want to kill you, not after everything you did to aid us... so leave, and let us do what we came to do."

In the next moment Poseidon's fate was sealed, as he rushed at Kratos with all of the speed he could muster right now and thrust his makeshift trident at his target, where Flurry stood by as her father parried the attack with the edge of one of his blades, before headbutting the God of the Seas in the face, knocking him to the ground. Poseidon, despite being beaten and being shown mercy by a pair of individuals who killed gods and powerful monsters all the time, kept getting up and attacking Kratos, who replied by knocking him into either the stone wall or the ground, before Kratos eventually gave up. Following that decision Kratos beat Poseidon with strong punches to the face, kicks to the upper part of his chest, and bashed the side of his head against the rock wall, though while he looked incredibly angry, an anger that was directed at Zeus, deep inside he was saddened by the fact that their words had fallen on deaf ears. Poseidon, despite their efforts and the sheer difference in power, was set on killing himself to keep his brother safe, something the other gods might feel as well if they fought them, but even then he had hope that some would step off this path before they reached them.

One of his attacks sent Poseidon at Flurry, who simply sighed as she pierced his chest with the Blade of Olympus, letting it steal some of his power as Kratos grabbed onto his head and snapped his neck, killing him instantly, before he pushed the fallen god off the blade and watched him fall into the water below. Both of them were waiting for Poseidon's body to blow like Ares' did, leaving nothing of the god behind, only for the lifeless body to do nothing as it eventually struck the water that Poseidon had dropped a titan into not that long ago, and then the madness happened. A massive wave burst out of the area that his body had struck, flooding the city that rested at the base of the mountain, destroying every ship that was in the immediate area, drowning every innocent person that had nothing to do with this war, and something that was far more devastating than either of them were expecting. The entire world was flooding before their eyes, as in the sea levels were rising more and more as the seconds ticked by, meaning anyone who wasn't on Olympus, or hopefully on the fleet that Artemis and Apollo had prepared, was as good as dead, causing Kratos to look out at the scene in disbelief before he found that Flurry was incredibly saddened by this turn of events.

It was like Athena had told him during their years of working to prevent this terrible prophecy from happening, Death was saddened by people mistreating their lives or massive loss of life like this, and he could see that she was thinking about all of the lives that had been snuffed out in their quest to kill Zeus, causing him to pull her into a hug for a time.

"Do not worry. We WILL fix this." Kratos said, because while he knew that there would be no way to undo the deaths that had just happened, not without using the Threads of Fate and possibly breaking the flow of history, he knew, without a doubt, that they would find a way to undo the damage they were doing to Greece.

Flurry could only nod her head as they stood there for a few moments, allowing them to understand the consequences of their actions and what it meant for whatever the future held for everyone, all while hoping that they could bring this battle to an end without doing more damage to Greece and any survivors that still remained.

War: Return to the Underworld

Kratos and Flurry stood there for a moment or two before the sound of Gaia resuming her climb to the peak of Olympus, to which the pair separated for a time and readied themselves, so when the titan emerged Kratos returned to her hand while his daughter flew around to keep an eye on the other attacking gods. Based on what Flurry could see Hermes was gone, as if he had ducked out to avoid fighting anyone, Hades seemed to be down in the Underworld right now, and Helios used his chariot to move around so he could assault the other titans, who were mostly ignoring him. Oddly enough none of the other gods that knew they were moving forward bothered to stop them, meaning Poseidon's death might have scared them off, which was a good thing in her mind since it meant they wouldn't have to worry about ending more lives than necessary. Such a thing allowed Gaia to climb without being stopped, reaching the summit of Mount Olympus without wasting too much time, all while Flurry could see that the sky was rumbling as Zeus readied himself, meaning her father would have to defend himself before going on the offensive.

As they reached the peak, however, the pair discovered that Zeus was just standing there with his arms crossed, where he seemed to be annoyed by the fact that this was even happening, causing Kratos to step down into the balcony that was in front of them as he gripped the handles of his weapons.

"Tell us, father, what will you do now? Will you run and hide, or will you stand and fight?" Kratos inquired, though while his focus was on Zeus he knew his daughter was keeping an eye on the sky, and Gaia was no doubt getting ready to break the rest of Olympus to show the rest of Greece that the days of Zeus were finally over.

"What, no epic statement about how 'death could not hold you, and the Sisters of Fate could not stop you'? Even now you disappoint me." Zeus replied, because after everything they had been through he expected something more from both his son and his overly powerful granddaughter, instead of the questions he had been asked, where a part of him wondered how this would have gone had he found Flurry first.

"Sorry, but we're focused on one thing right now: your death." Flurry stated, where she readied both her scythe and the Blade of Olympus, because while both could kill Zeus on their own, as they were godly weapons, this showed the King of the Gods that they weren't playing around, they were going to take him seriously.

Zeus, despite the fact that he had been weakened by their previous battle, clearly knew that they were going to come at him and prepared accordingly, as the moment both Flurry and Kratos stepped forward the King of the Gods hurled large bolts of lightning down on the balcony. They didn't come out of nowhere, as the ones coming from his hands weren't this strong, rather he had been preparing them up in the sky while the other gods were fighting the titans and summoned all of them when he felt the time was right, causing Flurry to go on the defensive as she snapped barriers into the area that was in front of them. In that instant she found that she wasn't Zeus' target, something that would normally be a mistake due to her overwhelming power, rather the lightning bolts tore into the half of the balcony that they were on and tore into Gaia as well, the sheer force of the attack nearly shattering her left arm, as her hand had nearly come off and was only connected by one of the larger inner roots, like the bone. While the lightning seemed to have no effect on Kratos it quickly became clear as to what was happening, Zeus was casting them into the depths once more as his lightning tore into the ground, though when Flurry found an opening she frowned as she discovered that Zeus had vanished, running from them once more, causing her to sheath her weapons before rushing after her father.

She could hear her father loudly talking to Gaia, where the titan was struggling to hang onto the side of Mount Olympus, all while discovering that her father was using Artemis' blade to keep himself on the titan's arm, the tip digging into the rock and stone far too easily since he was rapidly approaching the edge of her arm.

"Kratos, Flurry, know that we are grateful to you for bringing us back to the future, but... you were nothing more than a set of pawns to us." Gaia stated, something Flurry found to be amusing, that she was claiming that they were the pawns when it was her and the titans that had been used in such a way, though the titan followed her statement up with pulling her now wounded arm back and waving it a little so Kratos would be dislodged, "Leave Zeus to us, Kratos... your part in all of this is over. So go, take your daughter, leave Olympus, and never look back."

Flurry knew that Gaia was fighting a doomed fight, because if it hadn't been for her barriers there was a fair chance that one or more of those lightning bolts would have shattered Gaia completely, which could have been what Zeus was after, knocking them off of his palace and then crushing them with a massive pile of boulders. Instead of saying anything to the titan, however, Flurry rushed through the air, caught the Blade of Artemis, and then dismissed it before grabbing onto her father as she used her magic and wings to direct them somewhere else. The reasoning for that decision was because he and Gaia had fallen so far thanks to Zeus' attack and, if what she was seeing was to be believed, the River Styx was getting closer as she seconds went by, so she aimed at the open patch of ground near one edge. She wasn't sure if it would do something to her father or just leave him alone, but right now she wasn't willing to take that risk, causing her to level out before finally coming to a total stop, where Kratos touched down before letting his daughter land as well.

The downside to being near the River Styx meant that they were in Hades' domain, the Underworld, or the portion that he had built under Olympus, given that the Chain of Balance was linked to this area as well, where they stared out at the rest of the realm that was in front of them.

"The Underworld. Of course." Kratos remarked, though he wasn't sour over Gaia calling them pawns, not after their plan to use the titans as a distraction to breach Olympus' defenses and get to Zeus, rather he was focused on what they had to do next, before spotting what appeared to be a magical gateway off in the distance, "And that might be our ticket out of here, without fighting Hades."

"Good, I'd hate to see what might happen if Hades was slain." Flurry said, because if Poseidon's death flooded the rest of Greece, something they couldn't have possibly known ahead of time since both Persephone and Ares just exploded and did no damage to the world, all while their bodies evaporated into nothingness, she could only imagine what Hades' death might have on all of Greece.

Kratos, Flurry. a voice said, where they found the magical image of Athena appearing out of thin air in front of them, meaning she and Hecate likely had one more message to tell them before they got too far out of range, since they were moving to the furthest edge of Greece, We felt the shockwave of the seas rising, which means you were unable to talk some sense into Poseidon... I'm sorry you had to do that, especially after everything that happened between you. Listen, we've been going over any potential targets you might want to hit before going after Zeus, in the event that you two were forced to take a different path, and there's one thing that comes to mind: the Flame of Olympus, a terrible power that is lethal to both mortals and gods. If Zeus finds a way to use it against you... well, we're certain it'll burn you alive, until there is nothing left.

"He has not used it yet, meaning he cannot channel the power it holds. How do we destroy it?" Kratos inquired, because if the Flame of Olympus was truly so terrifying, and could kill anything it touched, it made him wonder why Zeus never tried to use it against his foes, especially given the fact that he and Flurry had been targets of interest.

We are unsure. Only Hephaestus knows of the Flame's secrets, but no one has seen him since you became the new God of War... though there are whispers that he's somewhere in the Underworld. Athena replied, where it was clear that she was unsure of the information they had gleamed during their departure from Greece, especially since Zeus likely made it hard to track down the Smith God.

"Then we'll find him, of that you can be sure." Flurry said, because if Hephaestus really was down here, no doubt working on Zeus' project for the rest of his life, there was a good chance that they could bump into him and learn whatever they could from him, which all depended on how Hades reacted to them being in his realm.

As the magic faded away Kratos and Flurry resumed moving, using a nearby grapple point to launch themselves over to an area that some undead legionnaires were wandering around in, smashing and slashing through them with ease, only to find that the gateway was surrounded by dark chains and a familiar energy. Hades had no doubt returned to his seat of power and was blocking them from leaving, meaning he either knew how dangerous they were and wanted to keep them out of his brother's domain, at least until the other gods were ready to crush them, or he had his own personal reason for wanted to keep them contained. After jumping over the tops of a few rocky pillars the pair reached the area in front of Hades' large statue, where they could hear him laughing at them, no doubt because this was Kratos' third time in this realm, before he sent a force of undead legionnaires to deal with both warriors, as if assuming they were up to the task. It was a foolish and rather stupid mistake, as both of them were gods in their own right and they tore through the undead without even taking a bit of damage in the process, allowing them to see that there was some bramble in the way, but instead of setting it on fire right away, which Flurry could do with a spell, they used a nearby rope line to continue exploring.

Sure enough enemies attacked her father while he was making his way across the massive gap that the rope line was resting far above, so while he focused on some of the undead enemies Flurry raised her own bow and took out those that were off in the distance, preventing the archers from hitting her father as he tore through his own enemies.

After finally touching down the pair resumed moving forward, even though Flurry found a note from one of the souls that had come through here in the past, from someone named Peirithous, something she decided to leave behind as they focused on exploring and finding a new way to burn the bramble. The path brought them to an area where the doors that Kratos opened became a wall on the other side of the circular area, though before that they had to deal with a gorgon, one who had to be one of Euryale's since she was fatter than the normal gorgons and had a deep look of hatred in her eyes, no doubt for the warriors that killed her patron. Fortunately she made a mistake, using her gaze on Kratos prompted him to use the Golden Fleece to reflect her gaze and turn her to stone so Flurry could smash the statue in an instant, while her father found a second gorgon pulling herself into the arena and severed her head instantly. As the body fell down into the depths of the Underworld the pair opened the door that was in front of them, walked down a short path and jumped over a small hole in the ground, before entering an area that looked like a prison.

"I will be brief, Spartans... I have suffered long enough." a new voice said, where they found some bramble in front of a man in a chair off to their left, after crossing over the gap in the bridge, though judging from the name engraved nearby it was easy for them to assume that this was Peirithous, the writer of the note Flurry had noticed a few moments ago, "This is the punishment Hades has given me, a prison of tinder for eternal torment... I have only my bow left. Free me and I'll give it to you as payment."

"Oh now I remember where I've heard about you: your Apollo's champion!" Flurry stated, as she had been thinking about this ever since she read the name on the note, and the reason she knew it was due to the fact that Apollo had told her all about the demigod that was in front of them, meaning he must have done something to piss off Hades, causing her to pull out her sickles for a moment.

Kratos didn't have to ask what she was doing, because at this point those sickles of her could cut through everything that was in Greece if they could hack through even the mythical onyx, though as Flurry made short work of the bramble, and put the pieces off to the side to burn on their own, he dealt with their new enemies. Of course it was more of the undead and a cerberus hound, the latter being fully grown this time around, so he dodged the hound for a few moments and cut down the undead that were coming at them, breaking one in half with his bare hands, and once those foes were gone he turned his gaze towards the hound. Taking it out proved to be just as easy as it was in the past, a quick stab to the brain for one of the side heads, piercing the throat of the other side, and then wrapping the chain around the central head and using the heat the blades could produce to remove it's head. Peirithous, having heard tales of the God of War, thought the vast majority of them were tall tales, but now he was sitting there with an open jaw in surprise as Kratos dealt with one of Hades' stronger hounds like it was nothing at all, which only made him wonder about Flurry herself.

When the last of the bramble was removed, and Peirithous could move since Flurry even found a way to shatter the stone curse that had been placed on his feet to prevent him from moving, he handed over the bow and they found that it was more like flames than a normal bow, just like how Typhon's Bane was a wind based bow, where he found that he could switch between the two at will.

With it in hand Kratos told Peirithous to get to safety, detailing how they had gotten to this point so he could be as close as possible to the gateway they had spotted earlier, as there was a chance that one of their allies might use it to shepherd all those they were able to save to safety. Sure, it was a gamble on their part, but it was either that or let him follow them even deeper into the Underworld, causing the man to bow out and carefully make his way to the safest spot possible, all while the pair continued moving and found some bramble for Kratos to use the Bow of Apollo on, as he loosed an arrow made of fire at it and burned the material away. After that they followed the rest of the path that was behind it, passing by another note that spoke of anguish and torment, and came to a stop at a short balcony of sorts that allowed people, or souls since the Underworld was full of them, to stare at something. The scene in question appeared to be the bottom part of the Chain of Balance, the portion that was stuck in this realm, and it looked like it was behind held onto by three large stone or metal statues that seemed to be important in some manner, only for them to be interrupted by some harpies that flew down to attack them.

Flurry decided to waste the harpies with one of the deathly orbs she had practiced after becoming the Goddess of Death, drawing in the small enemies in an instant before the eerie yellow lightning it produced shocked her targets for a couple of seconds, killing them almost instantly, causing her to realize she'd have to use this against stronger foes for it to have any real effect.

Following that Kratos glided down to an area where he had to climb along the outer edge of a structure, one that just so happened to be mixed with a mountain side, though while he did that he found that Flurry remained at the ready, using her wings to hover at an area where she could see everything and held her bow at the ready. As it turned out she didn't need to do that at all, her father was able to make his way around the outside with far too much ease, especially since the pair knew that Hades knew they were here, but if he was going to allow them this freedom they were going to use it to the best of their ability. She also discovered that the path brought them closer to the Judges of the Underworld, based on how they were positioned, though Flurry noticed something interesting, the onyx in the back of their heads, meaning none of them were alive, just golems serving Hades and Zeus. In fact none of the statues moved as they approached what had to be a central platform, though it seemed to be stuck and wouldn't let them use it until a 'trial' was cleared, in the balcony area that was down the nearby set of steps, and when they stepped down them a row of spikes separated them from the Judges as more enemies showed up.

The first trial, as there were apparently more than one, were interesting to deal with, despite the fact that neither warrior were too worried about what might be sent at them, where the opening act was to destroy all of the hands of Hades that happened to be reaching for the wandering souls that appeared in the area. Such a thing was far too easy since both of them found that the hands seemed to look like the bramble in some manner, causing them to burn the hands away and clear the challenge with ease, though the next one was more interesting, as the barrier turned dark as souls started to walk towards it. The second one required them to stop the souls before they reached the edge of the barrier, which would convert them into members of Hades' army, as the example morphed into a minotaur, though given all of the monsters that existed in the world Flurry set up a barrier in front of the barrier to stop the souls in their tracks. It worked perfectly, as no soul was able to reach Hades' trap as her father slashed the monster apart, though after that they faced the third trial, which involved destroying every foe that got in their way, by using a gorgon to turn harpies and minotaurs to stone and then smashing them, which was too easy with their medallions and skills.

Once that was done they were allowed to stand on the platform, where the Judges let go of the Chain and assumed new positions as the massive chain moved a bit, revealing onyx cores that was keeping the chain contained, though the Judges found them 'wanting, worthy, and not ready for the Underworld' before revealing the way to one of the two gateways that were in this area.

The gateway, as it turned out, brought them to an area that was above and behind the heads of the Judges, in fact Flurry could easily walk over to the backside of one's head and slash apart the onyx gemstone that was it's power source if she so desired, but she decided not to for the time being as they followed the new path. Such a thing brought them an area that had some minotaurs guarding it, along with explosive containers they could ignite with a flaming arrow, which Kratos did without delay and found that their enemies were wiped out in a matter of seconds. It was good information to have as they continued deeper into the Underworld, as the path weaved around the third and final Judge's head, where his core was down on the neck area, oddly enough, but Flurry made a note of it, as she had a feeling they would be back to wreck all of them, if their past adventures were anything to go by. The part that caught them by surprise was the fact that there were no enemies up here for them to worry about, meaning they were able to jump over a few bits of ground with ease, jumping and gliding across a few gaps in the process, even though it seemed to end near a ledge that overlooked where the Judges were resting.

At the edge of it, however, was something that caused the pair to pause for a moment, as it was a statue of Pandora, this time positioned like she was half kneeling and half presenting something to someone else, along with a blue flame that had a familiar presence inside it.

Kratos! Flurry! It warms my heart to see you again. the flame said, where they watched as it took on the shape of a very familiar figure's head, Pandora's to be exact, and the pair could see that she was smiling, confirming that she was happy to see them, despite where this statue was located.

"Pandora... why are you here, in the Underworld? Have you been wrongfully imprisoned?" Kratos asked, because while it was true that they hadn't had the honor of meeting Hephaestus' daughter in the flesh, especially given that they hadn't see the Smith God for a long time, he could only imagine how wrong things must be if an innocent girl was locked down here, in who knew where.

I'm... not in the Underworld. Zeus locked me away in the heart of his Labyrinth. Pandora replied, where the pair found that she seemed sad, which was understandable since the King of the Gods had basically stolen her away from everything and everyone she loved and locked her in some unknown part of Olympus, He said that 'I was a thing' and that I had no right to exist... but, because of what I am, the key to undoing the Flame of Olympus, he decided to lock me away, where no one would find me. He said... my father should have killed me when he had the chance...

"Please don't cry, Pandora... you know your father loves you with all his heart. He'd never do anything to hurt you... in fact, when we find him he'll probably ask us to find you." Flurry said, though she had to admit something, Pandora was strong for taking all of this abuse and still, somehow, having the strength to hold on and hope for a better future, and her words caused the girl to smile and nod before the flame vanished, causing her to growl for a moment, "Zeus... you unbelievable bastard! Just how many lives has the King of the Gods destroyed?"

"I do not know." Kratos answered, though instead of telling Flurry off for her choice of words, since it was different for her, he decided to let it slide for the time being, as he was also growing more and more pissed off as they discovered more of Zeus' vast crimes, and with how long it had been since they last saw Hephaestus he was growing concerned for the Smith God, since he was friendly towards them, "Come, let us move on. We have a pair of gods to find."

Flurry let out a sigh as she nodded her head, because now there was more them to fight for, to find their missing friends and get them out of here before either Hades or Zeus did something to them, all while knowing that they were going to pay back Zeus in full when it came time to finally end this nightmare.

War: Another Familiar Face

After talking with Pandora, and getting angry over the fact that Zeus would imprison an innocent girl in the depths of his foul Labyrinth, Kratos found that the way forward was to move across a chain line that linked the area they were in to another platform, one that seemed to have a passageway on a lower level. Flurry hovered nearby as he made his way across the chain and found no enemies for them to worry about, meaning it wasn't long before her father reached the end and quickly climbed down to the passage they had spotted. The passage in question was partly blocked off, containing a single opening that they had to press themselves against a wall in order to reach whatever might be on the other end, though as Kratos started to do so Flurry found another note, this one from Callisto, her father's mother. Such a thing made her wonder which afterlife Callisto ended up in, even after the gods, no doubt Zeus, had messed with her life, before she put the note away and made her way through the passage as well, reaching an area where they could walk normally again in no time.

Following that the pair found more undead legionnaires waiting for them, some armed with blue flames that could ignite the explosive containers that were in the way, causing the pair to wait for them to get close before wiping them out with a blast from another container, and the one that remained Flurry defeated with a swing of her sickles. Kratos walked across a few planks and found a few more undead coming towards them, where he yanked them apart before they had a chance to do anything to him, only to stop at an area that had another note and an area with a lot of bramble for someone to set on fire. The note, as Flurry discovered, was from the Captain of the boat they had saved from the Hydra many years ago, only he had died sometime after that point in time, from what she had no idea, but this seemed to be a note of thanks for those who had saved him, causing her to smile a little as she added it to the others. Her father, on the other hand, set the bramble on fire and created some steam for him to use to get to the walkway above them, where a couple of undead legionnaires were gathering to stop them, not that Kratos cared as he cleaved his way through them.

The nearly lever allowed them to reach another level that had a good number of explosive containers that looked like they could pull them out and push one somewhere, even though Flurry dealt with a couple of undead by freezing and breaking them with her weapons, before they realized that the key to this area was to drop one of the explosives on the lower level to make the steam pillar larger.

Such a thing allowed her father to glide up to the underside of a stuck lift, something that caused it to lower into place in front of an ornate door, where Flurry glided down to the edge of the now freed lift as her father opened the door without wasting time, only to find that it was connected to a dead end passage full of the hands of Hades. With that discovery made Flurry glanced up at the ceiling and found another passage that the lift had been blocking, where she opened her wings and moved up into the area in question, causing her to call for her father to join her, who did so a couple of seconds later. The passage brought them to a set of stairs that were connected to an ornate structure, which gave them a fantastic view over the rest of the Underworld, though the nearby book informed them that the hellish landscape in the distance was, in fact, called the 'Pit of Tartarus', likely the deepest place in the entirety of Greece, where they could hear a titan off in the distance, or at least Flurry could. In addition to that they found that some of the stone statues came to life and tried to attack the pair, where both repeated what Flurry did back during their first adventure together, they quickly got behind the animated statues and pierced their backs, ending their existences in a few seconds.

The path at the other end of the area happened to be broken and required them to glide down to what appeared to be a set of stairs leading to another portion of Hades' domain, where they heard the sound of something being hammered, like a forge, and as Flurry glanced at the top of the stairs she found a somewhat familiar large figure working up there, only he wore no shirt and was more disfigured than she remembered.

"No... No it can't be. He can't be here. Hephaestus, is that you?!" Flurry asked, as the moment she noticed the figure she rushed up the stairs and landed on what appeared to be the central section of a forge area, where it looked like the god in question was resting in the heated material that was allowing him to heat whatever he was working on, and when the tall figure turned towards them Flurry could feel more pain in her heart.

"Ah, Flurry, Kratos, I've been expecting you. I knew Zeus would be unable to kill either of you." Hephaestus said, where he set something down and shifted around for a moment, allowing him to face them and give them more attention than he might give to someone else, all while showing that his body was definitely more disfigured than they recalled, in fact both warriors noticed what appeared to be bruises on his body.

"Why? Why are you imprisoned down here?" Kratos inquired, as this was outrageous, first they find that Zeus locked an innocent girl away in the heart of his mysterious Labyrinth, even though they knew Pandora had committed no crimes in her life, and now Hephaestus was apparently locked away in the Underworld, despite doing everything in his power to keep the King of the Gods happy.

"Because, in Zeus' fear filled eyes, I betrayed him. I made Pandora's Box, if you remember, and it was to house the Evils that were born after the Great War, which is what it did for many years," Hephaestus answered, though at the same time he asked for the hammer they acquired from the Barbarian King and Flurry, despite the rage that was coursing through her body right now, handed it over to the Smith God, who also took the onyx fragment and got to work while he talked, as he was great at multitasking, "to make the Box, however, I required a very special and powerful flame to work the metal into what Zeus desired, a fearsome flame known as the Flame of Olympus. Doing such a thing meant that the Flame could be a 'lock' for the Box, a true prison that it could never be sprung from, save for using the 'Key' that would undo the lock, a Key that became Pandora herself. Zeus originally intended to lock the Box in the Flame until the end of the world, so no one could use it, but the Sisters and I were able to convince him that placing it on Cronos' back, at the very end of a large and challenging temple, would keep it safe until we needed it's power... and we did, when Ares went insane."

"The Flame can only be destroyed if Pandora is sacrificed to it? I cannot blame you for your actions, Hephaestus, because you were doing what any true father should have done: protecting your child." Kratos stated, though as he stood there he found that he and Flurry were truly getting enraged by Zeus' actions, because every sin his father committed seemed to be far worse than the one that came before it, and the King of the Gods' lack of respect for the lives of everyone else was just pissing his daughter off.

"I know, I keep telling myself that... that everything I did was to keep Pandora safe. Anyway, after you opened the Box, and let out the Evils inside it, Zeus demanded the truth from me," Hephaestus said, where they could tell that he was doing his work on the weapon to keep himself distracted from the rage that was no doubt coursing through his body, as Zeus must have done something to enrage him as well, "I refused to tell him about Pandora, you see, because I knew that if he found out about her and her connection to the Flame he'd either hurt her, maybe even kill her to make the lock unbreakable, or he'd lock her away and steal her life from her. He beat me relentlessly... no, it is more accurate to say that he tortured me for days... trying to get me to reveal what I knew and why I had lied to him, but I refused to tell him anything, and when he struck me hard enough to put me on Death's Door, and disfigured me further, Pandora revealed herself to save my life, even though I was gladly giving it up for her sake. Zeus cursed me to remain in this place until the end of my life, making it so I could never see my beloved daughter again, and forced me to help construct everything that went into making the prison he locked her inside."

"So that's what you've been doing..." Flurry remarked, though her hatred for Zeus grew even more, because he tortured one of their friends, despite them no knowing Hephaestus that well, and nearly killed him when he refused to sacrifice his daughter to the madness that had overtaken the King of the Gods.

"Yes... toiling away for a mad god." Hephaestus said, where he raised the hammer for a moment and they found that the weapon looked nothing like it did when Flurry first picked it up, as it's handle was sleeker and more like the handle of the Blades of Chaos, while the head was more rectangular and crystalline and was missing the spikes the Barbarian King had put on it, and it had some designs on it that showed it had some magical power inside it, "There, 'Earthshaker' is complete. I used the bit of onyx you had to imbue the weapon with it's own elemental power, hence it's new name... it should aid you in your quest to stop Zeus. But that's not all you'll be doing, is it?"

"Hephaestus, after hearing all of that, there is no way we would leave Pandora to her fate. Tell us, how do we get to the area she is imprisoned in?" Kratos asked, though at the same time he and Flurry noticed something, there was a halberd resting near one of the statues the Smith God had made of his imprisoned daughter, likely something Hephaestus made in his spare time when Zeus wasn't demanding his full attention.

"That, Kratos, I cannot tell you, for I do not know. But, knowing you two, I'm sure you'll find the path." Hephaestus stated, showing them that he had faith in their abilities and was hoping that, against all odds, they would do the impossible again and save Pandora from her prison, and maybe get her out of the Labyrinth before Zeus realized what was going on.

Kratos nodded as they bid the Smith God farewell for the time being, where he found a lever that lowered a gate at the bottom of the stairs he and Flurry had walked up to reach this part of the Underworld, though while they walked he found that whatever seal his daughter had put on her full power seemed to slip, transforming her attire into the robed avatar of Death that installed fear into those that saw it. He knew that when this happened, and it was rare that it occurred, she was beyond pissed at someone or something, no doubt Zeus in this case, though he also knew that the only way to snap her out of this state was punishing whoever caused the change in the first place, or until she calmed down. The path in question brought them to a circular structure that they could rotate by using the crank that was directly in the center, though Flurry stared at the four bulky statues that were positioned around the area and gripped the new and improved warhammer as she waited for one of them to make a move. Oddly enough none of the statues came to life, allowing Kratos to access a path with bramble and used Apollo's bow to set the wall on fire, allowing him and his daughter to head out into another part of Hades' massive realm as they searched for a way to undo his binding on the gate they saw earlier.

The view on the walkway allowed them to see the path they had used when they first started exploring after Gaia told them to forget about Zeus, and it ended in another balcony that happened to have one of Pandora's statues at the edge, this one looking like she was receiving a gift of some kind.

"Pandora, we have spoken to your father and have learned more about the situation you are in. Can you tell us where your prison is located?" Kratos asked, taking a moment to lower himself down so he could look at the blue flame directly, since it felt strange to tower over the statue like he usually did, while at the same time Flurry kept an eye out for any enemies that might try to attack them.

I don't know where the heart of the Labyrinth is located, only that I'm somewhere between Olympus and the Underworld right now. Pandora replied, where Kratos could see that she was rubbing the side of her arm, not because she was hurt or anything, but rather it had to be because she was sad about her father's predicament and was upset with herself for not being able to do anything for Hephaestus, I suspect that if you make your way up to Olympus you'll eventually see my resting place in no time.

As Kratos nodded his head, however, he found that some undead legionnaires appeared around them, though Flurry was the first one to strike as she swung her new and improved hammer and crushed the chest of the undead that happened to be her first target, as Kratos could hear the bones break upon impact. In the next moment Kratos understood the reason why Hephaestus called it the 'Earthshaker', because when Flurry turned the weapon so that the head was pointed towards the ground and struck the ground he found spikes of earth erupting out of the floor, which pierced their foes right in their chests with ease. That was her not giving the weapon a specific foe to track down, because in the next moment he watched as she focused on the last undead and intentionally missed her attack so the hammer's head would hit the ground, creating an earthen spike to pierce her target's chest and kill it instantly. Kratos had to admit that he liked the Earthshaker more than what it had been before Hephaestus had worked on it, because now there was nothing to it that suggested it had been used by someone else, even though they both knew the truth, and Flurry even let him use the weapon for a time, allowing him to crush a few more undead legionnaires in the process.

Once the area was cleared they dropped down onto the area below them and used some grapple points to reach the area they had started in, where both warriors quickly returned to Hades' large statue before dealing with the bramble that was around the area, only to find two fiery cerberi growling at them. Apparently they were supposed to be guardians of the area, bad ones since they had fallen asleep on the job, though as Kratos repeated what he did before, stabbing the outer heads before removing the central one, Flurry smashed it's back repeatedly with the hammer. After that she made sure to crush all three of it's heads, putting the poor creature out of it's misery, before she joined Kratos as he forced the large door in front of them into the ceiling and walking into another chamber, requiring them to open another door to enter the main part of the area. Before either warrior could do that they had to defeat a few groups of undead legionnaires and a few undead dogs, which really were too much of a challenge as Flurry crushed her opponents into the ground and walls as her father literally tore them apart with his bare hands.

After taking care of their enemies Kratos forced open the door in front of them and found a ramp leading to what looked like a makeshift tomb of sorts for Persephone, complete with a coffin with a doll made to match the fallen goddess inside it, since they knew her body had dissolved into nothingness after her detonation, all while at the same time realizing that this place was also Hades' palace.

Welcome, Spartans. Do come in, make yourselves at home... trust me, it'll be the last thing you ever do. a voice said, where the pair knew it was Hades', since this was his realm and he had been observing them for a time, or at least both of them assumed so since he had been oddly quiet since their arrival in his realm, no doubt realizing that the ones who had killed his insane wife were running around the Underworld.

The pair discovered that there was a wheel nearby that was connected to a grated door on the upper level, so Flurry held it in the up position as her father found a pile of hard stone, on a float piece of wood designed for being pushed around, and moved it over to the wheel so he could shove it under the handle, locking it into place. Of course harpies came into the area to try and bother them, but the pair simply slashed all of them to bits before making sure the wheel wasn't going anywhere, though Flurry found a way up since there weren't any lifts for them to use right now, they just had to climb on the side of the large tree that was in the center of the chamber. Getting up there allowed them to see a few minotaurs and a few hounds running around, causing Kratos and Flurry to lash out at them, cutting and smashing all of them to pieces like all of the enemies they had come across so far, to the point where Flurry cut off one of the minotaur horns and used it by stabbing it's owner in the heart. It was actually rather disappointing for the supposed guards of Hades' palace, as they were expecting some of the greatest monsters in all of the Underworld to be here, but neither were going to question his decisions as they tore through the rest of their enemies and resumed exploring the rest of the structure.

A few moments later they found their way to the highest point of the structure, which had a statue of Hades and a crank that not only released and moved it's arms, but also raised the coffin up to this portion, though why it did that neither of them bothered to question, as it was Hades and if he wanted this than they weren't going to argue.

Flurry realized that their target was on the other side of the statue, meaning they had to use the coffin to burst through it's chest and that required finding a way to trap the hands so they didn't block the area that had to be their target, but with no way up to what had to be the controls for the chains both warriors were stuck. Fortunately both of them had the exact same thought at the same time, all they had to do was pull the coffin back and let it swing, where it's collision with the statue dislodged a ladder on either side of the chamber, leading to the smaller chambers in question. What they found was that both smaller rooms had wheels that could be locked into place, though while the right one had nothing for them to use to stop it the pair found a lift heading back to the first floor, where they could remove the stone blockage and use the lift to bring it up to the wheel. With that in mind Flurry returned to the main crank and got into position, so when her father called for her to get started she moved it and the cuffs opened, allowing her father to move his wheel to return the left hand to the cuff and locked it into position, causing her to do the same with the right, because with both arms locked there was nothing between the coffin and the statue.

With that done Kratos latched onto the coffin with his blades, pulled it back, and swung it at the statue, breaking a hole into the statue's chest and allowed both of them to jump into what appeared to be a darkened chamber of some kind, no doubt where Hades wanted to fight them.

"Ah, my guests have arrived... so good of you to carve out some time for us, as you know we need it." Hades said, his voice coming from the darkness ahead of them, in fact talking gave him away since Flurry was able to pinpoint his location with ease and could tell that he had his own sickle weapons at the ready, though he appeared to be waiting for a good time to do whatever he was thinking, "You know, I sense some bad blood between us... though to be fair, you two did murder my brother, Poseidon, and butchered my queen in cold blood."

"Your wife tried to destroy the world, Hades, and she knew how to unbind the titans... at the time, killing her to keep the peace was the only logical answer." Flurry stated, though she had a feeling that the God of the Underworld was going to be a pain in their rears, as in she suspected that he wasn't going to stand down and was going to come at them with the intent to murder them for the crimes they had committed against him, "And we tried to talk Poseidon down, we really did, but he was dead set on protecting one of the worst sinners in all of Greece... don't let his mistake repeat. Will you stand down, Hades, and let us continue on our way?"

"No, you have committed too many sins against me. I won't let you leave this place!" Hades replied, though as Kratos and Flurry got ready for a fight they noticed that the god wasn't coming at them right away, rather he seemed to be taking a few moments to think about what was going on, like her words might have reached him, "Your daughter asked a question, Kratos, so before your demise I'll let you ask one as well."

"I have only one thing to ask, as Persephone had no answer years ago: where did Lysandra's soul go?" Kratos asked, as he knew that since there was no reasoning with Hades, and asking him for directions seemed to be a waste of time as well, this was the only thing that came to mind before the battle started, a question that had been bugging him for years.

"Your late wife? Oh yes, I remember her... Zeus claimed her soul the moment she arrived, said something about having the perfect torment for someone like her. I wonder what he did with her." Hades remarked, where Kratos growled for a moment, as this was just the cherry on top of everything Zeus had done, to go so far as to deny his late wife her resting place with Calliope, and here Hades was, laughing like it was the funniest thing he could have said.

In the next moment, as Hades stepped out to attack them, Kratos grabbed onto Earthshaker for a moment, avoided both of Hades' weapons as Flurry bashed them to the side with her sickles, and jumped into the air as he swung the weapon, an attack that collided with the bottom of the God of the Underworld's head, knocking his helm clean off. Hades paused for a moment as he carefully touched his jaw, feeling the throbbing area that Kratos had struck, as he realized that Hephaestus must have granted them another new weapon to add to their arsenal, a powerful one that could rival some of the weapons they had collected so far. After that he decided to get serious as Flurry slashed into his side with her sickles, causing him to growl as they noticed how hideous his true face was, where he created a surge of chains that rushed out of the ground and targeted both of them without delay, only for Hades to frown as a magical sphere appeared around both of his opponents. Hades shifted his stance and called forth some of the souls he had captured over the years, manifesting transparent gray cerberi that growled at the warriors in front of him, only to find that Flurry slashed through them with her scythe, slaying them instantly, as they glared at each other.

Hades, in his rage, hurled his weapons in a way that caused the claws to tear into the structure that was around them and even the floor itself, breaking the area for some odd reason, before Kratos and Flurry countered with their weapons, a fact that knocked them backwards, before they snatched one claw each and yanked them away from Hades, stealing his own weapon and adding it to their growing collection.

The Claws of Hades were similar to both Kratos' blades and Flurry's sickles, weapons with chains that could be used to hit enemies that were further away, though as Hades got back up, half of his body stuck inside the river that was below this part of his palace, neither warrior bothered to use them. Kratos jumped into the air and struck the wounded god with the new hammer, breaking his hands and fingers as he did so, though Flurry crossed to the other side of the ruined structure, switched her scythe for another weapon, and plunged the Blade of Olympus right into Hades' exposed back. Sure enough the God of the Underworld let out a pained gasp as she did that, though to make sure he couldn't reach back to grab her Kratos stabbed both of his hands, using the Blades of Chaos for his right and the new Claws for his left, before pulling on them as he stood near the walls, restricting Hades' movements. Hades felt the pull of the Blade of Olympus as Flurry stole some of his own power from him, though as he resisted against her attacks she pulled her weapon out, appeared in front of him, and stabbed him right in the brain before he could even make an attempt to stop the attack.

Such a thing caused Hades to die on the spot, though all of the souls he had stolen over the years built up inside his body for a moment before bursting outwards, where Kratos watched as his daughter's magic washed over the entirety of the Underworld, causing the souls of the dead to peacefully return to their afterlives, and those who hadn't been judged were heading over to be judged.

"Flurry... are you okay?" Kratos asked, as he knew that when his daughter used this much magic, and on a grand scale no less, it usually exhausted her, not to mention the fact that killing another god had to weigh heavily on her mind, just like it weighed heavily on his.

"Not really... I don't want to kill any gods, not when our target is Zeus, but they're so doom driven that we have no choice but to end their lives." Flurry replied, because it only made her wonder just how many gods would fall before they found and killed Zeus, though at the same time she picked up Hades' helmet, adding it to her collection of items, while some of the still angry souls barrelled into Hades' body and dragged it until the river, "Come on, let's get out of here."

Kratos nodded as they departed from Hades' palace and started to retrace their steps so they could head back to the gate that was near where she had dropped them at the start of their visit to the Underworld, as it was time to see where it might take them and what else they needed to do before reaching Zeus.

War: Trek Through Olympia

It took Kratos and Flurry a few minutes to return to the gateway they had spotted at the start of the Underworld, though upon reaching it they were able to use it to warp to another part of Mount Olympus, an outer area that was far higher than what the now flooded world, though there was more to climb before they reached Zeus. They also found a stone path down below where the other gateway was located, made of stone bricks and designed for wagons to be moved in and out of a town, which meant they had to be close to Olympia, a keep that was built onto the side of the mountain. While the pair took a moment to stare up at the peak of Mount Olympus, and their final destination, they heard a familiar sound as Helios flew through the air on his chariot, totally ignoring them or maybe didn't even notice their presence as he continued the fight against whichever titan he was fighting. Flurry sighed as she saw him go by, because based on what they had seen so far it was entirely possible that the God of the Sun would turn out to be like Poseidon and Hades, doom driven to protect Zeus and that they would be forced to kill him as well, which would blot out the sun and cause despair to reign.

As they walked around the bend that was in front of them, however, the pair had time to see a large ornate door before an earthen hand grabbed onto part of the path, where Gaia forced herself to climb higher and higher, even if it meant that she was currently blocking their path.

"Kratos, Flurry, you still live? The blood of Cronos runs strong in both of you." Gaia remarked, which was funny since most people knew that the pair weren't actually related, since Flurry was adopted, but either of them felt like correcting her since there was far more for them to do and enemies for them to focus on, though it was easy for both warriors to see that her wounded left arm was giving her trouble, "Quickly, you must help me! I must return to our battle... Olympus must fall to the titans!"

"You are in luck, Gaia, as we have something that can aid you." Kratos replied, where he pulled out his time amulet for a couple of seconds and awakened it's power, causing Gaia to pause as she and Flurry watched as the wounded arm started to mend before their very eyes, quickly returning to it's original form in no time, and when he was done he deactivated it and returned it to where it was kept, "There, now you can resume your ascent."

"I must confess, Spartan, as while I'm grateful for the aid, I am also confused. I let you fall into the Underworld... why do you aid me now?" Gaia questioned, because that was a betrayal, something she knew Kratos wouldn't stand for, and with him standing before her, and not cutting her arm off, it really confused her, making her wonder what had happened in the depths of Hades' realm in the time they had been gone.

"Because we have a job to do: kill Zeus. You and the other titans are doing a good job distracting and scattering the rest of his allies, so having you in good condition benefits all of us." Flurry replied, as she understood what her father was doing and agreed with his actions, because the more Gaia and the titans were able to do the more they could move around the rest of the mountain without Zeus tracking them down before they were ready to deal with him, "Besides, both sides of this arrangement had the same thing intended for the other, so I think we're square and can move forward as equals that share a single goal."

"The titans are pawns of Death... I never considered that as a possibility. Very well, we shall continue to focus on the gods and our climb, while you two focus on Zeus," Gaia said, where she chuckled for a moment as she thought about it, since Flurry was far smarter than she and the others gave her credit for, something that made her wonder what else the figure had planned as she shifted her stance for a moment and continued her ascent.

The pair waited for her to get out of the way before they approached the ornate door that Gaia's hand had been in the way of, which happened to have a number of brass warrior statues whose eyes lit up as the warriors approached it, only for Flurry to find an inscription on it, that they had to destroy their enemies to pass. Their enemies, as it turned out, were more undead legionnaires, these ones more armored than before, meaning they must have reached the point where the stronger foes came out to fight them on Zeus' orders, though at the same time neither of them were intimidated by their golden armor. The reason for that was due to the fact that they had far too much experience in dealing with enemies, as Kratos dodged attacks before slipping the blades through some of the cracks and tore through their insides before they had a chance to stop him, allowing him to tear them in half. Flurry continued to use Earthshaker, finding some satisfaction from crushing the chests of her opponents, where she assumed that the onyx that went into the weapon had given it it's new strength, though she wasn't going to complain as it crushed an undead's head like it was nothing.

In addition to that they utilized their Gorgons' Eyes and turned the rest of the group of enemies into statues, opening the way for the pair to smash them without delay, though the moment that all of the undead were dealt with the door opened and allowed them to enter a passage cutting through the center of the mountain, or one level of it anyway.

Kratos and Flurry found that there were plenty of harpies inside the area they had entered, where Kratos found a way to use them to his advantage, as he could throw a rock at one and agitated it, though by grabbing onto it's legs the creature struggled against his grasp as it moved across a gap. When he reached the other side Flurry watched as her father swung his blades and severed both of the harpy's wings before it could react, along with another slash to remove it's head, but all she did was jump over the gap, as she didn't need such tricks to do such a thing. Her father could even chain them, going from one to another to reach whatever his target destination might be, and as she caught up with him they found that the path brought them out into the city of Olympia, where the ground shook as one of the titans, the molten one called Perses if Flurry was right, pulled himself up and defended himself from Helios' constant onslaught of fireballs. Such a thing meant that the others were doing as the pair wanted, keeping the other gods contained until they were done with Zeus, causing both warriors to jump down into the part of Olympia that was in front of them and readied themselves for battle.

Like they expected there were more undead legionnaires coming at them with the intent to kill them, though Kratos took a moment to switch to the Claws of Hades as he slashed at his foes, finding that his earlier thoughts were correct, they were good at tearing through his opponents. Flurry spun around and crushed her opponents with her new hammer, using the head to crush their chests and finding an opening to tap it against the ground to use the earth to pierce some of the other nearby undead, spikes of stone tearing through them with ease. As the first wave of enemies fell an armored centaur and a few more legionnaires came out to attack the pair, where the warriors nodded to each other as Flurry let her father take the hammer and switched to her sickles, throwing them through the air as they severed the heads of the two warriors, all in a few seconds. Kratos, at the exact same time, grabbed the hammer and slammed it's head into the ground, causing a surge of earth spikes to erupt from the stone and pierce his target from below, piercing the centaur's house body while a look of shock appeared on it's face, where that moment of distraction allowed him to remove it's head with ease.

"Hephaestus did well in remaking this weapon. It is a worthy addition to our growing arsenal." Kratos said, where he held his hand out and let Flurry take the hammer again, because it seemed like the Smith God intended for her to be the one to carry Earthshaker, despite the fact that Kratos knew that his daughter would allow him to use it from time to time, before turning his attention to Helios as the god rode his chariot through the air.

"I'm actually surprised he hasn't realized we're here... or maybe he's hoping we'll ignore him, considering that we've killed four gods now." Flurry remarked, because at this point the rest of the gods had to be concerned about their existence, due to the fact that nearly every god they've encountered has been slain, save for Hephaestus and those that were their friends, so there was the chance, however slim, that the smarter ones might ignore them in an attempt to save themselves.

Kratos had no idea which option was correct, it was hard to tell with the Olympians these days, though at the same time the ongoing battle between Helios and Perses destroyed part of the building that was on the left of the opening that he and his daughter had jumped out of, where the remaining civilians ran for their lives. The pair found a ballista at the end of the area and discovered that it was pointing right in the direction of the warring figures, meaning if they tampered with it there was a chance that Helios would be caught and crushed by Perses, though they decided not to mess with it. That was when a new foe, a chimera, charged at them, a large beast that had three large horns, one on the right side of it's head and another on the left with the third in the middle of it's forehead, while it had a fanged goat head facing them, a lion's head buried on it's chest, and a serpent tail that hissed at them. This was the first time they had fought such a creature in a long time, in fact the pair was certain that the last time they fought a chimera was back during their efforts to deal with the Furies, though both of the warriors were ready for the creature as they rushed at it, Kratos parrying the first attack with the Golden Fleece while Flurry switched to the twinblade and stabbed the creature in the back.

As she severed it's tail, and her father stabbed both heads to make sure it wouldn't move again, Perses actually caught his foe as Helios foolishly came to a stop near him and gloated about the 'power of the sun', allowing the titan to crush both him and his chariot, the latter not being the true one since nothing happened to the sun, before hurling Helios into another part of Olympia.

Both warriors stood there for a moment, waiting for something to happen to the sun since they figured that the titan had thrown a corpse away, but since nothing went dark they figured that Helios was still alive, not that Perses cared as he made his way towards Olympus' summit once more. Such a thing meant Kratos had to use some harpies to cross the gap that was in front of them, while Flurry just flew over to where he landed once she was sure that no enemies were aiming at him, and, as they expected, more undead legionnaires came out to fight them. Some of them even tried to climb over the ledge, in an attempt to catch them off guard no doubt, though Flurry crushed those with Earthshaker and allowed her father to clear out the rest of the enemies before they started to explore the rest of the part of Olympia that they were in. That meant opening a grated door and entering a hallway, where there were more undead legionnaires blocking part of the way forward, but all of them fell as Flurry slammed the hammer's head into the ground and used the earth spikes to tear through all of them in an instant, and once she was sure they were dead she dismissed the spikes.

After dealing with those enemies the pair were able to find another way out of the structure and crossed a bridge to reach another section of the city, which involved climbing up a ladder and using the side of another building before climbing up to the area that a wounded and bleeding Helios was laying in, only to find that undead with spears and onyx shields just dropped down to form a shield over the god.

"Stand down soldiers, they mean me no harm." Helios said, where the shield legionnaires glanced at each other before doing as their god commanded, forming lines near him as the pair walked over to where he was resting, finding that there was a lot of blood around him, before he glanced up at the rest of the area, "Those monsters, however, likely want to kill me."

As it turned out there were a pair of cyclops that dropped down into the area that they were standing in, where the ranks of shield legionnaires charged at one of them and stabbed at it with their spears, causing Kratos and Flurry to attack the other one before it could use it's club, an uprooted tree without the leaves, on Helios. While one of them stabbed it in the side of it's leg, however, both warriors found that there were more undead legionnaires coming towards where they were fighting, clashing with Helios' group and allowing them to realize that someone wanted Helios dead. With that in mind the pair also struck the undead down as well, where Kratos jumped onto the cyclops' back and forced him to attack the group of undead that were advancing on their location, crushing them with a couple of swings as Flurry turned towards the other one, as it had felled the shield legionnaires. Helios stared at her for a moment as she swung Earthshaker down onto it's head and flinched as he heard the sound of the skull cracking in the process, and when it fell backwards on the ground she swung it down into it's chest, crushing it with terrifying ease, ending the monster's life in a matter of seconds.

Helios got a sickening reminder of who was in front of him as Kratos finished off the enemy undead before removing the eye of his cyclops and then slashed open it's neck as he dropped it to the ground, all while Flurry quickly collected all of the onyx shields for some reason, before the pair approached him and Kratos carefully helped him into a sitting position as his daughter checked his body out.

"Provided you stay away from the titans, and don't let Zeus see you, you should be fine." Flurry said, as while a couple of Helios' wounds could be serious she knew that, as a god, he would be able to mend his wounds after a few moments of peace, though in that moment she noticed something very odd, the god was shaking in fear, "Helios? Is something wrong?"

"N... No. I'm just shaken from Perses catching me." Helios replied, where it was easy for Flurry to tell that he was lying to them, there was something seriously wrong that he didn't want them to know about, though in that moment he held his hand out and created a brass container that looked similar to the lantern that the pair had raised during their quest to take down the Furies, which could open and reveal a glorious light, "Here, take this as thanks for the aid. I call it the 'Lantern of Helios', which will reveal hidden paths and items to aid you in your quest, and you might be able to stun foes with the light inside it."

Flurry took it for a moment and found that it was roughly the same size as the Oath Stone, so it wouldn't get in their way as they continued on their quest, before Helios let out a pained gasp as both warriors stood at the ready, where dark eerie scales appeared on his right hand and arm, while his right eye became slitted, like a snake's.

"What's wrong, Spartan? Shocked to see me?" Helios inquired, though since his voice was totally different now, sounding far darker than before while stretching the s sounds, they realized that this was the Evil that had infected him sometime after Pandora's Box was opened, but this was on a level beyond what they were expecting, "I must thank you for freeing all of us, back when you fought Ares... and for eliminating the others, those that took over Poseidon and Hades, because my power is growing as more gods tremble before your might."

"You are not the Evil that infected Helios... Fear, that is what you are." Kratos stated, which didn't make sense, due to the fact that Fear was the one that had taken hold of Zeus, before he realized that Fear must have been the strongest of all the Evils that had been stored inside Pandora's Box, meaning it must have fragmented itself and infected the other Evils, which meant that every god they felled, and with every Evil they destroyed, Fear would grow stronger.

"Yes, as Deceit isn't strong enough to manifest... but Helios' fear is strong, and, when combined with the fear that all of the remaining gods are feeling and what the slain ones felt, my power is greater than ever before." Fear said, where the pair watched as he summoned a few fireballs as he faced them, meaning Helios must have gone into shock and the Evil inside his Evil had taken over, before the magic disappeared as Helios' left hand gripped his arm, surprising the Evil as he and the pair realized what this meant.

"Kratos, Flurry, you must kill me before Fear can fully take over my body." Helios stated, where he seemed to be using his power to stop the Evil that was inside him from making him it's slave, because if Fear had the power of the sun it would be bad for everyone, before he glanced at the pair for a moment as he realized what they might be thinking about, especially after what happened when the last two gods died, "Don't worry about the sun, I managed to store most of my power inside the true chariot... but Greece will be shrouded in darkness for a time."

Flurry let out a sad sigh as she thrust her right hand forward and impaled Helios on the Blade of Olympus, though as she absorbed some of his power, like what happened with Poseidon and Hades, they found an eerie shadowy mass emerge from his body and shrieked at them before speeding off towards the peak of Olympus. Helios, however, told them not to be sorry, as this would help cripple Fear's plans and remove him from the board as a pawn of the Evils they were facing, though the only thing he regretted was not being able to repay them for saving him all those years ago. Kratos, keeping his face stern, told the dying god that the new tool he had granted him and Flurry was enough, as it would help them on their quest to bring down Zeus, and Fear for that matter, causing a smile to appear on Helios' face as the life faded from his body. As his body went still they watched as it dissolved like all of the other gods they had slain so far, though that was followed by a sea of dark storm clouds washing over the sky, completely preventing the sun's light from reaching the rest of Greece, and it wasn't long before it started to rain as well.

Kratos rested a hand on his daughter's shoulder for a moment, his expression telling her that they would fix this once they were done with Zeus, to which Flurry nodded as she put the Blade of Olympus away and pulled out the Lantern of Helios, where she found that she could focus the light into either a beam or direct it all around her. When she did the former for a time, however, she and her father discovered that part of the rock wall that Helios had landed near glowed and the area that the beam touched became transparent, before fading away to reveal a hidden ornate stone door. Such a thing told both of them that this would allow them to reveal certain things that only Helios knew the existence of, and likely Zeus as the pair thought about it, before Kratos stepped forward and pushed the door open, revealing a passage leading into the mountain. With this discovery the pair walked into the passage before Flurry closed it behind them, as while she wasn't expecting their enemies to realize where they had gone she wasn't about to take chances, before focusing on the path in front of them as they continued deeper into the mountain.

A few undead legionnaires were on the other side, but Kratos slew them with ease before they came to a stop at the edge at what appeared to be another path that was linked to the Chain of Balance, which told them that they had to be getting closer to their target destination, and before they moved another magical message appeared nearby.

"Kratos, Flurry, we just saw the sky get consumed by a sea of storm clouds. What happened?" Hecate asked, though at the same time they could see Athena in the background, clearly worried about what was going on with the battle between them and Zeus, especially since Greece was being altered by their battle.

"Helios tried to leave the battle, after Perses caught him and crushed his second chariot, but a fragment of Fear, which had infected the Evil that had possessed him, manifested itself and took over." Kratos stated, something that caused both of the goddesses they gave updates to to pause for a moment, confirming that no one knew this would happen when they opened Pandora's Box, before he focused on what the pair wanted to know before he and Flurry worried about the rest of the path they were following, "Fear has infected all of the other Evils, so it is resting deep inside all of the gods that have been possessed by the Evils and, according to what we were told, it is feeding on their fear, growing stronger than what it was in the past."

"That's impossible. The Evils shouldn't be able to manifest at all." Athena said, because the situation was getting worse as time went by, and Greece was suffering with each god that fell to the pair, something that made her wonder just how bad things were going to get by the time the pair tracked down Zeus, before she realized something, "Wait a minute... if Fear is feeding on fear, then there's only one thing that would power it up this much, in such a short period of time."

"The fear of death... and of Death itself." Flurry remarked, as she knew that, despite how friendly she was with those that were her friends, she could inspire terror and fear in even the hearts of the gods and goddesses that ruled over Greece, a fact that also included her father asking not to practice her whistle during their time in Olympus.

"We will fix this. Zeus and Fear will die by our hands." Kratos said, because that was the truth, he and Flurry would find the way to their targets and kill both of them, hopefully restoring peace to Greece so that everything could start to be fixed by those that were still alive.

Hecate and Athena said nothing as they nodded their heads, as they trusted the pair, before closing the connection, which was when Kratos and Flurry focused on the path in front of them for a time as they wondered what might happen once they reached the end of it, and how much more needed to be done before they finally tracked down Zeus.

War: Rapid Ascent

Kratos and Flurry stared at the chasm they were in for a few more moments, taking in the fact that there were a couple of thin waterfalls in the area, before continuing down the path that was to their left, bringing them to a pedestal with one of the stone tomes on top of it. This one revealed that this was the 'Path of Eos' and that 'those who saw what the gods saw' would find the path to Olympus, which was rather stupid in their eyes since the path was right in front of them and they could clearly see the way to get to it, causing them to ignore the tome as they continued down the passage. Helios' lantern was able to light the darkness that was in front of Flurry and her father, allowing them to see more of the surrounding area, as in the carved stone walls and the wooden scaffolding that seemed to be pushed against some of the walls, though for the time being it looked like there were no enemies. A few moments later that thought was proven wrong as a couple of undead legionnaires came out to attack them, where Kratos shielded his eyes as Flurry used the lantern to blind their foes, which opened the way for them to quickly cut down the undead as they continued on their way.

After a few more moments they reached a portion of the cavern that had harpies inside it, enemies that wanted to hurt them, causing Flurry to light up the darkened chamber with the lantern as her father tore his way through the pests, as he didn't need her help with harpies.

Once the harpies were done, as some ended up fleeing to avoid dying, Flurry found that the path ended at a rock wall and just focused the lantern on it for a few seconds, allowing the beam to reveal a hidden passage behind it before breaking the illusion, allowing her father to keep moving as she continued to light the area. Of course she joined the fight as well, due to the fact that she could use her magic to levitate the lantern above them while she either used her sickles, bow, or even the hammer against her chosen enemies, which seemed to be just more undead legionnaires. Along the way the pair found a rope line and Flurry set the lantern up so it would float near her father, allowing her to focus on loosing arrows at the few undead that tried to shake her father from the line, though it took him no time to cross over and she followed without delay as she jumped over. She also let him take hold of the lantern every now and then, since it was a shared item and all, and let him blind some of the undead with the beam of light, especially since it allowed him to see a gap that was ahead of them so both warriors could jump over it with ease.

Eventually the path opened up to the cavern again and let them see the Chain of Balance more clearly, along with more of the ruined area and what seemed to be a thermal vent near their destination, before spotting yet another brass statue of Pandora near the edge, with the flame coming to life as they carefully approached it.

Kratos, Flurry, I don't mean to alarm you, but... well, It is drawing closer. Pandora stated, something that caused the pair to glance at each other before focusing on the statue, because it sounded like she had more information to tell them so they could be prepared for the future, since the Labyrinth was one of their targets.

"What is this 'It'?" Flurry asked, though she had a feeling that it was connected to the prison that Pandora was in, a guard of sorts in case someone was able to actually make it to the Labyrinth and made an attempt to extract the girl from where Zeus imprisoned her for the crime of simply existing, "Can you see it?"

I... yes, I can see it. It's a massive scorpion that has onyx infused into it's exoskeleton. Pandora replied, which caused the pair to think about it for a few moments as Kratos realized that she had to be talking about Skorpius, said to be the Queen of the Scorpions, which meant Zeus had one more powerful monster to put in their way.

Kratos told Pandora that they were looking for a way to get to her and that, when they finally reached her, they would deal with Skorpius, causing her to nod her head as the flame faded away, allowing him and Flurry to continue along the path as he turned his focus on the Chain of Balance. To move forward, however, Kratos had to attract the attention of some of the nearby harpies so he could cross the massive gap between them and the ruins across the chasm, where Flurry stood at the ready with her bow as she kept an eye out for enemy archers, only to find that there were none. Once her father was on the other side of the chasm Flurry spread her wings, took a step off the ledge, and flew over to where he had landed, finding that no enemies appeared until they were off the ruined bridge, and when they were on flat ground again neither were intimidated by the wriaths that came at them. Both warriors realized that the undead were really popular with Zeus, as he seemed to love using them in his armies, though the hilarious thing was that all of the risen warriors didn't like the blinding light of the Lantern of Helios, allowing them to quickly blind and take down all three wraiths before they could do anything to either of them.

When the pair drew closer to the Chain of Balance they felt the cavern shudder, no doubt Perses climbing towards the summit, along with some more wraiths on the bridge that Kratos stopped on, as there were archers near the Chain and all of them were aiming at them. Flurry, upon seeing them as well, switched to her bow as she loosed arrows at the undead archers, taking them out before they even had a chance to fight back, though she also made sure to take out those that replaced the fallen while her father dealt with the wraiths. This was what made them a formidable team, being able to just divide their enemies among them and trust the other to make sure they weren't overwhelmed, and even when a wraith rushed at Flurry she flipped behind it as Kratos watched as she stuck it's back with a few arrows in rapid succession, killing it while no doubt making Artemis proud of her abilities. He also caught one of the wraiths and twisted it's head, breaking it's neck before it could stop him and killing it instantly, opening the way for him and Flurry to walk up to the base that was around the Chain of Balance, where Flurry opened her wings and glanced at her father, who nodded as he readied Icarus' Wings.

Flurry leapt into the air and let the thermals carry her up the circular passage that had been carved out for the workers to tend to the area that the Chain of Balance needed, which was why it was so big, and it wasn't long before her father did the same, following after her as they headed towards Olympus at last.

There was a particular reason that Flurry went first this time around, as she weaved her magic around her and tore right through the wooden beams, falling boulders, and even metal plates that were in their way, allowing her father to follow without having to stop for anything. While they did so the pair found an opening in the side of the mountain and spotted Perses as he continued his climb to the summit, where he spotted them for a moment and seemed to nod his head for a few seconds, no doubt pleased that they had helped Gaia continue her climb, before he resumed his own ascent. Flurry was pleased with their decision to aid Gaia, because it meant that they didn't have to fight the titans while worrying about Zeus sneaking in some cheap shots while they were distracted, allowing both of them to focus on tearing through the rest of the passage that was ahead of them. Part of Kratos was a little worried about what his daughter was wrecking, but since it seemed to have no effect on anything around them he decided to focus on his flight as Flurry dealt with everything but the Chain of Balance, as they figured that they would deal with it in due time.

Eventually they reached what appeared to be a massive cavern that was somewhere below the eagle statues they had seen before clashing with Poseidon, before noticing the sheer number of large wooden and metallic cubes that were all over the area, along with a small cage, large enough to house someone like Pandora with a little room for her to rest in, that was shaped like a flame.

"Pandora! Can you hear me?" Kratos asked, speaking loudly as they flew around the area and found a spot to land in, on top of one of the nearby wooden cubes, though as he did so he noticed some movement in the cage and, to their relief and anger, he and Flurry found Pandora trapped inside the cage, which had an onyx lock on it's gate.

"Kratos! Flurry! Yes, I can see and hear you!" Pandora replied, where they found her standing close to the edge of her cage as she focused on them, though instead of being afraid or even fearful the pair discovered that she was hopeful that they would find a way to get her out of here and bring this adventure to an end, "Please, hurry."

"I'd love to hurry, but look at this place... the cage is sealed with onyx and magic, meaning even if I broke the lock with my sickles we won't be able to get her out." Flurry commented, as the moment they landed she pointed out what she meant to her father, who could see that this was designed to be hard to undo, before she came to the sad and annoying truth that neither of them wanted to hear at the moment, "I hate to say it, but it looks like we're going to have to assemble the area, which has to be the Labyrinth, before we can make an attempt at rescuing Pandora... I have this feeling that the magic is keeping it locked until the structure is complete."

Sometimes Kratos hated it when his daughter was right, and right now this was one of those moments, as he agreed with her, that while he really wanted to get Pandora out of her cage he had to admit that the locks made it impossible, which meant they had to force the Labyrinth into position before they could even think about helping Pandora. With that in mind the pair glanced around and found that the only thing that could be done right now was walk around the chain that was linked to the top of the cube they had landed on, though behind it was a locking mechanism that had bramble on it, an odd thing in their minds. Since there was nothing else to do Kratos pulled out Apollo's bow and loosed an arrow into the bramble, burning it away before the mechanism came undone, opening and allowing the cube to move towards the core of the caverns, though theirs wasn't the only one that moved as several others started to move as well. The pair watched it happen for a few moments, simply amazed by the work that must have went into carving out the area to even have room for the Labyrinth, the mechanisms that held everything together, and how everything seamlessly moved without coming into contact with each other, before their cube stopped by linking up to two more near a wall.

As the link on top of their cube disconnected, forming a grapple point above them, Flurry realized that they would have to assemble a massive cube around the cage that Pandora was in, that was why there were so many cubes in the area, and it made her wonder how much time had been poured into this project.

While she thought about that Kratos used a nearby lift and a couple of grapple points that were nearby, allowing him to reach the uppermost level of the area, causing Flurry to fly up to where he landed and spotted another lock that had a bunch of bramble on it. With that discovery made she nodded her head as her father burned away the bramble with one of his flaming arrows, where the lock came undone in the process and the cubes moved again, though this time around a number of undead legionnaires decided to drop down onto their ride and attack them. At this point neither warrior was even surprised, since this just confirmed that Zeus loved to use the undead as soldiers, where Flurry switched her sickles and Earthshaker for the twinblade, allowing her to freeze her foes as she slashed at those who came at her. Her father stuck to the blades he usually used in combat, though occasionally he'd surprise some of the undead with either his spear or even Hades' claws, though the real challenge came when a pair of minotaur appeared and rushed over to the chain link that let their cubes be moved through the cavern.

Both warriors realized what the minotaurs were trying to do and lashed out at them before they could even hit the chain, Kratos severing his target's arm with it's weapon as Flurry stabbed hers in the back and froze it with the twinblade, only to smash the ice with a side blow from her hammer, leaving Kratos to sever his foe's head with his heated chains. That wasn't the only foe as they found more and more groups of undead legionnaires and archers coming at them, along with another pair of minotaur and even a cerberus hound, showing them that Zeus wasn't playing around with keeping Pandora locked away from the rest of the world. To cut down on the amount of enemies the pair unleashed the power of their Gorgons' Eyes, turning a number of the undead, and even one of the minotaurs, to stone, causing them to break all of the new stone statues before focusing on those that remained. It was simply astonishing to see the lengths that Zeus would go to in his mad quest to keep Pandora locked away from the rest of the world, though instead of getting annoyed the pair focused on reducing the amount of enemies to nothing, something both of them were familiar with.

Eventually their cubes locked into place with the others that were gathering around Pandora's cage, nearly forming a wall of of them in the process, before discovering that they were near the path that would bring them to Olympus after climbing up it for a time, only to pause as they found another god standing nearby, pacing on another cube.

"Ugh, Hermes." Flurry remarked, as she recognized the god with ease, especially after what happened in the past, and she could tell that her father wasn't too happy to see this particular god either, though she did ready her bow, because if there was one thing they had learned in the past it was that her speed at loosing arrows was faster than Hermes' speed.

"Oh, look who it is: Kratos and Flurry, the Ghost of Sparta and his wretched daughter... the traitorous gods... those who were called 'Cursed Mortals' in the past." Hermes said, where they found him flipping his coin as he walked, which had to be one of his favorite things to do as he passed time waiting for something to happen, and despite their past history he had an annoying smile on his face for some odd reason, "Are you here to 'kill' me as well?"

"To catch a fly from the ass of Zeus is not worth our time, Hermes." Kratos stated, because if he was just going to run and taunt them, a favorite of his based on what they had seen in the past, then he figured there was no reason for him or his daughter to even worry about the Messenger of the Gods.

"Ha, a coward's words, Kratos... you don't try to catch and kill me because, deep down, you know you can't." Hermes said, his tone showing them that he thought of himself as being someone far beyond the pair, like he was as strong as Zeus or something like that, before he paused for a few seconds as he noticed that Flurry had her bow out and was already in the middle of reaching for one of her arrows, "Right... forgot about that. You don't need to catch me, Kratos..."

"That's right, because I CAN!" Flurry replied, as she had struck Hermes multiple times during his attempt to frame them during their time in Argos, with such deadly accuracy that she had nearly killed him all those years ago, and after training for so long she was sure that she could repeat it again without any trouble, "Tell me, Hermes, do you remember what I told you after we brought you to Zeus? Are you going to be a good god and stay out of our way... or are you going to stand against us like an idiot?"

"Are you threatening me? Please, what you experienced in Argos wasn't my full speed... you won't be able to catch me this time around, coward." Hermes stated, where he seemed to be assuming that using a bow and fighting at a distance was a cowardly path to walk, not that he was any better since he was an incredible coward who didn't like to fight people and only agreed to Zeus' plan when he had something big to gain, "Besides, you two are on a fool's errand, this time without the aid of the Olympians backing you. Of course I'm going to oppose you to the best of my ability, because there is no way Zeus is going to lose to either of you."

"Is that you talking, Hermes, or is it Fear?" Kratos asked, because if it was the former he knew that he and Flurry would be more than happy to eliminate the Messenger of the Gods for his past crimes, while if it was the latter it would sour their mood a little since it would be just another mercy killing to cripple Fear's unknown plan, all while he and his daughter slowly reached for their time amulets.

"BOTH!" Hermes stated, where they found that his voice sounded like Fear's, when the Evil took over Helios earlier, and it was easy to see that the dark eerie scales were appearing on the entirety of Hermes' right arm, becoming sleeker than what they had seen when Helios was possessed, while his nails became sharper and deadlier as both of his eyes became slitted, confirming that the Evil was taking over his body.

"Good, that means we can still enjoy beating you up." Kratos said, where the corrupted god raised an eyebrow for a few seconds as Kratos vanished and reappeared in front of him with Earthshaker in his hands, which he swung upward into Hermes' chest and felt some of his bones break as he sent the god up into the air, opening the way for Flurry to pierce his right arm with three arrows and pin him to the vertical walkway on the Chain of Balance.

"Oh, this is good... I want MORE of this!" Fear said, as they could hear his voice coming from Hermes' mouth, showing that he was definitely in control now, and that this time Hermes was a willing partner in his plans, unlike how Helios stopped him from using his power against them, and it wasn't long before he chuckled like he was totally evil or something as he looked down at the pair, "You two have no idea what Evils are inside us: Hatred, for how pitiful you made him feel when Zeus yelled at him; Vanity, as he perceives himself as being above everyone else, including his own son; Greed, his desire for being the most popular god in all of Greece, to the point that he'd even kill his own son; Lust, taking advantage of his female followers to earn more love, even if it meant using sex as a tool; and, of course, myself, for obvious reasons. The more he feeds us the stronger all of us become... until something like this happens!"

Flurry and Kratos found that the scales continued to spread, reaching Hermes' right leg, before Fear freed the corrupted god by using some unconventional means, growing a thick reptilian tail that was attached to the god's spine, baring the dark eerie scales of Evil like the rest of his body, that propelled him off the walkway. As he dropped down on them, in an attempt to fight them, Flurry blasted his chest with a powerful bolt of lightning, sending him further into the air before he grabbed onto the walkway and hissed at them, like a snake, which would explain the scales somewhat. In the next instant Fear turned and rushed up the walkway, utilizing Hermes' speed to get away from his foes, though Flurry was able to hit his back with an arrow, piercing what looked like the right lung area, only to be surprised as he kept going, since Hermes wouldn't have done that. Instead of letting him flee, and get a massive head start, Flurry summoned her magic as Kratos watched as she formed a circular bowl shaped barrier that was filled with fire, meaning she was making her own thermal vent for him to use so he could quickly follow after her.

Once they were ready to go Flurry took off and Kratos used the temporary thermal vent to follow her towards Olympus, where both of them found that there was nothing to destroy or dodge this time, allowing them to pass by the massive pair of eagles again, before stopping at the end of the chain and climbing into an ornate and elegant chamber that told them they were back in Olympus, and in a special chamber.

"The Flame of Olympus." Kratos said, staring at the brass flame sculpture that was in the middle of the chamber, and the powerful blue flame that was in the center of it, before finding Pandora's Box resting directly in the center of the entire thing, confirming everything they had been told so far, before Flurry summoned the Blade of Olympus and stared at both it and the Flame for a time, "Flurry, what are you thinking?"

"I am wondering... the Blade of Olympus can absorb many types of power, but can it absorb the Flame?" Flurry replied, as this would save them so much time if she could do so, all she would have to do was stab the all powerful flames and see if the greatsword could absorb all of it, though before she could even raise the weapon she heard a sound and found that Hermes was standing near an opening, "Okay, put that idea on hold for the time being... we've got an annoying corrupted god to bring down."

Kratos had no idea how to react to his daughter's idea with the Flame, but decided to follow her out to what seemed to be the very balcony they had encountered Zeus at earlier, though before Hermes or Fear, whoever was in charge, could get away Flurry raised her hand and set up a barrier around the area, trapping him on the circular balcony. Fear, as that was who was in control right now since his influence was greater than the other Evils inside Hermes, rushed at them as both warriors entered the area, calling forth the swords that Hermes had used back in Argos to fight them, even if Hermes himself might have run when he had the chance. The pair found that it was far too easy to avoid his attacks, due to the fact that he was possessing a god who almost never fought and the fact that Fear, itself, had no real experience using this body, so it seemed to be two losers in the same body, something Kratos confirmed as he avoided an attack and severed Hermes' right leg, or at least the lower half. Fear and Hermes barely had time to cry out in pain as the Blade of Olympus tore through his chest, causing Hermes' body to shake as some of his power was pulled into the weapon, all while Fear's additions dissolved as a dark mass was separated from his body, just like with Helios, before it rushed off in the direction of Zeus, adding more Evil to his own.

Hermes had nothing to say as he perished, in fact all he had was the annoying look on his face, before his body started to dissolve into what seemed to be a swarm of locusts or flies, some sort of insect swarm, that escaped into the air, not even going for the people that were still alive, before Kratos collected Hermes' boots and Flurry picked up his coin.

"Well, not what I expected, but this works." Kratos said, as he didn't care too much about Hermes' death, this god was one of the few that had it coming after everything he and Flurry had seen over the years, especially with his hand in trying to frame them for wrecking Argos and killing the beast of the same name, and this gave them, or rather him, another tool to move around the areas they would be exploring.

"The insects certainly don't seem to care... guess Hermes was a failure to the very end." Flurry added, because the disaster that should have come from Hermes didn't seem to be doing anything, which she guessed was good for them since that meant they would have one less thing to worry about when Zeus finally died, before she pulled out the lantern as she headed back into the Flame's chamber, "I'm going to check the walls really quick, before we continue with our quest."

Kratos nodded his head as he followed his daughter back into the chamber, as this would give him a chance to check out the boots before they had to continue the battle against Zeus and the rest of the foolish individuals who would dare to stand in their way, making him wonder what else the future might hold for them.

War: Confronting a Nuisance

Flurry discovered six murals resting around the Flame's home, each detailing a piece of the puzzle so she and her father could understand what was going on, though to reveal their information she did have to use Helios' lantern on them before she could read them. What she was able to confirm was that the Judges in the Underworld would prevent the Chain from moving, keeping the Labyrinth from moving, the Muses that were above them had a part to play in all of this, and that the heart of Zeus' prison contained the power to douse the Flame, so one could claim the Box. According to whoever painted the murals, before they were hidden by the King of the Gods no doubt, Pandora was definitely the Key, as Hephaestus told her and her father when they spoke to the Smith God in the Underworld, but right now she determined that sacrificing the girl was the wrong way to go about things. She had to wonder if the Muses would sense someone trying to mess with the Flame and put a stop to it, which she believed were the two large female statues on the floor above the one they were standing on, meaning they might have to head up there and deal with their part of the puzzle.

While she did that Kratos slipped on Hermes' boots and found that they definitely grew to fit his own feet, where he took them for a test run and discovered that he could definitely move faster than before if he wanted, along with running up the walls and maneuvering himself like the Messenger of the Gods could before his timely demise.

"Okay, so it looks like our first action should be to find a way up to the Muses," Flurry commented, speaking as she simply walked over to the doorway that her father was standing near, the same one that had brought them to Zeus' balcony and where they killed Hermes, where she glanced at the pillars that were on the other side as an idea formed in her mind, "and to get you up there all you'll need to do is run up those pillars and jump over... should put you right in front of another door, all while I'll just fly up and join you."

"And the Flame?" Kratos asked, because he agreed with his daughter, claiming the Flame would be a good step towards weakening Zeus' power, if he had a way to actually channel the power without harming himself, though he did follow her outside the chamber and glance at the pillars as well.

"We'll come back for it once we're done with the Muses and the Judges... something tells me that the cage over it will make sure it remains untouched while it's up." Flurry said, which was likely the truth, the Flame was far too valuable to just leave out in the open with no protection, especially since Zeus knew about Pandora's role in dousing the blue fire and he knew that they would no doubt seek to do something to the Flame.

Kratos glanced back at the brass flame cage that was around the Flame and figured that Flurry spoke the truth, it made a lot of sense to him when he thought about it, to which he turned his focus back to the task at hand as he braced himself for what he was about to do. Flurry watched as he leapt onto the side of the pillar, Hermes' boots no doubt realizing what he intended to do and allowed him to run up the side of his target, and rushed upward for a moment before jumping off once he reached the balcony that was above them, causing her to fly up to his position. That was when they found that there were other soldiers fighting off the undead, the Amazons they realized, and that there were gates leading out of Olympus, which allowed the innocent civilians to flee before the undead legionnaires and harpies got at them. In fact, when Flurry looked out at the rest of the domain of the gods that she could see, it was easy for her to spot the forces of Apollo and Artemis doing their best to save as many people as they could, while Hecate's own scholars, wearing robes that matched hers, were with them.

When she spotted them using their magic, however, she understood that their allies were trying to save as many of the remaining innocents as they could, allowing them to focus on taking care of Zeus and ending this long ordeal, which was what they did as Kratos picked up an undead legionnaire and tore his target in half.

The soldiers of Artemis and Apollo saluted the pair and thanked them for their timely aid, even though it was clear that all of them thought they'd be left to fight the undead alone, before Flurry watched as they disappeared into the portal that was behind them, causing them and Hecate's scholar to leave Olympus behind. As the portal closed Flurry found a new foe dropping down on where they were standing, an armored cyclops with it's head protected, though Kratos didn't have to move as his daughter rushed through the air and slashed into the beast's arms and legs with the twinblade, freezing it's limbs before it could even move. When the creature reached for her, however, she quickly switched to her new weapon and stuck the freezing limb with Earthshaker, shattering it in an instant, before spinning around and crushing it's skull with the second blow, dropping the body to the floor so they could enter the upper floor. Such a thing gave them a good view of the Gear of Burden, a device that was part of the entire system that was linked to keeping the Flame contained, and to start the process they had to mess with the Muses, who should move the Gear.

While they walked around the circular walkway, however, Kratos found a number of paintings that were of the Olympians, from before Ares' death, and he glared at the painting of the former God of War for a time as Flurry quickly destroyed all of the undead archers with a few well placed arrows, before she set the painting on fire.

"...thank you." Kratos said, as this was just like when they found the tomb of Ares, Flurry destroyed it to sooth his rage, and it felt somewhat good to break everything that was associated with the one who destroyed his life, before he encountered his wonderful daughter who actually did her best to fix everything that she could, causing him to sigh for a moment as he focused on their current task.

Flurry said nothing as she continued over to a hallway leading to another part of the area, where they found that there were a few sirens in it, these ones wearing red robes that covered their right breasts while exposing their left ones, but it wasn't anything new to the pair as they slashed into the sirens. Such a thing made her wonder where in the world all of Olympus' greatest defenders had gone, because most of the enemies they had fought so far were the common enemies that she and her father had fought in the past, and the only allies the sirens had were basic undead legionnaires. At the end of the hallway they discovered a circular set of stairs that headed even higher than their current position, which they were able to use to reach an iron barred gate, something Kratos opened without delay so they could focus on what was beyond it. The chamber in question seemed to be a massive musical instrument, based on all of the strings that were near the edge, by a now open curtain, there was a stand for someone to stand on with four unique looking buttons, there were four devices above the strings that likely needed to be calibrated, and a curved icon of the Blade of Olympus.

Kratos stared at the assortment that was in front of them and had an idea on how to proceed, though he could tell that he didn't have to say a single word, Flurry already knew what needed to be done, as she leapt into the air and glided up to the tuning area, where she carefully pulled the rotation devices that were above them. Kratos found that moving one also did the same to the icon of the Blade, as there were four sections associated with all four devices, so when one was in place he called for her to stop and move onto the next one, as she waited for him to tell her if one was done or not. Once all four strings were tuned the pair found that the two statues of the Muses moved, grabbing onto the spokes of a wheel that was linked to the upper part of the Gear, meaning that they would move the wheel when someone played a tune, likely one located in front of the raised platform. Kratos, after making sure no enemies were coming to stop them, stepped onto the platform and found that a sort of music sheet appeared where the sword icon rested, complete with moving icons that represented the four unique buttons, so he pressed each one and followed the music accordingly.

Flurry had no idea what the music was supposed to be, she had never heard anything like it before and guessed it had to represent someone, but her father's actions caused the Muses to move with the music, and when he was done the Muses lowered the Gear's base onto the Flame, where they pulled that area up to the floor below them, before releasing it and revealing that the crank could be used now.

With that done they found that the platform Kratos was standing on lowered into the floor and then the outer ring just spun above him, revealing a lever that indicated that it had been transformed into a lift, while the gate behind them closed and prevented them from using it, causing Flurry to land beside him before he activated the lever. As the lift descended to one of the lower levels, possibly where the Flame's platform used to rest, they were assaulted by shield legionnaires, as in the ones that carried the onyx shields, though Kratos wasn't surprised when Flurry tore the shields out of their hands with her magic so they could kill them. He knew his daughter was collecting the onyx because it was a mythical material that Zeus had hoarded, so every piece taken him from the less he could use against them, though in addition to those foes he found that a few gorgons also joined in the fun, which he sliced apart with his blades. This repeated for a time with no changes, it was just the shield legionnaires who lost their onyx shields to Flurry's collection and gorgons that he tore apart with his weapons, which was actually a little boring to the pair as they waited for the lift to come to a stop.

When the lift came to a stop, and the door in front of them opened, the pair found that they were on the lowest floor once more, where a circular set of steps could be found heading back up to where the Flame was now resting, though as they reached the upper floor Flurry found something interesting.

"Hm... there are no new doors, meaning we'll have to try the crank." Flurry said, which seemed like a waste of time after she learned that the Judges were keeping the Chain locked in place, but, without another opening to show them where to go neck, save for flying down the Chain so she could destroy the base of it herself, it seemed like they had to play along for the time being.

Kratos nodded his head as they returned to the lower floor and he grasped the crank, where he started to push it with all his might and they found that the Flame's cage started to lower ever so slowly, before the crank stopped as the chains on either side of the chamber were yanked back into place. With that in mind, confirming that the Judges had to be taken out before they could get to the Flame in it's entirety, the pair let the crank return to it's position as they found a new passage opened, revealing a number of undead archers guarding the new hallway. Those foes were easy to eliminate, they had no armor on as the pair discovered, before they found some wraiths further down the way, which the pair simply turned to stone with their medallions and then smashed them to pieces with a well placed attack from their weapons. Both of them didn't want to waste time on easy foes, not when they were sure that some of the stronger foes were lurking somewhere in the vastness of Olympus, before reaching a circular staircase, like the one that let them reach the Muses, that actually went downward.

The end of the path that was at the bottom of the stairs, however, brought them to a new balcony that was larger than the one Zeus had stood on before he blasted Gaia off the side of the mountain, causing Kratos and Flurry to get ready since this seemed like a good spot for someone, likely another god, to ambush them.

"Bravo... our 'heroes' have arrived. Let's have a round of applause for another bastard child of Zeus, and his annoying hybrid daughter!" a familiar feminine voice said, where they turned around for a moment and found that there was a small throne sitting on the ledge that was above the opening that they had walked through, finding Hera sitting on the seat as she picked up her silver goblet, her prized possession, and drank from it, as it was said to be endless.

Flurry noticed two things instantly, the first thing being that Hera was smashed, far more drunk than anyone else she had seen in the past while still being able to tell what was going on, likely her godly nature keeping her somewhat sober, while the second thing was that her eyes were the same as Helios' and Hermes' when they were possessed by Fear.

"Just in time for the final act, I might add." Hera continued, as if she didn't want them to talk at all, at least not until she was ready for them to talk and annoy her more, though once she was done drinking from her goblet Hera glanced down at the pair for a moment, either thinking they were drunken images created by her mind, really there despite her inability to focus on them, or something else entirely, "You look terrible, dear... I assume that you still want to kill my husband? And where is your brother? I could have sworn he was with you."

"I'm right here." a voice said, where a murder of crows appeared nearby as Deimos emerged from them, allowing Kratos and Flurry to notice that Hecate was hiding the portal back to the ships so Hera didn't see it, though following that the group of birds disappeared as he faced the pair, "Don't worry, everything is fine. Hecate figured that the gods of Sparta should fight together in this particular fight."

"I see. That is good to know." Kratos replied, which told him and Flurry that Hecate expected them to run into Hercules and that Deimos wanted a piece of him for harassing Sparta over the years, hence why she teleported him here in the first place, before he glanced up at Hera, who was still drinking, "Hera, as we have told those who came before you, the only one we seek to destroy is Zeus. Nothing more."

"Honestly, I can't say that I blame you... ever since you two killed my son, Ares, fear of you has consumed him... part of me is hoping that you'll eventually destroy him." Hera said, something they understood since she seemed to hate her husband as much as Zeus feared them, mostly because Zeus was unfaithful and had so many offspring that it wasn't even funny at this point, all while Flurry noticed something, there were a few dark scales on Hera's right hand, which she either didn't know about or was ignoring at all costs, "And that part makes me want to drink to that, so I will."

"Hera, we seek another entrance that will bring us back to the Labyrinth. You clearly don't want a fight, so maybe we can agree to go our separate ways after you point us in the right direction?" Flurry asked, though she had a feeling that she might be wrong in this manner, for it seemed like Hera had at least Hatred, Sloth, and Fear inside her, so it was only a matter of time until the Evils inside her made her fight for her life.

"The Labyrinth? Hm, but that would mean... well, we can't have that, can we?" Hera said, allowing them to notice the slight change in her voice that indicated that Fear had briefly, for a few seconds, taken over her voice to speak his mind on the subject, and based on how unbothered she was Flurry had to assume that the goddess and the Evil were in agreement on this topic, "Go on, destroy them."

As Hera returned to her throne the trio glanced at the passage that had brought them here as another familiar figure came towards them, the tall hulking body of Hercules himself, wearing nothing over his chest while having a pair of shoulder pads and his unique helmet, who actually seemed happy to see all of them.

"Hello again, brothers... niece." Hercules stated, where he actually seemed confident in what was going on right now, as if fighting on Olympus gave him strength or even vindication that he was on the right path, all while Flurry noticed that his eyes were the same as Hera's, one of the Evils had infected him as well, no doubt due to the emotions he harbored to her and her family.

"Stand down, Hercules. While we would like to have words with you, about you harassing Sparta, this matter is not between us." Kratos stated, though he could see what Flurry was seeing right now, the darkness of the Evils infecting his eyes, meaning that they were going to have to fight him no matter what, because it seemed like those that were in this state were driven to seek their doom, and even Deimos sensed that something was amiss.

"Isn't it? You were, after all, Zeus' favorite." Hercules remarked, almost sounding like he was amused by the fact that he'd hear such a thing from Kratos, despite all of the terrible things that had happened to him over the years, even before he became the current God of War.

"If we're talking 'favorite person to torment', you'd be right... father isn't Zeus' favorite son." Flurry said, where they found that Hercules didn't even seem to care about her statement, showing them that he was in his own little world and that none of them could convince him that they were telling the truth.

Hercules told them to think about it, that while he was forced to clean the Augean Stables, a foul smelling task, Zeus chose them to retrieve Pandora's Box and destroy Ares, and when Kratos raised an eyebrow the tall warrior continued by going into how while Kratos was being crowned the new God of War, a high honor, Hercules had to find an apple. They found that he laughed at the twelve labors he had been told to complete, apparently thinking that they were a waste of time, and that while Zeus might have allowed him to slay the Nemean Lion, the King of the Gods also made both Kratos and Flurry's names known among the people. It was clear that he was greatly annoyed with them, that they were given greater things to do while he was told to do things he believed were stupid or beneath him, even if Flurry thought that the labors were to teach him a number of lessons he needed to know, but she decided not to provoke him even more. His next words were a confirmation of his annoyance, that the Olympians would allow a bloodthirsty warrior to be made into a hero, and then let that 'hero' be turned into a god so he could stand with the rest of the Olympians, and he was even annoyed that Deimos would be allowed to join with so little effort.

In the end Hercules declared that this would be his thirteenth and final labor, the destruction of the traitorous gods so he can claim the throne of the God of War for himself, though instead of fighting them on his own he jumped up to where Hera was sitting as more undead legionnaires came out to fight them.

The undead, as they discovered, were the unarmored weaklings they had fought in the beginning, plus there were a few archers standing around the large arena, though the trio gave Hera and Hercules a show as Deimos pulled out his shield and parried some incoming attacks before thrusting his spear into their chests, killing his foes instantly. Kratos didn't even bother to use his weapons as he grabbed onto his opponents and used them as either projectiles to harm the rest of his foes, ripped them in half, or used their own weapons to destroy those that dared to challenge him. Flurry decided to use the twinblade, spinning it around as she slashed at her foes and left freezing slashes in her wake, freezing her foes before raising her bow to eliminate the archers, allowing her to take down two groups of enemies before moving onto another foe that her father and uncle hadn't gotten to yet. While that happened they could see that Hercules was getting annoyed with what he was seeing, as if he expected his soldiers to do more to them, but since there weren't armored like some of the other undead, and didn't have onyx shields, the trio tore through his forces before facing him once the arena was cleared of enemies.

Hercules, as they expected, readied his own weapons, a fist type weapon that he shoved his hands into and revealed that they seemed to a ring or two that locked into place, while at the same time looking like snarling lion's heads, before just jumping down into the area that was in front of the gate that Kratos and Flurry had walked through to get here.

Flurry rushed forward and swung Earthshaker at Hercules, where the hulking warrior swung one of his Nemean Cestus, which was the name of his unique weapon, and the two collided with a ringing sound as the balcony floor cracked, which caused her to realize that the cestus was also made or infused with onyx. The collision of two onyx infused weapons had an interesting effect, breaking the area around them a little, though she was fine with that as Deimos appeared nearby as she pushed her foe's weapon into the air, allowing her uncle to stab Hercules in the side with his spear. As Hercules took in the fact that he had been stabbed, and was actually bleeding, Deimos used his strength to lift him off the ground and charged into one of the six thorny walls that happened to be around the arena, stabbing him in the back before Kratos rushed over and tore off one of the shoulder pieces Hercules wore. Deimos took the other as they backed off, where both brothers tossed the pieces over to Flurry so she could stuff them in her collection of items, before they resumed the fight with Hercules, whose rage towards them seemed to be growing, and his hatred.

It was easy for her to tell that because the dark scales were starting to appear on his right shoulder, he was feeding his Evils as he fought them, though as he attacked them Kratos used both of his blades to parry the incoming attack before pushing him back and stabbing him in the other side of his chest. As Hercules growled at him Kratos jumped back, letting them see that the blades were embedded in his body and the chains had extended, where he swung his arms and let the hulking figure discover that he was being thrown into another thorn wall, this time with his helmet being removed once he hit his destination. Hercules roared in anger as he tried to assault the trio with his might, where Hera watched in surprise as Kratos unleashed a storm of blows with the Blades of Chaos, hacking into Hercules' body and leaving blood in his wake, Deimos called forth a volley of magical spears that barreled into his foe's chest, and Flurry used her sickle staff to slash into him as she avoided his attacks. Flurry could see that this was like a nightmare to Hera, her son was being beaten by a pair of 'bastard sons' and the 'hybrid', causing her to frown as she wondered why so many people hated the body she was born with, before focusing on the fight as Hercules slammed his weapons on the ground to try and push them back.

What was surprising was that Hercules stood before Hera and informed her that he would be the one to destroy them, but the fact that his defenses were down, against three powerful foes, was something they took advantage of as Kratos and Deimos attacked him before he noticed them coming. Such a thing allowed them to stab him in the sides before he tried to hit Kratos, only to find that Flurry knocked his weapon into the ground and his chosen target stabbed his arm to remove his right arm from the cestus he was wearing. After equipping the weapon on his own right arm Kratos swung it at Hercules and struck him in the chest, hard enough to actually remove the other cestus in the process, and with both of the Nemean Cestus in his hands he punched Hercules towards the edge of the balcony. His plan was to just drop him off the ledge of the area so they could focus on getting some information out of Hera about the Labyrinth, though as he did that Hercules jumped into the air, landed near the entrance again, and picked up the the frame that the balcony was on, as in he started to lift it so he could push them off the cliff himself.

Flurry leapt into the air and countered that by striking the part above Hercules with Earthshaker a few times, knocking the platform back down into position, opening the way for Deimos to stab their foe in the shoulder and send him down into the floor, before Kratos finished it by pummeling Hercules with his own weapon, breaking his chest and face before he broke the floor, sending them down into a sewer system as they landed in some clear water.

"And for good measure." Flurry said, making sure to stab Hercules with the Blade of Olympus, mostly to target the Evil that was inside the figure, though as he died they watched as the shadowy mass that was his Evils disappeared like those that had possessed all of the gods they had fought so far.

"Good, now he's dead and our people can breathe a sigh of relief." Deimos commented, taking a moment to step out of the water as all three of them stopped on a passage that was leaving the water behind, causing him to sigh as he put his weapons away and faced the pair for a few seconds, all while a couple of crows appeared further up the way, "Kratos, Flurry, go... finish this war and end Zeus! We'll be hoping for your success."

Kratos nodded and embraced his brother for a moment, as knowing he would be safe put his mind at ease since it meant their people would be safe, and watched as Deimos hugged Flurry for a moment before disappearing into the portal that Hecate's crows made for him, though once that was done they continued forward and braced themselves for the whatever the next part of Olympus had to throw at them.

War: Water, Love, and the Forge

With Hercules dead, and Deimos having been teleported out by Hecate's magic, Kratos and Flurry continued down the passage that was in front of them, the former glancing at his newest weapons while his daughter kept an eye out for any additional dangers that might come their way. At the top of the current path they discovered a number of undead legionnaires waiting for them, to which Kratos got a chance to try out the new weapon as he punched his way through all of the enemies that came towards him, finding that Flurry was correct, the cestus had to be made with onyx infused into them. Such a thing allowed him to smash through whatever armor the undead were wearing, or even their bare bodies since some of them didn't have armor on, and, just like with his daughter's new hammer, he could make the floor shudder with just a punch, which knocked their foes onto their backs. In addition to that he discovered that he could damage pure onyx with Hercules' weapons, shattering them into fragments that Flurry collected, though after testing them he stepped to the side and let her remove the rest of the onyx in the manner she wanted.

After removing the onyx cluster Flurry found a lever that had been trapped inside it, so once the pieces were picked up she pulled it and discovered that the lift was linked to a grate near Hercules' body, though before either of them could move some of the shield legionnaires appeared to stop them.

Kratos smashed his way through some while Flurry just removed the shields before killing her foes, which was easy to do with their experience, and once the area was cleared out Kratos continued back to Hercules' resting place, while Flurry took a few seconds to collect the onyx before catching up to him. A few moments later they dived into the water and found the location of the grate they heard open, allowing them to swim into a new area of Olympus, before quickly jumping out in what appeared to be some sort of temple, potentially one of the domains of the other gods. If that was the case both had to hope it was either one of the gods that tolerated their existence, had been slain so far, or had left for a time to avoid getting dragged into the war between them and Zeus, causing them to glance around for clues. What gave away who this place belonged to were the statues of Poseidon, and only the God of the Seas, that were around them, as in some full statues, some heads, and even a painting or two, which was good for them since it meant they wouldn't have to worry about being stopped anytime soon.

The enemies guarding the area turned out to be a few shield legionnaires and some hounds, where Flurry dealt with all of the undead by stealing their onyx shields before killing them, allowing her father to smash the couple of hounds into the ground with the cestus, clearly enjoying using them as much as the other weapons, before he noticed that Flurry came to a stop for a moment.

"There's someone here... Poseidon's latest lover, perhaps?" Flurry commented, as it was coming from deeper in the area, that much she could tell for sure, and based on what she was fearing it certainly seemed like a lady was asking for help, someone they might be able to help before continuing with their quest to put together the Labyrinth.

Kratos shrugged, as he had no idea if Poseidon had brought anyone to his chambers, while at the same time Flurry used a nearby crank wheel on one of the walls to raise two grated gates up into the ceiling, though instead of heading towards the chamber that was in front of them she headed to the right. Such a thing allowed them to find Poseidon's chambers, as in his actual bed area, and there was a beautiful lady who was wearing what appeared to be the attire of one of the God of the Seas' priestesses, modified to show off her breasts for some reason. She was actually overjoyed to see them, which told them that Poseidon must have imprisoned her here before they arrived with the titans, and asked if there was a way for both of them to save her, especially since she was tied to the center of the room by a rope. Kratos informed her that they would find a way to where she was resting and save her, causing the priestess to nod her head as they headed down the rest of the chamber and reached a large chamber that had two teleportation gates, one above the other, along with one to their right.

Flurry pointed out the platform between the middle two gates and Kratos realized what she was looking at, there were some chains in the walls, meaning if they applied enough weight they would be able to lower it, so the upper one had to be linked to the gate on their left and the lower one had to lead to Poseidon's bedroom. To get onto the platform all they had to do was jump over a gap between them and the right gate and passed through it, allowing them to stand on the platform as it started to shift, before Kratos found a lever he could jump up to and pulled it without wasting time. Such a thing created some walkways for them to stand on, plus some hounds seemed interested in using the gate to attack them, but Flurry just placed a magical shield over the right gateway and stopped the hounds from using it, causing her father to raise an eyebrow. In the next instant he understood what she was doing as she pulled out the onyx shields she had been gathering, placing them on the lift one by one and let it lower until they were aligned with the lower gateway, allowing the pair to enter the lower gateway without wasting too much time.

Sure enough the priestess was surprised that they had found their way to her that quickly, where Kratos carefully undid her bindings and made sure that she wasn't hurt, while Flurry looked around and found a unique looking conch shell that seemed magical in nature, which the priestess claimed was Poseidon's greatest treasure. With that information in hand she added it to her growing collection, since she had taken something from every god they had encountered, and from Hercules as well she guessed, though with the conch shell added the pair headed back through the gate and found that the priestess followed them. Once they were back on the lift Flurry picked up the onyx shields and added them back to her collection, allowing the platform to return to it's original position in no time, and when they moved through the upper gate they found that the hounds were still eager to kill them. Kratos kept the priestess safe from harm as Flurry crushed the hounds with Earthshaker, before finding that the brass warrior statues that were in the halls came to life, though none of them reached the group as Flurry took them out by stabbing their cores with her sickles, ending them in seconds so they could leave this part of Olympus.

This time around when Flurry turned the crank wheel she used the Oath Stone to create a copy of herself to keep it open so they could reach an area that housed one of Pandora's statues, one that must have been gifted to Poseidon, or maybe he forced Hephaestus to part with one, only to find that the flame this time was red.

"Pandora must have severed her link to the statues for a time... Zeus must have gone to check on her." Kratos said, as he had been expecting a short message from Hephaestus' daughter when they found another one, just like those that came before this one, and this seemed to be like the flame colors they had been told when the Smith God first gave them the small statue of Pandora that Flurry had kept safe.

"Hera must have told him we're seeking the Labyrinth... we had better hurry, before we lose her again." Flurry added, as she knew that the loss of Pandora would really hurt Hephaestus, who was putting all of his faith and hope in them to rescue her from her prison, and that if Zeus moved her there would be next to no way for them to find her, especially if he prevented her from using her statues to communicate with them.

With this discovery in hand the pair and the priestess continued out of Poseidon's portion of Olympus and found their way to what appeared to be an outer area neither of them had seen before, a massively damaged walkway that rested above a garden that seemed to make no sense from above. Flurry thought about their position and wondered if they were close to Hera's section of the mountain, as the garden below seemed like something she'd do in her spare time, while locating what might be the way back into the Labyrinth off to their left, but all of the walkways were dark, they had no power. The reason she even considered such a thing was because of the devices on top of the various platforms, which seemed designed to channel the power of Zeus, be it actual lightning or even electricity as some called that element at times, though by turning the crank that was attached to them they could move one section at a time. Of course they had to jump and glide over the gaps in question, and Flurry had to carry the priestess until they found a safe spot for her to rest in, but the nice thing about this was the fact that no enemies seemed to care about them this time around, allowing them to move with ease.

At the end of the shattered walkway, however, they found that the godly domain that it brought them to was none other than Aphrodite's, where they found that the goddess had changed her attire slightly, like putting on more clothing, though instead of being on the bed, like the pair expected, she and her handmaidens were preparing to leave.

"Ah, Kratos, Flurry, it is so nice to see you again." the goddess said, where she walked over to them and hugged them for a few seconds, oddly enough starting with Flurry and then turning to Kratos to do the same, before glancing at the priestess and handing her a version of her attire that was less revealing than before, which made the mortal lady happy, all while the pair noted that the two handmaidens were fully dressed as well.

"Likewise, Aphrodite, but you seem... preoccupied." Kratos replied, because nearly every god they had encountered so far had been corrupted by the Evils and part of him had to wonder if they would have to kill another friend, though what was interesting was that the chakram they had found during their first adventure were on her belt, which made sense due to the fact that they were her godly weapons.

"That's right, we're leaving before Olympus is destroyed. Apollo and Artemis told me about the boats, figuring that I would want to get out of here before the entrances were sealed." Aphrodite stated, where the pair heard a caw and found more of Hecate's birds nearby, having flown in after they opened the door to this portion of Olympus, causing the goddess to nod as her handmaidens approached the birds and stepped through a portal that Hecate herself must have made, without being in the same area, and she allowed the priestess to follow them, "I know what you're thinking, 'why isn't she infected'... I think the Evils decided that I'd be worthless to their cause, or maybe it's due to the hope that I carry inside myself. Hope that you'll be able to save Pandora and give her the life she deserves."

"To do that we need to return to the Labyrinth and continue assembling it's components." Flurry said, though as she said that both she and her father noticed something interesting, there was one of the gateways in Aphrodite's chamber, but this time neither of them knew where it might bring them if they decided to use it, but she was happy that they might have found a clue on how to beat the Evils, with the power of hope.

"Well then, maybe my husband can help you?" Aphrodite inquired, where she walked over to the gateway for a moment and smiled at them, though as they followed her for a few seconds the pair found that the portal brought them back to the forge that Hephaestus was trapped in, cursed to remain here based on what he said previously, "Hephaestus, I'm back... and I've brought our friends."

"Ah, Aphrodite, it is always good to see you... and you two as well, Kratos and Flurry." Hephaestus said, though while the pair understood that he might have wanted some alone time with his wife, even if he couldn't do much in this state, they could also see that the Smith God was, in fact, happy to see them again, since it meant they had made progress in their war against Zeus, "Let me guess: you seek another way into the Labyrinth, to continue building it? If so, I know exactly how to help you out, especially with those devices that were added to the ruined path not all that long ago... however, to help you, I need the Omphalos Stone, which currently rests in Cronos' belly."

"Isn't he still wandering the sands near Athens?" Flurry asked, because if that was the case they were going to have to turn down the offer and have her use her powers to charge up the devices, as there was no way she and her father would be able to get back to Athens before Zeus did whatever he was trying to do.

"Actually, after you conquered the temple and opened Pandora's Box, Zeus took Cronos and imprisoned him in Tartarus, where he's been ever since." Hephaestus replied, gesturing to the doorway that was on the opposite side of the area, from where the gateway was located, informing them that they were close to the titan's position, meaning they should be able to visit him and get the stone before returning to him, before he pulled a small lever and the way opened, "I'm not sure how you'll get the Omphalos Stone from him, but I hope he's willing to talk... we are losing time before Zeus realizes how close your getting to the Labyrinth's core."

Kratos and Flurry nodded as they headed down the passage and passed through the doorway, where they found that the souls that had been freed from Hades' grasp were flying around the place, many waiting for their turn to be judged and enter their respective afterlives. The cavernous area seemed to be void of enemies for a time, until they reached an area that had a centaur and a number of undead legionnaires waiting for them, though as Kratos slashed the undead apart he found that his daughter rushed forward and crushed the centaur with her hammer, a single blow crushing her foe's body in an instant. What was shocking was just how many undead there were this time around, and he knew that it couldn't be due to being in the Underworld again, though this allowed him to utilize the ground pound power of the Nemean Cestus, beating the ground and using the shockwave to sunder his enemies. Flurry realized that it was the nature of the onyx that had gone into making the weapon, similar to how Earthshaker worked, though she didn't have to do much as her father took care of his enemies so they could move forward, eventually stopping at a large gate.

This one seemed odd, there were sections for them to latch onto and harpies sitting on them, meaning all they had to do was latch onto certain parts and carefully unlock the gate, so since there were no enemies in the area Flurry stood back as she watched her father harass the harpies and carefully solve the gate. There was a chimera that stepped into the area as her father moved across the sections of the gate, where Flurry switched to the twinblade as she avoided it's attacks, which allowed her to lash out at it for a few moments and freeze parts of it's body so it slowed down. When it was good and slow she switched to Earthshaker and smashed the creature into ice shards, just like she had done previously to some of their previously foes, allowing her to turn her head towards the large gate once more, just as her father reached the lock. He undid the lock and separated the halves so they didn't snap back together, though once that was done he jumped down to where she was standing and they watched as the cubed sections moved into the frame again, while at the same time it split in half and slipped open.

It allowed them to discover a short path cut through a stone face and brought them to a ledge that allowed them to stare out at a massive area that was fragmented and happened to have bursts of fire everywhere, potentially even lava based on what they were seeing, and, sure enough, Cronos was walking off in the distance.

"Cronos is near... and, unlike the other time we called him, there is no horn nearby." Kratos commented, as part of him had a faint hope that they would be able to talk to him and convince him that they weren't here to harm him for the item Hephaestus needed, no doubt to forge one more weapon to further improve their arsenals.

"CRONOS! We wish to speak with you!" Flurry shouted, using her magic to amplify her voice so the titan could hear her, a fact they were able to confirm as the massive being turned towards them and noticed that he had guests, causing her to smile at her father for a moment, because this should save some time.

"Kratos. Flurry Heart. You two dare to enter my tomb?" Cronos inquired, speaking as he approached the area that they were standing in, where they found that parts of his body seemed to be far more worn than the others, thanks to where he was and the fact that his bindings looked rather painful, especially the one sticking out of his stomach area, "Tell me, Spartans, why have you come here?"

"We seek the Omphalos Stone that you swallowed ages ago, but we did not come to fight you." Kratos explained, where he made sure to have none of his weapons at the ready, so the titan knew that they were here to speak, though he knew that if a fight were to happen Flurry would be the first one to move, since her reflexes were incredible.

Cronos growled for a moment as he heard that, as he had realized that Rhea, his wife, had tricked him a long time ago and knew that the 'Zeus' he had swallowed was just a stone, one they were now after, though he was positive that it was still in his body, somewhere, before he asked why he should help them out. Apparently he was annoyed that they had beaten the trials of Pandora's Temple and had gotten him banished here, which was becoming a theme the pair noticed, and had to ask what they would offer him in return for even allowing one of them to search for the stone. Flurry then discovered a shocking truth, the titan was still carrying the entire mountain that held Pandora's Temple on his back, meaning he was currently enduring two punishments, which actually wasn't very surprising as she thought about what Zeus had done over the years. Such a thing caused her to ask if he would be willing to allow her to undo his bindings, because they had to be very unpleasant, causing Cronos to raise an eyebrow for a moment before chuckling, as if she would do nothing to the black bindings that were all over his body.

What the titan discovered, however, was that Flurry collected her father's time amulet before jumping onto Cronos' arm, where her sickles slashed through the blackened metal like they were made of something soft, which meant that her odd weapons were even tougher than he thought, causing Kratos to tell his grandfather that the sickles could cut through onyx as well.

That, as expected, came as a surprise to Cronos, as he expected the material to be even tougher than his chains, but now he knew that he had underestimated his great-granddaughter, just as she tore through one of the cuffs that was on his right arm and paused to use the amulets, allowing him to see the wounds reverse until the area was pristine. He knew the items to be artifacts connected to the time stream, something he had ties to as the titan god of time, meaning they must have taken them from the Fates and one of the Oracles that were scattered around Greece, causing him to watch in pure wonder as Flurry worked. One thing she did was shatter the chains that were actually keeping the mountain temple on his back, catching it with her magic before tossing it away like it was a piece of trash, causing him to watch it in shock as his grandson did something unusual, he chuckled, as if he found his confusion to be funny. He remained still as Flurry went on the offensive, tearing through the material of his bindings like they were nothing, though she did slow down when she reached the platform on his stomach that had an onyx cylinder keeping everything else together, causing her to slowly work on taking everything apart.

By the end of it Cronos was a freed titan, the bindings were in a pile of scrap around his feet, floating in magic no less as Flurry started to slip them into another portion of her bag, and his wounds had been healed like they were nothing, as if he had never been chained in the first place.

With this discovery in mind the three of them came up with a brief plan, Flurry would cover Kratos in a faint barrier and Cronos would swallow him, allowing him to head down into his body and retrieve the stone from where he thought it was resting, something he should be able to track down on his own. Once he found what he was looking for the titan was sure that Flurry would feel something, which would be the signal to teleport her father out of his body, because while he could heal pretty quickly it was still incredibly painful, so he'd rather not have his intestines sliced open, not to mention his side in the process. The pair understood and agreed to his proposal, where Flurry put a bit of magic around her father and he let himself be swallowed, where Cronos stood there and watched as the unusual pony warrior collected the rest of the scrap that had been his bindings, especially the onyx, which she seemed to adore collecting. This time it took Kratos some time to reach his destination, which was understandable since he had a lot of body to cover to find what he was looking for, though once he actually found the stone Flurry teleported him out of the titan's belly, and he was holding a dirty brown stone that was clearly the Omphalos Stone.

After that Cronos said nothing as he grabbed onto the side of the mountain and started to climb towards Olympus, as he wanted to join the battle, where Flurry noted that some sort of magic prevented the underworld from being flooded due to Poseidon's death, but with the stone in hand she and her father returned to Hephaestus and Aphrodite.

"The Omphalos Stone, as requested." Kratos stated, where the pair of friendly gods smiled as he and Flurry returned to the forge, where Hephaestus held a hand out and he quickly tossed the stone into his palm, causing him to chuckle as he set his forging tool down and shifted himself so he could focus on his work.

"Good, the perfect item to forge a weapon to help you progress and challenge Zeus' lightning... his nemesis, if you will." Hephaestus commented, where they found that, due to being the God of Smiths, he was able to use his hands and fingers to mold the stone into a weapon, one that looked like it was another chain based weapon like the Blades of Chaos or the Claws of Hades, though this one seemed to have three clawed shaped blades attached to each handle, before he raised his right hand, and his ring, to zap them a little, "Kratos, I need to deliver a more controlled shock to the blades... do you mind holding them for me?"

Kratos nodded and took hold of the new weapons as Hephaestus told him that it wouldn't be painful, he just needed to be sure of it's power, where he shook for a few seconds as a powerful surge of electricity coursed through the weapon and his body, before he shook it off and returned to normal.

"Very good, the 'Nemesis Whips' are ready." Hephaestus said, naming the weapons so they knew what to call them, even if the name might not fully match the weapon, but neither warrior was going to question him, as they knew that this would allow them to power the devices they had discovered before reaching Aphrodite, "Now you should be able to find your way into the next part of the Labyrinth with ease, and save Pandora after figuring out how to put it together."

"That's the plan. Now, one last thing..." Flurry replied, where she held her hand out for a moment and Hephaestus and Aphrodite paused as they found that the Blade of Olympus appeared in her right hand, before shifting her stand as she raised her other hand so she could hold it out like an offering, "Can the Blade absorb the Flame?"

"What are... you... oh, now I get it! The Blade's power is great, that is true, though I can tip the odds in your favor... and, at the same time, spit Zeus one last time." Hephaestus stated, where they found that he pushed against some of the stones and revealed an actual anvil that gave him more room to work with, likely something he had hidden from Zeus during his time in this place, and as he took hold of the Blade, showing that he was going to reshape it, Flurry found that there was a smaller version of the Flame of Olympus down here, "Zeus knows nothing of how to make a weapon... let me show you the skills of the Smith God!"

As Hephaestus worked, keeping the power of the weapon intact, he told them that when he made the Box he kept part of the Flame for himself in an attempt to find a way to counter it so Pandora wouldn't be at risk, but never made progress in his search, though now he had an even greater hope of saving his daughter. He mentioned how inefficient Zeus' design was, as if he just froze a bunch of materials in place and called it good, since this was made during the Great War, and that he had a way to make it a little lighter than before and more like an actual greatsword, something he knew Flurry would approve of. While he said that the Smith God extracted a blue shimmering core, the power source of the weapon, and let it float nearby as the smaller flame was used to smelt down the weapon that he wasn't too pleased with, though with his hands and tools Flurry could see him reshaping it into a large ingot that was carefully sculpted into a new form. She could tell that it was still a greatsword, more like a normal blade and less like what Zeus had made, and that whatever elemental power Zeus had given it was devoured by the small version of the Flame of Olympus, making her interested in what it's final form might be.

When he finished, and seemed to quench the blade magically with his ring, and it was definitely shorter than before, while still possessing a length similar to a greatsword, appearing to have a total length of forty-three inches from handle to the tip of the blade, the handle being around eleven inches and the blade itself being about thirty inches. The blade was no longer two bits of metal with a gap between them, rather it was a single piece of metal that was sharpened to a point, with what appeared to be a line of runes running down the center of the blade, while it's guard looked like an small elegant pair of wings. There was an onyx gemstone in the center of the guard, lined up perfectly with the runes, with a handle that had blue wrapping where someone's hands would go, looking elegant as well, and the pommel itself was circular with another onyx gemstone set inside it, likely to help contain the weapon's intense power. It was no longer an ugly weapon that both she and her father had thought was impractical, and only used it because of necessity, rather it was a magnificent weapon and she was looking forward to using it, and surprising Zeus when he saw it's new form.

"And here you go: the reforged and improved Blade of Olympus." Hephaestus stated, where he turned and held his hand out for a moment, causing Flurry to grasp it's handle and pull it back, amazed by how well it seemed to feel now, like the Smith God had reforged it specifically for her and her alone, despite the fact that she knew that her father could use it if he so desired, "When next you approach the Flame, you should be able to absorb it without fail."

"Good." Flurry said, where Kratos stepped back for a moment as she started to swing the reforged weapon around for a couple of seconds, finding that it possessed the same force and power that it originally had, and, when she focused her power, she found that the weapon's power worked like nothing had changed, in fact she was sure that it's power was now greater than before, causing her to give the god a large smile, "Hephaestus, it's perfect."

"That makes me happy. Now, before I forget, there are two last things to discuss." Hephaestus stated, where he raised his hand for a moment and took the halberd that was resting near the single statue of Pandora he had, all while Flurry found that the smaller Flame of Olympus he had been in possession of had faded away, totally spent, before he held the weapon out for them to take, "First, I want you two to deliver this weapon, so called 'Hope's Edge', and Aphrodite's chakrams to my daughter... you will understand when you find her. Secondly, since I am unable to leave this place, I would ask you, Flurry, to bring a peaceful end to my life, but before that I want you to extract my godhood, contain it inside this special ring, and give it to Pandora... you should be able to make her a living person at long last, and give her the life we couldn't."

Kratos knew what Hephaestus was talking about, the Smith God suspected that Zeus might pay him a visit while the pair continued onto the Labyrinth, so to avoid suffering at the King of the Gods' hands, and giving him the satisfaction of being the one to kill him, he was giving them the right. At the same time he was banking on what might be a fool's hope, that if he granted his daughter his godhood, his godly essence, Pandora might become more like an actual person, to grant her a new lease on life that had been denied to her. With the weapons in hand, as Aphrodite handed hers over as well with a sad look on her face, Flurry held the golden ring with a sapphire that Hephaestus wanted her to put his godhood in, which required the Blade of Olympus to pull off, with a frown on her face. After making sure that Hephaestus was perfectly fine with this, and he confirmed that he was, Flurry stabbed him in the chest and drew out his power, just like she did to those who came before him, but this time she put it inside the ring, just as he wanted, causing the Smith God to breathe a sigh of relief as the life faded from his body.

Because he died without any godly power there was no dissolving of his body of Hephaestus blowing up like the gods that came before him, he just died there with a look of content on his face, as if knowing they would succeed in stopping Zeus and save Pandora from her prison, though as Kratos and Flurry mourned Hephaestus' passing they knew this was one more thing that the King of the Gods would have to pay for before his demise and were looking forward to making him suffer.

Author's Notes:

For anyone that is curious, the reforged blade looks like the King Llane greatsword from the Warcraft movie.

War: The Garden's Secret

After spending a few moments mourning the loss of Hephaestus, who remained himself until the very end and hadn't been infected by one of the Evils that were plaguing the other Olympians, Kratos and Flurry returned to Aphrodite's chamber with the goddess in question. She was, of course, saddened by the loss of her husband, while at the same time enraged that Zeus had cursed him to the point where the Smith God would allow them to ease his suffering like that, but she had hope that they would find their way to Pandora and save her before it was too late. After returning to her portion of Olympus the pair found that Hecate had made sure her crow was still waiting, meaning they were going to teleport her to safety as well, which caused the Goddess of Love to hug both of them, starting with Flurry and then give one to Kratos, before walking through the magical portal that sealed itself behind her. With that done the pair checked around the chamber, just to see if there was anything left that Aphrodite might have forgotten about, but upon finding nothing they moved through the open door and continued towards the fragmented walkway that had brought them to this area.

There were, of course, undead legionnaires waiting for them, though Kratos utilized the power of the Nemesis Whip as he slashed his way through them with ease, showing him and Flurry that his newest weapon, and possibly the last of this entire adventure, was on par with a number of their other weapons. At the same time Flurry decided to try out the other weapons that had been handed to them, because if Hephaestus wanted them to hand over the halberd and chakrams to Pandora she wanted to make sure they were up to the task of dealing with their enemies, even if they were hoping to keep her out of the fighting. Aphrodite's weapons were definitely sharper than she recalled, confirming that the Smith God had managed to sharpen and restore them to their proper glory, as Flurry was able to slash through a number of undead with ease, and if she threw one chakram at an enemy it would cut into her target and return to her hand. The halberd, on the other hand, was finely balanced and seemed perfect in her eyes, as it wasn't too light and it wasn't too heavy, it felt like a normal weapon, but with the power that their current arsenal possessed, making her wonder why Hephaestus would make such a thing for his own daughter, who hadn't seen the light of battle even once.

After testing the weapons out the pair found that Hephaestus had been right, the Nemesis Whip was capable of powering the electricity devices that had been installed near Aphrodite's chamber, allowing them to access another section of broken walkways with ease, bringing the father and daughter to a new door, one that happened to have a short hallway that brought them to a workshop.

"This must be where the ideas for the Labyrinth were created." Flurry commented, which reminded her of what they found in the Statue of Apollo, a work area that detailed the construction and features of the large statue, or like how there was a large area in Pandora's Temple that held all of the scrolls and plans for that area, and she was able to confirm that as she looked at some of the tables and found all sorts of information on the Labyrinth.

Kratos looked around for a time and found that Flurry found another treasure to claim, an important looking scroll that had to detail something about the Labryinth, reminding him Aphrodite had handed over one of her garters and even allowed her to take Hephaestus' ring, the latter having shrunk in size for her to do so. That was nine items she had claimed during the course of their assault on Olympus, as she was apparently counting Helios' Shield, which she took back when they saved the god in question from Atlas, and as he thought about it he soon realized that there would be a tenth, Hera's chalice, the very item she had been drinking from earlier. This time around the items she was claiming were more than souvenirs, rather all of them seemed to serve as reminders, a way to remember the past without actually talking about it, causing him to nod as he focused on the workshop and found a locked grated gate barring the way forward. Of course he wasn't surprised by this at all, because Zeus liked to lock up important people and it made sense that he'd do the same to whoever designed the entirety of the massive Labyrinth, complete with paintings that seemed to have portals inside them.

As he looked around, however, one of the journals that were around the chamber held a message from Daedalus, who must have built the Labyrinth for Zeus, and it revealed a sad truth, that Zeus had promised to return Icarus to his father, a promise that had been betrayed once the structure was completed. They knew the King of the Gods enough to know that if he had someone build something like the Labyrinth, even if it took years to do, that person would either be imprisoned in the area that they had put together or died there and forced someone else to finish the work. With that in mind both he and Flurry knew to expect such a thing when they returned to the Labyrinth, though for the time being they focused on just looking around the workshop so they could find a way out and continue with their quest to save Pandora, and once she was safe they could focus on Zeus. While Kratos focused on the oddly placed ballista that was in the workshop, it was the only thing that didn't look like it belonged at all, Flurry checked out all of the other tomes and scrolls that were around them, finding more and more information on the Labyrinth and what Daedalus might have put inside it, causing her to just stuff all of it inside her bag, something she would have to sort at some point.

In order to open the locked gate in front of them all they had to do was pull a lever to raise a platform, below the ballista, and fire a bolt right at the blockage, lowering a set of steps into place and revealing a hole that had a pipe heading down to another level, another walkway that caused them to slide down it without delay, only to find that it brought them to the start of the gardens they had seen previously.

"So this is what we'll have to go through next." Flurry commented, as they had seen the mad garden maze from above and knew that it would take some time to get through it, though as she and her father stepped out into the open they found an interesting sight, Hera was on the ground near the entrance, looking like she was either drunk or in pain thanks to all of the death and destruction that was ongoing.

"Yes, and there might be one more god that wants to die." Kratos said, though at the same time he didn't think there was any reason to bring an end to Hera's life, because while it was true that she had tried to frame them, and even insulted many of their friends, killing another god or goddess, when they were so close to Zeus, seemed like a rash thing to do, as it only gave their target time to flee.

Flurry nodded her head, agreeing with her father, before they approached the fallen goddess, passing by a large stone statue that seemed important as she noticed a green gemstone in one of it's eyes, though as they drew closer to her both warriors realized that something was wrong as Hera glanced up at them.

"You! I told him to kill you two!" Hera remarked, where she took a brief moment to drink from her chalice, or failed to as it looked like it was actually empty, causing her to toss it down the walkway to her right, before they found that her body was in the process of being corrupted by the Evils, her right arm and leg were covered in sleek dark eerie scales, both her hand and feet bared claws like Hermes when he reached this point, and the scales were starting to cover the middle of her body, "Just like I told Zeus to kill you when you were born, Kratos... especially like when I told him that he should have just struck you down, Death, when you were first discovered... but he wouldn't have it, if you could believe it. My stupid fool of a husband took pity on both of you, when he shouldn't have... and now look at what you have wrought... EVERYTHING IS DYING!"

"I know... honestly, it's sad." Flurry said, as she knew what Hera meant, there was too much death happening right now, be it people or the plants and animals that helped maintain Greece, and it would only stop when Zeus was dead, since that would bring an end to the conflict for a time.

"Please, you don't care about anything other that your father's revenge... not that it matters, since this place will defeat your simple minds." Hera stated, showing the pair that part of her seemed to think that this place would overcome them in no time, where she chuckled as she drunkenly wandered off into the maze that had been built into the garden, leaving the pair to do whatever they wanted.

Flurry wasted no time in collecting the chalice, where she saw a green gemstone on the side of it's surface, meaning that it might provide some aid to them while she and her father made their way through this place, though for the time being she slipped it into her bag with the rest of the items. Following that she and her father started to check out the rest of the maze that was in front of them, finding more undead legionnaires appearing to do battle with them, along with a couple of animated statues, where she lashed out at the statues by dodging their attacks and slashed into their backs, severing the magic that fueled their bodies. Her father, on the other hand, took the massive hammer that his statue foe had, swung it at the undead that were around him and crushed them with ease, before swinging it down on the original wielder of the weapon and crushed it into a heap of rubble. As that happened both warriors noticed the odd designs on the ground, one looked like it might be a set of stairs that was flattened into the ground, with a few steps actually sticking out at the end of the steps, causing her to look around in wonder for a time.

As they entered a hallway passage, however, they found a satyr warrior that carried a glaive as it's weapon, a pole weapon with a curved blade at the head, causing Flurry to realize that she didn't have such a weapon and grabbed onto the satyr's for a time, causing it to struggle against her before she ripped it out of her foe's grasp and then stabbed it in the heart, killing it instantly.

Kratos chuckled a little as his daughter continued to move down the passage, attacking the foes that were in her way, as she really did love collecting new toys and when she found a new weapon she usually collected it, either to use it or just to make sure she had one of every weapon, but he let her have her fun. While Flurry did that Kratos noticed the serpent like design on the back of the glaive's head, along with the sickle at the bottom end, also baring a design like it's head, so when he caught up with Flurry he had a potential name for it, the 'Serpent Glaive', which she approved of. The end of the curved passage brought them back to the maze, though without enemies they found their way to a pressure plate that reminded them of the one by the Judges in the Underworld, where Flurry found that it spoke about the 'Stone of Hyperion' that let it's wielder see the 'true path of the gods'. With that in mind Kratos stood on the plate as Flurry flew off and stopped right in front of the large statue's eyes, finding that one was identical to the gem on Hera's chalice, and when she pulled that item out she found that she could tap into the sight of the statue, shifting her gaze and turning the mad maze into one that made a lot more sense.

In fact, thanks to her magic, she could gift her father the sight as well, without removing the smaller stone from the silver chalice, allowing them to lower a nearby gate, jump over it, and then walk up the stairs that had been pressed into the ground when they walked by them earlier, as now they were an actual path. After reaching that point they found that they could only use the power for a short period of time, as the pressure plate raised up and the statue's eye closed, which told them that to move forward constantly they would have to find more locations like that to access the eye. With that in mind Kratos approached the gate that was in front of them and raised it without delay, allowing them to access a ladder that brought them to another portion of the lower maze, causing both warriors to jump down and continue on their way, only to glide over a short gap in the process. In the following moments they found a metallic bowl that looked like it was linked to a pressure device, meaning this one had to be filled with something, which came from the short flowing waterfall as the pair pulled over a moveable stair fragment and turned it so it could pour some water into the bowl, causing it to lower as a walkway further ahead moved into place, plus another gate opened.

As they walked into the area on the other side of the gate, however, they found that Hera was stumbling from one area to another, and it looked like her Evils were consuming her body, as now her left side matched the right, as her left arm and leg were now covered in scales while her hand and foot bared familiar looking claws.

"You two... how dare you challenge the Olympians?! How dare you do this to me!" Hera stated, showing them that she was now directly blaming them for everything that was happening to her, and specifically her this time around, where they just watched as the goddess fell to her knees and her tiara fell off, breaking in half in the process, and when she reached for the pieces Hera stopped as she laid eyes on her hands again, how animalistic she looked now, "I hate you two so much... if it wasn't for either of you two, this sort of thing would have never have happened to me. Look at me... I'm a monster!"

Hera paused for a moment as her body shuddered, where the pair watched as she, like Hermes, grew a reptilian tail that caused her to look at it in fear and disgust, showing them that, even now, she refused to accept people like Flurry or even the Twins, who were born with bodies that were more animal than human.

"No, Hera, you are like Flurry, Artemis, and Apollo, and now you feel what you made them feel." Kratos said, because now people and other gods would treat her in the same manner that she and Zeus treated those who weren't born human, a fact that they could see dawning in Hera's eyes as she focused on her hands, her legs, and her scaly body, causing him to turn for a moment, "Come, Flurry, let us continue on our quest. The Labyrinth awaits."

In response to that Hera, likely driven by her Evils, rushed at them and readied her claws, as they were her only weapon at the moment, where Kratos dodged her attacks and then kicked her in the chest, knocking her back into one of the walls for a couple of seconds, earning a hiss from her. The look of hate in Hera's eyes told them everything they needed to know right now, she must have dipped into her hatred for them and her Evils must have taken over, even though her body was still not fully corrupted, since the pair figured that her head was the last thing that needed to be changed. Flurry decided to take over the 'fight' with Hera, slashing into the corrupted body with her new weapon, letting the glaive cut through her scaly body as she tried to get closer to them, before using the sickle base to latch into her chest and hurl her into the wall behind her. As Hera hissed at her again, however, Flurry brought an end to the corrupted goddess by stabbing her right in the heart with the reforged Blade of Olympus, causing blue crackling lines to appear all over her body, branching out from where she was stabbed, causing Flurry to brace herself for a moment as she siphoned some of Hera's power.

Sure enough Hera's body released a surge of energy that killed all plant life that was in the garden, leaving bramble and dead plants behind, though Flurry weaved her magic into the area and stopped the decay from spreading, which had to be due to any of the other gods and goddesses like Hera taking over to keep Greece alive, all while the dark mass left her like all those they had killed before this point.

"This is getting worse... if Hera was that corrupted, can you imagine how Zeus will look when we finally find him?" Flurry inquired, as the Evils were seizing control of the other gods and drawing forth more power from them, just as Fear said as it took over Hermes, and if that was the case this meant that the more dark power it drew from all of the gods the more it was able to take over Zeus and his own power.

"We will be ready for him when the time comes." Kratos replied, though he agreed with Flurry, this was getting bad, and he suspected that Zeus would be the only to fully transform when they finally reached him, as his own fear was far stronger than what every other god and goddess had felt, and every bit of darkness linked together meant that he'd likely take on a whole new form, which didn't worry him since he and Flurry would be ready for that fight.

Flurry nodded as she pulled out an onyx shield and placed it on the nearby pressure plate that allowed them to alter their sight once more, this time allowing a channel of water to pour some down into the area they had just walked through, all while her father used Apollo's bow to clear away some bramble. Such a thing allowed them to access an area where they found another bowl for water, so Flurry moved the moveable section of stairs over to a wall that the flowing water was near and poured some of it into the bowl like they had done earlier. That allowed another section of walkway to move into place, connecting to the one that had moved after the first bowl had been filled, allowing them to see that the water was redirected to another part of the maze, back to where they first discovered that Hera had discarded the stone that let one see the 'path of the gods'. Flurry stared at the rest of the maze and figured out what needed to be done next, all she had to do was place another onyx shield into the bowl at the beginning and watched as it moved another section on the right side into position, linking it up to the path that was linked to the set of stairs they had walked up earlier.

With that done the pair made their way over to the stairs, walked up the steps, and then made their way around the odd winding path, though as they reached the end, near a fractured walkway, Flurry called forth her magic and snatched all of the onyx shields she had left behind, allowing her to return them to her collection. Kratos also paused for a moment as she undid the magical sight, which was followed by her ripping out the Eye of Hyperion, the larger stone in the statue's eye, with her magic and stuffing it in her bag as well, though at this point he wasn't even going to question her bag, since it was one of the more useful items his daughter possessed. Once she was done with collecting her stuff he found that the best way across was to annoy more harpies, allowing him to cross the gap with ease, while Flurry just flew over to him as soon as he was standing on solid ground again, since it allowed her to keep an eye out for danger. The moment both of them were ready to go Kratos turned the crank that was in front of them and Flurry watched as the door at the stop of the stairs started to open, causing four rows of brass cubes to lower into the ground, allowing them to enter another section of the cavern.

As they walked down the passage the pair discovered a few scorpions, larger than the normal ones, that tried to hit them with either their claws or their tails, causing them to simply cut their way through them before reaching a platform with a metallic gear attached to it, a moveable lift they realized, and Kratos started moving it without delay.

It didn't take them very long to reach another portion of the cavern, a dark one that caused Flurry to pull out the lantern that Helios gave both of them, giving light to the area so she and her father could safely traverse the area, and while she kept the light up her father dealt with the couple of scorpions that attacked them. There really wasn't too much for them to worry about, as in no gaps for them to jump over and no real dangers for either of them to worry about, before both warriors reached the end and found a familiar sight, the heart of the Labyrinth, surrounded by the partly finished outer shell they had started earlier. In fact the path they had been following brought them to another cube that they would have to free so it could be moved into place, where Flurry found a note from Daedalus, detailing how if one side lost control of the Chain of Balance, in terms of Olympus or the Underworld, the Labyrinth would rise or fall accordingly. As they glided over to the top of the cube, however, both warriors found that Pandora was standing at the edge of her cage, hope in her eyes as she noticed them arrive at last, while off in a cube to their right they found an old man, likely Daedalus, hanging in the air by some chains, Zeus' punishment no doubt.

As they touched down, however, a pair of armored cyclops appeared to attack them, though instead of wasting time the pair utilized their Gorgons' Eyes and turned them to stone, allowing both warriors to smash them to pieces, only for a few more to show up and attack them. While Kratos slashed at his foes, shocking one with the Nemesis Whip and smashing one's stomach in with the Nemean Cestus, Flurry switched to Earthshaker and delivered an uppercut that smashed the skull of her foe, before they found a number of other cyclops that came to do battle with them. Neither warrior gave their foes much of a chance as both tore through their enemies, crushing the larger enemies as they dodged attacks and hit all of them in their vitals, before stopping as the last one fell at last, allowing them to get ready for any other foes that might come to attack them. Once they found that there were no more enemies to fight Flurry found a rock wall near the passage that brought them to the caverns and they jumped over to it, where the Lantern of Helios revealed a hidden path that had to lead to another part of the area, hence why she and her father followed it without delay.

That, in turn, brought them to an area that could be filled with water, all Kratos had to do was pull a lever and a metallic plug moved into place, allowing the water to rise so they could access another path, since they didn't have the key item for the other, and used a lift at the end of it to reach another dark area.

Once more Kratos hacked and slashed his way through the scorpions as Flurry used the lantern to light their way, though this time they had to be a little more careful as they found that the path was just planks and that some of them were in the middle of decaying due to age. To reach the upper area both warriors had to jump over a small gap and climb up the rope wall that was on the other side, where a pair of undead gorgons and some harpies attacked them, where Kratos did the best thing he could think of, he let the gorgons use their sight on them before reflecting it with the Golden Fleece as his daughter ducked. Sure enough all of the harpies that were caught in the sight were turned to stone and shattered as the statues hit the ground, while the gorgons just remained still as the pair smashed them apart with a single blow, just like they had done in the past. At the end of the path Kratos lifted a stone door out of their way and they tore through the scorpions that came out to attack them, only for both warriors to jump a gap and open another stone door, only to find that the path brought them to a ledge that overlooked the rest of the Labyrinth.

Both warriors stood there for a moment, knowing that this would likely be the last break before the end of their mission, and knew that the end of Zeus was closer than ever before, they just had to complete the Labyrinth and save Pandora before worrying about the King of the Gods and the end of their quest, causing them to look forward to what the very near future held in store for them.

War: The Labyrinth

After staring at the Labyrinth for a few more moments Kratos and Flurry started down the rest of the ledge and found that to move forward both of them had to jump to a lift and then cross over to the top of another cube, though as they did so a number of scorpions, and a large one with onyx fragments, came out to attack them.

"You know, I was wondering when we would run into Skorpius... now we know." Flurry remarked, though as she said that both she and her father pulled out their onyx breaking weapons, Earthshaker for her and the Nemean Cestus for her father, as they faced both the massive scorpion and the rest of her brood.

Based on what they could see the best way to go about this was to attack the onyx crystals that were infused onto Skorpius' legs, as it would weaken her somewhat so they could attack her back and maybe even her tail, so Kratos took one side and Flurry took the other. As they assaulted the beast both warriors made sure that their attacks hit their marks, damaging the beast's legs while it tried to turn and hit them, while at the same time both struck down the smaller scorpions that were around them, all to make sure they weren't overwhelmed. Sure enough they found that Skorpius screeched in pain when one of the covers on one of her legs was shattered, Flurry carefully collecting all of the onyx crystals that were dropped as they tore into the beast, and when enough were damaged Skorpius fell down. That opened the way for Kratos to jump on her head and stab one of her large teeth, where he pulled back with some force before ripping the massive tooth out of the large scorpion's mouth, causing her to screech in pain again as Kratos landed beside Flurry so they could attack the rest of her legs to repeat the process.

When the coating of the remaining legs was broken Skorpius tried to flee, climbing up to the top of the ceiling to escape the pair and rain down ice bolts at them that did no damage to the surrounding area, though Flurry was able to fly around and strike the scorpion's back, causing her to land on the cube as her father used the beast's tail to puncture it's heart, turning it to ice that they smashed with ease.

"I know we're strong, but... I honestly expected more from Zeus' last guardian." Flurry admitted, though as she said that both she and her father noticed that the scorpion's tail was still intact, melting to reveal a chilly ice crystal that seemed to be the final key they needed to progress on their quest, causing her to smile as she picked it up, "The Boreas Icestorm, said to hold the power of the North Wind... the final item we need to complete the Labyrinth, if Daedalus' notes are to be believed."

"Only one way to find out." Kratos said, where they walked over to the red plate that was nearby and Flurry handed over the gemstone as he pressed it into the slot for a moment, seemingly chilling the heated portion of the cube and causing a vent to turn on nearby, one that would allow them to lift themselves up to the cube that was above them.

Such a thing allowed them to access another heated switch, where this one caused the cube in front of them to move while more in the surrounding area started to move as well, before they found that a grapple point appeared nearby and Kratos walked over to use it as Flurry glided along the path in question. That brought them to the top of another cube, locked into place on one of the cavern's many walls, and once they were ready Kratos activating the heated switch that was resting on one of the clamps' that was keeping this cube in place, causing it to move like the others. Doing so also called forth more of the guardians of the Labyrinth, a number of shield legionnaires, a couple of undead gorgons, and a few minotaurs, though as the battle started Flurry stole the onyx shields before she and her father turned their backs to each other and unleashed the power of their Gorgons' Eyes, turning their foes to stone. As they smashed the statues Kratos had to admit that he was liking Stheno's gift, the medallions were easier to use and far easier to carry around, before finding that the cube came to a stop and that they had to grapple over to where the first one had been when they entered this place.

With that in mind Kratos and Flurry retraced their steps to the water filled chamber and crossed over to the heated switch they had seen earlier, where they were able to lower a spike wall so the former could run up it as the latter just flapped her wings to reach a short passage, one that brought them right to where Daedalus was hanging.

"Who's there? My son, is that you?!" Daedalus asked, hearing them coming and noticed the pair in the dark space that was in the passage they walked through, where it was easy for the pair to see that he was mistaking Flurry for his dead son, which he didn't seem to notice as he continued talking to who he believed was there, "Ah, this must mean that the scorpion has been defeated and that you have claimed the Icestorm, which is the secret to the entire Labyrinth... good, that is good... and I see that you have already started to assemble the Labyrinth... good, for to escape it one must assemble it."

"Daedalus, neither of us are Icarus... I'm afraid Zeus lied to you: your son is dead, and the King of the Gods has no plans to bring him back." Flurry said, stepping into the light so the old man could see her and her father, where they could see that the inventor was devastated by this information, not that she blamed him since Zeus had lied to everyone to reach this point and to fulfill his schemes.

That, as expected, caused the man to break down and sob as he mourned the loss of his son, and the fact that Zeus would betray him after all of his hard work, though for the time being he also turned down Flurry's offer to relieve him from his misery, he just wanted to mourn for some time. With that in mind Kratos found a rope line that allowed him to cross right in front of the area that Daedalus was hanging in, though as Flurry angled her wings and hovered near her father both of them found that more and more of the cubes were moving, forming the shell around Pandora's cage. At the end of the line Kratos found a series of grapple points that he could use to reach one of the higher points, the lock that was keeping Daedalus' cube in place, and when he undid the heated switch this one fell and rotated so it could move into position with all of the other cubes. Flurry watched as the remaining cubes and components of the Labyrinth moved into place, forming a large cube that had a length and width of four cubes, and a height of four cubes, which was impressive as she looked all over the flat surface they had just created.

Once the last section was in place, the one her father was hanging on, they found that a hatch opened on the side of the Labyrinth, near her father, to which she landed on it after making sure her father could reach it first, allowing them to finally enter the structure that Daedalus had built, bringing them one step closer to saving Pandora.

The inside of the Labyrinth was made of stone, metal, and wood, forming places for them to walk on while they found a number of gears working in some of the various walls that were around them, and above them, on another floor, they found a doorway that seemed to be how they were supposed to progress. With that discovery made Kratos activated the nearby heated switch and the entire inside of the cube rotated, their floor becoming a wall and the wall with the door took it's spot as the floor, causing both warriors to realize that the rest of the Labyrinth might be like this as well. In addition to that they found a pair of animated statues that decided to come to life and attack them, where the pair utilized their onyx weapons and smashed their way through them, breaking them in no time, causing a cerberus, a number of hounds, and a second pair of animated statues to appear. Kratos grabbed onto the three headed dog and wage war on their enemies with ease, utilizing the beast's fire breath to tear through the various monsters while Flurry switched to her newest toy, the Serpent Glaive, and sliced through the hounds that jumped at her.

As the last foe fell the spikes that had appeared in their way disappeared and the door itself opened, allowing the pair to cross a small walkway and enter another cube, where this one seemed to be a climbing puzzle of sorts that required them to find the lever that would likely open the door on the other side of the cube.

The heated switch to their right did exactly what the one in the previous cube did, it rotated the room and activated the puzzle, as there were spiked sections that smashed against each other and flames that were spraying near the bottom of the door, causing the pair to look at it for a moment. Flurry figured it out with ease, all her father had to do was climb up the wall that was by the left flame device, when it wasn't spewing flames, climb up the side until he reached one of the spiked walls, and then, when it was locked into position with the other one for a few seconds, jump over to the second so he could climb up and cross over to the lever. By pulling the lever he was able to deactivate most of the room and open the door, allowing Kratos to glide down to his daughter as they passed through the opening, revealing a longer walkway that let them see the inside of the Labyrinth, granting them a moment to wonder how many they would have to fight their way through before they reached Pandora. On the other end of the walkway there was another door, which opened for the pair when they approached it, allowing them access to another portion of Daedalus' invention, one that had multiple heated switches and a block that needed to be put on a pressure plate to open the gate that would allow them to head even deeper into this massive place.

It was rather insulting how easy it was to do the third room, as all they had to do was move the stone close to the wall on their left, activate the heated switch to move the cube and drop the stone on the wall, then move it again so it would be close to the pressure plate and then activate a second heated switch so they could return the room to normal.

With the stone on the pressure plate the pair opened the gate and crossed over into another cube, which seemed to be full of spike traps in most of the floors, where Kratos and Flurry glanced at each other as they realized that this one was a battle challenge, while keeping an eye out for potential hazards. It didn't start when both warriors stepped down into the next cube, rather it started when the pair activated a heated switch, something that caused a number of gears to start up as undead legionnaires and several minotaurs appeared to do battle with them. As they dealt with their enemies both of them noticed the spikes coming out of certain points of the floor and moved to another area, allowing the monsters that were on that area to be stabbed by spikes and killed, which seemed to be the theme of this particular cube. In addition to that they had to worry when the entire floor was covered in spikes, causing Kratos to use a harpy to get out of the area as Flurry took to the air, and when all of the spikes were done the cube rotated and caused them to do it all over again.

The second wave had sirens mixed into what they had to face, but there was no third wave when the cube rotated to the third wall, rather a gate opened and the pair walked through it without delay, especially since there was a walkway on the other side, with a small gap they jumped over, that brought them to Pandora's cage, where Flurry slashed apart the onyx crystal and her father opened the way as he rushed to the girl's aid.

"Pandora!" Kratos exclaimed, as they were worried for her because she was laying on the floor like someone, Zeus, had tossed her to the ground like a piece of trash, though as he did that Flurry noticed that there was a horse toy that was the item Hephaestus had made for Pandora a lifetime ago, which her father had told her about after he saw it.

"K... Kratos?" Pandora asked, where they found that she opened her eyes slowly and glanced up at them, something that caused the girl, who Flurry was sure looked like she was eighteen based on her body, to spring up and actually hug Kratos as soon as she saw him, showing that she felt safer when he and Flurry were with her, "Flurry! I'm glad you guys made it... Zeus told me that I was forbidden from speaking to you, even though I had no more statues to use to speak with you, and told me that he'd hurt me the way he hurt my father if I ignored him."

"Don't worry, he won't be able to hurt you anymore, not with what we have planned." Flurry said, though she let out a sigh as she thought about what they needed to tell Pandora, that her father was no longer of this world, while at the same time withdrawing the chakrams and held them out to the girl, who stared at them for a moment, "Pandora... I'm sorry to say that Hephaestus didn't make it, but he went out peacefully, asking us to do the deed after giving us everything we would need to save you and bring Zeus down. He and Aphrodite wanted you to have these, which are Aphrodite's weapons that he restored and improved... he also wanted us to give you this halberd, and his godly essence."

Pandora focused on the gem that held her father's godly power as she embraced it, where they found that the glow faded from the crystal as it entered her body, giving her a familiar glow that faded away after a few seconds, meaning the Smith God had been right, his godly power must have given Pandora the ability to become a goddess, instead of a 'thing' like Zeus liked to call her.

"Father... thank you." Pandora said, as if she was speaking to Hephaestus, or his lingering spirit, for a few seconds, while the pair noticed that a look of determination appeared on her face, meaning she had to be ready for the task that was ahead of them, even though she turned down the halberd for the time being, "I... want to use mother's weapons for the time being. I'll use the halberd when I'm ready for it."

"You really should leave the fighting to us, especially given the danger that is still in this place." Kratos stated, because he knew that an inexperienced warrior could get themselves hurt, despite the fact that Flurry had proved him wrong the first time she started fighting, which still made him wonder about her heritage for a moment, before finding that Pandora was already moving towards the other wall.

"I know it's dangerous, but I don't have to worry, not with you two here." Pandora replied, as she knew that they were the strongest warriors in all of Greece, even among the gods, so she figured that she had nothing to worry about, though at the same time Flurry wondered if there was something she wasn't telling them, especially as she picked the horse toy up and found that it was heavier than she was expecting, "Come on, let's get out of this place."

Kratos and Flurry nodded as Pandora stopped by the wall, where the former opened it on his own, before walking up to a another door, though to reach it Kratos had to help Pandora reach the upper ledge, causing him to shift his stance so she could climb onto his back and then he could lift her up. Of course Flurry didn't have to worry about it since she could just jump and land on it, plus her father could lift himself up with ease, though once the trio were on the upper walkway the door in front of them opened and revealed the way into another cube. As they entered the cube a gorgon and a couple of undead legionnaires came out to attack them, though as they engaged their new enemies Flurry found that Pandora just rushed off to the side and hurled her new weapons through the air, hitting the gorgon in the back and causing it to turn on her. Kratos used that opening to grab onto the gorgon's hair and severed her head, allowing him to freeze the rest of the enemies that were around them as Flurry shielded herself and Pandora from the blast, though after turning the group of undead to stone, and smashing them, the girl held her hands out for a moment and the chakrams returned to her.

In that moment the pair realized that there was more to Pandora than they knew, it was possible that someone had taken the time to teach her the basics of fighting so she could protect herself, and she hadn't used it against Zeus since she knew it would be useless on her own, causing Kratos to rest a hand on her shoulder for a few seconds as he nodded, as he was willing to indulge Pandora for a time.

With that in mind Kratos approached the wall lever and pulled it, opening a small door to his right, something that just so happened to be designed with Pandora in mind, as she slipped through the opening and stepped on the pressure plate that was inside the closed off area, lowering the wall the lever was on. That, in turn, allowed them to find that the wall had a heated switch at the top, something the pair activated without delay, causing the cube to rotate as the opening became the floor and Pandora's area became a path for her to get to safety, despite the large axe blades coming down towards where she was positioned. Kratos had grabbed onto the floor with his blades and started to move, though as he did that Flurry readied her magic and formed a barrier between Pandora and the hazard, allowing her to reach the end safely as her father reached the other side and used another wall lever to open another opening for the girl to crawl through. Once that was done, and Pandora refused to stop since there was more to do, Kratos helped her over a wall and let her pass through an opening before she climbed up a ladder, since it appeared that the way to open the gate for the the pair was on the upper floor, or the next cube.

When the gate opened the pair headed up it without delay and found that the room Pandora had discovered the pressure plate in was one massive trap, as she was now trapped in a glass case, which seemed to be slowly filling with water, but it meant nothing to the pair as Flurry created a spherical barrier around her, making sure no water got in it. While she was safe Kratos moved around the cube, moving sections around by either pulling them out to form walkways or they moved on their own when he reached a certain point, all while Flurry hovered in the air and kept the barrier up as Pandora just watched him work. Even as the cube rotated, making everything upside down, Pandora kept her eyes on Kratos, as this was the first time she had really seen them in action and totally liked seeing the pair in action, instead of just listening to Flurry tell her tales about what they were doing. Following that Flurry found that her father reached a crank that lowered the glass box slightly and opened the way for him to access another heated switch, one that returned the cube to normal before slamming the box into the floor and cracking the glass, allowing them to land in front of it before smashing it so Pandora could emerge once her protective barrier was dropped.

The door they had entered through opened and revealed a new path, meaning the cube must have moved on them, to which the trio walked down the walkway for a short period of time and found that the door on the other side opened up to reveal Daedalus' chamber, where the old man was bloody and definitely dead.

As the platform they were standing on, as there was one on the other side of the door, the trio found that the walls that were around them raised into position and completed the cube in it's entirety, before discovering more sirens for them to fight, causing Pandora to pull out her weapons as well. Since she intended on fighting with them Flurry pointed out how to use her weapons, that way the girl wouldn't be a distraction even though she knew her father was keeping an eye on her since Hephaestus wanted her to be safe, just to be absolutely sure. In addition to the sirens the trio found a number of shield legionnaires, who lost their shields to Flurry's magic, along with wraiths and a few armored minotaur, plus a gorgon that allowed them to decimate the rest of the enemies by removing and using her head to turn their foes into statues to break with a couple of swings. The sheer volume of enemies informed them that this had to be the end of the Labyrinth, a last line of defense to keep Pandora contained inside her prison and kill whoever tried to free her, but Kratos and Flurry just tore through them without delay and only stopped when they and Pandora were the last ones standing, causing the section near the wall opposite of the door to lower into position.

Such a thing allowed Kratos to move another wall lever that opened the way for Pandora to reach another pressure plate, this one revealing a secondary plate for Flurry to stand on after her father joined her, allowing them to see that the entire section raised into the air, as in it was a lift, and only came to a stop when they exited the Labyrinth.

"Now that I'm free, you must break the Judges in the Underworld and free the Chain of Balance... only then can we fulfill my destiny." Pandora said, speaking as their lift came to a stop, allowing her to crawl out of the area she had ridden in for a time, while Kratos and Flurry jumped down to walk beside her for a time, only to find that the section remained on top, instead of heading back down into the Labyrinth.

"No. You will not be sacrificed to the Flame." Kratos stated, because after everything they had been through, the years of just talking to her statue and now their track through the Labyrinth, he intended to keep Hephaestus' daughter safe, while at the same time Flurry held her hand out and summoned the reforged Blade of Olympus, "We have our own plan for the powerful Flame."

"Though we do need to break the Chain, both to fully get at the Flame and to draw Zeus to us." Flurry added, though at the same time she considered something as she pulled out the Helmet of Invisibility, which she took from Perseus back during their journey to visit the Sisters of Fate, and put a tiny bit of power into it before handing it over to Pandora, "Zeus might come back while we're dealing with the Judges, so I've enchanted that to not only make you invisible, which was what it's original purpose was, but it should also totally hide your aura so only I can feel you. We should be able to keep Zeus in the dark until we're ready to make a move on the Flame."

Pandora looked at the helm for a moment, knowing it really didn't fit her all that much, but put it on anyway before totally vanishing, where Flurry was able to tell that only she knew where the girl was, and once that was done Flurry and Kratos stepped off the ledge of the Labyrinth. Such a thing caused them to unfurl their wings as they flew around to the opening that had brought them to the caverns before pulling them in again as they rushed down through the passage that linked the Underworld to this point, as it was time to break the Judges. Since Flurry had smashed through everything that had been in the way beforehand the pair had nothing to worry about this time, in fact it seemed like the titans had given up on assaulting Olympus since the mountain seemed oddly silent, despite their energies still being there, like Gaia told the rest of her allies that things were about to happen. In fact it seemed like even Zeus had given up, rather he was focusing on the battle that was going to happen in the very near future, allowing the pair to focus on rushing down into the depths of the Underworld for the last leg of their journey.

As they entered the Underworld both warriors unfurled their wings and glided over to one of the Judges, Kratos taking the closest one to a gateway that would bring him back to the Chain's base, as they pulled out their onyx weapons and struck the gems that were powering all three large constructs.

Sure enough the breaking of a gem disabled the Judge in question, causing it to let go of the Chain as it went limb, where Flurry made sure to collect the onyx fragments as she dealt with two of the Judges, before crossing over to the one that her father attacked to pick up it's gem pieces. Once that was done they found that the base of the Chain was exposed, as nothing was keeping it contained in the floor, causing both warriors to take one side as they smashed the onyx segments apart, scattering crystal fragments everywhere in record time. As the second one shattered, however, Flurry shielded them with her magic as the Chain freaked out, slamming into the right Judge and split it in half, crashed into the middle one and turned it into a pile of rubble, before a segment of the Chain broke free before crushing the left one. It was a magnificent display of destruction, that much the pair knew, though as soon as the onyx fragments were collected Flurry created a new thermal vent for them to use to propel themselves back towards the Labyrinth, which they took without delay and hurled themselves up through the passage once more.

Together the pair rushed through the passage, where Flurry shielded them from the shattering of the earth around them as the chaos caused from the Chain being freed rocked the mountain, though thanks to her magic they were able to get back up to the Labyrinth, landing near where they had dropped off earlier.

Pandora removed the helm as the pair landed, showing them that she was safe and sound, though she did inform them that Zeus definitely came by for a short period of time, confirming Flurry's worry that he would had sought the girl out while they dealt with the Judges, which meant the helm had served it's purpose. With the Chain free, however, all three of them knew that it was time to raise the Labyrinth, though before Flurry created another thermal vent, to get her and her father back up to the Flame's resting place, she helped Pandora get onto one of the chain platforms and then formed a barrier around her so she would be safe. In addition to that she created a magical eye that would keep an eye on Pandora, and see what might happen to the cavern when they raised the Labyrinth, though once she was done Flurry created a thermal vent for her and her father to use, sending both of them flying back up towards the Flame's resting place. Fortunately the upper portion of Mount Olympus was perfectly intact, nothing was breaking after the Chain was freed, which made sense since only the side near the Underworld should have been affected by their actions, so it didn't take them long to reach their destination and land in the main chamber.

Upon landing Flurry set up a barrier near the area they emerged from, because if things started breaking she wanted to be sure Pandora's area was safe, before her father approached the crank once more, causing them to nod to each other once both of them were in position.

Once Kratos started to push the crank two things happened, the Flame's container started to lower into the floor, like they had seen previously, though Flurry found that the second thing happened when her father reached a certain point while he pushed the crank, that being that the Labyrinth was starting to move. By using the magical eye Flurry was able to see that the cavern itself was shaking, rocks breaking off and falling towards the Labyrinth, where Pandora remained in place as she watched everything happen from the safety of her barrier, especially when part of it got stuck. That caused some cubes to break, the wood and metal buckling under the pressure, while an entire column ended up falling into the depths, breaking free with ease, before it finally pulled itself free and continued to be raised by what her father was doing. From there she watched as the entire mountain passage started to shake and break in places, to the point where the two eagle statues were broken as well and both fell into the Labyrinth itself, destroying more of it in the process, before finally reaching the point that was on the floor below the Flame.

As that happened Flurry found that the floor buckled a little as sections of the area around her father were torn apart, the pillars and steps from the lower level being forced up into this one, and that caused the walls around them to crack while parts of the Muses shattered, until all that was left was a ruined chamber, the Flame and the Box, and Pandora entering Flurry's bubble once everything had quieted down.

"The Flame of Olympus... now what?" Pandora asked, because while this would have been the point that she would have rushed to the majestic flame, to use herself to take it out in an instant, she knew that this time things would be different for all of them, especially with how Flurry was standing close to the Flame, only for them to find that Zeus picked now, of all times, to appear as he materialized behind Pandora and seized her by the neck.

"My son, your obsession with this... this THING... has become a problem I can no longer ignore." Zeus stated, showing the pair that he still felt that Pandora wasn't a living person, rather she was the key to dealing with the Flame in his eyes, but at the same time he floated in the air and held Pandora while she struggled against his grasp, before he gestured to the rest of the area, "Look at the destruction you have wrought. When will enough be enough for you?"

"It did not have to be this way, father. All you had to do was fight us and die by our hands, then we would have left the rest of Olympus alone... though we would have saved Pandora either way." Kratos replied, though he stood on the walkway that linked the area Pandora had climbed out of while Flurry stood near the Flame, giving him a greater view of Zeus while his father focused on him, a mistake he would soon come to regret.

"I see, you are mistaking this vile contraption of Hephaestus' with your own flesh and blood family... that reminds me: did you like your gift?" Zeus inquired, where they found a twisted smile of sorts appear on his face as he thought about what he had to tell them, even though Flurry could tell that the King of the Gods was fully in control of himself, instead of being under the control of Fear, who was likely lurking in the background, "By now you must have been made aware of the fact that your late wife's soul never reached it's intended destination, correct? Well, I turned her into a monster and sent her to attack you... I wonder how many times you've killed the poor gorgon, not realizing who she really was..."

Flurry finally understood Zeus' hidden plan, he suspected that his son might do something like this, even before he was taken by Fear, and prepared a plan to cripple her father's will to fight, one that would have worked had the gorgon not come to her first to show her father that she meant no harm, something that caused Kratos to chuckle a little.

"It seems that you need to get your eyes checked, father, as Albis is just fine. And I have something to say: Flurry, now!" Kratos said, because while his father's reveal enraged him, it did give him some idea as to where Lysandra's soul had gone after Zeus claimed it, though for the time being he focused on the task at hand as he readied his weapons, keeping his father's eyes on him and no one else.

In the next moment Flurry pulled out the halberd Hephaestus had given them and spun it as she hurled it at Zeus, where it rushed at the King of the Gods, though as he dodged Zeus barely had time to understand what was going on as Pandora grabbed the weapon, spun it around, and struck her captor in the chest, causing him to let her go as she landed and just hurled him at the nearby wall.

"You! You shouldn't know how to fight! How do you..." Zeus started to ask, though at the same time he remembered what the Smith God had given Pandora when she was forced inside the cage that he had locked her in all those years ago, the horse toy that could have easily been a hidden weapon for Pandora to use in some secret training, "Hephaestus... even now you dare to anger me?!"

"You know, if you hate that, then you're really going to despise him for what's coming next!" Flurry stated, where Zeus had a single second to see her pull out the reforged Blade of Olympus before she stabbed the Flame, something that caused a shockwave to rock the ruined structure, where it almost looked like she was attacking a living being.

Zeus stood there, watching in disbelief as the Flame danced around Flurry without harming her, as if the reforged blade gave her some sort of protection, before every bit of the powerful flame surged into the weapon as a new wave of fear hit him, as this shouldn't be possible, it couldn't be possible, and yet Flurry was making the impossible possible, to the point where when she finished she turned and swung the blade, which had blue flames dancing around it.

"What... What have you done?!" Zeus demanded, though now that the Flame was in Flurry's hands he felt something that he had been denying for a long time, his fear was creeping back to the surface now that his foes had the greatest weapon in all of Greece in their arsenal.

Instead of answering Flurry took a step forward and Zeus bolted, heading outside to compose himself before the battle that would decide the fate of Greece, causing Flutter, Kratos, and Pandora to follow him, as it was time to bring an end to their mission at long last and stop the chaos that was going on across Greece at the same time.

War: Final Climactic Battle

With the Flame of Olympus stolen from it's resting place, and Zeus having retreated for the time being, Kratos decided to approach the Box that had been contained within the terrifying flames and pushed it open, only to find that it was empty, as in there was nothing inside it.

"Zeus was protecting nothing... what did he think was inside the Box?" Kratos asked, where he glanced at Flurry for a few seconds as she observed the empty container, because she was usually the one who made heads and tails of the things he didn't know about, or could figure them out quicker than he could.

"Hope. The very power you drew on to kill Ares." Pandora replied, speaking before Flurry could, though at the same time she walked up to Kratos and rested her right hand on one of his for a moment, where she focused her mind for a second and the pair found blue energy dancing around his hand, causing her to smile as the pair looked at it, "Father told me about Athena putting Hope inside the Box to counter the Evils that were trapped inside it, and that everyone originally believed that you drew on the Evils to finally kill Ares... but, after seeing how some of the Olympians were behaving, the last time I saw him he told me that you actually absorbed the power of Hope, not the Evils."

"I see, so he assumed that Hope was still in the Box and sealed it away... even Fear is afraid of Death." Flurry said, as now it all made sense, the pieces snapping into place as she realized things, though in the end it confirmed one thing for her and her father, Zeus had to die, and so did the Evil that was inside him, waiting to take over and assert dominance over the rest of a chaotic Greece, "Pandora, this will be your last chance to back out, as once the battle starts Zeus will treat you like an enemy... are you sure you want to fight him?"

"Yes... for father, and for everyone else that he has wronged. I can't back down." Pandora stated, showing them that she was determined to stand with them and face what might as well be the ultimate evil, though as she did that Kratos found that the power of Hope seemed to jump to Pandora, as if resonating more with her than him, not that he minded since he and Flurry had other means to kill a god.

Kratos nodded as her, Flurry, and Pandora walked over to the open door that was on this level, finding that Zeus hadn't gone too far, he was literally standing on the balcony that he started on when the father and daughter first attacked him with Gaia, and his focus seemed to be on all of the chaos, not on Kratos gliding down with Pandora holding onto his right arm until they reached their destination.

"Such chaos... I will have a lot of work to do once I'll killed all of you." Zeus commented, speaking only when he heard the group land nearby, showing them that his focus was on what he would have to do once he emerged as the victor of their battle, even though it was far too earlier for him to think about what the future held for him.

"Face us, father. It is time that we ended this." Kratos stated, where he drew the Blades of Chaos as Pandora stood at the ready with her halberd, and while Flurry had chosen her sickles, her signature weapon, he knew that she could draw on a number of weapons that they had claimed during their many adventures, especially the Blade of Olympus, a weapon that Zeus feared above all others.

"Yes, my son, it is time for all of you to die." Zeus said, though as he said that they found something interesting, the area off in the distance shifted as Gaia, in all her glory, emerged from the chaos and came to a stop when she was on top of a peak that allowed her to focus on Olympus, and she wasn't the only one as Flurry found Cronos and the other titans who had been ignored by the gods appearing all around the various peaks, "What is this?!"

"Don't worry, Zeus, we won't get in the way of your battle... we're here to make sure you don't flee." Gaia remarked, as all of them heard Zeus since he had raised his voice when he noticed that most of the titans were still alive, save for the ones that fell to Poseidon, as he was the only one who killed a titan before his demise, before she glanced at her allies, "Spartans! Show him no mercy!"

Zeus growled as he summoned a few lightning bolts and sent them straight at Kratos, intending on taking his son out first, where Kratos shifted his stance and used the Golden Fleece to parry the attacks, sending them racing back towards the one who cast them without wasting even a second. As Zeus dodged out of the way, however, he failed to account for Flurry and her magic, as she formed a few points for the redirected bolts to bounce off of before hitting Zeus in the back, causing him to stumble forward as he realized that she had done such a thing. Instead of focusing on her the King of the Gods turned and rushed at Pandora, who dodged out of the way and lashed out with her halberd, though while her movements were the easiest to read, as she didn't have the experience that Kratos and Flurry had, she intended on using that to her advantage as Kratos punched his father in the jaw before cutting into him with the Blades of Chaos. Zeus had only a few seconds to think about what was going on as Kratos extended his chains and hurled him into the air, where Flurry kicked him in the chest, latched onto him with her sickles, and then spun around, allowing the King of the Gods to see that they had eerie chains linked to them, as she hurled him into the side of Olympus.

In the following moments a surge of lightning erupted from where Zeus landed and tore the section of the structure apart, showing them that he wasn't playing around as he called forth a volley of lightning bolts before sending all of them racing towards Flurry, who grinned as her magic flared to life. The sky ignited as her magic formed a barrier in front of her that the lightning bolts slammed into and seemed to be struggling against, instead of detonating on impact like someone might think as they watched the fight, though that was intentional on Flurry's part as a smaller part of her magic quickly wrapped around Zeus' attack. In that instant she forced all of them into a single mass before sending the attack back into the side of Olympus, causing a blast to tear through more of the structure, something she followed up with her own lightning bolt, one that the King of the Gods avoided as it tore through the rest of the mountain, breaking apart before it could even go too far into the distance. In the next moment Zeus rushed down at Kratos with a punch ready for him, unaware of the fact that Kratos was ready for him, swinging one of the Nemean Cestus and parrying the incoming attack before it could hit him, allowing him to deliver a powerful uppercut into his father's chest as he knocked him into the air.

Pandora leapt off of Kratos' back as that happened and brought the halberd's head down into Zeus' back, allowing her to turn her body and hurl the King of the Gods into a pillar, breaking it and dropping it on his head, though it wasn't too long before he pushed himself out of the rubble and faced them.

"I must say, Kratos, that you have honed your skills well to this point. The same is true for your daughter... and I am loathe to admit it, but Pandora's skills are good for being purely self taught." Zeus remarked, where he stretched for a moment as lightning crackled all over his body, though this gaze Flurry a chance to see the start of the dark eerie scales, as there was just one on his right arm, like Fear was taking it's time for some reason, "Very well, it would seem that I must take all of you seriously."

Flurry discovered that there was no difference between Zeus' next attacks and what he used before this point, it was just more lightning, speed enhanced attacks, and trying to blast them with a vortex of lightning energy, just like before as she and her father, at the very least, noticed. Zeus, however, found that he had to avoid attacks since all of them attacked him without giving him too much room to do anything, especially since he knew Flurry was a deadly shot with her bow, a fact he couldn't forget about after seeing how damaged Hermes was after his failure in Argos, and in addition to that Kratos had two bows he could use, one of fire and one of wind. That wasn't the end of it as he barely avoided one of the circular weapons that Pandora was carrying, one even nicked the side of his face a little, before discovering the other weapons that the main pair had in their amazing arsenal, as it was vast and imposing. Kratos, for example, lashed out at him with the crystalline Spear of Destiny, crushed the ground and hit him with shockwaves from the Nemean Cestus, was able to shock him with a pair of blades called the 'Nemesis Whip', and cut into his sides with his main weapon, the cursed blades Ares gave him so long ago.

When it came to Flurry, however, her arsenal was far deadlier, due to her sickles, the glaive she stole from one of the few satyrs who protected Olympus, an impressive warhammer called 'Earthshaker', her bow, and even the Blade of Olympus, a weapon that he jumped away from when he spotted her pulling it out. Flurry found that him jumping away from her to be an interesting turn of events and planned accordingly, as in she would launch an attack on Zeus and switch to using the Blade during part of her assault, causing him to move away from her and land right in her father's hands, allowing Kratos and Pandora to lay into him whenever that happened. While one would think that the scare tactic would fail after a couple of attempts, like he would assume she was trying to fake him out so the others could hurt him, but every time she used the tactic they found that it worked like a charm, especially one time where her rather picked Zeus up in what seemed to be a crippling hug as he lifted him and hurled him into another pillar. This was just further confirmation that Zeus, and likely Fear as Flurry thought about it, was deathly afraid of the Blade of Olympus, no matter how she used the Blade while they were fighting, meaning he was treating her like the threat she was and it was working against him.

Eventually none of the pillars remained as Zeus crashed into the last one, where Kratos let go of the Blades of Chaos as he approached the fragmented structure and laid into his father with his fists with all of his rage, eventually crushing the stone that was below him before he, Flurry, and Pandora slammed Zeus into the center of the balcony's floor.

"Tell us, father, is this all the power you can muster?" Kratos asked, because if that was the case he had to admit that he was disappointed in his father, as Zeus was supposed to be one of the strongest gods, but right now he had to think that only one of them could have bothered to participate in this battle, before he focused on his other question, "Or did Fear, the Evil that infected you and the other gods that have fallen today, abandon you when you needed it most?"

"Don't be absurd, I am..." Zeus started to say, though in that moment his body shuddered as they found a new wave of dark eerie scales appearing on his arm, all while a familiar set of eyes took over his own, something that was followed by Fear forcing Zeus to stand as he faced them as he held his hands out, "I am fully in control. Kratos, Flurry, I must thank you two for spreading so much fear and dealing with the other Evils, leaving me as the last one standing... now I and the fragments of the other Evils can be one!"

Flurry, Kratos, and Pandora found that a number of dark eerie wisps of energy started to emerge from all over Olympus, where they rushed through the air and merged with Zeus' body, allowing them to realize that while the other Evils had been ruined by the Blade of Olympus, when they were infecting the other gods, there was still enough fragments of them for Fear to do this. Once all of the Evils were in one body, possibly for the first time since the Great War that had created all of them, a burst of dark eerie energy consumed Zeus as it surged into the air and caused a number of dark lightning to flash all around the air, showing them that the Evil was definitely stronger than those that came before it. After a couple of moments the trio watched as the energy broke apart and revealed Zeus once more, only this time he was more like Hera had been in the garden, his arms and legs were covered in scales, his hands and feet were claws, he now had a snake tail, his body was covered in scales, and his head was more like a snake's. In addition to that they found that he had the crown like a cobra, or like one of the gorgons they had fought in the past, while Zeus' attire was a deep red now, different from what he had before Fear overtook his body, making him look like a dark god now.

While this was a bad thing, since Fear now had complete and total control over Zeus and his abilities, Flurry knew this was also a good thing, because if they killed both figures with the Blade of Olympus they could save Greece from the terror that the figure would inflict upon the chaotic land.

"Forged into the Prime Primordial Evil: Korthek, Emperor of Evil and Lord of Fear." the dark god finished, showing them that Fear had decided to give himself a new name now that he was fully in control of Zeus' body, before they found that he had crimson red eyes now, while his scales were a dark gray color with a jade green underbelly, though as the group took in this information the figure chuckled, "And, more importantly, God of the New World!"

"You? A god? Don't make us laugh, as you will never be accepted by the people." Pandora replied, because despite the vast amount of destruction that had occurred recently, with the deaths of a number of gods, she knew that there were pockets of people still struggling to survive in the chaotic world that was expanding all around them.

"Oh you poor naive girl, it does not matter if they accept me or not... especially when all other gods, including you three, will be dead by that point." Korthek stated, where he took a step towards the edge of the balcony and the group found that he was able to walk just fine, meaning that couldn't be used against him, before he came to a stop as he glanced out at Gaia and the rest of the titans that were still watching this battle unfold, "I know you can't taste it, Spartans, but the land is full of fear... which will eventually lead to the survivors becoming angry with each other, and anger will lead them to a burning hatred for their fellow man, while hatred will cause suffering... and then more fear in those who have yet to begin the process."

"A vicious cycle for you to feast on, until all of Greece is dead." Kratos said, though all of them could feel their anger slowly growing as they listened to Korthek talk about his dark plans for the lands of Greece, because the dark being was going to use them as a food source for some unknown reason, which he was likely going to tell them.

"No, once they reach the greatest amount of suffering they will be encased in dark crystals, doomed to produce more dark energy for me to feast on," Korthek replied, telling the trio that his plan was much larger than they had assumed, where Kratos realized that this reminded him of the Furies and their oath stone prison, only now the 'Prime Primordial Evil' just wanted an unlimited supply of evil energy to feast on, "and, once I've dominated those that remain in Greece, I'll move on to the next land and do the same thing... until all of reality, this world and the others, are forever shrouded in my darkness and are forced to serve my every whim."

Flurry let out a sigh as she released her full power, letting it wash over her before revealing her simple attire, the dark gray shirt and brown trousers, complete with a black shroud that had a hood attached to it, a hood that was lowered right now, though as Korthek turned towards her he noticed how her eyes turned red and her wings seemed to disappear, all while she let out an eerie whistle as she spun her sickles against each other. Kratos noticed the sudden shift in the air as their foe focused on Flurry, because out of the three of them Korthek knew that she was absolutely the most dangerous out of his foes, as she was Death itself, possibly the strongest goddess in all of Greece, and she had the Blade of Olympus, the only weapon that could permanently kill him. With that in mind he raised his right hand to the darkness and they watched as he called forth his own weapon, a greatsword that was as slightly longer than the reforged weapon Flurry could use, a dark gray blade with a tarnished gold guard that resembled the wings of a raven, where the guard had a purple crystal in the center of it, and a sleek handle. It was a weapon of evil, all three of them could practically feel the dark energy that was radiating from the blade, though for the moment Flurry kept her sickles at the ready as she combined them into her sickle staff, spinning it around as she waited to see what the dark being had in store for them.

Korthek raised the blade for a moment and swung at Flurry, where they found that he released a magical wave of dark purple energy that rushed through the air, causing her to swing one of the heads of her weapon at the attack as it pushed her into the air, though she was able to shift her stance and send it down into Olympus, cleaving through the mountain as the wave disappeared.

Flurry, in response to that, returned her sickles to their original form, slipped them onto her belt, and drew the Blade of Olympus, as she had determined that Korthek's weapon was one of fear, hatred, and all of the other evils, while hers had been a symbol of hope, or something like that, to the people of Greece, those that knew of it anyway. In the next instant she and Korthek rushed at each other, weapons clashing as their energies caused the sky above them to ripple, showing Kratos, Pandora, and the observing titans that hope was definitely the only thing that could stand before the evils that had take over Zeus' body. While she forced her foe into a stalemate, to see which power was the greatest, Flurry raised her left hand for a few seconds and granted both her father and Pandora a bit of power, allowing them to lift themselves into the air and either join the battle or form another plan of attack while she distracted their foe. Kratos and Pandora rushed through the air and struck Korthek, Kratos having switched to the Blade of Artemis to do such a thing, and together the trio pushed the figure into Olympus, tearing through more of the walls and structures that remained to remind people of Zeus' rule.

Sure enough the structure was torn apart as Korthek emerged from it, using his dark power to annihilate everything that was in the area around him, not that the trio cared since it would have been torn down anyway since most of Zeus' allies had been corrupted and slain during Kratos and Flurry's quest to stop Zeus. Flurry rushed at him as Kratos found that her full speed and power weren't anything to be ignored, as she was able to get up to the dark god with ease, where Korthek had to growl as he found that his strength, even boosted by Zeus' and the power of the other Evils, was being pushed back little by little with each passing moment. Kratos found that this might be one battle he wasn't needed in, as Flurry swung her right hand, which held the Blade of Olympus, and sent her foe flying down into the burning ruins of Olympus, though while she rapidly caught up with him the structures around her broke, but it was hard to tell what caused the breakage to happen as he watched them. The two bounced around the burning and ruined domain of the gods, the collision of their weapons just causing more stuff around them to break, though what was humorous was when one of the golden statues fell, which he and Pandora found to be one of Zeus', and that both combatants swung at each other while it was in the middle of them, a fact that shattered the statue as Flurry hurled her foe into the air.

Following that Flurry flashed into the space behind Korthek and swung her blade again, hitting him in the back and sending him straight down into Olympus, something that caused him to rush back up at her and swing his blade, something she was able to avoid before noticing the dark energy he was gathering. Korthek turned and launched a wave of dark energy right at her, taking advantage of the fact that they were positioned close to each other, though Kratos didn't have to worry as his daughter readied her own weapon and held it in front of her for a moment. Such a thing allowed her to stop the incoming attack before it could do anything to her, and in the next instant she swung her weapon and dispersed the energy wave like it was nothing, though while Korthek was pushed back in shock Flurry readied her own attack, a surge of eerie blue energy that wrapped around her weapon. In the next instant she stomped a hoof against the air, like it was a floor, and the bit of energy she had gathered so far transformed into a mass of energy that took the form of an energy wave as she swung at her foe, almost like she was copying her foe's attack and making it better at the same time.

Korthek held his blade at the ready as he struggled against the wave of energy that crashed into him, finding that it had the power to push him backwards while he fought against it, before it detonated on top of him and rocked the air with the explosion it produced, leaving a diagonal slash on his chest that went from his left shoulder to his right side, which was bleeding as the smoke cleared.

"I was right... you are a danger to my existence." Korthek stated, where it was hard to tell if it was Zeus or the Evil talking, as Flurry and the others could have sworn that they heard the King of the Gods for a few seconds, though in the following moment he rushed through the air as Flurry did the same, where Kratos noticed that his daughter was keeping the Prime Primordial Evil away from him and Pandora.

Such a thing meant that while Flurry might be able to beat their foe, and kill him, she was trying to make sure she could end the Evils that were inside him at the same time, something that caused Pandora to realize something as she landed on Gaia's head, put her halberd on her back, and raised her hands to the sky.

"Pandora? What are you doing?" Kratos asked, because he assumed that they would keep fighting the dark god before one of them figured out how to bring him down and destroy the evils entirely, so he was interested in what the girl was doing while Korthek was focused on trying to kill Flurry.

"Korthek thinks he can drown the world in fear... but even in the deepest pits of suffering, people still have hope... and the world the dark god wants to create will also harbor a glorious hope." Pandora replied, reminding Kratos of what he felt all those years ago, when he could have fallen into despair at Zeus not fulfilling his end of the bargain, to erase the painful nightmares he had been living with, he found the hope to move on in the form of Flurry, "Despite the state of the world, due to the deaths of a number of gods, I can feel the hope of the people... hope that things will return to normal, and for a number of other things. I think Hecate and the others can help me gather the hope of Greece into an attack that can wipe out the Evils in an instant, provided Korthek doesn't interrupt us."

Kratos nodded, as Pandora was basically telling him that they needed to keep Korthek busy, though as he started to move he felt a familiar spirit float by and come to a stop near Pandora, where he suspected that it might be Calliope, but before anyone could say anything the specter rushed down into the Underworld. Whether or not it was his late daughter wasn't something he could focus on as he utilized the power that Flurry had gifted him and rushed through the air, swinging his right fist with the Nemean Cestus as it collided with the side of Korthek's face, knocking him into the side of Olympus, all while Flurry created a bolt of lightning to blast their foe in the face. Such a thing allowed them to push the dark god away from where Pandora was standing, where Flurry smiled for a few seconds before turning on Korthek as she and her father struck him again, tearing through the mountain and the structure while doing their best to make sure he had no idea what they were planning. Korthek was annoyed with both of his foes and struck out at them with his power, where Flurry used a bit of her magic to turn it into the ground and opened the way for her father to lay into him with the Nemesis Whip, using it's power to stun their opponent, which was what Hephaestus had created it for.

While they did that Pandora focused her mind and felt that the people of Greece, those that remained anyway, joined the gods in focusing on their hope, where she found small glowing blue orbs floating through the air and gathering above her head, forming a sphere of energy that was growing with each passing moment. While it was true that the flood had killed the vast majority of the land, and those who called it home, Pandora knew that all of Sparta remained, plus the people who worshiped Artemis and Apollo, and she was sure that the gods who saw Zeus' insanity had prepared their own safe spots for their own followers. Those pockets of people, and those who managed to survive the destruction on their own, were being made aware of the ongoing battle and Hecate was using her power to call on all of their hopes, directing them to her so she could weave them into a sphere of energy. In addition to that she found that more was coming from not only the titans, as they realized she was doing something big, but also from the Underworld, where she suspected that Calliope might have done something to enlist the aid of the other spirits that were down in Hades' realm.

After a few moments they found that Korthek stopped and stared at the sphere that was forming, though he couldn't do anything about it as Flurry and Kratos tore into him with their weapons, forcing him to focus on them and not the danger that would be coming his way soon.

Once she was sure that the sphere was ready, and it was roughly twice as tall as Pandora was, she pushed herself up into the air for a moment, mostly to make sure she was positioned above their opponent, before hurling the sphere down at Korthek, who felt the energy coming at him and turned towards it. Kratos, sensing an opening, stabbed his back with the Nemesis Whips and then swung the dark god up into the air, allowing him to punch him a few more with the Nemean Cestus, knocking him higher and higher as he did so. All that opened the way for Flurry to rush by him as she stabbed the dark god right in his heart with the Blade of Olympus, this time calling on it's full power thanks to the blue flames dancing around the blade, though as anger appeared on Korthek's face, like he was angry she'd do such a thing, Flurry applied a little more of her power and blasted him into the massive sphere. Kratos watched as Flurry pushed him into the core of the sphere, making sure he couldn't escape from what was about to happen, and once she was sure of that she used her magic and formed a shimmering sphere above the hope sphere, allowing her to shrink hers down and slowly shrink the one Pandora made.

With the power of hope crushing him, however, Kratos, Pandora, and the titans watched as Korthek was undone, his dark power annihilated by the greatest power in all of Greece, and once she was sure that no trace of him remained she sent the smaller orb into the air and released it, where the power of hope surged all over Greece and dispersed the dark clouds that were above them.

"It is done. Zeus, and the Evils that were sealed away, are gone." Kratos said, where he and Pandora floated around Flurry for a few moments before they landed on the ruined landscape that had once been Olympus, allowing the power that she had granted them to dispel at long last, all while she took a deep breath and returned to her base form as she allowed the Blade of Olympus to return to normal before stashing it away.

"Now what?" Pandora asked, as she honestly never believed that she, in particular, would make it this far, due to the fact that she thought her story would have ended in a self sacrifice that didn't need to happen at all, so now that her whole life was ahead of her she honestly had no idea what to do next.

"We rejoin our allies, rest up, and then worry about what comes next." Flurry replied, where her father nodded his head in agreement, though at the same time he held a hand out to Pandora, as there was no reason for her to stay behind after everything that had happened, who smiled and took it without delay, all while the titans celebrated their victory over Zeus and the Prime Primordial Evil that had taken over his body.

While Flurry really had no idea what the future might hold for them, just like Pandora, she knew that she, her father, and all of their allies would be able to tackle whatever might happen in the near future, which only made her eager to see what the coming days held for them and the rest of Greece.

Interlude: Rest at Last

At first Kratos, Flurry, and Pandora did nothing, rather they just stood there and took in the fact that their various quests had finally come to an end, all while Gaia and the other remaining titans gathered near each other and talked about what this meant for them, as Zeus was gone and Olympus was destroyed. From what Flurry could tell the titans seemed to have their own plan now that they were free to do whatever they wanted, and it wasn't conquering the rest of Greece now that the gods were no longer in control of things, like one might assume. In reality they seemed to be planning on going out into the world and using their power to calm the world, to undo the damage that had been done by the deaths of the gods, which was a worthwhile goal since they knew that if they endangered the world at least Flurry would be coming after them with the Blade of Olympus. Kratos had no desire to bring more harm to Greece, especially not after finally stopping Zeus and ending his life, both due to wanting to get revenge on him and the fact that his madness had to be stopped, and for the first time since Flurry came into his life he found that his rage had finally quieted down.

Eventually the titans approached the intact point of Olympus that they were currently resting on, each one bowing their heads towards the trio, even though Kratos was sure the massive beings were acknowledging Flurry above all others, before departing for parts unknown, until only Gaia remained.

"It was hard fought, Spartans, but in the end you were worthy allies." Gaia said, where they could tell that she seemed just a tad bit disappointed in herself for almost turning them into enemies at the beginning of their assault, while at the same time she seemed pleased in their ability to not only best Zeus, but also the Prime Primordial Evil that had taken over his body to use it as it's own, "We will go out and use our powers to stabilize all of Greece... it will take some time before the land can begin to heal, I will not lie, so it might be years, or decades or even centuries, before everything returns to normal. It is my recommendation that you three leave Greece for some time... maybe you could try to explore the other lands that Korthek mentioned?"

"The people will be expecting a leader to emerge... and yet, after the destruction that was caused, they will not want a god or goddess to do that." Kratos stated, as he had been thinking about this since the fall of Zeus and had figured out what any of the remaining mortals of Greece might have considered after seeing everything that had happened so far, plus he had no desire to be the one in control of an entire land, and Gaia's idea to travel seemed pretty good right now, "Leaving sounds like a good idea right now... a new journey will do us some good."

Gaia nodded her head before leaving like the rest of the titans that had come before her, showing them that she trusted them to make the decision that was the best for all of them, and it wasn't long until the trio were the only ones left on the ruined peak that was once Mount Olympus, which only lasted a few moments as Hecate opened a portal near them, a fact that allowed Athena to join them.

"Kratos... Flurry... Pandora?" Athena said, as the moment she stepped out and looked at them she found that there were three warriors, not the two that everyone had been betting on since Zeus caused the father and daughter to declare war on him, though it wasn't long before she smiled and patted Pandora on the head, who smiled in return, "Let me guess: Flurry did something to the Flame of Olympus?"

"Yes. She gave the Blade to Hephaestus, who reforged it into a new form, and then she used it to absorb the Flame so we would not have to sacrifice Pandora." Kratos explained, causing Athena to nod her head in understanding, because she had come to terms with the fact that Flurry did a lot of things that defied explanation, once more causing her to wonder if she would have been the 'Goddess of Breaking Reality' if she didn't become the Goddess of Death, the latter still fitting her more than anything else, "How are the others?"

"Come and see for yourselves." Hecate commented, where Athena beckoned for the trio to follow her for a moment as she stepped back through the portal she had used to come here, causing Kratos to glance at Flurry and Pandora before all of them made sure they had all of their gear, though upon finding that they had everything they passed through the magical portal as Hecate followed them.

What they discovered on the other side of the portal was a ship that was much like the one that the gods had given them during the ten years that Kratos and Flurry had served them before Ares' death, though it was somewhat larger than the old one, no doubt to accommodate the rest of Sparta. Sure enough they found that the crew was made up of Spartans, Amazons, followers of Apollo, and everyone else that had allied with them over the years, and that there were at least five ships in their fleet, meaning a good number of people had survived the war on Olympus. In addition to Athena and Hecate the trio spotted Deimos, Artemis, Apollo, and Aphrodite standing nearby, and out of all of them the majority had worked in secret to build the fleet they were currently standing on, to save as many as they could when Zeus finally put his plans into motion. It was just confirmation of what Athena and Hecate had revealed to Kratos and Flurry back during their time in the palace that belonged to the Sisters of Fate, that their people were safe and moving to safety, not that they thought they had been lying, rather it was just nice to see all of this.

In addition to everything that was around them Kratos could see Lady Stheno near the front of the ship with gorgons that were dressed as priestesses, and not turning people to stone, while Albis herself was standing off to the side, not wanting to get in the way just yet, reminding him that they needed to have a conversation later.

"Lord Kratos, is... is it finally over?" one of the citizens of Sparta asked, speaking as Kratos, Flurry, and Pandora realized that so much had actually been saved thanks to the combined efforts of Artemis, Apollo, Athena, and Hecate, who had worked in secret to ensure Zeus didn't discover the fleet's existence.

"It is. Zeus, and the Evils of Pandora's Box, have been vanquished." Kratos replied, where the trio watched as the people on their ship cheered for their victory, as it meant that everything that had happened so far had been worth the sacrifices that had been made, no doubt thinking about the damage that had been done to Greece.

"Come, let me show you to your quarters." Athena said, beckoning for the trio to follow her as the other gods split up so they could spread the news to the rest of the ships and calm anyone who might get too excited by this information, though as all of them headed inside the ship Flurry noticed that this was still very similar to the one the gods had given them all those years ago, after the Furies were slain, "Kratos, we had to take a large portion of the main quarters away, to compensate for all those we wanted to save, but you'll find that it's still suitable for someone like yourself... we also made sure that the two rooms that were the closest to it were reserved as well, though originally Apollo had no idea why. It wasn't until Flurry asked if the Blade of Olympus could absorb the Flame that he realized you intended to save Pandora as well, hence the third room was to be hers... I'm sorry we couldn't help you sooner, Pandora."

"Oh, it's fine. You didn't want to anger Zeus, and you were already busy saving as many as you could... besides, it all worked out in the end, didn't it?" Pandora replied, though Kratos and Flurry could see that she was still saddened by the loss of the one she had seen as her father for her entire life, a figure who had been willing to do anything and everything to keep her safe from the madness of Zeus, causing Kratos to rest an arm around her head, like a hug of sorts, which she seemed to appreciate.

Athena smiled as she opened the door to the main room, allowing Kratos and Flurry to find that it was just a smaller version of the room Kratos had spent ten years in, while he served the gods, while still offering plenty of room, while the two rooms that were near it were identical to the one Flurry had slept in for years. It was more than adequate for their needs, since the people came first, though as they made sure everything was in order Kratos told Athena about how the titans were going to stabilize Greece and that it could be a long time before the land was fully healed. She also found out that Kratos was really thinking of Gaia's recommendation, to leave Greece for a number of years and then come back when everything had finally settled down, though with the sheer amount of destruction none of them were sure how long that would take. Athena found herself agreeing with them, going on a new journey sounded like a good idea, especially since there was a chance that they might find an intact island or landmass the further they got from the ruins of mount Olympus, so she decided to leave to tell the captain to just continue heading east.

Kratos, Flurry, and Pandora remained near the rooms for a moment, coming to terms with the fact that their quests were actually over, that this wasn't a dream, before heading outside to join Athena and the others, allowing them to see that the sun was actually getting closer to setting and that food was being passed around to everyone on the ship.

"You know, we've been so focused on fighting that we simply forgot to rest and eat... we're probably starving, now that I stop and think about it." Flurry commented, mostly keeping it to herself as they joined the others, though Pandora's mouth was watering as she stared at the food, as this must have been the first time in years that she was annoyed to eat anything that wasn't the rations that Zeus forced her to eat, enough to keep her alive anyway.

Kratos found himself nodding as the trio joined the others, where it felt like nothing had changed, like they were back on the ship during their ten years of service, though this time around he found that there was much to be happy about, as Sparta had survived Zeus' terrible plans. He knew that his home was more than just where it was located, it was the people that called it home, so as long as they lived Sparta would continue to survive and thrive, even if they had to start over in a brand new area, something none of the various citizens of his home seemed to be worried about. The Spartans had done so much during his reign and had created a home in places that others would deem to be too dangerous, so none of them were even worried about rebuilding, rather they seemed to like the idea so they and their gods could pick up from where they left off when Flurry went to Rhodes. Plus there were the Amazons and the other clans that had joined the fleet, all uprooted due to the conflict of the gods and now forced to find a new home, though none of them seemed to care, rather they were happy to fight, work, and travel with each other, like one big happy family.

Yet despite that fact, where the people had fun and even accepted Stheno's peaceful gorgons into the mix, without even needing to be asked to do so, there was only one who seemed to be lingering near the edge of what was going on, Albis to be exact, so when she moved towards the end of the ship, and Pandora talked with Hecate, Kratos got up and followed the gorgon, all while Flurry gave them some space.

"Albis... we need to talk." Kratos said, where the gorgon came to a stop once she reached the end of the ship, making sure both of them were far away from anyone else, like she didn't want anyone else to listen in to this conversation, though a part of him really didn't want to ask this, even though he knew he had to do so in order to put what Zeus said out of his mind, "You... you are Lysandra, are you not?"

"...I am." Albis replied, though as she turned to look at Kratos he noticed the look in her eyes, she really did look like his late wife, in fact he could see her former self as he looked at her, but as he focused on the here and now he could tell that she was nervous about being judged for withholding this information from him.

"Why? Why did you say nothing to me, after all these years?" Kratos asked, though instead of being angry and annoyed, like he might have been in the past when Lysandra tried to talk him out of his conquests, he remained calm, because he wanted to know why she didn't tell him anything and waited for him, plus Flurry for that matter, to discover her secret from Zeus.

"I almost did, when you first asked me for my name... I started to say my name, then stopped when I realized just how much pain it would have caused you." Albis answered, reminding him of the end of his and Flurry's first adventure, to kill the Furies and break his oath to Ares so he could, eventually, bring the former God of War down, where she had started to say that her name was 'L' before cutting herself off and saying 'Albis', causing her to sigh, "You had just been freed from the Furies, who must have tormented you with all sorts of memories and illusions, especially one of me in my human form no doubt, so I decided not to say anything. After that I considered revealing myself to you and Flurry multiple times, but each time I worked up the nerve to speak my mind I noticed that you seemed to be pained in some manner, either due to my and Calliope's passing, or the fact that she was forced to be alone in the afterlife... until I eventually realized that it might be best if I never revealed my true name to anyone. Instead of causing you more pain every time you looked at me, and being a constant reminder of what you had lost in the past, I decided to let 'Lysandra' be left in the past, while 'Albis' became my present and my future."

"...Lysandra..." Kratos said, though he sighed for a moment as he understood what she was saying, because when she first appeared before him and Flurry the pain of losing both his late wife and his first daughter had been made fresh thanks to the Furies and the death of Orkos, the latter bringing the terrible truth back with a vengeance, "I imagine that my rage was another reason for withholding this information?"

"Yes. I heard how you swore revenge against Ares for our deaths, saw your anger towards Hercules for his stalking of our city, at Hera for her crimes, and heard about your anger towards Persephone..." Albis replied, recounting some of the more important rage moments she had seen or heard of, where Kratos nodded in agreement as he refrained from even mentioning Zeus' betrayal, as that one had brought about the near end of Greece, before she let out a sigh, "Those events showed me you weren't ready for the information, not without growing angry with yourself and directing your rage at the gods for doing this to me for no reason. I also didn't want to undo all of Flurry's hard work in making you a better person, because you started to change after she appeared in your life, you even became a better god for all of Sparta, and I didn't want to risk ruining all of her work by revealing my secret."

"I must have disappointed you, by declaring war on Zeus." Kratos commented, though at the same time he found that his late wife chuckled a little, causing him to raise an eyebrow for a moment as he wondered what he could have said for her to do such a thing in the first place.

"Part of me was disappointed that it came to war, despite our attempts to stop Zeus... but I was mostly overjoyed, as you didn't do it for revenge: you did it for the good of Greece and it's people." Albis said, showing Kratos that while she might have been sad by all the death and destruction that had been caused by the war with the gods, especially after all the work that they did to try and stop it, she was pleased that he and Flurry had done it for the good of everyone else, saving those they could and ending those who refused to step down, "I am happy to have seen you grow into the person you have become, rage and passion included, just like I'm overjoyed to see the person that Flurry eventually became after all of the time that you two spent together... though I must admit, there is one thing I wish I could have taught her, but never got the chance to do so."

"And what is it that you could not teach her?" Kratos asked, where he thought back to everything that Albis had taught his daughter over the years, which now made sense to him since he had originally questioned how a monster could know so much about Sparta and how people, as a whole, acted in certain situations.

"Sex, obviously. Don't get me wrong, I actually love my new body, but I couldn't teach her about that part of life." Albis answered, which surprised Kratos a little, that sex would be the one thing that Lysandra couldn't teach Flurry about during all of the time they spent before the major adventures of their lives interrupted them, though he also noticed that she had something else to add to that comment, "So, while you two were dealing with Zeus and his allies, I talked with Aphrodite and she's agreed to help me out... provided that both you and Flurry are okay with it."

Kratos had to admit that he was surprised by the fact that Albis would even suggest such a thing, though at the same time he found himself agreeing with her, Aphrodite was probably the best person to ask, and he told her that he'd talk to both his daughter and the goddess in question about it later. At the same time he embraced her for a few moments, letting her know that he didn't think less of her for hiding her true identity from him and the others, plus he made sure she knew that he would abide by her wish to let the name 'Lysandra' be left in the past. Albis smiled for a moment as she rested the side of her head against him for a couple of seconds, as she was happy to see that her thoughts were right, he was a different person these days and she was eager to see how he grew in the weeks to come, before they heard something happen near where Flurry was sitting. With that in mind Kratos and Albis separated for a few seconds, made sure that they were ready to rejoin the others, and returned to the portion of the deck that Flurry and their friends, plus the crew, happened to be in, as it was time to see what was going on now.

What they found, however, was that Pandora was standing near Hecate, where the former was now wearing a robe that let her hide her face and body from everyone else, causing him to wonder if they might have missed her getting hurt and this was to make sure the crew didn't see it until she was fully healed.

"Pandora... is something wrong?" Kratos asked, which seemed to be what the rest of the group, namely Flurry, his brother, and the rest of their godly friends, were thinking right now, save for Hecate since this had to be what the girl had talked to her about earlier, all while noticing that Flurry was keeping an eye on something else that he'd have to ask about later.

"No, of course not. I just... wanted to make a private announcement, in front of your friends and family." Pandora replied, to which she pulled the hood back and undid the left part of the robe that Hecate must have given her for this, only for Kratos and Deimos to pause as they noticed what was different about her, there was a blue tattoo, which was perfectly identical to the one Kratos marked himself with to honor his brother, right where Kratos' was, "Kratos, wou... would it be alright if I... joined your family?"

"I'm not against it, but I must ask: why the altered tattoo?" Deimos inquired, because his own brother had marked himself with his iconic red tattoo, perfectly shaped to match his own birthmark, and while his niece hadn't marked herself, she had no need to since she bared her own unique mark that had worried Zeus once he saw it, he was interested in figuring out why Pandora would do such a thing.

"Well, it's actually an illusion that Hecate applied to me, when I told her of my desires... but I wanted to bare it because I don't seen it as a symbol of terror, rather I see it as one of hope." Pandora stated, something Kratos could see the instant she let the words leave her mouth, as the girl saw hope where others might see despair or fear, like how she saw him as a warrior of hope and not the harbinger of Greece's destruction, causing him to realize that her connection to hope was far greater than he originally thought, "We figured that if things didn't work out, and the family didn't want to be expanded, it was better to use an illusion than permanently inking my body for no reason."

"Are you okay with this, Aphrodite?" Artemis asked, because she wanted to know what Pandora's only remaining parent thought about this idea, even though she personally thought that this was a good idea, as the young girl seemed to work well with Kratos and Flurry, making her a little interested in what her future held for her, "She is your daughter, after all."

"Technically she's my adoptive daughter... but, if she wants to call Kratos 'father' and Flurry 'sister', well, I'm not going to stand in her way." Aphrodite replied, as she knew she hadn't done a good job helping Hephaestus raise Pandora, much less keep her safe from Zeus, and felt that if Pandora wanted to be adopted into the family of gods that watched over all of Sparta, gods that she and the others had become friendly with over the years, she was fine with the girl's decision.

Kratos let out a light chuckle as he welcomed Pandora into the family, he wasn't about to tell her 'no' after seeing how she fought and the fact that she and Flurry were already fast friends thanks to them talking to each other thanks to the statue the Smith God had given them years ago, something that made Pandora overjoyed as she hugged everyone in the family in turn before heading off to actually make the tattoo a reality.

"I'm glad that she's happy... though it seems that someone's watching us." Flurry commented, where Kratos, Deimos, and the rest of the assembled gods found that a fairly large goshawk, larger than the hawks they had seen so far, was resting on her extended right arm, where Kratos noticed it was wearing a golden chain necklace with an olive branch icon linked to it, a pair of odd almost crystalline looking eyes, and a piece of paper that it let her take.

The gods raised an eyebrow as they focused on the bird for a moment, as it seemed different from the ones that flew over Greece, in fact Flurry was almost sure it had some sort of tattoos on it's left wing and one on it's forehead, where the latter looked like some sort of triangle, while Kratos took the piece of parchment and opened it so he could look at whatever had been written on it.

"What does it say?" Athena asked, though she had to admit she had never seen tattoos like the one the bird had, which told them that it couldn't be from Greece, which only made her that much more interested in what it's message had to say, especially since it was delivered to Flurry, of all people, like the bird knew something they didn't.

"These... are instructions on how to leave Greece." Kratos replied, where he showed the others and they found that it was a list of specific directions for them to take if they wanted to leave the land that they had called home for a long time, as in they could see a list of landmarks they would have to pass by to reach a 'bridge' of sorts between Greece and some place called the 'Land Between Realms', a promised safe haven, "I would like to rest on this information... we can discuss this in the morning, once we have had some time to process what has happened."

As the others nodded their heads Flurry thanked the bird, who seemed to bow it's head for a moment before taking off, to which she looked towards the east for a time and wondered what the future might hold for them now that they were free of Zeus and his madness.

Interlude: A New Journey

When morning arrived, as Kratos had been serious about wanting some rest since it had been some time since both he and Flurry had taken a break from the constant fighting, he emerged from his room and returned to the deck without delay, allowing him to see that the merged crew was hard at work ensuring the ship moved as intended. Flurry, as he expected, was already up and about, as he could see his daughter training with Deimos, away from the rest of the crew since neither of them wanted to interrupt anyone else, just like he had taught her over the years. He then had to remind himself that there was one more addition to the family now, as Pandora wanted to be adopted into the family and, since Aphrodite was fine with it, he had fulfilled her wish without wasting time, and right now his newest child was training with her new sister and her new uncle. Of course he noticed that she had been true to her word, someone had granted her a mark that was nearly identical to his iconic red mark, not to mention Deimos' birthmark, with the blue coloration she desired, giving her a mark of hope like she wanted, though her hair remained intact, as no one messed with it.

As he watched for a few moments he noticed that Flurry and Deimos were already teaching Pandora the routine that they had grown used to doing every morning, when they weren't busy fighting for days on end, and while it was perfectly clear that Pandora would need some time before these became second nature, she didn't seem to mind, rather she seemed happy with her new life.

"She seems to be enjoying herself." Athena commented, as she had been standing near the door that allowed the crew and the passengers to come and go from the insides of the ship, simply waiting for Kratos to emerge as she thought about the goshawk and what it's message meant for them, causing her to turn towards the God of War, "Kratos, have you come to a decision on what to do about the message that was delivered to us?"

"Yes. While it is strange to receive such a thing, it lines up with our current plan." Kratos replied, because before the bird had arrived he and the others had been planning on leaving Greece, to allow the titans to rebuild and fix the world without their interference on things, so having instructions on what landmarks to look for, to find this 'bridge', made their original quest that much easier, even if he was wary of shortcuts.

"Flurry and I thought you might say that, so we told the captains to remain on course for the time being... we have yet to find the first marker, but we'll locate it eventually." Athena said, as she had taken a few moments to commit the list to her memory, even though she was sure that the gods knew every inch of Greece and had to wonder what this 'bridge' was, as it was unknown to her and the others, even Apollo didn't seem to know about it, "Artemis has sent out a few of her birds to see if they can find the path that was mentioned... she and her brother just want to make sure we're not sailing into a trap of some kind."

Kratos nodded as he thought about the message for a time, as it didn't seem like something someone would send if they wanted to kill someone, especially a large group like their fleet, especially with the fact that the goshawk had the icon of an olive branch with it, showing that it came in peace.

"I appreciate their concern, even though the bird came in peace." Kratos stated, as some gods hesitated to trust the olive branch, and who could blame them after everything Zeus had done over the many years they knew him, but Flurry held no such opinions, she trusted both the goshawk and whoever sent it, and while he trusted everyone else he trusted his daughter far more than everyone else, causing him to sigh, "One thing does concern me: with all the people we have, do we have enough food for everyone?"

"Yes, thanks to some special storerooms we created before you and Flurry went to war with Zeus." another voice said, to which he and Athena found Artemis walking over to them, though she seemed happy that people were accepting her and her brother more than they had in the past, as now everyone knew about their more animal forms and seemed to have accepted how their gods looked, "Hecate helped us magically preserve and protect them, and since we had no idea which direction you would decide to sail in we stashed them all over Greece... she's been helping the recovery group head to all of the locations, though we're looking for an area to bring them to so the fleet can stop for a time."

Such a thing caused him to think about the information he was being given, as while he knew the layout of the islands that made up Greece, thanks to his many years as Sparta's youngest general, most of those islands were now underwater for the most part, so determining an area for the recovery group to teleport to was hard for him to figure out as well.

I might be able to help. a third voice said, where they found that someone new arrived, a lady who looked like she was a phantom and wore a robe of sorts that seemed to be made of flexible stone, before Kratos realized who she was as he looked at her face, one he recognized.

"Gaia?" Kratos inquired, though as the others looked at the earthen specter he realized what they were seeing, the titan had likely found a place to settle in, so her magic could be used to stabilize and help Greece heal from their war with Zeus and his corrupted allies, and a small amount of her power must have been used to keep an eye on them in case she could aid them in leaving Greece.

Yes, Kratos, it is I. I can't spare too much of my power, but there is an island near you that has a magical bubble that I can raise for you. Gaia replied, where Kratos realized that it couldn't be one of Poseidon's, since the God of the Seas was dead, meaning it was either one of Hecate's or it belonged to another god or goddess who wasn't aware of what was about to happen between the Olympians, You should be able to use it as a gathering point for your supplies, and for anyone else who isn't part of your fleet.

They thanked the phantom projection of Gaia, likely taking a smaller form to avoid causing panic, and when she vanished Kratos told his family and the other gods what was going to happen, while Athena and Artemis delivered the information to the rest of the ships. Flurry felt the change in the air a few moments later and watched as an area off in the distance started to shift, where she and everyone else found a magical bubble appearing where she was looking, confirming that Gaia was moving the island up to them, even though it was likely going to sink once they were done with it. It wasn't one of the massive settlements they were used to seeing, nothing like Sparta or even Olympia, but from what she could see there was plenty of room for everyone to move around and move the saved supplies to each of the ships, plus there seemed to be a smithy as well. Her father and the others stood by her as it emerged from the water, exactly as Gaia said, and once it was done moving they carefully directed the ships to what appeared to be a dock, which was perfect for them since that would make things easier for them.

Flurry decided to remain on the dock with several other individuals when the ships found places to dock, where she and the others watched as Hecate opened portals to the areas that the supplies had been stored in before directing those who came out of the portals to the various ships. She found that there were all sorts of supplies among the containers, such as meat, fruits, vegetables, and everything else that the survivors could have packed when their gods told them to get ready for the war between the gods, which was due to Apollo no doubt. While she stood there, nodding to people and quickly directing them to the ship that needed the supplies in question, it was easy for her and her father to see Pandora walking off into the settlement, no doubt to burn some time before they had to leave for the next part of the journey. Kratos stood there for a time and watched as she stopped at the smithy, no doubt someplace she knew fondly thanks to her time with her actual father, where she seemed to sigh for a moment as she touched the structure, which flared to life suddenly, a fact that caused her to pick up some loose material before hammering at it.

As the pair watched, however, the light shimmered around her and they were sure that an image of Hephaestus appeared near Pandora, who glanced up for a moment before seeming to talk to it as she worked, because while it looked like she had no true idea in mind, for what she was working on, that wasn't the main focus of her visit.

"Hephaestus must have infused a bit of himself into his essence... a final message for Pandora." Flurry commented, where it was easy for her to see what was going on, the Smith God had left something for his wonderful child that would only likely appear when she needed it the most, likely to help her calm down, and her father nodded for a moment, "Let's leave her be... she still needs some time alone."

Kratos said nothing as he joined Deimos and Albis in moving some of the supplies onto their ship, which was far too easy for him to do since his power allowed him to carry more than a mortal person, be they a soldier or a civilian, could, and all those they helped appreciated what they did for them. Eventually Flurry joined in as well, instead of focusing on just directing all of the supplies around to the various ships, though she did find that one group had a stone statue of Aphrodite that Artemis and the others wanted to add to the collection they had gathered beforehand. It was one of the smaller ones, similar to the statues they passed by when approaching the Fates' resting place, though Flurry did help those carrying the statue by taking into into the cargo hold of her ship, since that was where it was supposed to go, causing her to smile as she found the rest of the statues they had seen earlier. There was one for Aremis and Apollo, both in their true forms, one for her father and her uncle, the worthy and righteous gods of Sparta, there was one for Athena and Hecate, allied gods who did everything to aid them in their time of need, and now one for Aphrodite, seven statues for seven gods, soon to be eight with many realizing that Pandora was now a goddess herself.

As she turned to leave, however, something caught her eye and forced her to change the number when she decided to see what it was, only to be surprised when she discovered one of her statues, but not as a human, like Hera ordered, rather it was of her in her true form, just like the statues of Artemis and Apollo.

"Despite being told not to make any statues of your true form, some of the artists defied Hera and made this." Artemis said, as she had noticed the statue of Aphrodite being brought down here and followed after Flurry, knowing she would find her own statue and would no doubt have questions on why it was here, or why it existed in the first place, though she found that the huntress was happy to see her own statue, and her brother's, as well, "They said it didn't feel right, making a number of false statues for you, but they went along with Hera's unreasonable demands and then made this one while no one was looking... imagine their joy when Zeus smashed all of the false statues to rubble, since their true statue of you was safe and sound."

"I imagine they were overjoyed, even though their homes were lost." Flurry replied, because the artists who made the new statues of her father, her uncle, and her false human form had done well in capturing them in stone, where she knew that they would have a field day or week making Pandora one to cement herself in their history as a goddess.

Artemis nodded her head before the pair departed from the cargo hold and returned to the main deck, finding that most of the supplies had been collected and were accounted for, as Hecate was making sure of that, causing Flurry to return to her father's side as Pandora walked down to where he was standing.

"Are you okay, Pandora?" Kratos asked, because while he had given her the time to speak to the message Hephaestus had left for her, while simply hammering on something without the desire to shape it, he wanted to make sure that Pandora was fine and that the ordeal hadn't left her injured in some manner.

"Yes, just... processing things." Pandora replied, where it was clear that she was still saddened by the loss of her father, despite the fact that they had avenged him and likely made him happy with the death of both Zeus and the Evils that had been infecting some of the other gods, but her smile was still on her face, "Don't worry, though it'll take me a few days to get used to everything, I should be back to normal in no time Kratos... um, I mean, father."

"Take your time. We aren't rushing you to accept everything that's happening." Flurry said, as she fully understood what Pandora was going through, especially since she knew the girl was used to calling Hephaestus 'father' thanks to the many years she had with the Smith God, and her own father understood it as well.

"How did you do it so quickly? That's the part I still don't understand." Pandora asked, because she knew Flurry's story due to all of the tales she heard over the years, even listened to some while she was contained inside her prison in the heart of the Labyrinth, but even then there were some pieces of the puzzle that no one really knew about.

"When I appeared near father I had no memories, save for my name... kind of easy for me to build from that point." Flurry replied, as this was a question she knew people would ask, especially since it had come up a few times in the past, so she was able to answer it as quickly as she had in the past, though at the same time they started to board their ship as the rest of the crew finished floating the rest of the supplies.

Once everyone was accounted for, which was easy to do since there were no enemy monsters to worry about, Kratos and the rest of the gods got the ships underway, where Flurry kept an eye on the unnamed island as Gaia sensed that they were done with it and allowed it to sink into the water once more, at least until the water levels could shrink after some amount of time. After it was gone she and Pandora trained for a time, as she wanted to see just how skilled she was and how much the family had to teach her new sister, in the art of combat to be exact, though neither used their actual blades and weapons, since this was just a test of her current skills. Such a thing allowed her and Kratos to confirm what they had seen during the end of their war against Zeus, she had enough skills to keep herself safe, thanks to her self training, but it gave them something to work with for the entirety of their journey to the bridge that had been mentioned. At the same time Kratos pulled out the bow they acquired from Typhon, confirming that it still possessed it's power, before seeing how Pandora was with a bow, only to find that she really didn't have any skills, meaning Artemis had something to teach her, a fact that pleased the huntress.

Since he had two bows, as Apollo allowed him to hold onto the flaming bow he recovered while they were in the portion of the Underworld that one of his followers was in, Kratos figured that Pandora could have the wind one and he would hold onto the fire one, meaning she would have more teachers to learn from, instead of just one teacher.

Other than that there didn't seem to be more more for the group to do as they sailed, where Flurry spent some time with Artemis' birds, keeping an eye out for the first marker that was on the list that her father wanted them to follow, while also helping Pandora learn how to adapt to her new life. There were some sea creatures that decided to bother the ships, not that it overly mattered since the combined forces of everyone on the ships were able to bring them down without allowing them to endanger the civilians, and even Stheno's gorgons picked up weapons to aid them. It was different from how the various people of Greece used to live, their opinions on certain things clashing with each other, rather they were a united front that were working towards a common goal, causing Kratos and the other gods to nod in approval, as this was a step in the right direction. Even Aphrodite, someone who wasn't used to working hard, occasionally came out and helped them with their work, even though Kratos knew part of her was likely hoping to figure out a good time to help Flurry with one of the lessons Albis had been unable to teach her in the past.

On the third day after the end of their battle with the Olympians, however, Kratos stared at the area in front of them as he, Flurry, Pandora, and everyone else noticed a pair of large statues that reminded them of Apollo's from Delos, though none of the older gods knew what they were currently looking at.

"This must be the first marker." Kratos commented, because if even Athena was confused by what they were seeing, with all of the mist that seemed to be around the pair of odd warrior statues, the right one being a warrior that didn't exist in Greece at all since it looked ready to survive a wintry area with the furs over it's armor, then this had to be the start of the path that the goshawk's letter had revealed, "How do we activate it?"

Flurry stepped forward for a moment as she pulled out two artifacts, the Eyes of Truth and the Lantern of Helios, where she channeled the latter's power into the former for a few moments before loosing a burst of revealing magic that quickly washed over both statues, causing them to vanish as their magic was dispelled, leaving behind a faint yellow trail of dust or magic in the air.

"Of course she'd keep artifacts like the Eyes." Apollo remarked, though at the same time he nodded his head, because it seemed that Flurry, once again, happened to be the key to many strange things, and they had to appreciate her habit of stockpiling important items from all of her adventures.

"There's the path. Follow it and we should find the second in a couple of days." Flurry stated, speaking after landing near the others as she put the items away, causing her father to nod as he informed the captain of what they had to do, which caused the ships to get moving again as they started along the path that would bring them to the 'Land Between Realms', after following the path anyway.

Flurry kept her eyes on the path that was in front of them, as she had no idea how long it would take them to reach their destination, but she was happy to see new things, especially if the odd warrior statue was to be believed, and was eager to see what the future held in store for them and the fleet.

Interlude: Learning New Tricks

After a few days of sailing Flurry was sure of one thing, they had definitely left Greece behind, because the air felt a little different than what she and the others were used to feeling, almost as if they had passed through the first portion of the obstacles that existed between their home and the Land Between Realms. She knew her thoughts had to be right, since they had passed by the first marker, the illusory statues that had their secrets revealed thanks to her efforts, and had been following the golden trail that had appeared after her use of two artifacts revealed the path. She wasn't the only one who thought they had entered a new area, where time might move differently than they were used to, as Hecate confirmed her suspicions after their first night in the new waters, while Artemis and Apollo had noticed a slight light blue coloration to the water, though it wasn't in a sickly manner. They confirmed that there was some sort of magic in the water, just like the air, where Hecate was sure that they had entered an area where time moved differently than they were used to, though it was hard to tell just how much time was affected by this change.

The other interesting thing was that Cronos didn't come to investigate the alteration to time, meaning he likely had no idea that this place even existed, which was fair since none of the gods that were with her and her family had known about this, so all of them were in the dark about what they were seeing.

While they traveled Flurry noticed that her father continued to look at the Blades of Chaos with a mix of hatred and what had to be the reluctance to use them, because while they might be a symbol of his position as the God of War, they were, first and foremost, a terrible gift from Ares. She knew that he, like all Spartans, preferred the spear and shield over most of the other weapons they could use, though at the same time she also knew that her father had been using the Blades for a long time, to the point where they were a part of him and how he fought. There was also the fact that they were still stuck to him, seared into his arms near his wrists, though she knew that even if he could safely remove the chains, and finally set the Blades down, he would still be forced to bare the scars of using those weapons, so no matter what path he took her father would end up with some sort of constant scar. Part of her wondered if there was something, anything really, that could be done to help her father with the Blades of Chaos and the scars he was forced to bare, though she found that the rest of the gods who were with them seemed just as lost as she did.

After the third or fourth day of looking at the Blades, however, Kratos brought all of the gods to him and let them watch as he started to mess with the chains on his left arm, though instead of tearing his arm apart in the process, like Athena had been worried apart, they watched as the chains seemed to shake before part of it seemed to come off his arm while he moved the blade attached to it.

"Looks like they're responding to your desires, father... wonder why we never tried this before." Flurry commented, as it made sense to her, because while the Blades of Chaos had been linked to Ares, who they killed, all of the former God of War's power went to her father when he took the vacant throne, which meant the power to fully command the Blades had been transferred to him as well, something they hadn't thought of until this moment.

"Zeus. He and his plans, and his allies, were so in your face you couldn't focus on much else." Athena remarked, though she knew that Flurry would likely think that she should have thought about the idea much sooner than this, but she really wasn't about to complain about this as she and Pandora moved forward to carefully wrap the exposed flesh in a layer of bandages, just in case they bled.

"Makes sense to me." Pandora said, where she found that her new father nodded his head, showing that he agreed with them on the matter of Zeus, though at the same time he carefully extracted the last of the chains from his left arm and set the Blade of Chaos they were attached to down on the deck, allowing him to focus on the other one for a moment, which only made her wonder something the others had to be wondering, "What are you going to do with them?"

"Watch." Kratos replied, showing them that his focus was on the Blades and nothing else, where he carefully extracted the right one as well and everyone watched as the chains seemed to fade away, merging with the handles or disappearing into whatever space they were usually stored in when most of them weren't in use, and once the other arm was bandaged he picked the Blades up and hurled them far into the distance, "There, we should be rid of them at long last."

"Not to disappoint you, but they'll be back." Flurry said, because the Blades were bound to her father and she suspected it wouldn't be long before he discovered that they've returned to his side, likely one last 'gift' from Ares that he wouldn't be able to break, though she also suspected that this was the one time her father hoped she was wrong.

Kratos said nothing to that as he went back to the rest of what he had planned for the day, though when the morning of the next day arrived he found that Flurry, once again, was right, the Blades were resting against the wall of his chamber, causing him to sigh as he picked them up and placed them on his back, until they found a better solution. Flurry, as he and several others expected, didn't say 'I told you so', it wasn't a phrase she liked to use since she was right far more often than she was wrong, rather she started to help him look for ways to keep the Blades from following him all the time, even if she and Pandora had the same idea. They and Athena, backed by Hecate, said that the weapons in question would no doubt follow him no matter where he went, so throwing them away wouldn't work, as Kratos had found out, rather all of them agreed on the fact he had considered while they talked, it would be best if he kept the Blades nearby. The only other option was that he handed them to Flurry and she could drop them into her Bag of Holding, to be held until he wanted the weapons back, something Kratos said he would consider, especially since he knew her magic was beyond anything that Greece had seen and figured that her power would keep the blades locked away.

While he thought about that Kratos pulled out a number of the weapons he was still holding onto and handed them to her for the foreseeable future, leaving himself with the Bow of Apollo and the Blades of Chaos, where Pandora watched as she simply held each item out above the opening and they simply disappeared before her very eyes.

"I heard tales of your bag, but... seeing it in action isn't something I was expecting." Pandora commented, because it was so strange to see something like the Nemean Cestus just disappearing into a pouch that was much smaller than it, and she wasn't the only one caught off guard by this discovery, since most of the gods hadn't seen Flurry do this, though the only one not surprised was Kratos of course.

"Oh, if this surprises you... well, then the other thing I can do will shock you. Do you want to head inside?" Flurry asked, a fact that surprised nearly everyone else, though this time Hecate was the only one not surprised since she had taught her how to control her magic, allowing her to experiment and improve her skills, though upon finding that the others nodded their heads she set the pouch on the ground, "Very well. No one will be able to move the bag once the spell is in place, and no one can center without me allowing them to enter with us... it responds to my desires and power, after all."

As Kratos nodded his head Flurry weaved her magic around them, forming a circle around everyone that had been with them when he told them about the Blades, and the world seemed to go dark for a moment, only for a number of torches to ignite and brighten the area for them to see, even though he was surprised by what they saw. They were standing in a half circular area that allowed him and the other gods to stare out at the area in front of them, a large area that reminded him of one of the temples they had been through in the past, though he found that the ceiling seemed to be the same fabric of the bag despite being absolutely still. There were elegant walls that seemed to be holding up the ceiling, while at the same time separating everything into different segments, as there was an area designated for artifacts, weapons, the more important treasures Flurry had collected during their adventures, such as the godly items she had taken during their war against Olympus, and several other rooms that seemed empty. Kratos found this to be interesting as his daughter just picked up the Nemean Cestus, while the other weapons were lifted with her magic, as she walked over to the armory area while everyone else followed her for a time, only to discover that it was a large area, filled with each weapon Flurry had claimed over the years, with slots already prepared for her own weapons.

Pandora watched as her sister carefully placed the Nemean Cestus in their new home and found that the weapons just seemed to float in their stand, causing her and several others to wonder how she had done that, while Flurry did the same with the Nemesis Whip, the Spear of Destiny, and the Claws of Hades.

"This is quite the collection you have." Athena remarked, though she was surprised that Flurry had kept every weapon she and her father had used over the years, not that she should have been since Kratos had a habit of putting most of them away to the side to focus on using the Blades of Chaos, so the weapons should have gone somewhere, before finding that Kratos pulled out a familiar blade.

"This reminds me: your blade, Artemis." Kratos said, as seeing all of the old weapons reminded him that he still had the greatsword that the Goddess of the Hunt had granted him and Flurry years ago, which had come in handy multiple times, though after slaying Zeus, and all of the Evils that had been possessing him, he realized this was the best time to give it back to it's original owner.

"You know... why don't you guys keep it. I mean, it's helped you more than it's helped me in the past." Artemis replied, as she knew that if the blade was in Flurry's possession there was a chance that someone would use it, since it seemed like her archery student could summon any weapon that happened to be placed in here, while noticing that any weapon that was currently in use, like Earthshaker, had a transparent image of it in it's place.

Kratos nodded as he handed the greatsword to Flurry, who also nodded as she dismissed the temporary image that was in the Blade of Artemis' slot, allowing her to slip it into place like the other weapons she had collected so far, though as that happened Athena noticed that the Blade of Olympus' slot had an image for it's original form and the new one that Hephaestus had given the weapon. In addition to that they noticed a few others, a pair of transparent Blades of Chaos, the bows that her father and Pandora were using, Pandora's halberd and chakrams, and one that everyone knew she would never fill, the slot that her own weapon, the 'Sickles of Death', could be placed in, which had three images to represent all three forms her sickles could take. Athena realized that Flurry must have been practicing with Hecate more than she and the others thought, since this allowed her to use her magic to do things that none of them had even considered when they first met her, which just told her that it was a good thing to never underestimate Flurry. That was a lesson she, and many of the other gods, were constantly learning as they watched, observed, and had taught the young goddess, something that made her interested in what else Flurry might do in the future, especially after her achievements.

While she thought about that Artemis and Apollo found the inside of the bag was well maintained, likely held up thanks to whatever magic Flurry had poured into making this place, and it looked like Flurry had been in the middle of adding to it before the events of Rhodes, though for now she was putting those plans on hold. In addition to that they were able to see all of the items that the young goddess had claimed during the assault on Olympus, items Kratos just looked at for a few seconds before glancing away, like he didn't want to look at any of them for longer than necessary. The artifacts she had recovered, such as the various items that allowed her and her father to breathe underwater, were more interesting to the gods and goddesses, as some of them they had never seen before or had wondered about for a long time, despite the fact that Apollo found the now empty Pandora's Box in one area, waiting to be sorted. Flurry told them that she had gone back for it with Hecate's help, simply teleporting over to the ruins of Mount Olympus, mostly because it was a relic of their history, and that she wouldn't be going back after that last visit, since this journey was more important.

Other than that there wasn't too much else for them to look at, though they had to admit that Flurry's bag was far more than any of them had been expecting when she invited them into this area, and it wasn't long before she teleported them all back out, surprising a few of the crew members before they went about their business.

"You know, all of us were interested in figuring out what you did with everything... now we know." Pandora said, though she had to admit that this was very interesting to discover, especially since it seemed like a safe place to hold the Blades of Chaos until Kratos wanted them back, but none of them were going to worry about that since it was his decision, all while Flurry returned the bag to it's normal position.

"I never thought to explain the bag, honestly. Didn't think anyone cared." Flurry remarked, which was the truth, she had never considered the idea until her sister made the comment she made about it, though at the same time this told them that anything they gave her would be safe, even though she wasn't planning on having them give her anything, since she knew her father wouldn't give her the Blades.

The others nodded their heads before heading off to make sure the ships were fine, though Flurry knew it was also likely to think about what they had just discovered, but she was fine with that, because there wasn't a whole lot to do while they traveled towards the next marker and, eventually, the Land Between Realms. Pandora, of course, asked if they could do some different training in the future, because now that she knew the full extent of her sister's arsenal she wanted to train with some of the weapons, or their training counterparts, so she knew how to use them if she ever got her hands on one or more of them. Flurry was fine with that, since trying something new would be good for both of them, and their father made sure to voice his agreement on the matter since they had no idea what sort of enemies they might face in the future and no idea what weapons they would be using at any given time. Deimos would occasionally join them, utilizing his own weapons to help Pandora learn about the weapon type that Spartans were used to using everyday, save for those like Kratos and Flurry, while some of the gods would watch for a time before returning to their own duties in making sure they were on the right path that the note had told them about.

Three days after all of that Flurry found that Aphrodite wanted to see her, causing her to fly over to the ship the goddess had taken up residence in for the entirety of the journey, naturally the same one that Hecate called home, and head below deck after landing, where she made her way to the door in question and stepped through a portal, bringing her to a room that was similar to Aphrodite's chamber in Olympus.

"Don't be too surprised my dear, I had Hecate create a little pocket dimension for me... don't get me wrong, the beds that the ships offer are nice, but aren't really suited for what I have in mind." Aphrodite said, where Flurry found that the goddess was sitting on the edge of her bed, a circular one based on what she was seeing, though that was when she discovered the other truth, Aphrodite was nude, her garments resting on a table to the side, and there was an area for Flurry to set her own clothing down on.

"You, um, said that you wanted to see me?" Flurry inquired, though given the area she was in, and the preparation that the goddess must have gone through to make sure no one else knew what was going to happen, told her that this was the day she learned about sex, from the goddess of it no less.

"Yes, I did. You see, while you and Kratos were busy with Zeus, I had a chat with Albis and she asked me to help teach you about sex, and your father agreed once he learned of my promise." Aphrodite replied, to which she got up and walked over to where Flurry was standing, where she raised her chin for a moment and kissed her for a few seconds, not forcefully, just lightly, like she was doing something to help her calm down in case the idea of this freaked her out, before she pulled back for a moment, "Look, if you'd rather do this another time, say so. I don't want to force you to learn something you don't think you are ready for."

"No, I just... wasn't expecting you to have changed so quickly." Flurry said, as she had been expecting Aphrodite to still be in her attire when she caught up with her, not already in the nude and waiting for someone to have some fun with her, though as she said that Flurry started to remove her attire as well, only to find a faint magical symbol or rune on the goddess' belly, likely above her womb for some reason, "What's that?"

"Oh, this? Part of my power, actually, as the Goddess of Procreation... I made it so I can't get pregnant, at least during our sessions, and I've done the same to you." Aphrodite answered, where Flurry raised an eyebrow for a moment as she finally exposed the rest of her bare body to the world, allowing her to see a similar mark on her own body, which told her that the magic must have happened a few moments ago, "I took the liberty of weaving a bit of my power into the main door, so that anyone who enters will have this rune placed on their body, and it applies to both genders, so while we can have some fun we don't have to worry about the consequences... plus, while I know he's improved over the years, I'd rather not have your father angry at me for knocking you up. Though now I really understand why some of the people of Greece fell for you, like that one soldier of Attica... you've got a wonderful body... screw what Hera said, you'd give some of my handmaidens a run for their money."

"So... what exactly will we be doing today?" Flurry asked, though this was one of the rare times where someone remotely cared about her form, especially after everything Hera did to make people think she was just a monster, something that made her feel better when she thought about it.

"I'm going to give you three short lessons for your first time: first, how two women have sex; second, how a man and a woman have sex; then you'll do the second to me." Aphrodite replied, where she ushered Flurry to the bed for a moment and had her sit on it before taking her position, though it was easy for her to tell that Kratos' daughter was nervous, that while she was great in battle this was one field she had no experience in, causing her to lean forward for a few seconds as she considered her next moves, "There are a few ways for two women to have sex, such as simply kissing, eating each other out... and by that I mean they lay with their mouths close to the other's pussy and lick each other, though some do go a little rough while doing so... or even rubbing their pussies against each other. Here, let me show you."

Flurry found that Aphrodite took the initiative by gently pushing her back against the bed, giving her a chance to make her wings and horn disappear with a bit of magic, before the goddess lowered her head and Flurry felt her tongue touch her folds, gently she noted since Aphrodite didn't want to hurt her during these lessons. She found it to be both weird, due to the fact that she had never experienced such a thing before, and enjoyable, which was due to the fact that Aphrodite was a master of the art of making love, in all of it's various forms as she was discovering, plus she could do a fair bit with her tongue, as odd as it sounded. Flurry could see why there had been so many women in the past who wanted to be one of the handmaidens of Aphrodite, if this was what they felt when they serviced her needs, because the goddess was just that good at what she did, just like how other gods were masters of their own fields. The sensations she felt were amazing as well, like she was being driven towards something, a feeling she couldn't put a name to since this was the first time she was experiencing all of this, though after some time Aphrodite stopped and pulled back for a few seconds.

The reason for that was due to the fact that she positioned her body, and Flurry's as she discovered, so that their pussies were touching, allowing Aphrodite to start rubbing hers against her own while showing her another way for two women to have sex, sending another wave through Flurry's body in the process before her pussy trembled for a moment, just like Aphrodite's did as she found a small amount of white fluid around their pussies.

"W... Wow, that was intense." Flurry commented, where she found that she seemed to be a little out of breath and that her body was sweating a little, like the act of having sex caused a reaction in one's body to compensate for the energy one was burning, or something to that effect.

"You did well, going with the flow, and I suspect the next time I teach you, you'll be able to do the same to me... but I do have to admit that this only makes you more beautiful in my eyes." Aphrodite replied, though as she sat back for a couple of seconds Flurry raised her head and watched as part of the goddess' genitals shifted before her eyes, she grew a cock, complete with testicles, from her clit right before her eyes, which seemed to be six inches long, "As you know, gods and goddesses can, and will depending on who it is, use their powers to change their form however they want... Hades, for example, could have changed his appearance to be more casual, but never wanted to... me, on the other hand, I only use this power for a bit of fun in the bedroom. I've also knocked up a few of my female followers, those I've developed feelings for, hence why I made sure to have the rune active before our lessons started.... allow me to show you how a man has sex with a woman."

Flurry found that Aphrodite bent down for a moment, kissing her again like she was one of her handmaidens, which could be a reason why she was so into this, before shifting her position and plunging her cock right into Flurry's pussy, not hard enough to hurt but soft enough for it to be a new type of pleasure. Sure, there was a bit of pain involved since this was an entirely new thing she was experiencing, but it felt far more amazing than what she had experienced during the first part of her lesson, especially when the goddess started to move back and forth, her cock moving in and out as well. She sort of realized why some women made the decision to work in the brothels, even though she couldn't see herself doing such a thing, but she did think it was amazing as she gasped in pleasure, as Aphrodite knew just what to do and where to touch to drive her up a wall. Flurry was also sure of one other thing, that brief flash of pain had to be her losing her virginity, it was the only thing that made sense in this situation, though as soon as that thought entered her mind she shelved it as Aphrodite picked up the speed, apparently deciding that she had enough of the lower speeds and just sent her mind even deeper into pleasure.

After a few more moments Aphrodite reached the tipping point and Flurry felt something blow out of the cock and fill her insides, something that caused the rune on her belly to burn for a moment before returning to normal, though both of them huffed for a moment as the goddess pulled her cock out, cleaned it off with a rag, and made it disappear within a few seconds.

"And that, my dear, is the basics of how a man has sex with a woman... I have plenty more to show you in the future, if you want more lessons." Aphrodite said, though at the same time she changed her position as Flurry sat up, finding that the younger goddess was still reeling from this portion of the lesson, before she moved her hand for a moment and lightly touched Flurry's clit with a friendly smile on her face, "Now, to finish the lesson, you must do what I did: use your power to change your shape and give yourself a cock... I want to see if you can use what I just taught you."

Flurry paused for a moment as she huffed a few more times, getting over the feeling that Aphrodite had let her feel for the last few minutes, before nodding her head for a second as she focused her mind on changing the area that the goddess wanted her to change, feeling the magic around her genitals, just like when she hid her horn and wings. Aphrodite just sat there as she watched the magic unfold, though as Flurry grew her own cock she noticed something odd immediately, hers was not only thicker than what she had created, but it was also longer, twice as long by her reckoning, before noticing that it looked different as well. It wasn't the cock a man had, and Aphrodite had seen all sorts during her long life, rather it was the cock of a stallion, like Flurry's pony nature was influencing the spell in some manner, complete with the medial ring and the head it sported, plus when she glanced at the end, near Flurry's pussy, she found a pair of large stallion testicles, larger than what Aphrodite had given herself. Part of her was sure that this wasn't going to end well for her, because the horsecock was larger and wider than what she had taken in the past, and yet Aphrodite felt up to the challenge of taking something new, hence why she laid back in a manner that showed she was offering herself to Flurry.

For a few moments all Flurry did was rub the edge of her new cock against the opening of Aphrodite's pussy, because she wasn't used to the new foreign sensations she was feeling right now, though it wasn't long before she recalled the moves she had experienced previously and made her move. Aphrodite gasped as the erect cock pierced her pussy, just a little at first before more and more of it pushed into her body, delving deeper than anyone she had bedded before, filling her far more than anyone else who came before her, and she was grateful for her powers, because part of her realized that this could possibly split or seriously hurt a mortal partner. The other interesting thing was that when Flurry got faster, like her confidence had returned in full swing or something, it was far too easy for Aphrodite to feel the tip of her cock touch the edge of her belly, in fact she could see it at times as the younger goddess had her way with her. It was as if another part of Flurry had awakened by doing this, a part of her no one knew about, yet she honestly didn't care, Aphrodite gasped in pure pleasure as the young goddess had her way with her, pumping her cock into her faster and faster, just like she had done a few minutes ago.

For Aphrodite this was pure bliss, she had no idea being on the receiving end of a stallion's cock would feel so good, and it wasn't long before Flurry's cock quivered, filling her belly like she had done to her earlier, and when Flurry pulled out she left a trail of cum in her wake as she fell onto the bed, all while Aphrodite's rune went into overtime.

"Wow... that's all I have to say. Just... wow." Aphrodite said, where she had to huff for a few moments, as that was intense, even for someone like her, and yet she loved each and every second of it, before raising herself, in time to see a last little spurt come out of Flurry's cock as it started to shrink, causing her to kiss the younger goddess for a moment, "I have to say it: you did wonderful. I honestly can't wait for any future lessons you might want from me."

Flurry smiled for a moment as she laid there, as she needed to recover some of her energy before she did anything else, but she was glad that she had, somehow, lived up to whatever expectations Aphrodite had for her, something that made her wonder what the future held for them and the rest of the ships.

Author's Notes:

This is the first time I've ever written a sex scene... I hope I did okay.

Interlude: The Land Between Realms

Flurry found that they sailed for a few more weeks, roughly a month by her reckoning even though she was still trying to calculate the time difference they had experienced previously, before they passed through the last of the markers and reached what the goshawk had revealed to them in the message. The previous markers were just things that a Spartan would recognize, each enchanted with power so that when the Eyes of Truth and the Lantern of Helios were used on them they would break apart and reveal more of the path to them, causing her father to follow them. She found that they were very lucky to have recovered all of the supplies that Artemis and Apollo had gathered, with Athena and Hecate's help, as she was sure that without them some of the people would have started to starve, since there had to be more than anyone could have foreseen. Still, fishing seemed to help them out, as two of the ships were outfitted with the majority of the people that could do such a thing, so they caught and prepared the additional food while Flurry and Hecate delivered parcels to the rest of their group, allowing all five ships to survive while they sought out their promised destination.

While they did so Flurry found that Aphrodite was true to her word, there were more lessons to be had and the Goddess of Love really wanted to show her everything she had to offer, while insisting that they end each session with Flurry plowing her, meaning she must have fallen in love with the addition she could create with the spell.

In addition to all of that she discovered that Pandora had no desire to learn about that aspect of life, it didn't interest her in the slightest, which was fair since she was busy making sure she embraced the Spartan lifestyle, or at least everything that their father thought she was ready for. Flurry also discovered that Peirithous wasn't the only godly child among their ranks, as she found the twins Zora and Lora, two of Aphrodite's daughters who had taken a liking to her father before he took Ares' place as the God of War, were present and helping as well, just as Ceryx, Hermes' son, was doing his part as well. It was nice to see, especially since everyone had been so divided during the end of the assault on Olympus, but now they were a united front, working together towards a common goal, and that unity was about to bear the greatest of fruit for all of them, they just had to be patient. Artemis continued to look ahead of the path with her birds, trying to figure out where the magical path ended, before eventually returning them to the ship as she shook her head for a moment, as they were unable to see beyond a certain point, like they had to see it with their own eyes before her birds could.

Despite that fact, however, Flurry grinned as she stood at the front of their ship, the flagship of the entire group since the other four followed behind them, as the fog in front of them eventually parted to reveal a massive island in front of them, one that had some high peaks. She flew into the air as soon as she spotted it, where she got above the landmass and let her grin remain as she took in the rest of the island, as there was a massive clear area right in front of where they were heading, an area that was tiered and seemed to have a great flow since there were two decent rivers cutting through it, feeding all sorts of life. Beyond the area where they would set up a new home, they would be foolish not to pick that area first, there was a vast plain that looked great for farming and growing crops, a forest that seemed to have all sorts of nice food that they could harvest and tend to, and it was full of life. By that Flurry found all sorts of animals, from oxen to dogs, birds to dogs, pigs to horses, and everything else she had seen across the islands of Greece, and there were more of them than she was expecting to see when she looked down at the landmass, especially when she found that the various lakes and rivers were full of fish and other useful items.

The landmass was beautiful, pristine, and utterly peaceful, in the fact that no one was fighting over it, in fact she couldn't see any monsters either, meaning it was just as described by whoever wrote the letter, it was a paradise that they could settle in, causing her to fly back down to the ship and land in front of the others.

"The Land Between Realms... we've made it." Flurry said, as the path that had brought them here died out awhile back, so they had to be at their destination, something that caused all of the crew and civilians to cheer, as now they could walk on solid ground once more and not be stuck on the ships for the foreseeable future.

As the ships moved towards their destination Flurry spoke with Artemis about what she had seen, allowing the goddess to send out some of her birds to confirm her findings while Kratos, Deimos, and the other gods listened to the conversation, allowing them to think about what they were hearing. When the first ship reached their destination they turned for just a few seconds, allowing them to lower several walkways for some of the people to get off, with Kratos' group being the first ones to touch down, because he wanted to take no chances in case there were monsters out there. It wasn't long before he nodded to the crew and they started to offload the ship, following him to the center of the area that seemed to have been naturally made to house a settlement, one large enough for everyone that was part of their group, and he knew they didn't have to worry about room since there was more to the island thanks to what Flurry had seen. While he and Deimos worked with the first crew Flurry and the other gods focused on finding areas for the other ones to stop in so they could do the same thing, eventually leading to all five crews being able to start offloading their ships so they could focus on the next problem.

If they were going to live here, even for an unknown amount of time, they needed shelter, though that was when Artemis, Apollo, and Athena showed them something they hadn't noticed before, all five of the ships were actually designed to be dismantled and put back together into the form of buildings.

"Well, this is good to know." Deimos commented, though he wasn't too surprised by this discovery, as the three gods that had created the group of ships had plenty of time to observe, plan, and craft everything they deemed necessary to make a settlement, though while four of the ships were pulled ashore Apollo kept one intact, giving them a fishing vessel to use, plus it could help them explore anything else that was around the island, "So, how should we build our new settlement? We aren't going to follow Olympus' example, are we?"

"No. We will build with importance in mind." Kratos replied, as there were parts of a city that would do well on the upper reaches of the area, while others, like a dock for example, would be better suited for the watery area, causing Athena to nod as she pulled out a sheet of paper so they could start laying out exactly what he had in mind, "We may be gods, Deimos, but we must be better than the previous generation... better than those who failed, anyway."

While they focused on building the unnamed settlement, and figured out where everyone was going to live, Flurry took a bit of paper with her and flew up into the air, as she decided that making a map would help the parties that were sent out to gather other supplies, since it was only a matter of time until their stores dwindled down to nothing. With that in mind she surveyed the land and made notes of what she saw, jotting down where the various animals roamed so hunters could be sent out to study them, figuring out everything that needed to be figured out, while making note of where sources of water and other resources could be found. What really interested her was the fact that there was a large mountain with a tall peak a few days away from the new settlement, something she could easily reach thanks to her wings, one that could give her a good view of the entire island based on what she was seeing. Other than that she found that every environment that she and her father had encountered over the years, from icy reaches to the center of a volcano, the latter being far off in the distance from the main island, to much more simple areas like plains and fields.

The Land Between Realms was a fascinating place, perfect for them to rest in before worrying about the future, though as she explored the island she noticed that she and her people weren't the first to arrive on this place, as she spotted what seemed to be a fairly large circular temple, roughly the size of the chamber the Flame of Olympus had been in, down in the middle of a lake.

"This must be the home of the god who invited us to this place." Flurry commented, where she flew down to the structure and landed outside it, landing on a bridge that looked like it was leading right to an opening, heading inside no less, but as she walked forward she noticed that the animals seemed to stay away from this place, causing her to stop as she reached the entrance, "Hello? Is anyone home?"

If this was where the god that had shown them the way was located she wanted to make her presence known before she invaded their home, since it could be a goddess as well, though as Flurry stood there for a few moments she found that no one was coming out to greet her, nor did anyone say anything in response to her speaking. What did happen, however, was a familiar figure flew down to where she was standing, the goshawk that had delivered the original message that had brought them here, and landed inside the building with a caw that seemed to be inviting her inside, hence why she just followed it without delay. She found that the inside was definitely circular, matching the outside perfectly, and that there was a chamber that looked like it was supposed to be a bedchamber of some kind, for a traveler to be exact, but most of her attention was on the walls around her, possessing carvings and icons of various cultures. One she recognized as soon as she saw it, as it happened to be in the art style that the painters and artisans of Greece used, though another was in a more simple design that seemed to convey it's meaning far easier, and the others seemed to be of cultures she had no idea about, meaning her host was likely a traveler between realms.

Suddenly the name of this place made sense, there were other pantheons out there, not just the ones she and the rest of her family were used to dealing with, and this realm literally existed in a plane of existence that was separated from all of them, hence the area of time difference they sailed through to reach this point, and, judging by the map that was resting on a nearby wall, there was one to the north, the closest after her home realm.

"This... is amazing." Flurry said, where she found that the goshawk landed nearby and seemed to stare at her with it's odd crystalline eyes, like it was studying her for some reason, but she understood one thing, this had to be the wanderer and, more importantly, they wanted her to know about this place, especially the northern land, which had a marking near it that made it seem more important than the other realms, "Why let me see this place?"

The goshawk tilted it's head for a moment before taking to the air, flying outside, and headed to the north, where she just followed it for a moment and found that it seemed to be enveloped in a shimmering light before disappearing into thin air within a matter of seconds, as if by using magic. Flurry floated there for a moment, her wings beating, as she realized that the bird seemed to be beckoning for her, and possibly her family, to eventually come to the north at some point, why she had no idea, causing her to sigh as she realized that she'd have to think about this later. With that in mind she returned to exploring the rest of the island and noted down everything else she found, though nothing was as important as the odd temple, and once she was done with her map Flurry turned around and headed back to the new settlement. While she did that she also found that the Land Between Realms seemed to work on an identical day and night cycle to Greece, which told her that all of them had to run on that rule as well, though that also meant they wouldn't have to get used to a new time system, something everyone would appreciate.

She found that everyone was definitely working together to set up their new settlement, Athena was ushering people to put the structures down into locations that made the most sense while everyone else seemed to be focused on the rest of the important areas, while Artemis working on the beginnings of a hunters lodge for example, though all the gods came to her as she landed away from the people.

"This island is simply amazing... we could spend weeks searching every nook and cranny, confirming the information that is on this map." Artemis remarked, as once they gathered around Flurry the younger goddess unfurled the map she had made and showed it to them, allowing them to see that it was definitely an interesting landmass they had been allowed access to, though she was already making note of the information of the various animals for her hunters to use.

"What is that in the center of the island?" Athena asked, because it stood out to her, it was far too unique and she suspected that Flurry had already checked it out before returning to their position, hence why her question was directed to Flurry as Kratos chatted with Artemis about the first group of hunters she was sending out.

"That's the home of the Wanderer. I don't know what to call them, or even what their gender is, but someone wanted us to come here, and that structure seems to be their home." Flurry replied, which the gods looked at each other, because this was just confirmation that someone had visited Greece and none of them had noticed before this point, and if Zeus knew he had said nothing, though that ship had sailed with his death, meaning there was no way to confirm or deny anything, but her focus was on what else she had seen, "Also, the goshawk returned... I'm positive that it's the Wanderer, who doesn't want to show us their true form, but all I was able to figure out was that it headed to the north, to a whole new realm that none of us have been to."

"You don't think it was inviting us to follow it, do you?" Pandora inquired, because the bird in question had brought them to this place by delivering a message to them, and since it seemed to appear before her sister again she was sure that it might have been hoping to get her and a few others to follow it to another part of the world.

"Even if it is, we will not heed it. Our people need us." Kratos stated, as he understood that Flurry and Pandora would want to explore more lands, especially Pandora since she was trapped in a cage for a long time and there was no telling how much she got to see before Zeus captured her, though he had to admit that part of him did want to leave now that they had reached their destination, a voice he chose to ignore.

Flurry nodded and joined the others in setting up their new settlement, though even then she knew her father better than even some of the gods, thanks to traveling with him for a long time and listening to some of his thoughts, and she could tell that part of him wasn't satisfied by this discovery. Her father was happy that the people were safe, that they didn't have to suffer or fight for supplies in the destroyed realm they had left behind, along with the fact that they had saved as many as they could, but there was more to him than what the other gods had seen. Despite his success as a leader of Sparta, doing what he could to spread their name while keeping his people safe, she knew her father would no doubt partly blame the destruction of Greece on himself, that he let his anger get the better of him and that it caused him to make a couple of very questionable decisions, even if they were for the right reasons. If she was right in her thoughts she knew that it would only be a matter of time before he thought about embracing the idea of leaving for another adventure, following the goshawk to a whole new realm, possibly to figure out a way to control his anger and reach a degree of control he had never seen before, even after she appeared in his life.

Such a thing made her smile as Flurry followed the others into the settlement once more, because while she was sure that her father would leave at some point she also knew it wouldn't happen before their new home was complete, causing her to look forward what the future held for them and the rest of their people.

Interlude: Departure and Arrival

As the days went by Flurry greeted them with a smile, as she found that the various people of Greece were happy to be alive and were happy to be working a few land, working together to build a better future for everyone while putting the terrors of the past behind them. Some of the Amazons, for example, went out with the hunters from the other cultures, such as the Spartans, so they could mingle and see if there were lessons they could share with each other, especially since Artemis was a good friend of the gods of the warrior city. While they did that, using Flurry's notes on where the good game was located, she noticed that everyone else focused on constructing their new settlement, putting up the houses for everyone to sleep in, storehouses to store excess food and other items, creating farms to grow many of the crops they were used to, and setting up a dock for fishermen to use in the future. Many of the Spartan warriors, of course, spent part of their time training, just in case dangers eventually revealed themselves to the people of the island, while most of it was spent focusing on helping the rest of the people, forming greater bonds between all of them as Kratos nodded his approval.

True to his words Kratos had focused on putting everyone else first, setting up houses and structures for the rest of their people, while their new home was located closer to the heart of the new city, allowing them to head out, greet people, and see what needed to be done for the day. Pandora really started to get into the flow of things after they reached the Land Between Realms, as she helped some of the people set up a smithy and joined them in producing items that the rest of their people might need in their day to day lives, like farm tools or something. Of course that was located more towards the western edge of the city, near where some of the people found a rich mine that was full with ore, at least the starting vein on the outside made everyone think that, meaning it was easy for her and the other smiths to practice their craft. Many of the people were surprised by her skill and helped her hone her abilities, while she also pointed out things that would allow her fellow workers to improve as well, though it was clear that she was having fun and that made Kratos happy.

Flurry knew that part of Pandora's skill had to be the essence that Hephaestus had passed on to her, it likely held some, or all, of his skills as a smith and she was slowly learning everything that her first father had known, but it did seem like she had her own skills that had come to light during the process and she was happy to help the people out.

Part of her own time was spent with Artemis and Apollo, helping the archers and hunters perfect or improve their skills, as some of them went out every now and then to add more food to their stores, though many were surprised by how well she was able to use a bow, as even during training her skills were above everyone else's. Together they were able to help all of the archers and hunters improve their skills to new heights, though she focused on precision over everything else, as she was able to hit a target in multiple spots in a matter of mere seconds, much like when she struck Hermes down back in Argos. It was a harder skill to teach, as one had to practice constantly to be able to perfect it, but she was willing to help the others learn something that might help them in the future, especially since it could help during the various hunts that were planned to gather resources for the settlement. Of course they only hunted when absolutely necessary, though the other outings allowed them to develop a few other skills for the archers, allowing them to track animals and scale places they might need to move through during a hunt, meaning they'd leave for a day or two for training and then return once the lesson was over.

In addition to that Flurry spent her free time flying back to the Temple and checking it out, sometimes finding the goshawk in the area and sometimes finding that it was free of critters, taking notes on the different cultures that seemed to be part of what the Wanderer had been looking at over the years. Even though there wasn't all too much for her to learn from the structure, especially since the god who lived here seemed to be missing, Flurry continued to visit it and study the items that had been left inside it, especially the map of the various realms that the god had visited to create it. The map was one of the most important pieces she could see, and sometimes the goshawk would stare at it for a time when she discovered it inside the structure, though part of her was sure that it was serious about heading north, like it wanted them to follow it, or rather her, her sister, and her father. There was also the time that her father and Pandora followed her to the Temple, allowing them to see what she had seen, plus it gave Kratos a chance to thank the goshawk for the instructions on how to reach the Land Between Realms, as it was a wonderful place for their people.

There was one important thing that Flurry discovered as the weeks and months went by, and that was the fact that her father had no desire to be the leader of everyone, though she wasn't too surprised by that information because the past weighed heavily on his mind, now that he had the time to actually think about it, even though Athena was of the opinion that he'd be great at it.

"Kratos, eventually the people will look for one of us to lead them, and many seem to be thinking that you are the best fit for such a role." Athena commented, as she and the other gods had observed the people while working alongside them, to help grow this place into something that was better than Olympus, and she had to admit that they were making progress in many fields, but they were in need of a leader, be it a single god or multiple to share the power.

"They are wrong. I am not worthy of such a position." Kratos replied, because while he had been the best for Sparta, back in a time where war was a possibility that they couldn't ignore, right now he and his rage, plus all of the dark deeds he had done during his time with Ares, weren't good for the people they had fought to protect, especially since they had been weighing on his mind for some time, "The people need a true leader, not an old warmonger."

"Brother, I understand that controlling your rage has been hard at times, but you've improved so much over the years, all thanks to Flurry's continued presence." Deimos said, as he had learned much about his brother's past from both his family and from the other gods, allowing him to understand Kratos far more than he originally thought he'd be able to, and while he did understand where his brother was coming from, he agreed with the others that Kratos was one of the best options available, other than Flurry herself, "Surely that improvement is enough to justify becoming the leader of our citizens?"

"That might be true, but there are things that father wishes to deal with... before even thinking about such a thing." Flurry remarked, though as she said that the goshawk flew down to where they were standing, on the outskirts of the area that they had been brought to, and dropped a letter into her hands, causing them to glance up at it for a moment before the bird flew to the north once more.

"What does it want?" Artemis asked, because she and the others knew that the bird had come back every now and then, as Flurry had told them about her encounters with it over the time since their arrival on the Land Between Realms, and she was interested in what the goshawk had to share with them, especially since it meant the mysterious god who showed them the way was still interested in them.

"It seems that the goshawk knows of a way to help father with his personal issues and is inviting us to visit 'Midgard' so we can chat with someone," Pandora said, as she read the letter that her sister was holding and reading, before handing it to Kratos so he could read it as well and then pass it to the others, since they had to be interested in what was going on, but there was something interesting on the letter that she was sure the other gods would notice, "however, if we decide to go north for a time, it would appear that there are a few things we must do: first, only three of us can come, because more would only allow the King of the Gods of that realm to become aware of our arrival that much quicker... I suspect that he's not a good person and our friend wants us to be safe, so the fewer the better. The other thing is that we would have to keep an eye out for any maelstroms that might form, because they're very dangerous... I assume there's something about the ones in this world that is causing the Wanderer, as Flurry calls him, to warn us ahead of time."

"Are you sure that leaving, after only spending a year in our new home, is for the best?" Aphrodite inquired, because this was a matter for all of the gods that watched over the settlement, hence why she was here despite having no interest in putting forth her name to become the leader, plus she knew Kratos enough to know he was being serious.

"I... need to go on a journey. One of self discovery... Flurry and Pandora will join me." Kratos replied, as he was planning on heading into an area that might be incredibly dangerous, or at least that was what the warnings seemed to be warning them about, and since only three of them could go he was planning on it being him and his daughters, "I do not know how long we will be, nor can I promise that I will find the peace I am after... we can only travel to Midgard and track down the one who sent the invitation. While we are gone you can set up a council and share the responsibility of leadership."

Athena sighed and told Kratos that if this was the path he wanted to walk, and it sure seemed like it, she wasn't going to challenge him or get in his way, rather she decided to aid him to the best of her ability, something that the others agreed with after they thought about it for a few moments. Aphrodite even had a way for them to get updates from the group, as Flurry had recovered one of her special mirrors and she had made sure to gather those before they left Olympus, as they were important to her, where she gave one to Flurry before showing her how to use the item. Artemis and Apollo did what they did best, they made sure the group had a vessel ready for their departure, constructed without them knowing, due to the fact that Apollo had a vague idea that Kratos would want to do such a thing after a year of peace on the island that had become their home. Both were sure that it had enough food to get them to their destination, though neither Athena nor Deimos had items to gift them, save for their wishes for a safe journey and the discovery that Kratos was after, while Albis, on the other hand, moved onto the ship with her own bag of supplies, as she wasn't about to let the trio leave without her, not after missing out so much in the past.

The reason for leaving so soon, now that they knew the smaller ship was ready, was because Kratos suspected that the people they saved would be disappointed in them for leaving them behind, though as he pushed their ship out to sea, and the four of them took their positions, he found that he was wrong. The people of their settlement were aware of the fact that they were leaving the Land Between Realms, after a year no less, but instead of being annoyed at the group of four, like Kratos expected, they found that everyone, both citizens and gods alike, were seeing them off with smiles and some even saying that they would pray for their safety. Flurry and Pandora smiled for a moment as they waved at the crowd, all while Albis did the same, allowing Kratos to see that she had two curved blades on her back, in case they got into trouble, before he raised a hand as well, letting the people know that they appreciated the gesture. Kratos had to remind himself that the reason this was possible was due to Apollo's sight, he knew things no one else did, so he likely saw them leaving and had the small ship readied for them, to which he was thankful for the aid of their friends as everyone watched the settlement disappear behind them as they headed north.

Fortunately with three gods aboard the ship Albis found that they didn't have to stop or slow down, as the trio had more stamina than an ordinary crew, and since she was a monster she could work on a pace that was nearly like theirs, though she still had to stop every now and then to catch her breath.

While they sailed Albis told them that she was serious, she wanted to travel with her family and help Kratos, though none of them were annoyed by her presence, rather they were happy to have her, especially since she knew how to pull her weight and contribute to the goal they were working towards. Flurry and Pandora also had something that melted Albis' heart for a moment, both girls called her 'mom', which was what she was to the former since she had been the first female figure in her life, causing her to embrace the girls with tears in her eyes. The only downside is that there weren't enough rooms for all four of them, where Albis waved her hand and said it was fine, she'd sleep outside if need be, to keep an eye on whatever was around the ship, which ended with Kratos telling her that she could use his, as he needed the time alone to think about things and he was sure the night air would be good for him. A benefit of being a god was that he could go days, weeks even, without needing to sleep, something he had learned back when he first became the God of War, which both Flurry and Pandora had experienced over their time as goddesses, even if they did sleep more often than he did.

On the fifth day away from the Land Between Realms, as nothing eventful had happened since their departure, the family found that a storm appeared almost out of nowhere and that made it more dangerous for them, only for Flurry to notice that lightning was arcing from the clouds and struck some part of the sea in front of them, causing her eyes to widen as she realized what was going on.

"Maelstrom!" Flurry called out, amplifying her voice with her magic so she could speak over the storm, causing the others to pause for a moment as they realized what this meant, a massive whirlpool was opening right in front of them and, due to how close they were, Kratos knew they would be unable to avoid it, and she could feel that the time based energies of the protected realm were being pulled into this area as well.

Kratos found that controlling the ship was much harder this time around, especially with how rapidly the maelstrom was expanding, to the point where he told Flurry to quickly head into the cargo area and store their supplies inside her bag, as he intended on using it's ability to the fullest. At the same time she made sure that all of their stuff was packed and stored away as well, all safe inside her bag, before she returned to the deck and hurled her magic into the air, blocking bolts of lightning that were coming at them, randomly since there was no one around to control the storm. Unfortunately she and the others found that there were too many lightning bolts coming from the storm, many hitting the water around them until one slammed down into the front of the deck, tearing through the wood as it tore a hole in their ship, causing water to surge through the lower levels. With that happening Kratos and the others barely had time to brace themselves before another tore the ship in half and cast them into the center of the maelstrom, causing him to grab onto Albis and Pandora as he used his body to shield them from the impact, while Flurry braced herself accordingly.

All he could hope for was that they emerged from the maelstrom without any serious damage, because there was no way to know what might happen to them at this point in time, causing him to close his eyes as he waited to see what the near future held in store for them.

---

Flurry groaned for a moment as she opened her eyes and found that the storm was over, the sky was somewhat clear and full of fading clouds, before noticing something interesting, she was resting on what appeared to be a beach, with bits of wood from their ship around her, only to stop as she spotted something else.

"Father!" Flurry said, where she pushed herself onto her hooves and rushed down the beach, to the left of where she had ended up, and stopped the moment she reached her father, who was holding onto an unconscious Pandora and Albis, all while his weapons had ended up off to his side for some reason.

"I am fine." Kratos replied, though as he said that he carefully sat up and found that his movements caused both Pandora and Albis to stir, where they found that, while they were dizzy from the whirlpool's power, none of them were seriously hurt, allowing Flurry to look at the area that was beyond the beach and found that it seemed to be a forest, one that felt different than what they had experienced in the past, "Where are we?"

"Midgard... I think." Flurry said, giving the other two time to get used to being on solid ground again as her father not only made sure they were fine, but also retrieved the Blades of Chaos, though she held her head for a moment as her magic told her something interesting, something she wasn't expecting to discover, "I'm not sure I believe this, but my power, my magic, is telling me that we... well, we lost nine hundred and seventy-eight years thanks to that time maelstrom... actually, it might be more accurate to say that we experienced those years in the blink of an eye."

"So... we were warped nearly a thousand years into the future? Over the span of a couple of hours?" Pandora asked, as it seemed ridiculous, even with the idea that the Land Between Realms was protected by some sort of time power or ability that made time move differently in two different areas, like how Greece's time would be different from Midgard's, but due to it being Flurry who was telling them about this, whose powers defied reality at times, it was somehow believable.

"Yes. We're older than when we fell into the maelstrom, that much is true, but our bodies haven't aged... can't be any of our godly powers, since Albis is perfectly fine." Flurry replied, where she found that it was hard to explain what might have happened, though one thing did worry her more than anything else, if they had lost nearly a thousand years than that no doubt meant that Aphrodite and the others were worried sick about them, "It's... oddly convenient. And, based on what I can tell, all of our supplies are fine... nothing is rotting or spoiled due to old age."

As Kratos opened his mouth to say something, about how he was grateful that everyone was fine, he was stopped by the sudden movement of the trees, where he found a beautiful woman with pale skin, long strawberry-blond hair, as odd as that sounded, deep blue eyes, and wore a yellow tunic with brown pants and a pair of boots, though she carried what looked like a remarkable and beautiful axe with something on her left arm.

"So, Jophie was right: there are strangers on the beach." the lady commented, which told the family something that was very interesting, either someone had been interested in this area, like how Apollo knew things and planned accordingly, or she had been busy doing something else and an ally of hers had told her about them, causing her to come out to see if any of them were in need of assistance, "Are any of you hurt?"

"No. It would seem that, though our ship was destroyed, we emerged unharmed." Kratos replied, as that seemed to be the truth, none of them seemed to be harmed, which was a good thing after being subjected to the power of a maelstrom, an event he would rather not experience again, before he focused on the lady for a moment as he decided to be friendly and not assume that she was hostile, "I am Kratos, and these are my daughters Flurry Heart and Pandora, with their mother Albis... and no, she is not my wife."

He knew Albis had said she was fine with people not knowing the truth about her, though at the same time it was hard to know if his statement would pain her or not, but for the time being she said nothing as they watched the mysterious lady for a time, who studied them before moving the axe onto her back, likely attaching it to a holder.

"My name is Faye, and it is wonderful to meet you all." the lady, Faye, stated, though as she stepped forward, to approach Flurry and her family, they heard the sound of something moving and turned their heads to their right, or Faye's left, and found a trio of undead that were different from the ones in Greece, as these seemed to be warriors that had been burned by some intense rage, with an intense rage fueling their reanimated bodies, "Draugr... I'll handle them, while you four rest and recover from your ordeal."

Kratos would have protested this situation, none of them were injured enough to justify Faye stepping in to fight the small group of undead, but before Flurry could even stop him he paused as Faye pulled out her axe again while the item that was on her left arm unfurled into a circular shield. The undead, draugr as she called them, seemed to growl at her before raising their weapons, swords to be exact, and charged at her, where they watched as Faye raised her shield and blocked all three of their attacks with ease, before pushing back against them like she was parrying the attack. Such a thing opened the way for her to hack into one of the draugr's chests and killed it in a matter of seconds, though as the other two got up she went on the defensive as she repeated the process, letting them attack her so she could open their defenses and bring them down in a matter of moments. Kratos was amazed, as Faye fought beautifully and effectively, to the point where she was just like Flurry at times, as their movements were nearly the same, though as he watched the fight Albis smiled, as it was good to see Kratos actually move on from her by already crushing on another warrior.

Faye let out a few huffs as she finished off the draugr, who dissolved into ash as soon as they were slain, before standing up and glancing at the family for a moment, who she noticed were unfazed by what she had done to her enemies, causing her to put the axe on her back again as she retracted her interesting shield.

"I have a camp that's not far from here. We can head there and you guys can recover from your ordeal, maybe get some food as well, before we worry about anything else." Faye said, which was interesting that she would trust some strangers like this, but Flurry didn't sense any deceit or trickery in her words and nodded to her father, who told her that they were in her debt for the timely aid.

Faye didn't seem to mind, rather she was more than willing to help them, like she helped those in need based on what Flurry could see, though the group collected what they could from the wrecked ship, bits of wood and rope since there wasn't much for them to pick up, before following Faye as they wondered what the future held for them.

Interlude: Exploring a New Land

Faye's camp, as the family discovered, was about fifteen minutes into the forest she had emerged from, where they found a single tent and a campfire, which meant that she wasn't expecting company and was still willing to share her camp with a bunch of strangers, despite their current situation.

"I know it's not much, but make yourselves at home." Faye said, where Flurry noticed that there weren't any horses, nor were there any animals at all, meaning the lady had a limited amount of supplies and might run out at some point in the near future, which meant it was fortunate for her that they were there, "I wish I had more to offer you, but I honestly wasn't expecting to encounter a group in need of assistance."

"We have food covered. Flurry?" Kratos replied, causing his daughter to reach into her bag and produce some of the food containers she had saved before they fell into the maelstrom, while at the same time Faye just looked at her with interest in her eyes, instead of surprise.

"Interesting. You have a Bag of Holding? I thought only the dwarves had them." Faye commented, showing them that she was actually familiar with the bag that Flurry had spent her life using, though at the same time she walked over to the box that had been pulled out and found a bunch of food inside it, confirming what Kratos had told her.

"Dwarves?" Pandora asked, though at the same time she pulled out a few of the items from the box as she noticed that the camp was well cleared, so they didn't have to worry about room or setting things on fire, while it looked like the forest had more than enough cover to keep everyone safe, allowing her to put the food out.

"Right, sorry. I'm used to people knowing about them." Faye said, because she knew that they weren't from Midgard, due to how some of them were dressed, not to mention how they arrived near her camp, though she was thankful she had kept the campfire up, since it looked like Pandora knew what she was doing and everyone seemed hungry, "So, where are you four from? I know you aren't from Midgard."

"We... are from Sparta, located in the land of Greece. Or realm, now that I think about it." Kratos replied, though while he knew the others might be surprised by his openness on the subject, since they had no idea who to trust right now, he felt that they could trust Faye, she seemed far different from most of the people he had encountered over his many years, a fact that caused Flurry to silently nod her head as she moved some rocks for them to use as seats, "We were invited to this realm by a goshawk with special markings or tattoos on it."

"Really? Can you describe these tattoos?" Faye inquired, as this was very interesting to her, though that was when Pandora held out a journal that was open to the page she had made about the bird, where she noticed the triangular mark on it's forehead and the markings on it's left wing, causing her to raise an eyebrow as she returned it to the girl, "Those tattoos are associated with Tyr, our God of War... whose been dead for who knows how long. The goshawk is associated with him, even after his passing."

Flurry glanced at her father for a moment, as it sounded like the time maelstrom had not only cast them into the future, but had also made it so that the one that had invited them to Midgard had been slain in some manner, as Faye told them about how Odin, the All-Father, struck Tyr down for his attempts to betray the Norse gods. Kratos frowned as he heard that, because it sounded completely like what happened back in Greece, a God of War seeking some sort of end goal and the King of the Gods bringing about their death, just like how Zeus tasked him and Flurry to bring down Ares. Faye also shared with them an interesting piece of information, there had been no replacement for Tyr, meaning Odin likely took his position and added it to what he did, no doubt to keep the peace or something like that, but Faye told them that it was all lies, to make Odin look good. The reality, to the best of her knowledge, was that Tyr was a peacekeeper, a god who fought for peace and not for his own gain, but there was no way for her to confirm or deny her opinions, as Tyr was long dead and Odin had control of all information, so everyone believed what he said on the matter.

As Pandora passed around the food, which was meat and fruit, Faye asked them what they were going to do now that they knew the one who had invited them to Midgard was dead, all while a large falcon, which had to be Jophie, landed and ate a bit of the provided food as well.

"I... would like to explore this land. If Tyr invited us, he might have left a path when he realized we were missing." Kratos answered, because based on what little he knew about this God of War he suspected that there might be something for him and his family to find, especially when one considered that Tyr had likely pointed them in the direction of the Land Between Realms, "We will, of course, need to find a place to call home while we see what the rest of the land has to offer, since there is no going back until we complete our quest."

"Exploring might be difficult, thanks to the Desolation... Kratos, would you like to spar with me for a while?" Faye inquired, which made sense, as she had no idea that three of them were gods and could handle themselves, though she could see that they were just fine despite the nature of their ship, meaning she might have some idea as to what they were, though to Flurry it seemed as if she was letting them tell her on their own time.

"...Yes. I would like to spar." Kratos replied, because he knew she was stronger than what they had seen previously and he wanted to see what else she had to offer, as he suspected that Faye might have been like him at one point, a powerful mortal, and was using her power to help those in need, before he turned towards his daughters, "Use the mirror while we spar. Try and contact the others."

"Others?" Faye asked, though she was starting to realize there was more to the family than they were telling her, but she looked interested in what they had to say and wasn't annoyed, though it did worry her that there might be more people out there that they weren't helping right now.

"We... were fleeing our own desolation, and left those we could save in the hands of some of our allies, gods that we could place our trust in... Tyr's bird delivered a message that brought us there." Flurry answered, something that seemed to surprise Faye, or maybe it was the fact that they decided to leave a safe haven and travel to another realm entirely, all for some reason that they had yet to share with her, before she produced the mirror that her father had mentioned, "One of the goddesses gave us this mirror, so we could communicate with them and get updates... they're likely worried about us, as it has been a while since we last spoke to them."

Faye glanced at it for a moment before nodding her head, as if realizing that she would learn more about the situation in the future, before she and Kratos headed off to another part of the area while Jophie took off, ignoring the girls and Albis, causing Flurry to lift the mirror before uttering the spell that Aphrodite taught her. Following that they watched as the glass shimmered for a moment, showing that it was working as intended, before the surface shifted and revealed what looked like a chamber that Aphrodite called home, almost like what she had back in Olympus. The only difference the trio could see was that there was an area set aside for a stone that looked like it had four figures on it, where Flurry realized that it was of her, Pandora, their father, and Albis, either something made to remember them by or something to mourn their passing. As they looked at the chamber, however, the bed stirred as Aphrodite, wearing a less transparent robe than before, bolted up and glanced around wildly for a couple of seconds, before she noticed that her mirror was glowing and rushed over to where it was resting.

As Aphrodite picked up her mirror the trio could see that she was overjoyed to see it working, like she had been worried for their safety due to it being dark for so long, causing tears to form in her eyes as she sat down in front of where she had kept the item, which she wiped away a few seconds later.

"Flurry! Pandora, Albis! You guys are okay!" Aphrodite said, though it was clear that she was fighting the desire to break down after seeing that they were fine, but she did raise her right hand for a moment as a spell was released, which looked like a summoning spell or alarm of some kind, before she noticed something, "Where is Kratos? Where are you guys?"

"Aphrodite, father is fine... he's sparring with someone at the moment." Flurry replied, which was the truth, her father and Faye were going at each other in an area that Faye must have prepared to keep herself fit while she happened to be in this area, though before she could say anything else the door of Aphrodite's area opened and a number of gods, as in Artemis, Apollo, Athena, and Deimos, entered the chamber and closed the door before gathering around her.

"Thank the titans... they're alive." Athena remarked, letting out a sigh of relief as they found that three of them were alive and well, which meant that Kratos had to be the same as well, though she wasn't the only one who thought that, as the others were happy to see that their friends were just fine, "Flurry, Pandora, what happened to you guys?"

The trio took turns explaining the days following their departure from the Land Between Realms, which was easy to do due to the fact that they had just been sailing for a time, before going into the sudden creation of a 'time maelstrom', as that was what Flurry was calling it. She went on to explain that her magic had told her about how much time she and the others had missed thanks to being subjected to the power of the time maelstrom, missing out on nearly a thousand years by her reckoning, but they were able to reach their intended destination, the realm of Midgard. The group was interested in everything that was going on right now, though Flurry told them not to come after them, because right now she didn't trust the waters between realms, while Pandora filled them in on what was going on right now. Of course they were happy to see that the family had reached their destination, despite losing so much time, and were sad to hear that the one who sent the invitation had been slain, but were worried about their presence drawing Odin's attention to their position.

While they were talking Kratos went flying by and smashed into one of the trees, as it looked like Faye had thrown her axe at his chest and the force of it colliding with the Blades of Chaos, though he got up, said 'hi' to the trio and the gods that were on the other side, before rushing back into battle, though Flurry noticed that he seemed happy.

"W... Was that Kratos?" Athena asked, as they had seen him go by rather quickly, which was amazing since most of the foes he had faced could barely do anything like this to him, though it wasn't long before they found Faye flying by as well, who also dusted herself off, said 'hi' to them, and rushed back over to where Kratos was waiting, "I take it that the lady is the one called Faye?"

"Yeah... she might not be who we're here to speak with, but I think she might be what father needs." Flurry remarked, as battle was something that allowed people like her and her father to think about things, it was an interesting process when she thought about it, though with how the pair were sparring it seemed like a fair dance between two skilled warriors who might see each other as equals, "So, what's been going on in the Land Between Realms?"

Athena explained that they had named the new settlement 'New Sparta', out of honor for the family, and that there were more settlements resting all over the island, just to give them some more room since the main group they had arrived with had grown quite a lot since their arrival. There were three main cities on the island, those being 'New Sparta', 'New Athens', and 'New Delos', the second resting on the northwestern side while the third was on the eastern side, three cities that lived in harmony as everyone hoped and prayed that the family was alright. It was easy for Flurry to tell who the patron gods of the three areas were, as Deimos stood for his people, Athena for her people, and Artemis and Apollo for their followers, it made sense when she thought about it, especially since Aphrodite didn't have the desire to lead like the others. Other than that they had preserved the natural beauty of the island, taking only what they needed while allowing all of the animals to maintain healthy numbers, plus they made sure that any tree taken was replaced and the stone used to help make certain things came from smaller islands scattered around the main island.

In the end it seemed like things were going well on Athena's side, the people were happy, keeping up with their training while not really needing it, and now that their friends knew they were alive and well it was only a matter of time until one of the gods told the people, but Flurry told them that it would be some time before they returned, her father was still searching and she intended to give him the time he needed.

"Of course. We are happy that you are well, and wish Kratos luck in his personal quest... just... be sure to give us an update every now and then if you intend to remain in Midgard." Apollo said, while at the same time the others nodded as well, as all of them knew that when Kratos set his mind to something there was no real way to change his mind, something Flurry knew all too well even though she had more luck in convincing her father to do certain things.

"Don't worry, we'll be sure to do so in the future." Albis replied, though she had been quiet during the entire conversation, allowing Flurry and Pandora to speak and answer questions while she kept an eye on Kratos, but she wanted their friends to know they'd do their best to keep them informed from this point forward.

Their friends wished them well, Aphrodite even saying 'I love you', before they cut the connection, just in time to see Kratos and Faye walking over to the camp, seemingly in a better mood than when both warriors left to spar, meaning Flurry had been right, this might be just what her father needed. Faye told the trio that they had come to a decision, Kratos wanted to travel alongside her for a time, to get to know such a strong warrior more, something she was fine with since she also had such a desire to get to know all of them better as well, not just Kratos. With that in mind Faye realized that this camp was far too small for all five of them, so if they were going to spend more time together she determined that finding a more suitable place to live, even if it was for a short period of time, should be their first course of action, something they agreed with, as it made sense to them. Flurry made sure to collect the bits of wood that they had salvaged from their wrecked ship and put it in an area of her bag so they wouldn't have to carry them all the way to whatever area they ended up in, while Faye quickly disrupted the entire camp to make it look like no one has been here for a very long time.

Once everyone was ready the group continued deeper into the forest as Faye explained that she was the lone survivor of her clan, having been decimated by a rival clan, and for the time being she was acting like there were pursuers on her tail, even if Jophie seemed to indicate that none of her enemies were closing in on her. Still, she was being cautious, making sure not to leave any trace of her existence behind since she knew her clan's enemies had an expert tracker and she didn't want to leave a trail for him to find, especially since it now might put all of them, total strangers, in danger. Albis asked if there was anything they could do to help her, it was only fair since she was being so helpful to them, causing Faye to tell all of them that it was alright, she would make the best of the rest of her life without seeking revenge on the rival clan, which again struck another cord with Kratos. Flurry realized that there was no denying it, Faye was likely the best person right now that could help her father not only master himself in a way that not even she could help him accomplish, but also give him some lessons that would no doubt forge him into a better person than before.

They might have missed their chance to speak with Tyr, the one who invited them to Midgard in the first place, but she would argue that this was better, as she was positive that Faye might be the best person to help her father grow overall and she was looking forward to how things changed as they explored the land.

While they walked through the forest Flurry took in the sights, as the area felt different from what they were used to and this allowed her to focus on all of the tracks that happened to be around them, something Faye took notice of and asked her if she was an archer, causing her to chuckle for a few seconds. Flurry confirmed that, while that wasn't her main thing, she was very skilled with a bow, which caused the lady to reach into her pack for a moment and pulled out her own bow, a longbow made from a yew tree and well crafted, all of which she told them as she pulled it out. She explained that she was somewhat good with the bow, either because she didn't like to boast or she was telling the truth about her skill, and that this made her look forward to potentially hunting with Flurry so she could see her skills in the field. Flurry smiled as they made their way through the forest, using an actual bridge, made of wood and ropes, to move across a small gorge and continue on towards an area that Faye had scouted out before Jophie caused her to make her way to the camp that she had set up.

Kratos noticed that there was definitely more to the forest than he and the others initially assumed, as there seemed to be a decent number of ruined structures that not even Faye knew what they had been once upon a time, all she knew was that none of them were being used and, to the raiders, that meant each one was still full of treasure that was waiting to be plundered by someone.

After some time Faye stopped at the area she had been referring to, a decent flat area that had a path leading down to a river that they could put a boat in and use to find a good fishing spot, with a few other interesting directions they would have to check out at some point. She admitted that this was probably good for a single house for two people, though she had no idea how they were going to work with five people, if they fully intended on sticking around for more than a couple of days, where Pandora looked at the area for a moment before figuring out a good solution. She was a smith, which the rest of her family knew, and by looking at the stone wall that was to the left of the area that Faye was suggesting putting a house in she was able to determine a way to make a good three room house for her, Flurry, and Albis, while providing her with an area to work that would also heat the area, especially with some slight changes. Kratos gave a light chuckle and told Faye that this was common, as both Pandora and Flurry did or said things that would surprise anyone that wasn't used to what they could do, causing her to smile and nod her head, showing them that she sort of understood what she was being told.

Flurry glanced around the rest of the area, helping Pandora plan out the layout that Faye had talked about, as they came up with a few other ideas, like a walkway resting above the river so they could use the area for animals, since a steady food source was necessary, though this only made them interested in what the future held in store for them.

Interlude: New Changes

The first thing that Flurry and the rest of her family did was set up exactly where everything in their new domain would eventually end up, as in the main house, the house that would be for her, Pandora, and Albis, a garden area, a pen for the animals, and everything else that was needed, like a training area. Faye, on the other hand, went out with Kratos to get an idea of what else was around them, something that caused Flurry to smile since the more time the two spent together the more she was sure that her father would finally find what he was looking for. Albis, thanks to her many years of living with Kratos, back when she was human and now during her life as a gorgon, had a smile on her face as well, because it was nice to see her former husband find someone he might actually be interested in, someone who could help him grow as a person and help him find the path he wanted to walk. Even Pandora, who only had the short amount of time with her new father, agreed with them, this was a good thing for him and she wanted to see what sort of future he would be able to forge once he spent more time with Faye, hence why she focused on their new home.

While they worked, however, Flurry noticed a change in the air as the area seemed to become safer overtime, like when she used her magic to form barriers around herself or others, causing her to wonder if Faye knew some magic and was using it as her father kept an eye out for danger. As the hours went by she felt the same thing multiple times, where she came to the decision that she was right, Faye knew protection magic, in the sense that she could designate something as an item that protected an area, like a ward that joined others to make a safe zone. If that was true that meant Faye was making sure this place was not only safe from enemies, like the draugr, but also from the clan that destroyed her own clan, to keep herself safe and to make sure they weren't dragged into her fight, a fight she clearly didn't want to finish since she was on her own. While she thought about that the first thing that actually got completed was the dock and the start of a boat that could be used on it in the future, once Pandora was sure it was ready to be used, though she knew that they would have to make more docks at some point in the future.

When Kratos and Faye returned they were pleased with the progress that had been made so far, as Pandora and Flurry had started to work on their stone house while Pandora also helped Albis with the base of the main house, though they all knew that it would take some more time before either structure was ready to go.

Over the course of the following month the five of them transformed the area around them into a home that all of them were happy with, setting up a nice wooden house that had more than enough room for Kratos and Faye, complete with all sorts of runes on the outside to help with whatever nightmares both might have. In addition to that there was a pit for a fire, with windows that could be open and even slight gaps in the ceiling that Pandora showed them how to open and close, depending on the time of the year, while the roof itself was along the same mind set. She also crafted a good bed for all of them, by using her powers to weave stone and wood into a far softer bed that would allow them all to have lots of good sleep, impressive Faye in the process since she wasn't expecting such a thing, making sure to have two inside the main house for both warriors. There was also a table, shelves for preserved food, and a number of other things that might be needed inside a house, including an underground storage area that was a request from Kratos, one that was built to his specifications, even though she and Flurry had a feeling they knew what it might be about.

Once their first month was over, however, they had all the confirmation they needed as their father finally removed the Blades of Chaos, wrapped them in the Spartan skirt that he had worn for a long time, now replaced by newer attire in the form of black leather pants, leather shoes, and a new leather belt. His new attire also came with a leather shoulder guard that was placed on his right shoulder, complete with a hook, in the shape of the omega symbol from Greece to represent his true nature, for him to hold Faye's axe on when it wasn't in use. This was partly due to the fact that they had opened up to Faye about what they really were, as in Kratos being the God of War for Greece, Pandora becoming the Goddess of Hope, Albis being just a normal gorgon who traveled with deities, and Flurry being the Goddess of Death. She didn't lash out at them for hiding their true natures from her, rather she was accepting of who they were and respected their choice to reveal themselves at their own pace, and, based on what Flurry could tell, it didn't make her view them any differently, rather they were still the same people in her eyes.

With the Blades of Chaos hidden, and the secret hatch hidden until it was needed, Faye started letting Kratos use her axe to do all sorts of things, though she also revealed that it was called the 'Leviathan Axe' and that it had a few interesting abilities, namely the fact that it could be thrown and recalled, something she taught Kratos how to do since she was going to bequeath it to him one day.

As time went on Kratos, Flurry, and Pandora shared many stories with Faye, letting her know of their past and everything they had done before coming to Midgard, while Albis seemed to tell her in secret, maybe due to Faye discovering her past self on her own, while Faye also did the same by telling them more about Midgard and the Nine Realms. Of course they all knew bits about Midgard, their new home, causing her to start with Asgard, the realm of Odin and the Aesir, which was the final resting place for the greatest warriors in all the realms, where they could feast, drink, and fight until Ragnarok, an event that signaled the end of the Nine Realms. Then there was Alfheim, where an endless war between the light elves and the dark elves could be witnessed; Vanaheim, the home of the Vanir gods that were rivals to the Aesir; Svartalfheim, which was where the dwarves lived; and Niflheim, a small realm made of magical dangerous mists. After those she told them about Muspelheim, the realm of primordial fire that the fire giants called home; Helheim, which happened to be the realm of the dead for the Nine Realms; and Jotunheim, the home of the giants, who happened to be the greatest seers in all the realms, and one of them also witnessed Ragnarok.

"Have you spoken to the residents of the other realms?" Flurry asked, because while Faye didn't have much to say on what all of the realms looked like, and was only giving them what appeared to be the most basic of descriptions so they could understand each one and not be overloaded with information, it seemed like she was knowledgeable on all races and might have more to say.

"Save for a few dwarves... no, I haven't. Besides, no ones seen a giant in Midgard for a long time, not since Thor went on a killing spree and massacred them." Faye replied, though it was clear that she was somewhat annoyed by that fact, which had to be due to the fact that an entire rare had been tormented and she had been unable to help them in their time of need, which they had learned was definitely her thing, helping those in need.

As time went by they were able to confirm that Faye and Kratos definitely had feelings for each other, something they found out about a year after their arrival in Midgard, which was what Flurry and the others had been hoping for, especially with all of the changes he was undertaking to make himself a better person. One of the things he did was track down a good cave, more like a small hole in the side of the mountain that was large enough for him to sit in and do a couple of tricks that he and Flurry had developed over the years, allowing him to focus on controlling and mastering his rage. It was the one thing he wanted to be sure he had under control, because after the trouble he had gotten into in the past, before and after Furry appeared in his life, Kratos didn't want it to ruin his life again and was taking every measure possible so he could be a better person. Such a thing allowed him to manifest his Spartan Rage in a more pure manner, the flames that danced around his body when it was activated, a sudden surge of strength that overcame obstacles, and being able to just tear out chunks of earth and hurl them with great power at his foes.

Flurry and Pandora appreciated their time in Midgard, as it really allowed them to become more like sisters than they had been before, especially when it came to fighting since they were able to make it so that they were able to fight in perfect harmony, much to their father's approval. In addition to that Faye allowed all three of them to train with the Leviathan Axe, as she wanted all three to understand it's power in case someone had to carrying it in Kratos' stead, though Flurry had a chance to learn why Faye was thinking that way, because she was mortal and knew that she would perish at some point in time. With that in mind she did something interesting one day, she and Kratos made a special golden yellow paint that she wanted to use on several trees that were scattered around their new home, because she wanted them to make a funeral pyre for her when her time finally came, meaning the chosen trees where the ones to be used for that day, when it arrived. She also had a strange request to make of them, that they were to gather her ashes and spread them from the highest peak in all of the realms, which they seemed to think was here in Midgard, a peak that they could see from where their abode was located.

By the time their tenth year came around Faye was regarded as Kratos' second wife, something everyone was happy with, and it also came with new life, in the form of a child, a son, between her and Kratos, though while Faye wanted to call him 'Loki' she had been convinced by her love to call the boy 'Atreus'.

Flurry knew why her father picked the name, as Atreus of Sparta was one of the most well known figures for them due to his ability to be happy, to see that they were more than monsters, and the fact that he happily gave his life to make sure a great victory could be won for all of Sparta, earning him more honors than anyone else. It was a story that her father had clung to during times of hardship and grief, before she came into his life, and he had told her it several times, which was why she remembered it so well, causing her and the others to smile as they gave the pair some space. Faye didn't mind it at all, as it was a lovely name and represented a light that her husband continued to keep in his mind, regardless of what happened to him, and that included the fact that the name 'Loki' didn't have as much meaning as 'Atreus' did, so she was okay with the decision. She also said that there wasn't much need for a new bed, since she and Kratos could share one so Atreus could have the other one, when he was older anyway since she wasn't about to let a baby sleep by himself until she was sure he could handle it.

The years that followed Atreus becoming part of their family were more interesting than Flurry expected, because in the start there was little change, he was a baby and wasn't involved in anything other than growing up to be healthy and part of the daily life. When he was older they found that his body was pale and he had red hair, with light freckles on his face and icy blue eyes, where Faye created his own attire for him, made of leathers and fur that would help protect him while keeping him warm, all while Flurry noticed an incredibly faint birthmark on his face that resembled the mark that Deimos had been born with and that her father and Pandora had placed on themselves. They discovered that he had a gift that was a surprise to those from Greece, he was skilled with languages, able to adapt to the lessons his mother gave him, and she was one of the few that taught him how to use a bow, as she intended to pass the Talon Bow to him. The downside to all of this was that he was also sick, as it seemed like he couldn't handle his rage at all, something Flurry suspected that had to be due to his potential nature as a demigod clashing with his perceived mortal body, but Faye, ever resourceful and knowledgeable on the ingredients of the world, could make a drink to help stave off the sickness.

With that in mind Albis started to tend to a private garden, out of Atreus' sight since she didn't want to terrify him, that could grow all of the herbs in question, that way they were always on hand in case the sickness came back, while at the same time Flurry knew her father was waiting until Atreus was older, and more mature, before telling him the truth about his true nature, as to not overload his son.

Flurry found that Atreus was a curious child, which made sense due to the fact that he was new to the world and wanted to know more about everything in it, even though for the time being he was restricted to their home and the areas that Kratos determined were safe for him to play in. In addition to that she had to make sure he didn't pull on her tail or try to take any of her feathers on accident, which wasn't easy since he wanted to know more about her when she was around and there wasn't a whole lot she could tell him, not without revealing her past to him. Plus there wasn't much she could actually tell him since no one, not even those from Greece, really knew anything about her species, even Faye had no idea, as she had never seen anything like Flurry before, so there wasn't much she could do on the matter. Still, she helped her brother with his bow lessons, going over the basics since he was still a novice, while Faye gave him some pointers during her time as his mentor, Pandora showed him some of her smithy items while keeping him safe, all while Kratos watched and occasionally trained Atreus on how to use a knife.

It wasn't that he didn't love Atreus, in fact he was grateful to have another family member, the problem was that he had no real skill or lessons to pass down that didn't involve fighting, killing, and just dismembering one's foes, so he dedicated most of his time to patrolling the outskirts of their home, keeping an eye out for dangers.

Eventually there came a day when Atreus, frustrated with his archery skills since he did terrible with the target, went out into the wilds for some reason and seemed to ignore everyone for a time, though that did cause Kratos to follow in secret to be sure his son remained unharmed, as this seemed like something he needed to work out on his own. He wasn't alone since Flurry silently flew through the air with her magic covering her, allowing both of them to keep an eye on Atreus, all while the boy found a wounded doe and actually comforted it, reciting the death rites that Faye had taught him during one of their various lessons. After that he found a trail of blood that brought him to a portion of the woods that some draugr were in, as he had passed through the protection area as Flurry discovered, though as they turned on him Atreus loosed an arrow and shattered the sword that one of them held, somehow being hit by a shard that knocked him out. With that in mind both Flurry and Kratos descended on the draugr, the latter tearing one in half with his bare hands while Flurry just landed behind her foe as she swung her sickles, causing her target to collapse in pieces, showing her father that her skills hadn't rusted at all.

After that Kratos started to carry Atreus back home, causing the boy to stir partway before he was placed on the ground, though as he apologized for heading out without telling anyone the pair were stopped by a revenant, a shroud wearing female that carried a staff. The revenant also had a pack of wolves that happened to be under her spell, though before she could use them a herd of deer came out of nowhere and charged at the wolves, somehow breaking the spell while at the same time scattering them, leaving one to look at Atreus knowingly before the herd left. With that done Atreus loosed an arrow at the revenant, hitting her in the shoulder and opening the way for Kratos to smash her head like it was simply a stone or something that could be twisted and broken easily, though it was hard to say if his son was paying attention to his actions or not. Other than that there wasn't too much for the pair to do but return home, causing Flurry to fly ahead so she could tell Faye that they were alright, even though both of them knew there was no reason for her to worry, not with all of their skills and abilities.

Such a thing only made Flurry wonder what the future held in store for them, as she knew that things would change at some point in time, they always did, and could only hope that they were ready and prepared for when that day finally arrived.

Norse: The Fateful Day

Kratos, Flurry, and Pandora knew that it would have come eventually, that the day Faye had been preparing for would come and take her from their family, and as Atreus got older it was easy for them to see that she was getting weaker, as one day she started coughing and blood ended up in her hand. It seemed to be a sign that her time was coming to an end, though it also let them realize that she hadn't escaped the battle with the rival clan that wiped out her family unscathed, as she told them, and not Atreus since he was still too young to know, that she had been injured during that battle and she suspected that this was lasting damage that was only making itself known now. There wasn't much they could do for her expect make her remaining days as painless as possible, though she, once more, preferred to take her fate into her own hands, as she kept herself alive for an entire year, doing her best to repair the damage done to her body, before firmly grasping her fate by the reins. By that they discovered that she took both her axe and her shield out one day, as Flurry discovered a group of ten draugr hanging outside the protected area they were living in, causing Faye to engage them in one last battle before she was unable to fight, like she wanted to go out making the woods safer for everyone.

Despite her previous wounds, however, Faye hacked through the draugr and reduced her foes to ash when they fell to her might, but the last few were the ones that did the deed, as they stabbed her chest and brought her to her knees, though it was the last thing they did as she took their heads.

Sadly that was the last thing Faye did before her life expired, as one of the draugr managed to get her right in the heart, but she died with a smile on her face and went out like a warrior, which seemed to be why she chose this as her fate, instead of hiding from her fate and waiting out the rest of her days in hiding. Such a thing saddened them as Kratos gently removed the Leviathan Axe and the Guardian Shield, both items she had bequeathed to him so they would have a new wielder when she passed, placing the latter on his left arm while the axe returned to it's new home on his back. With that done they made sure to carefully remove the weapons that were in Faye's body before Kratos carried her home, where an eleven year old Atreus was waiting for them to return, though he immediately stopped in his tracks when he noticed the looks that were on their faces. Following that he was devastated beyond belief when he realized his mother was dead, as Atreus fell to his knees and cried his heart out, where Pandora moved the main table over and laid the funeral shroud Faye had prepared for this day out, allowing her father to gently place Faye on top of it.

The next two days were spent preparing themselves, as the first was spent in mourning as Kratos carefully prepared the shroud and covered Faye, with Flurry making sure to enchant it so they knew what ashes to get once her body was burned, while the second was spent tracking down the marked trees. Each time Kratos approached one of the trees Flurry found that he stopped for a time, lowering himself for a short period of time as he brushed his hand over the golden yellow mark Faye had left on each one, as if remembering some of the good times he shared with her, before getting up and hacking the tree down with the axe. While he did that Atreus went out and gathered the necessary herbs that his mother had asked him to gather for when this day finally happened, ones he knew how to identify thanks to her lessons, though Pandora walked with him, just in case her brother ran into danger. Flurry, on the other hand, transported some of the fallen trees to the house with her magic, though for the most part she just watched her father to be sure he didn't accidentally hurt himself while he was cutting down the marked trees, where some were perfectly normal and a few seemed more special than the others that were around their property.

When he got to the last tree, however, Kratos released a bit of the rage he had been holding within him as he lashed out at the marked tree and brought it down with the fifth blow, causing it to fall to the ground as he huffed, though that had the side effect of loosing the wrappings around his left arm, where the chains had rested once upon a time.

"When we get home we'll need to change these... these ones have outlived their usefulness." Flurry commented, landing for a moment as she carefully lifted the loose bindings and wrapped them around her father's arm as he thought about Faye, who he would no doubt mourn for a long time before he returned to normal, not that she blamed him since losing the lady had opened a hole in all of their hearts, "Unless, of course, you would rather take them off completely."

"No... Atreus is not ready to see the scars." Kratos replied, as he intended on telling his son about his past, his true nature, the chain scars, and everything else when he was far older and more mature, otherwise he was sure he would do mental damage to the boy, which was the last thing he wanted right now, causing Flurry to nod her head, though neither one said anything else as Atreus and Pandora approached them.

"We found enough of the herb." Atreus said, where he held up a small pouch that held the herbs he had gathered, just as he was taught in the past, though while he was pleased with his actions, since it meant they could finally complete the rites for his mother, it was clear that he, like everyone else, was still grieving in his own way.

"Get in the boat, boy. It is time we finish the rites, as your mother wished." Kratos stated, where Flurry knew that there were times where he would address Atreus by his name and other times where he'd use 'boy', which was common back in Sparta when one hadn't earned the right to be addressed by their actual name, though she and Pandora had skipped that part since they had proven themselves time and time again.

Atreus nodded as he and Pandora walked over to the nearby dock, allowing Flurry to follow even though she would fly to the house, there just wasn't enough room on the boat for their father, Pandora, Atreus, and her, so since she had wings she figured she'd use them. While she thought about that Kratos picked up the fallen tree and heaved it into his shoulder for a moment, allowing him to walk it down to the boat as bits and pieces fell off of it, though once he reached the boat he attached a hook to it, with a rope that he tossed to Atreus, and then dropped the tree into the river. After that he joined Pandora and Atreus, who were sitting on the front half of the vessel, where he sat down and pulled out an oar so they could move down the river and return to their home, where the rope pulled the tree behind the boat as he moved them towards home. Flurry flew overhead, where the short tunnel they rowed through allowed her to sort of hear Atreus ask why the forest felt different and Kratos tell him that it feels different because the family was missing someone, which was the truth in her eyes, but she also knew there was now a gaping hole in the protective barrier.

She had to wonder where it came from, as it seemed like it might have happened at the same time that the last tree fell, a fact that really made her consider things for a moment, before she focused on the others as they reached the other dock, to which she landed by the house. She checked in with Albis for a moment, who was resting inside the house that she, the gorgon, and Pandora called home, who seemed perfectly fine even through she was also mourning Faye's passing and was content to stay in the stony house while they completed Faye's last wish. With that in mind she headed outside, just in time to see her father and the others walk up the path that brought them up to their house, though off to her right was a pile of wood resting in a boat shape between two large rocks, the final part of everything, where her father set the tree down and started to cut it up. While he did that Atreus and Pandora headed inside the main house and she stood nearby as she watched her brother performed the death rites that Faye had taught him, all while observing as the tree was cut into logs that were added to the soon to be pyre.

After a few moments of work, made easy thanks to Kratos' experience, he walked into the house and Atreus backed away from the table as he wiped his tears away, telling him that his work was done, allowing him to walk up to the shroud and stop near it for a couple of seconds.

Flurry knew that he, too, was grieving and would no doubt mourn Faye for many more years to come, especially since she saw Kratos as someone who was worthy of love and not the monster that many had seen him as before they dealt with his father and the other corrupt gods. Once he was ready to go, and had whispered his last words to Faye's body in the hope that her spirit could still hear them, Kratos lifted her covered body up and carried her outside to the pyre, though as he set her down on the makeshift boat pyre Atreus stood beside Flurry and Pandora. In the next moment Kratos pulled out a flint rock and his axe, where he brushed the two against each other until sparks flew off and touched the pyre, which started to burn the easier to burn material that had been placed below the main pyre, which quickly started to burn not a few moments later. Everyone watched for a couple of moments, finding that everything was burning a little faster than all of them had assumed, even with the material they had gathered according to Faye's wishes, but that didn't stop the family from watching the pyre burn, all while Kratos glanced at Atreus, who walked up to be close to him, for a moment before both focused on Faye once more.

As the pyre burned, however, Atreus did something stupid before the others even realized the idea had come to mind, he raced up to the flames and grabbed onto the knife that Faye had let him use several times in the past, which burned his hand in the process while causing him to gasp in pain as he dropped it.

"I... I'm sorry." Atreus said, as he knew he shouldn't have done that, but he wasn't about to let the knife burn as well, even if he could have waited for the pyre to die down before grabbing the item, though in that moment Kratos glanced at Flurry for a moment as he knelt down and picked up some snow that he carefully packed into a ball, before placing it on the new wound.

"Squeeze." Kratos stated, where he resisted the urge to get angry with his son, because he was totally different from both of his daughters and that told him he would have to approach raising him in a totally different manner, especially since he didn't have constant battles to train him like he did with Flurry, who stepped forward and carefully wrapped up the wound for a moment, allowing him to pick up the knife and held it out to his son, "This was her knife... now it is yours. Faye told me that she showed you how to hunt."

"Well, yeah... what she knew, anyway." Atreus replied, as his lessons with his mother, as he knew that 'Faye' was the name his father knew her by, had been the best parts of his life, both archery and language, along with all of the stories he had been told, before he tilted his head for a moment, "Why is this suddenly so important?"

"Show us. Prove you are ready, then we will either stay home or head for the mountain." Kratos said, because that was part of what Faye had asked him and his daughters to do while her pyre turned her to ash, she wanted them to make sure Atreus was ready for the final part of her last wish, the spreading of her ashes from the highest peak in all the realms, a place that all of them agreed was here in Midgard.

Atreus thought about that for a few seconds before understanding dawned on him, where he headed into the house so he could collect his bow and arrows, allowing the others to stand by the pyre as they waited for him to come out, where each of them had their own thoughts on the matter.

"I worry about him." Flurry remarked, keeping her voice low so only her father could hear her, because right now part of her was sure that there was no way Atreus would be even remotely ready for the journey, especially with how her brother just hurt himself trying to get Faye's knife ahead of time.

"Yes, so do I. This will be good for him, and for us." Kratos replied, as he understood Flurry's thoughts, he shared them far more than she might realize, but he trusted Faye's belief that Atreus would prove himself, and even if his son didn't prove himself he knew that they could prepare him for the trek.

"So, um... what are we hunting? And which way?" Atreus asked, where Flurry found that he liked to have his bow over his chest, as in the string was in front of his chest with the bow itself close to his back and quiver, which was totally wrong and meant she would have to correct him later on.

"You are hunting deer, we are watching... and in the direction of deer." Kratos stated, because three of them were ready for the journey, that much he knew since he had done quite a lot of fighting alongside Flurry over the years, and Pandora had proven herself during the final battle back in Greece, so the only one who needed to be tested was Atreus.

Atreus seemed unsure of what to make of that comment and decided on the path that went out into the wilderness, only this time he had his family following him, though Flurry made sure to seek out Albis, who was sticking around the place to keep an eye on it while they tested Atreus, causing her to nod before catching up to the others. The direction Atreus had picked out caused them to walk through one of the gates they had opened previously, to get at one of the nearby trees, where he found some tracks that weren't those of a deer and continued to move forward as he sought out what Kratos wanted him to hunt. While the family was close to their home Kratos looked around and found another set of tracks that he pointed out to Atreus, since he missed them, where his son confirmed that they didn't belong to a deer but was happy to have his father help him out a little, especially when Kratos said that Faye had taught him well. In addition to that there was a wooden chest that Kratos didn't recall seeing in the past, though he smashed the lid open with a single blow and let Flurry collect the goods, as in Hacksilver, bits of silver fragments often used as currency, along with coins and other items, all of which she stored in her bag.

It was times like this where Kratos was thankful for his daughter's Bag of Holding, because she had a chamber inside it that could hold all of the treasure they recovered from the chests, and, knowing Flurry, she was likely going to portion all of it out so the usable items were in one area and others were placed in another area.

As they climbed some stone steps, forming a path to another portion of their woods, Atreus found more tracks, only he was sure these ones were from a wild boar and ignored them as he continued to look for the quarry his father wanted him to hunt for his test. Part of the walkway was broken and required them to jump over it, where Flurry, Pandora, and their father were able to do so without delay, though they had to glance back as Atreus got a running start before being able to leap over to the other side, allowing him to take the lead once more. On the other side of the walkway, however, he found the tracks he was looking for and beckoned for everyone to follow him as he picked up his pace, though as he jumped over a fallen tree everyone discovered that their target was in the area rather quickly. By that Flurry found that the animal, a white coat deer with interesting blue antlers, actually moved in front of the path they were on, stared at Atreus for a moment, and then dashed along another part of the path, causing Kratos to tell Atreus to slow down, because he was supposed to be 'hunting' deer and not 'chasing' it.

The deer ended up using a wooden bridge to reach another portion of the woods, breaking part of it that required Kratos to hurl the Leviathan Axe at the weakened wood and break it, opening a path for Atreus to continue as he recalled the axe to him, exactly as Faye had taught him... leading to Atreus loosing an arrow at the deer without even preparing himself how he was supposed to, causing the arrow to hit a rock as the deer fled again.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! Now its guard is up! Only fire..." Kratos exclaimed, though in that moment, as he grabbed his son's bow and basically tore it from his hands, causing Atreus to flinch in the process, which caused him to quickly reign in his anger as he took a few breaths to calm himself, least he do lasting damage on accident, "Flurry will remind you on how you are supposed to hunt, to be more effective and not rush blindly into the hunt... I will hold onto your bow for now, as you will find the deer again."

"Yes, sir." Atreus replied, where it was clear that he was ashamed of himself, as he had gotten too excited by the thought of possibly showing his father that he could handle himself, so they could head off to the mountain once the pyre was spent, before he considered something, "I'm sorry..."

"Brother, it is like mother said: 'don't be sorry, be better'." Pandora said, as Faye had a lot of sayings to help Kratos move on and stop worrying about the past, which was one of the reasons why she agreed with her sister on the fact that she was the best person to help their father improve the way he wanted.

When Atreus moved forward, however, they found that the tracks brought them right to an area that had a draugr in it, a fact that confirmed there was something wrong with the protective barrier that Faye had put up around their home, due to the fact that these never got this close to their home. Kratos reacted by bringing down the axe on the undead's right shoulder and sliced through it's body with ease, even though he was clearly holding back since he wanted Atreus to see him as a mortal and not a god, but as the first fell a few more jumped down to face them. Pandora pulled out her halberd, causing Atreus to gasp as he noticed it since he had been sure it was just something she used around their home, while she moved around, dodging a blade that was coming at her before slashing her opponent to pieces before it could even do anything to her. Flurry, on the other hand, glanced at the five foes that were around her for a moment as Atreus simply blinked and it was over, she had moved in the blink of an eye and slashed each of her foes down with ease, holding sickles he had never seen her use before this day.

As she slipped her sickles away Atreus found another draugr, this one looking slightly more armored than the others and looking far more dangerous, rushing at his sister, though before anyone could warn her Flurry held a hand out, drawing an interesting looking hammer out of nowhere, before smashing her foe apart in an instant.

"How... How did you do that?" Atreus asked, because he had seen none of them fight before, in fact he was sure that his father went out of his way to avoid him so he never saw that side of him, and yet all three of them were skilled enough to wipe out a group of draugr in a matter of seconds.

"Atreus, we've been keeping our home safe for your entire life... we know how to deal with draugr." Pandora replied, a fact that was partly the truth, they had done everything in their power to make sure the undead were purged from the area around their new home, while at the same time not saying anything about the fact that they had years of experience that he wasn't ready to know about.

Kratos was glad that Atreus didn't pursue the issue, especially since he believed that Flurry could do such a thing since she was far different from all of them, allowing all four of them to enter an outpost of a temple, or maybe it had been part of the road before the woods reclaimed this place. One of the paths happened to bring them to what appeared to be a large golden chest that was locked with three runes, where Flurry recalled that Faye had told a tale about how to open them, all they had to do to unlock it was fine the three runes and break them. Fortunately all three happened to be in the chamber with them, all out in the open as well, so it didn't take the family long to smash the stones and unseal the chest, which was followed by Kratos prying open the lid without delay, revealing a treasure trove of items. Flurry found that there wasn't a lot of items that might be useful in making improvements to their gear, as Faye had mentioned the dwarves and what they were capable of, so she collected everything that was useful inside the chest into her bag, since she might find someone they could trade with in the near future.

The path Atreus was following suggested that the deer ran into the main building that was in the area, for this area since there could be more sections out there, in fact Pandora spotted it heading into the structure in question not a couple of seconds later, which told them where they were going next. Atreus was nervous about heading in there, because he had been told not to go into the old temple, though Kratos insisted that they go in there since it would help them figure out if his son was ready for their journey, hence why he opened the main door and ushered everyone inside. There they found that the deer was already on the other side of the structure, in fact Flurry noted it was outside, causing Atreus to ask if he could have his bow back, since Kratos had told him to find his quarry, though Kratos countered by asking if his son could hit it from here. When Atreus thought about it he replied that he couldn't and that they would have to continue tracking the deer, causing them to descend into the temple as they sought a way out that would allow them to follow the deer, all while Kratos answered another question his son had, explaining that this hunt was one of Faye's last wishes and that it was time for both of them to share a hunt.

Atreus found a few more draugr around one of the corners, though this time Pandora and Flurry toned down their power as they joined their father in the attack, even though all three of them slashed through the undead with ease and opened the lower area for them to explore.

"So, I have a question. You have that sword... why don't you use it?" Atreus asked, though at the same time Kratos found that to move forward he had to use the Leviathan Axe's freezing power to lock a gear into place, after pulling a chain for a few seconds to move things into position, where his question was focused on the blade Flurry carried.

"Oh, this? I prefer to use this against more worthy foes, not weak draugr." Flurry replied, as Atreus knew they had guarded the woods against dangers for a long time, but he didn't need to know everything right now, so this allowed him to know that she had used it against something stronger than draugr and wouldn't draw it until she needed to.

Kratos called for everyone to gather in the area with the two gates, where retrieving the axe allowed the one behind them to close while the one in front of them opened, though as they headed outside he found a chain that lead to another part of the temple, one that had a triptych, a three paneled story, hidden inside it. This one seemed to be about Skoll and Hati, large wolves that chased the sun and moon until they caught them, as the story indicates that once they catch their two targets a large fight would happen, which had to be Ragnarok as Flurry recalled Faye's tales about the event. Atreus was excited by the discovery and pulled out his leather bound journal that he made notes in, adding the tale to it without even wasting time, and once he was done they closed the triptych before returning to the hunt. Atreus mentioned that this was just like the stories that his mother had told him about the giants, meaning this could be a shrine to the race, something the family kept in mind since there might be more of them scattered throughout Midgard.

Upon returning to the path, however, they found the deer and Kratos returned his son's bow to him, where Flurry pulled hers out for a moment as she reminded her brother of how to use a bow, showing him how to draw it and be accurate in using it, and when he released his arrow it struck the deer head on, knocking it onto it's back as Atreus cheered.

"Despite the rocky start, you have done well." Kratos said, where he and Atreus approached the animal, though that was when he found that his son had no desire to actually kill the deer, as when he tried to get him to finish what he started his son seemed to stall, causing him to gently help him lower the knife into the deer's body, allowing it to pass from this world and move on to whatever came next.

That was followed by a dark skinned troll, a large brutish creature, reaching up and grabbing onto the deer, causing Atreus to stab his hand with the knife before he was knocked into the area below them, though Kratos grabbed his son's bow, jumped and kicked the troll in the head to knock him back, and then landed beside his son. This allowed Atreus to ready himself for battle as both Flurry and Pandora jumped down to join the pair, all while the troll tossed the deer aside before lifting a stone pillar to use as his weapon, which he seemed to swing around like a club and brought it down whenever he thought he could crush them. Atreus stayed at the back of the pack, since he didn't know how to fight, though he did, in fact, follow their father's commands by observing his movements and loosed an arrow when Kratos wanted him to do so, as this was a good chance for him to get some combat experience. To the trio the troll wasn't too much of a threat, due to the fact that his movements, while faster than some might expect, were easy for them to dodge and that meant they had more than enough openings to lash out at it, though Flurry also used her bow this time, just to help her brother learn how to use his in combat.

Atreus, however, was stunned by his sister's actions, as Flurry was able to pinpoint accurate areas to strike that caused the troll to howl in pain when he was hit, with a level of accuracy that amazed him, while Pandora hacked into the troll's legs before their father punched his head up towards the sky, jumped and grabbed onto it so he could beat him, and then just drove his head into the ground before twisting and snapping his neck.

"That's what you get!" Atreus exclaimed, rushing at the dead troll and started to slash into his shoulder, apparently not even remotely caring about the fact that they had killed him in the first place, while at the same time his anger towards the creature hitting him like that eventually caused him to cough a little, "You think I'm afraid of you?! You're nothing to me!"

"Calm down Atreus, he's dead." Pandora stated, where she got behind him and grabbed onto his arm to stop him from wasting more of his energy on such a thing, though this was something they weren't expecting to discover, Atreus still had his rage and that, more importantly, meant he could come down with his illness at any moment, but she was able to stop her brother as he huffed and calmed down.

"Atreus, you pass when it comes to hunting and fighting alongside us... but you fail at controlling your rage. For now, you are not ready for the journey to the mountain." Kratos stated, which Flurry and Pandora understood the reasoning of, he was worried that his son would break down in a rage induced moment and ruin the entire journey, so he was willing to wait until Atreus could control himself, and prove it, before carrying Faye's ashes to the mountain, "Flurry, collect the deer and any useful items the troll might have had... we are heading home for the time being."

As Flurry nodded, however, she had the feeling that they wouldn't be able to give Atreus the time their father wanted to give him, because if the protective barrier was sundered she was sure that Odin or one of his servants would visit them in the near future, causing her to hope that they were ready for whatever might happen next.

Norse: A Stranger Approaches

Flurry was quick to collect the deer and whatever the troll had to offer, which was a bag of Hacksilver, before joining the rest of the family as Kratos started to depart, even though Atreus was clearly annoyed by the fact that after everything they had just done he was considered 'not ready' by their father. She understood his frustration, since her brother adored Faye and wanted to fulfill her final wish, so being told that they weren't leaving yet, and that it was basically his fault, had annoyed him greatly, but she had to agree with their father, Atreus' anger could hurt himself if he wasn't careful. While she thought about that Kratos bent low for a moment so his son could step into his cupped hands and then be lifted up onto an area above him, a boost of sorts, and once he was up there he, Flurry, and Pandora followed without delay, allowing them to access another part of the path. This one seemed to be part of a path leading back to their house, where they found a few draugr along the way, though as they fought the undead Kratos allowed Atreus to take part in the battle, loosing arrows at the furthest enemy that wasn't being focused on.

With this formation the experienced trio knew they could do wonders on the way to the peak that Faye wanted her ashes to be spread from, though for the time being everyone continued towards their home, passing by an oddly locked door that had an odd almost crystalline lock on it, something they ignored since they couldn't open it.

While they continued to follow the path Flurry found that there was more than draugr in the woods, as there was also an undead reaver, raiders of Midgard who were savage enough to survive in a place altered by the Desolation, despite clearly having been slain by something in the past. The difference between the other undead and this one was that the undead reaver seemed to be covered in ice, meaning Kratos was unable to use his axe on them, because when he swung at the new foe it just bounced off like it was nothing, causing him to tear the icy undead apart with his bare hands. Flurry thought about it for a moment and wondered if these new foes might be 'Hel-Walkers', undead from the realm of Helheim, which seemed to be the best way to describe them as she recalled Faye mentioning how cold the realm in question was, a fact that had to be true with these undead. What such a creature was doing here was a mystery, especially when they considered that a troll was close to their home as well, and, unfortunately, this time around none of them had answers to the questions, even if Atreus wanted to learn more about what was going on.

Following that discovery they were able to drop down into the training area that Kratos had prepared behind the house, a fact that allowed them to make their way around to the front without delay, where he opened the door so Atreus could go inside, all while Flurry and Pandora found that the pyre was finally spent, leaving just a pile of ash behind.

"Looks like the enchantment held." Flurry commented, where she could see the shimmering ash along the pile and used her magic to carefully collect the material in question, causing her father to pull out a pouch that had been created to house the ashes that had once been Faye and open it so she could carefully place every bit of the special ash inside it.

"Good. Now she is ready for the journey." Kratos replied, though as soon as Flurry was sure that every bit of Faye's ashes were inside the bag he sealed it up and his daughter made sure it was enchanted to stay safe, so that no harm would come to it, before he attached the bag to his belt for a moment and turned towards the house, where he found Atreus sitting on his bed, while the deer was set on the table as the door was closed, "Atreus, I know you think this is unfair, but you were unable to control yourself during our battle with the troll. During our journey we will no doubt encounter more foes or even obstacles that will annoy you, even enrage you at times, and having such a uncontrollable rage will only hinder us... that is why you are not ready for the journey."

"That thing... that troll... was trying to kill us! I acted appropriately... besides, it's not like you get angry in a fight." Atreus said, as if he thought that his anger at the end of the fight was totally justified, especially since they had been clashing with a foe that could have done some serious damage to them if they had been unlucky, "Besides, I haven't been sick for a long time... I can do this."

"Atreus, anger can be a weapon if you know how to use and control it. Father's just saying that you need a few more lessons in self control, that's all." Pandora commented, which seemed to be the truth of the matter, their brother just needed a few more days to prepare himself accordingly, focused on a single objective for once, and she was sure that he would be able to handle more of the journey than before.

Kratos knelt for a moment and held his hands up, as he wanted Atreus to try and hit him, though when he tried to punch his left hand the right slapped the fist out of the way and the same was true for the right, causing Atreus to get frustrated since he couldn't actually hit either of his father's hands. This was the whole point of the exercise, to see if he could control his anger like Atreus claimed he could, though with how quick he was to anger, just like they had seen with the troll, this told all of them that they needed to focus on his lessons before he really hurt himself, eventually causing him to trip and fall in the process. As Kratos got ready to help his son up, however, everyone paused as they heard a rather large creature fly overhead, one that Flurry was sure was a dragon since Faye had described, in detail, how such a creature moved and even identified the roar that they were capable of, which meant someone was flying over their home. None of them moved for a moment as they listened to the sounds that were going on outside the house, where Flurry could easily tell that a rider was definitely getting off the beast, especially since said dragon took off without wasting time, which was all the confirmation she needed.

Further confirmation came in the form of someone pounding on the door, which was unheard of since no one knew that they were even out here, plus it was a male speaker who demanded that they open the door, causing Kratos to usher his son into the very area that held the Blades of Chaos before covering the hidden door again.

"Come on, there's no use hiding anymore... I know what you are." the stranger stated, where Kratos opened the door and found that the speaker was a scrawny man with a large number of tattoos all over his body, with a short beard on his face while he wore a sash, a pair of pants, and boots, but nothing over his chest oddly enough, causing him to look at Kratos as he and his daughters emerged from the house, "Three? Well, I'm not sure about the other two, but you are definitely the one I'm looking for... not as big as I had imagined, but still taller than most mortals."

"I do not know who you are looking for, nor do I know what you want. Speak quickly, then leave our home." Kratos stated, as he could tell, from just a glance, that the figure in front of them was one of the gods of the Nine Realms, which one he had no idea, but at the very least it wasn't Odin, since the All-Father was said to have a single eye and two ravens, both of which were missing from the figure in front of them.

"No, you already know why I'm here. What I'm after... it's why you hid yourself out here, after all." the Stranger replied, as if he didn't care what Kratos had to say on the matter, rather he seemed to believe that he was someone else entirely, like he believed his own opinion on the subject and didn't care if he was bothering someone that wasn't who he was looking for, "You know, I had heard your kind was so enlightened... honestly, I'm not seeing it."

"If you would just told us who you are looking for, because clearly father's not the one you want, or just told us what you wanted to know, maybe we could help you." Flurry said, because all they needed was a bit of information and they could send the god on his way, as all three of them knew that this wasn't a mortal warrior, especially not since he rode in on a dragon that had flown away for some reason, and she was hoping he'd listen to them before something stupid happened.

The Stranger, however, decided that he wanted to do things his way as he struck Kratos with a backhand across the face, a fact that would have caused him to instantly kill anyone back in Greece, though as he stood his ground, and repeated his desire for the figure to leave, the Stranger stuck him three more times before Kratos caught his fist. What followed next was what Flurry and Pandora were expecting, he punched the Stranger in the face hard enough to send him away from the door, allowing them to stand guard over it while he approached the god that was being a complete moron, since all he had to do was ask a simple question and he could have been on his way. After that the Stranger surprised them by hitting Kratos in the chest, hard enough to send him flying into part of the roof of the house and landing on the other side, which ended up damaging the frame a little, before the Stranger got on top of the structure, glanced down at Kratos, who was on the ground, and jumped. His attack, a knee jab towards the ground, did nothing as their father rolled out of the way in an instant, allowing him to get up and move into a series of attacks that assaulted the Stranger's body, who didn't even try to dodge any of them as he simply laughed at each one.

Flurry understood why, because the Stranger kept talking about how this was 'pointless' and that he 'could feel nothing', a fact that meant he must have been cursed with the inability to feel pain, while at the same time the Stranger seemed to have a frost power of his own, creating short waves in the direction that he attacked, which Kratos avoided.

After a few more moments the Stranger punched Kratos into the air once more and brought him down onto the roof, in fact it left a small hole that allowed him to see the inside, especially with the other bed, something he focused on despite the fact that he had seen Flurry and Pandora previously. Of course, as Flurry expected, her father rolled his foe over not a moment later and then punched him down into the tunnel between the house and the stone wall, prompting the Stranger to rush behind him, slam his head into the ground, and then kick him back into the training yard. The sisters watched as the Stranger walked out and healed his body at the same time, confirming that he was a god, though as he taunted them Kratos lifted a fallen tree that he swung like a club, knocking the Stranger backwards, before rushing him as he fell, which was followed by them smashing through the passage beside the house. Not only that, but Kratos smashed him into one of the boulders that were right outside the house, slamming him into one of the rock walls before unleashing a series of new blows that would have crippled a draugr or mortal warrior with ease, though the Stranger knocked him down, healed his injuries, and then slammed Kratos deep into the wall.

"Fine... you won't talk? Then maybe whoever is hiding inside that house will." the Stranger said, showing them that he had either forgotten about the sisters or he didn't count them as the ones that could have used the bed he had seen, though that comment caused Kratos to unleash his rage, the sheer power of using it breaking part of the wall he was in before he rushed at his foe.

The Stranger barely had time to react as Kratos punched his face and knocked him into a tree, which he then slammed his face into an instant later, breaking the tree as he tossed the figure to the side, before he used the fallen tree as a battering ram and drove it into the Stranger's chest. Such a thing allowed him to drive his foe into the area that was beyond where they were fighting, in an area that lead away from the house, where he slammed the Stranger into the large stone pillar Faye had painted at one point in the past, though she had told them she was fine with it being destroyed since it was just something to pass the time. The Stranger gripped the tip of the tree and destroyed the entire thing by pulling it apart, like it was nothing to him, before both warriors collided again as the sisters walked around the edge of the stone, watching the pair as they fought each other, their father carefully increasing his power as he pushed his foe around. It was clear that his foe was powerful in his own right, that much they were able to determine by watching him, especially since he could push their father around when he wanted to, but he was sloppy and Kratos smashed him into the rock pillar, striking his head for a moment before tossing him to the ground.

Flurry, sensing what was coming next, raised her hand and summoned a barrier in front of them as their father punched out part of the rock pillar's side, creating an area for him to grip so he could drop the entire stone slab down on his foe, a fact that caused part of the area around them to shudder and break, but just slightly, with her power stopping it from reaching their home.

"He might be a sloppy fighter, but his power is real... and I doubt the battle is over." Pandora remarked, speaking as their father approached them, though she was proven right not a few seconds later as the stone slab started to move, which told them that the Stranger really wanted to fight despite the fact that Kratos was clearly stronger than him.

Sure enough the Stranger heaved the stone slab into the air and Kratos, being the target, engaged his shield as he raised it for a few seconds, smashing the entire thing to pieces in an instant, before he retracted it and grabbed onto both of his foe's hands as he rushed at him, causing the pair to grapple with each other as they moved away from the barrier.

"You know, when Odin sent me here, I just needed some answers from you." the Stranger remarked, though this time he and Kratos actually let their godly power clash as the air rippled and the ground below them started to fracture, which was felt by the rest of the area as well, as Flurry and Pandora could tell that everything in the opposite direction of the house was starting to break before their eyes,"But YOU... you had to act all proud... well, I'm more than willing to play. Throw whatever you want at me, because I'm going to outlast you... this old body of yours will, eventually, give out. Though I do want you all to know one thing: I can't..."

"I know, 'feel any of this'. You talk too much." Kratos replied, where he kneed his foe in the chest, grabbed onto his head, and then lifted him over his own head so he could slam his foe into the ground behind him, which was when their powers caused a chasm to form, springing up from where they had been fighting.

Of course the Stranger refused to go down, rather he punched Kratos up into the air and followed him, where the two just punched each other for a few seconds before their father was sent towards them, who used his axe on a rock wall to slow his fall, not that it mattered since his foe kicked him to the other side of the area when he climbed up the wall.

"I honestly don't know why you won't give up. Any damage you do to me will disappear in seconds, nor will I get tired," the Stranger stated, showing them that he was either arrogant or didn't care that he was repeating himself nearly every time he talked, though as he rushed at Kratos, apparently feeling that it would be best to continue the fight, Flurry appeared to the right of him and punched him in the side of the face, sending him into the rock wall, "What, you want to fight me as well, despite knowing you wont accomplish anything?"

"Well, you aren't willing to listen to reason, so fighting seems to be the only path right now." Flurry remarked, where she shifted her stance for a moment as she held out her sickles, something that caused the Stranger to pause for just a couple of seconds as he stared at them, before beckoning for the figure to come at her, as she could humor him for a moment or two before teleporting him out of the area with her magic.

Kratos wasn't surprised as Flurry dodged the incoming attacks like they were nothing, as she was letting the Stranger do what he had done previously, without breaking everything around them in the process, while at the same time she got a taste of his power. Of course it wasn't long before she went on the offensive as she swung at him, her sickles cutting right through his body like it was nothing compared to her power, though Kratos also wasn't even remotely surprised by that, as her sickles were the oddest weapons in their arsenal, since they didn't seem to be from the two lands they had been to, as not even Faye recognized them. The Stranger staggered for a moment as he was cut, something he seemed to do when he was hit by whoever his opponent happened to be, though this time he didn't have time to relax as Flurry closed in on him without delay, her weapons slicing through the area that he was standing in as his chest gained two diagonal slashes, each running in a different direction. In the next instant Flurry spun around and kicked her foe right in the chest, where he was sent flying into one of the rock walls that pushed him further away from the house and the area he had fought Kratos in a few moments ago, and, as they expected, he got back up without wasting time.

What actually happened, however, was that the Stranger seemed to stall for a moment as he checked his body, almost as if he thought something else might have happened to him, before he stared at Flurry, like she was suddenly the answer to his personal problems.

"You... you cut me and I felt it. I FELT IT! And yet the curse is still active." the Stranger said, which confirmed what Flurry had thought earlier, someone had placed a spell or some sort of curse on the figure, making him essentially immortal with no real weaknesses to speak of, before he glanced at Kratos for a moment as he thought of something new, "You... come over here and break my arm. I need to be sure of what I just felt."

Kratos glanced at Flurry for a few seconds, who shook her head to indicate that she detected no lies in the Stranger's odd request, which was followed by him approaching the figure and delivering a powerful kick to the side of his left arm, an attack that definitely broke his arm, and when he backed away the Stranger sighed as he used his arm like normal.

"I'm disappointed. You, old man, cannot hurt me... but she can. You, girl, can make me feel pain, despite the curse... we must continue the fight! I want to feel that glorious pain again!" the Stranger stated, though that was the moment that his arms and legs were sealed to his body, as Pandora had made her move as she fashioned a chain out of the nearby stones that had fallen from the previous battle and used them to chain up the figure, allowing her father to break his neck, which would stun him for some time, before dropping him into the chasm.

"You know that's not going to hold him for long, right?" Flurry asked, as she knew that none of them wanted to kill a god of that was known to the Nine Realms, but she was impressed by the fact that they had been able to blindside the figure like this, even though she understood that he would be seeking them, especially since it looked like her power could cancel a part of his curse.

"Yes, but we will be gone before he returns. Odin knows about us now, so we must make the journey now." Kratos said, as while he would have preferred to give Atreus more time, to master his rage and anger, there wasn't a choice anymore, the journey had to be made now, before the All-Father did something to prevent them from traveling, "We will deal with this Stranger later, once the ashes have been spread and Faye's wish has been fulfilled."

Flurry and Pandora nodded their heads as they followed their father back to the house, where Flurry dismissed her magic after making sure the damage wouldn't come towards the structure while Pandora made sure Albis was fine, before they stood behind their father as he opened the door and revealed the hidden compartment, to reveal a shocked and worried Atreus.

"There was so much... I thought..." Atreus started to say, showing them that he didn't know what to make of the fact that the entire area must have shook when Kratos and the Stranger clashed with each other earlier, though in that moment he was helped out of the underground area, due to the fact that Kratos held out a hand for him to take.

"I am all right... but we can not stay here. Gather your things." Kratos stated, closing the hidden area and covering it like he had done when he let Atreus down there previously, while at the same time Flurry and Pandora moved to gather items for their journey, all while he made sure the bag was intact, before glancing at Atreus, "I still think that you are not ready for this, Atreus... but we can not stay here. Maybe you will prove me wrong."

Atreus, despite the fact that his father thought that he wasn't ready for the journey, quickly gathered his quiver and bow before he headed outside, causing the others to follow after him without delay as Kratos closed the door behind him, but, while his son was distracted, he quickly checked in with Albis, who had decided to stay behind and guard the area, before rejoining his children. For a few moments Atreus just stood there, looking at the path in front of them and glancing at the highest peak that they could see from their home, the very one Flurry confirmed was the one that Faye must have meant when she told them of her final wish. None of the others said anything for a time, letting him come to terms with the fact that this was actually happening, because this was his first big adventure and they knew that it would be best to let him have a few moments to himself before they started to move forward. There was also the fact that he was staring right at the chasm as well, no doubt wondering what sort of battle he had missed after he had been moved down into the hidden portion of the main house, before he made sure his quiver and bow were in position and then glanced at the others.

With him ready to go, or as best as he could be in this situation, Kratos and his children braced themselves for the start of the adventure of their lives, as there was no telling what sort of challenges might be waiting for them as they journeyed to the highest peak in all the realms to fulfill Faye's wish, causing them to look forward to what might happen next.

Norse: Start of a New Adventure

With the path they were supposed to take having been broken by the chasm that had opened up, Kratos jumped down into the safest part of the chasm, the one that wouldn't shatter as they walked through it, while Atreus and Pandora followed as Flurry moved above the open area above them. Atreus, of course, had questions that none of them really had answers to, because while they assumed that the Stranger had been a god there was no telling why he had come here, nor did they know why he was so interested in thinking that they knew what he was looking for. It was all due to the fact that he simply refused to tell them anything, consistently thinking that Kratos knew whatever it was that he wanted, but since he refused to give the family anything to work with they knew that leaving was the best course, as he would chase them in due time and they needed to put as much distance between them as possible. With that in mind Kratos also made sure that Atreus knew one important rule, that he should jump onto his back while climbing, since he didn't have the experience his sisters had in moving area the environment, which his son agreed with.

Of course Atreus was worried about his father and stated that he should never leave him, like he was demanding that his family should do everything to stop themselves from dying on him, though he was happy to see that they weren't planning on dying anytime soon. The other thing Atreus talked about was how all three of them were used to killing people, as he assumed that they had slain the Stranger for coming and attacking them, though while none of them said a word about how the figure would come back in due time Kratos told him that they did what they did to survive, nothing more. It was a very simple truth when Flurry thought about it, they had fought and killed people in the past so they could live and survive, which was even more true when she thought about the various dangers they had faced back in Greece, but she kept her mouth shut as their father and Pandora climbed up the wall. Atreus sort of understood what their father was saying, because he knew that killing animals was important since they could be used as food and clothing, while also understanding that having to kill draugr was on the same level of importance, as they were dead and shouldn't be moving around like this.

Killing people, on the other hand, was something he wasn't too sure on and didn't know what to think about, where Kratos told him that he would not be subjected to doing such a thing, because if they could help it none of them would allow him to kill an actual person until he was ready to face that fact of life.

After the climb, which really impressed Atreus since it allowed him to see how experienced his father was in such a thing, all of them moved through a short tunnel that brought them to an area that had a couple of platforms leading to the summit, a way out of the area Flurry realized. Pandora pointed out the crank wheel, a round wheel that was usually in the ground and could be spun forward or backwards to move something, which seemed to be hooked to a wooden walkway that linked up to an area that had a chain that could be knocked down. Kratos, in that moment, helped Atreus to the upper platform by boosting him and then walked over to the wheel, where he spun it and found that the path lowered into place, though that was when he hurled the Leviathan Axe at an ice gear, a magically charged item he could freeze by embedding his axe on the surface, locking the bridge in place. Such a thing allowed Atreus to rush over to the chain and push it down so his father and Pandora could climb up to join him, since all Flurry had to do was flap her wings a little and hover up to the walkway, which earned her a stare from Atreus as he watched her do such a thing.

"If you can do that, then why do we need to solve these puzzle like areas to bother moving forward?" Atreus asked, all while their father found a smaller chest and smashed it open, allowing them to collect the Hacksilver and other items that were inside it, since his sister's bag seemed to have an endless source of room for her to use.

"Because if I did everything, Atreus, you wouldn't learn anything and would be sad the entire way to the peak." Flurry said, which was the truth, as while she could easily complete every puzzle that would likely come across, thanks to her skill and her intelligence that had helped them a lot back in Greece, she knew letting Atreus be part of things would be better in the long run, causing her brother to nod in understanding.

While they moved through the area Pandora also discovered that there were offering casks that were hanging above the ground, which Faye had told them was so thieves couldn't get at them, as people had left them for the gods, though Kratos just knocked them down and allowed Flurry to collect the pouches of Hacksilver that had been freed. Of course such a thing also caused Atreus to ask if they were sure that they would find people on the road, which Kratos confirmed, as he was sure that they would find more reavers on their way to the peak and that meant he, Flurry, and Pandora would be the ones to deal with them. Atreus also seemed to want to know why they were looting the offering casks that were for Odin, where Kratos indicated that the All-Father didn't seem to care enough to have them collected, so he shouldn't be too upset if someone gathered them to use for currency or for important trading. As they climbed Flurry noted that her father didn't say anything bad about worshiping the gods, like 'men should not pray to monsters', especially after the tales Faye had told them about Odin and the Aesir, but she understood that her father didn't want to corrupt Atreus' opinion on all gods, rather he wanted him to form his own opinions.

A few moments later they reached the upper point of the area and found that there were golden trees forming a circular barrier around their home, a barrier that had a section carved out of it, something that confirmed Flurry's thoughts, Faye had set up a barrier to keep their existence a secret and, to get them moving, asked Kratos to remove some to cut into the barrier to let Baldur in.

"Woah... who would have known that there was a protection stave around our home this entire time?" Atreus remarked, though in that moment he and Kratos understood the significance of the area that they were staring at, those were where his father had cut down the trees that were part of his mother's last wishes, to form her funeral pyre, meaning to fix what had happened someone would need to mark a few trees with a certain spell.

"Faye would have known. She had her reasons for keeping it a secret, and for using some of the stave's trees for her pyre," Kratos said, which was the truth, in fact he now understood why one of her first actions upon reaching where they had set up their home had been to go out into the woods, as it was to create a safe place for all of them, and, upon learning more about him, to force him into action following her demise, causing him to turn, "Come. We have plenty of ground to cover before we reach the end of our journey."

All three of his children nodded their heads as they jumped up onto another wooden walkway and made their way up to a cave that had a narrow vertical passage for everyone to pass through, where Kratos allowed Atreus to go first with him being right behind him, so if something attacked he'd be ready to react accordingly, leaving Pandora and Flurry to bring up the rear, the latter tucking her wings in to avoid harming them. Outside the short passage they found more draugr, where Atreus stayed away from their enemies as he raised his bow and prepared an arrow, choosing to help his father bring his foe down, while at the same time Pandora slashed at the undead coming at her and brought them down after bringing all of them together so one attack could bring them down. Flurry, on the other hand, just stuck to her sickles as she dodged the incoming attacks and brought down the undead before they had a chance to even touch her, before spotting one foe that had fire in it's hands that it could throw at them whenever it wanted to. With that in mind Flurry told Atreus to watch for a moment as she switched weapons, allowing him to see that she was readying her own bow and one of her arrows, where she released it not a moment later and broke the spell, while a second one pierced the draugr's chest and caused it to dissolve within a few seconds.

Atreus stared at her for a few seconds as she walked over and demonstrated what she had done, the movements she had used to bring down her foe without wasting time, allowing him to get a better idea of how to bring down the draugr they would be facing during their adventure. As Pandora cleaned up the last of the draugr, and tossed Flurry some pouches a few of them had been carrying that held more Hacksilver, Kratos also told his son to carefully read each battle they would be in and attack those that he wasn't focused on, since his sisters could handle themselves. It was clear that he wanted to join them in the battles, but understood that his lack of experience would only hinder them if they encountered a foe that was more like the reavers or the Stranger, causing him to nod as they continued along the path that would bring them to the base of the highest peak. As they did do Atreus pointed out a rock that was written in runes, ones that indicated that a Jotnar settlement, a giant settlement to be exact, was ahead of them, reminding Kratos that Faye had taught their son all of the languages she knew and nodded as he translated what was on the stone, writing it in his journal.

From there they climbed up another wall and continued down the path that was up there, finding a Hel-Walker waiting off to the side that Kratos dealt with by crushing it's head with his bare hands after knocking it into the wall for a moment, a fact that allowed them to move forward as Flurry made sure to pick up the Hacksilver pouch left behind.

Kratos then found a brass or golden chest along the way and pried it open, revealing more components for Flurry to pick up and add to what was inside her bag, where he was grateful for it's endless space because the section they were using for all of the items inside the various chests was going to be larger than anything before it. Pandora also picked up some sort of teal colored item that seemed to be an upgrade component of some kind, that much she could tell by looking at it, causing her to hand it over to her sister before she dismantled the chest was well and passed her chunks that were pure metal. Atreus, however, missed what she had done, which was for the best since they didn't need him questioning what his family was actually capable of, while the light blue gemstone that Kratos was holding went dark, causing him to hand it to Flurry as well, though he did get something from it. That 'something', as it turned out, seemed to be a new skill for his axe, which told him and his daughters that the magic of the Nine Realms was definitely different than what they were used to in Greece, that while one could improve from training there were also other ways to obtain new attacks or powers, not that Pandora or Flurry were expecting to find any for themselves.

The skill, as Kratos found out, seemed to be the ability to unleash a light wave of energy that stunned enemies for a couple of seconds, which might be useful if they were outnumbered or if he wanted to help Atreus learn how to include himself in the various battles to come, while the ability itself surprised Atreus.

Following that Kratos lifted a fallen stone pillar out of the way and allowed both Pandora and Atreus to pass under it, while Flurry just leapt over it and landed beside them, though she barely had time to do anything as her brother, excited by the fact that they were already closer to the peak than before, rushed onto a clearly rotting plank bridge. Such a thing simply confirmed that her brother was either a total moron or had a death wish, as the moment he jumped on a plank it broke under his weight, causing him to grab onto some of the other planks to prevent himself from falling. Kratos did what was the best thing right now, as there wasn't a good area for Flurry to fly over, which was just carefully walk across the rest of the planks and hope that it didn't break, something that only worked for a few planks before his weight worked against him. In the next moment he was able to grab onto Atreus and turned around as he held his son close to his chest, allowing Atreus to emerge unharmed as Kratos' back hit the ground, also unharmed since this was nothing compared to the rest of the challenges they had been through, while Flurry carried Pandora down to their position.

As Kratos told Atreus to slow down, for his haste would cost them, his son found that they had landed by some still draugr, who were more like statues, and when he poked one it came to life without delay, prompting him to unleash the stun power and break several more of their still enemies before they could become active. Flurry and Pandora smashed several of the other still draugr that were in the area, reducing the number of enemies that needed to be dealt with, only to find that more animated foes started to enter where they were fighting, causing the latter to crush them with her halberd. Since there were a few ranged enemies as well Flurry continued to use her bow as she loosed a few arrows into the air, which slammed into each of her targets without giving them a chance to do anything to the family, allowing the others to focus on the rest of the undead. Kratos also warned Atreus to slow down his speed with his bow, as he wanted more control from his son, which was a fair thing to tell him since Flurry was still pointing out what he needed to do, while at the same time Atreus found another stone pillar to translate, indicating that this had been a marketplace.

Of course that wasn't the end of it as a few draugr brutes, the mare massive ones that seemed more dangerous, broke their way through a nearby wall and rushed at them, where Kratos had Atreus and Pandora stand back as Flurry took to the field, rapidly dodging the incoming attacks as she loosed arrows from her bow with deadly accuracy, striking down the brutes in a matter of seconds.

Once the draugr brutes were taken care of Kratos climbed up the side of the wall before continuing deeper into the ruin that Atreus was forcing them to explore, only to find that the inside of the structure wasn't any better as they found one of the revenants wandering around the inside. This time around Kratos had an idea as he made sure to utilize Atreus' arrows, as one stunned the foe that was in front of them and that was his chance to strike it, using his fists to beat it up before quickly snapping it's neck, something that surprised Atreus despite the fact that he said nothing about it. From there they found a way to the lower level and discovered another draugr brute was in the way, where Pandora took to the field as she pulled out her chakrams before rushing at it, ducking under attacks as she lashed out at her foe, cutting into his sides and chest in the span of a couple of moments. The fight ended as she switched to her halberd and removed her foe's head, allowing the rest of the family to catch up with her as Kratos opened a stone coffin, where he found more Hacksilver, more teal material, some sort of gold, and a new type of metal that he handed to Pandora first so she could study it.

In the end Pandora handed the materials to Flurry could they be stored away for the time being, until they found someone who could actually identify what they had just found, though everyone found that this path was a dead end and climbed up to another path, which had another stone coffin that they looted without delay. In addition to that they discovered one of the runic chests and found that all three runes were close at hand, especially since Flurry could just destroy two of them with her arrows since they were further away than the ones for the last runic chest, which allowed them to loot the items that were inside it before heading deeper into the ruin. Such a thing allowed them to do battle with more draugr before Atreus pointed out another triptych that seemed unharmed and untouched, so once the undead were dealt with Kratos walked over and opened it so his son could tell them what the new story was about. Apparently it was about Hrungir, who was a giant warrior made of stone that was in a big battle with Odin, Thor, and even the World Serpent present, ending in his head being smashed open by Thor and his deadly hammer, which to Atreus' disappointment, even though his body did temporarily squish Thor.

In addition to that Flurry found a scroll that Atreus translated, apparently detailing a message from the 'Raven Keeper' that claimed that Svartalfheim was sealed and now the dwarves would be unable to help the Vanir while the elves were totally distracted, all thanks to 'Odin's foresight', and once it was translated Flurry added it to their collection of items.

Kratos made sure that the area by the triptych was a dead end, which it was, before crossing the bridge that was near the runic chest, allowing Pandora to smash the wooden chests they walked by so she could toss all of the contents to Flurry, all while he engaged more undead that happened to be in the way. Such a thing included another revenant, of all things, though this one fled from Flurry as she approached it, allowing the others to deal with the rest of the undead as she put an arrow in the revenant's back, and two more in the lungs, bringing it down before it could get too far. With the group of enemies taken care of the family moved forward, where Kratos moved a crank wheel and lowered the bridge into place, a fact that was followed by Pandora throwing a chakram at the breakable chain to shatter it, lowering a walkway down for them to use, and before Atreus could question why she'd do that the weapon returned to her hand. Pandora headed off to the side to claim another stone chest's resources before catching up with them as they moved into another portion of the large ruin, only to find that they stopped at a large grated gate that Kratos forced into the ceiling for a moment, which was followed by them entering another chamber.

This one, however, happened to be the home of a reaver clan, living people and not the undead, who jumped down into the lower level as some drew their weapons, though while they originally through they were Hel-Walkers one person also realized that they were alive and said that 'meat was back on the menu', freaking out Atreus when he realized that they were what the reavers were talking about.

"Atreus, stand back... this is our fight, and ours alone." Kratos stated, where he drew his axe, Pandora shifted her stance as she readied her halberd, and Flurry brought the ends of her sickles together to form her sickle staff once more, which was followed by him focusing on the reavers for a moment, "I will say this once: get out of our way and you may live."

He knew it was a worthless thing to say, as Faye had told them that reavers were set in their ways and these ones were just like she had said, as they ignored his words and charged at them without wasting time, no doubt because they had to be starving and thought his family were food. With that in mind he nodded to his daughters and they moved out, where he he parried an incoming attack before bringing down his axe down on the collar of one reaver and diagonally split the poor fool's body with little resistance, a sign of lack of nutrition he noted. Pandora ducked and avoided the sword swings that were coming her way, as several reavers decided to come after her, though it hardly mattered as she fought back by swinging her halberd and tore through her enemies as she made sure to push them away from the others. Flurry simply avoided the incoming blows that were trying to reach her as she spun her staff, letting the sickle heads catch the blades that were coming at her while slashing at her opponents, dropping them before they even knew what hit them, all while noticing that Atreus moved into a corner to make sure he was out of the way.

In the end one reaver happened to get near Atreus and lift him into the air for a few seconds, prompting him to stab the man right in the neck, right in the precise location to fill his body with blood and choke him to death in seconds, though it had the side effect of causing the reaver to fall on top of him. As Kratos rushed over to his son, to check on him and make sure he was fine, and deal with Atreus actually killing someone, since that was something he had planned on never letting happen until he was sure his son was ready, Flurry found that the intact reavers started to revive themselves. It wasn't like it was of their free will, rather their skin turning icy informed her that they were turning int Hel-Walkers, so while Kratos tended to Atreus, who was definitely saddened by this turn of events, she and Pandora attacked the reborn enemies while ensuring that none got near their family. This was something that Flurry was tad bit jealous of, as Atreus was being given time to come to terms with what he had done, while she had been so focused on surviving that she hadn't been given that chance and became used to taking lives, both monsters and people alike.

While they dealt with the newly created undead Kratos tried to snap Atreus out of his mood, before realizing that the best way to get his son to focus was to tease him with the prospect of heading back home after just starting their journey, and, as he expected, Atreus returned to normal, even though he did promise him time to reflect on this later.

Following that they reached a ledge that they quickly climbed across as they sought the exit, though during that process all four of them spotted a light emerald green raven sitting on a rock, something that instantly caused Flurry to draw her bow as she put an arrow in it, shattering the bird as it turned into a mist of magical energy. Faye had told them that Odin had little spies that wandered around eight of the Nine Realms, since the All-Father couldn't get to Jotunheim, and they served as his eyes, so anything the ravens saw during their travels would be reported to him in no time. This meant she and her family could blind him a little, especially since he was already interested in them for some reason that wasn't what she, Pandora, or their father could think about, so eliminating the ravens would buy them a bit of time. As Kratos looted the nearby stone chest they heard someone shouting at something or someone to 'move their ass' and that if they didn't the speaker was going to kick them, and Flurry could tell that it was coming from the other bridge leading towards the base of the mountain they were interested in.

The speaker, as it turned out, was a short blue skinned individual who seemed to either be a warrior, since his beast of burden had all sorts of materials and items on it's back, or maybe a smith, and right now he was trying to get the creature to move so they could be on their way to their destination.

"What are you looking at? I can't get this sloe-eyed cocklumb to cross the bridge!" the figure stated, where he poked on the beast's side and pulled on the reins, trying everything he could think of to get the camel-like creature to move, while giving them a chance to see his nice golden or brass armor and his beard as Atreus approached the beast.

"It's because she's scared of something in the trees over there... father, can you hit the white trees?" Atreus asked, causing him to point out the trees in question for a moment before Kratos did so, causing something to rush off into the wilds as the axe hit his target, and when he recalled the weapon they found that the beast started to move.

"Say, you must be smart or something, boy... you are a boy, aren'tcha?" the short figure remarked, though that was when he tried to get the beast moving, only for Atreus to help the creature, a she as he called it, far more than the short figure could, causing them to discuss names as he revealed that his was 'Brok', before he glanced at Kratos for a moment, or his axe to be more precise, "Look, you're not going to believe me, but I know that axe. It was me that made it... well, me and my brother. It was one of our best, so don't let anyone else work on her or she'll wreck beyond repair... and if you don't believe me, then let me tell you that there's a rune in the shape of a fork under the grip... I even have half the brand with me, if you don't believe me!"

While Kratos initially didn't believe Brok he did check the area in question, even though he knew of the rune in question since Faye had let him study the weapon in great detail, where the figure, who identified himself as a dwarf, told them that he could even improve the axe while they were here, causing Kratos to hand it over for a moment.

"You know, if you have the time, I would love to see all of your weapons... especially hers! I've never seen sickles like them before, and I can tell there is more to them than what I'm seeing." Brok said, where they found that he held something to the axe, a flame that looked like it was frozen, and Flurry could tell that the weapon was improved after he worked on it for a few moments, showing his skills as a blacksmith, before he handed it back to Kratos, "Also, if you have the materials I can craft pieces of armor for each of you, to aid you in battle and even improve your existing abilities... plus a fee, since I can't be doing everything for free. Hell, I'll even identify materials for you, so you know what to keep an eye out... for?"

"Like these?" Pandora asked, as Flurry produced a bit of the three items they had acquired, the gold, odd metal, and the teal ore, and handed them to her so she could put them on the table, and based on Brok's shocked look it was clear that one of them had to be incredibly rare.

"Yeah... the gold is Aegir's Gold and the metal is Soft Svartalfheim Steel... but this?! This is Skap Slag, very powerful and very rare... best used on the highest tier of weapons and armor." Brok replied, where Pandora handed the items back to Flurry, who pocketed them and returned them to her bag without wasting time, though Brok noticed and his eyes quickly lit up as he realized that they might have more Skap Slag than what they had shown him.

Kratos decided that now was a good time to take a short break, as Pandora wanted to talk with Brok and Atreus needed a few moments of peace to himself before they moved forward once more, causing Flurry to nod her head as well, because this would be good for all of them in the long run and she was interested in what Brok might be able to help them with in the future.

Author's Notes:

Did anyone wonder why this story had a profanity tag, but had no profanity until now? Well, now you know why.

Norse: The Boar, the Witch, and the Serpent

As the family wrapped up their little rest outside Brok's campsite, which doubled as a workshop since his beast carried all of his materials for her, Flurry heard something approach the area they were in and found that it was the creatures that had originally scared the beast in the first place, more draugr. Such a thing allowed Kratos to instantly discover that Brok had been right, as it felt like the axe was doing more damage to his targets, like each attack was somewhat stronger than what he could deliver previously, which he considered to be good news since it meant the time spent here was well worth it. At the same time Flurry and Pandora dealt with some of the other draugr that were around the area, since more were coming to attack them, though it did reveal something he should have expected, Atreus decided not to get involved and stayed with Brok, showing that he was still dealing with the side effects of having killed someone with his own hands. For the time being he focused on tearing through the rest of their foes, delivering more powerful blows to his enemies while Pandora moved around and cut hers down, all while Flurry focused on her bow and loosed arrows at her opponents.

While all of this happened Brok watched them with interest, focused on the weapons they were using and how each person used them in combat, and seemed rightly impressed when the battle stopped with the family emerging as the victors, even if Atreus didn't do anything to help them.

"So, tell me: what do you think of my handiwork?" Brok asked, because based on what he had seen he could tell that Kratos was pleased with the results of him improving the axe, though at the same time he knew that it was best to ask those who used his services how they felt about the alterations he had made or if they liked the armor he crafted for them.

"Your work is good, and the axe is definitely stronger than before. You have my thanks." Kratos replied, as he knew that this would help them on their quest to the highest peak in the Nine Realms, while at the same time making him wonder if there were more Frozen Flames, as Brok called them, for him and his family to discover, since they would allow them to improve the Leviathan Axe even more.

"Same could be said of your footwork and abilities... hell, I can't remember the last time I saw warriors like you three. You must have seen a lot of conflict before this point." Brok remarked, showing them that he knew more about warriors than many might assume when they looked at him for the first time, to which he returned to his side of the table and focused on part of whatever he was supposed to be working on after he set up his camp, before glancing at them, "If you need armor or weapon improvements, you know where to find me... maybe next time we'll talk about those sickles!"

"If we have the time, sure... however, we seek the path to the highest peak. Is this it?" Flurry asked, beckoning to the path that happened to be the right of the bridge that Brok and his beast had been waiting on for some time, since it seemed to be heading in the right direction and she wanted to make sure her assumptions were right before they wasted time on an area that wouldn't bring them to their goal.

"It should put you in the right direction, that's for sure." Brok answered, meaning he either didn't know the information or he did and this was his way of answering questions like that, though that was good enough for Kratos, since he knew that they would be able to find their own way up after a certain point, just like he and Flurry had done during their adventures back in their homeland.

"It was nice meeting you Brok... I'll be thinking of a name for your beast, for when we see each other again." Atreus said, as he knew they were leaving and he wanted the dwarf to know that he was thinking about something they had talked about while everyone else was fighting, just to take his mind off of the fact that he had killed someone back when the reavers talked about eating their flesh.

"How about I name her 'Fucking Gratitude'?" Brok remarked, though as he said that he paused for a moment as he quickly glanced back at the beast that was just resting on the ground behind him, where Flurry found that a smile appeared on his face as he considered something for that short period of time, "Hey, Fucking Gratitude... come over here! Hey, I like the sound of that."

As they started to move away from Brok's position, and approached the gate that seemed to be the only path available at the moment, Flurry found another Eye of Odin resting on a nearby rock and swung a sickle at it, breaking the transparent bird into mist like the one they had found before meeting Brok.

"You left us to fight alone, boy... I understand that you will have trouble fighting people, but everything else should be no reason for you to hide." Kratos commented, speaking to Atreus as Pandora found a lower area to explore for a couple of seconds, where she discovered another stone chest and looted it without delay, tossing up the items to Flurry so she could store them inside her bag.

"I... I know... I'm sorry. I'll... I'll pull my weight from now on, because I don't want to go home." Atreus replied, showing that he knew what his father would threaten again, just like when he retreated into himself after he killed the reaver earlier, but while he said that they found that their father pulled on a chain to open a door and then froze a gear in place so they could make some progress, "Does... Does it get any easier? And why did you call me 'boy'?"

"Honestly, each person is different when it comes to killing people... for some it gets easier with time, for others it never gets easier, and for a few it isn't a problem." Flurry answered, as she remembered what her father had told her when she first took a life and asked the same question, in fact she used the same explanation that Kratos had used when he told her this information, though as she said that they entered the structure so her father could recall the axe, "Also, the reason father called you 'boy' is to show his disappointment in your actions... normally calling a son 'boy' or a daughter 'girl' is due to not being worthy of the name they were given."

"I've never heard of such an odd custom." Atreus said, though, as was becoming a habit of his, he quickly wrote it down in his journal, no doubt to remind himself of it later on when they were resting, almost like he was trying to chronicle their entire journey or something.

Kratos said nothing to that, as Flurry was right, it was part of Spartan training and both she and Pandora had neared the right to be called by their names, or at least the elders from his generation would have said such a thing, causing him to focus on the path as all four of them crouched and walked through a tight passage. The only downside to their short bit of crouching was that there were skulls and skeletons on the ground, like plenty of people had died here at some point in the past, though upon reaching the end they discovered a spiked wall in front of them, one that happened to have an area for Kratos to throw the axe at. That caused the wooden wall that the spikes were attached to to move backwards, revealing a second one that could rotate around differently, as the other could be moved out of the way so Pandora could open and loot another stone chest, all while the others focused on a rotating device with wooden planks that could be hit with the axe, just like the walls. Flurry discovered that this device raised part of the area that was in front of them and revealed that it had spikes on the bottom of it's surface, meaning it could crush anyone unlucky enough to be under it, but Kratos made sure to lock it in place by using the frost gear on top of it.

Instead of jumping over there himself Kratos stood by Atreus as Flurry jumped over to the area while quickly pulling out Earthshaker once more, where she dodged incoming attacks while lashing out when an opening showed itself to her, a fact that allowed her brother to watch as she crushed the draugr with ease.

Once they were dealt with, much to her brother's continued amazement, she nodded her head as Pandora hurled both of her chakrams into an opening on the wall in front of her, opening it and forming a way for them to move forward, though as they did so Kratos found a few more Hacksilver pouches that ended up in Flurry's bag. Flurry did pause for a moment while looking at the upper area that was revealed when the spiked ceiling settled into place, as there was a level that had one of the runic chests and she had the others stop for a few seconds as she tracked down the runes. She tracked down all three of them in due time, even found a wooden chest along the way, allowing her to add more stuff to the collection as she noticed more of the three materials that Brok had labeled for them during their previous conversation, though she did know he would be overjoyed if he found what was inside her bag. From there she returned to her family as they climbed up a ledge and walked up to a new area, where Atreus ran to the edge of the area, nearly falling off until he regained his balance, so he could take a good look at the peak that they were focused on making their way to.

A few moments later he got over what he was thinking about and continued along the path that was in front of them, one that seemed to wrap around the side of the portion of the mountain and brought Flurry and her family to a pair of statues which had a shield of sorts between them.

"Woah, look at this! There are runes written on the side of this." Atreus said, as there was also a pedestal with a bowl of sand in the middle of a flat area that seemed to be connected to what they were seeing, of that Flurry was sure, and, due to his ability to understand all languages, it was clear that he was able to translate what it said, "It says 'As we are, we two, we three... As I alone can never be'."

"It's a riddle... and the answer should be 'family', but knowing the creators the answer should be here somewhere." Flurry remarked, as it sounded far too easy of a puzzle or riddle, though in that moment she noticed that the shield had runes written on it's surface, which she was sure if they arranged it correctly they should be able to truly solve the riddle and do whatever it was they were supposed to do here.

Atreus thought about it and realized that his sister had to be right, the answer was clearly in front of them and their father even confirmed it as he found an area that had a lever that started turning the rings of the shield, something that allowed Kratos to target a few frost gears on the inside of the shield. That, in turn, allowed him to lock the runes together in a way that allowed Atreus to read what was written on it's surface, which was when he confirmed that his sister was right, the answer to the riddle was 'family', telling him that she must have solved stuff like this in the past. Kratos pointed out that he could write the runes in the sand and should, in theory, do something to open a way forward, as Faye had mentioned such a thing to him and his daughters at one point in time, which caused Atreus to raise an eyebrow as he drew his knife for a seconds seconds. He also recalled his mother mentioning such a tale and traced the runes into the sand without delay, all while speaking the rune and stabbing the sand once he was done writing the word, something that caused magic to move around the outer ring of the shield before it popped open like a lid and moved out of the way.

Such a thing revealed a new path for the family to follow, one that cut through the mountain and happened to pass right by another emerald raven, where this time Pandora took it out with one of her chakrams, smashing it apart before they came to a stop as Kratos found the tracks of a boar.

Flurry knew exactly what her father was doing as he beckoned for Atreus to come look, he was trying to improve his son's skills as a hunter so he could be a better archer in battle, as the two styles went hand in hand, where she joined them just to make sure her brother understood what she had taught him. Kratos confirmed her thoughts as he told Atreus that he should keep his skills sharp through constant practice, until they became second nature to him, and, sure enough, his son was able to identify that it was a boar on his own and that he was able to pinpoint the direction it went in. As they quickly jumped down into the area in front of them, however, the family discovered that a troll was in the area and that it took out a group of draugr before turning towards all four of them and held it's pillar club at the ready, showing everyone that the creature wanted them dead as well. As everyone stepped forward Flurry noted that the area seemed to have large bones, like a whale had died here or something large like that, though her focus was on their foe as she switched to her sickles and Pandora decided to use her chakrams for a time.

Kratos charged at the troll and demanded his attention by hurling the axe at it's face, causing the creature to roar at him as both Flurry and Pandora rushed to the sides while Atreus remained at a safe distance, where both sisters attacked it's arms as Atreus followed his lessons as he focused on a single target and slowed his speed to keep his accuracy. While they did that a number of weaker draugr decided to attack them, instead of focusing on the troll, something that caused Flurry to shift her focus as she rushed around the area, swinging at the undead and taking them down in a matter of seconds. Such a thing allowed the others to focus on taking down the troll as Kratos avoided the attacks with ease, Pandora struck both of it's arms, and Atreus carefully let a few arrows fly as they struck his target in it's chest, though the beast decided to focus on the warriors that were around it, close by, and not someone who was far away from him. Kratos brought the battle to an end as they knocked the troll's weapon into the air so he could latch onto it with his axe, allowing the older warrior to bring the long stone pillar down on top of the troll's head and crush it easily, only to find that it dissolved into several items.

One was another gem that he used to give himself another skill before handing the drained item to Flurry, another one was a pouch of Hacksilver, and the third was more of the soft steel, only for Atreus to point out another runic chest off to the side and Flurry noticed that there were three gongs resting around the area. She, Pandora, and Kratos shared a glance for a few seconds as they understood what to do next, as each other got near one of the egg shaped gongs and quickly threw a weapon at them, causing three sounds to ring that unlocked the chest, allowing Kratos to loot it. As soon as the treasure was in Flurry's bag they made sure to search the rest of the immediate area, with Atreus finding a large elegant stone that had a prayer to Odin on it that he translated into his journal, along with a wooden chest, before they started to follow the rest of the path. The path, as it turned out, brought them close to the boar, one that Flurry could tell had some sort of magic on it, as the critter was around one of the corners and caused everyone to take cover so it didn't see them, a fact that allowed Kratos to continue Atreus' lesson.

This time around Atreus drew to his chest and took his time, instead of rushing like normal, and scored a good blow, even though the arrow bounced off the boar's side before it freaked out and rushed deeper into the area, though Kratos made sure to tell his son that it was a good attempt and that he should get after the animal.

The boar happened to flee into a ruined settlement of some kind, where Flurry dealt with another of Odin's Eyes while the others continued to follow the animal, only to discover that there were a number of dead reavers and Hel-Walkers around the place, plus one walking Hel-Walker further along the path that Kratos crushed the head of. Fortunately that was the only foe they had to worry about and Kratos carefully lifted a stone pillar out of the way, as the boar was close to the other side, he could see the animal, thus allowing Atreus another chance to practice his skill with his bow. This time, however, he managed to actually pierce the boar's side, causing it to squeal in pain before rushing off, something that caused Atreus to smile and jump to his feet in joy for a few seconds before rushing off to finish the job like he was taught, only he dropped his knife in the process. Kratos decided not to say anything as he picked up the knife and stashed it away on his belt, as he would need to tell his son to be more careful with it, before they followed Atreus into what appeared to be a fog filled area that the boar had fled into, as the blood trail went into it.

As Kratos called out to Atreus they heard that he had found the boar, that it was swiftly followed by a shocked voice, one that belonged to a woman, who seemed to act like her best friend had been hurt and caused Atreus to apologize as they burst out of the fog and found a lady who had long chestnut colored hair, wearing a light brown dress that seemed to be a mix of animal skins and cloth.

"I'm sorry, we didn't know he belonged to anyone." Atreus said, showing the lady that he was definitely sorry for hurting the boar, especially since now they knew that he clearly belonged to someone, who either saw him as a friend or as one of her precious farm animals.

"He doesn't belong to me, as he's one of my precious friends." the lady replied, where it was clear that she was distraught over what had happened to the boar, who was resting on the ground and seemed to be still, trying not to move since that would do far more damage to his insides.

"Apologies. We were teaching Atreus how to become more comfortable with his bow and the boar appeared to be a good target for his practice... the blame is mine and mine alone." Kratos stated, causing the lady to glance towards them for a few seconds as she realized that there were more people in the area, and pause for a moment as she spotted Flurry, due to the fact that she was the odd one out.

With that information in hand the lady beckoned for them to help as she mentioned that this boar was the last of his kind, in Midgard based on what she hinted at, while Flurry noticed that she was annoyed by them using the creature as target practice, before focusing on aiding the wounded boar. The lady told them that the blame was also hers since she failed to keep an eye on the boar and informed them that the arrow had cut a tideway through her friend, which meant Atreus had done well with his last arrow, before mentioning that they needed to join the two ends together. Kratos was able to do that with ease, causing the lady to use magic to heal what she could for the time being, where Atreus, for some reason, called her a witch, a title she ignored as she told the group that the rest of her work had to be done at her place. Flurry did what had to be done, she weaved her own magic into a barrier around the boar and lifted him into the air, surprising the lady since she wasn't expecting her to be able to do this, before she beckoned for them to follow her as she headed for her home.

The Witch, for lack of a better name to call her by, waved her hand at some vines that were blocking their path and they moved out of the way, meaning she had to be a nature goddess, as Flurry could easily see that with a glance, who quickly beckoned for them to follow as they moved along the path. She was definitely interested in them, since this was the first time she had seen any of them, based on the fact that she noted that the Talon Bow was too big for Atreus, who told her that he was still growing into it, like he had been told multiple times in the past. When the topic got to Faye, who the Witch assumed was missing her family, Pandora glanced to Kratos for a moment, who thought about it before nodding, as the lady seemed trustworthy despite the fact that they had harmed her friend on accident, causing her to tell the Witch about Faye's last wishes. Such a thing surprised her, which was fair when Flurry thought about the rest of the Nine Realms and all of the customs they knew nothing about right now, before she focused on getting the boar to her house so she could finish her healing process so she could save his life.

As they approached a clearing with a large tree, however, they learned that the Witch didn't live inside the tree, but rather in a house that was below it, and below the large turtle creature that it happened to be connected to, as she waved a hand and spoke a word to raise everything up and reveal the door they quickly walked through.

"Place him here." the Witch said, gesturing to the middle of what seemed to be her round living room, which Flurry found had more magical symbols carefully etched into the floor, or at least it sure looked like it, though the orb was placed on the floor and undone so the boar could gently rest his head on the ground, allowing the Witch to pour something into his mouth, which he drank up, causing her to glance to them for a moment, "I need two more things to make an ointment for him: first, fresh red root, which I'm growing behind the house; second, I require lamb's cress."

"Very well." Kratos replied, where he glanced at Atreus and his son nodded, heading outside to look for the first herb, as he understood that splitting the two between them would make things easier though he was sure that he would be able to find the other one before helping the Witch with the wounded boar.

"Listen, I know what you three are: a god and two goddesses... not from these lands, that's for sure, but I realized what all of you were earlier." the Witch carefully said, as she suspected that there was a reason behind why Atreus hadn't been told what his father was, and what he was as well, but after studying them for a time she knew that it was best if she said nothing and didn't pry into their affairs, especially with her own past, "Know that the gods of these realms don't take kindly to outsides... trust me, I know. However, I can offer you a bit of aid: a rune that will ward you from their eyes and let you complete your quest in peace... think of it as thanks for helping undo your mistake."

Kratos still felt it was odd to be thanked for making such a terrible mistake, since the boar was incredibly important to the Witch, but since she wanted to do so, and almost seemed to insist on such a thing, he decided that it might be a good idea in the end, since it would keep the Stranger from tracking them down. With that in mind he had Flurry remain with both the Witch and the boar, since her magic might be useful in keeping the boar safe, allowing the lady to tell the sisters that her name was 'Freya', as using 'Witch' all the time would become tiresome, causing Flurry and Pandora to do the same as they made sure the boar was safe. Of course they also named their father and brother, just so Freya knew what to call the pair if she ever needed to, though as they did that Flurry noticed that Atreus was talking to their father about his knife, as he was disappointed in leaving it behind and likely getting a short talk about keeping track of it. It was a good thing to see, as she was sure that part of Faye's reasons for this journey was to help strengthen their bonds, as a family as a whole, and the first steps were being taken before her eyes, causing her to smile as the pair eventually returned to the living room to hand Freya the herbs she needed.

Freya smiled as she ground the herbs up and then applied the ointment to the boar's body, allowing her to complete her healing session with ease, and, while the boar drifted off to sleep, she remained true to her word as she placed the rune that would obscure them from Odin's sight on the backs of their necks, one made from a very special pigment, before she waved her hand and said 'Heimili' to make the turtle move again.

"There is a shortcut below my house that will allow you to get out of the woods safely... in fact, it should be able to get you back on the path that will bring you to the mountain." Freya said, revealing that the good leading to her garden could also be connected to an underground cavern that she likely used from time to time, before she grabbed something from one of her shelves and handed Kratos a compass, made of brass with a magical needle, "That will help you find your way, if you ever need to find something specific... it's not perfect, but it can work as an ordinary compass if that's what you need at any given moment."

Kratos nodded as he carefully put the item away for the time being, giving Atreus time to say goodbye before they left the nature goddess to tending to the boar, Hildisvini as she called him when the boy asked, allowing them to descend to the depths as they sought a new way out of the area. There was a bunch of food and supplies down here, no doubt Freya's as Atreus found some items that matched what was in her house, though since they didn't want to steal from her the family just continued down the path in front of them and discovered that it brought them to a boat that looked almost identical to the one outside their house. Of course to get through the area they had to deal with nightmares, as in floating eyeball monsters that fired projectiles at their targets, causing Pandora to throw her chakrams and take them out in an instant so they could reach the dock and the boat Freya was fine with them using. Kratos also looted a golden chest as well, because it seemed like something Freya wouldn't mind them looting, and found a talisman inside it that seemed useful, before he and his children reached the boat, allowing Flurry to glide into the air as he, Atreus, and Pandora used the boat.

The path brought them out onto a massive body of water with two structures, one near the passage opening and one in the center of everything, though as Flurry took to the air her eyes widened as she glanced around the place, as there was a massive scaly creature resting on the mountains and in the water itself.

In that moment she understood what she was seeing, this had to be Jormungandr, the World Serpent as Faye called him, a creature from the time of Ragnarok who had been blasted back into the past by a powerful punch from Thor, and right now it sure looked like he was sleeping, even if she couldn't see his head. As she thought about that, however, her father brought the boat to the central statue and Atreus moved around Pandora to read the runes on the statue, where she just glided down to their position as her brother claimed that the runes indicated that one had to sacrifice their arms, likely a weapon, to the lake to awaken the cradle of the world. Kratos, after some thought and a comment from his son, pulled out the axe and froze the tip with it's power, before he hurled the weapon at the lake, north of their current position, only to find that it did not return when he tried to recall it, but he barely had time to think about that as everything shifted on them. Not only was the water level shifting on them, causing those on the boat to steady themselves as they were violently knocked around, while Flurry watched as the body of the serpent moved as Jormungandr's head rose from the water, right in front of where the boat came to a stop, and as he emerged he spat out the Leviathan Axe, which returned to the boat without hitting anyone.

Jormungandr was truly massive, that Flurry confirmed as she looked at him, and when he opened his mouth he spoke in an ancient tongue that seemed totally strange, but she could have sworn that he said 'I know you, Ghost of Sparta', 'Find Mimir', and 'He will help', before the serpent rested his head on one of the other mountains.

"You know, that was probably one of the more interesting things I've seen." Flurry remarked, speaking after floating down to the others and making sure they were okay, even though Atreus was more interested in the new things they could see, as Jormungandr shifting his weight caused the water to lower and revealed all sorts of things for them to see, shipwrecks, towers, beaches to explore, forgotten chests to loot, and even a temple right below where the statue was resting.

She knew that things were about to get much more interesting as she and the others looked around the area, because there was no telling what might be waiting for them if they decided to explore the area and she was eager to see what might happen next.

Norse: Exploring the Lake

Flurry remained in the air for a short period of time, watching as the water rushed down into the lake after Jormungandr shifted his sleeping position, before spotting that her father directed the boat to one of the nearby shores, allowing him to dock so he, Atreus, and Pandora could explore the land, causing her to land nearby.

"Mother was right, the World Serpent is massive! I wonder if the tale about him biting his own tail is true." Atreus said, as his gaze was still on the massive snake that seemed to be ignoring them, in fact it looked like he had gone back to sleep after being lightly hit with the tip of the Leviathan Axe, while at the same time Kratos spared the serpent a glance before turning his attention to the area in front of them.

"I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the tale was true." Flurry remarked, because Faye wasn't known for lying, she was one of the most truthful individuals that she and her father had encountered over the years, so if she said something that meant it was likely the truth and nothing but the truth, before she tucked her wings in as she walked up to her father, "Now, let us see what the lake has to offer."

The stony beach in question had one of the runic chests they were getting used to seeing, though as they walked away from where the dock was located Flurry hurled one of her sickles and crushed one of Odin's Eyes before it could fly away, while allowing her family to focus on what might be around the chest. There were a couple of nightmares in the area, but none of them stood a chance against Kratos and his daughters, even though they did leave one or two for Atreus to practice on so he could improve, which seemed to be happening as he faced the enemies that challenged him. With the enemies dealt with Atreus found a map that appeared to be a treasure map of another area, somehow protected by a rune to prevent it from being damaged by the water, while the others focused on the bells that were around the area for a time. Kratos figured out how to get to the bells rather easily, as there was a rotating device he could throw his axe at that controlled three sets of metallic spikes that were protecting the bells, so he moved it into position, pulling the spikes down for a short period of time, before he and his daughters struck all three of their targets instantly.

Sure enough that meant they could open and loot the runic chest with ease, though as they returned to the boat, since there wasn't more for them to access at the moment, Flurry noticed that there seemed to be more to explore and realized that they might need to make Jormungandr move again, something they could worry about later on.

With one area cleared out the family returned to the boat as Flurry glided into the air once more, where she watched over them as Kratos continued to explore the lake for resources that they might be able to use, as three of them were sure that Brok was going to find a way into this area at some point. While that happened Atreus seemed interested in stories, tales to pass the time while they traveled, and Kratos decided to give him some that would also teach him lessons, such as the classic of the horse allowing a hunter to ride him so he could take revenge on a stag, only to be made a slave. Both she and Pandora knew the meaning of that one, as it was a reflection of his time under Ares and what revenge could make a person do, even make one give themselves up as a slave to some other power, something Atreus seemed to understand, even if he didn't know the whole story. Kratos also told Atreus that he would tell him a tale every now and then, since he had to focus on making sure they reached whatever destination they were heading towards, though Flurry chuckled, as it was more than that, as her father had to mentally recreate the tales he knew into a format that his son would be able to understand.

One of the docks they discovered happened to have a stone pillar with a brazier at the top, with writing on one side, but as the family approached it Flurry told the others to prepare themselves, as the flat area around them seemed to be carved out like an arena and she wanted her family to be ready for battle.

Atreus, on Kratos' command, spoke the word that was transcribed on the stone and the brazier was filled with an eerie teal flame, and, sure enough, they found a number of draugr and nightmares coming out to fight them, almost like they were drawn to the area by the newly ignited flame. The family assumed their positions once more as Kratos and Pandora dealt with the incoming draugr while Flurry made sure to help Atreus with his bow, something he was fine with since she was far more skilled at using it than he was, so by listening to her he could improve rapidly. None of the undead seemed to be very strong, rather it seemed like they might have been waterlogged from being under the water for so long, which meant it was easy for both Kratos and Pandora to slash through them with their weapons. When one of the nightmares tried to grab Atreus with it's tendrils he stabbed at it's eye with his knife, crippling the creature and forcing it to let him go, while another was smashed to bits with a swing from Earthshaker, where Flurry shifted her stance before crushing one of the draugr that dared to approach her and Atreus.

With their combined power, even with three of them holding back significantly, the family was able to bring down all of the enemies that were around them and allowed everyone to relax for a little bit as Flurry found a blue spirit that emerged from a corpse that was resting against the stone pillar.

"Well fought, you four." the spirit said, which told Flurry that he must have seen them fight for some time, causing them to turn towards the figure for a moment as he focused on them, in fact she was sure that he saw her as something else right now, instead of what she actually was.

"Woah, it's a spirit... and it's talking to us!" Atreus remarked, as this was exciting, because while he had been hoping for all sorts of things during their exploration of the lake, to find resources as their father said, he honestly had no idea what he should have expected to find and this was definitely an exciting turn of events, before he spotted the corpse that he was coming from, "You... you're dead."

"Yes, I can hear you as well... and can see that you are very perceptive." the spirit replied, where they could tell that he wasn't even the least bit annoyed by what Atreus had said, rather he seemed to be amused by what was going on right now, which was fair since he must have been trapped under the water for a massive amount of time, "Take caution when lighting these braziers, as seidr and Hel-Walkers will swarm to the flames like moths. Am I correct in assuming that we, as in myself and the other spirits that have been trapped in the Lake of Nine, have you to thank for freeing us from our large watery grave?"

"We did figure out how to move Jormungandr... it seems like some of you were lucky and had your affairs in order, hence they were able to move on, while others are still trapped." Flurry stated, which was just sad when she thought about it, as an unknown number of spirits were still stuck in their prisons, trapped and linked to their dead bodies like this one was, and that meant if they went exploring they would no doubt come across more like him, "Tell me, what affairs do you have that need to be completed so you can move on?"

"Worry not, as you have already helped me: I only desired to see the sky again, and draining the lake has done just that, so I am in your debt." the spirit said, where Flurry could tell that his bond to this realm was broken, he was merely staying so he could thank them for fulfilling his final wish, though at the same time he raised his hand and a small bag appeared in front of Kratos, who grabbed it without delay, something that caused him to nod before his spirit dissolved before their eyes.

With the spirit gone Kratos checked the bag and found that it had a pommel that could be attached to the bottom of his axe, in fact it was a perfect fit, where Flurry assumed that helping the spirits would earn them both resources and potentially a few items that might improve the power of their weapons, assuming there were any for her weapons or Pandora's. She had to assume that the pommel might be incentive to go and help the other spirits, that they might give good rewards as well, to which Kratos had them return to the boat before setting off once more, giving him time to think about this development and what it meant for their quest. Atreus was of the opinion that they should help the spirits, simply because that was the right thing to do, where Kratos chuckled for a few seconds before telling his son that he shared Faye's sense of justice, helping all those she thought were in need, and he agreed that she would have sought out the spirits without thinking of a reward, as that never seemed important to her. He also reminded his son that anything they found could be used to strengthen them for the trials ahead, since they had no idea what sort of dangers might be on the way to the peak, but Atreus just smiled as he heard that, as he was using his father's words as an excuse to explore the lake.

Flurry spotted another brazier ahead of the boat and warned her father, who nodded and found a dock to use, where they climbed up a short flat wall to get up to where the stone was resting, with what appeared to be a portion of a ship nearby, or at least that was what it looked like. As Atreus spoke the word, however, Flurry noticed that there was a golden chest that was surrounded by black bramble, meaning their weapons would be unable to any harm to it, even though she was sure a single arrow from Apollo's Bow might deal with it instantly, something they chose not to do since Atreus would question the weapon and where it came from. This time around they found that Hel-Walkers were their opponents, where some of the frosty undead were able to throw balls of ice and others were able to summon short ice walls for them to hide behind, likely to attack their foes while they were distracted. Kratos found that this was good practice for Atreus, because enemies that had new tactics required a warrior to adapt to a situation and improve their own skills, just like what he and Flurry had done when they encountered some of their enemies in the past, and it seemed to work a little as they fought the undead.

Sure enough when the last of the Hel-Walkers were taken out they discovered another spirit that rose from his body, but he was more confused that all four of them were alive, instead of the undead he was used to seeing, who spoke about the Desolation and the Great Flood, a consequence of Jormungandr landing in this period of time, and he was able to move on since his final wish had been to converse with someone again.

"You know, it's nice to help these spirits move on." Pandora remarked, though at the same time she lifted the small bag that came from this spirit, which seemed to be common in Midgard, leaving offerings for someone that did something for them, where she found that it had some sort of dark purple scales inside it, a remnant of some kind, "Plus we get items and materials that will upgrade our gear in time... everyone wins in the end."

Kratos nodded as they checked the area for a few more seconds, allowing him to find another stone chest to loot, before they returned to Freya's boat and set off for another dock, as he was enjoying exploring with his family and teaching his son how to be a warrior, or an archer since he preferred the bow. The travel allowed them to confirm that Jormungandr was massive, as his body was everywhere that they could see, dipping into the lake and resting on the mountains that were around the area, though again it seemed like the massive serpent was just ignoring them. As Kratos moved them he did find another location to dock at, a beach that he found by passing between two segments of the World Serpent's body, where they discovered a few draugr wandering around, while there was a rotating device off to the left of the landing, one that was likely linked to another chest. With that in mind Kratos landed and unleashed a burst of ice from his axe that just struck their opponents, even though he had to bring it's head into the ground to use the power, opening the way for his children to attack the undead that were in front of them.

This provided Kratos with another chance to see the new power of the Leviathan Axe, as Brok's work allowed him to deal more damage to the single draugr brute that was in the area, granting him the power to hack through the 'armor' that was on his foe's body, while at the same time Atreus followed Flurry's brief instructions as Pandora slashed at the undead that were coming at her. While they did that Flurry spotted one of Odin's Eyes and crushed it with a sickle, something that was becoming more common as she thought about it, though once the undead were dealt with her father struck the post that three bells were attached to and made them spin. Such a thing allowed him, Flurry, and Pandora to strike the bells within a matter of seconds and unlocked the runic chest that was nearby, where Kratos quickly opened and looted it before they did anything else, as in approach a third stone pillar with another brazier that was on top of it. Atreus ignited it like he did to the previous ones they had comes across, causing a group of Hel-Walkers to attack them, though like before it didn't really matter since Atreus let the rest of his family deal with the group of frosty undead, and when the last fell they found a pouch containing fragments of Jormungandr's scales.

The spirit of this brazier had another simple request for them to take care of, he wanted to see the ones that killed him get theirs, the Hel-Walkers they had just killed, so by killing all of the frosty undead they had granted his wish and departed as soon as he was done thanking them, granting them more of the remnant scales.

Before departing from the hidden area Kratos climbed a chain and they found a new chest, a silver one with a mask that kept it locked shut, where Atreus told them that his mother had told him how to break the wooden masks, he just had to stab their foreheads with his knife, which allowed him to break it and let his father open the chest. This one also had all sorts of goods inside it, which Flurry added to her bag without delay, but the item that their father pulled out first was an odd fragment of a disc of some kind, one that Atreus identified as a language cipher, for Muspelheim no less, but it looked like more pieces were needed for him to translate it. With that in their collection they made sure not to leave anything of value behind before returning to the boat, where Flurry took to the air once more as her father directed the boat out onto the water once more, though it only prompted Atreus to ask about spirits in general while they traveled. Pandora took it upon herself to answer some of her brother's questions while her father focused on navigating around the lake, before he stopped at one of the towers and found that it had a lift that allowed them to reach the area that was right in front of the main structure.

The Hel-Walkers that were up there weren't anything to worry about, as most were melee with a single ranged foe, so that meant it was easy for the family to bring them down and clear out the area, before Atreus turned his attention to the pair of braziers that were on either side of the area and found that there were runes on them.

"Nope, can't read them at all." Atreus commented, causing the others to glance at each other for a moment, because this told them there was another reason to collect the language ciphers, as it would allow Atreus to translate the words that were on the braziers that were in front of each of the nine towers, which had to be somewhat important.

"Very well. We shall return to the boat." Kratos stated, as he knew that they would find the ciphers at some point in time, it seemed like an important item that they would come across in no time at all, where Atreus and Pandora nodded as Flurry glided down to where the boat was resting, allowing him and the others to depart after the lift brought them back to the dock and they took their positions.

The next tower in the sequence had a small black rift of sorts that seemed to be a tear in reality or the realms, though for the time being it was skipped, as Kratos took one look at the rift and determined that Atreus wasn't ready to face the foes that were inside it, as he was sure that it would open if someone approached it. Of course his son was surprised that he could tell that much by looking at it, though he reminded Atreus that Flurry was flying overhead and her senses were far beyond his own, so between the two of them they were able to determine that this wasn't a challenge he was remotely ready for. Flurry did point out an area for Kratos to dock them at and he did so without delay, which seemed to be another beach that might link up to another area, where Atreus found another treasure map while his father and Pandora looked around the area. There was a bunch of magical stones behind a ruined wooden wall, though since they didn't react to the family they continued through an opening that brought them to an area that a revenant was waiting in, where Atreus used one of his arrows to stun it so his father and Pandora could bring it down.

In addition to the revenant Flurry found a new foe to keep an eye on, a hybrid of a lizard and a cat, a tatzelwurm based on Faye's tales of all of the potential dangers that were in Midgard, and it spat poison at them, where she used a bit of magic to keep them safe for a moment before she dragged it out of the ground and took it's head with one of her sickles.

"An underground foe. We will have to be careful when they are nearby." Kratos commented, because if they didn't keep an eye on the tatzelwurms he knew that they could be dealt some decent damage, at least until he or his daughters tracked them down, since Flurry's reaction speed to enemies was still incredible.

His children nodded their heads for a moment as they focused on the rest of the area, finding that they had a decent view of a massive set of doors, the gates to another area since there was a massive wheel nearby as well, though there was a wooden lock that Kratos threw his axe at to lower a bridge, leading them around to an orange spirit. As they approached him the family discovered that he seemed to be in the middle of challenging Thor, as he called for the 'God of Thunder' to come and face him, and upon seeing them he calmed down a little to explain his plight to them, because Kratos seemed to sense that he was like the past version of himself, seeking revenge on a god. Sure enough he was right, the spirit and his family had devoted themselves to worshiping Thor while he was alive, and when his own father had passed his mother built a statue of Thor, one he now sought to destroy, on top of the grave to watch over it, causing Thor to come himself to offer his condolences to the family. Kratos suspected he knew how the story would end and was proven right, Thor quickly took advantage of their hospitality and, in his drunken rage, killed the spirit's mother as well, while the spirit perished due to either the Desolation or the reavers before the event happened.

Even though the spirit was willing to give them his blessing to loot his father's grave, in exchange for destroying the statue of Thor that he told them the exact position of since it wasn't the one they had passed by previously, Kratos agreed to do it since it would help Atreus see that there were good gods and bad gods, even though his son thought he was only in it for the reward.

Instead of worrying about the rest of the area, as it seemed like they needed more powers or gear to do something, they returned to the boat and Kratos made his way over to an icy area that seemed to be a chasm of sorts, though that ended in what appeared to be a mine that was locked. There was one of Odin's Eyes to smash and a stone chest to loot, plus a stone tablet for Atreus to translate as he found a mention of 'Andvari' and his genius, though it appeared that there was a shop area near the entrance and a sign that Atreus translated instantly, indicating that it was from Brok and that he would be back in the future. Flurry figured that if such a sign was here, and Brok intended to come back, that meant he might be looking to send them here on a favor and, more importantly, he might have the key to enter this place, so for now the four of them returned to the boat and headed out into the lake once more. With that in mind they returned to the area that they had started in, or at least where the boat had stopped after Jormungandr had risen from the water, and Kratos used the dock they had seen previously, allowing them to start exploring the temple itself at long last.

At the top of the stairs, which brought them to the bridge that seemed to connect to all of the odd towers, they found an entrance to the insides of the temple, plus there was a horn on the upper portion of the bridge, where they could likely use a lift to reach it, before they spotted a familiar figure standing nearby.

"Well if it isn't the bearded beefer, his sac-seed, and his strange girls!" Brok commented, who was standing near the door while his beast of burden seemed to be munching on some fish that had ended up on the bridge, where they found that he was moving the doors open so he could do something inside the temple, "Come on, I've got something for you... and don't you dare make pig eyes at my spot. I saw it first!"

Atreus looked at his father for a moment before the four of them walked over to the entrance, only to find that Brok had set up a large forge area on the inside of the entrance area, all while listening to Brok mention that a new shop would bring people out of hiding at last, before he tossed a blue crystal orb, one filled with magic, to Kratos, who caught it and stared at it for a moment.

"You see that pile of rocks there?" Brok asked, gesturing to the pile of stone rocks that were opposite of where he had set up his shop, a familiar set to what they had seen near the large locked gates they had decided not to mess with right now, which only interested the family since this meant there might be more of them out there for them to access, "With that Key of Yggdrasil you can open magical doors to the very branches of the World Tree, a shortcut between the realms, that you can use to get from anywhere in Migdard, or any of the other realms, and travel to my shop really quick. However, it's only one-way, back here and nothing else... oh, and whatever you do, never, never, EVER, never, ever throw yourself over the edge of the path, least you desire death."

As Atreus asked about the mine, with Brok telling him he might ask them for a favor later, Kratos and Flurry found that just raising the Key to the pile of rocks caused them to lift up and form a frame for a wooden gateway, causing them and Pandora to smile as they wondered what else Midgard might throw at them in the near future.

Norse: Climbing the Mountain

After speaking with Brok for a few moments, giving the family time to understand the importance of the Key of Yggdrasil he had given them, Kratos decided to leave the dwarf to his work as they departed from the temple, heading out towards the tower that was set in the direction of their destination. While they did that he found the lift that brought them to the area that a golden horn was resting in, one that seemed designed for someone to call upon the World Serpent so they could speak with him, but since none of them could speak in his tongue they decided to leave it along. After checking that out the family returned to the main part of the bridge and continued towards their destination, where they encountered a group of draugr wandering around in front of the tower, enemies to eliminate so the path would remain clear in the future. It was during that short fight that they discovered that Atreus was gaining confidence in being a fighter, as he studied the couple of enemies they were fight and found one he could strangle with his bowstring, or at least stun it so the others could deal with the rest of the undead.

Kratos had to admit that his son was getting better, though he made sure to remind Atreus that his focus should be on the enemies that he, Flurry, and Pandora weren't focused on, causing him to nod his understanding, showing them that he might actually be learning while they traveled.

As they approached the tower Atreus checked the braziers and commented that he couldn't read them either, while at the same time his father smashed the lids of a pair of wooden chests so Flurry and Pandora could loot them, though as they did that Flurry discovered something interesting about the tower in front of them. The wall that was in front of them could be opened, instead of being a flat surface, and on the inside they found a couple of Hel-Walkers wandering around, along with a pair of tatzelwurms that seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, since the floor didn't seem like it was something the odd cat lizard creatures could dig through. Flurry and Pandora dealt with the cat creatures without wasting time, as neither of them felt like allowing them to find an area to dig into and attack them from behind, even though these ones didn't seem to have the poison power that the others did, an interesting thing for sure. At the same time Kratos did what he did best, he attacked their enemies and tore them to shreds by either delivering powerful attacks with his axe or just punched them into submission before tearing his foe in half, while Atreus made sure to stay back and only attack when he was sure it was safe to deliver a melee attack of his own.

While that happened Flurry noticed something odd, the Hel-Walkers were actually light green colored and seemed to be infused with poison instead of frost, which explained why her father was able to use the axe to harm them since the frost ones were immune to the weapon's innate frost damage. After they dealt with the enemies Atreus noticed a path right to their left that stopped at another triptych, while at the same time there were two stone pillars with more writing for him to translate, where Kratos nodded his head and let his son get to work while they collected the spoils from the enemies they had wiped out. The shrine seemed to be about Jormungandr, about how big he was and the fact that he would one day bite Thor, confirming that they definitely had a history of some kind, but when it came to both of the stone pillars Atreus found that these were just like the braziers outside the towers, he didn't have the knowledge to read them. Pandora told him that it was fine, they were looking out for the other fragments of the cipher they had uncovered earlier and she knew her brother would be able to read the runes in due time, he just had to be patient for a time, that's all.

As Atreus nodded they discovered what appeared to be a wooden pillar that had some sort of magical connection, due to the fact that it was spewing out poison in an area to prevent people from moving along this path, though Kratos stepped up as he frosted the axe and hurled it at the highest point of the pole, freezing it and stopping the poison.

From there they continued down the path that was beyond the poison device, even though that involved freezing another one that happened to be in the way, bringing them to a gap between where they were standing and what seemed to be the next part of the path. Flurry could get them across with her wings or magic, but knowing her father she knew that such a thing wasn't on his mind at all, something she was able to confirm as he held onto Atreus and jumped down into the small area that was below the ledge they had stopped on. There was a single tatzelwurm down there for them to fight, or at least for Kratos to grab as it jumped out of the ground and snapped it's neck with ease, before he froze another pole so they could access another silver chest, and when Atreus dealt with the mask they discovered another fragment of the odd cipher, which made his son happy. There was also a stone tablet that had a slot next to it, for something to be inserted into it and power the surface up, though Flurry stopped them from wasting time on it, because they lacked the power or skill to actually ignite the unknown power, causing Kratos to climb up a wall with Atreus on his back and Pandora following as Flurry just jumped up to the next area.

Kratos also explained that Faye called the poles 'skorn poles' and had shown him how to deal with them, hence why he had been able to deal with the poles so easily, though when they landed they walked up to another door and he opened it without delay, revealing another open area that held the path they were looking for, along with another dwarf that was in the middle of something, at least until he noticed them enter his area.

"Excuse me, I know this isn't any of my business, but... how did you come by that axe?" the dwarf asked, as he noticed the weapon and immediately stopped what he was doing to rush in front of Kratos as the family walked into the area, where Flurry found that this one was skinnier than Brok and wore gloves over his hands, while wearing identical armor to Brok, meaning the armor was either for a guild or they were brothers.

"That, dwarf, is my business and mine alone." Kratos replied, because he had the same thought that Flurry and Pandora likely had the moment they heard him ask about the Leviathan Axe, this had to be the other dwarf who worked on it, but right now he was more interested in the mountain right now, since they were closer to their target.

"And while I won't dispute that fact, the fact remains that I... well, I know that axe, it was one of ours, and we didn't make it for you. And before you say 'step aside', just know I was, well, quite fond of the woman we made it for." the dwarf stated, a fact that impressed Flurry, as it wasn't often that someone took a look at her father and actually decided to stand up to him in some manner, in fact too many backed down, but this dwarf, despite the fear he was feeling, raised his fists like he was going to defend Faye's honor, "I would be somewhat... displeased if it turned out that you... did something to her!"

"I admire your bravery, but we didn't take the Leviathan Axe from Faye... rather she left it to father before she died." Flurry said, though her words weren't false, it took a lot of bravery for someone to have the nerve to stand up to her father, and it made her happy to know that Faye's friends were willing to defend her honor, even if the dwarf turned his head after he finished talking, as if knowing that Kratos would beat him up.

"What? Faye... Faye's dead?!" the dwarf asked, though that certainly took the wind out of his sails, in fact he was very clearly heartbroken over the news he was hearing right now, as he lowered his fists, which he unballed in the process, while a sorrowful look appeared on his face as he noticed how all four of them, in their own way, were dealing with the fact that Faye was no longer of this world, "I'm... I'm so very, very sorry to hear that... I certainly didn't mean to open your wounds like that. Faye... she was a special woman, as I'm sure all of you know... and a fierce warrior. Would you... would you mind if I made some improvements to the Leviathan Axe?"

"I'm sure father would be grateful, even though no one asked you to do so." Atreus replied, though he wasn't trying to be mean or anything, he was just following his father's example of stating facts and using that information accordingly, while at the same time noticing that his sisters didn't approve of his choice of words.

"Oh, I know, but... I'm sure Faye would want me to undo the act of vandalism that was inflicted on her axe by my brother!" the dwarf stated, though as he said that Flurry found that he did take a moment to wipe away the tears that had formed after he took some time to think about Faye's passing, before growing serious again as he realized that he could work on the axe once more.

"No. If you must work on the axe, do not undo Brok's work... improve upon it only." Kratos said, because Brok was someone he could tolerate, possibly even grow to like, and what he had done to the axe wasn't as bad as the other dwarf seemed to make it out to be, rather the axe was far stronger than it had been previously and he wasn't about to undo Brok's work just because he and his brother had a bit of a falling out.

The dwarf, who told them that he was called Sindri, sighed as Kratos unhooked the axe from it's resting place on his back and held it out for him to take, though interestingly enough the new smith seemed to be afraid of the filth he seemed to think was on the axe, as originally he refused to touch the weapon, but Kratos' firm stance caused him to awkwardly take the handle and move over to his shop. While he did that Atreus asked what Sindri had been working on, since they found that he had gears area the area he had been in previously and there was a contraption nearby that was made of wood and metal, an item that seemed to be important to him, where Sindri revealed that he called it the 'sky mover'. As he set the weapon down he explained that he had no idea how it worked, but he was working on it because there was a treasure trove of rare and potent resources further up the mountain, meaning that if he actually found the resources he would need a way to move it down here. Flurry wondered why he'd say such a thing since he clearly had a Bag of Holding, she recognized it instantly, but said nothing as Sindri worked on the axe in a manner that was different from his brother's methods, he focused on tending to the entire weapon, cleaning it, while it seemed to soak in a bit of power, which Sindri noted and told them not to worry, as it would make the axe stronger.

As he worked Sindri also spoke of Faye, how she would speak to her and Brok in their native tongue, and when he started to speak a phrase he was surprised by Atreus finishing it, though he did mention an interesting fact about the axe, that it had been infused with the screams of twenty frost trolls.

When they got to talking about the rune on their necks, as he noticed it flickering out of existence so no one could see them, Kratos noticed that enemies were approaching the area and turned to face them, now armed with an improved axe once again, where they found that they happened to be more poison Hel-Walkers and tatzelwurms. Sindri was apparently upset that his axe was being dirtied again, even though it was a weapon and that was a common thing to have happen, though the family turned their attention to their enemies once more, where Pandora joined Kratos and Atreus in dealing with the melee foes, leaving the ranged combat to Flurry. Thanks to their growing coordination it didn't take them all that long to take out all of the enemies that were around the area Sindri was working in, which meant he would be able to work in peace, though as they did that Pandora spotted some rotating devices set up around the area, linked to a runic chest. With that in mind they tracked down the chest and quickly translated the runes on it to match all three devices, allowing them to rotate each one for a few seconds before matching the runes to what were on the chest, allowing Kratos to open and loot it before opening the way for Flurry to loot everything else.

Once they were done exploring the area the family bid Sindri farewell for the time being and followed the path that would bring them closer to their destination, even though that meant having to freeze more Skorn Poles for a time so everyone had a chance to move further along the path. Of course there was a revenant floating around the path and chuckled at the family as it noticed them, though when Atreus struck it with an arrow he found that this time Flurry dealt with it before their foe could flee, using her own arrows to pin it to a wall before using her sickles to take it out. Atreus, of course, did his best to understand how she was capable of loosing several arrows in the span of a few seconds, while at the same time Kratos dealt with a few skorn poles to reveal a stone chest that he looted, this one having bracers inside it that could be used, hence why he collected it for later use before moving further along the path. Flurry did find that the revenant had a symbol of some kind that it dropped, an item that might be useful in crafting she wagered, hence why she added it to her collection before they continued on their way, taking a moment to check a side path that had one of the crystalline locks on it, something she and the others would have to check it again later.

There was even a skorn container hanging in the air above one of the passages, showing them that whoever created them wanted this area to be inaccessible to everyone else, though Kratos made sure the path was clear before they climbed up a wall to make more progress.

"So, do you think that I can carry the bag during the last leg of our journey?" Atreus asked, because he had been hoping he might be able to carrying his mother's ashes at one point during the entire journey, even though his sisters didn't seem to really care about the honor, rather they trusted the bag in their father's care.

"Not yet. Faye was clear that I was to hand over the bag when the time was right... and that I would know when that time had finally arrived." Kratos replied, as Faye had been very clear in making her intentions known when she had them agree to this quest in the first place, showing them just how important it had been to her that she get the send off she wanted, and he intended on honoring her wishes to the letter, "That time has not yet arrived."

Flurry could tell that Atreus was upset by this information, though because it was part of his mother's wishes he decided not to press the issue as they finished climbing up the wall and found a nice flat area that had a poison Hel-Walker and a pair of sickly looking wolves. She wasn't sure what was causing the sudden surge of poison related foes to show up, but at the same time she wasn't about to ask as she readied her bow and loosed two arrows in rapid succession, where Atreus watched as they struck both wolves before they even knew what hit them, taking them out instantly. Their father walked up to the green Hel-Walker as it was crushed by Pandora swinging her halberd at it, once more showing his son that he had absolute faith in his daughters and that he could learn how to do what they did if he watched them in battle, causing Atreus to nod as he followed after them again. As they approached the door Pandora noticed a red circular device near a pile of rocks and struck it with one of her chakrams, causing the entire thing to explode since the material was brittle and a single attack was enough to break it, revealing a stone chest that their father looted, adding a chest armor to the still growing collection of items they were gathering.

In addition to that Kratos found two more explosive jars to smash nearby, on the other side of another rock wall, where one tore apart the rocks and the other wiped out a skorn pole, allowing him to freeze a second poison spewer so he could loot a golden chest, granting him another skill as Flurry collected the other items.

When he moved towards the door that was in front of them, where Kratos had to lift a fallen pillar out of the way so they could progress, though as he started to do that the door burst open as a large gorilla-like monster, only far more brutal and without any real fur, plowed through it and attacked, even though he stopped it by pushing against it's arm. They did hear it start to speak for a moment, in a tongue that only Atreus likely understood, though at the same time Atreus failed to understand what his father was doing and actually rushed in to stab the creature, an ogre, in the head, which ended in him being successful as his knife struck the creature's head. Of course he ended up getting thrown off instantly, causing Kratos to rush to his aid as he grappled with the ogre's head for a moment, though Atreus showed that he was willing to engage in combat as he got onto his father's back, grabbed his knife, and yanked it out so he could stab the ogre right in it's left eye, causing it to roar in pain as it backed off. As Atreus landed, with his knife in hand, the sisters found that there were more enemies to worry about, as in more poison Hel-Walkers where Kratos had Pandora join him and Atreus as he left the minor enemies to Flurry, giving Atreus some experience in dealing with larger foes.

Flurry, in response to having at least seven enemies around her, switched her weapon as she drew the Serpent's Glaive from her bag, where she spun the weapon for a few seconds before lashing out with it, slashing arms and legs off instantly as she slashed at them, and the last one she just stabbed in the chest with the weapon, allowing her to land nearby with no injuries dealt to her body.

"Wait... where did that weapon come from?" Atreus asked, as the ogre was now dead on the ground, his father had taken it's head off when an opening had presented itself to them during their clash, allowing him to focus on the fact that Flurry had a new weapon in her hands, one he had never seen before.

"My bag of course." Flurry replied, because she knew that Atreus understood that her bag was a Bag of Holding, due to all of the items they had stuffed into it since the start of their quest to the highest peak in all of the realms, so he likely had an idea as to where the weapon had come from.

Atreus stood there for a moment, as he couldn't fault her for saying such a thing, before Kratos beckoned for them to join him as he opened the main door so they could be on their way, revealing a path that connected to what appeared to be a massive stone face carved into the side of the mountain's base, something that was spewing a foul black fog when they approached it.

"You know, seeing this place up close, has caused me to realize why Faye asked us to bring her here." Pandora remarked, as the mountain was massive, far more than what they had seen from their home, and it was breathtaking as they stared up at it for a few moments, even though they knew the black fog was going to be a pain to get rid of.

"But... what is this stuff?" Atreus inquired, because it was unlike anything he had seen before, though it annoyed him that it was in their way, especially since they had finally made real progress in reaching the mountain that held the peak that his mother wanted her ashes scattered from, "Maybe the Witch knows about this stuff?"

"I do, actually. It is called the 'Black Breath', and, unfortunately, my magic is useless against it... nor is there another way around this particular area." a voice said, where they turned and found that Freya had caught up with them, or rather had teleported herself here in some manner since Kratos and his daughters were still getting used to this realm and the magic it possessed, "I'm sorry to say it, but Odin saw to this a long time ago. Also, I'm sorry for not saying anything while you were with me, as I was... distracted... by my friend's condition."

"Fair. We did put you in that state of mind." Kratos replied, once more showing how composed he was, instead of lashing out like he had done back in Greece, while he glanced at the Black Breath for a few more seconds before turning his focus back to Freya, who Atreus didn't know the name of since he missed it, though his son didn't seem to care right now since he was happy to see the lady again, "You know how to dispel this fog?"

"Yes. The Black Breath is a corruption of magic, one that not even I can dispel... in fact only the pure light of Alfheim is strong enough to break through it." Freya answered, where she beckoned for them to follow as she turned around, which allowed them to see the other half of the Sky Mover was resting near the door Kratos had opened for them, and that it was covered in vines, causing Flurry to be happy they had a nature goddess with them, "And in order to get that you need to go to a realm that is beyond Midgard."

That interested all of them, as none of them had thought they would have to travel to one of the other realms to complete this journey, but now it looked like Freya was going to show them how to travel to Alfheim, along with the fact that she was able to move the vines so they could use the Sky Mover. The device had a lift for them to stand on that allowed one to travel from this area and reach a lower area, just outside Sindri's shop, though Freya told the family no one was down in the area when she came through, meaning the dwarf must have found some resource that caught his eye. She also told them that their destination was Tyr's Temple, which rested in the center of the lake, the very structure that Brok had set up shop in after Jormungandr woke up and shifted his weight, causing the water level to change on them, and she even told them about how the World Serpent appeared one day and Thor fought him. Such a thing allowed the family to realize that Freya believed in Ragnarok, the literal end of the Nine Realms, especially since Jormungandr was said to come from the future after taking part in it before Thor knocked him back through time, but that didn't stop her from hoping that the event never came to pass.

Atreus commented on the tongue that the World Serpent spoke in, even though none of them understood it, as the lift came to a stop so they could walk back to the door that was near Sindri's camp, confirming that the dwarf was gone, and on the inside of the passage Freya pulled out her bow and loosed a light arrow at a blue crystal. Such a thing, combined with a word she had said, allowed her to make a walkway out of light, which would maintain it's form if the light remained unobstructed, which only made Atreus want it on his bow, since it would allow them to do much more in their travels, or at least it should given the things they had seen. Freya explained that this was due to elven architecture, especially since her bowstring had been soaked in the Light of Alfheim, which interested everyone as they followed her through the halls of the temple and returned to the bridge, while noticing that Freya had used her roots to silence the skorn poles. As they walked out onto the bridge, and talked about Tyr and how everyone came together to make the temple, Flurry noticed an interesting fact, that the World Serpent had shifted his position, as in his head was now up and he was looking out over the lake, probably because he was interested in what was going on.

When they neared the entrance Freya had them go down a set of stairs and approach an area that had another crystal for her to light up, forming a path for them to reach what appeared to a lot of metallic components that allowed the bridge to move on a rail of some kind.

Kratos, following Freya's instructions since she seemed to know what she was doing, lifted the axle that was no longer on the rail and forced it back into position and then aligned it once more, which he was capable of doing since he had more strength than a normal person did. Once everything was back in order Freya had him grab onto the handle in front of him and push the wheel, where she found that he did so without delay and marveled at the fact that he had this much power, while Atreus was completely shocked by this fact, even though he knew his father was strong. Flurry and Pandora stood by for a moment and watched as the bridge moved to face another tower, while at the same time Freya talked with Atreus about the undead and how the world was out of balance, hence some of the enemies they were seeing. As soon as the bridge was aligned with another tower Freya had them join her by the entrance and the family did so without delay, where they discovered that Brok wasn't near his shop either, before Freya lit up another crystal so they could enter the center of the temple, though that drained her bow of it's power, which she pulled off an imbued into Atreus'.

After that they entered the main center of the temple and Flurry found that it reminded her of the structure she had seen back in the center of the Land Between Realms, with nine doors that matched the towers, save for the missing one, and nine circles that had crystals in them, one also missing there, before they approached the center, where an artistic version of Yggdrasil rested.

"Don't mind the darkness, for the temple has been asleep for almost a hundred and fifty winters... but we can awaken it with the light of the Bifrost." Freya said, though she handed Kratos something that looked like a key mixed with some sort of container, while at the same time he found a slot in what appeared to be a console of some kind, where he placed it in the slot as the rest of Tyr's Temple started to wake up at long last.

Freya explained things to them as the temple was roused from it's slumber, like how the Bifrost she had given them would capture and hold the Light of Alfheim, while the magical water in the center of the temple shifted, with a diagram of the temple and the outside area, complete with eight towers since the ninth was missing, appearing before them. She told the family about how the Nine Realms rested on the branches of Yggdrasil, that they existed in the same physical space, but were reflections of each other, and that this temple made travel to each of them possible, or at least it had until Odin was able to seal off some realms to further his own plans. The realms were only separated from each other by the Bifrost, a fact that allowed them to understand why the container was so important to the process, and Freya spoke about the Tree of Life with a smile on her face, as it seemed like a topic she liked to talk about. She also explained that they needed runes, or 'travel runes' to go to the various realms, where she traced Alfheim's on Kratos' palm, before directing him to move the console's bridge to the realm in question, which would move the actual bridge as well, and then locked it in once he was sure about their destination.

Such a thing allowed them to find that the Bifrost went dark as the last of it's power was used, which was why Freya told them that this journey was necessary, because if it had more power she would have given it to them to deal with the Black Breath, but now they could fully recharge it and use it however much they wanted, all while a beam was fired at a crystal and the air around them shifted.

"Did... Did it work?" Atreus asked, because based on what they were seeing right now it sure didn't look like they had done anything that Freya had told them during the reawakening process, causing Freya to beckon for them to follow her as she made her way towards the entrance they had walked through to get to this point.

What they discovered was that when the final door opened the family found that they were definitely in another realm, as this one was more vibrant than Midgard and there was a beam of light far off in the distance, which had to be the Light of Alfheim, and there was far more in front of them, confirming that they were in another realm.

"The Light... it's fainter than I remember. You see that beam of light in the distance? That's where we need to go..." Freya started to say, though in that instant she staggered as Flurry found a spell activating on her, the very one that she said was to prevent her from traveling from Midgard to one of the other realms, and it wasn't long before she was yanked back toward the temple, causing Kratos to grab onto her arm for a moment as they noticed a rift opened behind them, "Listen to me: to restore the Bifrost's magic, you must step into the Light, but you have to be careful not to get caught..."

Whatever Freya was going to say was cut off as she was yanked out of Kratos' grip and dragged through the rift, thrown back into Midgard by someone's spell, and Atreus could only say 'no' as the door slammed shut, causing Kratos and both of his daughters to turn towards the Light as they wondered what Alfheim had to offer them.

Norse: Alfheim

With Freya no longer with them, thanks to Odin's magic no doubt, Kratos and his children started to walk down the bridge that seemed to be the main path into Alfheim, while at the same time allowing them to get away from the version of Tyr's Temple that was in this realm. This realm was definitely more vibrant and lively than Midgard, which only made them take a moment to wonder about the remaining seven realms they hadn't been to, something Kratos wasn't planning on doing unless they needed specific items from them to progress on their quest. As they walked, however, Flurry noticed a rather large dark growth that seemed to be blocking the path forward and, interestingly enough, it had a glowing red vine with an odd pulsing core, where the core was larger than one's head, where she determined that this had to be part of the problem with the dwindling nature of the Light. The interesting thing was that it was rather fragile, as her father swung his axe at it and everyone watched as the core was destroyed instantly, causing the rest of the growth to shrivel and die in seconds, to which he and Flurry glanced at each other for a seconds.

They both knew that this might be more common in the rest of Alfheim, meaning it could be seen as a puzzle mechanic for the rest of their time in this realm, causing them to move forward once more since they had no idea how long it would take to reach where the Light was located. As he cut through another growth they found a dark figure flying through the air, but for the time being Kratos had Flurry keep an eye out, as her sight was far better than everyone else's and that meant if the figure was dangerous she would be able to warn them before it reached their position. Of course there was something that caused them to turn their focus away from the main path, a number of corpses wearing white robes that looked like they had been slain fairly recently, within the last week by Flurry's reckoning, and some of them still had weapons stuck in their bodies, likely a warning to the rest of their clan. Atreus even spotted some writing that spoke about the 'eternal war for the Light', causing Pandora and Flurry to realize what was going on, this had to be the war between the light and dark elves, as in the two clans that lived in this realm, as Faye had mentioned it a few times over the years, just not as often as everything else.

Flurry put the pieces together and realized that the ones that were dead had to be the light elves and that they had been slain by a group of dark elves, meaning their enemies had to be the dark elves and, if Faye had been right about the realm changing hands between the two clans, the growths were likely part of what the dark elves did whenever they were finally in control of everything.

"I don't get it... if both sides need the Light, then why not share it between them?" Atreus asked, because there were a lot of things he didn't understand about the world and this was one of them, why people would declare war on someone else, even the other residents of the realm based on what he was reading.

"Greed, most likely. You will find that it is a common cause for why war is waged." Kratos replied, which was the truth, as resources were often the most likely reason for why someone would declare war on another group of people, though due to being a Spartan he and his daughters knew that there were other reasons, such as conquest and revenge, that caused the same thing.

Part of her thoughts were confirmed as a living light elf was seen in the area ahead of them, only to be stabbed right in the chest by a dark elf, who wore dark armor and seemed to have insect wings, though a couple landed without delay and just turned towards them with their weapons drawn. Flurry noted that they wore more revealing armor, skirts while exposing their chests, allowing her to see that the females were likely elsewhere, since the ones in front of them were male, and all of them even had horns that were thicker than normal, like an elk she guessed. Their weapons seemed to be spears with a crystal at the top, with a head that looked like a trident as they looked at them for a few seconds, though these seemed to be the basic soldiers in the dark elf army, those that were expendable no doubt, as there was another that seemed to give them orders before departing deeper into the realm. Atreus continued to show them that he was learning, loosing one of his arrows every now and then when an opening revealed itself, while going after his foes with his bowstring whenever he thought the coast was clear, while Kratos and his daughters continued to dodge attacks and cut down their foes.

Flurry, as per usual, grabbed onto one of the spears that their foes were using, ripped it out of his hands, and then spun it around for a few seconds before stabbing her opponent multiple times in his exposed chest, allowing her to bring her foe down in a matter of moments as she tested the balance of the weapon and nodded her head.

"Sister, I don't think you need any additional weapons." Atreus commented, because he knew that his sister likely had all sorts of weapons inside her bag, ones he had yet to see since she seemed to enjoy using her sickles, her bow, the large hammer, and the sword she refused to draw, especially when he thought about the glaive she had stored away after using it for a few minutes, so it stood to reason there were more he didn't know about.

"For fighting, maybe. This is going into my collection." Flurry replied, as she saw no reason to hide that fact now that her brother knew that there were more weapons inside her bag, thanks to her pulling out the Serpent Glaive earlier, and after testing the new spear out she opened her bag for a few seconds and thought about where to send the weapon before just slipping it into the opening, which she closed a couple of seconds later.

Kratos said nothing to that as he focused on their enemies, as the dark elves were a lot like Flurry, because they used their insect wings to move around the air at times to avoid being taken out, though he was familiar with how his daughter was able to move and used that to bring down his foes. Once the enemy soldiers were taken care of he found that they were alone for the time being and, more importantly, there was another growth in front of them, though while Atreus asked why they were being attacked all of a sudden, since they had done nothing wrong, Pandora explained that some races or people in the world didn't like intruders and fought them on sight. This time around Kratos found two cores in the growth that was in front of them, so it stood to reason that both had to be destroyed within seconds of each other, which is what he did as he hurled his axe through them, breaking the way open for them to move forward again. As they did so Atreus suddenly came to a stop and asked his family if any of them had said something, causing them to tell him that none of them had spoke up after the growth was taken out, causing him to tilt his head and forget about it as they continued on their way.

What came as a surprise to them, for only a short while anyway, was the fact that the path brought them to a small beach that Sindri had set up a shop on and seemed to be in the middle of working on something, only to pause as he noticed them coming his way and turned to face them.

"I am not surprised to see you here. Your brother gave us a Key of Yggdrasil, and while that only serves as a one way path, it stands to reason you two might have some magic to slip between the realms." Kratos commented, because he had seen his fair share of magical abilities and spells after watching Flurry in action for so many years, where Sindri let out a sigh that was of annoyance and acceptance of what he had said, before he decided to let the dwarf do some work.

It was a good thing he decided to do so, because Sindri claimed to have found one of their left behind items, from one of the many foes they had fought, though he knew that such a thing was impossible since Flurry and Pandora were serious about collecting everything, especially when they found that it was a Frozen Flame he had 'recovered'. He, as well as his daughters, knew that Sindri must have learned that Brok had given him such an item for free when they first encountered him, so he likely wanted to do the same thing, but wanted to make it seem like they had 'earned' the component by beating a foe and leaving the item behind. With that in mind Kratos made sure that the Leviathan Axe was improved before focusing on the rest of the area as Flurry located a boat for them to use, since it seemed like the only way forward was by water, though to free it Kratos had to cut through three cores to remove a large growth, forcing him to line up his attack this time so he could remove it in a matter of seconds. With that done, and the obstacle was removed, Kratos and Pandora moved the boat over to the water as Atreus, once more, asked if they had said something, only to be confused when they told him that they had said nothing, causing him to tilt his head before he joined the pair in the boat.

Flurry, of course, took to the air as she switched to her bow for a time, because she had no idea if the dark elves might try to attack them and wanted to be prepared while her family make their way deeper into the realm, something that came to a sudden stop as Atreus gripped his head and nearly screamed in pain.

"There were a lot of voices... angry voices, some screaming... you're telling me none of you heard that?" Atreus asked, as it had been as clear as day to him, almost as if he had been there when something terrible happened, though as his father and his sisters told him that they had heard nothing the pain seemed to die down, causing him to relax a little, "It's okay, the voices are going away. It just... it just felt so evil."

"Are you sure? We can pause if you need some time." Kratos inquired, because he had seen enough over the years as he and Flurry dealt with the various dangers of Greece, and with how special she was, and how she often exhausted herself after using too much magic or flying for too long, he had grown used to stopping to let her recover, which he was now using with his son.

Atreus, despite the pain that had been inflicted on him earlier, said that he was fine and braced himself to continue into the realm they were visiting, causing Kratos to stare at him for a few seconds before nodding his head as he got the boat moving once more. While they moved over the water he asked if they could stop and talk to some of the spirits that were in this world, since it looked like some of the slain light elves had turned into spirits after their demise, though while Kratos had no desire to do so Pandora pointed out that the spirits departed on their own, having no desire to speak to them as they passed by. The path he was following eventually brought them out to what appeared to be a lake, one with platforms and landings that were linked to the elves of this world, or the light elves anyway since they were more elegant than what the dark elves might make, and Flurry found that the structure the Light was coming from was a ringed temple. There was a downside as she stared at the area in front of them, there was no bridge linking the area they were in to the area that the temple was in, meaning there was a secret path they had to find so they could enter the main structure.

Kratos wasn't too surprised by that fact, not when this realm was constantly at war, and they found a circular area that had a sandbowl that had to be tied to a lift, the very thing they were looking for, so instead of worrying about the riddle right now they focused on tracking down the rune that would answer it for them.

As they tracked down a landing, which may or may not help them in their quest, Atreus told them that he was saddened by the fact that the elves couldn't work things out and that war was making a beautiful land ugly, causing Kratos to tell him that he was seeing this through the eyes of a child, of someone who didn't know war. While Pandora pointed out an area to land on Kratos finished by explaining that warriors and soldiers saw war in a different light, that for them there was a certain beauty in spilling blood and killing the enemies of their people, a beauty that Kratos, himself, had grown tired of if he was being honest. Of course Atreus was surprised that his father knew about war, since he had assumed they were just nobodies who lived in the woods, but for the time being they found that his curiosity about the realm was more important to him than his interest in his father, and likely his sisters, knowing about war. The area they stopped at happened to have one of the heavier draugr and some nightmares off in a nearby cave, where Flurry loosed a few arrows at the floating eyes and took all of them out, allowing her father to work with Atreus to bring down the heavy draugr.

Pandora found some enemies to fight, in the form of more tatzelwurms, so she dodged around their attacks and cut them down while her family dealt with the rest of their enemies, before she found a growth in one of the other passages and just hurled one of her chakrams through the cores, breaking the growth so she could loot a wooden chest. The path she picked also ended in a golden chest that she and Flurry looted, granting them a small gem that gave their father another new skill before he passed the gem back to them so it could be added to the rest of the collected treasure. Flurry found that one of the others happened to lead right to another crystal lock, meaning they were going to have to find something to unlock it at some point, as one was odd, two was a coincidence, but three or more meant they had to be important in some manner. She, on the other hand, told them that the path that the nightmares had been hanging out in had nothing for them as well, save for a platform with three light crystals in the floor, something they would only be able to access once they reached the Light.

With that in mind they returned to the boat and Kratos set out as Flurry took to the air once more, though as the family continued to explore Flurry found a container of Aegir's Gold and severed the growth that was holding onto it, allowing her to add the material to their collection as they tracked down another area to check out.

The next area they checked out happened to have a couple of tatzelwurms for them to fight, something three of them were getting used to since they were a simple creature to fight, especially since these ones were normal and not infused with poison, which allowed Atreus to gain more experience in fighting new enemies. While they did that Flurry loosed one of her arrows and struck down a ranged draugr that was trying to attack them from afar, allowing her brother to finish his latest battle with their father watching over him and providing commentary when necessary. Kratos spotted a large gate in part of the area and a gear lever that could be turned to open it, where he let Flurry hold it in place, after discovering that the gate would slam back down if the device wasn't locked in one position, because she was the only one that had wings and could get over it once the gate was lowered again. From there they found a path to their left that brought them to one of the runic chests, though with all of the bells around them Pandora pointed out the right ones to unlock the chest and loot it, before they found a gate to their right that had a growth blocking the way, but thanks to Flurry flying onto the other side of the obstacle they were able to remove the growth.

One the other side of the second gate rested a rift, just like they one they had stayed away from in the Lake of Nine, but this time around none of them were worried as Kratos raised his hand towards it, which released a burst of light energy to knock him backwards as a pair of draugr brutes rushed out to fight them. These ones were definitely stronger than what they had encountered so far, which seemed to be the point of the rifts as Flurry thought about it, tough enemies using the rifts to leave their own realm and travel to another one, whether willingly or otherwise. Of course that didn't stop her, her sister, or their father from dodging the attacks and dealing damage to the brutes, while Atreus continued to look for some openings to use against them, just as he had been taught to do while allowing them to bring their foes down. After taking down the pair of brutes Flurry found that the rift was still floating nearby and her father thrust his right hand into it, only for everyone to find that he was able to withdraw his hand, now holding a small pouch of dust, safely before the rift closed before their eyes.

Flurry found that the pouch contained some sort of formless essence, something Brok or Sindri might be able to use while empowering one or more of the items they could make, or even pick up if they were lucky, though with that in her bag the family continued to explore the rest of the area.

Such a thing allowed them to cut through two more sets of growths that brought them back to the beach they had docked at, only this time there was a passage leading into the mountain, into a home or temple of some kind, causing all four of them to walk inside as they kept their guard up. The chamber ahead of them happened to have the growth integrated into an actual puzzle, due to the large wheel that could be pushed forward or backward, causing Kratos to nod his head while taking hold of the device and started to move it, moving two of the pieces as well. Flurry and Pandora struck the cores that were in front of them and crippled the growth, revealing a golden chest that had more treasure for them, along with a new talisman that was added to the collection before they returned to the boat to continue progressing. As they returned to the lake, however, Atreus asked about his mother and if she was in a war, causing Kratos to tell him that it was 'of a sort', explaining how her clan had been decimated by rivals and Faye, alone, survived, where his son lowered his head, since that wasn't what he was expecting to hear.

"Father, I have an idea: head to the dock near the edge of the lake." Flurry said, because there was one where there might have been a bridge at one point in the past and she was sure there were two wheels for them to turn, causing her father to nod his head as they headed that way.

Sure enough they found the area she was talking about and the fact that there were two wheels, but there was a bridge of sorts in front of them, where Flurry realized that the dark elves might have been covering it previously, hence why she was only now noticing it, causing them to start towards the light bridge, just like the ones Freya created for them. That was the moment that a growth emerged from part of the temple and wrapped around a large light crystal, severing the bridge in a matter of seconds, causing some dark elves to land near their position and attack them, showing the family that the one that was in control of the realm saw them as intruders. Those that approached Flurry were swiftly slain as she swung her chosen weapon, Earthshaker, through the air, crushing them before they were able to even touch her, while at the same time she found a more kingly looking dark elf watching her and her family from the air. One of the lesser dark elves flew up to the King for a moment and she caught the word 'Svartaljofurr', which had to be his name she guessed, though the pair departed from the area as she and her family dealt with the rest of the soldiers that were sent at them.

Once they were done with them, and they were sure of that, she and her father turned to the wheels and turned them, a fact that caused two structures that were out in the water to shift while more of them emerged from the lake, though both she and Atreus noticed that they formed a rune, causing them to return to the sandbowl without delay.

"It says 'Without me or within me, death is sure... but in you I am life must pure'." Atreus remarked, reading the riddle that was on the bowl before glancing up at the elvish rune that was in front of him as he started to figure out what it meant, as that was one of his skills, figuring out languages and learning what everything meant.

"Easy: Water." Flurry said, where Atreus nodded his head for a moment before he fell to his knees for a few seconds, but as everyone took a step he raised his hand and caused them to stop, as he told them that these voices were different, no doubt the light elves, before he stood up and showed his family that he was fine.

Following that Atreus started to trace the rune into the sand, just like he had done previously, and once that was done he stabbed the sand before stepping back, allowing them to see whatever magic was about to unfold this time around, due to what they had witnessed the last time they used a sandbowl. At first the runes themselves raised up, revealing that they were on a platform of some kind, before all three split up and the lake itself was splitting before their eyes, as if the entire thing was resting on a massive metallic plate that was designed to split in half to bring light down into an area that served as a secret path. The sandbowl itself moved around the platform in a circular manner before stopping behind them, which was when the area they were standing on started to sink into the passage below them, a hidden lift as they discovered, meaning that, while the main path had been shattered, they had found another way to get into the temple. Atreus took a moment to mention that he was sure he had heard Faye's voice during his last session, but Kratos had no words for him, as the magic of this last was still confusing to him, so for the time being he told his son to focus on their enemies and they could talk about this when it was safe to do so.

Flurry and Pandora braced themselves as well, because there was no telling what sort of dangers might be waiting for all of them as they made their way to the center of the temple to visit the Light, but they were eager to see what the future held for them and their family as they faced the hidden darkness of Alfheim.

Norse: To the Ringed Temple

As the lift got closer to the area it was supposed to be resting in, so Kratos and his family could continue on their way and reach the ringed temple Flurry had noticed, they found that the Dark Elf King, Svartaljofurr as Flurry called him, flew down into the formally hidden area as well before commanding his forces to end them as he flew off. Sure enough more dark elves flew down onto the walkways that were in front of them, the way forward no doubt, causing him to punch one in the face as he grabbed his foe's weapon and threw it so it impaled it's owner and the opponent that was right behind him. While he did that Pandora switched to her chakrams and danced around the incoming attacks, allowing her to slash at their sides and direct their attacks into each other, something that proved to be more effective than she originally thought. Flurry stuck to her bow as she loosed a few arrows into the incoming enemies, taking them down before they even had a chance to reach the area that she and the others were standing on, and that included taking out a draugr brute that showed up, allowing her and her family to clear out the area around the lift.

Atreus was sad that they weren't even given the chance to try for peace with the dark elves, Svartaljofurr wasn't giving him and the others a chance to explain themselves or even tell him why they were here, though before delving deeper into the area Kratos found a growth in an area behind the lift and wiped it out.

With another golden chest looted, and another skill added to Kratos' list thanks to the gem inside it, the family continued into the area that was in front of them, before discovering a runic chest that was further along the path, causing them to look around for a moment as they sought out the runes to open it. The wheel that was on the other side of the bridge just lowered the center of the structure, before lowering the two edges as well, which allowed him to find his way to one of the runes and smash it, especially since he found his way up to a stone chest to loot as well. While he did that, however, Flurry found where the other two runes were located, they had to lower the area a little, but stop before lowering the rest of the structure, so when Kratos rejoined them he crossed over to the runic chest and looted it without delay. From there they lowered everyone once more and found a tunnel leading deeper into the realm, which they entered without delay and found a chamber with another wheel that moved the moveable bridge, something everyone ignored for the time being as Flurry found an area with a growth in it.

Atreus, for some reason, thought that Kratos didn't care about Faye, since he brushed off his comment about hearing her voice earlier, where his father told him that this wasn't the time for such a discussion as he tore through the growth and opened the way up to another area, as he would discuss this when they were no longer in danger. While he did that they found that Pandora also raised the bridge a little and discovered another stone chest, which had a rune inside it that she handed over to Flurry, in addition to everything else that was inside the container, letting her sister check the item out as they continued to progress. Based on what Flurry found there was a bit of magic inside the rune, so she weaved a little bit of her magic into it and discovered that doing so allowed her to grant all four of them a bit of power, likely allowing them to deal with the dark elves a little more easily than before. Since she was sure that they would find more runes like this in the future she made sure to store them in an area of her bag that still allowed them to benefit from it's power, which her sister was able to confirm by telling her that she still felt it's blessing.

With that done the family continued into the depths of the area they were exploring, though as Kratos boosted Atreus up onto the upper area they found that Svartaljofurr grabbed the young boy as soon as he was up there, where a pair of his soldiers moved out to stop them, causing Kratos to smash their heads together as Flurry held her hand out and grabbed onto the Dark Elf King with her magic. Pandora, on the other hand, swung her halberd and slashed through the rest of the soldiers that were sent to take care of them, while at the same time their foe struggled against Flurry's magic, which two of them weren't even surprised by since she was in one of her elements. Kratos took it upon himself to smash into a pillar off to their right, or maybe it was part of the overall structure, and pushed it off the ledge as he rode it, allowing him to jump and collide with Svartaljofurr, knocking his target to the ground while ensuring that his son was safe. Of course the figure looked at him for a moment as Flurry grabbed onto Pandora and jumped over to the platform they were on, causing the Dark Elf King to flee from the area before they could hurt him, where Kratos made sure his son was fine before they faced the enemies that were coming at them.

Fortunately they were able to eliminate the soldiers that were coming at them without delay, allowing the family to move towards a doorway off to the left that brought them to a new chamber, with a lift that didn't seem operational right now, but the door beyond that allowed them to look out over an area that had more growth covering everything.

"We're probably going to have to remove all of this to reform the bridge." Atreus commented, all while they dropped down onto the walkway that was below them and his father hurled his axe at a pair of cores off to their right, breaking them and ruining the growth they were linked to, even though there was a lot more for them to worry about if they wanted to get to the Light.

"Indeed. Expect resistance." Kratos replied, because the Dark Elf King knew they were here and knew that they weren't to be ignored, so they were likely going to have to fight their way through his army, and devastate the dark elf population in the process as he considered things, while a light bridge formed nearby for them to use to progress.

All three of his children nodded their heads as they crossed the bridge and the made their way up to the upper area, since there was a few cracks for him and Atreus to climb along, though this time only a few soldiers were waiting for them, not a large force like Kratos was expecting. While they did took down their enemies, however, a chunk of rocks shifted for a few seconds before rising into another creature, one of the ancients, beings that were said to have existed since the beginning of time and were fragments of Yimir, the progenitor of all things in the Nine Realms. Ancients were humanoid shaped, as in their bodies happened to have a head with a torso that had both arms and legs, though they had no vitals, save for the core that powered them, something Kratos knew they would have to target, despite the fact that it looked like the ancient was keeping it's core hidden from it's enemies. He had to wonder what set off the ancient, as Faye had told them that the creatures in question were supposedly peaceful and only attacked when provoked, which meant that a dark elf must have struck it to use it against them and, since they had wiped out the dark elves in the area, the creature would assume that one of them must have hit it.

Kratos braced himself for a moment, because Faye had warned them that the stones that formed the ancients were some of the strongest around, in fact he was sure the dwarves would love to get their hands on it's materials, though before he or Pandora could do something Flurry moved between them.

"Sister, what are you doing? That's..." Atreus started to say, though he caught himself as he noticed something that just stopped him in his tracks, Flurry wasn't reaching for the weapons he had seen her use since their adventure started, nor was she drawing another one out of her bag, rather she was reaching for the greatsword on her back.

"An ancient, I know. A primordial foe... the perfect opponent for this particular weapon." Flurry replied, because what she had told her brother at the start of their quest to honor Faye's last wishes was true, she would only unleash this weapon when she felt that a worthy foe was in front of her, and since she wasn't about to fight any gods right now, and there was a low chance of them fighting a dragon, a primordial foe like this was the next best thing.

The ancient took a stance that looked like it was screaming or shouting, like a battle cry of some kind, and attacked Flurry as she approached it, only for Atreus to find that she drew the blade from it's resting place on her back before parrying the attack with the weapon's edge in one swift motion. In the next instant she swung both her arm and the blade, which knocked the ancient back and put some distance between them, though to be sure her family didn't get hurt she put up a barrier around them, making it so they could relax a little, plan out their next move, and then progress once she was done with her foe. Such a thing caused the ancient to charge up some power inside it's chest before loosing a beam of white blue energy at her, something that was followed by her swinging the blade at the beam as she knocked it backwards into her foe's chest, scorching the stones that made up it's body. When she closed the distance between them Flurry found that the ancient seemed to gather more energy in it's fists as it tried to punch her into the ground, though by using the edge of her weapon to parry the incoming attacks she was able to cancel out the power of it's attacks.

Flurry found that when she went on the offensive that her blade cut into the stones that made up the ancient's body, which caused the creature to screech in pain as it opened it's chest to blast her while she was right in front of it, though before it had a chance to do so Flurry unleashed a few attacks that severed it's arms, legs, and head, leaving the torso that struck the ground a few seconds later.

"Flurry... that... was... amazing!" Atreus remarked, as he couldn't believe that his sister was so skilled in combat, especially with such a weapon, though at the same time he really didn't see why she preferred to keep this weapon on her back and not use it all the time, because there didn't seem to be anything special about the weapon, other than it was sharp and could cut through ancient stone like it was nothing.

"It was a decent foe." Flurry replied, mostly due to the fact that she didn't want to reveal that she had fought stronger foes in the past, especially since they were presenting themselves as nearly ordinary people to her young brother, though as she said that she slipped the blade back into the sheath it had been resting in.

Kratos and Pandora were simply amazed, as they knew that Flurry had trained with the reforged Blade of Olympus during their time in the Land Between Realms, but now she was able to wield it without releasing any of it's power, making it look like an ordinary weapon to those who had no idea what it truly was. Flurry, on the other hand, found that some parts of the ancient's body took on new shapes, like the magic was rewarding the one that beat the creature in question, where it wasn't long before she found a bag full of Hacksilver, close to three thousand by her count. In addition to that she found a stack of Soft Svartalfheim, another rune that granted them more power as she added it to the new area in her bag she set up for the runes, and some powerful stones she guessed were fragments of the ancient itself, 'Ancient's Rubble' if she had to name it. The last item she picked up was the magical heart of the creature, still faintly beating while containing most of the ancient's power, causing her to but it away in her bag and make sure it was contained, as she last thing she needed was for the creature to be reborn and rampage inside her bag.

While she did that Kratos found a golden chest that he opened, causing him to add more to Flurry's bag after both he and Pandora checked the container out, though once he was done with that he found the core of the nearby growth, which looked like a cage of some kind, where he broke the outer edge without delay. With that done he brought the edge of his axe into the side of the core and then did something different, he froze the entire core before it had a chance to resist, all while his children figured out what he was doing and nodded their heads while he worked. A moment later he pulled the weapon out and then crushed the frozen core, something that caused the section of growth that was above them to just shudder for a few seconds before dissolving before their eyes, which allowed the main light bridge to return. That also had an interesting side effect as the empowered crystals also created two walkways near them, one leading to a dead end and the other returning to the passage they had walked through to reach this point, where they discovered that the lift had also been activated.

As such the family stepped onto the lift and Kratos turned the handle, allowing it to move up to a familiar area, where they activated two wheels to raise the rune structures, causing everyone to step onto the bridge and cross the gap that would bring them one step closer to their main goal, only for Pandora to notice something.

"There's a door, but it's totally locked up." Pandora remarked, as there was a glowing blue material door at the end of the path, likely an entrance that would have allowed them to enter the temple, but there was also a metallic lock on it that had to be linked to a sandbowl on the other side, meaning they would have to deal with more dark elves before reaching their main destination.

On the left side of the area they discovered another smaller growth that happened to be blocking the way to a runic chest, with three bells around them, so Kratos destroyed the growth before he and his daughters dealt with the bells, allowing him to eventually open and loot the chest. With that done they decided to check out the other side of the area and found that Sindri had moved over here and set up a new workspace on this portion of the realm, right next to a triptych no less, and he was pleased to see that they were totally fine. In addition to that Sindri was amazed that they were able to take out an ancient, though he was less impressed with Kratos simply replying 'yes' to his following questions, even though it did cause the dwarf to be more interested in the items Flurry showed him, as he claimed he might be able to make items out of this later. Once they were done talking to him Atreus decided to ask the dwarf why Brok was blue and Sindri wasn't, a fact that caused Kratos to exclaim 'boy' in surprise, as it wasn't a question he really should be asking, but the dwarf was all too willing to tell them that it was due to his brother not being careful, as he handled too much raw silver with his hands that it turned him blue.

After that the family focused on the triptych for a moment as Kratos opened it up, revealing some information on Groa, a giant sorceress who had visions, and it was Odin himself who slew her so he could steal her knowledge, no doubt a book or even an entire library.

With more knowledge obtained Kratos found a hole in the wall and beckoned for the others to follow as he crouched for a time, allowing him to make his way inside as he found that his children were following after him, though as they found an area to stand up in they noticed that Svartaljofurr had noticed them as he flew deeper into the darkened temple. As such that meant more dark elves came out to fight them, as per their King's orders, where Atreus joined the others in dealing with the incoming enemies, taking care to note who his family members were fighting so he didn't hurt them whenever he loosed one of his arrows. Flurry and Pandora found that this was a good excuse for their father to use his newest skills, as in the frost attacks that all of those skill stones had given his axe, where they had to wonder if those were the screams of frost trolls as well and were resonating with the axe, and the one who used it. Between the four of them the soldiers had no hope of winning, allowing Kratos to focus on the growth cores that were above them and destroyed his target, opening the way for another stone chest to be looted as he progressed deeper into the temple.

They found more dark elves waiting for them up ahead, joined by nightmares no less, though it didn't change anything as Atreus continued to learn his place in combat, while at the same time listening to both his father and to Flurry so he could improve his skills so they didn't get annoyed with him.

While the family moved deeper into the temple Kratos found that there was a structure lowered to block passage, at least for anyone that wasn't a dark elf, and Atreus discovered some writing on it that claimed 'from darkness keep safe the Light', which made them wonder if the writer had rushed their statement. Flurry spotted a few growth cores on the other side of the structure that her father destroyed so Pandora could loot another stone chest, while Atreus located an area all of them could jump up to continue progress, so once everyone was ready they jumped up it and then crossed over to a wall to climb around. Such a thing granted them a good view of the dwindling Light and the massive growth that was all over the central chamber, though while Atreus was sad to see another phantom of a light elf being slain Kratos told him not to assume anything, as they were seeing the end of a war and had no idea what started it. Following that he jumped over to a ledge that brought them close to where one of the cage cores was resting, though in addition to that there were a lot of dark elves in the area, meaning it was only a matter of time until the main force descended upon them.

The moment the coast was clear, and there were no more dark elves for the time being, Kratos struck the cage core and froze it without delay, smashing it to pieces as another section of the massive growth was removed, allowing some of the Light to emerge from a slot in the structure that reformed a small light bridge behind them.

With that discovery made the family crossed over it without delay, allowing Atreus to deal with some of the nightmares as Flurry rapidly took down a few dark elves that were coming at them from behind, where she took up the defense of their rear as her father and Pandora focused on moving forward. Kratos made sure to destroy the cage cores that happened to be along the way, restoring a pathway for them to use that ended up bringing them to a growth shaped like a walkway, one that brought the family to an area that had more growth cores to take care of. As such Kratos got to work dealing with the cores as Atreus and Pandora focused on the enemies that descended into the area, leaving the defense of their rear to their sister as she loosed arrows into the air, striking down the dark elves that dared to come towards her. Fortunately the four of them were able to clear the area as Kratos found that the next part of the path involved walking through a tunnel made of the very growth that was all around them, causing them to head in without delay since they knew it was either this or just kill every dark elf until they stopped coming so Flurry could safely fly them up to the Light.

As they climbed one of the inner walls Kratos explained what Freya told them earlier, since Atreus had failed to listen, but was interrupted by a dark elf awakening from one of the walls as Kratos grabbed onto it's face, allowing his son to stab it in the forehead and kill it before they shoved it into the slot it came from. After that the four of them had to crouch to pass through area portion of the growth, though another dark elf attacked them and their father smashed him into the ground, smashing it and causing them to fall out into an area that gave everyone a view of the Light's main pillar. Kratos did save Atreus before he fell over the edge, though they had to be quiet as they discovered that there were more dark elves living on the various sections of growth that were around the area, only for Pandora to point out a cage core that was up and to their left. Naturally their father struck it with his axe, froze it quickly, and then shattered it, which caused the entire area to shudder and shake as parts started breaking, where he jumped down to a walkway as Atreus and Pandora joined him, all while Flurry took to the air with her sickles and slashed through some of the dark elves, allowing her family to focus on the path while lessening how many enemies they had to fight.

These enemies were far weaker than the rest of the dark elves, allowing Kratos to cleave his way through their enemies before finding and destroying another cage core, this one causing the entirety of the growth that was around them to fall apart as Flurry wrapped her magic around all four of them, protecting them as she floated them down to the Light as the temple was freed from the dark elves. Once the growth was totally destroyed she dismissed her barriers, allowing them a chance to watch as the temple started to restore itself as the Light fully surged up into the air, restoring what Freya had no doubt been expecting to discover when she opened the way to this realm for them. It was marvelous Atreus was focused on the fact that he could 'hear' Faye inside the Light, something that caused him to reach out and touch the beam, a bad move since it instantly focused his hand back in pain, causing Kratos to frown for a moment. They knew what Freya had said, to restore the Bifrost one had to step into the Light, though Flurry had to wonder if she could just use her magic and hold it inside the beam for a time to get the desired result.

"Flurry, Pandora, Atreus. Stay here." Kratos stated, where he raised his right hand for a moment and unhooked the axe for a moment, allowing him to hold it out for Flurry to take, a sign he had told them about several times in the past, mostly so they knew that when he did this he was allowing them to carry it for a time.

"Woah, you're letting us have your axe?" Atreus inquired, showing them that he must have forgotten what their father had shown them previously, which Flurry wasn't even surprised by after seeing how the adventure had started, though he did seem annoyed that it was the eldest child out of all three of them that the weapon was handed to.

"No, he is letting us carry the axe for a time." Flurry said, where she took hold of the Leviathan Axe and let her father let go of it, so he could focus on the Bifrost and what he was about to do, all while she handled the weapon like it was her own, which was why he likely handed it to her, since she cared for her weapons, "Don't worry, father, we'll hold down the fort so you can fill the Bifrost."

Kratos nodded as he gripped the Bifrost, allowing Flurry and her siblings to turn away so they could focus on the enemies that were no doubt coming their way, though she knew that they would be more than ready for the dark elves when they arrived, they just had to be patient and wait for their father to finish with the Light.

Norse: Departure

Flurry, Pandora, and Atreus stood around the large platform that the Light was coming out of, marveling at the sight of the realm being restored as the rest of the dark elf growth seemed to disappear entirely, while their father thrust the hand that held the Bifrost into the beam, something that caused him to disappear into it. Neither of the sisters were surprised or even worried by this development, as Freya had told them that to restore the Bifrost one had to 'step into the Light', so this had to be what she meant, especially since she seemed to genuinely wanted to help them with their quest. Since Flurry was sure there was no treachery involved in this, and that the goddess' desire to aid the family had been true, she didn't bother to rush over to the beam since she was sure that their father would return to them in due time. With that in mind she stood at the ready with her bow while Pandora held her halberd in the same manner, something that caused their brother to do the same thing, even though he really didn't want to fight anymore dark elves than what they had slain so far.

Sure enough it wasn't long before angry dark elves started to swarm the area and attack them, annoyed that they had the nerve to destroy what had been strangling the Light, though as one flew close to them Flurry loosed an arrow right into it's heart, killing it before it could even get close to them, while opening the way for Pandora to strike another as Atreus picked his targets with care.

"You know, I was hoping that we wouldn't have to fight more dark elves." Atreus commented, loosing an arrow into the side of one of their enemies as he noticed that one of their foes got close to Flurry, not that it mattered since his sister drew their father's axe and hacked the dark elf in question apart before it had a chance to fight her.

"That would be nice, but you have to remember that we just destroyed who knows how many years of work in the span of a few moments." Flurry remarked, where she spun around and brought the axe down into another dark elf's neck, removing his head before he had a chance to move out of the area, while at the same time Pandora split another foe in half as their brother watched them for a moment, "Naturally Svartaljofurr and his forces are going to be annoyed with us and will want to take us out so they can resume corrupting the temple, not to mention the Light... I only hope they learn that anyone they send to us will end up dead and that they back off to avoid wiping out their entire race."

"Plus they are emboldened by the fact that father has stepped into the Light, so they think they stand a chance." Pandora added, where she spun her weapon around, parrying an incoming attack before using one of her chakrams to cut into the chest of her opponent, something that surprised the dark elf in question as he fell back onto the ground, lifeless due to the fact that she struck to kill, just like her sister did.

Flurry nodded as they focused on the enemies that were around them and took them down, she and Pandora killing most of the dark elves without much pause while Atreus did his best to aid his sisters, just like he did when their father was with them, before stopping as they found that there was a break in the amount of enemies coming at them. They discovered that it was a pattern, Svartaljofurr would send a group at them every now and then, usually between ten to thirty minutes between each one, and the siblings would, in turn, end all of the dark elves before they realized what was going on. After the fifth time Flurry found that the Dark Elf King was watching them and even loosed an arrow that intentionally missed him, as she was showing him her aim and that she could take him out if she so desired, which caused him to back off to a safer area for a time. Other than that there was nothing more for them to do than to just wait for their father to be done with the Light, so for the time being both Flurry and Pandora relaxed while Atreus stood near the beam, as if staring at it would cause their father to emerge sooner than they were expecting.

When the time turned from minutes and became an hour the sisters found that their brother started to pace whenever they weren't being bothered by the dark elves, who just seemed to be throwing their lives away as Flurry used her magic to place all of the dead bodies into a number of piles around the pillar.

"You know he's probably abandoned us, right?" Atreus commented, because after the third hour of standing around he had to assume the worst, somehow their father was no longer in the area and they were stuck in Alfheim, though as he added another body to one of the piles, as the dark elves were somehow lighter than he thought, while his sisters stopped and just looked at him for a moment.

"Brother, you couldn't be more wrong. Father cares about his family, that includes all three of us, and he would literally go to the end of the world or Nine Realms for us." Flurry replied, though while she could understand some of her brother's new annoyance over the issue, since he was new to everything and kept jumping at shadows, she thought he was being simply overreacting to what was going on, all while pulling out three apples, tossing one to Pandora before handing another to her annoyed brother, "Trust me, he'll be back in no time."

Despite her words Atreus just continued to pace around the area when they had time to relax, growing more frustrated by what was going on with the Light, where the hours stretched on as the siblings dealt with more groups of dark elves, even though Svartaljofurr had departed from the area. Every now and then Atreus did something stupid, he'd run his hand over the edge of the beam of energy and back away whenever he touched it, flinching in pain despite the fact that no harm was done to his hand or fingers, like he was searching for something specific. The hours continued to pass and the sisters were forced to take up shifts to make sure they didn't reveal that they were gods, beings who could go without sleep if they really wanted to, to their brother, though when he rested they found that he was annoyed and that when it was his turn to watch for the dark elves he was still annoyed. If Flurry was being honest she was getting ticked off with her brother for constantly assuming that their father had abandoned them and that they were wasting their time, especially when he caught the axe as she threw it at one of their foes and smashed it into the face of her target.

When nearly a full day had passed Flurry and Pandora could see that Atreus was at a breaking point as he approached the Light and forced his hands into it without caring about his own safety, only for them to pause as he pulled out their father like it was nothing, who was holding a filled Bifrost.

"Atreus?! What is going on? What have you done?" Kratos inquired, where Flurry could instantly tell that their father had no idea that he had been inside the Light for nearly a day, even though it had gotten them what they needed, and it was easy to see that Atreus was totally annoyed by what was going on.

"I saved you, while my sisters did nothing! I waited and waited, but you wouldn't come out... so I pulled you out." Atreus said, though in the next moment he got up and walked over to the last dark elf he had taken out and retrieved his arrows, while at the same time Kratos got up and glanced around the area, finding that things had definitely changed since he entered the Light, which both interested and confused him somewhat, "You've been gone a whole day... I hope you got what you needed from the Light."

"...Yes, I did." Kratos replied, as it was clear that he had learned something while he was inside the Light, while at the same he glanced down at his hand and focused on the Bifrost, which was now filled with a glorious light, before Flurry handed him the Leviathan Axe so he'd be ready in case more dark elves showed up, "Flurry, what happened exactly?"

"Best guess? The Light, or someone whose been watching us, had something to show you and kept you contained until the message was delivered... a message Atreus interrupted, obviously." Flurry answered, though if what had happened was someone speaking to her father she had to assume that her brother might have been right in his assumption that it was Faye, while keeping her voice low so only their father could hear what she had to say, "As you see we've been fighting dark elves since you stepped into the Light... I think Svartaljofurr might attack us soon, after all of the soldiers we've taken out during our wait."

Kratos nodded and indicated that it was time to get moving, where he had Atreus hold out his bow so he could quickly run the Bifrost over his enchanted bowstring, causing him to ask his son if he remembered what Freya had said when she used the blue arrows and found that Atreus did know the word. Such a thing meant that he could switch between his normal arrows or empowering them with the Light, allowing him to loose a light arrow into the crystal that was across the gap that was in front of them, forming a new bridge for them to walk on so they could leave the temple. Both Flurry and Pandora had a feeling that they would be using the blue arrows quite a lot, because they had passed by a fair number of the blue crystals before this point and knew there would be more in the future for them to deal with. They also realized an important fact, Atreus was in a bad mood and no longer cared about this place, calling it 'stupid' as all four of them quickly dropped into an area on the other side of the bridge, allowing Kratos to pick up a light crystal to move it.

One slot opened the way to a stone chest with a new rune inside it, granting them more power in the process, before he lifted the crystal and hauled it over to the second slot, allowing him to make a walkway for them to use to get closer to the exit, since it was now time to return to Midgard. Such a thing allowed them to return to the area that was below the area that the Light rested in, where they dealt with a couple of nightmares that were hanging out there, along with some bits of growth that revealed a wooden chest for Kratos to smash open and loot. There was a pair of bridges nearby, one they had to ignite on their own, that allowed them to break another set of cores that destroyed the last big growth in the area, all while revealing another crystal that could be used to make another bridge that was linked to the upper area. With that in mind they climbed up a fractured portion of the wall and returned to the platform that all of the dead elves were on, a fact that allowed Atreus to loose another arrow as he ignited a new walkway for them to use, where Kratos walked over it as all of his children followed after him.

None of them were surprised by more dark elves coming at them, in fact they were expecting it at this point, but the four warriors dealt with the incoming enemies before reaching the other side of the bridge, where they found a blocked door with a few more dark elves, not that it mattered since Flurry dealt with them as Kratos and Pandora looted a golden chest that was to the right.

Flurry found that the way to move forward was to knock down the light crystal that was above the magical door, which did knock out the blockage as Kratos caught the crystal, since they might need it later on, like the slot that was right in front of them that powered up a tablet in light letters that Atreus should be interested in. Oddly enough her brother seemed more annoyed by the stop to translate the tablet, where it seemed to be on the Light, maybe written by the light elves, but he had no desire to speak about it as he shut his journal and continued up the stairs to their right. Kratos huffed as he pulled the crystal out of the slot and followed after his son, who just seemed annoyed that he was doing such a thing, but it was a good thing as everyone found two more slots for the crystal could be placed in, right in front of the other side of the blue door they had spotted earlier. The slot that was opposite of the door not only revealed another runic chest for them to loot, which for some reason annoyed Atreus, but also granted them a way to target three more cores to access the second slot that created a short walkway for one to reach a sandbowl, allowing Kratos to boost Atreus up there.

The experienced trio could tell that he wasn't into this as he traced a rune into the sand and stabbed it, which allowed him to unlock the door, though as they departed they found elves dressed in white robes floated by them and returned to the temple, leaving them to return to the temple's exterior.

"And there goes Svartaljofurr." Flurry commented, where she spotted the Dark Elf King without delay and found that he just hovered in the air for a moment, his wings fluttering as they kept him afloat, before he flew down into the area that was right below the lake they split open earlier, "Down into the area that we'll have to retrace our steps through, since the boat is on the other side of this mess."

"What? You don't want to fly us over to the boat?" Atreus remarked, almost like he was offended by the fact that she had wings and refused to use them to benefit them in their quest, despite the fact that there was next to nothing she could do in this situation, since she was sure the light and dark elves would be offended if they left this open.

"Come on brother, where's your sense of adventure?" Pandora asked, where they stepped onto the lift as their father just turned the crank, allowing them to descend into the depths once more, only to find that the lights had gone out and that a number of cells were now open, meaning they would have to be on their guard again.

Such a thing revealed that the Bifrost doubled as a light for them, as it came on as they entered the darkened area, and a wooden chest for Kratos to smash open, though as they entered the underground area everyone found that the ceiling was in the middle of closing. Of course that meant that they would be without light, but that wasn't a problem thanks to the Bifrost, allowing them to retrace their steps through the rest of the area, though it also meant that they would have to fight a couple of enemies, such as a pair of revenants that decided to come after them. Shockingly enough the pair were far too easy for them to take out, and that was before using the new arrows to stun their enemies, so the family was able to clear the area before continuing deeper into the now darkened underground area. In order to move forward they had to find a light crystal, as there was a slot for it, and Pandora pointed out a bridge crystal for her brother to activate, though when Kratos found a moveable crystal they discovered that the removal of it opened some cells for the draugr to attack, a fact that ended with the family swiftly bringing them down.

Atreus, for the most part, was more of an annoyance when he wasn't fighting, because he constantly attacked their father with words by questioning if he should be doing things, like lugging the crystal to the slot because it would prevent him from defending himself if something attacked them, but Kratos brushed his words off as the sisters did the same.

The bridge that formed from powering that crystal allowed them to reach the bridge that could be lowered and raised due to a wheel, though instead of worrying about using that they returned to where the sandbowl was resting, but before it could be used they found that Svartaljofurr tried to ambush them by targeting Kratos. He, in turn, found that their foe just tried to used the handle of his weapon to strangle him or break his neck, but he was able to use his strength to break free of the hold and then slam the Dark Elf King into the floor, causing the figure to huff as he found that all four of his foes had their weapons at the ready. What they discovered was that Svartaljofurr's attacks were either thrusts or he'd spin for a moment to try and distract them while using his weapon, and the only power he seemed to have was in his spear, as he could strike the ground and release a burst of darkness that shrouded the area. None of them were fazed by the tactic as Kratos quickly raised the Bifrost and dispelled the shroud, opening the way for Flurry to slash into his sides, Pandora just struck him in the chest with the edge of her halberd, and Atreus jumped onto their foe's back and stabbed him a couple of times before he got off to loose an arrow into his back.

Kratos brought the battle to an end by punching Svartaljofurr into the air as he grabbed onto the handle of his weapon for a second and then slammed him into the ground, hard enough to force him to let go of his spear, which he used to stab the Dark Elf King in the chest, causing the elf to cough up blood and utter a short broken statement in his language before perishing.

"No... that can't be... he said that we 'made a grave mistake'." Atreus said, though it seemed like his rude attitude had gone away for the time being, as if saddened by the Dark Elf King's passing, even if he had been an enemy, where he found that Flurry gripped the spear's handle before gently removing it from the fallen elf's body, "What are you going to do with that?"

"Collect it, obviously... hm, I think I'll call it the 'Blinding Spear'." Flurry remarked, as it only made sense for her to collect the weapon of such a powerful figure and not let it fall into the hands of the fallen king's enemies, since they'd likely break it if they got their hands on it, causing her to slip it into her bag as she told herself to make an area for it when they had a chance to rest.

Kratos said nothing to that, since Flurry really loved to collect new or unique weapons and he wasn't about to stop her, to which he and Pandora collected the shadowy crest that had appeared on the ground, another talisman to be exact, and a green gem that seemed to have a power for Atreus. Such a thing told them that there were multiple gems for them to find while they explored the Nine Realms, though this one seemed to have the power to summon a spectral wolf to attack their foes, or those the wielder were facing when the power was used. With that done they approached the sandbowl and had Atreus trace the rune into the material, though when he asked if they had helped the right side, showing his confusion on the issue, Kratos admitted that they really had no idea, since no one among them had any idea what triggered the war and no one knew if aiding the light elves indirectly had been the right thing to do. All Kratos knew on this matter was that they had been told the truth, they had been able to fill the Bifrost with the power to defeat the Black Breath, and had gained a new power for his bow in the process, so it was worth involving themselves for the sake of being able to complete Faye's last wishes.

Of course that only brought about the return of Atreus' annoying side as he claimed that the only reason his father even bothered to talk to him was because he wanted something translated, causing his sisters to sigh as they returned to the surface so Flurry could spread her wings and take off as the trio used the boat to depart from the area.

"So, was she in the Light?" Atreus asked, because he figured that he could get an answer on that, since it would explain why his father would remain stuck and trapped for so long, while at the same time he discovered that his sisters focused on him for a moment.

"No, Faye was not there." Kratos admitted, in fact Flurry's explanation was, as always, spot on, as it had felt like someone had a message for him and he suspected that it was to make sure he and Atreus actually bonded more than they had done in the past, something he intended to fix in the future.

"I doubt you would even care if she was in there." Atreus stated, the annoyed look on his face returning as he stood up and faced his father, who brought them to a stop as he noticed a stern glare being sent his way, something that caused him to back down a little in the process.

"Mind your tongue, boy. Until our journey is finished, we must remain focused... if this is how you wish to mourn Faye's passing, then so be it, but leave us to our own." Kratos replied, at first appearing to be angry with his son, or at least to the extent that he showed Atreus during their years in the safety of their woods, before calming down as he focused on just staring off into the distance, and something else that had to be said, "Do not mistake our silence for lack of grief."

"I... I..." Atreus started to say, though in that moment he noticed that he really didn't know the others as much as he had thought at first, as his father and his sisters were saddened by his mother's passing, as his father seemed to be looking off into the distance, while Pandora rubbed her left arm for a moment with a sad look on her face as Flurry rubbed her eyes for a few seconds, "I'm sorry... I didn't know."

"Nor did we expect you to. After all, you don't know our ways." Flurry said, though while part of her wanted to be angry at her brother, for his outburst and desire to verbally attack their father like that, she decided to let it slide this time, since he was still mourning Faye's passing.

Kratos nodded as he got them underway once more, where he told them that he had felt only moments pass while he was in the Light, causing Atreus to smile as he took comfort in that information, while at the same time Flurry had to wonder what would happen to them when they returned to Midgard and faced the Black Breath.

Norse: Dwarven Favors

As Kratos and his children returned to the area that they had found the boat in, so they could access Alfheim's lake and the rest of the temple, they found that Sindri had moved back to the first shop they had encountered him at, in this realm to be exact, and while he was working on something else he smiled at them for a moment.

"Hey, can I ask you guys for a favor?" Sindri asked, because after seeing them in action for real, and knowing that they had the power to bring down an ancient, he figured that one or more of the figures in front of them would be more willing to help him with something, or at least Atreus would since he was still on the fence about Kratos and the girls.

"It depends. What is it that you want?" Kratos inquired, as normally he wouldn't bother to help those in need, but aiding the spirits earlier had gained them some resources to improve their gear, plus Sindri was one of the smiths that could work on the axe, so depending on what the dwarf wanted he may or may not go do this favor, since there would be more loot and resources for them to claim.

"There's an abandoned temple in Midgard that a fellow dwarf converted to his personal storeroom, and he packed it full of treasures that he collected from his travels of the Nine Realms." Sindri replied, where Flurry and Pandora realized that he must have learned about a relic or treasure that had been added to the collection in the past, one he was no doubt eager to collect to use in his crafting, while Kratos remained indifferent and Atreus was fully invested in listening to him, "Let's just say that Fafnir was an aggressive collector of magical artifacts... as in the more items he acquired, the more he desired, almost like he was a dragon or something. There was no realm too dangerous for him, nor was there any relic too hazardous in his eyes, especially since he once ventured into Niflheim for a whetstone, of all things... in fact, it's that whetstone that I'm after."

"I take it you found out where Fafnir's storeroom is located?" Pandora said, because the only reason Sindri would ask the four of them for such a thing was because he must have found out where his target was located, plus the fact that he had seem all four of them in action, so he knew they could handle themselves.

"Yes, and I even found the Entry Stone, a unique stone that will unlock the door's seals." Sindri stated, where he reached into his bag for a moment before withdrawing a decent sized stone that was roughly the width of one's hand, Kratos' to be exact, and was a third of the height of one of Kratos' arms, something the dwarf handed to them and found that it was quickly passed to Flurry, before he produced a magical looking map, "Now, I know that you have no idea where Fafnir put his storeroom, so I created this map to show you exactly where it is... if you use it with that compass you have, you should be able to navigate your way to it's location, and maybe anything Brok asks you to do, since he's likely going to ask you for a favor when you return to Midgard. Also, I know you guys aren't the type to do something for nothing, so feel free to loot anything you want from Fafnir's storeroom... honestly, don't feel too bad about doing so, since I'm sure he's dead, likely due to someone he stole from getting their revenge."

"I see. Well, we'll probably check it out later, to see what else Fafnir might have collected." Flurry commented, because she knew their father, at the very least, would want to head there at some point to see what sort of resources they might be able to obtain from the area in question.

Sindri seemed fine with that answer, in fact he knew that they would head there at some point in the near future, hence why he bothered to do everything he had done to prepare for asking them for the favor in the first place, though once he was done talking Kratos beckoned for his children to follow him once more. As they started to head back to Tyr's Temple the family found a silver chest that Atreus helped Kratos open, allowing them to loot it for it's items, both resources and another symbol that was added to their collection, before returning to the path that had brought them into this realm in the first place. While they did that, however, Atreus admitted that this wasn't the first time he had heard voice, in fact he told them that not even Brok's animal was the first one he had heard, rather when he wandered into the Woods, and had been rescued by his family, he had done so after hearing someone speak to him. He and Kratos agreed that it would be best if he told them whenever he was hearing voices again, which made sense due to the fact that someone could use the ability against everyone if they knew about it, but with this in mind they could operate even better as a group.

After that they returned to the temple and Kratos used the Bifrost on the console once more, where they found that the chamber operated the came way when they traveled to Alfheim, this time for Midgard, so it wasn't long before the family returned to the realm they were familiar with and headed outside, finding Brok back at his shop.

"Brok! We just got back from another realm, and we met your brother... wait, not in that order." Atreus said, where Kratos and his daughters found that the boy rushed over to the workshop that the other dwarf had set up earlier, though he had to think about the information he wanted to tell the dwarf, who was working on something and stopped when he found that he had guests.

"Did you now? Did you let that seed-sop put hand to your blade?" Brok asked, focusing on the important bit, the fact that his brother might have touched the Leviathan Axe, something he clearly didn't approve of based on what the family could see, even though Flurry was sure that he seemed pleased, somewhat, to hear that his brother was alright, "You do know that he lost his talent, right? Just up and left him one day, and he tried to take me down with him! Tell me: did he botch up on our girl?"

"Quite the opposite, he improved the axe's performance greatly." Kratos replied, where he drew the axe and set it down on the platform that was in front of them, allowing Brok to see the work that Sindri put into the weapon earlier, while at the same time his children were waiting for the dwarf to speak about the favor he likely wanted from them.

"Hm... well, even a blind pig farts up a truffle every now and then... but do you know what I have? Consistency!" Brok said, where he picked up the weapon and took it over to some of the tools that had been moved into the area while they were in Alfheim, allowing him to sharpen and polish the axe for a short period of time before Kratos noticed a blue sheen wash over it for a couple of seconds, and when it died down Brok nodded and tossed the axe back to him, "There. It's better."

"Do you have something you want to ask us to do? A favor, perhaps?" Flurry asked, figuring that while they were here they might as well see if Sindri was right about his brother, that he'd ask once they returned from Alfheim, which caused the dwarf to pause for a moment as he thought about something, no doubt an artifact or item he wanted.

"Now that you mention it, yeah. There's this dwarf, an alchemist called Andvari, been working outta the Volunder Mines, but haven't heard from him for about a hundred winters." Brok replied, though as he produced a map he found that the group had one as well, causing him to realize that it was the same as Sindri's and just combined them, allowing the magic to show two locations now, a blue symbol and a pale one, to inform them of which one was for which brother, while he looked at his supplies for a moment, "I need you to find him for me, and you'll know him by the fancy green ring that he wears all the time... I'm sure he's dead, but he has information on something I'm after and I am hoping that he's alive, or has written his information down somewhere. Listen, I even have the Entry Stone for the Volunder Mines, so I'll meet you outside and hand it over so you can head in and search for Andvari."

Kratos, once again, said nothing as he and his children departed from the temple and headed outside, where they made their way down to the nearest dock, only to discover that Freya's boat was still waiting for them, so Flurry took to the air once more as the others resumed their normal positions again. Once they were on the water again the family used the map that had been given to them to track down one of the favors that the dwarves were asking them to do, where they headed for the Volunder Mines first, because they remembered where it was and it seemed to be the closest of the two. When they reached their destination again, and crawled through the opening to reach the locked area they had discovered previously, they found Brok waiting outside at his smaller shop, where he tossed Kratos the Entry Stone and told him that he'd have Andvari whip them up something special if they found him alive. Even if that wasn't the case, and the other dwarf was dead, their smith made sure to let them know that anything inside the cave could be looted for their own gain, so they didn't have to worry about doing this for free, since Kratos expected to be compensated since they were going out of their way to help the dwarves with their favors.

Once they knew what was going on, and knew that Brok would uphold his end of the bargain, Kratos inserted the stone he had been given into the slot that rested at the top of the pedestal that was in front of the sealed door, where he and his family watched as it was unsealed and allowed them to enter the mines.

What was interesting was that there appeared to be scorch marks every now and then as they moved into the mines, not from a normal fire, and when Atreus pointed out an explosive against a wall Kratos struck it from afar to tear down the wall to their left, revealing an old workbench with a stone chest that he looted. The other thing was that they found what had to be a dead dwarf, that much was clear by the shape of the bones that were near the stone chest, but while the ring was nowhere to be seen Kratos grabbed the bag of supplies that were near it and handed it to Flurry before they jumped over a small gap. Since the bag had a couple of resources inside it, the various metals and items they had recovered since starting their journey to scatter Faye's ashes, one could assume that Andvari's team was either moving into the area and had perished or were leaving and had been cut down by something. As they moved deeper into the mine, however, they heard something walking in the area that was ahead of them and Kratos beckoned for them to lower themselves for a few moments, since there was no telling what might be waiting in this place.

As the family peaked over the edge of the walkway they were on, however, everyone locked onto the rocky creature that was in the area below them, one powered by flames that danced around the inside, though while it looked like an ancient everyone knew that it couldn't be the same creature.

"No way... that's a Soul Eater! If that kills us, it's over... no Valhalla, no Hel, no afterlife! Ever!" Atreus remarked, though out of all the creatures that his mother had told him about he had been hoping that this one was made up, mostly to make him behave, but now he understood why his sisters said that his mother never lied, even about the stories she told.

"It does not attack. Either we are worthless to it, or it does not care about our presence." Kratos commented, because the Soul Eater just turned and lifted a metallic gate out of the way, though at the same time he noticed something that was on the creature's body, there was an arm with a fancy green ring that was partly merged with the beast's hide, "And now we know what happened to the alchemist."

"Which means we need to track it down and kill it." Flurry said, where she drew her sickles as she frowned at the beast as it delved deeper into the mines, as Faye had once called these things an 'abomination' and she could see why, since it sure looked like someone had taken an ancient and converted it into something else, "Atreus, I know you are afraid of what can happen if this creature kills you, but the best way to defeat your fears is to face them head on."

With the Soul Eater no longer in the area the family dropped down into where it had been and attacked a couple of draugr that were there, and a few nightmares as well, though these were the weaker variety that they had discovered at the start of their adventure, so they were able to eliminate them with ease. There was also an explosive pot above some of their foes, which Kratos dropped on their heads to deal with a few of them, though once the group was brought down Flurry beckoned for them to follow the Soul Eater, causing her father to raise the gate so they could progress. On the other side they found another revenant, who was stunned by Atreus' new light blue arrows before Kratos beat it to death, finishing it off with it's own staff, allowing Flurry to collect another symbol as Pandora looted a wooden chest so she could hand the items inside to her. In addition to that they spotted a stone chest further ahead, which Pandora pushed open to loot as her father focused on keeping an eye out for their target, as Atreus was realizing that none of Andvari's crew had survived whatever had happened in this place.

There was an interesting development, there was a stone door locked with three runes and the stones sealing it were all over the area they were in, just like the runic chests they had discovered so far, so it didn't take Kratos or his children long to track down all three locks and smashed them, opening the door for them to progress, though the third rune stone was near a stone chest they looted after destroying the stone.

As it turned out the stone door brought them to the area that the Soul Eater was standing in, where it seemed to roar at all of them, much like the ancient they found back in Alfheim, and they discovered that it fought nearly identical to what they had seen previously. The Soul Eater tried to hit those that were near it with it's rocky arms, while those that were far away were the target of it's core attack, opening it's core to fire fiery bolts at whoever happened to be it's target, and the bits of rock that were separated from the creature could be used to harm it's core. This confirmed one thing for them, this was a modified ancient that fought the same way as their prior foe, so with everyone having an idea on how to fight this creature they stayed away from it's grasp, tore into it with their melee weapons while Atreus loosed arrows at it, and just avoided everything that was sent their way. Flurry had to guess that this was a creature who didn't see battle too much, even before destroying everyone that was down in this mine, which was why they were able to tear into it with ease and just dismantle the Soul Eater before it could even harm any of them.

With that done, and the foe destroyed, she collected the ring and handed it to her father, before collecting a small pouch of Jormungandr's scales, a rune that boosted their resistance to fire damage, and a bag full of various metals, while Kratos looted a golden chest for another frost power.

After looting the area Kratos found a path that seemed to be heading back to the entrance, which they climbed up to use, even though they did find an odd message on the right wall that Atreus claimed said 'in the jewel', where Kratos handed the ring back to Flurry and she nodded her head. Given her position as the Goddess of Death it was easy for her to tell that there was a soul inside the ring, whose soul she could guess based on what they had seen and what was on the wall, but for now that information would be shared with only the two of them and Pandora, and then Brok once Atreus was on the way out of the area. The rope line in front of them brought the family to a few more draugr and a pair of nightmares, nothing too major really, and once they were taken out Kratos looted a wooden chest before using another passage to get back to the area they had spotted the Soul Eater in for the first time. As everyone dropped down into the area Pandora did loot one final wooden chest that was off to their left before joining her family as they quickly returned to the entrance of the mines, so they could tell Brok the news and then move on to Fafnir's storeroom.

As they emerged from the mines it was easy to see that Brok stopped what he was doing and turned to face them, where Kratos produced the ring they had recovered from the Soul Eater, something that caused him to frown for a moment as everyone stopped in front of him.

"I'm sorry Brok, but that's all we found of your friend... and his hand, which was attached to a Soul Eater." Atreus said, though he was saddened by this information, since he had been expecting to find the dwarf alive, at least when they set out to do this favor in the first place, but now they were delivering bad news to one of their smith friends.

"I see. Well, I suppose you'll be wanting compensation for your efforts?" Brok inquired, where it was easy for them to see that he wasn't too pleased that they couldn't find Andvari, alive and whole, but at the very least he seemed happy to have the ring, meaning it was definitely important in some manner, causing Kratos to reply with 'naturally', since they didn't do all of that for free, "Of course he says 'naturally'. Mjonefr uxi... here, I have a pommel for you."

Kratos found that the item was an addition to the pommel he currently had, something Brok no doubt intended to give to Faye at some point, and he slipped it into place without delay, where he nodded his head and bid the dwarf farewell, but Flurry waited for the others to be gone before she told Brok about the soul inside the ring, causing him to smile and nod so she could take to the air as well. While her family took the boat again Flurry remained in the air and watched them for a time, where she found that Jormungandr was asleep once more, which was fair since there wasn't a whole lot for him to do thanks to his size, so her attention remained on the others. Thanks to the map they were given Pandora was able to find the area that Fafnir's storeroom was located, and when they docked she landed behind them as they headed inside to see if Sindri was outside the entrance, much like his brother had been earlier. They did have to pass through a short cave, igniting a light bridge in the process, before reaching Sindri's new camp, who nodded to them as they ducked under the opening that was in front of them and came to a forest path that was connected to the temple they had been told about back in Alfheim.

This time around they found dead reavers outside the structure and more draugr prowling the area, where they focused on cutting and hacking their way through the undead, which was easy since there weren't too many for them to deal with, so Flurry and Pandora stayed back to let Atreus have more experience in combat. As such they focused on looting the bits and pieces that the dead reavers had, where they were sure that they must have looted part of Fafnir's storeroom, and even found two more chests to break into, a stone chest and a runic chest, adding more loot to Flurry's bag. The moment their father was ready to go they joined him and Atreus as they headed inside the cave that was beyond the area that the undead had been in, all while Flurry made sure to destroy another of Odin's Eyes that happened to be nearby, something that was getting annoying based on how many there were, before focusing on the path. She followed her family as each of them climbed up a few wooden steps that seemed to have been carved into the side of the area that the storeroom was resting in, only for them to drop down into an area that had one of the Entry Stone pedestals, resting on the center of what had to be a stone bridge that would reveal paths for them to use.

Kratos wasted no time in slipping the Entry Stone into the slot, where it was pulled in and they found that a new walkway rose out of the foggy area that was around the base of the platform they were standing on, one linking to a different area that wasn't the main door, but that didn't stop them as he opened the other door and found some undead to kill. These brute draugr came with a surprising ability, they could detonate themselves in an attempt to take their foes with them, an ability that mattered little when Kratos hurled them into a wall and both Atreus and Flurry struck them with their arrows, a good thing in his mind. Atreus was, however, incredibly disappointed by what they found in the area, all of the chests had been looted, causing his father to tell him to keep his expectations low, because then he would never be disappointed, all while picking up another Entry Stone, meaning they had to go through a few areas before reaching the final section. With that in mind they returned to the entrance and discovered that some draugr emerged to fight off intruders, likely one of Fafnir's defensive measures, which surprised Atreus while his family simply cut them down before they could do anything to slow them down.

"Sorry, I wasn't expecting them to be there." Atreus said, though at the same time his father inserted the Entry Stone so the next bridge could be raised into position, allowing him to see that both of his sisters never seemed to be caught off guard by their enemies, which was really strange when he thought about it.

"There are a few things that any experienced warrior knows: never let your guard down, keep your expectations low, and always anticipate an attack." Flurry replied, as it was one of the lessons her father had taught her, when they started her training for real, and she had taken those to heart to make sure she was a fierce warrior, especially since Greece was a far harsher realm than Midgard had been to them since they reached this land and met Faye, "While we're not expecting you to become exactly like us, these are good lessons for you to learn and, eventually, master."

Atreus nodded his head as they entered the next area, where they found a skorn pole resting above some enemies, more draugr to be exact, though this time around Kratos dealt with the poison and fought the undead with his fists, showing his son that he was definitely stronger than he let on in the past. Flurry knew they were walking a fine line, because after her show in Alfheim, and how easily they had dominated all of the dark elves, Atreus knew there was more to them that what he was used to seeing, meaning it was only a matter of time until he questioned everything and, more importantly, forced their father to reveal things he was trying to keep hidden. The only good thing was that he was easily distracted by new or exciting things, meaning that the more they explored the more he would be focused on whatever was happening in the area they were in, but even she knew that such a thing wouldn't last. Their father, of course, had no desire to speak on this matter, not until he was sure that his son was ready for the information in question, and she trusted his judgement, hence why they focused on the undead and cut their way through them, granting them another Entry Stone.

This one opened the way to an area that had a pair of revenants, nothing too major all things considered, the next area had a pack of strong wolves for them to kill, easy targets at this point, and then the final chamber, which had some stone pillars and a shallow watery area, but nothing important since all of the chests had been looted, including a large one that had a dead reaver resting over it with a dagger in his back.

"So, you came back to piss on my corpse, you ungrateful little..." a voice said, where they found a spirit emerging from the body that was over the main chest, who seemed to be a reaver captain based on what the family had seen so far, before he paused as he realized that they weren't who he was interested in, "Who are you people?"

"Just travelers, looking for a whetstone. Have you seen it around here?" Atreus replied, because he knew that his father had no desire to speak with spirits, even though he had gone out of their way to make sure the ones in the Lake on Nine were released from their bonds, or at least the ones they could get to right now.

"Ah, that. Yeah, there was one in this room... my son sharpened his dagger on it, right before stabbing me in the back." the spirit stated, something that took Atreus by surprise, that a son would go after his father like that and kill him without even giving him a chance to fight back, while at the same time Kratos and Flurry recognized the story, since it resembled Kratos' brief desire to kill his own father, before learning of his corruption and everything else, "Little bastard thought it was his turn to lead the crew... I'm not surprised, really, since I did the same thing to my old man when I was my son's age. And I know the look in your eyes. He may be a bastard, but he's my bastard and I'm not telling you anything."

"Very well. Your son took the whetstone, meaning his dagger should point us to him." Kratos said, where he grabbed onto the item in question and drew it out of the reaver's back, causing the spirit to try, in vain, to stop him from leaving with it, only for him to pause as two ogres entered the area.

Such a thing caused him, Atreus, and Pandora to focus on one of them while Flurry focused on the other, switching to her warhammer for a moment as she leapt into battle and drew the second away from the others, allowing Atreus to loose a few arrows into the first from afar. While he did that Kratos hacked into their ogre's side while Pandora focused on dealing damage to the back, mostly to make sure the creature focused on them and didn't go after Atreus, even though he was caught off guard by what his other sister was doing. Flurry dodged all of the incoming attacks like she had been fighting for a long time, at speeds that seemed faster than what even their father was capable of, and whenever she decided to do some damage her warhammer crushed the bones below where she struck, as he could hear the ogre's upper right arm break under the pressure. Only now was he realizing the true destructive power of Earthshaker, as Flurry called it, as she crippled her foe in the span of a couple of well timed attacks, and when the ogre fell to one knee she crushed it's skull like it was an apple that had been squeezed by their father's hand.

Once both ogres were dealt with Pandora made sure to loot the nearby gold chest, while they heard the spirit remark on their fighting skills, in fact he approved of their abilities, before the family regrouped and departed from the storeroom, as it was time to return to Sindri, only to stop when they were outside the structure as they spotted an ancient outside.

"And now an ancient?!" Atreus remarked, because it seemed like Fafnir had gone overboard with the defenses, not that it mattered since his preparations failed to stop even a group of reavers from making off with his loot, before he found that Flurry was stepping up again, this time spreading her wings in the process.

Instead of fighting the creature like she had done in Alfheim, and using more time than necessary, Flurry decided to pick up her speed for a moment as she grabbed the handle of the reforged blade and literally flashed behind her foe, almost like a bolt of lightning, and as Flurry sheathed her blade the ancient collapsed as she huffed.

"Don't count on me doing that too much, since it strains me to move at that speeds." Flurry commented, speaking to her brother, since her father and sister knew that she could have done the same thing all the time and wasn't even wiped out from cutting down the ancient like that, but the look of amazement on Atreus' face told her that he bought it, allowing her to loot the items that dropped from the creature.

With that done they quickly retraced their steps and returned to where Sindri had set up his shop, where, just like Brok had done previously, he stopped working on whatever item had been holding his attention and focused on them as they stopped in front of his stand.

"The whetstone was not there. We did, however, find this dagger, which belonged to a reaver that took it." Kratos said, as he placed the weapon in front of the dwarf as soon as they were in front of his work area, something that caused Sindri to pick it up for a moment, in fact it looked like he might recognize the make of the weapon.

"Well, I'm annoyed that the reavers took the whetstone... but here, let me give you this for the dagger, and for your hard work in trying to get the stone." Sindri replied, where he set the dagger down before reaching into his bag for a moment, only to produce a new talisman that was added to their collection, even though Flurry was sure that just collecting them and putting them in her bag gave them a passive bonus, just like the runes did, "I'll take a look at this while you continue your adventure... I might be able to figure out which clan this belongs to, so you can recover the whetstone and get more items to aid you in our journey."

Kratos nodded as Atreus told the dwarf about where they found the dagger, causing him to gag a little, but it was good to have a smith that was upfront about the rewards, even though this made him more interested in the mountain and what the next leg of their quest had in store for them.

Norse: Ascending the Mountain

After helping Brok and Sindri with their favors, or at least what they could currently do since it seemed like there might be more for them to do in the future, Flurry and her family returned to the dock outside Tyr's Temple and moved to the top of the bridge, as it was time to return to the Black Breath. It didn't take everyone long to return to the tower passage that had brought them to Sindri in the first place, where they discovered that Freya's magic was still lingering on the skorn poles, a good thing since that meant they didn't have to worry about them. The light bridge, on the other hand, had broken due to the area holding the crystal having shattered after they passed through the area previously, meaning they had to drop down into the small area below them and then climb up some wooden posts again, though it did allow Atreus to read the stone tablet that was down there. Flurry understood that fact thanks to the slot that was next to the tablet, where Kratos slipped the crystal into it and let his son hit it with a light blue arrow, though her brother said it was about the seidr and about how the more they used their power the more they lose themselves.

Flurry knew that such a thing applied to the gods as well, that the more they got used to their positions the more likely it was that they lost themselves in their power, to a degree anyway, something their father thought about as well before they made their way out to Sindri's first work area.

Sindri, naturally, had moved himself along the path they were following, where the family was sure that the brothers had a way to move that they couldn't see, even though Flurry was sure that it was magical in nature, but since they didn't need any work done the family continued to move. While they did so a small wolf pack decided to attack them after leaping down into the area, though Kratos attacked the moment the wolves made their move, allowing him and his children to deal with the pack before they could do anything to even one of them. After that they moved over to the sky mover and found that it was still operational, where Kratos nodded his head as they got on it and he activated the device that made it move back to the area that they and Freya had found it in after discovering the existence of the Black Breath. As they did so Atreus decided to ask if he could carry Faye's ashes again, causing Kratos to remind him of his mother's wishes, more accurately the fact that she wanted Atreus to carry him when they finally reached their destination, the last leg of the trip to be exact.

Any disappointment he had at being told 'no' again, however, was dispelled as they reached the end of the line and quickly walked up to where the Black Breath rested, where Kratos raised the Bifrost for a moment and unleashed it's power at the black smoke, allowing them to see that the darkness was pushed back as he pushed forward.

"This certainly makes our time in Alfheim all the more worthwhile." Pandora commented, watching as their father tore the Black Breath apart with the power of the Bifrost, though she was unsure of what to make of the situation they had left in the realm that the Light had been in, something she and Flurry were still thinking about.

Flurry nodded as their father revealed a path for them to follow, cutting away at the Black Breath like it was nothing due to the power of the Light, proving that Freya had been right about it's abilities, and when he reached the end of the smoke he swung his arm a little and dismissed the dark material, revealing that they were closer to the mountain. With that fact in mind they discovered that part of the path was blocked by rubble, causing Kratos to make sure Atreus was on his back as he jumped over to the rock wall and climbed as Pandora followed after him, leaving Flurry to watch before flying a little to catch up to them. Such a thing allowed them to see that there was more of the Black Breath, where Kratos raised the Bifrost once more and pushed through more of the darkness, breaking it apart until he reached the end once more, this time revealing a large door that had the emblem of the giants on it. This excited Atreus even more than before, which was followed by them opening the door so they could see what the next objective was on their quest to reach the highest peak in the Nine Realms, opening the way to a brand new chamber.

This one had an area for them to stand on, a gap in front of them, and an area on the other side that had the statue of a figure with a deer head, possibly linked to the giants in some manner based on Atreus' guesses, along with two slots that more crystals could be placed inside.

"Best guess, there's a riddle on that sandbowl, and these two slots, combined with their crystals and this lever, will reveal the path forward." Flurry said, gesturing to the various items that were around the area they were in, where she found that her father and Pandora seemed to agree with her idea, though the interesting thing was that it didn't look like there was anything for the sandbowl to awaken this time around.

"How could you possibly guess that with just a glance?" Atreus asked, because he had been looking at everything for a few moments and could barely make the connection his sister had made in the span of a few seconds, which was impossible when he considered everything for a time.

"Atreus, if there is one thing you must definitely take to heart, it is this: Flurry is right nine times out of ten... and even then, expect ten out of ten." Kratos remarked, as that was a truth he had learned over the years of dealing with Flurry and all of her abilities, she was incredibly smart and, even she had all of the information available, she was almost always right on whatever topic they were talking about, calling out things before they even happened.

Atreus looked at them as Pandora nodded her head as well, showing that she agreed with their father, before he used an arrow to light the pillar that was on the right, since it already had a crystal for him to hit, something that caused them to look for the second one. The passage to their left happened to have a pair of draugr waiting in it, though this time around only Kratos and Pandora were all that were required to bring them down, all while Flurry located the second light crystal, it was right above the opening the pair had walked through to deal with the undead. With the two draugr brought down the family quickly retrieved the second crystal so Kratos could insert it into it's slot, though once it was powered up they found that runes appeared on metallic plates near the lever, causing them to realize what was going on. As Kratos pulled the lever back they found that the fragments formed the answer to the riddle that happened to be on the sandbowl, and that answer was 'freedom', though when Atreus traced that rune into the bowl the statue on the other side came to life.

This wasn't the same as what Kratos and Flurry were used to, as the statue remained in it's seat as it beat the ground with it's staff for a few seconds before firing a beam at the rock wall to their right, forming a doorway in no time, where Kratos assumed the giants would want to test people before allowing them passage.

With the statue done with it's task Kratos pushed open the stones and revealed another passage, just as they thought the moment everything started to move, where Atreus spotted holders lining the walls and carefully ignited them with some of his light arrows, since they had small crystals resting in them. One thing they noted was that the path in question was a different size than what everyone was expecting, though based on what Faye had said in the past they already knew that the giants had a variety of sizes that they came in, while Jormungandr was the only truly massive one left. The passage ended up bringing them to a new area to move through, where Atreus focused on using his light blue arrows to ignite the various crystals and let them see more of the area, which almost looked like a dwarven work area of sorts. Kratos, of course, focused on the task at hand as he looted a stone chest off to the side before crossing under a fallen stone pillar to access a bridge of sorts, with a revenant guarding it by the looks of things, which Pandora crushed with her halberd after Atreus stunned it with some of his light arrows.

Of course there were a few nightmares as well, which made sense due to the fact that they were always near revenants, but it mattered little to the family as Kratos cut his way through them and continued deeper into the mountain, allowing them to reach more draugr and some rotating devices that showed runes, meaning there was a runic chest nearby. The draugr were nothing to the family, especially when Atreus struck a light crystal that actually stunned their enemies for a time and opened the way for his father and both of his sisters to bring down the undead like they were nothing special. Kratos made sure to tell Atreus to keep an eye out for those types of crystals, since they could change the flow of battle in an instant if he struck them with his arrows, but also warned him not to rely on such a thing, since it would hinder the progress he was making as a warrior. Atreus wasn't too sure that he should do as his father said on this matter, especially if the stun crystals worked on more than just the draugr, but he didn't say anything to that comment as he loosed a few more light arrows, igniting lights and even restoring a light bridge for them to use.

While they explored the family found the runic chest that the devices were linked to, where the runes required to break the lock were written right on the wall behind it, in blood no less, causing them to quickly track down the devices and turn them until the three runes were displaced, allowing Kratos to loot the chest. With that done they made sure there wasn't anything else left for them to loot, though Flurry did locate another stone chest they had passed by, though once she dealt with the chest they found an area to crouch their way through and did so without delay. The downside to the passage was that they had to pass by a lot of bodies, men by the looks of it, where Kratos knew they were fortunate that these ones hadn't risen as Hel-Walkers, otherwise the passage would have been blocked entirely, at least until Flurry dealt with them using her magic, given what he had seen in the past. The route brought them to the backside of the statue they had seen previously, where Atreus was able to identify it as 'Durapror', one of the four stags of the World Tree who watched the entrance to the realm of the giants while the giants slept, meaning there might be more to this mountain than they originally assumed.

As they progressed beyond the stag the family found some more draugr, again not much of a problem, prompting Atreus to ask if his mother knew the truth of this mountain, where Kratos shook his head and stated that it was unlikely that she knew such a thing, especially due to how complicated her request was slowly becoming. Of course there were a couple of draugr up ahead of them, though once again none of them were bothered by that fact as they cut through them, while at the same time Flurry switched to her bow to take down those that were off in the distance. Such a thing allowed Atreus a chance to study how she used her ranged weapon, one that she was incredibly skilled in as he watched her, though when they reached a wall Flurry stood back as her family climbed up it, even passing by some runes that Atreus claimed were a name, 'Hraezlyr', meaning 'terror'. That information caused Flurry to wonder if that might be the name of the guardian of the mountain, someone or something chosen to keep the path of the giants safe from those who might seek to do harm to the missing race, or abuse their ruins in some manner.

When they were able to walk again Atreus found something that looked like a lantern of some kind, made of animal hide, string, and a place for a candle to rest, while Kratos smashed open another wooden chest for it's contents before all four of them approached the end of the passage, a large wooden gate, even though he did have to stop Atreus from goofing off while they passed through the raised gate, as Pandora opened it.

Such a thing revealed that they were in the heart of the mountain, in what appeared to be a work area that reminded both Kratos and Flurry of the passage between Olympus and the Underworld, and it sure looked like that was the case here, due to the scaffolding that seemed to be a lift in the center of everything. The pair glanced at each other and already knew what to do, find a lift and the activator that would allow them to reach whatever was at the peak, and fortunately it looked like the large wooden wheels in the floor in front of them had to be the activator. Such a thing meant that this was a mine, no doubt installed by the dwarves at some point in time, though while it was hard to say what this place had been used for they knew that the main thing was to find the lift, allowing them to see that the area was in decent shape despite having no owners for quite some time. The interesting thing in Flurry's eyes was more of the odd crystals that almost looked like crystalized sap, something they might be able to interact with in the future, though before they could do anything Atreus approached the wheel and touched it like he was going to operate it.

That, in turn, caused the claw that was hanging nearby to rush into the air while the main rope ended up getting trapped under some rubble that fell near the wheel, all while Atreus stared at the scene before rubbing the back of his head as his father glared at him.

"That was careless." Kratos commented, though he did his best to hold his anger in check, as this would delay them and made it harder for them to reach the summit of the mountain, but what really irritated him was the fact that his son just acted without thinking at times, something that they really needed to work on before it did some real damage, "I hope you had no plans to ask Flurry to carry us to the summit, as we have more work to do now."

"Oh come on! She's got those powerful wings! Surely she can carry us to the summit in no time." Atreus remarked, though part of him had considered such a thing when he glanced at the passage in front of them, because he didn't see much of a reason to be apologetic over altering things like this, which was why he glanced at his sister for a few seconds.

"Atreus, we have no idea how long the passage truly is, and you're asking me to make the journey multiple times to make sure all of us get up there?" Flurry inquired, though while she was sure she could do that, in fact she had boosted her own power to ensure she didn't strain herself like she had when she carried her father up to Pandora's Temple, she didn't want her brother to assume that she could just eliminate every obstacle in their path, otherwise she would have finished this entire venture on her own terms a long time ago, "Please, think of my poor wings, which will be heavily strained after such an ordeal... which will drastically reduce my abilities in battle and might hinder our progress even more if our foes get a lucky hit on me. You don't want such a thing, do you?"

"I... no, I don't." Atreus admitted, where he lowered his head a little, as he hadn't considered what his sister had said when he make his remark, in fact he hadn't considered her opinion on the matter at all and just assumed she'd help him out, a fact that was followed by their father turning as new enemies invaded the area.

Interestingly enough the enemies were just more draugr and they moved by a couple of stun crystals, allowing Atreus to stun them so the others could cut them down, though after doing so Flurry found that some ranged ones appeared as well and she eliminated them with a few well placed arrows. While they did that Atreus even commented on the fact that while the machines were dwarven in nature, it was clear that everything else had been done by the giants, which he found to be interesting and exciting at the same time, which only made Flurry wonder if he had some sort of problem with his personality, switching from not wanting to explore the area to wanting to do such a thing in seconds. After dealing with all of the undead the family found that the path they came from seemed to head down into an area that Brok was working in, something that annoyed Kratos a little as he approached the dwarf, who told them that while he did have a way around the Black Breath he couldn't use it for them. As Kratos let out an annoyed growl, and dismissed his anger, Flurry noticed something odd about the dwarf, something that she could only likely see because of her nature as the Goddess of Death and the fact that she had noticed the soul in Andvari's ring earlier.

His soul was fractured, as in there was a fourth of it missing based on what she could see, and when she blinked for a few seconds the image she was seeing seemed to fade, while doing it again as Flurry focused on that power seemed to bring it back, causing Brok to raise an eyebrow as she shook her head, figuring she could ask Sindri later on.

Following the path leading deeper into the mountain the family discovered an area that had both a wooden chest and a stone chest for them to loot, before coming to a stop near what appeared to be one of the traps that Brok mentioned, as his people had built many after moving into this area. The passage was two spiked walls pushed up against each other, all while there was a smaller side passage off to it's right, so Kratos had Atreus head into the small passage as he struck the sipping device that was above it, opening the passage so he and his daughters could move forward. Of course they had to time their rush through the passage, which wasn't hard for all three of them after everything they had been through, and when they caught up to Atreus a moment later Pandora used her chakrams to hit a moveable spike wall out of the way so they could enter another portion of the mines. There were a few more draugr for them to worry about, but this time Flurry stayed out of the way as Pandora assaulted the couple of undead that were nearby as their brother dealt with the rest of the ranged enemies, allowing Flurry and their father to look around for a bit.

While they did that Flurry found a critter looking at her, a small lizard-like creature that had two arms and seemed to crawl on it's belly, while still having a tail to help it move, though as she walked up to it the lizard just spat out a few small bags, pouches of materials that were pristine and without saliva on them, before it dived into the ground.

She wasn't sure what that was about, but assumed that it sensed her true nature and presented her with a gift to ensure it survived their encounter, even though she hadn't been planning on killing it, causing her to sigh as she collected the items and added them to her bag, figuring that she could check them later. There was also the corpse of a large creature in the area, one that reminded them of Brok's beast, though instead of stopping the family continued to move through the area, where Kratos started to move the cart that was in the area as Pandora smashed the lock holding it in place. From there he was able to move it into position so they could climb up to the area that was above them, allowing Flurry to break a pair of locks and lower a bridge for them to use, leading to Pandora finding an area for someone to crawl walk through so they could reach the chamber they had been in previously. Such a thing meant they could push the cart into the main portion of the mines, while Flurry discovered that the bridge only brought her over to a stone chest, which she looted, before the four of them returned to the cart and let Kratos push it out into the main chamber.

Such a thing allowed Flurry to jump up to the upper level of the main area, pass by a golden chest that she looted before tossing the green gem inside to her father so he could empower Atreus a little, before she approached the boulder that was keeping the rope stuck and swung Earthshaker at it, shattering the rock in an instant, only for a troll to awaken and emerge from the ground.

"Of course. I'm not even surprised." Flurry commented, where she switched to her bow and remained on the upper area as her father and her siblings faced the troll, because this would allow Atreus to learn more about battle without her just taking it away from him like she did with the Soul Eater and the various Ancients.

Kratos and Pandora handled the melee battle, demanding the troll's attention while Atreus focused on tracking where his sister was aiming with her own bow, causing him to realize something about it, the weapon was enchanted by magic so it never ran out of arrows, which was just unfair. Fortunately their attacks opened holes in the troll's defenses, allowing the melee warriors to strike at it repeatedly while avoiding it's blows, just like they had done the last time they clashed with one of these creatures, and their experience in fighting trolls allowed them to deal devastating damage to it. Kratos, just like before, ended the fight by knocking it to the ground and then used it's weapon to crush it's head from above, turning it into a pile of resources that Pandora and Flurry collected once they were sure that the battle was over, since there was no telling if more foes would show up. In that instant, as everyone returned to the wheel, Flurry smiled as she found an interesting reward for their battle, one of the Frozen Flames, meaning they could empower the Leviathan Axe further the next time they found one of the dwarven brothers, as she checked on Brok after finding it and found that he had moved on for some reason.

With that done Kratos pushed the cart down the rest of the track as Pandora tended to the wheel, allowing the clamps to come down and grab hold of the makeshift platform, where Flurry took hold of the device so her father, brother, and sister could climb onto the cart, as the moment she let go it started to move up, but thanks to her wings she landed on it before it got too far.

"So, do you think that this will get up to the top?" Atreus asked, though he had to admit that this was better than what he had thought it would be, just watching the rest of the mountain go by while they had a chance to rest, though as he said that he paused as he glanced at the passage they were moving through, "Though to be honest, I'm starting to feel like something dreadful is getting close to us."

"We are not at the peak, but we are closer than before." Kratos said, as the lift came to a stop after a minute of travel, so it meant they were either near the peak of one portion of the mountain or just the portion of the mine they were in, where he and his children stepped out to continue their journey.

Atreus, of course, found another lantern and discovered that this one had a candle inside it, something that caused him to use the edge of his knife to light a flame so the object could be lifted into the air, even though he made sure to quickly write a message on it. That message, as it turned out, was to ask that someone watch over his mother's soul, where they stood near each other for a few moments to watch it fly off into the rest of the mine before they got moving as well, since there was no telling what else the mountain would throw at them. This time around they discovered more dwarven traps, devices along the path that spewed fire at anything that dared to use this path, though none of them were bothered by that fact as Atreus got on his father's back so the trio could jump through the hazards with ease. There was even one that raised a stone chest up, where Flurry flew around it and lowered the trap so her family could move forward, allowing the chest to be looted in the process, before they found another mining lift that seemed to be their ticket to the peak, where Kratos and Pandora pushed two heavy stones off the lift to get them moving.

Flurry wasn't too surprised when her brother started talking about what they might be able to see when they finally found the peak, though when draugr leapt down onto the lift she simply swatted them off the ledge with her magic, since all four of them weren't interested in fighting them again, and that allowed the lift to move towards the peak in silence.

Atreus seemed to take offense to that, even though she was saving them energy for whatever might be ahead of them, but as he opened his mouth to lash out at her the rock wall behind him shattered as a beam of lightning tore through it in a second, causing Kratos to pull Atreus back. In that moment they discovered the source of the attack, it was a massive dragon that looked somewhat terrifying, causing Flurry to realize that this had to be Hraezlyr, who actually chomped down on the lift and pulled it close so it could stab it's left claws into the material, stopping them instantly. Flurry smiled for a moment as she switched weapons again, as she had never fought a dragon before, causing her to pull out the Blade of Olympus once more, still in it's sealed state since it's pull power might be overkill, before lashing out at the claws, cutting into Hraezlyr's scales with ease. Such a thing caused the beast to roar in pain as it wrecked part of the lift and then blasted a hole in the side of the large passage they were moving through, allowing the dragon to escape before she could fight it, only for it to hook it's tail onto their lift as it yanked them into the passage it was moving through, wrecking the lift in the process.

"Hraezlyr has retreated, for now. I suggest we rest a little, before dealing with the dragon." Kratos remarked, because he knew that to fight a beast like that, who was likely waiting for them at the end of the passage it had created, they would have to be prepared for anything and everything, so a few minutes of recovery would only benefit them.

Flurry smiled as she faced the path that was in front of them, because she was looking forward to clashing with Hraezlyr and seeing whatever the peak of the mountain had in store for her and her family, they just had to be patient before they reached the end of their quest and upheld Faye's last wishes.

Norse: Dragon, Summit, and a Discovery

For the few minutes that they rested Flurry found that the mountain seemed to shake every now and then, likely due to Hraezlyr blasting more holes into the area as it made it's way to whatever destination it was currently heading towards, and as her family got ready to move she noticed a crystal infused with lightning fell onto some sap and blasted it apart.

"I see. That's the answer to the sap we spotted previously." Flurry commented, where Kratos nodded his head a little, as he and the others had seen it as well, meaning they were going to have to keep an eye out for the empowered crystals while they were out in the field, or maybe find a way to empower Atreus' bow with the element.

"Still, it seems like the dragon is attacking something else." Atreus remarked, due to the fact that there were a number of vibrations rocking the passage they had been brought into, though even as he said that it seemed to die down, like the beast had either moved on or had fallen asleep, meaning their time spent resting might have yielded good results, "Or not... I guess we'll see what it has been up to when we reach the end of the passage."

Kratos said nothing to that as he also gave his son a nod, as that was a correct assumption of the situation, especially since there was no telling what Hraezlyr was currently doing right now, though as they progressed all four of them discovered something else that was interesting, there was crystallized sap infused with the dragon's power. Such a thing meant that one of them could grab hold of part of the crystal, rip it off the root it was growing from, and then toss it at another portion of roots that happened to be in their way, blasting the obstacle apart so they could progress again. He also stopped Atreus from asking questions, mostly because the air was growing thinner and his son, who had no experience in places like this, would hurt himself if he did something foolish, but he made sure that Atreus knew there would be time for questions once they were out of the area. Such a thing allowed them to reach a wall they climbed across before reaching another root wall, an obstacle that meant nothing thanks to the nearby empowered sap, allowing the family to blast their way through it and continue through the passage without needing to slow down.

As they continued up the rocky passage, however, they heard Sindri telling something to get away from it, and up reaching the end all four of them found that he was actually being attacked by Hraezlyr, where they could see that the dragon was currently blocking the way forward, meaning they were going to have to kill it.

"Father... can you kill something that big?" Atreus inquired, because he wasn't about to leave Sindri to face the wrath of the dragon that had attacked them, especially since there was no telling what else the dwarf might be able to help them with in the future, so losing him was out of the question in his eyes.

"Possibly, if we catch it off guard." Kratos replied, where he glanced at the area that was in front of them and spotted what looked like a flat area off in the distance, which seemed to be the perfect place to fight the beast if need be, causing him to glance at his son for a moment as his daughters readied themselves, "Atreus, you break right and find an angle... and wait for my mark. We will face the beast."

Atreus nodded as he rushed down the path to their right and called out to the dragon, causing Hraezlyr to turn towards him for a moment while revealing an opening that Kratos, Pandora, and Flurry could use from the side, where Kratos ran up the side path and then jumped onto the dragon's back. In the next few moments he raced up his back and jumped into the air as soon as he reached the back of his neck, bringing down the Leviathan Axe on top of his head, which didn't really do anything as Hraezlyr barely moved, though he backed off as Pandora slammed the head of her weapon down into the dragon's head as well, as she had been tossed into the air so she could hit the beast. After that both of them landed near Atreus as the beast opened his mouth to suck them up, where Flurry used her magic to keep them secure as her father leapt into Hraezlyr's mouth, allowing him to just attack both the upper part of the beast's mouth and the tongue at the same time, while using one hand to keep the mouth from closing on him. The dragon moved around for a time, clearly trying to figure out how to deal with Kratos, before coming to a stop on the earthen peak that was near the flattened area, where he forced the unwanted warrior out of his mouth, allowing Kratos to land nearby as Flurry and Pandora dropped down in the area as well.

Of course Atreus and Sindri remained as far out of sight as they could, allowing the trio to focus on the dragon as he just glared down at them, before he let loose a roar as he fired a beam of lightning into the air, which seemed to separate up in the air and come back down on the trio, while striking other areas as well. In addition to that they found that he used his ability to draw them in as well, making sure to keep them close so his lightning could hit them, though since he refused to fight them in the area he had spat Kratos out into they had to find another way to deal with him. The presence of the crystallized sap told the experienced warriors what needed to be done, as Pandora grabbed on and hurled it at the beast as he charged more of his lightning breath, something that ended up causing the sap to explode and knock the dragon down to the ground. As Hraezlyr collided with the ground Kratos and Flurry were upon him without delay, finding that his head was damaged and that they could strike that area to harm him, though while Kratos did that Flurry slashed into his chest with her weapon, allowing the Blade of Olympus to cut through his scales in the process.

When Hraezlyr got up and moved the trio noticed two things, the first being that there was a massive chuck of crystallized sap in the area, something they might be able to use against him, and the other was that there was a crane above the area that might be sharp enough to puncture the dragon's wounded head. With those pieces of information found Kratos just glanced at his daughters and they nodded, as they were on the same wavelength after spending so much time fighting side by side and understood him better than most people did, something that would allow Atreus to see why teamwork was an important thing in battle. Since Hraezlyr was actually close by, and not remaining on the side of the mountain like he had done previously, Kratos and Pandora lashed out at his hands and legs, while at the same time looking for openings to use the explosive sap on so they could stun him for a time. At the same time Flurry took to the air and flew around the space that was above the dragon, swinging at his head and wings, the latter mostly to prevent their foe from taking off, as that meant he might come back and attack them again while their guards are down, while also spinning her blade around to cancel out the lightning breath that was fired at her.

She found that the most interesting thing about the dragon was that while his scales were tough, especially on his head with the crest that they had damaged, their weapons were able to cut through those on his sides and on his hands, with a bit of difficulty, and when Hraezlyr tried to bite her Flurry spun around and slashed at one of his teeth, removing the tooth and sending it flying into the rock wall near a workshop Sindri had been setting up previously.

Another thing she discovered was that every sap explosion in the dragon's face caused more damage to the area that her father was working on, as when Hraezlyr went down he focused on the scarred section of his forehead while Pandora and Flurry focused on the rest of the body. The dragon did love to fire off bursts of lightning at any of them, something that he was used to using against those that angered him in some manner, though as that happened Atreus, who was watching from the safety of the upper area, found that whenever Flurry spun her greatsword in a circular manner she stopped the beam from even touching her. At the same time he realized what his family was doing as Hraezlyr tried to bite him and his first target, where Flurry used magical chains to grab onto the head and slam the dragon back down into the arena so he didn't get any funny ideas, even though he did wonder why she then unchained him as the fight resumed. Flurry also did something else that interested Atreus, she used her magic to contain one of the lightning beam attacks and trapped it in an orb, maybe to use it later, though after that she struck the dragon on the side, cutting through the scales while the rest of the family worked on the rest of the beast.

When Kratos determined that the time was right he beckoned to Atreus as they knocked Hraezlyr down, where his son let an arrow fly and cut through the rope keeping the crane above them intact, though as the hook fell Kratos jumped into the air, grabbed onto it, and brought it down into the dragon's head. Hraezlyr roared in pain as one of the hook's spikes went right through the weakened portion of his head and punctured his skull, in fact the sound was just enough to tell all of them just how painful it really was, though that wasn't the end of Kratos' plan as Flurry flashed through the air and left an X mark on part of the dragon's neck. Following that her father leapt onto the other half of the hook, where he used the force of that motion to land on the large spike of sap that was in the area, something that allowed them to watch as he just pulled on the hook and jerked Hraezlyr onto it, the tip going through the X Flurry had left before he buried half of the material in the beast's neck. The dragon roared as he jerked his head away and tore the crystal in half as well, leaving part of it buried in his neck, something that Kratos maneuvered himself into so he could kick it deeper into the flesh before he saw that the lightning was building, and when jumped off the hook Hraezlyr blasted a hole in his own neck.

As Kratos hit the ground he got up and turned to face the dragon, where the beast fell with his mouth open, with him standing between the upper and lower portions of his mouth, causing him to stretch his body a little while Pandora and Flurry caught up with him, while Atreus and Sindri did the same.

"I... I don't believe it... no one's killed a dragon for hundreds of years," Sindri commented, where they found that he just stared at the fallen beast for a moment, along with the fact that Pandora was already checking out areas like she was in the middle of thinking about how to take it apart, before he turned to face Kratos, "not since the Grand Culling of the Wyrms... and, unless I'm mistaken, you did all that for me."

"It is possible, but does not change the fact that the dragon was in our way. Now it is not." Kratos replied, because while he could easily say that they had done it to save Sindri, since that was what his son would do in this situation, he decided to focus more on the fact that they removed an obstacle who could have hindered them in the future.

"You can deny it all you want, but you did save my life and I am grateful for that... especially since that includes a reward, compensation to be exact, for your heroic deed." Sindri stated, telling the family that he was willing to give them an item or piece of gear for saving his life, causing him to reach into his bag for a moment before producing a bundle of light green arrows that seemed elegant and deadly at the same time, which he handed to Atreus, "Braided mistletoe arrows, which are straighter than Heimdall and perfectly weighted. Perfect replacements for you, since your arrows are nearly gone."

Atreus didn't seem all too impressed by the arrows, something that caused Sindri to frown, since it wasn't what he was expecting to hear, though as he searched for another item to appease Kratos, fearing that the father would be unhappy since his son was displaced with his reward, they got to talking about seeing Brok again. That got Sindri heated, because every time he pulled something out while he was talking it was accompanied by a 'no', but they could tell that whatever falling out he and Brok had suffered had really put a strain on their relationship and he was still suffering from it. When he pulled out a fish, of all things, he freaked out, dropped it, and told them to burn it, but that was when he locked onto the tooth fragment that Flurry had cleaved off and asked Kratos to recover it, who did so and then fragmented it so that it was in a smaller portion. Sindri, of course, didn't want to touch the tooth and instead sprayed some dust on it, where he told him to run it along Atreus' bowstring, where the sisters watched as it empowered the bow with the ability to us lightning arrows that shattered the sap with ease, opening another path for them to move forward.

As they did that Sindri's jaw dropped as he watched Flurry and Pandora get to work, the pair focusing their powers for just a few seconds as they hacked Hraezlyr's corpse apart, reducing him to piles of scales, bones, teeth, claws, and everything else that went into a dragon, before Flurry stored all of it away in seconds, all without Atreus even noticing as he and his father moved into the passage, causing Pandora to catch up as Flurry lagged behind a little.

"Hey Sindri, I've got a question for you: what's up with Brok's soul?" Flurry asked, because that had been bugging her since she noticed it, and she wanted to ask the question while Atreus wasn't near, since it would reveal something she wanted to keep hidden from him.

"I... would rather not talk about that." Sindri replied, though while he was surprised that Flurry knew such a thing, in fact not even his brother knew that particular fact, he really didn't want to talk about this, not even to those who had just saved his life from the dragon that had nearly killed him.

Flurry sighed as she acknowledged his wishes and then moved to catch up to the others, finding that her father had just slowed down a little to let Atreus' excitement over killing a dragon burn off, before they discovered a golden chest that was surrounded by roots, so all they had to do was use one of Atreus' new arrows to deal with it. With the roots blown up, causing them to smile for a moment, Kratos looted the chest and passed the items to Flurry before they found an area to climb up, allowing the family to continue towards the summit of the peak that was their destination. The upper area had a draugr and a nightmare, where they discovered that the new arrows could also stun enemies as well, as Atreus used one on the floating foe so Pandora could take it out, while Flurry switched to her sickles once more as she rapidly took out the undead. With that done they focused on the area that the enemies had been in, finding more sap and a piece that actually remained in tact after it exploded, the crystal anyway, where Flurry moved the wooden wheel that was nearby and just raised the container that the item was on, positioning it so Atreus could hit it again, blasting down a pile of materials they could use to progress onward again.

That brought them to a group of nightmares and Hel-Walkers, nothing too major since the family was able to take them out in seconds, in fact the group beyond that stood no chance as well, though it did allow them access to another runic chest and some sap that Kratos could hurl at areas of interest so Atreus could blast them apart. One of those gave them access to a triptych, this one revealing the story of Ymir, the progenitor of all living things in the Nine Realms and had been slain by Odin, of all individuals, causing Atreus to write that all down before they returned to the main path. The other bits that Kratos targeted released a bridge for them to use to move across a gap, and opened the way for them to track down the three runes for the chest, so once the runes were smashed the family looted the chest before continuing on their way towards the peak. Flurry found that the last bit of the passage happened to be another climb, which ended in another stone door for them to open, and when the others caught up with her Kratos opened the door in an instant, revealing that they were near the summit, though there was a gateway of sorts on the peak in front of them and a tree that seemed out of place.

As they started to move the quiver strap for Atreus' gear broke, where Kratos collected one of the mistletoe arrows from the quiver and broke it so that part of it could be used as a fix for the broken piece of equipment, and he made sure his son knew that fact, though after that was done the family approached the summit and Flurry held up a hand for them to stop, including weaving magic around them to silence their movements.

"You know why we're here. Has my last visit loosened your tongue?" a familiar voice asked, where they knew it had to be Baldur, based on the information they had gathered since he landed outside their home and picked a fight with Kratos, all while the family carefully climbed around the rocky area as Flurry used her magic to catch the pieces that fell, just to make sure their foe had no idea they were in the area.

"I see you brought company this time... must be important if the sons of Thor deign to grace me with their presence." a new voice said, one who seemed like he might be from another land as well, since none of them recognized his accent, but one thing they knew was that he either had no care for who was in front of him or he had the superior bargaining chip in this discussion, especially since Thor's sons were called Magni and Modi, "Tell me, are you two still tripping over yourselves to impress daddy?"

"Focus on our mission. The tattooed man: tracks show that he's traveling with a child, in addition to the strange girl and the odd pony creature that was with him." Baldur stated, as if his companions would have done something to slow them down, while the pair in question remained silent as they let him talk with the figure that seemed to be bound to the tree, leaving the family to remain silent as they listened to their pursuer talk, "Where would they go next?"

"Why would I know that? I've been unable to view the realms for a long time, you know." the mysterious figure remarked, where Kratos could tell that the trio that was questioning the figure weren't too happy with him, in fact one called him the 'smartest man alive', either because it happened to be the truth or it was a title that the figure was known by, "And I'm smarter than all of the dead ones, too!"

"Look, you help me and I'll help you. I can talk to Odin, and if you tell me where they are I can..." Baldur said, though it was clear that something had cut him off since he stopped in his tracks, meaning he was either used to talking to this figure or the look on the figure's face had caused him to do this.

"Your father won't let me go, Baldur, and he won't let you kill me. You have nothing to offer me." the figure stated, which just interested the family even more than before, because if Odin deemed it necessary to keep someone contained like this than it meant he must have been important in some manner, meaning he might have information that might prove to be important in their own endeavors, "So take your questions, take your threats, take these two worthless wankers, and piss off."

Baldur huffed before pulling the other two away, where one of the brothers mentioned that they would be back for the odd figure's other eye, though Kratos waited for a few moments, to be sure they were gone, before resuming his climb, which allowed him to reach the flat area that Baldur's group had been on, allowing them to look at the large gateway as Kratos made sure they were alone.

"Ah, and the very topic of that conversation appears before me: a tattooed man, a child, a young warrior lass, and... no, it can't be... an alicorn?!" the figure said, though the last part made it seem like he was shocked by something, even though Flurry knew he had to be talking about her, something that caused Kratos to ask his son to carefully check the area, just to be sure that Baldur's group had departed from the area.

"Is that what I am? An alicorn?" Flurry asked, because this was the first time she and her father had heard anyone say even a small portion of information on what she was and where she might have come from, questions she had long since stopped asking since no one knew anything back in Greece, before she tilted her head, "What's an alicorn? And who are you?"

"You don't know? Alicorns are said to be incredibly powerful creatures, possessing the strengths of three clans and none of their weaknesses," the figure stated, where Kratos noted that the slim figure was currently embedded in the tree, he had a pair of horns that seemed natural, there was a ring of runes around the upper part of his head, and one of his eyes had been plucked out, though the one that remained reminded him of the goshawk that delivered Tyr's invitations a long time ago, "those clans being the horses that are bound to the earth, the graceful pegasi that fly through the air with their wings, and the unicorns who wield potent magic. Alicorns are on a level that is beyond the power or skills of three races, or so I was told when Tyr told me about the species in question... he said that they are tied to aspects of the world, like drawing power from the sun and moon to wielding emotional powers. As for who I am, I am the greatest ambassador to the gods, the Giants, and all of the creatures in the Nine Realms... I know every corner of these lands, every language spoken, every war waged, every deal struck. They call me... Mimir!... the Smartest Man Alive, and I have the answer to your every question."

"Is that so? Tell us: why is the son of Odin and the sons of Thor hunting us?" Kratos inquired, because that was the piece of the puzzle that none of them understood, as while they could guess it was due to being foreign gods he knew that such a thing couldn't be the reason, otherwise Baldur would have said so during their fight.

"...There appear to be some gaps in my knowledge... you'll forgive me, as Odin has kept me imprisoned here for... oh, 109 winters, so I'm out of the loop on certain things." Mimir replied, which Kratos couldn't fault him for, because if he had been trapped here for over a hundred years, forced to look in the same direction without being able to see anything that was going on in the Nine Realms, before he focused on Kratos for a few more seconds, "Look, I'm a clever lad, and I can figure this out... piece the information together, but... I just need time."

"Very well. You may be interested in why we are here, and it is simple: the boy's mother is dead, and we are..." Kratos started to say, though in that moment Atreus decided to return to their side and found that they were talking to the figure that was in the tree, but even as he noticed they were talking his son informed them that he was right, the trio that had been up here were nowhere to be seen, before he realized what they were talking about.

"She wanted us to spread her ashes from the highest peak in the Nine Realms." Atreus said, interrupting his father, which he didn't seem to care about, while Kratos said nothing on the matter, even though he would have to teach his son that doing this, interrupting people while they were talking, was a bad thing to do.

"Oh, then you've come to the wrong place, little brother, for the highest peak in the Nine Realms isn't here in Midgard: it's in Jotunheim, the realm of the Giants." Mimir said, where he found that Atreus let out an angry 'no' while his father looked at the area they were in for a few moments, also not believing that they had spent their time in vain, while noticing that while Pandora did seem a little annoyed by this information, like the others, only Flurry was indifferent, but that had to be due to her interest in his knowledge of alicorns, before his eye lit up and an image appeared in the gate's frame, "Take a look: this is the last known bridge to Jotunheim in all the realms. Do you see that mountain, shaped like a Giant's fingers scraping the sky? That's the highest peak in the Nine Realms."

"Could we use this bridge? I mean, we have a Bifrost." Pandora inquired, because she remembered the information Freya had given them when they used Tyr's Temple earlier and wondered if they could use the Bifrost with this portal frame, which would make things too easy, but she was hoping for a 'yes' from Mimir.

"When the Giants destroyed all of the other bridges to their realm, they locked this one up with a secret rune... and if it still exists, well, only a Giant would know about it." Mimir stated, where Flurry glanced down at the Lake of Nine for a moment as she spotted Jormungandr sleeping again, because he was the last known Giant in all of Midgard and if they could figure out how to get him to speak in a way they understood they could progress again, before she realized something.

"Mimir, you said that you know every language spoken... does that include the language of the Giants?" Flurry asked, because if he told them that he did then that meant they could figure out a way to get him down to Jormungandr and have the two discuss things, something that caused the rest of her family, or at least her father and Pandora, to understand what she was doing.

"Indeed it does. You see, today the winds of fate have kicked up a strange vortex of coincidences... if you can free me, and I know how, I can get you to where you need to go." Mimir replied, confirming that he was the key to getting to Jotunheim, while at the same time Kratos glanced at the gateway once more as he held up the bag that was filled with Faye's ashes, a fact that didn't last too long as Atreus focused on him for a few seconds.

"What must we do?" Kratos inquired, though given Mimir's position he assumed that the figure was either going to ask for Flurry to do something to the tree he was trapped to or have them remove his head, those seemed to be the only options available to them right now.

"First, you need to cut off my head... look, Odin made sure that no weapon, not even Thor's hammer, could free my body from these bonds, but we don't need my body. You only need my head." Mimir said, showing them that he understood the nature of the curse or magic that had been placed on him and that he didn't want to bother the family with wasting their time on trying to free him completely, even though Flurry had to wonder if she could use the Blade of Olympus to free him from the tree, while Atreus paled and walked away as Kratos approached the figure.

Mimir revealed that they needed to find someone who could revive his head, using the old magic, otherwise there wasn't much he could do to help them out in their quest, where Kratos mentioned that they knew Freya and had seen her use her magic, so she might be able to help. The figure didn't seem to approve of the idea, suggesting that they had a history that wasn't very good and that he was likely thinking that she would leave him dead if they brought him to her, but Flurry told him that she was the only person, in this realm, who might be able to do this, causing him to sigh and accept that they would bring him to Freya. At the same time Mimir told them that he knew all four of them were gods, speaking when he was sure that Atreus was far away since Pandora had walked him away from the area to be sure he didn't freak out over watching Mimir get beheaded, which Kratos quietly confirmed before informing the figure that they would tell Atreus once he was sure he was ready for the burden that would place on him. Mimir had a few parting words, about how there was a chance that the boy would resent them if they withheld the truth for too much longer, before offering his neck to Kratos, who swung his axe and severed Mimir's head in an instant, though as his head fell they found that it had some rope as well, which he used to fashion a holder for it.

As he attached it to his belt, near the bag with Faye's ashes, Flurry carefully used a bit of time magic to preserve the head, though at the same time she hoped that they could bring Mimir back, because he might have answers about her race and potentially even the place she had come from, which really made her look forward to what the future held for her and her family.

Norse: Next Steps

While Atreus was happy with the idea of heading into another realm, especially since it was the one that would allow them to fulfill his mother's final wish, Kratos was a tad bit unhappy with the sudden change of destination, while Pandora had no real opinion, though Flurry was thinking about something else entirely.

"So... I'm an alicorn. That answers one question and raises many more." Flurry commented, where she glanced at Mimir's head for a moment, as he was the first person who knew anything about her species and it gave her more purpose to make sure they were able to revive his head, otherwise that information would be lost forever.

"I'm surprised that you didn't even know what you are." Atreus remarked, though he was far more interested in heading to Jotunheim right now, instead of focusing on his sister's odd species, despite the fact that they had to do a few things before being able to head to the realm of the Giants, "Kind of takes away from everything smart you've done, if you ask me."

"Well, I'm unique. There's only been me throughout my entire life... hard to find out about a species when there aren't any others of your kind around to talk to or learn about." Flurry stated, which was the truth, she had spent years trying to find out more information about her species and now, after spending so much time searching for answers, she was on the cusp of learning even more about what she was, even though what Mimir had said earlier interested her greatly, before she thought about something else, "Also, can you stop being rude to everyone? Just because I had no idea what my species was called doesn't make me stupid or less intelligent than others... also, you're going to apologize to Sindri the next time we see him, since you needed arrows and didn't have to react to getting them that way."

Atreus opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when he found that his father was looking at him, his expression telling him that he agreed with what Flurry had just said, causing him to sigh as he apologized, though while Flurry quickly accepted it she decided to keep a closer eye on him and correct his behavior if he did this again. After the pair did that the family headed down the other path that was right next to the gateway frame, where they discovered another silver chest and Kratos beckoned for his son to move up, causing Atreus to stab the mask keeping it shut so his father could loot it and hand the items to Flurry. It didn't have one of the cipher pieces, sadly, though none of them were complaining over the items that were inside the container, since they might be useful in some manner in the future, though after they cleared out the chest the family continued down the path that would no doubt take them back to the Lake of Nine. While they walked down the path Kratos asked Atreus if he remembered the way to their next destination, where Atreus told him that he recalled how to get to the portion of the Woods that the Witch was living in, as he was using Freya's title since he had no idea what her name actually was.

The path came to a sudden end as they found the remnants of a Yggdrasil door off to the side, where Kratos raised the Key for a moment and they watched as it reformed before their eyes, and when a light flashed he opened the door so all three of his children could head through it before he followed them. On the other side of the door they found themselves on a path that had been growing on Yggdrasil's branches, an odd circular path based on the looks of it, though it did allow them time to think about what they had discovered while avoiding the edge of the path that Brok had mentioned earlier. Kratos and his daughters weren't surprised by the fact that Baldur was the one who had shown up outside their home, in fact that piece of information had been figured out shortly after they started their quest, but since none of them had told Atreus about their thoughts this meant he finally knew who the figure was. As they waited for the door to open, however, Kratos thought about Mimir and what else the head might be able to tell Flurry, because it was nice to see that she was finally learning about the race she belonged to, even though it did raise more questions as he hoped that Freya was able to revive the head.

A few moments later the exit door opened and they stepped through it, appearing in the workshop area of Tyr's Temple, where they found Brok eating some meat while standing near part of his station, clearly taking a break since he had been busy since setting up this place, though that didn't stop Atreus from rushing over to him and saving his name three times, like he was trying to get his attention.

"WHAT?! I'm on a fucking break. You don't see me screeching at you whenever you're short and curlies." Brok snapped, showing them that he really wanted his break and that he didn't appreciate being bothered like this, though in the next moment, as Atreus backed down with a disappointed look on his face, the dwarf grumbled to himself before setting his food down for a moment, "You've already soiled my solitude, so you might as well join me... and no, I was not offering you any of my food."

"That is not necessary, as we have our own." Kratos replied, where Flurry produced some of the jerky that she had made before they started on their adventure, since she knew they wouldn't have the time to sit down and cook something, not unless he ordered them to stop and eat real food for a time, before he produced his axe and the flame they had recently recovered, "We will not trouble you for long."

Brok glanced at the weapon and correctly identified that Sindri had worked on it recently, which still annoyed him, but he was able to strengthen the Leviathan Axe once more, even though they did have to listen to him badmouth his brother as he worked, though he did show that he cared a little as he asked them if his brother was eating well, something they had no idea about.

"Sometimes he gets so wrapped up in his work, Sindri hasn't the sense to sip or sup... there, all better." Brok said, where he tossed the new and improved Leviathan Axe back to Kratos, who glanced at it and nodded to show that he approved of the work that had been done on it, while at the same time the family could tell that the dwarf still cared for his brother, despite whatever argument drove them apart, "You know, even if he remembers to eat, good luck getting him to cook his own meat... I guess I got all of the stomach in the family, and all of the smarts too."

When Atreus tried to convince Brok that he cared about Sindri, however, the blue dwarf called his brother a 'spit-fister' for some reason before focusing on his 'break from his break', which only prompted the boy to ask about the beast of burden for a moment, only to learn that Brok killed her earlier, was eating some parts of her, stored the rest away for later, and had crapped a bit of her out earlier. Atreus was, of course, devastated by this information, especially since he claimed that the beast had been the dwarf's friend, causing Brok to accuse him of being too sentimental towards a creature he barely knew and had only encountered not that long ago, and told Kratos that he ought to talk sense into his son at some point in the future. Kratos knew that there were still lessons that he had to teach Atreus, so he simply said nothing as his son followed him towards the temple's entrance, where Flurry and Pandora bid him farewell for the time being as they quickly caught up to the pair as they headed outside. From there it was a simple matter to head back down to where the boat was resting and head back out in the direction that would bring them back to where Freya's place was located, though as they did that Kratos made sure to pass Mimir's head to Pandora so he didn't damage it.

As it turned out the dock they stopped at was a different one than the one they departed from some time ago, when they were given permission to use this vessel, where Flurry suspected that Jormungandr shifting his weight had caused this to happen, due to the lower water level. Such a thing wasn't too much of a problem for them, not even the sap that was on the lift in front of them, something Atreus was able to remove thanks to his new lightning arrows, allowing the family to step onto the lift before activating the device to move towards Freya's house. Atreus asked if they really thought that the Witch was as powerful as they thought she was, where Kratos confirmed that she most likely was, since it was possible that Odin might be responsible for her current situation, plus there was the unspoken desire of Flurry's to speak with the currently dead figure again. In the past Kratos wouldn't have even dared to hope for anything specific to happen, though both Flurry and Pandora had taught him that having hope wasn't a bad thing and this was one of those times where he hoped for something specific to happen, which all depended on Freya.

When they reached the top of the lift, however, they discovered that the way into Freya's place was gone, as in her house had been raised, no doubt after she returned from being yanked back into Midgard, and with no bell or chime nearby the family had to find another way to reach their destination.

The path became clear soon enough as Atreus spotted another section of sap and blew it up with one of his arrows, which opened the way for a few draugr and a revenant, enemies that the family were more than familiar with, which caused the four of them to eliminate their enemies with ease. Following that Flurry found what appeared to be a secondary way out, which required climbing up one of the walls of what appeared to be a well, though while she did that she also spotted yet another silver chest, allowing Atreus to deal with the mask so their father could loot it, this time uncovering a cipher piece for Muspelheim. Such a thing meant that they were able to now travel to the realm of fire, as Atreus discovered that this definitely held the Travel Rune in question, which was why he made sure to transfer the rune to their father, though once that was done Kratos started to climb up the well's walls. They passed by a runic message that seemed to tell the Aesir to turn back, as if they would use such a method to get into Freya's domain, though Kratos ignored it as he climbed out of the well and reached an area that definitely looked like what they were expecting.

That was also due to the fact that the massive turtle was resting nearby, who seemed to be focused on something else at the moment, causing Kratos and his children to walk down the path to their right so they could reach Freya's door and see if she could revive Mimir for them.

"How's it going, Chaurli?" Atreus asked, something that caused the rest of the family to pause and focus on him for a couple of seconds, where he stopped and glanced back at them before rubbing the back of his head for a moment, likely realizing that he had heard something in his head again and didn't tell his father like he said he would, "Sorry, he noticed us emerge from the well and I heard him speak in my head... he just told me his name."

Kratos simply nodded and reminded Atreus that he should inform them of this sort of thing first, before reacting to all of the voices that he was able to hear, though the interesting thing was that there were a few draugr in the area outside Freya's place, despite the fact that there were none before. Such a thing meant nothing to the family as Kratos focused on the pair of undead, especially when one of them rushed at Flurry, of all people, a fact that ended with her moving out of the way as she cut it down with ease and allowed her family to focus on the other one. As the first one fell a few more draugr rose to fight them, these ones significantly weaker than the first ones that decided to challenge them, which caused all four of them to focus since there was no telling how many more enemies might be coming at them. Since the newcomers were weaker than the first pair of enemies Flurry found that Atreus was able to learn a little more about working with them, which was a good thing since he needed the practice, and in the end he helped their father take down the last of the draugr.

With the undead dealt with the family discovered that the way into Freya's place was open, while the door was closed, and Atreus checked with Chaurli for a moment before confirming that their friend wouldn't be annoyed if they barged into her house, though Kratos lightly knocked before opening the door, allowing them to see that Freya was indeed home.

"Guys, she is here!" Atreus said, where he ran up to where Freya was standing, which happened to be on a ladder so she could reach some shelves that were out of reach normally, though she smiled at them as they entered, showing them that she wasn't annoyed by them entering her home, rather she seemed grateful for some company, "I'm so glad that you're alright!"

"Being yanked from Alfheim wasn't pleasant, but I am unharmed... wait, what are those?" Freya inquired, as the start of her statement was made while she was getting off the ladder, though the last part happened to be when she noticed the mistletoe arrows that were in Atreus' quiver, something that seemed to enrage her slightly when she realized exactly what they were, "Mistletoe arrows... give them to me. NOW!"

Of course the family was surprised by her tone, though because Freya had assisted them greatly, and they required her aid once more, Kratos touched Atreus' shoulder and nodded, causing his son to nod his understanding as he handed over the arrows, allowing Freya to dispose of them in her fireplace, where they went up in seconds.

"Sorry about that, but those arrows are wicked... I'm sure they were a gift, but whoever gave them to you had no idea what sort of chaos they could cause." Freya said, where she made sure that each and every arrow was torched, reducing the set to ash in seconds, though it only made Flurry wonder why the mere sight of them had set her off, almost like the mistletoe arrows were the key to breaking a curse or spell of some kind, "If you see anymore of them, destroy them... and please, take my arrows in their place, for I have no need of them anymore. Now, I know you are on an important quest and wouldn't stop to come see me for no reason... so, what can I help you with?"

"We encountered an unforeseen obstacle, and this one said that he knew how to get by it." Kratos replied, though while his son collected Freya's arrows, which appeared to be made of a light metal and made to hit their target with ease, he reached his hand back and unhooked Mimir's head, causing Freya to pale for a moment as it was raised so she could see it, "I had to remove his head, at his request, but he said that one versed in the old ways could revive him, and we agreed that you were the only one that could do that... even though he protested for a short while."

"I'm sure he did." Freya remarked, where she stood there for a few moments, informing Flurry that there was a reason for Mimir's desire to not be brought to this woman, a history they might learn if she raised him, before she surrendered as an unexpected thing happened, Atreus said 'please' and she faltered, "Take him to the table."

Kratos did as Freya said while she, in turn, altered the resting place of her house so they could leave from the lower area once their visit was done, before gathering a few items from one of the shelves and mixing them into the bowl that was on the table, creating a new potion or concoction in no time. Freya commented on the fact that the cut that took Mimir's life was nice and clean, leaving his brain intact, leading to her using some of the concoction to his neck stump before bringing over a bowl of critters that she carefully poured into his mouth, where she assured them that it was necessary. Of course she was also worried about their decision to kill and free Mimir, because Odin had good reason to imprison him and this meant that the All-Father's wrath wouldn't be far behind them once he was aware of what had just happened, but she also had a feeling none of them were concerned about such a thing. Once she completed her work she instructed Kratos to take Mimir and place his head under the water in the cauldron above her fireplace, and she made sure he knew not to let go until she said so, causing him to do so as the others watched him soak the figure's head.

Eventually Freya told Kratos to raise the head and he did so without delay, where they found that magic danced around Mimir's head for a moment before coming back to life, complete with him spitting out the maggots that had been placed in his mouth earlier.

"Mimir... are you there?" Freya asked, because while she didn't like Mimir, for reasons that she wasn't about to tell her new friends, she was willing to look the other way for the time being since it meant she could get back at Odin in some way, all while helping the family complete their quest.

"Yes. So it would seem." Mimir replied, even though it was clear that he was now getting used to the fact that he had been given a taste of death and what might be at the end for him, while at the same time they found that Freya couldn't resist spitting on his face for a moment, "Oh, hello Freya. Been a long time since we last saw each other... you look well."

"I'll be honest, death suits you... just know that what I did, I did it for them. Thank them that you're still alive." Freya stated, once more confirming that she and Mimir had some sort of history and that it wasn't good, though as she collected all of her stuff, now without the magical sheen since the spell was complete, Atreus finally connected the dots and asked if she was actually a goddess, "Yes little one. I was the leader of the Vanir once, but... no longer. I'm curious: did you no hear me when I said my name the last time you were here?"

"He was preoccupied with helping the boar, so he didn't hear you. We're working on helping him in that regard." Pandora replied, which was the truth, sometimes Atreus just listened to certain things or information went in one ear before going out the other, and some of their lessons were supposed to help him figure things out, but so far it looked like he was still lacking in some areas.

"Still, thank you for the assistance, Freya. Mimir will help us get around the obstacle that stopped us." Kratos said, because while he knew that Atreus would want to stay and speak with Freya, especially now that he knew that she was a goddess, there was something they had to do now that Mimir had been revived, and that wasn't counting the information he could give Flurry later on.

Freya nodded and opened the door for them to head back to the lift that had brought them back up to the underground area they had been in not that long ago, as she knew that they would want to get underway once more, where the rest of the family thanked her as well before they returned to the lift.

"You know, I honestly expected something far worse... she really does like you guys. Now then, our first step should be to get to Tyr's Temple," Mimir stated, showing them that he was going to remain true to his word and get them to Jotunheim as quickly as he could, which was good information for them, though while he could see that Flurry wanted to ask him all sorts of questions she was also holding back for the time being, "from there we need to reach the horn that's there... after that, well, it all depends on what Jormungandr has to say. As you know the World Serpent speaks an obscure tongue, one that's more ancient than even these mountains, and, like I told the alicorn lass earlier, I know how to speak that language, so the two of us should be able to have a conversation and I should be able to learn how to use the locked gate."

"Good, we know where the horn is and we'll be able to get to it in no time. Also, my name is Flurry Heart, along with my sister, Pandora, and my brother, Atreus, plus our father, Kratos." Flurry replied, though when they reached the boat she opened her wings and took off without delay, where she found that her father made sure that Pandora was holding Mimir while they sat on the vessel, causing her to smile as they departed for the temple again.

While Kratos directed them out toward the lake Pandora asked about Baldur, where they got an odd response that made it seem like Mimir wasn't fully there, because he said that the figure in question was 'blessed with invulnerability to all things, physical or magical' and then repeated it when Kratos stated that it was boasting. Flurry glanced at her father and Pandora for a moment, who silently agreed not to share the information they had with Mimir right now, since he claimed that his 'brain was still waking up', not until they figured out how to break him out of repeating that statement whenever someone brought it up. The only bit of new information Mimir was able to give them was that Baldur's power came from a spell, but he had no idea what spell that was and he had no idea how to break it, causing the family to focus on continuing their quest, as Baldur would only be important if he showed up again. Other than that there wasn't too much for them to talk about as they made their way to the temple, where Flurry found that Jormungandr was still sleeping on the mountain he seemed to be using as a pillow, of sorts, though that would change soon enough.

Since nothing stopped them Kratos docked at the temple's dock and they made their way to the horn's platform, letting it raise them up to the device in question, where he raised Mimir for a moment and let him blow the horn, without lungs no less, letting loosing a loud sound that allowed them to watch as the sound woke up the World Serpent, who chomped down on Thor's statue.

"Why is he doing that? Won't it hurt him?" Atreus asked, where they watched as Jormungandr tore most of the statue off of it's base and started chomping on it, breaking it down into chunks that he seemed to eat, something that caused Pandora to hope that they didn't need the statue in some manner in the future.

"Well, Odin had the statue made in honor of Thor... and, since the World Serpent absolutely abhors the fat dobber, he was probably sick of looking at it, enough to endure solid lumps of stone in his stomach." Mimir replied, reminding them that the serpent and the God of Thunder were supposed to fight come Ragnarok, and that wasn't counting the fact that Thor killed all sorts of Giants, Jormungandr's kin, so he had plenty of reasons to hate Thor, "I'd ask, but I know we're supposed to be focused on Jotunheim and that's what I'll focus on."

Kratos said nothing as the World Serpent turned towards them and spoke, no doubt making an inquiry of some sort to figure out who had blown the horn, where Mimir started to speak in a familiar tongue, the one that sounded like he might be saying normal words that were stretched out, but they couldn't be totally sure. Apparently the first statement was the sort to establish who they were, something that allowed Mimir to discover that Jormungandr remembered him and was followed by him moving into the next part of the conversation, while everyone else watched. Flurry found that something seemed to annoy the World Serpent and caused their new friend to quickly state something else, no doubt because he had said the wrong thing and didn't want to upset Jormungandr, though his new statement seemed to appease him. With that in mind the Giant spoke for a few more moments, no doubt giving them information on the rune they needed to find and how to activate the gate itself, and he even seemed to focus on Atreus for a few seconds before Mimir seemed to give him a thankful statement.

"He understands the pain of your loss and will help us." Mimir stated, though at the same time Jormungandr pushed the bridge with his head, aligning it to another tower that would no doubt point them in the right direction, where he looked at the family for a moment as he started to relay the information he had gained, "We need two things to open the gate that will take us to the realm of the Giants: first, as you know, we need the Travel Rune; second, we need a special chisel to carve that rune into the special gateway... and, lucky for us, the serpent is going to point us in the direction of the second. Once the bridge stops we just need to get back to the boat and I'll direct us to our next destination."

Atreus asked why Jormungandr had looked at him and Mimir said that the serpent said he simply seemed familiar, likely an event to come in the far future, though as the World Serpent shifted his weight the water level lowered again, revealing more of the lake for them to explore, causing Flurry and Pandora to look forward to whatever they did next.

Norse: More Dwarven Favors

"So, what do we do first? Do we explore more of the lake, or do we go after the chisel first?" Atreus asked, because after seeing how more of the lake was revealed after Jormungandr shifted his weight again, even though he went back to where he had been resting previously and was still watching over them, he wanted to know what his father had planned this time around, before he considered something else, "Mimir, what did you say to the World Serpent that made him so angry?"

"Oh, he thought I said you were friends of Odin's, which I had to correct before we got into trouble. You'll forgive me, as I've never spoken the Ancient Tongue while sober." Mimir admitted, which was a good thing to see, that he was willing to admit when he made a mistake, meaning he had plenty of experience and was drawing from a number of events that had likely shaped his life, all while the lift returned to the main bridge, "As for what you should do, that is up to the four of you. I'm just along for the ride, offering wisdom and commentary whenever the need arises... and, by the looks of it, a familiar blue dwarf is waiting for you."

Kratos, Flurry, and Pandora weren't surprised by that comment, because if Mimir had worked for Odin for a long time, and it sure sounded like that was true, it stood to reason he knew the dwarf brothers, nor were they surprised that Brok wanted to see them again, since that meant he likely had new information for them.

"Ho there. I've got another favor to ask of you four... and my brother might as well, now that I think about it." Brok said, a fact that was followed by him producing the ring that they had recovered for him not too long ago, allowing them to look at it for a time as they waited for the dwarf to tell them what was going on, "I've got another lead on my old pal Andvari... yeah, I know you found his arm on a Soul Eater, but that's not what I'm interested in right now. Meet me outside the Landsuther Mines, I'll tell you more when we get there... and there's sum fancy-dancy loot in it for you as well, since I know your father does nothing for free."

"We... will consider it." Kratos replied, because the dwarf was right, there was no reason for them to help him without getting new resources or even gear in the process, so Brok mentioning that fact meant that they should head over there at some point, since there was no telling what they might find in the Landsuther Mines, which Brok marked on the map that he and Sindri had given them.

As they departed from Tyr's Temple again, since they had followed Brok inside to see what he wanted, Kratos decided to walk across the bridge for a time and found that the lift near the Realm Tower took them down to another level, where they found a couple of nightmares to deal with. Of course the flying eyeballs were weak and they crushed them with ease, even if Mimir called them pests, allowing the family to explore the rocky area that the lift had brought them to, though Flurry did spot a statue that looked like a troll that was currently in slumber, while they were missing the key to awaken it. What was interesting was that there was an area for the boat to dock up ahead and, like magic, it was there waiting for them, likely due to whatever magic Freya had put on it, which was just further confirmation of what they had seen in the past. At the same time Kratos spotted a wall further along the path that they could climb up and that was what he did, as he wanted to be sure they didn't leave any resources behind, and found that it brought them to a short passage that had a side wall for them to make their way across.

When they reached the other side of the small gap they discovered another small workshop, this one belonging to Sindri, confirming that both dwarves were keeping an eye on where they went and were setting up areas for them to work in so they could chat for a moment, and when he noticed them he stopped what he was doing.

"Ah, there you are. I've got a favor to ask of you, a small one at that. You remember the dagger you recovered from the depths of Fafnir's storeroom?" Sindri asked, where Atreus confirmed that they did, since it was hard to forget about that since the weapon in question had been in the back of a reaver who had been slain by his son, something that caused the dwarf to shudder for a moment before focusing on them and nothing else, "Well, I traced it to a group of reavers that are operating out of the Northri Stronghold, which is where I'd wager they took the loot they acquired from the storeroom... both resources for you to claim, and the whetstone... which I can use to, um, help you?"

"Very well. Show us where it is and we will check it out." Kratos replied, where he held out the map for a moment and they watched as Sindri pointed out an area that was marked with his icon in no time, just like how Brok had left his earlier, a fact that he noticed as the map was rolled up, before he rested a hand on Atreus' shoulder, "You have something to say, right boy?"

"Yes, father. I'm sorry I wasn't happier when you gave me those arrows earlier, Sindri." Atreus said, though he hated being called 'boy', as it made him seem like he didn't know anything and was still a novice in many aspects of life, and while part of that was true, because there were things he didn't know about, he thought that he didn't deserve to be called such a thing, not after everything they had done so far.

"Apology accepted. And don't worry, you didn't hurt my feelings... can't very well be a blacksmith if your feelings get hurt easily." Sindri stated, though at the same time he noticed that the mistletoe arrows were gone and had been replaced, to which he inquired if he could see one and Atreus handed one over without delay, allowing him to study it for a couple of seconds before returning it, "These arrows are good and will serve you well, in whatever you guys do next. And here, you'll need the Entry Stone as well, for when you decide to check the stronghold out."

Kratos said nothing to that as he and his family returned to the boat, allowing Flurry to take to the air once more, though as she did so she noticed something interesting, there was what appeared to be a council chamber with eight thrones just beyond where they found Sindri, which she kept in mind for later. While the others traveled by boat Flurry found that her family and Mimir talked about things, such as sharing stories about why Freya had spat on Mimir's face or the Giants that they had found the shrines of since starting this adventure, all of which interested Atreus and Pandora, while their father listened for any valuable information. At the same time she noted that Pandora was also jotting down notes in her own journal, one that she kept when she had ideas for weapons, as she took after Hephaestus in that regard, which made her happy as she focused on keeping an eye out for potential enemies. Of course, since her father decided to help out both dwarves next, which might confuse Baldur and their pursuers, she didn't have to worry too much, though she was sure that she spotted a red armored dragon off in the far distance and assumed it was Baldur's, but it never came back in their direction and allowed her to relax for the time being.

Eventually they found the dock that was near where Brok was stationed, waiting for them to arrive so he could give them the rest of the information he deemed necessary for his favor, and, sure enough, Flurry and her family found him there, where he stopped what he was doing and tossed Andvari's ring to Atreus.

"Here, I need you to talk to this ring." Brok stated, where Atreus caught it for a moment and stared at it, while the rest of his family focused on the dwarf, because they were curious as to what was going on, what it meant for his favor, and if he had information on what might be in the mines they would be entering soon.

"Um, Brok, I can't..." Atreus started to say, though in that instant he heard something that only he could hear and Flurry knew that her earlier thoughts were correct, there was something, or someone, inside the ring, where he listened to it for a few seconds before speaking again, "Wait, I hear a voice... it's Andvari! He says that he went to the Volunder Mines to, um, 'observe his mistake'... but then the Soul Eater attacked and started ripping him apart, causing him to use a spell that removed his soul and transferred it into this ring."

"What about all of his stuff? Andvari had a workshop, in this very mine, that was full of posh doo-dads and ornatery tool, plus one beaut of a hammer." Brok said, showing them that he really wasn't interested in the story and that he was more interested in the tool that had once been in Andvari's hands, something that might be used in combination with Sindri's whetstone, if the two bothered to work together again, "Is it still in the mine?"

Atreus told Brok that he was upsetting Andvari, showing them that the fallen dwarf was upset that another dwarf was far more interested in robbing him than showing some compassion for his death, but Brok didn't care that much as he got the information he was after, the hammer should, in fact, be in the mine. The dwarf promised the family that if they found Andvari's hammer, and delivered it to them, he would make Kratos something special that would help them out, since he knew the figure didn't work for free, which was why he handed over the Entry Stone without delay. With that in hand they used it to open the door and entered the mine without delay, though as they did so Kratos told Atreus to focus, since his son was focusing too much on Andvari right now, but suspected that it would be some time before his son regained his focus. On the other side of the passage they found an area that had a couple of tatzelwurms wandering around, though as the creatures attacked them, annoyed by their presence, the family wasted no time in cutting them down while Atreus put an arrow in one, showing his family that he was capable of focusing, even with Andvari chatting with him.

Mimir, however, realized just how skilled Kratos and his daughters were, even though he knew they were gods and were keeping that information from Atreus, all while they found some dead dwarves that paid for Andvari's mistake, something he regretted deeply but refused to speak on what that 'mistake' was, even though Flurry knew it had to be the existence of the Soul Eaters.

Following the death of the tatzelwurms Kratos found a device that he turned, lowering a platform of stone for them to use to reach some sap, and when Atreus used a shock arrow on it the secondary set of stone fell on the center of the chamber within seconds, breaking through the weakened wood and opening a path for them. Andvari warmed them not to go into the depths, where Flurry told him that if there was a Soul Eater down there she was going to destroy it, that was the truth of the matter, before the family descended into the depths without wasting time, though the odd part was that there were a few dark elves in the area as well. Flurry slashed through them as her family moved down the passage, allowing her to drop their unexpected foes after slashing through them with her sickles, though when she rejoined the others she found that it was a short distance and that there were more dark elf stuff below the main chamber, including some growth cores for her father to cut through. Such a thing allowed them to loot both a stone chest and a wooden one before climbing up a few wooden posts to reach another point, an area with large crystals that happened to have a dead Ancient in front of them,all but confirming that something dangerous was down here with them.

The area didn't have any enemies for them to worry about, even though it had a stone chest that Andvari lied about, as he claimed that it had traps in it and Kratos found nothing but loot inside it, before they found another opening to use in an effort to find the hammer and the Soul Eater. Flurry, on the other hand, simply added the enchantment rune to the still growing collection that was in her bag, granting them more power in the process, before reaching the next chamber, only to find more dark elves waiting for enemies to show up, causing her to fall back and join Atreus in using arrows while both their father and sister focused on their foes. After dealing with them the family found an area to climb around, allowing all of them to reach another device that raised a lift of stones higher, to the ceiling level, before Flurry spotted a wall that had been hidden by the lift, allowing her family to climb it naturally while she just flapped her wings a little to reach the peak of the wall. A stronger looking dark elf was up there waiting for them, though his skills were just like the others the family had fought so far, so while Kratos focused on commanding his attention the others dealt damage to their target, and the four of them brought him down in no time, adding more Hacksilver and a talisman to their collection.

On the other side of the gate that was in front of them they found the workshop, Andvari's area anyway, and the golden chest that was there happened to have a rather fine hammer inside it, a magical one at that, which had to be what Brok was after, and when Kratos confirmed that it was as they were told Andvari actually thanked them, allowing them to focus on blasting their way through a nearby wall, return to the main chamber, and return to Brok.

"We have recovered the hammer." Kratos stated, where he placed the item on the table that the dwarf had set up earlier, who smiled as he stared down at the tool in front of him, a malachite hammer with golden inlay that was brimming with magical power.

"Well I'll be, you did find it!" Brok remarked, as he had been worried that it would be somewhere else, lost to time, but he was glad that the family had been able to recover the tool, because he had great plans for the tool in the future, before he focused on the four figures that were in front of him, "Well, what are you waiting for? Hand Andvari over to me... a trapped soul is just what I need to give your reward some extra oomph."

Atreus, naturally, wanted no part in this and even Andvari wanted to remain alive, even in his trapped state, which seemed to settle everything without anyone else being given an option to say anything on this matter, causing Brok to grumble as Pandora took the ring, as they would figure out what to do with it later. It was clear that the dwarf thought that Atreus was too nice for his own good and that eventually that would bring all of them down, hence why he was sure Kratos would talk some sense into his son at some point, but other than that he didn't have anything else to say to them. With that in mind the family returned to the boat as Flurry took to the air, allowing them to follow the map as Kratos tracked down Sindri's icon, even though it appeared that the path brought them by a ruined city of some kind that was lost to time, or at least that was what it looked like to her. Fortunately they found an opening in the rock wall that was beyond the ruined city, leading into a gorge or altered cavern system, which appeared to be what they were looking for since Pandora reported that the icon they were following was just ahead of them.

Such a thing was confirmed when they spotted what appeared to be large gates in an underground area, where the family found and area to dock and did so without delay, though it did allow them to discover some Hel-Walkers resting around the area, the reaver clan to be exact, which meant all of them were likely dead at this point.

With that in mind the family wasted no time in dispatching the undead that were in front of them, Atreus and Flurry just focusing on those that were further away from them, only for Kratos to note that these ones were weak, far more than the foes they had fought in Fafnir's storeroom awhile ago. The same was true for the revenant that happened to be nearby, as Pandora split that foe in half with her halberd, allowing them to access a bridge that they discovered a metallic lock on, the one keeping a waterwheel locked up, and as Kratos destroyed if they found that the main gates were opening. As such he quickly tracked down another wooden chest, looted it after freezing the skorn pole near it, and then returned to the dock that his children were waiting at before they used the boat to head deeper into the stronghold, all while keeping their eyes open for danger. Such a thing allowed them to dock at an area that had a lit fire in the center of it, complete with more of the undead and even an ogre, where Kratos focused on distracting the ogre as his children dealt with the undead, and as soon as the area was clear they joined their father in bringing down his opponent.

Flurry collected the treasure that the ogre dropped before Kratos hurled the axe at a lift filled with stones, hitting a lock that allowed it to fall onto the ground and opened the way for them to climb up to another level, since the gate in front of them seemed to be sealed from this side. There was a loop to their right that required breaking two sap walls and quickly freezing one of the skorn poles to loot a stone chest, though the main path happened to be to their left, which involved taking down two more nightmares and a tatzelwurm that happened to be guarding the way. After those enemies Kratos and Flurry found a curved path that lead down to where a reaver ship was located, one with a number of still bodies here and there, showing them that the crew must have either fought something and perished or they had turned on each other once they got back from Fafnir's storeroom. Interestingly enough it didn't look like there were any Hel-Walkers for them to worry about, allowing the family to lower a walkway so they could reach the other side of the chamber and drop down into the dock that was around the ship.

That allowed them to see that there was one more body they hadn't seen previously, someone who was stuck to a post by a number of weapons in his chest, while at the same time his head had been smashed with a blunt object, where Flurry found a whetstone resting off to the right that was covered in blood.

"Oh... I see. Killing the former captain didn't sit well with some of the crew, so they tore each other apart." Flurry stated, all while her brother collected the whetstone before everyone stared at the scene that was around them, allowing Atreus to realize something he had missed before, even though Flurry was saddened by this loss of life, "His son stood his ground, and was joined by those who sided with him, but even that wasn't enough to survive... there were no survivors."

As Mimir agreed with her, he came to the same conclusion after Kratos let him see the scene, and Atreus handed over the black whetstone that had silver runes on it, an armored figure that Mimir identified as a Traveler tore through a plank wall before rushing at them like they were his mortal enemies. The family dodged to the sides as his greatsword collided with the floor, lightly cutting into the floorboards in the process, though they also found that his weapon seemed to have a frost enchantment on it, similar to the Leviathan Axe, especially when he lifted it and stabbed it into the ground to create a light vortex of ice around him. As Kratos attacked the Traveler's armor they found that it was very durable, more than the majority of the armors they have seen since starting this quest, but he already had the answer to that as Flurry struck with Earthshaker, swinging the weapon into their foe's chest as she crushed the armor and bruised his bones. Such a thing let Atreus put a few arrows into the Traveler's chest before he could react, opening the way for Pandora to lash out with her chakrams for a few seconds before Kratos took their foe's weapon and split him in half with it, much to Mimir's continued amazement.

With the Traveler dead Flurry salvaged his fragmented armor, since they might be able to repurpose it, a bag of currency, a few trophies that she stashed away, and a bag with a fractured golden gauntlet inside it, one that seemed to have some sort of power inside it, and when Atreus wasn't looking she retrieved the time amulets for a moment and restored the gauntlet to it's former glory. Pandora took the item and found that it fit perfectly over her left hand, though she was very interested in the six slots that were on it, five at the knuckles and one on the back of the hand, before she retrieved the ring that housed Andvari's soul and glanced at both items. She and Flurry watched as it took on an orange coloration as it socked itself into the pinky slot, almost like the gauntlet knew what to do or something, though since Atreus didn't react to anything that meant the dwarf inside either went quiet or this allowed his soul to move on while leaving the power inside the stone. Neither of them were sure what to make of the situation, but for the time being they decided to catch up to the rest of their family so they could return to Sindri and give him the good news, before focusing on the chisel they needed to open the gateway that was near Mimir's old prison.

Sure enough they found that Sindri was back where they saw him earlier, near the entrance of the area, and the moment he noticed them coming he gently set his tools down, totally opposite of how his brother did things, before focusing on the family as Kratos pulled out the whetstone.

"Your whetstone, as promised." Kratos stated, setting it down on the table that was in front of him while Sindri noted the staining that was on the item, where Atreus mentioned that it was blood after it had been used to bash a reaver's face in, causing the dwarf to gag as he promised to leave it before using it.

Sindri, true to his word, handed over an item that could be added to the pommel of the Leviathan Axe, which Kratos did as soon as it was in his hands, though as the dwarf took the whetstone the family departed from the stronghold, as it was time for them to track down the chisel and whatever was guarding it.

Norse: Journey to the Chisel

After assisting the dwarf brothers in obtaining the items they required, and getting some items to help them deal with the rest of their journey, Kratos and his children returned to the boat and headed out for the statues of the oarsmen that would allow them to reach the area that the chisel was resting in. Flurry, of course, remained in the air while her family used the boat, even though she did have to dive down and slowly follow behind them when they entered a cavern passage, since she had no way of knowing where they were going with all of the rocks in the way. Such a thing gave Mimir the chance to tell them the tale of the Giant known as Thamur, the greatest stonemason in the world, who wished to impart his wisdom to his son, Hrimthur, but they had a fight that ended in the father bonking his son on the head. Of course such a thing caused the son to flee, but when Thamur chased after his son he eventually ended up in Midgard in the middle of the night, meeting Thor, the one person he didn't want to encounter while he was alone and so far from home.

The end of the tale became known to them as they reached the end of the passage and entered an open area where Flurry could take to the sky once more, where she and her family found a massive Giant collapsed on the ground, fallen right on top of a village, struck dead by Thor no doubt, and they noticed that this area was covered in snow.

"This place used to worship Njord, a Vanir god... Thor always took credit for dropping Thamur on the village, but honestly I think he just got incredibly lucky." Mimir commented, because Thor wasn't known for thinking, rather he was known for his drinking and his ability to destroy nearly everything he touched, often at the command of his father, Odin himself, so it was easy to assume taking credit for the deed was Odin's idea and plan the entire time.

As they docked, and Flurry landed, they discovered a new enemy at long last, bipedal wolf creatures that Mimir identified as wulver, who were almost like werewolves, though Flurry discovered that the first one didn't last more than a few seconds, as she swung her sickles and was able to cut through it's hide with ease, before putting it down. Of course there wasn't just one of them, as another wulver tore through some rubble as it jumped down into the area that was near the dock her father had used after reaching their destination, where her father slashed at it with his axe while Atreus loosed a few arrows at their current foe. Flurry noted that their claws were definitely sharp looking, meaning getting cut by them was a bad time, and that wasn't even thinking about the possibility of potentially being turned if they got infected, which she would have to ask Mimir about later, when they had time to speak on many subjects. For now, however, they focused on the task that was in front of them, tracking down the chisel and then learning where the Travel Rune for Jotunheim was being stored, since she was sure that Jormungandr had told Mimir during their conversation.

What they discovered was that Thamur's right hand was resting in front of them, frozen in a wall of frost and ice, but the family also found that he had been wearing a massive ring on one finger, and Kratos had his son hit it with an arrow, only to find that it forced the ring down to the ground for him to move. Such a thing allowed him to position the crystal to the left and right of where it started, a fact that was followed by Atreus hitting it with two lightning arrows, making sure to use only one for each direction, which blasted the ice walls down so they could see what was on the other side. The fact that this particular crystal was large enough to hold multiple charges for them to use was a good thing, instead of being used up after a single arrow struck it, where the right side had some more materials for them to add to the collection and one of the symbols they had been collecting. As they focused on the left side, however, Kratos found another one of the odd crystalline locks that he and his children had been seeing across Midgard, where Mimir told them that he would help them unlock those as well in the future, causing them to nod as they headed into the passage that had been revealed after the left ice wall had been blasted apart.

That brought them to an inside portion of a keep or even a stronghold, it was hard to tell with how destroyed everything was thanks to Thamur's massive body, and since the figure had been a Frost Giant his dying breath froze everyone that had been in the area. With that in mind the family found that none of the frozen figures that were around the area they were walking through happened to wake up, though to be on the safe said Pandora quickly smashed those that looked a lot like the still draugr they had seen in the past, eliminating potential enemies before they were attacked. There was yet another stone chest along the way, this one had armor inside it that they added to their collection, though this time Flurry had an idea as she took the armor and disappeared, leaving her bag behind, something that caught Atreus by surprise, as this was the first time he had seen such a thing. A few moments later she reappeared, with her bag on her belt, and told them that she had made a change to the room that held the enchantment runes, she made it so the armor they found on their adventure would be stared in it as well, thus allowing them to get the benefits from the rest of their collection, just like with the runes.

Kratos smiled and told her that this was a good idea, since it would help them in the future, before they climbed up one of the golden chains so they could reach the area that was above them, giving them a good view of their target, a chisel that was sticking out of Thamur's head with the tip trapped under the ice that was below them, and his massive hammer, only Flurry was sure the latter would fall in the very near future.

There were, of course, more wulver in the area and the family greeted them in kind, letting the aggressive wolf people be the first one make the move against them, while Kratos and the others defended themselves by hacking, slashing, or just loosing a few arrows at their enemies. Flurry found that these enemies weren't much to worry about, even though she did have her guard up, something she and her father had learned over the years and Pandora replicated with ease, mostly due to the fact that she knew that if she lowered her guard it was possible that her foes would hurt her. With that in mind Flurry focused on dodging attacks and slashing at those that came at her, while at the same time opening holes for Atreus to hit with some of his arrows, showing her brother that, while he could be annoying at times, she was willing to trust him during a fight. In addition to all of that there was an Ancient in the area as well, one made of ancient ice by the looks of it, though she removed it from the battlefield with a rapid series of slashes from her sickles, cutting the creature down and collecting it's materials as the rest of her family cleaned up the remaining wulver.

While Flurry found that there was another rune to add to the collection, thanks to the Ancient, her family noticed that a runic chest was nearby and quickly tracked down the runes powering the seals, this time rotating the devices to deal with the lock, and once that was done, and Pandora looted a stone chest, Kratos looted the chest before they stopped right above the clear ice that showed their destination, the chisel's glowing end.

"How are we going to get down there?" Atreus asked, as he didn't see anything that would allow them to get down to the area that the chisel was resting in, no passages or entrances, causing him to glance at his family for a moment as each of them looked at the tool they were here to claim, "Flurry, could you break through the ice?"

"Maybe, but I can't silence my magic... if I use magic, Baldur or the sons of Thor would be on us in no time." Flurry stated, to which she glanced at the reforged blade for a moment, because it's power, even in the sealed state, would allow her to break through the ice, though while Atreus looked at the chisel again, however, her father glanced at her before looking at something else, where she did the same and her eyes widened as she nodded.

"I agree with Flurry: we do not want to alert our foes, even if they are not nearby. Do not fear, I have a plan." Kratos said, as there was one other thing in the area that they could use to get to the chisel, without using magic or Flurry's blade, one that had been resting here for the last hundred years or so, so if it fell no one would question why it had happened since it would have been logical.

"You do? Now this I've got to see." Mimir commented, because he knew that ice created from a Giant's dying breath was an incredibly hard substance and even suspected that Thor, equipped with Mjolnir, wouldn't be able to break through the ice, but with this family he really had no idea what might happen next.

A trio of strong draugr burst out of some rubble and attacked the family after Mimir said that, though once more he found that the family was stronger than he originally assumed as Kratos punched one in the face and used it's weapon to kill it in seconds, Pandora used her chakrams to kill hers with ease, and Flurry removed the head of her foe with her sickle, before they and Atreus moved up the nearby rubble, only to discover another of Sindri's shops.

"Wow, um, that was... something, that fight." Sindri commented, which didn't come as a surprise to the family, rather once they knew about the existence of his shop they knew that he wasn't far behind and that meant that he must have watched them fight the wulver and Ancient, and he even produced an apple that he gently tossed at Kratos, who cut it in half with the edge of his axe, "Well... that's a waste of a perfectly good apple."

"Let me guess, you were using your magic to keep hidden?" Pandora remarked, because so far there was nothing that could be used as cover, so Sindri must have used some sort of spell or ability to keep himself hidden from the enemies she and her family had fought, while at the same time she knew why her father cut the apple down, as in Greece throwing an apple at someone meant the thrower wanted to propose to someone, so this was rejection in their ancient customs.

"Oh, That. Well... it's a little trick that my people can pull off, a special way of not being seen." Sindri replied, where he took a moment to walk behind the pillar fragment that was behind him, sized roughly to his height no less, though when he never emerged from the other side and Atreus found that he wasn't back there, while Flurry turned her head a little and tracked where the dwarf was standing, "To be more exact it's more like I can step into the Realm Between Realms, while your minds don't understand what they're seeing, so you end up seeing nothing at all. That's how we avoid having to actually use the weapons we create... unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work on dragons, as you discovered earlier."

"Nice. You know, your brother was asking if you were getting enough to eat... guess we can tell him that you are." Atreus said, as during the explanation Sindri had allowed them to see one of his arms as he gave Atreus an apple, the normal way since he suspected one of the others might cut it down as well, something that the boy bit into since he didn't want to waste it like his father had done.

As Sindri opened his mouth to question that, and ask if there was mead on Brok's breath, he noticed that the axe seemed a tad different than before and realized that his brother had touched it again, causing Kratos to hand it over as the dwarf took it to his workshop for a time, sharpening the head while improving the overall power of the weapon. Once they were done letting the Leviathan Axe be worked on, and Sindri was pleased with it's power, he returned it to Kratos, who focused on the next obstacle they had to make their way through, part of Thamur's braided beard, which had three segments with some of the crystals linked to them. With that information in mind Kratos had his son focus up as he used the axe to spin each device that was around all three crystals, where when each crystal was struck they damaged the area that the braid was resting on, so once the third was struck the ice wall collapsed and allowed the braid to fall, and some ice got close to Sindri's place, based on his remark about his shop being right there. After that Kratos jumped over the small gap that was in front of them and his children followed after him, all while Atreus started to guess what the plan was, since his father and sisters hadn't said anything, mostly to test him and see if he could figure it out for himself.

While Atreus guessed, in failure, Kratos smashed a wooden chest open so Flurry could loot it, before he opened a large ornate door and revealed a large chamber that happened to have a Traveler in it, where he and his daughters repeated what they had done to the last one as Atreus loosed arrows at the openings they created. Since the Traveler didn't have any additional moves to show them, and moved just like the last one they fought, it wasn't long before Flurry removed his shield and weapon, adding both items to her bag while her father tore their foe's upper body from his lower body, letting her take the fragments of his armor as well. While they cleared out the area, as a few draugr showed up as well, Kratos just pulled a section of the wall out of the way and opened a path for everyone to use, while at the same time Mimir talked about this place, or what it had been like before Thor dropped Thamur on this place. Flurry had to agree that this was a tragedy, losing all of those lives because they didn't worship Odin, as she was sure of that fact as well, though as they left the area she tracked down a wooden chest and a golden chest, allowing her to add their contents to her collection, and a new power for her father.

Following that they continued along the path that would bring them to the massive hammer, where Kratos made sure his son was on his back before jumping across a larger gap, and when he moved out of the way Pandora did the same, while Flurry remained in the air, keeping an eye out for Baldur or the sons of Thor, before landing near the others when they found the next part of the path.

Such a thing brought them to an area where they could use a large strap, which had another large crystal on it, to blast the ice that had formed on the handle of the massive hammer, twice in fact since there was a lot of it, though once the second blast struck the ice things started to happen. While the ice shattered the base of the hammer's handle shifted, falling back towards another portion of the structure and coming to a stop, though at the same time one of the straps holding onto the head of the tool snapped off completely while the second strained under the pressure, but it didn't break. No one was pleased by this discovery, since it meant they would have to do a little more work before leaving this area, but Flurry found that no one seemed to be coming and that meant they should be safe for the time being, causing them to continue along the path again. One thing they discovered was that the crystal strap moved closer to the ice wall that was in the way and Atreus used an arrow to access another blast, clearing the way for them to move forward and loot a stone chest, before Kratos climbed up the strap with Atreus on his back and Pandora following him.

Flurry did have them pause for a moment as she heard the sound of thunder, which could be Magni and Modi, but for the time being no one was coming at the hammer and she nodded her head so the others could continue towards the peak of the area, or the next area for them to explore. While they did so Atreus was able to determine that melting the ice wasn't what his father was working towards, and using the crystals to blast it open was also impossible since there were none in the area above the chisel, so those options were out. When he thought about it Atreus realized that smashing the ice was really all that remained, something that caused him to realize why his father was so focused on the hammer and also let him understand the plan they were working towards. With that discovery he did what he could to help his father and his sisters out, using an arrow now and then to remove some of the decorations that were in their way, where Kratos told all of them that the plan involved cutting the hammer free and riding it down, so they would figure out what to do next after this step was finally complete.

When they reached the area that the strap was in Kratos grabbed it and pushed it in a way that bent the chain that was holding the strap in place, breaking it in no time and causing the hammer to shift once more, though this time it just came to a stop on the side of the peak it had been falling towards.

With that in mind he, Atreus, and Pandora jumped over to a doorway as Flurry landed behind them, where they entered a short passage that had a stone chest for them to loot, before they reached a circular chamber that had a fractured floor, along with a sandbowl that only Atreus could get to. When he reached the sandbowl they learned that it's riddle was about the seasons, which made sense due to the four devices that were near Atreus and had icons on them that represented the four seasons, and that time was retrograde, as in going backwards. As such Flurry solved it easily, as her father just had to make the devices go 'winter, fall, summer, spring', and once that was done her brother uttered the word and stabbed the sand once more, where they watched as time magic danced around the fractured floor and restored it. When he did it a second time they discovered that this was also a lift, so Atreus focused on stabbing the sand and powering the spell while Kratos and his daughters dealt with the draugr that sprung out of the walls to attack them, the weaker ones to be exact, since there were no strong ones this time around.

Mimir commented that this was as the trio guessed, temporal magic, as Kratos and his daughters had experience with this sort of power, and mentioned that this happened to be one of Njord's favorites before they stopped using it, though there wasn't too much for him to do as the family dealt with the undead and allowed the lift to reach the peak with ease, where they had to climb around some rubble to reach the hammer's head.

"Now, everyone push at the same time." Kratos stated, where Flurry and Pandora realized what he was doing, he wanted to let Atreus help them so he didn't feel left out, instead of one or more of them just shoving it over with far too much ease, causing the sisters to nod as Atreus also joined in.

With three of them being full fledged gods it made it far too easy for them to push the hammer, even though they did do a bit of struggling to make Atreus feel better, though once it was pushed away, and started to fall towards the ice, Kratos grabbed onto his son as he jumped towards the hammer. When it was clear that they were going to ride it down Flurry did the same thing and made sure Pandora was with them, where she quickly found that her brother thought that this was far too exciting, making her worry about him again, before the hammer collided with the ground. The force of that shock just shattered everything that was around the point of impact, breaking ice and ground like they were nothing, and caused the family to fall towards a chasm that was now opening before their eyes, where Flurry turned her wings in as she reached out with her magic. She made sure that her family was close to her as she surrounded them with a barrier, which came in handy when they hit the ground, unharmed since her spell was meant to protect them, and it even stopped the hammer's face from smashing them into the fractured ground.

She waited for a few moments, making sure that the area around them would be fine if she dismissed her barrier, and as soon as she was sure of things she pulled it down, finding that everything was perfectly fine, meaning they wouldn't fall to their deaths or anything.

"THAT was your plan? You're cracked, you know that, right?" Mimir remarked, as he couldn't believe that, with the power and intelligence that the family had, the plan involved dropping the hammer and THEN ride it down to the ground, instead of simply waiting for everything to settle down before descending.

"Enough. The chisel is within reach. Let us claim it while we can." Kratos said, as that was what they had come for, so they could complete part of the unexpected path that their journey had taken, and he could see that all three of his children were in agreement, especially since there was no way their enemies wouldn't investigate what had just happened.

Flurry glanced at the path that was ahead of them and knew that they were nearly at the chisel, they just had to get out of the area they were in, figure a new way to it, and deal with any foes that got in their way, all while hoping to avoid Baldur or the sons of Thor while they did so, causing her to look forward to whatever might happen next.

Norse: Prize and Foolish Sons

As Flurry and her family emerged from the area that they had landed in everyone got a glimpse of the destruction that the massive hammer had caused when it struck the ground, the chasm that had opened in the ice and earth, and even the shifting of material as one of the nearby walls across the way shattered before falling into the depths.

"You've got to give the man credit... he certainly knows how to destroy things." Mimir softly commented, as he was amazed by the destruction that had been caused, though it was amazing to think that this would have happened naturally, without Kratos even getting involved, in another few years, something that would have caused him to shudder if he still had his body.

Kratos, on the other hand, didn't have much to say to Mimir about that remark, in fact he preferred not to think about how some of his actions could cause something like this to happen, much like how when he and Baldur first fought the clash of their powers had opened a chasm near their home. With everything fracturing and collapsing the only way forward was for them to climb along some of the golden edges of the walls, carefully jumping from one point to another, showing them the pure destructive force of the hammer, all while Flurry carefully flew near her family. While they moved she heard someone else talking and they realized it was two familiar voices, Magni and Modi by the sounds of it, where the brothers were talking about how one or both hated Midgard and how neither of them believed the hammer could have fallen on it's own. Such a thing caused her to think that they were idiots, as the state of the hammer, before they tampered with it, meant it could have fallen in five years or so, so this showed that the brothers were definitely morons like Mimir claimed.

As her father tracked down a stone chest to loot, in an opening that gave them a brief area to stand in, she heard that the brothers were starting to move again, this time heading after Sindri, but she knew they wouldn't find him, not after seeing his ability to step into the Realm Between Realms in action.

It took a bit of doing, but they tracked down a door to open and found that it brought them to a new chamber, the great dining hall according to Mimir, which was said to be the envy of all of Midgard back when this place was still thriving, though as he said that the family found a few walls of ice and a large crystal inside a chandelier. In addition to that there was yet another crystal lock on a door to their left, causing Flurry to realize that the chisel might be the key to those as well, which was why Mimir had said he would tell them how to break them earlier so he didn't ruin the surprise. While she thought about that her family glanced around the area and Atreus figured that he could use an arrow on the chandelier, to loosen it since it was stuck in one of the ice walls, especially since it looked like there wasn't anywhere else for them to go at the moment. Kratos nodded and had his son loose an arrow, blasting the ice wall as the chandelier swung towards the other side of the chamber, getting stuck in another ice wall and forced them to use another shock arrow, sending it to another position that required a third arrow, before the crystal fell out of the chandelier.

The force of it falling seemed to break chunks off so smaller crystals could be thrown at things, like the ice that it had been stuck on or on roots that were keep a stone chest locked, and by breaking three sections of an ice wall they freed a good number of foes, an ogre, a frost troll, some nightmares, a pair of wolves, and a trio of wulver. Atreus had to wonder why all three sections were opened at the same time, since it would have been better to do them one at a time, but this set of circumstances happened to be the best for the family since Kratos could focus on the troll, with Atreus assisting with some of his arrows. Flurry and Pandora focused on all of the other enemies, since it kept them away from their father, though at the same time it wasn't hard for Flurry to find that there was a path going behind where the wall had been resting, so the fact that they broke these enemies free meant they could progress without stopping. With that in mind the siblings took out all of the monsters that were around them while their father knocked the troll onto his back, allowing him to bring the pillar hammer down on the troll's head, crushing it instantly once more, opening the way for them to loot the items that were dropped from their enemies.

Such a thing included another attack gem for Atreus, this one being a spectral stampede of boars, though once that was done the family made their way up to the other path and wrapped around the dining chamber, where they found Sindri working at a smaller workshop.

"I had a feeling you guys would come this way... I also had the sense to vanish when Thor's idiot sons came looking for me, like I had something to do with the hammer falling." Sindri commented, where he paused for a moment, like he had to think if that was what Magni and Modi had been thinking when he heard that they were after him, before he shrugged as he focused on the family for a moment, as they were more important in his eyes, "So, what can I do for you?"

"Do you know what weapons and abilities the sons of Thor possess?" Kratos asked, because in the off chance that he and his children had to do battle with the pair that were looking for them, while Baldur was investigating elsewhere, he figured it was best to ask the dwarf for any information that might be useful in case they had to fight them, as he might have done some work for them in the past.

"Well, Magni's strong... and I mean really strong... while his weapon of choice is a huge sword that's been hardened by cyclonic thunder. Modi..." Sindri replied, where they found that he didn't seem to happy about the other brother, which either meant he was a coward or there was something about his weapons that annoyed the smith, before he sighed for a moment as he focused on Kratos again, "Honestly, I'd sooner lick a rat than shake that dung heap's hand... his mace and shield are just cheap knockoffs of the elegant work that Brok and I did to make their father's hammer. Personally, I would just avoid the pair entirely, but knowing you guys... well, I'll hope that you don't cross paths with them."

Kratos nodded, because while he was hoping to get a piece of the chisel and walk away without fighting any gods, since that was something he'd rather not do again, he knew it was good to have as much information as they could before a potential fight, allowing them to continue down the path that was in front of them. As they carefully looted a wooden chest and the stone one they had seen earlier, however, the family heard Magni and Modi talking again, about how Kratos clashed with their uncle, Baldur of course, and walked away, before the pair forced themselves to keep looking. Flurry gathered that the fact that kept the pair going was that they didn't want to disappoint their father, even though it was more likely that neither of them wanted to disappoint Odin, given his position above all of the other gods in this land. Her father focused on moving towards the chisel, jumping over to another wall and using it's golden adornments to make his way over to where their prize was resting, with Atreus on his back and Pandora following behind him while Flurry remained in the air, making sure to keep out of sight to avoid their foes.

As they reached the chisel's area, however, a figure dropped out of the upper area and crushed an ogre into the ground, to which Kratos knew that Magni had to be in front of them since he had lightning arcing around part of his body and part of the ogre's, plus he had the sword Sindri had mentioned and he even broke the creature's neck in an instant.

"You four. Finally." Magni said, where he got off the ogre's body and tossed it into the chasm, showing that he had no need for it or any items it might have on it, while the family found that he was tall and muscular, which only made them curious as to what his father looked like, though Kratos remained at the ready, "Surrender. The All-Father demands it."

"No. You and Modi had best leave, if you value your lives." Kratos replied, because he suspected that if Tyr knew about him and Flurry, enough to warrant coming and inviting them to come to Midgard so they could talk, and even Mimir seemed to know him at the very least, it stood to reason that many of the other gods might know and, if they knew he killed gods, could step down if he threatened their very existence, "You do not want this fight."

"Is that so? Good, your overconfidence will be your downfall." Magni stated, though at the same time they found that his brother was joining them, where Modi seemed to have more weight than his half-brother did, definitely in the belly based on what they were seeing right now, while he was carrying the mace and shield that Sindri had mentioned, causing Magni to draw his own weapon, "Now, lets have some fun."

Kratos glanced at his family for a moment as he and Flurry focused on Magni, allowing Pandora to aid Atreus in dealing with Modi, or at least distract him, though while Kratos dodged out of the way of the first swing, showing them that Magni had a decent amount of speed at his disposal, Flurry blocked the second with the edges of her sickles. Kratos wasn't even fazed by this discovery, due to the fact that he had seen those weapons in action for so long and was constantly being proven that they weren't from the lands they had been to, since it was capable to stopping all types of weapons with ease. Flurry quickly delivered a kick to Magni's chest and knocked him back a little, something that caused the warrior to grin, like he might be enjoying this already, while at the same time Modi used his shield to block Pandora's incoming attacks, preventing him from being hit by the halberd. Of course such a thing opened him to being targeted in the sides and back by Atreus' arrows, which he had to turn to block, but that was the point as Pandora approached him, forcing the other warrior to turn back towards her, a constant game that would eventually leave him weakened or force him to lower his guard in annoyance.

As she and her father rushed at Magni again, however, Flurry switched to the Blade of Olympus, still keeping it's power in the sealed state, something that allowed her to parry another incoming attack before forcing it backwards, something that caused Magni to smile, as if he enjoyed the challenge. She and Magni clashed with ease, the reforged blade colliding with the large blade that her foe was using, where she made sure to avoid letting him grab onto her wings, because he seemed like the type that would try to break them if he got his hands on them. While the two of them collided with each other she found out two more things, the first being that Magni seemed okay with her father jumping into the battle every now and then, as he turned and slashed at Kratos, who dodged and let the edge of the Leviathan Axe stall his foe's blade, which was a good thing to see. The second thing was that Modi was actually kind of a weakling, as Pandora and Atreus were able to do good work against him as her sister slipped the handle of her halberd through the gap his shield presented to her and then swung their foe at the rock wall, showing him that she was serious, all while opening holes for Atreus to target with his arrows.

The reason Flurry thought that Modi was a weakling wasn't because his movements were lacking, rather he went down far too easily for a god, or even a demigod since that was what he'd be called back in Greece, and that allowed Pandora and Atreus to knock him down with ease while Magni put forth a lot of effort to remain standing.

Eventually Modi seemed to have enough as both he and Magni had the same idea, calling for the other to use something they called the 'Snowblind', which involved them saying three words of a spell, 'odr brodir blindr', as Magni used his sword, charged with his power, to strike his brother's shield. That caused a flash that seemed to summon a storm around the area that they were in, effectively preventing them from seeing what the brothers were doing while forcing them to stay in a single spot, causing Flurry to beckon for her family to get into the eye of the storm as she placed a barrier around them, which Modi ran face first into. Of course he wasn't invited to join them and bounced back into the storm, where she and her family found that Magni even approached the magical barrier and struck it with his blade, only to discover that it had done nothing, but it did annoy him and that was good for them. Flurry knew that if they annoyed the brothers enough one or both of them would make a critical error and they would be able to take that one, or both, down, maybe without having to kill either of their enemies, causing her to keep the barrier up until the storm dissipated.

Of course there was one downside to all of this, which was Modi taunting them, or to be more accurate he was taunting Atreus, of all people, calling him 'half-breed' and talking bad about his mother while they waited for the storm to break, all while the boy was growing angry with him, even if it meant ignoring his father's words on the matter.

Since there was nothing they could do about that right now, thanks to the pair that was standing in their way, Kratos and Flurry resumed the battle once the storm died down and the barrier was dropped, allowing Pandora and Atreus to do the same thing with Modi, even though everyone already knew how that was going to turn out. The difference was that this time around they found that Modi did try to throw balls of lightning at them, something they were able to avoid since his aim sucked, and when she sent one at Flurry she spun around and used the edge of her weapon to knock it back into him, only to then block Magni's attack as well. Other than that there wasn't much to set the pair apart from the demigods that had called Greece home, in fact the brothers reminded Kratos and Flurry of a number of enemies they had faced before the battle with Zeus, arrogant gods and demigods who believed themselves superior to everyone else. Such a thing meant that both Magni and Modi likely believed that they never needed to train, or even if they did it was off and on, whenever they so desired, especially since both were the sons of Thor, a powerful god in the Nine Realms, so it was possible that the pair thought they were untouchable.

Even after creating the storm a second time the family wasn't too impressed with the brothers, even though Atreus was just angry at Modi right now and wasn't thinking straight, showing that he had no control over his emotions, though while Atreus' wolves kept Modi busy Flurry and Pandora slashed into Magni's sides, surprising him, before Kratos brought the Leviathan Axe down into his head, killing him instantly.

"Magni!" Modi exclaimed, watching as Kratos pulled the axe out of his brother's head and swung it, scattering the blood in the process, before he and his daughters turned towards the still living son of Thor, who was distraught, like he couldn't even believe that his half-brother was now dead, before he looked at Kratos and his daughters with fear on his face, "No... How did you..."

"YOU'RE NEXT!" Atreus shouted, where he loosed an arrow right into Modi's left shoulder, surprising him since he wasn't expecting such a thing to happen in the first place, before the god in question started to flee from the scene as Atreus just loosed arrow after arrow at him, each one missing since his rage was blinding him, "Come back here, you coward! I'll rip your bloody head off!"

In the next moment Atreus coughed, in a familiar manner that indicated that the sickness was returning, and there was a bit of blood in his hand, though when Kratos approached his son they found that Atreus indicated that he was fine, as the blood was from their foes and that he just needed to catch his breath. Mimir, of course, was of the opinion that they head to Freya to tend to him immediately, even though he was surprised to hear that they could make a cure for him since Faye had taught them a basic one, but for the time being it looked like it was unnecessary. Since Atreus thought he was ready to go Kratos approached the chisel and used the axe to carefully remove a section of it for their own purposes, while at the same time Flurry retrieved Magni's weapon to add it to her collection, along with the materials that were dropped, no doubt from his own belt. One of the new pieces happened to be a few bits of metal that looked like they were infused with lightning, while the other was another Frozen Flame, which would appease her father greatly, before she pocketed the bag of Hacksilver that Magni had been carrying as they started to leave the area.

Such a thing allowed them to do something they've longed for since discovering the crystalline locks, as Kratos held their new chisel on it and found that he could sense where the Binding Points were located, the spots he had to stab to unlock the lock, like a code of some kind when he and Flurry thought about it. After stabbing a couple of locations he was able to break the crystalline lock, breaking it into fragments that dissolved before their eyes, allowing him to open the door that it had been blocking, meaning they could, in fact, undo all of the locks they had seen in the past. The crystalline chisel was a good thing to have recovered, since it would literally open so many doors for them, and on the other side of the door they found a passage that seemed to be the way back to the dock that they started at. Of course Atreus had to focus on what had just happened, that they had killed Magni and the fact Odin would not sit idle after such a thing happened, but none of his family were even remotely concerned, as it was self defense and they suspected the All-Father would like to talk if given the chance.

While they did that Kratos found and smashed three runes powering a gate, allowing them to loot a wooden chest with a glacial crystal near it, and then loot a stone chest for it's contents before finding that the upper part of this area had a way back to Sindri's smaller workshop.

"So, it sounds like you guys killed one of Thor's sons... you could hear Modi screaming about it from here." Sindri stated, not that he was even surprised at this point, especially after everything that the family had been through since they had crossed paths, and that included killing the dragon that had been trying to eat him, "I'd be careful... he's bound to come for you in the future."

Kratos, of course, wasn't worried about that and quickly used the new Frozen Flame to empower the axe again, though as soon as he was done Flurry asked about the new resource, Leiptr Alloy according to Sindri, used exclusively by the kin of Thor, and with that knowledge under their belts, and with the chisel in hand, they started to head back to the dock so they could move onto whatever might be next for them.

Norse: More Lake Work

As Kratos and his children returned to the dining chamber, and he started to undo a crystalline lock, Atreus coughed for a few moments, causing them to wonder if his sickness was indeed returning, but he stated that he was fine and that he was fit enough to continue on the journey. Atreus did, however, remark on the fact that Magni didn't come back to life, which Mimir found to be interesting since the Aesir had their own way of traveling to Valhalla, with no Valkyrie escort or without being processed at the gates of Helheim, but for the most part they focused on the path. They did discover a stone chest to loot and a harmless rift that Kratos pulled a bag of dust out of as they moved through the passage that was on the other side of the lock, which allowed them to make sure Atreus was fine, since he was still coughing every now and then while huffing, showing them that the fight with Magni and Modi must have taken a lot out of him. The end of the passage brought the family to a large area of the castle that Thamur's other hand had fallen near, since this one didn't have the ring that they had used previously, plus there were some devices that they hadn't seen before as Kratos spotted the way out.

Mimir explained that fishermen would bring their fish into this place and then use the contraption to send some of it directly into the Jarl's kitchen, allowing the rest to be sorted and sold accordingly, though as he said that Pandora spotted a lock on the contraption and broke it with one of her chakrams. Kratos then found an area that he could launch Atreus up into and, once his son was on the moveable lift that Pandora had freed, he moved over to the nearby wheel and turned it, allowing the lift to return to where it was originally, where he froze it's gears in place. With that done Atreus sent down a chain so all three of them could climb up and join him, or two since Flurry just jumped the gap with ease, before they joined him on the lift so Kratos could recall the axe, allowing the lift to return to where Atreus had gotten on it originally. Following that they looted a wooden chest before Kratos unlocked a third crystalline lock, allowing the family to enter an area they had been in before and allowed them to figure out how to get back to their boat with ease.

As they did so Atreus had to wonder what his mother would say if she saw them now, where Kratos told him that Faye would no doubt tell him that he had come a long way, that he had progressed and was growing into a fine young man, causing the boy to smile, as it was a nice thing to hear from their father.

"So, before we go, should we check out the other crystalline lock?" Atreus asked, because there was one near the ring that had opened the way for them to even get to the chisel, where his father looked at it for a few seconds before walking over to it, as he had the key and didn't feel like coming back at a later time.

The passage on the other side of the lock had another triptych, this one about Thamur, where Atreus quickly wrote down all of the new information before discovering that there was more to the passage than he originally thought, especially with a lift at the very end. Interestingly enough there happened to be a magical barrier just before the lift, one Flurry noted was designed to keep something in, like they were entering a prison, and the lift quickly brought them down to an area that, at first, appeared to be a library of some sort, complete with a Yggdrasil door. As they checked out the area, looting a wooden chest and a stone chest for their contents, Flurry found an opening that could bring them to a decent sized area that was like a fighting arena, with a floating winged figure in the center that seemed to be sleeping. This came as a surprise to Mimir as Kratos lifted his head to give him a view, as it was one of the nine Valkyries, and if they were in the flesh like this than they were formidable foes, far more than Magni and Modi could ever hope to be, and he cautioned them to think about this before blindly rushing into battle.

After thinking about it for a few moments Kratos beckoned for everyone to follow him as he returned to the lift, allowing the family to return to the surface, something that confused Atreus since he was sure they could take her out, especially after dealing with Magni and Modi.

"You, Atreus, are still suffering from the last major battle... better that we leave and let you rest, and maybe experience a few lesser battles, before worrying about a Valkyrie." Kratos stated, as his son's condition was worrying, he was coughing every now and then, just like when he was coming down with the sickness that they had dealt with other the years, and it made him want to make sure Atreus didn't collapse at the worst possible moment, "We will return for the Valkyrie when I am sure that you can handle such a battle."

While it was clear that Atreus wasn't too happy about this, he did agree with his father this time around, he needed to get a grip on what he was feeling and not be a burden to the family again, to which he joined them as they departed from the secret prison and returned to the boat. Mimir knew that this would have been the time to tell Kratos and his children the next step that they had to take, tracking down the fabled 'Black Rune of Jotunheim', but he agreed that it would be best to do something easier to ease Atreus down from his high of seeing a god fall in battle. Once they returned to the boat the first place they decided to stop was right across from the area that they found the boat in, right in front of the two statues that had brought them to where Thamur's body was resting, because there was another landing across the way and that would give them a short area to explore. Flurry, of course, returned to the air as her family used the boat, though what worried her right now was the fact that they had no idea where Baldur was, which meant that Freya's rune was working like a charm, but it worried her that he might swoop down on his dragon and attack them while their defenses were down, as he had one based on the sounds they had heard when he visited their home.

The area that Kratos brought them to had some sap clusters in some tough stones, though when Atreus used an arrow on one of them he removed the blockage with a single detonation, allowing them to climb up the wall that had been behind the material and continue to check out the area. While the others climbed Flurry found another Yggdrasil Dew, which were crystalline dew that grew from the various roots they passed by and acted like the runes the family found in the various chests, giving everyone a bit more power for whatever else they might fight. She hadn't said too much on them in the past, but their father knew that the bits of dew existed and was leaving them for her to collect so he could focus on moving the boat through the water, to which she landed by the others as they explored the rocky area they had climbed up to. Such a thing allowed them to see that there was a rift up here and more to the path that seemed to head into a cave, though for the time being they focused on the tear in reality, since it likely had some enemies for them to fight.

Sure enough two powerful Hel-Walkers emerged from the rift, as their armor and weapons seemed to be partly covered in ice and likely held the power of frost, something Flurry was able to confirm as one sent out a wave of frost that she used her magic to cancel out. With that in mind Kratos knew he couldn't use his axe, it did next to nothing against enemies like this, something that caused him to rely on his powerful fists, along with Atreus' arrows and spiritual wolves, Pandora's halberd, and whatever weapon Flurry decided to use. This time around she decided to stick to her sickle staff, since it had been some time since she had used it in battle, where Atreus found that his sister spun it around and slashed into her foe like she had been using this weapon for a really long time, longer than the time they had been living in the Woods. While she dealt with that Hel-Walker, jumping over the ice waves that were sent at her and cancelled out blasts that came flying at her, they dealt with the other one that had emerged from the rift, allowing Atreus some time to calm down and regain himself, causing the coughing he had been experiencing lately to disappear in no time.

When both of the empowered Hel-Walkers were taken care of, and Kratos was sure that no more were coming out of the rift, he approached the tear and thrust his hand into it, allowing him to pull out another pouch of realm dust that he gave to Flurry before they pressed through a large stone door and entered an area that happened to be where a dragon was chained up.

"Woah, another dragon." Atreus commented, where he found that this one looked somewhat similar to Hraelzyr, while at the same time also being somewhat different at the same time, though as they entered the area Kratos held Mimir up so he could see the creature, instead of forcing him to wait until he turned to face it.

"Ah, Fafnir... you know, I always wondered what happened to him." Mimir remarked, causing the family to glance at him for a moment, because they knew that Fafnir was a dwarf, Sindri had sent them to recover a whetstone that he had taken from another realm, so it was interesting to discover that the figure in question was now a dragon, "I know what you are thinking, 'but this is a dragon and Fafnir is a dwarf', and you would be correct in thinking such a thing... either he crossed a Vanir god or goddess he shouldn't have, on account of stealing so many artifacts and was likely cursed for it, or one of the items he stole was cursed and transformed him into a dragon. I think I heard of a mirror that could do that, once upon a time, but if it exists Fafnir likely lost it... somewhere in his vast hoard."

Flurry looked at the area and found that the chains were magical in nature, fueled by three rune stones that were likely scattered throughout this area, though they also served as locks for the twisted magical masks, a final line of defense to keep a spell in place, meaning they would have to smash the runes and then break the mask to free Fafnir. The area that was between the entrance and the open area that Fafnir was standing on, where he couldn't move from as they watched him bite into his chains in a vain attempt to break them, happened to have some draugr walking around, no doubt those who had been slain by the dragon in the past. Flurry also found that when they started to move down into the lower part of the opening that Fafnir opened his mouth and loosed a beam of lightning down on them, forcing her to shield them with a barrier before they were harmed, even though this allowed them to know that he didn't appreciate their presence in the slightest. She suspected that he viewed them as thieves, just like everyone else who came into this place before the opening was covered by water, and if that was true he was going to attack them repeatedly, until he figured out that they were going to free him from his dark bindings.

With that in mind she decided to focus on keeping Fafnir's lightning breath out of the area they were exploring, allowing her father to move up the left side of the area and discovered one of the rune stones, this one looking more elegant since it was larger than the ones they were used to smashing. Of course that didn't stop Kratos from tearing into the stone with his axe, smashing it to rubble in a matter of seconds, allowing them to confirm that it had been one of their targets as Flurry found that one of the rune symbols had faded, causing the family to continue their search. The second rune stone was located in a small opening that was closer to the entrance, also on the left side of the area, and after breaking it Kratos climbed up the wall and entered a room that happened to be near the entrance, allowing them to locate a stone chest that they looted with ease. In addition to that there was a stone tablet for Atreus to translate and add to his journal, which appeared to be one last message from Fafnir before he fully transformed into his new form, telling people to get lost and how he adored his new mirror, which seemed to confirm that the mirror might be responsible for his transformation.

When they crossed over to the other side of the ravine, as that was what Fafnir called this place, they discovered a Traveler after climbing up another wall, this one wearing a yellow colored version of the normal armor, only for Kratos to find that the warrior didn't have any new abilities or powers to show them. With that in mind he smashed through the armor, which gave Flurry more pieces to collect since they were vital to forming some armor, or even just adding them to her collection, before using the Traveler's greatsword to split him in half, just like he had done to the last few they had fought. After that he made sure to smash the rune stone that was in the area and Flurry reported that the lock on the gate that was protecting the mask was gone, meaning all they had to do was break the mask, plus she discovered that Fafnir seemed passive, as if realizing that he was going to be freed soon. Sure enough this time around Fafnir remained still as he watched them approach the device that was keeping him chained to this area, where Kratos confirmed that there was nothing else to worry about before he allowed Atreus to stab the mask with his knife, breaking the final lock in a matter of seconds.

Such a thing caused the magic to dispel and the collar around Fafnir's neck to come undone, where he glared down at the family for a few seconds before turning around so he could spread his wings and take off, flying off into the distance while Flurry discovered a pouch that appeared out of thin air.

"It would seem that he appreciates the gesture, since he's rewarding us." Flurry said, pulling out a large scale that held some power in it, like the other enchantment items they had collected so far, along with what appeared to be a crystalline tear that was white with a yellow core, a 'Dragon's Tear' when she thought about it, an item they might be able to use in the future.

As Kratos nodded, and moved out to loot the couple of wooden chests they had ignored to focus on freeing Fafnir, Flurry and Atreus looked around the anchor that the runes and magic had been linked to, just in case there might be something placed near the dragon to calm him down.

"Hey Flurry, check this out." Atreus said, where Flurry glanced over to the area that he was looking in, since they separated the area under Fafnir into two smaller sections to speed things along, and discovered that her brother had found a golden mirror that had ebony inlay resting on the ground, which he was now holding before he flinched as if he had been zapped or something.

"Are you okay?" Flurry asked, while at the same time magically wrapping the mirror in cloth before it hit the ground, since it was an artifact of some importance, causing her to stash it inside her bag as she started to look over her brother's left hand for a few seconds, where she found that nothing was physically wrong with him, "Well, I don't see anything wrong with you... just be careful, since the mirror was likely cursed in some manner and touching it like that could have done something to your body."

"Thanks, but... I feel fine." Atreus replied, though he wasn't sure what his sister was getting worried over, as he wasn't like Fafnir, so if he was 'cursed' by the mirror he was positive that it would do nothing to him, causing him to walk back over to the entrance so they could join their family.

As they left the ravine that Fafnir had been chained in Flurry told her father and Pandora about the mirror zapping Atreus, because she was slightly worried about him and she made sure to tell them when her brother was further away, where the pair glanced at the boy before deciding that they would also keep a closer eye on him. Following that they used the boat to move across the lake, where Kratos docked near one of the Realm Towers and found that a few nightmares were in the area, easy targets for Atreus to deal with while he and the others supervised him, mostly to make sure the illness and coughing were finally gone. Such a thing allowed them to see that he was able to hold his own and that he seemed fine, which was a good thing to see since all three of them had been worried that the coughing would have worsened or that he would have started to show signs of the potential curse. Since he was fine Kratos knew that once they were done with this area that they could return to their main objective, as it truly didn't seem like Atreus was trying to trick them into thinking that he was ready to go when he really wasn't, though for the time being he focused on their enemies.

After dealing with the nightmares the family found a rotating device that, when turned enough, opened the way for them to open a silver chest, after Atreus stabbed it's mask, before locating a way to climb up to where a runic chest they had opened was located and then spotted a side path that had a rope line. That brought them to where another triptych was located, along with a revenant that Kratos punched in the face, allowing him to dominate her focus while his children did what they did best, provided support while ensuring that Atreus was able to grow and adapt as well. Atreus' arrows simply stunned the figure and allowed their father to bring it down in no time, allowing them to turn towards the shrine and see that it was of the Giant known as Thrym, a frost Giant who stole Mjolnir from Thor, until the god in question stole it back and killed everyone at the end, a common fate for the Giants. After that they jumped over a short gap and climbed up to the other side of the Realm Tower the dock had been near, letting them break open another silver chest for it's goods before focusing on opening the tower's gate to reach the braziers on the other side.

On the other side they discovered one of the yellow armored Travelers, which wasn't much of a threat when they used the tactics they had used against the that had been in Fafnir's ravine, so it didn't take the family long to bring down the new Traveler and collect the fragments of his armor, plus the other resources he happened to have on him.

"Atreus, since it appears that you were correct, that the illness was not returning, it is time for us to track down the Travel Rune and continue with our quest." Kratos stated, something that caused his son to smile while Flurry and Pandora stood there, showing their brother that they were happy to be on their way, which caused him to focus on the individual that could tell them that information, "Mimir, what do we do next?"

"Now that we have the chisel, and can carve the Travel Rune into the special gate, we need to track down the fabled 'Black Rune of Jotenheim', and fortunately Jormungandr filled me in." Mimir replied, which was good to know, especially the fact that World Serpent was willing to aid them so much, causing everyone to listen closely to what he had to tell them, since there was no telling where he might have the four of them go to get their prize, "Apparently the Giants had entrusted the secret to Tyr, which would be a problem for us since he's dead... however, I do know that Tyr had a secret vault and that he supposedly built it somewhere on his temple."

"You know, I have seen a door on the lower level of the temple... maybe that's where we'll find the Travel Rune?" Flurry commented, as she had seen it a few times since they roused Jormungandr from his rest, the second time around anyway, and if that was what Mimir was talking about she was sure she could lead the others to where it was located.

Mimir confirmed that information, he was told that the vault likely held the rune, causing Kratos to turn towards the Door of Yggdrasil and use their Key on it without delay, allowing them to enter the Realm Between Realms for a short while before stepping out in Brok's main workspace. From there Flurry headed outside and the others followed after her, since she had seen it the most out of all of them, and she had committed it to memory since it had a crystalline lock on it, which they could now open thanks to the piece of Thamur's chisel they had claimed earlier. Fortunately the lock and door was near a dock, so if they had come by boat it would have been easy for them to do things that way as well, causing Kratos to use the chisel and break open the lock, opening the way for the family to enter a large chamber that seemed to be the entrance of the vault. Flurry found that there was a sandbowl in the middle of the area, meaning there was a riddle that they had to solve so they could descend into the depths, to where they would find the Black Rune, and there happened to be a damaged triptych on one wall, one of Tyr that was missing the middle panel for some reason.

While they approached the sandbowl, however, Flurry sensed that something was coming and silently prepared her magic once more, where she found that Atreus must have gotten tired of translating things and wanted to teach their father how to translate and read what he could read, and, just as she expected, they were attacked by Modi, who rained lightning down on them that was stopped by her barrier.

"Again? This magic stuff is getting annoying!" Modi stated, where he thrust his mace at them and found that the barrier just stopped the lightning that was coming out of it from touching the family, while at the same time Kratos readied his weapon, as he knew that Flurry could open the barrier at some point so he could deal with the annoying god, "Well, that doesn't matter too much... you four have utterly ruined EVERYTHING! I earned that fucking hammer, poured my blood, sweat, and tears into working hard to prove that I was worthy of it and that Magni wasn't... and now... now everyone is going to assume that I only got it because he's dead! I'll be a joke!"

"Please, someone like you doesn't deserve to wield a weapon like Mjolnir." Flurry remarked, because they had heard of the powerful hammer many times from Faye, and she was sure that Mimir could tell them more that even she didn't know about, and right now she didn't think someone like Modi was worthy enough to wield it.

"It doesn't matter what you think... I've told uncle about what you've done and it's only a matter of time until he tells both father and grandfather. Your lives are over." Modi replied, where he seemed like he had the perfect plan to make sure he wasn't a laughing stock back in Asgard, even though Pandora doubted that people would actually think less of him for knowing when to retreat from an unwinnable battle, before he pointed his shield at them, "You, tattooed man, I'm going to take your head with that axe of yours and present it to the All-Father... father will likely smash the skinny girl so he can vent his anger over losing one of his sons... but you two, the half-breed freak and you abomination of nature, I'll present you as gifts to the All-Father, to be used however he wishes. Just ask the head what will happen next, he knows more than anyone else what his former boss is capable of... though I might need to break the boy's legs and both your wings and your horn, just to make things easier on myself."

As Flurry, Kratos, and Pandora thought about what to say next the unthinkable happened as Atreus raged, as in he let out a scream of anger, showing that he didn't like how Modi was talking about how his family would be harmed, and Flurry was sure that she saw the flames of her father's rage for a second before he collapsed into a heap.

"Wow, he must be stupid... oh well, makes capturing him and transporting him that much easier." Modi commented with a light chuckle, showing them that he thought this was funny, though at the same time Kratos glanced at Flurry for a bit and she nodded as she altered the barrier, surprising Modi as something different happened.

Kratos tapped into his own rage as he literally walked out of the barrier, thanks to an opening that Flurry created for him, and marched his way through the incoming lightning, as if it meant nothing to him, before he grabbed the mace, tore it from Modi's hand, and struck him with his weapon so he dropped the shield, before he delivered a powerful punch to his chest that sent him out into the Lake of Nine.

"This is bad, this isn't the normal sickness we've dealt with in the past... he's awakening." Pandora remarked, as they knew that there was a chance that by not telling Atreus that he was a god might do this, that his rage would awaken his own godhood and put him into this state, but they had been hoping that he would have matured more before they reached this point.

"Quick, we have to get him to Freya's. She's his only hope right now." Mimir stated, as he understood what Pandora was talking about, he knew that Atreus was a god since his father was a god and his sisters were goddesses, of what he was still trying to figure out, and this meant his godly nature was now clashing with his mortal nature since he had been raised as a mortal, and he knew only Freya could help them now.

Kratos nodded as he lifted his son before they departed from the vault's entrance, as he could only hope that Freya was able to offer them some assistance and cure Atreus of what was currently happening to him, all while Flurry could only wonder what might happen to the family next.

Norse: Into Helheim

As Kratos carefully carried Atreus out of the vault's entrance, Flurry landed by the dock and made sure that the boat came over to where she was standing, where Pandora boarded the vessel first and handed Modi's mace and shield to her, to add them to her collection, before taking their brother and Mimir as Kratos reached the boat.

"The sky's getting bad... Thor must be pissed about Magni's death." Flurry commented, as the sky seemed to be darkening and changing before her eyes, meaning flying might not be an advisable plan, but there wasn't enough room in the boat for her still, causing her to focus on the area they needed to go to, "We should get going."

Kratos nodded and departed from the dock without delay, where he and Pandora headed for the cave in question while Flurry took to the air, keeping an eye on the sky in case Baldur, or even Thor, came flying at them while they were dealing with her brother's illness. While she did so she also found that Jormungandr seemed to be staring up at the sky as well, no doubt knowing that this was the work of his ancient foe, but he didn't seem to be reacting more than this, meaning Thor had to be somewhere else right now, which was good for them. Another good thing was that they were able to reach the lower area of Freya's cave and Kratos docked the boat without wasting time, where Flurry flew to another portion of the area and made sure that the way to the lift was clear, allowing her father and Pandora to use it without delay. While they used the lift, however, something interesting happened in the form of someone else blowing the World Serpent's horn, meaning there was someone else who wanted to talk to him, but they decided to ignore it as Kratos, for possibly the first or second time in Flurry's life, paced while he waited for the lift to reach it's peak.

When it finally did, however, they were happy to see that Freya had left her house in the lower position, which meant she either knew they would be back for additional help and left the way open or something had distracted her and prevented her from raising it, but for now it hardly mattered as Kratos approached the door and let Pandora do the knocking.

"Freya! Open the door! We are in need of your assistance!" Kratos stated, because while he knew that one could argue that they were taking advantage of her, because of her knowledge, he hoped that she was willing to listen to them and not ignore them or chase them away in their time of true need, "Freya! It is urgent: Atreus has fallen ill!"

The last statement was more than enough to cause the cursed goddess to open the door and look at them, where Freya instantly found that Kratos wasn't lying and rushed up to check on Atreus, so she knew what she would be dealing with, before ushering them into the house, which they did so without delay as she directed Kratos to set his son down on the nearby bed.

"Mimir's probably already told you this, but I'll say it anyway: this is no ordinary illness. Atreus' true nature, your true nature, is fighting within him." Freya stated, where she made sure that the boy was set on the bed as she tended to her cauldron once more, this time voiding whatever was inside the container as she grabbed a few items to start the cure, or at least the basics of it since there was no telling what else she might need, "However, if I am to cure this stage of the fever I'm going to need a rare ingredient that can only be found in Helheim... the Keeper that guards the Bridge of the Damned, I need you to recover it's heart."

"The frozen realm of the dead... perfect." Flurry commented, as Faye had told them what she knew about the realms that made up the Nine Realms and knew that Helheim would present the most trouble to them, but since Atreus was in need she knew they would go to the ends of the Nine Realms to cure him.

"Yes, it is a land of unyielding cold... fires cannot burn there, and there is no magic in the Nine Realms strong enough to create a blaze in it's domain." Freya said, where she noted that Kratos was more silent than before, which made sense due to the fact that his son was in trouble right now, before she realized what was on his back and knew that they would be in trouble since his main weapon would be useless, "Also, you're going to have to find another weapon to replace your frost axe, since the denizens are Hel-Walkers and the cold means nothing to them."

"Father, I'm sure if you asked Flurry would let you use the Blade or the flame bow." Pandora added, as she and Flurry both knew that there was only one true weapon that their father would want to combat the cold of Helheim, but at the same time they understood the mental burden they represented for him, which was why she was offering the weapons they had that possessed a fire element on them.

"No... I said that I would only use the Blades if the need was great... and right now... now the need is great." Kratos said, to which he glanced up at his daughters for a few seconds, where Flurry nodded her head, as she understood his burden far more than anyone else, thanks to everything they had been through, before he turned to Freya, "I must return to our home first, to dig up something from my past, but then we will make our way to Helheim. Look after Atreus, will you?"

Freya nodded, telling him that this was a mother's promise, before passing on the Travel Rune for Helheim to him, while at the same time shifting the position of her house so they could use the upper river to get back to their home, since it was just down the river, and offered her second boat, which would return to her when they didn't need it. Kratos and both of his daughters thanked Freya for the aid before departing from her house, using the door to enter her garden, where they found that her second boat was more infused with nature, so it would take them to their destination without needing to be directed. With that in mind Kratos and Pandora took their seats as Flurry remained nearby, though she was concerned with the darkening sky, all but confirming that Thor had to be angry and that he was likely speaking with Modi, but that was the furthest thing from her father's mind right now. She understood what her father was thinking about, he really had no desire to use the Blades of Chaos again, but for his son he was willing to burden himself with their presence again and use them in battle, all to save Atreus from what was happening to him.

While they moved down the river the trio found that a magical image was forming nearby, or was trying to, and Flurry was sure that it was Athena, something both her father and sister agreed with since her father even named her in surprise, but it came and went before a message could be delivered, meaning their friends were having a hard time contacting them at the moment, all while Mimir sat there in silence, at least until they reached the dock.

"Brother, you must be cautious... it would appear that there is a gorgon near your home." Mimir commented, because as soon as the boat came to a stop, and his head was lifted, he found a petrified Hel-Walker near the edge of the area, one that looked like it was fractured and destroyed, and that wasn't counting the other statues that were resting around the entrance of the home.

"Worry not, we know this one." Kratos replied, where they walked up the path and found that a number of Hel-Walkers had been frozen by Albis' innate gorgon power and that she had shattered each one to make sure they didn't break free on her, and, sure enough, the last member of their family was in the middle of withdrawing her blades from the statue she had just frozen, breaking it into pieces as she huffed, "Albis, it would seem that you are doing well."

"Kratos, Flurry, Pandora! You're okay." Albis stated, allowing the trio to see that she was happy to see them again, but at the same time she paused for a moment as she noticed that Atreus was missing, and that they were somewhat distracted by something, causing her to frown as she sheathed her blades, "Where is Atreus?"

"Brother has... fallen ill, and this time he's reached a stage that not even Faye's remedy will cure him of." Pandora said, while at the same time Kratos opened the door to the main house and approached the area that held the Blades of Chaos, a fact that told Albis just how serious things have gotten, "We're heading to Helheim after this to get what we need."

"Ugh, that realm. I'd love to help, but you know that cold places and I don't mix." Albis replied, which might be the only part of her monster form that she disliked, not being able to handle the cold like she used to, since it meant that she couldn't aid her family when something like this happened, before she found that Flurry was retrieving something from her bag, the mirror Aphrodite gave her.

Such a thing allowed them to discover that Athena had definitely been trying to contact them earlier, during the short ride back to their house, and the gods of the Land Between Realms were worried that some bad was happening in Midgard, as Hecate reported feeling a shift in the magical energies of the land. Flurry informed them that what they had felt was Atreus' godhood partly awakening, his true godly nature was clashing with his mortally trained mind, which was why he was ill right now and which was why they were heading into Helheim to get something to cure him. She made sure that their friends knew that they didn't have to come charging into Midgard over this, they could handle it, even though she could tell that all of them were now hoping that the next time she contacted them it was with good news, despite the fact that they most of them were caught off guard by Kratos recovering the Blades of Chaos. It pained all of them to watch Kratos pull his old sash, the one he wrapped the blades in, before revealing both weapons again, where he glanced at his bandaged arms for just a few moments before returning the chains of the blades to their former locations, this time without them searing into his flesh once more.

As he did that, however, Albis hear something and discovered that more Hel-Walkers were approaching, where Kratos just stepped out of the house and made sure Pandora was holding onto Mimir while Flurry protected the four of them with one of her barriers, who instantly understood what he was saying. As the barrier went up Kratos remained on the other side of it before rushing into battle, allowing them to see that none of his old moves had left him, he was able to hurl the blades and use the chains with a surprising amount of ease, slashing through the Hel-Walkers with ease. Flurry had seen her father use the blades in a number of interesting and unique ways, and right now it sure looked like his skills had never disappeared, he was using them as if they had never left his hands in the first place, which was a good thing since it meant he wouldn't have to retain himself while they were in Helheim. Even Mimir was impressed by the show, as Kratos made short work of most of the frozen undead, the flaming nature of his blades allowing him to do devastating damage to his foes, which was why they had come here in the first place, and once the Hel-Walkers were taken care of he returned them to his back.

Albis wished them well in retrieving the item that would allow them to cure Atreus, while she kept their home safe, causing Mimir to point out a Door to Yggdrasil in their front yard, something that allowed them to open the way back to Tyr's Temple so they could head to Helheim, and when they returned to the temple Brok instantly stopped working when he noticed that they were in the area.

"Hey, you reek of foreign magic... sweet Nanna's nethers, what are those?" Brok remarked, as he was staring at the Blades of Chaos, in fact he actually walked around Kratos so he could get a good look at the pair of blades from all angles, and the look on his face told them that he was impressed by the weapons, "I've never seen the like... that's got to be a family heirloom or something."

"No, they are not... nor will they ever be. They are my burden to bare." Kratos stated, which was the truth, he wasn't going to let any of his children wield the Blades of Chaos, not after everything he had done with them, but he also realized that the only ones who might to be able to improve their power were the dwarves.

"Son, my brother and me created Mjolnir for the big idiot, so I know from quality... and them? Them's special." Brok said, a fact that the trio agreed with, the Blades of Chaos were definitely special weapons, though as he said that he noticed that Atreus wasn't present and his smile actually faded a little, showing that he actually cared for the boy a little, "Hey, where's the little turd?"

"He has fallen ill... though it isn't the fault of the Aesir, rather it is our own... and our responsibility to make it right." Flurry replied, where she, Pandora, and their father faced the central portion of the temple and knew that it was time for them to head out, because the more time they wasted the worse Atreus' condition would be when they eventually returned, so she could only hope that they got back to him before something bad happened.

Brok thought about that for a moment before asking if there was anything he could do to help, in fact he didn't seem to care that they were heading into Helheim of all places, which showed them that he really did care for the boy in his own way, but Kratos told him that the work he did on their weapons and gear was more than enough. It was possibly one of the few times where he would say such a thing, showing the dwarf that they could handle Helheim and that his skills as a smith were the best thing they could ask for, where Brok nodded and returned to his workshop, with a reminder that he'd be keeping an eye on them. With that done they entered the central part of the temple and Kratos inserted the Bifrost into the slot before focusing on the Realm Tower that would allow them to travel to Helheim, allowing the travel process to start as they stood around for a time. Once the travel process was done, which they knew from the rush of energy and the vine bridge moving to allow them passage, the family started to move out, as there was no telling how much they would have to fight through before they reached the Keeper whose heart they had to take for the cure.

Mimir remarked that what they were about to do was completely insane, since not even Odin could survive the cold that was in this realm, and could only hope that the blades did as advised, allowing Kratos to open the main door and grant them a look at the new hostile realm they had to explore.

Helheim was exactly as described, it was an icy realm with a powerful chill in the air, with large chunks of ice forming on both the realm bridge that was in front of them and the rest of the area that was around the temple, causing Flurry to pull out her reforged blade and tab into it's power, which she weaved into a heat rune to keep the worst of the chill at bay so they could focus on their mission. While they walked forward, however, the family discovered that the denizens of this realm didn't seem to care about their presence, as the Hel-Walkers that actually lived in Helheim, and didn't invade the rest of the realms, simply went about their business. Flurry, on the other hand, knew why they weren't attacking them, as she noticed a few of them nodding, or even bowing, their heads towards her, meaning the undead that were bound to this realm likely felt her nature as a Goddess of Death and were either revering her as their goddess or were acknowledging her as a visiting god of the same deathly stature. Such a thing worried her, because if they came back here and Atreus was with them he'd definitely notice this, his focus was remarkable at times, and knowing her brother Flurry knew he'd ask a few questions on what was going on and then she'd have to reveal her nature to him, which she was hoping to avoid since people feared Gods of Death.

There was one other thing that they discovered, the fact that the Blades of Chaos could burn away the bramble they had seen since starting their journey, which came as a nice surprise for them as Kratos opened the way forward, even though Mimir was surprised by how well things were going right now. They also found that the denizens didn't seem to care about them looting the chests, as Pandora spotted a golden one and as Kratos opened it both she and Flurry found that none of the undead attacked them, rather it seemed like they were completely fine with this. Inside the chest Kratos found a red gemstone, meaning it was a power for his blades, like how the axe had blue gems and Atreus had green, so he made sure to add it to his arsenal before handing the gem over to Flurry so it could be added to the collection. Other than that there were a few weird golden spheres that seemed like they could hold some sort of energy, what type they had no idea, but since it wasn't important in the grand scheme of things the family continued down the path that would bring them to the Keeper they were looking for.

As they walked forward the family discovered that all sorts were phantoms were making their way towards the bridge that the Keeper was watching over, no doubt so they could enter the main part of this realm and be judged, or whatever it was that they were walking towards, but the souls hardly acknowledged their presence and just ignored them, which was good in Flurry's eyes. For Mimir, however, this was all wrong, as only the newly slain should be here, but the number of souls he was seeing indicated that something was majorly wrong, because there were far too many souls around them, which told him that the gate was closed and that meant Hel was full. Such a thing told them why he had been of the opinion to track down the Valkyries and see what was wrong with them, because if they were unable to sort and cull the souls the realm would become overwhelmed, and that proved to be bad for the rest of the Nine Realms, where Flurry told Mimir that they would deal with the Valkyries. Kratos and Pandora agreed, now that they knew what was going on it stood to reason that they, at some point in the near future, would track down the locations of the Valkyries and deal with them to take care of this particular problem, which seemed to appease Mimir as they continued towards their destination.

They also cut their way through more bramble, which there was a lot of in this realm, while Mimir explained that time was different here than in Midgard, like where the Light of Alfheim was faster, which they knew, in Helheim time was slower, so that meant they would get back to Atreus that much sooner.

"That's good to hear, really." Flurry commented, though as they climbed up another wall, and reached the end of the very bridge that they were looking for, they found two things, that the Keeper happened to be a golden or brass troll that was taller than all of the others they had seen so far, while the second was the massive white bird off in the distance that just seemed to be watching them, "Should we be worried about that thing?"

"You mean Hraesvelgr, the ruler of Helheim? No, she's mostly indifferent towards everything that's going on... in fact, she likely won't care if you kill the Bridge Keeper." Mimir stated, though he could see why Flurry would ask such a thing, since the massive eagle could be a problem if she decided to attack them, despite the fact that he was sure that they could kill her if such a thing happened, but as Kratos turned to face the Keeper, their target, Mimir noted that the eagle tilted her head as she looked at them, meaning there was something here she found to be interesting.

"Good, then we will kill the Keeper." Kratos replied, to which he and his daughters dropped down into the area that was in front of them, something that caused the troll, Mattugr Helson according to Mimir, to draw forth the power of Hel into his totem as he jumped down into the arena as well, lifting it like the clubs of the other trolls they had fought.

As the fight started they discovered that Mattugr fought like all of the other trolls, just swinging his totem like a club, as if he had no other moves to use against them since he was an important figure in this realm, before they found that he had the power to temporarily phase out of existence and reappear at the areas that his totem placed orbs at. With that new piece of information in mind Flurry slashed through them without delay and opened the way for her father and Pandora to hack into the troll's body, because with Atreus' life on the line all of them were using more precise attacks to make this battle end that much faster. The other new move Mattugr used against Flurry and her family was to slam the bottom of his totem against the ground and send out waves of Hel energy to harm them, though such a thing meant nothing to them as all three of them jumped over the waves before attacking him again. As Kratos struck Mattugr they also discovered that he could warp away from them and send out shards of ice at them, which really didn't matter as all three of them dodged out of the way before continuing their assault, delivering powerful blows to the troll's body while he tried, in vain, to hit any of them with his attacks.

When Mattugr fell to one knee, a familiar sign, Kratos leapt onto his head and smashed one of his tusks into pieces, while stabbing him right in the face with one of the blades, but this time, when he tried to bring down the totem on his foe, he found some resistance that ended up shattering it into fragments, prompting him to bring both blades straight down into the troll's head, killing him at last.

"Good work, all of you. Now, get his heart." Mimir stated, where Kratos huffed for a moment before shifting one hand so he could hold Mimir out for Pandora to take, though when she did so he climbed onto the troll's large body and knelt on his chest, positioning his weapon so he could get to work.

With the first plunge of his left blade Kratos pierced Mattugr's chest and tore it open with ease, leaving a bloody scar that went down into cavity that the heart was resting in, before he pulled the second blade out so he could forcefully open the cavity, allowing him to tear through a few bits of muscle, and toss off some blood, before he extracted the glowing heart of the slain Keeper.

"Flurry, clean me up, would you?" Kratos inquired, where his daughter nodded her head as her magic washed over his now bloody and gore covered body, magically washing away the blood that had gotten on him since they knew that Freya would freak out if she saw him in this state, and when she was done he touched down near them, before he and both of his daughters turned towards the bird as a massive cluster of darkness took a familiar shape and spoke his name, "It can not be... Zeus?!"

Mimir was interested in that piece of information, as Flurry confirmed that it was her grandfather that her father had seen in the darkness, causing him to warn them that they should never go to the area that the darkness was coming from, a fact that caused them to nod as he was returned to Kratos' belt, only to find Brok hiding behind a pillar.

"I know I ain't supposed to be here, but I said I'd help. Real quick, give me your blades... I need to take them back to my shop in Midgard." Brok stated, where Kratos pulled the Blades of Chaos out and handed them over, causing the dwarf to disappear behind the pillar as Flurry found a crimson flame resting near Muttugr's body, a Chaos Flame she realized, and as she added it to her collection, to upgrade the blades later, Brok returned and handed the blades back to Kratos, "Now your blades are ready for the Winds of Hel! Just target stuff like this here glowy bit and those babies will carry the Winds for a short time... should help you open the way back to Tyr's Temple."

Sure enough they did as Brok told them, Kratos could stab the golden orb with the deathly winds with one blade and that extracted it, allowing him to stab another orb to empower it and open the way forward, causing the dwarf to leave before he froze from the realm's elemental hazards. With that done the family started to make their way back to the temple using a new path, with Kratos utilizing the Winds of Hel to open the gates that were in front of them, while again Flurry found that the denizens of Hel didn't seem to care about their presence, which had to be because of what she was. Such a thing meant they were able to utilize the various wind traps that were in the way to empower the various gates that had been placed in this place in the past, without having to waste precious energy fighting the denizens, which Kratos appreciated since it meant they'd get to Atreus even faster. After that they found their way to Tyr's Temple and entered it, stopping for just a moment to upgrade the Blades of Chaos and thanking Brok for his assistance, before entering the central chamber once more so they could get back to Midgard.

While they did all of that Flurry noticed that Mimir was thinking about something and when the device was set to move them back to Midgard, allowing them to relax a little, he finally spoke up, no doubt since this would be the last time before Atreus was back with them.

"I finally understand now... I'm dangling from the hip of the bloody Ghost of Sparta!" Mimir remarked, because after the family had stepped in front of him the first time he had observed Kratos' form and markings, trying to piece together who he might be, and even both the blades and the mention of the Greek gods only narrowed it down for him, but the fact that Zeus was Kratos' father finally put everything together.

"Do NOT call me that... especially in front of Atreus." Kratos stated, because there were many things he was fine with, but at this point in time he had no desire to be reminded of that part of his life, or to be called by that title again, something his daughters knew thanks to living with him for so long.

"Oh, don't get me wrong brother, from what I've heard the pantheon had it coming... but even then this is still a bit to take in." Mimir said, which only made him wonder which of the tales he had heard about Kratos' exploits were true and which ones were just lies told to make him out to be the monster that Zeus feared, while at the same time he was curious about Flurry and Pandora, as he wasn't too sure on them since a fair number of tales only focused on him and no one else, a fact he hoped they'd fix for him at some point, "I knew you hated gods, but you really can't stay away from them, can you?"

"Father doesn't hate gods... sure, we've had some bad encounters in the past, but we don't hate the gods." Flurry stated, all while she pulled out the reforged blade and cancelled the spell she had been powering, since they were no longer in Helheim and that meant the power wasn't necessary, before she glanced at Mimir for a moment as her father waited for the teleportation process to finish, "Trust me, the whole truth is a lot more outlandish than you've been told... maybe we'll tell you about it in the future... but for now you should let us tell Atreus what he needs to know."

Mimir sighed and agreed with them, they had to tell Atreus about his godly nature, otherwise they would be back in this situation, before they returned to Midgard and made their way out to the main part of the temple again, where Brok had to stop them once more, this time with good news. He had taken a few gusts from the Winds of Hel and improved the main Door of Yggdrasil, which would enhance all of them, as he was sure that they could now go both ways, so instead of just coming back here the family could now go from here to somewhere else, if everything was working correctly. Kratos instantly used his Key to open the Door to Freya's place, as he knew there was a Door near her place, and, sure enough, he and his daughters found that it sort of worked as Brok intended, because they appeared outside Freya's house. Flurry knew this was likely to be the only problem with the modified Door, since the family had appeared nowhere near where the Door in this area was located, but her father didn't care as he walked up the ramp and entered Freya's place.

Sure enough she was pleased to see them return and Kratos handed over the heart without delay, allowing her to get to work on the cure while he knelt by Atreus, placing the back of his hand against his forehead to make sure he was fine, and it wasn't too long before Freya produced the cure.

"One last reminder: I can break the fever... but to truly heal Atreus needs to know the truth." Freya commented, where she had Kratos brace his son up for a moment as she placed the bowl on his chest and allowed the fumes to enter his nose, as this cure required one to smell it to break his fever, before she sighed for a few seconds, "I know this won't be simple for you... I have experience with my own son, so I know what your going through. The runes foretold that he would die a needless death, and I knew that I would do everything I could to protect him... of course everything I did I also did for my own well being. I didn't see the resentment until it was too late... and if you walk down this path, I'm afraid that the same might happen for you."

"Atreus has been burdened with something he should not have been burdened with." Kratos stated, because while he did know that the union of a god and a mortal gave birth to a demigod, such as himself, he had hoped that Atreus would be an exception since his mother was from an entirely different realm, but he was a god anyway, placing a burden on him that he didn't deserve to have placed on him.

"Fa... ther?" Atreus weakly asked, where they found that he opened his eyes as the color returned to his face, showing the family and Freya that he was getting better, which was a good thing to see since his family had been worried for him after his rage had exploded like that, before he shifted his stance and set his feet on the floor.

Kratos was happy to see that Atreus was fine, though they did find that he wanted to continue their quest, instead of just waiting for him to fully recover, showing them that he was thinking of himself as a burden and that he wanted to stop all of them from thinking that. With that in mind all four of them thanked Freya for her assistance, who was happy to help them out, especially since it seemed to make her think of her own son, before they departed from her residence, mostly due to the fact that Atreus insisted on leaving so soon after the fever was broken. The strange thing was that when Mimir tried to remind the boy about their next step, finding the Black Rune, they found that Atreus didn't seem to care, rather he seemed to focus on the fact that he had overhead what his father had said before he woke up, about a burden, and that was distracting him. Such a thing made Kratos wonder if he should have overruled his son's opinion on leaving Freya's place and just forced his son to rest up before continuing their quest, before they reached the lower level of the lift and he moved the boat back into the water.

While he did so, however, he asked Atreus if he wanted to head back up to Freya's and get some well deserved rest, since he might need it still, but his son didn't seem to care about resting right now, which only made them wonder what was going on in his head right now.

"I know what you meant to say... that I'm a burden, since I was born weak... I'm not like you, Pandora, or even Flurry... I'm just weak and useless." Atreus remarked, showing them that he had misinterpreted what he had overheard, while at the same time placing himself on a level that was lower than every member of his family since he thought they were tired of his weakness slowing them down, before he sighed, "But... at least I know the truth now."

"No, Atreus, you do not know the truth. You are not weak, nor are you useless... you are a god, Atreus, just like I am, and just as your sisters are." Kratos stated, as it was time to tell his son the truth, or at least what he was comfortable telling him at the moment, where Flurry and Pandora noticed that Atreus seemed to perk up after hearing that, "We are from a land that is far from here, and when we arrived I chose to live as a man for a time, but... the truth is that you were born a god, just as we were."

Flurry knew that this wasn't anywhere near the truth, since her father and Pandora were born demigods and had been raised into godhood, while they were unsure if she was born a demigod or had been a goddess from birth, but none of them said anything as Atreus considered this information.

"I'm... Can I..." Atreus said, where the sisters could see that he was struggling to come to terms with what he had just been told, along with the potential powers that might be his since gods and goddesses had all sorts of abilities, before he stood up with an innocent look on his face, "Can I turn into an animal?"

While such a thing caught Kratos off guard, as he had been expecting something else after raising Flurry and helping Pandora learn how to be a warrior, but he admitted that he had no idea what sort of abilities Atreus would have and that his son was welcome to surprise him, since he seemed to insist on animal transformation. With that in mind they started to head out of the cave with him fully renewed, as learning that he was a god had finally shattered his fever and the illness he had been suffering from, though Atreus wrongly assumed that them being gods was why Baldur had been chasing them. Kratos still had no idea why Baldur was after them, and right now he didn't care, as long as they stayed head of him, but he was pleased to see that his son was improving after being told that he was a god, meaning he and his daughters may have been wrong to worry about the power going to his head. That had been the other reason for Kratos holding off on telling Atreus about his godhood, because back in Greece power went to the heads of the gods and demigods, in fact he and Flurry knew how Hercules let it go to his head, and it was good to see that Atreus wasn't walking down that path right now.

"You know, I wish I had known I was a god back in Alfheim... I wouldn't have felt so bad about killing so many elves." Atreus said, something that caused Kratos and his daughters to pause for a moment, because that wasn't what they wanted to hear right now, because it meant the power might already be going to his head, from just the thought of being a god, and it made them hope this wasn't a sign of things to come, "You know, we're gods. We can do whatever we want... why don't we go back and kill some more of them for wasting our time when we were first there?"

"No. We are going to Tyr's Vault... do not let the potential power go to your head, Atreus, as power can lead to disaster and tragedy." Kratos stated, though he started to think of new things to say so he could deal with the potential attitude that might come from his son thinking that he stood above everyone now that he was a god, while hoping that Flurry and Pandora could aid him in taming their brother in case the power really went to his head.

As they headed for Tyr's Vault, however, Flurry noticed that am eerie green scale had appeared on her brother's right hand, making her wonder if there was more going on with him than what they were seeing right now, and could only hope that this wasn't the start of something they would all come to regret in the near future.

Norse: Tyr's Vault

After using the boat for a few more moments Kratos brought them over to the dock he had used when Atreus had fallen to his incredible rage and brought the boat to a stop, allowing him, Pandora, and his son to get off the vessel as Flurry landed beside them, allowing the family to head into the vault at long last.

"Now, let us solve this riddle so we can seek the Black Rune." Kratos stated, because while he would be keeping an eye on his son, as his reaction to being a god was less than desirable, they had a quest to complete and he wanted to get it done as quick as possible, especially since he might have to lecture his son about his new godhood.

Atreus told them that the riddle was 'Death itself I swallow, to bring forth life tomorrow', causing Flurry and Pandora to tell him that it was 'Earth', which just so happened to be on the runes on one of the walls, which seemed strange for such an important vault to have the key so close to the lock. Since it was the answer they found that tracing it into the sandbowl allowed the platform they were on to lower into the ground while the doors leading to this point were sealed, likely to prevent anyone else from entering the vault, meaning it was time to see what Tyr's defenses were like. Kratos decided to use the ride down into the depths to tell Atreus that a god must never use their power for self-indulgence, because that usually ended in disaster for both gods and mortals alike, something he and his daughters knew from their time in Greece. Mimir agreed and added the fact that the wisest path was to use his newfound godhood in the service of others, much like Tyr did before his demise, as he always fought for peace, for the realms to be exact, instead of fighting for himself.

They even mentioned how Tyr liked to travel, visiting not only the lands that Kratos and his daughters came from, but also many more that they didn't even know the existence of, which didn't seem to interest Atreus as much as it should have, a fact that caused Kratos to worry about his son.

"Mimir, do you know where in the vault the Black Rune is being kept?" Kratos asked, because as the lift came to a stop he had to ask the question to see if they would be down here for a short period of time or if they would be using far too much time to retrieve the item in question.

"Sadly, no. Remember, I've never been down here... and Tyr didn't tell Jormungandr anything about the Black Rune after it was entrusted to him." Mimir replied, allowing Kratos to open the door that was in front of them and revealed a path that lead to a wide open chamber, one that had a stone of some kind floating in some magic, though as they walked forward the group found that it was raised into the air by a device that was above it and three rings, each larger than the last, rose out of the central hole to surround the stone.

"You know, I'm not even surprised." Flurry remarked, because this had to be the Black Rune, there was no reason for it to be anything else given the amount of security that was around it, before she noticed something that interested her greatly, as there was a wind trap on each ring, and the closest was powered by the Winds of Hel, "Well, I guess going into Helheim to get your cure was far more important than we could have ever realized... we cured you of your fever, brother, and got the ability we needed to tackle Tyr's defenses."

"You guys went into Helheim? You have to fill me in later." Atreus said, his tone showing that he was annoyed with them for not saying anything sooner, while at the same time being interested in what they had done while they were in the realm he was unlikely to visit, since they had gotten everything they needed in a single visit.

As they looked around the area Flurry found a short passage leading to a smaller chamber that held a larger wind trap in the center of it, which had to be the way forward, though that didn't stop her, her father, and Pandora from checking out the rest of the first chamber in case there was anything useful they could take. She discovered piles of treasure, as in gold and silver coins, statues from other lands, items from the realms Tyr had visited, and who knew what else, to which she decided to take action by using her magic to store every pit of treasure inside another portion of her bag, to be sorted in the future. Her reasoning was now that the way into the vault was open, and Modi knew the lock was gone, it was only a matter of time until someone came looking for them and Tyr's secrets, so by storing all of this away she was making sure that anything Tyr had figured out would be hidden from those that might seek to misuse his knowledge. She even cleared out the second floor as well, since there was so much treasure to be claimed, before rejoining her family so they could start to move forward, to which her father used his blade to grab the Winds on the outer ring and then sprinted into the smaller room to put it inside the larger wind trap.

Such a thing caused the device to sink into the ground before being replaced by a wheel in the floor, but before they used it Atreus found a table that had a short knife that Mimir identified as a sgian-dubh, which was from his homeland, and he even encouraged Atreus to take it, even if it was to let the head have a piece of his home nearby.

Instead of taking it with him Atreus allowed Flurry to clean up the chamber, like she had done previously, though it was hard to see if he was fine with this or if he was annoyed by what was going on, with her taking everything to be sure they didn't leave anything for Odin or his forces to find and use against the realms. Once she cleaned up the area, and was sure nothing was left for them to worry about, Kratos pulled the wheel back a bit and opened a door that lead into a hallway of spinning blade traps that moved back and forth, all while discovering a smaller side passage for Atreus to use. With that in mind Kratos made sure that his son went through the safer passage, while he, Flurry, and Pandora focused on moving down the main path, dodging the blades as Flurry tucked her wings in fully to avoid getting them sliced up. In addition to that he had to freeze a few of the traps so they could be lined up and the trio could safely pass by the traps, which proved that Tyr might be keeping something more than the Black Rune down here, meaning Flurry had to make sure to take the other items as well, if there were more dangerous stuff in this large vault.

At the end of the hallway they discovered another chamber that had a large wind trap in the center, surrounded by more of Tyr's treasure, causing Atreus to look around and see what there was to see before Flurry snatched everything that was around them, where Kratos allowed him a chance to relax a little. Kratos actually found two things that interested him in this portion of the vault, the first being a wine vase that was well preserved and, upon smelling it, he identified it as one he knew very well, Lemnian Wine from the island of Lemnos, close to the place of his birth, something he instantly had Flurry take and preserve, so he could find a proper time to share it with them. The other item, however, was a negative one, as it was a slightly larger than the wine container and featured a scene he and his daughters knew well enough, him standing on a pile of slain enemies, wielding the Blades of Chaos, with a halberd wielding girl by his side and the specter of death in the air near them as Olympus was destroyed in a clash with a massive black serpent. He knew what it was, it was the final battle against Korthek, the Prime Primordial Evil as he had called himself, and yet he also understood that someone like Atreus would mistake this as him and Pandora fighting the figure and destroying everything around them, while also being totally confused as to where Flurry was.

With that in mind he made sure his daughter stashed that away in her bag as well, least Atreus get any ideas from looking at it, before discovering that his son was distracted by something else, a pair of elegant daggers with a golden blade that had odd symbols on part of the blade, and a golden wing reaching out from the handle, while at the bottom of the handle was a dog head of an unknown breed, but the pair were on the ground and Atreus was failing to move them.

"Man, what are these made of? I can't move them." Atreus commented, as they seemed important in some manner, which was why they were down in Tyr's vault, though since he was unable to remove them he figured that he could leave them for someone else to deal with.

Flurry stepped forward as her brother stopped trying to move them and reached down for a second, where Kratos found that she grasped the weapons and was able to lift them with ease, as if they were incredibly light, though he did see that they were as long as the Persian dagger that the prince had given her. Flurry glanced at the daggers for a moment with a look of clarity on her face, allowing Kratos and Pandora to realize that they must be connected to Death, and not any form of it that they were familiar with, which was why she, as a Goddess of Death, could lift and use them while Atreus had no chance. As Flurry placed them with the other special weapons in her bag, however, she noticed the angry look on Atreus' face as he realized that she was able to lift the daggers and he was unable to do anything with them, before he turned and focused on leaving the area so they could claim the Black Rune. She wasn't sure what was going on with her brother, he was acting weirder than before, and she wasn't sure if it was due to him realizing he was actually a god or if he had been cursed by the mirror and it was actually starting to show itself to them, but for the time being she collected the rest of the treasure before they continued on their way.

As Kratos raised a gate, allowing them to return to the main chamber with the Black Rune, a few rifts opened, no doubt some of Tyr's defensive measures in case someone other than him came down here, which happened to allow a couple of draugr and nightmares to attack the family.

Such a thing didn't do much to stop them, which Atreus attributed to the fact that they were gods and not the fact that all of them had trained quite a lot before reaching this point, causing Kratos to realize that he would have to give his son a talking to once they had the Black Rune in their possession. After that they found out something interesting, the outer ring had frozen in place, as it was no longer moving, like the Winds had been powering it, where Kratos latched onto the wind trap of the middle one and claimed the Winds without delay. With that in hand he raced back into the chamber that they had found the vases and other treasure in so he could insert the Winds into the larger trap, something that caused it to be replaced by another wheel that would, in turn, open the way into another trap filled hallway. Flurry found that this one seemed to be moving metallic blocks that had spikes on the bottom of them, which slammed into the floor of the hallway, the spikes going into slots that had been designed for them in mind, but fortunately there were side areas for them to stay in so they weren't smashed into paste.

Fortunately this hallway, like the one before it, had a passage for Atreus to move through and he was able to reach the end of it when the rest of his family did the same thing, allowing them to find that one of the walls of the chamber had a few carvings of Skoll and Hati, the wolves who chased the sun and moon, which seemed to be a puzzle of sorts.

Since it didn't seem to do anything right now Kratos opened another gate that went back into the center of the vault and, much to their surprise, no new rifts opened, causing them to look for a way to get the final Winds of Hel so Kratos could open the way to the Black Rune. While they did so Atreus commented on the fact that he wanted the truth from his family now, as in he didn't want them to tell him anymore lies, but his tone actually made it seem like he was demanding, like he was demanding the truth from his father and sisters, even if it hurt him. Kratos told him that it depended on the topic, as there were still things he wasn't even remotely ready to hear, something that just annoyed his son, since it wasn't what he wanted to hear, but for the time being there was nothing he could do as they continued to explore the area. After that he latched onto the last Winds of Hel, pulled them out of the trap they were in, and made his way back into the chamber the third larger wind trap was resting in, making way for another wheel to replace the trap, exactly as they expected after what they found in the previous small chambers.

This time, however, when Kratos moved the wheel he also moved the trio of rings down to where it had started, meaning the Black Rune was within reach, though once the device was locked up a large root, one of Yggdrasil's, wrapped around him and locked him into place against the wheel.

"What the... What's going on?" Atreus asked, though as he made the inquiry Flurry found that the root also rubbed off the rune on their father's neck, which might be a bad thing since it was keeping Baldur from finding them, before discovering that the floor around him sunk a little and revealed a pool of water, plus the mural of the wolves became active with three switches for them to pull.

Flurry knew this was a trap and told her brother that fact, where she quickly found that they had to move the sun, moon, and Midgard icons so that the wolves had the orbs that represented what they hunted, where Atreus told his sisters that Hati had to be the silver wolf and Skoll the golden. With that in mind the siblings carefully moved the switches so that the icons were arranged correctly, moving the moon to the left side of the mural, placing the sun on the right side, and then raising one of them to trap the Midgard icon between them. Atreus was both amazed that Flurry had figured it out so fast and was annoyed that she had been the one to solve it, even though he did offer helpful information to make sure they saved their father quickly, causing her to wonder if he just wanted all of the credit. As the floor returned to normal, and Kratos thanked all of them for assisting in his rescue, but before they could free him some gears emerged from the floor and started pushing the platform up to the upper level, while a secondary platform with spikes on the bottom came down towards them, intending on killing Kratos with it's sharp spikes.

In that moment Flurry called upon her magic and found that it slipped right off the gears, meaning Tyr had made sure that his trap was magic proof, though as she drew her sickles, since all things bowed to death, Atreus grabbed his knife and shoved it into the gear, breaking the chain and undoing the trap in a matter of seconds.

"That was cunning, Atreus... even though it cost you Faye's dagger." Kratos remarked, where his son knew that he was very pleased with all of them, especially him for his quick thinking, even though it cost him something precious, as they knew he adored having something to remember his mother by.

"Yeah, but... at least I saved you." Atreus replied, showing them that the exchange was worth it in his eyes, though as the family turned towards the locked opening that was on this level, so they could break through it and get the Black Rune at long last, Flurry found that he glanced back at her with a look that suggested that he thought of himself as superior to her for saving their father faster than her magical attempt.

Flurry really didn't care to boast or fight with her brother for the credit of saving their father, though this did worry her a lot more than what she had noticed before, as she could see that the single scale was starting to spread, because now it was a patch of scales that were starting to cover his right hand. Such a thing really made her wonder if he might have been cursed by the mirror Fafnir had been so interested in, and if there was a way to break it without doing harm to his body, but for the time being her father smashed his way through the lock and opened the way back to the main chamber. With that done they found that the chain holding the Black Rune's container dropped quite a ways, which seemed to be very intentional based on how everything was designed, and as they made their way down to the lower level once more they found that the rings had returned to the pit and the floor extended to cover the hole. Such a thing allowed them to walk up to where their target was resting, where all four of them found that a mask was resting over it, trapping the Black Rune in the magic that the wooden masks powered, but this wasn't going to stop them in the slightest.

That was due to the fact that Kratos reached into his own pouch and produced a special knife that he had made, which he had crafted when Atreus was born, something Flurry and Pandora knew since they had witnessed it after their brother had been born, a knife that he presented handle first to his son.

"Atreus, one the day of your birth I made two knives, by mixing metals from this land and my homeland." Kratos stated, as he had watched Pandora work enough to know how to mix metals together, thus allowing him to create the items, while his was resting inside his pouch as well, "One was for myself, while the other was meant for you... for when you were ready. I believe that, on this day, you are ready to receive it. Remember, we are gods, not men, and that means the responsibility we have is far greater than you might know, but we will teach you to the best of our abilities."

There was also the fact that Kratos that the power of any weapon came from the heart, but it was only better when it was tempered by the wisdom of one's mind, something that caused Atreus to think about it for a few moments before nodding his head, where Kratos let his son take his new knife and focused on their quest. With the new weapon in hand Atreus just stabbed the mask like he had done in the past and destroyed the magic like it was nothing, freeing the Black Rune as Kratos collected it, only to find that it seemed to be blank, before realizing that it might be in a language of sorts that he didn't know or understand and handed it to Atreus. His guess was proven right as a golden rune appeared on both the stone and on his son's arms, like the Black Rune was transferring it's knowledge to Atreus, and once it was done the stone crumbled to dust, all while two tall trolls, one of frost and one of fire, woke from their slumber as the last line of defense for the Black Rune, a delayed reaction of sorts. Kratos didn't even need to be told what to do in this situation, as the Hel-Walkers had taught him to be mindful of how an enemy in the Nine Realms looked, as this meant that the frost troll would resist the power of the Leviathan Axe and the fire troll would resist the Blades of Chaos.

With that in mind Kratos and Atreus focused on the fire troll as Flurry and Pandora dealt with the frost troll, finding that they had the exact same attacks as all of the other trolls they had faced, which was actually a disappointment in their eyes, as it took the family no time to tear down both foes and allow Flurry to collect the rest of the treasure.

"Whew, they were big... but no match for us gods." Atreus remarked, something that caused Kratos and his daughters to glance at each other for a few seconds, because this wasn't a good sign in their eyes, meaning they would have to give him a lecture at some point since this was becoming unacceptable, while Flurry collected another Chaos Flame and a red gem for their father, "You know Flurry, if I didn't know any better I would almost say that you were a dragon at heart... I mean, you took all of Tyr's treasure in no time at all, like a dragon would."

"Really? You're calling me greedy? Please, I only took everything in case there was something dangerous hidden in any of the piles... anything Odin could use against the Nine Realms." Flurry stated, which her father and sister agreed with, even Mimir understood that there could be more items better left in her bag than to let them fall into Odin's hands, before she started to move, as it was time for them to return to the mountain.

Kratos said nothing and he and Pandora followed Flurry and Atreus back to the sandbowl, where he had Atreus trace the runes in the sand once more to make the lift return to the surface, though this time around four curved seats emerged from the floor, since this seemed to be a long ride. With that in mind he directed his son to sit as he had Flurry hand over the wine vase, where he told Atreus exactly what it was and where it had come from, allowing him to know why this was an important thing in his eyes, and he even offered his son a little taste of it. Atreus was surprised by the gesture, since he usually wasn't allowed to do stuff like this, and while he did gag a little, since he wasn't used to the smell of wine or even the taste, he did swallow a bit of it, though it was hard to see if he liked it or not. After that Kratos handed it to Flurry and Pandora, to have a family bonding exercise or something, and they did so without delay, before returning it to him so he could down the rest of it, which he did in seconds, and while he returned the vase to Flurry he also said 'aaah' to show that he enjoyed it.

Despite Atreus' rude remarks earlier Flurry found that this was a nice ride to the surface, which seemed to be near where the horn to call Jormungandr rested, which allowed them to rest a little more before they moved onto the final segment of their quest, the special gate and, finally, Jotunheim.

"Father, I have to ask... why did you, Flurry, and Pandora leave your home and come here?" Atreus asked, showing that he was interested in the bits of information they had told him when Kratos revealed that they were gods to him, while at the same time the end of the passage opened, revealing a path to the surface of the bridge, "Does it have something to do with the other gods that live there? It's just... sometimes it seems like you hate being a god, despite the fact that Tyr proves that there are, in fact, good gods out there. Like you! You guys only killed those that were deserving, right?"

"Atreus... I do not hate the gods. The tale... is complicated, and not easily told." Kratos stated, which made him wonder why people thought that he hated godly individuals, especially since he never said anything like that in front of his son, but he also knew that the tale of why they had come here wasn't something Atreus was ready for, not since it required the knowledge of what came before their trek.

"There's also the matter of deciding who is worthy of dying and who is deserving of staying alive... who is worthy enough to judge such a thing?" Mimir added, because right now he shared the family's opinion's on Atreus, the thought of being a god, and the power he might potentially have, was going to his head and if they weren't careful a real monster might be born before their eyes.

"Quiet, Head. We are worthy of judging our enemies! No one else is worthy!" Atreus remarked, his tone deepening a little in the process, like he was trying to copy how Kratos spoke, while surprising his family for a moment, as this was a rather sudden change to his personality, "Right, father?"

"No. We may be gods, but only Death is worthy enough to judge everyone." Kratos replied, as he really didn't like the fact that the power was literally going to his son's head right now, because Atreus seemed to believe that a god stood above everyone else, while he remembered how Flurry and Pandora were far more reserved after becoming goddesses, while at the same time reaching for Mimir's head, "Nor will you disrespect Mimir like this."

"Brother, while I appreciate the concern, now isn't the time to linger." Mimir stated, because it was touching that the Ghost of Sparta would treat him like he was a valuable member of the team, in fact it was refreshing if he was being honest, but he knew that it was only a matter of time until Modi told someone about what they had done and that information made it's way to Baldur, meaning they had to get underway, "We can address my nickname later."

"See? Even the Head agrees with me... oh yeah, I'm going to enjoy being a god." Atreus said, though as he started to move down the bridge, to resume their quest, Flurry noticed that his right hand had become scaly and his fingers were pointed, like claws designed to fit a human form, something he didn't seem to mind at all.

Flurry really didn't like what was happening and hoped they could talk some sense into her brother while they traveled up the mountain, to stop whatever was going on with him right now, otherwise she was positive that their quest was going to end in disaster, causing her to pray that her brother didn't do anything stupid for the rest of the journey as they faced whatever dangers the mountain had to offer them this time around.

Norse: Annoying Turn of Events

With the Travel Rune to Jotunheim in hand Kratos returned to Brok's shop inside the temple and tried to use the Door to open the way back to the summit they found Mimir on, causing the dwarf to share with them an unfortunate piece of news, that he checked the Door up there and it had been dismantled. He wasn't sure who was responsible for that, other than him, Sindri, the squirrel that tended to the World Tree, or Odin himself, causing the family to instantly assume it was Odin and that Baldur was likely on his way now that their shortcut was blocked, but Brok figured he'd share what he knew with the family. With that in mind Kratos made sure to hand over the Blades of Chaos and the Chaos Flame they recovered from the elemental trolls in Tyr's vault, allowing the dwarf to empower the weapons once more before handing them back, with a reminder that he was serious about hearing the tale of their forging in the future, when they weren't busy. Kratos simply told him that he would think about it, something that seemed to appease Brok as he shooed them out the door once more, to which the family departed from the temple and headed back to the path that would end up bringing them to Sindri again.

While they walked Atreus commented on the fact that he couldn't wait to tell Sindri that they were gods, in fact he was of the opinion that the dwarf would be surprised when he told him that piece of information, causing Kratos to tell him that they weren't doing that, rather if they saw the dwarf they would greet him and continue on their way.

"What's the point of keeping it a secret? I'm sure Sindri and Brok have figured us out by now." Atreus remarked, where he entered the inside of the Realm Tower that would bring them back to the mountain path without delay, finding that it was still devoid of enemies.

"It is not important to our current quest. They do not need to know." Kratos replied, as he still preferred to keep some of their privacy intact, because if it got out that there were gods from other lands in the Nine Realms he was sure that all sorts of people, mortal and god alike, would come swooping in to bother them.

"Sounds like you prefer to lie to our friends... lying and secrets are Odin's way. We should be open, like Tyr was." Atreus said, showing them that he seemed to think that his opinion was the right one and that hiding who they were was just a mistake that he really didn't want to make, even if that meant butting his head with his father for a time.

"Lad, I'm sure Brok and Sindri would do the same thing if they had something they didn't want to tell us." Mimir stated, as everyone had secrets they didn't want others to know, hence why they didn't say anything about them in the first place, so he could understand why Kratos wanted to keep them being gods a secret, at least until Atreus was taught enough to stop the power from going to his head, "Tell me, are you excited to visit the realm of the Giants?"

"Yeah, but I'm also sad the journey is almost over." Atreus answered, though as he said that Kratos opened the door and stepped out into the area that they had first encountered Sindri in, where they quickly found that the dwarf was working on something right now, just like every other time they had seen him in the past, where he found a metallic gear coming towards him and he stopped it with his foot, "Oh, can I tell him?"

While the sisters said 'no', since they knew Atreus would only make a scene of it, Sindri was interested in what he might have to say and only seemed to back off a little when Kratos told him it was just a family matter that they had been in the middle of discussing before entering this area.

"Don't worry, I get what you mean... I could tell you a thing or two about family drama." Sindri remarked, while he lifted the gear and returned it to the table he needed it on so he could continue his work on it, even though he did have to take a few steps every now and then since it was slightly heavier than he thought it was.

"Ugh, let me guess: your brother isn't as talented as you are and his work is trash?" Atreus angrily inquired, showing both his family and Sindri that he was annoyed about hearing about the feud between him and Brok, where Sindri paused for a few seconds as he thought about what had been said.

"Um, those are accurate remarks. What's your point?" Sindri asked, because the reality was that he wasn't going to say a word about the drama that existed between him and Brok, he could tell that Kratos was tired of it, it was on his face every time it was brought up, so he had plans to say something else until Atreus interrupted his train of thought.

"It's all you two ever talk about when we see you, over and over again without end... either do something about it, or shut up and accept it you coward!" Atreus snapped, showing them that he was sick and tired of listening to the brothers talk about their problems, while doing nothing to mend the bridges that had been burnt in the past, where Flurry noticed that a golden curved horn, like that from a crown, grew out of her brother's forehead, right above his right eye, while Sindri was shocked as the sky darkened, "Yeah! We're sick and tired of hearing about little people's little problems!"

Sindri dropped his tools in shock as he heard that, since he wasn't expecting Atreus, of all people, to say such a thing, in fact he had been expecting Kratos to make a comment about it, before gesturing for the family to follow as he quickly did some work on the Leviathan Axe, strengthening it as Flurry found a second horn, identical to the first, growing above her brother's left eye, which were as thick as her own unique horn. At the same time she noted that the sky darkened, which meant that Thor had to be pissed about something, since she was sure that it wasn't tied to her brother, though she also noticed how Atreus didn't seem to notice his odd changes, like he was focused on being a god and nothing else. Kratos told Sindri that they would talk some sense into his son during the journey, since he wasn't supposed to be like this, and the dwarf merely nodded his head, showing them that he was in shock by Atreus' attitude change and the changes that were happening to his body. The changes did tell Flurry that he must have been cursed by the mirror, it was the only way to explain what they were seeing, though it did make her wonder how they were going to reverse it so he returned to his normal form, and, hopefully, his normal personality at some point.

After making sure that Sindri was fine, even though he was definitely hurt by Atreus' comment, the family found that there were a few nightmares and even some wulver in the area leading into the mountain, though as Kratos fought he discovered that his son seemed more aggressive than before, even though it ended with them defeating their foes with ease. In addition to those enemies they discovered that there was an ogre entering the battle and the family engaged it like they had done with all of the other enemies they had encountered in the past, quickly bringing it down as Flurry and Pandora slashed it down. Once their enemies were taken care of, for the time being since there were likely more waiting on the rest of the long path, Atreus smirked and asked if the monsters really thought that their numbers were enough to bring them down, which just showed them that his arrogance was starting to take over. At the same time Pandora noticed that the lift they had used to get back to where the Black Breath was resting was broken again, meaning they literally had to go through the entirety of the trek to Mimir's peak again, while Atreus frowned for a moment as he saw the device.

"You know, I'm really starting to doubt Sindri's skill... I mean, he's good at tending to armor and weapons, but everything else he touches just seems to break." Atreus commented, though while he was disappointed in the lift being disabled, since it did mean they would have to take the long way up, this was good in his eyes since it meant he could flex his godhood on those that dared to get in the way, "Brok was right... Sindri's skills are subpar."

"Boy, you will not speak of our allies in such a way, nor will you say unkind things to them." Kratos stated, as this was already starting to get annoying and he could tell it was wearing on Flurry's nerves, since now her brother was reminding her of the gods of Greece they had to put down, those who deemed themselves to be far above everyone else, namely Hera when he thought about it, "You will apologize to the dwarf and pray that he is in a forgiving mood."

"Father, we're gods, and that means we don't have to listen to their argument or take their crap. And even then he should know the truth, even if it hurts him." Atreus stated, showing them that he was fully in the mindset of being a god, and that anyone who wasn't a god was subject to being looked down on by someone they thought to be an innocent kid the first time they met him, all while Flurry noticed his left hand was clawed and scaled, just like his right, "He's lucky we had to fight those monsters... I had a few more things in mind that would have driven the point home. Oh well, maybe I'll tell him later."

"Brother, just know that everything you just said to Sindri, and every harsh thing you're thinking of saying, is something your mother would disagree with." Flurry said, which was the truth, she was sure that Faye would have been appalled by how her son was acting after learning that he was a god, especially to people that had been friends while she was alive, and part of her hoped that mentioning his mother would snap Atreus out of this mindset.

"Whatever. She wasn't a goddess, like you and Pandora are, so her opinion would be irrelevant." Atreus replied, which was just further confirmation that he had let the power go to his head, if he was willing to disregard anything his mother would have said about his actions, and instead of waiting for them to say anything he continued along the path.

Kratos growled for a moment, as Atreus was really starting to grind on their gears, but he and his daughters followed after him without delay, because right now his son was walking a dangerous path and there was no telling what he would do with his newfound arrogance clouding his judgement. Sure enough his thoughts were proven right as Atreus found a couple of Hel-Walkers, lesser ones since they weren't like the ones in Helheim, that he attacked without delay, without waiting for his father to start the battle like he usually did, but that didn't stop the trio from wiping out the group as well. From there they started to climb up one of the walls, the one that brought them to their first ogre, where Atreus asked if he could carry his mother's ashes now, since he was clearly strong enough to carry the burden, and Kratos told him 'no' once more. This time his response was also due to the fact that Atreus was willing to disregard anything his mother could have said about his attitude, in fact him treating her memory like it was beneath him since she had been mortal showed Kratos that he wasn't even remotely ready for the burden of carrying her, especially since Faye had been better than most of the gods he and his daughters had encountered.

Atreus scoffed at the idea of a god caring about what their mortal parent might say about their attitude and told his father to carry the ashes himself, since he wanted to be greedy and keep the bag on him at all times, though they were briefly interrupted by rifts opening around them as the sedir draugr attacked them.

Kratos and his daughters found that Atreus, again, gave into being aggressive and disregarded the lessons that had been given to him since the start of this quest, and when they cleared out the undead, as they had been the easy ones to take out, his son's overconfidence surged to new heights as he told their slain enemies that this was what they would get when they faced a god in battle. Such a thing caused Atreus to question Mimir's tale about Odin seeking Jotunheim, when the reality, in his eyes, was that the All-Father was targeting them because they were gods that didn't fit in the picture that he had for the Nine Realms, where Mimir didn't dispute that claim, rather he focused on the Realm of the Giants since Odin was obsessed with the realm in question. That was when they learned that Atreus really didn't care to learn anything more about Odin or his family, going so far as to interrupt Mimir while he was talking, causing the head to be silent for a time as they continued to where the Black Breath had been resting. They even discovered that the boy thought that some rocks falling onto the path was Odin trying to get in their way, causing them to wonder what in the world was going on with him since this was far more than power going to his head, in fact Kratos and Flurry had never seen anything like this, and such a thing made them wonder how they were supposed to counter this attitude.

As they entered the area with the statue, who opened the way into the mountain, the family found that Modi was standing by one of the pillars, though he was bloody and wounded, which confirmed that he must have been beaten by his father after telling him the news of his brother's death.

"Thor... blamed me... ME... for what you did to Magni!" Modi stated, coughing as he confirmed Flurry's suspicions, which meant that the god wielding Mjolnir must be drunk if he was willing to hurt his own son like this, though she could see that the fight had left him, like he was here to deliver a message before leaving them to their business, "My own father called me a coward..."

"Yeah, that's because you are one... there's no harm in telling you the truth, even though it looks like he did more than just call you a coward." Atreus replied, his tone showing them that he didn't care about the wounded figure's words, rather he seemed to be focusing on what Modi had said back when they were fighting him and Magni, especially since he drew his new dagger and held it at the ready, "Move it, before I finish what he started."

"No. He is beaten, weaponless, and is grieving the death of his brother... leave him be." Kratos said, because despite what they had heard before gaining the chisel, where Thor's sons had been arguing with each other, it was clear that Modi had loved Magni like they were true brothers and not half-brothers, and right now he was mourning his brother to the best of his ability, "Come, we have a quest to finish."

"No... we're gods. Anyone who insults us deserves to die!" Atreus remarked, where Flurry raised her hand, and her magic, just as Atreus stabbed Modi in the side of his neck, going for a vein that would instantly kill him if it was pierced, and she was able to stop him before that happened, though she had to seal the wound and place an illusion over Modi to make Atreus leave him along, causing him to withdraw the weapon and knock Modi over the edge.

Flurry used her magic to catch Modi and then teleport him to the safest area for him, the bottom of the small chasm that existed in this portion of the area, carefully making it so that Atreus didn't know she had saved him, and she made sure Modi's area had a few of the healing stones in it, though she would be back once they were done with Atreus' attitude and their quest.

"Atreus... what are you doing? Killing against my wishes... against my orders?!" Kratos stated, as this was going too far in his eyes, because there was no honor in killing someone that couldn't fight back, even though he suspected that Flurry had done something to try and save Modi, that was just the type of person she was, allowing him to focus on his son and his dark changes, "You are losing control of yourself."

"So what? Haven't you three been teaching me how to kill? How to take a life?" Atreus replied, showing them that he really didn't care about Modi, rather the fact that he was a god had gone to his head and was his sole focus, that he could do whatever he wanted and there wouldn't be any consequences for his actions since he deemed himself to be above both mortals and gods, since he wasn't listening to his father at all, "What's the big deal? It's not like anyone cared about Modi to begin with."

"Really? I beg to differ, considering how pissed Thor seemed when he heard Magni was slain... just imagine his fury when he hears what just happened." Flurry remarked, though it was easy for Kratos, Pandora, and even Mimir to see that she was getting angry over all of this, which to her father and sister made sense due to the fact that she was the Goddess of Death and she had a greater appreciation for life, far more than even some life gods at times, and her brother's uncaring attitude towards life and death was pissing her off, "We teach you how to kill, that is true, but only to defend yourself or to hunt... never as an indulgence. Only uncaring monsters would indulge themselves in the slaughter of others. Besides, there are consequences for killing a god..."

"Oh yeah, and how would you... know? Oh, I get it now... you hypocrites." Atreus said, as he was focusing on what he had just done to Modi, even though he was unaware of what Flurry had done to save the god in question, and suddenly he seemed to understand something that he most likely did not understand at all, "That's why you guys are here in the Nine Realms, isn't it? You've killed gods before, haven't you? That's how you know there are 'consequences' for doing such a thing... and let me guess, you used those blades to kill a few of them! How many have you hypocrites killed?"

"Atreus... there's no easy way to answer that question, nor are you ready to hear the tale that would even begin to give you an answer." Pandora replied, because that was the truth of the matter, their brother was in no way, shape, or form ready for the information he wanted them to tell him, and while it would make him mad she knew it was better this way, least it go to his head that they could kill Odin if he appeared before them.

"I'll ask again, since you two are too stupid to follow directions: How. Many. Have. You. KILLED?!" Atreus stated, where he found that Flurry took a step towards him and their father had to step in as he used an arm to stop her, causing her to back off before they had a sibling fight, which Kratos knew would have been bad given Flurry's experience.

"Watch. Your. Tone. BOY. This topic is not open for discussion... you are not ready for the answer, and at the rate you are going I will never tell you anything about our past lives." Kratos replied, though at the rate things were going he was going to have to pull his son aside and give him a lecture on how to behave as a god, because this was totally unacceptable, as he was sure they were going to be stopped before they reached their destination by something stupid Atreus was going to do to someone along the way.

Atreus decided to respond with his new favorite phrase, which was 'whatever', before continuing down the side path that was to the left of where they were standing, though as he did so, and Kratos and Pandora followed, Flurry noted that her brother's eyes had become slits, like a dragon's, and they were now purple colored, instead of their original blue. Such a thing made her wonder if her brother's new rude attitude was the cause of the changes, since he definitely wasn't being greedy like Fafnir, something that only made her imagine how much his new outlook on life was going to change him and his body. One thing she found as she caught up with the others, as Modi seemed fine in the area she had left him in, was that when her father had Atreus remove some of the sap by hitting one of the crystals her brother continued to act like he was the leader of the group and that it was by his will that they moved forward. After that they found that a tatzelwurm pack was up ahead and, just as they expected, Atreus rushed in without a care in the world, attacking their foes before he was commanded to do so, either loosing arrows or using his new dagger, and Flurry even noticed him grab one with his new claws before hurling it into a wall.

The problem they were discovering was that he was quite literally ignoring them at this point, usually whenever someone had something to say about how he was fighting, and even when Kratos warned Atreus that Baldur was likely hot on their trail his son informed him that he'd be killing him as well, now believing himself to be above everyone. Another thing that worried them was the fact that Atreus used to feel sorry for killing the draugr and now, after becoming a god, he had no such remorse for them, in fact he seemed to enjoy killing the undead and putting them back in the ground. Kratos even acknowledged that his son seemed to have forgotten his training, as some of his moves were sloppy and lacking the skill he had used over the course of their quest, though Atreus just shrugged his words off as they continued into the mining area they had used the lift in. There was another crystalline lock nearby, though with how Atreus was acting Kratos and his daughters agreed that fighting a Valkyrie was out of the question, because with his new outlook on life there was a chance he could get them seriously hurt or even killed, so they focused on reaching the summit for the time being.

Fortunately there was a smaller lift that Kratos opened the way to by burning away the bramble that was on it, and when they used it to reach an upper part of the mine Atreus commented on how his father wouldn't tell him anything, despite listening to all of his commands before this point.

"Your new outlook on life is preventing you from heeding our lessons. We will not teach you anything new until you decide to abandon this path you have chosen." Kratos stated, because right now he wasn't in the mood to teach his son anything, he wasn't listening and even if Atreus was he suspected it would only be twisted into some new way to disobey him, so for the time being his son's lessons were on hold.

Instead of responding to that comment Atreus decided to tell Mimir that he knew everything he needed to know now, like he was saying that his limited knowledge was all anyone needed in the world, along with the fact that he deemed himself to be above lessons at this point in time. When the lift came to a stop it took literally a second before Atreus launched himself at another group of draugr, smashing his bow through the stone ones that were fully dead while getting up on one and stabbed it to death, just like he had done previously. The look on his face revealed even more of what was going on with him, he was also drunk on power, though Flurry wasn't sure if that was due to his newfound godhood or the power that seemed to come from his still transforming body, since she was positive that his clawed hands added to his overall power in some manner. In fact it looked like Atreus was feeling the power far too well for their liking, as his shoes seemed to magically fade away, likely part of his own power that was still surfacing, as his feet became scaly and clawed, just like his hands, meaning his rude attitude and his lust for power were driving his curse forward.

Atreus, of course, didn't seem to mind since the changes allowed him to do more damage to his foes and take them down without having to rely on his family, though Kratos and his daughters did clear out some of them before finding that his son was continuing along the path without waiting for them.

While they followed after Atreus, to stop him from getting himself killed by something that was stronger than him, Mimir looked at the walls and reported that there was recent dragon activity that they should be wary of, only for Flurry to tell him that Hraezlyr was already dead, as they killed him on their way to the summit. Mimir was interested in hearing about the fight, as he recalled hearing something that sounded like a dragon fighting from his prison at one point, prompting Flurry to tell him that they would share the story once they were done with their quest, which he agreed with. What was even more annoying for them was when they found a sleeping Ancient, meaning it wasn't seeking their deaths, and Atreus just rushed at it and slammed his bow into part of it's body, waking the creature up and forcing them to do battle with it, a fact that prompted Flurry not to use the Blade of Olympus. It was meant to punish his insistence on rushing ahead, but it didn't seem like Atreus was realizing the truth behind her decision, essentially forcing her, their father, and their sister to bring down the Ancient and scatter it into pieces, allowing her to collect the resources it dropped.

They even got a new enchantment that seemed to increase their frost power, which she added to her bag as Atreus kept on moving, causing them to all to sigh as they realized he was going to hurt himself with his foolish actions, but that they were going to have to let it happen in the hopes that it snapped him back to reality.

As the family continued to make their way towards the summit they discovered that part of the area they passed through was a workshop, like the overseer's or another important figure who worked in this area, causing Kratos to open a couple of chests and recover a few new pieces of armor that were added to Flurry's collection. Sindri was also there and was still in a bad mood, which was understandable since Atreus had basically snapped at him for no good reason, especially since the dwarf mentioned that he was 'glad to still be of use to them' while looking at Atreus, both due to what happened not that long ago and the boy's changes. Once they were done checking in with Sindri the family continued on their way, to which Kratos opened a door and opened the way out into an area that was pretty close to the summit, though there was a rift in front of them that Atreus decided to trigger, allowing a group of Hel-Walkers to attack them. Such a thing prompted his father and sisters to take down their new enemies in the span of a few seconds, though after that they opened a silver chest with part of the cipher for Niflheim, which they pocketed for later as Kratos cleared a bit of bramble that allowed him to use a wall to reach the path leading to the summit.

From there it was a simple manner of walking along the familiar path and climbing up to where the special gate rested, a fact they were able to do in a short period of time, allowing all four of them to stare at it for a few seconds before focusing on what they were here to do.

"Atreus, the rune." Kratos said, where his son glanced at him for a moment before walking up to the side of the gate that had the crystalline lock embedded in the stone, causing him to draw his dagger and slice into his left palm so he could spread a bit of it on the stone, marking the exact points that the chisel had to be used on.

Once he was done with his work Atreus stepped to the side as Kratos stepped forward, carefully stabbing the stone in four locations that caused the magic of the gate to roar to life before their eyes, opening the portal that Mimir had shown them when they learned that they had misunderstood Faye's request... though before they could even use it Baldur came out of nowhere and smashed Kratos into the left leg of the portal frame, severely damaging it in the process, causing him to just headbutt the god away.

"You know, I was wondering when we were going to see each other again... now we get to have some fun." Baldur said, to which he turned and launched himself at Flurry, because out of all of them he was mostly interested in her ability to harm him, despite the curse still being active, who parried with her sickles and slashed at his chest, forcing him backwards with a smile on his face, "Oh, how I missed this... glorious pain! You know, I have to thank you for opening the gate... father gets his prize, Thor gets the god that killed Magni, and I get to fight the goddess that can harm me, despite my foul curse! All of us win!"

"Don't forget about me!" Atreus remarked, where he launched himself at Baldur and swung at him, with his claws and not his dagger, causing the god to tank the blow with the side of his body before kicking the boy in the chest, knocking him back towards Pandora for a moment, "I'm a god as well, and I can fight."

"A god? Hardly. You're turning into a dragon, boy, and it's only a matter of time until your mind goes... you might end up attacking your own family, forcing them to put you down." Baldur replied, showing Atreus that even if the boy was a god he wasn't at all intimidated by that fact, something that caused the boy to roar in anger as he rushed his chosen foe, while at the same time Flurry glanced at her father and sister as they nodded.

Pandora joined the attack as her father did the same, forcing Baldur to focus on four different foes at the same time, but that was the point since it would confuse him, and with Flurry's magic involved they were able to really mess with him and caused him to swing at Kratos, who moved out of the way and let their foe punch the weakened portal frame, shattering it as rocks collapsed all around them.

"No... no no no... what have you done?!" Atreus shouted, where it was clear that he was enraged by what they had done, even if he had been unaware of what his family was planning, because they realized that there was a chance Odin was on his way and couldn't let him use the gate, so despite their effort to open it all three of them knew it had to be destroyed, even if it infuriated Atreus, "I HATE ALL OF YOU!"

In the next moment he rushed Baldur again as Flurry and Pandora stopped by the tree Mimir's body was stuck in, where a large red armored dragon emerged from the clouds behind the skinny god and loosed a burst of flames down on them, and only them, forcing Flurry to shield them with her magic. Baldur, on the other hand, let Atreus hit him before kneeing him in the chest and then punched him right in the face, knocking him backwards, where his rage exploded as a tail grew out of his leggings, his magic creating an opening to avoid damaging his clothing. Due to his size the scaly tail wasn't as thick as a fully grown dragon's tail, but it likely still had the power to back it up if Atreus used it in battle, not that the boy seemed to realize that fact as he rushed into battle once more, as if believing that giving up his humanity was the key to beating his foe. This time around Kratos caught him before he could reach Baldur and forced him backwards, to stop his son from doing something stupid, but, in his blind rage, Atreus drew his bow and loosed a powerful lightning arrow right into Kratos' left shoulder, pinning him to one of the boulders as it shocked him.

Baldur, sensing an opening, allowed Atreus to attack him as he grabbed onto the boy, took his dagger, and planted it right in the side of his right shoulder, prompting him to jump onto the dragon's back as it stopped it's attack before flying off into the distance.

As that happened Flurry reached out with her magic and found that it slipped off of the dragon's armor, just like the gear in Tyr's vault, causing Pandora to rush over to their father so she could remove the arrow, which she was able to do within a few seconds. With that done Flurry grabbed onto both of them and lifted them into the air with her wings, allowing her to start flying after the dragon as they found that Baldur was heading for Tyr's Temple, meaning he was heading back to Asgard with Atreus in tow. After figuring that out she tossed both her father and her sister at the dragon, where both of them drew their weapons as they understood her plan, as they reached the beast's wings, landed on top of them, and then dragged their blades down the length of the entire thing, severing it's ability to fly. As the dragon fell Kratos made sure Flurry caught Pandora as he raced down towards the bridge and used his shield to soften his fall, while at the same time Baldur jumped off the dragon with Atreus over his shoulder as he landed between Brok's area and the main portion of the temple.

Such a thing caused them to blitz the temple, prompting Brok to ask them what was going on since only they activated the bridge between realms, and when they entered the main chamber Kratos barreled right into Baldur, who seemed to be enjoying what was going on.

"It's too late. It's locked in... and soon you shall feel the full might of Asgard!" Baldur stated, showing them that he thought he had all of the cards right now, though there was one thing that he wasn't counting on as Kratos looked at the console, and that was for Kratos to activate one of the Travel Runes he knew as he slammed his Bifrost down into the slot.

The coloration of the realm confirmed what her father was thinking, as Flurry found that her father was going to send all of them to Helheim, where they should be able to trap Baldur while they figure out what to do next, and when the beam started to fire at the crystal both she and Pandora forced the god into the beam. Such a thing seemed to open a force that dragged all of them into the realm, where Flurry made sure to grab the Bifrost before they went too far, and, as expected, they surged out into Helheim, flying above the bridge that she and her family had used to track down the Keeper. That did prompt Baldur and Kratos to fight over Atreus, as in they literally punched each other repeatedly as they flew by where the Keeper had been stationed, heading deeper into Helheim than they originally thought, in fact it looked like they were heading to the place Mimir told them never to go. Fortunately Kratos was able to utilize one of the pillars by kicking his foe away from him and Atreus, sending Baldur into it and forcing him to fly off into another portion of the forbidden zone, all while Kratos grabbed onto his son as the same happened to them, sending them elsewhere.

Flurry made sure to grab onto Pandora as that happened, using her magic to protect them before they smashed into the structure that their father and brother had landed in as well, and once she was sure that they were safe she dropped her magic and made sure no enemies were coming after them, all while her father freed Atreus from the rubble that he had been buried in and glared at him for a time.

"You will LISTEN to me and not speak a word." Kratos snapped, where his tone reminded Flurry of their time in Greece, as it was a level of anger that he used to reach before she was able to calm him down, so seeing it come back killed some of the anger she was feeling at the moment, while Pandora looked to the side for a time, "I am your father, Boy, and you are not yourself... you are too quick to temper... you are rash, insubordinate, and out of control, and this will not stand. You will honor your mother and abandon this path you have chosen... it is not to late to correct yourself. There is more to say, but this is neither the time or the place for this discussion... just remember that we are here because of you."

Somehow, against all odds, Atreus actually listened to his father and, when he was back on his new clawed feet, he hung his head in shame, showing them that he might be thinking of what happened before reaching this point, causing Flurry to sigh as she wondered how they were going to fulfill Faye's last wish now and braced herself for the dangers that Helheim would throw at them this time around.

Norse: Escaping Helheim

After quickly verifying that everyone was alright, since Atreus had been slammed into a pillar before coming to a stop after their entry into Helheim, Kratos had everyone move out, since there was more ground to cover while they sought out a way to escape from the realm they were now in.

"So, um... it looks like we have to climb again." Atreus commented, seeing that the only way out of the tower area that they had landed in, before his father literally snapped at him before either of his sisters could say anything, while his family could see that the boy from the very start of their quest was back, the arrogance and overconfidence gone, "Are you... Will you be able to handle my new weight?"

"...Yes, I will be fine." Kratos replied, because while he was still rightfully annoyed with Atreus, especially after his son used one of his lightning arrows on him while they were trying to deal with Baldur, his anger paled in comparison to Flurry's, and the only reason she was remotely calm about this was because he was, even though it would take some time for her rage to die down.

"O... Okay. I trust you." Atreus said, where they could see that he was literally back to square one, plus he seemed worried, even terrified, that they would hold everything he did on their way up the mountain against him, so it was possible that he was lowering himself to appear smaller or to hope they'd go easy on him.

Kratos said nothing as he approached the wall and started to climb, where Flurry watched as Atreus climbed onto his back once more, this time adjusting himself to avoid hurting their father with his new claws, even though he had no idea what to do with his new tail. For the time being they just let it hang, especially since it was so different from Flurry's tail, which was followed by Kratos starting to climb around the structure with Pandora following behind him, but they moved after Flurry applied the heat rune on them again. Flurry, as per usual, flew around the area they were in, sticking close to the rest of her family while keeping an eye out for danger, and she was able to see that there was a large wooden ship off in the distance, which Mimir told them to head to, since it would get them part of the way out of Helheim. Mimir also quickly told them that everything had come full circle in this realm, as Mattugr, the Keeper of the Bridge of the Damned, had kept the living out of the worst part of Helheim, and yet, with him dead, here they were, which he found to be funny.

When they reached the upper area of the structure Kratos found that there was a Hel-Walker waiting for them, who had a bone to pick with them, instead of like how the denizens of Helheim ignored them, though Kratos tore it's head off while Atreus stayed back, showing them that he didn't trust himself to fight anymore.

He should pay for what he said about mother. a voice said, where Flurry realized that it was her brother's, though while it was clear that he hadn't actually said that phrase before they came here, she would have remembered it, she had a feeling it had crossed Atreus' mind while he was dealing with Modi.

"That... That's not me." Atreus stated, something that allowed the rest of his family to see that he was terrified of the voice, even though it was his own, meaning that he might actually know just how much of an ass he had been and now that they were in Helheim, and he was back to how he had been before learning he was a god, he was either unknowingly using his actions to punish himself or this area sensed his intentions and was manifesting them.

Flurry glanced at her father and her sister for a moment, as they weren't sure what to make of this, but decided to not say anything about the issue as Kratos used a bridge and jumped over a short gap to reach another tower, slashing through the Hel-Walkers that were in the way since the Blades of Chaos were their weakness. When they entered the upper area of the next structure Helheim had another scene to torment Atreus with, where phantom misty version of him and Modi appeared before them, replacing the scene were he stabbed the wounded god and pushed him over the edge. That was where they found that Atreus seemed ashamed of his actions, maybe even terrified of the person he had been after they told him of his godhood, which was why he was so reluctant to fight the enemies that were in their way. In that instant she understood him more than she originally thought, because while she was the Goddess of Death she had never trained in the art of using death magic, there was no one to teach her, hence why she rarely, if ever, used her full powers, which was like what Atreus might be feeling right now.

As they moved down to the lower area Kratos made sure that Atreus knew that he and his daughters would get them out of Helheim, showing his son that right now, after what he had done, the trust that had existed between them was gone, it was broken and in need of repair, causing Atreus to continue to hang his head in shame.

While Kratos and his daughters moved, however, Mimir told them that the best way to escape the visions of Helheim, as the realm targeted both those that it was meant to torment and those who weren't dead yet, was to escape the realm as soon as they could, causing Kratos to use a wind trap to transfer the Winds of Hel to a lock. On the other side of the door they discovered a Traveler, or more likely a 'Hel-Traveler' due to the skin and power he wielded, where they found that he was no different than the rest of the Travelers they had fought so far, in fact his Hel-Walker status allowed Kratos to deal more damage with his blades. In the end Kratos and his daughters brought down their foe and Flurry collected the couple of items he dropped, the armor fragments, his trophy, and another Chaos Flame, which was a surprise for them since he and his children weren't expecting to find another one, so soon after the other, but he wasn't going to complain. After that he found that the way forward was to leave the structure they were in and jump to another, this time to climb around it for a time, only this time they discovered something interesting, as Baldur was over there.

As such they carefully moved around the outer area, keeping out of sight and out of mind, while Baldur dealt with his own memories, of the time that Freya, his mother, explained his curse to him, much to his eternal dismay and hatred, even the fact that she refused to undo it, explaining much to the family in the process as Baldur fell to the ground.

"Mimir... Freya is Baldur's mother? Why did you keep such a thing from us?" Kratos asked, because it was a massive thing to miss, while at the same time he pulled them to safety as Flurry looked back at the crying god, as he really seemed like he hated being invulnerable, being unable to feast, drink, have sex, or do anything that was considered normal, all due to the fact that Freya didn't want to see him die.

"Would you believe me if I said that it had slipped my mind?" Mimir replied, something that immediately earned a negative grunt from Kratos, something Flurry and Pandora were able to translate since they knew him, while Mimir and Atreus had to go on other things to determine what he meant, "I assure you that I have no reason to hide such a thing, but... when I think of them I just seem to lose focus."

"There's the ship." Pandora remarked, keeping her voice low so that Baldur didn't hear them, since he knew that Flurry was the only one who could actually hurt him, possibly kill him, while the curse was active, so the more distance they put between them the better.

The family found that more Hel-Walkers and a number of nightmares came out to fight them as they walked over to where the ship was resting, which were nothing compared to the might that Kratos, Flurry, and Pandora brought to bare, as they tore through their enemies with ease. One of the undead grabbed onto Atreus while they were fighting, where they found that he tore into the undead's arm and literally tore it off, allowing him to crush his foe into the ground with his tail before using his new dagger to stab the Hel-Walker in the face. As his foe perished, however, his expression changed as he took a few steps backward and looked at himself, no doubt thinking about what had happened to him while he was being fueled by his arrogance, something that was clearly bothering him right now. While the family dealt with the rest of the undead they heard a voice that they had not heard in a long time, it was the statement Zeus had made after Flurry used the Blade she now carried to absorb the Flame, where Kratos ignored it as he told Atreus they must keep moving.

Of course he also made sure to track down the runes of a runic chest that they passed by, granting them more loot in the process, though as they approached the ship Kratos found another phantom appear near them, one of Baldur telling Atreus that he was turning into a mindless beast.

"He's right... Baldur was right... I am a monster." Atreus commented, where his family could tell that he was looking at his new claws and feeling the additions that had been added on their journey to this point, and he even flinched as the scene shifted to him, in his rage, striking his father with a lightning arrow, which had confirmed Baldur's statement, "Father... I... I'm sorry."

"Atreus... you are not a monster." Kratos stated, because while he and his daughters were still annoyed at Atreus for using an arrow on him, when he could have pushed Baldur away so they could have escaped to a safer place, he knew that right now his son needed some form of comfort before he did something drastic, "You made some bad choices, that is common for all people, be they mortal or god, but it is how you deal with the consequences of your actions that really matters... it is as your mother once said: 'do not be sorry, be better'."

Flurry found that Atreus considered his words for a moment as they climbed down into the ship, repeating Faye's phrase in his mind repeatedly as he thought about what he was going to do next, where they discovered a fair amount of bramble that needed to be burned so they could access parts of the vessel. Some of the bramble, as they found out, remained in the pile they were in and released large amounts of fire into the air, where Kratos told Atreus to stand aside as he and his daughters worked on making sure the vessel was ready to go, since it was the only way forward. One he ignited a second pile that stuck around Flurry watched as her father moved over to the nearby wheel and started to turn it, releasing the sail, which caught the wind and started to move them towards the waterfall that separated the two halves of Helheim, a fact that meant they would have to find another path at the end of this one. Such a thing made Atreus wish they had the greatest ship the Vanir had made, the flying ship known as Skidbladnir, because he was sure it could get them up the only obstacle that was currently in their way, though he and Mimir had no idea where to find it.

They didn't get very far, however, because of the fact that there was no steering mechanism, which was why they sailed right into a large iceberg that happened to be in front of them, where Kratos hacked into the wood keeping the sail in place before moving the wheel, causing the sail to move above the mast and be trapped at the top, like the sky lantern Atreus had picked up before they fought the dragon.

"And we're stuck again." Atreus commented, as the edge of the boat was caught on a stone path that was attached to the tower that was nearby, meaning their now flying ship was trapped and that they had to do something to undo it, just like how his father had managed to do all of this in a few seconds.

"Do not worry, I shall release the boat... stay with your sisters." Kratos replied, though at the same time Flurry passed him a rune that would allow him to teleport the contents of any chests he found to the boat, into a bubble that she could look at before stuffing everything inside her bag, and when Atreus nodded he walked onto the stone and started to explore the rest of the tower.

Atreus nodded as Flurry stood against the mast in the center of the vessel, while at the same time Pandora checked over the edges to be sure no one was following them, allowing their brother a few moments to look over his arms and legs yet again, as well as tug at his horns while getting used to the weight of his tail, before he sighed.

"What is happening to me?" Atreus inquired, as if he was expecting someone to answer him this time around, which Flurry might have done had he not been a total ass to her and the others when they tried to explain anything to him during the last leg of their journey, which was when he glanced at his sisters, "Flurry? Pandora? Do you guys have any ideas?"

"It honestly doesn't matter... would you care enough to listen to us, if we had something to say?" Flurry asked, because she had some ideas on what was going on, but every single time she or her family had tried to do anything to get through to Atreus he just ignored them, and part of her really didn't want to deal with that thick wall right now.

"Of course I would! You guys are my smart sisters, who have far more knowledge than I could ever have... I would be a fool not to listen to you two." Atreus replied, where Pandora knew that their brother understood that he had annoyed Flurry, which she already knew was a bad thing since those that annoyed their sister usually ended up dead, and he was being more respectful, as if to counter his earlier actions.

As Pandora expected there was a short stretch of silence between the two, Atreus being hopeful that this was enough to at least get his sisters back on his side, while at the same time Flurry considered what to do in this situation, before she found that her sister sighed for a few seconds.

"In case it wasn't obvious, you were cursed. When we were in Fafnir's ravine you found and foolishly picked up his mirror, the very one that turned him into a dragon after he stole it." Flurry said, reminding her brother of what had happened, to which she found that he didn't say anything this time around, rather he was remaining silent and listening to her, as if he wanted her to know he actually valued her input after being so rude to her recently, "As we know Fafnir was known for his greed, though the mirror didn't change him overnight... I suspect that what the mirror does is mark those that touch it with some sort of enchantment that cannot be dispelled, not until certain conditions are met. Now, you are different from Fafnir, as your changes have come from being rude to those that are around you, the lust for power you had after finding out that you were a god, and your sheer hatred for anyone you deemed to have wronged you."

"...like father..." Atreus replied, because thanks to Helheim showing him the short conversation they had with Baldur, and the god's words towards him and his changes, he recalled how he lashed out at his father for destroying the frame that held the way into Jotunheim, "Is there a way to undo this?"

"Well, indulging in the parts of yourself that the curse has latched onto seems to accelerate the changes... Fafnir continued to steal until he became a dragon, after all." Flurry stated, showing her siblings that she had been thinking about this since the moment Atreus touched the mirror and got zapped by it's power, and both of them remained silent as they listened to her talk, while also waiting for their father to return, "It would stand to reason that doing the opposite might reverse your changes... instead of being rude, maybe be kind... instead of being consumed by lust, show humility... instead of hatred, show love and understanding. Basically, return to being the kind boy you were at the start of this quest and you should, in theory, start to undo your transformation, however..."

"Continue down that dark path and I'll turn into a dragon?" Atreus guessed, where he found that Flurry nodded her head, instead of being annoyed that he had interrupted her, meaning she was fine with him returning to who he had been at the start of this quest, even though he couldn't stop being a god now that he knew, "How long will it take to undo all of these changes?"

"It'll probably take longer than accumulating more changes... you have to work hard to prove yourself." Pandora said, as that was what she had gathered from everything that was going on, where she found that her sister nodded again, as that thought had crossed her mind as well, while at the same time Atreus looked down at himself for a time, "Nothing in life is easy, brother, but after what we've been through I'm sure you'll find a way to undo these changes."

As Atreus nodded his head they found that the stone slab shattered and the boat raised again, where they didn't have to wait very long as their father used the upper walkway they got stuck on to rejoin them, this time gesturing to them to join him so they could lift and push themselves away from the tower. While the ship started to depart, however, Kratos and his daughters heard another line from their time in Greece, again from their battle with Zeus, likely because he was such an important figure in all three of their lives, but they made sure to keep Atreus in the dark for the time being. That was when they found Hel-Walkers and revenants decided to attack them, accompanied by nightmares and even siege devices down below them that were firing hooks into the air to stall both the ship and stop them. With that in mind the family turned their weapons on their enemies and rushed into battle, this time Atreus joining in, since they couldn't afford to allow their foes to bring the vessel down, so he focused on his bow and stunning his targets so their father could kill the revenants in a matter of seconds.

While they did that, however, Flurry found that the massive eagle in the distance seemed to be stretching her wings, in a way that made it look like she was flapping her wings and using winds to push them along a path that would bring them to the temple, causing her to nod her thanks before lashing out at their enemies.

One thing they discovered was that some of the Hel-Walkers came up here specifically to douse the flames with their icy magic, where Kratos slew them and Flurry raised a magical barrier around both piles that was was high enough to protect them while having an opening for the fire to go through. In addition to that she used a bit more of her magic to force all of the hooks off their vessel, preventing them from slowing down since they had to get out of here quickly, though she did see that the ship definitely wasn't designed for battle as the floors cracked in places and pieces of the edges fell. Another thing Flurry could see was that Atreus had fully regained his confidence, to the point where he was able to rejoin the battle and not be a hindrance to the rest of the family, sending out his wolves to harass some of the Hel-Walkers and open the way for his father to take them down. It was as if he had fully returned to how he had been before they found Magni and Modi, except with the knowledge that he was a god, so he didn't have to worry about becoming sick again, but for the time being it looked like he wouldn't be falling into his own arrogance and overconfidence anytime soon.

Even the ogre that ended up dropping down on the vessel fell easily enough, showing anyone that was watching that they had found their harmony once more, through the art of battle, though the last hook that latched onto their vessel struck the front of the ship. That, in turn, happened to be a bad thing since it actually fractured the front of the ship, which was when Kratos stepped forward and grabbed onto it, literally tearing off the front portion in no time at all as he got a good view of Tyr's Temple off in the distance. As the vessel was freed, however, the mist of Helheim slithered by Kratos for just a few seconds before taking on the form of his father, before he was corrupted by the Evil that had possessed him, and a second group of figures, himself and his daughters. For some reason Helheim was using their beating of Zeus as some sort of torment, even though this appeared to be the scene just before he was consumed by the Prime Primordial Evil's power, them beating the stuffing out of him before Atreus rushed through the mist, dispelling the scene.

The reason, as they discovered, was because the ship was going off course and the new front slammed into the side of the tall statue that was in front of the temple, shifting the weight of everything as Atreus told his father to jump, causing them to jump over the edge as Kratos used his shield to smash through a portion of the temple's roof, allowing him and his son to end up in a chamber of sorts as Flurry set herself and Pandora down nearby.

"That was your plan?! You're both cracked!" Mimir stated, not that he was that surprised, since the boy really did take after his father more than he possibly knew, while at the same time they could glance through the hole in the ceiling and watch as the flaming ship flew deeper into another part of Helheim, likely to crash into an iceberg or something.

Kratos informed them that they were leaving Helheim, though before doing so they headed through the door to their right and discovered that it was a dead end, with all sorts of scrolls that Atreus said had to be Odin's information on Jotunheim, where they found a stone chest to loot. This one had a special blue gemstone that was unlike the others they had seen, to which Pandora held out her new gauntlet for a moment and they watched as the gem lifted itself into the air for a couple of seconds before ending up in the slot above her middle finger. This was the second powerful stone she had discovered, an interesting thing to be sure, enough now it made her wonder where they might find the other four that clearly existed, since her gauntlet had six slots for gems to be placed in, though Kratos and Flurry had no idea, while Atreus was just amazed by the existence of such an item. From there they returned to the damaged chamber and Kratos used the chisel to break the crystalline lock that was in their way, as he was sure that they would be able to find some way to reach the lower floor of the temple and use their Bifrost to return to Midguard.

While they might have destroyed the only known path to Jotunheim, to prevent the possibility of Odin showing up to use the now opened gate, Kratos knew that he and his daughters had hope that they would find another path, only to discover that the missing panel of Tyr's triptych was in Odin's hidden study.

"Odin always has his reasons for why he does anything." Mimir commented, speaking to the unspoken question that Atreus no doubt had about why this piece of information in this realm, and not in the one that Tyr's shrine was located in, which was when Kratos switched his view by unhooking him from his belt and raising him to look at the panel, "Hm... this is an unexpected development: clearly this is Tyr, traveling the realms... magically, no doubt... but I'm not to sure why the Giants would dedicate a shrine to such basic information."

"What do those four runes in the corners mean?" Atreus asked, gesturing to the four icons that existed on the panel, which was when Kratos and his daughters noticed that one of them was from Greece, a very familiar icon that had become part of Kratos after he took Ares' throne.

"They are not runes... they are symbols. And they mean 'War'." Kratos stated, something that caused Atreus to look at him for a few seconds before he connected the dots, as if he was finally understanding why his father knew so much about war, he was the literal God of War from a different land that wasn't part of the Nine Realms, before he noticed something odd about the panel, "Mimir... Tyr's eyes, they are jewels, just like yours."

"No doubt to symbolize the Bifrost Eyes the Giants granted us... give me a closer look." Mimir replied, which Kratos did not a second later, allowing him to channel some of his own power through his eye as the crystal representing Tyr's glowed as well, causing an item to appear above Tyr's hand while new icons appeared on the panel, and even what Pandora deemed to be blueprints for another key, "Very interesting... secret plans, concealed by Tyr so no one could access it, save for himself and those few the Giants trusted, such as myself. It is amusing that Odin stole this panel and we were the ones to find this clue... which means that I can fulfill my promise to get you guys to Jotunheim. I suggest we take the plans to a dwarf... one of them might be able to make that key."

Kratos nodded and had Atreus jot down everything as it appeared, which his son did so in amazing detail, like he could copy whatever writing or plans that he laid eyes on, and once he was done Flurry stashed the panel away in her bag, since there was no telling if Odin might come back or not. After that they departed from the chamber and found their way to a lift that would take them back down into the main chamber, where Atreus mentioned that there was another door on the ring they used to access the vault, as he was sure it was where this key would go. Kratos decided to speak with his son about what he had seen, as he was sure that Atreus had questions about the scene that had unfolded before his eyes, but, to their surprise, Atreus feigned ignorance and replied with 'what scene', showing them that he didn't want to trouble his father anymore than necessary. He understood that it must have been a bad memory or something, hence why Helheim used it against them, so for the time being he wanted them to think he hadn't seen it, to not open their old wounds, while giving him some time to come to his own thoughts on the matter, causing Kratos to nod as they returned to the temple's console.

A few moments later the teleportation process started and Kratos asked about Mimir, which was when Flurry found out that her thoughts of him being bewitched were correct, Baldur did have a weakness and the head knew it, but Freya had cursed him to lose focus whenever he thought about their connection, causing his repeatable phrase to be said... but Kratos let that conversation be put on hold as they returned to Midgard and found Brok at his workshop.

"Brok, we have need of your assistance." Kratos said, where Atreus handed him his journal and made sure it was opened to the page that held the diagram of the key they had found the blueprints of not a few minutes ago, allowing him to show the dwarf what they required his help with, causing the dwarf to look at it for a few seconds, "Can you make it?"

"Is it a weapon? Armor? Or likewise an instrument of war of which I am a master of shaping?" Brok remarked, either due to the fact that he didn't know what to do about the plans that were in front of him or he did and he was worried that there was a chance he'd ruin his entire setup making the key for them, all while he moved to the side, "No? Then forget about it... even if I wanted to make such an insignificant gewgaw, I'm liable to chip my tools working on something so delicate and ladylike."

"The shingle it." a voice replied, where they found that Sindri appeared near his brother and had an option that would let the family have the key they were asking for, while at the same time Brok glanced at his bother like he had lost his mind, a fact that was likely true given their checkered past, "Pattern weld the item with Skap Slag, keep the layers thin, alternate the overlay."

"Okay, smart guy, and where d'ya suppose to find a lump of quality Skap Slag?" Brok stated, either forgetting that Kratos and his family had piles of the stuff in Flurry's resource container, with all of the other resources they had gathered so far, or he remembered that fact and this told the family that their version of the material wasn't what he was referring to, as if there was a greater tier to fit what Sindri was talking about, "Last time I saw one, I could still get rigid down south."

In the next instant Sindri withdrew a light bluish-green lump of Skap Slag that was somewhat identical to the rest of the material that the family had gathered, while at the same time Brok simply stared at the item in pure shock as Sindri let him take it for a time. Brok, naturally, asked where his brother had gotten this, as it was exactly what they needed, which was when Sindri told him that he had to get his hands dirty to get that lump of material, even though he gagged a little as he said that, something that caused Brok to declare that they should get to work. Such a thing surprised Sindri, since this seemed to be outside the scope of his brother's ability, who replied that he could 'grow too' before the brothers actually got to work together, as in they approached part of the workshop and got to work. Sure they argued with each other, but it was more in the sense to make sure the other remembered how to work with someone else, in fact they even seemed to have new ideas that they were able to blend together to make sure everything worked smoothly.

In the end the brothers were able to turn the Skap Slag into the key that would unlock Tyr's secret area, in fact they pulled out their halves of their old brand and combined them to place their icon on the key, even though it was altered thanks to being broken due to Brok and Sindri splitting in the past.

"Good work you two, this is exactly what we needed." Kratos said, though while he was sure the brand wasn't necessary for the door lock, he wasn't about to stop the brothers while they did their best to make up, because having both of them working together like this meant that things would be better for their gear in the near future.

"Thanks. So, will you be leaving immediately, or is there something else we can help you with?" Sindri asked, because now that he and Brok were back to working as a team he was sure that they could finally make the set of armor that they had been working towards before they originally split up.

"We will not be using the key immediately. I wish to seek out the Valkyries we know the locations of." Kratos replied, as he felt that now was the perfect time for them to finally go back and deal with some of the Valkyries that were sealed in the locations they had passed by recently, because even if Baldur chased after them again he would be confused by what they were doing, which would work to their benefit.

Pandora decided that now was a good time to speak to the dwarves, as she pulled out her own journal, which she used to sketch her weapon designs in, and showed them something she had been thinking of building and had kept at the back of her mind for a time, but now that they were back together she was sure the three of them could do wonders. Brok and Sindri looked at each other for a time before moving to get ready, while Pandora had Flurry remove a number of parts and materials from her bag, namely a number of the items they had carved from Hraezlyr's corpse, something that caused her father to raise an eyebrow as he and Atreus stood nearby. Together Pandora and the Huldra Brothers got to work on a brand new weapon, sharpening bits and pieces while forming the head of the new weapon, showing Atreus what it was like when master smiths went to work as sparks flew every now and then, Sindri making sure they didn't set fire to the rest of the workshop. Kratos had to smile for a moment, as it was nice to see Pandora in her element, the element that she had been gifted by her birth father, especially since she seemed to be having fun, while at the same time Atreus took the opportunity to apologize to Sindri when he wasn't busy, who accepted his apology with ease, since it had caused him to work up the courage to come here in the first place.

Eventually they found that the weapon was similar to the Leviathan Axe, only it's head was larger and the handle was also the same, where Kratos found that it seemed to be a cross between a normal axe and a battleaxe, meaning it could be used as a one handed weapon or a two handed weapon. The handle was definitely something Sindri had worked on, as he provided one of the best pieces of oak Kratos had seen, with both gold and dragon ivory mixed into a combined inlay that almost resembled scales, looking completely natural in the process no less. The curved head of the battleaxe had some points on the blade that looked like small teeth, while it also had a special design on it, this one resembling a dragon, and the beast's eye was yellow, which was where the elemental power of the weapon seemed to be coming from. Kratos had to admit that it was an elegant weapon, a worthy addition to anyone's arsenal, and when the trio were done with it, and that meant sharpening and polishing it, Pandora did one last thing, which was hurling it at the entrance of the temple as she held her hand out, causing them to realize it was like the Leviathan Axe when it returned to her hand.

Kratos even noticed that there was a smaller curved blade on the opposite side of the main head, meaning both sides had the ability to be used in combat, but that didn't change the fact that this weapon was impressive, which was followed by Pandora smiling as she grabbed the handle with both hands and held it out to her sister.

"Flurry, I know how much you like the Leviathan Axe, so I thought I'd give you something similar, and this one has it's own element: allow me to present to you the 'Dragon Cleaver'." Pandora said, where Flurry smiled for a moment as she took the weapon and tucked her wings in, allowing the group to watch as she swung it around and slashed at enemies that she envisioned in her mind, as if she had used such a weapon once in the past and this was her returning to form.

"I am worried about it's name." Atreus commented, which was due to his new dragon side and the curse he was bearing at the moment, so it was natural in his eyes to be fearful of something that was called such a thing, before he found that his father placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Do not worry, you are not in danger... Flurry would never harm you." Kratos stated, as he understood his son's thought on the weapon's name, it did sound like something that was designed to cleave through dragons, but he knew that both Pandora and the dwarves created it for Flurry because she was worthy of such a thing.

"Pandora, Brok, Sindri, it's perfect." Flurry remarked, showing them that she approved of the weapon, though at the same time she withdrew the daggers they had recovered from Tyr's vault, where Pandora took them without delay and she, plus the dwarves, quickly worked on them, sharpening the weapons to the point where she could use them if she wanted to.

Kratos smiled as Flurry collected the daggers, because her arsenal had grown even more and that meant they should be able to deal with all sorts of new enemies in the near future, which made him eager to see what the Valkyries could offer them in the way of difficulty, before worrying about the key and whatever secrets Tyr was hiding this time around.

Norse: Hunting Valkyries

After Flurry checked out her new weapon, and made sure the daggers were ready to go, Kratos approached the Door of Yggdrasil and used it to reach the branches of the World Tree once more, after choosing to go back to the area near where Thamur's corpse was resting so they could face the first Valkyrie they knew the location of. After that there were a number of other crystalline locks that the family knew the location of, which should have more of the Valkyries to fight, which would allow them to deal with Helheim's problem and restore some balance to the Nine Realms. Flurry also put forth the idea that they could check out both Muspelheim and Niflheim at some point, even if the latter required a few more pieces of the cipher for them to learn the Travel Rune, since they might gain more resources for the end of their quest. Kratos thought about it and agreed with her, those two realms might have something to offer them, what he had no idea, and decided that they would visit them at some point after dealing with some of the Valkyries.

A few moments later they stepped out of the other side of the path when it opened and they appeared in the area that was right before the Valkyrie, where Flurry crushed the emerald raven of Odin's that was resting inside the chamber, before all four of them spread out so Kratos could engage the Valkyrie.

When the family started the fight, causing the figure to unfurl her wings, Mimir caught a glimpse of her form and quickly told Kratos the name of their foe, Gunnr, whose weapon was a scythe and her helmet was designed after a raven, which let them know what to call this Valkyrie after the battle was over. Gunnr's strategy seemed to be attacking them and going for a slash from the ground level or lifting herself into the air a little to come at them with an air attack, though for the most part the family could see them coming and dodged them accordingly. Even Atreus, the less experienced member, watched what the rest of his family were doing before knowing what to do himself, meaning he was definitely no longer the arrogant boy he had shown them on their way to the summit, and this time he made sure to use his runic attacks when the time was right to do so. There was, of course, a series of attacks that they had to be mindful of, as Gunnr could swing her wings at them like they were also weapons, which Flurry confirmed when she noticed how metallic they looked, golden plated and sharpened to a point, giving her an entire arsenal of weapons to use against them.

In fact Gunnr also had a thrust attack that came in the form of thrusting the end of one of her wings at her target, which all of them avoided since they didn't want to be cause in the attack, though at the same time Kratos found that Flurry decided to use her new daggers, as if stating this Valkyrie wasn't worth her new weapon.

It wasn't like she was being disrespectful or anything, rather Gunnr didn't seem to care and Pandora was fine with Flurry saving the Dragon Cleaver for a more worthy foe, rather she had a number of weapons in her collection and right now she just wanted to put some of them to use against a unique set of foes. That, combined with the fact that she knew how to fight with a scythe, thanks to her full power form that she rarely used, was enough for Atreus to realize why it was a good idea that his father stopped him from clashing with his sister while he was in his arrogant phase. The way she moved and the way she fought confirmed that she was skillful, dodging attacks like they were nothing, lashing out with her new daggers while striking at their foe to surprise her and open the way for the rest of the family to attack Gunnr, and even using the blades to stop the scythe from even touching her. In fact Atreus was almost convinced that the daggers might have been made for his sister, as the way she used them reminded him of her sickles, while at the same time making him happy that his father had stopped them from clashing, as he now realized it would have instantly ended in his defeat.

That, combined with the combination of their skills, allowed them to knock the Valkyrie back, opening the way for Kratos to punch Gunnr in the gut, stunning her, before he grabbed her and crushed her into the ground, where he literally tore off her wings, something that caused her physical form to dissolve, leaving behind a spirit version of herself.

You... have freed my from my corrupted form. Gunnr commented, as if she was still coming back to her senses after everything she had been through, which was interesting to the family as Flurry noted that her former armor turned into a pile of materials for them to collect once they were done talking, before she bowed her head a little, You have my eternal gratitude, warriors... but... my sisters are no doubt trapped as I am. Take my helm, then find my sisters and free them... the fate of the Valkyries rests on your shoulders.

"Do not worry, we will find them." Kratos stated, as that was the plan, to track down the Valkyries and deal with them, while at the same time Flurry collected the helm with a smile on her face, as she was happy that they were doing something that might stop the Hel-Walkers from pouring out into the Nine Realms, while his words put Gunnr at ease as she faded away, no doubt to continue her role before something corrupted her.

"The fate of the Valkyries... an important task, to be sure. I know of the nine Valkyries, but it's not something that is easy to talk about." Mimir commented, which none of them were surprised by, because how he talked about the Valkyrie the last time they were here did suggest that he knew about the figures from his time standing by Odin's side, before he sighed as he thought about waht they had discovered, "I really don't know why they have become these wretched creatures... though I can blame Odin for sure... but it is worth hunting them down and freeing them from their corrupted forms."

Kratos nodded as Flurry collected the materials that Gunnr had gifted to them for freeing her, where she found a cluster of metallic feathers that doubled as an enchantment, another symbol, a couple of elegant ingots that looked like they had been Gunnr's armor, which Mimir identified as Asgardian Steel, and Gunnr's scythe.

"You really like weapons, don't you?" Atreus asked, because that was something he had seen over the course of their long quest, Flurry loved to collect and even use weapons against their enemies, and it seemed like she really adored collecting well known armaments, making him wonder if she'd take Mjolnir if given the chance.

"I guess you could say that." Flurry replied, where she knew that her brother was asking an innocent question, instead of accusing her of things like he had been during their second trek up the mountain, though that didn't stop her from using the new scythe for a few seconds, finding that while it was like hers this one didn't seem to be on the same grade, and it seemed to have a lightning element on it, causing her to place Gunnr's scythe in her collection, "Besides, it's not like she'll be needing it anytime soon, since Gunnr's been returned to her spiritual form... if she comes back, uncorrupted, and wants it back then I'll return it to her."

"Fair enough. How did the daggers fare?" Pandora asked, because while she had been hoping to see the battleaxe she and the dwarves had made in action, especially against someone like a Valkyrie, she was fine with Flurry waiting for a foe that was more appropriate for it's first opponent, hence why she asked about the daggers they recovered from the vault.

"The Deathrite Daggers? They fared fairly well." Flurry replied, as she knew the name of the weapons automatically, which made her wonder if they might be the weapons of another Death God and that was why she could use them, thanks to her own godhood, before she smiled for a moment as she sheathed the weapons in question, while noticing the curious look that was on her brother's face, "There was some residual magic on the daggers, that's how I knew what to call them."

As Atreus nodded his understanding their father beckoned for them to follow once more, where they headed back to the Door of Yggdrasil as he selected the Door that was in Tyr's Temple, since there wasn't one close by the second target on his list. Of course he knew they could have found the Door inside the Valkyrie's prison while they were in the area, but at the time he had been focused on getting to the summit and then deal with how his son was acting, hence why they were now taking the long way to their target, only for Baldur to change their plans. Fortunately there were no more enemies for them to deal with and they were able to reach the area that Sindri had been working in with ease, allowing them to climb up to the tunnel that held the climb to the wolf statues, before heading into the side passage that brought the family to another crystalline lock. After Kratos opened it they found a short passage that brought them to a lift, leading down into the ground like the last one, and, sure enough, there was a chamber much like the area outside Gunnr's prison resting at the very bottom, with a chamber that housed a Valkyrie in the center.

After activating the nearby Door, so it would be ready for when it was time for the family to leave, and family moved into the arena and engaged the Valkyrie, where Mimir noted the owl shaped mask and identified their foe as Geirdriful, who also had a scythe and had a preference for ranged weapons.

Geirdriful's tactic differed from Gunnr's greatly, in the sense that she could summon a dark fog to disrupt their vision so she could attack them whenever she wanted to, similar to how Magni and Modi fought, through this time Flurry knew that using a barrier might not be the best idea, since the Valkyrie could wait them out. Flurry decided to go ranged as well as she summoned the Bow of Apollo out of her bag, surprising Atreus since had never seen the fire elemental bow before, a fact that let her know that her brother was interested in what else might be inside the bag. In the following moment both he and the rest of the family watched as Flurry closed her eyes for a moment as Kratos raised his shield, blocking an attack from their foe in the process, which appeared to be razor sharp knives that looked like feathers, only to find that the trio of small weapons flew back into the darkness. Atreus watched as his sister drew one of her arrows and nocked it, where it set itself on fire, though he determined it wasn't anything to worry about since both his father and Pandora appeared to know what was going on right now, before she loosed the arrow into the fog.

What surprised Atreus was the fact that Flurry actually hit Geirdriful in the shoulder, something that caused the Valkyrie to raise her arm and tear the arrow out a few seconds later, before he realized why she had done this as their father zeroed in on the Valkyrie and struck her with his blades. Atreus realized what his sister was doing this time around, she was more of a supporter this time around as their father and sister rushed at the Valkyrie, their attacks hitting her in sides while she opened her wings to flee to the air, which seemed to be a reoccurring theme with them. The arrows seemed to be more along the lines of hazards that forced Geirdriful back to the ground so her family could fight her, where Atreus joined the others as he called forth his runic wolves again, sending them into battle as they latched onto the Valkyrie. Such a thing caused their foe to turn and deal with them, which was what he had been planning since it allowed his family to bypass her defenses and strike her again, though like before the Valkyrie forced herself away and hurled some of her knives at them as she likely came up with the next stage of her plan.

In the next moment the knives hit the ground as Pandora spun around, using her chakrams to deal with the weapons, a fact that caused Geirdriful to send out a pair of lightning chakrams, meaning she had another attack up her sleeve, but that was nothing to Pandora as she swung her arms and crushed the magic with her weapons.

In the following seconds Atreus started to understand things better than before, as his father and sisters really did fight like a well maintained machine, each one providing something to the table as the others used what the rest of the family had to offer to bring down their enemies. He also discovered that, despite his breaking of the trust that had existed between him and his family, that both his father and his sisters left openings for him to use, showing him that in a battle everyone pulled their weight, which was why he focused on calling forth his various runic summons as the battle went on. In addition to all of that Atreus even used the light arrows from time to time, cutting through the fog that was summoned to prevent them from seeing their foe, because while he knew Flurry could track Geirdriful he also knew that the fog remained for a decent period of time and this allowed them to track their foe even quicker than before. When the Valkyrie got close to him Atreus had the bright idea to spin around and use his new dragon tail to hit their foe in the side, stunning her since she wasn't expecting him to do such a thing, before getting behind her and using his new claws for force her towards his father.

Such a thing was followed by Kratos knocking Geirdriful to the ground before brutally tearing her wings from her back, just like he had done to Gunnr, killing the Valkyrie in the process as her spirit was freed from her corrupted flesh, just like what happened when they defeated their previous foe.

Thank you for freeing me from my corrupted form. Geirdriful stated, acting just like Gunnr, grateful for being freed from the body she must have been trapped in, where the family was happy to be of assistance since this would be good for the rest of the realms, I only have gratitude towards all of you.

"We're happy to be of assistance. Can you tell us why you were trapped like this?" Atreus asked, because while he could see that the Valkyrie's physical body had dissolved and had left them a pile of gifts, much like Gunnr's, he was curious if their foe might know something about what had happened to her.

I am... uncertain. My mind is... still fragmented. Geirdriful replied, which was understandable since Mimir had told the family that the Valkyries were spirits and that trapping them in a physical form like this would drive them mad, and since they had no idea how long the warriors had been like this it was understandable that the Valkyries were still reeling from their cursed imprisonment, before the figure recalled something, The Rocstoll aff Valkyrs. That is... the last thing I remember. I must go, Valhalla awaits me.

"Mimir, what was she talking about?" Kratos asked, because he knew that Mimir was the only one among them that knew, or might know, anything about what the Valkyrie had said, as Geirdriful disappeared after that statement, allowing Flurry to collect their reward before they departed.

"It's a Council Chamber, of sorts, hidden away somewhere in Midgard. The Valkyries were said to use it when they needed to confer with each other without Odin's prying eyes observing them." Mimir answered, though at the same time he found that Flurry collected some more of the Asgardian Steel, in addition to Geirdriful's helmet, along with a crystalline heart that was clearly an enchantment, "They thought that they were safe from his gaze while they were there, but... well, it's as the saying goes, 'The All-Father Sees All'. I don't know where it is, but since we're freeing the Valkyries, and one mentioned it specifically, I'm sure they're asking us to find it... why, I have no idea, but I'm sure we'll know in due time."

With the reward collected Flurry had them head into the mountain itself, back to the mining area that they had used a lift in, before they were interrupted by Hraezlyr, something that caused Atreus to raise an eyebrow for a moment, since this seemed like a waste of time, before he remembered something he had seen during their previous journey.

"Oh right, there was a crystalline lock on one of the walls... you think there's a Valkyrie there?" Atreus asked, though if his sister was right, and she was rarely wrong as he was coming to understand, this would fit with their father's plans, since he wanted to take down as many of them as they could, while confusing Baldur with their movements.

"I'm fairly sure of it. Might as well check before heading to the next location." Flurry replied, even though she did have a secondary reason for wanting to head back into the mountain, she wanted to see if Modi was still in the area that she had placed him in, though after what happened she was sure he'd be sleeping or raging at his predicament.

As they followed the path back to the mining area, however, Flurry could see that Atreus was pausing every now and then while looking at various area, reflecting on what he had said to his family, showing her that he had really taken what had been told to him in Helheim to heart. It was a good thing to see, since it meant he was definitely trying to return to what he had looked like before he touched the mirror, and he was trying to be a better person, following the phrase that their father had told him, a lesson that he had learned from Faye during their time with her. When they reached the statue area once again Flurry silently cast some of her magic into the small chasm and let it fall down to the area that Modi was in, all to find that he seemed to be sleeping at the moment, either to heal naturally or because he didn't want to have his eyes open at the moment. This was good in her eyes, as it meant that he might want to live and not perish outside of battle, to which she reflected that once this quest was over she'd come back and check on him while the rest of her family returned to their home.

When they reached the mining area Kratos found the crystalline lock and broke through it, finding another passage that matched what the family had seen so far, and, sure enough, there was a Valkyrie at the bottom of the entire area, just like Flurry had suspected, though the bear helmet identified her as Eir, who was a healer.

Eir, from what they would see, did seem to attack like the other Valkyries, however she had her own method when it came to battle, as she seemed to punish those who rushed at her and also appeared to attack if they stalled in completing their combos, which was mostly on Atreus since he wasn't a master like the rest of his family. This time around Flurry went with the Serpent's Glaive, because she felt that using different weapons against the Valkyries would keep things interesting for her, in addition to facing the various tactics of their enemies, though their foe's weapon, in addition to the standard scythe that all of them seemed to have, was a mace. The other interesting thing that Flurry found was that when Eir moved into a familiar attack, such as thrusting one of her wings at them or spinning to attack them, she ended those attacks by using her wings as a shield, showing them that she was well versed in how people fought and had a counter ready for those that fought her. Fortunately Flurry had a way around that as she spun her weapon around for a few seconds, striking at Eir's wings like she was countering, like her father would do with his shield at times, breaking through the shield while showing her father how to deal with this in the future.

Even with that information in hand they still had to be careful, because while Eir wasn't as aggressive as the Valkyries they had fought so far, especially due to her status as a healer, her tactics were interesting to fight against, since it was such a change in comparison to what they had seen so far. Such a thing reminded Atreus of one of the lessons his father gave him, that they had to adapt to whatever tactics their foes used against them, so by doing that he was able to learn how to be a better warrior, or at least a better contributor to the family. In addition to that some of Kratos' runic attacks smashed through Eir's wings when she shielded herself, further tipping things in their favor, where Atreus realized that having it be a four versus one battle had also done the same thing as well, though since his father felt it was fair he guessed this was a fair fight in the end. With that in mind Atreus continued to do his part to bring down their opponent, utilizing his various runic attacks while also loosing an arrow every now and then, mostly to distract Eir for the brief seconds that he was able to do so, which was more than enough for the others to work their magic.

Eventually Eir succumbed to their attacks and Kratos, once more, found an opening that allowed him to kill her while also tearing her wings clean off, reducing her physical form to nothing as her spirit appeared before them, allowing Flurry to see more of the various resources that the Valkyries were offering as a reward for their deed.

AH, FREEDOM. I AM CURSED NO LONGER! A JOYOUS DAY INDEED! Eir said, where they could tell that she was really grateful for them freeing her, since she was being loud for some reason, before she glanced at them for a few seconds, as if realizing that they had questions for her, THE SOUL OF A VALKYRIE CANNOT REMAIN PURE IN A PHYSICAL BODY, AS WE GO INSANE... RATHER WE BELONG IN THE SPIRIT WORLD, WHICH IS WHERE I'M OFF TO. GOODBYE!

Kratos said nothing to that, as it reminded him of a time where he had been loud, and simply nodded his head as Eir left like her sisters had done, where Flurry found a pommel piece for the Leviathan Axe, strengthening it to new heights, a new enchantment that looked like a stone shaped to look like an eye, and more Asgardian Steel.

"We're doing good. How many more crystalline locks are there?" Atreus asked, all while they walked back to the Door that would allow them to either travel to the main temple or one of the other Doors that had been discovered over the course of their quest, which was all thanks to Brok's changes to it while his family got his cure in Helheim, as he wanted to know how many more doors they had to unlock.

"There are two more in Midgard: one is by our home, the other is near Freya's." Flurry replied, as those were the ones that she was aware of right now, which meant there might be two more Valkyries for them to fight and defeat, because thanks to the couple of locks that brought them to passages or locked rooms full of Odin's information she had to assume that they might uncover an area with no Valkyrie.

"Once we have checked those areas out we will head to Muspelheim." Kratos stated, because he was sure that the realm in question might have more challenges for them, which was more training for Atreus and more resources for them to collect, plus it would also help to confuse Baldur, another reason for doing such a thing.

His children nodded their heads as they traveled along Yggdrasil's branches for a short period of time before leaving again, coming out at the bottom of the cave that was right outside Freya's place, where the family used the nearly lift to return to the upper area. Once they did so it only took Flurry a few moments to track down the crystalline lock, which was to the left of the lift, or on the right side if one was leaving from Freya's house, something that caused Kratos to break the lock before he opened the door, allowing them to see another familiar hidden chamber. Such a thing caused them to ride another lift into the depths, revealing the area that they were expecting to see, and, sure enough, there was a Valkyrie resting in the center of the main chamber, unaware of what was happening outside her prison. With that in mind Kratos made sure the Door that was down here was connected to the rest of the ones they had unlocked so far before they stepped into the arena, as it was time to bring down another Valkyrie, while seeing what sort of powers and skills they had to offer.

Once more Mimir identified their foe for them, this time the helmet was designed after a ram and that told him it was Kara they were fighting, the 'Wild Storm Personified' as he called her, though Kratos was instantly disappointed in her ability as he crashed into her and started the battle.

The reason for his disappointment was due to the fact that Kara seemed inept, because while she used the same attacks with her wings, like her sisters had done, they were far too easy to read and all four of them could dodge them with ease, all while Flurry had to wonder if this was intentional on Kara's part. Not only that, but her scythe attacks were easy to read and allowed Kratos to break through them with his shield, opening the way for them to deal damage to her, while Flurry picked out her weapon for this battle, the Frigid Twinblade, the old weapon of Theseus. She had determined that this Valkyrie really wasn't worth any of her more impressive weapons, rather the icy weapon seemed to be the best right now, her attacks just slowing Kara down as she struck their foe, which was when they found out about her unique power, as Kara had the power to summon draugr to the fight. These draugr looked tough but were nothing to Flurry's might as she swung the twinblade around and slashed at her foes, freezing them so she could smash them to bits, allowing the others to focus on Kara as she tried to use an energy projectile attack, which did nothing to them.

In the end Kara went down with far too much ease for their liking, she was weaker than even Gunnr and Kratos had to take a moment to wonder how in the Nine Realms Kara had been chosen to become a Valkyrie, though that didn't stop him from tearing the wings from her back and killing her corrupted physical form.

You have freed me from my corrupted form... you have my eternal gratitude. Kara said, though at the same time they could tell that something was bothering her, which had to be the fact that the rest of the Valkyries were still trapped in their corrupted forms, or maybe there was something else that was bothering her, However, several of my sisters are still trapped in their prisons and corrupted forms.

"And we will find them." Kratos stated, because it seemed like there was no new information for them to gain from Kara, as if she was the weakest and lowest tier member of the group of Valkyries, which didn't stop Kara from beckoning to her helm before she departed from the area so she could join the rest of her freed sisters.

Flurry found that the rewards were, of course, the helm of the Valkyrie they had just slain, more Asgardian Steel, a talisman that would aid them in battle, and even an enchantment that was added to the collection without delay, causing them to return to the Door so they could return home. Of course there was a chance that Atreus might see Albis this time around, something they needed to correct since it was time for her to know of her existence, but as they stepped out into the area in question Kratos found that Albis was nowhere to be seen. Even the statues were missing, meaning she must have moved all of them to areas outside their home, as to not freak out Atreus when they returned, causing him to focus on the path that would bring them back to the area Faye had worked on before her time came. From there it was a simple matter to track down the crystalline lock and break it open, allowing them to enter another hidden chamber, with another lift that brought them down to another prison, only for Flurry to notice an immediate difference.

There was no Valkyrie inside the prison, rather there was a realm tear and some treasure seeker off to the left that must have found his way into this place before it was sealed, and Atreus even confirmed that by reading the message left behind, informing them that the Valkyrie imprisoned here had either gone to Muspelheim or Niflheim.

"This all but confirms it: Sigrun, the Valkyrie Queen, was behind locking the Valkyries away." Mimir stated, because while he had suspected such a thing, based on everything he had learned over his long life, it was nice to actually figure out what was going on, or at least a piece of the puzzle, even though it left the mystery of how the Valkyries became like this in the first place, which he was willing to blame Odin for.

"And we might learn more by freeing the other Valkyries, which means we need to hunt the other four down." Atreus said, where he had to assume that they were hidden in the other realms they had access to, as they had access to Alfheim, Helheim, Muspelheim, and Niflheim, since the other Towers seemed to be locked, not counting Jotunheim's missing Realm Tower, "And then the Queen, right?"

Flurry nodded and approached the rift that was in the center of the chamber, where it expanded and dropped a couple of enemies for them to fight, a number of Hel-Walkers and a revenant, plus she found a Traveler taking form nearby, causing her to sigh as she pulled out the Dragon Cleaver.

"I really wanted to use this against a worthy foe for it's first test run, a powerful Valkyrie in fact... oh well, I guess a Traveler is better than nothing." Flurry said, though she was intentionally not saying anything about the other enemies as she just flashed over to where the Traveler was standing, who raised his greatsword as she swung the battleaxe down on him, the impact knocking some of the other enemies away as Kratos had Pandora and Atreus stand by him.

Kratos knew he didn't have to worry about being attacked by the undead, because as Flurry and the Traveler moved out into the center of the chamber their attacks slashed through all of the other enemies that were around them, casualties of a battle they shouldn't have been near in the first place. Pandora smiled as her sister went on the offensive, her weapon slashing through the armor on the Traveler's arms and legs like they were nothing, which made sense given that dragons were stronger and tougher than everything else they had encountered, so a weapon made from a dragon would be in a tier all it's own. In addition to that the family could see the lightning arcing from one side of the weapon the other other, as Pandora and the dwarves had designed it to be like the Leviathan Axe, which could frost up and use frost attacks, and this battleaxe was no different, it could create lightning around the head and even use lightning attacks. Flurry knew that fact and pointed the tip of the battleaxe at the Traveler as she readied it's power, releasing a burst of lightning that Atreus realized was just like Hraezlyr's breath attack, which tore a hole through her foe's chest.

Flurry swung the weapon for a moment before returning it to where she kept it, where Pandora could see the smile on her sister's face, indicating that the 'Dragon's Breath' attack worked to her liking, before Flurry collected the armor fragments as she rejoined her family, causing her to look forward to what Muspelheim had to offer them.

Norse: Trials of Muspelheim

After dealing with the Valkyries that were located in Midgard, and Flurry was sure of that since she didn't recall there being more crystalline locks for them to break open, the family returned to the Door and used the Realm Between Realms to return to Tyr's Temple without wasting time. Once they were back inside the center of the temple Kratos accessed the main console and used his Bifrost to open the way to Muspelheim, as he was serious about heading there to see what sort of challenges the realm might have to offer them as they sought out the Valkyrie that was there. His plan after that was to see to tracking down the rest of the cipher fragments for Niflheim, since there had to be another Valkyrie there, and once they were done with that realm he knew they would return to Alfheim and Helheim for a short time. Flurry had confirmed seeing at least one crystalline lock in both of those realms, meaning they might be able to track down the rest of the Valkyries before heading to their ancient council chamber to see if a clue to the Queen's location could be found there.

A few moments later the teleportation process was complete and they entered the Realm of Fire, where the family started to move out into the area that Brok was no doubt working in, where Kratos stopped for a moment to make sure their gear was in pristine condition before they headed out, causing Pandora to find something of interest.

"Hey Brok, what is this?" Pandora asked, as she was holding a purple stone that seemed to resonate a power that was like the two stones that were currently resting in her gauntlet, though she had discovered it resting on the table with some of the other stuff the dwarf had set out for their arrival in this realm.

"The fuck if I know. If you want it I'll trade it for a few bits of Hacksilver." Brok stated, because he had found the stone right outside the shop, as in outside the temple itself, and had taken it to see if he could use it in some manner, but found that it didn't seem to do anything, hence why he was selling it for cheap.

Pandora, however, traded the Hacksilver to him without wasting time, where he watched as she held the stone up for a few seconds and marveled at it's power, before they found that it could be inserted into the slot above her left pointer finger, giving her three of the six slots filled. With that done, and Brok amazed by the gauntlet itself, the family headed outside and Atreus commented on the heat, plus the falling flakes that he initially thought was snow, before Kratos corrected him by stating that it was ash. Such a thing made sense to Flurry and Pandora, as Muspelheim was the Realm of Fire and it was only natural for it to produce ash, even though Mimir remarked on how the realm had lost some of it's heat over the years and how Niflheim wasn't entirely ice either. Fortunately there didn't seem to be any enemies for them to worry about for the time being, allowing them to track down Brok's other shop in this realm, where he was complaining about the heat, and a far more important item, the triptych about Surtr, the Fire Giant whose destiny was to destroy the Nine Realms come Ragnarok, forever waiting somewhere in this realm for Fimbulwinter to begin so he could prepare himself.

It was a sad fate, knowing that was doomed to be the destroyer of an entire pantheon, not to mention the realms as well, a fact that caused Kratos to sigh as they turned away from it and headed deeper into Muspelheim, all while Atreus told them that he was hearing another voice speak to him, this one different from the ones in Alfheim.

"The voice... it's just around the corner!" Atreus stated, where he rushed into what appeared to be an open area, passing through a gate that looked like it would lock after something happened, while there was another one on the other side of the area that was currently locked, before Atreus stopped as he found that the voice seemed to be coming from a thick stone sword in the center of the area, "Oh... it's a great big sword... and it is asking if we're ready to train."

"Is it now?" Kratos inquired, causing him to walk up to the stone sword and place his hand on it for a couple of seconds, to which he discovered that his son was right, someone was using this as a medium and had set up some trials for those who came to this part of the realm, something that was followed by him tapping the blade as it disappeared into flames and he drew his weapon, "This will be good training for all of us."

Flurry discovered that the magic that was attached to the sword informed all of them of what the trials were, or at least the one they were currently doing, because it told them that they had to slay a predetermined amount of enemies in the time allotted to them. From what she could tell it was clear that whoever was controlling things was only expecting there to be one or two people, as there was a pause as it took her and Pandora into account, before it gave them five minutes to take out sixty enemies, something that caused them to draw their weapons. The downside was that their enemies were the weakest draugr that they had fought before, as in the ones with barely any armor that went down in two hits and the slightly more armored version that came after the first variation. If Flurry was being honest with herself this was actually a little disappointing for a 'trial', in fact she was sure those in Greece could do better if they had access to the assortment of monsters that existed in the Nine Realms, to which she pulled out the Deathrite Daggers as she attacked their foes.

This really wasn't much of a challenge for them as Kratos swung his axe and chopped his targets apart, Pandora struck all of her enemies with her halberd, Atreus distracted some of them with his arrows and used his runic summons to tear a few draugr apart, and Flurry simply parried the attacks coming at her before cutting down her foes.

When they finished off all of the enemies, well within the time limit, one of the rocky walls shifted and revealed a golden chest for them to loot, a reward for completing the trial, which included a new resource in the form of an ember that was still smoldering, likely something they could use when they get back to Brok. With the treasure claimed they found that the Trial Blade, as Flurry was going to call it, returned and her father approached it again, finding that it had another trial for them to face before it raised the gate so they could track down another arena. This one, as it turned out, required them to kill every enemy that happened to be in the waves at roughly the same time, meaning that they had to corner and strike down three draugr for the first wave, while the second was an ogre and a revenant. With such a thing in mind it became far too easy for them to cripple the various waves that came at them, the trick was far too easy to figure out and that was why the family just focused on chipping away at each enemy before slaying them all in the same instant.

In the end a second section of the treasure wall lowered and revealed another golden chest, this one containing more of the embers and more loot for Flurry to collect, though once that was done they found that the gates lowered and opened two paths, one to head back and another to move forward, with them picking the latter.

"So, besides the Fire Giants and Surtr, no one lives in this realm... right?" Atreus asked, as he just wanted to make sure that he had his facts straight, while at the same time he and his family moved up the rocky path while avoiding the hazards, such as rivers of lava and bits of molten material that burst out of the puddles they walked by, though he didn't have to worry about getting hurt as Flurry used her magic to form walls on either side of the path to keep them safe.

"That's correct, and, according to prophecy, we won't be seeing them until Ragnarok." Mimir replied, because like Freya he knew it was only a matter of time until the world ending event happened, Jormungandr was a sign that it had happened in the future and that they were marching towards it, but it was hard to say when Fimbulwinter, the prelude, would start.

Kratos said nothing to that as they eventually reached the next arena and discovered a Trial Blade in the center, with a Door right outside the altered arena, in case they felt like retreating no doubt, where Kratos touched the sword and activated the next trial that was being offered to them. This time it was a test of endurance, as in they had to survive for five minutes and not be knocked down, where the family found that their enemies appeared to be the seidr versions of the Hel-Walkers, not to mention the seidr infected wolves. Thanks to the open lava pit that was nearby it was far too easy for them to drop their enemies into it, or even knock them over the edge of the arena since such a thing took them out in seconds, and the family found that these enemies were also the weaker variants as well, meaning it was easier to cut them down. Since the enemies came out in waves of three, four, or even five foes, either when the previous wave had been knocked out or an amount of time had passed, though even when they allowed their foes to gather there wasn't much for them to worry about.

The reward for passing the trial was, of course, more Smoldering Embers, a sack of Hacksilver, and more treasure that was added to the stuff in Flurry's bag, that she would sort later on, where they returned to the Trial Blade before starting up the next trial that was being offered to them. That happened to be facing enemies that actually regenerated their health while they were fighting, so to take their enemies out the family had to coordinate their attacks and take out the Hel-Walkers that were coming at them, as in the fire, frost, and even poison variants. In addition to that there were more seidr wolves and a few of the hulking draugr that were stonger than the other types they had fought during the trials, though at the same time Flurry realized that whoever was behind these trials clearly wasn't expecting them to be this good at combat, or have a bag that allowed them to utilize the power of the enchantments and armor they had collected so far. This time around Flurry just stuck to using her new daggers, she didn't feel like switching to something else for the time being, and she found that they were able to bring down the regenerating enemies in no time at all, which had to make the trial creator nervous.

Once more the reward was the same as the last three trials, more of the embers with the treasure and Hacksilver, before the family continued along the path that had been opened for them, allowing them to traverse another rocky path and jump over rivers of lava, before having to climb up a pair of rock walls and pass by a lava waterfall, the latter Atreus wasn't even phased by as they reached another arena area to fight in.

"You know, I have to wonder how many trials there are." Atreus commented, because the path they had been following seemed to be climbing a mountain, similar to the one in Midgard despite being smaller, though while his father walked up to the blade, to start the next trial, before the boy frowned for a moment, "Oh, it's six... the voice says there are six trials in total."

Kratos simply nodded his head as he activated the trial, where they found that this time around they had to fight a harder foe, an 'elite' according to the voice, and that whatever it happened to be had a barrier that protected them from harm, a barrier they could bring down by slaying the lesser enemies that joined the fight. It was a simple tactic for the family to deal with, as Flurry drew the attention of whatever elite enemy happened to be coming at them, which appeared to be a powerful dark elf, so while she made it focus on her the rest of the family dealt with the lesser dark elves that were part of this battle. When each wave of enemies were taken care of she lashed out at the figure that was in front of her and dealt a good wound to it, before it was able to regain it's ability to be immune to damage, causing them to repeat what they had done to reach that point with the next wave of enemies. While they did that Flurry realized that the first half of a trial was more like a warmup of sorts, to prepare challengers for whatever the second half happened to be, which was why they were clearing through the first halves so easily, before she took down the dark elf as his barrier fell once more.

In addition to the embers, Hacksilver, and treasure that was the reward the family discovered that there was also a crest that was made of flames among the items as well, another item to use with Brok no doubt, before they returned to the Trial Blade and Kratos activated it once more.

This time they discovered that the second half of this trial was to slay enemies inside golden rings that appeared all over the arena floor, to which Kratos and Atreus stood in one while Flurry and Pandora took the other two, basically forcing the enemies to come to them this time around. There were draugr and dark elves as their enemies this time around, though as they did so Atreus did something that actually allowed things to progress quicker, he taunted the enemies and pulled all of them into one of the rings that were around the arena. It was a good tactic, especially since he knew when to get out and when to fight, thus allowing everyone else to focus on cutting down the enemies that were around them, and Flurry found that there weren't any other enemies for them to worry about. With that in mind she and her family dealt with the enemies, cleared the trial in what had to be record time, claimed the reward without wasting time, which was the same as the previous golden chest they had looted, before continuing along the main path once more.

Tracking down the next Trial Blade was easy, they just had to cross a single lava river and climb some stone steps to reach their destination, only for Kratos to find that the opening portion of this trial was to defeat a hundred enemies, which just told him that the voice was underestimating their abilities. Such a thing was confirmed somewhat when they found that the first few waves were just more draugr, this time appearing to be all of the variants they had fought so far, and none of them were much of a match for the family, at least not until a pair of Travelers joined the battle. Atreus found that Flurry was able to block the incoming attacks from her enemies with her daggers, even the greatswords from the Travelers, a fact that caused him to pause for a moment, even though she didn't as she tore down the foe that was in front of her and picked up the rewards as their father took out the second. In addition to those enemies Atreus found Hel-Walkers, as in all types, and even more dark elves joining the battle, plus some wolves and tatzelwurms, showing him that this was more of a display of their skills, something they were able to do quite well.

In the end Kratos, Flurry, Pandora, and Atreus were able to bring down the hundred enemies that were sent at them and claimed the reward, which was just the same as the last couple of golden chests they had unlocked, though as Flurry put all of it in her bag Atreus stretched for a moment.

"Ha... this is definitely getting easier with every victory... right?" Atreus asked, where the family glanced at each other for a few seconds, as it sounded like his arrogance or overconfidence was starting to come back, before he noticed the three of them looking at him and sighed, like he was refocusing his mind, "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that... it's because of all of our training that we were able to win."

Kratos nodded and found that the second half of the trial was to keep Atreus safe, as this involved enemies that would try to grab him, hold him hostage and even harm him, though upon hearing that his son decided to use that against the foes that would be coming at them. By that he meant dodging their hands and stabbing at their arms or necks, which was easy to do when they discovered that their enemies were just draugr, the easier foes to deal with, and when one actually laid hands on him Atreus used his tail to stun the undead warrior so Kratos could kill it. Such a thing caused him to smile, as if he was thinking that some of his changes were actually a good thing, though for the time being it looked like he was just planning on using his tail to trip up some of their enemies before taking them out, to make things somewhat easier for the rest of his family. The only enemy he had trouble with was the ogre, which was fine since that meant he could leave things to his father and his sisters, who cut their way through it and succeeded in completing the trial that was being thrown at them, earning them another golden chest full of loot to obtain.

With that done they continued down the next portion of the path, which confirmed that the mountain was larger than what they were originally expecting, and Kratos only came to a stop when he dropped down into the arena for the next Trial Blade, which he activated without delay.

Flurry found that this one started with slaying enemies, Hel-Walkers, to extend the amount of time they had, meaning that if the timer, represented by an hourglass that rested in the center of the gate leading to the sixth and final Trial Blade, had no more sand in the upper portion they would lose. With that in mind every foe slain added a portion of sand that had to represent the difficulty of the enemies in question, the lower ranking foes gave small bits of sand, seconds no doubt, while those that took longer to defeat rewarded them with a greater amount of sand, like ten or more seconds as opposed to just one or two. This one even had some wulver for them to fight, a foe they hadn't encountered during the trials, not that it mattered since the family were able to bring the werewolves down in no time at all, eventually ending with Kratos and his children finishing the trial in what had to be record time. After that Kratos found the golden chest and looked it, where they found that it was an identical reward to what they had looted from all of the other rewards that had been given to them, causing them to return to the sword so Kratos could start the next trial.

The second part was taking out twenty enemies while avoiding damage, which was rather easy for the family to do thanks to the fact that Atreus ducked under the incoming attacks and slashed at the ankles of their enemies, but he found that if he left everything to his family they cleared the area in due time, earning them even more treasure as they started up the next part of the path.

"I don't mean to alarm you guys, but there's a powerful creature ahead of us." Atreus remarked, which confirmed what they had learned back in Midgard, that a Valkyrie had to be in this realm, and, sure enough, they found an arena right at the peak of the mountain.

In addition to that there was a Valkyrie floating above the ground, though when Kratos engaged her Mimir was able to see the vulture mask and identified her as Gondul, who seemed to have all of the basic attacks that all of the other Valkyries had used against them, though hers were stronger and swifter than what her sisters used. Not only did she have those attacks, but she also had the power to use fire, as she called down meteors on them and used fireballs every while moving around the arena she was in, which Flurry countered with her own magic. Flurry also switched to Earthshaker and swung it at Gondul, who lashed out with her scythe and the air shuddered as the two weapons came into contact, which was far more interesting than Flurry was expecting if she was being honest, before she found that Gondul even had a spear, like what the dark elves had, that she did try to stab into the ground occasionally. The other thing she did differently was that she went after Atreus a little as well, grabbing him and hurling him into one of the walls that was around them, though her doing that only seemed to enrage Atreus as his back, plus his clothing, started to shift.

Sure enough Flurry watched as her brother's clothing glowed, his inner magic at work, as slots appeared in the material as a pair of leathery wings grew out of them, dragon wings that matched the coloration of his other dragon parts, though as he spread them, in order to take flight, Atreus tripped and planted his face on the ground, allowing his father to use the distraction to take down the Valkyrie.

Freedom... Gondul said, her spirit forming in front of them after the deed was done, where Flurry noted that she was slightly disappointed in what had happened, as if she expected herself to be more focused than that and was blaming her defeat on being distracted, on her corrupted form, but didn't seem eager to fight her fate, rather seeking happiness in the fact that she had been freed, You, great warriors, have destroyed my physical form... I have only gratitude to offer you for doing such a thing. Valhalla awaits... farewell.

As Gondul disappeared Flurry collected another helm for whatever was waiting for them in the council chamber, plus two more pieces of Asgardian Steel, a gem shaped like a serpent's eye and held an enchantment inside it, a perfect version of the steel the other Valkyries had given them, a powerful flame that seemed to be an upgrade item, and a pair of gauntlets that radiated power, like the other armors they had acquired so far.

"Guys, the voice says that we don't have to worry about the final Trial Blade... said that anyone who can bring down one of the Valkyries is worthy in their eyes." Atreus commented, beckoning to the two golden chests that had appeared out of slots on the side of the arena that Gondul had started on, containers that Kratos looted so the familiar resources and loot could be added to Flurry's bag, all while he dusted himself off and frowned as he touched one of his wings, "I can't believe I did that... just ruined my progress in an instant."

"Yes, you did... but that is part of growing up: making mistakes and learning from them." Kratos stated, though as he said that he spotted Sindri off to the side, who handed Flurry what looked like another cipher, the pieces for Niflheim, which told him that the dwarf was hoping to assist them in their hunt for the remaining Valkyries, but he made sure to place his hand on his son's shoulder, "Come, we have more work to do, and we will help you adjust to your changes until you are able to make them disappear... maybe Flurry will teach you how to fly, if they stay for too long."

Flurry held back a groan as she heard that, as she wasn't sure she wanted to teach her brother how to fly, not after how he had acted before they reached the peak that Mimir had been trapped on, and decided that they would cross that bridge in the future, so for now she focused on traveling to Niflheim and facing whatever trials might be waiting for them in the near future.

Norse: Mists of Niflheim

After taking care of Gondul, and collecting their rewards for beating her, Kratos and his children returned to the temple by using the nearby Door, allowing them to stop by the temple's shop, where they found both brothers hard at work, despite the fact that Brok had stepped out into Muspelheim after they left the temple. The reason for the stop was because they could use the flame that had dropped from the Valkyrie to create another Chaos Flame that was then used to empower the Blades of Chaos even more, a good thing in Kratos' eyes since it would help them in the future. In addition to that they were able to use the materials that had been won from the various trials to make a few pieces of Muspelheim inspired armor that Flurry added to the armory in her bag, something that surprised the brothers when he noticed what they were doing. She explained how her bag worked, that all of the armor they had collected was placed inside the bag and everyone received the bonuses without having to wear the gear, where she found that Brok didn't seem to care while Sindri was interested, but for the time being they allowed the family to keep moving.

With that done they returned to the main console and Kratos used the Travel Rune that was inside the cipher Sindri had delivered to them after they bested the Valkyrie, allowing him to transfer them to Niflheim within a few moments, and the moment that was done he and his children headed out into the Realm of Mist.

"Ugh... I don't want to say anything bad, but... man does that smell bad." Atreus remarked, as there was a foul smell in the air that all of them could detect, and when they stepped away from the main temple he found that some faint mist seemed to be stuck to the walkway that was below them, "What is this stuff?"

"The mist is cursed." Kratos stated, where he glanced out at the realm and found that the mist, or even fog in places, was twisted in some manner that meant they might be in danger if they delved too deeply into the areas in question, which only made him wonder what sort of challenges this realm might offer them.

"Quite right: the mist is safe to breathe, for a time, but it will kill us if we linger for too long... knowing the dwarves, one or both of them will have some armor to help us." Mimir commented, as he agreed with Flurry, that the remaining Valkyries had to be in the other realms they had access to, those being Niflheim, Alfheim, and even Helheim, so it stood to reason that Sindri might have seen the one in this realm and was trying to help them on their quest.

While they walked the family passed by a stone tablet that Atreus translated for them, where they learned that the mist was due to Ivaldi's tampering with the realm, to the point where his son, Motsognir, renounced this realm and fled to Midgard, to leave his father to his fate. At the same time he knew that the figure who wrote the tablet eventually become the Dwarf King, especially due to some of the information they had passed by on their quest to spread his mother's ashes, and knew he had a stronghold in Midgard, something the family might explore if they had a reason to do so. Once he was done with that his father started to loot the wooden chests that were near them, where Flurry discovered another new resource, mist that just spiraled around like they were actually an echo of some kind, and they got a few of them from the few wooden chests, not to mention more from a stone chest they looted as well. At the end of the path, resting where a Realm Tower would be back in Midgard, the family discovered that Sindri did what his brother had done back in Muspelheim, he had made a shop a fair distance from the temple, and beyond him was what appeared to be a maze of sorts.

Kratos suspected that there was more than just the Valkyrie in this realm and that, much like Muspelheim, they had to clear the maze or some trials associated with the maze before tracking down their true target, where he focused on Sindri as the dwarf finished setting up his smaller workshop.

"You know, I'm surprised you are even here Sindri... figured you would be scared off by the mist." Atreus remarked, which caused him to pause for a moment as he wondered if the curse might see his innocent comment as something bad and glanced at his body, finding that nothing had changed on him, something that caused him to breath a sigh of relief as his family focused on the dwarf.

"You think I can't handle a little bit of cursed mist? Well... you are absolutely right." Sindri admitted, something the family knew since he hated getting his hands dirty and figured that a realm with cursed mist would be a realm he would rather avoid, hence why he had chosen the safest spot in Niflheim to greet them in after realizing they were serious about going out to look for the Valkyrie, "I'm actually trying to build some armor that will lessen the effects of the mist, which should be able to help you in traversing the shifting maze that's beyond this point."

"Are you seeking something, or are you here to help us hunt down the Valkyrie?" Kratos asked, because if Sindri knew that the Valkyrie was here that meant there was a reason for them to explore, but if the dwarf told them that the figure was not here, and had been moved elsewhere, he and his family would follow.

"Oh, she's here alright. Hasn't moved from where she was placed... but the path keeps shifting." Sindri replied, which was good news for them when the family thought about it, since it meant that they wouldn't have to waste time looking for the Valkyrie in another location, where Kratos realized what the dwarf was going to ask of them before he even said a single word, but let him speak anyway, "The materials I need are actually close at hand, in Ivaldi's workshop, though to get there you'll need to cross the mist and get the armor that's resting inside it... if you can bring me some Mist Echoes, which you'll find plenty of in the maze, I can fashion them into an Entry Stone for you to use to get into the workshop."

With that in mind the family headed down the path that was in front of them and entered the starting point of the maze, as noted by a dwarven statue, likely of Ivaldi, who informed them of the fact that the entire place, including enemies and even treasures, would reset whenever they left with the treasures they claimed. Kratos, Flurry, and Pandora glanced at each other for a few seconds as Atreus eventually caught onto what this meant, there seemed to be an endless amount of resources to claim and that they would likely have to use the Mist Echoes for other things in this place. As such their first priority was to track down all of the chests that would grant them Mist Echoes as part of the reward, because Flurry felt that after their first time tackling the realm they should be able to forge the Entry Stone and get the armor. From there it would a simple matter to map out every inch of Ivaldi's maze, to pinpoint where the Valkyrie was resting, and then bring their quest to a close, at least in this realm anyway, hence why she focused on whatever might be waiting for them.

As it turned out the draugr and tatzelwurms that were in the first chamber happened to be stronger than the enemies they had fought back in Muspelheim, where Flurry decided to return to using her sickles, since it appeared that these foes would be stronger and last longer than their previous foes. After a few moments of fighting she had to rethink her thoughts about their current enemies, because while this group of enemies did seem to be tougher, allowing them to last longer, none of them seemed to have the power to back up their tougher hides, meaning the battle was still in the family's favor. Once the first couple of foes were taken out Kratos opened three chests that were in the area, one wooden, one stone, and one of the golden variants, where the rest of the family discovered that the first chest gave them a fair amount of echoes, the second granted them almost three times that amount, and the golden was five times what was in the wooden one. It was nice to see that they already had more than enough for the Entry Stone, Flurry was sure of that, but for the time being Kratos decided to explore the maze a little more and headed down the path to their left, where he bypassed two walls that slammed into each other and got around an area with moving saws.

Such a thing allowed them to enter an area with a number of wulver, these ones looking stronger and faster than the ones the family had fought before this point, where Flurry clashed with them for a few moments and her family found that she was able to hack them apart with ease, which was a testament to her skills. After looting the chests that were in the area Kratos headed back to Sindri's workshop, avoiding the traps once more, and once they emerged from the maze it was just a simple matter to walk up to where he was working and hand over the Mist Echoes. Sure enough he used some of them to make a twisted teal green Entry Stone before handing the rest of their resources back to them, where Kratos, with the Entry Stone in hand, returned to the first chamber of the maze without wasting time. That allowed everyone to confirm what they had been told previously, all of the slain enemies returned in full force, in fact they were joined by a couple of dark elves, and all of the looted chests were now sealed, which meant there was definitely an endless amount of treasure and Mist Echoes for them to acquire.

Once the enemies were taken care of Kratos slipped the Entry Stone into the pedestal that was near the other side of the area and watched as the door beyond it lowered, allowing him and his children access to the central portion of this area of Niflheim, reaching a circular area that had a number of chests, ones made of wood, stone, and even gold, and there were three Realm Tears nearby as well.

"And there's the armor." Pandora commented, as one of the stone chests gave way and Kratos retrieved a set of dwarven armor from it, which seemed older than anything they had seen so far, something that caused her father to nod before he turned back towards the entrance of this area.

With the armor in hand Flurry quickly checked the other chests, finding that the wooden and stone ones could be opened without difficulty, while the golden ones seemed to require the sacrifice of Mist Echoes to open, an interesting thing given what they had seen in Muspelheim, and once everything was looted they returned to Sindri.

"We have the armor. We just need to find the Valkyrie." Kratos said, where he placed the armor on the table and Sindri got to work reshaping it into something they could use, even if they didn't actually wear it like he or his brother wanted, but to him he was happy that it was being put to good use in some manner.

"Well, can't help you there. I really don't like the mist here... but, knowing you guys, you'll find her." Sindri replied, as he had faith in that fact, he knew them well enough to know that they didn't stay away from trouble and, if they were setting their eyes on finding a Valkyrie there was no stopping them from finding their target, before he set a piece of chest armor, sized to fit Kratos, on the table, "Here you go, armor that will help you deal with the cursed mist."

Kratos thanked the dwarf as Flurry stored the armor away, allowing them to find that it gave them the passive buffs like all of the other gear that had been recovered so far, though with that done they descended into the maze without delay, as it was time to track down their real target. This time around they found a group of powerful wulver and a revenant, which told Flurry that the enemies might be what was rotating, as she really wasn't seeing the traps or chests moving right now, making her wonder why this place was thought of as a 'maze', as the ones in Greece had been far better. The best thing about all of this, in Flurry's eyes, happened to be the enemies that were coming at them, as they forced everyone, even her and her father, to pay close attention to everything that was going on around the area and not lower their guard at the worst moment. The traps weren't very deadly, not when they could dodge all of them, though Atreus did follow Flurry in how she moved to avoid getting his new wings or tail damaged in some manner, since he was still getting used to having all of the new additions, causing her to point out a few things he could do to prevent himself from being hurt.

On the other side of the maze, parallel to where they entered it for the first time, the family discovered an area that just so happened to be where their target was located, where Flurry expanded her magic and formed a barrier around the entire area, pushing the mist out of the way so they could fight the boar helm wearing Valkyrie, Hildr according to Mimir.

Once more they discovered that Hildr was like the other Valkyries, she shared many moves that the others knew, which was easy for Kratos and his children to avoid since they had learned how to deal with all of the techniques that were being thrown at them, but it was what made her different that everyone had to be careful of. Like Gondul before her Hildr had an elemental power that she happened to be proficient at using, as she commanded the power of ice itself and used it against the family with deadly accuracy, firstly by trying to freeze the ground around her while attempting to stop any and all of her foes in their tracks. In addition to that she could summon shards of ice and hurl them at the family, similar to how her sister had thrown fireballs at them, where Flurry switched her weapon once more, causing Kratos to realize she had picked the Nemean Cestus, quickly locking them into place as she smashed through an ice wall Hildr created once she realized what was coming her way. This time around she was going to be more focused on defense and assisting the rest of her family, smashing through the ice that was coming at them, while at the same time they found that their foe used the ice to cover her movements so she could grab Atreus.

As that happened, however, Atreus was ready for it and showed them that he had grown after fighting Gondul, because he turned and stabbed Hildr in the chest with his blade, surprising her since she clearly didn't think he had a secondary weapon on him, where he tore his dagger out as she dropped him, allowing him to land near his father and turn around with his bow drawn.

This time around Kratos made sure that Atreus scored some blows against the Valkyrie, since usually he was unable to do much against these foes, and while his son was regaining his full confidence in battle he could see that this time it wasn't going to his head, Atreus was focused on battle and not on his own power. Flurry continued to rush around the area they were in, swinging one of her fist weapons at the ice that was coming at them and shattered them easily, because the ice was nothing compared to the onyx these could smash through, and she found that Hildr dodged her attacks whenever she got close to her. With that in mind they had to move around her for a time and force the Valkyrie to pick who she felt was the greater threat to her existence, where she seemed to switch between focusing on Flurry and Kratos, which would come back to bite her as Flurry vanished, just like she had done in the past. Such a thing allowed her father to punch the surprised Valkyrie in the face, as she wasn't expecting Flurry to do that in the first place, but as Hildr turned to flee Flurry appeared out of thin air and punched her in the chest with the Nemean Cestus, breaking her ribs while sending her right into her father's hands.

That, in turn, allowed Kratos to tear off Hildr's wings as her body crumbled to the ground, which was still a strange way for them to dissolve into a spiritual form, and while the Valkyrie's soul appeared in front of them Flurry returned her weapons to her bag as she claimed the amulet with an icy blue crystal that had been around Hildr's neck.

Freedom... Hildr said, where she seemed surprised by the fact that she had been beaten and her corrupted form had been crushed, while at the same time the family could tell that part of her seemed happy about this fact, which was when she focused on them for real, My sisters... have they been cursed with this fate as well?

"Yes, but we have freed several of them. Only Olrun and Rota remain in this state." Mimir answered, because he knew the names of the other Valkyries, though the reason he didn't mention Sigrun was because they had no idea if she was like all of the others, driven mad thanks to her physical form, and he hoped she had been spared such a fate, "Do not worry, Hildr, as these four can save them as well."

Hildr nodded before wishing them luck and vanishing, allowing them to claim her helm and the Asgardian Steel she had, along with a golden enchantment, a pommel piece to add to Kratos' axe, and a special chest piece that was added to the armor collection, which only caused Flurry to look forward to tracking down the last couple of Valkyries and save them from their cursed fates as well.

Norse: Legendary Dwarven Armor

With their work in Niflheim complete the family returned to Tyr's Temple in Midgard, since it was time for them to figure out where to go next to hunt down the remaining two Valkyries, but before that Pandora mentioned that she wanted to check in with the dwarves, as they might have something else for them, and sure enough both were waiting for them.

"My bother n' me got a new project we're working on. Wanna hear about it?" Brok asked, because after seeing them work in Muspelheim, and combined with how the family worked in Niflheim and the other realms they had been in, he knew it was time for him and Sindri to reveal their plans to Kratos and his children.

"Yes. You two are talented in your craft, and I am sure this project will benefit all of us." Kratos replied, as he knew that the quests the dwarves sent them on ended up giving them new experiences and even gear to add to their collection, not to mention potential upgrades to their weapons, so it was worth deviating from their current quest for a time.

"Good to hear. With the whetstone and hammer that you guys have recovered for us, both special in their own way, we are now able to construct the Dvegraedikr, dwarven armor of legend." Sindri stated, something that caused the family to raise their eyebrows for a moment, though Kratos and Flurry knew that most legendary items lived up to their legend, just like Pandora's Box holding the power to kill a god, making them curious if the same was true in the Nine Realms.

"However, we just need three more mythical ingredients before we get to hammering." Brok added, where he held up one of his hands for a moment as he noticed that Atreus was getting ready to ask what those items might be, since there was a chance that they might have them with everything they had recovered since the start of their quest, "Now, we dunno what those ingredients are... mind you that the armor is pure legend, and the details are fuzzier than a wulver's butthole. But Ol' Motsognir, the Dwarf King, found two of them... everyone knows that!"

"Yet when he went looking for the third... poof, he vanished." Sindri said, where the family noticed that he sighed at his brother's choice of words, focused on the wulver part no doubt, while he finished whatever he was working on before he turned to face the family with a smile on his face, "The last time anyone saw him was at his stronghold in Konunsgard... maybe you'll be able to find some information on the ingredients if you investigated Motsognir's domain?"

"And lookee here, a Konunsgard Entry Stone... it's got your name on it! How fucking strange!" Brok finished, producing a royal sapphire blue stone that looked like all of the other Entry Stones they had used since the start of their quest, which he handed to Flurry, since he knew Kratos would do the same thing if he handed it to him, while Sindri pointed out the area that the stronghold was located in on their map.

With that information in hand the family departed from the temple and headed out to get on the boat, where Atreus had to deal with shifting how he sat since he now had a tail and a pair of wings that got in Pandora's way, while Flurry flew above them as she focused on the direction they needed to head in. Fortunately it didn't take them very long to track down the cave that would bring them closer to their destination, as Kratos was skilled at tracking down the areas they needed to go to, even without the map and compass that had been given to them, and it wasn't long before he docked the boat at a shore that was inside the cave. From there it was a simple matter to walk up to where a Door rested so they could find the location of the pedestal that the Entry Stone could be inserted into, which Flurry produced as soon as she landed as her father put it inside the slot, unlocking the sealed door that was blocking the way forward. After doing that they walked out into a path that seemed to cut through the rest of the mountain and out into an area that seemed like the perfect place to hide a fort or stronghold, only Kratos had to burn away some of the bramble so they could continue forward.

Along the way Atreus spotted a stone tablet and deciphered it, revealing that it seemed to be praise for Motsognir, which was interesting since another area had information that damned the Dwarf King, though once he was done the family kept following the path and stopped at a ledge that allowed them to overlook the stronghold, with Sindri standing nearby at one of his smaller workshops.

"I know you might not need this, but here's a word of warning: there are a lot of nasty creatures in this place, thanks to the Mad Dwarf King's foul practices." Sindri commented, which meant the family was likely going to run into a Soul Eater and a few of the other powerful creatures they had fought throughout their quest, and Flurry could see that the dwarf really didn't like to think about the deeds that might have happened here, "As for his foul practices, well... it is said that he has done various things: sacrificing, dark enchantments, blood magic, and so on... stuff usually seen among the elders of our race, as it turns out. Old habits are hard to break."

"We appreciate the concern." Kratos replied, because while he knew that they didn't need the warning, given how skilled he and his daughters were, he also knew that this would be a good lesson for his son, to gather all of the information that was available to him and be mindful of who gave it to them, as having good allies was also a good thing.

"Woah, there's another chained dragon... we should free it." Atreus said, though he was looking out at the huge place that was Konunsgard, especially the large beast that happened to be struggling in vain to break it's chains, a dragon that looked like Fafnir and Hraezlyr, to a degree, something that caused the boy to rub his arm as he looked down at himself, "Father... would someone chain me up like that if I fully transformed into a dragon?"

"No. The one who made the Binding Shrines is likely dead, so you have nothing to fear... besides, you will not become like Fafnir, not with the progress you have made." Kratos stated, where he and his daughters knew why Atreus was like this, he was seeing himself in a new light since the curse was causing him to slowly transform when he indulged in what were his darker aspects, like dipping too far into his rage or being far too rude to others, and his son was worried that with how far he had come, in such a short period of time, he might actually prove Baldur right.

Atreus nodded as they headed down the path that was on their left, where his father froze a skorn pole before discovering a pair of Hel-Walkers waiting for them, one to the left and one to the right, though this time he found that they withstood the fiery power of the blades for a few more moments than the ones they fought in Helheim. Such a thing confirmed that this place might be more dangerous than the rest of Midgard, which was why everyone armed themselves accordingly, and at the end of the left path they found a stone chest that had a Hel-Walker hiding inside it, causing Kratos to crush it while Flurry claimed the items that were inside the chest. Following that they continued down the other path for a few seconds before Kratos recalled the axe, since they were now beyond the skorn pole, causing Atreus to openly wonder why Motsognir had so many dragons chained up, since Mimir claimed there were three, two more in addition to Fafnir, which was when Mimir had a bit of fun telling him that everything dragon related was powerful. Since he had seen a dragon in action, and had seen his sister user the Dragon Cleaver to cut down some of their enemies, Atreus clearly believed it, though he was confused when Mimir mentioned that their waste was powerful as well, ending in the head laughing while the boy was unsure what to make of the situation.

Kratos said nothing, as it appeared that his son didn't need him to step into the conversation, causing him to focus on what was in front of them once more, heading down a bridge that would bring them to the area in front of the structure that Motsognir had built in the past. Such a thing meant fighting more of the Hel-Walkers that had been placed in this area, or maybe they had invaded thanks to Helheim being overwhelmed, though Kratos and his children were more than ready for their enemies as they engaged them without delay. There were definitely a fair number of them for the family to fight, but that hardly mattered as Kratos dealt with a skorn pole and opened the way down to the main gate of the entire structure, where they found an Entry Stone pedestal with a dead warrior resting beside it, with a crystalline Entry Stone that looked like it could be slipped into one of three slots. With the Entry Stone in hand Kratos noticed that there were two paths for them to take, meaning they would no doubt end in something that would reward them with the other two keys to the gate, so with that in mind he started down the path to the left, even though that meant freezing another skorn pole to access the path.

To pass through the cave that was on the other side of the skorn pole he also had to burn away some bramble so he and his children could jump over a short gap, though they did come into contact with a pack of wulver that dropped down into the open area they started to pass through. These ones weren't as difficult as the ones that had been in Niflheim, but that didn't mean anyone could be overconfident, since that could ruin them or the entire family in an instant, though Atreus proved that he was relying more on them and wasn't getting involved, not unless a foe tried to grab him. After taking out the wulvers they continued down the path and discovered that there was an iron gate to their left that needed them to be on the other side to open it, so for right now they headed out into an area to the right that had some stone arches around it. In addition to that they also discovered that there was a tougher looking Soul Eater in the center of the area, though like the last time they found one Flurry focused on her sickles for a few seconds and flashed around the arena for a couple of seconds, where Atreus watched as the magic inside the creature died and it perished.

Such a thing reminded him why he was so lucky that his father had stopped him from annoying Flurry more than he had, because if they actually clashed in a fight, like he had been rushing towards, there was no way he was going to win, not with all of the moves she had and the arsenal she could use.

With the resources from the Soul Eater looted, and the same was true for the nearby stone chest, the family continued along another portion of the path, cutting through some more bramble before discovering that to move forward they had to move some the Winds of Hel from one position to another, before ending in a lock. Unfortunately there was no walkway to link the two areas and Pandora pointed out that they had to track down a light crystal, as she had seen a slot below where the edge of the edge was located, and on the other side they discovered some wolves that Kratos hacked through with a swing of his axe. The area they dropped down into happened to have such a crystal hanging in a basket above the river that cut through this portion of the realm, where Flurry tore through the lock that was keeping it contained and let it fall into the water, which carried it down to the end of this area. With that in hand Kratos lifted the iron gate out of the way before heaving the crystal up onto his shoulder, where he carried it down to the slot and slipped it into the device so his son could hit it with a light arrow, creating the walkway that they needed to use.

As such they returned to the wind trap and he grabbed them with one of his blades, allowing him to carry it to a second trap, resetting the power in a sense, before retrieving it again so he could slip it into the lock, opening the way to a ledge that was right between the entrance and the bridge down to the stronghold, which just so happened to be where one of the keys was located.

"Good, another Entry Stone. Out of curiosity, Flurry, why don't you use your magic to speed things along?" Atreus asked, as he was curious as to why his sister went out of her way to do things without using her incredible magic to aid them, like during the various obstacles they had encountered in this place, all while their father moved a chain so they could return to the stronghold's main gate.

"Sometimes I like a challenge, mentally and physically, and using magic just nullifies the work that went into making places like this... I don't want to disrespect the people who built this place." Flurry replied, where she knew it would be far too easy for her to blast through the stone gate of the stronghold and retrieve the ingredients without delay, but that would just ruin everything and leave her in a bad mood, and there was the fact that her father had taught her not to take shortcuts, one of the many lessons she took seriously.

Atreus stared at her for a few seconds before saying that her reasoning made sense, which was when Mimir told them what he knew about Motsognir, as he had been quiet lately, where he admitted that no one really knew what had happened to the Mad Dwarf King, only that his behavior had been quite erratic before he vanished. Kratos assumed that the reason for such a thing was due to the search for the final ingredient, no doubt tormenting his soul in some manner or a monster got a hold of him before he was able to leave this place, a fact they might discover in due time. Their conversation was brought to a halt as a couple of rifts opened around where the main Entry Stone pedestal was located and more Hel-Walkers rushed out to fight them, causing the family to lash out in return like they had done previously, Kratos and Pandora slashing at their foes while Flurry and Atreus loosed arrows at them. This made Kratos grateful that they had fought through Muspelheim to get to Gondul, because their ability to fight as a family, as a united front, was stronger than ever before, meaning these foes stood no chance as they tore through them as the rifts closed as quickly as they had formed.

Following them finishing off the rest of the Hel-Walkers the family continued down the path on the right and found that an iron gate rested to their left, no doubt locked until they reached the end of this area, hence why Kratos turned to the right and found an area with an ogre standing at the ready. In addition to that there were a few ranged Hel-Walkers, to which he left the ranged foes to Flurry and Atreus as Pandora joined him in taking down the ogre, which they were able to do in no time at all, it was definitely weaker than the ones in the two realms they had just fought through. After that Flurry pointed out the path forward and the others headed down it, where the family had to climb up a short wall and jump over a pair of gaps to reach the passage that finally brought them to the area that the dragon was chained up in. Sure enough the dragon didn't seem to care that they were there, it just preferred to blast the area with it's lightning breath, where Flurry stepped up with the Dragon Cleaver and spun it around, cancelling out the attack and letting the axe head rest on the ground once she completed her task.

Kratos knew what Flurry was doing, she was showing the dragon that it's attacks were nothing and that, by not attacking it directly, it might understand that they were only here to help, where the beast huffed for a moment before laying on the rock that must have been it's bed for a very long time.

With the dragon realizing that they might be able to free it, so it could leave this place and never look back, the family took a moment to lower their heads a little before focusing on the area that no doubt held the three runes that would open the way to the mask that was powering it's chains. This time around the family discovered that the enemies happened to be a number of tatzelwurms and a number of seidr Hel-Walkers, though this time around Flurry found that the tatzelwurms were a lot more aggressive than some of the others they had fought, which was a nice change of pace, though it didn't do much in the grand scheme of things since she and her family tore them down as well. Once the enemies were taken care of the family found that there was a locked door that required using three rune bells that were around the door, which was a surprise since they were expecting the runes to be scattered around the area, not next to the door they happened to be connected to. With the various sap crystals that were around the area it was simple for the family to strike all three of the bells in rapid succession, though before doing so Flurry found that two of the runic anchors were nearby, one at the edge of the area they were in and one that was in a side cave, causing them to break them with ease.

After doing that Kratos quickly struck all three of the runic bells and unlocked the door, revealing a path to where a couple of tatzelwurms were waiting in, causing the family to attack as soon as the creatures turned on them, cutting them down before carefully exploring the rest of the area for the other Entry Stone.

Kratos spotted a bridge that could be lowered by him striking the lock with the Leviathan Axe, though as they used it to reach a higher position, just slightly above the one they had been in a few moments ago, Flurry found and crushed one on Odin's ravens, another one to add to the pile since she had dealt with each one they located so far. After that Atreus found another stone tablet to decipher and did so while his family kept an eye one the area, where they discovered that it spoke of the dragon that was in this place, Reginn, who apparently 'loved' his job and 'took pride in guarding this place', which told them that Motsognir just chained him up and left the dragon to guard his stronghold. In addition to that it also made a mention of another dragon, Otr of Veithurgard, who was in the same situation, something they might have to check out once they were done with their own quests, and once Atreus was done writing everything down the family kept moving down the main path. After jumping across another gap they walked outside and found an area that looked like the area that Flurry had slain the Soul Eater in, though this time a few tatzelwurms and a dark elf, stronger than the versions they fought in their respective realms but weaker than the ones in Muspelheim.

Of course the dark elf tried to grab Atreus, a favorite of theirs, where the boy turned and stabbed him in the neck, only to dodge out of the way as his father removed the elf's head, allowing them to regroup once the tatzelwurms were dead as well, allowing them to smash the final runic anchor at long last.

"Good, now we can free Reginn." Atreus said, because it felt nice to help out the dragon so he could return to his life and not be chained up in this area, though at the same time his father found and claimed the final Entry Stone, which was a good thing for them as well.

Kratos nodded his head as they used a role line to return to the area that was below them and then walked back up to the area that the lock was in, allowing Atreus to stab and destroy the mask that happened to be powering the seal, which was when the collar came undone and Reginn roared before taking off like Fafnir had done previously. Flurry found that there was a reward for such a thing, a dragon scale that doubled as a powerful enchantment, which was why she added it to the rest of the collection as her family started to retrace their steps back to the stronghold's main entrance. Once they made it back to where the Entry Stone pedestal was located in she produced the three Entry Stones and they inserted each one into one of the slots, causing three runes to light up on the pedestal before they found that the door started to raise, but Atreus found that his family remained at the ready. When the door was fully open, and there was nothing coming out of the structure to fight them, they relaxed a tiny bit before heading inside, weapons at the ready since they had no idea if there were any enemies waiting for them or not.

The inside of the stronghold was definitely ruined, which made sense due to the fact that no one has been here for a long time, where Atreus found a triptych that told the tale of Starkadr, a Giant with eight arms until Thor cut him down, just like all of the other Giants they had learned about so far. In addition to that there was a stone chest that had a gem that was shaped like a four pointed star, an enchantment based on what Flurry could see, which Kratos passed to her as she made sure to loot everything that was inside the chest while the others continued to explore. While they did that Atreus told his family that he could hear the voices of people crying and screaming, spirits that had been left thanks to Motsognir's foul madness, and when Kratos opened one of the only doors that could be opened he found a Traveler waiting on the other side. He wasn't even fazed by that discovery as he slashed through the armor and used the warrior's weapon to cut him down in the span of a few seconds, while at the same time Flurry and Pandora slashed through the Hel-Walkers that were in the area as well, clearing out the entire chamber with ease.

With the loot in hand the family discovered that this was actually a throne room and, as Kratos expected, the wall that was right behind it happened to be a secret passage when he opened it, revealing that Motsognir had tried to flee from his own fort and had been cut down, thanks to all of the blood.

"Motsognir..." Atreus commented, as he honestly wasn't expecting to discover the body of the Mad Dwarf King while they were exploring his stronghold, though at the same time Flurry reached down and retrieved three items, one looking like a blood red rune that had a central line with two pointed spirals around it, another looking like a haunting scream, and the third was a dragon's tooth surrounded by a terrifying flame, "What are those?"

"...Ultimate Sacrifice, Screams of the Innocent, and Dragon's Fury... the missing ingredients." Flurry stated, holding up the scroll she had found that addressed all three of them by name, so she was able to connect the dots with ease, which told them that Motsognir had succeeded in finding all of his missing components and paid for it with his life, before she placed all three of them in a bag that the dwarf had on his body, "Come, let us return these to Brok and Sindri."

As they started to leave the area, using the secret passage, Mimir told the family about the time that the dwarves made an unbreakable chain out of a cat's footstep and bird's spit, confusing Atreus as his father looted a golden chest, though both Flurry and Pandora knew that there was more to dwarven magic than what they knew. The path brought them to the area that was above the main entrance, where a runic chest was located, and this one happened to rely on the wind trap that was resting nearby, not that it really mattered since the family was able to hit the runic bells and unlock the chest. After looting the chest they continued along the rest of the passage, which really sucked as a secret passage when Atreus made a comment on it, bringing them to an area that was right above the Door they had spotted earlier. With that in mind Flurry made sure Sindri knew that all three ingredients had been retrieved before she and her family returned to the temple, by using the Realm Between Realms once more, this time with a smile on Atreus' face while they did so.

When the family returned to the temple Flurry handed over the materials they had recovered, where Brok and Sindri went to work immediately, using both the hammer and the whetstone in combination with the materials and other items they had acquired for this very purpose, weaving together an elegant royal blue chest piece, sized to fit Kratos, that had golden inlay all over it, armor that radiated power.

"And there you go: the Dvegraedikr." Brok stated, with a proud look on his face, where Kratos stepped forward and let the dwarves put it on him, because this was something they really wanted to make and he was willing to humor them, plus he was sure it would be useful in the battle against the remaining three Valkyries, if they could find Sigrun.

"Your work continues to be the best I could ask for." Kratos said, where they could tell that he was pleased with the armor, as if it was a second set of skin since he moved like it wasn't even there in the first place, and he was already thinking of how it would fare against their remaining enemies, "Come, let us resume our quest and track down the remaining three Valkyries."

Flurry, Pandora, and Atreus nodded, as they knew their father would want to resume that quest now that they completed the armor that the dwarves wanted to craft for them, something that only made Flurry more interested in tracking down their remaining targets and seeing what sort of skills they had to offer them, causing her to look forward to what the near future held in store for them.

Norse: The Valkyrie Queen

With the legendary dwarven armor in their possession, and there being nothing else stopping them, Kratos headed into the central chamber of Tyr's Temple as his children followed after him, allowing them to access the console and travel back to Alfheim without wasting time, as there was a Valkyrie waiting for them. A few moments later, once the temple was done with the teleportation process, the family headed out and stepped out into the realm of Alfheim again, though it didn't take too long before they found that some dark elves wanted them dead. Atreus confirmed that it was to avenge the fallen Dark Elf King that had been slain in battle during their last visit, though such a thing didn't stop his father or his sisters from going on the offensive as they tore through the group of dark elves that were in front of them. Thanks to their power the family was able to reach the dock that they had first used when they entered this realm, causing Kratos to climb into the boat that was still waiting for them, waiting for only a few seconds as Atreus and Pandora joined him before setting out.

Flurry, as per usual, flew in the air above them and pointed out where in the realm they had to go to find the area that the Valkyrie of this realm was imprisoned in, and it wasn't long before they approached where the crystalline lock was located, allowing her father to break it open before they descended into the depths once more.

"There she is, the seventh Valkyrie." Atreus commented, as the moment they reached the lowest level he noticed the now familiar figure off in the distance, while at the same time his father activated the Door so they could return to the temple once the Valkyrie was taken care of, causing him to ready his bow as they approached the figure.

Mimir informed them that this was Olrun, due to her eagle helm, who was one of the fastest members of the Valkyries, as she could rush around the area and thrust out at them with her bladed wings, though as they dodged Flurry noticed that Olrun's footwear was designed to help her control her speed and act like a weapon. Such a thing reminded her of Hermes' boots, which aided his speed and could serve as weapons, though she and her father were used to fighting enemies that were faster than most of the other foes they had fought, so they knew what to do next. In response to that discovery Flurry pulled out the Spear of Destiny and attacked Olrun, surprising the Valkyrie and Atreus when they found out that the spear could extend in the direction she was pointing, when she desired such a thing as she had trained herself to master this odd weapon and had greater control over it than they had during their quest to take down the Fates. It was a counter to Olrun's speed, since now she knew that simply rushing in was a bad idea, as she might get caught in the process, though while that only applied to when she fought Flurry they discovered that she also kept her guard up a little when she targeted Kratos or the rest of the family.

At the same time Kratos found that this time around he didn't even need weapons to fight a Valkyrie, as he delivered some powerful punches into the sides of Olrun's body whenever he dodged her attacks and those were enough to cause her to cough up blood after she was struck. It didn't matter if Olrun thrust one of her bladed wings at him or if she spun around to hit them while she was near them, Kratos dodged the attacks like they were nothing and she found that his children were the same, something that allowed Atreus to know that their foe was going to have a difficult time beating them. With that discovery made Kratos found himself disappointed in another Valkyrie, in fact some of them seemed like last second picks for the positions they had been granted, though he didn't express his disappointment in Olrun's abilities as he continued to fight her with his fists. Pandora continued to lash out at their foe with her halberd while Atreus focused on using his runic summons whenever an opportunity to use them presented itself, allowing the family to overwhelm Olrun like they had done to the other Valkyries they had fought so far.

In the end it didn't take them long to knock Olrun into the position that caused Kratos to slam her into the ground before tearing her wings off, slaying her like he had done to all of the other Valkyries they had encountered so far, and, just as the family expected, her spirit appeared before them a few seconds later.

Thank you, I am free... but... why was I imprisoned? Olrun asked, which confirmed that she and her sisters had gone insane and didn't remember anything after that tipping point, so there was a blank spot in their memories and this one wanted to know a vital answer to what had happened to her.

"We don't know for sure, but we're positive that your Queen imprisoned all of you." Atreus replied, which was the truth he and his family had come up with, backed by Mimir's statements, but even then there was information they were missing to know the full story.

But... why would Sigrun hinder our duty? Olrun inquired, where they could tell that she was confused by everything she was learning right now, not that there was anything they could do to ease her mind, and it was clear that she could tell that they were in the same situation she was in.

"That the very mystery that we're trying to solve, milady." Mimir said, because he was struggling to understand why Sigrun would go to such lengths, even if the other Valkyries had been corrupted to this extent, without searching for another way to break them free of their foul madness.

Olrun stared at them for a few more moments before departing, allowing Flurry to collect her helm, the Asgardian Steel that all Valkyries dropped, a waist piece to match the other Valkyrie armor they had acquired so far, and a yellow stone of some power that she handed to Pandora, who inserted it into the slot on the back of her hand.

"Two more slots... where do you think the other two stones are?" Atreus asked, because Pandora's gauntlet was one of the more interesting things in their possession, even though it paled in comparison to Flurry's sickles, weapons that seemed to be beyond anything he had seen since the start of this quest.

"I imagine one is in the hands of a Valkyrie... as for the other, who knows." Pandora admitted, as she doubted that both of the remaining stones were in the possession of the remaining two Valkyries, even though it would be hilarious if that was how it turned out in the end, that Rota had one and Sigrun had the second one.

Kratos said nothing to that as they returned to the Door and used it to return to the temple once more, allowing them to speak with Mimir about Sigrun and how she must have been consumed by her hatred or revenge for Odin, causing her to forsake her duty to spite him by depriving him of warriors for Ragnarok. Of course that had the side effect of messing with the balance and causing Midgard to fill with Hel-Walkers, but it seemed like her decision to do this might have been made with her madness starting to take hold of her, or at least it was that way to Kratos. While they talked Flurry found that they were able to return to the temple and her father walked over to the console once more, where he switched it to lock onto Helheim this time around and activated the process once more, since that was where the last of the eight lesser Valkyries was likely resting. When they stepped out into Helheim once more Flurry discovered that what she had seen the last time was still true right now, all of the Hel-Walkers on this side of the bridge seemed to stay out of their way, and when Atreus' focus was on another area some even bowed to her, but she ignored them as she tracked down the final lock.

Once they located where the crystalline lock was located in, passing by a golden chest that contained an enchantment that looked like a dragon charm, before they descended into the depths of the final prison, accessed the Door that was down there, and stepped out into Rota's domain, as Mimir recognized her deer helm.

Rota's attack style seemed to be rushing around the area and either grabbing her chosen foe, to slam them into the floor, or appear out of the air above them and kick her foe in the face a few times, where Flurry found that her fingers seemed sharper than the other Valkyries, like she had a claw weapon of some sort. Kratos, the one being the one on the receiving end of those attacks, broke out of them without delay and struck Rota with the Blades of Chaos, knocking her back as both Pandora and Atreus continued to strike her like they had previously. Flurry, on the other hand, pulled out another weapon from her bag, the Blade of Artemis, where Kratos found that her training with the Blade of Olympus had allowed her to use this greatsword with a single hand as well, even though she could use both if she wanted to. Rota, understanding that the weapon was coming at her, used her arms and legs to block the attacks from Flurry's weapon, though she failed to account for the fact that the attacks were stronger than what she might have been used to dealing with when she and all of the other Valkyries were training.

Atreus found that this blade, while not having the sheer raw power of the one that was on Flurry's back, was still enough to deal damage to Rota's armor and sides, and all Flurry dodged the incoming attacks from the Valkyrie like they were the slowest she had seen, and a diagonal attack later ended the fight as their father tore Rota's wings off, killing her just like her sisters.

I... am free? Rota inquired, where it was clear that she was surprised by this fact, or maybe it was due to the fact that Flurry had just overpowered her with the blade she had chosen for this fight, and was now returning to her bag, though at the same time she seemed happy with this turn of events.

"Tell us: do you know where your Queen is?" Kratos asked, even though he and his children suspected that she was inside the council chamber they needed to track down, despite the fact that Flurry had an idea as to where they could find that area could be, while Rota seemed unsure of things, "She did this to you, letting the dead plague Midgard in the process."

"...The Rocstoll aff Valkyrs... if the Council of Eight are reunited, she might answer out call." Rota replied, confirming their thoughts as best as she could, since she also had no idea where Sigrun might be hiding, though after saying that they found that the Valkyrie started to depart from the area, meaning she had nothing else she wanted to share with them.

With that in mind Flurry collected the final helmet, the Asgardian Steel, a pommel that could be added to her father's blades, and a powerful red stone that Pandora inserted into the slot above her index finger, leaving only the thumb slot empty of a stone of power.

"With the Council of Eight slain, it is time we faced Sigrun and brought an end to the plague of dead." Flurry said, which was when her family nodded their heads in agreement, though at the same time Kratos beckoned for her to lead the way to where she assumed the council chamber was located.

Such a thing was followed by them returning to the nearby Door and using it to reach the area that Sindri had been in just after Jormungandr moved the temple's bridge to point them in the direction of Thamur's corpse, where they stepped out of the Door on the other side. From there she pointed out something she had seen while flying around while the others had been walking through the passage the last two times, there were some indents that Kratos could use to climb on and he did so without delay, where they found that it lead them to a higher area. That, in turn, brought them to a large stone door that he opened, revealing a curved walkway that went down into a large circular area that just so happened to have eight stone thrones around the outermost edge, which Mimir claimed had to be the Rocstoll aff Valkyrs, a myth which had been made reality thanks to the family discovering it's existence. The family walked down into the chamber and found that each throne had a banner on it, which Mimir and Atreus were able to translate as the names of all eight Valkyries, letting them know where to place each helm, so Kratos would approach one and Flurry would pull out the helm in question so he could place it.

Such a thing created a vestige of the Valkyrie that the helm belonged to, sitting in their assigned throne, like a piece of their spirit had been stored inside their helms for this purpose, and once the last one was in place a rift appeared in the center of the chamber, though when Kratos touched it a new Valkyrie, wearing golden armor and appearing more regal that the eight they had seen so far, grabbed him by the head and knocked him into the ground until he broke free.

"And there she is: Sigrun, the Valkyrie Queen." Flurry remarked, where she held her hand towards the sky for a moment and released a bit of magic that had the rune Freya had put on their necks mixed into it, forming a barrier around the area that would keep Baldur in the dark about what was going on, all while she drew the Dragon Cleaver as she noticed that Sigrun's helm was modeled after a dragon, "Come, let us see how she fares in comparison to all of her fallen sisters."

The first thing they discovered was that Sigrun, as they expected, had all of the attacks that the other Valkyries had, only she was faster and more agile than all of her sisters had been, forcing them to pay close attention to her movements and dodge out of the way, to avoid being damaged by her attacks. In addition to that Sigrun could flap her wings in a manner that let out a wave of energy that pushed them backwards, which was interesting to see, though that was followed by them quickly realizing that she also had the powers of the other eight Valkyries at her disposal. What Flurry meant by that was the fact that Sigrun had the power to call upon fire and set out fireballs or even meteors like Gondul, could use the moisture that was around them to make all sorts of ice based attacks like Hildr, and could manipulate smoke like Geirdriful. It was easy to say that the other eight Valkyries were like training obstacles for them to face, to be prepared for this particular foe, which was a fact that Kratos, Flurry, and Pandora acknowledged as they continued to move around the area with Atreus following after his father, all while they focused on what Sigrun was doing.

Another move she had in her arsenal was the fact that she jumped into the air and rapidly landed on the ground, in a whole new portion of the arena, before returning to the air and doing this again for a couple of moments, each time landing in a different area to confuse her enemies. Flurry was sure that getting hit by that attack would be very painful, which was why her focus was on following Sigrun as she swung the Dragon Cleaver down on their foe, who used her own scythe to block the attack, causing the air and the area around them to shudder under the weight of their energies coming into contact with each other. She could tell that Sigrun's scythe was far more elegant and dangerous than the weapons of her slain sisters, though at the same time she knew it wouldn't measure up to her own scythe, a weapon she really didn't want to use, which was followed by her just pushing her foe backwards as she lashed out at the Valkyrie Queen. While she did that Pandora appeared behind their foe and punched Sigrun in the side, where Flurry found that the purple stone was glowing, likely enhancing her power, though it only meant that it was a good thing they had acquired all of those stones before challenging their powerful foe.

As they clashed both Flurry and Pandora found that the armor they had gathered for their father was proving to be quite a good investment, because it tanked some of Sigrun's attacks and allowed him to strike her in return, something that was followed by him and Pandora knocking her into the air. While Sigrun regained herself, however, Flurry called on the power of her new axe before releasing a burst of lightning energy, like a dragon loosing their breath attack, that barreled into the Valkyrie Queen and blasted the area she was in like she was facing the wrath of an actual dragon. When Sigrun emerged from the smoke they found that her armor had been damaged by Flurry's attack, based on the scuff marks on it, where the figure released her full power as she rushed down to them, the collision of her scythe and Flurry's axe causing nearly everything inside the barrier to shudder and shake. That fact, alone, told everyone that the Valkyrie Queen was serious and was going to be using her full power against them, like she had been testing them despite her madness, causing the family to lash out at Sigrun with their own powers and abilities.

Atreus was stunned by what happened next, as he found that his father and sisters were definitely stronger than he had seen previously, like they finally had a chance to fight someone at their full power, or at least that was true in the case of his father and Pandora. Flurry, on the other hand, Atreus could tell was still holding back the majority of her power, to the point where he slowly realized that all of them were still holding back and that they were fortunate that Flurry's barrier was up, otherwise everything around this area would be breaking. It was like when his father fought Baldur, their battle just shook everything that had been in the direction heading away from their house and it shattered the earth like it was made of twigs, and he could only imagine what would have happened if the barrier wasn't in place. In fact that thought made Atreus wonder how strong his sister might actually be, especially since their father stopped her back when he was being so rude to everyone, before he focused on the battle once more as they continued to rain blow after blow on Sigrun, who was struggling to keep up with them now.

As he did that, however, he found magic gathering around Flurry's left fist as she punched Sigrun in the chest, where he and the others found that it directly damaged the Valkyrie Queen's power, like she had attacked her magical power, and as Sigrun fell backwards Kratos seized the opportunity by severing her wings like he had done to the previous Valkyries, ending in her spirit forming in front of them.

Thank you, friends, for you have saved the Valkyries. Sigrun said, though it was easy for them to tell that she was still shaken after being on the receiving end of Flurry's power, especially one that happened to do what it did, all while Kratos lifted Mimir out so he could see what was going on as well, which she noticed, Mimir... is that you?

"Yes, Love, it's me. Tell us, how did this come to pass?" Mimir replied, because while he was overjoyed to see that they had been able to save Sigrun as well, he was still saddened by the fact that she had been corrupted in the first place, where he felt that his own situation paled in comparison to what Sigrun was dealing with.

Countless winters we have served the All-Father, but only through his union to the Queen, the true Valkyrie Queen, were we able to taste even a measure of freedom. Sigrun answered, revealing that it was likely a story that she was going to tell in a shortened form, no doubt understanding that they were on their own quest and saving the Valkyries, while noble, had never been in the cards until they deemed it necessary, When the All-Father severed the True Queen's wings, I was chosen to serve in her absence... but that wasn't enough for Odin. He... used an archaic piece of magic, one that corrupted my sisters... I tried to contain the damage by sealing them away, in places where they could do no harm, but as you know I lost myself as well. Now that we are freed, and are no longer bound to our corrupted forms, I must rejoin my sisters and undo the damage that has been done to the realms... you have the eternal blessings of the Valkyries.

Mimir, despite wanting to speak with her more, nodded his head and allowed Sigrun to depart so she could do what had to be done with the other Valkyries, though as that happened Flurry collected her helm and the now powerless helms of the Council of Eight, along with more Asgardian Steel, an axe pommel piece, and a green stone of power that Pandora put into the empty slot of her powerful gauntlet.

"I stand corrected, the Valkyries definitely had the other stones." Pandora said, though she wasn't sure what she could do with the powerful artifact, other than put herself on a level that matched her father, which was when she glanced at the rest of the family for a moment, "So, back to the temple?"

Kratos nodded, as it was time for them to return to their main quest and see what was in the depths of the temple, as they knew Tyr had left something in a secret chamber and all they had to do was find it to secure the path to Jotunheim so their quest could be completed at long last, putting him in a good mood as he looked forward to what the future held in store for all of them.

Norse: Back to the Temple

Upon returning to Tyr's Temple the family headed outside and made their way down to the lowest walkway that they had access to, passing by the entrance of the vault that Flurry had cleared out, as to not leave anything for Odin or his allies to find, before reaching another locked door. This one had the same runes that they saw on the panel that had been stored in the secret chamber of the Helheim's version of Tyr's Temple, which was when Flurry produced the key that Brok and Sindri had forged for them and handed it over to their father, as Kratos seemed to enjoy being the one to unlock things. With the key in hand Kratos inserted it into the lock, where it sunk into the material and only pulled back out when the section that was around it came out, revealing a triangular crank he could turn and did so without delay, causing it to fully sink back into the door. Once the lock was smooth, indicating that they couldn't get the key back, Kratos used his hands to open the door and found that it was connected to another passage that lead into the underside of the main temple, though he had no idea how far down this hidden passage would take them.

As they walked into the area Mimir admitted that he had no idea what this place was, other than one of Tyr's tests, while also advising them to be cautious, even though he knew none of them needed such a warning, not after freeing the Valkyries and taking down Sigrun, all while Kratos had Atreus activate a light bridge for them to enter their next destination.

"Look, there's the tree! Wait... we're underneath the Realm Travel Room!" Atreus stated, as the short bridge allowed them to enter an area that appeared to be the underside of the room they had used to travel from one realm to the next, though this side was definitely somewhat darker than the main side the family was used to using, "But... why is the floor on the ceiling?"

"Hm, I wonder..." Flurry said, because there was an idea that came to mind as she noticed what Atreus was talking about, as he was right about the ceiling above them matching the floor of the main chamber, almost like ringed area around where the console was resting had been designed with another purpose in mind, before she noticed something else, "Father, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Yes, the magic that Tyr used to seal the Black Rune. The clue we are looking for is likely resting inside it." Kratos replied, as there was another sphere of energy, like the type produced by those foul masks, resting around something that was of great importance to Tyr, otherwise he wouldn't go through all of this trouble to hide it from Odin, meaning whatever it was had to be their next target.

"Interesting... it's right next to the Jotunheim door." Pandora added, something all of them noticed, as it was like Tyr wanted whoever came here to know something without actually writing it down, and she could tell that Flurry was piecing together everything they were seeing right now into the plan that Tyr had likely created.

Interestingly enough the door in question opened, along with a smaller rectangular door nearby opening as well, allowing them to head out into another hidden sanctum while understanding that the realm door was a replica of the main doors in the main Realm Travel Room, an interesting fact that Flurry added to everything else. They ended up passing by a couple of art pieces that Atreus noticed were of Giant origin, meaning whatever Tyr had done for them had been enough for them to hide so much of their stuff with him, least the items fall into Odin's hands, who would no doubt misuse them. The passage in question eventually brought them to another chamber that looked like it had a platform in the middle of the floor, likely to take them down to a deeper level than the one they were currently on, and there were a pair of troll statues that looked far different than the others they had seen so far. That was due to the fact that these ones seemed to be made of gold, brass, or some other metal that shared similar properties, and Flurry could tell both of them had some writing on them, of what she had no idea since they were hunched over, meaning they had to shift their stance to figure out what sort of message Tyr might have left for visitors.

As they investigated the area Kratos found something else of interest, the area right behind the two statues held the rune for Jotunheim, right below where the upside down door happened to be located, and when he glanced at Flurry she simply nodded, causing him to grip the underside of the structure and lift with all his might, allowing them to see what was under the entire structure.

"Extraordinary... the room seems to have been built on some sort of axle." Mimir remarked, though it was also terrifying to see that Kratos could lift the temple like he did, something that once again caused him to think about the tales he had heard of the Ghost of Sparta, while at the same time it was interesting to see that the temple was chained down by two chains, one on the left and one on the right.

"Yes, and there are chains on either side of it... without those we can flip the temple." Kratos stated, something that stunned Mimir, while Flurry and Pandora were unfazed by this information, and Atreus seemed happy to do such a thing, causing him to set the side of the structure down as he turned his attention to their ally as the statues came to life.

As it turned out the statues didn't attack, rather they put anchors or something on their shoulders, allowing Atreus to read the runes that were resting on their chests, revealing the word 'void', before he noticed that the sandbowl had risen and it had a riddle, with that as the answer, allowing him to carve it into the sand.

"Brother, I don't mean to question your judgement, but... are you sure that flipping the temple, which is connected to all nine of the realms, is the right answer?" Mimir asked, as he wanted to make sure that this was the plan that the family was okay with, since there was a chance that this could ruin the temple and destroy their ability to move between realms, even though they might not need it for a time.

"You mentioned that there would be a path, and the temple, as you just saw, can be flipped." Kratos pointed out, because this was like some of the stranger puzzles that he and Flurry had encountered over their years of dealing with the puzzles that the Greek gods had created to hide some of their artifacts, or protect their various temples.

"Therefore... we flip the temple." Mimir said, where he sighed for a moment as he thought about the situation that they were currently in, where their only path forward was to flip and potentially ruin the temple, before realizing there was no way out of this and braced himself for whatever might happen next, "I will admit, the logic is unassailable..."

"Plus you don't have to worry about the temple, as Tyr designed it to be flipped... the two sides of the floor are perfect mirror images of each other." Flurry stated, as she had noticed that fact while they were exploring the underside portion of the structure, meaning there was nothing for them to worry about, and when she found that Mimir and Atreus were looking at her she made a replica of what she had seen with her magic, demonstrating how the area around the console could move if she was right, "He intended for this to happen and made sure there were measures in place to preserve the temple's function, long before Odin turned his gaze on him... we just have to break those chains and flip things to move on, after killing the guardians no doubt."

Kratos nodded as the lift came to a stop, allowing them to pick between one of two paths, though before that they found another triptych, this one telling the tale of the Giant Bergelmir, the King of the Giants, who survived the flood brought by Ymir's death and together, with his wife, fostered the entirety of the Giant race, and when he died he left on a wave of tears, as he died of old age. It was a good tale for a Giant, since most of the others they had discovered ended with Thor killing them in some manner, though in addition to that they found that there was an area below the area that the console was resting in and it had a number of stone statues, which Tyr, according to Mimir, said that he'd only need an army of statues in his world of peace. With that discovery made Kratos opened the large door to their left, where they found that a new death trap was waiting for them, this one being a series of spinning saws that were out of sequence, but thanks to a visible gear on each one all Kratos had to do was freeze one and then unfreeze it when it lined up with the next one, until all of them were lined up in a perfectly straight line. The passage beyond that involved taking and transferring some of the Winds of Hel to the various traps that lined the hallway, allowing them to move saws out of their way so they could make their way to the chain that was at the end of it, which they were able to do without wasting too much time.

After dealing with the second set of death traps the family approached the left chain, but not before looting a silver chest that happened to be in the chamber, something that was followed by Kratos approaching the chain and prying the halves apart, forcing them off the ledge of the area and weakening the structure as a whole.

Such a thing caused the center of the chamber to rise for a moment and revealed that it was a pillar that spewed out two beams of fire, while at the same time a pair of rifts opened and a number of draugr rushed out to do battle with them, the stronger bulkier versions backed on what Flurry was seeing. As such she and her family focused on making sure to avoid the pair of beams while fighting off the undead warriors that seemed to be the guardians of this area, to stop whoever had destroyed the chain, likely Tyr's way of making sure Odin's people failed to take his final secret. One thing they did to cut down on how many enemies were in the area, so they didn't get overwhelmed, was throw some of their foes right into one of the beams, which did some decent damage to the draugr that were thrown in that manner. In addition to that the family found that an ogre was joining the battle, causing Kratos to rush at it and strike it with the Leviathan Axe, leaving all of the remaining draugr to his children, allowing them to bring down their enemies in no time.

Once all of their enemies were taken care of, and they were sure of that, Kratos regrouped with his children and started to head back down the passages that had brought them to the area the first chain had been resting in, but before they could reach it another pillar rose in the chamber between traps and fired beams at them. In addition to that there were a couple of stronger draugr stepping out of rifts to fight them, though this time around some of the undead were hurled into the saws of the traps, taking them out in a matter of seconds, allowing them to focus on not being overwhelmed. After taking out the next group of enemies Kratos found that he could open part of the nearby wall with some of the Winds of Hel and discovered a golden chest, allowing them to loot it as well before they headed back to the chamber that held the lift that had brought them down here. Upon returning to the chamber that held the platform that brought them down to this part of the temple Kratos and his daughters braced themselves, something Atreus did as well, only to find that nothing new had come out to fight them, allowing them to move towards the other door.

Sure enough they found that there was another death trap on the other side of it, where Kratos and his children found that this direction was different, rectangular boxes slamming into either the ground or the ceiling with spikes on the very bottom, causing Mimir to chuckle as he mentioned that variety was important.

The trick for this one was to freeze the middle portion of the trap, as it came in three segments, and use the area that was now below the frozen trap as a safety zone of sorts before crossing into the chamber that was on the other side, which the family kept in mind for the eventual return trip they would be taking. What they discovered in the chamber was what had to be a magical site of sorts, for the revenants or something, though Kratos looted the nearby stone chest and collected yet another piece of armor that he handed over to Flurry, who stored it inside her bag. The next trap, however, was when they found a use for the nearby sap crystals they had ignored when they entered this chamber, because a portion of the next trap only moved a little and when it did Flurry noticed something that could be destroyed with the crystal and one of the lightning arrows. Such a thing destroyed part of the ground and allowed the portion of the trap to slip into the slot that had been made by Tyr when he designed this place, thus allowing them to use it like a lift to reach an upper level so the family could rush between the other two portions to reach the second chain.

Once more Kratos grabbed onto the two portions of the lock and pried it apart, before shoving the two halves out into the open area, like he had done previously, though this time the rifts that opened produced a pair of Travelers, which was far weirder than the draugr they fought earlier.

The family considered the Travelers to be the unlucky bunch this time around, because after everything they had done to reach this point there was no stopping them as the four of them tore into the pair of enemies and eliminated them in next to no time at all, allowing Flurry to collect their resources before they started to move. Traversing the trap they had broken the floor of was fairly easy, since Kratos could freeze them and allow his children to follow him over to the other side, only to discover that Hel-Walkers were coming out to fight this time around, and when they entered the chamber with the magical circle more of the frozen undead attacked them. Such a thing didn't even slow them down, as Kratos slashed at his foes with the Blades of Chaos and tore through his targets, while at the same time his children dealt with the undead coming towards them, allowing Mimir to watch as they dealt with their foes in no time at all. Following that the family passed through the first death trap of this side of the area, without having to fight more enemies, and returned to where the lift was located, to which Kratos turned the crank and let it take them back up to where he tried to flip the temple earlier.

Since nothing came out to fight them Kratos approached the temple and lifted the segment he had lifted earlier, where his children watched as he heaved it into the air and everything seemed to rotate with far too much ease, coming to a stop the moment a new path was open to them. Mimir was simply amazed by what they had seen, plus with Kratos' strength to even do such a thing in the first place, while at the same time Atreus spotted some familiar golden paint that highlighted a couple of cracks and footholds they could use to climb into the Realm Travel Room. While they climbed Atreus came to realize the importance of everything Tyr had been trying to teach with his obstacles and challenges, that while they may argue, like how Brok and Sindri might do such a thing, where was a sense of unity behind their actions that made them a good team, which he was sure was the end goal of the fallen god. Kratos and his daughters were happy to hear that, because it sounded like all of their lessons, and the various trials of Tyr's that they had cleared, had finally made Atreus wiser than he had been back at the beginning of their quest, and this time it wasn't going to his head, meaning he had grown since their visit to Helheim.

While talking about that they were able to enter the Realm Travel Room, allowing Mimir to confirm that Flurry had been right when she said that the temple was designed to be flipped, before they approached the secret and Atreus stabbed the mask, breaking the seal as Kratos collected a large black stone that he didn't recognize, causing him to lift Mimir so he could see it and possibly identify it.

"Great Audumbla's udders... that's the Unity Stone!" Mimir remarked, his tone revealing that he knew exactly what it was, or at least had heard the stories and was surprised to see that the object in question even existed in the first place, causing him to focus on the others for a time, "I will be honest... I wasn't sure this artifact even existed in the first place. If Tyr had this in his possession, well, it would explain how he was able to visit each of the Nine Realms, in addition to all of the lands that are ruled by gods."

"I get it now... the panel we retrieved from Odin's private study shows Tyr using it in the Realm Between Realms... that has to be where we'll find the next part of the path." Flurry stated, as she had been curious about the edge of the path Brok had told them to never throw themselves off of and now she understood it, this was supposed to bring them to an area that Tyr had left something in, maybe even Jotunheim's Realm Tower.

Kratos nodded, as Flurry proved why she was the smartest of his children, not that Pandora and Atreus were less than her since he loved all three of them, before handing the stone over to Flurry as they found that retrieving the Unity Stone had returned them to the Realm Travel Room, likely a boon from Tyr. With that in mind the family headed back to where Brok and Sindri were working before accessing the nearby Door, allowing them to return to the Realm Between Realms without wasting time, though this time they had a different plan in mind. Kratos wasted no time in tracking down the side section that was their destination and found it a few seconds later, where he stepped out of the way as Flurry walked up to the edge and pulled out the Unity Stone, which was where Atreus watched as she formed a spherical barrier around all four of them. It was a mix of her magic and the power of the Unity Stone, where his sister nodded to the others as they braced for her next movement, even though she lifted them over the edge and dropped them into the abyss, allowing them to see a bit of magic surging around them before they collided with another branch.

Atreus' eyes widened as he noticed what was at the end of the branch, the missing Jotunheim Realm Tower, and while his sister disabled her barrier Mimir chuckled as he said it was smart of Tyr to hide something that existed in all realms by casting it out to the Realm Between Realms.

Interestingly enough there was nothing between them and the tower's door, allowing them to open it and find that the chamber that was on the other side was bare, save for a pedestal that the Unity Stone could be inserted into, which was when Flurry returned it to her father and he inserted it into the slot. As such it was sucked into the pedestal and the family found that the tower was coming back to life, where Mimir realized that Tyr had placed a spell on this place and now they were fulfilling it, they just had to be patient and things would be back to normal. That was followed by the four other doors in the chamber, two to the left and two to the right, opening as seidr undead rushed out to fight them, no doubt a final safety measure by Tyr to make sure Odin's forces failed to take the tower. Based on what Flurry could feel it appeared that the spell they had activated would take them through the realms that were part of the magic, as in the tower would likely reappear and move through all Nine Realms before coming to a stop in Midgard, and whenever it stopped they had to take out whoever happened to invade the tower.

What was surprising about all of this was the fact that there were large groups of seidr undead coming at them, as in more than ten or even twelve foes, as Flurry counted at least thirty of them before they were able to close the doors and move the tower once more, only for it to come to a stop in Alfheim.

Such a thing meant that they needed to fight off more dark elves, in fact one of the leaders or generals rushed right into the tower first, a surprise attack of sorts before the lesser warriors joined him, forcing the family to go on the offensive for a time, utilizing their skills and tactics to take down their enemies. At the same time Kratos and Flurry knew that it was also a good chance to warmup before whatever was waiting at the end of their quest, since there was a chance Baldur might interrupt them again and that meant they would have to fight him again, so this practice session allowed them all to make sure they were prepared for anyway. When the dark elves fell, and the nightmares that had joined them were wiped out as well, the tower started to move once more, the color of the floor sections changing to indicate Helheim as waves of Hel-Walkers rushed out to do battle with them this time around, both the weaker ones and the brutes. Muspelheim was the realm that things got more difficult on, as their enemies were a few ogres and even a powerful troll that had wandered in through one of the doors, but Kratos wasted no time in bringing him down while leaving the ogres to his children, who did the same thing without delay.

After that they discovered that the tower finally came to a halt and Flurry confirmed that the spell was over, allowing them to head outside at last, where it was easy for them to tell that they were back in Midgard, with Jotenheim's Realm Tower back in position.

"Now that the tower has been restored, and we have the Travel Rune, we must be quick: it's only a matter of time until our pursuer realizes what we've done." Flurry said, all while she and her family glanced up at the tower that had been brought back to Midgard, all while noticing that Jormungandr was watching them closely, like he had felt the return of the tower and was interested in who might have done the deed.

Kratos nodded once more as they started to head back to Tyr's Temple once more, as it was time to see if they had all of the pieces necessary to head to Jotunheim and complete their quest, before Baldur tracked them down and interrupted them once more, causing him to brace himself for whatever happened next.

Norse: Day of Fate

With the restoration of Jotunheim's Realm Tower the family headed into Tyr's Temple and made their way to the console that would allow Kratos to use the Travel Rune they had acquired previously to head to the realm of the Giants, though as they entered the area Flurry stopped them in their tracks.

"We're missing the crystal from Jotunheim, which enables Realm Travel... Tyr's final safety measure no doubt." Flurry said, as the restoration of the Realm Tower had caused a portion of the floor to move and revealed that the crystals could be stored in a safe area in case something happened to the tower associated with the realm in question, though Jotunheim's was missing at the moment, "I could look through the loot from Tyr's Vault, see if he stored the crystal in there, but that could take some time... time we don't have... or we use the method he used, a pair of Bifrost Eyes."

"Just so you know, Odin took my other eye to prevent me from traveling, in the event I was actually freed... but I did see both Brok and Sindri exploring the mountains after that point." Mimir remarked, as he knew that the family would no doubt use his eyes to open the way to Jotunheim, hence why he mentioned the most likely people who might know where Odin had placed his other eye, since their only options were to either let Flurry waste time or talk to the dwarves.

Kratos decided to head back to the workshop and see if the dwarves knew anything, since they seemed to be the key to a fair number of things related to this quest, and when they entered the area in question he was able to see that the pair was taking a break, at least until they approached their table.

"Hey guys, quick question: do you know where we can find Mimir's other eye?" Atreus asked, because if they said yes that meant they could track it down easily enough, claim it, and then open the way to Jotunheim before Baldur knew what was going on, or at least that was his hope on the matter.

"Oh... um, that's..." Sindri started to say, though they could tell that he was having problems even talking about this, like he was focusing too much on the imagery of what he and his brother were being asked, and his brother even raised one of his eyebrows for a moment as he forced himself to calm down, "Sorry... As a matter of fact, Odin asked me to... he wanted me to build a... he showed it to me, you see, and I... declined..."

In that moment Sindri rushed over to the flames and threw up inside it, like the mere idea of remembering what Odin did with Mimir's eye was enough to cripple him for a time, something that caused his brother to sigh as he turned his focus back to the family.

"You know, it was around that same time that Odin came around lookin' for me to build a statue with some sort of hidden compartment." Brok stated, which was good information for the family to obtain, since it meant that Odin had moved the eye at some point and made the search that much harder for them, since the All-Father had likely commissioned a large number of statues to hide the eye from Mimir's allies, "Now, with that not being a weapon... and the Aesir being a bunch of pock-speckled cockers... I too saw fit to decline... not that it matters, since I know he had it made all the same. It's the statue of Thor out there, flashing his sack to the lake."

"The statue that Jormungandr ate... which means it might still be inside his stomach." Pandora said, as this complicated things slightly, since there wasn't a good way to go inside him and see if they could find the statue before it was totally devoured by the insides of his body, while at the same time the comment of the statue being inside the snake ended up making Sindri throw up again.

As they departed from the workshop, however, Mimir told them that he was willing to speak to the World Serpent again, in fact he was prepared and fully aware of what to saw this time, so they wouldn't have the mix up like last time, causing the family to use the lift to reach the horn. Once they were on the level that the horn was on Kratos made absolutely sure that Mimir was ready and the head confirmed that he was, to which he raised Mimir to the mouth piece and let him blow into it again, where the others watched as Jormungandr made his way towards them. As soon as he came to a stop Mimir started to talk in the language of the Giants, where it sounded like he was mentioning their quest and the fact that they needed to get something from the statue the serpent had eaten the last time they called upon him. The massive serpent didn't need to wait before giving them a response, rather he said something as he started to move backwards, though this time the family found that he seemed to be moving like he was going to rest his head in the lake.

"Um, he thinks the statue might still be in his stomach... and, well, he's open to letting you row inside his mouth to take a look for it. By the by, he's not thrilled about the idea." Mimir said, which Flurry was able to confirm, the World Serpent was resting his head in the water and opened his mouth so they could head inside, an interesting turn of events in her mind, before Mimir considered something before they started to move, "Also, since Flurry will likely be staying outside since flying into Jormungandr's stomach might be a bad idea, the World Serpent has agreed to open his mouth again once you find what you're looking for... we just need to make a way to communicate or let her know that it's time to tell the serpent to open his mouth again."

"Plus I can keep an eye out for Baldur." Flurry added, though while she knew that Atreus would be a little saddened by the fact that they had to do this leg of the journey without her, a first in quite a long time, she knew this was the best thing for all of them, because if their pursuer found them it would only cause problems, to which she weaved her magic into a blue gem that was split into two, one half falling into her father's hand, "Go get that eye. I'll make sure Baldur doesn't bother you and the others."

Kratos nodded and handed the gem segment to Pandora, who would protect it until it needed to be used, before the trio headed down to the boat once more and headed off to Jormungandr's mouth, all while Flurry remained in the air as she glanced all over the lake, keeping an eye out for Baldur. It didn't take them long to enter the World Serpent's mouth, which caused the massive snake to close his jaw once he was sure they were safe enough, allowing her to simply float there as she thought about everything that had happened so far and what certain things meant. She was certain that mistletoe was the key to Baldur's curse, hence why Freya destroyed them once she realized what they were and likely figured out that her son was hunting her new friends, to make sure he remained safe and sound for some reason other than her wanting to keep her son alive. It was hard to determine what that 'something else' might be, especially since Mimir was unable to speak on what he knew about Baldur and his weakness, meaning she might have to break the spell with the arrowhead in her brother's quiver, even though she was sure that Baldur would want to fight even after the curse was broken.

As she thought about that, however, she felt something coming and found that it was Baldur, having jumped at her once he realized that she was the only one left in the area, causing her to catch him and hurl him into one of the nearby rock walls, before floating down to where the god had come to a stop.

"I had a feeling that I would find one of you here, since you seem to adore this big snake." Baldur remarked, which was fair in Flurry's mind, they had done quite a bit with Jormungandr in mind since the start of their quest, asking him for aid and now searching his stomach for something he had eaten, before the figure glanced around for a moment, "Tell me, where's the rest of your family?"

"Close at hand. You won't find them until they're ready to be seen again." Flurry replied, where she shifted her stance for a moment as she focused on the god that was in front of her, this time holding none of her weapons at the ready, showing her foe that she was willing to humor him.

Baldur frowned for a moment before leaping into the air as he rushed towards her again, where Flurry shifted her stance to let him go flying by her, though she did follow him down to the bridge he landed on and raised her hands, showing him that she was definitely going to fight him. As Flurry expected Baldur went on the offensive, throwing punches and kicks at her as if she happened to be the problem that was plaguing his life right now, and her family very well could be since he wasn't in the mood to share information with them, hence why she remained on the defensive. Such a thing meant blocking each of her foe's attacks and parrying them, while at the same time setting up a moving barrier around them to keep the damage that came from two gods fighting contained in a single space, only this time it was fully powered to make sure nothing was torn apart by their clash. Flurry also found that Baldur wasn't even annoyed by her decision, rather he enjoyed fighting her and enjoyed being on the receiving end of her attacks, especially since her punches and kicks actually dealt damage to him, despite the fact that his curse was still up.

She knew what this was, her power as the Goddess of Death was bypassing the power of the curse, even though the curse remained and ensured that Baldur remained alive, but Baldur, of course, only cared about the fact that she could make him feel pain, when no one else could, hence why he continued to attack her with everything he had.

As she thought about that fact Flurry shifted her stance for a moment and moved into a series of blows as she delivered a couple of kicks and punches to her foe's body, pushing Baldur backwards before uppercutting him into the lake, though she knew it wouldn't be long before he returned. Sure enough he leapt out of the water and rushed at her without wasting time, where she held her hand out and caught the punch that was coming her way, shaking the air in the process, which was the moment that she brought him close and planted her knee in his chest. As he fell backwards Flurry found that the gem half she carried seemed to be glowing, causing her to toss it into the air as it produced a bright light that caught Jormungandr's eye and caused him to open his mouth so her father could row out with Atreus and Pandora on the vessel. The moment her family found that Baldur was present Flurry made a brief motion of the fallen giant corpse, grabbed onto Baldur's head, and then flashed up into the air before rushing over to Thamur's corpse, where she hurled him down at the ground and caused a small crater to form around him.

Sure enough her father knew what she meant, as he and her siblings stepped out of the Door that was nearby, though they weren't along as Freya picked now, of all times, to appear in the area, something that caused Baldur to focus on his mother instantly, which was when Flurry magically chained him to the ground.

"What is this? Why can't I break them?" Baldur asked, because from what he could tell the chains were far stronger than he was assuming they would be, in fact he remembered feeling something akin to this before this point, causing him to look at Flurry for a few seconds.

"That, Baldur, is Flurry's magic. Alicorn magic!" Mimir replied, as it was the only thing that made sense when he considered what they were seeing, especially when he considered the information that Tyr had given him when he asked about the race during one of their conversations.

"Yes, it is. Now tell me, Baldur... would you like to be relieved of your curse?" Flurry inquired, something that caught the god by surprise, while at the same time Freya stiffened, like she couldn't imagine that someone could have figured out how to undo the spell she had put on her son.

"You can't do that! If you remove the spell he'll die!" Freya stated, because this was what she had been hoping to avoid, the death of her son, and after seeing that the family had found some mistletoe, prepared and sharpened into arrowheads, she had been worried that they were going to end up being the death of her son.

"Freya, I understand your concern, but I'm only breaking the spell... there are some questions I would like Mimir to weigh in on, and I can't ask him with your enchantment on him." Flurry remarked, showing Freya that she knew that the two spells were linked to each other, so if one broke the spell she was sure that the enchantment to keep Mimir quiet would break as well, and if that was the case she needed to ask him a few things to break something else.

Baldur stared at her for a moment before nodding his head, where Flurry held her hand out and the mistletoe arrowhead in her brother's quiver strap came off, the material healing itself thanks to her magic, though as soon as the object was in her hand she stabbed Baldur in the shoulder, allowing them to watch as the magical runes on his body glowed before the light shattered and faded.

"What... I can feel this?!" Baldur said, where there was a sense of happiness to his voice as he realized that the pain was still there, despite Flurry backing away from him, and when the arrowhead was removed he discovered a refreshing change, as the pain remained after the item was taken away, showing him that the spell was fully broken as the chains released him so he could explore what he was feeling, "I... I can feel the chill in the air! It's gone... the curse is finally gone!"

"That's right, mistletoe was the key all along... it's all coming back to me now." Mimir added, where Kratos pulled him out so he could see what was going on, all while Freya just sank to her knees and hung her head low, as if she really thought that this was going to be the end for her son and didn't want to watch it happen, "Now then, Flurry, what was it you wanted to know that would cause you to break Baldur's invulnerability?"

"We've spoken of Ragnarok before, about how it will come to pass, no matter what happens, and that Fimbulwinter is the prelude to that terrible event... but what causes Fimbulwinter to start?" Flurry asked, because she had a feeling that she really couldn't shake, like the answer was right in front of them and one misstep could have brought about the eventual end of the Nine Realms, and talking with Mimir was the best way to see if her suspicions were true or not, "What sort of event triggers the prelude to Ragnarok? Did you learn anything during your time with Odin?"

"Yes, actually: Baldur's death is the key to starting Fimbulwinter... Odin said so himself, after discovering that the Giants had foretold such a thing." Mimir replied, something that caused everyone to pause for a moment, even Baldur, who was in the middle of celebrating his newfound freedom, since there was another level to the spell than what everyone had known, Freya was protecting both her son and the Nine Realms by using that spell on Baldur, "Of course that's supposed to happen in a hundred winters or so... or so Odin said."

"What?! I... my death causes the destruction of the Nine Realms?" Baldur said, where he looked down at the dead runes that were on his arms, a reminder of the power that had been part of his life for such a long time, before letting out a sigh as he sat down, not even caring that he was sitting in the snow right now, "Father knew I would die, yet he continued to send me out on missions... knowing that somewhere out there was something that would break my invulnerability and take my life... and yet he never cared! I've seen him and Heimdall around Asgard, preparing for Ragnarok as if it was right around the corner, like it was a day away or something... he didn't care at all, did he?"

"Baldur, I know you don't want to listen to me, but Odin cares about no one but himself... I'm sure he loved you once upon a time, just as he loved Freya, but his thirst for knowledge has driven him to do unthinkable things." Mimir remarked, he knew that fact better than anyone, as he had brokered the peace that Freya sought and knew of the price that had come from such a thing, especially with his own imprisonment despite being such a trusted advisor to the All-Father.

"Son..." Freya started to say, though as she stepped forward for a moment she found that Baldur swung his arm at her, as he still hated her with every fiber of his being, but at the same time Flurry could tell that his fire had dimmed somewhat, now that he knew that the person he had spent his life trying to please had known he would fail him and die, and didn't tell him anything about his fate.

"Stop... just stop... I..." Baldur said, where it was clear that he was still trying to come to terms with everything he had just learned while listening to the others talk, especially with the fact that his mother did, in fact, care about him and didn't want him to die, especially since it meant that his death would bring about the prelude to Ragnarok.

"You need time to think, to compose yourself, and sort out your feelings... go, make your journey of self discovery," Flurry stated, as she knew what she was seeing rather well, Baldur was conflicted and needed to search his feelings for how he truly felt, though at the same time she held out her sickles for a moment as the warrior raised an eyebrow, likely wondering what she was going to do, "and how about I sweeten things for you? Make peace with your mother, in whatever manner you two can manage, and I'll fight you whenever you want... I have more weapons and skills than what you have seen so far."

Baldur looked at her for a few seconds before leaping into the air and heading off towards whatever area he wanted to spent his time in, while at the same time Freya sighed as Kratos made sure she was alright, though as that happened Flurry found that it was starting to snow, only the snow felt stranger than normal, causing her to frown for a moment.

"Father... we should get to Jotunheim... I have a feeling that there's more to the Giant's prophecy than what we've been told so far." Flurry said, as it felt like she might have started Fimbulwinter on accident, though there was a chance that she was just imagining things and the snow meant nothing, but she wanted to be sure and that meant heading into Jotunheim, both to fulfill Faye's last wish and to see if the Giant's left any information for them.

Kratos knew what Flurry was hoping to find, that the prophecy specifically meant Baldur's death and not the death of his invulnerability, especially since she was the Goddess of Death and her magic could have easily changed things for the worse, causing him to tell Freya that they would be back as he and his children set off to complete their quest, and to see if Flurry had accidentally set Fimbulwinter in motion or was just imagining things.

Norse: Jotunheim

After ensuring that Freya would be fine, she had to come to terms with the fact that her son still hated her, even after his curse had been broken, Kratos and his children returned to Tyr's Temple without delay, only to find that Brok and Sindri were in the middle of bickering. This time around it wasn't the sort of family squabble that they were used to, rather they were sure that the dwarves were discussing the weather this time around, meaning one had noticed the start of the snow and had told their brother about it before their arrival. Flurry really hoped that she was just imagining things and that the Giants had an answer to her thoughts, though as they entered the main structure she noticed that Mimir's missing eye had been returned, something she hadn't noticed previously since her focus had been on Baldur. When they stepped into the main chamber of the temple their father walked up to the console to activate the sequence, while at the same time Pandora took Mimir's head over to where the gemstone that was used for Realm Travel should have been located.

Sure enough they were able to fire the Bifrost into Mimir's eyes, allowing it to interact with the special eyes the Giants had gifted him despite the bit of pain he was in, before firing a beam of golden energy at the final door, charging it with energy as the sequence settled in, as the door opened for them, revealing a portal that connected to Jotunheim.

"There, the way is open. The end of our quest is at hand." Kratos said, because now they could finally honor Faye's last wish, scattering her ashes from the highest peak in the Nine Realms, and hopefully discover if the Giants left any information regarding Baldur and Fimbulwinter, something that could help Flurry out.

"Yes, and that brings me to something I've been thinking about: this quest is yours, and you four don't need me weighing you down." Mimir stated, showing them that he must have been thinking about this for a long time and that he was okay with missing out on seeing the realm of the Giants, rather he was fine with them going in as a family to bring an end to their long and tiring journey.

"But... we can't just leave you here! What if Odin comes to investigate the return of the Realm Tower?" Atreus asked, as they had no idea if Baldur had returned to Asgard before tracking down Flurry, so he was worried that leaving Mimir out here might cause more harm than good in the long run.

"By Lady Sif's soft, perfect sloshers! You finally did it." Brok remarked, where the family found that he, Sindri, and even Freya had arrived, though the goddess shook her head as she heard the blue dwarf's comment, meaning it would take some time for her to get used to him saying such things.

"We can watch over Mimir while you're gone. I... have some things that I would like to ask him... in private." Freya said, which told the family that she was likely going to start searching for something once they were done visiting Jotunheim, but before that she needed to speak with the one who had advised Odin, since he might have information that could help her out, even if she disliked Mimir.

In the end Mimir decided that this was for the best, Freya would likely keep him safe until the family returned, causing Kratos to hand him over to her before he and his children crossed through the portal, allowing them to walk up a long set of steps that were carved out of stone, and it wasn't long before they stepped out into Jotunheim itself.

"I... I don't believe it! We're on the Giant's Fingers! The highest peak is right over there!" Atreus remarked, where they found that Jotunheim seemed to be a realm of mountains, as each were high enough to pierce the cloud layer, so it was hard to see the rest of the realm, since there had to be more to the realm than what they were seeing, before noticing that their father was walking towards the edge, "What are you doing?"

"Removing my bandages... I have nothing more to hide." Kratos replied, where he undid the chains that were around both of his arms and handed Pandora his bracers for a moment, which was when his children watched as he did the same to the bandages he had maintained for a long time, allowing the wind to take them as he revealed the chain marks to his son, who seemed surprised after seeing them.

While Atreus wanted to know more about the story, since it was clearly important to their father, Flurry was glad to see that the marks were no longer bleeding, rather it was like whatever magic had been keeping them in that state had finally come undone, allowing her father's body to fully heal at long last. In addition to that Kratos had one last thing to do, he told Atreus that it was time for him to carry Faye's ashes, where he passed the bag to his son, who was totally surprised by this turn of events and simply nodded, as he was no doubt remembering the last time he had asked about such a thing. It showed that he had changed since that point in time, he had matured slightly and Flurry was sure that his horns, wings, and tail had, in fact, gotten somewhat smaller since they grew in, likely a sign that he was on the right path to undo the curse, even though it would be some time before it was fully gone. It was also hard to tell if he knew that they were slowly disappearing or if he had no idea, but for the time being she figured it would be best to let him focus on the here and now, since that was what she and Pandora were also focused on right now.

It didn't take them long to cross over the stone and metal bridge that was in front of them, allowing them to enter what had to be a sanctum of some kind, where Atreus noted that he was unable to hear anything, before noticing that there were a fair number of stone statues around the area. This allowed them to see that this must have been what the last Giants had likely seen when they fled from Midgard, before Tyr did what he did to seal the way behind them, or this was what those last Giants must have carved after verifying that they weren't in immediate danger. Atreus found a wall with writing on it and did what he did best, he started translating the text and revealed that the Giants had believed that Midgard could have been shared between all races, before Odin and Thor did what they did and cut their people down, leading to them fleeing and putting in these obstacles to keep Jotunheim safe. There was even a wall of text talking about someone called the 'Guardian', another Giant that survived with the World Serpent, where Flurry realized that it had to be talking about Faye, it made far too much sense considering their current quest, causing them to progress towards the higher wall and the opening that was in the shattered stone.

As Atreus touched the stone, however, the walls started to change before their eyes, transforming into scenes from a tale that seemed familiar to the family as everyone looked at it, from Faye talking to Giants to her cremation, them meeting the World Serpent to their fight with Magni and Modi, and even the fight with Hraezlyr to clashing with Baldur.

"It would seem that I was not the only parent with secrets." Kratos remarked, as he saw what Flurry was seeing, there were signs on the images that Faye was a Giant, in fact one of the scenes showed her and the Leviathan Axe, before finding that his daughter was looking at a pillar that had risen behind them, opposite of the opening that would bring them to the area Faye wanted her ashes to be spread from, "Flurry? What have you found?"

The pillar was different from the rest of the murals, especially the hidden portion that Kratos was glad that Atreus wasn't interested in, because instead of pictures it was just a statement that had been carved into the stonework, and based on how the frown on her face he knew it wasn't good news.

"Information that confirms my worst fears: I just set Fimbulwinter in motion." Flurry replied, because she could read the text that was in front of them, due to the fact that it was in Greek and not the language that the Giants were familiar with, which meant Tyr must have helped the survivors write this down before completely sealing off Jotunheim, causing her to point at the passage in front of her, "Look here: 'The Valkyrie of Death, she who hails from a distant land and carries an arsenal of weapons... from both mortals and gods alike... will clash with the Indestructible and sunder his cursed power, bringing forth the Terrible Prelude... and then the end of all realms.' That's what it says."

Atreus opened his mouth to say something, anything really, and then closed it before he even made a sound, because he realized that there wasn't anything he could say to cheer his sister up, especially since she was likely feeling like crap due to doing a good deed that somehow was still triggering the start of Fimbulwinter. He did have to wonder why the Giants had called Flurry the 'Valkyrie of Death', since she technically wasn't one, and wondered if there was more to that title than what he knew, but for the time being their father wanted to progress and that was what they did. As they followed the path they also discovered something else, there was more of his mother's golden paint beckoning them forward, causing all four of them to make their way to the highest peak and get a good view over the entire realm. Flurry frowned as they noticed the corpses that were scattered around the realm, the large corpses of the Giants that reminded her of the Titans, since each one was large in their own right, causing them to realize that the survivors had succumbed to their wounds, meaning there was no reason for Odin to care since the army destined to end him was gone.

At the very edge of the path they were in, which was the highest peak imaginable, Kratos had Atreus hand over the bag so he could open it, allowing each of them to spread Faye's ashes by scattering them into the air in front of them, while making sure to say their last farewells as they rapidly emptied the bag.

"So, mother was a Giant... which makes me part god and part Giant, right?" Atreus asked, where it seemed like he was still trying to wrap his head around everything they had learned right now, especially since the fact that Fimbulwinter was going to happen despite saving the person whose death would have started it.

"And part mortal." Kratos pointed out, though at the same time he sealed the shrunken bag up and reattached it to his belt for the time being, as it would be a good reminder of what they had lost in his mind, but after doing that they started to walk back towards the structure that housed the prophecies that the Giants had left behind, or at least ones connected to the family as a whole.

"Right, still have to get used to that... anyway, there's still one thing I don't understand: my name on the wall. The Giants called me 'Loki'." Atreus said, as that was the part about everything that had confused him, that instead of using the name he knew, and had been called for his entire life, the Giants had referred to him by another name entirely,

"Not surprising, now that we know Faye was a Giant. That was the name she originally picked for you, but eventually she and father agreed on 'Atreus'... she must have learned it from her people." Flurry stated, though that meant that when they were found by Faye she must have been following a prophecy or vision of some kind, but she didn't have to worry about there being any bad complications since Faye had followed her own path, which explained why the prophecy wall had been totally ruined in some places, "You can tell how much she loved you, that she would go against her people and destroy portions of the wall that told your tale... she wanted you to write your own story, instead of being tied down by what the Giants had etched into stone."

"Yeah... I know. Mom... I'm sorry for everything bad I said... I was an arrogant brat." Atreus said, pausing for a moment to just look back at the area they had come from as he bowed his head a little, showing that he once more had faith in his mother and that he was incredibly sorry for disrespecting her memory, where he started to glow for a moment.

Kratos smiled for a few seconds as they watched as Atreus' horns shrunk to a smaller size, the wings shrunk back to the point where flight would be impossible, and the tail decreased in size as well, showing them that Atreus was on his way to returning to normal, if he kept up his good behavior. As they resumed walking Atreus asked why his father wanted to name him the way he did, since it didn't seem like the name that would be belong to a god, causing Kratos to tell him that he was named after Atreus of Sparta, a great warrior like all Spartans. Kratos did the last two times he explained this to Flurry and Pandora, he described how Spartans trained from birth and that their lives were full of discipline, duty, battle, and death in the end, but there was one light for them, Atreus of Sparta wore a smile on his face, even in the worst of times. He even won a great battle that was due to him sacrificing himself and turning the tide in their favor, something that eventually lead to him and the other Spartans burying him with all the honors that were part of Spartan custom.

Atreus was amazed by the story and even remarked on how Mimir missed hearing it, though as he said that they reached the edge of Jotunheim and stepped into the passage between realms, where it didn't take them very long to return to Tyr's Temple in Midgard, allowing them to find that Freya was still standing by with Mimir.

"We are happy to see that you have returned... even though I had to suffer an uncomfortable amount of measurements from the dwarves." Mimir said, showing them that he was happy to see them again and that something had happened in the time they had been in Jotunheim, but at the same time it was also clear that the pair were worried by the information that the family could have discovered in the realm of the Giants, "So, what did the Giants leave for you to find?"

"Flurry was right, the Giants foretold her sundering Baldur's curse... I'm guessing her magic, mixed with the mistletoe that did the deed, might have been the trigger." Pandora replied, something that caused Mimir and Freya to glance at each other for a few seconds before the goddess handed the head back to Kratos, allowing him to be returned to the belt he had been put on after meeting the family.

"Fimbulwinter... after so long trying to stop it, it's happened anyway." Freya remarked, as she couldn't believe that even the Giants knew there were alternate methods to trigger the start of Fimbulwinter, which made her think about the Norns and what they had told her in the past, causing her to sigh for a moment as she considered something, "Well, if we're heading for Ragnarok, I should track down Sigrun and see if we can find out where Odin hid the curses he's placed on me... I'd rather be able to protect myself when the time comes, instead of being defenseless."

"Understandable. We will be at our home, training and preparing for the future." Kratos stated, which was the truth, he and his children needed to rest after a long adventure, before they started getting ready for the end of the Nine Realms, and right now Freya was more than welcome to join them, especially since Flurry had already invited Baldur to come to her for however many fights he wanted to have with her.

Freya nodded and walked out of the temple, showing them that she was serious about trying to break Odin's curses, which was likely what she had talked to Mimir about during their time in Jotunheim, though that caused the family to get moving as well, as they walked over to the Door that was nearby. Such a thing allowed them to pause and chat with the dwarves, where both of them knew that Fimbulwinter was coming, Brok could 'feel it in his scrote' while Sindri was hoping they were simply imagining things, but still wished them well in their journey back home. Kratos did open the main door to the temple for just a moment after that, allowing him and his children to see that a fair amount of time had passed since there was more snow than what they remembered, where Mimir said they had been gone for about four hours. The family nodded and returned to the Door of Yggdrasil, where Kratos used his Key and opened the way to the Realm Between Realms, allowing them to just walk among the branches for a time before they were able to return to their home.

"First thing I'm going to do after we rest is head out and fix the protection stave." Atreus said, as he had a feeling that the spell his mother had used to form the barrier in the first place would come to him after he had a good nights sleep, though as he said that, and they stepped out into their yard, he found a number of draugr that had been turned into stone statues, more than what he was used to seeing, "What the...?"

"Kratos! I'm glad that you, Flurry, Pandora, and Atreus are okay." a voice said, where they found that Albis slithered out of the house that the girls slept in, especially since it was where Pandora worked thanks to her forge, though she paused as she noticed the freaked out look on Atreus' face, "Right, of course you'd be freaked out, since this is our first time meeting. I am Albis, a gorgon from the land of Greece that sided with Sparta after joining Flurry and Kratos on their adventures... I'm also Flurry's mother, or mother figure if you prefer."

"Um, nice to... meet you." Atreus managed to say, as while he had no idea what a gorgon was, this was his first time meeting one, he assumed she had the power to turn things to stone, given the statues, but he did relax a little as he saw that she was telling the truth, both she and Flurry definitely had a deep bond, like he had with his own mother, "I have so many questions."

"And we have answers... but first, we rest. Answers will come after a good nights sleep." Kratos stated, though at the same time he knew that the first thing Flurry would do after answering her brother's questions would be to go out and check on Modi, and what happened after that would be interesting as well.

Atreus stood there for a moment as Albis lifted one of the statues and carried it off into the forest, likely using it as a warning to those that were outside the protection stave's area, before he sighed as he followed his father inside, as a rest sounded nice and he was eager to see what the future held in store for them and their friends.

Interlude: Rest and Preparations

When the morning of the next day arrived, and the family rose to meet it, Flurry knew there would be plenty of things for them to do, though before anyone did anything there was the matter of breakfast, which was where Atreus shared a couple of things with them, one they were expecting and one they weren't.

"I don't know how you sleep with our wings, Flurry, but it took me awhile to get into the right position." Atreus said, as while he didn't have the larger wings anymore, thanks to him being a good boy and showing that he was no longer giving into the parts of himself that forced his draconic changes, he still had to deal with the smaller ones for the time being, "The tail didn't help me much either."

"Well, you won't have to worry about it if you keep up the good behavior." Flurry pointed out, because she could tell that her brother wasn't saying this to ask for assistance in figuring out the best way to sleep with his new additions, especially since they were smaller than before, rather he was just making conversation while they ate, before worrying about what his father might have planned for them, "Though you do seem... distracted. Did have you a bad dream?"

The reason she asked such a thing was due to her brother's nature, he was part Giant after all, and she had to wonder if being in Jotunheim had awakened one of Atreus' Giant powers, or at the very least stirred a power into a temporary form of awakening so her brother knew it was there, likely the ability to glimpse the future's events.

"Maybe? I had a dream that we were deep into Fimbulwinter and Thor showed up outside our house, standing near where we burned mother, with a storm happening overhead." Atreus replied, something that caused the family to glance at each other, even Mimir, who was resting on a holder that Pandora had constructed for him yesterday, before they went to sleep anyway, was surprised by that fact, "It doesn't mean anything... right?"

"Hard to know. For now, we shall reform the protection stave and ensure our home is safe... then we will start preparing you for the future." Kratos stated, because he had come to understand that when his son said something, usually about there being a powerful force ahead of them, it was best to trust him, which meant that if Atreus was saying that Thor would show up two or even three years from this point in time, which he guessed due to the 'deep into Fimbulwinter' portion, they had to be prepared for his, and likely Odin's, arrival.

"I'll get to work preparing the training yard. Albis will likely follow you to check on the protection staves." Pandora said, as it seemed like what everyone should do right now, though at the same time she knew that Flurry had other plans before she bothered to start her own preparations, something their brother seemed to notice as well since she didn't mention what their sister would be doing, "Flurry, are you going to do what I think you're thinking of doing?"

"Yeah, fly around the lake and make sure things have returned to normal." Flurry answered, because the main excuse was to check and be sure all of the undead were gone, sent back to Helheim so they could be judged and sorted at long last, but her true reason was to check up on Modi and see how he was doing, "I'll probably be back this afternoon... just depends on what I see during my flight."

Kratos nodded, as he trusted his daughter and knew that Flurry would do what she felt was right, especially if it meant she would save someone who tried to kill them, despite the beating he had been given previously, as he knew that she would be back when she was ready to join them. Once breakfast was over Flurry made sure everyone had what they needed for their journey out into the area that was around their home, to make sure the protection stave was fixed, before Kratos had Albis and his children follow after him. As soon as they were a good distance away Flurry took to the air and headed towards the mountain that they had traversed to reach where Mimir had been imprisoned, because she knew there was no real reason to check on the undead, especially since the Valkyries were still recovering from being freed. Her main focus was on seeing if Modi was still where she had left him and if he was willing to talk, especially since she had no desire to kill him, but she knew if he wanted to go out with a bang, and die a warrior's death, she might have to oblige him.

Sure enough she found the living son of Thor sitting in the area that she had teleported him to in an effort to make sure her brother, who was obsessed with his power at the time, didn't take the life of someone in such a crude manner, and as she landed the figure raised his head before letting out a tired sigh.

"Come to finish me off, have you?" Modi remarked, as if he honestly thought that he had been living on borrowed time and that his period of reflection had come to an end, even though it was hard to say if the god had learned anything during his time in this secluded area, "Very well, make it quick."

"I'm not here to kill you, rather I'm here to check on you and deliver some food." Flurry replied, catching the god by surprise as she produced a pouch from her bag that had the food that she and Pandora had prepared last time, perfectly contained so it would be ready for when she handed it to Modi, who opened the container as soon as it was in his hands and rapidly ate some of it, "Though you might want to slow down... wouldn't want you to choke to death."

"Why spare me? Why not let your brother kill me when he had the chance?" Modi asked, though he did take a moment to drink some of the water that was provided, as there was a waterskin passed to him after Flurry made her comment, despite the fact that he was confused by her kindness towards him, especially after all the remarks he made and his actions against her family.

"Because there's been enough killing... and besides, your heart didn't seem into fighting us. Magni was the warrior, I could see that, but you seemed like you wanted to walk a different path." Flurry answered, as enough gods had fallen to her and her father over the years, though at the same time she was being serious when she answered Modi's question, after being beaten by his father, and nearly dying to a little boy, part of her was sure that Modi might be interested in another path in life that wasn't constantly fighting.

"And what if you're wrong and I'd rather meet my end on the battlefield?" Modi remarked, mostly out of curiosity really, but he was surprised when Flurry drew both his mace and his shield from her bag, along with Magni's blade as well, though he was caught off guard by the fact that none of them seemed damaged, like she cared about weapons.

"Then I shall honor your customs, if that is what you truly wish to do." Flurry said, where Modi found that her weapons, the sickles, were still on her belt, waiting to be drawn if a battle broke out, and that wasn't counting the bow, greatsword, or the battleaxe that were in her possession, all powerful weapons based on what he was seeing.

Modi said nothing for a time, allowing Flurry to pull out the weapons he could see and clean them, making sure each one was pristine and ready for whatever the future held for her, and each one made him realize just how outclassed he was, as his weapons wouldn't last against her terrifying might, to which he sighed.

"No... fighting is worthless... I would lose in no time." Modi said, where he waved his hand at the gear that used to be his and his brother's, allowing Flurry to return them to her bag for the time being as he leaned his head against the rock wall that was behind him, silently remembering where his father had struck him and how he looked while doing it, "Clashing with you and your family has caused me to realize I'm not cut out to be a warrior... I'm a bloody coward who ran, instead of rushing to my brother's aid when he needed me the most. I'm not cut out to be on the front lines, like Magni... maybe I can learn to do something else, like use my strength to craft items like those dwarves... wonder if they would be willing to take someone like me on as an apprentice?"

"Even if we were willing, we would have some conditions for you to meet." a voice said, where Flurry wasn't even surprised to find that Brok was looking at them, standing at the end of the passage that she had placed Modi in not that long ago, as she had been sure that he and his brother had noticed her saving this god when her family came through here the second time, and sure enough Sindri was standing nearby as well, "And let me tell you something, they won't be easy or pretty."

Modi looked at the pair for a moment before nodding his head, as if he was willing to do anything and everything to make himself useful, to which Flurry left the god in the hands of the dwarves for the time being and took to the air, allowing her to fly out into the Lake of Nine. Such a thing allowed her to see that Jormungandr was resting once more, ignoring the world once more as he slept on the various mountains, though at the same time she could tell that the snow was already getting heavier, causing her to sigh as she rushed towards her family's home. When she was close enough Flurry floated down to all of the trees that bared the magic of the protection stave and imbued each one with a small bit of her magic, causing her to look at the barrier that appeared as it shifted color, the snow fizzling before falling through like normal. Such a thing caused her to smirk a little as she held her hand out and collected the material before it could touch the ground, as it was normal snow, devoid of the Fimbulwinter aspect that would sap Midgard of it's magical power, causing her to make a small rune in the shape of a pointed heart.

This possessed the same power as what she had done to the barrier, meaning that whatever she placed this on would no longer be subjected to the effects of Fimbulwinter, though before distributing it to the rest of the family, and the rest of the area, Flurry landed on the cliff they had stopped on at the start of their quest and pulled out the Deathrite Daggers, as she wanted some alone time with them before she returned to her family.

"Time to see what sort of power awakened in these blades." Flurry commented, because while she was using them against all of their enemies she had felt something inside them suddenly awaken, as if they had been used enough to utilize their full power, which was why she sat down and closed her eyes as she focused on the power she had felt earlier.

She was expecting some sort of power to awaken and the knowledge be transferred into her mind, similar to the gems that they had recovered for her father's weapons and Atreus' bow, but what actually happened was that she was projected into a whole new area, like her mind had traveled or something, and she was in what appeared to be a vast desert area.

"So, the daggers have awakened at last." a voice said, where Flurry turned and discovered someone that seemed to be like a human with the head of a wolf, or maybe a jackal as she looked at him, who had black skin with golden jewelry on his wrists and upper parts of his arms, plus the golden sash and headdress he had, "I was wondering who might find the daggers, but I'll be honest, all of Tyr's tales didn't prepare me for meeting you."

"You... You're a God of Death, aren't you?" Flurry asked, because she could feel a familiar power coming from the figure, just like the power that she had access to, causing her to look around the area they were in and found that it was definitely a vast desert, there was nothing else for them to worry about, "Where are we, a mindscape?"

"You could say that. We are in an area that Tyr and I designed, as he said that a Death God with no real training in how to use their power would find the daggers, and I agreed to train them." the figure replied, which Flurry knew to be true, after she became the Greek Goddess of Death she rarely used or even trained with her specific godly powers, rather she mastered all of her combat styles and then focused on maintaining the lessons her father had taught her over the years, "Of course the daggers have been slumbering for a long time, so I was unsure if they would awaken or not... your power definitely brought them back to life, allowing this power to come back to life as well. And yes, I am a God of Death: I am Anubis, the Egyptian God of Death."

Flurry chuckled as she braced herself for what was going to happen next, because out of everything that the daggers could have given her this was by far the furthest thing in her mind, training with another God of Death, and yet she was eager to see what sort of lessons Anubis had for her as she braced herself for what the future held for everyone.

Interlude: Tales and Training

Flurry found that the next week was full of preparations and training for the future, where she showed her father and her siblings the rune she had developed and would add to their protection staves, something Kratos approved of since that meant they would be able to withstand the effects of Fimbulwinter. In addition to that Pandora found a way for her to put the rune on their gear, the pieces that were outside Flurry's bag, as everything that was inside the bag was perfectly fine and untouched, meaning they were totally protected from the prelude to Ragnarok. Atreus wondered if Odin would come here seeking that information if he knew it existed, a rune that could prevent the effects of Fimbulwinter in it's entirety, for the area around where it was placed, or even around a person, though Mimir said it was best if the All-Father had no idea that Flurry could do this, since he'd pester her for answers to everything she could do. Flurry agreed with Mimir, she wanted nothing to do with the All-Father right now, and suspected that such a thing would remain the same until the very end of Ragnarok, which was why she turned her attention to all of the training they would be starting.

Atreus discovered the true meaning of training now that their focus was solely on it, as Flurry covered an entire area with her magic and summoned transparent versions of each weapon that happened to be inside her bag, which they could still grasp, thus allowing everyone to use something different during their training, so they mastered all types of weapons. Of course Flurry had to tone down the size of each one for when Atreus picked one out, since she didn't want him to fall over and be unable to train, though after some time they discovered that he really didn't have the power to wield heavy weapons, not like their father did. With that in mind Flurry made sure her brother's training was focused on focusing and honing his skill with a bow, plus his dagger since it was always nice to have a backup weapon in case enemies got close, something that their father agreed with, even though he refrained from using some of the weapons that Flurry summoned for them. She knew that some of these had bad memories for her father, something Atreus didn't know about, but for the time being it just seemed like her brother assumed that Kratos didn't need training with those weapons and focused on those that he felt he might be rusty with.

While they trained the family found that they had company after some time, as both Freya and Baldur happened to show up at roughly the same time, causing them to glance at each other for a few moments before turning away, as while they now had some shared ground of being screwed over by Odin, that didn't mean their bridges would be healed.

"Freya, you seem... more whole. Does this mean the curse has been broken?" Kratos asked, though at the same time Baldur walked off into the training area that Flurry had set up, grabbed the phantom version of the Serpent's Glaive, and started to thrust it at the magical targets she had also utilized into the magic of the area in case only a single person happened to be training inside the designated area.

"Not quite. I've undone just one of the damned curses that Odin has placed on me... Sigrun is helping me track down where he's hidden my ability to protect myself." Freya replied, where it was clear that she was annoyed by that fact, that she had already tracked down and broken one curse, likely a weaker one, and that it wasn't any of the true ones she was searching for, before she smiled for a moment as she watched her son actually do something that he enjoyed, "I'm also hunting down the curse that's keeping me from traveling to the other realms... I'm not planning on traveling, really, but I do want to be free of Odin's damn claws before the end."

"Let us know if there is anything we can do, while we still have access to the other realms." Pandora said, because Freya had helped them quite a lot during their last adventure and this was the best way they could repay her, other than sparing her son and letting him live, though after saying that she drew her halberd and leapt into the arena, clashing with Baldur not a few seconds later.

"Depending on where the other curses are located, I might just do that." Freya remarked, though she was serious, as Kratos and his children was incredibly skilled in their own right and she knew that she might need to call on them to aid her in her quest to break the curses so she could die a free person, given the fate of the Nine Realms, causing her to sigh as she took a moment to think about something else, "Kratos, tell me: have you said anything to Atreus about your past?"

"No, I was waiting for the right time to tell him about our past." Kratos admitted, as he had told Atreus a bit, mostly that he was a god and that he came from another land entirely, but after his descent into arrogance he had decided to hold off on telling his son anything else, as he judged him not ready for such a thing, but since Atreus had matured a little, enough for the remnants of Faye's spirit to forgive his actions, he guessed it was time to explain some things, "Though if you wish we can make an afternoon of it, for the tale is long and I am sure both of you would have many questions, some of which Mimir will no doubt answer during the course of the tale."

"Or at the very least offer another opinion on something that happened." Mimir said, because he knew that there wasn't much he could do at the moment, since he was just a head, but at the very least he could tell a tale and offer his own small thoughts on whatever they were told.

Kratos nodded as he called for Pandora and Baldur to join them, as he knew both would be interested in the tale, though as he did that Flurry weaved some of her magic into the air and formed a sitting area around a fire, allowing them to relax and even have some water or something to drink. Once the preparations were finished Kratos started to tell both his son and their new friends about his past, as in mentioning Deimos and how he was taken away, him marking himself to honor his brother, and his rise to being the youngest captain in the Spartan army, plus his defeat at the hands of the Barbarian King. It was then that Atreus learned the true meaning behind one of the boat stories his father had told him, about the horse that made a deal with a hunter to kill his enemy, the stag, but even after having his revenge he was denied his freedom and was turned into a slave, as his father called upon Ares and made a deal with him to get rid of the barbarians. Atreus realized why his father had the chains burned into his flesh like that, as they were from the very weapons that the Greek God of War had gifted to Kratos, searing the chains into his very flesh as a sign of his service, even though it was the start of his descent into pure madness.

He spared Atreus the full story about how he murdered his first wife and first daughter, but did mention that it was him and his army attacking that village on Ares' orders that caused his skin to look like this, where he could see that Freya knew that there was more to this particular tale and didn't say anything, likely knowing it was too painful for him to speak on.

"Wait, pause for a second... I had an uncle?!" Atreus said, because while the early life of his father was full of bloodshed, a fact that told him it really was a good thing he wasn't raised like an actual Spartan since he knew he would fail everything of his father's customs, his focus right now was on something he hadn't known until this point in time.

"You have an uncle." Kratos replied, letting his son know that Deimos was alive and well, though at the same time both he and his daughters knew that the others were now invested in the tale, especially since Freya was likely wondering where Deimos was since she hadn't seen him yet, all while Albis slithered up to join them, as she really didn't like hearing about her own death, even in this version of events, "Do not be alarmed, Albis is a friend. She is also Flurry's adoptive mother, as she is quick to remind me of whenever I introduce her."

"I see. And when did you two meet? By that I mean you and Flurry." Freya asked, because that was the part of the story that interested her the most, there was no mention of the daughter that predated both Pandora and Atreus, though now she had to assume that Kratos meeting Albis happened after he found Flurry, since Kratos seemed to be her adoptive father in this strange expanding story.

"I found her during my quest to sever my oath to Ares, to make myself into a free man once more." Kratos answered, which was the moment that Flurry added a light blue gemstone to the center of the area and he nodded his head, allowing him to focus on it as an imagine of him meeting a young Flurry appeared, something that took Freya and Baldur by surprise while Mimir seemed interested in the magic, "Flurry has developed a way for one to show their memories of what happened in the past, from their point of view, so you are seeing mine right now."

Freya nodded and watched as the tale continued, the pair continuing on Kratos' quest while Flurry, just a child, did her best to remain out of the way and not get involved, and in her early days it seemed like that was impossible, hence why when they reached the boat Kratos started to teach her how to use a bow and how to wield her weapons. She found that the pair had been a good team, even back in the early days, and that Kratos had done everything in his mortal power to make sure a young Flurry was unharmed by the foes that came at them, and the assortment of foes made her realize why both warriors were so skilled. Even Baldur was impressed by what he was seeing, especially when Kratos carved open a centaur while his charge was standing at a safe distance, though both of them were surprised by the arrival of the Furies, the battle that had followed, and Flurry assisting her father in battle. In fact the power of the amulet they carried was impressive as well, able to undo all the damage that had been done to the statue they were climbing around to get at another legendary item that had the power to help Kratos on his quest, all while explaining why the Furies would try to stop them once they realized what he was searching for.

Such a thing also revealed when Albis made her first appearance, presenting herself as a friendly gorgon, as the creature told them what she was, by hugging Flurry and showing Kratos that she meant the young one no harm, thus allowing her to go free, even though she returned later, to free Flurry from the Furies, thus allowing her to free Kratos so they could go on a rampage and kill all three of the sisters.

Freya felt Kratos' pain as he was forced to end Orkos, a friend who had been forced to hold onto Kratos' oathstone, a sort of failsafe in case the Furies perished, and they came to an understanding of sorts, Orkos meeting his end the way he wanted to meet it while Kratos' oath to Ares was forever shattered. Following that the trio, as Albis joined them, became warriors of the gods of Greece, doing missions for Zeus and the rest of his kind, though it was easy to see that some gods, like the Smith God known as Hephaestus, were much nicer to them than others were. It was some time before they were called into battle, facing the Persians as they attacked Attica, though that was also when the sun literally fell out of the sky, causing a dark fog to shroud the land while Athena called upon the pair to take on an important quest. Such a thing allowed them to see that even from an early age Flurry cared about life and when Persephone showed her true colors, that she didn't care about life at all, it triggered something in her and caused her to beat the goddess up, something that sparked the start of something big as she and Kratos killed Persephone.

Flurry also pointed out that her second adventure ended with her becoming a student of Hecate, the Goddess of Magic for their homeland, because they discovered that her true magical power was far more than they expected and learning from her meant she could actually wield her magic without becoming a risk to everyone else.

"Uncontrollable magic can be dangerous... she made the right call." Mimir commented, which Freya agreed with, especially since there was no telling what Flurry could have done had she lost control of her magical powers, after everything they had seen from her since the start of their quest to spread Faye's ashes.

Kratos also agreed with them and continued with the tale, eventually coming to the start of his revenge, as the gods finally called on him and Flurry to deal with Ares, even though they had to kill the Hydra before heading to Athens, which was when they found that the God of War was breaking every law that Zeus had created. They revealed how both he and Flurry had to travel to Pandora's Temple, where the legendary Pandora's Box was located, and solve countless puzzles in the pursuit of claiming that which Zeus wanted to keep hidden from the mortals of Greece, and that Pandora herself had never been to the temple her box had been stored in. Pandora also mentioned that it wasn't 'her box', rather her own father, who just so happened to be Hephaestus, had created the box to house the Evils of the world inside it, Evils that would give one the power to kill a god, even though the power of hope had been stored inside it as well. The long story was short as Kratos told them that he and Flurry recovered the box, but Ares, a sore loser, killed him by hurling a fractured pillar all the way from Athens, impaling him in the process, though his time in the Underworld was short since Zeus had dug a hole for him to get out through.

He also shared them beating the stuffing out of Ares and the truth that Atreus had asked about, along with the explosion that came from his death, but instead of being released from his nightmares Kratos was turned into a god, as in the new God of War, but thanks to Flurry's presence he was able to deal with that turn of events.

That was swiftly followed by the personal quest to rescue Deimos from the clutches of Thanatos, the God of Death, though it had some serious consequences as multiple locations were destroyed during the course of their quest, but they were able to figure out that it was Zeus behind most of the deeds, a fact they only determined long after the events in question. Freya, Baldur, and Mimir started to see the picture that was being formed, that after Kratos became the God of War it appeared that a drastic change had washed over many of the gods, some now lashing out at them or seeing the family as monsters, as if they were possessed by something darker. Kratos explained that they had saved Deimos, made him into a god as well, and tried to keep the peace with Zeus, who was fearful of the Marked Warrior prophecy coming true, even after he, Hera, and Hermes tried to frame them as warmongers not long after saving Deimos. Freya came to realize that Kratos definitely wasn't like most of the other War Gods, he only went to war when it was absolutely necessary, in fact she was seeing a lot of Tyr in him right now, and that Flurry was the same way, as war lead to a massive loss of life, causing her to wonder if the alicorn, as Mimir had called her, might be a Goddess of Life.

Eventually, as they found out, Zeus revealed his true colors and attacked, taking Kratos' godly power with a weapon that had acknowledged Flurry as it's one true wielder before killing him, but he pulled himself out of the Underworld and traveled to the island of the Fates, who he and Flurry destroyed before retrieving the blade and Kratos' stolen power.

"Wait, so you guys killed the Fates and then traveled back in time, to the point that Zeus betrayed you, to kick his ass and take back your power?" Baldur asked, though they could tell that he had a smile on his face, both from the fact that Kratos and Flurry weren't about to let such a thing slide and the fact that they had actually forced the King of the Gods to flee after that happened, "That sounds awesome!"

"We then went back in time and recalled most of the Titans to the future, sending them at Mount Olympus... which was the moment we learned the truth behind what happens when a god is killed." Kratos said, where they watched as he, Flurry, and Gaia fought Poseidon, his attempts to get the god to back down, and, when even that failed, them slaying him, before they watched as the seas rose in response to Poseidon's death, drowning the world in a matter of moments, "We had no way of knowing that would happen, as every god that had perished before that point had, in some manner, found a way to pick a successor, minimizing the potential damage... but Poseidon, one of the 'Big Three', had no such plan and we discovered the devastating consequences that came with killing a god."

"S... So that's why you were warning me earlier..." Atreus commented, as he couldn't believe that killing a god would flood the whole world, or at least the entirety of Greece, but he now understood why his father and sisters had been warning him about such a thing after Magni's death, though he had to wonder why killing the two Norse gods had done nothing to the rest of the realms.

"Yes, but we had to kill several more gods along the way... and discovered what happened to the Evils that had been freed after opening the box so father could kill Ares." Flurry said, where she waved her hand for a moment and the others simply watched as a few unfamiliar figures appeared in the magical image, Helios and the others, before Atreus found that each of them started to change, becoming more reptilian from god to god, "The Evils infected some of the gods, influenced their minds, and eventually started to corrupt them... but even they were deceived by one of their own, as Fear infected each of his fellow Evils, so the fear that each god felt towards us empowered their own corruption... until Zeus succumbed to Fear and was fully corrupted."

Atreus and the others watched as the image of Zeus transformed before their eyes, twisting into a snake figure that was far more evil looking than his father's father had looked before the sudden transformation, and while he knew that this figure was no longer of this world Atreus had to admit that it frightened him.

"Transforming into a being that called himself 'Korthek', the 'Emperor of Evil', the 'Lord of Fear', and the 'God of the New World', as he titled himself." Flurry continued, causing her to twist her hand once more and the image changed so that all of them could see the battle that unfolded between the figure and the godly family, including Pandora since she had joined her and Kratos near the end of the assault on Mount Olympus, "The battle was fierce, destroying what remained of Zeus' palace, but in the end we destroyed both him and the Prime Primordial Evil... sadly, with Greece in the state it was in, all we could do was leave for a new home, taking with us the survivors that had been gathered before the war broke out. Following that Pandora fully joined the family, marking herself in a blue version of her new father's tattoo to show that she saw it as a mark of hope, and we were invited to the Land Between Realms... an island between the various domains of the pantheons that exist in this world. After we settled the survivors we received another invitation from Tyr, by his bird to be exact, and the three of us set sail for the Nine Realms, where we were swept away by a time maelstrom and lost almost a thousand years in the process... then we met Faye and the rest is history."

"So... I'm similar to grandfather, in that both of us have transformed into a scaly creature... but we're different because I can fight my curse and return to normal?" Atreus commented, though at the same time he was grateful that he hadn't faced the dark being that was Korthek, as he was sure that he would have been wiped out before he could even do anything to assist in bringing him down.

"You are a good boy, Atreus, and I'm sure that you'll be able to undo the curse that's been placed on you." Freya said, as that was a true fact, he was good at heart and she was sure that Atreus would be able to break the curse, though at the same time she refrained from offering her help with this, as there was a chance that she might make things worse and bring the boy back to the state he had been in before his visit to Jotunheim, or even fully transform him since the mirror that gave him the curse had been powered by Vanir magic.

Flurry smiled for a moment as she told the others that she was going to check the edge of the barrier, as she was sure that someone was watching them, and Mimir wanted to come along, hence why she fled out while holding onto the rope that was wrapped around his head.

"Lass, I know there's something you and your family didn't include in the story: what you are the goddess of." Mimir stated, though while he knew that the family had good reasons for such a thing, since it could be a sense of embarrassment based on who was asked, he also knew that Flurry didn't get embarrassed and his curiosity had gotten the better of him once he learned that he was checking something away from the others.

"Mimir... if I tell you, you must promise not to tell anyone until I give you permission to do so... or until my father and sister decide it's time for everyone to know." Flurry replied, where she landed and used her magic to make the head float as she drew her bow, readied an arrow, and loosed one into the air, allowing Mimir to see that her target was one of Odin's ravens, meaning the All-Father knew where they were located and was going to be keeping an eye on them.

"You have my word. I won't tell anyone, especially Atreus, what you are the goddess of until you or your family say it's okay to do so." Mimir said, as there was another reason for him wanting to do this, because sometimes not telling someone a secret caused the holder to become stressed, and while he knew Flurry wasn't stressed he suspected it would be good for her to let someone else in on what she was the goddess of, followed by a magical barrier wrapping around them.

"Okay, then answer this: what follows in war's wake?" Flurry asked, as that was the easiest way to say such a thing without actually revealing the information, though at the same time this was just her having a bit of fun with Mimir since he loved stuff like this.

"Plenty of things, actually: poverty, illness, destruction, dea..." Mimir said, though when he got to the fourth idea he came to a stop, as everything he had seen from her over the course of his time with the family came rushing back, plus how she was focused on preserving life, plus he was completely stunned by this information, "Oh my... now I understand everything. I will keep my lips sealed on this matter, as promised."

Flurry nodded, glad that Mimir understood what she was the goddess of and why she wanted to keep it a secret from their new friends, especially her own brother, before glancing at the area that was outside the barrier as she wondered what the future held for her, her family, and their friends.

Interlude: Fimbulwinter

Flurry found that the weeks and months that followed them sharing their history with Freya and Baldur to be exactly what they were expecting, an onslaught of magical snow that blanketed the landscape of their woods, which was definitely the work of Fimbulwinter, the winter to end all winters as Mimir called it. Sure enough her addition to their protection stave meant that the snow that fell inside the barrier held no power at all, meaning she and her family could go about their days without having to worry about their powers being sapped or their home being weakened. Of course the same couldn't be said for anything that was outside the barrier, though Flurry had made sure to provide Freya, Baldur, the dwarf brothers, and even Modi with the rune as well, but the last one refused to reveal himself to the family. She wasn't too surprised by that fact, given what Atreus had done to him before she saved his life, so it made sense that he would keep his distance and not speak to the boy that had very nearly killed him in such a dishonorable manner.

There was one interesting thing she noticed, that being the fact that Odin apparently allowed Modi to return to Asgard for a time, but after a few days he'd be back in either Midgard, seeking Flurry's aid in some manner or because the dwarves had a task for him to complete, or back in whatever area the dwarves had set him up in.

Atreus, for the most part, seemed to be outgrowing the curse that had been placed on him when he touched the mirror, no doubt due to what he had seen when his family told him about their time in the land of Greece, or the majority of what had been said since there were still things he didn't know. Flurry could tell that his horns, wings, and tail were completely gone, showing that he wasn't giving into the aspects of himself that had fueled the curse originally, plus his eyes had returned to normal as well, things he was perfectly fine with since it meant he was returning to normal. Of course with every bit of good news there was a bit of bad news, that being the fact that while the scales had diminished, to the point where it was hard to see that he had been cursed in the first place, there was a reminder of the curse on him, his sharpened hands and feet, as they stilled resembled claws a little. Atreus didn't seem to mind that minor change, since it allowed him to work on climbing on his own, so he didn't have to rely on hugging his father's back whenever they had to climb something, as the claws did allow him to grip things much easier than before, but he also made sure this didn't go to his head.

In addition to that Atreus found that Albis was more active now that he knew of her existence, as she went out to make sure the perimeter of their protection stave was fine, though he was still a little freaked out by the fact that she was able to turn foe's to stone in a matter of seconds. The reason for him discovering that was because Kratos went out with her a couple of times and even brought Atreus along, since he needed to know what she could do and get used to her being a part of the family, since she had hidden herself to avoid making a young Atreus freak out. That didn't stop him from freaking out a little the first time Albis froze a draugr and turned it into a stone statue, which caused her to move it to the outskirts of their large barrier, positioned so it would face the outside area as an attempt to dissuade individuals from bothering them. In addition to that he discovered that she, too, was a skilled warrior in her own right, using her two swords to parry and deal with those that got too close to her, as there were times where she wanted to fight like Kratos did, and her body definitely allowed her to move around quite well.

While time passed Flurry found that every so often Freya would return, to spend time with them or just to relax, and that she was definitely more herself with every passing moment, as she was actually breaking the curses that had been placed on her and was regaining her former powers. There were two reasons for her continuing to come by, the first was because Mimir had been Odin's aide for a long time and he could help her potentially track down some of the curses that had been placed on her, and while he admitted that it had been some time since he had been told about them Mimir was willing to aid Freya in whatever way he could. The second reason, however, became clear when Freya found out how to finally shatter the curse that prevented her from defending herself, allowing her to finally fight enemies with the sword she carried, as she wanted to join the family in their training, where Kratos carefully eased her into what they were doing, since overwhelming her would be a bad thing. Of course it took her far longer to track down that curse than all of the others that had been placed on her, but Freya was willing to put forth the time and effort to break it, confirming her remark that she would rather be able to defend herself when Ragnarok arrived, instead of letting it claim her with little resistance.

There was one other thing that changed as Fimbulwinter dug it's icy grip into the realm, that the Lake of Nine froze over in a way that actually formed new pathways for people to explore, though after about a year Flurry noticed something else that came as a shock to her family and their new friends, there were raiders in Midgard, reavers that were adapting to the new environment they were in.

"I'm not surprised. With Fimbulwinter having set in, people will be desperate for supplies." Mimir remarked, because he and the others knew that Flurry was talking about a new raider clan and not the ones that had been dealt with previously, not to mention the fact that there appeared to be multiple camps spread out around the lake.

"I understand that, but there is one clan that is catching wolves and eating them." Flurry stated, as that was the clan that she had focused on during her flights, because there were plenty of deer out there, both in the area outside their home and in the rest of the realm, so it didn't make sense for the clan in question to be going after wolves of all things.

"They're... eating wolves?! We have to stop them!" Atreus said, because he was more in tune with animals than the rest of his family, something they were getting used to since he had seen him understand what animals were saying, like Brok's old beast of burden that he eventually ate, and even Freya seemed troubled by this discovery, "Father, we have to save them!"

"It will be a good experience for you, to put your training into practice." Kratos replied, as he had been thinking about what Flurry had said about where the clan in question was located, they were quite close to where one of the edges of their home was located, and that meant it was only a matter of time until something beckoned the raiders to the woods, so it would be best if they dealt with a problem before it became one.

"Baldur and I will check on our home, to be sure the raiders haven't touched it." Freya said, because her son had decided not to go back to Asgard, not until he was absolutely sure on his feelings towards his uncaring father, so for the time being they were sharing the house under her turtle friend, which required making another bed for him, and with the effects of this endless winter setting in she wanted to be sure their home was safe as well.

Kratos nodded and wished the pair well, causing them to depart from the area that he and his children called home, though once they were gone he made sure that each of his kids were ready to go, only to discover that all three of them needed no preparations this time around. As such he left Albis in charge of things around the house before they departed, heading down a familiar path that had brought them to where Atreus had eventually killed a deer, only this time there was a second path for them to follow, one formed by Fimbulwinter to be exact. It allowed them to move through another portion of the woods, one Flurry knew about since she had flown over it a few times in the past, though to navigate some parts of it her family had to jump across a few gaps and even climb a pair of short walls. She suspected that there was a more direct path to this area, but this was good for their purposes and allowed both her father and her brother to get used to Atreus doing it on his own, since he wanted more independence than he had been given in the past.

Sure enough there were a number of raiders scattered around the camp, with a rather impressive one that had to be their leader standing in the center of everything, though what caused them to pause was the number of wolves, at least ten by Flurry's reckoning, that had been butchered and carved up, with three more growling from an iron cage, a warning to those that were approaching the cage.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Atreus shouted, as he could tell that the three surviving wolves were terrified, fearful for their lives after watching what was likely their pack being butchered and torn apart like they were nothing, in fact he could almost taste their fear, fueling his rage towards the raiders, even if they were doing this to survive, which was burning more than ever before.

As Flurry opened her mouth, to say something about this matter, she and the rest of her family noticed something that they weren't happy to see again as Atreus' rage blinded him and prevented him from seeing reason again, his hands and feet had a magical mist wash over them, returning them to their draconic forms in a matter of seconds. Flurry knew that the slower burning rage of her brother's, which wasn't connected to his own Spartan Rage, was bad to see since they had seen it in the past, like when Gondol threw him into a rock wall and his rage had caused a change in his body, which was being repeated before their very eyes. Kratos, noticing what was going on, reached out to his son and found that his words fell on deaf ears as Atreus rushed at the raiders, using both his knife and his sharpened claw hands as he attacked the raiders, though unlike all of the previous times he let his rage get the better of him, and usually made things worse, this time he seemed focused on fighting and killing his enemies. Pandora found that it was an oddly impressive sight, her brother tore through the necks of those that got near him, in fact there was one raider where he brought his bow down and crushed the head of his foe, and when five of the six raiders were dead he growled and turned on the leader.

The figure in question found this entire situation to be humorous as he tore into the cooked meat that was in his hand, a fact that caused Atreus to growl with a look of pure hatred on his face, something that caused an explosive change in him as he regained his horns, tail, and wings in a matter of seconds, causing Flurry to hold him back as Kratos and Pandora took out the chief before he could do anything else.

"Breath, Atreus. Calm down and focus." Flurry said, where she magically held her brother down as she nodded to their father and sister, causing them to move whatever meat was in the camp into the nearby fire, along with the remainder of the few wolf corpses that were in the area, though she was happy to see that her words were able to cut through her brother's rage, all while noticing that his eyes were draconic again.

"I... I'm sorry... I'm a failure." Atreus stated, where he hung his head in shame, because he had been doing so well since the trip to Jotunheim and had just undone everything in a fit of rage, causing him to realize he was back at square one again, a major blow since he had been so close to breaking the curse.

Kratos told his son that he wasn't a failure, he was proud of the strides that Atreus had made in trying to trying to master his emotions, something they would have to work on in the future, because if this was the price for his son falling this deep into his rage, all because of how people were treating wild animals, it meant they needed to step up Atreus' training. With that in mind he had Flurry let go of her brother and that caused Atreus to walk over to the cage, where Pandora released the three wolves and they found that the trio approached him with a bit of caution, but he was able to smile as he petted them each in turn. Atreus could tell a few things, namely the reddish furred wolf and the light gray wolf were sisters, the former he called 'Speki' and the latter he called 'Svanna', which was either their actual names and he was translating it for them, or it was what he felt like calling them for some reason. The third wolf, who seemed to be slightly older than the sisters, had darker gray fur with a unique white pattern over his left eye and the area around it, who Atreus called 'Fenrir' and they seemed to take a liking to each other, meaning they would be fast friends no doubt.

Despite Atreus' regression, in terms of his curse, Flurry had a feeling that things were going to get more interesting now that they had three wolves that seemed to be following them, which made her interested in what the future might have in store for her, her family, their friends, and the rest of the realms.

Ragnarok: Rage and Discoveries

The two years following the family saving the three wolves was more of the same, as Flurry found that their days were full of training, learning how to master themselves, or in Atreus' case master his emotions so they didn't explode at the wrong moment, and surveying their woods to be sure no uninvited visitors got through the protection stave. They found that both Speki and Svanna were great runners and even greater listeners, thus allowing Kratos and Atreus to train them to pull a sled that Pandora made, along with harnesses that wouldn't hurt the wolves, which were easy to put on and take off. Fenrir was exempt from pulling the sled, but Kratos did make sure he pulled his own weight by assisting in some of the hunts, mostly to catch deer for all three of them and even the family from time to time, and he found that the wolf definitely bonded with Atreus. In addition to the sled Pandora also made sure to make some homes for the wolves, Speki and Svanna's was near the river, in an area that remained unfrozen thanks to Flurry's runes, and they also had an eternal burning fire, once more thanks to Flurry's magic, while Fenrir had his own resting place between the two houses.

Of course that didn't stop all three of them from hanging out with Atreus, since he treated them far nicer than his father did, as he made sure they were clean and didn't sustain any injuries while they were out, but Kratos was fine with this, since it meant his son could handle some responsibilities.

Flurry found that there was a constant problem as the weeks and months went by, occasionally she found more of the kol raiders, as she discovered what they were officially called at one point, and they continued to hunt wolves, capturing them and eating them like the clan her family had rescued their wolves from. The reason she considered this to be a problem wasn't due to the fact that they were having trouble with the groups in question, rather it was because encountering them seemed to undo all of Atreus' progress in mastering his emotions. Between encounters their father cracked down on his training and did what he could to help Atreus control all of his emotions, eventually allowing her brother to undo some of his changes, only to lose his progress when he laid eyes on how the wolves were being treated. It was an unending cycle, he was able to make progress and revert his changes, and then when he said he was ready Flurry tracked down another kol raider camp and they found that his rage exploded all over again, to the point where she started to wonder if they were ever going to break her brother's curse.

Such a thing caused her to carefully check out the cursed mirror and the curse, mostly to see if there were ways to break the curse and undo what was happening to her brother, though a portion of her time was also devoted to a new type of training, teaching Atreus how to use his wings. She discovered that while Atreus was skilled at other things, such as languages, which Mimir was helping him fully master since the head knew more about the other cultures of the world as well, he really had no skill in using his wings or flying in general, despite her lessons. It was actually kind of funny when she watched it happen, as there were times where he fell face first into the snow, his healing coming in and tending to his injuries when he relaxed and focused his mind, and when she wasn't doing that she was making sure he knew how to move with his tail. Atreus was able to deal with the tail quite easily, in fact he had taken to incorporating it into their training to try and throw his father off, an interesting tactic that Kratos had gotten used to thanks to fighting so many gorgons in the past.

Of course Atreus did have to complain about how he slept, since he didn't have Flurry's ability to hide her wings, because it meant he had to sleep with his chest facing his bed, wings draped over the edges of his bed, hands and feet pulled close to him while his tail coiled close to his head, almost like he was an animal and not a person.

Flurry had told him that it could have been worse, because eventually the curse was going to do more than give him a pair of wings or a tail that he could use to help take down their enemies, as dragons were massive creatures and that meant that her brother was going to experience a massive growth spurt if they didn't break the curse. There was also the fact that his body would start to be covered in scales, his form would begin to match what they had seen when they found Fafnir, and he would no doubt gain the power of an elemental breath attack, either lightning or fire based on what she had seen so far from all of the other dragons. Plus she knew that if Atreus went too far they might lose him entirely, since she was sure that Fafnir and his fellows, Otr and Reginn, either lost their minds or were significantly changed while retaining some fragments of their original personality, something her brother agreed with, he'd rather not reach that point. Of course that didn't stop him from being annoyed with his training, since he couldn't quite get the hang of flying with his wings, but Flurry knew that it was just his upbringing, as he wasn't used to them, unlike how she had grown up with hers and was used to how to use them in both combat and navigating an area.

All they could do was keep up their training and hope that one day Atreus mastered the art of flying, or managed to tame his emotions so he didn't have outbursts when he faced something that enraged him, while facing the dangers of Fimbulwinter and whatever else might be thrown their way in the future.

---

Kratos let out a sigh as he stared at the cave walls that were around him, taking a break from making a couple of arrows for his son since they were still teaching him not to rely on magical arrows that replenished themselves after some time, where he pulled out the pouch that had carried Faye's ashes and stared at it for a time, remembering the good times they shared before she passed.

"I'm back." Atreus said, entering the cave that they used between heading out into the snow covered woods and the area their home was in, not noticing that his father put the pouch away before collecting all of the arrows he had made, though as he said that he set down the deer he had hunted.

Kratos nodded and held the bundle of arrows out for his son to take, allowing him to get a better view of his fourteen year old son who was taller and more mature than he had been during their first adventure, and his attire had been altered over the years to accommodate his growing body. The fur portion had been shifted to Atreus' right shoulder and the vest was designed to provide him with all the warmth he could ever want, plus it was yellow and had a sash that was similar to the old sash Kratos wore back in Greece, sort of embracing both his Greek side and his Norse side. He had changed the position of his quiver over the years, because his wings seemed to be a permanent addition to his body, since his rage at all of the kol raiders was preventing him from breaking the curse, so his quiver was resting above where his tail was located. He looked more like a warrior these days, a ranger to be exact, that was crossed with a dragon, but they had trained him to use each of his alterations well and he had grown stronger as a result, all while still looking for a way to break the curse so he could return to his normal form.

In addition to that Kratos had also added a furred shoulder piece that rested on both of his shoulders and even resembled a cape a little, black furred to be exact, though he shelved that thought as he finally stood up and followed his son outside, who was carrying the deer quite well on his own, while Pandora was tending to the sled and Flurry took to the air once she knew everyone was ready to go.

Kratos did notice that his son was looking at something after setting the deer down on the sled, though whatever item he was interested in was ignored a few seconds later as he and Pandora climbed onto the front of the sled, allowing him to take his position near the controls. Once everyone was in position Kratos got the wolves moving and they rushed off without even wasting a second, as they were well trained and knew exactly what to do, all while at the same time directing them through the frozen nature of the woods, a place everyone was used to these days. While that happened he spotted a bright falcon in the air and guessed that it had to be Freya, as she had undone more of her curses over the years but was still trapped in this realm, least she be ripped out and thrown back into Midgard if she tried to travel. Of course that was impossible since Odin, to prevent his enemies from moving about the Nine Realms, had found a way to seal Realm Travel for nearly everyone that wasn't himself or select dwarves, since Sindri and Brok could likely still do such a thing, but that didn't stop Freya from trying to break that curse, just in case Realm Travel was restored.

It was hard to tell if she wanted to tell them something or not, but from what Kratos could tell she seemed to be checking up on them, because a few moments later Freya turned and headed back to her home, no doubt to see if Baldur was back and keep up their defenses to be sure their home remained safe as well.

"I hope Fenrir got some sleep while we were gone... it would be nice to see him eat a little more." Atreus commented, as his friend had grown weak over the last half year and it had worried him, despite the fact that Flurry's alteration to the barrier was supposed to protect everyone that was under it.

"He is... quite sick, Atreus. You must ready yourself for what is to come." Kratos said, because they knew Fenrir was sick, it was his older age coming to bite him, as there was no way for an actual disease to get him, especially since the other wolves were as healthy as can be.

Atreus, of course, wasn't ready to admit that his wolf companion might die in the near future, even though he did admit that Fenrir was sick, causing Kratos to focus on the path that was ahead of them while Pandora kept an eye out for enemies, only to find that there were none for them to worry about. Such a thing meant they were able to reach the edge of the protection stave with ease and enter their home without wasting too much time, to which Kratos brought them to a stop once they were on the other side of the gate they had installed after taking the wolves in. While he closed the gate, however, Pandora undid the harnesses so Speki and Svanna could wander over to the river that ran nearby and get some water, though Atreus did lift the deer they had acquired and placed it on one of the nearby branches, stepping out of the way so the wolves could start eating it. Kratos couldn't help but give a little nod of satisfaction, indicating that he was proud of his son, just like he was proud of his daughters as well, and once Atreus was ready to head back up to their home they headed up the path so they could check on Fenrir, which was around the time that Flurry landed nearby.

What they discovered, however, was that Fenrir was definitely far weaker than they recalled him being and Atreus rushed over to his side, discarding his bow in the process, where he sat and let the wolf rest his head on his legs, while his family found that while Atreus wanted him to eat something, anything since he cut the meat into smaller pieces for him, Fenrir just didn't have the strength to eat. Flurry sighed and told her brother that it was time, he needed to let Fenrir go, though while he seemed to fight the idea that the wolf was actually dying, in the end Atreus let out a sad sigh as he started to talk to the wolf, who seemed to understand what was going on. They knew it was hard for him to let go of someone he had bonded with, even if that someone happened to be a wolf, so Kratos and his daughters remained silent as Atreus tended to Fenrir, addressing his strengths while the wolf licked him a few times as Flurry found that he looked sad as well. Eventually Atreus moved into what seemed to be a phrase that only he knew the meaning of, though it seemed to work well as Fenrir's eyes grew dim as his soul, his literal soul as Flurry looked at it, emerged from his mouth as four tiny wisps, three escaping into the air while the fourth disappeared into Atreus' dagger.

It was an emotional moment, that was for sure, where Flurry was sure that Fenrir would find his way to the Light of Alfheim, since he wasn't bound for Helheim, though as Atreus cried, mourning the passing of one of their wolves, Kratos placed his son's bow near him as he turned to face the main house.

"Atreus, I will postpone your training for the time being... mourn Fenrir how you wish, even bury him if that is what you want to do... but when you are done I will resume your lessons." Kratos commented, as while this was a good time to teach his son how to better control his emotions, as fighting and taming one's grief could be good for someone, he also knew that it was in their best interest to allow Atreus to tend to Fenrir, before pulling him into more training.

"Why? Why is that one of the only things you care about?" Atreus asked, focusing on the fact that his father wanted to train to help him, while ignoring the fact that Kratos was even allowing him to bury Fenrir first, another sign in Flurry's eyes that her father had changed for the better, since she wasn't sure his old Greek self would have allowed such a thing, but Kratos held a hand up to stop her and Pandora from saying anything, "We can't hide forever!"

"We are not 'hiding', Atreus. We're trying to prepare for a battle that we are not ready for, while also trying to avoid taking part in Ragnarok itself." Pandora remarked, which was the truth, because if the Giants had predicted that there might be a secondary way for Fimbulwinter to start, something they had discovered on accident before confirming it in Jotunheim, then it stood to reason that the Giants might have discovered another path to reach Ragnarok's end, without damning the Nine Realms to destruction.

"That's the thing, we can't stay out of this forever. We are running out of time... Ragnarok is right around the corner, just as all of the prophecies have stated." Atreus stated, which was an odd change for him, as none of his family had thought that he really cared for the various prophecies that had been made, but now he seemed to see them as the keys to the future, likely part of his Giant side coming through, "Whether you like it or not, war is coming... whatever Loki is supposed to be doing during this point in time, he's supposed to be doing it right now... my story doesn't end with us hiding in these woods like a bunch of cowards!"

"Atreus, getting involved with Ragnarok means going to war with Odin and his allies, and the destruction of the Nine Realms in their entirety." Flurry said, as she was against even getting involved in the war that was brewing, because that would mean the death of many gods, people, animals, and, eventually, the realms that everyone called home, something she would like to avoid until they figured out if the Giants knew more than they let on, "I know you are eager to learn more about yourself, just as I was eager to learn more about myself and my race, but the path you are currently walking down will bring more suffering than is needed. Don't worry, we will help you, but we need to be smart about this."

"See, that's unfair. You can ask Mimir about your people whenever you want, and you've done so plenty of times since this endless winter started, but when I want to know about myself, my destiny, I'm forbidden from doing so!" Atreus remarked, where it seemed like part of his old self was coming back, the part where he thought that things were unfair and that they had to accommodate his desires into everything they did or decided to do, and his desire to have everything go his way was a bad sign since it could lead to the other aspects of the curse that triggered his changes, "Listen to me: I don't want to fight anyone... I... I just want some answers, that's all."

"Tell me, Atreus: what if those answers lead to war with Asgard?" Kratos inquired, because the Giants had been obsessed with the All-Father and his demise, just like Odin had been obsessed with killing them and taking their knowledge for his own ill gain, and he wanted to know what his son would do if the answers he sought would bring him to the event that they were trying to avoid.

"What if that is what mother wanted? To finish what her people started?" Atreus stated, as that seemed to be the direction that the Giants were pointing them in, based on what they had discovered so far, hence why he was putting forth that idea as a potential answer to his father's question.

"Brother, if that was the case Faye wouldn't have destroyed the wall containing your destiny. She wanted you to walk down your own path, not be chained by the plans of her people." Flurry remarked, though this wasn't what she wanted to hear, as it sounded like Atreus might be wanting war with Asgard, which would be bad for everyone, hence why she turned away for a moment and spread her wings, "We'll give you some time alone with Fenrir, but make no mistake that we'll start training as soon as you are done."

Sure enough she took to the air and resumed scouting out the rest of the woods, just to be sure that everything was fine, while at the same time Pandora was no doubt checking on Albis while Kratos headed into the main house to check in with Mimir before resting for a time... but when an hour had passed, however, she felt a random surge of her brother's magic and dropped down near the house, only to find that he was nowhere to be seen.

"Atreus never returned... and, judging from your expression, things could be bad." Pandora commented, though at the same time their father walked out of the house with both of his weapons on his back and Mimir attached to his belt, showing them that he was ready for whatever might have happened.

"Well, it isn't the worse case scenario, him turning into a dragon... but his magic did flare earlier, so who really knows." Flurry said, where she beckoned for the pair to follow her, as she had a general idea as to where her brother might be, because she knew it would be hard for Atreus to get out of the area she had felt the flare in, not unless he knew magic that would move him to another location entirely.

The path in question brought them back down to Speki and Svanna, who seemed to be looking at the rock wall that was off to the left of where they were resting, where there was an opening large enough for Atreus to slip through, where Kratos just hacked through it with the Leviathan Axe. Such a thing allowed them to made their way through the crack and make their way through the small cavern that was on the other side, though while they walked Kratos informed his daughters that his sleep had been troubled, as it seemed like Faye was trying to tell him something from beyond the grave. Flurry was happy to hear that it wasn't the usual nightmares that had been around when it was just them, as she didn't want her father to deal with his older terrors again, though before they could say anything on the matter the family stepped out into the open and found that some raiders jumped down into the clearing. That immediately made the family ready their weapons and lash out at them, slashing through the enemies that were somehow in the area that was under the protection of the stave that Flurry had enchanted previously, though it didn't take them long to cut down their foes, nor did it take Flurry long to pick up the few bits of resources that were on them.

When they pushed through the ruined tree that had fallen in the way, however, they discovered that one of the staves was broken, which explained why there were raiders in the area that was under their protection, and, even more shockingly, near it rested a large female bear that had been slaughtered, due to all the blood that was around her body.

"Either there's a larger bear out here, or Atreus is transforming." Flurry commented, though either way this wasn't a good sign, because whatever had fought the now dead bear had smashed through one of the protection staves and that meant they had to find her brother so he could make a new stave, "Let us hope it is the former."

Kratos nodded as they continued deeper into the woods, following a trail of blood paw prints that suggested that it was the former, though Flurry noticed a wooden chest off to the side and quickly looted it for it's resources as he smashed through a fallen log so they could keep going. Pandora found another wooden chest that she tossed the contents of to her sister once it was looted, before they crawled through another passage and found another raider infested area, meaning they had likely been at the edge of the protection stave and took advantage of it falling. Such a thing didn't matter to the family as each of them slashed through their enemies, Flurry using her bow to take out those that were further away, eliminating the raiders before they could do any damage to the rest of the woods, all while all three of them made sure to grab any resources that were added to Flurry's bag. Eventually they had to climb a stone wall, or jump up in Flurry's case, that allowed them to loot a stone chest and a wooden chest that happened to be on the way, before the trio entered the mountain cave that was in front of them and dropped down on some raiders that happened to be in the area.

They looted another pair of chests, one wooden and one stone, while Mimir mentioned that Atreus might have followed the bear that had torn through the area the raiders were in, if it had been wounded, though as Kratos stepped outside he and his daughters found that the large bear was still nearby, as it barreled into him and knocked him down into the clearing that was below them.

"Well, there's the bear." Pandora said, where she and Flurry pulled out their weapons, though as they did so Kratos held his hand out and stopped them, as the bear was picking a fight with him and he was going to beat it down until it submitted, to which both of them put their weapons away as the bear roared at Kratos, causing him to do the same.

Based on appearance Flurry found tell that the bear wasn't very different from the other one, save for the fact that this one was definitely taller, to the point where it was nearly as tall as her father was, though when it fought they found that it swung it's paws at Kratos like it had been a person at one point in time. She and Pandora also found that it was able to slam down on the ground, like it was trying to crush their father with it's weight, while noticing that it seemed to be enraged and was directing it's rage at their father, almost like he was the case of the creature's suffering. The astonishing thing was that the bear was able to chomp down on their father's arm and haul him around like he was nothing, though Flurry knew it was due to him holding back most of his power, otherwise the bear would have never done such a thing in the first place. That did, however, cause Kratos to unleash his rage, the flaming power he was known for, as he tore his arm free, let it heal instantly, and then punched the bear in the side of it's head so hard that he knocked it back into the large boulder that happened to be in the area.

That caused the bear to get even angrier as something odd happened, it's body started to grow until it was taller than Kratos was, while it's front and back paws seemed to become sharper, almost like a dragon's, and sections of it's fur started to change before their eyes, becoming more scaly. Such a thing caused Flurry to wonder what was going on, since this seemed to be beyond what a bear should be able of, especially when it moved faster than before as her father socked it in the throat without delay, allowing him to grapple with the beast and chock it for a few seconds. There was only one thing she could think of that would cause such a thing, that this was Atreus and that his emotions had warped his sense of reality, though as she thought about that the bear roared and her father hurled it back into the boulder, this time unleashing a series of blows on the beast before it could get back up. Once he was done with that attack Kratos brought his elbow down on the back of the bear's neck, knocking it to the ground, before delivering the final blow as he picked it up and hurled it into the rock wall that they had been standing on before it had attacked him.

As Flurry and Pandora moved to their father's side, however, the bear shuddered as a familiar pair of wings emerged from it's back, along with a very familiar pair of horns, though as Flurry realized what was going on she noticed that something was building in her brother's throat, causing her to summon a barrier around her, Pandora, and their father. Sure enough her thoughts were proven right as Atreus released a torrent of flames that blanketed the area, torching everything that was outside the barrier, or at least everything that was behind them, all while Flurry did her best to keep the nearby protection staves intact. In the following seconds her brother seemed to stop before a secondary burst came out, forcing Flurry to alter her magic as she directed all of the flames up into the sky above them, as she was sure that the rest of the woods would have been set of fire if she allowed the second burst to hit what was around them. This one, however, was cut short as her brother started to cough, like he had damaged himself in the process, causing her to flash over to where he was standing as she used a bit of her magic on him, a spell that would snap him out of his haze and allowed him to revert to the form that they were used to seeing these days.

Kratos barely had time to realize that he had been beating up his son as they found that Atreus was coughing up blood as he collapsed in front of them, where Flurry weaved some of her magic over him as she started to mend his throat, while also making sure he was unconscious for the time being.

"Atreus..." Kratos said, as he couldn't believe that this had happened, that his son's emotions would actually turn him into a bear, whose rage then seemed to bleed over into the curse and caused all the destruction that was in front of them, burning away all sorts of trees and animals that were in the way of the attack.

"He's fine... sure, his throat wasn't ready to spew fire and those torrents tore it up, but I can heal him." Flurry replied, while at the same time she spread her magic out and doused the flames that were dancing around the destroyed area, just to keep the rest of the woods from going up in flames, "Just let him rest for a time and he should be good to go."

Kratos nodded as he hoped that Flurry was right, as they were in uncharted territory when it came to Atreus, thanks to his curse and his Giant powers, so all he could do was hope that his son emerged from this unharmed and that they would be able to return to their home without any complications, he just had to be patient as he waited to see what the next few hours held in store for his family.

Ragnarok: Uninvited Guests

Flurry tended to Atreus for a few minutes, to be sure that her healing had taken and that she wasn't leaving her brother in a wounded state, while her father and Pandora kept watch to be sure there were no more raiders in the area, before finally withdrawing her magic as her brother started to stir, allowing the others to join them.

'Wh... What happened?" Atreus asked, where this time it felt different than when his arrogance over being a god had taken hold of his mind, clouding his judgement until Kratos snapped at him, because it honestly felt like part of him honestly had no idea what he had done before this point, before he noticed the charred area that was near them, "Did a dragon tear through this place?"

"You do not remember?" Kratos inquired, because if his son really had no idea that he had destroyed part of the forest, not to mention killed the bear they had seen earlier, than this would be difficult for them, though he did notice that the mark he had made around Atreus' neck, while his son was in his bear form, was slow to heal, even with Flurry's help.

"I... I remember burying Fenrir, and then... I'm... I'm not sure..." Atreus replied, though at the same time he carefully picked himself up off the ground while Kratos made sure that he was fine, since his body was likely going to be sore after what his son had been through before Flurry freed him from his emotional madness, before he considered something, "I remember feeling incredibly sad... and then I felt a surge of anger, followed by being scared. I recall that I was running at one point, and there was a bear that ended up charging me... and I charged back? And then there was pain, a rush of anger, and the burning desire to destroy whatever was angering me... but that... that had to be a dream."

"I'm afraid that it wasn't, brother. Your emotions caused you to transform into a bear, a rather large one at that." Pandora said, where they found that while he was talking Atreus rubbed both the area of his neck that was still bruised and part of his throat, which Flurry had healed after his attack had torn apart his insides, while at the same time her words caused him to freak out a little, "And from the looks of it your rage somehow caused your curse to bleed into your new bear form, which... well, you can see the results for yourself."

Atreus stared at the devastation that was near them, an entire portion of the woods utterly destroyed and ruined by his own hand, with who knows how many innocent creatures burned alive in the process, and that thought filled him with a sense of dread as he realized what he had done.

"I... I didn't know I could shapeshift... I... I couldn't have done THIS!?" Atreus weakly remarked, as if he wanted to deny that he was the one who destroyed this portion of the woods, that Baldur's ancient words about him turning into a mindless beast were still being proven true to this very day, which was when Kratos approached him and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"You can, and you did. This, Atreus, is why we have been teaching you how to control your emotions." Kratos said, because if there was anything that would convince his son that emotional control was needed, least he do something he might regret, it was the utter destruction he had unleashed on the woods not a few minutes ago, meaning they might be able to make some progress with him once they got back home, "We do not know the reach of your godly abilities, nor do we know how much they will be amplified by the curse... let this destruction serve as a warning: uncontrollable powers can be dangerous."

"But... I have the discipline to control them! You've already taught me that." Atreus replied, showing them that, once again, he was missing what they were trying to tell him, or maybe he was just being stubborn for the sake of it, though he couldn't help but stare at the destruction, as if he was actually learning without directly telling them, "Besides, I need answers as to who I am, what my destiny is supposed to be... answers none of you have for me! Father, I know you had a troubled past, but you need to stop thinking like a parent and start acting like a general."

"NO..." Kratos stated, as that was the last thing he wanted, people assuming he was going to lead them into war, plus there was the fact that he didn't want his son to think he was going to go to war with Odin, before he realized he had been a little harsh with his word and regained control of himself, "No. I am no one's general, nor will I ever be. We will talk more about this when we are back home, and we have resumed your training to control your emotions."

Atreus looked like there was more he wanted to say, something that would cause his father to change his mind about what was going on, but instead he just sighed and bowed his head a little, showing them that he was going to follow Kratos back home, all while Mimir remained silent, as if knowing this was purely between the family and didn't require his input. The path they were following was in the direction that Atreus had loosed his fire breath in, allowing the boy some time to think about what he had done in his uncontrollable state, the destruction he had caused before his family stopped him. While they walked Atreus commented on his transformation and if they were going to talk about it, causing Kratos to inform him that it would come later, once they were back home, because for now they had to fix the protection stave, as Atreus and the other bear had smashed it during their scuffle. For a moment Atreus seemed offended that this was being pushed onto him, like he didn't want to be blamed for this, before he sighed and admitted that it was his fault, if he had been more in control of his emotions he wouldn't have done all of this.

As they moved along the path that was in front of them, which was moving in a different direction than the one the family had used to track down Atreus, meaning they were going to have to continue to walk down the scorched area as Atreus just stared at the destruction he had caused. That also came with some measure of death, as Flurry found some raiders that had been unlucky in where they had chosen to stop for a time, as the first torrent of flames had killed anyone unlucky enough to be in the way, even if they had no idea the flames had been coming in the first place. Mimir did have to ask Atreus if there were any other powers he knew about that they might need to be told about, simply to add some additional lessons to what the boy needed to be taught, and while Atreus didn't have anything else to say Kratos did ask about the words his son had said to Fenrir and the small wisps that had emerged from the wolf's body. This time Atreus really had no idea what he was talking about, causing Mimir to say that he would have labeled it as a trick of Fimbulwinter, if it hadn't been for Flurry's rune, so the family assumed he might be tapping into magic as well and that Flurry would have to teach him how to wield it before something else happened.

There was a short cave system the family used that winded a little, and had a stone chest Kratos looted, that brought them out in the area that was near the stave that had been broken, which allowed them to leave the destruction behind while Atreus found that his father was right, he had ruined the protection stave and killed a bear. Once Kratos found the perfect tree to replace the broken one he had Atreus utilize his power to turn in into a new protection stave, which he did without delay as Flurry confirmed that everything was back to normal, at least for the time being. As that happened they discovered a pair of bear cubs mourning the loss of their mother, something that struck Atreus to his core, especially since he had lost his mother not all that long ago, though there was next to nothing they could do for the cubs. Flurry, however, was able to walk up to them and touched their foreheads for a moment, imparting a very tiny bit of magic onto them in the hope that both cubs were able to find an area to survive in, so they could grow up and not die due to her brother's inability to control his emotions.

Once the bear cubs wandered off, still mourning their fallen mother, the family returned to the area that Speki and Svanna were in, giving Atreus a few moments to make sure both of them were just fine, especially after Fenrir's death, before they headed up to their home, all while they heard lightning crackle above them.

"Sounds like Thor." Pandora commented, as the lightning seemed to be frequent, like the god in question was annoyed by something or was traveling somewhere at the moment, and if that was true it made her and Flurry wonder if it was time for him to exact revenge for Magni's death.

"Aye, I recognize the sound anywhere... my advice? Remain awake for some time... we might have an uninvited guest in the near future." Mimir said, because while he knew that sleep was important, and some of them could use it, namely Atreus, he also knew that there was a chance that Thor might be coming and that they should remain alert, so the family could be at the ready if he happened to visit them.

Flurry nodded as she and Pandora headed into their house, while at the same time Kratos and Atreus headed into theirs, all while the look on their faces told Albis, who had a room in this structure, that they would talk later... though after waiting for thirty minutes the sky flashed like a storm was happening around them, and sure enough there was a large imposing figure, even taller than Kratos, standing outside their houses.

"WHO ARE YOU?" Kratos asked, standing in the doorway of his and Atreus' house as he noticed that his daughters happened to be in the doorway of their residence, before everyone focused on the large god that had a large belly, an exposed chest, a furred cape to combat the winter of Midgard, and, the most important of all, the imposing hammer that was Mjolnir, as they had heard Mimir describe it in the past.

"Thor Odinson, the God of Thunder." the figured replied, much calmer than the family was expecting after hearing Mimir talk about him for a long time, where Flurry was able to see that he had a short beard that happened to be similar to what her father had, before the god reached into a pack that was on his back and produced a mead bottle, "Can I come in? I brought some mead with me... and besides, we have some things to talk about."

Flurry glanced at the area that was around their home and found that there were two ravens in the trees, which seemed to be slightly larger than the emerald green spies of Odin, had icy blue eyes, and some of their feathers were unique, as one had a couple of red feathers mixed in and the other had blue ones. Those had to be Huginn and Muninn, Odin's personal ravens, or 'right pricks' according to Mimir, which meant there was a chance the All-Father himself might show up, meaning they must have been waiting for a crack to appear in the protective barrier and Atreus breaking a tree down had given them that chance. As she thought about that Atreus wandered back into the house for a moment and her father beckoned for the god to approach, where Thor walked over to the doorway and headed inside, though it wasn't long before she and Pandora did the same, since this seemed important. It was easy to tell that Thor was somewhat distracted right now, either because he didn't want to be here or there was someone back in Asgard he'd rather be with, no doubt Thrud, his daughter, since she was likely training to help her family out and being there for her was important to the god.

He did, however, glance up at the roof of the main house for a moment, allowing Flurry to see that the storm had done a bit of damage, a tiny amount that could be easily fixed, while at the same time Atreus finished moving their main table into the center of the house, all while Huginn and Muninn landed on the edge of the two beds.

"Nice place you've got." Thor commented, where it sounded like he was trying to be friendly and not just shatter everything like he usually did, which told Flurry that the loss of Magni must have affected him greatly, plus the potential passing of Modi until his other son showed up in Asgard, "Are there any house rules I should be aware of?"

"The only one that applies to this situation is handing Flurry your weapon... you wish to talk, so show us that you mean it by handing her the hammer." Kratos replied, as this was one of the rules they had come up with with Faye, that visiting gods and goddesses had to hand over their weapons as a sign of good faith that they weren't here to cause trouble, where he made the first motions by handing his daughter both the blades and the axe, which she stored in a magical prison.

"If you say so." Thor said, causing him to remove Mjolnir from his belt before handing it over to Flurry, though while he must have been expecting her to collapse under the weight of the hammer, which would have been hilarious in his eyes, he found that she was able to handle it's weight like it was nothing, in fact she flipped it around like it was nothing, "Well I'll be, I've never seen someone do that before."

"Yeah, she's always doing things that defy reason." Atreus commented, though he knew that even with him understanding his sister's abilities in such a way, to where some of the things she did caused him to just accept it, it was times like this that just made him utterly surprised by what Flurry was capable of, before his sister slipped the hammer into the magical holding area that their father's weapons were in, "So, what did you want to discuss?"

"First things first." Thor remarked, where he pulled out the mead bottle he had brought with him and uncorked it, allowing him to pour some into the two wooden tankards that had been placed on the table, though at the same time he and Kratos took their seats, but as he did so he still seemed distracted by something as he looked at Kratos, "You know, you seem like a calm and reasonable person, unlike your predecessor... you are a calm and reasonable person, aren't you?"

"When the moment calls for calm, I am calm. When the need arrives for rage, I rage." Kratos said, which was the truth, how he presented himself often depended on the situation he and his family were in, though there were times where he broke that train of thought and was more 'himself', as Flurry had put it, "Right now the situation calls for calm, so I am calm. The same applies to my children."

That got a light chuckle out of Thor, like he knew something they didn't, but before he said anything else there was a knock on the door and Kratos nodded to Atreus to open it, though when he did so they discovered that another figure had come by for a visit, a skinnier older man who was well dressed, far more than Thor, plus he had an eye patch over his right eye, a telltale sign as to who he was.

"You know who I am." Odin stated, revealing that he knew that they knew about him, enough to identify him at a glance, all while both of his ravens disappeared into his arms and left tattoos in their wake, for the short period of time that he held his arms out, before they found that the All-Father was definitely rude as he walked into the house without being invited by Kratos or his children, in fact he pulled over a seat and took it without it being offered to him, "What happened to you, boy? You look more like a dragon than a person."

"Oh, you know, Fafnir's curse... trying to control it and failing miserably." Atreus replied, though he didn't try to hide it, as he knew from Mimir that Odin had no information on this particular curse and that meant there was no harm in telling him that he had it, since he had no cure to offer him, just like he had no information to offer the All-Father.

"I see. Well then, onto the business at hand: back before winter set in there were some... misunderstandings." Odin said, all while Kratos and Flurry carefully listened to what he had to say, even though they suspected that some of it would be lies, a favorite of his according to Mimir, leaving Pandora and Atreus to just stand there and observe, "Regrettable ones, to say the least, but I like to think that we all have a better understanding of who we're dealing with now. What you did to his boys, for example, that was self defense... I mean, dying is what we Aesir live for, though to be honest they were kind of useless."

"Even so, they were family and I miss Magni... Modi is..." Thor started to say, though in the following moment he was cut off as Odin placed one of the wooden tankards in front of him, as if silently indicating that he was to shut up and get drunk like always, something that caused him to look to the side, like he was actually trying to cut back.

"Is dead. Both died in the line of duty." Odin stated, which annoyed Flurry quite a bit, because she knew Modi was alive and that he had gone back to Asgard a number of times over the last three years, a fact that made her wonder what sort of game the All-Father was playing right now, other than reminding Atreus of what he had gone, "But Baldur? He had value... he was my best tracker, my closer... yeah, his mind was gone, sure, but he made up for that with his skills... and now he's..."

Odin found that he was interrupted by a knock at the door and Atreus was quick to open it, where they found that Freya had come by for a visit, no doubt because she had witnessed the pillar of fire that was Flurry redirecting Atreus' second burst of fire into the air to avoid destroying the woods, though she did breath a sigh of relief.

"Kratos, I am glad that you and your family are alright." Freya said, confirming that she had been worried about them since she must have realized that the fire had been more than an ordinary attack, though in the next moment her smile turned into a frown as she noticed who was currently sitting at the table, "Husband. Thor."

"Why are you here? Why do you care for them at all?" Odin asked, because this wasn't what he was expecting to see, that his former wife would actually be calm and reasonable in the face of those that killed her son, not to mention his son, due to the fact that Freya was supposed to be hunting down the family for Baldur's death, "They killed..."

"Our son? Sorry to burst your bubble, but Baldur's alive." Freya replied, which was when Odin's eye widened and Thor was quick to do the same as they found the figure in question standing in the doorway, outfitted in light armor to help him tackle Fimbulwinter and survive now that he no longer had his invulnerability, plus a glaive that was like Flurry's Serpent Gliave but made in the Vanir style.

"What in Hel is going on?! Father, you said they killed Baldur, which started Fimbulwinter!" Thor inquired, as this wasn't part of the plan that his father had told him before he teleported them into Midgard so they could talk with Kratos, in fact it made him wonder what in the world was going on.

"Funny thing, we found a Giant tablet that revealed the true start to Fimbulwinter: my curse being removed... also, thanks for not telling me I was destined to die." Baldur remarked, his tone telling his father that he was annoyed right now, especially after Flurry had helped him and his mother reach a certain level of understanding so he tolerated her and didn't seek her death for putting that curse on him in the first place, "So yeah, there was no stopping Fimbulwinter."

Odin remained silent for a moment as he realized that his original plan was no longer in effect, as he had been planning on using Freya's hatred of Kratos to try and talk them into not doing anything, to stay passive until he dealt with Ragnarok, and now he couldn't do that, while at the same time finding that Kratos had something to say.

"You came here for a reason. What is it that you want from us?" Kratos asked, because it was time for them to get serious, as there would be time to talk about this later, so his focus was on getting these two gods out of his house and resuming his son's training so they didn't burn the woods down if he accidentally transformed again.

"How about peace? Tell me, how does peace sound for the esteemed and retired Greek God of War?" Odin answered, which was the truth, right now he wanted to stop Ragnarok and undo Fimbulwinter, though it was mostly to prevent his death from becoming a reality, since that was something that all of the Giant prophecies seemed to agree on, while hoping that Kratos and his family believed him, "In fact, how does peace sound for your daughters, the Goddess of Life and the Goddess of Hope? I do, however, have one condition I would like to make: that one has to give up his search for Tyr."

As he said that Odin briefly gestured towards Atreus, something that caused everyone to turn towards him in shock, as in he had told no one, not even his family, that he was trying to find a dead god, someone he seemed to think was alive for some odd reason, and Atreus stepped back as he found that everyone was staring at him.

"Shit, I'll even sweeten the deal: regardless if you say yes or no, you can keep Mimir... my old partner in crime seems more at home with you than he was during his time in Asgard." Odin continued, not even waiting for them to say anything about how Atreus was looking for Tyr, as he knew that would cause some fractures to appear within their group, which was when he pulled out a golden coin and set it on the table before drinking both cups of mead that Thor had poured, "I'll even pay for the damage to the roof, with a coin that you can use anywhere, and formally extend an invitation for Atreus to join me in Asgard so we can work together to stop Ragnarok. I'll even give you a few days to talk about it... come, Thor, we're leaving."

Thor grumbled something for a moment as he held a hand out and found that Mjolnir didn't move at all, rather Flurry pulled it out of the magical cage she had put the weapons in and returned it to him, though with the weapon in hand he headed outside with his father and disappeared, using a vortex of ravens to disappear, causing Flurry to weave her magic around the house to ensure Odin couldn't listen in on their conversation.

"Brother... explain yourself, now!" Flurry stated, because while they knew Odin was lying to them about wanting peace, he just wanted to save his own skin, his words about Atreus seeking Tyr rung true for some reason, meaning her brother had gone behind all of their backs, without any of them noticing which was a feat since she was the most observant of them all, and betrayed their trust.

"Look, I've been having odd dreams lately, and they told me to look for Tyr... and I knew that none of you would approve of me doing this, so I did what I could by myself." Atreus replied, where he rubbed his right arm for a moment, as it seemed like he had been hoping to tell them this when he had more evidence to support what he was doing, not have the All-Father just drop it on everyone during a visit, "But now that you know... well, there's something you need to see. Something that can potentially change our understanding of Ragnarok."

"You mean like how you learned about how the Giants foresaw a change in my fate?" Baldur asked, because if that was true, and Atreus was sure that there was a way out there to prevent or even alter Ragnarok, so that they didn't lose the entirety of the Nine Realms, he was all for it, especially since he was sure they would have foreseen his father's death even in this turn of events, "Oh, this I've got to see."

Kratos, while annoyed that Odin knew more about his son's actions than anyone else did, agreed with Baldur, if there was a chance that they could prevent Ragnarok, or alter it to avoid destroying the Nine Realms, it was worth looking into, causing him to tell everyone to gather their gear as they readied themselves for whatever the future held for them.

Ragnarok: Shrine Knowledge

Once everyone was ready to go, even Albis since she noticed that the entire group was getting ready to leave, Flurry did one last thing to make sure their home was safe, she cast one more barrier spell to make sure Odin was unable to enter this area for the foreseeable future, before glancing at her brother.

"So, where are we going?" Flurry asked, as Atreus had discovered something that had caused the All-Father to come out to their home and try to stop him from continuing down the path he had started down, revealing that information to them and potentially screwing over whatever plans he and Thor had in mind.

"The old temple in the Wildwoods... our target is the triptych we discovered in there." Atreus replied, something that caused Flurry and Pandora to raise an eyebrow for a moment, as they recalled the item in question and neither had thought it had more information that could be gleamed from it's story, which was interesting to say the least, "Trust me, it'll be easier to show all of you what I mean, instead of trying to explain it with words."

"There is one concerning thing: if Odin is focused on Fimbulwinter and Ragnarok, that likely means he's given up on trying to get into Jotunheim and learning the 'secrets of the Giants'." Freya commented, all while she and the others headed out of the area by using the wooden arch that Kratos and his daughters had put up at some point after they returned from the realm of the Giants, though her words caused everyone to remain silent for a moment, as it was something interesting to think about while they walked.

Ahead of them the group found a wall that required them to climb up it, like how Atreus struck an upper part of it with one of his arrows, one designed to lodge itself into the material and grant him the ability to get up quickly, or like how Kratos just used one of the blades and it's chain to do the same thing. Freya found that this didn't even stop Albis from following them, reminding her that the gorgon was used to traveling with the family and, more importantly, she was able to keep pace with both Kratos and his daughters, in fact she was faster than Atreus was. Just beyond the wall they found a wooden chest that Pandora looted, but what caught their attention was the fact that there were raiders that were slain and even left hanging until they died, killed by something else, causing Kratos to realize that one of their older foes was back. Flurry explained that she and her family had encountered a stalker, the Huntress, several times in the past, after Fimbulwinter started, and the figure, who was half woman and half deer while resembling a centaur, clashed with them before fleeing, meaning she was still hunting them and that their home was definitely no longer safe.

That fact was definitely true since these kills were almost on the outskirts of their home, meaning the Huntress was simply taunting them, but now that they were walking away from their home everyone needed to be on guard, since there was no telling when she might show up and attack them. The problem that Flurry found was that there were far too many raiders inside the protection stave, especially for how short the opening had been, causing her to expand her magic before making a startling discovery, the entirety of the protection stave, which had been working before Odin's arrival, was cooked, as in the entire thing was gone. Such a thing enraged Kratos for a moment, as Odin must have known about the Huntress and took out their protection to make sure they suffered, no doubt expecting them to take some time before moving, meaning this wasn't in whatever plan he had come up with after his main plans had been ruined. Fortunately he calmed down quickly and continued to move forward, though at the same time Flurry told them that once they got back she and Atreus would make a new protection stave, one that would be far stronger than the one Odin had just ruined.

As they continued forward Kratos found some bramble blocking their path, the type that only the blades could take care of, and he swung one of his blades at it, burning it away so they could continue deeper into the woods, though this allowed Freya to realize how they were able to deal with Helheim's dangers during their last big adventure.

Unfortunately the bridge that they had used in the past had fallen apart, as it was no longer usable and had collapsed into the area below where it had been resting previously, but Kratos did find a gate resting somewhat above them that he used a blade to open, allowing them to climb up to another path that would bring them to the temple. Such a thing allowed them to discover that some of the slain raiders were transforming into icy Hel-Raiders, just like Hel-Walkers, where Freya told Kratos and his family that this was partly her fault, as the Valkyries had been helping her and Baldur off and on for the last three years, hunting down the curses she couldn't find. As such it meant that the tide of undead was only partly dealt with and her selfishness was going to hurt others, though Baldur was sure his father was still behind this in some manner, most of the things they had discovered so far seemed to be his fault, showing that he had grown from who he had been when they first encountered him.

In fact Baldur was the one who dealt with the first Hel-Raider, shifting his stance and swinging the glaive in a rapid motion that separated his foe into mincemeat, showing them that three years of training off and on with Flurry, a master of every weapon type she had experienced in Greece and the Nine Realms, had paid off quite well.

A few moments later they encountered upon a raider off in the distance that was speared in the chest and dragged off, no doubt by the Huntress, meaning she was literally taunting Kratos and his family this time around, as if sensing that this was the only chance she had to hunt them in a serious manner. In fact Flurry found that the raider that had been pulled off to the side had been strung up and slain by the time they reacted, which all but confirmed that this was who she and her family thought it was, meaning they had to be on their guard for the foreseeable future. Following that the group found that there were more Hel-Raiders being brought to life, likely out of their desire for revenge in regards to the Huntress, but because all of them were mindless they attacked the group without delay, no doubt what the figure intended, lower their defenses so she could find an opening. Such a thing allowed Flurry to see how Freya fought, as she did a lot of training by herself, and it was rather simple, she used her sword to cut at enemies that were coming her way, while also utilizing her bow, which had a whole new bowstring, to hit those that were far away from them.

Of course that was when Freya realized something very important, Flurry was an expert archer, hitting targets from afar and striking multiple of them in rapid succession, striking down several Hel-Raiders before they could even get close to the rest of the group, and when one tried to get behind her Flurry spun around and slashed at it with her sickles, sundering her foe before it could even hit her.

"Kratos, your daughter is amazing... I mean, so are Pandora and Atreus, but... Flurry's on an entirely different level." Freya remarked, as it was true, Flurry's reaction speed and accuracy were incredibly deadly and on point, to the point that she was sure that she could strike a dragon from far away if she wanted to, and that was without using her magic, the arsenal that she could call upon at any given moment, or the greatsword on her back.

"But of course, Flurry's been with father since the beginning, while Atreus and I joined later on." Pandora stated, because she knew that her sister was on another level, she could see it whenever they did something, but that just made her smile while she swung her halberd and slashed her opponents apart, clearing the area for them to quickly loot the fallen before heading further down the path, "Plus she's an alicorn... can't really compete with such a magical being."

Freya could only nod for a moment upon hearing that, as Flurry certainly bested her in that aspect of well, which was due to all of the training she had gone between her adventures in the lands of Greece, allowing her to hone her skills into what she and Baldur were seeing right now. After dealing with that group they discovered that another bridge had collapsed and that Atreus was fast to assure them that it wasn't his fault it had collapsed, leading them to assume that it was either the fault of Fimbulwinter, which was the more likely idea, or the Huntress did this. While they took turns slipping through a set of pillars, as there was a gap into another area, Atreus explained that the reason he had been seeking Tyr, in addition to his dreams calling him to this temple, was that he was positive that he was the only person who could shed some light on the Giants and the secrets of Loki. Flurry told Freya and Baldur about the name, it was what the Giants had called Atreus and it was what Faye originally wanted before agreeing with Kratos on calling their son 'Atreus', once more confirming that Faye didn't want her son to be trapped in whatever prophecy her people had seen for him.

As they descended into another area Freya thought about that information, and the fact that the family was able to track all sorts of chests, as there was a wooden one she would have missed, and privately wondered how much Flurry could store in her bag, before deciding that it was probably a question best left unanswered. The group did discover some living raiders that, upon death, swiftly returned as Hel-Raiders, causing Freya to tell Kratos that once this was over, and they knew what was in the shrine, she was going to contact the Valkyries and get them back to work, as her curses mattered little if there were swarms of undead roaming the realms. Kratos then found a pillar that had fallen in the way, again Atreus confirmed it wasn't his doing, causing him to latch onto it with his blades and yank it out of the way, demonstrating a skill he could use with the Blades of Chaos that he rarely used, and might be using more frequently, even though he knew Flurry could do it far faster with her magic if she really wanted to do so. In order to move forward the pillar had to be moved back into position and Flurry did so without delay, allowing them to jump across to where a rope line was located, where Kratos pulled on the nearby chain and moved the line into position.

Such a thing allowed them to ride down the rope line, where they dropped down into the lower area and dealt with a group of raiders and Hel-Raiders, cutting their way through them with ease, showing Freya and Baldur just how skilled the family was on their own, how they worked in unison with each other to quickly bring down their foes. Freya also knew that this was due to the fact that Flurry's rune had prevented Fimbulwinter from messing with everything they had on them, making the family a force to be reckoned with during such a terrible point in the history of the Nine Realms. Even the raiders that were on the other side of another gap, one that seemed to be the way forward, didn't stand much of a chance while Pandora just dropped off the right side and smashed a wooden chest, returning to the rest of the group and handing the loot over to her sister, who stored it inside her bag. Kratos even spotted some runes off on their right that read 'Kill Winter-Man', which he was able to fully read since Atreus had insisted that he be able to read and understand the Norse runes, and he was sure this was Odin's work, no doubt one of his spies had convinced the raiders that he was the cause of Fimbulwinter and that his death would end it.

As they climbed up into another area, one that was flatter than some of the others, the Huntress finally made her move as she attacked the group, targeting Kratos as he approached the wall they needed to climb, only to find that her weapon just stopped before it could reach her target, due to Flurry's magic seizing control of it. While the Huntress realized that there were more people around who she had chosen as her target, however, Kratos rushed her and she retaliated by raising both of her front hooves to try and smash him into the ground, only for him to grab them and toss them to the side as he quickly punched her in the side. The interesting thing was that she was capable of firing multiple arrows at once and that her antlers glowed, the latter being something they took care of by striking them with a weapon that returned to their side, such as the Blades of Chaos or Flurry's sickles. Of course she did have a surprisingly powerful attack of her own, a rather powerful arrow that smashed through Kratos' shield, damaging Faye's shield to the point that it couldn't be used again, causing him to rage at the Huntress as he rushed after her and smashed her into the ground with his fists, before driving her bow straight into her human chest and crushed her into the ground.

With a final twist Kratos destroyed her heart, no doubt killing her instantly, though to be sure he also did the same to her lower half, the deer portion, just to be sure she didn't come back to life on them, since sometimes killing one heart didn't mean the end of a foe, only for her to dissolve like all of the other monsters, signaling that she was dead.

"Father... mother's shield..." Atreus said, as he knew how important the shield was to his father and was sad to see that the Huntress had damaged it enough to break it, while at the same time Flurry collected the magical bones and leather their foe had on her, plus a runic gem that empowered Kratos' axe, allowing her to store the gem in her bag as well.

"Yes, she damaged it. I will have to go without for the time being." Kratos replied, which wasn't a problem for him, since he was used to fighting without a shield thanks to what Ares had put him through over the years, hence why he pulled out both of the Blades of Chaos, since they seemed to be working best right now, especially against Hel-Raiders, "I will ask Brok and Sindri if they can fix it later."

As Atreus nodded Kratos removed the broken shield and handed it to Flurry, who stashed it inside another portion of her bag for safekeeping, before they ascended the wall that the Huntress had been protecting, allowing them to finally enter the temple at long last. While walked inside Atreus explained that his dreams allowed him to realize something important about the shrines they had discovered during their last adventure, they held more information than any of them had known at the time, which explained why he was so sure that Tyr was alive while everyone else thought the god was dead. The temple, as they discovered, was on the verge of collapse and happened to be falling apart right now, an effect of Fimbulwinter as the group glanced out at the rest of the area, all while Pandora found a stone chest and looted the metal and Hacksilver that was inside it. Flurry noticed that there was a fallen pillar in the way, while again her brother stated that it was new, so while she moved it out of the way with her magic, breaking a decayed tree out of the way, her sister found a wooden chest and quickly looted it as well, allowing her to add more to the collection as Flurry opened the way forward.

Following that they walked up the stairs and approached the triptych Atreus was interested in, which had been closed since the last time Flurry and her family had been here, to which he walked up to it and opened it without delay, all while Kratos pulled Mimir out so he could also see what they were about to discover.

"Watch this." Atreus said, where he turned towards the shrine and placed his hand on the central image, causing his family and their friends to watch as a golden area appeared around his hand and spread out, dissolving the painting and revealing a stone door in the central frame's position, one he pushed open to reveal a spiraling portal of Giant magic, "Come on, what you guys need to see is on the other side."

Kratos thought about telling his son to stop, but since Atreus stepped into the portal there wasn't much they could do as he and the others followed after him, where they found that they were in a place that reminded him of Flurry's bag, a world or dimension hidden behind something else. Atreus explained what he knew about what was going on, that this was a place only the Giants had access to, where they seemed to hide the true versions of their stories, while at the same time a mist of sorts washed over the area and took on a new shape, the wolves Skoll and Hati chained up. In this secret story they found something interesting, that being that Odin did, in fact, have them imprisoned at one point in time to help control the start of Ragnarok, but some Giants had freed them and, according to the changing information, brought them to Vanaheim, much to Freya's surprise. They further discovered that at some point in time the moon was going to be stolen, until someone that the Giant's referred to as the 'Champion' rescues the moon and shoots an arrow to set the wolves back on track, after both the sun and moon form a total eclipse, before he got onto the part he wanted them to see.

Everyone watched as the scene transformed into the start of Ragnarok, the armies of the Nine Realms facing Odin's army, to which Atreus pointed at the leader of the allied force, a figure that the Giants claimed was Tyr, where Mimir had to wonder if Odin had been telling the truth when he said he had killed Tyr... before Atreus brought them outside and showed them one of the walls they had walked by, using a bit of his magic to reveal a series of drawings while the shrine returned to normal.

"I also found this." Atreus said, revealing a small sphere of some kind that he handed to his father, who then passed it down to the others for a moment as he turned his attention to the drawings, which seemed to be notes of where the other shrines were located, and some were crossed off, "It was in one of the other shrines... I know it's Giant craftsmanship, that much is obvious, but I'm not sure what it's supposed to be. And no, I haven't been to all of the other shrines, before you ask that sort of question... I've only been to the ones in Midgard, thanks to Odin sealing Realm Travel and Sindri not wanting to take me to see the ones in the other realms."

"So that's why I've been feeling him constantly move around without a pattern for the last few years. He's been helping you the entire time... you really didn't trust us to help you, despite being part of the family?" Flurry remarked, which hurt a little, that her brother wouldn't even make an attempt to come to her and Pandora for assistance, even if he knew they'd rat him out to their father, rather he put his faith in someone that was nearly a total stranger, despite how friendly Sindri was.

"It doesn't matter whether or not I trusted you... I know Tyr's alive, when all of you thought he was dead, because one of the shrines proved it." Atreus stated, causing the family to sigh for a moment, as it seemed like Atreus was starting to step back into the arrogant person he had been when he first discovered that he was a god, in fact Flurry was sure that this was going to add a few more scales to one of his limbs or body, "The other shrines had hints as to where he might be imprisoned: they mention black smoke and bleeding earth."

"Black smoke? Muspelheim, perhaps?" Kratos inquired, because while he had been in the Nine Realms for quite some time he still didn't know the ins and outs of each one, so his knowledge was limited in this situation, hence why he guessed at the most likely realm that Tyr could be imprisoned in, since his son was so convinced that he was right and that meant they had to deal with this side of him for a while.

"Unlikely. My husband has power and connections in most of the Nine Realms... but not the primordial ones." Freya said, as she couldn't fault Kratos for thinking such a thing, because bleeding earth could easily be interpreted as lava and magma, which Muspelheim had in abundance, but there was another realm that was likely the one the Giants had foretold in their strange hidden shrines, "Mimir, could it be the realm of the dwarves?"

"Svartalfheim? It is the most likely candidate." Mimir replied, where he was happy to provide some assistance in this matter, because if Atreus was right, and Tyr was actually alive and imprisoned, this could very well unite the Nine Realms against Odin, just as the Giants seemed to think in their new prophecy, "Especially since their mines did belch black smoke. But we do have a problem: Odin has sealed off Realm Travel, remember? We have no way to get to Svartalfheim."

"That's not exactly true." Pandora remarked, where she held up her half hand for a moment and caused them to remember that she wore a special gauntlet with six special stones inside it's slots, though as she activated the blue stone a circular rift appeared in the air behind her, a portal large enough for even her father to step through that lead back to their house, "I've been working on harnessing the power of this gauntlet, and the stones we collected during our previous adventure, and while this isn't the best solution, it is one we can use without asking anyone for assistance."

Freya, Baldur, and even Mimir looked at Pandora for a few seconds, as they couldn't believe what she was doing, despite the fact that one of them was sure that Flurry could do the same with her magic if she truly felt like it, as the existence of a stone that was capable of opening portals like this was unknown to them. Such a thing caused Freya to wonder about the other five that were on the gauntlet, along with the curiosity if they could be used in unison or not, and she could tell that Mimir was curious as well, since this might be outside his area of expertise. As they stepped through the portal, appearing outside the main house, Kratos found that they didn't even have time to talk about what they had seen in the shrine, as Sindri, with a hat that was no doubt made to help him with the winter conditions of Midgard, appeared nearby. He mentioned that both he and Brok had noticed that the protection stave had been cooked, both suspecting that it was Odin, and had decided to let the family bunk with them for a time, leading Freya to tell them that she and Baldur were going to remain in Midgard for a time, to speak to the Valkyries and track down Odin's final curse.

Kratos nodded and wished them well, knowing that the pair would likely utilize their wolves while they were gone, before he and his family followed Sindri through the Door of Yggdrasil that was nearby, as it was time to see where the dwarf was taking them and see if he had a way to get into Svartalfheim, causing him to look forward to what the future held in store for everyone.

Ragnarok: Svartalfheim

"This is my house." Sindri said, speaking when they emerged from the passage that allowed them to traverse the realms in the past, where they found that they were on one of the branches of Yggdrasil and, more importantly, the structure that was in front of them appeared to have two floors, possibly more since it was large and impressive, "Brok and I took the liberty to make some rooms for you guys, after I realized that Odin might be coming once Atreus told me what he was looking for in those shrines, and I even put your names on them to help you out."

"This is an impressive place, Sindri." Flurry replied, where they found that the dwarf insisted that they wipe their feet before entering his house, or hooves in her case, which was what her family did since they wanted to be good guests, though that was when they entered the structure and found that it was just as impressive on the inside as it was on the outside, "And so is the inside."

"Thank you. Now then, would you like to check out your rooms, or shall we get to business right away?" Sindri asked, as he knew that the family had plans now that Odin had wrecked their protection stave, even though he suspected that Kratos would prefer to leave immediately, especially given what he had seen during their last adventure, "I can even get a couple of snacks, if you guys want to relax for a while."

"No. No snacks are required." Kratos stated, where Flurry handed over the ruined shield as he approached the forge area that was to the left of the entrance, which happened to be where Brok was working after their return to this realm, causing him to set the device on the counter for a moment, "Can you fix this?"

"Hm. maybe. It's busted up good... you sure you don't want a replacement?" Brok asked, as he knew that making a stronger shield for Kratos was possible, in fact he had thought up a few new designs since the last time he saw the group, despite the fact that he felt Atreus' growth was actually bad since the boy had grown a little too much in his opinion.

Kratos told him that it was important to him, as it was one of Faye's last gifts to him, causing the dwarf to nod as he placed it off to the side, to work on while they were gone, before he handed over a device that was similar to the old one and turned into a new type of shield, a temporary one until Faye's was fixed. While he did that, however, Atreus approached Sindri and asked him about what they had talked about previously, a way to open Realm Travel so they could get to Svartalfheim, to which Mimir asked why neither of them had said a word about this over the course of Fimbulwinter. Sindri said that part of it was because he and Brok actually needed Mimir's help, though the other reason was that they needed to figure a couple of things out before they proposed their idea to the family, since it could have gone wrong in the early days, but now he knew they were ready to get to work. They did pause for a few moments, as Sindri needed to clean up some things before he even thought about him and Brok restoring Realm Travel, where Flurry found that her father's room and Atreus' were on the main floor, Pandora's seemed to be on the floor that Sindri's and Brok's were on, and her own room was far above the others, no doubt due to her wings.

The oddest thing was that it didn't look like the dwarves had accounted for the possibility of Albis coming along, because she didn't see a room for her, causing her to land near the workshop and ask about it, where the pair admitted that they had talked about it for a time and had come to no conclusion, causing Kratos to say that Albis could share his room. Brok made sure to outfit Atreus with some new armor, as he really didn't like the attire he had been wearing when they entered Sindri's place, where Flurry found that her brother was wearing a new silver and blue set of armor that was crafted to fit his body, and was enchanted to change with him. By that Brok pointed out how his armor was designed to cover Atreus' wings and tail when he was in combat, protecting more of his body in the process, and when they were out of danger the material would return to just covering his main body, showing them that he wanted to make sure everyone was well protected. Brok even pointed out something interesting to the family, he was setting up a chest that Kratos could open, next to the workshop, to hold any items they might have left behind during their travels, like resources they might potentially miss, and when he did so Kratos found a piece of armor, a chest piece, that he handed to Flurry so she could add it to the collection.

When they returned to the subject of restoring Realm Travel, or at least a version of it that Odin wouldn't be able to stop so easily, Sindri asked if they knew where in Svartalfheim Tyr was being held, as it had been some time since he and Atreus had talked about the subject, leading the boy to tell him that all they knew was that he was in a mine.

"The realm is full of mines, you know that... right? You'll need help narrowing it down... perhaps Durlin can help." Sindri said, something that caused the family to raise their eyebrows for a moment, because it did sound like he might think they were aware of the name, before he noticed that they didn't seem to know the name at all and simply moved on as he walked behind the table that Brok was standing at, to reach something that was hidden back there, "He's a cousin of ours, of sorts... works for the city on all sorts of safety issues and should have access to some information that might help you out. And he's no friend of Odin's, which is why Faye sought him out when she was trying to whip up a rebellion."

This was news to the family, obviously, as Faye had told them little about everything that happened before she encountered them, save for how her own clan had been wiped out, which had been the truth despite it being altered to avoid drawing all sorts of attention to all of them. Brok seemed to think this was funny, as he said something about 'giving a hound a haircut' in relation to Durlin being a 'rebel leader', and he even chewed his brother out for how he remembered things, meaning the information Sindri had just told them might not be accurate, all while saying something about 'casting asparagations' on his relations. While she wondered what he meant Flurry could see that there was a device that happened to be what the other dwarf was after, as Sindri wheeled out what appeared to be a device for Mimir to sit in, the very device they must have measured him for back when they originally opened the way to Jotunheim. Other than that there didn't seem to be much for them to do, other than follow Brok and Sindri back to the Door that was outside Sindri's house, all while Albis informed Kratos that she was sure she would have to stay behind, given the nature of Svartalfheim, causing him to nod as they joined the dwarves.

Once the device was positioned near the Door Sindri made a few last second checks as Brok collected both the Bifrost and Mimir, all while Atreus and Flurry found that there was a large dragon of some kind eating at the roots of Yggdrasil, which meant it was Nidhogg, an important piece of the World Tree's unique ecosystem, before they turned towards the Door and the dwarves.

"So... do I control this contraption somehow?" Mimir asked, because as his head was inserted into what appeared to be the slot that he had been measured for he noticed something very important, that there didn't appear to be anything he could use as a control device, making him wonder if this might be mind powered.

"Oh, no, no, no, no... this is to hold you in place while we shine this light in your eyes." Sindri replied, where he turned part of the device, which the Bifrost was attached to and happened to be powering, that fired a beam of Bifrost energy into Mimir's eyes, just like what the family had done when they restored the way to Jotunheim.

Mimir, understandably, was in pain over this, the light of the Bifrost wasn't something one wanted fired into their eyes, and while Brok was laughing at the entire situation Mimir actually called Sindri a 'sodding bastard', since he likely didn't think the kinder dwarf would do something like this. Sindri, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind a little name calling as he quickly told Mimir to open his eyes, as he had closed them a few seconds into the event, before turning towards his brother as he said he was really hoping not to use the eyelid clamps, which only caused Brok to say 'do it' before laughing again, because he was enjoying the show. Of course that information was enough to cause Mimir to open his eyes, since he didn't want to be exposed to something like that, causing the energy to turn from light to golden yellow, just like before, and once the rest of the energy was gone Mimir focused a beam on the Door. Such a thing caused a new design to appear on the Door, one that looked like Yggdrasil with a ring growing around it, connected to eight branches with two more icons right in the center of it all, causing them to step forward and hammer on the Door, sealing the magic into the material.

When the work was done Flurry confirmed that this was now connected to the Nine Realms in a new way, as nine of the new spheres represented the Nine Realms and the tenth appeared to be the brand that the brothers used, a way for her and her family to return to this place with ease no doubt, causing Sindri to smile and remark that there was no permanent damage to anything.

"I'll show you permanent damage ya wee fuck! Kratos! Toss me at him, horns first!" Mimir remarked, his tone revealing that he was greatly annoyed with the two dwarves right now, especially Sindri since it appeared that most of this had been his side and Brok only went along with it because he found it to be fun.

Kratos decided that it was best to not humor Mimir in this instance, though as he collected him and the Bifrost he found that the Bifrost had gone dark, reduced back to it's vessel state, where Sindri told him that he knew it had been used as a source of light from time to time and that he'd have a replacement in hand in the near future. In addition to that Sindri informed the family that things would be working a little differently from this point forward, as they still needed the Key to summon all of the Doors, but the difference between the two types was that this one required Yggdrasil Seeds to open the Doors to new locations. This was to get around Odin locking Realm Travel and sealing the abilities of Tyr's Temple, something they were still trying to figure out how he had done such a thing, and while he only had a Seed for Svartalfheim to give them, to get the family close to where they should start their search, he knew where to get more for them, for the other realms. Kratos found that the new Door was the exact same as the previous one, in terms of how to use it, allowing him to unlock the way for them to travel to the realm of the dwarves at long last, causing him and his children to step through it without wasting time.

Of course they still had to travel on the branches of Yggdrasil, just like before, and Sindri followed them into the portal so he could share a few more pieces of information, like how they were going to be dropped off in the wetlands outside the city of Nidavellir and that they should be able to find Durlin at the tavern, which was good for them to know since it meant they wouldn't be wasting time running around without knowing what to do next.

A few moments later the other Door appeared and they stepped out into an area that was definitely a wetlands, though as soon as they were able to see the area area they were in Atreus was overjoyed to be somewhere warm, instead of being in the middle of winter and being subjected to the cold. Flurry and Pandora understood his thoughts on the matter, but at the same time they knew that their target was a fair distance away from where they had been dropped off and that meant they needed to be on their guard, as Sindri had mentioned the 'grim', likely a native beast of this realm. Atreus found a boat that was, interestingly enough, sized to fit three of them, as in Kratos, Atreus, and Pandora, which meant that Sindri had known this day would come and had prepared some mode of transportation for them ahead of time, since it looked like it had been here for some time. As Atreus pulled the boat free they were attacked by a large group of wretches, small lizard beasts that were fast and easy to take out, though out of the four of them only Atreus was surprised by an enemy attack, dropping his guard due to the fact that he was in a place that wasn't cold anymore.

With the area secure, and they even found a docking area that Mimir identified as a dwarven supply ferry location, with the ferry missing based on what Kratos was seeing, though the chain was still in position, but since there didn't appear to be anything else in the area he pushed the boat into the water as Atreus and Pandora climbed into it, leaving Flurry to take to the air once more.

"You know, while I hate my curse, part of me does yearn to fly like my sister." Atreus commented, as he could only imagine how free Flurry felt when she was up in the air, taking in the sights from another level that he and the others couldn't see, not unless they found a tall place to stand on for a time, causing him to sigh for a moment as he observed her, "Do you think she'll tell me the secret on how to fly one day?"

"There is no secret, Atreus. Flurry has already told you everything you need to know... your inability to trust us, as you said earlier, is why you are unable to master her lessons." Kratos replied, though he didn't let his son's comment on trusting all of them get under his skin, he was used to such things after what Zeus and the Greek gods put him through, where his son just lowered his head as he considered that information for a time, "Trust in your sister, Atreus. She only wants to help you improve yourself."

Atreus thought about it and decided to bring up how his mother had been part of a rebellion, against Odin, and had never said a word to the rest of the family about it, though both Mimir and Kratos agreed that it being a failure was likely why she had never mentioned it, even though it could have been another reason behind her hiding from the All-Father. Kratos knew that Faye had good reason for hiding such things from them, she didn't want to drag total strangers into her battles, despite what her people had said on the matter, and once they became family she really didn't want to involve them in the past she had put behind her, until she had no choice but to do so. Atreus tried to make a joke of it by saying that Kratos went out to fish for hours or even days, while saying that his mother would have been guarding the house, something that caused him to tell his son that Faye had been the better fisherman between the two of them, so it was more like he guarded the house as she found food. He also told his son that Flurry and Pandora were there as well, so all four of them, five with Albis, had done a lot to make their home a success, something that Atreus was really coming to terms with after talking with them for quite some time.

Kratos did spot a few areas that just had some wooden chests to loot and gestured to Flurry, who flew down and looted all of them so he didn't have to dock at all, before spotted what appeared to be a large waterwheel blocking the way forward, to which he docked near it and they got off to explore the area.

While they did so Kratos identified this place as more of a bog and less of a wetlands, while Atreus noted that the smell made his eyes water a little, causing them to realize that Fimbulwinter might affect each realm differently, like Midgard had winter and Svartalfheim had what they were feeling right now. There were a few geysers in the area as well, where Kratos found that he could freeze them with the Leviathan Axe, in a short period of time no less, allowing him and the others to continue along the area as they searched for a way to move the water wheel so the missing segment was in their path. Such a thing allowed them to find that there was a runic chest resting off to the side and that meant there were runes for them to smash, as there was one resting off to the right of it, though with his children aiding him they were able to smash all three targets in no time and he tore open the chest so Flurry could loot it. There was also an item from the dwarven resistance that was on a body Flurry discovered in the area that the third rune was located in, something they might hand over to Brok later, causing them to turn towards some dwarven scaffolding to climb around to reach their destination.

The rope line that was at the top of the short set of scaffolding brought them to an area that had some grim, amphibian foes that seemed like they were mixed with trolls to some degree, who seemed to be quite strong in comparison to the raiders of Midgard, and Flurry found that their new enemies loved to spin around before attacking them. One interesting thing that Flurry was able to discover was that the scaly hides of the grim were salvageable, meaning there was a chance that Brok or Sindri might be able to use them in some new armor at some point in time, to which she made sure to salvage as much as she could from their foes. Atreus found that she was quite skilled in the art of carving up slain enemies, something she did in the past when they hunted animals for food for the family, though this was one of the rare times where their foes didn't just drop their materials in convenient bags for her to pick up. Of course she wasn't bothered by this in the slightest, thanks to all of the blood and gore she had seen during the course of her adventures in Greece, back when it was commonplace for her father to just spill all sorts of blood, but she was fine with fighting the grim, as they were a new challenge she and her family were ready to embrace.

Atreus also spotted another chest for them to loot, a new stone type that looked like it also had wood involved in the design, which Kratos did without delay and made sure to hand the resources off to Flurry before they found the area for him to use his blades in and force the wheel into position, though before he did so they paused as an earthquake shook the area for a few seconds.

Once the earth had settled Kratos used his blades and forced the wheel to move, Flurry catching it with her magic once the broken part was lined up perfectly with the passage her family had to move through, but she remained in place to make sure they were able to get through unharmed. As soon as they were on the other side of the water wheel she let go of the contraption and took to the air once more, never going too far from the rest of her family as Kratos rowed down the path in front of him, allowing her to watch as they passed under a bridge that required them to duck in their seats. On the other side of the wooden bridge Kratos found another area to dock at and did so without delay, allowing them to clash with a few grim and a single wretch, which were no match for the family as they slashed through their foes. Following that they found a few more wooden chests to loot and one of the new stone chests on a level that was above the area they docked in, though as Flurry collected the loot her family moved further down the way and docked at an area that had another device that they had to move out of their way.

This one also had a number of wretches and grim to deal with, which were good learning opportunities for Atreus since he was still used to fighting the raiders, but he was showing some improvement, meaning that while he might not have trusted them with the fact that he was looking for Tyr, and Odin had to spring that on them, he did trust them to have his back in a fight, regardless if he deserved it or not. Once they were done with their enemies, and it took a fair bit of time to do so since there were a number of grim to deal with, hence why Sindri warned them on the way here, Kratos found a lid that was right on top of a geyser and busted it open, as it likely had something to do with their next obstacle. The answer was quite simple, all he had to do was freeze a second geyser, which was on a level above the first one, and that increased the pressure in the first one, thus allowing a surge of water to move another wheel and open the gate that had been blocking their way. With that in mind he, Atreus, and Pandora returned to the boat once more as Flurry took to the air, though as she did so she could see that her brother was struggling to understand why the dwarves would side with Odin and might be thinking that war was needed, much to their father's annoyance.

Such a thing caused her to sigh as she flew above them, as it seemed like they needed to talk some sense into Atreus before they even reached Durlin, to stop her brother from seeking war and everything, though it only made her wonder what else this new realm might throw at them in the near future.

Ragnarok: Nidavellir

While Kratos moved himself, Atreus, and Pandora down the channel that was in front of him it was easy for them to listen to Atreus talk, about how he wondered if Odin would uphold anything he had said, if they needed to move their home to a whole new area, and if Tyr would be able to help them fight off Odin.

"Atreus, we are not here to pick a fight with Odin... if that's all you care about, starting Ragnarok, then we're heading home and I'll lock you up until Ragnarok is over." Flurry stated, and she meant it, she was already growing tired of her brother and his sudden desire to go to war with the All-Father, and if he continued down this path she was more than willing to use her own magic against him and force him to sit still while thinking about his actions.

"That's, er... not what I meant, honestly. I'm just saying that there's a lot we can learn from Tyr, so breaking him out would be the smart thing to do." Atreus replied, though this time none of his family bought it, part of Atreus seemed to be hoping for war, despite having seen the consequences of a war between the gods thanks to Flurry showing him and the others what had happened in Greece thanks to her memory crystals.

Flurry frowned and said nothing, as it seemed like her brother understood that she wasn't making an idle threat, that she would imprison him in a cage of her own making to make him stop thinking about war, all while finding that her father had discovered another area to explore and landed after he docked their boat. Of course this meant fighting more grim and the wretches they had encountered since arriving in this realm, though none of them were surprised by that and fought them accordingly, slashing through their enemies while focusing on exploring the rest of the hidden area. In addition to that Flurry found another runic chest resting nearby, causing them to keep an eye out for the runes that were keeping it sealed, even if most of her focus was on avoiding the grim and slashing her opponents apart with her sickles. They did find the devices that had to be spun to the correct rune to unlock the chest, which was a good discovery, and it wasn't long before Kratos was able to open the runic chest and let Flurry add it's loot to everything that was already in her bag.

There was even a golden chest that Kratos opened and found another handle attachment for the Blades of Chaos, one that he integrated into the existing handle, something Brok and Sindri had worked on during their last adventure once they knew he had the weapon, just like how the Leviathan Axe had such a thing as well, causing him to nod as Flurry finished looting the rest of the chest's loot.

Following that they reached another locked gate that required them to do something to open the way forward, though as the family docked on a bit of land Flurry found one of the little forge critters, the Ormr, happened to be in the area and, just like the one Flurry encountered during their last adventure, this one stared at her before slithering up to her. It dropped a bag of crafting materials in front of her, which appeared to be one of the hides and a number of metallic items, like an ingot of Forged Iron and even slag, where she found that it was another offering to make sure she didn't kill it, to which she just nodded her head before accepting the bag. Atreus, thinking that it was okay to pet the lizard critter since it was passive, did reach out to rub the back of it's head, where it turned and snapped at his fingers, causing him to draw back before it actually hurt him, causing them to watch as it slithered around Flurry and Pandora before disappearing. Based on what Flurry knew it sure seemed like the Ormr might be interested in them, enough to follow them and be along the path they were following, as she was sure that was the same one from their last adventure, though it was hard to tell what it wanted, other than to stay alive.

"You know, I almost thought we had a pet... dunno what we would have fed it, but it would have been interesting." Atreus commented, while at the same time their father focused on the path that was in front of them, a large metallic block that was hanging above a small gap, one that Kratos freed by smashing a target that held the cube above it, creating a way for them to cross over to another part of the area.

Kratos said nothing as he grabbed onto a chain and pulled on it for a time, causing part of the gate in the water to lower in a few seconds, causing them to jump over the small gap to their left, no doubt made for sails of larger boats that likely came through this area, as they searched for the other chain. Such a thing caused him to freeze a geyser so they could cross under the wooden scaffolding that their second target was no doubt resting on, and sure enough there were more grim and a few wretches for them to fight, causing the family to ready their weapons as they struck their enemies. Following the death of their enemies Kratos opened a lid that allowed them to utilize another geyser, where he realized what needed to be done as he hurled the axe at another wooden lock and freed another iron block, which rested on top of the first one of this area, and by standing on the block and freezing the second geyser he reached where the chain rested. With that in mind it was easy for him to pull on the chain, opening the other half of the gate that was in their way, before collecting a small journal that seemed to be one of 'Kvasir's' poems, according to Mimir, which he handed to Flurry as he looted a stone chest.

While they returned to the boat Mimir asked for more clarification on what Atreus was hoping to learn from Tyr, where the boy replied that he was trying to learn more about Loki, as in who the Giants wanted him to be, along with hearing about Tyr's travels in general, since he visited so many other places before being captured. Of course none of them fully believed what he had to say, due to the fact that Atreus seemed to be hoping for war to happen, though Mimir mentioned that Tyr might not be in a talkative mood, so they'd have to wait and see how he reacted to being freed. Kratos, while willing to humor his son, reminded Atreus that the Giants had been wrong before, as they foretold that Fimbulwinter would start with Baldur's death and it was the breaking of his curse that actually caused it to happen, which they learned after the fact, but the point still stood. There was a chance that the old prophecy was totally wrong, that the Giants were wrong, and he simply wanted his son to make sure he kept an open mind, and that he accept reality if he was proven right, even though Kratos was more than ready to admit that his son was right if they discover that Tyr was actually imprisoned in this realm.

Following that they were able to finally reach Nidavellir, an actual city built on both sides of the river and had large bridges every now and then that connected everything together, though as Mimir started talking Flurry heard a warning bell ring as dwarves headed indoors, and one on a bridge even spat at them before hurrying off, causing her to frown.

"Odin's talons are deep in this realm... we will not find a friendly reception here." Flurry said, landing by her family when she spotted an area for them to dock in, which happened to be near Sindri's temporary workshop, and she could tell that both her father and her sister weren't too pleased with the citizens treating their guests as dangerous criminals, which was more of Odin's doing no doubt.

"Flurry, calm yourself." Kratos commented, as he knew his daughter well enough to know when something displeased her, and right now the dwarves, being so broken that they didn't trust anyone and were likely scared for their lives even when Odin's forces were here, or even when the All-Father was here, was ticking her off, but not enough to really trigger her, an event he'd rather avoid if at all possible.

Flurry sighed as she calmed her mind and followed her family deeper into the city, entering what appeared to be a market area based on what they were seeing, which Sindri happened to be at the edge at and he even waved at them as he set his tools down, meaning he likely had something he wanted to speak about, while Flurry did smash an emerald raven that was overlooking the area.

"Normally I'd mention the ground and how it could talk if it could, but that freaks me out... I really just wanted to come here once before the end... and to ask if I can see your bow." Sindri said, speaking to Atreus, who glanced at his father before he held his bow out for the dwarf to take, who commented that it was time for a replacement as he started to remove the main string, which he struggled with, and when he undid it he replaced it with a new one, which happened to merge with the old one for some reason, "I was fiddling with some of the local materials recently and came to understand that some of it has been used throughout the realms, so I figured that I'd help you guys out by making a new string that will imbue your arrows with sonic vibrations. Let you what, aim at that gate over there and say 'skjalfa' before you loose an arrow."

Atreus nodded and did as the dwarf instructed, loosing a light green arrow that tore into the material he aimed at and just so happened to break open a sewer gate, allowing some wrenches to enter the city for a few seconds, though they didn't get very far as the family destroyed them. There was even a grim among them, who perished instantly as Flurry hacked it apart with a few swings of her sickles, where Sindri wished them luck as the family moved into the sewers, which seemed to be the path to bring them to their true destination. As they departed Atreus was able to get out that the alarm was definitely their fault, as any outsider was considered a threat and cause for alarm, which Mimir said was something Odin would force his followers to learn and preach about, to spread his greatness or something. Flurry didn't really care as they emerged from the passage and entered another portion of the city, allowing them to make their way deeper into the area as they sought out the tavern that the dwarves had mentioned their target might be resting in.

Atreus even mentioned that when they find their target that he should be the one to talk, as he was the least imposing out of all four of them, causing his family to say nothing as they finally tracked down the tavern and opened the door, allowing the family to see that there was only one person in the tavern, a dwarf that looked like a musician that was having fun.

"Watch yourselves, apparently there are 'intruders' about." the dwarf commented, where it was easy for them to see him glance up at them for a moment while he spoke, meaning he knew that they were likely the ones the alarm had been about, and he even seemed to recognize Mimir for a moment, "If you're here to kill me, can it wait until I finish this song? The alarm was in just the right key."

"We aren't here to hurt you, we're just looking for an acquaintance of ours. Do you know where Durlin is?" Atreus stated, to which the dwarf chuckled for a moment, like he had said something funny, something that caused the family to raise their eyebrows for a few seconds.

According to the dwarf Durlin had no friends, he lost all of them a long time ago, but he did tell them that if Durlin was who they were looking for all they had to do was head out the back entrance and cross the river to reach the Safety Office, and he also asked if they could avoid making trouble for the rest of them. In addition to that the dwarf made a comment about the 'head's mess', referring to Mimir and something he had likely done while in the service of Odin, though while Mimir was just a little miffed over being called a 'skull', as the dwarf called him the 'condescending skull', he admitted that it would be wise to deal with his mistakes. Kratos decided that such a thing would be a good lesson for Atreus, that while people could make mistakes it was also wise to clean up after them, where his son didn't seem to really get what he was saying and simply understood that they were exploring the realm some more. Flurry resisted the urge to groan as she heard that, because it really seemed like her brother was being stupid again, but they had some information to go on and they followed the new directions outside, where they found Sindri waiting for them and he produced a new light device for Kratos, to replace the dead Bifrost, and it would double like the compass Freya gave them three years ago.

With the item in hand the family headed down the path and reached another dock, with a boat waiting for them, though as soon as Kratos, Atreus, and Pandora were on it Mimir started to give them directions to the mining rigs, causing Flurry to fly above them like she usually did.

It was easy for Flurry to see the mining rigs, as they were belching smoke from their peaks, and it wasn't long before the rest of her family followed her, heading out into the open area that the rigs were in, showing her that her father was focusing on that before they bothered to meet with Durlin, since this would let the alarm die down. From what she knew Mimir must have seen enough bloodshed and didn't want the dwarves to be exterminated by Odin's froces, rather he must have found a terrible trade agreement that gave Odin most of the power in the relationship, but Mimir had come to dislike the whole thing and took full blame of the situation. While her family made their way towards the first of the mining rigs Flurry pulled out her bow and loosed a few arrows into the air, where Atreus watched as they zipped through the air and struck down each green raven that Odin had placed in this realm, blinding him multiple times over. Such a thing reminded him of her skill, she was far superior to him in terms of using a bow, in fact he really doubted he would have her skill with the weapon, which made him wonder why she didn't just stick to it all the time, before focusing on the task at hand once more.

What was surprising was that docking at a rig was very easy, there didn't seem to be anything preventing them from doing so and there weren't any enemies waiting for them, something that allowed them to climb up some ancient wood, which was still sturdy thanks to the methods of the dwarves. Of course there were a number of grim and wretches hanging around the metal shell of the mining rig, in fact they were in greater number than when they were out in the wetlands, though such a thing hardly stopped Flurry and her family from hacking through them. It was actually kind of disappointing, as she expected Odin to have some sort of guardian protecting his investment, or whatever he saw these things as, but instead he left these rigs defenseless, effectively siphoning the natural resources from the dwarves so no one could use them. It just infuriated her to no end, that the more they discovered about Odin and his involvement in the other realms the more annoyed she got with the All-Father, because it felt like he was crippling all of the other realms to secure Asgard's future.

Kratos watched as one of the grim was slashed apart before it even got close to Flurry, though this time she used the Blade of Olympus, showing just how annoyed she was with this whole situation, that she would use such a weapon on such a low ranking enemy, and when she realized that fact Flurry forced herself to calm down as she returned the blade to it's place on her back.

"Lass, I know you well enough to know that something is bothering you. Care to share?" Mimir asked, though as the rest of the enemies were brought down Kratos smashed open the grate that was in front of them and empowered the Leviathan Axe, allowing him to freeze and destroy the center of this rig in a matter of seconds, freeing bits of special ore that he was able to quickly identify as Nidavellir Ore.

"Just... growing ever more frustrated with Odin's lack of care towards the other realms, or the people who call them home." Flurry replied, reminding them that she cared about life and that what they were seeing right now was just pissing her off in the process, where she brought a hand to her face as she realized that anything Odin did was chipping away at her, making her increasingly more annoyed, "Titans almighty... I haven't been this annoyed at someone's disrespect for life since our days in Greece... Odin might be the first person, in a long long time, that will make me feel genuine anger towards someone and make my blood boil."

While Kratos remained standing there, using his Spartan training to the fullest, inside he was worried, as the last time Flurry had been angry, to the extent she was talking about, was when Ares killed him after they recovered Pandora's Box, a day he and the rest of Olympus witnessed her true terrifying power, unrestrained and uncontrollable. Flurry's magical power was far above everyone else's, which was why Hecate had been so careful in honing her skills so she could control that power and not wipe out an entire continent on her own, and his daughter had proved that she had the ability to master herself, to the point that he stopped worrying about her inner dams breaking. Unfortunately her training came with a terrifying fact, that if she was ever that angry again, and fully lost herself like he used to do before she entered his life, he worried that an entire realm might be lost in the process of her venting her anger. His only hope was to make sure this annoyance stopped, or at least make sure it was minimized as much as possible, before something terrible happened, though at the very least a glance from him and a hand on her shoulder seemed to be enough to calm her down for the time being.

Flurry, on the other hand, sighed as they quickly unlocked the nearby runic chest, this one requiring three braziers to be ignited before it could be looted, before heading out to check on the other two mining rigs that were in the area, all while preparing herself for whatever the future had in store for her and her family.

Ragnarok: Regrets and Lake Work

After dealing with one of the mining rigs the family continued to move around the lake or bay they were in, since there were a fair number of areas for them to dock in so they could obtain more resources and add more experience to their belts, as there were a good number of enemies as well. Once such area happened to be an area close to a large skeleton that was pure bones, of a creature that must have once called this realm home before it's demise, though while the head looked like a dragon's it was hard to tell with the scattered nature of the rest of it's body. In addition to that the area they ended up in after the first rig was where they discovered a dragon statue that was almost lifelike, almost like someone like Albis had used a petrification power on it, meaning that if someone came along with a spell or tool to free it the beast would most likely attack. The enemies of this beach were a refreshing familiar face, tatzelwurms, where Kratos and his daughters clashed with the creatures while Atreus provided the support he was used to giving, though this time around the four of them used their past experiences to bring down their enemies, including a few grim that showed up to join the battle.

Once they cleared out the area the family started to search for anything that might be useful, other than the few bits and pieces of resources that had been dropped by their slain enemies, where Kratos noticed a statement written in runes on the nearby scaffolding, one indicating that others 'shouldn't breathe', either due to the bad smoke or hold their tongues since speaking ill of Odin was a bad idea. In addition to that they discovered a runic chest in the area, causing them to keep an eye out for the runes that were empowering the lock, one of which happened to be behind a geyser that Kratos threw his axe at to break, causing them to keep an eye out for the other two. In addition to that Flurry found another Ormr hanging out under part of the scaffolding, or maybe it was the same one from before, but either way it noticed her, approached them, and dropped a bag of resources before rubbing it's head against her leg and then disappeared quickly. She suspected that her position as the Goddess of Death was more than enough for these creatures to realize that opposing them was a bad idea, but decided not to say anything about that as she stored the items away in her bad, while her father climbed up to the next level and kept looking around.

What he discovered was that there was no way up to the highest point of the scaffolding, to which he returned to the area his children were in and joined them in breaking the other two runes, both hidden behind two more geysers, and once they were taken care of he opened the runic chest so Flurry could loot everything that was inside it.

The moment they were done with the beach, for the time being since Kratos said it looked like they needed another item to continue exploring the uppermost area, and Flurry was sure they'd be back to free the dragon, Kratos returned to the boat with Atreus and Pandora as Flurry took to the air again. Following that they found where Sindri had decided to set up shop this time around, as it gave him a good view of the bay while he tended to his materials, and when they approached Flurry showed him the ore they had recovered from the mining rig they had taken out. He informed them that he could, in fact, use it to make something for the family that would be added to Flurry's bag, safe from the horrors of Fimbulwinter, but before that he suggested clearing out the other two rigs so they could have everything in hand. With that information in hand the family checked out the rest of this little island and found that there was a bit of scaffolding they could climb up, bringing all of them to a watchtower that had a locked door, one that worried Mimir as he told them to track down an island that was near a geyser, as it had a key they needed and he would explain things later.

In addition to that there was a strange hole in the ground that was on the other side of the small watchtower, which Mimir called a 'draugr hole', that ended up being were a flaming female draugr, who seemed to have a burning hatred for all things for some reason, pulled herself out of before attacking them. As Kratos blocked with the Leviathan Axe, however, they were able to learn something about their foe, her name was apparently 'Hertha' and those that had seen her had given her the title of 'The Hateful', who was an empress in life before her demise, and even when she died she was able to deny her own death, causing her transformation into her new form. Hertha, as they discovered, carried two burning axes into battle, and had the power to call forth stronger draugr from the hole while it was opened, where Flurry shifted her stance and drew the Serpent's Glaive, spinning it around as she blocked a couple of incoming attacks. Such a thing reminded Atreus that she was a force to be reckoned with, as he kept forgetting that she had more than the bow, her sickles, the large hammer, and the greatsword she only used on those she deemed worthy, as she had an entire arsenal tucked away, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice.

While she did that Kratos, Pandora, and Atreus dealt with Hertha, dodging or blocking attacks as they hacked into her body, finding that the draugr seemed to withstand their attacks until Kratos grabbed her and tore her in half, sealing the hole she had come out of, like the two had been connected, allowing them to loot a stone chest as Flurry picked up a few items that Hertha had dropped.

"Let's see... a piece for the Blades of Chaos," Flurry commented, where she held the piece out to her father, who took it and attached the addition to his old weapons, empowering them even more than before, before she glanced at a spark that was just like one of the Chaos Flames they had used to strengthen the blades during their previous adventure, a 'Chaos Spark' in her mind, which she stored away with some special coals and most Realm Dust, "and a few other odds and ends."

Kratos nodded, he suspected as much from these odd special foes, and once they were done looting the area they returned to where the boat was resting and headed up the other path that was in the area, where they headed up to where another mining rig rested. As they moved around the area Atreus commented that it was definitely nice to be out of Midgard, even if they had to deal with Odin's oppression of the dwarves in the process, but he focused on the task at hand as they climbed up to where their main target. Once more Atreus and the others spotted that there were a number of grim, wretches, and a number of nightmares hanging around the core of the structure, causing them and their father to lash out at them like they had done to the enemies they had encountered so far, Kratos slashing through the grim as his children made sure to take out everything else. As Atreus loosed a few more arrows at their enemies he found that Pandora used her halberd to crush those that rushed at her, while at the same time Flurry weaved in and out of enemy attacks before cutting down her foes, allowing them to approach the heart of the rig once the coast was clear.

Sure enough they found that the materials that were dropped from the first one were given out for this one was well, which explained why Sindri wanted all of the rigs taken care of before working on some armor, though with the materials in hand they returned to the boat and set out once more.

Based on what Flurry could hear it was clear that Mimir had regrets about his hand in tricking the dwarves into serving Odin, even if it meant that they could survive to see another day, but it came at the cost of so many mediocre weapons and gear that ended up being made by the smiths of Asgard. He also held some regret for the prisoner that seemed to be in the area as well, since that was why he was interested in recovering the key while they were out here, even though she was sure that it had something to do with the slumbering beast that seemed to be below the island he wanted them to visit. Instead of going straight for the geyser island, which was an impressive geyser, they found another beach to dock at and discovered a crystalline lock on a door, to which Kratos used the chisel and undid the binding magic, allowing them to find that it was just a small area with a stone chest for them to loot. Flurry even found an area that had a new type of crystalline lock, one that required a bit more magic on the chisel for them to access whatever it was connected to, causing the family to continue on their way as they explored the rest of the area they were in, after she looted a wooden chest anyway.

There was a beach that had something interesting on it, there was what appeared to be a tombstone with a slot that one could put an item inside, likely to awaken some sort of ancient warrior, which Flurry kept in mind for later as her family quickly tapped all three of the runic bells to unlock a runic chest that they fully looted.

After that they doubled back to the dock near the geyser island, where Flurry found some stones blocking the way and just loosed an arrow at a bomb that was on the other side, blasting the way open so the others could move forward, though a few wretches had to be wiped out in the process. Of course they discovered that there was actually a nest producing them and Flurry crushed it with a bit of her magic, allowing her family to deal with the few remaining wretches, opening the way for them to explore the rest of the island while making sure their guards were up. After that they found their way up to the peak of the area, where there was a cracked floor for them to smash through, so while her family dealt with the wretches she switched her weapon to Earthshaker and brought it down on the area, making sure it was focused on what was right below her as she smashed through the stone. Such a thing allowed her to enter an area and crush a beast that looked like an ogre with a wretch nest on it's back, or part of it's back, with the force of the collapse and the force of her hammer, which allowed her to loot the nearby chest as she pulled out an important looking key.

With that in hand, and Mimir confirmed it was what they were looking for, the family headed out and docked at a dock that was right below the third mining rig, where Kratos, Atreus, and Pandora climbed up a chain as Flurry landed on the upper area, where she noticed that this seemed to be an area with moveable stuff for them to worry about. One thing they found out while they explored the structure was that there were a few explosive barrels, with a low amount of power based on what Mimir said, and Kratos struck each one with the Blades of Chaos, igniting them and blasting apart small barriers that were in their way. In addition to that there were a few stone figures in their way as well, of draugr and grims, though instead of allowing them to break out of their confinement, like they did in the past, Kratos nodded to Flurry as she loosed a couple of arrows, breaking them apart while her family explored the area. While they made their way through the area, which was easy since there weren't any foes to worry about, Atreus commented on why none of the dwarves tried to turn off the rigs in the past, causing Mimir to tell him that a few tried, but they were made an example of by the Einherjar, Odin's army, to put the rest of the dwarves in their place.

The only foes that they ended up fighting were more of the grim and wretches when they finally reached their destination, so it was only a matter of time until they cleared the area, turned off the final mining rig, collected their loot, and returned to the area that Sindri was in.

"Give me just a moment." Sindri said, as while there were a few other items he needed to make the gear he wanted to make, because it had been a dream of his to use this ore in making something, he didn't have to worry too much since he knew that Flurry could provide them with ease, which she did so when he asked for them, and it wasn't long before he produced a new set of armor for them, a gleaming blue chest piece with wrist guards, "There you go, armor ready to provide you with all sorts of useful effects."

The group thanked Sindri for his work as Flurry stashed the armor away, adding more power to their overall ability, before they climbed up to where the locked door was resting, which Kratos used the key on and revealed that there was a gong on the other side, which he raised so Atreus could strike it with an arrow... causing the island geyser to rise and confirm that it was a living creature that had chains on it's large fins.

"I'm sad and surprised that it's still here... we'll need to break it's chains." Mimir said, as he was surprised to see that the large creature was still here, chained where it had been left all those years ago, though he glanced at the family as they made their way down to the boat so they could check the creature out, "This is a Lyngbakr, a creature that I... captured many years ago, a gift of sorts for Odin since I believed that it was imaginative and eye-catching way to earn his favor. I was young and stupid, and didn't know the weight of chains myself..."

Kratos remained silent for a time, as he had to think about Mimir chaining an innocent creature to earn Odin's favor, but he decided not to bring it up, because part of him understood his friend completely, given how he had been chained at one point in the past as well. With that in mind he focused on landing and climbing up to the upper area, where Flurry landed as she loosed a few arrows into the stone draugr that were in the area, allowing her family to continue exploring as she dealt with a potential problem before it could become a problem. While she did that Kratos tracked down where one of the beast's chains was located and blew up a bomb that was blocking the path to it, though upon reaching the chain he used one of the blades and cut used it's fire to help cut through it like it was made of butter. Such a thing caused the Lyngbakr to raise it's now freed fin and revealed that it even had a lock on it, to help prevent it from moving, though as Kratos smashed the lock with the Leviathan Axe the act of freeing even a portion of it caused the island that had formed on it's shell to shake as part of it broke, revealing a new path.

The new area had a number of nightmares and a few grim that didn't want them to intrude on their homes, though since all of them seemed eager to fight the family engaged them, three of them hacking their way through all of their enemies while Atreus focused on loosing arrows at those that weren't the immediate focus on his family members. They also had to climb up a chain and reach another area to move through, requiring them use a hook as they crossed a large gap, reminding both Kratos and Flurry of some of their first adventures and how they had to traverse certain areas. There were some draugr in the area, but it wasn't anything they couldn't handle as the family tore through them, though as they did that Kratos did ask if Odin ever did anything to the creature, where Mimir responded that he harvested it for oil, for his lanterns, which only served to annoy the father and daughter for a few moments. Fortunately they didn't have to think about that for too long as they dropped down into the area that the second chain was in, causing it to be cut in half before the other fin was revealed to them, where Kratos crushed the lock with a well placed throw of the Leviathan Axe.

Such a thing caused more of the exterior of the island to collapse and reveal another area, where they smashed through yet another wretch nest with ease before continuing on their way, though it wasn't a path, rather it was that the nest was right on top of a device that dispensed fire bombs for them to throw at certain things.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on as Kratos used one of the fire bombs to blast apart some stones that were blocking another path, which not only brought them to a stone chest for them to loot but also gave them a good view of another dock that was blocked with stone. With that information in hand the family nodded as Kratos retrieved another fire bomb and hurled it across the water, where it struck the stone and blasted it apart, opening the way for them to use a new dock, which likely held the way to the third and final chain. As such he opened a gate that was blocking the way before they crossed over to where they had docked and departed without delay, making their way to the other side of the massive creature, though while her father did that Flurry looted a stone chest before catching up with her family. The area that the other dock brought them to just had a couple of draugr for them to fight, so while the others did that Flurry opened a gate so that they could bring a fire bomb over here and use it on some stones, as she knew that her family didn't help her help against a few undead enemies.

She did get involved when some grim jumped into the area, but it didn't last very long as they crushed their enemies, which opened the way for Kratos to cut the chain and break the lock, fully freeing the creature, though Flurry left them to return to the boat and head for the beast's head, allowing Mimir to get some closure on this matter.

"A race subjugated, an innocent creature enslaved and forgotten, and so much more sadness." Flurry commented, speaking to herself as she observed what her family was doing, her father speaking to Mimir as Atreus tried to speak with the beast, where she let out a sigh as she imagined what else they might discover in the near future, "And yet, something tells me the worst has yet to be seen."

This one of the rare times where Flurry hoped that she was wrong about something, that there was nothing worse than the things they had seen so far, and knew that it was only a matter of time until she knew whether she was right or wrong, they just had to find Durlin and see if he could help them, before worrying about what the future decided to throw in their way.

Ragnarok: Into the Mines

With their work in the bay completed, as best as they could all things considered, the family returned to the boat without delay and made their way over to where Durlin's office was located, quickly docking near the structure and walking up to the main door, which Kratos opened so everyone else could head inside.

"Excuse me, we're... um, we're looking for Durlin. Have you seen him?" Atreus asked, though at the same time he looked at the various walls and shelves that were around them, some having items that were no doubt used in safety measures while some looked like notes on what needed to be done in the future, and there was a second floor that was the same way, all of which interested him greatly.

"Do you have an appointment?" the dwarf at the counter asked, which was likely the dwarf they were here to see, though at the moment he had his feet up on the work station and he seemed to be reading a book, no doubt on break, or what little time off Odin gave him, and it looked like there was a small aquarium near his feet with a small squid inside it, and his tone told them he likely didn't want to deal with anyone.

"No, we were unaware that an appointment was needed... though to be fair, has anyone ever had an appointment here in the past?" Pandora inquired, because despite this being the 'safety office' it sure looked like almost no one else had been here for quite some time, though her words caused the dwarf to close his book and drop it on the counter as he quickly straightened himself to look at them, where they found that he had a head injury that was covered by his hat, but he did look like a professional of sorts.

"Tell me, are you here to collect on something? Because that severed head doesn't scare me and won't force me to approve Estrid's accretion proposal." the dwarf said, clearly assuming that they were someone else, thugs hired by someone to force him to approve of something he knew didn't fit the guidelines he was forced to follow, while at the same time allowing them to see that he was definitely dressed like an official worker.

"We do not work for this 'Estrid'. We are seeking a prisoner of Odin's." Kratos stated, because they didn't have time for the dwarf's games, as it was only a matter of time until someone in the city noticed the rigs were out, and the creature had been freed from it's bindings, meaning they were now stressed for time until the Einherjar showed up, though as he noticed the look on Durlin's face he realized this dwarf might not help them at all, causing him to turn around for a moment.

"What the... Where did you get that axe? Did you hope off her head with it as well?" Durlin inquired, as he recognized it in an instant, it was a weapon he knew well, had seen it many times, and had dedicated it to memory, though it being on the back of another's back, and in their possession, caused him to open his mouth before his brain could stop him.

"NO!" Kratos snapped, clearly enraged by the mere thought of someone assuming that he killed someone he cared about, a fact that easily reminded him of what happened thanks to Ares trying to make him into a 'great warrior', before he forced himself to calm down before he did anything he would regret later, "No... Faye was my wife, and we shared many good years together. On the day of her death she gifted the Leviathan Axe and her shield to me, but the shield was damaged by a stalker before we decided to visit you."

That actually caused Durlin to pause for a moment, his eyes darting from Kratos to each of his children, mentally coming to terms with the fact that Faye had gotten together with someone after what happened to the rebellion, enough to have a kid in the form of Atreus, causing him to click as he held a hand out towards the tank, allowing the squid to emerge and wrap itself around his arm.

"Dinner and I... well, we wondered where Faye wandered off to after our little coup failed... got a pretty prize for it, all things considered." Durlin commented, showing no interest in the fact that he had angered Kratos a little, but he did pull out one of his mugs and poured something into it, likely mead or something stronger, almost as if he was doing his own toast to Faye's memory, despite their failure to free this realm from Odin, before he sighed as he noticed Flurry's frown, "The best people are already dead... and the ones left alive have to pay the price. I'm afraid that I can't help you with your situation, no matter who it is that you're looking for... and before you say anything, just know I'm not in the business of crossing the All-Father anymore... but I do have something for you."

Flurry raised an eyebrow for a moment as Durlin got up, looked around the office area that was behind the counter, before finding whatever it was he was after, an official looking scroll that he opened and wrote something in, where the squid also spat at it so he could use his signet ring to make it fully official, before he closed it and handed it to Flurry, no doubt trusting her more than everyone else.

"That right there is a fine: one count for hygiene code violation for improper transport of a rotting head; two demerits for speaking the All-Father's given name; a warning to not incite rebellion; and, ugh, a demerit for FUCKING UP MY DESK!" Durlin stated, though at the same time the look on his face told Flurry everything she and her family needed to know, he was in the middle of an act, as he was still a rebel at heart and figured that the best way he could bring down Odin now was through aiding them, especially since his desk was fine, a fact that Kratos rectified as he punched the counter, after Durlin picked up his mug, as he figured it out as well, "Pay it at your leisure, okay?"

Flurry had to admit that his acting was pretty good, in fact if anyone was listening outside the door they would assume that Durlin was siding with Odin after everything he had been through, though if that someone was Odin she was sure the dwarf would be in trouble, though as they left, through the other door, Dinner spat something else at them, a Yggdrasil seed they might be able to use later on. Atreus tried to see what was on the scroll as they left the office, exiting to an area that had a number of grim and wretches for them to fight, where Flurry kept the item away from her brother as she drew her sickles and approached their next group of enemies. While they did that Kratos spotted a few explosives and sonic points that they could utilize, to which he and his children made sure to use them against their enemies, blasting them when they got close and breaking parts of the area that might be useful in some manner in the near future. In addition to that Flurry spotted a stone chest that her father looted the moment that the coast was clear, causing her brother to ask about the scroll again, as he wanted to know what it actually was, where she told all of them that it was instructions, a map, meaning she had been right in assuming he wanted to aid them in his own way.

With that in mind they opened the nearby gate that was in their way before moving towards the mountain that was where they had to go, it was where Durlin's instructions were telling them to go, which brought them to what appeared to be a cart on tracks, which Mimir identified as a dwarven train.

Flurry noticed that there was another strange grave resting in the flat area nearby, though since there wasn't anything else for them to worry about she allowed her brother, sister, and father to enter the wooden and metal contraption before she found that, once again, there wasn't enough room for her. As her family got the train moving she took advantage of how slow it was and looted a nearby stone chest, though after that she spread her wings and took off, following the track that the train would be following for some time as she kept her eyes open for any hazards. She did overhear that the damage done to Durlin's head was from Heimdall, one of Odin's most trusted followers, as he was the one who carried Gjallarhorn, a relic of unknown origin that was to be sounded during Ragnarok, for the armies of the Nine Realms to march on Asgard, or that was the prophecy anyway. The train came to a stop and the family climbed out before following the path that should bring them to another train, as there was a second one nearby, though the path brought them to an area that a dreki was resting in, a creature that was like a crocodile, and Atreus approached it with his guard lowered, only for them to discover that there was a living dreki nearby, as the first was definitely dead.

The dreki used savage bites, powerful jumps, and quick swings of it's tail to try and bring them down, along with channeling a bit of lightning into the water that was around it, though most of the family avoided the incoming attacks that were coming at them and lashed out at the creature's hide. While they did that Flurry surrounded the slain dreki with her magic to make sure it's body didn't dissolve on them, as she wanted to harvest it as well, though her father wasted no time in striking their foe with enough power to cause it to stagger under the weight of his blows. After a few moments their foe tried one last type of attack, hurling blobs of lightning at them, which was likely spit infused with it's elemental power, though they were able to avoid the attacks with ease and dealt significant damage to the dreki's body. Kratos had a good way to bring it down, which was to smash it's head into the ground, grab onto it and force it's mouth closed, before twisting the dreki's body so Atreus and Pandora could damage it's underside, only for him and Atreus to use their knives to stab it right in the head, killing it in a matter of seconds.

With the dreki defeated Flurry went to work harvesting both of them for their resources, such as a Chaos Flame, which made her father happy to see it, and a runic gem that she gave to her father so he could add it to his arsenal, before removing the scales and other items, since Brok and Sindri might be able to use them in the future.

Once she was done they checked out the rest of the area, finding a locked door that seemed to head to a forge, though since there weren't any other paths available they retraced their steps and headed down the other route that brought them to the area that the second train was resting in. This time around the train wasn't aligned with the track and Atreus seemed to be of the opinion that he could pull a fast one on his father as he placed it on the path, where Pandora stopped him since they were stressed for time and delaying them even a little bit was a bad idea. While they got underway Flurry looted a stone chest before taking to the air, allowing her to fly overhead like the last time her family used one of these, though this time around an army of grim rushed out of the mountain and attacked the train, sending it flying off the train track. Such a thing caused her to rush ahead of the now flying train, spun around as she drew her bow, and rained arrows down on the grim as they tried to get at her family, and the rare few that reached their target were punched by her father or sister, as Atreus was in the middle of freaking out, repeating 'shit' repeatedly for some reason.

Eventually the train crashed into a troll that was on the ground, of all things, who grabbed her father as he climbed out for a moment, but that caused him to brutally behead the creature before helping Atreus and Pandora out of the train, and as he chewed Atreus out for losing control, as certain words were a sign of one losing control, Flurry pocketed some items that were dropped from the now dead troll.

Of course there were more grim for them to fight, which none of them were surprised by given everything they had seen so far in this realm, and as they made their way around to what seemed to be the entrance of the actual mine all of the grim were slain without the family slowing down at all. Flurry did make sure to loot anything they passed by, chests on the side of an area or loose bags of Hacksilver that would be useful in trading with the dwarf brothers, all while her father dealt with all sorts of blockages and even crushed some wretches that tried to join the battle. She also uncovered a whetstone Mimir was able to recognize, as it was the 'Whetstone of the Night Ripper', something to add to the collection as they found the path that lead into the mine, something that made her father happy since it meant they could head inside and see if the Giants were right about Tyr being imprisoned in this realm. To move forward Kratos used the axe and froze part of the wooden trough that had been diverted into this area, causing an overflow that pushed some cargo out of their way so they could reach a runic chest, and once they were on the other side he recalled the axe before they ignited the three braziers that allowed Flurry to loot the chest, and a stone one that was nearby.

There was an area where they had to lift Atreus into the upper level, though he teased his father about his knees for some odd reason, even though Kratos ignored the comment as his son opened the way forward for him and Pandora to catch up to him and Flurry.

Sindri caught up with them as they started to enter the actual mine and handed over two lanterns that were like the Bifrost, as he realized that what he gave them earlier wasn't good enough to be an actual light, so he gave one to Kratos and one to Atreus, those were all he could make so far, so Pandora's would be given to her when they returned to the house, since he knew Flurry didn't need one. The grim that showed up after that barely stopped the family as they removed them and made their way into the mine at long last, passing by another crystalline mirror they couldn't do anything with, though while her family did that Flurry tracked down a golden chest and looted it, and collected a Kvasir poem that seemed to be about a pair of friends, one of metal and one of fur. With that added to the collection she joined her family as they descended into the mine, allowing her to give her father the pommel piece she had found in the golden chest, where the official entrance had been collapsed, though there was a side passage for them to use to continue moving forward. Sure enough there were a few more wretches for them to fight, but they were used to this at this point in time and simply continued to clear out the foes that came their way, all while Atreus used the new sonic power of his bow to clear openings for them to use.

As they crawled through the area of the mine they were in the family also had to clear out a number of grim, and even one that was a nest for the wretches, though once all of their enemies were dealt with Flurry found another water trough that was large enough for someone to ride in, thanks to a makeshift boat nearby, with enough room for three.

"You know, sometimes being me is unfair." Flurry commented, where she tucked in her wings and levitated herself with her magic, another useful skill she had picked up during her lessons with Hecate, while her family moved into the boat and got underway, since there was no telling when Odin's forces would arrive to stop them.

Atreus, on the other hand, was more focused on finding Tyr and joining him in the fight against Odin, even though Kratos told him that they weren't here to declare war on the All-Father, only this time it sure looked like his son was lost in his own little world and didn't want to listen to his father's advice. When they reached the core of the mountain they discovered that the place was massive and that Durlin's instructions weren't of any help, meaning they were going to have to check each area just to satisfy Atreus' desire to find the god they were looking for. Eventually the family reached the end of the path and found where Sindri had set up shop again, where Kratos quickly utilized the new Chaos Flame and further empowered his Blades of Chaos, much to Sindri's amazement, before Flurry landed and undid her spell, allowing her to stretch her wings a little before they moved into the mountain's core. Just like when they were outside Kratos had to utilize the freezing power of the Leviathan Axe, along with Atreus' new sonic arrows, to navigate the mess that had been left behind, allowing them to clear a blockage and reach the first of many large doors they would need to check.

It happened to lead to a long forgotten break room, with rats on the old tables, though Flurry looted a stone chest as Atreus opened the way with another sonic arrow, which he definitely liked, allowing them to use a small passage to reach another portion of the mountain core. There were also draugr in the area for the family to fight, not that it mattered since they tore through them and even jumped over the long water trough they had rode the boat through, but this did show that either the area was abandoned or Odin was really keeping Tyr down here. Kratos kept his opinions to himself as Atreus rushed ahead of him and his sisters, where he utilized the axe to mess with the next water trough and moved some water wheels so they could reach the next door he wanted to check out. Atreus really seemed to be of the opinion that Tyr would march out of here and immediately declare war on Odin, and that it was his job to stand beside him while he did so, causing the rest of his family to sigh as they used a lift to reach the upper portion of the area and continued their exploration.

The second door brought them to a collapsed section of the mine and they dropped into a wretch nest, wiping them out in a matter of seconds, before discovering a covered crawl passage that a dwarf had been crushed under, though he was holding a powerful talisman, a relic that Flurry collected. She recalled the dwarves mentioning this at one point in the past, that there were really powerful items in the world, like a talisman or even old weapons, that could give them even more of a boost to their power, so by adding this to her bag, in the portion that all of their gear was in, they could benefit from another type of boost. With that in hand they continued through the now freed passage and reached another portion of the mountain core, another large area with another door that they needed to check out, along with more water troughs and water wheels they had to move to continue on their way. Flurry discovered that they were now above Sindri's location, meaning the mine was like a spiral, before they found an area that allowed them to look into the next room behind the third door, where a draugr hole happened to be located.

Sure enough they found a way to the door and entered the area with the draugr hole, though this time around Flurry simply used the Serpent's Glaive to behead both Hertha and her guards, sealing the hole in the earth in an instant as she picked up all of the loot that she dropped, while her father looted a golden chest and obtained an axe piece that he added to what they had collected during their last adventure.

"Another dead end... where could he be?" Atreus inquired, as this was getting annoying, because he had thought they would have discovered Tyr's location a lot sooner than what was going on right now, and it was easy for the family to tell that he was definitely getting desperate to find the missing God of War.

"Atreus, the mine is abandoned. It is unlikely..." Kratos started to say, though in the next instant his son rounded on him, as if he was trying to act more mature than he really was, while at the same time failing to control his ire over the fact that none of his family members seemed to agree with his desire to find Tyr.

"Tyr's here, I know he is! Durlin's instructions ended at the start of the mine, so we need to keep searching!" Atreus stated, his tone informing them that he really wasn't happy with what they were doing right now, standing against him and his quest to save Tyr from his prison, "Father, you said that you and my sisters would follow my lead, so stop questioning my every decision and do as I say!"

"Atreus, we are simply stating what we see. Nothing more... but you WILL stop treating us this way." Flurry replied, her tone telling her family that she was getting fed up with her brother, who stopped for a moment as they headed out through the door to see if they could find a fourth one to investigate, "Keep it up and you'll really piss me off... and trust me, you don't want to see me when I'm like that."

Atreus thought about it and seemed to back off for the time being, allowing them to double back to a blocked chain that was the next way forward after he used his sonic arrows to deal with a blockage, allowing them to ride it down to another area that had more water wheels and water troughs. Instead of saying anything, or even sighing, the family just focused on using their skills to move things around so they could continue towards the next door, all while Atreus refused to listen to one of Kratos' lessons, as it was a 'mental exercise' that his son instantly failed. It showed them that while his son had made good strides over the years, becoming a better warrior, there were parts he was lacking in and refused to fix his errors, meaning they needed another approach in the future, which was just annoying when Kratos thought about it. Flurry made sure that any green ravens were destroyed in the process, even though this meant they were on the right path, before they discovered that that the fourth door was a bust, but there was a passage leading out that brought them to an area with a barred door with sonic locks on it.

In the next few seconds Atreus broke the sonic locks before Kratos approached the door, only for them to discover that a few Einherjar called out to them before jumping down into the area they were in, annoyed that they were here no doubt, to which the family readied their weapons and engaged them. The interesting thing was that the Einherjar wore no shirts and seemed more like reavers, though their weapons were empowered by the Bifrost, which wasn't something they had been expecting when thinking about Odin's army, but it was something to keep in mind for the future. The skills of the pair were laughable, if Flurry was being honest, which really damaged the idea that Tyr was being held here, because if he was on the other side of the door that meant Odin didn't value his safety very well and almost wanted him to be found. With that fact in mind they were able to overwhelm the Einherjar without much difficulty, even the few more that dropped down into the area collapsed like they were the weakest of Odin's forces, and once the coast was clear Kratos stabbed the wooden beam of the door with the Blades of Chaos.

After pulling the door down, which was rather easy to do, they found that it was a cage on the other side of the door, where a tall figure was sitting on the ground and glanced at them with a look that indicated that he wasn't believing his eyes, which were the Bifrost crystals like what Mimir had. Tyr seemed totally broken, as he took one look at Kratos, someone he had extended an invitation to all those years ago, and assumed that he was here to kill him, despite the fact that Kratos cut the rope that was attached to the collar around the imprisoned god's neck. After that he seemed to notice Mimir and freaked out without even giving them time to explain themselves, as he pushed by Atreus and headed down a passage as Atreus just followed after him, even though the passage collapsed after that and caused Kratos and his daughters to sigh. Flurry knew that imprisonment could change someone, or allow one's hatred to fester, but this was ridiculous for the short period of time that Tyr was supposedly locked up for, meaning his mind was either incredibly fragile, or someone was playing them for fools.

It was to the point that she just ignited her magic and crushed the Einherjar that dropped down into the area, she wasn't in the mood to deal with them, allowing them to smash their way through the passage and follow after Atreus, who was near a collapsed Tyr that was begging for mercy, causing Kratos to grab him by the shoulders and pin him against the wall. While he spoke to the disturbed god, however, Flurry growled as she found more Einherjar descending on the mine, dropping down through holes that had been made before this point and confirmed that Odin was trying to trap anyone who dared to come for Tyr, regardless if he was the real one or not. With that in mind she raised her bow and loosed arrows empowered with her magic, causing them to race down the passage and blast her targets backwards, tearing into the earth around them in the process before one of the walls collapsed, allowing them an opportunity to flee from the mine. She could see that her father had gotten through to Tyr, or at least it sure looked that way, even though he spouted some nonsense about the fact that he was easily confused, that he didn't always know what was real and what was his own imagination, and he asked a few innocent questions as they found a lift he pulled down for them to use.

The one thing that caught Tyr by surprise was the fact that Baldur was still alive, despite knowing that his death meant the start of Fimbulwinter, where Atreus explained that the Giants had another version events that came true instead, that the 'Valkyrie of Death would take Baldur's invulnerability', which is what happened, eventually causing him to sit down near a dwarven ferry, the one connected to the area the Door they stepped through was located in.

"Before we go any further, I must ask for the truth: what is it that you want from me?" Tyr asked, because that was the part he didn't know, especially since they had spent time making sure he wasn't insane and had calmed down after seeing Mimir in his new state, causing him to look down at his hands for a moment, "If you came seeking a God of War to follow you into Ragnarok... or worse yet, lead you into it... you might as well kill me where I stand."

"Oh by the titans... you want to die that badly, after everything we went through to save your sorry ass?" Flurry remarked, as she was getting far too frustrated with everything that was going on right now, to the point where she actually swore despite never caring for the words that Brok loved to use every chance he got, and she wasted no time in shifting her stance as she drew the Blade of Olympus and pointed it right at Tyr's heart, shocking Atreus in the process while she found that Tyr was actually terrified of her right now, "Fine, I can mercy kill another god, if that's what you want."

As Atreus moved to defend Tyr, because of course he would, Mimir noted that there were more Eirherjar descending upon the realm and that they had better get going, as in there would be time to deal with Tyr and his attitude later, to which Flurry growled for a moment before taking off. Instead of saying a word to the others she loosed arrows into the sky from another area of the wetlands, causing Odin's forces to come for her and not everyone else, to which Kratos made sure Tyr was on the ferry before they started to pull on the chain, though while he was likely reprimand Flurry for losing control he couldn't fault her in the slightest. He, too, was disappointed in the Norse God of War, as Tyr was nothing like he had imagined, even if he took an extended prison sentence into his thoughts, as he was far worse than Mimir was when they found him at the peak of that mountain, but decided not to say anything for the time being. Thankfully Atreus was silent throughout the venture, as he had to think about the fact that Tyr was different from what he and the Giants had been expecting, and Kratos hoped that by the time they returned to Sindri's his son would have realized that there were other paths for them to take, to avoid the start of Ragnarok.

After a few minutes of carefully moving the ferry, slow enough to avoid detection while going at a good speed to get out of the area, Kratos rushed to the Door and opened it with his Key, allowing them to head back to Sindri's, and Flurry joined them before the Door closed, allowing them to relax for a time as they wondered what the next few days had in store for them and their friends.

Ragnarok: Rest and Planning

As they stepped into the Realm Between Realms, and the Door behind them closed so none of the Einherjar could follow them into their new safe haven, Flurry found that Tyr was absorbed by where they were and just came to a stop on the start of the branch they had to walk on.

"Yggdrasil! It's been so long since the last time I saw it, to that point that I had forgotten it's beauty." Tyr commented, while at the same time Flurry refrained from saying anything about his comment, because she doubted that a hundred or so years in a prison would have caused someone who traveled the Lands like Tyr to simply forget about Yggdrasil, regardless of the type of cell he had been left in.

"Tyr, in your travels across the realms, did you ever hear of the Giants and the name 'Loki'?" Atreus asked, because that was what he was interested in, as the only person who would be able to make sense of what the Giants had left behind was the one that the Giants had trusted the most, even more than Mimir, and Tyr was the key to figuring everything out.

"I'm sorry, but no... the name doesn't sound familiar. But you know the Giants, they are... no, they were... rather secretive, so they likely kept that from me as well." Tyr replied, which just caused Flurry's eyebrow to twitch, because after everything the Giants had entrusted him with, enough to hide the way into their realm behind all those trials and challenges, she doubted that the very race that asked for his assistance, and he gave it gladly, would keep something like this from him, "Though perhaps after a rest... true rest, not the madness Odin put me through... might clear my mind and allow me to think more clearly."

Atreus told him that they would speak to the dwarves that were helping them out, which was when the other Door appeared in front of them and Kratos stepped through it without delay, though as Tyr laid eyes on Sindri's house all he could say was that it was a 'tree house', almost like he expected more from the legendary dwarves. Of course they found Sindri sweeping right outside his house and he was excited by the fact that Tyr was alive, in fact using the title of 'Lord' for him, since he had been an inspiration to all of the realms before his capture and disappearance, all for Tyr to reply 'am I', like he was trying to imply something without drawing attention to it. Even Sindri was weirded out by what the god was saying, like he expecting a different person and not what was in front of him, though he did listen to Atreus for a few seconds and agreed that getting Tyr some rest was a good idea, which was why he welcomed them into the house. Of course Atreus also wanted to talk with his father about their next move, now that they had freed Tyr from his prison, where Kratos told him that they should rest as well, as an exhausted mind could spell trouble, all while Brok broke the collar that was around Tyr's neck, fully freeing him at long last.

When the topic of food came up, however, Tyr seemed to go along a path of saying that he likely couldn't stomach too much since he hadn't been fed properly during his prison sentence, but he did, oddly enough, request hardtack or even humble ship's biscuits, like he was a bird, and his decision for a room was in the broom closet, of all places.

"Hey, I know you would like to rest for a while, but can I ask you about my species?" Flurry asked, because she was similar to her brother in one regard, both of them needed answers about certain things and Tyr was the only one that could give them the best answers, especially since all Mimir could give her was secondhand information.

"Sorry, but... I don't think I can be of any help to you... I don't recall meeting or learning about anyone like you before." Tyr replied, something that sent warning flags up in Flurry's mind, because Tyr clearly knew that she was an alicorn, Mimir had said so since the Norse God of War had been the one to tell him about her species in the past, so the fact that he now dared to claim that he knew nothing told her more than he was probably planning on revealing, "But I wouldn't mind learning more about your kind... maybe a feather or something will help me gain some insight for tomorrow?"

Instead of presenting an annoyed front Flurry just smiled and told Tyr not to be disappointed, she never gave anyone any of her feathers, in fact she reduced the fallen ones to ash, where he sighed and nodded his head in understanding before he turned towards Sindri, who handed a couple of biscuits over to him, though once they were in hand he retreated into the broom closet, where Flurry magically sealed it with a wave of her hand.

"Woah, what are you..." Sindri started to say, though in the next few seconds he and the others watched as Flurry weaved a bit more of her magic into the spell she had created, making a spherical barrier around the closet that would keep Tyr in one spot without leaking any information, along with a few other spells based on what they were seeing.

"Sorry, but I don't trust him. Don't buy his excuse of not knowing my species... Mimir realized what I was the moment he laid eyes on me, and that was from secondhand stories." Flurry remarked, because so far 'Tyr' hadn't given her any reason to trust him, to the point where she had to wonder if he was actually someone else pretending to be Tyr, no doubt on Odin's orders to ensure their plans were known to the All-Father, and if that was the case they were failing miserably, "I added a few spells to make sure no one gets in or out of that closet, along with a spell to prevent him from listening in on what we're saying... if he turns out to be the real god, and this is just him recovering from 'Odin's torture', I'll apologize... but if not, well, we'll cross that bridge if we reach it. Besides, did you see how he looked when he mentioned wanting to learn more about me and my species? Whoever he is, he's as bad as Odin."

"If you aren't going to accept the fact that we saved Tyr, and you're going to ignore what the Giants said, then why did you bother coming with us?" Atreus asked, as it sounded like his sister was just going to forget about what they had seen in the shrine, that the Giants knew Tyr would be imprisoned and would leave a way for someone to figure out where he was being hidden by Odin, and view the God of War that was destined to lead them during Ragnarok as someone else.

"Because, like our father and sister, I want to keep you safe... no matter how much you annoy me... it's also to try and stop you from starting Ragnarok." Flurry said, which was the truth, her brother was bound to do something stupid and cause the start of the end of the Nine Realms if they weren't careful, so a lot of her focus was on making sure he kept himself in check, before she moved up to the area that Sindri had set up as her bedroom, "I know you won't listen to me... you never do when it's an important matter... but I would suggest getting some sleep. We'll discuss things in the morning, when we're rested and have time to talk without an army descending on us."

Flurry headed into the room that Sindri had made for her, where she found that her annoyed brother did the same thing, no doubt ticked off that she was treating 'Tyr' as a prisoner or a traitor, while Pandora slipped into her own chamber without delay, leaving Kratos to thank the dwarves for their hospitality again before retiring to his room. Sure enough she found that Kratos was talking to Albis and Mimir about how difficult it was to raise Atreus, since he was far too restless, far more than Flurry had been when she was younger, even though she had constant wars and battles going on to keep her busy. It wasn't that she was listening in on them, rather she could hear them just fine, it was like Sindri had set up a hidden way for them to listen to each other or just speak when they wanted to, but Flurry wasn't in the mood to talk, not with her brother's constant stupidity and his growing desire for Ragnarok to happen. Her father seemed to understand that fact and didn't make any comments that were directed towards her, allowing Flurry to just listen as she magically dismissed her wings and sat on the bed Sindri had provided, where she stared at the ceiling for a time and considered everything that had happened so far, and what it meant for the future.

Unfortunately for her two things ended up annoying her more than she had been previously, during their time in the realm of the dwarves, the first being that she confirmed that there was magic coming from 'Tyr's' room, magic that felt like he was trying to get out or to convey a message to someone, confirming that he wasn't who he said he was. Such a thing meant that Odin had either moved the real Tyr out of the prison they had found the false one in, after realizing that Atreus was looking for the Norse God of War and the Giants had no idea, or Tyr was actually dead and the Giants knew someone would come along to free the False Tyr from his cell. Of course Odin was expecting this plan to work and get all sorts of information on what the family was doing, without someone realizing what in the world was going on, but he and his agent made a rather tragic mistake, because now that she wasn't stressed by the madness in Svartalfheim she was able to piece things together on her own. She knew Odin would be aware that someone was onto his scheme once a report failed to show up, but that was perfectly fine, because she was sure False Tyr would be taken care of in the very near future, she just had to move fast and get him before he was able to escape.

The second thing that reignited her annoyance was the fact that when she got up to look out at Yggdrasil, to take in the very serene sights and calm herself down, she noticed Atreus eavesdropping on their father before running off with Sindri, like he knew something that no one else did, causing her to groan as she jumped out the window and unfurled her wings before floating down to the outside area by her father's room.

"I know I said that rest is important, but I can't sleep right now... so I'm going to fly around Midgard for an hour or two, just to take my mind off of Svartalfheim." Flurry said, which was a partial truth, because she guessed it was their home realm that Atreus was interested in heading to based on the 'giant friend' comment she overheard, though the reality was mostly so she could keep an eye on Atreus and make sure he didn't do something stupid.

"Oddly enough, we are feeling the same way. Albis and I will walk among Yggdrasil's branches, while Pandora will keep hold of Mimir until we return." Kratos replied, where he found it somewhat amusing that both he and Flurry had a similar idea, a fact that no doubt came from their upbringing as Spartans, and they had similar ideas on how to try and relax before having to worry about the next part of this adventure.

Flurry nodded and headed over to the Door, pulling out her Key, an item she rarely used since she always traveled with her father and he used his all the time, before selecting their Midgard house, since there was a Door there, and it wasn't long before she was traveling back to the winter covered realm. When she stepped out into Midgard a few moments later Flurry found that her brother was nowhere near the house, in fact she spotted Huginn hanging out in the area outside the barrier she had set up before they departed for Sindri's house the first time, confirming that Odin wanted her brother. Of course he was alone, his brother Muninn nowhere to be seen, making her wonder if the other bird was in Sindri's house with False Tyr, hidden from view until it was time to do whatever Odin had tasked his spy with doing, The raven stared at her for a couple of seconds, as she wasn't who he was expecting to see in this area, before she opened her wings and took to the sky, because she could feel her brother's magic coming from the Lake of Nine, which made since given that his target was Jormungandr, hence the 'giant friend' comment.

What Flurry discovered as she landed on one of the nearby Realm Towers was that Atreus actually tried to punch one of the wooden chests, like their father did, and likely hurt himself before using his heavy bow to smash the lid, though while she was annoyed by this discovery she decided to let it go.

The reason she didn't fly down and just grab her brother, to haul him back to Sindri's house in the Realm Between Realms, was because Atreus had two wonderful allies fighting beside him, as Freya and Baldur had discovered him and joined up with him once they realized he was dead set on doing this, even if his father didn't know. Both knew that keeping Atreus alive would mean Kratos wouldn't rage too much when he discovered that his son went behind his back again, in fact Fryea glanced in Flurry's direction at one point while Atreus was focused on the path in front of him. She also discovered that the statue of Tyr had fallen over, no doubt due to Fimbulwinter, and pieces were scattered all over the frozen Lake, which was interesting to see and was something she kept in mind for later, if they ever came here to explore whatever else the winter might have revealed. Sindri, for the most part, only appeared every now and then to talk to the trio, even though it was easy for Flurry to see that neither Freya or Baldur were particularly happy with him talking Atreus into coming here, meaning she didn't need to fly down and give her brother a piece of her mind.

Eventually, as she suspected, they reached an area where Atreus started to call out to the slumbering World Serpent, who had been buried under the snow of Fimbulwinter, like he didn't care about it at all, and was only now showing himself to the rest of Midgard once more. Sure enough once Jormungandr was wide awake, and had circled around the area before turning to look at the brazier that the group was standing near, he focused on Atreus before starting to speak, where it sounded like he was asking why Atreus had disturbed him, almost like the World Serpent was annoyed with the boy as well. Atreus, no doubt wanting to keep things short and sweet so he could come up with a good excuse for his father, asked about Loki and his fate, since his destiny was something that Atreus was far too focused on, like he didn't listen to anything they had shown him of their time in Greece. Jormungandr, for the most part, didn't have too much to offer Atreus this time around, rather he said something that seemed like a name of some place, which confused Atreus since it made no sense to him, before he and the others discovered that the World Serpent went back to sleep, causing the group to sigh as they departed from the area, since it seemed like this had been a waste of time.

With the conversation over Sindri lead the way back to the nearest Door of Yggdrasil and opened the way for him and Atreus to depart, while at the same time Freya and Baldur headed back to their home, no doubt to tend to their turtle friend, but she waited for a few minutes before using the Door to return to Sindri's as well, causing her to step out in front of the house a few moments later, surprising her brother and Sindri in the process.

"Flurry? Wh... What you... we're in trouble, aren't we?" Sindri asked, because he knew that if Flurry had found out about their venture to Midgard, as he was sure that she had followed them to the realm trapped in winter, that meant Kratos would be told in no time at all and that they would be wise to tell him what they had done directly.

"That's up to father... though he will be hurt that you two went behind his back again." Flurry replied, because she and her family had formed a strong bond at the end of their last adventure, a bond that was being strained thanks to her brother constantly going behind their backs and not telling them anything until it was too late, to which she pushed open the doors and found that everyone else was sitting around the table, "Sorry it took me so long to get back, I just flew around for a long time... had a lot to clear my mind of... I also found that Atreus and Sindri decided to go talk with Jormungandr."

"Oh come on! Couldn't you have kept the truth to yourself for a while?" Atreus stated, as he couldn't believe his sister right now, she was going and revealing what he had done to their father without even letting him do anything, and he could see that everyone, from their father to Tyr, was surprised by this discovery, and annoyed in some cases, causing him to sigh as he realized he had to come clean, "Fine, she's right. I... had a short vision when I went to sleep and I needed to as the World Serpent what it meant... he wasn't much help, as all he said was 'Ironwood'."

Mimir stated that it was the mythical sanctuary of the Giants, a place that didn't exist since the Giants had made it up to keep Odin off their tails, even though they knew that their ploy had failed in the end, so he guessed that the vision wanted him to be aware of the Giants' failure to hide from their foe. Kratos, following that, informed Flurry and Atreus that they had been talking strategy, meaning more time had passed while they were in Midgard than they believed, and the plan right now was to open the way to Alfheim so they could track down more information. As he said that Brok provided food, in the form of sausage, eggs, and bacon, where Flurry noticed that False Tyr seemed surprised by it, like he thought it was bad, especially since he volunteered to make the next meal, which was odd considering that he was so humble when they arrived yesterday, just more confirmation that she was right. She felt that Odin could have picked a better spy than whoever he had chosen to be False Tyr, because this person was an utter failure in her eyes, in fact her time in Midgard, relaxing in a sense while she observed her brother, had removed some of the stress and now she could see the illusion magic on False Tyr.

While they ate their breakfast, regardless of how it tasted, Sindri informed them that he would make a bigger table and went off to do so, while at the same time Atreus realized that they were seeking the shrine of Groa, the one who saw Ragnarok, and if the other shrines had secrets they were banking on hers having the greatest secret of them all, and Brok even had a Seed for them to use on the Door.

When it was time for them to get going, where Flurry kept an eye on False Tyr as they headed outside, though as they walked up to the Door a new figure came into view, a squirrel dressed in leather clothing that seemed more like Flurry, like he was a cross of sorts, between human and animal. Of course she, Atreus, and Pandora realized who this was, this was Ratatoskr, one of the attendants to the World Tree itself, who climbed around Kratos for a few moments and made comments on how he looked, sounding pleased by how he was fine tuned for violence. Ratatoskr found his way to Kratos' pack and removed the Seed that was covered in amber resin and squid ink, a gift from Dinner when they acquired the map, where he slipped it into his mouth to remove the excess that was on it. While he did that he explained why he was so different from the runic summon Atreus had used several times in the past, as that was a spectral aspect of himself, one of his emotions that was a particularly nasty one that even Ratatoskr considered a different person at times.

"Oh, Bitter! Would you like to come over and catch up with your friends?" Ratatoskr asked, as they noticed there were a few colorful squirrels running around, as in a purple one, a green one, a red one, and a white one that was the one Atreus had summoned in the past, meaning the last one was 'Bitter'.

"Fuck off, I'm busy!" the white squirrel stated, where he even stopped for a moment and made a gesture that looked like he was trying to flip them off, despite being an ordinary squirrel, he even surprised Ratatoskr for a moment, before he rushed off to do whatever it was that he was supposed to be doing right now.

Kratos discovered that Dinner's Seed was actually a Niflheim Seed, where Ratatoskr told them that the area it would lead them to was a training area and, more importantly, something he called the 'Raven Tree', causing Kratos to look at Flurry for a moment before using that Seed on the Door. Flurry found that False Tyr didn't want to go through with them, rather he was fine with staying and conversing with Ratatoskr, to which she followed her family through the Door and walked among the branches for a time, as she wanted to see this Raven Tree with her own eyes. While they walked Mimir confirmed one of the things they had thought about previously, that Odin had found a loophole and had weaponized his army before he was supposed to, which wasn't good for the realms when they considered what he could do with his Einherjar. As they stepped through the other Door, however, they found themselves in an icy realm that was somewhat different from the Niflheim they had been to before, though that wasn't what caught Flurry's attention, it was the massive tree that rested on top of a hill, the only thing they could approach.

It wasn't even the tree that Flurry was focused on, rather it was all of the glowing ravens that were resting on each branch, where her eyes widened as she moved from one to the next, images of children flashing before her eyes as she did so, and her rage from earlier returned in full force.

"By the Titans... they're children! The Raven Keeper is twisting the souls of CHILDREN into Odin's forced spies!" Flurry stated, where she could see that the spirits were saddened by this, like they had wanted to grow up and live fulfilling lives instead of being turned and twisted into their cursed states, meaning each had been forced into this life either by their families or the figure that served the All-Father.

As Atreus opened his mouth, however, he and his family felt something new, the air itself was starting to shudder under what he could only describe as an intense level of rage that was unlike anything he had felt in the past, in fact the ground that was around his sister's hooves seemed to be vibrating, waves spreading outwards from her position. That was followed by the wind starting to swirl around Flurry's position, like her rage was suddenly manipulating the very elements that made up this realm, in fact a literal storm was starting to appear overhead as he found black clouds forming and lightning flashing in the span of a few seconds. As his sister turned towards them, however, Atreus paled as he noticed how enraged she was, as this was beyond anything he had seen in the past, and as she walked down to where they were standing the air simply shook, her power responding to her rage, causing him to sweat as he realized how much power she actually had. She then walked into the area with the pillar that they had ignored when she spotted the Raven Tree and touched the stone, where they found that her magic washed over it and transformed it into a spitting image of Odin, before she pulled her right fist back and Kratos' eyes widened as he realized that there was a sphere of magical energy around it, one Flurry had used in her fight against Ares.

In the next instant Flurry punched Stone Odin in the chest and the air around her fist cracked in multiple directions, where Atreus watched as a surge of energy seemed to rush off in all directions, the stone wall behind the dummy cracking before breaking into a thousand pieces, all while the earth violently shook for a few moments before finally settling down.

"I'm going to kill Odin!" Flurry growled, because while crushing an effigy of Odin was nice it did little to soothe the rage that was now burning in her heart, one that was nearly on the level of when Ares killed her father, and yet she had been able to keep herself from truly releasing her full power, as her power as the Goddess of Death had remained bottled, but she knew the dam might burst if she discovered or saw something that was more outrageous than this.

As Kratos moved to make sure Flurry was fine, even though he knew for sure that she wasn't, he could only hope that they were able to calm her down, because her rage fully breaking would be bad for everyone, not just Odin, and it made him somewhat nervous to face whatever the future held in store for them.

Ragnarok: Back to Alfheim

Kratos waited for a few moments, to let some of Flurry's anger burn off so she didn't do anything rash when they, Atreus, and Pandora returned to Sindri's house for a few seconds, and once he was positive that she had returned to normal, or at least as normal as can be since she was now annoyed and frowning, they returned to Sindri's.

"Ah, Kratos, you and your children have... returned." False Tyr said, reminding Flurry that no one else had noticed anything off about him, though right now she was interested in seeing what he would do when they headed out to seek whatever information was in Groa's shrine, where he paused for a few seconds, "I take it something happened in Niflheim?"

"We, um, discovered the Raven Tree... best to not mention it around Flurry, she's not happy right now." Atreus replied, as he had never seen his sister like that and part of him didn't want to annoy him anymore than she already was, so he was wisely keeping his mouth shut on this matter, while the rest of the family was doing the same until they were sure it was okay to talk to her about the discovery.

Flurry found that False Tyr seemed to pause before nodding his head, to show them that he had heard about the ravens in the past, before her father turned towards the Door and held out his Key as he accessed the power of the other Seed they had acquired recently, allowing him to open the way to Alfheim. While the Door opened False Tyr said that he had heard of the family's last visit to the realm of the elves, as in Brok or Sindri must have made a comment while they were gone, and he was interested in hearing about the visit from those that made it, instead of listening to secondhand information. Atreus was more than happy to fill him in, talking about how they encountered Freya, how she helped them fix up the God of War's temple in the Lake of Nine, and how she helped them get to Alfheim, despite her curse preventing her from leaving Midgard. That got a 'that's terrible' from False Tyr, where Flurry sensed that he didn't care at all, which was more evidence that the spy Odin had picked for this mission was just awful in every aspect and that made her wonder if that was the point, to make one of them kill a fake Tyr to unite the realms against her and her family.

When Atreus mentioned the fact that they had to fight the dark elves to get to the Light, however, False Tyr was surprised by that fact, that they had to interfere with the Elf War to refill their Bifrost, and when Atreus mentioned breaking the hive stuff to get to the Light, a necessary evil, Flurry noticed the slight smile on False Tyr's face that faded a few seconds later.

A few moments later they stepped out through the other Door and entered Alfheim, where it looked like they were outside the temple, though where seemed to be an important question, where Flurry was sure that they were on the outskirts of the area that the structure had been built on, just not in an area they were familiar with. Her reason for thinking that was due to the fact that it was mostly just a carved out passage around them, like someone had carved their way through a mountain or hill and made this place smooth for later, especially since the creator of the area left an elven statue, before the division, in here that was fading to time. As they started to climb out of the area the Door had brought them to Flurry found that there were a few slain elves around the passage, dark elves that had been impaled, before they found an area that allowed them to stare out at a desert storm, which False Tyr informed them was natural, not made by Fimbulwinter. Kratos did locate a stone ledge below them and jumped down, finding that it was just an area with a stone chest inside it, which he looted while handing Flurry everything that was inside it in the span of a few seconds, where Atreus told False Tyr that they loved loot, so this was a common scene.

As they regrouped on the area they had stopped on, however, Flurry had the others pause for a moment as she pulled out her bow, readied an arrow, and loosed a magical one into the air that separated into a number of smaller arrows that just disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"And what was that supposed to do?" False Tyr asked, because it seemed rather pointless to him, that she was just loosing an arrow that could potentially give away their position to whatever enemies might be in this section of Alfheim, while he noticed none of the others were annoyed with her.

"I'm striking down the Eyes of Odin... you know, his little green spies... I enter a realm, loose a magical arrow, and they all die in an instant." Flurry replied, where she glared at False Tyr for a moment, noticing how, for just a moment, he seemed a tad bit annoyed by the fact that the little ravens were being taken out by the family, or by her since she was admitting that fact, before she put the bow away for the time being, "Come on, let's go find that shrine."

"You know, before I didn't care too much about those emerald ravens... I just thought they were pure magic, but... knowing the truth makes me feel sad." Atreus commented, showing Flurry that he must have been thinking about the tree since her reaction towards it's residents, in fact thinking about the children seemed to make him go quiet for a time, while Flurry also noticed that False Tyr coughed a little, like he was drawing their attention away from the topic.

While she took note of that the family squeezed through a gap in the nearby rock wall, which False Tyr jumped over for some odd reason, though as Atreus commented on hearing something out in the desert, something in pain, Kratos found a runic chest nearby and activated the three braziers to unlock it. False Tyr was surprised that they were even looting nornir chests, that no chest was safe from Kratos and his family, before they focused on the task at hand as they spotted the Temple of Light at the end of the path they were following right now. While they walked False Tyr asked about Freyr and how he never bothered to come back to Alfheim, where Mimir said that it was his guess that Freyr had turned his focus to the fate of his own realm, as in Vanaheim, but he hadn't seen the god in a long time, so his information could be outdated. After that they reached what appeared to be a blockage with shiny crystalline rocks near it, Twilight Stones according to False Tyr, which took millennia to form, though they discovered something new as Kratos angled his axe in such a way that hitting the stone reflected it into the back of the barricade, which False Tyr admitted he didn't know until that very moment.

Once again Flurry found that his facial features changed when confronting new knowledge, he seemed far too happy to get his hands on something brand new, making her wonder if it was actually Odin they were dealing with and not one of his many minions, something she kept in mind as they continued along the path.

There a few wretches on the other side of the now opened barricade, which Kratos was able to deal with in an instant with a single swing of the Blades of Chaos, before he found another area that had one of Kvasir's poems, where Mimir told them that the writer had been torn apart by a member of his audience, Thor. None of them were surprised, rather it seemed like the God of Thunder was either drunk or Odin wanted the writer removed for some reason, though the family decided not to worry about it as Kratos looted a golden chest as well, allowing Flurry to store everything inside her bag as Kratos added yet another blue gem's power to his arsenal. While they moved up a wall Mimir also explained how Freyr had come to this realm and had used his power to cultivate a tenuous peace between the light and dark elves, causing False Tyr to remark that his peace instantly fell apart once he left Alfheim, but their discussion was stopped as they heard a new sound. That ended up being a light elf warrior, wearing a flowing armor dress that granted her the full range of her abilities, while she carried two curved blades that looked like they were imbued with the Light, a warrior that killed a dark elf warrior as False Tyr told her to stop, which caused her to turn on him next.

Kratos hurled one of the Blades of Chaos at the light elf and let it wrap around her arms before she could hurt False Tyr, to which he yanked her over to her, despite the Norse God of War calling for him to stop, and then tore her upper body from her lower body with ease, while Flurry noticed another one coming and faded into the mist for a moment before removing the head of her target with a sickle.

"Why are they attacking us? We freed the Light the last time we were here!" Atreus remarked, because the light elves had been grateful when they destroyed all of the dark elf hive material the last time they came to this realm, or at least he had thought such a thing since none of the light elves had stopped to talk with his family, so them attacking him and his family just made no sense to him.

"Basically, we're intruders. That's enough for people like them." Flurry replied, which was just foolish in her eyes, that both types of elves wouldn't just stop and ask why they were in Alfheim, because that would make things so much easier for each side, instead of her and her family slaughtering everyone that came at them, though that didn't stop her from taking the pair of blades from the first foe that attacked them.

"Don't you have enough weapons?" False Tyr asked, noticing that Flurry took the swords, felt their weight for a time, before using them to slice apart a light elf that rushed at her, while at the same time some more light elves rushed her family as the group continued towards the temple that was their main destination.

"She likes to collect one of every weapon, but what you're seeing is far from her full arsenal." Atreus answered, though as he said that he loosed an arrow into the chest of a light elf, stunning them so his father could finish them off, while noticing that this time around Flurry was just sticking to her sickles for the most part, an odd thing for her, "Trust me, each one has the potential to change the flow of battle if she decided to use them against our enemies."

Kratos noticed that this time Flurry didn't say anything to her brother's words, rather she was analyzing the situation while focusing on battle, though part of him was worried, as she usually didn't do the whole vanishing and appearing out of thin air routine anymore, it was something she used back in Greece before deciding she didn't need it anymore. This just showed him how annoyed she really was right now, the Raven Tree's truth had placed a crack in her usual facade, to the point that she was using an old skill again, which was why he was so worried that her rage might break, fully and completely, like when Ares killed him. Fortunately for the time being it didn't seem like they were in total danger of that happening, the surge of battle was a great way for her to calm down, just like it was for him these days, allowing her to get back into a flow and seal her rage away once more. The only thing that seemed to be ticking her off right now was False Tyr, as he was solely focused on trying to remain a pacifist in the fact of conflict and even questioned if it was right for them to even defend themselves, like he wanted them to die, instead of protecting themselves, and it was for that reason that Kratos was starting to see why his daughter didn't trust him.

What was interesting was that they passed by a runic chest that they couldn't unlock, the runes refused to be damaged by all of their weapons and Flurry suggested there was another weapon they needed, before they found a new door that had two wheels, one on either side of it.

"This is an older gate, one that was built to promote cooperation between the elves... but it looks like it's been sealed for a long time." False Tyr remarked, taking a moment to look at the circular gate that was in front of them and the area that was above it, which was a design that seemed to be a unity of sorts between the two types of elves, like a key of sorts, causing him to walk up to one as he gestured for Kratos to take the other, "This seal is meant to represent the balance of the realm when Freyr was here... light and dark, unified and working together."

"If it's made to reflect the realm, then there's no balance here... the dark elves controlled everything last time we were here, so I'd wager it's the time of the light elves now." Flurry stated, where they found that when False Tyr moved his wheel the light side of the seal started to glow and move out from the right side, while darkness would move if her father moved his wheel, to which Atreus realized what his sister was talking about and had their father pull back until there was no darkness, allowing the light side to fill the entire seal.

False Tyr praised them for solving the seal so quickly, even though Flurry just thought it was obvious, the owner of the Light seemed to be the key and since ownership seemed to change so frequently it seemed like the light elves were the answer by just thinking about it for a few seconds. There was a statue of an elf on the other side of the gate, what the residents of this realm looked like before being divided into light and dark elves, while it looked like the light elves had decided to redesign all of the passages that existed in the temple, or it changed to suit their tastes. The reason Flurry thought that was due to the fact that there were now Twilight Stones in various places along the path they would be taking, along with something very odd, doors of solid Light that were place in small areas to make sure intruders didn't get too far into the temple. Her interest was installed squished when she realized the purpose of the Twilight Stones was to break the light crystals that happened to be the power source for the light door, which just lowered her thoughts on the light elves, as they seemed to be stupid in how they designed their areas.

With that in mind Kratos used his axe and broke the crystal with ease, bringing the door down so they could continue deeper into the temple, but as they crossed a gap the group discovered that they were below where the Light was resting, and the water that was below it was twisting, like a maelstrom or something. False Tyr informed them that what they were seeing at the moment was the Lake of Souls and that it was far more volatile than he remembered, which was likely Fimbulwinter's fault, and he went into a familiar tale about how fallen souls started to gather here after the creation of the Nine Realms, a tale Mimir had shared with them previously. While everyone else turned to continue up a path on their right, Mimir and False Tyr talking about the creation of the light elves and the dark elves, Flurry felt something familiar inside the Lake of Souls and held her hand out for a few seconds, where strands of a familiar blue energy formed a small crystal in her hand. She quickly understood what she was holding as she felt it's power, to which she carefully stored it away before joining the others, as it seemed like the dwarves had some explaining to do in the near future, once they had what they needed from Alfheim.

She found that her family and False Tyr had stopped at another Light Door, though her father was able to smash the crystal as Pandora looted a nearby stone chest, adding more resources to her bag in the process as they moved forward, all while False Tyr seemed certain that the light elves would be disappointed in them. Of course after that was when they found more light elves that wanted to murder them where they stood, who ignored False Tyr entirely despite his attempts to speak to all of them about peacefully standing down, causing the family to engage them once more. These ones did have little orbs that were basically explosives made with the Light's power, to harm their enemies while keeping the temple pristine, where Flurry just weaved her magic around each one to make sure the detonation was contained much to False Tyr's surprise. Since there wasn't a way forward False Tyr decided to jump on pieces of the architecture and smash them to open the way for them to swing across the gap, causing Flurry to shake her head as she held a hand out for her magic to form a walkway for her and her family to use.

The way False Tyr looked at her continued to push her mind towards thinking that this was Odin in disguise, he was far too interested in her and her powers, since he knew nothing about her, meaning she could checkmate him in an instant once his guard was lowered, she just had to put up with it for a time before springing her trap.

Kratos looted another wooden chest before handing Flurry the goods as they continued along the path that was in front of them, along with smashing a second container of the same type that happened to be in front of them, before finding an area with some wretches, which they crushed easily. Following that Kratos looted a golden chest of it's contents, allowing Flurry to add it's contents to the bag for later, before they regrouped with False Tyr outside yet another Light Door that was brought down in no time at all, showing him that none of them were interested in slowing down, even though that meant finding yet another of Kvasir's lost poems. False Tyr found another group of light elves ahead of them and tried, in vain, to speak with them and convince them that they meant no harm, but the group dealt with the light magical orbs that the magic users had above their heads, explosives based on the first one thrown at them and stopped by Flurry's magic. As they slaughtered the attackers, however, Flurry sighed as she collected a staff from one of the magic users, adding it to her collection while she came to understand that she would need to organize everything they had acquired recently in the near future.

While they pushed deeper into the temple Atreus realized what was going on, the dark elves wanted to return their realm to how it used to be by releasing the souls and the light elves wanted to keep using them, all while they pushed through a far more normal door and then smashed through another Light Door. This one required lowering a Twilight Stone to a certain point before breaking the door's power source, but on the other side they found some nightmares that Flurry slashed her way through with her sickles, while Kratos found yet another of Kvasir's poems, making them wonder how many were in this particular realm. After that they found their way to where another light elf was waiting, this one using the power of the Light to release energy waves at his enemies, though Flurry cancelled them out with her own magic as her father and sister tore him down, demonstrating their power to False Tyr once more before they resumed their journey. As they did so Flurry also found that the weapon of that particular light elf was actually a longsword, causing her to take it as well, before forming yet another walkway with her magic for them to use, opening the way for them to loot a stone chest and a golden chest, which False Tyr was getting used to seeing.

Such a thing allowed them to reach another open area with more light elves that wanted them dead, to which False Tyr just stepped to the side and allowed the group to engage them, where he watched as Kratos, Flurry, Pandora, and Atreus just wiped the floor with the light elves, demonstrating their ability to work together despite the chaos that the youngest one had sown by betraying his family's trust. In order to move forward they found that False Tyr pushed two statues into the gap that was between where they had fought their enemies and the next one, surprising Mimir in the process, but the crystals that had been in the statues shattered and formed a bridge for them to use. Following that Kratos found a runic chest that was protected by runic bells, so it was only took him a few moments to strike each one and loot the chest once it was unlocked, and after that there were more light elves to fight, causing them to just eliminate their enemies and keep moving. After that was a larger area with a few statues for them to mess with so Kratos could redirect his axe into a crystal, though Flurry saved them a bit of time by throwing a sickle at it, breaking it instantly, much to False Tyr's continued surprise.

As they did that Atreus even mentioned to False Tyr that they had killed Svartaljofurr, where he told them that he had heard of his demise and had been hoping it wasn't true, though Flurry found that the alarm bells were practically blaring right now, as there was no way Odin knew about the Dark Elf King's demise and that meant there was no way for him to learn that piece of information.

The door they opened happened to head outside, where False Tyr asked if Atreus could hear the creature he heard earlier, a fact that Atreus confirmed before the false god offered that they could investigate, once they were done tracking down the truth of Groa's prophecy. Following that they found that the way forward was blocked by yet another Light Door, which was getting on False Tyr's nerve, though Flurry knew it was because Odin wanted to know if there was a hidden prophecy that he didn't know about, something that could change the very face of Ragnarok as they knew it. Fortunately for all of them the Light Door didn't stand much of a chance against Kratos and Flurry's coordination, as this was nothing compared to what the pair had dealt with in the past, and once the door was open they continued forward. With the door down they stepped onto a lift that brought them up to the central platform of the Light, where Atreus realized that Faye's voice was gone, though that caused him to tell False Tyr about their last visit and, more importantly, about how they had to pull their father out of the Light when they were refilling the Bifrost.

"Kratos... you went INSIDE the Light of Alfheim?! You must tell me: what did you see?" False Tyr stated, though in the next instant Flurry snapped and magical chains wrapped around his arms, legs, chest, and neck, chaining him to the ground while the rest of the family stood at the ready, or at least Kratos and Pandora did while Atreus looked confused, "What the...?"

"Titans almighty Odin... for a 'master manipulator' you are by far one of the most incompetent gods I've seen." Flurry said, as enough was enough in her eyes, she couldn't stand the charade anymore and felt that it was time to pull the carpet out from under Odin's feet, and before he responded she held her hand up and tightened the magic around the figure, stripping the illusion magic off of him to reveal Odin to all of them, "Word of advice, if you want to impersonate someone, you should first master yourself... you left far too many clues for me to figure out who you really were."

"Wait... Odin's been Tyr the entire time?" Atreus asked, as he hadn't seen the clues that his sister had seen, even though the evidence was right in front of them, and it made him wonder if there was other things he hadn't noticed that she and the rest of her family had seen.

"That's right... but to impersonate him, Odin needed Tyr alive so he could power his illusion spell." Flurry answered, though in the following seconds the bits of magic she had withdrawn from the spell swirled around the space nearby as Odin glared daggers at her, no doubt for ruining his plan to learn more about Ragnarok, before the magic burst open into a portal, right before their eyes, and a familiar figure, Tyr, stepped through it, "Forced Magic Extraction, a spell that allowed me to extract the essence of your spell and use it for whatever I wish... I figured that if you needed Tyr for your illusion spell, and you kept him alive for it, I could use that to bust him out of prison. Oh, and I've banished your raven from the Realm Between Realms, so your way out is gone as well."

"I will admit, you are a far more worthy adversary than some of the foes I've brought down in the..." Odin started to say, but in the next moment he went silent as the portal closed and the magic around Flurry's right hand turned into a deathly pale color that made him pale for a moment as he wondered what sort of spell she was forming this time, while at the same time he noticed the raven he brought with him into Sindri's house appeared nearby, "Wh... What is that?"

"Oh, this? You see, I'm right annoyed by your treatment of the souls of children... so I'm going to push this spell right into your chest and fuse it with your mana." Flurry replied, because what she had discovered in Niflheim had caused her to think of new ways to get rid of Odin and this one was one of the more painful ones that had come to mind, in fact this might be the only time she bothered to use a spell like this, "If it's constructed properly it should turn your mana into fire, burning your body from the inside out and breaking it like it's made of some brittle material... and then you should detonate in a rather painful explosion, like a living bomb. For us it will take seconds, but for you it might feel like an eternity."

"...that seems a little excessive, don't you think?" Odin weakly remarked, as that sounded rather bad when he thought about what she had told him, while at the same time he could see that his statement wasn't taken well, as Flurry took it as that he didn't think this was a fair punishment for what happened to the souls she had encountered.

Flurry, instead of responding, made her move on Odin and raised the orb, though that was when a force of light elves just rushed them while the family was standing still, one even barreling into her spell before it could reach Odin, causing the foe in question to scream in agony as magical cracks formed all over her body. In the next instant she detonated in a small burst that was just enough to wipe out her body, without damaging the rest of the area, though as the rest of the family engaged their enemies, with the real Tyr standing off to the side, Flurry found that a surge of ravens wrapped around Odin and he was gone. Her magical chains were broken, in fact it seemed like the light elves loosing waves of light energy were to blame, meaning she had lost her chance to kill Odin and just break the prophecy of Ragnarok entirely, causing her to sigh as they dealt with the attackers. While they did so she noticed that the real Tyr was definitely interested in them, though this was more in the sense that he wanted to make sure that this wasn't a dream and that this was reality, and when the last foe fell, for now, did he finally speak.

"You... you're an alicorn! I haven't seen one of your kind in a long time." Tyr commented, confirming that he was the real deal this time around, as he knew exactly what Flurry was, which was part of the reason she had figured Odin out so quickly, to which he glanced at her main weapons for a few seconds before nodding his understanding, "And I see that you are the Goddess of... wait, do I have your approval to speak of your godhood?"

"I would prefer you didn't talk about it... not until I'm sure this one is ready for that information." Flurry replied, gesturing to Atreus for a few seconds, who seemed to be thinking about the fact that he had been so utterly tricked by Odin that he didn't even realize the All-Father was faking being Tyr, "But until then, maybe we could talk about my species?"

"Certainly. Plus I am eager to learn what has happened since my incarceration." Tyr said, where it was easy for them to see that this was definitely the real Tyr, there was no reason to doubt Flurry, of all people, and they understood his wish since it had been at least a hundred years since he was able to do anything on his own, while he thoughtfully looked around the area they were in, "And it'll be interesting to hear why you came here as well."

Flurry chuckled a little as they started to resume their journey, as it was nice to have the real Tyr with them, especially since Odin had looked worried when he stepped out of her magical portal, one more confirmation that this was the real one, which only made her interested in what the future held for all of them.