God of War: Daughter of War

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.