God of War: Daughter of War

Atreus found that he was able to spend a bit of time in the Great Lodge before anything important happened, so he was able to talk with Thrud and Modi, the latter apparently totally fine with him being there despite the past event they shared, in fact he seemed far more lively than he recalled, openly joking and having fun. Apparently he had retired from being a warrior, as his clash with Kratos had told him that he wasn't cut out for such a lifestyle despite it being part of his culture, but thanks to spending some time with Brok and Sindri, which surprised Atreus yet again, Modi was able to forge a new path. Thanks to Flurry he had been taken in as an apprentice, of sorts, and learned how to work the forge, where he discovered that he had some skill in the field and was willing to put forth the effort into making himself useful for the rest of his home, even if he knew Odin saw him as useless. Thor, however, was just happy to have one of his sons survive the battle with Kratos and Flurry, though he was even more happy when he learned that Modi's blacksmithing had caused him and Thrud to become closer as siblings.

In fact Modi revealed that it was he, with the aid of some of Asgard's best smiths, that forged Thrud's new weapons and that he, personally, tested both of them out to be sure that they would serve her well in her quest to become a Valkyrie, which explained her obsession with the winged warriors.

"So you're telling me that the All-Father corrupted the Valkyries?" Thrud remarked, as they had talked about the figures for some time, because her father had learned from Modi, who learned from his dwarven teachers, that the family had fought a few of the winged warriors, including Sigrun, the former Valkyrie Queen, which was an amazing feat.

"That's what we were told, from the Valkyries and Sigrun herself." Atreus replied, which was partly the truth, because he and his family had pieced together that information after listening to everything the Valkyries, and Mimir, had said on the matter, and he purposely didn't mention Mimir since it was clear that some people in Asgard considered him a traitor, just like Freya from what he had overheard, "Of course they were mad spirits when we fought them, so it's possible that the information they told us was pure lies, but I figured I'd tell you what they told me and my family."

It was clear that Thrud was thinking about the information she had been given, in fact it was hard to tell if she believed it or not, but before anyone could say anything else a raven, Muninn flew by and cawed at Atreus, meaning Odin was likely for him to get started on whatever jobs would help them both out. With that in mind he bid the pair farewell for the time being and followed the raven to Odin's study, where he found Odin talking, or more like arguing, with Huginn, and Atreus was sure Muninn was getting tired of it, meaning the raven might have acted on his own. Regardless of what was true or false Atreus just decided to explore the study as he waited for Odin to be done with the other raven, where he found a scroll that talked about Gjallarhorn and it's powers, pictures of the All-Father to reflect him in certain lights, and a magical sword, which had magical rope wrapped around it, binding it in place. From what he gathered the sword was sentient, it seemed to react to him in a way that no other weapon before it had done, something that seemed to catch Odin's eye since he approached the area for a short while.

As it turned out Odin was more than willing to let Ingrid, the sword, go and even tossed Atreus the sheath it usually rested in, which was what Atreus and the blade had quietly discussed before he came over, before the All-Father took Atreus down into the depths of his study, to where a pulsing crack in reality rested.

"I know you've heard the stories about me... about how war, greed, and power drive me... but they're wrong. All I care about, Loki, is knowledge and the keys to breaking Ragnarok." Odin commented, stopping by a desk while Atreus looked at the odd green crack that seemed to call to him in some manner, where he palmed the fragmented wooden mask that was resting on the surface as he focused on the dragon boy, "See, mortals have it easy: when they want to know the answers to some of life's greatest questions they have us, gods, to ask and receive answers from... but what about us? We're left in the dark when it comes to what comes next for us, and there are other questions we gods have that we don't have answers for... and this rift holds the answers. I wouldn't look directly into the rift, as it took my eye the last time I tried... but this mask, well, it seems to be the key I've been looking for... the key to breaking Ragnarok."

Atreus looked at the wooden mask, a fragment of what he saw when he dreamed his way into Jotunheim, and noticed how when he took hold of it a green glow appeared on the mask, a reaction that was shared with the rift, before running his hand over the makings as his ability to understand language kicked in.

"These aren't from the Nine Realms." Atreus said, that much he could see just by looking at the symbols, in fact Odin could see that he was mentally translating the symbols in his mind and was mouthing words as he formed the correct translation, even translating it into the Norse version of it so he could accurately understand it, "It says 'From smothered earth and obsidian spark... and a field of battles never fought.' It's a clue, possibly to more of the mask."

"Is that so? Because I know where that is." Odin stated, where he glanced at the dragon boy for a moment and found that he was eager to get started, something that caused him to call for Thor, who warped down into the area right behind him for a moment, like a thunderclap or bolt of lightning, which Odin disliked just a tad bit, before making sure Loki had the mask in his hand, "Happy hunting you two."

Atreus found that he and Thor were raven warped to Muspelheim, which made sense when he thought about the line that he had read to the All-Father, causing him to focus on the mask as he found that it was pulling him in the direction the next fragment of it was located in. Atreus discovered a useful trick while he had Thor smash down a blockage that was in their way, if he wore the fragment over his right eye, which seemed to magically float there, and focused his magic in a way to see the path the mask would form a magical line for him to follow. Their foes ended up being the more brutish draugr Atreus had faced with his family in the past, though this time around he was ready for them as he rushed forward, using his speed, enhanced by his dragon legs and claws, and jumped over them as he loosed arrows down at his foes. Such a thing knocked them down as Ingrid slashed at them, allowing Thor to find that while they had only just met the pair seemed to be working great, in fact he might not need to do much this time around, he could just stand back and relax.

Thor's method of moving forward rapidly was to hurl Mjolnir and then rush towards it, like he was drawn to his weapon, but at the same time he found that Atreus didn't need it, rather he just spread his wings and launched himself into the air in order to cross the gaps in their path. Thor joined the battle after seeing how Atreus fought on his own, which was ignoring the magical sword that had been gifted to him earlier, where he used his power and Mjolnir to smash through his foes with ease, as they were nothing before his might and were nothing compared to the sheer power Flurry had shown him. Atreus did see an area that looked like it might be a forge of some kind, as there was an anvil and a bunch of forged swords, but the mask wasn't pointed in that direction and he followed the pull in the direction it was interested in. Thor seemed like he had something to say, but then decided not to worry about it at the time being, like he wanted to say something about Magni and Modi and simply came to the decision to focus on the mask, while Atreus also located where Surtr's shrine was located, something to keep in mind for later.

Eventually they reached a flat area that happened to be close by the shrine in question, though it was tucked away and off to the side, where Atreus and Thor watched as an ogre climbed up onto the area they were on, but Atreus was ready as he had Thor stand back before releasing a torrent of concentrated flames that scorched the ogre to death.

"That's new. When did you learn how to do that?" Thor asked, because the All-Father had been wrong on multiple accounts when it came to the boy's transformation, in fact it looked like there were no severe side effects, as in if someone had the willpower to control their half dragon state they could gain incredible power.

"I had to learn a few things after my first episode... nearly destroyed the Woods, since I was out of control at the time, and Flurry saved everything." Atreus said, where he glanced down at the shrine for a time before glancing back at Thor, because he wasn't sure if he could trust the god or not, especially when it came to the secrets of the Giants, "I'm going to go look at something for a few moments."

"Don't get hurt too badly... if you do your sister will crack All-Father's skull." Thor chuckled, as he had seen the exchange and was still delighted by the idea that there was something, or someone, out there that inspired fear in his father, before quickly deciding to go have some fun with Surtr's trials as he waited for the boy to continue tracking the mask.

Atreus found that Angrboda was near the shrine and followed him into the hidden portion that he unlocked, where they found one of the marbles and added it to the collection, before she told him about how things were going on with the rest of his group, along with the shocking discovery that the Greek gods were present. There was too much happening for him right now, both in Asgard and in the other realms, and he was struggling to make sense of everything, much less wrap his head around the fact that his sister was the Goddess of Death. She, on the other hand, just told Atreus to remember that Flurry was still his sister, that part hadn't changed, and that she hoped he would do the right thing the next time they saw each other, since his reaction to her power had clearly hurt her. All Atreus could do was sigh as he focused on tracking down the next part of the mask, because he was sure that fixing the mask had to be what he needed to do to help the others out, he just had to be patient and continue his work as best he could.

While Atreus was working for Odin, however, Kratos eventually found that Flurry wanted to return to Midgard for a time, where he realized what was going on with her and agreed without delay, though he found that Freya was willing to join the family for a time, and another goddess joined them, that being Artemis.

"You know, after hearing your tales about the monsters in the Nine Realms, I'm eager to hunt a few of them." Artemis said, because a good hunt seemed like a smart thing for them right now, since Flurry needed a distraction and heading back into Midgard for a time appeared to be the best thing they could do while they waited for Atreus to complete his mission.

"A distraction? Really, at a moment like this?" Freya asked, as that seemed to be what Artemis was suggesting, just going out to do something that was taking their minds off of the fact that Atreus was in Asgard, thinking about Flurry's godhood, and the staggering fact that the Titans, the Greek equivalents of the Giants, were apparently making their way to the Nine Realms, possibly joining the army that might be ahead of them.

"No. A break, a time to relax and recharge... for Flurry that means a simple hunt." Kratos replied, where the group followed him as he used the Door to return to the area their home was in, allowing them to head down to where the wolves were no doubt waiting, though he knew that with this event in mind they could likely do some good while waiting for Atreus to finish his mission.

Sure enough the wolves were fine and ready to head out for a time, which was good to see, and they looked at Artemis in surprise, due to her feline centaur-like body, though she and Pandora made sure they were ready to go before linking them to the sled they would be using. Once they were ready to go Kratos and Freya took their places on the sled, Pandora joining them, while Flurry took to the air and Artemis rushed out, letting her paws touch the ground and snow as she ventured out into the wilderness of Midgard, causing Kratos to follow after them. When they reached the Lake of Nine it was easy for the trio to find that Flurry had already tracked down her first target, as she had landed on what appeared to be the edge of a raider camp, ones that ate wolves no less, where she sighed before closing her eyes as she drew her bow. Kratos stopped at an area that would give them a good view of the event as it unfolded, as this would show Freya just how skilled Flurry really was, while also telling Artemis that her lessons had been mastered by her student and that she hadn't forgotten anything since the last time they did this.

Flurry leapt forward and rolled, tucking her wings in just before hitting the ground while also avoiding the incoming attacks from the raiders, allowing her to jump and spin for a moment as she loosed a few arrows, striking her targets in the backs of their legs, cutting off their ability to run. One bandit tried to crush her with a battleaxe, but she used the edge of her bow to stop the attack, showing Freya that the weapon could actually serve as a melee weapon if she desired such a thing, and that wasn't counting the special material that it seemed to be made out of, but Flurry didn't do that. Rather she pushed her foe back and jumped onto the pillar that was behind her, allowing her to launch herself into the air as she rained arrows down, each one finding the hearts of the raiders that were in the camp, as if she could see where they were hiding, despite having closed her eyes. In the next instant she readied one more arrow and spun around, loosing a magical one up into the air for some reason, though as that happened Freya's eyes widened as she remembered what happened in Vanaheim, as this one separated and rained down on several areas.

It was a staggering reminder of Flurry's skills, she was able to do so much with her bow that one would assume that the bow was her personal weapon and not the sickles that hung on her belt, though as the raiders were finished off Kratos spotted Artemis off in the distance.

Her target, as it turned out, was none other than a troll, a rather large one at that, though that only excited her as the rest of the group took up positions to watch nearby, where the beast in question growled at her while she smiled, readying her bow and one of her arrows as she stood there. A moment later she rushed at the troll and found that it readied it's stone club in the process, though she jumped to the side and avoided the incoming attack with ease, causing her to jump onto the troll's back, claws digging into it's flesh as she made her way up to it's head. Once she did that Artemis propelled herself into the air and turned around in the process, loosing several arrows that slammed into the creature's chest before it had a chance to react to what she had done, while at the same time her claws dug into the icy wall and stopped her from sliding down for a time. As the troll regained itself Artemis kept the smile on her face as she launched herself away from the wall as the large creature struck the wall with it's club, scattering ice that prevented it from seeing what she was doing, allowing her to bring down the troll with a few more well placed arrows, causing Kratos and the others to nod in approval, as her skills were just as sharp as always, while Freya found herself vastly outmatched in using a bow.

As that happened, however, Flurry turned her head and found someone that looked like a young girl looking at them, one that was surprised she could see her and vanished as soon as she realized she had been spotted, something that caused her to wonder what the immediate future held in store for her and the others.