God of War: Daughter of War

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.