God of War: Daughter of War

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.