God of War: Daughter of War

"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.