God of War: Daughter of War

Kratos found that tracking the assassin was much easier than before, all thanks to the arrow that Flurry had put in him the instant she realized he was waiting nearby and the droplets of blood that were on the ground, no doubt coming from his wound, and since they were on his tail he couldn't stop to remove the arrow and heal the wound. The only thing that even remotely slowed him and the others down was the fact that more loyalists decided to get in their way, causing him to cut his way through them as Deimos impaled a few with his spear, leaving Flurry to focus on her bow as she loosed a few arrows, hitting several of her targets with ease. This time around Albis did something different as she picked up two blades and turned them on their enemies, utilizing one as a shield of sorts to open some holes in her foe's defenses so the other could be used to either remove limbs or take her foe's heads off. While they did that the citizens of the city got out of the way, as they knew not to get in the way of the God of War, leaving them to deal with the last of the loyalists before turning their attention to the trail that had been left by their target, since the assassin hadn't done anything to cover his tracks.

As they walked along the path that was in front of them, Flurry tracking the blood and made sure they were on the right track, showing that she had learned quite a bit from her time with Apollo and Artemis, before finding a sunken area that the monster Argos was standing in, the angry frown on his face revealing that he wasn't pleased with them.

"Okay, so Hera is definitely in league with another god." Flurry remarked, since there was no reason for the monster to let the assassin through this area, even though it was hard to tell what sort of role Argos had in the city that bared his name, but what she found to be ridiculous was that the wounded figure moved themselves into one of the shadows to watch the group fight the monster, "A stupid god, by the looks of it."

"Let's remove Hera's pet first, then we can worry about the assassin." Kratos said, where he sheathed his blades for just a moment and switched to Artemis' blade, causing him to leap down into the area that Argos was standing in and lashed out at the monster, finding that he did, in fact, want to take all of them down.

Deimos watched as his brother used the large blade to parry some incoming attacks, blocking the hands that were coming at him as he slashed at the arms and legs without pause, causing the creature to howl in pain as he was harmed, before Kratos finished his assault with a powerful punch to the side of Argos' face, causing the monster to jump into the air as he departed for another part of the city.

"How odd... he's moving in the same direction as the assassin." Flurry commented, as she noticed the direction that Argos was moving in happened to be exactly the same as the one that their main target was heading in, totally confirming that both parties were involved in trying to frame them for whatever Hera was trying to frame them with, "Which means we'll likely fight it a few more times before we pin down the assassin and put an end to his schemes."

"Well then, let's get underway." Albis said, though even she was curious as to what this meant for them, that the monster and the assassin were working together against them, on Hera's orders no doubt, since it was clear to all of them that she didn't like them and wanted to bring Kratos down for some odd reason.

The building that the path ended up bringing them to was, for some odd reason, filled with dangerous saws that spun out of the walls and cut into everything that was at the edge of each one, cutting into the path and anyone foolish enough to stand in their way, though Flurry decided not to play around this time around. While the others dealt with the loyalists in the building, which seemed to be a temple that had been turned into a deathtrap, Flurry raised her sickles and slashed her way through all of the saws, destroying the blades as much as she could before beckoning for the others to follow her into the depths of the foul temple. Kratos left his daughter to do what she did best, which was eliminate the hazards that had no right being in this place and the sacrifice doors that happened to appear in their way, the latter being something none of them wanted to deal with since they were trying to find the assassin. Some of the citizens they saved along the way did have some information to share with the group, that there was a minotaur somewhere in the city, which was odd since it seemed like something Hera wouldn't do, even if she was trying to blame them for attacking her precious city, but figured it was to make Kratos seem more like Ares.

Flurry had told Deimos that the previous God of War had created an army of monsters, which had minotaurs in it, and this could be Hera's way to draw more false parallels between her father and Ares, though after that she focused on the path in front of her as she continued to follow the trail of blood that the assassin had left behind.

The minotaur, as it turned out, was just one of the lesser ones they had encountered in the past, ones that both Kratos and Flurry were familiar with thanks to the fact that they had faced them several times before this point in time, though instead of tearing it down with four foes they let Flurry take it. Kratos knew it would be over in seconds, in fact everyone found that he was right as his daughter dodged the incoming axe swings like they were nothing, slashing at it's arms and legs with her sickles as it growled in pain and frustration, since it couldn't hit her. She eventually brought it down by simply just slashing out it's knees, causing it to fall to one knee for a moment, before forcing it to drop it's axe so she could use it to cleave it in half, but as that happened she knew that there might be more in the city, just to frame them for a number of crimes that Hera wanted to blame on them. Her thoughts were proven right as she found a path leading to another pair of minotaur and Argos, to which she sighed as everyone got ready, as this time none of them were going to stand and watch, not with three enemies in their way, and the moment the monster roared at them the group charged at them.

Kratos and Deimos joined forces to bring down one of the minotaur, while Albis found an opening to turn hers into a new statue before smashing it, opening the way for Flurry to lash out the monster, her sickles striking her target's arms and his legs as he tried to hit her in some manner, and the fight ended as it fled from them with a familiar howl of pain.

Following that they discovered that the assassin was still moving deeper into the city, this time heading into what seemed to be Hera's garden or the area people from the city tended to flowers in, since there seemed to be bodies of water in the way this time around, shallow ones that they could easily walk through. Flurry found that there weren't many areas that required her to make magical walkways for Albis in this portion of the city, allowing her to keep up with her, Kratos, and Deimos and let her fight beside them as they tore through the minotaur that happened to be smashing stuff. The loyalists clearly wanted them dead, since Ares' remaining forces wanted to restore their fallen god to his 'proper' position, but that didn't stop the group from slashing their way through Hera's forces as Flurry kept an eye on the clear blood trail that was being left behind by the assassin. It was actually rather humorous that someone who was supposed to be sneaky and not get caught was leaving a path for them to follow, meaning whoever it was wasn't as skilled in this as they assumed he was when he first made his move against the loyalists he had slain, but she kept her focus on their target and his path.

What surprised them was the fact that the garden area was actually pretty small, as they were able to clear it rather easily, though when Flurry found that they had to cross a gap, and use a rope line that was clearly designed to kill them thanks to a few saws that were in the way, she just used her magic to form a path for them to use. She knew that Hera had to be very angry at her right now, since everything she did was screwing with whatever the Queen of the Gods had planned for them, but she honestly didn't care too much, especially since she was trying to frame them for all sorts of crimes, like she was expecting Zeus to punish them in some manner. Kratos brought her back to reality as a minotaur tore through a wall of a new building and the assassin rushed by it, to the best of his ability, even though he hacked the monster apart as they entered the structure, finding that it had three floors for them to explore as they hunted their targets. Flurry dealt with the lone sacrifice door that was in their way and found that the lever that was on the other side opened part of the ceiling, all to allow them to reach the second and third floors, only to discover another lever on the third floor that sealed that very opening and opened a path for them to open another door that the assassin had slipped through.

"Why was the city designed like this? It feels like one massive trap, instead of a place for people to live in." Albis inquired, as the number of trapped structures they had passed through since landing on the island told her that either Hera had put all of this together once Ares was dead, or she had designed her city like this, on purpose, and was only now turning all of her traps on them.

"The will of the gods can be strange at times... but I, too, am unsure of Hera's reasons for all of this." Kratos replied, due to the fact that everything they had been through since reaching this island was making him question Hera's sanity, or lack of any based on what he had seen so far, but at the same time an idea came to mind as he looked at the traps.

"Brother, please don't get any ideas." Deimos stated, as he knew that his brother was looking for ways to improve the rest of their army, finding new ways for them to improve and learn how to fight more like him and his daughter, and really he felt that such a thing might be a bad idea, given just how skilled the pair actually was.

Flurry chuckled at that, because she knew her father might end up drawing inspiration from the traps and turn them into an obstacle course for them, and maybe the Spartans, when they got back home and were done with Hera's attempts to frame them, before she turned her attention back to the path she was following. The surprising aspect about that was the fact that Argos was ahead of them, though this time around the group discovered that there was a sewer opening behind the giant, meaning they now had a way to actually trap it, before it was able to cause any additional destruction. That fact was due to the ruined pillars and statues that were around the area they found it in, which explained how some parts of the city had been ruined despite the fact all four of them had been nowhere near the structures in question, even though all four of them were sure that this was all just part of Hera's plan to turn the gods against them. It was so obvious that such a thing was her plan, because all of the evidence was poorly hidden, that it annoyed everyone greatly, but there was little for them to do right now, other than trap the monster and track down the assassin, then they could focus on telling the other gods about this and hope they believed them over Zeus' wife.

This time around Argos did his best to stand his ground, even with four enemies arrayed against him, though Kratos and the others positioned themselves so that there was nowhere for him to go, save for the direction that they wanted him to move in, though at the same time Albis did her best to make sure it didn't hit her, since it would be painful due to the fact that she wasn't a god. While they carefully moved the monster towards the edge of the area they were on, so they could drop it into the sewer system and find a way to make sure it didn't disappear into another part of the city that was around them, Flurry kept an eye out for the assassin, only to find that he wasn't in the area. It was weird that the figure would hide himself at this point, especially after everything they had seen so far, and guessed that her arrow might have caused him to reevaluate how he was going to tackle the situation Hera had gotten him to take part in, before she turned her focus back to Argos. In the next moment she, her father, and her uncle struck the monster and knocked him backwards with a combined strike attack, sending the beast down into the water that was below them, allowing the group to let out a sigh of relief as they found that he was no longer able to damage the city.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that this was a victory for them, no one felt like celebrating, not with the assassin still out there, and sure enough Flurry found that the figure had been waiting for them to drop Argos down into the sewer, where he rushed out and drove his blades straight down into the creature's heart, causing Argos to let out a death howl before he collapsed in the water.

"Oh, that's not good." Albis remarked, as their plan had been to trap Argos, and likely kill it if things progressed in a more negative manner than what they had seen so far, though before anyone else could do anything she noticed that Flurry was already on the move as she switched to her bow again.

The assassin, as if realizing what was about to happen, started to turn so he could flee, though this time Flurry was ready for his moves and the first arrow she loosed struck him in the back, on the other side of his spine that made it look like a perfect mirror image of the wound she dealt not that long ago. In the following moment another arrow found it's mark as she hit the calf of his right leg, tearing through the muscle as it tore through the front as well, causing the assassin to let out a gasp of pain, and she wasted no time in making the left match the right. Now that Argos was dead, something Hera would no doubt blame on them when she learned of this fact, she couldn't kill the figure that had done the deed, but that didn't mean she couldn't cripple his speed and make him that much easier to capture, and since he was a god this meant he could withstand a few more arrows before he collapsed due to the sheer pain he'd be in. She took no joy in tormenting someone like this, purposely missing his vitals to keep him alive, but she wanted to make sure the gods didn't pin all of this on her and her family, hence why her next arrow struck the assassin in his right shoulder, causing him to stumble into the water for a moment.

As that happened, however, they heard a louder groan and realized that they had heard the voice before, where Flurry watched as the disguised god picked himself up and pushed himself to flee once more, but with his speed reduced to such a pitiful degree she knew they'd catch him in no time.

"Were my ears deceiving me, or was that Hermes?" Deimos inquired, though the reason he was asking was due to the fact that he had only spent a few days in Olympus, meeting the other gods and seeing where they stood on him, his brother, and his niece taking over as the gods of Sparta, so he didn't know all of the voices by heart.

"You heard it right, that was the Messenger of the Gods." Kratos answered, as he knew most of the voices thanks to all of his years serving the gods of Olympus, though at the same time he had to wonder what Hera could have used to entice Hermes into this scheme, something they would likely find out once they captured him, causing him to glance at Flurry for a few seconds, "Shall we continue tracking him?"

"Indeed." Flurry said, where she used her magic to form a path for Albis to use as her father and uncle followed her down into the area that Hermes had used to escape, though once everyone was together she switched her bow for her sickles and started to spin them as she walked.

As they followed the blood trail, however, Kratos heard the familiar eerie whistle that his daughter used every now and then, something that would add to the terror that Hermes was no doubt feeling right now, and focused on capturing the god that would dare to try and turn Olympus against them, all while hoping that the other gods would believe their story once they told them of what happened here today.