God of War: Daughter of War

Kratos found that Flurry's arrows had done a number on Hermes and his ability to run away, as every now and then the group could see him ahead of them, limping as best as he could while occasionally trying to rush ahead, but it was clear he wasn't going anywhere fast. It didn't take him long to leave the sewer system that he had run into, no doubt thinking that if he got to the surface levels he would lose them that much quicker, but it was long before he, Deimos, Flurry, and Albis emerged and followed after him, finding that it brought them to yet another structure. They noted that it looked like this was another temple, which wasn't too surprising since this was Hera's city and that she had likely set up one for most of the major gods, especially since the temple to Ares is why they came here in the first place, to deal with the loyalists. This time around the rest of Ares' loyalists, those that saw them come out of the passage, took a step back as some heard Flurry's eerie whistle, realizing that they recognized it immediately, while those that were only now noticing them stepped back as well, showing the group their time in this city might be at an end.

Hermes, on the other hand, ran right into one of the loyalist groups and fell onto his back, which was rather painful due to the arrows that were still stuck in his body, something that caused some of the loyalists to raise their eyebrows before turning their attention towards Kratos and his family.

"Stand down, soldiers of Argos, we are not here to fight you." Kratos stated, though at the same time he moved a hand for a moment and made sure it was pointing at Hermes, who was still disguised right now, which was perfectly fine since they knew that revealing his hand in damaging the city would only make people lose faith in some of the gods, "That one, on the other hand, just killed Hera's pet, Argos, and we are going to bring him before the gods of Olympus for his just and rightful punishment for angering your goddess."

"Argos is dead? But... Hera said you released him to wreck havoc on the city." one of the loyalists remarked, showing that he and the other soldiers were surprised by this information, though at the same time some of them glanced down at the figure that was laying in front of them right now, no doubt thinking that if they might get some recognition if they helped the gods of Sparta capture the wounded assassin.

"We were trying to capture it, so we could put an end to the damage it was doing to the city, but we were unable to do so since this one ended it's life." Deimos said, as he had noted that their attacks had done some damage to the giant, no doubt due to the fact that three of them were gods, but not enough to actually seriously hurt it, allowing them to push it around for a time.

In the following moment one of the soldiers grabbed the assassin and hauled him onto his feet, where Hermes clearly did his best to avoid letting out any pained noises so his identity wasn't revealed at the worst possible moment, before doing something stupid as he pulled out his swords, cut the head off of the soldier holding him, and rushed deeper into the city as he tried to escape the group. This time, however, his mistakes were going to catch up with him as the loyalists decided to forgo their allegiance to Ares, likely upon seeing how honorable Kratos and his group was in comparison to what they had discovered so far, and joined the gods of Sparta, spreading out to deliver word to the other groups that rested in the rest of the city. Flurry was happy to see that those who used to follow Ares had decided to do the right thing, follow them instead of throwing away their lives, and not only were they being affected by the news, but so were the rest of the people who called the city home, as many heard of the giant's death and moved things in the way to stop the assassin. Albis was glad to see that everything had worked out in the end, that all it took was one piece of news like this to bring everyone in the city together to undo everything that Hera and Hermes had tried to do to them, and suspected that this would be a good thing for them and Sparta.

Hermes, on the other hand, continued to make his way deeper into the city, staggering and falling every now and then as he tried to evade the group and the growing host of people who wanted to capture him for Argos' death, cursing himself for letting Flurry hit him like she had. This was the least favorable outcome he could think of, as he was supposed to have killed Argos, with only Kratos as his witness, and get out before anyone else could see him do the deed, or the 'assassin' persona he had created for this particular mission, and he had botched it. Flurry had struck him with the fury of Artemis and Apollo themselves, like there was a third archer deity among the gods, and had cut into his speed like it was nothing, potentially an aspect due to her being the Goddess of Death, and her arrows hurt the more he moved. Such a thing had been the cause of him being spotted by all four of the individuals he was supposed to be helping Hera frame, and now he was unable to escape, as he could hear the eerie whistle closing in on him, forcing him to pull out a coin with his icon on it, as he had a way out in case things went south like this.

As Hermes approached the temple of his that Hera had constructed a long time ago, a trio of arrows pierced his back and their tips tore out of his chest, just like the other ones, where he was fortunate that they had missed his vitals again as he tumbled to the ground and dropped the coin, which rolled away from where he had landed.

"It's over, Hermes. You can't escape us now." Kratos stated, because with his daughter hitting her target again there was no way the wounded god could escape with how many arrows he had taken since showing himself, though in the next moment he felt the wind kick up as someone else decided to make themselves known.

The figure that emerged was a lean and striking figure that wore golden sandals that nearly reached his knees, a sash that was golden yellow, a red scarf that wrapped around his neck and served as a cape of sorts, a golden helmet with wings, and he carried a staff that bared the symbol of Hermes on it.

"Ceryx, son of Hermes. To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?" Flurry asked, though as she said that she also used a bit of her magic to lift the wounded god and moved him so Albis could hold onto him, while disarming him so her uncle could hold onto his weapons, as she didn't want him to hurt anyone else before they could deliver him to Olympus for his final punishment.

"Lord Zeus has sent me with a message: you are to stop your assault on Hera's beloved city." Ceryx replied, speaking to Kratos, since he was the one that the King of the Gods was interested in, while at the same time he noticed something odd in his father's temple, there was an assassin that was wounded and being held by the gorgon that followed the God of War around all the time.

"I'm afraid that you've been given bad information, Ceryx, as we weren't assaulting the city. Rather we were dealing with the rest of Ares' loyalists, just as Zeus commanded, until this one freed and killed Argos." Deimos stated, as he could see that Ceryx was interested in who the additional figure was and why they were making sure he was contained before they departed for the Olympian Gate that was somewhere in this city, since Hera likely had one installed for her personal use when she wanted to visit the city, "As you can see, Flurry hit him multiple times and we've finally caught him, before he could escape and evade being punished by Zeus and Hera for his many crimes."

"I see. Do you have any idea who this mortal might be?" Ceryx inquired, as he assumed that it was one of the many other children of the gods that remained hidden until they did something that brought them to Lord Zeus' attention, similar to Flurry he guessed since they still had no idea who her true parents were.

"Yes, but you won't believe us if we tell you... so we'll show you instead." Albis replied, where she gripped the hood for a moment and pulled it back, causing Ceryx to drop his staff for a moment as Flurry used a bit more of her magic to make a barrier that the citizens of Argos would be unable to see through or hear anything from, since she wanted to make sure the mortals didn't lose faith in the gods.

"FATHER?! What is the meaning of this?" Ceryx asked, as now he was utterly confused, because he had been told that his father was going to be busy elsewhere, hence why Lord Zeus asked for him, specifically, to fill in for his father until he returned to Olympus, making him assume his mission was to further the glory of Olympus, not drag it's name through the mud by attacking Hera's city and killing her pet.

"Honestly, we don't know. All we know is what we told you." Flurry said, though at the same time she already had an idea in mind that would help them convince the gods that they were telling the truth, and with Ceryx wanting to know the truth as well, since this was his father they were talking about, she was sure that he would help them out, "Out of curiosity, can you deliver a short message to Hecate?"

Kratos said nothing as his daughter did her work, as her plans had a way of working out in their favor, showing that letting her learn from Hecate was a good idea, or maybe she was naturally this smart and the more experience she gained the smarter she ended up becoming. Ceryx collected his staff as he listened to Flurry for a few seconds, as he seemed slightly confused as to what she was trying to do, but once the message was delivered he nodded his head and departed from the temple, though before doing so he gave his father a disappointed look as Hermes remained silent. That told Kratos more than anything else, the Messenger of the Gods knew that if he said anything it would be held against them, but that hardly mattered, as Flurry was going to expose him to the rest of the gods and show Zeus that what happened in Argos wasn't even remotely their fault. With the pieces set in motion Flurry beckoned for them to depart and Albis raised the hood so the citizens of the city didn't see one of their gods in such a state, though as everyone started to make their way towards the resident Olympian Gate the people cheered them on, showing their support for the gods of Sparta.

With the support of the people of Argos behind them, showing them that whatever Hera had told them no longer held any sway over their hearts, Kratos and his family found their target, opened the way to Olympus, and departed without delay, allowing them to return to their domain in the realm of the gods.

Upon their arrival Flurry found four gods waiting for them, those being Artemis, Apollo, Athena, and Hecate, two of them no doubt concerned about their visit to Argos, one likely coming to check on the situation, and the last due to Flurry asking for her to join them, and the nod Hecate gave her meant that her idea would work. With that in mind she nodded to Albis for a moment and let the other gods see that the assassin was none other than Hermes, where Athena seemed the most shocked by what was going on, that he'd do such a thing, though she wasn't alone in her opinion, since the other three were taken aback by this discovery. After that they replaced Hermes' hood before escorting him to the central section of Olympus, where it took them no time to reach their destination and found that the gods had assembled, Zeus sitting on his throne as the others stood around the chamber, though only Hephaestus was missing, which was odd. Flurry had no idea why the Smith God was missing, save for the fact that Zeus had claimed he had been given a rather difficult task that needed to be completed in the near future, but decided that they could worry about it later, once this ordeal was resolved and everyone had some time to rest.

While she thought about that, however, Flurry found that Hera was standing next to Zeus with a smug look on her face, as if she thought that they were going to be punished for everything that happened to her city while they were there, which meant she was either in on the plot or had heard about their visit and hoped they suffered for their 'crimes'.

"Kratos, you and the gods of Sparta have assaulted Hera's city of Argos, killed her soldiers, and have slain her pet, all in the span of an hour. What do you have to say for yourselves?" Zeus inquired, showing that he knew about their visit and that many things had happened during their time in the city, plus he didn't hesitate to show his disappointment in them, like they had actually done something wrong.

"We did not assault the city of Argos. We did exactly as you said: traveled to the city, enforced your will on the loyalists of Ares that remained, and things escalated as this assassin caused chaos during our visit." Kratos replied, though as he said that a mist rolled across the floor and he found that it was coming from Hecate, she was casting a spell of some kind, one that seemed to recreate his memories of the event, showing the gods how peaceful they had been, even willing to spare the attackers, before the assassin made his first move.

"After that we followed the figure through the city, encountering the monster Argos in the process," Deimos added, letting the scene shift as he recalled their hunt, letting Hera see that, while they did do some damage to the giant, they couldn't do any lasting harm to him and that everything ended with them dropping the monster into the sewers, only for someone else, the assassin, to finish the job, "but we didn't kill him, rather all four of us witnessed someone else kill Argos."

"And that person, shockingly enough, is none other than Hermes, the Messenger of the Gods." Flurry stated, where Albis removed the hood once more and was met with a chorus of outrage, some not believing what they were seeing right now and others shocked that Hermes would do such a thing, though it was a hard thing to disprove since they had four people serving as witnesses, five when Hecate added Hermes' memories to the mix and showed them his perspective, matching what the group was showing the gods, "We don't know why he'd do such a thing, but he's the one responsible for what happened to Argos and Hera's city."

"Come now, lying to my husband and presenting false evidence is hardly befitting of a god of Olympus." Hera said, as if she thought that everything they had presented to her and Zeus had been made up to save them from the punishment that was, in her mind, rightfully theirs, something that caused many of the gods to pause, as a good number of them couldn't believe how stupid she was making herself look right now, "And Hecate, I thought you were better than this... you need to work on your illusions if you're going to trick anyone into believing your lies."

"You and your family have committed two grave sins, Kratos, making four counting what happened when you decided to ignore my orders and destroyed both Atlantis and Crete, thus earning my ire," Zeus stated, where Flurry knew they were barking at the wrong tree, as Zeus and Hera refused to believe the evidence that was presented to them, in fact both of them seemed to believe that they were lying about everything and that they were simply warmongers, and it was clear to her that many of the other gods were shocked by his strange comment, "however, know that I am lenient and that there will be no punishment at this time... but if you continue down this road, and continue to attack Olympus with your lies and your war..."

"You'll punish us anyway." Kratos growled, where he came close to drawing the Blades of Chaos, a fact that would have been seen as treason to the Olympians, or at least Zeus and Hera, but a gentle touch on the arm from Flurry was more than enough to ground him and keep his rage from exploding, because if he attacked Zeus he would condemn himself, his family, and even Sparta to death, which he'd rather avoid, "Fine... have it your way, Zeus. Flurry, release Hermes."

Flurry did so without delay, as Albis pushed the god forward and Flurry caught him, allowing her to yank her arrows out of his body, causing him to groan as each one was removed while showing the other gods what she had done to him while she thought he was the 'assassin'.

"You're getting off easy this time, Hermes, but here's a word of warning: next time you do something like this, I'll just kill you and be done with it." Flurry whispered, making sure that only Hermes could hear her as she removed another arrow from his body, where she could feel his fear as he imagined her making that promise a reality, before taking out the last one and shoved him forward, leaving Deimos to drop his swords in front of him as the Messenger of the Gods slowed healed his aching wounds.

Athena could only watch this happen in pure horror, as Kratos and his family, plus the three gods that were allied with all of Sparta, were pissed with how Zeus had simply brushed off their evidence and declared that they were villains, while the King of the Gods and Hera walked off with their heads held high, as if they were always right, causing her to fear for what the future held for them, Olympus, and the rest of Greece.