God of War: Daughter of War

Instead of remaining in Olympus for a time, where they could be annoyed by the other gods that had witnessed Zeus' foul ruling over the events that had happened in the city of Argos, the group bypassed the domain of the God of War and used the Olympian Gate to return to Sparta.

"So, what now?" Deimos asked, as their visit to Hera's city had been a tremendous failure, because while they had done what they had sailed there to do, taking care of the loyalists, it had come at the price of somehow pissing off Zeus, Hera, and no doubt Hermes, at the very least, and who knew how many other gods, since many were taken aback by the King of the God's decision.

"I do not know." Kratos admitted, speaking as they stepped out into the city, where they found that the people were happy to see them, Hecate, Artemis, and Apollo, as all three of the other gods were well known in the city and were seen as worthy gods to worship, especially the ones that everyone had thought were human and discovered that they were actually half animal, like Flurry.

"I suggest rest, before we worry about the other locations that the loyalists are in control of." Flurry said, because she had a feeling that this was part of whatever Zeus and Hera had planned for them, that they would be busy taking down those that still served Ares, at least until she and her family convinced them that what they were doing was wrong, and that the rest of the gods would see them as nothing more than warmongers, despite the fact that they would have been following his last decree, "Last thing we need right now is either Zeus or Hera breathing down our necks, so we should try to get back on their good side... or at least make them focus on someone else for a time."

"I cannot believe that Hera would insult me like that... me, the Goddess of Magic itself!" Hecate remarked, though at the same time she discovered that their destination wasn't the old temple that used to belong to Ares, rather it was a house on the outskirts of Sparta, one that actually looked like it could house at least four individuals, as in Flurry, her father, her uncle, and Albis, "I think I'll go study some new spells for a week or two, just ignore her outright, and see if Zeus gets his wife to accept that she screwed up during that meeting."

"Honestly, I have my doubts." Artemis said, where they walked into the house and found that it was just like the rest of the city, Spartan to the core with no hits that would suggest that a few gods lived here, which was understandable since both Kratos and Flurry wanted this to be their 'mortal' home, even though she and Flurry walked outside to the archery range that was outside, "Zeus is so preoccupied with his labyrinth, and making Hephaestus forge many components of it so the construction can progress in a timely manner, that I doubt he's even thinking about Hera and her comments towards all of the other gods... it wouldn't surprise me if we start hearing about her insulting the others in the near future."

Kratos said nothing for a time as he collected a few cups and filled most of them with whatever drink the others wanted, as he and his brother needed some wine to just relax, Apollo just wanted water, Flurry liked having juice as she distracted herself with the practice session Artemis sprung on her, and Hecate declined the offer. It wasn't that she was being rude, it was just that she wanted to get back to her island and vent her frustrations in the safety of her own domain, causing him to nod his head in understanding, as later he intended on training with Deimos so they could work through a few of their own frustrations on what had just happened. As she left, however, Kratos noticed that Albis just coiled around one of the seats that were in the chamber and sat on it as best as she could, her focus on Flurry, once more reflecting the fact that she had been a mother before one of the gods twisted her soul into that of a gorgon. It was the only thing that made any sense to him, even though she didn't like to talk about what her last memories of being a human were, which only made him wonder what sort of horrors she might have experienced and felt before she was reborn in her current state, but, at the same time, he wasn't about to force her to relive those moments.

At the same time Kratos had to wonder about the labyrinth that Zeus was apparently constructing, where he had no idea since it appeared that not even Artemis and Apollo knew, even though they had clearly been keeping tabs on the King of the Gods' stranger habits and movements. He suspected that it had to do with Pandora's Box, as now that he and Flurry had beaten the challenges that were in the temple the container had originally been stored in a new one was needed so it could remain hidden from the mortals who might misuse it. Of course if that was the case it made him wonder why Zeus hadn't told the other gods that he was having the Box hidden again, where it made him wonder if there was a reason that he didn't tell anyone else about his plans, like he was worried that someone might come after it again. He and Flurry didn't have a reason to seek the Box again, as Ares was dead and, while there were other gods that had earned his ire, he wasn't in the mood to wage war on the other gods of Olympus and just cause chaos for the mortals of Greece, so hunting for the Box wasn't a priority.

Such a thing made Kratos shelve the thought for the time being, as it was like Flurry had said, their focus should be on not annoying the gods and dealing with all of the remaining loyalists that were spread around the rest of Greece, causing him to wonder which location they should deal with first as he hoped it didn't enrage any of the other gods.

While Kratos, Flurry, and their group returned to Sparta, as she had felt their Olympian Gate activate and knew there was only one place they would go at a time like this, Athena remained in her own domain for a few minutes, letting the rest of the gods scatter as everyone talked about the event that had unfolded. She was both terrified of the situation that she had just witnessed and worried what affect it might have on the rest of the Olympians, because Zeus and Hera criticizing the work that the gods of Sparta had put into saving the city of Argos and capturing the assassin, a fellow god no less, had just undid everything she had been working towards. She had been doing everything in her power to stop the Marked Warrior prophecy from happening, even though she had offered Zeus a new opinion after seeing Flurry's strange mark, and after all of her hard work the King of the Gods had discarded all of it in an instant. Instead of trying to stop the prophecy, like he had been doing for a long time, Zeus, with a simple statement, had crushed all of her work and scattered it to the wind, all while pissing off a bunch of gods thanks to what he and his wife had done, meaning there was a chance that the prophecy might come true.

With that thought in mind Athena got up from her seat, where she liked to sit when something was bothering her, like the event she had witnessed, and made her way into the depths of Olympus, as she needed to speak with Zeus before it was too late to undo the damage that had been done. If she could convince Zeus to apologize to Kratos and his family for what he had said, and get Hera to do the same to both them and Hecate, she mgiht be able to overturn the damage they had just done to the harmony of Olympus, and it would give them some points with the other gods as well. It was a gamble on her part, as she was thinking of trying to convince the King of the Gods, someone who thought that his desires were what everyone had to abide by, to change his mind on something, but to secure the future of Greece, and save them from the potential disaster that was now looming over their heads, she would have to make an attempt. While she walked through the halls of Olympus, however, she did notice that a few of the other gods were talking as they moved to other locations, all discussing Hera's actions and how Zeus didn't stop her, or even Zeus' odd remark and how Hermes did something foul without being punished for upsetting the balance.

That worried her, as cracks were already starting to appear between the gods as they talked about what was going on at the moment, causing her to hurry as she reached the domain of Zeus, what was considered to be one of the highest spots in all of Olympus, where he could look out at the mortal realm, but stopped in her tracks as she heard voices on the other side of the stone door, Zeus and others she realized.

"You idiot! How could you ruin such a perfect plan?!" Zeus exclaimed, apparently keeping his voice low enough so that all of Olympus didn't hear what he had to say, though not low enough for someone in Athena's current position to listen in on what he had to say, "We had them right where we wanted them: waging war on the citizens of Argos, killing everything in their path thanks to you strategically killing people every now and then to make it seem like they were warmongers, and then, when the time was right, kill Hera's pet without them seeing you and get out before you were seen... and even if you were seen, make sure they don't catch you so Ceryx could intercept them. You were supposed to enrage them with a brief chase through the city, taunting them without saying a word, so when it came time to face your son Kratos would ignore his words and just kill him for getting in the way... with Argos and Ceryx dead we would have had good reason to execute them in a few years."

"How was I supposed to know that that brat's skill with a bow was on par with Artemis'?" Hermes replied, where Athena could tell that he was still slightly in pain, no doubt due to Flurry's arrows hitting their mark with such lethal precision, even if she had done her best to keep him alive so he could face the consequences for his actions, "She nearly killed me while I was trying to get away from her!"

"Honestly, you would have deserved it... killing my pet for nothing." Hera remarked, which was worrisome, that she just saw all of the other gods as expendable pawns on the board that her husband was playing on, not to mention the fact that she likely valued the giant Argos over Hermes.

"Don't think you are free from blame, Hera. All you were supposed to do was tear down any remarks that Kratos and his family made about being innocent, nothing more," Zeus snapped, something that just made Athena more worried about the situation that was now unfolding, while she could hear Hera pause in her walk to a new area while Hermes seemed to go quiet, as the sounds of pain that came from him seemed to disappear for a time, "make them seem like the villain, and if Artemis and Apollo joined them you were to call them out on playing favorites by siding with their warmongering allies. Instead you went and insulted Hecate, of all the gods that were assembled... we could have used her magic to damage Sparta's influence, maybe even weaken it's gods before the fateful day if someone convinced her that they were clearly in the wrong, but now she's unlikely to help us, all because you decided to insult her powerful magic skills."

"It hardly matters, darling. Sure, Argos was a bust, but there are plenty of places where we can set up more traps... Kratos has a whole list of places to visit, remember?" Hera said, showing that she had no concern for what happened to the rest of the mortals that she was supposed to care for, like she was drunk on power or thought she had ultimate authority over everything else in Greece, and it wasn't long before Athena heard the sound of her drinking from her goblet, "We can just set up another trap in one of the other locations, lure him there, and hope the others take the bait when they come to tell us of their innocence. With any luck we'll have enough evidence to punish them in, oh, five years... maybe more if Flurry catches on to what we're trying to do."

Athena felt sick as she listened to them talk, as Zeus and Hera were actually working towards something that would bring about the advent of the Marked Warrior prophecy, effectively undoing everything she had worked towards for a long time, causing her to pull away from the door as she rushed back into Olympus, her mind torn on what to do next as she worried about what the future held for everyone.