God of War: Daughter of War

After departing from the mountain that Typhon was imprisoned in, as there was another passage heading outside that the pegasus used to leave, Kratos and Flurry kept their eyes open for anything else that might be between them and the island, because if there were griffin riders before the mountain there were sure to be more later. As such neither warrior talked as they made their way through the air, though off in the distance Flurry noticed a large island that had to be their destination, as there seemed to be a large statue or temple on it and there was a large structure in the water ahead of them. In addition to that she found four large horse statues that seemed to be linked to the temple that was between their location and the island itself, which had to be something they would have to deal with at some point in time, if what she had seen during the trials of Pandora's Temple was any consideration. Of course that made her wonder what in the world might be waiting for them this time around, especially given the importance of the Sisters of Fate and their incredible power, and she suspected that her father was thinking the same thing, just to think about what sort of combat tactics they might have to use.

Their thoughts were brought back to reality as Flurry found a number of griffin riders coming at them, departing from the main temple she had spotted earlier, where she and her father nodded to each other as they raised their bows, as the new one her father had obtained could convert into an icon of Typhon's head when it wasn't in use. With that in mind both of them started loosing arrows at their targets, taking out the riders before they even got a chance to attack them, while at the same time finding that the windy arrows weren't affected by the wind coming at them, though their attacks surprised all of the griffins in the process. After a few moments of doing that both warriors switched to their melee weapons and tore through the winged beasts that dared to come at them, before they found that the Dark Rider, with the unique weapon, came down to attack them again, showing that he was definitely the guardian of the Island of Creation. Unfortunately the Dark Rider was able to avoid their attacks and even slashed open the side of the pegasus, though Kratos leapt off of his downed mount, ripped the spear out of his foe's hands, and knocked him off so Flurry could kill him as he stabbed the black bird in the back of the neck.

Flurry slashed through the Dark Rider as her father severed one of the bird's wings, though as he fell she grabbed onto his right arm and descended upon the temple that was their destination, landing on one of the ledges without wasting time, as she figured that they had to do the structure in the water before heading into the island.

"A shame about the weapon." Flurry commented, where she watched as the Dark Rider's mount spiraled down into the jungle that was resting in the actual island, meaning there was a chance that they might be able to recover it before they found the path that might bring them even closer to the Fates, causing her to glance at her father for a moment, "Did he get you anywhere?"

"No, I am perfectly fine." Kratos replied, though he appreciated the concern, especially after what happened in Rhodes, but he intended for this to be one of the last few times that he would hear such a thing, hence why he focused on the rest of the temple that was above them as he got to his feet, "Come. We have more work to do."

Flurry nodded her head as her father started to climb up a stone section that sort of looked like a ladder, even though it quickly came to the end and he had to climb on the ceiling above them, where she watched as he made his way over to a ledge and pulled himself up into an area they could walk through. Once she was sure that the path was clear, since usually there were enemies on areas like this, Flurry opened her wings and quickly reached the area her father had stopped in, as he found a couple of satyr warriors to fight, who were just as skilled as the satyrs both of them had encountered during their time in Pandora's Temple. Such a thing didn't stop Kratos from tearing off one of his foe's arms and used the arm spike that was part of it's armor to pierce his foe's neck, easily killing the satyr before it had a chance to do anything to him, while at the same time Flurry dodged the axe that was coming at her, slashed at her opponent with a sickle, and took the satyr's head off with ease. Of course there were more than two satyrs in the area, in fact there were several more that dropped down onto the platform to fight them, though Kratos and Flurry just nodded to each other before rushing at their foes, slashing at some while tearing others apart with ease, in fact Kratos broke one's spine by pinning it's legs to the ground and then twisted it's upper body, killing it instantly.

This wasn't even a concern for Flurry, rather she knew her father needed to vent his anger in some manner, especially since Zeus had killed him earlier, hence why she remained silent as he devastated the satyr warriors that were coming at them, leaving her to cut down those who dared to challenge her.

Once the enemies were taken care of, and they confirmed that there were no more satyr warriors coming after them right now, Kratos climbed up another stone ladder as Flurry followed after him with a quick flap of her wings, only to find that there were some hounds waiting for them as well. She wasn't sure what the hounds were supposed to be doing for the satyr warriors, since each of them were taking down in two or three hits, though with the number of them that were in the area she pulled out Medusa's head for a moment and turned some of them to stone before smashing the statues apart, all while her father cut his down and kicked them off the ledge. Other than that Flurry found that the temple they were in was oddly well maintained, which she wasn't expecting from the satyrs they had seen so far, but it was a nice change of pace for both of them since they were used to wrecked areas, caves, and dangerous temples. After taking care of the rest of the hounds Kratos and Flurry found a lever that lowered a small platform into the chamber below them, finding a pair of gates that were linked to a crank and a button, though given what they had seen in the past one gate was likely on a short timer.

"I got this." Flurry said, where she reached into her pouch and retrieved the Oath Stone without delay, where Kratos just watched as she pulled the crank back to where the button was resting, stopping once it was in place and that the button was pressed down, something that was followed by her activating the power of the stone, producing a shadowy version of herself to hold it down.

Once more Kratos found himself thankful that Flurry had thought to hold onto everything they had acquired over their last couple of adventures, as in every weapon and every item that had been useful, as there were times where they became useful again and his daughter usually recognized when it was time to use something again. With the way open he and his daughter stepped through the short passage that had a decent sized chamber, open to the air no less, along with a long wooden bridge that was pointed at the sky, but no enemies popped out to attack them yet. Since there was no enemies for them to worry about, at least for the moment, the pair walked over to the bridge and Kratos kicked it down with ease, allowing him and Flurry to glance at the main island that their true destination rested in, where the Fates were no doubt watching them from. As they stared at their target, the odd mountain that likely held the path to where the Sisters were waiting, Flurry felt a bit of familiar magic and pulled out the small statue of Pandora that Hephaestus gave given them a long time ago, something she was familiar with using.

What she wasn't expecting was for a blue energy version of Pandora, or at least she assumed it was Pandora since the magic had no facial or body features for them to recognize, but given how often they had used the statue she was sure that it was Hephaestus' daughter.

"Pandora, what is it?" Kratos asked, because usually only Flurry talked with Pandora, though there were a few times where both of them were present when something like this happened, and even Deimos got involved a few times, which made him wonder why she'd contact them now, of all times.

I heard about the events that happened in Rhodes, about what Zeus did, and while I don't agree with the titans, I agree with Gaia on one thing: Zeus needs to be stopped. the magic replied, something that surprised the pair for a moment, as while it wasn't weird enough that Pandora knew about the disaster that happened in Rhodes, her father likely told her what he knew about it, rather the part about the titans and Gaia caught them off guard, Father told me about the time that Cronos devoured his children, the original gods of Olympians, until Rhea decided to deceive him by allowing an eagle to carry Zeus off and offering a stone in his place, which the titan devoured without realizing her treachery. Gaia kept him safe for many years, nurturing him and allowing him to grow without Cronos knowing of his existence, until he returned with vengeance in his heart... eventually freeing his siblings, causing war with the titans, and many more crimes that none of us need to go over again. So, go along with the plan, just... don't trust the titans too much.

"Don't worry, Zeus will get what's coming to him." Flurry said, though it was still odd to see that Pandora was up to date on what they were doing right now, even though Zeus shouldn't have any idea what they were doing, but since they needed to get moving she figured that once this was over, and the King of the Gods was dead, they could ask her all the questions that were running through their heads right now.

Pandora smiled for a moment before the magic disappeared, leaving Flurry to return the statue to where she kept it as Kratos turned towards the rest of the temple, as there was a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to get it done in, but as he walked across the outer walkway of the area he found that it collapsed, even if he reached the end with ease. Flurry, of course, was unhindered by such a thing as she jumped across the short gap and rejoined her father, only to drop down into an area with a few more hounds and a cerberus who had horns on the middle head, almost like a goat. Kratos quickly jumped onto it's back, pulled out the Blade of Artemis, and hacked off all three heads before the beast could even make an attempt on their lives, while at the same time Flurry sliced through the smaller hounds with her sickles, though she did keep an eye out for additional enemies. Following that Kratos found a short pedestal that could be moved around and just pushed it under the path that would take them deeper into the temple, which brought them to an exterior path that let them climb around the exterior of the structure, the lower side anyway, so Flurry took to the air as Kratos climbed outside the temple.

It was the same strategy they used in the past, he climbed and she supported him in the off chance there were enemies to deal with, at least cut down on the number of foes, and sure enough they found some satyr warriors on the second ceiling he had to climb, so she took out all those behind him while he focused on the ones in front of him.

At the end of the path they found more hounds and a number of archers waiting for them, where Flurry raised her bow and loosed arrows at all of the satyrs that were trying to attack them from afar, leaving her father to slash his way through all of the hounds and a warrior who decided to get in the way. While they did that Flurry found that they were definitely getting closer to the large horses that were behind the main temple, meaning it wouldn't be long before she and her father reached them, before refocusing on their enemies as both of them tore through another group of satyr warriors who used a lift to get in their way. After that the pair rode the lift down to another level of the structure, where the chains linked to the horses was located, where Kratos found a siren rising out of the floor, one that had a thin piece of cloth over her right breast, her left was fully exposed, and she wore sharp claws over her hands. Neither warrior was impressed by the siren, not in the slightest, so while Kratos smashed her into the wall before she could react, showing that he still had a lot of his skills, Flurry looked at the wall the monster appeared in and shattered it with her magic, revealing a path that would bring them to one of the horses.

With the way open Kratos and Flurry started to make their way over the long chain that was in front of them, where they found that it took them a couple of moments to reach the harness of one, or the platforms that had been attached to the harnesses, leaving Kratos to climb up the side of one as Flurry just flapped her wings and landed up top. What they found out was that there was a structure on the back of the horse the chains had brought them to, the third in the line, and that there was a locked door that required a special key to open, one they would no doubt find in the near future. Fortunately the pair discovered a lever that moved a rope line into position so Kratos could cross over to the fourth horse's back, since he didn't want to rely on his daughter for transport all the time, even if it meant reaching another locked door. This one had a man standing in front of it, dressed like a guard captain for the temple, and attached to his wrist was a key that had to be the one that went to the door, looking like a modified bracer of some kind, though he paused as he found the pair standing behind him.

"The Ghost of Sparta, along with the 'Goddess of Death'... so the rumors are true, you have fallen." the man, who both of them knew to be Theseus, one of Poseidon's children and the founder-king of Athens, remarked, though the way he laughed at them, or Kratos, caused both warriors to frown for a moment as he walked off to the side, "I never thought that you, out of all the people in Greece, would dare to seek the Sisters of Fate... the very Sisters that I willingly serve, to better spread the glory of Zeus!"

"Which means you are as good as dead. Zeus doesn't care for you, and even if you prove yourself he would just find a way to prove that you were planning on betraying him." Flurry said, because if the King of the Gods was willing to disown the God of War, and strike him down for crimes he thought they were guilty of, it stood to reason that the current Zeus had no love for anyone else in the world, to which she raised a hand for a moment as she stared at Theseus, "The key to the rest of the horses, if you would. I'd rather not kill you without a reason."

In that moment Theseus pulled out what appeared to be two swords merged together at the bottom of their handles, like how Flurry combined her sickles into the sickle staff, making it a double-bladed sword, and lashed out at her before Kratos was finished drawing his blades. Flurry, on the other hand, dodged out of the way before grabbing into part of the handle and lifted their foe into the air, slamming him down into the platform so her father could slash at him when he was back on his feet, driving Theseus away from the door he had sealed before their arrival. After that they found that Theseus went on the defensive without wasting time, as if he realized that they were definitely stronger than he was expecting, but that didn't help him all that much, because if he blocked one of their attacks the other hit him before he had a chance to shift his stance to keep himself safe. He did call forth his magical power, or what was in his weapon, causing ice spikes to pop out of the ground every now and then, but that also failed since the pair was ready for everything, and when he fled to the top of the door frame Kratos yanked him back down with his blades before driving the double-bladed sword right into Theseus' chest.

Flurry simply watched as her father grabbed onto the key, pried it from Theseus' arm, and then inserted it into the lock so he could open the door, only to wince as he moved their foe into the opening before smashing him between both sections for a few seconds, and it ended as he kicked Theseus through door, causing her to sigh as she walked forward and ended his suffering with a swing of her sickles.

As Kratos walked into the chamber, where a pedestal detailing how Cronos offered the Steeds of Time to the Sisters of Fate in a bid to change his fate rested, Flurry picked up Theseus' blade and spun it around for a moment, finding that it felt comfortable in her hands, which was understandable given her sickle staff. Following that they headed outside and found another rope line that brought them back to the third horse, allowing Kratos to open the door with the key they had taken from Theseus, only to discover another chamber with another lock. This one, on the other hand, revealed a new magical message from Cronos, which was essentially that he had hidden the last of his power here, to be bestowed on one that he deemed to be the champion of the titans, where most of it went into Kratos and a small bit went into Flurry. Cronos' Rage, as Flurry was going to call it, involved summoning lightning orbs that floated in place and shocked enemies as they got in range of them, as opposed to the other attacks of this element they had learned in the past, hurling them at the monsters that wanted to get in their way.

After taking out the satyrs that were part of the practice session, since the magic they gained during their quests seemed to have monsters for them to practice on, Kratos and Flurry used another opening to leave the chamber and found that the new path ended near the heads of the horses. Such a thing revealed a platform with four cranks, where each one was a different color with yellow and green on their left while red and blue were on the right, where Kratos glanced at Flurry for a moment and she nodded, taking to the air without delay. What she discovered was that each horse was linked to one of the four cranks, exactly as the colors were positioned, and each one had a lock that could only be revealed by turning the crank associated with it, plus the heads were guarded by harpies. With that information in hand she took the bracer key from her father and flew back up into the air, as the plan was to follow the color he picked, take down the enemies as he kept the various containers open, and insert the key into each lock, undoing whatever they were supposed to keep sealed.

Flurry found that the double-bladed sword was fine to use, as she slashed through the harpies with ease and even used the power inside it to freeze some of them, turning them into icicles that were smashed against the platforms below her, causing her to decide to add it to her arsenal. She also discovered that each lock was tied to blinkers that were preventing the steeds from seeing anything, so when Flurry unlocked one the devices in question, allowing the horse the lock was on to see once more, and once the last one was freed she returned to her father. Kratos waited for her to return before he undid the last lock, which the cranks were keeping locked in place, allowing the platform they were on to move back and take them close to the middle of the space between the second and third horses, causing them to understand what they had to do next. Kratos raised his blades and used them to whip the horses for a few seconds, causing them to let out the sounds of actual horses, though that was followed by the Steeds of Time starting to walk forward, pulling the chains that were linked to them as the temple's island was forced into alignment with the main island.

It was a breathtaking scene to behold, completing the first of many trials that stood between them and the Sisters of Fate, though once the Steeds went still, and the platform lowered into place, Kratos and Flurry got moving, as they were eager to face whatever the rest of the island had to offer them and wouldn't stop until their quest was complete.