God of War: Daughter of War

As Gaia climbed up the side of Mount Olympus, her gaze focused on the summit, both Kratos and Flurry found that some of the Olympians who had sided with Zeus were already on the move, as Heilos called forth his chariot before riding down into battle, Hermes ran down the mountain side, and Hades leapt off the ledge without a second thought. Poseidon, on the other hand, seemed to stay back so he could observe the battle, while at the same time Flurry noticed that Hercules was on this battlefield as well, ordering undead legionnaires to attack their enemies, even though the monsters in Zeus' army seemed to be killing the mortals of Olympus as well. Such a thing annoyed the pair as they witnessed it happen, though it was just another fact that allowed them to know that Zeus was truly mad, that his own fear towards them and the prophecy was now making him target anyone, be they innocent or guilty. After that their focus was turned towards a number of undead legionnaires that jumped down onto the part of Gaia that they were standing on, though neither warrior was sure what Hercules was even planning since these opponents wouldn't be able to do anything to a titan.

At this point in time neither warrior wasted much effort on the undead legionnaires, dispatching them with ease as both of them slashed at them with their weapons, or stabbing and bashing them depending on which weapon they used, and while they did that one of the other titans tore a chunk out of the mountainside and hurled it at the summit. The titan in question was Epimetheus, said to be the titan of Hindsight and Afterthought, though Flurry watched as Poseidon jumped off of the summit, slammed into his chest with enough force to cause cracks to form, and dropped him into the water that was far below them. In that instant she felt Epimetheus' spark go dark, as in Poseidon had just killed a titan without too much effort, only for the God of the Sea to summon what appeared to be water serpents that latched onto the legs of every titan that was climbing up the side of Mount Olympus, stalling their progress with ease. She found out what was latched onto them a few moments later as she and her father started to head down Gaia's arm, the creature stopping them was a massive beast with a horse head, anthropod limbs, and a serpent tail, known as the Hippocampi, or Hippocampus for one of them.

These creatures were supposed to be one of Poseidon's greatest creations, though he foolishly made it clear where their weakness was located, as their foe had a large rocky core in the center of it's watery body, so while Kratos dealt with the pair of claws that were nearby Flurry jumped into the air and drove the Blade of Olympus into the core, the sheer power of the blade shattering the creature with ease.

"Maybe you should hold off on using the Blade of Olympus, just to make the battles fairer?" Kratos inquired, though as he said that Gaia removed the Hippocampus that had pierced her wrist and dropped it down into the water below before she resumed her climb to Zeus' position.

"Maybe. Just depends on who or what we end up facing." Flurry replied, but as she said that both of them found one of the other Hippocampi coming towards Gaia, where they nodded to each other for a moment before jumping off the titan, as both of them knew that she would be able to drag them both back to Gaia's back when they weren't in danger.

The two of them crashed into the back of the Hippocampus in question and slashed into it's watery back, finding that the material was like skin for the creature, even though it was hard to saw what it's blood was like, though as Flurry switched to her sickles, tearing into it's back, her father wrapped the chains of the Blades of Chaos around it's neck and severed the creature's head. Such a thing caused it to flail around like a headless chicken, where the pair stood still for a time before launching themselves at the closest thing to their position, what appeared to be a path that some of the Olympians used in the past, like a path before the main palace had been completed. As they did so Flurry noticed Hades further along the path and watched as he hurled his own sickles into the air and latched onto another titan, pulling it and himself off the side of Mount Olympus, meaning another obstacle had removed itself from their path. With that in mind the pair headed down the path that was in front of them, and when Kratos climbed on a nearby ledge they found that Gaia had another Hippocampus bothering her, meaning they would need to deal with Poseidon at some point.

Of course there were undead legionnaires blocking the way forward, though after everything they had been through both warriors weren't even surprised by these enemies, tearing the undead apart before giving them a chance to do anything to them, all while understanding that the greater enemies were likely guarding Zeus, only to stop by a stone tome that was in front of a massive gap in the side of Mount Olympus.

"That's... one long chain." Flurry commented, as there was a massive long series of chains linked together that seemed to be going from the depths of the Underworld to the peaks of Mount Olympus, while on the left and right of it stood large bronze eagle statues, the symbol of Zeus' power.

"According to the tome, this is the 'Chain of Balance' that secures the bond between two realms." Kratos remarked, as he decided to look at what the stone tome had to offer, since it might be valuable information later on, even though he was somewhat impressed by the fact that someone, likely Hephaestus, had constructed all of this at one point in time, while at the same time he was sure they might have to do something to it in the future.

After staring at the chain for a few moments the pair continued on their way, Kratos using a grapple point to reach a part of the wall he would have to climb up while Flurry could just jump over whenever she wanted, only to find more undead in the area, where Kratos used the power of Atlas' Quake to smash all of them to pieces. From there he climbed up the side of the section of wall that was nearby and started to climb along a ledge that had been carved into the mountain, while at the same time Flurry simply flew behind him to make sure there were no enemies, only to watch as Heilos attacked one of the other titans, a molten one neither of them had seen before. Sure enough that titan fell off the mountain as well, which was becoming a pattern as the pair observed what was going on, before eventually reaching a stone ledge that was more pristine than everything else, allowing Kratos to stand tall once more. As that happened, however, Gaia paused for a few moments before one of the Hippocampi tore through her body, near the neck based on what they can see, though she did grab onto it and struggled to keep it contained as she broke part of the walkway, causing the pair to glide over it so they could continue on their way.

There was an ornate door in their way that Kratos opened without delay, only for them to enter a large chamber that had something neither of them were expecting to see, a grave with an imitation of Ares locked deep in the ice, causing him to growl as he realized that the former God of War, a being who had ruined his life, had been given a tomb despite the fact that no physical body remained.

"You... have got... to be KIDDING ME!" Kratos snapped, as this was outrageous, that Zeus would allow order such a thing to happen while he and Flurry were moving into their portion of Olympus, especially after realizing just how much he and his daughter hated the former God of War, causing him to turn towards his daughter, "Flurry, wreck this place!"

As Kratos said that, however, he found a centaur walking towards them with a weapon at the ready, where he growled for a moment and rushed at the monster, slashing into it's legs before it had a chance to react to what he was doing before stabbing the underside of his foe's horse body, cutting all the way to it's rear end, before using the chains to remove it's head by heating them up. While he did that Flurry sent her magic into the walls, breaking the ground and the walls with her magical power, though for the most part she was going to keep it intact until they were no longer stuck in this part of the path, even if she hated Ares like her father did. As they found their way to an upper area, allowing them to leave the tomb and regroup with Gaia, one of the Hippocampi tried to attack them and Kratos caught the claw with his hands, only to force it backwards before leaping out to fight it like the last ones both of them had seen so far. Flurry, on the other hand, followed her father out of the tomb area and pulled her hand out, where Kratos and Gaia watched as she tore the area they had passed through out of the mountain before crushing it with her immense magical power, reducing it down to a small orb in her hand before smashing it and reducing it to dust.

With that done the pair knocked the Hippocampus backwards and slammed it into the front of Gaia's chest, causing her to howl in pain, though instead of holding back the two warriors lashed out at the creature, hacking into it's limbs while going after the core, just like Flurry had done on her own. Since most of their foe was made of water they couldn't use most of their magical items, since the liquid would render the power useless in a matter of seconds, but that didn't stop the pair from hacking into the core, tearing part of it open while the other defended them. Kratos found a way to sever one of their foe's claws and, when the way was open, he grabbed it with his blades and swung it so the tip would embed itself in the Hippocampus' core, showing it all the way in to crush it and force the fallen creature to back off. Such a thing left a hole in Gaia's chest, meaning they could head inside, maybe fight a few foes, and then get out before focusing on another foe that was bothering the titans, causing the pair to nod to each other as they descended into Gaia's insides.

Kratos and Flurry discovered that some of the stone walls that were resting in their way moved in response to what Gaia was doing, breathing or talking, though neither of them had to worry about enemies, so they sheathed their weapons for a time as they made their way through Gaia's body.

Gaia's beating heart was a vessel of pure magical energy, combined with the roots of a tree and looked like a large seed of some kind, surrounded by what seemed to be the toughest stones Flurry had ever seen, crystalline quartz that was known as onyx, said to be one of the toughest materials in all of Greece. This was the first time she had seen a cluster of the rare material outside what the guards of Olympus, or Zeus to be more exact, carried in the form of their shields, though as her father studied the area Flurry held a hand out and spun the sickle associated with it for a moment. Kratos watched her for a moment as she tapped the crystal and glanced at the ceiling of the chamber, finding that Gaia made no noise as she did that, something that caused her to lash out with her weapon for a moment as she struck the upper part of the crystal and removed a small portion of the peak. It was no more than the size of the medallions they had been given after trading in the heads of Medusa and Euryale, and happened to be about half the total length, but as she caught the fragment both she and her father found that Gaia either didn't notice or she was too preoccupied to care.

Flurry decided not to extract more than the sample, where Kratos confirmed that her sickles were tougher than even the mythical onyx, though as he turned his attention to finding a way out his daughter also found an old living area that had to be Zeus' from when he was a baby, along with an eagle statue that she added to her collection.

From there Kratos found a wall that he could climb on and did just that, including using a grappling point to reach an area that happened to have some more undead legionnaires, though this time Flurry found that her father grabbed onto one of them and used it as a battering ram to tear through the rest, before tearing the makeshift shield in half as well. Following that they were able to track down another wall that would bring them outside, they just had to use another grapple point to launch themselves outside, allowing the pair to find that this brought them to the backside of Gaia's head, all while she was fighting with another Hippocampus. The fact that she was the one being targeted like this wasn't lost on Kratos and Flurry, as they were using her as a way to get up to Olympus, so Poseidon was focusing on tearing down the one titan that posed the most danger to Zeus' domain, and there was another one approaching them. In that moment both of them felt the ground shudder as Poseidon finally rose out of the water he had crashed into earlier, where he appeared in his giant form, a mass of water and magic that resembled a more warrior version of the God of the Sea, with all of the Hippocampi linked to the area his legs would have been in.

"You dare challenge me, mortals? A god of Olympus?" Poseidon declared, showing them that he had fallen into Zeus' hole of not treating them with the respect they deserved, since they were also gods that had stood on Olympus for some time, and his comment caused the pair to sigh for a few moments.

"Hello, we're gods as well. Seriously, why does everyone keep forgetting that?" Flurry remarked, the first part directed to the god in front of them while the other part was for her father, the latter having no idea why other gods seemed to ignore that they were also gods, even though both of them had their weapons at the ready as they faced Poseidon.

"A true warrior does not hide, Poseidon. If we must fight, then leave the sea and face us." Kratos stated, deciding to focus on the figure that was in front of them and Gaia, because now he was blocking the way forward, though a part of him did have a faint hope that the God of the Seas would realize the danger in front of him and back off before he died.

Poseidon, however, was either infected by the same Evil that had infected Zeus or enraged that they would dare to stand before him, as more of the Hippocampi latched onto Gaia's head and held her steady, in fact Flurry was sure that the god was making sure the titan didn't move so he could focus on them and no one else. In addition to those there were also the few that he used to try and pin down either of his foes, causing Kratos and Flurry to lash out at the Hippocampi that were coming at them and those that were holding onto Gaia's head, since freeing her might aid them in some manner. While they did that their foe lashed out at them with his own lightning attack, a much more controlled version of the power that he had granted them, though Flurry raised an empty hand into the air and swung it, forming a magical barrier in the way to stop the lightning from hitting them. Kratos found that Poseidon wasn't the only one that summoned that power during the course of the battle, as his daughter combined her magic with the lightning power Zeus had granted them during their quest to take down Ares all those years ago and blasted the God of the Seas back with a powerful eerie lightning bolt that tore through his defenses.

The shock freed Gaia long enough for her to grab onto Poseidon and slam him into the side of Mount Olympus, stunning him for a moment as Kratos and Flurry crossed over to where his chest was located, lashing out at him before he even had a chance to recover from the constant assault. Kratos utilized the opening that she provided to cut into the coral armor that Poseidon was using to protect his core, or at least that was what it looked like to him, and when he tore it off, leaving the core of his giant form exposed, he targeted Gaia again, forcing her to let go of him so the pair could deal with the few Hippocampi that were focused on her. As it turned out Poseidon was just resetting the arena back to where he could focus on them, though oddly enough he didn't bother to repair his giant form's armor, as if he knew he didn't have the time to focus on his safety as they battled each other, though the good thing was that while Poseidon was focused on them the rest of the titans continued their climb.

Instead of giving him a chance to turn the tide of the battle against them Flurry called forth more of her power and quickly formed a flaming sphere of deathly energy, twice the size of her head, before hurling it at Poseidon's chest, blasting him back and scarring his chest. Such a thing prompted Gaia to throw a punch at the God of the Seas with her left fist, like she was sensing that this was the time for them to claim victory over one of the stronger gods of Olympus, where Kratos made his move as well, leaping onto her fist as she pulled it back. When Gaia made contact, stunning the god in front of them, Kratos used the force of the blow to propel himself forward so he could smash into the severely weakened core and tore Poseidon out of his giant water form, and even after that he still had enough force to fly through the air and land outside where Ares' tomb had been. As Kratos touched down he turned and hurled Poseidon at the stone wall both he and Flurry had walked by earlier, causing the God of the Sea to crumple to the ground and cough up blood in the process, though as he did that Kratos turned his head towards their foe's giant form as it fell apart, freeing the titans who had been held back by their opponent.

Flurry landed by him a few moments later, all while Gaia caught her breath to make sure she was ready for the rest of the climb, causing them to turn their focus towards the wounded god that was resting nearby, because if this battle continued another god would fall.

"Give up, Poseidon... this battle is over." Flurry said, because while they were planning on killing Zeus, given his crimes and whatever else he might have planned after they were 'dealt with', neither she or her father wanted to kill anyone else, as in none of the other gods and goddesses that were part of Olympus.

"No... no it's not. If I let you two go, you'll just wreck havoc on Olympus, killing everyone that gets in your way... until all of Olympus falls." Poseidon stated, where he forced himself to stand as he held a hand out, creating a watery version of his trident as he coughed up more blood for a moment, showing them that the pressure of being forced out of his giant form and hitting the wall had done some serious damage to his insides, "You'll destroy the entire world if you do this!"

"We just want Zeus. He is our only target... no one else has to die." Kratos replied, though he couldn't fault Poseidon for even thinking about the fate of Greece, because they had just started the Marked Warrior prophecy and there was no real way for them to know exactly what sort of damage their assault would have for the rest of Greece, "Poseidon, you helped us find my mother, when Zeus forbid us from seeking her... and you aided us in finding Deimos, even after someone took control of Scylla and destroyed Atlantis. Neither of us want to kill you, not after everything you did to aid us... so leave, and let us do what we came to do."

In the next moment Poseidon's fate was sealed, as he rushed at Kratos with all of the speed he could muster right now and thrust his makeshift trident at his target, where Flurry stood by as her father parried the attack with the edge of one of his blades, before headbutting the God of the Seas in the face, knocking him to the ground. Poseidon, despite being beaten and being shown mercy by a pair of individuals who killed gods and powerful monsters all the time, kept getting up and attacking Kratos, who replied by knocking him into either the stone wall or the ground, before Kratos eventually gave up. Following that decision Kratos beat Poseidon with strong punches to the face, kicks to the upper part of his chest, and bashed the side of his head against the rock wall, though while he looked incredibly angry, an anger that was directed at Zeus, deep inside he was saddened by the fact that their words had fallen on deaf ears. Poseidon, despite their efforts and the sheer difference in power, was set on killing himself to keep his brother safe, something the other gods might feel as well if they fought them, but even then he had hope that some would step off this path before they reached them.

One of his attacks sent Poseidon at Flurry, who simply sighed as she pierced his chest with the Blade of Olympus, letting it steal some of his power as Kratos grabbed onto his head and snapped his neck, killing him instantly, before he pushed the fallen god off the blade and watched him fall into the water below. Both of them were waiting for Poseidon's body to blow like Ares' did, leaving nothing of the god behind, only for the lifeless body to do nothing as it eventually struck the water that Poseidon had dropped a titan into not that long ago, and then the madness happened. A massive wave burst out of the area that his body had struck, flooding the city that rested at the base of the mountain, destroying every ship that was in the immediate area, drowning every innocent person that had nothing to do with this war, and something that was far more devastating than either of them were expecting. The entire world was flooding before their eyes, as in the sea levels were rising more and more as the seconds ticked by, meaning anyone who wasn't on Olympus, or hopefully on the fleet that Artemis and Apollo had prepared, was as good as dead, causing Kratos to look out at the scene in disbelief before he found that Flurry was incredibly saddened by this turn of events.

It was like Athena had told him during their years of working to prevent this terrible prophecy from happening, Death was saddened by people mistreating their lives or massive loss of life like this, and he could see that she was thinking about all of the lives that had been snuffed out in their quest to kill Zeus, causing him to pull her into a hug for a time.

"Do not worry. We WILL fix this." Kratos said, because while he knew that there would be no way to undo the deaths that had just happened, not without using the Threads of Fate and possibly breaking the flow of history, he knew, without a doubt, that they would find a way to undo the damage they were doing to Greece.

Flurry could only nod her head as they stood there for a few moments, allowing them to understand the consequences of their actions and what it meant for whatever the future held for everyone, all while hoping that they could bring this battle to an end without doing more damage to Greece and any survivors that still remained.