God of War: Daughter of War

Flurry discovered six murals resting around the Flame's home, each detailing a piece of the puzzle so she and her father could understand what was going on, though to reveal their information she did have to use Helios' lantern on them before she could read them. What she was able to confirm was that the Judges in the Underworld would prevent the Chain from moving, keeping the Labyrinth from moving, the Muses that were above them had a part to play in all of this, and that the heart of Zeus' prison contained the power to douse the Flame, so one could claim the Box. According to whoever painted the murals, before they were hidden by the King of the Gods no doubt, Pandora was definitely the Key, as Hephaestus told her and her father when they spoke to the Smith God in the Underworld, but right now she determined that sacrificing the girl was the wrong way to go about things. She had to wonder if the Muses would sense someone trying to mess with the Flame and put a stop to it, which she believed were the two large female statues on the floor above the one they were standing on, meaning they might have to head up there and deal with their part of the puzzle.

While she did that Kratos slipped on Hermes' boots and found that they definitely grew to fit his own feet, where he took them for a test run and discovered that he could definitely move faster than before if he wanted, along with running up the walls and maneuvering himself like the Messenger of the Gods could before his timely demise.

"Okay, so it looks like our first action should be to find a way up to the Muses," Flurry commented, speaking as she simply walked over to the doorway that her father was standing near, the same one that had brought them to Zeus' balcony and where they killed Hermes, where she glanced at the pillars that were on the other side as an idea formed in her mind, "and to get you up there all you'll need to do is run up those pillars and jump over... should put you right in front of another door, all while I'll just fly up and join you."

"And the Flame?" Kratos asked, because he agreed with his daughter, claiming the Flame would be a good step towards weakening Zeus' power, if he had a way to actually channel the power without harming himself, though he did follow her outside the chamber and glance at the pillars as well.

"We'll come back for it once we're done with the Muses and the Judges... something tells me that the cage over it will make sure it remains untouched while it's up." Flurry said, which was likely the truth, the Flame was far too valuable to just leave out in the open with no protection, especially since Zeus knew about Pandora's role in dousing the blue fire and he knew that they would no doubt seek to do something to the Flame.

Kratos glanced back at the brass flame cage that was around the Flame and figured that Flurry spoke the truth, it made a lot of sense to him when he thought about it, to which he turned his focus back to the task at hand as he braced himself for what he was about to do. Flurry watched as he leapt onto the side of the pillar, Hermes' boots no doubt realizing what he intended to do and allowed him to run up the side of his target, and rushed upward for a moment before jumping off once he reached the balcony that was above them, causing her to fly up to his position. That was when they found that there were other soldiers fighting off the undead, the Amazons they realized, and that there were gates leading out of Olympus, which allowed the innocent civilians to flee before the undead legionnaires and harpies got at them. In fact, when Flurry looked out at the rest of the domain of the gods that she could see, it was easy for her to spot the forces of Apollo and Artemis doing their best to save as many people as they could, while Hecate's own scholars, wearing robes that matched hers, were with them.

When she spotted them using their magic, however, she understood that their allies were trying to save as many of the remaining innocents as they could, allowing them to focus on taking care of Zeus and ending this long ordeal, which was what they did as Kratos picked up an undead legionnaire and tore his target in half.

The soldiers of Artemis and Apollo saluted the pair and thanked them for their timely aid, even though it was clear that all of them thought they'd be left to fight the undead alone, before Flurry watched as they disappeared into the portal that was behind them, causing them and Hecate's scholar to leave Olympus behind. As the portal closed Flurry found a new foe dropping down on where they were standing, an armored cyclops with it's head protected, though Kratos didn't have to move as his daughter rushed through the air and slashed into the beast's arms and legs with the twinblade, freezing it's limbs before it could even move. When the creature reached for her, however, she quickly switched to her new weapon and stuck the freezing limb with Earthshaker, shattering it in an instant, before spinning around and crushing it's skull with the second blow, dropping the body to the floor so they could enter the upper floor. Such a thing gave them a good view of the Gear of Burden, a device that was part of the entire system that was linked to keeping the Flame contained, and to start the process they had to mess with the Muses, who should move the Gear.

While they walked around the circular walkway, however, Kratos found a number of paintings that were of the Olympians, from before Ares' death, and he glared at the painting of the former God of War for a time as Flurry quickly destroyed all of the undead archers with a few well placed arrows, before she set the painting on fire.

"...thank you." Kratos said, as this was just like when they found the tomb of Ares, Flurry destroyed it to sooth his rage, and it felt somewhat good to break everything that was associated with the one who destroyed his life, before he encountered his wonderful daughter who actually did her best to fix everything that she could, causing him to sigh for a moment as he focused on their current task.

Flurry said nothing as she continued over to a hallway leading to another part of the area, where they found that there were a few sirens in it, these ones wearing red robes that covered their right breasts while exposing their left ones, but it wasn't anything new to the pair as they slashed into the sirens. Such a thing made her wonder where in the world all of Olympus' greatest defenders had gone, because most of the enemies they had fought so far were the common enemies that she and her father had fought in the past, and the only allies the sirens had were basic undead legionnaires. At the end of the hallway they discovered a circular set of stairs that headed even higher than their current position, which they were able to use to reach an iron barred gate, something Kratos opened without delay so they could focus on what was beyond it. The chamber in question seemed to be a massive musical instrument, based on all of the strings that were near the edge, by a now open curtain, there was a stand for someone to stand on with four unique looking buttons, there were four devices above the strings that likely needed to be calibrated, and a curved icon of the Blade of Olympus.

Kratos stared at the assortment that was in front of them and had an idea on how to proceed, though he could tell that he didn't have to say a single word, Flurry already knew what needed to be done, as she leapt into the air and glided up to the tuning area, where she carefully pulled the rotation devices that were above them. Kratos found that moving one also did the same to the icon of the Blade, as there were four sections associated with all four devices, so when one was in place he called for her to stop and move onto the next one, as she waited for him to tell her if one was done or not. Once all four strings were tuned the pair found that the two statues of the Muses moved, grabbing onto the spokes of a wheel that was linked to the upper part of the Gear, meaning that they would move the wheel when someone played a tune, likely one located in front of the raised platform. Kratos, after making sure no enemies were coming to stop them, stepped onto the platform and found that a sort of music sheet appeared where the sword icon rested, complete with moving icons that represented the four unique buttons, so he pressed each one and followed the music accordingly.

Flurry had no idea what the music was supposed to be, she had never heard anything like it before and guessed it had to represent someone, but her father's actions caused the Muses to move with the music, and when he was done the Muses lowered the Gear's base onto the Flame, where they pulled that area up to the floor below them, before releasing it and revealing that the crank could be used now.

With that done they found that the platform Kratos was standing on lowered into the floor and then the outer ring just spun above him, revealing a lever that indicated that it had been transformed into a lift, while the gate behind them closed and prevented them from using it, causing Flurry to land beside him before he activated the lever. As the lift descended to one of the lower levels, possibly where the Flame's platform used to rest, they were assaulted by shield legionnaires, as in the ones that carried the onyx shields, though Kratos wasn't surprised when Flurry tore the shields out of their hands with her magic so they could kill them. He knew his daughter was collecting the onyx because it was a mythical material that Zeus had hoarded, so every piece taken him from the less he could use against them, though in addition to those foes he found that a few gorgons also joined in the fun, which he sliced apart with his blades. This repeated for a time with no changes, it was just the shield legionnaires who lost their onyx shields to Flurry's collection and gorgons that he tore apart with his weapons, which was actually a little boring to the pair as they waited for the lift to come to a stop.

When the lift came to a stop, and the door in front of them opened, the pair found that they were on the lowest floor once more, where a circular set of steps could be found heading back up to where the Flame was now resting, though as they reached the upper floor Flurry found something interesting.

"Hm... there are no new doors, meaning we'll have to try the crank." Flurry said, which seemed like a waste of time after she learned that the Judges were keeping the Chain locked in place, but, without another opening to show them where to go neck, save for flying down the Chain so she could destroy the base of it herself, it seemed like they had to play along for the time being.

Kratos nodded his head as they returned to the lower floor and he grasped the crank, where he started to push it with all his might and they found that the Flame's cage started to lower ever so slowly, before the crank stopped as the chains on either side of the chamber were yanked back into place. With that in mind, confirming that the Judges had to be taken out before they could get to the Flame in it's entirety, the pair let the crank return to it's position as they found a new passage opened, revealing a number of undead archers guarding the new hallway. Those foes were easy to eliminate, they had no armor on as the pair discovered, before they found some wraiths further down the way, which the pair simply turned to stone with their medallions and then smashed them to pieces with a well placed attack from their weapons. Both of them didn't want to waste time on easy foes, not when they were sure that some of the stronger foes were lurking somewhere in the vastness of Olympus, before reaching a circular staircase, like the one that let them reach the Muses, that actually went downward.

The end of the path that was at the bottom of the stairs, however, brought them to a new balcony that was larger than the one Zeus had stood on before he blasted Gaia off the side of the mountain, causing Kratos and Flurry to get ready since this seemed like a good spot for someone, likely another god, to ambush them.

"Bravo... our 'heroes' have arrived. Let's have a round of applause for another bastard child of Zeus, and his annoying hybrid daughter!" a familiar feminine voice said, where they turned around for a moment and found that there was a small throne sitting on the ledge that was above the opening that they had walked through, finding Hera sitting on the seat as she picked up her silver goblet, her prized possession, and drank from it, as it was said to be endless.

Flurry noticed two things instantly, the first thing being that Hera was smashed, far more drunk than anyone else she had seen in the past while still being able to tell what was going on, likely her godly nature keeping her somewhat sober, while the second thing was that her eyes were the same as Helios' and Hermes' when they were possessed by Fear.

"Just in time for the final act, I might add." Hera continued, as if she didn't want them to talk at all, at least not until she was ready for them to talk and annoy her more, though once she was done drinking from her goblet Hera glanced down at the pair for a moment, either thinking they were drunken images created by her mind, really there despite her inability to focus on them, or something else entirely, "You look terrible, dear... I assume that you still want to kill my husband? And where is your brother? I could have sworn he was with you."

"I'm right here." a voice said, where a murder of crows appeared nearby as Deimos emerged from them, allowing Kratos and Flurry to notice that Hecate was hiding the portal back to the ships so Hera didn't see it, though following that the group of birds disappeared as he faced the pair, "Don't worry, everything is fine. Hecate figured that the gods of Sparta should fight together in this particular fight."

"I see. That is good to know." Kratos replied, which told him and Flurry that Hecate expected them to run into Hercules and that Deimos wanted a piece of him for harassing Sparta over the years, hence why she teleported him here in the first place, before he glanced up at Hera, who was still drinking, "Hera, as we have told those who came before you, the only one we seek to destroy is Zeus. Nothing more."

"Honestly, I can't say that I blame you... ever since you two killed my son, Ares, fear of you has consumed him... part of me is hoping that you'll eventually destroy him." Hera said, something they understood since she seemed to hate her husband as much as Zeus feared them, mostly because Zeus was unfaithful and had so many offspring that it wasn't even funny at this point, all while Flurry noticed something, there were a few dark scales on Hera's right hand, which she either didn't know about or was ignoring at all costs, "And that part makes me want to drink to that, so I will."

"Hera, we seek another entrance that will bring us back to the Labyrinth. You clearly don't want a fight, so maybe we can agree to go our separate ways after you point us in the right direction?" Flurry asked, though she had a feeling that she might be wrong in this manner, for it seemed like Hera had at least Hatred, Sloth, and Fear inside her, so it was only a matter of time until the Evils inside her made her fight for her life.

"The Labyrinth? Hm, but that would mean... well, we can't have that, can we?" Hera said, allowing them to notice the slight change in her voice that indicated that Fear had briefly, for a few seconds, taken over her voice to speak his mind on the subject, and based on how unbothered she was Flurry had to assume that the goddess and the Evil were in agreement on this topic, "Go on, destroy them."

As Hera returned to her throne the trio glanced at the passage that had brought them here as another familiar figure came towards them, the tall hulking body of Hercules himself, wearing nothing over his chest while having a pair of shoulder pads and his unique helmet, who actually seemed happy to see all of them.

"Hello again, brothers... niece." Hercules stated, where he actually seemed confident in what was going on right now, as if fighting on Olympus gave him strength or even vindication that he was on the right path, all while Flurry noticed that his eyes were the same as Hera's, one of the Evils had infected him as well, no doubt due to the emotions he harbored to her and her family.

"Stand down, Hercules. While we would like to have words with you, about you harassing Sparta, this matter is not between us." Kratos stated, though he could see what Flurry was seeing right now, the darkness of the Evils infecting his eyes, meaning that they were going to have to fight him no matter what, because it seemed like those that were in this state were driven to seek their doom, and even Deimos sensed that something was amiss.

"Isn't it? You were, after all, Zeus' favorite." Hercules remarked, almost sounding like he was amused by the fact that he'd hear such a thing from Kratos, despite all of the terrible things that had happened to him over the years, even before he became the current God of War.

"If we're talking 'favorite person to torment', you'd be right... father isn't Zeus' favorite son." Flurry said, where they found that Hercules didn't even seem to care about her statement, showing them that he was in his own little world and that none of them could convince him that they were telling the truth.

Hercules told them to think about it, that while he was forced to clean the Augean Stables, a foul smelling task, Zeus chose them to retrieve Pandora's Box and destroy Ares, and when Kratos raised an eyebrow the tall warrior continued by going into how while Kratos was being crowned the new God of War, a high honor, Hercules had to find an apple. They found that he laughed at the twelve labors he had been told to complete, apparently thinking that they were a waste of time, and that while Zeus might have allowed him to slay the Nemean Lion, the King of the Gods also made both Kratos and Flurry's names known among the people. It was clear that he was greatly annoyed with them, that they were given greater things to do while he was told to do things he believed were stupid or beneath him, even if Flurry thought that the labors were to teach him a number of lessons he needed to know, but she decided not to provoke him even more. His next words were a confirmation of his annoyance, that the Olympians would allow a bloodthirsty warrior to be made into a hero, and then let that 'hero' be turned into a god so he could stand with the rest of the Olympians, and he was even annoyed that Deimos would be allowed to join with so little effort.

In the end Hercules declared that this would be his thirteenth and final labor, the destruction of the traitorous gods so he can claim the throne of the God of War for himself, though instead of fighting them on his own he jumped up to where Hera was sitting as more undead legionnaires came out to fight them.

The undead, as they discovered, were the unarmored weaklings they had fought in the beginning, plus there were a few archers standing around the large arena, though the trio gave Hera and Hercules a show as Deimos pulled out his shield and parried some incoming attacks before thrusting his spear into their chests, killing his foes instantly. Kratos didn't even bother to use his weapons as he grabbed onto his opponents and used them as either projectiles to harm the rest of his foes, ripped them in half, or used their own weapons to destroy those that dared to challenge him. Flurry decided to use the twinblade, spinning it around as she slashed at her foes and left freezing slashes in her wake, freezing her foes before raising her bow to eliminate the archers, allowing her to take down two groups of enemies before moving onto another foe that her father and uncle hadn't gotten to yet. While that happened they could see that Hercules was getting annoyed with what he was seeing, as if he expected his soldiers to do more to them, but since there weren't armored like some of the other undead, and didn't have onyx shields, the trio tore through his forces before facing him once the arena was cleared of enemies.

Hercules, as they expected, readied his own weapons, a fist type weapon that he shoved his hands into and revealed that they seemed to a ring or two that locked into place, while at the same time looking like snarling lion's heads, before just jumping down into the area that was in front of the gate that Kratos and Flurry had walked through to get here.

Flurry rushed forward and swung Earthshaker at Hercules, where the hulking warrior swung one of his Nemean Cestus, which was the name of his unique weapon, and the two collided with a ringing sound as the balcony floor cracked, which caused her to realize that the cestus was also made or infused with onyx. The collision of two onyx infused weapons had an interesting effect, breaking the area around them a little, though she was fine with that as Deimos appeared nearby as she pushed her foe's weapon into the air, allowing her uncle to stab Hercules in the side with his spear. As Hercules took in the fact that he had been stabbed, and was actually bleeding, Deimos used his strength to lift him off the ground and charged into one of the six thorny walls that happened to be around the arena, stabbing him in the back before Kratos rushed over and tore off one of the shoulder pieces Hercules wore. Deimos took the other as they backed off, where both brothers tossed the pieces over to Flurry so she could stuff them in her collection of items, before they resumed the fight with Hercules, whose rage towards them seemed to be growing, and his hatred.

It was easy for her to tell that because the dark scales were starting to appear on his right shoulder, he was feeding his Evils as he fought them, though as he attacked them Kratos used both of his blades to parry the incoming attack before pushing him back and stabbing him in the other side of his chest. As Hercules growled at him Kratos jumped back, letting them see that the blades were embedded in his body and the chains had extended, where he swung his arms and let the hulking figure discover that he was being thrown into another thorn wall, this time with his helmet being removed once he hit his destination. Hercules roared in anger as he tried to assault the trio with his might, where Hera watched in surprise as Kratos unleashed a storm of blows with the Blades of Chaos, hacking into Hercules' body and leaving blood in his wake, Deimos called forth a volley of magical spears that barreled into his foe's chest, and Flurry used her sickle staff to slash into him as she avoided his attacks. Flurry could see that this was like a nightmare to Hera, her son was being beaten by a pair of 'bastard sons' and the 'hybrid', causing her to frown as she wondered why so many people hated the body she was born with, before focusing on the fight as Hercules slammed his weapons on the ground to try and push them back.

What was surprising was that Hercules stood before Hera and informed her that he would be the one to destroy them, but the fact that his defenses were down, against three powerful foes, was something they took advantage of as Kratos and Deimos attacked him before he noticed them coming. Such a thing allowed them to stab him in the sides before he tried to hit Kratos, only to find that Flurry knocked his weapon into the ground and his chosen target stabbed his arm to remove his right arm from the cestus he was wearing. After equipping the weapon on his own right arm Kratos swung it at Hercules and struck him in the chest, hard enough to actually remove the other cestus in the process, and with both of the Nemean Cestus in his hands he punched Hercules towards the edge of the balcony. His plan was to just drop him off the ledge of the area so they could focus on getting some information out of Hera about the Labyrinth, though as he did that Hercules jumped into the air, landed near the entrance again, and picked up the the frame that the balcony was on, as in he started to lift it so he could push them off the cliff himself.

Flurry leapt into the air and countered that by striking the part above Hercules with Earthshaker a few times, knocking the platform back down into position, opening the way for Deimos to stab their foe in the shoulder and send him down into the floor, before Kratos finished it by pummeling Hercules with his own weapon, breaking his chest and face before he broke the floor, sending them down into a sewer system as they landed in some clear water.

"And for good measure." Flurry said, making sure to stab Hercules with the Blade of Olympus, mostly to target the Evil that was inside the figure, though as he died they watched as the shadowy mass that was his Evils disappeared like those that had possessed all of the gods they had fought so far.

"Good, now he's dead and our people can breathe a sigh of relief." Deimos commented, taking a moment to step out of the water as all three of them stopped on a passage that was leaving the water behind, causing him to sigh as he put his weapons away and faced the pair for a few seconds, all while a couple of crows appeared further up the way, "Kratos, Flurry, go... finish this war and end Zeus! We'll be hoping for your success."

Kratos nodded and embraced his brother for a moment, as knowing he would be safe put his mind at ease since it meant their people would be safe, and watched as Deimos hugged Flurry for a moment before disappearing into the portal that Hecate's crows made for him, though once that was done they continued forward and braced themselves for the whatever the next part of Olympus had to throw at them.