With Hercules dead, and Deimos having been teleported out by Hecate's magic, Kratos and Flurry continued down the passage that was in front of them, the former glancing at his newest weapons while his daughter kept an eye out for any additional dangers that might come their way. At the top of the current path they discovered a number of undead legionnaires waiting for them, to which Kratos got a chance to try out the new weapon as he punched his way through all of the enemies that came towards him, finding that Flurry was correct, the cestus had to be made with onyx infused into them. Such a thing allowed him to smash through whatever armor the undead were wearing, or even their bare bodies since some of them didn't have armor on, and, just like with his daughter's new hammer, he could make the floor shudder with just a punch, which knocked their foes onto their backs. In addition to that he discovered that he could damage pure onyx with Hercules' weapons, shattering them into fragments that Flurry collected, though after testing them he stepped to the side and let her remove the rest of the onyx in the manner she wanted.

After removing the onyx cluster Flurry found a lever that had been trapped inside it, so once the pieces were picked up she pulled it and discovered that the lift was linked to a grate near Hercules' body, though before either of them could move some of the shield legionnaires appeared to stop them.

Kratos smashed his way through some while Flurry just removed the shields before killing her foes, which was easy to do with their experience, and once the area was cleared out Kratos continued back to Hercules' resting place, while Flurry took a few seconds to collect the onyx before catching up to him. A few moments later they dived into the water and found the location of the grate they heard open, allowing them to swim into a new area of Olympus, before quickly jumping out in what appeared to be some sort of temple, potentially one of the domains of the other gods. If that was the case both had to hope it was either one of the gods that tolerated their existence, had been slain so far, or had left for a time to avoid getting dragged into the war between them and Zeus, causing them to glance around for clues. What gave away who this place belonged to were the statues of Poseidon, and only the God of the Seas, that were around them, as in some full statues, some heads, and even a painting or two, which was good for them since it meant they wouldn't have to worry about being stopped anytime soon.

The enemies guarding the area turned out to be a few shield legionnaires and some hounds, where Flurry dealt with all of the undead by stealing their onyx shields before killing them, allowing her father to smash the couple of hounds into the ground with the cestus, clearly enjoying using them as much as the other weapons, before he noticed that Flurry came to a stop for a moment.

"There's someone here... Poseidon's latest lover, perhaps?" Flurry commented, as it was coming from deeper in the area, that much she could tell for sure, and based on what she was fearing it certainly seemed like a lady was asking for help, someone they might be able to help before continuing with their quest to put together the Labyrinth.

Kratos shrugged, as he had no idea if Poseidon had brought anyone to his chambers, while at the same time Flurry used a nearby crank wheel on one of the walls to raise two grated gates up into the ceiling, though instead of heading towards the chamber that was in front of them she headed to the right. Such a thing allowed them to find Poseidon's chambers, as in his actual bed area, and there was a beautiful lady who was wearing what appeared to be the attire of one of the God of the Seas' priestesses, modified to show off her breasts for some reason. She was actually overjoyed to see them, which told them that Poseidon must have imprisoned her here before they arrived with the titans, and asked if there was a way for both of them to save her, especially since she was tied to the center of the room by a rope. Kratos informed her that they would find a way to where she was resting and save her, causing the priestess to nod her head as they headed down the rest of the chamber and reached a large chamber that had two teleportation gates, one above the other, along with one to their right.

Flurry pointed out the platform between the middle two gates and Kratos realized what she was looking at, there were some chains in the walls, meaning if they applied enough weight they would be able to lower it, so the upper one had to be linked to the gate on their left and the lower one had to lead to Poseidon's bedroom. To get onto the platform all they had to do was jump over a gap between them and the right gate and passed through it, allowing them to stand on the platform as it started to shift, before Kratos found a lever he could jump up to and pulled it without wasting time. Such a thing created some walkways for them to stand on, plus some hounds seemed interested in using the gate to attack them, but Flurry just placed a magical shield over the right gateway and stopped the hounds from using it, causing her father to raise an eyebrow. In the next instant he understood what she was doing as she pulled out the onyx shields she had been gathering, placing them on the lift one by one and let it lower until they were aligned with the lower gateway, allowing the pair to enter the lower gateway without wasting too much time.

Sure enough the priestess was surprised that they had found their way to her that quickly, where Kratos carefully undid her bindings and made sure that she wasn't hurt, while Flurry looked around and found a unique looking conch shell that seemed magical in nature, which the priestess claimed was Poseidon's greatest treasure. With that information in hand she added it to her growing collection, since she had taken something from every god they had encountered, and from Hercules as well she guessed, though with the conch shell added the pair headed back through the gate and found that the priestess followed them. Once they were back on the lift Flurry picked up the onyx shields and added them back to her collection, allowing the platform to return to it's original position in no time, and when they moved through the upper gate they found that the hounds were still eager to kill them. Kratos kept the priestess safe from harm as Flurry crushed the hounds with Earthshaker, before finding that the brass warrior statues that were in the halls came to life, though none of them reached the group as Flurry took them out by stabbing their cores with her sickles, ending them in seconds so they could leave this part of Olympus.

This time around when Flurry turned the crank wheel she used the Oath Stone to create a copy of herself to keep it open so they could reach an area that housed one of Pandora's statues, one that must have been gifted to Poseidon, or maybe he forced Hephaestus to part with one, only to find that the flame this time was red.

"Pandora must have severed her link to the statues for a time... Zeus must have gone to check on her." Kratos said, as he had been expecting a short message from Hephaestus' daughter when they found another one, just like those that came before this one, and this seemed to be like the flame colors they had been told when the Smith God first gave them the small statue of Pandora that Flurry had kept safe.

"Hera must have told him we're seeking the Labyrinth... we had better hurry, before we lose her again." Flurry added, as she knew that the loss of Pandora would really hurt Hephaestus, who was putting all of his faith and hope in them to rescue her from her prison, and that if Zeus moved her there would be next to no way for them to find her, especially if he prevented her from using her statues to communicate with them.

With this discovery in hand the pair and the priestess continued out of Poseidon's portion of Olympus and found their way to what appeared to be an outer area neither of them had seen before, a massively damaged walkway that rested above a garden that seemed to make no sense from above. Flurry thought about their position and wondered if they were close to Hera's section of the mountain, as the garden below seemed like something she'd do in her spare time, while locating what might be the way back into the Labyrinth off to their left, but all of the walkways were dark, they had no power. The reason she even considered such a thing was because of the devices on top of the various platforms, which seemed designed to channel the power of Zeus, be it actual lightning or even electricity as some called that element at times, though by turning the crank that was attached to them they could move one section at a time. Of course they had to jump and glide over the gaps in question, and Flurry had to carry the priestess until they found a safe spot for her to rest in, but the nice thing about this was the fact that no enemies seemed to care about them this time around, allowing them to move with ease.

At the end of the shattered walkway, however, they found that the godly domain that it brought them to was none other than Aphrodite's, where they found that the goddess had changed her attire slightly, like putting on more clothing, though instead of being on the bed, like the pair expected, she and her handmaidens were preparing to leave.

"Ah, Kratos, Flurry, it is so nice to see you again." the goddess said, where she walked over to them and hugged them for a few seconds, oddly enough starting with Flurry and then turning to Kratos to do the same, before glancing at the priestess and handing her a version of her attire that was less revealing than before, which made the mortal lady happy, all while the pair noted that the two handmaidens were fully dressed as well.

"Likewise, Aphrodite, but you seem... preoccupied." Kratos replied, because nearly every god they had encountered so far had been corrupted by the Evils and part of him had to wonder if they would have to kill another friend, though what was interesting was that the chakram they had found during their first adventure were on her belt, which made sense due to the fact that they were her godly weapons.

"That's right, we're leaving before Olympus is destroyed. Apollo and Artemis told me about the boats, figuring that I would want to get out of here before the entrances were sealed." Aphrodite stated, where the pair heard a caw and found more of Hecate's birds nearby, having flown in after they opened the door to this portion of Olympus, causing the goddess to nod as her handmaidens approached the birds and stepped through a portal that Hecate herself must have made, without being in the same area, and she allowed the priestess to follow them, "I know what you're thinking, 'why isn't she infected'... I think the Evils decided that I'd be worthless to their cause, or maybe it's due to the hope that I carry inside myself. Hope that you'll be able to save Pandora and give her the life she deserves."

"To do that we need to return to the Labyrinth and continue assembling it's components." Flurry said, though as she said that both she and her father noticed something interesting, there was one of the gateways in Aphrodite's chamber, but this time neither of them knew where it might bring them if they decided to use it, but she was happy that they might have found a clue on how to beat the Evils, with the power of hope.

"Well then, maybe my husband can help you?" Aphrodite inquired, where she walked over to the gateway for a moment and smiled at them, though as they followed her for a few seconds the pair found that the portal brought them back to the forge that Hephaestus was trapped in, cursed to remain here based on what he said previously, "Hephaestus, I'm back... and I've brought our friends."

"Ah, Aphrodite, it is always good to see you... and you two as well, Kratos and Flurry." Hephaestus said, though while the pair understood that he might have wanted some alone time with his wife, even if he couldn't do much in this state, they could also see that the Smith God was, in fact, happy to see them again, since it meant they had made progress in their war against Zeus, "Let me guess: you seek another way into the Labyrinth, to continue building it? If so, I know exactly how to help you out, especially with those devices that were added to the ruined path not all that long ago... however, to help you, I need the Omphalos Stone, which currently rests in Cronos' belly."

"Isn't he still wandering the sands near Athens?" Flurry asked, because if that was the case they were going to have to turn down the offer and have her use her powers to charge up the devices, as there was no way she and her father would be able to get back to Athens before Zeus did whatever he was trying to do.

"Actually, after you conquered the temple and opened Pandora's Box, Zeus took Cronos and imprisoned him in Tartarus, where he's been ever since." Hephaestus replied, gesturing to the doorway that was on the opposite side of the area, from where the gateway was located, informing them that they were close to the titan's position, meaning they should be able to visit him and get the stone before returning to him, before he pulled a small lever and the way opened, "I'm not sure how you'll get the Omphalos Stone from him, but I hope he's willing to talk... we are losing time before Zeus realizes how close your getting to the Labyrinth's core."

Kratos and Flurry nodded as they headed down the passage and passed through the doorway, where they found that the souls that had been freed from Hades' grasp were flying around the place, many waiting for their turn to be judged and enter their respective afterlives. The cavernous area seemed to be void of enemies for a time, until they reached an area that had a centaur and a number of undead legionnaires waiting for them, though as Kratos slashed the undead apart he found that his daughter rushed forward and crushed the centaur with her hammer, a single blow crushing her foe's body in an instant. What was shocking was just how many undead there were this time around, and he knew that it couldn't be due to being in the Underworld again, though this allowed him to utilize the ground pound power of the Nemean Cestus, beating the ground and using the shockwave to sunder his enemies. Flurry realized that it was the nature of the onyx that had gone into making the weapon, similar to how Earthshaker worked, though she didn't have to do much as her father took care of his enemies so they could move forward, eventually stopping at a large gate.

This one seemed odd, there were sections for them to latch onto and harpies sitting on them, meaning all they had to do was latch onto certain parts and carefully unlock the gate, so since there were no enemies in the area Flurry stood back as she watched her father harass the harpies and carefully solve the gate. There was a chimera that stepped into the area as her father moved across the sections of the gate, where Flurry switched to the twinblade as she avoided it's attacks, which allowed her to lash out at it for a few moments and freeze parts of it's body so it slowed down. When it was good and slow she switched to Earthshaker and smashed the creature into ice shards, just like she had done previously to some of their previously foes, allowing her to turn her head towards the large gate once more, just as her father reached the lock. He undid the lock and separated the halves so they didn't snap back together, though once that was done he jumped down to where she was standing and they watched as the cubed sections moved into the frame again, while at the same time it split in half and slipped open.

It allowed them to discover a short path cut through a stone face and brought them to a ledge that allowed them to stare out at a massive area that was fragmented and happened to have bursts of fire everywhere, potentially even lava based on what they were seeing, and, sure enough, Cronos was walking off in the distance.

"Cronos is near... and, unlike the other time we called him, there is no horn nearby." Kratos commented, as part of him had a faint hope that they would be able to talk to him and convince him that they weren't here to harm him for the item Hephaestus needed, no doubt to forge one more weapon to further improve their arsenals.

"CRONOS! We wish to speak with you!" Flurry shouted, using her magic to amplify her voice so the titan could hear her, a fact they were able to confirm as the massive being turned towards them and noticed that he had guests, causing her to smile at her father for a moment, because this should save some time.

"Kratos. Flurry Heart. You two dare to enter my tomb?" Cronos inquired, speaking as he approached the area that they were standing in, where they found that parts of his body seemed to be far more worn than the others, thanks to where he was and the fact that his bindings looked rather painful, especially the one sticking out of his stomach area, "Tell me, Spartans, why have you come here?"

"We seek the Omphalos Stone that you swallowed ages ago, but we did not come to fight you." Kratos explained, where he made sure to have none of his weapons at the ready, so the titan knew that they were here to speak, though he knew that if a fight were to happen Flurry would be the first one to move, since her reflexes were incredible.

Cronos growled for a moment as he heard that, as he had realized that Rhea, his wife, had tricked him a long time ago and knew that the 'Zeus' he had swallowed was just a stone, one they were now after, though he was positive that it was still in his body, somewhere, before he asked why he should help them out. Apparently he was annoyed that they had beaten the trials of Pandora's Temple and had gotten him banished here, which was becoming a theme the pair noticed, and had to ask what they would offer him in return for even allowing one of them to search for the stone. Flurry then discovered a shocking truth, the titan was still carrying the entire mountain that held Pandora's Temple on his back, meaning he was currently enduring two punishments, which actually wasn't very surprising as she thought about what Zeus had done over the years. Such a thing caused her to ask if he would be willing to allow her to undo his bindings, because they had to be very unpleasant, causing Cronos to raise an eyebrow for a moment before chuckling, as if she would do nothing to the black bindings that were all over his body.

What the titan discovered, however, was that Flurry collected her father's time amulet before jumping onto Cronos' arm, where her sickles slashed through the blackened metal like they were made of something soft, which meant that her odd weapons were even tougher than he thought, causing Kratos to tell his grandfather that the sickles could cut through onyx as well.

That, as expected, came as a surprise to Cronos, as he expected the material to be even tougher than his chains, but now he knew that he had underestimated his great-granddaughter, just as she tore through one of the cuffs that was on his right arm and paused to use the amulets, allowing him to see the wounds reverse until the area was pristine. He knew the items to be artifacts connected to the time stream, something he had ties to as the titan god of time, meaning they must have taken them from the Fates and one of the Oracles that were scattered around Greece, causing him to watch in pure wonder as Flurry worked. One thing she did was shatter the chains that were actually keeping the mountain temple on his back, catching it with her magic before tossing it away like it was a piece of trash, causing him to watch it in shock as his grandson did something unusual, he chuckled, as if he found his confusion to be funny. He remained still as Flurry went on the offensive, tearing through the material of his bindings like they were nothing, though she did slow down when she reached the platform on his stomach that had an onyx cylinder keeping everything else together, causing her to slowly work on taking everything apart.

By the end of it Cronos was a freed titan, the bindings were in a pile of scrap around his feet, floating in magic no less as Flurry started to slip them into another portion of her bag, and his wounds had been healed like they were nothing, as if he had never been chained in the first place.

With this discovery in mind the three of them came up with a brief plan, Flurry would cover Kratos in a faint barrier and Cronos would swallow him, allowing him to head down into his body and retrieve the stone from where he thought it was resting, something he should be able to track down on his own. Once he found what he was looking for the titan was sure that Flurry would feel something, which would be the signal to teleport her father out of his body, because while he could heal pretty quickly it was still incredibly painful, so he'd rather not have his intestines sliced open, not to mention his side in the process. The pair understood and agreed to his proposal, where Flurry put a bit of magic around her father and he let himself be swallowed, where Cronos stood there and watched as the unusual pony warrior collected the rest of the scrap that had been his bindings, especially the onyx, which she seemed to adore collecting. This time it took Kratos some time to reach his destination, which was understandable since he had a lot of body to cover to find what he was looking for, though once he actually found the stone Flurry teleported him out of the titan's belly, and he was holding a dirty brown stone that was clearly the Omphalos Stone.

After that Cronos said nothing as he grabbed onto the side of the mountain and started to climb towards Olympus, as he wanted to join the battle, where Flurry noted that some sort of magic prevented the underworld from being flooded due to Poseidon's death, but with the stone in hand she and her father returned to Hephaestus and Aphrodite.

"The Omphalos Stone, as requested." Kratos stated, where the pair of friendly gods smiled as he and Flurry returned to the forge, where Hephaestus held a hand out and he quickly tossed the stone into his palm, causing him to chuckle as he set his forging tool down and shifted himself so he could focus on his work.

"Good, the perfect item to forge a weapon to help you progress and challenge Zeus' lightning... his nemesis, if you will." Hephaestus commented, where they found that, due to being the God of Smiths, he was able to use his hands and fingers to mold the stone into a weapon, one that looked like it was another chain based weapon like the Blades of Chaos or the Claws of Hades, though this one seemed to have three clawed shaped blades attached to each handle, before he raised his right hand, and his ring, to zap them a little, "Kratos, I need to deliver a more controlled shock to the blades... do you mind holding them for me?"

Kratos nodded and took hold of the new weapons as Hephaestus told him that it wouldn't be painful, he just needed to be sure of it's power, where he shook for a few seconds as a powerful surge of electricity coursed through the weapon and his body, before he shook it off and returned to normal.

"Very good, the 'Nemesis Whips' are ready." Hephaestus said, naming the weapons so they knew what to call them, even if the name might not fully match the weapon, but neither warrior was going to question him, as they knew that this would allow them to power the devices they had discovered before reaching Aphrodite, "Now you should be able to find your way into the next part of the Labyrinth with ease, and save Pandora after figuring out how to put it together."

"That's the plan. Now, one last thing..." Flurry replied, where she held her hand out for a moment and Hephaestus and Aphrodite paused as they found that the Blade of Olympus appeared in her right hand, before shifting her stand as she raised her other hand so she could hold it out like an offering, "Can the Blade absorb the Flame?"

"What are... you... oh, now I get it! The Blade's power is great, that is true, though I can tip the odds in your favor... and, at the same time, spit Zeus one last time." Hephaestus stated, where they found that he pushed against some of the stones and revealed an actual anvil that gave him more room to work with, likely something he had hidden from Zeus during his time in this place, and as he took hold of the Blade, showing that he was going to reshape it, Flurry found that there was a smaller version of the Flame of Olympus down here, "Zeus knows nothing of how to make a weapon... let me show you the skills of the Smith God!"

As Hephaestus worked, keeping the power of the weapon intact, he told them that when he made the Box he kept part of the Flame for himself in an attempt to find a way to counter it so Pandora wouldn't be at risk, but never made progress in his search, though now he had an even greater hope of saving his daughter. He mentioned how inefficient Zeus' design was, as if he just froze a bunch of materials in place and called it good, since this was made during the Great War, and that he had a way to make it a little lighter than before and more like an actual greatsword, something he knew Flurry would approve of. While he said that the Smith God extracted a blue shimmering core, the power source of the weapon, and let it float nearby as the smaller flame was used to smelt down the weapon that he wasn't too pleased with, though with his hands and tools Flurry could see him reshaping it into a large ingot that was carefully sculpted into a new form. She could tell that it was still a greatsword, more like a normal blade and less like what Zeus had made, and that whatever elemental power Zeus had given it was devoured by the small version of the Flame of Olympus, making her interested in what it's final form might be.

When he finished, and seemed to quench the blade magically with his ring, and it was definitely shorter than before, while still possessing a length similar to a greatsword, appearing to have a total length of forty-three inches from handle to the tip of the blade, the handle being around eleven inches and the blade itself being about thirty inches. The blade was no longer two bits of metal with a gap between them, rather it was a single piece of metal that was sharpened to a point, with what appeared to be a line of runes running down the center of the blade, while it's guard looked like an small elegant pair of wings. There was an onyx gemstone in the center of the guard, lined up perfectly with the runes, with a handle that had blue wrapping where someone's hands would go, looking elegant as well, and the pommel itself was circular with another onyx gemstone set inside it, likely to help contain the weapon's intense power. It was no longer an ugly weapon that both she and her father had thought was impractical, and only used it because of necessity, rather it was a magnificent weapon and she was looking forward to using it, and surprising Zeus when he saw it's new form.

"And here you go: the reforged and improved Blade of Olympus." Hephaestus stated, where he turned and held his hand out for a moment, causing Flurry to grasp it's handle and pull it back, amazed by how well it seemed to feel now, like the Smith God had reforged it specifically for her and her alone, despite the fact that she knew that her father could use it if he so desired, "When next you approach the Flame, you should be able to absorb it without fail."

"Good." Flurry said, where Kratos stepped back for a moment as she started to swing the reforged weapon around for a couple of seconds, finding that it possessed the same force and power that it originally had, and, when she focused her power, she found that the weapon's power worked like nothing had changed, in fact she was sure that it's power was now greater than before, causing her to give the god a large smile, "Hephaestus, it's perfect."

"That makes me happy. Now, before I forget, there are two last things to discuss." Hephaestus stated, where he raised his hand for a moment and took the halberd that was resting near the single statue of Pandora he had, all while Flurry found that the smaller Flame of Olympus he had been in possession of had faded away, totally spent, before he held the weapon out for them to take, "First, I want you two to deliver this weapon, so called 'Hope's Edge', and Aphrodite's chakrams to my daughter... you will understand when you find her. Secondly, since I am unable to leave this place, I would ask you, Flurry, to bring a peaceful end to my life, but before that I want you to extract my godhood, contain it inside this special ring, and give it to Pandora... you should be able to make her a living person at long last, and give her the life we couldn't."

Kratos knew what Hephaestus was talking about, the Smith God suspected that Zeus might pay him a visit while the pair continued onto the Labyrinth, so to avoid suffering at the King of the Gods' hands, and giving him the satisfaction of being the one to kill him, he was giving them the right. At the same time he was banking on what might be a fool's hope, that if he granted his daughter his godhood, his godly essence, Pandora might become more like an actual person, to grant her a new lease on life that had been denied to her. With the weapons in hand, as Aphrodite handed hers over as well with a sad look on her face, Flurry held the golden ring with a sapphire that Hephaestus wanted her to put his godhood in, which required the Blade of Olympus to pull off, with a frown on her face. After making sure that Hephaestus was perfectly fine with this, and he confirmed that he was, Flurry stabbed him in the chest and drew out his power, just like she did to those who came before him, but this time she put it inside the ring, just as he wanted, causing the Smith God to breathe a sigh of relief as the life faded from his body.

Because he died without any godly power there was no dissolving of his body of Hephaestus blowing up like the gods that came before him, he just died there with a look of content on his face, as if knowing they would succeed in stopping Zeus and save Pandora from her prison, though as Kratos and Flurry mourned Hephaestus' passing they knew this was one more thing that the King of the Gods would have to pay for before his demise and were looking forward to making him suffer.

Author's Note

For anyone that is curious, the reforged blade looks like the King Llane greatsword from the Warcraft movie.