God of War: Daughter of War

Flurry was quick to collect the deer and whatever the troll had to offer, which was a bag of Hacksilver, before joining the rest of the family as Kratos started to depart, even though Atreus was clearly annoyed by the fact that after everything they had just done he was considered 'not ready' by their father. She understood his frustration, since her brother adored Faye and wanted to fulfill her final wish, so being told that they weren't leaving yet, and that it was basically his fault, had annoyed him greatly, but she had to agree with their father, Atreus' anger could hurt himself if he wasn't careful. While she thought about that Kratos bent low for a moment so his son could step into his cupped hands and then be lifted up onto an area above him, a boost of sorts, and once he was up there he, Flurry, and Pandora followed without delay, allowing them to access another part of the path. This one seemed to be part of a path leading back to their house, where they found a few draugr along the way, though as they fought the undead Kratos allowed Atreus to take part in the battle, loosing arrows at the furthest enemy that wasn't being focused on.

With this formation the experienced trio knew they could do wonders on the way to the peak that Faye wanted her ashes to be spread from, though for the time being everyone continued towards their home, passing by an oddly locked door that had an odd almost crystalline lock on it, something they ignored since they couldn't open it.

While they continued to follow the path Flurry found that there was more than draugr in the woods, as there was also an undead reaver, raiders of Midgard who were savage enough to survive in a place altered by the Desolation, despite clearly having been slain by something in the past. The difference between the other undead and this one was that the undead reaver seemed to be covered in ice, meaning Kratos was unable to use his axe on them, because when he swung at the new foe it just bounced off like it was nothing, causing him to tear the icy undead apart with his bare hands. Flurry thought about it for a moment and wondered if these new foes might be 'Hel-Walkers', undead from the realm of Helheim, which seemed to be the best way to describe them as she recalled Faye mentioning how cold the realm in question was, a fact that had to be true with these undead. What such a creature was doing here was a mystery, especially when they considered that a troll was close to their home as well, and, unfortunately, this time around none of them had answers to the questions, even if Atreus wanted to learn more about what was going on.

Following that discovery they were able to drop down into the training area that Kratos had prepared behind the house, a fact that allowed them to make their way around to the front without delay, where he opened the door so Atreus could go inside, all while Flurry and Pandora found that the pyre was finally spent, leaving just a pile of ash behind.

"Looks like the enchantment held." Flurry commented, where she could see the shimmering ash along the pile and used her magic to carefully collect the material in question, causing her father to pull out a pouch that had been created to house the ashes that had once been Faye and open it so she could carefully place every bit of the special ash inside it.

"Good. Now she is ready for the journey." Kratos replied, though as soon as Flurry was sure that every bit of Faye's ashes were inside the bag he sealed it up and his daughter made sure it was enchanted to stay safe, so that no harm would come to it, before he attached the bag to his belt for a moment and turned towards the house, where he found Atreus sitting on his bed, while the deer was set on the table as the door was closed, "Atreus, I know you think this is unfair, but you were unable to control yourself during our battle with the troll. During our journey we will no doubt encounter more foes or even obstacles that will annoy you, even enrage you at times, and having such a uncontrollable rage will only hinder us... that is why you are not ready for the journey."

"That thing... that troll... was trying to kill us! I acted appropriately... besides, it's not like you get angry in a fight." Atreus said, as if he thought that his anger at the end of the fight was totally justified, especially since they had been clashing with a foe that could have done some serious damage to them if they had been unlucky, "Besides, I haven't been sick for a long time... I can do this."

"Atreus, anger can be a weapon if you know how to use and control it. Father's just saying that you need a few more lessons in self control, that's all." Pandora commented, which seemed to be the truth of the matter, their brother just needed a few more days to prepare himself accordingly, focused on a single objective for once, and she was sure that he would be able to handle more of the journey than before.

Kratos knelt for a moment and held his hands up, as he wanted Atreus to try and hit him, though when he tried to punch his left hand the right slapped the fist out of the way and the same was true for the right, causing Atreus to get frustrated since he couldn't actually hit either of his father's hands. This was the whole point of the exercise, to see if he could control his anger like Atreus claimed he could, though with how quick he was to anger, just like they had seen with the troll, this told all of them that they needed to focus on his lessons before he really hurt himself, eventually causing him to trip and fall in the process. As Kratos got ready to help his son up, however, everyone paused as they heard a rather large creature fly overhead, one that Flurry was sure was a dragon since Faye had described, in detail, how such a creature moved and even identified the roar that they were capable of, which meant someone was flying over their home. None of them moved for a moment as they listened to the sounds that were going on outside the house, where Flurry could easily tell that a rider was definitely getting off the beast, especially since said dragon took off without wasting time, which was all the confirmation she needed.

Further confirmation came in the form of someone pounding on the door, which was unheard of since no one knew that they were even out here, plus it was a male speaker who demanded that they open the door, causing Kratos to usher his son into the very area that held the Blades of Chaos before covering the hidden door again.

"Come on, there's no use hiding anymore... I know what you are." the stranger stated, where Kratos opened the door and found that the speaker was a scrawny man with a large number of tattoos all over his body, with a short beard on his face while he wore a sash, a pair of pants, and boots, but nothing over his chest oddly enough, causing him to look at Kratos as he and his daughters emerged from the house, "Three? Well, I'm not sure about the other two, but you are definitely the one I'm looking for... not as big as I had imagined, but still taller than most mortals."

"I do not know who you are looking for, nor do I know what you want. Speak quickly, then leave our home." Kratos stated, as he could tell, from just a glance, that the figure in front of them was one of the gods of the Nine Realms, which one he had no idea, but at the very least it wasn't Odin, since the All-Father was said to have a single eye and two ravens, both of which were missing from the figure in front of them.

"No, you already know why I'm here. What I'm after... it's why you hid yourself out here, after all." the Stranger replied, as if he didn't care what Kratos had to say on the matter, rather he seemed to believe that he was someone else entirely, like he believed his own opinion on the subject and didn't care if he was bothering someone that wasn't who he was looking for, "You know, I had heard your kind was so enlightened... honestly, I'm not seeing it."

"If you would just told us who you are looking for, because clearly father's not the one you want, or just told us what you wanted to know, maybe we could help you." Flurry said, because all they needed was a bit of information and they could send the god on his way, as all three of them knew that this wasn't a mortal warrior, especially not since he rode in on a dragon that had flown away for some reason, and she was hoping he'd listen to them before something stupid happened.

The Stranger, however, decided that he wanted to do things his way as he struck Kratos with a backhand across the face, a fact that would have caused him to instantly kill anyone back in Greece, though as he stood his ground, and repeated his desire for the figure to leave, the Stranger stuck him three more times before Kratos caught his fist. What followed next was what Flurry and Pandora were expecting, he punched the Stranger in the face hard enough to send him away from the door, allowing them to stand guard over it while he approached the god that was being a complete moron, since all he had to do was ask a simple question and he could have been on his way. After that the Stranger surprised them by hitting Kratos in the chest, hard enough to send him flying into part of the roof of the house and landing on the other side, which ended up damaging the frame a little, before the Stranger got on top of the structure, glanced down at Kratos, who was on the ground, and jumped. His attack, a knee jab towards the ground, did nothing as their father rolled out of the way in an instant, allowing him to get up and move into a series of attacks that assaulted the Stranger's body, who didn't even try to dodge any of them as he simply laughed at each one.

Flurry understood why, because the Stranger kept talking about how this was 'pointless' and that he 'could feel nothing', a fact that meant he must have been cursed with the inability to feel pain, while at the same time the Stranger seemed to have a frost power of his own, creating short waves in the direction that he attacked, which Kratos avoided.

After a few more moments the Stranger punched Kratos into the air once more and brought him down onto the roof, in fact it left a small hole that allowed him to see the inside, especially with the other bed, something he focused on despite the fact that he had seen Flurry and Pandora previously. Of course, as Flurry expected, her father rolled his foe over not a moment later and then punched him down into the tunnel between the house and the stone wall, prompting the Stranger to rush behind him, slam his head into the ground, and then kick him back into the training yard. The sisters watched as the Stranger walked out and healed his body at the same time, confirming that he was a god, though as he taunted them Kratos lifted a fallen tree that he swung like a club, knocking the Stranger backwards, before rushing him as he fell, which was followed by them smashing through the passage beside the house. Not only that, but Kratos smashed him into one of the boulders that were right outside the house, slamming him into one of the rock walls before unleashing a series of new blows that would have crippled a draugr or mortal warrior with ease, though the Stranger knocked him down, healed his injuries, and then slammed Kratos deep into the wall.

"Fine... you won't talk? Then maybe whoever is hiding inside that house will." the Stranger said, showing them that he had either forgotten about the sisters or he didn't count them as the ones that could have used the bed he had seen, though that comment caused Kratos to unleash his rage, the sheer power of using it breaking part of the wall he was in before he rushed at his foe.

The Stranger barely had time to react as Kratos punched his face and knocked him into a tree, which he then slammed his face into an instant later, breaking the tree as he tossed the figure to the side, before he used the fallen tree as a battering ram and drove it into the Stranger's chest. Such a thing allowed him to drive his foe into the area that was beyond where they were fighting, in an area that lead away from the house, where he slammed the Stranger into the large stone pillar Faye had painted at one point in the past, though she had told them she was fine with it being destroyed since it was just something to pass the time. The Stranger gripped the tip of the tree and destroyed the entire thing by pulling it apart, like it was nothing to him, before both warriors collided again as the sisters walked around the edge of the stone, watching the pair as they fought each other, their father carefully increasing his power as he pushed his foe around. It was clear that his foe was powerful in his own right, that much they were able to determine by watching him, especially since he could push their father around when he wanted to, but he was sloppy and Kratos smashed him into the rock pillar, striking his head for a moment before tossing him to the ground.

Flurry, sensing what was coming next, raised her hand and summoned a barrier in front of them as their father punched out part of the rock pillar's side, creating an area for him to grip so he could drop the entire stone slab down on his foe, a fact that caused part of the area around them to shudder and break, but just slightly, with her power stopping it from reaching their home.

"He might be a sloppy fighter, but his power is real... and I doubt the battle is over." Pandora remarked, speaking as their father approached them, though she was proven right not a few seconds later as the stone slab started to move, which told them that the Stranger really wanted to fight despite the fact that Kratos was clearly stronger than him.

Sure enough the Stranger heaved the stone slab into the air and Kratos, being the target, engaged his shield as he raised it for a few seconds, smashing the entire thing to pieces in an instant, before he retracted it and grabbed onto both of his foe's hands as he rushed at him, causing the pair to grapple with each other as they moved away from the barrier.

"You know, when Odin sent me here, I just needed some answers from you." the Stranger remarked, though this time he and Kratos actually let their godly power clash as the air rippled and the ground below them started to fracture, which was felt by the rest of the area as well, as Flurry and Pandora could tell that everything in the opposite direction of the house was starting to break before their eyes,"But YOU... you had to act all proud... well, I'm more than willing to play. Throw whatever you want at me, because I'm going to outlast you... this old body of yours will, eventually, give out. Though I do want you all to know one thing: I can't..."

"I know, 'feel any of this'. You talk too much." Kratos replied, where he kneed his foe in the chest, grabbed onto his head, and then lifted him over his own head so he could slam his foe into the ground behind him, which was when their powers caused a chasm to form, springing up from where they had been fighting.

Of course the Stranger refused to go down, rather he punched Kratos up into the air and followed him, where the two just punched each other for a few seconds before their father was sent towards them, who used his axe on a rock wall to slow his fall, not that it mattered since his foe kicked him to the other side of the area when he climbed up the wall.

"I honestly don't know why you won't give up. Any damage you do to me will disappear in seconds, nor will I get tired," the Stranger stated, showing them that he was either arrogant or didn't care that he was repeating himself nearly every time he talked, though as he rushed at Kratos, apparently feeling that it would be best to continue the fight, Flurry appeared to the right of him and punched him in the side of the face, sending him into the rock wall, "What, you want to fight me as well, despite knowing you wont accomplish anything?"

"Well, you aren't willing to listen to reason, so fighting seems to be the only path right now." Flurry remarked, where she shifted her stance for a moment as she held out her sickles, something that caused the Stranger to pause for just a couple of seconds as he stared at them, before beckoning for the figure to come at her, as she could humor him for a moment or two before teleporting him out of the area with her magic.

Kratos wasn't surprised as Flurry dodged the incoming attacks like they were nothing, as she was letting the Stranger do what he had done previously, without breaking everything around them in the process, while at the same time she got a taste of his power. Of course it wasn't long before she went on the offensive as she swung at him, her sickles cutting right through his body like it was nothing compared to her power, though Kratos also wasn't even remotely surprised by that, as her sickles were the oddest weapons in their arsenal, since they didn't seem to be from the two lands they had been to, as not even Faye recognized them. The Stranger staggered for a moment as he was cut, something he seemed to do when he was hit by whoever his opponent happened to be, though this time he didn't have time to relax as Flurry closed in on him without delay, her weapons slicing through the area that he was standing in as his chest gained two diagonal slashes, each running in a different direction. In the next instant Flurry spun around and kicked her foe right in the chest, where he was sent flying into one of the rock walls that pushed him further away from the house and the area he had fought Kratos in a few moments ago, and, as they expected, he got back up without wasting time.

What actually happened, however, was that the Stranger seemed to stall for a moment as he checked his body, almost as if he thought something else might have happened to him, before he stared at Flurry, like she was suddenly the answer to his personal problems.

"You... you cut me and I felt it. I FELT IT! And yet the curse is still active." the Stranger said, which confirmed what Flurry had thought earlier, someone had placed a spell or some sort of curse on the figure, making him essentially immortal with no real weaknesses to speak of, before he glanced at Kratos for a moment as he thought of something new, "You... come over here and break my arm. I need to be sure of what I just felt."

Kratos glanced at Flurry for a few seconds, who shook her head to indicate that she detected no lies in the Stranger's odd request, which was followed by him approaching the figure and delivering a powerful kick to the side of his left arm, an attack that definitely broke his arm, and when he backed away the Stranger sighed as he used his arm like normal.

"I'm disappointed. You, old man, cannot hurt me... but she can. You, girl, can make me feel pain, despite the curse... we must continue the fight! I want to feel that glorious pain again!" the Stranger stated, though that was the moment that his arms and legs were sealed to his body, as Pandora had made her move as she fashioned a chain out of the nearby stones that had fallen from the previous battle and used them to chain up the figure, allowing her father to break his neck, which would stun him for some time, before dropping him into the chasm.

"You know that's not going to hold him for long, right?" Flurry asked, as she knew that none of them wanted to kill a god of that was known to the Nine Realms, but she was impressed by the fact that they had been able to blindside the figure like this, even though she understood that he would be seeking them, especially since it looked like her power could cancel a part of his curse.

"Yes, but we will be gone before he returns. Odin knows about us now, so we must make the journey now." Kratos said, as while he would have preferred to give Atreus more time, to master his rage and anger, there wasn't a choice anymore, the journey had to be made now, before the All-Father did something to prevent them from traveling, "We will deal with this Stranger later, once the ashes have been spread and Faye's wish has been fulfilled."

Flurry and Pandora nodded their heads as they followed their father back to the house, where Flurry dismissed her magic after making sure the damage wouldn't come towards the structure while Pandora made sure Albis was fine, before they stood behind their father as he opened the door and revealed the hidden compartment, to reveal a shocked and worried Atreus.

"There was so much... I thought..." Atreus started to say, showing them that he didn't know what to make of the fact that the entire area must have shook when Kratos and the Stranger clashed with each other earlier, though in that moment he was helped out of the underground area, due to the fact that Kratos held out a hand for him to take.

"I am all right... but we can not stay here. Gather your things." Kratos stated, closing the hidden area and covering it like he had done when he let Atreus down there previously, while at the same time Flurry and Pandora moved to gather items for their journey, all while he made sure the bag was intact, before glancing at Atreus, "I still think that you are not ready for this, Atreus... but we can not stay here. Maybe you will prove me wrong."

Atreus, despite the fact that his father thought that he wasn't ready for the journey, quickly gathered his quiver and bow before he headed outside, causing the others to follow after him without delay as Kratos closed the door behind him, but, while his son was distracted, he quickly checked in with Albis, who had decided to stay behind and guard the area, before rejoining his children. For a few moments Atreus just stood there, looking at the path in front of them and glancing at the highest peak that they could see from their home, the very one Flurry confirmed was the one that Faye must have meant when she told them of her final wish. None of the others said anything for a time, letting him come to terms with the fact that this was actually happening, because this was his first big adventure and they knew that it would be best to let him have a few moments to himself before they started to move forward. There was also the fact that he was staring right at the chasm as well, no doubt wondering what sort of battle he had missed after he had been moved down into the hidden portion of the main house, before he made sure his quiver and bow were in position and then glanced at the others.

With him ready to go, or as best as he could be in this situation, Kratos and his children braced themselves for the start of the adventure of their lives, as there was no telling what sort of challenges might be waiting for them as they journeyed to the highest peak in all the realms to fulfill Faye's wish, causing them to look forward to what might happen next.