God of War: Daughter of War

Flurry remained in the air for a short period of time, watching as the water rushed down into the lake after Jormungandr shifted his sleeping position, before spotting that her father directed the boat to one of the nearby shores, allowing him to dock so he, Atreus, and Pandora could explore the land, causing her to land nearby.

"Mother was right, the World Serpent is massive! I wonder if the tale about him biting his own tail is true." Atreus said, as his gaze was still on the massive snake that seemed to be ignoring them, in fact it looked like he had gone back to sleep after being lightly hit with the tip of the Leviathan Axe, while at the same time Kratos spared the serpent a glance before turning his attention to the area in front of them.

"I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the tale was true." Flurry remarked, because Faye wasn't known for lying, she was one of the most truthful individuals that she and her father had encountered over the years, so if she said something that meant it was likely the truth and nothing but the truth, before she tucked her wings in as she walked up to her father, "Now, let us see what the lake has to offer."

The stony beach in question had one of the runic chests they were getting used to seeing, though as they walked away from where the dock was located Flurry hurled one of her sickles and crushed one of Odin's Eyes before it could fly away, while allowing her family to focus on what might be around the chest. There were a couple of nightmares in the area, but none of them stood a chance against Kratos and his daughters, even though they did leave one or two for Atreus to practice on so he could improve, which seemed to be happening as he faced the enemies that challenged him. With the enemies dealt with Atreus found a map that appeared to be a treasure map of another area, somehow protected by a rune to prevent it from being damaged by the water, while the others focused on the bells that were around the area for a time. Kratos figured out how to get to the bells rather easily, as there was a rotating device he could throw his axe at that controlled three sets of metallic spikes that were protecting the bells, so he moved it into position, pulling the spikes down for a short period of time, before he and his daughters struck all three of their targets instantly.

Sure enough that meant they could open and loot the runic chest with ease, though as they returned to the boat, since there wasn't more for them to access at the moment, Flurry noticed that there seemed to be more to explore and realized that they might need to make Jormungandr move again, something they could worry about later on.

With one area cleared out the family returned to the boat as Flurry glided into the air once more, where she watched over them as Kratos continued to explore the lake for resources that they might be able to use, as three of them were sure that Brok was going to find a way into this area at some point. While that happened Atreus seemed interested in stories, tales to pass the time while they traveled, and Kratos decided to give him some that would also teach him lessons, such as the classic of the horse allowing a hunter to ride him so he could take revenge on a stag, only to be made a slave. Both she and Pandora knew the meaning of that one, as it was a reflection of his time under Ares and what revenge could make a person do, even make one give themselves up as a slave to some other power, something Atreus seemed to understand, even if he didn't know the whole story. Kratos also told Atreus that he would tell him a tale every now and then, since he had to focus on making sure they reached whatever destination they were heading towards, though Flurry chuckled, as it was more than that, as her father had to mentally recreate the tales he knew into a format that his son would be able to understand.

One of the docks they discovered happened to have a stone pillar with a brazier at the top, with writing on one side, but as the family approached it Flurry told the others to prepare themselves, as the flat area around them seemed to be carved out like an arena and she wanted her family to be ready for battle.

Atreus, on Kratos' command, spoke the word that was transcribed on the stone and the brazier was filled with an eerie teal flame, and, sure enough, they found a number of draugr and nightmares coming out to fight them, almost like they were drawn to the area by the newly ignited flame. The family assumed their positions once more as Kratos and Pandora dealt with the incoming draugr while Flurry made sure to help Atreus with his bow, something he was fine with since she was far more skilled at using it than he was, so by listening to her he could improve rapidly. None of the undead seemed to be very strong, rather it seemed like they might have been waterlogged from being under the water for so long, which meant it was easy for both Kratos and Pandora to slash through them with their weapons. When one of the nightmares tried to grab Atreus with it's tendrils he stabbed at it's eye with his knife, crippling the creature and forcing it to let him go, while another was smashed to bits with a swing from Earthshaker, where Flurry shifted her stance before crushing one of the draugr that dared to approach her and Atreus.

With their combined power, even with three of them holding back significantly, the family was able to bring down all of the enemies that were around them and allowed everyone to relax for a little bit as Flurry found a blue spirit that emerged from a corpse that was resting against the stone pillar.

"Well fought, you four." the spirit said, which told Flurry that he must have seen them fight for some time, causing them to turn towards the figure for a moment as he focused on them, in fact she was sure that he saw her as something else right now, instead of what she actually was.

"Woah, it's a spirit... and it's talking to us!" Atreus remarked, as this was exciting, because while he had been hoping for all sorts of things during their exploration of the lake, to find resources as their father said, he honestly had no idea what he should have expected to find and this was definitely an exciting turn of events, before he spotted the corpse that he was coming from, "You... you're dead."

"Yes, I can hear you as well... and can see that you are very perceptive." the spirit replied, where they could tell that he wasn't even the least bit annoyed by what Atreus had said, rather he seemed to be amused by what was going on right now, which was fair since he must have been trapped under the water for a massive amount of time, "Take caution when lighting these braziers, as seidr and Hel-Walkers will swarm to the flames like moths. Am I correct in assuming that we, as in myself and the other spirits that have been trapped in the Lake of Nine, have you to thank for freeing us from our large watery grave?"

"We did figure out how to move Jormungandr... it seems like some of you were lucky and had your affairs in order, hence they were able to move on, while others are still trapped." Flurry stated, which was just sad when she thought about it, as an unknown number of spirits were still stuck in their prisons, trapped and linked to their dead bodies like this one was, and that meant if they went exploring they would no doubt come across more like him, "Tell me, what affairs do you have that need to be completed so you can move on?"

"Worry not, as you have already helped me: I only desired to see the sky again, and draining the lake has done just that, so I am in your debt." the spirit said, where Flurry could tell that his bond to this realm was broken, he was merely staying so he could thank them for fulfilling his final wish, though at the same time he raised his hand and a small bag appeared in front of Kratos, who grabbed it without delay, something that caused him to nod before his spirit dissolved before their eyes.

With the spirit gone Kratos checked the bag and found that it had a pommel that could be attached to the bottom of his axe, in fact it was a perfect fit, where Flurry assumed that helping the spirits would earn them both resources and potentially a few items that might improve the power of their weapons, assuming there were any for her weapons or Pandora's. She had to assume that the pommel might be incentive to go and help the other spirits, that they might give good rewards as well, to which Kratos had them return to the boat before setting off once more, giving him time to think about this development and what it meant for their quest. Atreus was of the opinion that they should help the spirits, simply because that was the right thing to do, where Kratos chuckled for a few seconds before telling his son that he shared Faye's sense of justice, helping all those she thought were in need, and he agreed that she would have sought out the spirits without thinking of a reward, as that never seemed important to her. He also reminded his son that anything they found could be used to strengthen them for the trials ahead, since they had no idea what sort of dangers might be on the way to the peak, but Atreus just smiled as he heard that, as he was using his father's words as an excuse to explore the lake.

Flurry spotted another brazier ahead of the boat and warned her father, who nodded and found a dock to use, where they climbed up a short flat wall to get up to where the stone was resting, with what appeared to be a portion of a ship nearby, or at least that was what it looked like. As Atreus spoke the word, however, Flurry noticed that there was a golden chest that was surrounded by black bramble, meaning their weapons would be unable to any harm to it, even though she was sure a single arrow from Apollo's Bow might deal with it instantly, something they chose not to do since Atreus would question the weapon and where it came from. This time around they found that Hel-Walkers were their opponents, where some of the frosty undead were able to throw balls of ice and others were able to summon short ice walls for them to hide behind, likely to attack their foes while they were distracted. Kratos found that this was good practice for Atreus, because enemies that had new tactics required a warrior to adapt to a situation and improve their own skills, just like what he and Flurry had done when they encountered some of their enemies in the past, and it seemed to work a little as they fought the undead.

Sure enough when the last of the Hel-Walkers were taken out they discovered another spirit that rose from his body, but he was more confused that all four of them were alive, instead of the undead he was used to seeing, who spoke about the Desolation and the Great Flood, a consequence of Jormungandr landing in this period of time, and he was able to move on since his final wish had been to converse with someone again.

"You know, it's nice to help these spirits move on." Pandora remarked, though at the same time she lifted the small bag that came from this spirit, which seemed to be common in Midgard, leaving offerings for someone that did something for them, where she found that it had some sort of dark purple scales inside it, a remnant of some kind, "Plus we get items and materials that will upgrade our gear in time... everyone wins in the end."

Kratos nodded as they checked the area for a few more seconds, allowing him to find another stone chest to loot, before they returned to Freya's boat and set off for another dock, as he was enjoying exploring with his family and teaching his son how to be a warrior, or an archer since he preferred the bow. The travel allowed them to confirm that Jormungandr was massive, as his body was everywhere that they could see, dipping into the lake and resting on the mountains that were around the area, though again it seemed like the massive serpent was just ignoring them. As Kratos moved them he did find another location to dock at, a beach that he found by passing between two segments of the World Serpent's body, where they discovered a few draugr wandering around, while there was a rotating device off to the left of the landing, one that was likely linked to another chest. With that in mind Kratos landed and unleashed a burst of ice from his axe that just struck their opponents, even though he had to bring it's head into the ground to use the power, opening the way for his children to attack the undead that were in front of them.

This provided Kratos with another chance to see the new power of the Leviathan Axe, as Brok's work allowed him to deal more damage to the single draugr brute that was in the area, granting him the power to hack through the 'armor' that was on his foe's body, while at the same time Atreus followed Flurry's brief instructions as Pandora slashed at the undead that were coming at her. While they did that Flurry spotted one of Odin's Eyes and crushed it with a sickle, something that was becoming more common as she thought about it, though once the undead were dealt with her father struck the post that three bells were attached to and made them spin. Such a thing allowed him, Flurry, and Pandora to strike the bells within a matter of seconds and unlocked the runic chest that was nearby, where Kratos quickly opened and looted it before they did anything else, as in approach a third stone pillar with another brazier that was on top of it. Atreus ignited it like he did to the previous ones they had comes across, causing a group of Hel-Walkers to attack them, though like before it didn't really matter since Atreus let the rest of his family deal with the group of frosty undead, and when the last fell they found a pouch containing fragments of Jormungandr's scales.

The spirit of this brazier had another simple request for them to take care of, he wanted to see the ones that killed him get theirs, the Hel-Walkers they had just killed, so by killing all of the frosty undead they had granted his wish and departed as soon as he was done thanking them, granting them more of the remnant scales.

Before departing from the hidden area Kratos climbed a chain and they found a new chest, a silver one with a mask that kept it locked shut, where Atreus told them that his mother had told him how to break the wooden masks, he just had to stab their foreheads with his knife, which allowed him to break it and let his father open the chest. This one also had all sorts of goods inside it, which Flurry added to her bag without delay, but the item that their father pulled out first was an odd fragment of a disc of some kind, one that Atreus identified as a language cipher, for Muspelheim no less, but it looked like more pieces were needed for him to translate it. With that in their collection they made sure not to leave anything of value behind before returning to the boat, where Flurry took to the air once more as her father directed the boat out onto the water once more, though it only prompted Atreus to ask about spirits in general while they traveled. Pandora took it upon herself to answer some of her brother's questions while her father focused on navigating around the lake, before he stopped at one of the towers and found that it had a lift that allowed them to reach the area that was right in front of the main structure.

The Hel-Walkers that were up there weren't anything to worry about, as most were melee with a single ranged foe, so that meant it was easy for the family to bring them down and clear out the area, before Atreus turned his attention to the pair of braziers that were on either side of the area and found that there were runes on them.

"Nope, can't read them at all." Atreus commented, causing the others to glance at each other for a moment, because this told them there was another reason to collect the language ciphers, as it would allow Atreus to translate the words that were on the braziers that were in front of each of the nine towers, which had to be somewhat important.

"Very well. We shall return to the boat." Kratos stated, as he knew that they would find the ciphers at some point in time, it seemed like an important item that they would come across in no time at all, where Atreus and Pandora nodded as Flurry glided down to where the boat was resting, allowing him and the others to depart after the lift brought them back to the dock and they took their positions.

The next tower in the sequence had a small black rift of sorts that seemed to be a tear in reality or the realms, though for the time being it was skipped, as Kratos took one look at the rift and determined that Atreus wasn't ready to face the foes that were inside it, as he was sure that it would open if someone approached it. Of course his son was surprised that he could tell that much by looking at it, though he reminded Atreus that Flurry was flying overhead and her senses were far beyond his own, so between the two of them they were able to determine that this wasn't a challenge he was remotely ready for. Flurry did point out an area for Kratos to dock them at and he did so without delay, which seemed to be another beach that might link up to another area, where Atreus found another treasure map while his father and Pandora looked around the area. There was a bunch of magical stones behind a ruined wooden wall, though since they didn't react to the family they continued through an opening that brought them to an area that a revenant was waiting in, where Atreus used one of his arrows to stun it so his father and Pandora could bring it down.

In addition to the revenant Flurry found a new foe to keep an eye on, a hybrid of a lizard and a cat, a tatzelwurm based on Faye's tales of all of the potential dangers that were in Midgard, and it spat poison at them, where she used a bit of magic to keep them safe for a moment before she dragged it out of the ground and took it's head with one of her sickles.

"An underground foe. We will have to be careful when they are nearby." Kratos commented, because if they didn't keep an eye on the tatzelwurms he knew that they could be dealt some decent damage, at least until he or his daughters tracked them down, since Flurry's reaction speed to enemies was still incredible.

His children nodded their heads for a moment as they focused on the rest of the area, finding that they had a decent view of a massive set of doors, the gates to another area since there was a massive wheel nearby as well, though there was a wooden lock that Kratos threw his axe at to lower a bridge, leading them around to an orange spirit. As they approached him the family discovered that he seemed to be in the middle of challenging Thor, as he called for the 'God of Thunder' to come and face him, and upon seeing them he calmed down a little to explain his plight to them, because Kratos seemed to sense that he was like the past version of himself, seeking revenge on a god. Sure enough he was right, the spirit and his family had devoted themselves to worshiping Thor while he was alive, and when his own father had passed his mother built a statue of Thor, one he now sought to destroy, on top of the grave to watch over it, causing Thor to come himself to offer his condolences to the family. Kratos suspected he knew how the story would end and was proven right, Thor quickly took advantage of their hospitality and, in his drunken rage, killed the spirit's mother as well, while the spirit perished due to either the Desolation or the reavers before the event happened.

Even though the spirit was willing to give them his blessing to loot his father's grave, in exchange for destroying the statue of Thor that he told them the exact position of since it wasn't the one they had passed by previously, Kratos agreed to do it since it would help Atreus see that there were good gods and bad gods, even though his son thought he was only in it for the reward.

Instead of worrying about the rest of the area, as it seemed like they needed more powers or gear to do something, they returned to the boat and Kratos made his way over to an icy area that seemed to be a chasm of sorts, though that ended in what appeared to be a mine that was locked. There was one of Odin's Eyes to smash and a stone chest to loot, plus a stone tablet for Atreus to translate as he found a mention of 'Andvari' and his genius, though it appeared that there was a shop area near the entrance and a sign that Atreus translated instantly, indicating that it was from Brok and that he would be back in the future. Flurry figured that if such a sign was here, and Brok intended to come back, that meant he might be looking to send them here on a favor and, more importantly, he might have the key to enter this place, so for now the four of them returned to the boat and headed out into the lake once more. With that in mind they returned to the area that they had started in, or at least where the boat had stopped after Jormungandr had risen from the water, and Kratos used the dock they had seen previously, allowing them to start exploring the temple itself at long last.

At the top of the stairs, which brought them to the bridge that seemed to connect to all of the odd towers, they found an entrance to the insides of the temple, plus there was a horn on the upper portion of the bridge, where they could likely use a lift to reach it, before they spotted a familiar figure standing nearby.

"Well if it isn't the bearded beefer, his sac-seed, and his strange girls!" Brok commented, who was standing near the door while his beast of burden seemed to be munching on some fish that had ended up on the bridge, where they found that he was moving the doors open so he could do something inside the temple, "Come on, I've got something for you... and don't you dare make pig eyes at my spot. I saw it first!"

Atreus looked at his father for a moment before the four of them walked over to the entrance, only to find that Brok had set up a large forge area on the inside of the entrance area, all while listening to Brok mention that a new shop would bring people out of hiding at last, before he tossed a blue crystal orb, one filled with magic, to Kratos, who caught it and stared at it for a moment.

"You see that pile of rocks there?" Brok asked, gesturing to the pile of stone rocks that were opposite of where he had set up his shop, a familiar set to what they had seen near the large locked gates they had decided not to mess with right now, which only interested the family since this meant there might be more of them out there for them to access, "With that Key of Yggdrasil you can open magical doors to the very branches of the World Tree, a shortcut between the realms, that you can use to get from anywhere in Migdard, or any of the other realms, and travel to my shop really quick. However, it's only one-way, back here and nothing else... oh, and whatever you do, never, never, EVER, never, ever throw yourself over the edge of the path, least you desire death."

As Atreus asked about the mine, with Brok telling him he might ask them for a favor later, Kratos and Flurry found that just raising the Key to the pile of rocks caused them to lift up and form a frame for a wooden gateway, causing them and Pandora to smile as they wondered what else Midgard might throw at them in the near future.