God of War: Daughter of War

After speaking with Brok for a few moments, giving the family time to understand the importance of the Key of Yggdrasil he had given them, Kratos decided to leave the dwarf to his work as they departed from the temple, heading out towards the tower that was set in the direction of their destination. While they did that he found the lift that brought them to the area that a golden horn was resting in, one that seemed designed for someone to call upon the World Serpent so they could speak with him, but since none of them could speak in his tongue they decided to leave it along. After checking that out the family returned to the main part of the bridge and continued towards their destination, where they encountered a group of draugr wandering around in front of the tower, enemies to eliminate so the path would remain clear in the future. It was during that short fight that they discovered that Atreus was gaining confidence in being a fighter, as he studied the couple of enemies they were fight and found one he could strangle with his bowstring, or at least stun it so the others could deal with the rest of the undead.

Kratos had to admit that his son was getting better, though he made sure to remind Atreus that his focus should be on the enemies that he, Flurry, and Pandora weren't focused on, causing him to nod his understanding, showing them that he might actually be learning while they traveled.

As they approached the tower Atreus checked the braziers and commented that he couldn't read them either, while at the same time his father smashed the lids of a pair of wooden chests so Flurry and Pandora could loot them, though as they did that Flurry discovered something interesting about the tower in front of them. The wall that was in front of them could be opened, instead of being a flat surface, and on the inside they found a couple of Hel-Walkers wandering around, along with a pair of tatzelwurms that seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, since the floor didn't seem like it was something the odd cat lizard creatures could dig through. Flurry and Pandora dealt with the cat creatures without wasting time, as neither of them felt like allowing them to find an area to dig into and attack them from behind, even though these ones didn't seem to have the poison power that the others did, an interesting thing for sure. At the same time Kratos did what he did best, he attacked their enemies and tore them to shreds by either delivering powerful attacks with his axe or just punched them into submission before tearing his foe in half, while Atreus made sure to stay back and only attack when he was sure it was safe to deliver a melee attack of his own.

While that happened Flurry noticed something odd, the Hel-Walkers were actually light green colored and seemed to be infused with poison instead of frost, which explained why her father was able to use the axe to harm them since the frost ones were immune to the weapon's innate frost damage. After they dealt with the enemies Atreus noticed a path right to their left that stopped at another triptych, while at the same time there were two stone pillars with more writing for him to translate, where Kratos nodded his head and let his son get to work while they collected the spoils from the enemies they had wiped out. The shrine seemed to be about Jormungandr, about how big he was and the fact that he would one day bite Thor, confirming that they definitely had a history of some kind, but when it came to both of the stone pillars Atreus found that these were just like the braziers outside the towers, he didn't have the knowledge to read them. Pandora told him that it was fine, they were looking out for the other fragments of the cipher they had uncovered earlier and she knew her brother would be able to read the runes in due time, he just had to be patient for a time, that's all.

As Atreus nodded they discovered what appeared to be a wooden pillar that had some sort of magical connection, due to the fact that it was spewing out poison in an area to prevent people from moving along this path, though Kratos stepped up as he frosted the axe and hurled it at the highest point of the pole, freezing it and stopping the poison.

From there they continued down the path that was beyond the poison device, even though that involved freezing another one that happened to be in the way, bringing them to a gap between where they were standing and what seemed to be the next part of the path. Flurry could get them across with her wings or magic, but knowing her father she knew that such a thing wasn't on his mind at all, something she was able to confirm as he held onto Atreus and jumped down into the small area that was below the ledge they had stopped on. There was a single tatzelwurm down there for them to fight, or at least for Kratos to grab as it jumped out of the ground and snapped it's neck with ease, before he froze another pole so they could access another silver chest, and when Atreus dealt with the mask they discovered another fragment of the odd cipher, which made his son happy. There was also a stone tablet that had a slot next to it, for something to be inserted into it and power the surface up, though Flurry stopped them from wasting time on it, because they lacked the power or skill to actually ignite the unknown power, causing Kratos to climb up a wall with Atreus on his back and Pandora following as Flurry just jumped up to the next area.

Kratos also explained that Faye called the poles 'skorn poles' and had shown him how to deal with them, hence why he had been able to deal with the poles so easily, though when they landed they walked up to another door and he opened it without delay, revealing another open area that held the path they were looking for, along with another dwarf that was in the middle of something, at least until he noticed them enter his area.

"Excuse me, I know this isn't any of my business, but... how did you come by that axe?" the dwarf asked, as he noticed the weapon and immediately stopped what he was doing to rush in front of Kratos as the family walked into the area, where Flurry found that this one was skinnier than Brok and wore gloves over his hands, while wearing identical armor to Brok, meaning the armor was either for a guild or they were brothers.

"That, dwarf, is my business and mine alone." Kratos replied, because he had the same thought that Flurry and Pandora likely had the moment they heard him ask about the Leviathan Axe, this had to be the other dwarf who worked on it, but right now he was more interested in the mountain right now, since they were closer to their target.

"And while I won't dispute that fact, the fact remains that I... well, I know that axe, it was one of ours, and we didn't make it for you. And before you say 'step aside', just know I was, well, quite fond of the woman we made it for." the dwarf stated, a fact that impressed Flurry, as it wasn't often that someone took a look at her father and actually decided to stand up to him in some manner, in fact too many backed down, but this dwarf, despite the fear he was feeling, raised his fists like he was going to defend Faye's honor, "I would be somewhat... displeased if it turned out that you... did something to her!"

"I admire your bravery, but we didn't take the Leviathan Axe from Faye... rather she left it to father before she died." Flurry said, though her words weren't false, it took a lot of bravery for someone to have the nerve to stand up to her father, and it made her happy to know that Faye's friends were willing to defend her honor, even if the dwarf turned his head after he finished talking, as if knowing that Kratos would beat him up.

"What? Faye... Faye's dead?!" the dwarf asked, though that certainly took the wind out of his sails, in fact he was very clearly heartbroken over the news he was hearing right now, as he lowered his fists, which he unballed in the process, while a sorrowful look appeared on his face as he noticed how all four of them, in their own way, were dealing with the fact that Faye was no longer of this world, "I'm... I'm so very, very sorry to hear that... I certainly didn't mean to open your wounds like that. Faye... she was a special woman, as I'm sure all of you know... and a fierce warrior. Would you... would you mind if I made some improvements to the Leviathan Axe?"

"I'm sure father would be grateful, even though no one asked you to do so." Atreus replied, though he wasn't trying to be mean or anything, he was just following his father's example of stating facts and using that information accordingly, while at the same time noticing that his sisters didn't approve of his choice of words.

"Oh, I know, but... I'm sure Faye would want me to undo the act of vandalism that was inflicted on her axe by my brother!" the dwarf stated, though as he said that Flurry found that he did take a moment to wipe away the tears that had formed after he took some time to think about Faye's passing, before growing serious again as he realized that he could work on the axe once more.

"No. If you must work on the axe, do not undo Brok's work... improve upon it only." Kratos said, because Brok was someone he could tolerate, possibly even grow to like, and what he had done to the axe wasn't as bad as the other dwarf seemed to make it out to be, rather the axe was far stronger than it had been previously and he wasn't about to undo Brok's work just because he and his brother had a bit of a falling out.

The dwarf, who told them that he was called Sindri, sighed as Kratos unhooked the axe from it's resting place on his back and held it out for him to take, though interestingly enough the new smith seemed to be afraid of the filth he seemed to think was on the axe, as originally he refused to touch the weapon, but Kratos' firm stance caused him to awkwardly take the handle and move over to his shop. While he did that Atreus asked what Sindri had been working on, since they found that he had gears area the area he had been in previously and there was a contraption nearby that was made of wood and metal, an item that seemed to be important to him, where Sindri revealed that he called it the 'sky mover'. As he set the weapon down he explained that he had no idea how it worked, but he was working on it because there was a treasure trove of rare and potent resources further up the mountain, meaning that if he actually found the resources he would need a way to move it down here. Flurry wondered why he'd say such a thing since he clearly had a Bag of Holding, she recognized it instantly, but said nothing as Sindri worked on the axe in a manner that was different from his brother's methods, he focused on tending to the entire weapon, cleaning it, while it seemed to soak in a bit of power, which Sindri noted and told them not to worry, as it would make the axe stronger.

As he worked Sindri also spoke of Faye, how she would speak to her and Brok in their native tongue, and when he started to speak a phrase he was surprised by Atreus finishing it, though he did mention an interesting fact about the axe, that it had been infused with the screams of twenty frost trolls.

When they got to talking about the rune on their necks, as he noticed it flickering out of existence so no one could see them, Kratos noticed that enemies were approaching the area and turned to face them, now armed with an improved axe once again, where they found that they happened to be more poison Hel-Walkers and tatzelwurms. Sindri was apparently upset that his axe was being dirtied again, even though it was a weapon and that was a common thing to have happen, though the family turned their attention to their enemies once more, where Pandora joined Kratos and Atreus in dealing with the melee foes, leaving the ranged combat to Flurry. Thanks to their growing coordination it didn't take them all that long to take out all of the enemies that were around the area Sindri was working in, which meant he would be able to work in peace, though as they did that Pandora spotted some rotating devices set up around the area, linked to a runic chest. With that in mind they tracked down the chest and quickly translated the runes on it to match all three devices, allowing them to rotate each one for a few seconds before matching the runes to what were on the chest, allowing Kratos to open and loot it before opening the way for Flurry to loot everything else.

Once they were done exploring the area the family bid Sindri farewell for the time being and followed the path that would bring them closer to their destination, even though that meant having to freeze more Skorn Poles for a time so everyone had a chance to move further along the path. Of course there was a revenant floating around the path and chuckled at the family as it noticed them, though when Atreus struck it with an arrow he found that this time Flurry dealt with it before their foe could flee, using her own arrows to pin it to a wall before using her sickles to take it out. Atreus, of course, did his best to understand how she was capable of loosing several arrows in the span of a few seconds, while at the same time Kratos dealt with a few skorn poles to reveal a stone chest that he looted, this one having bracers inside it that could be used, hence why he collected it for later use before moving further along the path. Flurry did find that the revenant had a symbol of some kind that it dropped, an item that might be useful in crafting she wagered, hence why she added it to her collection before they continued on their way, taking a moment to check a side path that had one of the crystalline locks on it, something she and the others would have to check it again later.

There was even a skorn container hanging in the air above one of the passages, showing them that whoever created them wanted this area to be inaccessible to everyone else, though Kratos made sure the path was clear before they climbed up a wall to make more progress.

"So, do you think that I can carry the bag during the last leg of our journey?" Atreus asked, because he had been hoping he might be able to carrying his mother's ashes at one point during the entire journey, even though his sisters didn't seem to really care about the honor, rather they trusted the bag in their father's care.

"Not yet. Faye was clear that I was to hand over the bag when the time was right... and that I would know when that time had finally arrived." Kratos replied, as Faye had been very clear in making her intentions known when she had them agree to this quest in the first place, showing them just how important it had been to her that she get the send off she wanted, and he intended on honoring her wishes to the letter, "That time has not yet arrived."

Flurry could tell that Atreus was upset by this information, though because it was part of his mother's wishes he decided not to press the issue as they finished climbing up the wall and found a nice flat area that had a poison Hel-Walker and a pair of sickly looking wolves. She wasn't sure what was causing the sudden surge of poison related foes to show up, but at the same time she wasn't about to ask as she readied her bow and loosed two arrows in rapid succession, where Atreus watched as they struck both wolves before they even knew what hit them, taking them out instantly. Their father walked up to the green Hel-Walker as it was crushed by Pandora swinging her halberd at it, once more showing his son that he had absolute faith in his daughters and that he could learn how to do what they did if he watched them in battle, causing Atreus to nod as he followed after them again. As they approached the door Pandora noticed a red circular device near a pile of rocks and struck it with one of her chakrams, causing the entire thing to explode since the material was brittle and a single attack was enough to break it, revealing a stone chest that their father looted, adding a chest armor to the still growing collection of items they were gathering.

In addition to that Kratos found two more explosive jars to smash nearby, on the other side of another rock wall, where one tore apart the rocks and the other wiped out a skorn pole, allowing him to freeze a second poison spewer so he could loot a golden chest, granting him another skill as Flurry collected the other items.

When he moved towards the door that was in front of them, where Kratos had to lift a fallen pillar out of the way so they could progress, though as he started to do that the door burst open as a large gorilla-like monster, only far more brutal and without any real fur, plowed through it and attacked, even though he stopped it by pushing against it's arm. They did hear it start to speak for a moment, in a tongue that only Atreus likely understood, though at the same time Atreus failed to understand what his father was doing and actually rushed in to stab the creature, an ogre, in the head, which ended in him being successful as his knife struck the creature's head. Of course he ended up getting thrown off instantly, causing Kratos to rush to his aid as he grappled with the ogre's head for a moment, though Atreus showed that he was willing to engage in combat as he got onto his father's back, grabbed his knife, and yanked it out so he could stab the ogre right in it's left eye, causing it to roar in pain as it backed off. As Atreus landed, with his knife in hand, the sisters found that there were more enemies to worry about, as in more poison Hel-Walkers where Kratos had Pandora join him and Atreus as he left the minor enemies to Flurry, giving Atreus some experience in dealing with larger foes.

Flurry, in response to having at least seven enemies around her, switched her weapon as she drew the Serpent's Glaive from her bag, where she spun the weapon for a few seconds before lashing out with it, slashing arms and legs off instantly as she slashed at them, and the last one she just stabbed in the chest with the weapon, allowing her to land nearby with no injuries dealt to her body.

"Wait... where did that weapon come from?" Atreus asked, as the ogre was now dead on the ground, his father had taken it's head off when an opening had presented itself to them during their clash, allowing him to focus on the fact that Flurry had a new weapon in her hands, one he had never seen before.

"My bag of course." Flurry replied, because she knew that Atreus understood that her bag was a Bag of Holding, due to all of the items they had stuffed into it since the start of their quest to the highest peak in all of the realms, so he likely had an idea as to where the weapon had come from.

Atreus stood there for a moment, as he couldn't fault her for saying such a thing, before Kratos beckoned for them to join him as he opened the main door so they could be on their way, revealing a path that connected to what appeared to be a massive stone face carved into the side of the mountain's base, something that was spewing a foul black fog when they approached it.

"You know, seeing this place up close, has caused me to realize why Faye asked us to bring her here." Pandora remarked, as the mountain was massive, far more than what they had seen from their home, and it was breathtaking as they stared up at it for a few moments, even though they knew the black fog was going to be a pain to get rid of.

"But... what is this stuff?" Atreus inquired, because it was unlike anything he had seen before, though it annoyed him that it was in their way, especially since they had finally made real progress in reaching the mountain that held the peak that his mother wanted her ashes scattered from, "Maybe the Witch knows about this stuff?"

"I do, actually. It is called the 'Black Breath', and, unfortunately, my magic is useless against it... nor is there another way around this particular area." a voice said, where they turned and found that Freya had caught up with them, or rather had teleported herself here in some manner since Kratos and his daughters were still getting used to this realm and the magic it possessed, "I'm sorry to say it, but Odin saw to this a long time ago. Also, I'm sorry for not saying anything while you were with me, as I was... distracted... by my friend's condition."

"Fair. We did put you in that state of mind." Kratos replied, once more showing how composed he was, instead of lashing out like he had done back in Greece, while he glanced at the Black Breath for a few more seconds before turning his focus back to Freya, who Atreus didn't know the name of since he missed it, though his son didn't seem to care right now since he was happy to see the lady again, "You know how to dispel this fog?"

"Yes. The Black Breath is a corruption of magic, one that not even I can dispel... in fact only the pure light of Alfheim is strong enough to break through it." Freya answered, where she beckoned for them to follow as she turned around, which allowed them to see the other half of the Sky Mover was resting near the door Kratos had opened for them, and that it was covered in vines, causing Flurry to be happy they had a nature goddess with them, "And in order to get that you need to go to a realm that is beyond Midgard."

That interested all of them, as none of them had thought they would have to travel to one of the other realms to complete this journey, but now it looked like Freya was going to show them how to travel to Alfheim, along with the fact that she was able to move the vines so they could use the Sky Mover. The device had a lift for them to stand on that allowed one to travel from this area and reach a lower area, just outside Sindri's shop, though Freya told the family no one was down in the area when she came through, meaning the dwarf must have found some resource that caught his eye. She also told them that their destination was Tyr's Temple, which rested in the center of the lake, the very structure that Brok had set up shop in after Jormungandr woke up and shifted his weight, causing the water level to change on them, and she even told them about how the World Serpent appeared one day and Thor fought him. Such a thing allowed the family to realize that Freya believed in Ragnarok, the literal end of the Nine Realms, especially since Jormungandr was said to come from the future after taking part in it before Thor knocked him back through time, but that didn't stop her from hoping that the event never came to pass.

Atreus commented on the tongue that the World Serpent spoke in, even though none of them understood it, as the lift came to a stop so they could walk back to the door that was near Sindri's camp, confirming that the dwarf was gone, and on the inside of the passage Freya pulled out her bow and loosed a light arrow at a blue crystal. Such a thing, combined with a word she had said, allowed her to make a walkway out of light, which would maintain it's form if the light remained unobstructed, which only made Atreus want it on his bow, since it would allow them to do much more in their travels, or at least it should given the things they had seen. Freya explained that this was due to elven architecture, especially since her bowstring had been soaked in the Light of Alfheim, which interested everyone as they followed her through the halls of the temple and returned to the bridge, while noticing that Freya had used her roots to silence the skorn poles. As they walked out onto the bridge, and talked about Tyr and how everyone came together to make the temple, Flurry noticed an interesting fact, that the World Serpent had shifted his position, as in his head was now up and he was looking out over the lake, probably because he was interested in what was going on.

When they neared the entrance Freya had them go down a set of stairs and approach an area that had another crystal for her to light up, forming a path for them to reach what appeared to a lot of metallic components that allowed the bridge to move on a rail of some kind.

Kratos, following Freya's instructions since she seemed to know what she was doing, lifted the axle that was no longer on the rail and forced it back into position and then aligned it once more, which he was capable of doing since he had more strength than a normal person did. Once everything was back in order Freya had him grab onto the handle in front of him and push the wheel, where she found that he did so without delay and marveled at the fact that he had this much power, while Atreus was completely shocked by this fact, even though he knew his father was strong. Flurry and Pandora stood by for a moment and watched as the bridge moved to face another tower, while at the same time Freya talked with Atreus about the undead and how the world was out of balance, hence some of the enemies they were seeing. As soon as the bridge was aligned with another tower Freya had them join her by the entrance and the family did so without delay, where they discovered that Brok wasn't near his shop either, before Freya lit up another crystal so they could enter the center of the temple, though that drained her bow of it's power, which she pulled off an imbued into Atreus'.

After that they entered the main center of the temple and Flurry found that it reminded her of the structure she had seen back in the center of the Land Between Realms, with nine doors that matched the towers, save for the missing one, and nine circles that had crystals in them, one also missing there, before they approached the center, where an artistic version of Yggdrasil rested.

"Don't mind the darkness, for the temple has been asleep for almost a hundred and fifty winters... but we can awaken it with the light of the Bifrost." Freya said, though she handed Kratos something that looked like a key mixed with some sort of container, while at the same time he found a slot in what appeared to be a console of some kind, where he placed it in the slot as the rest of Tyr's Temple started to wake up at long last.

Freya explained things to them as the temple was roused from it's slumber, like how the Bifrost she had given them would capture and hold the Light of Alfheim, while the magical water in the center of the temple shifted, with a diagram of the temple and the outside area, complete with eight towers since the ninth was missing, appearing before them. She told the family about how the Nine Realms rested on the branches of Yggdrasil, that they existed in the same physical space, but were reflections of each other, and that this temple made travel to each of them possible, or at least it had until Odin was able to seal off some realms to further his own plans. The realms were only separated from each other by the Bifrost, a fact that allowed them to understand why the container was so important to the process, and Freya spoke about the Tree of Life with a smile on her face, as it seemed like a topic she liked to talk about. She also explained that they needed runes, or 'travel runes' to go to the various realms, where she traced Alfheim's on Kratos' palm, before directing him to move the console's bridge to the realm in question, which would move the actual bridge as well, and then locked it in once he was sure about their destination.

Such a thing allowed them to find that the Bifrost went dark as the last of it's power was used, which was why Freya told them that this journey was necessary, because if it had more power she would have given it to them to deal with the Black Breath, but now they could fully recharge it and use it however much they wanted, all while a beam was fired at a crystal and the air around them shifted.

"Did... Did it work?" Atreus asked, because based on what they were seeing right now it sure didn't look like they had done anything that Freya had told them during the reawakening process, causing Freya to beckon for them to follow her as she made her way towards the entrance they had walked through to get to this point.

What they discovered was that when the final door opened the family found that they were definitely in another realm, as this one was more vibrant than Midgard and there was a beam of light far off in the distance, which had to be the Light of Alfheim, and there was far more in front of them, confirming that they were in another realm.

"The Light... it's fainter than I remember. You see that beam of light in the distance? That's where we need to go..." Freya started to say, though in that instant she staggered as Flurry found a spell activating on her, the very one that she said was to prevent her from traveling from Midgard to one of the other realms, and it wasn't long before she was yanked back toward the temple, causing Kratos to grab onto her arm for a moment as they noticed a rift opened behind them, "Listen to me: to restore the Bifrost's magic, you must step into the Light, but you have to be careful not to get caught..."

Whatever Freya was going to say was cut off as she was yanked out of Kratos' grip and dragged through the rift, thrown back into Midgard by someone's spell, and Atreus could only say 'no' as the door slammed shut, causing Kratos and both of his daughters to turn towards the Light as they wondered what Alfheim had to offer them.