God of War: Daughter of War

With Freya no longer with them, thanks to Odin's magic no doubt, Kratos and his children started to walk down the bridge that seemed to be the main path into Alfheim, while at the same time allowing them to get away from the version of Tyr's Temple that was in this realm. This realm was definitely more vibrant and lively than Midgard, which only made them take a moment to wonder about the remaining seven realms they hadn't been to, something Kratos wasn't planning on doing unless they needed specific items from them to progress on their quest. As they walked, however, Flurry noticed a rather large dark growth that seemed to be blocking the path forward and, interestingly enough, it had a glowing red vine with an odd pulsing core, where the core was larger than one's head, where she determined that this had to be part of the problem with the dwindling nature of the Light. The interesting thing was that it was rather fragile, as her father swung his axe at it and everyone watched as the core was destroyed instantly, causing the rest of the growth to shrivel and die in seconds, to which he and Flurry glanced at each other for a seconds.

They both knew that this might be more common in the rest of Alfheim, meaning it could be seen as a puzzle mechanic for the rest of their time in this realm, causing them to move forward once more since they had no idea how long it would take to reach where the Light was located. As he cut through another growth they found a dark figure flying through the air, but for the time being Kratos had Flurry keep an eye out, as her sight was far better than everyone else's and that meant if the figure was dangerous she would be able to warn them before it reached their position. Of course there was something that caused them to turn their focus away from the main path, a number of corpses wearing white robes that looked like they had been slain fairly recently, within the last week by Flurry's reckoning, and some of them still had weapons stuck in their bodies, likely a warning to the rest of their clan. Atreus even spotted some writing that spoke about the 'eternal war for the Light', causing Pandora and Flurry to realize what was going on, this had to be the war between the light and dark elves, as in the two clans that lived in this realm, as Faye had mentioned it a few times over the years, just not as often as everything else.

Flurry put the pieces together and realized that the ones that were dead had to be the light elves and that they had been slain by a group of dark elves, meaning their enemies had to be the dark elves and, if Faye had been right about the realm changing hands between the two clans, the growths were likely part of what the dark elves did whenever they were finally in control of everything.

"I don't get it... if both sides need the Light, then why not share it between them?" Atreus asked, because there were a lot of things he didn't understand about the world and this was one of them, why people would declare war on someone else, even the other residents of the realm based on what he was reading.

"Greed, most likely. You will find that it is a common cause for why war is waged." Kratos replied, which was the truth, as resources were often the most likely reason for why someone would declare war on another group of people, though due to being a Spartan he and his daughters knew that there were other reasons, such as conquest and revenge, that caused the same thing.

Part of her thoughts were confirmed as a living light elf was seen in the area ahead of them, only to be stabbed right in the chest by a dark elf, who wore dark armor and seemed to have insect wings, though a couple landed without delay and just turned towards them with their weapons drawn. Flurry noted that they wore more revealing armor, skirts while exposing their chests, allowing her to see that the females were likely elsewhere, since the ones in front of them were male, and all of them even had horns that were thicker than normal, like an elk she guessed. Their weapons seemed to be spears with a crystal at the top, with a head that looked like a trident as they looked at them for a few seconds, though these seemed to be the basic soldiers in the dark elf army, those that were expendable no doubt, as there was another that seemed to give them orders before departing deeper into the realm. Atreus continued to show them that he was learning, loosing one of his arrows every now and then when an opening revealed itself, while going after his foes with his bowstring whenever he thought the coast was clear, while Kratos and his daughters continued to dodge attacks and cut down their foes.

Flurry, as per usual, grabbed onto one of the spears that their foes were using, ripped it out of his hands, and then spun it around for a few seconds before stabbing her opponent multiple times in his exposed chest, allowing her to bring her foe down in a matter of moments as she tested the balance of the weapon and nodded her head.

"Sister, I don't think you need any additional weapons." Atreus commented, because he knew that his sister likely had all sorts of weapons inside her bag, ones he had yet to see since she seemed to enjoy using her sickles, her bow, the large hammer, and the sword she refused to draw, especially when he thought about the glaive she had stored away after using it for a few minutes, so it stood to reason there were more he didn't know about.

"For fighting, maybe. This is going into my collection." Flurry replied, as she saw no reason to hide that fact now that her brother knew that there were more weapons inside her bag, thanks to her pulling out the Serpent Glaive earlier, and after testing the new spear out she opened her bag for a few seconds and thought about where to send the weapon before just slipping it into the opening, which she closed a couple of seconds later.

Kratos said nothing to that as he focused on their enemies, as the dark elves were a lot like Flurry, because they used their insect wings to move around the air at times to avoid being taken out, though he was familiar with how his daughter was able to move and used that to bring down his foes. Once the enemy soldiers were taken care of he found that they were alone for the time being and, more importantly, there was another growth in front of them, though while Atreus asked why they were being attacked all of a sudden, since they had done nothing wrong, Pandora explained that some races or people in the world didn't like intruders and fought them on sight. This time around Kratos found two cores in the growth that was in front of them, so it stood to reason that both had to be destroyed within seconds of each other, which is what he did as he hurled his axe through them, breaking the way open for them to move forward again. As they did so Atreus suddenly came to a stop and asked his family if any of them had said something, causing them to tell him that none of them had spoke up after the growth was taken out, causing him to tilt his head and forget about it as they continued on their way.

What came as a surprise to them, for only a short while anyway, was the fact that the path brought them to a small beach that Sindri had set up a shop on and seemed to be in the middle of working on something, only to pause as he noticed them coming his way and turned to face them.

"I am not surprised to see you here. Your brother gave us a Key of Yggdrasil, and while that only serves as a one way path, it stands to reason you two might have some magic to slip between the realms." Kratos commented, because he had seen his fair share of magical abilities and spells after watching Flurry in action for so many years, where Sindri let out a sigh that was of annoyance and acceptance of what he had said, before he decided to let the dwarf do some work.

It was a good thing he decided to do so, because Sindri claimed to have found one of their left behind items, from one of the many foes they had fought, though he knew that such a thing was impossible since Flurry and Pandora were serious about collecting everything, especially when they found that it was a Frozen Flame he had 'recovered'. He, as well as his daughters, knew that Sindri must have learned that Brok had given him such an item for free when they first encountered him, so he likely wanted to do the same thing, but wanted to make it seem like they had 'earned' the component by beating a foe and leaving the item behind. With that in mind Kratos made sure that the Leviathan Axe was improved before focusing on the rest of the area as Flurry located a boat for them to use, since it seemed like the only way forward was by water, though to free it Kratos had to cut through three cores to remove a large growth, forcing him to line up his attack this time so he could remove it in a matter of seconds. With that done, and the obstacle was removed, Kratos and Pandora moved the boat over to the water as Atreus, once more, asked if they had said something, only to be confused when they told him that they had said nothing, causing him to tilt his head before he joined the pair in the boat.

Flurry, of course, took to the air as she switched to her bow for a time, because she had no idea if the dark elves might try to attack them and wanted to be prepared while her family make their way deeper into the realm, something that came to a sudden stop as Atreus gripped his head and nearly screamed in pain.

"There were a lot of voices... angry voices, some screaming... you're telling me none of you heard that?" Atreus asked, as it had been as clear as day to him, almost as if he had been there when something terrible happened, though as his father and his sisters told him that they had heard nothing the pain seemed to die down, causing him to relax a little, "It's okay, the voices are going away. It just... it just felt so evil."

"Are you sure? We can pause if you need some time." Kratos inquired, because he had seen enough over the years as he and Flurry dealt with the various dangers of Greece, and with how special she was, and how she often exhausted herself after using too much magic or flying for too long, he had grown used to stopping to let her recover, which he was now using with his son.

Atreus, despite the pain that had been inflicted on him earlier, said that he was fine and braced himself to continue into the realm they were visiting, causing Kratos to stare at him for a few seconds before nodding his head as he got the boat moving once more. While they moved over the water he asked if they could stop and talk to some of the spirits that were in this world, since it looked like some of the slain light elves had turned into spirits after their demise, though while Kratos had no desire to do so Pandora pointed out that the spirits departed on their own, having no desire to speak to them as they passed by. The path he was following eventually brought them out to what appeared to be a lake, one with platforms and landings that were linked to the elves of this world, or the light elves anyway since they were more elegant than what the dark elves might make, and Flurry found that the structure the Light was coming from was a ringed temple. There was a downside as she stared at the area in front of them, there was no bridge linking the area they were in to the area that the temple was in, meaning there was a secret path they had to find so they could enter the main structure.

Kratos wasn't too surprised by that fact, not when this realm was constantly at war, and they found a circular area that had a sandbowl that had to be tied to a lift, the very thing they were looking for, so instead of worrying about the riddle right now they focused on tracking down the rune that would answer it for them.

As they tracked down a landing, which may or may not help them in their quest, Atreus told them that he was saddened by the fact that the elves couldn't work things out and that war was making a beautiful land ugly, causing Kratos to tell him that he was seeing this through the eyes of a child, of someone who didn't know war. While Pandora pointed out an area to land on Kratos finished by explaining that warriors and soldiers saw war in a different light, that for them there was a certain beauty in spilling blood and killing the enemies of their people, a beauty that Kratos, himself, had grown tired of if he was being honest. Of course Atreus was surprised that his father knew about war, since he had assumed they were just nobodies who lived in the woods, but for the time being they found that his curiosity about the realm was more important to him than his interest in his father, and likely his sisters, knowing about war. The area they stopped at happened to have one of the heavier draugr and some nightmares off in a nearby cave, where Flurry loosed a few arrows at the floating eyes and took all of them out, allowing her father to work with Atreus to bring down the heavy draugr.

Pandora found some enemies to fight, in the form of more tatzelwurms, so she dodged around their attacks and cut them down while her family dealt with the rest of their enemies, before she found a growth in one of the other passages and just hurled one of her chakrams through the cores, breaking the growth so she could loot a wooden chest. The path she picked also ended in a golden chest that she and Flurry looted, granting them a small gem that gave their father another new skill before he passed the gem back to them so it could be added to the rest of the collected treasure. Flurry found that one of the others happened to lead right to another crystal lock, meaning they were going to have to find something to unlock it at some point, as one was odd, two was a coincidence, but three or more meant they had to be important in some manner. She, on the other hand, told them that the path that the nightmares had been hanging out in had nothing for them as well, save for a platform with three light crystals in the floor, something they would only be able to access once they reached the Light.

With that in mind they returned to the boat and Kratos set out as Flurry took to the air once more, though as the family continued to explore Flurry found a container of Aegir's Gold and severed the growth that was holding onto it, allowing her to add the material to their collection as they tracked down another area to check out.

The next area they checked out happened to have a couple of tatzelwurms for them to fight, something three of them were getting used to since they were a simple creature to fight, especially since these ones were normal and not infused with poison, which allowed Atreus to gain more experience in fighting new enemies. While they did that Flurry loosed one of her arrows and struck down a ranged draugr that was trying to attack them from afar, allowing her brother to finish his latest battle with their father watching over him and providing commentary when necessary. Kratos spotted a large gate in part of the area and a gear lever that could be turned to open it, where he let Flurry hold it in place, after discovering that the gate would slam back down if the device wasn't locked in one position, because she was the only one that had wings and could get over it once the gate was lowered again. From there they found a path to their left that brought them to one of the runic chests, though with all of the bells around them Pandora pointed out the right ones to unlock the chest and loot it, before they found a gate to their right that had a growth blocking the way, but thanks to Flurry flying onto the other side of the obstacle they were able to remove the growth.

One the other side of the second gate rested a rift, just like they one they had stayed away from in the Lake of Nine, but this time around none of them were worried as Kratos raised his hand towards it, which released a burst of light energy to knock him backwards as a pair of draugr brutes rushed out to fight them. These ones were definitely stronger than what they had encountered so far, which seemed to be the point of the rifts as Flurry thought about it, tough enemies using the rifts to leave their own realm and travel to another one, whether willingly or otherwise. Of course that didn't stop her, her sister, or their father from dodging the attacks and dealing damage to the brutes, while Atreus continued to look for some openings to use against them, just as he had been taught to do while allowing them to bring their foes down. After taking down the pair of brutes Flurry found that the rift was still floating nearby and her father thrust his right hand into it, only for everyone to find that he was able to withdraw his hand, now holding a small pouch of dust, safely before the rift closed before their eyes.

Flurry found that the pouch contained some sort of formless essence, something Brok or Sindri might be able to use while empowering one or more of the items they could make, or even pick up if they were lucky, though with that in her bag the family continued to explore the rest of the area.

Such a thing allowed them to cut through two more sets of growths that brought them back to the beach they had docked at, only this time there was a passage leading into the mountain, into a home or temple of some kind, causing all four of them to walk inside as they kept their guard up. The chamber ahead of them happened to have the growth integrated into an actual puzzle, due to the large wheel that could be pushed forward or backward, causing Kratos to nod his head while taking hold of the device and started to move it, moving two of the pieces as well. Flurry and Pandora struck the cores that were in front of them and crippled the growth, revealing a golden chest that had more treasure for them, along with a new talisman that was added to the collection before they returned to the boat to continue progressing. As they returned to the lake, however, Atreus asked about his mother and if she was in a war, causing Kratos to tell him that it was 'of a sort', explaining how her clan had been decimated by rivals and Faye, alone, survived, where his son lowered his head, since that wasn't what he was expecting to hear.

"Father, I have an idea: head to the dock near the edge of the lake." Flurry said, because there was one where there might have been a bridge at one point in the past and she was sure there were two wheels for them to turn, causing her father to nod his head as they headed that way.

Sure enough they found the area she was talking about and the fact that there were two wheels, but there was a bridge of sorts in front of them, where Flurry realized that the dark elves might have been covering it previously, hence why she was only now noticing it, causing them to start towards the light bridge, just like the ones Freya created for them. That was the moment that a growth emerged from part of the temple and wrapped around a large light crystal, severing the bridge in a matter of seconds, causing some dark elves to land near their position and attack them, showing the family that the one that was in control of the realm saw them as intruders. Those that approached Flurry were swiftly slain as she swung her chosen weapon, Earthshaker, through the air, crushing them before they were able to even touch her, while at the same time she found a more kingly looking dark elf watching her and her family from the air. One of the lesser dark elves flew up to the King for a moment and she caught the word 'Svartaljofurr', which had to be his name she guessed, though the pair departed from the area as she and her family dealt with the rest of the soldiers that were sent at them.

Once they were done with them, and they were sure of that, she and her father turned to the wheels and turned them, a fact that caused two structures that were out in the water to shift while more of them emerged from the lake, though both she and Atreus noticed that they formed a rune, causing them to return to the sandbowl without delay.

"It says 'Without me or within me, death is sure... but in you I am life must pure'." Atreus remarked, reading the riddle that was on the bowl before glancing up at the elvish rune that was in front of him as he started to figure out what it meant, as that was one of his skills, figuring out languages and learning what everything meant.

"Easy: Water." Flurry said, where Atreus nodded his head for a moment before he fell to his knees for a few seconds, but as everyone took a step he raised his hand and caused them to stop, as he told them that these voices were different, no doubt the light elves, before he stood up and showed his family that he was fine.

Following that Atreus started to trace the rune into the sand, just like he had done previously, and once that was done he stabbed the sand before stepping back, allowing them to see whatever magic was about to unfold this time around, due to what they had witnessed the last time they used a sandbowl. At first the runes themselves raised up, revealing that they were on a platform of some kind, before all three split up and the lake itself was splitting before their eyes, as if the entire thing was resting on a massive metallic plate that was designed to split in half to bring light down into an area that served as a secret path. The sandbowl itself moved around the platform in a circular manner before stopping behind them, which was when the area they were standing on started to sink into the passage below them, a hidden lift as they discovered, meaning that, while the main path had been shattered, they had found another way to get into the temple. Atreus took a moment to mention that he was sure he had heard Faye's voice during his last session, but Kratos had no words for him, as the magic of this last was still confusing to him, so for the time being he told his son to focus on their enemies and they could talk about this when it was safe to do so.

Flurry and Pandora braced themselves as well, because there was no telling what sort of dangers might be waiting for all of them as they made their way to the center of the temple to visit the Light, but they were eager to see what the future held for them and their family as they faced the hidden darkness of Alfheim.