God of War: Daughter of War

After Flurry checked out her new weapon, and made sure the daggers were ready to go, Kratos approached the Door of Yggdrasil and used it to reach the branches of the World Tree once more, after choosing to go back to the area near where Thamur's corpse was resting so they could face the first Valkyrie they knew the location of. After that there were a number of other crystalline locks that the family knew the location of, which should have more of the Valkyries to fight, which would allow them to deal with Helheim's problem and restore some balance to the Nine Realms. Flurry also put forth the idea that they could check out both Muspelheim and Niflheim at some point, even if the latter required a few more pieces of the cipher for them to learn the Travel Rune, since they might gain more resources for the end of their quest. Kratos thought about it and agreed with her, those two realms might have something to offer them, what he had no idea, and decided that they would visit them at some point after dealing with some of the Valkyries.

A few moments later they stepped out of the other side of the path when it opened and they appeared in the area that was right before the Valkyrie, where Flurry crushed the emerald raven of Odin's that was resting inside the chamber, before all four of them spread out so Kratos could engage the Valkyrie.

When the family started the fight, causing the figure to unfurl her wings, Mimir caught a glimpse of her form and quickly told Kratos the name of their foe, Gunnr, whose weapon was a scythe and her helmet was designed after a raven, which let them know what to call this Valkyrie after the battle was over. Gunnr's strategy seemed to be attacking them and going for a slash from the ground level or lifting herself into the air a little to come at them with an air attack, though for the most part the family could see them coming and dodged them accordingly. Even Atreus, the less experienced member, watched what the rest of his family were doing before knowing what to do himself, meaning he was definitely no longer the arrogant boy he had shown them on their way to the summit, and this time he made sure to use his runic attacks when the time was right to do so. There was, of course, a series of attacks that they had to be mindful of, as Gunnr could swing her wings at them like they were also weapons, which Flurry confirmed when she noticed how metallic they looked, golden plated and sharpened to a point, giving her an entire arsenal of weapons to use against them.

In fact Gunnr also had a thrust attack that came in the form of thrusting the end of one of her wings at her target, which all of them avoided since they didn't want to be cause in the attack, though at the same time Kratos found that Flurry decided to use her new daggers, as if stating this Valkyrie wasn't worth her new weapon.

It wasn't like she was being disrespectful or anything, rather Gunnr didn't seem to care and Pandora was fine with Flurry saving the Dragon Cleaver for a more worthy foe, rather she had a number of weapons in her collection and right now she just wanted to put some of them to use against a unique set of foes. That, combined with the fact that she knew how to fight with a scythe, thanks to her full power form that she rarely used, was enough for Atreus to realize why it was a good idea that his father stopped him from clashing with his sister while he was in his arrogant phase. The way she moved and the way she fought confirmed that she was skillful, dodging attacks like they were nothing, lashing out with her new daggers while striking at their foe to surprise her and open the way for the rest of the family to attack Gunnr, and even using the blades to stop the scythe from even touching her. In fact Atreus was almost convinced that the daggers might have been made for his sister, as the way she used them reminded him of her sickles, while at the same time making him happy that his father had stopped them from clashing, as he now realized it would have instantly ended in his defeat.

That, combined with the combination of their skills, allowed them to knock the Valkyrie back, opening the way for Kratos to punch Gunnr in the gut, stunning her, before he grabbed her and crushed her into the ground, where he literally tore off her wings, something that caused her physical form to dissolve, leaving behind a spirit version of herself.

You... have freed my from my corrupted form. Gunnr commented, as if she was still coming back to her senses after everything she had been through, which was interesting to the family as Flurry noted that her former armor turned into a pile of materials for them to collect once they were done talking, before she bowed her head a little, You have my eternal gratitude, warriors... but... my sisters are no doubt trapped as I am. Take my helm, then find my sisters and free them... the fate of the Valkyries rests on your shoulders.

"Do not worry, we will find them." Kratos stated, as that was the plan, to track down the Valkyries and deal with them, while at the same time Flurry collected the helm with a smile on her face, as she was happy that they were doing something that might stop the Hel-Walkers from pouring out into the Nine Realms, while his words put Gunnr at ease as she faded away, no doubt to continue her role before something corrupted her.

"The fate of the Valkyries... an important task, to be sure. I know of the nine Valkyries, but it's not something that is easy to talk about." Mimir commented, which none of them were surprised by, because how he talked about the Valkyrie the last time they were here did suggest that he knew about the figures from his time standing by Odin's side, before he sighed as he thought about waht they had discovered, "I really don't know why they have become these wretched creatures... though I can blame Odin for sure... but it is worth hunting them down and freeing them from their corrupted forms."

Kratos nodded as Flurry collected the materials that Gunnr had gifted to them for freeing her, where she found a cluster of metallic feathers that doubled as an enchantment, another symbol, a couple of elegant ingots that looked like they had been Gunnr's armor, which Mimir identified as Asgardian Steel, and Gunnr's scythe.

"You really like weapons, don't you?" Atreus asked, because that was something he had seen over the course of their long quest, Flurry loved to collect and even use weapons against their enemies, and it seemed like she really adored collecting well known armaments, making him wonder if she'd take Mjolnir if given the chance.

"I guess you could say that." Flurry replied, where she knew that her brother was asking an innocent question, instead of accusing her of things like he had been during their second trek up the mountain, though that didn't stop her from using the new scythe for a few seconds, finding that while it was like hers this one didn't seem to be on the same grade, and it seemed to have a lightning element on it, causing her to place Gunnr's scythe in her collection, "Besides, it's not like she'll be needing it anytime soon, since Gunnr's been returned to her spiritual form... if she comes back, uncorrupted, and wants it back then I'll return it to her."

"Fair enough. How did the daggers fare?" Pandora asked, because while she had been hoping to see the battleaxe she and the dwarves had made in action, especially against someone like a Valkyrie, she was fine with Flurry waiting for a foe that was more appropriate for it's first opponent, hence why she asked about the daggers they recovered from the vault.

"The Deathrite Daggers? They fared fairly well." Flurry replied, as she knew the name of the weapons automatically, which made her wonder if they might be the weapons of another Death God and that was why she could use them, thanks to her own godhood, before she smiled for a moment as she sheathed the weapons in question, while noticing the curious look that was on her brother's face, "There was some residual magic on the daggers, that's how I knew what to call them."

As Atreus nodded his understanding their father beckoned for them to follow once more, where they headed back to the Door of Yggdrasil as he selected the Door that was in Tyr's Temple, since there wasn't one close by the second target on his list. Of course he knew they could have found the Door inside the Valkyrie's prison while they were in the area, but at the time he had been focused on getting to the summit and then deal with how his son was acting, hence why they were now taking the long way to their target, only for Baldur to change their plans. Fortunately there were no more enemies for them to deal with and they were able to reach the area that Sindri had been working in with ease, allowing them to climb up to the tunnel that held the climb to the wolf statues, before heading into the side passage that brought the family to another crystalline lock. After Kratos opened it they found a short passage that brought them to a lift, leading down into the ground like the last one, and, sure enough, there was a chamber much like the area outside Gunnr's prison resting at the very bottom, with a chamber that housed a Valkyrie in the center.

After activating the nearby Door, so it would be ready for when it was time for the family to leave, and family moved into the arena and engaged the Valkyrie, where Mimir noted the owl shaped mask and identified their foe as Geirdriful, who also had a scythe and had a preference for ranged weapons.

Geirdriful's tactic differed from Gunnr's greatly, in the sense that she could summon a dark fog to disrupt their vision so she could attack them whenever she wanted to, similar to how Magni and Modi fought, through this time Flurry knew that using a barrier might not be the best idea, since the Valkyrie could wait them out. Flurry decided to go ranged as well as she summoned the Bow of Apollo out of her bag, surprising Atreus since had never seen the fire elemental bow before, a fact that let her know that her brother was interested in what else might be inside the bag. In the following moment both he and the rest of the family watched as Flurry closed her eyes for a moment as Kratos raised his shield, blocking an attack from their foe in the process, which appeared to be razor sharp knives that looked like feathers, only to find that the trio of small weapons flew back into the darkness. Atreus watched as his sister drew one of her arrows and nocked it, where it set itself on fire, though he determined it wasn't anything to worry about since both his father and Pandora appeared to know what was going on right now, before she loosed the arrow into the fog.

What surprised Atreus was the fact that Flurry actually hit Geirdriful in the shoulder, something that caused the Valkyrie to raise her arm and tear the arrow out a few seconds later, before he realized why she had done this as their father zeroed in on the Valkyrie and struck her with his blades. Atreus realized what his sister was doing this time around, she was more of a supporter this time around as their father and sister rushed at the Valkyrie, their attacks hitting her in sides while she opened her wings to flee to the air, which seemed to be a reoccurring theme with them. The arrows seemed to be more along the lines of hazards that forced Geirdriful back to the ground so her family could fight her, where Atreus joined the others as he called forth his runic wolves again, sending them into battle as they latched onto the Valkyrie. Such a thing caused their foe to turn and deal with them, which was what he had been planning since it allowed his family to bypass her defenses and strike her again, though like before the Valkyrie forced herself away and hurled some of her knives at them as she likely came up with the next stage of her plan.

In the next moment the knives hit the ground as Pandora spun around, using her chakrams to deal with the weapons, a fact that caused Geirdriful to send out a pair of lightning chakrams, meaning she had another attack up her sleeve, but that was nothing to Pandora as she swung her arms and crushed the magic with her weapons.

In the following seconds Atreus started to understand things better than before, as his father and sisters really did fight like a well maintained machine, each one providing something to the table as the others used what the rest of the family had to offer to bring down their enemies. He also discovered that, despite his breaking of the trust that had existed between him and his family, that both his father and his sisters left openings for him to use, showing him that in a battle everyone pulled their weight, which was why he focused on calling forth his various runic summons as the battle went on. In addition to all of that Atreus even used the light arrows from time to time, cutting through the fog that was summoned to prevent them from seeing their foe, because while he knew Flurry could track Geirdriful he also knew that the fog remained for a decent period of time and this allowed them to track their foe even quicker than before. When the Valkyrie got close to him Atreus had the bright idea to spin around and use his new dragon tail to hit their foe in the side, stunning her since she wasn't expecting him to do such a thing, before getting behind her and using his new claws for force her towards his father.

Such a thing was followed by Kratos knocking Geirdriful to the ground before brutally tearing her wings from her back, just like he had done to Gunnr, killing the Valkyrie in the process as her spirit was freed from her corrupted flesh, just like what happened when they defeated their previous foe.

Thank you for freeing me from my corrupted form. Geirdriful stated, acting just like Gunnr, grateful for being freed from the body she must have been trapped in, where the family was happy to be of assistance since this would be good for the rest of the realms, I only have gratitude towards all of you.

"We're happy to be of assistance. Can you tell us why you were trapped like this?" Atreus asked, because while he could see that the Valkyrie's physical body had dissolved and had left them a pile of gifts, much like Gunnr's, he was curious if their foe might know something about what had happened to her.

I am... uncertain. My mind is... still fragmented. Geirdriful replied, which was understandable since Mimir had told the family that the Valkyries were spirits and that trapping them in a physical form like this would drive them mad, and since they had no idea how long the warriors had been like this it was understandable that the Valkyries were still reeling from their cursed imprisonment, before the figure recalled something, The Rocstoll aff Valkyrs. That is... the last thing I remember. I must go, Valhalla awaits me.

"Mimir, what was she talking about?" Kratos asked, because he knew that Mimir was the only one among them that knew, or might know, anything about what the Valkyrie had said, as Geirdriful disappeared after that statement, allowing Flurry to collect their reward before they departed.

"It's a Council Chamber, of sorts, hidden away somewhere in Midgard. The Valkyries were said to use it when they needed to confer with each other without Odin's prying eyes observing them." Mimir answered, though at the same time he found that Flurry collected some more of the Asgardian Steel, in addition to Geirdriful's helmet, along with a crystalline heart that was clearly an enchantment, "They thought that they were safe from his gaze while they were there, but... well, it's as the saying goes, 'The All-Father Sees All'. I don't know where it is, but since we're freeing the Valkyries, and one mentioned it specifically, I'm sure they're asking us to find it... why, I have no idea, but I'm sure we'll know in due time."

With the reward collected Flurry had them head into the mountain itself, back to the mining area that they had used a lift in, before they were interrupted by Hraezlyr, something that caused Atreus to raise an eyebrow for a moment, since this seemed like a waste of time, before he remembered something he had seen during their previous journey.

"Oh right, there was a crystalline lock on one of the walls... you think there's a Valkyrie there?" Atreus asked, though if his sister was right, and she was rarely wrong as he was coming to understand, this would fit with their father's plans, since he wanted to take down as many of them as they could, while confusing Baldur with their movements.

"I'm fairly sure of it. Might as well check before heading to the next location." Flurry replied, even though she did have a secondary reason for wanting to head back into the mountain, she wanted to see if Modi was still in the area that she had placed him in, though after what happened she was sure he'd be sleeping or raging at his predicament.

As they followed the path back to the mining area, however, Flurry could see that Atreus was pausing every now and then while looking at various area, reflecting on what he had said to his family, showing her that he had really taken what had been told to him in Helheim to heart. It was a good thing to see, since it meant he was definitely trying to return to what he had looked like before he touched the mirror, and he was trying to be a better person, following the phrase that their father had told him, a lesson that he had learned from Faye during their time with her. When they reached the statue area once again Flurry silently cast some of her magic into the small chasm and let it fall down to the area that Modi was in, all to find that he seemed to be sleeping at the moment, either to heal naturally or because he didn't want to have his eyes open at the moment. This was good in her eyes, as it meant that he might want to live and not perish outside of battle, to which she reflected that once this quest was over she'd come back and check on him while the rest of her family returned to their home.

When they reached the mining area Kratos found the crystalline lock and broke through it, finding another passage that matched what the family had seen so far, and, sure enough, there was a Valkyrie at the bottom of the entire area, just like Flurry had suspected, though the bear helmet identified her as Eir, who was a healer.

Eir, from what they would see, did seem to attack like the other Valkyries, however she had her own method when it came to battle, as she seemed to punish those who rushed at her and also appeared to attack if they stalled in completing their combos, which was mostly on Atreus since he wasn't a master like the rest of his family. This time around Flurry went with the Serpent's Glaive, because she felt that using different weapons against the Valkyries would keep things interesting for her, in addition to facing the various tactics of their enemies, though their foe's weapon, in addition to the standard scythe that all of them seemed to have, was a mace. The other interesting thing that Flurry found was that when Eir moved into a familiar attack, such as thrusting one of her wings at them or spinning to attack them, she ended those attacks by using her wings as a shield, showing them that she was well versed in how people fought and had a counter ready for those that fought her. Fortunately Flurry had a way around that as she spun her weapon around for a few seconds, striking at Eir's wings like she was countering, like her father would do with his shield at times, breaking through the shield while showing her father how to deal with this in the future.

Even with that information in hand they still had to be careful, because while Eir wasn't as aggressive as the Valkyries they had fought so far, especially due to her status as a healer, her tactics were interesting to fight against, since it was such a change in comparison to what they had seen so far. Such a thing reminded Atreus of one of the lessons his father gave him, that they had to adapt to whatever tactics their foes used against them, so by doing that he was able to learn how to be a better warrior, or at least a better contributor to the family. In addition to that some of Kratos' runic attacks smashed through Eir's wings when she shielded herself, further tipping things in their favor, where Atreus realized that having it be a four versus one battle had also done the same thing as well, though since his father felt it was fair he guessed this was a fair fight in the end. With that in mind Atreus continued to do his part to bring down their opponent, utilizing his various runic attacks while also loosing an arrow every now and then, mostly to distract Eir for the brief seconds that he was able to do so, which was more than enough for the others to work their magic.

Eventually Eir succumbed to their attacks and Kratos, once more, found an opening that allowed him to kill her while also tearing her wings clean off, reducing her physical form to nothing as her spirit appeared before them, allowing Flurry to see more of the various resources that the Valkyries were offering as a reward for their deed.

AH, FREEDOM. I AM CURSED NO LONGER! A JOYOUS DAY INDEED! Eir said, where they could tell that she was really grateful for them freeing her, since she was being loud for some reason, before she glanced at them for a few seconds, as if realizing that they had questions for her, THE SOUL OF A VALKYRIE CANNOT REMAIN PURE IN A PHYSICAL BODY, AS WE GO INSANE... RATHER WE BELONG IN THE SPIRIT WORLD, WHICH IS WHERE I'M OFF TO. GOODBYE!

Kratos said nothing to that, as it reminded him of a time where he had been loud, and simply nodded his head as Eir left like her sisters had done, where Flurry found a pommel piece for the Leviathan Axe, strengthening it to new heights, a new enchantment that looked like a stone shaped to look like an eye, and more Asgardian Steel.

"We're doing good. How many more crystalline locks are there?" Atreus asked, all while they walked back to the Door that would allow them to either travel to the main temple or one of the other Doors that had been discovered over the course of their quest, which was all thanks to Brok's changes to it while his family got his cure in Helheim, as he wanted to know how many more doors they had to unlock.

"There are two more in Midgard: one is by our home, the other is near Freya's." Flurry replied, as those were the ones that she was aware of right now, which meant there might be two more Valkyries for them to fight and defeat, because thanks to the couple of locks that brought them to passages or locked rooms full of Odin's information she had to assume that they might uncover an area with no Valkyrie.

"Once we have checked those areas out we will head to Muspelheim." Kratos stated, because he was sure that the realm in question might have more challenges for them, which was more training for Atreus and more resources for them to collect, plus it would also help to confuse Baldur, another reason for doing such a thing.

His children nodded their heads as they traveled along Yggdrasil's branches for a short period of time before leaving again, coming out at the bottom of the cave that was right outside Freya's place, where the family used the nearly lift to return to the upper area. Once they did so it only took Flurry a few moments to track down the crystalline lock, which was to the left of the lift, or on the right side if one was leaving from Freya's house, something that caused Kratos to break the lock before he opened the door, allowing them to see another familiar hidden chamber. Such a thing caused them to ride another lift into the depths, revealing the area that they were expecting to see, and, sure enough, there was a Valkyrie resting in the center of the main chamber, unaware of what was happening outside her prison. With that in mind Kratos made sure the Door that was down here was connected to the rest of the ones they had unlocked so far before they stepped into the arena, as it was time to bring down another Valkyrie, while seeing what sort of powers and skills they had to offer.

Once more Mimir identified their foe for them, this time the helmet was designed after a ram and that told him it was Kara they were fighting, the 'Wild Storm Personified' as he called her, though Kratos was instantly disappointed in her ability as he crashed into her and started the battle.

The reason for his disappointment was due to the fact that Kara seemed inept, because while she used the same attacks with her wings, like her sisters had done, they were far too easy to read and all four of them could dodge them with ease, all while Flurry had to wonder if this was intentional on Kara's part. Not only that, but her scythe attacks were easy to read and allowed Kratos to break through them with his shield, opening the way for them to deal damage to her, while Flurry picked out her weapon for this battle, the Frigid Twinblade, the old weapon of Theseus. She had determined that this Valkyrie really wasn't worth any of her more impressive weapons, rather the icy weapon seemed to be the best right now, her attacks just slowing Kara down as she struck their foe, which was when they found out about her unique power, as Kara had the power to summon draugr to the fight. These draugr looked tough but were nothing to Flurry's might as she swung the twinblade around and slashed at her foes, freezing them so she could smash them to bits, allowing the others to focus on Kara as she tried to use an energy projectile attack, which did nothing to them.

In the end Kara went down with far too much ease for their liking, she was weaker than even Gunnr and Kratos had to take a moment to wonder how in the Nine Realms Kara had been chosen to become a Valkyrie, though that didn't stop him from tearing the wings from her back and killing her corrupted physical form.

You have freed me from my corrupted form... you have my eternal gratitude. Kara said, though at the same time they could tell that something was bothering her, which had to be the fact that the rest of the Valkyries were still trapped in their corrupted forms, or maybe there was something else that was bothering her, However, several of my sisters are still trapped in their prisons and corrupted forms.

"And we will find them." Kratos stated, because it seemed like there was no new information for them to gain from Kara, as if she was the weakest and lowest tier member of the group of Valkyries, which didn't stop Kara from beckoning to her helm before she departed from the area so she could join the rest of her freed sisters.

Flurry found that the rewards were, of course, the helm of the Valkyrie they had just slain, more Asgardian Steel, a talisman that would aid them in battle, and even an enchantment that was added to the collection without delay, causing them to return to the Door so they could return home. Of course there was a chance that Atreus might see Albis this time around, something they needed to correct since it was time for her to know of her existence, but as they stepped out into the area in question Kratos found that Albis was nowhere to be seen. Even the statues were missing, meaning she must have moved all of them to areas outside their home, as to not freak out Atreus when they returned, causing him to focus on the path that would bring them back to the area Faye had worked on before her time came. From there it was a simple matter to track down the crystalline lock and break it open, allowing them to enter another hidden chamber, with another lift that brought them down to another prison, only for Flurry to notice an immediate difference.

There was no Valkyrie inside the prison, rather there was a realm tear and some treasure seeker off to the left that must have found his way into this place before it was sealed, and Atreus even confirmed that by reading the message left behind, informing them that the Valkyrie imprisoned here had either gone to Muspelheim or Niflheim.

"This all but confirms it: Sigrun, the Valkyrie Queen, was behind locking the Valkyries away." Mimir stated, because while he had suspected such a thing, based on everything he had learned over his long life, it was nice to actually figure out what was going on, or at least a piece of the puzzle, even though it left the mystery of how the Valkyries became like this in the first place, which he was willing to blame Odin for.

"And we might learn more by freeing the other Valkyries, which means we need to hunt the other four down." Atreus said, where he had to assume that they were hidden in the other realms they had access to, as they had access to Alfheim, Helheim, Muspelheim, and Niflheim, since the other Towers seemed to be locked, not counting Jotunheim's missing Realm Tower, "And then the Queen, right?"

Flurry nodded and approached the rift that was in the center of the chamber, where it expanded and dropped a couple of enemies for them to fight, a number of Hel-Walkers and a revenant, plus she found a Traveler taking form nearby, causing her to sigh as she pulled out the Dragon Cleaver.

"I really wanted to use this against a worthy foe for it's first test run, a powerful Valkyrie in fact... oh well, I guess a Traveler is better than nothing." Flurry said, though she was intentionally not saying anything about the other enemies as she just flashed over to where the Traveler was standing, who raised his greatsword as she swung the battleaxe down on him, the impact knocking some of the other enemies away as Kratos had Pandora and Atreus stand by him.

Kratos knew he didn't have to worry about being attacked by the undead, because as Flurry and the Traveler moved out into the center of the chamber their attacks slashed through all of the other enemies that were around them, casualties of a battle they shouldn't have been near in the first place. Pandora smiled as her sister went on the offensive, her weapon slashing through the armor on the Traveler's arms and legs like they were nothing, which made sense given that dragons were stronger and tougher than everything else they had encountered, so a weapon made from a dragon would be in a tier all it's own. In addition to that the family could see the lightning arcing from one side of the weapon the other other, as Pandora and the dwarves had designed it to be like the Leviathan Axe, which could frost up and use frost attacks, and this battleaxe was no different, it could create lightning around the head and even use lightning attacks. Flurry knew that fact and pointed the tip of the battleaxe at the Traveler as she readied it's power, releasing a burst of lightning that Atreus realized was just like Hraezlyr's breath attack, which tore a hole through her foe's chest.

Flurry swung the weapon for a moment before returning it to where she kept it, where Pandora could see the smile on her sister's face, indicating that the 'Dragon's Breath' attack worked to her liking, before Flurry collected the armor fragments as she rejoined her family, causing her to look forward to what Muspelheim had to offer them.