God of War: Daughter of War

With the legendary dwarven armor in their possession, and there being nothing else stopping them, Kratos headed into the central chamber of Tyr's Temple as his children followed after him, allowing them to access the console and travel back to Alfheim without wasting time, as there was a Valkyrie waiting for them. A few moments later, once the temple was done with the teleportation process, the family headed out and stepped out into the realm of Alfheim again, though it didn't take too long before they found that some dark elves wanted them dead. Atreus confirmed that it was to avenge the fallen Dark Elf King that had been slain in battle during their last visit, though such a thing didn't stop his father or his sisters from going on the offensive as they tore through the group of dark elves that were in front of them. Thanks to their power the family was able to reach the dock that they had first used when they entered this realm, causing Kratos to climb into the boat that was still waiting for them, waiting for only a few seconds as Atreus and Pandora joined him before setting out.

Flurry, as per usual, flew in the air above them and pointed out where in the realm they had to go to find the area that the Valkyrie of this realm was imprisoned in, and it wasn't long before they approached where the crystalline lock was located, allowing her father to break it open before they descended into the depths once more.

"There she is, the seventh Valkyrie." Atreus commented, as the moment they reached the lowest level he noticed the now familiar figure off in the distance, while at the same time his father activated the Door so they could return to the temple once the Valkyrie was taken care of, causing him to ready his bow as they approached the figure.

Mimir informed them that this was Olrun, due to her eagle helm, who was one of the fastest members of the Valkyries, as she could rush around the area and thrust out at them with her bladed wings, though as they dodged Flurry noticed that Olrun's footwear was designed to help her control her speed and act like a weapon. Such a thing reminded her of Hermes' boots, which aided his speed and could serve as weapons, though she and her father were used to fighting enemies that were faster than most of the other foes they had fought, so they knew what to do next. In response to that discovery Flurry pulled out the Spear of Destiny and attacked Olrun, surprising the Valkyrie and Atreus when they found out that the spear could extend in the direction she was pointing, when she desired such a thing as she had trained herself to master this odd weapon and had greater control over it than they had during their quest to take down the Fates. It was a counter to Olrun's speed, since now she knew that simply rushing in was a bad idea, as she might get caught in the process, though while that only applied to when she fought Flurry they discovered that she also kept her guard up a little when she targeted Kratos or the rest of the family.

At the same time Kratos found that this time around he didn't even need weapons to fight a Valkyrie, as he delivered some powerful punches into the sides of Olrun's body whenever he dodged her attacks and those were enough to cause her to cough up blood after she was struck. It didn't matter if Olrun thrust one of her bladed wings at him or if she spun around to hit them while she was near them, Kratos dodged the attacks like they were nothing and she found that his children were the same, something that allowed Atreus to know that their foe was going to have a difficult time beating them. With that discovery made Kratos found himself disappointed in another Valkyrie, in fact some of them seemed like last second picks for the positions they had been granted, though he didn't express his disappointment in Olrun's abilities as he continued to fight her with his fists. Pandora continued to lash out at their foe with her halberd while Atreus focused on using his runic summons whenever an opportunity to use them presented itself, allowing the family to overwhelm Olrun like they had done to the other Valkyries they had fought so far.

In the end it didn't take them long to knock Olrun into the position that caused Kratos to slam her into the ground before tearing her wings off, slaying her like he had done to all of the other Valkyries they had encountered so far, and, just as the family expected, her spirit appeared before them a few seconds later.

Thank you, I am free... but... why was I imprisoned? Olrun asked, which confirmed that she and her sisters had gone insane and didn't remember anything after that tipping point, so there was a blank spot in their memories and this one wanted to know a vital answer to what had happened to her.

"We don't know for sure, but we're positive that your Queen imprisoned all of you." Atreus replied, which was the truth he and his family had come up with, backed by Mimir's statements, but even then there was information they were missing to know the full story.

But... why would Sigrun hinder our duty? Olrun inquired, where they could tell that she was confused by everything she was learning right now, not that there was anything they could do to ease her mind, and it was clear that she could tell that they were in the same situation she was in.

"That the very mystery that we're trying to solve, milady." Mimir said, because he was struggling to understand why Sigrun would go to such lengths, even if the other Valkyries had been corrupted to this extent, without searching for another way to break them free of their foul madness.

Olrun stared at them for a few more moments before departing, allowing Flurry to collect her helm, the Asgardian Steel that all Valkyries dropped, a waist piece to match the other Valkyrie armor they had acquired so far, and a yellow stone of some power that she handed to Pandora, who inserted it into the slot on the back of her hand.

"Two more slots... where do you think the other two stones are?" Atreus asked, because Pandora's gauntlet was one of the more interesting things in their possession, even though it paled in comparison to Flurry's sickles, weapons that seemed to be beyond anything he had seen since the start of this quest.

"I imagine one is in the hands of a Valkyrie... as for the other, who knows." Pandora admitted, as she doubted that both of the remaining stones were in the possession of the remaining two Valkyries, even though it would be hilarious if that was how it turned out in the end, that Rota had one and Sigrun had the second one.

Kratos said nothing to that as they returned to the Door and used it to return to the temple once more, allowing them to speak with Mimir about Sigrun and how she must have been consumed by her hatred or revenge for Odin, causing her to forsake her duty to spite him by depriving him of warriors for Ragnarok. Of course that had the side effect of messing with the balance and causing Midgard to fill with Hel-Walkers, but it seemed like her decision to do this might have been made with her madness starting to take hold of her, or at least it was that way to Kratos. While they talked Flurry found that they were able to return to the temple and her father walked over to the console once more, where he switched it to lock onto Helheim this time around and activated the process once more, since that was where the last of the eight lesser Valkyries was likely resting. When they stepped out into Helheim once more Flurry discovered that what she had seen the last time was still true right now, all of the Hel-Walkers on this side of the bridge seemed to stay out of their way, and when Atreus' focus was on another area some even bowed to her, but she ignored them as she tracked down the final lock.

Once they located where the crystalline lock was located in, passing by a golden chest that contained an enchantment that looked like a dragon charm, before they descended into the depths of the final prison, accessed the Door that was down there, and stepped out into Rota's domain, as Mimir recognized her deer helm.

Rota's attack style seemed to be rushing around the area and either grabbing her chosen foe, to slam them into the floor, or appear out of the air above them and kick her foe in the face a few times, where Flurry found that her fingers seemed sharper than the other Valkyries, like she had a claw weapon of some sort. Kratos, the one being the one on the receiving end of those attacks, broke out of them without delay and struck Rota with the Blades of Chaos, knocking her back as both Pandora and Atreus continued to strike her like they had previously. Flurry, on the other hand, pulled out another weapon from her bag, the Blade of Artemis, where Kratos found that her training with the Blade of Olympus had allowed her to use this greatsword with a single hand as well, even though she could use both if she wanted to. Rota, understanding that the weapon was coming at her, used her arms and legs to block the attacks from Flurry's weapon, though she failed to account for the fact that the attacks were stronger than what she might have been used to dealing with when she and all of the other Valkyries were training.

Atreus found that this blade, while not having the sheer raw power of the one that was on Flurry's back, was still enough to deal damage to Rota's armor and sides, and all Flurry dodged the incoming attacks from the Valkyrie like they were the slowest she had seen, and a diagonal attack later ended the fight as their father tore Rota's wings off, killing her just like her sisters.

I... am free? Rota inquired, where it was clear that she was surprised by this fact, or maybe it was due to the fact that Flurry had just overpowered her with the blade she had chosen for this fight, and was now returning to her bag, though at the same time she seemed happy with this turn of events.

"Tell us: do you know where your Queen is?" Kratos asked, even though he and his children suspected that she was inside the council chamber they needed to track down, despite the fact that Flurry had an idea as to where they could find that area could be, while Rota seemed unsure of things, "She did this to you, letting the dead plague Midgard in the process."

"...The Rocstoll aff Valkyrs... if the Council of Eight are reunited, she might answer out call." Rota replied, confirming their thoughts as best as she could, since she also had no idea where Sigrun might be hiding, though after saying that they found that the Valkyrie started to depart from the area, meaning she had nothing else she wanted to share with them.

With that in mind Flurry collected the final helmet, the Asgardian Steel, a pommel that could be added to her father's blades, and a powerful red stone that Pandora inserted into the slot above her index finger, leaving only the thumb slot empty of a stone of power.

"With the Council of Eight slain, it is time we faced Sigrun and brought an end to the plague of dead." Flurry said, which was when her family nodded their heads in agreement, though at the same time Kratos beckoned for her to lead the way to where she assumed the council chamber was located.

Such a thing was followed by them returning to the nearby Door and using it to reach the area that Sindri had been in just after Jormungandr moved the temple's bridge to point them in the direction of Thamur's corpse, where they stepped out of the Door on the other side. From there she pointed out something she had seen while flying around while the others had been walking through the passage the last two times, there were some indents that Kratos could use to climb on and he did so without delay, where they found that it lead them to a higher area. That, in turn, brought them to a large stone door that he opened, revealing a curved walkway that went down into a large circular area that just so happened to have eight stone thrones around the outermost edge, which Mimir claimed had to be the Rocstoll aff Valkyrs, a myth which had been made reality thanks to the family discovering it's existence. The family walked down into the chamber and found that each throne had a banner on it, which Mimir and Atreus were able to translate as the names of all eight Valkyries, letting them know where to place each helm, so Kratos would approach one and Flurry would pull out the helm in question so he could place it.

Such a thing created a vestige of the Valkyrie that the helm belonged to, sitting in their assigned throne, like a piece of their spirit had been stored inside their helms for this purpose, and once the last one was in place a rift appeared in the center of the chamber, though when Kratos touched it a new Valkyrie, wearing golden armor and appearing more regal that the eight they had seen so far, grabbed him by the head and knocked him into the ground until he broke free.

"And there she is: Sigrun, the Valkyrie Queen." Flurry remarked, where she held her hand towards the sky for a moment and released a bit of magic that had the rune Freya had put on their necks mixed into it, forming a barrier around the area that would keep Baldur in the dark about what was going on, all while she drew the Dragon Cleaver as she noticed that Sigrun's helm was modeled after a dragon, "Come, let us see how she fares in comparison to all of her fallen sisters."

The first thing they discovered was that Sigrun, as they expected, had all of the attacks that the other Valkyries had, only she was faster and more agile than all of her sisters had been, forcing them to pay close attention to her movements and dodge out of the way, to avoid being damaged by her attacks. In addition to that Sigrun could flap her wings in a manner that let out a wave of energy that pushed them backwards, which was interesting to see, though that was followed by them quickly realizing that she also had the powers of the other eight Valkyries at her disposal. What Flurry meant by that was the fact that Sigrun had the power to call upon fire and set out fireballs or even meteors like Gondul, could use the moisture that was around them to make all sorts of ice based attacks like Hildr, and could manipulate smoke like Geirdriful. It was easy to say that the other eight Valkyries were like training obstacles for them to face, to be prepared for this particular foe, which was a fact that Kratos, Flurry, and Pandora acknowledged as they continued to move around the area with Atreus following after his father, all while they focused on what Sigrun was doing.

Another move she had in her arsenal was the fact that she jumped into the air and rapidly landed on the ground, in a whole new portion of the arena, before returning to the air and doing this again for a couple of moments, each time landing in a different area to confuse her enemies. Flurry was sure that getting hit by that attack would be very painful, which was why her focus was on following Sigrun as she swung the Dragon Cleaver down on their foe, who used her own scythe to block the attack, causing the air and the area around them to shudder under the weight of their energies coming into contact with each other. She could tell that Sigrun's scythe was far more elegant and dangerous than the weapons of her slain sisters, though at the same time she knew it wouldn't measure up to her own scythe, a weapon she really didn't want to use, which was followed by her just pushing her foe backwards as she lashed out at the Valkyrie Queen. While she did that Pandora appeared behind their foe and punched Sigrun in the side, where Flurry found that the purple stone was glowing, likely enhancing her power, though it only meant that it was a good thing they had acquired all of those stones before challenging their powerful foe.

As they clashed both Flurry and Pandora found that the armor they had gathered for their father was proving to be quite a good investment, because it tanked some of Sigrun's attacks and allowed him to strike her in return, something that was followed by him and Pandora knocking her into the air. While Sigrun regained herself, however, Flurry called on the power of her new axe before releasing a burst of lightning energy, like a dragon loosing their breath attack, that barreled into the Valkyrie Queen and blasted the area she was in like she was facing the wrath of an actual dragon. When Sigrun emerged from the smoke they found that her armor had been damaged by Flurry's attack, based on the scuff marks on it, where the figure released her full power as she rushed down to them, the collision of her scythe and Flurry's axe causing nearly everything inside the barrier to shudder and shake. That fact, alone, told everyone that the Valkyrie Queen was serious and was going to be using her full power against them, like she had been testing them despite her madness, causing the family to lash out at Sigrun with their own powers and abilities.

Atreus was stunned by what happened next, as he found that his father and sisters were definitely stronger than he had seen previously, like they finally had a chance to fight someone at their full power, or at least that was true in the case of his father and Pandora. Flurry, on the other hand, Atreus could tell was still holding back the majority of her power, to the point where he slowly realized that all of them were still holding back and that they were fortunate that Flurry's barrier was up, otherwise everything around this area would be breaking. It was like when his father fought Baldur, their battle just shook everything that had been in the direction heading away from their house and it shattered the earth like it was made of twigs, and he could only imagine what would have happened if the barrier wasn't in place. In fact that thought made Atreus wonder how strong his sister might actually be, especially since their father stopped her back when he was being so rude to everyone, before he focused on the battle once more as they continued to rain blow after blow on Sigrun, who was struggling to keep up with them now.

As he did that, however, he found magic gathering around Flurry's left fist as she punched Sigrun in the chest, where he and the others found that it directly damaged the Valkyrie Queen's power, like she had attacked her magical power, and as Sigrun fell backwards Kratos seized the opportunity by severing her wings like he had done to the previous Valkyries, ending in her spirit forming in front of them.

Thank you, friends, for you have saved the Valkyries. Sigrun said, though it was easy for them to tell that she was still shaken after being on the receiving end of Flurry's power, especially one that happened to do what it did, all while Kratos lifted Mimir out so he could see what was going on as well, which she noticed, Mimir... is that you?

"Yes, Love, it's me. Tell us, how did this come to pass?" Mimir replied, because while he was overjoyed to see that they had been able to save Sigrun as well, he was still saddened by the fact that she had been corrupted in the first place, where he felt that his own situation paled in comparison to what Sigrun was dealing with.

Countless winters we have served the All-Father, but only through his union to the Queen, the true Valkyrie Queen, were we able to taste even a measure of freedom. Sigrun answered, revealing that it was likely a story that she was going to tell in a shortened form, no doubt understanding that they were on their own quest and saving the Valkyries, while noble, had never been in the cards until they deemed it necessary, When the All-Father severed the True Queen's wings, I was chosen to serve in her absence... but that wasn't enough for Odin. He... used an archaic piece of magic, one that corrupted my sisters... I tried to contain the damage by sealing them away, in places where they could do no harm, but as you know I lost myself as well. Now that we are freed, and are no longer bound to our corrupted forms, I must rejoin my sisters and undo the damage that has been done to the realms... you have the eternal blessings of the Valkyries.

Mimir, despite wanting to speak with her more, nodded his head and allowed Sigrun to depart so she could do what had to be done with the other Valkyries, though as that happened Flurry collected her helm and the now powerless helms of the Council of Eight, along with more Asgardian Steel, an axe pommel piece, and a green stone of power that Pandora put into the empty slot of her powerful gauntlet.

"I stand corrected, the Valkyries definitely had the other stones." Pandora said, though she wasn't sure what she could do with the powerful artifact, other than put herself on a level that matched her father, which was when she glanced at the rest of the family for a moment, "So, back to the temple?"

Kratos nodded, as it was time for them to return to their main quest and see what was in the depths of the temple, as they knew Tyr had left something in a secret chamber and all they had to do was find it to secure the path to Jotunheim so their quest could be completed at long last, putting him in a good mood as he looked forward to what the future held in store for all of them.