This is gonna be a really long chapter, so I hope everyone enjoys it.
The Power to kill a God part 2
As Calliope entered the Desert of Lost Souls, she thought of her Alecto and Sylvia, wanting to have them with her right now but she knew that she had to get the Box of Chaos alone. Once she wiped her tears away, she went through the strong winds of sand and saw a statue of Athena that was glowing. "What is it, Athena? I'm not in the mood for your games right now." The Ghost of Sparta said with an angry face.
"Calliope, the journey forward will not be easy, but you must complete it if you are to have any hope of saving Athens."
"The Oracle told us of the Box of Chaos. Is it real?" Calliope asked, having heard about the legendary box but never thinking that it could actually be real.
"The Box does exist. It is the most powerful weapon a mortal can wield. Athena said, confirming that the Box of Chaos was indeed real.
"And with that Box, I can finally kill that bastard Ares?"
"With the Box, many things become possible, and so it is hidden well, far beyond the desert of Lost Souls. There is safe passage through the desert sands but only those who hear and follow the Sirens' song will discover it. You must find the Sirens, Calliope. Only they can guide you to Cronos, the Titan." Athena advised, while also revealing that the Titan King himself was alive.
"The Titan King himself? I thought Zeus banished all the Titans to Tartarus?" Calliope, remembering that she saw some of the Titans in Tartarus, despite feeling deep pity for them to be in torment like that and wondering what they did to deserve it.
"He did, but Zeus had a far worse punishment for Cronos. He has commanded him to wonder the desert endlessly with the Temple of Chaos chained to his back, until the sands rip the very flesh from his very bones." Athena answered while also revealing the punishment Zeus had for the Titan King. "Stay true to the song of the Sirens, Calliope. Your journey begins here. Prey it leads you back to Athens before it's too late." She said before the statue didn't glow anymore.
Calliope then went through the desert and searched through dense sandstorms to locate the sirens, relying almost entirely on her sense of hearing for guidance, finding some chests in the area and opening them all. The Ghost of Sparta found 1 of the Sirens, using light combos to slash it with until she killed it by breaking her back, causing its soul to go to the doorway to the north, showing the way out of the storm. Calliope then looked for the other 2 sirens and found them...with Minotaur bodyguards. Lady Death knew this would not be easy until she felt something strapped to her: Medusa's head.
"How did-? Wait... Alecto." Calliope said to herself with a smile, knowing that her lover must have secretly put the head of the Gorgon' Queen on her outfit to make her fights much easier. The Ghost of Sparta then used Medusa's head to freeze the minotaurs and smashed them to pieces before killing the other sirens, causing the doorway to the north to open.
Calliope went to the doorway and went inside the ruined building and went through the hallway into a room with a large conveyor belt below. She dropped down to the conveyor belt and lifted open a nearby door to reveal a small stone box before undead soldiers appeared but Calliope quickly killed them and moved the stone box to the left end of the conveyor belt before jumping up to the upper ledge and continued forward through the hallway and saw a stone picture of the Gods approaching the great Chief Architect, Pathos Verdes III on the left side and a picture of Cronos with the temple chained to his back crawling through the desert on the right.
"So he's the one the Gods wanted to build the Temple of Chaos. I wonder how many years it took for him and all the other people with him to finally finish it?" Calliope asked herself, knowing that it must have taken the great architect to build that temple.
The Ghost of Sparta then went outside and blew the horn at the end of the platform to clear away a heavy sandstorm ahead before she ran the cleared path. When she reached the upper platform, she fought with 3 sirens simultaneously, using 2 hit light combos and blocking their attacks immediately afterward before using Poseidon's Rage to finish off the sirens quickly. When the sirens were dead, Calliope blew on the horn to call forth Cronos, who came to her in a matter of minutes, with a pained look on his face.
"I don't know what you and your kind did to anger Zeus so much, Cronos but being chained like that and being forced to wander around this desert endlessly is just wrong and cruel. But unfortunately, there's nothing I can do to even ease your pain by even a little bit." Calliope thought with pity at seeing Cronos suffering like this for whatever reason Zeus felt was wrong. But unfortunately, Calliope knew that there was nothing she could do to help him at least ease his pain before she swinged on the chain hanging from the temple before beginning to climb up on giant rock to reach the top.
Cronos, the last of the mighty Titans, emerged from the desert sands. On his back, the Temple of Chaos waited, massive and patient, ready to challenge all who went in search of its most guarded treasure. For half a day, Calliope climbed and while it almost took its toll on her, the thought of Alecto and Sylvia gave her the strength and will to continue. The Ghost of Sparta knew that she would either find the Box of Chaos or die in the temple, never to return to the world of men and most importantly, her lover and daughter.
After Calliope reached the entrance of the Temple, she saw a disfigured man burning bodies before he saw her and spoke. "So, you think you can conquer the Temple of the Gods do you?"
"Nothing will stand in my way of claiming the power to destroy Ares, once and for all!" Calliope says angry and determined to the disfigured Body Borner, who just rolled his eyes.
"It's never been done you know. Sooner or later, the Harpies will bring what's left of you, back for me to burn." At that moment, one Harpy brought another dead body to throw in the pyre. The Body Burner walked to Calliope saying. "The Gods hid the Box of Chaos in here so no mortal would ever claim its power. And yet, year after year I open the gate for more and more soldiers and place more and more bodies on these pyres. So many men have tried, and so many have failed, either for good or evil. You will be no exception, even if you are a woman. If I were you, I'd leave now."
But just before Calliope could get more angry and demand that the Body Burner to open the gate for her, he said while shrugging. "But I can see you are determined. Very well."
After the Body Burner had commanded the Harpies to open the gate for her, he continued in a mocking voice like he had to everyone who came before Calliope. "May the Gods grant you strength to conquer the perils that lay before you. Good luck, Spartan."
But before continuing, Calliope looked to the disfigured man and felt some pity for him and wondered how he ended up like this. The Body Burner noticed it and told her how he ended like this and why he now must burn all the bodies of the man that failed the trials. "I know, my... somewhat dishevelled state is disgusting. I was the first to attempt the Temple and the first to die. The Gods punished me for my failure and now I must tend to all who have followed me and perished, but these 'fallen heroes' are to be used as new monsters for the temple, making it more and more harder for every new man... or in your case, women to finish the trials."
But this was not going to stop Calliope, she was going inside and was going to get the Box of Chaos, by any means necessary. She jumped down to the clearing where the gate was located and 2 cyclops appeared but the Ghost of Sparta quickly used Medusa's head to freeze them before smashing them to pieces before going through the gate. Lady Death then went up the stairway and opened 2 more chests before pulling the lever at the center of the platform to open the large doorway. When she stepped into the hall and was attacked by a pack of wraiths and archers but she fought them off by killing the archers 1st before using Poseidon's Rage on the wraiths before reading a journal entry of Pathos Verdes III, how be was approached by Zeus and commanded to build the Temple of Chaos and that only one hero would solve its puzzles and fight off its dangers while all others would meet their doom.
"And I have a feeling that this is only the 1st of his journals that are scattered across this temple." Calliope said to herself before going to the nearby door that opened up and entered the Rings of Chaos.
Calliope ran around the ring hall until she reached the far end of it and went through a doorway on the right that led to a brief obstacle course. Lady Death dodged between the slamming spiked walls by waiting for them to pull apart and quickly rolled past them and entered the next where she quickly killed a group of archers on the far side of it before gathering the items in the room before pulling the lever at the end of the room, making a crank come down in the ring hall and the spiked walls to pull apart for good. Calliope went back to the ring hall and operated the crank until she saw a doorway with a glowing light and ran up to it before seeing the head of Artemis appeared.
"Artemis." Calliope greeted.
"Calliope. The Gods demand more from you. You have learned to use the Blades of Chaos well, but they alone will not be enough to complete your task. I offer you the very blade I used to slay a Titan. Take this weapon, Calliope and use it to defeat your enemies." She said before the blade appeared and Calliope took it, finding it easy to carry despite its size. "Go forth, Calliope. Go forth in the name of Olympus." She finished before the doorway opened.
"Quite the big Blade but if it gives me a chance to get this task done, I'll take it." Calliope said with admiration for the blade. She went through the hallway and came into a large room where undead soldiers and Gorgons appeared. Calliope used her new weapon to kill them with ease while avoiding the Gorgons' stone gaze until they were all dead. The Ghost of Sparta went to the far end of the room and went up a broken set of stairs where she used Zues' Fury to kill the archers on the other side of the platform before killing some undead soldiers with Artemis' blade and balanced across the beam to reach the other side of the room where she pulled the lever to lower down a long rope into the abyss below.
Calliope ran to the ledge and slid down the rope into the pit below and climbed a rope across the chasm while killing a few soldiers and seeing many normal soldiers and undead soldiers fighting each other. As much as Calliope wanted to help, she knew that she didn't have any time to and proceeded forward and picked up the Shield of Hades. But when she did, a few undead soldiers appeared but Calliope killed them all with Poseidon's Rage and the Blade of Artemis before opening 2 more chests before jumping back to the ledge, climbing back up the rope and entering the hall to the right where she killed a couple of Gorgons before moving a block of wood to the room on the left side of the hallway and close to a rotating door before using it to push the pressure switch to rotate the door and quickly rolling into it to get to the other side where armored undead soldiers tried to attack her but Lady Death used her Blade of Artemis to kill them before opening the 3 chests in the room before climbing up the ladder to reach the upper level of the previous room. Calliope balanced across the beam to reach 2 hidden chests that she opened before getting the Shield of Zeus before dropping back down to the floor of the room and inserting both shields into the door on the far back of the room to open it.
After the door was opened, she ran down the newly opened hallway and climbed the ladder at the top, following the path she entered a large room with spinning buzzsaws that lined the floor. Calliope used careful timing to get past the buzzsaws to reach the doorway on the right side of the room before heading down the hall and smashing through the wall where she killed 3 undead soldiers before reaching a long hall with spiked walls and a conveyor belt. The Ghost of Sparta used very careful timing to get past the spiked walls because of the conveyor belt and when she reached the far end of the hall to a cliffside area, Calliope climbed the mountain face and fought off a bunch of undead soldiers as she made her way around the cliffs while finding a pair of hidden chests that she opened. When Lady Death reached the landing, she found a chest and opened it, along with a lever. She pulled the lever to drop a chain before entering the room ahead. The room was filled with undead soldiers and sirens, but she killed all of them with her the Plume of Prometheus attack and the Rage of Poseidon to kill them all, making the magic barrier on the far end will disappear before she went to the platform and grabbed the handle.
Calliope went back the way she came and jumped onto the long chain she previously dropped before climbing the chain to the top to open 2 chests before riding the chain down to ground level. She ran down the hall to the left to backtrack a bit and found a part of the walkway with a broken railing before jumping over the gap in the floor to reaching a hidden area with 2 more chests that she opened before jumping back to the main walkway and running through the spiked walls again to return to the room with the spinning buzzsaws. Lady Death used careful timing to get to the 2 levers in the room and once they were both pulled, she ran to the doorway to enter the next hall and slid along the wall on the right to reach the other side and lifted the door to enter the room with undead soldiers and minotaurs. Calliope killed the archers 1st before using Medusa's head to freeze the minotaurs and smashed them before killing the rest of the soldiers. When all are dead, Calliope ran behind the Atlas statue and picked up the Muse Key from the chest as well as placed the handle she previously grabbed in the divot in front of Atlas statue, allowing her to move the globe above Atlas' head.
Once she did that, Calliope headed to the upper level and opened a few more chests before pulling the nearby lever, making the wooden rod on the back wall push the globe to the door, breaking it down and clearing the way for the Ghost of Sparta. Calliope jumped down to the lower level and went outside through the doorway, opening another chest before crossing a walkway with a coffin at the end and another one of Pathos Verdes' journal that revealed that the person in the coffin was his youngest son, who died in service to the Gods to build the Temple, saddening Calliope.
"I have a feeling that this is only the 1st coffin I'll find around this temple." The Ghost of Sparta said to herself sadly before opening the coffin and reluctantly taking the son's skull, as it was the key to unlocking the door in the Rings of Chaos. The coffin platform moved forward to reveal a tunnel entrance that Calliope jumped into before running through the large tunnel and seeing a massacred pile of human soldier bodies, making the Ghost of Sparta see another painful memory of her long dead father.
The wrecked bodies of those who had gone in search of the Box of Chaos lay before her. And at once, Calliope knew who was responsible, for this was not the 1st time she had seen the death that Ares and his minions had left in their wake. The memories of her father, Kratos allowed her to see what he experienced 1st hand when he was alive. Kratos, the youngest and boldest captain of the Spartan army, had inspired fierce loyalty in his men, and it had always been enough to carry them through any battle... until that fateful day they faced the barbarians. The Barbarians, numbed in the thousands, fought Kratos and the Spartan army... without mercy. The battle lasted mere hours and even the discipline and training of the Spartans did little to break the tide of the merciless barbarians. The soldiers faced a massacre... while their young captain faced the end of his brilliant career and his life. But to Kratos, victory was worth any price...even his life. As the Barbarian King was about to deliver the final blow, Kratos had called to Ares, making an oath to him that if the God of War would destroy his enemies...he would give him his soul. But that desperate call for and... would prove to be Kratos' downfall...and would come to haunt his only child...for the rest of her days.
"By the Gods, father, why did you do it?" Calliope asked herself with pity for her father, still to this day, not understanding how her father would favor victory over dying with honor at the cost of his soul and starting the chain of events that changed her life forever.
Calliope went to the end of the tunnel and opened another chest before opening the door and entering the room that she previously pulled the lever to stop the spiked walls. Calliope went through the hallway and dealt with a few undead soldiers with the Blade of Artemis before re-entering the Rings of Chaos and inserted the Architect's Son's head into the skull on the wall within the ring to open up a doorway to a second Ring. When she entered the Ring, she ran from the giant roller until she saw a set of stairs and quickly went up before waiting for the roller to get close enough to jump on it. Calliope ran clockwise until she saw a ladder and jumped on it, making it to down and a trap door to open up on the floor for the roller to fall into before closing back up again. The Ghost of Sparta climbed the ladder to the upper level where she opened more chests and followed the path upstairs to reach the Challenge of Poseidon.
The Ghost of Sparta walked down the stone path until she entered a circular arena where cerberus creatures appeared, along with many baby Cerberus. Calliope dealt with the big Cerberus 1st while watching out for the baby Cerberus attacks from behind. Once she cut all the heads of the big Cerberus off, she quickly killed the baby Cerberus with the Rage of Poseidon before moving forward. 2 cyclops appeared but Calliope used Medusa's head to turn them to stone and smashed them to pieces before continuing on while killing some baby Cerberus. When Calliope got to the next area, she saw a large group of archers pointing their bows and arrows at her. The Ghost of Sparta knew that she couldn't kill them unless they dropped their guard, so she decided to use a tactic that she hadn't used since falling in love with Alecto.
Calliope smiled innocently and seductively as she began stroking her body. "Way to go, boys, you caught me. I can't beat a whole group of archers such as yourselves like this. In fact, I think you deserve a nice reward." She said, making the soldiers interested as they lowered their weapons. Calliope stripped out of her outfit seductively, starting with her cape before going to her top while stroking her breasts sexually before getting out of her bottoms until she was completely naked before stepping away from her outfit. "How would you fine soldiers like to have the sexy body of the Ghost of Sparta. I mean, who can say they had the 2nd greatest thing next to the Goddess of Love herself?" Calliope said seductively as she rubbed her right index and middle fingers against her pussy slowly while rubbing her left breast with her left hand while tweaking her nipple. "Well, what do you all say? Drop those bows and arrows and come and get me, boys. I'm waiting for a good fuck." The soldiers became so clouded by lust at seeing Calliope's naked body and her seductive moves, having not had a woman for as long as they could remember. They dropped their bows and arrows completely and slowly walked up to her to take her body. When they got close enough to take the Ghost of Sparta, Calliope quickly conjured up the Blade of Artemis and decapitated them all with a quick spin, killing them all instantly. When they were all dead, Lady Death quickly put her outfit back on while saying mentally to herself. "I may have stopped doing that tactic when I fell in love with Alecto, but I'm glad it still works. I'm just glad Sylvia wasn't here to see me do this, but maybe I could teach her to use this tactic...when she's in her teenage years."
After that, Calliope entered the circle room and pulled the lever in the middle. She stood by the cage as the room spinned and quickly opened 4 chests before the room stopped to reveal another doorway that she went through and killed a few undead soldiers before climbing up the ledge on the mountainside before moving to the right and opening another chest before moving to the left and to reach a landing with a few minotaurs that she froze with Medusa's head before going into the next hallway to the sacrifice chamber, where all the previous soldiers that had failed in claiming the Box of Chaos had been put into cages to await being transformed into monsters for their failure.
Calliope felt pity and sadness for all the soldiers, as they would eventually receive a card worse than death. The Ghost of Sparta saw a crack with a missing handle and moved forward through the chamber, finding the body of a dead soldier with a note beside him that said that the Box of Chaos' power wasn't worth anyone's life. Calliope then saw words on the door written by Pathos Verdes that was a riddle that said to sacrifice the ultimate to proceed further. Calliope knew what the riddle meant and knew that it was the only way to move forward. She then picked up the handle to the crank and headed back to it before putting the handle into it and operating it to bring 1 of the cages down before walking up to it.
"Oh, thank the Gods you've come. Open the bars and get me out of here." The soldier said with relief, thinking he was finally free. "What are you waiting for? We can find our way back to Athens."
But unfortunately, Calliope knew what she had to do and looked at the soldiers with sadness. "I'm so sorry, but the way forward demands sacrifice...and unfortunately...that means... you have to...die."
"No! Please, I beg you! Don't do this! There must be another way!"
"There isn't. But if you don't die now, you'll eventually be turned into a monster to guard this damn temple. But if you are sacrificed now, you'll be spared that awful fate. The only way to prevent it from happening to anyone else...is for me to get to the Box...or there won't be any hope for Athens, my lover and daughter...or anyone." Calliope said with sadness, knowing that there was no other way. She then pushed the cage to the sacrifice room while killing undead soldiers that tried to stop her until the cage was in the room before putting the cage on the floor switch that made the fire machines moved forward and point at the cage. Before she pulled the lever, Calliope looked at the soldiers with sadness. "I'm so very sorry." She said before reluctantly pulling the lever to burn the soldier alive as the cage went into the floor before the doorway opening and the Ghost of Sparta went through it and found a walkway that had a statue of Poseidon, along with his Trident. Once Lady Death opened the chests on the upper levels, she took the Trident and put it back upside down, giving her the ability to breath and swim underwater.
Calliope dived underwater in the pool to the right and followed the underwater tunnel, smashing through a few walls before surfacing in a small cave that was swarming with cerberus pups that she killed with Poseidon's Rage before opening the door at the far end of the room and pulling the lever behind it before returning to the previous room she found the Trident and killed a cerberus and some harpies that were waiting for her before going to the end of the walkway and climbing up the large block behind the statue of Poseidon.
Lady Death dived into a tunnel that led underwater and followed the underwater tunnel forward and swam down to the lower level, continuing along the linear path until she reached a fork in the tunnel and swam to the surface. Calliope headed to the left and fought off a few undead soldiers before opening another chest and going to the cracked wall and destroying it with her blades, revealing a corridor with another chest that she opened before going back underwater and swimming along and entering a tunnel that looked like the mouth of Poseidon. As she entered, the walls around her started to close in, so Calliope quickly got across the tunnel by using her charge swim move. When she reached the end, she emerged from the water into an area that was swarming with harpies and undead soldiers that she killed using Poseidon's Rage and her Blade of Artemis before opening the chests around the area before she backtracked through the mouth of Poseidon and took a left at the fork in the tunnel and swam through the now open path and saw a cracked wall she smashed through into a tunnel that led upwards to a room with more chests that she opened before heading back underwater and swam down the tunnel below Poseidon's statue before entering a chamber below that had fast moving panels that moved through the chamber, so Calliope used her swim cash to get past them while also taking cover in 2 recesses before making it to the end and swimming down even lower before emerging into a huge room with a few minotaurs that she killed by using Medusa's head and her blades before pulling the lever at the back of the room to raise a series of platforms that led across the room. Calliope jumped across the platforms and killed off the undead soldiers that appeared before opening nearby chests and diving back in the water to return to the lever that she had just pulled. She pulled the lever once more to raise the platforms and then very quickly dived into the water on the left side of the platforms and went to the base of the very last platform and into a small opening that went down and swam back to the surface to the room with a giant mechanism.
Calliope ran down the hall to the right and killed a few undead soldiers before getting back into the Rings of Chaos. Once back in the rings, she went through the nearest doorway to enter the inner-ring and ran around to find the stairways on the left and up the stairs to reach the pool in the center of the room. She dived in and went underwater into a tunnel followed it to a new room with a large locked door at the end that she knew she couldn't open yet, so she smashed through the wall to the right and went forward to enter the Challenge of Hades.
After opening the chests around the room, Calliope went to the door with Hades' curving on it and accepted the request for offering. When she did, a small army of centaurs came into the room. Calliope stepped into the glowing rings and when the centaurs got closed to her, she used her naked body as a distraction while rubbing her breasts and pussy, making the centaurs look at her in lust before they dropped their weapons and went to take her body. While they were distracted by her naked breasts and pussy, the Ghost of Sparta quickly killed them all by freezing them with a blast of Medusa's power before smashing them all, making the door open. Calliope went through it and into the maze, getting past the obstacles on the lower and upper levels and killing every monster she could find for the blood sacrifice door to open. Lady Death went through it and opened the door to the left and pulled the lever to make the statue of Hades rise from the bloody water below before jumping into it and swimming down to the bottom and pulling the lever in the statue to bring the light out of Hades' eyes before climbing up to the head and using the crack to turn it around, making the light start the fires that lit up the darkened room.
Calliope went inside the room and avoided the large fireballs while quickly opening the side doors until she got to the end of the room and killed some archers, opening some chests and reading another of Pathos Verdes' journals before going back and went through the 3rd left side door where she dealt with a few Minotaurs with Medusa's head and smashing them before killing the archers on the lower and upper levels before going through the left path that led a rope that she went across while killing some undead soldiers before Calliope reached the end and dropped down to a circular arena where she fought off centaurs, minotaurs and archers before jumping up the ladder nearby and into a hall above. The Ghost of Sparta then balanced through the beams carefully while avoiding the spinning blades, opening the chests around the area before getting followed the path to a set of wooden stairs, at the top of which she found a minotaur-head hatch. Lady Death flipped the hatch, releasing the lock on the large door just ahead before following the stairs downwards and exiting back to the area with the large door that was just unlocked. The door at the end of the hall was being jostled by something behind it as Calliope approached the doorway, only for the Temple Guardian to bust out and road at her.
Calliope knew that she'd have to be quick and think up her strategy to kill this giant freak, so she ran to the main platform at the front of the hall and got on it as the guardian rushed to her. The massive beast tried to attack but Calliope avoided every attack while using her Might of Hercules attack to deal some damage until the guardian ran to the middle of the hall and crouched down as Calliope followed it and got on top of it, using her blades to bring the beast down hard, stunning it long enough for Calliope to run back to the platform and pull the lever on the left side to activate the spear shooter, causing great damage to the guardian. Calliope repeated the process 2 more times while damaging its armor until it was completely gone before Calliope used her Rage of Poseidon and her blades until it was stunned enough for the Ghost of Sparta to fire another wooden spear at the guardian, pinning it to the large door and killing while its right foot made a hole in the door for Calliope to go through.
Lady Death ascended the tall set of stairs and found another coffin, which after reading another journal by Pathos Verdes, found out that it belonged to his 2nd and last son, saddening the Ghost of Sparta, as she could understand what pain the architect went through, as she was now a mother herself. After opening the chests in the room, Calliope opened the coffin and reluctantly took the son's skull from its dead body and went back down the stairs to the large room she killed the guardian and went up to the glowing door she 1st entered the room in before the head of Hades appeared.
"Hades." Calliope said with contempt for the god of the Underworld, knowing that he was most likely enjoying torturing her father's soul.
"Your progress is impressive, Calliope. But your skills will not be enough to accomplish your goal. I offer you the Souls of Hades itself, the souls of the Dead, who stand ready to fight by your side." Hades said before giving Calliope the power to summon the souls of the dead to fight with her. "Take this power, Calliope and use it to defeat your enemies." After Calliope used her new power to kill some undead soldiers, Hades spoke again before letting Calliope pass. "Go forth, Calliope. Go with the Gods in the name of Olympus."
Calliope passed the doorway and swam back through the tunnel to the Rings of Chaos before inserting the Architect's Son's Head into the skull door, making it open and making the water drain. She saw a mechanism like the 1 in the room with the statue of Poseidon and knew what she had to do. After using the cranks in the Rings to set them the right way, the Ghost of Sparta went to the room with the statue of Poseidon and killed some undead soldiers before using the crank to bring the mechanism together. After that, the beam of light was complete, making the giant statue rise a bit. Calliope went to the statue and pulled the lever, making the statue rise to the higher levels of the temple. After it finished rising, Calliope went back to the inner Ring but before she entered it, she heard Athena's voice.
"Your progress is impressive, Calliope. But be warned: once you reach the upper levels of the temple, you will not be able to return without the Box of Chaos." The Goddess warned.
"Yeah, I get it, Athena. But I've been doing just fine so far, so te upper levels shouldn't be a problem." Calliope said with annoyance before going into the Ring and pulling the lever to make the elevator go up.
As Calliope rose through the massive temple constructed to guard the Box of Chaos, she realized that it was not only a monument to the Gods of Olympus, but to the madness of the mortal who designed it. She'd conquered the lower floors of the Temple of Chaos, but what waited for her above would test even the greatest of warriors.
When the elevator stopped, Calliope stepped into the hands of the statue and they put her on the cliff edge ahead. She moved forward and was confronted by 3 satyrs that she killed with the Rage of Poseidon, making the barrier disappear. Calliope then continued forward and saw a harpy eating the dead body of a soldier before it stopped and looked at her.
Calliope had been in service to the Gods long enough to know that the harpy had been sent as a warning. A reminder of the one who had ruined her life and who her father had given his soul to and had once cost Calliope everything. To this day, she still could remember the day that her father, Kratos had nearly met his end at the hands of the barbarians due to having all of his memories, but could still not understand why he had traded his soul to save himself instead of dying with honor after all he had taught his daughter. When Kratos had desperately called for Ares to save him, the sky split apart, and the God of War stepped through. Coming down from Olympus, he saw the makings of a God in a mere mortal. Ares intended to save Kratos and turn him into the perfect warrior. His servant on Earth. Only a simple pledge of loyalty was required, which Kratos then eagerly gave him. And with that, his fate was sealed. As promised, Ares rescued his new servant, bringing forth the power of a God and destroying those who would slaughter Kratos and his men. As for Kratos, no mere sword and shield would suit the new servant of the God of War. The Blades of Chaos, forged in the deepest pits of Hades. Once attached to him, the chains had intended to remain so, chains that seared to the flesh, an intended reminder for Kratos of his pledge, and in return: ultimate power. The rage of Ares exploded from within. But soon, Kratos would pay the ultimate price for such power, that he would soon die...at the hands of his daughter. And because Kratos would not be alive to carry out Ares' will, the God of War would force Calliope...to bear her father's pain and intended curse.
"Hey, bird freak, returned to your master and give him a message: tell him that his days are numbered and that as long as myself and my family walk the Earth, he'll never be safe. And tell him that he will pay for ruining my life and for what he turned my father into! I will find the Box of Chaos, and I will use it to see flame hair tremble and die before me and my family." Calliope yelled as the harpy flew away with the body.
After crossing the bridge, Calliope found another of the Architect's journal, telling about the Cliffs of Madness and his the Architect may have designed a maze with no true way out and that if he was right, the cruel and uncaring Gods would show whoever had made it this far the way. "A maze always has 1 way out. All I have to do is find it. But I don't need the aid of those fucking Gods to do it, I'll find a way myself." Calliope said with determination.
Calliope went through the tunnel and was immediately attacked by undead soldiers that she quickly killed with the Blade of Artemis before entering the meet of the Cliffs of Madness, where she found hidden chests and opened them before using Zeus' Fury to kill a few archers and turned right to continue along the cliffside, jumping across a couple of ledges to reach a landing with a rope that she climbed across while killing some undead soldiers that tried to stop her before reaching the cliff edge where the archers were and finding a small elevator platform. She got on the platform and turned the crank to reach the next level of the cliffs, seeing a ladder that led upwards but decided to avoid that path for now and jumped over the pair of rocks to the right to continue around the cliffside. She entered the tunnel just ahead to reach a large open area that was filled with undead soldiers and satyrs that she killed with Poseidon's Rage and her blades before the magic barrier to the right disappeared, letting Calliope pass into the tunnel beyond. The tunnel led to another elevator platform that led up to the next level and a cave opening that led into a room with tons of holes on the ground that had a lever that she pulled before grabbing the box behind the door that opened up. The Ghost of Sparta then quickly moved the box around to use as a stepping stone to the high-up ledge that was out of reach and quickly jumped on the ledge before the spikes on the floor came up. After opening a nearby chest, Calliope jumped across the gap ahead to grab onto the vine-covered wall and climbed to the top of the ledge to find the Necklace of Aphrodite and grabbed it. With the necklace in hand, she exited the cave to return to the elevator and went back up to find a large stone block attached to a rope.
Calliope jumped on the block to lower the rope, bringing her down to a lower ledge of the cliffside before she headed right and to find another cave entrance. But before she entered the cave, she went down the ladders and found some chests that she opened, along with the path that led back to the very first branch in the cliffside path. When she returned to the cave and entrance and went inside, the Ghost of Sparta was attacked by 2 satyrs that she killed with the Blade of Artemis before she followed the path to the large cavern opening to find a wooden bridge that had archers on the other side of it that she killed with Zeus' Fury before she grabbed the handle in the center of the bridge and spinned both halves of the bridge to meet together but spinning the bridges past the meeting point so that she had time to run to the end of the first half of the bridge and jump to the other half before letting the bridge stop at the other side of the cavern before jumping to it and killing another pair of satyrs.
Calliope then exited back out of the cave to another portion of the cliffside before jumping onto the ledge to the right where she fought with a pair of minotaurs before continuing further and found a ladder to the right that she climbed up and found a piece of the puzzle that she thought she would need. She then went out another entrance and slide across a zipline rope that carried her to another cave before going inside it and killing off some archers, undead soldiers and 2 minotaurs. Calliope then continued through the cave entered a small puzzle room with another of the Architect's journals that said to piece his soul back together, which the Ghost of Sparta knew was a reference to the puzzle blocking the Necklace of Hera. Calliope used the spinning mechanism in the center to match the block formations in order to solve the puzzle before putting the pieces together, giving her access to the necklace. After getting the necklace, she backtracked through the cave and after exited it, she did some exploring around the cliffs and found some chest that she opened before finding a pair of headstones built in the likeness of Hera and the Goddess of Love, which she put the necklaces on, making the bridges to the right begin to extend and retract. Calliope used careful timing to get across the bridges and when she got to the top cliff, she stopped as she saw another of her father's memories flashing before her eyes before she looked at her reflection in her Blades and threw them down as she remembered all the people her father had killed in Ares' name before that horrible and fateful night her life changed forever.
The path before Calliope was clear, but still, the memories of her father came rushing into her head, as familiar and permanent as the blades that were forever chained to her wrists. She could see them happen as if she were the 1 who had been in her father's place. Her father, who had become a servant to the God of War. A beast who had had his humanity robbed and replaced with the will to murder. No one was safe from Kratos and his soldiers that followed him on his path to conquest, all in the name of his master. Those who offered any resistance of any kind were dealt with quickly... until Kratos and his army came upon the village where the servant of Ares would meet his ultimate fate. Emboldened by the God of War, Kratos' army was ruthless. Feared throughout the world for their brutality. All that mattered was conquest in the name of Kratos, their great leader, who had become near invincible. He feared nothing. But there was something about this temple. Something forbidden. All of his instincts told him that he should never cross the threshold of the temple and even the village Oracle had tried to warn him, but the warning fell on deaf ears as he entered the temple and slaughtered nearly everyone inside, including his beloved wife...until his most prized treasure: his daughter, Calliope, who he had trained and taught everything that he knew...had killed him in a justifiable rage. And with that act, Calliope had sealed her destiny: becoming the Ghost of Sparta and Lady Death. And from that day forward, her main purpose...was to protect the good and innocent people of Greece...by killing all of the pure evil monsters who would prey upon them, including...the God of War himself.
When the memories stopped, Calliope picked up her blades and said with determination. "Ares, you will die for everything you've done to the people of Greece, for what you turned my father into...and for ruining my life." The Ghost of Sparta continued further and fought off some undead soldiers and a pair of minotaurs with the Blade of Artemis. Once they were dead, Calliope ran to the ledge with the 2 ropes and swinged on them to the other side of the chasm and got on an elevator, going up to reach the Architect's Tomb at the other side of moving platforms.
Calliope got across the moving platforms in record time, reaching the other side of the chasm before heading right and lifting open the door to enter a small hallway before killing a few undead soldiers. When they were all dead, Calliope continued going through the hallway and up the stairs to exit to an outdoor plateau where I cyclops and Cerberus pups appeared. She used Poseidon's Rage to kill them while using the Blade of Artemis to kill the cyclops before climbing up the ladder just left of the hallway entrance to find a few chests that she opened before climbing up the other ladder to the crane, rotating it to get to another set of chest at the hallway entrance that she opened before rotating it to the cracked part of the ground below before running down the length of the crane and pulling the lever to drop the roped stone down to break open the ground to reveal a secret tunnel. Calliope pulled the lever to make the stone come back up before she went down the tunnel and found a pressure switch and went back up to the statue to the far left before getting it inside the tunnel and on the switch before going back to the crane and rotating it to the pressure switch below and dropping the stone on it and going back to the moving platforms and standing on the 3rd pressure switch to completely open the door straight ahead. Lady Death used fast careful timing to get back to the other side while avoiding the moving saws before quickly getting inside the tomb, finding the blueprints for the many traps in the temple, a note from the Architect that read that his wife may have been right about the Gods and himself beings fools to build the temple that took the lives of his entire family and himself, saddening Calliope, as she could only imagine how much building this temple had destroyed a whole man's family. She then reluctantly tore the wife's head from her body and used it to open the door at the back of the room before heading down the stairs in the next open area and turning right to find a couple of chests that she opened before continuing up the stairs to reach a very long spiral staircase, at the bottom of which was a very challenging obstacle: a big moving floor with crushing gears and flame shooters, but also a lot of harpys and archers. The Ghost of Sparta killed them all while carefully moving through the conveyor belt floor and avoiding the huge rollers at the end of each conveyor belt until the archers and harpys were all dead, making the barrier to the door at the end of the room disappear.
Calliope went through the doorway and saw statues of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades before pulling the handle at the front of the large orb-like sculpture to release the Box of Chaos and lower it to the floor. Calliope walked up to the Box, amazed at seeing it. She'd never thought that she'd ever encounter a powerful weapon like this in her whole life and to actually be seeing it amazed her, knowing that with the power inside it, she'd finally be able to kill Ares and avenge everyone he and his minions had killed, including her mother.
Suddenly, Athena appeared before the Ghost of Sparta and spoke to her. "Calliope, your quest is at an end. You are the first mortal to ever reach the Box of Chaos. there is still time to save Athens. You must bring the Box back to my city and use it to kill Ares. Return to Athens quickly, Calliope, return and save my city!"
"I will, Athena!" Calliope said with annoyance before the platform went down to the main floor and Calliope began to push the Box to the main entrance of the Temple, so she could take the Box back to Athens and use it to finally kill Ares, so that the sins of her Alecto could finally be forgiven and she be free of the memories of her father...and they could finally be free of the God's service and live in peace with their little warrior princess as a family.
After 1'000 years, the Box of Chaos was finally freed from its confinements. And with its power, Calliope knew that her ultimate revenge for her mother and all the innocent people that Ares and his minions had killed, was at hand.
Meanwhile in Athens
Alecto was doing all she could to save as many people as she could and killing many of the monsters while also watching and protecting Sylvia as the little warrior helped her mama. Then, Ares, Alecto and Sylvia sensed that Calliope had succeeded in claiming the Box of Chaos, making the ex Fury Queen and the little warrior princess very happy.
But Ares was thinking differently. "So little Spartan, you've recovered Zeus's precious Box, but you will not live long enough to see it opened. I will see to that." The God of War then took a huge pillar and threw it right to Calliope while Alecto and Sylvia watched with horror.
"NO!" Alecto yelled before Sylvia gasped in horror.
"Good-bye, Lady Death. You will join your father in the depths of Hades for all eternity!" Ares said with an evil smile.
Back at the Temple of Chaos
As Calliope had gotten the Box of Chaos out of the Temple, she had no time to react as she was impaled by the huge pillar and pinned against the doorway, shocking her to the core as she began to bleed out.
Alecto and Sylvia both sensed what had happened to Calliope. "MOMMY!" Sylvia screamed as tears fell from her eyes as she felt her mother slowly dying.
Tears also fell from Alecto's eyes as she dropped to her knees in sadness, not believing that the woman she loved and the mother of her child was dead after they had come so close to achieving their ultimate goal. "NOOOOOOOO! CALLIOPE!" She yelled before both mother and daughter embraced each other, knowing they had lost the only person they dearly and truly loved.
As the life began to leave Calliope, her thoughts were all on her lover and her daughter, even though the memory of her becoming 'Lady Death' and 'The Ghost of Sparta' was overwhelming her. In the end, in death, she had failed. As the minions of Ares claimed The Box of Chaos, Calliope's life faded and her cursed soul was cast into the vile pits of Hades, where the God of the Underworld would subject her to unimaginable tortures.
Calliope could only watch in disbelief as the Harpies of Ares took the Box with them back to Athens and their master, and that she could do nothing to stop it. Tears came from her eyes, knowing that she would never see her lover nor her daughter again as she said her final words before finally dying. "Alecto... Sylvia... I'm...so very... sorry."
There you go, my friends, part 2 of the Power to kill a God is finally complete. Next will be the final part before I put in some very special chapters involving Sylvia and Pandora, plus an OC that will appear much later that will play a huge part in Sylvia's life that my good friend, SreznoJIG thought up with me. So when you see these special chapters, be sure to give a huge thanks to my good friend. Rate and review. See you all next chapter, my friends.