The Sword of Truth (Book II)

Chapter VI | Restart the Heart

Mentions of rape are present.

   Hades's grip tightened on Regina's bare arm as she struggled to get away.  "Ben," she cried out.

Ben contorted his face as he stared at his dead lover being manhandled by Hades. His grip strengthened on the metal pipe and he took off his jacket to loosen up. "Alright Hades, we fight, no magic," Ben taunted as he wielded the metal piping.

"As you wish, Masked Peace," Hades said in a deep, raspy voice.

Soon enough, everything thing turned black and Ben looked around, seeing no one. "Regina?! Cas?! Anyone?!" He yelled like a lost little boy.

He then looked down at himself as the void took on a soft glow of light. His hands were covered by his old battered leather gloves, and his face concealed like he once was: the vigilante. He was the Masked Peace again. Ben felt behind him in an attempt to take an arrow from his quiver. His dark green cloak was there. Everything single detail was there.

He finally removed the bow from across his torso and took an arrow from his quiver. He drew the arrow as his hazel eyes danced around to find anything, something that moved or made a noise. A footstep could be heard and Ben quickly spun around and released the arrow. The unique sound of the arrow, cutting through the air had stopped once a hand appeared in the darkness. He drew another arrow.

"Stop! Where are you Hades?!" He yelled.  "Come out, you coward!"

   "No need to yell," Hades called, stepping into the odd light source. 

   "What the hell is your issue?" Ben hissed, as he threatened him with an arrow. 

   "Clever word choice," he said with a chuckle.  "It is soooo terrible what happened to your big brother, isn't it? But, in my opinion, he kind of deserved it," he murmured. 

  "He did terrible things, but he redeemed himself.  He deserves to be with our mother," he cried out with a shaky voice. 

   "What about everything he did?  He betrayed you and your father."

   "He did what he thought was best and it backfired on him.  He had good intentions, but his life crumbled.  He told me, I know what happened-"

   "What if he was lying?  You see, that's the problem with mortals. They don't know everything, they just think they do.  And people like me, a god, we know we know everything.  And you, Benjamin, are a mortal.  A spineless, idiotic, arrogant slug just like everyone else," he growled.

"Hey, we're not perfect," he whispered with a smirk as he released the arrow, sinking into Hades's eye.

The dark lord screamed as he wedged the arrow out. "Ow. That hurt so bad, I might need one of those pretty princess Band-Aids!  Look, Ben..." He started to say as he chuckled. "You can't kill me with a stupid pointy stick. You're gonna need a bigger weapon. Not bigger in size necessarily, but in power."

"But you know one thing great about mortals? They love," Ben said with a smug grin.

All of the sudden Ben felt a strange energy flow through him. His veins bulged with some sort of strong entity as he started to levitate. "What the hell," Hades said ironically.