Bane La Mortis, The Son of Hades

The Strength Of The Underworld

Thank you to all of those who have read this far!

Hades' POV

Hades and Bane appeared in the throne room of their palace. Out the corner of his eye, Hades saw Thanatos run up to them.

"You're back!" he was saying, "But what happened". The God of Death looked around, "And where is Cerberus?".

A sudden wave of grief washed over Hades as he cast his eyes down to the stone floor he was kneeling on. Wrapped up in his arms, Bane cried, clutching to his father's arms as if it was the only real thing in the universe.

"Summon every God, Titan, Primordial and Deity in the Underworld here," Hades told his minister, looking into his eyes, "I will speak to them first, and then the entire Underworld. As of this moment...we are at war".

A few hours later, Hades stood around a large table in his throne room. Around him gathered every Divine being that lived in the Underworld. Styx, Nyx, Thanatos, Hecate, Orcus, Charon and Plutus were among those assembled. Bane stood next to his father, trying to hold back his tears in front of the audience.

Hades was about to start the meeting, but the doors opened to have Persephone walk through them, a look confusion on her face. Hades ran to his wife and wrapped her up in an embrace.

"You should not be here," he told her, "I am at war with Zeus".

There were gasps of shock that came from everyone, including Persephone. "Why?" she asked gently. Hades explained everything that happened on Olympus and in the Underworld.

"If you leave now," he told her, "You may be able to say that I barred you from the Underworld," Bane's father said desperately.

"But why would I leave you?" Persephone asked, cupping Hades' chin in her hands.

"Because I do not wish you to become caught up in this war...please".

"Then I shall help souls find their way to the Underworld," she told him, showing everyone her bravery. Before anyone could say anything, she walked over to Bane and wrapped him up in a hug. "I'm am sorry about Cerberus," she told him, "I loved him as well".

"I thought you would..." Bane started before Persephone looked at him with a stern look.

"What? Hate you? No. Hades and I and a...hiccup with our relationship. I don't care that he cheated on me because I had a little...stay...with Adonis".

"Oh," Bane said, realising what she meant.

"But remember, death is not the end of everything," she said, giving him a wink before leaving.

"Alright," Hades said, getting control over the crowd again, "Let's get this underway".

Bane's POV

Over the next few hours, Hades had told the Gods that if anyone wanted to leave, now was the time to do so. The only one was Hecate, it was her job to watch over Persephone. She was also Goddess of ghosts so she could help with guiding the souls to the Underworld with her torches.

Everyone else stayed.

"Right," Hades said, "I don't want any God getting in here. Not even Hermes will be allowed to go further than the Gates of the Underworld".

The King ordered weapons to be forged and every soul to be ready for battle at a moments notice. Heroes and warriors from both Elysium and the Isles of the Blessed trained other souls so that they could be ready.

After a while, Hades noticed that Bane was just staring into the distance with a vacant expression on his face. He tapped his son on the shoulder and told him he could leave if he wanted.

Bane nodded before excusing himself from the meeting. Every step brought to mind the memory of Cerberus leaping to protect him and Hades from Zeus' wrath.

Zeus.

It was all his fault that Cerberus was dead, Bane thought as he looked out of a nearby window. Outside, skeletal warriors marched in ranks, rotting zombies and corpses shuffled in hordes and souls and spirits glided around with messages. And every soldier that died would be replaced by another until they reformed.

That was the strength of the Underworld that Zeus brought together by killing Cerberus.