Bane La Mortis, The Son of Hades

The Winged Agent

Hades stood on the banks of the River Styx while Hermes stood on the other side. The Messenger God had tried to fly across, but he couldn't get past Styx's barrier.

"Have you come to tell me that Zeus has apologised?" Hades called to his nephew.

"We both know that father won't admit when he is in the wrong, Uncle," Hermes replied.

"Then why have you come?" Hades asked.

"To talk".

Bane was in his room, teaching himself to fight in tight spaces. He was confined to the safety of his room until his father had come back from his meeting with Hermes at the Gates of the Underworld. Two skeletal guards stood outside his door.

But they didn't hear it when something crashed through the window in Bane's room.

The Prince of Darkness spun so he was behind the intruder before bringing his sword to their neck.

"Wait!" the stranger cried, "It's me!".

"Collin?" Bane asked.

"Y...yeah," the boy said nervously.

Bane didn't lower his sword, but he did move it further away from Collin's neck. The sense of death in the Underworld empowered his weapon so much, that wisps of dark energy coiled along the edge, reaching to suck the life out of the son of Hermes.

"Why are you here?" Bane hissed.

"Lord Zeus told my dad to distract your dad while I snuck in and learn about how Lord Hades is planning to attack Olympus," Collin explained, speaking at a hundred miles an hour, "The Rivers only stop Gods and not Half-Bloods," he added quickly before Bane could ask.

Bane just sighed before dropping the blade from his friend's neck. "You can't go back without something," he said absent-mindedly.

"No he can't," a voice said from the door. The two boys spun around to see Hades walk in. The Lord of the Dead turned his head and looked at Collin, making the boy flinch. "So tell my brother the truth, I will protect my kingdom but I will not go forth and engage in a needless battle. If Zeus wants a fight, then he will have to come here himself".

Collin almost fainted when Hades said that he could leave. But he didn't want to wait for him to change his mind, so he flew out of the broken window in a blur.

Bane turned to face his father, "Thank you".

"That will keep my brother busy for a time," Hades said grimly.

"You mean we will attack Olympus?" Bane asked, confused but also a little glad at the opportunity to avenge Cerberus.

"No," Hades told him, "That would mean the destruction of us all. But we need them out of the way for what I have planned. If we can prove that we weren't responsible for the Monsters escaping Tartarus, we might be able to stop this war before it truly begins".

"How will we do that?" Bane asked his father.

"With a little inside help," Hades said, standing up, "Follow me".