Bane La Mortis, The Son of Hades

The Father of Monsters

Bane watched as Echidna turned to dust. And he watched as the dust blew away into the storm as if Typhon was taking his wife back to Tartarus where she would reform. Bane knew it would be a long and painful process, but she forced his hand by attacking his family.

But when the dust particles were out of sight, the strength left Bane. If it wasn't for Cerberus, the Prince would've fallen straight into the valley below.

"Thanks, boy," Bane said, holding onto the Hellhound until he could stand alone.

He looked up into the sky where the Gods were still trying to defeat Typhon. The Saytrs and Nymphs had evacuated all the Demigods, but the Minor Gods remained to fight against the Father of Monsters.

But Bane's eyes zoned in on a small crater on the underside on Typhon, like an upsidedown volcano. Hades stepped out of the shadows at that moment. "I can't reach Typhon's head," the God admitted sadly.

"What if we go up there?" Bae asked, pointing towards the crater.

"Even a God can't withstand that much raw power," Hades told him, "Anything less than a Titan would vaporise instantly, and even then a Titan would be wise not to linger".

"So it's like a battery for Typhon?" Bane asked, a plan already forming in his mind.

"In a way..." Hades said slowly, cautious of what he was saying now.

"Then that's all I need to know," Bane said, using the shadows to carry in up faster than his father could reach out and stop him.

"BANE!" Hades roared. But Bane wasn't listening, he just kept on riding the wave up and up, aiming his sword at the centre.

He closed his eyes and time seemed to slow down. Bane drew on all the death he could reach. He used his connection to the underworld to draw energy from both his father's kingdom and Tartarus below. His sword crackled with dark power, even consuming the life out of Bane.

The Prince remembered all his hate at Zeus for killing Cerberus, his grief for losing his best friend, his resentment at Hades for leaving him to fend for himself and the pain he went through on his first trip to Tartarus.

Then he realised that it had all faded. He had left it all behind him when he decided to save Olympus rather than let it burn.

And with that sense of peace, Bane rode his shadow into the heart of Typhon, striking the monster's core with a weapon fuelled with all the death and pain witnessed in Bane's life.