08: Typhon

"So, who exactly are you?" asked Hades, as the laugh of the entity in front of him still punctured the air, akin to a hammer. His eyes gazed at his surroundings, in search of something to sit on. However, he found nothing and was as such obligated to stay standing.

The being suddenly stopped laughing. It looked at Hades a bit surprised, before murmuring, "Oh, you're still here."

'Crazy'

The monster played with his voice as if preparing something grand. It opened its wings wind open, trying to become more opposing. Releasing a column of fire, the being spoke, "You must have heard of me. For, I am the mighty Typhon, King of Monsters!"

Typhon looked at Hades, expecting a gasp of awe, yet nothing happened. The god continued to look at his heads without any visible emotions.

*hum hum*

Typhon extended his arms. His long nails seemed to be so sharp, they would cut a god as if paper. "King of Monsters" he echoed, asking himself if Hades did not hear him.

Yet, nothing once again.

Both beings looked at each other, a heavy silence lingering.

"..."

"..."

"...Sure" finally answered the god. However, his blunt and apathetic voice only made Typhon want to hide away, in shame.

How much time had passed, he asked himself.

"You don't know who I am?" murmured Typhon, his voice so frail, one would never believe it would come from such a terrifying being. Even the usually loud serpentine heads behind him were silent.

"I don't" answered Hades. He did not try to be considerate of Typhon's ego and only broke it even further, "What did you do to get famous?"

Typhon truly thought he was the experiment for a new torture method, for Hades' question only brought him even more shame.

What right did he have to be so proud?

What did he do that got him so famous…

"I-I…What's your name?" Typhon stammered before swallowing back his words and asking another question to flee from having to tell his deeds. Or at least to first learn more about the strange being before deciding what the better answer was.

"Hades"

"...Hades what?" asked Typhon expecting Hades' title. For no unknown being could get here, the pit itself.

Yet, Hades had none. "Simply Hades," he said, unbothered by the surprised Typhon.

"Y-You don't have a title?!" Typhon practically yelled. How could someone able to resist such a realm be unknown? The only way for that to be possible would be if he was born here, thought Typhon.

This would also explain its strange ignorance.

Maybe, this was his replacement.

Was he such a failure?

"I don't." he paused a second before a smile played on his lips, "But I did give my brother one. I named him Halios, it means ruler of the sea!" For the first Typhon saw Hades with a different expression than indifference—happiness and pride.

The possibility that Hades was a newborn grew in Typhon's mind.

"Right…"

Typhon's serpentine head slithered, bringing him back from his thoughts. "So, who are your parents, then?" asked the King of Monsters. He was trying to confirm his thoughts, yet the answer was not what he expected!

"My sisters said they are called Rhea and Kronos. But I don't really know if it was another of Demeter's jokes. I was directly swallowed down, while my sisters lived a bit longer before being also swallowed."

"Kronos!" Typhon practically yelled. The name alone was sufficient to make him shudder.

"Yes" simply affirmed Hades, when it was unnecessary. He nodded his head as if praising his wiseness.

Typhon took a deep breath. The surprise he felt was quickly overwhelmed by a terrifying emotion. It was one Hades would class as madness. For it was a double-edged sword, on one side it helped someone reach new heights, but it would also make someone lose reason.

Or at least that was how Haethan explained it to him, and Hades could only agree as he didn't have enough experience with it.

However, he believed Haethan, so for him, this was the truth.

It was fear.

Breaking the silence, Typhon spoke words that quickly caught Hades' attention. "I know your father. Kronos Titaneus, Ruler of the Titans."

"Tell me," demanded Hades, his apathetic demeanor dissipating. His bright pale blue eyes widened. A daemoniac grin took its place on his face, while raw greed glistened in his eyes akin to the devil's whispers.

"You want to hear my story?" inquired Typhon, not understanding the change in Hades' gaze. His story was not what he wanted to listen to, yet he was very curious. The story of someone called the King of Monsters was bound to be intriguing.

The god nodded. His once warm features now proved to be terrifying. He was learning more and more about who he truly was. And now, he had understood one of his weaknesses.

Greed.

He was very greedy.

"Then listen closely, for this story could soon be yours.

It all began the day Gaea, also known as Mother Earth, awakened from her slumber. Years had long passed since the fall of her husband, Ouranos. She was expecting a gigantic banquet with all her children together.

Yet, none of that happened. There was no one to welcome her slumber except for the mysterious gazes of her siblings.

Gaea, who was curious as to why it was so, searched for her various offspring. However, from the three groups of non-primordial children, she had with Ouranos, only one remained. It was the Titans. They ruled over the Hellenic pantheon like she desired; however, where were the Cyclops and Hecatoncheires?

Gaea decided to investigate where they were, so she created a weak and powerless avatar that would roam the mortal world. She knew that the tales of the divine world usually spread as stories among Her descendants.

There, her avatar learned of various things that happened while she was asleep. Wars, many wars. And one of those stories was about Kronos throwing the One-eyed and the Hundred-Handed Ones back into the Underworld.

Mother Earth was furious. She loved all of her children, no matter how ugly they were and this broke her heart. This time it wasn't her husband who had betrayed her, but the son she had chosen to take his place.

She now wanted to overthrow the Titans, but who could do that? She was bound by the Pantheonic Laws weaved by Lady Khaos herself and unable to directly interfere in the affairs of gods just like gods couldn't directly take part in the world of the mortals.

She needed someone to do that for her, one of her children preferably. That child also needed to be powerful, but not born as a primordial.

So, she thought for a bit about the perfect father material and soon went to one of her brothers, Tartarus. He was a primordial like her, yet she had the feeling they would give birth to a child with divinity.

While it is unknown under which circumstances Tartarus accepted, they did get a non-primordial child together. His name was Typhon, the King of Monsters.

He was born blissfully ignorant of the destiny that was chosen for him long before he was born.

Typhon spent his entire "childhood" in the pit, wandering the seemingly boundless realm without having anything to do, except maybe causing disasters. But those were a natural and common occurrence of that infernal realm.

The years passed as peacefully as they could be in the pit, until one day, his mother contacted him. He could clearly remember how her voice rang from the ceiling.

"Ascent to Terra, and claim your rightful place as king of the Hellenic Pantheon!"

Delighted to have been given the authorization to escape his father's realm, Typhon went to see the sun for the first time. It was beautiful.

However, he soon found out he was too big. He needed to become smaller or else he would have been found out without even having found allies. That realization birthed a greater understanding of his power.

He could morph into any monster he wanted. Truly fitting for his title.

As such he transformed himself into a serpentine monster who while small had a venomous bite that would even affect mythical beings.

The serpent wandered aimlessly for a long time until one day it decided to sleep in a cave.

There lay the most beautiful being he had ever seen.

She was half-woman, half-snake. Her lower body, which was one of a snake, was of a beautiful dark green color, while her upper body was of an almond brown color. Her emerald eyes were a stark contrast with her graceful appearance, as her pupils were those of a predator. Her short hair was pitch black.

She was named Echidna, the queen of monsters, for she had become his wife. Together, they gave birth to many children, the most powerful ones were namely: Orthrus, Cerberus, and Ladon.

And then it was time.

He now had allies, his queen, and their children. So they went to Mount Othrys in hopes of becoming the new ruler of the Hellenic Pantheon.

He had faith in his power, for during all that time on terra, he trained his divinity to what he believed to be the peak—oh, how wrong he was.

Typhon was a natural disaster. With his divinity, he could control floods, storms, and hurricanes.

In all his arrogance, Typhon decided that the best way to start the battle would be by destabilizing the mind of their adversary. That was a good strategy, yet he had forgotten something truly important.

Experience.

The Titans had fought many battles before and had grown an unbelievable faith in their King who always brought them to a satisfactory outcome.

As such, Typhon created a hurricane, so big it could engulf Mount Othrys in its entirety. He believed the Titans would panic when being trapped.

Yet, they were not.

Only after a few seconds, they started fighting back.

Kronos' right-hand, Atlas, threw a punch so powerful, the Hurricane vanished into thin air.

Following their King with barbaric shouts, the Titans rushed at Typhon's children and queen.

It was a massacre, for the Titans were both extremely powerful but also experienced. Unlike most of his children, they had all trained their divinity to a higher level than when they were born.

And Typhon wasn't any better. He was fighting the king, the absolute ruler of those monsters.

Kronos jumped from the peak of Mount Othrys and descended akin to a thunderbolt. The king of Monster felt his breath vanish in front of the terrifying power that Kronos exuded. It was as if he was the very sky, while Typhon was but the earth. It was over before it even began.

Kronos raised his scythe in the air. And as if welcoming a harvest, the very territory bowed. It welcomed their King's slash with open hands.

It was at that moment that Typhon truly realized how ignorant he had been. He tried to flee, like his most powerful children.

He didn't know what happened after that, for he woke up back in the pit, yet this time he was enchained. He knew something must have happened for Kronos' scythe was supposed to be even able to kill primordials.

In the pit, he had an unlimited amount of time to think about his mistakes. And he now realized his shortcoming and what he could have done differently. " Typhon ended the story with a grim voice.

His eyes however soon gleamed with a dim crimson light.

"Now, son of Kronos. What did you think of my story? Do you want to become allies to defeat the one who tried to kill you and your siblings before you ever were able to live your life?"

***

Ok, so this chapter is probably worse than the others, I noticed when writing the first draft that I had planned to much to have the time of really thinking about every paragraphs and every words I would use. I wrote too much for how long I take per chapter. I am truly sorry for that.

Though the chapter is almost two normal webnovel chapter in length so I guess it makes up for it. Tell me what you though, I hope it wasn't too bad.

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