Upon opening her eyes, she found that everything was as she left it aside from the absence of the vessel. She looked around and found the vessel again only for it to be surrounded by three familiar figures in the distance using her eyes to spot them. Curious, she got up and walked towards them. It was Idia again, but, this time, Vil and Rook were also present!
She raised a brow curiously as she made her way over.
Being the first to hear her footsteps, Rook turned around with a look of shock across his face as he cried out in disbelief and utter shock, "Ah! You... You're..."
The other two turned around upon hearing his cry and was left flabbergasted as well!
Before them stood a radiant woman with crimson hair like fire standing firmly and confidently in a gorgeous brocade of red and black silk. Kois danced across the transcendence of red and white, and silver lotuses bloomed from the black silk underlayer exposed over her thigh. Her hair was partially pulled back and flowed smoothly down to her waist. Above all was the delicate porcelain-like skin and a delicate face, but that was undermined by the sharp and startling purple irises that were resting upon them. Very familiar look eye shape...
"I-I wasn't dreaming..." Idia gasped and whispered in shock and delight upon seeing her though it was quickly covered by an expression of confusion and hesitation.
Seeing him like this, Peony looked to him in confusion, "Is something the matter?"
Idia quickly shook his head, "N-No. It's nothing."
Peony shook her head as well but with disappointment. She had thought that Idia would lighten up a little now that his friends are here with him. However, that does not seem to have been the case in the end.
Seeing her shake her head, Idia sighed in his heart in disappointment. In the end, it seems he was destined to be a nobody, after all. Not like he was trying to be anything big to begin with.
"Who are you and where are we?" Vil questioned with a frown on his face as he stuffed a thought to the back of his mind.
"I'm a guest invited over by the leader of S.T.Y.X." Peony responded with a huff, "I came with a purpose to enter the Underworld under special permission from the leader, himself."
"Himself? You mean, dad?! That's impossible!" Idia rebuked with a frown, "Everyone knows how dangerous the Underworld is! Dad would never do something so reckless and crazy as letting someone descend into the Underworld!"
"Of course not." Peony nodded, "I had to do everything I could to convince your father to let me enter here. After three days and two nights, he finally gave me permission in the end."
"But, even then, dad wouldn't do that! There's only a one-way path into the Underworld!" Idia declared in disbelief, "It wouldn't make sense for him to let anyone down here! That's suicide!"
"Of course, it would." Peony interjected with a huff, "Especially when the matter concerned his own sons."
"This..." Idia hesitated in shock before it melted into disappointment, "So, he found it this quickly. I still haven't figured out how to apologize to them yet..."
"I believe the fact that you are safe and unharmed matters more to them right now." Peony responded with a frown, "Of course, they'll still give you an earful and probably ground you, afterwards. That's what a parent must do when their children misbehave like this, after all."
"But you mentioned, sons..." Vil responded with a frown, "Do you mean Ortho? I thought they'd see him as a robot in their eyes."
"Ortho..." Idia shook his head after some hesitation and corrected himself, "The Ortho, who is my younger brother by flesh, passed away during a lockdown when we were kids. We wandered in the halls during the transportations of phantom and he was the only one who got caught by the phantom in transportation and dragged down to Tartarus."
Shocked, the two turned to him in surprise as Vil questioned him curiously, "I take it that this has something to do with why you wanted to let the phantoms go?"
"It was a foolish decision at that time, but yeah." Idia responded with look of regret, "Though different individuals, the Ortho back then is the same as the one now. Always happy, carefree, and optimistic about everything. That day, he said he wanted everyone to be happy and freely live on the surface not long after I created Cerberus. He begged me to help him achieve this idea of his in freeing everyone to make them happy, including me and my burdens with the mantle, and called me a hero. In the end, I agreed."
Idia sighed as he continued slowly and rather depressed, "Who would've thought that the day we snuck out into the halls to do this, a lockdown would suddenly occur. Instead of me, they would drag him down with them. All I did was huddle in the corner, scared and unable to move to help him. I never should've agreed to that request of his no matter how hard he tried to persuade me."
"After that day, you stayed holed up in your room without coming out." Peony responded, "Everyone thought you had fallen into depression upon losing Ortho. However, the truth was that you were determined to bring him back no matter what. In the end, you did. You created 'Ortho'. And, he remained by your side ever since acting as the original Ortho was."
"So that was the origin of Monsieur Doll... Ah..." Rook shook his head display great grief upon hearing the story.
"That explains this incident." Vil nodded with a frown, "Exposed to blot, he may have also overblotted and influenced this Ortho to work with him after I said those words. The timing was too perfect."
"Accidents aren't something that are easy to recreate and not always non-existent." Peony clarified, "Some bring calamity and some... are fortunate coincidences."
"What do you mean?" Vil raised a brow.
Peony turned to Idia and continued, "You're right. If I had asked your father with just a regular confident proposal, he would've rejected me immediately without a second thought. Have you ever thought why did it work in the end?"
"Now that you mention it..." Idia shook his head, "No. I don't know why he would agree in the end."
"It was because he discovered that there was a chance to bring his son back." Peony clarified, "There was a way to bring his deceased child back."
"Ortho?!" Idia stammered in bewilderment and confusion, "Th-That can't be right. Even though I want to believe it, the fact is that you can't bring someone back from the Underworld after you die!"
"Ortho's body definitely died, but his soul isn't destroyed and he wasn't meant to perish than and there. It simply wasn't his time yet." Peony responded, "One time, I was passing through Night Raven College on an errand and came across your little brother, Idia. The Ortho you created. And, I found something interesting. Ortho is an AI, but I can sense that he is able to feel emotions and has been mistaking them for malfunctions. However, we all know it is very difficult to create an AI capable of feeling emotions the same way humans do. With each maintenance that was done to fix this, it prevented his emotions from influencing his thinking. Yet, if it was so difficult to create a sentient AI, then why was Idia able to do it with an Ortho that can act and think exactly like the original?"
"This..." Idia thought to himself as the information started to actually link together some coincidences he had experienced himself in the past.
"Idia. That day when you created 'Ortho' was the day that your brother's soul could not withstand the blot take over and split his soul in two. One was fixated on completing this mission with his big brother like a machine while the other was out there just wanting to be with his family emotionally. Without a vessel and injured from the split, he roamed the halls on the verge of fading away like a phantom before coming across your 'Ortho'. You may not have known this then, but your creation saved your brother from disappearing completely and Tartarus preserved his other half from vanishing. With this, you've created a way for Ortho to return and increasing that chance with each passing day as his soul was preserved and began to recover with the magic you've used to charge his body. Since then, he's always been with you everyday asleep."
"Ortho... never left me and he can finally return from the Underworld?!" Idia gasped in disbelief but also excitement once he heard this.
"When I came across him, I found that he was already strong enough to remerge with his other half or at least put up a fight to do it." Peony explained, "Using my magic and a medium, I took out a large portion of that soul and left a little behind so he could have easier chance at merging with the body you had created for him in the memory card. He doesn't have a flesh body anymore, but the vessel you created is the perfect medium for him to use. As long as you keep feeding him magic, his soul will always be nourished. However, the remerging of a soul isn't an easy task. As you've said, the Lord of the Underworld does not allow souls to escape once they are down here. So, I came down here to strike a bet with him. Little did I know, you pulled quite a stunt and ended up here yourself... twice."
"This..." Idia muttered in disappointment and guilt as he frowned, "Then, Ortho..."
"I won the bet." Peony waved off his worried as she continued nonchalantly, "As long as Ortho can safely re-merge with his soul, everyone that entered the Underworld while still alive may leave and take this child along with them. However, even though he's back in the memory card now, he needs time to adapt to his new body and can't act as he would in his original body due to this. When you rebuild his body, he may feel a little strange or warm in his chest which is normal as that is the smaller portion of his soul trying to grow stronger to merge back with the rest. Give him time and don't try to force them back together."
"Is this really all right with the Lord of the Underworld?" Idia questioned hesitantly.