#((Also I might make a sequel to this about Idia making Ortho's new body))

[igniteshroud-a]

((Who’s ready for an ass ton of angst? No one? Well too bad cause here it is! I was about to sleep when I was slapped with inspiration. If it’s too hard to read on tumblr you can find it in the docs too! Now without further ado, here is the story of how Ortho died.))

“Idiaaaaa! Please let me come with! I promise to do whatever you say and I won’t get in the way!” Ortho pleads with his older brother as he prepares to leave for his first mission without supervision. Ortho had been begging Idia to let him come along on jobs for years now and each time Idia refused. He never gave a proper reason, usually the best excuse he managed was either “You’ll get bored” or, when he was in a particularly fowl mood, “You’ll just be in the way.” Excuses that never pleased the younger boy.

An exasperated sigh escapes the older boy as he places a key hung on a golden strand around his neck. The key was how he got to and from the underworld and the over world. Only select few were allowed it, even his father had it revoked for a time. He was trusted with it, he had to care for it and make sure nothing got in or out of the Underworld that wasn’t meant to leave. His task was important, he had a lot of people counting on him and relaying on him. He couldn’t risk messing up. Which was why he told his brother

“For the last time, Ortho. Not just no but hell no! I can’t keep up with you today, I’ll be too distracted. You help me with something else when I get home, okay?” Before his younger brother could give a response Idia was already out the door. His back turned and black ropes billowing in the cool cavern air.

It was stressful working alone, Idia wasn’t used to it. Normally he had his dad with him or one of his aunts. But today he was completely alone. Even Charon wasn’t allowed to help him ferry reborn spirits to their new lives in the world above. He had to gather the spirit, travel with it and properly deliver it without any help. It finally gave him a chance to see the kind of pressure his seniors were under when they were working. He no longer envied them for their power or position. Slowly he was starting to realize exactly how exhausting power could be.

He was on his last trip for the day. Retrieving a soul from the Asphodel Meadows and taking it through the river Styx back to it’s new body up above. They were further into the meadows then most, lingering on the outskirts of Tartarus even. Approaching the barren land sent a chill down Idia’s spine. He’d heard stories of Tartarus, heard how his father released many of the Titans that were trapped there and heard what exactly they could do to even gods. It was the home of horror stories to him, the type of stories his aunt would tell him and his siblings if they started misbehaving. He’d never gone in for a soul before and he hoped he never would.

The spirit only added to his anxiety with being near there. No matter how he approached the spirit would run from him. He’d had many spirits fear him before, he was used to this sort of reaction. But most would actually listen to him and willing go. Not this one though. How could he fully blame them though? The spirit was only a child, most likely died from an accident or a disease. He had to imagine it feared him the way he feared the border it played around.

He was starting to lose his temper, preparing to abandon the endeavor and report back to his aunt. When the child jumped behind a rock and giggles began to erupt from it. The Asphodel Meadows were notoriously silent, even the wind didn’t make noise. The spirits rarely made noise and if they did it was typically the new spirits wailing in anguish over their lost lives. So hearing such a fun and gentle sound was startling to say the least.

Idia cautiously approached the bush, hand reaching to grab the key around his throat as though somehow that would protect him from whatever was generating the childish sounds. He placed his hand against the rock and noticed a faint blue light emitting from behind it. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and scowled deeply. He stepped beside the rock, arms crossed over his chest and fingers tapping against his biceps. Crouched behind the rock were the young spirit and Ortho. Both snickering over the chase they were causing Idia.

“Ortho.” The older boys voice was demanding, it wasn’t terribly loud but the anger he held was evident in it. The young spirit was the first to notice Idia, again it tried to run. But Ortho grabbed it’s hand before turning to peer up at his brother. Despite the deep scowl on the elders face Ortho grinned from ear to ear at Idia.

“You got us!” He snickered his smile mischievous and proud. He picked up his brother’s anger of course. Yet he knew his brother and knew that Idia could stay mad at everyone in the universe except for his family. So instead of apologizing or attempting to explain he turned to the young ghost. “Games over, Zephyr. Big brother’s gonna take you to your new home now. Okay?”

The young ghost still looked fearful. Sickly physique pulled closer towards their torso in attempts to appear smaller, less of a threat. Anxious eyes glance up to the far taller man then back to the far more friendly boy. A hand is held close to their mouth as they try to decide what to do. Before finally squeezing Ortho’s hand and nodding their head. They let go of Ortho and step closer to Idia.

Idia glares at his brother, trying to silently remind him that he was in trouble. But Ortho just grinned, silently calling out his bluff of anger. A highly annoyed sigh escapes Idia as he gently takes the spirits hand. He begins to walk away from his brother, leading the spirit behind him. As he passes he grumbles “This isn’t over.”

Ortho grins knowing he’s won and attempts to follow. But Idia stops dead in his tracks, spinning around to give a full on heated glare at his brother. Flamed locks shoot out changing from blue to red as fire burns equally bright in golden eyes. Ortho stops a few feet behind his family and friend. A pain wells in his chest like someone is squeezing his heart. He’d seen that expression from his father when his plans didn’t work out, he’d seen it from his sister when Uncle Apollo made a nasty comment about Idia. But he’d never seen that expression from his brother, much less seen it pointed towards him. Without a word the message is made clear.

A pale finger points back towards the rock and Ortho takes one step back. Slowly he takes another then another until finally he turns around fully. He didn’t want to face that expression anymore, so he retreated. Doing as he was told and taking a seat spot atop the boulder he was found at. Idia lets out a breath through his nose before glancing at the spirit again. They’re looking back at Ortho, concern evident on their translucent face. A pang of guilt hits Idia’s heart but he tries to ignore it. Instead he gently pulls on the child’s arm. “It’ll be okay. Come on, let’s get you home.”

With that Idia was walking away again. Leaving his brother alone to sulk. The Meadows were as silent as ever especially this far out into them. The only sound Ortho could hear was his own heartbeat. Surrounding him was nothing, giving the entire Meadows an empty feeling. Perfect for the loneliness Ortho felt about being left behind. He didn’t mean to cause trouble, he didn’t mean to make Idia mad at him. He wanted to help, that was all. But his attempts to help, to make his brother laugh with the game he and the spirit played, all failed. Now his brother was furious with him and he would never get to work with him. As melancholic thoughts filled the young boys head a sound interrupted them.

“Ortho....” A faint voice called from the distance, causing Ortho to sit up. The voice was familiar, feminine, comforting and full of love. It could only be that of his mother. Yet what would she be doing out here? She was meant to be above the underworld for another three months. “Ortho, my precious lily...”

The call comes again, this time making Ortho jump to his feet. The call came from far off. Perhaps it was his mother, calling to him to the over world so he could see her and Idia! As the voice called his name again he ran towards it. Though it came from the opposite area where Idia had left, he was sure that was the way to the over world where he could see his beloved family some more.

Small bare feet beat against blackened barren ground. The area he was running towards was far darker then where he just came from. The ground showed no sign of life. Ashy and dry every step he took caused a black puff. Yet the voice was coming from this way. Surely it must have been one of those times he heard about. When the darkness comes before the light. That’s what he’d tell himself to battle back the encroaching fear gripping at his heart.

The further he went this way the more lost he felt. He’d gone in a completely straight path yet when he looked back all he saw was darkness. This area somehow managed to be even more quiet then the Meadows. He could hear his own breathing and his own heartbeat as he walked. He thought of turning back, going towards the way he came and praying he would find home. But every time he thought of it the voice would start again and, like a siren’s call, pull him closer to it.

He began calling for his mother, hoping to fill the silence and that his mother would come out of hiding if she heard him. His voice echoed in the nothingness and caused the lonely feeling in his chest to strengthen. Oddly enough when the voice called it did not echo. He could easily follow it and pinpoint where it was coming from.

Until finally he came to a large hole in the ground, covered by odd multi-colored bars. They seemed to sizzle with electricity yet lines of water rushed through them too and specks of blue fire dotted them. He’d never seen anything like it before. When he tried to grab them he felt they were hard as diamonds and burned his small hands. He pulled his hands back, stepping away from the hole.

“Hello?” He called out trying to see if anything was beyond the bars.

“Ortho. Ortho my precious lily. I’ve been trapped. Please help me, please help me.” His mother’s voice spoke from the pit. She was trapped? Why would she be trapped there? Who would trap her?

Despite the questions Ortho stepped closer once more, leaning over to look inside. He tilts his head, calling back to his mother. “Mama? I don’t see you.”

As he finished speaking a pair of golden eyes light up the darkness. Ortho’s heart races just at the sight of them and he stumbles back away from the pit. A primal fear envelopes his entire body, paralyzing him as his breathing suddenly feels painful. A large black with silver speckled hand reaches out between the bars and grabs at Ortho. A terrified scream escapes the young boy, finally movement returns to his body making him scramble backwards just before the hand can crush him.

Ortho rushes to his feet, nearly falling over again in doing so. This was no mother of his, this was no family to him, this thing was nothing like him.

“Ortho!” It’s voice booms shaking the entire ground, knocking Ortho back to the ground. It’s arm manages to grab his leg this time, a crunching sound echoes in the nothing and a child’s scream fills the silence. “Come to me!”

The hand drags the far smaller boy back to it, tiny fingers desperately try to claw into the ground attempting to find something to hold on to. Tears stain his cheeks and firey hair wipes around as though it too is looking for something to hold onto.

“Daddy, Makaria, mama!!” Ortho’s voice shrieks hoping to find someone, anyone who can calm him. Someone to free him, to hold him and tell him it’s okay now. Even if they’re mad at him for following the voice, even if they yell at him and are angry at him, he doesn’t care! He needs someone, anyone, “BIG BROTHER!!!”

The shriek captures Idia’s attention even so far into the distance. It’s faint, as though screamed from a thousand miles away. Yet the shriek causes his pace to pick up. Thoughts of what could have caused it race in his head as he rushes towards where he left his beloved baby brother. The closer he gets, the further his heart sinks. There’s no sign of Ortho. The rock he was left at sits empty and any tracks for Idia to follow are gone. It’s as though the boy disappeared in thin air.

“ORTHO!!” The frantic scream reaches back to the young boy who desperately clings to side of bars that separate the charred earth from whatever was further below. Hope rises a moment as Ortho tries to pull himself up away from the grasp, only to be tugged down again. A pained yelp escapes him at the sound of something popping and his chin burns as it hits against an elemental bar. Still he finds the strength to resist, to kick, to hold on and to scream.

“IDIA!! IDIA!!!” Long legs race through the barren land of Tartarus, black puffs of dust kick up nearly blinding Idia’s vision. Yet Idia ignores the disturbance to his vision, focusing instead on what he hears. The cry of a child and the rumbling of something unthinkable. So many worst case scenarios play through Idia’s head. One sticks out above all else, one that comes from a story he heard of his grandfather. Cronus, the once ruler of the universe and the devourer of his own. Idia wants to pray but knows they will go unheard. Gods never listened to another gods prayer.

“COME TO ME!” The voice shakes the earth again, knocking Ortho’s hands lose and hurting his ears. The boy screams reaching up to try grabbing at something again. Yet as he’s pulled down he finds it harder and harder to grab anything. Tears blind the young child as fear wells up in his stomach. What would happen to him? Would he die? Would he be trapped? Would he always be in pain? Why wasn’t anyone saving him. Where was his big brother?

A hand wraps itself around Ortho’s outstretched arm and catches him causing yet another pop this time from his arm. Ortho cries out in pain but looks up to see what has caught him. Golden eyes light up at the sight of long blue hair and a pale arm holding desperately to him. “Big brother!”

Idia feels his stomach burn against the bars, he can smell the smoke that emits from his robes pressed against them. None of that is as painful as the sight before him though. Two sets of golden eyes staring up at him. One pair tiny full of both fear and relief. The other pair the size of moons and full of nothing but an age old fury. It made his breath nearly stop, his heart race so fast he thought it’d escape his chest and every hair on his body stand on end. He never thought he would come face to face with his own grandfather like this.

He could barely hold on to the side of the pit and his brother. The thing was far, far stronger then him. He knew he couldn’t win in a battle of tug of war like this. If he was lucky he’d be pulled down too and they’d both be trapped. Yet if he was unlucky only he would survive and he didn’t want to imagine what would happen to his precious brother.

He had to think quickly, Ortho wouldn’t be able to stay like this forever and neither could he. He had to do something, anything to protect his brother. If his brother were human he could simply take his brother’s soul and place him into a new body. One uninjured, untouched by this abomination. But Ortho wasn’t human, he was technically a minor god too. The only way he could get Ortho’s soul was if- It hits him. What he needs to do.

“Ortho! Let go!” The command from his family causes all relief in Ortho’s features to wash away. Replaced by a look of pure shock. Let go? But if he let go he’d be taken away. Was Idia that mad at him? Did Idia want him gone that badly? The idea that his brother hated him so much brought new tears to the child’s eyes.

“Ortho, please! Let go! Please, just trust me!” Tears fall onto Ortho’s face but none that are his own. Tears slip from Idia’s eyes as he stares down at his brother and the tiny hand wrapped around his arm. He couldn’t do this if Ortho was still holding on. He couldn’t save his brother if he didn’t let go. A weak smile spreads on Idia’s face as he tries to be comforting. “Please, just let go...”

Tears slide down Ortho’s face, his own mixing with the ones that have fallen from his brother. He doesn’t want too, he’s not ready to let go. He still wants time. Time with his mother, his father, his sister and time with his brother. He hasn’t had enough. He’s so young. Why does he have to let go?

He just does. Small release around Idia’s arm and the small boy is pulled from his brother’s grasp. Limp body falling into darkness, disappearing along with the life in the boy. Yet Idia still holds on. His hand is still wrapped around the arm of his brother and he pulls his brother out.

A pale limp figure like his brother rests in Idia’s arms as he steps back from the pit. There’s no life to the being in his arms yet there is hope. Even as the monster screams and the earth rumbles. As Idia’s feet run and Ortho’s body falls into nothing, there is hope.