Idia was downright exhausted...it was little wonder Grandfather was so eager for a vacation if this was what he had to deal with every day. Ichigo was doing the bulk of keeping the stronger spirits where they belonged, while Idia was keeping the administrative stuff up to Hades' standards.
Pain and Panic were highly useful...if heavily abused by Hades.
Ichigo...understood why he did it, but tried to at least treat the two with some respect.
And then the two lackeys dropped a bomb neither teen was expecting.
"What do you mean, there's a mandatory shindig at Olympus?" said Ichigo.
"Zeus has mandatory parties at least once every ten years, and it's next week," said Panic.
"He also sent a message via Hermes, requesting that he be allowed a proxy because he was 'busy' and Zeus granted it," said Pain.
Ichigo twitched.
"And he didn't think to give us a head's up?" said Ichigo.
"He usually does his best to avoid these things, and he likely forgot about it," said Panic.
"Great. So just to be clear, Zeus and the other gods know he's sending proxies this time, right? Are they even aware he's on vacation?" asked Ichigo, getting a headache.
"Doubtful. Grandfather doesn't really tell them much and they don't ask," said Idia.
"If we're doing this, then we're going together. Though I will need to visit a few shops. Hades will likely throttle us if we make a bad impression while acting as his proxy," said Ichigo.
"What sort of shops?" asked Idia.
"You do know Greek Mythology, right? There's so many stories about Zeus' promiscuity that there has to be SOME basis in fact. I'd rather be safe than sorry. Besides, I don't think I have anything to wear for a fancy shindig like this."
"Actually..." started Pain.
Ichigo and Idia looked at them.
"Hades had your measurements taken from the school," said Panic.
"...He was planning to dump this on us from the beginning, wasn't he?" said Ichigo, twitching.
"There's some for him too," said Pain, not confirming it.
Ichigo twitched.
"Right. We are going to coordinate our outfits and I'm calling in back-up from Vil. If we're going to do this, we are going to rock this party."
Idia didn't argue. For one thing, he knew perfectly well that Vil would never hear the end of it otherwise.
Ichigo went through the closet and found a few outfits that suited her tastes, but unfortunately most of them were nixed because Idia's outfit would likely clash. She was keeping Vil updated in real time, and he was helping her coordinate the outfits.
Since they were going to an important party, first impressions would matter a lot. Ichigo at least had some idea of what she was doing with make-up, more than she had when she first started anyway.
Idia patiently sat down and let Ichigo pull his hair back so it wasn't everywhere, and once they finally had a proper suit for him to wear, set about coordinating a dress for Ichigo.
After several trial and error moments, she settled on one that both suited her coloring and wouldn't clash with Idia's formal suit. As an added precaution, Ichigo also packed the special mechanical ears Idia had designed upon learning she had zero issue wearing them in public.
With his social anxiety, they would need every edge they could get, and she could easily claim it was a cute accessory or something.
It had also made it harder to coordinate the outfits.
Ichigo approached the entire thing as she would a major fight...because honestly, that was how it felt like.
"So did you hear? Hades found someone to act as his proxy to the party," said Hermes. It was all the gods could talk about, because Hades usually stayed the minimum required before leaving.
So when the proxies came, all gods were paying attention to the opening.
The first to enter was a young man in his late teens to almost twenties with familiar flaming blue hair and a well pressed suit. His hair was pulled back in a tasteful manner, and his accessories were discreet but suited the overall look. He clearly had some of Hades' bloodline in him, because he had the pale skin, sharp teeth and his aura all but sang of his divine inheritance.
It was the woman that followed that had their full attention though.
The girl was clearly a warrior, in body and spirit. Her skin was a healthy tan, and her eyes were a warm brown. Her vibrant hair was held up in a fashionable braid, though the addition of the cat ears was a curious one. She also had Asian features, which were rather exotic compared to the Greek and Roman ones among the gods. She wore a light amount of make-up that only accented her features, and her dress suited her natural coloring perfectly.
It was the power that radiated off her that had everyone's attention though. If they didn't know any better, most of them would have sworn she was another goddess, not a human.
One thing was abundantly clear after observing them for a few moments...the oddball couple genuinely cared for one another.
Aphrodite was the first one to approach them. She could feel the love between the two and it was absolutely adorable.
"So, you two are Hades' proxies," she said cheerfully.
The male was clearly uncomfortable, and Aphrodite wanted to coo at how easily the girl covered for him by drawing the attention of the goddess...all while discreetly holding his hand to give him some comfort.
Aphrodite noticed the bracelet around the girl's wrist and was delighted to realize it was an engagement gift.
Idia and Ichigo's POV
The party was a fairly tame event, even if they were the entertainment of the evening. Idia was a nervous wreck, but held his cool since he could focus on the cat ears Ichigo wore. It had a weird pacifying effect on his nerves.
Ichigo didn't mind taking most of the attention, and with her insanely high charisma stat, she charmed the Gods and Goddesses within minutes.
Aphrodite kept cooing over what a cute couple they were, which was a little weird.
Then came the moment he was really dreading... meeting Zeus himself. Ichigo had made it clear she was not a huge fan of that particular god, and wanted to try and stay under the radar for the most part considering his past history.
As she had bluntly put it, for there to be that many stories of his infidelity and behavior, there had to be some basis in fact.
Zeus could be as jovial as he liked...Ichigo still didn't trust him in the least.
Which was why she was going to drop a bombshell on him, in the hopes he would leave her alone.
"I don't get why people think the Titans are that scary. I mean the one I fought was a pain, but I've honestly faced worse from a pint-sized albino with a literal dragon spirit inside him while fending him off the meat before it was cooked," said Ichigo with a straight face.
"Wait...is this the same soul reaper who has been hanging around your little sister?" said Idia.
"Yup," said Ichigo.
Dead silence. Ares was the first to speak.
"You talk as if you've faced the titans before."
"I have. Hades found out about me thanks to the report Idia made to him about the Soul Reapers not doing their job and wanted to vent by tossing me into the Underdome. Then he found out I was dating his grandson, and let a Titan out in the Underdome. That thing was a pain, but it wasn't as scary as I'd heard," said Ichigo with a straight face.
"You left out the part that he was so shocked I had found a girlfriend that he let it out by accident," commented Idia.
"To be fair, you hate parties like this more than he does," deadpanned Ichigo.
The gods were stunned that a mere mortal had basically admitted to fighting a Titan (even a fraction of one) and didn't think it was a big deal.
It took some doing, but Ichigo was able to move Idia to a discreet corner where he could sit down and not be seen.
"Remind me again why we came here?" said Idia. He really just wanted to cuddle up against his fiance and not be seen by anyone for a few hours.
"It's mandatory and Hades thought it was a hilarious idea to dump this on us without much warning," said Ichigo, letting him use her as a shield.
Aphrodite was cooing at them again, but she had learned to ignore it.
"How much longer do we have to be here?"
Ichigo looked at her watch.
"Pain said that Hades usually comes back after about five to seven hours, and it's been four. One more to go and then we can leave," she replied.
Idia wanted to whimper...he hated big parties with important people and this was like his worst nightmare come to life.
Ichigo let him recover for a bit, before speaking up.
"If you can handle socializing for another hour or two, I'll wear that cosplay you've been playing with in the avatar maker for the past week."
"Wait...really?" said Idia, perking up.
"I'll even wear that feminized Ignihyde uniform you ordered last month," said Ichigo with a wink.
Idia blushed, but also managed to hide his discreet nosebleed. He didn't know Ichigo was aware of that uniform.
Idia had to breathe a sigh of relief once the time was up and they were allowed to leave.
Unknown to them, their appearance had the gods talking about them for weeks.
In the underworld...
Idia felt the entire headache was worth it when Ichigo walked out of her room wearing the female Ignihyde uniform he had special ordered just for her.
The uniform hugged her curves and seeing her in his dorm's colors caused his blood to flow downward. He knew he had a nosebleed, but he didn't care in the least.
Ichigo sashayed towards him and the stimulus was almost too much. It didn't help she still had the cat ears on.
"How do I look, nya?" said Ichigo with a grin.
That did it...Idia almost couldn't keep his hands to himself hearing that.
It was so worth going to that party if this was the reward he got in return.
Idia was in a much better mood since the party was over. However it was a momentary reprieve, as he had a lot of paperwork and administrative things he had to do to keep things running.
He was so exhausted from having to deal with some minor matter that could cause big trouble later that he didn't notice he had sat down hard on Hades' personal throne... that is, until an interface popped up that didn't have his personal specs loaded onto it.
It took him several seconds to realize that he was looking at Hades personal interface.
Idia stared at it for several seconds, before getting up. It took him a moment to realize what he had sat on, before he did it again. Once again, Hades' interface came up instead of his own.
Hades had given Idia enough administrative access that he could perform basic duties, but not enough that he could cause any real damage. Ichigo walked in, looking annoyed and tired.
"Hey Ichigo, could you come here for a minute?" said Idia.
Ichigo did so without a second thought, and was slightly confused when Idia had her sit on Hades' throne.
Unauthorized User Detected!
Less than five seconds later, Idia's phone rang. It was Hades.
"If I find out you two have been screwing each other on my throne, I'll strangle you both," he said immediately.
"Why did your personal interface show up when I sat on your throne by accident?" asked Idia, more confused than anything.
"Also, why didn't you give us any warning about that party?" Ichigo added.
Hades was silent for a moment.
"I didn't feel like warning you, and as for the interface issue, ask Pain or Panic. Also, my warning still stands...I find out you two have been going at it like bunnies on my throne and your ass is going to be heavily singed when I get back," said Hades, hanging up.