CHAPTER 20: YOU WILL RULE ALL

Idia refocused and quickly finished his code.

When the others would go through the Lethe system, they'd have their memories of Styx overwritten with a new set of false memories. According to this AU timeline, the abducted students were called to the Land of Heroes to assist with blot research. Idia and Ortho would be at Ignihyde the whole time, out of the picture. As for Night Raven College, they too would receive a dose of the Lethe system—Charon would undo the damage they caused, and no one would remember the abductions. Granted, Idia knew that some outside forces such as the TWMC and the Asim family were contacted… but he'd deal with those later down the line. This was all he could do to keep the secret, to uphold the traditions of the Shroud family.

People said that 'no mage ever leaves the Isle of Woe', but that wasn't entirely true. No mage ever left the Isle while still remembering it. All the hair-pulling frustration, the tests, even the gaming session… it would be as if none of that ever happened. Despite knowing this from the beginning, Idia couldn't help but feel remorseful somewhat.

If only we didn't have to keep ourselves secret, he thought wearily. Ortho has a point. Being in the shadows 24/7 really bites.

Then his screen suddenly shut off. The faint blue lights near the ceiling flickered red. Idia tapped at his keyboard, and even tried hitting the power button, but nothing happened. He heard frightened cries outside and finally got out of his chair to investigate.

"The Cerberus System is powering down!"

"None of our tablets are working, either!"

"Is this a blackout?"

"Can't be. How could we have a blackout?!"

"Don't we have a backup power generator in cases like this?"

Idia's hair was starting to turn orange at the edges. He was never an irritable person before, but his temper was getting worse since he became the reluctant acting director. He sighed deeply, determined to be calm. Mages with rising blot tended to be more aggressive, but he wouldn't let this get the better of him.

Idia finally opened his door, only to be swarmed with scared researchers as soon as he stepped foot into the hallway.

"Director! Someone attacked me and stole my ID to get into the Underworld!" Herald cried.

"Ortho went after the thief, but he hasn't returned!" said Arin, the redheaded scientist who was in charge of Leona's tests.

"Everything is shutting down, and we can't get anything back online!" April shrieked.

"The Charon soldiers, your Cerberus system, all of our technology is kaput!" Apollo said worriedly.

"Director, what do we do?!" demanded Athena.

"GUYS!" Idia snapped, his hair flickering like a lighter. "Calm down! It'll take more than a little power outage to extinguish us. Now what did you say about Ortho?!"

"He went down into the Underworld," said Dion, a ruddy-faced man who was in charge of Jamil's tests. "But we can't contact him, or even go in after him. Since everything's shut down, we can't—"

"I'll get him," Idia said. "You guys go into the computer lab and do what you can to get everything back online. I'm breaking into the Underworld and getting Ortho back! And I'll find who stole Herald's ID while I'm at it."

"We've tried everything in the computer room—" Arin said, but Idia just charged ahead without listening.

It was eerily like his dream, and Idia tried to avoid the thought. His glowing hair was the only light in the hallway, not that it mattered—he could walk through this facility blindfolded if he was bored enough. Once he reached the door to the Underworld, he reached out towards the ID scanner, ready to hack it. But before he could do anything, he heard a familiar voice over the intercom.

"I'll let you in if you say please, bro," said Ortho.

"Huh?" Idia shivered and looked up. "Ortho? I thought you were in the Underworld. What're you doing in the PA system?"

"Oh, I just thought I'd take over everything," Ortho said casually. "So I shut things down for a little bit. Sorry if you were in the middle of playing any games!"

"Why would you do that?!" Idia demanded.

"Because soon, we won't need this place anymore," Ortho explained. "Once Tartarus is broken and all the Phantoms run free in the world, Styx will be a thing of the past! And since your curse incinerates blot, you can go wherever you please! You'll rule the new world, bro! We can have friends over, explore all the towns and cities we want… we can even be heroes!"

Idia's yellow eyes were wide with horror. "What are you blathering about? You must be hacked."

"I'm not hacked, Idy."

"…What did you call me?" the director asked quietly. "No. Only he got to call me that nickname. You're not him!"

"Aw, is that really how you feel?" Ortho's voice was dark. "Yeah, guess a dumb robot like me can't compare to your real brother, huh?"

"Ortho, no, that's not what I meant—" Idia backtracked hastily.

"Haha, it's okay, Idy! I understand. He's with me too," Ortho chuckled. "Him and all his friends! Come down here and see!"

He? Is it the person who stole Herald's ID? Idia thought worriedly. Maybe it's the same person who hacked into Ortho and is making him act funny…

And then the door to the Underworld opened up. Idia hesitated. If he went back to the computer lab and brought everything back online, Ortho would just take back control. It would be wiser to go along with this and not resist yet. Idia didn't know who or what had taken control of Ortho, but he would shut the humanoid down and fix whatever was wrong with him.

Filled with determination, he entered the Underworld.

As soon as his eyes adjusted to the lights, he spotted a spare Chariot waiting for him. This was as good an invitation as any. Idia sat in the Chariot, and at Ortho's silent command, the black ship hovered off the ground and flew down to the lower levels. In what seemed like no time at all, Idia had reached the rims of Tartarus.

He disembarked the Chariot and stormed down the stairs, ready to break Ortho and then remake him. Ortho might have been a mage, but he was nowhere near Idia's level. He hated the thought of a fight, but it was the only way to bring order…

Once Idia reached Tartarus, he saw Ortho in the middle of Tartarus's seal. He seemed to be all by himself. There was a tiny crack in the seal, enough to push a strand of hair through, and it gave off a sickly green glow. Idia shuddered as he remembered the multitude of high-level Phantoms in there, dating back to thousands of years ago.

"Idy." Ortho's voice was layered. The mechanical boy had no pupils in his yellow eyes. "We've been waiting for you. But we haven't been lonely."

"Ortho, get away from there," Idia cautioned. "Tartarus is dangerous! You know that—"

Am I dangerous too, big bro?

Idia gasped and touched the side of his head. His ears weren't deceiving him. It was the first Ortho!

Please let me out. I want to see the world again… a world which you will rule, a world of Phantoms…

Visions entered Idia's mind. Phantoms living peacefully among mankind. Styx being shut down. Playing games and watching anime with his classmates. Having both Orthos, past and present, at his side. Walking in the sunlight, without social anxiety or his ancestral curse to stop him from doing whatever he wanted…

Normally, he would resist. But with his blot clogging his magestone pen—his gemstone was half-black and half-blue—he lost the will to fight. This new future was incredibly tempting. He would get everything he wanted, and find a way for everyone else to get their way, too. Rewriting the cosmos and drenching the world in blot… what a challenging campaign!

"Alright… I get it now." Idia took on a nasty grin. "Idia joins your party."

"Thanks, Idy," Ortho 2.0 said gratefully. "With your genius, we'll be unstoppable!"

First, you have to open Tartarus, Ortho 1.0 spoke up. And you'll have to open it all the way. I'm a lot bigger than I used to be, and some of my friends are bigger still…

Idia thought for a second. His signature spell had the power to open and close the gates of Tartarus—it was a trait passed down the Shroud family as part of their duties. Idia himself was literally the key to the deepest depths of the Underworld. But it wasn't as simple as opening and shutting a regular door. There were dozens of layers of code embedded into Tartarus's gates, and he'd have to peel back those layers one at a time before he could use his special magic.

"Okay, Ortho. Leave it to your big bro," Idia promised.

DRIP…