Chapter Text
S.T.Y.X, the most technologically advanced place in the world, its security and weapons were top grade, Ortho would know.
Ortho knew exactly how strong the weapons had become since he died.
Now that he thought about it, he wasn’t sure if the things that shot him were even modern tech. They were less powerful than the new stuff, but completely out of his and his copy’s grasp back then. Ortho murmured thoughtlessly to himself as he walked through the pristine halls of the institute he used to call home, a trail of blot behind him. He would stop the dripping if he knew how, but after a few hours of it, he presumed it wouldn’t stop.
Ortho’s feet hit the floor with the soft pitter patter of flesh, something he wasn’t quite used to having. He looked down at himself, lips thinning into a frown. He looked so different again, just as he was starting to get used to the form he was made into.
He used to be king of the underworld! Now he didn’t exactly know what he was supposed to be….
He tried to stay focused on his objective: find Idy. Idy .. Idy was always smart! He was his.. their big brother after all, it only made sense for ortho to reach for him again.
His mind wandered, however. It sunk deeper and deeper, back to the underworld he’d dwelled in for years. It was so cold, it was so dark, he was so alone.
Well.. that wasn’t entirely true. Ortho was not alone at all, he was surrounded by screaming, crying, pleading, raging voices of phantoms. Other phantoms. That’s right, after a few years of being trapped in the depths, he became one of them, his small fingers becoming hardened claw, his body growing and growing more than any growth spurt would have, skin bursting and mending till he was gargantuan and monstrous but a beast to be respected in the unending chaos that was Tartarus.
“Cerberus,” his voice felt smaller to him now, not as bellowing or even intimidating as it might have been. “Disable the locks.” He rasped to the guard dog, its head laying low to the blood of a shroud as the door slid open, allowing the not-quite-human not-quite-phantom to continue his wandering. It was any moment now someone would realize something was amiss, but he had a mission and he would not fold yet, not till the game was over.
When the cold air hit his skin- something he now had again- he felt an uncomfortable and familiar chill, bristling and wrapping his clawed hands around himself.
Even up here, he was sure the cold of death persisted. Like he was still trapped on the underside of the gates.
Against his own wishes, Ortho lurched forward with a retch, a fresh cough leaving a big black stain on the glossy tiles. He was still weak, just as powerless as when he died and when he found himself.. reformed anew.
[Thinking about it now, he still had no explanation for it..]
[His blood, now replaced with blot, splattered on the rough stone floor of Tartarus, wheezing and gasping as he collapsed in a pathetic heap. How was he alive? He.. they were both struck down. He held idy in his arms and then let his brother go… so why was he still here? He turned to the gate with a heavy head.]
[It was closed.]
[“Gate to..” Ortho paused, lips pressed tight as the younger shroud looked up to the stairs. Was it that easy? Could he just… leave?]
[Ortho stumbled to his feet, leaning on the wall with every shaky step. He’d say it hurt like hell, but he already went there and it wasn’t so bad, this hurt like every strike of the thunder spears. Every step feeling the lasting electric damage that shot around in his body and the.. Other Ortho. He hummed as he contemplated the thought. He had.. a younger brother.. He should return to them, both of his brothers. It was only polite.]
Ortho’s lips curled into a smile as his eyes settled on a door. He’d recognize it anywhere, his and idia’s parents used to go through it all the time for meetings. He had very little doubt that idy would be anywhere but there, especially after all the trouble they’d caused. Ortho wondered briefly if his parents would ground him upon his return. He supposed their anger was better than their absence.
With little second thought, Ortho buried his claws in the metal door, not caring for the sudden sound of alarm from the system as he threw the door open, eyebrows shifting up as he saw it crunch and power off. Ah… he may be weakened, but he should be more cautious with other people's things now.
Ortho stepped into the room with only a minor limp, clawed hands slowly raising as he sighed with exhaustion, blot trailing down his arms and splattering on the floor “Idy….”
[The cold was suffocating as Ortho clambered up the stairs of Tartarus, a former titan in the underworld trembling and clawing at the stone floor, pulling himself up and laying down at the top step with a puff, his tattered and stained robe sprawling out around him.]
[He felt terrible, but he couldn’t give up. He couldn’t lay down and die. He HAD to find a way out.. make his way to Idy. What was the point of anything else? He’d promised him, the other ortho, that they’d save their friends, but.. he didn’t know these people! He didn’t know anyone except his family, and that’s what kept him moving as he looked up the elevator shaft, claws digging into the wall.]
[He’d scaled the underworld and Tartarus itself! He could conquer a measly rectangular tube. He’d go back to them all, clearly death could not keep them apart.]
Yet here Ortho was now and a brief, fleeting thought floated through his head. You’re.. not happy? It was a baffling concept, and yet idy was trembling, hands clasped over their mouth, yellow eyes wide and sharp like pinpricks.
The humanoid, the other Ortho, put himself between them, an arm outstretched protectively to their idy while the other was aimed at Ortho, a small glow taking form in the palm of his hand “idia!” He shouted, poised for battle. “Stay behind me!”
Ortho thought for a small moment that idy really didn’t need him anymore. That they were more than happy just the four of them. A mother, a father, a big brother and the artificial little brother. Was he.. no longer needed?
The shadow of doubt was crushed when idy cried out, reaching forward and grabbing ortho’s arm, pulling it aside sharply “o-ortho wait! Don’t hurt him!” At that, the machine fired, a sizable strike scorching the wall with a loud BANG!
The former phantom stumbled back, a new splattering of blot as he clutched his head with a groan. The sound of the blast rang through his ears and he thought he was back there, back in tartarus, his blot filled body boiling from the inside out with electricity.
He.. he should go- temporarily of course! This place was home once, he still knew all the best hiding spots.. he’d find them at.. a better time! Maybe without that impulsive little-
A sudden real shock zapped every thought out of his brain, a furious and monstrous shriek as the beastly younger shroud haggard forward, blot trickling from his lips as his head whirrled around.
Behind him was a group of suited strangers. He.. he was familiar with those uniforms! He’d had them under his and the other shrouds' control during their stunt but..
When.. When did the Charon arrive? He would have heard them- seen them! Anything! A small part of Ortho was vaguely aware that idy was calling him, pleading with him to stop, but the beast acted purely on instinct right now, snarling and lashing at the S.T.Y.X workers behind him.
He would usually believe himself more than capable of dealing with little human gnats in his prime, but that was gone. He didn’t even get a strike in before another swift shock felled him to the ground in an instant, black stained rags and metal claws clattered to the ground, a small pool of blot forming from his fingertips. The last thing he could hear before he blacked out was idy calling for him- or maybe he was calling…
..For the other ortho?
[ Cold.. it’s so cold.. idy? Where are you? Did you.. leave me behind again? ]
Ortho sat up with a cough, rolling and falling over an edge he didn’t realize was there and hitting the ground. …What? He tried to get up but found himself still aching and electrified, the odd blanket he’d been covered in was almost completely black save for the edges. What in the world was going on? Ortho clambered his way back onto his feet, claws digging into the cold and hard surface he’d been laid out on. He was still muttering to himself when he heard the rattling and scraping of steel.
Danger. The younger shroud jumped back, trying to pull himself away but was yanked back by the wrists, a shout leaving Ortho as he stumbled back to the ground with a thud and the rattle of metal.
Ortho scrambled to untangle himself from the blankets and was met with heavy bindings. He recognized this technology, even if just briefly. “Fascinating…” Ortho murmured, moving his wrists up to his eye, turning it slowly. “Heavy duty, anti-magic padded chains. Nothing is getting out of these.” He paused, wrists lowering with a clatter as he looked around the dimly lit room “..i'm not getting out of these.”
With a grunt, Ortho shroud pulled himself up by the table, his elbows keeping him off the ground even as his body shook with leftover electric energy.
Ortho teeth gritted together in frustration as he eyed the room closer now. It was full of JUNK- or at least, his brother’s junk. There was a mix of food packaging and tools scattered about, though most of it looked like it’d been pushed away in a hurry.. specifically out of Ortho’s grasp. He grumbled, turning around to keep looking when he screamed, jolting back and ramming himself into a table edge.
There, not too far away from him, was his body. Or rather, well, not his body, but one that looked an uncomfortable amount like him. It was slumped forward like a corpse, brightly colored and star speckled eyes looking empty and unfocused. The husk was not in use, clearly, as every light was dimmed and parts of its body were missing, either broken off or being removed for other reasons. Ortho frowned, staring at the creature before he tentatively reached out and poked its face, even more repulsed when it was soft and squishy, yet not quite human. Just like him.
Ortho recoiled from the skeleton, yet he couldn’t find himself to look away, not completely. The lifeless head lulled forward from Ortho's touch, the light reflecting off the shiny dark blue body. “…you’re not.. so bad..” his voice was raspy and a little sore from shouting, but a softness laced in it as he was alone.
Alone. Isolated. It was a foreign concept yet one he was so intimately familiar with. He was the only sane and somewhat functioning being for the past six years in the underworld, surrounded at all times. Ortho couldn’t remember the last time he was graced with such perfect silence. He reached out again to the lifeless body, chains rattling as he held a face in his hands that was just like his own. Well, he supposed it was his own. He had been.. made in his image after all.
Ortho loved his Idy! More than the stars and the moon he claimed to want to conquer for him! But it made a pit open in his chest to see a version of himself that was not him anymore. It was the face of someone who did not exist anymore, even as the model for it stood before it.
He was almost perfect, too. Or at least compared to photos of the past. When Ortho pulled back the corpse’s lips, his teeth were smooth and flat. Ortho felt a smug look creep onto his face. “Not a shroud.” This was something he had over him! Something that made him better! Irreplaceable!
But that feeling was hollow and unsatisfying, frowning once again as he let go of the husk's face. He looked.. perfect. Flawless in a way a human can’t be and It made ortho sick.
Absentmindedly his hard and jagged fingers passed over his own cheek, claws catching in every crack-like scar that decorated his face, blot seeping from it. They could hardly be called a reflection. He was not this boy anymore and he didn’t think the humanoid was either, neither of them were and that thought unsettled him.
Ortho turned around in irritation, only to jump back with a shriek when he saw two glowing golden eyes looking back at him, narrowed with skepticism. Ortho didn’t think before lashing out, heavy claws cutting through the air and burying themselves in a metal forearm as the mirror set of eyes flickered between the now dripping ‘wound’ and back to Ortho.
“What do you want.” A voice that was an imitation of his own- was that right? He hardly sounded like the little boy idia designed him to be a replicant of. “Why are you here.”Ortho glared at the humanoid, pulling his claws out as he stepped back, leaning on the messy table he’d awoken on. “I could say the same to you, little brother.” Ortho crooned, flicking his wrist, oil mixed with blot splattering the cold floor.
Ortho- the other one- didn’t seem happy with this response, bristling in irritation as he took a step closer, though after a while, Ortho came to realize he wasn’t touching the ground to begin with. “Don’t play games with me! You’ve got to be up to no good, right? I won’t be deceived again, so just tell me right now!”
Ortho recoiled from his words, yellow eyes flickering away. He never lied to the smaller Ortho! He just.. kept the details of his ploy to himself until he was already in too deep.
..hrm..
Ortho threw out his hands to his sides, nose scrunching as he met the others energy “so what? You were a part of it just like me, so don’t pretend I’m all at fault!”
The humanoid’s face was right up on his own, the black mask poking him in the nose. “Listen here, you. I’m not going to let you do anything that gets us hurt so if you do anything weird don’t think for a SECOND I won’t blast you into-“
“Ortho?” Both of the shrouds froze, necks snapping as they turned to face the lanky figure standing in the doorway, a complicated spread of feelings washing over their faces.
Idy.. Their brother was just as tall as he’d been when he stood over the edge of Tartarus, though now a long cascade of blue flames dropped down his back, no longer in the state where the two of them were so connected. A small part of him hurt realizing that.
“Yes?” Two voices replied in unison, only for them to glare at each other after. Idy hesitated, a blue tipped hand coming up to its mouth as he just.. stared at them.. There was an uncomfortable look in his brother's eyes that Ortho didn’t like. It made him feel.. Bad. he couldn’t explain it, just that he needed to look away, staring at the floor instead.
Idy didn’t look very happy to see either of them. The orthos separated from each other, grumbling and glaring but not causing a fight. For their brother’s sake, of course.
“Look, Ortho I-“ idy had begun but was cut off by another duet of “Yeah?”
Idy rubbed their temples with a groan, heavy yellow eyes looking between the two of them “Okay, pause,” He grumbled, a tense hand pointing first to the android then to the beast, “Okay, you’re Ortho, you’re Orthy.”
And Ortho, or to Idy, Orthy was going to agree with delight. What fun! An old childish nickname he used to go by, a perfect companion to Idy. A smile had spread on his face before it soured in an instant, sneering at the humanoid. “Wait! Why- why does he get my name!” The not-quite-phantom hissed, pointing an accusatory claw at the android wearing his face. Using his voice. Taking everything that should be his.
Idia quickly scurried between the two of them, one arm on each ortho with a nervous smile dancing on his lips as he pushed the two apart carefully. “Ah- well.. well you’re both my little brothers to me, right? S-so it shouldn’t matter, okay?”
Ortho- or rather, now with the pleasant little nickname from their childhood- Orthy wasn’t so sure about that, lips pressing together in a sharp line.
He didn’t want to argue with idia, not after he’d fought so hard for them to be together again. Orthy’s gaze flickered to Ortho, his uncovered eye still narrowed in irritation. The humanoid was already returning the favor in full. Just perrfectt….
Orthy took a few steps closer to idy, arms outstretched in a silent request, though his eye would turn to ortho, resentment to meet grudges. The smile on his lips grew wider when Idy crouched down to his level, focusing all of their attention on him.
This was not the world he promised to carve for Idy, but it was a good enough start. Long arms wrapped around Orthy, holding him close just like they used to as kids, though Idy was much taller now. He was blissful in this moment, the first real comfort he’d experienced in years until he heard Idy speak up. “…how did you.. come back..?” A shaky voice whispered, and Orthy was faintly aware of tears rolling down his brother's face. “I thought I lost you both forever- but..” Idy trailed off and Orthy felt a bit of bitterness at being bundled together with the other one, lips pursing together though he hid it from Idy.
“We’re family, I’ll always come back to you.” Orthy murmured, standing on tiptoes to adjust the arms wrapped around his brother's neck. When he looked over to Ortho, he saw he was gone, or at the very least not in his vision. The minor annoyance he felt was replaced with willful indifference. Fine! Let him leave! He was not needed anymore and Orthy would prefer to never have to see him again…
Yes.. that’s how he felt! He was sure of it. The ache would go away after a while, he was sure of it.
Orthy was snapped out of his thoughts by Idy once more, a hand petting his younger brother's hair before pulling away again, worry clear on his face. “I’m.. sorry about before. With the Charon, I mean.” His brother rambled, hands wringing as Idy moved away completely and started pacing “m-mom and dad are back so they’re doing some, er, well a lot of work with the.. damages we caused.”
Idy paused, crouching down again to be eye to eye with Orthy while they spoke. “..They want to monitor you a bit longer. f-for your safety, I'm sure! But..” he looked away, long fingers holding one of Orthy’s claws, absentmindedly rubbing his thumb over the back of it like their mother used to do for them as children.
Orthy looked up to Idia with a frown, cheeks puffing up “What? Why!” He shouted, a foot stomping on the cold floor “I don’t want to! I want to be with you and mom and dad- and I want to- I want to go outside the isle! They can’t trap me here again!”
The rasping turned into something strange, an almost chorus of distress as Orthy clung to Idy, grey claws threatening to break skin as he looked up with a wide and frantic eye. “I don’t wanna go back!!”
Orthy would have clung to idy forever if he hadn’t seen the look on Idys face. The.. alarm.. it wasn’t that unlike the face it’d had when the isle of woe was first taken by his and ortho’s grasp. He let go of Idys shoulders, claws balling up at his side as he pulled away, his visible eye focusing on his feet. “..I’m.. sorry…” Orthy hated the word, but he didn’t know what else to say. Excess blot started to spill down from his face and hands, a sign of stress usually displayed in mages, but it was impossible to really compare the anomaly as any one thing.
The elder brother quickly shook off the feelings of fright, gripping Orthy’s shoulders and trying to nudge his head up “h-hey! Come on.. it’s alright! I’m not.. mad..” He offered, brows knit in worry despite its best attempts at keeping them hidden. Orthy grumbled, staring down at the small pools of blot and oil left on the floor.. His eyesight was struggling as blot dribbled down his face and into them more. He tried to wipe them with clawed hands to little success, only scratching himself and making a bigger mess. He paused when Idy reached down to wipe the rolling blot. Idy had laughed and for a moment it felt like when they were kids. When Orthy would hurt himself on something or fall down and Idy would be at his side, wiping away tears and helping it up. He thought this would be the same.
But Orthy knew Idy probably tried to hide it, but Orthy knew what he felt when his brother's hands stiffened against his cheek.. He knows what he heard with the painful sharp inhales.
And yet.. despite the burning, Idy stayed and wiped the blot out of Orthy’s eyes, pulling back when it’s little brother could open them again. Orthy’s eyes flickered to Idys hands. They were tinged with black like an oil spill, though some parts were steaming and turning red before all the blot was wiped off. “…I didn’t think.. you’d do that…” Orthy murmured, the flames of fear settling into exhaustion. He almost didn’t feel idy nudging him, helping its little brother onto the table like he’d tuck him in for bed. Idy smiled half heartedly, gingerly picking up the blackened blanket he’d left on him before, though back then it was probably in a better condition.. “Of course I would, you’re my brother.. you seem tired, don’t worry, leave this all to your big bro Idy.” It’s voice dropped to a whisper, covering up Orthy with the dark blanket as the other nodded slowly, eyes closing “..just a little bit.. don’t go.. too… far… okay?” he mumbled, a clawed hand reaching out to Idy before it went limp, dangling over the edge of the table.
…
..Idia shroud lingered for a few minutes, just to make sure his brother was truly unconscious. Sweat beaded on his neck as he crouched forward, checking the state of the restraints. Good, they still held, though they were clearly battered from struggle and if left unattended could break. This proved two things: the usual S.T.Y.X stuff to deal with mages wouldn’t work, but he also wasn’t on par with what he’d been as a phantom.
Idia hesitated before opening the door, leaving without a sound while whatever his brother had become slept soundly surrounded by machinery and equipment. Idia’s heart ached to leave him here. He deserved better, but it was the most secure room for a phantom-like being without completely freezing him like other smaller phantoms, and he had to plead and scream for them not to.
Idia sunk to its knees with a soft sob once the door was closed, biting down on it’s unharmed hand. He knew ortho was behind him before looking, just a sense for family, he supposed. “..Idia?” His soft voice told idia he needed to get up, even if he never said that. Idia would quickly wipe their tears off, taking a shaky breath before turning to Ortho, a weak smile on his lips “yeah?” Idia did his best to sound normal, but they both knew that was impossible now. Their life’s were changed once and it seemed like they just kept changing. “..they need you in the research room, they have the preliminary results for the findings on…” he paused, eyes narrowing as he looked at the door “Orthy…”
Idia let out a weak sigh, rubbing a hand over his face and back into his hair as the two brothers walked down the hall. “Ortho? Can you try not to provoke him?” Idia whispered, words tentative as if it knew the ice it was stepping onto.
Ortho reacted in turn, eyes widening in shock before huffing and puffing and, though idia wouldn’t say it, not that much unlike Orthy. “What? I’m not- I haven’t- do you know how he spoke to me! And-“ Ortho turned away, hands wrapped around his arms as he grumbled, Idia’s eyes briefly turning to the hastily patched up arm, the punctures still black with oil. “you don’t know what it was like, the two of us together.. I..” he paused, freezing in place before continuing onward, hovering at a brisker pace. “We were terrible, Idia. We hurt our friends, badly. I don’t even know if the others will want to even look at me ever again or- oh gosh, Deuce.” Ortho clutched his head with a groan, swaying a bit on his feet. Idia reached out to him but he had already corrected himself, refusing to meet their eyes. “sorry- I’m not used to these kinds of emotions running in me. it’s a little... Overwhelming.”
Idia chewed on his lip, looking around before trotting up to be by Ortho’s side “look- I’m not asking you to get along with him, but we don’t know what could happen if he..” Idia held his tongue, looking away. They both knew what he was capable of if he put his mind to it, they both helped him. They almost succeeded.
“You’re brothers, okay? Just.. try..? Please? For me?” Idia asked softly, crouching down to hold one of Ortho's hands. The humanoid's shoulders slumped forward, eventually crumbling and looking up to his brother. “…Yeah.. we’re.. we’re brothers.. Okay, fine.. I’ll try.”
Idia smiled, the edges of their blue hair burning a yellow color. “Awesome! Great! Alright, let’s get to the board room and we can do whatever you want after work, okay? To make up for it? And then I’ll check in on Orthy’s condition after? We’ll be a family.” Idia rambled on and on, interrupted a few times by a stray giggle even if in the moment he wouldn’t realize the way ortho didn’t match his energy, looking away or just shrugging along to the conversation.
They had a lot of work to do and couldn’t possibly stress about the small details right now, that was a future problem for future shrouds, though, ignoring it would not stop it from festering.