Chapter Text
Idia panicked when he watched the Housewarden’s and Jamil collapse on the grass but what made him freeze was Ortho breaking his gear to reveal his mouth and swallow what looked like the Eternal Flame so he did the only thing natural; he bolted back to Ignihyde, locked his door and dove under the covers.
Those had been SSR tier characters! Top magic users and one shot had taken them down? What sort of epic or legendary equipment had Ortho been equipped with to do that?
“Or that code was a virus…” Idia muttered, peaking out of the blanket, watching the flicking artifact. “This all started cause you got put here and Ortho couldn't stay away…”
Now Ortho was…
“Big brother?”
Idia ducked back under his blanket. Ortho? Had he seen Idia run from the courtyard? Was he going to eat Idia’s soul?!
A muffled tapping, like fingers on glass, made Idia whimper in terror, curling tighter under his blanket.
Then with a yell of pain, Idia sprang up, clutching his arm.
The Eternal Flame banged against the box, upsetting the hover mechanism and sending it rolling across his bed, coming to a stop at Idia’s knees.
“Idia! It’s me!”
He was going crazy. It sounded like Ortho was speaking, but he wasn't in the room. Just the flame.
“O-ortho?” Idia asked, his voice shaking in pain from his arm and fear of what the heck was going on.
“It’s me, Idia,” Ortho’s disembodied voice said. “I need you to get my Archetype Gear out.”
“...” Idia forced himself stay quiet.
“...Idia?”
“How do I know you’re not going to eat my soul?”
The Eternal Flame flickered. “I don’t understand.”
Idia crawled around the box, standing and pacing. “I saw you take down the other Housewardens and swallow something. I don’t wanna lose my soul! I have some long-awaited events happening soon that I refuse to miss out on by having my soul swallowed!”
“Idia, I don't eat. Why would I eat your soul?” Ortho’s voice asked.
Idia blinked. “Then what happened? What did I see you swallow?”
“I suspect it was the power of the other Treasures,” Ortho replied. “Can you get my Archetype Gear now? I feel very uncomfortable in this loose form.”
“O-oh…right, sure,” Idia mumbled, opening the closet and grabbing Ortho’s Archetype Gear. “Now what?”
“You’ll need to put the Eternal Flame in it.” Ortho said.
Idia dropped the gear. “Oh no. That level of power will overwhelm the gear and crash it, losing any data it holds, including you and your memories.”
“I won’t, Idia,” Ortho assured. “I won’t lose anything.”
Swallowing, Idia picked the gear back up, laid it on the bed then opened the case, reached in and grabbed the Eternal Flame.
The warmth was comforting and it danced a little in his palm, excited.
Idia took a breath, then pressed the Flame to the small chest piece.
Instantly it erupted, blue flame escaping through his fingers and spilling around his hand. Gritting his teeth, Idia pressed the Flame deeper, hearing a click before the Eternal Flame vanished.
“…Ortho?”
~~~~~
If Idia had his way, he would never have to go to class, even the “mandatory” ones. He could stay in his room and keep an eye on Ortho but when Train had threatened to call his parents…Idia had made the sacrifice. Now, sitting in class, watching Ortho’s vitals, Idia only gave the classes half of his attention, only becoming aware of his surroundings when he was standing outside the Board Game Club room. “Azul won’t be in,” Idia muttered into his collar, pulling his hood up. “Not after that failed quest yesterday…”
Actually, none of the Housewardens had been present in class, or the halls. That shouldn't have bothered, or even occurred to Idia, but he wasn’t exactly feeling alright himself.
There was this weird, very weird, feeling in his gut, like when he was playing a game and knew there was a trap, he just couldn't see it. There was something off about the school…
Turning away, Idia headed back to his room, pulling his tablet out to check Ortho’s vitals again. Still nothing.
“Come on Ortho…” Idia muttered. “I know you're there…”
“Idy!”
Idia’s heart jumped into his throat and he quickly turned, trying to look between the students for the synthetic blue hair of his brother, pushing his hood back to let his own hair spill out. “Ortho?”
The students around him didn't seem to hear him, continuing on their way down the hall. Idia began to feel claustrophobic, closed in with the crowd but he strained his ears, listening, trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from.
“Idy?”
There! At the other end of the hall, a flash of blue.
Idia began to wade through the crowd of students, which seemed to have gotten bigger? “Ortho!” He cried out, a note of desperation clinging to his voice. He needed Ortho, had to make sure he was okay. If that cursed Eternal Flame item had changed Ortho in any way, Idia was going to rip it out of his chest and delete its line of code from existence.
Idia slipped, getting caught in the swarming crowd. “Wa-ait…” Idia weakly called out. “I-I need to get…over there…”
A giggle, so much like Ortho, echoed down the hall, the lanterns on the walls instantaneously flaring blue, glass shattering as the fires grew and escaped, gathering in a mass, gradually filling the hallway.
Idia’s marked arm seized up, making him whimper. “O-ortho…”
The fire shrieked, thrashing as it diminished then raced at Idia, plunging into his mouth.
Idia’s first reaction was “scream” but that would mean opening his mouth more, probably letting the fire get in easier, so he tried to bite it in half.
His gag reflex was also kicking in, coughs trying to push this foreign substance out of his mouth to little avail.
The crowd of students around him tightened, holding Idia captive, the fire redoubling its efforts to get into his mouth.
Idia’s arm was positively burning now, the blue flame mark flaring. The fire in Idia’s mouth withdrew, screaming as it disintegrated into ashes.
Idia drew a ragged breath in, slumping like a KO’d fighter to the carpet, the crowd continuing to move, leaving Idia alone.
After a few minutes, Idia pushed himself up, crawling out then running back to his room, slamming the door closed.
Panting, Idia leaned against the door, trying to get the cold metal to calm him. What in the King of the Underworld had that been?! What was happening to his perfectly normal (as normal as he built it up to be) life?
“I could use you, Ortho…” Idia muttered. “Something normal in my life…”
“Normality is gone, Idy.”
Idia spun around quickly, coming face-to-face with… “Ortho?!”
He looked wrong though, flickering between Ortho and Idia’s Overblot form. “Hi Big Brother,” Ortho/Overblot Idia said. “You have something for me.”
Idia instinctively grabbed his arm, fingering the blue skin. “Give me Ortho back.”
The flickering stabilised momentarily on Ortho. “Idia! You have to run! He’s going to destroy yo-!”
Overblot Idia came back. “Oops,” he laughed. “You weren't supposed to hear that. Guess I’ll have to drag you to the Underworld too now.”
Blue fire burst to life in Overblot Idia’s hands, Idia falling back onto the floor in panic. “O-ortho!”
Overblot Idia laughed, floating towards Idia. “Your precious brother is MINE!” He cried. “And he’ll power my life for longer than just magic ever could! Now die, Idia Shroud! You pathetic weakling!”
Idia quickly covered his head, cowering as he squeezed his eyes shut, sending some prayer to the gods of game development that his games would come with him to his grave so his ghost could play them when a garbled choke made him look up.
A white, metallic hand had been thrust through Overblot Idia’s chest, holding a flickering blue flame.
“WHAT?!” Overblot Idia screamed. “How did you get out?”
The hand withdrew, taking the flame with it and Overblot Idia fell to his knees, crumbling like ashes, revealing Idia’s savior.
“Ortho!” Idia cried, scrambling up and hugging Ortho. “You…you're okay? Why didn’t your vitals reactivate?”
“Because I’m not fully Ortho, at least the Ortho you want,” Ortho said. “Part of Ortho’s consciousness got merged with me.”
Idia’s brain clicked and he pulled away from Ortho. “You…you're the Eternal Flame?”
“A part of it, yes,” The Eternal Flame said, holding up the blue flame. “This is also part of me. You're going to use it to save Ortho.”