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diasomnia-dreams · 2 years

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If there’s a prize for rotten judgement | Idia Shroud anthology story

- He ran the Underworld But thought the dead were dull and uncouth, He was as mean as he was ruthless, And that's the gospel truth..

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“Diáole…” the older Shroud cursed in Greek, his half lidded eyes set upon the skull shaped alarm clocked which was manufactured and programmed by himself.

The cold metal kissed his pale and slender digits and the young man slightly winced at the touch. Mentally cringing at himself for falling for such a ‘normie mistake.’

With a spine popping stretch, Idia twisted his hips while he sat up shirtless in his tangled covers. Bones popping and hair slung to the left side of his shoulders swaying with each movement the heir to the house of Shroud made. And while he remained attempting to focus on the newly adjusted environment around him, The quietness of the lack of beeping, static drumming and interfaces making auditory sounds was still something to get used to.

Ortho was already awake and downstairs, bright and early per usual and most likely not being in the same dorm room with him anymore and now officially enrolled as a student at Night Raven College .

But currently it was Spring Break, hence meaning Ortho had many more school friends to spend time with and not enough time for his big brother…(even though Idia insisted that Ortho went along with his new found friends).

‘Dont worry about lil ol’ me Ortho! Im not doing anything special for break. Go spend some time with your friends LOL, I’ll be here grinding on Star Rouge.’ Idia would tell him.

And while Idia was happy for Ortho, of course he was happy. Any good big brother would be leaping for joy and ecstatic over their baby brother’s accomplishments and that’s exactly what Idia was. But his dorm room was kind of lonely now, and Ortho was hanging out with his new gaggle of friends. Idia wondered if his baby brother had time to even pop his head through the door for a little visit once in a while.

But Idia still didn’t mind. As long as Ortho was happy. As long as his brother was doing what he wanted, was safe and finally a true student at this wretched school, what could possibly be better than the happiness of Ortho?

Idia Shroud’s flaming blue locks emitted brightly as his brain reminded him to check the calender. Usually Ortho would remind him of the date and upcoming events occurring during the week. Idia’s gaming schedule was out of wack and while he wasn’t necessarily a slacker and a procrastinator when it came to school work, lately he found no motivation to proceed with his studies. He was tired and bored of the mundane life he was leading.

He grabbed his smartphone with tricked out enhancements which was placed under his pillows, and entered his seven digit password: C-E-R-B-E-R-U-S.

The light turned on the lowest of brightness and he began to swipe through magicam. He never found the app charming. He was more interested in gaming chatrooms to converse with his fellow nerds and not the ‘normies’.

His fellow Night Raven College mates living it up on their Spring break whilst he was in the Underworld. And though it seemed like the Isle of Woe was some sort of façade which hid the true nature of fellow citizens of this dreadful place.

It was beautiful on the outside, a land of lush green grass, doric and ionic columns and an abundance of pillars and water fountains. There was also the underside which was made up of S.T.Y.X, where Idia would rather think about for another day.

The Island of Woe, not only is home to his family’s multi-million dollar company but holds something bigger in it’s wake. Idia didn’t bother investigating but something within his soul everyday during his Summer Break ached him to go seek out the mysterious calling. He always knew his family held secrets and his parents were one of he most powerful business owners this side of New Thebes, but he didn’t care enough to ask them.

He scrolled through Ace Trappola’s news Magicam story because it was the first thing on his timeline. It was a cringey sight to say the least. Watching Deuce, Ace, Y/N and Grim run around a sprinkler aimlessly and laughing hysterically while Riddle Rosehearts and Idia’s fellow third years, Trey and Cater spray the freshman with water hoses to keep cool from the beaming sun of the Queendom of Roses. Idia’s dark blue eyebrows furrowed when he watched the first year’s story.

“This is the gaggle of newbs that Ortho hangs out with…” Idia muttered to himself. He licked the top blue painted lip and scrolled by and proceeded to finally throw his legs over the right side of his bed and stand up. Taking one big stretch before striding over towards his computer monitors in his black sweat pants. His shirt hanging on the back of his gaming chair which was closely resembling the undershirt he wore under his science lab coat back in class.

Powering on his monitor, Idia waited for the startup screen to load and the familiar three triangles which are stacked up on top of each other appears on the loading screen. His lips curve into a slight smirk before feeling his phone vibrate once more against his thigh.

Dreading the notification for whoever was on the other end, but once the older Shroud brother noticed that it was no one but his mother, his nerves relaxed slightly for she was letting him know that she and Ortho will be out for the day running errands. Leaving him with his father, Lord Shroud, who would be boring Idia with discussions about work, the STYX company and Jupiter enterprises. More oil and blot talk, something else Idia would rather skip.

Sending a single: K. To his mother, Idia proceeded to click through the desktop of his computer. His heart doing small flips and his lips slightly tremble. His large hand gripping the computer mouse as his golden eyes danced across the computer monitor.

Idia spends half of his morning in the same spot, crouched over his computer, staring down. His hair covering the left of his face due to the lack of grooming and attention he’s given it this morning. The heir to the Shroud estate snatched his shirt off his chair and threw it over his head and slid his arms through each of the sleeves before exiting the comfort of his bedroom and into the vast and long dark hallways of his family’s mansion which eerily resembled the dark depths of the Underworld in the stories of old.

He didn’t mind the aesthetic, thinking that it closely resembled the domain of a final boss fortress.

Trudging down the hallways of his doom and gloom excuse of a mansion, his feet kissed the dark blue porcelain floors. His eyes shifted to the left and right hoping that his father would not notice his presence of being awake. If he was quiet enough, he’d make it downstairs towards the garage without having to discuss how school’s going or the talk of future S.T.Y.X. work.

Much to his luck, he was able to slip through the elevator and click the lowest button to the bottom-most floor before one of the Charon Ferryman could enter next to him. Although he was not alone in the elevator, another attendant of his father’s company stood idly by. He looked to be about his age and was at least the height of Floyd and Jade Leech. He kept his head down but his S.T.Y.X. identification card was visible on the left side of his chest which read Phobos Kynikós.

Idia scoffed to himself. ‘His name is Panic Cynical…’ he could almost laugh out loud literally at the corny name. And while Phobos refused to make eye contact with him, Idia noticed that he probably did have something on his mind.

The elevator, which shot down at a great speed and opened on the second to last floor. Phobos strolled out, his teal colored hair bouncing as he took his leave. He was anxious and while Idia had experience with that sort of emotion, he couldn’t fathom why someone would be nervous around a guy like him.

Idia waited till the doors closed to exhale. It was a pity not to hear Ortho explain more about his recent adventures with his newfound buddies this morning. And at this moment, Idia wondered what his younger brother was doing. And when rhe elevator descended to the deepest depths of the Shroud mansion, he exited through the double door’ed elevator and was greeted by an abundance of vegetation, flowers and all forms of life.

Seeing such a sight was a contrast to what the Island of Woe truly was. There was hardly anything like flowers and the like around here. Everything was dead, or artificial in a sense and dark with a twinge of cobalt blue. The only true natural thing around here was the bodies of water which surrounded their island.

The flowers brought out a different aura, a different feeling in the low garage that the entire island needed. Life.

The smell of sweet sweet flowers filled Idia’s nose and the fragrance was subtle, feminine and sweet. He sneezed.

And when the sneezing fit ended, he figured he had a clue what exact was the culprit for the hoard of blossoms in bloom. A gentle almost timid smirk was fixated Idia’s blue lips and he leaned against one of the ivory colored Grecian sculptured columns.

“Per? You can come out now.” A figure slowly emerged from the shadows.

“Is anyone around?”

“No one is here,” he reassured her, his voice dropping to a new calm at the sight of her. He wasn’t surprisingly anxious or fidgety. It’s like she nulled it out, like some sort of elixir from Space Rogue.

She was exquisite. He loved everything about her, from the crown of silver flowers she wore in her curly black hair to the dark eyes that offset her brown skin. For the first time ever, he even noticed clothing. He couldn’t help admiring how she favored cobalt blue for her gowns over drab whites. Today’s dress was clipped at her waist with a floral silver belt. “Where’s Ortho?” she asked. Her dark brown lips pursed into a line. “Better yet, the F.A.T.E.S are coming over soon. Shouldn’t you be getting ready?”

Sounding timid for the first time since he’d met her. They were similar in that sense. She was a stowaway ,not belonging to the Island of Woe at all.

She was anything but a wallflower. She was fiery. He loved that about her most of all. He glided over and put his arms around his back. His voice slowly starting to grow louder than usual,and for some reason around Percy, Idia did that. His anxiety lowered but his voice higher and he was far too excited than he anticipated.

“I’m on my way in to see him right now. I don’t want you to worry. I thought you were going to go do that thing to take your mind off all that.”

“I am,” she said with a smile. “You’re going to love it.” He doubted that, but he wanted her to be happy.

“The F.A.T.E.S literally come every so often to discuss work and business with my dad…probability rates about the future of S.T.Y.X. and the entirety of the island” She nodded and wound her arms as far as she could around his waist.

Idia froze in place. His heart quickening, he swore he was on fire. No—he was pretty sure. He had fire coursing through him which was now different from anytime he had ever caught flames within.

“I know.” Percy knelt down and grabbed handful of her flowers that she was growing. And twiddled through their dark blue petals. “But it would be ideal to be there with your dad…to help him and figure out the future of S.T.Y.X…you will be CEO soon.”

“Tch, you’re one to talk Per.” Idia rolled his eyes. “You left your entire family just to stick around this Underworld.” Idia shook his head and his enflamed locks bounced.

Percy threw her flowers down and stared Idia in the eyes. “No, I left my entire family just to stick around you.”

He couldn’t put his finger on what the feeling was. It wasn’t anger, it wasn’t hate, it wasn’t even envy. Was this what all those lovesick cringy protagonists were always going on about during in-game dialogue? Was he in love?

It sure felt like it, and if that were true… He was done for. And yet—he could not deny how nice it was to have someone to talk to after all these years, someone besides his online gaming partners, and his dear baby brother Ortho who he of course did not mind talking to in the slightest.

She came from the brightest of places, New Olympus. She was daughter of Demetra the self made businesswoman of one of the largest landscaping and vegetation companies this side of Twisted Wonderland. And while she didnt have to be friends with him, Percy went all out her way to run away from home, just to be near him. Which Idia still couldn’t understand. It made him queasy and it made him wonder why someone as beautiful, outgoing and so put together would want him.

Idia would hate to keep Per in a sunless place. A world where plants and vegetation didnt thrive like she’s always known. Down in the land of the dead. Dark and gloomy, dreary and sad.

But she made his future seem brighter, which he thought would have been impossible after the entire overblot ordeal. But when he loves so much, when he puts so much into his life and slowly but surely it all comes back to nothing. It was all for nothing. Idia was afraid. He loses everything dear to him, prematurely. Why fall for someone better yet care for someone unless he was dying to cry his heart out when he loses them?

Idia refuses to have Per fall to victim of death and loss. He refuses to have her life be taken down to Charon’s ferry so early. So he planned on doing what any person in love would do. He’ll keep her by his side at any cost. Even if it means to keep her down in this underworld for all eternity, from the sun.

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my oc in this story Percy is twisted from Persephone the Goddess of Spring from Disney’s Goddess of Spring film. this fic is mildly referenced from Hades and Persephone’s relationship in both Goddess of Spring and the original Greek story where Hades is obsessed with persephone and wants to marry her at any cost, and Persephone is in love with Hades as well and rebels against Demeter, her mother and falls in love with the God of the Underworld.

i hope everyone liked it <3

thank you to Ms Jen Calonita for the inspiration from Hades’ character in Go the Distance

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