How Disappointing...

"During a crisis? And the child was the ruler of the underworld's nephew?" Rook frowned, "That's too suspicious to brush off... I fear that these two matters are connected."

"You mean to say that it was his nephew who stopped the ruler of the Underworld in the end?" Idia looked up in surprise.

"Myths and stories are just overly exaggerated records of the past." Peony pointed with a sigh, "There is always a reason for their existence. In the end, it is up to us to pinpoint the stories together to recreate that historical scene with words to the best of our abilities. During the moment right before he snapped, the ruler of the underworld, Hades, was finally invited to a banquet held by his brother in celebration of the new nephew. Hades, though begrudgingly by this point, have no choice but to attend whereas he is already sick and tired of being isolated in so many different manners while putting up with his duties back home. Seeing the celebration and everyone being so cheery without him while they were showering their love and attention towards a baby, Hades finally snapped. However, he couldn't do anything while he was around his blood relatives as he had no allies amongst them with the main anger pointed towards the brother that has it all. So, he returned to his kingdom and scheme a grand rebellion. However, this requires time and he wanted to make his brother experience what it's like to be miserable. So, he decided to send his minions to do his bidding in his place. The result, in the end, was the child has lost his divinity causing a wave of grief amongst the gods. Especially the child's father."

"I get it now..." Idia frowned though. clearly horrified, "The father then took the nephew to be raised by another family and, during this time, Hades have began to amass support for the rebellion."

"Victimizing an infant wasn't enough since his goal was to make his brother experience what he is experiencing." Vil nodded, "He also wants to make him feel what it's like to have their powers and happiness robbed away from them. If this was his old self, he would've stopped with just the child since the child is not dead, but he's too mad to realize that he's already stepped over the line."

"There was something else." Peony responded, "No matter the child is a mortal now or not, he was born very talented and powerful no matter what he did. Naturally, a child with divine strength will cause a commotion. Therefore, news of his accomplishments must've shocked his uncle and realize that this child may end up destroying his plans later. No matter what he did, the child overcame the expectations of his uncle pushing aside every minions that was thrown at him. In the end, Hades realized that one flaw this hero had."

"Let me guess. He was too naive." Idia said with a heavy sigh, "Seriously, it's stories like these that are so predictable. They're always overused and become so simple in the end."

Peony smiled and chuckled upon hearing this, "That's correct. Hades realized this and used his nephew's mortal lover to force him into a deal. Considering the end of the story of the hero, the deal was probably that, as long as his lover is unharmed, he will give up his power in exchange for her freedom. In the end, it must've worked since Hades started the rebellion. However, I suspect that, during the chaos he started, he was careless and indirectly killed the lover by accident amidst the chaos. His nephew regained his powers and helped his father fight back against Hades. The end result was the father then had to imprison his own brother for the attempt on his throne and for wrecking so much chaos with the help of the allies he gathered. In the end, this was the result. So, what you saw earlier was just a fraction of his powers. The other are either recovering or sealed away."

"The way you put it..." Idia frowned, "It sounds like he was no different from me..."

"No." Peony shook her head and sighed, "Did you not hear carefully? Nobody could understand him and he was stuck here by himself for many years with just his minions who were all busy. But, you, Idia. You were never alone. Even if the Shroud family is isolated by the other branches, you, as a person, have your parents on your side and everyone in the research facility. Even if some are wary of you from this incident, I've seen many still waiting and hoping for you to come back to your senses and return. Your father is also waiting for you. I can tell he didn't dare contact your mother just yet. My guess is she'd probably put aside her work to someone else reliable and rush over here as fast as she can. Don't forget that these are the people who raised you and Ortho. If you two grew up the way you are now, can you really say that she doesn't have the time to drop everything just to see you two as the person who brought you into this world and raised you? Then, you have Ortho, who stayed by your side even after "death" and split in half. You were never alone from the beginning to now. That's why you aren't anything like Hades. Without Ortho or those around you, the chance of you experiencing a similar fate would be a little higher though not exact. Isn't Vil and Rook here with you too? Sure, those dorm leaders didn't want to be here, but it's also true that they can't leave you in your current situation due to certain circumstances."

"Do you really have to be like this?" Vil grumbled in dismay.

Peony smirked, "What? Am I wrong? Your actions and words says it all from the start."

"Were you always this talkative before?" Vil shook his head with a frown as he dabbed away sweat from his forehead.

"Who knows?" Peony shrugged.

"Aren't you one to speak of this?" Vil snorted with a smirk on his face, "Haven't you also been by his side since the start of the school year?"

"Hm?" Peony raised a brow as she glanced over to them curiously.

"Isn't that right?" Vil said with a smirk, "Lotus?"

"Wh-What did you say?" Idia's eyes wide in disbelief upon hearing this as he quickly turned back to her in shock, "L-L-Lotus? You mean, YOU'RE Lotus?!"

"I never took you for being naive before, Idia." Vil huffed in disappointment, "It was so obvious. Even if you can't tell from his facial features, her way of speech and just the name was enough to give it away. She didn't even bother to change her personality or fake her name around us!"

"T-That's..." Idia looked to her in a loss as he repeated in bewilderment, "Lotus was Peony... He was that girl all along?"

Vil sighed, "Let's be honest here. The reason for your admission is unknown to us, but you accepting it has to be because you were hurt and needed protection while you recuperate. The prefect already knew that you were injured all this time and was doing something dangerous to get those injuries. Although he didn't question you, I'm not him and I don't hesitate to doubt other students, especially not you!"

"Vil." Rook hesitated.

He frowned as he continued firmly, "Whatever the case is, you pretended to be a male student and accepted admission. Then, you pretended to not have magic and stayed in Ramshackle dorm to stay away from being in close proximity with other students. As for the reason for this..."

He grimaced, "You have people coming after you, isn't it?"

"H-Hold on!" Idia cried out in a daze having yet to process everything completely.

"Vil..." Rook warned him again with a frown and a hesitant look as he pulled him back with great force.

"Back then, when I overblotted, I thought I saw red hair while drifting through my consciousness and dreams." Vil continued regardless, "During that time- No. During everytime someone overblotted, you entered their consciousness to fight off their blot, didn't you? Those weren't dreams. Those were real. I suspect that it was the same with the others here too. This magic you have... May even rival Malleus's magic too, but it may also create more blot."

Hearing this, there was a long moment of silence to which Peony hummed in confusion, "Is that all you have to say?"

"So you admit to it." Vil sighed in dismay.

"Lotus..." Idia whispered quietly in a mix distraught and excitement as Rook could only pat the poor fella on the back.

Suddenly, there was a wave of quake as the floor before them cracked open.

"Another attack?!" Rook grimaced, "Get ready!"

Peony sighed, "So, that's all you have to say. How disappointing..."

She withdrew her hand from the tablet as it landed onto the floor, "I thought that, with just this, you would be able to crack down more over the mysteries. But, it seems a Pomefiore dormleader of Night Raven College and top actor can only amount to this much in the end..."