Contracted Artifact

"So, that was what happened..."

The two leaders of the S.T.Y.X organization sat across from her with his hands entangled together and supporting his chin as he pondered to himself quietly. Peony was seated across from her with Maisey on her shoulder. Having passed on what had occurred to Idia's father, she purposely left out the information about her previous life and all the other events with the previous life.

"There was something that he wanted to remind you since he knew I would share this discovery with you." Peony added, "Even if we are related, the law is the law and I won't prioritize blood relations again. This time, I will bear the burden. There will be no next time. Also, continue to watch over these two misfits properly from now on. Do not repeat the same mistake as us."

"I see..." The leader shook his head and sighed, "There's no need to worry about this now... Idia is growing older and is now exploring his boundaries. This incident was very likely a very important incident to him and Ortho. I suspect he won't be repeating this mistake again or for a long time. In time, he will mature. Before then, my wife and I will continue to watch over them. Especially now that Ortho is now back with us. We just need to await for him to regain his consciousness."

"Yes." The wife responded with a curious look across her face, "It is a surprise how taken the two were with our Ortho... I never thought the Shroud and Jupiter family were related since that far back."

Peony nodded, "They didn't say it specifically, but I suspect they could see Ortho's form from before his initial death and that this form greatly resembles your ancestor's ancestor, their long-lost child who fell under the anger of the queen of the gods. The Queen lost control in her fit of anger when she heard the news and lashed out at the child ruthlessly. In the end, she regained herself to a degree, but the damage was done. Although the guilt is there, it's clear that this is a bridge that their family will have trouble crossing together. His brother and sister-in-law both tried to make amends, but it is still a very sore subject for the couple even during the talk. Seeing Ortho's slumbering soul and at such a young age only brings about grief and pain to the family who all remember the ancestor. For the Queen of the gods, she will probably be in guilt for a long while. Despite this, they did good not forcing their goodwill upon Hades and his wife."

"Yes." The wife nodded, "Doing that will only make them even more bitter, I suspect, and make it seem as though the queen and king is trying to force the couple to forget their child..."

They've been there before. Though the result was not the loss of their sons, it was still annoying when the perpetrator shows guilt and tries to smooth things over on the spot as though trying to make them forget the incident ever happened.

"Mister and Missus Shroud." Peony began firmly, "Although Ortho is back and will awaken eventually, I strongly recommend you to hold off announcing his return from the Underworld or maybe not mention it at all. No matter what the situation is the Shroud family is still related to the Jupiter and other branches. I've been in such a position before and that is very dangerous. If they learn that Ortho has returned, it doesn't matter if Ortho is a child, will always be a child, or has a machine for a body. They will still go after him as the first soul and machine brought to life and, even I have learned by now that Ortho is an energetic child, the chances that he goes somewhere and witnessed something he is not supposed to witness can put him in danger once more."

"My wife and I have already decided to not announce this until he regains consciousness." The leader responded, "You are right that it is too dangerous for Ortho to go running off once he regains his consciousness. Like Idia, we won't be able to keep him in control for long as he will outgrow our barriers. We won't be able to keep him a secret for long, so once he is well after regaining consciousness and we gain the ability , we will make the announcement whenever he feels ready."

"If you do that, Jupiter and Bacchus family will be more eager to start a party to celebrate over the safety of the child." Peony responded with a heavy sigh, "After all, this is the Bacchus family we are speaking of. They possess great talents in creating party simulations."

"True." The wife sighed in annoyance, "The last one we had to attend brought us great headaches."

"We know they mean well, but not being able to turn down something because it would strain our family's relations... ugh..." The leader shook his head in dismay, "We would have to be very cautious when that time comes and tell Ortho that any impromptu decisions must be approved by at least two of the three of us. Still..."

The leader smiled softly as he said, "We are grateful to have Ortho back with us. The other day, Idia brought us great news. It was as you said. He was able to regain his emotions, even in the body of a machine. It is a miracle!"

Peony chuckled, "The miracle was that your son actually managed to create a machine capable of helping Ortho process his emotions without being harmed during maintenance. It won't be long before those two return to school, then."

The wife nodded with a shake of her head, "Yes. I still do not trust the headmaster, but hearing you talk of what really happened what the cause of the past few overblots have brought much closer to us as the parents. Even when you have all the power and wealth in the world, parenting is still parenting and it will always be hard. We all thought that it would be impossible for our Idia to overblot, but this week had proved otherwise. We will have to take better care of our children now. I'll also leave some documents to the other sub-leader and monitor this headquarters a little more often in the future. Knowing Idia, he may give in to Ortho's wishes again."

Peony smiled, "He is an energetic boy and is fortunate to have a great relationship with his younger brother. The same could also be said for Idia. No one ever thought that it would be possible for him to overblot back at school either since he was so stubborn and very easy to adapt to his situations. In the past, he refused to leave his room no matter what or devote himself to the situation of the dorm. I suspect that he may leave his room more often in the future now that he has Ortho in his life again. But, this will take time before he can leave that Ortho is still with you."

"It is indeed unfortunate that Lord Hades has sealed away Idia's memories of being in the Underworld, but it was for the best." The leader shook his head in disappointment when he suddenly heard a rather interesting ping sound and took out his smart phone, "Sorry... Oh?"

"What's the matter?" The wife looked over to his phone curiously before seeing the screen and chuckled, "Well... I think we can do this much, can't we?"

"We may even be able to do more after he wakes up." The leader nodded with a bright smile on his face.

"Oh? Did something good happened?" Peony looked to them with a smile on her face as she stood up, "Then, I should take my leave and let you take care of your family matters now. It's probably been a while since they asked for something as a family. Ah, that's right! I almost forgot."

She turned to them and said with a chuckle, "When Ortho regains consciousness, he will be capable of utilizing both the power of blot and divine magic. The divine magic was a gift Persphone requested her mother to gift him with and the blot is what he retained from the years of being in the state of overblot. Divine powers will make it easier for him to keep the blot under control with the curse. The amount he creates and too much for a normal overblot to take so this will be enough to curb it down to a manageable level. Once his soul gets stronger, the power of the blot will also grow stronger but easier for him to control. But that is not the reason why I'm telling you this. As Ortho is just a soul in a vessel, there will be times where he may get lost in areas of high level of mana. So, I gifted him my Ying-yang compass. A special artifact like the Magic Mirror or Dark mirror at school. To activate the compass, both the dark powers of the blot and light, or preferably divine powers, are required. Ortho's abilities in the future will fit this requirement and the board will help him learn how to control these magic over time. The compass has contracted with his soul and will act as his Unique magic from now on. Should he get lost in the future, the compass will always help bring him back to safety or find whoever or whatever he requires."

"This! You're too generous!" The leader looked to her in bewilderment, "And such a powerful artifact!"

Peony shook her head, "Ortho and Idia was the first to help me since a long time ago. Although I've paid back the favor, it would pain me and my new friends if something were to happen to Ortho while he's still weak. As long as this artifact can protect him, I'm definitely willing to part with it. Besides, I am contracted with a number of magic beasts. So, they'll always have my back. But, those two are a tad bit shy to ask others for help. Idia is also one to get overconfident in his own abilities. This will at least protect them from future troubles they get themselves into as they continue to experience more in this life."

"Thank you again for your help." The wife replied humbly much to Peony's surprise.

"I'm not done yet." Peony continued, "The artifact in Ortho's possession is, however, one of a kind. so it is best to not use it around others who may want to steal it from him. Since it is contracted to his soul, if he ever does reincarnate when his time here has reached its max, this compass will follow him to the next life and continue to act as his Unique magic. It's risky, but it will prevent him from losing his way in the future."

"We understand." The leader nodded, "Thank you again, Princess Peony..."

"It is I who should thank you for allowing me passage to the Underworld, sir, ma'am. Then, I'll see myself out." Peony responded respectfully and magically left the area.