Admittedly, out of all the couples I've written about, Idia and Stephanie are my favorite. Their story takes place during before and during Idia's internship year. Stephanie is on a quest to find her father, the man responsible for ruining her mother's family with her one and only husband. The only clue she has is that her father once worked for STYX. Though it was like sentencing yourself to go there, Stephanie's desperate for answers. Of course, she begs for a job in exchange for a place to stay, and it's because of this, she gets paired up with the extremely introverted Idia to complete the exchange.

I was already in the process of writing Stephanie's birthday story, but I thought this would also fit the cosmic theme, considering Idia's present to her.

Link to original post: https://old.reddit.com/r/TwistedWonderland/comments/xe5lzy/twstober_prompt/

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Another day faded into a starry evening on the Island of Woe, except that it wasn’t just another normal day on the Island of Woe. It was the first time Stephanie was going to spend the day of her birth on the Island of Woe. Not that her birthday meant anything special to her anyway. Even when she spent birthdays at home, she never received the same special treatment as her sisters. Her birthday was the day that everyone pretended Stephanie didn’t exist. A day of death would’ve been more accurate, she thought.

Rather on the day itself, Stephanie focused on her chores around the STYX facility instead. This hyper focus motion actually brought more attention than intended. Even both Idia and Ortho were concerned with how emotionless Stephanie was acting today. When the day was coming to a close, the both of them said to each other that it was time to finally give Stephanie her surprise before she would get too closed off from the work.

Idia sentenced Ortho to the rock garden, and Ortho gladly took the command in stride. He zoomed down the hall faster than Idia could get his phone to check his daily gifts on his gaming apps. Idia himself beelined his way to Stephanie’s room, the guest bunker of the Shroud home. Idia knew better than to let his way in despite the two having a common romantic ground. He gently knocked on the door and waited for Stephanie to make any noise to let himself in.

Stephanie leapt from her bed when she realized it was her betrothed who came calling. “Idia,” she said, “what brings you here?”

Idia’s cheeks tickled pink. “Who else would bring me here on my own fruition?”

She bit her lip and stupidly smiled. “Idia, please.”

He had his hands behind his back, so Stephanie couldn’t see how quickly his fingers were fidgeting. Saliva accumulated in his throat. To prevent further awkward silence he finally blurted out, “Let’s go to the garden.”

Stephanie’s eyes widened. “This late at night?”

“Um…You can see the stars the best from there.”

“How do you know?”

“You think I haven’t seen them before? Can we just go? It’s not fair to be out there by myself.”

“I don’t appreciate the guilt trip, Idia…”

“Please, Stephanie? There’s something I want to show you.”

Idia had something to show her for a change? Well then, it was going to be interesting to say the least.

Idia guided Stephanie out to the rock garden. Other than the intricately placed boulders that sat around the plants she had helped grow, there wasn’t anything significant to be seen.

“Is something supposed to be happening out here?”

Idia’s cocky grin slithered across his face. “Oh, it’ll happen. Believe you me.”

“Idia, what is this?” she asked.

“Once a year, on a night, just like this one, the stars in the night sky perform a masquerade, dancing from moonrise to moon fall. The balls of fire and light honor a beautiful goddess who was responsible for giving them life every year to celebrate the start of their lives.”

Skeptical, Stephanie sat on one of the boulders and glared. “Stars dancing? Really? Yes, Idia, we live in a world of magic, but stars moving on their own? That isn’t scientific of you.”

“Oh no? Then, why don’t you see for yourself?”

She turned to the pitch black night, and her heart nearly stopped at what she saw above the sleepless sea.

Idia didn’t make this up after all? she asked herself as the twinkly stars of space began to move and form brand new constellations right before her very eyes. The balls of light swim through the dark like birds flying in formation. Stephanie blinked, and she missed how the stars managed to collect themselves into a constellation of a lotus flower. Stephanie let out a confused and pleasantly surprised shriek to the sight of the miracle. Just as soon as the image of the lotus came into view, the stars shifted into a new shape, a closed bud. The stars rattled and those at the top of the image fluttered as if a volcano was erupting. The dancers of the night parted horizontally and swished back together to form a woman commanding the vines to sway.

Stephanie eye-sided Idia, who was nodding and confidently grinning the entire time since they arrived outside. She returned to the sky to see that the image shifted into the form of fireworks. They didn’t pop, of course, but each mini group of stars separated into fizzles. After three rounds of stars jumping like firework sparks, the stars swam together and formed the cleanest heart anyone had ever seen, and it was here, where the show had concluded.

Idia side-stepped to his fiancée, and he planted a warm, soothing kiss against her cheek. “Happy Birthday, my flowery goddess.”

Stephanie’s heart raced and face reddened. “Idia…” Her eyes slightly watered. “You knew?”

“Everyone’s birthday is in STYX’s system,” he explained. “I knew ever since you first came here.”

“I’m sorry for not telling you.”

“Don’t harp on it. It’s your day, and now, we are free to celebrate until the clock strikes twelve. If we don’t hurry, your cake is going to go to waste.”

Stephanie had so many questions about how long Idia had this planned for, but even if he answered all of those questions, she wouldn’t bother to keep that information stored away. She held his face in her hands, and she had her eyes locked on his, so that whatever she’d say, he’d know that she meant it. “I love you more than life in this universe, Idia Shroud. All I ask is that you don’t forget that like how I will never forget this night.”

​

Ortho hovered in the lengths of space, observing the results of his labor from his super clear, super zoomed eyesight. His gears warmed with happiness to see his brother do something so nice for the woman he cared about. He closed his eyes and commenced his messaging feature. “Message to Idia Shroud: Mission success percentage: 100%. Delay delivery until 11:59PM.”