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tamingthemuseTitle: Room for Improvement (extra)
Fandom: the Avengers/ Exalted
Prompt: Labyrinth
Warnings: none
Rating: PG-13
Summary: After coming home Exalted, Tony has plans and ideas all but pouring out of his ears. Back in Creation, there was magic everywhere, and a little hard work wasn’t going to stop him from finding those wells of magic in his own world.
JARVIS, clever lad that he was, quickly displayed the North Atlantic Ocean en masse, before slowly zooming in to where the manse sat, hundreds of feet under the surface. Unable to see the manse from the satellite image, it still took no effort for them to locate the structure, for the ‘activity’ that Rhodey had mentioned before was very obvious.
Not only had an island appeared over the manse, but there were a pair of trees growing on said island, only feet apart, and twining around each other, their canopies thick and green.
Tony grinned. “I had wondered where those two had gone off to.”
Beside him, White Song hummed in agreement.
“Who?” Rhodey asked.
“My adoring fans,” Tony said, eyes following where Natasha had silently pointed to a mar in the image. He leaned forward and snapped his fingers. “J, what’s that?”
The image focused on the black spot, hesitated a moment, and then cleared. “Unknown, sir.”
While the image tried to focus more clearly on the object, they all watched with baited breath. After a moment, Iron Dust sat back and gave a small huff of a laugh. Every eye in the room turned to him, and when he didn’t say a thing, Tony prompted, “Well? What is it?”
“A dragon.”
“A what now?” Rhodey said, all inflection bleed from his voice.
Iron Dust tilted his head toward him, silent for a moment longer before he narrowed his eyes at Tony. “You really shouldn’t leave your close friends in the dark like this, Iron Man.”
Tony grinned and nodded. “Rhodey, the trip that Pepper mentioned was a trip through time. I went way back into the past when there be dragons and gods walked among humans.” His eyes flicked to Thor. “Well, more than just the two. While there, I changed. Well, I’m still me, but now I’m not really human. So, yeah, dragons. Why is there a dragon headed toward my girls and my temple?”
Rhodey blinked at him a moment before turning to Steve. “Is he for real?”
Steve shrugged. “He seems the same to us. He did do magic, once.”
Tony snorted. “’Once,’ he says. Sorry, but magic requires a lot of Essence and Essence isn’t cheap. You can’t just pick it off trees.”
“Yes, you can,” White Song said.
Tony glared at her. “You are ruining the mystique.”
Natasha spoke over them. “Iron Dust says that they have a limited amount of what they call Essence to pull from. It takes both time and meditation to recover what they use. Tony used up all of his to do that one spell.”
“Excuse you, it was two. You just weren’t there for the other one.”
She spoke over him again. “He also explained that in this time, where technology rules the world, the natural Essence that was once abundant in the earth, is now long ago bled dry.” Her eyes flicked to him, to confirm her recounting. Iron Dust nodded and she went on. “Because of that, they cannot pull Essence from around them to replenish their own stores. Every day that goes by, they are becoming weaker that what they’re used to, so they have to regulate their magic. They don’t join us in battles, because one battle could wipe their stores out. They’re not used to not using their magic.”
“Which brings us to the dragon,” Iron Dust smoothly butted in. “The manse was dormant before your arrival, lost and forgotten at the bottom of the ocean. The doors sealed, and the magic brewing silently, lost in the labyrinth of the manse’s halls. You opened the doors, reminded it of its purpose, and even took the hearthstone from its womb. The Essence is flowing out of the doors, free and pure, and spreading through the ocean, awakening those that have slumbered for unknown eons, starved of Essence as the technology of this world grew and cut the Essence lay lines. They’re awake, and feeding off the Essence.”
Clint abrupt sat up, his back as taunt as his bow. “Are we going to have to fight a dragon?”
Iron Dust and White Song both frowned in disapproval at him. “Why would we do that?” White Song asked.
“Well,” he started, glancing around for back up from his fellow humans. “Dragons, you know, hoard gold, kidnap maidens, and breath fire. They’re dangerous.”
White Song gave him an incredulous look. “Where do you get your information?”
Thor folded his arms over his chest. “I have fought dragons before. They are vile creatures that would just as soon bite you up as look at you.”
She shook her head slowly. “No, no that’s not right.”
He shrugged. “This dragon was, of course, not on Midgard.”
“The dragons we have encountered,” Iron Dust said, “are no at all like that. They are creatures of pure Essence, brought to life by the will of the Essence. They are akin to gods, closer to elementals. They need nothing of gold, nor do they feed as mortals do.” He nodded toward the black speck that still wasn’t quite in focus. “This one appears to be a water dragon, nearly dead, from the size of it.”
“Is that why it is black,” Natasha asked. “I expected dragons to be red, or even green.”
“Fire dragons are red. Wood dragons sometimes are green. Water dragons are nearly always black.” He narrowed his eyes as the picture updated and the black speck of the dragon was now beside the tiny island. “He’s so small.”
Tony bit his lips for a moment before he gave up. “You want to go to him, don’t you?”
A look of pure longing appeared on Iron Dust’s face before he quickly schooled it back to the smooth expression that hid all his inner thoughts. “I do,” he whispered, unable to fully hide his emotions from his voice.
A pain resurfaced in Tony’s chest, and it was nothing like the pain before, not physical at all, and he nodded his head. “All right. I’ll call my pilot and we’ll get the jet ready.”
Fandom: the Avengers/ Exalted
Prompt: Labyrinth
Warnings: none
Rating: PG-13
Summary: After coming home Exalted, Tony has plans and ideas all but pouring out of his ears. Back in Creation, there was magic everywhere, and a little hard work wasn’t going to stop him from finding those wells of magic in his own world.
JARVIS, clever lad that he was, quickly displayed the North Atlantic Ocean en masse, before slowly zooming in to where the manse sat, hundreds of feet under the surface. Unable to see the manse from the satellite image, it still took no effort for them to locate the structure, for the ‘activity’ that Rhodey had mentioned before was very obvious.
Not only had an island appeared over the manse, but there were a pair of trees growing on said island, only feet apart, and twining around each other, their canopies thick and green.
Tony grinned. “I had wondered where those two had gone off to.”
Beside him, White Song hummed in agreement.
“Who?” Rhodey asked.
“My adoring fans,” Tony said, eyes following where Natasha had silently pointed to a mar in the image. He leaned forward and snapped his fingers. “J, what’s that?”
The image focused on the black spot, hesitated a moment, and then cleared. “Unknown, sir.”
While the image tried to focus more clearly on the object, they all watched with baited breath. After a moment, Iron Dust sat back and gave a small huff of a laugh. Every eye in the room turned to him, and when he didn’t say a thing, Tony prompted, “Well? What is it?”
“A dragon.”
“A what now?” Rhodey said, all inflection bleed from his voice.
Iron Dust tilted his head toward him, silent for a moment longer before he narrowed his eyes at Tony. “You really shouldn’t leave your close friends in the dark like this, Iron Man.”
Tony grinned and nodded. “Rhodey, the trip that Pepper mentioned was a trip through time. I went way back into the past when there be dragons and gods walked among humans.” His eyes flicked to Thor. “Well, more than just the two. While there, I changed. Well, I’m still me, but now I’m not really human. So, yeah, dragons. Why is there a dragon headed toward my girls and my temple?”
Rhodey blinked at him a moment before turning to Steve. “Is he for real?”
Steve shrugged. “He seems the same to us. He did do magic, once.”
Tony snorted. “’Once,’ he says. Sorry, but magic requires a lot of Essence and Essence isn’t cheap. You can’t just pick it off trees.”
“Yes, you can,” White Song said.
Tony glared at her. “You are ruining the mystique.”
Natasha spoke over them. “Iron Dust says that they have a limited amount of what they call Essence to pull from. It takes both time and meditation to recover what they use. Tony used up all of his to do that one spell.”
“Excuse you, it was two. You just weren’t there for the other one.”
She spoke over him again. “He also explained that in this time, where technology rules the world, the natural Essence that was once abundant in the earth, is now long ago bled dry.” Her eyes flicked to him, to confirm her recounting. Iron Dust nodded and she went on. “Because of that, they cannot pull Essence from around them to replenish their own stores. Every day that goes by, they are becoming weaker that what they’re used to, so they have to regulate their magic. They don’t join us in battles, because one battle could wipe their stores out. They’re not used to not using their magic.”
“Which brings us to the dragon,” Iron Dust smoothly butted in. “The manse was dormant before your arrival, lost and forgotten at the bottom of the ocean. The doors sealed, and the magic brewing silently, lost in the labyrinth of the manse’s halls. You opened the doors, reminded it of its purpose, and even took the hearthstone from its womb. The Essence is flowing out of the doors, free and pure, and spreading through the ocean, awakening those that have slumbered for unknown eons, starved of Essence as the technology of this world grew and cut the Essence lay lines. They’re awake, and feeding off the Essence.”
Clint abrupt sat up, his back as taunt as his bow. “Are we going to have to fight a dragon?”
Iron Dust and White Song both frowned in disapproval at him. “Why would we do that?” White Song asked.
“Well,” he started, glancing around for back up from his fellow humans. “Dragons, you know, hoard gold, kidnap maidens, and breath fire. They’re dangerous.”
White Song gave him an incredulous look. “Where do you get your information?”
Thor folded his arms over his chest. “I have fought dragons before. They are vile creatures that would just as soon bite you up as look at you.”
She shook her head slowly. “No, no that’s not right.”
He shrugged. “This dragon was, of course, not on Midgard.”
“The dragons we have encountered,” Iron Dust said, “are no at all like that. They are creatures of pure Essence, brought to life by the will of the Essence. They are akin to gods, closer to elementals. They need nothing of gold, nor do they feed as mortals do.” He nodded toward the black speck that still wasn’t quite in focus. “This one appears to be a water dragon, nearly dead, from the size of it.”
“Is that why it is black,” Natasha asked. “I expected dragons to be red, or even green.”
“Fire dragons are red. Wood dragons sometimes are green. Water dragons are nearly always black.” He narrowed his eyes as the picture updated and the black speck of the dragon was now beside the tiny island. “He’s so small.”
Tony bit his lips for a moment before he gave up. “You want to go to him, don’t you?”
A look of pure longing appeared on Iron Dust’s face before he quickly schooled it back to the smooth expression that hid all his inner thoughts. “I do,” he whispered, unable to fully hide his emotions from his voice.
A pain resurfaced in Tony’s chest, and it was nothing like the pain before, not physical at all, and he nodded his head. “All right. I’ll call my pilot and we’ll get the jet ready.”
