章 57: Chapter 57: A Whole New World
Tony had never imagined his life to go this way. When he was young, he had already built his path. Inherit Stark Industries, stay rich and enjoy life. That was it.
But life did not always go as planned.
More than a decade ago, he met a woman like no other. Someone who made him feel things he didn't know he could feel. They met, they talked together, and they laughed together. And before long, he realized he had fallen in love with her. Sometime later, Sarah Sharpe gave him the big news. A child! She was pregnant.
Tony never told this to anyone, but when Sarah told her about the incoming baby, his first instincts, to his shame, were to get away as possible and to have nothing to do with the baby. He had his fair share of women who claimed to have his baby. Some even brought back random kids to him and tried to claim child support!
But this was different, Sarah was really bearing his child. She had shown him the proof. His instincts were rearing at him. He was not ready for this. He was a free-spirited man with no emotional attachments. However, Sarah was different. She was the woman he fell for. It was then he made a decision. A decision that would change his life.
Unfortunately, because of his position and reputation, and personality, he was not fit to raise a baby. Therefore, they decided Sarah would raise the boy away from him and he would support her and the baby until he was mature enough. When she started raising Isaiah, she would update Tony every now and then. And he would stare at the photos and videos of his son growing up, but he couldn't be there for him. He would also send gifts for him when he could without alerting anyone. And so for five years, things continued like that right until the tragedy.
He would have never guessed that not only his son was alive, but that he had been thrust into a world of gods, monsters, and magic. Just the fact that supersoldiers and mutants existed was enough, but now there was a whole multiverse of supernatural? It was crazy.
But Tony adapted. With the help of his son, he learned about the other world. And let's not talk about Isaiah. The kid was a walking nuclear bomb. But he was still his son and he would care for him.
So when his son had gone missing for almost a whole month, he was out of his mind. He was a wreck. He even had to be away from the company the whole time so that the others wouldn't know about his mental state. It was times like this that his reputation would help him. Pepper was by his side the whole time. He even pestered the Ancient One to find Isaiah, but the kid had gone to another whole fucking world!
And so, the day Isaiah finally returned, he was so tired he passed out right on his workbench as all the tension had disappeared. Unfortunately, looks like fate decided to kick him the nuts because he soon found himself lying on the grass looking at the weirdest sky he had ever seen in his life.
"Huh?" he let out.
"What the hell happened? I remember working on a design and I... fell asleep." Tony said to himself.
He looked up and saw the sky,
"Last time I checked the sky was not cracked and the sun was not blue. Am I dreaming?"
He could see crimson lines crackling in the sky as well as the oddly blue sun casting light like any ordinary sun.
"Tony slowly got up and looked around, He found himself in a plain of grass where not many trees could be seen. However, He found a road leading to what seems to be a city where an immense tower could be seen rising to the sky.
'What the actual hell? This feels too real to be a mere dream. What's going on?'
The man felt the grass on the ground. He patted himself to see if there was anything wrong and was relieved when he found nothing.
Since there was nothing around him, he decided to head toward the city for information about this place he found himself in.
'This feels just like one of those stories Isaiah reads. I just hope they'll be able to speak any language I know,' he thought with a chuckle.
And so he started to walk on the road, He observed his surroundings in the meantime. However, as he was on his way, he heard a voice,
"Oh my. You look quite lost there, don't you? Do you need help?"
Tony snapped his head toward the voice and looked at her alarmed,
'I didn't even see her come!'
The woman in question was a very beautiful woman wearing a red dress along with a red with a blue interior cap looking like something straight out of the Renaissance. She also wore marine blue thigh-high socks as well as blue elbow-length gloves. In her left hand, she had a large elaborate-looking staff. The top held a bright blue star which seemed to give an otherworldly glow even in the light of the day. However, what struck Tony was her face.
"Mona Lisa?" he blurted out before he could process what he said.
Yes, the woman's appearance looked exactly like the woman in the famous painting created by Leonardo da Vinci: the Mona Lisa.
The woman giggled,
"Oh? Not everyone calls me by that name. That is quite unusual. Who might you be?"
Tony composed himself. He had met a lot of beautiful women in his life, but he could say without any bias that this woman was on the higher end of his list.
"Shouldn't the person speaking present themselves first?" he asked.
The woman giggled again,
"Oh my. How silly of me. I am the great Leonardo da Vinci." the woman boasted her identity with a hand to her chest.
It was then Tony's face shifted,
"Leonardo da Vinci?" he asked with a deadpan.
"That's right."
"The genius inventor from the Renaissance? That Leonardo?"
"Uh-hm!"
"You've got to be shitting me. Am I being punked?"
"I don't think I'm defecating you, good sir. But I assure you I am Leonardo da Vinci. The only reason I look like this, is because I have pursued beauty for almost my whole life, why wouldn't I look like this?" the woman said as she twirled around.
Tony pinched the bridge of his nose,
"So you are trying to convince me, without proof, that you are a guy who lived centuries ago who is apparently not a dude. Is that it?"
"Oh no. When I was alive, I was very much a man. I wanted to pursue true beauty which is why I looked like this." Leonardo said with a smirk.
Tony was speechless. He had so many questions from that statement alone. The fact this woman said she was alive meaning she is dead right now. Or the fact that this woman was a guy and was the proof of the most successful gender change surgery he had ever seen in his life.
"H-How?"
"That, good sir, is for me to know and you to find out. What about you? It looks like you don't belong to these parts."
Tony raised an eyebrow,
"How do you figure?"
The woman got closer to him,
"Well, for one, you didn't recognize me which is inconceivable by the way. Every soul in this kingdom is able to instinctively recognize each other by their appearance and names. Although, they don't have much knowledge of their history."
"But I recognized you, didn't I?"
"That you did. But you recognized this body and not me which leads to my second point. Can you tell me the name of this Kingdom?"
The man looked confused,
"The name of the kingdom? That one?" Tony asked as he pointed toward the city.
"Yup."
"Well, I don't know the name of the kingdom. Just like you said, I'm not from around these parts." Tony decided to add a little lie, he didn't know how common is the knowledge of inter-dimensional travel," I am from another place from here in the west."
To the man's surprise, the smirk on the woman's face turned mischievous which gave him a bad feeling,
"You know that's quite amusing. Do you know why?"
"No?"
"Because there is only one kingdom in this entire world." Leonardo finished.
"Say what now?"
"Just like I said, there is only one kingdom in this world. Every piece of land, water, and sky belongs under this one kingdom, the Kingdom Of Mysteries." the woman spread her arms to emphasize her point.
"You're serious?"
"Yes, which is why are quite the odd one. What might be your name?"
"Anthony Stark, but you can call me Tony."
"The Strong and Priceless One, hm? That's quite the name you have, Tony Stark."
"That's my name, don't wear it out."
The woman giggled,
"And a comedian too. Anyhow, every person living here has an instinctive knowledge about this kingdom. And since you didn't know the kingdom's name, am I correct to assume you are not from this world?" the woman asks.
The man slowly nodded. He figured there was no need to lie since the gig was up.
"Yeah..."
"Is that so, then there is only one way you are in this situation, you have been brought to this world."
"Brought? By whom?"
"By the king of course. He's the ruler of this world after all."
Tony nodded. At this point, he shouldn't be surprised. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if his son was involved in this whole shenanigans.
"Look lady, I have no clue whatsoever about what's going on and you're telling me this king of yours brought me here? Why? I don't think I've met the guy."
"I'll give you one better, why don't I bring you to him? I'm sure he'll help you out." Leonardo replied with an "I know something you don't face".
"How am I supposed to trust you?" Tony asked.
"Well, you have two options here, Mr. Stark. You either follow me and you'll meet the King who'll definitely help you or you can stay here and stir in your own worry and paranoia until you find the king and make a fool out of yourself since you don't have any information."
"Not much of a choice is it?" Tony replied with a humorless chuckle.
Leonardo shrugged.
Tony sighed before answering,
"Fine, I'll trust you."
"Great!" Leonardo said before her staff suddenly disappeared in blue motes.
The familiar sight shocked Tony,
"That's... mana. You're a mage? Was Leonardo da Vinci a mage? Does that mean magic also exists in this world?"
Leonardo began to walk with Tony following her,
"To answer your question, magic does exist. It is the Kingdom of Mysteries after all. And me being a magus, that's a story for another time."
"Hmm. So can you tell me about this kingdom?"
"Sure!"
And so, Leonardo began to tell him about this kingdom. As they continued their walk, Tony learned that this Kingdom was under the rule of a single king and that the citizens were extraordinary people he had heard from history or myths. Tony's early assumption of not being surprised was thoroughly shattered and he could almost feel his jaw drop. If what Leonardo said was true, then this place is mystical.
After fifteen minutes, they finally arrived in front of the city's borders. The first thing Tony noticed was the lack of walls.
"Why are there no walls?" he asked.
"Hm?"
"Why are there no walls? Don't you have something to delimit the borders of the city?"
Leonardo looked at him,
"Why would you put borders inside your own house?"
Tony looked at her weirdly before remembering what she said,
{Just like I said, there is only one kingdom in this world. Every piece of land, water, and sky belongs under this one kingdom, the Kingdom Of Mysteries.}
"Oh. So you weren't kidding when you said the world belonged to one kingdom. How does that work, by the way, did your king like conquered everyone or something?"
Leonardo shook her head,
"He never had to conquer anything since it belonged to him in the first place," she replied.
"What?"
"You'll know when you meet him. Let me show you around first."
"Suuuure."
As they entered the city, they passed multiple exotically dress people.
"Hey Leonardo, you back from bird watching?" a man with green hair and silver chest armor as well as greaves and boots of the same color.
He had a bird symbol on his chest armor as well as an orange cloth wrapped loosely around his body. This was the first time, Tony had seen someone with that type of hair color but, oddly enough, it didn't look bad on him.
"Yes, the sight of birds brings me many ideas to draw upon."
"Awesome! Who's the old man?"
'Old? I'm only 38 years old!" Tony retorted.
The green-haired man laughed,
"Hahaha! Sorry sorry, man. So what's your name? I can't recognize you."
"Tony, Tony Stark."
"He was summoned into the kingdom by the king. I was just about to show Mr. Stark around before bringing him to him." Leonardo said.
"Is that so? You probably heard of me. I'm Achilles."
"Achilles? The greek Hero? The son of Thetis and Peleus and the hero of the Trojan War?"
Achilles laughed again, delighted from being recognized,
"That's right! I suppose I'm famous from where you're from."
"Famous? Your myth didn't even die. Hell, your gods are still around." Tony replied surprising Achilles.
"Is that so?"
Tony nodded,
"Yeah. My son's friends are the children of the Olympians. He even met your teacher."
"Chiron? But I just met him. He's still alive from where you're from?"
"Yeah. Due to the modern age, the Olympians established some sort of camp where demigods go for safe haven or training. And Chiron is one of the leaders of it."
"HAHAHAHAHA!" the hero laughed out loud.
"Isn't that incredible? They better train hard for their lives since, us, heroes don't have an easy life."
Tony smirked,
"I'm sure they're doing alright."
"By the way, you said your son is their friend. Is he also a demigod."
Tony shook his head,
"No, he's a wizard."
"Really, seems like your life is also interesting."
"Don't you know it?"
Some sort of odd kinship developed between the two men which Leonardo soon interrupted,
"We better get going Mr. Stark. There is still a lot to show you."
Tony nodded,
"Sure." he turned to Achilles,
"It's been great meeting you Achilles. I hope I see you around sometime."
"You too, old man." the younger man said.
"I'm not old!" Tony retorted however Achilles simply laughed as he walked away.
Soon, the duo continued to walk around the city, Leonardo showed him the different sectors depicting the different periods and cultures of humanity's history.
Tony wasn't going to lie, he felt like he was in Disneyland if it was a whole world of magic and history had come alive.
They finally arrived in front of the large tower which the man soon learned was called the Tower of Babel. Yes, the same one as the one in the Bible when someone called him.
"Dad?"
He turned around and saw his son standing beside a man wearing clothes from the Victorian Era.
"Isaiah?"
"What are you doing here?"
Tony raised an eyebrow,
"I should be asking you the same. I thought I was the only one who's been summoned."
Isaiah looked confused,
"Summoned? By whom?"
"Apparently, this lady told me it was the king who summoned me. Looks like, he summoned you too." Tony said as he pointed at Leonardo.
"Summoned? King?" Isaiah repeated before something bulb lit up in his mind and facepalmed.
He groaned before turning to the man beside him,
"Mr. Shakespeare. Did I accidentally release my Reality Marble in my world?"
The man stroked his beard,
"Seeing as this man arrived in this Kingdom, that is most likely the case." the man replied, "Who might he be, by the way."
"That's my dad."
The man's face changed to surprise,
"Oh? The king's father, eh? It's a pleasure meeting you..."
"Tony Stark. And what do you mean by King's father?"
Tony was now confused.
It was then Leonardo came forward and bowed a little toward Isaiah,
"It is a pleasure finally meeting you, O king of the Kingdom of Mysteries. My name is Leonardo Da Vinci."
"A fellow artist!" the man beside Isaiah said.
"Leonardo Da Vinci?" Isaiah deadpanned,
"Let me guess. You too were a woman when you were alive, but you were depicted as a man?"
Tony looked at his son weirdly. Isaiah shook his head,
"I just found out that King Arthur and Emperor Nero were women instead of men, so Leonardo da Vinci being a woman would not surprise me," he told his father.
The woman in question giggled,
"As a matter of fact, I was a man. But I found true beauty." Leonardo replied as she showed off her body.
"I'm not going to question it."
Tony looked at Leonardo before looking at his son.
"Wait, King? You're the king of this place, Isaiah?"
Isaiah nodded,
"Yeah. It seems like my Reality Marble has finally fully formed and I accidentally brought it out. Seems like you've been brought here by accident."
However, Tony made a time-out sign,
"Hold up. What's this deal about Reality marble?"
Isaiah then explained to him. Tony once again, pinched the bridge of his nose.
"So what you're saying is that because of this Alien common sense you have, you formed some sort of inner world in your soul. The reason it hasn't shown itself until now was that it was still developing. Now that it's complete, you essentially have a whole world to yourself that you can bring out in the real world and replace with your own. Am I correct?"
"Yeah."
"Dammit, Isaiah. If you keep bringing surprises like this, I don't think my heart can take it."
"Hehehe." the boy chuckled.
"So are all these people real or fake?"
"They're as real as you and me. The Kingdom of Mysteries simply took form after my soul entered the Root." Isaiah replied while pointing at the sun.
Tony looked at it,
"That's the Root? The Akashic Records."
"Not exactly. That's simply a representation from my perspective. If you were to see the real thing, you would simply vanish from existence." the boy replied sending chills down Tony's spine.
It didn't help that the kid had seen the real thing and barely survived. They still don't how he did.
"Jeez, kid. You say some of the scariest things so nonchalantly."
"It's part of my charm."
Tony raised an eyebrow,
"So how do we get out of this place? If what you said about us being brought here without anyone knowing, I'm sure Jarvis is going to send an alarm to Happy and Pepper and make everyone panic."
"Oh. You're right." Isaiah replied before turning to Shakespeare.
"What?"
"How do I get out of this place?"
"It's your kingdom. It's your world, you can do whatever you want. You simply have to will it."
"Oh okay. I'll see you guys next time!"
"Goodbye O king." both artists said.
"It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Stark."
"You too Leonardo. Even if this was an odd one."
Leonardo giggled and Isaiah closed his eyes. Soon, the world began to shift and blur. It soon turned into a kaleidoscope of colors before,
*pop*
They found themselves pop in Isaiah's room with the boy lying on the bed and Tony standing by the foot. He had to grab onto the wall to find his balance due to the spatial displacement.
"Phew! That was quite the trip." the man said.
Isaiah sat,
"Yeah. Sorry about that. I didn't know it would happen like that."
"Hey don't worry, kid. It happens sometimes... Well, it doesn't happen sometimes, but you get what I mean."
Isaiah giggled,
"Yeah."
It was then the door burst open with Happy coming in followed by Pepper looking extremely tired as if she had been pulled out of bed, which was most likely the case, and the Ancient One who looked pristine as always.
Seeing the father and son duo, Pepper and Happy let out sighs of relief,
"Oh thank god, You guys are okay! When Jarvis called us, we got so scared. And we couldn't find you, we started panicking." Pepper said.
"Luckily, Ms. Farran told us not to worry since it was most likely caused by some magic mojo from Isaiah. She did that weird magic thingy." Happy replied.
"Thanks, Jarvis. Did anyone else notice anything?" Tony said.
"No sir. And I'm glad to see you okay and healthy sir and young master." Jarvis replied.
At this point, Isaiah had given up on correcting Jarvis calling him a young master.
"Now that you are safe and sound, it would be best you get some rest," Fiona said. "I'm sure you'll have quite the tale to tell.
"You have no idea." Tony replied before yawning which was soon followed by Isaiah," But I think we should go to sleep. What time is it?"
"It is 1:46 AM, sir."
"Alright. Let's get out of here. Goodnight kid."
"Good night Dad. Goodnight Happy. Goodnight Ms. Pepper. And Good night Teacher."
"Goodnight kid." Happy replied.
"Goodnight Isaiah. Have sweet dreams" Pepper also replied.
"Good night to you too, Isaiah," Fiona said.
All four adults were about to leave the room when Isaiah and Fiona stiffened.
"What's going on?" asked Tony seeing their expression.
"Looks like you are going to have guests soon, Mr. Stark. It seems like Isaiah's stunt hasn't gone unnoticed."
"What? Who? Should I bring my arsenal out?" Tony asked seriously.
"We have an arsenal?" asked Isaiah.
"Your dad is nicknamed the Merchant of Death. Of course, we have an arsenal in the house."
"I wouldn't be so hasty if I were you, Mr. Stark?"
"Why not?'
"Because this particular guest is not exactly hostile."
"Then who is it?" asked Happy.
"I'm sure you've heard of him. He's the headmaster of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters."
"Are you talking about Charles Xavier?" asked Pepper.
"What does he have to do with anything?"
"He's probably going to come here soon to meet Isaiah here."
"Why?" asked Tony.
"I cannot confirm it yet, but I've had this assumption for years. It will soon be proven true it is correct."
"What assumption?"
"That Isaiah is a mutant."
"A mutant?" asked Pepper.
Tony looked done.
"You know what. I'm not dealing with this right now. I'm tired and I want to go to sleep. Isaiah is also tired so we'll talk about this in the morning." He turned to his subordinate, "You guys can sleep in your rooms this house always have. What about you Ms. Fiona?"
"I'm sorry Mr. Stark, but I must return to Kamar Taj."
"Alright then, see you later then."
"You too, Mr. Stark."
Soon Fiona portaled back to Kamar-Taj and everyone went to their rooms. Tony had arranged for rooms to be made for Haply and Pepper when he first hired them in case they needed to stay overnight for work or whatsoever.
It has been a stressful night and today's problems could be left their future selves.
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