Rise of the Champions - Chapter Ninety-Three
Author: Milady Dragon
They arrived at Ianto's house in Gateway, in the front garden…because, Pepper insisted, it was impolite to just show up in someone's casting chamber without the owner of the house being home. Steve could understand it, and at least Baroness Eirlys was there when Baron Tony knocked on the door.
Well, it was more like pounded on the door. The Baron of Ferrous was not at all subtle.
"Come in," she welcomed them, smiling.
The first time Steve had met Eirlys, he'd been surprised to learn that the Baroness Gateway was Jack and Ianto's daughter through a magical spell that allowed a man to carry a child. It had seemed fantastical to Steve at the time, but he could see the resemblance in her, despite the fact that she looked about twenty years older than her biological fathers.
When he learned she was actually near eighty, that had been a shock until he'd been told that Eirlys, while mortal, had a very extended life because of the Deep Ways running through both her parents. Her children were the same way, looking younger than they actually were. Ianto had said it would be the way of their biological family from now on, a part of the Harkness-Jones line until the end of time.
"Dad and Tad and the others are at the school," she explained as she showed them into the sitting room. Happy immediately puddled all over Eirlys' dragon, Corona, on the hearth.
"We know," Pepper said, taking a chair. "But they," she motioned toward the Baron, Bucky, and Steve, who were all taking seats – except Buck, who was content to stand in the corner and glower at everyone, "aren't cleared to go onto school grounds."
"Ah, the new security measures." Eirlys nodded. "They're quite good, even if I do say so myself."
She probably helped come up with them, Steve thought.
"Do you have any idea when they're gonna be back?" Baron Tony asked. He was still looking a little spooked at finding out that the gemstone in his chest had once been what the Skull had used to conquer a large chunk of the Western Lands and to exile Steve to the Void.
"Hopefully soon. You obviously know what they're doing there."
"We do," Steve confirmed, "and it's pretty urgent that we speak to everyone when they get back."
The sooner Ianto and the others knew that the Space Stone was actually the Tesseract, the better. Steve figured they'd need all of the information about it as soon as possible.
"I have no idea what condition Tad's going to be when they do get back." Eirlys walked over to a wine cabinet, offering them all something to drink. Pepper accepted a glass of a deep red wine, while Tony asked about one of the lower land liquors that had come into favor since after Steve went into the Void. Steve politely refused, as did Bucky. "There's no telling what trying to control the Reality Stone will do to him."
"Do you think he'll be able to get Phil and Crystal back?" Pepper sounded hopeful.
"I think he and Stephen have a good plan for it. And I also think they'll be able to get Iohannes back to his home world."
That was good. Steve knew what it was like to be trapped somewhere, where things were so different from what you knew. He was glad that Iohannes wouldn't be the same, although it that did somehow occur then he was going to help the dragon as best he could. He could even get Sam in on the act; the Knight got the feeling that Sam was feeling a little bored hanging out in Triskelia with not a lot to do except to hold Steve's hand whenever he was feeling a bit overwhelmed.
Well, there was Bucky to consider now, so Sam might be a little more occupied for a little while.
As for Phil and Crystal…if Ianto and Stephen had figured out how to get them back, then the Knight had every confidence that they would succeed.
"How do they plan on doing it?" he asked, curious. Not that Steve knew a lot about magic, but any knowledge was good knowledge. And, he was honestly worried even though he truly believed they would be able to bring Phil and Crystal home.
"It seems that Phil and Clint have this soul bond…"
Eirlys went on to explain the concept of a soul bond, and Steve found himself fascinated by the idea that one person could be connected that deeply to another, and that Ianto and Stephen could use it in order to locate Phil on how many realities there were.
He couldn't help but glance over at Bucky, who was listening intently to the explanation Gateway's Baroness was giving. The Knight had to wonder if it was possible for regular people to have that sort of thing between them. He found himself wishing for it, to have a soul bond with someone he loved so much that it forged something between them and their loved one. That, one day, he and Buck might share something like that…
No, it had to be impossible. A soul bond was made of magic, and neither of them were Wizards. Of course, they'd each been the victim of magical Artifacts, and Steve had spent three hundred years in the Void, but that didn't mean a bond like that could ever form between the two. Hells, at this point there was no guarantee that his best friend would ever regain all of his memories, although he'd been showing flashes of behavior from back when they were…well, normal is the best word for it, he supposed.
There was a small commotion down the hallway as Eirlys finished her explanations. Everyone not standing was up on their feet; Eirlys was the first one out of the room, Steve on her heels. Down the corridor from the direction of Ianto's casting chamber, Jack and the Grand Master, along with Myfanwy, were coming toward them; Jack looked surprised, while Ianto – pale and exhausted looking – raised a single eyebrow in question. They were the only ones there, and Steve figured everyone else had gone home to their homes.
"We weren't expecting company," Jack drawled. "I take it you're here to find out what happened?"
"That too," Tony admitted, "but Steve here," he stabbed a finger in the former Paladin's direction, "had an epiphany that couldn't wait."
"That doesn't sound ominous at all," Ianto snarked. He made his way into the sitting room, dropping into the chair that Pepper had been seated in.
"I have to ask," Bucky butted into the conversation for the first time, "but did you get Phil and Crystal back?"
The irritation on Ianto's face smoothed out, and he smiled. "We did. They're on their way back home with Clint and Daisy. We also managed to get Iohannes back to his home world as well."
Bucky relaxed, for possibly the first time since Phil and Crystal had vanished. "Good. Maybe I can go by and check on them later."
The Grand Master nodded. "That would be an excellent idea, but I'd probably wait until tomorrow. They ended up on a world that didn't have much magic, and they're both pretty tired."
"I'll do that."
"Now," Jack pinned them all with a stare that could only have been described as a "thousand-year" glare, which of course he managed to pull off without any irony whatsoever, "just what couldn't wait for tomorrow?"
"Dad," Eirlys gave a glare of her own. "They wouldn't be here if it wasn't important."
While Steve appreciated her standing up to Jack in order to justify their just dropping in on a day when Ianto was exhausted from saving their friends for being lost in any one of a multitude of realities, he felt a sudden stab of guilt over their barging in the way they had. Maybe it could have waited; after all, Baron Tony had been carrying around the Tesseract in his chest for years, and nothing had come of it except for the fact that it was apparently saving his life…
"Stop that," Baron Tony chided him roughly. "No feeling guilty when it was my idea to come here."
Yes, but if Steve hadn't practically panicked in the first place…
The Baron rolled his eyes. "Honestly." He turned his attention back to Ianto; Jack was just passing him a glass of wine, which he accepted with thanks. "Steve figured out that this," he stroked his hand down the front of his tunic, just above the gemstone melded to his skin, "is also the Tesseract that the Skull used to do all his bad shit with."
That had Ianto sitting forward, his blue eyes glittering sharply. He looked right at Steve. "Are you sure?"
The Knight didn't take offence at the doubt. "I didn't realize it at first, but it came to me this morning."
"That…makes sense." His gaze turned introspective. "From what history says of the Tesseract, it would certainly fall within the Space Stone's abilities to do what the Skull used it for. And, if Tony can siphon off power from it in order to power his armor, then the Skull could certainly have done the same in order to power the curses and such he'd used. And casting you into the Void, Steve."
"Well, shit." Jack ran a hand through his hair. "I know you said that thing was safe for Tony to power his armor, but…"
"I should think it still would be. Nothing's changed, except for our knowledge of what some megalomaniac got up to with it."
That was a relief. Steve had been very worried indeed about the corruptive nature of the gem, having been a witness to what the Skull had managed to use it for. He still had nightmares about the village that the bastard had reduced to a crater in the ground.
Knowing this was the Space Stone, Steve had to wonder if that village had been destroyed…or moved somewhere else. Had the place been uprooted by the power of the gem? It was certainly a possibility, now that he knew more of what he was dealing with.
"Tony," Ianto looked at the Baron intently. "I know you were fine with leaving the Space Stone as it was, but has this changed your mind? We can try to start researching a way to remove it, now that we know more."
"We were never sure it wasn't gonna start doing weirdness to me," the Baron commented, "and while the armor is useful in a fight – as we've proved – I'm not sure it's worth the risk."
Pepper, who'd stood next to him, reached over and grabbed onto his hand, her face relieved at his capitulation. "If we can find someone we trust to remove it, then Ianto can deal with the thing."
"And you can always create some other form of power source for the armor," Jack added. "You're a genius, you'll work it out."
The Baron looked contemplative. "If I can do that, make something that small and that powerful, and not have it rely on magic, I could adapt it for use in private homes and even entire villages…I've been trying to come up with an idea to shrink down the generator design I came up with, that Barony Uncelas wants to test. Maybe this is it." He gave them all a bright grin. "And, even if I have to use some magic in the initial design, it won't be so out there that I can't get a willing Wizard to help out."
"I'm sure we can look for trustworthy volunteers," Ianto said. "Perhaps Mistress Betty Ross, once we get her father behind bars."
"Bruce would love that." Pepper, in that moment, looked almost transcendently happy, the first time he'd ever seen that expression on her face. Yes, he'd seen her pleased, and other emotions that were close, but not this.
Steve realized that she'd always been worried about the magical stone in her husband's body, but had believed nothing could be done, even if Baron Tony had wanted to remove it. Now, she was getting some hope that it could be done, after all the blows and revelations that had come to them about it in the last couple of days.
The Knight hoped it could be accomplished. Both Baron Tony and Pepper had been good to him, taking him in when he'd first been brought out of the Void. He only wanted them to be happy, and this seemed to be the way to help that along.
And, he was beginning to believe, there were certain Wizards who, for them, the impossible was something they hadn't even met yet.
