Disclaimer: The avengers and any other recognizable character does not belong to me they are property of Marvel.
N/A: As the story advances chapters will get longer, Warning same sex relations
FrostIron/IronFrost? BAMF Tony, Godly Tony? Soulmates.
Gray Tony? Depends on perspective but most likely.
The Son of Death and the Tree of Life Yggdrasil
Chapter 2: Self-awareness?
Tony as he grew up notice certain things. He knew that those things couldn't be normal. He knew that he wasn't normal. He was called a genius. He understood the implications of being a genius, just as well as the consequences. He knew that he unnerved people, he made them uncomfortable and uneasy. He didn't know why, just that he did.
One of the first things that he noticed was the energy that was around everything, from the living things such from grass to trees and other things such as rocks and water... Some were stronger than others, but they were never as strong as his own energy. They were very weak in comparison. The second thing he noticed was that crows and ravens were always around the corner, everywhere he turned he could see those black birds around. He became aware that they discretely followed him everywhere. Those black birds were always watching, he knew it wasn't normal, but he learned to ignore them. The third thing were the shadows. He noticed that certain people had a certain shadow around them, following them. Some were darker than others. With these shadows, he noticed that babies were different. Their shadows were pure, almost like some sort of dark light around them. These were brighter than the ones that follow adults. He always wondered what they meant and if the different shades made a difference. The fourth were his eyes, they were sharp and held a depth unseen in any he had encountered thus far. They seem to hold the secrets of the universe in them, but they were also concealed in mystery. There was concern in being bias as he did not understand himself. He knew that he wasn't normal. He knew that he was a genius, but were geniuses supposed to be like him? Or was he even abnormal amongst geniuses?
And finally himself.
He had always been aware of his surroundings, hyper-self-aware. He noticed that his intellect and understanding of many subjects greatly surpassed others his age. By the time he was three he could already speak in complete sentences, read and understand complicated things like how a circuit board functioned and that was just at the age of three. By the age of four he had built a functioning circuit board on his own. Howard had lack of concern for him, and yet Howard was his father. Edwin Jarvis, the family's butler, showed more concern and cared for him far more than his own father. Even the ravens were more concerned for his wellbeing. It was easy to see that he resembled Howard, but that did little to form a connection between them. Something was missing, and Tony didn't know what it was. It drove him mad! He wanted to know, he wanted to know what was missing and why. While he cared for Maria, but the connection had something lacking and missing and he didn't understand why. Sometimes he wondered if he was capable of love, he knew he cared about Maria, but to actually love her, that was a completely different matter. Maybe that was what was missing. Love. He knew that Maria was his mother, but he just felt detached. Was he even supposed to be analyzing this sort of things? He was only five, not exactly an age to go all philosophical. It was during this time that Howard did something completely idiotic based on Aunt Peggy's words, he began to teach Tony how to handle weapons. First, he was introduced to small guns and knives, to say that Aunt Peggy was not happy would be an understatement. She was no better as she began to train him in hand to hand combat, she called it self-defense. By the time he was six he had built an engine. While he didn't consider it to be a big deal (he did not invent the engine, someone already did), some people did. Maybe it was his age that had people making a fuss out of something not his own idea. But it's not like he understands what they think. In fact, he's pretty sure he doesn't work on the same level as other humans do. Things that were difficult to others came to him as easy as breathing, everyone took this and threw it into him to the "child prodigy category". They were no closer to understanding him than he was.
It was a few months after he build the engine that Tony began to have a feeling that he was being watched. This feeling was different from the one he got from the crows and ravens; this feeling was more intense. He became aware that the black birds that always followed him were unsettled. Was someone following him? And if that was the case, what did they want from him? He was just six, unless they wanted something from Howard. Would Howard would actually care if something actually happened to him? Now was not the time to think such things. He best focus on his studies. It was a few weeks later when young Tony found himself kidnapped.
If Tony was honest with himself, he was relieved that the black annoying birds were within his sight range. Their presence made the situation more bearable. While his kidnappers were busy calling his father, Tony observed his surroundings to look for an escape route. He didn't get much time to look. Angry shouting alerted him of Howard refusing to comply with their terms. For some reason it did not surprise him, maybe Howard felt the same detachment that Tony did. Now was not the time to think about that, now was the time to look for a potential escape route. If you want something done you had to do it yourself, in his case he had to rescue himself. Maybe he can make something blow up in order to escape, but he'd have to be careful not to blow himself up with his kidnappers.
Yggdrasil was unsure of himself, his son had been kidnaped, and the surrogate they chose didn't care. He and Mistress Death were not happy with the knowledge that something may happen to their son. Anthony was unique, and so very young. They were unsure of how near-death experiences would affect his existence, but maybe he shouldn't worry so much, it's not like the boy would die. The boy was just in a tight situation. Anthony represented rebirth, he was going to be ok.
As Tony was looking for a way to escape, one of his kidnapers approached him, his shadow was the darkest of all the involved. Tony, if he was honest with himself, he would say that he was curious. He wondered what would happen if he touched one of the shadows. While he had noticed them before, he never touched them. It was unexpected but the moment he touched the shadow he saw the man's life, all the bad things he had done, the lack of remorse, the pleasure he took in the things he did, the young girls, the deaths and the blood were a little overwhelming for Tony. He suddenly felt disgust and anger towards this creature, too corrupted to be called a man. With his rage dictating his actions, he pulled the shadow and ripped it away from the monster in human flesh. The result was instantaneous, the man fell to the floor dead. The young boy's eyes were cold and furious as the other two kidnapers entered the room. A window broke letting ravens and crows enter the room as well and they began attacking the remaining men. Meanwhile the Stark heir began to make his exit, not caring about the bloodshed that was happening a few feet away from him.
Somewhere else, a woman in yellow robes open her eyes and frowned. Her piercing blue eyes were staring ahead of her, trying to understand what was to come.