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….
"Really? Create it yourself?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Easily! Though I admit, the design is good. I already have a dozen ideas on how it could be refined in interesting directions, but we've strayed from the topic again. So, Anthony Stark, do you agree to become my priest and follow the covenants of Loki, voiced to you by the God personally?"
"I agree," the engineer answered after a minute of reflection. It was obvious he still didn't fully believe it, but from his perspective, he had nothing to lose, so why not say "yes"?
And indeed, he really had nothing to lose.
"Heard!"
Simultaneously, I cast a sleep spell on my new high priest.
Alright, let's start by transmuting the shards into something harmless and extracting them, then we'll remove the heavy metals and help the cells renew themselves. I should probably remove the reactor too, but… perhaps I won't.
Fussing with restoring flesh and bone in its place would take too long, and it's not strictly necessary.
It's easier to completely heal the organism, and then the Living Light energy will maintain it in peak condition on its own.
If I remove the other negative factors, it will be more than enough to cure the radiation sickness.
….
Two hours later. Tony Stark.
"Oh… what strange dreams I'm having… about Gods appearing to me. You'd think it would be beauties on a beach, but no such luck…" The engineer rose from the chair and glanced at his watch. "Damn."
Pepper's arrival could happen any minute, and she absolutely did not need to see the techno-organic pattern on his skin.
Hastily dressing, Stark pressed his finger to the scanner needle with a practiced motion.
"Blood toxicity level: 0%," the device displayed.
"What?" The billionaire pressed his finger again.
"Blood toxicity level: 0%," the device dutifully repeated.
Tony frantically ripped open his shirt, buttons flying, and… didn't see the now-familiar pattern of black veins.
"J.A.R.V.I.S.!"
"Yes, sir?"
"What happened to me for the last two hours?"
"You passed out right in the chair, sir, after which you slept peacefully the entire time until you woke up muttering about strange dreams."
"Did I talk to anyone before that?"
"No, sir. First, you complained about a hangover you shouldn't have had since you didn't drink anything yesterday, then you said 'looks like it's started,' and simply fell asleep."
"So… does that mean I was really visited by a God?" The inventor grabbed his disheveled head.
"I do not know, sir. Perhaps that was the dream itself."
"Then how do you explain this?" Stark held up the blood analyzer.
"Blood toxicity level 0%… Amazing, sir! I have no explanation for this! But I recommend undergoing a full examination."
"I recommend the same, by the way," a familiar voice reached Tony from behind, "otherwise curiosity will ruin your nerves."
Loki was saluting him with a square glass of amber liquid.
"J.A.R.V.I.S.…" Tony spoke slowly, hypnotizing the smiling face of the guest in the short coat, "is there anyone next to me?"
"No, sir. You are alone. And I would like to note that such questions may be a sign of certain health problems."
"My butler can't see you?" Ignoring the computer, Stark addressed the long-haired brunet who was already lounging on the same sofa as a couple of hours ago.
"No," Loki confirmed, sipping his drink.
"Why?"
"I don't want him to see me."
"…I see." Tony stood up and marched decisively to the bar.
"Sir, who are you talking to?" J.A.R.V.I.S. made himself known again.
"I assume… with a god," the billionaire replied, already filling a glass from the bottle standing right on the table.
"A very original start to the day…"
"Silence!" the inventor cut off his butler and turned to the guest. "So… what now?" The taste of whiskey filled his mouth, chasing away some of the tension from his head.
"Since you are now my official High Priest, I am supposed to give you a few words of guidance…" his interlocutor shrugged with a strange emotion on his face.
"But since we both know there is no better way to tempt a human into doing something wrong than to forbid it, we'll do without boring commandments! So," Loki took a sip, "first of all, I am informing you: a certain little man with one eye and an exorbitant ego is keeping something left by your father. I didn't go into details, but it seems Howard calculated the structure of a substance capable of becoming the ideal core for your reactor, but couldn't synthesize it in his time. In short, all the clues and directions to the place where everything is hidden are with Fury. There should also be a paternal video message for you there."
"Next: there is a probability that at the upcoming races in Monaco, a well-wisher thirsting for your blood will be lying in wait for you. He differs from the rest in that he managed to replicate your reactor and build a weapon based on it. His name is Ivan Vanko, I believe."
"Dig into the archives, his father worked with yours, and they developed the principle of the cold fusion reactor together, though I don't know in what proportion. But Ivan is convinced Howard stole the technology from his father, framed him, and got him deported to avoid sharing."
"Right, what else?.." Loki pondered, drumming his fingers on the glass. "Ah, yes, attend to your security system, because S.H.I.E.L.D. is buzzing around you very actively. Fury is a bit dim, of course, but stubborn, and he wants your technology very badly, ideally along with you being infinitely indebted to him, but he'll take it any way he can get it."
Loki finished speaking and began studying Tony's face with undisguised enjoyment, savoring the last sips of his drink.
And Tony didn't even think about keeping a poker face. He had to admit, they had dumped perhaps too much information on a mind unaccustomed to this kind of new experience.
The billionaire couldn't even remember the last time he found himself in a situation for which he was completely unprepared, either morally or informationally.
Even the hated board meetings, for all their intensity, brought no new discoveries, as he knew even the most complex agenda in advance. But here…
"Well then, Pepper is already in the house, I won't disturb you," drinking the last drops of whiskey, the guest rose to his feet.
"Where are you going now?" Stark asked, not at all what he wanted to ask, although he hadn't yet figured out what exactly he wanted.
"To class."
"Class?"
"I'm currently moonlighting as a history teacher at a private college," Loki smiled disarmingly.
"It's very fun, if you want to know, but details some other time."
The empty glass was set down on the table with a weighty sound. "So, I've warned you, the rest is up to you. Maybe I'll drop by for your birthday. Take care."
Tony felt a clap on his shoulder, and the visitor's figure vanished in a shimmer of gold and green…
….
Bonus Chapter on every 500 power stones;
If you want to read ahead by 20+ chapters from here you can visit my Patre-on.
[P] [A] [T] [R] [E] [O] [N]
[email protected]/Yggdrasil_Loki