Bend Around the Wind by Scyllaya

Chapter 59: Stage One

Chapter Fifty-Nine

Stage One

Milky Way Galaxy

Sol System

Nine Realms / Planet Earth

Stark did not exaggerate about his wealth. Drongo did not need to know Earth thoroughly to recognize finery. Stark said this was only one of his many residences and Loki confirmed that his Tower was quite impressive as well. Stark just snorted and shook his head when Loki brought that up. It was clear of course, that Loki only knew Stark's Tower because he had laid siege on it in a manner of speaking. But that was not important anymore.

In the last couple of months Stark was working tirelessly to prepare everything for his return home. He tinkered with the Iron Mage's systems endlessly, wanting to make sure that it would be compatible with his own technology on Earth.

Stark was quiet for long moments when he first laid eyes on the blue planet and Drongo knew how he must've felt. He always left his home voluntarily and he still missed it immensely. Stark was taken against his will and for a very long time he did not even think that he would see his home ever again. Drongo would have felt his heart in his throat as well. He would not have been ashamed of tears either. Stark was just quiet, staring at the globe in silence, the expression on his face containing too many emotions at once.

But then when the voice of the computer Stark called "JARVIS" first sounded from the speakers of the bridge Stark's quiet awe morphed into a bright, glassy-eyed grin.

'Welcome home, Mr. Stark,' that was all the computer said and Stark grinned and laughed like it was the best sound he had ever heard.

Drongo understood why Stark worked so hard to be able to integrate his creation into the central system of the ship. Stark had called him an Artificial Intelligence and truly if Drongo wouldn't have known that it was a machine, he would have thought they were interacting with a clever living being. JARVIS immediately followed Stark's instructions and started preparing everything for his return. He was indeed very useful and Stark didn't forget to emphasize that he had access to everything he owned and even much more through JARVIS and to all information that could be necessary for them.

Drongo also did not miss the way Stark had to re-classify Loki from "hostile" to "friend" the moment the computer had warned Stark of the other's presence on the ship. At least a computer like JARVIS did not question why. He obeyed right away when Stark told him that Loki's file was outdated.

They've arrived at night so Drongo did not have the chance to see the surface well, only the night-lights of the city were visible, but the landscape was not the most interesting part of their journey. As they approached the planet Drongo started to feel a slow pulsating energy emitting from all around him. It was not the Old Power, so that answered one question. His ancestors clearly did not visit Stark's planet, but there was something else here. He could still feel the pull of the Power Cosmic as well, but that was never something he could use. He turned to Loki right away, because he had been on the planet before, he had to know what it was. The god just smiled at him.

'That is the Power of the Yggdrasil, you feel,' Loki said. 'We have entered the Nine Realms,'

'So what, you can boost up using the Yggdrasil then?' Stark asked. Drongo wanted to sigh about the way Stark talked so flippantly about the gifts of the Oldstrong, but he knew he had to pick his battles.

'I do not know as of yet,' he said. 'I will have to explore the energy and see how my body reacts to it. I cannot feel it as strongly as I feel the Old Power, so I probably won't be able to use it to the same extent. Maybe I won't be able to use it at all. Also, even using the Old Power for an excessive amount of time can cause severe fatigue in my body. Using the Power Yggdrasil can be even more dangerous, I will have to be very careful about my interaction with it. But it is promising that I can feel it to the very least.'