anothercontinuity | (no subject)

Oh? Could it be your first time with magic?

[ Her fingers curl, and the red liquid in the vial gleams and swirls. As it does, Tony would feel a tug to step closer to the bars, out of his clothing, bid to stand there as Delphine steps closer. ]

I would say that I'll be gentle...but we're a little past lying to one another, don't you think?

[ distantly tony remembers glancing at some book titles in the dellamorte estate's library that mentioned magic. he dismissed them then, those first couple weeks, only interested in the technology and science, what he could use to get home. magic wasn't real. it was stories about fairy godmothers and pulling rabbits out of hats. when he ran out of options, his last hope dashed, tony had already completely forgotten about it. no one ever talked about magic in treviso. elves and dwarves may exist here, but magic stayed in the realm of fiction and fantasy.

he feels the tug like a physical thing as he approaches the bars, something from within him spurring his body into motion. he attempts to raise his eyes to her, but they stumble and stop on the vial. ]

Edited 2024-11-15 18:00 (UTC)

My eyes are up here, dear.

[ She clucks her tongue reprimandingly. ]

You're lucky, you know. You are going to be made anew, a tool for the rebirth of the Imperium. An instrument of gods. How many could say the same?

[ it looks like blood. the red liquid swirling in the vial, it looks like fresh blood. he barely hears her over his own dumbfounded thoughts consumed by the vial's contents. magic. ]

[ Not content to be ignored, Delphine snaps her fingers impatiently. ]

Tell me your name. Where do you come from?

[ his still-widened eyes finally snap up to hers. his throat and mouth work on their own. ]

Tony Stark. Earth.

Earth?

[ That takes her aback somewhat before her eyes roll impatiently. ]

Oh of the earth. Aren't we all. Come now, don't be dull. What country. You're clearly not Antivan.

The United States.

[ his eyes dart around again in a panic. she can make him talk. tell the truth. no one knows about any of this besides lucanis. if she finds out what he can really make... ]

[ It's not the answer she's expecting, nothing that clears any of this up. ]

...and where are these United States? How is it you came to be here, of all places? Speak up.

[ Within the vial the blood twists violently, and it catches in Tony's own blood. Like a fever, building heat under his skin, itching. Scalding in his veins, livid against the inside of his arms. ]

[ a pained, wheezing pant, the words punching their way out of him: ] On Earth! I don't know—there was a cube! I touched it and it brought me here!

[ Oh this is getting interesting. She's stumbled across something truly unique, without even realizing it. ]

And these...designs of yours. These weapons. There are more where you came from?

[ eyes shut tight and teeth gritted— ]

More than you could understand.

[ That strikes a nerve. That pierces ego, and there is a flash of fury in her eyes before her fingers curl into her palms. The burning increases, searing through him like a brand, white hot against the back of his eyes. ]

Tell me. Before I have you peel your skin from your own flesh, one ragged inch at a time.

[ forced into standing there, into stillness, tony can do nothing but feel it as it engulfs him. the pain wipes out most thought and her will drags the truth out of him. he tries to resist, but a scream shudders up from his chest and rips out of his throat: ] I'm not from this world! We have more!

[ and there it is. the secret. he grits his teeth again. he answered. of anything beyond her immediate questions, he can't think. he's being cooked alive from the inside. ]

Edited 2024-11-15 22:34 (UTC)

[ More.

Oh what a thrilling thought that is. What rewards the gods will grant her. Delphine laughs, and with a snap of her fingers the spell ends. Whatever holds Tony in place snaps like the strings of a puppet being cut. ]

There we are. Was that so hard?

[ Venomously sweet, as she peers down at him through the bars of his cell. ]

[ tony collapses to one hand and knee, breathing hard, the other hand grasping the raised knee and his limbs shaking, the top of his head brushing against the bars. the pain lingers as a memory but growing now is another, different heat, tight in his chest: one of fury.

in that moment, he wants this woman dead. he wants a crow to swoop in and slit her throat. suddenly, tony understands this world just a little more. ]

Edited 2024-11-15 23:09 (UTC)

That's alright. With your blood, we'll be able to properly mold you.

[ There's a glint in her eyes that says she's enjoying this, both his pain and his fury, and his complete helplessness in the face of all of it.

Oh, she'd never grow tired of watching men have their power stripped away from them. So small, in the end. So disappointing. ]

We'll go into that brilliant mind of yours and pluck away all the little things that don't matter to your work. When we're done? You'll be happy to give us all your little secrets, all your machines of war. You won't even remember why you refused in the beginning. You'll be happy.

And you'll thank me for it.

[ the edge to his naked shoulders and upper back eases, slumping, and the top of his head rests heavier against the bars:

resignation. ]

[ Delphine sighs contentedly. ]

Consider now what you'd like to tell me willingly, before we start. It could go easier for you.

[ he doesn't move. just stares at the floor.

no answer. ]

Mm? Hard way? Pretty please? Well. Since you asked so nicely...

[ Again, her hand lefts, and the blood swirls. ]

Hands through the bars.

[ tony lists to one side when his weight-bearing hand lifts, but sways back upright, and both of his arms stick through the bars, up to the elbows, from where he kneels. some tension reasserts itself in his frame. ]

Edited 2024-11-16 02:05 (UTC)

[ Bare skin, there. The perfect canvas for the runes that will need to be carved into his flesh.

She reaches up, drawing a small blade from her hair ornament, and without hesitating she seizes hold and begins to nick and slash, etching in ancient markings, symbols from tombs no long legible, in tongues no mortal has spoken for a thousand years. A gift from the gods, a means to dominate the will--

All the while blood wells to the surface, trickling down over the sides of his arms and pattering against the floor. ]

[ nothing from him when she begins, no sound or resistance (can't resist), just his head hanging low. but the more she carves into his forearms, the more he reacts in hissed sips of air, fingers twitching where they're allowed, until, eventually, his face contorts beneath the fall of his bangs, and he starts screaming again.

he doesn't know how long it takes. he loses track of time. there's no stopping this. he can't stop this. ]

[ Suddenly the door slams open, and a guard dressed in blacks and reds comes rushing in. Delphine snaps her head to the side with a snarl. ]

Can't you see I'm busy, you fool?

[ But the guard shakes his head. ]

He's here. The Demon. He found us--

[ And the whole air of the room shifts. Far now from being a predator in her lair, enjoying her prey, there is a tremor that passes over her face. A flicker of sheer, absolute dread, quickly masked by anger as she jabs a finger at the guard. ]

Then get back out there and kill him! Don't stand here stammering about it!

[ As the guard scrambles back out, leaving the door open in his wake, Delphine turns to look back down at Tony and her half-finished masterpiece. With a wave of her fingers, the door unlatches itself. ]

Looks like we'll have to finish this on the road, sweet thing. Get up.