Chapter 35: A Father and Son Reunion

"Because I am your father"

The training plunged into silence as Tony Stark released the huge bombshell on Isaiah

"…"

Isaiah turned to his teacher,

"We… we're not shooting a Star Wars movie are we?" he asked.

"Pfft! Hahahaha!"

Happy couldn't hold it in. Of all the responses Isaiah could have, he chose that one. The Ancient One had her hand over her mouth as she too was chuckling at the boy's response. Tony looked stunned before he also began to laugh. Isaiah simply looked confused at the adults.

"I can see that the ability to quip is genetic." Happy said after finishing laughing.

"Wait. So it's true?" asked Isaiah asked his teacher.

The latter nodded.

"Yes. Why don't we discuss this further elsewhere? We'll use Isaiah's classroom," she suggested.

"Isaiah's classroom?" Tony asked.

"Yes. All the education he has received, he got it in that classroom."

"So he's never been to school?"

"Due to circumstances that will be elaborated later, Isaiah couldn't outside until recently."

"So-" before Tony could ask further, Isaiah interrupted them.

"Wait! Hold on!"

All the adults looked at him,

"What's going on?"

The Ancient One walked up to the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's all very confusing which is why we're all going to your classroom to discuss it."

Isaiah slowly nodded. Soon they arrived in the classroom which looked almost like the room both men arrived in. There was a low-height table already present as well as two cushions. She flicked her hand and materialized two extra cushions.

"Have a seat." The woman said.

Both men sat next to each other while Isaiah sat next to his teacher. The woman then snapped her fingers and a teapot with four teacups appeared out of thin air before floating down to the table impressing the men.

"Tea?" she asked the men.

"Huh, sure./Yes, please" replied Tony and Happy.

"Isaiah?"

"Huh, yeah. Sure, I'll have some." The boy replied a little in a daze.

Once the tea was served, they were looking at their drink as if afraid of being shocked.

"There is no need to worry gentleman. It's not poisoned."

"No, I wasn't worried about that. Although, you did make me start to worry. Anyways, just how did you do that? The laws of Equivalent Exchange were completely destroyed." Tony asked his scientific mind trying to make sense of what he just witnessed.

"That's where you are wrong, Mr. Stark. In magic, that law is really important. It is the basis of contracts between us and the dimensions. Besides I didn't create it, I conjured it."

"What?"

"But that's not important right now is it?"

Tony nodded. He sipped his tea and gave a delighted hum.

Isaiah then broke the ice and went straight for the jugular,

"What did you mean when you said you're my father, Mr. Stark?" the young sorcerer asked.

Tony put his teacup down. 

"It is just as I said. I am your father."

He pulled out the DNA test proving their relationship and gave it to the boy who read it. With a single change of expression, the boy read the content before handing back the paper.

"Please explain." The boy asked.

Tony nodded and pulled out his tablet and turned it on. 

"From the moment, you were born up until when you were five years old, I have watched you grow behind a screen as your mother sent me photos and videos of you." The man began to explain as he showed different pictures of baby Isaiah. 

For a long time, he continued to talk. From the moment he met Sarah Sharpe, right until the news of her and his son's death. He also explained the reason why he couldn't be in his son's early life. He explained why his mother raised him as a single mother. All the while, Isaiah was not smiling. In fact, no emotions could be identified as he listened to his supposed father with rapt attention. He didn't even touch his teacup! The Ancient One knew that the child loved drinking her tea. After a long explanation and multiple refills, Tony finished,

"… and that's how I came to find you." He told Isaiah. 

Tony looked at the boy who had his eyes fixed on a photo of a smiling woman with a cake-covered-nose along with a smiling 4-year-old Isaiah holding a clump of cake,

"I… I have so many questions for you that I don't even know where to start. What happened? How are you? Are you okay, now? Are-" Tony was about to continue when Happy once more placed a hand on the Stark's shoulder.

"Relax Tony. Let the kid breathe."

The inventor looked at the boy who kept his eyes fixed on the photo,

"Right. Right. Sorry, Isaiah. I got too worked up." He said as he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

The Ancient One looked at the child and frowned,

"Isaiah?"

The boy didn't respond. The men then noticed something wasn't right.

"Isaiah?" she called again, but the boy was transfixed on the photo without a single muscle twitching.

Tony got worried and called him,

"Isaiah? Hey, Isaiah." 

Even Happy tried to call him,

"Isaiah?"

Tony got up and kneeled in front of the boy and grabbed his shoulder before shaking him lightly. He didn't react.

"Hey lady! What's happening to him."

Before she could answer the man, Happy beat her to the punch.

"He's dissociating!"

"Holy shit! What do we do!? Do I call the emergencies!"

It was then the Ancient One spoke,

"It would be unwise to call the emergencies here, Mr. Stark."

"Then what do I do!?" the man almost shouted, his emotions going all over the place as he glared at the woman.

"First of all, you should calm down, Mr. Stark. Panicking doesn't solve anything."

Tony continued to glare at her before closing his eyes and taking deep breaths to calm himself. After five breaths, he asked,

"Alright. What do I do now?"

"Good. Now M. Stark-"

Before she could answer him, Isaiah suddenly shut his eyes and began to whimper as he tightly gripped his head.

"ISAIAH!" Tony shouted.

The Ancient One flicked her hand and a futon mattress materialized in front of them. She then picked the boy up using telekinesis and laid him there. 

"Do not move!" she warned stopping Stark in his tracks when he was about to follow the boy. "Stay there, I will see what's happening."

The woman approached the boy and gently placed her hands on his head before closing her eyes. A few seconds later, the boy stopped whimpering and the expression of pain disappeared from his face. The woman then removed her hands from the boy's head and leaned back.

"What happened?"

"I don't know much, but from what little I could see, I would guess it involved fragments of memories."

"Memories? What on earth are you talking about?"

The Ancient One sighed as the atmosphere suddenly became morose,

"Why don't you sit down and I will explain?"

Tony nodded and went back to his seat. Once everyone was seated, he asked,

"So what the hell was that!?"

*Sigh*

"There's no easy way to say this."

"What?"

"Isaiah has amnesia."

"Amnesia? What do you mean!?"

Fiona poured herself another cup of tea,

"Exactly what I mean. He has amnesia. Although it is better if I tell you from the beginning from my perspective."

"Alright"

***

Isaiah was having a normal day. Wake up, eat breakfast, study, indulge in his hobbies, and maybe spar with other masters or disciples. Today, a fellow Master had asked him for a spar. It was well-known amongst sorcerers of Kamar-Taj that the boy was a prodigy in magic. Some would sometimes ask him for advice if they have a magical problem. He was having a spar when suddenly his teacher interrupted the fight because she had to say something to the boy. Nothing surprising. What surprised him though was the two surprise guests and one of them being Tony Stark. Tony Stark was a man of science so it was really surprising seeing him in Kamar-Taj. But no! That was not a surprise. The surprise was when the famous Tony Stark suddenly kneeled down to his eye-level and told him he was Isaiah's father. What the hell! To be honest, the boy sometimes had thoughts about who his father was, but it wasn't his priority. He would be okay not knowing who his father was his whole life. For a second, he thought he was re-enacting the famous Star Wars scene.

Then came the time for explanation. To be honest, he didn't know what to make of Tony's story. On one hand, his mother had deemed him too irresponsible to take care of a child. On the other hand, the man had spent almost an entire month searching for him. And he was Tony Stark! One of the smartest men in the world had spent almost an entire month searching for his son who he thought had died in the disaster of Kathmandu.

'Although, I should be more careful to not be spotted when I use my powers,' he thought when Tony finished his story.

He looked at the pictures on the man's tablet which showed multiple pictures of his mother. Suddenly, he was assaulted by voices.

{Happy Birth... ay, Isaiah!}

{Smile for... my!}

{Look, I brought you... favorite movie.}

{I love you, my sweet boy}

A splitting headache suddenly began assaulting his mind. He couldn't even think as there was simply pain.

Several flashes of different scenes played into his mind. A blonde woman reading him stories. Another feeding him. Many more came and go like a lie. The boy desperately tried to hold on to them, but they slipped through his fingers like sand.

'M-mom' thought Isaiah before suddenly he woke up with a startle.

"Haa!"

"Isaiah!" Tony called out when he saw the boy.

"What happened?"

"You dissociated. Then, you suddenly began to feel pain in your head before falling unconscious" his teacher explained,

"Ah... How long was I out?"

"Not long, just a few seconds."

"Oh okay."

Isaiah tried to get up,

"Wait, you need to rest a little." his teacher said.

However, Isaiah shook his head,

"It's okay. I feel fine now."

He got up and sat next to his teacher,

"What happened, Isaiah?"

"I think those photos triggered something. Although, I can't seem to remember," the boy replied while rubbing his temples.

"I see."

"Hey, is he going to be okay?" Tony asked the woman before turning to his son, "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine now."

"What the hell was that all about? You just told me something about amnesia before Isaiah woke up?" Tony asked back to the teacher.

"Huh?" Isaiah turned to his teacher.

"I was about to tell them your story, but it seems like you woke up so it's better if you tell them yourself."

"Oh okay. Since you told me yours. It's only fair to tell you mine."

"Before that, why don't I show Mr. Hogan around." the woman said.

Happy was caught off guard,

"Huh? Me?"

"Yes, You seemed to be fascinated by the martial arts practiced, why don't I show you?" she said before giving a glance at Isaiah.

Picking up on the signal, Happy grinned and nodded,

"Sure!"

They both got up from their seat and was about to leave the room when Fiona turned to them,

"Call me if you need anything."

Isaiah gave her a grateful smile and the duo left the room leaving only the father and son in the classroom.

Isaiah smiled. However, Tony felt like something was wrong. It was as if the boy's smile was in a default setting. If he were to make another expression, it would automatically revert back to that smile.

"My teacher has already said it, but I have amnesia. My only memories before joining Kamar-Taj were Hell incarnate and my mother's face. Apart from that, I knew nothing. Unfortunately, after that incident, I was in a coma for three years."

"A three-year-coma!" Tony exclaimed.

Isaiah smiled.

"Yeah, when I woke up, three years had gone in the blink of an eye and my mind was blank. My teacher found me amongst the wreckage. I then joined Kamar-Taj because I possessed a rare ability even amongst sorcerers. For the next three years, I learned everything from her from normal education to a magical one. The only memory I have of my mother is her smile and this locket." the boy explained as he reached inside of his collar to retrieve a locket and brave it to the man.

Tony hesitantly grabbed it and opened the locket. Inside he could see a picture of Sarah and Isaiah. On the back of the locket, he read,

[I will always love you. -Mom]

He took a shaky breath before giving the locket back to the boy who put it around his neck,

"I see. Then? How did you find your way back to your old home?"

"When I wanted to try to find clues to my own home, my teacher mentioned that on the day of the bombing, there was a mission from the organization known as Doctors without Borders in Kathmandu. They were trying to help the unfortunate fight a virus or something."

"Ah, yes. I'm familiar with Doctors without Borders. Although, I didn't know she worked for them." Tony replied.

"Anyways, the Teacher was able to retrieve my old passport which narrowed down my search to Queens. I then went to the organization's website. Luckily, they made a memorial section in it with theirs. After finding out my mother's name was Sarah Sharpe, I searched through an old phone book of Queens where I found the address and the rest is history. I found the house but found out that the house has already been taken by someone else which I now found out was you the whole time." Isaiah explained.

Tony slowly nodded.

'Fuck.'

Silence settled into the room as they both digested what they learned today. Tony's emotions were in such turmoil, that he felt his throat close up.

"I'm glad," he whispered looking down.

"What?"

"I'm so... glad."

The man could barely hold himself. The last time, he was like this was when his parents died and when he heard about Sarah's death and his son's supposed death.

Tony reached across the table and hugged the boy. Surprised, Isaiah was taken aback by the sudden gesture. Not knowing what to do, he simply hugged back as the man kept whispering remarks of joy and gratefulness.

At that moment, he felt something familiar yet unknown once more.

'Another one?' he thought.

Ever since. he has decided to follow his vision at that school. There have been multiple instances where sparks of emotions appeared within him. This time, however, it wasn't so much as a spark that it was a breeze. It was calm and relieving as if a weight had been lifted. Unfortunately, just like the glimpses of memories he saw, that fleeting breeze had gone by before he could even comprehend it leaving him once more an empty void. But he remembered it. He remembered the emotion that represented that breeze. It felt similar to Joy, but at the same time different. If Isaiah were to describe it, it would be,

'Peace' the bit thought.

The young sorcerer suddenly remembered Hestia's words when he went to talk to her.

{"... I am the goddess of Family and I know when someone has another thinking about them. Be it, a friend or family. You may have found a family in Kamar-Taj, but there is someone else still thinking about you."

"But, I don't have memories of the first eight years of my life."

Hestia gave a sorrowful smile,

"It's okay. I'm sorry I couldn't say more since I can't find them. I can only tell you that there is someone."}

'I see. So it was you.' the boy thought as he hugged the man.

Soon, they separated as Tony quickly got up and walked up to a wall.

"Mr. Stark?"

"Yeah" the man replied facing the wall.

"Are you crying?"

"..."

"..."

"... No."

"Really?"

"Yup. Yup. Just sweating from my eyes and all."

Isaiah raised an eyebrow but shrugged. He would give the man a slack. On the other hand, Tony had a sorrowful expression. Deep in his heart, he was hoping that Sarah's death would also be false. Unfortunately, his son has confirmed his death. When he returns to Malibu, he would create a tomb for the woman he once loved.

Once the man calmed down. He sat back down and Isaiah could now see the man had calmed down.

An awkward silence settled in between them as neither Tony nor Isaiah know what to say. It was then Tony decided to speak,

"Your... amnesia."

"Yeah?"

"Is it possible for you to recover from it?"

Isaiah tilted his head,

"I don't know. It's not a problem that can be fixed by science since the source is magical."

"Magic is simply science we can't understand yet."

"Well, not this one."

This worried Tony,

"What do you mean? Is there something I could do to help?"

However, Isaiah shook his head,

"Due to circumstances, at the time of the explosion, I had to trade my memories and some part of what made me human to survive. It almost broke my soul."

"What?"

Isaiah stayed silent.

"Hey, I know I just met you and I just learned that magic exists, but I really want to help you," Tony said.

Isaiah looked into his eyes searching for something before letting out a sigh.

"Just... just one sec." the boy said and closed his eyes.

Tony nodded.

Isaiah closed his eyes and reached out for his teacher who was showing Happy a training session.

'Teacher?'

The teacher's expression didn't change, but she answered.

'Yes, Isaiah? Did something happen?'

'No nothing happened yet. I just wanted to ask how much I'm allowed to tell Mr. Stark.'

'What do you think, Isaiah?'

'Huh?' the boy didn't expect such an answer from his teacher.

'Isaiah, I cannot forever hold your hand or your secrets for you. In the beginning, it is your secret to tell, therefore, you should decide who to tell and when to tell. In this case, I'm just your teacher and told you to keep your secrets so that you don't get in trouble in the future.'

'I see.'

'But, in front of you is not Mr. Stark, but your long-lost father who finally found you.'

'Yeah?'

'So why don't you give him a chance?'

Isaiah thought about it and answered,

'Okay, I'll tell him.'

'Alright. Good luck.'

'Thanks, Teacher.'

Isaiah opened his eyes and saw his father looking at him with a curious expression.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I was just asking my teacher for permission."

"You were talking to that woman?"

"Yep!"

"How?"

"Telepathy."

"Is that not a mutant power?"

Isaiah shook his head,

"It's not just a mutant power. There is also a spell that does the same thing. Essentially, mutants with such powers just have an easier time since it's their specific power. Just think of powers from the X-gene as cheat codes to superpowers while magic is the program."

"I see. Your teacher told me a little about magic."

"Heh. I'm pretty sure she gave you the heavily simplified version since magic is really complicated and has a lot of baggage." Isaiah chuckled.

Tony grinned,

"Well, I can't deny that."

"Anyways, I asked my teacher and she told me that I'm supposed to decide whether to tell you or not."

"And your verdict?"

"I've decided to share with you a little about my powers and myself. I won't tell you everything, right now."

"You don't have to tell me anything. Just enough for me to understand what's going on."

"Then you have to swear a magical oath, on your name, that you won't tell anyone about what's going to be said in this room unless I allow it."

Tony had an odd sense of déjà-vu.

"What does this magical oath entail?"

"I will just make the person taking the oath unable to talk about the subject of the oath."

Tony nodded. This secret must be very extremely important. He didn't know how the oaths differed from the movies or books, but he figured it must not be so different.

"Then I, Anthony Edward Stark, swear that I will not divulge anything said by Isaiah in this room starting from now until the end of the discussion unless given permission."

Isaiah nodded and snapped his fingers where orange sparks flickered. That's when Tony finally realized the source of déjà-vu.

'It was that woman! She made me swear an oath without even knowing it. What the hell!? A little warning next time!'

"What happens if the oath is violated."

"You'll die."

"What!" the man shouted.

Isaiah grinned,

"Just kidding. The oath affects your mind. If you think about saying something that violates the content of the oath, it will simply make you unable to talk about said contents."

"I see. Your teacher should've given a warning next time."

Isaiah simply smiled before pouring a cup of tea for the both of them.

"Alright. I will now tell you a part of my secret. And, I'm sure my teacher has already told you, but you need to throw common sense and science out of the window to at least understand what I'm going to say."

"I may not be a sorcerer, but I'm still one of this world's smartest geniuses, Isaiah. Don't underestimate me." the man said with a smirk.

"Okay. Here it goes."

Isaiah took a deep breath and asked.

"Have you heard of the Root or otherwise known as the Akashic Records?"

Tony wondered,

"I think I've heard about it. It's a hypothetical compendium that contains all the knowledge from the past, present, future and even different worlds, right?"

"That's right. Well, it's not so hypothetical anymore."

Tony's eyes widened. He didn't even need to be a sorcerer to understand what the boy was saying,

"You found that place?" he asked in shock.

The boy shook his head,

"No. It's more like it found me. On the day of the explosion, I died." the boy said shocking the father.

"However, by some unknown luck. And I'm talking about a one out of a quadrillion chance of luck, my soul found itself in a passage leading to the room. I don't know what that place was or what I was doing. By instinct, I started walking toward that place. However, it was not without consequences. Just like everything in this world, there is a price to pay."

So the boy told his father about his journey to the Root and the things he had to sacrifice to simply not let his soul scatter away and into the unknown. Tony's expression varied throughout the story from worry, fright, pity, and many more.

"... Then I found myself waking up with three abilities. The ability to wield mana and the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception and (Intuitive Aptitude)."

Isaiah decided to not tell him about (Denial of Nothingness) nor his Reality Marble. He didn't want to give the man a meltdown.

"Mana is a rare mystical energy that my soul produces and, with enough practice and knowledge, could bend reality. My mystic eyes let me see the lines of Death. I can't turn it off which is why I wear these glasses." Isaiah said as he pointed his frames.

Tony simply listened to him with muted shock before quickly interrupting him,

"Wait-wait-wait! What do you mean by lines of Death?"

Isaiah took off his glasses.

"My eyes let me see a world full of lines which represent the aspect of Death. Every single thing in this world in this world can die and my eyes allow me to see them and even interact with them."

"Interact?"

"for example..."

From Tony's point of view, Isaiah simply swiped the table and it broke into pieces.

"HOLY SHIT!"

Isaiah quickly caught the teapot and the teacups before projecting another table and setting them on it.

"That's right, I "killed" the table because I traced one of its lines of Death."

Tony didn't say anything and the boy took it as a cue to continue.

"Finally, there is (Intuitive Aptitude). Although, I don't know if this ability is a mutant power or magic since it came out of nowhere and my teacher couldn't really check my DNA. This ability pretty much allows me to understand the complexity of almost anything almost instantly."

Isaiah finished explaining and took a sip.

"Holy shit," Tony whispered.

'This is so much more than I thought. What the actual fuck! Just those eyes alone make him a monster! And this is just part of some secrets.'

But when Tony thought about the consequences, he felt like his heart was being squeezed.

'But the consequences though. Amnesia, emotions, common sense. He could've just said that he sold his soul to the devil to survive and it would've been better.'

Seeing his expression, the boy asked with a smile.

"After hearing all this, are you scared?"

Tony remained quiet as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Today was one shock after another for him. just like the woman said, his view of the world has been shattered, destroyed, massacred, and any other synonyms.

Now that he knew a part of the story, he could now understand the boy's default smile. He looked at the boy who was waiting for his answer.

He snorted and grinned

"Huh, scared? I am Tony Stark, kid. If I have a problem, I invent a solution. No matter what. So I'm not scared, kid." he replied with a cocky tone.

Isaiah's smile turned more genuine,

"Is that so? Does my power not scare you, Mr. Stark?"

"Nope."

"Not at all?"

"Uh-uh."

"Even if it's not the full story?"

"That's right."

Isaiah was now smiling widely.

"Huh, that's impressive."

"Like I told you. I don't scare easily, kid." the man replied with his own smile.

It was then he thought back to Happy's question in the car,

{Do you even want to become a father?}

'I think I found my answer.'

*Bang*

"I've decided!" Tony exclaimed as he slammed the table with his fist surprising his son.

"Decided... what?"

Tony looked at the boy in the eyes and his smile turned into a wide smirk,

"I'm going to adopt you!"

"Adopt me?"

"Well, you're my biological son so I'm essentially just getting custody of you."

"You're Tony Stark. A billionaire famous around the world that mostly produces weapons for the military. Don't you think, me being your son is going to cause problems?"

However, Tony dismissed it,

"We'll cross the bridge when we get there. So what do you say?"

"May I have a word on this?

The father and son duo snapped their head toward the entrance where the Ancient One was seen entering with Happy behind her.

Isaiah was startled as he didn't even sense her. He must've been too distracted for it.

Tony facepalmed,

"That's right! I almost forgot! I had to ask you too. What do you think? I would like to be the father Isaiah was supposed to have but never had."

The Ancient One smiled,

"I see no problem about it. I just want Isaiah to not neglect his training nor his studies."

"Previously, before meeting Isaiah, she had seen the future using the Eye of Agomotto. She saw Tony's involvement in the future. How he would get kidnapped, how he would realize the consequences of his actions and his debut as Ironman and how he would always improve and think of new ideas after every fight. He would go from being an arrogant narcissistic man to a hero.

'Because Tony Stark always learns from his mistakes.' she thought.

Now with Isaiah's involvement, it would perhaps jumpstart this process.

"You wouldn't have to worry about that. I'll bring him tutors or even teach him if I have to."

"About that..." Isaiah interjected.

Tony looked at him and the boy continued,

"I already finished studying school material up until high school level and I'm currently University material," he said sheepishly.

Happy and Tony looked at this in shock before the latter burst into laughter,

"Oh my god! My son's even more of a genius than me!"

"Well. (Intuitive Aptitude) helped me a lot so I don't know if I'm a genius..."

"Bullshit! If your ability essentially makes you a genius so you are a genius!" his father said while putting a hand on his shoulder.

The latter turned to Fiona,

"So?"

Fiona, in response, turned to Isaiah,

"What do you say, Isaiah?"

All the adults turned to the bit who looked down in thought. After nearly a few minutes of silence, the bit looked up and gave the man an identical smirk to his and replied,

"Well then, I guess. It's nice to meet you, Dad."