Iron & Shield // Stony

hydhel & night

I slowly opened my eyes.
"Good morning, Mr. Stark.", This was an unknown male voice.
"Am I in the heaven for souls?", I asked slowly looking around.
The voice laughed,
"Soul is the ultimate of human life, Mr. Stark.", He said as I slowly sat up. It was a cream coloured room from some fifteenth century palace.

I turned around as sat shocked. I was seeing myself sitting opposite to me just talking in a different voice.
"Who are you?", I intended it to be in a shocking voice but it was more like a mumble.
"I am what you call, Hydhel. The man who runs the universe.", He said as I raised a brow and looked at him.
"But you look like me.", I said,
pointing out the fact.

He smiled at me with that wise glint in his eyes - or maybe mine, I don't know.
"I look like the God you believe in. And for an atheist like you, sir, I look like you. My son gets that deceptive nature from me.", He said smiling, kindly.
"What happened to him?", I asked, feeling my head reel.
"He's gone forever. Like every other evil human.", His face did not harden, neither did he look regretful. It was a calm and serene look.
"You don't feel bad? I mean like, he's your son-"
"Did you feel bad in your after life?", He looked at me, smiling calmly. The kind of smile that can even make a storm in your stand still. I paused.

"No."
"Exactly. It doesn't effect much. My daughter is one of those very emotional souls, not me. I've seen enough to know that somethings are inevitable."
"Like death?"
"No. Like suffering. Like pain. All of us, humans, gods, everyone has to go through pain because it reminds us that we, after all, cannot control everything.", He said looking straight at the wall.
"But you can.", I said as he turned towards me with a raised brow.
"No one can. If I could you wouldn't have died that day when you snapped, your wife wouldn't have to die, so many people would not suffer due to poverty. Everything has a reason, Stark, and we will never be able to decipher why it happened. But when you look back you'll see, it happened to make something else happen. Something more important.", He said and finally sat on a throne like thing.

"You've done enough, Mr. Stark. You have done enough. More than I could have ever expected of a human.", He said as I felt my cheeks grow warm.
"I'm not that special also, I mean-"
"You are. Everyone is. The difference is not everyone recognises their speciality.", He said and paused. Appreciation always feels good.

"Now, enough of me preaching about life. It's time I give you something you deserve.", He stood up and walked up to me. He knelt in front of me, who was still sitting.
"Fare you well.", He said and snapped his fingers and everything blacked out.

•

I opened my eyes. My head almost numb. It was dark, most probably night time.
"Tony.", I knew this voice as I immediately turned to my right.
She sat smiling and looking at me with an amused glint.

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