A/N - Hi guys! I had a minor ear surgery yesterday, so was unable to do anything but lay on a bed, staring at the ceiling contemplating my life's choices for the past couple of days BUT! I am back to ignoring any potential existential crises and working on what is in front of me, so expect a (mostly) back on track update schedule.
Anyways, enjoy!
Disclaimer - I don't own anything. As the corporations say these days, you will own nothing & be happy. I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or Disney or any of its characters. With that out of the way, let's goooo!
Secret Lair
–Damian Hawthorne–
Kneeling on the ground, he was just doing some finishing touches on the giant gold alloy circle that he had installed at the lowest floor of his lair. It was a plain circle, with a tall piece of wood stabbed right in the centre of it, glowing with barely restrained magic as it glowed orange, red, blue, and green alternatively.
That single piece of wood had taken him the better part of a week to make and another couple of weeks to source and prepare the rest of the stuff. This gold circle that was visible was just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. It was connected to dozens of thin pipes that crisscrossed across the entirety of the hollowed out mountain he called his home.
Cutting, enchanting, and then attaching all those pieces to make a single cohesive unit was a lot more fun than he had expected it to be. He had to decide on how many underground floors he wanted in the Lair, because once this was up and running, the only way to get past the space limitation would be to break this in half, and he would much rather create another base than do that.
Not just because it was incredibly hard to make it and it held a special place in his heart for being his first bunker wide ward scheme, tied into a single object, but also because the longer the ward and the Root tree, as he had taken to calling the wooden piece that was stabbed into the centre of the gold circle, remained active, the higher the chances of something truly magical happening.
He was not so optimistic as to hope something like Hogwarts would happen to it within a normal lifetime, but then again, he did not plan on having a normal human's lifespan anyway. Nothing with immortality. It was not the blessing people thought it to be, unless you lived with a community of immortals but even then he would quickly grow bored with it.
It was just a curse with great PR. Plus, Lady Death was a real entity here, and he would much rather prefer to be on her good side. So, nope, so immortality here, but having a long lifespan? That will be acceptable.
Delusions of having his very own Genius Loci aside, he was mostly done with the enchantments. After a few final touches, which, yes, included a few units of his blood, he was ready for the final assembly, so to speak.
Giddy with excitement, he quickly got out of the ward chamber, and into the observation room he'd built beforehand. Looking out of the giant glass pane, he looked at the control panel beneath him. It looked like the same ones used in power plants, with lots of flip switches, glowing lights, and a giant RED button that was oh-so tempting to push, which is exactly what he did.
With a mad grin on his face, he absolutely slammed the Red Button on the panel, absentmindedly noting the slight crunch he heard from the switch inside, which was crumbling due to the impact. It was good then that the entire thing was just a sham, built to satisfy his inner geek.
As his hand made contact with the red button, he let his magic loose, letting it flow through the nearest tube that crisscrossed the entire base. The gold circle sucked in his magic greedily, feeding the Root tree with a steady drip of magic. His eyes and his smile widened as he felt it. The magical equivalent of a switch being flipped, as all the enchantments on the Root tree that were glowing with different colors pulsed once before disappearing, assimilated into the tree with the help of his magic.
That was phase one. After a moment of that happening, his hand was rebuffed off the control panel as there was no more need of his magic. The tree glowed with a subtle orange colour, before it began spreading, across the gold circle, then to all the tubes spread throughout the base.
He couldn't see it, of course, all that stuff was hidden behind reinforced walls for safety reasons, but he could feel it, the enchantments taking hold of the lair. The old enchantments were either dispelled, or assimilated or just layered on top of, by the Root tree, all done intelligently, without a single input from his side.
Well, aside from the ones he programmed in the beginning, that is. The beauty of it was such that it had quickly spread everywhere, unfettered by the existing ward scheme, analysed it all, and then did its job of taking over everything.
With a slight shudder that could be felt all across the base, the entire process of the Root Tree taking control was done. And just as that was done, the instructions kicked in and the walls closed all around the Ward Room, enclosing the Root Tree from anyone looking for it. Unfortunately, that also meant him as the observatory soon found itself looking at a black wall. Still, that was so dope!
His grin reminded fixed on his face as he walked out of the floor, and then flew up, the area behind him closing on, closing the hole that led to the deepest level of his Lair, sealing and strengthening it, so that the only way to get to the Root Tree would be to break through everything, and he would sincerely wish the best of luck to anyone that dared try that.
As of now, even he did not know what permutation and combination of trap wards the Root Tree would use. He had crammed everything he knew into those enchantments, and it would not be wrong to say that it was his Magnum Opus and it was such that it would grow over time, given more data.
That was a double edged sword, though, since giving it data meant conflict and he would much rather this place never be discovered in the first place than use a never ending stream of intruders to sharpen the blade of his future Genius Loci.
As soon as he reached the now lowest accessible floor, the hole in the floor sealed shut, showing a dirt and stone hole in between concrete. He would have to smooth that out later on, it was not aesthetically pleasing.
Shaking his head, he headed to the kitchen, all that enchantment, the blood donation, and then the excitement later on making him feel a little lightheaded, only to freeze as he felt something, the warning system of the Root tree already being tested, as it warned him of an intruder, just outside the range of his wards, just floating outside.
A visual transmission was still out of the question because of the implications of opening his mind for data transfer from a magical construct, a newly created one at that, but it could warn him just fine, which is why he turned on the spot and appeared outside the base.
It was not risky at all, because he knew exactly who the intruder was.
The Ancient One. In all of her bald glory.
__xx__
"Sup?" He greeted her, mostly to see what this was all about and also to see what she would do about the thing he had just done. There were no rules whatsoever or even any mention of Genius Loci or how to make them or how to identify them, or how to destroy them. Nothing. It was as if someone had systematically gone through every single mention of them and scrubbed it clean.
The only people who could have the power to do so were not visible to the wizarding society but probably controlled most facets of their lives. Kamar Taj.
Did he regret making the Root Tree? Nope. It was an awesome learning opportunity, on top of a massive upgrade in terms of his base defenses, not to mention that he would, in the future, be able to communicate with the Root tree, over vast distances, and relay his orders or gather information. It would be a two way information highway and a total game changer, at least according to him.
Was it risky? Very much so, evident by the presence of the Sorcerer Supreme of Kamar Taj just appearing on his doorstep mere minutes after he was successful. Even now, he could feel the wards of his base, somewhat different from when he had laid them, just waiting behind him, as both he and the Ancient One were flying just outside the wards' reach, not by coincidence.
"Do you understand the repercussions of what you have just done?" She asked him, her eyes closed, and not gonna lie, the way her hands remained by her sides instead of inside her robes was kind of alarming but he pushed past that and replied to her question.
"Yes," He really did. He had meta knowledge of how the Marvel Universe had multiple such beings. And while his Root Tree could not be called an intelligent lifeform yet, it had the potential to be one and over time, it would grow ever closer to gaining sentience, only stopping from gaining true sentience without some sort of catalyst.
What that catalyst could be? He did not know. Plus, this was just the magical side of things. Tony Stark had built multiple AIs, at least one of whom grew on to gain true sentience, and he liked to believe that it would not have been possible without some magic involved.
"I see," She replied, and then, she grew really silent as she looked right through him, her face neutral but her eyes glazed as if she was focusing somewhere else. He flinched a little as her left hand moved slowly, her palm facing directly in his direction, as a Tao Mandala appeared in front of her left hand, glowing a bit before a bolt of white attacked him.
Thank Merlin for his caution and a violent outburst of kinetic energy that propelled him to the side, the white bolt missing him and then slamming into the mountain, making the entire mountain glow yellow and orange.
His mouth ran dry, as the entire mountain, small as it was when compared to the truly large ones, grew translucent, revealing not just his Lair but the wards hovering protectively over it. With this view, he could see the true beauty of the wards, their forms flickering with warm orange lights, the multiple layers of the domed security moving and pulsing around his lair, as if alive.
"Beautiful," The words escaped his lips as he was awestruck by his own work. Call him narcissistic, but that was awesome, and it filled him with pride at seeing his work in such fine detail. If it had not been the minute but significant changes done by the Root Tree within minutes of it activating, he might have flown forward and picked apart each layer of the dome and spelled out their features with little difficulty.
"It is, indeed, beautiful. In my long life, I have only seen a hundred or so places that have better ward structure synergy than this," He deadpanned at her as she casually floated to his side, despite scaring the crap out of him earlier.
And what was up with that compliment? Top hundred?
"Really? Just the top Hundred?"
She looked down on him, which just reminded him of how much growth he had yet to go through, "Yes, this is indeed a great ward structure but even I, with my admittedly less than stellar skill, can point out some flaws, let alone some of the dedicated Masters we have in Kamar Taj. Believe me, there are dozens of places on Earth alone that have better wards than this but all of them have a veritable army to maintain and upgrade them, as well as the resources of kingdoms or very rich organisations behind them."
"So, am I at the top if you only count individually built wards?" His work was his pride and he would really like a win in that regard.
"Oh, by the Vishanti, no! I know a few more that have done better, but I won't be naming them. Now is not the time for that."
"Now," She continued while slowly moving forward, as the mountain flickered before returning to its original appearance, "Let me in."
He shook his head, realising that the only reason she had not forced her way in was because she did not wish to confront the Root Tree and possibly damage it. After all, as it was now? It had no way of deciphering the threat level of an intruder and just how outmatched it was in comparison.
Which is why he gingerly took hold of her robes and teleported, and the Ancient One let him, which could be used as a bragging point for his teleportation skills, if only he had a social circle that knew of her prowess or a social circle, at all.
…..
….
...
He really needed some friends.
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