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Mythos	By : OmniaVanitus Category: Marvel Verse Movies > Avengers, The Views: 4041 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers or any of the characters thereof, but I do claim the creative liberties to this story. No money is being made from this story.

Chapter List
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Tony was in his en suite bathroom, his whiskey brown eyes focused on the mirror as he poked and prodded at the skin around his eyes.
He had just completed his daily hygiene regimen and was now squeaky clean and minty fresh, a fluffy monogrammed towel wrapped loosely around his narrow hips showing off his Adonis lines. But right now, he was more focused on his crow's feet, or more accurately, a lack there of.
He glanced between his reflection and an image Jarvis had pulled up of him from some recent publicity shoot. The differences: the faint laugh lines around his eyes had not only diminished, but were now completely gone along with the few grey hairs he'd been contemplating plucking. He didn't feel any different, but it definitely looked like he'd grown younger. A few heath benefits my ass.
"Sir, there appears to be a 6.9% improvement to your overall health."
"Booze, Jarvis. It's my new miracle drug."
"Your liver would disagree, Sir."
"I don't know, I may need to do some more hands-on testing."
"May I suggest that you invite a neutral perspective to join you then?"
Tony hummed thoughtfully as he moved to his walk-in closet, pulling on a pair of designer jeans and a well worn band tee. "Where's Brucie at?"
"Master Banner is currently on his personal floor doing his daily yoga regimen."
"Awesome," the engineer said as he made his way through his penthouse. "Have him come down to the lab when he's done."
"Of course, Sir."
Tony grabbed a box of leftover pizza from the fridge before wandering down the lab himself to wake up the computers.
"Rise and shine," the engineer called out affectionately, snapping his fingers as he went. "It's science time."
Butterfingers answered with a soft whirring noise as it busied itself with making its creator coffee, barely even spilling any when it wheeled the freshly brewed pot over.
"Thanks buddy," Tony said, giving the metal arm an approving pat before quickly pouring himself a steaming mug, knowing better than to trust the robot to do it. First degree burns fucking hurt.
"Sir, a full comparative analysis of the previous blood samples has been completed," Jarvis said.
"Alright, let's see it."
A screen appeared in front of him showing the side-by-side analysis of the numerous blood tests he'd made over the past several days, the most remarkable of course being the ones taken the morning after that glorious golden appletini. Man, if Bruce doesn't get here soon I'm gonna-
"Tony?"
"It's about time!" The engineer spun around in his rolling chair playfully, grinning up widely at the other man.
"Please don't tell me you called me down here for another chair race," the scientist frowned.
"Hey, I would have won that if Dum-E hadn't gotten in the way."
The robot in question took that moment to zip by them, gears whirring in a way that the engineer just knew was meant to be mocking, and careened into a metal table laden down with the latest work-in-progress Iron Man suit.
"Goddamnit," Tony cursed, hopping up from his seat to shoo away the metal arm and pick up the half built gauntlet that had fallen. He was in the middle of threatening to dismantle the helper bot when he was interrupted.
"What are these," Bruce called once he had claimed the engineer's vacated seat, swiping a finger over the screen to scroll through the various blood tests.
"That's actually why I wanted you to come down here," Tony grunted as he and a determined U tug-of-warred over the other gauntlet. Finally he threw his hands up in defeat. "Fine, you keep it!"
U raised its arm up and down victoriously with the red and gold gauntlet still clutched in its metal claw. Dum-E rolled over, somehow having found the fire extinguisher Tony had had to keep hidden from it and hosed U down generously.
The engineer shook his head in exasperation, collapsing onto a spare rolling chair with a disgruntled huff as he scooted over towards the other man. "I don't even know why the hell I bother with them."
Bruce couldn't help but snort at their antics, especially when one of the little helper bots started doing messy donuts in the white foam.
"Don't encourage them."
"Considering you can't even keep plants alive they're probably the best choice for you."
"I could so keep plants alive," Tony pouted indignantly. "Actually now that I think about it, that's why I made Butterfingers, to water the plants. And they still died!"
"Sounds like shoddy workmanship to me."
"Hey!"
Bruce pursed his lips, trying hard not to laugh at his best friend. And failing.
"Man, some friend you are," Tony chided, but his lips were spread into a large, lopsided grin. He clapped his hands together suddenly. "So, the tests."
Bruce glanced back up at the screen again, flicking a finger through the various results once more.
"Do you remember when I wandered down to the Mythos Tavern about a week or so ago?"
"I remember Natasha calling you a moron for going down there alone."
"Ya, well I had a drink with our favorite crazy ass Viking."
"Of course you did," the scientist said, sounding not the least bit surprised as he watched the other man reach over and grab a slice of cold pizza from the box laying out on the work table nearby.
"And well," Tony said around a mouthful, motioning towards himself, "notice anything different about me?"
Bruce shrugged a shoulder in turn. "You finally plucked those grey hairs?
"Not exactly." Tony told him about the golden appletini and what the blood tests were for and the slight health improvements he'd experienced.
The scientist hummed thoughtfully. "That's not a very big difference though."
"Well, I only had the one glass."
"Just one," Bruce asked skeptically. And then it clicked. "Loki threw you out didn't he?"
"I was being charming and everything," Tony cried dramatically, throwing his arms up in the air again.
"In that case, I'm surprised he didn't try to stab you. He must have been showing a lot of restraint."
"That's funny," the engineer said with no small amount of sarcasm and a nod. "We should be sure to congratulate him on that when we go down there today."
"What?"
"Ya, we should go tonight," he said with growing enthusiasm.
"Tony, we're supposed to be leaving him alone. That was part of the deal."
"Uh, technically we're allowed to monitor him."
"Technically, we're only supposed to be monitoring his location and magic."
"Alright, fine. Jarv, is there any change in Loki's whereabouts or magical output?"
"None, Sir. Loki Laufeyson is currently located in the apartment above the Mythos Tavern. Use of magic is minimal."
"It's just not fair," Tony whined, kicking his feet out petulantly. "His shabby little bar is better stocked than any other bar I've ever been to. And that's saying something."
"There'll be other bars, Tony."
"Not with alien liquor," he pouted, crossing his arms.
Bruce shook his head, smiling despite himself. "Jarvis, is there anything out of the ordinary going on with Loki right now?"
There was a brief pause and Tony looked up hopefully. "Mr. Laufeyson's core body temperature is currently at 54 °F, well below his usual rate."
"Has this happened before," Bruce asked curiously, his brow furrowing.
"On average this has occurred at least once a day and always when there has been no other life signs in the near vicinity."
"Weird," Tony commented. "Why didn't you tell me about this out sooner?"
"The parameters for which you have set in place to monitor Mr. Laufeyson consist only of his location and use of magic. There has been no significant changes to either of these, thus notification was not necessary."
"Shoddy workmanship," Bruce said in a soft, singsong voice.
"Ok, you, Big Boy," Tony said, pointing a finger at the other man, "need to stop hanging out with Birdbrain. And you," he continued, pointing a finger up at one of Jarvis' sensors hidden in the ceiling, "need to pull up the data from his bracelet."
"Already done, Sir."
Another screen came to life, showing both men the gathered data the AI had pulled from the sensors in Loki's bracelet. With SHIELD's such limited info and the Avengers needing some way of keeping an eye on the would-be dictator, this had seemed the best way to get what he needed. Still, it wasn't much, but enough for the two men to share a look.
Not only was Loki's body temperature low, but all of his vitals seemed off.
"His heart rate is slightly elevated," Jarvis pointed out, "though that may be a sign of possible agitation. He does not appear to be in any distress however, and all other vital signs are normal."
"You call this normal," Bruce asked.
"For his current condition, yes."
"Maybe we should go down there so you can play doctor," Tony suggested, waggling his eyebrows.
"What would you have me do, poke him with a stick?"
"I believe they're called tongue depressors." Bruce gave him an annoyed look, but the engineer only grinned even wider.
"Jarvis, start compiling a database of all of these occurrences."
"Of course, Sir. Would you like me to begin notifying you as well?"
"Nah, don't worry about it," Tony said with a dismissive wave of his hand, watching as Bruce poured over the gathered data again. "So, how about a drink?"

Loki stood naked in the midst of a sea of mirrors.
The air was cold and sharp and undisturbed by the soft puffs of his breath. If he was mortal he was certain he'd be able to see it condense in the air. If he was Æsir... But right now, he was in his Jotun form. His true form.
And he hated it.
He hated his eyes, the color of spilt blood. He hated his skin, so blue and glacial. He hated his horns, the twin peaks that protruded so proudly from his brow. He hated the raised lines carved into his foreign skin, ridges that flowed from head to toe.
But despite how disgusted he felt at seeing this form, his fingers no longer twitched with the urge to conjure a dagger and slice this curse from his body.
He counted it as progress.
Loki had started doing this, forcing himself to look upon his monstrous appearance, since he had been banished from Asgard. Masochistic maybe, but it was still a part of him and, more importantly, a base part of his magic.
And while he would never forgive Odin for his lies, he was determined to accepted this and swore to never allow anyone to use this against him again.
Curse the Allfather for ever making him feel ashamed for being who he was.
Loki suddenly felt a tug on his wards as someone entered the tavern below. It was early yet, but after staring into the face of a monster he welcomed the distraction. Gratefully.
He waved a hand, displacing the mirrors with a muttered spell. He shapeshifted back to his usual form with ease and goosebumps broke out over his now creamy skin from the still too cool air.
He wandered through his apartment, his bare feet padding over the dark hardwood floors softly, and entered his bedroom to pull on a pair of loose jeans and a thin sweater before finally making his way down stairs. The stairwell ended in a narrow hallway, both of which Loki kept heavily warded and concealed should someone try to gain access to his new abode.
Not that they could, he had sealed up the building's entrances, save for the tavern's and even that only connected to a spacious kitchen. He liked the idea of serving food to his patrons, it was just a shame he had yet to make use of it.
Still, Loki kept it all separated from the rest of the building and there was no longer any real threshold to his two story apartment that didn't involve the use of magic or teleportation or, at the very least, tearing down a wall.
Through the swinging double doors and into the tavern, Loki froze mid step when he spotted who his patrons were and his expression pinched immediately.
"Man, who's leg do I have to hump to get a drink around here," Tony whined loudly.
"Mine," Loki answered in a dark, monotone voice making both mortal's heads swivel in his direction.
"Finally. I thought I was gonna have to start serving myself."
"What are you two doing here?"
"Well, you're the proprietor of this establishment. You tell us."
"I would say," Loki answered, narrowing his eyes at them, "that you were trying to purposefully breach the pact set in place between your SHIELD and I."
"And you would be oh so wrong," Tony said, toothy grin wide and mocking.
Loki stepped away from the doorway cautiously and moved to stand before them, the dark wood bar firmly between them. "How so?"
"Well, I was telling Brucie here...you remember him, tall, dark and green-"
"Tony," the scientist cut in before the engineer could completely derail the conversation.
"Right, right. Anyway, I was telling him all about that drink you made for me the last time I was here and well," he paused, gesturing broadly to the tavern around him, "here we are."
Slowly, very slowly, Loki arched a fine eyebrow, expectantly. "And?"
Tony sighed dramatically as he sat forward, propping his forearms on the edge of the bar. "Listen, Reindeer Games. I don't know if you know this or not, but the whole point of having a bar and, more importantly, being a bartender is to serve drinks. So chop, chop."
The god blinked at him. "It's as though you are begging me to throw you out of another window."
"Loki, we're not here to upset you or to otherwise violate your agreement," Bruce said calmly, "but you can't blame us for being curious."
Loki's eyes narrowed in suspicion before ultimately crossing him arms and bracing a hip against the edge of the bar. "Ask your questions then be done with it," he spat.
"Oh, I've got one," Tony said immediately. "Exactly how many of those little martinis would it take for someone to become immortal?"
Loki actually rolled his eyes at him. "As I have said before, the appletinis do not grant immortality no matter how many of them you drink. You must eat the golden apple in its entirety, including the core."
"Are there any other drinks or food that result in immortality," Bruce asked next.
"I can think of several," the god answered with a nod. "In addition to ambrosia, the Grecian gods also enjoy nectar, a honey based wine that is so fragrant that many of the goddesses, Aphrodite for instance, use it as perfume. The Hindu gods have amrita, a strong milky liquor, and soma, a hallucinogenic tea made from mushrooms. And there is a grove of peach trees in China tended to by the goddess, Xi-Wangmu, the queen mother."
"You wouldn't happen to have any of those on hand would you," the engineer asked, his whiskey brown eyes sweeping over the bottles behind the god.
"No," Loki admitted, "but the divine peaches will ripen soon and I'm hoping to procure some from Xi-Wangmu. If she agrees to trade with me, I intend to start my own peach tree grove and create a wine from its fruit. Its a shame though, the queen mother's peaches flower only once every 1,000 years and take another 3,000 years to ripen."
"That's a long time to wait for a peach," Tony commented as he stroked over his bearded chin.
"She keeps them in rotation now so there is always a small selection about to ripen, but there was a time when they would mature all at once and the queen mother would host these grand, elaborate banquets during the harvest."
"What made her change," Bruce asked, arms folded on top of the bar comfortably.
"During the last great harvest, Sun-Wukong, the monkey king, had been charged with guarding Xi-Wangmu's garden while she prepared for the banquet. Instead of tending to his duties, however, he devoured all of the longevity peaches and ended up crashing the banquet he had not been invited to."
Tony shook his head and snorted. "The monkey king?"
"Yes," Lok said with a small smirk. "That monkey certainly knew how to entertain." And the fact that Thor had been absolutely livid, along with all the other gods, when he had succeeded in drinking all of the alcohol had been another source of amusement for him. But then, as is the way of things for all trickster gods, the Monkey King had been punished. A solemn status quo that all the various pantheons seem to adhere to. "Well, now that you have satisfied your curiosity once again-"
"Uh, not so fast, Prancer," Tony cut in quickly. "There's just one more thing."
"And that is," the god asked in a lazy drawl.
The two men shared a look before Bruce answered. "A few hours ago, we registered a dip in your body's core temperature."
"A huge dip," the engineer added helpfully.
"Would you mind telling us what that was?"
Loki stood frozen in place, his pale face completely blank, but Bruce and Tony both noticed the subtle shift in the easy atmosphere. His poisonous green eyes flicked down to the bracelet on his wrist in sudden realization before they snapped back up again, narrowing dangerously at them. "That is none of your concern," he said, voice dark and acidic.
"We just wanted to make sure you were ok," Bruce said appeasingly.
Loki only scoffed. "You care so much?"
"We care if you start offing people because of it," the engineer said.
"No, I think once was more than enough."
Tony and Bruce both looked as though they wanted to say something more, but before they could the tavern's entryway swung open as an elderly woman of Native American decent walked in, her leashed cat trailing behind her. The engineer cocked an eyebrow at the odd pair, only to raise it even further when the woman and her feline companion began to change form.
Wrinkles faded into smooth, flawless skin, salt and pepper grey hair turned inky black and her hunched frame straightened. She didn't look any older than twenty or so. As for her cat, the little animal nearly tripled in size, the harness secured to his body stretching easily to accommodate, and his calico coat shifting into a solid yellowish tan color, but the most bizarre thing out of all of this was the decidedly human face the creature was now sporting, framed by a distinct lion like mane.
"It's been a while, Mischief Maker," the woman called in a friendly voice as she walked up to the bar and claimed a seat a few stools down from the two gaping mortals, her sphinx leaping up to claim his own seat next her.
"So it has," Loki answered pleasantly, dropping a kiss to the back of her hand. The sudden change in Loki's personality nearly gave Tony whiplash and even Bruce had to raise an eyebrow at the exchange. "And to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I need a reason to come see my favorite uncle?" Loki snorted and she gave a shrug. "Well, maybe I'm here for a drink too," she amended.
"Well come on, Rock of Ages," Tony said enthusiastically as he leaned over the bar. "Stop holding out on us." The look Loki gave him was practically murderous, but Tony didn't care as long as he got a drink out of it.
"Rock of Ages," the mysterious woman snickered. "How delightful."
"Don't you start too," the god snarked.
"Sorry, Uncle Loki, but that's hardly the worst thing you've ever been called. Besides, you did promise to make me one of your Golden Appletinis."
"Are you even old enough to drink in this country?"
"I am," she said proudly, pulling out her driver's license as proof.
Loki gave the card a cursory glance and huffed. "Very well," he said, turning to pull down a martini glass. "I suppose 'happy birthday' is also in order."
"Damn right," she grinned.
"And for your familiar, does he have a preference?"
Her smile turned sheepish. "Unfortunately, he's developed a taste for trashy romance novels."
"Sphinxes only take a liking to the books their masters read," Loki said with a snicker, earning a bright blush from the girl. He caste a glance towards Tony and Bruce. "I suppose you two would like a drink as well?"
"God, yes," the engineer cried out and the scientist gave a small nod in turn.
"I think I'd like to try your Golden Appletini," Bruce said politely.
Loki nodded, settling his gaze on the engineer who was stroking a calloused hand over his beard thoughtfully, his whiskey brown eyes sweeping over the vast array of bottles.
"I'm feeling adventurous today," he finally said. "Surprise me." The god actually gave him a devious smirk which Tony answered with his own typical playboy grin. Bring it on, Reindeer Games.
As Loki turned to prepare their drinks, Tony and Bruce looked over to their fellow patron.
"So, you and Loki are related," Bruce asked curiously.
"Not by blood, no. Loki is an old friend of my great-grandfather's. I'm Kai by the way," she said, offering her hand in greeting. "Kai Otekha."
"That's a very pretty name."
"Thank you. It means willow tree sun maiden or something like that."
Tony hummed thoughtfully. "Let me guess. Your great-grandmamma was a Cherokee princess."
"Not even close," Kai answered, shaking her head. "For one, my ancestors are Navajo, not Cherokee. Secondly, Native American tribes did not have princesses or royalty in general. At best the term princess was in reference to the Chieftain's daughter who, I might add, was more akin to a mayor than king. But more likely than not, the term 'Cherokee Princess' was used by people looking to spruce up there family tree or as a term of endearment."
"You've had this conversation before haven't you," Bruce said.
"You have no idea," she groaned.
"So, Kai Otekha," the engineer cut in again. "Are you a god?"
She smirked playfully. "When someone asks if you're a god, you say 'yes'."
Tony chuckled at the reference. "Classic."
"But no, I'm not a god," she admitted. "I do have a few in my family tree though. Which reminds me, Uncle Loki. The Old Man should be wandering by sometime soon."
"Of course he will," the god muttered.
"That's an interesting pet you have," Bruce said as he shifted in his seat, trying to get a better view of her sphinx.
Kai scratched her familiar behind his ear, earning a loud a rumbling purr. "He's pureblooded Egyptian," she said proudly.
Tony pulled out his cell phone as discreetly as he could to snap a quick photo, but the creature's sharp, predator eyes found him out. The sphinx cocked his to the side playfully, giving a wide Cheshire grin that revealed his very sharp looking teeth. So photogenic. "So, what's Mr. Egyptian's name?"
"Simba," she said with a sigh, making both Tony and Bruce snicker. "My sister named him."
Loki turned then, cutting their conversation short as he set down two filled martini glasses, sliding one over to Kai and the other to Bruce. He quickly conjured a paperback book with a twist of his fingers and broke the spine before setting that down in front of the sphinx. The ravenous creature wasted little in pawing the romance novel open to lick at the pages. He licked his lips appreciatively before sinking his sharp teeth into the crisp pages and ripping one out and quickly devouring it. He turned again, ducking down to retrieve a dark bottle from one of the lower shelves and again, reaching up to pull down a very slender and dainty looking thimble of a shot glass.
The bottle itself had no identifying label on it, but there was a faint glow coming from deep within the darkened glass container, reminiscent of a burning ember. Loki uncorked the bottle with practiced ease and very carefully filled the splendidly, crystal shot glass with the shimmering amber colored liquid before stoppering the bottle and nudging the thin glass towards the engineer.
Tony expression dubious. "What that hell is that?"
"Wine," Loki answered simply, but the engineer's face only scrunched up even more. "You did say you were feeling adventurous did you not?"
Tony sat staring at it, even as his fellow patrons took tentative sips from their own drink and hummed in appreciation. Maybe he should have gone with the appletini again. At least then he wouldn't have gotten some tiny ass thimble. He sighed almost dejectedly before reaching out for it.
"You might wish to sip it," Loki offered, making Tony scoff as he instead choosing to down the drink in one go.
Heat instantly pooled in the pit of stomach, spreading throughout his body in a sudden wave that left his brain fuzzy and his limbs tingling pleasantly. Tony was pretty sure his mouth just had an orgasm.
"Wow, what the hell was that," he asked again, his mouth feeling numb and his words slurring with the effort.
"Wine," Loki repeated with a shrug. "Sparkling firewine from Muspelheim to be exact."
Tony could feel his face flush as a sudden queasy pressure built in his gut. He slumped back in his chair, taking deep breaths to stave off the sudden urge to vomit.
"Uh, Tony?"
Good ole Bruce.
"Your chest is glowing."
Because of my arc reactor?
"And your neck. And your face."
Ok, that's different. Tony threw his head back suddenly, coughing out a glittering ball of fire in the air above him. Ah, much better.
Loki's hand darted out just fast enough to remove the delicate glass from the bar top as Tony slumped forward, his head thumping loudly against the dark wood of the bar as he passed out. The god sighed, leaning against the edge of the bar. "Perhaps I should have watered it down a bit."

A/N: From what I've found, the sphinx comes in two versions: Egyptian and Greek (though there do seem to be other off shoots of these as well). The Egyptian version has the body of a lion and head of a man while the Greek version has the body of lion, head and torso of a woman and wings of an eagle. The Egyptian sphinx is gentle and benevolent. The Greek sphinx is much more vicious, usually offering up a riddle and killing those who fail to answer it correctly.
And for those curious, the idea of the sphinx eating books came from the movie Mirror Mask. If you like movies that are weird and dark, then you'll love it.
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Mythos