Pathway to Epiphany
The carriage had been led by Jarvis, across the gravelly pavement and stopping at the foot of Peter’s run-down abode. The suitcases had been packed and put away neatly, all in the back trunk with Mr. Stark’s essentials and a few extra commodities. One look at the butler’s knowing expression and Stark was aware that Jarvis had known he would agree to such a trip all along.
“Your things, sir,” Jarvis firmly patted the horses, their silky manes intertwined with edelweiss flower stems and petals. Stark merely nodded with a grateful solemnity, as Peter rose to his feet with a dumbfounded expression.
“H-how did you know he would be here? And decide to come along for this- did I even tell you about my plans to travel?” The teenager bombarded Stark’s butler with questions, although the man seemed prepared to give an answer.
“You’d discussed it from the moment you'd sat in the Mister’s lobby,” Jarvis shot the boy a playful wink as Peter recalled the first time they had met. “Although, I must say it took him longer than I expected to cooperate.”
“And how did you know now was the time?” Peter pressed.
Jarvis merely stroked the scruff on his chin with a smirk.
“Call it a butler’s intuition,” he chided smugly, and returned to the seat at the carriage’s front.
Peter stared for a few more moments in disbelief as the sun dawned on grassy knolls that cascaded into the forest clearing. Luminary rays showered the landscape in a golden glow, making it seem as if the hills could rise, and fall, and breathe- human.
“Hey now,” a voice piped up gruffly. Stark.
A grin tugged at the corners of Peter’s lips, but he did not turn his head.
“Don’t… get ahead of yourself, whatever it is that you’ve been thinkin’,” the older man muttered without much meaning to it. “I’m just comin’ along to escape, you’re a peculiar kid. This doesn’t change my reputation, position, nothing, so don’t even try it.”
This caused Peter to glance at his newfound friend, brow raised and a hand upon his hip. “Aha, remind me again why a ‘peculiar kid’ from the slums would come after a corporation giant such as you? If I really sought to ruin your reputation, I could have delved into your past mistakes by now.”
Tony clicked his tongue and crossed his arms, eyeing the horizon. “Fair.”
“And besides,” Peter added, “you’re such a scrooge- if anything, an effort like this wouldn’t stand a chance. Perhaps if I lured you into self-destruction with some money? Tea?”
“Oho, getting smart-assy on me now, kiddo?” Tony shoved the teen’s shoulder and Peter laughed with delight, shoving him back and giggling when Tony ruffled his hair.
“Maybe,” Peter wheezed out between high-pitched chuckles as Tony finally relented. “Maybe.”
The two lapsed into companionable silence as Tony approached the carriage, where he struck up a faint conversation with Jarvis. They rounded the carriage to inspect the luggage organized inside the caboose, and Peter headed back inside to get a few possessions of his own.
He peered into a section of the run-down shack where MJ lay exhausted on her cot, hair splayed across the pillow, her fists clenched.
“Hey, Em,” Peter sat beside her, his words tender. The girl let out a grumble, before propping herself up on one elbow with a perturbed grimace.
“What- Peter? I just went to sleep,” she murmured, alongside a string of curses as she drowsily sat up.
“I know, but Tony’s butler, Jarvis, he’s here, and Mister Stark’s funding our trip and-”
“Wait.” Michelle’s hand flew to her forehead as if it ached. “What? He suddenly decided that he’s going?”
“Well,” Peter fell into a brief and muddled explanation but Michelle ignored him in favor of standing up and dressing while Peter turned his back.
“And you just-” the girl pulled her hair out from where it had been tangled in her worn-out gown, grey as a rag but somehow beautiful against her soft, matte skin. “You just decided he could come along with us, huh?”
Peter stood his ground. “He’s the only reason that we’re going,” was the firm reply.
Michelle gave him a slight look of distaste before fluffing her skirt as best she could and passing Pete in favor of storming out the door. Peter flew into a panicked state, trying to stop her before she could pull whatever despicable act she had up her sleeve to push Mr. Stark away once and for all, but the girl merely gripped her friend’s shoulders and gazed into his eyes.
“Calm the fuck down, shithead,” MJ assured him. "I'm just gonna go and give Mr. Rich Bitch a little talking-to."
"Wow, that’s really calming to hear," Peter drawled out, exasperated.
Michelle was like a hovering older sister, always watching Peter and Ned’s backs even if it was unnecessary. Sure, Peter appreciated it at times, but now was not one of them.
"Try not to like, rip the poor guy’s head off," he sighed.
Michelle huffed. "If he hurts any of us, I make no promises about the limits to his punishment," she strode outside at that, and Peter stuck his tongue out at her from behind.
"What's she on about?" A voice called from back inside.
Walking out the home’s entrance, Ned greeted Peter with a tip of his dilapidated straw hat. The jovial young man sat outside, reveling in the morning warmth with a mellow grin; Peter just scoffed and leaned against the door.
"Michelle's being a protective older sis again," he pouted, something he resorted to more than he would admit in front of others. "I'm not little anymore, 'n neither are you," he gestured to his friend.
"Nah, we aren't," Ned agreed, "but she's just looking out, is all."
Peter 'humphed' and sat beside his housemate. "She's being a grouch, just like Mr. Stark."
"They're one and the same, those two," Ned agreed while he observed their conversation; it was not lacking in suspicious glances at the other. Michelle's posture was stoic, Tony's nonchalant, but neither seemed glad to be conversing at the moment.
"I just thought... that night, just now, actually," Peter recalled. "I thought it'd make things better."
Ned let out a breath. "Now, Peter. One conversation can't fix everything," he watched Michelle turn to Jarvis and drag him into the 'talking-to' as well. "Those two are the product of a cold, cruel world," the black-haired boy conceded. "It's why you and I are here to bring the light, the warmth. They won't trust so easily."
Peter rubbed at his arms and kicked at the dirt. "But we come from cold, too," he whispered, and Ned did not hear him.
-
After a while, the teens had loaded a few essentials into the carriage’s trunk, and Tony assured the group they would replenish supplies along the way. Michelle insisted that their bearings were ample, but knew better than to refuse the help for long, and with that, the four stepped into the carriage in silence.
Jarvis got the horses going, and Peter spared a few last glances at their crumbling home.
I should feel excited, he thought to himself. I shouldn't feel afraid.
As if his mind was on open display, Ned placed a comforting hand atop Pete's arm and lightly squeezed it. Peter shot him a nervous grin and gulped.
"Relax, Pete," Ned said cheerily but quietly, "isn't this what we've always wanted?"
It is. But this doesn't quite feel right.
This doesn't feel like running towards glory, Peter mused. It feels like... running away.
And then the memories came in a flood, attacking his senses until his breath was stolen from his lips.
"Where'm I going?" He'd asked the man in the mysterious coat as he was lead out of his alabaster home. "Where are you taking me?"
"Away," came the gruff man's voice. "Your ma's dead, your pa's dead, you're not my issue anymore."
Peter was hoisted off his feet and thrown into a carriage. The doors closed as the man stepped in and drew the curtains.
Complete darkness.
"Who are you?" Peter trembled, biting his lip and willing himself not to cry .
Then came the man's sigh; he sounded almost troubled, head low and hair blocking any view of his eyes.
"Honestly, kid?" The man flashed his golden badge and tucked it away. "Who the hell knows anymore?"
The man sounded troubled.
Helping someone- this was something that Peter could do.
"I-" Peter's voice caught in his throat as he finally mustered the gallancy to speak. "Are you related to my mother?"
"No," the man sniffed with disdain and crossed his arms.
"Are you related to my fa-"
"I'm a damn deputy, now shut your fucking trap," the silhouette from across the carriage snapped and Peter recoiled in terror.
He did not attempt to speak to the man again, even as they had gone over bumps without stopping for water, even as Peter retched out the window or onto the floor due to disorientation, even as he had been tossed onto the road at the outskirts of town without more than the clothing on his back.
No, Peter was silent all the while.
His only saving grace had been the sight of stars once he’d been cast outside, as they hadn’t been visible from inside that awful, clandestine chariot.
They were beautiful. They were free.
"Ahem," Peter coughed, as he realized everyone was staring at him in utter dismay. "Can we… open the curtains a little wider?"
MJ's eyes widened in understanding, and she elbowed Mr. Stark from where he had been seated next to her.
"You heard Peter, now do what he fucking says," Michelle spat and Tony coughed slightly before pushing back the curtain on his side as much as possible.
The sky shone in, and Peter exhaled with relief. The four were quiet for another half an hour, before stopping at a nearby lake to decompress and stretch their legs. Peter's mood lightened a little, this was helpful.
They let me go outside, Peter thought with a grin as he bounded down the lakeside to fill up his canteen, grateful spirit restored.
Ned was waving from where he’d already been seated on a small dock, his canteen bubbling beneath the shining waters.
“Pete!” He laughed aloud as his friend sat beside him. “The water’s some o’ the cleanest I’ve ever seen! Look, your reflection’s pretty much a painting,” he observed, as the two stared at the seemingly still-life portrait of their faces, painted by the surface of the water.
“It’s perfect,” Peter breathed, before dipping his hand in and shattering the aquamarine mirror. “Think fast!”
With a shout, the teenager splashed Ned with water, all over his face.
Ned immediately drew back with a chuckle, before retaliating with a ruthless smirk. Soon enough the two’s garments were soaked through, though they were still attempting to push each other into the water. Beside the lake, a family of soft baby ducks lay nestled into a few earthen hollows, and Michelle watched with silent wonder as they slept.
“Hey, kid,” Peter felt a sharp but teasing kick to the crevice between his shoulder and neck from where he sat at the pier’s edge. He looked up at where Mister Stark stood proudly overhead, attire as formal as ever.
“Let me know how long you wanna ogle town, ‘cause we’re nowhere near our first stop,” Tony stated matter-of-factly.
“I’ve never seen this part of Chordwick,” Peter shrugged innocently. “It’s absolutely beautiful, though.”
Tony rubbed his temples with a wry grin. “Pah, just wait ‘till you see Stonehenge.”
Peter’s eyes immediately widened and he bolted to his feet. “We’re going to Stonehenge?” He squealed delightedly.
“That’s what I just said,” Tony reached into his blazer pocket and pulled out three journals, giving one to Peter and patting him on the back. “I figured you’d want to write or record what you see, and this would be a decent way to help.”
Peter’s eyes glazed over the hardcover notebook. On its cover was an embroidered print of the world map, complete with elaborate bronze lettering that spelled out every location.
“Way to help?” He repeated in sheer disbelief. “This… is amazing.”
Tony let out a sigh of what seemed like relief. “Good,” he rubbed the back of his head, “Jarvis didn’t pack any of the bigger editions from what I’d sifted through.”
Peter grinned up at his mentor. “This is perfect,” he nodded contentedly, before tucking it under the arm that wasn’t soaked in water.
Tony began to head back to the carriage, before a loud scream erupted from a yard away and Ned was flying through the air.
“Geronimoooo!” The man had taken a colossal leap off of the dock’s edge, and the impact of him hitting the surface of the water was deafening. Peter instantly pressed his notebook close to his heart, eyes squeezing shut as massive waves lapped over the wooden dock and sprayed everything within a yard’s radius.
Hearty laughter erupted from Ned’s chest as he emerged from the water, soon joined by that of Peter’s, and the peeping of the newly-awakened ducks as they emerged from their place of resting.
Little yellow balls of fluff and feather took to the water, before MJ stood up from where she’d been sitting, her face downturned and furious.
“ Ned!” She shouted, and shook her middle finger at him, restraining a laughing fit of her own. “I was chilling with the birdies, what the fuck?”
Ned just beckoned for her to join him, and, after yet another string of boisterous curses, she did. Her cannonball was nowhere near as drastic in size, but she treaded the water with ease despite wearing her pewter gown.
“Get your ass over here,” Michelle gestured to Peter, and he turned to Mister Stark.
“You coming?”
The look in Tony’s eyes said it all. “No.” He started. “Pretty please, no, no, no, a million times, no,” but the pleading look in Peter’s eyes was soon overtaken by a devious sort of mischief that screamed Tony was screwed. The older man began backing up, nearing where the dock merged into solid land, and Peter merely bounced on his toes with eager anticipation.
“Peter, no-” Before he could finish his useless plea, Tony was hoisted in the air from behind and thrown into the water, flailing and sputtering like a baby, causing everyone to collapse into laughter again as Jarvis approached the group smugly.
“Thanks,” Peter high-fived the butler who had snuck up on Mr. Stark from behind while he’d been begging for Peter to bestow mercy.
“In all honesty, I’ve always wanted to do that,” Jarvis held his head high, and the corners of his lips twitched upward slightly.
“In that case, then,” Peter grinned widely, “you’re welcome for the opportunity- You can return the favor by holding this for me.” Wiping off the cover of the journal, Peter handed it to Jarvis.
With that, the teen leapt into the cool water, leaving the rather satisfied butler to supervise the group, notebook, and carriage. Within a few hours, any tension between the five unlikely travelers was eased.
-
The carriage ride to Stonehenge had been filled with chatter and the clinking of canteens, as well as the singing of merry song. At one point, Michelle had been annoyed by all the noise and proceeded to work on her writing up front with Jarvis. Even so the tone of their travel had been light, and conversation was beginning to come easy. Dusk blanketed the countryside; the travelers were far from their homes now.
Ned guzzled some cold lake water from his jug, and sighed as it soothed his throat. “So, Stark, my friend,” he lowered his voice ominously. “Just what does a rich, mysterious soul like you do in a house like that? Surely some thing entertaining, seeing as you never bother to leave it,” Ned’s tone was teasing at the end, and Peter shoved his shoulder.
“Ned!” He giggled, still drunk on the adrenaline from their busy day. “You can’t just ask him about it; Mister Scrooge- er, Mister Stark-” he hiccuped as the two teens descended once more into laughter. “-is a very private man.”
“You said privates!” Ned chortled and Peter wheezed out a laugh, slapping his knee.
Tony sighed, his fingers roaming through dark locks of hair as he blocked memories of decades past out of his mind.
Finally, the horses up front whinnied as Stark’s cart slowed to a stop once more.
“We are here,” a voice from outside called.
Peter was the first to burst outside, door swinging and nearly hitting Tony’s head behind him as the older man ducked out of the way.
Their journey had been long and tedious, but Peter’s gaze roamed the terrain before him and he immediately decided it was worth it. His friends assumed the same, as they exited the carriage and gasped with wonder at the moonlight circle of stone.
It was beautiful, truly; each massive pillar reflecting the pale silvery surface of the moon, stars twinkling in the night sky, unpolluted by the light from any distant cities. Each enormous stone column had been placed into a ringlike formation, some stacked horizontally atop others. The rocks seemed limitless in height and fortitude, their shadows towering over the teenagers amidst the damp nighttime air.
Peter’s breath had been stolen, whisked away by some spirit of the midnight hour. He gazed up at the structure, speechless, the starlight glazing his brown irises and reflecting on cherub cheeks.
“Wow,” Ned tipped down his hat. “She’s quite a thing to see.”
Jarvis stood beside the horses, a satisfactory nod being his only reaction. Michelle was not far off, seated atop the carriage roof and writing diligently as ever.
“Like what you see, kid?” Tony stepped up to where the teenager was standing with a grin.
“Yes,” Peter agreed with a happy exhale. “It’s… wondrous.”
A slight chuckle escaped Tony at that. “Yeah, one o’ the best spots in England, never gets old.”
Peter turned to where Mr. Stark’s gaze fixated firmly on the sky.
“You like the stars, Mister Stark?” He piped up after a light breeze dusted his bare forearms and rustled his curls.
Tony replied after another moment. “Yea,” he shrugged, leaning on one leg to appear nonchalant. “Yea, the stars are alright.”
Peter shook his head. “Alright? How can you say that,” he turned his gaze to the man, pointing up at a constellation, shaped like a spoon. “My mother used to sing about the stars,” Peter recalled, and Tony listened as he continued. “She would tell me about… Ursa Major, Minor, the ‘dippers,’” Peter told him.
“But Orion,” the boy gestured towards another spindle of clustered orbs. They appeared almost human in shape, and twinkled in unison. “Orion was her favorite one of all.”
Tony bit his lip. “Orion, huh,” he mulled the word over briefly. “That’s awful nice.”
“It is,” Peter agreed warmly, before sitting down in the soft patch of grass beneath him. “She loved that name, and so do I.”
Tony glanced at the boy out of the corner of his eye, still standing. He crossed his arms again.
“What was your ma’s name?”
Peter shifted his eyes to the ground beneath him.
“Mary,” he confessed after a while. “Mary Amalthea.”
The words sounded as if they were a book, dusted and untouched for many eons, now being pried off of an ancient shelf. Peter clearly hadn’t uttered such a name in a while. Poor kid, Tony thought.
“That’s a lovely name,” the older man offered, and Peter grinned up at his friend.
“So is Pepper,” he replied, but the sudden transition of Mr. Stark’s expression made it clear that he had overstepped a boundary. “Wait, I’m sorry, Mister, I didn’t mean to-”
“It’s fine,” Tony cut off Pete’s stammering. “It’s uh, it’s fine.”
The silence between them grew bitter, but Peter was not having it. He stood up and approached the nearest structure, a rock multiple times his height and certainly his width.
“Look, Mister Stark!” He spread his arms. “Just look at this massive thing! It’s practically a wall of its own.”
Tony smiled, before extending a hand with urgent haste. “Stay right there,” he shouted, before dashing back to the carriage and grabbing something out of a black satchel. It was another journal, red and gold with turquoise in the center, metallic in appearance.
The man took out a pen and began sketching. Peter’s eyes lit up and he struck a silly pose, tongue out and hands stretched to the sky.
“Destination one: Stonehenge!” Peter couldn’t stay still for long, instead choosing to prance around the circle.
“Careful, kiddo,” Tony warned as he eyed the stacked rocks overhead, his voice growing wary.
“Oh, please, no harm can come to me, not when I’ve you around, and Ned, and Michelle, and Jarvis,” Peter tossed his hands in the air carelessly. “Not when I’ve come to know the great and mysterious Mister Stark likes drawing, and hates messes, and can’t swim for his life!”
His words shouldn’t have made Tony smile as widely as they did.
Nevertheless, the man sat down without mental reprimand and watched Peter drag an apprehensive Ned and a grouchy Michelle around the structures for several hours after that. Then the sun began to rise, and the four joined Jarvis around the comfort of a warm fire.
Stars slowly began to dim, and soon, the two once-vivid Ursa constellations had vanished, taking Orion with them. Peter and the others were still laughing ‘round the fire, though their sleep deprivation was slowly setting in.
“Mister Stark, you and the others really should rest a while,” Jarvis offered before handing out plush blankets and unrolling them onto the soil.
“Alright, Jarvis, thank you,” Mr. Stark laid down on his back alongside the group. “You take a minute too, alright?”
The butler nodded, deciding to lie down in the comfort of the carriage instead. Soft snores soon arose from Ned, Peter, and dare he say Michelle, as Tony glanced down with guilt at the earth.
You don’t deserve this, a voice in his mind sneered. Contentment, peace, comfort. What are you thinking?
I don’t know, Tony lowered his head into his hands. I don’t know.
‘You never seem to know.’
“Quiet,” a voice suddenly murmured, and not from far away.
Tony startled to see Peter, half-asleep and sitting up, yawn fading into a surprisingly serious look.
“What?” Tony asked the kid.
“Tell the voices,” Peter continued, determined even as he rubbed the corners of his eyes. “Tell the evil voices to be quiet.”
-
picture of stonehenge, england
