Stardust: A Stony Fanfiction
Prologue
A philosopher once asked: Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at the stars because we are human? Pointless really. Do the stars gaze back? Ah, now that is a question. Once, 150 years ago, a small boy wrote a letter. He wrote it to the King's College Observatory in hopes that someone there would be able to answer his question. When one of the astronomers read it, he thought it must surely be a prank. Nevertheless, he duly wrote a reply and posted it back to the young boy, who lived in a small town in the countryside called Wall. So named, the boy had written, for the wall that ran alongside it. A wall that, according to local legend, hid an extraordinary secret.
A wall that, it just so happened, someone was attempting to cross. "I am charged," a man in his mid-twenties wearing a top hat, velvet cloak, and silver suit was saying to another young man testily, "with guarding a portal to another world and you're asking me to just let you through?" the man's voice was perpetually calm and his hands steady where they gripped his staff, though his eyes burned bright with annoyance.
"Yes," the young man in question confirmed, "because, let's be honest, it's a field!" he pointed over the wall to the grass and dark trees swaying in the wind." The man, Howard Stark, was considered by many of the young women in Wall to be quite handsome, if not a little odd. He was smart and inventive, though his family hadn't the money to send him to the college in London.
Always trying to learn how things worked and improve them, Howard had figured out how to get the ditches that led from the river to the fields to close as soon as they were full. At the same time, when he tried to make a system that automatically retrieved stock from the shelves, it had blown up in his face and cost his family twenty pounds in lost merchandise. That was a lot of money in those days.
Howard also had an odd fascination with the wall, but not in the usual way. Howard was of a practical state of mind despite how often his father accused him of having his head in the clouds. He longed to prove that the wall was just that; a wall.
"Look," Howard said, pulling the guard, whose name was Phil Coulson, around to look through the hole in the wall. "do you see another world out there?" the gibbous moon shone down brightly, casting shadows over the tree line, "No, you see a field. Do you see anything non-human? No. Do you know why?" Howard was getting angry now, but so was Coulson. "Because it's a field!" Howard shouted.
"Hundreds of years this wall's been here, and hundreds of years this gap's been under twenty-four hour guard." Coulson was shaking angrily now. Howard really knew how to piss him off, had since they were children.
"Well–," Howard tried.
"One more word," Coulson cut him off, anger and annoyance seeping into his tone like poison. "and I'll have you in front of the village council!" It was a serious threat because, even though they were the same age, as Wall Guard Phil had as much authority as the Sheriff when it came to his charge.
"Well, that sounds rather final." Howard muttered weakly and Coulson nodded sarcastically. "Better just go home then I suppose."
Howard sighed and Phil softened a bit. "Good night Howard." Phil said and patted him on the back. "Give my regards to your father."
Quick as a flash, as Phil turned away to begin his pacing again, Howard raced to the wall and leapt through the gap. He booked it away from the wall as fast as he could, but Phil seemed reluctant to chase after him. And as Howard disappeared thought the trees at the far end of the field, Phil leaned on his staff. "Wow, that actually worked."
XXX
Howard jogged quickly through the trees and up a slope, wondering how far he'd be able to see once he reached the top. He could see lights over the rise and wondered if there was a town. He couldn't remember what was in that direction. Ipswich, maybe? But as Howard reached the top of the hill, he began to rethink that. 'That does not look like Ipswich.' he thought. Hell, it didn't look like any town in England.
As Howard made his way down to the odd town, he was reminded of the Indian cities he'd seen in his school books. And as he stepped through the heavy gate, Howard realized he had just stepped into an African bazaar. Bright cloths and tapestries hung from everywhere and people dressed in strange clothes jarred past him, talking in rapid-fire English, French, German, and a hundred other languages Howard didn't recognize. One woman in red robes with knotted hair was selling a pair of live miniature elephants in a cage and stuffed bears for children. Two blue eyes very much like his own floated in a jar and as he walked past, they and the other thirty or so eyes turned to watch him.
Finally, sitting on the steps of a mustard-colored coach, Howard saw a beautiful woman. Her olive skin gleamed in the torch light and her ebony hair fell in soft waves past her shoulders. Her teal dress and shrug only accented her exotic look and brought out the pink in her lips and cheeks. When she smiled however, Howard felt his jaw go slack. She was stunning.
"I don't deal with time-wasters." A gruff voice snarled. Howard looked away from the woman to see the owner of the stall, a bald-headed man with a thick salt-and-pepper beard and broad shoulders, staring him down. "Get over here and tend this stall." he growled at the girl. "I'm off to The Slaughtered Prince for a pint." and with that, he stalked off into the crowd.
The beautiful woman sauntered forward, hands on her hips, well aware of her captive audience. "See anything you like?" She asked, tossing her curls and letting her shrug fall from her arms. Howard stood mesmerized. She really had lovely eyes, like the sweetest chocolate with hints of amber and gold.
Howard smiled and for the first time in his life stumbled of this words. "D-definitely." he stuttered out and felt his knees go weak when she laughed.
"W-wh-what I m-meant was..." Howard's eyes searched the small table in front of him, "was these blue ones. Ah, h-how much are they?" he asked, licking his lips nervously.
"They might be the color of your hair." The woman said, her tone playful, her eyes searching, "Or all of your memories before you were three. I can check if you like?" Howard was...confused to say the least. Was she toying with him? "Anyway, you shouldn't buy the bluebells." She waved her hand dismissively and searched the tray in front of her for a moment. "Buy this one instead." She held up a single white blossom, preserved forever in glass. "Snowdrop." She twirled it. "It'll bring you luck."
"But what does that cost?" Howard asked, trying to play along.
"This one," she smiled playfully. "Costs a kiss."
Howard gulped as she leaned forward and slipped the snowdrop into his jacket pocket. She tapped her cheek and Howard was only too happy to comply. As he leaned forward until he was only a centimeter from her sweet-smelling skin, she turned her head so their lips met. She kissed him passionately, and he kissed back just as fierce. As she drew away playfully, Howard felt himself lean forward as if to follow her.
"Is he gone?" The woman asked, glancing in the direction the stall-keeper had headed. Howard looked too and when he looked back, the woman was beckoning him forward. "Follow me." As Howard moved after her, he heard a strange clinking sound. He looked down and saw a thin silver chain tied tight around the woman's ankle dragging in the dust. As he picked it up, she sat down on the steps of the coach. "I am a princess tricked into being a warlock's slave." She said it fast like she knew he wouldn't believe her. "Will you liberate me?"
Oddly though, Howard did believe her. She was certainly beautiful enough to be a princess. He reached for his pocket knife and sliced through a loop of the chain. Unfortunately, the chain mended itself before his eyes, leaving him with a small length of the chain in his hand and the princess still imprisoned.
"It's an enchanted chain. I'll only be free when he dies." She said sadly. "Sorry."
"Well, if I can't free you, what do you want of me?" Howard asked. This woman, this gorgeous princess smiled at him again and held out her hand for him to take. Howard grinned as she led him inside and closed the door of the coach.
XXX
So the scientist was wrong. The wall had successfully done its job of hiding the magical kingdom of Asgard.
Howard returned that night to his village in England, hoping his adventure would soon be nothing more than a fond memory. But nine months later, he received an unexpected souvenir.
Phil knocked on the door of Howard's home late one night in early December. When his old friend opened the door, Phil handed him a basket. Wrapped snug against the cold in furs and blankets was a small, pink, crying baby. "He was left at the wall for you." Phil said with a small smile. A child to look after was just what Howard needed. "Says here his name is Anthony."