The realm of York prided itself with a vast and varying landscape. From the dense forest around the fortress of The Royal Order of the Shield, to the open and airy mountain region, those who called it home were anything but bored with their surroundings. Of course, this led to a great variety of resources for the people, and trade flourished. The trading ports on the eastern coast of York were the hub of social life, with villages dotting the shoreline. Over half the realm's population had settled in the east, so naturally that is where Lord Anthony Stark had decided to build his rather large and noticeable castle.

Stark castle sat atop the well known "Brandish Bluff", a cliff of white rock that jutted out over the water below. Many believed that the castle's high position above the surrounding villages was a less-than-subtle reference as to how Lord Anthony saw himself compared to the resident "peasants". Despite this, the enchanter did have a good rapport with the villagers, though his tendency to work through the night had started a great deal of gossip.

As darkness fell on the coast, the castle would be illuminated, a shining beacon against the night sky. Villager children would gaze in interest, whispering to each other. "I've heard he's a vampire," one would say to the other, before their mother came to usher them to bed. Had the villagers been looking through one of the windows of the castle, they would have beheld an interesting sight.

Lord Anthony was busy at work, alone except for a white barn owl sitting on a perch in the corner. The nocturnal creature had proved to be the best companion for Anthony, given his irregular sleeping habits. The owl, who was called Jarvis, acted as the constant voice of reason in all of the enchanter's escapades. Even now Jarvis had his head cocked to one side as he watched Anthony work. Something caught the owl's eye, and he ruffled his feathers and straightened up before calmly voicing his concern. "Excuse me, M'Lord," he began. "But you are aware that the Actaea pachypoda you are about to put in that poultice is highly poisonous if consumed?"

"Oh, you don't say?" Anthony muttered as he nonchalantly popped a few of the berries into his mouth and without breaking his concentration.

Jarvis gave a small strangled hoot at the seemingly suicidal move. "M'Lord, I don't think you quite understand the gravity of the situation- the poison you have just ingested leads to-" the owl cut himself off as realization dawned on him. "...heart failure."

Anthony smiled wide, showing his purple berry-stained teeth. "That is the curious thing about heart failure," he chuckled as he tapped the chest scar hidden under his tunic, "it requires a heart."

He carefully sprinkled a measure of the crushed Actaea pachypoda into a smoking cauldron. "But if I am correct, which we both know I always am, when these berries are added to the right combination of cypress tree bark, fresh spring water, and Aconitum they will allow me to access their magical properties that are quite remarkable." Waving his wand above the bubbling mixture in the cauldron, he began to recite incantations that would have sounded like nonsense to anyone less experienced than he.

After a final flourish of the wand, he pulled on a leather glove and dipped it deep into the freshly brewed liquid, swirling it slowly. When he pulled his hand out, the glove glowed a brilliant blue in the dim chambers. "Now for the true test!" he exclaimed with an excited grin as he began to thrust his gloved hand right into the blazing fire beneath the cauldron. His fingers stopped just short of the flames as his brow furrowed, "Now did I put four or five measures on the berries in?" he wondered out loud. Many times he got so enthralled with all the possible applications of his experiments and inventions that he sometimes neglected the smaller specifics. Such instances had often left him with singed eyebrows and Jarvis with scorched tailfeathers and caused the fiery demise of one too many ill-hung tapestries.

"It does not really matter which, I suppose," the lord shrugged. "The only real difference is four measures will achieve my desired results while five would cause an explosion that would level this tower as well as everything within a five mile radius. Either way, here goes!" he exclaimed, shoving his hand into the base of the fire before Jarvis could protest.

He held still for a moment, teeth clenched tight and eyes squeezed shut as he braced for possible impact. Feeling nothing, he opened his eyes and withdrew his hand from the fire. He stood up and slowly unfurled his gloved fist to unveil a small blue flickering flame. An eager smile crossed his face as he quickly spread his fingers, and the fire leapt to life in the palm of his hand. "Do you see this?" he exclaimed excitedly, thrusting the handheld flame towards Jarvis. "Pyromanipulation! I knew it!"

Practically vibrating with excitement, Anthony hastily dove another glove into the enchanted liquid and grasped a handful of fire with it. He faced his fists to the floor and with a flick of the wrists he spread his fingers wide as white hot flames flew downwards from his palms with such force his feet briefly left the ground.

Jarvis ruffled his feathers as the sudden wave of heat swept past his perch. "Most impressive, M'Lord," the owl congratulated. "However, I'm not quite sure how I feel about not being the only one around here gifted with flight."

At that moment, Jarvis' head cocked to one side. "Someone's coming," he announced, a few seconds before a knock could be heard at the door. The pre-occupied Anthony didn't stir from his spot, all of his attention fixated gleefully on his gloves. Jarvis shuffled his feet on his perch. "M'Lord," he tried again, a bit louder. "The door?"

No response.

With a sigh, Jarvis unfolded his snowy white wings and propelled himself upwards, hanging in the air for a moment before gently soaring across the room. He grabbed the rope that was tied to the latch of the door with his beak, tugging on it in an attempt to unlock it himself. The knocking sounded more urgent. "Coming, coming," Jarvis grunted, the words muffled around the rope he held. After a brief struggle, he succeeded in lifting the heavy latch with a sharp tug to the right. The door swung open with an unexpected speed, sending Jarvis toppling backwards and two visitors tumbling into the room.

"Lord Anthony!" Nicholas's powerful voice bellowed in frustration as he pushed through the door. Startled out of his concentration, Anthony whipped around at the commotion only to send a ball of flame right above the cyclops' head. The flame bounced off a shield mounted on the wall and collided with the vials of magical liquids on his table which promptly exploded in a small cloud of multicolored smoke. Anthony smiled as if nothing had happened as he approached the unamused cyclops. "Lord Nicholas! It has been a long time since we last met and I hoped to keep it that way. Say, have you ever tried knocking before you go barging into a room?"

The colorful smoke began to settle around the room, tinting everybody with rainbow hues. Jarvis scratched at the floor in annoyance as his white feathers took on the unfortunate look of a parrot. Anthony was not phased, and Nicholas crossed his arms in irritation. He glanced over at Steven, who stood behind him, giving him a "we-wouldn't-be-here-if-we-didn't-have-to-be" look.

Turning his attention back to Anthony, Nicholas forced a genial expression on his face. "Lord Anthony," he greeted. "It's been too long. Unfortunately, we find ourselves in need of your assistance."

Anthony groaned and rolled his eyes at the thought of interrupting his own endeavors to be of service to someone else. "Look, you are not the only one who is "in need of my assistance" right now. That is quite the long list and at the moment I am at the top of it. Hence, if you want me to help you, make an appointment with Jarvis like the rest of the kingdom," he said with a haughty wave as he turned his back to them.

Jarvis, still perturbed at his new tropical color scheme, twisted his beak into a sly smile. "Pardon me, m'lord- but there have been no villagers inquiring for help as of late." he said. "Your schedule seems to be completely vacant."

Nicholas grinned widely. "Well, isn't that most convenient?" he chuckled. "Sir Steven, I believe we are going to receive help after all."

"Traitor!" Stark muttered as he shot a fiery glare at the owl just before turning back to Fury and Steven with an unconvincing false smile. "Well, it seems I have taken care of all my previous engagements with the utmost efficiency which is why I am…" he paused to let out a dramatic yawn, "so very tired and grateful for the time to rest that you so rudely interrupted."

Nicholas fought the urge to roll his eye, instead giving Anthony a hearty pat on the back. "Never fear, Lord Stark," he said jovially. "I'm sure that with your talent and ability, our problem will be solved in no time."

Steven watched the forced geniality between the two men in front of him thoughtfully. It was clear that Nicholas knew what he was doing when it came to convincing Anthony, but Steven's patience was beginning to wear thin. The enchanter's flippant attitude irked him when he thought about the lives that were at stake. "Lord Stark," he interjected. "We've found evidence of dark forces at work among us. We need your help to find one of our own- and quickly."

Letting out a deep sigh of resignation, Stark gestured for the men to come in, but stepped in front of Steven. "And just who are you again?" he questioned with a smug smile.

Steven scanned the enchanter up and down, eyes slightly narrowed. Nicholas shot the knight a warning glance over Anthony's shoulder, his expression practically screaming for him not to mess this up now. Steven plastered a more friendly smile on his face. "Sir Steven….Steven. Knight of the realm." he introduced himself, reaching out a hand. The gesture was met with another unexpected burst of blue flame, that singed the side of his arm. Steven gave a startled yelp and jerked his hand away, swatting bits of fire from his shirt with a scowl.

Surprised yet pleased with himself, Stark chuckled at the knight's reflexive jump. "I was just trying to make sure you were fully thawed out." He noticed the quizzical look on Steven's face upon his recognition, "Do not look so shocked, I heard about them finding you in that icy water up North. Little news gets past me, even while I am up here."

Steven cleared his throat, annoyance bubbling up inside of him. "I'm flattered you've heard of me- but I'm not the one we need to be discussing." he said calmly, shooting Nicholas a look.

Nicholas picked up on the hint and interrupted. "He's correct, Lord Anthony. We are looking for one Clint Barton- his safe return is our top priority. We believe that his disappearance has something to do with this." The cyclops shuffled through the folds of fabric in his robes before finally locating his pocket. From it he removed the small cube, it's blue surface glowing with an unknown power.

Raising his eyebrows in interest, Stark clinched his fists to extinguish the flames and cast the gloves aside. He held it up to the candle light and examined the mysterious object. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. "Where did you get this?" he implored, eyes widening with fascination.

Nicholas motioned towards Steven. "It was discovered near him, which has only raised more questions for us." he explained. Steven's eyebrow twitched. "I, for one, grow weary of questions," the knight said. "It is time we had answers. What can you tell us, Howard?" A moment passed before Steven realized his mistake. "Anthony." he corrected himself. "Anything?"

Stark's eyes rose from the cube's surface to shoot Steven a murderous glare at the mention of his father's name. He typically would have reacted much more intensely, but his preoccupation with the newfound power dulled the blow to his ego. "Well…" Anthony started, turning the cube gently while staring into it. "It is definitely extremely powerful, expertly forged, and surprisingly not mine- which makes me both quite jealous and fairly frightened. One would have to be incredibly powerful to forge something of this nature and even more so to wield it." A wild hunger grew in his eyes and his trance grew stronger. "I wonder…" he mumbled reaching behind him for his wand.

Nicholas noticed the gleam in the enchanter's eyes and swiftly strode forward. "Ah, no," he muttered, removing the cube from Anthony's hands. "You know what they say about curiosity- dead cats and all that." He gave a wide grin as he passed the cube smoothly over to Steven. "We are grateful for your insight and service with this endeavor, Lord Anthony. We are hoping to employ Master Banner as well." With a nod towards Steven to do the same, Nicholas started towards the door. "We shall meet again soon."

To say that they had captured Anthony's interest was an understatement. It was clear that his thoughts were racing at a hundred miles an hour, but he still managed a distracted gesture of farewell in their general direction. Jarvis shook out his feathers, sending remnants of color raining down on the floor. He flapped over to the door apologetically. "He eagerly awaits your return," the owl translated for his master.

Nicholas gave a small grin and nodded in farewell, following Steven out the door. Once they were gone, all that was left for Jarvis to do was clean up after Anthony- and worry about what havoc he was getting himself into this time.

Thanks for reading, everyone! Bring forth the feedback, it's always welcomed. I love to know what you guys think about it!