Blue light deposited Jay not in the Gates of Eternity, but somewhere else entirely.
Heat slammed into him like a physical wall. His enhanced body compensated instantly, but sweat broke out across his skin within seconds. The air itself seemed angry, shimmering with rage, and every breath tasted like molten copper mixed with ozone and something that reminded him of lightning strikes.
Nidavellir.
The massive ring station orbited a neutron star that burned with blue-white light and so intense it seemed to have weight. The star pulsed with barely contained violence, each throb sending waves of radiation that would have killed an unenhanced human instantly.
Forges dotted the ring's inner surface like cathedrals dedicated to the religion of creation. Each one was a marriage of magic and metallurgy that had birthed legends. Dwarves as big as giants moved among the flames with practiced grace, their hammers rising and falling in perfect rhythm.
CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.
The sound was hypnotic, almost musical. Metal sang as it was born, shaped, perfected. Each strike carried purpose, intention and focused will that could bend cosmic forces to mortal needs. The symphony of creation filled Jay's ears, drowning out everything except the pure expression of craftsmanship elevated to art.
Jay's analytical mind cataloged everything through Task Master's Kinesic Recognition.He watched how the dwarves moved, how their muscles tensed and released in sequences that maximized force while minimizing wasted motion. He observed how magic flowed through their hammers and channelled through will and skill into the metal itself. This was where Mjolnir had been forged, where Odin's spear Gungnir had been born, where legends like the Infinity Gauntlet became reality through the fusion of impossible skill and divine fire.
Heavy footsteps like thunder walking approached from behind.
"JAY!" Eitri's voice boomed across the platform, genuine delight coloring every syllable. "By Buri's beard and Ymir's bones, I didnae expect to see ye again so soon! Come, come! We must drink!"
The King of the Dwarves was massive even by his people's standards. His skin was dark, weathered by millennia of forge work. Burns covered his arms in patterns that told stories of a thousand failed experiments and successful masterpieces. His beard was braided with gold wire that gleamed in the neutron star's light, and his eyes carried focused intensity that came from staring into fires hot enough to melt stars.
Before Jay could speak, Eitri thrust the mug into his hands. The vessel was sized for dwarf proportions, which meant it could have doubled as a bathtub for normal humans. The liquid inside sloshed with viscosity that was too thick to be water and too thin to be honey. Golden and smelled of apples and something else that made Jay's enhanced senses tingle with anticipation.
"Divine rum from the golden apples of Idunn herself!" Eitri declared, already refilling his own mug from a barrel that materialized from thin air with a soft pop of displaced atmosphere. "We talked of sharing this drink when last ye visited, and Eitri the Dwarf King keeps his promises, aye!"
Jay took a long drink, and the liquid burned going down in the best possible way. Warmth spread through his chest, carrying notes of honey and starlight and something that tasted like liquid joy distilled into physical form. His enhanced metabolism processed the alcohol instantly, but the pleasant buzz remained, a gift from magic rather than chemistry.
"This is incredible."
"Of course it is! I made it!" Eitri laughed, draining half his mug in one massive gulp. His throat worked and beard bouncing with each swallow. "Now then, what brings the mighty Power Broker to my forge? Surely not just to share drinks with an old dwarf, though I'd be honored if that were the case!"
Jay set his mug down carefully on a workbench that radiated ambient heat. His expression shifting to serious.
"I need a favor, Eitri. A commission. Something that..." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "Something that might be the most important thing you've ever forged."
Eitri's eyes sharpened, the jovial craftsman transforming into the legendary smith in an instant. He set down his own mug with deliberate care, giving Jay his full attention.
"That's quite the claim, lad. I've forged Mjolnir for Thor, Gungnir for the Allfather himself, and the damned Infinity Gauntlet. What could possibly rank above those?"
Jay met his gaze steadily. "A ring. Similar to Tether in design, but meant to house something completely different. Something that requires craftsmanship beyond even what you've done before."
Eitri's massive hand stroked his beard, fingers working through the braids with unconscious habit. Interest sparked in his eyes like embers catching flame.
"Different how? What manner of power are we talking about? Because if ye're collecting the Infinity Stones like that mad Titan, I've already made one gauntlet for All Father and that was headache enough for several lifetimes."
Jay's lips quirked despite the gravity of the moment. "Nothing like that. This power is completely detached from the Infinity Stones. Though..." He hesitated, analytical mind drawing parallels. "Perhaps a bit similar to the Soul Stone in fundamental nature, but coming from an entirely different source."
"Don't be keeping me in suspense, boy." Eitri leaned forward, and the movement brought his face into direct neutron star light as his eyes blazed with reflected radiance. "What power requires the King of Dwarves' personal attention?"
Jay's voice dropped to barely above a whisper, the word carrying weight that seemed to press down on Nidavellir itself.
"Death."
The word hung in the air like a guillotine blade, and for a moment even the constant CLANG CLANG CLANG of distant hammers seemed to fade. The forge's heat felt suddenly cold against Jay's skin.
Eitri's mug slipped from his hand.
The enchanted metal hit the platform with a sound like a bell being struck, the CLANG echoing across the forge that made distant dwarves pause in their work and look toward the King's personal platform. Golden rum splashed across black metal and evaporated instantly in the heat, leaving behind crystallized sugar that sparkled like diamond dust.
The Dwarf King stared at Jay, his mouth opening and closing several times without sound emerging. When he finally found his voice, it came out rough, stripped of its usual booming confidence.
"Death. Ye mean... actual Death? The end of all things?"
Jay nodded slowly.
Eitri's face cycled through expressions too quickly to catalog - shock, disbelief, fear, wonder. Then, gradually, something else emerged. Understanding as his eyes tracked across Jay's face, reading something there that made his expression shift entirely.
He remembered the feats this man had accomplished. Acts that rivaled the Allfather himself in his prime. The resurrection of thousands. The manipulation of reality on scales that defied comprehension. These matters were far above a simple smith and far above his understanding of what was possible or sane.
Finally, Eitri simply nodded, decision made.
"Tether."
Jay blinked. "What?"
"Give me Tether." Eitri's voice carried absolute certainty now, the surety of a master craftsman who'd seen the solution to an impossible problem. "I'll copy from it rather than forging something entirely new from scratch. The bond's already established with ye, the runes already attuned to yer specific energy signature. Yer loved ones can already access its power without burning themselves out."
He leaned forward, enthusiasm building as the technical challenge engaged his craftsman's mind.
"Making another ring for this Death power, it'll be more stable than starting fresh. The attunement process alone would take months, maybe years. But if I use Tether as the template, copying the resonance patterns and sympathetic frequencies..." His eyes grew distant, already working through the mathematics. "Aye, that'll work. That'll work beautifully."
"But that's the Space Stone? I need..."
"Don't ye be questioning me on my craft, boy!" Eitri's voice boomed, but there was no anger in it, only pride. "Ye don't question me on my quest for perfection, and I don't question ye on yer quest for power."
Jay stared at the Dwarf King for a long moment. His enhanced mind ran through the logic and saw the wisdom in Eitri's approach. Tether was already bound to him and already calibrated to his life force. More importantly, Domino could access it without being burned out by energies her mortal form shouldn't be able to touch. A ring designed the same way, attuned the same way, would let her wield Death Stone's power without burning herself out.
Slowly, Jay pulled Tether from his finger.
The ring gleamed in the neutron star's light, the Space Stone pulsing with contained infinity. Blue light washed across his palm, familiar and comforting after months of wearing it. He held it out with both reverence and reluctance.
Eitri took it gently, his massive fingers cradling the ring with surprising delicacy. "I'll need some time. Days, maybe. Not long by my reckoning, but long enough to do it properly. Feel free to look around the ring, visit the markets and shops. Just don't be touching anything that looks at ye funny."
"How will I know if something looks at me funny?"
"You'll know, lad. Ye'll know Eitri turned toward his personal forge, the one positioned closest to the star's core where the heat was most intense. "Now leave me to my work! Go on, get! Don't be hovering over my shoulder like a nervous mother bird!"
Jay watched him go, then stood for a moment longer, staring at his empty finger where Tether had rested. The absence felt strange, like missing a tooth or losing a familiar weight.
Then he turned to explore Nidavellir with genuine curiosity.