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.
The ring station was a marvel of engineering and magic intertwined.
The structure itself shouldn't exist, a ring orbiting a neutron star that should have torn it apart with gravitational tidal forces. Yet it endured, held together by dwarf craft and cosmic will in equal measure.
Shops lined the inner curve of the ring, each one carved directly into the structure itself. They varied wildly in size and purpose, from massive warehouses that could have held starships to tiny stalls barely large enough for their proprietors.
Jay found himself drawn to a toy maker's stall where the proprietor, a dwarf woman with silver hair braided with copper wire, worked on a mechanical dragon no larger than his fist.
The dragon moved with fluid grace that suggested true life rather than clockwork. Its scales were individual pieces of metal so fine they looked like actual reptilian hide. When it spread its wings, flames danced along the edges, real fire controlled by magic so precise it couldn't burn anything the creator didn't intend.
"Beautiful work," Jay said quietly.
The dwarf woman looked up, her eyes sharp and assessing. "Aye, and expensive work too. This wee beastie takes three weeks to forge proper. Every scale individually enchanted and every joint calibrated to move like living muscle. Ye interested?"
Jay's mind had already leapt ahead, imagining Luv's expression when presented with such a wonder.
He purchased three items, each one chosen with care.
A mechanical dinosaur that walked with ponderous steps and roared with a sound like distant thunder.
A puzzle box carved from a single piece of crystal that taught basic runes through solving increasingly complex configurations. The box itself was enchanted to grow with its user, presenting challenges that matched their developing skill.
And finally, a stuffed animal that looked like some kind of wolf. When hugged, it would hum lullabies. The songs changed based on the holder's emotional state, responding to fear or sadness or simple tiredness with different melodies.
The dwarf woman wrapped each item carefully in cloth that wouldn't burn or tear.
"Yer boy's a lucky one," she observed. "Not many fathers put such thought into their gifts."
Jay smiled, genuinely this time. "He's worth it. He's worth everything."
Next came a magic item shop where enchanted household goods filled shelves that seemed to extend far deeper than the stall's physical dimensions should allow. Jay found himself fascinated by the casual way magic had been bent to domestic purposes.
Self-cleaning dishes that repelled all dirt through constant low-level transmutation fields. A Temperature-regulating crystals for climate control that could be attuned to specific preferences and would maintain perfect comfort regardless of external conditions. Even a mirror that could show any location on Earth when properly attuned, useful for checking on properties or loved ones from a distance.
He selected several items, his mind already planning improvements to their base. Making it more comfortable and more livable. A home rather than just a headquarters.
The shopkeeper, an ancient dwarf whose beard dragged on the floor, packed everything into a bag that was clearly bigger on the inside than the outside.
Jay just snapped his fingers and teleported them back to his base, when a massive hand clapped down on his shoulder hard enough to make him stagger.
"Here, your ring's done."
Jay spun around, shocked. "Already?"
Eitri stood there, his expression shifted to something between pride and offense. Soot covered his face, his beard was singed in places, and new burns marked his massive forearms.
"Already?" The Dwarf King's voice carried offense that would have been genuine if not for the pride shining in his eyes. "It's been six hours, boy! And don't ye be questioning my speed or my skill. I'm the King of Dwarves for a reason. When inspiration strikes and the forge runs hot, time becomes... flexible."
"I didn't mean to insult your craftsmanship, Eitri. I just... I thought I'd need to find lodging, wait days."
"Lodging!" Eitri snorted, the sound like a bull preparing to charge. "As if I'd let ye sleep in some common inn when there's work to be done! Now take yer rings before I decide to keep them for myself out of spite!"
He held out two boxes. Small ones, human-sized, made of dark metal that seemed to absorb light.
Jay took them carefully, his enhanced senses immediately detecting the power radiating from within. The metal was warm to the touch, still carrying heat from the forge, and the weight felt significant in a way that had nothing to do with physical mass.
He opened the first box and his breath caught in his throat.
The ring inside was stunning in a way that transcended mere aesthetics.
Black Uru formed the band, but this was Uru that had been worked with impossible skill. The metal seemed to drink in light, absorbing the neutron star's harsh radiance and transforming it into something softer and mysterious. Purple veins shot through the black like lightning as they pulsed with a rhythm.
Violet and white runes covered every surface, carved so fine they seemed painted rather than etched. Jay's enhanced vision could barely make them out, symbols that existed at the very edge of perception. They spoke of endings and beginnings, of the cycle that death represented rather than simple termination. Of rest after labor, peace after struggle, the final mercy that came to all living things.
The overall aesthetic leaned feminine, artistic and beautiful in a way that made Jay's chest tight with emotion he couldn't quite name. This wasn't just any weapon or tool. This was art.
"Elegance," Eitri said quietly, his voice stripped of its usual bombast as pride colored every syllable. "A ring worthy of housing Death itself. And more importantly, worthy of the ONE who'll wield it. Yer muse, aye?"
Jay's throat worked, emotion threatening to overwhelm him. "It's perfect. Eitri, this is... you've outdone yourself."
"Of course I have. I'm Eitri the Dwarf King, master of forge and flame. I don't know how to make anything less than perfect. This ring shall be named Mercy." The pride in his voice was immense, but so was the genuine affection. "Now open the other one before ye make this old dwarf blush."
Jay set the first box aside with reverence, treating it like the precious thing it was. His hands trembled slightly as he opened the second box.
Inside lay Tether, but transformed.
Where before it had held a single chamber for the Space Stone, now it held six chambers arranged around the band like jewels in a crown. The Space Stone sat at the top position, gleaming blue with contained infinity. The other five chambers were empty, waiting, each one carved with runes specific to different cosmic forces.
As Jay slipped the ring onto his finger, it shifted. The band flowed like liquid metal, spreading across his wrist and converting into a watch in an organic movement. The transformation took perhaps two seconds, and the final form fit perfectly, as if it had been designed for his wrist specifically.
Six faces showed around the watch's circumference. The Space Stone occupied the primary position at twelve o'clock, its blue light pulsing with his heartbeat. The rest sat empty, potential made manifest in the form of waiting chambers.
Mind. Soul. Time. Reality. Power.
The words weren't written, but Jay knew them anyway, read them in the runes' subtle variations and the way they resonated with different frequencies.
"What..." Jay's voice came out strangled. "Eitri, I didn't ask for this."
"Aye, consider it a service," the Dwarf King said gruffly. ""I know people like ye, lad. People touched by destiny and cosmic forces. Ye don't settle. Ye can't settle, even when ye want to. The universe itself won't let ye."
He gestured at the watch with one massive and freshly scarred hand.
"I don't know if ye'll collect all the Infinity Stones. I don't pretend to see the future or read fate's designs. But I know ye well enough to anticipate. If the opportunity comes, if the need arises, ye'll find yerself drawn to them whether ye mean to or not. Better to have the tool ready when the need is desperate."
Jay wanted to refuse, to explain he'd found his peace, his perfect family, that he didn't need more power. That he was done collecting ppowers like some kind of mad dragon hoarding treasures.
But looking at Eitri's face, at the pride and genuine concern mixing in his ancient eyes, and the craftsmanship that had gone into this modification, he couldn't find the words to reject it.
Instead, he nodded slowly in acceptance and gratitude.
Then he snapped his fingers.
Blue light materialized tons upon tons of Antarctic Vibranium ingots on the platform. The metal gleamed purple-black in the neutron star's light.
"Here. Think of this as Payment." Jay's voice carried genuine happiness for Eitri's sake, pushing aside his own complicated feelings about the watch. "Just don't bring it near other metals before you've experim…."
Before Jay could complete his sentence, Eitri had already dropped to his knees, his massive form hitting the platform with enough force to make it ring like a struck bell. His hands ran over the ingots with reverence.
He lifted one ingot, testing its weight with the practiced ease. Brought it to his nose and inhaled deeply, processing information through senses humans didn't possess. Then, to Jay's horror and amusement, licked it with a tongue the size of a serving platter.
"A variant of Vibranium," Eitri breathed, his eyes going distant as his enhanced senses processed what they were telling him. "But fundamentally different from the Wakandan metal in crystalline structure and properties. Seems to have anti-metal properties based on its rhythm. Melting point of 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit, but the anti-metal effect seems to activate at room temperature when in contact with other metals."
His grin widened impossibly, transforming his soot-covered face into something almost childlike in its joy.
"Can liquefy any known metal through sympathetic vibration alone. The resonance frequency matches..." He paused, calculations running behind his eyes. "Matches the fundamental harmonic of iron's atomic structure. And it's completely unique in how its crystalline lattice channels vibration. I could forge..." His voice trailed off into wonder. "Oh, the things I could forge..."
Jay couldn't help but smile, genuine warmth flooding through him. This was the man who'd designed Mjolnir, Gungnir, and the Infinity Gauntlet itself. Of course, he'd recognize Antarctic Vibranium on contact and immediately see its potential.
"This payment is more than adequate," Eitri said, still not looking up from the ingots. His hands were already sorting them by size and purity, his mind clearly racing ahead to potential projects. "Now go. Leave. Shoo! I'm absolutely agitated to experiment and create with this unique metal. Don't be distracting me further or I might charge ye for wasting my time!"
Jay laughed, the sound echoing across the platform and mixing with the distant CLANG CLANG CLANG of hammers.
"Farewell, Eitri," Jay said, genuine affection coloring his voice. "And thank you. For everything. For the rings, for the wisdom and especially for your friendship."
"Yes, yes, farewell, goodbye, may yer forges burn bright and yer enemies burn brighter!" Eitri waved him off absently, already heading toward his personal forge with an armload of ingots. The purple-black metal gleamed against his dark skin, and his expression carried a child's excitement to finding a new toy. "Now GO before I change my mind about letting ye leave with both rings!"
Jay smiled at the Dwarf King's enthusiasm.
He focused on his wrist. The watch responded to his will, converting back to ring form with liquid grace. Tether gleamed on his finger, familiar and yet completely new.
He thought about his destination, letting his enhanced mind reach out across the cosmos with senses that could perceive things mortal consciousness wasn't meant to comprehend.
[Image Here]
"Time to face the manifestation of the universe, huh?"
Rainbow light of Bifrost erupted around him. The Gates of Eternity responding to his intention, opening pathways that connected all points in space and time to the center where everything began and ended.
Colors that had no names flashed past. Dimensions folded and unfolded like origami. The concept of distance became meaningless as he traveled not through space but through the very idea of space itself.
Nidavellir vanished in a cascade of light and possibility.
"Time to meet Eternity himself."