Chapter 030 – Icy

[2009 – June]

"What kind of trade?", Emma asked intrigued.

"Information for information. I tell you about myself and you tell me about yourself.", I explained.

With a slight smile on her face, Emma replied: "Deal, but you start."

"Fine.", I accepted, before I continued, "My mutation grants me the power to create and manipulate barriers. And as a passive ability, my mind is protected against any kind of intrusion. Let me show a small example. Here."

Creating a small circular-shaped blackish-transparent shield above my palm, I manipulated its shape to surround my glass and lifted it off the table for a few moments.

Setting it down again, I returned it to its original shape before moving it in front of Emma.

"You can try touching it and test its durability.", I invited her.

With an interested glimmer in her eyes, Emma pushed against the small barrier floating in front of her but it didn't budge even a nanometer.

Suddenly her whole body transformed into a cluster of glimmering white gems, as her original flesh was transmuted into ultra-durable organic diamonds.

"Let's try this.", she said, as she once again pushed against the small blackish forcefield, though all she managed to achieve was push herself further away from the table.

"Well, so much for that.", she voiced out as she returned to her normal form and I vanished the barrier.

"You are lucky. You have a great ability, Elijah. With training and enough time, you can definitely reach incredible heights.", Emma praised with a smile before she continued, "My own power is mainly telepathy, where I also reach the Omega category like you do with your barriers. The transformation you just saw, was only a Secondary Mutation I call Organic Diamond Form, which – as you probably guessed – grants me great durability and a bit more strength."

"Seems like a balanced set of abilities.", I remarked honestly.

"It is. But now tell me about you and Jean. Also, to avoid your next question, I am not seeing anybody at the moment.", Emma replied, seeming like a gossipy teenage girl herself.

Smiling involuntarily as my thoughts wandered to Jean, I answered: "I am not sure what to tell you. Jean is … Just Jean, I guess. I am happy and relaxed when I am with her. Most importantly, I can be myself with her. Have you met her before, Emma?"

"No, I haven't. But with how you describe her, she seems like a lovely young lady. And also quite powerful, I hear.", Emma stated with a smile.

"She is very powerful. Could probably turn me into dust with a wave of her hand.", I replied nonchalantly.

"Well, I would love to chat some more, but I have some other things to attend to.", Emma voiced out apologetically, before she stated seriously, "But you have my number. Call me if you need my help, no matter the hour. Also, I will inform you about the time when you can meet with Christian and Cordelia after talking with them."

"I will. And thanks again for the gifts.", I thanked her.

Emma close her eyes for a second before a light-pink portal opened up next to her and she turned towards me. Unexpectedly she gave me a quick hug, as she whispered softly: "Welcome to the family, Elijah."

Not giving me the time to respond, Emma stepped through the portal which vanished right after.

…

Even after only spending a few short minutes with Elijah, Emma couldn't help but be fond of her charming younger brother.

Elijah was confident, collected, intelligent, headstrong, calm, and honest. And while he didn't have the characteristic Frost-look with his wild black locks and green eyes, his handsome face had definitely traces of her elder brother to it.

Emma had to live a long time without her family in the past, or a broken family for that matter, but Elijah's appearance caused her much joy and she hoped to forge a real bond with her headstrong little brother.

All those thoughts were pushed aside though, as soon as she stepped through the portal and appeared in her Hellfire Club office.

Gone was Emma Frost. And the White Queen gave her surroundings an icy stare, as she once again dived into the endless abyss that was the Hellfire Club business.

…

Checking out my new phone for a few minutes, I was greatly pleased by its capabilities. The Marvel Universe's technology was several steps ahead of my old world, so with the right connections and enough money it was easy to enjoy that technology.

Hank himself was a genius scientist, though I trusted Emma more.

It wasn't just because of a gut feeling either. Simple logic told me that Hank's loyalty lay with the Professor first and foremost, while Emma was just looking out for her own benefit and had no reason to sell me out to someone else.

I had no doubt that she wanted to draw me to her side, but her methods were subtle and I didn't feel pressured by her actions.

Charles, on the other hand, was clearly a danger, simply because he believed himself to be right all the time, which was a dangerous characteristic for a man of his influence.

It was already 5.30 pm, when I checked the time again after giving in to my musings for a few minutes.

Jean would probably show up soon so we could have dinner together, though eating with so many people in the same room all the time wasn't really my thing.

It was nice that I didn't have to cook when I was potentially feeling lazy in the future, but the constant background noise made it practically impossible to have a relaxed and peaceful meal.

Deciding to inaugurate my kitchen, I grabbed my jacket, my new phone, and my wallet, before creating a portal and vanishing from the room the next moment.