Chapter 19 : Encounter of the Third kind

Some time ago, I told my parents about my idea of making an artifact to better control my ink. Mom was pretty enthused with the idea because she was always, and still is, fascinated by my power's potential. In her eyes, whether it's the biological change brought on by my mutation, or my magical ink, they're both extremely interesting.

I understand the latter, but… My octopus body ? Mom's got weird quirks. Wonder if she likes octopus or something. When I commented on it, she said that I should accept myself as I was. All of myself. Easy for her to say : she's a beauty. Even though I'm her son, I'm not ashamed to admit it.

In any case, she said that my power being what it was, it should be easy for me to create a pretty awesome artifact. Man, was she wrong ! I've spent all my free time on it, learning to work with metal and glass first in order to make the ring. Problem was… Regular smithing techniques aren't exactly enough to craft an artifact. And neither mom nor dad have learned anything regarding that. Since they're not really interested in the subject, they probably thought it was enough to just forge something and engrave the enchantment in it or something…

If I want a subpar magic item, it is. However, it won't hold under the strain of constant use and it can be broken rather easily… Especially the glass bead. In addition, I'm still, to this day, working on how to phrase the enchantment, or rather to code it in a way that it can do everything I want it to. It's been harder than I thought it would.

For some reason, my ink doesn't… like being defined. It doesn't make any sense even to me, but that's how I feel anyway. It's like… I don't know enough about it to accurately define it and thus, when I try it simply doesn't work. My mom's words from back when she dosed me with hallucinogenics aren't enough either. Probably because I'm not even sure of their full meaning… And my subconscious' supposed to know it ? Right…

Anyway, that's something I'll have to work on my own, since neither my parents nor anyone else can really help me with that. Maybe some kind of seer, or, if it exists, an Alter-human with intel gathering powers.

As I follow my mom and I'm hit with this idea, I rub my hairless chin in thought and mutter :

« Hm… That could make a cool character for my novels. »

People say 'knowledge is power' because it can turn the tides of a battle, prevent tragedies, help make you a rich man… Basically, there's any number of things you can accomplish with knowledge. But… What if your power was to obtain knowledge ?

And then, it hits me ! That's something I can probably do with my ink… Immediately after I think that, I sigh : another thing to add to the list. In my mind, I already labelled it the Book of Answers or the Akashic Tome, but I feel that's too on the nose. As for whether it'll take the shape of a book… Why not ? My whole existence seems to revolve around paper and books. And pens… but that might change in the future !

Mom's taking me in a secluded part of the woods outside New York. She says we're going to meet one of her acquaintances. For some reason however, she doesn't tell who we're gonna meet which makes me anxious. I know that when my parents don't tell me something, the surprise will give me a heart attack !

For instance, they never told me that they were Alters, or that they could do magic. They also didn't tell me that they knew the freaking X-men and I had to suffer the visit of one while I was sick to find that out !

I'm really dreading this next reveal…

Finally, we reach a deserted clearing in the middle of the woods. It's filled with wild flowers and weeds and yet, it's kind of beautiful. Looks like whoever mom's expecting to meet isn't there, yet…

« Gagna ! Are you there ? » Mom calls out.

And instantly, I feel like a fool. Some kind of… misshapen giant suddenly appears out of thin air. Optical camouflage. Or magic. Either way, now that it's there, it's unmistakable : I'm in Marvel. Okay, it already was before, but being faced with a being so clearly alien… it brings you another sense of perspective. 'cause I'm sure it ain't from around here !

As I look at… it, speechless I try to see if it has a gender that I can tell. I think it… she's female. But given the size of her arms and torso, I can't be certain. She does seem to have boobs… But she's also got a beard, so…

With a deep booming and slight female accent, Gagna responds to my mom's call… Only I couldn't understand a lick of it ! It doesn't sound like anything I've heard before either, but since there's hundreds of language on Earths… I can't say I've heard them all.

Glancing my way, mom asks :

« Would it be possible to use All-Speak, my dear friend ? My son won't understand our conversation otherwise… »

« Aye ! Wait… Your son ? You married ? » The bearded giantess looked quite foolish with her wide eyes and half opened mouth. « The Tomboy adventurer witch married ? Truly ? »

Mom blushes a bit at this and says :

« Yeah, well… Unlike you dwarves, we Midgardians are short-lived. We try to make the most of what little time we have in life by maturing and changing quickly over the years. Well, quickly from your points of view anyways… »

« Tomboy. Adventurer. Witch. » I echo on the side. With a smirk I glare teasingly at my mom and say : « I smell a good story. » And then, I tilt my head remembering the term mom used. « Wait, you said Midgardians… Is Gagna a… »

« A dwarf smith from Nidavellir, yes. I've met her after one of my experiment in spatial magic brought me to Vanaheim. Quite the beautiful world, I must say… » She turns to her friend : « Remind me again, what you were doing there ? »

This time, it's the female dwarf's turn to be bashful. It's quite strange seeing such a massive woman avert her eyes and blush like a maiden. The beard doesn't help, either…

In the end, she admits :

« I had heard tales of a mysterious metal found in the northernmost part of some duchy. Apparently, it had been unearthed by an earthquake. I thought it might have been Uru and since I didn't have the right to smelt or forge with it at the time… »

She doesn't finish and I can't say I understand her reasons. Well, she's alien. Maybe it's just something to do with her culture. What's Uru ? Hm… Wasn't it some kind of amazing metal from the Marvelverse ? If I remember right - and I'm pretty sure, I do - Thor's hammer is made of it.

« Hm… Mom, why did you… ahem, invite your friend to Earth ? »

Mom claps her hands as if she suddenly remembers something. Sometimes, I wonder if she's ditzy or if she just likes acting like it… I sure hope she doesn't act like this with her patients.

« Right ! I didn't tell you. »

« Yes, Dana. You've told me it was urgent and that it might interest me greatly. »

Mom nods and gestures towards me :

« Gagna, this is my son, Nathan. Nathan, meet Gagna, my friend from Nidavellir. » We both nod at each other before we turn back to look at mom. « See, Gagna… You've bragged how you were the most accomplished smith of Nidavellir when it came to mundane weaponry. You've also told how you had no talent in runic enchanting. My son's pretty shit at forging but he's got a talent when it comes to enchantments ! I figured the two of you would work well together ! »

My brain freezes and simply refuses to process what my mom said. Actually, I heard that I was 'shit at forging' and I beg to differ ! I've only just started learning ! It's the last part of her speech that doesn't register though. She wants me to… with her ?

« Ah~ ?! » I yell in a typical anime fashion.