Chapter Text
"Master of chains…?"
Warm sunlight dappled across Wolverine's sleeping face. Cracking open his eyes, he stared up into the fuzzy outline of a tall tree looming over him, bright green leaves, a blue sky…
"Hrrgh?"
There were voices speaking nearby.
"... mmm… no. Chains and webs are very different. Chains are like an actual lethal weapon. Save that page though; I think I know one of those guys."
He recognized that voice. Before he was even fully awake, the casual cadence told the mutant there was nothing to worry about. He could wake at his own pace.
"Oh! How about an urban savant? I'm a nerd; I'm from a city."
"Hm, you really do have many of the qualities, but I don't think that's right. The combat style is all wrong. That class is almost completely support."
"Arachnomancer?" offered a third voice.
"Oh, IknowI didn't just hear the suffix mancer. I can barely cast a catalyst spell, what part about me is a mancer?"
There was some laughter.
With a deep snort, Wolverine finally woke. Pushing himself up he saw he was on his sleeping bag, laid out beneath the shade of a tree on a hot summer's day. He looked over to see Wyn, Boksee, and Spider-man. They were sat around in the grass trading co*ck back and forth and shooting the breeze.
They noticed him getting up and went quiet.
Wolverine gave them a look.
"What?" he grunted.
With a groan, he pushed himself to his feet and stretched with a loud metallic pop.
"Don't stop on my account."
The party shared a sigh of relief.
"Morning Wolvie," said Spider-man cheerfully.
"Is it mornin'?" he asked shielding his eyes to look at the sky and walking over. "How long was I out?"
"Since last night. It'll be evening soon," said Wyn.
"What‽ We've lost an entire day? You should'a just woke me up."
"You needed the sleep. Besides, Nih and Spidey needed a rest day too."
"Yo," said Spider-man.
"Oh, right. Kid, how you doin'?"
"Fine actually."
He was lounging about in his civies, his costume strung between the trees to dry, three large slash marks hanging open in his shirt. Pulling up the tunic he was wearing, Peter revealed three dark pink, but fully closed claw marks on his lower side.
"Yeesh."
"Can you not go a week without letting a quart of blood?" chided Boksee.
"I live a demanding lifestyle," said Peter feigning offence. "Wanna sign these for me?" he asked Logan. "Then again, I think this is already your signature," he said motioning to the three parallel claw marks.
"Yah, my signature alright."
"Wyn and I are twinsies now. She won't show me, but she says you signed her too."
"What‽ When did I do that?"
"When we took out Summer," she said neutrally.
"Oh," he said remembering.
"It was an accident in the heat of battle. I didn't take it nearly as deep as Web's took it…"
"Phrasing," said Spider-man.
"…More like bad scratches, so the scars, um, they aren't too noticeable."
Wolverine was still wearing a face of repugnance.
"Yah, what you should be apologizing for is throttling the poor lass," scolded Boksee. "You nearly crushed her windpipe."
"It…wasn't that bad," said Wyn.
"Right," he said, shame leaking into his gravelly voice. "Ain't sure what I can say but sorry. You two alright?"
"We had to take our health potions, but we're alright. And you?"
"Fine."
"Just three new scars," said Peter. "That's a set of twins and a set of triplets now, at least according to your dad," he said to Boksee. "Must be something in the water."
"By thunder, you're going to be covered in those things at this rate," she replied.
"I already am. I just scar well."
He rolled up his shirt higher to show that his boob hole scar was now just barely visible.
She poked it.
"I've got a katana around here somewhere," he went on, looking around his stomach. "I don't even know how many bullets I've taken. There's one here in my shoulder, down here, on my hand. That day was stupid. Wait you don't know what a bullet is. Oh! I've got a vampire bite," he said pulling down his collar and aiming his neck at her.
"You were bitten by a vampire‽"
"Yah, but I'm good. I got morbed."
"Where's elf boy?" interrupted Wolverine.
"In the woods. He's sucking up plant magic, or photosynthesizing, or doing whatever druids do," answered Spider-man. "Probably turning into a mushroom."
"Mrm."
"He pretty much sapped himself dry last night trying to overpower you. He only just woke up like an hour ago. Uh, Wolvie listen. About last night…"
Wolverine turned to him.
"I, we just wanted to say we were sorry. We shouldn't have forced that on you."
The women shared the sentiment.
Wolverine took a second to think it over, then he shrugged.
"Eh," he grunted. "We're just lucky no one died. Can't blame you for trying to minimalize the fatalities. In your shoes, I probably would've done the same thing. On a different day you might've been right. Let's move on."
The party nodded.
"Do that again though and I'll kick your ass," he snarked earning a few chuckles. Then he lumbered past them toward the woods.
"Hey, where are you going?" asked Wyn.
"To find elf boy," he said whacking his way past Spider-man's laundry. "I gotta kick his ass in particular."
They watched his broad back disappear into the underbrush.
"So much for letting things go," she snarked.
"Thatishim letting things go," smiled Peter cheerful.
Following the scent of the dark elf, Wolverine was led down to a ravine. It was a deep part of the forest, a place where sunlight dripped through the branches like dew, and every surface was carpeted with moss and ferns.
Nih was sat before a burbling stream in a ring of mushrooms. He didn't seem to notice him approaching.
Stomping right through the site of forest tranquility, Wolverine walked up behind him and whacked him on the back of the head.
"GAH!"
The elf startled, leaping to his feet and whipping around. He straightened and recomposed himself when he saw who had hit him.
Wolverine crossed his arms and gave him a scowl.
Nih returned it with a cold glare.
"You nearly killed two party members," he said flatly.
"Yep," Logan agreed. "That's why you only get a slap."
"Have you reached your catharsis then?"
"Mmmm, f*ck you, you pointy eared sh*t. Now I'm done."
"Glad to hear it."
"So, you got your chakras realigned or whatever?" asked Wolverine moving on. "Heard I was a bit too much for you to handle last night," he said with a self-satisfied grin.
Nih raised an eyebrow at him.
"If you are referring to restoring my mana, then yes, I've recovered well enough. If you weren't then I'm afraid I have no idea," he said starting out of the ravine. "You were indeed far more than I expected last night, though, I highly doubt this is the first time you've heard as such on a following morning," the elf smirked as he walked past.
"Ya' got that right elf boy."
The two chatted casually as they headed back to camp.
Though no one said anything, the party breathed another sigh of relief when they saw their teammates re-emerge from the woods on good terms.
"Good, I was hoping to speak to everyone," said Wyn.
"Hey Wolvie," said Peter. "We've been going through co*ck and there's a class in here called master of chains. Chain binding, lashing, spikes, scare ability," he paraphrased. "That's totally Ghost Rider right?"
"Is that what you wanted to talk about?" asked Logan.
"No," said Wyn. "But do you know one of those?" she asked distractedly interested.
"Yah, sounds 'bout right."
"See," said Peter.
"Does he have any similarities to Spider-man?"
The mutant snorted.
"Not a one. Keep lookin' tuts."
She raspberried.
While Wyn put co*ck away, Wolverine and Nih sat to join the party.
"Well," she said sitting back up and clasping her hands in a stately declaration. "That was, that was certainly an event."
"No kidding."
"The three of us have been talking, about our next move, and it seems to us our best option is to stay the course and continue toward Plieya."
Nih and Logan waited for explanation.
"At least one season is aware of our presence, they sent an assassin after us, and if that really was some sort of construct of Winter, she's met us as well. I know we don't know anything for sure, but it really did seem like she wanted us to follow her. Trap or not, as far as we know, there's nothing stopping her from trying to contact us again if we don't comply."
"Or doing something worse," added Boksee. "We figure keeping you from sleeping wasn't even the goal," she said to Wolverine. "What could she do if she actually wanted to do some damage?"
He and Nih nodded.
"There's nothing stopping them from hiring more assassins either," continued Wyn. "Both parties are in play now. We will confront the seasons' chronomancer one way or the other. It might as well be on our terms."
"Agreed there," said Logan.
"Who knows," said Spider-man. "I was able to talk to her. Maybe she can be reasoned with. We think she might have had something to do with us getting here, right? We can't question her if we aim for the head from the word go."
"Right," said Wyn unconvinced. "But you understand Spider-man, if she does turn hostile, we can't afford to hesitate."
He didn't respond.
"We must prepare for the worst," said the silver rank firmly. "We met Spring by accident, and we were grossly underprepared for Summer. This time we have an edge. We've managed to learn about our foe; the evidence is pointing toward her being a chronomancer. So now we need to learn about chronomancy itself. We need to understand what chronomancy is capable of, and more crucially, develop counter measures."
"How do you counter someone who can control time?" asked Spider-man.
"That's what we need to figure out."
"But no really, if someone can control time you literally can't do anything about it," he argued. "If we got close to defeating her, she could just reset time so we weren't. What if we've alreadybeenreset? How would we know?"
"I believe you are vastly overestimating a chronomancer's abilities," said Nih.
"Hey, I'm the one that best understands time as a fundamental concept. I figured out what we were looking at last night."
"Half way," grunted Logan.
"Yes," answered Wyn. "But your grasp on magic is… tenuous. And that's coming from someone who can't cast a single spell."
"Oh come on, why does the exorcism not count?" asked Spider-man annoyed.
"Because it's a rite," said Boksee. "She's not using her own mana; she's getting a freebie from the divine."
"A freebie‽" snapped Wyn. "Do you know the hours of study and trials one must fulfill to earn each rite‽ I had to strip bare and spend a week atop a mountain with nothing but a dagger and a prayer just to earn my holy symbol."
"Well don't go giving the males too good a story," smirked Boksee. "Her panties in a bunch or not, it proves Ms. Paladin's point. It's one thing to recognize the rain when it falls on your nose, it's another thing to summon the clouds."
Spider-man huffed.
"There are even few gods with the level of power you're describing," said Wyn.
"Think of it like me," said Nih. "I can move the ground, but I don't have the power to erect a mountain wherever I choose. I can make plants grow, true. That does not mean I can cover all of reality with foliage. I have very specific skills I have trained and a limited amount of mana I can use to perform them. A chronomancer can manipulate aspects of time, but that does not mean they can will all the universe's time to their bidding."
"I guess that makes sense," said Peter leaning on a hand. "So, what does limited time manipulation look like?"
"That's what we need to figure out," repeated Wyn.
"We know one thing already," said Logan. "Ol' Winter can send some hideous reflections of herself across… uh."
"Spacetime," finished Spider-man.
"Right, spacetime. What's even the f*ckin' difference? Why do we have to add time? Wasn't that thing she sent me just across space?"
"That's another good question. Why was she just latching onto you?" asked Boksee.
"I guess we can try to ask her," said Spider-man. "Anyway, her audio time was all messed up, so I think it's fair. Besides, everything is technically in spacetime. See the spacetime continuum is the four-dimensional model while space by itself is only three dimensional. It's important to understand that when dealing with any sort of relativism in mathematics, and also it's just common sense. Without the time in spacetime, nothing in space could ever do anything; it would stay the same. An apple can't fall from a tree unless it's also moving across time. Well unless you're dealing with quantum mechanics, but I don't want to. Oh, and I guess there's also…"
"f*ck, forget I asked," barked Logan shutting him up.
"You did ask," smirked Boksee.
"I said forget it."
"I do appreciate that you're familiar with the subject Webs," said Wyn. "Even if it doesn't tell us what she could realistically do, I'm sure your knowledge will be very useful in understanding chronomancy."
"But that raises the question," said Boksee. "Where by thunder does one go to learn about chronomancy? It's not like a local library is going to have a book on it."
"That's true," said Wyn pondering. "And I don't believe there are any universities or colleges within a thousand miles who may teach such a thing. Not that we have the credentials to enter the curriculum in any case."
"Mages' colleges guard their arcane knowledge with great prejudice," said Nih.
"Fair," said Peter. "Plus, I'm already a fake potion student. I can't be a fake magic student on top of that. The fake tuition would kill me."
As the team puzzled, they saw the dark elf's ear twitch. He and Logan both turned and were surprised as a group of elves randomly stepped out of the woods.
Four of the elves looked battle ready and the fifth, the leader, still armed, was wearing a traveler's ensemble.
The party of elves and the party of sitting adventurers were suddenly staring at each other in mutual confusion.
"The drow druid," said the lead elf surprised. "Alaefriend."
"Lafarallin," said Nih equally but pleasantly surprised. "Alae."
The rest of the Far Marvels looked back and forth between the two elves.
"Are you leading a pilgrimage?" asked Nih.
"I am. And I see you are with an adventuring party."
"Indeed."
One of the new guy's warriors spoke to him in elvish. He replied with a nod.
"There have been encounters with barbarism on this road," continued the lead elf to Nih. "If it's not of inconvenience, may my pilgrimage join you for the night? Five more friendly blades would be appreciated, and of course we'd be happy to share provisions."
Before the rest of the Far Marvels had even caught up with what was going on, Nih answered for them.
"Of course friend," he said with his usual cool grin. "It would be our pleasure."
Dozens upon dozens of elves flooded into the clearing. Tents were thrown up, fires were started, and the sound of lute and woodwinds filled the air as joyful groups danced and sang. The adventurers were stood to the side, jaws hung open in confusion.
"What just happened?" asked Peter.
"We've been surrounded," grunted Logan. "By elves."
"High elves to be exact," said Nih unbothered.
"Would you like to explain what's going on here elf boy?" said Boksee.
"Perhaps not the best term of endearment considering the current company," replied Nih slily. "This is an elvish pilgrimage. They're quite common. There are several small elvish kingdoms to the east and an important historical sight further south. Pilgrimages often take the long way up and around the north since Strana is on friendlier terms with their kingdoms than they're direct southern neighbors."
"Right, but why are they camping with us?" hissed Boksee out the side of her mouth.
"We could always use more friendly bodies. There's safety in numbers, is there not?"
"You could have asked," said Wyn raising an eyebrow.
"There are not that many elvish families in Strana," Nih whispered flatly. "I'd like to keep on good terms with them all."
"Oh…"
"You could've led with that," whispered Logan with a smirk.
"That you could. Ugh, very well. I guess we're entertaining the elvish tonight," said Boksee. "At least it'll give me a chance to talk to some. I told you, before Nih, I had ne'er even encountered a proper elf."
"What is an improper elf?" asked Wyn.
Suddenly a tipsy group of she-elves, one with a bottle still in her hand, galloped toward Boksee.
"Hafling!"
"HUH? What‽" she cried startling back.
"You are a ranger, yes?"
"Yes?"
"Come! Let us run with the deer through the understory and leap with the sparrow through the trees! We will make even the god of the hunt envious of our prowess!" declared one pulling a bow from her back. Her entire group followed suit.
"Oh!" exclaimed Boksee. "Ok! Aye!" She declared pulling her own bow, her face beaming. In a chorus of laughter, and without another word, Boksee and her new elves ran off into the woods.
"Well… that was sudden," said Peter.
"Good for her," said Logan.
An elvish child ran up to Wyn.
"Oh, hello," she said surprised, then turned to Nih. "I didn't know the pilgrimages included children."
"Yes, it's an important custom for a certain age."
"I've never even seen an elf chil-"
"Are you a knight?" demanded the elfling interrupting them. She looked about six by man standards, or was it a he?
"I'm a paladin."
"What's that?"
More children suddenly circled Wyn, much to her befuddlement.
"Oh, um, well I am an adventurer who specializes in…"
"An adventurer!" one shouted. They were all suddenly talking over each other.
"Tell us of your adventurers!"
"Is that a mace?"
"Why do you have so much armor?"
"Are you a girl?"
"Well…" started Wyn obviously straining to smile as the hoard of rosy cheeked, pointy eared youngsters bounced around her excitedly.
"Are you a she-man?"
"Innil said I'm forty-eight in man years. Am I older than you?"
"Are you sad todie?"
Wyn went rigid with shellshock as she was dragged off by the entirety of the pilgrimage's children. She looked back at the males for help but they could recognize a lost cause. And just like that, she was gone.
"And that was terrifying," said Peter.
Logan smirked.
"Thought it was cute."
"That's because no kid actually wants to talk to you."
Peter webbed over his cloak and threw it on, pulling the hood.
"What? Feelin' antisocial? Figured you'd be a wiz with kids, ya' know, since you're practically still in diapers," jeered Logan.
"I like kids just fine, but experience has taught me to be nervous around large groups of them. I'm a menace, but a menace who's surprisingly popular with children."
"You ain't even in costume."
"They can smell it," he whispered.
They looked over to see the elflings were play fighting with sticks, whacking them against Wyn's armor as she stood sourly.
"It could've been me."
Left with just the males, Spider-man stood quietly to the side and people watched. He noticed the lead elf they had first met directing a few warriors. Like all of the elves around them, sans Nih, he was tall and slender, though again not as tall as Nih, with delicate elongated features and a sort of glowing golden complexion. It wasn't outlandish, but it had a sort of shimmer, or maybe just an aura, that he had never seen on any human. The lead elf was sporting a brassy ponytail, but other metallic hair colors like gold, silver, and bronze seemed equally as common.
"So, you know that guy?" asked Peter.
"Yes. That is Lafarallin of Wenig," replied Nih. "Wenig is in Strana," he added.
"Laffy, got it."
"Like myself, he's a bit of a nomad, making his living in the summer months by guiding the pilgrimages. Of course, many elves I don't know at all would recognizeme," he said with a knowing grin.
"That is true," said the very elf walking up to join them. He didn't seem at all put off that they were talking about him. "A drow druid like Nihlael is quite the unusual acquaintance, within the borders of Strana or not."
"And what's a drow?" asked Logan.
"Me," said Nih. "I'm a drow. That is what dark elves are called amongst the elvish."
"A'ight."
"Alas, I don't recognize you though," Laffy said turning to Peter.
"Huh?"
"Were you born in this country?" he asked him pleasantly. "And if you don't mind me asking, are you elf born or man born?"
Spider-man and Wolverine's mouths both dropped open, but Logan's quickly spread into a grin.
"Uhhhh…" said Peter.
Nih was also grinning.
Wordlessly, he pulled Peter's hood down and twisted his head to the side.
"Oh by the divine! You're just a man," exclaimed Laffy. "I am incredibly sorry."
"Don't be, he gets it all the time," said Logan practically giddy.
"Once is not all the time," snapped Peter.
"Twice."
"I honestly thought you werecha'tel'quessir," said Laffy.
"What?"
"A half elf," translated Nih. "I also thought he was elvish," he said to his friend. "Though he was masked at the time so I have a bit more of an excuse."
"The things you see on the road. Well, if you'll excuse me."
Laffy gave the three of them a nod and went to do something else.
Peter waited until he was out of ear shot, then he threw his face into his hands.
"Ohhh," he groaned.
"What's wrong my snail ears?" asked Nih enjoying himself.
"What's wrong? What guy wants to be confused for an elf?" he whisper shouted, though it didn't seem to help as many elves still side eyed him to eavesdrop.
"What's wrong with being an elf?" asked Nih smirking.
"Oh! Um, well nothing" he stumbled. "Nothing if youarean elf. What if everyone kept thinking you were an orc or something?"
"Hrm," said the druid thinking.
Night had fallen, but the pilgrimage was showing no signs of settling down, not that that was a problem. An elvish gathering, even one involving alcohol, was hardly a racket.
Wyn managed to escape the elflings and regrouped with the rest of the party. A flower crown was on her head and a disturbing effigy of herself made from sticks and an apple was hung around her neck.
They gave her a look.
"The children insisted I wear it," she said sourly.
"Daw," growled Logan.
"You know," said Boksee. "I was a bit put off by this at first but I think I'm coming around. This is nice."
"You have an arrow in your side pack," said Wyn.
"Huh? Whoops!" she exclaimed quickly yanking it out. "We were wondering where Poealenana's missing shot landed," she laughed, then she groaned. "Oh blow me." There was a quarter inch hole ripped into the leather.
"Count yourself lucky it wasn't your back."
"Yah, that sucks," said Spider-man. "I can patch that up for you," he offered. "I've got to break out the sewing kit anyway."
"Bless your spinning fingers Aranea."
"Are you seriously still floating that idea around?"
"Hey, just because lycanthropy's been ruled out, doesn't mean shapeshifting spider is off the table," she said giving him a look. "You know, unless someone wants to explain what he is plain."
"I'll go over it, I promise."
Logan was grinning.
"Nah, that one's just a half elf."
"What?" asked Wyn.
"Tell ya' later tuts."
"Speaking of our current company, I've been thinking," said Nih. "The Isal Shanta Market is not too far away. It may be a long shot, but seeing as there are merchants there from distant lands, there may be someone dealing in advanced magical resources."
"Oh, I hadn't even thought about that," said Wyn excited. "And that should only be a day or so out of our way, so it's no great loss if we come up empty handed."
"We've got an elf so that works," said Boksee.
"I think it's worth a try, if no one has any objections."
"What's the Isal Shanta Market?" asked Peter. "Anything special?"
"It's pretty much the closest thing Strana has to an elvish settlement."
"A resting place, market, and general hub of hospitality for the pilgrimages," said Nih.
"That sounds cool. I'd like to see some elf stuff."
Logan shrugged.
"Might as well."
"Very good. Then if you will excuse me, I need to go make some trades," said Nih quickly walking off.
After a pleasant evening and a sound night amongst the elves, the Far Marvels and the pilgrimage said their goodbyes and headed in opposite directions.
"Ok. Where to start?" said Spider-man.
The party was chatting as they continued their walk down the endless road, now heading toward the Isal Shanta Market.
"I guess I'll try to explain genetics. Ok. So inside all of us there is… oh jeeze you don't even know what code is. There's a book."
"A book?" asked Wyn.
"Yes, a metaphorical book. Inside this book is written everything there is about us."
"Like our life stories?" asked Boksee.
"No, our physical bodies. Like in Boksee's book its written that she'll only grow to be four foot."
"That bastard."
"In Wyn's it says she has lavender hair. Nih's might say he doesn't like the taste of coriander, I don't know. Everything there is about the way our bodies are built is written in that book."
"What is the book really?" asked Wyn. "Unmetaphorically."
"Our genome."
The group gave him a confused look.
"Yah, you all don't know what that is. Back to the metaphors. Anyway, each…sentencein this book is a trait we'll have. In Wyn's book there is a specific sentence that says 'she will have lavender hair'," he said doing air quotes. "Metaphorically. Does that make sense?"
The party shrugged.
"Half the sentences in our book are copied from our mom's book and half from our dad's. They all get mixed together to make a new book."
"That wouldn't make anything legible," said Wyn.
"The book is very good at organizing itself. It's legible. Anyway, very rarely, when someone's book is getting written there's an error, a change."
"I thought you just said the book is very good at organizing itself," said Boksee.
"It is, but nothing in nature is perfect. A sentence or word might get written wrong, it might be missing, an additional sentence from neither of the parents gets written in. That is what we call a mutation. It's a natural part of life. In our world, there's this weird phenomenon where all kinds of people from all around the world get the same sentence added into their books. We don't know why. This sentence is uniquely powerful. Let's call itsentence X. When sentence X shows up in someone's book, they are born with incredible abilities and abnormalities. These people, people specifically mutated by sentence X are called mutants. And that's what Wolverine is," he said in conclusion.
"Ohhh…" said the party unsure.
"That was… complicated," said Boksee.
"I didn't even scratch the surface, not even close. Do you see why we didn't bother going into detail?"
"Yah. So are all mutants like Wolverine then? Like, do people confuse them for lycanthropes?"
"Oh no. It's one of the great modern mysteries how a single ge-sentence can have such drastic expressions from person to person. Some mutants are born as powerful telepaths. Some are born with the power to fly or even control the weather. That's crazy right? What biological structure makes it possible to control weather?"
"Don't know. Ain't willin' to put anyone under the knife to find out," grunted Logan.
"Truth. Anyway, and some mutants just draw the short straw and are born as feral wolf men like Mr.Howlett over there," sassed Peter. "Emphasis on the howl."
"Yah, we got that Mr.Parkour."
"My name's not a pun!"
"So, what are you then?" asked Wyn interrupting. "You said you were something different, right?"
"Yep. I'm something very different. Basically, my book was just a normal human book when I was born."
"So you say," said Logan.
"What's that supposed to mean? Anyway, uh…" he said having to think for a moment. "Long story short, there was an accident that mixed a bunch of sentences from a spider's book into mine. It happened when I was a teenager, so I wasn't born this way."
"The book can be altered while you're alive?" asked Wyn.
"Yah, artificially. Since you guys love bringing up lycanthropes so much, that's a good example. Being bitten by a werewolf, or even being turned into a drider are instances of someone getting their book rewritten."
"But you're not a lycanthrope."
"No."
"Are you cursed?" asked Boksee.
"Only metaphorically. In our world, people who get their books unnaturally altered during their lifetimes are called 'mutates', even if that's grammatically incorrect. And that's what I am."
"So, spider men aren't an actual people then?" asked Nih. "Not like beast folk are, centaurs, fauns, lizardmen?"
"No."
"You keep saying you were made by accident," said Wyn. "How by the divine do you accidentally get your book re-written?"
"In the same way the seasons accidentally unleash fae demons, I guess. People experiment with powers beyond their control or understanding, and there are unforeseen consequences. I wasn't the one experimenting. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"It's hard to believe someone as remarkable as you could have just been thrown together by mistake."
"Aw shucks," he said putting on an accent.
"No, I'm serious. Maybe that's just what you thought happened."
"Heh?"
"Yah, you're probably still a tossed demigod or something and you just don't know it," theorized Boksee. "Like, the accident just unleashed your latent godhood."
"Um, what?"
Logan started laughing, anyone's guess why.
"I like to think he's the descendent of some sort of corrupted fae entity," said Nih smiling. "That would make us very distant relations."
"Ok I think you all are hyping me up way too much. Wolvie's the immortal over there."
"Yah, but his story checks out," said Boksee. "That's fine."
"What? How‽" demanded Peter. "How is he any more believable than me?"
The party chuckled.
"Regardless," said Wyn. "Thank you for trying to explain all that. We still might not understand, but we greatly appreciate the effort."
"Eh, no problem. I can try to explain whatever you guys like when there's time. Like I said, we aren't trying to keep anything from you. There's just such a wide culture gap it's hard to know where to start."
It was midday by the time they reached the market, and it certainly wasn't like any market Wolverine or Spider-man had ever seen.
Tall walls of wood and stone circled around the top of a large hill, almost like the stoney peak of a forested mountain. It was both an elegant structure, and a defensible one. Deceptively beautiful crenelations, machicolations, and arrow slits were built like a crown around the outer ring. Even with both pairs of gates open and the draw bridge lowered, due to the angle of the high hill, the adventurers couldn't see anything inside, save the canopy of tall evergreens growing out the top of it. The outer gates were flanked by a pair of elvish guards.
The Far Marvels were gathered by an old stone fence in a secluded clearing, Isal Shanta still visible, looming beyond the trees.
"Alright Nih," said Wyn handing him a piece of parchment and a large sack of the party's shared coin. "Added up here's five gold. Along with anything you can find on chronomancy, we need two health potions, Boksee needs some salt…" she started to list.
"Wait, are we not going in?" asked Peter.
"Men aren't really welcomed in there," answered Boksee shrugging.
"Oh," he said disappointed.
That's partially true," said Nih. "A man wouldn't be turned away solely because he was a man, but an elf, even a drow, would certainly be able to move with more discretion. They are right in that it would be best for the men to wait outside."
"Oh, um, ok."
"However," continued the drow with a sudden evil gleam in his eye. "I'm sure no one would be overly suspicious of ahalf elf."
Spider-man's face dropped open as the rest of the team turned to him with dawning realization.
"You son of a bitch you planned this!" laughed Wolverine as Nih presented the youngest man with some elvish clothes.
"I did."
"Ok seriously, what about me is screaming elf?" demanded Peter. "What's more elfy about me than, like, Wyn?"
"I told you my snail ears," grinned the dark elf. "You have a certain grace about you, a nimbleness. I suspect it is your arachnid heritage but who would know that? A svelte figure, youthful face, soft-spoken voice, and quite the little devilish streak, those are all very elvish characteristics."
"Ugghhhh."
Nih aimed the clothes at him again.
"Uuuuuuuugggghhhh…" he groaned louder but took them. He started getting dressed.
"Hey, but this is good. You wanted to see inside right?" said Boksee.
"Don't bring up the monkey's paw in this."
He was wearing underwear so he didn't mind stripping down and throwing on the new stuff.
"Alright no one judge the braies."
"It's a good color on you," smirked Boksee.
"You know, it actually is," agreed Wyn as he stuffed himself into an underlayer of forest greens and browns.
"Yah, really brings out youreyes," jeered Logan.
"Hey! I didn't make one crack about everyone in Little Monds thinking you were a half dwarf!" snapped Peter half a leg in his new tights.
Wolverine's smiled dropped off his face.
"Sorry Pete. I hope it's not too much trouble," said Wyn. "Youarethe one with the most understanding of time. It would be better if you could go with him, right?"
"You're just saying that," he snarked.
"Yah I kind of am."
The women burst into snickers as Peter stuck his tongue out at them. He finished his first layer and was handed a thin overcoat.
"It might be a little warm for the weather. I apologize," said Nih.
"It's fine," he grumbled already having resigned himself. It was a more vibrant green with gold embroidery, and it was so long, (down to his shins) that it might as well have been a set of robes, (or maybe a dress), with long belled sleeves. He threw it on and buttoned himself in.
"You can dress very quickly," said Wyn.
"Class trait. Is that it then?"
Nih handed him a long piece of white fabric.
"Is this a veil?" he asked looking it over.
"Looks more like a wimple."
"It's a common head dressing for both sexes," explained Nih. "And one that should do well to hide a pair of little snail ears."
"Uhg."
It was basically just a flowy cloth that hung down over his head, only leaving his face exposed. There were slits in the sides were presumably a real elf would stick the tips of his ears, but they were thin enough that they didn't give him away.
Nih slid a humble metal diadem around his forehead to keep it all in place.
"Now is that it?" asked Spider-man. "How do I look?"
The dark elf made some final adjustments, straightening out his seams and sinching the overcoat particularly tight at the waist. With a final hard yank, he stepped back.
"There."
"Wow. Webs I'm not going to lie. I actually could believe you were an elf in that thing," said Wyn as the party took in the sight of him.
"He's a bit square in the jaw," said Boksee.
"Ain't got the right eye and nose shape," added Logan.
"Fine. I could believe he was a half elf."
"As could I," said Nih smug.
The disgraced superhero gave them all a look.
"I will get my revenge on you all," he declared flatly.
"And we'll deserve it," agreed Boksee.
The team burst into snickers as Spider-man pulled off some crumbling wall and lazily pelted them with it.
"Hey, I don't know what elves got to drink but get me somethin' good. Mine's almost out," said Wolverine handing Nih some coins.
The pair was ready to depart.
"Alright," said Peter fussing with the unfamiliar clothing. "I guess we'll be back."
"We'll be here," said Boksee.
Leaving the rest of the party by the stone wall, Nih and Spider-man headed out of the woods and toward the market.
"So, I'm a pretty elf man today huh?" he said as they found the winding path up the hill. He sighed. "Honestly, it's not the worst thing I've ever dressed as. What's the plan?"
"We should go over your backstory now so there is no confusion," said Nih. "If I understood Wyn correctly, your first name Peter means stone, and your last name Parker means park keeper. Is that correct?"
"Yah, like a groundskeeper or a park ranger or something," he said noticing a broken arrow on the ground. "But name meanings aren't usually important where I'm from. Kind of just a novelty to know really."
"Regardless, your name will be the elvish equivalent,Nargisir, stone keeper."
"Nargisir?" said Peter mulling out the word. "Wait does that make me Nar? I'm Nar and you're Nih?"
"Hmmm, yes," said Nih thinking. "You are a half elf, acha'tel'quessir.Specifically, you are a half wood elf. Half men develop about the same as full men earlier in their lives, so you may use your real age. You hail from… mmm… Ewestrand. That's near Ries. Nargisir of Ewestrand. You are man born and have been raised amongst men your entire life which is why you don't speak elvish. The only thing you know about your father is that he hails from the forests of Ruar'qu."
"This seems like a lot of thought has been put into it. Are you improvising?"
"Partially. Lafarallin helped."
"Laffy‽ I trusted him! The plot of betrayal thickens."
"Since I am a nomadic adventurer, you have hired me to lead you to Ruar'qu so you may learn about your heritage. You should hide your own adventurer's tag. Got all that my snail ears?"
"Yah," said Spider-man doing just that. "Have you got that you can't call me snail ears while we're in there?"
"Oh, that's an excellent point," said the druid with a guilty laugh.
Spider-man spotted something stuck in the hillside.
"Hey, look at this."
He webbed it over to reveal an iron and wooden shield, broken and marked with war paint.
"Maybe I'm just stereotyping, but this doesn't look elvish to me."
"You are correct," said Nih examining it. "Lafarallin did say there have been reports of barbarism in the area. This however does not look recent. We might as well continue."
Hiking up the long winding path, the pair neared the gate.
"Be aware," said Nih. "Even a whisper may be overheard. We need to keep up the act even in private. As a half elf, your odd behavior shouldn't be seen as too obtrusive, but you should still make the attempt to behave more elvish. Speak with less volume and less emotional inflection. Elves hear better than men and we are generally more reserved."
"Ok."
"And walk more… flat footed. Calm and straight. Don't prance."
"Prance‽ I don't prance."
"Men prance, male men especially. You are a prancer even amongst male men."
"I don't prance!"
"Quiet now, we're almost in ear shot."
Nih wore a cool grin as the two reached the open gates.
"Alae drow druid," said a guard pleasantly.
"Alae."
Sure enough, he only gave Spider-man a standard cursory look as the pair passed.
He internally groaned.
As they made their way across the drawbridge, he turned to Nih and whispered:
"By the way, does alae mean hello?"
"More like hail. An acknowledgment of presence and declaration of friendly intent. So my sna- I mean, so Nargisir, welcome to Isal Shanta."
Spider-man stepped through the stone archway… and into a fairytale.
The market was built in a series of ringing levels up the existing shape of the hill, each level filled with stately crowds of elves shopping, mingling, and generally relaxing. The ring levels were flanked to each side by elegant arching buildings and tidy vendor stalls.
Gigantic oversized trees, appearing to be cultivars from the Nehfar forest, housed entire stacks of cottages up their trunks, and an upper level of boardwalks could be seen weaving amongst their shared canopy.
Where graceful buildings, stalls, or towering redwoods left space, smaller trees, delicate flowers, and soft lit mushrooms grew to fill it, making the market feel more like a secret garden than any urban center. Fairy lights bobbed in the perpetual soft shade, vine covered statues decorated stone courtyards, and elf-made streams gently waterfalled down the market. The crowded streets were somehow so quiet that their burble could still be heard.
"You may or may not be able to tell," said Nih as Peter took in the sight of it. "But this is not an authentic expression of any one elvish culture. This market is frequented by several kingdoms and subraces and so reflects that."
He motioned to one of the largest buildings, a sweeping cathedral of wood and pale stone.
"For example, that is the Haereeunmn Inn. It's the largest and most famous inn in the market, but by no means the only one. It primarily caters to high elf sensibilities, but if you look on that tree there, you'll see an inn more favored by wood elves."
One of the stacks of woodland cottages was actually one interconnected building.
"As you can see, it's much smaller as fewer wood elves come through here," he went on. "It's modeled after a similar inn in the capital city of the northeastern wood elf federation I believe, a tiny version."
"Oh, I get that," said Spider-man. "My city back home has tons of little pocket cultures like this, different neighborhoods from all over the world."
"That's strange," said Nih completely straight faced. "I've never heard that about Ewestrand. You must explain that some time."
"Huh? Oh."
Peter noticed they were already being eavesdropped on by a pair of curious elves.
"Right, forgot about that fast," he chuckled.
As they started making their way through the market, he continued to take in the new sights and sounds and smells, now trying to spot out and categorize which buildings, vendors or people seemed to come from the same places. He counted maybe four different main groups? Or maybe he just didn't know what he was looking at.
"So, is there any dark elf stuff?" he asked casually.
"Of course not."
"I suppose it makes no difference where we start," said Nih looking over their list. "Each year has a different layout of vendors, so I don't know where everything is, but I do believe the apothecary tends to set up on the fifth level."
The two were moving along in the dense crowd of flowing dresses and prim robes.
With the skill of a true New Yorker, Spider-man ducked under a large basket an elf was carrying. He presumably said an apology as Peter kept pace with Nih.
"I don't have any clue where someone might be selling magical resources," Nih continued. "So we should just keep an eye out for anything that looks promising."
"How do you even know if someone's selling magic? Does it look magical?"
"Alae thaes cha'tel'quessir,"called someone grabbing Spider-man's attention. He looked over to see a vendor stall was being manned by a group of she-elves. Like all the she-elves he had seen they were stunningly beautiful, pixie like and yet regal, but this set was, in no exaggeration, blue. Their skin had that same sort of shimmering quality that the gold guys had but it was a pale blue, their long hair in cool metallic colors. They continued saying things at him he didn't understand.
"Alea," he said with an awkward wave. The she-elves giggled and chattered as he kept walking.
"Oh don't mind them," said Nih. "Some elves find the idea of young half elves not even being the age of children rather adorable."
"So was that like a flirtatious giggle then, or like a mean girls giggle?"
"In a way I believe you might phrase it, that was a watching a kitten fall over its own foot giggle."
"Ow."
Nih was speaking to a vendor they found selling glass orbs and scrolls. Spider-man had no idea what those were used for, they didn't look big enough to be crystal balls or anything, but there was some sort of giant lizard claw holding one so that was cool.
Watching the crowds, he didn't see anyone else that could be a half elf. That made sense. These elves were just passing through, not settling down and having families. Looking around at the see of shimmering faces, he didn't see any other dark elves though either. Nih was the only one. People did say they were extremely rare in Strana, but did that mean they were rare in other elf kingdoms too?
He watched a group, males and she-elves make their way over to one of the waterfalls. Calmly, weightlessly, they pulled off their shoes and sat down to soak their feet. One started washing out her long hair.
Hrm, he was starting to see what Nih meant by the walking thing. All the elves walked very flatly, almost gliding in an even speed to wherever they were going. Humans probably did seem very bouncy compared to that, especially men, what with all the extra fast twitch muscle and testosterone.
"No luck I'm afraid," said Nih turning back to Spider-man. He gave the vendor a nod and the two moved on.
"So Nih, going back to that earlier prancing comment," said Spider-man as they rejoined the flow of foot traffic on the cobbled street.
"Yes?"
"I think the words you were looking for was 'I walk with a spring in my step'," he said doing air quotes. "That's not a prance."
"In what way?"
"Hold it!" exclaimed the man jerking to a stop. An elf behind them tripped and every head in ear shot turned to them.
"We must keep our voice down in polite company cha'tel'quessir," said Nih calmly as the foot traffic resumed around them, but Peter was hardly listening. He sniffed at the air.
"Oh! Nih, we've got to make a pit stop!"
A sizzling kabob in hand, Peter caught back up with the dark elf.
"Yah, I didn't know what that smell was but I wanted it."
"Well, I suppose it is midday," said Nih with his own lunch. "I must say, that is an interesting choice."
"Is it?"
Spider-man looked at his kabob. It seemed pretty tame, mostly seasoned and seared fruit and veg. Oh, there was some sort of meat on it he didn't recognize - white curled nuggets of flesh that kind of looked like shrimp.
Giving it a sniff, he took a bite.
"Wow! What kind of meat is this?" he exclaimed having to catch a spirt of juice off his chin.
Nih made some shushing motions as passerby gave them weird looks.
"It's delicious," he added in a whisper.
A devious grin stretched across the druid's face as Spider-man happily dug in.
"So you found it by instinct then? That is butod," he explained. "The larva of a palm weevil. It's a grubworm"
Mouth still open, Spider-man slowly pulled the kabob back down. The charred face of a giant maggot looked back at him.
His lips tightened in pain.
"So what you're saying is… I just ate a bug, and I really liked it."
"It appears so, yes."
"Gosh darn it."
The Spider-man kept eating.
"What's sorts of spirits does Logan prefer?" asked Nih perusing a shelf of colorful bottles.
They still hadn't found anything about chronomancy, but at least they had found the booze shop.
It was set up in one of the buildings - a large open hall, and was far more majestic than it had any right to be. A fountain in the shape of a she-elf with a pitcher was literally pouring wine in the center of the room. Calm and respectful customers helped themselves. Peter couldn't help but imagine how terribly a set-up like that would go in a store for men, or worse, dwarves.
"I don't know. He drinks anything," he answered. "He'd probably get into the rubbing alcohol if he was desperate."
A worker made his way over and offered Spider-man a little silver cup, saying something he didn't understand.
"I'm sorry. I don't speak elvish, and I don't drink."
The worker gave him a polite nod and moved on.
"Yes, but what does he actually like? I know he does not care formycreations," said the dark elf picking up a glistening blue bottle. "Or my ginger."
"Just get him a whiskey if you all have something like that. I think he orders Crown Royal," he said chuckling. "See, it's funny because it's Canadian."
"Why is that funny?"
As Nih continued to puzzle over the booze, Spider-man noticed the store owner was watching them, not with particular hostility, but she was definitely keeping an eye.
Hm?
She pulled over the worker and asked him something Spider-man couldn't hear.
The worker shrugged.
"This one!" said Nih.
They were back on the street, making their way up the rings.
"Yes, I'm sure he will enjoy the smokey mossy flavors of this peated whiskey," said Nih looking over his new amber bottle with pride.
Peter was keeping an eye out for it now. All around them, elves were watching them.
"Is mossy a positive thing?" he asked looking around.
No one seemed antagonistic, or said anything, but their eyes were drawn to the odd man, or uh, elf out. Sometimes it was quick and accidental. Other times it was prolonged side eyeing or a turning of their ears. It was happening all over the place, and he realized, it wasn't aimed at him. Sure, he got the secondary curious look, but what turned the elves' heads was the nearly seven-foot-tall dark elf walking down the street.
"That is the drow druid," Spider-man's straining ears managed to hear an elf whisper. "He lives in these parts… Yes, all the way up here… I know… I don't know about the halfer with him."
That elf had been speaking in common. Maybe there were a bunch of people talking about them and he didn't know.
"So, uh…" said Peter turning to Nih. "Um, so what are all the different kinds of elves here?"
"My, you really have been sequestered your life haven't you cha'tel'quessir?" Nih said before answering.
"The transient population of Isal Shanta is primarily comprised of high elves, highsunelves to be specific,ar'tel'quessir.Those are the tall golden ones. There are alsoteu'tel'quessir,high moon elves, those are the ones with cyanic complexions, as well as wood elves,or'tel'quessir.I believe those are the only elvish we might encounter here, though I did see a family of wild elves once."
"Do you get lonely being the only dark elf around?" his big mouth asked before thinking better of it.
Nih blinked. The eyes and ears of surrounding bystanders whipped toward them, but Nih quickly took it in stride.
"It's something I have gotten used to," he replied casually as they continued. "I hold no ill will. After all, I chose to leave my birthplace and venture off to distant lands. I only hope for common courtesy."
"What made you leave? If that's not too personal."
"I found my calling above ground."
"That's it?"
"Even we drow are the descendants of the feywilds," he explained. "Of the magics of the forests and the lands fed by sunlight. My kind may have taken to the underdark an age ago, but the calling to return to my distant ancestry seems to have found me regardless. Perhaps an old forgotten page found its way into my book," he mused.
"Yah but do you, I don't know… does it ever…"
"Oh, I believe we may find salt there," interrupted Nih motioning to a stand covered in hanging herbs and spice baskets. "And I believe I see some ginger," he said happily heading toward it.
"Right."
Spider-man moved to follow, but something caught the corner of his eye. A bit hidden out of the way, he spotted a vendor, shelves filled with scrolls. It looked promising.
"Nih wait," he started, but the dark elf was already elbow deep in a bin of ginger roots. He shrugged. With the spice stand still in sight, Spider-man wandered over to the scroll vendor.
"Alae cha'tel'quessir," said the merchant as he approached. Then he continued saying things Peter didn't understand.
"Sorry, I don't actually speak elvish."
"Man born then?" asked the merchant switching to common.
"That's right."
"Is this your first time at the market?"
"Yah. We're just stopping through on our way too… Ruar'qu." He had to think about that for a second.
"We're all just stopping through friend," said the merchant pushing his golden hair behind an ear. "Having been raised amongst men, I can guarantee you have never seen wares like mine."
He pulled one of the scrolls.
"I am an artist you see, a crafter of beauty and intrigue. The roads to Ruar'qu are long and empty. Perhaps you may find companionship within the page.
The elf unrolled his scroll across the counter.
Spider-man's jaw dropped open.
It was amazing. He wasn't even sure what he was looking at, but it seemed to depict one long flowing scene via beautiful watercolor illustrations. Um, verydetailedillustrations. Hot, wet,intimateillustrations.
Oh.
Peter's face went red as he realized what he was looking at, and yet, he still couldn't figure out the details.
"Wh-what?" he stuttered staring at it. "Is this… Why would… who?…Oh? Ooooh, wait, why is he biting her EARS?"
Nih sprinted toward them. He threw his hands around Spider-man's eyes and pulled him away.
Spider-man was stood over at the spice stand like an awkward child while Nih berated the scroll merchant in a heated elvish tirade. Bystanders had given up pretense and were just openly watching. Parents were covering their children's pointy ears.
As Nih and the merchant hissed at each other in a flurry of rapid elvish syllables, a guard actually wandered over to keep an eye on them. He must have understood what they were saying because his face looked like it was trying not to laugh. He threw a few glances at Peter.
In a fluff of robes Nih finished, straightened himself, and headed back over.
"Alright I've said my part," he said regrouping. He gave the guard a nod. "Come Nargisir."
"Ok mom," Spider-man almost laughed.
They made their way out of the area.
"Do you want me to hold your hand?"
"Shame on that merchant," snapped Nih indignant. "Showing a cha'tel'quessir such material."
"But Nih. You're a pervert."
"Iam three hundred years old.Youneed to put on at least another hundred years before witnessing such unbridled debauchery. Unadulterated elvish erotica was never meant for the eyes of man… so also not likely half elves either," he quickly amended.
"I won't even live that long!"
"Now now, I told you, half elves like yourself usually make it to their one-eighties," he said regaining his usual composure. "It would be best though if you didn't wander off again. I'm sure that wasn't the only thing you shouldn't stumble into here."
"Are elves just perverts?"
Two hours or so later and Spider-man was carrying a sack of everything on their list, everything, except the one thing they had actually come in here for.
Nih was speaking to another group.
"We're in luck," he said turning back to Peter. "They said there is another merchant selling magical items in the canopy."
"Awesome, I wanted to go up there."
"That's not surprising."
A wooden staircase wound its way around the massive trunk of a redwood. The pair of adventurers were ascending the several story climb with little issue, though Spider-man couldn't help but think how fast and easily he could get up here if he wasn't stuck as an elf poser. Stairs. Ugh. Still, it was always a blessing to get off the ground.
He looked over the railing down to the market below, and it was breathtaking. He could see all the levels at once, every elegant archway, ornate building, bustling stall, and waterfalling stream. The thing was though, he wasn't looking at any of that. What had caught the lost super hero's eye was the people. They didn't look any different. A race of people he had never known, in a place, in a culture, in a world he had never known, they looked just like any crowded street back home.
He smiled.
"You know Nih," he said coming to a stop. "You're not going to believe this, but I used to be afraid of heights."
"Oh?" asked the elf stopping with him.
"Yah, isn't that crazy? After I…When I realized what I could do…" he corrected. "I went and climbed the tallest building in the city just to break myself of it."
"Sounds like quite the rite of passage."
"It was," he laughed. "It's hilarious to me now how scared I was. I thought I was going to pass out clinging to the side of that building a hundred stories in the air. Now I can't wait to get off the ground."
They scooted over to let another group pass.
"Man, I didn't knowanythingthen," said Spider-man in realization, the smile fading from his face. "I couldn't have even imagined what was in store for me," he said leaning over the railing.
The two looked out over Isal Shanta.
"My Nargisir," said Nih. "Earlier today you said you would be happy to explain anything we asked."
"I'll try. Got something on your mind?"
"Well, considering you asked me the same question I do not believe it's inappropriate."
"Shoot."
"Is it lonely, being what you are?"
Spider-man was taken off guard. He blinked.
"No? I don't understand the question."
"In your home, your true home, what does it feel like not having a people?"
"What?" he asked flabbergasted. "I have people. I'm up to my gills in people every day. New Yor…" he started but Nih held up a finger.
"My city," he rephrased. "My country. Heck, my planet. My friends and… All the people I care about and protect. Sometimes there's too many people."
"But they're not like you. That's what you said. They're not…half elves," he said as another group passed.
He turned to look over the elvish settlement. "Even if I am somewhat estranged, I know my people are still out there," he explained. "They are living and growing and going on without me. I am never alone, but there is no people of half elves. They are all each alone."
"I think you're thinking about it too physically. Nothing about me having extra bits means I'm not just an everyday New Y… uh…Ewestrand-ian?"
Spider-man watched the crowds of people below.
"Actually… maybe having extra bits makes me even more Ewestrandian," he said in thought, his smile returning. "Everyone else has to live down on the ground, down in their own neighborhoods in their own daily lives and problems, all across the city you know, but I get to see it from above. I get to go anywhere, to see all the different lives and people and pocket cultures at once. And no matter who they are, no matter where they came from, or whatever extra bits they have, whether they've been here for ten generations or they're fresh off the boat, they're part of the city now, part ofmycity, and it's my job to look after them."
Nih was thoughtfully digesting his words, or at least Spider-man hoped that's what he was doing. Those blank red eyes were hard to read.
"So you see, I have plenty of people," he concluded casually. "Besides, no one back home even knows I'm a, uh, half elf. I don't switch back and forth between names like I do here. That's what the… is for," he said motioning to his face like a mask.
"You hide what you are? In your own home?"
"Yah. Being, uh, me, isn't like having more than one culture or race or whatever. I've never known anything else. It's more like having some weird deformity I have to hide. When I…cover my ears, I just walk around like anyone else. There's nothing different about me. I don't stick out at all. It's not like…"
Peter looked up into the towering dark elf's unreadable stare.
"What I'm saying is, I don't think I have the same issues as you, not to get too personal," he said sheepishly.
"Hm," said Nih thinking. "Well, I suppose I don't have the same issues asyou," he said giving him a smirk. He raised himself stately. "Whether I stand out in the crowd or not, I never hide what I am. I never cover my ears, so to speak."
"Yah, it would be kind of hard considering how big they are," Peter joked.
At that Nih baulked. Another group behind them stopped in their tracks.
"Oh, uh… was it something I sa…"
The dark elf laughed.
"That is true, cha'tel'quessir."
Through his head cloth, Nih grabbed Spider-man by the ear and shook his head around.
"Hey, don't touch me there!" he sassed pulling away and smacking at him. "I saw that p*rn."
The elf laughed.
Alright, things were starting to add up.
With the main market still visible below, nestled amongst the evergreen branches, the upper level was a collection of perfectly homey cottages and vendor stalls. Like the ones closer to the ground, they sort of stacked on top of each other up the tree trunks. Moss was grown across every roof and fairy lights and enormous mushrooms decorated the empty spaces. It was all woven together by long wooden boardwalks, hanging bridges, and ladders.
That wasn't the part that was adding up though. It was the wood elves.
They were shorter than the high elves, about the average height of men, and they're ears and faces weren't quite as elongated. They're complexion was a sort of coppery color with that same metallic shimmer, and the hair and eye colors seemed to come in mostly forest-y colors like browns, greens, yellows, and a few reds. In summary they looked the most, for a lack of a better word, human. And more importantly, they all looked way too much like Peter.
His eyes went wide as he and some elf that could have been his half-brother accidently caught each other staring.
Sure, Spider-man's complexion was off, but it wasn't impossible to imagine one of his parents could have had it, and his height, build, and hair and eye colors were all dead ringers.
He and the strange elf quickly turned away from each other and Peter hurried off with Nih.
"Well son of a gun," he whispered. "I really do look like my dad don't I?"
"Huh?" asked Nih.
"You know, my dad, the wood elf."
"Oh! Oh yes, you do share a striking resemblance, at least by half elf standards."
They ducked as a wood elf took a shortcut by ziplining down a rope.
"Ugh."
"My blossoming existential crisis aside, I really am feeling the Swiss Family Robinson set-up up here though," continued Spider-man.
Looking around, and ignoring the legion of uncanny elves, the high-rise trapeze style architecture really was a charming surprise. He could honestly see himself living in a place like this, you know, if he was actually allowed to swing around. His feet bounced across the wooden boards of a swinging bridge as they crossed.
"I can tell," said Nih. You're prancing."
"I don't prance! Alright, where's this magic vendor guy?"
"This way."
Hidden away beneath a particularly gnarled branch, a lone vendor had set up shop. He was a mature moon elf, maybe in his fifties by man years, wearing a set of vivid blue robes and a pair of small circular glasses.
The pair of adventurers watched, as with a wave of a slender wand, he summoned an ethereal chest to appear in the air. With the precision and sternness of a school master, he levitated out an impossibly long staff from it, then floated it over to add to his display. Looking over his inventory of candles, gems, wands, staffs, and most importantly books and scrolls, the old elf nodded and scrawled something down with his large feathered quill.
"Oh, so that's what selling magic looks like," said Spider-man. "This looks promising.
The two approached the stand.
"Aleafaerahrn," said Nih as they stepped up to the counter. "May I request we speak in common."
"Alae," said the vendor raising an eyebrow. "What can I help you with?"
"We are looking for any source of knowledge you may have regarding the subject of chronomancy."
"Chronomancy‽" repeated the mage taken aback. "That is one of the seven prodigious disciplines, the highest forms of wizardry. I can't imagine a simple druid would have much use of anything regarding it."
"Um, rude," said Peter grabbing his hips.
"Don't mind him," said Nih. "He was not raised amongst the elvish."
"You don't even speak it do you?"
"No, but what's it matter? If you've got something, we want to buy it. Green is green, or uh, gold is gold isn't it?"
The moon elf gave him a look.
"Your manhood is showing," he said straightening himself. "Such crass transactions may be common in the congested streets of man, but the elvish know to shepherd our resources. Knowledge is the most valuable resource of all, and I am in part responsible for the actions taken by those I so carelessly surrender it to."
"We want it for a good cause."
"But can you understand it cha'tel'quessir? Can you truly learn? Use? To hand away a precious source of knowledge knowing its flame will not be nurtured, but instead fade into the darkness of oblivion is even more shameful."
"I assure you," said Nih, his waning patience leaking into his voice. "We have every intention of utilizing the knowledge we seek."
"And to what end? A rogue drow and an illiteratebiircome asking for my most carefully guarded resource," said the moon elf affronted.
"Please, there's no need for insults."
"He can't understand," he said motioning to Spider-man.
"I can understand the energy."
"Once again, I assure you," repeated Nih. "We only seek to learn of chronomancy for defensive purposes. You see, I am an adventurer, and I…"
"Yes, I've heard of you," interrupted the moon elf. "The talk of the market, the drow druid of Sorishy. Adrowlearning the ways of the forests? That is quite the joke isn't it," he said offended. "I must know drow, do you forget what your own face looks like, think yourself 'tel'quesser? Or do you just hate your own kind so much you pretend not to remember?"
"HEY!" snapped Spider-man. "I wouldn't be talking about anyone's face if my wrinkled blue mug looked like something someone dragged out of the harbor."
"Nargisir," scolded Nih firmly, then he turned back to the mage.
"The mycelium beneath the forest soil," he said calmly. "Vast and indispensable, occasionally fruits a mushroom."
"A mushroom never turned traitor,dhaerow," replied the mage unimpressed.
"I do see that you are my elder, but I must assume not even you are old enough to have witnessed The Great Descent. Can the depths of history not be regarded as such, history? We simply wish to make a purchase."
The older elf's mouth tightened into a tiny venomous smirk.
"You are mistaken," he said looking Nih in the face. "I was not referring to the drow,druid."
Anger finally flashed through the dark elf's blood red eyes. His sharp teeth snarled.
"Look!" interrupted Spider-man. "You don't like us. Whatever. What can we do to prove we deserve to buy whatever you're selling?"
"What can you do to prove it?" repeated the mage taken aback. "I can hardly think of an answer."
He turned his attention back to Nih.
"No, I don't believe I have anything of use to you," he finally concluded. "You should look somewhere else."
He gave the dark elf a look. Nih returned it with a glare.
"Very well," he said sharply. "If you can't think of anything to prove our worth as scholars, then I will."
Raising himself stately, Nih quickly pulled the shopping list from his robes and handed it to Spider-man.
"Nargisir, demonstrate for our elder your understanding of spacetime," he commanded with unflinching certainty.
"Oh, uh…"
Spider-man flipped the paper over and laid it out on the counter. He tried to take the quill but the moon elf snatched it.
"Do you want us to show you what we can do or not?" snapped the metahuman.
The elf mage gave him a contemptuous look, then he scoffed.
"Very well," he said offering him the quill. "Show me cha'tel'quessir what the mind of a mayfly has gathered. Show me something that truly proves you have the faintest chance of shepherding such knowledge," he almost mocked.
Spider-man gave him a smug smile.
"You got it champ."
He snatched the quill and started writing out mathematics.
"Alright, so this is your basic space time interval," he said scrawling out the otherworldly formula.
The old elf's jaw dropped open.
"Pretty standard. Let's see, um, here's your Galilean transformations," continued Peter writing out another series.
Nih watched with self-satisfaction as the mage stared in awe at the undecipherable collection of variables, vinculums, and exponents being inked across the page.
"And here's the velocity addition formula. There. Those are the only mathematics relating to spacetime I remember off the top of my head," said Spider-man standing back to his full height. "Is that enough to prove we at least deserve to buy what you're selling, or do you want me to write you an essay? You'll have to allow us to buy some parchment in that case."
The moon elf, small mouth hanging ajar, slowly picked up the scratch paper. He stared at it, eyes wide behind his spectacles, then looked to Peter.
"Who are you?"
"Well today I'm just your friendly neighborhood Nargisir."
"Nargisir," repeated the mage thoughtfully.
He tried to put the paper away only for Nih to throw a lash of fire at it. The mage dropped it as it quickly burned away.
"I said he would prove our worth as scholars," said Nih with a cool grin. "But as you've said, it would be shameful to so casually surrender knowledge when one does not know one's intent, wouldn't you agree?"
The moon elf scowled.
"And whatareyour intentions with my knowledge?"
"Man, uh, elf, we just don't want to get turned into dust or into babies or something," said Spider-man. "We're heading off to talk to someone we're pretty sure knows chronomancy. We need to know what we're dealing with."
The mage gave the pair, then Spider-man one last scrutinizing look. With a wave of his wand, he willed his chest back into being. Another flick and a thick book floated out of it and into his slender blue hand.
"This is a copy of Arch Mage Exella's Fundamentals of the Theory of Advanced Magical Disciplines. Of its many chapters there is one concerning chronomancy."
"That's perfect."
"And what is the price?" asked Nih.
"Seven gold pieces."
Before Nih had the chance to admit the team hadn't given them enough money, Peter quickly pulled out his own coin bag.
"I've got it."
Accepting Spider-man's payment, the old mage took the tome in both hands and held it out to him. Peter grabbed it but the elf didn't let go.
"Continue to prove your name then,stone keeper," he commanded. "Keep the vast knowledge you acquire. Carve it within your mind onto stone, then use that stone to build."
Only then did the mage relinquish the book to him, much to Peter's befuddlement.
"Thank you for your words of wisdom," said Nih.
Stepping beyond the ear shot of the entrance guards, the two adventurers began to make their way back down the winding path from Isal Shanta.
Spider-man had the day's groceries tied to his back and their new book in hand.
"So, I guess there's some bad blood between dark elves and moon elves huh," he asked dispirited.
"It's not only moon elves," replied the druid plainly. "It's not even only other elves. I don't know how they are regarded in your world, but the drow of this world have been seen as quite villainous to most other races for a hundred generations."
"Well, that's terrible."
"It wasn't a wrong assessment."
"Wait, what?" asked Peter taken aback.
"In the grand scheme of history, my people have only recently begun healing our relationship with others. Redemption is a slow and cooperative process, for both parties. I am young enough that I never knew a world where the drow were at war with the people of the surface, I doubt there is any elf alive who has, but old wounds leave scars. Faded as they may be, some still choose to focus on them."
"Huh," said Spider-man carefully digesting the dark elf's words.
He looked to the bright summer sky as they continued their descent, the green forests at the edge of his periphery. Nih had pulled his hood.
"Hm, you like metaphors, right Nih?" he asked.
"I do."
"I think I've got one. There's a type of lemur in my world. Do you know what a lemur is? It's just a little tree animal. Anyway, their main predator was a bird, but the bird went extinct hundreds of years ago. To this day the lemurs still watch the sky."
Nih was looking straight forward as they continued down the path. He thought, then nodded.
"I believe that is apt."
"Yah?"
"Yes. Well done. It could use some polishing though. I might steal it."
Spider-man chuckled.
"My people have a long and complicated history," the dark elf explained. "Great atrocities, betrayal, schisms, suffering brought unto our enemies and unto ourselves, but there is good. There has always been good. For generations we have worked to unwind the malignancies of our heritage, but we do not reject it. We cut the butterflies free from the spider's web, we do not burn it," he urged. Then he muttered under his breath. "And simply embarking from the underdark does not make one a traitor," he snarled.
"What? Of course not," offered Peter. "You're allowed to leave right? I mean, I know I was going on about how much home meant to me, but that doesn't have to be true for everyone."
"But homedoesmean something to me," he urged. "I don't reject my heritage. It's just… not where I'm supposed to be."
"Then that's it. Like you said, you just found your calling above ground."
"Yes," sighed Nih. "Yes, that's it."
He took a breath to recompose himself, pushing his white hair from his face.
"Well my snail ears, old wounds and lemurs aside, I feel we were very successful today. I'm sure the rest of the party will be quite pleased with the resources we acquired."
"Oh yah," said Spider-man opening their book. The dense pages were filled with intricate illuminations and diagrams. Much to his delight, the words lit in a magical glow as he hovered his hand over them.
"I think it's going to be mostly up to us to figure this out though," he said flipping through the pages. "You're our best magic user and I actually know what E=mc2 stands for," he said with a laugh.
Passing the section on chronomancy, he flipped to another page.
"The Fundamental Principles of Antimancy"
His eyes brightened. Then a thought crossed his mind.
"Hey, I know this is kind of random, but going back to the thing about names, name meanings I mean."
"Yes?"
"I hate to admit it but I think Wolvie has a point. I think my name actually is a pun, and not just because I'm PeterParkour," he said with a laugh. "Or maybe it has word play?"
"What do you mean?"
"Talk about cutting the butterflies out of the web, that moon jerk got me thinking, a park keeper, a ranger, a keeper, a shepherd, those are all sort of the same thing, right? They're someone who looks after something, you know?"
"I suppose."
"Well, I just realized, that's what I am. Back home, I look after the place. I look after my people, even the ones who think I'm a menace," he said with a chuckle. Then he closed the book with a smile. "And sometimes, no, a bit more than sometimes, they look after me back."
"But Peter means stone. Where does that fit in?" asked Nih casually.
Spider-man thought for a moment.
"There's an expression for the city that I'm from, New York," he said. "We call it the concrete jungle."
"That is quite the expression."
"What's concrete but manmade stone? I'm the parker of the concrete jungle. Oh my gosh, I never put that together before now."
Nih gave him a smile.
"I think the word you were looking for is 'fitting'. Your name is fitting."
"I think it's coincidental too."
With a grin, Spider-man pulled off his headdress and threw his diadem into the air. He went to catch it but Nih reached out a tall arm and snagged it instead.
"I doubt that," grinned the druid putting it on himself. "There is power in names. They have a magic of their own. That's why knowing something's true name gives you power over it. There are beings of this world so reliant on their names that simply the act of knowing it will kill them."
"I can relate to that."
Nih gave him a look.
"Metaphorically."
"Ah. You know Peter, I think I've had my fill of metaphors for the day."
"I thought you liked metaphors."
"Yes. I also like coriander, but I can certainly have my fill."
"Oh, do you?"
The pair chatted casually as they continued their way down the path.
"Of course, there's still my middle name I've got to fit in there somehow," said Peter. "Benjamin," he scoffed. "I mean, it was my uncle's name so nothing against it, but who the heck knows whatBenjaminmeans? Probably something to do with dangerous scientific experiments involving keys and lightening…"
"I feel like you're making an allusion I don't understand."
"Oh totally. By the way, I never asked, what does your name mean?"
"It's derived from the wordnilaa, sailor."
"That's kind of a weird name for a people who live underground."
"Isn't it though."
Finding the old stone wall where they had planned to meet, Nih and Spider-man found it deserted.
"Huh? Where is everyone?" asked Spider-man.
"I am certain this is where we left them."
"Look, there's a note."
A piece of parchment was stabbed to a tree. Spider-man ran up and ripped it down.
"Webhead,"he read aloud."Went with some barbarians to go do some gauntlet spirit quest. Brought the gals with me. Be back by nightfall. -Logan."
He lowered the paper as the pair looked at each other.
"Um… what?"
The End
