He placed a gentle kiss on the witch's slender, graceful neck, and those agile long legs wrapped around his waist like a powerful python. The black-haired witch let out a long, nasal sigh with her eyes closed. She smiled, eyes half-open, and left a warm imprint on the mage's lips. There wasn't a single part of her that didn't captivate Solomon completely. The love that could melt iron and gold nearly burned him, and yet he relished every second of it. They still had hundreds of years to enjoy this passion. But as Shelley once said, such love leaves one breathless, delirious, and weak—his poetry was strikingly apt. Though perhaps Phoenix had better adjectives, Solomon wasn't rude enough to flip through his subordinate's poetry collection at will. That book had already faced enormous difficulties in getting published, since Phoenix had no identification and couldn't do interviews.
"And what else, little one?" she asked languidly. "What else did you learn?"
"How life—sacred life—was created."
"Aren't we working on that very thing?" The witch's serpentine waist lifted, her thick, stormy black hair cascading beside the mage's ear. The sheer silk sheets slipped and fluttered along the curves of her body, a sight that took Solomon's breath away no matter how many times he saw it. She draped her arms around his neck, her pale gray eyes clouding like mist that would scatter in the next breeze. "Or are you saying… you want more practice? I think Jeanne can't wait any longer!"
"She did shoot at me! And she threw the Cheshire cat!"
"Forgive her. She's been on edge ever since you got back." The witch stroked Solomon's chin. She was very pleased with how he'd developed—from a boy barely up to her chest to a man taller than her, all the changes had happened before her eyes. Now she could even sit in his lap. Her sweet, grown-up boy—that's the beauty of the 'raise-your-own' approach. Bayonetta was proud of how well she'd trained him over the years.
"Seems time-warping hasn't affected you much, darling. Aside from shaving, you haven't changed a bit."
"Which means we've got a long life ahead of us, my love." Solomon eagerly kissed her again. "But I don't want to waste a single second."
"Mmm, you're such a sweet thing!"
————————————
"Sorry to make you drive me to class." Solomon fished through the glove compartment from the passenger seat and finally found a hair tie in Stephanie's purse. Stephanie had come to London on behalf of her father to attend an international summit, so Solomon didn't have to drive himself this time. One day with the witch hadn't been enough, and he wanted to use this chance to catch up on the work briefings he'd missed over the past few days. He tied up his heavy black hair, exhaled, and stretched with relief. "I've been gone too long—they're probably going crazy by now," he said with a smile. "I've probably missed a ton of papers. They must be dying to catch me up."
"You don't smell like someone who just came from an apartment, my lord." Stephanie leaned over to sniff. She switched on the AC and hit the gas, letting the silver sports car tear across Highway 40 in the early morning light. Even after a sleepless night of work and exhausting negotiations, she seemed astonishingly fresh. It was one of the changes that had come from being around Solomon—some latent talent was slowly awakening, allowing her to take on even heavier tasks.
"It's incense, but I'm not one of the alchemy lab members—I can't tell what kind of spice."
"I got up early and visited Kamar-Taj," Solomon said, raising an eyebrow. He'd reported in to Kamar-Taj the night before. Although the Ancient One had scolded him for not returning immediately, she had still listened patiently as he recounted his conversation with the Earth Goddess. Whatever her motives, the one certainty was that the Earth Goddess supported humanity's bid for cosmic supremacy. If that support ever shifted, Kamar-Taj's allegiance was clear. Their mission was to preserve human order, not to serve Vishanti or any other divine entity. If those deities turned their backs on humanity, Solomon would not hesitate to sever ties—Vishanti included. Of the trinity, only Agamotto, once human himself, truly cared for the species; Oshtur and Hoggoth did not.
So Solomon had revealed to the Ancient One a plan that would make every magical entity in the universe want him dead. It was a contingency plan born from his meeting with the Earth Goddess. If ever enacted, its final outcome would be the annihilation of all magical entities. Every god, demon, and arcane being would stop at nothing to destroy Solomon should they learn of it. And the key to this plan… was Lorelei, Daughter of the Rhine. Solomon needed her to acquire the knowledge that made it possible.
He didn't mention how he was created—it didn't matter to him. A truth that could shatter most people's minds meant less to Solomon than the dust on his shoes.
"I can't imagine what that place must be like," Stephanie said with a shrug. "Like Hogwarts?"
"Believe me, Kamar-Taj makes Hogwarts look like daycare. Wandering off could get you killed. You might run into a talking two-headed snake, or plants that snap necks if you're not paying attention. They have a death quota for apprentices there. It's not some comfy seven-year school for teenagers."
"Sounds good. Better than watching Dita Von Teese do a striptease." Stephanie casually pulled a sweet-smelling invitation from the driver's compartment. "As the de facto leader of the Hydra conservatives, you're on the guest list, my lord. Or maybe it's because my dad's too old." She glanced at the exquisite envelope. "Looks like someone wants to use the world's most beautiful and seductive retro showgirl as bait to talk to you."
"The invitation says there's champagne. I like champagne," Solomon said, stroking his chin. "Maybe that's Whitehall's taste."
"Reasonable guess. He's the only one who would know about the shifts within the conservative bloc. Baron Wolfgang von Strucker is still lost in his experiments, and after Alexander Pierce was arrested, he became a frightened rat. As for Dr. List, he's so focused on his work he probably hasn't even noticed there's been a change." Stephanie kept her eyes on the road. "Why not just kill him now? I mean… Dr. Whitehall."
"Patience, Stephanie." Solomon shook his head. "I need his knowledge. Until we locate where he's hiding his research, it's better if he stays alive. He can't do us much harm anyway. Focus on decoding the Kree data storage devices. We need to understand why Terrigen was enough to activate the Celestials' genetic engineering results—and what Progenitor gene sequences are hidden in those Kree corpses. As an intermediary between Celestials and the Kree, the Progenitors have immense research value. Once we make progress, I can hang that old Nazi with my pinky."
"And the Inhumans?"
"Those Neanderthal-Homo sapien-Kree hybrids? No need to worry. That girl named Skye seems to be behaving herself."
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Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 256)
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 336)
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 542)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 924)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
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