...
It had been ages since Hawk last heard that voice. He broke into a wide smile.
"Funny. I was wondering about something myself."
"Oh? What was that?"
"I was wondering if finding an assistant for my goddess of time would finally get her to visit." Hawk turned to the Ancient One, still grinning.
"If you hadn't noticed that timelines need maintenance, you might still be waiting," she said, her tone serious. "I've been busy weaving and maintaining them by myself. And you never forced me to answer a summons."
"You're my friend." Hawk shrugged. "I invite friends. I don't summon them."
"I know." The Ancient One smiled, then turned to Wanda with an easy familiarity. "Your Majesty."
"Master."
"As I told you before, you have a remarkable understanding of magic."
"You did. And thank you for letting me use the Kamar-Taj library." Wanda remembered going there with Hawk in his timeline, when he borrowed the Time Stone to study time. During that visit, the Ancient One invited her to learn Kamar-Taj's magic.
Wanda's magical education happened in three clear stages.
First, HYDRA helped her unlock her scarlet chaos magic. She had a lot of power, but not the skill to use it well. That started to change when Hawk brought Agatha Harkness to teach her. With Agatha's help, Wanda learned to control her magic.
But her real breakthrough came after she left Hawk's Sacred Timeline.
Before that, she was just Wanda.
Afterward, she was also Gwen—the Gwen who belonged to Hawk and who had studied the huge collection of magical books at Kamar-Taj. Her skill with magic changed so much that she seemed like a different person.
Agatha's lessons helped, but her style was too relaxed. It was like the difference between America's "learning should be fun" attitude and the strict teaching at a top private school. Kamar-Taj offered deep magical theory and a clear, organized way to teach it. Feel-good learning could only take you so far.
"So should I call you Queen Wanda or Queen Gwen?" the Ancient One asked, her smile turning teasing.
"Wanda or Gwen, I'm the same person." Wanda smiled back. "Either way, I'm the Phoenix Queen."
"So my goddess of time knew about Wanda and Gwen all along?" Hawk asked.
"The past cannot be changed, and the future—"
"Cannot be seen," Hawk finished. He gave her a reproachful look. "You could've given me a hint, though."
"I did."
"You did?"
"This is your Gwen Stacy. Yours alone."
Hawk fell silent. When he had first brought Gwen to Kamar-Taj and introduced her, the Ancient One had said exactly that. At the time, he hadn't thought anything of it. He'd merely agreed that yes, this was his Gwen.
Now, remembering that conversation, he looked back at the Ancient One. She watched him with the same serene smile she'd worn then.
"You see? I did tell you."
"Yes, you did." Hawk shook his head and laughed.
The clue was there, but he hadn't noticed. His universe had the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man—Bully Maguire. There could be a Gwen Stacy in that world, but she wasn't meant to be his Gwen Stacy. He missed it, and he could admit that. Being able to own up to mistakes was one of his better qualities.
"Don't mind him," Wanda told the Ancient One, rolling her eyes when Hawk glanced her way. "Now that he knows I was Gwen too, he thinks I've kept a list of every time he brushed me off. He's just waiting for me to get even."
"I am not," Hawk protested.
Wanda just smiled and met his eyes.
After a moment, Hawk looked away. He cleared his throat, pointed off into the distance, and suddenly sounded much more excited than before.
"Oh, look! After destruction comes creation. Once this universe is reborn, the Phoenix Universe will have its own parallel world."
Rebirth was always the phoenix's answer to death, and this universe was no exception. As destruction finished, everything became still. But instead of disappearing like any normal universe, it paused.
In that final stillness, a gold-and-crimson flame appeared.
Another flame appeared, then a third.
Soon, countless flames swept through the universe, just as powerful as the fire that destroyed it. They spread across galaxy clusters, superclusters, cosmic walls, and huge empty spaces.
Wherever the Phoenix fire went, the empty fabric of space became flexible. Galaxies that were once millions of light-years apart could now touch, their starlight weaving together in complex patterns inside the flames.
Then the fire started to change. Blue and violet streaks ran through Hawk's gold flames and Wanda's red ones, showing the colors of the universe's first and most unlikely lives.
Green came next, then silver, and then colors no human language could describe.
Huge spirals, delicate patterns, and endless fractals formed the shape of a phoenix. Its fiery outline showed that the universe's rebirth was Hawk's doing.
In the middle of the gold and crimson, a spot of darkness appeared.
It wasn't empty—it was full of possibility. Life led to death, but that was only part of the cycle. New life could also start with death.
The black flames formed the outline of a woman with a supermodel's figure. She stepped out, looking a little confused at first, then saw Hawk. Her face brightened, and in a moment she stood in front of him.
"Hawk!"
"Anna."
His goddess of death looked happy to see him. Then she noticed the universe being reborn around them. As she realized what was happening, she turned back to Hawk, surprised.
"Wait—this is a parallel universe?"
"That's right," Hawk said with a smile.
Naturally, Anna would be drawn here. Rebirth needed death, and every death in Hawk's universes was her responsibility. In his world, she had the same role as Death in the Marvel multiverse.
"I'd better get to work," Anna said once her surprise had passed.
"All right."
Anna went back to the black flames that represented death. They quickly spread, taking in the gold-and-crimson fire around them. It wasn't destructive—the dark flames absorbed the others like a sponge soaks up water.
Now that death was part of the process, the fire changed again. The flowing sea of energy started to form separate points of light, each one pulsing with a rhythm almost like breathing.
"So you've found Mephisto another boss," Wanda remarked, joining Hawk. She glanced from Anna's silhouette, flickering within the dark flames, to him.
"Had to." Hawk gave her a crooked smile. "I don't trust the old devil."
"Didn't you tell me when you got back that he seemed to have turned over a new leaf?"
"Don't trust a word a demon says—not even 'and' or 'the,'" Hawk replied with a laugh. "Especially Mephisto. Even when he's telling the truth."
When Mephisto bragged he'd be the biggest force in this universe, Hawk became even more determined to put someone in charge of him.
Controlling someone like Mephisto needed someone just as tough, and Anna was no pushover. HYDRA leader Alexander Pierce had trained her himself, planning to make her his successor.
With Anna keeping an eye on Mephisto, Hawk could finally relax. The old devil wouldn't get a chance to cause his next disaster.
The truth was, Hawk actually liked him.
Mephisto was the first person—the first demon, really—to invite him for a drink.
If possible, Hawk didn't want to lose his first drinking buddy. Giving Mephisto a boss wasn't just for Hawk's peace of mind. It was also for Mephisto's own good.
Hawk also planned to give Mephisto the freedom he wanted. The old devil just needed some limits. As long as he didn't push against them, he'd be fine.
Mephisto would still have to do his tasks, but he wouldn't have to show up every time Hawk called. Hawk was glad to give him that much freedom.
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