Kai POV
"That was awesome!" Darla practically bounced on her toes, eyes shining.
After wrapping up the whole Seven Deadly Sins situation, I brought them into my dimension and laid it out straight. I'd be training them to become proper champions. Same approach I took with Hermione: magic, control, discipline. We'd only been here a couple of hours, so for now, I was just giving them a taste, useful tricks to get them interested.
Pedro tilted his head, watching the flames in my hands. "What kind of magic is that?"
"Godslayer magic," I said calmly, letting black flames bloom across my palm.
They didn't burn like a normal fire. They felt heavier, like they carried intent.
Mary's gaze sharpened. "Magic designed to kill gods… that's… interesting."
The demo was supposed to be for the kids, but she locked onto it immediately. While I was guiding everyone around, I kept putting it off. Not anymore. I needed to talk to her.
I let the black flames flicker once more before snuffing them out. "Alright, you guys can explore for a bit. I need to talk to Mary."
"Me? Why?" Mary Bromfield asked, pointing at herself.
I shook my head. "Not you. The other one."
"Oh." She rubbed the back of her neck, a little embarrassed.
The group didn't question it. The Shazam family, Hermione, and Ice all headed off, leaving us alone.
Silence settled in.
I turned toward her, but she wasn't looking at me.
Her eyes were still on the kids walking away.
"All of them have ridiculous potential," she said quietly, eyes still following the group. "But that little witch of yours? She's something else."
"I know," I replied without hesitation. Then my tone sharpened just a bit. "Now, no offense, but I need you to explain who you are."
She finally turned to face me, a faint smile tugging at her lips. "That's… complicated. So let's skip the boring parts and say I'm a multiverse traveler. Same as you."
I didn't even blink. "I'm more than capable of handling the 'boring parts.' I want the full story."
A soft laugh slipped out of her, amused. "Wow. You really don't trust me."
"Can you blame me?" I shot back. "You appear out of nowhere, you already know I travel the multiverse, and you're drenched in Demonic magic. So yeah, I'm going to be cautious."
She studied me for a second, then let out a small sigh. "Ok… that's fair."
Her expression shifted, amusement fading into something more serious. She straightened slightly, meeting my eyes head-on.
"Alright," she said. "Brace yourself. My story's long… and it gets crazy."
"I've gone by a lot of names," she said quietly. "Mary Caine is the one I prefer. But in my world… they've called me God, Lucifer, and The Mother of Sin."
My eyes widened before I could stop it.
She didn't look away.
"In my universe, I wasn't given the luxury of being one thing," she continued. "I had to be both. The Devil, everything corrupt, destructive, cruel. And the original God, everything just, compassionate, pure."
Her voice stayed steady, but there was weight behind every word.
"One day, he decided I shouldn't be part of his creation anymore. Tried to seal me away, keep me out of it entirely." A faint, humorless smile crossed her face. "That didn't go well."
"We fought. Not for hours. Not for days. For… longer than most realities could measure. And in the end, we destroyed each other's conceptual forms."
I felt the air in the space shift slightly as she spoke.
"My body became Hell. He became Heaven. Not metaphors, literal. Entire planes of existence shaped from what we were." She lifted a hand slightly. "But concepts like us don't die that easily. We can still create avatars. Pieces of ourselves to walk, to act… to interfere."
Her gaze drifted for a second, distant, remembering.
"He thought that was the end. That he'd won."
A pause.
"Then I whispered to Eve."
Her eyes flicked back to mine.
"I didn't force her. I didn't control her. I just… nudged. She chose to eat the apple. And with that choice, free will, sin, consequence, everything he tried to keep out flooded into his perfect creation."
For a brief moment, there was pride there.
Then it faded.
"I was satisfied… at first. It felt like a victory." Her jaw tightened slightly. "Until he stopped, completely, no guidance. No angels. No presence. He abandoned it all."
Silence pressed in.
"So I stepped in," she said, softer now. "Because if I didn't… everything would've collapsed. Balance doesn't maintain itself."
Her eyes hardened again, but there was something underneath it, something tired.
"I became both sides. Creation and destruction. Mercy and punishment. I kept the system running."
A bitter laugh escaped her.
"And after a couple of centuries of being evil to keep the balance, I got tired of it. I hate it, I truly hated the fact that I had to do some monstrous things just to make sure my universe didn't destroy itself."
She looked at me again, something sharp and knowing in her expression.
"I'm pretty sure that's why he left, in the first place, to teach me a lesson or something."
"Anyway," she continued, a little lighter now, "after a few thousand years of dealing with humanity, I finally managed to restore my conceptual body. Built a new Hell. My higher self runs things back home, keeps the balance steady… and I travel. Help where I can. Learn what I can."
A small smile tugged at her lips. "Magic, artifacts… anything interesting."
Yeah… I really wanted to call bullshit, but I'd been watching her the entire time, layered detection spells, subtle ones, deep ones, the kind that pick apart intent, not just words; not a single one reacted, no hesitation, no distortion, no trace of deception, which meant, for now… I had to treat everything she just said as the truth. That didn't mean I trusted her; it just meant she wasn't lying.
Still, one thing stuck with me.
"So," I said, folding my arms slightly, "did you ever figure out what happened to your original God? What he's been doing while you've been running everything?"
She gave a casual shrug, like the question barely mattered to her.
"Your guess is as good as mine," she said. "I never found out what happened to the old geezer, but he hasn't tried to interfere with my conceptual self. Not once."
Her eyes met mine again.
"So wherever he is… he's still staying out of it."
I rubbed my chin, thinking it through.
Did he step back to teach her something… or did he just lose interest? From everything she said, he didn't sound careless. If anything, he sounded deliberate. The kind of being that moves pieces without ever touching the board.
Which meant he either trusted her to handle it… or he saw something I didn't.
And yeah, I'm powerful. But that level? Not even close. No point overthinking a being like that. As long as he stays out of my world, we're good. And from what she's said, he doesn't sound like the type to randomly show up and wreck things.
That just leaves one real question.
Do I let her stay?
She doesn't come off as dangerous, at least not in the way I need to worry about right now. If anything, she reminds me a little of Charlie Morningstar… just with way more power and way more baggage.
I exhaled and looked back at her.
"So," I said, "are you staying for a while, or just passing through?"
She tilted her head slightly. "I'd like to stay."
"How long are we talking? A few months? A year?"
She gave a small shrug. "I'm immortal. Time doesn't really matter to me."
Yeah… figures.
"Alright," I said, crossing my arms. "I don't mind you staying, mainly because I'm pretty sure I couldn't stop you even if I tried. But are you planning on joining New Dawn? Being a hero?"
She shook her head lightly. "I don't mind helping out now and then. But I'd rather not run around in a costume saving people."
"Fair enough."
She hesitated for a second, then added, "And honestly… there's another reason I want to stay."
That caught my attention immediately.
"Yeah?" I asked, curiosity creeping into my voice. "What reason?"
She started tapping her fingers together, just a little nervous. "Well… the first time I saw you was when you were fighting Rita and Lord Zedd. You were using a lot of spells I didn't recognize. That's what caught my attention."
Her eyes flicked up to meet mine.
"I was going to ask you about them, but then… during the tour…" she hesitated, then let out a small breath, "…I saw your library. It's huge. And there are so many spells in there I've never seen before."
A bet.
"So I was wondering, if you don't mind, could I study the magic in your library?"
…Alright, that was unexpectedly straightforward, and yeah, she looked almost too hopeful asking that, but there was something else buried in what she said. She saw me fighting Lord Zedd. How long had she been watching? Was it just that fight… or longer? Still… I already knew she was powerful. And from everything I'd seen and verified, she wasn't malicious.
So really, there wasn't much downside.
"Alright," I said after a moment. "You can study my library."
Her face lit up instantly.
"But," I added, cutting in before she got too excited, "when I need your help, you help us. No excuses."
She nodded immediately. "Of course. That's fair. Consider access to your library… payment. You can call on me anytime."
Good. That was all I needed.
"Just so you know," I continued, "I'm still adding to it. Constantly. It's probably going to take you a very long time to go through everything."
"I mean," I added with a small shrug, "I might not even live long enough to finish it."
That only made her more excited.
"That's not a problem," she said quickly. "And if that ever becomes an issue… I know a few resurrection spells."
She smiled like that was reassuring.
…Yeah.
Didn't make me feel better at all.
A couple of hours later, I found myself hanging out with the Shazam family. Ice had already split off to do her own thing, and Hermione and Mary were buried somewhere in the library.
Honestly, talking with these kids was… refreshing. They were way too optimistic for everything they'd already been through, but it worked for them. Made the whole conversation feel lighter.
I'd already laid down the rules, though. No joining New Dawn.
Didn't matter that they could transform into adult forms. They were still kids, and I wasn't bending on that. The second I made an exception, Ruby would be on me nonstop trying to get in, too, and I was not opening that door.
Still, that didn't stop us from having a little fun with it.
I helped them come up with hero names.
Billy went with Captain Thunder. Freddie claimed Captain Marvel like he'd been waiting his whole life for it. Mary kept it simple with Marvel. Eugene chose Lightning. Pedro picked Thunderbolt. And Darla, of course, went with Comet.
Yeah… they were definitely enjoying themselves.
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AN: I really hope I did her backstory right, Gaven_Vetetoe. If I didn't, please let me know.
And for everyone else, I hope you enjoy the chapter.