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By the riverbank in the Iwi village.
Hawk and Peter stood side by side, chatting while waiting for Felicia, who was deep in conversation with the Iwi High Priestess not far away.
Once Felicia finished talking with the High Priestess, they could finally leave.
Hawk had originally planned to handle the conversation himself.
But he had no idea how to bring it up. And since Peter was just as reserved as he was, they'd ended up asking Felicia to do it.
From any perspective, the High Priestess had been completely forthright with them. Hawk had used the information she provided to locate the Adamantium. Still, he doubted the Iwi could ever reclaim their ancestral homeland—not now. Without Kong's protection and in their current state, they would be slaughtered by the creatures below within hours of returning.
But Hawk couldn't make that decision for the Iwi. And more importantly, he didn't want to.
Respect other people's choices.
So after returning, Hawk had told Peter and Felicia the truth about the Iwi's ancestral homeland. The three of them had voted. Two to one. Felicia would tell the High Priestess.
Yeah.
Very democratic.
Peter, standing beside him, spoke in a low, confused voice. "I still don't understand why the Iwi ancestor—this Ikaris you mentioned—would kill his own descendants."
Hawk shrugged. "Maybe he didn't want his bloodline to suffer."
Hawk had pieced together why Ikaris had done it based on what he'd seen in the Hollow World and what he remembered from the Eternals movie.
The Eternals had been created by the Celestials to eliminate Deviants and protect the Emergence. Their memories were wiped after every Emergence, and they were sent to a new planet to guard the next one.
Which meant the Eternals didn't know the truth about the Emergence.
They knew they were sent to eliminate Deviants. They knew they had to wait for the new Celestial to be born. Mission complete.
But they didn't know the real cost of the Emergence.
The birth of a new Celestial meant the destruction of the planet.
Not that knowing would have helped. Their memories would be wiped afterward anyway, and they'd be sent into the next cycle.
Except—
Ajak, the leader of the Eternals, was different.
As the leader, Ajak's memories were never wiped. She'd always known the Emergence meant planetary destruction.
This wasn't a joke.
For millions of years, Ajak had faithfully carried out her mission, always supporting the Emergence. But after arriving on Earth for this particular assignment, something changed. She fell in love with the planet. She couldn't bear to destroy it. She started questioning whether her mission was right. She began trying to stop the Emergence.
To do that, she went to Ikaris and told him the truth about the Emergence.
After all, Ikaris was her chosen successor as the future leader of the Eternals.
She hoped Ikaris would join her. That he'd reject the mission and protect Earth.
But Ikaris refused outright. He even accused Ajak of losing her sense of duty.
Ajak had no choice. She erased Ikaris's memories of the truth. But she still hoped that during his time living on Earth, Ikaris would reconsider and make a different choice.
Later, Ikaris followed Sersi to the Hollow World beneath Skull Island and settled there.
And then, Ikaris's memories returned on their own. And he made his choice.
He chose to continue fulfilling the mission the Celestials had created them for.
The Emergence would happen.
But Ikaris—with his memories restored—was conflicted.
On one hand, he wanted to fulfill his duty.
On the other, he couldn't let go of his feelings.
Because he knew that if he chose duty, he'd eventually have to fight his own teammates.
And Sersi.
His love.
He knew Sersi loved Earth. And if he chose to complete his mission, he'd be destroying everything the woman he loved held dear.
So, After struggling with himself, Ikaris chose to leave without saying goodbye.
Just like the murals in the Hollow World Iwi temple depicted—Ikaris left alone.
Because his love for Sersi was his greatest weakness.
Just like in the original plot—when Ikaris appeared in London, he still chose to protect Sersi. Even in the final battle, when he had the chance to kill her and ensure the Emergence, he gave up.
But that was all in the future.
The point was—
Right now, on this timeline, faced with a choice between duty and the feelings he couldn't let go of, Ikaris had chosen duty.
But before that, he had to eliminate any obstacles that might stop the Emergence.
And when it came to the people he cared about—his loved ones—Ikaris had come up with a solution.
The Deviants!!
He planned to use the Deviants to assassinate Ajak, who had started questioning their mission.
But all the Deviants had been wiped out at the beginning. Where would he find new ones?
Fortunately, Ikaris had found two Deviant eggs beneath the Antarctic ice sheet. But the eggs had no life left in them.
No problem. He knew a place rich with life energy—the Hollow World where he'd once spent happy times with Sersi before leaving her.
So he returned. He used the life energy there to successfully hatch new Deviants. And as his first target, naturally, it would be the Iwi—the descendants he and Sersi had created.
Rather than let his and Sersi's offspring perish in the Emergence along with everyone else, better to bury them himself.
Of course—
All of this was Hawk's speculation based on the murals he'd seen in the Hollow World and the plot of the Eternals movie.
After all, Ikaris hadn't exactly sat down for a heart-to-heart with him.
But Hawk figured the story had probably gone something like that.
Peter's mouth opened.
"So there's really a Celestial inside our planet. And in the future, he's going to be born and destroy Earth in the process."
"Pretty much."
"Holy hell."
Peter sucked in a sharp breath, then turned to Hawk. "Hawk, we have to stop this."
Hawk looked at the suddenly fired-up Peter and smiled. "Alright. How do you plan to stop it? Tiamut's down there right now. There is a way to kill him."
Peter's eyes lit up.
"What is it?"
"Destroy Earth."
"What?"
"Tiamut is gestating in Earth's core. The only way to stop him from being born is to cut off his life energy. And the only way to do that is to destroy Earth before Tiamut destroys it. Just like what Ikaris did to his and Sersi's descendants."
"No way."
Peter shook his head so hard he looked like a bobblehead. "That's not an option. That can't work. There has to be another way."
Hawk looked at Peter—who genuinely seemed desperate to know—and dropped the joking expression.
Peter was still Peter.
Limited power, unlimited responsibility. That was Spider-Man.
Hawk thought about that, watching Peter, who really did want to know if there was a way to stop the Emergence.
"There is."
"What?!"
"Trust future generations to figure it out."
"..."
Peter blinked, staring at Hawk's completely serious face. "That's... that's not a plan."
Hawk glanced at Felicia, who had finished talking with the High Priestess and was walking toward them. He turned back to Peter with a smile. "Then let me give you a different answer. Do you trust me?"
Peter didn't hesitate.
"Of course."
"Then relax. You've still got me. I'm not worried, so why are you?"
"Good point."
Peter nodded instinctively, a wave of relief washing over him.
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~# 70 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!
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