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Hawk led Katherine Pierce, who followed behind him, back to the manor's main building.
The moment Katherine stepped through the entrance, Caroline—who'd been sitting on the couch chatting with Elena and the witch Bonnie—shot to her feet instinctively.
After all, it had been Katherine who'd smothered her in that hospital bed, triggering her transformation into a vampire.
So Caroline was extremely sensitive to Katherine's presence.
"Katherine!"
Elena and Bonnie, seated nearby, turned at Caroline's sudden movement. Their questions died in their throats as they spotted the woman following Hawk—someone who looked exactly like Elena. Not just similar—identical, as if they'd been carved from the same mold. But where Elena radiated warmth and innocence, this woman's aura was completely different. Polar opposites.
Katherine Pierce.
Gwen, noticing the woman Hawk had brought in, raised an eyebrow. She stood from the couch and walked over.
"Gwen, this is Pierce. Katherine Pierce."
"Ms. Pierce, this is Stacy. Gwen Stacy. My fiancée."
"Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Stacy."
"Likewise."
Gwen shook Katherine's hand with a polite smile. "Welcome to Fox Manor."
Katherine murmured her thanks.
Hawk continued. "There's something I need Ms. Pierce to help me verify. I'll take her upstairs to the guest room."
Gwen nodded at that.
"Alright."
"Let's go."
Hawk gestured to Katherine, then headed toward the staircase leading to the second floor.
Katherine offered Gwen a brief apology before following Hawk. The two ascended the stairs one after the other, entered Hawk and Gwen's bedroom, and closed the door behind them.
Gwen watched them disappear upstairs, then turned back to the living room.
The next second, She found herself staring at Caroline, whose eyes were locked on her with an intensity that bordered on disbelief. Elena and Bonnie wore similarly shocked expressions.
Gwen raised an eyebrow, looking at Caroline.
"What?"
"Oh my God—"
Caroline sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes darting around nervously before she leaned in close, lowering her voice to a scandalized whisper. "Cousin, you're just... okay with your fiancé taking Katherine into your bedroom?"
Jesus.
Is this what city people do?
Are things really this wild?
Gwen stared at Caroline—who was now practically in her face, voice hushed, eyes spinning with wild speculation—and blinked. Then it clicked. She reached out and smacked Caroline on the head.
BOINK.
"Ow! That hurt, cousin!"
"You're a vampire now, but I'm still your cousin." Gwen rolled her eyes. "What are you even thinking? If Hawk brought her here, it's because he has actual business to take care of."
Caroline winced, rubbing the spot where Gwen had just knocked her. She looked up with genuine curiosity. "What kind of business?"
"That's not your concern."
"But—"
Caroline blinked, glancing at Gwen's completely calm expression. "Aren't you worried? Katherine's gorgeous. And she's a vampire. Vampires are really good at seducing men."
Gwen smiled brightly, looking directly at Caroline.
"You think I need to worry about Katherine?"
"Well, yeah."
"Katherine's a bad woman." Caroline said it quickly, then looked to Elena and Bonnie for backup. "I'm right, aren't I?"
Elena and Bonnie didn't say anything. They just nodded.
Gwen let out a dry laugh, looking back at Caroline. "Guess what would happen if Katherine tried to seduce Hawk?"
Caroline thought about it.
"Hawk would... fall for it?"
"Hawk would kill her. Without hesitation."
Gwen smiled sweetly, glancing at Caroline's stunned expression. "If you weren't my cousin, trust me—none of you would have made it out of here alive last night."
She didn't know much about vampires.
But she knew Hawk.
So, After saying that, Gwen stood from the couch and headed toward the back of the house.
She planned to check out the manor's gardens, see if there were any good plant varieties she could transplant to the backyard at 521A Bleecker Street when they got home.
As for Caroline's concerns about Hawk and Katherine?
Heh.
Gwen never doubted Hawk's loyalty to her. Just like she never doubted her own appeal.
...
Inside the bedroom.
Katherine Pierce stood motionless, her eyes unfocused and distant.
Deep within her soul.
Hawk—using the daylight ring he'd crafted with the Reality Stone, the very one Katherine now wore on her finger—projected his consciousness into her spiritual core. He stood in a world of pure, crystalline light, staring at Katherine's soul. She appeared dressed in white, her essence translucent and pristine, eyes gently closed.
"You can look for yourself. It's in the deepest part of the soul connected to Heaven. The very deepest layer. Once you see it, you'll understand."
"The deepest part of the soul..."
Hawk replayed Mephisto's cryptic words in his mind. He focused his Sixth Sense, directing it toward the absolute depths of Katherine's soul.
And then...
He saw it.
A colossal being. Sacred. Ancient. Massive. Inhuman in every sense. Words in any language couldn't adequately describe what he was looking at.
But Hawk knew exactly what it was.
He'd even seen one before.
Not long ago.
A Celestial.
But not Tiamut, the Celestial still slumbering beneath Earth's surface, not yet done with its nap.
This one had to be—
ARISHEM??
In that instant, Hawk's Sixth Sense flared in warning. He immediately withdrew his gaze, pulling his consciousness out of Katherine's soul.
The warning vanished the moment he retreated.
This was what Mephisto wanted him to see?
Heaven dimension had Celestials backing it?
Hawk's thoughts churned.
At the same time—
Katherine's unfocused eyes slowly returned to normal.
Hawk pushed aside his confusion for the moment and smiled at Katherine as she came back to herself.
"Thank you."
"I'm honored I could help."
"You did. Again—thank you."
Hawk smiled, then glanced toward the door, he turned back to Katherine. "The first time you helped me, I got you out of that tomb. Now you've helped me again. As thanks—"
Katherine immediately waved her hands. "No, no. Getting me out of that tomb was more than enough."
Hawk's smile didn't waver as he looked at her.
"Don't you want to hear what I'm offering?"
"I don't need to." Katherine was firm, shaking her head. "For me, escaping that tomb was already more than I could ask for."
She was a smart woman.
Always had been.
If she weren't smart, she never would have escaped Klaus in the first place. If she weren't smart, five hundred years of running would have ended with her captured a dozen times over.
Katherine knew how to deal with people.
Especially powerful people she couldn't afford to cross.
Unlike Damon.
Compulsion, compulsion, compulsion—that was all he knew. One of these days, he was going to compel the wrong person, someone connected to a real heavy hitter, and it would get him killed.
That's why, despite Damon's arrogance and charm, he'd never been her favorite.
She still preferred Stefan. Careful, cautious, someone who—like her—understood how to use ordinary people as camouflage.
Katherine's thoughts drifted as she looked at Hawk. "If there's nothing else, I should go."
Hawk watched Katherine, who seemed genuinely uninterested in whatever reward he was about to offer. He chuckled.
"The gifts I give aren't usually turned down."
"You can end your five-hundred-year run. When I see Klaus, I'll make sure he stops hunting you."
It was well known that Hawk didn't like owing favors.
He preferred settling debts immediately. One favor for one favor. Clean and simple.
And more importantly, If you're already herding one sheep, herding two isn't much harder.
He'd already promised Gwen he'd talk to Klaus about Elena when they met. Adding Katherine to the conversation wasn't a big deal.
...
After Hawk finished speaking, he watched Katherine's expression shift in real time—from shock, to disbelief, to confusion, then finally settling on something between overwhelming relief and cautious hope.
Katherine processed what Hawk had just said. Once it sank in—once she truly understood what kind of gift he was offering—her heart surged with emotion. Her lips parted slightly as she stared at him.
"I... I don't know what to say."
"Say thank you."
Hawk smiled. "You helped me, so I said thank you. Now I'm helping you. So just say thank you. That's enough."
Katherine took a deep breath. She didn't doubt the sincerity of Hawk's words for even a second. Her eyes shone with gratitude as she looked at him.
"Thank you."
"That's all I needed to hear."
Hawk smiled, then opened the door.
...
A few minutes later.
After seeing Katherine to the manor gates and watching her leave, Hawk returned inside. He found Gwen in the greenhouse at the back of the property, admiring the flowers.
"Your guest left?"
"Caroline's surname is Fox. Technically, we're the guests here."
Gwen stood from where she'd been crouched, examining a particularly vibrant bloom. She walked over to Hawk, correcting him with a small smile. "But yes. They left. What about your guest?"
Hawk nodded.
"Just saw her off."
"Did you figure out what you needed?"
"Not exactly. If anything, I'm more confused than before."
Hawk pulled Gwen into a gentle embrace, kissing her forehead. "I need to go see Mephisto again."
Gwen pulled back slightly, looking at him.
"Work with Mephisto?"
"Depends on what he's willing to offer."
"Last time you trusted Mephisto, you almost walked right into his trap."
"I know."
Hawk understood Gwen was reminding him that demons couldn't be trusted. He smiled. "But a demon with a knife behind his smile is still better than an angel who looks holy but stabs you in the back. Don't you think?"
Gwen rolled her eyes at him.
"We really have zero chance of getting into Heaven now, don't we?"
"You make your own chances, Gwen."
Hawk smiled as he casually tore open a spatial rift with one hand. He glanced at her. "Besides, getting into Heaven sounds boring. You have to be devout, do good deeds, follow all these rules—too much work. It's way easier to just fight your way in than to earn your way in. So don't worry. I'll conquer Heaven and bring it back for you."
With that, He stepped through the rift. The tear in space sealed shut behind him instantly.
Gwen watched him disappear, shaking her head with a quiet laugh. She crouched back down, returning her attention to the flowers while pulling out her phone to check prices.
...
Hell Dimension. The small bar.
When Hawk pushed open the door and stepped inside, Mephisto wasn't sitting at his usual table. Instead, he stood behind the bar, his back turned to Hawk, rifling through the shelves stocked with various bottles of liquor.
Without turning around, Mephisto spoke.
"I recall that on Earth, when people reach an agreement, they drink champagne to celebrate their partnership."
"I haven't decided if I'm partnering with you yet, Mephisto."
Hawk took a seat on one of the high stools, resting his hands on the bar top. He watched as Mephisto turned around, clutching a bottle of champagne. "After all, you're already on my blacklist as an unreliable contact. What if we work together and you stab me in the back?"
Mephisto met Hawk's gaze, thought for a moment, then shook his head. "That is a possibility."
"Heh. Thanks for the honesty."
"Hey, I'm a demon. Demons lie. You said it yourself—you can't trust a single word I say. Not even the punctuation."
"So..."
Hawk caught on, his expression shifting to something halfway between amusement and suspicion. "You're lying again. You won't stab me in the back."
Mephisto shrugged. He pulled out two glasses from beneath the bar and popped the champagne open with a celebratory flourish. As he poured the fizzing liquid into both glasses, he glanced at Hawk.
"Can I kill you?"
"No."
"Then even if I stab you in the back, you won't lose anything. Right?"
"I'll be pissed off."
Hawk accepted the glass Mephisto slid across the bar, eyeing the demon with faint irritation. Then he got straight to the point. "The Celestials are behind Heaven?"
Mephisto looked genuinely surprised.
"You know about them?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
Hawk laughed dryly, glancing at Mephisto. "I knew about you when I was still a regular human, didn't I?"
Mephisto shook his head. "Their legends only circulate in the cosmos. No one on Earth knows about them."
Hawk didn't come here to chat. He cut to the chase, looking directly at Mephisto.
"Are the Celestials using Heaven dimension to accelerate the birth of new Celestials?"
"..."
This time, Mephisto's surprise wasn't an act. He stared at Hawk with genuine shock. "You know that too?"
Hawk smirked.
"You just told me."
"I didn't say anything."
"You said Heaven dimension uses the souls of life-bearing planets as fuel to invade the next one. Heaven dimension is backed by the Celestials. And new Celestials need life energy to be born. Heaven needs souls. New Celestials need life."
"Most importantly—"
"I've seen a Celestial before."
Hawk swirled the champagne in his glass, giving Mephisto a knowing look. "The one sleeping inside Earth."
Mephisto inhaled sharply. He studied Hawk carefully, up and down.
"But you're still alive."
"Yep."
Hawk shrugged, clearly enjoying Mephisto's genuine shock.
If he hadn't decided to keep quiet about absorbing Tiamut's life energy, he had a feeling Mephisto's reaction would be even more priceless.
Mephisto was genuinely stunned.
Technically, both he and the Celestials answered to the same cosmic hierarchy—the Five Gods of Creation. Specifically, Death and Eternity.
But—
Death had many lords like him serving her.
The Celestials, on the other hand, were Eternity's direct servants.
Who had more favor? Pretty obvious.
Still, After recovering from his shock, Mephisto looked at Hawk. "If you already know all this, then you also know Heaven dimension is more than enough to anchor your universe's expansion. Which means you should be even more willing to work with me."
Hawk shook his head.
"Why shouldn't I just work with Heaven dimension instead? They've got the Celestials backing them."
"They're going to destroy Earth."
"And that's my problem how?"
Hawk scoffed, looking at Mephisto dismissively. "Let it burn. Doesn't concern me."
After all, he could cross the universe now. If Earth was going to blow up tomorrow, he'd just leave today—and take Gwen and everyone she cared about with him.
As for where they'd go after Earth was gone?
That wasn't a problem.
The universe was huge. He could go anywhere.
Most importantly, Hawk looked at Mephisto. "You know I don't actually need a reality anchor to expand my universe, right?"
A reality anchor would make expanding the Phoenix Universe easier when the time came.
But it wasn't a necessity.
After all, the Phoenix constellation existed in this reality. Worst case, he could just go to the Phoenix system and unfold his universe there.
The only downside was that the entire Marvel Universe would immediately take notice of him.
Because that approach was essentially robbery. But if he took Heaven dimension, he'd be robbing the Celestials. They'd come after him too...
Hawk looked at Mephisto calmly. "One Heaven dimension isn't enough to pay me for working with you. You're offering way too little, Old Meph."
Mephisto—hearing Hawk call him "Old Meph"—felt an almost irresistible urge to punch him in the face.
But he forced himself to suppress the impulse and met Hawk's gaze directly.
"What else do you want?"
"Souls."
Hawk had decided what he wanted before coming here. He looked at Mephisto, whose expression darkened immediately. "Relax. I'm not asking for a third or half of your collection. From now on, the souls of anyone I kill belong to my Underworld. That's reasonable, right?"
Mephisto let out a bitter laugh.
"What if I agree today, and tomorrow you slaughter every living thing on Earth?"
"Do I look that cruel to you?"
"Want me to take you to see the species you wiped out?"
"Demons don't count. And honestly, I still don't get why you decided to include demons when you took over Earth. They're disgusting."
"That's not my fault."
Mephisto refused to take the blame. His form shimmered, revealing his true red-skinned demonic appearance. He looked at Hawk. "If you think I'm the one who made Earth full of demons, you're barking up the wrong tree. You should be settling accounts with Heaven dimension. After all, Jehovah was one of them."
Hawk: "..."
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