Chapter 415: [519] - Wanda Can’t Go Back

The first flame ever kindled, the fire that marked the birth of life itself, rose around Hawk.

It burned gold and crimson. Liquid light ran through its core like molten gold, and its edges flickered with the bright scarlet of a life that should not have been possible.

The heat warped the air within seconds.

For one breathless moment, reality itself seemed to warp with it.

Wanda immediately caught Jean by the arm and pulled her back. With a single step, they retreated from the backyard to the covered hallway connecting it to the living room.

"Mom?" Jean looked at her in surprise.

"Shh." Wanda put a finger to her lips, keeping her eyes on Hawk. "That fire is powerful enough to rewrite reality."

And there was one reality in particular that needed rewriting.

Hawk was dead.

He had claimed to be standing on the boundary between life and death after his battle with Ikaris, but he had also told Wanda the truth: if he failed to find his way back, then he would remain dead.

As far as reality was concerned, Hawk had died after defeating Ikaris, his arms shattered and his life burned away.

But Hawk had found life through death.

This time, he crossed that boundary with no backup plan or hidden escape. By making the journey on his own strength, he fixed the flaws left by the shortcut he took during his last rebirth.

That didn't change the fact that reality had already recorded his death.

Before Hawk could return, the definition of that death had to be rewritten.

Phoenix fire could burn anything. The flames of rebirth could do even more, burning the very laws and truths that held reality together.

Now those flames held the power of the most impossible life ever born.

The reality in which Hawk Phoenix had died was being burned away and replaced.

Jean watched anxiously as the fire around her father grew upward and outward. Threads of gold and crimson twisted above him, slowly forming the outline of a huge Phoenix.

Its wings spread wide across the sky, each feather made of living flame. The Phoenix held its head high, calm and proud, as if watching over everything.

Each beat of its wings sent a searing psychic ripple across the backyard.

The power swept over Wanda and Jean. Wanda raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement on her lips as she saw Hawk start to rise in the flames.

Jean felt something ancient, vast, and fiercely possessive touch her mind with the wave of heat.

No—not strike it.

The presence filled a space that had been empty.

Jean knew this power. It had been hers since she was born, a gift from her father woven deep into her soul.

It was the Phoenix power that had vanished when she entered this universe.

Now it had truly returned.

Inside Jean's mind, the young Phoenix that had gone quiet when she arrived here woke up. It spread its wings and let out a clear, joyful cry.

Jean's heart surged with the same joy. She stared wide-eyed at the figure slowly standing within the fire.

A Phoenix did not die.

It was reborn.

"WHOOSH!"

Hawk stepped out of the flames with his hair streaming behind him. His eyes were clear and bright, though endless currents of gold-and-crimson fire surged within them.

The flames looked wild enough to burn worlds, but in Hawk's eyes, they were calm and completely under control.

None of the weakness from when he first arrived in this universe remained. The exhaustion and decline were gone, as was the powerlessness he felt when his strength was taken. Even the restless urgency he had before was gone.

What was left was the strong vitality of someone who had survived ruin, burned away every flaw, and come out new.

The coldness that once filled Hawk's eyes was gone. His humanity had come back, not as something he pretended to have, but as real warmth in his gaze.

For the first time, Hawk truly commanded his power.

His power no longer commanded him.

Hawk lifted his eyes toward the sky.

Twin beams of gold-and-crimson fire erupted from them, punching through the cloud cover miles overhead. The dark sky broke open, the clouds scattered, and sunlight poured down across the backyard.

Hawk lowered his gaze and raised one hand. The instant his fingers curled, every flame around him reversed course.

The inferno and the enormous Phoenix above him rushed inward like countless rivers returning to the sea. Heat vanished from the yard, and the distorted air settled back into place.

Only a soft gold-and-crimson glow was left on Hawk's skin. It moved over him with the warm shine of polished gem, forming a robe of light.

Every fragment of Hawk's power had returned to him.

More importantly, after coming all this way, no lower universe could ever separate him from his power again.

Hawk was the Phoenix Universe.

The Phoenix Universe was Hawk.

Only one last step remained before he finished the meaning he had chosen for his Ninth Sense:

I Am Destiny.

This time, it really was just one step. He only needed to recover the last missing piece.

Hawk pushed the thought aside and looked toward Wanda and Jean in the hallway.

Jean paused and glanced at her mother.

"Mom?"

"Go on." Wanda smiled and nodded at her.

Jean ran across the backyard, threw herself into Hawk's arms, and hugged him as tight as she could.

"Daddy!"

"Hey." Hawk smiled at her and hugged his daughter back.

He then looked past Jean toward Wanda, who was walking slowly across the yard.

"I thought you were making me find my own way back," Hawk said. "Why did you interfere again?"

He was talking about Mephisto.

When Hawk transformed the World Tree Universe into the Phoenix Tree Universe, he had destroyed Mephisto completely. Nothing had remained—not even a fragment of his soul.

Yet Mephisto's soul had somehow returned.

Someone had entered Hawk's timeline and changed the outcome. Only one person could move freely through his personal history without damaging it.

Wanda.

"Obviously, you couldn't manage without me." Wanda shrugged, looking innocent.

"Is that so?" Hawk laughed. "I'm not convinced."

"Would you like to experience what would've happened without my help?"

Wanda's pleasant smile never changed.

Hawk raised an eyebrow before wisely shaking his head.

"No, thanks. Once was enough." His teasing faded as he looked at her. "Seriously, Wanda, what would I do without you?"

"Then don't lose me."

"I won't." Hawk's face grew serious. "So tell me how I'm supposed to reach Earth-828 and bring all of you home."

Jean lifted her head from Hawk's chest. She looked at him, then at Wanda.

"Earth-828? Mom, are we—"

Wanda didn't answer her. Her eyes remained on Hawk.

"Is that another reason you spared Professor X?"

"Keeping him alive is more useful than killing him," Hawk replied. "And before we arrived, he did take care of Jean."

Wanda stared at her husband before sighing and shaking her head in disbelief.

"And they call you the Demon King."

Hawk had shown Charles a surprising amount of mercy. Compared to Wanda, he seemed almost kind.

If Charles had entered her mind without permission and tried to lecture her, she would have stopped him before he finished his first sentence.

Hawk hadn't punished him at all. He had even allowed Charles to leave in one piece.

To Wanda, that counted as an act of mercy.

Jean considered joining the conversation but decided against it. She remained in Hawk's arms and listened quietly.

"It's not just about repaying a favor," Hawk explained. "Once Jean and I leave, Charles will have no choice but to protect you if he doesn't want this world destroyed."

"I don't need his protection," Wanda scoffed.

"Not now," Hawk agreed. "But what about after Jean and I are gone?"

Wherever Hawk existed, Wanda existed with him.

The reverse was equally true.

Anywhere Hawk was gone, his Wanda could not stay either. Not just Wanda Maximoff, but the woman who chose to enter Hawk's timeline and tie herself to every part of his life.

"After you leave," Wanda said with a smile, "I'll be waiting for you on Earth-828."

Time was a circle.

She was Wanda Maximoff, but she was also Gwen Stacy, the woman who lived along Hawk's Sacred Timeline.

Jean finally couldn't remain quiet any longer. She raised one hand between her parents.

"Wait. What are you two talking about?" Her gaze settled anxiously on Wanda. "Mom, aren't you coming home with us?"

Wanda looked at Hawk.

Hawk responded with a helpless shrug.

"Time has never been my specialty. You explain it to her."

Wanda paused.

"You think it's mine?"

"You're the one who isn't coming back," Hawk said. "I am. That means you're the one involved, so it'll be easier if you explain."

Wanda laughed in disbelief.

"So you're washing your hands of the whole thing?"

"Hey." Hawk gave her a radiant smile. "You permanently revoked my right to educate or discipline our children. You said parenting was your responsibility and told me not to interfere."

Wanda stared at him.

"And now you're not even going to fight to get those rights back?"

Hawk shrugged.

"I've decided you were right, so I'm done fighting it."

"You're shameless."

"Thank you."

Wanda fell silent.

❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁