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It is a universal truth.
People differ from one another. By that exact logic, not all phoenixes are created equal.
A phoenix standing on the ground belongs to a completely different breed than one perched on a branch.
There's an old saying: A living dog is better than a dead lion.
Only a bird resting on the sacred Parasol Tree can truly be called a Phoenix.
The Phoenix appears only in the most sacred places and never sits on any branch except the Parasol. Its cry is powerful enough to shake the world.
Hawk possessed the power to use almost any cosmic anchor to manifest his Phoenix Universe. Such an act would constitute a re quantitative increase in power. Using a tree changed the entire equation.
Claiming the World Tree as his fulcrum brought about a fundantal qualitative evolution.
This reality explained his previous assessnt. Using the World Tree required understanding the Ninth Sense, the Amala Vijnana.
The Amala Vijnana did not even exist as a concept for him before he considered claiming Yggdrasil. He had felt absolute certainty that his ascension would finish with the Eighth Sense. The mont the idea of hijacking the World Tree crossed his mind—the path to the Ninth Sense appeared before his inner eye.
He lacked no desire to reach the Amala Vijnana. The truth remained far simpler. The Ninth Sense required the World Tree to exist. A phoenix demands its sacred branch.
Without it, he would remain grounded. A grounded bird lacks True Divinity.
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Gwen listened intently to his explanation. Hawk had detailed the details of the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Senses to her before. She lacked a visceral, personal understanding of those cosmic thresholds. One fact stood out with crystal clarity. The World Tree held imasurable importance for his future.
"Then go get it," Gwen stated with an even tone.
Hawk blinked, his focus snapping back to her face.
Gwen offered a casual shrug. "The World Tree gives you what you need, right?"
"It does."
"Then take it back from them."
"Doing that ans declaring all-out war on Ti itself."
"We are already enemies of Ti." Gwen smiled, tucking a stray blonde lock behind her ear as she caught his eye. "My husband never hesitates like this when facing an enemy."
Hawk let out a soft laugh and shook his head. "This one is different."
"How is it different? You told you do not fear Ti."
"I fear nothing for myself." He spoke with total confidence. He was strong enough to stay safe, even if Eternity showed up in person to attack him. He could always escape.
He had made his own tiline into a single point. If he couldn't beat Eternity in a direct fight, he would just pull back. Once he was out of Eternity's view, the cosmic being would never be able to find him again.
Hawk locked his piercing gaze onto her face. "I worry about you."
"?" Gwen paused, genuinely surprised.
"Yes." Hawk nodded, his voice falling to a serious register. "Think about Peter and Felicia."
Gwen's brow knitted. "Are you saying Ti will remove from existence?"
"It lacks the power to do that. You are my wife. You exist as a permanent fixture in my past, my present, and my future." Hawk shook his head.
"Then what can it do?"
"It can displace you. Ti can rip you away from my side and drop you onto an Earth in a parallel universe, exactly like it did to our Peter and Felicia."
Ti possessed that specific capability. It had proven its reach the mont Earth plunged fully into the primary temporal current.
The abstract entity of Ti could reverse events that included Eternity or the Ti Stone, which could not be altered. The raw chanical force of Ti operated on a supre level. It held this power without restriction and would utilize it as a weapon with absolute certainty the mont Hawk made his play for the World Tree—
Entering the ring for a direct confrontation ant exposing himself to the full, unmitigated wrath of Ti.
Such an act moved past re rebellion and constituted a direct assault on the One Above All.
Ti might lack True Omnipotence, but its retaliation would be devastating. Ti could not harm him directly. It would target the most intimate connection anchoring his tiline instead.
Gwen served as the absolute center of his existence. She was his wife.
The good news remained clear.
Hawk possessed a fundantally different nature from Odin, and Gwen was nothing like Frigga. Ti could not orchestrate Gwen's death. The bad news carried equal importance. Ti could banish Gwen to the multiverse and erase her from the mories of anyone not deeply entangled with Hawk's personal tiline.
The rest of the world had overlooked Peter and Felicia. The chanical force of Ti could execute a flawless mory wipe across reality.
Ti lacked emotion and that lack of emotion guaranteed a cold, calculated response. Threatening its core interests would trigger an automated, ruthless counterasure designed to force his compliance.
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Hawk kept his expression grave as he looked at her.
"The mont I enter this fight, I risk losing you."
Gwen bit her lip and tilted her head, her face twisting into a strange, amused look.
"Losing sounds a bit too lodramatic for a Tuesday morning, honey."
"I am entirely serious, Gwen."
"I know you are." Gwen let out a soft chuckle. The playful deanor vanished, replaced by an intensity that matched his own.
"Three questions. One, will I die?"
"No."
"Two, will I forget you, or will you forget ?"
"Never."
"Last question. If I get dumped onto an Earth in a parallel universe, will you track down and bring ho?"
"Absolutely."
"Then go steal the World Tree."
"Ti is a bully."
"It killed the Sorcerer Supre just to drag Earth into its current."
"It orchestrated Ragnarok across the World Tree to prevent anyone from escaping its control."
"It has its sights set on you now. Stealing the World Tree guarantees it will use as leverage."
"Refusing to steal the tree changes nothing. It will still use as leverage to prevent your final ascension."
"You must take the World Tree. My temporary absence ans nothing."
"Compromising once guarantees a lifeti of surrender."
"Do not give it the satisfaction of thinking it can control you. Not even with my life on the line."
Gwen spoke gently but with steady determination. She gave him a playful grin. "Besides, you promised I'd survive and rember everything. Being sent sowhere else for a while doesn't sound so bad. I'm actually curious to see what a parallel Earth is like compared to ours."
A new, amusing thought seed to strike her. She blinked her eyes in rapid succession and looked up at him.
"Do you think there is another version of you running around in this parallel universe?"
"The multiverse contains infinite variations outside of our primary reality. So Earths have variants of us. Others do not. A variant of you is bound to exist out there, alongside a variant of ."
"You sound incredibly certain." Gwen tilted her head, intrigued by his swift confirmation.
Hawk offered a faint smile.
"Do you dream?"
"What does dreaming have to do with parallel universes?"
"The version of yourself you see in your dreams is an actual projection of your multiverse variant."
Doctor Strange often dreamt of his alternate selves fleeing from monstrous creatures across shattered dinsions. Seeing yourself in a dream usually ans you are witnessing the life of a parallel variant.
Hawk rejected the notion that those multiversal variants held any true connection to his own identity.
His existence was an absolute singularity.
The origin of his soul guaranteed his unique, unparalleled status across all realities. A parallel variant of him might exist, but that variant shared nothing of his real essence. The sa rule applied to her.
"Those alternate versions of you are not you."
"Explain that." Gwen held his gaze.
Hawk stared back with resolute intensity. "Only you hold the title of Mrs. Phoenix. You are entirely irreplaceable."
Gwen blinked, took a half step backward, and perford a theatrical curtsy. "Thank you, Mr. Phoenix."
Hawk laughed out loud.
A sharp chi from the toaster interrupted the mont.
Gwen turned her attention back to what she was doing. She laughed, grabbed the toasted bread, spread a thick layer of butter, spun smoothly, and handed the slice to Hawk.
He took a bite, his eyes lighting up in a flash.
"A new recipe?"
"It is." Gwen lowered her voice. "My mother knows nothing about this secret formula. Consider this the very first exclusive recipe of the Phoenix family. Only those bearing our na get to taste it."
Hawk devoured the slice of bread in three quick bites.
Gwen bead at his reaction.
"Did that fill you up?"
"It did." Hawk nodded.
Gwen's smile grew radiant. "Then go to work. Promise you will not let Ti steal our World Tree."
Hawk looked deep into her aningful eyes and remained quiet for a long mont.
"Promise , Hawk."
"I promise." He gave his word under her intense scrutiny. With a final urging from his wife, he turned and vanished from the kitchen.
Gwen gazed at the empty space he left behind. She blinked, drew in a long, steadying breath, and untied her apron. She tossed the fabric onto the counter and strode toward the stairs.
A mont passed.
Gwen reached the master bedroom. Grabbing her charging phone from the nightstand, she opened her contacts list and initiated a call.
The connection went through without delay.
"Wanda."
"Do you have ti to go shopping with today?"
"..."
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