❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁
Out on the manor's back lawn, Caroline was explaining to her cousin Gwen exactly how she'd become a vampire.
Meanwhile, Hawk was in the bathroom, rinsing off in the shower while replying to a message from Mephisto, the Lord of Hell.
That's right.
Mephisto had sent him a message. An invitation to come hang out in Hell for a bit.
Under normal circumstances, Hawk wouldn't have been particularly interested.
But—
Hawk was genuinely curious about the Heaven Dimension. And there was an old saying that applied here perfectly.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Mephisto, having made it back home, had probably come to the same realization. That's why he'd sent the invitation.
Hawk decided to take him up on it.
Caroline's story was long—a whole season's worth of drama. Gwen wasn't going to finish processing all of that anytime soon. He had time to kill. A quick trip to Hell wouldn't hurt.
So...
After his shower, Hawk changed into the set of pajamas Gwen had packed and brought with them. Then he found Gwen and told her about Mephisto's invitation to meet in Hell.
Gwen, who had been listening intently to Caroline's story, blinked up at Hawk.
"Why is Mephisto reaching out again?"
"Because he got dragged into this mess."
"Alright."
Gwen nodded. "Will you be back before Christmas Eve?"
Hawk smiled. "It won't take that long. By the time you finish hearing Caroline's story—or maybe even before you're done—I'll be back."
Gwen understood.
"Okay. Go ahead, then."
"Yeah."
Hawk nodded, preparing to head off to Hell.
Just then—
Gwen raised an eyebrow, looking at Hawk as he turned to leave. "Wait. You're going dressed like that?"
Hawk glanced down at the pure black pajamas he was wearing.
"What's wrong with this?"
"Dress a little more formally. He's a Hell Lord, after all."
"...Fine!"
Their eyes met.
Hawk caught the look in Gwen's expressive emerald eyes and smiled faintly. With a single thought, the Black Phoenix Surplice—which had been resting and absorbing power in the Underworld's palace—appeared behind him.
WHAM!
CRACK!
CLANG!
One piece after another, the Surplice components locked into place with perfect precision, covering Hawk's body. The moment the final visor descended over his face, the radiant expanse of his inner Cosmo projected behind him like a shimmering universe. He raised his right hand, and the deep, dark gateway to Hell tore open through the fabric of space.
Hawk glanced back at Gwen.
"I'm heading out, then."
"Yeah. Come back soon."
Gwen smiled, her tone calm and steady.
Hawk acknowledged her with a nod. The instant his right foot stepped forward, Phoenix flames surged through the torn void, spreading across the threshold of Hell's gate.
"MEPHISTO—OPEN UP!"
The gates of Hell swung open with a resounding crash.
Clad in the Black Phoenix Surplice, Hawk stepped through in one smooth motion. Behind him, the gates slammed shut once more.
WHOOSH.
The air settled back into stillness.
...
Gwen smiled as she turned her attention away from the now-closed rift and looked at her cousin Caroline, whose expression had frozen into something resembling stunned disbelief. Her tone remained perfectly calm. "So, where were we??"
Caroline snapped out of her daze, but her mind was still looping the scene of Hawk donning the Black Phoenix Surplice like some kind of mythological god of war. Her mouth hung open as she stared at her cousin.
"Gwen... Hawk just went to..."
"Oh, Mephisto invited him over for drinks."
"Mephisto?"
"You're a vampire, aren't you? You don't know who Mephisto is? He's the ruler of the Hell Dimension. All the souls on Earth fall under his jurisdiction."
Gwen looked at Caroline with mild curiosity. "Hawk fought him once before. But it looks like they've patched things up."
Her voice was light, as if she were discussing something entirely mundane.
But Caroline?
She was not okay.
What did Gwen just say? Ruler of the Hell Dimension? All the souls on Earth belong to Mephisto?
And what was that about Hawk fighting him?
Caroline could understand every single word her cousin was saying, but when strung together, she felt like her brain cells were combusting one by one.
Finally, After countless thoughts collided and tangled together, Caroline sucked in a sharp breath.
"Holy—"
"Yep."
Gwen smiled at her gasping cousin. "So don't think I'm lying to you. And if you're not honest with me, I'll have Hawk yank your soul out and throw it into Hell for a few days of punishment."
Caroline's eyes went wide. She stared at Gwen and shook her head frantically.
"No, no, no! Please, Gwen!"
"Then keep talking."
"Okay!"
Caroline nodded rapidly. This time, there was no hesitation, no half-hearted doubt. She told Gwen everything—about the vampires in Mystic Falls and how she'd been turned into one herself.
She didn't have a choice.
She believed, without a shadow of a doubt, that Gwen would actually follow through on that threat.
One thing was clear.
Other people might not know, but Caroline knew her cousin Gwen wasn't nearly as gentle as she appeared.
She'd thought maybe Gwen had mellowed out over the years.
But no.
If Hawk—someone who could casually stroll into Hell like it was a coffee shop—was still completely under Gwen's thumb, then Caroline knew better than to push her luck.
Better to just play it safe.
Caroline's thoughts raced as she continued her story.
...
Meanwhile, Hawk—having entered the Hell Dimension—couldn't help but sneeze. He walked into the familiar setup: the disguised little tavern, still in the same spot, where Mephisto sat at the same table as last time, dressed in his fake middle-aged rockstar look. Hawk sat down across from him and remarked casually, "Why does it feel colder in here than last time?"
Mephisto poured a glass of fine wine and slid it across the table toward Hawk.
"Last time, this tavern sat between Life and Death."
"Now..."
"Between Death and Death."
"Heh."
Hawk picked up his glass and clinked it against Mephisto's. Then he eyed the wine suspiciously. "You didn't spike this one too, did you?"
Mephisto smiled. "I did. Do you dare drink it?"
Their eyes met.
Hawk and Mephisto both laughed, then downed their drinks in one smooth motion.
As their glasses hit the table—
Hawk cut straight to the point. "So you figured out what Heaven's up to, realized the enemy of your enemy is your friend, and now you want to form an alliance with me?"
Mephisto grabbed the wine bottle, chuckling as he refilled both their glasses. He glanced at Hawk.
"Do you know how Heaven's Dimension likes to steal life-bearing planets from other Dimensional Lords?"
"Does it have something to do with their soul properties?"
"Exactly. And they don't just want the life-bearing planets."
Mephisto nodded, setting the bottle aside before picking up his glass. He began explaining Heaven's methods of invasion.
If you imagined a life-bearing planet as the food in a pot, then the Dimension that ruled over that planet was the pot itself.
And Heaven?
They wanted the food!
And they wanted to steal the pot too.
All thanks to their unique soul properties.
"Normally, wars between Dimensions take place directly between the two Dimensions themselves."
"Whoever has the deeper foundation, whoever has the stronger Dimensional power, wins."
"But Heaven's Dimension operates differently."
"Their invasion strategy is like Earth's cuckoo bird."
"They don't attack from the outside. They use underhanded tactics and strike from within."
"They release their souls, infiltrating life-bearing planets quietly, in a way that's almost impossible to detect. These souls merge seamlessly into the Dimension of death."
"And once they've accumulated enough souls—"
"That's when their real attack begins."
"They activate those souls, fuse them together, and create an angel that carries the mark of the Death Dimension but is loyal only to them."
"A Death Angel."
"When a new Death Angel is born, because it technically belongs to the Death Dimension, it has the right to challenge the Death Lord for control of the Dimension itself."
"And when that happens—"
"The Death Dimension becomes theirs. The life-bearing planet becomes theirs. And every soul on that planet gets brainwashed by their propaganda and becomes fuel for their next invasion."
...
Three drinks later—
Mephisto had finished his story about how Heaven conquered life-bearing planets and what fate awaited Earth if Heaven succeeded.
The story was fascinating.
Hawk's internal response? Complete indifference.
So they conquer the planet. So what?
It's not like Earth isn't already a disaster magnet.
Still, Hawk understood the core message Mephisto was trying to convey.
"Buddy, I'm in serious trouble. Help me out!"
That was Mephisto's subtext. That was why he'd invited Hawk here for drinks.
Clearly, the moment Mephisto had gotten home, he'd sensed something was wrong. That's why he'd rushed to bring Hawk in.
Still, Hawk grabbed the wine bottle this time, pouring for Mephisto as he asked with genuine curiosity, "So what did you find?"
"..."
Mephisto's mouth and eyes both twitched at Hawk's blunt question. After a pause, he looked at Hawk. "The seed of the Death Angel has already been planted by those bird brains."
Hawk raised an eyebrow. "A Death Angel seed? I thought you said this method takes several hundred years—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
Because if Katherine Pierce's doppelgänger state was actually a Heaven Dimension angel soul—
Then Katherine Pierce wasn't the first doppelgänger.
There had been others before her.
Which meant...
Hawk looked at Mephisto's grim expression and couldn't help but laugh.
Mephisto frowned.
Hawk quickly raised a hand. "I didn't mean to. But you kept telling me Earth's souls were your sacred territory. And now you're telling me a bunch of bird brains have been working right under your nose for hundreds of years, and you only just noticed—and only because I pointed it out?"
Mephisto's expression darkened.
"I thought they would honor their agreement. I thought they'd give up this planet."
"Come on. You're a demon. You don't keep your promises. Why would you expect them to?"
Hawk couldn't help but call him out on it.
Mephisto's face turned even blacker.
"I didn't call you here to listen to your commentary."
"My bad."
A little courtesy goes a long way.
Setting aside the fact that Mephisto wanted to kill him, and setting aside the fact that Hawk wanted to take over Mephisto's Hell, their relationship was actually pretty solid.
So Hawk offered another quick apology, then raised his glass and clinked it against Mephisto's. After downing the drink, he watched Mephisto pour another round and asked, "So you want to form an alliance. The two of us against Heaven's bird brigade?"
Mephisto finished pouring and looked at Hawk.
"Yes. They've already set their sights on you, haven't they?"
"I can't confirm that yet..." Hawk smiled faintly, meeting Mephisto's gaze. "Maybe it's all just a misunderstanding. And besides, why wouldn't I ally with winged angels instead? Give me one good reason why I should team up with you."
Mephisto set the bottle down, his eyes locked on Hawk. "Because you won't ally with them."
Hawk's smile didn't waver.
"Reason?"
"I manipulate hearts. They manipulate faith. I treat life-bearing planets as my pasture. They treat them as fuel."
Mephisto stared at Hawk as he finished speaking.
Hawk held his gaze.
After a moment, Hawk chuckled and raised his glass, looking at Mephisto. "Hypothetically—and I mean hypothetically—if I were to form an alliance with you, what do I get out of it once we deal with Heaven?"
Mephisto raised his own glass, clinked it against Hawk's, then smiled. "Your universe needs a real-world anchor to manifest. The location of Heaven's Dimension would be a perfect choice."
Hawk's eyes gleamed.
Yes...
His Cosmo needed a real-world coordinate to fully manifest.
Think of it like applying for a plot of land to build a house. Hawk now had the ability to apply for the land, but all the land had already been claimed. In that situation, if he wanted to build his own universe, he either had to buy someone else's plot or take it by force.
No one was going to sell.
Hawk's original plan had been to wait for the events of Thor: Ragnarok to play out. Once Yggdrasil (World's Tree) was destroyed, he'd swoop in and plant his Phoenix Universe in its place.
Because once Yggdrasil was destroyed, that land would become unclaimed territory.
And unclaimed land? That belonged to whoever was strong enough to claim it!!
That was also why Hawk wasn't in any rush to awaken his Seventh Sense yet.
Even if he awakened the Seventh Sense now and rapidly progressed to the Eighth Sense—which would allow him to manifest his universe—there was nowhere to build it.
Hence, No point rushing.
...
Still, hearing Mephisto's proposal, Hawk felt a flicker of interest. But he still had one question. "A Dimensional world can't hold my universe, can it?"
He was planning to manifest a parallel universe—one that wasn't weaker than the current universe.
Only a universe could contain another universe.
A Dimensional world?
It would probably burst at the seams.
Hawk strongly suspected this was just another one of Mephisto's tricks.
After all, the guy had a track record.
Mephisto, seeing the suspicion in Hawk's eyes, smiled. "Other Dimensional worlds wouldn't work. But I guarantee Heaven's Dimension will. Do you know where Heaven's Dimension came from?"
Hawk shook his head.
"No idea."
"I can't tell you."
"What?"
"You can see for yourself. It's buried deep in the souls of Heaven—the very deepest layer. If you look, you'll understand."
Mephisto spoke cryptically. "Once you see it, I guarantee you'll come back and form an alliance with me on your own."
With that—
Mephisto downed his drink, stood up, and walked out of the tavern.
Hawk turned to watch him leave, raising an eyebrow.
The deepest layer of their souls? What's hidden there?
Hawk frowned slightly, finishing his own drink before standing and leaving the tavern as well.
WHOOSH!
...
The space above the lawn tore open once more.
The moment Hawk stepped through the rift, the Black Phoenix Surplice disassembled itself and returned to the palace in the Underworld.
Gwen, noticing his arrival, walked over and wrinkled her nose.
"You've been drinking?"
"Yeah."
"Please tell me it wasn't spiked again."
"It's fine."
Hawk waved it off, glancing at Caroline, who was staring at him, before turning to Gwen to change the subject. "Did she finish her story?"
Gwen nodded, then seemed to remember something. She looked at Hawk. "Caroline said the Katherine you let go deliberately killed her and turned her into a vampire."
Hawk glanced at Caroline.
Caroline, meeting his gaze, quickly looked away.
Hawk smiled and turned back to Gwen. "Katherine Pierce is actually a tragic figure."
He briefly summarized Katherine's history for Gwen.
When she was human, she'd been unable to bear children, so her father saw her as a disgrace and a burden. Eventually, her own father handed her over to the Original vampire Klaus.
To escape being Klaus's sacrifice, she turned herself into a vampire. But that wasn't freedom—it was the beginning of a nightmare. A five-hundred-year nightmare.
Gwen listened, her brow furrowed, clearly sympathizing with Katherine's fate.
Even Caroline, hearing the full story for the first time, seemed to be putting herself in Katherine's shoes.
She realized that if she'd been in Katherine's position, she probably would have died long ago under Klaus's relentless pursuit.
When the story ended—
Gwen glanced at her cousin, then looked at Hawk. "You seem pretty sympathetic toward this Ms. Pierce. Don't tell me Caroline's suspicion is right and she actually is your ex-girlfriend."
Hawk's gaze shifted back to Caroline.
Caroline looked away again.
Hawk chuckled and turned to Gwen, his tone casual. "Gwen, I don't think you and your cousin are that close."
Gwen raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Hawk shrugged.
"If Caroline was my cousin, and I found out a vampire had been mind-controlling and messing with her for months, I'd rip that vampire apart with my bare hands."
"..."
❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁
~# 70 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!
https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
~# Bonus Chapter every 300PS