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The first thing Emma registered was the warmth of another body beside her. Emma's mind, still foggy from last night's wine, took a second too long to catch up. When she did, her eyes flew wide open.
"This isn't what it looks like!"
The excuse came out of her mouth before she was fully awake. Even the ever-confident Emma Frost felt the need to explain herself after waking up half-naked next to Dante. This wasn't a situation she could lie her way out of without losing her dignity, not against someone completely immune to her mind-control.
Dante smiled and patted her head. Despite the situation, she noticed how he deliberately kept his gaze to her eyes, never letting them wander anywhere. A very respectful gesture she didn't appreciate from the man in her heart.
'Am I not pretty enough for him?'
She narrowed her eyes. "Say something."
"Take responsibility for violating me."
She raised her eyebrows as the corner of her mouth twitched. She had asked him to speak, not drop a nuke on her head. "The best I can do is make you my mistress."
"But I'm too handsome to be a side piece."
She hated his cockiness, but she also found it attractive.
Shifting into her diamond form, she made him feel that extra solidness for a moment, then slid out of the bed. He was free to look anywhere as she did a graceful catwalk to his pile of clothes. She picked up his shirt and slipped it on over her shoulders.
"Do you think," she said, doing up two bottom buttons and facing him. "That I deserve to be a sidepiece?"
He shook his head. "We'll leave after breakfast."
She accepted this answer for the non-answer it was. "Be a good dad and get Sharon ready. I'll take some hangover relief pills and shower."
"Wasn't expecting you to do that, anyways."
Emma admitted she was a mess. Without her servants, she would have a pile of unwashed clothes in her room. But she didn't appreciate being told that to her face.
"Dear, say what you will, but I'm still a hundred times more domestic than Death."
"Death gives me milk. You don't."
She looked over her shoulder. "Fuck me till I'm pregnant. I'll let you suck my milk everyday. Only at a small price of exclusivity."
"Nope."
A sigh left her lips.
'This isn't going to work.'
***
Dante's POV
After a quick breakfast, Dante confirmed Apocalypse's location through his Death's Resonance. He considered teleporting directly there but decided against it. Apocalypse had spent centuries preparing contingencies. A man who had survived for so long wouldn't leave his tomb unguarded against sorcerers. The flight wouldn't take more than thirty minutes. At the same time, he'd get to enjoy great scenery.
That's how they got to this position, where he flew carrying Sharon while a levitation spell allowed a diamond-form Emma to fly without much issue. The desert heat was brutal, forcing her to maintain her diamond form just to not pass out.
The desert stretched in every direction. The Nile was a green ribbon to the east. They flew over the golden sands, passing ancient temples and many great landmarks, until he spotted a weathered pyramid rising from the dunes ahead.
"It's that pyramid. Apocalypse has a whole underground facility built for his hibernation."
Emma stayed quiet, but the look of relief on her face couldn't be missed. Finally, she would be able to return to her normal form.
Sharon suddenly became full alert in his arms. "Daddy, Sharon sees three people over there!"
He spotted two blondes standing at the pyramid's base. One had short hair and wore a matching white tee and shorts. She gave the impression of a cold, short-fused woman. The other woman wore a striking red dress that exposed a lot of skin. Dante recognized her at a glance.
"What is Candra doing there?"
Emma's head turned sharply. "You know her? Wait, she's another one?"
He gave her a blank stare. "Never met her."
"Then how—"
"Emma, stop acting like a jealous wife. You look too cute. I don't want to see you cute. I want you to be toxic and hateful. That way I can get over you."
"What the hell…?"
"Just kidding. Look there. They noticed us."
Below, the blonde woman glanced sideways at her companion with an arched brow. Candra gazed at him with a smile of absolute delight. He didn't need further proof to know she had been waiting for him.
'For her gem… or for me?'
He'd find out soon enough.
***
Candra's POV
Candra had a hunch Dante would arrive for Apocalypse. Egypt didn't have many reasons to lure someone like Dante, someone so full of mysteries and wonders. She turned out to be correct in her prediction. He had found the location of Apocalypse's tomb.
'My son is quite capable.'
She wondered if he had already learned about Apocalypse's lunatic servant controlling SHIELD and oppressing all mutants on behalf of his master. It could be one of the reasons for him to show up here. Confront that man's master and end it once and for all.
'I'll know soon.'
Emma landed first. Her diamond form caught the desert sun and scattered it in every direction, effortlessly blinding, effortlessly beautiful. She stood tall and unafraid. Her diamond body and Dante's presence clearly made her feel untouchable.
'A woman of her status suits my son.'
Candra stepped forward with a warm, pleasant smile. "Emma Frost. I've been wanting to meet you for some time." Her gaze shifted to Dante as he landed beside her, cradling a lavender-furred cat in his arms. "And Dante. What a charming and adorable pet you have there. May I pet her?"
The cat hissed, baring her fangs. "Stay away! Daddy, she is dangerous!"
"I know," Dante murmured, rubbing his chin gently against the top of Sharon's head. His calm gaze returned to Candra. "Are you here to stop me?"
Candra blinked at the "Daddy" part and pointed at Sharon with undisguised bewilderment. "Please tell me she's adopted."
"She is our daughter." Emma crossed her arms, grinning like she had got one up above Candra. The foolish woman didn't know Candra was his mother, not someone romantically interested in him.
Candra tilted her head. "That makes you one of his. Tell me, are you sixth, or seventh?" A small, thoughtful pause to savor the hostility creeping into Emma's eyes. "Could it be eight? Oh my! He is quite an exceptional man!"
She knew exactly how much her son's playboy side affected the proud Emma. Her taunt hit Emma right where it hurt.
Emma recovered her composure near-instantly. "A number is just a number. What matters is how we feel for each other."
"That's… an interesting way to manage being a mistress," Candra chuckled. "Don't take it as an insult. I'll never do such a thing."
Emma's lips twitched. "So rude for someone who can't introduce yourself."
"I'm Candra. As for my relationship with him." Her eyes flicked to Dante, finding him really pleasing to look at. The child who had been cast aside by her at birth had turned out talented in every aspect. "Dante… Did Walter Hardy mention the Benefactress of the Thieves Guild?"
"He did."
Candra let out a slow breath and then fully committed to the role. Her eyes became soft as faint glimmers appeared at their corners. A great deal of love and warmth was in her smile, which had been perfected for centuries. Even she found the performance a little ridiculous. "Dante, I am that Benefactress."
A well-timed pause to let him feel the emotions behind every word.
"I am your mother."
She knew a man like him wouldn't rush at the first mention of his mother and cry like a little boy, but she at least expected him to show some shock, some anger, or maybe even a small tremble. Instead, he stood there, calmly caressing his cat as though her well-crafted act had gone unregistered.
This was not going according to plan.
He revealed a calm smile. "Candra, you mean nothing to me. Don't try anything stupid, or you'll be joining Apocalypse and Selene in the afterlife."
He took Emma's hand and walked past them without another glance, heading straight for the small opening at the base of the pyramid.
"Never approach me again."
With a message, he stepped inside.
She stood there, staring at Dante's back as the desert wind blew her hair. She didn't move even after the shadows swallowed him, even when there was nothing left for her to see.
Bella Donna placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Let it go, Benefactress. It's not possible to control him the way you want."
"I haven't even tried yet."
There was no frustration in her voice, only certainty that she would succeed one way or another. She refused to give up what was her right.
She turned away from the entrance and looked out at the desert.
'He claims he'll send Apocalypse and Selene to the afterlife.'
It just wasn't possible. Externals could be killed, but keeping them dead in the afterlife could not be achieved—unless a God of Dead, one with the authority to send souls to the afterlife, stepped in. Dante went inside with Emma and a mutant cat, not any god of death.
The correct course of action would be to let Dante prematurely awaken Apocalypse from his rest and kill him, or at the very least, injure him. Her child had been creating miracles left and right. Perhaps she would witness one with her own eyes and watch him kill Apocalypse.
The worst case scenario would give her combat data and buy valuable time to prepare against Apocalypse. The premature awakening would make him slumber for another few decades at least.
The best case scenario would buy her even more time as Apocalypse would need a century worth of hibernation after resurrection.
'But… he'll die if I do this.'
Her biggest obstacle and the only person she truly feared—the Immortal Tyrant—was Apocalypse. Any price seemed insignificant to buy time to permanently kill him.
Even though this choice made the most sense, she found herself following Dante's footsteps into the pyramid.
She didn't want her son to die.
***
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