Marvel: The Awakened One

What exactly was the Seventh Sense?

The Seventh Sense was a higher plane of Cosmo perception and manipulation—transcending the five basic senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, as well as the Sixth Sense of the heart.

Furthermore, The Seventh Sense was the true source of Cosmo’s power, and the starting point on the path to divine territory.

Only by comprehending the Seventh Sense could one set foot in the realm of gods.

Because the Seventh Sense was the first step toward touching divine power.

In the Twelve Temples arc of Saint Seiya, how had the five Bronze Saints managed to fight their way through and ultimately defeat the mighty Gold Saints? The answer was simple—through countless near-death experiences, guided by the goddess Athena, they had awakened their Seventh Sense either by accident or design.

Without that awakening, Bronze Saints stood no chance. Forget withstanding a Gold Saint’s casual strike—a single glance from a Gold Saint would have killed them on the spot.

Since returning from the Atlantic, Hawk had remained in the backyard of 521A Palm Street, sitting cross-legged beneath the large tree—looking every bit like the Buddha seeking enlightenment beneath the Bodhi tree.

Inside the living room.

Sharon sat on the couch chatting with Gwen. She glanced at Hawk meditating under the tree, then turned to Gwen with curiosity.

”How long has he been at it?”

”Since he got back.”

”Damn.”

Sharon drew a sharp breath, staring at Gwen.

”That’s almost two weeks. He’s been sitting there the whole time?”

Gwen nodded.

”Yeah. Came back and said he needed to meditate. Something about achieving enlightenment.”

Two weeks ago, after Hawk had returned from the Atlantic and brought her home from S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, he’d walked straight to the backyard tree, sat down cross-legged, and announced he was entering a state of enlightenment.

Then—

Two weeks of meditation.

At first, Gwen had found it novel enough to sit on a chair and watch him. But as the days passed, she’d adopted an ”out of sight, out of mind” approach. Now she just glanced through the living room window whenever she passed by to make sure he was still there.

Though she wasn’t sure if it was her imagination—

Ever since Hawk had started meditating under that tree, the backyard air seemed somehow fresher. And the flowers she’d planted appeared to be blooming more vibrantly than usual.

Sharon processed Gwen’s response in silence. After a moment, she shook her head and changed the subject.

”Anyway, that family’s been settled.”

Gwen rose from the couch and headed toward the bar counter to make coffee for Sharon. She glanced at her friend, then returned with two cups, handing one over with a smile.

Sharon accepted with a word of thanks, then retrieved a folder from beside her, pulling out a stack of documents to hand to Gwen.

”What’s this?”

Gwen took a sip of coffee, set the cup on the table, and accepted the papers. The first page displayed property information.

”Jersey City—123 Westview Lane.”

Sharon confirmed.

”That’s where they’re living now.”

Gwen didn’t respond. She turned past the property page and found herself looking at personal files for Wanda Maximoff and Pietro Maximoff.

Of course.

Jean, Billy, and Tommy’s files were included as well.

However—

Gwen flipped through the three children’s documents, her brow furrowing as she looked at Sharon.

”Why are their surnames blank?”

”...”

Sharon said nothing. She simply met Gwen’s gaze and shrugged.

Understanding dawned. Gwen let out a soft laugh.

”What did she say?”

Sharon knew exactly who ”she” referred to.

”She said—if you two don’t mind—she’d like the children to take the surname Maximoff.”

Gwen’s eyebrow arched.

”Absolutely not.”

”Mm.”

”Whatever else they are, these are Hawk’s children.”

Gwen shook her head firmly at the notion of Hawk’s three children carrying Wanda’s surname. She handed the documents back to Sharon.

”They’ll be Phoenix. End of discussion.”

Sharon accepted the papers, her gaze drifting to Hawk still meditating beneath the tree.

”Should we wait until Hawk—”

”No need.”

Gwen smiled.

”I handle household matters.”

Sharon opened her mouth. She studied Gwen’s pleasant expression.

”Actually...”

Gwen seemed to know what Sharon was about to say. She cut her off with a laugh.

”It’s just a surname. Not a big deal.”

Sharon let the topic drop. Then she looked at Gwen again.

”By the way, Jean—the girl—she wants to see Hawk.”

Gwen glanced through the glass at Hawk still deep in meditation, then turned back to Sharon.

”He’s still working on his breakthrough. No idea when he’ll wake up. Let’s wait until he’s done.”

Sharon nodded.

”Fair enough.”

”Oh, Sharon.”

Gwen’s gaze pierced the living room glass, settling on Hawk’s meditating form in the backyard. She turned to Sharon with a thoughtful expression.

”You don’t think Hawk deliberately went into meditation just so I’d have to deal with all this stuff, do you?”

Sharon’s mouth opened. Every instinct told her it was time to leave.

Her instincts spoke.

She listened.

Without a word, Sharon met Gwen’s beautiful eyes with a polite smile, rose from the couch, and walked straight toward the door without looking back.

Ordinary family drama was headache-inducing enough.

This situation was... something else entirely.

Gwen watched Sharon make her escape. After a beat, she laughed and stood to see her friend out.

A gentle breeze swept through the backyard, carrying a fallen leaf that brushed past Hawk’s brow as he meditated beneath the tree.

...

Deep within his Cosmo, standing before the gateway to the Seventh Sense, Hawk sensed something—but paid it no mind. He kept his eyes closed, the Mind Stone hovering at his brow, continuing to contemplate the final step toward becoming a Gold Saint.

The Fifth and Sixth Senses could both ignite one’s Cosmo.

But only the Seventh Sense could truly, infinitely, completely burn the Cosmo within—granting a Saint the power to shatter stars and shake the heavens themselves.

Therefore—

The Seventh Sense was the only key to unlocking the infinite energy reservoir known as Cosmo.

Without it, no matter how strong your Cloth, no matter how flashy your techniques—before a true deity, you were nothing but a pretender.

But once the Seventh Sense awakened and you stepped into divine territory?

Everything changed.

Right now, Hawk was confident he could suppress Thor.

Even though Thor was a god.

And once he awakened the Seventh Sense—fully entering divine territory—even if Thor also awakened and evolved into a true deity, Hawk could still overpower him.

In the physical world, Hawk sat cross-legged beneath the tree, attempting to replicate Bodhidharma’s path to enlightenment. Within his Cosmo, his consciousness also sat cross-legged before the Seventh Sense’s gateway, using the Mind Stone’s power to try battering down the door.

But—

Even with the Mind Stone in hand, he still felt something missing. One final step remained between him and piercing through to the Seventh Sense.

Hawk carefully recalled Masami Kurumada’s descriptions of the Seventh Sense in Saint Seiya.

In truth, throughout the entire series, Kurumada had never explicitly defined what the Seventh Sense actually was.

He had only written this:

A Saint who awakens the Seventh Sense can burn their Cosmo, shatter the boundaries of space-time, and achieve light speed—or even surpass it.

As for the Seventh Sense’s true nature?

Kurumada never said.

And that was exactly where Hawk was stuck.

He understood the Sixth Sense’s essence—transcending the boundary between life and death to achieve perception beyond the five basic senses.

That was why he’d been able to comprehend the Sixth Sense so quickly.

He’d been working backward from the answer to find the process.

But the Seventh Sense?

The Mind Stone hovered level with his brow, radiating a soft golden glow.

Hawk felt its calming influence soothing the restlessness in his spirit. His consciousness became extraordinarily clear and focused.

The next moment.

A phrase from his Western Philosophy courses surfaced in his mind.

Kurumada hadn’t described the Seventh Sense’s nature—but Western philosophy had.

Hawk’s thoughts churned. Under the Mind Stone’s influence, his consciousness seemed to drift back to that very lecture.

He saw the philosophy textbook. He saw the Western philosophical description of the Seventh Sense.

Time.

In Western philosophy, the Seventh Sense was considered a spiritual transcendence—a perception of time’s flow.

And the instant Hawk’s mind locked onto the concept of ”time”—

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The Fire Phoenix erupted into existence, slamming against the gateway that had blocked his Cosmo’s evolution from Silver to Gold.

The Seventh Sense’s door thundered.

But—

It remained unmoved.

Hawk kept his eyes closed, thoughts racing. Now that ”time” had emerged as the key, more connections between Gold Saints and time flooded his mind.

For instance—

In a Gold Saint’s perception, time became extraordinarily clear. That was why, in the original series, Seiya had been able to escape even after being stripped of his five senses—by perceiving the flow of time itself.

And another thing—

In the eyes of Bronze and even Silver Saints, a Gold Saint’s slightest movement appeared to be instantaneous teleportation.

This wasn’t because Gold Saints moved too fast.

It was because Gold Saints had comprehended time itself—and transcended it.

”So!”

”To comprehend the Seventh Sense—”

”The Mind Stone alone isn’t enough.”

”I also need Time.”

Hawk sat cross-legged beneath the backyard tree. His eyes slowly opened—and as they did, brilliant golden light blazed forth from his pupils.

The next second.

He rose from beneath the tree. One step carried him through the glass door and into the living room.

In the kitchen, Gwen had been preparing dinner for herself. Her eyes lit up at the sight of Hawk finally emerging from his meditation. She smiled.

”Finished with your enlightenment?”

”Almost.”

Hawk smiled back.

”I need Time.”

Gwen heard this. She studied the expression on his face. Her eyebrow arched.

❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁

~# 70 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!

https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx

(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)

~# Bonus Chapter every 300PS