"So... this is the legendary Seal of Solomon?" Shazam said with placid curiosity, raising the crystal orb slightly to examine it more closely. The intricate patterns etched across its surface pulsed with a faint golden glow, each line seeming to shift ever so slightly as though something deep within the crystal was slowly stirring to life.
"What do you know about it?" Strange asked, extending a hand toward Shazam.
"Nothing, really," Shazam admitted without hesitation as he passed the orb back to him. "I've just come across the name once or twice."
"That explains why attempting to expose the spell hidden within proved so troublesome," Strange murmured more to himself than to Shazam. Holding the orb in his palm, he studied the ancient seal with renewed perspective and focus, carefully examining its runic patterns and the flow of mystical energy woven throughout its structure. "Now the challenge is figuring out how to open it."
He fell silent again, his expression turning increasingly serious as his attention remained fixed on the glowing markings. The intricate runes appeared almost alive, giving the illusion that the very space contained within the crystal was rotating at an impossibly slow pace.
After a moment, Strange lowered the orb and opened another portal with the sequential hand motion as golden sparks spiraled into existence before parting to reveal an immense open chamber on the other side. Without a word, the two stepped through, arriving in the middle of a vast stone hall dominated by a single ancient pillar rising from the center of the room.
As they continued walking, Strange spoke again, his tone casual enough to make the question sound almost like an afterthought.
"What gift did Solomon bestow upon you?"
Shazam didn't even hesitate.
"That's for me to know and for you to..." He trailed off deliberately, tapping a finger against his chin as though genuinely searching for the right words. "...dot, dot, dot."
For the briefest moment, Strange simply stared at him.
Then the corner of his left eye twitched.
Billy's maddening ability to dodge a perfectly reasonable question while somehow sounding completely sincere was beginning to test even the patience expected of the Sorcerer Supreme.
Shazam resisted the urge to ask where they were. Instead, he watched quietly as the crystal orb floated effortlessly from Strange's palm before gliding through the air and settling gently atop the flat surface of the stone pillar, as though the pedestal had been waiting for it all along.
Without wasting another second, Strange began moving his hands through a series of precise, practiced motions. Each gesture flowed seamlessly into the next until glowing orange runic circles materialized around both of his hands, humming softly with mystical energy.
'Interesting…' Shazam thought, watching with genuine curiosity. 'He really doesn't use incantations when casting spells. Is that because he's a big-shot wizard... or is that just how these monk sorcerers practice magic?'
Choosing to keep the question to himself, Shazam remained where he stood, quietly observing.
Streams of glowing runes spiraled around the crystal orb, gradually weaving themselves into an elaborate magical array that formed directly above it. The circle made a precise rotation as Strange steadily poured more energy into the spell, attempting to unravel the ancient seal.
For several long seconds, nothing happened.
The orb remained completely still.
The Seal of Solomon showed not the slightest hint of responding to the Sorcerer Supreme's latest attempt.
"I have to admit," Strange said, letting the spell circles around his hands gradually fade away, "that is one remarkably resilient seal. I shouldn't have expected anything less from a mage as renowned as Solomon."
There was no real frustration in his voice. If anything, it carried a note of admiration. Even after centuries had passed since Solomon's death, the craftsmanship behind the seal remained extraordinary, standing firm against everything the current Sorcerer Supreme had thrown at it.
As Strange withdrew his attention from the crystal orb, something else caught his eye.
Captain Marvel.
The young champion hadn't spoken a word throughout the entire attempt. He simply hovered nearby, silently observing every spell Strange had cast with an unusual level of patience and focus. It was... oddly unsettling.
For someone whose mind still belonged to a teenager, the quiet, reserved demeanor felt strangely out of character.
"That should be enough for today," Strange finally said, turning toward him as he began tracing the familiar motions required to conjure another portal. "It's time to send you back."
"Mind if I have a go at it?" Shazam asked instead.
Before Strange could respond, Shazam gently lifted off the ground, drifting through the air toward the stone pillar where the crystal orb rested.
"What exactly are you planning to do?" Strange asked, lowering his hands before the portal could fully form.
Ironically, he'd been the one telling Billy to momentarily keep his questions to himself earlier. Now the roles had reversed, and Strange found himself genuinely unsure what was going through the head of someone who possessed the overwhelming power of a god while still retaining the thought process—and occasional impulsiveness—of a teenager.
People often spoke of having an inner child.
In Shazam's case, however, it wasn't a figure of speech.
Watching Shazam approach the orb, Strange immediately arrived at the most likely conclusion.
"If you're thinking of overwhelming the seal with raw magical power, don't," he warned, his tone becoming noticeably firmer. "A sufficiently powerful barrier or seal can be shattered through brute force. However..." His gaze returned to the glowing runes engraved across the crystal. "...Solomon clearly anticipated someone attempting exactly that."
A faint sigh escaped him.
"Even from beyond the grave, he continues to prove why he earned the titles of Great Mage and Master of the Mystic Arts."
Strange hoped his warning would be enough to dissuade Shazam from making his attempt in ignorance. The last thing he wanted was for Shazam to accidentally destroy the crystal orb—or worse, damage whatever ancient magic lay sealed within it through an ill-advised display of overwhelming power.
Without saying a word—or seeming to pay much attention to Strange's warning—Shazam remained focused on the crystal orb. His eyes carefully followed the glowing runes that spiraled around it as the Sorcerer Supreme wove yet another spell into existence. The intricate bands of magic circled the orb for only a few moments before dissolving once again, their light fading as though they had never existed.
"Every spell I cast simply gets absorbed or nullified by the seal," Strange explained, his voice carrying an arcadian seriousness as he watched the enchantment absorb his latest attempt with effortless ease. "Instead of unraveling it, I might only be adding to its complexity if each failed attempt causes it to act against intrusive actions."
Refusing to concede so easily, Strange immediately tried again. His expression hardened with concentration as his hands moved through another sequence of practiced gestures, glowing sigils blossoming around his wrists before flowing toward the orb in carefully controlled streams of magic.
The result was exactly the same.
The seal remained utterly unmoved.
"So..." Captain Marvel finally spoke, briefly shifting his gaze from the orb to the Sorcerer Supreme. "You can't open it?"
"Eventually?" Strange answered, never taking his eyes off the crystal. "Perhaps. Days... weeks... maybe even months."
His reply was calm, but inwardly he found himself wondering where Captain Marvel's confidence was coming from. What exactly made the young champion believe he stood a better chance against a seal crafted by Solomon himself?
"You're the Sorcerer Supreme," Captain Marvel continued. "Can't you, like... I don't know... find some loophole? A weakness in the seal or something?"
Strange exhaled quietly before lowering his hands.
"I've encountered wards woven by Elder Gods and barriers created by cosmic entities," he said. "But this..." His eyes lingered on the glowing runes. "This is different."
There was a note of genuine respect in his voice.
"It is said Solomon understood magic on a level that transcended conventional sorcery."
'Does the Solomon fan club ever take a day off?' Shazam thought to himself.
'Seriously... this guy built so much aura that centuries after his death, his magic is still out here flexing on even the Sorcerer Supreme of this that comes after him, reminding them there are levels to this shit.'
Keeping the joke to himself, Shazam returned his full attention to the orb.
He had spent the entire exchange quietly observing the seal's intricate runic patterns, and the strange feeling that had been growing in the back of his mind was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
Before he knew it, a faint whisper echoed through his consciousness.
There were no words, nor was it a voice.
Only a subtle sensation, as though something deep within him had recognized what he was looking at.
The Wisdom of Solomon.
Rather than speaking, the ancient blessing simply... understood.
The longer Shazam studied the runes, the less chaotic they appeared. What had once looked like an impossibly tangled collection of glowing symbols gradually reorganized themselves in his perception. Their seemingly random arrangement gave way to deliberate structure, each line connecting to the next with unmistakable purpose.
It wasn't as though someone had explained the seal to him.
It felt more like remembering a language he had never actually learned.
"Trying to overwhelm the seal with raw magical power... or treating it like a lock to be picked..." Shazam said quietly, never taking his eyes off the crystal orb. "Neither approach will break this seal."
There wasn't the slightest trace of his usual humor in his voice.
The calm certainty with which he spoke, coupled with the intense focus on his face, reminded Strange of the impression he'd formed when they had first met—before discovering that the imposing Champion of the Gods was, in reality, just Billy Batson. Without even realizing it, Strange found himself silently observing as Shazam reached out. He offered no objection while the crystal orb gently lifted from his own hand and settled into Shazam's palm.
"Without performing any action," Shazam continued, studying the glowing runes with unwavering concentration, "this crystal orb will never reveal its secrets."
Strange remained silent, carefully reading between the lines.
It wasn't simply a matter of possessing enough magical power or sufficient skill. The way Shazam described it suggested something far more specific. Unless one understood the precise principle upon which Solomon had built the enchantment, every other method—no matter how sophisticated—was doomed to fail before it even began.
Questions immediately formed in Strange's mind.
His lips parted to ask them.
Then he caught sight of the look on Shazam's face.
The champion's expression was one of absolute concentration. Remembering the very advice he'd given Billy earlier, Strange quietly swallowed his curiosity and chose to remain an observer instead.
Holding the crystal securely in one hand, Shazam's eyes slowly began to glow with a brilliant golden light.
It wasn't a surge of magical power.
Nor was he forcing his will upon the seal.
If anything, it resembled recognition.
The Wisdom of Solomon was actively in play and it wasn't amplifying his magic, but authenticating him.
Like a fingerprint scanner silently recognizing its rightful owner.
Almost immediately, the ancient symbols embedded beneath the crystal's surface began to rotate. The intricate Seal of Solomon shimmered before slowly unraveling itself.
One layer peeled away.
Then another.
Then another. For the seal wasn't being broken, but was opening.
"How are you doing that?" Strange asked, unable to keep the question to himself any longer.
But Shazam didn't give an answer.
He barely seemed aware that Strange had spoken at all.
His attention remained completely fixed on the orb as though he were listening to instructions whispered directly into his mind. The Wisdom of Solomon wasn't deciphering the enchantment through analysis. But could be described as reading Solomon's work as though it instinctively understood the intent behind every rune and every layer of the spell.
Only a few moments later—
Click.
A soft, unmistakable sound echoed through the chamber as the final layer of the seal disengaged.
The crystal orb burst forth with a brilliant golden radiance, flooding the room with warm light as the ancient enchantment finally yielded after centuries of dormancy.
The brilliant golden radiance abruptly began to recede, contracting in on itself before condensing into a single point of light. Moments later, that point unfurled into the delicate form of a butterfly composed entirely of shimmering golden energy. It fluttered gracefully within the confines of the crystal orb, its translucent wings adorned with intricate runic patterns that glowed softly with every beat.
Neither of them had the chance to react.
Without warning, the butterfly darted forward, phasing effortlessly through the crystal walls as though they weren't there. In the blink of an eye, it shot straight and disappeared into Shazam's chest.
Both he and Strange were caught completely off guard.
Shazam's head snapped backward, his chin lifting toward the ceiling as his feet left the ground altogether. His body arched rigidly in midair, suspended as though unseen strings had suddenly seized hold of every limb.
He couldn't breathe.
He couldn't even relax.
Brilliant golden light erupted from his eyes, spilled from his nostrils, and poured from his open mouth, bathing the chamber in an almost blinding glow. The spectacle was unnerving enough that, to an outside observer, it looked disturbingly similar to someone being possessed by an overwhelming force.
Strange instinctively took a step forward before stopping himself.
He had no idea what he was witnessing.
More importantly, he had no idea whether intervening would help... or make matters catastrophically worse.
After a brief moment of consideration, he chose the only course of action that made sense.
He waited.
'After all this,' Strange thought as he watched the golden light continue to blaze around the Champion, 'we should finally learn what Solomon deemed important enough to seal away for centuries. Whatever this vision contains ought to provide the missing pieces of the puzzle—and reveal the true nature of the catastrophe he foresaw.'
As suddenly as it had begun, the light faded.
The golden brilliance withdrew back into Shazam's body before vanishing completely.
Freed from whatever force had held him aloft, he dropped back onto the stone floor with a dull thud. He immediately bent forward, planting both hands on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath.
"I... see..." he muttered between heavy breaths.
"Did you learn something?" Strange asked at once, unable to completely hide the anticipation creeping into his voice.
Shazam inhaled deeply.
Then, as he slowly released a long breath, something remarkable happened.
The exhaustion simply... disappeared.
His breathing steadied almost instantly, every trace of strain vanishing as though the ordeal had never happened. Straightening to his full height, he fixed Strange with an unusually serious expression, one completely devoid of his usual humor or playful remarks.
"This whole thing..." he began quietly.
His brow drew together, his eyes remaining locked on the Sorcerer Supreme with a sternness that immediately told Strange whatever he had just experienced was anything but ordinary.
"What did you see?" Strange asked, unconsciously leaning forward. The anticipation that had been building throughout the entire ordeal tightened in his chest, causing him to swallow as he waited for the answer. Judging by the unusually serious look on Shazam's face, whatever revelation had just been passed on had to be monumental.
Shazam finally spoke.
"This whole thing's a load of bullshit." The words landed with all the weight of a brick as Strange stared at him.
"...What?"
Confusion overtook the anticipation that had filled his expression only moments earlier. That was not the answer he'd been expecting—not even remotely.
'I really wish I had a hat right now,' Shazam thought bitterly. 'I'd slam that thing straight into the ground just to express how unbelievably irritated I am with this whole mess.'
He let out a tired sigh before gesturing vaguely toward where the crystal orb had been.
"I got nothing."
As if responding to those very words, the orb abruptly shimmered before collapsing in on itself. It burst apart like a fragile soap bubble, silently dissolving into countless golden motes that scattered into the air before fading away completely, leaving no trace that it had ever existed.
"What do you mean you got nothing?" Strange asked, struggling to accept the explanation.
He had watched the seal react.
He had seen the butterfly emerge.
He had witnessed the transfer of whatever Solomon had left behind.
Surely all of that couldn't have been meaningless.
There had to be something.
'Did I suddenly start speaking a foreign language,' Shazam wondered, 'or has this wizard just forgotten what the phrase "I got nothing" means?'
After several more attempts to question him, Strange was ultimately forced to accept that Billy genuinely had nothing more to offer. Whatever Solomon had intended the crystal orb to reveal, it hadn't provided any useful answers—or at least none that Billy could recall.
With no further leads to pursue, Strange reluctantly concluded their meeting. Opening one final portal with a practiced sweep of his hand, he sent Billy directly back to Avengers Tower, while he remained behind with considerably more questions than when the day had begun.
- - -
After spending the better part of an hour recounting everything that had happened to Tony, who had called for him almost immediately after his return, Billy finally retreated to his room. With the long day finally catching up to him, he went through his nightly routine, standing before the bathroom mirror as he absentmindedly ran a strand of floss between his teeth.
'I'm so drained,' Billy thought, watching his reflection. 'Feels like I've been hit by a freight train... or spent the whole day getting run over by one.'
His thoughts inevitably drifted back to the Sorcerer Supreme.
'I'm starting to think this guy's a complete fraud of a wizard... and is actually a Division One cock-blocker.'
He let out an amused huff through his nose.
'Seriously, I never should've gotten dragged into this whole prophecy business. If he'd just stayed away for one more day…'
Billy paused, pulling the floss free before shaking his head.
'Okay, maybe that's a little optimistic... but today's study session could've been the thing that actually got something started with Gwen.'
A frustrated grunt escaped him as he finished brushing his teeth and rinsed his mouth.
'I'd like to experience a little high-school romance too, you know. And honestly? Even if it ended with me getting my heart broken, I wouldn't complain too much if my high-school sweetheart happened to be someone as gorgeous as Gwen.'
That thought naturally reminded him of another wizard.
'Speaking of wizards... maybe the old wizard skipped a line in the terms and conditions before handing over all this Champion stuff. You know... the fine print.'
He could almost picture it.
'Warning: Accepting the power of the Champion of the Gods may significantly reduce your chances of getting laid or obtaining a girlfriend.'
"...Yeah," Billy muttered to himself. "That checks out."
Still chuckling under his breath, he switched off the bathroom light and made his way to bed. Pulling the covers over himself, he settled onto the mattress and stared quietly at the ceiling while waiting for sleep to arrive.
'Come to think of it…'
His expression gradually became more thoughtful.
'I don't remember seeing whatever came out of that orb leave my body.'
The humor slowly faded from his face.
'It definitely flew into my chest... but I never saw it come back out.'
His brow furrowed.
'And when I was hanging there... it honestly felt like something was being impressed directly into my being. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn't being gentle about it.'
Billy let out a slow breath.
'I get the "Strange" part of his name... but he still doesn't exactly give off "family physician who gives you a flu shot" vibes.'
A faint grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.
'Maybe more like... a really expensive voodoo doctor—'
The joke never had a chance to finish.
An indescribable agony exploded from deep within his chest.
It spread through every nerve in his body with frightening speed, stealing the air from his lungs as every muscle seized at once.
"...AGHHHH!!"