Chapter 2 - New home

"Ah, ok. So, I have a demigod as a sister? Right?" Arthur nods to himself, "Ok, I get it."

"Oh? I'm glad you're adapting so well into it."

Arthur chuckles, "Haha, no I'm not. This is me, in shock."

"Ah, I see. It's fine, though, if it's any consolation to you. I'm sure she would be delighted to meet you." Remulus clasp his hand together.

Arthur looks at him, his eyes a bit unsure. "Really? Are you sure?"

"Ha! no, there's a huge chance she might try and kill you."

"Don't you mean try to kill me?"

Remulus looks to him for a second, then a minute. A long stretch of time before he bursts out laughing, his hand over his stomach as he cackled.

"Haha, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But if my daughter wants you dead. You are going to die."

Arthur just sat there, a pit in his stomach forming. "What? What possible reason could she have to want me dead?" He then shouts, "I haven't even met her!"

"...Ah, that." He looks away before scratching his cheek, his eyes shifting away. "It's probably because she thinks you might take me from her."

"That makes even less sense! What could possibly make her think like that!?"

Remulus hisses, "Yeah, there's a lot of mommy issues there. I can't really explain it all. Just know that her mother is a huge fucking bitch."

"Huge parental issues? You mean the goddess?"

"Yup, had to fight a custody battle for her." He nods to himself, holding onto a contented smile. "Very bloody."

"What? Bloody?" Arthur looks at him in confusion. "Heh, probably costed a fortune, right?"

Remulus smirks.

"It's not like you actually gonna go to battle, right?"

"Oh yeah, definitely." Remulus leans back in his chair, his hoodie scrunched up behind him. "We had this like. huge fight, one versus five. She brought her brothers with her and I beat them to the ground. I actually slammed her face to the ground a lot of times."

Arthur just looks at him. "I have many questions."

"Ah, sure. I'll be more than delighted to answer them." Remulus crosses his legs before coughing, "Give me a moment." He hacks and coughs before something falls out of his mouth.

"Ah, there it is. The bullet."

"I have more questions."

"Shoot. Heh, get it?"

Arthur ignores the joke before he explodes in a rant, "What the fuck!? You're talking about gods, goddesses. Then you say you're immortal. Then magic exists! Then you just do all these things."

"Am I dead? Is this just me dying?" He looks around in confusion.

Black tendrils made from darkness slap him on his face, leaving him disoriented as Remulus asks, "How about we talk about this later? Maybe once you're rested?"

"That sounds awesome." Arthur mutters, his eyes drooping to the side as he asks, "Do you think I could also get that powerful?"

"Sure. But let's make sure your sister doesn't kill you first, yes?"

Arthur tilts to the side. "Yeah, that sounds good."

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"GAAAAH! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING BESIDE MY BED!"

Remulus, who stood at his bedside, held up both his arms in a T-pose, "Showing you who's boss."

"What!? Why!?"

"First thing I read about parenting was show your kid who's boss."

"That doesn't sound like good advice."

"It most likely wasn't." He shrugs.

"Then why the fuck are you doing it!?"

Remulus gestures all over him, his agitated shout and his embarrassed expression as he held his blanket for a cover over the grinning Remulus.

Arthur facepalms, "Yeah, I get it now."

He then lowers his arms and gave a smile as he marched in place, "Yup, so wake up! We have a busy day ahead."

He spins around in a smile. "There's just so much that I have to show you! Everything in this mansion! Then we get to eat the best breakfast!"

The door opens with a thought, "C'mon now! A new adventure awaits!"

"I need to change clothes!" Arthur shouts, his hand over his shirt, his face crinkling in disgust.

Remulus rolls his eyes, "Oh please," He snaps his fingers as countless masses of darkness appear out of the shadow, gripping Arthur on his limbs.

He walks out, "Cutie, please take care of Arthur's clothing."

"Wait!? What!?"

Remulus closes the door behind him, Arthur's shouts of desperation drowned as he whistles by the door, looking at the paintings hanging by the hallway.

It took a minute, but the moment Arthur came out, he came out dressed with the finest clothing money could buy, one that exuded rich kid.

"Oh my, you look quite dashing."

"I feel violated." Arthur shivers.

"Heh, Cutie has that effect on people. You'll get used to it."

"It has a name!? What the hell even is that!?"

"Excuse me?" Remulus holds his hand over his chest, his expression offended. "I will have you know IT is the first of its kind. A marvel machination of magic."

Arthur just looks back, his face confused and uncomprehending.

Remulus then pushes on, "It is Artificial Intelligence." He grins, "It is the first self evolving A.I. one created through magic, just magic."

He opens his palm as a black tendrils slither from his shadow. "Its name is Cutie. One that I integrated throughout my household."

"Isn't that right? Cutie?" Remulus caresses the tendrils in his hand, the walls lighting up in incomprehensible runes. "That's going to be your first lesson, you know?"

Arthur just stood there, mouth wide open, as he watched the mansion illuminate in a chaotic mess of symbols, each one twisting and turning as a voice echoes in his mind.

"Hello, Mr. Arthur. I apologize if I have been a bit more intrusive than you would have liked." It was a soft, melodious voice, one that felt like a beautiful melody.

"How?" Arthur asks, his eyes wide as he looked around in confusion.

"Well, there are a lot of runes. I had to extrapolate a lot. There were some systems that didn't have the runes I needed, so I had to use another system, then some started going haywire so I needed another system to stabilize it. Once I added those, they changed function, so-"

"I mean, how is it talking in my head!?" Arthur shouts.

"....Oh, that's easy. Just some telepathy rune. Basic shit."

"I have so many questions." Arthur sighs, his shoulder slumps and his fist clenches, his eyes filled with nothing but wonder and excitement. "Can I learn how to do that?"

Remulus looks back, his smile wide, "You know. It took me fifty years to know what I was doing, then another fifty years to experiment."

Arthur's smile only widens at the challenge. "I get immortality on the way, right?"

"Obviously." He gives him his hand. "So, how about I show you around first? Then we talk about your lessons? After all. We have all the time in the world."

Arthur grabs it, his eyes shining at the thought. "DEAL!"

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"So, here's the living room." Remulus spins around it in excitement. "It is one of the most entertaining place in this world. Everything's top of the line. We're decades ahead."

Arthur snorts, "That sounds like an overstatement."

"There's a PS7 right there."

Arthur turns, "What!?" he jumps to its side as he shouts, "What the hell? Why do you have this!? How can you have this?"

"Well, most international companies have their magical branch. Capitalism, you see, breaches all the boundaries, political or magical." Remulus raises his finger, as if making a point/

"That sounds awesome as hell."

"Or is it?" Remulus smirks as he struts across the room, facing an empty wall.

"Cutie! Open the door for the real prize!" With that shout, the wall shudders open, revealing a door. Remulus pushes it through.

Arthur peeks through the door, only to reveal him, a city. A normal city in the twenty-first century. With skyscrapers aiming at the sky and the cars bustling through the streets.

"Uh. What's this? Isn't this just a city?"

"Or is it?"

"Yeah, it is."

Remulus snaps his finger.

Arthur watches in morbid fascination as the world around him stays the same. With nothing changing around him whatsoever.

Arthur just looks around in confusion. "What the fuck? Are you messing with me? Nothing's happening. Did I get slapped again?"

"Or did you?"

"Yeah, let's go somewhere else." Arthur deadpanned.

Remulus shrugs, "Oh well." He opens the door again as the two of them leave.

Arthur shrugs as he steps through the door. His eyes giving the city one last look as he asks, "I still don't see why you're so-"

He chokes on the sight before him; the world changing in an instant. A world filed with carnage and battle, a world filled with melodies, a world filled with nothing but darkness, all gone as the door closes behind him, out of reach.

"What the fuck was that?"

"That, my boy, is my masterpiece. My little training room, so to speak."