Private Finished Afternoon Tea With a Devil

Chloe nodded grimly when he finished his explanation. It was about what she expected, adn about what she expected for herself. Become a useful tool, with slightly better treatment. Eternal servitude - tantamount to slavery. She was sorry for him, but at the same time, she felt vindicated.

"I was an accident too," she said. "So I guess we have that in common. No idea when or how my mother and biological father got together, and no idea why it worked. He didn't even know I existed until we bumped into each other. Honestly, he was pretty good to me, but it was under the condition that I would let him tear away my humanity and free will to become more useful to him and helping him feed that... fucking eternal torment engine he's built up."

She took a long sip of tea. Ghum would know what he was talking about. Even for many of their kind, the way Mikhainon gathered and treated his legions was a bit revolting.

"The moment I said I didn't want that, I would stop being his beloved daughter and become worse than garbage to him. We both knew it. So that's why I did it... since he's apparently decided to badmouth me to all the Lords, I might as well tell you the truth." Chloe was angry now, remembering all the anguish and betrayal she felt at that realization.

She finished off the last of her tea. "Anyway. My turn again. What was it like to grow up as a cross between a goetic demon and a demon of sin? If you remember anything about growing up."

She took a few more notes. One of them was 'don't ask Ghum or his father for parenting advice.'

Chloe felt for him. What he was living - that was exactly what she had been scared of becoming. It was the nightmare that kept her up sometimes. Either she would be stuck running around the multiverse hustling everyone into a fate worse than death, or she would be stuck in hell forever, surrounded by the suffering souls she helped her father cheat out of people.

Arghumghaulus's fate wasn't exactly like that, of course - but it still wasn't any good.

"Well, we'll have to make the most out of the time you spend here, then. And it looks like the tea was a bust for you." She set her cup down one last time. "Next order of business. I have a couple days left where I can keep you here and boss you around. So, I order you to tell me what kinds of things you'd like to do for fun while you're here." She looked up at him and grinned.

"I don't have a stalker that I know of," Chloe said. Not that she'd let Ghum kill them if she did. "And prostitutes are definitely still a thing. I have a few friends who are, actually." Though Chloe wasn't about to pay for one.

She had a few better ideas, though. "Most people do stuff like go to parties or movies for fun, or they... play games, I guess. You usually can't kill people, but... why don't you fight me? I spar with a goddess of lust and battle pretty often. So I bet I could take you on." She grinned.

She almost wanted to tell him about the bloodsports on the island, but it would seem cruel. Ghum might not get to stay long enough to sign up for a fight there.

"I can show you a movie later," Chloe told him. That would be the best way to explain it, in her eyes.

"I may not be blessed, but I'm a lot tougher than I look, and I have a lot of dirty tricks up my sleeve. But you'll figure that out." She grinned. "We have a better room for fighting than this one. Let's go." Chloe would lead him through the living room on the way to their private training room. Here, Ghum would see a large man who seemed to be part-rhino. He sat, one earbud in his ear, the other listening to something on his phone. A golden vuvuzela lay across his lap, and a handgun sat on the bible on the table next to him.

"This is Ozzy, by the way. It was his job to kill you if I lost control of you. Like you said. I actually know what I'm doing here."

Ozzy nodded. He wasn't used to someone being taller than him - and Arghumghaulus, the bastard, he was almost twice his height.

Chloe pinched the bridge of her nose, irritated at herself for not realizing that for now.

"...Right. You're too big for this place. Maybe we'll take a rain check on the fighting for now. Uh, let me check something."

She would grab her cellphone now, and spend a few seconds tapping away at it.

"So, here's an idea. We actually have an arena here on the island, where people can kill each other without getting in trouble with the law. It might take too long for us to set a fight up for you, but... we could go see other people kill each other, if you want."

Either way, she would lead him towards the elevator. If it could carry her dad's golden skull chair up here, it could handle whatever Ghum's weight was.