CHAPTER 228

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The girls loved Fernando, the Eternal dog, Emily more than Nat, who was a bit weirded out by his mannerism, which I really couldn't blame her for, I wonder where I went wrong with him.

"Dad, can you make Goose talk?" Emily asked, holding Fernando like a plushie against her chest.

I mused at the idea, in theory, it should be possible, but that would entail giving the animal in question more intelligence, and frankly, I wasn't sure I wanted a talking Cthulu model cat, "Maybe," I replied, giving her a small smile.

"Can you try? Pleaseeee?" And there it is, the big dog eyes.

"But senorita! I am the only talking pet and protector this family needs!" Fernando protested, his once wagging tail now frozen.

I sighed, rolling my eyes, "I will look into it, but I promise nothing," I smiled, kissing her forehead, "Fernando was a creation, made from my very own energy, I made his body, mind, and soul, capable of withstanding a higher level of sentience, one beyond a dog, one comparable to that of a human, with Goose, on the other hand, I would have to alter her on a fundamental level, something I have yet to try, and could end… very poorly."

"I… I see," Emily nodded.

"Besides sis, let's first see… how having one talking pet feels like, it might annoy us," Nat smirked, giving Fernando a quick glance.

"Annoy you?! I would never! I am the perfect pet senorita! I'm loyal, I'm fluffy! I'm absurdly handsome! And powerful! What else would anyone want from a dog?" Fernando huffed.

"He's adorable!" Emily giggled, hugging Fernando tighter.

"Indeed! I am!" Fernando obviously agreed with her.

"So… between you and me dad," Nat muttered, getting close enough for me to hear her, "Was his personality something you picked or was that random?" 

"No idea," I replied, chuckling under my breath.

"Don't worry senorita, you will grow to love me! I mean look at my paws!" Fernando barked, putting one of his paws up for Nat to see.

"How did you… oh, right, dogs have significantly better hearing than humans," Nat sighed.

I laughed, wondering what was next? A talking goldfish named Klaus? Now that's an idea, making a super-powered talking goldfish capable of destroying armies, I mean, can you imagine the look on a robber's face when he has to fight a goldfish?

I might just do it for shits and giggles.

I might even add a crow or a raven to the mix, just to annoy Odin.

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Leaving Fernando with the girls with one clear directive, protecting them at all costs, I had lunch with Sif, who I hadn't seen in a while, as our schedules had been tight with many events during the last month, we talked about stuff, nothing in particular and watched some TV before she had to return to her daily duties, and I to mine.

In my office, I followed up on my last endeavors, the ones Fernando and his antics had interrupted, like operation Thanos, and the recovery of the reality stone.

The rumors had yet to reach Thanos, but I wasn't too worried about that, sooner or later, the big purple man would hear my lies, and when he did, I had beacons of energy spread across the universe, beacons that would alert me the moment he heard what I had spread, or one of their generals discovered.

In case none of the above heard my lies and other… power-hungry beings tried to… find where the stone was, I had golems set in place, golems that were powerful enough to take on Thanos with ease, after all, only the ears of the Titan were privy to the information I was to give.

So, all and all, the only thing I had to focus on right now, beyond the imminent wake of Knull, was the Reality Stone.

"I guess I could get it now," I mean, there wasn't anything stopping me from doing that, so why wait? I guess my mind has been otherwise occupied with stuff, oh well, "Time to break into a sealed dimension," I chuckled, equipping the space stone, who in conjecture with my cosmic power should easily break the seal that kept the reality stone pocket dimension away, giving me access to the Stone and the elves that were locked away with it.

Right, I had almost forgotten, the elves, now this, brings up a good point, what to do with the dark elves, as far as I know, they were the sworn enemies of Asgard, as were the Frost Giants, so… was I to offer then a chance like Thor did with the Frost Giants? Or to deal with them like pests?

I hummed, deciding that a decision like this required more information, after all, I couldn't decide the fate of a race on a whim with no data to make an educated choice.

Smiling I opened a system and accessed the search function to find out everything there was to know about the Dark Elves, from there, I would make my choice.

[Searching… Dark Elves.]

[Dark Elves -

The Dark Elf race originated in the Ginnungagap also known as the yawning abyss, a place of primordial darkness that existed prior to the creation of the universe, where they reigned absolute and unchallenged, serving their master.

When their master fell to the blade of light, and the universe came into being at the hands of the Celestials and other civilizations quickly arose, the Dark Elves sought the return of their master by reverting the universe to its former state of darkness, one ruled by the one true king. To achieve this end, their leader, the sorcerer Malekith, acquired the Reality Stone, using it to make a weapon capable of changing the very fabric of reality as a whole, with it, their plan was simple, bring the universe back to its original state, and serve Knull once more.

Their first attempt was stopped by Bor.

Their second attempt was stopped by Odin.]