John woke up earlier than he usually did so he could make breakfast for his grandson. It was rare for him to have a day to himself, so he might as well make the most of it. David's friend was currently on his way, so hopefully the kid would enjoy eggs—it was all John knew how to make.

He had just finished placing three sets of plates out on the dining table when David came down from his room, having just finished brushing his teeth.

"Mornin' grandpa. You're cooking?" said David, rubbing his eyes and holding back a yawn.

"Good morning, David. I'm making eggs. They should be ready by the time your friend arrives."

David seemed a bit nervous at that. John didn't know why, but he assumed his grandson was just worried he would do something to embarrass him in front of his friend.

The two of them made stilted small talk while John continued cooking the eggs until David abruptly excused himself after receiving a call from his friend. Apparently, the kid had almost arrived, and David wanted to escort him in so he could make introductions.

John smiled gently as his grandson left and split his attention between the eggs and the wards.

It was only a minute later that all thoughts of eggs were erased from his mind, and his full and undivided attention turned to the entity approaching his home alongside David.

The presence he felt next to his grandson was both extremely powerful and obviously not human. John really should have asked more about David's friend.

It was unlikely that such an entity was approaching him without ulterior motives. Fortunately, his grandson's fragment of the Ruby was not reacting to any perceived danger, so John felt like he had some time to make preparations.

Moving swiftly enough that he could feel his old bones protest, Sargon donned the turban which contained the Ruby of Life, and pulled an origami crane from his pocket.

Channeling his magic into the Ruby, he animated the paper crane and gave it instructions to deliver a message to his mentor before teleporting it away. Given the nature of the Ruby of Life, this was actually quicker for him than a simple phone call.

He had asked for assistance only if combat was initiated. The presence he felt was powerful enough that he wasn't confident in his ability to protect David from the crossfire. Besides, the entity was powerful enough that if violence was their intention, deceiving a child would have been wholly unnecessary.

They were almost at the wards now, so Sargon ran to the living room in order to prepare the potential battlefield as much as he could before they arrived.

Drawing from a lifetime of experience, Sargon animated every inanimate object he could see in his living room and enhanced them to their limits. Chairs grew teeth that could rend metal, clocks gained the ability to fire off their pieces like bullets, and the table was ready to jump up and tackle his enemies.

A small part of him confusedly noted that his couch was missing, but the rest of him ignored that and continued his preparations.

Sargon was frantically bestowing the ability to grow teeth and tendrils to the walls when he felt the presence of his mentor scrying the location. Given the way the presence paused their approach, they must have sensed it as well.

However, they didn't pause for long. The next moment, Sargon felt a polite knock against his wards requesting entry.

Sargon let out a deep breath and tried to calm down. He was prepared as possible. If the entity tried to attack him or his grandson, they would be confronted by an experienced mage in his own territory and a powerful immortal wizard.

It would have to be enough.

Sargon remained stoic as he permit the being inside his wards—as if they weren't powerful enough to destroy them casually—and got his first look at his potential adversary.

The being David was chatting excitedly with, or at, was a woman who had multiple snakes for legs, was garbed in intricate white robes, and was wearing a large golden crown that resembled a sun.

Sargon studied her features and tried to recall any magical beings who possessed such an appearance and failed. This only further increased both his tension and confusion; if a magical being changed its appearance, it was usually in an effort to blend in. That implied this was her preferred form, yet if that was the case, then he should recognize such distinct features.

As Sargon studied the being, she seemed to be studying his living room—likely making note of his defenses. He stood by and allowed her to do so, tense and ready to defend himself and David at a moment's notice.

Her first words, however, did a good job of shocking him out of his readiness.

"David, did thou fail to inform thy guardian of mine nature?"

Sargon blinked in surprise and turned his attention to his grandson, who was looking away sheepishly.

"Well… Maybe. I told him I wanted to bring by a friend."

The being let out the long-suffering sigh of somebody accustomed to dealing with the consequences of other people's poor decisions. Sargon knew the feeling well.

"I see. Thy behavior is irresponsible, David. Thy guardian suspects me to be a malevolent being preying upon thine inexperience. Please explain mine presence to thy grandfather."

The woman's voice was calm, and she spoke with a smooth cadence as she scolded David.

Sargon allowed himself to slightly relax as he firmly addressed his squirming grandson.

"Yes, David. Please explain this… situation."

David gulped nervously and looked back and forth between the expectant stares of the two adults before answering.

"Uh… this is Gwyndolin. He's the new superhero, Slither! We were doing superhero stuff, and I got bored because he said I wasn't allowed to go fight bad guys because I'm small and I don't know how to fight. He started to tell me stories about how he was little and was learning magic, so I asked him to teach me magic but he said I couldn't without your permission. I asked him what happens if you say no and he said it was your choice, but I really want to learn magic and nobody is willing to teach me and I was scared you wouldn't talk to him if I told you everything and… yeah. Can I learn magic, grandpa?"

Sargon let out a breath of relief as he was overcome with a confusing mix of emotions that was equal parts frustration, self-recrimination, and greed.

He ignored David's puppy dog eyes in favor of rubbing his temples in a futile attempt to stave off a headache.

"Give me a moment… I need time to process this."

The woman who was apparently a man—Sargon ignored that with the experience of an old mage who had just spoken to a sentient non-binary street the day before—merely nodded his understanding while David fidgeted nervously.

Sargon closed his eyes so he could think more clearly, he trusted his mentor and his animations to defend him if he were attacked.

Sargon was frustrated because his grandson had been behaving in a way that was very… foolish.

He was inclined to believe that this Gwyndolin did not have bad intentions for the simple fact that he could find no motive for his actions if that were the case. The Ruby of Life might be a powerful artifact, but Gwyndolin was powerful enough to simply take it whenever he wanted, and he hadn't.

Not only that, but Sargon had been paying a small amount of attention to the superhero that had recently started operating in Miami. Nobody would make as many powerful enemies as this man had in order to deceive somebody like Sargon. He simply wasn't important enough for such efforts.

David didn't know all of this, however, when he attached himself to a strange being of significant power, which made Sargon frustrated at his grandson's poor judgment.

That frustration was immediately followed by self-recrimination because teaching his grandson good judgment was his responsibility, so the failure was his.

After his son's death, Sargon had thrown himself into his work and paid little attention to what David was doing as long as he was safe. Was it really any surprise that the boy would latch on to an adult who was willing to spend time with him and could even potentially teach him magic when Sargon had refused to do so?

That needs to change, Sargon vowed to himself.

To his shame, Sargon could also feel a small amount of greed.

For his entire life, he had been forced to endure the disdain of the rest of the magical community for deriving his power through a magical artifact instead of relying on his family's magical traditions or bloodline.

The magical knowledge of the Sargent family was utterly inferior to a family like the Zatara's. This was a fact of which Sargon had always been excruciatingly aware.

He had some support from his mentor, but that was a mostly transactional relationship based upon the Ruby of Life. His mentor created the Ruby and had a special interest in the people who wielded it. Sargon would willingly go out and handle errands and in exchange, he would be given protection and occasionally be taught a bit of magic.

From an immortal mage like Nommo Balewa that was a good deal, but it wasn't a true apprenticeship.

If a being as powerful as Gwyndolin was willing to genuinely teach David magic, that would completely change the course of his grandson's life and the lives of any children who came after him.

That was an extremely tempting proposition that Sargon couldn't convince himself to dismiss out of hand, nor was it one he could easily accept given he knew nothing about this entity.

Sargon returned his attention to Gwyndolin and David.

"David, go to your room. Gwyndolin and I need to speak in private."

"Fine…"

David left to his room sullenly and Sargon found himself alone with Gwyndolin.

"Why do you want to teach my grandson magic? What are your intentions?" asked Sargon, seeing no reason to beat around the bush.

Gwyndolin tilted his head and responded in a placid tone. "'Tis not mine intention or goal to teach thine ward, magic. Such is entirely his own desire. A lack of alternatives, however, might compel the child to make rash decisions."

Sargon barely held back a wince. That was certainly true. Children and poor decision-making went hand in hand. "Why does that matter to you?"

Gwyndolin seemed to consider the question for a moment before responding. "Thy grandson is very kind, and I find mineself fond of him. He approached me in the park despite seeing mine true form with the intent of requesting mine aid in the protection of others."

Gwyndolin paused and then smiled fondly, "'Twas foolish mayhap, but endearing."

Sargon could feel his tension easing further at Gwyndolin's explanation. He could be faking his fondness, but Sargon's instincts were saying otherwise.

"I'm inclined to believe you," Sargon said honestly. "And your tutelage could be a great benefit to my grandson, but the problem is that I don't know you."

Gwyndolin nodded calmly, as if he had been expecting this. "Ask thy questions. I shall either speak the truth or refrain from answering. I have cast an illusion to maintain our privacy."

Sargon startled in surprise, then expanded his senses until he found the illusion. He had not even noticed it being cast. From what he could tell, it only hid sound from his mentor's scrying; Gwyndolin had likely allowed sight to remain unchanged for Sargon's comfort.

Sargon pushed away his discomfort at the subtle illusion and started with the most obvious question. "What are you and where did you come from?"

"What I am, I shall not share until greater trust is grown between us," said Gwyndolin. "As for thine other question, I recently arrived from another reality."

"Why did you come here?"

Gwyndolin winced. It was a greater show of emotion than anything he had shown through the rest of the conversation. "'Twas not mine choice."

Sargon wanted to ask more, but something in Gwyndolin's tone told him questions on that topic were not welcome. He felt some sympathy as well, it must be a lonely thing to be stranded in another reality without your loved ones. Sargon assumed returning was beyond Gwyndolin's power, he didn't know much about interdimensional travel, but he knew it was nothing simple.

"Has David told you why I haven't taught him?" Sargon asked with some discomfort.

Gwyndolin nodded, and his tone was sympathetic when he responded. "David claimed thy previous apprentice had perished, rendering thou unwilling to take another."

"That's about right." Sargon was grateful he didn't need to explain any more than that. "I know my decision is based on my feelings more than logic, but learning magic is dangerous, and I don't think I could deal with it if something happened to that boy. Especially not when he's got his head full of superhero worship."

"Thine sentiment is valid, yet to deny thy ward training is to deny him protection against thine enemies. Thine artifact is not infallible, and thy presence is not absolute."

That sentiment was one that Sargon had heard before, it was why many heroes ended up training sidekicks.

When you had enemies, there was no guarantee that those enemies would not target your loved ones; a secret identity was not a perfect defense. That was why many superheroes kept their romances inside of the community and often trained their kids to protect themselves.

Sargon may not like Zatara, but he could understand why the man was so hostile to people he did not know. A certain amount of paranoia was inevitable when your vast magical power was connected to your bloodline and you had a young daughter. There were no shortage of evil people in this world willing to do heinous things for power.

There was a good reason he spent so much time in the safety of Shadowcrest teaching his daughter.

The problem was that when a superhero kid was strong enough to overpower multiple adults either through extreme training, exotic technology, or superpowers, it was hard to stop them from using those powers to protect others.

This was especially true in a country like America, where the most exalted individuals were superheroes who regularly disdained government authority.

Sargon sighed in defeat. This entire interaction had proven that he needed to play a greater role in his grandson's life and that he needed to… overcome his apprehensions about training David. If he didn't, then the boy might do something stupid, like trying to learn magic from a demon.

Yet, the presented opportunity to elevate his family's magical knowledge was not one he could bring himself to discard. If his family's magical heritage had been more robust, then maybe his son…

Sargon banished such thoughts. He didn't want to completely deny this opportunity, so he would offer a compromise.

"I'll teach David myself," Sargon said firmly.

"Very well," said Gwyndolin with calm acceptance.

Seeing his reaction, Sargon grew more confident in his decision.

"You're operating as a superhero in this city, correct? I believe David called you Slither?" Sargon forced down his humor at the silly name. He had heard worse.

"I am."

"If you're interested, I'm willing to help you with that. I have a lot of experience in heroics and I have many contacts that could be helpful. There's a lot more to being a superhero than beating up criminals."

It was hard to tell how Gwyndolin felt about his proposal, but he seemed to be considering it at least.

"What dost thou desire in recompense?"

"Nothing. I just want to use this as an opportunity to help a fellow hero," said Sargon, mostly genuine. "Besides, I live in this city and you've gone and stirred up a hornet's nest. Helping you out also gives me the chance of getting to know you so I can feel more comfortable letting you teach David. He's my successor, so if that happens, then I'm willing to repay you by teaching you my own magic."

Sargon didn't hold much trust in altruism—if Gwyndolin proved himself trustworthy, then mutual exchange would be a preferable foundation for their relationship. Especially when he was the weaker party. He might be a middling mage without the Ruby, but his animation magic was fairly unique.

Gwyndolin remained unruffled for most of his proposal, but Sargon could tell he was interested in learning new magic.

"I see no reason to decline thine proposal."

"Glad to hear it."

Sargon and Gwyndolin spent several more minutes going over the details before David was informed of their decision. He was predictably ecstatic about learning magic from his grandfather. When he saw the hope in his grandson's eyes, Sargon repeated his vow to be more involved in David's life.

Eventually, Gwyndolin left, much to David's disappointment.

Sargon and David needed to have a long conversation—but first, he needed to have an even longer conversation with Nommo.

Sargon released a weary sigh. He had been hoping for a relaxing day off.