3 Chapter 2

"That was incredible!" Leon rubbed his stomach, perhaps spending longer than needed as he realised he had A FREAKING EIGHT PACK!!! AN EIGHT PACK!!!

He hadn't quite managed to find a trout, but a very tasty looking fish had swam too close and from there it was history. Very tasty history in fact. As for the potatoes...well potatoes were potatoes, they were universal.

...

Time passed in a blur of fruity drinks and unknown sea creatures, in his spare time he'd even created a small fish pond to raise his more preferred meals. Of course he'd bent space a little and turned the pond into more of a mini universe, but that was besides the point - he was in paradise.

Leon just couldn't see how someone could get bored of it all, there was sun, sand and sea, what more could you want?

He'd also fallen in love with fishing! There was something deeply relaxing about staring into the blue waters and just guessing what might stare back. On the odd occasion he'd catch a sentient sea creature by mistake, but he made sure to throw them back and sort out any trouble he'd caused.

Along the way to paradise he'd built himself a place to live; it was nothing fancy, just driftwood, palm leaves and a touch of borrowed help. He'd also created a large bubble around his "territory" to keep out the trillions of annoying insects that had continuously assaulted the beach.

Leon decided to extend his stay indefinitely, or perhaps until something more interesting popped up.

BANG!

"Hmm?" Leon's eyes narrowed as he saw two mermaid like creatures attacking his barrier; they were far too weak to actually do anything, but it was an annoyance nonetheless.

Blasting his thoughts to the creatures, Leon hoped they had enough intelligence to respond, 'Why are you attacking my territory, have I offended you in some way?'

The attacks stopped and the creatures stared at Leon who had suddenly appeared in their range, 'You are in the land of the Merfolk you do not belong here.'

Leon laughed, 'Perhaps, but you are not capable of moving me. Now, I am a reasonable person, bring your leader to me and we can discuss my stay.'

'Very well human, but you shall pay for your rudeness.'

'I look forward to it.'

The mermaid creatures turned and swam off at incredible speed, but just before they went out range Leon's thoughts reached then once more, 'I'm not a human though.'

"This should be fun." Smiling, Leon relaxed back into the sand and waited for his entertainment to arrive.

...

"My lady, some lesser mermaids are asking to meet with you; they claim they met with an uknown entity on one of of the islands."

Queen Maria had been in power for almost a thousand years and in that time she'd developed an instinct for judging this sort of situation.

Her reign was peaceful and prosperous so it was unlikely they were servants of her enemies and the penalty for lying to royalty was almost worse than death so that was ruled out as well. Though uncommon, situations like this had occured in the past, strange creatures would wash up on an island and in their confusion believe it was theirs; when they eventually met with the locals they'd either act hostile or ask to meet with someone of greater power. In this case the creature seemed to have peaceful intentions and she had no reason to offend it, provided the lesser mermaids weren't lying of course.

Waving her hand she responded, "Let them in Grant."

The two lesser mermaids entered the royal hall with trembling tails, this was by far the most nerve racking moment in their lives. If the queen decided to act without further investigation then their deaths wouldn't be unexpected, in fact their families would probably see it as an honour!

"Speak subjects!"

Urged on by the power of a vastly purer bloodline the two mermaids spoke, "My beloved Queen and ruler, we two humble subjects have shamefu-"

Smiling knowingly the Queen interrupted, "I understand your feelings, but please hurry to the point."

Blushing the mermaids responded, "Yes my queen! On Merryblood island we met with an unknown humanoid being, it had created a barrier around part of the island and spoke with us through thought transmission. It said, bring your leader to me and we can discuss my stay."

"Hmm." The Queen lent further into her throne; the power of bloodline suppression meant it was almost impossible to lie to her and Maryblood island was a completely impractical location to initiate an attack on her.

Turning to the ministers on her left she asked, "Has the issue with the Lava Horses been settled?"

"Yes my lady!" Honoured to have been asked, the minister in charge responded

immediately.

"Very good! It's been a long time since I left the castle and this is a good chance to meet with a potential ally. Grant, gather my guard, we leave at once!" With a smile bright enough to light up even the darkest day, the Queen flashed her tail and disappeared. Of course to the stronger Mer people in the room she simply swam off at high speed. It was with her natural gift of water control that the water appeared to have never moved.

The ministers smiled at each other, "It's certainly been a while since the queen was this excited."

...

Leon was still resting in the sand, occasionally creating a smooth stone and skipping it on the water.

"My guests have finally arrived." Jumping to his feet Leon dusted himself off and teleported into the waves.

The mermaid party was momentarily stunned by the sudden appearance of a person, but because Leon had heavily restrained his power, they'd been able to vaguely see his shape flicker before arriving.

"Welcome to paradise."