deeper waters [critical]

The reinstatement of Lelei's rank in the Royal Guard was everything but official. After leading a group of Manta Carlos islanders down deep beneath the waves to calm the Deep One's restlessness, all of Lelei's past indiscretions were wiped from the record and his banishment had ended. He was happy for all it. While he disagreed with the idea that having a triste with a human boy was an "indiscretion", wiping the record was a step toward people understanding his taste in mates. It also felt really good to have his rank back if for no other reason than pride. The positon had already filled in his absence, which was fine for Lelei.

However, his reputation as Captain of the Guard was still strong in the kingdom. When the summit of undersea kingdoms rolled around once again, he was the one asked to accompany the dignitaries as their guard of choice. While Lelei had to rush to request time off from the school to do so, he was glad to put on his Royal Captain accoutrements and lead a small contingent of carefully chosen warriors to the summit.

The current official Captain was happy to stay behind, and Lelei quickly remembered why his younger self would have thought the same way. The summit was a tiring and mostly boring experience for anyone who wasn't a dginitary. He, his guard and all the other guards were tasked with pretty much standing around and being the very basic definition of "guards".

Only after the grand dismissal did things pick up for Lelei. He was approached by a number of dignitaries from around the oceans, all inquired about Lelei's face-to-face encounter with the Deep One. They were enthralled with the idea of anyone standing up to the the Deep One in any way, and coming back.

Lelei made sure to mention that he had help, and that it had been no small task to put the Deep One back to rest. He also left out the lingering paranoia that was left after meeting the Alpha and Omega of undersea predators. No one would be able to shake that feeling. The Deep One was just too grand and inconceivable in that manner. It was no wonder many people regarded it as a god.

Lelei first became aware of the hydra's approach when the dark of the trench began to retreat from a moving light source. Turning cautiously to meet it, he was greeted with by the head of a large ancient creature. The neck of said creature wound back and back toward a larger body that was somewhere out of sight, and he saw a few other necks and heads going elsewhere. Lelei had an idea to whom the glowing head might belong to.

"Captain Lelei 'A'amakualenalena. Royal Guard to the Kamohoalii ambassadors and dignitaries. A pleasure to meet you, sir.

He was more than familiar with the standard protocol of meeting important people and creature at important gatherings. Lelei stated his presence and gave the head a modest bow, his many piercings and jeweled adornments glittering in the new light.

Like all of his people, Lelei wore no clothes. Instead they received piercings on their fins, and adorned their bodies with jewelry and tattoos. To show his status as Captain, Lelei wore several polished chains of varying thickness across his shoulders.

"And I have seen you before too, sir. At the summit before the previous one. I was also Captain of the Guard then too. You are a representative from the Panthalassians, am I correct?"

"I reiterate the pleasure of meeting you, Your Highness."

Upon hearing that the hydra head was a standing King, Lelei was compelled to reassure the creature that he was held in the utmost regard and esteem. He bowed a second time, but deeper and angling at the waist rather than just his head. When Lelei stood back up, his shoulders were held straighter and his posture was more rigid, demonstrating his etiquette.

"It has certaintly been a long time for me since I last met a Panthalassian. Strange, considering where I usually work on Manta Carlos island."

The Academy was so dense with people from all walks of life, from the strange to the weird to the unnatural, that Lelei expected to meet at least one Panthalassin by chance alone. But then he remembered that they were also something of a dying breed.

Lelei thought for a moment before answering the King.

"In general, everything seems to be going just fine. Standard discussions and formalities. I mean no offense to you, sir, but most of it seems like boilerplate politics to me.

However, I do hear talk of opening up relations with the land world, of which I support. Bringing together our two worlds is a progressive move, and from personal experience I can say that land dwellers are a fine folk."

"If you are curious, I can give you an informal briefing on the land world."

Although all of his time on land had been spent on the island of Manta Carlos, Lelei had been diligent enough to study the world beyond the boundaries of the island. The Internet was a massive boon to that endeavor, and he frequently found himself curiously browsing research materials and historical records of the land world. A lot of it was simply fascinating to him.

"For one thing, almost all of the human cultures have progessed beyond monarchies we typically have down here. Kings and Queens up there are formalities and figureheads. They exist for little reason other than tradition."

Lelei was somewhat afraid of the King's reaction to that kind of news. Monarchs were sometimes, but not always, wary of systems that took away their positions of power.

"The humans also compensate for their lack of natural abilities with fantastic machines, devices and tools. I myself have taken a great liking to using their 'smart phones'.

Almost on reflex, Lelei felt his hand reach for where his pocket would have been so he could have showed off his new phone, and perhaps showed the King some of the pictures he had taken with it. Suffice it to say that no electronic device would have survived even a casual dunk in the ocean, much less the deep depths.

Human being the dominant species on the planet (on land at least) had always seemed odd to Lelei before he lived on the surface. Humans were lacking in almost any kind of natural defenses, weapons or abilities that would let them dominate over other species. But seeing that they had mastered instantaneous communication across vast distances, harnessed the power of natural forces and leveraged the laws of the universe to their favor changed his opinion.

Nobody at the summit could attest to having set foot on the Moon, but no human had yet to venture to the depth they currently conversed in, and to Lelei was a definitive example of where they all stood in relative comparison to humans.

"Considering everything I know of the island and the world? Yes. Manta Carlos would be more welcoming to our undersea world. Strange persons are the norm there. Just the fact that I walk among them with no trouble is a testament to that."

Limited as Lelei's knowledge of the human world beyond Manta Carlos was, he believed he knew enough to have confidence in his conclusion. Manta Carlos itself and its inhabitants were hidden from the rest of the world because of that discrepancy in acceptance. That fact was difficult, if unsurprising, pill to swallow. Now having lived in two worlds, Lelei could say that paranoia and suspicion of people who were different was a universal feeling.

"Are you, perhaps, considering opening relations with the island?"