Grandpa Thinker sized up the mermaid chief as the woman gripped her spear tighter. She was the veteran of many a battle, but he was a force to be reckoned with. She knew this, and so the spear remained by her side.

“Wise Lady, surely you want to avoid taking out your wrath on a child? The dungeon core is not a dungeon core anymore. Simply let it go.” Said grandpa Thinker, magic sizzling around him in a show of force, and grandma Thinker sitting on a chair next to him. Her presence, a reassuring support, as it had always been.

“We would have given the murderous core a trial. Then this youngling spirited it away.” Said the chief. Marinus frowned.

“Him. I helped him get away. His name is Luca, and he is not a thing, wise woman.”

“Quiet, Marinus. Let the adults speak.” Said grandma Thinker, a hand shooting out to tug at Marinus’ ear. That quieted the merman, but the frown that now marred his face showed that he wanted to speak more on the matter.

“What do you want for the freedom of both children? Your name off the bad list? Reparations for your dead?” Asked grandpa Thinker. The chief huffed.

“The bad list? What do you think I am to try to scare me with that? A child? The core must pay with his blood for the death that had happened in these waters for the past century and a half.”

“Marinus told me that the boy has been imprisoned for a century. What happened fifty years before said imprisonment?” Asked grandpa Thinker. He was sure that Marinus hadn’t lied, but the chief looked far too emotional to have lied just now either.

“The dungeon appeared, that is what. It was rich in pearl oysters and was guarded by stingrays. We killed off the stingrays and took the pearls, and yet the dungeon core kept making more. Many fights happened for the ownership of the dungeon.” Said the chief. Grandpa Thinker grinned. He had her.

“The way I see it, your people’s greed made the deaths happen. A newborn dungeon is a perilous thing. By law, a dungeon has to be given a hundred years to choose if it will be peaceful or not. You should be the ones taken to court.” Said grandpa Thinker and the chief paled. She gripped the spear so hard her knuckles turned white.

“Those are land walker laws.” Said the mermaid in a weak attempt to defend herself.

“Those are universal laws. Made after the great dungeon war, when dungeon masters were outlawed. You know the punishment for not following them?” Asked grandpa Thinker. For a fellow core, even one that was no longer such, he would rise hell. The chief knew it.

“Full repayment of the damages and a pledge to guard the dungeon. But the dungeon of stingrays is now a cauldron full of tar and poison gasses. The new core is cracked. There is no precedent for such a thing.” Said the chief, almost sure she could get away with what she had let happen in her waters.

“But that won’t stop me from taking you to court. You are still citizens of the Empire that spans this continent. Alerion is a sovereign nation. Your Emperor won’t risk a war with a dungeon that spans an entire continent. I have a deal for you. One which will not only save your scales, but benefit you.” Said grandpa Thinker. He’d rather do this outside of the courtroom.

“What deal, dungeon core?” Asked the chief.

“Simple, we pretend that nothing happened. Marinus told me he made a deal to supply your kind with enchantments. His and Theanore’s work is top quality. You won’t regret it if you just let him and the dungeon core go. In return, both he and Luca will not come to your tribe’s waters ever again.”

“But how will the items be delivered then?” asked the chief. Grandpa Thinker patted his massive belly.

“I deliver gifts for the children of this world every year. What are a few enchanted bags every month? Do we have a deal? And don’t try asking for a lower price. It is not happening.”

“I wasn’t even thinking about such things.” Said the chief, insulted. “And our kin was in no real danger. He would have been imprisoned until the core was found. Nothing more.”

That calmed Marinus somewhat. He had always thought that mermaids were more vicious and less forgiving than mermen. To know that they wouldn’t have harmed him eased his mind.

“Do we have a deal?” Asked grandpa Thinker again, pronouncing each word slowly.

“We do. Do you need a signed contract?” Asked the chief, and she paled anew as grandpa Thinker made a golden scroll appear out of thin air.

“You will turn to sea foam if you don’t uphold it. Marinus, here, will get a rash if he doesn’t supply you.” Said grandpa Thinker, smiling viciously. The mermaids were in the wrong and the chief knew it. She nodded and she signed the contract without protest.

“Now, I didn’t bring another deer so you, Marinus, will have to ride with grandma Thinker. If you come on my deer, the poor beast will collapse. I have eaten one too many candy canes, you see.” Said grandpa Thinker as he laughed. Some mermaids laughed at his joke too, and even the chief cracked a smile.

Marinus nodded, and he got behind grandma Thinker on her deer. They galloped in the air, and grandpa Thinker cleared his throat.

“Marinus, I have been thinking. That gremlin, Darion, he already paid. Truly, only for the damages, but he paid. I think it is time to bury the hatched. But I refuse to let him back on Alerion. Would Theanore keep him at her grotto?”

“She will. She had made him a manager of the builder ants.” Said Marinus happily. This was the best news he had heard after the contract the chief had sign. Theanore would be ecstatic to hear of this.