The Ashen Valley was experiencing a heatwave. Even with the Tropical Sunrise Resort's magical climate control, the midday sun was absolutely punishing.
Elara was sitting on the edge of the coral-pink patio, kicking her little legs. She looked at her mythril-silk sundress, then up at Maya.
"Mom?" Elara asked, her golden eyes wide. "Can we go to the beach? I want to build a sandcastle."
Maya lowered her magazine. She looked at the jagged, volcanic landscape surrounding the fortress. "Malakor. Where is the nearest beach?"
The towering Demon Lord materialized instantly, wiping sweat from his brow. "The Abyssal Kraken Sea, Lady Maya! But the sand is made of crushed bones, and the water is highly acidic. Not ideal for sandcastles. Or... skin."
Maya frowned. "Unacceptable. I want pristine white sand. Crystal clear blue water. No crowds, no monsters, and absolutely no seaweed touching my ankles. Who has the best beach in this dimension?"
Malakor swallowed hard. He looked up toward the sky. "Well... technically, the Sapphire Expanse. It is the private, celestial ocean of Okeanos, the Supreme God of the Seas. It is said to be the most beautiful body of water in existence. But it is strictly forbidden to mortals, demons, and—"
Maya was already packing her designer beach tote. "Kaelen, get the umbrellas. Leo, grab the cooler."
Leo stood up from his lounge chair, tossing on a pair of aviator sunglasses and grabbing a massive cooler filled with chilled elven sparkling water. "You got it, babe. Let's go crash a private beach."
Smash cut to the Sapphire Expanse.
The realm of the Sea God was breathtaking. The sand was like powdered sugar, glowing with a soft, warm light. The ocean was a perfect, impossible shade of turquoise, calm as a pane of glass.
At the center of the beach sat a massive throne made of pearl and coral. Reclining on it was Okeanos, a towering, muscular deity with a flowing beard of actual water, holding a glowing golden trident.
He was enjoying his absolute solitude, listening to the gentle lapping of the divine waves.
FWOOSH.
A spatial rift tore open the pristine beach.
Out stepped Leo, carrying the cooler. Behind him came Maya, holding Elara's hand. Then came Marshmallow, the fluffy Fenrir pup, who immediately sneezed into the divine sand. Finally, Demon Lords Malakor and Kaelen, along with Generals Pavan, Karthik, and Aman, stumbled out, completely weighed down by beach chairs, towels, and a giant mythril beach umbrella.
Okeanos bolted upright, his watery beard splashing all over his pearl throne.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" the Sea God roared, his voice sounding like a crashing tsunami. "DEMONS ON MY SACRED SHORES?! MORTALS SULLYING THE DIVINE SAND?! BEGONE BEFORE I DROWN YOUR SOULS IN THE ABYSS!"
The sheer volume of his voice caused a massive, hundred-foot wave to rise up behind him, threatening to crash down and wash the entire group away.
Elara hid behind Maya's leg. "He's loud."
Maya let out a long, exhausted sigh. She didn't even take off her sunglasses. She just pointed a perfectly manicured finger at the towering God of the Seas.
"Lower the wave," Maya ordered, her voice cutting through the roaring water like a scalpel. "My daughter wants to build a sandcastle. If you get her mythril dress wet before she's ready to swim, I am going to boil your entire ocean. Sit down and be quiet."
Okeanos's eyes widened in absolute fury. "YOU DARE THREATEN OKEANOS?! I AM THE TIDE! I AM THE DEPTHS! I SHALL—"
Leo set the cooler down in the sand.
He bent over, picking up a perfectly smooth, flat seashell. He weighed it in his hand, nodded, and stepped up to the shoreline.
Leo didn't look at the Sea God. He just casually flicked his wrist, skipping the seashell across the surface of the divine ocean.
Skip. Skip. Skip.
The first skip created a shockwave that parted the water for a mile.
The second skip created a localized hurricane that blew the hundred-foot wave backward into mist.
The third skip hit the horizon with the force of a nuclear detonation, parting the entire Sapphire Expanse right down the middle, exposing the dry ocean floor all the way to the other side of the dimension. The sea life—glowing celestial dolphins and massive golden whales—flopped confusedly on the dry seabed.
Leo dusted his hands off, turning back to Okeanos, who was now gripping his pearl throne in sheer, unadulterated terror. The God's watery beard had completely evaporated from the stress.
"You were saying?" Leo asked cheerfully. "Something about the Abyss?"
Okeanos looked at the parted ocean. He looked at the man in the floral shirt. He looked at the terrifying woman with the designer tote bag.
The Sea God violently threw his golden trident into the sand and grabbed a woven palm-leaf fan.
"I... I was saying that the Abyss is terribly cold this time of year!" Okeanos squeaked, frantically running over to Maya and beginning to fan her. "Welcome to the Sapphire Expanse, O Great Ones! Let me set up your cabana! Can I offer you a celestial coconut?!"
"That's better," Maya hummed, sitting down in the beach chair Kaelen had just unfolded. "Pavan, Aman. Start digging the moat for the sandcastle. Elara is the foreperson."
The three terrifying Demon Generals instantly dropped to the sand, aggressively using plastic buckets and tiny shovels to excavate the divine beach under the strict supervision of a seven-year-old.
A few feet away, little Marshmallow started digging a hole. Because he was a Fenrir-Class World-Eater, his tiny paws were moving at Mach 3, completely ignoring the laws of physics and threatening to dig straight through the bottom of the Heavenly Realm.
Leo cracked open a sparkling water, leaning back in his chair as the Sea God furiously fanned them. "You know, the service around here just keeps getting better."