Fisherman's Tale (Demon Lord)

On a boat in a river sat two people, Lucia and Robert, patiently fishing for their dinner. The river was close to Robert's house, and the boat also his, meaning that fishing trips were very common to both of them. Lucia, on the other hand, didn't have much to offer save for her company and aid in several occasions, but her mere presence was enough for Robert, who otherwise would be alone on his own.

Robert was a man in his thirties, of an orderly mind that made him keep himself in shape regarding most things, with even a stubble that was very well kept, and quite lengthy chestnut hair that reached down to his eyes and almost his shoulders. His clothes didn't reflect his mindset, just having a worn jean and a loose shirt that looked like they were the first things he found in the morning. His attire was half justified, however, seeing that it wasn't relatively logical to wear a fancy outfit in the middle of the river when fishing.

Lucia, on the other hand, was a woman whose age couldn't even be determined at simple sight, as if time itself had been involved in keeping her image. Even Robert had long remarked her luck, having a straight, black hair that almost reached her waist, and crystal blue eyes that would make anyone lose their sight deep in them. Her attire was the same as Robert's: just a few clothes that didn't have any characteristic description save for 'I can use this rag as an outfit, what a concept'.

The river was calm, with the only souls present being them alone, mostly because of the fact that Robert's house was the only one in kilometres, added to a very small hand-made dock that allowed him to have a boat without problems. Hours on end passed without much catch, barely a few fishes to fill them up for a day, but it didn't cause any harm to go for a few more to save for another day.

Both of them could hear the sound of a violent splash a little distance away, but out of their sight. Robert and Lucia quickly turned around and saw just the giant tail of a fish diving back into the water, with a great ripple that followed that reflected just how big and heavy it was.

"Damn... Look at the size of that thing..." Robert spoke in awe. He was sure that such a great fish would feed him for days on end.

"Magnificent creature, isn't it?" Lucia added.

At that moment, Robert noticed the sun getting close to the horizon. Immediately, he raise his arm and checked his watch for the time.

"It's getting late." He stated, looking at Lucia.

"Yes, it is." She answered, unfazed.

"Don't you have work in two days?"

"Hm? Didn't I tell you already? I retired."

"Really? Do they let you go that soon and easily?" He questioned, right before feeling a pull from his rod. Immediately, he began pulling and spinning his reel.

"It was a special case with me, and it was just genetics so there aren't any secrets worth keeping. If it was some sort of military research, on the other hand..."

"Ah, I see." He answered, holding the fish he caught from his line. "What can you guys do with genetics?"

"Not make a mermaid, if that's what you're thinking."

Robert sighed in disappointment, taking the hook out of the fish and throwing the fish in a barrel filled with water in the boat. Then, feeling that their trip managed to result in enough catch, he decided to move over to the back of the small boat and start up the engine. This was enough sign for Lucia to take her line and hook off the water and leave them inside the boat, for their time had come to an end.

----

Hours later, night had arrived. Lucia and Robert were now eating their catch, sitting at a table inside Robert's house and watching TV just to pass time. Still, one thing caught their attention, which was the news that were being reported at the time. On the screen was shown a rather familiar building with its entrance ruined, and with hundreds of policemen surrounding it and preventing anyone from coming close. It was soon revealed that the building was a laboratory, a research centre, where the test subjects had all gone berserk and escaped, nowhere to be seen since then.

"Hey, isn't that where you worked?" Robert asked.

"Yes indeed." Lucia confirmed.

"No test subject has been recovered," A policeman being interviewed spoke in the TV screen. "They can be anywhere at this point."

"Any information on the subjects before the outbreak?" The reporter questioned.

"The genetic area, that's all the information we can disclose. We're taking measures to find the escaped subjects as soon as possible with any means available."

"Guess you dodged a bullet, there." Robert remarked. "Think of anything that might've happened?"

"I don't know. A lot of time passed since I left, they could've changed anything at this point." Lucia answered.

"Less than a week is a lot of time?"

"For them, yes."

"What were you guys doing before you retired?"

"Studying, researching, usual harmless stuff. Compatibility with other species, same way it was discovered apes and men had a shared ancestor."

At that time, the reporter in the TV noticed something, who quickly alerted the cameraman of his sighting. Immediately, the cameraman moved his camera to the sky, right above the building, and zoomed in. In the skies, blurred by the sheer zoom of the camera, a strange creature flew away.

"Som-Something has been spotted in the sky flying away from the building!" The reporter spoke with surprise. "It looks... Human, but it also has wings, the image is too blurry-"

"There is nothing to see here!" The policeman interrupted, attempting to take hold of the camera and throwing it off-view, right before the signal was lost.

"What do you think will happen?" Robert asked Lucia, just as the news channel switched to the usual anchorman instead of on-site feed.

"Flying zombies, that's what." Lucia joked, to which Robert gave a light laugh. "Do you have enough money to build a bunker?"

"Money?! That boat might as well have left me poor! Why do you think we eat fish most of the time now?!"

----

Thud, thud, thud.

It was in the middle of the night when Robert was woken up by the strange noises. With great effort, he removed the blanket off his torso and sat up while being half-asleep, reaching for the light on his nightstand and turning it on. Afterwards, he rubbed his eyes and slowly opened them, still hearing the thuds, but this time finding out that they came from the roof.

"What the hell is..." Robert muttered to himself, furious because of his sleep being interrupted. "Robbers? Who the hell walks this far and stands on the roof?"

Quickly, he uncovered himself and grabbed a pair of trousers lying on a chair next to his bed and put them on. He grabbed a few cartridges lying over his nightstand, stuffed them in his pocket, stood up, headed to a corner and grabbed his shotgun. He broke the shotgun open, placed a cartridge in each of the two barrels, and closed it.

"Should I wake Lucia up...?" He wondered. "...Nah. Worse comes to worst, the shots will do it."

All ready, he stared at the ceiling to focus on the thuds. Hearing with more clarity thanks to waking up completely, he noticed they didn't sound like normal footsteps, but instead something else that he had no knowledge about. He was sure it wasn't critters, since whatever was up there would need to be far heavier than the normal woodland creature to cause such a solid thud. He required a plan, and so began thinking of one. He though that, if quiet enough, he should be able to head outside, walk around the house and climb a ladder that led to a roof without alerting the intruder. In that position, he would be able to have a good aim of him. It seemed effective enough considering the current situation, so, he decided to stick to it.

Slowly, and thanks to being barefooted, he noiselessly walked up to the main door of his house without trouble at all, save for the cold floor being uncomfortable to him. He began opening the door with extreme care of not causing a creak that'd give away his presence and, once successful, crossed and closed it with the same determination to avoid it being slammed shut by the wind. He had walked outside successfully, now all that remained was getting to the roof.

Quickly, having no fear of making noise due to being barefoot and the surface being concrete, cold, cold concrete, he rushed around his house to the ladder that was set up. Even as he ran, he could still hear the strange noises from the roof. Whatever was up there, was still there.

He reached the ladder and began climbing it, although painfully so due to not having shoes, with just one hand as he held his shotgun with the other. He kept climbing until he almost reached the top, stopping and preparing to surprise the trespasser. He carefully moved his arm and grabbed onto the ladder by locking his arm on a step, holding onto it with his elbow. Using his now free hand, he pulled back the two hammers of his shotgun. Then, he untangled his arm and prepared to climb again.

He took a deep breath and mentally conditioned himself to expect anything that may happen. Immediately, he climbed what remained of ladder until the roof edge was at the same height as his torso, then aimed his shotgun at the intruder.

"What the... Hell is... That...?" He questioned, not being able to believe what was in front of his eyes, having to lower his shotgun at the sheer surprise of his encounter.

In front of him, with its back towards him and the moon light shining barely enough to spot its silhouette, was a humanoid figure that, compared to a normal human, had ridiculously slim arms with claws for hands and wings that went along its arms. Her legs seemed to bend back and forth, and its texture changing starting from her knees to something that seemed uncannily similar to that of a bird's legs. Apart from that, she seemed like a human woman.

From what Robert could see, she also seemed to attempt digging over Lucia's room, which explained the thuds.

The strange being turned around and stared at Robert after noticing his presence, sending a chill down his spine that left him petrified.

"Have you seen our Lord...?" It questioned with the voice of a woman, talking coherent english. This terrified Robert even further, who could not even answer her question, let alone react properly. Getting no response, the humanoid figure began walking closer and closer towards him.

He snapped out of his terror, aiming his shotgun again at the intruder.

"Back off!" He yelled.

The humanoid creature immediately extended his wings to their greatest extend and jumped up in the air, taking flight in an instant. Already unnerved, this served to terrify Robert to the point he instinctively shot in its general direction, missing due to the intruder moving and, mostly, because of his own fear taking over his aim.

As soon as he recovered from the fright and aimed again, the trespasser was too high in the air for him to do anything about it. It was flying away, he thought. All he could do was stare in both awe and horror, until he remembered that it was almost exactly like the being that flew away from the lab building he saw on TV.

"Found it yet?" Lucia asked from below, surprising Robert with her presence. He had believed she was still asleep, but it seemed that the woke up roughly at the same time as him.

"It flew away." He answered.

"'It'?"

"My guess is as good as yours."

Robert believed there was nothing else to be done, and so decided to climb down the ladder after uncocking the hammer of the barrel that did not have its cartridge fired.

As he climbed down just half the distance, an extremely violent gust of wind that blew right next to him forced him to grip the ladder with all his strength out of fear of both the suddenness of the wind, and of falling down. Immediately after it ended, he turned his head to where he believed the gust of wind was directed at. There it was, the same creature from before running towards Lucia, but with another intent entirely.

"My lord! My lord!" The creature yelled in complete joy, running with her wings wide open until she reached Lucia and hugged her with all her might. "I found you, my lord!"

"Easy there, harpy." Lucia calmed her down.

Robert, on the other hand, remained halfway down the ladder, clingin on it with one hand and shotgun in the other, with an expression of utter confusion.

"Say, Rob... Should we go fishing?" Lucia asked him while patting the harpy's head.

"I don't want to go fishing. I want an explanation."

Lucia remained silent, just looking at Robert with her eyes that, although unnoticeable, let him know that she had something else in mind. Namely, exactly what he had asked for. Understanding her intentions, Robert climbed down the ladder and walked to the interior of his house, planning to prepare for yet another fishing trip.

----

Just a few minutes later, Robert remained driving the boat with Lucia through the river, all ready with two fishing rods and bait in the middle of the night. A latern was tied to a rod placed in the front of the boat, being the only thing apart from the moon's light that illuminated their surroundings. Soon enough, the boat stopped, allowing Robert to grab a rod, place bait on the hook, and throw it into the river. Afterwards, he placed the rod on a holder and sat back down, looking at Lucia.

"It's too much coincidence, isn't it?" He began questioning. "You retire from your job, and days later that happens. One of those things look for you, too."

"You're smarter than you look like." Lucia complimented him.

"What are those things?"

Lucia, upon receiving the question, smiled and slowly stood up. She looked to the sky, making Robert look up too, curious, only to find the harpy circling them from above.

"They are Monster Girls." She stated. "Hybrids of human and animal descent. I created them. I made sure they would escape after my 'retirement', that they would seek me. Don't fear, they won't harm humans at all... All the contrary."

Robert tried to let it all sink in, how Lucia had purposefully engineered what had happened.

"It's impossible to create a human-animal hybrid. I may not know a lot about genetics, but everyone knows that they are not compatible. You can't make something like that, let alone create so many of them."

Lucia smiled again.

"Just... What are you?" Robert asked, sure that what she had said was not in the achievable limits of humans.

"I am the Demon Lord, Rob."

"...What?"

"Tell me, do you believe that the old myths were just stories? Of ancient times where monsters and men fought eachother, with heroes praised in legends and stories that turned into tales of an old age...? They were true, but discredited by history for 'not following logic', and no evidence of them being found. I have lived through it all... I wished to turn those monsters into something else, something that would let them coexist with humans, but mankind was not ready until now, where a simple genetic engineering accident was enough excuse for their resurrection in my image."

"Have you... Have you really lived through it all? How old are you?"

"So much time has passed, I have forgotten my own age. Following human history, I'd say I'm between four thousand to seven thousand years old."

Robert was left speechless, shocked.

"H-...How many 'monster girls' will be out there, now that you did this?" He asked, mustering what remained of his courage.

"The lab accident was just an excuse to 'integrate' them to this world. I'll create more, even more species. Then, they'll reproduce with humans, I have made them for that purpose too. I fear that the first ones to make proper contact with humans will be met with skepticism, shunned, or even killed... But that's a price to pay if I want them to be accepted after long."

"What will you do now?"

"I'll have to leave. My daughters will need me to lead them in this new world, won't they? I thank you for the time you've spent with me. You, and the countless other people that kept me company in these millenia. Without them, and without my daughters that have just now risen, I fear I would have gone insane."

"You're... Welcome, I guess..."

"I know what you might be thinking. Don't fear, something will happen soon."

"Soon? What?"

"You'll see." Lucia, now the Demon Lord, stated as she once more stared to the skies.

Robert followed her sight, seeing the harpy circling them but now switching course and flying away in a straight line. Once Robert's sight returned to Lucia, he found nothing. She was gone.

Her leaving was already expected, but Robert still had doubts of how she left, and a neverending stream of questions to ask her. The harpy had not picked her up, nor did she jump into the water for there was no noise and the water was too calm. Rather quickly, he accepted that she had just vanished, a not so far-fetched event considering what had happened. Mentally tired, he just laid back on the boat's surface and stared into the empty sky, with a blank mind.

"So... I'm alone now." He whispered to himself, knowing that Lucia would not return. Just a day ago he thought she was a normal person, and now he had to accept that he would not see her again. "...God fucking dammit..."

From his peripheral view, he could see the rod he had placed bending. A fish had caught it. Without much enthusiasm, he stood up and grabbed the fishing rod, pulling it and spinning the reel to bring the fish to him.

"Monster girls..." He sighed, contemplating what would Lucia's plan for the future be.

All of a sudden, the pull of his rod increased almost tenfold, almost enough to pull it out of his hands had he not reacted in time. All his focus shifted on the fish, now pulling hard enough to make the rod bend more than before.

"What the hell... Did another fish catch the one I caught!?" Robert grunted, desperately applying all his strength.

Unfortunately, the line was too weak for a fish of such strength. It was cut, almost throwing Robert off the other side of the boat by sheer strength he had applied in that direction.

"Balls." He cursed, reeling in the line until he could see at which point it gave in. "Should've gotten a stronger set."

Irritated, he simply threw the rod into the boat, giving up. But from behind him, he could hear the water dispersing, as is something was rising to the surface. He turned around, and what his eyes saw was a woman clinging to the boat with her arms, with a half eaten fish in on hand and his line and hook entangled on the other. This left him paralyzed for a few seconds out of fright.

"Hello." She greeted.

A silver-haired woman, with shiny, seemingly oiled skin that was beautifully toned and shaped, with eyes that shared the color of her hair. It seemed that she was wearing a two-piece bathing suit too, for she had nothing to cover her skin save for that.

"T-...That's mine." He stuttered, pointing at the line that belonged to him.

The woman extended her hand that held the half-eaten fish, much to Robert's lack of fortune. She had misunderstood what he was referring to.

"N-no, the other hand..."

Confused, the woman stared at her other hand. She did not understand why Robert would need the line and the hook, but untangled it and left it on his boat at his request.

"Why are you swimming in the river in the middle of the night?" He questioned, scratching his head and recovering from the fright. "You're lucky you didn't get that hook stuck in you."

He was far too confused by the events he had witnessed to even question why she broke his line to eat a raw fish to begin with.

"I like this place." The woman answered, smiling.

Robert's eyebrows lowered in irritation

"You're going to catch a cold that'll kill you at this pace, and eating raw fish like that won't do any good either. Here, let me help you up."

Robert extended his hands towards the woman, who was stunned by his offer. She accepted with a smile, left the fish she was eating, and extended her hands for Robert to hold. He grabbed them and began pulling her up, feeling like something was off with her hands. Unfortunately, as he pulled her up, the water that ended up in the boat made his feet slip and, sadly, make him fall back with the woman following.

"Agh... Sorry, are you alright?" He grunted, trying to sit up but unable to do so, for the woman was directly on top of him.

Before the woman could recover, Robert noticed something. Instead of legs, the woman had a fish's tail, silver just like her eyes and hair. It was a mermaid. A monster girl. What he had felt was off with her hands was also justified, for between her fingers was a fine layer of what seemed to be scales and skin.
 Seeing as she was a mermaid, those layers would certainly be there to allow her to swim properly.


"S-Sorry." The mermaid apologized as soon as she recovered and realized in what situation she was, backing off and sitting on the opposite side of the small boat.

Apart from the fact that she was a mermaid, Robert knew nothing else. Lucia had not told him anything, but realized that maybe this event was what she was referring to. He thought that maybe Lucia would know he'd be alone, and so one of her monster girls would keep her company, whether it was planned or not.

"...What is your name?" Robert questioned.

"...Marianna. What is yours?"

"Beautiful name. Mine is Robert."

He imagined that it would be normal for her to be in the river. She was a mermaid after all, not a human. Still, he thought that maybe he could show her a few things. Since she'd live in the river, he'd be in her company from now on.

"Do you always eat the fish raw?" He asked.

"Well, yes. Is there another way to eat it?"

"Have you ever tried cooking one?"

"...What's 'cooking'?"

He just raised an eyebrow with confusion. He did not know what things she knew or didn't know about. Despite speaking perfect english, she seemed to be oblivious to human traditions.

"I can teach you how to cook fish, if you want."

"...Yes, of course!"

"That's the spirit."

Robert stood up and walked up to the boat's engine, which coincidentially was right behind where Marianna sat. Marianna simply stared as Robert walked up to her and sat next to her, holding the engine's handle to be able to control it. After starting it up, Robert began driving the boat to the dock he built.

"How long can you stay out of the water?" He asked.

"A few days. Don't worry."

"I see. You're going to love cooked fish, I'm sure of it."