From: floradora	Date: 06/12/2007 16:23:23

It was supposed to be a simple disapparation spell, of course spells are never quite simple for Floradora. She wanted to poof in to a place where she could find others of her kind, more fairies to have tea with in the afternoons. She could sense they were here, for lack of a better term Floradora could smell them. To her the Seelie Fae smelt like molasses, whereas Unseelie Fae smelt like cinnamon. She liked the smell of molasses best.

However right now, she was far from any fairy. In fact Floradora had accidently poofed herself in a cloud of pink smoke ten feet above the river that Kai was currently swimming in.

"Raaasssppbeeerrriiieeeessss" she said as she fell into the water with a large splash.

The wet Floradora kicked her legs and arms suddenly trying to swim. However she had never learned to swim, which meant she was currently falling to the bottom of the river.

	From: lost_her_voice	Date: 06/13/2007 01:26:37

Well, jumping freakin' jellyfish. Here Kai was enjoying the lovely little ball game, and hoping that one of those boys would kick the ball her way so she could have a bit of fun of her own, but her thoughts and hopes were interuppted by a rather loud splash...and the sound of someone flailing in the water.

The mermaid whirled around, blonde hair sweeping over her shoulder with the force of her turning, and she peered at the water. Ripples were created by the assault on the water, and Kai squinted, trying to make out the figure that was slowly sinking to the bottom.

It looked like a woman, which caused Kai to hesitate. Her dislike of humans usually would have prevented her for giving a damn about the woman that was apparently drowning...But watching the children had put Kai in a good and, she supposed, generous mood. And so Kai sighed before diving into the water, sailing down after the sinking woman. She reached the woman, who appeared elderly, and wrapped hear arms around her. She grunted, pulling up as she swam toward the surface.

	From: floradora	Date: 06/13/2007 01:35:41

Spitting a large amount of water out of her mouth when she reached the surface, Floradora looked with wide eyed curiosity at the creature who saved her.

"A Mermaid, Gadzooks, I haven't seen a mermaid in at least three centuries" She said to herself smiling from ear to ear.

"Thanks for saving my life dearie" She said as she sopped water out of her dress.

"I'm Her Majestic Divine Self Madame Mimsie Floradora LaContessa Marmalada Sugarlugar Nixie Poppingdom-LaRoux, but that's too formal, you can call me Floradora"

She said as she put out her hand to greet the mermaid..hoping that she didn't fall yet again into the water.

	From: lost_her_voice	Date: 06/13/2007 01:41:07

Kai took a moment to gather her breath, pushing back wet hair with her hand and then blinking at the woman.

...Majestic Divine Madame Mimsie Flor-a-what? Kai's head spun with that lengthly name, and was utterly grateful that the woman had shortened it to "Floradora." And even that was a mouthful. Kai was actually happy she didn't have to say it.

The mermaid hesitated before thrusting her hand out, shaking Floradora's only briefly before she tore her hand away. Kai then gestured to the water, then to the sky, and then to Floradora before throwing her hands up in a "what the hell happened" sort of way.

	From: floradora	Date: 06/13/2007 01:47:35

Floradora took a moment to decipher what Kai was trying to tell her.

"Oh that..me..falling. Well let me tell you. It's become much harder for a woman of my advanced age to just Pop from one place to another. I wasn't born with wings like other fairies were. I have to resort to teleportation spells. Of course this one didn't go as well as planned. I popped in about twenty feet in the air and fell flat in your little river" She said as she continued to attempt to ring some of the extra moisture from her dress.

	From: lost_her_voice	Date: 06/13/2007 01:55:45

Everything Floradora just said made Kai's head spin again, and she took a moment herself to decipher the woman's words. So she was a fairy of some sort...and could appear in places. Kai gathered that the old woman had appeared in the sky, and just flat out dropped into the water.

Kai's eyes lit up. If she was a fairy, and could appear places...then perhaps she knew magic. Puss has spoken of magic, and the little kitty hadn't returned with word on helping Kai with her lack of voice...maybe this woman...

Kai hesitated again before lifting her finger to slowly air-write her name to the woman. K. A. I. She pointed to herself.

	From: floradora	Date: 06/13/2007 01:59:37

Floradora was watching her intently. She hadn't spent this much time with a mermaid ever before. She always thought mermaids mostly kept to themselves and usually drowned sailors that fell into the water. This mermaid saved her from drowning, and was now spelling?

She watched as she made what looked like a K, followed by an A, then an I. Then the mermaid pointed to herself.

"Oh I see...K..A..I.. You..Your name is...Keylime Pie?"

She knew that wasn't right, no self respecting mermaid would be called key like pie.

"Wait that's not right. K..A..I.. Kaa..eehhh..eeyyye?" She asked sounding out the word using phonetics.

"Kai, I get it, your name is Kai"

Did I mention she's six weeks older than dirt? Because she is.

	From: lost_her_voice	Date: 06/13/2007 02:16:54

Kai wasn't like the other mermaids, that was for certain. She blanched visibly when Floradora suggested her name was...Key Lime Pie. Whatever that was. Upon getting it right, Kai nodded fiercely, with a touch of a grin. She always was proud when people could decipher her name from her tracing.

Kai then pointed at her throat, indicating her voice, and then shook her head with a mournful look, as though sorry she couldn't speak.

	From: floradora	Date: 06/13/2007 02:24:20

Floradora was incredibly amused by Kai's theatrical way of communication. It was better than the last puppet show she managed to catch in Mehrdadstan.

Then she saw Kai point to her throat and make a sad shaking of her head.

"Oh you poor dear, of course you can't talk, your tonsils must have been taken out."

Then she thought a bit. No, that can't be the case, mermaids weren't pestered by tonsils. That was something mostly to pester humans, not merfolk.The answer for Kai was simple, she had no voice.

"Oh Dear, You must not have a voice." She said solemnly. To Floradora losing one's voice was a fate worse than death.

	From: lost_her_voice	Date: 06/13/2007 02:30:08

Kai blinked, dumbfounded. Gods, was this woman addle-minded. Kai drew in her breath with great patience, however, taking note that this woman was quite old.

At her second guess, Kai nodded firmly again. She gave a sigh, agreeing with Floradora's solemn tone. She floated her hand away from her throat, and then snatched the invisible voice with her other hand, trying to indicate that her voice had been stolen.

	From: floradora	Date: 06/13/2007 02:36:49

Oh Floradora got that one loud and clear.

"Someone stole your voice? Whatever for. No, wait, I understand. You of course had a fantastic singing voice and one of your rivals wanted it to further their possible career in the opera?"

She sometimes was too caught up in her own world to realize that not everyone was a Cinderella in training.

	From: lost_her_voice	Date: 06/13/2007 02:39:46

Thank gods, she figured that one out. Kai wouldn't have known how else to pantomime that.

She started to smile and nod when Floradora first started speaking...and then she went into some tirade about opera and singing. Kai blinked again. Well, yes, it was true she had had a marvelous singing voice, but about this opera nonsense...

Kai shook her head quickly, and pointed to her tail before walking two fingers across her palm. She gestured her voice being stolen again, and then walked her fingers once more, hoping Floradora got that her voice had been exchanged for legs...which she obviously no longer had.

	From: floradora	Date: 06/13/2007 02:43:42

Floradora had a filthy mind, that much was certain. When Kai was making motions of legs walking her mind went straight to the gutter and stayed there overnight.

She replied with a snicker and said: "Trading your voice for legs, what a scandalous affaire. I bet some man tried to come and deflower you right then and there. Possibly some sailor on shore leave or something of the sort...Where are those legs now?..Hell, where's the sailor now too?"

She was still giggling on the inside of the mermaid trading her voice for legs. That must have been the worst trade of the century.

	From: lost_her_voice	Date: 06/13/2007 02:49:52

Kai looked confused at first of what the woman was implying...and then she looked appalled, her eyes growing huge and her face flushing. What in heavens was this dirty-minded fairy thinking?!

Kai shook her head wildly, waving her hands frantically to quickly rid the woman of the idea that Kai had let herself be deflowered by anybody, let alone some sailor.

And where was her voice, indeed. Kai sighed, throwing up her hands after snatching her voice out of the air again. As for the legs...Kai simply gestured to her tail. It was too complicated to explain that she had murdered her prince and in return, gotten her tail back.

	From: floradora	Date: 06/13/2007 02:54:32

Floradora could tell that this little mermaid needed help. She needed some guidance. She needed some magic. She needed someone who had some experience..

...suffice to say she needed a fairy godmother. Floradora squealed with delight at the prospect.

"My dear little Kai, I would love..just love to help you out. I of course, am quite the experienced Fairy Godmother extraordinaire, and I would definitely love to help you regain your voice. Of course I would also love that the first thing to come out of that voice would be a beautiful song."

She was a patron of all arts, including singing fish women. What Floradora failed to mention to Kai, was that she wasn't quite that skilled in magic. Of course Kai didn't need to know that.

	From: lost_her_voice	Date: 06/13/2007 03:00:33

Oh, my. It appeared this Floradora fairy had taken quite an interest in Kai. Kai wasn't sure if she liked that or not.

On one hand, the fairy godmother, as she called herself, wanted to help Kai get her voice back. Oh, how she'd love to be able to speak, and best of all, sing again! But on the other hand, Kai had experience with witches who wanted something vile in return.

Kai looked suspicious, drawing back a bit. She pointed to herself, her throat, then to Floradora, asking what Kai had to do in return for said voice.

	From: floradora	Date: 06/13/2007 03:04:45

Floradora was no witch, she always had good intentions. She just happened to have a bad time trying to make those good intentions come out right. She could tell that Kai wasn't comfortable with this. But, she being the maternal figure that she was wouldn't have none of this.

"What will this cost you? Oh my dear dear sweet Kai, it's going to cost you nothing. I am a woman of high moral standings. I would never dream of taking something from someone in return for my Fairy Godmothering. I already told you what I'd like. I would love to have the first thing that comes out of your mouth after your voice comes back- to be a song.. that's all"

She said as she looked in her handbag for her magic wand. It was in there somewhere. She just had to find it.

	From: lost_her_voice	Date: 06/13/2007 03:10:35

Nothing? Nothing at all? Kai looked incredulous. Surely this fairy, this magical woman, wasn't going to do this for FREE? It was too good to be true. This wasn't normal.

..then again, Floradora was hardly what Kai considered "normal"...

Just a song, eh? Well, Kai could defintely handle that. Kai's face lit up with joy, and she reached out, grasping one of Floradora's hands in both of hers, and shaking vigorously.

	From: floradora	Date: 06/13/2007 03:21:47

With a flourish and a small puff of shining silvery smoke, Floradora made her magic wand appear.

"That was an old trick of mine, I could make it look like I was pulling my wand from your ear. Yet, we don't really need to do that right now, do we?"

She was ready to do this spell. Her mind was set on giving Kai back her voice. However her mind soon wandered as she imagined eating a tuna fish sandwich for lunch. Then she snapped back to the task at hand. Her face beamed bright, she was going to do a spell, a wonderful spell to help a wonderful girl. She did truely have the best intentions.

With a ceremonial flourish, Floradora started waving her wand, leaving behind a trail of sparkling dust. She cleared her throat and did a few scales as a warmup.

"Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do-Do-Ti-La-So-Fa-Mi-Re-Do"

Then she began her incantation.

"Abaracadabara- Missingsocksinaction- GoGoGo-WhizBamThankyouma'am- Becarefulwiththathammer- Silusmariner-SubmarinaSandwicha-Voice to return to Kai, the Mermaid"

As soon as that was done a puff of silver smoke erupted from her wand sending scores of sparkling specks over Kai.

"Not Bad if I do say so for myself" She said as she secretly prayed inside that her spell was a success, she did after all just make it up at the spot.

"Now my dearie, lets see those pipes in action, sing for me"

	From: lost_her_voice	Date: 06/13/2007 13:44:30

Kai was starting to have second thoughts when those nonsensical words spilled from Floradora's lips. At first, Kai had been excited...but that excitement slowly turned into a forboding, anxious thumping in her chest, and a flutter in her stomach that urged her to dive underwater, NOW, and never come back up.

But the magic had worked its way into Kai, and Kai opened her mouth to shriek at the sparkles that covered her. Her lips were parted, and her arms were over her head..and soon, where there was no noise...there suddenly was.

Rather than shriek, though, there came a lovely tune, a holding of a particularily high note. Kai ended it with a gasp, shocked to hear even her own voice after so long. She blinked with huge eyes, then tentatively parted her lips again.

"...As I was a walking down in Stokes Bay, I met a drowned sailor on the beach as he lay! And as I drew nigh him, it put me to a stand. When I knew it was my own true love, by the marks on his hand." It was a song she had heard the sailors of her prince's ship sing, and Kai gasped, her hand flying to her mouth in shock. She could speak! She could sing!

	From: floradora	Date: 06/13/2007 20:21:20

Floradora smiled. It worked. One of her spells actually worked the way she wanted to. Boy did Kai have a wonderful singing voice. Of course she knew instinctively that she would.

"Oh my dear dear sweet singing sushi. It worked my spell actually worked"

She hugged Kai and smiled from ear to ear.

"Oh sweety you have a wonderful singing voice too." She said as she held her wand close at hand. She had afterall put much concentration and effort into this spell. Who knows if it was permanent or not. Hopefully it would last longer than the stroke of midnight that would be pleasant for her and Kai. It was then that she realized that it was growing late.

"Oh I'd hate to perform miracles and run..but my dear I have places to be at, people to see at." She said as she started shimmering her wand over her head, causing sprinkles to fall over her. Hopefully this time the teleportation spell would work properly. Of course lightning never struck twice, and neither this good luck. Floradora was off with a Poof of silver smoke, smoke that smelt like marmalade.

	From: lost_her_voice	Date: 06/13/2007 21:13:22

Overjoyed, Kai leaned over, giving Floradora a tight hug, despite being called singing sushi. She didn't know what the hell sushi was, so it didn't mean much to her. Perhaps it was a term of endearment..yes, it must be.

Kai grinned, pleased at the compliment Floradora had given her about her singing voice. And as Floradora announced her departure, Kai lifted a hand to wave, and opened her mouth to speak.

"Gracias para su ayuda-!"

Oh sweet gods.

Kai had no idea what was spewing from her lips, and she blinked, before dawning comprehension created a horrified expression on her face.

THE DAMNED OLD BITTY HAD HER SPEAKING ANOTHER LANGUAGE!

"Espérate!" She called urgently, then angrily. "Espérate!!" But the fairy had already left.

Kai slapped her fists against the water, outraged. She was cursed to be able to sing in English...and speak in Spanish.

(translation of the spanish: "Thank you for your help" and "WAIT/STOP!")