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When Raz came to again, there were voices. "-think she's dead." One said. There were murmurs of agreement.

"Is she breathing?"

"Think she was beached?"

Confused, she blinked open her eyes and sat up… almost instantly smacking foreheads with someone. "Ow!" both parties cried out in pained and scrambled away from each other. "Uh-kay… that 'urt…" she muttered, massaging her throbbing forehead. "Alrigh, whoever ya are, ya best be explainin yerselves!" she growled. "I don' take nice ta bein woke up."

"Oh, we're very sorry!" a voice chimed from… below her?

Looking down, she shrieked in surprise and backed away. Lying there on the sand were three of the mermaids Zalim had mentioned, two otters and, oddly enough, a saber. "What the…?"

"We saw you asleep there." Chimed one of the otters, her bright green eyes staring up at her as she gestured to a slanted rock situated in the shallows of the ocean. "And we just had to come and meet you!"

"You're the Queen, aren't you?"

"Um… sorta."

"Ya mean, mlike, sorta kinda?"

"…Sure?"

The trio, who all looked about thirteen, giggled. "I'm pretty sure its you." The otter with blue eyes chirped. "I saw you the other day, 'member?"

"Oooh… yer tha' mermaid Ah me' out in the bay?"

"The one and only!" with upper body strength that impressed even Raz, she used her arms to launch herself into a back flip and landed safely in the water. "So' she resurfaced, bobbing in the water. "Wanna go for a swim?" the other two copied her movements and launched themselves into the surf.

"I dunno…" she said hesitantly, coughing discreetly into one fist. "Ah've kinna been fightin a cold, don' think I oughtta be gettin wet…"

"If yer sick, you shouldn't a been sleepin outside either, butcha did that!"

"Alright…"

…

Raz was glad she agreed. With a small touch of mermaid magic, they led her down into a beautiful underwater cove, deeper than she'd ever gone before. At first she'd worried for her oxygen, but her new acquaintances assured her otherwise. After she could hold her breath no longer, she couldn't help but gasp, twenty feet below the surface. She was sure she'd drown and was ready to start choking, fully expecting water to rush into her lungs and strangle her… but all he got was a lungful of air. Or, that's what it felt like "I- I…" her voice sounded strange underwater, deeper and kind of muffled. "I c'n breathe!"

"Yep!" giggled the saber. Her fur was an odd shade of sky blue, her long elongated fin cobalt blue and shimmering in the sunlight filtering down from above. "That's the magic of Maiden Cove for ya!"

"Maid'n Cove…?"

"Yep!" the green eyed otter did a merry flip, her emerald tail swishing around and creating a torrent of bubbles. "And there's more Ta see! Come on!" she grabbed her wrist and began tugging her forward. They showed her a beautiful coral reef, full of colorful fish and twenty foot kelp forests that tickled to swim through. They showed her an underwater garden, fill of the strangest and most beautiful flowers she'd ever seen! She reminded herself to come back down here and take as many seeds as she could! "Wow…" they'd come to rest on an underwater ledge, staring out at the ocean's beautiful scenery.

"Pretty, ain't it?"

"Yeah…" she agreed, leaning back against the cliff face. She took a deep breath, relishing the fresh 'air'. "An so peaceful…"

"Yeah… but now you know what this place is, but you don't know who we are." She did a quick tornado like spin around her, making forged currents rush into her eyes; it felt just like a strong wind. "I'm Calissa!"

"I'm Malissa!" added the other otter cheerfully. "And this is Calista!"

"Alrighty then… th' names Raz."

The girls erupted in giggles. "We know!" squealed Malissa gleefully. "Everybody knows who you are!"

"Yeah!" agreed Calista. "You're the talk of the whole magic world!"

Raz was taken aback. "Wh- What?"

"Oh, everyone's raving about it!" Calissa continued where her posse had left off. "Everyone in the magic world is coming to your wedding! This is the biggest news since Kertenkele and Kari were killed!"

The name sparked something in her mind. "Who-?" but her company cut her off, continuing to babble.

"I heard the Duchess of the Dryads is giving you an enchanted tree!"

"I heard the Lady of Spring plans to bless your first child!"

"Did you hear the Summer Sprites are gonna hold the after party?"

"I heard the Star Princess is giving them a whole galaxy for a wedding present!"

"If I heard right, the Thunder Riders are sending them a magic rainbow as an engagement gift!"

"GIRLS!" they all jumped, surprised, before blinking at her attentively.

"Yeeeees?" they chorused as one.

"Tha' name ya mntioned… wot was it?"

"Kertenkele?"

"No, no! the othah' one!"

"You mean Kari?" Raz nodded eagerly. "oh, she's the Gryphon queen. Or… she was, I should say. The Dragon Queen killed her a long time ago. That had the presses buzzing for weeks!"

"Not ta mention her lost daughter!"

They all 'oooooooh'ed when Calista mentioned that. "Daught'ah?"

"Yeah, you haven't heard?" she shook her head. "Oh, well, no one knows what happened to 'er. They say she just disappeared, her aura just vanished. The Gryphons couldn't find her scent or track her life aura; they think she got eaten by one of the Dragons."

"But that couldn't be it!" Malissa jumped in. "There would still be traces of her spirit in the area if she died; passing on takes time."

"So… what? The baby just disappeared."

"Yep." Calissa blew a bubble of oxygen, popping it with one finger claw so it made a distinct sound, a cross between a pop and the 'plip' of water. "Just disappeared. Pop, into thin air!"

"It's impossible though. The Princess was only eight months old; her magic would've been very weak. She probably hadn't even been taught to awaken her magic yet!"

Raz dared to breathe. That was an amazing tale, and it left her curious. What had happened? People didn't just disappear. She knew she'd regret asking what she was about tom but he couldn't help it! She'd been trained from a tiny tot to go after any adventure or challenge that presented itself. And this sounded like a pretty interesting adventure.

"Girls?"

"Yeah?"

"Who's up fer a quest?"

There ya go! Well… what'd y think? Raz has heard Kari's name, and it's sparked her interest! Anyone have an opinio?