Room 518/520, Wednesday Afternoon

[demonbelthazor]

With no workshops that day, Bel busied himself researching mermaids. Most of what he found on the web was just fluff. Reading a few demomic sites he still had access to, however, gave him the information he was looking for. The Sea Hag. Allegedly she was a demon with the power to transform mermaids into humans, but she would only do so for a price. Fine. He'd find her and pay it.

The only question was how to find her.

[open if anyone cares to console Bel about his girlfriend being sushi (or any other reason)]

Comments

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

"Hi Bel! How are you liking life on the 5th floor?"

[demonbelthazor]

"Okay, I guess," Bel said. "Except for the part about my girlfriend being a fish. But that's not the floor's fault. I think."

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

"I didn't know Phoebe drank..."

[demonbelthazor]

Bel blinked at Pippi. "She's a mermaid."

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

"I thought she was a witch?"

[demonbelthazor]

"She cast a spell," Bel explained. "And accidentally turned herself into a mermaid."

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

"Oops!" Pippi said, her eyes wide. "Is she okay?"

[demonbelthazor]

He stared at Pippi. "She's a fish. Does that sound okay to you?"

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

Pippi looked around the room for a fish tank.

"What kinda fish? Where is she?"

[demonbelthazor]

"She's out in the ocean," Bel said. "I tried to get her to come home and stay in the bathtub or something, but she wouldn't. I don't know what type of fish she's part now -- she's gold and scaly where her legs should be and I'm not happy about it."

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

Pippi decided to leave the 'gold and scaly where her legs should be and I'm not happy about it' part alone for obvious reasons.

"Oh! She's a mermaid! Wow thats cool!... Um, would you like me to go and see if I can bring her back? I'm a pretty good swimmer."

Which is true even if she didn't have a ball or two of mature gillyweed, which she does.

[demonbelthazor]

"If you want to try to talk some sense into her, by all means, do it," Bel said. "She wasn't listening much to me last night. And now I'm worried that some fisherman is going to get her caught up in a net or something."

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

Pippi makes a mental note to boycot all tuna that isn't certified "mermaid free".

"I'll see what I can do. I may be able to trick her into a position where I can nab her and bring her up here."

[demonbelthazor]

"Thanks," Bel said, some of the worry leaving his face. "She knows I want her out of the ocean so she won't let me near her, but you may be able to trick her like you said. Then we can find a way to reverse the spell."

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

Pippi tilted her head to look at the screen of the computer Bel was using.

"Have you found anything promising so far?"

[demonbelthazor]

Bel hesitated. "There's a demon, the Sea Hag," he admitted. "She allegedly knows how to change mermaids into humans."

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

"The Sea Hag!? Isn't she dangerous??

[demonbelthazor]

"Risk I'm willing to take," Bel said grimly. "I'm not about to let Phoebe stay a mermaid for the rest of her life."

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

"From what I've heard, she's not the type to do it out of the kindness of her heart." Pippi said.

[demonbelthazor]

Bel nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure there will be a price, but whatever it is, I'll pay it," he said.

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

"Well, if it's gold or jewels she wants, you come to me." Pippi said. "And try to to trade away anything like your voice, or a year of your life or your soul okay?"

[demonbelthazor]

*is going to assume there was a "don't" in there*

"My soul is worth her life," Bel said fiercely.

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

Yes, there's a silent and totally understood "don't" there

Pippi slugged him in the arm, kinda harder then she normally would because Bel was a demon.

"Don't be stupid. She's a mermaid, she's not dying."

[demonbelthazor]

"Ow!" Bel said, rubbing his arm, more in indignity than in pain. "You don't understand. She has a destiny. She's supposed to be a witch and protect innocents with her sisters. Plus as a mermaid she won't be Phoebe any more. She won't love her sisters. She won't love anyone. She'll just collect sea shells and play in the ocean."

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, and then she snaps out of it finding out you traded away your soul to fix the problem and what will that do to her? Who will be around to do stupid protective crap when she's back and you're gone?"