Chapter Seven

Eric ran down the stairs and out onto the beach, looking around for the rocks he had just seen his love sitting upon. But as he got closer and closer he began to see that no one was there. The rocks, along with the beach, were empty.

"Alisa?" Eric called her name into the night. But there was nothing. Not a word. The only sound was of the oncoming surf.

"Alisa?" He called again but the answer was the same: Nothing. Where is she? She was just here. He thought to himself, still searching for her. Convinced that she still had to be around, somewhere.

He climbed out onto the rocks and looked out towards the ocean. No, she wouldn't have. Would she? Alisa wouldn't have returned to the ocean. Not after such a wonderful afternoon together. He sat where she had moments before and listened to the surf. Where was Alisa?

Eric sat on the rocks watching the waves roll in and out. Why couldn't he find her? Had she really gone back to the ocean? He didn't want to think about that. Upset, he stood and started back towards the castle. He would look for Aure. If she were gone, then he would know for certain that Alisa wouldn't be coming back. He ran off quickly to find the other little mermaid.

o0o

Alisa reached her mother's house, just after midnight. She swam in quickly and found Ursula fast asleep on her bed. Angrily she approached her. "Mother!"

The large octopus-woman didn't stir.

"Mother!" Alisa yelled again and this time shook her forcefully.

Ursula groaned and flipped over, all eight of her arms spilling out over the side of the bed. Her large eyes suddenly popped open and she gasped. "Alisa? Alisa, you're back!" She hastily got to her feet. "What a surprise!"

"Surprise? Mother, look at me! What am I doing like this? Did your potion not work or something?" Alisa longed to be back on land with her prince.

"Of course it worked! It worked just as I wanted it to!" Ursula grinned. "This way you can visit me every night and I won't get lonely!"

"What?" She glared at her mother. "You did this? How could you?" She was getting angry.

"I fixed your potion so that you are only a human during the day. You didn't think I'd make you a human permanently, did you? My only daughter?" Ursula seemed hurt.

"Why would you do that? I was happy there." She swam back and forth as if pacing.

"What is Eric going to think when he can't find me? What happens if I change and I am not near the water? And someone finds me. Humans hate mermaids, they want them dead…" She stopped pacing and looked to her mother. "Well?"

Ursula only smirked. "Alisa! I've worked out all the bugs! None of that is going to happen!"

"What does that mean?"

"You must be near the water in order to change."

"So if I don't go near the water at night, that means I won't change?" Alisa's frown became somewhat of a smile. She was talking to herself but aloud and the sea witch could hear her clearly.

Ursula's smile faded. "Well, that's just the thing. If you don't come, then I'll do something to get you here. That thought of it! Refusing to come and see your own mother! I thought I raised you better than all that!"

"Mother! Don't you get it? I want to stay up there. Please, Mother?"

"Alisa! You're my only child! I can't give you up so easily! It's cruel of you to even expect that of me..." Ursula slunk over to her cauldron and opened it up. "Besides," She continued. "I'll bet your prince doesn't even realize that you are gone." She roused an image to show Alisa her prince.

"I'm sorry, mother. But what would happen if I really did marry Eric? I mean I can't just disappear from my husband every night to come see you." She was getting desperate to go back on land and was thinking of anything she could.

"Well, then I'd figure something out. But until then, you have no business spending any time with the prince at night!" She looked to the image and watched a desperate Eric traveling down the castle corridor. "See? He doesn't even realize that you are gone."

Alisa sighed and watched her prince with loving eyes. Her gaze then became serious when she saw him pause at her bedroom door and knock. "What is he doing?"

"What?" For the first time that night, Ursula looked at the image. "Oh, he's just knocking on some door." She said with a dismissive toss of her hand. "What's so unusual about that?"

"He is knocking on my door, Mother." Alisa frowned at her.

"Your door?" Ursula looked displeased. "Why would he be at your door?"

"I don't know. Maybe if I was there I would. But I'm not." Her frown deepened.

"Oh posh!" Said Ursula, "Quit complaining! He probably just wants to tell you goodnight. See? He's moving on." Both their gazes returned to the image and then Ursula closed the cauldron. "There, see? Not a problem!"

"Fine, Mother, you win." Alisa sat on the sandy ground and sighed. "What do you want?"

"Just time with you, Alisa." Said Ursula, lovingly.

Alisa looked up at her mother and sighed again. "When do I turn back? Before everyone wakes up?"

Ursula nodded. "At five every morning."

"So if I am spending every day with Eric and Aure and then every night with you; when am I ever going to get some sleep?" Alisa was not very happy with the arrangements.

Ursula's smile faded, "You're right! I didn't think of that!" She began to pace. "We'll need to come up with some way to make sure you get some sleep..."

Alisa waited for her mother to come up with something. She just wanted to get this first night over and done with. She thought back to why Eric would knock on her door so late at night.

"I've got it!" He mother sudden outburst interrupted her thoughts. Ursula stopped pacing and walked hastily over to the cabinet.

"What?"

"I shall make you a necklace! With it you may choose whether you want to be a mermaid or a human." She began removing things from the cabinet and dropping them into the now open cauldron.

"A necklace?" Alisa swam over to her mother and watched as she threw more vials into the cauldron.

"Yes."

"So, how is this going to help me sleep? Does that mean I really don't have to come every night?" She looked at her mom hopefully.

"You must visit me every 48 hours." Ursula said, ready to compromise, but not willing to surrender her authority.

"Okay, so I stay one night there and then one night here. I guess that works." Alisa sat back down and watched her mother work.

"Good." Ursula dropped one last item into the cauldron and then waved her hand over the opening, chanting words as she did so. Soon enough, a white-gold necklace popped out of the haze and Ursula instantly snatched it up. "Here we are!" She held up the jewelry for Alisa to see before handing it to her daughter.

"Wow, Mom!" Alisa swam to her mother's side and had her put the necklace on for her. "So this will just know when I want to be human or mermaid?"

"No... it's not that good. You have to hold on to the charm and wish what you want."

"Okay. That sounds easy enough." She looked at the charm that hung on the chain. The ocean blue heart was smooth and without blemish. A perfect gem.

Ursula seemed pleased by her work. "Well, tell me. How is life on land and in the palace?"

"Oh, it's nothing too exciting…" Alisa shrugged. "Why? What do you want to know?"

Ursula's grin widened. "Why, my dear sweet Alisa… I want to know everything!"

And everything she told; her tale stretching well into the night.

o0o

Eric knocked urgently on the door. Please be here! He thought anxiously. Please be here!

She opened the door on the third knock.

"Aure!" Eric looked at her in shock. "Oh, thank goodness!"

Aure cocked her head in confusion. She still wore the dress she had arrived in; the red rose was wilting in her hair.

"I mean. Uh... Have you seen Alisa?" He waited for her answer, though his patience was short.

Aure thought for a moment and then motioned towards the room next door. She's in her room! Her green eyes seemed to say.

"I just knocked on her door," He said impatiently, "She wasn't in there."

But Aure was persistent. She exited her bedroom, leaving the door open as she wandered over to and rapped loudly on the wooden door. No one answered.

Eric followed her. "See? Do you know here she would have gone?"

Aure shook her head. She seemed troubled and she knocked again and again. With each knock she seemed to grow more desperate as if she too solely depended on Alisa's presence.

"I am going to go try and find her. You go back to bed. Alright? Goodnight." Eric turned to walk away but Aure grabbed his arm. "What?"

Let me go too! He could almost hear her begging as she gripped tightly to his arm.

"You want to go? Why?" Eric was confused. He feared the girl might have gone crazy.

She continued tugging at his arm,

"Okay, okay…" He said and grabbed her shoulders to steady her. "Okay. It's alright. We'll find her."

But it wasn't alright to Aure. She started at him intensely, as if trying to communicate a message, one Eric couldn't read.

"It's alright. It's okay." He looked her straight in the eyes noticing for the first time that they were green. Alisa's were blue. He remembered that they were the most beautiful blue he had ever seen. Where oh where was Alisa?

The gesture seemed to calm Aure, and she looked away. She seemed somewhat ashamed by her actions, but Eric was willing to forgive.

"Alright. I guess we'd better go look for Alisa." He released her shoulders. 'Now, where do you think she went?"

Aure said nothing, but instead quickly walked past him and headed for the stairs. Eric, for some reason, found himself following her.

"Wait! Where are you going?" He ran to keep up with her.

Aure only paused briefly at the top of the stairs, before climbing down and out to the beach. She crawled up onto some rocks; the very same rocks that Eric had seen Alisa sitting on only moments before.

"What are you doing? She's not here." Eric was confused and was somewhat worried about the young mermaid. She really did seem delirious.

Aure placed her hands on her hips and looked out over the ocean. She looked to Eric and then pointed to the sea, repeating this gesture a couple of times, trying to communicate to him a message.

"You think she went home?" He sat down on the rocks, "But why would she leave me?"

Aure tilted her head again, as if in thought and then shrugged. She smiled at him, but it was somewhat of a sad smile. A symbol of sympathy, he suspected.

"Well what do we do now?" Eric looked up at the little mermaid.

Aure shrugged again.

Eric sighed looking down at the sand beneath his feet.

Aure climbed down form the rocks and over to him, looking at him for a long time as if trying to decide what to say. However, both Eric and she knew that she wouldn't be saying anything.