Mama Odie growled, "Stop dawdling and bring the potion over! You're stressing me out!", and Haku looked ashamed, running over, "I got it!".
Mama Odie nodded, "Good! Now, grab the end of the arrow, and as you pull it out, you pour the potion through the wound, and it will reach the dark magic!".
Haku widened his eyes, and gulped, and grabbed the end of the arrow gently as Zuri kept screaming as the dark magic attacked the other organs, trying to get through, and whispered, "I'm sorry, Zuri.", and quickly, smoothly pulled the arrow out at the same time as he poured the contents of the light pink liquid through the wound, and Mama Odie focused on healing and closing the wound.
The dark magic sensed the intruding potion, and went to attack it as Zuri suddenly convulsed, and Mama Odie shouted, "Hold her down!", and Haku held her down as Mama Odie growled in frustration, "By the spirits, come on!", watching the potion fight the dark magic through her mind's vision.
"Crap, it isn't enough! I thought the essence of love would be enough!", Mama Odie snarled, and Haku blinked in surprise, "Wait, the pink potion was essence of love?!".
Mama Odie nodded, "Yes, but true love, not family or friends love! She needs something stronger!", and Haku exhaled, "I think I know where it is. Can you keep watching her?".
Mama Odie waved him on, "Go! She can't hold any longer!", keeping her healing hands to make the organs defending themselves from the dark magic. Haku ran from the bed, heading through the curtain, "She needs true love! She's barely holding on!".
"Where the hell are we supposed to find that?", Logan demanded as Haku shook his head. "I don't... I don't know...", he admitted as Emma looked to Eric.
"What?", Eric asked as Emma sighed. "Eric... you... you might be Zuri's only chance of living...", she told him.
Eric widened his eyes in shock, "Me?!", and Pippa replied, "Do you know why she saved you back there? She loves you, boy!". And Jason nodded, "And she may even have a bit of love too for Ariel as she's bi.".
"But she barely knows me, and she never met Ariel!", Eric countered as Emma held his shoulders, "Please... I know this sounds crazy and all, but she knows you two more than you think... you have to do this, at least to give her more of a fighting chance...".
Eric exhaled, and remembered the last thing Zuri said, along with that gesture to his heart, and finally realized what she meant by that. He doesn't want her to die...He nodded, getting up, and followed Haku through the curtain, and his heart seemed to clench by seeing her writhe and cry out in pain.
Haku called out, "I got him! He's the guy that Zuri loves!", and Mama Odie snarked, "About time! Come on, boy, give your woman some true love! Do you want her to live?!".
"Well, yes, of course... but what am I supposed to do?", Eric asked. "Please tell me it's not some true love's kiss or something; this whole situation is already a deathly mess, I'd hope we'd not add awkwardness to this!", Haku shouted.
Mama Odie spat out, "Grab him a chair. Boy, grab ahold of the girl's hand. I will send your soul to her mindscape. She's free there from the pain yet can feel it. Find her and get to know the truth of love with her. It will be minutes here, yet it will be hours and days in there!", as Haku grabbed a chair, putting it besides Zuri's bed.
Both Haku and Eric looked at her as Mama Odie gave them an annoyed look, "Don't question me, you two! I know what I'm doing here, now do what I ask!".
Eric nodded, and sat down in the chair, and took a deep breath as he took Zuri's hand, holding it tight, and Mama Odie nodded, "Good. Now, close your eyes, boy.".
Eric closed his eyes, and Mama Odie began to chant in some sort of ancient language, and before Eric knew it, he felt weightless all of a sudden, and was then standing in a golden wheat field that's up to his knees, seeing a bright blue sky yet it's so silent.
He started to walk on, looking around, and was amazed by the stillness of the surroundings, and after perhaps 10 minutes of walking, he then heard the sound of waves crashing in the distance, and the faint sound of laughter in the air.
He followed the laughter, and saw two decipherable human shapes, with one standing and pushing a swing, while the other sat on it, laughing. As he got closer, his breath caught, seeing Zuri in a lovely dark green sundress, and as he focused on the moving person on the swing, his heart quickened, for it is Ariel, her luminous red hair flowing behind her, dressed in that pretty blue dress she had worn so long ago during the Ursula mess.
"Ar-Ariel...?", Eric muttered as he got closer to the two of them. Both of them quickly noticed him and while Zuri had a smile on her face, Ariel, on the other hand, started to tear up and ran straight towards him.
Eric reached out, and cried out as Ariel crashed into his arms, and Ariel sobbed as she spoke, "So long, so long since I felt your arms...", and Eric murmured, "It's really you, my little mermaid.", kissing her face everywhere he could, reveling in her warmth and her natural scent.
Zuri smiled, seeing the tearful and happy reunion, before frowning as she felt the pain, and sighed, starting to leave the shade of the tree to the beach, knowing that Eric is straight, but she barely became friends with Ariel who came like a few hours ago in this place, and she doesn't know if Ariel could love her, which is depressing her out...
True, she knew more about them than they would ever know; the stories, the comics, the fanfiction, the movies, but this is far different...
Zuri decided to give the two of them their time alone; she didn't know herself how much she would have if things were taking a final turn for the worst, but she didn't want to ruin this moment for the parted lovers.
"Is... Is this real, right now?", Eric asked as he continued to hold Ariel in his arms as if she had never died.
Ariel exhaled, "This is real, but I am still dead. I am my soul right now, only made into flesh here in Zuri's mindscape.", before looking up at him, "I know there's a way to bring me back to my body, but right now, please just be here.".
Eric kissed her lips, "I ain't leaving.", before looking around to thank Zuri somehow when he realized that she was a speck in the distance, heading to the beach where he heard the waves crashing.
Ariel followed his look, and spoke, "I am not mad that she loves you already. I am not surprised. After all, I heard you two talking so much on the ship, including that day she revealed her scars to you...I was horrified...I mean, you remember my stories of adventures with a deaf, dark-skinned mermaid...I would have been beyond furious and scared if that happened to Gabriella. But right now, Zuri is struggling to live.".
Eric exhaled deeply, "But how could I love her when I already love you?", and Ariel smiled wryly, "You can learn to share us, to love us both. Your heart has more room for growth than you think. I have never thought of loving a woman, but I am open-minded, and I am willing to try to learn how to love her, if you are willing to do so as well.".
Eric shook his head, "Wait, what are we talking about? I'm alive, Zuri might live, but, then there's you...". He knew what she said a moment ago, but he found it hard to believe. "I don't understand what you mean about bringing you back...".
Ariel shushed him with a quick kiss to his lips as she smiled. "In due time, love. Right now, Zuri is what we should focus on.", she reminded.
Eric took a deep breath, "You're right, you're right. Let's go to her.", smiling as he held Ariel's hand as they then turned around to walk to the beach, to see Zuri sitting, huddling up tight to her knees, her arms wrapped around them.
Ariel looked at Eric and Eric nodded, and they went to Zuri, blocking her view from the sea as they sat before her. Zuri looked at them, tears falling down her cheeks, and Ariel reached out to wipe the tears away, "What's wrong?".
"I'm sorry...", Zuri admitted. "I just feel like a hindrance to you two right now. That I feel like I've been trying to steal Eric away from you these past few weeks.", she sobbed.
Eric widened his eyes, and glanced at Ariel who gave him a look, and Eric exhaled deeply, "You saved me, Zuri, and that is more than enough for my stupidity for not seeing it sooner, but how I could do that when I was moping, and only felt better when you tried to cheer me up?".
Ariel added on, "I was beyond horrified when I saw Eric try to kill himself that day...There was a tiny part that I wanted him with me, but I never wanted Eric to die that way, to have his family in the palace grieve, and the kingdom perishing without him. I would have understood if he died peacefully from sickness or old age, but never suicide. It was enough when Ursula killed me, and I never resolved my relationship with Daddy nor found that spot of peace after making love or getting married...".
The two of them sat down next to her before both of them wrapped their arms around her. First Ariel and then Eric did after a moment or two of hesitation since he was still a bit behind on things between the two of them in the mindscape.
Zuri gave out a sob as she felt so much warmth around her, feeling safe somehow, and yet she can feel the pain of the dark magic pulsing through her, it's not physical to her, but she knew the effect of the hug is only temporary, helping a bit...
Ariel whispered to her, "Ignore it, Zuri. We're right here with you. You need to do something...Hey, why don't you teach us how to surf?", with a curious smile. Eric blinked, "How could we do that? We don't have swim clothes.".
Ariel chuckled, "Inside the mind, we can do anything. Zuri, just imagine us in swimsuits and such. It's your mind, and you're in charge.".
Zuri chuckled at the thought of it and all; especially in the idea that pretty much there was no swim wear in the usual time period that most of this world was in. But she did just that; at least to make things comfortable for the group. There may be time someday if she pulled through and what if Ariel said is true, that they could have more fun that she dares not bring forward now.
Outside the mindscape, Mama Odie exhaled in relief, "It's working, but slow. He found her, along with a redhead.", and Haku widened his eyes, "That gotta be Ariel. Zuri is bi.".
Mama Odie nodded, "Ah, I see. Now, is there someone in your group who can conjure up?", and Haku grinned, "Oh, yeah. I will get him.", leaving the bed, and headed back out through the curtain, "Jason, Mama Odie wants ya.".
Jason nodded, getting up, "Alright, coming.", and they went back through the curtain to the bed, and Mama Odie nodded, "Alright, boy, I can sense your ring, it's powerful. Ask it to put them under a freeze-coma. It will contain the dark magic and assist the girl in recovering her strength for we need more anti-dark magic potion, the light blue potion from earlier...".
"How long should I set to?", Jason asked, and Mama Odie nodded, "Enough for three days out here. Inside the girl's mind, time is literally nothing. I do have some ingredients on hand, but the rest of the ingredients need to be gathered. Not impossible, but not easy to find.".
"Alright...", Jason took a deep breath as he got ready. "I'm really hoping this works...", Haku said as Mama Odie chuckled.
"It will work. I think we managed to help her just in time, but she'll need some extra help to make sure she doesn't take a bad turn again.", Mama Odie replied.
Haku nodded, "That, I can agree with.", and Jason exhaled, "Done. They're under a coma, frozen. They don't have to be cleaned up or anything of the sort.".
Haku then pointed to the chair, "Can you change his chair to another bed? If I was in his footsteps, I wouldn't want to wake up with an insane crick in my spine.", and Jason nodded, asking his ring, and instantly, Eric's chair got changed into a bed, luckily stuck with Zuri through their hands side by side.
Mama Odie exhaled, "Speaking of spines, I cannot repair the little nick in her spine. The arrow nicked it on the way in..She is not paralyzed, thank the spirits, but she will require a walking stick or cane over time, probably in her elder years.".
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Mama Odie.", Haku chuckled. "Zuri's tough and has taken a fair share of injuries. Maybe when she's 90, she'll need it, but I think she'll certainly be up and at 'em in a few days.".
Mama Odie smiled, "I'll take your word for it. After all, I am 197 years old, and still kicking!", and nodded, "I will stay here to look after them. There's a bookshelf behind you on your right. There is a red book with purple details, that's the potion book. Take that with you and have your team search for the ingredients. The important page is called Nullifying Dark Magic. The ingredients are listed in that page.".
Haku followed her directions and found the potion book, opening it up, and finding the page, "Got it. Okay, we will find the ingredients.", and Jason exhaled, "Well, looks like we're on break for a while before we go off to Pleasure Island.".
"Wait, you're going there? I have good friends there, the married couple of Naveen and Tiana. Facilier took them on threat of the couple's daughter.", Mama Odie gasped in surprise, replying. "Yeah...", Jason said. "Facilier took someone close to me as well there.".
"Dangerous place to be heading there... even I know to stay away if I can. I mean, I stay here all the time, but you know what I mean.", Mama Odie said.
Jason nodded, "I don't blame you there, Mama Odie, but we are soldiers, fighters, sailors, lovers, and dragon shapeshifters. We are going to Pleasure Island, to put the Coachman and his allies/goons out of commission for good and rescue all the prisoners.".
Mama Odie raised an eyebrow, "Either way, you are only perhaps five days from my bayou here in Lania, the dark magic in Pleasure Island's shield is far more powerful than you'd ever believe. But for now, rest and replenish yourselves while searching for the ingredients in my bayou, understand?".
"Thank you again... I apologize that we sprang up on you without warning and all.", Haku apologized. Mama Odie waved offhandedly, "No fuss about it, boy, and besides, I felt it when the magic mirror checked on my place. I knew the one who created it, Sabrina the Enchantress, bless her soul. Now, git, shoo! No dawdling!".
"Better not say that in front of Adam…", Jason whispered to himself as the two of them left. "Now then, rest up girl, you'll be alright.", Mama Odie said to Zuri.
As the crew went to split their shifts of resting, eating, and searching for the ingredients over the recommended three days, inside Zuri's mindscape, it lasted like three weeks, yet it felt like forever to her.
Zuri taught the duo so many things from Earth like sports, games, phrases, and she discovered that she was able to replay memories like a movie, and she grew to be more confident in helping Ariel and Eric to share her...
In return, Ariel taught Eric and Zuri how to swim like merpeople in the waters, and Eric taught the girls how to dance more professionally. And their love for all each other grew, and grew, but Zuri was still apprehensive...
It was mostly still due to her guilt that she felt that she was trying to steal Eric away from her. Could he truly love her as much as he loved Ariel? And not simply that, but also love both of them at the same time. That was her main drive of guilt, that Eric wouldn't be able to balance the two of them and if he leaned towards one or the other, it would destroy everything.
Eric, now having known Zuri more than before, can see that something's bothering her, even after she confessed of her guilt, and Ariel was worried for her as even if the dark magic's contained right now, it's hurting Zuri...
As Zuri surfed, the couple on the shore watched her as they talked, having voiced their concerns...Eric sighed heavily, "I wish I could do something...The hugs, the kisses, the touches, and the cuddles, they are so wonderful with Zuri and you, but something's missing as they're not working, even if they help make her feel better, ignoring the dark magic. I know I have love for both of you..My heart is bigger than ever, just like you said, Ariel...".