Note: Boy, it's been a while since I updated! We've now had time for the new season to come out and it was.. well, to be honest, I was a bit disappointed. But ah, well, that's what this story is for. It's definitely veered into AU, so if you're enjoying, hopefully you will continue to enjoy it!

Chapter 7

Inside the chamber, which was still filled with that sinister glow of artificial moonlight, Ondina and Evie stood frozen, having just seen Erik vanish. Zac was staring straight ahead and Evie moved towards him. She didn't know who the man standing next to him was, but she could see that something was wrong.

'I wouldn't come too close, dear, if I were you,' the man said. Evie stopped walking and looked at him with wide eyes, while Zac remained still, not looking at her. Not looking at anything in particular.

'Where's Erik?!' Ondina called out hysterically. 'Where's Mimmi? What did you do?!'

'They're safe,' the man replied. 'They're together. Don't you worry, I haven't killed them. I wouldn't kill my own, no matter how disappointing they may be.'

Ondina stared blankly at him, not sure what he meant. Evie, meanwhile, had resumed moving towards Zac and reached out to grab his arm. However, just before she got hold of him, the man had raised a hand and a stream of water moved from the trident glowing in the centre of the chamber and flooded her. She collapsed almost instantly and the water overwhelmed her as she changed.

'Zac!' she cried out, as she lay on the stone floor of the chamber, her tail spread before her. She tried to flip herself over, to reach him. Whatever was happening, she realised that the man didn't want her anywhere near Zac, which meant that that was what she needed to do.

Ondina, meanwhile, was still standing closer to the exit of the chamber, wavering between moving forward to help Evie and running back out. When Cam had come running out towards her and Sirena, a panicked look on his face, she had been about to question him. Evie had run up towards them and inquired where Zac was. Cam, for his part, had grabbed both of them and said that they had to run, Sirena too, all of them.

'What about Mimmi?' Ondina demanded. 'What about Erik?'

'It's no use, Ondina,' Cam had said. 'He's too strong.'

'Who?'

But before Cam could answer, Evie had dashed inside, and Ondina had followed her. Now, she was wondering whether Cam might have been able to tell her who this man was, or what had happened while they were waiting outside of the cave.

He was circling Evie on the ground, and Evie, for her part, was still trying to get Zac's attention. She had moved from pleading to rousing anger, hoping to get any kind of reaction out of him. She was steadfastly ignoring the man. She would have tried to dry herself off, but where she had fallen lay in the path of the stream of water and she would have had to make a concerted effort to move herself away from it.

Ondina saw this and finally moved towards Evie, looking to help her.

The man could see this, however, and he went over towards Zac. He grabbed his shoulder and whispered something in his ear. Zac responded instantly and raised a hand towards Ondina. She flew up into the air and back against a wall as lightly as a clump of dried seaweed.

'Ondina! Zac!' Evie tried again, raising an arm and trying her own still-unsteady magic to get his attention, but she didn't manage to do more than raise a slight breeze and Zac went back to stand next to the stranger.

'I'm going home, my boy,' the man said to Zac, and Zac nodded, as if he understood.

'Zac, please! Help me!' Evie called out again. She turned her head to see Ondina, who lay limply against the wall. She couldn't see if there was an injury, but she was clearly unconscious.

'Shut up!' the man exclaimed. 'I need to focus.'

He turned his attention back to the panel he had been trying to decipher. Then, in quick succession, he moved his fingers across the panel, pointing to one symbol, then another, rapidly and eagerly. There was no hesitation and in a moment, a column of water had formed from the trident symbol in the middle of the chamber. It glowed brightly and the man watched it, satisfied. Then, in a flash, it was gone.

Evie had been watching this with dread and as the column of water vanished, the lights also flickered out. The chamber had suddenly become quite dark, the false moonlight had faded and she tried to make out Zac's face amongst the shadows. Then she heard his voice, and it didn't sound mechanical. He was in his right mind again.

'Where am I?' she heard him query. 'What happened?'

'Zac!' she called over to him, and he came towards her, following the sound of her voice.

'Evie? What are you doing here? Where… are we in the merman chamber?' he queried, and she grasped his hand firmly, holding onto it as if it were a lifeline. She was still not quite dry and her tail remained, so she would need Zac's help drying off. But priorities first.

'Ondina's hurt,' she said. 'She's somewhere against one of the walls. You have to get her. We have to get out of here!'

'I don't understand, can you tell me what's happened?' Zac queried, but Evie just pushed his hand away.

'No time. Just dry me off and then we have to get Ondina and go.'

She didn't know what had happened to the man when the lights went off, but now she heard a low rumble. He was chuckling.

'I think it worked,' she heard him say.

'Who is that?!' Zac demanded, whipping his head around to follow the source of the voice. 'Who's here?'

'Zac, now!' Evie demanded. But before he could act, there was a faint light illuminating the chamber. Cam was standing there, small torch in hand, and casting the light about, searching for his friends.

'Zac? Evie? Ondina? Erik?' he tried each name in turn.

'We're here, Cam!' Zac said, even as Evie shouted, 'Get out of here, Cam!'

And then, the light seemed to come on again.

The man was standing at the centre of the room, a hand raised, and a globe of soft light was floating just above his hand.

Evie could see Cam more clearly, and she could also make out Ondina, who was stirring against the wall.

'Cam, get Ondina and go!' she shouted and Cam looked quickly over to where Ondina was lying. The man wasn't moving, just watching the proceedings with mild interest. Cam didn't need to be told twice and he picked Ondina up in his arms and looked one last time at Evie and Zac before heading back the way he had come.

'Hurry!' he called behind himself before vanishing from sight.

Evie knew what that meant. Sirena was standing outside the entrance, keeping it open with her ring, but she wouldn't be able to do that indefinitely.

'Zac, now!' Evie demanded.

'It won't work, you know,' the man said.

Evie turned to see that he was now standing right next to her and Zac.

'It won't work because of what I've just done. I've destroyed the curse, you see. The chamber has fulfilled it's purpose. No more magic.'

He smiled eerily and Evie shrank back.

'Who are you?' Zac demanded. He had one arm protectively around Evie, but not touching her, lest he also get wet.

'I'm your father and you have a great deal to learn,' the man answered. Both Zac and Evie stared at him in shock.

Then Evie remembered something else. Ondina had demanded to know where Mimmi and Erik were when they had come in here and the man had simply said they were safe. What had happened to them?

It was all terribly confused and she just wanted to get out of that dark, forbidding place.

'We need to talk, Zac,' the man said. 'I have much that I need to tell you, and perhaps you can also help me.'

Zac glared at him fiercely.

'I have nothing to say to you. I don't know who you are or what you think you're doing, but—'

'Of course, you'll want to ensure this sweet girl is safe, don't you?' the man said. 'Well, off you go then, but I'll come find you soon, and then we will have a chance to talk.'

With those words, the man walked towards the panel again and moved his hands over the images again. In a flash, he was gone and the gloom had settled on Zac and Evie again.

'Zac!' Evie exclaimed. 'Please, just dry me off and let's get out of here! Sirena probably can't keep this open much longer.'

Zac dutifully raised his hand over Evie and she could feel the sharp sting of heat over her skin and scales. She had moved herself out of the way of the stream so she was no longer in direct contact with the water. Several seconds passed and she thought she was completely dry, but she could not feel the tingle that signalled her change back to human.

'Evie? Did it work? I can't see anything,' Zac said.

'Can you pick me up?' she asked him. 'I'm sure it's nothing, I'm mostly dry. Please, just get me out of here.'

She felt Zac's arms around her and he picked her up and walked towards the exit as quickly as he could. Evie, for her part, lifted the end of her tail and curled it up slightly so that it wouldn't trip Zac as he moved.

Within a minute they were outside in the sunlight again and they saw that Sirena was no longer holding her ring against the door. She was sitting on the ground next to Cam and Ondina.

'Finally!' she exclaimed when she saw Zac and Evie.

Cam was sitting next to Ondina, holding something against the back of her head.

Zac carefully lowered Evie to the ground and raised his hand over her tail again, looking to finish drying her off. Cam, Ondina and Sirena watched as several seconds ticked by and Evie, seemingly completely dry, still remained in her mermaid form.

'Zac, what's happening?' Evie whimpered. 'Why am I not changing back?'

She was actually feeling a bit ill. She could feel that she was completely dry, perhaps even too dry. Her tail felt itchy and her skin moreso, as if she had gone for days without applying a drop of moisturiser. She looked over wildly at Ondina and Sirena for answers and they gaped back, unable to answer the unspoken question.

'Let me try the moon ring,' Sirena said quickly and raised her hand towards Evie. It failed to glow in the usual way and she lowered it again, apologetically. 'It must be spent from holding the door.'

'Let me try,' Ondina demanded, and raised her own hand, still a bit shaky. The ring did not glow in the least, and Ondina stared at it in dumbfounded wonder.

'Guys, what's going on?' Cam asked. 'What happened in there?'

Evie's heart sank. She remembered the words of the man inside the chamber.

'No more magic.'

A/N: Still with me? Hope you're enjoying this!