Chapter 22: If There's A Way In, There's A Way Out, Part 6

"Give it up, clam master. Release these people from your control!" Choco demanded, glaring down at the clam master.

While restrained with an injury on his face, the clam master found himself in this unacceptable state, gritting his teeth, he screams in a horrifying and unrecognizable voice that made everyone shiver;

"Sleeping through the depths of darkness,

I call forth the Rau Domn to lend your power,

Aid me in my escape to seize thy vessel,

And to you these enslaved souls I offer!"

As the clam master chanted, the atmosphere felt chilling and heavy, lights were flickering, and the floor started shaking. Every devoted servant in the room got weakened as most of them fainted while Choco and Raisins group remained vigilant.

"Raisins, what's happening!?" Choco asked.

"I don't know either!—WOAH!"

And as they hold on to the clam master, he suddenly turned into black smoke that engulfed the whole place. "Foolish mortals, I no longer have any use for you now that my vessel has finally arrived..." the voice said, followed by its creepy laughter.

Choco and Raisins glanced at each other, bewildered by the unexpected turn of events, "Raisins, where did that fool disappear to!?"

"I'm not sure, brace yourselves!" They all gathered in one spot, wary of what the smoke can do.

Then all of the raisins servants laying on the floor vanished within the smoke, leaving no trace behind. "N-No! This can't be, where did they go!?" Raisins couldn't believe her eyes, devastated by the loss of her own people.

"How much more do you want to take from us!? How more cruel can you be!?"

"Damn you clam master! Give them back, give them back!!"

"You heartless son of a b*tch! You..." the raisin sisters cried along with the loss of family and friends.

This infuriated Choco as he yelled, "CLAM MASTER, YOU FREAKING EVIL MONSTER!" And soon the smoke exited the room, leaving their group untouched and puzzled.

"Follow the smoke!" Raisins yelled, and their grouped chased after it, though a few of them staggered and fell because of the quaking ground.

Eventually, Raisins and Choco were the ones left chasing the smoke, but it was too fast and they lost sight.

"Damn it, YOU CAN'T JUST RUN AWAY LIKE THAT, COWARD!" Raisins panted as they stopped for a moment, her old body couldn't keep up with the fast pace.

Choco couldn't shake off a bad feeling because he had a hunch, "I think I know where—" he clenched his fist and uttered, "—Marsh."

Meanwhile, trapped inside his room, Marsh felt devastated as he stare upon his chest. He was never cured, the cracks was still there and it hurt like it always had. Big tears rolling down on his cheeks as he got frustrated over this.

"Choco's right, that self-proclaimed holy priest must have been deceiving me." He began to regret when he didn't believed in Choco's doubts. "I'm so stupid!—Of course it was all deception, this sickness was something that can never be cured! What was i thinking!?"

Marsh sat in the corner of the room as he sinks further into his frustration, he was quickly distracted when the lights flickered and the floor shaking.

"W-What... what's happening?" He can sense that something was wrong. Then he suddenly hears whispering around him, giving him goosebumps all over.

"N-No!... S-Stop it!... Stop whispering!!" He yells, holding the sides of his head as the whispering kept scaring him. "Please, stop!!" He cried.

The whispering gradually grew louder and louder, the mixed voices getting more clearer and taunting.

'Marsh, can't you do any better? You've done nothing but disappoint this family.'

'I'm sorry Marsh, but you failed to pass this subject. I'll have to report this to your father.'

'N-No, I... I can't do this Marsh. I thought you understand that.'

'Marsh! You utter disappointment! I never should've wasted a penny on you... I knew it, you were better off sent to the monastery!'

'Hah! Look at you, you're nothing but a useless spare. Why don't you go kill yourself than be a waste of space.'

'You never cared about looking pitiful, you've always been pitiful...'

"STOP! JUST STOP THIS! STOP IT!" Marsh cried, all the memories of the life he left behind haunting him, reminding him of all the terrible things he experienced. He didn't know what to do and he began bashing his head on the wall, hurting himself to divert his attention, but the voices were all too loud and strong.

"ARGH, PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO REMEMBER ANYMORE, PLEASE STOP!!" He screamed.

All the voices in his head stopped when he noticed the door open, and there the clam master showed up.

"...Marsh?" He calls to his name, "Are you alright?"

When Marsh stared at him, he quickly sensed something strange. "W-What are you doing here..." he got up and stepped away from the clam master, wary of any form of deception he'll attempt on him.

"I've come to help you! The raisin people are going crazy, they locked you up in this room because they couldn't stand outsiders. We have to escape right now." Clam master reaches out to Marsh's hand, convincing him to go with him.

"The raisin people?... was it really the raisin people who locked me up in here?"

"Yeah, who else can it be?—or are you starting to doubt me here?" Clam master took a step closer, insisting he take his hand, "Marsh, I thought you'd know better than this. Just take my hand and let's try to leave this clam."

"Didn't you said that you don't know the way out of here?"

"I've found out the exit, so come on already! Let's go."

Marsh wasn't so easily convinced, he still has yet to confront him about his deception for curing his sickness, "W-What about Choco? Is he coming with?"

"Choco? Of course, he's already waiting at the exit!" From there, Marsh can tell it was a blatant lie. Choco has never trusted any suspicious person so easily, and it was Marsh's biggest mistake choosing to believe in a stranger than his own friend, again.

"Your holiness... no, clam master... you know, I never seemed to caught your name... just who are you?" Marsh asked, taking another step away from this person.

"Marsh, are you kidding me? It's me, the clam master! The holy priest of the Fruit Empire! A friend to all people in need..." And clam master tried to close their gap again, "Are you really going to doubt me after I just cured you from that cursed sickness of yours?—are you actually this ungrateful!?" Suddenly, the clam master's presence became intimidating.

Marsh steps away again, this time cornered with nowhere else to go, "L... L-Liar." That was all he can say, he swallowed and felt so small under the clam master's gaze.

"...haa." The clam master sighed, "I'm guessing the spell wore off, didn't it?" He sneered, and Marsh's frightened expression confirms it.

"Well, there's truly no point in acting anymore. The cat's out the bag!" The door closes by a snap of his fingers, trapping them inside the room. "The crumbling sickness was never truly curable, for it was never a sickness, but a running curse bestowed upon the most unfortunate soul in the Sweet Kingdom."

"A-A curse?..." Learning those facts didn't help, Marsh dread his own fate and life even more. The clam master just laughed at his misfortune, "You must've went through a lot... maybe you even tried so hard to obtain these so you can find a cure for yourself, didn't you?" He pulls out the orb and the book from his pocket.

As Marsh saw these things, he finally realized the stuff he was missing. "Those are mine, give it back!"

"Woah, starting to fight back, are we? Go ahead and try." The items disappeared with another snap, clam master leaned closer as he grabbed Marsh by the neck and started chanting, "L-Let me go!" Marsh tried taking his hand off, getting strangled and choked.

"To ye who's marked in great misfortune,

A vessel to harness and unleash destruction,

Your will shall bend to my command—" the clam master got distracted when someone banged on the door outside.

"MARSH! ARE YOU THERE, MARSH!?" Choco's voice can be heard from the other side of the wall.

"C-Choco!" Marsh was slowly losing consciousness as he couldn't breathe, the clam master clicks his tongue from the disruption and continued to chant faster.

Choco can hear the faint voices inside the room, he knows that Marsh was there with the clam master so he kept kicking the door until it breaks down. "MARSH, HOLD ON—DON'T YOU DARE DIE ON ME!"