Choco found himself in a middle a dark room tied to a chair with his mouth stuffed and covered, he can also see that he's surrounded by stranger figures. One of them spoke, "Hey, where's the lights? Turn on the lights for pete's sake."
The voice who spoke sounded very familiar to Choco, and when the lights turned on, Choco's screams was muffled with the stuff on his mouth. "MMMMPH!"
"Hey there kiddo, thanks for saving us the trouble of abducting you." It was Raisins, and beside her was several more raisin people like her, creeping the heck out of Choco.
"MMMPHH!"
"Calm down, it's not like we're gonna eat 'ya!" Even though Raisins said that, a few of her fellow raisins were already all over Choco, examining every inch of his skin and face.
"Ohh, I remember when I used to have such smooth and sexy skin."
"What adorable plump face you have, I can just nibble on your cheeks with my gums!"
"If I were a hundred years younger, I won't mind taking you as my man."
"MMMPPHHH!" Choco panicked even more with these creepy old ladies fussing over him, Raisins slaps her face with her palm in disbelief, "Girls, hands off the poor boy and get serious!—he'll totally choose me if he were to pick!"
"MMP!" Choco tried to refuse but he still can't talk with his stuffed mouth.
"Anyway, that child is the key for our plan!—The plan to put a stop to our common enemy!" Raisins points to Choco and shrieks, "AND WE'LL HAVE YOU EXPOSE THE CLAM MASTER'S TRUE INTENTIONS TO LIGHT!"
Choco stopped wriggling as he got intrigued by Raisins statement, seeing that they both have crossing goals. "Why did he kept us alive for hundreds of years? When did he even became the clam master ruling over us all?... and most importantly, why does he have better skin than the rest of us!"
"YEAH!" Her sisters all agreed.
Raisins approached Choco, staring into his eyes seriously. "What do you say, Choco? Will you help us unravel the truth about the clam master?"
"...mm."
"Oh, sorry, lemme get that off you." Raisins takes of the stuff shoved in Choco's mouth, and he finally can speak for himself, "Eugh, what was that you put in my mouth!?" That was the first thing he asked, feeling sick from the after taste.
"That's irrelevant, now tell us kid... will you work with us to beat the clam master?" She continued to ask.
Since Choco has been suspicious of the clam master right from the start, it doesn't mean he would trust these strangers as well. He almost agreed along but hesitated, "Team up with you old creeps?—NO WAY!" He can't stand their creepy faces and uncanny appearances.
"No!?" All of 'em in utter disbelief, "Why not!? Maybe the clam master have already brainwashed that child!" Raisinella suspected.
"I'm not brainwashed by that clam guy either!" Choco stressed, "Do you guys really expect me to trust you, a bunch of weirdos who also abducted me!?"
"Kid, there's not much time we have to properly convince you to join us, but there's a few lives on the line tonight! And that includes your lil' buddy." Raisins mentioned, and he was a bit surprised by the revelation.
"H-How are you so sure about that?" Choco doubted, but he was already convinced by her words as they doubt the clam master the very same way.
"Things never set right with me ever since that clam master showed up, I can't even remember when he started ruling over all of us... but when you and your friend arrived, I can feel that this is the sign to change things for good."
Choco can see past through Raisin's creepy eyes, the sincerity of her voice and the hope that linked to him. Something about Raisin was peculiar and yet, compelling in a strange way, "...who are you?" He uttered unconsciously.
"That's what I wanted to know as well." She looks at her fellow sisters, speaking for them as well, "It's been so long that we've forgotten so much about ourselves, and our purpose..."
She placed both her hands on Choco's shoulder, making him feel the weight of it all, "So we need to work together, before you start forgetting yourself too."
Then in the midst of their stroll, Marsh and clam master were happily engaged in their conversation while doing a bit of sight seeing around the village for Marsh to explore.
"...and that's how I became a holy priest. It wasn't easy, but the journey was rewarding." The clam master just finished his story, and Marsh was yawning and distracted after kinda hearing such a long boring tale that was out of his interest.
The clam master expects him to shower some praise, but instead he chose to take notice to the whole village, "It's so cool you guys made a whole village inside the Pop Rock Clam." Marsh is truly amazed by the raisin people's resilience to build a civilization from scratch.
"Ah," The clam master was a bit dismayed, but he tried to keep up with Marsh's enthusiasm towards the village, "Yes... I've always wondered how the raisin people created this place."
His statement put Marsh to a halt, he turns to the clam master. And now that he noticed it, everyone else seemed old and creepy except for the clam master himself who was young and filled with divinity, "Y-You mean to say... you weren't here from the start?"
"Marsh," the clam master spoke in a whispering tone, "I know this might sound crazy, but these people literally abducted me to this place when I got trapped inside this clam. They made me their clam master because they found out I was a holy priest."
The revelation had Marsh jaw drop, and the clam master pulled him to a corner with no one around, he continued as he hold on to Marsh's hand, "Listen, I don't know if there's ever a way out of this place so I just played along, using my divine powers to fulfill their never ending requests."
"What do they usually request?"
The clam master seemed disturbed as he recalls the requests of the raisin people, "...they kept asking me to heal them from deterioration, using me as a source to keep an eternal life."
Disgusted by the truth behind these raisin people, Marsh looks at the clam master with great concern, "Your holiness, these people are exploiting you!"
"I know... if only there's a way to escape this clam, I would have done so already." The clam master said, looking down and feeling hopeless from his situation.
Marsh felt sorry for his situation, then the image of Choco flashed in his mind, figuring out that maybe the three of them can all escape this clam together. "I think we can do it, your holiness. My friend Choco and I can probably find us a way out of here."
"You really think so?"
"Yeah! Maybe we should head back and discuss about it more privately." Marsh looks around making sure no one was eavesdropping. Then the two proceeds to return to the temple.
While they were on their way, Marsh can't help but wonder and ask, "Say, how come you've been trapped inside this clam, your holiness?"
"Huh? Oh, that... well, it's a long story." The clam master stuttered, clasping his hands, and Marsh just had that expecting look that he'll explain, "As the holy priest from the Fruit Empire, I've received a prophecy that was meant to be delivered to King Sugar Cube VIII."
"The eighth?" Marsh questioned, "I think you meant the tenth, because King Sugar Cube VIII was already dead like a century ago." He chuckled.
"R-Right, silly me! Getting trapped inside this clam sure cloud ones memories." The clam master laughed, "So yeah, King Sugar Cube X didn't like the prophecy, he banished me from the kingdom and I got trapped in here after travelling through the layers of the Sweet Kingdom."
"I see, King Sugar Cube X is so cruel for banishing a holy priest from an empire. Your holiness, is it alright if I—" before Marsh can ask the clam master about the prophecy, he didn't notice that they were already near the temple.
There were raisin people waiting for the clam master's arrival, "Master! Welcome back, we have prepared a feast for you and your guest." And the all bowed to them.
They glanced at each other with unease, but the clam master handled the raisin followers very well, "Alright, lead us to the dining area. Please fetch Sir Choco as well, so that we can all dine together."
"Will do, Master!" The old raisin man bows again and march back into the temple while the others guided them to the dining room.
As they settled into their seats, the old raisin man returned to inform them about Choco. "Master, the young man you ask for has gone missing!"
"What!?" Marsh gasped, "That idiot, where did he go..."
"Hmm, I'm sure he's just wondering around the village." The clam master takes a cup of wine served to him, he takes a sip and gave his followers an order without any reservation, "Search for him, tell him that Marsh and I are waiting for him at the temple."
"Understood, Master." Replied his follower, when they all marched to go and find Choco, Marsh got up from his seat and went along with them.
"Wait, Marsh! Just wait for him here." The clam master told.
"I'm sorry, I need to help find Choco. I just want to make sure my friend's alright." He said and ran past through the group of raisins before the clam master can convince him to wait for Choco in the temple.