By the time Choco pried the door open, he saw the clam master strangling Marsh while muttering under his breath.
"LET GO OF MY FRIEND!" He yells, sprinting towards the clam master to stop his scheme, and only a few inches away, he completely froze as the clam master raised his free hand at him.
"—Damn it, quit interfering with me you insolent fool!" Clam master snapped.
"I always knew something's wrong with you. Just what are you!?"
"Like hell I'd tell you!"
The clam master was already at his limit, his power quickly depleting and he began to regret trading his servants to some great dark entity in exchange for a small amount of power.
Now he's running out of time, he must further weaken Marsh state and keep Choco from getting any closer.
Now that the clam master's chant was disrupted, he had to start over again. This time he chanted in a faster pace, "To ye who's marked in great misfortune. A vessel to harness and unleash—"
"Arghh!!" Even when Choco was under control, he used all his strength and forced himself to advance even at the slowest pace. "LET. MARSH. GO!!" Choco demanded.
The clam master couldn't take it any longer and slammed Choco on the wall with his power, "Alright then, I'll get rid of you first!" Clam master threw Marsh aside, dashing to Choco.
As he fell on the floor, Marsh tried to warn Choco who was in a shaken state. "C-Choco, r-run!..." He yelled with hoarse and weak voice, that was the last thing he can do before he fainted.
When the clam master reached for Choco's neck, he started strangling him as well. "You were nothing but a nuisance, I should've had you killed from the start!" He pressed.
"...t-too bad... for... you..." Choco managed to grin despite getting choked to death, this further agitated the clam master, his grip on his neck tightening but then the clam master got pounced on, his grip loosens as he fell to the ground while Raisins hit him on the face.
"R-Raisins!" Choco felt glad as she caught up and helped him.
"You!" The clam master was shocked but ultimately infuriated by her presence, "I should've killed you too!!—oof!" Raisins didn't stop hitting him on his face, release all her pent up rage in this very moment.
"Is that all you do!? Kill people!?—I remember everything now, clam master! Or is it better if I call you Seed, the third son of Rau Domn!" Exposing his true name and nature, the clam master shrieks.
"IMPOSSIBLE! HOW CAN YOU REMEMBER!?" He tried to escape from Raisins grasps, trying to revert in his smoke form, but with Raisins restraining him, he couldn't use the last of his powers.
"You're spell can never corrupt the divine... I've regained my divine power that you've hid from me... and it seems like the tables have turned on you." Raisins scoffed, holding down Seed as she continue to speak, "Evil never triumph, Seed. Now it's time to seal you up again." She declared.
Fear and panicked crept into Seed's head, "NO!... NOT AGAIN! DON'T DO THIS TO ME RAISINS!—IF YOU SEAL ME, YOU'LL DIE! YOU KNOW THAT, RIGHT!? YOU CAN'T SEAL ME!"
"I know your power has been keeping me alive along with the rest of my people for hundreds of years, so you can keep yourself alive by feeding on our souls and blood. But now that things have change, I shall uphold my duty to keep you from wreaking havoc—EVEN IF IT MEANS I'LL DIE!"
"SH*T—RAISINS, DON'T DO THIS!—LISTEN TO ME, I CAN GRANT YOU ANYTHING—FAME, MONEY, POWER—ANYTHING YOU WANT! JUST DON'T SEAL ME!"
Seed could no longer manipulate Raisins as she regained her divine power and protection from the corrupt and evil. Raisins began to call upon divine being that grants her the power to seal Seed, "As a holy priestess of the Fruit Empire, I pray to seek the help of our great Deity, grant me the power to seal Seed, the evil of gluttony!"
"NOOO!!!" Seed's voice seeped into their ears, although this was not enough to make Raisins falter.
Soon, a glowing light surrounded Seed, slowly enveloping his whole body. And through his last desperate moments, he managed to revert his torso into smoke, extending his body to reach for Marsh. "NOT AGAIN, I CAN'T BE SEALED AGAIN! I DON'T WANT TO—"
"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Choco ran and kicked Seed away from the unconscious Marsh.
Seed descends into the glowing light. He glares at Choco as he spoke his final words, "K cabe mocs yawl, a Ikcabe mocl liwi..." and he went silent after turning into a rusty knife.
When Seed was finally gone, Raisins and Choco felt relieved, "R-Raisins! You did it! You defeated clam master!!"
"Yeah, I did a good job, didn't I?" Raisins smiled, and behind them, her sister finally caught up as well.
"Girls! Took you long enough." Raisins was glad they were alright, and they all looked at her with a mix of sadness and relief.
"Your holiness!" They cried altogether, showing that they have also regained their memories. "We humbly apologize for all the times we've caused you trouble and disrespect! I can't believe we have been influenced by the clam master to forget that you're our holy priestess!" Raisinella bawled, the others nod as they cried along.
"Girls, girls! It's all in the past, I'm just glad that we're freed..." Raisins smiled bitterly as she recalls the other raisin people that fell victim to Seed's manipulation, all she can hope is that their souls rest in peace.
"Speaking of freedom, we really got to hand it to that young man over there!" She shifts the topic, they turned their heads at Choco who was tending to his friend.
Choco carefully puts Marsh's head on his lap while he tries to wake him up, "Marsh?... Dude, are you still alive?" His eyes got teary when Marsh remained unresponsive. "Dude, I'm sorry I didn't make it any sooner... I'm sorry..." he held back the tears as he looks at Marsh's face.
"Oh kiddo..." Raisins felt sorry for the boy, the whole group went to their side and checked on Marsh, "...he seems fine, your friend just need a lot of rest." She told Choco, giving him a bit sense of relief.
"I see... Raisins, you mentioned that you're a priestess right? Can you heal Marsh from this sickness?" Choco pulled up Marsh's shirt, revealing the cracks on his chest.
They all gasped at the sight, though Raisins knew about this all along and sighed, "I'm sorry, Kid. I can't heal this... it's not a sickness that can be cured."
"W-What!? But this is called the crumbling sickness! From what I heard, it's a rare illness that happens to the weak and the frail." Choco mentioned.
"They call it a sickness, but it's actually a curse." Raisins explained, "Any person marked with this curse will serve as a vessel for pure evil entities like Seed. Rather than saving him, it's best to..." she was going to suggest something cruel to Choco, but seeing him so concerned about his friend, she held back her tongue and looked away.
"Anyway, now that Seed turned into this stupid knife—" Raisins picked up the rusty knife, "—the power holding this place together is gone, I think this temple might collapse in any second!"
"Then we gotta get out of here quick!" Raisiniel added.
Choco carried Marsh in his arms and they all marched out the room together, the temple began to shake just as Raisins predicted. "Goodness, hurry before we get buried in debris!" They panicked.
And as they made it out, they all watched the temple and the rest of the village crumble down until there was nothing. Even the lights were gone, so they all remained standing inside the dark hollow clam.
"Ugh, we're still stuck in the clam..." Choco grunted, and even if he tried, he couldn't see anything in this dark place. "...Raisins? Are you guys still with me?—oww!" He felt somebody pinch him by the butt.
"What was that for!?"
"Don't address her holiness carelessly, young man!" Raisinella nagged, hearing this made Raisins chuckle.
"Oh, right... accept my humblest apologies, your holiness. May I ask if her divine presence it still here with us?" He asked with a sarcastic tone.
"Ugh, quit the fancy talk already. We're all past that considering we're stranded in the middle of nowhere inside a Pop Rock clam." Raisins dismissed, then she sighed once again as she realized that she and her sisters will soon disappear like the village did.
"...Choco, we thank you for being with us today, for helping us claim our memories and freedom."
"Y-You don't really have to thank me, I think I haven't done anything of help at all."
"That's partially true, but if you haven't appeared in this village, maybe we'd still be under Seed's control... so we can't thank you enough for everything." As Raisins gave her gratitude, all of the remaining raisin people glowed in bright light.
"Woah, what's happening to you guys?!" Choco asks.
Raisins turned to her sisters, their appearance gradually reverting to their original forms as grapes, they all smiled at each other with teary eyes in that bittersweet moment.
"The time has come where we finally depart from this world..." Raisins looks back to Choco and gently placed her hand on his shoulder. "...Choco, as a token of our gratitude, I bless you and your friend's journey by the power of the Fruit Empire's kind and abundant Deity."
Choco was taken aback by Raisins' true appearance as she was no longer the wrinkly old hag that he used to know, then he felt sad as he realized that she's going away. "Raisins, are you guys really going to leave so soon?"
"We're way past due, no thanks to Seed. But don't be sad Choco, me and my sisters will watch over you." Raisins assured, "This is good bye Choco, safe travels!"
"Oh! And don't forget your stuff!" Raisinella chimed in as she reached to Choco, returning Marsh's purple orb and book. Then they all soon started floating as their light slowly fades away.
"...bye guys." Choco smiled, watching them fade into the darkness. They all waved goodbye until the moment they disappeared.