Saa'ir knelt on the crystalline lake, dipping a fingertip into the water's surface. The ripples carried his reflection—clear and unblemished—back to him.

He stood, taking in the sky's endless blue and the serene water that seemed to extend into infinity. Here, in stark contrast to the traumatic darkness of Giona's mind, all here was calm and untouched by evil. No sign of the Curse of Hatred.

Fully focusing, Saa'ir scanned the horizon for his new allies. A few paces away, Mumu sat dumbfounded on the glassy surface, one paw rubbing the side of his head. Not too far was Nini, who laid on her back, limbs splayed out in a daze.

When it came to Dama and Giona, they remained where Dama's soulura flash had left them—still wrapped in each other's embrace. After a moment of awe, Dama inhaled shakily and slowly opened his eyes, expecting to be in the afterlife.

Instead, he found the same bright haven. "No way...! This place again!" He exclaimed as relief flooded his body, recognition dawning on his face. He unwrapped his arm around Giona and sat back a bit. "Are you okay, Giona?" He asked, voice soft, though still a bit shaken with fear.

When Giona looked up, Dama could see that Giona's tears had dried, but her wide eyes were fixed on him, mouth open in shock and wonder. Though she couldn't fully grasp every word of Dama's fiery speech moments before, she had felt the raw surge of his soulura fueled by his emotions—his fear, his anger, his unwavering resolve, and most profoundly, his love.

Her lips quivered as she took her hands to her chest, feeling her fast heartbeat. In those few moments of silence Dama waited for an answer in, Giona remembered what Tsubasa had taught her about emotions in the past year, especially love.

Familiar Love. Parental Love. Unconditional Love. All types of love, even Self Love. Tsubasa taught her what love meant, how it felt, and guaranteed Giona she'll have an abundance of it from now on.

To Giona, what Tsubasa called "love" was easily identifiable by the immense warmth she would feel in her chest from time to time. At first, Giona just thought it was regular happiness, but soon came to find out it was more than that the more time she spent with Tsubasa, Mumu & Nini.

When she asked Tsubasa about this warmth, Tsubasa confirmed the connection, leading to Giona to attribute such a thing.

However, when it came to Dama, it was different. At first, it was the same as the others. But, one day, she couldn't remember when exactly, Giona began to view Dama in a different light compared to Tsubasa, Mumu & Nini.

Of course, she liked it when her Granny Tsubasa would read her bedtime stories. However, she preferred it when Dama was the one reading.

Of course, she liked it when Mumu helped her with every physical task like walking, bathing, and brushing her hair. However, she preferred it when Dama was the one helping her.

Of course, she liked it when Nini cuddled with her on the bed. However, she preferred it when Dama was the one cuddling with her.

She loved Tsubasa, Mumu & Nini—of that there was no doubt—but with Dama, her love for him was deeper, warmer, hotter. It was special.

Giona didn't understand it at this very moment, but she was the happiest she had ever been after feeling what Dama felt for her, knowing their love shared the same intensity.

With cheeks flaming for the first time, Giona looked up at her protector and whispered, awestruck, "Dama…"

Dama gave a relaxed smile. "That's good to hear."

Giona then lowered her head a bit, still keeping eye contact with Dama, as a shy smile spread across her face, her cheeks deepening to rosy pink. "Protect…me." She whispered, echoing the promise he had made.

Dama's heart lurched then felt as if it stopped dead, like it was in a car crash. Inside, panic blossomed as Dama remembered his own declaration. "Oh no! D-Did she understand everything I said?"

On the surface, he froze, eyes wide, body tense. With every second, his face burned hotter until it was as red as the ripest cherry, but felt like a raging inferno, complete with sweat.

Before he could muster a response, Giona slid up onto his lap and gently pressed her small hands to his cheeks, tilting his face toward hers.

Giona leaned in, and their foreheads touched. She giggled at the warmth radiating from him and at how bright his blush glowed. Her own pulse fluttered like a captured bird, filling not only her chest with warmth, but also her entire body began to feel hot.

"If I feel warm…and he feels warm…we must both be happy...!" She thought, heart swelling, and causing her to get even closer to Dama. Dama scooched back a bit reflexively, allowing Giona to lean on him even more, to the point she began to hit a very sensitive area.

Dama's reaction to the entire thing was the complete opposite of Giona's, as his blush deepened into shades of red he would have never thought possible. "This isn't good at all! She's sitting on a really dangerous s-spot!! I can't just push her off, but my mouth and legs aren't working!!! What do I do!?" He frantically thought as not only his mind, but vision too seemed to spiral out of control. The undeniable surge of energy he felt in his lower body every second only made his panic and sweating worse.

Their private moment was shattered by a distant voice calling, "Dama! Giona! Mumu! Nini!"

They both jumped and turned together, seeing Saa'ir sprinting across the water's surface, relief flooding his features. "By the gods, you're all safe!" He breath a sigh of relief as he reached them, eyes darting in wonder at the unfamiliar blue sky and mirrored lake.

"Mr. Saa'ir!" Dama and Giona both exclaimed in unison, glad to see their unlikely ally okay.

But, before anymore pleasantries could be shared, sudden hush fell over the peaceful expanse as a thin, quavering voice drifted across the water. "I see…"

In that very moment, everyone present froze, with them shooting up to their feet the next instant. Dama and Giona spun, Giona instinctively clutching wrapping her arms around Dama's neck, and Dama wrapping his own arm around her waist in a protective embrace. Saa'ir, Mumu, & Nini immediately became alert and surrounded the kids, as they all recognized that voice: The Curse of Hatred.

Their eyes scanned the horizon. No towering shadow, no monstrous form—just the endless blue. Then, a small shape bobbed into view infront of them. A single teardrop of pitch-black slime, no larger than a child's fist. Two white voids stared back at them, and beneath its rounded belly, a tangle of inky tendrils writhed just beneath the water's surface to keep it afloat.

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Dama's lips curled in disgust. "You…!" He snarled, stepping forward. "Why are you still here!?"

The little blob's eyes seemed to glitter as its voice rang out again, clearer now, brimming with bitter insight.

"I finally understand, yet I don't get it all the same. It wasn't your Soulful Technique, nor your teamwork, nor brute force. It was your sickening love—for those ragged toys, and for that broken girl—that bested me. To forge such a bond in a single year…

Nevertheless, I won't question it. I've watched mortals from these shadows for centuries—I know how destructive you can be. In a way, I'm glad. I've already won. Your love for Giona, and Giona's love for you, has doomed mortalkind, for as powerful love can be, it is as fragile as your fleeting lives.

For as long as mortals exist—for as long as love exist—hatred will too—and so will I." The little slime paused, as if savoring the weight of its promise, then added with a faint, crooked grin beneath its void-eyes. "You said you will protect Giona until the day your soul passes on, right? Just know this, Dama Jinbia: I. Will. Be. There.

Even the purest love can give rise to the darkest hatred. I cannot wait for that day..."

The Curse of Hatred then started to laugh maniacally after finishing its own declaration, unnerving everyone present to their core.

It was Saa'ir who was the one to do something. With his jaw tightened, he strode forward, cloak billowing, ready to crush the echo of darkness. The tiny Curse of Hatred only began laughing more as Saa'ir's shadow fell across it. Without a word, he lifted his foot and brought it down—hard—onto the black droplet.

For a heartbeat, the world held its breath. Then the inky slime shattered into a thousand ripples, dissolving into the lake until nothing remained but the calm blue water and the echo of a dark promise.

Dama and Giona remained locked in each other's arms, the only movement their quiet, trembling chests. Mumu and Nini were both poised for anything, every stitch that made up their bodies on alert.

Minutes stretched by without a sound—until Dama finally exhaled, breaking the silence. "Is it…Is it over?" He asked, voice trembling, yet soft and hopeful.

Saa'ir turned with a gentle smile. "Yes," he affirmed, "it's finally over."

At that moment, a bright flash erupted behind Saa'ir. Dama, Giona, Mumu, and Nini all flinched as two glowing orbs materialized in the air: one silver, one gold—the latter having two mini gold orbs orbiting it. The silver orb shimmered like moonlight—Giona's soul. The golden orb, likewise, shimmered beside it like sunlight, and Saa'ir's eyes widened as he realized it was Dama's.

He stepped forward, awe and delight in his gaze. "I understand now—what this place is. This place," he murmured, "we're in Dama's mindscape now." A comment that caught Dama, Mumu, & Nini's attention. "And these…" Saa'ir gestured at the orbs.

"Our souls." Dama answered in mild disbelief and acceptance, having already made similar connection last year. But to hear a confirmation from someone else who obviously knew more than him—it comforted him. "The pale silver one it Giona's, and the golden one... It's...It's mine... It's my soul... Unreal..." He said amazed, unable to take his eyes off of the orbs he now viewed in an entirely new light.

"They're also our way out." Saa'ir added.

Dama, after a few moments of his mind trying to process all of this, then began to look around at the endless blue he found himself in. "My mindscape, huh? So, we're in my mind, is that correct. Mr. Saa'ir?"

Saa'ir smiled. "Correct!"

Dama smiled himself, but one question still floated in the back of his head. "But, why a lake? I wonder..."

Meanwhile, Mumu & Nini walked up to both orbs, curious to their existence. Their stitched expressions showed ones of immense bafflement, just like Dama's and Giona's.

Nini was the first to make a move and began sniffing the orbs at every angle, trying to make sense of them. However, the more she sniffed, the more confused she got, and the more her features became scrunched. Every sniff was an answer to a question that only lead to more questions.

Stepping forward, Mumu simply attempted to touch one of the orbs after staring at them. Curiously enough though, the orbs moved in response, avoiding Mumu's paw with surprising grace and a rather pleasing sound to boot. Shocked a bit, Mumu tried again, but the same result.

Before he could try again, the orbs made a move of their own—they seemed to start dancing. They circled Mumu and Nini in a whimsical way, bobbing and swaying in all directions around the plushes. They intertwined with each other at times, stood on opposite ends of the plushes at others, creating a show of light and feeling the atmosphere with a rather nostalgic, child-like innocence.

Seeing Mumu and Nini awestruck at the lightshow, relief flooded Dama's face, and he released a heavy breath. Giona followed suit, her exhale soft and unexpectedly sweet in his ears. He turned to her, his expression bright with joy. "You're safe now," he said, voice steady, "I'm so glad you're okay."

Giona's lips parted in a shy smile, cheeks glowing rose. She nodded wordlessly, her heart fluttering as Dama's arm tightened around her waist. A warmth bloomed in her chest—and rather weirdly, in her legs too—making her pulse race with a tender happiness. "Why does his touch feel so good?" She wondered, caught between surprise and delight.

Dama's breathing slowed further, the tension draining from his body. He savored the peace—how long it had been since he could simply breathe without fear. He vowed to himself he would never take such moments for granted again. Each inhalation felt sacred; each exhalation a blessing.

In a hushed whisper of gratitude, he thanked the gods for his strength, for keeping Giona safe.

But then his eyelids fluttered, and the light in his golden eyes began to dim—at first back to their original green hue, but soon began to grow even dimmer than that.

In an instant, Giona's gaze shifted from happy to fear as she realized, alarm blazing in her blue eyes. "D—Dama?" She whispered as she watched his legs wobble, hugging him closer in order to stabilize him.

Dama could only manage one final, breathy word: "Gio…na…" Then, with a soft thud, he slumped forward—his head landing against Giona's shoulder—as his world faded to black.

Giona's gasp rang out as Dama's limp form slipped from her grasp, and they both tumbled onto the lake's mirror-surface. She foled her legs beneath her to catch his head in her lap—just as he had so many times for her.

"Dama!" She sobbed, cradling his pale face in her trembling hands. Mumu and Nini dashed to her side, the bear's stitched smile turned down in worry and the fox's ears drooping as they pressed close.

Fear coiled in Giona's chest—until Saa'ir knelt beside them. He held two fingers just above Dama's lips, and a faint, warm breath brushed across them. The slightest exhalation—barely enough to stir a dandelion's seed—confirmed Dama still lived.

Gently, Saa'ir laid one hand on Dama's chest. His palm felt the steady, albeit weak, throb of a heartbeat. He closed his eyes in relief, then nodded once. "He's alive," he said, rising to his feet and lifting Dama into a careful bridal carry, "just exhausted."

Giona sprang up, tears glistening on her cheeks, and pressed her hands against Dama's shoulders. "Is he okay?" she trembled.

Saa'ir met her gaze, offering a soft smile and closing his eyes, as though to convey absolute truth. "He's only unconscious." He assured not only to her, but also to his stuffed friends. "Very tired, but alive."

Their worries was far from soothed though. Giona's hope wavered, Mumu's paws twitched in concern, and Nini's tail drooped.

Saa'ir chuckled in response, and took a simple, steadying breath. "If you need proof, turn around."

Hesitant, Giona, Mumu, and Nini shifted to face the two orbs again. For a few moments, the trio wondered what Saa'ir was even talking about, but at the same time, a difference caught their attention: while the pale silver orb was shining as bright as ever, the golden orb's shine had noticeably dimmed a bit. The two tiny golden orbs orbiting it did not share the same change.

"Just like Dama figured out, these are your souls." Saa'ir explained. "The silver orb is Giona's, bright and steady. The golden orb is Dama's—still shining, but faint. It shows he's unconscious, not gone. As long as the light endures, life remains."

Slowly, relief bloomed in their eyes as they watched the golden glow pulse softly beside the silver. In that steady rhythm, they found reassurance that Dama would awaken once more.

-

Next: (Chapter 72) The End of Giona's Nightmare

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