Noticing his change in demeanor, Giona’s smile faded. Her voice was soft and unsure as she said his name, “Dama?”
Snapping out of his thoughts, Dama looked at her and tried to compose himself. Sitting beside Giona, he held the drawing in front of them both. “Hey, Giona,” he began gently, pointing to the black shape, “w-who’s this?”
Giona’s face lit up again, remembering their earlier conversation about the word “who.” Excitedly, she pointed to the paper and answered, “Friends!”
Dama blinked, his brow furrowing. "Friends?" He thought, glancing at the unsettling figure again. He decided to rephrase in a more direct way whilst pointing at the black blob. “No, I mean, who is this?” He asked, his question firm.
Giona tilted her head in confusion, her excitement faltering. She didn’t seem to understand what he was asking. Dama sighed, realizing he’d need to take a different approach. Pointing to the Mumu-shaped drawing, he asked, “Who is this?”
Giona stared at him blankly for a moment before perking up. She pointed at Mumu and said his name with confidence. "Mumu!"
“Good job!” Dama praised, nodding encouragingly. He then pointed to the Nini-shaped drawing and repeated the question. "Who is this?"
Giona pointed at Nini and said her name with just as much confidence. "Nini!"
“Good job again!” Dama said with a smile. Finally, he pointed back to the black blob. “Okay, now—who is this?”
Giona stared at the black shape, her expression thoughtful. Dama’s heart raced as the seconds dragged on, the silence almost unbearable.
Then, Giona’s hand moved. She pointed toward the cabin’s window, her voice soft yet cheerful as she said one word: “Curse.”
Dama’s breath caught in his throat as he instinctively turned to look out the window. Outside, the snowy mountains stretched as far as the eye could see, serene and untouched. Yet the word echoed in his mind.
“Curse?” He repeated under his breath, his gaze lingering on the peaceful landscape. Turning back to Giona, he saw her smiling, as if she had just shared something exciting with him.
Dama’s chest tightened. He couldn’t shake the unease that one word had stirred. Eager for answers, he went to look at the window again.
However, just as Dama did, he stopped dead, his body stiffening like a statue. A suffocating, unseen force pressed down on him in an instant—heavy and unrelenting. His breath hitched, and beads of sweat began to form and drip down his face. Whatever this presence was, it was overwhelming.
“What… is this?” Dama thought to himself, his chest tightening with dread. He couldn't classify the sensation as good nor evil—it simply was—and it was furious. That fury was the only reason Dama could sense it.
The air seemed to vibrate with its anger, and he couldn’t shake the feeling of claw-like hands wrapping around his neck. They weren’t just gripping—they were poised, ready to tear him apart if he made the wrong move.
Without turning his head, Dama glanced at Mumu and Nini, who were perched on either side of him. Their usually calm, neutral expressions were replaced with wide, oval-shaped eyes, and their ears were stiffly perked, alert. Their bodily shaking despite the effort to stay still confirmed they felt the same suffocating presence.
Swallowing hard, Dama attempted to compose himself, forcing a shaky smile and strained cheerfulness into his voice. “G-Giona…” he stammered, his voice betraying his unease. “W-Who… Who is ‘Curse’?”
Giona tilted her head, confused by his twisted expression—a mix of forced happiness and veiled terror. Bringing a finger to her chin in thought, she looked out the window.
Outside, she saw her old friend: the black, faceless blob with hollow white eyes and a mouth. Its usual eerie grin was gone, replaced with a stern, disapproving frown. When their gazes locked, Giona watched as it slowly shook its head from side to side.
Giona's face lit up with recognition of her friend before being replaced with confusion—an action that Dama caught and made a mental note of.
Dama had taught her that this motion meant “no,” and her eyes widened slightly as she realized what it was telling her. It didn’t want her to speak about it. "Why?" Her mind churned, the gears in her head spinning as she tried to understand.
After a few moments of silence, Giona finally spoke. She heeded her friend’s unspoken command while still answering Dama with the only word that came to mind. “Escape...” She said in a rather cryptic way, magnifying the unsettling atmosphere for Dama.
Dama’s heart pounded as he felt the pressure around his neck increase. “E-Escape?”
Giona nodded in confirmation, her face now unreadable.
He tried to piece together what she meant. His first thought was that she had escaped from whatever the thing was, but he dismissed that almost immediately. "She calls it a friend—why would she flee from it, but still call it her friend?"
Instead, his mind turned to the idea of what she had escaped from. That thought quickly turned to many, and the pieces began to fit together:
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- The insignia Giona had drawn for Tsubasa—the Soul Divination Council’s mark.
- Tsubasa telling him about a Jufuris Knight bearing the same mark on his back.
- The rats Giona had drawn in her earlier pictures.
- Jaden’s words about the Soul Divination Council’s center being in Jufuris.
It clicked. Giona had been held prisoner by the Soul Divination Council.
Dama’s breathing quickened as the realization sank in. The marks of abuse on her body, her fear of "bad men", and her childlike innocence—it all pointed to a horrifying truth. "But why? Why would the Council hold her captive? Why subject her to such torment?" His mind began to spiral.
After a few moments, he shook his head, trying to push back the rising anger that threatened to consume him. This wasn’t the time to lose focus—he needed answers first and foremost.
"Should I ask her if this 'friend' is behind me? She did react as if she was looking at someone behind me..." He first thought, but decided against it. For all he knew, whatever was behind him would end him at any given moment.
Refocusing, Dama looked at Giona again. “Giona,” he said carefully, “when you said escape, did you mean you escaped the Council? And if that, d-did your friend—Curse—help you escape?”
Giona’s face lit up, and she nodded with enthusiasm, her excitement palpable.
Dama, though, had the opposite reaction as he gulped with fear, the saliva struggling to go down as the pressure on his neck intensified. "I-I... I see... That must mean Curse is a g-good person...! I wou...would love to meet them s-someday..." He stammered out in an attempt to appease the malevolent force, his face drenched in sweat.
An attempt that would seemingly work, as in that moment, Dama felt the icy pressure around his neck loosen, then vanish completely. He gasped and coughed, realizing he hadn’t been breathing. Staggering and struggling for a bit, he then took a deep inhale, his lungs burning as they filled with air.
Once he had recomposed himself, Dama whipped around to look out the window once more. His eyes scanned the snowy landscape, but there was nothing there—only the serene, untouched beauty of the mountains.
He stared for a long time, his mind racing, yet never completing a single thought. "Wha... Why... How...?"
Dama then shifted his gaze to Mumu and Nini, noting that both had the same reaction as him. Their wide eyes and perked ears were now fixed on the window, as though they too questioned their own mind.
Right after, Dama was startled to hear a soft growl coming from Nini. Her body tensed as she stared out the window, the low rumble in her throat unmistakable.
It wasn’t like her usual demeanor—this growl was full of defiance, audibly expressing her disapproval of whatever had just occurred.
Nini’s growling ceased abruptly when Giona called her name from behind. "Nini?" Giona’s voice was tinged with concern, unsettled and confused by the sound she had never heard from Nini before.
Realizing she might have frightened Giona, Nini immediately dropped her tough act. Turning toward the girl, she hopped to the bedside and rubbed her head against Giona, a comforting gesture to assure her everything was okay. Giona smiled and stroked Nini’s fur, calmed by the fox’s affectionate behavior.
Still startled himself, Dama proceeded to turn his attention to Mumu, who was already looking at him in return. Their eyes met, and in that moment, an unspoken understanding passed between them. They had both felt it: the suffocating presence, the darkness, the danger—the hatred.
Whatever it was, it was powerful, and it wasn’t something to be underestimated.
Breaking eye contact, Dama looked back at the window, his expression darkening. His thoughts raced as he tried to make sense of what had just happened. "I need to tell Tsubasa about this...!" he thought, his jaw tightening.
Even if Giona called this entity her friend, it was a undeniable truth that it was dangerous. He couldn’t shake the memory of the claw-like grip on his neck or the overwhelming malevolent force that had filled the room.
But a sinking doubt crept into his mind as he considered Tsubasa—would even she know what to do in this situation?
Dama’s gaze lingered on the snowy expanse beyond the window, his mind clouded with uncertainty. His last thought chilled him as much as the presence itself, "Is it even safe to go outside, knowing that…thing…is out there?"
Dama’s chest tightened as he weighed his options. The unseen entity was aware of him now—that it was aware that HE was aware of it—and the lingering sensation of its suffocating presence left him uneasy. "If I go outside...will it try to get rid of me?" He thought grimly.
However, he also knew staying cooped up in the cabin wasn’t a long-term solution. The cabin itself was nothing special—it wasn’t fortified against anything, let alone a being with such power. If it had wanted to harm him, surely it could have done so already. That small reassurance made Dama think, "Maybe it can’t hurt me… At least, not directly."
He turned back toward Giona, calling her name. Her attention shifted from Nini to him, her curious eyes meeting his. Dama crouched on his knees beside the bed, his tone calm but probing as he asked, “Giona, is there anything else you can tell me about your...friend?”
To his dismay, Giona only shook her head. Her expression was simple, almost cheerful, but something about the way she answered made his stomach twist. It was as if she wasn’t entirely aware of the gravity of the situation—or maybe she didn’t fully understand her “friend.”
"Figures." Dama thought, stifling a sigh.
He returned to his silent contemplation, pacing slightly as his mind worked through his options. Every scenario felt risky, but eventually, one plan stood out—he’d take the risk of going to Tsubasa.
His reasoning firmed as he mulled over the details. Nini, with her incredible speed and heightened senses, could carry him on her back. If the entity decided to come after them, Dama was confident Nini could outrun it, especially since she had sensed the same presence, making her aware of the danger.
As for Giona, leaving her alone was out of the question. But Mumu, with his calm demeanor and protective instincts, could stay behind and guard her. Dama trusted Mumu enough to know he wouldn’t let anything harm Giona if the worst happened.
Finally, Dama nodded to himself, his decision made. He turned to Nini and patted her head. “Looks like you and I are heading out!” He said, more to steel his own nerves.
He glanced at Mumu, who seemed to sense what was coming and straightened himself, prepared for the responsibility Dama was entrusting him with. Then, looking back at Giona, Dama forced a reassuring smile.
“Giona, Nini and I need to go check on something. Mumu will stay here with you, okay? I won’t be gone long.” He said, trying to keep his tone light despite the tension gnawing at him.
Giona nodded, oblivious to the weight of his words, and went back to petting Nini, who rubbed against her affectionately one last time before stepping toward Dama.
Petting Nini on the head again, Dama's gaze then fell onto the drawing resting on Giona's lap. As he reached for it, his eyes laid on the haunting image once more. "I don't have a good feeling about this..."
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Next: (Extra Chapter 21) Tsubasa's Talisman