After what seemed like ages of walking, Priff led the others to some sort of door. "This is the only thing between us and Azamir," Priff explained. "The only thing is, I... Can't figure out how to open it."
Samuel stepped up, taking a closer look at the door. There seemed to be a diamond-shaped jewel set into it, with three more diamond-shaped holes around it. "Um... Do you think these diamonds have something to do with it?" he asked.
"Diamonds? ...Hey! I picked up a jewel like that outside!" Susumu remembered as she produced the jewel from her bag. She stepped up to the door and carefully placed the jewel into one of the slots.
"A perfect fit!" Neal declared. "But... We only have two diamonds now. Where are the others?"
"Kukuku. If I may~" Somehow, as Priff stepped up to the door, she seemed to be holding the two remaining jewels. "These were left behind after we defeated those paintings," she explained, placing the jewels in the slots. "I wonder... Did Azamir give them to his monsters to guard? ...Anyway..." Once she was finished, something started rumbling, and the door began to open. As it did, however...
"Ahahaha. I see the little hero has returned."
"AZAMIR!" The group called out, preparing to fight.
"I must say, I am rather surprised," Azamir remarked. "I thought I erased your memory... And yet here you are. You really are just begging to be punished. It almost makes me sad... Almost, I say."
Azamir then reached behind him, producing Jeremy's face. "I take it this is what you've come for, yes?" He asked, a bored expression crossing his face. "Really, you are getting a bit predictable. But I suppose that's good for me as well, isn't it?" Without elaborating on what he meant, he opened his eyes, and a bright light filled the room. "And so the game continues. Ahahaha..."
When the light faded, Azamir was nowhere to be seen, but... "Susumu! We've got trouble!" Neal exclaimed, motioning for her to turn around. When she did, she saw that Azamir had stuck Jeremy's face to an enormous golden mask.
"...We're gonna have to fight this thing, aren't we?" Susumu groaned.
"We are," Neal affirmed, sharpening his claws once again. "Everyone into position!"
Priff, meanwhile, stood with her eyes closed for a second. "Kukuku..." She reached behind her back, producing...
"A fork?" Samuel was confused. "You're going to fight with... A fork?"
"It's better than you think," Priff stated, before stabbing her fork at Jeremy.
The fight continued without much incident, and the group managed to deal a decent amount of damage. At that moment, however, Jeremy decided to try something. he stared directly into Susumu's eyes, he started to emit a strange golden glow.
"Eep!" Susumu had no idea what this meant, but she knew that she did NOT like being stared at. She closed her eyes, but not before they flashed the same golden color. When she finally did open her eyes, however, something was... Off about her. It was hard to tell, but her eyes were more golden than their usual yellow color, and her eyelashes seemed thicker than normal. When she spoke, her voice was oddly stiff and monotone: "I... Am... Pharaoh..."
"Susumu? What are you-" Neal thought this behavior alone was very strange, but... Susumu knelt down and put her ketchup bottle on the ground. Was she... Refusing to fight?! "Hey! Susumu! You gotta get up! We have to save Jeremy, remember?"
"Kukuku... She's been cursed," Priff informed him. "I checked. Her mind is a complete blank right now. She can't hear us. We'll have to keep going without her. If we can defeat Jeremy, she'll be freed."
The group continued fighting, minus a cursed Susumu, until Susumu stood up once again. "Hey! Susumu! Snap out of it!" Neal tried to call out to her once more.
She completely ignored him, however, and walked up to Jeremy, producing an HP Banana from her bag as she did so. "Please, accept this!" She declared, offering the banana to him.
What she didn't notice, however, was that Jeremy was preparing to attack her as she did so. "Susumu!" Samuel tried to warn her. "Look out! You're going to-"
But he was too late. The hit was strong enough to knock Susumu out, particularly in her currently disarmed state. "Susumu!" Neal tried to shake her awake. She was still alive, but there was no way she was getting back up from that one. "You!"
Priff and Samuel took position next to Neal. "Kukuku... Let's finish this in Susumu's place~"
Neal nodded, and reared up to attack. Samuel raised his staff to the sky, and Priff twirled her fork. The three of them launched one final all-out attack. Even without Susumu, they were strong enough to take out Jeremy.
Once Jeremy's face had flown away, Samuel returned to Susumu's side. "Come on, on your feet again!" He raised his staff into the air, casting his healing magic on Susumu.
"Ugh..." After a moment, Susumu stood back up. "...Oh, hey guys. Uh... Did we ever save Jeremy? I... Kinda spaced out for a bit there."
"You... Don't remember that?!" Neal demanded. "You just gave all your bananas to Jeremy's floating head!"
"...I did?" Susumu asked. "I... Don't remember doing anything like that."
"Kukuku. We freed you from the curse~" Priff stated. "Now, I'm sure you all want to get out of here as much as I do, so if you don't mind..." She then began heading for the exit.
"I thought she said this place was calming..." Samuel mumbled, as the group followed Priff out. Well, whatever. It had been a rough day, especially for Susumu, and they all just wanted to finally get some rest.