Maria's hands closed around the gem and pain exploded all over her arm. The magical energy of the gem was strong and it lashed out at everyone and everything around itself. Maria's body was still safe due to the protective shield around the gem but it would not last forever.

Maria needed to pull the gem out if she wanted to break the curse that had been laid on this forest. She could feel her resolve to weaken as time passed and the gem's influence dragged her deeper and deeper into letting go.

The monsters went mad as soon as her hand touched the gem. The magic lashing out at them was changing them from inside out at an alarming rate. They would go on a rampage soon and collapse the roof right on top of her.

And the worst of all, the gem was slipping out of Maria's hand and it almost had escaped a few seconds earlier as well. It was slimy and slippery which was causing a little too much problem for Maria. Every time she tried to get a hold of it, it ended up out of her reach.

Not to mention, the pain she felt whenever she touched the gem was something she had never experienced before. It made her want to rethink her life choices but she had to prevail. The lives of her friends depended on her being able to conquer this gem.

She had to pull the gem to the surface at any cost.

Maria used every bit of magic she had to coat her hand in protective magical layers and held the gem out. The heat did not diminish in quality even with dozens of magical protections between Maria's hand and the gem. This was going to leave an imprint if Maria survived this.

[Warning. Overexposure to hostile magic detected. The user is asked to let the hostile magic go or actions would be taken to preserve the host's life]

Every warning in her system flared to life around her but Maria blocked it out. She had only one goal in mind and it was to get the gem out of this water.

'The curse would break if the gem absorbs the moonlight. I just need to get to the top and I'll be free' Maria did not know how she knew that but it felt right to her. Taking the gem out of here was something she was supposed to do to ensure that she survived this curse.

Maybe it was her subconscious self that helped her out or it could be her cursed instincts screaming at her from the back but this was the only reason Maria pushed forward. This and for her friend's safety. They would all die if the gem exploded in the water.

[Warning. Sensory overload exceeding maximum limits. Reaching the harmful limits will cause the system to initiate a user safety protocol. Would the user like to initiate it?]

Maria ignored the pull that asked her to say yes. The subtle influence of her system had not gone unnoticed by Maria but she did not want it. It could go to hell for all that she cared.

One second Maria pushed herself to go faster, the next she felt something collide with her back and send her swimming right into the wall. Her back protested when she tried to move it and Maria felt genuinely terrified that she might have hurt her spine in the collision.

Swimming hurt but it was better than being shoved into the wall by the beast that was coming back for round two. It had no clear sense of direction and Maria could not read its moments.

'It'll move left' Maria's body moved according to the spontaneous thought and she barely managed to avoid the huge body that passed her. She knew she would not have been able to do it if she had stopped to think over her actions.

"MARIA! Lookout" Suna's voice broke the silence like a pleasant surprise before Maria felt something disturbing the waters around her with moments. She dodged out of the first body that was thrown into the water but more and more followed shortly.

Monsters broke away from her toward the unconscious Sirens falling into the water. Maria tried to block out the crunching noise emerging from around her as she shot up everything she had.

Only her hand made it out of the water, the gem open for the moonlight to fall on before Maria felt something grasp her tail. Hands reached for her body and she felt a Siren trying to choke her.

Her hand shook but Maria held onto the gem in her palm. She needed to keep it open and straight, facing the moon or all her suffering would be for the naught.

Her oxygen felt as if it was being cut off and her body started to shut down. Maria did not even have enough energy to get free but she knew she could let go now. The gem was out in the moonlight and its energy was beginning to change.

Screams emerged from around her, tearing themselves out of the Siren's throat all around and Maria felt more pairs of hands join the first one as she lost consciousness.

'Finally, it's all over' Maria felt the curse weaken as her body started to sink. The arms around her added extra weight she was not equipped to handle on her own.

But strangely enough, all Maria felt in her ending moments was peace. The pain was fading away as well as the blackness that preceded one's death. Maria could not even tell if she was sinking or being pulled up.

"Breathe. Maria, you need to breathe if you want to live" That sounded like Nao but Nao did not panic like this. Nao was calm and assertive and she liked to scold when she was nervous.historical

Not beg like she was right now.

But maybe it was the lack of oxygen mixed with the trauma she had suffered that made Maria imagine Nao like that. Suns looked saner than last time as well. Not 100% but considerably better than her zoned-out self.

"Get out of the way. She's sustained too much damage but I can help" even the little fairy was here, trying to make Maria feel better. This was such a good last dream as well and only lacked Neah to make it perfect.

Every thought blanked out of her mind as the small fairy twinkled around her with her magic dust which reminded Maria eerily of another small fairy from popular folk tales. It was a hypnotic motion and lulled Maria into a state of unconsciousness.

[Safety limits exceeded. The user has sustained irreversible harm. The system will need to go to a two-day stand-by period for recovery. May the user be protected in the meantime]