Outside the castle.

At 3:00 in the afternoon.

Inside the moving wagon, the old man took something from his old tattered bag. He holds the bottle in his hand and looked at it for a long time.

Ella examined the bottle with her eyes, its appearance is quite simple, it's color gray, but it has a vintage look to it, more like an ancient treasure.

The old man put the bottle in Ella's hands. "I have nothing to give you, child. This bottle is a token of our friendship. Take care of my gift and don't lose it. Thank you for treating me to lunch yesterday, that was the best delicious meal I ever tasted for a long time. I wish you well in everything that you do in the future," he finished his heartfelt speech.

Ella smiled. For some reason she like his simple gift. No one has ever given her a gift before, for the first time she was given a gift by a stranger. And it feels nice!

"Thank you so much for this gift, Grandpa! I'll take good care of it," she said with a smile. She gazed at the bottle for a few minutes before putting it inside her bag. "Wait...what does this bottle can do, Grandpa? Does it work like a genie in the bottle?" she asked jokingly.

The old man smiled. "This bottle was given to me by a special friend of mine. He told me once that if you open the lid of the bottle, a cloud of thick smoke will come up and cover the whole surrounding. This is especially useful if you have enemies attacking you or trying to catch you and you want to evade them. But since I don't have enemies, I never tried opening the lid," he explained.

Ella smiled naughtily. The old man must be joking. She immediately opened the lid to find out if the old man is telling the truth.

POP!

There was a sudden strange sound coming out of the bottle after she lifted the lid. Then smoke starts getting out of the bottle...

Holy shit!

"Young lady closed the lid now! Or we will suffocate inside this wagon!" he commanded.

Before Ella can close the lid, the smoke seems to have a mind of its own and returned to the bottle immediately.

She was stunned!

She quickly closed the lid and looked at the old man. "You are telling the truth!" she said.

The old man smiled. "Of course, I am! Why should I lie to you?" he said. "Child, let me remind you...only opened the bottle if you are in a tricky situation and you want to escape or get away from someone, okay? Do not misuse the bottle. Take care of my gift, it will become handy for you sooner or later," he lectured.

"B-but where is the genie? It didn't come out from the bottle when I open the lid," she was teasing him. "After the smoke, the genie should appear!" she insisted.

The old man laughed. "Who said there will be a genie in the bottle? I never said that. You and your overactive imagination," he was shaking his head in amusement.

Suddenly, the wagon stopped beside the road. It has a sign of Wooldale Village on it.

"Old man, you finally arrived at your destination!" the driver appeared at the door of the wagon and opened it.

The old man looked at the girl. "Take care, young lady. I hope to see you again in the future," he said and smiled.

Ella smiled in return and bid the old man goodbye. "Goodbye, Grandpa," she murmured.

The old man exited the wagon with the help of the driver.

There he stood beside the rood, holding his cane.

The driver started the wagon... the old man waved his hand at Ella, the girl waved back.

The wagon was moving forward and the old man was now a tiny dot in Ella's vision until she can no longer see the old man's outline due to the distance.

She felt sad for a moment... she missed her Aunt Margie!

Grandpa reminds her so much of her deceased aunt.

Her eyes welled up. She's on the verge of crying and cry she did. It's no use stopping her tears, now that Grandpa is gone, she can cry silently since no one is watching her.

She buried her face in her handkerchief.

After a while, her sobbing stopped.

They are now approaching the castle on the hill, she feels excited to see her sisters again but at the same time terrified of what lies ahead. What if her sisters were no longer working in the castle? Just like those missing villagers who left the castle and find other work in the city?

But she knows her sister well, if they plan to relocate to the city to find a better job, they would at least go home first and inform her and Aunt Margie.

Worst...

They're probably still inside the castle held prisoners by the owner who doesn't want them to go home!

That's her suspicion about the castle.

The more she thinks about it the more she believes it!

Suddenly, a tiny voice came into her mind...'What will you do if the castle denies that your sisters were inside the castle? What are you going to do? Where are you going after the castle?' asked the voice.

Ella released a deep breath. Dang!

Those questions made her think of her situation hard. She failed to think about her situation because of so many things happening lately especially that her aunt died unexpectedly. It made her act impulsively.

What if indeed the staff of the castle will give her the same alibi, like present her the letter and the employment termination paper of her sisters?

Sigh.

But even if they will give her those papers she will still insist that she needs to see the inside of the castle just to make sure that her sisters are not there, trapped against their will. If the owners are not guilty of wrongdoings they would allow her to search the entire castle but if they are bad people they would not allow her to search the place.

A heavy sigh erupted from Ella's mouth.

She relaxes and calms herself for a few minutes.

It's not good worrying now, she was nearing the place, she needs to do what she come here for and that is to find the truth about her missing sisters.

She looked outside the wagon, the night is fast approaching...they will be arriving soon.

Hmm...she smells something nice...more like a perfume smelling scent...where that smell comes from?

Suddenly she began yawning, her eyelids dropping fast...she feels so sleepy. She lay her body down on the floor of the wagon and closed her eyes to sleep.

The wagon suddenly diverted from the public road and proceed to the clearing in the middle of the thick forest just a few meters away from the highway.

Three winged creatures hovered in the air and landed on the clearing, their silver wings disappeared behind their back.

Ramza went down from the horse and put his perfume smelling-bottle back in his sling bag. He looked at the newcomers.

"Is the girl sleep already?" Zemeth asked.

Ramza nodded his head and replied... "Yes, she is."

"Good! Let's get to work," he said looking at the mountain in front of them. At the back of the mountain is the castle on the hill. "Guys, this is it! Our mission will come into play when we finally get inside the castle! Okay, come to me guys, let's do the recap of the rules and the plan we have discussed before...I'm going to reveal to you now what we are here for and why this mission is very important. We will get a huge bonus if we get this right..." he said.

The men gathered in the middle of the clearing.

"Guys, are you ready?" Zemeth asked the faces around him.

"Yes!" The men replied in chorus.

Zemeth revealed his plan step by step and the men listened to his every word attentively. Every now and then they nodded their heads in complete understanding.

A few minutes later.

"Alright, guys, we have already discussed everything. Any question?" Zemeth asked his companion.

The men shook their heads and said in unison. "We got it! Loud and clear!"

"Good! Let's get inside now!" Zemeth said and climb into the wagon first. Followed by the two men and last Ramza.

Fifteen minutes later.

Ramza's look-alike went down the wagon alone.

Inside the wagon.

Ella had already woken up and found herself lying on the wooden floor of the wagon. "Eh? It seemed I have fallen asleep," she murmured to herself.

She looked outside, the surrounding area was covered with towering trees. She noticed that the wagon was no longer moving. She looked down and saw the driver. "Mister driver, why are we stopping? And where are we?" she asked.

The driver looked at her. "We stop by for a few minutes because I need to replace the shoe of my horse," he replied.

"Are we near the castle on the hill now?" she asked again.

"Yes, the castle on the hill was situated behind that mountain we are facing right now," he answered. "Shall we proceed, or do you want to rest here for a bit?" he asked.

"Let's continue!" Ella responded excitedly.

"Alright," the driver said and returned to the front to continue the last league of their journey.

Ella went back to her spot and she can feel the wagon moving forward. A few minutes later, the wagon is now back on the road moving at a steady pace.

Ella can already feel her heart beating faster inside her rib cage.

She can't sort out her emotions. Is she is excited...scared or what?

Thirty minutes later.

They finally reached their destination.

The wagon stopped at the base of the hill.

"We're here!" the driver announced loudly. The driver opened the door of the wagon and put down the wooden stool in the ground for his passenger to step into.

Ella picked up her bag and went to the door, she stepped onto the stool, and then her feet landed on the ground.

She looked up...there...up in the hill stood the imposing castle on the hill!

OMG! She's finally here!

"Oh!" Her mouth fell open. Grandpa is right, the castle looks old and crumbling, more like a haunted house especially that it's a full moon tonight!

She felt a shiver run down on her spine.

She looked at the driver. "Mister... c-can you wait for me for about thirty minutes, please? If I can't find my sisters in the castle, I will board your wagon again?" she said.

The driver smiled. "Sure, I'll wait for you here. Take your time," he said.

"Thank you, Mister," Ella said and took her first step forward... towards the castle on the hill.

The wagoner watched the girl walking towards the castle on the hill.