Aspen went to the bed and rubbed his friend's back gently, consoling her. "Did you see with your two eyes when Immortal Vearaha's body disintegrated into the air?" he asked curiously.

"Yes, she just disintegrates like that. I'm so heartbroken," Esmeralda replied in misery. She wiped her tears with the hem of her dress.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. It must be hard for you to see your mentor disappeared without saying goodbye. We can't even properly mourn her passing because there is no dead body to bury," Aspen said. "But don't worry much, since Vearah is an immortal she will be reborn sooner or later. We just don't know when..." he added.

"We try to capture her spirit animal, but it flies away and vanished quickly," Esmeralda said sadly.

"The butterfly doesn't want to be caught, it needs to go somewhere. The next time you see it, don't catch it, let it be," he said. "Who knows...maybe your mentor's body was just recovering somewhere, and she will suddenly return to us when we least expected it."

"I was also thinking that way, but I'm losing hope already..." Esmeralda replied with a dispirited voice.

"Esme, cheer up! Your mentor will feel sad if she will see you like this. She died honorably by saving the two innocent girls. Her sacrifice is worth it," Aspen said. He was trying to uplift his friend's spirit. "Even if Vearah was no longer with us, I'm still here. You can count and depend on me," he said.

Esmeralda nodded her head. More than ever, she needs to be braver and smarter now that her mentor passed away. Now that the vampire brothers were releasing monsters to harm innocent people, she needs to face Maxwell and his entourage and finish the castle.

"I can go directly inside the castle and end my life there or do it here in my mentor's house... the result will be the same," she said. She stared at her friend with a lifeless look in her eyes.

"Oh, don't say that. Just because your mentor is already gone you want to go after her in the afterlife, that's unfair!" Aspen said.

"I have to avenge my mentor's sudden passing. If those vampire brothers didn't send someone here to kidnap the girls, then my teacher would have been still alive by now! I will finish them all!" Esmeralda said furiously between gritted teeth, a burst of anger was flashing in her eyes.

"That's the spirit, friend! But remember that poor Ivy is still inside the castle. If you enter the castle with no proper plan, chances are Maxwell will jump in glee because he will have two important prisoners under his control, you and Ivy. If you commit suicide, all lives inside the castle will perish, including Ivy. I know that you won't do something stupid like that. Am I right?" Aspen said.

Esmeralda nodded her head. There are times that due to desperation and anger, she wants to finish her life and be done with it. But every time she remembers that Ivy was still inside the castle, she hesitates to do it.

"I need to save Ivy first before I will finish everything," she said.

"That's a good idea, my friend. Don't worry... I'll be there by your side. Once the blazing barrier starts burning everyone to death, I will escape together with your body, then we will resurrect you outside the castle. Grandpa Jegun still has some bottles of the magical healing potion which is a gift from the King of Elves. We will be able to resurrect you after you died for a few minutes, just like what happened to Ivy and Zemeth. We have to make sure that Ivy was already outside the castle before we execute our plan flawlessly," Aspen said.

Esmeralda breathed deeply and looked at her friend. "Is that your plan?" she asked.

Aspen nodded his head. "Yeah, do you like my plan?"

Esmeralda smiled a bit. "It sounds brilliant to me!" she said, her voice sounds hopeful.

Aspen smiled brightly. "Of course! I was thinking that it's okay for you to die for a few minutes while the castle burns everything and after that, we will resurrect you. But we have to get you out of that forsaken place, or else you will also perish along with others in that castle," he said. "Everything needs perfect timing, we can't afford a tiny mistake... or else our plan will fall in vain."

Esmeralda released a deep sigh. "It's okay if I will remain inside the castle. If you see an opportunity- just save Ivy and yourself and leave me behind. After all, I'm well prepared for the consequences of my actions," she said.

Aspen shook his head. "That's the last thing I would do, Esme. I have to save you, no matter what. We will survive this difficult trial! I'll make sure of that!" he said confidently.

Esmeralda nods her head. "Okay, as you say so..."

"Let's go outside. Don't stay in your room all day wallowing in grief. We need to continue living. Immortal Vearah died for a good cause. That's the only thing we need to remember about her," Aspen said.

Esmeralda agreed with Aspen's statement. "Alright, just wait outside. I want to go to the plant garden and see the flowers. Those flowering plants never fail to cheer me up during my lowest moment," she said.

"Good! I'll wait for you outside," Aspen said and left the room.

When Esmeralda exited the room, the sisters were already waiting for her outside.

"Granny, we are very sorry for Immortal Vearah's untimely death. Please forgive us. She died in saving us," Kate said teary-eyed.

"Please forgive us, Granny," Ella apologized sadly.

Esmeralda smiled. "Girls, I never blamed you for what happened to my teacher. She did it on her own accord. If I'm in her shoes, I will do the same. Please, stop blaming yourself, okay?" she said and moved towards the staircase with Aspen.

"Thank you, Granny!" the girls said in chorus.

"Whew! I'm glad that Granny Esmeralda didn't blame us for Immortal Vearah's death," Kate said in great relief.

"Me too!" Ella exclaimed with gladness.

"Let's go to the kitchen, let's prepare a delicious dish for dinner," Kate said.

"Okay," replied Ella.

The sisters walked towards the kitchen. They felt much better after talking to Esmeralda.

~

Aspen and Esmeralda lowered themselves on the wooden bench.

Esmeralda breathed in relief after seeing the beautiful flowers and the butterflies darting from plants to plants, feasting on the nectar of the flowers. She was hoping to see that one rare butterfly that is her mentor's spirit animal.

Aspen looked at his companion. "Feeling better?" he asked.

Esmeralda nodded her head. "Yes! It's nice to be here," she responded.

Jegun and Zemeth approached them. They just came from the fruit garden.

"Granny Esmeralda, I'm so sorry for your lose," Zemeth said sincerely from the bottom of his heart. He was grateful for the late immortal's effort in saving his life.

"We will never forget Immortal Vearah's contribution to our cause and her great sacrifice in saving the girls from the enemy," Jegun said. A sigh escaped his mouth.

"Yes, indeed! Immortal Vearah's untimely death left a big vacuum in our hearts," Aspen said, expressing his admiration for the late immortal's contribution to their cause.

"Thank you, guys, for remembering my late mentor. She has done a lot for us. To the very end of her life, she was able to save the girls from harm. We will never forget her kindness and generosity," Esmeralda finally spoke, her voice trembled 'coz she was trying hard not to burst into tears in front of the men.

"We would like to inform you, guys, that we will leave the mountain today 'coz we're going back to the island to check on the boys. Rest assured that if the castle releases another batch of monsters, I will inform you right away," Jegun said.

"We will take our leave now," said Zemeth.

"Take care, guys," Aspen said.

Esmeralda smiled at the men and nodded her head. "See you soon!"

Jegun waved goodbye at them. They opened the portal and left the mountain.

~

Zemeth and Jegun arrived on the island.

They saw no one on the beach. It looks like the men were resting upstairs.

They entered the house and went upstairs. The men were sleeping on the floor, snoring.

"I'm going to rest in my room, lad," Jegun told him.

"Okay, go ahead, Grandpa," Zemeth replied.

Jegun went to his room and closed the door behind him.

Zemeth can't locate Ramza upstairs, he went downstairs and went to the kitchen. He saw Ramza and Agran cleaning the fish, ready to cook.

"Guys, why are you not sleeping and resting yet?" Zemeth asked them.

"After cleaning these fishes, we will take our rest. Agran will cook it later after he wakes up," replied Ramza. He saw the sadness on his friend's face. "What's wrong? Did something happened up there in the mountain?" he asked.

"Yes... Immortal Vearah died saving the girls," Zeemth replied in a sorrowful voice.

"Whaaat-?" Ramza and Agran asked in unison. They wore a surprised expression on their faces.

"What happened? Why the girls need saving?" asked Agran worriedly.

Zemeth scratched his head. "It's all my fault! The woman I saved from the castle was not the real Ivy. It's a vampire woman disguising as Ivy, an impostor! I feel bad that I brought her in the mountain resulting in the immortal's untimely passing!" he said while sighing with regrets.

"So...w-what happened to Kate and Ella? Are they alright?" Ramza inquired, alarmed by the news.

"The girls are okay. Immortal Vearah arrived at the mountain and saw the girls about to flee from the mountain. It turns out that the impostor wants to abduct Kate and Ella. Good thing, the immortal arrived on time, and save the girls by killing the vampire woman, by slashing her neck with the dagger..." Zemeth stopped for a few seconds to catch his breath. Then he continues with his narration.

"The vampire died, as soon the sun rays bathed her body she was burning, and her remains turned into dust in the ground. Before the impostor died, it was able to release deadly black smoke from her mouth and enveloped Immortal Vearah turning her into a statue, frozen in time. Then her body disintegrated into the air and later transformed into a beautiful butterfly and disappeared from the mountain. End of story," Zemeth explained.

Ramza shook his head. "That was sad, man," he murmured, deeply bothered and saddened by the news.

"I'm glad the girls were safe. I'm truly sorry for Immortal Vearah's untimely passing. We already lose a comrade," Agran commented sadly.

"That's all for today, guys. I'm going upstairs to rest," Zemeth said and left the kitchen, going back to the house.