At the flower garden.

Jegun and Aspen were able to absorb the beauty of the flower grade and they feel much better now. Although they still have no idea how to find the coffins.

Aspen glanced at Jegun. "Grandpa, I don't know how to find, Esme and Ivy. How about you? Do you have the power and capabilities to turn back time so that we can rescue the women before the castle burn into the ground?" he asked.

Jegun shook his head. "Ah, lad. I'm not that powerful... sadly...I can't turn back time. How I wish I can have that kind of power so that we can save the women on time," he answered sadly.

Aspen stared at the white flower in front of him and sighed. "Do you think the coffins were buried in the ground of that hill somewhere?"

Jegun nodded his head. "Could be..." he responded. "Or it has already been destroyed by the blazing barrier...the possibilities are few," he added.

Aspen took a deep breath. He had seen with his eyes how the castle crumbled into the ground, there is no way the floating piece of land will survive the devastating impact. He was getting frustrated that Esmeralda was telling him some cryptic message that he has no idea how to proceed. It's a dead-end for him.

They were enveloped with a few minutes of silence.

After a while, Jegun instructed Aspen. "Go inside the house, tell the girls that we will be leaving and going back to the burning castle to find the coffins," he said.

"Okay, I will," Aspen said and rose to his feet. He sauntered towards the entrance of the house and disappeared inside. He found the girls sitting in the living room, wearing a sad expression on their faces. "Girls, Grandpa and I will take our leave going back to the castle to find the coffins. Don't worry, we will try our best to find their remains," he said.

Kate stood up. "Please take us to the castle," she begged.

Aspen sighed. "Kate, we'll come back here later and we will bring you to the castle. Just not right now, we still have so many things to do, okay? I hope you understand," he said.

Kate nodded her head. "Okay, I understand, please come back soon! We need to find them...ASAP! Maybe they're still alive!" she said urgently, her voice laced with worries.

"I know, gotta go! You take care of yourselves," Aspen said and walked away from the girls, going back to the flower garden.

Kate watched Aspen's back disappeared from her eyes. She only has a simple request to see the castle, but it seemed the men are busy finding granny and her sister, she can't impose on them. They can only wait.

Ella looked at her sister. "Sister, do you think granny and sister Ivy still alive inside the crystal coffin?" she asked.

Kate ran her hand on her face in a frustrated manner. "I dunno...we can only pray for their safety," she answered. "Come with me to the backyard, let's feed the chickens and fish, let's keep ourselves busy," she said.

Ella stood up and left the living room together with her sister.

~~~

Aspen and Jegun appeared in the castle and was greeted with the mind-blowing transformation.

Aspen can't believe what he saw in front of him. "Ahm, Grandpa, I think we landed in the wrong place! What happened to the hill and the crumbling castle!? Where it has gone to?"

Jegun shared Aspen's sentiment. "It looks like we are indeed in the wrong place, but...as you can see... we're still in the castle...I mean...it's the same place but what we saw right now is simply astonishing! The hill was transformed into a lake filled with black liquid and it's still burning hot in the surface!"

"This is a lake of fire!" Aspen said in a declaration. "I wonder when the flames will be smothered? It looks like it's going on forever," he asked in wonderment.

"I think the flame will go away after a few days. It's the black liquid that puzzled me," Jegun finally said.

Aspen stared at the lake, instead of clear water, the lake was filled with black liquid. "I think since the castle was burning in flames, then the black liquid composed of the ashes of the brunt things like the debris of the castle and burnt creatures. Surprisingly, there is no foul odor, only the smell of burnt woods and other things...no burnt flesh," he observed.

"Wait..." Jegun looked around their surrounding. "Where are the boys?" he asked.

"I think they returned to the island for a much-needed rest," Aspen answered.

"So, let's go to the island to find the boys and show them what happened to the final hour of Esmeralda's life," Jegun said.

"Okay, let's go!" Aspen responded.

The men teleport back to the island.

When they landed on the island, they found their comrades sleeping upstairs.

Ramza opened his eyes a bit and after noticing that it's just Aspen and Jegun, he closed his eyes again to sleep.

Jegun looked at Aspen. "Shh, let's just allow them to continue their sleep. As you can see I'm sleepy too. I'm longing for a good sleep. Why don't we just rest a bit and after we wake up, let's show the boys what happened to Esmeralda through the crystal ball, what do you think?" he suggested.

"Nice idea, Grandpa!" Aspen agreed, yawning. He found a good spot near Ramza and lowered himself on the floor and closed his eyes.

Jegun proceeds to his room and put the crystal ball and Esmeralda's clothing on the table located near the window. He lay his body down in the bed and closed his eyes to sleep.

Hours went by.

The men start to awaken one by one past noon at 3:00 in the afternoon when the sun was still shining brightly in the sky.

Jegun was also wide awake and left the room to announce to the boys that they already know what happened to Esmeralda. "Guys, good news," he said while looking at Zemeth, Ramza, and Agran's faces. "Wait...I'll get the crystal ball and the clothe," he said and went back to his bedroom.

When he returned he was already carrying the crystal ball and Esmeralda's clothing in his hands. He handed the crystal ball and clothe to Aspen. "You do it lad because you already memorized the incantation to activate this crystal ball," he said.

"Okay, I'll do it!" Aspen replied.

Everyone gathered around the crystal ball except for Jegun, he kept his distance in the corner, since he had seen the scene several times already.

Aspen rubbed Esmeralda's clothing on the crystal ball surface and recited the incantation in his mouth in silence. Done with the incantation and the rubbing of the clothe, Aspen commanded the ball. "Crystal ball, show us the last hour of Esmeralda!" he said.

A few minutes later, the crystal ball began to produce a shimmering light, and gradually shows Esmeralda's activity until she lies dead in the coffin due to the stab on her chest.

Everyone gasped in shock and horror.

"What a brave woman!" Ramza murmured.

"Oh, this is heartbreaking!" Agran said sadly.

Zemeth was still reeling from the shock. Ivy was inside the coffin along with Esmeralda! C-could it be that the women are buried somewhere in the hill that has recently transformed into a lake? That is one big possibility. "Guys, I think the coffin can be found somewhere in the bottom of that lake!" he said excitedly.

The men looked at each other.

"Are we going to swim in that black liquid? Who knows there are still live monsters waiting in the bottom and drown us!" Aspen said, his mouth twisted into a grimace, but he grinned afterward.

Everyone laugh.

"We will wait for a few days, maybe the water will change its colors and turned clear," Jegun told them.

"Hopefully so!" Ramza responded. "I don't mind jumping and finding the coffins in the bottom of that strange lake as long the water is clear, and I can see the surroundings around me," he said.

"Me too! I volunteer to jump in the water. Just tie my body with a rope just in case I'll have difficulty breathing in the water," Agran said.

Zemeth feels hopeful and energized. "Thanks for your interest in diving to the bottom of the lake to find the coffins, guys. We will dive together once the water began to clear," he said. "For now, let's keep observing that place for any major changes," he added.

"Ah, we need to return to the castle later or tonight because the king of elves will come back to bring us to the cave to visit our recovering friends," Jegun reminded them.

"Yes, of course! I'm looking forward to seeing our comrades again," Ramza replied. "We need to pay them a visit and asked if they need anything or if it's okay if we can bring back our friends here on the island, they can continue recovering here," he said.

"Alright, let's start cooking our lunch, boys. I'm feeling hungry!" Jegun said and went down the stairs to proceed to the kitchen. Agran and Ramza followed him.

Zemeth looked at Aspen and the crystal ball. "Bro, can you do it again? I want to see how it happened one more time, please," he requested.

Aspen smiled. "Sure, let's do it again!" he replied and grabbed Esmeralda's clothe and began the process again for Zemeth's benefit.