The next day.

Aspen woke up in a strange surrounding.

​​

His gaze sweeps around the area, which looks like a cave! The ceiling is not that high and there is a trickle of streams running inside the cave. There were beautiful formations of stalactites and stalagmites hanging in the ceiling.

Huh? How did he arrive here? Then he remembered that the leader of the butterfly landed on his head last night while he was sitting on the wooden bench looking at the flowers in the garden.

The multitude of butterflies bathed him with dazzling lights and that was all that he remembered.

He rose to his feet and began exploring the surrounding area. He saw five different passageways that lead to different chambers that were empty. The one thing he noticed though, the cave is not entirely covered with darkness, the whole area was lighted, and the light came from the stalactites and stalagmites filled with crystals that glistened in the dark.

Why did the butterflies dump him in this cave? What for?

He already searched the five passageways but he can't find the mouth of the cave! How can he get out from here?

Ah, no problem! He can teleport though!

He immediately activated the teleportation process in his mind...a few minutes later he's still not back in the mountain yet! Huh? What's going on? His power doesn't work on this cave!

Dang!

Then...how to leave this place? He will try his magical portal!

He raised the object above his head. "Magical portal, bring me back to the mountain!" he commanded.

A few minutes had passed, nothing happened! His magical portal isn't working!

Damn! Nothing works inside this cave! And no passageway that leads outside, he was trapped inside this cave!

He was panicking, he looked around the area, trying to see the butterflies that kidnap him but he saw nothing!

A few minutes later... the leader of the butterfly suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Don't be afraid, Aspen. I'll take you to see your friend," a male voice said.

Aspen looked at the butterfly, he was wrong to think that it was Immortal Vearah's spirit animal!

"Where is Esmeralda's coffin? Please bring me to her!" Aspen begged.

"Okay, your wish is granted!" the leader of the butterfly responded.

Suddenly the wall in front of Aspen opened and there's a passageway behind it.

"Enter the passageway, inside the chamber you can see your friend waiting for you," the butterfly said.

Aspen rushed towards the passageway and entered a chamber filled with glistening stalactites hanging in the ceiling and there in the corner... are two crystal coffins floating in crystal clear water! There was a dry path leading to the coffins. Aspen walked on the path and reached the coffins in no time.

Aspen's mouth widened. "Wow!"

On the first coffin was Esmeralda, the dagger was no longer on her chest, there was no trace of blood in the coffin.

On the second coffin was Immortal Vearah's body, preserved well.

Both women wore white clothes and they were sleeping radiantly, as if they were not dead at all, just sleeping and having a nice dream. The astonishing scene filled Aspen's heart with gladness.

This is a mind-blowing phenomenon!

Aspen glanced at the butterfly floating in the air. "Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Immortal Vearah's spirit animal," the butterfly replied.

"What is your plan with the coffins? I mean with the two women?" Aspen asked curiously.

"We are trying to find the remains of their primordial spirits that were scattered everywhere. Once we find them all, we will try to revive them. As for now, we can only preserve their bodies in this crystal coffin. Their bodies won't decay no matter how many years will pass," the butterfly explained.

"But how you were able to revived Ivy?" Aspen asked.

"Ivy's case was different. When she entered the crystal coffin she was not dead, she was just sleeping, I was able to find her soul wandering around the lake, lost in the mist. After I got hold of her soul, I reconciled her soul with her body right away. That's why she was resurrected on the very same day you recovered her from the cave. While Esmeralda and Vearah's body and soul undergoes death, their body remained intact but their primordial souls were scattered everywhere. So we have to find them one by one," the butterfly gave Aspen a lengthy explanation.

"Thank you for the explanation, I understood now," Aspen said, feeling grateful for the info. "How long can you find their primordial soul?" he added.

"There is no time frame, it might take many years or it may take forever," the butterfly replied.

"How will we know that the two women were finally revived?" asked Aspen.

"You will see them back together in the mountain where Immortal Vearah used to live," the butterfly responded.

"Is there anything I can help you to speed up the process?" Aspen offered.

"No. Just leave everything to us. Gathering primordial souls are a delicate matter. My armies of butterflies are the only ones who can complete the task without mistake," the butterfly said. "I'll give you one whole day today to be with your friends, and tomorrow morning, I will bring you back to the mountain," the butterfly said and flew away.

Aspen was left alone in the chamber with the two crystal coffins. A bright smile appeared on his lips. He was glad that all his questions regarding Esmeralda's disappearance and Immortal Vearah's mysterious death finally got an answer.

As he watched both the coffins, he hopes that the two women will regain their lost primordial spirits so that they can return to the land of the living. It would be a happy reunion by then.

He spent a few minutes watching the coffins and later on went to the dry area of the chamber and rest for a while.

Hours went by.

Aspen was getting hungry, his stomach that was already used to human food was grumbling. He looked around him...he can't find any food. "Butterfly, please help me...I'm feeling hungry!" he shouted.

A few minutes later, a basketball of fruits appeared in front of him along with a clay water jug.

Aspen smiled. "Thank you for the fruits and the water!" he said to no one in particular and picked up the red apple and began eating it nonstop.

Hours went by.

He just sits in the corner, watching the coffins, and sometimes he would get up and looked at the women closely, then return to the dry corner again, eating fruits.

He repeated the same activity the whole day.

There was no way of telling if it's already day or night inside the cave. But Aspen already feels sleepy, he found a comfortable area inside the chamber to sleep, and lie down on the solid ground.

He closed his eyes to sleep.

...

The next time he opened his eyes, he was already lying on the wooden bench situated in the flower garden, outside Immortal Vearah's house.

Aspen sits upright and gets up from the bench, stretching his body. "Good morning!" he greeted the flowers.

Ella found Aspen in that position. "Aspen, you're here all along? Where did you sleep last night?" she inquired in confusion.

"Oh, that... I'm sorry I wasn't able to inform you guys that I was kidnapped by the butterflies last night and they brought me to a cave. And guess what I saw in the cave-?" Aspen said.

Ella's brows furrowed.

"Ah, never mind. Let's go and find the others, I will tell you everything!" he said.

They went back to the house.

Aspen, Ivy, Kate, and Ella settled in the living room. He was about to tell them what happened last night but he changed his mind at the last minute. The folks on the island also deserve to know everything he saw inside the cave. "Ah, girls, just wait for a moment okay. I will bring the guys here so that I can tell you everything at once without repeating myself over and over again," he said and rose to his feet.

"Where are you going?" asked Kate.

"I'll get the boys from the island, just wait for a few minutes," he said and exited the house.

He teleported into the island.

And when he arrived at the place, he gathered the men to tell them the good news. "Guys, I know already what happened to Esmeralda and Immortal Vearah!" he announced.

"Really-?" Jegun asked, his eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Yeah, but let's go to the mountain first. I will tell you everything there!" Aspen said.

"Okay, let's go!" Ramza and Agran said in unison.

Ramza activated the magical portal and the neon opening showed up, they entered it and disappeared from the island.

They arrived at the mountain and entered the house. They gathered in the living room.

"Friends, what you're about to see will blow your mind away! Just wait for a few seconds while I meditate to bring the scenes alive to make everything crystal clear for your eyes only," Aspen said with a smile. He settled in the corner to ready himself.

Aspen sit up straight on the corner and began meditating.

A few minutes later, a blue mist appeared in the air originating from Aspen's head.

Then the scenes unfolded...starting from the flower garden when the butterflies bathed Aspen with dazzling lights. Then there was total darkness, and the next scene was inside the cave... Aspen was having a conservation with the butterfly, watching the coffins, and so on.

The mist disappeared after a few minutes because it has nothing to show anymore.

The viewing is over!

The group was able to listen attentively to the conversation between Aspen and the butterfly and they finally understood why Esmeralda has to disappear and what happened to Immortal Vearah.

Aspen opened his eyes. He looked around him. "Did you see it, guys?" he asked them.

Everyone nodded their heads.

Jegun cleared his throat. "I hope the women's primordial spirit will be gathered soon enough so that the women can come back to life and be with us," he said.

"Well...that's better than nothing. We got many of our questions answered. Let's just hope for the best," Ramza said, feeling optimistic.

Kate's heart was filled with gladness. "I'm happy to see that Granny Esmeralda and Immortal Vearah's body were just sleeping, they're not dead yet! There's still a big chance they can come back to life!" she said in a jubilant mood.

"There's still hope after all!" Ella exclaimed joyfully.

And they all agreed with Ella's statement from the bottom of their hearts.