There she is...

Lying on the floor was her grandmother, her feet and hands were bound with shackles. Her appearance was untidy. Her white hair covered her face in disarray. Mende's heart was bleeding after witnessing her grandmother's pitiful condition.

"W-w...wa...w...water ...please...give me w...water... I'm t...thirsty..." Sitas moaned, feeling so weak and tired.

Mende rushed to the jug of water above the table and filled the glass with water. She went to her grandma's side. "Here's the water... Grandma!" she said and pressed the glass to her mouth.

Sitas drinks the water greedily, devouring it in just a few seconds. She opened her eyes slowly and squinted at the girl's face. "Granddaughter, is this really you? Are you real? I'm not dreaming aren't I?" she asked happily.

"Yes, Grandma! I'm here to take you out from this awful place!" Mende said.

Sitas looked at the door. "Be careful with that old man! He's full of tricks! He can't be trusted!" she warned her granddaughter.

"I know, that's why I froze him and suppressed his power, he is harmless now," Mende answered.

"But child, that old man has a wife and son named Rigor, they're powerful and cunning! They could be outside waiting to attack you!" Sitas warned her.

Mende went to the window and scanned the surroundings. She saw no one!

She went back to her grandmother's side. She waved her hand all over the shackles destroying them instantly, she repeated the process on her grandma's feet.

Her grandmother is finally free from the shackles!

She holds her grandmother's arms gently, about to teleport away from the place, but the old man spoke.

"Wait! Little girl! You already freed your grandma, how about my antidote!? Give it to me first before you go away!" the old man demanded.

Mende opened her palm, she looked at the white pellet in her hand. She put it on the floor near the old man. "If you are lucky, you will regain your power back. After one hour, the pellet will dissolve and no longer effective. You should get it before it will evaporate to nothingness!" she said and went back to her grandmother.

She grasped her grandmother's arm and initiated the teleportation process in her mind.

Mende and Sitas vanished from the area.

The old man was cursing, "Damn that girl! How dare she overpowered me! And where is my wife! Just when I needed her the most, she's nowhere to be seen!" he grumbled.

He looked at the white pellet on the floor. If the girl was telling the truth and no one comes to his aide after one hour, then the antidote will dissolve, and his power will not be restored!

"Anyone there! Wife, where are you! Come here quick! Help meeeeeeeeee!" he shouted desperately.

"Wife, where are you? Helppppppppp meeeeeee!" he repeated.

Minutes went by, still, no one comes to his aide!

The old man stared at the white pellet hopelessly.

He's doomed!

Meanwhile...

Mende didn't bring her grandmother to the cave, instead, she brought her to their old home in the forest. "Grandma, let's rest here for a while. I'll cook some edible food for you so that you can eat and rest for a while before we will go home. Sister Ebony will be ecstatic to see you again. Then I will clean you a little bit. Okay?" she said.

Sitas nods her head. "Thank you for saving me, child," she said in a grateful voice.

"I'm so sorry that I came so late, Grandma. Ebony won't allow me to come here. She put the brown pellet in my mouth to suppress my power. But one day she finally let her guard down and give me the white pellet. And I also stole a few of them. It's handy for me when I saved you earlier," she explained. "I'll cook something..." she said and rose to her feet, going to the kitchen.

Mende exited the door of the kitchen leading to the garden to get some veggies and make a soup. She was picking up leafy vegetables when the fragrance of the rose drifted into her nostrils.

She was thinking for a moment, the scent was familiar to her...where did she smell that scent before?

Her brows furrowed in concentration.

Ah, she remembered it now, she smelled that fragrance in the abandoned manor! Why can she still smell that particular fragrance here?

Oh, no!

"Grandma!" She ran towards the door of the kitchen, entered the house, and rushed to the tiny living room.

Her eyes widened in shock to see a stranger standing in the middle of the room, an old woman to be precise! But where is her grandma?

She no longer saw her anywhere in the house....wait...why do the visitor and her grandma wear the same clothing?

Shiit!

Unless...

A sudden realization hit her hard! She was tricked by this old woman! She's not her grandmother at all! She's an impostor!

She initiated the teleportation in her mind wanting to go back to the abandoned manor to find her grandmother but she failed to teleport! She looked at the old woman, raw fear flashed in her eyes. Damn!

The old woman grinned triumphantly while enjoying the raw fear flashing on the girl's face. "Surprised! You suppressed my husband's power and now how does it feel when I did the same to you? Are you afraid little girl?" she said. She waved her hand and the girl crumbled to her knees. "Have a taste of your own medicine, little girl!" she said, laughing hard.

Mende shut her eyes. Damn! How can she be so stupid! This woman used some kind of magic to alter her appearance, copy her grandmother's image, and disguised herself as her. Even the sound of their voices was the same! She failed to discover her disguise. She was deceived, and now she was awaiting death in the face of the enemy. "A-are you the wife of that old man?" she asked.

"Yes!" the old woman answered.

"What have you done to me?" Mende asked.

"When you smell the fragrance in the manor and until we arrived here, the fragrance is already working inside your system, slowly suppressing your power inside. What you did to my husband I did the same to you. Now you two are even!" replied the old woman.

"W-what are you going to do to me?" Mende asked worriedly.

The old woman grinned in amusement. "I have three plans for you! Would you like to hear about them?"

"Tell me!" Mende said bravely.

"I would initially want to kill you, but since you leave the antidote for my husband then I'll be a little bit merciful for you. I'll let you choose your fate. You have three choices. I will turn you into a frog. I will turn you into a lizard. Or I will turn you into an old woman. I'll give you five minutes to decide and after the time is up, if you haven't chosen anything yet, then I will turn you into a frog!" the old woman said.

Mende looked at the enemy, based on the serious expression on her face, she was not joking. She has to decide fast! Between the three choices, being an old woman is the wisest choice for her. If she is turned into a lizard or a frog, she can be eaten by larger animals. Powerless and unable to defend herself, she won't stand a chance in the jungle!

In the human world, people respect older people. Maybe there is still a place for her somewhere. She no longer plans to return to her sister, she's probably mad at her right now. She looked at the old woman. "I already have a decision. Can I ask you a question first?" she asked.

"Go on, what is it?" the old woman said.

Mende swallowed the lump in her throat. "Is my grandmother still alive?" she asked, bracing to hear the answer to her question.