Inside of Jagara's castle was very huge. It also seems to be a bit empty...too empty. 'Something here just doesn't seem right.' Esmeralda thought.
"Everywhere we go in this stupid castle, I feel even more uneasy." Tsume said.
"It's not too late to go home." Kiba teased.
"Tch…you think this is going to scare me?"
Kiba smirked. "Guess not."
"I can feel every stick of hair standing up. Makes me feel excited even more. What about you, Esmeralda?" Tsume asked.
"Um...I kinda feel..."
"Scared?" Kiba asked.
Esmeralda moved her head side to side. "No...Not scared...just a bit...indifferent..."
Tsume turned his attention to her. "How so?"
"Um...I don't know how to explain it."
"Hm..." Tsume sniffed the air for something. "Hey, I smell something..."
Before they could say anything, the walls started to come down which made a whole new passage and the new walls separated each of them. Esmeralda banged on the wall that was right in front of her and blocking her away from Tsume and Kiba.
"Tsume! Kiba! What is going on?!" Esmeralda shouted as she kept banging on the wall but it was no use. "The only way I can meet with them is by taking this new path." Esmeralda said to herself before she started to run from her left side.
From that moment, she could feel the flower's scent towards her direction. 'Cheza is bound to be here somewhere...but where?'
After running for a while around the castle, Esmeralda didn't know where she ended up at. The only thing she does know is that she was following Cheza's flower scent and the scent led her to a room right in front of her. Slowly, she opened the door and in front of the door were Jagara's troops.
"Has the scent tricked me to come to this room?" She asked herself before shrugging her shoulders and said. "Well whatever the case, I need to get away from them."
Jagara's troops start to use their weapons to capture her, but Esmeralda quickly ran away. Every corner she turned to, they're there.
'This is not good. Jagara has trapped me.' She thought.
She quickly turned back and found a door that lead to an empty room so she went in. She locked the door behind her and started to slowly walk across the room to the other side of the door. It was then she realized that the room had a huge glass container that is like a huge museum. She looked through the glass and gasped at the sight.
Inside each one had a stuffed dead wolf. Esmeralda's body started to shake in fear before she realized that each of the dead wolves had a collar with the same looking symbols. It almost looked like the same kind of collar Hige had.
"This is starting to get really weird..." She mumbled before she heard a small noise coming from the other end of the room and positioned herself to attack. After a few seconds, she saw a familiar body within the dark shadows and it was Tsume. She relaxed her body in relief.
"Tsume!" She called.
Tsume turned to the sound of her voice. "Esmeralda? There you are."
She quickly ran to him and at first she was going to hug him but then she backed away. She didn't want to make things awkward. "What is this room? It's giving me the creeps."
"I don't know myself. Let's hurry, we need to find Kiba." Tsume grabbed her hand and was heading towards the door she just went through, but Esmeralda stopped him.
"We can't go through there." She said.
Tsume looked back at her and asked, "Why not?"
"Jagara's troops are out there. They were chasing me."
"Are you hurt?"
"No...Let's go through that door."
She quickly opened the door but her foot rests short for Jagara's troops were right in front of them; they were trapped. Soon Jagara's troops surrounded them and asked for their surrender. Before anyone of them could respond, a huge cage landed right on top of Esmeralda and Tsume which trapped them even more. All they could do was just to put their hands up and Jagara's troops led them to where they kept their 'prisoners'.
Tsume and Esmeralda were separated in different cells. As Tsume was banging around to break free, Esmeralda just sat there, thinking about why she couldn't sense them coming...she let her guard down because she was with Tsume. She feels that she was a failure as a wolf. She was lost in thought that she didn't realize Tsume was calling her name. "Esmeralda! Listen!"
She looked up and said, "Sorry. I was...thinking..."
"Esmeralda, listen, we need to get out of here!" Tsume couldn't finish his sentence because the soldiers came in with someone else and tossed him in the cell. She noticed that it was Toboe.
"Toboe!" Esmeralda called out in shock.
"Toboe! Where's Hige?!" Tsume exclaimed.
"I don't know. We got separated...where's Kiba?" Toboe asked.
"We lost him too. He should be somewhere in the castle..." Esmeralda said.
Everyone just sat there in their cells, thinking of a way to get out and how to save Cheza. Sooner or later, Esmeralda heard a familiar voice just across from her. "Is that you...Esmeralda?"
She looked up to see Hubb. "H-Hubb...what are you doing here?" She asked.
"I was captured here with Cheza."
Esmeralda stood up in shock. "What?! Where is she?"
"I don't know. They knock me out when they took her away..."
"But...where's Cher?"
"I don't know. I think she is with this girl...all blue..."
"She must be with Blue..." Esmeralda mumbled before she shouted, "Tsume! Toboe! We need to get out of here now!" With that said, they all tried to break the cell bars but they can't seem to break through.
Soon Hubb asked them a question. "You guys...are you wolves?"
Esmeralda, Tsume, and Toboe each gave in no response. Giving him no response gave him the answer that they are wolves. Oyaji just sat there with nothing to say but have a slight of shock on his face.
Suddenly, they heard a painful song. "You guys hear that...it's Cheza's singing." Toboe said.
"I hear it too." Tsume said.
"She's crying…" Esmeralda mumbled.
By now, everyone had stopped trying to break free and just sat at their cells.
"Esmeralda...what do you want to do once we find paradise?" Tsume asked.
"I don't know…I guess I'll find a mate after I get comfortable in paradise. Then again, I'll probably never find one; I mean I'm not that important or special."
"Yes you are! You're important to us...especially me." She was blushing to what Tsume was saying.
If only she could see what his face expression was to saying those words.
Soon the lights started to go out and Esmeralda saw that Hubb has an expression of 'I have an idea' look.
"Hey guys, it seems that our locks are using electric to keep us in. So with the lights going out, you can knock through the bars!" The wolves gave it a try as the lights were going out. With a success, they broke free and finally got out of the cells.
Hige showed up right next to Esmeralda and he has a cool look right on his face. Esmeralda noticed that there was something suspicious about him.
"Hige! It's good to see you!" Toboe exclaimed.
"Hey guys...lets hurry up and get out of here." Hige said.
"And where are you going to take us?" Tsume asked.
"I don't know."
"Tch...you were the one who led us to this trap in the damn castle. Esmeralda and I spotted stuffed wolves...wolves that look like your kind...and where's your collar?"
"My collar was just a number…"
"And so you casually walked your way here as if nothing happened? Did you know that your kind has sold themselves to Jagara and then gets killed!?" Tsume shouted.
"Well then, why don't you kill me then!?"
Esmeralda got between them and shouted, "Stop fighting!"
"Hige what is wrong with you?" Toboe asked.
"What is wrong with me? Everything! I need to stop this once and for all!"
Hige started running and Toboe and Tsume went to chase after him. Esmeralda was about to run after them but she realized Hubb was still locked in his cell. So she quickly knocked them down and pulled him out of there.
"Thanks..." He said.
"You're welcome. Go and find Cher." She quickly ran and caught up with the others.
Hige has led them to a huge room in which they assume is the main room and from there, they see Jagara and Darcia fighting; Esmeralda noticed that Jagara looked just like that beautiful woman see found at Darcia's castle.
Seeing the both of them gives Esmeralda the sense of hatred but then she noticed Cheza with Cher. The fight scene with Darcia and Jagara ended with Darcia on the ground unconscious. Suddenly, Hige ran towards her and tires to kill Jagara but she stabbed a sword through his shoulder and Hige is on the ground covered in a pool of blood. They quickly ran to his aid and pulled the sword out of his wound.
"Hige! Are you okay?!"Toboe asked.
"I need...to stop...her..." Hige breathed out.
Jagara stood up and said to them, "You foolish wolves..."
Esmeralda got so mad at Jagara tried to go after her but Kiba showed up out of the blue and pushed Esmeralda aside to fight her instead. Knowing that Kiba is here, and not dead she went back to Hige's side. Tsume went to where Cheza is and grabbed her from Cher and ran back to them. The fight continued on until Esmeralda saw that Darcia has stabbed her own sword through Jagara's heart. From there, Jagara is pronounced dead.
Esmeralda couldn't tell whether Darcia is a wolf or a human. She didn't know what he is...but he did kill Jagara.
"What are you..." Kiba asked in anger.
"I'm neither a human nor a wolf. I'm what I was chosen for." Darcia started to walk away.
Esmeralda had come to her senses that she wanted to kill Darcia, but she gave him a chance to walk away.
He quickly turned to her direction and stared at her. "Young wolf...I will see you the next time I see you...that is if you are still alive." After he said that, Darcia disappeared and everyone was standing in a group.
"We're all together...again..." Esmeralda said.
"We finally got Cheza back." Toboe said.
"Let's get out of here..."
Soon Jagara's castle started to shake up but not only did the castle shake up, the whole city is having an earthquake.
"Hurry! I promise Blue that I would meet up with her!" Hige shouted before they quickly headed out of the castle.
With Jagara gone and dead, there is still Paradise to reach to and there is also Darcia whom Esmeralda wants to...defeat or kill. 'I hope we can reach to Paradise in time.' Esmeralda thought.