Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women
Chapter 1228

Chapter 1228: Chapter 1228

Jude looked at them, their eyes shining, faces radiant.

He nodded.

"We go together."

And as one, the Thirteen Flame stepped through.

The world beyond the threshold wasn’t what any of them expected. It wasn’t a tunnel or a portal or a sudden shift into another dimension. It was light - pure, soft, golden. Not blinding but embracing. It didn’t burn or sting. It wrapped around them like warm water, dissolving the air from their lungs and replacing it with something deeper, fuller. They didn’t walk; they floated. Their feet touched nothing, yet their bodies moved forward as if guided by the song they had created. Time became irrelevant. Jude couldn’t tell how long they had been inside, but he wasn’t afraid. None of them were. They held hands, arms linked, breaths steady. Even Rose, whose eyes often flickered with mystery and mischief, now looked peaceful, her lips parted slightly as she gazed ahead.

Then, like a breath releasing, the light receded. They stepped onto solid ground again. But it wasn’t the island they knew. Not quite. The air was still sweet and heavy, the sky a familiar blue, but the trees were taller, older. Their trunks bore spiraled markings that pulsed faintly as if the forest itself were alive. Beneath their feet, the soil was soft and glowing faintly, laced with threads of silver. Flowers bloomed in spirals, their petals shifting colors in slow, mesmerizing rhythms.

Sophie took Jude’s hand. "Where are we?"

Jude turned slowly, taking in the vastness around them. "Still the island," he said quietly. "But... another part. A hidden part."

Susan walked ahead, arms outstretched, eyes wide with wonder. "It feels like it’s been waiting for us."

Natalie knelt beside a glowing plant, her fingers brushing the petals. "This wasn’t here before. None of this."

"No," Zoey said, scanning the treeline. "It feels old. Sacred."

Layla ran her fingers along the bark of one of the trees. "It’s watching us. Not like before... not judging or measuring. Just... welcoming."

Lucy spun in a slow circle, her eyes closed, arms open. "It knows us now."

They began to walk, slowly, in no rush, led by instinct more than destination. As they moved deeper into this new part of the island, the environment continued to respond. Vines coiled into steps where the ground sloped. Roots retracted so they wouldn’t trip. Leaves shifted to catch sunlight in a way that cast golden beams along their path.

Eventually, they reached a clearing, but this one was unlike any before. It wasn’t wide or dramatic. It was intimate. Circular, enclosed by trees whose branches formed a loose dome overhead. In the center, a shallow pool of water shimmered, its surface smooth as glass, reflecting not the sky - but them.

Their reflections weren’t normal. Each one showed not just their bodies, but something deeper. Jude’s reflection shimmered with soft gold, his chest glowing where the watcher’s spiral once marked him. Sophie’s reflection carried threads of silver light lacing her arms. Rose’s burned a deep crimson at her core, like a living flame. Each of them had colors, movements, glimmers that shifted and pulsed.

Stella gasped as she saw herself. "We’re... different."

"No," said Grace, her voice hushed. "We’re just being shown what we already are."

The pool rippled suddenly, not from wind or movement, but from sound. A hum, low and familiar. Their song.

They all looked at each other. Then, one by one, they stepped forward, kneeling around the pool. The moment they did, the reflections shifted again - not just individual glows, but threads, weaving between them. Gold to silver. Crimson to violet. Green to blue. They were all connected, glowing with a lattice of light that moved with their breathing, their thoughts.

Jude reached for Sophie’s hand. The thread between them pulsed brighter. Rose reached across to Lucy, their thread burning hot and sharp. One by one, each of them clasped hands, the circle closing.

The hum deepened.

And the water in the pool began to rise - not splashing or bubbling, but lifting in a perfect column of liquid light.

From within it, a form began to emerge.

At first, it had no features - just a silhouette of pure light, arms extended, hovering above the pool. But slowly, it began to shift. Faces flickered across its surface. Hands. Mouths. Hair. It wasn’t one being - it was many.

And then it spoke - not aloud, but into their minds.

You are flame.

The voice wasn’t human, but it wasn’t alien. It was familiar. Intimate. As if it knew each of them deeper than anyone ever could.

You are no longer the watched. You are the watchers. The stewards. The song you made has been heard. The island recognizes you. You may now enter the Heart.

Jude tried to speak, but the voice interrupted gently.

Do not ask where. You have always been moving toward it. The spiral was the beginning. This is the unfolding. The fire does not consume - it shapes.

The light-being extended one hand toward Jude. He reached out without hesitation.

Their fingers touched.

And then the being collapsed into light again, drawn into the pool with a ripple that stilled instantly.

The pool darkened, and in its surface, a new symbol appeared.

A new glyph.

Unlike the ones before.

Not drawn.

Not etched.

Gifted.

Sophie whispered, "The Heart..."

"We’re close," said Emma, standing slowly.

"We need to go back," Zoey added. "We need to prepare."

Jude looked at each of them. Their eyes were steady. Focused. Connected.

They made their way back toward the threshold, the way opening before them. The light still shimmered around the archway when they stepped through, returning to the beach just as the sun crested the horizon.

Everything felt quieter. Not in absence, but in expectation.

Back at their forest shelters, they regrouped. The day passed not in adventure, but in closeness. They bathed together in the river, hands lingering more than usual. They gathered food with laughter and soft kisses exchanged between branches.