Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women
Chapter 1690 - 1689.1

Chapter 1690: Chapter 1689.1

Jude stood and nodded, brushing the water from his thighs. "Let’s go."

They moved together as they had before, dressed in what little the island offered - woven strands of vine, silk-soft leaves, the occasional wrap of fur or bark. The sun climbed higher, but the air stayed temperate, thick with floral scents and drifting light. The path they followed wasn’t a path at all - more of a feeling, a subtle pull through the woods, as if the forest gently pushed aside branches before them.

Eventually, they arrived.

The glade was exactly as the vision had shown: the circle of black stones hummed with faint golden runes, and the hollow tree stood at its center, open like a mouth or a wound. Inside, faint light pulsed in rhythm with their steps.

Sophie shivered. "It looks like it’s breathing."

"It is," Rose whispered. "It’s waiting."

Jude stepped toward it, and the pulsing grew stronger.

Natalie touched his arm. "Are you sure?"

He nodded. "It showed me. It’s not a threat. It’s... a passage."

He entered the hollow tree, the golden light blooming brighter around him. Inside, it felt warmer than the air outside - more alive, like he’d stepped into something’s heartbeat. The others followed, one by one, until all twelve stood within the tree’s open core.

The light began to rise.

It curled around their legs, their waists, their shoulders - like breath, like memory, like love.

Then it rushed upward.

And the world fell away.

No sound.

No weight.

Just sensation.

And then - sight.

Not of the island.

Of another island.

Floating.

Drifting.

Surrounded by stars, not sea.

A second island, identical in shape but inverted, suspended in space like a reflection turned real. There were no people there, but there was movement - light blooming along its surface, patterns forming, resembling the marks on their skin. Jude felt himself reaching toward it - not physically, but spiritually, like his heartbeat now had an echo in that other world.

"It’s us," Lucy whispered beside him, though her lips hadn’t moved. "That island is us."

"The future," Rose added.

"No," said Emma. "The mirror."

Then the light surged, and they were back.

Back in the tree.

Back in the glade.

Jude fell to his knees, gasping, and Lucy caught him, arms wrapping around his chest.

The others dropped slowly to the mossy ground, breathless, stunned, glowing more brightly than before.

Grace was the first to speak. "I think we saw what we’re becoming."

Sophie blinked. "You mean... evolving?"

"Connected," Rose said. "Reflected."

Susan knelt and pressed her palm to the moss. "It’s not just us anymore. That other island... it’s tied to this one."

Natalie moved beside Jude and rested her head on his shoulder. "Then what we do here changes it. Shapes it."

He nodded slowly. "And maybe... it can shape us back."

Zoey laughed lightly, shakily. "This is insane."

"Beautiful," Lucy said, smiling. "But yes. Insane."

They spent hours in the glade, watching the golden runes slowly dim as the tree’s pulse quieted. When they finally made their way back to the river, they did so with new reverence.

Back in their sanctuary, as night fell again, they lay tangled together, exhausted but energized, overwhelmed but grounded.

Jude sat up, Lucy curled beside him, her hand on his stomach. "We’re not alone," he whispered.

"No," she agreed, her voice a lullaby. "But we never were."

And above them, the stars shifted.

Not because the world turned.

But because it listened.

The stars pulsed softly overhead, as if beating in time with the rhythm of the island’s breath. Jude lay still, Lucy’s leg draped over his, her arm loosely slung across his chest. Around them, the others were quiet but not asleep, their bodies relaxed in the mossy warmth, their minds filled with the same sense of wonder and slow-burning anticipation. The vision of the mirrored island hadn’t faded - it clung to each of them like mist, trailing through their thoughts, stirring questions too vast for words.

Jude tilted his head and saw Rose watching him. Her golden eyes shimmered faintly in the moonlight, calm and unreadable.

"What was that place?" he whispered.

Rose rose onto one elbow, her fingers brushing the inside of Lucy’s thigh before sliding across Jude’s stomach. "Another layer. Another possibility. It wasn’t a future or a past. It was... potential."

He turned slightly to face her, careful not to disturb Lucy’s sleep. "Ours?"

"Ours," she said. "If we’re brave enough to keep opening. To keep becoming."

Emma stirred then, stretching her arms above her head, her body arched like a dancer in the moonlight. "Are you saying that place wasn’t real?"

"It’s as real as we are," Rose replied, her fingers curling lightly over Jude’s hip. "But its door only opens when we’re ready to become something more."

Stella sat up too, brushing moss from her cheek. "Then what’s the next step?"

Jude’s eyes flicked toward the heartstone’s distant glow, still faintly visible through the trees. "We’ve awakened the island. And now we’ve seen what lies beyond it. That can’t be coincidence."

"No," Sophie said, already standing, her silhouette sharp in the moonlight. "It’s a summons."

"A test," Zoey added, joining her. "That island we saw... it was empty. It was waiting."

"But for what?" Natalie asked.

"For us," Rose said. "To choose."

Susan frowned. "Choose what?"

"To go," Jude said.

A long silence followed. The idea hung between them, heavy and undeniable. They all felt it. The shift. The pull.

Lucy sat up slowly, blinking sleep from her eyes. "You mean... leave this island?"

Jude nodded. "Or maybe just expand. Explore what we’ve become."

"But how?" Grace asked softly.

Sophie turned toward the trees, toward the river, toward the heart of the island. "The island always shows us how when we’re ready."

Jude took a breath, then stood. The others followed one by one, reluctant but eager, scared but willing. They walked in silence, the golden moss glowing faintly beneath their feet, guiding them not back to the heartstone - but past it.