Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women
Chapter 1701

Chapter 1701: Chapter 1701

Rose rose beside him. "We’ve accepted the gift. Now we become its guardians."

"And teachers," Stella said, stretching like a feline. "We can’t keep this to ourselves forever."

Zoey smirked. "We’d have to find someone first."

Susan looked thoughtful. "Or someone might find us."

They stood together, still bare, still glowing faintly in the dawn.

"I want to see the coast," Grace said. "Where we began. Where we came from."

"I want to see the mountain," Emma added. "The one that was always too far away."

"We were afraid," Rose said. "Now we aren’t."

Jude took a breath. "Then we explore. Together."

It wasn’t a declaration. It was a vow.

They packed what little they needed - fruit, dried herbs, waterskins shaped from woven leaves. Zoey kept her blade strapped to her thigh, more from habit than fear. Lucy carried a small pouch of golden moss, pressed close to her chest like a talisman.

They moved again, this time without hesitation. The island opened in new ways - paths that hadn’t been there before, trees that shifted not to hinder but to guide.

When they reached the coast, the tide was low, revealing tidal pools full of glowing shells and tiny, strange creatures. The cliff where Rose had once fallen was now covered in golden vines. And at the base of the hill, near where they had first arrived so long ago, stood a stone they had never seen.

Tall. Smooth. Carved with runes that pulsed faintly in the sun.

Jude approached it, heart thundering.

The runes flared at his presence.

And then the stone cracked.

Not broken.

Opening.

Inside was a hollow - a space shaped for a hand.

Without thinking, he pressed his palm into it.

The sky rippled. The tide surged.

And from the horizon, a new island began to rise.

The sea surged outward in concentric rings, as if the world itself had exhaled. They all stared in silence as the horizon distorted - an impossible shimmer, like sunlight bending in liquid glass - and then something broke through. An outline. A shape. Dark at first, jagged, then glimmering with golden veins that pulsed in time with the heartstone they had left behind.

An island was rising.

Not erupting, not bursting. Emerging. As if it had always been there beneath the waves, hidden until someone knew how to ask for it. Water slid from cliffs that seemed carved by ancient hands. Trees unfurled like dancers shaking off centuries of slumber. A river sparkled down its slope, glowing faintly, tracing the new land like veins on a body.

Jude didn’t lower his hand. The stone beneath it pulsed like a second heart, one that was no longer just his - it belonged to all of them.

"It’s answering," Rose breathed behind him.

Zoey stepped forward, her arm brushing his. "Is that... another island?"

Lucy tilted her head. "Or is it still this one, growing?"

Emma whispered, "It’s calling us."

The new landmass glowed brighter now, the golden threads that ran along its hills and cliffs echoing the same glow that shimmered faintly in their skin. The sea was already beginning to calm, the island settling into place as though it had always been part of the world.

Natalie turned to Jude. "You opened it. You made it."

"No," he said softly, withdrawing his hand from the stone. "We did."

The moment his hand left the hollow, the runes on the monolith flared once more before dimming to a gentle glow. The stone was silent again - but changed, somehow. Watching. Waiting.

Scarlet let out a breathy laugh. "How far is it?"

"Close," Stella said. "I can feel it. Like a pressure behind my eyes. Like I already know the path."

"We should go," Grace said.

"Now?" Susan asked. "What if it’s not ready for us?"

Rose stepped beside Jude and took his hand. "It is. Or it wouldn’t have risen."

He nodded. "We don’t have to stay forever. We just... need to see it. Know it."

Sophie looked from the new island to the others, her brow furrowed but her eyes steady. "We go as one."

No one disagreed.

By mid-morning, they had returned to the camp, gathered supplies, slung woven packs over their bare shoulders. They wore only what the island had given them - simple wraps, soft cloths, vines shaped into belts and straps. Their skin still glowed faintly. Their bodies moved in rhythm.

The journey to the shore took less time than they remembered. The island bent gently now, the paths smoothing out beneath their steps. They reached the beach and found something new waiting for them - something resting where the water met the sand.

A boat.

Crafted not of wood or metal but of woven vines, hardened by salt and time. Its shape was elegant, almost organic, like it had grown rather than been built. Along its rim were symbols matching the heartstone, and in its center, soft moss lined the floor like an invitation.

"No one made that," Lucy murmured.

"It made itself," Zoey said.

"It knew we’d need it," Rose added.

Jude stepped into the boat first. It rocked slightly but didn’t tip. One by one, the others joined him, the vessel stretching and adjusting to accommodate them all, until they lay close, entwined, their bodies pressing against one another as they set off toward the new island.

The boat moved without oars, without sail. The sea carried them like a lover’s hand guiding a body in the dark. The air was warm, humming. And in the distance, the new island grew closer with every breath.

It wasn’t long.

Less than an hour.

They drifted into a narrow inlet where the water glowed softly beneath them, lighting the hull from below like a cradle of stars. The boat kissed the shore and stilled.

They stepped out, barefoot onto golden sand.

The moment Jude’s foot touched the beach, the island reacted.

The earth beneath him pulsed.

Flowers burst open in a line leading away from the water. The trees ahead swayed, not from wind but from awareness.