Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women
Chapter 1770

Jude looked at them, his breath steady now. "There was someone who wanted it for themselves. The union. The Source. They wanted to own it. And that… broke something."

"They planted imbalance," Rose said.

Sophie crossed her arms. "Is it still here?"

"Not here," Jude said. "But… coming back. Like an echo. A ripple."

Grace moved close. "Then what do we do?"

Jude looked at each of them, feeling the memory still humming in his bones.

"We hold the bond," he said. "We stay united. That's the only thing the island has ever asked of us. Connection. Openness. Truth."

Zoey slid her arm around Stella. "Then we don't break."

Scarlet smiled. "We bloom."

Jude took Lucy's hand. She took Sophie's. And the chain continued, one to another, until they were encircled again. The pulse of their joined hands lit the orb once more - faint, steady.

And somewhere in the trees, far away but growing closer, something stirred.

Watching.

Waiting.

The island wasn't finished with them yet.

The stirring came first as a hush, a subtle shift in the breath of the trees around them. It wasn't wind. It wasn't sound. It was the sensation of being watched - not with malice, but with a deep, ancient curiosity. The way the earth might observe the sprouting of a seed. The way a forgotten god might blink open its eyes for the first time in an age.

Jude turned slowly, the glow from the orb still fresh in his blood, his senses sharpened. Around him, the others tensed - not in fear, but in readiness. The bond had made them sensitive to the island's moods. And the island was no longer sleeping.

From the cavern's entrance came a pulse of gold, low and rhythmic, like a heartbeat echoing through soil and root. Rose stepped forward first, her eyes unfocused, head tilted. "Something is rising."

"Is it the scar?" Grace asked quietly.

Rose shook her head. "No. It's something older than that. A guardian."

The trees outside began to sway - not with wind, but in rhythm, leaning and creaking and groaning as if bending toward the earth's command. The vines at their trunks began to retract, revealing more carvings beneath: figures kneeling in circles, touching heads, hearts, hips. Union after union. Harmony carved in bark.

And then the vines began to part down the middle, making way.

A path. But not like before.

This was no invitation. This was a summons.

"We're being called," Jude said.

"Where does it lead?" Emma asked.

"To whatever still remembers," Lucy whispered.

The group moved without further question, stepping out of the cavern, the orb's glow trailing behind them like a memory. The forest opened with reverence now, not just light but scent changing - fragrant and heavy, like jasmine in bloom under moonlight. Every flower unfurled as they passed. Every tree bent its leaves slightly, shedding golden pollen that floated around them in a silent rain.

They moved deeper into the forest than ever before.

Hours may have passed - or minutes. Time folded strangely in this place. But at last the path widened into a circular glade unlike anything they'd seen before. The trees here were wider than houses, their canopies so high the sky above looked like a golden dome. In the center stood a massive stone, jagged like the heartstone but larger, rougher, darker.

Around it: twelve standing stones. Each carved with a different symbol.

Twelve.

Sophie reached out to one and drew her fingers along the smooth grooves. "They match our birth signs."

"No," Rose said, touching her own. "They match our selves."

The moment her fingers touched the stone, her body stiffened - and then relaxed. Her eyes fluttered closed.

"It's giving us names," she said. "Names we were before we were born."

"What?" Stella breathed.

Rose turned, her pupils glowing faintly gold. "This is where the First Circle met. Twelve souls. Twelve bonds. They joined the island. Gave themselves to it. Lived, loved, dreamed - and were reborn."

"And now us," Jude murmured.

Lucy stepped beside him, her voice trembling. "Do we take their place?"

"No," Rose whispered. "We are their place."

They stepped forward, one by one, touching the stones that called to them.

Zoey found hers with a confident smirk, her hand falling to it like it had always been hers.

Grace moved softly, her fingers trembling with awe.

Sophie hesitated… until Jude looked at her. And then she nodded and reached out.

As each hand met stone, a low hum filled the air. The golden light pulsed once, twice - and then a figure began to rise from the center stone. It wasn't solid, not quite. Not flesh. A projection of memory. Of spirit. A woman, tall and robed in flowing moss, her hair woven with feathers and stars.

"You have returned," she said, though her mouth didn't move. Her voice echoed in their minds. "The Circle completes again."

Jude stepped forward, unable to look away. "Who are you?"

"I am the Last of the First. The one who held the memory after the breach. I waited for you."

"You knew we would come?" Lucy asked.

"I dreamed you into being," the figure said. "And now, you must decide."

"Decide what?" Emma asked.

"Whether to end the cycle, or begin it anew."

The figure extended her hands, and from her palms bloomed two lights: one dark and cold, like obsidian; the other bright and warm, like the heartstone's glow.

"The First Circle broke," she said. "One among us tried to claim more. They fell into hunger. And that hunger still echoes in the places beyond."

"Beyond where?" Scarlet asked.

"Beyond this world," the figure whispered. "Where dreams give way to hunger. Where love cannot grow."

The lights in her palms pulsed faster.

"You are whole. Joined. Loved. You've awakened the island's breath. But the breach threatens it still. You can seal it forever - close the gate, end the echo - or…"

"Or what?" Natalie asked.

"You can open it."

The air stilled.

The figure's eyes met Jude's.