Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women

Jude's eyes narrowed. "You're saying you have it too?"

Elias nodded. "I do."

Jude took a step closer. "Then what happened to you? You disappeared. You left."

Elias' gaze didn't waver. "I didn't leave. I was taken."

Jude felt the air shift around them, like the very world was listening. His mind raced, trying to process the words. "Taken? By who?"

Elias didn't answer right away. Instead, he let his fingers tighten around the fragment. "This power… it doesn't just exist in the world. It exists in us. And when you carry it, others will always try to take it."

Jude's chest tightened. "Who?"

Elias let out a slow breath. "The ones who came before us. The ones who believed they could shape the world to their will. They were wrong. But they don't know that yet."

Jude took another step closer. "And you? What did they do to you?"

Elias hesitated, just for a second. Then he said, "They tried to make me forget."

Jude felt something cold settle in his stomach. "Forget what?"

Elias' eyes locked onto his, and for the first time, Jude saw it, the weight in his gaze, the quiet pain behind his words.

"Who I was," Elias said. "And why I was here."

The wind shifted. The golden fields around them rippled like waves in an unseen ocean.

Jude's throat felt dry. "Did they succeed?"

Elias was silent.

Jude's hands clenched. "Elias, "

"I remember now," Elias said softly. "But remembering isn't enough. I had to find my own path again. And now, you have to find yours."

Jude exhaled sharply. "And how am I supposed to do that?"

Elias turned his palm upward, revealing the fragment once more. "By choosing."

Jude stared at the glowing piece of power. It pulsed faintly, as if it were alive. He thought of everything that had led him here. The trials. The visions. The warnings.

Elias held the fragment out to him. "This is yours."

Jude hesitated.

Elias didn't move. "If you take this, you won't just be taking power. You'll be taking responsibility. You'll be taking everything that comes with it. And you won't be able to turn back."

Jude's chest tightened. "And if I don't?"

Elias' expression was unreadable. "Then the choice will be made for you."

Jude felt the weight of the moment settle over him like a heavy cloak. His fingers twitched at his sides. He could feel the energy in the air, pressing against his skin, waiting.

His heart pounded.

And then, slowly, he reached out.

The moment his fingers touched the fragment, a surge of energy rushed through him. It wasn't painful. It wasn't overwhelming. It was familiar. It was whole.

His vision blurred, and for a brief moment, he wasn't standing in the golden fields anymore. He was somewhere else.

A thousand voices whispered in his mind, but they weren't strangers. They were his own thoughts, his own memories, stretching backward and forward at once. He saw glimpses of himself, of choices he had made, of paths he had walked, of moments that could have been.

And then, just as suddenly, it was gone.

Jude blinked, the golden fields snapping back into focus.

The fragment was gone from Elias' hand.

Jude's chest rose and fell in slow, measured breaths. He could still feel the warmth of the power coursing through him, settling into his very being.

Elias watched him. "Now you understand."

Jude exhaled. "I don't know if I do."

Elias' lips curled into a small, knowing smile. "You will."

The wind shifted again. The fields around them blurred.

And then, just like that, Elias was gone.

Jude's breath caught as the world around him twisted, pulling him back, back through the door, back through the threshold,

And then, he was standing in the grand hall once more.

The golden-masked figure was waiting.

Lyara stood beside him, her eyes scanning his face. "Jude?"

He turned to her, exhaling. "I'm okay."

The figure on the platform nodded. "You have taken the third step."

Jude clenched his fists, still feeling the faint hum of power beneath his skin. "What now?"

The figure tilted their head. "Now, you decide what to do with what you've learned."

Jude met their gaze, his mind still racing with everything that had just happened.

For the first time since this journey began, he felt something new.

Not confusion. Not fear.

Purpose

Jude stood in the grand hall, his heartbeat steady as he took in the masked figure before him. The energy still hummed beneath his skin, a quiet force that hadn't been there before. He felt different, not in a way he could explain, but in a way that made him aware of every breath, every movement, every shift in the space around him.

Lyara's gaze was fixed on him, cautious yet unreadable. He knew she had questions, but she held them back.

The figure on the platform spoke, their voice calm but weighted. "You have taken the third step. Now, you stand at the threshold of the fourth."

Jude straightened slightly. "What is the fourth?"

The figure tilted their head. "Choice."

Jude exhaled. "I already made a choice."

"You chose knowledge," the figure corrected. "Now, you must choose action."

Jude's jaw tightened. "And what does that mean?"

The figure extended a hand, palm upward. The air around them shimmered, and a new doorway began to form in the space between them. It wasn't solid, not like the last one. It was fluid, shifting, like the surface of a lake caught between ripples.

"This is the path forward," the figure said. "Through this doorway lies your trial."

Jude glanced at Lyara. She was watching the doorway, her expression set in quiet understanding. She had been here before.

Jude turned back to the figure. "And if I don't go through?"

The figure lowered their hand. "Then the choice will be made for you."

Jude clenched his fists, remembering Elias' words.

Slowly, he stepped forward. The doorway pulsed, responding to his presence. He took a breath, then stepped through.