Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women

The silver pool glowed blinding white.

When it faded, the children were gone.

Not vanished.

Ascended.

Outside the temple, their energy lingered - woven into the trees, the sky, the very breath of the island.

Jude rose slowly, clutching the ache in his chest. "They’re not gone."

"They’ve become the island," Rose said gently. "It’s what they came to do."

"We didn’t lose them," Stella whispered. "We became them."

Lucy stepped into Jude’s arms. He held her tightly, and the others joined them in silence, pressing together, soaking in the grief and glory.