Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women

They woke together, as if their dreams had braided into a single thread that pulled them gently into morning. The air was different again - not just warm or golden, but thick with expectation. The kind that settled in the bones. The kind that made skin tingle before touch. Jude opened his eyes to find Lucy watching him, her fingers tracing invisible patterns over his chest, her breath soft and close.

"You dreamt it too," she whispered.

He nodded, not needing to ask what.

"A city," said Emma from behind them, her voice husky with sleep. "In the sky. Made of glass and vines."

"Floating above waterfalls that never touched ground," Natalie added, sitting up and combing her fingers through her hair. "I could hear laughter."

"And wings," Grace said, eyes wide. "We had wings."

Zoey smirked, stretching languidly. "Told you. Flying orgasms. I always dream prophetic."

Scarlet chuckled softly, her voice a low hum. "We were being watched. Not in fear. In wonder. We were something rare."

Sophie remained silent, still lying on her back, eyes fixed on the second sun that hadn't moved an inch since its arrival. "It didn't feel like a dream."

Rose rose last, stepping over the moss with deliberate calm, her body wrapped in a thin shawl of woven leaves. "Because it wasn't."

The others watched her cross to the fire, which hadn't been relit yet but still smoked faintly, as if the coals were too enchanted to die. Rose crouched beside it and looked to Jude.

"It's calling us."

Jude sat up, the blanket sliding from his lap, revealing his bare form streaked with dried pollen and dustings of gold. "The new world?"

Rose nodded. "Not a replacement. Not a reward. A continuation."

"We only just learned to live here," Lucy said, frowning. "To love here."

Sophie finally sat up, wrapping her arms around her knees. "And we're already being asked to leave?"

"No," said Rose. "We're being asked to expand."

Stella paced slowly around the perimeter of the circle, her eyes narrowed. "If we go… is it permanent? Is there no way back?"

Rose didn't answer.

The silence that followed wasn't oppressive. It was contemplative. Each woman sat with the thought, letting it swirl around her heart. Jude didn't speak either. He could feel the pull now - a hum under the skin, like the island itself had woven a thread through his body and was gently tugging it upward.

Scarlet finally broke the silence. "I want to see it. I want to feel it."

Zoey nodded. "Same. I've always believed the universe has more doors than walls."

"I don't want to lose what we have here," said Emma softly, looking at Lucy.

"You won't," Lucy said, taking her hand. "But we were never meant to stay still. Not forever."

Rose rose again. "Then we vote. Together. No guilt. No fear. We each speak."

They circled. Naked. Present. Whole.

Rose went first. "Yes."

Zoey followed. "Yes."

Scarlet: "Yes."

Grace looked around, eyes full of quiet longing. "Yes."

Natalie, hand clutched around Jude's: "Yes."

Stella hesitated, then whispered, "Yes."

Emma stood tall, her heart in her throat. "Yes."

Lucy smiled, voice steady. "Yes."

Susan bit her lip, glanced at Jude, then nodded. "Yes."

Sophie's turn. Her eyes were wet. Her chest trembled. But she said it. "Yes."

Jude was the last. And he didn't hesitate. "Yes."

The second sun pulsed once.

Then again.

And then the air around them began to shift - not violently, but gently, like the wind changing directions. Above them, the silver eye dilated, and a long, slow spiral of light spilled down from it, touching the center of their camp. The moss shifted, swirling into a perfect circle. A portal. A path.

They stood together, arms linked, fingers intertwined.

"Whatever happens," Lucy said, her voice shaking just slightly, "we stay together."

Jude kissed her hand. "Always."

And then they stepped into the light.

Not one after the other. All at once.

The moment their feet touched the glowing path, the air melted around them. The trees stretched upward, then dissolved. The moss beneath them became cloud. The world dropped away - and they didn't fall. They floated.

Laughter bubbled from Zoey's throat as she twirled mid-air, golden light wrapping around her like ribbons. Grace reached for Stella, who grabbed Natalie's hand. Susan floated beside Sophie, their eyes wide in wonder, and Rose reached back to pull Jude and Lucy forward.

Then they passed through.

The sky opened.

The city wasn't just real. It was alive.

Massive domes of crystal floated effortlessly above an ocean of stars. Bridges of light arched between platforms where trees towered hundreds of feet high, their trunks wide as houses and their leaves aglow. Waterfalls cascaded sideways and upward, shimmering in colors they had no names for. Flowers opened mid-air, releasing scents that struck straight to the soul. Creatures flew past - some birdlike, others more ethereal, like dreams given wings.

And in the center of it all: a structure like a temple, carved not of stone, but of music. It sang without sound, a low resonance that vibrated in their ribs.

They landed gently on a platform rimmed in white fire. Their feet touched solid ground, though it felt like air. The city greeted them without words. With energy. With recognition.

Emma fell to her knees, overwhelmed. "This place…"

"It's a gift," whispered Grace.

"It's a mirror," Rose corrected gently. "It's what we've become."

As they stood, they realized their bodies still glowed, but differently now. Accented with soft patterns of light across their skin - lines, spirals, markings like constellations. Each one unique. Each one earned.

Sophie traced a line on her shoulder. "We're marked."

"No," said Stella. "We're chosen."

Suddenly, a shape approached.

Not Alara this time.

A new figure.

Taller. Androgynous. Their body shimmered like a glass prism, refracting color and light in every motion. Their voice rang like two notes in harmony.

"You've crossed."

Jude stepped forward. "Who are you?"

"I am the Threshold," they said. "I open what cannot be forced."