Nicole crossed her arms, her brow furrowed. "So, these gems are what’s keeping the island in this... state? And now we’re supposed to destroy them?"

Wade glanced down at his glowing sword, its orange light casting a faint warmth in the misty air. "We barely know what they do. How are we supposed to destroy something we've not even understood?"

I swallowed, my pulse quickening as I recalled the vision. "I saw it. The gems are connected to the island’s life force, but they're draining it. The island... it's alive. The cosmic turtle. And it's been suffocating because of these gems."

Wade and Nicole exchanged glances, the weight of my words settling in.

"Well," Nicole said slowly, "we've still got to get them first. No use talking about destroying what we don't have in our hands."

She was right. The gems were still out there, scattered across the island. But this time, with the one hundredth loop, I knew where to find them. We had faced this before.

Wade gripped his sword. “Alright then, let’s move. We’re not leaving until we have all four.”

The hunt began beneath the waves, where the first gem was mounted on the far wall of an underwater cave. Sea monsters with glowing green eyes guarded it, cliche, their tentacles writhing as we swam in. Wade and Nicole fended them off while I rushed to grab the gem from its place on the wall.

The second gem lay deeper, hidden in a narrow crack at the bottom of the sea. As we descended, more creatures circled us, but they hesitated to strike. Wade wedged his sword into the crack, dislodging the gem, and we moved on quickly.

The third gem rested on a pedestal inside a small cave, pulsing with a faint glow. It seemed almost unguarded, but we knew better. As I reached for it, the water around us rippled violently. Nicole’s quick shot kept the lurking monsters at bay long enough for me to retrieve it.

The final gem proved the most dangerous. It sat on the ledge of an erupting underwater mountain, the heat growing unbearable as we neared it. With the sea boiling around us and the ground trembling beneath our feet, Wade leapt up, grabbing the gem,  with the same old trick, just as the first cracks of lava started to appear. We barely escaped before the mountain erupted in full force.

All four gems, gathered.

Nicole pulled out the pouch and placed the final gem inside. “That’s it. Now... we destroy them?”

We went back to the shore, where we stood in a tense circle around the four gems, their eerie glow casting long shadows over the sand. The sea was calm now, almost too calm, as if it was watching us, waiting to see what we'd do next. The gems pulsed with a faint rhythm, like heartbeats, each one in sync with the other, and the air around them seemed thicker, charged with energy we couldn’t fully understand.

Wade stepped forward, unsheathing his sword. The orange light from the blade reflected off the gems, making them look even more unnatural, like they didn’t belong here—or anywhere.

"Let’s end this," Wade muttered, tightening his grip. With a determined grunt, he raised his sword high and swung it down on the first gem with all his strength. The impact was sharp, the sound of metal against stone echoing off the cliffs behind us. But instead of shattering, the gem pulsed, absorbing the blow. It didn’t even crack. The ground trembled slightly beneath our feet, as though the earth itself was responding to the attempt.

Wade cursed under his breath and stepped back. "It’s like it just... took the hit."

Nicole frowned and pulled out her gun, the neon green liquid swirling inside the barrel. "Let’s see if this does anything," she said, taking aim at the second gem. She fired a shot, the liquid sizzling as it hit the gem dead center. For a moment, it looked like something was happening—the liquid hissed and bubbled—but then, as quickly as it started, the reaction faded. The gem sat there, completely unaffected, its glow intensifying briefly before dimming back to its usual pulse.

"Great," Nicole muttered, frustration creeping into her voice.

I bent down, picked up a large rock, and hurled it at the third gem, hoping brute force might do what Wade’s sword and Nicole’s gun couldn’t. The rock struck the gem hard, but it didn’t even leave a mark. It bounced off like I’d thrown it against steel, falling uselessly into the sand.

"Maybe we’re going about this the wrong way," I said, more to myself than anyone else.

Wade shook his head, glaring at the unmoved gems. "These things... they don’t break, they don’t react. What are we supposed to do?"

Nicole knelt beside the gems, examining them closer, as if looking for any sign, any weakness. "It’s almost like they’re feeding off something. Our energy, maybe? The more we try to destroy them, the stronger they get."

Frustration burned in my chest. If Wade’s sword and Nicole’s gun couldn’t break them, what else could we do? I gripped Ye tightly, the cool metal a reminder of every fight we’d faced to get this far. There had to be a way.

"Let me try," I said, stepping forward. Wade and Nicole moved aside, watching as I raised Ye high above the first gem. The blade gleamed under the fading light, casting a sharp shadow over the stones.

With a sharp swing, I brought it down hard, aiming straight for the center of the gem. The impact sent a jolt up my arms, but like before, the gem pulsed, absorbing the strike as if my scythe were a mere whisper against it. I ground my teeth, feeling the resistance. It didn’t shatter, didn’t even chip. Instead, the gem glowed brighter, a mocking throb that seemed to resonate through the sand.

“Damn it!” I shouted, swinging again. This time, I aimed for the second gem, my scythe slicing through the air with precision. The edge made perfect contact, but the result was the same—a pulsing glow, an eerie hum, and the gem stood whole.

Breathing hard, I raised my scythe one last time, aiming for the third and fourth gems in a final desperate arc, hoping sheer force might overcome whatever strange energy was protecting them. Each strike landed with precision and force. But the gems remained unbroken, unbothered by Ye’s power.

I stepped back, panting. "It’s useless," I muttered, gripping the scythe tighter in frustration.

Nicole looked down at the unmoved gems, then back at me. "They're... invincible, aren’t they?"

"No, they just can't be destroyed this way," I whispered, realization dawning on us all.

"Yeah, but how do we destroy them?" Wade asked, his grip tightening on his sword. "What do we use?"

I looked down at my hands, feeling the steady thrum of energy coursing through me. The island had brought us this far. It wanted us to understand, to heal it. And I could feel that same pulse in the gems, the same heartbeat that tied us to the island's core.

"With our angelic abilities," I whispered. "That's how we destroy them."

Nicole raised an eyebrow. "Angel powers? You've got to be kidding."

But Wade nodded, his face set in determination. "It makes sense. Let’s do this."

Without another word, Nicole unclasped the pouch and poured the four gems into her hand. They glowed faintly, as if they were barely hanging on to whatever dark energy had fueled them.

I stepped forward, feeling the island’s heartbeat echoing through the air around us, and together, we raised our hands. Wade’s sword hummed, Nicole’s gun thrummed with energy, and I felt a surge of power rising within me. Our halos blazed with light, brighter than ever before, their radiant glow merging into a single, unbroken pulse.

The gems began to crack.

It started as a faint fissure, barely visible at first. But as we focused, the cracks deepened, spreading across the surface of the gems like veins of light. The island itself seemed to respond, the ground beneath us trembling, the air thick with anticipation.

A soft hum filled the clearing, growing louder, more resonant. The gems shattered all at once, releasing a brilliant flash of light that surged into the sky.

For a moment, everything was still, as if the island held its breath. Then, slowly, the world around us began to change. The sea responded first.

A low rumble echoed from beneath the waves, and where once monstrous tentacles and dark waters had lurked, the creatures began to shift and shimmer. Their grotesque forms melted away, replaced by shimmering, benevolent beings—leviathans, grand and regal, with pearlescent scales and wings that glistened under the faint light. They rose from the depths, their colossal forms cutting through the water like ancient protectors. Their glowing eyes, once menacing, were now filled with serene wisdom, as if they had always been waiting for this moment.

"The sea monsters... they've changed," Wade whispered, awe creeping into his voice. "They're... peaceful now."

The leviathans dipped in and out of the water, their massive forms sending ripples across the surface, but there was no malice, no threat. Instead, they seemed to radiate a calm presence, their luminous bodies casting a soft glow in the fading light of the evening.

As they swam gracefully through the now-clear waters, the mist that had choked the land lifted, revealing the true beauty of the island. No longer twisted and dark, the trees stood tall and proud, their leaves shimmering with a faint glow. The air smelled fresher, cleaner, as though the very breath of the island had been restored.

With the clearing of the mist came the fall of the undead. All around us, the zombies that had plagued crumbled into dust. Their once-twisted forms disintegrated as if they had never existed, leaving nothing but faint wisps of ash carried away by a soft, warm breeze.

Nicole let out a breath, watching the last remnants of the undead disappear into the wind. "So... that's it? We’ve actually saved the island?"

I wasn’t so sure.

Without a word, I turned and walked toward the water, drawn by something deeper. The air around me felt charged, every footstep in sync with the pulse of the island, as if it were pulling me closer to its core. Nicole and Wade didn’t follow. I could feel their eyes on me, but this was something I needed to do alone.

I stepped into the water, feeling its warmth wash over me. It was calm now, no more thrashing waves or venomous sea creatures. I waded deeper, the pull growing stronger with each step, until I was submerged in the tranquil sea.

And then I saw it.

A pair of enormous eyes, larger than anything I could have imagined, slowly opened beneath the surface. They glowed softly, ancient and knowing, the same vibrant colors as the island itself.

The cosmic turtle.

Its gaze met mine, and for a moment, everything else fell away—the gems, the battles, even Nicole and Wade. It was just me and this ancient, sentient being, its eyes filled with a quiet understanding, as if it had been waiting for this reunion. Waiting for me.

I reached out a trembling hand toward it, my breath caught in my throat. What was it trying to tell me? What had it been waiting for all this time?

And as I hovered there, suspended in the glowing depths, my memories shot back like a bullet.