Chapter 1606

The reflection in the black pool didn't show their faces.

It showed their souls.

Jude saw himself first - golden, yes, but flickering. Not whole. He wasn't a man anymore. Not just a body. He was becoming… something. He saw veins of light pulsing through his limbs, branching like roots, curling into the earth beneath him. His chest glowed the brightest, where the heartstone's power had settled, but his eyes - his eyes were mirrors. They reflected everything behind him: Lucy's warmth, Rose's resolve, Sophie's doubt, Emma's fire, Zoey's hunger, Susan's ache, Grace's calm, Natalie's strength, Stella's tenderness, Scarlet's wildness.

They lived in him now.

And in the pool, he saw the truth.

He was the island's echo.