With the temples glowing like magical beacons across the jungle, the cousins agreed once again—reluctantly—to split up.
"We stick close-ish," Jake said, spinning a stick like it was a sword. "If anyone finds a talking monkey or another magical tattoo—scream!"
"Helpful as always," Vanessa muttered.
As the group dispersed, Isabella followed a glowing trail of floating butterflies that seemed to guide her toward a temple carved with spirals and stars. She stepped through the mossy archway and was immediately met with a humming pressure in the air. The stone walls buzzed with heat, and the floor was warm to the touch.
She followed the flickering light deeper inside until she reached a circular chamber with a glowing crystal at its center.
The moment she stepped in—everything changed.
The air shimmered, and Isabella gasped as invisible energy raced toward her, pooling in her chest like a sudden lightning strike. Her vision blurred with color. She fell to one knee, bracing herself.
Then it happened.
From her fingertips, light burst out in a wave that cracked the stone floor. She stared, wide-eyed, as glowing runes pulsed in her hands—and then exploded outward in a flickering Aether Blast, scorching the far wall.
"I… did that," she whispered.
A second later, two floating, glowing platforms hovered beside her—Aether Constructs, solid and humming with power.
She climbed one experimentally—and gasped when it carried her into the air.
"Oh. I like this."
Meanwhile, in a temple deeper in the jungle…
---
Vanessa's Temple Trial
Vanessa moved quietly, flashlight goggles on, carefully stepping over a pit trap she'd spotted with ease.
Her temple was filled with cracked mirrors, murals of puppets, and strange clockwork mechanisms that clicked and shifted with no visible source.
She paused before a full-length mirror at the center of the room. As she stared into it, her reflection winked at her.
"…Okay. Nope."
But she couldn't look away.
A sudden pulse of magical light surged from the mirror—and hit her square in the face.
She stumbled backward—only to find that she wasn't in control of her limbs anymore.
Her body stood perfectly still—yet her vision floated behind herself.
"What the—?"
A small jungle bird landed nearby. Without thinking, she stared into its eyes—and suddenly her vision shifted again.
She was now inside the bird.
Flapping. Flying. Seeing through its eyes.
"WHOA. I'm… remote-controlling this thing?"
After three minutes, her consciousness was yanked back to her body with a headache and a jolt of nausea.
Vanessa sat up, rubbing her temples. "Okay, wow. Mental puppetry. That's not creepy at all."
She stood and looked into the mirror again. This time, the reflection showed her controlling a humanoid figure—moving like a marionette.
She smirked. "Time to freak Jake out."