I'm gonna continue putting the disclaimer here just be sure that everyone is aware of where this story originated.

This story isn't 100 % mine. I have transformed it into a story from an interactive story app called Choices and the creators are Pixelberry Studios.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

{Chapter 9}

I woke up in the early hours of the morning. The sky was still dark, but I could see snowflakes drifting past the window.

Edward's arms around me tightened, his quiet snoring in my ear as he nuzzled into the nape of my neck. We only had his jacket as a cover, but the fire had kept us warm along with our lovemaking. I smiled contently and snuggled back against him.

Suddenly, a beam of blue-green light briefly flashed through the window, and I shifted to look back out. I caught the sight of it again, and I realized it was coming from a glowing sphere being carried away through the trees.

I sat up and gasped. "Someone's taken the Island's Heart!"

Edward sat up next to me and stared out the window. Then his expression darkened. "Fiddler."

We hurriedly got dressed and rushed outside.

Snowflakes drifted amid the trees and landed in coarse clumps on the forest floor. I could hear distant laughter and turned toward the general direction of the sound and saw the floating Heart.

"Jane, you damned coward, get back here!" Edward shouted.

"Coward?" Fiddler's bodiless voice said. "That's rich coming from someone who spent three years on the run..."

The others, having heard Edward's shouting, came running out of the second cabin. Victoria's eyes zeroed in on the flickering sphere and extended her hands toward it.

"Come … back!" she gritted out through clenched teeth.

The Island's Heart tore free of Fiddler's grasp and hurtled toward Victoria.

"Wha—?!" Fiddler exclaimed in shock.

It stopped and hovered next to her. Victoria's eyes rolled back, and she, together with the Heart, promptly tumbled to the ground.

"Victoria!"

Benjamin and I rushed to Victoria's side and Peter picked up the Heart.

"You and your magical girl are going to regret that," Fiddler threatened, her form still invisible, but I heard the sound of razor-sharp steel slicing the air.

The others began muttering nervously to one another. I looked around the area for anything that would reveal where Fiddler was, and I noticed snowflakes being interrupted in their path mid-fall near Benjamin.

"Benji, look out!" I exclaimed in warning and tackled him out of the way closer toward the group.

However, Fiddler suddenly appeared behind Rosalie. She yanked her by her hair and prepared to drive a katana into her back.

"Kiddos, I'm going to need that Heart," she said sugary-sweet. "Unless you want your friend to have hers cut out."

"Get the hell off her," Peter yelled angrily, but Edward stopped him from charging forward.

"Working solo's making you desperate, Jane. You get stood up by Doc Octopus?"

Fiddler scowled and pulled Rosalie closer. "Tetra mutinied and took an entire squad with him..." she snarled, and I glanced at Edward and hoped he knew what he was doing, antagonizing Fiddler while she was still holding Rosalie hostage. "They're dead now. Just like this one's about to be."

I took a step forward. "Fiddler, I know you don't want the Heart for yourself, and you're not going to be able to kill all of us," I told her seriously. I was hoping a compromise would work.

"Bella's right, Jane," Edward agreed. "You're gonna need a better plan than this."

I pulled out the crystal shards we'd found near Quarr'tel from my bag. "Take these back to Cullen and say we broke the Heart in the struggle," I told her, but she only smirked.

"A generous offer … but I'm not a liar, sweetie."

Edward glared at her. "No. You're worse. You're a backstabbing, treacherous little—"

"Watch your mouth!" she spat at him and pressed the tip of her blade against Rosalie's back, who groaned in pain.

"Give her the Heart!" I ordered Peter. I couldn't watch her hurt Rosalie anymore.

Peter tossed the crystalline sphere at Fiddler's feet without hesitating.

"There," she said, pleased. "Was that so hard?"

Just as Fiddler bent down, Leah slammed the blunt end of a large, and sturdy stick she'd carved into a new spear into the Heart. Like a billiard ball struck by a cue, it rolled away before she could touch it. Before Fiddler could react, Leah whirled the spear in her grasp and took out Fiddler's legs.

Rosalie ran to safety and Fiddler vanished again, but I heard footsteps heading off through the trees.

"We've got to catch her or she'll just try again," Garrett said and made a move to follow her.

James squinted at the snow-covered ground. "I see her tracks … She's heading toward the chasm."

I narrowed my eyes in the direction she'd gone and then gestured for Garrett, Edward, and James to come with me. "Let's go," I said, and the four of us rushed after her.

The first rays of dawn gleamed off the fresh snow as we arrived at the chasm's ravine. Just ahead, Fiddler stood on the precipice with her blades raised defensively.

"Stay back!" she warned.

The four of us took up positions to block Fiddler's escape.

"Fiddler," I called out to her. "No one has to die here!"

"Surrender and we can work this out without violence," Garrett agreed.

Edward held his hands out from his body and took a step closer to her. "You've got nothing left, Jane!"

Fiddler slowly lowered her katanas to her sides. "Nothing..." she mumbled and her shoulders shook. Suddenly she was overtaken by a fit of helpless laughter. "Oh, Edward … You're right," she got out between the giggles. "Just like you were right to get out when you did. McKenzie's only out for himself. Always has been." Her bitter expression turned a corner and became a malevolent grin. "But Cullen … He's much, much worse, sweetie. When he's done with you and your friends, you'll wish you had nothing left!"

She locked her gaze on Edward and fell backward to allow herself to drop over the chasm's edge. Edward froze in shock and all of us watched her body plummet into the vast abyss, becoming smaller and smaller before fading away.

"I, uh..." James said. "I don't think she'll be comin' back."

I could barely comprehend what had just happened. "Why would she...?"

Edward's shock wore off and he sighed as he looked at the spot where Fiddler had decided to end it all. "Jane, you idiot. You double-crossed me and Jazz, but I never thought you'd do something like this..." he mumbled sadly.

We remained on the cliff, shaken by what we had seen, and gazed down. Then James looked up and squinted into the distance.

"There's a track running down the slope over there. Might be something helpful."

We walked along the slopes until we arrived at a freight elevator.

"What are the chances it's still operational?" I asked the others rhetorically.

"Only one way to find out," Edward replied and stepped forward, brushed a layer of snow from a control panel and pressed a couple of switches.

With a loud groan, the platform began to move.

"Uh, mac?" James said and pointed over his shoulder toward where we'd come from. "What about the others?"

Edward quickly shut it down and a power gauge on the control panel flashed red.

Garrett sighed. "Looks like it wouldn't be able to go very far, anyway."

I looked closer at the panel and noticed a switch labeled 'Charge PV Module.' I pointed it out to Edward. "Maybe if we give this a try?"

He flipped the switch and a solar panel rose nearby. The power gauge instantly turned orange. Edward smiled. "Looks like it'll just need a couple hours."

"Then let's head back," Garrett said.

The sky cleared to a brilliant blue as we returned to the group. Kate was crouched beside Victoria who was conscious once again.

"I'm okay. Really," she insisted.

"Vicky, interacting with the Heart is creating a lot of physical strain on you," Kate said worriedly. "We can't have you doing that again, okay?"

"I just..." she started to protest, but then nodded. "Yeah, understood."

Jazz looked over at Edward. "Fiddler?" he asked uncertainly. "Is she...?"

"She's gone, kid," Edward replied gloomily.

Jazz merely blinked, but somehow I could tell that he understood. Edward glanced at the sun's position which was still low in the sky.

"We got something that'll get us down into the chasm," he explained. "It'll be some time before it's ready, though."

Garrett motioned for us all to gather more closely. "Alright, everyone. We don't know what we're going to find down there. Whatever Kaanu is, it hasn't always been friendly … But we've got to get the Heart back to it if we're going to set things right."

Tanya nodded. "This could be the end of all of the phenomena affecting the world..."

"Or the end of us," Alistair reminded ominously.

"Let's just try to prepare as best we can," Garrett encouraged, ever the motivational speaker that he was. "This is our home stretch." He gazed at the group, then nodded resolutely and headed toward the cabins.

The rest of us dispersed.

A little while later, Benjamin came bounding up to me, and he tried unsuccessfully to hide the grin spreading on his face. "So, uh, Bella," he started. "I've got something to show you."

I sighed in mock exasperation. "What is it this time?"

"This way, please."

I walked with Benjamin through the snowy forest and arrived at a frozen pond. There, on the ice, I saw several of the others wearing parkas and ice skates, and they appeared to be waiting for me.

"What is this?" I asked.

Edward glided slowly across the pond to stop in front of us. "Surprise, Princess!" he said with a grin.

"I don't know how Benjamin talked me into putting these things on, but here I am," Garrett said, chuckling toward the skates.

Kate came out of a flawless double Axel and waved over to me. "Bella, get out here! I want to skate with you!"

Victoria cheered happily while tracing figure eights across the ice. "Hooray! The guest of honor has arrived!"

"It's not much, but we did what we could," Leah filled in with one of her rare smiles in place.

Off to one side, Emmett stood behind a makeshift stall with steaming cups at the ready. "What sounds good, Bella? I got coffee, chai, hot chocolate … plus a little somethin'-somethin' I picked out just for you!"

Nearby, Peter crouched next to a boom box. "Yo, I'm ready to drop a phat beat when you say the word, Bella!"

"I'm on visuals!" Rosalie winked and flicked a switch on a projector. Colored lights washed over the area and cast everything in vivid, slowly changing hues.

Tanya sat atop a small mound of snow with a pile of scorecards. "I'll be your judge for the morning's competition … Don't get cocky, the numbers don't lie!"

I gazed in astonishment at everyone. "Where did you guys … How...?"

Benjamin shrugged. "We found a bunch of stuff in the cabins." He gestured toward everyone. "Everybody's grown pretty close to you since we got to El Jardín. You've guided us through everything, and we wanted to do something special … So we decided to throw a surprise party!" He offered me a pair of skates.

I was so touched by it all, and I slipped off my shoes and accepted the skates.

"Alright!" Benjamin cheered. "It's on, guys!"

"Did somebody say party tunes?" Peter grinned and turned on the boom box all the way up.

"Party's yours, Bella," Benjamin said. "What do you want to do first?"

"Let's skate some," I said and stepped onto the frozen pond, carefully balancing atop my skates, where Edward was waiting for me. Before I reached him, I attempted a pirouette, which I knew wasn't very good. While I was a decent dancer on land, slick ice was something else entirely.

Edward laughed warmly and took me in his arms. "What do you think?"

"Was this your idea?" I asked, but he shook his head.

"No, I can't take credit. It was the others, but any chance I get to hold you in my arms, I won't complain." He leaned down and captured my mouth with his.

"You know for a second, I thought you'd planned a surprise wedding," I whispered against his lips when we pulled apart. I wasn't sure if he wanted to tell the others of our engagement yet, hence the volume of my voice. "I'm not gonna lie, I was a bit scared."

"Don't tell me you've changed your mind," he said and nibbled lightly on my bottom lip.

"Never," I assured him.

He chuckled, but then Kate came sliding up to us.

"Mind if I borrow her?" she asked.

With a slightly unwilling expression, he unwound his arms around me. "I want her back, though," he said.

Kate took my hand and lead me further out on the ice.

"You know, actually … I don't think I'm very good at this," I warned her with a somewhat scared giggle.

"Don't worry," she replied with a wide smile. "I've got us covered."

We built up speed together, and then suddenly, she hoisted me into the air by my waist. I hadn't expected the lift or Kate's strength to hold me up, but I didn't fight her since the chance of us falling would be greater if I got us out of balance.

I glided through the air in her arms, and the wind rushed through my hair with exhilarating speed. "This is amazing!" I called to her.

Kate carefully brought me back down and spun us in a circle. "Thank you for trusting me, Bella," she said gratefully.

Edward came skating after us, obviously not wanting to be apart for too long. "May I have this dance, Princess?"

I smirked at him mischievously. "How about we race instead?"

He narrowed his eyes with a smile of his own as his competitive side woke up. "Alright," he eventually said. "But fair warning … I'm not gonna let you win just because I love you."

"I wouldn't want you, too," I told him and then both of us lunged forward, gliding over the ice as fast we could.

I pulled into the lead, but Edward grabbed a hold of my hand and sent us both in wild circles. I laughed through the surge of fear that went through me, and thankfully he put on the brakes and we came to a stop.

"I hope I didn't scare you," he said somewhat apologetically,

"Just a bit," I told him honestly.

"What can I say, Princess? You make me wanna do crazy things."

Over on the snowy bank, Tanya held up a card reading '8.'

"Just eight?" Edward called to her jokingly. "Really?"

She then turned the card sideways so the eight became the infinity symbol instead. Then she flipped the card over.

We love Bella to Infinity!

My entire body filled with warmth and I had to bury my face in Edward's shirt to hide my tears.

"Alright, I think it's time for a throwback..." Peter whooped by the boom box and changed songs. "This one's dedicated to my sister-bro, Bella!"

Familiar, nostalgic tunes started playing and I gave Peter my thumbs up. I looked over at Rosalie and noticed her fiddling with the projector.

"Bella!" she called. "I designed this just for you. Hope, uh, you like it or whatever."

Suddenly, the slopes were covered with spiraling helix shapes which created a mesmerizing display. It took a while, but then I recognized the shapes.

"It's my Hadean star sign!" I exclaimed, impressed. "Andromeda, right?"

"Yup," Rosalie replied with a grin.

Garrett came to a stop next to Edward and I. He glanced at Edward before holding his hand out for me. "Come with me, Bella?"

Edward kissed my temple before letting me go, and Garrett and I crossed the ice as the rising sun made it sparkle like diamonds.

"So what's it feel like to be my hero?" he asked me suddenly, and I chuckled at him with a shake of my head.

"Why am I your hero?"

"You're one of the most inspiring people I've ever met," he said seriously. "No joke." He looked at me with an unreadable expression. "Calm, confident, unstoppable … I crack all the time, but you never do. What's your secret?"

I smiled, although I was somewhat uncomfortable with the pedestal he was placing me on. He wasn't aware I did crack on occasion, but those who got to see that were few. I gave him the answer I knew he wanted, though. "The people I have in my life."

"See?" he said and gestured with a hand at me. "Then you go saying things like that, and I can't help but like you even more."

Victoria skated over and smiled shyly. "I've always wanted to try this," she said and held out her hands. "Everybody, join hands!"

Everyone else hurried over and linked up to create a long chain.

"Okay, now, people on the end, start going in big circles!"

Following her instructions, we slowly spun around and around like the hands of a clock. I laughed in delight as I started getting dizzy, and I wasn't the only one. Benjamin suddenly tumbled to the ice and started a domino effect.

Victoria was quickly back up and laughed freely. "That was so much fun!"

Benjamin lay on his back and chuckled. "I think it's time we give the ice a rest," he said, and I thought that was a good idea.

Edward grabbed my hand in his, and we stepped off the ice and pulled our shoes back on before making our way over to Emmett's stall.

"Welcome to the McCartyBar, dudes!" he exclaimed happily and danced to the beat of the music, which caused me to laugh. "How 'bout two hot cocoas with a little extra zing?"

"Sounds good! Hook us up," I told him with a wide smile.

Emmett poured some liquor into the delicious-looking chocolatey drinks, and as he handed me a cup, he also placed a hand on my shoulder. "Bella, I gotta tell you … Most people think I'm kinda crazy. Everybody just sees some stoner dude who's always tripping. But you never once made me feel anything but respected."

I felt myself getting teary-eyed, and I placed my arms around him. "Aw, Em..."

"Thank you for that," he said genuinely. "And when we finally get off this island, I'mma show you what a real party looks like!"

"It's a deal," I said and kissed his cheek.

Everyone else were also pulling off their skates at this point, and we all enjoyed a hot cup of refreshment when Leah came up to me. Her dark, earnest eyes looked into mine.

"When we first arrived on El Jardín, everyone had concerns about me. I'd come here for something very different, and it scared them. But you and I always seemed to understand each other. You never mistrusted me, never had doubts … Thank you for that. I would've forgotten my own humanity if it wasn't for your kind, open nature."

I placed my arm around her shoulders and hugged her. "Of course, Leah. You're my friend. That's all that matters."

She gave me a small, genuine smile. "Yes."

I gazed around at the exuberant faces around me and found myself unable to stop smiling. "Thank you, everyone, so much for this," I told them all.

"It was our pleasure, Bella," Benjamin said. "You deserved it."

Edward wound his arms around me from behind. "You've impacted a lot of people on this island, baby. And we're all so grateful to have you in our lives."

A little while later, we gathered up our stuff and returned to the cabins to leave it there. It was getting colder, and Edward huffed warm air into his cupped hands.

"Elevator should be ready for us now," he reminded me.

"And so, our descent into the Inferno begins," Alistair commented.

Tanya looked at him with a playful smirk. "And are you Dante or Virgil?"

He smiled back at her, glad she was finally warming up to him again. "Hard to say … but you are certainly Beatrice." He elegantly raised her hand and kissed it.

"Oh, you," she giggled with a slight blush.

I rounded everyone up and we headed for the chasm and the elevator. All of us gathered on the platform, and Edward engaged the controls. The elevator lurched to a start which had some of us gasp in surprise and fear.

Snowflakes were stirred from the metal grate and drifted lazily into the deep, dark crevasse.

"Is this the only way?" James asked shakily. "I'm not much for heights."

Victoria placed an arm around his shoulders. "It's okay," she told him softly. "I gotcha."

Before long, the sunlight and mountain slopes gave way to darkness. The platform continued to descend for what seemed like an eternity. The air around us grew strangely warm.

Finally, we emerged into a network of caverns. The elevator stopped atop a pile of rubble.

"Looks like we're climbin' the rest of the way down," Edward said and jumped off the platform before helping me down.

That was when I noticed Fiddler's suit half buried under a few heavy rocks.

"Is that what I think it is?" Peter asked with a tone of nausea.

"Well, it's her suit," I replied. "But I don't see her."

Garrett crouched down to look closer. "Looks like it's unzipped. She may have crawled out and left it behind."

I blinked at him. "You're suggesting she survived that fall?"

Rosalie also examined the suit. "Damn, this is some sweet tech … Pretty sure it'll readjust itself to fit anyone."

Everyone suddenly looked at me, and I shook my head when I realized what they were hinting at. "Guys, I don't feel comfortable wearing a potentially dead woman's old suit. That's all kinds of creepy."

"Yeah, but it looks like she might have survived," Leah pointed out. "And with you wearing that suit, we'd have one hell of an advantage."

"What if it's wired, and Cullen can suddenly mess with my memories like he did with Jazz?" I said to remind them that it couldn't be hundred percent risk-free to put on an enemy suit. It hadn't ended very well the last time.

Jazz looked timidly my way. "Don't worry. My rewiring was done in my head. The suit has nothing to do with it, and I've personally seen what Fiddler could do with that suit in combat. Believe me, it would only be a good thing if we had that on our side."

It was his words that convinced me, and I, although still somewhat reluctantly, put the suit on. It instantly reshaped itself to fit my shorter frame.

"Wow," I said. "Fits like a glove." I inspected it and noticed a button on the palm of the left glove. I pressed it, and a strange cold feeling, like I had been doused with a thick, slow-moving liquid came over me, and when I looked up, the others' eyes were wide as they appeared to look right through me.

"Bella?" Benjamin uncertainly called out.

I pressed the button again and it deactivated what I could only assume was the invisible camouflage effect on the suit. "That felt weird," I told them, and Emmett jumped in fright since I had disappeared and then appeared again right next to him.

I took a closer look at our surroundings. Smoke drifted along the uneven rock floor, and streams of lava were casting a reddish glow on the walls.

"That way," Victoria pointed confidently before launching into a run and immediately disappeared down a branching tunnel.

"Victoria! You can't just—" I called after her, but she was already gone.

Kate leaned down to examine a long streak of blood on the cavern floor. "Uh, I don't think Fiddler crawled out of that suit," she observed. "Something must have taken her body."

"That's encouraging," Edward mumbled.

I felt a bout of sickness hit me when I understood I was wearing a dead woman's armor, but I quickly shook the feeling away and rushed ahead toward the tunnel Victoria had taken to warn her of our potential company. I found her facing a dead end, but there was a round indentation in the center of the wall.

"I don't understand," she said, frowning. "This is supposed to lead into the core of the volcano. Maybe Kaanu showed me a different timeline?"

"Vicky, there's something down here with—"

"Bella … o-over there!" Emmett called before I could finish.

I followed his gaze to an adjoining tunnel, where an enormous shadow was moving across the rock face. A massive, reptilian head, short arms ending in vicious-looking claws, and a long, powerful tail.

"Is that a dinosaur?" Peter exclaimed in panic.

The source of the shadow neared the gap, and we all backed away while holding our breath. I swallowed hard, and then a small, spindly creature came into view.

Furball tilted his head with a questioning sound escaping him.

"Oh!" Victoria gasped. "It's kind of … cute."

Alistair immediately hushed her. "Keep quiet! That's an oryctoraptor. They're more dangerous than they look."

The man-sized dinosaur carried a reflective orb in one claw and slowly moved out of sight.

"I think we just witnessed the Deep Guardian," Jacorel told us. "It is the most reclusive of all Kaanu's servants."

Edward chuckled and folded his arms across his chest. "Damn, and here I left my Pokeball at home."

Tanya peered up at the indentation in the wall. "Maybe … the Island's Heart goes here?" she suggested uncertainly, but then shook her head. "Hm, no. It's too big to fit."

"Hang on," Edward suddenly said and turned to me. "Princess, remember when we traveled through time in that mine shaft?"

I thought for a moment and then nodded. "Right! When we escaped the Emergency Shelter. There was a crystal in the wall … with … claw markings on it," I said and connected the clues in my head. I looked toward where the dinosaur had disappeared with the reflective orb in his claw. "We should follow the Guardian. We might need to use that orb to get to a time when this tunnel actually led to the volcano's core."

Emmett hesitated. "Do we have to? That thing creeps me out."

"Like it or not, dude," Garrett said and clapped his shoulder. " Looks like we got a dinosaur hunt on our hands."

We entered the adjoining tunnel and headed in the direction the oryctoraptor had gone. Gradually the tunnel widened and became a large grotto dominated by stalagmites and geysers of hissing steam.

The creature was straight ahead, reaching toward a lava stream. It suddenly reared up and sniffed the air. Slowly, it turned in our direction.

"Everybody, hide!" I stage-whispered. "I'll handle this," I said and before they could protest, I activated the invisibility shield on the suit, and they hurried back down the tunnel and out of sight.

The oryctoraptor took a step in my direction and curiously sniffed the air again, then returned to the lava stream.

I quietly exhaled in relief, but then the dinosaur made an odd noise and pulled a chunk of crystal from the lava with both claws.

The blue, translucent mineral had melted into a perfect sphere which was tossed aside before the Guardian skittered off toward another lava stream.

I saw my chance and used my bag to scoop up the glowing hot orb, then headed back to the dead-end tunnel as fast as I could.

The others were waiting for me there, and I could see that both Victoria and Edward were agitated about letting me handle the dinosaur on my own. I deactivated the suit, and Victoria gasped.

"Oh, Bella, thank god!"

Edward sighed in relief and cupped my face. "Bella … don't do that, alright?"

I gave him an apologetic smile and then held up my bag. "We got what we needed, at least." I looked down at Furball. "Wanna help me out here?" I asked him, and he gladly stroke himself against my leg.

I opened my bag to reveal the crystal orb which was still sizzling hot and Furball looked at it. Then with a frosty puff, he quickly cooled it down, and I carefully inserted the orb into the wall.

In the blink of an eye, the entire wall was gone as if it were never there in the first place.

I grinned. "Presto changeo!"

"Nice trick," Emmett laughed. "Could've used that for the guy who always sat in my seat in Business Administration 202."

I playfully smacked him on the arm and we all headed down the newly revealed tunnel. I heard a muffled explosion from somewhere ahead, followed by yelling voices.

Edward held out an arm protectively in front of me. "Sounds like a fight," he told us. "Everybody stay close." He, Garrett, and Leah took the lead, with James and Peter behind them.

A few moments later, the tunnel arrived at a vast cavern. Sloping walls rose for what felt like miles into darkness. A lava pool lay at the center of the ground and cast everything in blood red light.

Ahead, a group of Anachronists stood in front of a rippling, translucent wall, and flashes of time energy came from guns and clock-like devices being used against the barrier.

"Again! Strike it with everything you have!" the familiar voice of Harrvel ordered.

On the other side of the wall, I could barely make out the Endless's spacesuit-clad form.

We decided to remain in the shadows and watched the battle cautiously.

"They're like a mob of angry villagers coming after Frankenstein's Monster!" Benjamin commented behind me in a hushed voice.

"Shouldn't we do something to help the Endless?" Emmett asked worriedly.

"It's not working … More!" Harrvel egged on.

"Looks like she has the situation under control," Leah said.

Victoria moved to my side and her gaze was focused on the pool. "Kaanu is there … in the lava!"

"So we get the Heart over to the pool and get out," Garrett said as if it was the most simple thing ever, and maybe it was if we could slip by undetected.

"Sounds like a plan," I said with some uncertainty lingering.

Edward touched my shoulder and I glanced back at him. "We've got a better chance at this if a few of us distract the Murderhipsters."

"I don't know," Emmett disagreed. "They don't look so friendly."

I looked at the Kaarii and then at the pool and then back at Edward. "Baby, I know you don't like when I do things by myself, I'll get the Heart over there and then we can leave without them ever being the wiser."

Leah nodded in support of that. "They're too unpredictable to engage."

"Good call, Bella," Garrett said with a smile. "I'll go too."

"No, you won't." I stopped him with my hand. "You can't become invisible if something happens, but I can."

"Then I'll keep to the shadows," he insisted. "This way I can help and guard your back."

I sighed tiredly as I understood I couldn't talk him out of it, and Peter handed Garrett the Heart while I activated the suit.

I stepped into the red glow permeating the cavern, but the Anachronists didn't notice my presence. As I hurried toward the lava pool, Garrett made his way along the periphery with the Heart.

Finally, I reached the pool. A few feet from the rocky ledge, a pillar of crystal rose, shimmering amid the bright lava. Garrett handed me the Heart, and we stared in wonder at the pillar's mirror-like facets.

"It's … incredible," Garrett breathed out.

A burst of intense light burned the entire cavern from my vision. Then, a voice spoke, resonant and strangely familiar.

"I am whole … restored … complete!"

"That's good, right?" I asked no one. "Now the world can go back to normal?"

"Change will come swiftly, yes. But what form it will take remains to be determined."

"You've been showing us the future," I said when I finally understood I was speaking to Kaanu itself. "Can't you see what'll happen? How we can change everything back?"

"There are many futures. Some I am given to know and even more that can only be guessed at. To be alive is to never truly know what will happen next..."

The light cleared. The Island's Heart was no longer in my grasp. A shockwave of blue-green energy erupted from my body.

"Bella!" Garrett exclaimed. "What's happening?"

The energy swept across the cavern and collided with the Endless's barrier. Green flames overtook the rippling wall and melted it away.

A few Anachronists glanced toward the pool, but Garrett hid while I continued to look at the scene unfolding before me.

The group converged on the Endless. "Your time has come!" they yelled at her.

"Perhaps you'll explain to me why you feel this is necess—" the Endless began but was interrupted by Harrvel.

"Silence!"

Two Anachronists pushed the Endless to the cavern floor. "We don't take kindly to being lied to. No matter what timeline it happens in."

Harrvel stepped closer. "My people worshiped at your feet. We saw you as a savior … and all the while we were merely pawns! You filled our minds with nonsense and set out hands working on the instruments of your corruption!" He raised his ornately carved staff and prepared to bring it down upon the Endless.

Near the cavern entrance, the others watched in horror.

"Let justice be done … Let an end come for the Endless."

"Harrvel, stop!" I shouted and deactivated the invisibility shield.

The shaman's deathly visage swiveled toward me.

"Your people are better off now," I reminded him. "Your people's entire society is structured on her teachings! You were bloodthirsty killers before the Endless came to you. Do you really want to go back to that now?"

Harrvel growled furiously. "We were better off before, Catalyst. Before the Endless. Before you."

Garrett also stepped out into the light. "Harrvel, doing this won't change anything!"

"You're wrong," Harrvel turned to him. "It will change the indignity my people endure." One of the Anachronists grabbed Harrvel's staff, and he gasped in shock. "W-what are you doing? The Endless has committed—"

"And the Endless deserves punishment, yes," the man agreed. "But no one person can be judge, jury, and executioner."

A distant sound, like waves crashing, came from high above. The Anachronists stepped back from the Endless and glanced upward. The noise grew louder, becoming the steady roar of turbine engines.

Then, the Omega Mech descended into view, and I internally groaned.

"Well, well. All of my favorite people in one place. How convenient," Cullen's amplified voice resounded through the cavern.

The others rushed to me, no longer concerned about hiding, but about getting out of there.

"Bella, come on!" Benjamin shouted. "Let's get out of here!"

Harrvel pointed angrily at Cullen. "You must not interfere, Man of the Hydra!"

"On the contrary," Cullen answered him equally angry. "It is I who tire of your interference."

As the Mech continued to come down through the caldera, it raised an arm and blasted the Anachronists with a blue beam. Harrvel and the rest of his group instantly faded away.

"Harrvel!" Jacorel exclaimed in shock and fear.

Streams of light emerged from the crystal pillar and formed into the familiar, hovering figure of Kaanu, who rose toward the Mech, its arms extended protectively. It passed right through the colossal robot and faded away.

As my group ran for the cavern's exit, the Endless crawled toward me. "Bella, please … wait! Cullen will promise everything … then take away the very thing we've fought so hard to protect."

The ground heaved as the Mech finally landed. Cullen's laughter emerged from the speakers as a low, derisive buzz. "What, no grand death scene? No soliloquy? Well, I've got one for you. 'Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day and all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death.'"

As blue light flared in the Omega Mech's palms, a preternatural calm settled over the Endless. "Only you can save them now, Bella."

Another beam tore its way across the cavern, and when the light cleared, there was no trace of her left behind.

"Enough!" Alistair yelled. "I won't let you do this, Father!" He suddenly leaped onto the Mech and struggled to tear open a panel in its leg.

The leg pulled back and threatened to drop him into the lava pool. It then swung forward and sent him flying across the cavern. He collided with a rock wall and tumbled to the ground.

"Alistair!" Tanya exclaimed and made a move to run to him, but she was stopped by Peter.

The Mech turned and revealed Cullen's scowling face to us. "Alistair," he gritted out. "I must confess, until your betrayal, I'd still not given up hope. Despite continuaö displays of inadequacy, I'd held on to the idea that you might add up someday. But the truth is, there was little chance of that."

Alistair struggled to get back on his feet. "Because you never gave me a chance!"

The towering automaton strode toward him, and readouts and reticles flickered across Cullen's spiteful expression. "Because the process that made you was imperfect. You were born in a vat, your genetics and tissue cloned painstakingly from my own," he explained hatefully. "I tried to create a successor … and in the end made nothing more than a pale shadow of myself."

It was clear that the words went thought Alistair like a knife, and his voice became a hoarse cry of desperation. "That's … not true!"

"You know it is," Cullen said mirthfully. "You said it yourself, 'Never a father to me.'"

Terrified a repeat of what happened in MASADA was about to occur, I turned to Alistair. "Don't listen to him! He's just trying to manipulate you!"

Cullen ignored me. "Iris, maintain current configuration and explain Directive 1908."

Iris's hologram materialized next to Cullen. "Directive 1908 required that the IRIS unit place full priority in the goal it was originally fabricated for. Namely, to utilize Esme Cullen's knowledge of reproductive cloning in order to construct a suitable analog of Carlisle Alistair Cullen."

Tears streamed from Alistair's eyes which were wide with disbelief.

"No!" Tanya shouted angrily and didn't allow for Peter to hold her back anymore. She strode forward and placed herself between Cullen and Alistair. "Cullen, you bastard! You delusional, immoral, self-serving … You don't deserve to breathe the same air as Alistair!" She turned and wrapped her arms protectively around Alistair, who wept motionlessly.

Cullen turned the Mech away in disgust. "It seems, however, that nature has succeeded where science failed. I have others to carry on my work, among them a strong, capable heir."

I glared at him. "What are you talking about?"

"No one's going to be following in your footsteps, Cullen," Garrett spit out.

"Your work ends here," Leah snarled and put all her strength behind her new spear, and hurled it at the glass-enclosed cockpit.

A huge hand snatched it out of the air, and the wooden shaft was crushed to kindling in the Mech's grasp.

Cullen directed the robot's other arm into the pool and scooped up the crystalline pillar.

Jazz's eyes widened. "He's taking the crystal … all of it."

"All along, I believed I needed the Endless to make my vision real … But it was this. This is the key to a new age. There are no longer any limits. Now we can create whatever life, whatever world we wish to live in."

I felt Kaanu's presence reaching out to me, then.

"Do not fear. The last piece is still missing. Without it, time will resist his control. You will discover the fragment before he does. Be cautious, however, for he knows this already."

Winds blast the cavern as the Mech's thrusters engaged. Cullen ascended through the caldera with the mass of crystal. As he vanished above, we heard his voice calling down.

"It won't be long, Bella … Eternity is nearly ours."

Leah glared upward, her body contorted in rage. "I'll kill you with my bare hands first!"

"Guys?" Peter called for attention. "The lava's moving!"

He pointed at the blazing pool, which appeared to be steadily rising. Molten rock flooded into the cavern.

"Back to the caves, now!" Edward cried out and reached out for my hand before taking off in a sprint toward the tunnel we entered through.

Behind us, I could hear Tanya struggling to get Alistair moving. "Alistair, we've got to go! I'm not gonna leave you! Damn you, don't do this right now!"

"Tanya!" I called for her, but her voice had faded away, and neither of them was in my sight anymore.

I gasped when I suddenly saw everything from above and I slowly got closer to the scene. Tanya was sobbing next to a devastated Alistair. When a translucent arm reached out in front of me and offered Alistair an object, I realized that I was seeing what Kaanu was seeing.

Apparently, my own connection to the spirit had grown stronger.

The object was a magazine, but Alistair was still doubled over beside Tanya and wasn't paying attention, and they started to fade from my vision.

"Alistair, take the magazine!" I yelled at the top of my lungs and hoped he could still hear me from down the tunnel.

They were still fading, but Alistair glanced up with a frown. He stared emptily at Kaanu and despondently reached out for the magazine.

And I was no longer in the tunnel with the others or seeing Tanya and Alistair in front of me. I saw a cozy living room inside someone's apartment.

Tanya entered and began touching up her makeup in a mirror. A wedding band glimmered on her left hand in the soft light. "You're sure you're going to be okay?" she asked.

"Of course, love," Alistair's voice called from the next room. "Go and enjoy yourself tonight. We'll be just fine."

"Can I get kisses before I go?" she asked with a giggle.

Alistair walked out of the bedroom cradling a tiny baby boy. The adorable infant wriggled anxiously in his arms. "Don't worry," he reassured Tanya again with a wide smile. "I'm better at this than I look."

Tanya smirked. "Mhm." She leaned down and placed a tender kiss on what was obviously her and Alistair's son's forehead. She then gave Alistair a kiss and turned to grab her coat. "Be good, boys. Momma will be home soon."

She left and Alistair took a seat on the couch with his son. He began to sing in a soft voice.

"The story of how I love you … it has no end … A baby when it's sleeping … it's not cry—"

The little child began to wail and waved his chubby arms.

Alistair sighed. "Yes, you have a point. Singing's not my strong suit." He gently rocked the boy and sniffed back a tear. "I think Daddy made himself sad, too … That was a lullaby your grandmother used to sing."

He freed a hand to brush his cheek and looked down at his son thoughtfully. "Hugh, I'm not perfect, but I want you to know that I'm going to do whatever it takes for you. When you need me, I'll be there. You can count on that." He smiled gently. "I don't think I've ever been as happy as I was the day you were born. Your mother, too. She was so … radiant." He hugged the boy close. "Everything I needed from my parents; all the love I didn't have the opportunity to experience, I'm going to make sure you have, if you want it."

Hugh let out a bubbly sound.

"Does that sound good?" Alistair asked and bounced Hugh lightly. "Where should we start?"

"Ba-ba!" Hugh got out with slight difficulty.

"Done," Alistair chuckled. "Baba it is."

He took the baby bottle from a side table and brought it to Hugh's mouth. His big blue eyes stared at his father curiously as he drank.

"Now. Shall I read to you from The Vienna Review?" He lifted a dog-eared magazine from the couch and flipped it open. "This is the only publication I keep that features your grandfather because, you see, it just so happens that it also mentions your Daddy when he was a young man."

The vision faded out and then back in when the clock showed a few hours had passed. Tanya came back home and hung up her coat.

"Honey? You still awake?"

She found Alistair who had dozed off in a sitting position with Hugh sleeping in his arms. She smiled contentedly and sat down on her knees on the floor to simply watch her husband and son rest.

It didn't take long before the first light of a new day began to fill the sky.

The vision faded, and I was back in the tunnel. I gasped and turned around in the direction of the cavern. "Alistair! Tanya! Come on!"

Only a few seconds went by, and then I heard their running feet coming our way. Alistair's eyes were wide and disbelieving.

"I … I..." he stuttered, the magazine tightly clutched in his hand.

"I know," I told him reassuringly.

All of us slowed down our pace when we felt we were out of immediate danger, and after an hour of wandering, we turned a corner and found pale light streaming through an exit.

When we emerged, we were within view of Elyys'tel's mighty tree. Jacorel was visibly relieved at seeing his home.

"Thank goodness," Benjamin sighed. "Living through Journey to the Center of the Earth was harder than I expected."

Hundreds of flower garlands were draped across the city's platforms and walkways, and gentle winds stirred the blossoms which caused them to shimmer in the moonlight.

Victoria's eyes glittered as she looked at the decorations. "It's so beautiful … I wonder what the occasion is?"

Jacorel smiled. "Tomorrow is the first day of Niala'rei." He glanced at Kate. "Do you remember what I told you on the beach where Emry has his trading post?"

She nodded. "Yes. The hut decorated with flowers there. You said they were handfasted."

"Exactly. We have a tradition where Niala'rei lasts for several days so couples who truly love each other have the opportunity to handfast in front of the entire village."

Peter let out an irritated groan. "Oh, great … I hate weddings."

A/N:

*snicker I love Peter's comment at the end for some reason!

As usual, lots of things happened, as it always does!

The Heart was stolen by Fiddler, but we got it back, *phew! Fiddler took a Swan dive, and Bella put on her suit.

How many believed Edward had indeed planned to surprise Bella with a wedding there at the lake? Isn't it nice that Bella has so many friends that love and appreciate her like that?

Aaaand, the Heart was returned to Kaanu! … But Cullen stole the crystal, however, there is a part missing … hmm...

And Alistair is … a clone? Yes, he is. He was designed from Carlisle's DNA but was never born. And Cullen was so cold about it … he is an ass!

Anyway, tell me your thoughts because I seriously love them so much, even though I don't always reply! There's so much going on right now that I tend to forget to reply, but every review is majorly appreciated!

Until next week,

Stay Awesome!