The Guardians trudged deeper into the Crystal Caverns, their earlier encounter weighing heavily on them. The eerie glow of the crystals had dimmed even further, casting strange shadows on the jagged walls. Every sound seemed amplified in the silence, the crunch of their boots on the rocky ground echoing endlessly.
"We need a plan," Bruce said, his deep voice cutting through the quiet. "If those golems were just the beginning, we can't afford another fight like that."
Calypso nodded, her violet eyes scanning the path ahead. "I sense something... off. The energy here is warped, like the cavern itself is alive."
"Great," Leo muttered, twirling a small flame in his palm. "First we fight crystal monsters, now we're walking through a sentient death trap. Who's picking these destinations?"
Skye smirked, elbowing him lightly. "You'd complain no matter where we went."
"Not if there were snacks," Leo shot back, earning a chuckle from her despite the tension.
Zane's Intuition
At the rear of the group, Zane walked in silence, his hand brushing the cool walls of the cavern. The air felt different here—thick and heavy, like time itself was slower. His powers hummed faintly, a sensation he was still adjusting to without the anchor of his watch.
"Zane," Jasmine's voice broke through his thoughts. She had fallen back to walk beside him.
"What?" he asked, his tone soft but distracted.
"You're doing that thing again," she said, her lips quirking into a teasing smile.
"What thing?"
"The brooding thing," she said. "You've been quiet all day. More than usual."
He sighed, glancing at her. "Just thinking."
"About?"
"About what's ahead," he admitted. "Something doesn't feel right."
Jasmine studied him for a moment, her expression thoughtful. "You always seem to know when something's wrong. How do you do that?"
"It's part of the powers, I think," he said. "Time isn't just something I control—it's something I feel. Like the threads of it are woven into everything."
"That sounds... lonely," Jasmine said softly.
Zane didn't respond, but her words lingered, striking a chord he didn't want to acknowledge.
The Whispering Crystals
As they moved deeper into the cavern, the air grew colder. The walls around them shimmered faintly, and the light seemed to shift, creating the illusion of movement.
"Do you hear that?" Skye asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Everyone stopped, straining to listen. Faint whispers echoed through the cavern, indistinct and haunting.
"Great," Leo said, his flames flaring brighter. "Now the walls are talking. This place just keeps getting better."
"They're not just whispers," Calypso said, her voice tense. "They're... memories."
"Memories?" Bruce asked, frowning.
"The crystals," she explained, placing a hand on the nearest wall. "They're storing fragments of time, echoes of the past."
Zane stepped closer, his powers tingling at the edge of his senses. He reached out cautiously, his fingers brushing the surface of the crystal. Images flashed in his mind—brief and chaotic, like pieces of a shattered mirror.
A man shouting, his voice drowned out by the roar of collapsing stone. A woman crying, clutching a glowing artifact. Darkness consuming everything.
Zane pulled back, his breath hitching.
"What did you see?" Jasmine asked, concern in her eyes.
"Destruction," he said quietly. "And something worse waiting in the shadows."
A Fragment of Hope
"Whatever's ahead, it's tied to those memories," Calypso said. "We need to find the source of this energy."
Bruce nodded. "Agreed. Let's keep moving."
They pressed on, the whispers growing louder with every step. The air grew colder still, and the light from the crystals became dim and flickering.
Zane stayed close to Jasmine, his senses on high alert. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching them, waiting for the right moment to strike.
But through the unease, he found himself glancing at her more often than he meant to. The way her brow furrowed in concentration, the determined set of her jaw—it was distracting in a way he couldn't explain.
For the first time in years, Zane found himself daydreaming.
