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Chapter 16 - 'WHAT THE GARDEN TAKES'{16}

🩸 Scene 1: Milo's Awakening

Milo wakes up screaming.

Symbols crawl under his skin like living ink. The chains are gone — melted, corroded by something inside him.

Magika lies dead across the room, her body twisted unnaturally, eyes burned black from the inside.

Milo stares at his hands.

They're shaking.

Milo (whispering):"I didn't… mean to…"

The walls pulse once, like a heartbeat.

Somewhere far away, the Garden responds.

🌿 Scene 2: The Garden's Pulse

Deep beneath the cursed land, roots shift.

Monster Wombs inside Brands react simultaneously — glowing, twitching, growing restless.

A voice echoes, ancient and layered:

???:"Harvest cycle confirmed."

Black fog leaks through cracks in reality.

Something has been marked.

🐺 Scene 3: Wolfe and the Watchers

Wolfe stands on the rooftop of the ruined station, staring at the skyline.

Theo lands beside him in a crack of lightning.

Theo:"They moved Kevin."

Wolfe's jaw tightens.

Wolfe:"Then we move faster."

A Realm Watcher sigil burns into the sky — not hiding anymore.

This isn't secret warfare.

It's a declaration.

🌊 Scene 4: Ocean Wreck – The Price of a Deal

On the shattered pirate ship, waves slam against broken wood.

Aino Korhonen watches Nkumkani carefully.

Aino:"You want your people back. Then you stop the Garden."

Chinelo clutches her jacket, veins faintly glowing — the mutation hasn't stopped.

Monkey looks away, fists clenched.

Monkey (low):"Everything touches that place… doesn't it."

Aino nods.

Aino:"The Garden doesn't grow life.It selects it."

Nkumkani's eyes darken.

🔥 Scene 5: Overseas – Miles and Korrin

Far away, in a scorched valley split by lava rivers, Miles collapses to one knee.

Korrin stands over him, unimpressed.

Korrin:"Again."

Miles forces himself up, flames flickering around his hands — unstable, dangerous.

Miles:"If I lose control—"

Korrin:"—then you die. Or worse."

Miles grits his teeth.

Miles:"Good. I need worse."

The fire answers him.

🕯️ Scene 6: Purgatory – Hyde and Ashton

Hyde drops the boulder.

It crushes into the black mud.

He laughs bitterly.

Hyde:"So this is it. Punishment without end."

Ashton stares at the endless dark horizon.

Ashton:"No. This is training."

Hyde looks at him.

Hyde:"For what?"

Ashton smiles faintly.

Ashton:"For coming back."

Above them, the sky cracks — just for a second.

Someone is pulling strings.

🐘 Scene 7: Elazer's Warning

Elazer kneels, pressing his palm to the ground.

Zane gasps, clutching his head.

Zane:"I see it—the Garden isn't cursed… it's engineered."

Elazer's eyes glow.

Elazer:"It was never meant to be pruned."

D'Angelo raises his weapon.

D'Angelo:"Then what happens when it finishes harvesting?"

Elazer looks away.

Elazer:"Then the fence opens."

🌑 Scene 8: Nefima's Move

A rift opens silently.

Nefima steps through, untouched by time.

She kneels before a stone altar — the Coin of the Undead carved into its surface.

Nefima (smiling tiredly):"Eighteen centuries…What's a few more corpses?"

The fog thickens.

The dead listen.

🌌 Closing Scene: The Choice

Wolfe stands before the group — survivors, broken fighters, unwilling heroes.

Wolfe:"We don't stop the monsters.We don't stop the witches.We don't even stop the Watchers."

Silence.

Wolfe:"We stop the Garden."

Thunder rolls.

Roots crack through concrete miles away.

The harvest has begun.

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