It should've been paradise.
The AMP Squad finally broke through the thickest part of the jungle, stumbling into a valley that looked like it was painted by magic itself. Waterfalls sparkled in the sunlight, strange golden trees swayed to music only they could hear, and the sky glowed with a weird mix of twilight and dawn.
"Okay but—what in the Avatar core memory is this?" Blair said, jaw dropped.
"Keitha," Athena whispered. "We actually made it."
Zora knelt by a pool of silver-blue water and dipped her hand in. It rippled like liquid starlight. "This doesn't feel real."
"Yeah, but why does it feel... familiar?" Enzo muttered. "Like I've been here before."
"You too?" Sylvia frowned. "I dreamed this place. Before we even left for the road trip."
Ace looked up from his sketchbook, eyes wide. "Same. I sketched this exact view weeks ago. Same trees. Same cliffs. Same colors."
They all went quiet.
Then, the world flickered.
Just for a second—like a glitch in a video game. The sky blinked. The waterfalls stuttered. The colors dimmed and snapped back into place.
"Did you guys see that?" Asher asked, standing rigid.
"Nope. Nope. I am not built for paranormal graphics card errors," Axel said, spinning in a slow circle.
The jungle was suddenly too quiet again.
"Maybe it's part of the test?" Zora offered weakly. "The Watchers said we weren't ready."
But then, the first nightmare hit.
Ace dropped to his knees, clutching his head. "No, no, no—not again."
"Ace?" Blair crouched beside him.
He looked up, eyes wide with fear. "It was the fire. My childhood house. I smelled smoke. Heard my mom screaming—it felt real."
Before anyone could react, Enzo gasped and staggered backward.
"There was water—my sister. I couldn't save her."
Athena's fists clenched. "We're being shown our worst memories."
"More like being forced to relive them," Sylvia said, pale.
The sky flickered again. A bird flew by—then rewound mid-air like someone hit rewind on reality.
"I'm getting serious déjà vu," Zora muttered. "Like this moment is happening over and over."
Axel tried to punch a tree just to feel something solid—but his fist passed through the bark like smoke.
"This isn't paradise," Asher whispered, staring up at the glitching sky. "It's a prison made to look like one."
A new voice echoed through the trees.
"You were warned."
The Watchers.
They emerged from the shadows, cloaks darker than before. The masks were now cracked—jagged like lightning bolts.
"You entered unprepared. Now the city protects itself."
"Protects itself from what?" Athena demanded.
"From you," a Watcher replied. "Those who carry power without understanding."
Ace stood up, still shaking. "Then help us understand."
The Watchers didn't speak. Instead, one pointed to a staircase that had suddenly appeared in the side of the cliff. Stone steps glowing with the same symbols from the jungle.
"Face your fears. Face your past. Only then can you survive the truth of Keitha."
And just like that—they vanished again.
Zora looked up the staircase. It felt like it went on forever.
"Do we even have a choice?" she asked.
"Nope," Asher said grimly. "Welcome to level two."
Together, they started the climb—one step at a time, as the illusion of paradise cracked beneath their feet.