I Can See Evolution Paths

Arthur, Eden, Sun, Athena, Mithra, Melo, Vedas, and Kong were walking back toward camp. They encountered several first year students standing around a large map. Some were pointing toward a section of the Everglades. One student looked confused. Another was holding a compass. A third had several rough drawings spread across the map.

Arthur immediately noticed them. He walked over. "What happened?" he asked.

The students turned. "Arthur!"

Another student looked surprised. "Where did you guys come from?"

Arthur casually answered, "Exploring."

Sun’s mouth twitched. "We found something interesting and checked it out."

The students exchanged looks. One of them said, "So even you found something?"

Sun immediately muttered, "They said it."

Mithra’s eyes brightened. "Oh?" She looked toward the students. "Another adventure so soon?"

Athena adjusted her glasses. "What did you find?"

Arthur’s eyes lit up. "Oh?" He stepped closer. "What did you guys find?"

Eden immediately flew forward. "Tell us!"

The female students suddenly noticed Eden.

One whispered, "She’s so cute."

Another said, "Is she your friends?"

Eden giggled. "I’m Eden!"

The girls immediately surrounded her. "She’s adorable!"

"Look at her wings!"

"Can we touch them?"

Eden became slightly overwhelmed but happy.

Arthur watched as Eden was immediately surrounded by the girls, while Sun and Vedas exchanged amused looks. Mithra couldn’t hold back her laughter, and even Athena’s expression softened as Eden proudly introduced herself to everyone.

One of the male students looked exhausted. "Weren’t we talking about something serious?"

Another male student nodded. "We were."

Arthur looked at Eden being showered with attention, then at the students. "She’s popular," he said.

Sun said, "She does that."

Eden proudly raised her head. "I’m cute," she said.

Arthur laughed. Then he turned back toward the map. "Now, why don’t you tell us what you found?"

The group explained that they’d been mapping a western section of the outer region. At first everything was normal. Then they discovered something strange. Their map didn’t match the Academy’s map.

One of the students spread the map across the stone table and pointed toward the western section. "According to the Academy’s map, this should just be forest."

He moved his finger slightly farther west. "But we found a path here."

Arthur immediately leaned closer. "A path?"

They nodded. "An old stone path."

His expression changed while Athena noticed. "How old?"

The student shook their head. "Very old."

They explained that the path didn’t lead directly toward the Academy’s mapped routes. Instead it disappeared toward an area marked as unexplored. The students hadn’t continued because they weren’t sure whether they were allowed.

Arthur immediately said, "Let’s go."

Sun said, "You didn’t even think about it."

Arthur said, "I did."

"For how long?"

Arthur paused. "A few seconds."

Mithra laughed.

Arthur studied their map. The students’ hand drawn path appeared to cross something that shouldn’t be there.

Athena compared it with the Academy map. "That’s strange," she said.

Arthur looked at her. "What?"

She pointed. "According to the Academy’s map, there’s supposed to be a large swamp here."

The student shook his head. "There isn’t."

Arthur’s eyes brightened. "So the map is wrong."

Athena became thoughtful. "Or the Everglades changed."

Then Arthur smiled. "Either way, I want to see it."

The students brought their discovery to a professor. Roland examined the map. He was surprised.

"You found this?"

The students nodded.

He studied the markings. "We don’t have this route recorded."

Arthur asked, "Can we investigate it?"

Roland looked at him.

Arthur smiled innocently.

Roland sighed. "You were going to investigate it regardless, weren’t you?"

Arthur paused. "Probably."

Roland shook his head, then allowed them to inspect the outer portion of the path. But he gave one condition. "Stay inside the mapped outer region."

Another professor added, "And remember, we can still sense your positions."

Sun looked at Arthur. "Don’t even think about it."

Arthur smiled. "I wasn’t."

With Roland’s permission, the students gathered their equipment and set off again. This time, Arthur wasn’t following a route the Academy had already marked. They were following something another group of students had discovered only that morning.

That alone was enough to make him curious.

The environment gradually changed as they moved farther from the familiar routes. Enormous ferns crowded the edges of the path, while hanging vines covered in glowing droplets swayed above them. Strange insects moved through the foliage, and shallow pools filled with floating flowers reflected the light filtering through the trees.

One student discovered a medicinal plant, and Athena identified it. Another noticed the unusual water current.

Arthur complimented them. "Good observation," he said.

Eventually they found it. A stone road almost completely swallowed by the Everglades, wider than the path from before. Large stone slabs formed a broken road. Roots had pushed through it. Some sections had collapsed into the swamp.

Arthur knelt. "Someone built this," he said.

Athena examined it. "Yes."

Arthur asked, "For what?"

She didn’t know.

Then one student noticed something. "There’s something ahead."

The students eventually reached a broken stone platform, partially swallowed by roots and moss, several weathered pillars surrounding it. Athena immediately began examining the carvings. Arthur walked around the structure, looking at the walls.

Then Athy suddenly pointed toward one section.

Athena followed her gaze. She stopped. "Wait."

Arthur turned. "What?"

Athena pointed toward the wall. "That."

Arthur stepped closer. Carved into the ancient stone was a large oval shape, its surface covered in strange lines and markings. Arthur stared at it. It looked almost like a mirror. Not a normal mirror. There was no reflective surface. But the shape was unmistakable. Tall. Oval. Framed by strange symbols.

Arthur’s expression slowly changed.

Athena didn’t speak. For several seconds neither of them moved.

Arthur stared at the carving for several seconds before something clicked. "Athena..." She looked at him. "The robes."

Athena’s expression sharpened and then she understood immediately. "The people we saw in the Memory Crystal."

Arthur stared at the carving. "They were talking about Mirrors."

Athena nodded slowly. "And they were carrying one."

Arthur looked back at the carving, his heart beating slightly faster. "Do you think this is what they meant?"

Athena didn’t answer immediately. She crouched beside the carving and carefully examined it. "I don’t know," she said.

Arthur blinked. "You don’t?"

Athena shook her head. "It looks similar. But that’s not enough." She pointed toward the markings surrounding it. "We don’t know what this symbol represents."

Arthur looked at the carving again. "So it could be a Mirror."

Athena nodded. "Or it could be something completely different."

Arthur’s eyes remained fixed on it. For some reason the thought made the strange familiarity he’d felt before grow even stronger. He remembered the Memory Crystal. The robed figures. The object they carried. The words they had spoken. The Mirrors.

Arthur slowly reached toward the carving and gis fingers stopped just before touching it.

But nothing happened.

Arthur lowered his hand. "We still don’t know," he said.

Athena nodded. "Not yet."

Arthur smiled slightly. "Then we’ll have to find out."

Before they left, Athena noticed something else. She looked farther along the wall. There were five oval carvings. Four were heavily damaged. One remained mostly intact.

Athena’s expression changed. "Arthur."

He looked over. "What?"

She pointed.

Arthur walked toward her and counted the carvings carefully. There were five in total. Four had been heavily damaged by time, while one remained mostly intact.

His eyes widened. "Five."

Athena looked at him.

Neither said anything for a moment.

They both remembered the five regions from the expedition records. The five locations where Beasts had refused to continue.

And now, five strange shapes carved into an ancient wall.

Arthur’s expression became thoughtful. "Do you think—"

Athena didn’t let him finish. "We don’t know," she said.

Arthur smiled. "You really like saying that."

Athena gave him a small smile. "Because it’s true."

Before Arthur could respond, "Arthur! Athena!"

They both turned. One of the professors was calling them from outside the ruins. "Time to head back!"

Eden waved from beside Vedas. "Arthur! We’re leaving!"

Arthur looked back toward the carvings one final time. The five shapes remained silent on the ancient wall. He didn’t know if they were the Mirrors or who built them. And it wasn’t enough to prove anything.

But it was enough to make him wonder.

"There’s too much of a pattern here," he murmured.

Athena nodded. "I was thinking the same thing."

Arthur smiled. "Let’s go," he said.

He turned away.

Behind him, the ancient carvings remained untouched.