The trees behind them whispered in the wind as Catty and Fitzmaria emerged from the dense forest, stepping onto the edge of a narrow stone bridge. It stretched before them like a fragile thread suspended over an immense chasm. Its old stones were wet with moisture from the mist. Below, the roar of cascading waterfalls echoed up from the abyss. The water crashed against the sharp rocks far below, sending plumes of fog spiraling into the sky.

Catty peered over the side of the bridge, her breath catching in her throat as she saw the sheer drop beneath them. The mist obscured the bottom, making it seem like the bridge was suspended over an endless void. The wind picked up, tugging at her cloak and carrying the dampness from the falls.

'One wrong step, and we're gone,' Catty thought.

Ahead, the Celestial Observatory loomed in the distance. Gigantic statues carved directly from the mountain rock flanked the entrance, their intimidating faces gazing down upon the narrow bridge. Birds circled the spires that pierced the sky like jagged teeth.

The air around the observatory was thick with mist, swirling lazily in the shafts of sunlight that broke through the clouds. The stone pathway stretched in the air—the bridge led to a platform at the entrance suspended over a deep chasm. Ancient magic permeated this place.

Fitzmaria paused and took in the scene before them. The bridge, though narrow and precarious, was their only path forward.

"Stay close," he said loudly, cutting through the roar of the waterfalls. "This bridge is stone and seems strong, but don't let that fool you."

Catty nodded, her gaze fixed on the distant spires of the Celestial Observatory. She could feel the danger of their way, but there was no time for hesitation. The girl stepped onto the bridge, the stones slick beneath her feet. The mist swirled around her, parting slightly as if inviting her to continue.

'Keep it together, Catty. Just keep moving,' flashed through the girl's head.

As soon as they paced onto the narrow stone bridge, the air buzzed with invisible energy—ancient magic was coming to life. The old bridge vibrated slightly, and its stone blocks began to shake underfoot.

The roar of the waterfalls below filled the air, reminding them of the deadly drop. The mist rose from the abyss, swirling around their ankles and climbing higher, veiling the bridge in a shroud of shifting fog that blurred the surroundings.

Fitzmaria's eyes narrowed as he scanned the path ahead. The mist dampened the sounds around them, like an unspoken warning.

"Stay close," he repeated, his voice cutting through the din of the falls. "See, bridges like this one? They aren't just about getting you from A to B. Nah, they've got a way of eyeballing you, checking if you've got the guts to cross. So, don't lose your nerve."

Catty was walking forward cautiously. The stones beneath her feet were slick with moisture. Each step felt like a leap into the unknown, and the bridge vibrated, responding to their presence. The mist was thickening, wrapping around them like a living thing.

The vibrations grew stronger, and Catty felt the tremor travel up her legs. It ran through the ancient structure as if the bridge was awakening from a long slumber. The air around them crackled with barely contained energy, and the old magic that held the bridge together began to appear.

'What's going on?' Catty wondered.

The roar of the waterfalls below pounded in her ears. The drizzle rose from the abyss, coiling around them like serpents. It crept upward and thickened until it formed a dense shroud that swallowed the bridge. And then the bridge began to transform.

"This bridge is falling apart!" Catty screamed.

What had been a solid span of stone was now fractured into separate blocks moving in all directions. The bridge started to divide, developing into new routes that headed away into the mist, and the stones cracked, some breaking away entirely and falling into the abyss below, leaving gaping voids.

"No, it's playing with us!" Fitzmaria grabbed her hand, his grip firm. "Don't trust a damn thing you see here."

The girl cast a desperate glance at Fitzmaria, hoping for some sign of reassurance, but saw only doubt flickering in his eyes. The man who had seemed so confident moments ago was now just as lost as she was.

Catty's breath caught as she watched the path ahead transform into a confusing maze. The blocks moved, transforming into new bridges that twisted at impossible angles. It was clear that some paths were illusions and traps.

"You mean it's messing with our heads?" the girl asked, her voice trembling.

"Exactly. Keep moving, but don't trust the ground under your feet."

The thick tendrils of mist swirled around the travelers, and within moments, they had enveloped the entire bridge, reducing visibility to mere feet. All the bridge versions were lost in the haze.

'We're walking blind here!' Catty thought.

Fitzmaria stayed silent, his eyes darting from one path to another. They shifted and intertwined, confusing him. The mist tricked his vision, making the bridge beneath their feet no longer safe—it threatened to lead the travelers to their doom.

Catty glanced at Fitzmaria but saw turmoil on his face.

"This place is just waiting for us to slip up," the man muttered, surprising. "This damn bridge… It's playing tricks on us."

"You're saying like the bridge is alive!"

"Alive? More like it's got a sick sense of humor. Pick a path, and pray it doesn't change on you."

Fitzmaria took a hesitant step forward, testing the ground, but the stones shifted again, and the path transformed once more.

"You seem less sure than usual," Catty said.

"Yeah, well, this place isn't exactly a walk on the beach. Stay sharp, and don't let it see you sweat."

Catty hesitated, her instincts screaming to stop, but she forced herself to take a breath and focus. "So, what now? We guess and hope we don't fall into the abyss?"

"Guessing's not my style, Catty. But right now, that's all we've got. This place is just waiting for us to slip up."

He stepped onto one of the paths, his foot hovering for a moment before committing to the stone. It held, but the bridge ahead twisted, and Fitzmaria cursed under his breath. The despair was evident in his voice.

"Damn it! It's trying to mess with my head."

The bridge wasn't just testing their resolve; it was playing a game, and the rules were anything but clear. It was toying with their fears, and the girl could feel it pushing them to the edge—literally and figuratively.

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The bridge quaked, the stone blocks beneath Catty's feet shifting and crumbling into the abyss below. Fitzmaria's voice was distant, and his warnings were drowned out by the roar of the waterfalls and the chaos unfolding beneath them.

Something inside Catty exploded. She was done with this. Done with the fear and hesitation. Her eyes narrowed, and she set her jaw, her frustration bubbling into a fierce resolve. She wasn't going to let this cursed bridge have the last word.

"All right, then screw it!" the girl shouted, her voice cutting through the din like a blade.

Without a second thought, Catty launched herself forward. Her legs carried her on the unstable blocks.

The bridge sensed her defiance, and the sections began collapsing even faster.

The gaps between them widened into yawning chasms.

The girl didn't stop. She was rushing forward, her feet touching the stones before they fell down.

Fitzmaria was left behind, but Catty didn't turn back. She couldn't afford to.

The mist swirled around her, the bridge breaking beneath her, but she kept running harder and faster. Each leap was a gamble, and Catty refused to lose.

While Catty was surging forward, the bridge responded with fury. Stone blocks that had held firm moments before began to shudder and fall away. They plummeted into the abyss with a loud crash, and the bridge transformed into a chaotic series of turning and tumbling platforms.

The gaps widened rapidly, the chasms yawning open like the jaws of some great beast, eager to swallow her whole.

Each step was a desperate race against the crumbling stones, her instincts driving Catty forward as the bridge disintegrated beneath her feet.

Fitzmaria was close behind, his movements a frantic attempt to keep up, but the bridge gave no mercy. Sections ahead vanished into the void, forcing him to push himself to the limit to stay in the game.

Catty's breath burned in her lungs as she sprinted forward, but the bridge was rapidly crashing.

Then the girl saw it—the final gap. It stretched impossibly wide before her like a black maw.

For a split second, doubt flashed in her mind. The distance was too great, and the leap must be too far.

There was no time to second-guess, no time to stop. She poured all strength into her legs, pushing off from the last solid stone with fierce, desperate energy.

Catty soared through the air, the void yawning beneath her.

She was weightless, suspended between the collapsing bridge and her future on the other side—for a heart-stopping moment.

She hit the platform's edge with a bone-jarring impact and rolled over the stones.

Then, Catty turned onto her stomach and saw how Fitzmaria launched across the gap. The bridge gave way beneath him just as he leaped.

At first, the girl thought that he wouldn't be able to jump to the platform, and she was horrified. Catty watched as the man flew like in slow motion, his arms flapping awkwardly as if trying to speed up.

Perhaps this helped Fitzmaria—he barely reached the platform and, with a desperate movement, managed to grab its edge with his hands.

The man's fingers gripped the crumbling stone. His body dangled over the abyss.

Without hesitation, Catty lunged forward, grasping his wrist with both hands.

"Hold on!" the girl screamed, "I won't let go!"

The platform beneath them groaned ominously, cracks spiderwebbing across the stone. Catty's grip on Fitzmaria tightened as she felt the last remnants of the bridge breaking apart beneath their weight. There was only the instinct to survive.

They teetered on the edge, the mist swirling around them like a shroud, and then, in a moment, the platform collapsed.

Catty and Fitzmaria plummeted into the abyss, and cold, damp air rushed past them. The world above disappeared, swallowed by the mist.

They seemed to fall endlessly, holding hands, when suddenly salvation came.

Сatty felt her shoulders jerk up sharply. The Cloak of Leaves instantly transformed, unfurling into a pair of magnificent wings. They stretched wide, catching the air, and the leaves gently fluttered in the wind like feathers.

The change was instantaneous, as though the cloak had always been waiting for the right moment to reveal.

The fall stopped, and the travelers were hovering now. The sensation was unlike anything Catty had ever felt before. The wings felt like an extension of her body, responding to her slightest movement.

Both started laughing like crazy, not believing in their salvation. The wings—born from the guardian's gift—had saved them.

Catty pulled Fitzmaria closer and wrapped her legs around the man.

The wings carried them upward, away from the crumbling remains of the bridge. They soared higher and higher, and the abyss that had threatened to consume them was now moving away.

Fitzmaria's eyes filled with tears as he realized what had happened. "You… you did it, Catty."

Catty could barely hear him over the rush of wind and the noise of the wings. The mist parted as they rose, revealing the spires of the Celestial Observatory once more.

The wings propelled them toward the solid ground ahead. Fitzmaria was the first to land, flopping to the ground with a heavy thud. Then, Catty touched down gently and took a few steps before standing.

As if releasing a held breath, the wings began to disappear. A gust of wind caught them and lifted the leaves into the air, carrying them away.

Both watched silently as the leaves circled above the chasm, caught in the currents, before slowly drifting out of sight. The mist wrapped them like a veil, obscuring the path the travelers had just survived.

Fitzmaria pushed himself up on shaky legs, still catching his breath, and looked at Catty with apprehension.

"Well, that was a hell of a ride," he said, his voice rough with exhaustion.

Catty smirked, shaking out the last bit of tension from her limbs. "Guess the cloak had a little more to it than just keeping me warm."

Fitzmaria chuckled, though it came out more as a wheeze. "I don't know whether to thank you or curse you. You almost got us both killed back there."

"Almost doesn't count," Catty shot back, her tone light but her eyes serious. "We made it, didn't we?"

"Yeah, we did," he nodded, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Next time, maybe give a guy a little warning before you decide to leap into the abyss, huh?"

Catty laughed, the sound cutting through the tension that still hung in the air. "Besides, you kept up just fine."

"You're one crazy kid, you know that?" Fitzmaria shook his head, a grin spreading across his face despite himself.

"Better crazy than dead," she replied, turning her gaze toward the imposing entrance of the Celestial Observatory. "Now, let's see what this place has in store for us."

Fitzmaria followed her gaze, the smirk fading, "Yeah… something tells me the bridge was just the beginning."

And they passed between the giant statues of ancient gods guarding the entrance.

The Celestial Observatory rose from the dense jungle, its structures entwined with the wild growth that had claimed it over centuries. Trees grew through the ruins as if nature had decided to finish the work of the original builders—vines woven into the columns, with roots creeping along steps.

Above the building, floating monoliths hovered with an unnerving stillness. Despite their mass, these colossal stones drifted like the gravity had forgotten to let them fall.

A square before the observatory was dotting big crystals, their sharp, angular forms jutting out from the earth like shards of shattered stars. These crystals caught the last light of the setting sun and painted the ruins in a kaleidoscope of colors.

Above, the sky stretched out, vast and indifferent, with the peaks of distant mountains framing the observatory like silent sentinels. The dense air carried the dry, dusty scent of sunbaked stone, mingling with the pungent, spicy smell of the jungle.

The observatory felt abandoned by time, left to erode into the jungle, where only the occasional visitor could stir its forgotten memories.

Fitzmaria, who had been walking slightly ahead, suddenly stopped. His gaze locked onto the central altar, bathed in the dying light of the crystals. A flicker of doubt crossed his eyes as if the weight of what the man was about to do bore down on him. His usual confidence faltered momentarily, and a shadow of hesitation clouded his expression before he steeled himself.

"This is it," Fitzmaria muttered, his voice turning cold. He turned to the girl, and at that moment, his expression hardened. "This is where it ends, Catty."

The girl froze as his words got through to her. "What are you talking about?" she asked. "And where are the pillars? Here should be the pillars!"

Fitzmaria's smirk was devoid of warmth, "You really thought the egg was here? That you were just going to waltz in and claim it?"

He laughed, "No, Catty, this place was never meant to hold the egg. This place is just an illusion! It's a trap for fools! It set by those who know the truth about you and that cursed prophecy."

"You've gotta be kidding me!"

Fitzmaria took a step closer, his right hand sliding behind his back. "Your enemies sent me to end this. Here. You'll never leave this place."

The girl glanced at her bracelet, but it didn't react. No magic, no power.

"The bracelet you cherish so much?" Fitzmaria spat. "Useless here. This place was designed to neutralize its power, to strip you of your defenses. And now, without it, you're nothing."

Catty's mind raced. "You..." she started, but Fitzmaria cut her off with a sharp gesture.

"No more talking. It's over, Catty," he said, and a sword appeared in his hand. Its blade gleamed in the dim light. "This is the end of the line."

The towering structures of the observatory closed in around them. The flickering crystals cast long shadows that danced on the ancient stones. In the vast silence, surrounded by the shadows of forgotten gods, Catty faced the cold truth—she was alone, and the end was closing in.