The Light in Aquala

Morning came softly, the sun rising slowly over the jungle, painting the leaves in shades of gold and green.

Mara woke first, her body stiff from the night's rest, and immediately began checking her equipment. The sensors had recorded subtle shifts during the night patterns that confirmed her growing suspicion that something was accelerating the Season changes.

Fortunately, the perimeter sensors hadn’t gone off during the night, which gave them both the uninterrupted sleep they needed to continue their journey with energy.

Lena woke to the smell of tea and the sound of Mara muttering to herself over her instruments. "Good morning to you too," Lena said, stretching.

Mara looked up, a distracted half-smile on her face. "Good morning. You should see these readings. The Neon levels are increasing even faster than I anticipated."

Lena sat up, rubbing her eyes. "I wish we knew if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Right now, all of these unexpected changes just feel bad to me."

"I agree." Mara's smile had faded and a look of quiet determination had replaced it. "I'd like to find out what is causing all of this before the Season’s big change happens, not afterwards."

They ate a quick breakfast of dried fruit and nuts, drank their tea, and packed up camp. Within an hour, they were on the trail again, climbing steadily toward the waterfall.

The jungle grew denser as they climbed, the vegetation becoming more varied in shapes and sizes. Broad-leaved plants with intricate patterns lined the path, and the air was heavy with the scent of exotic flowers.

The colors were changing faster now, the turquoise and amber orange hues becoming more pronounced, now mixing with shades of purple, silver and gold that Mara had never seen before.

"The vegetation is responding strangely," Mara observed, pausing to examine a cluster of flowers that seemed to be radiating inner light. "Look at these. This purple color is deeper than anything we saw yesterday."

Lena crouched beside her. "You're right. And look at this." She pointed to a patch of moss at the base of a tree that had taken on a faint silver sheen that shimmered in the filtered sunlight.

Mara pulled out an instrument and began taking readings. "The data is consistent with what I was seeing at the Academy. Whatever is causing this change is powerful and it’s accelerating monumentally with every passing day."

Lena looked thoughtfully. "Can you tell what it is?"

Mara shook her head slowly. "Not yet. The measurements are consistent with a natural phenomenon, but this rate of change is unprecedented. I've never seen or read about anything like it."

The sound of the Aquala waterfall grew louder with each step they took and the path grew steeper, forcing them to climb over rocks and around fallen trees. The air was cool and filled with a refreshing, fine mist which had drifted over to them from the pools of water below Aquala.

Sometimes they had hiked down to them, and the view of these natural pools was breathtaking, showing the power of water against stone over centuries. The slightly glowing water in these gigantic pools was always overflowing, plunging into the huge, crystal clear river below. It meandered through the jungle, eventually dividing off into smaller rivers that found their way to the ocean.

Suddenly, something happened that neither of them expected.

Mara stepped onto a patch of grass, and the blades beneath her boot changed color. The change was immediate and unmistakable, a shimmer of blue-green spreading outward from where she had placed her foot, as if the grass itself was welcoming her presence.

She stopped, her breath catching in her throat.

Lena, a few steps ahead, turned around at the sudden silence. "What is it?"

Mara stared at the ground, her scientific mind already cataloging what she was seeing. The grass around her foot had taken on the faint blue-green glow that matched her own Neon signature, the same color that radiated from her face.

It happened quickly and as she watched, the color deepened, spreading across the blades like water seeping through soil. She slowly lifted her boot and stepped forward again. The color followed her, spreading across the new blades and the grass seemed to lean towards her as she passed.

Lena came closer and looked down at the glowing grass beside Mara. "Do it again."

Mara gave her a questioning look but took another step. The grass shimmered beneath her, the blue-green light glowing brighter, then dimming, then glowing brighter again as if in response to her presence.

Lena stared at the glowing blades for several seconds before stepping onto the grass herself. A different color spread beneath her foot, a warm orange hue that matched her own Neon signature, spreading just as eagerly across the grass she touched.

The sisters looked down at the grasses, each glowing with its their own distinctive Neon colors.

Neither sister had ever seen their Neon colors affect the vegetation this way before. Yes, the vegetation would glow brighter as they passed by, but never in their own unique Neon colors. The grass had always responded to the Season’s Neon, never to them personally.

This was something new, something that Mara's training hadn’t prepared her for. It was another phenomenon that was undocumented.

Mara crouched and examined the blades, careful not to disturb them further. She reached toward the nearest one without touching it, watching as the uniquely colored grass began glowing again until slowly fading and returning to green as she brought her hand back.

The effect was reversible, at least for now. The color responded to her presence, brightening when she was close and fading when she moved away.

"I've never seen this," whispered Mara, her voice filled with wonder and scientific curiosity. Her mind was already racing with possibilities, with theories that she could test and questions that needed answers.

"Neither have I," Lena said, a puzzled look on her face as she studied her own glowing footprints, her curiosity growing. She crouched beside her sister, reaching out to touch the grass where her own color had spread.

The orange glow intensified beneath her fingers, brightening and then slowly fading as she pulled her hand back, shaking her head in disbelief.

"It's reacting like it knows we're here. It's responding to us specifically."

They continued on slowly, even more cautiously now, paying careful attention to every step they took and every change in the vegetation around them.

They had been traveling slowly for hours, and it would soon be dusk. They noticed that the jungle path had begun its familiar final rise. Here the undergrowth had begun to thin and the canopy gradually opened.

The sound of falling water from Aquala was almost deafening. The mist was thicker here, glittering and clinging to their clothes and skin. They welcomed the refreshing, cool mist.

The air was different here, much cooler and felt almost electric, causing the hair on Lena and Mara's arms to stand on end.

Then they saw it.