The singing grew louder.
Not louder in volume.
Closer.
Jackson grabbed Mac's wrist.
Jackson: "Don't listen."
Mac: "I wasn't planning on it!"
Jackson: "Cover your ears."
They both pressed their hands over their ears, but the melody somehow continued.
It wasn't coming through the air.
It was inside their heads.
Mac stumbled.
Mac: "Jackson..."
Jackson: "What?"
Mac looked toward the river.
Mac: "I can hear someone calling me."
Jackson's expression hardened.
Jackson: "Don't answer."
Mac: "It sounds like Mom."
Jackson froze.
For a second, neither moved.
Then Jackson shook his head.
Jackson: "It's not her."
Mac's eyes began watering.
Mac: "How do you know?"
Jackson: "Because she's not here."
The singing suddenly stopped.
Silence.
Mac slowly lowered his hands.
Mac: "...Did we win?"
Jackson: "Don't say things like that."
A soft giggle echoed from the river.
Then another.
Then dozens.
The water began glowing beneath the surface.
Pale figures appeared in the darkness.
One.
Five.
Ten.
Dozens of faces stared upward.
Mac: "Jackson..."
Jackson: "I see them."
The figures rose from the water.
They weren't quite human.
Their skin was pale and translucent, their hair floating around their faces despite there being no wind.
And their eyes were completely black.
One of them smiled.
Siren: "You came looking for treasure."
Mac shook his head rapidly.
Mac: "Nope."
Another siren appeared beside her.
Siren: "Everyone comes looking for treasure."
Jackson stepped backward.
Jackson: "We don't want anything."
The first siren tilted her head.
Siren: "Then why did you enter Zion?"
Jackson didn't answer.
The siren smiled wider.
Siren: "Everyone wants something."
The river suddenly surged.
A golden object floated to the surface.
Mac stared.
Mac: "Is that..."
Jackson: "Don't."
Mac: "But it looks like a crown."
Jackson: "I said don't."
The crown drifted closer.
Its jewels shimmered beneath the moonlight.
Mac took one step toward it.
Jackson grabbed the back of his jacket.
Jackson: "Mac."
Mac blinked.
Mac: "What?"
Jackson pointed.
The crown wasn't floating anymore.
It was standing upright on the water.
And beneath it was a hand.
A dead hand.
Holding it up.
Mac immediately stepped backward.
Mac: "Okay. I'm officially done with treasure."
The sirens laughed.
Then one of them suddenly screamed.
Every siren turned toward the forest.
The laughter stopped.
Jackson looked confused.
Jackson: "What happened?"
Mac: "I don't know."
Something moved between the trees.
Slowly.
A pair of glowing eyes appeared.
The giant creature from the first river stepped into the moonlight.
The sirens hissed.
Siren: "The Guardian."
Jackson stared.
Jackson: "Guardian?"
The creature growled.
The river began shaking.
The sirens retreated into the water.
One of them looked directly at Jackson.
Siren: "He remembers you."
Jackson frowned.
Jackson: "I've never seen him before."
The siren smiled.
Siren: "Not in this life."
Then she vanished beneath the water.
Jackson's face went blank.
Mac slowly turned toward him.
Mac: "...What does that mean?"
Jackson didn't answer.
The creature approached.
Its enormous head lowered until its eyes were level with Jackson.
For several seconds, it simply stared at him.
Then it spoke.
Not in a growl.
In a deep human voice.
"You came back."
Jackson's blood ran cold.
Jackson: "Back...?"
The creature leaned closer.
"Zion has been waiting."
A sudden pain shot through Jackson's chest.
He dropped to one knee.
Mac: "JACKSON!"
Jackson clutched his shirt.
For a moment, he saw something that wasn't there.
A village.
A burning church.
Three rivers overflowing their banks.
And a younger version of himself standing beside the lake.
Someone stood next to him.
Someone whose face Jackson couldn't see.
The vision disappeared.
Jackson gasped.
Mac crouched beside him.
Mac: "What did you see?"
Jackson stared at the creature.
Jackson: "I..."
He swallowed.
Jackson: "I think I've been here before."
The creature's eyes glowed brighter.
"Now you remember."
Far away, beneath the lake, something enormous opened its eyes.
And all three rivers began flowing backward.