The whispers had turned to shouts.
Alina could barely process the chaos erupting around her. The temple shook—not from an earthquake, but from something deeper, something woven into the very fabric of reality. She had done this.
Her heart pounded as the High Priest raised his hands, trying to calm the terrified crowd.
"Stand down!" he commanded. "The gods do not make mistakes. We must understand what has happened before we condemn it."
Condemn it?
The word struck like a blade. Was that what they thought? That she was some divine error?
Alina clenched her fists. The power within her surged again, responding to her emotions like an untamed storm. If she didn't control it, she might tear the entire temple apart.
She squeezed her eyes shut, willing the flood of energy to quiet. And then—she felt her mind open.
A vision. A glimpse of something beyond time, beyond space.
celestial void. A woman standing before her, cloaked in shimmering constellations. Her eyes held the universe itself.
Omniva.
"You are not broken, Alina. You are chosen."
Her breath hitched.
"Why me?" she whispered.
The goddess smiled—a smile both kind and unfathomable.
"Because the world is changing."
The vision shattered, and Alina found herself kneeling before the altar once more. Sweat dripped from her brow, her limbs trembling as the overwhelming force of the goddess's words echoed through her soul.
The High Priest approached carefully, his expression unreadable.
"Tell me," he said softly. "What did the goddess say to you?"
Alina opened her mouth—but before she could speak, the temple doors burst open.
A group of armored figures entered, clad in insignias of the Divine Order—the most powerful institution in Aetheria.
At their center stood a woman with piercing silver eyes.
"By decree of the Pantheon, the girl shall come with us."
Alina barely had time to react before their hands closed around her arms, pulling her forward.
Her fate had been decided.
And she was no longer just a girl.
She was everything.