I'm not sure why I just stood there, reading those lines over and over. I've never been a "spiritual" person or the type to go to church. But something about those words didn't feel like new information. It felt more like remembering—kind of like when you hear a song for the first time and somehow already know exactly how the melody ends.
I tried to shake the feeling off and walked further into the temple. At the far wall, I stopped dead. My breath literally caught in my throat.
It was the golden flower. Not just a small symbol or a sketch, but a huge painting that seemed to glow against the dark wall. The gold and amber petals looked like they were pulsing with their own light. It wasn't just like the mark on my arm—it was a perfect match. Same size, same weird little tilt in the third petal on the left, the same way it spiraled out from a dark center.
I'd hated that birthmark my whole life. It was just too weird, and I'd spent so many summers wearing long sleeves just to avoid the questions. Now, here it was, painted on a temple wall like it had been waiting for me to show up.
Under the painting, there was more of that careful handwriting:
The secret of the lotus flower shows the chosen one who will bring balance.
I was still staring at it when I heard soft footsteps behind me.
It was an older man, moving slow and steady. He had this long white beard that looked like it belonged in a history book, and his eyes were... settled. That's the only way to describe it. He looked like someone who had figured out all the answers a long time ago. He folded his hands and looked at me, not even acting surprised that I was there.
"Miss," he said, his voice as quiet as paper. "Are you here to make your choice?"
I almost laughed. "No, sir. I'm just looking around."
"Nothing happens by accident," he said. "You're here to fix the balance."
"I'm just a gymnast," I told him. "I'm really not that important."
He smiled—not like he was making fun of me, but more like he knew something I didn't. "Would you like to hear a story? One about a place where time and balance fell apart?"
I don't know why I said yes. Maybe I was just tired from practice, or maybe I was just curious. I nodded.
He started talking in this calm, rhythmic way, telling a story that sounded ancient but also like it happened yesterday. He described a kingdom full of old magic, where the peace was kept by a few people who could actually control the elements.
In this kingdom, he said, everything started to crumble because of a wedding. This guy, Duke Drew Porter—who was famous for being a master of a powerful element—was basically rejected by his new wife, Ava Clark, on their wedding night. It was an arranged marriage, and Ava wanted nothing to do with it. Feeling humiliated and unwanted, the Duke just... walked away. He abandoned his land and left.
But since he was the one guarding the border—and since everyone else was terrified of his power—his leaving was a total disaster. Ava's family, the Clarks, ended up selling secrets to a rival kingdom, telling them the Duke was gone and the border was wide open. The invasion that followed was brutal. A lot of innocent people died, including Ava. She actually had some power of her own, but she'd never bothered to train or take it seriously, so she couldn't even protect herself.
The priest stopped talking and looked at me.
"If it were you, how would you change history?" he asked.
I thought about it for a second. "I'd just stop the marriage from happening in the first place."
"The powers only reach their full strength with a blessing," he said, "which only happens at the wedding."
"Okay, then I'd warn the Duke about the Clarks," I said, talking faster now, like I was trying to solve a puzzle. "I'd beef up the guard. I'd make sure the wife actually learned how to fight so she could defend herself. I'd make sure he never felt like he had to leave."
The priest's smile got a little wider. "I hope you remember that," he whispered. "Golden flower."
Then, he reached out and touched my forehead with two fingers.
The temperature dropped instantly. The smell of incense was gone. The sounds of the city traffic outside just... vanished.
And then there was sunlight—but it was different, older-feeling light—streaming through a window I'd never seen before.
I woke up in a different world. And I was a kid again.