Alina awoke to silence.
Not the peaceful kind, but the eerie, unnatural quiet—the kind that made the world feel as though it were holding its breath.
Her body ached, as if she had been torn apart and stitched back together. The divine essence still thrummed beneath her skin, but she felt different. Changed
The moment she opened her eyes, she saw them.
The High Priest stood rigid, his usually serene face twisted in barely concealed fear. The temple elders whispered furiously, their robes shimmering under the sacred torches. But it was the other sixteen-year-olds—the ones who had just received their goddesses—who seemed the most unsettled.They were staring at her.
She struggled to sit up, but her head was heavy, swimming with knowledge she hadn't asked for. The stars. The oceans. The passage of time. She knew everything, and yet she understood nothing.
Finally, the High Priest spoke, his voice hoarse.
"This… is impossible."
Alina swallowed hard. "I—"
She didn't even know what to say. What could she possibly say?
No one in history had ever received Omniva, the Goddess of Everything. No one had been bound to all realms at once. No mortal had ever held unlimited potential.
And now she had it.
"She's an omen." "The gods must have made a mistake." "No… this is a warning."
Alina's heart pounded. A mistake? A warning? Had the gods chosen her, or had she somehow broken fate itself?
The High Priest took a deep breath. "Alina."
She flinched at the weight of his gaze.
Do you feel the goddess within you?"
She hesitated. Then, slowly, she nodded.
Because she did.
Omniva was there, inside her, bound to her soul, vast and limitless—more than all the other goddesses combined.
And suddenly, she felt it.
A pull. A surge.
The world shuddered.
The flames along the temple walls flared brighter. The ground beneath her feet rippled like water. The air crackled, charged with invisible energy.
The priest stumbled back.
The elders gasped.
Alina's breath hitched. What was happening?!
The answer came swiftly—whispered in her mind, gentle yet undeniable.
"You are everything."