When the moon turned black, the gods wept.
When the lotus bled, heaven burned.
The bells began to toll long before the first flame touched the sky.
At the empire's edge, the Starlight Temple glowed like a lantern in the mist white jade walls rising from silver fog, its floating lamps trembling in the wind.
Within the grand hall, a child knelt before the altar, clutching a cracked porcelain lotus.
Her name was Yue Lian.
The scent of sandalwood stung her throat as her mother's chant trembled through the silence.
"Heaven take the soul, earth guard the body, moon seal the name…"
But the prayers could not drown the sound of marching boots outside.
The temple doors burst open.
Wind carried in a flurry of red banners each painted with the imperial crest.
Soldiers poured in, armor glinting like shards of a broken sun.
Behind them walked a man in black and silver robes, his face hidden beneath a helm shaped like a dragon's skull.
The torches in his soldiers' hands hissed like serpents.
"By order of His Majesty," he said coldly, "the Star light Clan is condemned for treason."
Her mother rose a lone figure of white in a sea of steel.
"Treason?" she whispered. "We worshipped the moon before the crown was ever forged."
The soldiers moved as one.
Their torches fell upon the tapestries.
Silk screamed as it burned.
Then the temple erupted into chaos.
The priestesses of the Lotus Temple women in pale robes, their hair bound with silver cords rushed to defend the sacred hall.
Some tried to shield the altar, others threw themselves between the soldiers and the child.
Screams, chanting, and the clash of steel filled the air.
Blood spread across the white jade floor like spilled ink.
The scent of burning silk and sandalwood choked the night.
Yue Lian pressed herself under the altar, clutching her cracked lotus to her chest.
The floor shook with every clash. Smoke curled through the air, thick and choking.
Then a shatter of jade.
Her mother's voice broke into a prayer of sorrow.
"Lian'er, listen to me."
A hand reached under the altar her mother's hand, bleeding, trembling.
She drew Yue Lian close and pressed a small blade into her palm.
Its hilt was carved like a crescent moon.
"When the moon devours the lotus, the gods will demand a sacrifice. Promise me, child do not remember your name."
"Mother...!" Yue Lian sobbed, shaking her head .
But her mother only smiled a fragile, peaceful smile amidst the chaos.
She drew her own blood and pressed her palm against Yue Lian's lower back.
The air rippled with divine heat.
The blood flared into light crimson and gold twisting into the shape of a butterfly, its wings made of living flame.
It shimmered once, twice then sank into Yue Lian's skin.
Pain tore through her body.
Yue Lian screamed, arching forward as if the fire itself entered her veins and her cloth at the back rip open
Her fingers clawed at the floor, tears streaming down her cheeks as the mark burned into her flesh.
And look It is a beautiful Celestial butterfly of blue and gold unfurled across her lower back, and above it, a red crescent moon glowed like liquid fire.
The mark pulsed softly, breathing light, as if it carried a heartbeat of its own.
"This mark will hide you from heaven," her mother whispered, voice trembling.
"But one day, when the moon bleeds again, it will call heaven back to you."
The little girls breath shook. Will I see you again?
Her mother brushed a strand hair from her face. " when the lotus blooms in the ashes."
The clash of swords grew nearer.
The temple's chanting had fallen silent.
Through the smoke, Yue Lian saw the last of the priestesses fall.
Her mother turned toward the sound, lifting her head high.
Outside, the soldiers' boots struck the burning floor.
A shadow moved behind her then the blade struck.
The sword pierced her back.
Yue Lian screamed.
"Mother!" Her cry tore through the smoke, raw and broken.
She crawled from under the altar, tears blurring her vision, reaching for the white hem now dark with blood.
"Please wake up!"
Her mother's fingers twitched once, then fell still.
Yue Lian's sobs rose, wild and shaking.
She clutched her mother's sleeve, begging through the roar of fire, but no answer came.
Flames roared above them. Sparks rained like dying stars.
The soldiers hesitated only a breath before seizing the lifeless body.
Yue Lian's scream echoed as they dragged it away.
The painted gods on the altar peeled from the heat, their faces melting into ash.
And through the smoke
he appeared.
A boy, perhaps no older than ten, dressed in royal black.
His eyes were the color of cold moonlight reflected on steel.
The soldiers froze when he entered.
They bowed low.
"Your Highness," one said. "We have nearly cleansed the heretics."
The boy looked at the child on the floor.
For a moment, the two only stared at each other the prince and the orphan, smoke and silence between them.
Then he raised his hand.
"Leave us."
When the room was empty, he walked closer, stepping through fire like it was only shadow.
The golden embroidery on his robe caught the light, flickering like stars.
He crouched beside her, voice calm. "Why do you cry?"
Yue Lian could not speak.
She only held out the broken lotus.
The boy looked at it, then at the faint red glow pulsing under her skin.
For an instant, something unreadable passed through his eyes fear, awe, or recognition.
"You shouldn't be alive," he murmured.
"And yet… I think heaven made a mistake."
He reached out and wiped the soot from her face.
Then, softly:
"Forget this night. If you remember it, you will die before the next moon."
He turned to leave.
But when she reached out and caught his sleeve, her tiny voice broke the silence.
"Will the moon remember me?"
The prince paused.
His expression did not change, but something in his tone did when he replied almost tender.
"The moon remembers everything."
Then he was gone.
And the temple came down in a roar of fire and falling stars.
The world burned, yet one flower refused to die.
Amid the collapsing beams and screams, Yue Lian's small body lay still.
The butterfly mark on her lower back glowed faintly, the red crescent above it pulsing like a dying heartbeat.
The air shimmered then split apart.
A soft hum filled the ruined temple, and a shadow stepped through the smoke.
A young man in white and blue robes, his eyes silver like dark moon reflected on water.
He knelt beside the child and brushed away the ash from her face.
"Fate," he murmured, "you never learn."
When his hand touched her back, the butterfly sigil flared, its blue and gold wings beating once before sinking beneath her skin.
Light bled through his palm.
His voice softened.
"Sleep, little lotus. Forget what the heavens have taken from you."
He drew a talisman across her phone, and the mark dimmed to nothingness.
The flames around them withered, as if even fire bent before his will.
Outside, soldiers searched for survivors.
None saw the man carry the child into the mist.
That night, under the black moon, the Starlight Clan vanished from history
and the girl with the Celestial butterfly mark slept beneath temple bells that no longer rang.