Isla POV
"Arrest?" I laugh, but it comes out slightly hysterical. "Lady, I've been in this world for less than a day. I didn't even know divine manifestation was illegal!"
Oracle Elena tilts her head, her white pupil-less eyes somehow still managing to look directly at me. "Ignorance is not innocence, young goddess. Your awakening has destabilized the magical balance of the entire Beastworld. The Council exists to prevent exactly this kind of chaos."
"The Council can shove their rules," Draven snarls, flames erupting along his arms. "She's under our protection."
"Protection?" Elena's laugh is like wind chimes. "From three males who bonded with her in a single day? That's not protection—that's desperation. And illegal, I might add. Forced bonding carries a death sentence."
"Nobody forced anything!" I snap, stepping forward even though Caius tries to pull me back. "I chose them. All three. Because I was dying and they saved my life."
"Did you?" Elena's smile is knowing and cruel. "Or did your system tell you to bond with them? Did it threaten you with death if you didn't? That's coercion, little goddess. The Council considers it slavery."
My blood runs cold. She knows about the system. How?
Through my bond with Sebastian, I feel his shock. He mouths silently: "No one should know about your system."
Elena laughs again. "Oh, I know many things. I'm a Seer. I watched you arrive from another world. Watched you stumble through survival. Watched you collect mates like trading cards." Her expression hardens. "And I've seen what comes next if you're not controlled."
"What comes next?" I demand.
"War. Destruction. The end of everything." Her white eyes seem to look through me into distant futures. "Your goddess blood will attract every power-hungry male in the Beastworld. They'll fight over you. Entire territories will burn. Thousands will die. Unless—"
"Unless we let you lock her away," Caius finishes bitterly. "That's what the Council does with divine females, isn't it? Imprison them in your temple. Control who they bond with. Use their power for your own purposes."
Elena doesn't deny it. "We preserve order. Without the Council's guidance, divine females historically cause apocalyptic events. We learned that lesson the hard way."
The system flashes urgently:
[WARNING: Oracle Elena speaks PARTIAL TRUTH]
[The Council does imprison divine females]
[BUT they also harvest their power slowly until the host dies]
[Average survival time in Council custody: 3 years]
[She's here to take you to your death]
I read the message twice, my heart hammering. "You're not here to arrest me. You're here to kill me slowly."
Elena's smile doesn't waver. "I'm here to prevent catastrophe. Your death is... unfortunate but necessary."
"Over my dead body," Draven growls.
"That can be arranged." Elena raises her hand, and suddenly we can't move. Invisible force pins us all in place—even Sebastian, who tries to shadow-step away and slams into a magical barrier. "I came prepared, assassin. Your tricks don't work on Seers."
Through my three bonds, I feel my mates' fury and helplessness. We're caught. Trapped by someone who planned for every possibility.
"You can't fight a Seer," Elena says calmly, walking toward me. "I've already seen every move you might make. Every escape route. Every desperate plan. They all end the same way—with you in Council chains."
"Then why bother talking?" I gasp, struggling against the invisible force. "Just take me."
"Because I'm not a monster." Her hand touches my face, cold as winter. "I wanted you to understand why this is necessary. Your existence threatens millions of lives. The Council will make your death peaceful. Painless. We'll even let your mates visit during your final years."
Final years. Three years of being drained dry while my mates watch helplessly.
"There has to be another way," I beg. "I'll learn to control my power. I'll hide. I'll—"
"There is no other way." Elena's grip tightens. "I've seen every possible future. In the ones where you live, the world burns. I'm sorry, child. But you have to die."
The system explodes with desperate options:
[EMERGENCY PROTOCOLS ACTIVATED!]
[OPTION 1: Unlock Hidden Goddess Ability - Cost: 1000 Bonding Points]
[OPTION 2: Accept Fourth Bond NOW - Dangerous but possible]
[OPTION 3: Let System Override Your Body - You'll survive but lose consciousness for 7 days]
[CURRENT BONDING POINTS: 1,850]
I have enough points for Option 1. But what's the hidden ability?
[Hidden Ability: FUTURE SIGHT]
[Seers can see possible futures - but YOU can see DEFINITE futures]
[Cost: 1000 points]
[WARNING: Your visions will be absolute truth, which will attract Ancient Guardians' attention]
Ancient Guardians. The system mentioned them before. But right now, I need any edge I can get.
"System," I whisper. "Purchase Future Sight."
[PURCHASE CONFIRMED]
[UNLOCKING DIVINE ABILITY...]
Power explodes through me—different from fire, different from cold, different from anything I've felt before. My eyes start glowing pure white, matching Elena's.
But I can SEE now. Not just the present, but futures branching out like roads. Thousands of possibilities. Millions of choices. And through all of them, I see the truth:
Elena is lying.
"You haven't seen every future," I say, my voice layered with new power. "You've seen the futures the Council WANTS you to see. They've been blocking your visions. Controlling what you know."
Elena's confident expression cracks. "What? No, that's impossible—"
"Look closer," I command, and somehow my new power forces her to SEE. Really see.
Her white eyes go wide with horror. "No. No, they wouldn't—" She staggers back, releasing me. The invisible force holding my mates vanishes. "They've been lying to me. For YEARS. Every vision I had about divine females was PLANTED. Controlled. They're not trying to prevent catastrophe—they're trying to CAUSE it!"
"What did you see?" Sebastian demands.
"The truth." Elena's voice shakes. "The Council doesn't drain divine females to prevent war. They drain them to FUEL war. They're building something. An army. A weapon. They've been harvesting goddess power for centuries to create—" She gasps. "The Dark King. The Council CREATED the Dark King. He was their weapon that went rogue."
The revelation hits like a bomb.
"The Council made the monster hunting me?" I whisper.
"Yes. And they want you to create another one. A goddess-powered weapon they can control this time." Elena meets my eyes, and I see genuine horror there. "I would have helped them. I was bringing you to your death, believing I was saving the world. Instead, I was feeding their ultimate weapon."
"Then help us now," Caius says urgently. "You're a Seer. You know things. Tell us how to survive this."
Elena's expression shifts to something desperate. "I can't. The moment I turned traitor, the Council severed my connection to the Seer network. I'm blind now. Useless."
"Not useless," I say, an idea forming. "You know the Council's secrets. Their locations. Their weaknesses. That's more valuable than visions."
"What are you suggesting?" Draven asks.
"An alliance. Elena helps us fight the Council and the Dark King. In exchange—" I look at the Oracle. "I help you get revenge on the people who used you."
Elena stares at me for a long moment. Then she laughs bitterly. "You're insane. The Council has armies. Magical weapons. Resources beyond imagination."
"And I have something they don't." I pull up the system interface. "Information from another world. Technology they've never seen. And four mates to find who will make me strong enough to burn their entire operation to the ground."
[NEW QUEST ACCEPTED: DESTROY THE BEAST COUNCIL]
[Difficulty: LEGENDARY]
[Reward: 10,000 Bonding Points + Safe Territory + Freedom]
[WARNING: You've just declared war on the most powerful organization in the Beastworld]
"We're going to need help," Sebastian says quietly. "Lots of help."
"Then we go to the Dying Lands," I decide. "Save Caius's pack. Break the curse. Build our own army."
"Build an army in how long?" Draven demands. "The Council will send killers within days!"
"Then we better work fast." I turn to Elena. "How much time do we have?"
"Before they realize I failed?" She calculates quickly. "Forty-eight hours. Maybe less."
"Plenty of time to start a revolution," I say with more confidence than I feel.
We're preparing to leave when the ground shakes—again. But this time it's different. Not the Dark King's avatar.
Something else. Something that makes even Elena go pale.
"Oh no," she whispers. "Your Future Sight ability activated the Guardian Protocol. They're coming."
"Who's coming?" I ask.
Through the cave entrance, I see the sky turning gold. Massive winged shapes descending through clouds—creatures so large they block out the sun.
"The Ancient Guardians," Elena breathes. "Divine protectors who test anyone who gains goddess abilities. If you fail their trial—" She can't finish the sentence.
The system provides the ending:
[ANCIENT GUARDIAN TRIAL INCOMING]
[Failure Result: PERMANENT DEATH - No respawn, no second chances]
[They will test your worthiness to wield divine power]
[Trial begins in: 60 SECONDS]
A voice booms across the mountain, ancient and terrible:
"YOUNG GODDESS. COME FORTH AND BE JUDGED."