Chapter 6
973 Words
"The Convergence," Xaihuang's voice seemed to come from very far away. "She's accessing the collective memory."
Strong hands gripped her shoulders, pulling her back from the coin. The visions faded, leaving her gasping and disoriented. Marcus's face swam into focus, his eyes bright with concern.
"What did you see?" he asked urgently.
"Choices," Sage managed. "Three different futures, all of them..." She trailed off, trying to process what she'd experienced. "The dragons in the visions—they weren't hiding. In any of the futures."
Xaihuang moved closer, his expression intense. "Because hiding is no longer sustainable, my dear. The digital age has made concealment a losing battle." He gestured toward the pool with his cane. "Every smartphone, every wireless signal, every piece of modern technology creates interference patterns that weaken our glamour magic. DragonCoin is simply the final catalyst."
Sage steadied herself against the alcove, her mind still reeling from the visions. "But if dragons are revealed, won't that cause panic? Wars?"
"Perhaps," Marcus said grimly. "Or perhaps humanity is more adaptable than we've given them credit for. The question is whether we guide that revelation or let it happen chaotically."
The pool's surface rippled suddenly, though no breeze stirred the chamber air. Sage felt drawn to it, her footsteps echoing as she approached the water's edge. Her reflection stared back, but it wasn't quite right—her eyes held flecks of gold that hadn't been there before, and her copper hair seemed to shimmer with an inner fire.
"The awakening is accelerating," Xaihuang observed with satisfaction. "Soon she won't be able to suppress her true nature even if she wanted to."
"Which is exactly why we need to get her to the Council," Marcus countered. "She needs proper guidance, not your revolutionary schemes."
Sage knelt beside the pool, watching the water swirl in patterns that reminded her of the coin designs. "What if you're both wrong?" she said quietly. "What if there's a fourth option you haven't considered?"
Both men fell silent.
"In my writing," Sage continued, "the best solutions usually come from combining opposing forces, not choosing between them. Fire and water, old and new, hidden and revealed." She looked up at them. "What if the answer isn't about maintaining the status quo or tearing it down completely?"
The water in the pool began to glow with a soft, pearl-like radiance. Sage's reflection multiplied, showing her dozens of possible selves—some fully dragon, some human, others something entirely new.
"Integration," she whispered, understanding flooding through her. "That's what the coins in my dreams were trying to tell me. Not separation, but synthesis."
Marcus knelt beside her, studying the glowing water with wonder. "The Twilight Balance Coin—it wasn't just about uniting fire and water dragons. It was about finding harmony between all opposing forces."
"Including the opposition between the magical and digital worlds," Xaihuang added, his voice thoughtful for the first time since they'd met.
Sage reached toward the water's surface, then hesitated. "If I'm really what you say I am—this Convergence—then whatever I do next is going to have consequences beyond just my life, isn't it?"
"Yes," Marcus said simply. "But the choice is still yours to make."
Above them, carried down through stone and steel, came the distant sound of her phone buzzing with notifications. DragonCoin's value was climbing, and with each transaction, the magical interference grew stronger. Sage could feel it now—a dissonant hum that vibrated through her bones like feedback from an amplifier.
"It's accelerating," she said, watching ripples spread across the pool's surface without her having touched it. "Whatever's happening with DragonCoin, it's affecting this place."
She pulled her hand back from the water, suddenly uncertain. The visions from the coin still burned in her mind—three futures, each with its own terrible price.
"I need to understand more before I make any choice," she said, rising to her feet. "I've spent my whole life thinking I was just... ordinary. Now you're telling me I'm some kind of magical lynchpin between worlds."
Marcus nodded, his expression grave. "The Council has been watching for signs of the Convergence for generations. There were prophecies, but many believed them to be metaphorical rather than literal."
"Convenient how the Council interprets prophecies to maintain their power," Xaihuang remarked dryly, leaning on his cane. "But even they cannot deny what's happening now."
The chamber trembled slightly, dust sifting down from the ancient ceiling. The coins in their alcoves seemed to vibrate in response, their surfaces rippling like liquid metal.
"We don't have much time," Marcus said, checking his wrist device again. "The Scale-Sync network is reporting disruptions worldwide. Dragon concealment is failing in public spaces across every continent."
Sage ran her fingers through her copper hair, noticing with alarm that it felt warmer than it should, as though heated from within. "What exactly happens if concealment fails completely?"
Xaihuang gave her a sharp-toothed smile. "Chaos, initially. Humans are confronted with irrefutable evidence that dragons walk among them. Some will panic, others will adapt. Governments will scramble for control."
"And dragons?" Sage pressed.
"Some will embrace the revelation," Marcus admitted reluctantly. "Others will retreat further into hiding. The younger generations may welcome integration, but the elders..." He shook his head. "Civil war is not out of the question."
Another tremor shook the chamber, stronger this time. One of the coins toppled from its pedestal, landing with a musical chime that echoed far longer than it should have.
Sage felt a sudden clarity cutting through her confusion. "I need to see the source. Whoever created DragonCoin must understand the connection between digital currency and dragon magic. Maybe they know something about integration that we don't."
"Impossible," Marcus objected. "We've been trying to trace the creator since the currency launched. They're using advanced anonymisation techniques."
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