Eighteen years ago

Wisdom was born as Sandara Park and was the youngest and only girl of Dong-gun and Ko-soyoung Park's four children. The family Park had always resided in the Mussur region. They owned a small farm, handed down from generation to generation. They were typical Mussur families who lived off the regions' vast fertile lands. Plantations, orchards and farms dotted the region as all kinds of produce could be grown in Mussur.

At age five, Dara as she was fondly called by her parents and brothers, had only known about Mussur, but she had heard of stories of the other regions and the famed City of Solaris where King Won Bin and his wife, Queen Na-young, resided and protected the Oracle. Like most children her age, she also dreamt of one day going to Solaris and seeing for herself the wonders and marvels found in the city often talked about by bards and travelers.

Everyone thought she was just an ordinary child and was just a little bit more intelligent and perceptive than children her age. Unknown to everyone, Dara had the ability to look into the future. She could see what would happen ten minutes into the future and thus, whenever she played with other children, she always managed to be several moves ahead of them, resulting to her winning all their games specially in her favorite games of hide and seek and paper, rock and scissor.

Dara thought that every child had the same ability, so she never bragged about it. She believed it was normal to be able to see the future. She never once thought that such ability would change her life forever.

Four months before she turned six, a sorrowful news reached all corners of Haldor. The woman occupying the Memory incarnation of the Oracle had passed away due to old age.

By tradition, the Wisdom incarnation of the Oracle would henceforth become Memory, and Destiny would become Wisdom. A new incarnation was needed to become Destiny. All girls aged five to six were invited by the Oracle to come to the City of Solaris. One among them would be chosen to become the new Destiny.

Every family who had a girl aged five and six began preparing for their journey to Solaris. Becoming an incarnation of the Oracle would bring great honor and prestige to the chosen child, and to her family. Her family would receive large sums of money and vast tracks of land. But the most important benefit would be a reading of their future from the new Destiny. Such would be priceless because the family would have foreknowledge to whatever problems or misfortunes that awaited them in the future. Such foreknowledge would enable them to prepare steps to lessen or avoid such misfortunes hence effectively securing good fortune for themselves in the coming decades.

Dara’s whole family accompanied her to the City of Solaris. This was her first time to come to the city, and she was looking forward to seeing the great things she had heard so much about it. She soon found out that all the stories she had heard about the city were indeed true! The streets were made of huge slabs of flat and polished stones, unlike the cobblestone roads she used to walk on in Mussur. Colorful, beautiful and tall houses that rose three times higher than the normal two-storey buildings in Mussur stood on the sides of the wide streets.

Sparkling fountains, man-made pools and magnificent towers that gave off colored lights during the night fascinated Dara's young mind. And then there was the huge marketplace! All the best produce, animals, wares and crafts from every region of Haldor could be found on that market. Boats traversing through Haldor's bay and air balloons from the regions of Mussur, Risine, Gorge and Yore came and went on the eastern part of the market, delivering and hauling goods. It was like an unending colorful parade!

Dividing the marketplace into two parts was the long train track where the famous Gorge trains that passed through the region of Ferrest delivered their goods and passengers. Dara had only heard stories about the powerful steel carriages that were fueled by fire and water and leave dark, smoky trails on its path. She thought such a machine was too impossible to be real. But after watching a Gorge train loading and unloading its passengers before her very eyes, she had become a believer of the wonders of technology produced from Gorge! She wished that the Gorge trains also passed through the Mussur region. Unfortunately, large quantities of metals were needed in order to build train tracks and Mussur's land had no such mineral deposits. The Gorge trains only travelled through Ferrest, the City of Solaris and then back again to mountainous Gorge.

Of all the wonders that Dara saw in the city, the one thing that really fascinated her was the castle. Towering above every building, the castle rose like some majestic, white mountain in the middle of the city. Even if the castle wasn't built on top of a hill, it would still be the tallest building in the city. It was there where King Won Bin and Queen Na-young resided. And if rumors were true, soon, a baby prince or a princess would arrive in the castle.

Behind the castle, stood the Oracle’s temple. The castle in Dara's eyes looked like a giant protecting the temple. The castle's walls prevented harsh winds from rushing into the temple during storms, and the large imposing shadow from the castle itself offered relief to people around the temple from the harsh midday sun.

As Dara and her family stood waiting outside the Oracle's temple, she felt dwarfed by the great wooden gates. The gates remained closed and imposing even as hundreds of families like the Park's had begun arriving from all the regions with their little girls. Everyone had gathered in front of the big wooden gates waiting for it to open. Each family was hoping that their little girl would become the new Destiny.

Dara’s parents had already explained to her during their journey to the city what would happen if she was chosen to become part of the Oracle. She was excited to be chosen, but at the same time sad. As an Oracle, she could never again play with her friends in the fields of Mussur. She would only get to see her parents and brothers twice a year. Total devotion was required from the girl who would become the Oracle's newest incarnation. She would be dedicating her whole life as the incarnation of the Oracle to ensure the continued guidance of the Oracle. As long as the Oracle existed, Haldor would continue to have peace and prosperity. The world would have no wars, pestilence or drought. Everyone would be happy and contented.

Murmurs of excitement rose from the gathered crowd as the large wooden gates began to open. A woman dressed in a white robe walked out the door. Her blue eyes were kind. Yet her lips remained unsmiling.

"I am Song Ji-hyo," said the woman dressed in a white robe, "I am the overseer of the temple. We thank you all for coming here, for making sure that our Oracle continues to exist and serve us." Her eyes began looking among the gathered families. "All the children eligible to stand before the Oracle’s fireshadow, please enter the gates in one file. Parents, brothers, sisters and other members of the family must remain here. You cannot accompany your child inside. You must wait here for the results. If your child is not chosen, one of the temple’s handmaiden will bring your child back to you. If she becomes the new Destiny, I will personally you into the temple to be able to say your goodbyes to your daughter and give her the support she needs as she embarks on her new life."

The children were then led by their families to form a line in front of the gates. Being children, they couldn't help getting excited and started chattering.

Song Ji-hyo gently admonished them.

"Children, please keep quiet."

Dara’s parents hugged and kissed her. Even her brothers who often and were always laughing at everything looked somber as they wished her well.

Dara knew how important it was that she became the incarnation Destiny. She wished she could know beforehand if she would be chosen or not. But the only thing she could see that would happen ten minutes from now was her going inside a large room with a red floor.

"Make us proud, Dara," were her father’s last words as she bravely walked toward the huge wooden gates with the other children.

Several children began crying and refused to leave their parents’ side. When parents tried to bring these c