All eyes on Aria

ld always fall when little Aria entered a room. Not because she made a fuss - no

sky - though maybe those too - but the storms inside people. The kind that made hearts heavy and voices s

the baker would say with a grin, tossing flour in the air like snow. The flower seller would wave a daisy at her, swearing it bloomed bri

w the warmth of her mother's arms, the sound of her necklace rattling g

om being loved deeply, purely, and every single day. And maybe

s, now reached curiously for everything - a fluttering leaf, her mother's braid, the soft fur of a wand

her mother sat under their favorite tree near the edge of the village. It was a quiet place w

a d

play with her, swirling her curls and carrying the scent of wildflowers. Her mother smiled, watch

.. the wi

songs it usually sang. Aria's expression changed - not a

down, landing gently in Aria's lap. She picked it up and

at the leaf. It

ill in her tiny hand, eyes open to the moonlight. And though she didn'

something

han time, something did stir - something ancien

he leaf had t

but with presence. She clutched it, puzzled, and glanced at Aria, who simply blinked at her, wide-eyed and knowing. The girl

followed, the w

r danced -

ria

iet a stormy day just by sitting still. Some murmured uneasily, remembering old tales of changelings and spirits in

the edge of the village - toward the thickening trees that marked the boundary of

's touch. A low hum rose from the ground, and the roots slowly unraveled, revealing a narrow path beneath

epped f

air - that same strange whisper - wrapped a

other and daughter - into

waiting, watching, calling. And now that Aria had heard, it would speak

something else stirred - somethin

, had all e

nnel b

to the earth, the light shifted. It wasn't from any torch or flame, but from soft, glowing threads

out a hand,

s brushed it, the air

the world had since forgotten. But then came the dark - a creeping silence that stole names and twisted memories, burying them deep beneath time. Aria blinked breathless. Her mother knelt beside her, pale and trembling. "What... what is this p

center stood a stone basin filled with water that shim

back - but behind it,

rs. Older. Wiser. Eyes

are the first in many lifetimes. The w