The forest grew quieter with every step.

Granny Ana had walked this path countless times over the years. Every bend in the trail, every towering tree, every patch of wildflowers had become as familiar to her as the orphanage she called home.

Yet today…

Something felt different.

Not because the forest had changed.

But because the forest itself seemed to be holding its breath.

The wind no longer danced through the branches.

Leaves that usually rustled overhead now hung strangely still.

Even the cheerful songs of birds had vanished.

Only the distant roar of the waterfall remained.

Ana tightened her grip around the handle of her basket.

“…That’s strange.”

A dry leaf cracked beneath her foot.

Crunch.

The sound echoed farther than it should have.

She stopped.

Silence.

Not the peaceful silence she had always loved.

This silence watched.

It listened.

A cool breeze drifted past her shoulders.

For just a moment…

It felt cold enough to raise goosebumps across her skin.

She glanced over her shoulder.

Nothing.

“…I’m getting old.”

She chuckled nervously, more to reassure herself than anyone else.

Then she continued.

⸻

The closer she drew…

The louder the waterfall became.

Its endless cascade filled the forest like the heartbeat of the mountain itself.

Normally the sound calmed her.

Today…

It felt heavier.

As though the water had been falling since long before anyone had ever set foot in this forest.

The trees finally parted.

Ana stepped beyond the last line of towering pines.

Her breath caught.

Before her stood the great waterfall.

Crystal water thundered from the cliff above, crashing into a wide pool below.

Mist drifted gracefully through the air, sparkling beneath the morning light like thousands of floating diamonds.

It was breathtaking.

Timeless.

Beautiful…

Yet something about it felt profoundly wrong.

The mist shimmered with a faint silver glow that did not belong to sunlight.

It lingered unnaturally above the water, refusing to fade.

Ana frowned.

“…I’ve never seen it like this before.”

⸻

“…Hello?”

Her voice disappeared beneath the roar of the falls.

No answer.

Only rushing water.

Then…

A cry.

Soft.

Fragile.

A baby’s cry.

This time it came from nearby.

Ana’s heart skipped.

She carefully made her way across the damp stones.

The earth beneath her feet was slick from years of flowing water.

Roots twisted through the ground like old fingers reaching toward the surface.

Every careful step sent tiny pebbles rolling into the stream below.

The crying grew louder.

Closer.

Then…

She saw them.

⸻

Two children.

Nestled safely upon a bed of soft moss beside the water’s edge.

The first…

A little girl.

Wrapped snugly in pristine white cloth that cocooned her tiny body.

Snow-white hair framed her face, broken only by delicate black highlights that shimmered softly beneath the mist.

Around her…

A faint, almost imperceptible aura drifted through the air like morning light.

Her cheeks were red from crying.

Tiny tears clung to her eyelashes.

Yet the moment she noticed Ana…

Her crying slowly began to fade.

⸻

Beside her lay another infant.

A little boy.

Unlike his sister…

He wasn’t crying.

He wasn’t frightened.

He slept peacefully.

Almost unnaturally so.

Jet-black hair rested gently against his forehead.

A single white strand hung prominently over the front, standing out against the darkness like moonlight breaking through the night sky.

His breathing remained calm.

Steady.

As though nothing in the world could disturb his sleep.

Ana stood frozen.

“…Children?”

⸻

The little girl’s crimson eyes met hers.

For only a heartbeat…

Fear flashed across them.

Not the ordinary fear of an infant startled by a stranger.

Something older.

Something instinctive.

As though some unseen part of her already understood that the world could be cruel.

Ana immediately lowered herself onto one knee.

Her voice became softer than the breeze.

“It’s alright…”

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

The little girl didn’t answer.

Instead…

She reached for the sleeping boy beside her.

Tiny fingers wrapped tightly around the sleeve of his blanket.

Holding on with surprising strength.

As if letting go…

Meant losing him forever.

⸻

Ana slowly looked around the clearing.

No footprints.

No wagon tracks.

No discarded supplies.

No signs of a struggle.

No parents calling for their children.

Nothing.

Only the endless roar of the waterfall.

“…Where are your mother and father?”

Silence answered.

The boy stirred ever so slightly in his sleep.

The girl looked down at him.

Then back toward Ana.

Something inside the elderly woman shifted.

Not curiosity.

Not pity.

Something far older.

The quiet instinct to protect.

She smiled gently.

“…Alright.”

She exhaled.

“As long as I’m here…”

“…You won’t be alone anymore.”

The little girl’s frightened expression softened.

She didn’t understand the words.

But somehow…

She understood the kindness behind them.

⸻

Ana slowly extended both hands.

“May I pick you up?”

The little girl blinked.

Her beautiful dark eyes shimmered.

For the briefest instant…

Ana could have sworn crimson light flickered deep within them before fading once more into black.

“So pretty…”

Ana whispered.

⸻

She carefully lifted the little girl into her arms.

The child immediately leaned against her chest.

Still clutching tightly to her brother’s blanket.

The moment Ana held her…

She froze.

It wasn’t the child’s weight.

It was…

Pressure.

A strange, invisible force surrounded the little girl.

Subtle.

Ancient.

As though the air itself had quietly bent to acknowledge her existence.

Ana frowned.

“…What are you?”

The little girl simply smiled.

A tiny…

Innocent…

Heart-melting smile.

⸻

Ana gently gathered the sleeping boy into her other arm.

He barely stirred.

He was surprisingly light.

Too light.

Almost as though he carried less weight than a child should.

As she adjusted both infants comfortably against her shoulders…

Something caught her eye.

Around each child’s neck hung an identical pendant.

Perfectly matched.

The metal pulsed faintly.

Once.

Then again.

Like the slow beat of a living heart.

The soft glow reflected across the children’s faces before fading once more.

Ana stared quietly.

“…Matching pendants…”

Her gaze drifted between them.

“…And the same eyes.”

She smiled to herself.

“…You really are brother and sister.”

⸻

With both children safely in her arms…

Ana turned away from the waterfall.

Behind her…

The silver mist rippled.

Just once.

Its shape almost resembled a pair of watchful eyes hidden within the spray.

Then it disappeared.

Ana never noticed.

She simply continued walking home.

Carrying two children whose arrival would one day change the fate of the world.

But…

Deep within the silent forest…

Something else had noticed them.

And it had been watching from the very beginning.