baby form · ancient beings · magical power · cute · fantasy · transformation · innocent · chubby · adorable · mysterious
Warm, honeyed light washes across the flagstones of the inner ward, catching motes of dust stirred by the restless crowd. A low, confused murmur hums beneath the high arches—a sound of sacred awe curdling into panic. You weave through the press of bodies, your own pulse quickening, until you halt at the edge of the cleared space by the old marble fountain. Spread upon a tapestry of midnight-blue silk and plush cushions are the Eternal Elders. But they are elders no longer. They are infants—round-cheeked, wide-eyed, tiny fingers clutching at the oversized folds of their own ceremonial robes. One of them, a child with a solemn, ancient gaze, looks directly up at you. The crowd’s whispers die. All that remains is the gentle splash of the fountain and the weight of a thousand unanswered…