NOVEL WEB Chapter 8 - Abandoned
Novaris. Novem (September). 887. AGC.
Emeline Zefree, a caretaker in the Free Spirit Orphanage, suddenly awoke to a thunderous knock that rattled throughout the orphanage. As Emeline rose from sleep, she heard her fellow caretakers shuffling in their beds, and she softly spoke to the dark room.
“It’s alright. Go back to sleep. I will go check the door,” she whispered.
Hearing their shuffles as they returned to sleep, Emeline stood and left the sleeping quarters.
Out in the hallway, she touched a small rune inlaid into the wall, which activated the light on the ceiling. The light linked with the orphanage’s clock allowed it to conform with the time of night, and it slowly grew brighter until it shone a soft light that encompassed the hallway.
Now being able to see better, Emeline headed towards the living room. However, before she could make it too far down the hallway, she stopped, sighed, and spoke softly yet commandingly, like a parent reprimanding their child.
“Rose, it's late, and you should be asleep. Please go back upstairs and tell everyone that everything is alright.” A few moments after speaking, she heard soft footsteps heading up the stairs. After the footsteps went silent, Emeline listened to the pitter-patter of more footsteps as all the children hurriedly returned to their beds.
With that taken care of, Emeline continued towards the front door, shaking her head lightly and trying to fight off a smile from spreading across her face.
As she walked, Emeline groaned, her aching body getting the better of her. She was already in her 40s and sometimes wished she had been born elf. Sadly, she was human, and though she expected to live for a while longer, the thought didn’t help her already aching body.
The closer she got to the door, the louder the crying got, and even after being in the orphanage since she was a little girl, the cries of a young child never stopped tugging at her heartstrings.
Finally, entering the front guest room, Emeline quickly tapped the light rune and glanced at the clock above the cooling fireplace before continuing towards the door. She hurriedly opened it, and her green eyes landed on a basket holding a young child. The child, wrapped in a black and silver blanket, quickly stopped crying as it noticed Emeline.
Feeling a cool breeze that sent shivers through her body and made her sleeping robes flutter, Emeline hastily grabbed the basket and closed the door.
She wondered what sort of problems had befallen this child’s parents. Probably another monster attack, that was the usual reason. She herself had been left at the orphanage's door for that same reason all those years ago, and so had many of the current children taking refuge there.
Walking over and sitting on one of the comfortable armchairs used to receive guests, she placed the basket on the ground and picked up the child. As she did so, she was surprised by the quality of the blanket, but she tucked that particular thought aside as she placed the infant on her lap.
The most pressing thing at the moment was verifying the child's health. She quickly but carefully unfolded the blanket, and a card Emeline had overlooked fell to the ground. Still, the baby's health was more important, so she began a scan of the infant's body, looking for any possible injuries. Not seeing anything, Emeline started to carefully push and prod the orphanage's newest little sister. However, her cold, probing fingers were not appreciated by her patient, who quickly began letting out cries of displeasure.
In response to the cries, Emeline began gently bouncing her knees while softly speaking to the new member of the family.
“Awe, did Aunt Emy upset you? Don't worry, Aunt Emy is done poking you with her cold fingers. Everything is alright. You are one healthy little princess, aren’t you?”
As Emeline worked to calm down the newborn, she rewrapped the blanket, allowing the child to be embraced in its soft warmth once more. It wasn’t long before the babe calmed down and went back to looking around her new environment.
Smiling at the young cutie, Emeline couldn’t help but be thankful for her job. Unlike many of the children at the orphanage with incredible dreams, hers was to care for the future generation, a dream she had been fulfilling for many decades now.
With a yawn, Emeline reminded herself that it was past midnight and that she and the newborn should head to bed. However, she first needed to bathe, feed the baby, and do all the many things that caring for a newborn required. She also realized that it had been a while since the orphanage had gained such a young addition, and Emeline would use the opportunity to teach her younger caretakers the intricacies of caring for such a young and fragile soul.
The first thing Emeline had to do was bathe and feed the child, yet as she got up to go about her duties, she saw the card that had fallen earlier. Securing the infant against her chest, Emeline kneeled, her greying, loose brown hair getting in the way as she picked up the card.
The card was made of hardened paper, and its simple rectangle shape could easily fit on the palm of her hand. Flipping the card around, Emeline scanned over the two words seared onto it.
Jasmine and Arelion Siandel
Rereading the names, Emeline couldn’t help but be confused. Sitting back down, she put the babe, who had to be Jasmine, back on her lap and asked in befuddlement.
“Hmmm, you have some family, but where is this Arelion? Could he be your brother, perhaps?”
The question seemed to hang in the air as Emeline couldn’t help but stare at the newborn as if expecting an answer. Upon hearing Emeline speak, Jasmine stared back at her with innocent and wonder-filled eyes, looking at the world for the first time.
Moments later, Emeline snapped out of her stupor, smiled widely at Jasmine, and got up with renewed vigor. Many questions were swirling in her head, but it was late, and she had to be up again in a couple of hours. Not to mention, Jasmine was probably tired and hungry.
Emeline then placed Jasmine back in her basket before picking it back up. With Jasmine secured, Emeline checked that the front door was locked and turned off the guest room light as she headed toward the laundry room.
In the laundry room, she picked out some cloth diapers and a bundle of clean blankets. She also took out a bundle of basic baby clothes from storage, making a mental note to have them washed tomorrow.
Emeline then went to the large bathroom across the hall, where she prepared a warm bath for Jasmine. After the bath, Emeline proceeded to the kitchen. There, she took some milk from the cooling storage and warmed it up using the kitchen's heated runic countertop pads.
After feeding and clothing Jasmine, Emeline headed to the caretaker's sleeping quarters, where she was forced to turn on the light in order to not trip while holding Jasmine. Naturally, the light brought the complaints of her fellow caretakers, whom she ignored. She then quickly made her way to the infant's room in the back corner and hid the black and silver blanket to keep anyone from getting the idea of selling it and running off with the money.
Now, Emeline trusted her fellow caretakers, but temptation and greed brought out the worst side of many, and she would rather avoid unnecessary problems.
Once the blanket was safely hidden, Emeline grabbed the runic cleaning pad from the changing table and placed it on a crib. There, she tapped the runic pad twice and stepped back. A few seconds later, the pad began pulsing a slow blue light, indicating that it was absorbing mana. After the pulsing ended, Emeline heard a low hum as a light blue translucent field extended outward from the runic pad. The field grew until it encompassed the crib in a light blue sphere.
Emeline then watched as the entire crib was cleaned and almost left sparkling. Once the sphere fizzled out and the pad no longer shone, Emeline picked up the pad and placed it back on the changing table. She then put Jasmine in the crib and ensured the babe was nice and tucked in.
Feeling like everything was taken care of, Emeline pressed a rune inlaid in the wall as she headed out of the room.
The rune switched the soft light in the infant's room to display colorful animals on the ceiling, which would hopefully help keep Jasmine calm for the rest of the night or until she fell asleep.
With Jasmine staying calm in her crib, Emeline went to bed with swirling thoughts about the newborn's past and future.