A young, homeless woman was making her way through an alleyway, trying to ignore the sirens in the distance. Apparently, a vicious fire had rampaged throughout one of the districts, specifically in the housing of several notable wealthy people. So, she was scrounging in the ashes for anything that may have been of value. Sadly, she didn’t find much. As she dug through the refuse, her hands tainted black with ash and soot, she heard a faint cry. It sounded like a baby…!
But that was impossible. The fires that raged had reached thousands of degrees of heat. Nothing could have survived. And yet...could it be…? The woman made her way through the rubble towards what she presumed was the remnants of a kitchen and moved some refuse aside. And lo behold, there was a crying baby, blackened with soot, yet otherwise, perfectly fine. The woman hesitated. Should she take it? What if it was some Noble’s baby? A quick check revealed that it was a girl...she picked up the baby, discovering it was uncomfortably warm. Did she have a fever?
“Poor thing…” she mumbled, cradling it in her arms. She would take care of this child. If whoever was the parent had been willing to leave it to the fire, she decided they must not have wanted it. To do such a callous thing...they did not deserve to have this child. She made her way back to the slums. This was the Apollyn Empire, a large nation stretching across most of the continent, made of one primary kingdom and several smaller kingdoms, all merged under the reign of the Archon, Jacob Black, the 12th successor in the Black Dynasty.
After wrestling control of the Empire after the death of the previous Archon and stabilizing the power vacuum created in his sudden death, Humanity was now in a renaissance of sorts. Yes, all degrees of the arts were flourishing- art, writing, poetry, technology. While the faith in the Dragon and Elder gods had faded away, Humanity looked towards more secular matters.
The result was this, the magnificent capital of Harlup. The ratty looking woman stepped aside, a formidable golem walking by, and the red colored stones in place of its eyes turning to regard her critically, with the baby in hand. Dismissing her, it resumed its patrol. These were Magitech Golems, magical golems animated by a mechanical core and powered by magic. Magitech was a miraculous combination of technology and magic, allowing humanity to surpass limits it had thought not surpassable. Food could be preserved in iceboxes, carriages could move without horses, moving pictures recorded and played back...the possibilities were endless.
The capital was as clean as ever, having sewers and running water, as well as everyone understanding the importance of hygiene. However, even though the country was ahead of its time with these revolutionary policies, the concept of welfare and caring for the poor was still undeveloped...no, not even conceptual.
So slums and the poor still existed, and there was still a disparity between the poor and rich, even if the quality of life had improved even for middle class families. That was why even this woman, filthy and wearing rags, could walk on the sides of such a pristine road, past beautiful, bricked two story houses. However, as she made her way to the particular district that she lived in, the houses grew increasingly more shabbier, the roads less pristine, but still clean nonetheless. She was currently on her way to visit a doctor who she knew would not turn down a child...even if she was not able to pay. She did have a few favors she could cash in, after all. She shrugged open the door to the clinic.
“Hm? Who...oh, if it isn’t Veronica! What are you doing…” the voice belonged to a rather beautiful woman wearing a white coat with glasses. The typical picture of a doctor. Her gaze shifted towards the baby. “....why do you have a baby?” Veronica smiled awkwardly. “Serena...can I have you look at it?” she explained the circumstances. Upon hearing on where Veronica had found the child, Serena sighed despondently. “...I’m sorry you have to dig through the trash...yeah, let me see her, I’ll get her cleaned up...you can use the bath, too, yanno…”
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“Thanks…” Veronica said, grateful to have a friend like her. After she showered, she came back out, noticing the baby, now in proper clothing and clean.
“Well, I did some preliminary tests, and she seems to be perfectly healthy…
“But that can’t be! She’s so warm…” Veronica protested. Serena shrugged. “Could be an abnormality? I can’t say for certain, but if she’s sick, it certainly doesn’t seem to be the case. That being said...It’s not like I have the proper equipment to do a full diagnosis…” While magic could take care of many wounds, it couldn’t do much for illnesses. In the past, medicine and surgery had gone undeveloped, but recently progress had been made as the Archon and his advisers realized the importance. This was why hygiene and health had improved. With magitech, devices to inspect tiny particles that were thought to cause illness could be inspected, among other things, like antibiotics. Yet even so, the field wasn’t properly developed quite yet, and only the royal laboratories and clinics had the cutting edge technology that might’ve been able to figure out what was wrong with the baby.
“Take my word for it, as a practiced Doctor, I have to say there is absolutely nothing wrong with this baby, beyond the abnormally high temperature. If anything, I’d say that means she’s more resilient to diseases, since they can’t survive high temperatures…”
“If you say so…” Veronica said hesitantly. “Have you thought of a name?” Serena asked curiously. Veronica shook her head. “...how about Edna?” Serena offered a name. “Edna?”
“Yeah, it’s a derivative of Etna, the Dragon God of the West. It means fire and warmth, and well…” she looked at the baby with a wry grin. “She is warm, and you found her in the aftermath of a fire…”
“…that’s a bit cheeky, isn’t it?” Veronica asked. “I don’t think so. What better way to honor one’s heritage? Maybe she was born in those flames?”
“Please, don’t say such nonsense,” Veronica dismissed her joking words. “...but, you’re right. Welcome to the world...Edna…” she said this to little Edna, who held out her hands, a happy burble coming from her. “Seems like she likes the name,” Serena said with a giggle. Veronica stared down at the baby girl, her lips tight. “...If you want, I can take care of her for you,” Serena said softly. “I know it will be hard to care for her...given your situation…” Veronica shook her head.
“I couldn’t drop that burden on you, Serena. I know you would be punished harshly for taking in a child….” Serena winced involuntarily. Despite working in the slums, Serena was expressly forbidden from taking in any refugees, even if that included babies. The reason was that unless impartiality was maintained, what she did for one special person would make everyone else want to get that same concession, leading to a chain reaction that would unravel the hard work Serena’s superiors had done.
She was a community doctor working to ensure plague did not spread throughout the slums, although that was as far as her doctrine would allow her to freely work. Anything else would obviously require money, though her friendship with Veronica meant she was more than willing to bend a few rules and pull some strings.
“...you’re right. I’ll do my best to get you more food and such, so you can care for her better…” Serena told her. “Don’t worry about payment, either. Checkups like that don’t cost anything, after all…” Veronica smiled. “You’re a good friend, Serena…” She walked off and left, while Serena leaned back and sighed. “What a cruel world this is…” she mumbled, closing her eyes and dozing off. Having to work 24/7, it was hard to catch quality sleep. In this unexpected lull, she must take every opportunity she could to sleep.