"Look, the baby is moving!" a young boy called out while pointing towards the small, decrepit wooden crib in the corner of the small, dusty room.
Dozens of small children rushed over to get a good look at the new baby that had been left at the door of Vyrenan City Orphanage last night.
"She's so cute," one small girl cooed out, trying to reach her small hands into the crib to touch the adorable baby with short, curly blond hair.
Max, one of the older boys in the Orphanage, seeing this, instantly slapped her hand away. "No, Emily, you know you're not old enough to handle babies yet."
Groggy and a bit disoriented, it took Molly a great deal of effort to get her eyes to open. Her vision a bit hazy and blurry, only allowed her to see vague shapes of small figures around her.
"Look, her eyes have opened!" a childish voice exclaimed. "Wow, what a beautiful golden brown color," another child stated.
Getting her bearings, Molly thought through the things she was currently hearing and realized the kids around her were talking about a baby. Trying to move her body, she realized that she no longer had the same control of her limbs as she did previously. Eventually, she managed to move an arm towards her and was surprised by the small, plushy limb.
"Awe, she's moving," a childish voice remarked.
Mind racing, Molly finally realized that she was the baby they were talking about and that perhaps that talk she had with the odd voice in the white void had not been a dream, and she did die and get reincarnated.
The realization was not a pleasant one, and as her vision cleared and she saw all the dirty children and the decrepit state of her surroundings, she realized that so far this new life was not an upgrade to her old one.
Mind racing, she was surprised when one of the boys suddenly lifted her out of the crib. Unable to control her emotions, she began to cry, which just made her cry harder because of how embarrassed she was to be crying.
"Don't cry, little one, I'm Max and I will be your big brother," the young boy said while rocking her.
Looking at the boy's face, Molly instantly felt mesmerized by how adorable he was. Though dirty with rag-like clothes, his clear blue eyes and messy dark blue hair was endearing, and Molly, who enjoys looking at cute and good-looking people intently, felt at least a bit better.
"Look, she likes you!" a squeaky girl called out, watching with bright eyes as Max rocked Molly in his arms. "What should we name her?"
"I vote Blondie, since it matches her hair!" one kid yelled. "No, that's stupid, goldie is much better since it goes with her eyes," another suggested.
Each time a kid yelled out an equally awful name, Molly would scream in protest. 'I already have a name,' she thought bitterly, unwilling to be called something silly like 'Goldie' or 'Blondie'.
"When Matron Mary found her, there was a note saying her name is Molly," Max said, ending the debate.
"What a cute name!" several of the kids cried out.
"Well, I'm taking her to the kitchen in order to feed her," Max said, walking out of the large bedroom.
Looking around as she was carried off, Molly really began cursing her poor luck to end up in such an awful looking place. She saw that there were several boards coming off the walls and could even see bits of the outside. Mold and dust covered everywhere, and she watched as Max had to dodge several large holes in the floor.
Unsanitary, decrepit, smelly, those descriptions filled Molly's head, and she was having a hard time stomaching the idea of being forced to actually live here.
Max carried her into an equally horrible room that she figured was the kitchen and was at least happy to see the appliances didn't look too different aside from the material. Max placed her down on a wooden highchair before making his way over to the fridge.
Molly waited patiently before he came back with a bowl of milk and a spoon. "It's not much, but it should help you not starve," he said as he dipped the spoon in the milk before placing it in front of her mouth.
Not happy with having to rely on someone else to feed her, it took Molly a few minutes of Max trying to force-feed her before she eventually complied.
The taste was awful, and she was pretty sure that whatever this milk was is probably spoiled. "Life here isn't so bad, and since you are still a baby, you're more likely to be adopted," Max said while continuing to feed her, though he likely didn't realize she could actually understand what he was saying.
"Matron Mary, while not the nicest woman, won't do anything that would get you killed since that would negatively affect her class," he said, continuing to talk mainly as a way to get the new baby used to hearing his voice.
"When you turn ten and your system unlocks, you will be able to go out into the world and find your own place in it even if you don't get adopted," he said, giving her another spoonful.
Class, system? Listening to Max talk was like listening to a foreign language. The words reminded her a bit of what one of her friends that liked to play videogames would say, but he was speaking as if this was mechanics for everyday life.
"When I turn ten, I am planning to take the farmer class, so that I can learn to provide more food for the Orphanage," he explained, giving her another mouthful of disgusting milk.
Seemed like a very practical choice in Molly's opinion; food is always important. The thought of food reminded her of the skill she was promised. 'Well, how do I use it!' she thought, hoping she could conjure up some better tasting baby food.
Raising her hand in the air, she yelled out, "Ah... ah-bah..." a far cry from her intended words of applesauce.
Her rambling seemed to do the trick as a small plastic container materialized in the air before dropping to the highchair.
Max stared down in shock at the small container. "Wow! You were born with a special innate skill," his eyes were wide, almost cartoonish as he glanced at the container.
"You can't understand me, but I promise to try and keep this a secret for your protection, since you could end up locked away somewhere if a bad person realizes your gift. I'm sure even Matron Mary would," Max promised as he looked at the baby he recognized as his new baby sister.
Realizing that her using the gift to summon food meant she was probably still hungry, Max opened the container and began feeding it to her.
Enjoying the sweet taste of the apple sauce, Molly thought over Max's reaction to her summoning ability. It seemed she would need to keep it a secret until she had the ability to protect herself. Which really just sounded like a bad plot to some fantasy novel.
"You know, Molly, I think of most of the kids here like my siblings, but you're the first one I'm getting to raise on my own," he said while giving her another mouthful of apple sauce.
Full and happy from getting to have some apple sauce, Molly let out a yawn.
"Looks like it's time for you to take a nap."
Feeling herself getting picked up, Molly felt comfortable and warm in Max's arms as she closed her eyes and fell asleep.