Life had not been easy for Lilis. She’d been born into a poor family, barely able to get through school thanks to her time being consumed by her job. Even so, she persevered. She fought her way through life, eventually landing a more stable job, and even found the love of her life, Achlys.
Despite a rather rocky start, she genuinely enjoyed her life as it was now. They weren’t wealthy, by any means, but they were comfortable. Once they married, things got easier, but it was never truly the life she’d dreamed of as a child. She was fine with that, though. They truly loved each other.
Once she found out she was pregnant, things changed for the better. Achlys seemed beyond excited, so eager to be a father he’d told practically everyone they knew. She was just as excited, of course, she just contained her excitement better.
The procedure was simple enough. Prome had advanced enough medical care that, even with their meager salaries, giving birth was a painless process. Mostly, it was boring. If she’d been wealthier, the process would take a few minutes at most. As it was, she’d been waiting for an hour.
“Honey, we never did discuss names.” Achlys spoke up from his spot in the room. It was a typical hospital room, though a bit more cramped than she would’ve liked. Poor Achlys looked like he was at a child’s desk, with his height.
“I could’ve sworn… I suppose we’ve been so busy lately it’s to be expected. I was thinking Deimos.” Lilis admitted.
“Your grandfather? He was a good man.” Achlys paused in thought. He’d only interacted with the man once or twice, but there was something scary about him. “Does it actually mean anything?”
Lilis shook her head. “If it does, it’s been lost to time. Grandpa said it was all the way from Earth, so it’s at least ten thousand years old. Possibly more.” Lilis smiled at the memory. Her grandfather had always been obsessed about the past, always digging into conspiracy theories, like that Earth hadn’t been destroyed, just hidden. He was scarily smart, but most people who got into those conspiracy theories tended to be smarter than average.
“I doubt it… but it sounds like a good name. Even if it didn’t mean anything before, it does now.” Achlys commented, thinking about who exactly Deimos had been as a person. Hopefully their son wouldn’t end up quite as paranoid, but they’d love him regardless.
“I wonder what kind of person he’ll be…” Lilis rubbed her stomach idly.
“He’ll probably be a mama’s boy.” Achlys grinned teasingly. “You’re bound to spoil him to death.”
“Oh hush, you’d do the same if we had a daughter.” Lilis giggled. “You’d probably take her to work with you, too, just so she’s never out of your sight.” Lilis shook her head in amusement.
For a moment, there was silence.
“...Do… do you think we’ll be good parents?” Achlys asked, a worried expression on his face. “I don’t want to end up like my mother.”
Lilis knew she could be comforting, but… in this instance, perhaps it would be better to be honest. “I don’t know. I just know we’ll do what we think is best. We never know what the future holds, but we can at least control our own reaction to the future.”
Achlys laughed lightly. “I hope he gets your philosophical nonsense.”
“It’s not nonsense, it’s understanding life.” Lilis pouted, crossing her arms as best she could.
Achlys couldn’t help his laughter at that. “I know, I know…”
It took a bit longer for the doctor to finally arrive, but neither had fallen asleep yet, thankfully. “Right. You are the Lambros family?” The doctor asked, sounding almost monotone.
“That’s us.” Lilis confirmed. Achlys had taken her name when they married, wanting to escape his own family’s history. “Are we ready, then?”
“Yes, I’ll be done in just a few moments. Apologies for the wait.” The man certainly did not sound sincere, but doctors rarely did anymore. The doctor put his hand on Lilis’ stomach, humming to himself. “The baby seems healthy enough. Not too large, not too small. Hair developing already? He’s going to be a strong one. Magical strength is already rather impressive… Are you sure you aren’t willing to donate-”
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“Absolutely not.” Achlys practically snarled. “Prome already has enough recruits for its military. It does not need to start taking babies as well.”
The doctor sighed, not nodded. “I’m required to ask, I assure you. Now then, everything seems in order. Any family religious preferences I need to know about before I begin?”
Lilis shook her head. “Neither of us have ever been too religious. Not beyond the normal, at least.”
“Good, good. Jeroth is worshiped in many… strange ways.” The doctor seemed uncomfortable for a moment, but shook his head. “Alright, you may feel a bit strange, but there should be no pain.”
“Okay…” Lilis steadied her breathing. She’d heard it was a strange process before, but she hadn’t really looked into it too much.
“And here we… go!”
Lilis wasn’t sure what the doctor did exactly. All she knew was that after he spoke, she felt the magic in the air, and suddenly her newborn son was in the doctor’s hands, clean and staring at her. “Oh… Oh my” Tears welled up in her eyes.
Gingerly taking her child from the doctor, she glanced over him. Chubby, like any baby was, but there was a strength there that she couldn’t quite place. He’d already grown thick, black hair. His eyes were what drew her attention.
In every Empire of Humanity, from Prome to Losimatic, everyone had a belief that the eyes were the gateway to the soul. Jeroth had gone on record, in the Human Ascension books, that it was true. He would know, of course, as he was the one to create magic. It was never really confirmed how eyes showed the soul, but it was known that rarer eye colors tended to manifest in stronger people. Her own eyes, a soothing blue, were only slightly uncommon. Achlys’ green were more common, something she knew he resented about himself.
Deimos’ eyes, however… Those bright golden orbs stared at her, and she’d never seen a more beautiful sight in her life. “Deimos… Our son…” The tears she’d been holding back began to fall.
Achlys, with a bit of nervousness, took Deimos into his own hands, slowly beginning to smile at his new son. “You’re gonna grow up to be big and strong, aren’t ya buddy? Yeah… I can tell already. You’re gonna change the world.” He hoped so at least. Someone had to.
The doctor, despite his seeming apathy up to this point, let out a small chuckle himself. “I hope so. It would be… nice.”
Lilis’ arms dropped, and some alarm began to ring out.
Achlys turned to the doctor, panicking. “What’s going on?!”
“I don’t know. I’ll have a nurse escort you to the paternal area, I’m getting an emergency detection run on your wife in the meantime. I’ll let you know as soon as we’ve figured something out.” The doctor didn’t wait for him to respond, grabbing the bed Lilis was on and running straight out of the halls.
“Oh no…” Achlys felt his heart drop. Not even Deimos grasping his finger eased his worry.
----------------------------------------
“A… magical virus?” Achlys would’ve fallen to his knees, had he not already been sitting down. Deimos was being taken for a more thorough check-up, thankfully. Achlys wasn’t sure he could safely handle him at the moment.
“Mana based Mitocronicalus.” The doctor sighed, taking a seat next to Achlys. “It’s been in her system since birth, apparently. This just… aggravated it enough to start visibly affecting her. It is very rare, and there is neither a cure nor a vaccine. I’m sorry.”
Achlys leaned forward, head in his hands. “What… What exactly does that mean?”
“Usually? Not a lot… however, with her position… well, she cannot do magically demanding tasks anymore. You said she was a Tele-banker?”
“She’s never had problems with it before. The drain was negligible at best.” Achlys shook his head.
“I… cannot advise going back.” The doctor sighed. “While her strength will take years to fully fade, and longer to actually kill her, the more magic she uses, the more the virus feeds off of. Every time she uses magic, she’ll be shortening her life. Even a mildly taxing job would decrease her lifespan by decades.”
Achlys felt numb. They could, possibly, live without her working. It’d be tight, but they could do it. It was another thing entirely to hear that she would have a time limit. “How… how long does she have, if she doesn’t use magic at all?”
The doctor pursed his lips, unsure if he wanted to answer, but knowing that he needed to. “With her current age… She won’t make it past fifty.”
“Twenty years?!” Achlys wanted to throw up. She’d only barely be able to see Deimos grow up, and not even fully at that! “I… What can I do?”
The doctor glanced around. Once he was sure no one would hear, he whispered to Achlys. “Listen, there’s a few experiments going on in secret. All we need is a specimen.”
“I’m not giving you my son. She’d never forgive me.” Achlys wanted to be angry, but… he only felt numb now.
“I wasn’t talking about Deimos.” The doctor stared at Achlys pointedly.
“Oh…” Achlys paused in thought. It was, undeniably, risky. Medical experiments were commonplace. Survivors were not. Deimos couldn’t live without a parent, he’d be eaten alive in the foster system, if he didn’t get snatched up by the military. At the same time, if it worked… then maybe he wouldn’t have to be alone.
Achlys gave his answer.