In the known universe, there are many different realms, each which house unique worlds that are unlike any other. Among these lies the Mystic Realm, an entire world full of people who possess magical abilities, better known as Casters. These Casters...
The night was pierced by the screams of a woman in labor. Her husband woke up abruptly and looked at her, eyes filled with inquisitive concern. When he grabbed the woman's hand, she clutched his hand and gave him a look that poured a sense of fear and panic into his eyes. She then looked toward the closet, prompting him to jump out of bed and turn on the light. Frantically he searches the closet, barely illuminated by the room light while his wife grunts and holds her stomach.
She spoke faintly, "It's... the black one." He paused and scanned the closet, becoming increasingly frustrated with his lack of visibility. He finally shines a light from his palm, revealing a neatly folded dark sweater. He ran back to the bed unfolding the sweater and helped his wife into it. She grabs his shoulder, "Wait... in there." The woman gathers little strength and points to a sturdy dresser in the corner of the room. He goes over to it and begins pulling out drawers, distressed, until stumbling across a hard cover book. He grabs it and slides it under her arm.
"Here we go," the man says in a heave as he picks up his wife. As they descended on some stairs, the book clutched tightly in the woman's arms began to give off a soft glow. A metal emblem began to surface on its cover as the woman let out another cry. The baby was moving. In the dead of morning, the man spilled light from the front door and ran out to his car. Its doors flung open as if to greet him, and the radio began rapidly switching between stations. Gently, he placed his wife in the back seat.
"He's making good use of your energy, I'll give him that," the man said with a breathless chuckle. He drew the doors back in with one pulling movement of his hand.
She shouts, "Just hurry!!", unrelieved by his humor. All through this, she keeps a tight grip on the book that's shining even brighter now. She started breathing faster and faster, crying out in sheer pain. As the man finally sped out of their drive way, he glanced at the time in the car: 3:26 AM. His foot pressed on the gas with renewed urgency, ignoring stoplights in his haste. It wasn't long before he began to feel weak as well. The baby was sapping their energy.
He finally spotted the hospital and made a sharp turn. He burst into the hospital moments after, shouting for help. A group of nurses rushed to them and placed his wife on a gurney. As they ran to the hallway, all the doors flung open once more and scared other visitors.
A nurse with them spoke, her voice calm and steady, "What's your name?"
"An..drea! Andrea Crowley!!" She shouted, vaguely aware of being pushed into a room and the book, no longer glowing, being taken from her and placed on a bed stand. She grabbed her husband's hand as she was lifted onto the bed, crushing it in her small palm. The nurse ran out to inform the other nurses that a birth was going to take place.
The husband grunted slightly from the painful grip, bearing it for the sake of his wife, and smiled, "Don't worry, you'll both be alright. I know it."
Andrea looked at the ceiling then at him, "I know." Her breathing became faster, accompanied by sweat. The nurses came in and started prepping the room, and asked that the husband waits outside the door. Reluctantly, he parted his wife's hair to one side and walked out. He sat down in a chair and put his head in his hands, finally letting the time and moment all hit him.
The doctor walked down the hall and saw him slouch into the chair, "Don't worry, it'll go smoothly, it's just a matter of time now." He placed his hand on the man's shoulder as a gesture of comfort and walked in the room.
The same nurse from before approached him not long after the doctor went into the room. "I didn't get your name. We need to check you and your wife in." She said while looking at her clipboard and not him.
"Eolus Crowley," he murmured while rubbing his dry eyes. The nurse nodded and continued down the hall, the sound of scribbling faded after hearing a door close. Eolus smiled as he pulled out a small folded piece of worn paper from his wallet. His eyes jumped from word to word scattered all over the paper, each one bringing him a quiet laugh. Names. Each scratch is one of the many name choices Andrea and he had been writing down for their third family member.
His eyes eventually landed on the name that had been circled several times, "Ahkari." Eolus mumbled this over and over to himself. He looked up from the paper when he heard Andrea scream loudly again. 'Who knows how long she could be in labor,' he thought to himself as the clock caught his eye. 3:41 AM. He folded his arms and yawned. He let his head rest on the wall as he drifted asleep. The hours waited for their chance to run.
"It looks like the baby is coming along just fine Mrs. Crowley, just keep how you are now and you'll have a healthy child in no time!"
"Thanks, doctor, but we were curious about something."
"And what's your question?"
"Well, how do we know if it's going to be a boy or girl?"
"Right now... you're about 17 weeks in. Which means in about 2 to 3 weeks, your hands will let you know."
"My hands?"
"Yes, if your right hand emits small pulses of light, then it means that you'll have a girl. The left means you'll have a boy."
A hand on his shoulder pulled Ahkari out of his dream, "Mr. Crowley?" Eolus rubbed his eyes again and sat up. The nurse saw the drowsiness painted over his face. She continued, "Your wife and son are fine. Just asleep. Would you like to see them?"
Eolus was immediately alert, all traces of sleep gone, "Of course! When did she have him?"
The nurse smiled kindly, "It was about 8 o'clock this morning." She opened the door for Eolus and led him in. "Here they are." Somewhere in the background, the clock struck 10 AM.
Eolus broke into a hard smile when he saw Andrea asleep, holding their new baby. He went to her side and gently wove his hand into hers. The brand new father looked down at his boy, wrapped up in a blue blanket with a small patch of black hair already grown. Eolus looked at his wife and stroked her disheveled, shiny, black hair. She woke up the same time Eolus's stomach growled quite loudly. She chuckled.
"Every wave of pain couldn't have beaten me away from him." She whispered. Andrea gripped him tighter, afraid to be apart from him for even a second.
"Sorry, you had to do it all by yourself. I would've helped you know." Eolus said smiling stupidly. She saw the pride in his grin, deeply settled on his cheeks.
Andrea smiled, "I know you would have." She pulled her hand away from his when the child started to move. Eolus picked up the book on the bed stand beside them. Its cover now bore a strange symbol, the letter 'A' with a line down from the crossbar and a dot in the triangle, engraved in a shiny metal. He opened to the first page and the name 'Ahkari' appeared on the paper.
The baby opened his vibrant, leafy colored eyes and looked up at them. Andrea took one of his small hands and felt his innocence, "Isn't he precious? Our little Ahkari."
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