Chapter 10: Weight of words

Holding the scale in one hand, arm stretched out in front of himself and the other holding the metal cylinder in between. He began to chant in a guttural throaty ancient language, the surrounding ambient sources began to stir and move lightly, swaying with each syllable spoken, dancing in tune to the rhythm of his chant. It was taking a toll, as his eyes began to bleed and his body shaking in strain but he persisted. Never slowing down or breaking the flow of the chant. After what felt like an excruciating eternity he began to speak in his native language(haven't decided name yet) each word being infused with the entirety of his will.

"Hear my voice, Feel my will, Acknowledge my desire. I Lucious Nepherhai write this contract to be recognized by the world. I desire 'My daughter to remember her name and the meaning it carries' I put up to make this contract fair 'My life span'"

After he finished speaking the scale glowed and the top third of it began to change and rewrite until it matched the description of the contract he desired. The scale was now faintly glowing with ethereal light in it's top third.

Lucious took a few deep breaths to collect himself after straining his body. After he gave a nod to Samira, she responded by putting down their daughter onto the flat stone. They both stood up and came into her view. Even though they would love to do nothing more than look at her forever, time was against them and they need to move quickly. Holding the contract Lucious said "Activate" and the glowing contract started to glow brighter and brighter before melting and seeping into both Lucious and their daughters bodies. 

Lucious turned to Samira "We probably on have a half a minute or less, so we should prioritize her hearing the most important stuff" She nodded in agreement and got ready to speak, looking down she collected herself with a deep breath. Leaned in a gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead before beginning

"My precious daughter you probably won't remember us or anything to do with us but always remember your name and who you are... You are Ashai never forget, your name means to live free, free from any shackles, physically, emotionally, or mentally. Never forget your name, let it ring loud in your heart when you are at your lowest. Let the name Ashai ring!"

Lucious leaned in next, following Samira's lead. He gave Ashai a kiss on her forehead, took a deep breathe, smiled then spoke "Ashai I will not ask you for anything related to us, whether you remember us, loves us, hate us or any other emotion I accept it with everything. All I ask is that you do your best to be truly happy. Free from this cycle of hate and destruction. To live free of the desires of others, to live you own life, ... to truly live" 

Lucious felt the contract begin to sap at his life so he finished speaking. Completing the contract Lucious quickly turned to the side to cough up a little blood outside of the view of little Ashai. He still needed to do the second contract which was much more important in his opinion. 

For the whole duration of the contracts completion, Ashai stared wide eyed at her parent, never moving her gaze away from start to finish for each of them. Her eyes had the fog in them twist around the center were her pupils would have been, like they were trying to draw in as much information as they possibly could. 

Samira picked little Ashai back up holding her in her arms, checking if she needed anything. She checked if she needed to be changed, that she did. Samira was surprised that she never once made a sound and when she was all cleaned up there wasn't any signs of irritation or rashes. After getting her all cleaned up she tried to feed her as she didn't know how much she was drinking in her pod on the boat. This proved to be the right choice as she latched onto the bottle the moment she could and gobbled it up.

"Hahaha she's got her apatite from me" 

Lucious looked up from getting ready for the second contract and when he saw Ashai drinking her supplemental milk. He gave a soft smile to the scene.

Checking over his condition and the two contracts to see if everything was ready, he waited in silence for Ashai to finish up. After a few minutes she was all done, the day was a long one and it was taking it's toll on her, even with her life source giving her a boost she was still a newborn and the fact that she was able to stay awake until now was bordering on worrisome. 

She closed her eyes and fell asleep immediately. Samira gently walked a little bit away so Ashai wouldn't be disturbed by Lucious's chant.

Lucious followed the same steps from before. The strain on his body was hitting him harder than before but he still managed to push through until he could speak the terms he desired in this contract. 

"Hear my voice, Feel my will, Acknowledge my desire. I Lucious Nepherhai write this contract to be recognized by the world. I desire 'My daughter Ashai will have the sources of life and death that flow through her body and soul to be sealed, and sealed into multiple layers. I wish for her powers to not run rampant in her body and soul, allowing her to be the one to open the seals whenever she's ready.' as a restriction 'She will have to knowledge and ability to easily open the seals whenever she so chooses. It will be difficult to re-seal herself and the difficulty will grow exponentially with each further layer of seal' To fuel this contract I put up 'My life span and/or my soul until the point of near death'" 

After waiting a few second hoping he wouldn't have to re-write any of the terms of this contract, the scale glowed brightly. Much brighter than before, and with that Lucious could feel something immaterial grasp him. The moment the contract was activated he would have his price snatched away and he could tell the price was heavy.

He could hear Ashai crying as Samira walked back quickly. Ashai must have felt the contracts influence about to affect her. She probably was more fueled by her preservation instincts to not let herself get sealed so she wailed, tossing and turning to the best of what her little body could do. It pained the both of them to watch this so they proceeded as fast as they could to get this done. 

This time Samira didn't place her down and instead held her as tightly as she could while still being gentle. 

"Activate"

Once more the glowing contract began to melt but this time it created a sort of bridge or connection between the two. That's when it started, Lucious immediately fell to the ground squirming in pain, his body withering at a rapid pace but his soul was following along right behind. His thoughts grew slower but the pain, the pain was still there in full force. He wanted to scream but he couldn't, just a string of blood and spit constantly falling from his mouth. He misjudged how much of his body and soul could go while still being alive. His eyes started to dry out and become useless, then his limbs starting from his fingers and toes. Eventually organs began to stop functioning one by one until only his lungs, heart, and brain could still function at a bare minimum level. 

He was not the only one experiencing the effects as baby Ashai was also suffering although it wasn't pain she was suffering from. A piece of her was being seal, a portion of something ingrained into every speck of her soul, into every cell in her body, that used to flow freely and with vigor was now being sealed and suppressed layer by layer until only the faintest trickle her sources could move around. She squirmed and fought with all her little might to rid herself of this unbearable uncomfortableness. Yet nothing she tried could get rid of it, eventually the contract was complete, her sources sealed. Overwhelmed by what she just experienced she went into deep sleep. Letting her body and mind auto adjust to her new situation. 

Samira was stuck helpless as she watched as the two most important people in her life suffer, her daughter squirmed and moved around as hard as she could and it broke her heart have to hold her still so she didn't hurt herself, She was in tears watching her baby suffering, she felt useless as a mother, she could do nothing but watch and hold her baby still, the fact that they even had to do this was throwing her emotions in a mess, that they had to seal her baby's innate gifts just to help hide her from future pursuit, killed her inside. Then she saw in front of her as her husband sacrificed his body and soul to fuel these seals. He fell to the ground but she was unable to help outside of slowing his fall with some wind. Before her very eyes, her husband began to age rapidly, going from looking like a young man in his early to mid twenties to a shriveled old man that had a foot in the grave. She saw his eyes began to dry up then turn to dust, his limbs started to deflate as their inside must've been turning to mush or something close at least. She could feel his body falling apart, but just the same, his soul was going along right with it. She stood there, not once in her life has she felt so weak, the only thing she could do was grit her teeth as she cried, not willing let either of them hear her cry for the sacrifices and suffering they were going through. That's not what either of them needed.