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Step 1: Summon your demon
Two figures sat in front of five lit candles placed in a circle. The curtains had been drawn so that the candles were the only light source available, with every electronic having been unplugged and powered off. All the furniture had been pushed against the wall to give them more space for their current activity.
Silently both boys made small cuts on their palms before letting the blood drip down their fingers into a small bowl full of water. Placing the bowl back into the middle of the circle, the younger of the two took the bloodied knife and begun to carve random symbols into a piece of cardboard they had previously laid on the ground (They weren’t about to piss off their landlord for this).
Once he finished and the knife was safely left to the side, he sat back down and they linked their bleeding hands, chanting: “O Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, where art thy Beetlejuice?”
After a while of this they went back to being silent, staring at the candles in contemplation.
“Well that didn’t work,” the oldest said.
“Really? I didn’t notice,” the younger deadpanned.
They remained silent before the younger yelled, “Hey! If any demon can hear us, can you show yourself?”
Silence…And then the flames grew, higher and higher, generating more and more heat before they inevitably went out, bathing the room in utter darkness.
Click.
Both boys blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the new light.
“What do you think you two are do- Is that blood?” A calm voice was heard before the person descended into screeching as they seemed to notice the blood still dripping from the two boys hands. “Why are you bleeding? Are you okay? Is someone hurting you? Did you get involved with a cult?” The voice started to frantically question.
However instead of paying attention, all the boys could do is stare in wonder at the long tail that violently whipped the air behind the stranger and the pair of twisting horns that extended from their purple hair. The stranger also possessed bright purple eyes that twinkled in the light captivating them and further distracting them from the stranger’s rambling.
In other words, the two boys were struck with the sense that they were gazing upon an otherworldly being, one that was too perfect to be seen by their mortal eyes.
“Holy shit, I thought demons were supposed to be ugly.”
The stranger froze, starting at them as if they were idiots. “That would be highly impractical, we’re meant to trick humans into sinning so we’d obviously be made to look pretty and approachable. But that’s not important! You humans need medical attention! Your wounds could become infected if you leave them open for too long.”
And just like that, the demon before them raced to get a med kit.
Step 2: Introduce yourself, names are highly important to demons!
After the demon was done patching them up he introduced himself. “My Names Reo. Reo Mikage, and as I’m sure you’re already aware, I am a demon. So, Why did you two ask for me? Oh and what should I call you?”
The two boys gave each other a quick look and then the eldest spoke up. “Nice to meet you, I’m Alexis Ness. You can call me what ever you’d prefer. And this right here is Rin Itoshi.” Ness pointed towards the boy next to him. “Anyway, we were just kinda bored and thought, why not summon a demon? It gave us something to do.”
Reo was watching them with a clear look of confusion as he opened and closed his mouth, searching for the right words to respond with. Eventually he settled on; “You’re telling me that you two decided to risk getting yourselves killed and or eaten….Because you were bored?”
“Yes.” Both boys said at the same time.
“Okay…I’m guessing this means neither of you came up with any kind of deals to strike with me?” Reo hesitantly asked, dreading the answer.
“We didn’t exactly think we’d get this far.” Rin explained.
Reo seemed to be thinking through something as he took in Rin’s words. “Great, okay that’s fine. Um I don’t really know the protocol for this situation but I’d rather not go back to the dinner party my parents are hosting so how about, if I get to hide here when my parents or other members of nobility are being too overbearing, you both can get a small portion of my power to use as you see fit. Does that sound good to you?”
“Wait you mean I get magic? Fuck yeah!” Ness quickly nodded in agreement.
At the same time Rin was focused on a certain word that Reo had said. “What do you mean by nobility?”
“Okay! We have a deal then!”
Suddenly Reo’s eyes flashed and a purple string wrapped around the three figures, tying them together and evidently sealing the deal.
Step 3: Spend time together
It had been a few weeks since the fateful meeting and, just like Reo had said he would, the demon would spend a couple hours hanging around their place every other day. Sometimes he’d simply sit down on the sofa and quietly remain there barely moving an inch until he deemed it alright for him to return to where ever he had ran from this time. Other times he would take to trying to teach the two humans about the new powers they had obtained.
This was one of the times he had decided on doing the latter.
“Alexis I already told you, all you have to do is focus on the molecules around you,” Reo said as he waved his hand around and produced a ball of water.
“that’s easier said then done, plus I thought magic was supposed to be well you know magical! This just seems like some advanced science…” Ness grumbled, clearly frustrated with his lack of talent.
while this was going down, Rin sat to the side staring at his own hand. The cut on his palm had ended up healing within the first week but it had left a thin scar. It was proof that this was all real, they now had a demon in their house teaching them how to do magic, and yet he couldn’t wrap his head around it. It didn’t make any sense.
“Rinnie? Are you okay? You’re kinda being more quiet than usual…” Ness’ voice bought the younger out of his head, making him look over to the others. They were staring at him with twin looks of concern.
Reo’s tail began to whip around just like it had the first time they had met as he spoke. “Maybe we should take a break, you two weren’t made to use magic like I was so it must be draining. I can teach you another time but for now it’s best if you two eat something and relax your minds.”
Ness opened his mouth to complain before glancing at Rin and nodding in agreement. “Yeah alright, come on Rin go set up the table while I cook something for us.”
And so the rest of the day was spent with the three sat at the table, talking about whatever came to mind (mainly the new horror movie Rin had watched), while Rin and Ness ate a simple meal.
Step 4: Be sad and in pain (optional?)
Ness was having a shit day.
First he’d woken up with a pounding headache and he had found that his favourite cereal was finished but someone had left the box in the cupboard instead of throwing it away. Then after he had already walked all the way to his 8:30 am class he got an email saying the class was cancelled. And on the way back home a bird shat on him.
Needless to say he was not amused.
It got even more worse from there as he got a call from his older sister. Turns out his family had finally found out that he’d dropped chemistry after last year and they weren’t pleased. That had just lead to a huge argument which definitely didn’t help his already pounding head.
And so here he was, curled up in bed trying not to be too loud while he gasped for breath in case Rin was still at home. His vision was highly blurred and everything hurt. His chest was heaving with every sharp inhale. It was pure agony.
Squeezing his eyes shut he didn’t notice the low creak of his door or the sloshing of water and clinking of ice. This lead to him being completely surprised when a cold, soggy fabric was placed on his head and a hand started to message his temples, careful to not dislodge the cloth.
A soft voice whispered, “Go sleep Lexi, I promise the pain will be gone when you wake up.”
Just before he blacked out he saw a thin black appendage swaying from the corner of his eye.
When he woke up he was alone, with only a glass of water and some painkillers on his desk.
He also noticed a small note: ‘Hope you feel better by the time you read this, sorry if these aren’t the correct pills they looked about right so I just grabbed them. -Reo’
Smiling, he drank the water with the pills.
Maybe today wasn’t that bad.
Step 5: Have your house be broken into
Rin had been rewatching insidious when he heard it. A loud crash. He didn’t think anything of it though as he had become used to Ness waking up at random hours of the night, only to knock over his things or run into walls while in a daze.
However what he wasn’t used to was hearing an unknown voice curse about the loud noise. He also was not used to seeing a man dressed in all black walk out of his kitchen and stare at him.
“For fucks sake,” the man said before grabbing something from a hidden pocket and running towards Rin.
Jumping up Rin tried to look for something to protect himself with, but other than the many pillows that surrounded him and an empty bowl that had originally held popcorn he had nothing. Still he grabbed a pillow and prepared to throw the bowl with all his might.
Except before he could do so, purple chains encased the man, paying special attention to gag him, and a horde of insects started to cover every surface of him, eating threw fabric and flesh.
It was a gruesome sight. The man flailing as more and more bugs managed to chew on his skin and drink his blood. The chains insuring that he could not truly get away.
Rin watched for what seemed like hours, but was only a few minutes according to the clock on the wall, as the man thrashed. Fabric falling away from his body and a distinct crimson liquid staining his skin. Until eventually he fell still letting the insects eat his remains in peace.
“Are you okay?” Someone said as a hand played on his shoulder.
Rin turned to see Reo who was looking him up and down, surveying his body for any indication of pain. “I’m fine, you…got here…before he could do anything.” Rin pointed out, eyeing the corpse in his living room.
“Good, that’s good,” Reo exhaled.
“Yeah, anyway can you clean that up? I don’t really want to get in trouble with the landlord.”
Step 6: Acknowledge that you are now friends
It was like any other day, the three were in the living room, listening to Reo talk about how his power works. “I can copy the power of any demon I have ever been in direct contact with, however it is at a much lower scale.”
Ness hummed, asking a question in response. “That’s cool and all but how did that translate into you teaching us how to control water?”
“Well the four elements are some of the most basic and easiest abilities to control, so it made more sense to teach you that before going into the more complex stuff or letting you choose something to focus on yourselves.”
And that was how they let the hours pass.
They found themselves moving on from topic to topic, each taking turns at going into detail about their favourite things or something that had caught their attention. They were having fun, smiling and laughing together. They teased one another and joked around without a thought.
It was nice.
Soon they descended into a peaceful quietness. All three content to just sit in each others presence. They had become closer than they had ever imagined and they couldn’t be more pleased about that fact.
Additional notes:
-only attempt if you have no self preservation instincts (or are an idiot)
-May end up with a hostile demon (if so, give the demon compliments (eg. “Who’s a good demon? That’s right! You are!”) and head pats (be careful of any horns they may have) Alternatively keep a spray bottle full of water close by)
-Do not be serious around them, results will not be fun (some may eat you, others will begin to act as a therapist, either way, Run.)
Have fun with your new demon friend!