Sup! I got a new story going now! Hahaha I should finish my other stories but this is procrastination in the shape of productivity! Any way Kayano is the oldest at 17 and both rio and okuda are 16 and I will be referring to Kayano by her real name since in the AU her sister didn't die so there was no need to change her name and all that. Also heads up some character relations will be different since the events of the show didn't happen.
The four medieval walls of the young witch's room were lined with various dark oak racks, each rack containing various glimmering jars and colorful potions all of which were neatly lined up in alphabetical order. The room's dark stone walls were softly illuminated by the flickering light of the burning candle that sat at the edge of the wooden desk, alongside it were three jars of ink that were lined up along the back. Near the front of the desk were various sheets of scattered paper. The papers were mostly half-finished alchemic equations, spell incantations, or hastily written notes. Two towers of thick books were stacked besides the desk, sitting atop the dark chocolate wooden floors like pillars. Most of the books were about alchemy and the ancient summoning ritual known as The Bonding Ritual. The shuffling sound of feet resonated within the walls as the young witch scurried through her room in search for another candle since the one she was using was nearing its wick's end.
"Ah! Found you." She proclaimed happily as she found a spare candle hidden in the very depths of her drawer.
"Now that I'm thinking about it…I'm going to have to get more candles…I also noticed my stock of chloroform is depleting I'm going to have to make more..." She said out loud making herself a mental list of supplies she needed and what potions she was running low on.
The golden speaking tubes found in every witch girl's room spontaneously blared out with a female's voice.
"ALL RIGHT BRATS TIME FOR BED! LIGHTS OUT!" Professor Bitch said or more precisely yelled.
Manami jumped back in surprise and managed to drop the candlestick.
"Y-Yes Ma'am..." She responded even though she didn't have to.
Manami picked up the candlestick and proceeded to continue her research. Professor Bitch was never too strict on the rules…at least the rules she didn't care about and Professor Bitch did not care about curfew so Manami was free to burn the night away.
She sorted through the various pieces of paper trying to find the one she was working on….The Bonding Ritual is only a few months away I have to make sure I'm ready. The Bonding Ritual was the last step every young Witch has to take in order to be considered a real professional witch. After the ritual is performed the witch is bonded with a familiar. The familiar varies depending on the witch, sometimes they were the classic spirits other times they were more unorthodox like goblins or other mythical creatures; like a sphinx or pixies. The familiar would then become the Witch's loyal assistant and partner…
A witch with no familiar is no witch at all, because those who do not have a contract with a familiar are immensely weaker than the ones that do. This is so because witches and their familiars share a pool of magic composed of the magical energy of both participants; the basic jest is the more familiars the more power, the stronger the familiar the more power. With a familiar by her side a witch is fully recognized as a professional and will be able to participate in quests and will be given jobs. Some witches even join guilds and become part of a team; others are freelancers and usually take on solo jobs and others create mystics' shop where they can sell various potions and magical gear.
Manami had taken the liberty of learning all she could about the Bonding Ritual. All her life she was either ridiculed for her inability to cast spells or hated for her magical origins, non-magic users aren't too fond of magic folk thanks to the bad image magic users gained due to mystic gangs and rouge witches. As for spell casting…well it wasn't her forte…she wasn't much of a caster…she was more of a wielder; which is a person that can use various magical objects by becoming a vessel of energy, they can also create magical objects like potions, wands, enchanted runes, etc.
Casting required making up spells using eloquent language, concentrating on drawing the right amount of energy and a level-headed persona because in the real world you're probably going to be casting spells in the heat of battle. Most spell casters excel in English and Literature and while there are spells one can memorize they aren't as strong as spontaneous spells…Manami vaguely remembers a book calling this phenomenon the Deus Ex Machina Effect… Supposedly the reason why heat of the moment spells are stronger is because they draw strength from not only magical energy but from the intense emotional energy of the caster as well, which acts as a buffer. The book goes on to state that because written down spells are taught to a wide range of people the original spell's meaning is lost and one can no longer draw from the energy of the spell created, at least not as well. It also goes on to say that situational spells are more efficient as the caster can determine the amount of energy needed, unlike written down spells were the energy intake is always constant. In short written spells are watered down for larger audience consumption and lose their strength and are therefore labeled as artificial spells and original spells are more in tune with the situation at hand and act accordingly to what the caster needs.
"Ah! There it is!" Manami exclaimed relived she had found the paper she was looking for. The paper was filled with scribbles and various half-baked incantations.
"Now…let's see what would be a good summoning spell…?" Manami wondered out loud as she sat down on her desk chair tapping her pencil against her chin in thought.
The Bonding Ritual required an original spell which would then be performed in a magical summoning circle. The words were very important! After all, the familiar you get will be entirely based on how strong your summoning spell is and how you present yourself….So I have to basically woo my familiar to bonding with me…Manami thought cynically…She was never too good with words…or courting someone for that matter…The last time she attempted to woo someone it ended horribly…Though now Manami was at least glad she could look back at that moment and laugh at it…Her lips twitched upwards as she thought about it.
It was during the weekend. Students from the witching academy were allowed to go out to the town below during the weekdays and weekends as long as they didn't get into mischief. Akari had wanted to go down town to check out a new cafe shop that had recently opened up during the week. Manami decided to join her best friend for a little tour down town, after all even though she loved spending her free time making potions and elixirs she grew tired of being locked up in her room slowly suffocating on the musty castle air that intermingled with the fumes of chemicals, sometimes she needed a break and a walk down town to get some pastries sounded delightful.
Besides it was nice having air conditioning and light bulbs once in a while. The academy's magical aura often disturbed electronic devices so there weren't any on campus and even though some magical academies were now integrating technology into their school others schools, like Manami's, were old fashioned. They believed that it's better to learn how to do things without the aid of technology in order to create a self-sufficient witch who had natural talent and not a mediocre witch that relied on tools and tech.
Both witches made their way down the stone brick walkway happily chatting about classes and teachers. They knew they were close to the cafe shop when they smelled the delicate scent of wafting sugar and coffee. The shop was small but it was very homey. Manami liked it. It wasn't too crowded and it was quiet. They walked in and the silver bell welcomed their presence. The worker greeted them kindly…He was around their age and Manami instantly felt self-conscious, she was never good at interacting with the opposite sex or interacting in general. He had spiky brown hair, two strands of which stuck out on top of his head like antennas and he had kind pale golden eyes that radiated warmth…
"Good afternoon, ladies." He said with a hospitable smile.
It was such a lovely smile. Manami hid behind her green-haired friend afraid that if she gazed into his golden apple eyes she wouldn't be able to look away.
"Good afternoon…uhhh" Akari squinted her eyes at the name tag.
"Isogai. This place is fairly new and we haven't come here before what would you recommend?" Akari asked.
Isogai placed a finger on his chin in thought.
"Hmm…Well what are your personal taste? Do have a big sugar tooth?" He asked.
In the end they decided to get two puddings and an iced cappuccino for Akari, a toffee caramel coffee and a simple piece of chocolate cake (they didn't make honeycomb toffee) for Manami.
"Here you go."
"O-Oh uhh t-thank you…." Manami muttered shyly.
"If you need anything don't hesitate to call me over." He said with a smile before walking off. As soon as he was out of ear shot Akari leaned over the table with a teasing smile.
"W-what is it…?" Manami asked not at all liking the way Akari was looking at her with mischievous eyes and a playful grin.
"You think he's cute."
"I-I w-well I…" Manami stuttered and Akari giggled.
"Come on Manami listen next time he comes around turn up your charm. You are very cute even Professor Bitch thinks you look very cute."
"I-I don't know…"
"Come on at least try." Akari coaxed…
Manami sighed…She couldn't argue with Akari …I thinks she's spending too much time with Rio…Manami thought glumly as she waited for Isogai to come back and check on them.
"Is everything okay here? Do you need anything?" Isogai asked.
Manami stiffened…it was now or never…She opened her mouth to say something but immediately shut it…She looked at Akari for reassurance. Akari merely nodded reassuringly and mouthed a 'you can do it'…Isogai glanced between the two confused.
"Is everything ok-.."
"You're attractive!" Manami yelled…Ah! I messed up…
Manami swore internally as she saw Isogai's taken aback expression. "I uhh haha no I-I mean no sorry! You're not attractive! I mean you are! W-what I meant t-to mean is you're very a-a-attractive you and your face and the rest of y-you! But I-I uhh haha don't just mean superficially! I uhh you are v-very nice, nice personality! W-which is great b-because b-but I am sorry! The sorry c-cause you hear this I mean you m-must hear this all the t-time and I-I w-wasted that time! Haha but I'm not sorry b-because its y-your fault for being attractive…A-and I Akari …help me…!" Manami was a bright red and she was stuttering so hard she wasn't forming sentence anymore she instinctively tried to hide behind Akari as she tried to curl herself up in a little ball.
"We're fine, thank you."
"O-Okay…" He said and walked away slowly…
"Hmm…I'm not sure if he's confused, rejected you or didn't register a thing you said." Akari wondered out loud as she took a sip of her cappuccino.
"….I really hope it's the last one…" Manami said glumly.
"Hey, but, but! Progress! You talked to a cute guy….sort of…" Manami let out a groan of embarrassment.
"More like made a fool of myself in front of a cute guy…." She mumbled.
"So you admit he's cute."
"A- Akari!" Akari just giggled.
Manami giggled at the memory before letting out a yawn…It was getting late and it was a school day tomorrow, she decided to continue working on the spell tomorrow. After all she still had five months to prefect it…Maybe she could ask Rio for some pointers…Manami stretched out her tired limbs, undid her braids, walked over to her bed with candle in hand and placed the candle down on her night stand. She took of her glasses and blew the flame out before falling to sleep the last thoughts she had were.
I wonder what my familiar will be…I wonder how they will act…I hope my familiar will be as nice as Isogai was….
Wow that was a dump of info! Anyway R&R please I really hope you liked it! I actually have an end goal in mind for this story more or less. I want it to be long and kind of a slow burn...hmm we'll see how this goes...