Disclaimer: We do not own Ao no Exorcist, otherwise known as Blue Exorcist. We only own the plot and whatever Original Characters you will come across while reading this.
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His breathing was shallow and his eyes nervously darted across the room every few seconds. In his trembling hands sat an old, dirty book. Whenever he spared it a glance, a huge grin tugged at his lips, almost making him forget how anxious he felt.
He couldn't quite believe he was doing this. When he'd first heard about this book from one of his demonology tutors, he would've never expected to actually come across it.
"Some say your ancestors created an extraordinary summoning tome, one that can give you the power to call upon any demon you want. It is an interesting legend, and if it did exist, it would surely be a forbidden item." the tutor had said to him then. The boy had hanged on his every word, a rare sight when it came to those tearfully boring lessons. A book like that could make all of his dreams and wishes come true.
He knew it was just a story the teacher had mentioned to make him pay attention, but the boy couldn't let go of the possibility that this legend could be true. If there was anyone that could create such an item, it would definitely be his familyー the Hizume clan, which had been producing elite tamers for generations on end.
He'd searched the mansion grounds for days on end and almost lost all hope before he remembered the old warehouse where his father kept exorcist-related things he didn't need anymore. It was an eerie wooden shed located in one of the deepest corners of the manor's enormous garden. Nobody had been in there for years.
There were piles upon piles of odd looking tools and furniture that revealed a small room in the back once pushed away. Inside was even more junk, plagued with dust and mould. He even stumbled upon a few rat and spider nests. The search there was traumatising, but it had paid off in the end. Because hidden behind a pile of books and a crack in the wall was the thing he'd been so desperately looking for.
He couldn't suppress a small giggle as he relived that moment of victory in his head, feeling incredibly proud of himself. The legend was right here in his handsー he had found it without anyone's help, and now it was his!
It was nothing but a small, yellowed out notebook filled with a bunch of messy scribbles at first glance, but there was no mistaking the circles drawn inside of it. He knew they had to be special since he'd never seen anything like them during his lessons before.
He skimmed through its pages, and soon found the circle diagram and chant that he had been deciphering the past few weeks. The boy grabbed the chalk he'd brought with him and started copying the image, praying the lines wouldn't be too crooked from his trembling fingers. It was complicated, filled with many difficult shapes and symbols that he had practised before, but still wasn't completely confident at.
But tonight was his best chance to try this out. He didn't want to wait anymoreー this was the only way to prove himself. He knew that without this, he would always be just 'that rich brat who's not as talented as his siblings'. While he had the potential to be a tamer like everyone else in his family, he couldn't dare to compare to the three prodigies in his generation. While his brothers and sister could already summon upper-class demons, all that came out from his circles were tiny greenmen that wouldn't even listen to him.
With this book, however, he could (theoretically) summon and control whatever he wanted, from the youngest and weakest demons to the oldest and strongest archdemons. And maybe... even nobles?
The endless possibilities only fueled his urge to finish drawing the circle, and he did so in almost record time. His gaze shifted to the book so he could compare the diagrams for any apparent mistakes, and it once again struck him how familiar the main outline was to their family emblem.
There were a few wobbly lines, but the basis looked fine. This had to do, he decided impatiently.
"What to summon first?" he whispered, excitement evident in his voice. He looked through the notes he'd written inside of the book again.
Despite his recklessness, he was aware of the dangers that came in hand with summoning an archdemon out of the blue. While it was possible in theory, he didn't know how this strange, unfamiliar kind of ritual really worked. Some sort of a lesser demon would be a safer choice for a test run.
He couldn't help but snort when his eyes landed on a familiar looking picture in his searchー An old inked drawing of an imp, a lesser-class demon he'd recently learned about. They were nothing but ugly little pranksters that couldn't do any kind of major damage. Even then, he could only dream of summoning a demon like this.
...But, with this book in his possession, he was not the same person he used to be.
With it, he would conquer the world!
He double-checked the summoning instructions and his eyes landed on the list of offerings, making him cringe at what he needed to put in the circle to successfully perform the ritual.
A strand of his hair, a drip of his blood, and a fingernail.
A chill passed through his body.
It was just a nail. He could quickly take it off while biting on a cloth, he was a small price to pay for finally being able to summon a powerful demon. He could do this. He could use the blood that would definitely come from removing his nail as the second offering, too. After that he could add some of his hair, and try to say the gibberish that was on the page. Really, was this stuff even Japanese? He rechecked the furigana he had written over the signs, which looked more like gibberish at first glance, to make sure that he would pronounce the incantation correctly. Then he drew in a deep breath.
Focus.
He could do this. For power.
He picked up the candle that lit the place and scanned the room carefully. He shuddered when his eyes registered the thing he was looking for. It was a small wooden plank with some kind of metal device on it that he'd seen when he was checking out the basement prior. He grunted when he grabbed the item, surprised at how heavy it was, and slowly put it on the table.
A nail ripper. A device considered ancient in this day and age. Nowadays, exorcists used a smaller tool that was similar to pliers. But since he didn't own that nor did he have the leisure to 'borrow' one from somewhere, he had no choice but to go with this.
He reluctantly slid his index finger into the metal contraption. All he had to do now was use the lever.
He put a piece of fabric in his mouth and bit into it to stifle the screams he knew would come. Then, he slammed his hand onto the device before he could have any second thoughts.
The response was immediate. It felt like his finger had suddenly been set on fire. His whole arm throbbed in pain and disgust, and his eyes burnt as a whimper escaped his clogged throat. His teeth dug into the cloth while he controlled his breathing. He forced his eyes shut and tried to wait the worst pain out like that. It wasn't much better when that subsided, though, as he could still feel the place where the nail used to be.
By the time he calmed down a little and opened his eyes, his whole hand was numb and his clothes were sticking to him. He bit on the fabric harder and took the nail between his weak fingers. He threw it in the circle, avoiding looking at it. He took a deep breath and grabbed the neglected book from the table, looking the recitation over one last time.
Spitting the fabric outside the circle, he groggily ripped a few hair strands from his head, barely registering the pain thanks to his injured finger. He did his best to pronounce the words making up the incantation as he let blood from his hand drip onto the circle. It took about three minutes for him to finish, because his mouth didn't feel like producing much else than pained moans.
Finally, the circle gave off the familiar cold, white light that told him the ritual was successful. However, something stopped him from celebrating. The feeling it gave off was almost… wrong. And even after the light faded, the imp wasn't anywhere to be seen.
That was odd. He had failed many regular summonings during his taming lessons, but there was always something, like a bit of smoke, coming out of the circle. Not... nothing.
Suddenly, he felt something stir inside of him. The air itself stiffened and dread began to build up in his stomach.
This was when he remembered his very first taming lesson. The tutor emphasised on a very important rule, and he didn't know how he could have forgotten. Maybe it was the pain? The excitement? The boy could only grit his teeth in fear and take a step back as the words echoed in his mind.
"Follow the exact instructions, and never reverse the order of the materials needed. It could lead to a disaster, or worse, death."
"Shit…"
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A/N:
Hello, I'm Yummychii! That's my main account on FFnet.
And I'm Sachiko13, the second writer. Together, we are cring- I mean, Sinful Gemini.
I dragged Sachiko, who used to really hate OCs in fics, into writing this with me by poking at her sinful fantasies.
(And now she expects me to say something about the gemini part, but I'm not gonna give her the pleasure) In the end, this story ended up becoming our precious child, along with all the OCs in it.
We plan on nurturing this child with as much care as we can possibly give. Which is why the updates might be a little erratic, so I'll apologise on Sachiko's behalf for any future delays. Sorry!
We also seem to fall in the habit of editing over each other, especially my dear Chii trying to be overly elaborate, so until we become a more united existence, please do point out any inconsistencies or errors you find! We'll be glad to hear any helpful criticism and opinions. With that, I'd like to thank my lovely soul-twin and hope you'll be patient with us.
I'm still an inexperienced writer, so please tell us about anything out of the ordinary, like grammar and bad sentence structures that Sachiko or I didn't notice because of how much we look over a chapter. We'll try our best to minimise those things, but new pairs of eyes will always help! I deeply thank Sachiko for her patience with my elaborateness.