"Uh, Wanko? I know this is probably a dumb question but...what's with the skull?"
"Momoka-san! Is something the matter? Are you having trouble with your school work?"
"I was tired o' listening to Kuro's snoring." Momoka made herself comfortable in the open corner of the room (conveniently the same location that was farthest from...whatever her partner was doing) and fiddled with the granola bar in her hand. "What kinda creepy spell are you doing this time?"
"Oh, I am merely summoning the spirit of the deceased animal that this skull belongs to from the depths of the netherworld." Isuzu explained shyly excited about her project.
Momoka tried not to run out of the room faster than the literal bat out of hell she was about to face.
"Isn't it exciting?!"
"Well, that's uh, one way to put it."
"All the preparations are complete. We can begin now!"
"Wait, now?!"
"It may be best if you sit extremely still and do not bring attention to yourself."
"Uh, I think I forgot something."
"And it begins."
Momoka froze and quickly sat herself back down from the half risen position she'd managed to get herself to. It was too late, she had been too slow to act.
The room grew dark, and what she assumed were the tools for the summoning began to glow. A cold sweat grew on her skin, and she fought to keep her heart from jumping out of her throat. Who knows what sort of demon would grab it if she didn't (if the demon was even polite enough to wait for her heart to escape her body before taking it). Horrific possibilities ran through her mind, making it impossible for her to concentrate.
She focused solely on the skull while trying to keep her mind grounded, a familiar pressure growing in her mind. She didn't notice the glow faltering, or the barely visible wasp of smoke forming. She didn't notice the world starting to blur until, finally, it went completely black.
"Ow."
"Hey, I think she's awake."
"Momoka-san!"
"Oooooww. No yelling."
"See? She's alive. Now can we leave? This place still feels creepy. I swear there's a spirit here somewhere!"
She tuned out their arguing in favor of calming the pounding in her head. There was still a pressure there, though different from the usual spell-related pain she had become well acquainted with. Taking several deep breaths, she opened her eyes cautiously. Her eyes took a few seconds to focus and give a defined shape to the boards the lined the bottom of the top bunk.
Then she looked away.
And saw a hawk.
Sitting on her chest.
A see-through hawk. Sitting on her chest.
And she screamed.
The next few minutes were a chaotic mess of screams and pain as the hawk took flight around the room, Momoka scrambled to avoid it, Kiji spazzed out as she finally pinpointed the source of her bad feeling, and the other two (who had no idea what was going on) tried to calm the girls.
"Whoa, Moko-chan! You look like a zombie!"
"Uugh."
"And you sound like one too! And you're all twitchy. Did one of Inu-chan's spells go wrong again?"
"...Somethin' like that."
So as I searched through my computer for a misplaced fic, I came across this guy, which I'm pretty sure is well over half a year old. I honestly have no idea why I never posted it, as it was fully complete when I found it. -shrug- It's a mystery.
